The sound of my heart thumping covered my ears. My feet wasn't moving at command anymore, it just kept on running.
'Obe! Where are you going now? We just want to talk!' I could hear them laughing right behind me.
I turn at a sharp corner losing my footing. I drop to the floor hard bashing my head on the curb. I yelled out in pain grabbing my head in a reflex motion. I tried to get up but fell back on the floor in an unbearable pain. My leg… my leg! It's not supposed to turn that way. You'd think by now I wouldn't be slipping considering how many times I run away from Aku and Eni every damned day but it's hard to expect more from an eleven year old, an eleven year old that just wants to run only when he's playing police and thief.
I crawl on my belly crying out in pain. Tears spill down my cheeks to the dirt road.
'Mummy! Mummy please help!' I keep yelling in between sobs to the abandoned buildings on this abandoned street junction hoping and praying a miracle would happen. A miracle in form of my lost mother I haven't seen in over a year. A mother who abandoned me in a displaced persons shelter in the middle of The Purge. A miracle I so desperately need.
'Eni! Eni come see this thing abeg.'
I didn't bother to turn back. I just kept on pushing further and further. Crawling on my raggedy shirt that was once white now turned into an unrecognizable brown.
I couldn't stop crying out. My head felt worse and worse by the second. The blood dripped down my head to my shoulders. The cool feel of the blood on my skin reminded me of my father lifting me in his arms as he ran through the rain to catch a bus. I would laugh and spread my arms in the air enjoying the rain. I would do anything to go back to that.
Eni came around the curb to see Aku waiting for him. Eni was a much bigger boy for his age at about 5 feet tall with just a couple of years above me. He was massive in size. His footsteps would make us all run whenever we would go to get served at the displaced camp site. We always wondered how he got so big with none to little food everyone got. Even with his bullying he couldn't get that much more. His shorts always held on to him tight like its life depended on it. His shirt was definitely meant to be from his neck down but it never got to his waist. He would drag it down but it would only jump back up to reveal his not so elegant enormous stomach hanging out like an inflated balloon.
He puts his hand on Aku's shoulder bending forward trying to catch his breath. His little green and white Celtic jersey hangs hopelessly above his tummy.
'You… you little… ha…' he mutters in between breathes.
'You fat piece of shit. Comot your hand from my shoulder jor' Aku shrugs Eni hands off his shoulders with a look of disgust planted on his face. Eni loses his balance and drops to the floor like a large sack of potato. Aku rolls his eyes. He can't even stand the sight of Eni but for some reason I haven't been able to understand he always keeps him around from the very first day I stepped foot at that camp. Their inseparable duo would make my life a living hell.
Aku wasn't a macho looking boy or any taller than Eni. He was rather very skinny almost as if he fed Eni all his rations. His dark skin unlike that of Eni with a very hard to miss gap tooth right between his front upper canine teeth and two large tribal marks on either cheek was what made him intimidating to most. His unkempt afro let him express his savagery without any bigotry towards his character. His shirt hung to him like a shirt on a hanger, a navy blue long sleeve shirt with no buttons letting his ribs and his bare chest out for the world to admonish. His long brown khaki trousers were obviously too big for him, but even Aku did not have the pleasure of choosing his best fit. His opened toe sandals sounds like a heeled shoe on a glass floor, a sound that haunted me at night. Ten year old me would be sleeping and then hear the dreaded sound. Sometimes I would take off but would never get far before I'm covered with mud. I would boil with anger but only let out tears.
'You see yourself?' his Yoruba accent couldn't be missed 'you've gone and hit your head and even break your leg join.'
'Aku please now! I'm just looking for my mother. I'm not-'
'I'm going to beat you senseless today.' furious that I would dare subjugate him into any form of exercise, Eni interrupts me.
My vision wasn't getting any better. My shirt was drained in my blood. I just kept muttering the words please. Any mercy I could get I would take it.
'What mother? See this boy o. You know everybody that hasn't been seen in any concentration camp by now is either dead or running mad somewhere. Or wait o Obe? Is your mother mad? Was she mad before or after the purge sef?' Aku keeps trying to hold his laughter.
