Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Chapter two

It had been a few hours since the moon had begun to glow in its complete glory. Nikhil had retreated under a blanket. Vikram was in no mood to sleep. He had slept through the day, and most part of the evening. He was wide awake, tendering a deep gash on his right thigh. His ears were alert to any suspicious sounds that arose. Suddenly, he became still. Pulling his trousers back over the wound, he reached out for his trusted Nighthawk. “Nikhil”, he hissed. His partner was up in a flash. It is not in any soldier’s book to drift into heavy slumber.

Vikram gestured towards the door. Nikhil could hear it too. There was definite rustling amongst the bushes outside. It could possibly be just a stray animal. But, the duo was not into taking chances. Nikhil grabbed the Leone shotgun that lay by his side. Both of them retreated into the darkest corners of the hut, guns aimed at the doorway.

“You can put the guns down, Vik “, said a slow voice through the door. Vikram relaxed his grip. Nikhil set his gun aside and disappeared under his blanket again. “It’s you”, said Vikram stowing his weapon back into its receptacle. The tall, dark figure of Dhananjay Mistry slipped into the hut.

“What took you so long? Nikhil has been eagerly awaiting your arrival”, said Vikram, waving a hand out at the lump on the floor. Dhananjay suppressed a smile.

“it took a while to find the baby again”, said a shorter figure who had just entered the hut. Aman was a decade younger than Vikram, and had very deceptive looks. Young and smart, he hailed from a small village in eastern Assam. He might look harmless at 5’ 6”, but he was one was the deftest machete wielders around. A skill he had acquired from his part-tribal nature. It was rumored, his machete could swing out and return to its sash before the victim realized he was dead. Give Aman a sharp piece of metal; he could bring a battalion to its knees.

He lowered a large rucksack he had been carrying.

“We brought everything that was worth its weight”, said Dhananjay. He drew closer to Vikram and said softly, “got Nikhil’s beauty as well.”

Vikram nodded curtly. “Where is Sohail?” he asked, glancing at the door. In reply, Aman held up a little finger. Vikram smiled and bent over Aman’s rucksack, rummaging through its contents.

Aman meanwhile walked over and gave the lump on the floor a sharp jab in the back. Nikhil let out a sleepy groan. “Ass!” he said wearily, and turned away to sleep again.

Meanwhile, Sohail had been welcomed into the hut by Vik’s and Dhananjay barrels pointing at him. The two put their guns away, recognizing their comrade. “Guess what I saw?”, asked Sohail hurriedly. Aman turned around and asked in a mock puzzled voice, “err, a stream of pee, maybe?” Sohail pretended not to have heard him. “A fire. A huge forest fire.” Aman put on his mock voice again. “Oh, now that’s strange. A forest fire in a forest.”

Vikram, however, was not amused. “We are in the middle of a rainforest, and it rained just yesterday. A forest fire here can mean only one thing.”

“Humans”, Dhananjay completed for him. His voice was calm. But his colleagues could sense the tension in his voice. Sohail shot a glance at Aman, part triumphant, part fearful.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

nice job man...ur descriptive style of each situation and ofcourse of ur characters is xcellent.