WALKING IN THE SUNLIGHT
IT was a new moon night. Joe rolled on his bed back and forth trying to get some sleep but in vain. His mind was too troubled to get a good and easy sleep. He decided to let go of the attempt to sleep and switched on the bed lamp. His mind was in a vague state. He was happy to have been with Lisa but he was sad that the times were so troubled. Things seemed to be getting worse day by day. He wanted to end it all as quickly as possible. He was convinced that opening the floppy that they got from Jolly villa would mark an end to all the mysteries that shrouded them and he would have the life with Lisa that he always dreamed of .It opened new doors, raised new questions but one thing it didn’t do was answer any of their questions. The opening of the floppy replayed in his mind.
The floppy contained a text document. What was strange about it was that there was no text in it. It had only dots and slashes. They felt cheated like someone who went on a treasure hunt only to find fake diamonds. After they both stared at it for a minute, it was Lisa who was struck with the idea that it could be a code of some sort, upon which Joe commented
“Like father, like daughter.”
Joe didn’t have any objection to the idea that it could be a code because no sane person would a floppy with nothing taped under a table .Now they put their effort on finding a way to decipher the code. It was Joe who brought the breakthrough this time.
“It is a binary code.”
“You mean like a Morse code with slashes instead of dashes. A dot-slash version of the dot-dash Morse code?”
“It’s indeed a twisted version of the Morse code but it’s not dots and slashes rather dots and spaces.”
“Then what is the function of the slashes?”
“Their usual function, separation.”
“Wow! That makes perfect sense. When space is part of the code, there needs to be something to take its place which the slash does.”
“Exactly”
“Do you know Morse code?”
“No, but the internet does”
Joe was brought back to the present by sound of gunshots and shattering of windows. Multiple shots were fired. He quick to get on his feet and paced towards Lisa’s room. On his way he found Mohan and Lakshmi coming up the stairs with panic stricken faces.
“Sir, there’s...”
“I know.” Joe cut off Mohan. “Lakshmi get Lisa .we need to get out and Mohan you know what needs to be done. “Another window shattered as they spoke. After taking a moment to brace himself, Mohan nodded in understanding and rushed down the stairs. Joe went back to his room to get the laptop, floppy drive and the floppy.
When Joe came down the stairs, he found Lisa and Lakshmi waiting for him. Lisa was unusually well dressed for that time of the night but it wasn’t the time for pleasantries. So he kept mum. Mohan tossed him the car keys.
“How are we going to make to out of here? They are right at the gate”, asked Lisa with a curious face as they walked towards the back door.
“Luckily, we may have a way out .There is no time for explanation. Just trust me on this”
They got out through the back door. Mohan was waiting for them there. Lakshmi joined him.
“Lisa, we have to get to the car without being spotted. Mohan we will drag them with us. Go hide somewhere. Wait until everything is clear and leave this place. You have to do one more thing for me. When I give you the signal, pull the fuse. Lisa come on.”
Joe and Lisa sneaked towards the car. They sat down behind the car. Joe took out the car keys and signalled Mohan who had already positioned himself by the fuse box. Joe pressed the unlock button and Mohan pulled the fuse in unison. The electricity went off and the car unlocked at the same instant. The car did not make any sound .Just the indicator lights flashed. But the thugs were distracted by the lights going out to notice that. They were standing at least 10 meters from where Joe and Lisa. Both of them slowly sneaked into the car. The lights inside the car came on when they opened the doors. It invited attention. Unwanted attention
One of the thugs jumped the compound wall .He had a gun .His first shot broke the rear view mirror by Joe’s side. Before he fired the second. Joe got the car started .Surprising everyone but Joe the car went backwards. The second shot took out a headlamp. Lisa gazed at him completely dazzled. Joe saw it.
“I’ll explain later. “Said Joe as the car went through an already open back gate and drifted onto the wet road. He hit the brakes, shifted the gear and the car raced forward splashing water all over.
“I can’t believe this is happening again”, Lisa regretted.
“Neither did me. But hey, things don’t always happen the way we want”. Joe tried to smile.
“I don’t think this is a good time for philosophy. You might want to focus on how to get off this mess”.
“Good point. Speaking of which, I don’t see them on the rear view mirror.”
