Think about the photo on the left...Think! let your mind loose and gather all the evasive thoughts spinning thru your head..
Done?
Lets begin..This is collaborative story making, bit like web2.0 .Im starting the fire but have no idea what final shape it will take & neither does anyone else..
Everyone's welcome to post the next episode,but please read all the previous comments to get the drift.
Time tah post!!
pls note : I will take the liberty of deleting irrelevant posts.
19 comments:
The tall, well built man approached the reception carrying an overnighter bag..He scribbled a quick, false entry in the hotel register and took his keys twisting a half-smile at the bored receptionist who did not smile back. Warily, he opened the door his nondescript room on the 2nd floor of his non descript hotel in this non descript town.
He threw the bag on the table and threw himself on the bed to give some rest to his fatigued bones so that he was fresh for the night's task.
His brain was a flurry of thoughts ..will this go through as planned? can something screw up at the last moment? should he take along lily, his much loved German-made pistol?
Soon, though,the tired body forced the mind to fade out and he was in a deep slumber.So deep,that he did not hear the window being opened and the other man climbing in..When he did wake up, he was choking because of the tight grip of the fist around his neck..His vision was blurred because of the blood rush and his mind refused to switch on completely..
What ensued after that was a struggle between the slumber and the awakening... He already was seeing the gates of heaven or was it hell.. how did that matter.. All of a sudden some thing flashed in his mind.. his hand moved to the left. Somehow he managed to pull something from under his pillow.. it was lily.. a gun shot was heard.. and then everything went silent...
....,,,n both of them heard d sound of breaking of a glass n the tall, well built man realized dat he missed d shot....n he has broken off d glass window of d room.....
The trick worked! The breaking of the window caught the mysterious attacker’s attention giving Mr. Presence of mind enough time to knock out the attacker with a heavy blow in his face. What lay on the now bloody ground on was an unconscious masked entity. He exposed the concealed only to be flabbergasted.
The drops of sweat started forming on his brow. He never expected her to be present in this non descript town. And how come she had become so strong. Does feeling of revenge makes someone so blind? She was so coy and unsure just 2 years back and today she attacked him. A fatal attack. The sound of breaking of window didn't escape the hotel staff. Soon some one was knocking on the door. But he was deaf to these sounds... lost in his own world.. thinking of his beautiful past and such horrid present... She was lying on the floor unconscious..Was she dead?the banging on the door grew louder....... the hotel staff broke open the door.... The tall, well built man had escaped.. leaving behind a woman lying in the pool of her own blood... She was still breathing..... Panic spread all around.. Ambulance was called...... the hotel register was checked... the false entry said
"James". Strangely, after reading the name James in his register, receptionist never called the police...
"James"..This was the nickname given to him in special tasks division of the army, basically a secret service.
He was walking briskly down the road as the last rays of daylight lost out to dusk..It was drizzling lightly and his mind began to rewind..to the day he met her..it was a similar drizzle. They were all newbies in the prestigious military academy. "Zeba, mechanical engineer, Chandigarh" said the only girl in the batch" In the first semester, he ignored her and she had too much attention to notice him anyway.The results was what brought them talking first time.She, who slogged everyday for hours ,had ranked 2nd, only to be beaten by him who was always seen fooling around the campus, doing everything but studies.
But that was the norm..he was an effortless genius who got it all without having to try to hard.His casual attitude was what attracted her to him-fire and ice!
His chain of thought was suddenly broken when he collided against the bag of the oncoming pedestrian.
THE BAG!
His mind raced to the overnighter he was carrying,which was now lying in a cupboard in the room.
The trained mind quickly raced through the options, and selected the most ridiculous sounding one: to call up the hotel manager and ask him to hide the bag elsewhere.
He picked up the public telephone and dialled the number..the 3 rings sounded like an eternity.Finally, the sleepy voice answered,Hello?
In the most Gruff, authoritative voice he could manage, he thundered "Lieutinant James here.Please pick up the bag from the room I hired and keep it in your safe custody. Ill collect it later." click.
He could now only hope that the hotel owner was stupid enough to buy that shit and not inform his army contact about the incidents taking place.That would blow his cover in an instant.
