CHAPTER XXVI
Malvika relentlessly insulted Mon in front of me. I pleaded with Malvika, "Malvika, please, leave right now!" Malvika lashed back, "Why, Sam? Did you change your mind? Do you suddenly like Mon now?" A heated argument erupted between Malvika and me, and then Mon cried out, "Stop! Stop it! Please, both of you, just be quiet! I... I can't..."
Mon was utterly devastated, her voice barely a whisper from the pain.
Looking back, my past and present feel identical. Mon and I were always separate, and even though fate keeps throwing us together, it seems our story isn't meant to have a happy ending. Mon stands before me now, and I have so much I want to say, but I no longer understand what's in her heart. All I know is that I want my life, my death – everything – to be with Mon. I want to see Mon until my very last breath. I want Mon to be there with me in my final moments.
Aliyana approached me, her eyes filled with a mix of concern and determination. "Sam, I know you're as frustrated as I am about all of this, but please, trust me. We have no other choice." I looked at her, my voice steady despite the turmoil inside, and asked, "Aliyana, can you tell me how many zombies we've taken down in this village? Or when we left the mansion to fight those hordes?" She avoided my gaze, unable to answer. I sighed, the weight of the situation pressing down on me. "I know everyone's terrified. This threat... it's worse than anything we've faced before. But the people trapped here, they need us. We can't just run away." Aliyana nodded, her voice soft, "Sam, Blue said that once we get out, she and the team will come back, with a plan, to save everyone who's left." I turned to Mon, my heart heavy but resolute, and said, "Alright. If that's what everyone wants, then I'm with you."
One by one, everyone started escaping the mansion on bikes. The main door was a no-go, so we were all scrambling out the back, with Haider and me on guard.
Slowly, Blue and her team had gotten eight people out. Now the big question: who gets to leave, and who gets left behind? We had to make the call. It was down to Mon, Mahi, Haider, Looka, and Blue.
I told Blue, "You need to go, you're the head!" Blue said, "Maybe that's why I should stay until the end..." Looka was getting antsy, "Come on, people, we're running out of time! And the noise from the bikes is already bringing the zombies to the back door! I'm just praying that lion doesn't show up." Haider shot back at Looka, "Why you gotta scare us like that, man?" Looka said, "I'm not scared, I'm just saying!" Then, a glimmer of an idea, "Hey, there are four girls, right? Why don't we get them out first?" Blue started to say something, but before she could, a terrifying growl ripped through the air from the mansion's basement, and for a heart-stopping moment, everyone just froze.
We all gripped our shotguns, hearts pounding, and cautiously advanced toward the basement. The moment we cracked open the door, Haider, ever the brave one, was in the lead. He stepped inside, and then, a roar! The lion lunged, a blur of teeth and claws, and in a horrifying instant, Haider was gone. The sight of the beast sent a jolt of pure terror through us. We scattered, the sound of our frantic footsteps echoing in the sudden silence.
Looka, adrenaline pumping, leaped onto his bike, Blue scrambling on behind. Mahi, her face a mask of determination, revved the engine, Mon clinging to her for dear life. I, firing blindly with the shotgun, tried to create a path, the metallic tang of gunpowder filling my nostrils. Then, the lion turned its attention to me. A searing pain erupted as its fangs sunk into my feet, and I was flung through the air, the world spinning, before slamming into the ground. My head throbbed, a sickening crack echoing in my ears.
I looked at Mon, her eyes wide with a mixture of fear and desperation, wanting to help, and Mahi, her face etched with a heartbreaking conflict. Blue's voice, a desperate plea, convinced them to leave. I watched them go, a knot of helplessness tightening in my chest. The lion, its hunger not yet sated, pursued their fleeing bikes. Around me, the mansion groaned with the advance of the undead. My body screamed in protest, and as the shadows of the zombies loomed closer, I succumbed to the darkness, the last thing I felt was the cold embrace of the floor.
The moment Mon's heart shattered, the whole truth about me and Malvika came crashing down. I don't know if I could truly feel Mon's pain in that instant, but the thought of losing her was unbearable. I had to try and explain, to salvage what I could. "Mom, some of what Malvika is saying is true," I pleaded, "but it's not the whole story." Mon's response was a whirlwind of hurt and anger. A slap, a grip on my collar, our foreheads pressed together as she poured out her anguish. "Sam, do you have any idea how much this hurts?" she cried, her voice thick with pain. "I don't care about your deals or your secrets with Malvika. All I know is I can never trust you again. Just... get out of my sight." As she turned to leave, my heart plummeted. I ran after her, desperate, but a stupid rope snagged my foot, and I fell, the world tilting with the weight of my mistakes.
And then Mahi and Aarohi burst into the tent house. Tears streaming down my face, I choked out to Aarohi, "Mon..." Mahi rushed to my side, her voice urgent, "Sam, please, calm down! We'll talk to Mon, we will." But how could I calm down? My chest felt like it was about to explode. I was screaming, my voice raw, "Mon, please... please don't leave me!"
The weight of past mistakes still clawed at my heart, a crushing burden that made death unacceptable. The agony of being separated from Mon was a tidal wave, and her tear-streaked face haunted me. I could almost hear her, a desperate whisper, "Sam, please... come back! I'm waiting..." Mon's voice, a lifeline, yanked me from the past, ripping me back to the present. My heart roared, "Sam! Not yet! You have to live!" With a surge of desperate will, I finally pried my eyes open.
A wave of horror washed over me. I was surrounded by them—the undead. Blood gushed from my head, painting the floor crimson, and the ghoulish figures were already feasting. My helmet, they were clawing at it, their putrid hands reaching for me. My legs...thank God, the boots and socks had held. But if I stayed here, it would be the end. I tried to move, and a scream ripped from my throat. Agony exploded through me. Broken bones, a symphony of torment, made even the slightest shift a nightmare.
I tried so hard to get up, but my body wouldn't move, a wave of despair washing over me. Now, there seemed to be no way out, but a fierce determination ignited within me – I wanted to live, I desperately wanted to live! I decided to fight until my last breath, and with a surge of adrenaline, I mustered the courage and kept trying to get up. With every agonizing attempt, hundreds of zombies piled their putrid bodies on top of me, their weight crushing my hope. Then, through the blur of my panic, my eyes fell on my bag lying on the floor, a glimmer of hope in the darkness. It held weapons, a lifeline!
Now, I couldn't even get up as much as I was before, the weight of the undead pinning me down. With a groan of effort, I started crawling, each movement a battle against the crushing horde. Crawling, dragging myself towards the bag, the promise of salvation urging me forward. I tried to open my bag with a scream of pain, my vision blurring with tears, my body screaming in agony with every broken bone. My mind, the voice of reason, was telling me, "Sam, let's rest now," but I wouldn't give in. I consoled my mind, reminding myself that I had to live and opened my bag; there were swords, a fighting chance!
I took out a sword, my trembling fingers closing around the familiar hilt, a surge of defiant energy coursing through me. With a grunt, I held the other sword straight with the support of my feet, a maneuver that sent a fresh wave of excruciating pain through my battered body. I had to face unbearable pain to do this, but the thought of giving up was more terrifying than the pain itself. I kept trying, my heart pounding, fueled by a desperate will to survive.
To be continue....