Deserted.
The lake was deserted.
The night was falling fast and snow was pelting.
Samar tried Atharva’s number.
No response.
He couldn’t track his watch either.
Signals were messing up.
“Bikes.”
He turned and his men were on the bank of the lake. He ran, eyeing them pointing to the tyre marks.
“Four of them.”
Samar took a torch and swung it around — “Atharvaaaa!”
No response.
“Atharvaaaaa!!!!”
The snow intensified, and it began to hail. Even the torch couldn’t light more than a few metres in front of them. Samar rubbed at his face, clearing snow from his eyelashes.
“Check the area, check for any signs of…”
“Blood!”
“Where?”
“On the lake bed.”
Samar followed the torches. The lake bed was cracked, blood frozen on the edges. But there were no other signs of any skirmish.
“Fuck! Fuck!” Samar pressed Dial on his burner phone. No response. “Fuck!”
“There is a fort nearby. That’s the only location with a roof.”
“Let’s go.”
————————————————————
The fort was burning in a fire that was dying under pelting hail.
Empty.
His body shivered under the hail but he kept running around it, screaming. “Atharvaaaa! Atharvaa!!! Iraaaam!”
“We are all drenched. We need to get into the car.” His arm was caught.
Samar shrugged it off, following him to their car and pushing into the heat. With numb, cold fingers, he managed the buttons on his burner phone.
SAMAR
Where is he?
