The Mistake

With the thud of Nevin’s fall on the ground, Rasheek blinked and came to his senses. He quickly ducked himself out of Ruka’s way. Ruka took a sharp turn, just as it crossed him. He noticed it and ran ahead, as fast as he could. Aira and Shibhu saw the opportunity and ran towards Aditya, limping as their wounds bled. Nevin jumped up and ran towards Aditya too.  

Rasheek quickly realized that he cannot escape Ruka by running away. He rolled his eyes around and spotted a rock. He ran towards it and jumped high over it. The result was exactly what he plotted it to be. He turned back when he heard a screeching sound followed by a clank. He saw Ruka fall to the ground as it hit the rock. “Fairly intact. So, it had slowed down...” he thought and ran back towards the others.  

Nevin lifted the bike off Aditya and pulled him up. He laid Aditya on the bike and started it. Aditya tried to resist, but his wounds did not give him the strength. Just as the bike inched ahead, Shibhu reached it and clasped it from behind. Aira clung to Shibhu and added strength to pull it back. Nevin looked back and saw Shibhu and Aira chained to pull the bike back. Just then, Rasheek reached them and with a blow on Aira’s hand, broke the chain and she fell down. She kicked his leg and brought him down. She quickly crawled and grasped his right hand and in a moment, they found themselves examining the environment. The realization dawned over Rasheek, that they were in a different time.  

Nevin turned back and punched Shibhu’s knuckles, and Shibhu loosened his grip on the bike. Aditya saw the opportunity and twisted the bike handle, making it fall. Once again, Aditya was under the weight of the bike, this time, with Nevin beside him, struggling to pull himself out. Nevin gave an angry blow on Aditya’s head, making him unconscious. As he tried to squeeze himself out of the fallen bike, Shibhu plunged over him. In a short tussle, Shibhu managed to get hold of Nevin’s right palm. A moment later, they looked around, examined their environment in the new time they had entered.  

Aira had spotted a busy street and dived into it. She dodged through the clusters of crowds gathered around the street shops. Rasheek followed her, through the maze of the vendors and moving people. Aira seemed to appear and disappear as she dodged through the bright colourful robes hanging throughout the street. The ubiquitous mirror art pieces flashed the sun into his eyes, blinding him momentarily, leaving him rolling his eyes all over to spot Aira again. Aira ducked into every little turn she saw in the street and went in loops throughout the market. The noise, the movement and the shining sun rendered their chase unnoticed to anyone out there. “Damn! Why is it taking so long” Aira thought to herself and muttered with a gasp “come on Aditya, set the anchor, pull me back, I can't run anymore...” 

 While Nevin struggled with his fresh wounds, a shiver ran down Shibhu’s spine. He collapsed holding his head. He muttered “Anchor...unconscious...no..no..” His eyes reddened with tears and he drew deep breaths and his heart thumped so hard as to hurt his chest. Aditya has the anchor. He is unconscious. We...we can't go back. They cant go back. And...and we can't go back. How could I do this....why did I...how can I be so stupid...I am such a...” his head hurt as if a bullet had entered into it. He closed his eyes and collapsed.