taking a small break

waking up with his friends at noon when the sun was right above his head, making hruday feel irritated to get up today. He didn't want to move an inch; he wanted a big break from everything. The last few days were an emotional roller coaster, so much so that he didn't want to feel any emotion and just rest, which wasn't considered much of a big deal before the apocalypse, but now it was, and he didn't have a choice. Well, he had a choice, but he just couldn't possibly use it now 

It is like a holiday option given to his father by the greedy company that only exists on paper. Well, he always had the option to quit his job and do something else but it was almost as if he was addicted to their abuse and living paycheck to paycheck

 hruday thought out loud, "So this is what responsibility is like, huh?" "It's shitty He got up from the bed to take a leak, feeling relief and letting out his piss with full force That's when he noticed a piece of shit in the toilet, cursing at those who hadn't cleaned their shit, He pointed his gun and applied some force to clean the stain off

he was pissed, and even though he was applying pressure, it wasn't giving up, persistently sticking to the toilet After applying full force and socking it with toxic acidic water, it finally died with a small success and joy He started his day, forgetting to complain about the stain 

 He washed his face, Since he couldn't water plants as it was midday and watering them would kill them, he just sprayed water to the seeds he had kept in a zip bag 

with soothing energy, he started making herbal tea. He plucked 4 tulsi leaves and 3 more, one which was good for memory and the other 2 were good for immunity and throat infection He took out an earthen pot, turning the gas up, and let it get heated while he fetched some coriander seeds and jeera, putting them in and heating them up for a second He poured water since he was feeling cool and added elaichi and saffron 

he boiled it after finally adding all the herbs Taking fancy transparent glass that was only used for guests, he poured it into 4 glasses, then cut a piece of lemon and put it in them. He wouldn't have usually done this but today he wanted to feel fancy 

he would have usually used a metal cup for his friends and a silver one for all households in his country. This was minimal, at least for old-culture households, who would at least have a silver plate and glass, which would either be gifted by close relatives or grandfather but this wasn't all; they would also have a brass water tank and cooking ware 

he thought how ancient people were living right as now, having to move to a city where they didn't have all that except silver glass and a plate At least his father brought an earthen pot upon request 

he found it funny how people were going back to eating in these things, realizing their value in using them. He too was shocked to find out his non-stick pan has cancer-causing toxicants No wonder people were getting sick His favorite snack, which in all households were breakfast, had bleach and all sorts of chemicals. He was actually grateful for the internet and his father 

his father had always shouted not to use plastic, even though it was called "food grade." He was ignoring it until recently, when, because of online awareness, he found that companies were basically poisoning them 

he was regretful calling his father old-fashioned and illogically frustrated that he had to carry a metal lunch box and water bottles and was restricted from drinking any soft drink; even outside snacks were a rare sight 

he hated that now he understood it all but he never once apologized for his acts He had even thrown the lunch box multiple times just to get a plastic one, stopping his train of thought as he checked the water, which was now cooled down and added honey to it 

waking his friends, giving them his own modified herbal tea with a dab of lemon and honey, which he fancifully presented in a glass with mint leaves floating in the middle 

Michael, waking up, smiled and said, "My honey, thank you for the tea." 

pissed hruday said I am not gay, you dipshit 

having a day of his life with everything done, he felt the energy of all the herbs kick in, feeling light and full of energy like he had a good hot coffee No, this was different; it was like a small douse of constant dopamine, soothing and light feeling 

not wanting to exercise, he did some yoga Others joined in with him hruday felt envious of Roy's flexibility, hruday commented, "Roy, with little training, you could become a yoga instructor." whereas Michael was pulling Hruday's leg, giving him a hard time while making fun of him to avoid making fun of him and how badly he was doing 

hruday did fail to roast his flexibility, and I thought, How am I so relaxed? Should I even be relaxed? 

Then hruday did breathing exercises Michael, who felt this exercise was pointless, left after failing to make a good joke and partially because of the aroma he smelled in the air 

after eating, they all fought for toilet space. hruday felt both funny and disgusting that they were going in right after one finished 

Then, now that he had some free time, he finally solved the problem of mirrors pointed at the water tank by using more mirrors to reflect it back After that, he planned his mosquito extermination game rules 

he called everyone to gather mirrors and then, after ripping the mirrors off some lockers and dressing tables, he instructed them to fix this time. Not wanting to climb, he made the scout leader and Mark climb. They put several mirrors on, breaking a few due to the wind blowing Even though they had tied it to a rope and pulled it upside, it was still dangerous as the tank was dome-shaped and with the sun's heat, if they slipped a little, they would be dead 

After that, he gathered everyone standing on the grass bed/abandoned small water tub, with Mark and his friends standing below him like bodyguards staring at him 

everyone was packed densely so that they wouldn't make loud noises and attract the zombies 

He told them about the mosquito extermination game and why it was being held. "so the rules are," He explained loudly. 

"First, everyone will have their phone strapped to their head, and there will be 4 teams, each with a different building assigned to them.".

"A team can even raid the 2 free buildings if they have finished their building, which will be verified by both the monitors and us, and upon finding that claim is false, that team will be severely punished."

this clearing of mosquitoes is not only in the interior but also outside of the apartments.

also, each kill will get you one point and that is how we will decide the winning team The winners gain supplies and other benefits 

hruday would have put more people but due to the lack of mosquito bats, he assigned other team members to ensure the opposite team did not cheat He also mentioned that there are special rewards for those who do special things or earn a title if one understands the game objective 

just as he said, he saw a glint in the teenager's eyes hruday was reassured by nodding and smiling that he was thinking right 

There were lots of questions people asked him about whether adults have to participate in this and if they could postpone it. Why weren't they informed of this before, and what about midday meals? 

After this barrage of questions, hruday took a brief pause and said, Guys, next time, please ask one question at a time and wait till I answer one 

So about the meal, we won't skip it like last time; rice is already being prepared. Help the aunt make sambar so that we can start the game early

 and it is not compulsory to participate but I recommend you guys do and earn as many points and merits as possible because you will receive things that can't be distributed equally 

Well, the question of postponing is out of the question, as this is crucial for our survival. I don't think we should negotiate such a dangerous possibility. It will at least lessen the chance of getting other decisions 

then there was another question about whether this would cause commotion and attract zombies, to which hruday replied yes but it is in our control No screaming, climbing on wall or being to close to wall Besides, these zombies won't react that violently to small noises, and even if they do, they wont be able to detect them. 

and their hearing sensitivity isn't that good I don't know if it is because of the use of rockets and bombs that they are now ignoring small noises, if they aren't intelligent enough to detect where it is coming from or I know it is unnerving to do it That is why i recommend avoiding killing mosquitoes near the east side compounds 

any other questions ? They all asked what points are, and getting supplies as rewards is the same 

well, Points are scores that can be exchanged for supplies and supplies will be given to those who are extraordinary, such as the first team to finish their task and the most points earned by those people will be rewarded with extra rewards

with a smile, all the children felt excited as he made sure to divide them into different teams This also infected adults, as they had speculated rewards were going to be luxury goods or other important supplies

scout leader felt, huh, first you took all the luxury goods from us, now you are giving back by making us work for them. Well played brat not for long, he smiled creepily