《Masquerade Smite》 Chapter:1 - Peace Treaty "Another sight of missile barrage looms as Xianara pressures Ceyrath to forfeit their rights of sovereignty, but analyzing the continuous resistance Ceyrath is putting along with its political military backing from Bharathis as well as Ruslania, it seems they are willing to see this war through the end." Was the first thing I heard as I woke up, the television was on and my father was listening to news anchor as he got dressed for work. Actually this wasn''t the first time I heard about this, the current situation was the result of a previous one month long war. Xianara having advanced rapidly needed a dedicated island to perform its large scale biotechnology experimentation and what better place can there be than the island near a enemy country so if in case something does go wrong at least Xianara would be away from danger''s door. For this exact reason Xianara was doing some field testing of their newly developed military power but to it''s surprise Ceyrath''s alliance joined hands to fend of this act of terror. All the residents residing in Ceyrath had already taken refuge in Bharathis resulting in Ceyrath becoming a battlefield. Throughout this month if someone residing in Bharathis looked at the sky continuously for a short while they would see number of missiles heading from Xianara to Ceyrath as well as fighter jets. The geographical boundary of all these countries should lead them to have a very intense atmosphere as Xianara was directly above Bharathis and directly below Ruslania, making Xianara looked sandwiched by the opposing countries and Ceyrath being a island directly below Bharathis, still there was no sign of war between these three countries. The reason? They had signed a peace treaty along with other surrounding countries too this was done to prevent the situation that happened forty year ago from happening where all these countries had engaged in a calamitous war soon enveloping and dragging all the countries worldwide causing it to become a world war and the death toll reaching 200 million globally but the treaty didn''t involve Ceyrath as at the time this treaty was being signed Ceyrath''s government was busy handling the civil war that broke out in their country. Being involved or not it was all a phoney treaty, many such peace agreements had been signed before and if a few signatures prevented onslaught of millions why these ''peace loving'' countries focusing on expanding their military power every year ? So that they can give their citizens a good time showing off the significant surge in technology development their armed power during military parade? Heh as if. The treaty was a simple act to persuade the common fools in believing that things will be right from now on and they can live at peace, but in reality these countries just take a step back while replenishing their military supplies and improving their technology just so in the next war they can be victorious and suppress the rest. This time it was Xianara, the one who was pushed to its limit that it had to unwillingly suggest the notion of the current existing peace treaty in front of world council. This forty-year-long resentment¡ªyou don''t really believe they''ve forgotten it, do you? Xianara will strike again breaking the treaty for sure, next time more powerful and then it would be our turn to defend. Back to the present, Xianara focusing on attacking Ceyrath where as Bharathis and Ruslania doing their best to provide Ceyrath with support, the situation if one was to analyse they would definitely say it was reaching a stalemate just a week ago, whether the reason being that Xianara was thinking to halt the continuous aggression or trying to reduce the draining military funds while it prepared its trump card, especially this whole week the attacks from Xianara had reduced greatly, maybe it was finally time for Ceyrath to go on offense. "Anyway what does that have to do with me, whether Xianara retreats its forces or is able to overthrow the current Ceyrath''s government it has nothing to do with me, being a citizen of Bharathis comes with its own benefit huh" Shraiyen was just another 17 year old going along with his daily life like every other teenager. A lean young male physique with a slight build not for show but for occasional athletic purpose. With a face not average but not handsome like model either and his hair grown till they touched the back of his neck but definitely well maintained, if one was to look long enough and analyse every detail of his body and movements they would definitely feel a hint of elegance in him. Unlike the youth of his age being disorderly, rowdy and wild he on the other hand was rather distinguish, one who focused on his own affairs and kept a reasonable distance with everyone while maintaining a positive relation with anyone who approached him.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. He had no love interest but others of same age being at the ripe stage of youth had romantic interests, with many already being in a relationship and some having one sided affection towards other gender, it wasn''t that he couldn''t find any affection but he didn''t understood the reason to seek love at such age where both force themselves to like the other and as years pass the ''love spark'' between them fades causing the distance between them to increase, the only thing that follows this ruined relation is the wastage of their productive years. Being a school student he used to go school almost every day just so he could observe slightly new things every day, whether its the interaction between his classmates or is the crow brushing past him, he was a keen observer and liked to observe every single small detail. He would attend every lecture but would rarely pay attention instead would be busy observing the changes in his classmate''s appearance be it the hairstyle or the way the school dress was worn or the polish of the shoe or if someone is not maintaining their nail''s length, be it boys or girls there would be slight difference in their appearance every day. When he would complete observing them then he diverted his attention outside where students used to play various sports and surrounding the ground where trees, he would keep on watching things until classes wind up each day. Academically he was above average not being a topper but maintaining a respectable grade and in sports he had good stamina having a lean figure sports was something he would excel at and also seemed naturally gifted in it but never really considered sports as his career. He was bored, not sad not happy, he rarely got excited over something he always used to have a expression of nothing, nobody could say that he was angry or sad or happy because he wasn''t, all he was, was bored and being bored doesn''t involve any of those expression so as time went by his natural resting face had no expression left. But during conversations with anyone he would laugh along with them, during someone''s grief or when consoling someone he would have a sad face but was he really? No, showing right emotions at the right time is called intelligence, fools who pretend to be emotionless, not laugh