by Mainak Dhar
They had just stepped outside the villa when the saw Mikhail standing there, a shotgun pointed towards them.
'Put the gun down!'
Hina did as she was told, in large measure because the gun was anyways useless in her hands. Mikhail looked at the man lying on the ground, a small pool of blood forming around his head. Hina followed his gaze and she felt herself almost retch at the thought that she may have killed a man. When Mikhail looked up at them, he was so furious spittle flew towards them as he screamed.
'I should have killed all of you!'
He stepped towards them and Mayukh stepped in front of the women, trying to protect them. Mikhail hit him hard on the side of the head with the butt of his gun, sending him down.
Mikhail brought his shotgun up to fire on Mayukh's prone figure when his legs gave way under him and he went down. David kicked the shotgun away, knowing he could not use it with one hand and then got up to face Mikhail. Mayukh saw David's bloodied face and his left hand hanging uselessly by his side and stepped forward to help, but David waved him back. Swati and Hina clutched onto Mayukh as they watched their bloodied and battered friend face off against the giant before him.
'I should have killed you when I had the chance.'
Mikhail said the words as he reached for the handgun tucked into his waist. David moved so fast that Mikhail barely had time to register his actions. A kick shattered Mikhail's femur and as he hollered in pain and grabbed his leg, David struck out with the open palm of his right hand against the bigger man's nose. They all heard a crunching noise as Mikhail's nose broke and the crushed bones were pushed back inside towards his brain. Mikhail was dead before his body hit the ground. David stood over him and murmured.
'Yes, you should have.'
He looked at the others, and felt something that he had not felt in some time. The intense pride, almost love, a combat soldier feels for the mates fighting next to him, willing to die for each other. He could not have had an unlikelier group of mates to go to war with-a young girl, a schoolboy and an old woman-but right now, he would have chosen them over a platoon of SEALs. He stepped towards them and they rushed towards him, and for a minute they just stood there, holding each other, aware of just how much they meant to each other.
Then they heard a crescendo of howling and they realized the Sun had set and the Biters had come out. Just a day ago, they would have hidden in the dark, trying to keep themselves alive, but now they just looked at each other, an unspoken consensus on what needed to be done, no matter what it meant for their own lives and safety.
Mayukh said what was on everyone's mind.
'Let's go get the little guy.'
***
Swami Vinesh shivered despite the fact that he was wearing a thick coat over his saffron robes. Looking at the dozens, possibly hundreds of Biters gathered outside the Ashram walls, he knew that it was not the cold that was causing the shivering. The torches along the walls had all been lit, and in the darkness, they cast a faint glow over the gathering horde outside. He tried not to look, but could not help himself. The ghouls gathered outside could have been people he had met in the local market just a week ago, or even people who had come to his Ashram seeking instant salvation. Their clothes seemed to indicate that they came from all sorts of backgrounds. He saw a tall, thin man, or rather the deformed remains of what used to be a man, dressed in a tattered suit, his tie still around his neck, standing right next to a yellowing, decaying woman who was dressed in rags, of the sort beggars on the roadside wore. Vinesh looked on in mortified horror, wondering if the plague or infection or whatever it had been, had been the great equalizer after all. Men, women, rich, poor-all brought together by a mindless blood lust, and yes, those damned black turbans.
Walter poked him in the shoulder.
'Vinesh, this is not a good time to go soft. Vineet has the kid just below and we know the Biters mean business.'
Walter had in his hand a crumpled note that had been tied crudely to a rock and tossed over the wall. It read.
Gives boye you lives.
Vinesh looked down below the platform to see Vineet trying to hold onto Abhi. The little boy had proved to be more than a handful. Walter was still sore where Abhi had bitten him on the forearm, and he had pulled Sharma's hair so hard the man had actually cried. But he was a little boy, a boy whom Vinesh was about to hand over to the mob outside.
'Walter, give me a minute. I need to…prepare.'
