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.
'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.
***
