“Uruvi… Uruvi! Wake up!”

  Uruvi’s eyes snapped open as she let out a gasp. They looked about the dark room until they came upon Rambha, who looked back at her with a sly smirk.

  “Had a nice nap?” she asked.

  “What? What happened?” asked Uruvi. Her brain felt like it had been put through a blender, mixing up all the thoughts and memories.

  “Give it a second. Everything will come back.”

  She shut her eyes and tried to calm her panicking heart. Slowly, the fog in her mind cleared, and the memories of the event slowly flowed back in. “Oh yeah… the Pisachi… They are the worst… actually, no. Bhootha’s deserve first place. But if these things continue to escalate, then the Pisachi might take first spot.”

  “Sounds like you have been having a jolly good time,” said Rambha.

  “No wait! How can I forget about the Vetala!”

  “Now you are just showing off, babe.”

  Uruvi shot a puzzled look at her and asked, “so, what did I miss?” She pushed herself off the floor before resting her back against a cubicle wall.

  “Nothing much. Just a feast,” said Rambha. “The place was swarmed by contestants, and they made a meal out of the Pisacha.”

  “Oh wow! Wait. What about our ranks?” Uruvi wondered out loud. “Arya, what is my rank?”

  “Your local rank is 15. Global rank 8723,” said Arya.

  She sighed in relief. “Oh, thank God. What about you?” she asked, looking at Rambha.

  “Local rank is 32. Ashwin is at 22. We are in the safe.” Rambha pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed a number. “Hello… Yeah, just woke her up… We will come over now.”

  “Who is that?” she asked.

  Rambha cut the call and put the phone away. “Ashwin. You can walk?”

  She nodded as she put great effort into getting back on her feet.

  “Power is out. We need to take the stairs,” said Rambha.

  “How wonderful…”

  ***

  The sun had dipped just below the horizon, leaving the city behind in a veil of darkness. The crowd of contestants had dispersed, each looking for their next target. The building had been turned into a safezone and was immediately occupied by humans, who were left defenseless in the apocalypse.

  Uruvi and Rambha made their way back to the terrace where Ashwin had set up a small camp for himself.

  A large tower, about two stories tall, stood at a corner with a small red light at its tip that blinked once every few seconds. Uruvi took a good look at the behemoth and asked, “did you set it up?”

  Ashwin unfolded a portable lounge chair and set it down on the floor, before plopping onto it and letting out a big sigh. “The tower? It is the handiwork of the anchor, Ankur.”

  “How?”

  “Magic,” he said with a sly grin.

  “Huh?”

  “No, really. The amount of material and time needed to create even one of these is crazy. But he is able to create these on the fly. I just use my talent to create a connection between the towers.”

  “Talent? You got a talent already?” asked Uruvi.

  “Oh. We got a prodigy already?” said Rambha, who appeared beside her holding a bottle of beer.

  She put her hand up and humbly denied the offer.

  “What? Seriously?” Rambha exclaimed.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Hey, pass that to me,” asked Ashwin.

  “Not a fan of alcohol. Especially in the apocalypse,” she replied.

  “Your loss,” he said, taking the bottle.

  “What else do you have?” she asked.

  “There is a vending machine over there,” said Rambha, pointing at the shed.

  She quickly trotted over and took a can of soda and a packet of potato chips. ‘Should keep me satiated till night.’

  Suddenly, her phone began to ring. She tucked the packet beneath her armpit and pulled out her phone. It was her father.

  “Hello…?”

  “Oh, thank God. Where are you? Are you doing fine?” asked her father.

  “I am doing just fine dad.”

  “What… what rank are you?”

  “I am rank 15. Don’t worry. I am safe… and in a safezone.”

  “That is great to hear. Did your mom call you perchance?”

  “Hmm… no.”

  “Okay, if she does. Make sure you say that you were just helping with the errands.”

  “Oh… okay… She doesn’t know I am a contestant, does she?” she asked.

  “Nope. I am not dealing with that.”

  She chuckled.

  “It won’t be that funny when you are the one breaking the news to her,” said her father.

  She let out a low grunt.

  “Anyways, when will you be back?” he asked.

  “I am going to wait till midnight. Keep a watch, just to make sure.”

  “Good… good plan. Come back in one piece, okay?”

  A soft smile appeared on her face. “Yes. Dad. Love you.” She cut the call and turned around to see that Rambha had set up two more chairs for them. She trotted over and took a seat, setting the bag of chips on a futon that sat between her and Rambha. A small, low-power lantern sat before them, drenching the surroundings in a dull yellow light. She looked at the light and asked, “is this safe? Won’t it act like a torch to a moth?”

