Path of Evolution - Chapter 23

Chapter 23






"Ashok." Rahul turned to me and said "Go to Zakopur this instant. Go and meet little Neha. Make sure that she's safe and sound."

I looked at him incredulously and asked "What about you. Aren't you coming with me as well."

Rahul shook his head with a smile and said "This bastard here played with our feelings. So how can I let him go so easily. If I don't provide him with the best of my services, then I would not be able to sleep peacefully for the next few days."

"Go." He said "I'll come back after I've dealt with this guy."

Then he turned to look at Keshav whose face had turned pale and said "You wanted to die didn't you. Well then, I'll make sure to fulfill your wishes. In the most painful way possible."

By the time I started moving, I could hear miserable screams coming out from the forest.

Although I wanted to wait and see the proceedings myself, I was much more concerned about Neha's welfare and thus decided to quickly leave for Zakopur.

On the way, I realized that all the abnormals had been cleared out by the army. The vehicles on the highway had been moved to the sides and there was enough space for one large vehicle to pass through.

There were a lot of corpses lying beside the highway. Those corpses had been riddled with bullets. I did not even need to think to realize that all the abnormals in this highway had already been cleared by the army.

I could have probably taken out a few crystals from those corpses, but I didn't slow down even a bit. I was far too worried about little Neha to care about a few damaged crystals.

On a second note, although that bastard from the army had lied about Neha, he had told the truth when he said that they had taken survivors from the town.

Even though me and Rahul had told her time and time again to stay in her room, if the army came to rescue them then it is possible that she might have gone with them.

The thought ate away at my heart and I continued to run despite feeling like my legs would give out at any moment.

'Those bastards did one good thing by clearing the highway.' I thought. Running in a empty road was indeed much easier then running in the forest when you might even lose your direction from time to time.

'I hope she's alright. As for that bastard… I hope Rahul teaches him a good lesson.' I cursed in my mind.

'Neha… Please be alright.' I prayed.

'She'll be alright.' At that time, Lily shooting voice rang in my ears.

'You don't need to worry about her safety. Since you told her to stay in the room then I'm confident that she must have stayed in the room even if the army came to rescue the survivors.' She said.

'Are you sure?' I asked hesitantly.

'Of course. You and Rahul are the only family members she have and the people that she trusts the most. Plus, from what I can tell, she's far more smarter than you. So she would not fall easily to the army's false propaganda of safety.'

'Is that so.' Although I felt a bit sullen when she said that my little sister is far smarter than me, I didn't paid any attention to it. Instead, I only felt warm at how caring Lily was.

'Sigh! If only she can be this caring all the time.'

'What did you say?'

'Nothing. The weather is very good today, oh, I can see the town in the distance.'

I realized that I had crossed the 7 kilometers of distance from the army camp to the town in mere 7 minutes.

Such a thing would have definitely been impossible for a normal human.

But I felt no sense of achievement in my heart. No happiness. Only discomfort and worry.

'Calm down. You don't need to worry so much. I'm sure she's alright.' Lily said.

'Very well then.' I thought and soon, entered the town.

I was a bit surprised when I entered the town. The only word that can be used to describe the view in front of me would be…

Deserted.

Exactly. There was not a single human nor Abnormal in front of me. The whole town was so silent that it gave me goosebumps.

We have been living in this place since we were children and I was rather proud over the fact that I knew every nook and cranny in the town.

That would be mainly attributed to the fact that I was a mischievous child who liked to play with his friends all the time.

But the lively town, the bustling streets that I'd seen since childhood, now they all looked so… lifeless.

Although I had long since known that the world I knew had come to an end, the scene in front of me really hammered the point in my heart.

'Is this… really the town that I knew.' I touched the broken tiles on the ground to make sure that all of this was real.

I looked at the abandoned cars and bikes on the side of the road. A thick layer of dust had begun gathering on top of them.

