The Swami told them that he would meet with them personally in a few minutes, but first they had an evening ritual where everybody at the Ashram met for their dinner, and caught up with what had happened in the day and also on any updates on what was going on in the outside world. Mikhail still looked at them with scarcely contained fury, but the others seemed to have taken the Swami's cue and welcomed the new arrivals. They were escorted to their villas-Hina, Swati and Abhi would share one and David and Mayukh took the adjoining one. The first thing Mayukh noticed was that they had hot running water. P.C Sharma, who had accompanied them to the villa smiled.
'We have a diesel powered generator and the Ashram's been pumping it's own fresh water for years, but we do have limited fuel stocks, so we run the hot water only for an hour a day. Guess you're lucky you arrived when it was on.'
Mayukh took the longest bath he ever had, scrubbing himself clean, trying to wash off not only the accumulated sweat, dust and filth of the last few days, but also hoping that he could somehow wash off all the terrible memories of what he had seen and gone through. When he came out of the bathroom, he found loose fitting saffron pyjamas and t-shirts on his bed. They made him look like a hippie, but he was grateful for the clean clothes. They met again with the others, and followed Sharma to a courtyard. There were several dozen people already there, and without consciously realizing it, Mayukh and the others with him moved closer together. Mayukh was holding Swati's hand with his right and Abhi's with his left. Hina was barely a step behind, and David, ever their sentinel, walked one step ahead of them, scanning the group. In a short few days, they had come to trust and depend on each other to a degree that they would never have believed possible when they had first been thrown together by fate. Now, being among so many strangers, it was almost as if they clung to each other.
David felt a bit out of place carrying his handgun tucked into his belt, since nobody else seemed to be armed, but he didn't want to take any chances, especially after the incident in the office. There was no sign of Walter, Mikhail or the other armed men they had met at the gate and when David asked Sharma where they were, he said they were standing guard at the walls.
'There are so many of them!'
Mayukh heard Swati whisper next to him, and he could but nod in agreement. Looking at the people milling around the courtyard, he saw entire families, foreign tourists, even a couple with a little dog. It felt like an eternity since he had last encountered such a large crowd of people, not counting Biters out to rip his throat out, of course. Many of those around turned to stare at the newcomers, but Mayukh saw no hostility, just vacant glances, and even a few wan smiles. As he walked through the crowd, most of them seemed to be totally engrossed in what the Swami was saying, as if hypnotized by him.
Swami Vinesh stood on a slightly raised platform facing the crowd, and Mayukh could now hear him clearly as they came closer.
'We-me, you, all of us, are like a candle burning in the darkness. A symbol that all hope is not lost. A sign that no matter the horrors that have threatened to take over our world, we can survive if we stick together. Is that not what religion is all about? Binding people together? I thank you all for helping maintain this oasis that we have created, and pray that God gives us all the strength and faith to persevere.'
'Damn, he has them eating out of the palm of his hand.'
Mayukh smiled at David's comment, but seeing the Swami in person for the first time, he realized why he had such a following. Whatever else he may have been, he certainly had tons of charisma. Abhi suddenly broke away from Mayukh's grasp and ran forward.
'Abhi!'
Mayukh got up to run after the boy, who was making a beeline for the Swami, who now faltered in his speech, wondering what was going on. For a moment, Abhi seemed to be heading straight for the Swami, who smiled broadly and held out his arms to embrace him. But then, Abhi ran right past him and behind the platform. The Swami got up, with an embarrassed look on his face, and some in the crowd tittered. Mayukh scampered past the platform to see Abhi pick up a toy car. He looked at Mayukh, his face beaming.
'I found McQueen!'
Mayukh wondered whose car it was and tried to take it away from Abhi.
'Abhi, that's not your car. Remember, we forgot it in the bookstore? This just looks like your car.'
However, Abhi was adamant and tears started streaming down his face.
'No! This is my McQueen.'