when need to laugh, don''t grief when need to grief, are nothing more than ridiculous morons, deliberately trying to look emotionless. Whether one finds something worth laughing or grieving is a matter of his own hearth but why need to show something and attract people''s gaze? He didn''t live a purposeless life, he had already sorted out his career path and after that his earning source and his life up to 80 years of age with different scenarios of him dying before even 80, but he felt no excitement, he laid out a plan because he had to not because he wanted to, there was no joy for him in earning money but to avoid being homeless and being starved purposelessly he had to earn money after his studies. Just like every other day, this too was an ordinary day for him when he heard the news and he went on with his daily routine then proceeded to change to his school uniform and head for school by a bi-cycle. After school got over, he took the shortest route and was on his way home when he had to race towards home as two street dogs had started chasing behind him almost close to biting him, anyway when he reached he informed his mother of the incident that happened so that they can be careful while dropping of his sister in elementary school. He also had a younger sister, Shailani, of 10 years old whom he loved and used to play with as she used to reach home before him. After informing about what happened he went to change into his casual clothes and went to his sister''s room to play, seeing him arrive Shailani was overjoyed as she jumped up and down as before she was playing all by herself, seeing her Shraiyen was also happy while she came and grabbed his leg he also reached his hand and hugged her tilting slightly side ward, she only reached his waist, after that he got dragged by his sister and they both sat down to play after one hour of playing he heard the main door opening, this was the usual time of his father reaching home and he was right, his father was at the front door and his mother went ahead to open the door, he drove inside and parked his bike in the garage and came inside the house as he was going to change after handing the sweets he had bought for the children he told his wife about a cat that suddenly jumped from a building wall on his bike as he was driving, luckily he was driving slow and he could shrug the cat off and his wife told him about what happened with Shraiyen, he gave it a thought and proceeded to go change as he went all he commented was "be careful, it is dangerous if they bite you, chances of rabies are there". Author''s note: Readers I''m delighted to know that you are taking time to read my written piece, the motive to write this was because I saw there was no popular novel or book under apocalyptic genre so I thought why not start with this genre as the first project. I ask you to be patient when reading this but please drop this if you would not be able to handle injustice or gore, that''s all : ) Chapter:2 - Lockdown *Sizzle* A faint aroma emerged as meat sizzled on the hot oil pan and filled the entire house with mouth-watering scent. Time for twilight had arrived, the sun leaving behind a trace of golden light approached the horizon as if a maiden with golden cascade was reaching for her bed to hug it, such golden light filtering through Shailani''s room reflected on Shraiyen''s young and pale face, with half his face illuminated and half being veiled by the darkness in the room, he seemed enigmatic. Although one could swear if they looked close enough that his pupil were like dark orbs but only under the golden beam could they see the amber like glow of his eyes, as if all the honey of the entire world had been poured in and a light then shone upon it would radiate the same glow. He was smiling as he slowly said to his sister, "Looks like it''s time to eat, let''s go". "Alright", as Shailani responded jumping up from his lap with a energetic smile that stretched along her face connecting like a bridge. Both siblings made their way to the dining area as they saw their mother setting up the dishes on the table. Seeing this Shailani rushed ahead and quickly sat on her seat saying grinningly, "first come first serve, I''ll have largest portion of the meat". Mother responded with a little fatigued smile, "Of course if you''ll also have the most of the vegetables too". After this she called out for his father saying, "Honey come down dinner is served". "But I don''t want to eat vegetables" Shailani pouted and responding in spoiled tone. Soon father also approached the dining area and sat with everyone after turning on the television that directly faced the dining table. Father sat facing the television with sister and mother sitting on either side of him. Dinner was served by mother to each of us. Mutton stew with garlic naan along with roasted chicken and salad. As usual the channel got changed to the news one and the anchor started with her usual Xianara defaming following with the increasing offence Ceyrath has started to show but interrupting the current news anchor spoke, "Breaking news : Today a nationwide attack from street animals has been recorded, a sudden and unexplainable outburst of cats and dogs that roam the streets attacked passersby mostly pedestrians and even caused severe injuries to some. With children and elderly being attacked the most. Almost every injured has been admitted by this evening with the number reaching staggering 2.1 million! The cause of such a sudden and startling incident has yet to be discovered but before any of this Government of Bharathis has taken a decision to capture each and every dog and cat that is currently on the streets, this operation will take more than a week and so the government has just now issued an state of complete lockdown, People of Bharathis are instructed to remain at their home, hostel, hotel, motel or anywhere they are staying for the next few days. Government once cleared the area of strays completely, will notify that area to commence their economic activity again but they will still not be allowed to travel anywhere until the nationwide lockdown is over. This is a matter of serious importance and Government expects everyone to comply for the upcoming days, while keeping in mind the food usage so that it can last up to a week and half in extreme cases, if anyone seen outside will be detained by the government officials and will be sent to the facilities for check up despite their reason and the state of importance, once again please oblige with the instructions of lockdown, these instructions will be repeated again by the end of the news program now further more a speculation is coming from the national department of health that these strays might''ve come in contact with a mutated case of rabies that was yet to be found and that has now spread between them by saliva or through some other ways too causing them to turn this violent. Government will excise caution while capturing them and expects the citizens to be at home. Now time for the instructions regarding loc-" Father decided to turn off the television, everyone was still eating although with a greatly reduced speed the food made with such effort must be