They struck at noon.
Monkey shrieked in confusion as Langur fighters sprung down from the cemetery walls, howling in an attacking frenzy.As they stormed through the tombs,fear and panic flashed everywhere.And with the screams came the smell of blood.
It was so terrifying fast Alan barely had time to think.One moment he was relaxing in the sun dappled tranquility, the next his mother was scooping him up and leaping into the a small Forest, abandoning everything in a frantic scramble for survival.
Swooping through the canopy, clinging to his r mother,Allan glanced down and saw an unstoppable wave of Monkeys thundering through the cemetery.They pounced on their Rhusus victims with howls of bloodlust and dragged them into the shadows to finish them off.
Allan closed his eyes, desperate to shut out the horror,and suddenly her mind jerked to save the one thing he could still understand.
"My carving"
"What?!" Willow screamed, incredulous.
"I have to get it!" Allan shouted, as if somehow clutching it would make everything all right.
"No please!" Suddenly the branches in front of them snapped apart as two forbbing Langurs lunged towards them.
Willow let go of the branch and dropped two breathe in free fall,then reached out, grabbed a vine and swung. With claws scratching across stone,Allan and willow grasped for side, outside the cemetery for the first time in their lives.
All they could do now was to run.
Lindah had been out scavenging,and had no idea anything was wrong as he casually made his way back through the streets carrying some pilfered pomegranates...when suddenly he stumbled on the ground of trembling monkeys.Then willow called his name and he realized with a shock they were his own family.
The words tumbled out of willow mouth-ambush...blood.. slaughter..attacked by monkeys
But it did not make any sense to Lindah, everyone knew those monkeys lived in the derelict cemetery,they'd always lived there,ever since the Humans had abandoned it generation ago.
He tore open a pomegranate,squeezed some white pith onto his fingers and rubbed it on his forehead,making the Universal sign of peace,But as he turned to run back to the cemetery,willow grasped his arm.
"No I have to." You mustn't go back!"
They can't just drive us out of our home!
Then he felt another pair of hands clamp around his leg,it was Allan, emphatically refusing to let him leave. Softening his tone, Chat put his arm around his son. "Don't worry. Before you know it,well a will safe at home again.He lifted Allan's head to look into his frightening eyes. "Tell you what,while iam there,I will even check your carving is in it usual palce,make sure it's safer."How is that"?
Allan gave a mute nod.Chat hugged him one last time then turned and scampered away over the rooftops, determine to set everything right.
Now Allan sat silently on top of the public library,his heart slowly breaking. Why had they been attacked with such hatred? She Wondered.Just because they looked different? Because they had brown fur,not grey and pink faces not even black? But Rhusus or Langur,they were all monkey and they all needed somewhere to live.
Allan looked from the distant cemetery to the handful of shattered survivors huddled further along the roof,her Young mind struggling to make sense of what had just happened.
Underneath all his confusion lay the darkest fear of all even though they had waited the whole afternoon,still his father hadn't returned.As the sun sank towards the horizon,Allan was gripped by the dreadful foreboding that she would never see him again.It felt as if a hole was opened up inside her,a yawning emptiness that nothing would ever be able to fill.
"We have to go." The voice cut hard across her grief. Allan looked up and saw his mother beckoning.
"No"
Willow scrambled over the roof tiles and grabbed her hand. "Move Now!"
Allan pulled back defiantly. "Not without Dad!"
"We have to get away before the Langur hunt us down."
"Listen to me," urged Lindah, we have to survive,it's what Chat wanted."
With that she took hold of Allan,dragged him across the roof and bundled her down the stepped walls.
Furtively,fearfully,the Rhusus survivor made their way into the Tom mboya streets.