"Huh?.... What?" Viren was confused after hearing that his wife was pregnant, not confused about her being pregnant, but confused about how to react to this news.
"You..." Viren said, pointing at Anju with an open mouth, to which Anju just nodded with a smile and tears flowing from her face, tears of joy and sorrow at the same time.
"Me.. I.." Viren said, pointing at himself and letting out a few chuckles while smiling.
"Raj," he then looked at Raj, "Did you hear that? I..." He let out another soft chuckle.
"Yes, man, I know," Raj said with the same smile as Viren.
"You are going to be an uncle..." Viren said as he stopped again, "I... Am going to be a... ha ha," he couldn't believe the fact as he looked at Anju and then Raj for confirmation.
"Yes, man, you are going to be a father," Raj said with a smile while keeping his hand gently on his friend's shoulder.
Viren, who was now highly excited and tearing up with joy, jumped up and went to hug Anju. "A dad, I am going to be a dad." He then pushed away Anju, and they both were crying in joy. "You are going to be a mother," Viren said, not letting anyone else speak. "I am going to be a dad, you are going to be a mother, you are going to be an uncle," Viren said as he danced around the table, forgetting the major thing.
"Viren," Raj said in a serious tone, "That is the very reason you need to take the serum."
This sentence had kicked both Viren's and Anju's joy out of the window.
Dancing Viren now sat down on his chair, tears still flowing down his cheeks and onto his T-shirt.
"I.. I can't," Viren mumbled, "It could save other kids' lives."
"They are not capable enough to control the power of the serum and will go crazy," Raj stated while banging his fist on the table gently. "This serum is not created for kids so young. Scientists are trying to make one, but for now, you have to take it."
"But the senior kids could take it," Viren argued to Raj and to himself as he was having greedy thoughts to just take the serum without thinking.
"Who?" Raj asked in a firm and angry tone, now annoyed by Viren's idiocy. "Who do you think is more capable than you to protect these kids and your family?"
Viren didn't reply but clenched his fist and kept his head down as tear drops fell on the table.
"Jai?" Raj went on. "Kiaan? Kabir? Maya? There is no one more capable than you."
"But," Viren said, gulping and snorting, "But what chance does my kid have to survive, what world will it be in?"
Raj let out a sigh as he was about to reveal another secret that he was not allowed to. "The government is creating a facility in each state capital for civilians and military personnel to live. It is still an unfinished project, but a few people can join. I'll ask our Chief Minister and Home Minister to provide you all with refuge."
This statement lit up Viren's eyes for a split second, but then he said, "What about those kids who are bitten? Are they going to die?"
Raj let out a large amount of air from his mouth. "Look, scientists are still trying to create as many serums as they can, but it's hard as it requires precision. The virus takes 2-3 days to kill its host, and you can take the serum within that time frame. Sorry for lying earlier."
...
"They will not let us burn the bodies of these infected," Girish thought as he saw Jai's reaction while looking at his dead friends. "Should I call Raj?... Nah, I'll think of something."
Girish still wondered about how and what to do about these students and trick them into burning the bodies.
"Hey! Give me a hand," a voice was heard from behind them as if the person speaking was being choked.
When both of them turned, they saw Kiaan carrying two new dead infecteds on his shoulder and barely able to stand straight due to the weight of the bodies.
"Can't you get someone's help?" Jai asked as he moved towards Kiaan, lifted one of the dead students in his arm, and placed him beside another person. Kiaan did the same.
"Where did you find them?" Jai asked as he shut the infecteds' eyes.
"They both must have managed to go to the generator room, and you guys might have overlooked them," Kiaan replied in a sad tone.
After letting out a sigh, Jai said to those dead bodies, "I am sorry, Rand and Loru."
This made Girish more worried about what they were about to ask. "It's not your fault, guys. Even we have seen a lot of people die," Girish said as he thought of some way to convince them about burning these people.
"Hmm... but if we were a little stronger," Jai said as he got up, "There is no point thinking what if. They are dead, so it doesn't matter." Kiaan interrupted, but his tone wasn't one of regret.
Jai was furious at this thinking. Did the lives of these kids not mean anything now that they are dead? But Jai kept these thoughts and anger to himself as he didn't want to be rude in front of a military personnel.
.....
Outside the Premchand block, Kabir and Sarah had managed to gather all the mattresses of the injured kids and were now heading towards the Premchand block to establish a temporary dorm room for infected kids.
Maya, Kartik, and Zayn were left behind to help Agent S in carrying the petrol containers.
"Why do you guys need petrol?" Maya asked Agent S.
"To cremate the dead infected students," Sam said in her fake voice. The way this teenager had said it left all three kids shocked. "Someone as young as him, how can he be so heartless?" That was the thought going through everyone's mind.
"What?... What do you mean by cremate them?" Maya looked at Sam as she held a petrol container in her hand. "Aren't their parents supposed to do that?" she asked in shock.
"Well, yes..." Agent S replied, "But we are not able to contact anyone, so it's better that we do it ourselves."
Not being able to contact parents... This had hit both Kartik and Zayn. "What about their family, friends? Are they all.."
"No, no," Zayn shook his head as he held two containers in each hand. "Think positive, think positive," he repeatedly said.
"Thinking positive will get your hopes high," Sam stated in a firm tone, "And if your hopes reach the sky, I don't think you would be able to survive the fall."
The wise and confusing quotes of this teenager were bouncing over their heads completely, but making them worry about their own families.
Maya was not worried about her family as she was an orphan, but she was worried for Kiaan and Jerry's parents.
As sometimes they both visited the hostel and Maya, being close with Kiaan, Jerry, and Sarah, the couple used to treat her as their own child as well. Bringing her gifts and chocolates, they even took her on an outing once with all three other kids.
.....