Dawood grinned at Khadijah as he loaded up the car and said, "You want to call your mama and let her know that we're heading to the theme park?" "Yes, sir!" Khadijah exclaimed and helped Dawood load the car. "Got room for our stuff?" Elliott asked while he held up a backpack. "Sure do," Dawood smiled. He was relieved when he heard that Elliott had gotten tickets to the theme park as well. He really didn't think he'd stay sane with all of Khadijah's squealing, which he knew would ensue once she spotted the Princess Dome. "Khadijah, can I sit with you?" Elliott's daughter, Serena, asked the mini-Khan. "Uh huh," Khadijah nodded and climbed into her seat before patting the seat next to her, "you can sit here." Serena and Khadijah had become good friends once Elliott started bringing her over for play dates. "Baba, can I please call Mama, now?" Khadijah asked as Dawood and Elliott also hopped into the car. "You got it, little lady," Dawood smiled and handed his phone to Khadijah.
He began to back out of the driveway and heard Khadijah say into the phone, "Assalam alaikum, Mama!" He smiled at the excited gestures the little girl used to explain what they were doing and how they were heading to the theme park of her dreams. "Okay, I know you're busy, but talk to Baba," Khadijah said before handing Dawood his phone. "Assalam alaikum," Dawood answered. "Walaikum assalam," Iman replied. "How're the finals?" Dawood asked. "Tedious. How's my handsome husband?" Iman asked. "He's doing pretty well. He misses you terribly," Dawood answered. "Well, I have a board meeting regarding my job and then I'll be home before you guys. I'm pretty sure I'll have double good news for you then," Iman said happily. "I love good news. I think you'll do awesome in the meeting. Okay, I'm pulling out on the highway. I love you," Dawood said without thinking about it. "Dawood," Iman said in warning. "Oh, come on. You know you want to say it," Dawood grinned and nodded as Iman said, "I love you too." "See? That wasn't too hard. See you later, beautiful," Dawood said and waited for Iman to hang up before putting his phone away.
"Look at you," Elliott teased, "totally a family man." "I have a gorgeous, insanely intelligent, wife and an equally intelligent daughter who is also beautiful. I couldn't ask for more, man," Dawood grinned. "Yeah, I get you," Elliott nodded as he glanced at Serena. "Dad, I'm okay," Serena scoffed and rolled her eyes, causing Khadijah to giggle. "Hey, I'm your dad. I will always check up on you," Elliott smiled before facing forward. "That's just how fathers roll, right man?" Dawood asked and fist bumped Elliott. "Ugh, you guys are so embarrassing," Serena moaned and buried her face in her hands. "I think Baba is cool," Khadijah smiled as she sided with her father. "See? She's a smart little girl," Dawood laughed and looked at his GPS. They had about a four-hour drive before they arrived at the theme park. He had plenty of games in the back for the girls, including many snacks. Ahmed and Ruby had helped him pack early in the morning before Elliott arrived and he was thankful for that.
He thought about his life as the passengers in his car began to doze off, one by one. He had gone from a naïve soldier, trying to find his place in this world to a husband who wasn't valued. He lost his mother, lost his wife, and gained a little bundle of joy that steered him onto the right path in life. It was because of Khadijah that he tried to be a better person, which intrigued Iman. It was because of his princess that he found the love of his life. She was perfect in every way to Dawood. She never hid how she felt, something Annie had done a lot. In fact, he had never given Annie a second thought once he married Iman. Iman completed him, which was something he never thought to be possible. She was a wonderful mother and a wonderful soul mate.
"This must be what being in heaven feels like," Dawood whispered to himself while he thought about his perfect life. For the first time in his life, he was at ease. He felt as if he had no worries and that was a welcome feeling for him. He prayed five times a day, fasted in the month of Ramadan, gave his required charity, and believed in Allah as the one true Creator. All he had to do was go on the required once in a lifetime pilgrimage to Makkah, Saudi Arabia and he would be able to complete the five pillars of Islam that were required from every able bodied Muslim. He had never felt so spiritually fresh as he did at that moment. It was as if all of the hardships he had ever faced were distant memories and this was his reward for being so patient.
