Everything looked utterly deserted and the figures of Josh and Rob disappearing toward the town centre looked eerie. They made their way carefully, checking every now and then, their guns at the ready. And soon, all too soon for me, they had disappeared around some house.
Now all we could do was wait.
There wasn’t a lot of vegetation to be seen, just a few big trees, but they looked dry and their leaves had fallen or had shrivelled up. Some low and rather shabby and dried-up looking bushes lined the road. Only the main road was tarmacked, the other roads were smaller or wider dirt tracks. Everything was covered in a dull, grey dust. There was hardly any grass to be seen anywhere, just some dried-up shrubs. Everything looked so dry and desolate. Not a very inviting place, at least not this time of the year.
If I could remember correctly, the rainy season should soon start, wouldn’t it?
Looking to the other direction, toward where we would be heading soon, granted Josh and Rob would find cars, the houses soon gave way to a dry flat landscape of bushes between which the road disappeared. That direction we couldn’t see any houses, but there would certainly be villages and farms.
“That’s the main road toward Ethiopia,” Paul informed me. “In case you were wondering.”
The heat was overwhelming, wrapping itself around us like a blanket even though the sun was hidden behind rolling bands of clouds. It would be a while before we’d get used to this climate again. And here it was definitely hotter than around Blue-Hill-Farm. There, there was always a cooling wind blowing and the air carried at least the promise of humidity, especially underneath big shady trees. Here, it was just scorching hot and dry, like in an oven. And dusty. And everything was of a rather dull sandy colour. The air didn’t carry that fresh and clear scent it did down at Uncle Phil’s place. That fragrant, rich, spicy scent which I would recognize anywhere and which was invigorating even under a scorching sun. Here, it was just hot, dusty and dry.
Definitely not a very inviting place. I already felt anxious to move on.
“What are these funny little shades over there for? What do you think?” Winter asked pointing to the other side of the road, where not far from us a little roof had been erected on four posts, with no walls. The structure was covering a little platform with two big earthen pots with lids. Several other such constructions could be seen on either side of the road.
Paul pensively tilted his head a little, squinting. After taking a good look, he exclaimed. “Of course, these must be water storage facilities. You know, in these earthen pots the water stays fresh and cool. Look at that green on that pot over there, these must be algae growing on it.”
Without waiting for any reply or comment, he strode over the road to the nearest such device, we saw him lifting the lid off the pot and rummage around.
“Yes, it’s definitely water.” he turned around, laughing. “And it’s pleasantly cool. What an ingenious and simple way to preserve water.”
He took a sip, sauntered over to us, smiling.
“Say, why did you land the airplane here on that road and not on the airport that we saw from above?” Winter wanted to know now.
“Because we saw that the airport is situated west of the town and we didn’t want to have to cross the entire town to hit this road which, as I said, leads all the way to Ethiopia.”
He gestured rather grandly at the road and seemed mightily pleased with himself.
I couldn’t help grinning. After all, it had been a really sensible decision. Again, all had gone well. Almost suspiciously easy.
I gazed back toward the town, searching for a sign of Josh and Rob, but I couldn’t see them.
“Do you think there is anyone around here?” Winter asked. She too was scrutinizing the area toward the town very hard. Desperately trying to see a sign of Rob and Josh.
“We didn’t see anything from the plane. No people, no animals or smoke rising from a house or a dwelling, indicating the presence of someone. But then again, maybe, whoever may still be around here has learnt to not give away their presence, especially not when airplanes fly over or land nearby.” Paul mused.
“Seeing anything?” Yuki’s head appeared in the plane’s door.
“No, not yet.” came Paul’s dry reply.
I checked my watch. It was less than ten minutes since Josh and Rob had gone. My heart was thudding hard in my chest and I felt tense. I had my arms wrapped tight about me. Otherwise, I am sure, my hands would have been trembling. Winter looked just as tense. We both stared and stared, whishing Josh and Rob to come soon and be safe.