The bag held the detached pieces of the rifle he had carried as a specimen to show his potential customers.
When he had deserted the army 6 months ago he couldn't imagine the transition over the thin line dividing the good guys from bad would be so tough.
Major Gill could feel a drop of sweat running down his spine in his airconditioned office at the command centre of the Military special tasks .
He had argued heavily with his seniors over the logic of sending zeba to quietely bump off James.They had been 'The couple' and it was difficult to believe she'll be able to harm him, even now.
But Major Gill knew that only iron can cut iron and if there was anyone who could stop his wayward blue eyed boy james, it was Zeba. Zeba seemed the right choice to him for she was a patriot to the core and the rare person who valued duty more than life.
The only reason he was now tense is because he knew that, even only by a small margin, James was a better soldier than Zeba and he did not want to lose his second best student after he had already lost the best.
James kept walking down the road.. to complete his task.. for which he had actually returned to this non descript town.. Yes!! returned.. this was the place where he and zeba had met last.... they were here on a trekking trip when their ideological differences came to fore and they decided to part ways... James raped her that night.. Nobody knows about it...Revenge was a bigger reason for Zeba than her patriotism and sense of duty...Major Gill actually have no reasons to worry... Zeba will succeed as her anger is the real Weapon of Mass Destruction... and evil can never win...
Evil... James was not always like that.. He was a happy go lucky guy... enjoying his stint in the army, till that fateful day, when he had to crash land in the enemy's territory.. he was taken Prisoner of War... he was tortured... his finger nails were pulled out.... he was made to sleep naked on ice... and he had to go through unmentionable pain for those 3 months.. But his love for Zeba and his patriotism never wavered... Back home everybody thought he was dead... But like a Phoenix he rose from the ashes and managed to escape after 3 months... When he returned, he was expecting a Hero's Welcome... Instead he was eyed with suspicion.. he was arrested by army and was court martialed for an alleged subotage of his last operation.. James could bear anything in this world... but taking away his uniform was the last nail in the coffin.. That is when he started treading the wrong path... Zeba was still by his side...But that day while trekking she confronted him for his wrong company and also threatened to leave him.. James was never the same again... the animal in him came out..Even the bruised Zeba was never the same again.. James didnt only outraged her modesty, but even her trust... He didnt need a fake identity anymore, but Imtiaz still wanted to cling on to his last link with his past.. the alias "James" finally proved to be his nemesis... While walking down that lonely road in that non descript town Imtiaz had finally figured out, how Zeba found him...
With lily still with him.. he went ahead and bumped off the local leader. His task for that night was accomplished... "nobody can stop me" he thought to himself... The local leader was the last obstacle in running his gun deals more smoothly in this dark border town. Imtiaz was good.. he stuck to his plan even after the sudden turn of events that night...
Zeba regained her senses in the hospital... she had a badly bruised forehead.. but blood had clotted... night seemed so dreadily silent... she was recollecting the events of that night... She dozed off thinking about the happier times....
Meanwhile in the wee hours of the morning, James took refuge where the cargo trucks were parked, waiting for the border clearance. It seemed safe enough until dawn. No…he didn’t need rest. After all these years of torment, even few hours of sleep were a blessing. He was wired to live this cursed life. But it was a conscious choice he had made years ago. Little did he know that a soldier whose honor was cherished in his country could be stripped away from him in a matter of minutes for no fault of his. Even the thought singed him. They would never understand his plan; never give him credit for the opportunity he had created. This was the only way he could prove himself, even if he was putting his life at risk. It was a double edged sword. He laughed to himself. One wrong move and he was done for. The blood hounds would be after him. Neither parties trusted him enough. Major Gill, that two faced bastard, who promised him so much, gave away under pressure and played it against him. James couldn’t believe that he had sent Zeba after him. No wonder she knew where he was. How did he miscalculate this move of theirs? His thoughts traced back to that night when things went ugly… He had told her of his plans, wanted to show her how it was all perfectly set up… thought she would understand… she was all he had then… the only hope he clung on to… his reason to claim back his lost honor, to wipe off the dirt they kicked in his face. He didn’t need a reason to survive this anymore… he had nothing to lose, nothing to hope for with Zeba gone from his life forever. Even she wouldn’t understand him and was going to wreck his plans. Behaving as irrational as any woman did, she was a soldier damn it, fear was the last thing he expected of her! How could she not get his situation! It was the last straw! It drove him mad. He couldn’t believe he was capable of such anger, he was possessed. He wasn’t in control of his actions that night. He wanted to forget. He closed his eyes momentarily, he needed to calm down. When he opened them, he could see the crack of dawn. It was time to move…
Imtiaz has become much more sharper, since he was crossed the line. The Line which separates good from bad... beautiful from ugly... sense from insanity... So he was outhinking Zeba and Gill. Everyone thinks he is running gun deals by stealing weapons from army bases. He knows all grease points in army and everyone is greased well. Major Gill wanted little more grease and Imtiaz denied... So they have become sworn enemies... But nobody knows the ulterior motive of James.. in garb of arm deals, he is actually planning to steal the Uranium. All other parts have been arranged.. his aim is to nuke his way into the FAME. He is a man possessed. The manifesatations of his thought process are too sinister... But how will he manage it? How are these less menancing gun deals helping him do the same... Is Zeba missing some thing? Will Imtiaz succeed...
