The Trip

The forest was huge. There were no other words for it; no adjective that could describe its vastness. It was huge, something beyond imagination. Rajat, Tina, Meet and Meera had been inside for nearly seven hours and there was no end to it. They had been allotted a jeep and to Meet's delight, it came without a driver. They had their free reign. The jeep also had a large box containing a variety of tools, water bottles, some food packets, a map and a satellite phone. There was no cellular network coverage in the forest.

They had nearly emptied the food packets and the water bottles and were headed towards the exit when something strange happened. Meet halted the jeep abruptly in front of an extremely old tree.
"Why did you stop? We have only half an hour left to get back." Meera said from behind. She was very deep in conversation with Rajat to notice the cause.
"The map says we have to go straight. There is no road straight ahead, just this tree." Tina explained looking at the map, from the front seat. She preferred sitting next to Meet.

The four were in their second year of college and were highly adventurous. After every exam, they would set-off for a trip of a day or two. This one was similar. Rajat and Meet stepped out of the jeep to examine the situation. There was no road ahead. Could it be Tina's mistake in reading the map? Rajat borrowed the map and studied it himself. Tina was correct, there had to be a road in place of the ancient tree. Meet saw the map as well but couldn't disagree with Tina.
"This road though. It is not on the map." Tina said, pointing to the road on his left.
"Let me see." Rajat said taking the map back from Meet. He saw it as well.
Meera stepped out of the jeep holding the satellite phone in her hands. Rajat took it from her and turned it on. It didn't work.
"Here, give it to me." Meet said taking the phone and trying to turn it on. Nothing worked. The phone wasn't working.
"What is wrong with it?" He said rapping it against his palm.
"It is not your television remote, Meet." Tina said and tried to turn it on but nothing they did worked on it.
"What do we do?" Rajat asked after everyone had tried it, "We are wasting our time. The gates will be closed soon."
"We travel this road for ten minutes. If it leads us further inside, we head back right here and wait for someone to discover us." Meet suggested. The other three agreed. They took the road but they didn't know at that time that this was the last mistake they would commit.

Back at the control room, the officers were preparing for the closure of the park. According to their records, the last jeep had come out of the forest and there was not a single soul inside the boundaries. A torn page from the entry register was lying in the dustbin in the corner of the room. There was no way anyone of them was going to discover the four friends.

The unmapped road had given them no choice but to keep on traversing it. As soon as they had taken the road it had started taking them into an eerily odd place. They tried to turn back, but another tree conveniently decided to fall on the road blocking their way back. There was no way they could lift it so they decided to continue along the road. The trees were thinning now. They kept on the path for nearly half an hour and the trees had completely vanished. They were out of the forest. But there was nothing around, just a bare stretch of sandy land. They kept on going ahead with the hope of finding someone.

