A Sew Through Time [Banbudh And Budbak]

20: Dangerous decision

Six fifteen pm in the future. Ananya rode down the lane to find Souvik across the little alley. After the meet, he took charge of Rockit, gliding down the empty lanes, the cold wind hitting their eyelashes when he pressed the brakes in the middle of the road, making the other jerk back. A black cow guarded their way. Souvik raised an eyebrow, he hadn't seen the cow for ages. He remembered the name Khushi had given, Cinderella.

They headed towards Mahatma Gandhi road, their friend's place. Taking a right and two successive left turns, the cycle was parked near a tree. Ananya took out her phone as Souvik looked on intermittently.

"This is the place!" She showed it to him.

The other zoomed into the screen. A smirk appeared in his lips; internally saluting Khushi for her cleverness. She had turned on her location and shared it on that day, at first it did not come to their notice till Ananya had called him the last day in the middle of the night. It was foul to not notice this earlier.

The distance between the red pin and their location closed. Ananya looked up from her phone, noticing a big warehouse in front of them. Parking their cycle near the bushes, they walked to the front while trying to not make any sound.

Taking off her backpack, Ananya took out a tiny pin and started picklocking the rusty door. The attempt failed. Next, she proceeded to open the doors with a metallic lever till it split into two. They began pushing their weight against the door together with full force. It did not budge.

"What do we do now?" Ananya inquired, rubbing her hands together to warm herself.

Souvik went around to find disxover any opening, squinting his eyes in the dark. There were hedges near the base. Something in his heart told him to clear it,

"Over here!"

The other ran towards the voice, noticing him pulling vines and leaves from the walls of the warehouse. Helping him clear it away, they discovered a hidden trap door leading to the inside which had the word "emergency" inscribed on the top. The door flung open with one strong kick, it had not been opened for ages. Souvik crawled inside, bobbing his head around to find any soul. He signalled that it was clear. Ananya passed her bagpack and crawled inside, shutting the door behind. Turning on the flashlight, she inspected the place.

"What is this place?"

"It's huge!" she uttered in awe, observing the cavernous space inside, the labyrinth of corridors running from one end to another. Massive containers were placed along endless rows running for lengths. A faint fluorescent light dimly shone at the end.

"No sign of life here" Souvik whispered.

"What now? Search?"

"Are you pagal? It would become day!"

"But how do we find her?"

He spun around, his eyes darting around the place. There stood a door under the dim light, the glass pane reflecting the light. Pointing at the direction, he instructed her to follow him. The two tiptoed down the corridor, their eyes fixed on the dim fluorescent tubelight. On reaching there, Ananya tried to pull the door but failed.

"It's locked from the inside" she turned towards her friend, "What do we do now?"

"Give me the lever"

"Its broken"

"Give me one piece"

"But what would you do with it?" She said, handing it over to him.

Souvik's hand gripped tightly around the lever, his knuckles turning white. It rose high in the air as he instructed his friend to move and cover her face. With one decisive blow,the glass pane shattered into pieces scattering across the floor. Throwing the lever away, he stood on his toes and slid his hand to the other side, pushing the handle open. The door creaked open loudly.