by Sourav Deka
Reena hotwired the car. “Come on!” she said, opening the car’s door.
Ben and Norman entered the car. Reena started the car and stopped it near us. “Think about it, Ross,” she said.
“Go,” I smiled. “We will be fine.”
Reena sighed, shook her head lightly and drove away with Ben and Norman.
“So, what now?” I rubbed my hands.
Michael raised his eyebrows. “You are asking me? You are the one who made the decision.”
“Can we ask Jensen for help?”
“The ghost?” he chuckled. “I haven’t tried to contact him after all this happened. You know he answers only when he wants.”
“He could have made it easier.”
Michael pressed his lips. “Yeah, he would.”
“Let’s look for some weapons first,” I looked around. “We need to feel safe.”
We looked around the blocks and found a lighter and some tools. There was no food and water anywhere around. Half of the buildings were burnt or destroyed. Looked like someone bombed a few buildings and some were set on fire. The restaurants near the streets were empty, its chairs and tables were broken, and fridges were half broken lying on the floor. There was some food inside but it was spoiled. The whole place smelled like spoiled eggs and vegetables. I grabbed a wooden stick that was lying around.
Michael narrowed his eyes. “A wooden stick isn’t going to save us, Ross,” he said.
“It can, I have a lighter,” I said. “We can use fire to draw the animals away.”
“Oh, yeah,” he nodded. “That may help. But guns would have been better.”
We looked around for a couple of blocks and kept our distance from the dogs. We didn’t want to draw their attention. They were busy eating spoiled foods in the streets. Their barking may bring other animals and we didn’t want that. We roamed around for an hour but she was nowhere to be seen.
“Where the hell is she?” Michael wiped the sweat from his forehead.
I sat on a bench near the street. “This is a big city,” I said.
“Reena was right, Ross. We should have left. We can’t find her in this big city. She knows it very well. She has been living here for months.”
“I know, but.….I…. can find her,” I clenched my fists. “I will. She is the only person alive here apart from us. We will find her.”
Just then we heard gunshots. It was coming from a block away. Maybe it’s her. It must be her. She was the only person living in the city other than us. I stood up from the bench and ran towards the noise. Nia was shooting two tigers. They were wounded and groaning on the streets unable to stand up.
“Nia!!!!!” I shouted.
“Don’t come near me,” she pointed the gun at me.
I raised my hands. “Okay, okay, we are not here to hurt you.”
She stepped back. “Go away. Go to where you came from.”
“We can help you.”
“Stop!” she yelled. “You lied. There is no camp. You just wanted to use me.”
My forehead creased. “Use you? What did we do? We offered you to come with us, and gave you food.”
“No,” her throat clenched. “The world is screwed. There is no such camp.”
“Trust us, Nia. There is a camp,” Michael said. “We are not lying. Why would we?”
“A month ago two boys also promised the same and tried to rape me,” her jaw clenched. “I killed them. There is no camp. The ones who survive only scavenge food.”
“No, there is,” I gulped and slowly took a step forward. “I understand that it is hard to trust us as those boys tried to rape you. But we are not like them. We are telling the truth, Nia. Come with us, if you find out we are lying you can do whatever you want.”
“No, no one helps anyone here. Everyone is on their own. You just want your guns and food back.”
“No, keep the guns and food.”
Michael raised his eyebrows and elbowed me. “What?”
I looked at Michael. “Yes, she needs to trust us,” I looked at her. “Keep the guns and food with you. Come with us.”
She stayed silent holding the gun. She still didn’t trust us. She froze and stood there thinking what to do.
I walked towards her with my hands raised. “Nia, we are not bad guys. I am telling you to keep the guns. Just come with us. Let me show you that I am telling you the truth.”
She stood there thinking still pointing the gun at me.
“Trust me, I am not lying,” I said softly. “You have the guns, I am not taking that back. Just come with us and let me show you that I didn’t lie.”
After a couple of seconds of thinking she nodded. “I need to see the camp first,” she said.
I nodded lightly. “Yeah,” I turned to Michael. “Hotwire a car.”
Michael went to one of the cars on the streets and hotwired one. “Ah this doesn’t have enough gas,” he turned to another car and hotwired it. “Umm…this will do it,” he patted the car’s roof. “It has enough.” He opened the car’s door and sat on the driver’s seat. “Come on! Let’s go before those animals come back.”
I turned to Nia and forwarded my hand. “Come on!”
She refused my hand and held her guns tight.
“It’s okay,” I said softly, gazing into her eyes.
We got in the car and left for our camp. Nia was still pointing the gun at me. She kept holding it tight.
“How far is it?” she asked.
“Seven hours,” I replied.
She rolled her eyes. “Oh god.”
“You know, you can’t hold that gun and point towards Ross for seven hours,” Michael said. “Give your hands some rest.”
“No,” she hissed.
“It’s okay. I understand what you are feeling,” I said. “You have been alone for a long time, it’s hard.”
“Where are your other friends, that girl and those two men?”
“They left. They were scared.”
“And you stayed?”
I nodded. “Yes, I knew you needed help. You are scared too. So I stayed.”
She took the gun away from my face and held it tight in her arms. “You should have left.”
