CHAPTER 7

Sulaimon and the other men passed through harrowing experience during their training. Their days began with early morning prayers and then military training exercises, followed by going round what was left of the town collecting money from the few shop owners still around. They learned to shoot Kalashnikovs and pistols. Training also included sliding on their bellies through barricades of burning tires, jumping over obstacles and off roofs, how to use rocket launchers and throw a grenade.

They had gathered one day as usual in one of the houses for dinner. The flame of the candles flickered with the breeze that came in through a hole created by shell damage to the house. There wasn’t enough food for everyone owing to the sudden late arrival of some fighters who had fled the battlefield to come for reinforcements as the Syrian government forces drew nearer. Sulaimon was selected to be among those to join the fighters to the battlefield the next day. He excused himself and went outside to urinate.

“I just want to go home.” He whispered to himself sobbing as he urinated beside a burnt car outside the building. “God please help me.”

He suddenly heard something. He looked up to the dark sky as the unusual sound got closer. Soon, there was an enormous explosion. It was as though a fist of orange flame had decided to punch its way through the building he had just come out from. Windows shattered. Smoke and fire rushed out as thousands of pieces of glass and stones, a deadly rainfall, showered down. Sulaimon could feel the dull thud of stones hitting his body as the force of the bomb flung him to a wall. He heard the hoarse howl of people and saw that a huge bite had been taken out the side and roof of the building. He passed out.

Thanks but too short bro...
We waited for long na..
Another chapter today abeg

PraisesPblaze:
Thanks but too short bro...
We waited for long na..
Another chapter today abeg

Yea, I know. It's a short story though so the next two updates would round it up. Uploading one now.

CHAPTER 8

“Hello, anybody there?” Sulaimon asked as he woke up confused with a pounding headache and pains all over his body.

He looked around. The room was small with a window about the size of a biscuit tin lid. The bed he laid on sat low to the ground, the frame baring the signs of rust. He got up and sat on the edge. When he felt a sharp pain in his right hand, he raised it and noticed that it was dressed with a sterile bandage. Looking at a mirror hanged on a wall opposite him he noticed that his head was also wrapped. He must have got injured badly during the explosion, he thought. Wincing in pain, he stood up and walked towards the mirror. He noticed his busted lips and cuts on his face and arms.

Just then a man walked into the room. He would have been white if it weren’t for all the freckles. There were so many that his face was brown with small pale spaces here and there, like the tips of grass struggling to show through the golden-brown leaves of fall. Sulaimon recognized him. He was the father of a young girl Sulaimon had saved days earlier from being crushed by a falling debris from a damaged building when she and her friends were playing under it.

“You wake up finally. You are very lucky you know.” The man said with a beaming smile.

“What happened? Who attacked us yesterday?” Sulaimon asked.

“No not yesterday. You have been sleeping for two days now. The Syrian army attacked. All the people in the building were killed. You are the only survivor. You are very lucky I had to remove shrapnel from your hand and body.”

Sulaimon didn't know how to feel about the news. A sigh left his lips. “Thank you sir.”

“My name is Shija. Just call me Shija. And no problem, you save my little girl remember? How about you? You are?”

“Sulaimon. My name is Sulaimon.”

“Very good name. Come, come join us for dinner in the other room.” Mr. Shija said, pointing towards another room where murmurs were coming from.

Sulaimon followed him. They emerged into another room a bit bigger than the one Sulaimon had woken up in. This one was also in a bad shape with its wall painting completely peeled off with little patches left. He sat on one of the makeshift chairs made of wood and a plastic rubber tied together. There were two other men, two women and four children sitting on a wide mat eating. They stared at Sulaimon.

“You must be hungry. Here take this and eat.” Mr. Shija said, handing a plateful of rice with no stew and a cup of water to Sulaimon.

“Thank you.” Sulaimon collected them and gulped down the water

“This is my wife Raya and her sister Ashna. Those are my brothers Musfa and Rahim. These are my children Mara, khalifa, Yara and Sheila.” Mr. Shija said, pointing at them one after the other before sitting down himself.

Sulaimon wiped his mouth. He was half-way through the plate of rice already. “Hello everyone.” He waved at them.

“They don’t understand English. Just eat.” Mr. Shija urged.

Sulaimon nodded and took another handful of rice then stepped it down with a gulp of water. “But Mr. Shija, how come you understand English?” He asked.

“I worked in the university before the war, so I understand even though it is not too fluent." Mr. Shija answered. "So, where are you from and how did you come here?”

