The White Feather- A story of infinite worlds

Madhav

If you have ever been in a real fight where the odds are not very good, you know the few moments before the clash. Your senses are hyperactive, your body shakes with excitement and your mind becomes sensitive to each and every voice. Thomas was beyond these things. He had been fighting for almost a century and a half, so he had made his peace with the adrenaline rush. He remembered when once his safe house was getting burnt down by grenades and Molotov, and he was just smoking a cigarette, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He did succeed in burning the invaders alive.

This has its own perks. The enemy dosen't see you coming and the element of surprise is at its best. So when Thomas casually strolled up to the entrance, no one noticed him. The guard at the gate was convinced that he was a stoner.

“The shop is closed for now. You can come back in the evening.” He said.

“Evening would be too late. I mean I could visit later, but the target would have left by then.” Thomas said and smiled.

It took the guard some time to realize what Thomas just said. But when he realized and looked up in confusion, Thomas gave him a refreshing head butt and snatched his shotgun to shoot the neighboring guard in the head. The shotgun went off with a loud bang and the guard’s head exploded. His spaghetti like brains covered the recently whitewashed wall behind him. A bullet whizzed past Thomas’ head. He did an impressive leap and fired at the man who was supposed to be taking his dog on a walk. The shell missed and hit the dog instead of the owner. The little pug was mashed into pieces and his collar fell down on the road.

Thomas took cover behind a car and took a peek to count the number of hostiles. There were seven of them in the cafeteria right in front of the car. Just as Thomas took an aim at one of them, a bullet whizzed past him and found its place in the car’s windshield, shattering the glass.

But Thomas had been stuck in situations far worse than this one. He lifted up his watch and whispered.

“Uh…Zeus, give me a m249 and a smoke grenade.” He said.

The clock whizzed in a futuristic voice and a robotic voice replied.

“Would that be the light weight model or the artillery model, sir?”

“Light weight!”

Thomas looked in the mirror and spotted a hostile sneaking up on him. He decided to let him come as close as possible as every bullet was a life saver. The man was carrying a fancy sword and no firearms. He flung the sword at Thomas’ head but Thomas moved his head and the sword slid over his shoulder. Thomas quickly grabbed the man’s hand, which was over Thomas’ shoulder, and broke it with the least effort possible. He then dropped the agonizing man with his back against the car. Next, he took the sword and launched it inside the man’s mouth. The blade’s journey ended at the hostile’s stomach.

“Would you like a concussion grenade along with the smoke?” Zeus asked through Thomas’ watch.

“Just give me a f*****g gun and grenade, you dumb robot!” Thomas yelled, his adrenaline skyrocketing when he spotted four other men behind a tree. They were obviously trained, wearing bulletproof jackets and carrying SMG’s.

“Please hold your hands in front of your chest at a distance of five feet.” Zeus said.

There were no bright lights like science fiction movies. The gun just appeared out of thin air and fell in Thomas’ hand, with the grenade attached to it. Thomas’ expressions changed from tense to delighted, like he was just rescued. Well, in a way, he was.

Now it was time to stop being the hunted and become the hunter. The smoke put out a perfect cover. As soon as the air became foggy, Thomas changed his position and crawled behind a bush. He remembered their positions, so it was a s*******r. The lights from the machine gun were blinding and the roar was deafening. Empty barrels poured down like raindrops. By the time the smoke disappeared, the cars were filled with holes and more than eleven bodies lied on the ground, brutally mutilated. The walls were covered in pieces of brains and blood. There was only one man alive, the man who had come here alone and was going to leave alone.

The machine gun was empty. While Thomas was changing his magazine, he heard the c*****g sound of a shotgun behind him. The impulse was instantaneous. He leaped behind a bush as the shotgun shell pierced the wall beside him.

“Motherfucker! You think you'll come at my place and kill my men and still leave alive, huh?” Madhav screamed.

The machine gun was jammed. So Thomas took a spas-12 shotgun lying there. Luckily, the magazine still had one round left.

