Extinction

by Viljoen, Daleen

  I grabbed my backpack from underneath the bed and headed for the door.

  At the slave quarters I headed to the nearest building. It looked more like a derelict warehouse than the home of hundreds of humans. The unpainted cement floor was lined with narrow cots occupied by exhausted men and women. I navigated my way through them, searching for Rosa. I spotted her dishing out soup to the slaves returning from the day’s work. Three times a day they received the same watery broth. Rosa was the heart and soul of this place and reminded me of a mother hen taking care of her chicks. She saw me and waved, her ample bosom heaving.

  “I’m so glad you’re here, sugar.” She held me at arm’s length and inspected the bruise on my cheek. “Someday I’m gonna give that bastard a piece of my mind,” she said and clucked her tongue, before hugging me again.

  “It’s nothing, Rosa.” I smiled weakly.

  “It’s something alright. Your daddy’s actin as if he’s possessed by the devil himself,” she said and solemnly made the sign of a cross in the space in front of her. “Your momma would turn in her grave if she knew how he treats you.”

  The accustomed ache spread through me at the mention of my mother. I wished she was here to give me the advice I so desperately needed. Who was I kidding – a hug from her would be great too.

  “I brought you a present.” I handed her my backpack and she peeked inside. She gave a whoop and looked like she was about to dance.

  “How on God’s green earth did you get this?” She eyed me suspiciously. “What kinda trouble did you get yourself into this time?”

  I chuckled and gave her a shortened version of what happened yesterday. I purposefully left out the details of Chai overpowering me and how scared I was. There was no need for her to know in how much danger I put myself in to get the medicine. Some things were better left unsaid.

  “You could’ve gotten hurt!” she scolded me and muttered something about Mary and Jesus under her breath. She put an arm around my shoulders and ushered me to her cot. She emptied the contents of the backpack on the stained sheets of her bed and divided them into groups of antibiotics and pain medicine, before she turned to me.

  “You’re not telling me everything.” I smiled, Rosa was always very intuitive. “You like this boy, don’t you?” For a moment I didn’t know what to say and I opened and closed my mouth like a fish on dry land.

  “I barely know him,” I finally answered. It was the truth. Deep down I knew that I did like him, much more than I should, but how could I have feelings for someone I just met. It was insane.

  “Is he a looker?” Rosa asked and I giggled at the eagerness on her face. “Don’t be shy now. At least give an old woman like me some pleasure in life.”

  “You’re not old.” I rolled my eyes and sat down on the edge of the bed and studied my white sneakers. “He is…he’s gorgeous. He’s the stuff you read of in books – tall and strong and very handsome.” I blushed as I recalled his muscled body. “And he was actually very nice.”

  Rosa gave a sigh of pleasure. “It’s high time you met a nice young boy to look after you.”

  “I don’t need anybody to look after me and besides he’s a rebel and I am…I am here. The chances that I’ll ever see him again are next to nothing.”

  “You’ll see him again,” Rosa said with conviction and put her hands on her hips. “What have I told you about fate? When fate decides something, nothing you can do will stop it.”

  I shrugged. I didn’t believe in fate, but arguing with Rosa would bring me nowhere.

  “Where’s Emily?”

  “You know that daughter of mine. Probably somewhere with a boy.” I didn’t miss the undertone of worry in her voice. I was concerned too. I knew Emily – the girl she was before her father died a year ago in an accident at the power plant, but not this person she had become since.

  I found Emily in the alley behind the dilapidated building. She was draped across the arm of a soldier, giggling uncontrollably at something he said. Somehow she managed to make the white tunic look sexy. It was a couple of sizes too small and accentuated every curve of her sensual body. The soldier snapped erect when he spotted me and disappeared down the alley. Nothing was more of a mood killer than seeing the Prime Minister’s daughter.

  “Finally! I thought you weren’t coming.” Emily twirled a strand of her dark hair around a finger.

  “I thought you’ll be helping your mother.” I couldn’t help pushing in the hint that her mother needed help, in my words. Emily shrugged.

