Stowed Away

Chapter Seven

The Arena was awfully quiet, apart from the constant shuffling of feet, and moving to adjust into a better position. The abductors were in a different place. Eno wasn’t sure where. Maybe far in the woods. While there was out in the morning for the introduction, she had spotted a cabin far back into the woods. Maybe everyone was too scared to speak, including her, maybe they had secret cameras mounted somewhere, or a globe working towards that effect, anything to make their work even easier.

Someone cleared their throat, as though to speak. It was the guy who introduced himself as Bade. Coupled with his build, and his stature, he looked as strong as the abductors, maybe even stronger. “My name is Bade,” he said, scanning through the group of abductees. “I understand that we all have no idea where we are. If we are to rely on the abductors, we’re on the outskirts.”

In one of those moments where the mouth gets ahead of the brain, Eno said, regretting it almost immediately. “Who knows if we aren’t even in some outskirts, maybe he was lying?”

Bade regarded her for a while, a polite second-long scrutiny, as if to confirm if she was sure of what she just said. He nodded in affirmation. “She’s right, we don’t know where we are. For all we know, they might be lying.”

“Look,” the fair guy from the introduction said, his hands tugging on his hoodie like it was filthy, and he didn’t want the fabric anywhere on his skin. “I don’t care about the outskirts thing. I just want to go back home.”

His statement met agreement from the other abductees, the mumbling steadily increasing in decibels.

“Listen, listen,” Bade said, raising his hands, like he was putting an end to everything. “Of course, everyone wants to leave here. What the problem is, is that we have no idea where we are, or what they’re going to do with us.”

Mumbling reduced to the barest minimum, no one said anything for a while. The only thing indicative of life was the constant movements.

“Oh, by God,” the fair guy said, breaking through the quiet. “I just want to go home. Who knows who will do next?”

“Nobody is going to die.”

“How would you know?”

The group fell quiet again, one of the abductors was walking towards them. Two pistols were fixed into holsters, and a case of bullets were arranged across his green T-shirts like jewellery. “Socializing, eh?” He asked, baring his teeth in what couldn’t pass as a smile. “I just came from the communications room, and no one has called your phones yet.”

“Can we at least make calls? We could let us put a call across, and arrange for the ransoms.”

Everyone was stunned into silence, even the abductor had his mouth slightly open. Eno couldn’t shake the feeling that something terrible was going to happen. Who did the Bade guy think he was? Some immortal?

The abductor bent to Bade’s eye level. He looked like he was going to rip him to pieces. If there was any difference from what it was, maybe it would be a staring contest, which it very much could pass as. Or a dominance game played by animals in the wild. If things were to be taken literally, one could say the abductor was trying to cause some consequence on Bade with his eyes, like make him burst into flames, which would be understandable. He jabbed a finger into his chest. “So, you’re the hero, no? You think you are?”

“What’s going on, Indigo?” Chris asked, his hands fixed on his own holster, as though to relieve it of the inhumane contraption within the straps.

“Ah, it’s nothing,” Indigo said, stretching to his full length. “It’s just one of those guys who think they can be heroes.”

“What did he say?”

“He asked me if we could give them their phones, and ask for ransoms if that was what we wanted. Hin just dey muzz me.”

To Eno, it wasn’t exactly the way Bade said it, but there was something in his demeanour that suggested it. Chris chuckled, the rough, almost scratchy chuckle fast evolving into a full-blown laughter, that sent him bending over.

Spine set straight, Chris said, the laughter dissolving from his features. “Do you know what happens to heroes? They die. So, if you have it in mind to be one, drop it now.”

He dragged Bade by his hoodie, pulling him to his feet. “And Mr. Hero, don’t even think about it. “

The gun in the holster crashed on the side of Bade’s head, hitting softness and bone. Blood trickled down the side of his head, he made no attempt to clean it. “When I speak to you, look down.”

A loud bang rang through the air, echoing off in the distance. One minute, the fair guy was sitting on the rocky floor with them, the next, he was laying on his back.

Chris released Bade from his grip, and turned towards the direction of the gunshot. “What happened, Indigo?”

“I don’t like how the guy was looking at me,” he said, tucking his gun back into his holster.

“Wasn’t it the fair guy? He has lazy eyes.”

“Oh.”

Eno wished for death. Not the gunshot type, the Enoch type, the Bible character who was said to have been whisked into the sky with chariots. She might as well die, instead of having to face whatever it was she was facing. Two people were dead already, and in totally unreasonable situations. Who was next?