The Swami had now come up beside Mayukh, who looked at him apologetically. The Swami smiled.
'Please, you have nothing to apologize for. A child's innocence is one of the most beautiful things God has blessed us with. Little one, do you want this car?'
Abhi nodded vigorously, and when the Swami told him he could have it, he shouted in delight and ran back to where Swati was and began playing with it, oblivious to the disruption he had caused. A few minutes later, the Swami invited the newcomers to his villa, which to their surprise had been stripped of all the luxurious furnishings they had seen in their own villas, and instead had a simple mattress on the floor and a small writing table.
'For some simple living is a cliché, for me it is the best way to realize God.'
David whispered to Mayukh as soon as the Swami had said the words.
'Is this guy for real? Call me cynical but whenever anyone is so holier than thou, my bullshit alarm goes off.'
Mayukh tried not to laugh as the Swami asked them to sit on the floor near him. Swati had been worried that it was close to Abhi's bedtime, but the boy was so busy playing with the car that he barely noticed anything or anyone. David and Mayukh didn't know what the Swami wanted of them, and were a bit surprised when Hina took the lead in the discussion.
'Swami Vinesh, what happened here?'
The Swami reached for a glass of water next to his mattress and replied.
'I was teaching meditation here to about a hundred of my disciples when the problems began. When we began to understand the full extent of the trouble after the second night, we barricaded ourselves in. As you have seen, the walls and gate are quite formidable.'
Hina didn't seem satisfied.
'But not formidable enough to keep those fiends out. David has seen them tear apart armed and trained troops and we have all seen the havoc they unleashed in the cities. How did you keep them out, and where do Walter and his friends fit in?'
Mayukh thought he saw a flicker of irritation cross the Swami's face, but then it was quickly replaced by the beatific, calm expression that he seemed to favour.
'Walter can explain more about our defences. I am hardly a man of action. My biggest responsibility is to keep those in here-my original devotees and the dozens who came in from neighbouring villages and hotels-safe as long as I can.'
David had been studying the Swami, and now asked the question that was on his mind.
'Excuse me, Swami Vinesh, I'll ask Walter about your defences, but how long can you hold up in here? You seem pretty well organized, but sooner or later, food and fuel will run out.'
Mayukh once again got the impression that the Swami was not accustomed to being asked so many questions, but was much more comfortable preaching from the pulpit.
'Captain, every day we go to neighbouring towns and villages to stock up. Sharma, my assistant, tells me that we should be good for at least a couple of months, provided we don't take in any more such as you.'
David smiled. So the Swami had a bite after all. Whatever they felt about the Swami, the reality was that if Walter had not picked them up, they'd be on their own in the dark outside right now.
'Now, it's my turn to ask some questions. Where were you headed for?'
Mayukh responded.
'You have radios here. You must have heard about the Ladakh announcement. Why don't you go there? You're not that far. That's where we are going, and with Abhi…'
He never completed the sentence, as Swati gripped his hands so hard her nails dug into his skin.
'Yes, yes. Ladakh. We have talked about it, but we are waiting for more than just some anonymous announcements. In here, we are safe for now. Out there, we are a largely defenceless group of civilians. What if this Ladakh sanctuary, if it ever existed, has fallen?'
They retired for the night, and before they entered their respective villas, they exchanged what they made of their situation and the Swami so far. Hina was very clear on what she wanted.
'We need to leave tomorrow morning. I don't trust him or his armed friends.'
'He gives me the creeps, and Mayukh, what were you thinking? You were about to talk about Abhi!'
Mayukh apologized to Swati, realizing that revealing that Abhi had been bitten might well have caused them to be turned out. As they went into their villas, and Swati and Hina set upon the herculean task of getting Abhi to put aside his car and sleep, Mayukh and David took stock of their situation.
'Mayukh, we need to leave first thing tomorrow morning.'
'We don't have a car anymore.'
