9 Break through (1/2)

”Yup, but it seems like the police has already caught whiffs of it. Look at those barricades!” Lonappan pointed out towards the barricades besides the police forces surrounding the area.

”Well, the WPP did proclaim this strike on national television. So, this does makes sense.” Kunjan replied.

”Anyway, we're here now. What're we supposed to do though?” Gibli asked. Since he had not been outside for the longest time and wasn't particularly interested about the news, he had no idea how strikes usually worked in Earth.

”Well, people usually aggressively protest at this point. But our goal isn't that. Our goal is to blend in with the crowd and make it seem like we're protesting.” Lonappan replied.

”But we are protesting, aren't we?” Gibli was visibly confused. Sometimes, he can never understand what Lonappan means.

”Indeed. However, we have to absolutely make sure that we don't get caught during this.” Lonappan answered.

”What?” Thankkappan who stayed silent for the entire ordeal, looked surprised as he heard about the possibility of them getting caught.

”Why else would the police be here?” Lonappan asked.

”To control the mob.” Thankappan answered almost immediately.

”And how do you think they'll control the mob?” He asked yet again, to which Thankappan replied in quick succession.

”By arresting people?”

”Precisely.” Now that he got the answer he wanted, Lonappan took his leave. ”Well, I got some people to meet, so I'll just leave.”

”What are we supposed to do?” Gibli asked yet again, since Lonappan didn't give him a clear objective before.

”You remember Gopan, right? Meet him. He's the organizer around here.” Lonappan responded as he blended into the crowd.

”Sure.” Gibli faintly spoke as he saw Lonappan go.

But, Lonappan stopped in his tracks and turned back to his junior. ”Thankappan, I'll leave them in your hands.” However, he quickly changed his decision, up on realizing the error in his decision. ”Shoot, maybe not. Kunjan, you're in charge.”

”Hey, a little belief in me would be appreciated!” Thankappan gave out an ungodly pout.

”Earn it, my dude. Earn it.” Lonappan laughed it off before finally leaving the premises.

”So, we have to find Gopan, huh?” Kunjan looked around, searching for Gopan.

However, they didn't have to move, since Gopan bumped into them beforehand. ”Hey, guys!” Gopan spoke, whilst waving his hand.

”Hello. We were just talking about you.” Kunjan welcomed Gopan to the fold as he extended his hand.

”I see. Seriously, thank you for coming though.” Gopan replied as he shook on it.

”We're WPP members, after all.” Kunjan replied. A keen eye-sighted person could see a faint twitch in Kunjan's stoic exoskeleton, as if he was trying to give out a friendly smile.

”That's the spirit!” Gopan spoke enthusiastically before looking at the barricade. ”Although, we're gonna have a hard time breaking the barricade this time around.”

”Huh? Breaking the barricade? Why?” The four of them were surprised. They didn't know this part of the plan.

”Weren't we supposed to have a peaceful ruckus or something?” Gibli asked, laughing nervously.

”We are. It's just that breaking the barricades symbolizes that the people opposes the decisions taken by this government and are trying to break through, so that their voices could be heard.” Gopan explained the significance of his actions.

”Wow, I didn't expect such a deep symbolism in such a deed.” Thankappan looked up to Gopan in awe.

”Yea, but you said it's gonna be hard this time. What was it like earlier?” Kunjan asked him the relevant stuff.

”Well, the police force is just a bit more this time. Well, the possibility of them hunting us down even before we reach the barricade is highly probable.” Gopan briefed on the situation.

”Isn't that against the law? You wouldn't have caused a ruckus by then, right? So they can't do such a thing unless provoked, am I right?” Kunjan asked, yet again slightly flexing on his prowess.

”That part's simple if they place a mole among us. They'd just throw a rock or two at the police and voila, they got their incentive.” Gopan laughed it off, even though his words carried serious weight.

”That's cheating!” Gibli squeaked. The squeak did not suit his lanky self.

”This is a war, basically. Everything's legal.” Gopan gave out his great wisdom.

”So, we have to give it our all and try to break through the barricade then.” Thankappan blurted out his thoughts. He looked excited.

”That's what we're aiming for.” Gopan agreed with Thankappan in this case.

”The pay.” Kunjan uttered in a low voice.

”Huh?”

”Will there be any pay hike if we're able to pull it off?” Kunjan asked to the baffled Gopan.

After staying silent for a few seconds, Gopan busted into a laugh. ”It seems that someone's quite greedy for the money! But yes, there's a possibility that you'll get a thousand per person if we can pull it off.” He said as he nodded his head.

Suddenly, all of them looked seriously fired up. ”???????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????? ????????????!” They collectively thought.

”It seems like you made your decision. Also, why don't you talk about it with Lonappan?” Gopan asked, since he was a bit concerned about the sudden change in their behavior.

”Uh, yea sure! Bye, Gopan.” Kunjan took his leave as soon as possible, dragging the other three with him.

”Okay, guys. See you later.” Gopan decided not to question this, since it seemed like they looked genuinely faithful towards WPP.

After getting a few meters away from Gopan, Kunjan finally let go of their hands. ”Shoot. Lonappan is not gonna allow us to break the barricade now, is he?” Kunjan voiced his main concern.

”Well, he did ask of us to blend in with the crowd.” Thankappan replied.

”Yea, blend in; not stand out!” Kunjan spoke..