The Resistance

Chapter-2

The soldier's name was Abul-bak-Sahara. He was having a long day. He was employed to take part in this attack. He had no intention of doing anything that day but the host- a man who called himself "the leader"- was paying an unusually high amount of money.

He had been given the task of inspecting the restroom. He surprised to see it empty, people generally ran here at times of danger. Well, he was pretty stressed out so he wanted to soak his face a little bit. He collected some water in his cupped fingers and was about to splash the water on his face when a heard a thud. He froze immediately. He heard the thud again. He realized that the sound was coming from the second cubicle. How is that possible?! I just checked the room!

Then he heard the thud again. He readied his semi-automatic and slowly moved towards the cubicle, a tension building up inside him. He kicked the door open and aimed into the cubicle. It was empty except for a bag. Where did that come from?

His heart was racing. He went inside the cubicle and looked into the bag. It was empty except for a piece of paper which read "Heads up."

At that exact moment he heard a voice from behind, "Sup?" Then something hit his head. He felt dazed and he fell. He heard his gun hit the floor and saw a hand take it.

***

I dropped the heavy dictionary and picked up the gun. I jumped on him and pinned his arms with my knees. Then I pressed my hand to his mouth to prevent him from screaming. I wasn't very strong but it was enough to hold him for a minute.

Adrenaline was coursing through my veins. I couldn't shoot a person and take his life, could I? But I had to do it. My finger hovered over the trigger. I couldn't bring myself to shoot him. I was about to give up, I was just too weak...

The soldier was struggling to free himself and I had to put everything into the hold. He was violently shaking in an effort to loosen my grip and I almost lost grip over his mouth. Was it going to end like this...?

Suddenly memories of my friends snapped in my head. I remembered that I wasn't doing this for myself but for my friends. I couldn't give up on them, no matter what. They helped me overcome my dark times. It was my turn to return the favor.

I could feel a new energy build up inside of me. I can do it. A voice inside me said. That moment my fingers went crashing into the trigger.

***

I opened the door and entered the huge room. I was dressed as the soldier, in green military armour, the Tavor slung over my shoulder, the semi-automatic tucked in my belt's holster, the goggles adjusted to suit my eyes and the helmet on my head while the soldier-Abul-bak-Sahara was stuffed in the locker with nothing but an underwear.

I entered the entrance hall of the IMAX  theater. It was a huge hall with a counter on the left which sold popcorn, soft drinks, pizzas, nachos and other food items. Apart from that, there were a number of private food stalls like Burger King, Domino's, and Frankie etc. Behind them a narrow passageway led to the theater. 

It was separated from the aisle of the floor by ballistic glass; I didn't know why they bothered to do that since it is pretty expensive. Anyway, there was an opening where a metal detector was placed. The opening led into the aisle of the floor.

The scene outside was terrifying. Around twenty to thirty people were made to sit outside in the longer aisle with five armed soldiers walking back and forth the aisle. I started searching for my friends in the crowd. But they were sitting with their backs faced to me so I couldn't recognize them.

Then I found her. She was sitting there in the terrified crowd, her platinum blonde hair tied in a ponytail, with blue streaks. There was no mistaking it, she was Rachel.

Then I heard the thumping sounds behind me, from the passageway. I placed my palm on my holstered gun as I prepared to shoot any prevalent threat. A fresh of adrenaline coursed in my veins and I started sweating. 

A couple of soldiers came down. I was feeling really tensed. One of the soldiers asked me "What took you so long? You were inspecting a restroom, for heaven's sake, not a theater". "Well, natures call......the long one," I tried my best to imitate an Arabic accent. The soldier grumbled "Whatever. Now join the restraining group."

I weighed my options. I could ask him what the restraining group was but it could cause suspicion. But I decided to risk it anyway as I couldn't think of anything else. I asked wit a puzzled expression "Restraining group?"

The soldier replied "Hey, were you sleeping during the orientation presentation? Never mind, it's that group over there watching those brats," he said, pointing towards the soldiers walking down the aisle.

"Okay," I replied and started towards the exit. I had to move fast if I wanted to retrieve my friends, but I could find only Rachel in the crowd. Maybe the others were taken to the other floors. I started racking my brain for a plan.

The aisle of the third floor was immediately in front me, beyond the glass wall. To my right, there was a Nike store while an arcade was situated to my left. Just in front of the arcade, a set of elevators joined the fourth floor.

I looked around for CC cameras. There were a couple of cameras inside the hall but they only surveyed the hall and covered a little of the aisle where Rachel was. They wouldn't be a problem. There were two other cameras mounted on the either end of the aisle. They would be a problem.

I inspected my surroundings to see if I could find anything useful, something that could trigger a plan. I analysed every single article I could see. The two soldiers I had met earlier had split up. One was surveying the food stalls, probably looking for anyone hiding behind them. But he settled on the French fries counter and started wolfing some fries. The other one had gone outside.

Suddenly I started thinking of the whole scenario as a game, a strategic chess game where one side had many pawns and resources while the other was alone. In such a case, I would have utilize every single article I have and bring them into a plan which would fulfill my purpose- saving my friends. 

Then something caught my eye.

A terrified businessman sitting near the ballistic glass with an open bag. A metallic pod strapped on to the soldier's belt.The position of the CCTV cameras...

A plan hit me like an oncoming truck.

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