The Tribe

Drums banging!

Mark danced around the fire, waving his arms around manically. Trevor watched from his small, wooden cage, hoping that Mark’s dancing would be enough for the tribe to let them go free.

Trevor sat, thinking about how he and Mark even got into this circumstance in the first place. He remembers them walking through the forest, looking for adventure. They had certainly found it. Trevor had a massive headache and rubbed the back of his neck, flinching as his hand passed over a small hole, the size of an ear piercing, right there. He pulled his hand away and looked at it, there was blood, only a small amount, but it was definitely there. Had they been ambushed by blow dart wielding marksmen? That was probably it.

It didn’t really matter anyway; they were here now. He didn’t know what Mark had said exactly to the tribe leader, but it must have been good, well, ok at best to have him agree to set them free. Whatever was said, Mark absolutely got the worse end of the deal, dancing out there, half naked, flailing his arms and legs like one of those waving inflatables that you would normally see outside car dealerships.

While Trevor sat in his small, wooden cage, Mark kept looking up at him every chance he got. He could see tears starting to swell in Trevor’s eyes. He felt that it was his fault that he and Trevor were here in this predicament. It was his idea to come to this forest for adventure, to get away from their mundane lives. Why had this thought have to occur to him in the first place. He had thought about it while watching a movie or tv show, he couldn’t fully remember. All he knew was that he wanted to do it in real life. He had texted Trevor after it had finished, asking if he was up for a hike through a forest in a different country.

Trever was obviously hesitant at first, asking Mark what the hell was he thinking. Mark replied to hear him out and if they could discuss it in person. Trevor agreed. They met up the next day to talk about Mark’s crazy idea. After about half an hour of talking, Mark Finally got Trevor to change his mind and agree that it was at least an alright idea. Mark wished he hadn’t. Trever wished that mark hadn’t either, he also wishes he never agreed in the first place.

Mark thought that they could never be friends again because of this. He wanted to still be friends with Trevor, but surely Trevor would hate him for putting him in this tight situation. He kept trying to look up at Trevor to see his face, though it slowed his dancing and that would upset the tribe as they had wanted him to keep dancing for as long as he could as fast as he could, for a length of time he didn’t know. They would tell him when his time was up. He didn’t want to think about what would happen should he fail. Kill them? Eat them? Both? Who knows, who knows indeed.

As Trevor watched Mark dance, he failed to notice a woman walking towards him with a small knife. She got his attention and whispered to him, asking if he was Mark or Trevor. He replied that he was Trevor as she cut the rope which was locking his cage shut. ‘Lucky that there were no guards’ she whispered to him.

‘Yeah, who are you anyway?’ Trevor had asked in his reply.

‘My name is Amy, I’m with here looking for you and Mark after you had disappeared for a few days. It’s a good thing you were sure to tell people where you were going.’

‘Before we came out here, I had remembered that I read to always tell people where you were going if it was likely that you could get lost or injured with no way to call for help. How are we going to help get mark out of this though? There are too many people to fight, and that little butterknife you have there isn’t going to cut it.’ Trevor sniggered at his unintended pun.

Mark took his chance to look back up at Trevor, but the cage was empty. He was surprised, which slowed him down greatly, the tribe leader snarled at him at poked him with a spear, making him pick up speed again. Where and how could he have gone? He didn’t care as long as Trevor was safe.

After Amy and Trevor had run and hidden further in the forest, away from the tribe. ‘Here’s the plan, we wait until Mark has finished the tribe’s ritual to set you free, they will lock him away until they decided if he had danced enough or not. Then when they leave him there, we can sneak in and free him too.’ Amy said to Trevor.

‘How do you they won’t kill him after they notice I’ve disappeared?’

‘Because I’ve been in the exact situation you’re in now.’

Mark had been left alone in a cage of equal size to the one Trevor was in, which would have been okay if mark wasn’t almost half a foot taller than Trevor. He had been left alone in the cage, no guards watching over him. He heard shouting and then running. They must have discovered that Trevor was missing. He hoped that they wouldn’t punish him for it. Prayed that they wouldn’t, even.

Mark heard some footsteps coming towards him, he closed his eyes, waiting for the worst.

‘Hey Mark, it’s Trevor. We’re here to free you’.

‘We’re?’ Mark was confused as far as he knew, it was only Trevor and him here. He opened his eyes and saw a woman next to him.

‘Yeah, this is Amy. She helped me escape and now we’re going to help you out of here.’

Amy pulled out her knife and cut open the ropes on Marks cage. He was glad to be free and able to stretch his legs.

‘Now, we need to leave quickly and quietly if we want to get out alive.’ Amy had said to both Mark and Trevor.

‘Which way is out?’ Mark asked.

‘Follow me.’

Mark and Trevor followed, watching where they were stepping carefully. They didn’t want to step on a branch or a leaf and alert the tribe to their location. Who knows what would happen if they were caught. They weren’t keen to find out.

Amy eventually led them far enough away from the tribe and towards her 4x4 that she drove here to find Mark and Trever. They climbed in, Amy put the key in the ignition and turned it. She had to turn the key a few tries before the engine finally ignited, which had stressed all three of them out. She drove away as fast as she could towards civilisation.