Nature's Comeback

1A- End of the world

Humans were done for!!

Every single minute, more than a thousand deaths were reported. And this was the average calculated, a few weeks ago. Now they had stopped calculating altogether.

The whole world was in a frenzy. Each and every part of nature was hell bent on destroying the world, humans had created.

Earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, droughts, forest fires, lack of oxygen and so much more. You could name any one of them and they would be spreading a disaster at some corner.

Amidst all the chaos, there stood a 15 storey, grey and white building, where each person was working overtime, to try and search for the solution. The building was specially made for the researchers, where along with labs and offices, they also had a huge library filled with previous research works and their sources; regardless of their success. It also had lodging facilities and a canteen for the people working 24/7.

Right now, an overworked and tired team was sitting for a small break, around the table meant for team meetings.

A man in a lab coat came, banging the files on the table.

"Here we are losing sleep, trying our best to find a solution and these Politicians and Businessmen are trying to gain profits from these disasters." He ran his hand through his hair, frustrated by everything.

"Not everyone, many of them have come out to help as much as they could." Sarika, a middle aged woman pointed out, while picking up the file, the man had not so graciously tossed.

"If only the number of helpful people were more than the selfish ones," another man sighed.

"I can't understand how people cannot let go of their greed, even at the end of the world." Kriti, the youngest of all cursed, upon finding out that they had just received 1/4th of the amount they had requested.

"Half of the population has died, and the other half is on streets, battling with their lives and the people who have the capacity to help are just enjoying at their top, multi-facilitated homes," the man who tossed the files, muttered.

"If you all are done cribbing, then come out. We only have five minutes to gather, before we receive a conference video call from the researchers of other countries," Reyansh, their team leader, called out from the entrance of the lab.

As everyone stood up, there was a clear sound of joints cracking. The small sound from each one of them, collectively made a loud, harsh sound, startling everyone of them.

"Hehehe, Mom and her friends have gotten so old." A child giggled.

"We aren't old. This happened because we were sitting on the chair for long hours, without getting up to rest," Kriti, the youngest of the team, said defensively.

Being called old at such a young age was an insult to her. It didn't help that the kids kept calling her Aunty every now and then.

The team leader came back, shouting at his team members, "How much time will it take for you all to come?

"And why the hell are the kids roaming around here?" He shouted in frustration.

"Then where should we keep our kids while working non-stop here? Moreover, this is the only building that can withstand the earthquakes, and not fall apart." Sarika, the middle aged lady responded.

"I know that. I was asking why is the kid on this floor. Along with disturbing us in the work, it is dangerous for the child too," Reyansh explained.

"I wouldn't have come here if there was something interesting to do on the floor assigned to us." Dhruv, an eight year old, huffed.

"Just play with your friends," his mother said.

"We have been playing with the same things again and again. Everyone is bored. Plus the older children get cranky if we make some noise. And you too don't allow us here." Dhruv whined.

"It's true. Regardless of age, we all are getting bored. If only the mobiles worked," a teenager spoke, joining the kid.

The batteries of their mobiles had already died. The electricity was being used scarcely. And there was no way they were going to waste it in charging the mobile phones of the teens.

It was a miracle that they still had electricity and the network working. As for most parts of the country, there was a complete shut down.

The researchers gulped as they saw an army of other fifteen children, ranging from five year olds to sixteen year olds, behind the twelve year old.

They knew if this wasn't solved properly, then these kids had the strength of disheveling the whole building.

"Seriously we don't have time for this. We have an important conference call right now." Reyansh had started panicking.

This panic might seem ridiculous to the onlookers, but they didn't know the capacity of these kids. Almost all of them were smart, witty and curious. They were always keen to put their nose in the works and messed up everything in the name of curiosity. It was already difficult to keep them engaged when the world was normal. But now it was more than difficult; it was a disaster itself. Hence, the panic.

"Dad, this is also important. Didn't you say, an empty mind is a devil's workshop. So just solve our boredom and we will quietly leave. We really don't have anything to pass our time here," team leader's twelve year old daughter, Rewa, said using her father's teachings against him.

"Just read some books," one of the researchers suggested.

"Books are only interesting if they are novels. The books here are all about formulas and theorems." Laksh, a fifteen year old teenager shuddered with the thought of reading a science book.

"There are few with psychological facts too. Those are interesting if you don't have to write an exam on them," Kriti, the youngest researcher suggested.

"We will try but if it is not interesting then we will come back again." Dhruv threatened the elders.

The kids moved towards the storeroom where the books were stacked. And the researchers and professors finally moved towards their meeting.

The taller kids moved to get the books while the smaller ones sat patiently waiting for something interesting. As many had yet to learn how to read, it was collectively decided that the older ones would read and explain the fun facts to the younger ones.

They all sat making a crooked circle. The facts were fun but they soon got bored of them and started playing around the room. Finding a book with a particular colour, or searching a hard word from the book within the given time span, memory game and all sorts of things.

In between their fun, two kids stumbled and brought down a whole shelf of books.

"Shit! What did you do?" A girl exclaimed in fear.

"Let's hurry and put all these books back in their positions, before our parents notice this mishap," Rewa, the team leader's daughter suggested and everyone followed her words.

She had unknowingly become their temporary leader while they all were stuck inside this building.

"Oh look look, what I found here," Ayaan, a six year old, said excitedly, holding a small colourful book

"Man! The pages are so shiny," Dhruv spoke admiringly as he took the book from Ayaan.

Finding a colourful book amidst all the worn and tattered books felt like a treasure to these bored kids. But it also raised suspicion.

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This book is fictional. Resemblance to any character, place, or idea is purely coincidental.

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