’Is this?’ For a moment, Rudra was uncertain and closed his eyes.
He felt that his energy was constantly being consumed to heal his leg injuries, but after a certain point, it bottomed out. He didn’t know how the energy appeared in his body, but if he were to speculate, it was probably from the ungodly amount of food he ate or from the rain.
Either way, now that there was no energy in his body, his wounds should have taken much longer to heal, only a little faster than they would have for a normal person. However, as soon as the slice of fish entered his stomach and was digested, a stream of energy washed over his entire body.
He tried to enter the mysterious state where he could feel the body but could not control it, and to his delight, he was able to do it right away.
Now, much more clearly, he saw that the energy had been replenished and continued moving around chaotically without any pattern. However, when it reached his injured leg, part of the energy was absorbed by his muscles, skin, blood, and bones.
A light of clarity shone in his mind.
"So this is how the recovery speed is increased, huh," he muttered.
If the fog curtain did not stop, then they would have to leave the town and go to the next town. However, along the way, there weren’t any houses or even people living between. Food would be a huge problem, but thankfully, since the fish was edible, he was overjoyed to discover that the other animals were probably edible as well.
He was a little worried about what he would have to eat. What if the only animal they found along the way was a rat or similar creature? He shuddered at the thought.
The sense of emptiness woke him up, and he noticed the energy had been completely absorbed by his leg.
Rudra exited the mysterious state and, sprinkling a little salt on the thin fish slices, gulped them down.
Rudra noticed everyone’s attention focused on him and pointed at the fish. "This is edible. Try it."
Everyone still looked at each other in hesitation, which made Rudra confused, but when he looked at the fish bones he had cleaned out, he understood. ’They are shocked that I’m eating it raw, aren’t they?’
He knew how unusual his actions were, and it was unusual back home as well. Although fish was a special delicacy in Mangaluru, it was never uncooked, but he did like the paper-thin slices of Indian salmon after sprinkling some salt on it.
Rudra looked at the surroundings.
They were at the gas refill station, a place where cylinders were loaded with LPG.
At a single glance, he saw hundreds of gas cylinders all around in the warehouse and motioned to Prabhu.
"Go get a cylinder."
The aroma of fish left everyone watering in their mouths, and that included Rudra.
They were simply boiling the fish, but even then, it let out a pleasant fragrance that no normal fish would.
Unable to hold on any longer, Rudra took a fish and started munching on it, and others joined him soon enough.
Laila and Prabhu discovered the energy property of the fish, and their eyes widened.
"Brother, this..." Prabhu looked at Rudra in amazement.
Rudra nodded and motioned for him to continue.
He observed his body once again, and it was full of energy. A tingling sensation appeared in his leg, and he could see the muscles spasming.
Rudra noticed another property of the fish meat. He had only eaten a single fish, maybe a few hundred grams, but he no longer felt hungry.
He had to eat a boatload of various foods to even feel half full, but a single fish was able to make him stuffed.
A question that had been bothering him was finally cleared up.
’The reason why I eat so much is to meet the energy needs of my body?’ he thought to himself, feeling that he was probably right.
Going by the fact that he didn’t feel the need to go to the bathroom, his guess was only more solid.
An hour later, he ate another fish and had Laila cut the suturing she had made.
At the end of the day, his legs scabbed over, and his strength had not only reached its peak but also taken a small leap forward. Although he didn’t have the proper equipment to measure it, he was able to easily lift the front side of a 2-ton forklift with some effort.
He was not the only one whose strength had increased, though. Prabhu could now run faster, beating him slightly when it came to rapid changes in direction and dexterity, while Laila had grown stronger as well.
Yet he knew they couldn’t stay in the same place for too long.
"We have to move," Rudra stated.
Everyone was finally able to relax, but his words immediately made them tense.
"It’s quite safe here, isn’t it, brother?" Lingaraj asked.
He was already terrified by what happened to Pandit ji, Kiran, and his wife. He didn’t want his daughter’s fate to be similar.
Rudra sighed. "How much longer do you think it will be safe here?" He shook his head and continued. "Don’t forget we are right next to the lake, and those hundreds of fish are still a threat that we cannot deal with."
He looked Lingaraj right in the eyes, his gaze piercing. "What if the next time it rains, they are no longer confined to the lake and its vicinity?"
Rudra’s words made Lingaraj’s expression turn gloomy.
It was not only Lingaraj. Everyone who had thoughts similar to him realized that danger was not too far away.
Seeing everyone become silent, Rudra nodded. "I’ll assume everyone understands the seriousness of the situation."
With the matter decided, he cast his gaze towards a truck and stroked his chin in thought.
Rudra felt it was a pity to leave behind perfectly usable gas cylinders, so he thought of bringing at least some of them with him.
However, after realising that it would be too inefficient for everyone to carry one or two cylinders each, he thought of loading them onto a vehicle and pulling it.
Rudra inspected the truck and saw its large bed. He nodded in satisfaction. It was large enough to fit at least a few hundred cylinders along with all their luggage.
Rudra didn’t waste any time and got straight to work.
"Prabhu, find me a toolbox," he instructed and went under the truck to observe the kind of chassis it had and the kind of powertrain it was using.
Once he was done, he checked the battery.
It had no power. It was fried like every other electrical circuit and appliance. He could have tried to jump-start the truck, but even then, a continuous spark was required to keep the engine running, which was not possible without some energy in the battery.
Once Prabhu came back, Rudra started disassembling the engine and the gearbox.
He pointed out which bolts needed to be loosened, and once Prabhu loosened them, he took the parts apart himself.
"Brother, you seem to know a lot about vehicles. You’re a mechanic?" Lingaraj, who had come to help, asked curiously.
With smudges staining Rudra’s cheeks and his hands black with grease, he shook his head.
"I’m not, but I work as a structural engineer at TVS Motors."
Lingaraj showed a look of realisation. "Oh, no wonder."
More people joined, and by afternoon, they had removed the engine, gearbox, electrical wiring, and anything else that was useless on the truck.
Rudra tied various hose pipes connecting the gas cylinders to the stoves and attached them directly to the front and rear chassis of the truck so they could use them to pull it.
"All right, let’s load the cylinders," he ordered and started to move the cylinders himself.
It fit a total of 125 cylinders. Enough to last the eight of them a long, long time, and their bags were thrown into it as well.
Though there was still a problem. If the truck got drenched in rain, it would melt like wax in a candle. So, after looking around the warehouse, he found a bundle of tarpaulins.
His eyes brightened, and a smile etched his face.
"Come on, measure the dimensions of the truck and cut it to size," he ordered before going to make more ropes using the hoses.
Two layers of tarpaulin were added to the truck, and finally, a small opening was left at the back for people to get in and out from underneath the truck, leading directly to the bed.
As for him, Prabhu, and Laila, the windshield was removed entirely. It didn’t matter if the rain hit their bodies or not.
With everything settled, Lingaraj and the others pushed the truck from the back, while Rudra, Prabhu, and Laila pulled it from the front.
With Kavya behind the steering wheel, the wheels finally began to move.
Getting onto the road, Rudra’s expression turned sombre as he looked toward the distant horizon, where he could vaguely see the bridge on the national highway, the centre of the town.
He didn’t know what challenges lay ahead, but with all the preparations complete, he was confident he could wade through whatever difficulties awaited them.