A/n

Warning : dystopian world; mentions of death, violence.

Unedited, so holler if you see any errors.

~~~~~

It's autumn. Maybe. It's difficult to tell these days. The trees at the northern-most edge of the city have started to lose leaves, but it could be for other reasons - death being one of the most probable ones. Still, I like to believe it's autumn.
Autumns were nice, once. We had a festival, once, celebrated with much fervour right here in this city. It was a long time ago. The city would be adorned with lights, humming with bandanas, smelling of incense and diyas. We worshipped a deity called Durga or Shakti – meaning, power; the goddess forged by the gods to defeat a great evil. She had ten hands that wielded various weapons, with a mighty trident at the forefront. The festivities were entirely different from her image, though; it was more about frivolous fanfare, with people buying new clothes, melas being organised, with balloon sellers and sweet shops messily tucked into every corner of this city.
And the kids – boys, mostly – could be seen with toy guns in their hands. Everywhere!
Toy guns were the most famous attraction to kids, in this festival celebrating the power and triumph over evil; some guns had harmless laser lights, others were fitted with light and animated gunshot music, and others still shot plastic bullets the size of a mustard seed –
Luit runs up to me, panting slightly. His hair, which has now reached down to his shoulder blades, is tied back in a messy bun with a thin, ugly rubber band. "It's all clear," he huffs, resting the machine gun on his shoulder. I watch the way his fingers curl around the stock of the gun, at an ease – at too much ease – that comes from years of acquaintance. "Let's go."
I nod. I grip my own machine gun tighter and run up the stairs with him. This building was a luxurious apartment once. Now, it's a graveyard of long-lost laughter and privilege. Once, it would've terrified me to step into this building (who knows how many people died here, holding onto their dear ones) but now... well, there's this thing about war, see, it makes you blind to all things not needed for your survival.
As I run up the gigantic staircase, with a gun in one hand, a backpack strapped to my shoulders, in combat boots I scavenged off some unknown body, I think about Shakti again, though I don't know why (we don't think about gods in this hell). What must she have felt once she found out that the very reason for her existence was to destroy? I know Luit would scoff at my thought and remind me she was destroying evil, that she was the saviour, but imagine having no other purpose than to... kill?
We walk into the topmost floor and get into positions. I kneel down next to the designated spot by the eastern wall and take off the false floor, revealing our stashed ammunition. I pick up a duffel bag and hand it to Luit before grabbing another for myself. I assemble my equipment with mechanical efficiency, my eyes on the sky outside. There are no birds anymore.
"Pralay said it's a new prototype," Luit says from where he's kneeling by the barricaded window, counting his ammo.
"Another one?!" I cry. "Weren't they testing a prototype just a few days back?"
"Three days back, yeah." He looks up and gives me a toothy grin. "Happy new year, by the way."
"New year isn't for another two months." I frown. "I mean, I think so."
Luit shrugs. Without replying, he picks up his machine gun and gets into position by the small opening on the barred window. He is still grinning, and I don't ask why.
They used to make toy guns that resembled the gun in my hand to an eerie extent. I remember one day, when I was just at the threshold of adulthood, I had complained that kids should not be allowed to play with guns. My mother had sighed and said, "Yes, I understand your logic, but in this world, you've got to be strong too." Back then, I didn't understand how and why violence was synonymous with strength.
"Eleven o'clock!" Luit hisses.
I jump into action – kneeling into position by the window beside Luit; my finger on the trigger, eyes on the target. "I see three on my right."
"Two more, behind the tower."
"Yup, I see 'em."
There are five of them in total; disc-like devices, each around four feet in diameter. These surveillance drones are equivalent to the gods these days. I shoot at them. So does Luit.
I can feel the vibrations running up my arm as bullets rain upon those drones. I hit the first one – it falls to the ground leaving a trail of smoke behind it – before moving on to the next. Luit takes the ones on the left. Within minutes, we take down all five drones.