He had met many types of people in his life. They came from all walks of life. Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus, and nearly everything in between, all were his friends at one point or another in his life. He had realized that the Muslim communities needed something to bring them all together. They were too scattered, too independent. He had seen good Christians and bad people who called themselves Christians. The same could be said about all the other religious communities he had come across in his life. Good people were everywhere, you just had to be good yourself to understand whom the good people were and who the bad people were. From all of these religious communities, he learned that no community was perfect. That was something everyone had to accept in life. However, there were ways to fix communities and that's what the Muslim communities in America had to focus on, ways to bring their communities together as one.
"Might as well be a fantasy," Dawood scoffed at his own thought process. Currently, he didn't think anything could bring all the Muslims in America united under one front. They were just too different and too ethnically proud to accept others into their communities. That was something that would fade as the years went by, Dawood realized. Intermarriages were inevitable and the ethno-racism that was prevalent in their community currently, would eventually wane away once more Muslims were born in America. He was the perfect example of what ethnic racism did to the community as a whole. His first wife was Pakistani. He was raised to believe that the only good wife was a Pakistani wife. He was glad he let that preference drop hen he married Iman. If he had clung to the notion that he should only marry from the Pakistani community, he would have missed out on marrying the woman of his dreams, the actual mother of his sweet, sweet child, and one of the most intelligent women in their city.
Before he knew it, he had driven nearly four whole hours without a break. He knew that Iman's work was only an hour away from their location and was tempted to invite his wife to join them. "Why'd you have to have work?" Dawood mumbled as he shook his head. He would have continued to thoughtlessly drive, if it weren't for a sleepy Khadijah's cry of, "The Princess Dome!" Dawood saw the famous pink dome with small flags proudly protruding at the apex of the dome. "Yay! We're here, Baba!" Khadijah cried out excitedly. "It looks so cool!" Serena chimed in as the two girls oohed and aahed in unison. "You ready for this battle, Khan?" Elliott asked as he rubbed his eyes with his palms. "I feel like we could never truly be ready for this battle, man. They didn't train us for this," Dawood laughed as he heard the two girls squeal in delight once they spotted the entrance gates to the theme park. He watched his little girl clap excitedly and smiled himself. He was glad he had accepted the tickets. The smile on Khadijah's face was enough of a reward for him.
"Okay, ladies. I want you to always hold an adult's hand," Dawood announced once they parked in the massive parking lot and headed towards the ticket booth. "That means you have to hold my hand or Mr. Khan's hand at all times, sweetheart," Elliott explained to Serena. "Yes, sir," Serena nodded quickly and jumped up and down in excitement as the lady in the ticketing booth placed small bands around the little girl's wrists. "Good luck, gentlemen," the ticket lady said and added, "and thank you for your service." "I'll never get used to that," Elliott whispered as they headed inside to the actual park. "Me neither. I just say you're welcome. That usually gets them to stop talking," Dawood grinned and sighed as Khadijah excitedly tugged on his hand and dragged him to a cutout of her favorite princess.
"Baba! It's Princess Scientist!" Khadijah squealed. "Yes, it is. I'm pretty sure we can meet her later in the day as well," Dawood said and laughed as Khadijah dramatically pretended to faint as she said, "Pinch me, Baba. I think I'm dreaming." "Stop being so dramatic," Dawood laughed and placed Khadijah onto his shoulders. The little girl continued to make small noises as they went further into the park, as if having trouble containing her excitement. "We have to go on the Sir Ignoramus ride, Baba! We can see how Princess Scientist escaped the dungeon using science!" Khadijah declared. "We'll do everything you want, Shehzadi. Just calm down and enjoy yourself. There are more than thirty thousand people here. We have to be patient," Dawood explained. "Yes, sir," Khadijah nodded quickly but squealed again as she saw Bumblehorses, the cute pygmy horse-bee hybrids that ran and flew throughout the Princess Dome world.