Walter snorted derisively as he understood just what the Swami meant. Vinesh hurried back to his villa, meeting several of his disciples lounging around the Ashram, most with glazed eyes and vacuous smiles. Vinesh went into his villa and lit up a joint, inhaling deeply. After his second joint, he was feeling lightheaded enough to contemplate carrying out what he needed to do. As he began to leave his villa, he saw a woman sleeping in a corner. He tried to remember her name, but it wasn't important-another young devotee who had wanted to believe in someone, or something, so bad that she was willing to bed him for it. The Marijuana he used to spike the food and drink served to all his visiting devotees certainly helped. When times had been good, that had made people go away lightheaded and feeling instantly better, and he picked up more devotees. It obviously helped that Manali was a major hub for the drug trade and the likes of Walter peddled more than just guns. Now, with the threat of the Biters outside, extra doses meant that his hardcore devotees were ever more hooked to him and his offerings. Of all the dirty secrets that supposedly existed about Swami Vinesh, he chuckled as he wondered what the Press would have made of this one. Oh well, it no longer mattered. Now, it was just a case of keeping himself alive as long as he could.
Swati almost broke from Mayukh's grasp and ran as she saw Abhi in the man's hands, and he struggled to hold her back.
'Swati, I know how you feel, but we cannot just rush in. There are four armed men there.'
Finally Swati settled down, but her eyes remained fiery with rage as they started to put their plan into motion.
The Swami was now back on the platform, looking down at the Biters, who unlike their mad rushes of the past, were standing well clear of the electrified fence. Looking at the yellowed, bloodied faces looking up at him with lifeless eyes, the Swami could not discern any sign of humanity, let alone intelligence, yet the so-called Biters were learning and evolving.
That point was made most clearly when three Biters stepped ahead of the rest of the crowd. They were all tall and well built, and the Swami could see them wearing the tattered remains of what had once been Police uniforms. All three of them carried automatic rifles, which they were pointing in the general direction of the Ashram. Upon their arrival, the mob started howling-a keening, high-pitched sound that made the Swami want to cover his ears.
One of the armed Biters took one step forward and pointed up at the Swami, and screamed just one word.
Boy
The Swami had no idea whether the legend of the boy being immune to the Biters was true or not, as some of the half-crazed radio broadcasts claimed, nor was he sure how the Biters had found out. He had heard of all the stories and had heard of the group with the boy setting out from Delhi in an SUV. When Walter had chanced upon them, he had considered finding out whether the legend was true and whether that would give him any bargaining power with whatever authorities claimed to still be in control in Ladakh. But then, the Biters had arrived on the scene, apparently aware the boy was with them, asking for him, and now suddenly able to fire guns. How the Biters knew of the boy was beyond him. Was it possible that some of those who had learnt of the boy and then been infected had retained the memory? Walter nudged him again, and whispered that they did not have time to waste.
A dozen feet behind them, David crouched behind a villa, watching. His left arm was now numb, though it had hurt like hell when he had forced his shoulder back into its socket. With one hand useless, he could not hope to use a shotgun effectively, and so had taken Mikhail's pistol, an old Makarov that still seemed t
o be in good condition. Their plan, as hastily concocted as it was, had been set in motion. Mayukh and Swati were to gather as many of their provisions as possible and load them into Walter's van, which Hina was to drive. David would lead the assault, and Mayukh would back him up, with Swati for added cover.
David smiled to himself as he contemplated their chances. Walter and the three men with him were armed with shotguns, and seemed to know how to use them. For all he knew, the Swami could be armed as well. That left them facing at least four armed men, and hundreds of Biters, an unknown number of them now armed with automatic weapons. David's army, as it were, consisted of a one-armed commando, a boy with a weapon that he had never fired before, a girl who did not know how to unlock the safety on her pistol, and an old romance novelist to drive their getaway car.
Mayukh and Swati edged closer to the platform, hidden behind another villa about fifty meters from David's hiding place. They had been able to find most of their winter clothing in Sharma's office, a revelation the man readily made when Mayukh threatened to break something else other than his already broken nose. However, all their food and provisions had been stored with the Ashram's stocks, and with many of the Swami's disciples around the villas that were used for food storage, they could not risk trying to get them. Mayukh hefted the shotgun in his hands, feeling its weight. He had never fired one before, and despite David's five minute tutorial, he was not sure he would be able to do much with it. The other shotgun they had recovered was slung around his back, so that he could fire more times before having to reload. Swati had a pistol in her hands, which she was trying hard to keep from shaking. They were both terrified, yet they were more determined to do something than they ever had been before about anything. That stemmed from the little boy who now stood just a dozen feet ahead of them.
