REVERSE 2370

CHAPTER FIVE

“We walk the rest of the way….with the zombies.”

+_ _ _ _ +

“Zoya,” the shock in my voice was as clear as the day. It was at this point that I realized that we might have to fight other things other than just fighting to survive an apocalypse, we had to survive bad men. The look on their faces alone was enough to scare the living hell out of a person.

They formed a small circle around us and raked us from head to toe like we were some sort of lab rat.

“look,” a huge one pointed, his eyes shone with excitement. “there are more women and …. aye ain’t that Asha?” he stepped closer to get a better look of him, “it is Asha!” he exclaimed in glee.

The one with a red hair licked his lips when he saw Anne, “I prefer the pregnant women.”

They clapped their hands against each other’s back and began to talk animatedly to each other. We could have escaped but I knew better, this people were not blind they might seem distracted but their eyes stayed on us.

Each of this men had a red scarf tied around their heads, they had on black singlets and faded blue ripped jeans, their hands packed a muscle these guys looked like those kind of people parents told their kids to stay away from. It looked like it was a mix of people from different kingdoms.

They had this girl’s hands tied to her back, her mouth was stuffed with what looked like socks. Zoya’s face was covered in black soot and tears ran down but this people didn’t mind they held her in a tight grip.

“Naty’s gonna love this!” another exclaimed.

“Naty?” A shiver ran down my spine. “Naty? There was another man? we were already outnumbered escaping seven large guys won’t be so easy and now they were talking about another man I could already perceive danger.

I felt both John and Zita press themselves into me. For the next thirty minutes, they kept talking about Naty, Naty this Naty that.

All of a sudden they stopped talking, the smile on their faces wiped off and they stood straight. I finally understood why the whole place turned ice when a small woman walked into the circle out of no where. She stood in front of men with her back facing them, her hands draped on her tiny waist as she watched us with an owl eye. She looked almost like me only she was older and had a lighter skin.

“there is someone as tiny as myself here she even has my face.” Her eyes shone with wonder. “isn’t that great boys?” she hollered

“yes Naty,” they chorused.

She tilted her head as she took in my form.” a little younger, you are a teenager, no?”

I gave her no reply just a blank look, I wanted her to know how displeased I was with all this. We were meant to be past this place by now, we’ve been on the road for so long I couldn’t even count the number of days spent running all to get to a safer place.

“Naty just asked you a question would you….” One of the men stepped forward in anger, he was about to charge towards me but Naty raised a hand motioning for him to stop

“calm down ONE, she WILL give me an answer,” she emphasized more on the will. “in the main time let us simply play along.” Her eyes left me and moved down, a sly grin appeared on her face, “would you look at that, two little birds, two little black birds sitting on the wall.” she chortled at her own lame jokes, I could see how the men behind her gulped in fear, this was not a good sign, I might have dug my own grave.

She walked closer and stopped right in front of me, gave me a wicked smile before going to touch

John’s hair before her hand could reach his head I stopped her. Collective gasp came from around us, perhaps, no one ever dared to touch this tiny little woman, it made me wonder how much power she held, something told me this lady wasn’t just anybody.

A loud slap resonated through the whole place, my head throbbed from the hit. I could hear Anne whimper from behind and the small sniff coming from Zita, John didn’t even bother to keep his tears in, he wailed loudly.

“don’t touch her again!” it was Asha who spoke, his voice cold and full of anger.

“what would you do?”

“I don’t care if you’re a woman, I will hit you so painful you’ll loss a teeth.” he warned.

“how you gonna do that big guy?” she said in a teasing voice. “you’re surrounded, if I wanted you gone all I have to do is snap a finger and poof you’re gone.” she stood chest to chest with him, “but I won’t do that because you’re Asha and I love you Asha so I’ll let this slide but let it be known that I won’t be so lenient next ttim.” she motioned towards me, “I don’t like that you’re trying to protect another woman.” The way she looked at Asha like she was crazed and obsessed with him made me feel disgusted.

