Lia's files 2_Heading down south
Page 19
I tousled Alice’s and suggested. “Come on tiger, we’ve got to prepare some kind of dinner. Am afraid it is too risky to make a fire but we’ll sit together and eat something. And it’ll be cosy and a bit like an adventure, you’ll see.”
She gave me a look that spoke volumes of how silly she found my remark but at least she wasn’t hiding her face anymore. And when I moved toward Josh and Winter who were already preparing food, she followed. Still clutching my hand, but a lot less tense than before.
“Little tiger, come and help me prepare our dinner.” Josh smiled his enigmatic smile at her and she couldn’t help but smile back. He made her sit between Winter and him and showed her what they were doing and how she might help.
We’d eat just something simple. Bread, some carrots and fruit. Paul and Nin busied themselves with a little gas camping cooker and were heating water for tea and coffee.
“Anyone some tea or coffee?” Paul asked cheerfully when the water was boiling.
I got the cups out and filled them with whatever everybody ordered. The smell of coffee soon filled the air and we all visibly relaxed.
Winter brought Rob who had been standing guard on the road, gun at the ready, a plate of food and a cup of coffee. He deemed it safe to abandon his post and join us.
It was really rather cosy, the way we all sat down for dinner and munched our food. There, somewhere in Eastern Sudan, on our way to home, to Kenya.
We toasted each other with our cups of coffee and tea and giggled a bit. The food and hot beverages had revived everyone’s spirits and even Alice looked quite perky again.
“It’s really amazing what we’ve achieved today, don’t you think?” Winter remarked. “Just think where we were yesterday. And now, here we are! We’d never been able to get all this done, had we stuck to our original plan. Honestly, I am flabbergasted.”
“Yeah, we beat quite a hasty departure this morning.” Paul chuckled which made us all laugh.
“It was really kind of a dash for cover, the way we left this morning. But I am sorry that we didn’t get to better prepare ourselves for this last stretch of our journey. And that you didn’t get to say good-bye to your home.” Josh gestured to Nin, Yuki, Alice and me. “You should have been granted some more time to take your leave; after all, you’ll most probably never ever return there.”
It was a sobering thought; we’d known it all along, but only now did the truth really sink in. Yes, we would never get back to Switzerland, to our home of so many years. We had left everything behind and that was that. We’d been able to take a little something of our previous lives along with us, some few important items; but everything else, the things that may have been important once, that carried special meaning to us, or had simply been dear to us. We’d left them all behind. They would rot away now, maybe be destroyed. Who knew? Who cared?
“You may be right, at least partly, but I am okay with how it all happened.” Nin mused. “We would never have been able to get away as easily as we did today. Paul and I discussed this quite a bit on our flight. We agreed that we probably managed to grab the one window of opportunity to flee Switzerland without detection. By the time the Nemesis idiots will have figured out what went wrong with their plane, where it ended up and who might have been responsible for it, we’ll have reached Kenya. They’ll never be able to trace us. All because of that incredible and singular opportunity we were offered. I for one gladly leave my old life behind for this once in a lifetime chance we managed to make the most of.”
“I agree with Nin. No regrets on my part, too.” Yuki remarked.
So did I, nodding my agreement vigorously.
Josh smiled at me tenderly and I felt my anxiety melt away like snow in the midday sun. As long as we were together, he and I, and everyone else was here and we were all okay, a lot of prerequisites, I know, we could tackle just about anything and be fine.
“Another thing entirely.” Rob intercepted. “Don’t you think we ought to take turns guarding our temporary camp here during the night?”
“Absolutely, yes.” Paul and Josh answered in one voice.
“And.” Paul went on. “I think we four men will do this job, no need to bother you girls, you might as well catch a good sleep.”
“Oh yeah?” Winter asked caustically. “Do you think us too weak or are you just trying to be nice?”
“Yes. What’s this about? We are perfectly capable of standing guard.” Yuki added just as peeved.
“Okay, okay. Point taken, ladies.” Paul lifted his hands as if in mock defence. “You are welcome to join the club then.”
However, Nin wasn’t prepared to let Yuki stand guard. He insisted that she get a good rest and pointed out that it didn’t need all of us to guard our camp during the night. He pleaded with Yuki to see sense and sleep. She fizzed a bit at the edges first, but then gave in. And when she kind of ended their argument with a big yawn, we all burst out laughing and she had the good grace to blush.
It was agreed that Rob would take over the first watch, followed by Winter; then I would take over and afterwards Josh. Paul and Nin could bring up the rear, should it still be necessary. We’d all be allotted one and a half hours before handing over the duty to the next person.
We settled down for the night, cleared away what little things we’d needed for dinner and rolled out our sleeping bags and mats.
It was by now almost 20:00 o’clock and Rob got ready for the first watch. He positioned himself on the other side of the road; there was a little mound, nothing in anyway significant, but sufficiently distinct from the surrounding landscape to afford a good lookout.
Of course, Winter joined him there. I nodded to Josh. We’d do it the same way. He briefly touched my cheek with his palm and just smiled. I embraced him and pressed a kiss on his chest. I was so happy to be with him.
