The First Monsoon

𝟐𝟕} 𝐉𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐄𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

The whole building was in chaos. Continuous alarms buzzing everywhere, men in black running here and there, trying to catch both of them while they were aimlessly running for their dear lives.

Aarya clutched Mahir's hand even tighter, increasing her speed while shuffling through doors and corridors, sometimes ducking, kicking, punching, or escaping the attacks whereas Mahir followed suit. No matter where they went, the goons followed behind.

An emergency exit caught Aarya's attention as she swiftly turned towards it, dragging Mahir behind her. She pushed Mahir inside before hurriedly kicking on the chain of the wheelchair stand, making all of the wheelchairs scatter away, blocking the exit for others, and then herself followed in. Once inside, she took the fire extinguisher and locked the door with its pipe, and then, without missing a beat, again clasped Mahir's hand in hers and ran down the stairs.

But the staircase didn't seem to end no matter how much they ran. Exhaustion took over, but none of them seemed to stop. After some time, they saw the 'Ground Floor' signboard and that's when Aarya stopped. Just when her grip loosened from his hand, he immediately slumped on the floor and exhaled a breath of relief.

"Ar-are you okay?" Aarya asked while taking deep breaths.

Mahir just shook his head. His whole body was hurting as if he had been thrown from a high cliff. No words escaped his mouth while he rubbed his chest in slow circles, trying to stabilize his rapid heartbeats. He was sitting half-layed on the last steps of the stairs, whereas Aarya was leaning on the wall beside him, her hands on her hips and abdomen, trying to compose herself. As their erratic breathing balanced back, Mahir slowly stood up, reaching for Aarya's hand as both of them looked at each other.

Through his huffing breaths, he tried to say,

"Let-let's go."

But Aarya shook her head sideways, making him frown. He raised his eyebrows, asking him the reason for the denial, when she raised her right hand, which was resting over her abdomen, and pointed her thumb towards the door and said,

"We can't. They are out there, waiting for us. We'll not be able to escape."

Mahir's eyes widened as he leaned his ear on the door and heard a huge commotion outside. He looked at her to find her already staring at him. Both of them were unarmed, whereas there was an entire battalion outside, with all kinds of arms and ammunition, waiting for them. None of them said a word; only the sound of their harsh breathing was echoing in the small staircase. As seconds passed, they could feel footsteps approaching them from the upper floors as well.

"Take off your shirt." Aarya said.

Mahir, taken aback by her words, instinctively held his hands over his chest, criss-crossing, while retreating back a little.

"W-what do you-you mean?" He asked her in a low voice.

"I said, Take off your damn shirt!" Her voice rose an octave higher as she hurriedly took the blazer off of her and threw it aside, standing beside him in just her top and trousers. Mahir gulped, looking at her, and immediately closed his eyes, tearing his gaze away from her.