Going along the perimetre of the forest was not an option. Cutting the park straight had taken them seven hours, circling it would take nearly double that time. They were happy to be out of the park, away from the dangers of the wild though where they were exactly, they didn't know. The map offered them only the areas within the park. It was not written on it what lay outside the boundaries. Tina, however, couldn't give up on it just yet. She had the map stretched on her lap.
"Why are you still reading it?" Meet asked. The irritation in his voice was clearly visible.
"I don't know. I think we are not safe here. I think we should head back to the park."
"And those animals would be your friends, won't they? We saw them, they are not caged. It’s a sanctuary. We enter and we die. Those animals are bound to have us for their next meal." Meet said. He could hardly keep himself from losing his cool, "I am telling you we are on the correct path." He added seeing the expression on Tina's face.
"Meet, think rationally. We are somewhere near the borders of the country, this map, I came to notice, does not have the key element."
"And what is that?" Rajat asked.
"The four directions. Look." Tina said showing the map to Rajat. Meet craned his neck to take a look.
"This means, we could be damned." Rajat said, studying the map.
"What do you mean?" Meet asked.
"Your thick skull won't allow you to understand this." Rajat said, still observing the map.
"Explain or I am stepping out of the jeep right now." Meet said stopping the jeep in the middle of nowhere.
"See, we know this park is located near the boundaries of the country." Rajat started
"Yes." Meet said, his brows narrowed in concentration.
"And see this; it does not have the cardinal directions."
"What is that? Cardinal directions?"                                                                                                                                                                                   "North, East, West, South. There is nothing on the map to tell us which direction is which and we don’t have a compass either. Now, the park has three borders, it means two of them lead inside the country and one leads outside."
"How did we come this far without directions?"
"Oh! This map is simple enough, right angled roads, simple lefts and rights." Tina explained.
"Tina, you should have noticed it earlier." Meet cried.
"Don’t you start on her. It is not her fault there was a tree right where the road had to be. The map is faulty." Meera said defending Tina. She had been incredibly quiet till now. It was unlike her.
"What do we do now?" Rajat asked Tina. She was the expert with cartography.
"I've been studying the map. The road through which we came out leads us towards another boundary but it is blocked because of the tree that fell. We can head back straight towards the boundaries and go along the right. Here, this looks like an opening. Maybe we can enter the park from here." She said pointing a location, centimetres away from where they had come out.
"You want to go inside that park again?" Meet asked.
"You don't understand, do you? It is possible we are not in our country anymore."
"What do you mean?" Meet asked.
"What were you doing when Rajat was explaining? This park has three boundaries. I think we crossed the boundary of our country." Tina said.
Meet had nothing to say to this. His anger had vanished and confusion had taken hold of his face.
"What do we do now?" Meet asked after several moments.
"This opening. According to the scale, it is twelve kilometers from where we came out."
"But we have travelled nearly 20 kilometers since when we came out of the forest." Meet said. His eyes had widened.
"We can head back. We follow the marks of jeep's tires."
"We don’t have that much fuel." Meet said.
"What? Why?" Rajat and Meera said at the same time.
"Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Tina asked.
"I thought we will reach somewhere before we run out of fuel." Meet said.
"How much have we left?" Rajat asked.
"Enough for the next ten kilometres, then we might have a problem." Meet declared. It was a huge blow.
"Alright. We cannot go back." Rajat said, absorbing the situation.
"Then we need to know if we still are in the country or not." Tina said, "We don’t have a compass, we make one."
"How?" Meera asked. Her level of practical knowledge was exact opposite to Tina's.
"We magnetize a pin or a clip and we let it float on water." Tina said.
"I have this if it can help." Meera said, holding out her hair clip.
"Meera, you fool, you couldn't have given it to me earlier?" Tina said exasperated.
"I didn't know you could make a compass out of a hair clip."
"I can't make a compass out of this clip. Where did you get this?" Tina said examining the clip.
"Europe. It's Victorian. My aunt bought it for me. Why is there something wrong with the clip?"
"This is a compass. See the markings, these are directions. I just need to suspend it with a thread or so."
"Good thing too. I see we don’t have any water left." Rajat said examining the contents of the box.

Tina did something with the Victorian hair clip and declared after a few moments that they were still in their country. The boundaries that led to another were those on the left.
"Whatever we do, we cannot head west." Tina said.
"But what do we do?" Rajat asked, "We don’t have fuel, there is no water, neither food. It is already nearly midnight and I don’t think people will venture near here."
"We need water." Meera said.
"We can head straight till there is fuel." Meet suggested.
"For a second Meet, stop thinking about driving." Tina said not holding back her irritation.
"Alright. What should we do then?" Meet snapped back, "You hardly have any solutions, have you?"
"We are thinking." Tina said.
Rajat and Tina went inside the jeep, searching for other contents they might have missed earlier, leaving Meera and Meet outside. Meet was angry and Meera, confused.
"They are not helping. Your girl simply stands there looking beautiful. She had the compass all along." Tina said in whisper so that only Rajat could hear.
"Meet is hardly helping us. He led us into it if you haven’t noticed. He didn’t tell us about the fuel." Rajat said in a similar voice.
"How did we end up with such idiots?" Tina asked smiling at Rajat.
"Well, the proposal I gave you is still open, ditch him and I'll ditch Meera." Rajat smiled.
"We'll think about that later. Let us hope we find something useful." Tina said, turning towards the dashboard of the jeep. They searched for several moments and found an orange briefcase, inside was a flaregun. Tina held it out for Rajat to see and he looked relieved.
"How many cartridges?"                                                                                                                                                                                                        "Just the one." Tina said.
"It is something. Let's show it to them." Rajat said.