The pain I felt in my head was not as bad as those that I have felt before nevertheless I made note to never provoke the Naty again. That didn’t mean I wouldn’t step in if they tried any s**t with the kids, they were supposed to reach our destination unharmed and in one piece.

She turned her eyes towards were Anne stood. “a pregnant lady!” she squealed in glee, “I love pregnant women. Hmm…” she placed a finger under her chin, “we’ll just have to find what to use you for.”

Anne remained stiff with fear.

“Oh don’t be scared silly,” Naty said but I could tell she loved the fear that emanated from Anne.

Naty walked away from us towards the man that held Zoya, the moment Zoya realized what was going on she began to struggle to set herself free, her eyes almost bulged out of their sockets, the horrifying fear in her eyes gave me chills. I didn’t want to think about the kind of torture this girl have gone through in the hands of this people especially the lady they called Naty. Asha put a hand on my shoulder to stop me from acting impulsively. “if you make any wrong move these two little ones will have no one, you can’t save everyone Kiupita and besides that girl is none if your business.” he whispered harshly. I looked on helplessly as Zoya struggled to set herself free.

“why are you scared baby?” she ran her index finger on her the frighten girl’s face. Tears flowed down from Zoya’s eyes like water fall, she wanted to cry out loud but couldn’t because of the cloth stuck in her mouth so they came out as whimper. “don’t worry I won’t touch you, for tonight at least.”

The bodies of both kids now shook with tears, I patted their heads to calm them I couldn’t do more than that didn’t want their attention on them.

“how many hours have we been here Desmond?”

“three hours.”

“then let’s move!” she bellowed.

Once she put out her command the men were quick to obey, they grabbed us and pushed us forward in a very rough manner. Anne almost fell thankfully Asha was closest to her so he was able to grab her.

“move pregnant lady.” the one holding her snapped.

Anne looked pale and tired, she wasn’t strong enough for all this. Asha opened his mouth to say something but Anne held his hands and weakly shook her head no. He gritted his teeth, pulsed his lips before looking away.

The kids were snatched away from my side when we started towards another direction. Before the one called Desmond took them I motioned for them to cover their mouth with their hands which they did.

Zoya had stopped struggling now, the hoodlum called One still had her in a tight grip. She wasn’t even struggling, her head was cast down and her legs dragged as she walked, anyone seeing her would mistake her for a zombie. Truthfully, after catching a glimpse of what must have happened to her since she was held captive by this monsters there would be no difference between her, myself and a zombie. No feelings.

For days we kept walking, when night fell they made us sit with our backs against each other while Zoya was taken a bit farther away from us. The agonizing screams that filled the air each night made me furious, I was livid. I could only hope and pray that Anne or Zita or even John will never go through this kind of torture. Abused sexually and then tortured. Zombies might be without feelings but no doubt they were confused as to why they were the way they were but this group of bandits were neither confused or helpless, they were monsters worse than any other deadly creature I have ever seen.

I couldn’t help but wonder who they were, “did they stand alone or did they work for someone?” I could could tell they worked for people because now they were leading us back the the city. No sane person will move towards that direction unless there was a motive.

My eyes snapped open when I heard a small whimper. I turned to my left only to see my sister wasn’t beside me anymore. I shot up from my lying position and looked around, the place was a little quiet, there were no monsters around so that’s when I realized that the person who was supposed to make sure we didn’t escape wasn’t here.

They had decided to stay a little distant from us tonight now I knew the reason why, they were giving their man space to do what he pleased with my sister. I wanted to throw up in disgust.

“what’s going on Kiupita?” Asha asked with sleepy eyes. “get ready, we’re leaving this place,” I informed him.

I took out the knife that I had hidden in my boots and followed the noise. Getting closer I could hear how he tried to shut her up but she wouldn’t listen she kept trying to scream even with his hands over her mouth. I crept slowly and as quietly as I could behind.

He let go of Zita the moment I jumped on his back and while he struggled to get me off I stabbed through his carotid artery, I gripped my knife firmly and then punched forward and back thereby damaging his vocal cords.

Quickly, I jumped off his body as it fell limp. As he lay dead in the pool of his own blood, I relieved him of every single weapon he had on him and took off to where the rest were.