"This is just the beginning, man," Elliott laughed at Dawood's exasperated expression. "I'm too old for this," Dawood laughed and noticed that the park seemed pretty much at capacity. There were a million sights and sounds everywhere he turned. He wondered how they'd see everything in a day. "Baba! It's the Bumblehorse ride! We have to go on it!" Khadijah declared, setting their course for that ride. Dawood was glad they had decided to purchase speedy passes to get to the rides faster. He knew that the girls were barely hanging onto their patience as is, he couldn't imagine having them stand in long lines with all the people there. "Four people?" The bored ride conductor asked as Dawood moved up the line. "Yes, ma'am," Dawood and smiled before hopping on the back of a Bumblehorse.
He felt completely silly on the back of this creature with his daughter sitting in front of him, but said nothing as Khadijah declared, "Onward, noble Bumblehorse!" It was as if the creature knew what to do and the ride jarred itself to life. Dawood smiled as Khadijah clung to the animatronic horse's mane. Being delighted would be an understatement when it came to Khadijah. She was on cloud nine to the tenth degree. Dawood pulled out his phone and took a quick selfie of Khadijah and him on the ride. He immediately sent it to his wife and almost instantaneously received a reply. "You're too big for that," Iman wrote with a smiley face. "Too true, my love. Too true," Dawood said aloud before smiling at Khadijah's delighted screams.
They spent a good portion of the morning cycling through the rides. By early afternoon, Dawood could see that his little dinosaur was hungry. He pulled out some halal turkey sandwiches Iman had made early in the morning and offered them to the Van Horns as well. "I don't want to trick you into eating halal or anything so here's a disclosure. They're made from the meat we eat," Dawood explained. "Oh, the blessed meat? Heck yes, I'll take one," Elliott laughed as he scarfed down sandwich quickly. Khadijah excitedly chattered with Serena as the girls ate their food, causing Dawood to smile. He wondered when he became such a protective parent. He had sandwiches, drinks, and even an emergency medical kit for the girls if they needed it. "Baba, these are the best sandwiches, EVER," Khadijah declared as she reached for another sandwich. "You can thank your Mama for them later," Dawood smiled and decided to people watch as the girls polished off their food with fruits.
The majority of people at the park were tourists from different countries. A lot of them came with tour groups that held flags of their country of origin in case the tourists got lost. He found that to be pretty cool and spotted quite a few single fathers with squealing daughters. He was sympathetic to their plight, he thought and smiled at one father who gave a cry of frustration as his daughter dragged him to another ride. He was about to glance back at Khadijah when he noticed something odd. A man stood near a light post with a backpack. There plenty of tourists that had backpacks there, but for some reason, this man stood out. He seemed fidgety. Dawood got up to get a better look at the man, but lost him in the crowd as a group disembarked a nearby ride.
"Baba! We're done!" Khadijah called out, distracting Dawood from his thought process. "Awesome, Shehzadi. Let's clean up and head out," Dawood smiled and helped them clean up. After cleaning up, Dawood held Khadijah's hand once they began to head towards the actual dome that made up the Princess Dome theme park. The dome, itself was like a crystal ball. Nearly a million lights illuminated the outside the dome at night, causing it to give the illusion that there was smoke inside the dome, just like a crystal ball. A wide, expansive, glass bridge connected their current location, Lucky Pastures, with the Princess Dome. The Lucky Pastures were a leprechaun themed area with Princess Warrior being the main attraction in the area. All the rides were centered around her. The rest of the park had similar areas and to get to Princess Scientist in Stonewall Castle, they would have to cross the glass bridge, go through the Princess Dome, and take a right towards Chateau de Ignoramus, named after Princess Scientist's arch nemesis, Sir Ignoramus.
