This wasn't just the evil of someone who might harm you to steal your wallet or money. But it was far greater than he imagined; it was an evil that could take dozens of lives in the blink of an eye.
The mind of the thug Kiska couldn't comprehend such brutal force, but he realized then that he wanted to live, and he wanted to be strong to live. He knew that some of those helpless, mangled bodies outside were weak, and the unjust world wouldn't reward them simply for being good.
He knew that he and his men had to control as many weapons and people as possible to be on par with that force.
His thoughts were interrupted by the leader's low voice calling for them to come out.
One of the men nudged him, snapping him out of his reverie. Kiska looked up after seeing drops of blood falling from above.
He knew this didn't bode well.
He decided to climb the stairs, each step a harbinger of an inevitable, ominous scene.
He poked his head out, his eyes immediately scanning what was happening outside. As expected, it wasn't a river of zombies, but an ocean of blood.
There was so much blood that it filled the villa, flowing through every corridor until it reached the underground room.
The blood belonged to dozens, if not thousands, of people, both the injured and the uninjured.
The group began walking outside, each step more difficult than words can describe, as their feet stumbled over body parts and blood mixed with mud.
When they emerged from the villa and saw the ground, there was nothing left above.
No houses, no people, no stones. A nuclear bomb had wiped out all life and even the dead.
The men, along with the leader and Sika, walked towards the village's front gates, but of course, there were none. As they searched, hoping to find weapons or ammunition, Sika found a teddy bear covered in blood and mud. Everyone knew whose it was.
Sika shouted to the men,
"You see that..." We have no power, no value.
If we don't defend ourselves, no one will.
I don't want a single person in this bitch country to stay silent about Sika.
I want them to be terrified of our name. I want whoever launched that attack from that plane to think a hundred times before they think that what's beneath them are ants, not human beings.
The men screamed with Sika, their screams a mixture of sorrow, terror, and a fear of nothing but weakness.
Kilometers and a few hours away, Amir was facing a huge traffic jam outside the city, heading towards the hill. Amir had to get out and see the reason for the traffic and how many cars were stuck in front of him. He went out and looked at one of the cars to his right, cursing and saying it was impossible to arrive in time to find a place for him and his family to sleep.
So Amir stood on top of the car, and to his shock, he saw no end to the traffic jam. The girl looked at him. "What's going on? Will we be able to get there today?"
Amir was silent for a moment, unsure of the right response.
Even a reply
I think if we walk, we might arrive before the car.
Some overheard rumors about a village in the middle of the desert being bombed for being unable to escape, and the spread of the epidemic there yesterday, or before the news of the pandemic spread.
Malik, Mir, and Mary looked at each other in silence.
They were wondering what if this was true.
Voices began to rise nearby.
Amir looked to his right. A fight was about to start. He heard profanities until he heard something no one wanted to hear more than profanities: a word that could mean discomfort even after death—"living dead."
Amir got out to see what was happening.
A man was shouting at another man inside the car with his family, threatening him to get out.
People were starting to gather, and the crowd was growing.
The man shouted,
"This man will kill us all! This man is infected!"
The man was gripping the steering wheel, looking ahead nervously. The little girl in the car looked out in fear. Fear and anger were evident on the faces of the people. So the child was scared.
The man broke the car window with his foot after realizing there was no other way to get the injured man out of the car.
At this point, the man in the car became enraged and got out with a gun.
"Anyone who comes near me, I'll kill them!"
Panic spread among the people. Amir looked at the man's arm; it appeared to be injured, as there was a long gash.
His wife got out to calm him down and asked him to go back, but he wouldn't listen.
The other man shouted at him, "Get out of here! Stay away from the people here!" and gestured for him to leave the road alone.
The man looked around, holding the gun. People seemed afraid of him, then he looked at his daughter and told his wife to bring the child out of the car. He shouted at her until she did, then yelled at the crowd,
"No one come near, or I'll shoot!" he said as he slowly returned to the car. As soon as he got back, he turned the car around and tried to reverse, veering off the road into the desert to his right. He succeeded, and then... He sped away amidst the stares of the crowd.
Amir continued to stand watching him, knowing this would not end happily.
And indeed, minutes after the car drove away, it began swerving erratically from side to side until it crashed into a large rock.
Everyone stared in shock until, seconds later, the man emerged from the vehicle, transformed.
The wife closed her daughter's eyes as the man sprinted towards the crowd. People screamed, gripped by terror. He was getting faster and faster, closer to Amir. Amir pointed the gun at him, his hand trembling. He closed his eyes as the man drew nearer and faster. Amir hesitated to fire, but tried to pull the trigger.
The shot rang out, and Amir opened his eyes. The man's body lay before him, the bullet lodged in the center of his head.
The only thing Amir was certain of, beyond the man's death and the shock of his wife's screams, was that
he hadn't shot. The bullet
He heard someone to his right as he lowered his gun, smoke still billowing from its muzzle.
"When you shoot with a gun, don't close your eyes."
"And be sure, as long as you've brandished the weapon, the equation is clear: it's you or him."
"Mary's voice screamed from behind Amir as she ran closer."
"Adel!"
Amir knew then that fate was on his side, after realizing that the shooter was none other than his neighbor, the policeman Adel,
and Mary's older brother.