Extinction

The safe house

Mandeep and Himanshu are not so surprised to see us, only relieved. But the food inside my bag makes them even more relieved. This group used to have fifteen members only a week ago. Every group of more than ten people is called otriad, meaning a brigade of soldiers. I don’t personally believe in otriads because more people means more noise, more fights and eventually someone f***s up. If you’re thinking that people have become serious after watching so many others die, you are terribly wrong. Everyone succumbs to depression, leaving them in a dangling state of mind. They may be happy to see food but are surely jealous if they see someone else filling up themselves, even if they have their own food. This jealousy often results in unintentional fights and more than one death, mostly by bonies.

This is exactly what happened in my otriad. We were holed inside the world trade park building, all fifteen of us. That night, a party of the best killers was sent out to search for food. The only thing I sometimes miss about the otriad was our group of killers. It included Rishabh, Udbhav, Yash, Ramraj and of course, your narrator. They were the only people I would gladly call my brothers. Equipped with blades, swords and above all, discipline, we could sweep a whole building within minutes, with swift and silent killings. We even killed around fifteen bonies, hidden in the basement of a supermarket.

That night, we returned within a few hours with enough food to support us for at least a month. Udbhav was to be on guard duty that night. Guards were never given food, as it induces sleep. Obviously, he was pissed off. Imagine that you had just been on the worst night of your life, getting food which you can’t eat, and above all that, you are put on guard duty. I don’t know about you, but I would surely be pissed. And in a world like this, only blood pays for anger. About one hour later, Udbhav came storming through our dining room door. The blood in his eyes told me the entire story. Everybody froze at their seats. Udbhav was an excellent fighter and an important member of our kill squad. In short, we can’t afford to lose him. But our cook Rakesh was not so smart. He marched on to Udbhav as he lifted a sandwich from the table and slapped him.

“It is because of shitty guards like you that my wife is dead. If only your brother had done his duty, my wife would be sitting here and eating with us.” He screamed.

I think he wanted to say something else too, but the blade stuck in his skull prevented him from doing so. Udbhav went on to eat his sandwich as the cook’s body swung for a second and then thundered on the ground like a rucksack. It was an instant kill, a trail of blood emerged from the entry wound between the eyes. His son dashed to his father, screaming and cursing at the same time. As the pitch rose up, I became alarmed. I started packing as Udbhav smashed the boy’s skull with a hammer. It was Yash who stopped Udbhav’s killing spree. As Udbhav stared into the dead faces, a Japanese sword pierced through his spine to his heart. His body gave in, but his mind refused to believe. He ran around the room using the last bit of energy left in his cold body, before smashing through the glass wall and falling face first on the road. A few moments later, the silence was broken by a cry of joy. We peeped out of the shattered glass as we watched Udbhav’s body being fed on by some college kids. As they finished his last bits, they looked for the source of food. At that time, we exchanged glances with around twenty dead eyes. It was time to move.

“Not everyone can get out. Go on, I’ll cover you!! Meet me at our school.” Yash said. “Here! Take my katana, just in case I don’t make it.”

We both knew that this was our last meeting, but apparently it wasn’t.

After filling up their bellies, Himanshu and Mandeep paid attention to Rishabh’s disappointed face. No one said anything. Each one of us has lost someone and we know what it’s like. It was then, when we heard a banging on the school door. Rishabh was not focused, so I left him to grief and signaled the other two. Himanshu was the state champion in archery and Mandeep always felt a thing for Molotov. They ran to the roof as I drew the khukhree from my holster. The banging meant that it wasn’t the bonies, but the intensity signaled that the person possibly had them at his heels.

I went to the gate. On the opposite side, there were three foreigners, possibly Australians. There was a man who just crossed his forties along with two women, about the age of twenty and twenty three.

“Please mate!! They’ll be here any second, I beg you!!” The old man rambled.

I looked up to the roof. Himanshu drew four fingers in the east direction. I looked back at them, somewhat relieved.

“Anyone bit?” I asked.                                                                     

“No mate, I swear. Please take us in.” He pleaded.

After a few more tests, I finally decided to let them in. By the time I opened the gate, all of the four bonies had an arrow in their heads. I threw a smile at Himanshu who bowed in return. A champion, no doubt about that. But my smile vanished as I saw his face turn white. His eyes were fixed towards west. Turns out, he was too busy taking care of east to care to check out the other sides. While he was busy shooting arrows in the east, the bonies sneaked in from the opposite direction. And now we are screwed. I’m looking at around forty bonies ravaging and snarling. There’s no time. About twenty feet before the gate, the bonies are encountered by fire and a war cry.

“Jo bole so nihaal, Sat Shri Akaal!” Mandeep cries as he lights up another Molotov.

Two of the bonies run around the road trying to put out the fire on their faces. But the ghost riders soon had their brains boiled up and crashed in a heap of trash. Others only burnt their arms and chest, which they don’t really care about. This is my chance; I get inside the gate and almost close it when a hand jams it. A seven feet tall dead “god’s Soldier” snarls at me, blood flowing from his mouth, sometimes accompanied by a tooth. I have killed a lot of bonies, but this one disgusts me too much. His snarling stops when I stick my khukhree in his eye. Without wasting time, I swing my khukhree again and free the arm from his body. I almost close the gate but a wave of bonies strikes the metal and flings me in the air. Oh great, the gate’s been compromised. If only that half-minded friend of mine was here instead of shedding tears over a dead boy. I try to get up, but a crashing pain in my right leg hinders any movement. It’s probably broken. A smiling figure makes way for me with her tongue hanging loose. She is accompanied by four others. I didn’t expect it to end this way.

A Molotov prevents the entry of anymore assassins inside the gate. The woman continues to close in on me. If I’m going to die, I won’t die without a fight. I slide against the wall and try to stand straight. Another comes to her side but is dropped by an arrow between the eyes and falls dramatically. She pounces on me and I reflexively dodge the attack by sliding my body to the right. But my leg gives up and I kiss the dust again. A small cry of joy is heard almost instantaneously. A moment later, I am being ridden by a seventeen year old. My body freezes and my hands become limp as I see two more coming at me.

But what do you know? Miracles happen. The bonies are greeted by a pair of knives. He slits the throat of one while greeting the other with a dropkick. This raises my strength too and I feel my hands recovering. The girl’s face is just four inches from my neck when I block her mouth with my blade. It cuts through the cheeks and separates the upper jaw from lower. She hardly notices. I roll over to ride her chest and punch her face until her skull reduces from three dimensions to two dimensions. Didn’t turn out as expected, did it b***h? Rishabh is also finished by this time and closes the gate.

“What would you do without me?” he says while smiling.

“You know I had it under control.” I said, still shaking from the near death experience. He smiles mysteriously at this, “Of course you did.”