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kayo80:
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Wale and Nkechi were now sitting in the bus alone, waiting for the driver to get back. He had walked off, saying he could get to the express and get some help from fellow drivers. Wale suggested they call it a day and find a tree to climb up and sleep in to avoid robbers. Nkechi laughed at the idea, and felt she would feel safer staying in the bus. So, they locked the doors, and sat in the front seat talking.

About half a kilometer straight ahead was a T junction; a left turn at the junction led straight to the express way, but they didn’t know how long the walk would be, or if they would get any help at the express at midnight. They had exhausted all they could talk about and silence took over the bus. He could hear her breathing. Was she scared he would do something to her, or was she excited about what she thought he would do next, he thought to himself. “You know something?” She said, and disrupted his train of thought.

“What?” He asked and turned to look at her. Her natural light skin shone under the moonlight. He could see a smile forming on her face.
“I actually recognized you right away when I got into the bus.”
“You did?”
“Yeah.”
“Hmm. And I couldn’t read it in your body language. You’re a great actor.”
“Most women are.” She said with a little laugh. There was a little silence before she went on to say, “But it was so strange to see you in the bus when…when I was literally just thinking of you before that bus stopped in front of me.”
“I guess my joke at the wedding made a great impression on you.”
“Yeah. I guess.” She said and turned to look at him. There was silence for a few seconds, then he cupped her chin and went in slowly for a kiss.

Car headlights ahead made them end the kiss. A black Mercedes had come to a halt at the intersection up ahead. A few seconds later, a white Hilux truck with military men in it came into view and parked a few meters behind the Mercedes. “Should we go and see if they can help?” Nkechi said, and Wale shushed her as he watched the activities of the men. The bus was parked real close to the bushes on the side of the road, so the men hadn’t noticed it.

The driver side door of the black Mercedes Benz swung open, and a fat man in white native attire came down from the car holding up something in his hands. When they heard the cry of a baby, Nkechi and Wale looked at each other for a second before turning back to look at the man. He walked to the middle of the intersection, what Yoruba people call Orita Meta, raised the baby up to the moon, said some incantations, and then he pulled at the baby’s head with all the force in his arm till he decapitated it. Wale’s hand was fast enough to cover Nkechi’s mouth, but a little sound of shock still escaped her mouth before he did so.

Wale kept his face on the man, and his hand on Nkechi’s mouth. The soldiers jumped off the back of the van and started heading towards where the bus was parked. They were about five of them, holding up AK47 rifles. The fat man said a few more incantations, and then drank the blood dripping out of the baby’s severed head. When the soldiers noticed the bus, they quickened their pace, and Wale quickly opened the front door of the bus, jumped out, and pulled Nkechi out with him. As they ran into the bush, he had no idea how he was going to get out of this situation.

Thick tree branches slapped at his face as he made his way through the deep forest. Thanks to the moonlit night, he could see enough to navigate through the bushes, but he still didn’t know where he was going. After running for about 5 minutes nonstop, he stopped and leaned on the trunk of a thick tree. Nkechi’s back was on his chest; he had one hand around her waist, and another covering her mouth. Nkechi’s whole body shook. The adrenaline was pumping at a high rate. She would have been better off running right now, but if they kept running, the men would tack them down easily because of the noise they would be making.

Wale was in flight or fight mode now, and he was ready to get into the latter in full effect. One of the men walked passed them. The tree was a perfect cover. When the man was a few feet away, Wale slowly let go of Nkechi, reached into his pocket for his Nokia Lumia phone. He had always cursed out Nokia for making the phone so heavy, but it was a perfect weapon for right now. He held the phone like a dagger and snock up behind the man. With all his strength, he hit the man at the back of his head with the phone. There was a loud cry, and the soldier went down. Wale grabbed Nkechi and moved to another part of the forest quickly, but silently. Using another tree as a camouflage for him and Nkechi, he watched two of the soldiers get to the scene where their colleague laid on the ground unconscious. One of them ordered the other two to run off in pursuit while he examined the man.

With the mind that they had run off deeper into the forest, Wale and Nkechi silently made their way back towards the road. They were at a clearing now, and their shadows could be seen on the clear ground of the forest. If he had seen the punch coming, he probably would have braced himself up for it, but it came out of nowhere, and the shock, more than the force, knocked him out. He felt himself let go of Nkechi and fall to the ground.

