Escape to Safety

There are some interesting rock formations just outside Calcutta.
Nearly all schools organize excursions for ninth or tenth grade
students who are interested in knowing more about the rocks. South
Point is the biggest school in Calcutta. Fifteen students from the
ninth grade of South Point are visiting the rocks today. A small bus
has been hired to carry the students to and fro between the rocks and
Calcutta. The trip will be supervised by a junior geography teacher
Miss Delphine Vaz. Apart from the teacher and enthusiastic students the
bus will have a gateman called Sid and of course a very experienced and
dependable driver Tom. All the students boarded the bus from the school
premises itself at seven thirty a.m.. The journey to the rocks took
about an hour. This little time was made enjoyable by singing, dancing
and three rounds of potato wafers and soft drinks. Miss Delphine did
not join in the festivities. However, she did not discourage the
students either. This was the age for them to have fun without worrying
unnecessarily. When the bus stopped near the rocks the students became
very excited. The writing pads and pens were brought out and off the
students went to study the natural rock formations. Miss Delphine spent
two hours with the students. The students, who were all good at
geography heard with great interest all that Miss Delphine told them
.They were surprised that nature had shown great interest in the
mountains outside their own city. After the lecture was over the group
broke for lunch. Lunch was provided by the school itself. The students
all loved the lunch packet which had been prepared in the school
cafeteria. After lunch a few students wanted to play cricket. But Miss
Delphine was eager that the students return to Calcutta without any
delay. The driver and the gateman had been given lunch packets too.
They had been sitting with the students. When the group returned to the
bus they were shocked. Someone had broken the lock of the door of the
bus. The door was open. As the group climbed into the bus they were
greeted by four tall, well-built men carrying guns. Miss Delphine
nearly fainted at first. But she knew that the mantle of the leader had
now fallen on her. If anyone had to deal with the troublemakers, she
was the first choice. She charged the gunmen "Who are you and what are
you doing in our bus?" The tallest of the thugs said "We are from the
Freedom Board. We are taking all of you hostage. Drive us directly to
the airport. None of you will be set free till all our friends are
released from jail." At first Delphine argued with the four men. But
then she realized that the men were serious. They truly meant business.
So, she asked the driver to take the bus to the airport. Delphine knew
that the driver had a mobile phone hidden somewhere. She began to wish
that the driver would contact the police on his cellphone. The
terrorists asked everyone to hold their head down between their arms.
The bus stopped at a traffic signal. Delphine managed to steal a glance
at the driver. There! He was speaking to someone on his phone.
Suddenly, the tallest of the terrorists rushed towards the driver. He
snatched the mobile phone from the man's hands and hit the man on the
head with his gun's butt. The driver nearly fainted. The terrorist
declared, "If anyone tries to be extra-smart, whoever he is, he will be
promptly killed." After a while the terrorists settled into their
seats. They brought out cans of beer and began to drink. Then, they
began to abuse. They said that the people of Calcutta were responsible
for all their troubles. They said that they were virtuous people and
the Calcuttans were bad. While these men got drunk, the gateman was
able to drop five students from the bus at their houses. As the men got
sozzled, they abused even more. Just then, there was sound of gunfire.
The bus was at the school and was surrounded by army commandos fully
equipped to deal with the situation at hand. The terrorists in the bus
started firing at the commandos. Three commandos were killed. But in
half an hour the terrorists had exhausted their ammunition. Now, they
took out knives. Each of the four terrorists chose a student and took
that student to the door of the bus with a knife at his throat. They
declared that they should be allowed to leave or they would kill the
students one by one. This was the time for Delphine to act. She allowed
ten commandos in through the rear emergency exit of the bus. The
commandos ambushed the terrorists from behind. One by one they were
disarmed and handcuffed. The door of the bus was opened and the
terrorists led into army vans. The children were handed over to their
anxious parents. The trip was finally over and Delphine felt great
relief.