hari had good sleep that day.most of the last few weeks he was in constant vigilance. after reaching settlement all tiredness came to him.so he slept soundly.
after waking up hari found that his room is in an abandoned home. all other room except his room was covered in dust.
"hey hari, are you not wake up yet" hari heard Joseph calling from outside.
"I already up, just checking the other rooms"
"This home is silva's, he died last year during a hunt. he won't have any relatives alive so we decided to give this house to the next newly married couple. we didn't think any new people coming outside from forest.now you can have it"
"thank you for your consideration. but I don't want to stay in this village forever."
"are you want to go to capital like other youngsters??..young brother I only want reminds you one thing, in this world now humans are not masters , but wr were lowest in the food pyramid," said Joseph seriously.he met a lot of youngsters who believed in their strength and tried to find a path to nearest human city and never came back. he always tried to make them stop and always ended failing.
" Brother Joseph I am not going to capital or other city.i want to move to a safe zone which I found a few days ago.unlike here no animals can enter there"
"is that true, can my village people follow you there"
"brother if it was one or two people we can go there. but taking a few hundred people...it is very risk"
"is it because there is no enough space for everyone to stay??"
"no, it is that we need to cross the wolf packs territory. moving a few hundred people definitely alert them"
"..."
"are you guys are strong like joan?"
" Actually we are not. only children born after cataclysm have inborn strength.even in these children joan is most powerful here. but I don't wish them to part of fighting until 16 years old. plese, forgive me. maybe we can. wait for them to grow up"
after talking with Joseph hari found the truth about Joan's abnormal strength. like Joseph, hari also not interested in using children for fighting.when mission published he thought using these hunters he can finish mission easily. after meeting these 15 hunters he understood that they were like himself just normal people with a good physical condition.
" how many wolves are in this pack?"
after some calculation Joseph said " there was 16 wolves a few years ago.3 wolves died in the fight against Joan's father's hunting group. they lost 10 humen life for just 3 wolves.we also heard alfa of wolves changed recently.so there will be 12 wolves still in the pack"
"can we kill them using long ranged or traps"
"We thought about this plan before.there is a chance wolves coming to the village following our smell and hunt here"
" then instead of coming here, we can go to a safe zone. wolfs never follow us there"
"hmm..it is possible but ,what about villagers? if something happens when we left for the hunt"
"Actually we don't need to bring every hunter. we only need 15 best hunters with agility. more people only make big targets and higher casualties. wind blade of the wolf is dangerous.if there is a lot of people we can't hide from attack completely. all other hunters stay with the village and protect them if any unknown danger appeared."
hari knew he was not a hunter unlike Joseph or part of an army.in India no type of compulsory military education for common people. as a youth of the 20th century he is only part of the internet army.
after thinking a few minutes Joseph said "your idea of bringing few people for the hunt is good. but hiding from the wind blade is not possible every time. maybe we can escape the first time. but when we started to run away from it is not possible. we can't look back or hide.these few seconds will let wolves reach us.
hari didn't think about it before. he tried to remember about novels he read before. but he found out that most of the mc's single handy kill or escape from disaster and came back for revenge.when these types of attacks came they always evade or block using some artifact. hari lost all his hope. he looked at Joseph.
" there is a way, I have a shield which is a part of army gear and there is one in agnes house too. agnes protect it as my brother's relic.if we asked her to use it for killing wolves. she definitely gives us.we can split team as two equal parts.first group needs to become a target for wolves.and others will be attacking the wolf pack from behind. they need to split into four groups stay a good distance away from the pack and each other for safty"
after planing basic strategy.hari and Joseph decided to go to agnes house for shield.on the way Joseph asked about "bad doggie" which joan mentioned. hari modified story by making himself look good, like he and wolf having a fight one on one. when he was going to win, joan threw a stone at the wolf and accidentally killing it. hari didn't wish to tell him that he was having a daydream in the middle of the forest and saved by a little kid from the wolf before going to fight against the whole pack of wolves.
"don't tell agnes about this. just tell her you told a story of frightening dog to joan for bringing her back"
before even reaching home they heard sobbing of joan.
"Uncle Joseph, uncle hari help me.mother is not let me leave the house today. I too wanted to play with others. even John came here to make fun of me, please tell mother I will be a good girl from today"
"JOAN!!! IF YOU CRY ONE MORE TIME, I WILL NEVER LET YOU PLAY ONE WEEK"
"sister agnes, she is still a child. give her a chance"
"Brother Joseph I only have her, if brother hari not there she maybe never coming back...sob"
at that time hari decided to never talk about the previous incident to her.
"sob....what type of person I am...i didn't even properly thank you for saving my daughter...we have anything valuable to gift you.how about having a meal here tonight. brother Joseph and other hunters also should come here too.i was going to invite you guys for helping to search joan"
"thank you for your invite I will be there in time" hari promised agnes.
"sister agnes we are here for brother's shield. we decided to hunt those wolfs tomorrow.any way your dinner is in perfect time. we can have gathered tonight."
"you can have the shield. but brother are you sure?"
"yes, don't worry.i I have been thinking about it last five years.now hari found a place wolfs never enter. all pieces are gathered. its time for revenge.i need to prepare my team now"
after that, they left agnes agnes home. joseph went set up a team and procure necessary materials.
in the evening dinner at agnes home felt like someone had died there. only that time hari started thinking about the seriousness of the situation. before he only thought about completing missions. but seeing faces of family members of hunters, he felt like a huge stone over his head.thought of playing with others life made him suffocating.at that time a hand grabbed his shoulder.and he heard
"don't worry, it is not because of you.even you didn't come we will hunt them. these wolves are always dangerous to our village.it was always this time or next time.most of the villagers lost someone dearest to the wolves"
hari felt the care from them. he decided to protect this village with his life.at that time he felt like an invisible bond is tied between him and villagers.
at the end of the event, Joseph took his spear and thirst it toward sky.he bellowed
"FOR LIFE"
everyone bellowed together
"FOR LIFE"
yes, they were hunting for life not for revenge..not for anything else just to make sure their family will live forever.