Paul held his gun loosely in his arms, he seemed totally relaxed and cool, but he too, scanned our surroundings continuously.
Meanwhile Nin started to carry our things to the front of the door. Yuki held Alice close. Paul instructed Winter and me to keep watch, and on all sides, please, then turned to help Nin unload the plane.
Another agonizing fifteen minutes later, there was still no sign of Josh and Rob.
Birds had started to sing and crickets could be heard. At that, Nin and Paul visibly relaxed. And when a couple of starlings, brightly but differently coloured than the superb starlings we had in Kenya, landed near us, Paul grinned and commented. “This should mean that we are safe. It seems there’s nobody around nearby. Good. You two keep watching. Nin and me will finish unloading the plane. Once Rob and Josh are back, we better move fast, load the cars, get away and cover a comfortable distance before we call it a day.”
Where were they?
For Winter it was just as hard as for me. She looked nervous, anxious and tight as hell. Just when I thought I couldn’t bear it any longer, I saw a movement ahead, between some houses. Winter had seen it too; she’d grabbed my arm and was squeezing it hard. We strained our eyes to see what this was. Rob and Josh or someone else?
It was two cars! Approaching from among the houses. We both hissed a “careful, someone’s coming!” to make the others aware of what was happening and pulled our guns up, ready to take aim and fire. Paul leaped down from the plane and grabbed another gun, so did Nin. He gestured for Yuki and Alice to stand behind us.
It felt weird. Kind of familiar, and utterly weird.
Here I was again, gun at the ready, not knowing who was in those two cars coming toward us. Lights were flashed up from both cars, but we didn’t lower our guns; after all, it might just be a ruse to make us think it was Rob and Josh. We needed to see their faces to be sure. Or to know that we had to fight.
The cars slowed down as they approached us, they were two big SUVs of dark green colour. Only when they were almost on us, did we see that it was Josh and Rob!
“It’s Josh and Rob!” I shouted, lowering my gun. “It’s them!”
Winter lowered her gun, too, and ran forward, just as Rob stopped and got out of his car. She reached him in an instant and quickly touched his cheeks before moving into his embrace. Josh got out of his car looking at me. His eyes held mine for a moment and he nodded to my unspoken question, his lopsided face slowly spreading over his face.
That was enough for me. He was here. He was okay. Nothing had happened. Everything else he would tell me later.
“Did you meet or see anyone?” Nin asked.
“No, we didn’t see a single soul. The town seems to have been deserted quite some time ago. We saw some dogs prowling around, but never any humans.” Rob replied.
“And, was it easy to get the cars? Did you have to go far?” Winter inquired.
“Not so far. We found the one Josh drove near a market square not far from here. We managed to start it, but had to find fuel. Near the first fuel station we got to, the other car was parked. This one with the keys conveniently placed in the dashboard. We were lucky to get fuel there, too. We filled up the car and whatever containers we could find since we figured that we will have to drive quite a while before finding another petrol station.”
Rob seemed very pleased with himself, which made us all grin. Winter looked happy and relaxed ag
ain; I guess so did I. With Josh back and near, there was nothing to worry about.
“Hurry, we have to load our gear into the cars and get going. It’s too risky to stay in that place too long.” Paul urged us on; he had slung his gun over his shoulders, had grabbed some of our bags, and was now carrying them to the cars. We quickly followed suit and helped carry everything to the cars. Within twenty minutes, our things were loaded in the cars and safely stowed away. We had packed all the boxes with food and all the water plus four boxes with ammunition and guns; and the box with the Nemesis’s papers. The boxes with the Pathogen and the protective suits still stood in the plane.
“What are we to do with these?” Josh asked.
“We better leave them here.” Nin suggested, but Yuki shook her head.