tasting bland as tension built upUnauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "I really was saved by the skin of my teeth had it not been for the helmet, that cat would''ve scratched or injured my face heavily, you were lucky you didn''t get bit by that dog too" Saying this father laid his eyes on Shraiyen as he was munching a mouthful of salad, he responded by nodding twice. They were shocked but not surprised, shocked by the incident indeed but not surprised by the lockdown. Since this wasn''t the first time that there was a sudden lockdown, just few months ago a complete lockdown due to a highly contagious flu had been implemented, a two week period where people were barely allowed going outside even when they had to buy items of necessity, which made them realise the importance of food storage. So currently almost every Bharathis had at least two weeks worth of food storage, government also knew this and thus issued a stricter lockdown than the previous one since the current situation was more pressing. Irony or not the flu had started spreading nearing near Bharathis ¨C Xianara border and proceeded downward making its way to Ceyrath but was subdued due to increasing humid tropical climate. Xianara later cleared, that it had no part in spreading it. "Honey help me with the food stored in the basement tomorrow morning, need to check the expiry on all" mother said as she got up from her chair picking up her silverware. "Alright alright but not the first thing in the morning" father uttered with a slight sigh. "Can I sleep today in your room? I''m scared a little...." Shailani looked at Shraiyen, with her round innocent eyes, as she finished eating. "No need to ask for such things of course you can" with a slight smile Shraiyen responded as he continued to eat again, being a slow eater he generally used to be the last one still eating. "In case if you too are scared then both of you can sleep with us, we won''t mind" in a teasingly way mother added, her voice a little distant as she was in the kitchen. "As if" Shraiyen answered laughingly as he got up finally finishing the meal. "I''ll pick ''em up, you guys can go" father said to both the siblings as he reached for their silverware stacking them on top of his. "alright (alright)" both replied. Seems like father wanted to talk with mother concerning recent matter. ... On the bed Shailani rolled around with her stuffed bunny while Shraiyen was sitting by his study table searching about data of the incident that happened today. He wanted to get some information regarding what caused such sudden change in those animals as even the dog that rushed to bite him today was usually friendly if not to anyone else but to him at least since he used to feed him occasionally on his to school. But in the end after even two hours of searching he could find nothing, on information sites there had been no update since their hadn''t been much time since this incident started and on social platforms all he could get was speculations and rumors as well as usual conspiracies. Giving up on the topic he finally picked up his phone an texted "saw the news? It''s lockdown again although it''s just a week but still I''ll be more bored and won''t even be able to meet you too." Shraiyen had but one single friend, someone he had known since his early childhood, Sharvyn, they lived nearby, only five to six houses apart. Generally friends have a few common grounds if not few then at least one common ground always exist but, on what common ground were their friendship formed? Even they didn''t know that. Sharvyn excelled in study whereas Shraiyen although didn''t lack academic knowledge but excelled in sports, he had a talent for music whereas he liked art, he was surrounded by females and had a few relations in past despite being that young whereas he never cared about such matter, one was quite lively and expressive whereas the other was gloomy and silent all day around. Regardless of these differences whenever they met they would spent around three to four hours just talking and enjoying each other''s company. "Was going to message you in just a few minutes, yes I saw the news, man was it a shock, I didn''t go to school so I was at home the whole day otherwise knowing my luck I would have gotten myself bit for sure but well we can still call to pass the time." After a few minutes Sharvyn responded "With whom are you talking?" Shailani questioned with her sweet voice as she heard the sound of notification from his brother''s phone "Just my friend" replied Shraiyen with a affectionate gaze before he could even look at what Sharvyn had responded. "Oh okay but let''s sleep it''s already gotten this late, ma is going to wake me early again" "Alright wait I''m turning the lights off in a few minutes" Shraiyen replied, Shailani being more young used to sleep early than him so she was already getting sleepy but Shraiyen was not tired yet still decided to sleep seeing her tired. "Going to sleep early, will message you tomorrow morning" Shraiyen finished sending the message to Sharvyn and the turned off the ceiling light and went near the window to close the curtain. His and his sister''s room was on 1st floor whereas his parent''s room was on ground floor, from his window he could see the moon, it was still rising and gave of a dull red light with a silent and dark night the scene was rather lacking and ordinary, he could hear the sirens from afar. "Looks like they''ve started capturing the strays, I''ll miss them" Shraiyen thought as he closed the curtains and the proceeded to sleep. He was a light sleeper and sleeping early caused him to have a more shallow sleep, throughout the night he could hear her sister snoring lightly and the sounds of sirens closing in. ... boom "WAKE UP....something has happened....at the hospital nearby those injured people were also admitted there" mother shouted as she barged in hurriedly waking both the children up Chapter:3 - Outbreak *boom* It sounded like an explosion in some action movie but why was the sound of television so high this early in the morning? Seems like the sound earlier had woke Shraiyen up but he still was sluggish not opening his eyes as a hint of drowsiness lingered when suddenly, *slam* Mother opened the door making a loud noise which startled Shailani who was lying on her brother''s hand and still in deep sleep, such sound also made Shraiyen flinch a little and by the time he could open his eyes her mother shouted in a highly agitated voice filled with distress, "WAKE UP....something has happened....at the hospital nearby those injured people were also admitted there" By now both brother and sister were wide awake as they heard their mother. "What happened at which hospital? Is it some attack? Is this area under terrorist attack?" Shraiyen asked as he got down from bed flexing and stretching his upper body muscles then cracking his knuckles and neck. "Brotherrrr.... I''m scared...Ma what''s happening" Shailani was young, it was understandable for her to be scarred when she heard the words ''terrorist'' and ''attack'', she got down from the bed and held his brother''s right hand with both her hands, looking at her mother with her pure