While his gang member began their ascent to my balcony, Abhay himself stayed on the ground yelling threats "Ash its best if you open the door yourself, otherwise once we break in you'll regret it"
In response I dropped what I was doing and brewed myself a cup coffee 'you think you're smart huh? Who says glass has to be more fragile than metal?'
Just like I thought, after knocking for a while they could neither find windows that lead no windows that would actually get them in my house; nor could they crack the ones they did.
They could only vent their frustration helplessly outside like children. Of course that didn't mean I was going to let them off. So I leisurely walked to the kitchen and picked up a homemade Molotov cocktail- I'm sure you all wondered what I was doing after the arrow and gun play.
I shouted "Since it's so cold, I'll help you warm up a bit." and with that I went upstairs opened a small window in the room next to the balcony. One of them saw me open the window but, before they realized what I did it was already too late.
The Molotov hit the target and flames engulfed him; the intense burning sensation made him wail in agony. He tried to quell the flames but failed; before long he could no longer bear the pain and jumped off the balcony, while I grabbed another one.
Seeing this, the group divided into those that jumped off the building in fear; and those who felt regret begging for mercy.
Now here's the issue, in my previous live you never showed any remorse or mercy… so bombs away!
Left with no choice and engulfed in flames, they too fled hoping that those behind them could help. But they were stopped by Ben and his group- who once again kept safe distance "Get lost; don't bring the fire over and get us involved."
He even the first person to get near him with a wooden hammer, and coincidentally being close to the edge the man let out a cry and fell from the high building.
Wedged between Ben's men who struck those who got near them without hesitation… and me, with more of their favorite cocktail… those with no way out were burnt to charcoal.
Ben and his group showed no mercy; instead they gathered around to warn themselves with the burning corpses of their comrades, keeping 'safe' distance from me and thinking of their next course of action.
Soon they came to a surprising decision, they dropped their weapons crossed the balcony and came over to the window "Ashok we were wrong; we just wanted a bite to eat. Please save us we'll do whatever you want from now on"
Usually when people get an apology they are appeased, but I found this one to be upsetting 'I sigh don't be like this, it make me feel so bad. How can I make your lives miserable if you have a sudden change of heart?'
Another thing worth nothing is I that have a strange quirk, when I'm upset I want to eat. So I pulled a bowl of noodles out of my space and took a big slurp; the sound of which made the people outside drool.
I knew very well that in this apocalypse, human hearts are unpredictable. But now I had to come up with a new strategy; and after thinking it I came to a simple solution. So after I was down with the noodle bowl, I posted this message on the group before announcing it outside.
"I Ashok am not a cold-hearted; it's not that I'm someone who wouldn't save people. So I'll give you a chance… bring me Abhay's head; and if you can do it I'll give that person * pauses and thinks about it carefully*… a week's worth of cup noodles."
The way their heads turned to Abhay was like a horror movie; in their eyes Abhay suddenly resembled a mouth-watering stack of cup noodles. All they had to do was take him down; it would mean they wouldn't have to worry about food for a week.
Seeing their creepy gazes and twisted smiles Abhay felt a chill down his spine, the feeling best described as 'there are always villains trying to harm me' arose. They charged towards him but he instinctively drew his gun, so they dared not act rashly.
The stalemate dragged on as he tried to understand what was going on, and that didn't take long as the phone vibrating in his pocket had caught his attention 'What's going on?'
He finally read my bounty message and their subsequent replies in the homeowner group taking steps back while doing so.
Now with understanding of the situation he looked up from his phone; catching the men in their attempt to sneak up on him while he was distracted. He panicked firing random shots to scare them and taking off through the opening it made.
But things were only just getting started, because on his way back to his house several neighbor's had already set up an ambush for him. He managed to escape and gun some of them down, but they weren't deterred.
They knew Abhay had a pistol, but his bullets were ultimately limited. Moreover my safe house was simply not something they could break into.
Though they had already lost 48 people in the attempts that followed as Abhay still had some loyal men with him, Abhay lost some too; those men would have starved to death sooner or later anyway.
Since Abhay was also starving as long as they kept trying they'd get a chance to get their hand on him. They were right to wait as could no longer hold it and snuck out two subordinates to find something to eat. He was well aware that he was the little fat lamb in the eyes of all the property owners; whatever he did he had to do quickly.
But sadly he just wasn't sneaky enough; two neighbors who had been waiting in ambush for a long time launched a sudden attack armed kitchen knives. His two subordinates caught off guard weren't able to react in time and they slipped past them.
The two attackers were red eyed, fueled by hunger they had reached him only for them to be shot down by him after one managed to stab him.
Abhay was panting heavily luckily he responded quickly otherwise it would have been more than a simple stab wound. Then Abhay ordered his men to drag the two bodies back home, no longer worrying about having nothing to eat.
After having a subordinate help him back to the room, he made a call to inviting Diana to come treat his wound. She soon arrived carrying a medical kit and the first thing she said was "Please be aware I won't help you for free."
To which Abhay perfunctorily replied "Of course, I'll share some food with you." having a subordinate bring over a basin of chicken feet.
However seeing the food Diana felt nauseous; she knew what was in the basin and made it clear she would rather die than and eat such a thing. Abhay with a gentle tone said "But I can't bear to see you die."
He knew how important it was to have a doctor by his side in this post-apocalyptic world his mind drifting back to the things he wanted to do when he finally got everything in control.
Abhay reached out to touch Diana's cheek and thought out loud "…I will save you for the last."
He got snapped out of his day dream when Diana slapped his hand away and turned to leave. But Abhay had his subordinates stop her, then he asked her "Why is Dr. Diana in such a hurry to leave? You must stay here until my wound heals."
Then Abhay gathered the rest of his subordinates began to discuss with them about how ever since I issued the bounty Abhay had become a target for everyone in the community.
He had to quickly deal with the threat that I posed so Abhay decided to move next door in the dead of night to avoid ambushes. Then he would keep a rotating watch on my house waiting for the moment I'd step out to take me down.
Diana who heard everything got up, pretending to go the bathroom and contacted me. She told me what they were planning and I told her to stay there; keep observing them.
Night soon came, and while I was plotting my next move, in the house next door…
*Knock*
*Knock*
"Who's…?"
*BAM*
Abhay had already barged with his men; this was the house they were going to live in, and they made sure to make that clear.
The couple didn't dare to resist but thought 'Fortunately we've already hidden the last of the food on our bodies; there were so many empty rooms in this building any one of them would be suitable to live. As long as we…'
Sadly the couple didn't think that Abhay's subordinates would give them blows to the head as they fell to the ground in a pool of blood.
Diana who was forced to witness this was shaken; but to make matters worse Abhay place his hand on her shoulder offered his most 'charming' smile and said "I'm doing this for their own good. The weather is so cold they would freeze to death if we threw them out. Moreover we have to store some food don't we Dr. Diana?"
And at this time in Rose's house, the three men lay on the sofa.
To Be Continued…