Personal Narrative: A Short Story After Vik's Death

After Vik’s soft interrogation
Vik, short for Vikash, lay on his side, in the hospital room, where Suraj had gently left him. A nurse was fussing about nearby. He wanted to be alone. The words of his brother’s friends rang in his ears... “Revenge”. The bodies of his wife and children were in the same hospital morgue waiting for him to perform the rituals of the dead. He had not seen his living son. He was trying hard not to cry and scream. He clutched the metal frame of the bed beneath the mattress tightly. He could not bear to think of his family laid in the cold, alone, unloved.
Vik felt responsible for what had happened. Why did he take them to that place? Why did it happen? Incomprehension and grief were driving him off his mind. The
Get a pen and paper.”
“There were five or six of them. The one who was on my back must have weighed at least one hundred eighty pounds of hard muscles. Maybe a weight lifter, very strong, shorter than me, broader than me. He had clamped his feet on my calves and held my hands. His face was over my neck. You might get an approximate estimation of his height from my body.”
“Ok. We will name him number one.”
“The number two and three were similar in body type. Short and trim. One of them had a birth mark or a tattoo on his right butt cheek. It was like a dark splotch of ink. The number four was thin and short, I think he has breathing problems. His breath came in bursts and he was wheezing. The number five was tall and thin. He spoke in the local language. From the accent I would say he comes from the extreme East of the State. I have a feeling there was sixth man. I am not sure about that, either he was passive or he came later. They all smelt of the forest. They were clean, by clean I mean they were not dirty, their clothes were old, faded but clean. I did not get the smell of stale sweat, or foul, unhygienic smell. No cigarette smell as well. None of alcohol. They were all sober. No marijuana or
“There is a group called the ‘Ghost’. You are the first one to give us their description. No one knows where they come from or where they hide. They are locals, they blend in the crowd. Extremely efficient. They have never been involved in murders. Kidnapping and extortion have been their business. You remember the mall that blew up? They were responsible for it. It is said that the bombing was an accident. The bombs were laid there to scare. Something went wrong. They had disappeared. Until now.”
“Why attack our