Episode 58
Rajan had the bitter experience of taking a forceful slap from Rod. At that time, he thought that Rod was the most powerful man on the earth. But after receiving the tiger's slap, Rajan realized that the tiger was at least twice as powerful as Rod. A big chunk of flesh got torn as a result of that slap. The pain became unbearable, but Rajan had enough experience of absorbing pain in the recent time. Rajan knew that he would not die due to bloodshed, but he would surely if the tiger managed to choke his neck with his powerful teeth, and that was exactly what Raja wanted to do.
But, Rajan as a desperate measure held the shoulders of the tiger with his arms. Raja got extremely irritated by that move. There was a tussle between the man and the beast. It didn't take much time for Raja to overpower Rajan. He got rid of Rajan's hold, and again jumped on him. This time injured Rajan was not in a position to prevent him. Rajan remembered his revered God Lord Shiva for the last time, and closed his eyes totally surrendering himself to his fate.
"Hey you! Fight with me."
The tiger's hope of killing his prey without any hassles was rudely shattered by a massive kick on his rib cage. The impact of the kick was good enough to throw the tiger 3 feet away from Rajan.
"Rajan Anna, don't waste any time! Climb to the other side. I am holding it back."
Siddharth appeared at the scene at the last moment like an angel. The tiger's claws and teeth had made some serious incisions on Rajan's body, and he was bleeding profusely, not to mention the suffering of excruciating pain. But, when the death comes to your doorstep, you don't pay attention to anything except saving your life. Rajan was sure that Lord Shiva had sent Siddharth at the crunch moment to save him. So, he could not let this godsend opportunity go because of pain. He thanked Siddharth, and somehow garnered enough strength to climb onto the lattice wall.
While Rajan was escaping to the other end, the situation was getting extremely murkier between Siddharth and Raja. From the 50-meter distance Archana couldn't understand who was having an upper hand, as both of them were rolling on the ground. Siddharth held the neck of the tiger forcefully trying to choke it, and the tiger was constantly slapping Siddharth with his paws. As a lot of of pressure was put on his neck by the powerful bloke Siddharth, the tiger was unable to bring full power to his slaps.
The tiger might not have applied full power to his blows, but they were good enough to tear Siddharth's flesh. The soil was drenched with Siddharth's blood. Siddharth was applying full pressure on the tiger's neck to kill it, but Raja being a healthy male tiger, the girth of the neck was too large to choke it to death. Siddharth understood that if he bled at this rate, he would not last long. So, he gave up the hope of killing the tiger, and as a desperate measure he released his grip on the neck of the animal only to poke his fingers on both eyes of the tiger.
This desperate effort had worked magically. The tiger rolled backwards making growls of pain. This gave Siddharth a great opportunity to escape. Even though, he was sapped of all his energy, and he bled profusely, his animal instincts to survive prevailed on his lifeless body. It was a simple miracle that he could climb up the steel lattice wall, and reach the other end. The injured, hungry tiger, too, was sapped of his energy. He didn't move an inch and lay on the ground making it easier for Siddharth to escape.
Siddharth had never been a religious person in his entire life, or for that matter he didn't have any faith in God. He believed in the concept of good work. But today, when he dropped his lifeless body on the other side from a height of 10 feet, he himself was amazed to realise that he had made it.
Archana was praying to the God, and when Siddharth made it to her side, she simply cried loudly thanking the God. Rajan, who had made it 5-minute earlier to this side was eagerly waiting to see wnat happened on the other side. His heart wanted to pray for Siddharth, but his brain wanted him to be killed.
He thanked Siddharth from the bottom of his heart for saving him from the jaws of death, but he prayed to the God for Siddharth's death. Because, he was a married man having the responsibility of his family, while Siddharth had no family. If Siddharth died, it would not matter to anybody. But if died, his enire family would be ruined. Therefore, he was watching the life-and-death fight between the tiger and Siddharth. He was extremely disappointed when the 80 kg, almost lifeless body of Siddharth dropped on this side.
As soon as Siddharth's body dropped on Archana's side, Ranjan announced via his microphone
"Your 3-minute time starts now Archana."
Archana's worst fear had become true. This was the scenario she didn't want to see happen. But, she didn't know what to do now. Since she could not kill the tiger, as per the rules of this event, she had to kill one of the two men now.
Both Rajan and Siddharth were bleeding profusely. Rajan's injury seemed to be lesser. When the final event started, both the men were wearing tracksuits; Rajan wore yellow coloured long-sleeved jacket and a matching pant, while the colour of Siddharth's tracksuit was blue. But after the assaults by Raja, both men's dresses were torn into several pieces. Rajan ripped the remaining dresses and tied it on the places of injury in order to stop the flow of blood. He was now wearing only his underpants.