Meanwhile Zeba... reaches the border area.. and all army trucks are being checked.. James is one on of them... For the first time in many months he realises that its difficult to escape... he jumps out of the moving truck... But he fails to miss Zeba's sharp eyes.. Zeba uses her machine gun to good effect... Imtiaz is running for his life... Zeba manages to pump three bullets.. One pierces through his leg... Imtiaz keeps running with his right hand reaching his leg to stop bleeding.. But very soon the second bullet takes away the skin from his shoulder blade and finally third bullet goes though his head and his brain is busted... he lies there motionless.. Zeba doesn't shed a tear... A call is made to Gill - Mission Accomplished... Zeba is happy she has taken her revenge. She starts back for her base... Wait! Wait! Something hit her like a ton of bricks! the noise in her head is louder than the gruntling engine of her jeep... Why did Imtiaz use his right hand to stop bleeding on leg... He was a left hander... Has she killed Imtiaz? Has she been able to foil his plans? It can't be that simple....
She went to take a closer look at the still body… it was lifeless.., She searched for some id.. it read Rafiq Sheikh.. Another one of those illegal migrants trying to hoodwink border patrol who goes nervous once the trucks were surveyed… she sighed. James on the other hand was almost on his way across the border. He by-passed the patrolling officer using his pseudonym - James George…There was a man waiting for him on the other side. They had agreed to meet at 4 pm at the same place they met the last time.
Somewhere in Haina island,territory of China,same day:
Major Huyang Lee seem to be very perturbed.There was no signal on the screen.The LCD screen switched off itself silently ,and all he could hear was the continious beep from the speaker.Every thing was running fine just seconds before.
He checked the cables and the modem.But everything was in place.So what went wrong?Never in the past 3 months the monitor shut like this.He was bemused.The satelite signals from Chinees satellite gone.Was it down linking problem?Or some error in the servers located in the suburbs of Virginia,CIA headquarters?Or some chip malfunction?The chip in James thigh?He would not know for sure,unless the technical guys came to help him out.He decided to inform his higher ups in the chain of command,so that necessary action could be taken.
The man on the other side of the line said"Yes,Lieutenant Colonel Yanchu here"
"Don't worry Major", said Colonel. "James has been killed and due to non functioning of heart the chip in his thigh has been rendered useless. Major Gill's best soldier has just killed him and Gill congratulated me. Now all the stolen guns from Indian army bases would be traded with our knowledge." The line went dead.
The moment James realised Zeba has shot someone else, he had removed his chip. Now there is no Major Gill, no Zeba (he thought so) and no chinese army is on his back. The gun deals had helped him establish network in North West Frontier Province with erstwhile Taliban soldiers. And today was his deal for the the thing he was looking for. "Uranium" enriched. His motives were still clear only to him. But unknown to him Zeba was still on his trail. Zeba had this gut feeling, that it would be better if she does it all alone. She didnt care to inform about the mistaken encounter to Gill. Revenge had blinded her, may be she had also stopped trusting Gill fully. Otherwise how come he knew about all the movements of James so precisely.
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