and innocent black orbs like eyes. "Your father had opened the news early today in hope to get some information regarding what happened yesterday, but the reporter interrupted the ongoing news and told Ashwanta Wellness Institute which is literally 4 kilometers away from our house was caught in a blast and a government worker that was catching a dog in front of it is currently streaming the incident live which the news is using to show us, what''s more concerning is all those who got injured by the strays in our area where admitted there only, anyway come down it''s better to be attentive in such scenarios than sleeping around." "Alright (Alright)" .... They reached the dining room, the father was sitting with a grave look, both his hands above the table resting at his philtrum as he leaned slightly forward with his eyes locked on the television where the live news was playing. "....got caught in an unexpected explosion. Now repeating the breaking news with upcoming new details, Ashwanta Wellness Institute a well known and famous government hospital where the local patients from the yesterday''s incident had been admitted got caught in what seems like an internal explosion. It has also been confirmed that this is supposedly not a terrorist attack and has happened due to intense chaos inside the institute itself, the reason yet unknown. Take a look at this live video showing the intense situation that is unveiling currently, all the police force nearby had been contacted not long ago and now after arriving they have formed a defensive line..." the reporter was telling all of this without taking a breather. What was the need for defensive line when this is not a terrorist attack and everyone is a civilian? Well because "...now direct your focus on these people, just what are their intentions and why are they acting crazily have they really disregarded their own lives?" ''These people'' looked like patients as some still were wearing hospital sleepwear, these people first came running outside the hospital entrance in groups, among them a few slipped and rolled down the entrance stairs, still none of these people gave any regards to the ones who had slipped and still continued to run, more terrifying was people who had rolled eight or ten stairs down got up and started running again. Under such situations one would expect continuous shouting, screaming and cries of these people assuming they are victims of the explosion that happened earlier, but there was no sound other than that of running and falling, all the expect agonizing screams were instead pouring out from the deep within of hospital. Any sane person would indifferently think that these people are scarred witless and are running to seek protection from whatever is happening inside the hospital, but if that was the reason then why was there a defense line formed of policemen with shield as the first layer trying to block the entrance and in the back a second defensive layer of armed policemen? "OBSERVE....the reports we received earlier were true, the batch of investigative police groups were indeed attacked, look at these people...have these patients gone insane, what is the meaning of all this" Something was strange indeed with these people. As they got closer to the camera, viewers were able to see all of them much clearly, more than half the people were fully unclothed, not just males but females too. Still they gave no attention to their own lack of clothing, the remaining people had mostly half the clothing - wearing hospital pajamas or gowns and some fortunate ones were fully clothed.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Clearly that alone wouldn''t make the reporter this agitated right ? Well this in itself was shocking but sadly these people didn''t stop at running buck naked. Some middle aged naked males and females leapt forward and punched at the shields which the policemen were holding, on the other hand around four to five people ran across and jumped over two policemen and continued dashing, one stopped near an electricity pole and remaining sprinted out of the camera frame. The one who had stopped near the pole stared at it for a few breaths time and jumped vertically, the pole was of average size maybe around 25-28 feet, if a person jumps and leaps on such pole he would utmost reach maybe around 5 or 6 feet that too if they are athletes but that person...even if he was an athlete....he jumped and covered roughly 55% of the pole''s length, one could grasp this in a way that he jumped over two 6 feet long humans standing vertically if not more, following he clasped his body on the pole using his arms and feet, soon he looked up and leaped one''s more almost reaching the top and hugging the pole like a child hugs his mother''s leg, he then stayed there not moving an inch. This was the least chaotic scene, happening at the corner of the camera frame, if we were to talk about what was happening at the center, it was hell unleashed, had it been a news shown after being edited, the complete video would be heavily censored but right now it was live. More and more people were coming out of hospital by running, slipping, jumping, some rolling after getting kicked by the running crowd, as these people poured out of the entrance they directly went on to attack the armed policemen, unable to hold the crowd''s violent actions the first layer broke down. Only sound that echoed after the first defensive layer broke was of continuous firing. Since the start of the incident, police had already given repetitive warnings to these people that they should not condone in any violent behavior or else the police would be forced to open fire. The armed men were able to successfully hold their ground for seven minutes of pure one sided blood shed that was all still being shown to public, in these seven minutes the crowd of these people had increased, one significant way to tell the difference was the naked attacking the clothed while the clothed kept on shooting the naked and half naked people. Suddenly a loud scream traveled through the screen in the viewer''s ears, it had originated from the right side of the armed defensive layer where finally a policeman met his fate, after his scream he was seen running away while holding his blood red arm. This resulted in weakening of the defense at the right side and within a few breaths time, two more policemen, one holding his red arm and one limping, were seen running away. Soon viewers saw the defensive line gradually getting surrounded by those people, among all the firing a girl punched one of the police man causing him to fall on the ground immediately then the girl leapt at the policeman''s thigh biting a huge chunk of yellow fat with blood dripping all over followed by that man''s harrowing scream. "We are receiving another report describing the same kind of situation that is currently happening at Ashwanta Wellness Institute, this other hospital is a mere twelve kilometers away from Ashwanta Wellness and here too the patients of yesterday''s incident were admitted." This hospital was sixteen kilometers away from Shraiyen''s home. "All the local police force had been contacted to subdue the situation here