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, and 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.
The unlikely pillar of strength for the group turned out to be Hina. She kept up an incessant chatter, joking with Abhi, getting David to focus on trying to read road signs in the darkness, ensuring that Mayukh kept a watch out for Biters since he was the only one who could use a shotgun. They did not have any of the guides or maps with them any more, but Hina broadly remembered the way they needed to go, and she kept pestering Mayukh and the others to ensure that she had remembered it right.
'Mayukh, we turn right on this road to stay on course for the Rohtang pass, right?'
'Mayukh, damn it! Focus and tell me what you remember.'
'Swati, it'll get colder in the night. Make sure Abhi's got an extra layer of clothing on!'
David looked at Hina with a mixture of admiration and awe. In the Ashram, he had seen the raw physical courage she was capable of, and now he was seeing her take charge with more authority than the toughest Trainer in Hell Week he had seen. And it was working. She was managing to get everyone to snap out of their worries, and to focus on where they were and what needed to be done.
In the darkness, Hina could barely see a few feet ahead of her, but not wanting to attract unwanted attention, she had kept the headlights off. That was till she suddenly felt the van listing to it's right.
'Holy shit!'
David was more shocked by her outburst than by the van tilting slightly onto it's side.
'That's the first time I've heard you swear. What's wrong?'
Hina backed up and turned the headlights on to discover that they had been about to drive off the edge of the road. With the sharp turns and high mountain roads, she figured it was better to risk attracting Biters than to drive off the edge.
Swati shouted out from the back.
'I see two of them!'
Mayukh followed her outstretched hand and he saw two Biters less than ten feet away, just ahead of the van, lit up by the headlights. The Biters seemed as surprised to see them, and they raised their hands to their eyes as the headlights hit them. Hina stepped on the gas and sped towards them, and they all felt the bumps as they ran over the Biters and sped on. It was a sign of just how much all of them had changed that not one of them flinched when they ran over the Biters.
It was now just past midnight, and they all knew that they could not just drive around all night and hope to survive attack after attack. They had to find some place to last the night and then continue their journey when the Sun rose. They turned into a road that led to a cluster of tightly packed buildings on both sides of the road. As far as they could see, the houses were deserted, but there was no telling who, or what, might be lurking inside.
Suddenly the van lurched to a halt, and Hina slumped against the steering wheel.
'Hina, what's wrong?'
She did not answer Mayukh's question and David turned towards her.
'Are you feeling okay?'
She smiled at him, and for the first time since the escape from the Ashram, he got a good look at her face. She was pale, and seemed to be struggling to keep her eyes open. Mayukh reached over from the back and touched her shoulder.
'Hina, do you need a break from driving?'
Hina smiled and coughed, and David felt his heart catch in his mouth as blood trickled out of her mouth.
'Son, I think I'm done.'
David reached out to feel her and his hand came back slick with blood. He got out of the van and asked Mayukh to help him in pulling Hina out. Now, they had no choice but to seek refuge in one of the adjoining buildings. David picked a second floor Clinic and they half carried, half dragged Hina up the stairs. It was a small two room affair, but David thought their best bet if attacked was to have the Biters come up a narrow passage like the one the stairs presented so they could defend it.
It was pitch black inside, so Mayukh and Swati turned on their cellphones so they could at least see what was wrong with Hina. What they saw shocked them.
Her chest and torso were covered with blood and now she was coughing loudly, blood coming out of the corners of her mouth.