David knew that, and hated the fact that they had so few options. They decided to retire for the night, but Mayukh found it impossible to sleep. At midnight, he stepped out, feeling the chill in the air, and saw that Swati was sitting on the porch of the adjoining villa. He walked over.
'Couldn't sleep either?'
As he reached her, he sat down next to her, and she held him tight, somewhat to his surprise.
'I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier.'
'Hey, I was being stupid in talking about Abhi. It's cool. Really.'
They sat like that for some time, finally savouring some time alone, when there were not sharing a room with many others or on the watch for attackers. As it got a bit colder, they cuddled closer, and Mayukh reached down to raise Swati's face. He looked into her eyes, wondering how this girl had come to mean so much to him in such a short period of time. He was about to kiss her when he heard a loud boom.
He saw David rush out, his pistol in hand and his rifle slung across his back. He looked at Mayukh and shouted.
'That was a gunshot!'
***
Mayukh ran just steps behind David towards the main gate. He had asked Swati to lock the door and stay inside their villa with Hina and Abhi, not really sure what was going on. As they ran, they heard several more shots. Perched on a raised platform near the main gate, they saw Walter and Mikhail, and they both were firing at something, or someone outside the gates. David climbed up the platform, followed by Mayukh, who by now was having trouble keeping up with the soldier.
What David saw stopped him cold. Outside the gate, several Biters were burning, lying entangled in wires that had been strewn around the complex, and a few that were standing were being cut to ribbons by the withering shotgun blasts.
Mayukh looked at Walter and was instantly struck with a fear that he had never felt before, even when he had been trying to escape the Biters. Walter's lips were pursed back, his smile long gone, and his teeth bared, almost like an animal on the hunt. He was shouting as he fired.
'Burn, baby burn!'
David heard some of the Biters scream in defiance, but when all but a few were burnt or cut down, the others retreated into the shadows. Walter stood there panting heavily, and then realizing that he was not alone, his smile returned, his face transforming in an instant. The genteel, friendly Walter was back. Only his intense, focused eyes indicated the kind of violence he had just shown himself capable of.
'Captain, they come every night, and the same thing happens. Buggers don't learn.'
As they walked down, David wondered how to broach the subject and then decided that playing it straight was the only way he knew how to.
'Walter, I had something to ask you. Electrified perimeter fences, Mossberg shotguns that certainly aren't available for public sale in India, and the way you and your friend were shooting. You don't look and act like holidaying businessmen who were caught up in this.'
Walter paused in mid stride and turned to look at David. His cold, calculating expression at once told David that he had made a mistake in laying out his questions quite so bluntly.
'Captain, I do not know also how a fully armed US Navy SEAL ended up in downtown Delhi, nor do I care to know. We are where we are, and the more we focus on keeping those damn Biters away and not interrogating each other, the better off we will be.'
Walter was about to storm off when he turned.
'And it's no mystery as to how they can be killed. TV, phones and the Internet may be off, but ham radio operators are everywhere, and news spreads fast. We learnt early that they burn and that once you blow them up, they stay that way. That's why we use only shotguns. Of course, with useful intelligence comes useless rumour and chatter, like the talk about Muslims spreading the infection that Sharma and some of his friends have taken to heart.'
Walter and Mikhail walked off, and Mayukh looked at David, whose face was an inscrutable mask.
'David, what happened? He pissed you off that much, did he?'
David leaned against the platform and looked at Mayukh, his eyes filled with concern.
'Mayukh, we may be in bigger trouble than we thought. I never told him or the Swami that I ended up in Delhi. If they have learnt so much about the Biters and perhaps us from radio operators, what have they learnt about Abhi?'
Mayukh returned to their villa, while David said that he would stay by the gate. Mayukh was worried sick by what David had just said, and it brought home to him just how important it was for him to deliver Abhi and Swati to safety. For much of his life, he had been told, perhaps fairly enough, by his parents, that he was not taking any of his responsibilities seriously enough. But now, he had a very real responsibility towards the girl he thought he was beginning to fall in love with and the little bundle of energy that was Abhi. Knowing that they depended on him made the burden of his responsibility almost too much for him to bear. Yes, David was there, but at the end of the day, he knew that he was the one who would be most gutted if anything at all happened to Swati or Abhi. And he was not at all sure he would be able to protect them.
