Hell Land: Chapter 2 — Rescue Mariam
They hammered frantically on the main door. A second later, it clicked open, and Mahnoor came rushing out into the hallway, her face pale with terror.
"Where are my kids?!" she cried out.
Saad collapsed against the wall, panting heavily. "They're okay... but the two of us are definitely not."
Mahnoor dropped to her knees, pulling Hasan and Hussain into a fierce, tearful embrace. "Oh, thank God! Thank God you're safe!"
Anees stepped inside, his massive frame completely filling the doorway. He looked down at his wife with a soft, tired expression. "Hello, my darling."
Mahnoor looked up, gasped, and immediately threw her arms around his broad shoulders. "Oh, thank God you are alive, Anees!"
Ahmed Mamo walked out from the living room, a look of immense relief in his eyes. He clapped Ashad and Saad on their shoulders. "I am incredibly proud of you two," he said, before his expression shifted into a stern frown. "But Saad, why on earth didn't you pick up your phone? I was calling you like crazy!"
Saad winced, rubbing the back of his neck. "I left it in my room, Mamo. It was on charge."
Ahmed sighed, adjusting his glasses. "Please, make it a habit to take your phone with you whenever you leave the house."
Ayesha came rushing forward next, checking over the twins before locking her eyes on her eldest son. She gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. "Ashad! Why are you covered in blood?!"
Ashad blinked, looking down at his navy-blue shalwar kameez. It was stained with dark, crimson splatters. "I had to take care of a few of those... things," he replied grimly, trying to keep his voice steady. "They got a little too close for comfort."
Saad cut in, looking at the adults. "How did you guys even find out about what's happening out there?"
Instead of answering, Ahmed and Ayesha led the boys into the central hallway and pointed toward the television. The local news channel was broadcasting a live emergency alert. A news anchor, his tie undone and sweat dripping down his face, spoke with a trembling voice:
"A critical warning to every citizen of Pakistan. An unprecedented crisis is sweeping across the nation. These violent, infected individuals are gradually taking over major cities. By order of the government, all citizens must immediately lock themselves inside their homes and ration supplies for at least three to four weeks. We repeat—society is collapsing. May Allah protect us all. Good luck."
Ahmed picked up the remote and clicked the TV off. The room fell into a heavy, suffocating silence.
"Zombies," Ahmed said flatly, rubbing his temples. "That's what the international reports are calling them."
Saad blinked, the weight of the situation hitting him. "Just like the movies..."
Ahmed looked at him, confused. "What movies?"
Saad took a deep breath, his dark eyes wide. "Zombies are the walking dead, Mamo. If they bite or eat humans, those humans die and turn into zombies too. The only way to stop them completely is by destroying their heads. That's why that thing outside survived my first strike."
The gravity of the situation settled over the living room. After taking quick showers to wash away the grime, Ashad changed into a spare set of Saad's clothes. The family gathered in the spacious hallway, the atmosphere thick with anxiety.
Anees leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. "What do we do now?"
Ahmed turned toward Aunt Farah. "Farah, how many supplies do we have in the kitchen?"
Aunt Farah twisted the edge of her dupatta, her voice shaking. "Two days, Ahmed... maybe three, if we strictly ration every single meal."
Fear rippled through the family. They had multiple small children to feed, including seven-month-old Sonia. Trying to break the tension, Saad walked over to the kids and handed the twins their chocolate bars. Then, he gently pulled a soft biscuit from his pocket and offered it to baby Sonia.
Ashad looked at his friend, a faint smile breaking through his stress. "You actually managed to keep the candy?"
Saad grinned back, tossing his head. "Of course I did. A promise is a promise."
Omar Mamo, standing near the aquarium, turned to his older brother. "What do you suggest we do, Ahmed?"
Before Ahmed could answer, a sudden jolt of panic struck Ashad's heart. Mariam. He reached into his pocket, grabbed his phone, and walked swiftly out toward the balcony, away from the chatter of the family.
Saad watched him leave. Ayesha leaned over and whispered into Saad's ear, "Go with him, beta." Saad nodded, standing up to follow his best friend.