On getting there I could see that they were all awake already just as I asked. “stand up we’re getting out of here.”

“what’s going on?” Anne asked groggily.

I knelt in front of Zoya and cut the rope around her leg in one swipe.

“story for another time, stand up we must leave now.”

Zoya widen her eyes in fright and shook her head, she was scared to stay and she was scared to leave probably because of my blood stained hand.

“you want to live? Kill or be killed, this is the time of the dead anyways, we kill to survive. So will you come with me?” I could see the battle in her eyes, “you don’t want me to gag and then tie you like those guys right? So maybe you should get up now.” I didn’t want to sound like one of those monsters but the girl gave me no choice. This was not a good time to be nice, if we didn’t leave here now we would die the same way that man had died. She immediately sprung up to her feet at my weak threat.

“where do we go to now Kiupita? The whole place would probably be infested with those creatures by now.” Asha was confused on what to do, he was reluctant to leave but the truth was if we stayed we would definitely die.

“for now we run, away from here, Zita,” I called. “hold John tightly John hold me tight too, Anne you’re going to have to try and you too girl.” Without wasting anymore time I took off, the rest following behind.

I had no idea where I led these people to all that was on my mind was to get away from those monsters, I killed one of them no doubt they’ll try to get me back for what I’d done. I wasn’t scared for my life I was scared rather for the people around me. With all this fear, the guilt was absent. There was not a single iota of guilt in my bones, it felt good driving my knife into his fat neck, he messed with the wrong sister.

On a second night, I decided that it was time we got some rest. We had naught, not even water. At the place where we had stopped there was a lake close by. We all quenched our taste with the water from the lake. Before the break of dawn, I could hear distinct voices, ones that sounded furious, I immediately knew who they were.

The was a large opening on the tree we took shelter in so I hid all of them except for Asha, in there. We were going to go to them not them coming to us, if they did come to us then the rest might be found out, I didn’t want that for them.

When Asha and I were a few feet away from them I took out my knife and stabbed him on his shoulder, he groaned in pain and looked at me like I had betrayed them. “no need to worry your head Asha, Naty likes you so finding out I have given you a stab wound would anger her all the more.”

“don’t tell me you intend to have a brawl with that crazy lady?”

“what’s a kingdom without their queen?”

I slammed my elbow in his ribs and watched as he fell on his knees holding his tummy in pain, perfect.

As if on cue, Naty appeared in before of me, this time she was alone. Good, it will make all this easier.

“you killed one of my own and now you’ve killed one of your own. Where is my plaything?”

I played dumb. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She stepped closer, “where is Zoya? And the child, the child he had his eyes on, I know that’s the reason you killed him off without mercy.”

I glared icily at her. Everyone deserved a little mercy sometimes but not these monsters. “he did not deserve even the slightest bit of mercy neither do you or the dogs you have surrounded yourself with, you deserve to die like the dogs that you are,” I spat in disgust.

Naty laughed coldly, “we do huh? But we’ll see who from the both of us, would die like a dog.”

She grinned mischieviously, “do you hear the grunts of the living dead? Your time is up.”

Returning a smile just as sly as hers I spoke, “I see you’re prepared for a sad ending, good that those things are close, you can finally get the ending that you deserve.”

That did the trick, she charged towards me angrily. True to the words of Asha, Naty truly was a crazy lady. She was stronger than she looked. When her fist connected to my face I felt a little lightheaded but recovered from the blow quickly enough to dodge the next. She could easily end m but I was not going to let that happen, for everyone’s safety I was going risk getting broken bones.

She slammed her heavily covered legs in my stomach causing me to lose guard. I stagger back with my hands over my stomach. My groans were quite loud I could only hope Zita won’t step out from nside that hole. Distracted, I did not see the next blow coming, her legs slammed hard into me for a second time, this time it sent me flying my back met the bark of a large tree. The sound of my bone cracking echoed.

