A Trip To Hell 2

A TRIP TO HELL 2

 "Somewhere Like Hell"

"Down!" The soldier yells again. By now he has pointed his gun at us, ready to fire. Suddenly, I hear a loud bang. Our bus just hit the soldier. I look forward. Someone is behind the steering, Tony. Tony has marched the accelerator and hit the soldier threatening to shoot us. We scream as the bus rages through the soldiers, scattering the barricade. I hear gunshots followed by the shattering of glass. Screams as blood splutter around inside the bus. Someone has been shot. One of us, maybe more than one. Tony continues driving madly. "Get down!" I hear someone yell. I bend under my seat. I see blood everywhere. Two or three bodies are lying on the floor. Most likely dead. Gunshots again. I hear the sound of a vehicle behind us. They are chasing us. Gunshots again. Screams everywhere. I know this is the end. I have always said I am not afraid to die - until now, that death stares at me in the face. I want to say my last prayer. But I don't even know how to say it. "God please. Jesus please" Gunshots again. Someone falls again. I'm just screaming now. The bus takes a sharp turn, then another, then another, maybe another again. I don't even know. I'm no more here. I just scream. And pray this is just a bad dream. The chase continues. So does the noise. Screaming, prayers and invocations. It becomes so loud I can no longer hear my own scream. Suddenly, I notice the sound of the chasing vehicle is gone. So are the gunshots. We've lost them. I peep forward. Tony is still driving. How does he do it? "Tony", I whisper. Trying to confirm the bus is not being driven by a dead body. He looks back. "Where are we?" I ask like I expect him to know. "Somewhere like hell". By now, the bus has slowed down almost to a halt. I finally summon some courage to look up. He was right. All I see is nothing but destruction. Destroyed building, burning roofs and dead bodies littered everywhere. "My God!" Others began to raise their heads too. Nobody even seems to be paying attention to the dead bodies in the bus. "We have to get out of here". Someone suggests. "To where?" Tony's reply carries an iota of anger and it's understandable. "So what? We wait here till they come and kill us?" No reply. Tony is busy looking around. We all have our attention on him like he has some superpowers. "Tony", someone calls again. He does not reply. He just scans around. "There.", Tony finally says, pointing at a building that used to be an Anglican church. "We go in there." For a second, we stare at him in confusion. "But, Tony, you can see that church is demolished". "Exactly why it's our best bet. They've been there already. It's not likely they'll be back" The argument would have continued if not the sound of gunshots we hear from afar. That settles it. Tony opens the door and gets out of the bus. He begins to run towards the church. Without warning, we all got out and followed. The entrance of the church is already collapsed. Luckily for us, there is a hole formed as a result of a blow to the wall. Tony crawls in. Someone follows. I followed. I'm in.

Inside the church, it feels like another world entirely. The others begin to enter. For the first time since we stopped at that barricade, I remember Irene. God! Is she dead? I look from one face to another. Praying at each turn. And there she is. Irene. Standing with her back against the wall. I run up to her and almost embrace her. But I stop halfway. She does not look as excited. "Hey". I smile as I stand before her. "I'm glad you're fine".
   

"Thanks". She sounds very indifferent. What da heck! I'm in all this mess for this girl and it means nothing to her? I feel stupid. I am stupid, actually. I feel a strong sense of disappointment in me. I walk away from her. "What exactly attracted me to this girl?" I ask myself. I am not a womanizer. But I enjoy the company of girls. I've not had a girlfriend for some time and I've been enjoying being single. But recently, the crack is beginning to show. I know I need a woman. So I decided to get one. At six feet two, dark skin and muscular body, a girl would be easy for me to get, right? No. Yes, I get the girls. They just don't seem to stay. I dated seven girls in four years of university, the longest was three months. Now, two months after my convocation, I'm back to being single. I had hoped I'd meet my dream girl when I finally go for NYSC - and then I saw Irene that Sunday. I don't know much about this girl. As a matter of fact, I don't know anything about her. I'm only attracted by her beauty. Standing about five feet ten, with a slim but not thin body and very smooth and moderate curves, Irene is beauty. Her hair, her natural hair, is the longest I have ever seen. The hair is so dark and smooth as it falls behind her on her back and over her shoulders in front of her. Irene's beauty is the reason I am in love with her. But I know I am in love with her. No matter what she is beside her beauty, I love her. "Hey", a voice calls me out of my semi-trance. I turned. Irene. A soft feeling of pleasure runs from my head through my spine to my feet. "Thanks for looking out for me". She says in that smile that works like a spell. "You're welcome”. I manage to reply as modest as possible. She walks up closer to me. "This feels like a dream". "Something worse". "But I’m sure we'll be fine", she's still wearing that smile. How could a girl even smile in this circumstance? I can't! I stare at her. My mouth slightly open. I've never seen a girl so brave and confident. "Are you not scared?" I manage to ask. She just smiles back at me. "I'm sorry to ask this, but how old are you?" I just cannot hold the curiosity. "Twenty-one". She answers sharply. God! She's two years younger than me and she's this calm when I'm already dead and buried in my mind? "But fear as nothing to do with age", she adds as if she could hear my thoughts., “it’s a matter of faith". "Faith", I reechoed  to myself with a slow nod. "You know what my Igbo name is?". I look at her curiously. "Chimamanda", she answers herself before adding "Do you know what that means?" I shake my head. Suddenly, we hear a sharp sound as someone slides through the hole into the building. 

Tony instantly picks a log of wood and is about to hit the intruder when he screams in whisper. "Please. Please. I'm not one of them". Tony pauses. But the log is still raised. Who are “the them?” Someone inquires. "And who are you?" Tony adds. "My name is Jasper", the stranger begins. "I am an Isoko man. I live here with my parent’s family, until they killed all of them this morning". "Jesus!" "Who are they?", The stranger looks at us one by one in silence before saying softly, "terrorists". "We are finished!", someone says. "What exactly is going on?” Tony asked. “The terrorists’’. We thought the government has finished them off, until they resurfaced this morning and..." He breaks into tears, Tony sighs. Okay guys. It's getting dark. Let's get some rest. Hopefully, they'll be gone tomorrow. “We have to cover this hole", Jasper suggests. "They may pass by". Himself and Tony drags a pew in the way of the hole. "Is anyone with a phone?” Tony asked. I checked my pocket. My phone was gone. Must have dropped off in the bus. Everyone else also seems to have lost their phone - except Irene. But her phone is dead. "Okay", Tony continues. "Remove the battery from the phone. Let everyone put away anything that could create light." He looks around. "How many are we?" He counts. There are eleven of us. Fourteen of us began this trip - excluding the driver. "We have to stay close together". We all rally close and lie on the bare floor. I cannot sleep. I doubt anyone can. We still hear sounds of gunshot from faraway. I think about my poor mother and my younger sisters; Teni and Busola. I wonder what is going on with them right now. And what they think is going on with me. Tears slowly roll down from my eyes. One hour, two or three. I finally doze off.

Few hours later or so, I smell something. And some voices nearby. Suddenly a hand covers my mouth. Tony. Beside him is Jasper. They are waking everybody quietly. As I wonder what is going on,.I look around. I see nothing. Just smoke. "They are outside, Tony whispers” And they've set the building on fire. My God! I'm just about to be burnt alive!

Michael Adejonwo -  A TripToHell