StarGaze

Recollection

"So...how did you two manage to find yourselves into one body? Maybe the answer to this war lies in there somewhere." The tree of life said and mist scattered around a bit from the vibrations.

"Ah yes, how can I forget the day..." Thomas said and the flashback began again. The thing about time is, it is f****d up.

An average dream lasts for about seven seconds, and yet it feels like hours in your head. It was the same when Raghav talked to Thomas inside his body. They could discuss a situation for hours but it would feel just like some moments had passed. And so Thomas showed the tree of life that day...

As Thomas stepped into the helicopter, he sighed inside his golden mask. He looked out at the sand and wondered where his origin was. He knew he was a spoiled lad getting into trouble frequently, as his scars suggested it, but there is nothing more revealing about a person and his character than his past.

He realized he was forged to be an assassin by the agency, he wasn’t meant to turn out that way. The agency took away the chance for him to choose his path and see where life took him, they took it away from him. As the tension grew inside his mind, he decided to open the journal again and see where Raghav’s journey began. How did he turn out to be the merciless killer that he was at the end?

As the helicopter tilted towards the mountains, the pages of the book turned to the first page, the beginning of the end of that earth-

Since the outbreak 4 months ago, the virus has quickly spread throughout the world and has strong roots in Iraq, the country of its origin. At first, the abnormal behavior patterns were thought to be a nervous breakdown because of the war. But a nervous breakdown does not plague an entire city. Wadiya, where the virus first had its impact was soon under lockdown. But a lockdown is not effective in a state of war. People escaped to take shelter in other countries as refugees carrying the lethal virus with them and you can imagine the rest. Europe fell in a few days and so did Asia. They call it the ‘Olum virus’. Olum is a word meaning death in the Azerbaijani language.

It wasn’t until a few weeks ago when we heard that the dreaded plague had reached our city. Naturally, there was a panic and soon a curfew was in effect. No one could leave or enter the city. This wasn’t a state of war, so the curfew was effective. Nevertheless, the virus spread like a riot. As you might know, India is a religious country and Jaipur is no different. People spread rumors about the virus being a weapon of god for all the harm man has done to the environment and his only salvation was to be one of the “god’s soldiers”. Social media apps were like a seasoning to the cake. Crazy as it seems, people literally sacrificed themselves to the bonies. Even if salvation came from being eaten alive, I would prefer being cooked in hell. Some people like to call them vampires but I prefer bonies, seems less intense. Anyway, I am an atheist, so I didn’t believe a word of that bullshit and in a doomed world full of superstitious people, it is one of the crucial reasons that I am alive, for now.

Once you accept that there is no getting out of this godforsaken place, you have to make a few rules to stay alive and not be eaten for as long as you can. But people eventually fall. Anyone can go crazy in a world crawling with your friends, family, and relatives ready to tear your heart open and suck every last drop of blood from you. Imagine a world where your life is in constant danger, where you don’t know if you will have food for another day. The ones with kids suffer the most. One scream from a child means a banquet to the bonies.

Presently, I’m at the Triton Mall with my friend Rishabh. I met his group down at the railway station. We are currently camped in the building of Children’s Academy, a school in Banipark. We used to be fifteen strong but now only four survive. Himanshu and Mandeep stayed back at the school while we came here for food, freshwater, and medicines. We prefer to move in the night, this reduces the risk of being seen and facilitates stealthy moving.

I signal Rishabh to stop as we approach the building. We have made up some hand signals to keep talking to a minimum. For example, open hand means stop, closed fist means be ready. When someone defies orders, we use the middle finger, which means………well you know what it means. The front entrance looks clear, I signal Rishabh to take a peek in the main building through the glass windows as I grab my Khukhree (Nepali dagger) tighter and tighter. My hands sweat and my heart pumps like a wild horse. I struggle to catch my breath when Rishabh pulls out two fingers from his hand, meaning two bonies at the entrance. Two bonies at the entrance means at least five more in the building. I somehow control my emotions and make up my mind to go into the slaughterhouse.

As we make our way in through the broken glass entrance, we take a final look at each other, reassuring that we got each other’s back. Now, you may think that the undead is stupid, then let me tell you that you are absolutely right. They are dumb as f**k and have bodies as weak as paper. But make no mistake, they are as deadly as the child soldiers from the Taliban, weak but fatal. You are screwed from just one bite. But to kill them, you have to detach their head from the body. Body shots are as good as throwing a stone at a gorilla, don't make a difference but attract the herd.

 As we approach the bonies from behind, one of them turns with a groaning sound. His one hand is ripped off and I could easily make out the veins in the dim moonlight. I froze to death at the idea of him spotting us. But soon enough my instincts kicked in and I slipped behind a toppled table. I am not sure if he saw me or not. A bonie roars when it sees an alive prey, alerting all other bonies nearby. We sure as hell weren’t willing to take that risk. We may be able to take down four or five bonies but what if there were more? If we tumble down here, our friends back at the school automatically die, either from starvation or while searching for supplies without weapons. Anyway, as the bonie turns to face the entrance, I see his face (or what’s left of a face). I can feel the blood in my veins going cold. I let out a cold sigh as I stare into Naman’s face. Naman was my childhood friend. Well, look at him now, a hand missing, blood oozing out from the eyes and neck tilted at almost 90°, broken. But if this nightmare ever taught me anything, it was to control my emotions. In fact, I was pleased to observe that he could not see. I stole a glance at Rishabh who caught this too and crawled slowly towards Naman. He became aware of the fact that I was staring at him and looked at me. I told him to stop right there. He looked surprised and his face dropped. He struggled to breathe at the thought of me spotting more bonies around. I signaled him to take care of the other bonie. He wanted to hit me for taking his breath away but eventually gave in to priorities. My childhood friend ought to die with honor. So I slowly sneak onto him to give him a quick death. Presently, his blood-soaked eyebrows frowned. He was aware of my presence. I quickly grabbed him from behind and slit his throat and whispered in his ear as I lay him on the ground. What I said that day……………you’ll never know.

