CHAPTER 3 – Start of the apocalypse.

(Gulshan's POV)

"Yes, yes, I won't let him roam around in the village.

Are you happy now?"

What's their problem? He didn't even do anything to them.

Why do people judge everyone however they want, at least try to understand them…

"Well, I guess it's fine, but make him leave as soon as he's able to move, I don't feel safe with him here…."

Mr. Pandey sure is making a lot of demand these days….

Looks like I got soft because of this weakness nowadays.

Or is he strutting around like a peacock, thinking the world belongs to him because of his son?

His son was supposed to be the second chief candidate, and now that my son….

Sigh….

"All right, I'll tell him to move out as soon as he's able to walk…

All I could do was consent to his demand.

I need to learn that, I won't be at the top of the village for long, I'll soon be replaced by his son….

Still, that satisfied grin on his face….

I don't like it at all!

"Good.

It's good that you finally realized your place…"

He patted my shoulder, saying some positive words, but to me, they were more sarcastic than positive and all I wanted to do was punch a hole in his face.

'Control, control…'

I took a deep breath as I chanted the same line in my mind, and then I forced the best smile I could.

"I will be going back now, I need to look after him."

I could see his happy smile morphing into dissatisfaction but what can he do?

"All right, I'll go back and have a chat with my son, maybe think of something for the food shortage."

Hah, think of something?

Yeah, go on!

Try going into the forest if you can!

But I kept those words inside and just nodded my head.

"See you soon."

I moved back toward the small cottage where Alex was staying.

They won't let me keep him in the chief's hut.

'He might steal some important information'

Or something like that was what they had to say.

Like this puny village even has something like that.

All we have is a diary that consists of the names of the people who are living and who are gone.

Sigh…

Let's just get him better.

................

I moved inside of the tent and there he was…

Doing something with that instrument of his.

He was cleaning maybe, but he had all of its parts opened up, and I couldn't even understand what it was.

None of the villagers ever contacted an outsider, at least not till now, so we don't know much about the outside world.

I'm the only one who knows some things, but that is enough to let me know that we are like primitive beings in this era.

"Alex, here's your food…"

But let's forget it for now, I would rather focus on getting my son- Ah, Alex, better….

Because I know, I can see it clearly, the pain hidden below those cold and unfeeling golden eyes.

...….............

(Third POV)

Alex was cleaning his pistol when he saw Gulshan enter his hut or tent whatever you call it.

He could see a slight tremble in Gulshan's hand or more like his whole body.

'Shocked? Excited?'

Alex couldn't tell why Gulshan trembled, but he could see familial fondness appear in Gulshan's eyes, and that confused him.

It's already been a day since Alex has been here, and by now, thanks to Gulshan's herbs, he had almost recovered.

His wounds were not green anymore, they were healing at a fast speed, and he could move his body fine.

His condition was so good that if not for the fact that he could feel the pain in his injuries when he tried to move his body a bit too much.

His body was fine even if he did some light exercises, but the intense workout was a bit too much right now.

He would be able to do it if he wanted to, but there's a risk that his wounds which were healing at a very fast rate might open up.

"Alex, here's your food…"

Alex looked at Gulshan and then he stared at the plate that Gulshan kept on the bedside table.

'Chapati…'

Plane chapati, something Alex has been eating since yesterday.

But today, he noticed something different.

"Where's your food?"

Alex asked in a low voice.

Yesterday and even this morning, both Gulshan and Misty ate together with him, so Alex frowned when he saw a difference.

More so when he saw that there was only one chapati and it was quite thin as well.

"O-oh, my share? Well, I-I wasn't really hungry right now…"

Gulshan replied with a stutter.

"Don't worry, I'll grab a bite later, I'm just not hungry right now."

Gulshan hurriedly added when he noticed Alex's frown deepen.

"I'm not worried about you, I just don't want to steal a dying man's food."

Alex spoke without a change in his cold eyes.

He wasn't worried about them he just didn't want to misuse someone's kindness.

"Ah…"

Gulshan just lowered his head.

"Why are you guys low on food? You have a live forest around your village, even if you can't catch animals, getting some fruits won't be hard."

Hearing Alex's question, Gulshan raises his head and looks at Alex with his eyes wide open.

"H-how…?"

Gulshan couldn't comprehend how Alex knew that…

'He never left the hut…'

True, Alex never left the hut, but that didn't mean he became stupid.

Alex was the best assassin you could find, and he was someone who would even count the number of ants in the area before he moved in.

So, since yesterday, Alex's sharp ears had picked up many people talking about how Gulshan was wasting food on him, and how the food in the storage was almost used up.

"Doesn't matter, just answer the question."

Alex just shook his head and pressed for an answer.

Gulshan hesitated a bit, but as Alex's golden eyes kept staring at him without even blinking, he finally conceded.

"Tiger."

He whispered.

"Tiger?"

But for Alex, even a whisper was enough.

Gulshan looked up into Alex's eyes and started telling him what was happening…...

.............

*Bang*

A loud noise from the forest woke the whole village up. Every one of them ran out of their tents only to see Mr. Pandey shouting at Mr. Singh (Gulshan).

"What is he doing in there?!

Didn't we all decide that we won't disturb the tiger again?!

Or did you forget what happened last time?!"

They could all hear Mr. Panday's yelling.

He was angry, and as they realized what was happening, they started to feel it as well.

"Last time, because of some bastard angering that tiger, it came roaring into the village!

And your son died trying to save us all!

Do you not remember that?!"

Mr. Pandey shouted as he held Gulshan by his collar.

"I tried to stop him…."

Gulshan tried to defend himself.

He really did try to stop Alex, but Alex didn't even listen to him.

'I don't like being in debt…'

That's all he said before he rushed into the forest with his pistol.

"You tried?! 

That's all you have to say?!" 

But his words only fueled the anger that Mr. Pandey was feeling.

He turned toward the villagers and shouted.

"You guys see how irresponsible he is?!

Do you guys really want him as the Chief?!

Do you guys want to live under his order, even after what he did today?!"

Mr. Pandey was raging on the outside, but inwardly, he was jumping in joy.

'This mf finally decided to give me a chance to take away his position!'

Mr. Panday was celebrating already, he knew that the villagers wouldn't want Gulshan as their chief anymore.

So, he waited for them to say something.

He waited for them to shout and protest against Gulshan.

*Gasp* X n (n is the number of gasps there were since many people gasped)

But all he heard was gasps.

He was facing the village so he couldn't see what was happening behind, but the moment he saw the faces of the villagers, he realized that something was wrong.

Shock, fear, doubt, excitement, and, joy.

He could see all of those emotions on their faces, and he didn't like them even a bit.

"Big Brother!"

But then he heard the shout of a girl, a girl that he knew very well, and suddenly, he had a bad premonition.

He turned his head mechanically.

Looking back at what was happening, and then he saw it….

A boy with blood-red hair and cold, emotionless eyes walked out of the forest, unharmed at that.

But then his eyes almost came out of their sockets when he saw what that boy was holding.

"WHAT?!"

He screamed in fear and disbelief.

The boy was holding a large head, the head of the tiger that had been making their lives miserable for a while.

He could see that Misty and Gulshan were running toward the boy with happy tears in their eyes, but he ignored that as he was not in the mood to look at them.

'How is this possible?!'

He just couldn't believe it.

Mr. Pandey saw Alex, Gulshan, and Misty talking about something, and he was about to shout something, but just then….

[Humans from Earth, the time for you to experience something new has arrived!]

A floating screen appeared right in front of his eyes, and he heard a loud mechanical voice in his head.

"UWAAAA!!!"

He tumbled backward in fear.