'1 cup of water'
'Done.'
'1 teaspoon of instant coffee.'
'Done.'
'1 teaspoon of sugar.'
'Done.'
'Milk.'
'Where the hell in this apocalypse would I bring milk from?'
'Add the milk powder you dummy.'
'Oh! Yeah right.'
'1 teaspoon of milk power. Done'
'That's it.'
'What?'
'I said that's it. Your instant coffee is ready.'
'But… I did not even do anything big.'
'Of course you did not. It's just a coffee' she said with a laugh.
'But, it's the first coffee I ever made.'
'I know you expected it to be something complicated but trust me, this is how instant coffee is made.' Lily said.
'If you say so.' I said with a shrug and took the glass and went to Netra who was laying on a luxurious sofa with her face stuffed on a pillow.
I sat beside her and let out a sigh at her condition.
It has been three days since Rahul and the whole camp arrived in this location and took the girls along with him.
At first the girls were reluctant to go with him but me and Netra persuaded them to join Rahul's camp.
In the end, most of the girls acquiesced and some who had already started of the path of evolution choose to go their own way instead.
On the other hand, me and my siblings along with some other members like Gaurav, Raka, Jasvinder and Upma had a reunion where they were glad to see that I was in good health.
Then I introduced Netra to them and I realized first hand that sometimes Netra's people skills are even worse than me.
But they had a mission, which was to reach the Military Shelter in Agra but Netra did not want to join the camp so we had to go our separate ways from there.
But as soon the camp was out of sight, Netra fell in some kind of depression which only got worse from then on.
It seems like the whole incident with the girls and the camp site brought bad memories to her which she had kept repressed up until now.
"Netra." I said in a gentle voice as I calmly stroked her head.
"Netra. You can't keep going like this you know." I said and she squirmed a bit to let me know that she was listening but in no mood to talk right now.
"I made coffee for you." I said even though I felt that she already knew about it as it's smell was lingering the entire room.
"Netra." I said once again when she showed no reaction and this time I let a bit of worry seep into my voice to get her attention.
It seemed to work as she squirmed on the sofa and turned around to face me with her dark brown eyes that seemed to have lost their usual spark.
"Here. Drink some coffee. It'll help you feel better." I said and passed the cup on to her.
It had taken me 9 whole hours and hundreds of shops to gather the ingredients necessary for making a simple coffee since most of the shops had been emptied by the bandits and other survivors and we gave away all the food supplies we found in the bandit camp to Rahul.
'I should have kept some of the food with myself. I'll remember it the next time.' I thought as Netra slowly got up and sat down beside me in a lotus position and started to quietly sip the coffee.
We sat in a comfortable silence as she finally finished the cup and kept the cup on the table beside her after which she leaned down on my shoulders and wrapped her arms around my waist.
I sighed in my mind before I placed a kiss on her head and help her gently.
"Can we stay like this. For just a while?" she asked softly and I hummed in assent.
A long and comfortable silence once again ensued between us and I wondered I could do to bring her out of her depression.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I whispered slowly in her ears but got no reaction from her.
I thought that she had fallen asleep because of her lack of reaction and steady breathing but then she shook her head.
"You know that you can talk to me whenever you want, right. I'll always be there for you." I said and she nodded and snuggled closer to me while hugging me even more tightly.
"Thank you." She finally said and I felt a warm smile form in my lips.
"Don't mention it."
—————
I looked at the giant creature which had gotten even bigger since the last time I saw it.
Last time it was 300 meters tall and 400 meters wide, with four legs the size of half a football field each.
Now it has reached 350 meters in height and 500 meters in width.
I could only imagine how many abnormals it must have absorbed to gain such a massive body.
When I told Rahul about it all I got was a shocked look from him and I knew that despite his vast experience he did not know what this thing was which was a little disconcerting because if he did not knew about it then that must means that this is a rare thing.
And in this world, rare means dangerous.
Netra has still not talked about it and I was almost of the mind to ask the informant named Rose Valentine about it but I was sure that she would ask for an exuberant price like 100 4th tier crystals or something so I did not do it.
Moreover, I had faith that when Netra recovers, she'll tell me all about it.
'Alone, this thing might be big, but I've not seen it do anything else expect for eating and absorbing abnormals at a constant rate. What do think is the purpose of this creature?' I asked.
'I have no idea Ashok but if I have to guess then I'll say that it might be some type of hive which will give birth to high tiered Abnormals in the future.' Lily said and I felt a chill go down my back at her words.
'Wow Lily. Now I'm even more nervous than before.' I commented.
'Sorry.'
'No, it's alright. You don't need to apologize for being truthful.' I said and sighed before I focused on the reason I had come all the way here.
The tens of thousands of abnormals waiting beneath it's titanic body, waiting to be eaten.
"If you guys are such self sacrificing bunch, then I hope you don't mind me taking a bit of advantage from you right." I said and jumped in between their midst.