One basic rule to remember is teamwork. If your teammate is down, you’re as good as dead. I know this because I was on my own before I met the gang and my survival was sheer luck. Also, the team should be small but effective. Large teams often cause collisions among the teammates and they end up killing each other. Trust me, I’ve been there. Last but not least, there should always be someone guarding the hideout, always.

As we begin our ascent to the first floor on the long-dead escalator, we pause after hearing a scream at a distance. Some poor girl must have stumbled upon a gang of unwanted guests on the highway. Almost immediately, a snarling sound draws our attention. It’s from the second floor maybe. Oh no, it’s from the fourth. It takes me some time to realize it’s coming from the entire building!!

Rishabh looks at me with a look of uncertainty, longing for motivation. I just wet my pants, but he doesn’t know that. So I frown with determination and signal him to move. We land on the first floor and stand with our backs touching, my eyes scanning the area for any strange figures. In the end, I deduce that we are clear. Well, I was wrong.

As we made our way to the food section, a six-foot-tall monster emerged from the darkness. It didn’t scream, did not snarl. Instead, it had a grin on his face which made him even scarier. Looks like he wanted the fun all to himself. Before we had time to think, the beast made a run for us. The plan was always the same, I distract and Rishabh kills. We exchanged glances and a brief nod. We darted into the shoe shop right beside us. The bonie charged like a gladiator, one hand in the air and the other one dangling, perhaps because it was broken.

Like two cowboys in the Wild West, we faced each other from the two corners of the shop. He didn’t mind noticing that one of us was missing. I held my khukhree with both hands and prepared my mind. I didn’t stand a single chance on the bulldozer. I had beaten up dozens of goons like him, but they didn’t bite. As I said earlier, teamwork is the basic rule. As the monster started towering on me, Rishabh emerged heroically from the side of the door and passed the blade into the back of the bull’s skull. The blade went clean through the head and came out from the left eye. Rishabh looked at me, longing for appreciation. So I appreciate him with a finger, you know which one. After all, there’s nothing heroic about killing a bonie from behind. I was the one who stared in the face of death. Anyway, Rishabh doesn't trust my judgment anymore, so he scans the area himself and signals me to take a look. I follow the direction of his gaze and discover a bonie in the third aisle of the food section, feeding on the intestines of a teenager. The kill looks fresh, maybe 2-4 hours ago. Wow, this just keeps getting better and better.

It was time for plan B. I discovered a glass plate on the cashier’s desk. After checking for the petrol bomb and lighter, I made way for the railing.

“It will have to be quick,” I repeated to myself as I reached for the railing. My hands shook and my forehead sweat like a pig. I had done this several times before, but it was always a leap of faith. I aimed at a corner on the ground floor and threw the plate which almost reminded me of a Frisbee. I didn’t have time to see it break. I sped back, trying to make as little sound as possible. I slipped into the shop as the glass broke. The plan worked as expected. The bonies ran as a child runs to an ice-cream van. Many fell from the upper floors. I counted them, 1...2...3…4….5….6…….7. Seems like a marriage party decided to drop by a mall. I could easily make out the bridegroom, whose clothes were red from partially the color and partially from the blood that popped out of his torn neck. “You don’t have time for this, stupid!!” My brain reminded me.

It’s only a matter of time before the bonies realize that they were tricked. We slowly made our way inside the food court. The ground had broken glass all over it. The bonie from the third aisle didn’t seem to care about the hustle. He was enjoying his pound of flesh. It wasn’t hard to sneak onto him and relieve his head from the stinking body. After filling our bags with food and fresh water, we came back to the escalator. The knuckleheads still buzzed around the corner like bees. I exchanged glances with Rishabh and nodded.

Despite knowing that it’s not their fault, watching bonies burn gives you an odd satisfaction. It feels like getting back to them for the things they had done to the once beautiful world. At least I made the Baaratis dance, in flames. We made our way out of the building. A few flaming bodies flung their arms at us. But we weren’t looking to be roasted alive with them, so we dodged them.

“I wonder if they ever take a dump,” I say as we get to a safe distance.          

“Why don’t you go and ask them?” Rishabh smiled. I smiled back at him. He had completed half of the journey. Now we have to get back before the first morning light.

“Do you think they ate the bride?” Rishabh whispers after a while as we slip past a corner, looking back at the building, which now seems pretty small, almost an outline against the dark sky.

“I don’t think they ever reached her house?” I say as I stare at some strange figures in the corner.

“But it is possible…” He says before I interrupt.

“Shut up, bonies ahead,” I whisper. It’s time for some action. But we soon change our minds as we see about ten more emerge from the darkness. I guess we’ll have to go around then.

"Sir, we are at the rendezvous." The pilot screamed and Thomas closed the journal, looking at the commandoes wearing camouflage.

Thomas got out with a fresh version of himself. He did not realize it, but he was slowly living the life of the man who was long lost in the fabric of space-time. Maybe this was the way he coped with not knowing his roots. I don't know, time will tell the tale...