Chapter 57 – Badlands
Vishwas sat on a small stone bench in front of a hut. Rambha stood before him, leaning forward and holding up three fingers. A small tungsten bulb lit the surroundings in a dull yellow glow.
“Vishwas. How many fingers am I holding up?” asked Rambha.
Vishwas rolled his eyes and said, “You asked that like five times now.”
“It is still a good test to figure out if you are alright,” said Uruvi as she and Ashwin walked up to them.
“It is not,” Ashwin replied.
“Nah. He is fine. I was just teasing him,” said Rambha, as she stood up. “Heard a guy screaming on the top of his lungs. I guess that is the last of Behram?”
Uruvi quietly nodded her head.
“Damn. That is fucking brutal,” said Rambha, crossing her arms.
“It is a miracle we got this far without resorting to killing. But now on, we probably won’t have that luxury,” said Ashwin.
Uruvi turned to Vishwas and asked, “How are you feeling, Macha?”
“I am fine. Still don’t know what happened. One minute I am fighting him, next minute I wake up and see Rambha’s robots carrying me,” said Vishwas.
“It was his blood. He had some special ability that let him manipulate his blood. Must have been a skill,” said Ashwin.
He let out a sigh and said, “Well. After that, I wanted to comeback but my lady didn’t let me.”
“Don’t call me that,” said Rambha. “We did get some exercise by taking out a few goons.”
“I was wondering why no one came for backup,” said Ashwin.
“Yup! I also managed to make it to level 20! What about you guys?” asked Rambha.
“Well. I got a massive boost. I, too, am level 20,” said Ashwin.
Uruvi looked at her screen. She did not look too enthusiastic. “Level 22. Three more to go.”
The mood in the group quickly turned somber.
“Uruvi. You know you don’t have to do it alone, right?” said Rambha.
She looked up and replied, “We will think about it when the time comes. Right now, we only have four hours until midnight. And we don’t even know what rule we are going to add.”
“About that. I actually think I might have the answer,” said Ashwin.
Rambha adjusted her voice, drawing the attention of her two friends. She pointed at Vishwas with her eyes, which he seemed to have caught on.
“Hey, if you don’t want to share… I am completely fine with it,” said Vishwas.
“Why are you hanging around us?” asked Uruvi.
“Nowhere else to go,” he replied, shrugging his shoulders.
“Don’t you have a family or someone?”
“No. The only family I had was my drinking buddies. They are all dead now. Until I met you guys, I was just waiting to die. Either in the hands of a monster or the gangsters.” He let out a sigh. “But, it is fine if you don’t mind me around. I will find myself something else to distract myself with.”
“Oh, sure. Tell us your sob story and then tell us you are okay to leave,” said Rambha, shaking her head.
He wore an awkward smile on his face.
“Still. We would like to keep some things a secret. As of right now, all you need to know is that I need to level up and I need to fight Rank 1… By midnight,” said Uruvi.
“I am A okay with it. But you may have a hard time reaching his level. Behram was the highest level contestant, apart from Sashwat, that is,” said Vishwas.
Uruvi let out a low whimper as she shifted uncomfortably.
“Come on now. You don’t have to do this alone, you know? We are in it together,” said Rambha.
Ashwin remained silent.
Rambha took note of it and asked, “What?”
“I will tell you later. Right now, let’s focus on what we need to do next,” he said.
“If anyone else is left in this place, they would be at Rajan’s hideout. Maybe some of them have leveled up,” said Vishwas.
“Maybe. Do you know how to get there?” asked Ashwin. Vishwas nodded in response. “Then lead the way.”
***
They weaved their way through the maze of houses under the darkness of the night. They kept the chatter to a minimum and tried to remain on their toes. Eventually, they reached the northernmost part of the area where they could see beams of fluorescent light filling the night air.
“Follow me,” Vishwas whispered. He led them up the stairs and onto the terrace of a building. From there, they could see an entire section of houses, brightly lit up and brimming with people.
“Whoa! There are so many people here!” said Rambha, speaking in a hushed tone.
“I guess these are the survivors of the gang war,” said Uruvi.
“Why do they even need contestants from outside?” asked Rambha.
“Not all of them are contestants here. As far as I am aware, they are still short by a good 30 percent,” said Vishwas.
“Whoa! They are going to need a miracle to fetch them the rest,” said Rambha.
“We've got to stop them before they do that,” Uruvi replied.
“So we are fighting our way through?” asked Rambha.
“Looks like we've got no choice,” said Ashwin. He looked up at the massive house at the center. “I guess that is where their bosses are.”
