Chapter 8 - WHAT DO YOU MEAN I FAILED

I think it's safe to say Khushi was furious, she never thought with that amoebic brain of hers: that I would be on the path of a bootlicker vengeance- I promise I will make an example of her, for the sake of all the simps out there.

Her best friend Riya decided to soothe her with some spiteful… *cough* *cough* I mean heartfelt words "Ash is actually quite good you know; it's you who missed the opportunity. Otherwise we could've been enjoying the things at Ashok's house right now. He's much better off than those so-called rich second generations."

She sighed "If I had known you would fail, I would have gone for it myself. Now it's too late and we've ended up with nothing."

Khushi finally snapped "You keep speaking in favor of Ash; what do you mean I FAILED. You think you can seduce him? Not if I kill you first!" soon the two were what I call WWE PRO bitch wrestling on the bed- how I know this is not your business; I'm not telling.

As the two sorry excuses for women were battling it out in the 'ring'… the government seeing that they could no longer hide the news of the ice age issued an announcement on television.

"As you all may have known the world is facing troubling times, but united as a nation I believe we will persevere. In order to meet everyone's electricity needs, power supply will be provided between 1 and 2:00 pm daily; the voltage will be enough for low power appliances only."

"Please avoid using any high voltage electrical appliances as currently all major plants are shut down, the use of high voltage appliances may cause an overload in the system please refrain from…"

The homeowner group was lively again "did you see the news? It turns out the rumors online are true."

Just as everyone was on edge, someone offered to sell instant noodles at 10,000 Rupees a pack- seeing this I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"We're in an apocalypse, and yet some people still wanted to exchange life-saving supplies for this worthless paper. Under the current circumstances filling one's stomach is above all else.

On Khushi's side the pro bitch wrestling tournament had gone on for 2 minutes; Khushi and her friend finally calmed down- they had called truce by agreeing 'since the soft approach didn't work, we'll go hard'

Khushi picked up her phone and contacted number the number one boot licker; then she started telling a wild story about how I wanted to tarnish her purity, just because I had food.

Anuj- the dumbass from chapter five- was instantly furious, he righteously proclaimed "Ashok is such a scumbag if I don't take this guy down, I'll be letting down my Khushi down!"

Seeing Anuj was hooked, Khushi immediately planted little seeds in her heart "Anuj let's find a way to take his house; then we can live together okay Anuj"

The fool agreed without a second thought. But before that, they needed to prepare some form of weapons… in a short while the three of them each carrying a kitchen knife arrived at my doorstep- honestly have you ever seen such idiocy.

Anuj hid the knife- that I had definitely already seen- behind his back knocked on the door. "Ashok my brother are you in? It's me, your old pal Anuj, since were old colleagues could you lend me some food. I'll trade you with fever medication'- never been friends my whole life who's he trying to fool?

Sadly for them like I'd said earlier I had already seen the whole scene clearly through the surveillance camera. I was not amused, I grinned "do you guys really think you can kill me… a Chinese guy in a movie once said 'if the tiger doesn't show its power, you'll mistake it for a sick cat'."

I picked up the hose, gracefully attached it to the tap- you see I had decided to give them a refreshing shower at -110*C when I got a much better idea. I picked up the hose and approached the door shouting "don't worry I'll make sure everyone gets enough to eat."

The three of them thinking that I was about to open the door excitedly readied their 'weapons' but the next second a wave of old chicken bones sprayed through the small window of the door- that I had intended for putting gun barrels through… and no it's a perfectly normal thing to do; onto them.

Khushi realized what it was that landed in her mouth started to vomit while Anuj was furious "Ash if you don't have the guts to come out, I'll just break your door down and kill you"

I lamented- loud enough for them to hear. "Oh my, it seems they won't just eat their bones and leave quietly… street dogs these days, first they come begging for food then they stay at your house barking."

 Then I raised my voice higher "Alright, Alright I'll get you more bones no need to bark okay!"

Well it seems that was all it took to get him enraged because he raised his kitchen knife in his fit of anger and struck my front door- of course the door was unharmed. Instead his hand got badly bruised from the impact- this scene… it reminds me of a certain blue cat that chased a clever brown mouse before crashing in to a wall; I wonder if I remember the name…

But seriously I couldn't help but laugh; my thick vault grade security door isn't something you can break just by saying so- I really don't know what he was thinking… did he think he was klark cent, or a certain big bad wolf?.

