"It's red now. It actually worked." Dean chuckled.
"At least they weren't shot dead beforehand." Layla added.
Karim's plan all along was to be captured with his father. Since they knew Karim and Tawfiq were in the country, they'd be preparing an army for them. They wouldn't relax until they had them captured. If they had all gone, Yasmine and her people would have been shocked at their number but they would have a hard time going through all those people in a house they knew nothing about. Even if they were able to get through them, there would have been casualties and Yasmine could use that time to escape again with Zaira too. Everything would have been for nothing.
They couldn't waste their element of shock just like that. So they had to sacrifice themselves and hope they wouldn't be killed until Dean and the others came. Marilyn had shown Karim how to send a Morse code so he'd be able to tell them how the guards were positioned and where exactly Zaira would be.
"Something is coming in." Billy noted.
After writing down the decoding of the Morse code, he gave it to Marilyn.
"Army 50, 12 top 8 down 2 gate 3 cpd 5 West 5 East. Z second room top floor." Marilyn read out.
"That's a lot of people. Karim was right. If we had all gone we would have been overwhelmed." Bella crossed her hands over her chest.
"But now we have to act quickly because we don't know when that crazy woman will snap and kill them." Dean said seriously.
"We better get ready."
~
"You're lying. Karim is in the UAE." Zaira was sure Marilyn would be able to send them back one way or the other.
"Why would I lie? Your husband and his father are right here in this house." Hamid chuckled.
"It was pretty easy getting them. It was like they were handed to us on a silver platter."
Did Marilyn not send them back? Hamid was probably messing with her.
"I don't believe a single word coming from you." Zaira sneered.
"Let me show you."
Hamid unlocked his phone and showed her a video of Karim and Tawfiq. Both with fire in their eyes.
"No! Let them go, you fucker!" Zaira screamed.
"I can't do that. They put their noses into other peoples business." Hamid clicked his tongue.
"I'll do anything for you! Just let them go. Please. Let them go."
"Anything? That sounds nice but unfortunately it's too late." Hamid sighed.
"Anything, Hamid. Anything."
She smiled seductively at him.
"Jafar couldn't have told you in depth of how good I am. I'll make you feel like you are in heaven. Just let them go and all your fantasies will be made possible."
Hamid chuckled and took hold of her jaw.
"As I said, it's too late. Besides, I can do anything I want with you without having to do anything in return. You're the prisoner. Not me." Hamid pushed her roughly aside before leaving the room.
"What have you done, Karim? I can't watch you die. Why didn't you just stay away?" Zaira cried out in pain.
She felt like escaping to just see Karim at least. She wanted to hold him. Touch him, hug him, just...be with him.
~
Karim was able to send them the information they'd need by using a telegraph key that Marilyn gave him.
"At least we're still alive." Tawfiq said to Karim at the other side.
They were both chained to chairs waiting patiently for whoever to enter the room.
"Yep."
They both knew there was a chance that there were cameras in the room so they couldn't just say anything they wanted.
They were quiet for a while before Yasmine entered the room.
"How are my guests feeling?" She smiled.
None of them answered her.
"I guess you are great then. That's wonderful."
"What do you want from us, Yasmine?" Tawfiq questioned.
"You won't get anything from me anymore and Zaira is of no use to you. Just let the three of us go and we won't pursue you anymore." Tawfiq tried to negotiate.
"You're right. But..." It was like she was thinking for a moment before she began to speak. "You're going to die anyways so it doesn't matter if you know."
"You see, you're actually right. I can't get anything from you here. But you know everything is your fault, right? You just had to be a fair, righteous and just ruler, right? Your Emirs just hate you. When your dad was in power they were free birds. Your dad was a good king but he wasn't very observant. Even I could tell. He believed anything his Emirs said without evidence. Zeros were added to figures easily and he never realized."
