₦airaland Forum

Trigger Warning:
This story contains graphic violence, mass death, gunfights, descriptions of corpses and blood, mild sexual content, unwanted physical contact, and dark humor surrounding trauma. Proceed with caution.


Introduction: The Fine Print of Dying

A long time ago, in a land not so far away, there was a certain group of people called "the Bandits." This group would just roll up on you and kill you, and sometimes, you wouldn't even know why you were being killed.

Imagine a scene at the gates of Heaven. The angel said, 'Welcome to Heaven,' and I asked, 'Why am I here?'

The angel sighed, checked a clipboard, and replied, "You were killed by the bandits."

"Yeah, I noticed the murder. I'm asking why."

"It's almost farming season. They needed new farmland."

"But I'm eighteen. I don't even own a—"

"Are you taking this ticket or not?"

By then, the angel appeared visibly upset.



Two Hours Earlier...

I was on a bus heading to college.

It was packed with students, traders, exhausted mothers, and at least three people who looked like they hated humanity professionally.

Our stop was a small rural market, where I planned to catch a second cab to campus.

Then, the road was blocked by a group of raggedly-dressed teenagers and a few older men wielding heavy rifles.

Our driver slammed on the brakes. Everyone froze. Personally, I thought we were just getting a standard, everyday robbery. I watched them give us hand signals, gesturing for us to get off the bus.

But for some reason—and I really didn't know what kind of cinematic main-character delusion overtook his mind—the driver decided to power through them. He revved the engine. The bus lurched forward.

And then he got shot. Right in the face.

I can't forget the look of sheer dread on everyone's faces at that moment. But the horror didn't last long, though, because the boys started spraying bullets at us.

Whatever AKs they were shooting definitely penetrated the metal. I was paralyzed with shock, watching people drop to my left and right. Someone yelled, "Everyone get down!" but my brain jammed.

I couldn't even process what that meant. Were we supposed to get down *from* the bus, or just lie down flat?

The last thing I remember was getting knocked out. I fainted, either out of sheer terror and severe shock, or because a humongous lady behind me fell dead weight right on top of me. Or both. Either way, I was out cold.

---

When I woke up, the first thing that hit me was the awful, metallic smell of blood and decaying bodies.

I was lying in an open field, and I could see a few guys nearby who looked like they were executing a mass burial. They were probably local villagers. For some reason, I was among the corpse pile.

The smell alone nearly killed me properly this time.

Then I realized I was entirely naked.

Well, not entirely. I was still wearing my favorite silver waist chain.

Which, frankly, felt unnecessarily disrespectful.

The other corpses were naked too, but the villagers had at least partially covered *their* modesty with freshly cut leaves. Apparently, my corpse didn't rate a bush.

I sat up, feeling completely drained. The guys digging the graves looked entirely worn out themselves, so worn out they didn't even notice me.

You'd think I would be completely horrified by the sight of a mass grave, but instead, I just felt a wave of relief that I was breathing. Exhaustion took over, and I lay back down to catch my breath.

The craziest part happened next: I suddenly felt myself being lifted by my ankles and shoulders.

What the hell?

I violently shook them off like a feral cat fighting for its life.

I hadn't noticed earlier, but they had just thrown the body of the man next to me into the large pit they dug. They were trying to toss me in next.

"Hey, hey! WTF, man!" I screamed, shielding my bare chest with my arms.

They froze, looking utterly terrified.

"I'm alive, idiots!" I snapped.

They exchanged an embarrassed look. "Sorry, man. We didn't know."

"I clearly sat up a few moments ago and looked right at you guys!"

"Oh, yeah, I think I saw that," one of them admitted. "I just thought it was rigor mortis. You know that stuff makes dead people do weird shit, like burp and fart."

I stared at him with a look that plainly said, Man, you are a complete dumbass.

I demanded my clothes and mobile phone, but they claimed they didn't have them. They were just told to bury the dead and were only following orders. That sent a chill down my spine. Maybe these aren't random villagers. Maybe they work for the bandits.

Still, I begged them for transport money. It took a while, but one guy reluctantly handed me some crumpled small change. I was about to ask for a shirt, but then they started whispering to each other in a regional dialect.

I didn't speak it fluently, but I understood enough.

"Hey, shouldn't we just snap her neck and bury her anyway?" "Yeah, that might be a better option."

They were discussing this while actively moving another body toward the pit. I didn't wait to hear the conclusion; I just ghosted out of there, running naked through the brush.

Getting home that day was a totally humiliating experience that I'd really rather never think about again.

To make matters worse, I made the mistake of washing up before I got into the house. When I finally told my family what happened, they just looked at me like I was insane.

I got the vibe they didn't believe me.

My father genuinely believed I had sold my phone and fabricated this entire trauma story to cover it up. Well, to be fair, I did have a history of doing supposedly crazy things. But this time, I was completely sincere.

That night, I stayed glued to the TV, waiting for the news to break.

Finally, a tiny footnote crawled across the bottom of the screen during a soap opera: An attack occurred at Bleep location. More details later...

I pointed aggressively at the screen. "Yeah! That's my story! That's the attack!"

But no details ever came. The incident wasn't mentioned ever again.

The entire experience left me bitter, angry, and vengeful. A few weeks later, when I heard about a military recruitment drive, I signed up out of pure spite.

to be continued...