The whole journey started replaying itself in Sulaimon's mind. His eyes were starting to sting from the gathering tears. He shook it off. “I'm from Nigeria. I was headed to Italy through the Libyan waters when I unfortunately found myself here.” He said.

“You were going to visit someone?” Mr. Shija asked.

“No. I have nobody there. I was going to search for a new life." Sulaimon sniffed and wiped the tears from his eyes. "But that wasn't going to be, and I lost it all. Including my best friend. Here I am, in war ravaged Syria instead.”

“How come a very strong young man like you leave his country to risk his life in sea? I hear of many people dying to cross why you join them? I don't hear Nigeria at war.”

Sulaimon chuckled sadly. “Nigeria might not be at a full-scale military war, but there is an on-going socioeconomic war. One that has lasted many decades and doesn't seem to have an end date in sight. The poverty and corruption there is immeasurable.”

“That is no excuse to run from your country and risk your life like this Suleiman. If all of you run who is going to make the country better? You think all those countries you running to are built in one day? If you want change in your country you have to work for it. With blood and sweat. You don't abandon it and expect others to do it for you.”

“It’s not as easy as you think Mr. Shija. The politicians have total control over everything in the country and the citizens have been successfully divided along ethnic and religious lines. It is easier said than done.”

“You think building something you will be proud of tomorrow is easy? You see how bad my country is now, but me and my family don’t run away because we believe that things would get better even though it looks very slim at this moment. At least in your country you have democracy. You can join hands together and elect good leaders. Even if it not work, you can always work hard personally to make life better for you. Is not good for you to run away from your country just because things are not going your way. Strive to make your country like the ones you are running to or even better.”

“We try to, but things just aren’t working.”

“You all have to try harder Suleiman. You all have to stand up and make your country work. Nobody, no country would do it for you. The countries you think would help won’t. They don’t like cutting ties to governments who open doors for their business, or help their geo political agendas. Pressure needs to come from you the citizens who care enough about your country's development to force politicians to overcome easy temptation of short-run political expediency.”

Sulaimon was staring at the floor now, the tears flowed down his cheek.

“Why you crying now Suleiman?” Mr. Shija asked.

“You are right. I risked my life and that of my best friend senselessly. I could have worked harder back home and achieve what I wanted or as my mother said, make clean papers and travel where I wanted to, but for my shortsightedness." His lips quivered and his chest heaved with the crying. "I just want to leave this place.”

Mr. Shija shook his head in pity as he and his family looked on at the crying boy in front of them. He finally spoke again. "OK Suleiman. I know of some smuggle routes that can take you up to turkey and then Italy. We could…”

“No! I am not talking about going to Europe anymore… After everything I’ve gone through I just want to go back home to my family.” Sulaimon interrupted.

“OK, ok no problem. We see what we can do.” Mr. Shija said.

“But why are you being this kind to me Mr. Shija?”

Mr. Shija looked at his daughter and smiled. “You saved my daughter remember? That meant a lot to me.”

Sulaimon nodded. “Thank you so much. But could we start going now?”

“No, not now. You are still weak and it is night and impossible to see anything ahead of us. We might get shot at once we reach area control by the Syrian defense force if they mistake us for the militants. We have to wait until a little before sunrise then we move. And besides I have to tell my family first.” Mr. Shija said.

“Ok, thank you so much sir. I will let you talk to your family now.” Sulaimon said. He stood up with the plate of food and drink and went to the other room he had come out from.

Moments later Sulaimon could hear Mr. Shija and his family arguing. He waited, praying fervently to God to help him out of this place. He couldn’t sleep all night as he thought of everyone back home and all he had gone through.

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Wow.
Thanks again bro.

PraisesPblaze:
Wow.
Thanks again bro.

Uwc.

As I said earlier this is a short story and the final chapter is coming up soon. I'd also like to see you guys' review on it. What do you think of the storyline?
Thanks for the support guys. I appreciate it.

Simple, straight forward story. Earlier on i thought you were speeding things up a little, but now i know it's a short story.
Nice one bro, good plots, though i wanted one war scene at least.

Waiting for the last chapter.

PraisesPblaze:
Simple, straight forward story. Earlier on i thought you were speeding things up a little, but now i know it's a short story.
Nice one bro, good plots, though i wanted one war scene at least.

Waiting for the last chapter.

Thanks for this bro. Didn't really want to drag the plots so no war scene. Last chapter up soon.

For more thrilling scenes though, I'd be posting my latest work titled 'The Chadian Breach' after this one. It's a novel-length work and revolves around espionage and many action scenes.

