25
TROUBLE AT TUNNEL SEVEN
[Once when I as Krishna was playing with my friends, I reached a cave in a mountain. What we didn’t know was that the cave was the home of the witch Putana’s brother, demon Aghasura. Aghasura took the form of a giant snake to kill us (Krishna and his friends). We didn’t realize that Aghasura opened his mouth as wide as the cave’s opening so that we would walk right in and he would eat them. When I as Krishna realized something was wrong it was late. We have almost entered the cave. All the demons became happy while the Gods became upset, thinking I had met my end. But the demigods pleaded to me, and I then understood what was happening]
“Stop walking,” I hear the unknown sound as we came out of the tunnel no. 7.
No, this sound isn’t unknown. I know the sound deep in my brain and the memory of the voice flashes in my head. It’s Nirava – LEADER of the Nirbhayas.
“What’re you doing here?”
I want to answer him but my mouth goes dry, my throat is also dry and my mind goes as numb and blank and white as the lights of the train. I can't remember what I'm supposed to do, what I'm supposed to say. I can’t find my voice and I doubt I ever could speak.
“Don’t be afraid,” my father whispers. “just act as you have done nothing against the rules.”
We stop walking and I’m feeling like the air has turned solid, it is resisting us ahead. Nirav also stops walking. I stand as still as I can. All I want is just not get his doubt. But my hands are shaking and I can’t do anything to stop it. I breathe quickly through my mouth as if I need more air than usual.
I see two another Nirbhaya appearing behind Nirav, one of them has clutched Kajal from her shoulder and his knife was on her throat. Another one has his sword in his hand. And then my fear reaches its peak.
“I’ve seen her blowing air in your mouth.” Nirav says, poking Kajal’s cheek with his finger, “how can a Sunya know how to do artificial breathing?”
“Can you tell me?” he looks at us.
He takes some steps near us and leans close to my father’s face, “can you explain to me how your son survived the lightning bolt? He smiles - a cruel smile, “if a Nirbhaya dies with it how a Sunya can?”
“It had strike near him, not on him.” my father says, his voice shaking in fear.
“No, this is not right,” he says, “I’ve seen the bolt hitting him. The brightest bolt I’ve ever seen and what did I see after some minutes? This girl…” he pauses and looks back at Kajal, “this girl came and gave him rescue breathing and when your son was again on his feet his body has no effect of the lightning – not even his clothes had been burned in it.” His hand reaches hilt of his sword, “can you explain me?”
I greet my teeth. ‘Come on Samrat do something or he will kill you and your father.’ I tell myself but my I can’t gather what to do. I want to do something but what I don’t know.
My lungs burn- I’ve to do something – but I can only do is not taking breaths for a minute and I feel my lungs burning. My stomach twists. I can’t let them kill me, I can’t kill them my father and Kajal… she has saved my life… I can’t let them kill her.
I reach my father’s waistband, draw the cutting knife out and sprint at Nirav.
“Throw your sword,” I say, my knife is cutting the skin of his throat.
“A Sunya can’t kill a Nirbhaya.”
“Do you want to check it over?” I ask.
“You can’t kill me?” he smiles, “your hand is shaking.
And really my fingers are shaking.
I clench my teeth, “interesting but why I can’t kill you?”
“Because you are a Sunya.”
“Interesting assumption but if it is so why you want to kill us?”
“Because you are someone whom I’m searching for,” he says, “a boy in prediction.”
“Don’t you think a boy in prediction can kill a Nirbhaya?”
He doesn’t answer but loses the grip on the hilt of his sword and sword falls to the ground, making sharp noise.
“Let’ him go or I will kill the girl.” The man holding knife over Kajal neck comes out of shock. The shock of what he has just seen in front of his eyes – a Sunya overpowering his leader.
I push the knife on Nirav’s throat, “let her go or I’ll kill him.”
