Page 40 - Love Story of a Commando

‘Can you climb down out of the window?’ he suddenly asked me.
‘What?’ I gasped.
‘I mean, if I could make you a rope with the help of these bed-sheets
and curtains, would you be able to climb down and escape? There are people
down there and they will surely help you,’ he explained.
‘What? No, no—I have a fear of heights and I just cannot.’ I was
more scared of this idea of climbing down out of the window than the
terrorists inside the hotel.
He held me by my shoulders and shook me. ‘Look into my eyes,
nothing will happen to you. You have survived till now and you will survive
this too. You trust me. Right?’
‘Yes.’ I nodded obediently.
He started rolling up all the bedsheets and curtains in the room and
braided them into a rope and jerked all the knots vigorously to test their
strength. Once content with the makeshift rope he looked at me and said,
‘Ready?’
All I could do was nod nervously.
He came closer to me, his breath touching and leaving my skin and
his cologne filling my nostrils as he tied one end of the rope to my waist and
said, ‘Now, just hold on to the rope tightly while I lower you down.’
And I gripped it with all the strength I could gather between my
palms. Then he let me down with the rope through the balcony and slowly
began lowering me down. I looked down and then up only to let my gaze
lock with his intense eyes. Suddenly everything around vanished, leaving me
swinging in the air. The world looked pretty beautiful that moment but only
for a moment.
A massive explosion went off, shaking the ground beneath me and
knocking me off balance. The frightful explosion struck my ears and I saw
blood, smoke and a sea of people stampeding and calling for help. Suddenly
the building shuddered, one more explosion hit close to me and shattered the
window glasses all around. The rope slipped out of my hands and I was
swinging in the air half conscious.
I heard someone shouting my name at a distance.
My vision was still blurred and I was hanging in the air, tangled
badly in the makeshift rope which, by God’s grace, was still holding.
‘Riya, Riya! Listen to me! Climb up! Climb up!’ It was Virat.
‘What?’ I was trying hard to regain my consciousness.
‘I am trying to pull you up but you need to grip the rope firmly,’ he
yelled from the window.
I gripped the rope with whatever strength was left in me. Fortunately
I was not hurt. I should have died by now. What’s keeping me alive, I
wondered.