“And leave you here alone?”
She clenched her jaw. “I have been alone.”
“That’s what I am trying to change, Nia. You have survived here for now but you won’t survive like that for a long time. Sooner or later, you will get in trouble. We have a camp, where we live like normal people. We are a society. There are a lot of people. You can live a normal life.”
She took a deep breath. “I don’t know. I just can’t………..trust people.”
“I will earn your trust,” I smiled.
All the way she held the guns tight. We drove for hours and finally reached our camp in the evening. The sky was orange and the sun was going down its horizon. Everything was quiet. There were no people outside working. We parked our car and stepped outside. Some smoke was coming from the middle of the camp.
“What happened? Why so quiet?” I looked around getting out of the car.
We entered the gate. Many people were lying on the ground injured. Some of our houses were burnt. Reena was bleeding in her mouth. She came running to me holding her stomach.
“Reena, what happened?” I grabbed her arms. “Who did this?”
“It’s him, he came back,” she groaned. “We are screwed.”
“Who?” I asked.
“Jonas,” she fainted in my arms.
My eyes widened. “What???” I left Reena on the ground and ran towards my house. Everyone was kneeling down in the middle and Jonas and his men were surrounding them. Tanner and my parents were also among them. Jonas saw me coming and he gave a smirk.
“Ross,” he half smiled. “Finally you are here,” he sprinted towards me at an incredible speed. It was so fast that I couldn’t even see him. He grabbed my neck. “I am back,” he said.
I noticed Tanner’s watch on his hand. That’s why
he was so powerful. That’s why he sprinted in a flash. He stole the watch from him. I gasped for breath, his grasp was too strong.
“What? No words for me,” he threw me among the people. I fell and rolled down in the ground.
Mom, dad and Aaron stood up to help me. They helped me stand up. I rubbed my t-shirt covered with dust.
“Your camp is mine now,” Jonas widened his hands.
I looked at Tanner. He was also kneeling down among the other people. “How the hell did this happen?” I hissed.
“He stole the watch,” Tanner said.
“Stole it?” I raised my voice. “It was on your hand. How the hell did he steal it?”
He pressed his lips and lowered his head. “He took it off when I was sleeping.”
“They entered our camp and you didn’t know?”
“Actually I had some of my men among your people,” Jonas said. “Remember, you all were bringing back dead people. Well, some of those dead people were my people.”
“He tricked us,” Tanner said. “He killed some of his men and lay them on the streets so that we would reanimate them and bring them to our camp. One of his men stole it while I was sleeping.”
“You all are under my rule now,” Jonas clasped his fingers.
Michael ran towards his family to check up on them. Nia was there standing looking at the camp and its people. Now she knew that the camp existed, that we aren’t lying and Jonas took it over. Seeing Jonas attack me she aimed her gun at Jonas.
“No, Nia, don’t do it,” I said.
“He has captured your camp. Don’t you want to fight?” Nia said, holding her gun tight.
“You don’t understand. You can’t fight him.”
Jonas smiled at Nia. “You are new,” he sprinted to her in a flash and touched her cheek gently. “This will be fun.”
Nia shot Jonas and the bullet didn’t penetrate his body. It reflected and fell on the ground. She shot again and again, but Jonas didn’t feel anything. The bullets dropped on the ground, it’s like his body was made of concrete.
“What the hell?” Nia was shocked. Her face drained of color.
Jonas grabbed her gun and gazed into her eyes. “Oh we are going to have so much fun.”
“What are you?” Nia said in a heavy voice.
“He has the watch,” I said. “It can make anyone powerful.”
Jonas grabbed Nia’s waist and pulled her close to him. Nia protested and tried punching him.
“Oh baby, your punch won’t affect me,” Jonas smiled, sniffing her face.
“Leave her,” I shouted. I ran towards Jonas and pushed him with every ounce of energy I had but he didn’t move an inch. He turned around and punched me in the face. It was so hard that I fainted.
CHAPTER 16
I woke up on the ground, some dust got in my cheeks. I rubbed it off and looked around. I was in the middle of the courtyard. Everyone was at a distance surrounding the camp. They were scared and helpless. It can be seen in her face. A lot of them were injured. I guess they tried to fight Jonas but ended up wounded. Aaron, Mom and dad were tied up to chairs six feet in front of me. Jonas was holding a knife, glaring at it.
“You woke up,” Jonas said, eyeing at his knife.
“Leave them,” I said, standing up from the ground. “They didn’t do anything to you, I did.”
“I know,” he half smiled. “I know what you did, Ross. That’s why we are going to play a game.”
My eyes squinted. “Game?”
He looked at me shifting his focus from the knife. “Yes, you will have to choose.”
“I am not playing any game,” I stepped forward. “Let them go and deal with me.”
“I am dealing with you. This concerns you,” he moved around them. “So the rules are simple. One of them has to die and you will tell me who I have to kill.”
“What?” my eyes widened. “I wouldn’t.”
“If you won’t then you will lose the game and I will kill all of them,” he gave a devilish smile. “It’s on you, Ross. You can save two of them.”
“Kill me,” mom said.
“No, mom, no!” I raised my voice.
