Half Brothers

63- A ray of hope

Yara had just finished informing Nihal about the situation when Alpha received another call from Peaceful pack's Alpha.

"Under no circumstances, you are allowed to leave the pack house." Alpha of Peaceful pack ordered.

"You can't possibly tell me to stay put when my pack members are in trouble," Alpha Aarjav said, running his hand through his hair in frustration.

"I understand your plight Alpha, but while trying to help the people who are stuck outside, you are going to put a harm on the ones who are already safe right now.

"Alpha of Midnight pack has demised while trying to help his pack members and 90% of his pack is either dead or in critical condition. Lunar pack has also lost 50% of its members. You are lucky that you aren't the first pack to be hit by the silver. Learn from their mistakes or else your whole pack would go extinct while trying to protect the few pack members."

Alpha threw the phone across the room in tension and sat down on his chair with a thud.

"Argh!!" He yelled, feeling helpless.

Every member of the pack heard what Alpha of Peaceful pack had said as the Alpha Aarjav's mind-link had been left open by mistake.

All the shops and houses which were previously opened to help their fellow pack members closed down in an instant.

Yara's phone rang, disturbing the heavy silence that had fallen upon the Alpha's office.

"Yara, why has everyone closed off their doors? I thought we had to keep it open to let others in." Nihal questioned with a frown.

Both Hritika and Nihal were standing near their front door to help anyone in need as soon as Yara had informed them about the situation. But seeing everyone in the neighbourhood closing their doors in urgency, confused them.

Yara explained them the situation in a broken voice. She was being mentally tormented just like the others, who wanted to help but were forced to stand down.

Nihal hanged up the call before he lost his temper on her.

"They go around calling themselves a pack; a family yet this nonsensical behaviour. You don't leave your family to die, no matter the consequences. You cannot just stop trying." Nihal grunted, kicking the door beside him in anger.

"They are thinking of a bigger picture. Sacrificing a few to save the masses." Hritika responded quietly.

"You agree with their decision," Nihal said in disbelief.

"I understand their reason. But that does not mean, I agree with them." Hritika argued.

Their attention got diverted when they saw the teenagers who had bullied Alina, banging on every door, pleading the people to let them in. There was no use of trying as their cries reached on deaf ears.

"Hey Kids," Nihal yelled, cupping his hands near his mouth for the sound to reach them in this rain.

Receiving their attention, he gestured them to come towards their house quickly.

All kids ran towards their saviours; the humans, whom they always looked at with disgust.

As soon as entered, Hritika noticed that they had slight burns in the areas that weren't covered with clothes and also the few remains of silver on their skin.

"Hurry and take a shower first to get rid of the silver on your body or it will cause more harm. Let me show you where the bathrooms are," Nihal said while ushering them inside.

'Showers,' Hritika mumbled to herself before quickly taking out her mobile to call Yara.

"Yara, I have an idea." Hritika spoke as soon as Yara picked up the call.

"Idea?" Yara asked, sounding hopeful.

Everyone in the office perked up hearing the word. Luna mouthed to put the phone on speaker.

"You can douse the pack members with tap water on the porch itself, before letting them inside. This way the excess silver would wash off and then you can directly send them to take a shower just in case few silver particles are left behind. Make sure to not touch or treat them until they have showered," Hritika hurriedly explained, knowing many lives were endangered with each passing second.

"This can work. Thank you, Hritika," Alpha said before mind-linking all the pack members about the idea.

It was like a sudden boost of energy had hit them as everyone started working to save their pack.

They left the office and reached downstairs where many worried pack members were standing.

"Rahul, gather your friends and open all the rooms in the first floor, so that who ever comes can quickly shower off the silver. While guiding the infected members, make sure to maintain the distance and have your body covered." Vivaan ordered him.

Gamma and Beta covered themselves before going to stand in front of the pack house.

"Gamma, please use this hose. I have connected it with the sink. By using this instead of buckets, you won't need to go near the pack members," one of the kitchen assistant said.

Gamma and Beta showed their gratitude before ushering the assistant inside.

"There's a high risk of silver transfer, so don't take this lightly. Everyone who is going to help, please cover yourself properly and others please move to the gaming rooms and the library. Leave all the bedrooms empty for the use of the infected pack members," Yara said, while trying to guide everyone inside. "I will gather the water and food supplies soon. So, please don't come out at any cost." She further requested.

"Pack doctor, are you in the pack house?" Alpha asked worriedly.

"Yes, I am in my clinic itself, at the east wing of the pack house," doctor responded.

"That's good. Please make sure to take precautions and not get infected yourself while treating patients. In this situation, pack members would need you more than they would need me," Alpha said.

His words warmed the doctor's heart and he promised to take care of everything.

"Would you need something?" Alpha inquired further.

"I will need few assistants in case many pack members are injured," doctor replied as he tried to gather all the materials.

"Assitants..." Alpha bit his lips in worry. No one else had a medical degree other than the pack doctor.

"Anyone with the basic knowledge of first-aid would do." Pack doctor added, knowing the lack of medical students in their species.

"Okay, I will send help as soon as I can," Alpha responded and informed Luna about the situation.

"I can take some mothers and go and help the doctor," Juhi said as she heard the Alpha couple talking.

"Are you sure?" Alpha asked doubtfully.

Juhi smiled and replied, "Every mother has treated the wounds of their child. We will try our best to help the doctor."

"Be careful," Luna said worriedly but with pride.

Everything was in a frenzy. Multiple orders were shouted. People moved here and there, trying to help at their best level. It would have been impossible for a bystander to understand what was going on but who cared. All that mattered was that everyone was putting their sweat and blood to come out of this disaster.