When he saw Swami Vinesh outside Swati and Hina's villa, Mayukh broke into a run and caught up with the Swami just as he was coming out of the gate leading to the main door. In the light of the torch that was lit nearby, Mayukh saw that the Swami seemed startled when he reached him, panting slightly from the sprint.
'Hello. What brings you here this late?'
Mayukh realized that perhaps he was imagining things, being paranoid, or quite possibly both, but the Swami seemed a bit irritated at his question. His suspicion was confirmed when the Swami snapped back.
'Do I need permission to visit them?'
Mayukh almost lost it, and had to keep himself calm, realizing that there was nothing to be gained by seeking out a confrontation this late at night, when there was no way they could survive outside the Swami's complex. Yet, he wanted to tell the Swami that he was not just a boy to be brushed off. The Swami was lean and wiry, much like Mayukh, but Mayukh had at least three to four inches of height over him. So he stepped closer, towering over the Swami.
'No, you don't need my permission. This is your complex, but we are together, so it is most certainly my business if someone lurks outside their villa this late at night.'
He looked straight into the Swami's eyes, not blinking or flinching, till the Swami averted his eyes, and walked off, without a word. Something told Mayukh that the Swami was a dangerous man to humiliate, but he was now beyond caring. He walked to the door of the villa and knocked on it gently. Swati opened the door and both she and Hina came out.
'Abhi's fast asleep. Only a toddler could sleep through gunfire', Hina said with a smile. Mayukh updated them on what had happened and asked if the Swami had met them. They both looked puzzled, and finally Hina replied.
'That is weird. He never even knocked on the door. What the hell was he doing here snooping around this late?'
They all sat down on the balcony and Swati held Mayukh's hand.
'How do we even get out of here and reach Ladakh? We don't have a car and I doubt the Swami will lend us one.'
'Maybe he will', Mayukh said, with more optimism than he felt.
'Mayukh, I don't like the feel of this place at all. The Swami has always had a bad reputation, and Walter and his friends are clearly not who they claim they are. Also, the reaction that Sharma character had to my being Muslim was horrible. It all feels very creepy.'
Mayukh could not agree more with Hina, but he was also feeling very frustrated since he had no real solution to offer. Swati had been quiet till now, but now she spoke, her uncertain tone giving away just how worried she was.
'I would love to believe that we're safe here, but I'm really freaked out. I spoke to a few of the other people there when the Swami was having his lecture. Most are his die-hard followers, and believe in him blindly, like a cult. The others are poor villagers from nearby who are just happy to be alive.'
Mayukh was about to get up and go back to his own villa when he suddenly heard what sounded like a large number of firecrackers going off all at once.
'What's that?' exclaimed Hina.
'That's automatic weapon fire, and it's coming from the main gate. David's there all alone, and all he has is his pistol!'
With that, Mayukh ran towards the main gate at full tilt.
***
David was crouched on the platform, ducking under the wall. Walter and three other men were with him, firing away occasionally with their shotguns, but more often that not, ducking like David. Mayukh knew that David had no ammunition left for his rifle, yet he saw him put his rifle to his shoulder and peer through the scope. As he came closer, he realized what was going on. David was using the night vision on his scope to guide Walter and the others in shooting at whoever was firing from the outside.
Mayukh climbed up the platform, but before he could say anything, David shoved him down.
'Keep your head down. They have automatic weapons!'
Mayukh wondered who could be attacking them with automatic weapons, but none of the men on the platform had any time or inclination to answer him. David kept popping his head up, scoping out a target and then Walter and his friends would blast away with their shotguns till the target was neutralized. There was heavy firing coming from outside the wall, but as far as Mayukh could make out, not a single bullet came even close to hitting the wall, let alone the men gathered on the platform. The attackers were either atrocious shots, or had no idea what they were doing.
