Love in Lockdown

Prologue

Gautam

I couldn't breathe as I tossed and turned on bed. I feel smothered like someone had pressed a pillow over my nose.

Not that there was no air left in the room. In fact my bed facing a single open window with miles away distant trees view was letting crisp air like never before. It was just that I miss the feel of freedom passing through my nostrils before settling down in my lungs. The one I would take with my arms stretched out. The one I hadn't tasted in the last few days.

Yanking the bed sheet off my body, I pushed to my feet and began pacing across the room restlessly. Was I going to commit, what could be a huge mistake of my life? On a normal day, I perhaps would have thought about humane things. But having spent in this goddamn place as a prisoner from last few days, I was no in position to reckon good and bad.

Taking a deep breath through my nose, I walked up to the half-opened window and glanced down. Nearly all the lights had been extinguished beneath. Only a handful of people were going about from room to room, supervising the prisoners, in the partly lit corridors. Twisting my head to the corner, I took notice that the plastic chair at the entrance way was vacant. The guard must have gone for his late night tea break.

What a perfect time to flee!

Considering the fact my room was located on the first floor, I was assuming, I could make an easy escape with a quick jump without nasty fractures. With my heart thudding, I slid the window up, my hands trembling. Before any second thoughts struck, pressing my palms against the sill, I leapt through the open window and jumped on to the narrow parapet wall.

Taking a moment to still my trembling legs, I stared down at the winking darkness. I then slowly made my way along the roof, counting each step, holding my breath all along. Once I reached the edge, I waited, feeling the night air against my skin, until I was sure there was no person beneath. Luckily, the clouds hovering above had crowded together looming darkness at every corner.

And then with a sharp intake of breath, I jumped down.

Crunch!

Shit. I scraped my knees and hurt my back but luckily I was back on to my feet in a few seconds. I couldn't afford to stay put there longer. Before I grabbed any attention I burst headlong through the gate.

Once my feet hit the pavement, I let out a cry of a caged animal that was just released from long held captivity. I began running as fast as my feet could carry. I knew every nook and cranny of the roads. I had been to Hyderabad on several occasions, given the fact I was born here and spent decent enough of my childhood. But today, with every store shuttered and cornered, every sidewalk empty, every street deserted, I was confused where I was headed to.

At the empty traffic signal, my feet tripped over a stone. I glanced up for a beat at the dark shopping mall. The mall that normally would have been jazzy bustling with college students looked like a tomb. The sight was unsettling. Added, it was eerily silent. The only sound I could hear now was the clacking of my feet on paved roads and my unsteady breath.

Hyderabad, for the first time in my life, looked like a virtual ghost town.

Somewhere in the distance, I could vaguely spot a barricade, perhaps with a red cross marked on it. Though the sight gave me creeps, my feet refused to stop even then. But when my anxious eyes zeroed in on a bunch of police men patrolling behind the barricade, I automatically skidded to a stop.

Before I could sneak past their eyes, someone caught the sight of me. With my heart beating furiously, I turned around and began running headlong. No sooner had I rounded the corner, a startling noise of an incredibly loud siren sounded from behind.

Half turning, I took in the sight of police jeep's beam scanning the dark following me.

Damn!

Some cop was blaring in to mike in an authoritative voice. 'Stop where ever you're and surrender yourself.'

A word might have been spread about me fleeing and the police became super alert in no time. Never in my life had I seen Hyderabad police or any police for that matter working this efficiently before.

Panic gripped me. What if they were carrying tasers that could paralyze me? What if I'd be imprisoned and put in Tihar jail? I swallowed. Just when I felt I could crash down any moment, a jeep with activating lights zipped past me at a breakneck pace and skidded to a stop right in front of me.

Panting, I froze in an absolute shocking stillness.

A cop who was half standing from the jeep slid down, commanding, 'surrender yourself, there's no way you could escape now.

Swallowing through dry throat, I ran a quick gaze around. At least six, muscle bound police men were glaring at me with a gaze that could slaughter the poor goat without ever touching it. Expect that I wasn't a poor goat. All the blood seemed to drain from my face.

The cop spoke in to his handset. 'Yes, I got him. I'll take care of him.'

When his furious gaze turned to me, my arms flew above my head in a trademark hands up position automatically. My face hadn't betrayed the panic I felt.

With me standing in the middle of a deserted road, my arms up, I knew you were sizing me blatantly up for a deadly criminal or a ruthless terrorist.

To shout out loud, like Sharukhan's famous phrase, 'my name is Khan and I am not a terrorist', with a twist, I wanted you guys to know, 'my name is Gautam and I am a Corona patient!'