Mwas looked at the seat and beamed. it was still partially damaged but, with a few modifications here and there, he will be sitting on it comfortably. " Maish," he called out happily, his eyes still fixed on the pilot's seat, " Do you still have that guy's contact"? he continued not at looking at Maish at all. Its always like this, Maish thought looking at Mwas' face, like a baby seeing a new toy, loudly he said, " Yeah I do although... , " Mwas interrupted him," Good call him and have him ready for us," he said this time looking at him.
Ever since they discovered the wreck, Maish was apprehensive. There was something ominous about this whole thing. " Mwas I don't think we should do this," he said quietly. To which Mwas said coldly," Do it." Maish sighed then arms up in surrender, he backed away and, taking out his satelite phone, he placed a call. Mwas looked at him, silently surpressing the urge to punch him. How dare he? Didn't he know that they needed this? he thought angrily. He was already short on money and a lot of things and this, this just might save him and he could also get a fancy new chair. So, why didn't Maish see that?
"The rest of you, collect everything that looks good and throw away the rest", Mwas shouted as he lifted the seat and walked towards the tent carrying it. The warriors quietly began to collect the wreckage, piling up the small ones while individually carrying the larger pieces. The mood had changed all around them, it was quieter and more subdued than ever before. Maish, turned and looked all around him and sighed again. It was his fault this time. He ruined the moment and the air around him but he just couldn't ignore his gut feeling. He never had and certainly wasn't going to start now. Is it time to cut losses with this idiot? he wondered as he watched Mwas walking ahead towards their base. He wasn't so sure.
The warriors worked fast. They knew that whenever Mwas was in such a mood, blood would always flow. It never mattered whose it was. They threw dirty glances at Maish as though they were blaming him wordlessly. This always amused Maish. Cowards that's what they were to him, hard working cowards. It was evening by the time they finished loading everything into several *HV's.
As they were about to leave, Mwas shouted," Drinks on me everyone and of course with lots of *nyama choma"! To which everyone shouted in happiness. These fools, Maish thought amusedly.
*
*
*
*
At the same time...
A few kilometers into the safe-zone
The loud laughter between the two slowly drifted into the HV as Kim drove up towards them. He had just finished hunting and he was tired. Tired and hungry. Hearing the two people laughing made his heart warm. Thia had a way of making people his friends. For a moment, he didn't want to interrupt that but time wasn't on their side. He leaned out of the driver's window and shouted," Yo, let's go"!
Thia, who had seen the HV come close, slowly stood up and headed towards it. " You got space in there,"? he asked loudly over the running engine. Kim glanced at the back slightly and replied," Yeah why"? Thia paused a little and then said, " I thought maybe the priest could come with us." Kim looked at him in shock, feeling betrayed, he replied simply, " No." Thia looked at him surprised and said," Come on Kim we can't leave him here he might become monster food you know let's take..."
Kim was no longer listening. Thia was being kind, he knew that but still, wasn't he being a little mean. He interrupted Thia and said coldly," No we're not taking him anywhere." Disappointed, Thia took out his leza knife that he had retrieved earlier and headed back to the priest.
" Sorry, I guess my friend isn't that accommodating right now so I guess we'll be parting ways now," he told the priest. Alvin was slightly disappointed, this wasn't how it was going to end. He had listened to the boy and thought of ways to manipulate him in order to get inside this so called village but it wasn't working. Loudly he said," Well I sure wouldn't agree if I were him as well," looking at thr vehicle in front of them. " Well I'll try...." Thia continued but stopped when the sound of the HV's horn interrupted. He had to go. " Here and here you can drink this when you're thirsty and use this to defend yourself", he said hurriedly and gave his leza knife and a flask containing cold water. He ran off towards the vehicle, got on and the HV sped away.
Once again, Alvin was alone in the safe-zone. He took the flask and opened it, curious to see what was inside. It was something wet and cold. He drank it. His eyes opened wide. It was cold water.
He wasn't supposed to have that.