Only V

Chapter 5 - Flickering Trust

Fumbling over his words wasn't the only repercussion; Ishan was sweating all over his body, trembling in fear as he says,

"There are t-two people here"

Their was no ray of light in the room, it was pitch dark. The light from the main hall was not enough to see properly. The dim lighting cast oppressive shadows over every corner, as if the room itself had secrets that it wanted to lock away. In the shadows, four enormous eyes glittered. The others entered the room at once shocked by Ishan's response upon entering the room. Everyone was shocked out of their wits and couldn't move out of a sudden inflicted fear. 

(crkkk...)

The eyes which were previously at the knee level gradually started to rise up. A thunderous symphony of dread went through each and everyone's ears. All their instincts were begging them to run away but their bodies couldn't comply. Ishan took a step back trying to escape but fell towards the eyes creating a huge thud in the sea of silence. Anirudh slowly nervously took out his phone and turned the flashlight towards the eyes.

"Aaaaaaaah", Everyone ran out of the room instantaneously except Anirudh

"Come back everyone", Anirudh shouts in a dominating and confident voice

No one dared to go inside the room earlier, but their trust in their friend was enough to give them the necessary boost. Pratyush entered the room followed by Ishank and then Ishan.

"Zombies?"

"They are tied up in chains, can't imagine the scenario otherwise.", Anirudh says

Pratyush, now confident enough leans in to take a closer look. The zombies were rotting, their skin was peeling off from their body. One of the zombie's head was cut open. They were both tied to neighbouring corners of the room. They tried to get close to Pratyush but fail to do so and they tremble in agitation. Their jerky and erratic movements become more visible.

"Oh my god! These zombies; look closely. Their neck is purposefully cut in a manner to damage the vocal chords so that they do not produce even a single ick. Their eyeballs have been popped off in a inhumane way.", Pratyush says disgustingly

"What is being done here?", Ishank says

"I need a glass of water", Pratyush says

("These zombies look pathetic, it's almost impossible to look at them. Flesh hanging out of the skin, blacked out teeth, their unusual body movement. It reminds me of those movies I saw last summer with...Nevermind", Ishank thinks by himself)

Suddenly the light flicker and soon turn completely on.

"I think I found the switch", Ishan shouts from the control station

The boys look around. Pratyush walks around the room, touches and feels the wall around. Anirudh takes this moment to take a closer look on the zombies. 

"The walls are scratched all over. It is as if they were trying to escape. Wait a minute, Dauji has been carrying these zombies for what purpose? Has he been studying them? Whatever it is, this is beyond my imagination, such horror. I cannot even comprehend that Dauji has stretched to this extent.",  Pratyush says in a soft but agitated tone

Pratyush delves deep within his thoughts. The scenarios appearing in his brain disgust him to the extent that he starts vomiting. Ishan goes out to bring him a glass of water. On the other hand, Anirudh is unfazed by the horrendous scene and thinks if he should put the zombies out of their misery. Afterall, they were also human once. 

"I never believed Dauji to be of the kind to pull off something like this. Seeing them closely, I now feel the actual horror. These things were human once, maybe someone we knew, maybe not, it doesn't matter. Seeing them as this; as a creature with no soul but only a mind telling them to eat anything that moves, I feel pity. But Dauji was never much emotional.

Although, now I remember the incident", Ishank says

"What are you talking about? Let's just first get out of this nasty place.", Pratyush asks

The three of them exit the room and sit on the couch in the main surveillance room.

"There was this one time, a few years back, before we came here, two hostellers came back heavily drunk. During this time, Dauji's family, his wife and his son also used to live along with him. When the two of them were entering the dormitory, they abused his wife which caused a hassle between the three. Note that this was happening in Dauji's absence. Before any outsider could get involved, things escalated. It took no time for things to get physical, they beat up the wife and leave her in a sensitive condition. She went into a coma after the incident and has never got up since then. Dauji didn't even flinch upon the discovery of this incident, he filed a case and got them suspended.", Ishank continued

"What happened to the students then?", Ishan asks

"They left the university and haven't been in contact with the seniors since. However, it was later confirmed that one of the boy committed suicide and the other went insane due to shock or maybe sorrow.", Ishank replied

"Dauji is not an emotional person, I believe he has the guts to do this in order to extend his knowledge about these creature so that he can make better plans at staying alive. However, this is extremely inhumane. We still don't know if the person within the zombie is conscious or not. Best way should be to put them out of misery", Ishank continues

"I also stand with Ishank. This is wrong", Anirudh agrees

"I believe in Dauji. He must have had a reason. I actually think that gaining knowledge about the enemy is a valid reason to be honest", Ishan says

"Is there anything unusual on the surveillance, anirudh?", Pratyush asks

"No, but I don't know how to engage defences. This is all a bit too complicated"

"Let's search the rest of the rooms for supplies then", Pratyush says

Everyone searches through the dungeon rooms and make eerie discoveries. A room full of armoury, a room full of food supplies, a store containing chains, tapes, wrenches, hammers and what not.

Everyone picks up their weapon of choice. Pratyush picks up a pistol, Ishank picks up an axe, Anirudh upgrades his hammer to a steel hammer that is quite big in size along with a pistol he placed in the back of his pants. Lastly, Ishan decides to go with a shotgun.

"Well, to be honest, entering the dungeon wasn't so bad. Although we might upset Dauji.", Ishan says

"We are well-equipped, but the bullet stock is limited. Do not waste even a single bullet. By the way do yoou guys know how to operate these? because I don't", Pratyush asks

"No"

"No"

"Yes, I do", Anirudh says

"Look over there, I will shoot that can open"

Anirudh sets his target, stabilizes his body, strengthens his core and aims at the can. His hand is as stable as the Eiffel tower. He takes a deep breath and shoots

(bang)

The can is still standing. However, the bullet hit the neighbouring painting of Dauji making a hole directly over his his belly.

"Good to know, we all are dead", Ishank is unable to hold his laughter

Everyone bursts out in laughter. Ishan pats over Anirudh's shoulder who gets back in embarrassment.

(creakkk...)

"Guys, Dauji has regained consciousness",  Akash shouts in joy