"Wow, Baba! Look at all these fish!" Khadijah cried out as they made their way down the long bridge. Dawood smiled as he looked through the transparent bridge and watched the tropical fish swim under their feet. "Hey Serena, look at the sharks!" Khadijah cried out as she held Serena's hand and chased the sharks that swam languidly under the bridge. "That's the best sight in the world, man," Elliott sighed as he watched Serena laugh with Khadijah. "Yup. Happy kids are the best," Dawood agreed. "Baba! It's a clownfish!" Khadijah yelled out as she recognized the little orange fish that darted past them under the bridge. "Yes, ma'am, it is," Dawood nodded as the girls continued to explore under their fathers' supervision. "You know, I wasn't a perfect father back in the day. I did some messed up shit, drugs and stuff and that affected Serena. It was tough after getting out. I mean, I was fighting out there and everything changed here. I felt like everyone was judging me since I was a soldier. I tried to fit in, but it was too much. I got in bad with drugs. I wanted to escape, man. I've got two strikes against me, but when Serena told me she needed me because she had no one else, I turned my life around. The government says I got one chance left or they're taking her away. I made sure I'd never go down my dark road again. I'd do anything for her, man," Elliott sighed. "I know. She knows too. I don't think people realize that we do leave war, but war never leaves us. I've killed people. That never leaves you. There's no way to reintegrate into society when all you've known is the military. Everyone thinks that all we do is shoot stuff and come home. It changes us, man. Until people realize that, we won't be able to perfectly assimilate back into society. Heck, I thought I saw a suspicious guy back there with a backpack and I immediately thought that something was up," Dawood sighed.
"Wait, you saw that too? I thought I was imagining things," Elliott frowned and turned around to look back at where they came from. Dawood's felt as if something was wrong and called out for Khadijah, "Shehzadi, we're heading back," Dawood called out and quickly scooped Khadijah into his arms. Elliott held Serena's hand as they hurriedly headed back. Dawood was about to take another step on the glass roadway that led to the Lucky Pastures when he saw what looked like a police officer in riot gear out of the corner of his eye. He spotted the abandoned backpacks and bags near trashcans and light poles and whispered, "Something's not right." "What?" Elliott asked as he paused with Dawood. "There are too many backpacks. How is no one noticing this?" Dawood asked and placed Khadijah on the floor again. "What's wrong, Baba?" Khadijah asked curiously. "Hold on, Shehzadi," Dawood whispered before kissing the top of Khadijah's head absentmindedly. Why did he feel as if he was walking into a trap? Why did he feel as if he was walking into an ambush? Why did he feel like someone was watching him? Dawood turned around to look back at the Princess Dome and that's when Dawood spotted him. Otis Mills stood in the distance and smiled angrily at Dawood. Dawood gulped and knew then that all of it, the tickets and the trip, were a trap. Otis cocked his head to the side as he pressed his thumb down on something. "GET DOWN!" Dawood yelled, just as the abandoned backpacks began detonating.
There was a buzzing in his ears as he quickly looked up and saw nothing but carnage. The precious Princess Dome in the distance had smoke billowing out of a massive hole at the top. There was blood and what Dawood could only think were the remains of the people that had been near the trashcans. He heard gunfire in the distance and quickly looked at his daughter. He had instinctively covered her small frame with his own body, shielding her from all shrapnel. "Khadijah," Dawood croaked out tearfully as he patted his daughter's cheeks. The little girl was out cold; her body limp in his arms. "Khadijah!" Dawood cried out in panic as he patted her small cheeks again. "Khan," Elliott moaned as he looked up at Dawood, "what happened?" "It was a set-up. It was always a set-up. People are dead. Innocent people are-KHADIJAH!" Dawood yelled fiercely, trying to rouse his precious daughter. Khadijah moaned as she opened her eyes a crack and sobbed, "Baba?" "Oh, thank Allah. Thank you so much," Dawood whispered tearfully as he kissed her cheeks over and over again. "Baba, your leg," Khadijah whispered as she glanced down at her father's leg. He was close to a light pole and knew that his leg was badly injured by shrapnel. Dawood quickly took of his belt and wrapped it around his bleeding leg as a tourniquet.
