Extinction

A truck on the highway

It was parked in the middle of the road, in a state too perfect to exist in this world. Its tail lamps were glowing, showing that it could be ridden. I just wish it has enough fuel to support our journey to Ajmer. The road looks pretty clear to me, but my gut feeling tells me that something isn’t right.

“What do you say?” Rishabh asks, “Doesn't look safe to me. There may be some of them hiding behind the truck.”

“I guess we’ll find out,” I said. I’ve seen enough today to be scared of a truck. When I see the others hesitating, I decide to go take a look at it myself.

“Scared little shits, I bet they won’t last a day with that attitude. At least Rishabh should have my back. To hell with them, I’ll show them how it’s done.” I mumbled as I reached the truck. I now became aware that the possibility of the dead being here was huge after all. It is possible that the driver was killed right before we arrived and if not, the bonies may come here after seeing the light from the lamps. But I had already told them that I’ll sweep this place alone. And my honor was worth more to me than my life. After all, Indians are known to have burnt alive for the honor. Killing bonies was only a small example.

I crouched to check the other side from below the truck. I could see four legs and also a motionless body lying on the ground. Suddenly I hear someone panting and before I can react, a fat lady lunges at me. Taken by surprise, I didn’t have the chance to take out my khukhree or the dagger from the holster. The beast was now sitting on my chest, and her bloodshot eyes told me that she won’t give up easily. My hands lay captivated under her huge thighs and a typical disgusting bonie smell prevailed from the heap that was once a body. I couldn’t call for help as the bonies will be here way before my teammates. My teammates may not even care to come as they know I will be gone long before. The expressions on the fatso’s face changed and a smile emerged. Most of her teeth were missing and the leftovers were decayed beyond recognition. But I am an experienced player in this game, so I analyzed the situation and went through my options carefully, and using those carefully collected observations, I did the only possible thing in the situation. I spit on her face, hoping to blind her with it and cause panic. I always wanted to try this, but never got the chance. At least I completed my fantasy.

“Feed on that, you stinking mess!!” I whispered as loud as my situation allowed me.

I always wanted to talk trash to a bonie, but they all seemed too eager to die for me to insult them. But not this one. She didn’t seem to take any notice of my saliva and went on smiling. She now decreased the distance between her face and my neck.

So this is it. That’s how I die. I close my eyes as I feel her breath getting closer and closer. My life flashes, my days of street fighting, my days in the otriad, the moments when I teased Himanshu and his red face.

Wait a minute; I should be dead by now. Am I dead? I open my right eye in hope of seeing angels but only see a headless body and Edward’s stupid face.

“Hey mate, you saved my life once. I’m just returning the favor. But I do think that you wet your pants.” Edward whispers, smiling.

“No, I think I s**t them too,” I say, still trying to figure out if I’m dead or alive. After a brief moment, Ed gives me a hand and I land on my feet again. We decide to go around the truck from the opposite direction and startle the walking dumbs. I must tell you, Ed is fast as a devil. By the time I reached the other side of the truck, one of them lay flat on the ground and the other one struggled to take out the blade stuck in his windpipe. I nodded at him in appreciation, my mind still refusing what I just witnessed. People who are too active mostly end up dead. So I feel it my duty to ask if he was bit or scratched.

“Hell no, mate! Do you think I’m stupid or something?” He almost shouts, struggling to slow the adrenaline rush inside him.

“Okay okay, just keep your voice down. Get in the truck, I’ll get the others.” I say.

“Right you are mate. Be careful.” His voice is a little too enthusiastic. For a second I think he is mentally unstable. I walked back to the others and took a flying look back at the truck and saw Ed opening the gate.

“Strange yet fantastic,” I whisper.

And then it happened. Ed looks back at me while reaching the truck door. As he takes out one of his hands to wave at me, a black figure emerges out of the truck window and sticks its teeth inside Ed’s neck, bursting his artery instantly. Ed struggles to get down from the truck but the black figure has its hands wrapped around his chest. I can almost feel the fear in his fading eyes because I had encountered a similar situation moments ago. Ed is starting to get weaker by the seconds. At last, he gives in and the black figure pulls him inside the truck cabin.

I stood stupefied for a minute. As my senses return to me, I see that I have two options. Go back to the truck and kill the figure and give Ed a swift death OR go to my friends and come back with them. Going alone didn’t work out really well last time, so I decided to go for the second option.

“Come with me, it’s Ed,” I say, panting.

Rishabh follows me without any questions and I signal the others to stay put. Going back to this place felt scarier than the first time. They say that just after being converted, a man hangs on a bridge between life and death. In short, Ed has probably become a bonie with memory. If he still remembers his martial arts, then the odds of our survival are not so good.

I feel my leg paining again, but this is no time for painkillers. Rishabh climbs up on a burnt car to see inside the truck cabin. Of course, he can’t see anything. It would be best if we waited till morning. I pass this idea to him and he agrees. But wait, someone cannot wait till morning.

The cabin door opens, and Ed (or what is left of Ed) emerges. His neck is missing a chunk of flesh and his clothes are all soaked in blood. He seems to be missing his energy after being eaten. He lands on the ground and breaks his leg, but that doesn't seem to have much effect on him.

“Hello mate, BLOODY nice to see you again!” He says and breaks into a laugh, “Come on now and let me free you from your suffering. It won’t hurt, I promise.”

I wink at Rishabh and search for the other one, who still doesn't seem to care about the situation outside his cabin. Ed now takes a step forward at me.

“Come on mate, I don’t want to hurt you. Let me free you from all this running and hiding. Join the brothers.” He almost pleads to me.

“And do what? Eat innocent people and eventually die starving? I think I’ll pass.” I now become alarmed as he steps in closer to me.

He suddenly turns around and grabs Rishabh by the throat and using his right hand, lifts him in the air, tightening his wrist around his neck. I am not so heartless to watch my friend being choked to death. So I run as fast as my sprained leg allows me and swing my khukhree at Ed’s neck. But he hasn’t lost his agility and speed after all. He grabs my wrist with his left hand and drops Rishabh face-first on the ground, knocking him out instantly. Then using his recently freed right hand, he showers my face with fists and uppercuts. I use the last bit of strength left in my body and take out the dagger with my left hand and cut off his left wrist, thus freeing my right hand. He is taken aback for a moment seeing his hand turn into a fountain, pouring blood all over the road. This is my chance, I aim for his neck once again and swing my blade at least five times, but the speed demon dodges each one of them. He finally kicks my right leg, and with such intensity that I land upside down on the road. The next thing I know is that his face is two inches from mine and he’s started speaking gibberish.

“Told you, you stupid f**k…see what now I did, huh do you? Hahahahaha, dead, you're all dead. I’ll kill all of them. Hahahaha” His ‘meaningful’ speech is disturbed by Rishabh’s groaning. He goes up to him, kicks him in the ribs three times, and curses him before coming back to me.

“Your friend no manners has nothing. I’m trying to talk my s**t, you see…” He rambles on. Meanwhile, when he was busy breaking Rishabh’s ribs, I took a hold of my dagger. His words were becoming more and more random each time. Just before I finished him, his final words were ‘I’ll s**t on water paper-plane’.

I wanted to see how far it goes but it wasn’t worth the risk. So I inserted my dagger into his right ear and it came out from the left one. His rambling stopped and his whole weight crashed on me. Finally, it was over.