Adil went on hold.
“Did he dispatch the force?” Atharva pushed.
“The clearance is not coming.”
“From where?”
Samar stared at him.The CMO.
“Why?”
“Paperwork. It’s cross-state. May take another hour to come through…”
“Samar.”
“Haan, yes,” he went back to Adil.
“Captain Husain is ready and on standby. We will dispatch as soon as things are signed. I am on it.”
“You better be, because I don’t see much else to hold it together here tonight.” Samar eyed the small gathering of local villagers and a dozen HDP members.
“Here’s what we will do.” Samar heard Atharva’s voice and ended the call.
“A team of two will take the high ground with binoculars and a portable ham set,” he began directing, eerily falling back into Captain Kaul mode in a millisecond. It took Samar some time to even get his bearings enough to realise that if the NDRF or Disaster Management team was delayed then he and Atharva were all there was here.
But Atharva, in no time, had set up everyone with tasks, and gotten them to work — carrying relief material up to the hill temple where the entire village had taken shelter, catering to a rescue mission, swimming for recce, keeping watch. Samar got to work alongside them, slipping seamlessly back into an old, long-lost role.
————————————————————
“That looks like Dharmi Fufa.”
Samar cleaned the rain from his specs with his palms, peering at the laptop Atharva had opened under a makeshift shed. He had the presence of mind to get a Go-Pro and snap it to a swimmer boy’s head to track the family trapped on their farm. There was nothing but water and zero visibility, even from the high ground they had caught.
“Does he have any co-morbidities?” Atharva asked, playing and replaying the clip where a family of seven was trapped on their roof. The man seemed to have collapsed between his family members.
“Asthma!” Vikram yelled above the rain.
Atharva met Samar’s eyes.Rain and asthma with age, just what we needed.Samar pulled his satellite phone and pressed for Adil. No answer. They needed an airlift.
“Where the fuck is Adil?!”
“Listen,” Atharva held his shoulder. “Let’s assume no help is coming at this point. Take your kit and get on a raft. I’ll inflate it. Take Jagga with you to navigate.”
“Good idea.”
“Vikram bhaiyaaa!!!” Somebody shot downhill. “Vikram bhaiyyyya! Attack aayaa![164]”
“Kya attack? Kisne kiya?[165]”
“Shailendri ki Dadi ko attack aaya.[166]”
Asthma and attacks. Samar looked up at the hike leading to the temple. Then back at the farm in the distance. His feet began to move towards the patient with the attack but his hands reached for his bag for the pump.
“Samar.” Atharva’s voice broke through to him.
He looked at Atharva.
“Go with them. I’ll take the boat.”
