Josh carefully manoeuvred the car off the road and followed the other cars’ lead into a dirt track that slowly wound upwards away from the city into what seemed to be outskirts of Mega. The road wound in and out of the hillside, steadily going upwards. We passed several hamlets and finally, after about half an hour, we came to a widespread hamlet of eleven houses situated in a small river valley. The cars stopped and we all got out and stretched our legs.
It was now shortly after five o’clock.
Degu strode toward the houses, while the rest of us assembled by Rob’s car and inquired how everybody was. We watched Degu disappear in one of the houses. A few moments later, he left it by a back door and headed toward the steep riverbanks behind the settlement. He was running at a brisk pace and we all wondered, what was happening. Degu disappeared between the trees, and we were just about to follow him, when we were hailed from behind by a stern voice. Wheeling around, we found three men with guns at the ready standing maybe twenty meters from us. After the initial shock and disbelief, I quickly understood that they weren’t Nemesis. They were clad in jeans and vibrantly coloured T-shirts, not at all in the dark uniforms all the Nemesis we’d seen so far always wore. Their leader seemed just as uncertain as were we, and the three remained where they were, brandishing their guns at us, but never stepping closer.
Rob motioned for Goytom to join him and stepped toward them. Immediately, their leader barked something. Goytom answered him in Amharic and the other man was so surprised that he lowered his gun and stopped scowling at us.
A discussion ensued, in the course of which the three men relaxed and came closer. One of them barked a question and pointed to where Degu had disappeared. Again, Goytom spoke at length and eventually one of the men even grinned. He said something to the others, which made them all smile happily, and one of them walked briskly toward where Degu had gone and disappeared into the bushes, too.
Meanwhile, Goytom and Rob came back to us, with the other two men in tow, and explained what they had learned. In fact, Goytom’s face was radiant as he told us. “It’s amazing, utterly amazing and wonderful. It seems that at least part of Goytom’s family is still alive. These men here are part of a vigilante group that formed immediately after the first onslaught of the Nemesis. By sheer chance, they did the right thing. Seeing people drop dead and knowing that there were some ancient caves nearby, they gathered what survivors they found and sought shelter in these caves. Apparently, that’s where Degu has gone now. This is how these people here managed to survive. They stayed in the caves for as long as they had supplies. After four weeks, they came out, only to find that everywhere was death; nobody had survived. Even when they searched the entire area, they didn’t find a single soul alive. The man said that they were twenty-five in total; three of them from Degu’s immediate family, some more distant relatives. In fact, the leader of them seems to be a cousin of Degu.”
Twenty-five! Wow! That was more than Idris’s group had been.
Before any of us could comment on this most amazing and wonderful news, Degu reappeared from the shrubbery, with different people in tow and an elderly woman clinging to his arm. Tears of happiness streaking down her cheeks and Degu, too, looked overcome with emotions. When he saw the man standing by our side, he broke into a run and embraced him, talking rapidly in Amharic.
We stood back and let him talk with his family. Josh, Rob and Nin were discussing the road and when we would be driving on, while Mahlet, Winter, Yuki, Alice and I strode over to a big tree that afforded some welcome shelter from the heat of the sun. We sat down in its shade and had a good look around us.
“This is a nice place to live.” Mahlet said. “It looks like they have enough water and things are growing. They should be able to survive here. Easily.”
Alice had sat down in front of her and Mahlet was busy braiding her hair with expert fingers. She bent over Alice and asked her teasingly. “Shall I braid you’re hair in our traditional style, little one?”
Alice, frank as usual, replied. “No, I don’t like that style. But can’t you plait my hair in another way?”
“Alice,” I intervened. “You know that you can’t sleep with braided hair. You always claim it’s uncomfortable. It would be a waste of Mahlet’s time and effort to have your hair plaited now, when in a few hours you’ll lay down to sleep .” I had meant it as I had said it, but apparently, Mahlet had under stood me all wrong. She scowled but remained silent, undoing the braids with shaking hands.
