'What's going on?'
He heard the scream again, and then he looked for its source, to see three figures struggling on the road some twenty meters away, just outside the perimeter fence of the complex where the bookstore was. David looked up and saw that the Sun had still not fully set.
'It can't be them. At least it shouldn't be yet.'
He looked through his scope to see what was going on, and it soon became obvious what was happening. Two men were trying to grab a young girl, who was doing her best to fight them off. Mayukh asked to see as well, and when David put the rifle down, Mayukh looked at him, as if seeking direction. David was torn as to what to do.
'Mayukh, people are probably going crazy all over the world. They are looting, raping and murdering at will while daylight lasts, since they figure there's no more law to punish them, and not much of a future to look forward to. We can't stop them all.'
He looked again and saw that the girl was putting up a hell of a fight, but it would be just a matter of time before she was overpowered. Before he could think anything else, he saw a blur out of the corner of his eyes. It was Mayukh running towards the road.
'Mayukh, stop!'
David raised his rifle, but with Mayukh directly between him and the men, he did not have a clean shot. With the Barrett, he could have risked taking out the men without harming the girl, but all he with him was his M4, and he could not guarantee a clean shot at such range, with the girl and the men so closely mixed up together. He groaned and then ran after Mayukh.
The two men had been so intent on overpowering the girl that they did not see Mayukh run at them. Before they had a chance to react, Mayukh had raised the handgun and fired one shot in the air. Everyone seemed to freeze for a minute as the unnatural quiet of the city further amplified the gunshot.
'Get away from her!'
Mayukh had his gun pointed at the men, and while he had never shot a person before, and certainly didn't want to do so now, he hoped that the threat would be enough to deter the two men. As he walked closer, he observed several details. The girl was no older than him, and was dressed in a school uniform, which was now torn at the right shoulder. She seemed to have blood covering most of the right side of her face. Hiding behind her was a toddler, a boy no more than two or three years old, clutching a toy car. The two men were now facing him, and both were swaying unsteadily. As one of them spat in his direction, Mayukh realized that both were blind drunk. One of them slurred in Hindi as he walked toward Mayukh.
'The demons will be out again in a few minutes. Let's have some fun with her while we can. Join us if you want.'
Mayukh's hands were shaking, but he tried to keep his voice steady.
'Look, I don't want to hurt you. Just leave her alone and go.'
The larger of the two men took a step towards him, flipping out a switchblade.
'Kid, you've never killed anyone, and I have killed many men, some in prison. Get lost before I kill you and then rape her.'
David was crouched behind the perimeter wall, and while he couldn't clearly hear what was being said, the actions of the men were clear enough. He had his rifle raised to his shoulder, his finger on the trigger. All it would take would be a little bit of pressure and the man closest to Mayukh would die. As he watched, the man advanced on Mayukh, raising his knife as if to bring it down. He tensed, ready to fire, when he heard a gunshot. The man collapsed to the ground, holding his leg and screaming in pain. David saw the smoking gun in Mayukh's hand as he walked over to the man and kicked the knife away.
'I don't want to kill you, but if I shoot you in the other leg as well, you won't even be able to run or hide when they come out.'
The man kept howling, holding his bloody left leg as Mayukh turned to his friend, who had now dropped all his bravado and had his hands up.
'Take your friend and get out of here.'
Mayukh kept his gun raised as the man took his bleeding friend and the two of them struggled to cross the road. When they were on the other side, he motioned to the girl to follow him. When she hesitated, he just pointed to the Sun.
'We don't have time for formal invitations. Come on.'
He walked back towards the bookstore, followed by the girl and the toddler holding her hand. When Mayukh passed David, he saw the soldier standing there with a bemused smile on his face.
'I never figured you'd go Rambo on us.'
David was surprised when Mayukh turned to look at him. The weak, traumatized child was gone. His eyes were steady and confident, almost challenging David to mock him.
'You said we need to watch out for each other. That's what I intend to do.'
David followed him back inside, gripped with a feeling he had experienced many times before. A feeling of mixed emotions when he saw another sensitive, caring young man turn into someone who could take a life.
By the time they entered the bookstore, the Sun had set, and David took position outside, watching for trouble through the greenish hues of his night vision optics. Hina immediately went about tending to the girl's wounds, and was relieved to find that it was but a small cut.
Mayukh was sitting in a corner, still shaking a bit from the adrenaline rush of what had just happened, when the little boy walked up to him. Mayukh got his first good look at the boy, curly hair framing his chubby face and his eager, bright eyes. He was wearing a crumpled Mickey Mouse t-shirt and khaki shorts.
'Are you Batman?'
Mayukh didn't know how to respond to such a question so he just said he wasn't Batman. The boy smiled, showing prominent dimples.
'Good. I don't like Batman. I think you're Pete.'
Mayukh didn't know what the boy was talking about but smiled back, and was shocked when the boy sat down next to him and leaned against him, placing his head on Mayukh's shoulder. Mayukh had never been around kids, and he had no idea of what to do or say, so he asked the boy if he wanted something to eat. The boy's eyes lit up.
'Ice cream.'
Mayukh had no idea what to say, so he said he had no ice cream. To his horror, the boy's lip quivered, and he seemed to be on the verge of tears. He was grateful when the girl came up and sat down next to them, speaking to the boy in a soft, cooing voice.
'Abhi, we don't have ice cream now. We'll have some tomorrow. Ok?'
The boy seemed to be fine with that and then took out a small red toy car from his pocket and got busy playing with it. The girl turned to face Mayukh.
'Thanks for helping us.'
Mayukh just nodded and the girl continued.
'Abhi is my kid brother. He'll turn three in a month, and when he calls anyone Pete it's the ultimate compliment.'
Mayukh had no idea what she was talking about, so she smiled.
'I gather you don't have a kid brother or sister. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, the big guy Pete? Abhi loves him because he's the biggest and strongest of them all. As for my promise of ice cream, anything in the future for him is tomorrow and anything that has happened in the past happened yesterday.'
Abhi smiled a cherubic smile at Mayukh, as if sharing a big secret.
'I will have Ice Cream tomorrow.'
Mayukh held out his hand towards the girl.
'I'm sorry. I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Mayukh.'
'Hi Mayukh. I'm Swati.'
Then her smile was replaced by a sudden look of vulnerability and she seemed to shake before she regained her composure.
'Who would have thought…'
She never completed her sentence before she stifled a sob. Mayukh tentatively held out a hand to hold her shoulder, as she continued.
'Our parents were taken the first night. We hid in the closet and since then I've been trying to keep Abhi safe. Thanks for helping out, but I would have died before those goons got their way with me.'