Deads live too
1325 Words
"That's how he's been since I've known him. Wild and... Crazy; like he's dealing with some sort of evil force in his head. He's not much of a bad guy, though..."
Joe held his head. Everyone in the field was staring at him as he punched the air and spoke to himself. Don, a gang leader and fellow captive, moved closer to Joe. "What's up with you, uhn?", he said, tapping Joe on the head.
Joe pulled his hand and bent it. Don broke away and shot a punch towards Joe's neck. Joe caught the punch and they pulled closer. "The soldiers are going to see us and gun us down so mind your business and let me be".
They parted as a soldier looked at them. Joe went on, murmuring and muttering what no one else could hear.
"He sees things, you know?", Chuma continued. "He's being haunted by his dark past".
Alex listened attentively. He had just met about a thousand people with different personalties. The idea of being captured by ruthless soldiers didn't sound nice or endurable but living it; you'll get used to the struggle, the people and the food.
"How do you know all theses?", Alex asked.
"He told me his past... He used to be better than this but the ghosts seem to want his soul..."
"Ghosts?"
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«Toby was a lover boy. He was much more of an antihero, timid and ordinary. No unique fashion sense, no unique cute face, no unique styled hair, no unique physique, no unique account balance. He was just ordinary. He had a crush on Lola; that's the cutest girl in college. Joe was one of the aimless thugs, then.
One day, Toby met Lola in a pool of blood. She held her stomach, writhing in pain and groaning. Lola managed to tell Toby to get a particular nurse who probably knew about Lola's situation. Tobi ran to get help but was stopped at the gate, by thugs. Joe was one of them. They had nothing against Toby. They just wanted to joke with his hasty expression. Toby tried to go rough; Joe tried to play tough. Joe pulled a knife and the other thugs rushed at Toby. Joe was unintentionally shoved by one of the thugs and he fell towards Toby. No one seemed to have noticed the knife... or the stab. Joe realised what had happened so he left the scene. As he escaped, he found Lola where she was still groaning. He got her the nurse she requested for and she was treated. Joe cajoled the nurse into telling him what Lola's predicament was. Lola had been impregnated by a student who had already left the school. She couldn't tell her poor hypertensive father so she took abortion pills.
Lola was grateful to Joe for the help but Joe only used her secrets to threaten her. Joe lost his apartment, being unable to pay rental fees, so he made Lola accept him as a roommate.
Lola was yet to hear about Toby's death so she condemned him for leaving her to die. She asked Joe about him and Joe told her. Impulsively, he told her about the knife, the stab and the stampede. Joe threatened to call her dad and tell him about her womb loss. Lola wasn't aware of her womb loss.
Lola was scared so she exposed Joe and Joe threatened again. Lola didn't beg him. She committed suicide.
Joe didn't call her dad. He didn't plan to so he didn't. Unfortunately, Lola was dead already. The news got to her dad and... he died of the shock.»
The gates opened. A black man, tall and slightly muscular, was pushed in by one of the soldiers.
"Meet your new friends. They'll give you tutorials on how to survive", the soldier said to him and left.
He looked around at the horde of people, looking hungry and savage. He walked to a wall and sat on the ground. Chuma walked over to him, "hey, buddy! Welcome to captivity".
"How do y'all survive here?", he asked.
"We just live on", Chuma sat beside him. "We are fed by the soldiers. We change clothes every month. We are allowed to take our bath in the river and any attempt to escape leads to execution. We till the ground and work on the farm for them... Why are you just here?"
"I guess it took them a while to find us"
"Us?"
"Yes, I have friends. They are probably held captive, elsewhere"
"Do they really plan to keep everyone in b*****e? Can they?"
"I guess we'll never find out..... I'm Stanley", he held out his hand for a shake.
"I'm Chuma", Chuma replied, and shook his hands. "That's Alex... and the one standing and acting weird, that's Joe".
"Why do the girls look so depressed and....?"
"They are constantly assaulted by the thugs, over there. Virtually all of them got defiled here. If it doesn't stop, many of them will get impregnated."
"That's definitely not ri-....", he quit talking as he saw Joe, talking to himself. "What's he doing?".
Joe was talking to something. No one could see but he was probably seeing something they weren't.
"I didn't mean to", Joe said, leaning on the wall and looking down. "It was a mistake........ It was a MISTAKE!!!", he shouted. Almost everyone turned to look at him.
"You don't have to scream", a voice said to Joe but no one else could hear.
"You did it!!!", another voice said to him. A female voice, this time.
"And you'll regret it... you'll burn", another female voice said, as a sort of smoke formed the figures of a man, a woman and another old woman, whose figure disappeared quickly. No one else could see but Joe saw... He saw and he recognized.
"I'm sorry, Toby. Sorry, Lola", Joe said. "Forgive me".
Toby shook his head, held Lola's hand and they vanished, leaving a wind behind. Not only Joe could see the wind. Everyone felt it.
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Joe stopped the dramatic display as the wind averted everyone's attention. He walked to Alex and sat beside him.
"Hi", Alex said, smiling.
"Hi", Joe looked at him as if he were to be pitied. "You made a mistake coming here".
"I was trying to escape from the war. Our homes were burnt down.... Nigeria seemed like the only african country that had peace"
" aah!", Joe chuckled. That was the first smile Alex ever saw on his face. "You know why I didn't go to jail, two years ago? Nigeria. We always have been corrupt. The government was already f****d up, long before the coup".
"What did you do?"
"Manslaughter"
"Toby?"
"Three of them.... It was all my fault. I was there to make it happen", Joe said, remorsefully.
"It's already past now, right? I mean, we can't undo our deeds, once they're done"
"Hmm! That sounds like a punchline", Joe exclaimed, joking with the situation.
"Well", Alex giggled. "It is."
"Fist bump?", Joe offered. Alex took the offer. "Wrong timing, you know?"
"Uhn?"
"I can see ghosts, now"
"Uhn?"
Their attention got pulled as the screams of a girl, being harassed, was heard. Stanley walked over to them.
"You've done enough!", Stanley said
Kalu turned to Stanley, explored him with his eyes and spoke, "And who are you to decide that?".
"Leave her alone. She's not your property", Stanley said and moved closer.
Some of Kalu's thugs moved forward. Stanley remained standing, flexing his muscles as he sensed their readiness to fight.
"Hey!!! Wisdom!", Don shouted at them, then he reduced his volume. "Y'all should get in a fight and end up shot dead. Kalu, let the girl".
Kalu stepped back and the girl fled to Stanley's back.
Joe leaned closer to Alex who seemed to enjoy the confrontation.
"I actually see ghosts. I feel darkness... and something bad is about to happen..."
- Writer
