Life After Undeath

Chapter 1: Warning Bells

Rik woke to the sound of pattering rain. A chill was in the air, brought in through the partly open window. A distant train whistle broke the silence of the early March weather in Kolkata. He lay snuggled under the blanket, suspended between sleep and waking.

As he lay, he felt a dull throbbing in his head.

"Must be an incoming headache", he thought, as he got up with an exaggerated effort. Surprisingly, the pitch of the throbbing changed. It seemed to be coming from the window and seemed to be getting louder.

Shaking off the shroud of sleep, he put on his glasses and opened the window. The dawn breeze silently ruffled his black hair. In that time of the witching hour, when all things dark and evil roam the earth, he saw a dark helicopter silhouetted against the rapidly brightening sky. It was flying low and fast towards the west. Unlike those he had seen at airshows, this was noticeably quieter and had a bulkier silhouette. Almost looked like a military kind.

Almost as if it was a hallucination, it disappeared as quickly as it appeared, leaving nothing but a memory in its wake. It was almost like it never existed. The rustling of the leaves was the loudest sound again.

"Just as well", he thought, "back to my main love", as he flopped back on to the bed. The helicopter was as forgotten as his undone homework.

"Prehistoric man found preserved in ice", the fourth-page headlines read. "Found yesterday morning, the body of the man has been perfectly conserved. This could provide a unique insight into the life and times four millennia ago, and why the Indus Valley Civilization disappeared. Archaeologists have requested for special equipment to exhume the body whole. ASI will give sanction today."

Rik glanced over the article. It detailed how monumental such a discovery was, comparable to that of the Yuka mammoth. The researchers and archaeologists found it strange how a man, with attire from those ages, could find himself at such a place, away from the warmth of the Punjab plains. After the successful exhumation of the body, it would be transferred to the Himalayan Research Facility in the nearby foothills in Himachal Pradesh.

Rik read all this with mild interest. After all, anything not to do with his college entrance exams had little to no value. They were right around the corner, and the competition was higher than ever. After a quick glance through the news of the entertainment industry, he sat down with his studies. Soon after an hour of fruitless struggle with the legacy of Newton, the report was pushed aside in his mind.

It wasn't until later that evening when he thought about the discovery of the man. This sudden recall wasn't due to his "impeccable" memory, it was triggered by the evening news. There had been an attack on the Himalayan Research Institute. The internal security had managed to control the threat, but several were injured. Two scientists were critically injured and had to be airlifted to a nearby hospital in New Delhi. The police and even a platoon of CAPF (Central Armed Police Force) were deployed to the volatile situation. No official statement had yet been made, the building was under complete lockdown, and even from a distance, the police seemed strangely well-armed for such an incident.

"Must be those terrorists again", his father said," always trying to sabotage our country."

"But this doesn't look to be their work. All the windows are shuttered up, and there is no sign of explosions or even hostage situations," Rik replied, "the strangest thing is the press isn't being given even a single item to publish. For the past hour, the only fresh news has been the alerting of the army."

Rik definitely felt uneasy at the use of armed forces inside the borders of the country, that too preparing to storm an intellectual establishment. The tele-camera shots, whatever could be availed from the fringes of the cordon radius, were blurry in the fading evening light. An entire ring of personnel surrounded the building at some distance. There were searchlights but none were trained on the building itself. It was almost a scene from a movie, with insurgents holed up inside the building, and special forces ready to storm in.

A news flash brought an update. Rik watched in rapt attention, oblivious to anything else. The reporter's voice in the background could be heard, detailing how at least two groups of soldiers were approaching the building.

From what could be seen five to six small flashes of torchlight advanced cautiously towards the front end of the building. They stood for a while surrounding the north-side front door, and then quickly backed off. An explosion of red and yellow left a gaping black hole. The second line of five soldiers joined the first. All the men, ten or eleven of them, slowly stalked into the building.

Nothing could be seen for five minutes. All onlookers waited with bated breath. Rik could almost taste the palpable tension in the air. The dark empty door was grainy on the TV screen.

With a sudden start, the windows on the first floor began lighting up. Grainy light flashes in the windows. The barely heard shots were drowned out by the reporter manically screaming into her microphone. Nothing could be seen than those flashes. This kept on for a minute or so. The camera followed the progress of the soldiers, by the gun flashes. Each window lit up methodically as the soldiers progressed through. And finally, near the south end, the windows became dark.

Meanwhile, the events had spread like wildfire. Every news channel was filled with what was happening in the Himalayan Research Facility. From the neighbors', Rik could hear a male voice on the television, detailing what was happening. Dinner preparation was forgotten, he and his parents silently viewed the unfolding events.

By now, the gun flashes had died out. Following the initial group, another two had gone in and, and in a similar fashion, the second and third-floor windows of the three-storey building had lit up with flashes of pale yellow. Both had died out within minutes. In the time the second group had gone in, military helicopters had flown over the cordoned area, and landed near the building. Just as the gunshots were dying out on the third floor, what was presumably the first-floor team, had emerged. From that distance, in the flickering flashlights they held, there were 7 figures who limped along, carrying 3 more. Support troops rushed forward to help them, and the entire group was soon in the helicopters, and off. Similarly, the two groups came out, both visibly battle-weary and shaken. Both groups got into their helicopters and flew off.

For some reason, Rik felt a deep chill in his bones. Something was wrong, terribly wrong.

He watched the news for an hour or so more. He had to study, but the happenings kept him hooked. The events felt foreboding. No other troops had gone into the building after it was stormed by the soldiers. The doorway was sealed off again, and the press blackout continued. Despite the seeming inactivity, a chill hung over the air, pervading through the television.

At 9 pm, an official statement by the Home Ministry said it had been a strike by insurgents, who had to be rapidly put down. Family members of those people still inside the building were asked to be patient for news. There were still some security problems that had to be ironed out. Once those proceedings were taken care of, all the information would be available to the press. "The situation is under control", he said. Famous last words.

Ever since the news networks had gone crazy, Rik's phone had been buzzing with messages and updates. With the press blackout still in effect, controversy stories were rife on the internet forums. Soumya and Swapnaneel each had texted him regarding their own controversial versions of "what is happening up there", each with their own concepts of vampires, zombies, and Pakistani insurgents. The news had nothing new when he went to sleep that night.

Hell broke loose the next day.