They stepped out of the jeep. Meera and Meet stood there with their arms folded. The smug expression on their faces clearly revealed their minds.
Tina held out the gun for them to see.
"What, you want to shoot us now, do you?" Meera asked angrily.
"It is a flare gun you idiot. We can send a signal with it." Tina said.
"Don’t you call her an idiot. How was she supposed to know her hairclip was a compass?" Meet started.
"Let us not fight. What's important is we can send a signal for them to find us." Rajat said.
"Do it then. What are you waiting for?" Tina said to Rajat.

Rajat checked the cartridge in the gun, cocked it and aimed it upwards. He took some moments before firing it but when he did, a red flame shot out of it and went several meters up in the sky. Their eyes followed it till it glowed.
"Now what?" Meera asked.
"Now we wait and hope someone saw it." Rajat said.

The four of them sat together. They didn’t talk but sat together. Meera and Rajat had been together since school. Tina was going out with Meet since last six months. Rajat had always been attracted to Tina's intellect but his relationship with Meera didn't allow him to approach her. Recently it had been difficult for Rajat to get along with her eccentricity. Meera cared for nothing else in the world except for looking beautiful. Meet was the handsome hunk and Tina not so good looking. Tina, when she first joined them in the college, used to be alone. She had no friends. Then six months back, Meet had broken up with her girlfriend and Tina had seized her chance. You could not survive college life without a boyfriend with all those expenses mounting one on top of the other. She had regretted it though, when she understood what Meet was. He cared for nothing else but motorcycles and cars and himself.

A few hours passed and nobody said a single word. Rajat had long assumed that the only shot they had at the flaregun was wasted and Tina seemed to process the same fact. It was finally Meera who spoke.
"I am thirsty, thirsty and hungry." She said in a small voice. Nobody snapped at her, they needed water as well.
"We need to find water. What do we do, set-off now or wait till morning?" Rajat asked Tina.
"We should wait, there's a chance they saw it. It took us seven hours remember?" Tina said.
"We wait till morning and then we head straight and find out if anyone lives there or not." Rajat announced.
"You care to explain it to us?" Meet asked.
"It is possible that the control room saw the flare we launched. But it takes seven to eight hours to reach here from the control room. If we leave here now, they will think it was their mistake and return. We will leave in the morning; that is if they don’t turn up. We can head straight and hope to find someone or hope that our phone's signals return."

Another few hours passed. For the lack of activity, Tina still had the map stretched in front of her. Meet was at the jeep now. He was doing something under the open hood of the jeep. Rajat knew it was Meet's favourite pastime, understanding the mechanics of engines. Meera had slouched down next to Tina. Whether she was asleep or unconscious, Rajat didn't know. He was hardly awake himself. His brain, it seemed, was processing things slowly and was not reacting. He had not even twitched his fingers in the last hour. He wanted to lie there as well, but he decided against it. Fainting could prove fatal.

"Rajat. Are you alright?" Tina asked suddenly.
"Yeah." Rajat said. He was amazed at his own incredibly small voice.
"You don't look alright. You have gone white." Tina said coming close. She had the map with her. "Here, take a look."
Rajat tried to focus on the map. It was all hazy. He heard Meet coming close.
"What is it now? What did you find?" Meet said in a whisper. Either his anger had vanished or he too was drained of all energy.
"The exit. Here this non-existent road on the map leads to the exit." Tina said, pointing at the spot where they had to take the wretched road which had led them here.

Nobody said anything. Tina continued, "We deduced earlier that this boundary to the west was other country's. This road that led to the exit goes west. That means the exit leads us to the neighbouring country."
"How is that possible? We have heard so much about this park from people. If people come here and end up in another country, how do they tell the stories?"
"I don't know. I am confused. It could mean our deduction of directions is wrong or the map is faulty." Tina said.
"We can't do anything now, can we?" Rajat said. He looked at Tina. She was pale as well.
"We have to find water." Tina said.
"First time today, you are talking sense." Meet said.
Tina folded the map and stood up. Meet was on his heels too.
"You are coming?" Meet asked Rajat.
"I'll stay here with Meera. You both leave." Rajat said.
"We will travel straight for not more than five kilometers. We will come back after that even if we find water or not." Tina said. The two of them left. Rajat positioned himself next to Meera. On his touch, she stirred. Rajat placed his hand on her head.
"Someone found us yet?" Meera said in a barely audible whisper.
"No. Tina and Meet left to find water." Rajat said comforting her.
"Let's hope they do find it." Meera said and placed her head on Rajat's lap. He kept on stroking her forehead.
"I am lucky Rajat. I have you." Meera said and closed her eyes. Rajat's throat was burning now. Dark blotches appeared in front of his eyes and he closed them. Next thing he knew was darkness.

