Abir walked a little closer. Monali said, panting, "Abir, come here for a moment." Anisha said, "Monali, saying that won't help, he walks so fast." Abir, Monali, Anisha, and their other friends had all come from S.S.T College on an educational tour.
"Nanu asked Rana, 'Did you bring what I asked for?'"
"Of course," Rana replied.
"What are you two talking about?" Anisha asked.
"Nothing," Nanu said. Annoyed by their behavior, Anisha looked at them and walked away. Seeing that, the two of them started laughing.
"Dhrit, don't let go of my hand, what if I get lost?" Anu said.
"I won't let go at all. I will never let go of my baby's hand."
"Now don't start acting all cute here," Tithi suddenly said.
"You just stay quiet because your boyfriend doesn't care for you like mine does," Anu replied.
"My boyfriend isn't that fake like yours," Tithi shot back.
"Both of you please shut up," Tush said.
Then they both fell silent.
"Today, you all must quickly gather all the important information for your project, but remember to be back at the bus before evening. We will leave during the night."
"We have come from a distant college. Can you tell us since when these strange kinds of cactuses have been seen here?" Abir asked a man. The man didn't say anything and walked away, as if he hadn't seen them.
"What happened? Why did that man ignore us?" Monali asked Abir.
"I'm thinking the same," Abir replied.
After that, whoever they asked ignored them in the same way. So they couldn't gather any information until evening. They went back to the bus before sunset.
But they saw that almost everyone had already gathered near the bus.
— "Sir, two girls from our group haven't arrived yet. We can leave once they come."
— "Tush, you were right, but why aren't they coming?"
— "How about we ask them once?"
— "Not a bad idea."
As soon as the professor said this, he and Tush began asking around. Suddenly, someone said they saw the girls going into the jungle.
— "What were they doing there?"
— "I don't know."
— "Let's wait a little longer."
They waited another 10 minutes. But the girls did not return. Then the professor divided the group into two teams of four and went into the forest to look for them.
10 minutes passed, but no one came back.
20 minutes passed, still no one.
Almost an hour passed, and no one returned.
Suddenly, someone seemed to be running from near the jungle.
But nothing was clear—just the impression of a person running.
Suddenly, from the crowd, someone said, "Isn't that our professor?"
Another replied, "Yes, it is."
As the professor approached, he said, "Everyone, quickly get on the bus."
No one said anything and got on the bus. No one spoke for a while. Suddenly, someone asked, "What happened, sir? Why are you telling us to get on the bus?"
The professor did not answer.
After a while, he told the driver, "Drive the bus toward the way to the town."
But by then, the bus was surrounded by some people.
They looked very filthy—blood coming from their mouths, clothes dirty and stained.
Someone inside the bus shouted, "Isn't that Orko? He went into the jungle with the professor."
Then the professor, unable to remain silent any longer, started explaining what had happened.