Back in the van, the conductor-cum-doctor who worked for the Promdhu extremists sat in the van with the unconscious teens. He abused his profession of medicine for doing these nefarious activities and obtaining a huge sum of money. They all tell themselves -I am doing this for this huge crisis in my family and then I will stop. But does it ever stop after one time? Greed pulls them again or Gun-point pulls them if their conscience wars with their emotions.
Inside the jungle, timid Leena who found her teeth chattering every now and then used her God-given aptitude and love of biology to guide their group in the jungle. She was not established in her profession. She had not yet passed out of school.
There was no internet in school library or in their homes. Their school library had only books. She had devoured a lot of books on animal kingdom and plant kingdom. As they walked, they ate some fruits like guavas, mangoes, etc. They ate some new food too! Leena pointed out to safe-to-eat and unsafe-to-eat fruits and berries, the ones whose existence they had not known! They fed some fruit and seeds to the ducks.
One toll booth person had joined the group to make sure of package delivery. He worried about cuts since 3 children escaped as all the adults were there. They were not specified with number of children. As calls rarely connected, they had not updated that 6 children had been kidnapped. So, they decided to keep quiet that 3 had escaped.
There was no music in the minivan. They were tense and sat quietly. The toll booth person sat next to the driver. The driver was a professional driver otherwise driving in these ghat roads and inside jungle was next to impossible.
He could ride the van on off-concrete-roads inside jungle on plain area, where concrete roads and plain areas were next to each other. The tyres on these ghat road vehicles were different from the city vehicles. He was given to carrying out these criminal assignments so his moral compass was quite hardened. The human loss of life did not bother him anymore. Or even teenagers in distress. He sometimes attacked tied up people to make them bleed and take gruesome photos.
The doctor was a newbie to crime, not a hardened criminal. Little by little, one bigger sin than the previous one addicts people to crime. Little by little, it hardens their hearts, making them lose sense of compassion and justice. The hardened ones find it amusing to attack or petrify defenceless children and teens.
In the jungles was another mafia other than the religious Promdhu extremists who called themselves SP -Saviours of the Poor. They were guided by a sense of jungle justice and not any religion. They would launch attacks on the rich to give to the poor and take a percentage cut themselves. They did not want to grow rich.
The SP's philosophy of an economic equilibrium is society through violence was unsettling. In general, the moral compass in their hearts had mutated to only feel sorrow and sympathy for the poor but treat the rich as less-than-humans. Were there not other methods to achieve an economic equilibrium in a peaceful and just manner?
The minivan would do its best not to cross over into the territory of Promdhu extremists. They had a rough idea about territorial boundaries and would do their best to deliver their package intact.
Back in the deep, they were walking quietly. Shreyas suddenly spoke up –"We need to hurry, otherwise it will be night. We are faster than vehicles when we swing. We can try. When Leena does not feel okay, then we can walk. We need to save our friends, too."
Leena said –"I am little ok with swinging. We can try."
Lisha asked her –"Were there any milestones? Did you look at license plate?"
Leena –"No, I just panicked. I was trembling, sorry."
Leena comforted her –"You did a splendid job as it is.. in passing stones to the boys and puncturing a tire. If toll booth people were just, they would be caught and all of us would be free."
Leena smiled. –"Ok, let's go."
Leena and Lisha started swinging. Leena enjoyed it a little. They did not go very high like the first time as Leena was slowly getting used to it.
Shreyas tied the dupatta of ducks to his waist. As he started swinging, the ducks started pecking his bottom and legs. The girls had a laugh.
"Oh, laughing at my little misfortune." The girls were still giggling. Then, Shreyas tied up the dupatta to his leg and dangled his leg in air to keep it free of entanglement. As Leena still found it hilarious, she panicked less and they covered a considerable distance along the river.
It was around 4 p.m. They took a break from swinging and started walking. It began getting dark. Still, there was no civilization.
While Lisha was really good at swinging, Shreyas was really good at climbing up to the top of the tree. Shreyas went up to the top. He roared down –"Still, there is no civilization."
After he came down, the girls said thank you and chided him saying Promdhu extremists or cannibals nearby might hear him even if he can not see them.
"Most jungle dwellers are not cannibals, only few are cannibals. Saviours of the Poor or Promdhu extremists might be there, apart from jungle dwellers."Shreyas reasoned with them.
Panic stricken Leena spoke up again –"Look , there is some chance of us then falling into wrong hands and losing our lives. Should we not observe the group beforehand?"
There was a pause. They were quiet. She continued again –"If we come across some civilization or road. We need to watch them first.
In the road, buses that we recognize are safe -blue and yellow striped buses, green and white ones, deluxe buses of branded companies. It is risky to trust people inside cars or minivans. Jeeps are used in special government offices.
So, some buses and jeeps that we can recognize from symbols or colours are safe. Not all transport." She completed between pauses.
"That is wise, Leena." Lisha exclaimed. Shreyas mimicked Lisha much to her annoyance and teased them both.
He spoke again, "Ok, your Highnesses, there is no civilization nearby and it is getting dark. What do we do?"
"We can sleep on top of the banyan tree. Please find a spacious spot." Lisha responded.
Leena choked, "No, no! There might be snakes or we might fall down. Nooo.. let us search for a cave or hollow tree trunk."
"Sna..,"Lisha had just started , when Shreyas signalled her with his eyes and interrupted, "Shhhh! We heard you, Leena. That is what we will do. No electricity. So, 12 fruitless hours."
Leena talked again, "When it is a little dark, we will have the moon and fireflies to guide our walk. Two of us can nap when one is watching."
"Sure, we will do that." Shreyas replied and climbed up mid-way for a survey.
Leena asked Lisha, "Is it not too much for him to climb up again and again."
Lisha gleefully informed her, "He is born to be a monkey. He enjoys climbing up and down. If he did not have friends to play, he would be up on trees, plucking fruits and surveying the land with his binoculars."
Leena began again, "So, he must have binoculars now… Oh wait, oh no… School Rule- No electronic items to be brought to school other than watches and calculators."
Lisha said, "Yes, true!"
Leena suddenly said, half laughing –"But then, he must have access to first rate gossip. Would he not?"
Lisha laughed, "I bet he might."
He was not too high up. He could still hear them. Soon, he came down bearing fruits.
"So, your girls are making me a joker, when I am labouring so hard to locate a temporary home for us and hunt food." He responded with a grim face.
"Yes, that's quite hard..," Leena immediately replied.
Lisha cut in, "Oh, you monkey." She plucked a low lying guava from the tree and threw at him. He threw back two fruits.
Leena sadly replied, "Oh, precious food on the ground. Let's keep in our bags. She lifted the fruits and kept them inside her bag.
Looking at her, they stopped fighting. Leena asked immediately, "Did you find a place, Shreyas?" She hoped that they would not resume fighting.
"Yes, my dear sisters. Bow to me 3 times and I will give my solution," he authoritatively replied.
Leena just began nodding her head, when Lisha told her, "Stop! He is telling us anyway."
Shreyas said, "No, I would not."
She panicked and looked from brother to sister and back to brother. They half smiled.
He replied, "Yes, I did find two places. The nicer tree trunk is little far away. In the dark, it might be tough to make our way here. The other decent tree trunk is closeby. When her Majesty's fireflies and moon is out, then we resume our journey."
They all laughed. Leena suddenly replied, "and we must not forget our friends."
Bro and sis chorused together, "No, we don't."