Zombiestan (21 page)

Then a thought came to her. If she had been writing a novel, what would her heroine have done? She remembered one of her bestselling novels,
The Thuggees
, where her heroine, an Indian Princess, is abducted by a group of medieval Indian bandits, and has to escape while her British lover mounts a rescue mission. The heroine makes it because her aging attendant does something the bandits never expected her to, and that element of surprise gives the Princess the chance to escape. Of course, she had put much more time and energy into describing the torrid romance between the Princess and her British lover, but she did remember the old attendant's final charge. And now it seemed that her fiction was going to come true, though of course, she was not going to be the ravenously beautiful Princess but the doomed old hag. Oh well, one has to play the cards one is dealt, she thought, and then steeled herself as she walked out into the open and towards the two men.

Sharma looked at Hina walking calmly towards them, a smile on her face, and stood up, ashen faced as if he had seen a ghost. The man next to him asked him what had happened and then he too stiffened on seeing Hina walk towards them, humming a song, as if oblivious to the fate that had befallen her friends. Hina's heart was pounding and every ounce of common sense in her told her to run and hide, but somehow she pushed that aside and kept walking calmly towards the two men, smiling broadly.

'Hello, Mr Sharma!'

David couldn't believe what he was seeing. Hina had either completely lost her mind or was about to perform the most awesomely stupid act of bravery he had ever seen. He had been lying under the next villa, covered in mud, hiding in plain sight for the last ten minutes, waiting for the moment to make his move. He knew that alone he would have a tough time taking on Walter and his men by himself, unarmed and with his left hand broken, but if he managed to get Mayukh out, they might stand a chance. He had no sensation in the fingers of his left hand, which Mikhail had stomped to a pulp with his heavy hiking boots. David couldn't be sure, but he reckoned that at least three of his fingers were broken and that his left shoulder had been popped out of its socket.

He had been woken up by water being splashed on his face, and had found himself in a villa, with his hands and feet tied, and with Mikhail in front of him, raging about how he had killed his best friend. That was when David had remembered the betrayal at the gate and the big man whose thorax he had crushed before he had been brought down. He had looked at Mikhail's eyes and was sure that the big man would kill him and had been ready to face his death when Mikhail had brought up his shotgun. But then Mikhail had decided to have some sport first and beat David with the butt of his gun and then broken his fingers.

Apparently satisfied with the damage he had caused, Mikhail had raised his gun to finish the job when Walter had come in and screamed at him to stop. When Mikhail had said something about David having killed Matthau, Walter had told him he could have his revenge after the boy was handed over, but for now, he needed to focus on preparing the defences for the evening, and about getting one of his men to guard Mayukh and Swati at the villa. Mikhail was enraged and launched a few more kicks into David's prone body. David's body was wracked with pain, but his training came back to him, and he stilled his mind, tried to block out the pain and pretended to have passed out. Walter had pointed to the bloodied body and told Mikhail that he was half dead anyways, and pried him away. David then lay still as the men talked and then locked the door and walked away. Then he really passed out from the pain, and came to only hours later.

Then he began to plot. For all their tough talk and muscle, he realized Mikhail and his cronies were hardly the worst he had faced. He had lived through Hell Week in SEAL training when nine out of ten of the toughest soldiers in the world dropped out, he had fought hand to hand with Al Qaeda fanatics in Afghanistan, and had killed more men in combat than he could care to remember. He had only one good hand, and his head still bled, and it was likely he had a concussion. But Captain David Bremsak was going to war again, and this time it was personal. In ten minutes, he had undone the ropes binding him and picked the lock on the door. There had been no guard outside, perhaps because Walter had thought him to be incapacitated. That was a wrong assumption that David would make him pay dearly for.

Seeing the guard outside the villa where Mayukh and Swati were held, he had hidden and waited for the right opportunity to make his move, planning how he could take the guard out despite having no weapon and only one good hand. He had half smiled when he thought that for all the crap the movies showed about Navy SEALs, he honestly had no clue of what to do. He had then seen Sharma come over, and overheard them talk about what was to come. When he heard what was being planned for Abhi, a red mist of rage came over him, and broken hand and concussion or not, he told himself that Walter and the Swami would be dead men before the night ended. He had been wondering how he could make his move when Hina started walking towards the men, humming a song and cheerfully greeting them.

He crawled forward using his one good hand, and readied himself for action.

***

'Can the bitch really not know what's happening?'

The man next to Sharma didn't answer because he was as confused by Hina's sudden appearance. Hina was now just a couple of feet away, and was singing loudly.

'Let her come closer and then grab her. We can just lock her in with the others, and let the Swami decide what to do with them after we're finished with getting the boy to the Biters and those monsters leave us alone.'

The European put down his shotgun by his side so he would look less threatening and took a step toward Hina, smiling back at her.

'Would you like to meet your friends?'

Hina smiled cheerily and said.

'Of course! Can you show me where they are?'

The man now took another step, convinced that the old woman had lost her mind and extended his right arm towards her. Hina took it with her left arm and then fell forward, as if she had tripped on something. The man dropped his shotgun to try and support her.

That was when Hina brought her right hand out from behind her and brought the fist-sized rock she had clutched in it crashing into the side of the man's head with all the strength she could muster.

'Shit!'

The man went down, screaming in pain, clutching at his bloodied face. Hina looked up to see Sharma, who to her shock, far from attacking her, squealed in fright and surprise and turned to run. Hina's hand was ringing from the impact of the blow she had delivered, but she brought her hand up again and delivered another blow to the kneeling man's head. He did not get back up. Sharma was now backed up against the villa, and Hina brought up the fallen man's shotgun. She had no idea how to use it, but the violence she had just dished out had taken all the fight out of Sharma, who was now pleading with her to spare him.

'You bastard, open the door and let them out first!'

Sharma went into the villa, pushed along by Hina at the point of the gun, and then opened the bathroom door.

Mayukh started in surprise as the door swung open and he saw Sharma there, and then Hina behind him, a shotgun in hand. She smiled as she saw them.

'Now you young people can join in the fun.'

Sharma looked at Hina.

'Please let me go. I have nothing to do with the Swami and Walter's plan.'

Swati was on him like a tiger and she slapped him so hard he fell against the wall.

'You fucking animal! You are going to kill a small boy to save your skins!'

Mayukh pulled Swati aside and then raised Sharma, holding him by his neck. Sharma was still pleading for his life when Mayukh head butted him as hard as he could. He heard the thin man's nose snap, and then Sharma crumpled to the floor. Mayukh locked him in the bathroom and the three of them hugged. Hina's bravado was now gone and she was shaking uncontrollably. But now, they all knew that they had to put their fears and weaknesses aside and try and save Abhi.

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 light-headed 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.