also but look at this, the patients of this hospital are also attacking these policemen, what is the reason, is this the backlash of the incident that happened yesterday ? or is this som- We have received another video of a hospital twenty six kilometers away from Ashwanta Wellness and look, similar lookin- Four videos have been received by our branch situated at the neighbor state, every video we are receiving is of hospitals where the patients are attacking and the police is trying to defend Now we have received two more videos from the surrounding states" Currently the screen was filled with nine miniature videos, in each one the main center of attention was a hospital with naked and half naked people pouring out and police trying to defend by either shooting or shielding. It was nothing less than a hell, from all these 9 videos screaming, shouting, crying, firing of bullets could be easily heard and when combined it felt as if this was a part of movie, because something like this being real? It was hard to accept. Some people got shot, some people punched the face or chest of policemen, some leapt at the fallen policemen, some were running and some could be seen hugging a pole or a tree at exceptionally high height with no movement no matter what happened below them. Soon a video enlarged where the situation had progressed far worse than any other video, it was of a familiar looking hospital, of Ashwanta Wellness Institute. The formation of defensive line could not be seen any more, all that was left were few scattered policemen, some were running for the sake of their life and some were lying with no movement as blood poured out from either their arms, legs or necks. The blood flowing from the wounds was getting mixed in the already formed stream of blood that was dying the road crimson red which occasionally sparkled and reflected under the rays of sun. Just as all this was unfolding, camera moved towards the same young girl who was holding a yellow looking chunk in her mouth, her hands were coated with blood till her elbows, she was covered by the blood soaked hospital gown in the front half only with her whole back and legs exposed, she was running towards a direction close by the camera person, it was possible she hadn''t noticed the camera person, yet he started following ''behind'' her trying to see where she was going, immediately leaving the scene and chasing her while keeping a distance. In a few seconds, when a person running at her caught the girl''s attention, she turned back, dropped the blood dripping yellow chunk, and lunged. Caught by such sudden movement change, the camera man froze at the spot and as he was about to turn around. *Thwack!* *Shatter!!* Chapter:4 - National Emergency *Shatter* The sound of camera man''s smartphone breaking reverberated in viewer''s ears as the screen turned black with no sound. Immediately it was swapped with the collage of the remaining eight videos, meanwhile the news anchor started commenting of what could have happened [8:28 A.M] This abrupt screen distortion jolted Shraiyen''s family back to their senses, as with each passing second the gravity of the situation sank deeper in their hearts. Father had turned the volume off right now and the whole dining hall was swallowed by silence, both the siblings were still standing facing the television, Shailani clenching her brother''s hand since start with the grip getting tighter as she progressed into a state of unease. Mother was standing beside father''s chair, looking at her face right now, which usually held a refined and ladylike composure, one could tell in just a few breaths she was on the verge of loosing her cool and falling in a state of panic. And that is exactly what happened, slowly her grasp of the chair slowly loosened as her legs suddenly went out of strength to support her weight, as she fell, both her hands covered the face that was already showing signs of teary eyes, she started sobbing saying loudly "What....what will we do now". There had been no change in his father''s posture, he was still leaning slightly forward with his hands supporting his face, but even from the side, Shraiyen could easily tell the expression on his father''s face had turned pensive with his eyes drooped down contemplating the situation. Situation was turning tense with each second passing, Shailani also started getting tearful, she was looking at her mother, who currently was crying. Yet, amidst it all, Shraiyen''s eyes were still locked on the screen, occasionally he took a glace at his parents. He alone stood there with a face betraying not even a trace of worry, instead his heart felt excitement, PURE excitement, right now his heart was pulsating so loud, that had it not been his mother''s cry echoing through the room one could easily have heard the unnaturally rapid heart beating of his. Whom in this world have never once heard or seen about this exact same situation, people running and biting others mindlessly, that''s the exact plot for zombie apocalypse. But those are a work of fiction merely in stories, movies or games, such thing neither once happened in reality nor people ever could''ve imagined a situation like that becoming a reality. However if the current source of their dread that merely was twelve kilometers away from them not a zombie apocalypse then what was it ? If such a peril looming over them would not be the cause of their spirit breaking then what would be. If the attention was to be diverted on the television, the news was still showing videos of people running, biting, screaming, jumping with now being more than twenty video footage and if the attention to be diverted outside, one could hear the screaming and crying of peoples as some came out on the road and some shouting from their house. So then why....why did Shraiyen stood there with a serene face hiding his excitement as the edges of his ears turned red due to increased blood flow. "I...don''t know..what to do..what should..what should we do....should we lock ourselves in basement? Wait this is it...YES we should lock ourselves in the basement" after all this time finally his father spoke his thoughts, his words heavy and his voice on the verge of breaking but he had to hold it in. "Foolish father !!!" one could''ve almost hear Shraiyen''s inner scream, still he only glanced at his father as he again focused on the videos that the news was showing. "It sounds*sob* reasonable, in that case we might*sob* be able to protect ourselves until the government capture these people" after her collecting her scattered thoughts and calming herself down mother responded. With an internal sigh finally Shraiyen joined the conversation "What are the chances of government or military rescuing victims from specifically our location among all the states, when our state isn''t even the central one? They indeed will help civilians through one way or another, however what surety is there that they''ll go out of their way to help a few civilians stuck like us in their own homes. *sigh* It''s better to wait for sometime and see what orders the central government issues. If there is no update whatsoever then let''s take the matter of our own survival in our own hands." saying this he freed the hand his sister was holding and proceeded to leave the dining room after patting her head. As the proverb goes, "people involved in the situation are baffled while the spectators observe clearly" *1, these few lines helped his parents direct their thoughts towards one direction as they nodded agreeing to his words, they soon started discussing a little more calmly but of course a trace of worry was visible on their face. ... [8:42 A.M] Arriving in his room, he reached for his phone, it was ringing when he had opened the door earlier. Currently there were nine missed calls from Sharvyn and multiple messages. It seems like he was trying to contact him since the news regarding outbreak had started. "How is your family holding up after seeing the news?" finally the one way communication ended as Shraiyen responded "Got bit already I presume. