Extinction

Into the night

There is something about the Jaipur breeze, it lightens you and pours a sense of safety through the body. As we walked the dimly lit streets in the night, we seemed to walk in a daze and let down our guards somewhat. But the occasional scream of some i***t feeding himself to lifeless bodies quickly alerts us. It would take us almost two hours to get back to the safe house. Presently a kid appears out of nowhere. He is twelve years old, I guess. Brown skin, designer clothes, and expensive shoes. Looks like a perfect kid except for the open forehead. I almost mistook him for an alive one because his clothes were not as much soaked or torn apart. After all, you see, his blood was being recycled. It was dripping from his forehead to his mouth, which was open to suck the constant energy drink. It was funny and disgusting at the same time. We weren’t scared or anything because small bonies were as dangerous to us as a dog to a pigeon. Their chances of catching you are rare. I shared a smile with Rishabh as the kid started dragging his stiff body towards us. I was tired after the episode at the hotel, so I decided to let my useless companion finish the kid. I took a step back as a signal.

“Do it quickly, we have to get back before sunrise,” I whispered.

Rishabh carries identical daggers in his hands and if you saw him use them, you could swear that he had training. He was about to project a knife at the kid’s neck, but stopped, fixing his gaze behind the kid. I followed his eyes and discovered a shadow at the corner. The shadow probably belonged to another kid. There was silence for a few seconds. When nothing happened besides the shortening of the distance between the bonie and us, I became annoyed. I walked fearlessly for the corner, pushing my khukhree in the kid’s head along the way. But what I saw there made my heart skip a beat. Hmm, looks like a picnic finished on the wrong note. About sixteen little eyes moved to stare at me as I looked at about seven kids, none of them above the age of ten with a had-been teacher. I was pretty angry at the dumbo who I called Rishabh for not being able to cope with a bunch of little bonies. Time was already slipping, so I opened one of my leg pockets and freed a Chinese dagger which I rarely used. It was a nice blade with a curve and brilliant shine. I didn’t use it as I feared that blood will compromise its shine. But what good is a dagger if it can’t save you in a situation like this?

If you think I like to kill kids, you are not greatly mistaken. In fact, you may be right. It is an easy kill and adds to your number of kills, which gets you respect and free drinks. But don’t think that I take pleasure in killing them. But life is another name for compromises. People are proud to say that I don’t compromise in any situation. Hell, you won’t last a day in this world like that. If your wife comes in front of you to rip you apart and you can’t compromise your love for her, you my friend, are dead meat.

I made my way like a gladiator, breaking necks with my fists and detaching heads from my blades. I jabbed the teacher to death for slowing me down on my way home. When I was completely satisfied with his crushed head, I examined my body for any bite marks. I looked up to find Rishabh staring at a left-out kid.

“Finish him,” I whispered in a sense of victory.

There was no reply. Screw it, I’ll do it myself. I was about to pounce on the boy when Rishabh grabbed me from behind.

“Leave him alone!!” he said, almost shouting.

“Are you out of your damn mind? Shut up or I’ll kill you along with the boy.” I said, praying inside that no one heard this scumbag.

“I don’t care. Run Ravi, run before it’s too late!!” He warned the boy whose ears had been bitten off.

Oh, so it was his little brother. My bloodthirst came to a halt. He lets me go after realizing that I’m alright. Ravi doesn’t give a damn. He wants flesh and is ready to pay for it on his own. He makes a run for me and is welcomed by a kick, enough to knock him out instead of killing him. This is going to be a long night.

We walk the rest of the way in silence. About 200 meters from the school, he speaks,

“He wanted to be a pilot. When I taught him to make planes out of paper, he filled the house with planes. Black, white, purple, and god knows what other colors. When we woke up the next day, mom’s fashion magazines were missing and my notebooks felt a lot lighter. Dad was laughing at us until he realized that his wallet was missing notes. We all waited for him to get up so that he could have the scolding of a lifetime. About an hour later, he woke up late and came out rubbing his eyes. He looked up to see our red faces and passed a smile. That smile for enough to wipe out the anger from our faces. He was the sweetest thing in our lives, full of compassion and love. Seeing him now like this makes me…..”

“Enough with the bullshit, there may be bonies lurking nearby.” I cut him in the middle.

Yeah, this world has made me insensitive. I don’t like to waste time in flashbacks while living in the fear of being eaten. I pat his back to make his burden feel less and also to help him cope with the insult. We are now at the gate of the school and I help him get over the top of the gate.