Vineet was holding on to the Abhi, cursing the boy after having suffered yet another bite. He wondered where his boss, Sharma, was. Figuring he was either hiding or asleep, he cursed having to be a part of this. He wanted to live for sure, but he was not sure he liked the idea of having to hand over a kid to the Biters.
'Vineet, give him to me!'
Vineet lifted Abhi up and Walter grabbed the boy, holding him above his head. The Biters seemed to quiet down, their howling reduced to a murmur. As Walter kept Abhi raised, the Swami took one of the lit torches nearby and held it close to Abhi's legs. Abhi now saw the horde of Biters assembled below and was crying and screaming in terror, but his voice was drowned out by the howling that soon began among the Biters when they saw Abhi. Some of the Biters, no unable to control themselves, surged forward and were instantly caught in the electrified fence, where they lay twitching and smoking. The others stood back, but continued howling and screaming. The two men with Walter kept their shotguns trained on the Biters, but Walter could see them begin to lose their nerve. He knew they had to end this soon.
'Vinesh, should I just throw the boy to them?'
The Swami seemed transfixed by the mob of Biters below him, and then looked towards Walter, his face blank, taking out another joint.
Walter shouted at him.
'Vinesh, come on!'
'Do it!'
Walter leaned towards the wall, and cocked his hands back, readying himself to throw Abhi into the crowd below. He didn't know if his throw would clear the fence, and he didn't care. There was little chance the boy would survive the fall, and he hoped that would be enough to satisfy the Biters. He was about to throw Abhi when a bullet hit his left calf, sending him staggering forward, dropping Abhi onto the platform. He grabbed his leg, screaming at his men to get whoever had shot him. Both men now turned towards the inside of the Ashram, scanning for attackers. One of them saw a figure moving to the left and fired.
David felt some of the shotgun pellets pass close by, perhaps even grazing him but from thirty or more meters away, it was going to be difficult to score a direct hit with a shotgun. On the other hand, he could easily hit his targets with his pistol. The problem was his left hand was useless, and with fatigue and pain beginning to catch up with him, he was hardly moving as fast as he could. Another shotgun blast rang out from the platform as David dove behind a fence that shattered as the pellets hit it. David screamed in agony as he landed on his left hand and turned towards the platform. Knowing Abhi was there, he could not fire indiscriminately, so he steadied his aim, ignoring the pain shooting through his left side and fired twice.
One of the men next to Walter spun and fell, and the other dove for the ground.
'You idiot! Get him!'
But now it was every man for himself. Vinesh had been snapped back to reality by the shooting, and his eyes were now crazed with fear and despair.
'Walter, throw the boy!'
But it was too late for that. The Biters surged forward as one, screaming louder than ever, enraged by what they saw as a betrayal. The first few were caught in the wires and burnt where they lay, but others clambered over their burning bodies. Several of them were carrying firearms and a steady volley of rifle and pistol fire soon reached out towards the Ashram.
Walter ducked behind the wall, unslinging his own shotgun. He kicked at his remaining man, asking him to get up and shoot. The man stood up, scanning for David when he was hit by a bullet from behind. The Biters must have fired hundreds of rounds blindly, but this one round struck home, sending the man down.
David clambered out of cover and ran towards the platform, firing at Walter, who fired from his shotgun. At closer range, he nicked David, who went down on one knee, grabbing his shoulder. Walter was about to deliver the killing shot when Mayukh barreled into him. In the midst of the firefight, none of them had noticed Mayukh climbing onto the platform. He could not risk firing the shotgun with Abhi around in close proximity, so he put the shotgun to the next best use.
