" I want you to pack only what is necessary. The less load we have, the faster we will be" Her father told their mother and looked at them. Terror filled in his eyes. " I want you three to run as fast as you can. Don't slow down no matter what happens. Do you understand?" All of them nodded a once in confusion as he leaned forward to look in their eyes. " I want you all to look after each other and there's nothing to be scared of," He said as they set out towards the railway station.
Her father held her hand and ran slowly. Her mother with Amjad and Hashim ran behind. There was a wreck of building everywhere. Everything was destroyed. They continued running through the streets where they came across a lot of dead bodies. She didn't know who they were? why were they dead and who killed them. She was already scared. She kept asking the question, but his father silenced her. Had they gone a little farther when they heard some men talking in quick words. " I see them!" one of them yelled. "hide! hide!. Quick!" Her father said almost whispering as he moved them across the streets. She clenched her father's hand more firmly and began to ran with him when she heard a scream which ripped her heart open and made her ears numb. She looked back to see spear go through her mother's torso as she bent down on her knees. " Allah Rakhi!" his father yelled from behind. Allah Rakhi died at the very moment. Blood all around her. " What did you do stupid! You are not supposed to kill our feast!" the man yelled. She fell onto her knees when her father's hand muffled her voice. Everything started whirling around her. " Get up Noori. Get up. We have to get on the train, it's here" his voice echoed in her head and she woke up into the reality with a suppressed shriek.
She found herself on the bare ground. Amjad and Hashim stood up from a hunch lifting her up towards vicious reality. She was instantly overwhelmed y her surroundings. A train was in front of her. More like a bloody train, because she could clearly see blood dribbling from its edges. Pure, dark blood. " Thank God, you are in your senses. Are you alright?. Come on we need to get on the train. Quickly!" Amjad said looking in her still eyes hoping they would blink back to reality. " Are we supposed to get on this train abba? She looked up at Ali Bakhsh with those big, questioning eyes. " This is the only chance we have left. It is going to be alright. Nothing will happen. We will protect you" Ali Bakhsh assured her guessing her sudden restlessness as he adjusted her messy, black hair with his fingers. She grasped his fingers and started walking towards the train. Amjad and Hashim at their tail. They sprinted towards the end of the train because they would be less vulnerable at the end. There were passengers everywhere. In the train and on the train. The noise was unbearable. "let us through!" everyone was shouting. Ali Bakhsh tried to push through the crowd, but he was not strong enough tomake a way, so they started sprinting towards the front and after a lot of pushes and whacks they got in a bogie near the rear of the train. There was still a chance of surviving. The smell of blood overtook her as they got in. She could see blood on the walls. Her feet were slipping from the blood spilt on the floor and so were her hand from Ali Bakhsh's. Everything started spinning again. The train siren banged like a hammer in her head. She clenched Ali Bakhsh's hand more forcefully and so did Ali Bakhsh. " abba, where will we sit?" asked Hasim not knowing where to go. " just keep walking, we will find some space," Ali Bakhsh said wiping his sweaty face with his shemagh. The train started moving. After some time, Ali Bakhsh managed to find a clean space on the floor and now they were sitting there with pounding hearts, flushed faces and empty bellies. It had been more than a day since they ate. Everything smelled like blood. The train was obnoxiously silent. Everyone seemed to be dead. The only thing she could hear except the train was her own heartbeat. She didn't know what deadly storm would follow this absolute silence.