The next couple of seconds were a blur. He heard her scream, but it felt like he was dreaming. He was slipping out of consciousness until she started repeatedly shouting out his name. And then a surge of energy came over him and got him fully conscious again. He lay on the muddy ground for a few seconds to fully regain his strength and plan his next move. When he got up, he picked up a rock the size of a socver ball from the ground, walked over to the man, who was deeply engrossed in pinning Nkechi down so he could rape her. The man let out a shrieking sound when Wale hit him in the temple with the rock. He fell on Nkechi, and she pushed him aside to get into Wale’s arms as he knelt down beside her. She held on tight to him, crying, and then she went quiet when she realized some more of the men were still out there.

He pulled her up, and just as they were about to start heading out of the clearing, the three men appeared. He knew they was no outrunning them, so he put Nkechi behind him and was ready to fight to his last breath. Just then, he noticed the rifle on the floor beside the man he had just knocked out. He didn’t know how to use it but they didn’t know that. He tried to reach for it but stopped when he heard, “move and I fire.” He stood still as the man approached him with an AK47 rifle pointed at his head. The man stopped a few inches in front of Wale, and the two other soldiers approached. The lanky one pulled a screaming Nkechi away from Wale, and the other heavyset man walked up to Wale and gave him a resounding backhand slap. Wale tasted blood as he hit the floor hard. They pulled his limp body up, put him in a kneeling position, and tied his hands behind him. All the while, they were asking him how many of them were left in the forest. Wale was still hearing a buzzing sound in his ear and was too disoriented to answer them. The man that appeared to be their leader walked up to his front and gave him a punch in his belly. Wale leaned forward. The pain was unbearable, but not as much as the punch that came next; it connected with his nose, and he fell backwards. He could hear Nkechi’s cries, as she struggled to get out of the lanky man’s grip. The man got tired of trying to make her stay still, got up and pointed his rifle at her. She became still immediately.

Wale was pulled up again, and they kept asking him how many of his people were left. Damn, if you gave me a minute to speak before hitting me, I would answer you, he thought to himself. He didn’t know if they thought he was some sort of tough guy because he had maimed two of their men. But he had done that in survival mode.

The leader got tired of questioning Wale and went around for a little surveillance. When he came back, he gave orders for Wale and Nkechi to be killed.

Wale was saying his last prayers when cows started coming out of the bushes to the clearing. He held his breath when two herdsmen came into view, with guns pointed at them. A lot of shouting ensured. One of the men understood the Hausa language, and Wale couldn’t understand what was been exchanged, but he knew it wasn’t a friendly conversation. He got a gut feeling to fall to the floor, face first, and just as he did so, the first shot rang out from one of the soldiers. It was gunfire afterwards from both sides.

Rata-ta-ta-ta! Blacka! Blacka! Rata-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta Blacka! Blacka! Blacka! Wale didn’t know if the bullets weren’t hitting target, but the men remained standing, and shooting at each other at close range for longer than he thought the gun battle would last. His hands were still tired, so there was little he could do. He lay there and watched Nkechi cover her ears with her hands as gunfire lit up the place.

The gunshots reduced and bodies started dropping one by one, till there was just one man standing. And then there was silence. After a few seconds, the heavyset man dropped on his knees and fell to the ground, with his dead eyes staring at Wale. It freaked him out.

After a few seconds, Nkechi got off the ground and limped over to his side, holding her ripped up clothes with one hand. She knelt by his side and untied his hands. They both got up, supporting each other as they headed out of the forest.

They reached the road after about 15 minutes of walking. They had run all the way earlier and Wale hadn’t realized how deep into the forest they had gone. When they got to the t junction, the white Hilux truck was still there, but the black Mercedes Benz was gone. Wale and Nkechi kept walking with intentions of getting to the expressway. They had no idea what they would do when they got there, but that was the only thing they could think of right now. They had not gone far when a truck carrying tubers of yam drove past them. It slowed down at first, but then continued moving. And then it stopped again, and reversed. “Please help us.” Nkechi shouted out when the truck stopped beside them. The front door opened. There was only space for one, and the driver asked in Yoruba if they could manage the seat. Wale said yes, and the teen boy sitting next to the driver stretched out his hand to pull Wale up. Afterwards, Wale helped Nkechi up into the truck.

The driver had a worried look on his face as he noticed their injuries and asked them if they had been in an accident. They were quiet for a while before Wale told him they had been robbed. “Ah! The man exclaimed, but thanked God they were at least not killed. As he drove off, Wale went through what had really happened in his head. Were the men really military men or thugs in military uniform? He couldn’t say. He felt a squeeze on his hand. It was Nkechi. She was on his lap. He held her tight by the waist. They had known each other for less than twelve hours, but what they had gone through in that time frame had created a bond that Wale felt would last for a long time.

The End