He had to get them to safety. "Dad," Serena sobbed as she clutched Elliott. Elliott wrapped his arms around his daughter and picked her up before wildly looking around, "Where are the people? Where did everyone go?" Dawood didn't want to point out that there were bodies all around them. He didn't want to point out that there was nothing but death around them. "We have to get them to safety," Dawood whispered as he forced himself to block out the pain and stand on his badly injured legs. He a lucky to be alive, Dawood realized as he cradled his daughter protectively in his arms and looked around for a safe haven as the gunfire came closer. "Terrorists. They killed all these people, Khan. There are terrorists in the park," Elliott whispered as he finally looked around. The Princess Dome theme park now looked like a war zone. There was gunfire in the distance, men, women, and children lying on the ground, wailing. Some weren't lucky enough to survive, Dawood noticed and covered his daughter's eyes as he saw a small boy with the back of his head missing.
He looked around erratically as he tried to find somewhere to hide his daughter, his precious, precious daughter. "Bathroom. Khan, we can lock it from inside," Elliott managed as he carried Serena. Dawood quickly spotted a men's bathroom nearby and forced himself to climb over the remains of the deceased to reach it. Once happy leprechaun silhouettes now lay on the ground in tattered bits. This was supposed to be a safe place. It was full of children. Otis had attacked the children. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and wrenched the door open to the bathroom. He found three small boys, aged between eight and five, cowering in fear in the corner of the handicapped stall. "Are you alright?" Dawood called out to them. He realized that they spoke no English as the boys stammered their fears in Spanish. One of the boys had wet his pants, Dawood noticed, but he said nothing as he placed Khadijah on the floor. "Baba," Khadijah sobbed as she touched Dawood's pale and soot stained face, "you're hurt." "I'm okay, Shehzadi. I need you to be strong right now. Are you hurt? Let me see," Dawood said quickly as he gave his daughter a thorough inspection. "Baba," Khadijah moaned and clung to her father's neck. "Come on, Shehzadi. I need you to be strong. I need you to be a warrior, okay?" Dawood whispered. Khadijah nodded as she wiped her tears looked at Elliott, "Is Serena okay?" "I'm okay," Serena managed with a squeak. "I want you girls to know that we are in a very dangerous situation, okay? There are bad guys outside. We don't know what they look like, okay? You can't trust anyone, but Mr. Van Horn here or me, okay?" Dawood explained. The girls nodded as they held each other's hands. "Give me the first aide kit, Elliott," Dawood whispered and tried his best to patch himself up.
"I don't know a lick of Spanish," Dawood whispered as he looked at the three boys. "I do. I'll ask them if they're okay," Elliott whispered and crawled over to the boys. The youngest out of the three pouted as Elliott approached them and nearly began to cry until one of the older boys gave him a hug to calm him down. Dawood watched as Elliott conversed with them in Spanish. "What'd they say?" Dawood whispered as he tightened his tourniquet. "Their parents were nearby. They're from Colombia and came for vacation," Elliott whispered and winced as he sat down. "Are you okay?" Dawood asked as he looked at his friend. "Banged and bruised. Not as bad as you, though. We need to get medical attention," Elliott whispered. Dawood heard the gunfire get closer and gulped quickly as he made a split second decision to save his daughter. "Take this, Shehzadi. Don't cry. Call your mama. Tell her what happened. Lock the door from inside. Don't open it for anyone unless they have the password. The password is sabr. You know what that means, right?" Dawood asked as he forced himself to smile. "Patience. It means patience. Baba, don't leave," Khadijah sobbed. "I have to, Shehzadi. Don't cry. You're a Khan. Khans don't cry. Give your mama the password. She'll send help," Dawood said and gulped as the gunfire seemed to be right outside the door. He gave Khadijah's forehead a kiss and held her tightly before whispering, "I love you, Shehzadi. Always know that. Take care of my kid, Van Horn." "You can't go out there. You're hurt," Elliott protested. "You need to stay with all five of them. If shit hits the fan, you can still haul ass with them. I can't. They're coming this way. What'll we do if they shoot the door open? I have to take a chance," Dawood whispered within earshot of Elliott. With that, he stumbled out of the bathroom.
