Neron Neron
1323 Words
The soldiers had shifts. A set of soldiers spent the night with the captives and another set of soldiers took over, the next night, while the first set went home to their families.
The whole place was silent. Kenny had spent the night with some others and it wasn't so comfortable. There were mosquitoes everywhere but no one else seemed to be disturbed. They slept deeply and silently.
He stood up. He could feel his heart beating faster as he thought of the dream he just had.
"Akeem?", he called.
"Yes?", Akeem answered. He was already awake. He turned and looked at Kenny.
"Oh... You're awake".
"Yes, any problem?"
"No... nothing", Kenny replied and walked out.
★★★ ★★★ ★★★
"I had a similar dream", Alex said. "It was horrible... the little girl died... in my arms".
"Wow! All three of you? I slept so well, I didn't dream of anything", Idris said.
Chuma, Alex and Ada had similar dreams, the previous night, and they were still scared.
"It felt so real and crazy", Ada said. "it felt like I actually heard those screams".
"The soldier said something to me", Chuma said. "It wasn't audible but I only heard something that sounded like 'Nee-ron', a few times".
"Neron? Not an English word", Idris said. "You heard s**t".
"What if it actually happens?", Ada said. "I mean, what if it's a vision of what is going to happen? It's weird that we all dream about the same thing".
"Alex! The flower!!!", Jerry shouted, standing far away.
Alex made gestures, pointing and giving a flower to Idris.
"What? I'm not going anywhere", Idris refused to collect it.
"What's that?", Chuma asked.
"I don't know but it's beautiful. Jerry and I found it while working on the farm", Alex replied. "Please, you were not even part of the dream or the dreamers".
"Fine!", Idris collected the flower and ran to Jerry.
"That's kinda true. I didn't see Idris in my dream", Chuma said.
"We should hope it's not the future", Ada said. "I didn't see him in mine, either".
Idris gave the flower to Idris, breathing heavily.
"Thank you", Jerry said and waved at Alex.
"Hey! Quick question", Idris said. "You are pretty good at English, right?"
"Uhm, I guess so"
"Ok, is Neron an English word?"
"Neron?", Jerry laughed. "You know what? Before I get you wrong, can you spell it?"
"No... Someone said something like that. I'm not sure if I'm even pronouncing it, correctly"
"Well, the Neron I know is not an English word. It's a name. That's my father's first name".
"A name?", Idris' heart skipped for a second. "Thank you... that's something too".
He ran back to the clique.
★★★ ★★★ ★★★
"It should be this place", Joe said as he and Toby walked through the forest.
"Tree spirits are known to be tricky", Toby replied. "Are you sure he hasn't tricked us into a trap?"
"I don't think so".
The noise of birds and rats in the bushes was all over the place. If humans were hiding somewhere there, they'd hardly hear.
"This place is weird. How would we even know where to go?", Joe asked.
"How did we get here?"
"Uhn?"
"How did we get here? Something led us here", Toby said to him. "We have walked far and chosen paths between split roads, already. How did we choose?"
"I don't know. We just moved".
"No, it's conduit instincts", Toby said. "It just comes to you. It's a kind of nigh-omniscience... Now what path should we take?".
Joe took a deep breath and something metold him where to go. "That way", Joe pointed.
"Good", Toby said and they ran towards the path that Joe had pointed at.
They were still in the middle of the forest and the roads had unnoticeable differences. Joe stopped in front of a tree and, suddenly, stepped in a trap. He got ensnared in a net and suspended far above the ground with a quite short rope.
"Damn! He tricked us into a trap!", Joe shouted.
"I already told you that.... get yourself out of there"
Joe looked forward and saw some soldiers. "Wait! I can see a lot from up here".
"What can you see?"
"Soldiers, wearing nose masks. They must be up to something", Joe said and closed his eyes. He fell through the net. "It wasn't a trap. This way!"
The two of them ran towards where Joe had seen the soldiers. He wasn't sure of how to get to the soldiers but Joe's "conduit instincts" had taken over.
The soldiers carried dead bodies from the back of a truck and threw them in a big hole in the ground.
"Sir, uhm, I think this one's still alive", one of the soldiers said.
"Is he just breathing or he'll survive? He may help on the farms", the soldier, who seemed to be of higher rank, replied.
"He might survive. He should", the other soldier said. "But he's down".
"Uhn?"
"He's unstable... down syndrome, sir"
"f**k! Just kill him. What's the use of keeping him alive?"
The younger soldier pulled out a gun and shot the survivor.
"Careful with the guns", another soldier said as the window of the truck came down. "Who you shooting?"
"Just making sure he's dead", the younger soldier replied and carried the body.
"They just killed the innocent boy", Joe exclaimed.
"You can't do anything about it"
"What if the boy is the answer we came here for? We've probably failed".
"Well, we can get answers from anyone. Go out there"
"That's probably true", Joe said and confronted the soldiers. "Hey, guys".
"Don't throw ghosts", Toby said. "Make it interesting"
The knife came flying out of nowhere and stopped in front of Joe, hanging in the air.
The soldiers pulled out their guns and started shooting. Joe stretched out his arm, closed his eyes and made the bullets stop.
"You're learning", Toby said. "You should stop closing your eyes to do that".
The bullets kept flying at Joe but they seemed to disappear for a second. Joe could see the bullets, suspended before him. They were 'ghostly'.
The bullets became visible to the soldiers. With great speed, the bullets shot back at the soldiers, going through their knees and legs. They fell to the ground, groaning in pains.
"Their hands", Toby warned. "They might shoot while your guard's down"
"They won't", Joe said. "They are out of bullets".
"Conduit instincts... Cool"
"I have questions for you", Joe said to the soldiers and moved closer to them.
The knife slowly revolved around a soldier's neck.
"Why did you choose that one?"
"Highest rank"
Joe knelt before the soldier and spoke. "Are you ready to speak?"
★★★ ★★★ ★★★
"I wonder how we still have the appetite to eat after an horrific vision of the future", Alex said with a mouthful. They were all eating hungrily. None of them was bothered, anymore.
"Let's enjoy ourselves before we die", Chuma replied. "Whoever cooked this piece of s**t should be given an award"
"Hey, guys", Idris came with his food and sat with them. "I wanted to tell you something before Kenny called me"
"Yea, why did Kenny call you?", Ada asked.
"He gave me a cup of coffee... said he would come, later".
"Ok. What were you saying?"
"Well, it's Neron", Idris began. "Not an English word but it could mean something"
"Ok? Go on", Chuma said.
"I was thinking of what it could mean so I asked Alex's friend; the one I gave the flower to. He said Neron is a name"
"Never heard of it", Chuma said.
"Well, he said it's one of his father's names so, definitely, it's a name".
"So whatever's happening has a connection with someone named Neron?"
"Probably... maybe one of the soldiers bears that name", Idris suggested.
"We're not sure if this Neron may be an enemy", Ada said.
"Or a friend", Alex added.
- Writer
