Operation: DeadMan

Chapter-05: The Fish Market

31ST OCTOBER, 2025: 2:35 PM

I’m getting exhausted. My muscles are about to get ripped. The end of the zombies is nowhere in sight. How long has it been? Standing on top of this truck under the harsh sun is no better than death. This truck is my only salvation. As I was getting lost in my chain of thoughts, I snapped back to reality when a zombie grabbed onto my foot. A feeling of disgust ran through my spine. I struck the axe. The axe sliced the zombie’s head in half. In this moment of despair, a light of hope came shinning when I heard a familiar voice coming from my right.

Mahi came running and screaming Shikto’s name at the top of his lungs. “I’ve never been this happy to see your face, you son of a zombie”, Shikto yelled in joy. The hordes of zombies, forgetting Shikto, put all their attention to Mahi. Seeing this, Mahi hit the breaks and started running to where he came from. The zombies chased after him without a second thought, leaving Shikto all alone standing on top of the vehicle. Mahi started running faster than he ever thought he could. “I never should’ve listened to that crazy bastard!” Mahi said with regret. “Just a little more till the crossroads” he said with a significant lack of breath. When he successfully crossed the crossroads, a sense of relief crossed his mind. “Move out of the way” yelled Megh as a huge petrol tanker comes crashing down like a madman. *BOOM* an explosion erupted as the tanker turned to pieces, leaving no remnants of the zombies it crashed onto. The crossroads are barely recognizable, wrapped in flames. The stench of the burning bodies filled every corner of the road. Megh came down giggling, “Who knew I had a talent in committing arson?” “You are crazy in the head” Mahi replied in both shock and excitement. Shikto was left speechless standing on top of the truck. He came down the truck leaving a quick sigh. Interrupting Megh and Mahi’s celebration of this victory, Shikto said, “Dunno why but I expected something like this from you, Megh. Well, it’s no time for celebration. That massive explosion will surely attract some unwelcomed guests.”

“So, you were alive after all? Koi fishes sure don’t die easily,” said Megh. “Well, I can’t afford to die just yet. First one to die is gay after all,” replied Shikto with a smirk.

The reunion was disrupted when Mahi asked what the plan was. “We gotta plan ahead in some safe place first. Zombies could be coming any second now,” Shikto said while comforting Mahi. “Bleeeaggh” sound of the zombies came from a far. “Well, speak of the devil. Guess we better get outta here” Megh replied. “Follow me!” Shikto commanded. “Who made you the leader?” Megh replied in annoyance while following Shikto. Shikto led them towards a dark alleyway behind a dumpster. The dumpster was massive both in height and width. They crouched down and took a peek outside just to see zombies storming the street from everywhere like piranhas. If they were a fraction slower to hide they would’ve been packed right then and there. With a sigh of relief Megh asked Shikto, “So, what are you planning to do from now on?” “Convenient store”, Shikto replied. “What convenient store?” Megh asked again. “I was originally in the convenient store when this madness begun, I think there was only me and the cashier at the time.” Shikto replied. “How are you so sure that the store is safe right now?” asked Mahi. “I’m not sure but I don’t think those thick-headed bastards would know about sliding doors.” said Shikto. “Yeah, he’s probably right.” Megh agreed. “That store has all the necessities to survive at least a week or so. If we somehow get in there without getting harmed, we might have a good chance at survival.” “But what if the sliding door was somehow left open and there were zombies inside?” Mahi asked in concern. “We can draw them out.” said Shikto. “I’m on board” said Megh. “I’m not so sure about this. it’s too risky and I don’t want to be a sacrificial lamb again. You two are too sure of yourselves.” Mahi said. “Watch your mouth. Thanks to me, you are alive, otherwise you would’ve turned into a freaking glazed donut if I didn’t interfere with your mother and son reunion.” Megh replied with a taunt. “What else do you suggest then,” Shikto asked. Mahi had no answer to give. “I guess, it’s decided then. We are going for the convenience store.” Shikto confirmed. Mahi nodded reluctantly.

They waited for the zombie swarm to quiet down. Once the eerie cries were seeming less aggressive, they sneaked out of the alley not to attract any of the living dead.

The store was past the fish market and zombies had surrounded all the other paths. So, they had to go through the market to get to the store. They slowly sneaked inside the market. Even though it was called a fish market, the market basically had two parts. The entrance part was where they sold vegetables and spices and the latter part was where fish were sold. The zombies inside the huge market were drawn out by the large explosion so, no zombies were supposed to be inside. “Hey, Megh,” Shikto whispered slowly. “What?” “Since we are in a fish market now. Do you think we’ll see some zombie fishes?” “Now it’s not the time for jokes, Shikto.” said Megh. Shikto replied, “I’m not joking. It’s a potential enemy in our journey ahead, we must be prepared.” “I doubt a fish zombie will pose much threa-” Megh interrupted when a loud noise came from the North. “What was that!?” Mahi asked anxiously. “Shhh! We are not alone in here” Shikto said. “Well one thing is for sure. We aren’t going in that direction,” said Mahi.

