Herba: Once in, there's no way out.
Page 10
Two black, heavily tinted Rovers pulled up in front of the house. Natas pretended to be surprised at the sudden arrival. Six armed men got down from the first car. They opened the doors of the second car from which the three dons got down. The six men were more than Natas had expected. They were armed with country-made semi-automatic rifle. Although the guns they had were no match in terms of firepower to the AK47 ready to blaze out of the bushes, the men outnumbered the five men hidden in the bushes.
The plan was clear. Once the heads arrived, Natas would pretend to be surprised and scared at the same time. After a short discussion outside the house, Natas would take the three dons inside the house to discuss a problem in production that they were supposedly facing. The armed men, Natas reasoned, would be asked to stay outside just in case there was an emergency escape required by the dons. After reaching the first floor, Natas was to jump swiftly out of the window. Taking cue, the explosion of the house and the ambush of the armed guards were to commence.
The three dons looked very serious. The armed guards signaled Natas to come forward and meet the drug lords. Natas walked towards the three men slowly, with the burning joint in his hand. He tried his best to put up a nervous face. Before he could reach near the lords, one of the men stopped Natas midway and began frisking him. The man frisked Natas thoroughly and ascertained that he had no weapons on him. Before the man let Natas leave, he snatched the half-burnt joint in Natas’s hand. The guard kept a steady eye contact with Natas and took a puff from the joint. He blew the smoke on Natas’s face in a clear attempt to intimidate Natas. Natas played along, pretended to be intimidated and scared by all this. The man, then, signaled Natas to go ahead and meet the drug lords. Natas walked up to the three men and extended his hand for a handshake. None of them extended their hands.
‘Where are your men?’ the don in the middle spoke with a rough tone. The Chef spoke.
‘They are all inside, cooking meth as usual,’ Natas replied with a deliberate shaky voice. He pointed at the smoke emanating from the chimney.
‘Why? What’s wrong?’ he asked with a fake, curious look on his face.
‘What’s wrong, you ask? Come here you little piece of shit,’ The Bulldog, who was standing quiet until now, raised his tone and grabbed Natas’s collar, pinning him roughly against the car door. The don signaled two of his men to beat the living crap out of Natas. Natas was beaten black and blue. Natas was taken completely by shock. He did not expect this. He began panicking. After a good two minutes of slapping, punching and kicking Natas, he was made to sit on his knees. The men tied Natas’s hands behind his back. Natas was now sweating profusely. He began to wonder if his informants had revealed the plan to the drug lords.
Natas heard a ‘click’ sound that seemed to have come from directly behind his head. He knew what the sound was. It was the sound of a revolver ready to pump lead into his brains. Natas assumed the worst. He realized that his elaborate plan had failed before it even began to unfold. This was the end. He knew what would follow. He knew that after killing him, the cartel would kill Rocky and his dad. As for Herba, her death would come long after the men of the cartel had completely taken turns with her. Natas cursed himself for being greedy and tears rolled down his cheeks. He had no strength to utter a word. Natas’ men who were watching, were given firm instructions not to do anything unless the signal was given. They assumed that this was all part of Natas’s plans. They watched silently.
Natas closed his eyes and prepared to meet his creator. He asked god to punish him for ruining the lives of his friends. He was ready for the pull of the trigger.
‘Show me your new drug or I will have you killed,’ the Bulldog shouted as he pressed the gun on Natas’s head.
Natas opened his eyes. He was shocked and completely taken aback. What new drug was he talking about? He knew all too well that he had to play along or he would certainly risk losing his life.
After a brief silence, Natas replied.
‘Yes! Of course! Why won’t I show it you? Who am I going to sell it to if not for you guys?’ he said.
Natas was made to stand up. His hands were still tied behind his back.
‘We did not want to sell it to you guys before perfecting it ourselves. We wanted to give you the best quality possible,’ Natas spoke with a truly shaky voice this time. He was making up things on the go.
‘This is a new drug that I have been working on. The high it gives will make people crave for it forever!’ he added.
‘Very well, show it then,’ the third don spoke and pushed Natas to walk ahead.
Suddenly, Natas felt much better. Things were back on track again.
‘Of course. Can you please untie my hands at least?’
The don pushed Natas very roughly this time. It was a firm no.
Slowly the men made their way to the house. Natas limped slowly towards the house. His limbs were paining a lot. One of the cartel heads stopped just before they entered the house and instructed the armed men to remain outside, just as Natas had hypothesized. Natas smiled to himself discreetly. How quickly things had changed and twisted.
Natas and the three dons entered the house. The lonely man in the green house switched off the safety lock. The LED bulb on the box showed a green light. The bomb was ready to explode.
While Natas limped his way up the stairs to the first floor, a nerve-wracking thought crossed his mind. He wondered how he could safely jump out the window with arms tied behind the back.
Just as the four people were about to reach the first floor, one of the dons decided to get a revolver from the guards standing outside. He asked the other two dons to carry on and rushed downstairs to get a revolver from one of the men. The don was paranoid about his life. Therefore, he always carried a revolver with him just in case things took a turn for the worse.