'e no fit be after the purge. Na before na. You no see say e dey run for 'im family' Eni is laughing with Aku uncontrollably now. Their laughing figures keep getting blurrier in my eyes.
'Maybe his popsi-' My eyes went wide as a slim but long machete stuck out of Eni's mouth.
Aku fell to the ground fear in his eyes. He couldn't run and he couldn't scream. He just watched as Eni's lifeless body fall to the ground face front. The machete stood tall like a stalk of a tree rooted deep into the ground on Eni's head. A man dressed in all black denim jeans and black hood sweater stood over Eni's body. His head was bowed down with his hood over his head. He stood still filling the empty street with quiet once again. Only this time it was an ominous quiet tainted with fear.
He placed his brown boots on Eni's back, pushing him back down as he drew his machete out of the back of Eni's head. Aku tried to scream but couldn't get a sound out. His body went stiff as a rock. It was the most frightened I had ever seen Aku.
But like a dry twig, he snapped back to his senses and tried to run. He struggled to get up with his sandals kept tripping him down again and again. He finally managed to get up and run but he didn't get far. The sound of the fired pistol sent shivers through my entire body. The mystery man held his gun firmly still aimed at Aku. He was so fast I hadn't seen when he drew the pistol. Aku stopped dead in his tracks. His throat spewed out blood as he falls down face front to the ground. The ground kept absorbing the blood before it could turn into a puddle around him.
He let his head turn to my direction slowly. As if trying to tell me all these were to make a point to me. My heart was stuck in my throat. My breathing rate had tripled now. My head felt intolerable and my leg wasn't any better but that wasn't going through my mind, the samurai in the black hoodie had all my attention.
Where did he come from? Probably from one of the abandoned buildings along the road. I couldn't tell… I … Who would kill children? Who… He's looking at me… He's looking… but I can't make out his face. I have to move now. I have… but darkness came next.
###################################################################
Consciousness slowly returned with my head feeling like it was under heavy fire. My ankle is throbbing and swollen. I try to touch it but just results in me shrieking in pain. I place my hands on my head as I try to steady myself on what felt like …metal?
Where am I?
I open my eyes slowly but everywhere around me is dark except for a stream of light seeping through what looked like a key hole. I try to get up but I'm brought back down after banging my head on a top metallic surface making the pain even worse in my head.
Alright then, Obe. Relax. Think. What can I remember last… Aku and Eni chasing me. Yes! I remember losing my balance and then-
I let my hand touch the side of my head that was bleeding on the dirt road just realizing it's all covered up with bandage.
The man!
The denim jean samurai. Oh God oh God oh God. I need to get out of here, wherever here is. Did he fix me up? Why didn't he just end me right there and then like he did Aku and Eni? Ah. The questions only add to the painful headache.
One thing I do know is that whatever I'm in is definitely moving. The sound of tires on a dirt road wasn't hard to miss. The little light that seeped through the key hole into my not so comfy space illuminated as much as nothing but enough for me to see a wrench. It was something enough to protect me as much as it can.
I reached for the hole and looked through it hoping to get a clue of where I was. All I could see was dirt road with some trees far at the distance. I'm locked in the trunk of a moving car I can tell that much.
The car then starts to slow down until it comes to a stop. I can hear voices in the background, subtle but still there. They seemed to be moving around a lot. Maybe he had stopped the car at another camp. I need to get their attention.
I start to use the wrench to hit the roof of the trunk furiously and yell out trying to get somebody to hear me, to help me.
'HELP!! SOMEBODY, ANYBODY EJO! IM IN THE CAR! I-' I hear the car door creak open and then someone step down from the car and slam the door. The footsteps draws closer to the trunk of the car… to me. I grab my wrench and hold it close to my chest ready for whatever.
The footsteps stop right in front of the trunk. The light coming in through the key hole gets cut off with him standing right in front of it. Now it's bleakly dark inside. The dreaded space was now my fortitude. I can hear my breathing speed up again and my heart starts to race and sweat trickles down my face. It was stuffy, hot and uncomfortable down here, not to mention I had been locked in here for God knows how long. But that wasn't why I was sweating. The idea of death standing right outside the trunk terrified me.
