Great Power Technology

Yindu, Punjab.

Holding an ax in his hand, Rekesh sat behind the courtyard gate of his home, scanning the road outside the door sharply through the crack in the door. His body was tense and sweat was pouring down his face.

He finally knew why he bought the ax at that time.

He had almost no faith in God, but at the moment when the riots started, he suddenly felt God's favor very clearly.

Yes, it was the gods who made him see this axe, and then through some special inspiration made him buy this axe. When he thought about the use of this axe, he also vaguely sensed what was about to happen. crisis.

Once this sense of crisis was established, he began to constantly urge him to prepare. To this end, he strengthened and raised the courtyard wall, built a basement, and taught his wife and daughter how to block the entrance from the basement and how to live in it. until the crisis is over.

Each of these tasks was extremely difficult, but it was precisely because of the faith given to him by the gods that he was able to complete all preparations within a month before the riot completely broke out.

And now, his preparations are about to come in handy.

The food is finished.

Wheat is sold out.

But money has become worthless.

The price of flour has increased eightfold in just one month, and even the price of potatoes has increased sixfold. At such prices, it is still difficult to buy enough food for a day. .

Where has all the food gone?

This question is the second puzzling question that Rekesh has faced in the past two months. The first one is who is buying wheat.

However, now he doesn't have so much energy to think about this problem. All his attention now is on how to protect the safety of himself and his family.

In fact, he had vaguely anticipated the current situation when he first bought food, so he did not take the initiative to expose the fact that he had food in his home in front of anyone, and his daily diet was extremely restrained, but even so, he still There is no way to stop some gossip from spreading to the outside world.

At the beginning, he didn't know the reason why such rumors spread, but now, he has figured it out.

There is only one reason, and that is, he did not do those things of killing people and setting fires with others.

Yes, when everyone around you is killing people and setting fires just for a bite to eat, if you are not involved, then it is very likely that you will be the next one to be killed.

For the sake of his wife and daughter, Rekesh had plucked up the courage several times to follow the crowd and rob other villagers who had some food in store. He even got some food in the early stages, but the desperate eyes of the robbed villagers made him simply Unable to eat food calmly.

For the last time, he witnessed the crazy villagers not only snatching food, but also raping each other's wives and daughters, and killing their husbands and only sons in front of their wives and daughters. He could no longer resist the condemnation of his conscience. , finally chose to return to his home, intending to rely on the defenses he had built before to survive this difficult time.

The potatoes he had snatched from other people's homes had now been buried in the soil in the yard. Maybe in a few months, he would be able to harvest a lot of potatoes, enough to feed everyone in the other person's family, but they had already There is no time to wait.

After the two main laborers were killed, the remaining women would definitely not be able to survive this winter - no, winter was too far away, and they would not even be able to survive the next week.

The animalistic desires of those villagers will make them die miserably.

Rekesh hammered his head in pain, and tightened his grip on the ax in his hand. His daughter behind him lightly patted his shoulder. This simple action frightened him so much that he almost jumped up from his stool.

After regaining his composure, Rekesh asked:

"What's wrong? Didn't I ask you to stay in the room?"

"It's time for me to go to school."

Daughter Gesma looked hesitant.

She had clearly understood the danger of the current situation from her father's words, but she still couldn't resist the urge to go to school.

In the short two weeks at school, she has learned many words and seen many things that she has never seen before, and these things can almost be said to have opened a door to a new world for her.

Yes, as my father said, those who have gone to school and those who have not gone to school will see completely different things.

This was the only chance for her and her family to change their destiny, and it was a slim hope that cost the whole family a whole year of living expenses.

She absolutely didn't want this hope to be shattered - even if she knew that if she went out at this time, she might not be able to come back.

Hearing Geshma's words, Rekesh's expression became even more painful.

He could not comfort his daughter by saying that the chaos would soon pass, because both he and Gesma knew that such chaos would never end before the next grain harvest.

After thinking for a moment, he said:

"You can't go to school now. Gesma, I understand what you think, but now is not the time."

"You want to go to school, read your books, and learn new things. That's fine, but you have to live first."

"The school's guards will not be stronger than our home, but the school must have more food than our home, so it is a dangerous place."

"After our neighbors' food is all robbed, they will start to rob the school's food - you know everything about Uncle Omar's house, right? They will not let a little girl like you go, you understand ?"

Gesma wanted to say something else, but after she opened her mouth, she said nothing.

She just nodded obediently, then turned back to the house, walked to her mother and sat down on the floor.

The fire on the simple stove has been lit. In order to avoid the aroma of food attracting the hungry villagers outside, they have only eaten potatoes cooked in water since many days ago - the only seasoning is on the plate. Crushed salt and chilli inside.

Even if these foods are placed in the poorest areas of the country, they are indeed not luxury foods. But at this time, a potato, in some extreme scenarios, can even take away a life.

The world is already like purgatory.

Rekesh was still staring at the door nervously. It was getting dark. His wife put the cooled potatoes on a plate and handed them to him. He devoured one in several mouthfuls, and then put the other one back into his wife's hand. inside.

"Eat another one, you've been sitting here all day"

The wife spoke gently.

Reksh shook his head and replied:

"No, I can't eat. I have to go out to fetch water tomorrow. I have to make myself look hungry."

However, before he finished speaking, something suddenly happened on the road outside the crack of the door that made his pupils suddenly shrink.

A group of people appeared at the end of the road. Those people were holding machetes and sticks in their hands and were walking towards their homes in a crowd.

"Go to the basement!"

Rakesh shouted anxiously.

Hearing his words, his wife immediately packed up the uneaten food and walked back. Just as she opened the secret door of the basement and was about to go down, Rekesh suddenly stopped her and said:

"Leave that potato and take your plates down with you!"

At this moment, his mind was clearer than ever before. He had even imagined for a while how he would fabricate a wife and daughter who had been sent away when facing the other party's interrogation, and he could barely survive on the food he had snatched. lie.

After closing the secret door of the basement, he quickly made a final covering with soil. Then he sat outside the house, leaned against the wall, and began to taste the remaining potatoes carefully.

This potato will become part of his plan.

After eating half of the meal, the noise of the crowd could be heard outside the door. His palms were slightly sweaty, but his limp sitting posture did not change at all.

One minute.

He heard the sound of the neighbor's door being kicked open, the crying of children, the screams of women, and the dull sound of sticks hitting human bodies.

For five minutes, the marauding crowd erupted in cheers, followed by curses.

Ten minutes later, the chaotic sound approached his door again.

Then, the courtyard door, which was not strong in the first place, was kicked open violently!