Out on the balcony, the morning air felt heavy. Ashad desperately dialed Mariam's number, pressing the phone to his ear. "Oh Allah, please let her pick up," he prayed silently, his fingers nervously tapping against the concrete railing.
After what felt like an eternity, the call connected.
"Mariam! Oh, thank Allah! Are you okay?!" Ashad breathed out, a massive wave of relief washing over him.
But that relief was instantly shattered when a sound broke through the receiver—Mariam was weeping hysterically.
"Mariam? What happened? Speak to me!"
Between ragged gasps and terrified sobs, Mariam struggled to form words. "As... Ashad... I'm... I'm alright..."
"I know something is wrong," Ashad said, his voice rising in panic. "Tell me the truth. Where are you?"
Finally, Mariam choked out the horrific reality. "My family... they're dead, Ashad! They turned into those horrible things! I'm hiding... I'm hiding in my bedroom closet!"
Ashad's blood ran cold. "Have you locked the door?"
"Yes," she cried, her breathing fast and shallow. "I locked the bedroom door. I'm inside the closet."
"Don't worry," Ashad said, his voice dropping into a tone of fierce determination. "Stay exactly where you are. I am coming to get you."
He hung up the phone. As he turned around, he saw Saad standing by the balcony door. He had heard everything.
"Don't even try to stop me, Saad," Ashad warned instantly, setting his jaw.
To his surprise, Saad just giggled, leaning against the doorframe. "Who said I'm stopping you, huh?"
Ashad frowned, perplexed. "Then what are you thinking?"
Saad stepped forward, his expression turning serious as he offered his hand. "Nothing. Shall we go save Mariam?"
A grateful smile broke across Ashad's face. The two friends slammed their fists together in a tight fist bump.
"But we have to tell the family first," Saad added as they walked back inside.
Ashad shook his head anxiously. "They're going to forbid us from leaving, Saad."
Saad thought about it for a quick second. "Her house is barely a few streets away. If we take your car, we can make it there and back in less than five minutes."
Nodding in agreement, they marched into the central hallway where everyone was seated. Ashad took a deep breath. "I'm going out. I have to save Mariam."
Instantly, the entire room stood up.
"No way!" Ayesha shouted, her voice echoing through the hall.
"Absolutely not! You are staying right here!" Saad's mother chimed in, equally terrified.
"But she is in lethal danger!" Ashad argued, his voice cracking with emotion. "If we sit here and do nothing, she will die!"
Ayesha marched over, her eyes flashing with anger. "I said no! Sit down right now, both of you, or I will beat you myself!"
Losing his patience, Ashad finally burst. He didn't yell, but his voice was laced with a cold, unstoppable resolve. "Mom, I'm not asking for your permission. I am telling you what I am about to do. Goodbye."
Ayesha's eyes widened in shock. For the first time, she saw her son as a fully grown man making a life-or-death choice. Realizing she couldn't break his resolve, she fell silent.
Ashad turned to Saad. "Are you coming?"
Saad looked at his own mother, gave her an apologetic glance, and braced himself. "Yes. Count me in."
Suddenly, Anees stood up from the couch, his towering 6'4" frame casting a long shadow across the room. "I'm coming too."
Mahnoor gasped, grabbing his arm. "No, Anees!"
Anees gently placed his large hand over hers, cutting her off with a calm but firm voice. "They protected our children out there, Mahnoor. Now it's my turn to repay the debt."
Hearing this, Ahmed Mamo stood up as well, adjusting his glasses. "Let us do this together. No one goes alone."
The men quickly gathered anything heavy and solid in the house that could smash through a skull. They managed to find three heavy wood cricket bats—including the one Ashad had brought in—and a sturdy field hockey stick. Ahmed claimed the hockey stick, while Ashad, Saad, and Anees gripped the cricket bats. Weaponed and determined, the four men marched out into the garage.
They piled into Ashad's car, and he rolled up the garage door. But as they pulled into the driveway, they faced an immediate obstacle: four men from the neighborhood were aggressively trying to break into Ashad's car parked outside, trying to hijack it.
