12:30 PM – Aftermath
The base was unusually quiet.
People moved slowly, patching walls, cleaning weapons, boiling water. The adrenaline of battle had passed — now came silence, the weight of survival.
Ayush sat outside sharpening his blade. His hands were steady, his expression unreadable.
Shivam played with a kid they'd rescued — teaching him how to hold a stick like a sword. Suraj cleaned the blood from his boots, deep in thought.
Inside, Kartik lay resting. Sanaa sat beside him, her hand gently on his chest.
Sanaa (softly):"You should be proud. They came back because of your planning."
Kartik (half-smiling):"No. They came back because Ayush doesn't lose."
She smiled, but her eyes were troubled.
2:00 PM – Strange Behavior
Ayush noticed something odd.
Aarav — a quiet member of the base they'd rescued weeks ago — had been acting strange. Staring at Sanaa too long. Disappearing during chores. His stories never matched up.
Ayush (to Suraj):"Something's off with that guy. Keep an eye on him. Quietly."
Suraj nodded. No questions. Just action.
4:30 PM – The Scream
The sound sliced through the peace like a blade.
A scream.
A woman's scream.Sanaa.
Ayush and Kartik bolted from different sides of the base, weapons drawn. Ananya and Shivam weren't far behind.
They found her near the far side of the garden — pushed against the wall, eyes wide, shaking, shirt torn at the shoulder.
Aarav stood frozen in front of her, his pants half-down. His nose was bleeding from where she had hit him.
Ayush (growling):"Don't. Move."
Aarav tried to stammer.
Aarav:"It… it wasn't what it looks like—"
Kartik (eyes wide, whispering):"You tried to touch her…"
Sanaa (breaking down):"He grabbed me. I was watering the plants. He cornered me. He tried to—"
Kartik didn't wait.
He tackled Aarav to the ground and punched him repeatedly, yelling, crying, screaming with rage.
Kartik:"YOU TOUCH HER?! MY Sanaa?!"
Ayush had to drag him off.
Aarav's nose was broken. Blood poured from his mouth. But that wasn't enough.
6:00 PM – The Trial
The sun was setting.
The group sat in a circle in the main hall. Aarav was tied to a chair, bruised and bleeding.
Everyone was there.
Kartik paced like a caged lion. Ayush leaned against the wall, arms crossed, emotionless.
Ananya (angrily):"We gave you shelter. Food. A place to live. And you tried to ruin the one pure thing left in this world."
Suraj (quietly):"There's no law here anymore. We are the law."
Shivam (cold):"We've all lost something. But this? This is unforgivable."
Ayush (calm but lethal):"He deserves punishment. The kind monsters get."
Kartik walked up to him, eyes filled with unshed tears.
Kartik:"Give him to me. Just for tonight. Then do what you want."
Everyone was silent.
Ayush nodded.
Ayush (firm):"Take him."
9:00 PM – The Basement
It was dark.
Aarav was tied to a pillar.
Kartik, Shivam, and Suraj were with him. The others stayed upstairs. Nobody wanted to hear what came next.
Aarav (crying):"I didn't do it! I was just joking!"
Kartik (dead calm):"Monsters don't get jokes. They get pain."
What followed was hours of screams, rage, and violence. Kartik led the torture. He broke each finger, whispering Sanaa's name between each crack.
Suraj was silent as he drove nails into Aarav's thighs.
Shivam — the wild one — broke his jaw.
Kartik (final words, cold):"You wanted to hurt her? Now feel everything you tried to do to her."
Then silence.
Aarav's face was unrecognizable. Bones shattered. Skin peeled. Breathing — barely.
Ayush (entering quietly):"It's time."
Kartik turned. His hands were covered in blood.
Ayush handed him a clean knife.
No words.
Kartik took it.
Knelt in front of Aarav.
And drove the blade deep into his neck.
The gurgle was quiet. The blood sprayed like dark rain.
Aarav was dead.
That day We all saw what brutality is....
11:00 PM – Aftermath
They burned the body behind the base. No words. No funeral.
Ananya held Ayush's hand tightly.
Sanaa sat in Kartik's lap, tears running silently down her cheeks.
Sanaa (whispering):"Thank you… for protecting me."
Kartik (softly):"I'll kill the world if it ever touches you again."
Ayush watched them, eyes distant.
Ayush (to himself):"There's no justice left. Only revenge. But maybe… that's enough."