Present Time,
The van aggressively bounced over a pothole, snapping everyone back to the high-stakes reality of the moment.
Number 1 turned around from the front passenger seat, his authoritative voice instantly cutting through the noise.
“You lot stop it now!
Remember our plan.
Just follow the plan exactly, and we will make it.
I don’t want any mishaps today.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that fell right on our way.
We cannot miss it.”
Number 1 turned his eyes back to the road and looked at the driver.
“Number 2, how much time do we need to reach the bank?”
“Boss, just 10 more minutes and that’s all,” Number 2 informed him confidently, keeping his foot heavy on the accelerator.
“You know right how fast I drive, huh!
We’ll be there in no time.”
Number 1 sighed, checking his ammunition.
“Okay, everybody check one last time and pray to your gods.
And Number 2, you better focus on your driving…
hey, hey, hey!
Where the hell are you looking?!”
Number 2’s eyes had suddenly drifted away from the asphalt toward the middle of the street.
“Stop…
stop the van right now, you bastard, stop it…!” Number 1 screamed, his voice cracking with sudden panic.Ram was still running when Shweta’s voice followed him down the narrow, gravel-strewn stretch of the road.
“Ram!
Get back here right now!”
“I said I’m sorry!” he yelled over his shoulder, “You’re not even sorry!”
“I am!”
“Then stop running!”
He slowed his pace near the final intersection, checking the traffic flow before stepping off the curb.
A white commercial van was coming down the secondary lane, traveling at a velocity completely unsuited for a market sector.
Ram stepped closer to the rough edge of the pavement, fully expecting the vehicle to pass him down the center line.
It didn’t.
For a fraction of a second, Ram thought the driver was preparing to pull a hard left into the commercial complex.
Then the chassis swerved violently.
Straight toward him.
Ram’s smile vanished instantly.
“Wait…”
He tried to take a single step back, his thumbs hooking hard into his backpack straps.
The van kept coming.
“What’s he doing?”
He tried to shift his weight sideways to dive into the dirt shoulder.
Nothing happened.
Ram looked down at his feet in sudden confusion.
His right leg felt unnaturally heavy, as if his school shoe had been pinned to the asphalt under a concrete slab.
“What?”
He strained his thigh muscles, trying to force his body to respond.
His limbs completely refused the command.
A sharp, deafening horn blared across the intersection.
Ram’s head snapped up.
The rusted front grille of the van was closing the distance by the millisecond.
“Move,” he muttered to his own legs, pressing his palms against his knees to force them to bend.
Nothing.
“Come on!”
His calf muscles trembled with the intense strain, but his feet stayed exactly where they were.
“Move!”
The van swerved a second time, its tires groaning against the asphalt.
Through the dust-coated glass of the windshield, Ram could see the driver’s hands wrestling desperately with the steering wheel, fighting a vehicle that had completely lost traction on the loose gravel.
Behind him, the rapid thud-thud of Shweta’s footsteps grew closer.
“Ram!”
He twisted his torso around, his arms waving frantically.
“Don’t come here!
Stay back!”
She skidded to a halt for a split second, her uniform skirt twisting around her knees.
“What?”
“Get away from me!”
Then her eyes shifted past his shoulder, tracking the white van.
Her entire face changed.
“Ram, move!”
“I can’t!”
“What do you mean you can’t?!”
“I can’t move my feet!” Ram screamed.
The van was almost at the curb.
Shweta didn’t hesitate; she sprinted straight into the lane toward him.
“Shweta, don’t!”
Ram tried one final time, every single muscle in his body tensing to the point of cramping.
Still nothing.
The ground held him fast.
The horn blared—a long, continuous note that filled the space between the houses.
He heard Shweta shout his name over the mechanical roar.
Then she was directly beside him, her slender hands throwing all her body weight into his side.
Ram stumbled sideways, his feet suddenly tearing free from the invisible hold as he hit the hard pavement of the concrete divider.
The van struck Shweta.
“SHWETA!”
Ram scrambled to his feet, his palms scraping raw against the gravel.
The van continued down the road, its brakes grinding loudly before it finally skidded to a complete stop farther down the street.
He barely noticed the vehicle anymore.
He was already running toward her on his knees.
She lay several feet away on the dirt shoulder.
For a terrible, empty moment, Ram couldn’t make sense of the shape before him.
Then he saw the fluid.
“No…”
He dropped beside her in the dust.
“Shweta?”
She didn’t move.
“Shweta, hey.” His hands hovered an inch above her uniform blouse, trembling so violently he didn’t know where to touch her without causing more damage.
There was blood near her temple, running down into the dirt and spreading across the dry road.
Ram’s breathing became shallow and rapid.
“No.
No, no…”
He pulled his phone from his pocket, nearly losing his grip on the plastic casing.
“Come on.
Come on…” He unlocked the screen with a slick thumb and dialed the emergency services.
“My friend got hit by a van,” he said, his throat tightening so much he could barely push the words out.
“She’s hurt really badly.
Please send someone quickly.”
The operator’s voice crackled through the speaker, asking for their exact location.
Ram looked around wild-eyed, his mind stuttering.
He knew the library wall was right behind them, but suddenly he couldn’t remember the name of the secondary lane.
“I’m near the school.
The side road…
I don’t know the exact address.
Just send them!” He answered what he could, his voice cracking, then ended the call and dropped the phone into the dirt beside him.
He turned back to Shweta.
“Help is coming.” His voice shook, a low sob catching in his throat.
“Just stay awake until they get here, okay?
Don’t fall asleep.”
Her fingers twitched slightly against the gravel.
Ram froze, his breath hitching.
“Shweta?”
Her eyelids opened a fraction.
Ram leaned closer, his chest aching.
“I’m here.
I’m right here.”
Her lips parted, dry and pale.
“You…”
“What?”
She swallowed with immense difficulty, a small tremor running through her shoulders.
“You ran away…
again.”
Ram let out a broken laugh that didn’t sound anything like a laugh—a sharp, painful sound that died instantly in his throat.
“Yeah.
I’m sorry.
I’m so sorry.”
She tried to speak further, but a violent cough interrupted her.
Ram quickly used his uniform sleeve to wipe away the dark red fluid that appeared at the corner of her mouth.
“Don’t talk.
Just wait.
The ambulance is coming right now.”
Shweta looked up at him, her eyes clouded and unfocused.
“I called you…”
“I know.”
“So many times.”
“I know.”
“You never listen.”
Ram’s eyes filled with tears, blurring his vision completely.
“I’ll listen from now on.
I promise.
I’ll do whatever you want.”
She stared at him for another silent moment, her breathing growing slower.
Then, very quietly, she whispered, “Idiot.”