Dawood hobbled to a nearby security guard and noticed that he wasn't moving. "Sir?" Dawood whispered and shook the man. The man slumped over and Dawood noticed that a piece of glass had sliced the man's neck open. "Oh God," Dawood whispered and cursed under his breath as gunfire began again. "They have automatic rifles. How do I-," Dawood whispered and noticed the dead guard's gun. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Dawood whispered as he took the dead guard's gun. He looked for survivors, but only saw death, death and blood and body parts. He leaned against a trashcan and violently vomited as he saw a little girl's lifeless body. She was Khadijah's age. "It could have been her. It could have been her," Dawood whispered as he wiped his mouth. He felt his body shake and knew that it was most likely from his blood loss. He had to know why this happened. He had to know why Otis killed all these people. "Hey, we have a live one here," a deep baritone called out in the distance. Dawood lied down flat on his stomach and crawled underneath a nearby stationary carriage. He could make see two armed men in riot gear walking up and down the rows of deceased individuals that were on the ground. "Just kill him. You know what we have to do," Otis yelled out from somewhere further down the pathway. Dawood watch in horror as the man on the ground begged for his life. He felt his stomach turn as one of the men in riot gear placed his rifle in front of the man's face and simply pulled the trigger. That was why they heard gunfire sporadically; they were executing people. "You think Khan is one of the dead?" One of the men asked as he kicked over a man's body to see if he was still alive. "He's probably hiding somewhere. That bastard isn't easy to kill. Keep looking!" Otis barked out from somewhere down the path.
The men continued walking up and down the remains of the deceased, looking for any sign of life. Dawood was just about to move to get a better view of the three men, when he spotted two teenagers huddled together under the remnants of a giant leprechaun. One of Otis's men began to make his way towards the leprechaun, forcing Dawood to make a rash decision. Dawood crawled out from under the carriage and motioned for the teenagers to keep quiet. The two girls nodded tearfully before they cowered lower to minimize their appearance. Dawood stood up, using the carriage for support and centered his sights on the man that had now spotted the girls. "Well, well, well. We got a couple hot ones here. Pity I have to kill you," the man stated before raising his rifle. Dawood quickly pulled his gun's trigger. The girls screamed as the bullet pierced the man's throat, causing him to fall over onto the ground. The man thrashed on the ground while he struggled to breathe, which in turn only caused a horrid gurgling sound to come out form the man. "He's here! Otis, he got Scott!" Otis's remaining goon yelled out before taking cover.
Dawood dove under the giant leprechaun as Otis and his henchman opened fire in his general direction. "They're going to kill us!" One of the girls whispered in panic. "You two go towards the back of this building. I'll draw them the other way. Keep hiding until you see the police," Dawood whispered as he patted the girls reassuringly on the back. "Mister, you're hurt," the other teenager pointed out. "Don't worry about that. You keep going, alright? Don't look back," Dawood whispered and ushered the girls away from their current location. Dawood crawled from the leprechaun to a row of trashcans to get a better look. He noticed that Otis kept his distance while his henchman tried his best to scope out the area from behind a pillar. If Dawood were to have a chance at taking Otis down, he'd have to get rid of the henchman first. He watched as the man with riot gear made his way towards the giant leprechaun. "Throw a grenade out first. If he's hiding like that rat that he is, he'll come scurrying out," Otis commanded to his accomplice. "This is it," Dawood mumbled and crawled as fast as his injured legs could take him to the opposite side of the courtyard. The grenade detonated just as Dawood took refuge behind a pretzel cart. Dawood took this opportunity to line his sights on the disoriented henchman, who had somehow momentarily blinded himself with the cloud of debris around him. "Ivan, did you get him?" Otis called out just as Dawood squeezed the trigger and permanently silenced Ivan. "Ivan?" Otis called out angrily as he made his way towards Ivan's last known location. Dawood hid inside the doorway of a gift shop as Otis now discovered his second ally's body. "Fuck," Dawood heard Otis audibly curse.
