no man's land || kgf (slow updates)

sixteen

1978
KARNATAKA

Rocky had settled in very well into the village. He made sure to enter the village two weeks prior to the said date as a wanderer. 

He claimed that he was searching for inner peace and what not. Of course, the people being naive, unaware of the cruel world, welcomed him as their own. 

The girl he had travelled with, Prabha or something, went off her own way to a neighbouring village (which was an immense relief). 

They quickly got him settled in a hut and even offered him a job of lifting load, which he gladly accepted. Anything to blend in. 

As the date grew closer, he prepared himself mentally to face whatever was to come. All he knew was that people would be held captive and taken in trucks to KGF. 

What happened there? 

He didn't know. 

But he knew what type of people he'd meet there. Just like Andrews had said, there was a group of people who had been stationed for a whole month right outside the town limits to ensure that no one leaves or enters the village. It was protocol. 

First they target a village. Then they live on the outskirts to make sure that nobody leaves or enters, and if people do try, they get killed. Rocky had faced them when he tried entering the village and they were quite easy to finish off if he was being honest. 

Well it was a shame that his leather jacket was ripped when he was done but hey, he atleast he made it out alive. 

Rocky dropped off the last load and dusted his hands. 

Suddenly from a distance, there was a loud rumbling. He could see huge trucks and cars make their way. Everyone around them looked at the horizon confused. People gathered into group and whispered amongst themselves. The huge troop stopped and multiple people jumped off, armed with guns and built quite heftily. 

The villagers scrambled in panic, the older ones reaching for the children, some running into their huts to lock themselves as they fearfully watched the men pull whoever they set their hands on and threw them into the truck. 

Seems like this was a common occurence as some of them even had an escape plan because half the population disappeared in no time. It was only the unfortunate and the panic striken that were forcefully taken. 

After pretending to put on a fight, rocky found himself sitting in the darkness of the truck. Grimly listening to the agonizing cries of the people around him. The ride was bumpy and the heat was sweltering. Rocky was controlling himself, trying not to succumb to the suffocating situation. 

From the driver's a compartment, he could distinctly hear static and then a voice spoke over the radio, "We don't have enough people. We're stopping at another village. Anyone who has more place respond." 

There was a click and the driver responded, "Atleast ten." 

No.

Rocky looked around. Even if one more were to get in, someone was going to suffocate and die. 

His companions had quietened down by now, no doubt listening to the conversation. In a few minutes, the truck stopped and the once dark vehicle was struck with bright white light as someone opened the door. 

There was a loud clamouring and a few gun shots. 

And then there was a loud shriek. 

So loud and piercing that he felt a shiver run up his spine. He heard multiple gasps around them and an old lady burst into a wail again, "These wretched people! Will they ever prosper? So heartless!"