Yuki shot me a look with raised eyebrows and Winter murmured caustically. “Right in with both feet. Nice feat, Lia.”
I blushed and held out a hand to touch Mahlet, but she shrank from me and looked very angry. Alice never noticed a thing but leaned back into Mahlet, almost purring with delight.
What was I to do, or say? Say something, I had to; otherwise, Mahlet would think me rude and overbearing. Winter had mercy and chipped in.
“You know, Lia. That was exceedingly rude of you. You ought to apologize. I know what you meant, but one could so easily misunderstand it.” She punched me in the side and sat down next to Mahlet. Smiling at her, she continued.
“And you know, Mahlet, Lia didn’t mean it the way you thought. She really just wanted to spare you the effort and the hurt when in three hours’ time, Alice will undo whatever sophisticated hairstyle you will take the trouble to create. Lia may not always be very socially adroit, but she always means well. I have seldom encountered a more generously minded person than she is. Her main shortcoming being that she is too matter-of-fact and out of this, sometimes commits social solecisms. Just like now. Please, do forgive her.”
Yuki had been trying hard not to burst out laughing; now she couldn’t control herself anymore and dissolved in a peel of laughter.
“You are hilarious, Winter.” She gasped. “Matter-of-fact. Nicely put. Winter didn’t mean it as an insult, Lia.” And with this she collapsed with laughter.
Mahlet bit her lips and looked from Winter to me. I held out my hand and tried to apologize, but she just waived a dismissive hand and burst out laughing, too.
Very self-conscious, I felt myself blush to the roots. Winter just gave me another friendly punch and declared that I could now stop looking like a fool. Everybody had had their laugh at my expense and was happy again.
I glanced inquiringly at Mahlet and she smiled her radiant smile at me. “I am sorry, Lia, I was momentarily taken aback. I thought that you were envious of me plaiting your sisters hair. I still have to get acquainted with all of you, to know how you mean what you say.”
Alice hadn’t understood any of what was going on and demanded to be told what the problem was.
“Nothing, little one, nothing.” Mahlet told her. “But, if you are going to undo the wonderful braids I plaited, once you go to sleep, I will certainly not plait any more. What a shocking waste of my talent that would be.”
Alice tried to sweet-talk Mahlet by promising that she would not undo these braids, as they had been made by Mahlet. But Mahlet just ruffled her hair and said drily, “Nice try.”
After that, we sat in comfortable silence and watched what was happening over at Degu’s group. They were still discussing animatedly. One of the men gestured to the cars and motioned toward the trees. Obviously, he wanted the cars moved under the shade of these trees. He pointed toward the sky and we guessed that planes must have passed over here.
Degu tossed the key to their car to Goytom and everybody quickly got into their cars and drove them over to where the man had indicated. We were amazed to observe that some of the younger men then took twigs and, walking back from where we’d come, carefully obliterated the tracks of our cars with wiping movements.
We got up in a hurry and strode over to our men.
“Why do they need to cover our tracks? Are there Nemesis close by?” Yuki asked in a frightened voice.
“From what we understood, they are not close by, but they have passed over several times in the last few days and w
eek. By plane and helicopter. Degu’s relatives think that they are hunting something or someone.” Paul answered.
“Hunting someone?” Yuki exclaimed dismayed.
“Let’s go over to Degu and hear what they have to say.” Josh suggested while lifting Alice onto his back. She wrapped her arms around his neck and giggled happily.
Degu and his group strode over to us and he explained excitedly what was happening. “I am so thankful that you let me come with you! So thankful! Here, my mother is still alive and my younger brother, and over there, my cousin.” He pointed to the three persons who beckoned their heads in our direction and beamed.
