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Printed from https://shop.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1582826-The-otherside-Part-2
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by Sumeet Author IconMail Icon
Rated: 18+ · Novel · Contest Entry · #1582826
This is second part of seven part series for contest "14 days, 7 stories".
This is part 2 of the story for 14 Days, 7 stories contest.
Prompt #2
"Everybody is watching you!"
"Who is everybody?"
"Just some people"
Word count: 1251


Ravi looks at his watch with irritation it's seven minutes to nine that means seven minutes before the train came. Evening crowd is as high as ever and to find Naeem in this crowd a miracle is required.

A group of police officers suddenly barges into the railway station with guns drawn.
".303! hunhh.. they cannot fight off local criminals with these guns and if somebody is coming from train and they know it then it's gonna be terrorists only and that means these cops are dead" Ravi tells this to tea stall owner.
"But these .303 are very good sniper rifles" Tea stall owner replies while taking money from Ravi.
"Good snipers are needed for good sniper rifles. I guess these rifles won't fire by itself!"
Tea stall owners just stares at Ravi and doesn't say anything.

As the train is stopping down Ravi realize that cops looking for someone who is in same train as Naeem and that could be a problem. He checks the country made single shot pistol in his bag and thinks what to do next, if there is some kind of frisking or shootout, this pistol can cause a problem with
authorities. But there is one positive development as well, if there is shootout then he can very easily shoot Naeem and leave. Probably the shootout is not that bad thing at all!

Naeem and Ravi used to be acquaintances, knew each other through the common gymnasium but everything changed when Ravi bought some land for real estate with money borrowed from his uncles and other relatives and came to know Naeem, who is also a real estate developer has got this land transferred to his ownership with the help of corrupt officials. Naeem asked for a good amount of money from Ravi to let go his claims, about half of what Ravi has already paid as price for this.

Ravi can still remember the words from Naeem "Hey Ravi, me and you are like brothers but business is still business. I won't reduce the price of that land by even a dime but I'll give you the land for a pittance. Take it as a gift from elder brother, till now not many people know that I'm claimant to this property and just pay me and there won't be any trouble else once people came to know that it is a disputed site, they'll still won't buy the flats even if you win the case after a century".
But Ravi isn't in a mood to wait for a century and he cannot pay as his relatives who have given him the money to buy the land are not going to lend him
anymore.

Naeem is a local land-shark who is used to bulling the land owners into coughing money to him, he also runs a protection racket. He is too strong to be
afraid of anyone here. But in adversity lies opportunity and because he has got so many enemies that the chance of Ravi getting into the shortlist or even the long list of suspects in case of Naeem's murder is very slim, rather non existent.

Ravi is not exactly what can be termed as bright, he is just a failure who used to smoke rather than going to school and stopped studies after high school but after being beaten by some other boys after some small matter, he started going to gym to build the strength to beat those boys.
That happened almost a decade earlier, it seems to Ravi that it happened in his previous life. After joining the gym he stopped smoking and drinking as he needed to build stamina and he became a calmer person and in fact the guys who beat him are good friends of him!

Ravi has got cheaper alternatives than paying money to Naeem, killing him seemed to be a dirt cheap option especially as Ravi planned to do it himself, only problem was getting a gun for doing this. Revolvers and pistols were too expensive and shot gun could not be hidden from view so he zeroed on country made single shot pistol.
Another advantage of using country made gun is that there is no identification mark on these so it can be disposed off on the shooting site itself. Only problem with these guns is that they are unreliable and are prone to miss fire and backfire but it is calculated risk.
Ravi planned to shoot Naeem when he is in crowd and without exposing himself, if the pistol misfires then Naeem would never know it and if it back fires than even if Naeem comes to know, it does not make any difference as Ravi would be dead.

Train finally comes to halt, the cops are very alert and visibly in tension. They cannot bring their vintage rifles into shooting positions as it could start a stampede which would be a disaster.

Some people come out of train but no sign of Naeem. Cops are not allowing the passenger to board this train though they are allowing the people to disembark the train and they are doing it surreptitiously but Ravi can feel the tension in air.
"They are trying to empty the train without letting the people know something serious is going on" Ravi thinks.

It's fifteen minutes since this train is just standing there but their is no sign of Naeem "Probably he is still in the train"
He needed to make it sure that he is indeed on the train.
"Where are you?"
"I'm on the train and trying to come out but some people are stopping us, but who are you and whom you want to..."
Ravi puts the phone back on the cradle in the phone booth, he is relieved that Naeem is still on the train.
There is a matter of concern as well who are the people not letting the passengers disembark. He has to do something and he does just that he brings a fat passenger in argument with police men because they are not letting anyone to board the train.
"I have a valid ticket. How can anyone stop me from getting into the train"
The cops first try to reason with him then starts beating him other policemen also joins and other passengers join the passenger being beaten. There is a lot of raucous, cops starts beating everyone and forget the real purpose of them being there, but the truth might be that they know they cannot win the battle against terrorists and it's better proposition to let them sneak away without bloodshed!

Ravi enters the coach, he has a pretty good guess where is Naeem as this is the only coach from where not a single passenger disembarked and the only coach where window are shut tight.

He finds Naeem sitting in the third coupe, something is strange here. Every one in this coupe is blindfolded and everyone means everyone, no sign of any terrorist and most of the lights are turned off.
Ravi goes to Naeem takes aim and just as he is about to pull the trigger Naeem speaks up
"Forget it Ravi"
"How can you see?"
"Everybody is watching you!"
"Who is everybody?"
"Just some people"

"Who are they?"
Just then there is light on the top berth and he can see mutants holding the guns in their hands, they point the gun to his face.
Boom!...
Ravi can see blinding flashes of different colors and feel weightless.
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