  “I hate the smell in there. Besides Mom is always nagging me.”

  “Who’s the boy?” I should have asked who the flavor of the week is. Emily went through boyfriends like they were toys.

  “He’s kind of cute, don’t you think?” She eyed the bruise on my face suspiciously. “What did you do now?

  “Nothing much. You know I attract trouble. I got the medicine. There’s more enough for everyone.” Emily sharply sucked in her breath.

  “You stole from the Vandelrizi! I didn’t think you were serious when you said you planned something.” She made it sound like I committed murder.

  “No. I stole the medicine from the rebels who stole it from the Vandelrizi.” There was a huge difference.

  “You did what?” she shrieked and a couple of passerby’s gave us disapproving looks.

  “We need the medicine. Doesn’t matter how I got it.” She clasped an elegant hand over her mouth.

  “You went to the rebels? Are you completely crazy? They’re dangerous and …” I didn’t give her a chance to finish.

  “I was careful and besides they’re not that dangerous. He was kind of nice to me.”

  “He? Oh, don’t tell me. You’ve got your hormones in a twist over some boy.” I laughed at her shocked face. She wasn’t far off, my hormones were running rampant. Me, who hadn’t ever looked twice at any of the boys in Palasium, was all girly and giggly when it came to a certain rebel.

  “I’m just saying that maybe not all of them are that bad.”

  “I swear your mother dropped you on your head. There’s more than enough talent around here, why do you have to fall for a rebel?” Emily watched me intensely and I squirmed.

  “It’s not like that.” I gave an exasperated sigh.

  Sometimes it felt like I didn’t know her anymore. Emily was the only friend I had in Palasium my own age. We’ve known each other for five years. I still remember the day they arrived in Palasium like it was yesterday. It was shortly after my mother died. She was a tall gangly girl with pigtails and a heap of attitude. She knocked me over and took the squashed sandwich in my hand to give to a stray dog. We had been best friends since. Not long ago I would’ve asked her to come with me yesterday. Now I barely knew how to talk to her anymore. Her father died in an accident at the power plant almost a year ago. Since then she changed; she always hangs out with the soldiers and harbors this strange fascination for the Vandelrizi.

  “The Vandelrizi will have your head on a plate, Lexie. You can’t do stuff like that. They are good to us.”

  “Good?” I nearly choked. “How can you say that? We’re their slaves! People are dying of hunger and disease.”

  “Well, maybe it’s time you accept it. Stop always trying to change things. Maybe some of us are happy with the way things are.” She pouted her full lips.

  Emily couldn’t mean it. How can anybody be happy to live like this?

  “I have to go. I promised your mother I’ll help her.” I didn’t want to argue with Emily. Hopefully she wouldn’t mention the medicine to her new boyfriend.

  The next few hours I helped Rosa administer the medicine to the ill slaves through the quarters. I mostly observed the unique way Rosa had with these people. She was a nurse before the invasion, but she also had this special intuition and knew exactly what to say to every person to make them feel better. Not once was she impatient and listened to every complaint as if it was the first. I looked at the haunted faces of the people around m
e – the tired eyes and prominent cheekbones, and still they were thankful for every little bit they received. It humbled me, but also filled me with rage. How could Robert let these people suffer like this? I realized again that I wasn’t doing enough to help them. There must be more I could do – a way to save them from this terrible place.

  “Go home and rest,” Rosa ordered after a while. “We don’t want you in any more trouble today.”

  “You’re tired too,” I noticed the lines of fatigue at the corners of her eyes. She gave so much of herself to help these people.

  “There’s no rest for the wicked,” she said and laughed loudly. “Get your tush home now.” She gave me a slap on my backside and shoved me towards the door. I gave her a quick hug.

  At the door a frail woman stepped in front of me. Her blond hair hanged limply on her shoulders. She was so thin her skin stretched across her cheekbones, her blue eyes too wide for her face.

  “Thank you for what you did for me today,” her voice was proud and I realized how the soul could stay strong even if the body was near collapse.

