2032…

The wooden floor creaked, as he walked towards the stairs. The lights kept flickering, as though playing to a Discotheque that didn’t have songs. The walls with their ugly graffiti, looked alive and pulsing, whenever the lights flickered on them. He came out of the building, and looked up, to see the dark clouds float ominously over him. The day was 658, after the climate change.

Nowadays, nature didn’t bloom, rather it boomed. You were never sure of what to expect. The only thing you could be sure of, was the absence of the Sun. All the weather predictors did, were to sit on their complex mathematical calculations, puzzled on what went amiss. There was a rumor, that one of the rain creating satellites backfired, and in turn, it created a whole new aggravated form of nature. The damage had become irreversible. And Nature, well, she made sure everyone on Earth, remembered that, every day.

The world had descended into chaos. Dampness, Fog, Rain & Floods created new forms of health issues. New diseases ruled. The hooligans used the opportunity to loot & kill, while companies crumbled. Forget Money, even life didn’t have value. If someone was to step out, which eventually was the inevitable fact, how they would come back, or whether they would come back – alive, was a dreaded question of sorts.

There were still pockets of decency, and those locations attracted the demonics and the sheep alike. However, the unity that these pockets had for survival, ensured, that the number of sheep slaughtered were far less, than being off on your own. The negative side was that, the news always spread, and more demonics were present near these pockets, than normal numbers, waiting to harvest the feed off the sheep.

Abdul, didn’t need these pockets. He could handle himself, for now. He pulled on his black hood, bent his head and looked in both the directions . He decided to turn left. It was less noisy, which also meant, lesser humans, and that was equivalent to more chances of being alive. He needed to scavenge. He had checked the catalog of deficiencies. He had downloaded the whole set, printed, and laminated them, anticipating the world to go offline, and that, it did…

His symptoms showed lesser Vitamin D. Well no sun meant, that he could only do so much. Still, he needed to scavenge. His military days were long behind him, but he still kept himself fit by doing spot jogs, squats, abs and push ups.

Darwin’s theory now ruled, with all tenacity, and everyone was fending for themselves. He however, couldn’t get himself to look another way, whenever a murder happened, or whenever a dacoity was underway. A few skirmishes also drove the point across, that he needed to keep his defense training honed. His hand gripped the knife he had in his pocket as he feigned casualness, while ambling through the street. Awareness of his surroundings were always at his peak, because danger prowled in all forms, in every unseen corner. He had a black scarf round his neck, which he would use to cover his face, to prevent being recognized, when involved in any skirmish.

A woman scampered across the street with a child, after taking a cart of sorts that squeaked as it moved, filled with packs of, what looked like food, into an alley ahead of him. Noise was a dead give-away. Big mistake, he thought. It attracted the carnivores lunatics out. She looked at him warily, as they disappeared into the alley. Nobody trusted anybody. He sighed within.

A dull thud in the alley ahead, made him crouch instantly. He ran on all fours silently, to the edge of the walkway and peered cautiously around into the alley. The gory scene in front of him, sent chills down his spine. The woman was lying on the ground, with a guy standing over her, brandishingg a bloodied club, and he was smiling while taking his own sweet time, watching her convulse. Another guy had a hand wrapped around the child’s mouth, smiling while stifling the kid’s screams as the kid watched in horror. The club landed again and the woman stopped moving. Abdul couldn’t rush in. He had to take his time. The woman’s survival was a question mark, but the kid still had a chance to live.

Abdul pulled the scarf to cover his face, leaving only his eyes visible. He slipped through the shadows into the alley, to prevent any light from giving him away, and inched his way closer to the hooligans. He appraised them closely. 6 footers and massively worked out, with scarred bodies spoke of the countless long behemothian fights, they had survived. They were survivors, which made them far more dangerous, than ever. You couldn’t underestimate them, even by a whisker. The club landed on the pulp of the face again. Abdul was now near them.

He planned the attack, opened the well oiled knife. The slide of the blade fell into place, but the click of the blade was an instant give-away. The first guy stopped the swing of the club mid-way, and turned in his direction suspiciously, trying to look into the darkness. For Abdul, time had suddenly become his mortal enemy.

Change of plan, you first, thought Abdul, as he sprung from the shadows. The first guy’s eyes widened in surprise at seeing Abdul’s agility, speed and ease with which he sprang. The amazement however, lasted only for a fleeting moment for the first guy, before he registered the arrival of death too, letting the club clatter, desperately clutching onto a leaking throat.

In that single spring, Abdul had covered 8 feet to the second guy, flying at a height of 4 feet. And while springing towards the second guy, Abdul had simultaneously thrown the knife at the first guy. The knife found it’s mark as it sliced through his neck, cutting his jugulars and spraying blood all over the place.

Before the second guy knew what happened, Abdul’s palm had already chopped his larynx. The second guy let go of the kid, doubling over, surprised, confused and gasping for air. A split second later, a flying kick from Abdul, smashed his head on the ground. The sound of the sickening crack of the skull, ensured the giant would never move again.

He turned again to the first guy, and saw him kneeling, trying to stem his own blood spurt. The guy choked, finally falling onto the ground face first, lifeless. The whole episode didn’t take more than 20 seconds.

Abdul, now turned to the girl, and saw her stare at the bloody mess for a head on the floor. He reached her gently, and turned her head.

Looking into her eyes, he said, “I am sorry dear. It’s OK, you are safe now”. She wrapped her tiny hands around his neck and buried her face tightly, muffling her wails into his chest. This wouldn’t have been the case before, he mulled with regret. We had Religions and Laws. But today, in this apocalyptic world, nothing mattered anymore.

A change of force beyond man’s control, destroyed the concept of religion for most, and for a lot others, it conveniently became a reason, to shred the law books, beyond repair.

Were the fabrics that held our society together so thin? Is Religion and Law required to make us who we are? Couldn’t we have used them as tools, than giving them over powering values that ruled us, to only finally become the very instruments that destroyed us? Is this how our future will be shaped, if we are to be ruled by the dictates of books, than our hearts? – Abdul’s thoughts pulsed within bitterly as he patted her head gently.

He oiled the cart wheel, while he cradled the future in his arms, as it whimpered. He gently soothed her and said, “In-Sha Allah, You will grow beyond the barriers of cult, religion or law. You are a far bigger giant than that. You will grow first as a human, and then as part of society. You will grow and lead humans to be humane. You will grow, beyond the petty animals that we have reduced ourselves to these days, and this, I promise you”. And he kissed her forehead.

He held her close and pulled the cart, as he started home…

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