The Four Survivors (Pt. 2)

There were ten when we started. 

And now, 

Four. 

Sharp sun rays cut through the space highlighting the four faces in front of me. Charlie’s sharp nose bows down to his tight lips and hardened jaw. The ocean blue eyes that used to captivate happy times now laid swallowed by emptiness. An uncanny relief rolled over me as I saw Check staring down on the ground. His pale face seemed to suggest as if he had been stretched out like a rubber band, at the verge of snapping. Then there was Sadie, our food collector with a look not better than the others. And that’s that. The end of all that we had worked through. 

“Tammy” 

The voice snatches me out of the reverie. 

“Are you alright?” Check asks

“Yeah, I am- I am fine” My head hurts like hell. Then suddenly my eyes fall on what I am wearing. “What the hell” I pinch the off white clothing I had been dressed up with. A big red line stretched from the top of my chest to the brim of the shirt, marking a big ‘X’. I looked up to see all of the others were wearing the same cross, their shirts hanging low around their knees. 

Before I can say anything, a sharp object poked on my shoulder, rubbing salt to the wound I had almost forgotten. The pain squirmed down through my spine coming out as a loud moan. 

I was shot. 

I look up and see a man standing above the cell, holding a big spear, about 6 to 8 feet long with a slender wooden body and sharpened iron as its head. 

“Yiza, ukumkani uyabiza”

“What?” 

“khawuleza, ukumkani uphelelwe ngumonde”

“Wha- We cannot understand you.” I try again, mirroring the words with my hands. 

For a second, I thought he understood me as he turns his head around and shouts something. In less than a minute, another figure appears. He has broader shoulders than the previous one and the sweat trailing across his body glistened against the sun. Unlike us, they’re wearing a long jute skirt, looking as if just cut out of a sack. Along with it went a yellow t-shirt, probably of cotton. They looked really different from the green masked hunters. 

The new man’s eyes meet mine. I am taken back with the harshness in his voice against the tender green eyes he acquires. 

“It’s time. The king is calling you.” 

“The king?” Check asks 

“Time for what?” Sadie joins in. 

The man stays mute and other two men standing behind help us out of the cell. I take a deep breath, stretching my arms and legs. My hand travels back to the wound but there is no blood that I can feel. Although it still burns, I notice it is cleaned and stitched. Why would they do that? Who are these people? And what are they going to do to us? 

The questions rummage unanswered in my head and the men then begin to tie our hands. 

“What’s this for? Hey, stop.” Charlie argues uselessly. We get pushed through the acres of green fields until the faded structures in the distance became a little clear. There must be a fire, I guess as I see thin vapors of smoke curling up to the clear sky, giving into nothingness. 

After a few minutes of walking, I spot a throne, probably for the king that had been mentioned earlier. Gathered around, is a mass of people cheering.

I can sense what all the others are thinking. They are all as surprised as me. We thought we were the only one alive. And here it is, thousands of people. Yet I feel anxious. My stomach rolls down to its length, screaming a warning. Something bad is going to happen. 

We are almost there. The shouts and cheering became more vibrant with each step. I notice a bright fire burning in the middle and around it are four wooden poles, equally placed.

We are all made to stand in front of each pole. The heat from the flames slaps across my cheek. The fire rises up higher and higher, taunting me. And then it hits. 

It’s time.

It’s time for sacrifice. 

Two arms grab me by the side as I kick my feet in the air, crying helplessly. My back slams across the wooden pole as my hands and ankles get tied to it. 

“Why are you doing this?” Charlie yells, fighting against the tears rolling down his cheeks. The man from before translates it to the king and replies to us.

“This is your punishment, for all those years. Our people never recovered from what you did to us. And now it’s your turn to suffer.” He spits out the last words with utmost hate. 

“What are you talking about?” Charlie says, just as confused as all of us. What the hell are they talking about? Punishment for what?

“Don’t act innocent.” 

“Well, we are innocent!” I say. “We really don’t know what you are talking about.” 

“Oh really? And now you’ll say you’re not part of the Izilo?” 

“No! we are not! Whatever hell you’re talking about.” I say, the intense heat gushing to the top of my nose, spreading across my forehead. It’s almost getting hard to breathe.

“Please” I whisper. My eyes go up to Sadie. Oh no, her eyes are closed. Is she…is she breathing? Shoot. 

“Then how did you get into our territory? No one else would ever dare to, except those bastard Izilo.” The man goes on. 

“We are innocent. We can explain that. If you just give us a chance. Please” I replied, almost out of breath. Sadie…

The man seems to think for a second then turns to the king, saying something foreign. 

My mind begins to swirl, bile clogging my throat. I think I just might puke. Every second put down a stone on my eyelids. Black spots spread through corner of my eyes. This was not supposed to happen. Lisa’s cry echoes around my ears. Tracy’s blood on my hands. I should've listened to Charlie. It’s all my fault. 

Just then I feel it loosening. Around my hands and ankles, like a bird who is finally permitted to open her wings but I feel too exhausted to feel happy. I stumble a few steps away from the fire and collapse on the hard ground, no it’s not ground. It’s soft. Someone caught me.  

***

I catch little glimpses between the heavy blinks. 

Green wall

King on throne

My friends, safe

I don’t feel any tight knots around my hands or feet. 

I am not sure if I want to lie.