Zombiestan

'Those bastards! After all that's happened, one would think we'd learn to help each other.'

As the woman tried in vain to hold off her would-be rapists, David stopped the SUV and put his rifle to his shoulder, selecting single shot mode. One assailant fell to the ground moaning in pain as a bullet slammed into his thigh. Another twirled around and fell against the window, as a bullet caught him in the shoulder. The third, seeing his friends fall to an unseen attacker, ran to his bike. He never made it, a single bullet catching him in the knee.

David drove on in silence till they reached Purohit's headquarters. It was now four in the evening, and they had to begin to plan for the night that lay ahead, but Mayukh was shocked to see a crowd of at least twenty people gathered on the roadside. As they parked, one of them whispered to Mayukh.

'Have you also come to see the miracle boy?'

Wondering what was going on, Mayukh and David ran up the stairs, to find Purohit and his friends sitting at the stairwell, fully armed. One of the old men had a bloody lip.

'What happened to you?', David asked.

'I hit him', Purohit answered quietly, still watching the crowd outside, and then explained further.

'The fool met a group of survivors and told them about how Abhi had survived being bitten. The word's spread like wildfire-people believe it's a miracle. Some believe that if Abhi touches them, they'll be immune as well.'

'Oh shit, old man! Why the hell did you do that?'

The man whom Mayukh had heard referred to only as Margarita averted his eyes.

'Everyone has given up hope. They're just waiting to die. Don't you get it? Abhi gives them, gives all of us some hope. But maybe I should have kept my mouth shut.'

Purohit leaned out the window and shouted.

'People, there's no miracle boy here. It's almost Sunset anyways. Get the hell back to wherever you're hiding before the Biters come. Good luck.'

At the mention of the Biters, the crowd melted away, but Mayukh knew that they would have to find another hideout soon. Purohit and his friends helped carry the supplies in, and they settled down to an early dinner just as the Sun began to set. When they were finished, Purohit tried his luck with his radio again. At first there was only the familiar static, but then suddenly they all heard a voice.

'All is not lost. Survivors are regrouping across the world. If you're anywhere in northern India come to Ladakh if you can. We are army soldiers and are based at the Thirse Monastery. You will be safe here.'

After a few seconds, the announcement was repeated once, and then there was nothing but static. They all looked at each other, stunned at the announcement they had just heard.

Then the Biters began screaming outside.

SEVEN

'They're up early tonight', said Purohit as he quickly snuffed out all the lamps, and took up vigil near the window. David was right beside him, his eye glued to his scope. It was just after Sunset, and he had no real need of the night vision scope to see what was happening outside. There were more than two dozen Biters gathered at the mouth of the alley leading to the apartment, just standing there and screaming incoherently. Abhi had begun sobbing at the noise and Hina took him into the other room, trying in vain to distract him.

'Why are they just standing there? Could they have come back to attack us?'

There was no ready answer to Swati's question and David shrugged, lowering his rifle for a moment.

'No idea whatsoever, but let's not assume they even know we're here. They don't seem to have demonstrated much more intelligence or strategy than a pack of rabid animals. Maybe they'll just scream and leave us alone.'

Mayukh wasn't so sure, and guessed that David was trying to reassure Swati more than anything else. The Biters had shown some level of coordination and thinking during the battle at the bookstore, and if it was true that they were beginning to learn and evolve, there was no telling what would come next.

The three men with Purohit were huddled in the stairwell, a bottle in each hand, waiting for the order to launch their deadly cocktails. David looked at the Biters through his scope, seeing the outlines of the deformed faces and the tell tale turbans on their heads.

'Wonder what's with the damned turbans?'

Purohit sniggered.

'Damned Taliban Jihadis in Afghanistan started it all. Or at least that's what the news said. Maybe it's something that's still in their memory and transmitted along with the infection.'

David took in the information in silence, thinking back to his own tour of duty in Afghanistan and the carnage at his base.

A thought came to Mayukh.

'If that memory stayed with them and was somehow transmitted to all of them, what other memories could they have? Maybe they aren't learning any new skills, they're just remembering things they knew.'

Just then, the group of Biters began moving along the alley as one, their feet making a dull thumping sound on the pavement. They had stopped screaming, and they stopped when they were just ten meters away. Mayukh held his breath as he kept on hoping that perhaps they didn't have a particular target in mind, maybe they would just pass.

That was when one of the Biters stepped forward, raised his right hand and pointed straight at the window where Mayukh, David and Purohit were huddled. He uttered an ululating scream.

'Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaffffffrrrrrrr'

David felled him with a single bullet between the eyes, as the other Biters rushed towards the apartment. Purohit lit one bottle and flung it, the bottle boucing off the far wall, and creating a sheet of flame that enveloped two of the Biters who went down, screeching in agony, and were reduced to ashes in seconds. The man known as Margarita lit one of his bottles and advanced down the stairs, cocking his arm back to throw it towards the Biters who were now about to enter the stairwell.

That was when something totally unexpected happened. Three of the Biters took out rocks they had been hiding behind them and flung them at the men in the stairwell. They were clumsy throws, with aim and force no better than if they had been flung by small children. Yet in the confined space, and with the total element of surprise they presented, they caused the old man with the bottle in his hand to stumble. The bottle fell near his feet, engulfing him in flames. He screamed and rolled down the stairs, as more stones followed, targeting the two remaining men. One of them was hit in the forehead, and he slipped, falling down the stairs. Two Biters leaped over the burning man and tore into him, biting and clawing him till he was dead. The remaining man guarding the stairwell ran in utter terror up the stairs. David and Purohit were now at the top of the winding stairs and David fired a series of well-aimed shots over the retreating man, hitting two Biters in the head. As they went down, Purohit launched one more Molotov Cocktail, incinerating both of them and creating a barrier of flames that held the other Biters at bay.

It was now an uneasy standoff. There were still more than twenty Biters outside, and they were now standing flat against the wall, so that they could not be targeted from the window. If they did all decide to rush the stairwell, David wasn't sure they would be able to hold them all off. Their learning to launch stones, even if a crude tactic, had proved devastating, and now the people huddled in the small apartment waited for what would come next. Mayukh was watching out the window when he saw a shadow move to his left. He aimed and fired four rounds. The Biter was hit at least twice and fell, but staggered to his feet a few seconds later. That gave Mayukh the time to light a bottle, and as he felt the heat expand under his hand, he threw it. The bottle landed a mere foot in front of the Biter and he screamed as the fire took him. In the glow of the flames Mayukh saw that the other Biters were now gathering near the door.