"But when righteous Tawfiq took over. So against corruption and bribery. No one could add just 1 to a figure without explaining why they needed to add it. You were a pain in the ass to them. And then you brought about taxes for them to pay. How did think it would end up? Your Emirs would respect you for letting them pay taxes? No Emir has ever paid taxes since the founding of the country. All those big companies were being made to be accountable for everything they did. Everything was so prim and proper with you."
"So they found me, estranged ex wife of one of the most corrupt Emirs they know. They gave me money. Lots of money to fund my master plan. Kill you so that they'll be free from you."
"So let me get this straight. They want to kill me because I'm not a bad person?" Tawfiq frowned.
"Simply put it. Yes."
"Adding a few zeros wouldn't harm anyone. You people are already rich." Yasmine rolled her eyes at him.
"Corruption is everywhere, Tawfiq. If you had just been a bit lenient with them this wouldn't be happening you know."
"You have people in the army too right?" Tawfiq asked.
"It will amaze you how many people actually don't like you. I was shocked myself." Yasmine chuckled.
"However, luckily for you, you won't die now. Your son however will. He will die with his wife and their ghosts can live together forever." Yasmine grinned.
"You won't lay a finger on Karim. If you dare..."
"You'll what? Strangle me to death? How will that happen? This is the worst place for you to be. There's no one here to help you. You two are all alone in a country full of rebels financed by me. There's no where you can run to." Yasmine proudly stated.
"You have a son too, Yasmine. He'll only get hurt from everything you're doing."
"That's my problem. Not yours."
"I'll leave you two to talk because tomorrow's going to be the last day you see each other. And at least you'll get to see Zaira one last time. She prayed so hard for you not to come but I guess God doesn't listen to sinners like her." Yasmine shrugged and walked out of the room.
Tawfiq looked at Karim as thy spoke with their eyes.
The others had to get there fast.
~
It was at dawn then next day when Karim was awoken by the sound of the lock being jumbled with. His eyes were on the door intently to see who was coming.
The door opened to reveal Layla.
"Dad." Karim called out in a low voice.
Tawfiq opened his eyes to see Layla.
He felt himself exhale a breath of relief.
"You made it." Tawfiq said.
"You thought we'd leave you here?"
"Where are the others?" Karim asked.
"They're taking out as many as they can. Most are asleep. They let their guard down." Layla answered as she worked on opening the locks holding the chains together.
She worked quickly on Karim's locks and when she was done, Karim quickly stood up heading for the door.
"Wait, Karim. You can't just go barging in." Layla stopped him.
Karim groaned but stood still as Layla worked on Tawfiq's locks. She was able to open them a while later.
She gave them both guns since theirs had been taken away.
"Come on." She checked outside first to make sure no one was around before stepping out.
They both followed her till they met Dean.
They were all still at the ground floor.
"You're okay. Thank God... Duck!" Dean ordered them and they all ducked before shooting at a guard coming from behind.
"Let's go and get Zaira now." Karim took the lead to the stairs.
They followed him as they made their way up the stairs. One guard who noticed them was about to scream but Dean was faster and held his mouth shut before twisting his neck.
Karim reached the room he and his father had passed by when they were caught. Yasmine had told them that Zaira was in there.
He was about to open it when Layla stopped him.
"Wait. She's not the only person in there." She could here footsteps coming to the door.
She gestured them to stand aside.
The door opened to reveal Hamid...fixing his belt.
Dean had him on the wall struggling for breath in a second.
"What did you do?!" Karim growled lowly.
No...He didn't...No.
Karim rushed inside to see a Zaira coiled up in the corner of her bed. She was naked.
He couldn't even move. He could hear her crying softly to herself. She hadn't seen him yet.
Layla entered the room.
"Oh God no." She mumbled.
Karim walked towards the bed slowly.
He didn't even know what to say. They were too late. He wanted to go outside and kill Hamid himself right then. But now all that mattered was Zaira. Nothing else.
He extended his hands to touch her.
She flinched.
"No. Please. Don't." She cried out.
"Shhh. It's me." Karim said quietly and she quickly snapped her head to him.