He starts to unlock the trunk and as soon as it clicks the trunks cracks open. The blinding sun light comes through first straight into my eyes. I raise the wrench to block out the light so my eyes could adjust to it. I slowly lower my hand and clarity comes with it.
First thing I see is a gun pointed at my head at point blank. I freeze and just focus on the gun. It was a… it was an old gun, Gold-ish handle and a long barrel.
'kai, look at me…' his brutish voice held a menacing and cold feel to it with a rough but deep undertone.
I raise my head from the barrel of the gun to face him still clenching the wrench close to my chest. His hood was down and I could see his face clearly now. His face, though well clean and his chiseled jaw line shaved to perfection, still had a rugged look to it almost as if he had not slept in days. His skin although dark was far from dull. His hair line was well receded but well combed. He had very noticeable bags under his eyes and as if not intimidating enough, a scar from his ear to the corner of his frown that seemed to have been there from birth and with his broad chest casted a shadow on me in the trunk with well-built biceps. Even if I were to strike him with the wrench it wouldn't make a difference. Not to talk of I wouldn't get far with a busted ankle. But I still held on to the wrench like my life depended on it.
'Now listen to me. You try to run, even with your twisted ankle, I'll put a bullet in your head. You try to scream? ... bullet to your head. You speak when spoken to and do what you're told to do. You as much as twitch when I tell you not to, I'll put a bullet in your other good leg so help me Allah. Do you understand me?'
I just stare blankly at him.
'Nod…' and I nod frantically.
'Good. Drop it… the wrench, drop it.'
I slowly place it where I had carried it from, still maintaining my position. He sighs and returns his gun to the side of his jeans. He stretches his hands for me to grab. As soon as I grab it he lifts me from the trunk of the car causing a sharp pain in my ankle. I wince in pain but try as much as possible to hide the pain. I could smell charcoal and cigarettes on his sweater like a man who worked in the mines. He lifts me over his shoulders like it was nothing. He uses a hand to support me and another to close the trunk shut.
As he starts to walk I notice where he had parked his very old and rusted model of Peugeot. Where we were was like a fortress. There were almost as much as half the people at my camp but they were still in the hundreds. I look at the structures and it wasn't like the camps at all.
The old abandoned structures were clustered in one area. It looked like it was probably once a school, a big school with classrooms and dirt road. I could see the tall fence I'm guessing they must have raised for extra security. The classrooms were painted green with white lines drawn across it like the flag. It reminded me of my primary school in Benin. It might have been a government school. Some of the classrooms had been turned into bedrooms. I could see mosquito nets hanged inside with bunk beds through the windows. There were other structures farther that I could make out to be the main hostel I'm guessing. Adjacent the classrooms, not too far, stood an old chapel, whitish brown, standing tall above all the other classes. The walls had been barricaded with wires and spikes ready for any threat. They had built a tall wooden tower like in an old movie to see impending danger from outside the wall. Two people were mounted on each one on each side of it.
Some people came out of their rooms to see who the new comer was while others who were already outside stopped what they were doing. They were all neater and looked well fed, more than anybody at my camp.
My brute chaperon stopped walking and turned to look at everyone who kept staring at us.
'Is there a problem?'
They immediately got back to working. I guess the fear for this guy is well mutual. He grunts as if almost saying "exactly what I thought" and continues his walk with me still hanging on his shoulder.
We arrive not too far from the classrooms to a completely white but isolated bungalow I assumed would be a clinic by the red big cross painted on the wall. He opens the door and the inside was bigger than I had thought. There were hospital beds on either side of the structure. It stretched to as far as fifteen meters from what I could tell with beds on each side with a small office with its door closed at the right end. The clinic wasn't filled up with patients: about three to four in total.
Brute terrifying man places me on one of the beds as gently as possible and calls the only nurse that was attending to someone. He goes to meet her and after a while she comes to meet me. I adjust on the bed, getting a good posture, letting my back lean on the metal bed frame. My chaperone knocks on the office door and waits for a moment before going in and shutting the door behind him.
She goes closer to my right ankle to examine the damage only touching it slightly. But even the slightest touch would make me wince in pain. And she would apologize every time.