Anyway whatever they were thinking, I've stockpiled as so much in my space that they could spend their entire lives trying to keep watch, I'd never even need to go out once. So I think I'll go get some sleep after all, what can they do to me?

Well that didn't go so well, because I was suddenly woken from my sleep mid-dream by a gunshot; even though I knew the maliciousness of human nature would be exposed in the apocalyptic world.

The sudden gunshot still gave me a jump scare; there was actually someone with a gun in this community- so irresponsible, having a gun is one thing disturbing my sleep is another.

I picked up my tablet and started checking the surveillance footage- to see which hopeless bastard was disturbing my nap; as it turned out it was Abhay and his gang of merry vagabonds were going around robbing the starving to feed themselves- if you know what I mean.

You see, after the water supply was cut off, most of the residents would go out to dig snow for water; during this time period. Abhay was taking advantage of this time to loot supplies, once the supplies were gone even if they the accumulated snow as food they wouldn't last long.

It seems after robbing the supplies Abhay didn't forget to assert his authority in the group chat- while ruining my sleep. "Since we've been snow in for so long, from now on I am in charge of this community. Anyone who tries to undermine me will not have a good end".

Then he posted several intimidating photos like some wannabe mafia boss.

Though I knew very well that ruthless tactics like these were no doubt why he had been so successful in society before the apocalypse. However his ammunition and followers were ultimately limited; they couldn't possibly face off against all the residents of the building.

I was suddenly added to a new group chat where several homeowners were vehemently denouncing Abhay's actions. 

They were saying that we all had to unite to resist such a tyrant; even if he had a gun he can't stop all of us *cough* obviously by 'us' I mean them. But when one of them asked they would take action a few clever ones suggested that we- I mean they needed to plan this carefully.

Unfortunately, this chat was a classic case of 'the loudest critics are also the most hesitant actors'; they were all just talk at this point.

I was about to continue my nap when the tablet chimed; it was Uncle Yash a retired veteran. He had somehow managed to take charge in the chat by saying "we can't let Abhay continue to rob us like this. If we don't stop him we're all doomed; if you all are scared, I can lead the charge. Let's all rise up together!"

Uncle Yash's words garnered a lot of support from the homeowners; some offered to provide weapons. Others suggested tactics and some offered… moral support?

Yes there were a couple of cheerleaders commenting "Abhay is only one man and we many. We could ambush him with your support, so we shouldn't be afraid."

Some actually provided useful information to them "Uncle Yash besides having a gun, Abhay has about 10 or 15 people with him. We alone won't be enough; we need a dozen or so young guys to ensure our safety."

Just as everyone was eagerly preparing to volunteer, a woman who had like me been silent the entire time suddenly preparing spoke up apparently deciding to play gossip monger "Auntie Evelyn just tricked us out of our supplies didn't she? Who knows if Uncle Yash won't do the same? If you lead everyone; then suddenly decide to surrender, what about the rest of us who are old weak women and children?"- Would I be wrong …if I really wanted to smack her right now?

This woman ended up stirring gender conflicts, in the past life in this apocalypse. If you can't even trust a retired veteran who can you trust?

But sadly it was pointless; soon the homeowners were divided into two factions: the radical faction thought 'we' should unite against Abhay and the conservative faction who suspected Uncle Yash was a spy.

Watching the two sides bicker for 2 hours- achieving nothing relevant in the process was extremely nostalgic. This scene was exactly the same as in my past life; back then it was these conservatives who kept passing the buck, resulting in the majority of homeowners being killed by Abhay- but what does this have to do with me eating my curry rice with corn green peppers tomatoes and Chicken? I certainly don't know.

Abhay backed by his gun was still robbing houses everywhere, not even sparing his own followers.

Anyone who dared to resist would be taken down with a single shot from. But I bet he knew well in his heart, that without this gun in his hand. His subordinates might not necessarily so obedient to him.

Well didn't matter as he ordered his men to collect all the bodies while I watched quietly from the surveillance. 

To Be Continue