Let's go!" Nurse Dima was back on her feet. "This is our opening."
I grabbed my log and walked behind her. All this while, the forest had gotten darker and the sounds of crickets and other nocturnal animals were getting louder.
We were about five minutes away from the camp's back door which led to a shorter tunnel into the settlement.
The door that led to the cave-like tunnel was suspiciously open. This made me question if we were making the right decision. My feet slowed and I pushed it in super carefully. It creaked softly, ushering me into the dimly lit tunnel.
A yellow bulb above, danced gently as the evening breeze sipped into the claustrophobic pathway.
My heart was willing to continue the journey, yet my body was laced with fear. I was still taking baby steps into the long tunnel when someone brushed past me and walked briskly ahead.
Startled, I stopped and squinted at the image of Nurse Dima ahead of me. "Wait.." I called, running after her.
She was ahead, sprinting into the darkening tunnel. We got to a corner where there was no electricity, just the vanishing shadow from the previous light bulb. "I said,.... wait!"
My steps came to a halt as I bumped into something hard. "What the...?" My mouth was about to go off when I felt a warm palm cover my mouth firmly.
I struggled to wriggle myself from its hold. "Stay still!"
My friend's voice stopped the scream that was about to rush out of my vocal cords. Instead of an earth quaking shrill, it instead, became a whimper.
"Please stay quiet." I heard her voice command me again.
Without making a sound, she pulled me into an opening in the wall, shielding our bodies from the flashlights ahead. Echoes of voices flowed from that distance towards us. We couldn't make out what they were saying, but I was sure they were militias.
"Did you also get the SOS?" One of the men asked as they got closer.
My heart was stumping away in my chest, threatening to rip itself out of my body. Suddenly, I felt as though I could no longer stand.
"Breathe." My partner, the nurse whispered.
I took slow deep breaths before regaining strength in my limbs. Relieved, I subsequently wiped clusters of sweat off my face. Doubt the power of fear at your peril.
"Yes." Came the affirmative voice of another man. "Just got that about five minutes ago. I was close by, so I jumped into action immediately."
"Well, let's see how this whole mess turns out."
A sigh escaped his partner's lips. "I sincerely doubt that."
"Why?" His friend's frustrated reply hung like a thick cloud in the pathway.
"Because this kind of thing has never happened. NneEze is way too vigilant for that kind of slip-up. I think it's her people trying to take her out."
Silence brewed between them before a voice spoke. "If that is so, then let the puzzles fall into place."
Nurse Dima's hot breath was blasting my neck with enough heat to roast a chicken. Then, her heartbeat ran off track, crazily pouncing against her chest with loud thuds.
I could barely stay still in place. I almost danced to the rhythm of the beats just to distract myself from the impending doom.
The men were closer now, a few feet away from us. Suddenly, another voice emerged from where we came from and called into the tunnel. "Canon?"
"Both men answered uniformly. " Sir!" Their boots thumped dangerously on the ground.
"Ease yourselves please."
The previous guys chuckled and met the new guy halfway. He'd just bypassed us without seeing us. Against Dima's whispered warnings, I stole a quick peep, capturing their faces as the flashlight illuminated them.
"We were just about to come get you." Both men replied.
The new one scoffed. "There'll be no need for that. I've got the ammunition we need, plus all other necessities."
In a moment, something rustled like it had been torn off plastic wrappers. Nurse Dima and I shuddered as we both heard multiple guns cork, followed by the swift movements of multiple footsteps shoveling away.
We heaved a heavy sigh, whooshing air from our lungs. I almost slumped in total relief.
The nurse, on the other hand, bent over and puked out her stomach contents.
I gave her a side eye, even though I knew she could hardly see my face. She was not all that tough now. But as we tried to gather our emotions, the men suddenly stopped.
Sensing the unnatural quietness, I tapped my friend to hold herself. We stealthily went back to our bidding positions and held our breath one more time.
"It's nothing." One of the men announced, easing our fears. "Let's keep going."
Their flashlights probed through the hallway and stopped dancing in the shadows. "See, I told you it's nothing."
"Hmmm..." Came the mumbled answer from another. Another tap, like a pat on the back, followed and another voice came on. "Let's keep moving, We need to get to this place quickly and put an end to the chaos."
"So, the girl is still at large?" Another man said. It was the voice of their commander or their boss.
"I guess so."
"Well, let's not waste more time."
