Escape From Sambisa Forest

Six

Another misfortune awaited El'Nasar and his team as he attempted to cross the marshland at dawn.

They had all but forgotten to mark the precise spot that Danlami had crossed over with the dog on his shoulders at dusk of the previous day.

Without preamble, Sabo pulled up his trousers and stepped gingerly into the wet, soft, clay soil. Bala followed immediately without even bothering to adjust the length of his jeans, and then Salihu stepped in after Bala.

"Better watch your step," El'Nasar warned. "You all saw what happened to Maza yesterday."

"No problem, sir!" Sabo answered, moving faster and deeper into the muddy water. "I can walk thru an ocean, if I choose to. I've been a swimmer all my life."

Salihu and Bala giggled nervously as they followed closely behind.

The words had barely died on his lips when Sabo discovered suddenly to his utter horror that he could neither pull his right leg, which was behind his left foot, nor pull back his left leg which was in front. And because he had been moving fairly fast, his left front foot sunk a shade deeper, and deeper with every effort exerted to pull the rear leg forward. That's how you first get trapped in an open prison, feet wide apart, in plain view, yet hopelessly helpless, and then start to sink.

Sabo lashed out his right hand in a desperate move to take a hold of Salihu who was closest to him, but to his shock, Salihu shoved aside his outstretched hand with unexpected force. Sabo lost his balance, falling on his face, arms flaying.

At the time of Sabo's outstretched hand, Salihu had himself been struggling with his feet, already stuck in the mud. But as Sabo fell, he made a grab for the falling man, and ended up falling himself.

Bala, who was next, noticed both men falling and it amused him because he had not encountered any problem with his feet, and he was moving just fine. So he thought, perhaps Sabo and Salihu were just not smart enough. Or proving their prowess by a display of showmanship. Bala succeeded in taking only three steps further, which meant deeper trouble. To his amazement, Bala discovered suddenly that he could no longer move his feet. A strange, frightening chill made his stomach muscles contract. He glanced over his shoulder.

Sabo and Salihu had vanished from sight. Suddenly gripped with utter fear, Bala made a show of pulling out his feet. The more he tried to lift one foot, the other foot sunk deeper. To those who were watching, it looked as if Bala was deliberately digging his feet deeper into the loose, we sand with a tap dance.

Sani, Danlami, El'Nasar and Rana watched speechlessly as three of their colleagues slowly went under the surface and disappeared from view, leaving no trace.

No one moved or said anything, only the dog whined, barked twice and sat down, head erect, ears shot forward, and staring across the mysterious marshland.

"That's too bad. Our task is to catch up with that traitor and those girls and bring them back. If we have to cross here to catch them, then we must cross here."

El'Nasar looked at the remaining two men.

"Who wants to try next?"

Sani cleared his throat.

"If we must cross here, then we must cross here. But, sir are we absolutely certain that those girls crossed here?"

"If they didn't cross here, where else would they have crossed?" El'Nasar asked. "You, Danlami, how did you cross over yesterday with the dog?"

Danlami carefully studied the area for the first time, sensing that they were at the wrong spot. He walked farther until he came to another spot about five meters away and stopped.