'Eyah, you poor thing.' She would say 'sorry ehn' she would then say after.
'Don't worry. It's just a sprained ankle. It'll probably take a couple of weeks but it'll be healed in no time.'
I tried to adjust my leg to a more comfortable position but she was already assisting me. She grabbed a pillow from a nearby empty bed and placed it below my feet so it could stay elevated. She was kind and pretty. Her warm smile made me somewhat at peace. It was reassuring to have someone like her close after the day I had.
She reached for my head to access the damage. She gently loosened the bandage. Seeing what she needed, she got her bottle of spirit and cotton wool, turned the bottle on the wool and gently cleaned the wound. She would apologize when I winced in pain.
'You're a very strong boy. Most boys your age would be crying because of the pain.'
Oh I wanted to cry. But Mr. 'I'll shoot you if you vex me' words kept ringing in my mind and kept the tears away
'You don't talk much huh? What's your name?'
'Obesele'
'Obesele, it's nice to meet you. I'm nurse Grace and I'll be catering your every need.' She said with a warm smile. 'I'll get you some pain killers so you could get some rest.'
She leaves to the same office chaperone had gone into. Some minutes later he emerged from the office with the man I assume is the doctor with his white coat and stethoscope around his neck.
'Obesele, you're one strong little chap, aren't you? Mild concussion and a swollen sprained right ankle, but still looking strong.' He puts his arm in his coat pocket with an overly cheerful grin. 'My name is Doctor Jerome and I'm in charge of this small rodeo going on here. It's a safe haven away from the Dominants. You'll be safe here I guarantee you that.'
'I also apologize for my friend here's behavior. He shouldn't have been violent to your friends –'
'They weren't my friends, but they didn't deserve to die either.'
'They were under the Dominants control. They would've killed you if I hadn't intervened. You should be thanking me.' My chaperone boldly states with his folded arms.
'They weren't under any ones control. They were just naturally mean.'
'Whatever the case may have been, all that matters is that you are safe now. You must be well stressed out from the long journey, so just relax, some food will be brought so you can eat and sleep. I know you have questions and all will be answered later in the conference hall once you freshen up and get some clean clothes on. I have other things to tend to but you're in capable hands.' He gestures at nurse grace before taking his leave with chaperone close behind.
Evening soon came and I was off to the conference hall with the direction nurse Grace had given me. The white cotton shirt, plain trousers and slippers felt so refreshing after a long time. I struggled with the crutch she had given me, wobbling from one side to the other. Everyone seemed to be indoors as the environs had less people out as to the afternoon. They didn't have light switched on but they had improvised with fire torches placed outside on some walls lighting the path to the conference hall.
I arrive at the conference hall and push the wooden doors open. A few people no more than twenty were seated while some stood at the corners, some in groups while others stood alone. Upfront was Jerome who was talking with my chaperone but stopped as soon as I pushed the door open.
'Ah, we've been waiting for you Obesele. Come and sit let's begin.'
I wobbled to a seat as everyone who stood also found a place to seat.
'My name is Dr. Jerome as some of you already know and I am in charge here. A fortified abode, if you will, we like to call Haven's Gate, a place with absolutely guaranteed safety from the Dominants. You have been brought from your various displaced camps across the nation to serve in something bigger than you and I. A chance to fight back!
'We all have lost someone to the war. A mother, a father, a wife, a husband, a sibling… a fight that was never in our favors from the start. Those things came from hell and left death and destruction… of heart and soul. Those monsters have taken enough from us-'
'You do not have to remind us. We were there. What makes you think this place is any different from our desolated camps that you so graciously tore us from?' came a voice from the back of the hall. She sounded angry and uninterested in whatever Jerome had to say.
Chaperone didn't seem pleased either with the intrusion from the lady. I could hear his angry growl from where I was seated. I guess not everyone got his little memo I had gotten earlier.
'I was getting to that but I guess there's no need beating around the bush.' Jerome takes an empty chair in front of him and flips it backwards, letting his chest rest on the back rest and his arms on the top of it.
