Tear Gas Didn't Make Us Cry

IN THE MIDST OF MAYHEM

A large portion of the campus was dark, the lights were probably broken or taken out on purpose. Either way it allowed me to stay out of sight. I managed to climb up to the third floor when my legs finally gave up. I crawled to the side of the corridor and sat there for a while. Suddenly a loud scream caught my attention. Although the whole campus was filled with brutal screaming, this one seemed relatively closer. I leaned over the railing to see Hussein on the floor being beaten by 2 policemen. My legs perhaps hate me for this but I ran down. I pushed a police officer and somehow got Hussein on his feet. We both took powerful hits on our thighs but still kept running.
It was exhausting but we somehow outran the policemen and stopped to catch our breath. We sat behind a bench and looked at each. We didn't say a word but nodded at each other to assure that we were fine. It was a good moment of silence but the silence broke when my phone rang. It was Mohammed. He made multiple calls to Hussein but he didn't notice amidst all the commotion. Mohammed couldn't clearly explain where he was but told us something important. The Jamia masjid was attacked and the Imam was beaten up. Matters had truly gone far out of hand. Both of us waited a few more minutes as we restored our energy and quickly made it to the masjid. The situation outside was indeed nerve wrecking but looking at the blood and shattered glass in the mosque made us both cry. We removed our shoes and went inside and subconsciously fell to our knees. Shards of glass pierced our palms and poked our knees but we were too lost in the moment to pay heed to it. If the events of the day hadn't already broken me, then the sight of blood in the shattered mosque certainly did.
Hussein tapped my shoulder and went out while I stayed in a little longer. I finally wiped my tears and made it out but I was still visibly shaken. We came out and called a few of our friends to ensure their whereabouts but before we could confirm anything, 3 policemen came up from behind us and had us pinned to the ground. We kicked and punched senselessly to get free, but our bodies had given up. The police left us after 15 or 20 strikes and we just lay there trying to understand where we were headed with all this. Was it all worth it, were we actually going to win, it didn't seem like it. At that moment, the thought of reaching home in one piece would have felt like victory. Hussein made it up before me and helped me up too. I was done, I wanted to go home and almost made my steps for it too, but that's when I saw a placard which said "You will ask us to go home, But CAB and NRC will leave us homeless". After all I had been through, I don't even know if what I saw was real, but even if it wasn't, it made me turn around towards the campus and continue fighting.
A lot of it is really blur to me now, but I remember picking up a few students from the ground and eventually we were a group of 10 or 12 injured students running to meet up with a bigger group. Someone amongst us started sloganeering again and despite our condition we joined in. It was like a stimulated reflex, it just happened unconditionally. Our sprint came to an end when we reached near the main entrance of the Dr. Zakir Husain Library. We went in and lay on the floor. It took us a while to notice the other students inside there. Most of them weren't even a part of the protest and looked at us in horror. A girl from across the table came and gave us a wet cloth to wipe our wounds. There were already a few students, who were hiding from the police. The others had heard about what was happening outside and were in fear of facing the same fate as us. The air-conditioning of the library was the most comforting sensation I had felt in a while. I for once in a few hours, felt safe. But like every other secure and beautiful moment today, this too wasn't meant to last. 2 students ran in screaming that the police are firing live bullets outside. I wasn't as surprised as I should have been but I was still petrified. Someone from inside gave us all some water. The fear on everyone's faces was imminent.
There was silence for a while, silence that was intimidating, almost as if it was the calm before a storm. "We won’t die, will we"? Said a young student perhaps in grade 8 just there for school reading. His eyes showed fear and despite his attempts to hold back his tears, a few drops hit the library floor. He was hugged by a guy sitting beside him who consoled him and told him that everything was going to be ok. It was another beautiful moment too good to last. We heard a few screams from near the library. The police was surely close by. We asked the students inside to try and call for help, call anyone who could save us. We said this and were on the move again. We carefully got out of the library and sneaked past the officers around the block. We realized that no place was safe for too long.