Unveil The Veil

Chapter 5 - Aleena

Aleena's Point of View:

Do not have Faith in a person's compassion and politeness when he cannot keep his anger under control

- Umar (RA)
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"Aleena. Aleena. Aleena!"

I groaned and muffled a response before closing my eyes and falling back asleep. The hammocks we were sleeping on were more comfortable than one would think. The wind pushed it slightly and I felt like I was in the sky, sitting on hundreds of clouds while the wind brushed through my face and hijab. This was really one of the best nights I've had in awhile. I faintly heard someone groan and push my hammock again. My eyebrows furrowed as their yelling grew angry. "Get up Aleena! We have to get started." A groan left my lips as I gently rubbed at my eyes and closed my mouth. There was noise all around us, and guessing from the sun that was just rising; I assumed it was still six or seven in the morning. Squinting from the sunny glare that came through the tree leaves; I looked up to Sada's face and sighed. When she spotted that I had awoke, she smiled and grabbed my hand while trotting down the ladder. I sat up on the hammock and held the tree branch from falling as the hammock swayed in the air.

"Lena come on." I swung my legs and descended down the ladder. Everyone around us was running around busy. Girls walked with cups, jugs, and gallons of water and supplies. Sada started to pull me into the crowd of people rushing and running around. I frowned and followed helplessly.

"Sada, what's going on?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

I frowned and rushed with her. The kitchen was crowded people everywhere. Girls were everywhere running with gallons and gallons of water. I dropped Sada's hand and rushed to the other side of the kitchen to the Captain and Tariq as they watched everyone rush.

"What's going on Captain?"

Her face was masked with anger as she crossed her hands and watched with a stern face. Tariq simply gave me a grave look. I nodded back and waited for the Captain to respond.

"They took Haroon. He was the store owner I told you about. Went by Samuel Adams. They took him into custody when they caught him talking with Hamid. He's gone and now we're trying to save the water before they shut it off." She suddenly stopped and looked down. I frowned as I watched her face sadden. Her eyes looked moist and glimmered with what I guessed were tears. She quickly seen me looking and masked her face again.

Tariq gave me a sad look before he shook his head. Shiba still looked ahead with a grim face before she looked at me and sighed. "Hamid is missing as well. We can't find him."

My eyes widened in shock and I assessed her face. She shook her head and started to walk away towards the chaos. Her hijab swayed behind her skinny tall frame as she sauntered away. I watched her sadly, still shocked by her words. Hamid was gone. Surely they didn't catch him. He was skilled, and had done everything to help everyone here. I closed my eyes and kept silent; not knowing what to say. Shiba needed him, he was her only son. I started to walk away when Tariq grabbed my shirt sleeve. I turned and waited for him to speak when he looked around for anyone listening and then spoke.

"Aleena. If anything happens I want you to run okay? I can't risk your life, and there's no way I can protect you all the time. I know you know how to fight."

He slowly took out a pocket knife and handed it to me. "Here, take it."

The small piece of metal was cold and rough on my warm and soft fingers. I turned it over and looked up at him, startled by the fact that he handed me a knife. "What are you talking about? I can't leave everyone behind and run like a coward."