Siddharth could not do the same. Because of the more intense fight with the tiger and his constant blows on his various body parts, Siddharth's dresses were alteady torn apart. He, too, was only in his underpants. Besides, he didn't have much energy left in his body. He was lying near the lattice wall like a vegetable. His occasional pitiful groans made sure to everybody that he hadn't died.
As a shooter, it was easier for Archana to shoot Siddharth's motionless body, which was around 70 meter away from her. 70 meter, because he went to the side of the ground to save Rajan who had run diagonally. On the otherhand, Rajan, too, was standing at place near the lattice wall. The distance was around 55 meter, because he was near the centre.
But Archana didn't know whom to shoot, because both of them were her near ones. It was true that she got estranged from Rajan due to his neglect and indifference towards her. At one point of time, she even thought of committing suicide to end the meaningless relationship. At that point, Siddharth came to her life like an angel. He gave her a new meaning of life. They became close, and they decided to flee to live with each other.
While Archana was thinking all these, Ranjan announced via his microphone,
"Your one minute is over Archana. If you don't shoot in the next minute, one of our sharpshooters will shoot you in the leg."
This announcement had alerted Archana. She had to act. But still she could not decide whom to shoot. Her attitude towards Rajan took a dramatic change after coming to this horrific place. In her first task in the hell house, she had to beat Rajan mercilessly. This incident had caused a change in her heart. She began to love Rajan again. During the torturous treatment she received here, thinking about Rajan and her children gave her the necessary motivation to carry on. Besides, how could she think of killing her own husband?
She also thought of the other option of not shooting at all. In that case, all three would die, and if she missed intentionally, she would be killed. She thought of that situation hard. Would her children be able to live without her? What would happen if Rajan decided to remarry? Would the new mother look after well her children? She closed her eyes. Suddenly, the faces of her children appeared in front of her. They were saying, "Mom when will you meet us?"
This had jarred her mind vigorously, and she quickly opened her closed eyes. She decided that she had to live. She had to live for her children. But still she didn't know whom to shoot?
Boom! The Joker was indeed a man of his words, Rajan thought. A sniper shot Archana as a warning. The bullet hit her in her left thigh, and almost knocked her off the tower. Her gun fell on the floor, and she had to hold the rim of the tower to avoid falling. The bullet injury was severe, and blood came out from her thigh like a river. Though she was not scared of shedding blood or afraid of pain, the main problem was she could no longer stand on her feet.
Ranjan announced, "The last minute has started. If you don't shoot, all of you will be dead."
Rajan got panicked. He didn't want to lose her wife. He came towards Archana and shouted,
"Don't waste time Archana. Shoot Siddharth. He is almost dead, end his agony."
But, Rajan didn't look at Siddharth or for that matter Archana did. Both of them were startled to see that Siddharth was on his feet, and he came very near to Rajan, who was about 20 meter from Archana.
"How did you come here?" Rajan seemed to have seen a ghost.
"Don't worry Rajan Anna, I have come near you to help you." Siddharth said.
Archana was struggling to stand, as the pain was too much to ignore. Watching her predicament, Siddharth shouted,
"Don't try to stand Archana. Lay down in prostrate and aim from that position. I am coming near you. Kill me. Don't think! Just Kill me."
Indeed Siddharth came closer to the tower, while Archana took position in prostrate.
Rajan was very happy to see this development. He goaded Archana,
"There is hardly 20 seconds left Archana. Pull the trigger and kill him. Kill him. Kill him."
Rajan's words sounded similar to the urging that she had heard in her bizarre dream in the underground room a few days back. In that dream, the Joker's team members surrounding Archana were hysterically telling her, "Kill him or get killed."
Archana's head started to spin. The Joker had told her to aim at the head of her target. Now, both the men were at a very close distance from her. Anxious Rajan was counting seconds and goading Archana to shoot.
"Only 10 seconds left Archu! Now or never!" Rajan became frantic. Siddharth was again lying on the ground, as he had no energy left in his body. It was indeed a miracle that he came so close with his lifeless body. Archana closed her eyes once more to say a prayer to the God. When she opened her eyes, there was hardly 5 second left in the clock.
Boom! She made her ultimate choice, and she shot her target with utmost precision. The bullet penetrated the head, killing her target instantly. Everyone present in the crowd cheered loudly. Even Ranjan announced over his microphone,
"Bravo! What a shot, and what an ultimate choice!"
But, Archana lost her consciousness, and she fell on the floor.
Since then she had lost her mental balance. Killing her own husband gave her such a rude shock that she could never overcome. The Joker's men cremated the dead body of Rajan in Hindu ritual. This was done as per the earnest request of Ranjan, who even cried secretly on his friend's death. Siddharth was immediately taken to the hospital. But, he lost one of his legs due to severe injury.
______________________ End ____________________
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