THE DRAGON

  • 24 Nov - 30 Nov, 2018
  • Nadeem Alam
  • Fiction

It was past midnight. The basement parking area of the mall was huge and it looked gloomy. It was poorly lit and there were no guards inside. Only exit and entrance gates had security cameras installed. I had to make sure that I remain undetected during the whole operation. This was the main reason of my survival in the underworld so far. I worked alone, discrete and I never left any clues. Coming down from the stairs into the basement parking or using elevator was not safe. I did the complete reconnaissance and found out that the best way in and out of the parking was through the garbage truck. The truck would come to clean the huge bin in basement every eight hours. The midnight shift truck was on its way when I stopped my bike in front of it. I had stolen this bike last night from other end of the city. The truck driver had to pull over. While still wearing the helmet, I walked up to him. He was annoyed but seemed curious. I pulled up my gun and now he was frightened too. All his expressions got mixed up and he started begging me for his life. He extended his mobile phone towards me but I told him to get down from the truck. He obliged instantly. I had stopped the truck on a link road and there was hardly any traffic there. A couple of cars and few motorcycle riders passed by us but they did not pay heed to what was happening around there. They were probably used to seeing these scenes and might have been a victim of such crimes themselves. So, they chose to look the other way.

I did not waste much time. It only took me less than two minutes to remove the orange overall of the driver, tie him up, put a tape on his mouth and throw him in the back container. I did not forget to hit his head with my Glock’s butt, hard enough for him to remain motionless for few hours. I then removed my helmet and wore the orange overall. I pushed the stolen motorbike in the bushes and was now driving the garbage truck to the mall basement with a surgical mask on my face. I drove past the entrance guard who seeing the usual truck opened the barrier. I stopped the truck near the bin and sneaked close to the V8 of Seth Ramzan. Suddenly the elevator door opened and I saw the Seth’s driver coming out and walking towards the land cruiser. I was on other side of the jeep in complete darkness. He was not able to see me. I only had few seconds to finish my work so I immediately lied down. I stuck the magnetic explosive device underneath belly of the jeep and without producing any sound I slipped under the adjacent vehicle. A second later, Seth’s driver walked in the aisle, opened the door and drove out the Jeep. Five minutes later, I took out the garbage truck from the basement parking exit. The guard waved me and I waved back.


I was now waiting outside standing at a place from where I could observe the mall. The jeep was parked in porch of the mall. I had a binocular with me and I could clearly see main entrance of the mall. I had watched Seth Ramzan from here at multiple times. It was sharp 1 am when Seth Ramzan walked out with a bodyguard and sat in the jeep. The guard after closing the rear door sat on front seat and the jeep started moving slowly. There were other vehicles also getting out of the mall. I did not want anybody else to get hurt. I allowed the Seth’s jeep to come towards me. It was now racing fast and so was my heart. Seth Ramzan was owner of the mall and someone wanted him dead. I was paid my usual fee and I never asked why. He was my target. I still felt like the same as twenty years ago when I shot the first human being. The concept of hardening of heart seemed a lie to me.

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I came to Karachi in the March of 1998 with big dreams, to become a billionaire overnight. It was like a small child trying to grapple the moon. Shortest route was of course the hardest. I cannot forget my first day in the city when I was robbed of all my valuables at gun point in the broad day light. I had just disembarked from the bus. I had to change three buses to reach Karachi. As soon as I left the bus station, two persons riding on a bike stopped near me. First, I thought they wanted to ask about some address and looked at them puzzlingly. However, sensing the danger, my grip on the bag got tightened. The person sitting at the rear of the bike took me on gun point,

to be continued...

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