Before she could answer, Rob chipped in. “I think, we should carry them with us. At least for now. If we leave them here, they might fall into the wrong hands. We may be able to dispose of the Pathogen on the way; we’ll surely find a convenient spot to destroy these bottles without endangering anyone.”
“I agree.” Paul and Yuki said in one voice. Winter slowly nodded her agreement and Josh was also in favour of this.
“Okay, but how do we pack that box with the Pathogen? I mean, in such a way that it won’t pose a danger to us?”
I didn’t like the idea of travelling with something so poisonous and dangerous in or on our cars. It seemed crazy to pack the box with those bottles inside the car.
“We’ll shut it tight, wrap the whole thing in that piece of tarpaulin that is in my car and tie it fast on the roof-rack. That should do the trick. At least for now. After all, the little bottles are carefully packed and won’t break just from the impact of driving. But still, whoever drives that car had better be extra careful.” Rob suggested with an evil grin.
And that’s how we did it. Rob and Nin tied the box onto Rob’s car.
Next we had to decide who would drive in which car. Alice clinched the matter by declaring that she absolutely needed to be with me, Josh and Paul.
As she was distressed and also very tired, if not exhausted, despite the sleeping she’d done in the plane, we decided not to take chances. Paul swung Alice up in his arms and declared her to be the cutest little vixen imaginable, and, of course, we would obey her command. She giggled happily and let him carry her to the car.
So, Josh, Paul, Alice and me would be in one car, the others were to drive with Rob. Our car would lead the way. I looked at Nin and Yuki, but Yuki signalled that she was perfectly okay. Which maybe she wasn’t, but she was obviously trying to be brave. Winter would be with her, just in case. So, reluctantly I let them go to the other car.
I turned to Josh. “We will drive in close convoy, right? You’ll never let them out of sight!”
“Of course not. Don’t you worry.” He drew me close for a brief moment, kissing me. “Now get in the car, we really have to get going.”
Rob was going to drive the other car. Winter climbed into the front, Nin and Yuki in the back. I got into the back of our car where Alice was already sitting there, hopping up and down excitedly. Paul was in the front beside Josh, studying one of the maps I had carried along. He shot me a quick approving glance. “We’ll be forever grateful for these maps. You did a very good job bringing them along, Lia.”
Josh grinned and started the car. Rob followed at a short distance. I was happy that we could leave this desolate place behind.
And there we were, on the road, on our way toward Kenya!
Amazing! Crazy! Almost too good to be true!
Of all the crazy things that had recently happened, this seemed to be the craziest by far. Within just a mere two days we had not only met with Josh, Paul, Rob and Winter, had left behind our home and had abducted a plane owned by the Nemesis collective, but had actually managed to come all this way! It was hard to wrap one’s head around these momentous, absolutely incredible facts.
If things kept going on as smoothly, we really might reach Blue-Hill-Farm within a fortnight or less!
Ludicrous!
I sat contemplating all these crazy happenings of late for a while, while at the same time watching the road over Josh’s shoulders.
“How far do you think we should drive before we start looking for a suitable place to spend the night?” Josh asked Paul.
Paul consulted the map and said. “I suggest that we keep driving a good twenty to thirty kilometres further, then we can pull in and have a rest. Form what I see, it’s about 160 kilometres to the Ethiopian border, over more or less flat country side. The climb will come after that border town called Metema. We ought to make it to Lake Tana by tomorrow, maybe even a good way down toward Addis Ababa.”
He shot a look over to Josh and laughed. “Hey, we’ve never been in these parts, Josh, we might as well enjoy it. From a geological point of view, we’ll cross highly interesting territory in the next few days, you know.”
Josh remained cautious. “We’re not on holidays here, mate. So don’t get overexcited just because everything went so smoothly until now. Much as I will revel in the sight of the mighty Lake Tana, its surroundings and everything, we’ve got to remain careful. I am anxious to set up camp for tonight. It feels very odd to drive without knowing where we actually are or pass. And, we don’t know whether we are not already on somebodies radar…”
Josh didn’t drive all that fast; because of the unfamiliar countryside; on both sides of the road there were rows and rows of bushes. It was impossible to see far. And what with Rob and the box with the Pathogen on top of his car, we’d better take care. So we drove along at approximately 60 kilometres an hour, not more.