She charged towards me again but Asha stopped her by grabbing her legs, they fought long and hard whilst I writhed here in pain. I kept blinking before of all the pain. I felt the most pain in my left arm, I guess that was what had been broken. I pushed myself up with my right hand it was hard, slow and painful. My knife laid a few feet from where I was, I staggered towards it.

So blinded by rage she failed to see me approach, I gripped weapon tightly in my hands. With arm I punched her throat to cut her air supply, she coughed and tried to reach for me but I dodged and wrapped my good arm around her neck. “Who do work?” I interrogated.

“like I’d tell you that,” she wheezed an answer. I threw a hard punch in her face, “for the second time, who do you work for?”

“Even if I told you, you’d still not be able to do s**t, bloody weak human.”

“not going to talk huh? Then…” I howled in pain. This lady had Jabbed me with her elbow, in return I slapped her twice in both cheeks. “with pleasant pleasure.” I drove the knife right through her neck.

She struggled for breath but she had no chance. Watching as she fell to the ground with a thud, her eyes were opened wide in fear. Fear, good to know that was what she felt.

My gaze landed on her men and I almost folded myself in fear, they looked so furious beside me Asha writhed in pain from all the blows he had received from the crazy lady.

“this is it.” I thought to myself, I could hardly take on one person talk more of six large muscled guys. I felt a strange emotion bubble from within me, it felt like shame? Regret? I had no idea. I fell on my knees, “I lost a second chance.”

I was not prepared to die, in my head I prayed to whichever god it was that my parents worshipped to send help. As if my prayers were answered, there was a gunshot and then another followed. One by one this men fell to the ground. I was relieved but yet confused. “show yourself,” I shouted out loud.

Abayomi stepped out from behind the tree with Alina, Laban’s mother behind him and three other people. I sighed in relief seeing as they were two people I was familiar already.

“Kiupita honey.” Alina ran towards me. She looked pale as well, probably from all the hide and seek games. “are you okay?” Alina have always been too sweet, maybe a little to sweet for my liking.

Two of the ones who had come with them were now tending to Asha.

I stood on shaky legs and began to push myself towards my sister. “where are you going KIupita?”

Abayomi followed behind me. I did not give him a reply instead I crawled into the hole and wrapped my hands around my sister. “oh my god Zita is out here,” Abayomi called out to Alina probably.

Zita’s tears soaked my already bloodied shirt, she hugged me tightly clutching a piece of my clothing in her hands.

I pulled her gently away from my body and wiped her tears. The grunts and moans were getting even closer we had to leave. “I’m here Zi, I promise I will get you to mama and papa, you’ll be with them before you know it so please clean your tears.” she cleaned her eyes with the back of her hands and nodded. “good girl,” I shifted my gaze to the others, “are you all okay?” they nodded their heads slowly.

“come on, we have to leave, Asha is a little injured and so are my. You can hear those grunts coming, we’ve been smelt.”

We were surrounded, that was the first thing I thought when we got out. Asha had his hand around one of the stranger’s neck for support. He looked like he was going to pass out any minute from now. I felt sorry for using a knife on him but I did didn’t stab him so deeply, it was more of a scratch I just needed blood for effect. My left hand still hurt so badly and so did my stomach but for the sake of my sister, I had to act strong.

“what do we do now?”

“this is the end I guess, glad to have met you blank faced girl.” it pleased me to know Asha still had the strength to joke.

I looked around us, the trees and loud screeching of birds, the ground littered with the bodies of those monsters. An idea flashed through my head, I limped towards the bodies and pointed. “blood,” I said. “zombies won’t smell us if we were covered in blood.” they looked at me like I had a lose nut,

“trust me this is the only way you’ll make it out of here but I won’t force anyone to, it’s your choice, we are running a race to survive there is no time to act pretty.”

I covered not even up to a fraction of my face with blood and did the same with the people I had started the race with. At Asha’s request I did the same for him, the rest had reluctantly did the same including Zoya. We relieved the people who now laid wasted on the ground, of their weapons.

“What’s next?” one of them asked.

I was quiet for a second before giving them an answer. My reply was simple, “we walk the rest of the way…..with the zombies.”