Chapter 3: On the Road
"Stop!" Rahul shouted at the biker who was riding in a zig zag manner to avoid the jammed cars.
The biker almost feel when he heard the shout. He looked at Rahul and asked in an irritated manner. "What do you want?"
"Your bike." Rahul replied.
"Huh!" Before the biker could make sense of what was going on, he received a jab to his face and was knocked unconscious without being able to retaliate.
I was not surprised at this as I'd already seen something like this once before.
Rahul sat on the bike and turn to look at me.
I understood his meaning and sat behind him after which he started riding the bike.
But instead of zig zagging like the previous biker did, he brought it on top of he footpath filled with people. I was shocked by this, but this day had already given me too many shocks already and I stopped caring about it after a few moments.
Rahul pressed the horn continuously but it was proving to be insufficient so we both started to shout at the people in front of us.
The people walking on the footpath ran to and fro in front of the crazy biker and cursed loudly when the bike went passed them.
'Why is he so anxious to get out of the city.' I wondered once again as I looked at the traffic jam which has been going on for miles.
A few bikers looked at us with bright eyes and started following our example. But driving in the footpath filled with people was definitely not simple as a few of them were instantly caught and beaten by the enraged public.
'These people surely aren't getting out of the traffic jam any time soon.' I thought to myself and was secretly glad that we didn't wait for the traffic jam to subside otherwise we would surely have to wait for a very 'long' period of time. Although I didn't particularly like this method of riding in the footpath, I was not against it either.
As long as it worked.
I took out the smartphone from my pocket and looked at the time.
It showed 6:34 pm.
Two and a half hours. The eclipse had still not subsided.
The temperature had fallen even further and I could already see people switching on the heaters in the cars.
Riding a bike in a footpath was not a very fast means of travelling. In the last two hours we'd only been able to cover a few kilometers.
'But beggars can't be choosers.' I put the smartphone back to my pocket and held on to Rahul in fear that I would fall down from the bike and beaten by the public.
After a few more minutes, I was finally able to see the end of the traffic jam and sighed in relief but before that, Rahul suddenly stopped the bike.
"Get off." He said. But although I was a bit confused I did as I was told.
"Watch the bike." He said and went into the shop in the opposite side of the road.
I squinted my eyes and after looking carefully, realized that it was a farming tools store.
'Why would he go to a that store?' I thought in puzzlement. But all my questions were soon answered as I watched him coming out of the store with two large axes in his hands.
Following behind him was an old man yelling about robbery and shouting for help but one look in Rahul's dark eyes stopped any person who even had the slightest of intention to help.
Even I started fearing for any brave soul who'd try to take back those robbed 'goods'.
After coming back he handed one of the axes to me and said in a grave voice. "Guard it with your life."
Then he climbed the bike and started the engine. "Get on" he said. But before I could sit down, I heard a huge commotion coming from behind me.
"Hey! what's that."
"Oh my god."
"It's coming. Run!"
I looked back and tried to find the source of the commotion, expecting to find some crazy guy running around the streets with a gun or perhaps an animal who ran out of the zoo somehow. But found none of these things.
Instead, I found something that couldn't be explained by common sense.
A thick wall of black fog had covered the whole area for as far as eyes could see and it was moving forward rapidly, swallowing everything that came it's way.
All the cars in the highway started disappearing one by one as the Black fog moved forward at a consistent pace.
"Ashok!" I heard a shout that broke me from my stupor and brought me back to the current situation.
I turned to look at Rahul whose eyes still retained their calmness at some point. He gave a glance to the black fog as if it was something completely normal and then ignored it.
It was almost as if he'd expected it to come.
Looking at his calm expression gave me the feeling that I was looking at someone who had just accepted his fate.
"Get on." He said once again and this time, I didn't dare make him wait and sat behind him. He accelerate the bike and left the area.
Soon after that, the number of buildings in the surroundings started to become less and less as I realized that we had left the city behind us.
And the traffic jam along with it.
I looked back at the black fog as it continued to make it's way forward.
It gave me the strange feeling that it was alive. As if it was a giant beast who was ready to engulf everything in this way.
"Brother the black fog's coming closer." I reminded him, in hopes that he would somehow be able to speed up the bike even faster. Although we were already at the top speed and going any faster was impossible.