“What is going on?” a new voice emerges and following it Jagapati emerges from tunnel no.6.
“He attached our leader.” The man holding knife over Kajal’s neck says.
“You fool, Pratap.” Jagapati reaches near him, “don’t you know how to handle such things?”
That man doesn’t reply.
Jagapati draws out his knife and stabs him in the chest, exact at his heart.
That man falls to the ground and another man is watching this – his eyes are wide in surprise.
“Kill him.” he says looking at me, “and I’ll kill you all.” His hand flashes like the lightning.
He has killed another Nirbhaya. A red line appears on the throat of the Nirbhaya and as the line expands he falls to the ground.
“What are you doing?” Nirav says, my knife is still on his throat.
I’m unable to decide what to do.
“They were useless.” Jagapati is just some steps away from us.
“Stop or I’ll kill him,” I say. My father is watching everything as a stone statue. He is unable to move or speak anything.
“Kill him.” he continues walking, “and then I’ll kill you and your father.”
I hope Kajal will help but I see her kneeling on the ground and sobbing – hoping help from her is foolishness.
Jagapati stops a step away from me, “leave him.”
I don’t do as he says.
“Rebel, leave him or we will kill all people on this trip.” His face is angry.
My hand starts to move automatic – I can’t risk 200 people for my life, not even for my father’s life or Kajal’s.
I let him go.
“Thanks, Jagapti,” Nirav says, “you came on time.”
“Yes,” he says and stabs a knife in Nirav’s chest.
“What did…-” Nirav can’t speak more.
“If you have no dare to kill, don’t put your knife on anyone.” He looks at me. I feel like he just punched me in the stomach.
“You okay?” he looks at my father, “I’m here to help you.”
I can’t believe him – he is joking. Why fearless leader would help me.
“I’m okay,” my father says, “I know you will come.”
What has happened to my father? Is he enough fool to believe in him? He is tricking us to get information before killing us.
“Want some water?” he says, unplugging water bag from his waistband.
I don’t answer.
“Drink this,” he says, “you look like a dehydrated person.” He hands me water bag.
I take it and shake my head.
“Drink it,” my father says, “you need it.”
“He is tricking us,” I say, my voice shaking.
Jagpati lifts his eyes at me, “hey, look at me.”
I see at him.
“I’m the one who has saved your life,” he turns back and heads to Kajal, “you should learn to trust people.” He says without looking back.
My father comes near me, “you okay, Samrat?” he says, his hand on my cheek, caressing the side of my face. The warmth of his long finger reminds me my childhood – I’m in the lap of my mother under the Neem tree, my father is sitting beside us and his hand is cradling my head and his fingers slipping in my hair.
“I’m okay,” I say and lower my voice, “we shouldn’t trust him.”
He smiles and holds my hand, “don’t fear of him.” I push him away.
“What?” he says, “What’s wrong?”
“He is….” I look at Jagapati and stop speaking.
He is supporting Kajal to stand up.
“Are you injured?” he asks her.
“No,” she says, shaking her head. She steps back from him.
“You’re afraid of me?”
“Yes,” she says.
“You shouldn’t,” he puts a hand on her shoulder, “I’m kinder than I seem.
“I believe you.” She says and I wonder if she is lying or really believing him.
“Who knows Nirav has captured you?” he asks.
“No one,” she says, “I was alone.”
“That’s good.” He says, “Can you clear this blood? We need to clear this mess before anyone sees it?”
She nods.
“Give her your water bags,” he looks at us, “her water bag won’t be enough to clear this mess.”
He walks to us, “we need to get rid of these bodies.”
Now I get believe in him, “what if we throw them away in the tunnel?”
“We can’t.” he says, “We are deep in tunnel in which we shouldn’t. We are kilometers away from others but that doesn’t mean no one will come here if they will find three Nirbhayas missing at evening.”
“Then what?” my father asks, “What will we do with them?”