'Here we collect the only weakness the Dominants have. The only upper hand humanity has. You. The unexplainable nightmares? The strange feelings you feel in your gut at random moments? That's not you… those are the Dominants…'
I was too familiar with what Jerome spoke of. There were times were I would wake up in the middle of the forest not remembering how I got there. Other times I would lose my temper and feel rage I cannot explain, rage that consumes me entirely. They campers thought I was mad like the rest afflicted by the Dominants, forcing me into isolation and painful treatment that never worked. I was an outcast prey to Eni and Aku terror.
'You see, no matter how ungodly those beasts are they still obey the Law of conservation of matter. Matter cannot be destroyed nor created but is transformed from one form to another. You see, we share the air they breathe, we walk and toil the ground on which they walk and defecate. We share the earth with these monsters and in so doing include them in our nature cycle. They die and reproduce as all living animals do, putrefactive bacteria in the soil converts the body amino acids and proteins to ammonia in the soil. The nitrate bacteria's then converts it to nitrites in the soil which is now found in our crops as nitrogen and then we consume to repeat the circle which in essence means we have the Dominants in us.
'They may come in atoms and molecules but oh those bloody bastards are stronger than anything we have seen. They do what they do best. Dominate. Slowly making its way to your brain cells through your blood stream, it creates a telepathic link between you and the dominants. Those nightmares aren't nightmares at all, they're their raw unfiltered thoughts, and the rage is theirs.'
The hall fell in silence with only the lit torches fire cackling in the distance.
Jerome face that was filled with so much enthusiasm as he explained turned grim almost immediately.
'Every other camp out there has probably been decimated or destroyed by the Dominants. Your camps were only standing because subconsciously without your knowing, you repelled them, drove them back, like a telepathic shield wall. My guess is it's the survival instinct kicking in with the Dominant cells in your brains, combining to form a defense mechanism. It's quite incredible'
'If what you're saying is true,' he deviant lady gets up scraping her chair backwards making a cringe worthy sound 'then you taking us away from our camps, from friends and family, mean their deaths.'
'Precisely.' Jerome answers acutely.
'You son of a –'
'Countless others will die if I didn't do what had to be done!' A spark of fury lighted up Jerome's eyes at her raised tone.
'It was only a matter of time before they came for you. You are not strong enough to hold them back for too long! The dominants have almost completely wiped out half of Africa in under a year. They grow in number and strength daily. The international countries have started building safety measures and defenses against these things, weapons of mass destruction, which won't work but leave more deaths in its wake. They've started to cut supply because is getting too "dangerous" for them. We are on our own and we are our own best fighting chance. But we must do it together! Whatever the cost! Let me show you how.'
'Go to hell. I'm leaving.' the deviant lady begins to walk out the door.
'Oh, contrary Miss Bola, It wasn't a request. No one can leave the compounds until my say so. Anyone who tries to leaves will be shot dead without any hesitation. Anyone who manages to leave will be devoured by the Dominants by sun down. None of you are strong enough to face a Dominant close range one on one.'
My chaperone steps forward with his arms behind his back face solid as steel.
'My name is Ahmed. That right there will be the last act of disregard of authority while under my control. I am your commanding officer here. I will whip you into the best soldiers man has ever seen.'
After a short and terrifying briefing by our forced upon Commander Ahmed, we all leave the conference hall with me wobbling behind leaving only Ahmed and Jerome alone.
'I've told you times without number Ahmed, unnecessary casualties bring unnecessary attention.'
'Like I said earlier, I thought they were under Dominant influence-'
'Don't give me that bullshit! You did that out of your sick pleasure and I'm tired of condoning your actions. If they find out what we are doing here, we are better off with the Dominants.'
Ahmed's hands tightened in anger. He was never one to be receiving orders from a mere civilian, but times were dire and he was more than he let out. But it doesn't make it any less frustrating.
He looks at Jerome with a straight face, boiling inside. The doctor looks him square in the eyes.
'Don't let this happen again or else there will be reprimands, am I understood Commander?'
Ahmed mouth muscles twitches in anger.
'Yes. But know this. I will be your guard dog for as long as it takes to get prepared, guard dog that will bite back one day. '