The Antelope's Journey

20. Stuck at cross roads

They could not believe their eyes. There were people down there, climbing up. They couldn’t make out who those people may had been and so they eagerly waited to see them come out. The quaking was causing the ground to c***k. The tube was beginning to dismantle and the soil was tumbling over those climbing up.

A large part of Mbali gave a silent prayer that one of the two climbers should be her love. She could see the concern in Kali’s eyes, he was terrified that the ground was breaking apart and soon, he might urge that they close the hole. He did seem like a sweet and empathetic person though, however, the things he had become recently made her doubt him more.

“Hurry!” Kali cried at the climbers. “We’re running out of time!” The walls of the hole were breaking off and this made it hard for the climbers to keep on. Kali started taking off pieces of his clothes to form a rope. Mbali was determined to see those people live and so, she copied Kali. They tied their clothes together and sent down the rope. “Hold on, okay?” urged Mbali. “We’ll pull you up now.”

The rope was beginning to break off. Their weight was too much. Mbali was pulling the end of the rope and so Kali was one to receive the climbers. He got hold of one hand and the rope broke off, sending Mbali to fall back. She quickly got up and helped Kali pull this person up. They saw her face, it was Francina! Kali’s shock almost distracted him. He did let go off her for a while but she held on.

Francina seemed way heavier than they thought she would be, only to realise that Betty was holding onto her foot. This encouraged Mbali to work even harder. They pulled them both up, finally. They all started rolling the rock over the hole and they closed it. They ran as fast as they could. They had to get as far away from there in case it bursts.

I cannot believe, we made it. Most of all, I cannot believe Francina is alive! I thought I—

They had made it out of the tunnel after so many days in there. Of course, they did dip their feet in the waterfall, splash on their bodies and drink. It was surprisingly cool and fresh. Kali reached into his backpack. His heart almost skipped a beat. His bag seemed lifeless. He dipped his hand in his backpack and scooped out Monkey. Monkey was wobbly and unconscious. Mbali saw that, and so, she brought herself closer, "Oh, no. It must have suffocated in the heat." She checked for Monkey's breath, the monkey's breathing was weak.

"Put it in the water," Francina said. She was busy wetting her feet, "The water is cool. It must cool down the temperature."

Kali gently placed the monkey's body in the water. He was careful enough to keep Monkey's nostrils above water so as not to drown it.

Kali could almost cry looking at his monkey friend like that. All of that flamboyancy and enthusiasm Monkey was known for was shunned. He felt his tears build up. He was certain that he would not cry in front of any of them. They all looked over, as they were equally worried about the monkey that saved their lives back in time. "Come on, pal," Kali forced these words with his weak breath. Monkey started moving a little. "There you go." These small movements were not promising at all. Kali was aware that Monkey was still in a terrible condition. However, it was consolation enough to see Monkey open her eyes. Monkey started shivering in that water. "I think you've had enough of this water." He pulled her out of the water and placed her on his lap. He started massaging Monkey's body as he dried her with his clothes. "Your temperature has gone down." Now, he could not put Monkey back in his backpack. He wanted to watch her recover in his arms. He wrapped his jacket around it to keep it from shivering. They were heading out at last. They hurried through it all, and they were out of those darned tunnels. They were walking in a night sky. An open landscape. No grass, no other living things—just them.

How is she alive? I thought I—

I can’t even say the words myself. But at least, she’s alive. I’m not what I thought I had become after all. She has been quiet ever since she joined us. Is she holding some grudge? Will she pay us back?

“Hey, I thought you had finished her off,” Betty had approached Kali, disrupting his thoughts. Betty and Mbali were leaning very close to Kali. They were murmuring behind Francina. Francina did not seem to care for them, she just continued moving forward while they followed her behind. “You said she saved your life,” argued Kali. “Shouldn’t you be grateful to her for that?”

“Ey, ey! Don’t give me that!” Cried Betty, “Do you trust her? Do you suddenly trust her now? Look at her, clearly she’s beaming!”

“You know, I think her saving you was her message that we can trust her,” calmly prompted Mbali. Mbali was obviously grateful to Francina. Francina saved the one person she loved. However, Betty was so strong headed that Mbali matched forward to Francina. She wanted to prove to Betty that they were all on good terms now and they could all trust her again.

“Hey, Francina,” Mbali said to her, “thanks for what you did back there. You brought Betty, I thought I’d lost her and—”

“Don’t talk to me, I’m not your friend,” with that Francina matched on.

“You see? She’s probably plotting a payback,” Betty was proud to say that. She was glad to seem right. She believed that Francina’s response proved her claims. Betty knew that she would never trust Francina ever again. The girl had shown deviousness from the start and her play of the game had been forever foul in Betty’s eyes. Francina was especially close to Jim and still, she easily left him behind without hesitation. That was the closest person she had to her. Clearly, Francina had no heart—according to Betty. Francina would definitely get back at them all just like what she did with the two cousins. Betty would not wait for Francina to exert her revenge. Never! It was plan for Betty to get away from Francina as soon as possible.

They paused a while to make a decision. They were stuck at a cross road. They had to choose one path out of two. They each took a while to think carefully. They all seemed confused. This choice would ultimately lead them to the totem or to their doom. This needed great intuition.