[ D day - 3 ] [ 4 H : 58 M : 23 S ] [ State capital H ]
Vikram took note of the dungeons as they appeared on the road.
The one in the district of M is a giant bird called buck, locally. It is a kind of egret, the largest bird in Asia, and the only bird bigger than it is ostrich. This is also a flight-less bird.
However, he did not feel shivers until he reached the dungeons of the state capital.
There are four dungeons in the state capital. However, Vikram felt the presence of another, but he could not tell where it was.
His sense of dungeon is not like a directional sense, but the instinct of feeling danger that all animals of prey have.
He knew he was the prey.
The dungeons of the state capital are Tiger, Leopard, black bear and Bison.
Vikram shuddered involuntarily as he looked at the line up of animals.
All of them are true muscle monsters, with added speed, strength, and agility.
Don't look at bison as an animal of prey.
Bisons cause the highest deaths among predators each year. This is a thick skinned muscle monster which could even break a ten-inch concrete wall with strength alone.
Worse yet, it could stand like a horse on its rear legs. Due to its curved spine with hump, and low hanging head, even if a man jumps on it's back, he could not behead it easily.
On top of that, it's neck is thick.
If a predator jumps on it's back, all the bison has to do is fall down and roll. It's weight would crush even a fully grown lion.
Vikram decided!
He will improve his marksmanship.
Why is he struggling needlessly to fight melee?
He is not a martial arts hero spouting off things about respect for the enemy, facing head on or some such heroic shit.
If he could kill, he would take all the shortcuts.
He is only fighting for his place in the world.
His survival is ranked above all.
Imagine a bison twenty meters high ! or if the bull on wall street comes alive .
Could normal people still have homes to live in ?
That sort of creature could crush them without a single thought .
This soldier thing..
Even if not immediately, they will give out ammunition at some point, he is sure.
Oh! The local check point.
Vikram stopped and showed his Id to the police there.
" I am also a registered soldier. I haven't done the verification. I see a tent over there. Are you still doing the basic verification? " he asked the policeman eagerly.
The soldier was taken aback. Initially, he thought Vikram was a troublemaker from his outfit and unkempt hair.
" Yes. You could go in. Join the queue there." The soldier pointed out where four people were waiting.
Vikram joined them.
Inside, they gave out readings of all of their five fingers, an irs scan, a picture, and height and weight are measured.
Then, a standard card was given out, along with a brochure, of where to call for receiving missions and such.
Fairly well organized for something that began so suddenly. Probably after the pandemic, some high level otaku in the army went crazy, created a system to deal with the apocalypse, just like the americans. Now, all they had to do was follow the steps.
No matter what it is, the entire situation is being managed very well.
Yet, the very order that replaced the usual chaos felt ominous.
Imagine you see a bustling street full of people eating, rushing around everywhere in anarchy, then one day, all of a sudden, the people are lined up perfectly.
They are silent instead of discussing anything, going forward like little pink men in the multi color pink castle. How spooky that would look ?
It's exactly the same feeling.
There were no vegetable vendors.
There were no fruit vendors.
There were no snack carts.
Only the shops, where some people hung out, never too many.
Ofcourse, this entire thing must be implemented very well, for their street is right beside the police station. The lazy journalists would often get their pictures here, so, police always maintain this street extremely well during any extraordinary situation.
Soon, it will be the harvest festival, yet, there's no joy anywhere.
Vikram got into their apartment, and nodded his head politely to the rare neighbor who's out running a last minute errand.
Their apartment is more silent than usual, given most of the families went back home. It's a common situation in metros, where a family still maintains a rural household with parents and grandparents.
Soon, he was back home.
Vikram rang the calling bell.
The door was opened by a beautiful girl.
For a moment, it was like a giant bell ringing, tens of violins playing, thousands of notes creating an imaginary symphony in his soul.
Vikram has never seen a girl so beautiful.