"I know." His soft reply came before the black fog caught up to us and engulfed everything.
—————
Contrary to expectations, the fog was not as dense as I had previously thought. You could still see the road 30 meters ahead of you easily and thus riding the bike under such a circumstance was not a very difficult task. Nor did the fog contain poison of any kind.
We have been riding for about an hour inside the fog after all. If there was any poison in it we'd be long dead.
But even then, it continued to give me the eerie feeling that I'd felt earlier. If anything, the eerie feeling in my heart continued to grow even more with time.
True, the fog didn't harm us in any way so far except for lightly blocking our view. But I would never believe that it was something totally harmless.
"Is the black fog dangerous?" I asked Rahul. But even if I didn't wanted to ask him about this, I would have asked him something else. The fog was freaking me out.
"In a sense." Came the reply.
"In a sense?" I asked back for more details.
"You won't die from it. Probably." He said with a chuckle.
'Damn you Rahul! You're the shittiest elder brother in the world. Don't you know how to comfort your younger siblings.' I cursed in my heart but that thought reminded me of little Neha.
'I wonder how's she doing right now. I hope she's not afraid right now. I should probably call her.'
I dialed her number and she picked up the call in the second ring.
"Oi Little Neha. You alright there." I asked in a nonchalant tone.
"Of course I'm alright here. What! You want something happen to me." Came the curt reply from the other side. It seemed like she was in a bad mood for some reason.
"I'm serious Neha. Have you seen anything weird thing happening around you."
"Oh! If by weird things you mean the whole eclipse thing which has already lasted for hours and the black fog covering the whole town then yes I have seen a fair share of things happening today."
"But that's not important." She continued before I could say anything. "First of all, tell me why did you go to Delhi to meet Big Brother. Weren't you in the college just this morning? Did you skipped your classes once again?"
"Ahh… About that, you see…"
"Don't You see me. You know that your attendance is already very low don't you. How can still skip classes like that. Do you even know how hard big bro worked just so he could pay for your college fees. Do you even realize…"
"Wait! Wait, stop!" I stopped her from rebuking me any further. I was not in the wrong this time after all. Listening to her scolding made me feel wronged.
"I had a very good reason for skipping classes this time." I said.
"Go on then. Tell me. I'm listening."
But how could I reply. I couldn't tell her that Rahul got into an accident because she would start worrying if I told her about it. But if I don't then she would continue to scold me. So I choose a half truth.
"You see. I had a very important reason because of I had to go and meet with big brother today."
"Important reason? You're lying aren't you." Her reply came as swift as thunder. "Ashok, you did not cause any more trouble for Rahul did you."
'Oi Oi Oi. Aren't I the elder one here. How come she has no respect for me at all.'
"Of course not. How can I cause trouble for Big bro. What are you even talking about?" I said but heard a few curses in return.
I wiped the sweat off my forehead. This little girl is especially fierce today ah.
"Pass the phone to big bro. I want to talk to him." She said sharply.
"Alright."
I passed the phone to Rahul while crying silent tears. 'Why do I never get any respect from the young ones. I my personality really that bad.'
"Hello." Rahul said in a deep voice as I put the to his ears. Neha said something but I could not hear her voice any longer.
"Yeah." Rahul continued talking with her with a few pauses in between.
"No. None of that is important right now."
"I'll explain to you later when I come back home with him."
"Did you completed all tasks that I gave you."
"Very well then. Don't switch off your phone I'll be in touch."
"Alright. Be a good girl now."
"Yeah we'll be careful."
"Bye."
After that conversation, I hung the phone and the world lapsed into silence once again.
'Sigh! If only she would respect me as much as big brother.' I lamented in my heart and looked at the passing vehicles in the fog.
'Wait a second. Why do I get the feeling that the fog is getting denser and denser. No, wait, it is getting denser. I'm pretty sure that I was able to see 50 meters ahead when we just entered the black fog.'
"Are you afraid." Rahul's voice broke my chain of thoughts and brought me to the present.
"Afraid of what?" I asked back even though I knew exactly what he meant.
"This black fog."
"Of course not. What are you even talking about." I lied. I didn't wanted him to know that I was such a chicken otherwise he and little Neha would surely make fun of me later on.
