Salman's POV
The army unit as well as the rest of the crew had to be persuaded for a chance to operate actively in the field, but relented in the end when they saw how stubborn I was.
I wasn't just going to sit back and enjoy the ride when I knew I was meant to drive it. I mean these big muscles aren't just for sweeping girls (or even guys) off their feet, are they?
Walking through the empty grey corridors, I hear a whimper nearby. I smirk and continue towards the despicable sound behind one of the pillars and spot a woman in a cheap, promiscuous dress and shit load of makeup. She quickly hides her fear behind a coy smile, showing off her crooked teeth, and bends down to give me a view of her lumpy figure. I am nothing but disgusted by her attempt, and fight the urge to gag as she moves closer to me to whisper in my ear, "I proved quite useful to Gul Badin," she trails a bony finger down my arm. "I could be good for the good guys, too. I promise you loyalty and the best night of your life if you let me live."
My patience was wearing thin and I began to do things I would usually condemn in normal circumstances. I lifted her up by her hair and pushed her face against the wall, before sneering into her face, "I promise you hell in this life and the hereafter, if you don't comply with my orders right. Now."
She winces before putting on a sick smile, "So much for being a soldier, huh?" She touches where it hurts. All women have this talent, I have to say. I grit my teeth and sneer into her ear "Tell me about khan's gift and where they are keeping her."
"Why? You want her all to yourself?" She says, with contempt.
Don't," I warned her, before shoving her forward.
"Fine," she says, adjusting her hair and her bustier. "But don't say I didn't warn you."
She had some attitude for someone who's hiding place had not just been found, but only a matter of time before it's taken over. Flipping her hair back, she walked in front of me apparently taking me to Jala. I held a gun against her head just in case she thinks of pulling any tricks on me, I will be the one to pull the trigger.
A few goons of the scumbag show up from time to time, and I don't hesitate in hiring a few holes in either of them. So much for destroying my country.
I know it's wrong to put the entire blame on them, since the ISIS would never come here or the TTP would never have begun here, if Zia hadn't practically opened the gates for them, and if our economy wasn't all down the drain. The roots run deeper than we think and we are going to get to the bottom of this.
"You know they wouldn't think of firing you, since you've got me at gunpoint," she said casually, moving ever forward unaffected by the dead bodies surrounding us. This couldn't be an everyday thing, could it? The site's already making me sick to the stomach, and I haven't been here for more than 20 minutes.
"I think they could care less about their boss's whore," I fire back, nonetheless. (With my mouth, ofcourse.)
"They care about their own," she said, disgusted. "You'd be surprised by the loyalty we bad guys have between us. You guys are full of traitors, and they are often our most loyal companions."
I don't want to entertain her with small talk anymore, so I kept quiet. We turned around a corner, the cement walls closing in on us with the low ceilings and archways, devoid of any real color. She pushed open the door at the end of the corridor, into a room which was full of portable and misplaced furniture, including over turned boxes and chairs and a set of tables pressed against the walls which held a number of old style desktops. This must be the room where they handled all their security. I thought they favored more traditional methods of security…
Apart from the misplaced furniture, clothes were strewn across the floor and a particular pile of clothes caught my attention. Black chiffon skirt and blouse.. These were Jala's clothes. I looked up to the only person standing in the room, the guy I saw her earlier with.
"You bastard," I said, running up to him and grabbing fists full of his shirt.
"Hey it's not what it looks like!" He replied, holding up his hands.
"Tell me where she is!" I screamed in his face.
"What is going on here?" Jala inquired loudly, coming out from behind the door, while fixing the glove on her hand.
I looked at her incredulously, shoved the man backward, and moved towards her. "Are you ok?" I asked her. "Yes," she replied confidently. "And I would really appreciate it if you could keep your hands off of him since he's on our side."
"How do you know that?" I said, eyeing him up and down.
" Because I'm here safe and sound on his account. Although the harder part had been handled, before he appeared." She winked at him, while I eyed him suspiciously. "Where's Ali, by the way?"
"Off to meet the Head," I say, forcing myself to remove my gaze from the annoying man.
"Is he mad?"
"Not as mad as you."