  “We are fine. Monsters rarely, if ever, attack a safezone,” said Ashwin.

  She thought for a moment and asked, “don’t you guys find that a little strange?”

  “I guess, it is…” said Rambha.

  “Right? Like, there is a video game logic to it, sure. Everything we are doing now does. But… whoever the Creator is, they seem hell-bent on creating as much chaos as possible. But then we have these… features? That feels contradictory to their mission.”

  Ashwin rubbed his chin and said, “huh. I never thought that deeply. But you are right…”

  “Maybe this is a part of his chaos. Give people enough to hope but also dread at the same time!” said Rambha.

  Uruvi felt chest turn cold. “That is dark!”

  “Oh, like the apocalypse isn’t? None of this makes any sense,” said Rambha, drowning her bottle.

  “Well… I have some idea…” said Uruvi. She told them about her encounter with Bhadraksha and what he had said.

  “Hold on. You came across… let me see… Pisacha, Pisachi, Bhootha, Vetala, and now you are telling me you met an actual Asura?” asked Rambha.

  Uruvi nodded. “Pretty much.”

  “We should hang out more. Your life sounds really exciting,” said Rambha.

  “Whoa… Actual Asura… And Mahabali is out there somewhere, right now!” exclaimed Ashwin.

  “Isn’t he once every year?” said Uruvi. According to legends, Mahabali would ascend from the Patala to the human world once every year to visit his kingdom.

  “Oh yeah! What about the other Asura?” asked Ashwin.

  “He said only the gate to Naraka opened. That is how he and his brother arrived here,” Uruvi explained.

  “I am certain that Naraka is home to plenty of Asura,” said Ashwin.

  The three exchanged blank expressions.

  “Do we know any that are in the Naraka?” asked Uruvi.

  Ashwin thought for a good few seconds and said, “Narakasura?”

  “Really? Because his name is Narak… asura?” said Uruvi.

  Narakasura was a tyrannical Asura who was the son of Mother Earth, aka Bhumi. He relished battle and killing, going on a conquering spree until he was put to rest by Lord Krishna and Satyabhama, avatar of Lord Supreme and Bhumi, respectively.

  “Who knows? We have so many versions of the story. I couldn’t tell you which is telling the truth,” said Ashwin.

  “Does any of our stories talk about what is happening to us now?” asked Uruvi.

  “Wel… Kaliyug was supposed to end in an apocalypse. But I think it was supposed to happen thousands of years later,” said Ashwin.

  Uruvi shot a glance at Rambha, who replied, “Don’t ask me. My knowledge of my Purana is low to non-existent.”

  Uruvi chuckled.

  “But… I have been thinking… What are you guys planning to do now?” asked Rambha.

  “What do you mean?” asked Ashwin. “Today? Tomorrow?”

  “I mean. Are we just going to try and survive till the next day? Cause the more I think about it… It sounds like real hell. I don’t want to be living like this…” said Rambha.

  “Then what do you propose we do?” asked Ashwin.

  “We fight back…,” said Uruvi.

  “Fight back against the system?” asked Ashwin. “How?”

  “That will be for us to figure out. We have come this far, haven’t we?” said Uruvi.

  Ashwin’s lips twisted. He appeared to be unsure. “We have been playing it within the rules of the system. And my assistant refuses to tell me anything outside of what I need to know.”

  “Neither does mine,” said Uruvi.

  “What if we try to get in touch with Bhadra? Think he will give us some information?” asked Rambha.

  “I think so. He seemed to be cooperating well enough,” said Uruvi. “But how do we get in touch with him? He could be anywhere in the world!”

  “Didn’t you say he came to kill that monster? Maybe he is somewhere where there is real danger,” said Ashwin.

  “That doesn’t help our case,” said Rambha.

  They let out a sigh in unison.

  Uruvi opened her screen and tapped on the leaderboard. She saw that her rank was still 15, which lifted some weight off her chest. Her eyes looked at the top of the board. The name Sashwat was still at the top. “Whoever this dude is, he seems to be relishing his place on the board. Not only has he not dropped in rank, but the gap between him and Rank 2 also appeared to have increased.”

  “Some just enjoy the bloodbath,” said Rambha.

  “Hmm… I wonder if there are any perks to being at the top…” Uruvi wondered out loud. ‘Hey, Arya. Are there any perks for Rank 1?’

  “Negative. No perks given for Rank 1.”

  “Well, that is disappointing,” said Uruvi.

  “What is this?” Ashwin said out loud, drawing the attention of both the girls. “There is a perk. Just that no one knows about it.”