Rudra didn’t know how long he had been asleep, but when he regained consciousness, he was surprised to find that he couldn’t open his eyes.
In fact, he couldn’t move his body at all.
’Am I in a vegetative state?’ he thought, despairing at the possibility. However, the more he thought about it, the less sense it made. He hadn’t been attacked in the head, neck, or anywhere else that was too critical. His leg was injured, sure, along with a few other places, but he didn’t think any of that could have left him paralysed to such a degree.
’What’s happening?’ he cried out, but to no avail.
However, once he calmed down, He noticed something inexplicable. It was a feeling, an indescribable feeling. It was not like sight, hearing, smell, or touch. It was a completely new sensory stimulation he had never experienced before.
He didn’t know how, but he could tell that a mysterious energy was flowing throughout his body. This energy was chaotic, without a path or pattern. Not staying in one place for long, it moved through his legs, hands, chest, organs, blood, and even his brain.
’Is this energy the reason for the changes in my body?’ He wondered and couldn’t help but fall into deep thought.
Everything about him, apart from the strength and recovery, was normal. The only thing that changed to give him that strength and recovery was this mysterious energy that he was sure he hadn’t felt before. So, although he asked, he was sure about his guess.
In the middle of his exploration, he noticed something else that was odd.
He felt a complicated sensation at a certain spot below his gut and above his genital area. He wanted to describe the sensation as hot, but it didn’t fully cover what he was feeling.
The closest word he could use to describe that feeling was "coming to life." No matter what was between his genitals and the gut, it was definitely coming to life. He instinctively knew it.
However, he didn’t get worried, which was odd. If something was coming alive within one’s body, dread would be the natural reaction. The question of "Am I being parasitised by something?" should have haunted him. The weird occurrences outside and the monsters were reason enough to ask, but for some reason, everything felt as it should. The thing coming alive was not an alien entity, but part of his own being.
It left him confused and also made him think about another possibility: ’I could always be unknowingly mind-controlled.’
After exploring the energy and the weird entity, he was once again left wandering around his body, bored.
Worry crept in that he would be trapped in his own body forever, like a vegetable. He felt guilty for burdening others with himself.
’I wonder if they’ll leave me in a dangerous situation,’ He thought. Then sighed, ’I can’t really blame them.’ He felt downtrodden, but his spirits lifted as he broke from the trance-like state and found he could actually move his fingers.
Ever so lightly, his eyelids trembled, and his deep brown eyes finally saw the world after what felt like a long time.
"Everyone, Rudra ji is awake!" Kavya cried out, and the dressing room was immediately filled with people.
Rudra was taken aback by the shout, but he was torn between expressing his happiness at actually getting up from what he considered a vegetative state and wincing at the excruciating pain he felt in several places of his body.
"Damn!"
It was as if ants were crawling under his skin and were biting his muscles and bones.
Rudra looked down to see what was happening, and he saw that both his legs were bandaged in several places, and even his right hand was bandaged in a certain place.
For some reason, he could tell the wounds were healing, something he’d never sensed before. He attributed the change to his strange state, where mysterious energy coursed through his body.
Thankfully, the survivors he had rescued came to enthusiastically thank him repeatedly, which not only made him a little embarrassed but also took his mind away from the pain.
"How long have I slept?" Rudra asked.
Pandit Ji was the one to come forward and respond. "2 hours, son."
Rudra was relieved.
"What about the rats?"
Prabhu pushed through the crowd and came forward with excitement. "You finished them all, brother. Total of 23 rats." He looked at Rudra with admiration.
Rudra nodded and looked around. It looked like the dressing room he had everyone hide in, but like a mirror, the door was on the other side.
He realised that he was in the bridesmaids’ dressing room, while the place where the fight took place was the bride’s dressing room.
’Wait, it also means that the window is actually facing towards the fog curtain,’ he thought to himself and looked towards the window.
His body became tense, and his gaze was filled with uncertainty.
He was in no position to walk, so he asked Prabhu to open one of the windows.
The window was open, and a jolt, almost electric, passed through his chest.
Although he couldn’t measure the distance exactly, he could tell that the fog had already engulfed the temple they were previously in.
Speculating on the distance from the temple to the convention hall, it wouldn’t be more than a few hundred meters.
That was too close for comfort.
"We have to move." He declared, and no one showed any resistance this time.
They were seeing what happened to the city right in front of them, and they didn’t want to be engulfed by the mysterious fog.
"But Rudra, your leg." Sister Laila spoke out, showing a look of concern.
Rudra gritted his teeth and got up. However, the pain became more intense, and he almost blacked out.
Thankfully, he caught himself before the embarrassment and walked towards a chair and collapsed on it.
"Give me a few hours. It should be alright. The rain lets me recover faster. Just give me some food." He wasn’t making excuses. After his nerves relaxed, hunger set in- that same excruciating hunger he’d felt when he first woke up in the machine room under the water tank.
"Oh, okay." Sister Laila hurried away, and the others began searching through their bags as well.
They might not have a lot of food for themselves, but one thing they’re all sure of: if the main combat force of the group is affected, then their chances of survival are next to none.
So they chose to trust Rudra and find him as much food as he wanted.
Only a few minutes later, various kinds of things that could be eaten were put in front of him: chocolates, cookies, packed crisps, old rice, dried fruits, and Sister Laila, to everyone’s surprise, came carrying an entire basin filled with lemon rice.
Everyone looked at her in disbelief as she explained. "It’s food from this morning’s wedding. Take what you can and pack the rest."
Pandit ji and the others looked relieved. "That’s right. There was a wedding today. May Patalamma bless their souls."
Rudra didn’t hesitate and started eating.
Sure enough, his stomach was like a bottomless pit. He ate far more than his stomach could hold, yet he still wasn’t satisfied.
He craved more, and with a large basin before him, he felt no shame in continuing to eat.
The itching sensation on his legs and wounded shoulder intensified, but it only firmed his resolve. The food was accelerating his recovery.
By the time everyone had packed their containers, Rudra had devoured the entire basin of rice - at least 10 kg and let out a huge burp.
He was finally able to move. Although some places still felt stiff, the unbearable pain had disappeared.
He felt a day’s rest was enough to get him back to his original condition.
He felt his stomach rumble, so he got up for the bathroom, but as he was getting out of the dressing room, he was taken aback when he saw worried expressions on everyone’s faces and saw them looking around the entire convention hall as if they were searching for a missing key.
"What happened?" He asked.
Balram, who was closest to him, replied. "It’s Kiran ji’s wife. She’s missing."