Finally, Mr. Shija came with good news that his family had agreed and that it was time they start moving. Sulaimon was beyond elated. He continuously thanked Mr. Shija and his family for their kindness.

They took an hour off before sunrise, walking between destroyed homes and sometimes hiding inside when they heard gunfire. They walked about 5kilometers before they finally reached a safe area.

“We are now at the SDF controlled area." Mr. Shija said. "But watch where you step on as we move. There are landmines, so follow my lead.”

Sulaimon did as he was told and followed Mr. Shija in the zig-zag path he walked. They were two streets away from the safe zone when militant snipers started targeting them. They didn’t know where the shots were coming from but the bullets flew by them, sometimes mere inches away from their heads. And the SDF were also firing shots towards them. Sulaimon was terrified and almost peed his pants as they crouched down and ran for cover.

“Here! Here!! Here!!!” Mr. Shija shouted, pointing to the rubble of a destroyed building. They ran into it.

“What are we going to do now?” Sulaimon asked between shuddering breaths.

“Stay here, I am going to walk out slowly to signal the SDF that we are civilians so they won’t fire in our direction.” Mr. Shija said.

“Be careful sir.”

Mr. Shija walked out of the rubble taking cover behind a metal container and waved to the army. After exchanging some words with the SDF in Arabic, the SDF fired in the air to indicate to them to hurry towards them.

“Sulaimon let’s start running now.” Mr. Shija shouted.

Sulaimon looked the other way. “But there is a sniper."

“Do you want to stay here forever? Let's go!"

Summoning all the courage left in him, Sulaimon crawled out and they both started running towards the safe area.

The militant sniper kept firing towards them as they ran but luckily, the bullets kept missing thier targets. Sulaimon and Mr. Shija ran faster until they reached a house that the SDF fighters were occupying. They exited from the back and got to the controlled area where some fighters gave them food and water and asked if anybody was wounded.

“No we are fine. My friend here is just looking for a way to go back to Africa.” Mr. Shija replied.

“Then he's in luck. He should get prepared to board the bus leaving later for Jordan. From there he will get another ride or even a plane directly to Egypt.” One of the soldiers replied.

“Hope that will be ok for you.” Mr. Shija asked Sulaimon.

“Yes it is. Once I get to Egypt I can easily find my way to Nigeria.” Sulaimon replied.

*

Hours later, two buses arrived the camp, some people coming down while others rushed in. An SDF fighter approached Mr. Shija.

“Tell your friend to come board a bus. The red one leaves for Turkey for those heading to a refugee camp there, while the green one heads to Jordan for those being taken back to Africa.” He said and left.

Mr. Shija turned to Sulaimon. “My friend, you heard him. It is up to you now to truly make your decision. Do you want to board the one headed for Europe or the one going towards Africa?”

Sulaimon hugged Mr. Shija. “Thank you so much for all you’ve done for me. I will never forget your kindness. Send my regards to your family.” He said with a teary eye. Afterwards, he joined others and rushed into the green bus.

THE END.

*
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Here's the synopsis for my next work 'THE CHADIAN BREACH'. I hope you'd keep tab and follow when I start posting it. You sure won't be disappointed!

When the Nigerian National Intelligence Agency is infiltrated with one of its safehouse in Chad breached and the agent in it brutally killed, the Agency's Director, in a frantic race against time, call back in one of its elite agents, Kabir Mantis, to go after his partner's killers and to stop some Weapons of Mass Destruction from being smuggled into the country by terrorists.

A cat and mouse chase soon follows, pitting the continent's most savvy government agency versus its most sophisticated terrorists. But as Kabir and the Agency peel back layer after layer, they soon realize that they are up against some very powerful forces within the very top of the Chadian and Nigerian government.

With twists following twists, almost no one to trust, the country and even his own fiance in danger, and an army of obstacles pushing even the limits of what he can handle, the stakes for Agent Kabir could not be higher. Will he be able to stop those threatening to take down the entire system?

Nice bro. At a point there, i thought he would take the red bus.
Thanks again.

Do me well by mentioning me in the next story.

PraisesPblaze:
Nice bro. At a point there, i thought he would take the red bus.
Thanks again.

Do me well by mentioning me in the next story.

Thanks bro for sticking by. I appreciate. I'd be sure to mention you in the next one.

Nice short story

Ayoslimzy:
Nice short story

Thank you.

Good read....i enjoyed it.

OlufemiWhit:
Good read....i enjoyed it.

Glad you did. Thank you.