Weathered Journey

Aman looked up at him. Fear was writ large over his face. Dhananjay knew better than to answer, he simply turned away. Vikram stood a little way off, facing away from them. He couldn't bear to look around at them. He could feel the entire burden upon himself. Cursing himself, he fought back tears.

Dhananjay walked up to him and put his hand upon his shoulder. Vikram blinked as he tried to hide the tears that welled up in his eyes. “Get a grip Vikram.” said Dhananjay, in his usual, deep, reassuring voice. “Don’t pretend as if it could have never happened. Let’s be prepared to face the worst. Come on, we have to move ahead now.”

Vikram nodded slightly. He still couldn’t believe he had faced the series of events. The two of them stepped away from the clearing. “Let’s go, Aman.” said Vikram quietly.

Aman hadn’t yet recovered from the shock. He had his face buried in his hands. “Come on Aman”, Vikram said again.

“Well, that’s all you can say, isn’t it? Come on. Let’s go. It’s all that matters to you. First Nikhil, now Sohail. And all you can bring up to your throat is, ‘Let’s go’.” His voice was low and threatening. “Vikram, let me ask you this, have you ever felt emotion? Doesn’t it hurt to know that Nikhil and Sohail are now,” he struggled to say it. “Are now Dead?”