Dead Nor Alive

#24

Aditya sat in his vanity waiting for someone to call him for his next scene. He was particularly antsy that day. He had gone through the script multiple times. He was trying to figure out what to do with this scene. He had been dreading it since he first read the script but even now he was no less nervous. He was tapping his foot incessantly. Pacing around the trailer. He picked up the phone and quickly dialed a number placing the phone on his ear. He sat on the couch fidgeting with his fingers when the person picked up.

"I ran out of them."

"Yes, I forgot."

"I know I know."

"I'm sorry."

"No its getting worse."

"Yes I'm breathing. Not helping."

"I will. Yeah. I get back day after."

"No I can't postpone it. Yes I'll try. Yes deep breathing."

"Good bye. I'll see you then."

This was an especially important scene where he had to fight his way through a huge crowd and chaos to save the actress. There was going to be some super heavy emotional drama seeing that it was the climax scene. It couldn't happen today. He had kept this news from leaking out for all these years and he couldn't possibly let his stupidity get to him like that.

'How could I forget my meds!' like seriously how? Aditya was wayward in everything but this was something he was very cautious about. He had carefully carried himself through every up and down. But recently things had been getting worse. He had no idea why but it had gotten worse.

He was brought out of his thought bubble when the door to the trailer opened.

"The shot is ready. They are calling you. Are you ready to go?" The guy asked. Aditya gave him a forceful smile and left after him. They walked where the director was sitting with the actress and the villain. He went and sat down on the chair set out for him when the director started explaining the scene again.

"So Aditya we are taking the whole thing in one shot. We will have a technical rehearsal before the take. It is important that you get the whole thing in one go so that it'll keep fluidity in the situation. We need to feel the pressure here."

The scene was where there was a riot on the streets the villain has tied up the actress and is threatening to throw her under the approaching truck. Aditya had to cut through the mob and reach her. He had to pick her up and take her out of the crowd. The shot would cut there and then they would go into the interaction where they profess their love and what not.

The director explained the activity and they did a couple rehearsals for the camera movement. They all went back to their positions. The make up artist did some final touch ups while the director announced over the mic. There were about 200 people gathered for the mob.

"So when I say roll I want all of you to start your activity. You must have been told exactly what you are supposed to do. Do not forget this is a riot scene so let me see the aggression on all your faces."

"Actors ready?"
They showed him a thumbs up.

"Roll sound"

"Roll camera."

And the entire mob burst into motion. People were pushing and shoving each other as they tried to follow the instructions given to them. It looked like someone had dropped water on a colony of ants. Aditya braced himself as he got into character.

"Action."

He tightened the headband he was wearing and started to push his way through the crowd. Hyperactive overenthusiastic people were shoving each other and yelling out slogans as they slightly overdid the scene. Aditya felt like the entire mob was closing in on him. He started sweating and his head began to spin. He could feel his throat constricting, as if someone was choking him. He tried to fight his way through the crowd.

He could barely see the actress. 'Just a little further' he thought to himself. That is when a man banged into him from behind and he fell straight into a wall of people. He started seeing colorful patches everywhere. He tried to breathe but couldn't. Gasping for air trying to compose himself he struggled his way forward. His ears only gave a buzz. He knew someone was talking to him but he couldn't hear anything. His anxiety got the better of him. A person nearly crashed into him when Aditya threw a punch in self defense. The impact was worse than he expected and the person started bleeding from his mouth.

Suddenly everything went still. He just felt two arms grab him and take him out of the chaos. The next thing he knew, he was back in his trailer spread out on the couch. He slightly pushed the curtain and was faced with blinding flashes. The worst had happened. His panic disorder had gotten the better of him.