Slowly, their voices faded into the darkness and the walls of the tunnel became silent.
Five minutes later, when we were sure they were long gone, we rushed through the path, nurse Dima's Phone light banishing the darkness ahead of us.
I didn't know where we exited from because it was too quiet and eerily. We bumped into a walled building which I couldn't identify.
"I thought you said you know this camp well?" Nurse Dima was right behind me, whispering into my ears.
I nodded. "This must have been new. Afraid to still use the flashlight from her phone, I instead, palmed the building, running my palms through it. Even though I had my sight, Mama's perilous punishments also taught me how to make use of my sense of smell and touch.
Dima held onto the helm of my shirt as we navigated around the building till we finally got to the front. It was deserted. Ahead of it were two smaller makeshift tents that I recognized housed food supplies. Pushing our bodies lower to the earth, we ran to those tents and it was void of humans.
"There's nobody here," I complained.
She tugged on my shirt and whispered. "Keep your voice down, please."
I nodded and we continued to make our way to where the gun battle was going on. We'd passed another set of smaller huts when I heard whimpers. We were at the back of the house, close to the open window.
Young girls were all huddled together, maybe ten of them. They hid themselves towards that angled section of the hut. A lone lantern burned at the center. None of them said a word, except for inaudible whispers.
"Should we...?" Nurse Dima was about to ask,
I shook my head vigorously. "Not now."
"Why?" She pushed.
I turned to see her face lightened by the kind glow from the dim half-moon. "Because cutting off the root of a problem ends its existence."
She nodded, holding my shirt as we traveled through the homestead, wielding our sticks. Whether we would achieve anything tonight was still left to be imagined. Yet, hope was all we had and all we would ride on.
My first victim was a guard who was using a machete to keep some girls back in their rooms. A few of them were already bleeding from the injury they sustained from him. His back blocked most of the activities in the room, except the face of a young boy, he was kicking in the stomach.
His victim wasn't more than sixteen. I guess when the chaos started, most of the boys sought to protect the younger girls, hence the drama unfolding before me.
"Leave him alone!" Three girls went at him, fighting him off the boy who was writhing in pain on the floor. But he kept tossing them away like flies.
His huge body and muscles were enough to pick a fight with two able-bodied men and none of them would've been able to land him a punch. How much more are these teenagers?
I didn't wait for anyone to tell me to help. Without conferring with my companion, I lifted the stick and ran towards him. And with a swift but precise blow, I knocked him to the ground. He passed out immediately.
The nurse flew over to the boy and began offering him medical assistance. His lips were broken and blood trickled out of his mouth, head, and nose.
But he didn't sit there and nurse his wounds. He staggered back up, lifted the log off the floor, and began hitting the guard repeatedly. The others, finding their courage, joined in the feast and punched the lone guard until the countenance on their faces changed. It was nothing but a seething rage.
"Grab a stick and let's fight for ourselves, for our freedom." The only girl who didn't join in the general beating had her fist balled in the air, eyes hungry like a lion. She shouted at the rest of the people in the room.
As if they'd been waiting for this day, each person grabbed anything around them, anything hard. Bed frames came off their hinges, and window panels as well. Even wooden chairs were not spared.
I was so surprised when another came out with cow-long bones. She distributed it amongst themselves and waited, staring at me.
Confused, I glanced at them, person to person. Tears walled my eyes and I let it fall. For some of them, tears cascaded down their faces just like me as the unplanned meeting turned into sniffles and whimpers.
"Ogwu?" Their ring leader called, startling me from my thoughts. "I know you. Everyone here has heard your story and we know what you've been through. I'd been through them as well. We all have." She pointed at herself and swallowed the tears that were fighting to erupt.
Her eyes quickly scanned the room before she continued.
"We have been afraid of their guns, and torture for a long time, but not anymore. Today, we will follow your lead and if in the process, we lose an arm, a leg, or even an eye, we will be at peace with the outcome. Knowing fully well that we'd fought for our freedom, for the sake of young people who should never know this pain. And so, if we perish?" She glanced at them again, eyes popping out with rage. "We perish!" They all shouted in unison.
I crumpled to my knees, feeling all that rage surge through me. When I lifted my gaze at them, it wasn't just the pain alone, but a mountain of anger. Plus a thirst to deal with their captors. Our captors.
I wiped the tears off my face and nodded at them. "Then, let's do this."