[ D-day 0 ] [ 00 : 00 : 00 ] [ State capital H ]
"All soldiers are ordered to rally! " The anchor on the TV announced with a stern face.
" As of twelve O'clock midnight, wild beasts are emerging from various portals. Currently, the fight to recover lost ground is going on full fledged at four corners of the city. Emergency evacuation warnings are released for the following counties.
All residents are to immediately evacuate red zones.
All soldiers in the red zones are called to duty.
Every soldier in the red zone is called to serve. As long as you put on the uniform, please open the 'U' app, acquiescing the local army command.
The red zones are 'D' nagar, S Town, Film city, T-bund, Railway crossing bridge, eastern army quarters, … "
The anchor went on to list more than a hundred counties.
Vikram already noted a concerning trend among the reported news.
The four portal explosions and beast tides were discovered, but these four places do not form a square.
No matter how he looked at the pictures on the TV, it looked like there was a gap in the dungeon information.
Instead of opening the temporary app the government has set up, Vikram opened google maps.
He expanded the zone, and checked the four dungeon locations.
If you connect the dots, it looks like a bucket, or a trapezoid … or a pentagon with its peak point missing !
Vikram slowly traced the points to form a pentagon.
The moment he saw where the peakpoint ended up, he cursed in his mind.
' Oh ! Why the f*** Did he forget that apex predators of India do not end with tigers and lions ? There was a reason that their state's capital is the youngest city built. Before it was a city, it was a full fledged savannah. A river ran right through the savanna, famous for having more crocodiles than water ! There was a dungeon with lions, tigers, bison and black cobra - the only one missing was the crocodile. The pentagon's tip fell right atop the shallow pond, which used to be a famous fresh water lake, but now, used for wastewater reclamation. The area is full of water weeds, perfect camouflage for any number of alligators ! '
Vikram frowned.
To report to duty and ignore - arriving when a crisis is noticed, or report now, and risk exposure ?
It's a thousand dollar question.
Meanwhile, Vinod woke up. He is eighteen, about to run nineteen. He is not a recruit, but among the reserve forces. He will stand guard for the night, at the same time surveying the land around with a camera drone.
Once Vinod was on standby, Vikram changed into the army uniform at lightning speed.
Just as he was about to open the door, the calling bell rang.
He opened the door.
Payal and Nell both stood in front of him, dressed in the army uniform.
He was surprised.
" You.. you guys ?! " he questioned.
" We are voluntary reserves. This time, we registered. I have control of this area. " Payal explained.
Then she nodded to Nell.
" Comrade Vikram. Are you ready ? " Nell asked, standing at attention.
" Comrade Vikram, Reporting to duty. '' Vikram said, offering a somewhat sloppy salute.
Payal offered a salute in return.
Then, three of them walked down.
There were ten people in their apartment who were supposed to be soldiers.
Two military jeeps were waiting for them down stairs.
One look is enough to know one of them is a special jeep.
As soon as Payal stepped foot outside, the driver took a step forward and saluted her.
" Major Payal Sinha ! You have been promoted as Brigadier owing to special circumstances. Please accept your latest decorations. " The soldier said.
Then, he retrieved a box and offered it to Payal.
" Major Payal Sinha, reporting ! I accept the decorations and the duty. Thank you, officer. " she said, taking the box, then removing the flaps and changing the decorations on her shirt.
Vikram was amazed. Here he was wondering about how to cover up from the army, when a Brigadier already knew his ability. There's no need to worry about where to go, it seems.
He can just report right to Payal, exactly as he found out. Yes, he knew more because of his own map, but … it is more than logical enough to suspect what he did from information alone. After all, squid master and Dragon tamer had not been stingy after being paid big bucks.
" Brigadier Payal Sinha ! The yellow zone from pillar number eight hundred to thousand, in the directions of south, to east, and the evacuation of the red zones would be your responsibility. Please enter the command station to accept command. " the soldier said, opening the door of the command station jeep.