Ahmed rolled down his window and shouted fiercely, "Leave our car alone!"
The four hijackers whipped around. Seeing the owners, they didn't flee; instead, they brandished their own hockey sticks and advanced on the vehicle with clear, violent intentions. In this new, broken world, it was clear that people were already turning on each other, thinking only of their own survival.
The men piled out of the car to defend their vehicle. One of the hijackers charged directly at Anees, swinging his weapon. But Anees didn't even flinch. As a multi-time competitive martial arts champion, his reflexes were flawless. With a swift sidestep, Anees delivered a devastating, lightning-fast strike that knocked the man out cold onto the pavement.
Anees immediately turned to help Saad, who was struggling to fend off a second attacker. With a powerful sweep of his cricket bat, Anees neutralized Saad's opponent as well.
Meanwhile, Ashad squared up against his own attacker. "This doesn't have to happen," Ashad warned, raising his bat defensively. "Just back off."
The man spat on the ground, his face twisted in desperation. "Shut up and fight!"
The man lunged, swinging his hockey stick violently toward Ashad's head. Ashad reacted quickly, deflecting the blow with the meat of his cricket bat. With a quick pivot, he slipped behind the man and delivered a hard, resounding strike to his upper back, sending him crashing to the floor. Nearby, Ahmed swiftly countered and finished off the fourth opponent with a precise strike.
Anees stood over the groaning attackers, his dark beard jutting out aggressively. "Get out of here," he growled. "And never cross my path again."
The remaining two hijackers, terrified by the sheer display of force, frantically dragged their unconscious friends away down the street. The four men wasted no time getting into the car. Ashad slammed his foot on the pedal, driving hard toward Mariam's neighborhood, praying they would get there before fate did.
As they sped through the streets, the signs of societal collapse were everywhere. The neighborhood was engulfed in utter chaos. Families were frantically fleeing their houses with packed suitcases, while others were desperately nailing boards over their windows to barricade themselves inside. In the alleyways, some citizens were brutally battling the zombies, while others died trying to shield their loved ones. This Eid had completely transformed from a celebration of peace into a horrific nightmare of survival.
Within minutes, they pulled up outside Mariam's house. Saad sprinted toward the front door, his hand reaching for the doorbell.
Anees caught his shoulder, pulling him back. "Step aside, boy."
Saad scrambled out of the way. Anees took a deep breath, braced his weight, and delivered a massive, thunderous kick directly to the center of the wooden door. The frame splintered violently, and the door crashed inward.
"Where is Mariam's room?" Ahmed asked urgently, gripping his hockey stick.
"Upstairs!" Ashad shouted.
"Go, get her!" Ahmed ordered. "Saad and Anees, raid the kitchen. Gather every bit of supplies you can find!"
Ashad nodded, his heart in his throat as he raced up the stairs. But the moment he reached the landing, the breath was completely knocked out of his lungs.
Standing right in front of him was Mariam's mother. But she was no longer the kind auntie he knew. Her clothes were shredded, her face was caked in dried blood, and her milky, lifeless eyes locked onto him. With a horrific screech, she came charging down the hallway straight at him.
Ashad froze, his mind screaming in denial. "No... no..." He raised his hands defensively, completely lacking the heart or the guts to strike down his future mother-in-law.
"Duck!" a voice boomed from behind.
Ashad instinctively threw himself to the floor. A split second later, a heavy wood cricket bat swung through the air, striking the zombie squarely in the head with immense force. She collapsed instantly, neutralized.
Ashad looked up, trembling, to see Anees standing over him, panting. "What are you doing, Ashad?!" Anees scolded him harshly, pulling him up by his collar. "You could have died right there! Focus!"
Wiping tears of shock from his eyes, Ashad swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. He ran to Mariam's bedroom door and pounded on it. "Mariam! Mariam, open up!"
No response came from inside the room.
A cold, paralyzing dread gripped Ashad's chest. What if they were too late? What if she had already been bitten?
