Zombiestan

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.

'Are you the one, little boy?'

Abhi looked up at the man, and said, with defiance in his voice.

'I am three, not one. I am a big boy now.'

Despite the tension in the air, Mayukh, Swati and David couldn't help but smile and the man in front of Abhi also laughed out loud. The tension seemed to dissipate as the man whistled and his friends seemed to ease up and lower their weapons. A dozen or more women now appeared from within the trees, many with small children tied to their backs and others leading children by the hand. The girl they had seen on the road was there, still carrying her apples. The man who had spoken to Abhi motioned to the girl and she gave them an apple each, which they bit into gratefully. The man looked at some of the others standing behind him.

'Four of you stand watch.'

Then he sat down, and Mayukh and the others followed suit.

'My name is Ganesh. We were all workers in the orchards here before the….problems started. The first night the demons came to our village and took many of us so those that remained hid in the orchards.'

'Ganesh, how have you stayed safe so long?'

The man seemed a bit surprised at how fluent David was in Hindi, not knowing that as a Special Forces operator, he was fluent in Urdu so he could blend into the local populace of Pakistan, and that was close enough to Hindi for him to be understood.

'We have all grown up in these orchards since we were children, so we hid during the day and at night, we climbed up into the trees.'

Now that he mentioned it, Mayukh took a closer look at the trees and saw thatched areas on each tree, almost looking like nests. He smiled in admiration at the ingenuity Ganesh and his friends had shown to survive so long.

'Uncle, can you swing from one tree to another like Tarzan?'

Ganesh looked at Abhi, puzzled since he had never heard of Tarzan, and so Abhi tried a different tack.

'No, no, maybe like George of the Jungle!'

Now, his stomach full with an apple in it, Abhi was back to full form as he began singing.

'George, George, George of the jungle, friend to you and me…'

Swati was trying to hush him in vain as everyone smiled. Ganesh's eyes suddenly turned serious.

'We heard about the Ashram and the fact that the boy was there.'

Mayukh was now really curious about how everyone seemed to know about Abhi so he asked Ganesh.

'Everyone knows. At a time like this, any flicker of hope spreads like a wildfire. One of our women supplied apples to the Ashram in return for food supplies, and she heard about the boy who cannot be hurt by the demons.'

Two women brought forward a meal of rice and boiled potatoes and placed it in front of Mayukh and the others, ladling the food onto leaves. It was a simple meal but as Mayukh put the hot rice in his mouth, he thought it was the most delicious meal he had ever had. Swati spoke to one of the women serving them.

'Thank you. I know you must have limited food, so thank you for sharing it with us.'

The woman looked at Swati and gently tousled Abhi's hair.

'Daughter, I am an uneducated apple picker, and I don't know or understand many things, but in the midst of all this darkness, this boy is the only sign of hope we have.'

Ganesh touched Mayukh's arm gently, almost pleading with him.

'Keep him safe and see if he can help us remove this darkness that has fallen upon us.'

It was now close to ten in the morning, and Mayukh heard from Ganesh that Ladakh was a good five hour drive away. He wanted to get going as soon as they could, but they were all dead tired and badly needed some rest and sleep. Ganesh and his friends laid out some blankets in the orchard and they slept, asking to be woken up in a couple of hours. For the first time in many days, Mayukh slept peacefully and when he was awakened by a gentle