“Wait. We don’t need to fight them,” said Vishwas. “There is a drain, a large one, sitting underneath this place. We can get through that.”
“I am not walking through sewage!” said Rambha.
“It is bone dry! Rajan uses it as an escape during raids. But the only problem is that it opens from the inside.”
“Not a problem,” replied Uruvi, rolling her shoulder.
“We don’t need to do that. I will get inside and open it for you,” said Vishwas.
“You? They want your head, Macha!” said Rambha.
Vishwas had already made up his mind. He vaulted over the parapet and said, “Don’t worry, I got this.” He pointed to his right. “Over there. You will find a large wall with actress Meenakshi’s poster. The drain pipe will be gated, but the lock is easy to bust.”
He leapt into the darkness below and quickly trotted towards the light.
They watched him enter the row of houses and quickly get surrounded by the goons.
“Think we should help him?” asked Rambha.
“Wait. I think he has got it,” said Ashwin.
They chatted for a long time, and the men seemed to have calmed down. He began to make his way through the crowd and towards the building.
“Let’s go!” said Ashwin.
***
They found the entrance as Vishwas had described. There was no one guarding the place. Ashwin placed his hand on the gate, intending to break it. But the metal door swung open with a gentle push.
“That’s strange…” Ashwin commented.
“Yeah. No smell. Looks like Vishwas was right,” said Rambha.
“That is not what I meant,” said Ashwin, stepping inside.
The tunnel was pitch black, with the only source of light coming from the street lamp just outside.
“Luminos,” said Ashwin, holding up his hand. Bright light enveloped his hand, illuminating the dark, but dry, tunnel.
He led the way forward with Rambha and Uruvi right behind him. As they walked, they saw the place filled with sacks and crates. There were several doors lining the sides of the drain.
“Are these rooms?” asked Uruvi.
“It looks like they were using this place for more than just an escape,” said Ashwin.
Suddenly, a low growl caught Uruvi’s ears. She was all too familiar with the sound, which made her come to a stop. She turned towards the door on her right and tiptoed towards it.
Ashwin and Rambha took note of her. “Is something wrong?” Rambha whispered.
Uruvi pushed the door gently, letting faint rays of light into the dark room. The floor was covered with black spheres, each taking the shape of a large egg. On the other side, she saw a hand retreat from the light, while two shiny white pearls stared back at her. The creature bore its fangs, letting a low growl escape. ‘You've got to be kidding me…’
She quietly closed the door and returned to her companions. They saw the grim expression on her face.
“What did you see? Dead bodies?” asked Rambha.
“Hmm…” Uruvi swallowed hard. “You know how all the Pisacha are just humans?”
“Yes…” They replied in unison.
“Turns out that is not the only way to make them. A Pisachi (female Pisacha) can make more of them,” said Uruvi.
Their faces turned pale white on hearing it.
“The room is filled with eggs,” said Uruvi.
“Eggs? Like chicken eggs?” asked Rambha, whose voice had a tremble in it.
“No. Big ones,” said Uruvi, trying to show the size with her hands.
“Do they like open in the top? Like a flower? With some kind of bug inside that latches onto your face and drops an egg down your throat?” asked Rambha, who was panicking.
Uruvi shot a shocked expression at her. “What?”
“It’s from a movie,” Ashwin said calmly.
“Answer me!” asked Rambha.
“I don’t know! They looked like any other egg. Except they were like black… the shells,” said Uruvi.
“I am not going anywhere near them,” said Rambha, ducking behind Ashwin.
“What level was the Pisachi?” asked Ashwin.
“I didn’t see.”
“Even if they hatch, they will only be what level 1? 5? We may not need to worry about it right now,” said Ashwin.
“You sure?” asked Uruvi.
“In fact… I think we can make use of them,” said Ashwin.
“Man trying to make use of things he doesn’t understand, never went well!” said Rambha.
“Would you calm down? I am sure they won’t drop an egg down your throat,” said Ashwin.
“I am not taking that risk!” said Rambha.
“Let’s first deal with the bosses, shall we?” asked Ashwin.
“You really sure?” asked Uruvi.
Ashwin nodded. “Yes.”
They continued onwards, reaching the end of the tunnel that took a sharp left. Going further inside, they came up on a small flight of metal steps. Climbing up, they came up on a large wooden door, whose frame was carved into the cement of the pipe.
“What do we do? We knock?” whispered Uruvi.
Suddenly, the locks clicked open, and the thick wooden door swung open, revealing Vishwas standing behind it. Behind him, there were four more men, looking at them with a mean expression.
“So, these are the assholes who killed Behram?” said one of them.