A Trip To Hell VII

A TRIP TO HELL VII
"Death Is Luxury"

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We walked quietly as we returned to the base. The silence was so deep I had a feeling we were all in tears.

"How are we going to do it?"  I finally broke the silence. The curiosity is killing me. Tony stops, the others stopped too. No one seems to have given it a thought. How do we kill Michael? "I don't know", Tony finally admits, "do you have any suggestion?" I don't, none of us do. We just stared at him silently. "When we get to the bridge, we shall decide how to cross", he finally concludes and we continued walking. With hearts so heavy. We finally walked out into the small open space where Sister Sarah and Irene attended to Michael. As we approached them, I called Tony behind - letting the other walk ahead of us. "I need a favour from you?" He stares at me curiously as I continued, "when you want to do it, when you want to kill him, could you please excuse me?", I'm already weeping again, "I just can't bear the sight" Tony stares long and hard at me. He must be very angry but I see fear in his eyes too. "What nonsense is that?" He barks at me. "Do you think any of us want all of this? Do you? So you want to be excused, right? So it looks like the four of us are the evil ones and you are the one with a heart, right?". He's sweaty and breathing hard now. His eyes are red and he looks like he may slap me in any moment, but of course he won't. "Suit yourself, Daniel", he continues, "go and hide if you want to. Suit yourself". He walked away from me, I felt so ashamed of myself, I'm such a coward. I hurriedly walked up to him as we arrived to join everyone else. But something does not seem right.

Banle, Joseph and Bro Emma are just standing silently. Irene is sitting on the floor beside Michael while Sister Sarah was in tears. I feared the worst. Joseph slowly turns to us, "we met him dead already" he said softly. I cannot find the words. Michael is dead. Bro Emma suddenly breaks into tears. I walked closer to them. Closer to Michael, as if I expect them to be lying. I stare at his body on the floor. His face has been disfigured by tears, sand, sweat and pains. I imagined the agony he had gone through in the past few hours. The agony he must have felt as he died. I slowly bend beside him. Michael! Just yesterday we had a warm lively chat. I wonder where he is now. I wondered if he's anywhere. Slowly, I touched him. I have never touched a corpse until now. I touch Michael. His skin feels cold and, well, dead like the skin on a slaughtered ram. "We are nothing but animals after all", I said to myself as I felt the absence of life in a man that was once young and lively. I have never felt death this close. I can still hear sobs and whimpers behind me. I turned sideways, Irene, She was not looking at me. She's staring at the sky, tears gently rolling down her cheek. I guess Michael's death feels more personal than the others to most of us. Somewhere in my heart, I'm glad he's dead. I'm glad we did not have to take his life with our own hands. I could not imagine it.

"We should bury him" Bro Emma suggests. "How?", Tony asked. "What shall we dig with?" "Are you suggesting we abandon his body here?" Tony sighs. He seems lost in thought for some seconds before he finally sighs again. "Let's get leaves to cover his body. It's the best we can do." I doubt we all agree with Tony, but no one argues. Three or four of us proceeds into the bush. Each person tears down the biggest leaves can find. We return and lay the leaves over Michael's body. Everyone seems to be mute. "We have to get going", Tony finally breaks the silence. We all stare at him quietly. "There is no food here and if we don't continue walking, we'll soon join our friends. He is right. He looked at Michael's body the floor. He walked closer to it. "Dear friend, we have to leave you here. For those of us who are left, the struggle continues. I'm sure you
understand". "Wherever he is", Irene adds, "he's in a better place, no matter where".

Fifteen minutes after, we are set to continue our journey. I casted one last glance on Michael, I remembered that night I found him while escaping the terrorists. I thought I saved his life. I did, I just could not totally save him. I ran to his body, removed the leaf covering his face as I rested my forehead on his. I burst into uncontrollable tears. Irene walked up to me, she said nothing, and she just stared at me while I wept. "We're all sad, Dan", she finally said, "we are in this together, but we have to go now" I looked up to her she stretched her hand forth to pull me up. I took one last glance at Michael. I kiss him on the forehead. "Find peace, my friend", I whispered into his ear as I rise to join the rest. The trip continues for the seven of us.
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We walked and walked till it begins to get dark. We found no trace of food or even water. We must have walked about six kilometers. My legs hurt from fatigue, my stomach aches from hunger, my eyes are heavy from tears. For a moment, I envied the dead but death is not easy to wish for, is it?

"Let's rest o", Sister Sarah finally cries out. We took a break as we all gathered under two very large trees. We just sat silently. "We'll all eventually die of hunger, won't we?" Banle said, not seeming to ask anyone in particular. I stared at Tony. He looks like he wants to say something but he changes his mind. Poor boy, he must have run out of excuse. "We won't die here in Jesus name", says Bro Emma as Sister Sarah quickly said "amen" Banle stared at both of them mockingly. "We have to continue praying", Bro Emma continues, "the God that sent manna to the children of Israel..." "Bros, shut up before I shut you down!” Banle charged aggressively at Bro Emma. We all kept silent. Banle looks like a beast. Bro Emma said nothing more. No one said a word more. It's already dark. We all lied down to sleep, tired and hungry. We have tasted nothing throughout today. But we must fight on. The night came and I rolled around on the floor. I couldn’t sleep, my stomach bites me and I seem to see Michael anytime I closed my eyes. I tried and tried but I failed. Sleep would not just tonight.


Frustrated, I rose and I reached for Irene, but she's not beside me. I look around, Irene is missing. I Jumped up. I'm beginning to get worried now. The moon was very bright and I could easily see Irene is not anywhere around. I walked further. Just then i saw Irene sitting on a small hill with Tony. They sat with their backs turned at me. I looked more, Tony was holding her hand and they are discussing in low tones. Tony said something and she smiles. They looked so happy together. I felt like it's the end of the world. Sadly, I returned to my place, no sleep tonight. I know.

Michael Adejonwo