OUSIDE THE GATES

The bus started, we drove through Vijaydaam, it was a huge town, gigantic buildings, we never saw from Fazaipur, people wearing clean clothes, the streets were clean; the city was as described in the books. For 12 hours we were in the bus, it went through the city, some minor towns and highways and it was already midnight when we reached Rajesor. Rajesor was the capital of Rohian Bharat. We went pass the huge statue of Kelzai. It didn't represent freedom, it was evil, the evil pride and prejudice!

We reached the Governor's office, it was huge, I wasn't able to see it completely as it was night but the police at distance guarding the building and lots of flood lights gave me a clear idea.

The building had a waiting area as we entered, a reception, we went up the staircase. We entered the bathroom, filled our buckets and went on to clean the stairs, the windows, the chairs, and some stuff that wasn't cleaned every day. I guess they had more people for day to day work. The Governor's office was on floor 12. The sight from that level was something, people from Ghatodan can't even imagine.

The office was fairly large, the whole building had a guard on each floor. The offices on the floor were locked. For nearly six hours we kept working. It was six in the morning, we took a break, and they didn't give us food so we bought some packed lunch with us. We ate it in the morning. We kept doing the work for few other hours, it was 9 am, a posh cars drove in, it was the governor, soon more cars and bikes showed up, soon the office was full. The governor was an old bastard, he wasn't particularly fit but the security and money he had was out of control. The governor got into the building followed by some policemen. They were chatting about something.

The driver parked the car in the lot, I was still keeping an eye on the surrounding when the driver called out, "Vivek! Vivek!"

It took me three calls to realize I was Vivek here, I turned to him, he came running towards me and said, "Hi brother! I heard there were some rally and bombings in Fazaipur! Are you alright? I heard a lot of people died!"

"Yes, it was bad, lot of people died."

"And you died too, you aren't Vivek, he died! You must be Vikrant, the guy who started this whole thing, you must be the only candidate to enter Rajesor and stand besides the Governor's building risking it all!"

"Yes, I am Vikrant."

"The crackhead! Anyways, you are here to plan an attack?"

"Yes, and do you live in Rajesor?"

"Only a few Ghatbors are allowed to live here, I'm one of them."

"If you know the places around here, I can use your help. Are you willing to?"

"You risked everything for freedom, I can do that."

"Good."