The firing subsided after about ten minutes, and David yelled out to Walter.
'Stop wasting ammo! They're all wasted or have run away!'
The men stopped firing, and Mayukh saw something had fundamentally changed in the group dynamics. For all his earlier bluster, Walter looked shaken, and was taking orders from David.
'Captain, I'll go let the Swami know what happened.'
As the others walked off, Mayukh looked at David, who was still scanning the area beyond the gate.
'What happened to him? He was ready to salute you, I think. Also, who the hell was shooting at us?'
David put his gun aside and turned towards Mayukh.
'I don't know his story, but I'll bet he has some military experience. However, shooting zombies from a safe distance is one thing, being shot at with automatic weapons is another. I think big Mikhail there pissed his pants.'
Mayukh laughed but then realized that David was dead serious.
'As for who was shooting at us, it was the damn Biters.'
A chill went down Mayukh's spine. The Biters had shown signs of evolving, but so far the most he had seen them do was throw rocks. If Purohit's theory was correct, and they were remembering common memories from the origin of the infection in Afghanistan, was it possible that they had learnt how to use weapons? David clapped Mayukh on his shoulder.
'They can't aim to save their lives and were just spraying in the sky. But what if they remember or learn how to aim?'
Mayukh didn't even want to contemplate what would happen if that ever came to pass. Even though the rest of the night passed without incident, none of them slept a wink. They all moved into one villa, and David sat by the door, his pistol in his hand.
Sometime before Sunrise, Abhi woke up and was quite confused to see all the adults sitting around, looking so serious. He first turned to Swati.
'Are you happy?'
She couldn't help but laugh at his innocence and assured him that they were all happy. Then, a look of concern came over his face.
'Where is McQueen?'
Mayukh fished out the red car from under a bed, and passed it to Abhi, who immediately began playing with it, oblivious to the worries that were gnawing away at the others.
Mayukh stepped out at about eight in the morning, and saw some of the Ashram's residents walking about. All of them seemed to be moving quickly, as if in a hurry to finish whatever work they had and then get back to the perceived safety of their villas. He saw Sharma walking along the road, and called out to him.
'Mr. Sharma, what's the Swami doing? We'd like to have a word with him.'
Sharma just nodded and went on his way. Mayukh was beginning to wonder whether Sharma had passed on the message when ten minutes later, Swami Vinesh came to the villa. He looked haggard, and his usually sharp eyes were tinged with dark circles. When he was inside, he first addressed David.
'You are the military man here. If those Biters can indeed learn to fire guns, what are our chances?'
The Swami seemed to further crumple on David's reply.
'Swami, the short answer is zero. You have a handful of armed men, and honestly, though they haven't told me who they really are, they seem to have some experience in the military. But it was easy when the Biters were launching themselves into the electrified fence and standing about, waiting to be shot to pieces. If they can learn to shoot straight, then it's just a matter of time before your guards are dead and they come over. All it requires is for them to develop the sense to run a vehicle through the fence and break a part of it.'
The Swami mulled his answer before saying it out loud.
'Walter and his friends were soldiers in the Russian and Eastern Bloc armies, and later became arms dealers. They peddled Eastern European small arms to anybody who had the money. Walter became my devotee a year ago, and they were here both for the meditation and to meet some clients for their shotguns.'
David spat on the floor. For a professional soldier, there was nothing quite lower than a gun runner who sold weapons in the black market, which all too often ended up in the hands of terrorists.
The Swami got up to leave when Hina stopped him.
'We are thankful for the shelter you gave us, but we must be on our way. If we leave now, we may yet make it to Ladakh by nightfall. Do you know if there are any running vehicles in the neighbouring villages? I'm sure lots of tourists would have driven here.'