Alice didn’t say a word, but she kept very close to me and clearly didn’t feel at ease. I held her tight, caressing her hair. I was too tense to say much, I just rested my left hand on Josh’s shoulder. I needed this. It was frightening as hell, this drive through unknown territory, without seeing where we were actually going. Josh reached out to touch my hand once, to give it a reassuring squeeze. Then he focused on driving as fast as he possibly dared.
“I think we might pull over now, we’ve covered quite a distance.” Paul finally said after what seemed an eternity. A quick check on my watch told me that actually an hour had passed. It was now a bit after six o’clock and would soon be dark.
“According to the odometer, we’ve only just covered twenty kilometres.” Josh answered. “I would like to get out of these shrubs first. Should anyone wish to ambush us, they’d afford too perfect a cover. Let us drive on a bit. Hopefully we’ll reach more open country soon.”
“Then you will probably have to drive quite a bit. It seems to be the prevalent type of vegetation around here.”
“I keep driving, at least for another ten kilometres.” Josh muttered stubbornly.
That was fine by me. I didn’t like the idea of camping here, by the side of the road. On both sides of the road there were low shrubs which seemed to go on and on forever. It felt a bit like driving through a forest – I too would prefer open country for our camp.
“I wish we had a walkie-talkie and could communicate with Rob and the others.” I said to break the silence. “We should have thought of that.”
“Yeah, that would indeed be a good thing; pity you didn’t think of bringing some.” Paul mused.
We were all staring hard ahead, trying to see a suitable place to stay overnight.
Finally, after another thirty minutes the shrubs suddenly receded and we came into more open territory. Josh drove on for maybe another kilometre or two then he indicated and pulled over to the side. Rob’s car stopped behind and we all got out.
“Weird this driving through unknown territory without seeing much except for all those bushes, wasn’t it?” Rob remarked as they strolled over to us.
“Are we to spend the night here?” Yuki asked; she didn’t look happy, glancing about in dismay. I went over to her side and embraced her. I could very well understand her discomfort. I didn’t
like our present situation above half myself. But we had to rest somewhere. And here seemed as safe a place as any. Alice clung to my side and wouldn’t move away from me an inch. She was clearly very uncomfortable. All I could do for her for now was to stay close, hold her, and hope that she’d get over her fright eventually. We would all have to get used to camp in the open and in unknown territory from now on. Only once we’d reached the relative safety of Blue-Hill-Farm and its hidden underground dwellings would we be able to relax our guard. For now and the immediate future, we must never forget to watch out for possible danger and our nights would be fraught with the uneasiness of not knowing who or what was roaming about.
Rob and Josh parked the cars in a kind of V-shape and were unloading some gear, which we would need for tonight. It was quickly getting dark now.
“We’ve covered 40 kilometres so far.” Paul informed us. “This leaves about another 120km until the border to Ethiopia. We should be able to cover that distance tomorrow, easily.”
“Sure hope so.” Josh answered with a grin.
“Are you alright, tiger?” Nin bent down to Alice. Her lips trembled and she hid her face by pressing it into my stomach. Nin shot me a quick anxious glance, to which I just shook my head. No need to make too much of a fuss now. Alice would calm down. As long as we remained cool and focused, she’d see that this was the new normal and she’d relax. And, tomorrow morning, when the sun would be shining, she’d be her usual cheerful self, of that I was certain. It was just now, this darkness, the unfamiliar surroundings, the fact that her usual routine had been so swiftly and with no previous warning altered. After all, wasn’t it this which troubled us all too? We needed at least a ghost of normality. Otherwise none of us would be able to get some sleep tonight.
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