'That car. Doesn't that belong to Uncle Sharma. I… I used to play with his daughter when I was young. One time we played a prank on her and she had to go home crying. After that incident, he forbid her from playing with us. Her name… What was it again. Sera. Right. I wonder how she's doing now.' I thought as I felt a numb feeling wash over my whole body.

I walked a bit further and then stopped again.

'That shop. It belonged to Grandpa Hasim. I remember that he told my Brother about my mischiefs many years ago. That time, I was harshly scolded by Rahul. From that point, I started to hate Grandpa Hasim and we would often throw stones at his house when no one was around.'

I looked at the broken glass on the window with nostalgia.

'I remember breaking that glass. So that cheap stake never really bought new glasses even after all these years huh. But then again, he was a rather poor guy, and had many mouths to feed in his home. Maybe I should not have thrown stones at his house after all.'

'That shop. It belonged to the Fat Lady. Her son once wanted to play with us. But we bullied him and sent him home crying instead. That time the Fat Lady came and pulled my ears so harshly that I could still close my eyes and feel the pain sometimes. Her son… he was often ill and had a weak body. Would he have survived the Severe Pain? It would have been hard for him.'

'That alley. We used to play cricket in there at weekends. One time, we played there till late at night and Rahul had to come and take me home. He was very angry at time. He forced me to stay at home for the next two weekends. Does he still remember about that.'

As I walked around in the empty streets, nostalgia from the past memories overwhelmed me.

The town was exactly as I remembered in my memories. Yet… now it was just an empty husk of it's former self.

Every moment of my childhood was spent in these streets. These streets which bustled with activity even at night time.

But… it was all gone now. Never to return.

My heart was filled with grief and I felt something tug at my heart.

'This… Why did all this happen?'

I felt something warm trickling down my cheek. I removed my helmet and checked to find that at some point, I had started crying.

'This… this deserted town is all that remains from my memories.' I thought and closed my eyes for a moment in sadness.

'No.' I suddenly opened my eyes and realized why I was here.

'Not all of it is gone. Neha. I still have her. And Rahul. As long as I have them, it's enough.'

I took a step in the direction of my house. Then another. Then another before I started running to my destination.

Every building, every street, every alley. I was familiar with all of it. But I must leave it all behind. Because all of my sentiments about them combined together could not match up with the love I felt for my little sister.

'Neha. Please be alright.'

I came in front of a two storey building and stopped in my tracks.

It was the house that I had lived in from ever since I could remember. It was my home.

It seemed to have become a little older compared to the house in my memories. We never really took the time to renovate it after all. We had no spare money to do so. Rahul had to support both Neha and me at the same time even though he was very young himself.

Me and Neha had to change schools because the fees was too much. Sometimes Rahul even had to take part time jobs till late night to support us. Our family was never rich. But Rahul made sure that we got the basic education and everything else that a normal child would.

Our parents died in a car accident when I was ten years old.

We were so young at that time. Neha was not even seven. Rahul himself was only sixteen. But he had to take care of everything. Such a thing must have placed a heavy burden on him but he never showed any sadness in front of us. He always smiled.

Now that I think about it, I never really thanked Rahul. Thanked him for all that he did for us. For the love he gave us two. For the sacrifices he made for us. For…

My thoughts stopped and I realized that I was already standing in front of Neha's room.

"Ne…" I wanted to say her name but only now did I realized that my voice had gone hoarse because of my jumbled emotions.

I cleared my thoughts and called out to her once again "Neha", and waited, but no reply came from the inside.

I brought my hand forward to knock on the door but just at that moment, it was suddenly flung open.

'Mom! Why is it your belly so big.'

'That's because you're about to get a little sister very soon.'

'A little sister?'

'Yes. A very cute little sister.'

'Can I play with her.'

'Yes. You can play with her. But you must also make sure to protect her as well. You're her elder brother after all.'

'Yes. I will protect my little sister. But Mom, how did she get inside your tummy.'

