Editor: Read Chapter XIII here.
Avinash woke up in cold sweat.
Ever since Janak had been executed for wanting to desert, Avinash had been having nightmares about him. Janak would frequently accuse Avinash of not saving his life when he could have easily done so.
‘You are the Platoon Leader, the overall commander. You could have ordered Tarun to spare me,’ he would scream and Avinash would wake up in a cold sweat.
‘I was powerless. Also, you did want to desert.’ Avinash would think.
Avinash did his best to convince himself that killing Janak had been a good thing, but failed. He agreed with everything that Tarun did, except this. He was sure that everyone except the unit leaders felt the same. All that Janak did was to ask for permission to leave. To accuse him of wanting to desert and to execute him in cold blood using a firing squad had been extreme, and Tarun had done exactly that. What surprised Avinash the most was that the two newly appointed unit leaders had gone along. Sanket and Niranjan had actually trussed up a man who used to be an equal when they had their ‘Marxist Thoughts’ meetings, while he was shot dead like a dog and then even proceeded to bury him! What explanation would he give Janak’s parents once the revolution was successful?
Nevertheless, he had to admit that Janak’s execution had hardened them all. They knew that there was no going back. They had all played a role in killing the ‘deserter’ and that meant that none of them could now desert themselves.
Never mind, he would soon become the ruler of India and with all the vast resources at his disposal, he would make sure that all of Janak’s parents’ material wants were taken care of.
Featured Image (Cover): Nisha Joseph
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