She is almost like those video game characters created solely for enticing users, with features that could pass off for any country in the world, with hazel eyes, tightly curled raven hair, light brown skin that's as smooth as milk chocolate, and lips that begged to be kissed.
Vikram was frozen stiff, his eyes wide in surprise.
Just … this is not a game type apocalypse, is it ?
He had not seen a marriable NPC, did he ? How is it possible for someone this pretty to exist outside of games ?
Or is this the rare occurrence of goddesses coming to live with mortals ?
The girl in front of him stood still, equally surprised.
Thankfully, before the situation could develop into awkwardness, Virat came up.
" Brother ! You are here ! " he shouted aloud.
" Mom ! Mom ! Brother is here ! " he shouted.
The girl gave way, so Vikram could enter.
Even so, as they moved across each other, their eyes met for a moment. A subtle feeling lingered in the air for a moment.
On the other side of the living room, Bablu who was becoming very active in his play hid behind Virat all of a sudden.
" Oh ! Brother ! You are back !" Virat exclaimed.
" Mom ! Big brother is back ! " he shouted to the kitchen.
Their mother wiped her hands and came out for a moment, along with Payal, who had been helping her.
" This is my eldest son, Vikram. " Their mother introduced Vikram.
Payal introduced Nell and bablu in return.
While Vikram went off to wash, his mother returned to the kitchen.
Vinod greeted Vikram even more happily, for he had been worried all day that his brother would be found out as the man in the viral youtube video.
Vikram's room was completely occupied with supplies. The double bed he had is pushed up vertically against the window. Against the bed, they piled up sacks of rice, pulses, and various condiments.
Vinod followed Vikram's directives to the last 'T', hells, he even overbought them on the first day.
While vinod overbought out of petty revenge mentality, hoping his parents would scold his brother, now it has come to real use.
" Good job. " Vikram praised looking at the supplies.
Vinod looked particularly happy, having long forgotten his petty revenge.
The computer was in Vikram's room. It's squished against the wall on their super small size computer desk. Vinod was sitting on a stool to operate the laptop.
With a wave of Vikram's hands, all the materials inside the room vanished.
"OH.. mmMMY! " Vinod exclaimed in shock.
" Don't tell others. Especially Virat. " Vikram warned.
It's a ridiculous request. Their house is at best some hundred plus square meters. This computer is the hottest item in the entire house when it comes to brothers.
How in the world could he keep the secret from Virat ? His youngest brother may have no working brain, but does have a set of working eyes.
He is the kind of kid that anime describes with a meter long tongue that touches everyone as he passes by at light speed. As long as Virat knows something, the entire community knows it within a day, if not the entire city.
By now, their purchase of materials at lower price has spread to their entire community and the circle of their relatives.
Fortunately, despite the price raise, it's not yet after the calamity started. So, their neighbors got at least some of the supplies, albeit at a higher cost. It's a bit of envy for people who reacted in time, got a bargain they were unable to catch.
However, once the portals break, the desperation would set in, Vikram knows.
" Tell him that you and I moved them away to the storage space in the neighborhood. You rented a warehouse, correct ? " Vikram asked.
Vinod nodded.
" Move the computer to your room. Tell him it's his as long as he wants to play. " Vikram added.
Right now, his youngest brother is in the first year of his studies, so he has nothing but free time on his hands. As long as they leave the computer to him, Vikram is sure nothing would grab Virat's attention.
It's a fool-proof plan.
" How about downloading the data ? " Vikram asked.
It's not important, but if the calamity is global, one could not tell when the internet would get cut off. There is no measure of which part of data is stored in their country, which is in geographically inaccessible locations.
Thus, it's important to have at least some knowledge of how to make basic things.
" I downloaded the making of this and that, but I am not sure how good it is. " Vinod added. After reading apocalypse articles, he had a clear idea of what's needed, but this knowledge could never be complete.
"Take the computer out now. I will lock the room. " vikram said, as he retrieved a towel.
Vinod nodded. He still had far too many questions for his brother, but they could indeed wait till after he had finished his bath and had a bite to eat.