Karim felt his heart drop. Her once plump cheeks were now sunken and you could see the bones of her face. She had bruises all over her face and she looked like she had seen death multiple times.
But she still looked as beautiful as ever to Karim who couldn't help but touch her face. He missed her so much.
She sighed in defeat.
"You're in my head." She said to herself and looked away.
"I'm right here, Zaira. It's really me."
"It's him, Zaira." Layla said for full effect.
Zaira's face contorted in confusion as she looked at Layla before looking at Karim.
She slowly placed her hands on his face as she felt every contour and edge of it.
"Karim??...he said...he said they'd caught you...they were going to kill you... and me...and...and..." She started to cry uncontrollably.
"Calm down, Zaira. Everything is fine now. I'm going to get you back save." Karim assured her.
She came back to her senses and moved back from him.
"No. Please don't touch me. Please. He..he touched me... I'm dirty... I don't deserve..." Karim cut off her blabbering by kissing her.
She didn't respond but pushed him back and slapped him.
"You weren't supposed to come here! They could have killed you! I wouldn't forgive myself if anything happened to you! Why did you come here, Karim!? Why!?" She screamed at him.
Karim held a straight face.
He didn't say anything as he removed the shirt he was wearing before wrapping it around Zaira and buttoning it up. It went past her upper thighs so it was good enough.
"I'm talking to you, Karim! Why did you do something so stupid!? What do you think you were trying to do!?" She was still crying.
"Now you listen to me, Zaira. I don't want to argue with you here in this condition but let me make myself clear. You were the stupid one for using the only means of communication to try and get me out of this country. But that's the last time you'll do something so stupid. I won't repeat myself so listen carefully. I don't care how strong you are. Heck be Supergirl or whatever but I'll come and find you no matter where on Earth you are. You hear me? And I'll not take no for an answer from you. You've had your time to shine now you'll sit your ass down quietly as I do my job as your husband, as the man who loves you more than anything in the entire world. You hear me?" Karim said angrily.
Zaira couldn't say a word as Karim scolded her.
She knew Karim loved her but she thought he hadn't fully realized it and he'll she wasn't expecting him to say it so soon.
"You love me?" She wiped her face.
"Yes. I do. Are you happy now?"
Zaira couldn't reply as Karim picked her up bridal style.
"Hold on tightly to me." Karim said to her.
He felt her nod into his chest as she snuggled deeper into him.
"Is she okay?" Tawfiq asked when Karim stepped out of the room.
"She's alive."
Dean had knocked Hamid out already.
"Now what?" Dean asked.
They were all quiet until Bella appeared with Yasmine. She was in her night clothes which meant she was asleep.
"You didn't tell me you brought everyone." Yasmine smiled.
"So all that time you were just playing with us. I thought we caught you too easily too. And is that Hamid? He's just so foolish." Yasmine sighed.
"But anyways, you'll still be outnumbered in a few minutes. Jafar will bring all the rebels in the green zone to my gates soon enough. You can't escape." Yasmine smiled brightly.
Tawfiq was about to speak when someone said something from downstairs.
It was Marilyn.
"A lot of people are coming from outside."
"Shit." Dean groaned.
"They're here already."
"You're trapped here. You wasted so much eff..." Yasmine fell on the ground.
"She was talking too much." Bella shrugged.
"How do we get out?" Dean asked no one in particular as he dragged Hamid downstairs.
They all walked downstairs to gather up.
Everyone was here now. They had taken out all the guards in the house already.
"Zain? Michael?" Dean said into his comms.
"Yeah."
"Any way out of here?" Dean asked.
"The only way out is the front gate and there are a lot of people with weapons approaching it."
"We're fucked."
"Ummm wait. There's a small gate at the back of the house. You'll have a good head start before they realize and follow you."
Dean exhaled in relief.
"Let's go then." Marilyn said to them as they all started to make their way to the back.
But Karim didn't move. He just stood there.
"Karim? Let's go." Tawfiq called out.
"We don't have Jafar." Karim stated flatly.
