16 days had passed since the sighting of the mushroom cloud. Hruday had done almost nothing during this time, barely coming out and giving orders to keep everyone engaged. He had them build a waste management system, improve the rainwater harvesting system, and construct makeshift entrance and exit gates for the hole near the south wall.
He even made them train in parkour. But as for himself, he merely trained, read, ate, slept, looked at the sky for fallout signs, and showed his face to people to show them he wasn't infected.
Rumors began to circulate. People whispered that Hruday was slowly turning into one of the infected and that it was inevitable. an idea that Hector and the scout leader often clashed over, with Hector also being particularly annoyed about the scout leader befriending with the criminals and the ex-parkour.
Hruday, however, didn't care about the rumors or the disputes. He felt weak and vulnerable, realizing how lucky he'd been so far. He had always managed to survive by using his brain rather than his brawn barely escaping death by hair breath because of the touch of luck.
Today, though, he had come to a conclusion. Either the fallout was too far away to affect them, or he had imagined the whole thing. With this new determination, he decided to break his routine.
Hruday finished his daily tasks and headed to the kitchen for his usual snack of nuts and tea. As he looked out the window, his eyes widened in disbelief. There were no zombies in sight. Feeling a sense of déjà vu, he ran outside and nearly bumped into Roy.
"Roy!" Hruday shouted, "The zombies—they're all gone!"
Roy, skeptical, replied, "Are you sure? This sounds like one of your dreamy hallucinations."
"Check for yourself," Hruday insisted.
Roy did a quick scan and confirmed, "You're right. They're really gone."
shit hruday said Micheal asked looking at hruday Is this bad shit or good shit
hruday chuckled said I don't know in a somber tone "Do you think the disappearance of zombies within the week off the nuke is a coincidence? I think not."
They quickly gathered the group to discuss the situation. Hruday's heart was racing as he proposed, "We need to move to the church and gather all the supplies we can from the stores. This is our chance!"
The group was divided. Michael, always quick to support Hruday, nodded. "He's right. We need to act now while we have the chance."
Troy, more cautious, voiced his concerns. "What if it's a trap? What if the zombies come back while we're out there?"
Hector, added, "We need to be prepared for anything. But sitting here isn't going to solve anything either."
The scout leader, skeptical and wary of Hruday's recent behavior, questioned, "Why the church? What makes you think it's safer there?"
Hruday replied, "It's not just about safety. The church is closer to the chain stores, and it's easier to access. Plus, it fits into my future plans. We can use the zipline to travel back and forth quickly."
The debate grew heated, with some members worried about the risks of moving and others eager to take advantage of the sudden disappearance of zombies.
hruday said fu*king stop it I am doing this for you guys I don't care if you are scared I am too but what I am most scared of is being trapped in here without food I probably won't be here to witness it but it doesn't matter try to understand ok I am not doing this for myself but this is something we need to do it
everyone felt the hruday words deep into their hearts because of his wet eyes and due to rumors almost everyone was sure that hruday was infected and he was doing all this for them so that they wouldn't die like his parents did this made them feel shameful so they were silent
Michael: "We have to do this. It's the best shot we have at survival. Hruday has been right before, and we can't afford to miss this opportunity."
Troy: "I'm not sure about this. It feels too sudden, too convenient. What if we're walking into a trap?"
Hector: "Every plan has its risks. But if we stay here, we're just waiting for the next disaster. We need to be proactive."
Scout Leader: "I still don't trust this sudden disappearance. But I'll follow the group's decision. Just know that I'm keeping an eye on everything."
Roy: "It's worth the risk. But we need to be smart about it. We need a solid plan and contingencies in case things go wrong."
hector said but we need to prepare although most of them seem to have vanished we still need to fight off stragglers i saw a few here and there we might as well take a day to prepare
hruday was against this but he started by agreeing with them on a trick he had learned recently yes we need to prepare an empty big vehicle and we might need bags etc since we have already done this once it shouldn't take that much time we would be done by midday lets not waste this heavenly opportunity ok I want to conduct some experiments on zombies while you guys prepare please raise your hands if you want to join Roy mark and Sophia raised their head Micheal said i don't like buturing and blood you know i pass scout leader simply didn't wanted to take rick that's it then
hruday ok so there are 3 things we could do to take advantage of this situation one empty all the stores nearby 2 rescue people from the hospital dorm which is just behind us
well last one is shifting I don't think we could do it all at once so let's prioritize
after a small discussion hruday said so first shifting and cleaning then taking all supplies and then rescue do we agree although hruday had long thought about this but he didn't want them to feel he was deciding it all even though he meticulously suggested it
then they made rough plans since they had safety gear
while everyone prepared by taking big bags and removing the seats of the vehicles except the driving seat and fueling it up
hruday had traveled through the zip line and distended and just then ex parkour youtuber Tyler joined them first they planned if they should trap them and then later experiment or should they do it in the wild
Roy hruday don't you remember that we trapped some zombies in the north side near the big tree inside the abandoned small house
hruday I know they have different uses and "It's too risky to do it inside the compound
continued in next chapter