Rocky woke up in the tent. He had a terrible headache. Herba was still deep in sleep next to him. He kissed her on the forehead and decided to go out of the tent to catch some light and fresh air. As he came out, he surveyed his eyes around the farm. He was surprised to see two huge SUVs parked outside the house. There were six men with guns standing outside. Rocky became curious. Just when he was about to approach the men standing outside the house, a man hurried out of the house and took a revolver from one the armed men. Rocky had seen the man before. He was one of the drug lords that he had met in the house to make the deal. He was The Chef! Where is Natas? Rocky wondered. He began to get nervous. He looked around the house for any clues as to what was happening. His eyes immediately fell on the wires that were running on the walls of the house into the first floor. He traced the wires and saw a person sitting inside the green-house.
‘A Bomb!’
It was obvious to Rocky now. The drug lords were here to kill them and blow up the house. Poor Natas must be inside the house, Rocky thought.
‘Natas! There is a bomb rigged up to the house! They are here to kill us! Get out!’ Rocky shouted at the top of his voice as he went inside the tent to wake Herba up and plan immediate escape.
The voice echoed throughout the house. It was heard loud and clear.
‘Bomb?’ said one of the lords as everyone suddenly became alert.
‘Oh no! Press the button!’ Natas shouted as loud as he possibly could and ran towards the window. But his hands were tied. Just before he reached the window, he tripped and lost balance.
The lonely man in the house pressed the red button. After a millisecond delay, the bombs went off. The metal pieces ripped through everything in its path. The two drug lords were instantly pulverized. The metal pieces had cut Natas into so many pieces that there was nothing left of him to identify a while later. The blast was stronger than expected. The shock waves threw Rocky and Herba a good five feet away from the house and the men.
The third drug lord was still outside the house when the blast rocked the house. He and the men were thrown far away by the blast wave. The men, who were hiding too, were blown away from their cove
r. In the utter chaos, firing began. One of the cartel’s men escorted the drug lord into the SUV amidst the whizzing bullets. The men who were hiding were completely taken aback by the intensity of the shock waves that threw them away. In that shock, they could not fire properly. The highly trained and experienced cartel’s men pumped all their bullets into the five helpless, shell-shocked men. They died putting up almost no fight. The lonely man in the green house realized the situation and ran for his life. He escaped into the thick woods, unnoticed. The men and the surviving drug lord were now safely inside the SUV. They feared for a bigger ambush and sped away from the place mostly unharmed leaving the other SUV behind.
Rocky stood up and regained his senses. His mind was blank. His ears were ringing with a high pitch sound because of the loud explosion. He had no idea what had just happened. All he knew was that one of the drug lords escaped in the black SUV. He helped the clueless Herba on her feet.
Natas’s plan had succeeded in its fundamental operation but failed heavily in its objective.
Rocky now faced with a spine chilling reality. What would the cartel do to his dad?
Wrecked
“The man held Rocky’s head firmly and ensured that Rocky would not miss the heinous act that was about to happen in front of him. Out of nowhere, three men dragged Herba into Rocky’s view.”
Because of the complaints that were coming in against the three young drug suppliers, the cartels met to decide the course of action. They knew, for sure that the youngsters were up to something. But what were they up to? The drug quality that they were producing could not, all of a sudden, plummet. The cartel rejected the theory that the trio was purposely placing the complaints. They believed that they had scared the youngsters well enough from doing all that. The idea that the trio were producing a new drug without the cartels’ knowledge gained a lot of attention. The cartels reasoned that all the attention of the men in the farm was, now, on the new drug and hence the quality of other drugs declined. It was because of this that they believed the trio were making and selling a new drug without the cartels’ knowledge. The cartel heads believed that the youngsters were not capable or daring enough to plan any foolish things that would threaten the safety of the three cartels.
Rocky was still recovering from the shock. The old house was razed down into a mass of burnt rubble. Plumes of smoke emanated from the burnt mass. He somehow knew that Natas was inside the building when the bomb went off. Tears rolled down as the fact of losing his friend began to sink in. He quickly wiped off his tears and ran towards the abandoned SUV. Herba ran behind Rocky. She was still in shock. She had seen nothing and had no idea about anything that had happened around her while she slept tranquilly. Rocky knew that he had no time to waste. He had to get to his dad before the cartel could. They hopped into the SUV and sped off towards his house.
While Rocky crossed a hundred kilometers an hour on the speedometer, fear slowly started to creep in.
‘What if the cartel has reached before me?’ Rocky thought nervously.
He knew what the cartels would do to people they dint like. Sweat was oozing out of his body like a river. He banged the steering wheel and cursed himself for letting himself get into this wretched business. He shouted and abused himself for putting his poor father in harm’s way. He pleaded to God a thousand times to somehow spare his dad from the cartel’s wrath that was sure to come. Rocky zipped dangerously fast through the traffic while Herba sat silently. She stared away into the void, still digesting all the things that had happened. She had no energy to talk.
