"Sir, we are almost there!" The pilot on the right seat of the helicopter said to Raj, with a hint of confusion.
"Good, but what's bothering you?" Raj asked through his headphones.
The noise of the helicopter was too much, so the passengers and pilots wore headphones so that they could talk to each other if needed.
"I... I don't think we can land here," the pilot said with hesitation.
"What!?" Raj exclaimed in worry. He was thinking about the worst-case scenario, which was that the hostel was swarming with CICs (Corona Influenced Cannibals).
"I am opening the doors, you see for yourself," the other pilot said as he pressed a few buttons around.
The door to the helicopter opened in mid-air, and Raj, along with Girish and Sam, curiously went to the edge to take a look at what was going on. They all were carrying a black military backpack each.
"You guys got me worried for nothing," Raj said with a sigh of relief.
"Sir, should I cover my face?" Sam asked Raj.
"Yes, and Girish, you do the same," Raj said as he took out a black eye patch from his pocket and wore it over his left eye.
"Land the helicopter back at the airport and come when we give you a call," Raj ordered the pilots before taking off his headphones. Sam and Girish both followed his action.
"Okay, we jump in three," Raj yelled loudly as the noise from the rotors was suppressing his voice.
"Sir, Anju and Viren are watching," Sam shouted urgently, to which Raj just replied, "I know," before starting the count.
"One, two, three," Raj shouted while putting his fingers down one by one.
And the moment Raj put all three fingers down and made a fist, all of them jumped and landed on the ground with one knee on the ground and a loud thud was heard.
....
"THE DUCK WAS THAT!!???" Those were the first words that came out of Viren's mouth when he saw Raj approaching him with two other masked men.
Sam's boyish haircut and height made her look like a teenage boy who didn't know any better.
"Ah... a Hi would have been appreciated as well," Raj replied, hoping to calm down the situation. But it didn't work in the slightest. Both Viren and Anju were struck by this inhumane move of the trio.
"No, for real? What was that?" Viren said with a surprised face, staring straight at Raj's right eye.
"Ah... there is a lot for me to tell you," Raj said, squinting his eye. "But first, tell me your condition. Are you ready to die?" Raj said, pointing at Viren's shoulder. Hearing these words come out of Raj's mouth, Anju gave him a stern look, but was interrupted by Viren's words. "I guess," Viren said in distress, touching his shoulder bandage. "I am just happy that I'll beat you in this race as well," Viren continued with amusement.
Letting out a sigh, Anju just shook her head at these two idiots' childish behavior.
"Tell me what happened here?" Raj asked Viren, looking around at the messed-up football field.
...
Viren briefly filled Raj in on everything from Vijay's condition to Anju's lie.
"Wow! You did go through a lot. Well, I have everything you need," Raj said, pointing to his backpack with a wink... or a blink (It was seriously hard to tell due to his eye patch).
"Do you have any medicine?" Anju asked, her eyes sparkling with hope. Raj just shook his head with a frown, which soured both the wardens' moods.
"Look, I am sorry to do this to you, my friend, but I'll be taking command of this hostel for a while," Raj said in a heavy voice filled with sorrow and seriousness after a few seconds of silence.
"Anything to help the kids," Viren said in the same heavy voice, filled with the same sorrow and seriousness.
....
After greeting each other, all five of them walked towards the volleyball court with Viren and Anju leading the way.
The moment they reached within sight of the students, the students stood up (not) in unison and saluted Raj.
Seeing only 43 students, Raj felt sad, but he had seen people dying around him too often, and he was still seeing it more than ever.
"ATTENTION, STUDENTS!" Raj ordered the kids in a firm voice, with his hands behind his back and chest puffed out. The kids followed his order with coordination, as only one loud sound of a foot stomping the ground was heard.
"ALL STUDENTS UNDER CLASS 11, GO TO YOUR HOSTELS AND BRING THE MATTRESSES OF THE INJURED KIDS," Raj ordered in the same firm voice as before, but the kids were a little hesitant to move as they processed what he had said.
"DO I NEED TO REPEAT MYSELF?" Raj yelled in an angry voice, which made the kids forget about anything they were thinking and just move towards the hostel.
Now, the only kids left were in Class 11th & 12th, totaling 12 boys and girls (Sarah, Jai, Kabir, Maya, Kiaan, Rahul, Hanu, Kartik, Neil, Zayn, Riya, Zahera).
"All of you, gather the dead kids and intruders and pile them up in the corner of the football field," Raj ordered. "Agents S & G, help them," Raj continued, looking back at both Girish and Sam.
"I get it that our identities should stay a secret, but G & S, can't you try a bit harder?" Girish thought with a look towards Raj, who was just praying that Sam didn't say something in this regard. And she didn't; they both just nodded at Raj in response.
"Kiaan, take Agent S to the generator room and help her carry four petrol containers," Raj ordered Kiaan.
"Here, you would need this," Viren said as he took out a key with a keychain of a petrol container on it and presented it to Agent S. Sam avoided eye contact with Viren and took the key.
"Seriously Raj Sir, why can't you choose better people to guide me? I don't even need people," Sam thought as she annoyingly looked at Kiaan.
"Let's head to the control room," Raj said to Viren and Anju, but before leaving, he looked at Jai and said, "When the mattresses come, ask the boys to arrange them in Premchand block (The new building with no cameras and the unofficial lovers point)."
With this, Raj, Anju, and Viren left the kids and headed towards the control room, with Raj also taking the backpacks of Girish and Sam.