Chapter 18
Suffocation
At the time, things were getting much worst in Estil. More explosions and more attacks were happening on daily basis. The administration had their parts in all of the mess. They bombed houses and buildings and killed a lot of civilians as people started to be more open about opposing the administration.
In a matter of few days, people got angrier and angrier about what was going on. Those who survived got together for the first time and stared Estil’s largest uprising in years. However, without knowing it, they made things a lot harder.
As soon as the administration found out what was going on, they started to hold food from entering the city almost completely. As poor as people were, they got even poorer. After a while, people were more concerned about finding food for their families than fighting for their rights.
The administration had prevented any medical supplies from entering the country completely, which made matter even worse. Patients were dying by the hour due to lack of the most basic supplies. There were very few doctors and nurses left to help out. Many diseases started spreading causing even more death.
Rain, Aser, and Sidra had no idea that their first day back in Estil was indeed eventful. They just could not pick a worse time to be back. As they landed in the airport, they had to pass security as fast as they could. However, this was not a problem at all. Most of the security guards were not in their positions.
Most of the guards were gathered outside the airport to prevent the risers from entering. The ‘Risers’ was the new term they used for anyone who participated in any uprising against the administration. The walls of the airport were filled with banners that said many different things asking the people to react. One of them had few lines from a familiar song.
“What’s wrong with us?”
“Why ~ can’t we get out of the dark tunnel of grief?”
They looked around and saw the real pain behind people’s anger. However, it was not long until the SAWT team showed up. Hiding between the crowds, our friends did what they could to get out of there.
“Do you hear that?” Rain asked.
“Do you mean the fighter jets? Yeah, I sure do hear that.” Aser replied.
Rain’s phone beeped. It was a text message from unknown number that said,
“Poison gas at the airport. Do not come back. We were ordered to kill anyone if we had to. Stay in Japan.”
“It’s definitely Yazan. He’s just too late.” Rain said.
“Please tell me that they’re not going to bomb us.” Aser said.
“They’re not. They’re just going to use poison gas. They want the crowd to go away at any cost.” Rain said.
They stood there trying to find a way out. The main gates were closed. It seemed that their intention was not to clear the area but rather to kill everyone at the airport.
“Why are you back?” A voice from behind asked.
“Samir? Why are you here?” Sidra said as she gave him a hug.
“Rafil and Mai are here as well. Oh, there they are.” Samir said as he waved to them. “We are forced to gas the entire terminal. It’s happening in a few. We’re trying to come up with a plan to get the people out of here.”
“Seriously Samir? How can you hug her after what she did to us? Sidra?” Rafil said with an annoyed tone looking at Sidra.
“He’s my brother.” Sidra said, “And hello to you to, Rafil.”
“He’s your…what now?” Mai asked.
“I’m sorry. But we have no time for a family reunion.” Rain said.
“Right, there are underground tunnels we can use to get the people out of here. The gas is being prepared as we speak.” Samir said.
They ran towards the main door of the underground tunnels, and tried to open it. However, as expected, it was locked. Luckily, Mai had a grenade. She was able to use it to open the door.
As soon as they opened the door, they ran to the crowd and started warning people. However, they were ignored. Aser was asked to stay in the tunnels. Everyone else had no idea how to convince the risers that they were about to be killed.
Few minutes later, everything got foggy. No one could see anything. They all ran back to the tunnel safely, except Samir.
“I have to go back. I have to find my brother.” Sidra said.
“You can’t leave. It’s too late.” Rain said.
“No, we were giving masks. I’m going to find him.” Rafil said, “I can’t let my best friend take all the credit for gassing the people.” He said sarcastically.
“Rafil… DON’T.” Rain shouted as he saw him leaving the tunnels to try and find Samir.
Rafil left locking the door behind. The tunnels were long and dark. They were designed to look like a maze. It was hard for Rain and the others to find their way out. So, they had to spend the night in the tunnels.
As soon as the sun rose that morning, they could see the bright light coming from a small opening. They followed the light and found their way out.
“Oh… My God. What have they done?” Mai screamed.
“No… No they did not… I think I’m living a nightmare.” Sidra said.
The entire ground was covered with dead bodies. Hundreds of men and women died out of suffocation. The poison gas used that night was one of the deadliest. When someone breathes it in, it closes the airways completely. All of those people did not die because of the poison, but rather out of suffocation.
“Samir… We need to find Samir and Rafil.” Rain said.
Sidra and everyone else just kept looking around. They went into a complete shock. They did not say or do anything until Rain shouted,
“MAI… Focus. Is there a way to contact them?”
It took her few seconds to response, “The intercoms were down last night. Let me try again.”
She said, “Samir… Rafil… can anybody hear me? Over.”
They could not hear anything but static for few minutes. Rain took the intercom from Mai and repeated. “Samir… Rafil… can anybody hear us? Please say something.”
“I hear you. We’re in the tunnels.” Samir finally responded.
They ran to the tunnels to look for them. After hours of walking in the dark, they finally found them. There were tens of people in there as well. Samir had gotten to them on time and saved as many as he could.
“Where is Rafil? He went to look for you.” Mai asked.
“I’m so sorry… It’s my fault he’s dead.” An old man said as he was sitting on the floor.
“What do you mean he’s dead? He had a mask.” Rain responded.
“He was helping this brave-young man, Samir. He helped us all get it in. However, when he got it me, I was beginning to suffocate. He did not hesitate for a second... He did not even think about it... He took his mask off and gave it to me. And that’s all I could remember.” The old man explained.
“When I went to get more people to come inside, I found him on the ground barely breathing with Rafil’s mask. So, I brought him in.” Samir said, “I, however, could… not… bring Rafil’s body back.”
Samir could not continue talking. He tried hiding his tears, but it was harder than he thought. His best friend died protecting innocent people. Everything else that happened afterwards was just a blur to everyone. They could not bear the thought of that night at all.
After what happened, Sidra, Samir and Mai went back to the Burj. They swore to avenge what happened. They just had to be smart about it. Sidra was able to convince commander Basam that she was working as a double agent. She gave him false, yet enough, information about Aser and his work. It was just enough to get her and her friends out of facing the death penalty.
Aser had his business to take care of, so he left to a safe house. Rain went back working for the Peacekeepers. None of them could ever speak about that night, and the brutality they had witnessed.
“The souls of those lost shall not be in vain.” Sidra swore.
National Exile: A 21st Century Novel about Nobility, Poverty, and Cruelty Page 20