'Cough cough* Well… she was put inside my tummy by the gods.'

'Brother… where are mummy and papa. I want to meet mummy and papa.'

'Aah, Neha, you see, Mummy and papa had gone to heaven.'

'Heaven? Then… would they still come back to see us.'

'No. Once a person goes there, they don't come back.'

'Why? I want to meet them. Why did they have to leave. Brother did they leave because they did not love us anymore?'

'I don't know. But you still have me. And big bro. Right. We both love you thiiiiis much. So you don't need to be sad. Okay.'

'Okay.'

'Brother, did you skip your classes once again.'

'Err… well I, you see…'

'You are making excuses again. Aren't you.'

'Aah! How can it be true.'

'Brother. You're so irresponsible. Big bro is working so hard for us. Can't be learn from him even a little. You don't understand how hard it is for him…'

'Ah well, don't cry Neha…'

'Then will you skip your classes again.'

'Of course not.'

'Do you promise.'

'Yes. I promise'

'But… you broke your promise the last time. And the time before that. And before that, and…'

'Ahh… Well, you see…'

Countless memories flooded my mind as I looked at the small figure in front of me.

Those large and beautiful eyes were now filled to the brim with tears, ready to burst out at any minutes.

"Neha I…" I before I could say anything, she had already jumped in my embrace and started crying.

I held her gently and patted her head as she cried loudly.

'At last. She's safe. Thank god. Thank god she's safe. I'm so glad.'

"Brother… I was… so… worried about you." She said in between sobs and I felt a warm sensation in my heart.

I hugged her tightly and felt a sense of happiness that I'd never felt before in my life.

Tears flew out of my eyes as I hugged the small figure in my arms even more tightly and kissed her head softly.

'You don't need to worry any longer. I'll protect you from now on.'

At that point, I heard a muffled sound in my ears.

I looked down and asked "You said something?"

She looked at me and this time aside from the happiness in her eyes, I could see a hint of anger and pain as she said in a subdued voice "You're hugging me too tightly. I can't breathe."

Oh! Shit.

I quickly released her from my grasp and she almost fell to the ground. I quickly held her up in case she hurt herself.

In my excitement, I had almost forgotten how strong I had become recently and had hugged her too tightly. If I had held onto her for a bit longer then the poor thing would have fainted and collapsed in my arms.

Well… So much for the reunion. I'm so silly.

Looking at her red face as she took deep breaths, a felt both amused and a apologetic.

I pinched her nose gently with a warm smile but she quickly swatted my hand away.

She looked at me with angry eyes and said "Why are you alone? Where's big bro. I thought you two were travelling together."

'What? Why no more love for me?' I quietly sobbed in my heart.

"He met a kind hearted person on the way and is helping him right now. But he should come back quickly. I was too impatient to meet you so I came back ealier. Aren't you glad to see me too. Come, give your big brother a kissy" I said and gave my cheeks to her.

She pushed my cheeks away forcefully and said "So now you want to see me. But the last time I saw you, you were going to college. Care to explain why you teleported from your college to Delhi without telling me anything."

"Well…" I laughed awkwardly. "The thing is…"

"And what's with this scar in your face. My god. Let me see." She touched the three claw marks in my left cheek with a trace of worry which then turned to anger "Did you get into a fight once again."

"How did you even get hurt like this. It's almost as if it's been done by some animal."

"Well…" I wanted to explain but… how do I explain to her that we've gone through many life and death battles in the past few days so that we could get to her.

"Yeah! I pissed off the wrong girl this time." I said with a sigh. What else could I say.

"Pfft… hahahaha" Neha started laughing when she heard my words. "Serves you right."

I looked at her smiling face and smiled gently. Then I looked around for a moment before I said.

"Let talk inside." It's not safe here. I wanted to say but kept those words in my heart.

"Yeah. You can also let me down now. I'm alright." She said as she stood up and walked inside her room.