Short story: The Nuke War
Mushtaq Hurra
“The bang sounds have stopped let me come out of this 20 feet deep trench to enquire about the scenario above “. I tried to persuade my parents, siblings and children with whom I have been in this underground dwelling since the day one of the war.
“The bang sounds have stopped, the hue and cry of the people has ceased, let me check the scenario above us “. I tried to calm my family members to allow me to come out but my father didn’t allow me to move out. When finally, the stock of edible items, drinking water and necessary medicine began to exhaust. My father asked me reluctantly to leave the trench to get a new stock of these necessary items. When I stepped out of the trench, my heart rose, I couldn’t believe my eyes, I rubbed my eyes with my hands. The scenario above my underground dwelling was horrific. There were ruins and wreckage all around. My bungalow type lovely house was raised to the ground.
There was no structure erect as if my land was never inhabited by people and if the houses and buildings were never constructed. I thought for a while and said to myself, ” Is this my village or has some supernatural power taken me to any other planet where there has been no life ever. Every house, big or small was raised to the ground. There was no chirping sound of birds heard; no dogs were seen anywhere, cattle and other livestock was dead. Trees and plants had turned into ashes. Corpses of men, women and children were scattered around.
My eyes caught sight of my best friend’s dead body. I went to it, wept bitterly and when I touched its face; my fingers sank into it as it was a heap of ash. I was shocked. It was probably perished by high intensity nuclear radiations.
I wanted to buy some important medicine for my ailing parents, and some food for my hungry siblings and children. I decided to visit my neighboring village with the hope that there might not be the same amount of destruction. But I was confused to find the way to my neighboring village as there was no mark of any road visible. The whole area had turned into a flat ground with no structure around. The tall poplar trees, the mighty mulberry trees, the beautiful apple trees had vanished. It was like a Doomsday.
With the hungry and melancholic faces of my children and parents before my eyes, I set feet on the debris and moved forward. After walking some 5 kilometers by foot, I became scary. The flat ground was vast to my vision. I tried to look for river Jhelum but could not find any traces of it. The water of every river and lake had dried up. Then the high mountain ranges which were evident from the open lands of my neighborhood, flashed on my mind. I looked around but no such sights were there. The magnitude of destruction was so high that the bomb had brought everything to rubbles.
I was moving forward optimistically with the hope to find some shop or medical store. But it was my height of optimism, an illusion. I couldn’t find any. How could I find some? Everything had been perished by the nuclear bombing. Pessimism ran through my nerves. I lost every hope of my survival and the survival of my family members who were waiting for me in that deep trench. They were probably unaware about the scenario of destruction outside the trench.
I took a deep breath. Now, I wanted to move back to the underground dwelling where my other family members were putting up. I probably wanted to die with them. I lost the way back. I began to roam. I was crying and wailing. I sat down on my knees. Meanwhile, a helicopter sound began to buzz in my ears. I stood up and began to look around. A helicopter appeared from the East, and within five minutes, it was hovering above my head. I was frightened, I gave up the hope of my survival but my eyes caught sight of a sticker which read “Red Cross “on the uniforms of men in the helicopter who were clearly visible to my eyes.
I took a sigh of relief. I thought that the men in the helicopter would give me some eatables and medicine for my needy family but to my utter surprise, they extended a heavy rope ladder from the helicopter and two men came down, and dragged me up into the helicopter. I tried to resist but they overpowered me. In the moving helicopter they offered me some food, water and then a doctor had my complete medical checkup. They were checking if I had some exposure to deadly radiation. They were native English speakers. Their accent was altogether different, and easily recognizable as English men. They told me that they had come all the way from England to help the war survivors.
I was shocked to learn that the whole subcontinent including China, Japan and two Korean nations had took part in the nuke war. “All these countries have been erased from the world map as if they were never there. All the Asian countries including some African nations have suffered to a great extent. There has been unimaginable loss to life and property “. The Red Cross volunteers told me in the helicopter.
“Will you please help me to rescue my other family members” I asked hesitantly. The pilot turned back the helicopter. The flat ground was so vast that I could not recognize the mouth of my underground trench. There was debris all around. They tried to locate the trench under the debris but couldn’t succeed. They took out some gadgets but they were not working. When they gave up in despair, I requested them to leave me there because the pain of my children who were separated from me, didn’t allow my conscience to get myself rescued. The men tried to get me in the helicopter forcibly which I resisted. One among them who was probably the head of the group, shouted at them, “Let him look for his family. May be, he can trace them and help us to save a few more “.
Then they boarded the helicopter and left for some other part to rescue the war survivors. I guessed the direction of my home and began to walk. While walking, I saw a rectangular cardboard box. I ran towards it. The name of a biscuit brand was evident on it from a distance. Meanwhile, a wild thought hit my mind. “It may be a bomb as well “. But it was the only ray of hope for my survival. I picked up a cricket ball sized rock piece in my hand and threw it on the cardboard box. As soon as the rock piece hit the box, it exploded with a big bang, the vicious noise broke my sleep and I stood up from my bed with sweat trickling down my face. I opened my eyes and saw my two children and wife sleeping comfortably.
“Alhamdulillahi Rabil – Aalameen”! These were the first words which I could utter. I staight away ran towards my washroom for ablution to thank Almighty Allah for waking me up from a dreadful dream.
(The writer is a teacher, columnist and a social activist. He can be reached at [email protected])
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