The Antelope's Journey

8. We’re losing people

They made it to the top of the hill, finally. They found large rocks and logs. They hunkered down behind these barriers. They felt the rage of the heat on their backs as they hunkered down behind solids. The heat took no time to flash past them.

“I am so dry. I need water or I’m going to faint.” They were back on level ground. Back on the quest. They had their faces masked to keep from breathing in the ash particles left by the fire. The atmosphere in the forest was all fogy with dust particles, they had to squint their eyes to see through.  The fire also left a few black patches where it passed. The trees were stripped off their leaves and the bushes were all gone. It was insane to think that a few hours ago, the piece of land was lively with green scenes and now all they could see were the dull shades of grey.

It was not too long until they met up with another group and joined up. Now their numbers had slightly increased. Kali looked around for the girl. He only joined the quest looking for her anyway, but she was nowhere to be seen in the crowd.

Maybe, she… didn’t make it. Or maybe, there’s other groups out there. Maybe, she is in one of them. She lived in the street before she came here. That can only mean that she knows how to survive. If I, a homebody could survive this far, surely, she—a street kid—did too.

The other members started drinking from the water in their bottles. Kali’s group could only wonder where they got the water. Kamo jumped one of them and his followers copied his actions—they started fighting for the water to drink. Kali was only surprised to see them with bottles. He was the only one without a bag of weapons and goodies. He could see by the look on their eyes that they would do anything—even to one another—just to survive. He saw fatigue, rage and frustration in all of them. Kali only stood in his distance and watched them squabble.

“Drink a little bit, then!” one cried. “I need that water to finish my quest.” Kamo failing to understand what the woman meant, he took a one last gulp that emptied the bottle. This angered the woman. “Why, you!!!” she screeched and jumped at him. She had her nails gripped into his loose skin—she was about to rip his face apart. Kamo swung her off and she fell on her belly. She was relentless, she tried him again but again, she found herself tossed on the ground. She knew then that there was no point and she had to give up. It ached her knowing that she went through great lengths to collect that water from the underground. During their training, they had been told about this—about what to collect and what to do their collections. Now, her water was gone.

……….

Francina wouldn’t dare take out her bottle of water. She owed her life to Jim and he was not drinking any water. What if he had no water? If he saw her drinking, he would want some too and she dreaded having to lose that water. On the other hand, Mbali and Betty were squabbling over the little drop of water left. They already considered themselves on good standing with Francina—surely, they’d feel entitled to her water. Francina had all these thoughts in her head. She just stayed dehydrated in the end. She’d keep watering her throat with the little saliva she could suck out from beneath her tongue.

They surely had a long way out of that ashy forest. Constantly, they would blow themselves over to fan away the heat left by the fire. The particles of ashes were blowing over their eyes and they had their noses covered from breathing it in. They dragged their feet grinding against the earth’s crust and constantly, moaned at each effort.

They stumbled over a fresh piece of loam soil. Jim was the first to whip out his water, he went over and started watering a sport with the deadly water he collected from the underground. The soil sprouted a flower. Inside the flower was a portion meant to heal just about anything. “The magic portion,” he gasped out of joy. He opened the small bottle of his portion and had a sip. “With this, my thirst has forever been quenched.”

This soil was the only part that was not burnt or damaged by the residuals of the fire. The others could finally realise the use of their water. They also bent down and each watering their own portion. They resumed the journey as soon as they were done. Some had used the portion to heal their burns from the fired, some replenished their strength and some purified their air-tubes from the particles of burnt ashes that they breathed in.

“We’re losing people.” Jim whispered to Francina. The two were walking behind all of them. “That cave was too small to let us all in. The others burned at the entrance. Now, we’ve got 8 eight left.”

“Why do you keep concerning yourself over numbers?”

He sighed, “I forget that you were not with us during training.” He continued in a whispered, “We’re going to face a battle ahead. And with little manpower we’re doomed.”

So, this is why he has been trying so hard to look out for everyone? He just wants us to be his protective shields.

The people started falling to their unconsciousness—one by one. Francina started feeling it too—the dizziness and extreme fatigue. She fell to her knees, she was fighting it. Quickly, she started ruffling in her back pack for her water. Thud. Jim fell right on top of her, both passing out.

It was all dark. The heavy grey clouds were chasing. The soft winds were cold. There was a lot of shouting and metal banging. Kali had been trying to stay hidden from the warriors. He had been creeping under tables in the market place. He would move to the fountain and back to the shaded corner but it seemed he always found by one of them. His group was fighting. He saw many of them defeated gruesomely.

I was scared. I saw my men and women get taken down. I saw their spill, red all over. Could that be me next? We were outnumbered. These things were vicious and crazy. They ululated in celebration as they approached. It was like they jumped out of nowhere. How we even got into this marketplace, I don’t know. Last thing I remember, we were in the forest walking through the burns. I remember these men and women quarrelling over water. How did we get here?

Above all, if this is a game then what game is it? What is the whole point of it?

“Kid!!” Kamo called on Kali. Kamo was held at a blade perpendicular to his neck. He held it back while the warrior pushed it forth. “Kid, come help me here!” Kali started running towards and bam! He received a blow to the back of his head. He passed out from that.