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Even on a normal Friday, fish market has terrible smell, that smell turned even worse with the smell of the rotting corpse along with the rotting fish. Energy lights and bulbs hung from the roof of the market. The floor was muddy and slippery. Stalls of various vegetable sellers were left abandoned. These stalls in the middle were making the market look like a maze. With Shikto leading the way, Mahi walking slowly in the middle and Megh watching from the back, the trio proceeded on their way to the convenient store, the safe haven for survivors in a zombie apocalypse. “Walk faster if you don’t want to turn into fish fry for the zombies,” Megh shouted at Mahi while being annoyed. Mahi replied, “You better watch your every step and your mouth”. Before Megh and Mahi’s conversation could get heated, they were interrupted by Shikto. “Quiet down, you two and focus on what’s ahead of us.” “What?” both replied in confusion.

Hundreds or even thousands of fishes covered the streets in front of them, flopping harmlessly. Taking even a single step without crushing their heads could be challenging. The trio started to walk with the same formation as before. The first step Mahi took, in the blink of an eye, a fish jumped out to chomp off Mahi’s flesh. “Watch out!” Megh yelled. Shikto’s axe swung without a thought, splitting that fish in half midair. On a closer look, these fishes were not as ordinary as one would normally think. The head of the cut down fish had jagged shark like teeth growing from its mouth and lips. Its eyes were blood red and twitching pathetically splashing on its own blood on the ground with its gills flared up like a snake’s hood. “I guess it won’t be just another walk in the park” Megh added. “How the heck did these fish turn into zombies? How does that even work!?” Mahi exclaimed staring at the half-slit fish. “Now is not the time to ask questions, also walking through that parade of tiny demons is a death wish. Y’all got any other ideas?” Shikto asked. “Ideas? Huh..” Mahi looked around. “Hey! We can use that” “What?” Shikto and Megh asked. There were giant cauldrons filled with water in a corner. “Right, we can wash these pests off of our way with water.” replied Megh. They quickly ran off to the corner and picked up buckets to fill in water from the cauldron. When Shikto tried to get water using the bucket in his hands something caught his eyes. There was something lurking in the water. The water was too dirty to see what was in there. He placed his bucket in the water without thinking much. Suddenly, something jumped out of the water. It was almost the same size of Shikto himself and it had its fangs out ready to take a bite out of Shikto’s face. Just within a millisecond, Shikto reacted and escaped the jaws of the giant fish. “What in the world is that thing!?” Mahi exclaimed. “Cut that thing down!” Megh shouted. With a quick swing of the axe the fish’s face was slit apart. With the blink of an eye, the fish jumped up again and this time it aimed to take a bite out of Megh. Its half-split face was still wide open with its jaw hanging from both sides. Mahi punched the fish midair changing its direction. It fell beside Megh and didn’t waste a second before moving again. It had the same jagged teeth growing from its lips and mouth. Upon closer inspection it looked to be a Wallago fish. Shikto charged with his axe again, aiming for its eyes. The axe pierced it right through. Blood started gushing out. Slowly the bottom half of the fish stopped moving. “Ooof…that was a close one.” Mahi said. “Too bad we couldn’t eat it.” Megh sighed in relief. “Yeah, let’s get back to the plan.” Shikto added quickly and started to fill his bucket with water again. Mahi and Megh got back to work and filled their buckets with water. They all returned to the path where the fish were still splattering water on the ground and started pouring all their water one by one. The fish were flooded with water. They went in for a refill since a few drops of water won’t wash away the troubles that lie ahead of them. Even after doing it a few times, the pouring technique didn’t quite seem to work well. The fishes were simply too many and too sturdy to get washed away by mere splashes of water. “What do we do now?” Megh asked. “Can you find a water pipe somewhere? You know, the ones that are used in gardens and stuff.” Shikto said. “Perfect! I see one. Wait here, Imma get it for you.” Mahi said while looking all exited. He brought an orange looking pipe from one of the fruit stalls and handed it to Shikto. Shikto attached one side of the pipe to a tap peeping from the cauldron and spun the tap’s cog to the max output. The three of the held on to the pipe as water started flowing out at full speed. They aimed it towards the tiny demons that were on their path. With the sheer force of water flowing, the fish were quickly overwhelmed and slid out of their way into a corner. They kept going until every single fish slid aside. With their path cleared by the flow of water, nothing stands between them and their destination now.