This time however, he paused for a long moment before he softly.
"As long as I'm around I won't let anything happen to it."
His words were strangely persuading and I could feel the fear in my heart lessen by quite a bit.
"Rahul. Don't feel that the fog is getting denser with time." I suddenly asked.
"It is getting denser." I was surprised by his direct reply.
"Ashok. Check how much distance is still left until we get back home."
I switched on the GPS in my smartphone and replied after a short wait. "About two hundred kilometers more. We should reach there in three to four hours at this speed."
"Two hundred kilometers." He said to himself. "I see."
After that only silence followed.
I started gazing at the passing vehicles to pass my time. After all, I was not able to see anything else in the darkness except for the lights from these vehicles.
But after a while, I noticed something.
'There are a lot more vehicles in the highway today.' I was sure that there was far less traffic in this highway during normal days. Plus my observation told me that most of the vehicles were family cars.
'Did everyone decided to get out of the city all at once. Well, it kinda make sense. The city was really dangerous today. If I lived there then I would have decided to leave as well.'
From time to time I could even see large convoy of Army vehicles filled of soldiers going in the direction of the city.
'They must be going to the city to bring it back to order.' I thought. Though I was not very confident in them since all the roads were jammed to the brink.
Under such conditions no matter how many soldiers the government send, they won't be able to get inside the city for a few days at least.
'Well, at least they are trying.' I thought and decide to not think about it anymore. We're out of the city so it had nothing to do with me anymore.
I took out my smartphone and checked the time. It was 8:48 pm right now. At this point, eclipse or not, the sun had already gone down. Plus, with the black fog around, even if it was day time, it wouldn't make any difference.
'If we continue to drive for three more hours then we should reach our destination. Right?' I then looked at the black fog with had become denser once again and felt that we probably won't reach our home today.
I shivered as the cold wind brushed past my cheeks and buried my head behind Rahul's back.
'Why the hell is it so cold anyway? Is this because of the Black fog?' I thought silently.
After some time passed, I realized that I was only able to see about 15 meter ahead in the road. The black fog had become denser once again.
"Big brother. Isn't it kinda dangerous to ride a bike under such conditions?" I asked with concern.
"It is." He replied but showed no signs of stopping.
'It is? If that's the case then why won't he stop riding the bike.'
'Why is he so anxious to return home?'
"Big bro. Is something bad going to happen?" I asked subconsciously. If he's riding the bike at such a speed even while knowing that it's dangerous thing to do, then he must have a reason for it. He must know something that I don't.
"Yes." He replied but didn't say anymore. But that simple one word reply made me feel worse.
"How bad?" I asked.
He stayed silent. But this time, for some reason, I felt that his silence was not because he chose to ignore me but because he didn't knew how to answer me.
After a long silence he replied. "Very Bad."
"How do you know?" I immediately asked. Although I should have asked why he was so sure about that something bad was going to happen, I didn't. I trusted him.
If he said something bad will happen. Then something bad will happen. End of story.
"I… I…" he gave a lot of thought to the question and finally replied "I just know."
I wanted to ask more but he suddenly asked."How far?"
"How far what?"
"Neha." He replied. "Home. He far is it?"
I took out my smartphone to check but realized that there was a 'No Signal' on the top of screen.
'What? How come there's no signal. Is it because of the fog.'
"There's No Signal." I replied at last. "But judging by our speed, we should be 160-170 km away from our home town."
"I understand." He said with a sigh and pulled the bike off the road before slowing it down gradually.
After a while, he saw a off road going away from the main highway and took the bike in that direction.
"Oi brother. We're going the wrong way you know."
"I know." He replied.
"Then why?" I asked in confusion.
"It's risky to stay near the highway and the closer we stay to the highway, the more dangerous it'll be for us." He replied and after gaining a distance of about a hundred meters from the main highway, he stopped the bike. In the middle of no where.
"Why did we stop here?" I asked. I looked around and found that we were in the middle of someone's farmland. I could even see a bit of light in the distance. Probably the hut of the farmer.
Instead of replying, Rahul took out the thin blanket from his bag and spread it on the ground. After that he laid down on it and closed his eyes.
"Rest for a while." He said with closed eyes. "It's going to be a very long night."
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