“They managed to survive by hiding in some caves nearby. That’s where I went. They are twenty-five, all of them. Many neighbours and friends. They still hide in the caves and live of whatever supplies they could gather in the houses and shops nearby. They don’t dare being out and about much, because several times in the last weeks and more frequently so in the last days, choppers and small planes have flown over the area. Circling, flying low, as if searching for someone or something. My family heard shots closer to the town centre just the other day. They weren’t happy to hear that we have passed through this area so openly. That cannot be undone, though. Let’s just hope that nobody noticed our passing.”
Eh! This came rather as a shock to us!
We all looked flabbergasted and Degu hastened to explain. “But Haregu, my cousin, thinks that we need not be afraid. He has ventured far toward the city yesterday and remained there for hours and hours. He says that he never saw anything. Just some vultures circling above a bit further to the south. So, whatever the Nemesis had been hunting, they probably have gotten it, or them” Degu’s voice trailed off hesitatingly.
“Can’t we go and investigate?” Josh interpolated.
“What do you mean?” That was Nin.
“That we should go and have a look. There may be survivors. Or, if not, at least we’ll know what happened.”
It was Goytom who translated this, Haregu and three other men vigorously nodded. They began talking rapidly to Degu. He told us what had been said.
“Haregu, too, thinks that we should go and look. But let me explain this first. I told them where we were and how we came here. About Idris, Brhane and their people. About what we learnt from you about these Nemesis. About what we’d seen and that you are on your way to Kenya. One of the men here suggested that you shouldn’t linger here too long. I don’t yet know why, but that’s what they said.”
“And who do you suggest would go and have a look?” I eyed Josh suspiciously.
He gave me his lopsided smile and said. “Why, I was thinking of Goytom and I, and you.”
That I hadn’t expected. But it was exactly what I had wished for. Only, I had thought, I would have to fight for it.
Of course, nobody else agreed that this was a good idea.
But after ten minutes heated discussion, Josh got his way and we prepared to take our leave. Everything was unloaded from the cars and carried toward the caves. We all grabbed guns and Degu, who was to go in the other car with Haregu and one of his men, got a gun from them. It seemed that they had raided a police station some weeks ago and now had plenty of guns and ammunition. Degu’s mother, of course, wasn’t all that happy that her son intended to go again so soon after having found him. She understood why it must be done, however, and held back her objections.
Yuki, Alice and Nin were harder to convince and Alice put up quite a fight when she was told that Josh and I would go away for a short while. She burst into overwrought tears and wouldn’t let go of me. Winter gently disentangled her from me and held her in her arms. She just buried her head in Winter’s hair and kept on sobbing. I felt horrible. But we needed to move. I swallowed hard and turned to walk to the car. Josh followed and gave me a reassuring nod as we climbed into the car. The others stood back and we drove away.
We took another route than we had come, over more rocky terrain. Probably in order not to leave obvious traces. It was also shorter, we got down to the town within just fifteen minutes. Degu’s car led the way. A very straight and quite wide road cut all across the town, steadily heading south. The highway to Kenya. We followed it out of town and after about two kilometres, Degu’s car turned into a small side road heading West. A huge tree stood not far from where we’d branched off the main road. Vultures sat on it. About fifty meters from the tree, more vultures and coyotes roamed the kill-site. It looked horrific! Whatever had been killed there, it was either very big, or many of them.
Josh shot me an anxious look, but I silently shook my head.
No way would I back down now.
We stopped and got out of the cars.
Immediately the stench of rotting meat hit us, engulfed us, made breathing difficult. Holding our guns at the ready, we slowly advanced.
They were humans. As my eyes took in the horror, I counted fifteen bodies. And five little ones, children, mere babies. It was atrocious.
Apart from the immense sadness at the loss of all these lives, I felt anger rise within. A deep, red-hot anger.
Beside me, Goytom was breathing heavily. His eyes clouded by anguish and hate. He grasped his gun closer and whispered something in Amharic. Degu shot him a look and replied in English. “No, brother, not now. Time for revenge will come, but not now.”
Meanwhile, Josh and Haregu had walked around the heap of carcasses and carefully examined some tracks. Haregu gestured westward, toward the hills and Josh nodded.