“You are roaming in tunnels since morning. Haven’t you noticed any door which you doubt of the gas?”
“It’s at another end of this tunnel,” I say.
“So you have taught him much?” he smiles, “Vishvash, we should do hurry.”
I wonder how he knows my father by name.
“Okay.” My father says, “Which one I should pick up?”
“Of course the leader.” He says, “I’ll that big one and the thin is for your son.” He looks at me, “can you manage to walk with a dead body?”
I nod. We leave our water bags on the ground and pick up dead bodies.
“What if someone would come?” I say looking at Kajal, she has started to clear the mess, “she would be alone.”
“No one will come here,” Jagapati says, “we are too away. If someone was supposed to come then he would have come when I killed them and one of them made death cry.”
“When you finish it don’t wait for us. Go to your father and act as if nothing has happened.”
Kajal looks at us and nods, “if anyone asks you say them you have lost in tunnel five. Don’t say anything else, even to your father. And leave water bags here we will gather when we come back.”
“Okay.” She nods.
“Let’s go,” Jagapati says, walking inside the tunnel, we follow him.
*
We don’t stop until we reach the door that has a warning, no matter how our legs hurt or how much we are exhausted. We stop at the door which was full of inflammable gas.
It shocks me when I put the dead body down and I realize I’ve been walking for almost half an hour with a load of a dead body on my shoulder. No one speaks till we adjusted those bodies near the door, their backs resting to the tunnel wall.
“How will be open the door?” I ask, breaking the deadly silence, “it will burn us?”
“We have a way.” My father says, taking out a long rope from his tool bag, “we will use my cutting knife as a lever and open it from away.”
“Okay,” Jagapati says, “that’s why he had chosen you.”
Who had chosen him? I think but don’t ask – this isn’t time to do questions. I say to myself.
“we have an easy option,” Jagapati says and kneels down near Nirav’s body, “this devil is always hungry for fire,” he checks Nirav’s pocket and takes a small lighter out which I’ve seen before when Traders come in the wall – some of the traders smokes pipes and keeps such lighters to light them.
“Your shirts,” he looks at us, “put them off. They are covered in blood.”
We put our shirts off and give to him. He puts them near the door and takes out a small bottle from his trouser’s side pocket. The bottle is small but made of silver. He pours something over our shirts from it. It’s vine. I feel its smell.
“Once there will be enough heat outside the door will get it inside and the room will explode.” He says, standing up, “are you ready to run?”
We nod. He lights the shirts with lighter, “now, run.” He throws his lighter on the ground and we start to run. My legs are aching. I want to scream. I want to stop. But I just keep running. We have to make it the end of the tunnel seven before the room explodes.
When we make an end of the tunnel I feel I can run no more. Pulsing with adrenaline or by miracle but we’ve made it before the room explodes.
I fall to the ground and inches back to the tunnel wall, I slid myself back until my back was against the wall. And we heard a massive sound – like lightning crashing in the sky – giant roaring in an old fairytale. I cover my ears with my palms and draw legs together and pull them tight against my chest. Two hands suddenly reach out and pull me on my legs.
“What –“
“We’ve done it!” Jagapati says, already dragging me away until I’m able to get my feet under me.
“We should leave before anyone come,” he says, “This was massive sound. Everyone must have heard it.”
He is right – I think and without losing a moment – I collect myself.
To gather we run through tunnels, taking turn after turn. Jagapati seems to know exactly what he is doing, where he is going, he never pauses to think about which way we should run.
As we rounded a tunnel, I attempt to speak but Jagapati stops me, “speaking will eat your energy away; keep it inside your lungs.”
I don’t speak but run on, hoping my heart won’t stop working- it won’t quit pumping.
After fifteen minutes run we get out water bags and walk back into the crowd of my people. Luckily, no one notices us. Most of the Nirbhayas have gone to find the reason of explosion and my people never care for what is happening around them – they are like lifeless.
***
To be continue.....
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