The frozen constable pointed at the flying monster as he stuttered, 'What is that thing?'
Upon opening the door, Sam and Kunal froze at the sight of the flying entity. Taking a deep breath, they simultaneously answered the constable, 'It's a goddamn dragon.'
As if it had heard their talk, the dragon tilted its head slightly and stared at them indifferently. Its indifferent gaze chilled them to the bone.
Their stiff bodies refused to perform any actions. The dragon's eyes, initially indifferent, transformed into a glare of faint anger in response to the insolent stares from the observers.
Kunal understood that if they continued to stand like that, death would be imminent. Looking for a solution, his brain went into overdrive.
Meanwhile, Sam was busy trying to move his stiff body. The dragon's stare had frozen their bodies, as even twitching their bodies was impossible.
Forced into a situation with no answer in sight, Sam, as a religious person, prayed to God to help him escape this situation unharmed.
'How can I escape this animal? Why did 'Covery' not talk about the dragon's demeanor even once?' Kunal's brain, on the verge of straying away from its intended path, stopped as he grappled with an idea.
As soon as he thought of his idea, he stopped treating it as an animal but as an omnipresent species instead. 'I can't kill it, but I can please it. Just don't ask for my ass,' Kunal joked, as their fate was up to destiny.
As the dragon had enough of their insolence, Kunal fell to his knees and prostrated in reverence. Looking at him, they decided to follow suit.
'Please forgive us, insolent mortals,' Kunal prayed once his friend had also prostrated. Their despairing pleas and prostate behavior satisfied the dragon, and it decided to resume its search for its new lair.
After the dragon had departed, the group realized their clothes were drenched in sweat. The constables were panting heavily, as though they had just finished a marathon.
'Mom and Nitin are in danger. We need to act swiftly to save them,' Sam reminded Kunal as they rushed inside the house to replenish their weapons.
Out of breath, they opened their garage, planning to travel in their sturdy Benz G-Class. The constables stared at them in shock as they continued to place weapons in their arsenal.
Pistols, handguns, military-grade daggers, shotguns, AK-47s, and sniper rifles—every gun of theirs was displayed in full glory.
The constables' faces slowly turned white as they continued to pull out guns, some of which were even forbidden to own.
Finished with their preparations, they asked the constables to join them at the last minute.
As individuals trained in gunfights, they might be better options than untrained civilians in fighting those monsters.
"Sorry, but we need to get the people here to safety first." They declined as they smiled wryly.
Perhaps it was because they had already lived half of their lives, but their priority was to save civilians they didn't know personally.
As Sam and Kunal departed, Sam saluted them in respect and tossed two shotguns their way.
"So, you were unexpectedly a softie," Kunal teased his friend, who had shown his kind side unexpectedly.
Sam chuckled at his friend's joke. Joking around was their usual routine to cool their tense nerves before any dangerous mission.
Otherwise, with their tense nerves, their chance of dying on a mission would increase exponentially.
"It's such a pity that they sacrificed their lives, though," Kunal lamented at the loss of two skilled personnel.
While he lamented, the car's speed didn't diminish, as he continued to drive at a speed that he could control on the chaos-filled road.
With the road filled with people driving recklessly and monsters chasing after vehicles, he could only drive at a relatively fast speed. Not to mention, he had to make sure that Sam was comfortable enough to shoot.
"At least, we made a good impression on them. It might help if they survived." While Sam was busy praising himself, a straggler appeared in front of their vehicle, waving his hands frantically.
"Get out of the way," Kunal shouted loud enough for the guy to hear him.
But that person's vehicle had broken down, and he would be left stranded if he couldn't stop the car.
With tears and snot streaming down his face, he ran toward the first vehicle he saw faintly.
Sam sighed and discharged his handgun, narrowly avoiding the man's ears.
The gunshot awakened the fear of death inside the straggler, and he finally noticed that the car hadn't slowed down at all.
Afraid for his life, he hurriedly jumped to the side, but as he was too close to the vehicle, his right leg got run over.
"Hey, drive safely; we just ran over that guy," Sam exclaimed unhappily as he glanced at the straggler, groaning in pain. His pain lasted for a short while, as he died soon after with a goblin bashing his skull open.
Sam looked at the monsters tearing his body apart and closed his eyes, silently reciting a prayer.
"You are making me a villain." Kunal playfully hit the praying Sam's shoulder.
They were laughing to ignore the worry they were feeling. They had also ignored the mayhem around them.
Monsters such as goblins, gnomes, vanaras, one-legged monsters, etc. were wreaking devastation on the road. The monsters were busy killing the humans and fighting among themselves.
They watched every monster he could see closely, whether they were killing humans, eating them, or whatever else. They didn't shy away from the gore because everything was information.
That was when they noticed that not every monster was killing humans. Some monsters were looking around with tears in their eyes. Some were entering the trees or any natural things around them.
While they entered their home, they grinned so much that it looked like their mouths would split open.
When Kunal saw someone familiar, he paused to recollect. Finally, the name 'Raj' clicked in his mind. However, what intrigued him wasn't just the recognition; something interesting seemed to be happening in Raj's vicinity.
Raj, clad in a red shirt and jeans, shivered behind a destroyed car. His face was pale and soaked in tears, while blood was flowing from his tightly clasped fists. There was a crushed dead body next to him.
"But unbeknownst to Raj, who couldn't see it, the monster he feared flailed its arms in the air. Raj's luck was so heavenly that a Vanara (a human monkey) intervened to save him.
With a powerful throw, the Vanara launched the monster behind him, and upon impact, the fall pulverized the giant's head into bits."
It gently tapped Raj's head with his huge hands to grab his attention. Seeing a monster so close to him, he nearly soiled his pants.
"Human, you should leave this place. I, the great Abhay, can't save you every time." Abhay spoke in Sanskrit, a nearly forgotten language.
But luck shined on Raj again, as he was a practitioner and translator of Sanskrit. Understanding that the monster was looking out for him, he thanked him profusely.
That's when he noticed a Benz parked near him with two men equipped with guns and bags on their backs smiling at him.
They were Sam and Kunal, and the reason they had stopped was not that they recognized Raj. But their Benz tire had punctured, and the road ahead of them was filled with wrecked vehicles, stopping the way entirely.
Smiling gently, they asked him simultaneously and politely," Can you ask him to bring us to that side of the road?
Raj looked at them equipped with weapons, and although they were smiling gently and harmlessly, his experience with bullying made him stumble backward.
With his back practically glued to Abhay, Raj gathered enough courage to refuse them. But the duo continued to pressure him with a smile on their faces.
After all, Abhay was their best and safest bet to cross a road congested with various types of monsters.
But with Raj's continued refusal, they had no option other than to hope that his memory was sharp enough to remember his mother.
With Aishwarya's photo in his hands, Kunal approached Raj with raised hands, his bags and weapon placed on the road.
"Do you remember this lady? You helped her contact her family with another lady. They are in great danger right now, and we need to get on that side of the road. We will take us with you."
Kunal begged tearfully and passionately, as he knew that the man was kind.
But to his dismay, he was rejected hesitantly, as Raj couldn't bring himself to believe a stranger in this type of situation.
"I am sorry." Raj apologized with tears in his eyes.
'We don't need your apology, you motherfucker.' Kunal's expression twisted as his plan was being trampled on by a coward.
"I, Abhay, as a true warrior, help those in need. Tell me what they require, human." He asked Raj, who was unable to initiate a conversation with the duo.
Helpless, Raj could only explain their situation. Knowing what they needed, Abhay grabbed them gently in his hands before jumping lightly, clearing the huge jam in a split second.