'That bald bastard shot me.'
Mayukh held her hand, tears forming in his eyes as the full implication of what Hina had done for them sank in.
'You knew? Yet you…'
Hina coughed again and said through gritted teeth.
'Son, take care of Swati and Abhi. Promise me you and Swati will be there for each other. That would make an old trashy romance novelist rest in peace.'
David took her head on his lap, and he felt tears sting his cheeks as she addressed him.
'Abhi. He must make it. Please…'
Those were her final words as she breathed her last.
Swati was crying loudly and Mayukh was sitting against the wall, tears now flowing freely. David had lost many good men in combat, but never had one's death hit him quite as hard as Hina's. She had not been a professional soldier. Indeed, if anything, she was quite the antithesis. An aging romance novelist and Professor. Yet, in her last moments she had shown selfless courage that David was not sure even he was capable of. He cradled her head and cried.
Their mourning was cut short by noises coming from downstairs. Their cellphones were off in an instant and Mayukh was at the door, where he saw shapes moving up the stairs. He couldn't see much other than their darkened silhouettes, but their jerky movements gave him a pretty good idea who they were. Any doubt he had was dispelled when one of them screamed-the same ululating screech that he had now come to recognize well. He unslung his shotgun and fired, and fired again. He kept pumping the shotgun and pulling the trigger till it clicked empty. He kept pulling the trigger for several seconds after he had run out of shells, his ears ringing from the blasts, trying to take out all his anger at Hina's loss on the damned Biters coming for them. He felt David behind him.
'They're gone, kid. They're gone.'
David and Mayukh moved Hina's body to the second room. They badly wanted to give her a better resting place, but the best they could do was to put a blanket on top of her. Being in a clinic had one advantage-they could tend to their wounds. David figured he needed some stitches on his head, since the wound there was still bleeding, but he made do with slathering it with antibiotic cream and bandaging it. His left hand seemed to have four broken fingers, and while he put a makeshift splint on it, he knew it was as good as useless. He peeled off his uniform to see that he had been grazed in at least three places by shotgun pellets, but the worst of them were surface flesh wounds which looked much worse than they were, and needed some cleaning up and bandaging. Mayukh's head wound was less serious, but they didn't take any chances, and bandaged him as well. They found a few bottles of drinking water, and drained them, but there was no food in sight
They were all hungry and dead tired, but none of them slept that night. They sat huddled against each other, facing the stairs, starting at every noise they heard. Abhi was between Swati and Mayukh, and to his credit, not once did he ask for milk or a fresh diaper. All of them, in their own ways, small and big, had risen to the occasion and discovered courage and strength to carry on. And Hina's sacrifice had galvanized them in deciding that now they would not give up.
Abhi spoke so softly hardly anyone heard him.
'Hina aunty's is in Heaven now, isn't she? Can she still hear us?'
Mayukh stroked Abhi's hand and spoke, choking with emotion as he did.
'Yes, Abhi, I think she can.'
'Then I want her to know that I love her.'
They all huddled even closer, their eyes open and moist as they waited for the Sun to rise.
***
On daybreak, the first thing they did was to take stock of what they could find in the clinic or adjoining houses and shops that might be useful for the journey that lay ahead. Swati found four bottles of mineral water in a house and they put them inside the van, as they did some bandages and antiseptics from the clinic. Swati had been putting the water into the van when Abhi suddenly cried out.
'Cake!'
They all gathered near him to see the broken glass windows and unhinged door of what used to be a bakery. In the display case was a single piece of cake. Mayukh felt his stomach growl and his mouth water, so he certainly couldn't blame Abhi for rushing into the room.
'Let me have a look first.'
David picked up the piece and saw that it was spoilt, green fungus appearing where vanilla icing once had.
'I'm sorry, Abhi, this is not nice anymore.'
'But I'm so hungry!'
Swati's heart broke to see her little brother like this, but she knew David was right. The last thing they needed was for one of them to fall sick from eating spoilt food. They got in the van, with Swati driving. With only one hand useful, David could not drive, and this left Mayukh free to use the shotgun in case they encountered a threat. They drove through meandering hill roads for at least an hour, seeing nothing but tall trees by the edge of the roads, till Swati stopped.
'We are idiots!'
Everyone was shocked by her outburst and then she burst out laughing.
'We're so used to getting food in boxes and packages that we've forgotten where it all comes from!'
With that, she stopped the van and ran out towards the nearest tree, and Mayukh saw what she had in mind. He felt like kicking himself for not thinking of it earlier. They were driving by the edge of an apple orchard, and less than ten feet from them were several trees laden with fresh apples. The all joined in trying to get at the apples that hung tantalizingly close at hand. However, soon it became apparent that whatever could have been plucked had already been stripped bare. So they tried hoisting Abhi onto Mayukh's shoulders at which he squealed in delight.
'See, I'm as tall as a Giraffe!'
After what seemed to be an eternity, they found themselves laughing especially when he quickly plucked two apples. But beyond that, everything else was out of reach. They divided the two apples between them and devoured them in minutes and Mayukh said that he would try to climb one of the tress, when Abhi suddenly said aloud.
'That girl has apples for us.'
They turned and looked on astonished at a little girl, no more than six or seven years old, who stood just feet away, munching way at an apple with several more apples lying in a basket that she had looped around her arm. She looked at them, without a trace of fear, and then slipped into the thick forest behind her. Mayukh followed her, and after a second's thought, David and Swati followed him, Abhi holding onto Swati's hand.
Mayukh struggled to keep up with the girl as she turned and twisted through the thick overgrowth and around the trees. He kept calling out to her to wait, and that they meant no harm. Suddenly, he found himself in a clearing and was soon joined by David and Swati.
'Where did the girl go?'
Mayukh looked around but could see no sign of her. Tired, sleep deprived and famished, he was panting from the short chase and he went down on his haunches, trying to catch his breath.
'David, she seems to have disappeared. Anyways, that was a waste of time. Let's get back to the van.'
They had begun to turn back when from the trees around them men rappelled down using ropes and surrounded them. The men were bare-chested and wearing tattered loin cloths and they were all armed, carrying a mixture of knives, axes and sticks. Mayukh held up his shotgun and could see David bringing up his pistol when David asked him to stop.
'Mayukh, there must be twenty of them. At such close quarters, we'll get one or two before they butcher us. Somehow I don't think they mean to attack us.'
Mayukh brought his shotgun down and took a closer look at the men around them. They all looked terrified, their eyes wide in panic and fear, and when he put his gun down, he could sense them palpably relax. One of them, slightly taller and better built than the others, stepped forward, examining Mayukh and his friends. His gaze seemed to linger on Abhi and then Mayukh could see the hint of a smile forming on his face. He looked at Abhi.