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. As I see no other possible reason why you won''t respond for so long at a time of emergency. Do you understand just for how long I was trying to contact you, my parents are panicking since the news showed that video, they are suggesting to to flee this area somehow." "I was watching the news with my parents in the hall that''s why I couldn''t hear the phone ringing, sorry. Anyway, where would they flee? almost every state is facing the same situation. We should be happy we aren''t surrounded by them YET. My parents were saying to hide in basement. Just come at my place with your parents and your pup." "Hmmm coming at your place might be good option, talking with each other might help them calm down too, we are coming in ten minutes. Wait why bring my dog too?" "Are you planning to abandon her even before a tragedy befallen on us, bring her, you can carry her in your arms it''s no big deal" "You aren''t trying to jinx us...are you? Alright Alright I''ll bring her" ... "I''ve contacted Sharvyn to come here and bring his parents too, it might help you reach a conclusion regarding what to do." "Huh? What was the need to add more to my worries? Can''t you see how dire the situation has become?" "Tsk Tsk you can''t even think of a logical and praise worthy solution, at the very least I''m helping you by putting more people beside you so you can discuss your pathetic idea of ''hiding in a damn basement'' with them." Shraiyen stayed silent with no change in his posture or attitude as if he didn''t even hear what his father had said, being stuck in a slowly approaching life or death situation any person will start getting aggressive in such cases it''s better to not rile the person more and thus Shraiyen chose to avoid what his father said, only mumbling in his mind. "Honey, they might have some plan, plus it would benefit us being in group than being alone. Also Sharvyn is our son''s only friend, let them come." "...was no need to mention ''only'' " Shraiyen left the room grumbling to himself. "Well....okay, not like it''s a problem but if something happens wouldn''t it be increased responsibility?" .... [8:57 A.M] Continuous knocking were heard at the main door followed by five to six ringing of doorbell. Shraiyen was the first to reach, after seeing through the cam, he opened the door and respectfully greeted Sharvyn''s parents, his gaze then landed upon Sharvyn who was holding an almost soft toy looking puppy, taking the puppy from his hand into his own, he slowly asked Sharvyn in a low voice "Were they opposing your idea of coming here?" "Quite so" Sharvyn responded sneering as if he knew what question Shraiyen was going to ask. *Sigh* After sighing Shraiyen placed all his attention upon the breathing fur ball he was holding in his hand, in his possession right now was a four month old Shiba breed puppy, her silk like fur looked like they were sunbathed in the golden light of the sun, half a finger long cone shaped ears and eyes filled with curiosity as well as mischievousness perfectly represented her playful, naughty, stubborn and over confident personality, paired with almost never stopping tail wagging that represented her excitement as if she was seeing everything and everyone for the first time in her life. Shraiyen patted the puppy for three to four minutes straight, still standing outside as if today was no more than a normal day even when in his surroundings people were crying and shouting. A person even had ran passing his house with a look of intense panic. "Let''s go inside or everyone will be angry." Sharvyn broke the silence between seeing as how absorbed Shraiyen was pouring his affection for a dog. "Hmm? Ah yes yes, let''s go" Shraiyen responded with a gentle smile as he moved behind Sharvyn closing the door with one hand and still holding the puppy with other hand. .... [9:03 A.M] "Where were you brother?" Shailani reached her brother as soon as both of them entered the guest room, she then respectfully greeted Sharvyn, her voice felt anxious and a look of worry was on her face but she wasn''t crying. "Nowhere, I was just patting her, do you want to hold her?" In a calm and collective tone Shraiyen responded, he didn''t smile as smiling in such a tense environment will be considered mentally questionable. "No no, come sit" rejecting to hold the puppy Shailani grabbed her brother''s hand tightly with both of her small palms as she lead him to a sofa where they sat together, looking carefully there was slight shaking in her hands, indicating clearly how scared she was but still she tried her best to keep her composure. Both their parents saw the event happen but commented nothing, they had much more serious topic at hand to discuss about. Shraiyen and Sharvyn''s parents had known each other since their children were five. In front of each other, they had maintained a very friendly and family like nature, even frequently visiting each other''s houses. But behind each other''s back especially in their house they badmouthed and hated them, the only reason they were still adhering to this friendly relation facade was because of their children. Right now they were talking to each other either willingly or unwillingly, still they discussed their ideas of how to evade this situation with their children listening to them silently. "We are getting no where like this, leaving the state is impossible, we have been watching the news, moving in the direction of Ashwanta Institute is near impossible, we can''t move back as what would follow after fifteen kilometers of urbanization is a dense forest whose range is nearly four kilometers. Both the states on our left and right are already under attack plus there is a huge chance that the connecting highways are already crowded." Finding someone else mistake is rather easy, as soon as Sharvyn''s parents had proposed the idea of leaving, Sharvyn''s father rejected it in an instant. "Then is hiding in the basement a brilliant idea? We would be literally trapp¡ª" [9:07 A.M] *Beep* *Beep* As Sharvyn''s father was responding back in a slightly agitated tone a forced notification sounded on everyone''s phone simultaneously, this was a forced SMS sent by the government to turn on any sort of television or open the government powered app on phone or even turn