Having tidied everything up, we got ready to sleep. We positioned Alice between Yuki and me, with Nin and Josh flanking us on either side. Paul lay down in front of Alice. We made sure that we were all within the V-shape shade provided by the cars. Everybody had a weapon within reach, except Alice, of course. She quite liked this camping, despite the seriousness of our situation, and wanted to chat away for a while. It took all our combined efforts to make her shut up and go to sleep. Paul promised her to show her how to shoot next day and after that, she finally gave in and snuggled close to me, ready to drift off.
I don’t know whether the others managed to fall asleep. I for one couldn’t sleep for a long time. I started at every little sound at first, and there were many: crickets chirping, branches cracking softly, a shriek of a nightjar in the distance and the grunting of some animals nearby. Once I could even hear the cackling laughter of a hyena far, far away. Were it not for the fact that we were on the run, I would have enjoyed these night-time noises very much, they sounded so very much like Kenya, like that other home that was waiting for us. But I was terribly nervous and started at everything. Every time Josh, who had put his arms around me, would squeeze my arm gently and whisper. “It’s nothing silly, sleep now.”
Eventually it worked. I must have slept deep and sound because it took me awhile to realize where I was and what was going on when Josh woke me up by brushing a kiss cross my face, saying in a hushed voice. “Wake up, Lia, it’s our turn to stand guard.”
Then reality caught up with me, I stretched and yawned, careful not to wake Alice, and reached for Josh, pulling him down on me quickly and kissing him ardently. He hugged me close for a moment, whispering ‘I love you, too’ into my hair.
Then, with a collective sigh, we got up and walked over to Rob and Winter.
They sat side-by-side, Winter half way asleep. Rob assured us that nothing suspicious had happened, that they’d heard no strange noises nor seen any unusual things.
“There’s a bunch of camels roaming the area. They came quite close at some point, but now they’ve moved off toward over there.” Winter gestured while handing me the night-vision goggles.
He shook hands with Josh and then started down the little mound toward the camp, holding Winter’s hand.
“Sleep tight.” I said as they walked away.
We settled on the mound, each of us facing one direction, our backs together. “Are you alright, like that?” Josh asked gently. “Not too tired?”
“No, I am perfectly fine now and wide awake.” I replied with a grin.
The air was still warm, not the scorching heat of the day, but there hung an almost tropical warmth in the air. And the smell! That lingering, rich, aromatic smell of acacia trees, shrubs and wild flowers that I would be able to pick from among thousands of scents and that spoke of home.
I inhaled deeply several times which made Josh inquire what the matter was. When I explained, he chuckled softly. “You’re right; it smells of home, at least a bit.”
“Just a bit? How can you say so?”
“Sssh, not so loud.” Josh gently scolded. “If you can’t smell the difference, I certainly can. It’s too warm here, and the vegetation’s not as diverse as at what you call home. I like that, by the way. Very much. That you call Kenya home! Here, there is a tinge of ‘home scent’ in the air, I agree, but it’s just a tinge. Mostly it smells of heat, scorched soil and dry vegetation.”
“As if you could smell the difference!” I exclaimed.
Josh was about to reply when there were branches cracking nearby. He both started, but a quick look through the night-vision goggles revealed that it was just the group of camels. They’d moved closer again. I counted ten of them.
“They probably managed to escape to safety and freedom when disaster struck their human owners.” Josh mused. “May I have the night-vision goggles? I’d like to watch them too.”
I handed him the goggles and he gave me his gun in return. He trained the goggles toward the camels and soon informed me that he’d counted twelve adult camels plus four or five little ones. “We’re downwind from them, otherwise they wouldn’t come that close, not with those young ones.” he remarked after a while.
While he was busy observing the camels, I felt it my duty to scan the wider surroundings.
I was gazing toward where we’d come from, idly wondering whether we’d be able to see that little city tomorrow when it’d be daylight, when I suddenly saw a light flash up far away in the distance. It happened so quickly that at first I wasn’t even sure I had really seen anything. Just as it had happened to Rob. However, when I was just about to give up, dismissing the whole thing as a trick my brain had played on me, it happened again. I gasped; and Josh instantly inquired what the matter was.
“I think I’ve just seen a light somewhere over there, where we came from. Just as Rob said. It happened twice. Just for a split second, a very bright light shone. As if someone had turned it on and then quickly, off again. But it was clearly visible. And it happened twice, so it can’t have been a trick played by my over-imaginative brain.”
“What! Where?” Josh shoved the night-vision goggles into my hands, grabbed the gun and stood up. I followed suit, indicating with my arm toward where I’d seen the lights. We both stared hard and long.
“Maybe you’ve …”Josh eventually began, just when there was third flash, clearly visible for both of us. This time it seemed to last a little longer than before and I heard Josh gasp, which made me feel strangely satisfied. There, he’d seen it too. Now there wouldn’t be any insinuation that I might just have imagined things or the like.
“Hell and damnation! You were right!” Josh whistled softly. “What the heck can this mean?”
“My first priority is who did this?” I replied dryly. “Potential friends or foes?”
