The Red Medal

Lightning rips open the heart of the sky and rain falls like dark blood on the deserted streets… A lonely figure walks on nonchalantly, in a trance… in a blurry of visions and memories… in an illusion of fate!! Rain seems like hot bullets fired from the rifle, searing through his senses… blinding him…burdening him with those memories he longed to forget…

He opened a bottle of Jack Daniels, and poured himself a large peg of scotch, his sole companion for the night. Partly because of his training as a NSG commando and partly because of all the time he spent on his various missions he was more comfortable with darkness than the day light… Day light leaves no room for cover; he was out in open … exposed! He stood there at the verandah of the hotel room overlooking the sea. Out in front he could see some distant lights in the sea, but he wasn’t sure what they were because of the distance. The tempest raged with all its might, as if showing off how powerful it was. He switched off the lights and sat out there in darkness, watching the city scuttling away in the storm like those little bastards he gunned down from the chopper during his missions.

“…Major Avasthi led the team in this mission…and thanks to his and his team’s valor today we have slain one of the most wanted terrorist of the last two decades…Abu Hamaz! They hunted him down in his own lair at an undisclosed location on the western borders. Of a team of seven, three lost their lives and three were seriously wounded. We lament on the loss of the three brave….” And the flashes of light! Major Avasthi stood there, tensed, nervous, alert, depressed.... Journalist and camera men surrounded him and his team mates… “How do you feel Major Avasthi being hailed as the hero of the nation?”… “Major Avasthi…Are you going to retire after this?”… “Major Avasthi… Are you going to act in the next movie by Ram Gopal Verma based on your mission? Are you considering any brands to endorse?”… “Major Avasthi…Do you believe Abu Hamaz deserved to die? Do you think…?”

He checked his gears as they approached the drop point… he was ready! “All right boys… keep your eyes open… stick to the plan… don’t shoot each other… by the way a bottle of Jack Daniels to whoever kills that son of a bitch”… they clapped their hands together…gave out a medieval war cry and sat back as the pilot started a countdown before they were clear to jump...

They had lost their cover… the guard over the post wasn’t dead completely and rang the alarm… From a distance Avasthi and his men could see the flurry of activities inside the house… they didn’t have much time… there were at least 20 well trained assassins in the house…bravo team called in first…they needed back up from alpha and Charlie… they were going in! Avasthi knew it was a suicidal move…but then … it was war… It was madness!

Sounds of automatic rifles filled the night… bravo was down… and Charlie was just managing to hold up against the guys from the roof…he needed to move in.. he needed to move in real fast…

There was a deadly silence across that deserted field…you could very barely make out the humming of choppers at 10000 feets… there was one last room in front of Avasthi…there was 1 door and few bullets between Abu Hamaz and his death… the intelligence had been right about Abu Hamaz, but it was wrong about the number of dogs he had kept to guard him…and it had already cost him 2 men…may be more… he took out the pin of the grenade and with one swift movement pushed the door and threw it inside…. the flash grenade blinded everyone inside…there was a white light and lot of smoke… Avasthi charged in with Lieutenant Singh…firing…cursing…

Just after the press conference, Minister of defense invited him and his team to a dinner he had throw at his place in their honor. He told them how much he revered their courage, their sacrifice to this country and how this young generation needed to take lessons from him and his men... they should be the role model s of new India- fearless, strong and keepers of peace! In truth, he just wanted few snaps clicked with them, so that he can appear on the front page of next day’s newspaper. Elections were just round the corner, publicity never hurts…good publicity…well that’s God sent! He moved around the party like a zombie, smiling at everyone, posing for snaps, drinking to his friends who had lost their lives… drinking to their fate and a life or whatever was left of it… even answering some of the stupid question of various guests- were you scared? How did you feel when you killed him..?... How did he feel?

He changed the magazine of the rifle. He couldn’t believe that he was really there… the most wanted…feared terrorist was in the next room, with probably a dozen of other terrorists, with their Kalashnikovs trained at the very door he was going to push in…death was inevitable…this was a failed mission…he came so close…but!

Lieutenant Karan was breathing heavily next to him… they looked at each other…they recognized the fear in each other’s eye…and then he smiled! Their lives didn’t matter if they can’t kill him today… their death will not save Abu Hamaz today…his team mates are not going to die in vain…it will probably kill him…but he wasn’t afraid…

In the white flash they rolled in two grenades…blinded by the light terrorist fired at random… they didn’t see the two hand grenades which were thrown in. It was like a orchestra at work…just when the rifles had reached a crescendo, the two bombs went off in sync…and a second later two INSAS rifles joined the choir from the door…

Avasthi didn’t miss…he was born for this… for this day… to avenge the man for his guilt… to punish him…to kill him!

The boy was standing in the corner…his mother at his feet holding a Kalashnikov,bleeding to death….Abu Hamaz, dead on the other corner…couple of other … here and there…the boy was scared…but he didn’t cry…he was looking at him in the eye… he was memorizing the face he would hunt down when he was old enough…he wasn’t crying he was laughing…mocking …. Avasthi shot him in the head!

The boy lay on the ground; his cheeks were wet with tears…his last words were, in broken English, - please don’t kill me!

He filled another drink! Rain hadn’t stopped for last 3 hours… it’s all been so silent except for the rain…like that night on their way back…the silence was unbroken except for the sound of the chopper blades. The boy’s face kept coming back to him…his tear soaked face…those alive eyes. He took out his medal and held it out in his hand…that glistening silver medal looked so beautiful. There was another glimmer of metal in the rain…of the berretta in his other hand…and a final shot!

But when all this is over…wars won…heroes returned…villains newly found…who cares for those medals…those medals soaked in blood!