The sun was overhead. Rajat and Meera were spread on the sandy ground directly underneath the blazing sun, yet there was little sweat on them. Tina and Meet were nowhere to be seen. The jeep had not yet returned and Rajat and Meera were not awake to notice it. Scavenger birds circled overhead them. A hooded figure limped towards them. He was several feet away and yet his aura seemed to cast itself over them as if providing them shade in the sun. He approached them after several minutes; his stiff leg was hardly allowing him to walk. He shook Rajat by the shoulder to wake him up. Rajat tried to open his eyes but the sun barely allowed him.
"How come you are here?" The old man asked.
"Forest. We lost our way." Rajat managed to say.
"They need to fix that. There was error on the map, wasn't there?" The old man asked again. It was hard to make out what he looked like.
"Yes. There was no road." Rajat said, trying to sit straight.
"Since when are you here?"                                                                                                                                                                                                    "We came out of the forest around seven in the evening yesterday."
"Dear God! You are here for more than twelve hours. It is already noon. Where's your jeep?"
"Meet and Tina. They left to find water. They have not returned yet." Rajat said. It had suddenly dawned on him that two of his friends were missing.
"Which way did they go?" The old man asked.
"Straight ahead." Rajat said pointing the direction for the old man.
"They are not returning. There are check posts after a few kilometers. Our army must have found them. They are safe though. They will be sent home once the army is done investigating them."
"Water. Do you have any water?" Rajat asked.
"Oh yes. Here." The old man drew out a canteen bottle from the rags he was wearing.

Rajat woke Meera up. She took her time adjusting to the sunlight. She sat up straight but spoke nothing. She held out her hand for the bottle the old man was holding. She opened the cap and gulped in a few precious mouthfuls of the liquid inside.
"I thought I'd die." She said handing the bottle to Rajat. He drank from the bottle as well. He felt the chilly liquid run down his throat. It felt relieving even though it tasted odd.
"How do we go back?" Rajat asked, "How did you come here?" He had noticed it for the first time, there was no vehicle around.
"I prefer walking." The old man said with a smile. Rajat noticed his features. He was alarmingly old and pale. His skin was peeling out from all over his face. The rags he was wearing were old and stained.
"How do we go back?" Meera asked.
"Oh You don't need to. You can stay here to keep me company."
"We can't stay here." Rajat said standing up straight. He suddenly felt stronger and healthier.
"You will. I died here alone. I can't remain alone forever." The old man said smiling.
"What do you -" Rajat started but was cut-off midsentence by Meera. She was standing up too but she was not looking at Rajat or the old man. She was looking on the ground, where two lifeless bodies were lying, Meera and Rajat's bodies. What they drank was not water.

Tina had shouted all night. Meet stood beside her. They had tried to explain it to them that Meera and Rajat were waiting, but the soldiers didn’t budge.
"We cannot go there and we won't allow you to go back as well. Nobody survives in that place. We will go in the morning to get their bodies. You have your food and sleep." The grumpy soldier had said. He didn’t explain anything else to them.
"Why didn't you respond to the distress signal?" Tina shouted.
"We see those signals often. We have lost many soldiers chasing those distress signals. We don't respond to them now."
Tina kept on arguing with them. They had to save them. They had to at least know the reason why they were not allowing them to go back. The soldier told them in the end.
"An old guard died after he wandered off because of a fault in the map. They had every single of those faulty maps replaced. How did you end up with one is still mystery to me."
Tina and Meet were still asleep when the soldiers had retrieved bodies of the other two. The cause of death, they deduced, was poison consumed with water.