Page 38 - Love Story of a Commando

It felt as if the apocalypse had arrived and it was just a matter of
seconds before we would all be doomed.
But you know what has sustained us as humans and kept our race
alive? It is humanity, the very bond which still unites us as humans amidst
all the hatred we have cultivated deep inside us. It has the power to cross
through all the constraints and touch the weakest of souls, igniting them with
rays of hope.
Even at that horrifying time, humanity and the spirit to help other
people stared death in the eye.
People showed exemplary hospitality and benevolence. A few staff
members were offering us sandwiches and a few were comforting us as
much as they could, while others were actively managing the situation.
What kind of people don’t forget their duties even during testing
times?
They could have easily left us alone and run away in the quest of
saving their own lives, but they chose not to. Somebody bolted the doors of
the banquet halls of the Crystal room from inside and I don’t know how
many hours we spent like that without any clue about the events occurring
outside.
We kept hearing the gunshots and, sometimes, explosions. It would
make us shiver and shriek but the hotel staff kept our hopes alive and did
everything they could do. Our cell phones were jammed and we could not
make any calls.
I don’t know who suggested escaping through the exit doors because
with each passing hour, we were sure that there was not going to be any
outside help. The hotel staff tried to persuade us to wait until help came but
suddenly nobody was listening. Eventually the hotel staff joined us too,
more to protect us than to save their own lives. We were around a group of
fifty trying to escape through the narrow corridors which led us to the
swimming pool which eventually opened up to the outside area through
which we hoped to escape.
The hotel staff were leading us when suddenly a bullet ricocheted off
the wall and the plaster above fell into my eyes and I fell down. Suddenly,
two heavily armed men appeared and opened fire in all directions.
Everybody started running everywhere except the hotel staff who were now
trying to make a human circle around us, providing us with cover as the first
line of defense.
Tears were running down my eyes and I could see people getting shot
and falling down all around me, but I could not move, I had sprained my
ankle.
There was panic, chaos and fear everywhere.