I watch my final target fall to the ground, and frown.
Luit, on the other hand, laughs. He tucks a stray strand of hair behind his ear as he turns to look at me, hoping I would reciprocate his excitement. I don't. His face falls. "What?"
"This was... too easy," I say.
Luit opens his mouth but before he could speak, both our intercoms blare to life – "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"
My blood runs cold. I look out the window again but nothing seems amiss.
"Pralay? What's wrong?" Luit is speaking into the com.
"Trap – there's more! Hundreds of them – no no no –" We hear gunshots before the line goes dead.
Luit gets to his feet and is about to storm out when I grab his wrist. "Wait! We don't know who's out there."
I can tell he wants to protest, but he doesn't. We are no heroes, see – the self always comes first in a war. He nods and starts trying other channels on his intercom. I take the binoculars and look outside.
This city was beautiful, once. These streets, these buildings, these people – they were my home, once. It was lush with greenery, and one could see hills on the horizon no matter which direction one was facing. It was our little paradise, tucked away from the rest of the country and the world.
Avanti, our leader, says that's why we survived the bombings that day – we were too insignificant then. One day – less than twenty-four hours to be exact – that changed humankind forever. We didn't need news channels to tell us anything; we saw the smoke covering the sky, felt the ash rain from the clouds and tasted the acid in the air. We knew it was the end long before the internet stopped working, the government went silent and the army never showed up to help.
"Oh no!"
"What is it?" Luit rushes to my side and puts the binocular to his eyes. "No!"
In the areas where the five drones crashed, hundreds of tiny drones are hovering – glowing red, rapidly spreading outwards. They remind me of the LED lights the city used to don during festivals."E21 to Base, can anyone copy?" Luit is crying into the com. No answer. "Can anyone copy?"There have to be hundreds of those drones, flying low over the city, and standing here, on this building, both Luit and I know we've lost. Our bases are not well hidden which is why we were sent – to shoot out surveillance drones before they got too close. Except now, we have opened our gates and offered them our defeat.
It's too fucking cruel.
I put the binoculars down and turn to Luit. "We need to go."
He doesn't move a muscle.
"Luit, we need to move!"
"And go where?" His voice is a whisper, his being a ghost.
I don't know the answer. There is nowhere to go. The world has already ended, we are the mere echoes of civilisation left behind, scrambling to keep breathing for a few more seconds. "They are here," he mutters.
I don't need to look outside to know the troops have arrived. Soon, my people will be dragged into the streets and shot, or worse, they will be sent outside to the parts of the earth boiling with radiation. This oasis was the only place left to live, and now we've lost it.
"This is Code R," I say.
He turns to me, his face pale and eyes wide, but amidst all that fear, I can see a glimmer of excitement. With an unvoiced understanding settling between us, we run out of the building and towards the dying forest. It is not as dense as it once was, but it still takes us a while to navigate our way towards the Launcher Truck.
"It's beautiful," Luit says, eyeing the monster.
I hum in agreement and climb into the truck. My heart is beating wildly as I set the target and I'm unsure if it's because I'm terrified or exhilarated. With my finger hovering above the trigger, I turn to Luit who's watching my every move with equal thrill. "Goddamnit, Loo, I'm going to miss you."
He breaks into a grin, and very briefly, he looks like a human again. "You too, Car."
I push the button and get out of the truck. Wordlessly, I reach out to hold Luit's hand and we interlace our fingers. His hand is rough and calloused, but warm.
We watch the missile rise to the sky, leaving a brilliant trail of smoke behind it, and we watch as it falls back to earth, leaving another brilliant trail of smoke behind it. It looks like Shakti's trident.
Luit chuckles when I tell him that. "Does that mean you're our saviour?"
I watch the missile get closer. We barely have a minute more before this city – one of the remaining handful of oases in this world – will be obliterated for good. Code R : defeat for defeat.
"I wonder what Durga did after killing Mahisasura," I say.
"Probably went out for a drink." Luit laughs.