It was six in the evening. After a tense and dangerous drive, the two arrived at Rocky’s house. Rocky burst out of the car door at lightning speed and ran towards the house. The door was half open. Rocky continued to beg God for mercy. He barged into the silent house and shouted for his dad. There was no response. Surely, he must have come home after work, Rocky thought. He shouted again to no avail. He paced through the entire house and found no sign of his dad. He then noticed the kitchen tap. It was open and water was running continuously. A blood curling fear set on Rocky’s mind.
The cartel had taken his dad.
Rocky’s legs lost all energy to support his body. His heart was beating faster and harder than he had ever experienced. He sat down on the floor of the kitchen and started weeping profusely. God hadn’t answered any of his prayers. The world was turning upside down. Herba slowly moved towards Rocky. She understood the scenario. The cartel had made the first hit. Herba and Rocky were obviously next. Herba sat next to Rocky and tried consoling. Rocky was in no mood for any sort of human interaction. He pushed Herba rudely and sunk his head into his palms. Just then, the landline of the house rang. Rocky ran towards the ringing telephone and picked the call.
‘Is this Rocky?’ said a deep voice on the other end. The voice seemed calm and authoritative.
‘Yes. Who is this?’ Rocky replied franticly.
‘Come to Stoner Hill,’ said the other voice.
‘Who is this?’ Rocky tried to sound strong.
There was no response.
‘Hello?’
No response once again. The call had been cut abruptly.
‘Herba! We need to move! Now!’ Rocky shouted.
‘Where?’ Herba ran from the kitchen and was ready to move.
‘Stoner Hill’
The two ran to the SUV and started the engine. Rocky drove his way to Stoner Hill. All along the way, he had many thoughts running through his mind. Was it an ambush by the cartel? Or was it an honest call by someone who had found his dad alive? Had someone found the dead body of his dad? Was the call even remotely related to his dad?
Rocky and Herba arrived at the foot of the hills. They found themselves amidst many police cars and news-reporting vehicles. Rocky’s heart pace quickened.
What had happened here?
He made his way through the barrage of police and media cars. He drove the SUV through the zigzag road up the hill. The road was familiar to him. When he reached the top of the hill, there were more police officers on the top than they were at the foot of the hill. Rocky and Herba parked the vehicle and made their way through the police officers. They were all standing around a tree. When Rocky broke through the crowd and reached the centre, his eyes could not believe what they were cursed to see.
A body covered completely with blood was pinned to the tree. A long metal rod went through the stomach of the body and into the trunk of the tree. The body had no head. Blood was oozing out slowly from the stomach and the intestines had been ripped out. At the base of the body, below the legs, was a head with eyes wide open. Rocky recognized the face on the head. He had grown up seeing the face. It was the head of his father. The scene was too much for Rocky to handle. He collapsed unconscious on the dirt ground.
But the ordeal was far from over.
A very hard slap woke Rocky up. He found himself in a place he had never seen before. It was a huge hall with very good lighting. Rocky tried to move but he couldn’t. He was tied, firmly to a pillar of the hall. A man in a black mask approached him.
‘Please! Help me! Please!’ Rocky cried in desperation.
The man did not utter a word in reply. Instead, he slapped Rocky once again.
‘My dad was killed! I cannot handle anything now! Please let me go!” Rocky tried to free himself. The rope was tied very firmly. His hands did not budge a bit.
‘That was just the beginning. Now look what we’ll do to your girl,’ he said.
‘What? No! No!’ Rocky screamed at the top of his voice. He had no energy left in him. His eyes were wide open, trying to gather as much information as possible.
The man held Rocky’s head firmly and ensured that Rocky would not miss the heinous act that was about to happen in front of him. Out of nowhere, three men dragged Herba into Rocky’s view. Herba wept and shouted for help. Rocky realized what was about to happen. He tried to look away but the man forced Rocky to witness the ungodly act in front of him.
They took turns raping poor Herba even as a helpless Rocky watched restlessly. The gang rape went on for a merciless one, full hour. Herba could cry no more. Her soul could not protest the crime anymore. She became silent.
The men stopped the gruesome act and poured gasoline on the poor soul and lit her on fire. Rocky was forced to watch the love of his life being burnt alive.
‘Next is your turn. Why should we stop just at girls?’ the man said as he untied Rocky. The men stripped the weak and helpless Rocky and the crime continued slowly into the depths of the cold night.
The Revelation
“He broke through the crowd and went to the centre of it. A body lay on the ground. The face was smashed beyond recognition.”
Rocky woke up with a severe headache. A cold breeze was hitting his dizzy face. It was dark all around. Rocky gently massaged his head. The pain was thumping his brain. He looked around. It was very dark and he could not figure out where he was. The place was very familiar to Rocky. The dirt ground, the rocks, the trees; it was all very familiar to him. In the distance, he could see cluster of lights. It was the lights of the city. He was obviously on a very elevated place. He looked for more clues. The stars were out and the view of the rolling hills was magnificent. It struck him. It could only be one place. Rocky was on Stoner Hill.
Rocky inspected his arms and legs. There were no marks of any torture. Rocky wondered how he ended up on the hill. Was it all a dream? A worrying thought shattered Rocky’s calmness.