"We've got to find him. Gulbadin must be taken from his room and put under higher security."
"Let's go then." I said preparing my gun, once more.
"Do you even know the way?" The idiot remarks sarcastically, before pushing me back and taking the lead like a jerk.
"We could have found our way, you know," Although, I know following him would take us faster to Ali, then I care to admit.
"Of course, you could." I could only see the back of his head but I could see him rolling his eyes with the sarcasm in his tone.
Why I'm being so much of a jerk all of a sudden, is only known to God.
Maybe I do, too, but I guess I am scared to admit.
Jala's pov
We turn a few corners and come around a curve in a wall which opens into a courtyard on one side and the other path lead into another more discreet hallway. Even though the area of the building didn't seem to be too big, the amount of construction surpassed the limits that should have taken place on the span of land. With all the twists and turns and various hallways within hallways, it looked more like a maze than a building at this point. It wasn't a normal building, nevertheless. It was a lair. A confusing map could prove useful and in favor of it's residents in times of invasion such as these. The taste of the interior designer was so bland, I was surprised how its residents managed to survive without going colorblind.
A few attendees were standing outside a door, a green one with chipping paint, probably the room Irtaza was leading us to and held Gulbadin. My stomach did an involuntary somersault, and I ignored the invisible leeches crawling on my skin as we got closer. I took a deep breath, and tried to calm my beating heart.
I was stronger than this. I had never felt stronger than I had in that moment, as I walked toward Gulbadin when I was being presented in front of him and I felt sheer power radiate from me. Not once for a moment did I feel I was out of place, or question my power in his presence.
The men threw a fleeting glance our way and pointed their guns at us, to which we we improvised quickly and mimicked their actions.
"We are here with the man your boss is speaking to," Salman said. "Drop your guns," Irtaza added quietly. It was clear who was in power, because they relented almost immediately, placing their guns down, their eyes trained on us and raised their hands in surrender. They had been brainwashed up to the point that they were little more than robots now.
"That's right. Now make way, we've got some business to do." Irtaza busted the door open, hitting with the butt of his gun on the latch, which gave way on the third hit.
Ali was standing besides Gulbadin who was seated on a chair, his head bowed in shame. Or maybe, he was in that drunken stupor that I put him in.
"Has this idiot said anything since you found him?" Salman asked.
"He doesn't speak much now, do you boss?" Upon hearing Irtaza's amused voice, Gulbadin lifted his head a little at which his bloodshot eyes went wide with shock. Mustn't have been expecting him to be a traitor. He also spared a glance towards me but lowered his head, immediately not daring to look above my feet.
These were the ones whom our Prophet called the Dogs of Hell. The ones who claimed to establish God's kingdom on Earth, and shed blood in the name of the same God who loved seventy times more than a mother loves her child. How dare they…
My gun raised on its own accord pointed at the leader of the pack, who couldn't even meet death in the eye and called himself a believer. Pathetic.
"Jala, no!" Ali cried, as I pulled the trigger.
"Why not?"
"He has some information that will be helpful to us. He will speak in the presence of Khan," Ali said, profoundly.
I took out the drive from my pant's pocket as well as the papers I found in the safe in his room and placed it on the table beside Gulbadin.
"I don't think there's any more information we can get out of him than what is already present in these files."
"She's right." Gulbadin says quietly. Did he just agree to die? Or did he fear a fate worse than death by meeting Khan?
"That remains to be seen." Ali smiles slyly. Maybe there's more we can get out of him.
Why was the west so blind when they could see the majority of their targets were Muslims? In Iraq, Syria, Iran, here in Pakistan, couldn't they see the wreck ISIS was making in these countries? Unless, there is more to it than meets the eye…
"Hey, we've been looking all over for you guys" Hamza and the rest of his friends came over, cheering and hooting.
"We did it!"
One of them lifted me on his shoulder, taking me by surprise and another one came to join him, throwing my other leg over his shoulder. Being the only girl in a room full of men, did not deter me in the slightest, and I'm surprised at my own confidence.
I couldn't help but smile and join them in cheers at our victory. Our first victory.
"Then, I guess this calls for a celebration." Ali says, meeting my eyes, with a ghost of a smile appearing on his lips.