Chapter Text
The air of the night was thick with anticipation. Ranga sat in the driver's seat of his favourite car that they had managed to rebuild. He gripped the steering wheel with white knuckles, to hide the slight tremble that was coursing through his body. Beside him sat Ambaan, his arms crossed, trying to appear relaxed. Still, Ranga didn’t miss the telltale twitch in his eye that meant he was anxious too.
The engine rumbling through the warm summer air was the only sound that could be heard in the silence of the night. The other members of the gang were trailing quite some distance behind, blending in with the minimal traffic that would be found at this time of the night.
The green car swerved through the street, that was steadily becoming rougher and bumpier. The headlights illuminated the desolate edges of the road, and ruined rocks that used to be milestones, as they left the refined city highways behind. Google maps told them they were about ten minutes away, which meant Target’s Jeep was about fifteen minutes away, and Jose and Nanjappa would take about twenty minutes.
“This was a good plan.” Ambaan smiled. “He’ll know we’re coming, but they won’t expect us to have a whole battalion on our back! You’re a genius, boss.”
Ranga hummed absently. His mind wandered elsewhere.
“Anna…” Ambaan cleared his throat. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” Ranga nodded. That was a lie.
“You haven’t been here since that day, have you?”
“Nope.” Ranga swallowed, the phantom sense of flames licking at his body was growing stronger the closer they got.
“You didn’t have me back then. You’ll be just fine this time.”
The older man simply hummed again in response.
“You don’t like fighting, do you?”
That question caught him off guard. In truth, he used to. He used to enjoy it, get high off of it. All that changed when Amma left him. Now, all fighting brought to him was bitter memories and the gut wrenching pain of abandonment. It sickened him now. Still, he had broken his promise once, for good reason. His Amma would forgive him if he broke it again. Funny how both times, it was because of Bibi.
“I don’t have a choice anymore.” He responded. The whirlpool of nausea was building in his gut again, but he forced it down. There was no time to be scared anymore. Suraj’s voice note echoed in his mind, over and over, and his limbs burned with fury as he fixed his eyes on the road. His fingers itched to wrap themselves around that bastard’s neck and strangle the life out of him. It had been years since he’d felt a rage this powerful.
The ruins of the Rubber Factory were now visible in the distance behind a massive rock formation, a hulking figure in the eerie moonlight. The world around them was completely quiet now, but somehow, the air had changed. It was heavier, thicker with tension, and the silence was beginning to feel more like a warning.
Then it happened.
The silence was shattered.
A single, stray gunshot echoed in the stillness of the night.
“Anna!” Ambaan cried, his eyes widening, darting around, looking for the source.
Ranga’s reflexes kicked in as he slammed his foot on the accelerator. Another gunshot followed, this time from the other side of the road. He heard Ambaan shuffling for his jacket, as he scanned the surroundings. “They’re shooting at us!”
They were shooting from opposite sides without fear of killing one of their own, which meant they had decent cover. There were at least two gunmen and they didn’t have silencers on, which meant they had others watching their back, and didn’t care if Ranga found out their location. Most probably, these shooters were camped behind the rock formations. But why? Suraj wanted them dead before they got to the factory? No. It didn’t make sense to have so many people just to shoot one man in a car. That meant-
“They know we’re not alone!” Ranga cried. “We have a mole!”
Before Ambaan could respond, another gunshot came, this time catching the car in one of the side mirrors, very very close to where Ranga was sitting.
“Shit!” Ambaan cried. “What do we do?”
Suddenly, the car lurched as Ranga slammed the breaks. Fuck. His mind was racing again. There was definitely a mole. Someone had leaked their plan. Someone had told Suraj about their plan. Was he leading all these people to death?
“Roll down the window on my side.”
“Anna, are you cra-”
“Just do it, Ambaan!” Ranga’s face steeled. No time to think now. They needed to deal with the situation at hand first. He opened the storage compartment, and pulled out his semi-automatic rifle.
Of course, he was only going to scare the men to buy time. There was no way he could kill hidden enemies firing from all directions in the unwavering darkness of the night. All he wanted to do was make noise to alert Target, who was hopefully only about two minutes away. The surroundings were quiet, and the gunshots were loud enough that Target would catch them, and know there was trouble ahead. Ranga was counting on her.
The window rolled open and Ranga loaded the rifle, before firing in the general direction of the bullet that had nearly hit them. He found himself being pushed back, the recoil near-uncontrollable, even if it was a semi-automatic. It had been a long time since he’d used a gun. Long range wasn’t his thing. Clearly, these men knew that.
Another gunshot zoomed by their car, missing narrowly. Luckily, it seemed that these gunmen were having trouble shooting in the dark too.
Ranga’s mind screamed at him again. There was a mole among them, Suraj knew about their plan, he knew everything. He should have known it wouldn’t be that easy. They needed to contact Mayuri, right fucking now. “Ambaan!” He called out and turned, only to see the younger man also leaning outside his own window, aiming with his shotgun at the rock formation. “What the fuck are you doing? Get back in and close the window!”
“We’re just making noise, right? Well, I’ll help! The others should be here any time!”
