Hruday hesitated to answer and started to panic his mind throwing countless thoughts at him. he felt Going with an adult felt more reassuring, and he knew his friends might prefer the safety of a van and a group of adults over his risky plan. He nervously bit his nail, which Roy noticed.
He worried their team would break apart. and to his luck, they all agreed to follow him
His friends trusted him because of his newfound determination and the short route, along with the familiar faces and the fact that their houses were in the same direction.
Pondering over this outcome, he sighed and thought, "I need to stop overthinking unnecessary things. They are all my friends."
He noticed Sam's troubled expression as he nervously glanced at him and the saloon owner. A realization dawned on Hruday: Sam lived in the opposite direction of his home. It made sense why Sam wanted to go with the saloon owner.
They scavenged for materials, crafting makeshift weapons and reinforcing their flimsy paper armor with layers of tissues, glue, and cardboard. A few early attempts, like a paper and nail club, were duds. Undeterred, they experimented with everything they could find. Hruday noticed several bags of plastic covers and remembered the giant zombie with a brown paper bag on its head. He theorized that the bag wasn't a hindrance because the zombie could still see through it, but rather because it couldn't remove it. He shared his insight with the group and ensured they gathered plenty of plastic bags for their own protection.now with all done Hruday's group had to choose their weapons: a fire extinguisher, a mop turned into a spear, a flamethrower that was just an upgraded version of an existing flame torch, and some makeshift weapons that were more like one-hit-use items or burdens.
Hruday was considered the flamethrower. It probably wouldn't burn zombies effectively, but it could scare them like animals. It wasn't worth the gamble, so he got up and hopped around to increase blood flow, pretending to be interested in the flamethrower.
He didn't know if his stunt worked, but he didn't want the extinguisher to slip away from his hands; it had two uses in one. Finally, after successfully getting the extinguisher which he didn't know if it was due to sympathy or his misdirection was the one that did the trick After that, they divided into two groups: one going by car and another traveling on foot.
The world wasn't always that kind. Although they agreed to distract and lure zombies, they weren't going to risk their lives by dropping them. The plan was simple. They had to climb through a huge window and guide the others safely toward their van.
As they climbed, they saw the brutality of their situation: blood trails, hungry human-figured beasts munching on mutilated corpses, crushed poles, and broken compound walls. A guy was still clinging to life, trying to get out of his car.
A jeep sped by, crushing through the infected with smoke and blood. A hungry beast looked for its next prey. It was the apocalypse predicted in the holy scriptures—the judgment day when the dead rose.
Hruday sighed along with Roy. He looked at his house in the distance, adjusting their plan. They looked around prominent buildings, calculating all the variables that could affect them and considering solutions for each.
Hruday devised a rough plan: jump from their building to the compound, then to the abandoned college grounds behind them, and finally to the bar building. To reach the bar or the nearby building, they would need to cross the road that connected three other roads. More importantly, the autorickshaw and bus stand beside the road were swarming with zombies. It was impossible to cross the usual way, so they decided to either run inside the building before the bar or go behind the building, which had a narrow gap for at most one person. Alternatively, they could go to the church behind it, ensuring that no zombies from the bus stand noticed them.
Hruday turned back to where the abandoned college grounds were. He noticed people there but ignored them. He had finally made a concrete plan.
"We will go back to the ground slowly until we pass this damned hotspot and try to lure zombies out of our route if possible. After that, we run at full speed to the back of the building near the bar and climb up through the pipes or staircase.
If we can't climb the pipe, we will climb the compound and jump to the church building, though it might not be safe as there was some function in the church hall before all this happened. We go to the dunk-hidden spot. I hope no infected will be there waiting for us when we slowly come down from the building," Hruday explained, his voice steady but anxious.
Troy had a lot of questions: "Is that spot the 'infamous smoke spot' high schoolers used? Isn't it just beside the bar? How will we get there?"
"Worst case, we have to jump from a building, from one ventilator to another, or from windows into that spot. "Easy," Hruday said with a frustrated nervous laugh, noticing Troy's worried expression Hruday's smugish smirk widened.
Michal looked at Hruday, a guy who was lazy and hated playing and working out, suddenly talking about jumping buildings. He thought, "This is insane Are we going survive this; Troy's and Hruday's legs will break, or at least break their ankles. oh God save us."
"Look, they're moving," Hruday said, picking up a fragile mirror and showing the saloon guy. Zombies were only on the right, and they could see the reflection, although it wasn't perfect as it also reflected the sun.
The saloon owner slowly moved, hiding behind a car. Suddenly, the store's annoying auntie, now showing her inner self in the fruit store, wanted to move out. Shocked, he picked up his paper and rubber band, shooting right at the neck of one of them. Although it reached a different target, it worked as long as it caught their attention. He signaled left as Michael scribbled, and then they delivered the map to them as soon as possible.
Although they understood the poorly drawn map, Michael was grateful for Hruday's idea and plan and his blunder of still caring for the books.
They guided them safely but a bit haphazardly, as Aunt seemed to doubt or smell some fruity pomegranates to munch on.
They left, attracting all the zombies to catch them, only to stop after a while. Hruday noted this mentally and jumped behind. He felt a sting in his leg like someone had pulled his leg nerves.
Massaging it, they slowly walked to the huge compound that was full of carvings showcasing the best of the worst side of humanity done by locals who entered the closed college grounds. This included night drink enthusiasts.
Hruday's side was filled with beer glasses, creating harmony between kids and adults, night to adults, and day to kids or players.
Even some parents didn't complain about it, as that would mean they would lose ground, and they had to keep their little devil and big beast caged. This was a near-safe option to see glass bottles. Hruday took Michael's coin collection and climbed up to the west side of the compound with Roy's assistance.
He climbed onto the metal sheet that was the roof of the auto stand. Hruday's heart was filled with anxiety, as was Roy's. Every cranking sound not only attracted the zombies' attention but scared them as they stood on top of the zombies. There was no way they would survive if the thin steel sheet roof gave way. Another fear was getting spotted by the hospital zombies, but fortunately, they weren't spotted by any zombies.
He brought his metal geometry and coins and threw them as far as possible from their route. The metal box hit the road, and coins splattered, making clinking, glimmering sounds. Before any zombies could spot them, they jumped back.
Hruday also passed some empty beer bottles to his friends for storage. Gripping the hold, they climbed a huge wall. Peeping around, in front lay a small, two-story-long building, and to its left, a huge church compound; on its right, a huge Basel-mission hospital crowded with zombies. Fear gripped their hearts as they could become visible to one or two, but that was enough to end their lives, as the rest would follow. Slowly descending from the compound, they all ran without saying anything.
Reaching the building, they hid in a tight space, trying to enter, and they heard a low growl.