on a radio and play any channel. All four adults rushed to the dining hall as fast as possible turning on the television, right now all channels were playing same broadcast. A complete black screen, on it series of red colored text appeared displaying ''NATION WIDE EMERGENCY''. On the below right side of the screen was the emblem of Goddess of Bharathis and on the upper left corner was the symbol of ''Government of Bharathis''. Soon a series of a white text started appearing below the emergency message followed by the male voice narrating the same message, "This is not a drill, this is a nation wide emergency, We repeat, this is a nation wide emergency, nearly twenty out of twenty seven, We repeat nearly twenty of twenty seven state of Bharathis are under some unknown civil attack, attacking civilians have disregarded their safety and wish to harm others. Do not face the civilians that are attacking you, try to evade them and run, we repeat do not come in contact with civilians attacking you instead run. Due to current lack of military power we order the civilians of Bharathis to seek shelter in your nearest military cantonment, We repeat seek shelter immediately, seek shelter immediately in the nearest military cantonment or else WE WON''T be able to protect you, seek shelter or WE WON''T be able to protect you. Entry of each cantonment will be closed based on the severity of your locality, anyone left outside won''t be able to seek any military protection, leave your belongings, no belongings will be allowed. We repeat again ¡ª" *Thud* Chapter:5 - Incapability *Thud* "MOTHER(MOTHER)" Expecting a remedy from government was indeed ludicrous, letting civilians fight for a spot in cantonment when such a calamitous unknown disaster is looming above their head seems akin to throwing themselves in front of a tiger willingly whereas the government higher ups probably already sealed themselves up in a personal bunker. Shraiyen''s mother was devastated by the announcement, losing the strength in her legs she fell on the floor covering her mouth as she mumbled to herself, "Oh God! Tell us what we should do." On the other hand Sharvyn''s mother having a tight grip on the nearby chair couldn''t utter even a single word as she looked at the screen. Both their fathers had a grim look on their face, realizing there was not much time to spare if they wanted to reach cantonment and avoid intense crowd, they would need to depart immediately, but the thought that was restricting them to act was - safety of their own children. Trying to reach a place which would soon be overwhelmed by a swarm of people, they would be concerned with their own safety disregarding the condition of others. Who has never even seen a riot? As soon as something arises that concerns their own life, protesters start running, in the process trampling over their own mates. And considering the current situation, there is no hope of people being considerate with each other. Their sole objective - ensure one''s own survival and reach cantonment. "Crisis doesn''t reveal character¡ªit scrapes away the lies. Even saints eat their own in the dark." So now the question looming in their mind was, whether to take the most expensive risk of their lives and depart for cantonment or go their own separate way. Each second they were wasting was an individual minute instance that slipped right through their hands like sand grains, each passing second causing additional delay in their arrival. Pressurized by time, mental pressure formed through the current danger looming above their head,lack of plan, inability to take action after forming a decision, their children''s lives hinged on a single choice ........."We are going (Let''s go hurry)" Few breaths of crying and silence from others ended at once as both fathers reached a unified decision even without talking it out. Their decision? Head towards cantonment as fast as possible. "Hurry where honey? *sob* " Shraiyen''s mother asked controlling her emotions. "To the cant where else?" "Bu...but-" "There is no other choice, I already considered it, if we will take our sweet time to draw out another escape plan from here and it fails, we would already have lost the chance to seek refuge in the cant." "Hmmm... You are right, kids move fast, let''s go." "Is this the right course of action? My guts are screaming something will happen......but father is right there is no time, being with everybody else......I''ll have more than enough time to escape even if anything happens. For now let''s roll with their plan." Shraiyen''s thoughts were debating with themselves as he saw the following scene unfold. A slight pinch in his forearm snapped him out of his inner thoughts, looking down he saw a small amount of blood pouring out as Shailani''s nails had dug a little into his hand due to tightening grip, although Shailani was not crying her eyes were fixed on her mother, her eyes filled with intense worry and fear, even being ten year old she knew that the situation they currently were in was of life and death. If uncertainty and fear had a smell it would be, a metallic smell, that filled the dining room where they currently were in. "Through what should we travel? Your car or bike?" Shraiyen''s mother inquired "Although I haven''t sent my car for maintenance for past two years it would be better to travel through it, since my bike would hardly be able to accommodate three people let alone us four." Shraiyen''s father was a car enthusiast, till now he only had managed to buy a premium edition Mercedes W124 and was saving money to buy other vintage cars, although he preferred not to drive it much, the car was in peak condition even without any recent maintenance. By now Sharvyn''s family had also talked it out with themselves, and had decided to head towards cantonment. "We don''t want to intrude anymore and hence we will take our leave as we also need to arrange a means of transport." "Hm? arrange? Don''t you have your company''s car?" "Actually...yesterday as soon as I left office a cat pounced and broke my car''s windshield and thus i dropped it by my office for repair and was dropped off by my colleague." "HAH........just what is wrong with their family." After a little contemplation Shraiyen''s father decided to save face of their years long relationship as fake as it was "Take my bike, it can handle three people max, we don''t have time to loose, now all of you hurry up, and remember don''t take anything with yourself expect your phone." The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Saying this Shraiyen''s father proceeded towards their garage with Sharvyn''s father following behind him. "Brother....will be alright? Nothing bad is going to happen right." Shailani looked at her brother with teary eyes trying to find comfort through his brother''s answer. "Do not worry, nothing is going to happen, even if something happens I''ll protect you, now go take your phone and come at the main door, remember don''t take your toys." "Alright" saying this Shailani went upstairs to retrieve her phone. Dog oblivious to the current scenario was roaming around each person in that room as she came towards Shraiyen wagging her small tail Shraiyen