"Khaaaan," Otis called out in a singsong type of way while his boots crunched along the debris-coated pathway, "this brings back memories doesn't it?" "Mills, surrender yourself!" Dawood yelled out. "I did that last time Khan. See how that turned out? I killed people that day and today is no different. Only this time, I have the government on my side," Otis cackled as he made his way towards Dawood. Dawood fought to breathe, but inched closer to Otis, out of his line of sight. He could feel his body begging him to rest, to shut down. If it were the last thing he did, he'd get Otis. He'd put the rabid dog down. He'd make sure that this villain would never hurt another innocent again. Otis continued to mock Dawood as he walked closer. "I'm not alone, Khan. Wait until they find you. Wait until you find out what they have planned for you. I'm going to enjoy this Khan," Otis laughed. Otis raised his rifle and blindly shot a burst of bullets towards the gift shop's doorway. Otis laughed as he realized that Dawood was no longer there. "You Muslim bastards sure know how to find hiding places, don't you? I heard you had a hot wife now, Khan. I wonder how she is in bed," Otis called out, hoping to get a rise from Dawood. Dawood bit his tongue, fighting back a retort as he tried his best to get his sights on Otis without being spotted. His vision was fuzzy. "Oh Allah! Help me!" Dawood whispered desperately, knowing that he was teetering on the thin line of life and death. "Say, He is Allah, who is One, Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, nor is there to Him any equivalent," Dawood mentally recited the last surah, or chapter, of the Holy Qur'an.
"Come on, Khan. Come out and play. If you don't, I might have to go and find your little girl to play with," Otis cackled again. "Fuck you," Dawood growled with his last remaining strength before he fired his gun. He watched in relief as the bullet pierced Otis's skull. He leaned against the charred remains of a snack cart and tried steadying himself before shaking his head to clear it. He didn't want to die, but he wasn't afraid of death. He didn't think he had time to ask for forgiveness for killing Otis. "That's one I'll have to face," Dawood murmured. He heard a commotion behind him and slowly turned around. "Put the gun down!" A SWAT team member called out to Dawood who let the gun slip from his grip. "He's dead," Dawood whispered breathlessly. "The guy who did this, he's dead." "Are you Dawood Khan?" The man asked simply. "Yeah," Dawood nodded as he pointed at Otis's lifeless body, "I got him. He won't hurt anyone again, but he said he had buddies here. We have to find them." The SWAT guy raised his gun and merely pulled the trigger once he pointed the nozzle at Dawood. He felt the bullets pierce his chest and feel to his knees with a thud. He looked at the SWAT officer in horror as he realized that they were in cahoots with Otis. He fell backwards and felt as if his lifeline was fading. He had lost a lot of blood and the three bullets in his chest were sure to help him lose more. He shakily turned his head to the side and watched as more officers began taking survivors to safety. This couldn't be the end. Not like this. Not by his own people. He watched as a burly officer walked past him with Khadijah tossed over his shoulder. Khadijah's eyes landed on her father's still form and he heard her cry out, "BABA!!" "Shehzadi. Khadi-" Dawood began as he reached out for his little girl. "It's Khan! He's a Muslim! See you in hell, you fucking terrorist," the officer above him said. Before he could even finish his daughter's name, the officer smashed the butt of his rifle against Dawood's head, causing him to slip into the darkness that was engulfing him.