Rudra froze.
"Move," his heart screamed, yet his body wouldn’t budge.
The cold touch of the rain caused the entire world to come to a standstill as he waited for blood to shoot from his orifices, yet death never came.
What did was the flying monster and its claws. He could see the reflection of his own face in the water droplets being sliced apart by the fast-approaching claws. He almost felt Yama’s touch on his neck, but he instinctively dodged to the side.
"Agh."
The monster’s nails tore through the helmet like a hot knife through paneer and its speed was so fast that it created a pressure wave where rain wouldn’t fall. Thanks to his evasion, although he was able to avoid a critical injury, part of his neck was still sliced open, and blood oozed into his shirt.
The pain made him forget his fear and made him step back. He immediately put distance between himself and the monster.
"Graaaa."
The monster lunged, its wings propelling it forward. Rudra swung the bone spear at its throat, but the monster slapped it away and swiped at his head.
He heard the wind being pierced and dove to the side. His right shoulder still got gouged.
"Grrr."
He clenched his teeth against the pain. The monster looked more enraged, and drowsiness crept in.
"Damn it."
He was desperate and looked around.
Rudra’s eyes caught the bone spear he’d dropped. He rolled left and lifted it.
The monster went straight for his throat but suddenly stiffened as the spear tip protruded from its back.
"Pant, pant."
Rudra’s chest was heaving up and down, and he was intermittently laughing.
"I won." He softly declared, and he let his heavy eyelids close.
He was tired and thought that sleeping right now wouldn’t be too bad, but the sound and the vibration of another building turning into rubble caused his eyes to shoot open.
"Gulp."
The bellowing clouds approached, and his mouth parted slightly, his heart pounding like drums.
Enduring the pain, he got up to his feet with a grunt, and with slim hope, he turned towards Prabhu. For whatever reason, Rudra wasn’t dead despite being drenched in the rain. He was hoping it would be the same for the kid.
Looking at Prabhu lying limply on the ground, his heart froze, but then his brows pinched into a frown as he noticed his neck glowing red and, for lack of a better word, a supernatural phenomenon was seen.
A chaotic airflow visible to the naked eye was surrounding Prabhu, leaving Rudra at a loss for words.
He walked around to the other side and felt relieved that blood was not shooting out from Prabhu’s body, but he still didn’t know how to handle the weird situation.
Unfortunately, as always, he was forced to act first and think later.
The fog was only a dozen meters away, and he could hear the whooshing sounds coming from within, like the crack of a hundred whips producing a sonic boom every time the tip snapped.
Rudra threw aside the umbrella and the bag Prabhu was carrying. Despite the immense heat radiating from Prabhu’s body and the chaotic wind, he lifted him up and ran toward the end of the street.
Without an umbrella to slow him down, he created distance between himself and the fog in an instant.
But the feeling of drowsiness returned, several times stronger than before.
A chill ran down his spine. He bit his lips until they bled, fighting to stay awake at any cost. "No, Shiva, make my legs move." He begged. "Just a little longer." He pleaded.
Every second felt like an eternity, and he felt like his legs were filled with lead.
Tired and unable to maintain his pace, he was jogging and eventually walking.
Rudra’s complexion was pale, and his face was bloodless. He was already taking ragged breaths, but when he turned back, a flicker of hope finally appeared in his eyes.
He had already reached the end of his street, and he was left with the decision to go east towards the central part of the city or west, leading to another town.
Rudra’s mind was groggy, but he was able to understand that he couldn’t go on anymore. Leaving his fate to Shiva, he found a machine room below a tall water tank and decisively ran in. No longer able to hold back the drowsiness, he collapsed to the ground, causing Prabhu to bounce off of him and roll towards the corner.
Rudra woke up the next morning and looked around the unfamiliar place with confusion. He was still wearing the helmet. Taking it off, he saw the left side completely torn and remembered what had just happened.
He touched his neck where it had been bleeding. To his surprise, the wound had scabbed over. The cut on his left shoulder had stopped bleeding as well.
He was overjoyed.
Then, a realisation struck him. ’The first time I lost consciousness wasn’t because of the monster’s claw, but because of the rain.’ But then confusion set in as he stroked his jaw. ’Why did the middle-aged couple die and I didn’t?’ He looked at Prabhu, whose chest still rose and fell in a steady rhythm. ’Why is Prabhu alive?’
He had no answers, but he did feel hungry, extremely hungry.
He pulled out biscuits, chocolates, and a scoop of yesterday’s leftover rice and gulped it down in a few bites.
Unfortunately, he was not satiated. The hunger persisted, so he ate more, and by the time he was done, half the food he was carrying was gone.
Rudra’s expression turned gloomy. He knew there had to be a reason for the increased strength, reflexes, and the ability to heal injuries in such a short span of time.
Although he didn’t know the reason yet, the fact that he had to eat a ton of food in order to keep growing stronger left him slightly desperate.
He could already imagine himself having to go out to scavenge for food everywhere, encountering more dangers along the way and risking his life just for a bite to eat.
Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do to change it. After a little hesitation, he stepped out of the room and turned towards the road.
Since the door had completely disintegrated, he knew the rain had stopped. He assumed the fog had stopped expanding as well, but he wanted to confirm with his own eyes.
(Gasp!)
His pupils dilated.
Getting out of the room and turning his attention towards the road, he was dumbfounded. The bloody fog was only a few meters away. He could practically throw a stone into it from where he stood.
He knew he had gotten lucky.
Taking a gulp, he decided to leave.
Who knows when it will rain again and when the deadly fog resumes its movement? Not to mention, there is also a possibility that things will get much worse, just like it did after the second time it rained.
One of his bone spears had to be left behind in the fight, and Prabu, being unconscious, could not carry it as well, so he was only left with a single bone spear.
’Well, it’s better than nothing, I guess.’ He thought to himself and picked up Prabhu and immediately noticed the difference from before. He was not hot anymore, and the air no longer swirled around his body.
’Will he wake up?’ He didn’t waste time dwelling on it and headed due east toward the centre of town.
Screams echoed overwhelmingly from the east, but he’d already dealt with several monsters and knew how to deal with them. West, however, was uncharted territory, and he didn’t want to risk it. Besides, with his growing hunger, he had little choice but to head toward the town centre.
On his way, he noticed something odd.
"Where are all the bodies?" He wondered.
Metal disintegrated in the rain, but while the rain had strange effects on humans, some dying immediately, others surviving, it never disintegrated the bodies themselves. So where were they?
Apart from blood stains and dried patches that proved a massacre had occurred, nothing else remained.