“Actually, I came here to kill you, not your men. But I guess you'll be more useful to me alive.” Thomas said and pulled the trigger from behind the bush.

Decades of target practice had made Thomas a deadly shooter. The shotgun round passed through the twigs and found its place in Madhav’s left leg, blowing off the part beneath the knee. The scream tore the sky as Madhav fell on the ground. After confirming there were no more hostiles at the time, Thomas came out. He was wiping off his clothes and sort of dancing as he made his way towards his target.

The atmosphere became more and tenser as Thomas gained on Madhav, who was trying to crawl away from his impending death. The demonic dance of Thomas made him scary in a sinister way. Madhav was just trying to get on his feet (foot, to be precise) when Thomas landed an excellent move and kicked him in the nuts. Madhav screamed and cursed him.

“Who the f**k are you?!” he asked.

“I’m the last person most gangsters like you see.” Thomas said, observing what was remaining of Madhav’s leg.

“Is this personal? Are you a crusader or something?” Madhav asked. The light in his eyes was fading quickly.

“Well, from what I see, you're not in the position to ask questions. If I were you, I would be begging for my life.” Thomas said, pointing the Spas at his head.

“We don’t beg. And what’s the point anyway, you said yourself that you're the last person gangsters see.” Madhav said, dejected. His face was starting to grow pale and sweat beads appeared on his forehead.

“Well, this sentence has two meanings. I could kill you or I could put you inside our time prison where you won’t see anyone else for the rest of your days.” Thomas said. He couldn’t help but smile. After all, he wasn’t that good in fooling people.

“Put me in a time prison? Like Chandra?” Madhav said and chuckled weakly.

“What? What did you…? How do you know?” Thomas said, bewildered by this surprise.

“I can’t see. Planned everything, but forgot to plan my death.” Madhav laughed weakly.

Thomas knew that from this point onwards, there was no point in asking anything. So he c****d the shotgun. He was about to pull the trigger when Madhav mumbled.

“I took your revenge mom. I killed that hotel owner like a dog on the road with a barbed wire. Bless the one for letting me do it with my own hands. Bless him for helping me kill that man on the same pink square where he killed you. I...I…” he said before he passed out.

These words had the power to move anyone. Thomas stood there for a second, looking at the peaceful face of the departed. He then blew his head off with the shotgun to make sure he didn’t get up. Then, he looked around.

“Zeus, clear all digital records in the area and prepare the record for all killings that took place on the pink square in the last twenty years. Look especially for someone named Madhav.” He said, walking away from the body.

“Right away, sir. Also sir, I have picked up two cars with eight hostiles coming your way from the east. Should I spawn the RPG?” the voice said.

“As you wish. And get me a grenade launcher too.” Thomas said, dusting off his suit.

When the jeep turned towards the weed company, Thomas was ready with a bazooka on his shoulder.

“Smoke this, assholes!” Thomas roared and pulled the trigger.

The recoil was harsh but Thomas was accustomed to these kinds of things. Unfortunately, the driver was smart and steered to the right at the last moment. The rocket hit a bakery and the cakes were baked automatically.

“f**k!” Thomas scorned and dashed behind cover as machine gun bullets tore up the floor in front of him.

He put down the RPG and took the grenade launcher. He stood beside the wall, waiting for the cars to approach. Judging by the sound of engines, he fired the grenade right when the car appeared, thus hitting it point blank. Thomas suffered a concussion as the side of the car blasted and it became inverted in the air. It was the purest form of destruction. He shook his head to get over the effect, but it was in vain. His ears were numb and he could see everything, but was unable to act.

While Thomas was lying on the ground, holding his head, the other car stopped and four men got out, laughing. They were pointing at him and were saying something, but Thomas couldn’t hear s**t. Suddenly, one of them looked back and in the next moment, he fell down. Thomas could make out a bullet wound in the middle of his head and a figure with a long overcoat, wearing a hat. After that, he passed out.