  “He shouldn’t have hit you. Are you okay?” I didn’t know what else to say to her. No amount of words could rectify the atrocities they had to endure.

  “Thanks to you I am.” She eyed me nervously. “He shouldn’t have hit you either,” she said sadly and I remembered the bruise on my face and touched it self-consciously with my fingertips. “I want you to have this.” She held something in her outstretched hand. It was a delicate gold necklace with a small medallion of Saint Christopher - the patron saint of safe travels.

  “I can’t take this.”

  She took my hand and turned it palm up and dropped the necklace in it. She closed my fingers and held my hand with both of hers.

  “Please, it will protect you.” I swallowed at the lump forming in my throat. They had so little and still she gave me such a precious gift.

  “Thank you.” She smiled pleased and gave me a quick nod before shuffling off, disappearing between the cots.

  Outside I stopped and fastened the chain around my neck. Maybe I do need a little bit of help, even if it came from a long dead saint.

  Chapter 4

  People huddled around fires burning in rusty metal drums next to the dilapidated buildings were like beacons in the dark and the smell of smoke hang thick in the air. It was later than I realized and I tried to slip through the gate unnoticed. The soldier was too busy eating his own dinner to notice me. Fortunately the gate wasn’t locked yet.

  It was dark outside and the streets were deserted. The slaves had a strict curfew, which applied to me too, and were not allowed wandering about after dark. Soldiers patrolled the streets and I hid in the shadows whenever I saw one of them coming. I didn’t want a repeat of this morning, being hauled to my father for breaking his rules. Once a day was enough.

  All of a sudden the pavement beneath my shoes shook and trembled. An ear-splitting blast reverberated through the city and pressure built in my ears. Bewildered I searched the darkness around me and saw a wall of yellow flames licking at the sky. Black smoke spiraled into the air. The warehouses in the South-side were on fire. My thoughts raced – I should go back and see if I could help. A second explosion rocked the city and the sheer force of it made me stagger and I tried to cling to the rough brick wall of the building next to me. Dust rained down on me. The high-pitched wail of a siren resonated through the streets. The city wall was breached – we were under attack. Gunshots rang out in the darkened streets not far away and soldiers swarmed past me, shouting and yelling, some of them still getting dressed as they ran. I pressed myself closer to the wall, attempting to blend in with the shadows.

  I had to get off the street, before one of them saw me. I waited for the last of the soldiers to pass me. I sprinted up the street towards my house, heading round the back to the kitchen door.

  I ran straight into a solid wall and two arms caught and held me up as the force of the collision hurled me backward.

  “I told you I would see you soon, little one,” a familiar voice said and my stomach turned upside down.

  “Chai! What are you doing here?” I huffed. Dark shadows fell over his face and I was disappointed that his eyes were obscured from me.

  “Did you miss me?” he asked and pulled me so close to his chest, I could hear him breathing. He was just as infuriating as I remembered, but I was happy to see him. I was more than happy, I was exhilarated. I put my hands on his arms to push myself away. The fingers on my left hand touched something wet and sticky and I lifted and inspected them in the faint light streaming from the kitchen windows. My fingertips were covered in blood and I gasped.

  “You’re bleeding!” I pushed him closer to the window to take a better look. “You’ve been shot!” I recognized the bullet wound in his right upper arm immediately, I’ve helped Rosa treat many of them in the past.

  “It’s not as bad as it looks,” he said calmly. “But I like that you care.” If he wasn’t bleeding I would have slapped him. Of course I cared that he was shot, though I would never admit it to him.

  “Come with me. Someone will see us.” I took his hand and pulled him with me through the kitchen door. He stiffened when he saw Maria. She was rhythmically kneading dough on a floured countertop and stared at us for a moment, her eyes taking in the blood dripping from his arm. Her gaze moved to our entwined hands and then she refocused on the blob of dough and continued pummeling it. She reminded me of the statues of the monkeys covering their ears, eyes and mouth - see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil.

