What is love?

12. Insane

"Emergency! There has been a missile attack outside the masjid! We need to get there and get everyone out of there! Right now!" Ismail shouted through the transmitter, his voice reflecting the intense urgency that got everyone moving immediately.

Wasim looked at Suhail knowingly and the two of them shared a look. The look that conveyed a common thought - they both knew this was going to happen.

Meanwhile, Hamdan was receiving instructions from Ismail, signalling to Wasim and Suhail to prepare themselves.

"The other groups are coming to the Masjid. You guys are the closest so please head over and do whatever you can," Ismail instructed.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Wasim said, grabbing the other two by their shoulders and pushing them forward gently.

"Get everyone who is in the masjid or around the premises. Also, get everyone out of the guesthouse. Chances are the next missile is going to be thrown at the guesthouse!"

"Alright," Wasim said.

He immediately found the guesthouse manager and ordered him to get everyone out with their luggage.

There were 3 vans parked outside, organised by Ismail for evacuating everyone from the guesthouse and the nearby masjid.

Suddenly, Wasim remembered the guy he saw earlier. Ahmed, he recalled the name to be. Something about this Ahmed had touched his heart. It was the way he had risked everything despite knowing about Ghazni's situation, just to come here for the sake of his love. He remembered how he was alone with his sister. Maybe she was his only family. Knowing that they had come all the way from India with their passports and that their luggage was probably in their rooms, he asked the manager their room numbers. The manager handed him the keys to their room and Wasim immediately rushed off, leaving Suhail and Hamdan to get everyone else out of there.

He unlocked both the rooms and haphazardly packed everything from their belongings, including their passports which he found in the drawers. He grabbed the two suitcases, one from each room, ran to the van and put them in the van.

Once he was done, he ran back to the manager and asked him if there was anyone else left in the guesthouse. When the manager reassured him that Suhail and Hamdan and taken care that everyone was out, Wasim rushed over to the room in which he was staying with Hamdan, Faizaan and Umayr, to grab his own things.

After making sure everything was done at the guesthouse, Wasim found Suhail and Hamdan and the three of them jumped into one of the vans.

The drivers were already instructed to drive to the masjid by Ismail, which they did.

During the drive, Wasim's glance fell on Ahmed and his sister's luggage. He was aware that at that very moment, they were both at the masjid for the purpose of completing Ahmed's nikkah. Even though, what with the blast that just took place outside it, he didn't know if the nikkah was said yet or not.

With every fibre of his very being, Wasim prayed to Allah to ensure that no one was hurt during this missile attack. He knew that the missile missed the masjid, but he knew that if they didn't make it in time to get everyone to evacuate, then sooner or later it would hit the masjid. And then there would be nothing anyone could do.

Wasim marveled at how close Ahmed was to death today. All for the sake of his love. Love truly was insane. It made one do insane things.

"Kassim bhai, please hurry. We need to get there right away!" Suhail leaned forward and urged the van driver.

Wasim looked around him, and all that he saw were terrified faces sitting in the seats of the van. Adjacent to his seat was a man, hugging a woman, presumably his wife, close. She held onto his shirt tightly, her lower lip trembling and her eyes bloodshot. The man kept murmuring comforting words to her, in the futile attempt of calming her down.