picked her up and held it gently in his hand, stroking the ears then the head. "Sharvyn let''s go, I''ll take your dog as I''m going by car, take care of yourself, I suspect there also will be those animals on loose." "Yeah Yeah, let''s meet inside cant if we both are lucky hehe." ..... [9:43 A.M] As Shraiyen''s mother opened the main gate she saw actual chaos unfold, till now they could only listen distant scream, panicking and sound of vehicles going at high speeds but when she finally opened the door and took a look outside she saw every person either running or driving towards a common direction, a road that will lead towards cantonment the fastest, as these people ran they were panicking, some were crying and some were huffing some shouting "Oh god save us". While those who drove by were not stopping no matter what obstacle came, for the first time Shraiyen''s mother saw a guy get flung across the road by a high speeding car. She was in disbelief, at every passing second she prayed for this just to be a dream, to accept this as reality was too wild. Soon both the car and bike were out, Shraiyen Shailani and their parents were in the car with a dog and Sharvyn and his parents somehow adjusted on the bike. "Try not to crash my bike, it''s very precious to me." with this final taunt Shraiyen''s father departed. "I know how to drive a damn bike you son of a bitch." mummering this he also released the clutch, following behind their car and evading the running pedestrians. Instead of following other vehicles and people Shraiyen''s father decided to take another route, one would assume it would be a shortcut, but not quite so, taking three to four extra turns won''t be called a shortcut, but the reason he took this route was because there would be far less crowd and traffic than the straight highway road leading towards cant. And his intuition was right, very few people on this road were going in the same direction as them, everyone else was either running or driving past them with a sense of questioning in their eyes directed at them. "Father drive fast, the announcement was done almost half an hour ago." Shraiyen couldn''t hold his frustration anymore and said one of his thoughts as calmly as he could. "YOU have no right to tell me what to do, because of YOU I had to give my bike to your ''friend''s family'', because of YOU there was this much delay, announcement was made half an hour ago? why do you think it took us half an hour to depart? HUH? Tell me? It was because of YOU, if only you had not utilized your precious brain to invite your dear friend to our house during the time of emergency, there had not been this much delay, I might even had come up with a better plan than to rely on the cantonment safety. And among all this you sure took your sweet time to make their dog tag along us in our car HUH??" "This guy has fucking lost it, there is no point saying anything to him." Shraiyen did not respond, instead he ignored his father and said, "Mother turn on the local radio, there might be some information regarding our nearest cantonment." "You are right, let me set up the channel." "Brother through which road are we going? Everyone else seems to be going in the opposite direction." "This is sort of a shortcut, you should start memorizing streets soon, this shortcut will allow us to bypass traffic and merge onto the highway at a midpoint, from there I assume only two kilometers would remain to reach cantonments entry point." "THIS ISN''T A FUCKING PICNIC-SHUT UP." Shraiyen''s father agitated by the situation shouted. As he was about to continue shouting the radio finally connected, "Civilians this is defense military announcement, our cantonment''s first and second entry point have been closed, they were the ones closest to Ashwanta Hospital, this is an announcement that in three minutes we will start open firing on citizens as per the central government''s order, we request you to move away from our entry point number two as fast as possible, we don''t seek unnecessary bloodshed and would prefer to refrain from recreating the scene from entry point number one. Entry point three will be closed in five minutes and our last entry point, number nine has exceeded the number of refugees thus is now closed, civilians approaching from opposite side of Ashwanta Institute kindly move towards entry point eight, keep in mind you are responsible for your own safety, government is not liable, civilians at number two got attacked by other civilians." There was complete silence in the car now, except for the dog wagging her tail, Shraiyen''s father had increased the speed by 10km/hr. .... [9:52 A.M] Cutting through traffic and crowd they had finally reached the divergence that joined this ''shortcut'' to the highway, only two kilometers remained to reach entry point nine. As expected the highway was jammed with cars, bikes, buses, vans, a large portion of crowd was running past these vehicles, some were screaming, some were stepping on the cars destroying their windshield in the process. Finally Shraiyen''s car connected to one of the highway''s lane, this lane was unexpectedly less jammed as there were mostly bikes here meaning Sharvyn''s parent following behind had an advantage here, now with Sharvyn''s parent overtaking their car and taking the lead, they traveled almost one more kilometer as this narrow lane finally started to merge into remaining ones. "Civilians this is defense military announcement, our cantonment situated near Ashwanta Institute has now also closed entry point number three at 9:49 A.M due to increase in violence among civilians, now as the designated three minutes are over we ask the civilians who are harming others to move away as we will now being open firing, this is a side announcement, entry point number eight is now also closed as refugee limits have exceeded. Entry point four will close in less than three minutes, your safety is in your hand, we are not liable for your life. *Bang* *Rat-a-tat-tat*" With this new announcement local radio went silent again. "We don''t have much time, we can''t stay stuck like this here, from our side two entries have already closed, by the time we will reach there chances are point seven would have closed too with only two entries open." Right now Shraiyen''s parents could be seen panicking inside the car and Sharvyn''s parents could be seen talking with themselves on the bike, as currently they both were stuck in the web of static traffic, the whole highway was echoing with pointless honking of countless drivers, some had come out of there vehicle and quarreling with each other while a few were trying to pressure the ones in front by bumping a little into their vehicle. Shraiyen was observing all of this while stroking the back of dog, Shailani was looking at her brother and she was holding her brother''s shirt by the corner. As Shraiyen was looking outside the mess unfolding infront of his eyes, he just by pure luck looked back and what he saw, threw off all his calmness and composure, with all his energy, as fast as he could, took hold of the dog, shouted at the same moment "FATHER MOTHER TRUCK, JUMP RUN OUTSIDE FAST" "Skronk-crunch-screech-smash-shatter-rrrrrr"