Jonas clicked his tongue. “No, Ross is the one who will decide, that’s the rule.” He looked at me. “You have five minutes, Ross. Decide fast.”
I was in a dilemma. I can’t choose. They are my family. What should I do? I looked at the people in the camp. They were just watching. They already tried fighting Jonas and got beaten. They were not going to try again and risk the lives of their family. Oh God Tanner! Why did you lose the watch? What am I going to do now? My heart was pounding and my palms were sweating. I looked up at the clear night sky full of stars. God, please show me a way.
“Come on! Just pick one,” Jonas gave a half shrug. “Time is running out.”
I looked at Michael and Tanner kneeling down with all the people in the camp at a distance. They didn’t say anything and stayed at their spot lowering their heads.
“Please don’t do this,” I kneeled down.
“No, Ross, I have to do this. This is necessary to teach you a lesson,” Jonas said.
“Take over the camp. Just let them go,” I begged.
He chuckled. “I have already taken over the camp. This is just to teach you a lesson,” he walked towards me and kicked me in the chest. “Always trying to be a hero, huh.”
“Please, I will do anything you ask,” I touched his feet and begged.
“How does it feel to be helpless, to be powerless? Sucks, isn’t it?” he kicked me again. “I gave you food, water, shelter and you betrayed me. With the help of that witch killed my people,” he yelled.
“I……………..I am sorry,” I shivered. “Please…………………”
He stomped on my hand. I screamed in pain. “Sorry isn’t going to cut it, Ross. I will kill someone you love.”
“No, please, please, don’t do this,” I grabbed his feet again.
Jonas looked at his watch. “Only one minute left, Ross. Decide or I am going to kill all of them.”
“Ross, choose me,” dad said. “It’s over,” tears shimmered in his eyes. “Aaron and your mom don’t have to die.”
“No!!” Aaron raised his voice. “You can’t.”
“Choose me,” Mom said. “It’s okay, Ross. I know it’s difficult…………..but you have to.”
“No, Ross, choose me,” Aaron blinked. “I can die, Ross.” He whispered something which I didn’t hear.
Aaron was trying to tell me something. But what does he want to say? I stared at him for a couple of seconds to figure it out. He narrowed his eyes and blinked. Oh yes! I figured it out. I remembered. The reanimation drink can’t bring back the same person twice. Mom and dad have been brought back from the dead once. They can’t be brought back again, but Aaron never died. He can be brought back. That’s what he was trying to tell me. If he dies, I can bring him back later. But if my parents die, I won’t be able to bring them back. They will die permanently.
“Come on, Ross, time is ticking,” Jonas said, glancing at his watch. “Only ten seconds left.”
“I choose Aaron,” I nodded at Aaron signaling him that I understood what he tried to say. Aaron half smiled, he knew that I got it.
Jonas raised his eyebrows. “Really? You don’t love your brother.”
“I do,” I gulped. “But……….I…………”
“But what?”
“You made me choose,” I yelled.
He smirked. “Yes, I did and I wasn’t surprised,” he took out his gun and shot dad in the head.
“Noooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” I shouted and ran towards him.
“What do you think I am stupid?” Jonas scoffed. “I know the reanimation drink doesn’t work more than once with the same person. That’s why you chose Aaron, because he never died,” he chuckled. “You thought you would bring him back later.”
Dad was lying dead on his chair. The bullet made a hole in his brain.
“You bastard!!! I will kill you,” Aaron yelled as his throat clenched in anger.
Jonas rolled his eyes. “Yeah, good luck with that.”
A tear ran down my cheek. I froze, my fingers became numb and my lips trembled. I couldn’t save him. I lost my dad again. Mom was crying and Aaron was yelling at Jonas pushing his hands against the ropes. Jonas hit him with his gun and knocked him out.
“This will happen if you mess with me,” Jonas said, raising his gun. “I own you all now. You will work for me. This is my camp.”
Everyone stayed silent staying in their spot. Jonas signaled his men to release mom and Aaron. They released them from the chairs. Mom held dad in her arms and cried her eyes out. Aaron woke up after being free from the ropes. He got mad in rage and ran towards Jonas to punch him. Jonas blocked his punch and broke his hand. He screamed in pain falling down on his knees.
“You don’t learn, do you?” Jonas kicked Aaron in the chest. He fell down on the ground and dust got in his face and eyes. He coughed, and tried to get up. Jonas kicked him again.
Mom and I ran towards him. “Please, stop! Please!” I begged.
“If you don’t learn, I won’t hesitate to kill all of you,” he pointed his finger at us. “You are lucky that I didn’t kill you all,” he walked up to Tanner’s house and glanced at it. “This is my house now,” he went inside.
Tanner signaled his doctors to come towards us. Everyone in the camp ran towards us after Jonas went inside. Aaron was groaning in pain holding his arm. I picked him up, took him inside my house and lay him down on the bed.
“The doctor looked at it, “His arm is dislocated,” he said. “I can fix it, but it will hurt.”
Aaron pressed his lips and nodded. “Do it.”
The doctor moved his arm and fixed it. Aaron screamed in pain. “It’s done,” the doc said.