  “It’s okay, she won’t say anything,” I reassured Chai and dragged him through the kitchen. I cringed inwardly as we passed through the living room. I didn’t want to know what he thought of the obvious lavishness on display. We headed up the stairs and at the top I pointed to the last bedroom door at the end of the hallway.

  “That’s my room. I’ll be there in a sec.” I didn’t wait for him to answer and rushed inside the nearest room on my right. I snatched a pair of white trousers and a matching shirt from Robert’s dresser and found a first aid kit at the back of his cupboard. The pants of the tunic would be too short and I wasn’t sure if the shirt would fit, but I couldn’t get him out of the city unnoticed dressed in black combat pants and t-shirt. In the white tunic he would fit in and maybe no one would notice a tall sexy rebel trying to escape.

  Chai stood before the window, scanning the street below. His body was coiled tight and he clutched a gun in one hand. He pivoted toward me as a floor board creaked underneath my shoe and relaxed when he saw me. He placed the gun on my nightstand and gave me a lopsided grin. My heart did a little flip. I closed the door and locked it behind me.

  “Take of your shirt.” I hastily dropped the tunic on my bed.

  “You don’t waste any time,” he said and I blushed. I swore my face was a permanent shade of crimson when he was around.

  “I can’t dress the wound if you have a shirt on.” I opened the first aid kit and set it on the antique dressing table next to window. I took out cotton wool, gauze, a bottle of antiseptic and a bandage and arranged them on the table.

  “I’d better do what I’m told.” He was mocking me again. He pulled his shirt over his head and I watched in fascination the muscles in his chest rippling as he moved. He had a tattoo on his chest - a sun in bright yellow and red ink covered his heart and a trail of orange flames fell from the sun trailing down his stomach. I had never seen anything so breathtakingly beautiful. I swallowed hard.

  He leant against the edge of the table and crossed his legs at the ankles. I took a piece of cotton wool with trembling fingers and dipped it in the bottle of antiseptic and closed the gap between us. It was unsettling being so close to his naked chest. He moved and opened his legs trapping me between his thighs. I hoped he couldn’t hear my thundering heart as I carefully cleaned the bullet wound.

  “You’re lucky. The bullet went clean through, missing any arteries.” My voice trembl
ed and I bit my lower lip.

  “I told you it wasn’t that bad.” His voice was soft and velvety. I tilted my head back and stared straight into the warmth depths of his brown eyes. It was as if he carried the sun in his eyes. My heart fluttered. He suddenly stiffened and clenched his jaw. His soft eyes turned hard and cold. My hand hovered above his arm. I was confused at the sudden change in him.

  “What happened to your face?” His voice had a dark edge to it. With all the excitement of seeing him, I completely forgot about the bruise on my face where Robert hit me this morning.

  “It’s nothing,” I answered awkwardly and grabbed a bandage from the first aid kit.

  “Who did it?” I could feel the waves of rage emanating from him. He could be really scary. I never wanted to be on the receiving end of his anger.

  “It’s not important,” I mumbled nervously. I kept my eyes glued on the bandage as I wrapped it around his arm. He placed his thumb on my chin and guided my face to his.

  “It’s important to me,” he said gently. I could sense he was trying hard to reign in his anger. “What happened?”

  “It’s not that big a deal. One of the soldiers this morning caught a woman stealing food and he hit her. I interfered and Robert… and we had a disagreement.” I could see a muscle popping in his jaw.

  “Does it happen a lot? These disagreements you have with your father?”

  “He hates me.” It was the first time that I admitted it out loud to anyone.

  “It doesn’t give him the right to hit you.”

  I turned away from him and grabbed the tunic from the bed. I didn’t want to discuss Robert anymore with him. The little time I had with Chai was a precious gift I didn’t want to waste talking about my father.

  “Take off your pants,” I ordered and Chai arched an eyebrow.

  “Aren’t we moving too fast now?” He grinned wickedly at me. I rolled my eyes at him and shoved the tunic in his arms.

  “I can’t get you out of the city if you look like a rebel. If you wear the tunic, I can slip you past the soldiers.”