Operation: Dard and Devotion

19 | Waver & Woe

"To do what?" I mumbled quietly, already fearing the obvious answer.

"Just help them with a bit of clean-up, that's all." He grabbed my arm and shoved me towards Ahsan. "Off you go!"

Ahsan, throwing a glare at Faizan, furiously led me out of the way from the pool of militants and threw me back into the jeep.

"You could be a bit gentler, you know," I muttered, rubbing my upper arm where he had gripped it tightly. He made no audible response, but instead turned the key into the ignition and reversed the vehicle. "Can I ask you something?"

"No."

I ignored him, crossing my arms across my chest. "Why are you taking me along to go on these 'missions'? I'd much rather starve to death in the dungeon."

He, in turn, ignored me and continued to drive for some time more until we stopped in front of a graveyard. Pulling out a sledgehammer, he stormed out of the vehicle and slashed down the many grave stones inscribed with old Syriac and Arabic.

"What are you doing!" I screamed as he resumed tearing down the stones that once stood a foot off of the ground. "Stop!"

"Elevated graves are not permitted as they are a sign of idolatry," Ahsan muttered through clenched teeth.

"Idolatry?" I screeched. "Have you ever seen anyone worshipping a grave stone?"

"Doesn't matter." He swung at another stone. "It still is not allowed."

"Why can't you just leave it alone?" Trailing behind him, I rubbed my temples to prevent myself from fainting at the sight. "People were buried here, at least have some respect!"

He ignored me and sliced open a few more stones.

"Ahsan! I said stop!" When he showed no signs of listening, I vehemently stomped over to him and tugged his arm, forcing him to look at me. "What if these were the graves of your parents?"

At that, he froze and stared at me wide-eyed as the thought had dawned on him. Ahsan abruptly let go of the sledgehammer and it crushed a final stone nearby. Gaping at the mess he created, his shoulders slumped in hesitant defeat.

Suddenly, a thundering noise echoed throughout the barren land and the small pebbles beneath my worn flats had rattled. The cacophonous, booming sound of colliding rock made me realize what just happened. I felt the color drain completely from my face as I watched a pillar of fiery smoke and dust furiously rise from the horizon, not very far from where we were.

"W-was that a bomb?" The words escaped from me as I continued to watch, horrified. It was one thing to see a bomb go off on TV, and quite another to see it happen in person.

"No," Ahsan said, keeping his expression guarded as he backed away from me. "They're just a bunch of impact grenades."

"Grenades?"

"Impact grenades explode wherever they land, so they were thrown from a distance. They're handheld and easy to carry around," he informed me casually. "The ones we had with us today have a danger area of about 230 meters."

I spun around to face the place where the colonnades were at from the distance. They were no longer standing.

"How f-far are we from there?"

"A little over a kilometer. It won't affect us much from here since they're not large-scale bombs or anything."

"Oh, that makes me feel so much better," I told him, not hiding the sarcasm in my tone and whispered, "I can't believe they're gone."