Chapter 5

Not waiting to see what would happen next and not willing to be there if the tiger managed to cross safely, Anshul turned and ran, dragging his injured leg all the while shouting, “That f*cking cat!!”

“You shouldn’t use language like that. Hasn’t your mother taught you not to use foul language? And that too in front of kids?” Nia countered almost automatically.

“Oh, god!” Anshul muttered, “Can you please shut up, Nagisa?! I’m running, you know?” The pain in his leg had reached a level that made it seem like it was on fire and he had difficulty breathing.

Do I feel so tired just because of the pain or is it because I don’t exercise? Wait… how do I know that I don’t exercise?

Pushing aside all these random thoughts that kept cropping up, Anshul concentrating on regulating his breathing.

Inhale with my nose, exhale with my mouth. Someone told me this. Take deep breaths.

He kept running, his lungs were on fire and he felt like he had been running for two hours though it was just around 2 minutes.

“The tiger is gaining momentum,” Nia told him just as he spotted a clearing up ahead.

“There’s a rock face there!! We can try to climb it; the tiger will most likely not be able to catch us if we climb up quite high.”

Racing to the side of the rocky, small hill-like area, Anshul used both his hands to raise Nia up. “Climb, it’s a very short distance and there are lots of handholds and footholds.”

There was a ledge up above. Standing on Anshul’s shoulders, Nia very nearly reached it. Nodding her understanding, she placed her hand s on the cliff face and grasped crevices to use as handholds.

As soon as her weight was off his shoulder, Anshul leaned against the rock-face. Then bracing himself, he searched for handholds and very painfully hoisted himself up. He climbed as quickly as he could and as a result nearly lost his footing once. As he was using only his right leg for balance, losing that foothold made him hang in mid-air swinging wildly and he nearly let go.

A sudden loud roar below made him so scared that he somehow moved his right foot erratically and managed to regain his footing. He had finally crawled up onto the ledge and just at that moment, the tiger burst into the clearing, fangs bared and snarling ferociously.

“Quick, there’s the top of this cliff-face. If we manage to climb that we can be completely safe from the beast. I’m pretty sure that it won’t be able to climb up here but I would prefer to be as far away from the predator as possible. Come here, I’ll pick you up.”

“There’s no need, I can climb by myself,” Nia said.

I’m not sure whether I’ll be able to pick her up but still-

“It’ll be faster this way. Don’t be so stubborn.”

He moved towards her to pick her up forcefully but she retreated. He kept moving forward and she retreated but what neither noticed was that they were nearing the edge of the ledge. Suddenly, Anshul took a very quick step towards her and she instinctively pushed.

Unable to keep his balance as he had to use his left leg to keep it and it could no longer hold his weight, Anshul fell. He might have still not fallen down but midway he tried to regain his balance and in that split-second, his ankle twisted and he rolled down the cliff-face.

Coincidentally, the tiger had been trying to climb the rocky surface while the youngsters had been arguing. It was so surprised when Anshul came hurtling down that it yelped and jumped away.

“Oww, that really hurt-” Anshul’s voice cut off and his eyes widened, almost bulging out their sockets when he saw the tiger shaking itself and looking at him with such menace that his legs turned to jelly.

Well, what could I have done even if my legs weren’t shaking? As if I can muster the strength to move my left leg. And the blood oozing out from the wound seems to have made it hungrier. Fat chance that I can escape this. Seriously, what a way to die…eaten by a friggin’ wildcat.

“Bhaiyya?” A small voice came down.

Looking up, Anshul could make out the tear-stained face of Nia and said, “It’s OK, Nia, just climb and get away.” He managed a small smile and thought to himself, I’m ready to die.

Glancing at the tiger, he saw the wildcat preparing to pounce and as he gazed into its eyes, Anshul felt as if he was looking at a video of his fate.

The cat would pounce, swat his head with its mighty paw, it would feel like a slap but his head would crack and he would die. Then the tiger would eat him, slowly tearing at his soft cheeks, munching on his cheekbones, lick the blood spilling from the wound on his leg and tear the meat of his thigh and savour the bone marrow of his thighbone.

Quite sure I got most of the facts about how a tiger eats its prey wrong, but I know one thing for sure.

As the tiger pounced, he ducked and twisted himself away with all his might.

I know that I don’t want to die!! I am not ready for death! Especially as an amnesiac!!

Anshul kept twisting his body repeatedly until he had no strength left to do so anymore. Feeling rocks on his back and not soil, he craned his neck and saw that he was lying on a very small rock-face. It wouldn’t offer protection, but it could get him a few seconds of respite.

Taking a look at the tiger revealed that it was preparing to pounce again. Reaching back with his right hand, Anshul found the top and prepared to propel himself backwards.

If I’m a bit faster than it, I can even kick its head when it attacks.

Thinking this, he pushed himself back just as the tiger jumped. Unexpectedly, the tiger had jumped high and Anshul’s vision was filled with the open maw of the tiger saliva dripping from it and suddenly, he felt a sharp pain at the back of his head.

Must have hit a rock protruding from the cliff face. Didn’t see it cuz-

Was all that he managed to think before darkness overtook him. But before he lost consciousness, he felt like he heard a gunshot.