The Antelope's Journey

9. They might be cannibals

Kali woke up and found that he was in a cell. With him, was what was left of his group. “Ow, you woke up, kid.” Kali turned in the dim and he saw Kamo. Boy, was he glad to see him alive. Kamo did seem fatigued, he was sweaty and a bit shaky. He was pressing against the wound on his shoulder, he was leaking red. Kali crawled over to him at a near corner. “You’re hurt. Let me help you with that.”

Kamo gasped a laugh almost careful not cause himself anymore pain, “What do you know about first aid?”

“Where’s your bag? I’m sure I can find something in there.”

“Our bags were taken away.” Kamo continued, “Last I checked, you were the most useless in the group.”

“It’s true, I can’t fight. I know nothing about survival in the wild. But I can help with cuts, I tell you.” Kali tore his top. “I recently, graduated—”

“In what? Medicine?”

“Yeah, cardiology to be specific. I work with the heart. I hadn’t started the job yet. I was supposed to start Monday, but here I am.”

A woman was heard saying, “I think they might be cannibals.”

“What?”

The rest quieted down and listened in.

“I saw… I don’t know. I’m not sure, but I saw hands being roasted at a cook fire. Human hands, I think.”

“I saw it too,” said a man.

The cell opened and more people were thrown in. This was Francina’s group. They each wore scowls on their faces, perhaps angry to have been captured. As soon as each of them was tossed in, the cell was locked again. Francina sat up, she was rubbing her forehead on which she fell on—

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Yeah, Jim. I’m okay. Now get off my shoulder!”

“Somebody’s grumpy—”

Francina pounced at him. She was pinning him against the wall with his collars in her grip. “I’m not grumpy!”

This was odd for the group. She was the most chill person in their group—very quiet, composed and detached. Betty and Mbali had gotten up to split the fight. Kali could not believe that he was finally seeing the girl again. He had been longing for her since the journey started. It was odd enough that they were strangers who never talked, but he felt some sort of kinship with her already. He was a lonesome young man who held onto people easily. It was either that or he avoided any communication all together. And again, he was seeing her all dirty and unkept. He remembered seeing her in the streets. He wondered if she recognized him. But she was fixated at her fight with Jim.

“I saw what you did,” she hissed at him. The fury was searing from her glare. Jim only wanted to make this right. He pulled out of Mbali’s grip gently. He cautiously approached Francina. Betty had been holding her back. “Let’s talk it through.”

The others were interested in knowing what it was that Jim was being accused of. Jim carefully approached Francina to try and stop her from saying anything. “Let’s talk,” his eyes locked with hers and his eyebrows were doing the convincing. She calmed down. Betty and Mbali now backed off. They pulled away giving the two some space. They were curious, indeed. Hence, they kept a close eye to read their lips.

“The other’s died because of you,” she said as silent as possible. They drew down on the ground. They kept a very close distance between themselves so that they could clearly hear each other. “Instead of fighting, you were hiding behind them. From 8, we’re down to 6 now. Did you deliberately kill all those other people as well?”

“I did not kill anyone and no, I did not have the others killed. Well, except for the last two—”

She grasped his throat this time. Gradually, she was thinning his breathing pipes. “Why did you do that!”

In their group was only, themselves plus Betty and Mbali, and the two cousins—Alamson and Victor left. This was worrisome for Francina. She was not with the idea of sabotaging people like that. It worried her that their number was decreasing and hence making them easy targets of attacks. The others could not workout anything out of two whisperers. They started talking among themselves instead. “How do we get out of here? I don’t want to be turned into steak.” They mumbled trying to work out a solution among themselves.

Loud sounds of feet stomping were approaching. These were the warriors, they had come to collect all the captives. They had them chained and would shove them forward to keep them moving at stable pace. They had them dressed in leaves and doused in oil. They were then tied to the pulpit. Surrounding were the villagers. The villagers were chanting and waving their tree branches. Coals and wood where prepared at the feet of the captives.

“On the recent full moon ago, our prophet had a prophecy,” one giant chanted to mass as soon as the commotion had quieted. “A prophecy she prophesized!” The prophet, herself, was standing with the crowd. She was very distinct with her choice of clothing and makeup. She had her well-known stuff with her. “She said the queen mother will pass in exchange for her offspring’s life! And she did. She said the queen mother will make a plea before her last breath. The queen mother laid down as she birthed the last of her daughters and she said, as I pass you will dissemble my body and burn it at the cook’s fire. Use my flesh to bestow my strength and vitality to my daughters. Feast on it, my daughters, and keep me in you forever.”

The crowd was attentive. There was a perfect silence and the giant continued, “On the same full moon, the prophet prophesized an intrusion of land pirates into our midst. They will come and will steal all that we built. They will destroy and they will e*****e. Today, here they are!” he pointed at the captives. A loud, very loud cheer in the crowd. They were excited. They cheered on to have the bonfire started already.