As though on cue, the roar of another engine could be heard. Ranga glanced in the rearview mirror as the blood red jeep sped into view. Relief flooded through his body. Before he could make any attempt to contact Target, however, grunts and screams were heard, and a mob of men that was previously hidden in the rocks, began sprinting towards them.
“What the fuck?” Ambaan cried as more men appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, carrying hammers, knives, sickles and metal rods.
“There’s more!” Ranga yelled, waving to Target, who had now gotten out of her jeep, and was loading up her AK-47. There were four other women in the car with her, also carrying automatic rifles.
“I KNOW!” She screamed back, shooting down two men that were racing down from the rock structure.
He needed to get rid of these enemies ASAP and call Mayuri. The bar was in danger.
At a closer range, Ranga felt like he had a chance, even in darkness, as he crouched behind his car. He would load the rifle, see a moving figure, and shoot in its general direction. He didn’t need to worry about friendly fire; Target and her women had cover behind the armoured Jeep, and Ambaan was at his side, firing at enemies on the other side.
“There’s five down, anna! But it looks like there’s at least a dozen more.” Ambaan loaded his shotgun again, but suddenly a strangled noise escaped him.
“Ambaan!” Ranga screamed. The younger man grunted in pain as blood sprang from his ear, where the bullet had grazed him. Oh, god. The rifle fell from Ranga’s hands as he shook the younger man’s shoulder. He was clutching his ear, blood seeping through his fingers, and gritting his teeth in pain, his eyes wide open in shock.
“A-Ambaan, are you okay?” He pressed both their bodies against the cool metal of the car, at least temporarily ensuring their safety. “Ambaan!”
“Y-yes!” The man seemed to come to his senses, still heaving with pain. “I’ll be fine, Ranganna…” He panted, a few tears escaping his eyes, which were now squeezed tightly shut. “Goddammit!”
“Fuck!” Ranga cursed. His hands were shaking, anxiety raged in his chest like a tempest. What if he lost Ambaan? What if he lost Ambaan and Bibi in one night?
No, no, no, no. Don’t think. Don’t fucking think right now.
“WHERE ARE NANJAPPA AND JOSE?” Ranga screamed, hoping Target would hear him through the crossfire.
“WHAT?” came her distant reply. Ranga’s ears were starting to ring from the constant gunshots. Or, was it from the paralysing fear? He didn’t know how much longer he could keep up.
“I SAID, WHERE ARE-”
Nanjappa’s armoured car rolled into view, just in time as the men running down the rock formation finally had them surrounded. With Nanjappa around, Ranga always felt a sense of security.
“Ambaan, look, Nanjappa is here! It’ll be okay now, okay?”
The younger man nodded in response, still clutching his bleeding ear. “I-I’ll be fine. I can still hear. It just g-grazed me.” His breathing was ragged, his body tense from the pain, but he was right. If he could still hear from that side, that meant he would be fine. He had to be.
“Nanjappa!” Ranga called out. He didn’t know why.
The older man jumped out of his car and began sprinting towards them, before crouching down next to Ranga and the injured Ambaan.
“Nanjap-”
“Mayuri Bar.” Nanjappa signed.
“Oh God…” Ranga’s heart dropped. He had a feeling Mayuri was at risk. “It’s under attack?”
Nanjappa nodded frantically. Gunshots were still ricocheting all around them, but the world felt distant now. The bar was under attack. Aju and Shanthan were under attack.
Fuck. Ranga’s breathing picked up, his heart hammering in his chest. This was all his fault. What if Mayuri died? What if he lost Aju and Shanthan too? No, no, no, he couldn’t lose more people. “W-What do I do? Nanjappa, what do I do? Ambaan is hurt and-and I don’t know if- I don’t know what to do!” He cried, fear and panic assaulting his senses.
Nanjappa snapped his fingers, catching Ranga’s attention. Then, he gestured: “You both. Go.”
“What? Go where?”
Nanjappa pointed at the factory, whose figure loomed menacingly in the distance.
“What? Are you fucking crazy?” Ranga cried. Ambaan looked up as well, to see what Nanjappa was saying.
The older man smacked Ranga in the head, and waved his hands around. “Look around you!”
Bullets were flying in all directions. Target and her squad were doing their best to hold off the gunmen, while Nanjappa’s team went toe to toe with the men that had surrounded their cars. One stray bullet was all it would take. One bullet to Ranga’s chest, and it would all be over. Bibi would die without Ranga there to fight Suraj. His amma’s voice echoed in his mind, enquiring if Bibi was happy. What would he say to her, if he lost the boy? Would Ambaan have to break the news, if Ranga died here?
It all depended on him.
“Go!” Nanjappa shooed them with his hands.
“Anna…” Ambaan muttered. “Nanjappa is right. He can handle this. He’s got Target and her team, too.”
Ranga’s eyes teared up. Was he to leave Nanjappa like bait? But if he didn’t, would he be choosing him over Bibi? Could he really choose between saving two of his closest friends?
A sharp smack on his forehead pulled him out of his thoughts. Nanjappa raised his eyebrow, then gestured to his watch. “What are you waiting for?”
Ranga cursed. He needed to make this call.
“Go!”