As Walter kicked him away and tried to get up, Mayukh swung his shotgun like a club, catching Walter squarely on the side of his head. Mayukh heard a cracking noise as the shotgun's butt smashed into his skull. Walter dropped and lay unmoving on the platform. Mayukh grabbed Abhi and was about to climb down the platform when he crossed paths with the Swami. The Swami was unarmed, but his face was contorted with rage.
'You fools! Now they will kill us all!'
The Swami tried to grab Abhi but Mayukh kicked him, all his anger and desperation going into the blow that sent the Swami sprawling. Mayukh began to climb down the ladder that led to the platform, even as he heard the Biters now pounding away at the main gate of the Ashram. It was but a matter of time before their sheer weight of numbers would win and they would be inside the Ashram. Mayukh suddenly felt a tug and looked up to see the Swami pulling on Abhi's arm. The boy was screaming in terror and pain and Mayukh realized that hanging from the ladder with one arm and trying to hold onto Abhi with the other, he had little chances of winning this tug of war.
The Swami abruptly fell back as if he had been struck and did not get up, and a split second later Mayukh heard two blasts close to his ear. He looked over his shoulder to see Swati standing near the foot of the platform, raised pistol in hand. He clambered down, and Swati gathered her little brother in her arms as they waited for the final leg of their plan.
The gate of the Ashram was now beginning to give way and Mayukh saw one or two yellowed hands appear through cracks that had already appeared in the gate. David came up to them, and Mayukh wondered just how badly David had been wounded. His left hand was still hanging limply by his side and the right side of his torso seemed to be covered in blood. Mayukh could now see several of the Swami's devotees try and run for the gate in sheer mad panic. He wondered if they still had not realized that the Biters were at the gate, but it was too late to do anything for them.
The gate gave way with a mighty crash and Biters clambered over each other to enter. Two of the Swami's devotees closest to the gate were set upon by a dozen Biters and Mayukh saw that they were not biting to infect, but ripping and tearing to kill. Swati picked Abhi up in one arm, an
d kept the pistol in her other hand. Mayukh pumped the shotgun back as David had taught him and stepped between them and the Biters. David was by his side, holding his pistol up. Two Biters spotted them and rushed towards them. David fired till his clip was empty, and hit one of them in the head, sending him down. The other, a short, fat man who as the undead was moving far faster than he would ever have been capable of in life, ran straight towards Mayukh, screaming through yellowed, sharp teeth, his black turban half falling off his head, where clumps of black hair were just visible in the fading light. Mayukh steadied himself and fired, the loud blast almost deafening him and the recoil rocking him back a step. The Biter was thrown back several feet, almost cut in half by the powerful blast. To make sure, Mayukh pumped the shotgun again and fired.
But now, they had run out of time. Many more Biters were now in the compound and had encircled them. Two of them, armed with rifles were now firing them repeatedly in the air, the rifles doing little more than clicking on empty, as evidently the Biters still hadn't learnt or remembered how to reload.
Mayukh moved closer to Swati as they readied themselves for the final onslaught. Just then, Walter's van smashed into the nearest Biters, scattering them. Hina was at the wheels and screaming.
'Get inside now!'
They scrambled into the back as the van drove towards the gate, crushing anyone in its path. Hina looked up to see Walter standing near the gate, pistol in hand, aiming at the van. He fired at least three times, and she felt the windshield shatter before her. Without slowing down, she passed him as he dove out of the way, only to be engulfed by a mass of screaming Biters.
The van sped out of the Ashram, into the uncertainty of the night.
ELEVEN
They drove in silence for several minutes, each of them consumed by their own inner demons and fears. Swati held Abhi tight to her chest, both painfully aware of just how close she had come to losing him, and also dealing with the fact that she had just shot dead another human being. David had moved to the front passenger seat, and was keeping a lookout for more Biters. However he felt more naked and vulnerable than he ever had, without his night vision, without his weapons, and with one hand useless. For all his training and conditioning, this was as close to breaking point as he had ever come. Perhaps it was the first time that he began to doubt that he would ever get back to his Rose again. Mayukh was numb from the sudden and ferocious violence they had faced the previous day, and also filled with dread for what the night may bring. The last time he had been in a car in the night was with his mother, and remembering what had happened that night made him feel even worse.