Chapter Eleven: After the Explosion
1062 Words
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Amid the darkness, dust, and fire, Inspector Omar rushed across the collapsing hall, desperately trying to reach Ali.
Flames were consuming the walls, the entire base turning into a concrete tomb beneath the sand.
"Ali!" Omar shouted.
"Here!" came a voice from behind the rubble.
He raced toward him, pushing aside the heavy chunks of concrete with his bare hands. Finally, Ali emerged, wounded in the shoulder and bleeding profusely.
"Tariq escaped… through the back tunnel," he gasped.
Omar gritted his teeth in anger, then heard Adham's voice over the radio: "If you don't get out now… there'll be nothing left of the base!" Omar looked around quickly. The ceilings were beginning to crumble, and the countdown to the end was near.
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He grabbed Ali's arm tightly.
"Go!" But Omar refused.
"I won't let you go."
For the first time since the beginning of the ordeal, a genuine look of remorse appeared in Ali's eyes.
"I'm the reason for all of this," he said, his voice breaking.
But Omar didn't answer.
Instead, he forcefully lifted him and began running with him through the burning corridors.
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0:00:28 The three of them had jumped out of the base just a moment before... then the entire mountain behind them exploded.
The explosion reverberated across the desert like a massive earthquake. A huge mass of fire and sand shot into the sky,
as the shockwave surged through the valley and knocked them to the ground. Dust covered everything, and night disappeared
behind a colossal cloud of fire.
Omar lay on the sand for a few moments, his ears ringing from the force of the blast.
Then he slowly raised his head... the base was gone, and with it... a huge part of the truth.
Shortly before sunrise, the three of them took shelter inside an abandoned stone building near the old desert road.
Adham was trying to bandage Ali's wound, while Omar sat by the broken window, watching the silent horizon.
The convoy was still moving toward the capital, and Tariq al-Adnani was still at large.
"After the base explosion… they'll start erasing all the evidence," Adham said in a low voice.
"Then we'll get to them before then," Omar replied without turning around.
Ali looked at him wearily.
"Even if we do… who will believe us?"
Silence fell.
Because the question was real… most of the evidence had been destroyed, and the men in power… were the ones involved.
Then Omar said quietly, "We don't need everyone to believe us."
Ali raised his head.
Omar added, "We just need the truth."
In the morning, Adham opened his laptop with difficulty.
There was one last file saved on the memory card… a file that had never been opened before.
"This is probably the last one left," he said.
The decryption process began as tension filled the room, and finally, an old video recording appeared. A surveillance camera inside a luxurious meeting room captured Tariq al-Adnani, General Hamza, and several other men. But the real surprise was that Hamza was shouting angrily in the recording.
"This operation will destroy the country!"
"It will reshape it," Tariq said calmly.
"You're insane," Hamza retorted violently.
The recording abruptly cut off after the sound of distant gunfire. Omar stared silently at the screen.
Then he said, "Hamza wasn't entirely with them."
Adham nodded.
"It seems he tried to turn against them afterward."
Ali remained silent, as if lost in thought.
Hours later, they received a coded message on an old military frequency—a broken, distorted voice, but clear enough.
General Hamza.
"If you can hear this… it means Tariq is still alive."
Omar glanced at the device.
Hamza continued, "The convoy isn't just about weapons… there's something far more dangerous inside the main shipment." Adham asked,
"What does he mean?"
But the message continued:
"Tariq wants to carry out an attack inside the capital and pin it on an armed group… to trigger a state of emergency."
Ali felt a chill run through him. This was no longer just smuggling; it was an attempt to ignite complete chaos.
Then came the most dangerous part of the message:
"If you want to stop him… come to the old oil field in the eastern sector."
The transmission cut off.
Evening fell as Omar's car crossed the desert for the last time.
But this time… everything seemed different. The desert itself had become a hidden battlefield.
"If we arrive late…" Ali said in a low voice.
"We won't arrive late," Omar replied.
But he wasn't sure, so he looked at Ali for a moment.
Then he said,
"Why did you come back to rescue me inside the base?"
Silence fell inside the car. Then Ali answered without looking at him,
"Because I'm tired of working for men who have no conscience."
He paused. He added in a low voice, "And because you were the only one who still believed in something real."
Omar didn't reply, but something inside him had shifted. Perhaps he no longer saw Ali simply as a traitor.
But as a lost man who had tried to return too late.
Omar spotted a gas station and headed towards it. He parked and asked the attendant to fill it up.
Ali and Adham got out of the car to rest; sitting for so long had tired them.
There was a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant near the station.
Omar said, "Let's go and have dinner."
An hour passed, and they drove off again.
At midnight, the lights of the old oil field appeared in the middle of the desert—huge tanks, rusty pipes, and a vast number of black trucks.
The convoy had arrived.
But Omar noticed something more alarming: armed men were everywhere, as if preparing for a real battle.
Adham whispered, "There are more of them than I expected."
But Omar was looking towards the center of the field—at a high, brightly lit platform, and someone standing calmly on it. Tariq al-Adnani was waiting for them.
Suddenly, a distant explosion echoed from the direction of the desert road. Everyone turned quickly.
Then, dozens of military vehicles appeared, approaching amidst the sandstorm.
Ali exclaimed in astonishment, "The army?!"
But Omar immediately narrowed his eyes.
Because the vehicles didn't bear official insignia, but rather the emblem of the White Bear gang.
- Writer
