Mainak Dhar - Zombiestan

Two women brought forward a meal of rice and boiled potatoes and placed it in front of Mayukh and the others, ladling the food onto leaves. It was a simple meal but as Mayukh put the hot rice in his mouth, he thought it was the most delicious meal he had ever had. Swati spoke to one of the women serving them.

'Thank you. I know you must have limited food, so thank you for sharing it with us.'

The woman looked at Swati and gently tousled Abhi's hair.

'Daughter, I am an uneducated apple picker, and I don't know or understand many things, but in the midst of all this darkness, this boy is the only sign of hope we have.'

Ganesh touched Mayukh's arm gently, almost pleading with him.

'Keep him safe and see if he can help us remove this darkness that has fallen upon us.'

It was now close to ten in the morning, and Mayukh heard from Ganesh that Ladakh was a good five hour drive away. He wanted to get going as soon as they could, but they were all dead tired and badly needed some rest and sleep. Ganesh and his friends laid out some blankets in the orchard and they slept, asking to be woken up in a couple of hours. For the first time in many days, Mayukh slept peacefully and when he was awakened by a gentle nudge from Swati, he woke with a smile on his face.

'Why are you smiling?'

Mayukh sat up and held her hand, trying to remember and savour every detail of his dream.

'I saw us-me, you, Abhi. Together. Walking into a mall, eating fast food, watching a movie, doing the small things we took for granted.'

Mayukh could see Swati's eyes start to fill with tears, when Abhi cut in.

'If we're having fast food, I want French Fries.'

They laughed and got up to prepare for what they all hoped would be the last leg of their journey.

***

It was now just past one in the afternoon and they had driven for almost an hour through a landscape that saw the lush orchards of the Manali area slowly but surely give way to long stretches of barren rock, a forerunner of the desolate mountain passes they were headed towards. Swati was still driving, with Mayukh sitting in the back, playing the role of part babysitter and part gunner, with Abhi on his lap and his shotgun by his side. David was watching all the road signs and was trying to ensure that they did not get lost in the hilly passes. Despite it being in the middle of the afternoon, the cold was already getting so severe that they stopped once to put on an extra layer of clothes, and eat some more apples to give them more energy.

David saw Swati's breath quicken as she seemed to be gasping for air, so he asked her to pull over.

'Swati, we're now at much higher altitude than you may be used to, and the air will keep getting thinner. So the oxygen may not go to your brain as efficiently as it normally does. Don't panic, just take slow, deep breaths and you should be okay.'

As they restarted, Swati tried to heed his advice, but she found it tough going. Mayukh seemed to be coping much better with the altitude and they swapped places. There was no sign of anyone around, so they did not really think twice about not having the extra firepower of the shotgun readily available.

Abhi was in high spirits, no doubt boosted by the apples he had eaten. While all the others were worried about what lay ahead and also thinking of Hina's loss, he was exhibiting that wonderful and most envious of traits of children-the ability to live fully in the present. So he delighted in pointing out birds he saw, and screamed in delight when they saw what appeared to be a deer dashing into the trees. Despite the hilly terrain, Mayukh was trying to go as fast as he could, conscious of the fact that they needed to reach Ladkah before Sunset.

David suddenly shouted in triumph.

'Just saw a sign. Ten kilometers more to Rohtang Pass. We're well on our way!'

Mayukh knew that was both good news and bad news. Good because they were making steady progress; bad because from what the guide had said, after Rohtang Pass, they would well and truly be in mountain terrain. The roads would not allow them to go as fast, and he was also increasingly worried about how Swati would cope with the altitude as they went higher.

After half an hour more of driving, they decided to stop for a break. Mayukh's arms and legs were cramped and aching from the sharp turns and he was exhausted from always having to watch that they did not fall off the edge of the road. David was of course not in any position to drive, and Swati bravely volunteered, but one glance between Mayukh and David told both of them that they thought she was in no shape to drive. David handed each of them an apple.

'Eat and rest for ten, then we start again. We'll get through Rohtang in a few minutes, and then it should be no more than a couple of hours.'

Mayukh sat down on the ground, his back to the van, preparing for the home stretch. Swati came over and sat beside him, resting her head against his shoulder as he pulled her close.

'I'm so sorry. I'm not helping at all.'

Mayukh held her hands and looked at her.

'Swati, you've been just amazing so far. We just need to hang in there a little bit longer and we're safe.'

Abhi was busy playing with some rocks by the roadside, and when David tried to tell him it was time to go, he looked at him with his wide eyes.

'But I want to play!'

No amount of cajoling could get him to budge, so finally David decided he'd try another strategy.

'Come on and I'll tell you a story.'

That got Abhi's attention.

'What story is that?'

'Remember Mayukh told you about the boy who needed to be brave. This one's about how that boy met a brave and beautiful Princess. Want to hear it?'

Abhi whooped in excitement and got into the van as David winked at Swati.

'Will the brave Princess also get in?'

It was now four in the evening and Mayukh was beginning to wonder if their decision to take a nap in the morning would come back to haunt them. They passed a sign proclaiming they were beyond Rohtang Pass, and soon enough, a breathtaking vista of snow-capped mountains unfolded before them. There was not a soul in sight as they continued down the highway, which was in much better shape than any of them had imagined. When David saw several abandoned Army trucks by the roadside, he realized that the roads must have been kept in good condition to allow easy transport of soldiers and equipment to Ladkah, which he knew was a strategic choke point near both the Chinese and Pakistani borders.

They drove for another hour of what seemed to be bliss. It was as if they had come out for a picnic together, instead of having endured the horrors they had been subjected to over the last week or so. Abhi kept pointing to birds in the clear sky and at the snow in the mountains around them. It was the first time he had seen snow, and he cried out loud.

'Is that a giant ice cream cone?'

Swati forgot about the troubles she was having breathing and Mayukh joined her in singing some old songs. They discovered that they both liked Ronan Keating and soon they were crooning away with a pretty off key rendition of `When You Say Nothing at All'. David, not one for pop, couldn't help but wince at their singing skills, but equally, he could not help but be caught up in everyone's excitement and enthusiasm. Once they had finished singing, he treated them to his own rendition of Enter Sandman, which Mayukh assured him sounded nothing at like the original.

And so they continued through the hilly roads, seeing nobody or nothing other than the occasional car or Army truck by the roadside and making. As he saw a sign by the roadside, David struck a note of caution.

'Folks, we should probably be a bit more careful in the stretch ahead.'

'Why, what's up ahead?'

David turned to look at Swati to answer her question.