“Will we bury these people?” I asked Degu.
“No, I don’t think so.” He answered with a sad smile. “It would give away our presence.”
I nodded. Like back home, when I had found these other bodies and knew that I couldn’t bury them. This last human gesture would have to be denied to these people here, too.
Haregu and Josh joined us and Josh explained, his voice tight with emotion. “There are car tracks over there; they lead westward, into the mountains. Haregu guesses that they’ll lead to an extinct volcano nearby. Don’t ask me why he should be sure about this, but he is adamant that this is where they went.”
Degu took over and explained. “He’s right. That extinct volcano has always been a special, magical place. Many people feared to go there. They say that the place has been bewitched. As a hiding place, it would be ideal. And it can be easily defended, because it has but one entry. If there are Nemesis around here, then that’s where they are.”
Josh looked uneasy. “But, you can’t go on living so close to a bunch of Nemesis.”
This time, Haregu chipped in. “No, we won’t. I say, we go after them. Now.”
“No way! Not now.” Josh was deeply concerned.
Goytom was all eagerness for this crazy plan. “Why not? It’s perfect. They’ll never guess that we’re here, let alone that we are after them.”
Josh was adamant. “Sorry, but I cannot agree to this. We are ready to help you. Yes. But we will not join you on such a hare-brained expedition. No.”
While they had been arguing, I had scanned the landscape with binoculars. What I saw, gave me a jolt.
“Sorry to interrupt, but I think we needn’t worry to go after them. It looks like they are coming this way.”
The men wheeled around and Josh grabbed the binoculars from my hands. He swore and then looked frantically around for cover. There wasn’t much. If they had binoculars, too, then they must have seen us.
“Quick, hurry, over there is a house. We can hide there.” Josh urged and pulled me after him.
The house he had pointed at stood just thirty meters away. It was a stone house, but really more a ruin than an intact building. The roof had collapsed, only the wall facing toward the kill-site was more or less intact. Josh threw the keys to Goytom and ran toward the house, holding me by my arm.
He was frantic.
When we were inside, he embraced me, pressing me very tightly to his chest. “I am sorry, Lia. I am so sorry! I should never have
allowed this.”
I wriggled free from his embrace and told him rudely to shut up. “Focus, Josh! Not on me, but on what’s coming out there. We don’t have time. Let’s discuss strategy while we still can. Whoever survives, will inform the others. Agreed?”
He looked at me in utter disbelief, almost choking with emotion. I gave him a rueful smile. “I love you, Josh, more than my life. But we have to fight them, won’t we?”
He still looked outraged, but he gave me a quick smile and murmured, more to himself than to me, “It’s not natural, not normal at all.”
Goytom and Haregu had parked the cars behind the ruin and everybody joined us in the house. Looking out of the broken windows, we saw that two cars were approaching. They were still far away. It would take them two to three of minutes to reach us. Every now and then, they disappeared behind bushes, only to reappear again a bit closer to us.
“Do you think that they saw us?” Goytom whispered to no one in particular.
“Not sure. Hopefully not.” Josh answered. Who was he trying to delude here? They headed straight for us from all that I could see. Josh went on. “Listen, are we agreed that we will kill these people, whoever they are. No questions asked?”
All the men vigorously nodded their heads. Haregu distributed some more ammunition to Degu and his other man. He looked approvingly at Josh and then shot me an incredulous look.
“Can she use a gun?” He asked rather rudely.
“Yes she can.” Josh answered him courtly. “Better than many a man.”
Uh! Now they went all heroic. How unnecessary.
I tried to tune them out, concentrating on my breathing, willing myself to stay focused, calm and, please, stop trembling.
I kept glancing at the fast approaching cars, my hands sweaty and my heart racing. No use holding the gun at the ready yet, it would just tire me out. Josh stood beside me, outwardly calm, but he kept glancing at me and muttering something.
“Concentrate on them, Josh. I will be okay. We will do this.”
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