And, as anticipated, within ten minutes the steady hum of motorbikes approached, growing louder until Welly, Abdi, and Gaga finally arrived.
They swiftly brought their machines to a halt a short distance from the coffee stall, then set off at a brisk pace towards Diga and Aryo, who waited on the pavement opposite the row of shopfronts across from Koba Baru Pharmacy.
Aryo was the first to greet them, eyes sharp with inquiry, “All well?” he asked quietly, urgency threading his voice.
“All clear,” Abdi replied, his tone succinct yet resolute, eyes flicking cautiously around to ensure no prying eyes lingered nearby.
Without missing a beat, he resumed outlining the plan, each word measured and precise, leaving no detail to chance.
“I’ll take the front,” he said firmly. “Play the part of a desperate customer, knocking loudly, shouting for help, claiming a relative’s convulsing in the car. If our suspicion holds, they’ll open the door, or at the very least peer through the gap.”
Abdi’s gaze swept over them one by one before nodding towards Welly and Gaga.
“As soon as the door opens and their attention’s fixed on me, you two slip in quietly through the back.”
“If anyone’s inside, subdue them immediately. Move swiftly! No time for hesitation.”
Welly nodded sharply, while Gaga’s fists clenched in readiness, “Understood. We move the instant you make your move.”
Abdi then turned to Aryo and Diga, “You both have a vital role as well. Position yourselves opposite the pharmacy, at separate vantage points.”
“One by the lamppost, the other blending in as a busker or loiterer. Keep watch. Should anything appear suspicious. Cops, nosy locals, send the signal.”
Aryo smirked lightly, “The same old sign? Tying shoelaces with a cheeky grin?”
Abdi allowed himself a faint smile, “Exactly that. Though now, add a slight flick of the hand, like brushing away a fly. Makes it seem natural.”
With their roles clearly understood, the four dispersed to their appointed stations.
The street lay quiet that afternoon, a rare stillness broken only by the occasional passing vehicle and a handful of indifferent pedestrians, oblivious to the unfolding drama.
They moved as one until reaching a point some fifty metres from Koba Baru Pharmacy, where they silently parted ways.
Abdi pressed onward towards the pharmacy’s main entrance, his head bowed low, embodying the panic of a man in genuine distress.
Welly and Gaga vanished discreetly into the narrow alley running alongside the building, slipping towards the rear with careful steps.
Aryo took refuge against a lamppost, striking a match to light a cigarette, a casual guise to mask his watchful vigilance, while Diga settled onto a cold concrete bench before the shuttered photocopy shop.
Each played their part with studied precision. The moment had come.
Abdi planted himself before the door, eyes darting nervously left and right.
His breath quickened, his body taut with feigned anxiety.
Satisfied no prying eyes lingered, he rapped lightly at first. Tentative, hesitant.
Then, with mounting urgency, his knuckles hammered the door in desperate insistence.
“Sir! Ma'am! Please, I desperately need some medicine! Do open the door! This is urgent!” His voice rang out loud, trembling with barely concealed panic.
Pressing his eyes against the glass, he strained to discern any movement within.
He struck the door again, this time with a more insistent, rapid barrage of knocks that resonated through the quiet interior.
Within the pharmacy, Felzein, Cherlyn, Rosa, Melati, Dewi, Rasya, and Wina were taken aback by the sudden clamour at the entrance.
“What on earth is happening?” Dewi asked, her voice tinged with bewilderment, her eyes widening as the knocking grew louder.
Cherlyn’s gaze sharpened as she addressed Dewi with quiet authority, “Go and see who it is,” she instructed, masking her own unease beneath a veneer of calm.
Dewi gave a hesitant nod, a flicker of doubt crossing her face, yet she moved swiftly towards the door, her frame taut with apprehension.
Outside, the knocking grew ever more urgent, as though the door might give way under the relentless assault.
With care, Dewi turned the handle and eased the door open just enough to peer out.
There, standing tall and wide-eyed, was Abdi.
His expression one of calculated distress, every tremble of his hand and rapid breath a performance crafted to persuade whoever remained within.
Dewi knitted her brows, a flicker of scepticism in her eyes, yet she maintained an air of politeness and restraint.
“I’m afraid the pharmacy is closed today, sir. The proprietor has taken the day off,” she explained with measured caution, though her bewilderment was not easily concealed.
“Please, it’s most urgent! My younger brother is having seizures at home. He needs diazepam or anything to soothe him!” Abdi’s voice quivered deliberately, a practiced edge of desperation threading through his words.
He fixed Dewi with a look full of earnest hope, though inwardly he was already weighing his next course of action.
Dewi felt the pressure of his plea keenly. She racked her mind, but the pharmacy was indeed closed, and dispensing medication without the proper protocol was out of the question.
Yet the tension etched across Abdi’s face gave her a moment’s hesitation.
After a brief pause, she exhaled softly, “Very well, sir. I shall require a doctor’s prescription,” she replied, her tone firm yet courteous.
Abdi’s expression faltered, a sudden rigidity settling over his features.
He had scoured the internet for information on the drug, confident in his scheme.
But one vital detail had slipped through the cracks is the medication was a controlled substance, strictly available only with an official prescription.
“Damn it all,” Abdi cursed quietly to himself, struggling to mask the rising panic behind the carefully constructed guise of desperation.
He cast a fleeting glance towards the rear of the pharmacy, silently hoping that Welly and Gaga had already taken up their positions.
Meanwhile, Welly and Gaga moved with practiced stealth, slipping through the narrow alley beside the building, closing in on the rear door they had previously marked.
To their quiet surprise, the door was not actually locked, merely shut tight without any latch.
More striking still, the damage they had inflicted the night before seemed to have been expertly repaired.
Fresh hinges gleamed where the old ones had been prised off, and the telltale signs of forced entry were all but erased.
Gaga held his breath, extending a cautious hand to the handle.
Turning it with painstaking care, he ensured not a sound betrayed their presence.
With the lightest pressure, the door creaked open just enough to allow their passage, almost silently.
Once inside, they wasted no time.
The ruckus from the front, Abdi’s frantic performance at the main door, served as a perfect distraction, gifting them a precious moment to slip through unnoticed.
Felzein and the others at the rear heard the faintest scrape, a door slowly easing open behind them.
Though subtle, the noise rang alarm bells in Felzein’s mind. His instincts had been prickling with unease from the very start.
Without hesitation, he pulled his phone from his pocket and swiftly opened the CCTV app linked directly to the pharmacy’s hidden cameras.
His eyes widened as the screen flickered to life, revealing two unfamiliar figures moving cautiously through the back entrance, their motions deliberate and measured.
Meanwhile, the front camera caught sight of another man standing beside Dewi, feigning distress to divert attention, a ploy laid bare.
“Hold fast! This is a trap!” Felzein warned in a low, urgent voice.
Turning the phone towards the others, he shared the live footage.
A sudden hush fell upon the room as the stark reality of the imminent danger settled upon them all.