Bhola Rescued(Nissan Kar) The weather had suddenly flipped its coin, for it started raining that night, raining hard. Good God! I had an umbrella in my canvas bag. But it’s tough for an umbrella to keep its owner dry from that sort of pouring. In my hurry to get into the house, I didn’t notice the black car parked across 98/6 Harinath Pal Road. It’s a rare case for a car, high-end like this, to make its way in a less walked upon road in Belghoria. I realized something was wrong. I was hesitant at first but I intended towards discovering whose it was. I don’t know why I was sensing danger yet my footsteps neared the car until I faced the shielded window of the driver’s seat. I tried to peek inside, my breath created a frosted area on the glass, which informed the man inside about me. But the passenger seat’s door opened and a muscular broad man came to me and got me by my hands, tied my mouth with a handkerchief, giving me no scope to scream as he threw me inside the car, closed the door, and the driver revved up the engine and drove off.

I felt helpless, my force and strength was nothing in compared to the giant man. I knew not to cry or to stay strong as my eyebags got filled with tears waiting to flow out. The bright surroundings started to get dimmer and dimmer, as I found myself in front of a huge warehouse in the outskirts of the town.

Being held by the powerful hands of the muscular man, I squeaked, “Ouch! It hurts.” Just a stern look of his red eyes was enough to shut me off and get firm on the thought of no one is going to save me. The driver who was wearing a denim jacket and a face mask (not for safety purposes) opened an almost 15-foot tall metal door. We headed into the darkness. Whether I was imagining or was it true, it felt as if we were walking for an eternal period of time. I could hear some sounds of clicking buttons and footsteps. The sound was gradually gaining its pitch. We slid open another metal door and I saw almost 10-15 doctors working in a huge laboratory consisting of machines I hardly knew about. The driver said, “Hello folks, we’ve got our tenth guinea pig.” Everybody cheered and shouted, “HAIL HAMID!!”

30 eyes looked at me, never have I ever got such attention in my 32 years of life, making me both uncomfortable and scared. I was pulled into a cage with nine other people, all looked starving for days. I was an odd one out because my tongue still had the taste of my favorite ‘Maacher Jhol’ (Fish Curry) and ‘Bhaat’ (Rice). One-by-one, two people were snatched from the cage. after few minutes, I heard their screams infiltrating my ears. My turn came, I tried to resist the pull but it went in vain. That giant man tied me to a metal bed, fastening with belts. My tears were a waste of H2O in my body. I could sense my death knocking on the door. My eyes shifted to the left corner of the room, “Oh no!” these words came involuntarily from my mouth, seeing the two black and reddish dead bodies of those two people, all the veins were visible, their eyes had gone whole white with blood, not red but black, making its way out of their bodies. I was praying hard to God, but Hamid said, laughing cunningly, “Nobody’s going to save you, you’ll turn into a walking dead person or what you call a Zombie. It depends whether your body will permit or else you’ll become like them.”

A Zombie?! I thought of spending my life doing my 9-to-5 job and with my plants and my beloved Suku in my 2BHK Flat, but my fate wants me to wander about in search of human blood!, I thought and cried. The doctors attached tubes to my veins, “Ahh!!” I screamed in pain. They entered some data and one doctor said, “Zombie Apocalypse test 3, go!”, and was going to push the red button when a bullet fired from distance went swift into his head. He fell thrashing to the floor.

“What was that? Oh God!” Hamid was surprised, he took out a gun as the doctors were all falling like pins in bowling.

“Spot them they are the RAW.”

Some 5-6 people came down the roof hanging, firing bullets. “Ahh…ah…ahhh” groaned Hamid, a bullet had penetrated his hand and his gun fell down. When the RAW team was looking triumphant, from nowhere the giant man came running and thrashed off an agent. Although he looked muscular and strong, one bullet in his leg was enough to lay him down. There were 15 dead bodies and two injured – Hamid and Bakshat (the giant man).

At last someone thought of me and untied me. I thanked him a lot, crying in joy. He said, “Now you are safe Bhola, uhh-umm-I-I mean, umm…Mister. You will be taken home safely" and he retreated quickly. Wait a second! Did he call me ‘Bhola’, that’s what only my uncle calls me... is he?... “Come here sir.” Suddenly a voice interrupted me, one agent took me out and sat me in a car. I saw the other seven people being taken to their respective homes. I felt happy.

At last, I was in front of Flat No. 6. As soon as I opened the door, it was my cat Suku who greeted me.
Next day, I called my uncle and asked, “Do you work in RAW?” and narrated yesterday’s events. He said laughing, “Ha Ha Ha, you look innocent, that’s why everybody calls you ‘Bhola’.”
“But only you call me Bhola and no other single person does. And you say why a stranger will be calling me Bhola.”
“Oh really? Maybe. That I don’t know. But I work in Post Office, Bhola.”

— Nissan Kar

---