“Did we lose them?” said Lisa looking back.
“I don’t think so. They tracked us here. I don’t think they will quit that easily”.
The car paced through the lonely road, killing the silence of the night. There were hardly any Street lights on that part of the road. Both of them kept looking at the rear view mirror. But nothing showed up. Joe couldn’t resist the feeling that something bad waiting for them. It sickened his mind. They were approaching a sharp curve towards right. Suddenly, completely out of the blue a speeding car came at them from the opposite direction. In a frantic attempt to avoid colliding head on, Joe’s car skidded off the road and went down the inclined path. Before he could regain control over the car, it collided with a tree and the air bags deployed. The driver on the other car didn’t even bother to stop and take a look.
“Lisa, are you okay?”
There was no answer but he could hear her desperately trying to catch her breath. He realized that her fear of accidents was setting in. He found bottle of water that he had bought earlier lying on the back seat. He got out of the car after grabbing the bottle, reached the door on Lisa’s side, opened the door and helped her out of the car. They sat down by the door, leaning on the car.
“It’s okay Lisa. Everything is going to be fine. Here just drink this and relax”.
While Lisa was drinking the water, a car whizzed past them in the direction they were heading. A shudder passed through him. But it wasn’t the people that were chasing them.
“Scared the hell out of me, pooh!” He took a sigh of relief. It was then he noticed that his car had come so far off the road that no one would easily see it unless they are looking for it. He was quick to run up to the steering wheel and turn off the lights.
“What are you doing?” asked Lisa getting back on her feet. She splashed some water onto her and wiped it off with her hand.
“I think we should leave the car here and start walking.”
“Walk? Are you kidding? They will catch us in seconds.”
“I wasn’t talking about walking on the road. I was talking taking a hike through these woods.”
“Oh! That sounds great.” After a pause she added “Let’s not waste time. Come on let’s go.”
They started walking through the woods with the light from the mobile cam flash, not knowing where it would take them. It was vast than they thought. After they walked for an hour, Joe’s phone beeped. It said
Low battery. Plug in your charger
“My phone is going to be dead soon”. He informed Lisa.
“Then we better find a place to settle down”.
“Here?” He frowned.
“Yeah. You haven’t spent a night in the forest. Have you?”
“No, but I’m thinking you have.”
“Yeah, during a nature camp 2 years ago. It’s fun. Besides, there is a first time for everything.”
“Okay then. As you wish”.
“We are going to need a fire to keep us warm. Find some dry leaves and branches.”
After they made a pile Joe asked “Now how are you going to light it”
“Simple. We use the oldest method known”. Saying this she took two stones and started rubbing them against each other. Soon there were sparks which lit up the pile of dry wood.
“Wow, I’m officially impressed.”
“Oh its nothing.” she smiled.
They sat down next to each other leaning on some thick old tree. It was cold despite of having a fire blazing aside them. Joe took a moment to enjoy the sky and the stars.
“Joe?”
“Yeah”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course. You can ask me anything”
“Have you been mad at me?”
Joe couldn’t help laughing. “This is your big question?”
“Don’t laugh, answer it.”
“Yeah. But it wasn’t your fault.”
“Go on”
“Whenever there was a celebration or fest in our college, I used to dream of spending some time with you, to get a picture with you. But you, you would busy with one or the other thing. You would be volunteering from some club or you would have a performance. Was there a club in college that you were not a part of? Like I said earlier, it wasn’t your fault. After all, that is what makes you you.”
“Sometimes I also feet I was into a lot. I’m glad you said it honestly. “She wrapped her arms around his and rested her head on his shoulder.
The warm rays of the sun hit the earth and once again it was morning. Joe felt the warmth of the sun, the coldness in the air, her arm around his and the weight of her head on his shoulders as they walked along the lonely mud path.
“It feels good to be walking in the sunlight once again”, Lisa spoke without lifting her head from his shoulder.
“Yeah. Hey look, we have reached a highway”
“Maybe we can get a lift”, said Lisa raising her head to get a better look.
“Wait a minute. I think I know this place” .After a pause he added “What are the odds?”
“What is it?”
“We have found ourselves a ride”
“Really, that’s great. By the way you never told me why there was a rear entrance to your villa.”
“Walk with me. I’ll tell you on the way”