A few hours after the exhausting shoot, Suri settled down into the warm and cosy interior of the van to relax, ready for the journey out of the city.
The sun shone brightly overhead, casting a warm glow that promised a successful day ahead.
Inside the van, she lay reclined on a cushioned seat, a soothing face mask covering her features and beside her sat Hela, her new assistant, who was nervously fidgeting with her tablet.
"Are we almost there?" Hela asked, glancing around nervously.
"Relax, Hela. It's a straight shot down the highway," Suri reassured her, trying to keep the woman's mood light.
"Don't be too nervous, people aren't that crazy to stalk me and follow us all the time. I may be popular, but not that much popular."
Hela stared at Suri's lazy face and decided to keep quiet.
'You aren't popular. Who are you kidding? At present, you are at the top of the game.' Shaking her head, she started looking back out at the road.
Mark, the driver, had his eyes focused on the road while scanning for any unexpected obstacles on the way.
Just as they hit an open stretch of highway, the van jerked to an abrupt halt, causing Suri to open her eyes, and pull her mask down, irritation creeping into her voice. "What's going on now?"
"Miss, it seems there's been a road crash ahead. The way is blocked," Mark explained, a hint of frustration evident in his voice. Meanwhile, he also gazed around only to find the place empty, except for a few people ahead along with some cops at the scene while the road was eerily quiet.
"Road crash? How troublesome," Suri sighed, already annoyed by the delay. Just as she was about to speak again, a high-pitched scream cut through the air.
"MISSSS!" Hela shrieked, her eyes wide with terror as she pointed outside.
Suri turned her head just in time to see several dark vans pulling up around them from the grassy patches by the roadside as if they had been waiting.
PANG! PANG! PANG!
A gruesome thud echoed as the bodies hit the ground.
"Hold on!" Suri shouted, veering onto the rough shoulder of the highway, where the terrain was rough but still somewhat passable. She didn't want to run on the smooth terrain knowing well that it would make them an easier target and close intercept them.
And then the pursuit began in earnest with the attackers scrambling to regain control over the situation, their vehicles swerving wildly in a desperate attempt to block her escape.
"Mark! Hela! Are you guys okay?" Suri shouted, glancing back at her companions. Hela's face had turned pale and she was clutching the seat tightly, while Mark, wide-eyed, struggled to keep his composure while constantly checking the rearview.
"Miss, I need to get out of here!" Hela cried, her voice trembling.
Suri focused on the road, her adrenaline surging as she yelled. "Just stay down! I've got this!"
At that time, the communication system on her smartphone lit up and a hoarse voice crackled through the speaker.
"Miss, this is the Alpha team. We've detected signal jammers in the area. We can't get a lock on your location!"
"What? Jammers?" Suri exclaimed as she glanced at the display screen, which showed that all the indicators were scrambled. "Damn it! We're in trouble."
"Keep driving! We'll figure something out!" a team member urged through the communicators.
It wasn't a secret that Suri had a secret security team that would always follow her and that her location signal would always be sent to them but there was a big trouble this time.
As the pursuit continued, Suri's thoughts raced, wondering who these guys were. Behind, she could hear the fierce revving engines and heavy gun firings.
The once well-groomed van was now battered, chipped and scratched all over.
Just then, a new set of headlights appeared in the distance, growing larger as they approached. Seeing this, Suri narrowed her eyes, trying to discern whether they were friends or foes.