Anees didn't hesitate. He stepped up and used his massive frame to shoulder-barge the bedroom door, breaking the lock. The room was eerily empty. The bedsheets were messy, but there was no sign of struggle.
Anees moved swiftly toward the large wooden closet, gripping his bat. He reached out and yanked the doors open.
Instantly, a figure lunged out of the darkness, screaming wildly and slashing downward with a sharp kitchen knife.
Anees caught her wrist in mid-air, blocking the attack effortlessly with his massive forearm. "Woah, woah, hold on, little girl!" he said quickly. "I'm a relative of your future husband!"
Hearing those words, Mariam Nadeen dropped the knife. She looked past the massive man and saw Ashad standing in the doorway. Mariam was a stunning 21-year-old girl with long, dark black hair and a radiant, moon-like beauty, standing at 5'7"—though right now, her face was tear-stained and pale with fright.
"Ashad!" she cried, throwing herself into his arms.
She wept uncontrollably, burying her face into his chest. "They're all dead, Ashad... my family is gone..."
Ashad held her tight, rubbing her back to calm her down. "I'm here, Mariam. I've got you. But we need to go right now, before someone tries to take our car again."
They hurried back downstairs, where Saad and Ahmed were waiting in the foyer, holding several large, heavy-duty grocery bags filled to the brim with canned goods, flour, and bottled water.
Ahmed looked up as they descended. "Anees, Ashad, grab those remaining bags over there. We've managed to clear out the pantry. This should be enough supplies to keep the family fed for at least a week."
They hoisted the heavy bags, escorted Mariam out to the driveway, and loaded everything into the trunk.
Saad opened the rear door, giving Mariam a reassuring smile. "Sit in the back with your future husband, Mariam."
Mariam climbed into the back seat, and Ashad slid into the driver's seat next to her, cranking the engine to life.
As they drove out of the neighborhood, the initial frantic chaos had died down into a grim, haunting silence. The streets were now littered with abandoned cars and motionless bodies. Yet, off in the distance, small groups of surviving humans could still be seen running for their lives.
Suddenly, Ashad glanced into his side mirror and his blood ran cold. A massive horde of blood-soaked zombies had poured out from a main intersection, catching sight of the vehicle. They were charting a direct course for the car.
"Brace yourselves!" Ashad yelled, slamming his foot down on the gas.
The engine roared, and the car accelerated at high speed, plowing cleanly through the edge of the oncoming horde. The impacts rattled the chassis, but the car didn't slow down.
Ahmed watched the creatures fade into the distance through the rear window, analyzing their movements through his glasses. "They are quite slow," he observed calmly. "Most of them only seem to walk. Only a select few are actually capable of running."
Within minutes, they safely pulled back into the driveway of Saad's house. They hurried inside, locking the heavy steel gates and barricading the front door behind them.
By the time they settled in, the shadow of the sun indicated it was time for the Dhuhr prayer. The terror of the morning hung heavily over them, and they desperately needed a moment of peace. Ashad stood in the center of the hallway and raised his hands to his ears, reciting the Adhan (call to prayer) in a beautiful, low, whispered melody—ensuring his voice comforted the family but did not escape the walls of the house to draw the monsters.
The men performed their Wudu (ablution). Ahmed Mamo stepped forward to lead the congregation as the Imam. They stood shoulder-to-shoulder, bowing and prostrating in absolute humility before their Creator.
After completing the mandatory Fard prayers, Ahmed raised his hands high in supplication, his voice thick with emotion. The entire family raised their palms alongside him.
"Oh Allah, the King of this world and the hereafter," Ahmed prayed fervently. "The Most Merciful, the Most Gracious, and the Most Beneficent. Protect us from this severe trial. Protect our world from this devastation. Protect our women and our innocent children. Protect the weak and the sick among us, and grant us the strength to overcome this nightmare. Ameen."
A chorus of emotional "Ameen" echoed through the quiet house.
With their hearts slightly at ease, the family gathered around to eat a quiet lunch prepared by the women using the freshly rescued supplies. Some sat on the sofas while others sat cross-legged on the floor, chewing their food in silence, each of them wondering the exact same thing: What the hell do we do now?