"We have Hamid and Yasmine, Karim. Jafar is coming with an army we can't get him now." Tawfiq explained.
"I have to get Jafar, dad." Karim said firmly.
"Don't go after him, Karim. Please." Zaira spoke quietly to him.
"He hurt you, Zaira. He's the reason you had such a tough life. I can't forgive that." Karim muttered.
He walked towards them and handed Zaira to Billy to hold even though she tried to hold unto him. She had nothing to hold unto since he was shirtless.
"Karim don't do this. This is madness." Tawfiq pulled him aside.
"I know what I'm doing, dad." Karim assured him.
"We didn't get this far for you to send yourself to be killed." Tawfiq frowned.
"Just trust me, dad. I know what I'm doing. I'll be right behind you."
"Karim..."
"Please, dad. I have to do this."
"No, Karim." Zaira tried to stop him but he just gave her a smile.
"I'll be right behind you. Trust me."
Tawfiq didn't want to do it. But he had to trust Karim.
"If you're not back at the base in ten minutes I'll come here for you. I don't care what you say."
"I'll be there." Karim assured him.
"Where's Yasmine's room?"
Bella showed him the directions to the room.
What was he planning?
"Take care of Zaira for me. I'll be right there." Karim nodded at them before making his way into Yasmine's room.
They all quickly used the back door to escape the house as the rebels entered the building.
Karim was in Yasmine's room. If he was right, Jafar would come here alone first to make sure Yasmine was okay.
He fixed pillows under the blanket so it seemed like Yasmine was still asleep.
In a few minutes, just like Karim predicted, Jafar barged into the room. Karim was hiding inside her closet so he could see Jafar. He saw Jafar release a breath. He thought Yasmine was save.
He got closer to the bed and didn't realize as Karim stepped out with a gun pointed at him.
Jafar pulled the blanket away from what should have been Yasmine's head only to find a pillow. Before he could react, he felt the nozzle of a gun at the back of his head.
"Don't do anything stupid." Karim warned.
"How are you still here? It seems your friends have left." Jafar noted.
"I was waiting for you." Karim stated.
"Me? You've got Yasmine. What do you want with me?"
"I want to make sure you feel every single pain Zaira has gone through before." Karim said from behind him.
"And how are you going to do that?" Jafar chuckled.
"There's a lot of people outside who won't hesitate to shoot you if you step out of here." Jafar informed.
"I know. You're going to get us out of here." Karim informed him.
**
Jafar stepped outside the room first followed by Karim. They were standing very close so you wouldn't see the gun Karim was holding against Jafar. Karim was able to get a large sweatshirt from Yasmine's clothes.
"Jafar? Who's that?" One person asked.
"One of Yasmine's guards. She's asleep inside. But our prisoners have escaped so we are going to look for them." Jafar said to them.
"Let's go then."
"Yeah!" They all screamed.
"No! We'll go alone. Just stay here and protect Yasmine."
They were all confused but decided to just follow Jafar's orders.
Jafar and Karim walked out of the house through the front door. There were other heavily armed rebels on the compound too. Jafar explained everything to them and they both walked out of the main gate of the house.
"Wasn't that simple?" Karim pushed the gun deeper into Jafar's side.
"Walk faster." Karim ordered.
"They'll realize no one is in there soon enough." Jafar said to him.
And they did because a few moments later, Karim turned to see the rebels running out of the house towards him.
They were shooting at him.
"Run!" Karim growled as he forced Jafar to run and he dodged the bullets swiftly.
The building they were in was just a few houses away. He just needed to keep running.
His luck run out when a bullet hit Jafar in the leg. Clearly they didn't care if he died too.
Jafar screamed and fell on the ground. Karim pulled him behind a store. The rebels were getting closer. They couldn't stay there forever.
"Leave me here. I'll slow you down."
"I don't think so. If I have to carry you, I will." Karim sneered.
Karim draped Jafar's hand over his shoulders.
"I don't care how painful it is, you're going to run as fast as those legs can carry you or I'll put a bullet right into you. Somewhere where you'll not necessarily die but be in a lot of pain." Karim threatened.
