Extinction

‘ello mate

Being a hero always gets you into trouble. Life has always tried to teach me this lesson, but I guess I’m just a good person after all. In this case, I ended up getting my leg broken and three more mouths to feed.

I was mumbling about this when I heard a knock on the classroom door that I called my office. A young, innocent-looking and somewhat beautiful girl emerged from the shadows. She was no more than twenty-five, had clear white skin, blond hair, attractive greenish-blue eyes, and a typical Australian accent. From my experience, I could tell that those eyes had seen things that a normal person cannot possibly imagine.

“What?” I said, somewhat irritated and intimidated by her smile. I hate it when people smile without any absolute reason.

“Hey, I’m Emily.” She said, still smiling.

“So?” I wasn’t in quite the mood for small talk.

“I heard that your leg was broken and thought maybe I could help if you would let me.” She said, hesitantly.

“What are you a doctor or something?” I don’t know why I tried to insult her.

Well, it turned out that she was indeed a doctor and I didn’t have a fracture, after all, only a sprain. I was told to rest for a while and given some painkillers which Rishabh always carried for himself.

“What’s that? Were you bitten?” she asks, pointing at the scars on my chest.

“Of course not, are you dumb or what?” I thought. But keeping in mind her help, I simply nodded.

“How’d you get it then?” The curiosity in her eyes made the greenish color shine like a cat.

“I used to be a street fighter and was pretty good at it. Mostly the opponents were connected to a local gangster. When I beat them in the ring, the score was settled after the match.” I said after letting out a cold sigh.

“Why didn’t you quit?” She asked.

“You wouldn’t get it,” I said, turning away to look out of the window.

We were interrupted by Rishabh who came in with a worried look. He looked at me for a moment and signaled the girl to give us a moment. She nodded and went away whistling. Rishabh closed the door behind her and turned to me.

“How are you?” He finally broke the silence.

“I’ll live,” I said.

He grinned for a moment. Then he turned away to look through the window at the clear sky.

“You know we can’t stay here anymore. There are already more than fifty of them at our gate and increasing. It’s only a matter of time before they get past the gate or over the wall.” His face showed disappointment at the idea of us having to leave the place that provided us with safety for so long. He was having the worst day of his life. Dead brother, injured partner, and compromised safe house were not exactly his idea of a good day.

“I know. The good news is that my leg’s not broken and the bad news is that I need rest.” I said as I closely watched his emotions changing. He looked at me with delight.

“Would that be a problem?” he asked, smiling.

“Not at all.” I smiled back.

He nodded and signaled me to come with him.

I was greeted with a cheer, only by the tourist party. For my group, there was nothing courageous in fighting forty dead bodies alone and still win. They were even angry at me for getting injured.

“We owe you our life mate, you are a real hero.” The old man said.

“Yeah, must have taken a lot of courage to get that leg broken.” Himanshu taunted.

His sarcasm is always aimed to hurt me, but I end up laughing. This burns him up even more than a reversal. But I didn’t laugh this time. And this made him serious.

“When?” He asks.

“Tonight might be the best shot we have in getting out,” Rishabh says, looking at my leg, thinking about my chances of being eaten in the first twenty steps.

“But he can’t even walk properly, how will he run?” Said the younger girl named Hope.

“Then I guess we’ll need a plan,” Rishabh said, still staring at my leg, waiting for a miracle to happen.

“Get some rest and gather back here at four o’clock sharp,” I announce.

Twenty minutes later, I’m on the roof with Rishabh, watching the city I once called home.

“Will this ever end?” I say to myself but an answer comes from Rishabh.

“I don’t know, but I have to admit that I like this freedom. I mean I could kill you right now and have nobody to answer to. No police, no courts, and of course, no LAW.” He says with a smile.

I can’t say that I don’t agree. In fact, I couldn’t agree less. If none of this had happened, I would still be beating up goons and ending up beaten myself. This pandemic has given my fury a purpose and given me a purpose to live. Most of all, it has given me friends I can trust with my life.

Suddenly, I hear a crackle on the radio. I and Rishabh look at each other with astonishment as the prime minister’s voice pours through our ears into our souls, accompanied by periodic distortions.

“This message is to all the survivors of the pandemic. We know that you are scared and worried about the future. All attempts for a vaccine have been unsuccessful. We now have no choice but to construct temporary relief camps in all major cities and a permanent camp in Ladakh. The army and government are doing everything that can be done to ensure your safety. May God helps you.” This was followed by a list of relief camps across the country. Ajmer was the closest city with a temporary relief camp.

Now was the time for a plan. We decided that three of us will be carriers for food and water, three will be killers and I will be useless. We observed the situation of the streets from the roof. We both agreed that the east side looked pretty clear. But there was absolutely possible that we would be seen getting off the east wall by the degenerates on the north side.

“So the girls and Mandeep will be carriers. Himanshu and I will be killers. You will be the central backup, just in case.” He says with a bit of uncertainty.

“What about the old man?” I inquire,” You think he can fight?”

“I don’t think so. I’ve seen a lot of fighters and he is not one of them.” He says proudly.

“All right, it’s time,” I say and start walking down the stairs. Rishabh follows, somewhat offended for me not noticing his expert judgment.

Everyone is already there when we reach the discussion room. I’m starting to notice the way Emily looks at me and it makes me feel uneasy and unfocused, the only two things I hate more than bonies.

So the grand plan is that we take the highway and search for a working car in the way, stay low during the day and start at night. Everybody had been given their roles except the old man. I must say that he didn’t look much of a fighter to me either. Fat body, scared-looking face, and a fast, unbalanced pace. His eyes did have a strange thrill, like that of a predator. So I was equally surprised when he asked if we had a pair of knives.

“Not much of a fighter huh?” I smiled at Rishabh. He shrugged his shoulders in response.