Chapter 1: Entry Points - Part 1
1971.
The Forest of Nirrali was ordered to be surveyed.
A team of surveyors, engineers, workers, and security officials arrived at the forest and started their work. They worked hard for 11 months.
They estimated that the total area of the forest was over 1800 square kilometers.
Two checkpoints were erected at the two extremes of the forest.
An area of 200 square kilometers came under the authority of both checkpoints. A major part of the forest still remained uncharted.
Step 1 of Project Nirrali was completed.
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Step 2 was initiated.
The goal was to further explore the forest and its mapping.
Two different teams started from the two checkpoints and started making their way to the opposite end. Along the way, they built shelters, they lost their people to the forest.
But the brave continued...
Confronting wild animals, and trekking dangerous terrains, the two teams managed to meet at a center point, a lake, which they named Niharika.
They concluded. It was impossible to create a path connecting the two points directly through the forest. On foot, it would take at least 10 days to travel from one end to the other as they had to scale tough mountains, operate without getting lost and cross the dangers of a lake.
They had submitted their second survey report.
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For Step 3, the survey team explored the forest to mark the trees, animals, and mineral deposits.
But then... the survey project abruptly ended shortly after.
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The party of 33 men and 5 women had vanished. What they had left were incomplete records of their research and a map that heavily lacked detailing.
Their rescue was attempted, but the forest was cruel. They had to give up. Since then, the authorities prohibited entry to the forest. It was closed up.
Five men were appointed to guard the boundaries of the forest and to track the predators that would come out of their habitats. Three occupy the first checkpoint and two occupy the other.
They were given instructions to not explore deep into the forest and if they had to do so, it would have to be with an exploration party.
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1984.
Getting settled in the old wooden shack wasn't clearly something Rudra could do.
When Rudra received the job offer of a Ranger, this wasn't something he expected. There should have at least been a proper building or office set-up. Making things worse, he was under the care of his superior, Inspector Rana. Together they had the authority over a forest area of around 200 square kilometers.
Rudra would say that the daily life of a forest ranger would be a thriller, but when night falls the men would open up a door on the floor which leads to a basement. That is where they rest and recharge. Living the nightlife in a room with a serious superior officer without any privacy can be a thriller on its own.
It has been 13 years since the disappearance of the survey team. Apart from the forest festival that happens once every year, there would be nothing that could be called an event.
The forest festival is not really a festival. During the second week of August, the forest comes alive. It is the time when the forest is hit by an intense storm, it rains heavily for 10 days. The strong tall trees would be seen swaying, loud cries of the animals, and occasional sounds of thud could be heard. The forest makes a terrifying noise that would send shocks down the spine. Forest festival is the time when one would gather supplies, lock himself up in the shelter and wait for it to pass.
Inspector Rana took a pause to take a sip of whiskey from his cup. It was his eighth year here at the cabin. He has seen the storms come and pass. He must have gotten used to the cries of the forest. It goes without saying that he was a brave man. A man in his late 30s living in seclusion, wasting away his life in a shack.
Was his life going to be any similar to that, Rudra was thinking for he was still young at just 25 years old.
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