Blast

My every moment dissolved in the air and my body began to be divided into particles.

Human bodies began to bleed. More than half of the cafeteria building was covered in rubble.

The injured were being taken to the nearest hospital in ambulances. The vehicles of the press and live coverage channels had reached there. People were running around. Two hours had passed. Security measures had been tightened by the police. Every scene was strange.

The decor of the cafeteria had completely changed. Everything here was buried in the rubble. The blood oozing from the human organs and incomplete corpses had also turned the ground red. A strange atmosphere was created here with the screams of boys and girls. People started gathering from here and there who were busy helping people here.

The particles of my existence had been added to the clotted blood and soul of human bodies. I began to move forward dragging my steps. My brain was spinning and the scenes were riding on the pupils of my eyes.

How happy we were in the morning. One thought after another came to my mind.

I was in the university hostel when my fiancee Mariam called me.

"Hello, Samir! I have reached the cafe. Where are you?"

"Leaving the hostel." I said.

I was starting the bike when I heard a message tone on my mobile phone. When I took it out, I saw Mary's message.

"Come early, you're always late."

I replied her with a message, put the mobile in the right pocket of my bag and sat on the bike. I had also bought some gifts for Mariam. A beautiful pair of earrings, red and white flowers as we had not met after the engagement.

Due to the separate campuses for boys and girls in the university, our meetings were less frequent. I was happy and was thinking that we will go out for a walk after having breakfast. When I was just a mile away, there was a sudden noise towards the cafeteria.

I lost my balance and fell off the bike with the roar of the sound. Smoke and screams started everywhere. For a moment I did not understand anything or what happened there. I started running towards the cafeteria.

There was a crowd of people outside the cafe and women were screaming. The injured were slowly being pulled out from the rubble. All the family members had reached there and were looking for Maryam.

The sirens of police and ambulances were tearing through my eardrums as the wounded were taking their last breaths. There was such a stampede everywhere that no one was conscious.

How many pockets were emptied by these helpers while taking them out for First Aid. How many women's hands, ears and throats were scratched here.

Many such scenes were passing in front of my eyes. I had reached the main place where the explosion took place. There the security officer told that the injured were being taken to the government hospital of the city.

I shuffled forward. Started looking around. My bag was lost from me. I was straining my brain and thinking if I can remember my father's phone number.

Yes, seven two four, eight two four, at the same time I took the mobile phone from the rescuers and dialled my father's number.

"Hello Baba! Did you find Mariam?"

"Son, we are in the government hospital. After that, there is another hospital where the injured have been taken. We are going there too. As soon as you get any information from there, let us know immediately."

"Ok, Baba..."

Thousands of whispers were popping up in my mind.

Now people were slowly coming out. The police had completely taken over the area. The work of removing the debris was going on. The injured were being evacuated. University boys were part of many rescue teams. Meanwhile, some people were carrying an injured woman on a stretcher and running towards the ambulance playing the siren.

By the time I got there, the ambulance had gone.

A few men who were standing there were talking about the same woman who had just gone into the ambulance.

One of them, who came here with the injured woman's body, put his hands on his eyes and said,

"I don't know who the poor woman was. Her whole face was burnt. One of her legs was missing from her body. Someone had cut off her hands and ears. May God burn these bastards, they did not even leave a dead body.

A cold sweat broke out in my body and a terrible thought crossed my mind and I ran towards a taxi.