“I hope, we will never find out.” Josh answered.
We kept looking hard in that direction, expecting another flash of light any time. But there was nothing anymore. We even forgot to check our immediate surroundings properly, so intent were we on staring toward where we’d seen that light. The snapping of some branches nearby made us aware of our lapse in attention. A brief check through the night-vision goggles confirmed that it was still just the camels. Thereafter we paid more attention to our surroundings again, all the while glancing every now and then over at where we’d seen the lights.
“After all, it seemed pretty far away, didn’t it? And, we can’t do a thing anyway, can we?” Josh mused. “We might as well sit down again and check for whatever things are happening around here.”
“But what if they come driving along that road here? What with us camping directly on the road, they would easily find us. I don’t like the idea. Not at all.” I felt very uneasy at the thought of human presence not too far from us and us not knowing who they were.
But Josh was adamant, he declared it useless to stare into the darkness for something we couldn’t be sure would repeat itself and which had occurred so far away that it couldn’t possibly mean immediate danger to us.
Reluctantly and not altogether happy I conceded and we settled back into our previous positions, except we sat side-by-side now, kind of both of us facing toward where we’d come from. I for one couldn’t help glancing every so often toward where we’d seen the light. I quietly wondered what it might signify. Was someone on the way toward us? Somebody pursuing us? Or just somebody who had been in the area all along? By chance? Or by design? How many people were over there?
“Don’t you think we should wake the others up?” I insisted eventually. “Shouldn’t we pack up camp and get ready to leave?”
“No, I don’t think that this would be a wise thing to do. It’s too dark and we don’t know the area. We need daylight to navigate. And besides, no need to worry the others. Let them sleep. That light was far, far away.” Josh replied.
From his strained voice, I gathered that he was trying to convince himself as much as me here.
We continued our watch in silence after that, each of us every now and then glancing furtively toward that damn spot where we’d seen the light.
“Tell me.” Josh inquired after a while. “Why are you so nervous now? I expected you to keep your cool. What’s happened to the courageous and outrageously daring Lia of some weeks ago?”
A flash of anger surged up in me and I was about to answer him hotly when I suddenly saw the truth in his question. He was right I was behaving like a little shithead here. Seemingly unable to pluck up the courage and stamina I had shown when we’d been alone. Why? I had to mull this over in my mind for a while before I could answer Josh, and he quietly let me. Finally, I answered. “I think it’s because I now know what the Nemesis people are capable of. Before, when I had left our shelter, it had been to give Steve the run-around, and I had no idea yet, who the Nemesis really are. Even later, when I saw how those Nemesis men killed humans, it kind of remained unreal. It happened, sure, but my foremost priority then was to get home and make sure Alice, Nin and Yuki were safe. To fail them was unfathomable. The horrors I’d seen sort of stayed outside of me. I guess that’s also why we were so stupid to drive around the country side afterwards. If I think of it now, I cringe within about our stupidity. And then, there were the things you told us. About what you witnessed on your way to us. It all frightened me, yes. I guess, I am afraid now. Now that I know what’s at stake. If you so like. But I think, I will be able to pluck up courage if anything should happen. It’s this big unknown danger, seemingly lurking everywhere, that unnerves me. Do I make sense?”
“Perfectly.” Josh had put his arm around me and hugged me close, holding my hand in his and gently tracing patterns in my pal
m. It felt wonderful and almost distracted both of us from watching our surroundings.
“And, there is something else.” I hesitated because I wanted to find the right words to express these feelings. It was important.
“Yes?” Josh gently asked.
“When we were alone, all I focussed on was that Alice, Yuki and Nin must be safe, must survive. My feelings for you were a dream. That you might love me seemed an outrageous idea.”
Josh just shook his head at this.
“No, wait, I want to explain this to you. When you said you loved me, and then when you came to us and I finally saw you again. When I realized that this dream had come true. When we made love yesterday … It all changed me. Entirely! I, it maybe sounds silly, but everything centres around you now. Uh! This sounds so saucy!!”
Josh chuckled but otherwise refrained from comment.
After a little pause, I went on. “What I mean is that I am now afraid for you, your safety. And, where I could be cool and calculating before, I am now nervous and overanxious. I guess, it’ll wear off, but right now, this all frightens me a lot and I wish we could be at Blue-Hill-Farm already. Somehow, and I really couldn’t say why specifically, I am afraid of something. It feels as if a dark cloud were hanging over us. I am afraid that I could lose you. That we won’t be granted time and happiness together.”
I felt incredibly silly and vulnerable. But it was true; I was so anxious and overwrought. And all for fear of Josh’s safety.
Josh wrapped his arms around me and held me very tight.
“You don’t have to be afraid. I perfectly understand how you feel. I feel much the same about you, you know.”
He pressed a kiss into my hair.
“But it won’t do to be scared for each other’s safety. We can’t afford this. We must get going and have confidence. And, you know, I have decided that instead of being afraid for you and your wellbeing I had better concentrate on us being together. Lia, we are together, we love each other. Let us cherish and appreciate whatever time we were granted, instead of worrying about what might happen. Don’t you think?”