A bit to Mayukh's relief and surprise, the Swami agreed readily, saying he would get Sharma and his staff to rustle up a car that was in running condition and had enough fuel, adding that if they left within the hour, they could get to Ladakh by nightfall. When he left, Swati commented with a smile.
'Now, that was easier than I thought it would be. Maybe he just looks creepier than he is.'
With everyone's mood considerably lightened, they began to make preparations for their journey. They unloaded all their remaining supplies from Walter's van and had them piled up near the gate, ready to be loaded into whatever vehicle Sharma managed to find for them.
Swati was feeding Abhi some cookies, so that he would not be hungry when they set out on what would undoubtedly be a long drive, and Hina was taking stock of their remaining food supplies. Mayukh checked his watch-it had already been forty-five minutes and there was no sign of Sharma or any car.
'David, I'll just go over to the Swami's villa and check what's going on.'
David was too busy cleaning his gun to notice, so Mayukh just headed over to the Swami's villa. He knocked twice, and hearing no response, peeped in through an open window to see that it was empty. He then figured that his best bet was to go to the administrative office and see if he could find Sharma or the Swami there. As he approached the villa, he was surprised to see Sharma walking out of the villa, smoking a cigarette.
'Mr. Sharma, did you find the car the Swami asked you to get for us?'
Sharma fumbled with his cigarette, almost dropping it in surprise on being accosted by Mayukh. He then rushed away before Mayukh could ask him anything more. Suspecting that something was amiss, Mayukh was about to storm into the villa when he heard raised voices inside. He peered in through the open door and saw the Swami and Walter talking.
'Walter, you've seen the damn piece of paper as well! It's clear what they want. Let them have the boy and maybe they'll leave us alone.'
'Look, Vinesh, they are goddamned mindless zombies! We've killed dozens every night. Let them come again and we can hold them.'
'Oh yes, we have held them when they were walking in blind. But now they can shoot! Don't you get it? They can think. They can write. They can shoot. They can't do any of them as well as us, but they are learning. How long before they break in here and turn us into creatures like them. No, no, actually, they won't do that. You've heard from the radio broadcasts what they do to those who try and fight.'
Walter looked deflated and sat down.
'He's but a boy, Vinesh. Also, if we do hand him over, what guarantee is there that they'll leave us alone?'
'I know, but what choice do we have? When the Biters tossed the paper over the wall during their first attack, I went to their villa, thinking I could take the boy then. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. Then they came back with automatic weapons-as if to warn us. There are no guarantees that they'll leave us alone, but I can guarantee that they will tear us all to shreds if we don't do what they say.'
Mayukh heart was already pounding with what he had overheard, but when he saw the bloodied piece of paper in the Swami's hand, he was terrified. Scrawled in red, as if with blood, were just three words on it.
Gives the boye.
Mayukh turned, to go and warn David and the others when he saw Mikhail standing behind him. Before he could do anything, the big man shoved him, and he fell into the villa. The Swami and Walter both looked at him in shock and then at each other. Seeing the outrage and anger in Mayukh's eyes they knew that he had overheard their conversation. The Swami walked up to Mayukh, even now trying to be his usual smooth and civil self.
'Mayukh, we don't have a choice. If we give the boy, we can all live. So many have already been lost. One boy could save us all.'
Mayukh got up unsteadily to his feet and waited for the Swami to get closer. Then he put all his strength into a kick right into the Swami's groin. The Swami doubled over with a scream and fell to his knees, as Walter struck Mayukh with a blow to the head with the butt of his pistol. Mayukh found himself flat on the ground, his head spinning and warm blood beginning to stream down his face. He tried to get up, but Mikhail kicked him in the stomach, sending him down again, his body wracked with pain.
He heard the Swami shout.
'Go get the boy! And kill the soldier if you have to!'
Mayukh tried to get up again, but his legs felt like jelly and he fell again. He saw Walter looking down at him, grinning and then lashing out with his leg towards Mayukh's head.
Then Mayukh saw no more.