Karim pulled him up from the ground and run with him as fast as they could both go.
He could see their building a few meters ahead. He felt like just dropping Jafar on the ground and leaving him there. If he was running alone, he'd have gotten inside already. But he kept on running with him. There were a lot of things Karim needed to do to him first.
Karim finally got inside the building and dropped Jafar carelessly on the ground as he tried to catch his breath.
"Karim!" Tawfiq called him.
He came closer to him and hugged him.
"You scared me." Tawfiq chuckled.
"I told you to trust me." Karim said still breathing erratically.
"And you got Jafar too." Dean looked at the man on the ground.
He heard noise from outside and snapped his head up.
"We've got company. Go up. I'll barricade the door." Dean ordered.
"You can't do it alone. Karim send him upstairs and we will hold them down as long as we can." Tawfiq insisted.
Dean and Karim just nodded and Karim dragged Jafar upstairs as fast as he could. He was losing blood so he was getting lightheaded and falling unconscious slowly. It was making him heavier.
**
"Thank God, you're here. Where are Tawfiq and Dean?" Bella questioned.
Karim had to take a few breaths first.
"They're trying to barricade the door at the ground floor to stop the rebels from entering."
"That's locking us in. The only way out is that door. What do we do now?" Layla asked.
They had packed up everything already to leave but now they were stuck.
Karim could see Zaira asleep on a table. She looked more like she had passed out.
They were all busy thinking of a way when Tawfiq and Dean burst in a few minutes later.
"It won't hold for long. We have to get out of here. And fast." Dean said breathlessly holding unto his knee.
"And how do we do that? We just locked ourselves in." Marilyn asked.
Tawfiq had a way out. But he didn't want to use it. He didn't want to endanger people who had nothing to do with this.
But looking at everyone now, he had no choice. When they had arrived, Zaira had passed out. She was weak and needed a doctor quickly before any damage became permanent.
"We use our last card. Jalil said if things went south we could call for his troops to extract us." Tawfiq explained.
"How do we call them now?" Zain questioned.
"This." Tawfiq took out the device the Major had given him.
"Everyone go to the rooftop and stay low. Press this button on your way there. I don't know how long it will take but they'll come." Tawfiq assured them and put the device in Karim's pocket.
"What about you?" Karim frowned.
"Dean and I will hold them off the roof as long as we can. But we will get to you before you take off." Tawfiq said.
"Then I'm staying too." Karim frowned deeply.
"Zaira needs you, Karim. Go with everyone. We'll be right behind you." Tawfiq used Karim's words.
Everyone nodded in understanding and Karim picked up Zaira. She didn't even stir. She had passed out. They all made their way to the rooftop as Karim pressed the button. Now they just had to wait.
~
"I'm glad I get to go with you." Dean chuckled.
"Go where? We're not dying Dean." Tawfiq rolled his eyes.
"We might. If they all get to this floor, one way or the other a bullet might end us." Dean said flatly.
"We won't fight them. We'll just barricade the entrance here. We just have to hold them back long enough till we hear the extraction team arriving." Tawfiq explained.
"Stuff like that never go how you plan it, T. But I like your enthusiasm. In case I don't make it...just...Bella and my kids."
Tawfiq frowned.
"You're going to make it. And you don't have to tell me. I'll do anything for Bella and the kids. I know you'd do same." Tawfiq nodded.
They started to barricade the entrance with as many chairs and tables they could find.
Something or someone had to hold them back for an even longer time for the other person to get to the chopper. They both knew that. Weirdly enough, both had decided to theirselves that they'd be the one to hold the rebels back for the other to escape.
One of them might not make it after all.
________________________________
Dun dun dun Dunn nnnnnnn‼️‼️‼️💀💀💀
Should I update again???
Should I????
I think I willllll
I've got inspiration 🥺🤤🤤😮😮‼️
I can't let it get away.
Keep scrolling 🤤🥺❤️