Payal did not enter. Instead, she looked to Vikram who was about to step up and stop her.
" Private Vikram has information to report, Maam! " Vikram said, standing up.
" Speak, Private Vikram. " Payal said, not entering the jeep.
" If you read the information from the paid website of experts, the dungeons are supposed to form closed loops, maam. However, the dungeon points reported do not form a circle, nor a closed loop of any sort. If they were to be forming a closed loop, the apex point will form inside the lake on road forty. " Vikram reported.
" Understood, Private Vikram. " Payal said, entering the command jeep.
She gestured to Nell to join her.
Vikram happily boarded the other jeep. He did not miss that spark of surprise in Payal's eyes. Coming from a water state like Bengal, she shouldn't be unaware of the menace a crocodile could be.
As he expected, just after a minute, new orders arrived on the Army app, as well as Radio.
" Attention ! Attention ! Due to a newly discovered portal gate around the lake by the sleeping mountain, the zones K, S, M, and the east area of pillar 853 to 890 are declared to be redzones. Please prepare for evacuation. Close your doors and windows as tight as possible. Secure them with any heavy furniture as best as you can. The tri-color army is always at your service. We will try our best to reach you at the fastest possible time for rescue. "
Now, they are in zone K.
The moment news finished broadcasting, all the phones in the reserve van rang, as notifications from the military, and calls from their beloved appeared at the same time.
" Attention ! " The army sergeant at the helm shouted.
" From now on, you are requisitioned as emergency reserves. You are all given a field promotion, to regular soldiers. I will give you five minutes Inform your families right now. After these five minutes are past, you will be on duty. You will only be receiving military orders from then on. Your time starts now. " The sergeant announced.
" Sir ! " one of the men raised their hands.
" Yes ! " The officer looked at him.
" If we are regular soldiers, does that mean we will receive pay for what we are going to do ? " he asked.
" No! You will receive military credit, which could be redeemed later in various forms. " The officer answered.
" What forms ? " Another asked curiously.
" Could be supplies, weapons, or even housing credit or any other available military services. " The officer answered.
" Services ? " Vikram caught on.
" It means you could hire the military to do tasks for you. " The sergeant said.
" You mean I could hire a soldier to drive the jeep for me ? " another exclaimed.
" Just so. " The sergeant answered, with a strange smile. Ofcourse, he will not tell them you need to be at least general level to use military credit to do tasks. Most of what these guys do will amount to probably having a little bit of supplies, mainly groceries.
" Do we have to risk our lives ? " Another asked.
" Our lives are always at risk. No one can predict when or how we die. " The sergeant gave a cookie cutter answer.
" Come on ! sir ! you could tell us the truth." Another guy implored sergeant.
The sergeant looked a bit sad as he answered.
" No matter what risk your life is at, I could promise you, the soldiers of the Indian Army are going to be facing greater risk than yourselves. " The sergeant answered.
After all, he heard the announcement. Field promotion without any merit is never good news. This means that these volunteers have to hold the fort, in a situation where soldiers are needed.
Even men of good nature, and strong hearts could not face these animals without fear.
He knew as much.
He could only hope their mission is small enough for these people to come back alive.
" You have a minute left now. " the sergeant reminded them.
Most of them already sent messages to the family.
Vikram warned Vinod to open doors to none, not even his neighbors.
Bablu is already within their house, and Vikram put down the temporary land token in his house. So, their area won't get attacked the first thing.
As soon as they accepted, the second message came.
" Vikram ? " the sergeant called doubtfully.
Vikram raised his hand.
" You are promoted to lieutenant. You have the command of this team, Sir !" The sergeant said, looking at him in surprise.
Vikram nodded his head.
" In that case, please act as the vice captain, and team leader, Sergeant. " Vikram ordered.
" Yes sir. " The sergeant replied, starting the jeep.