What I'm going to write today fills me with dread. I have to write it, though it drags up something buried deep down in the depths of my mind. I'm writing it because I need to get it out, because the events that took place really brought home that life was no longer "normal," whatever that used to be. I'm not the only one who went through this. Millions went through worse.
A faulty solar panel on top of our hut kicked off the chain of events. The panels charged a battery which in turn allowed us to get electricity. This was nowhere close to the solar panels we're using now, which are much more efficient, but the principle was the same. The problem, Dad found out, was that a rat or mouse had chewed one of the cables. We were living in a semi-natural state; we didn't have a proper way of disposing of our garbage. Dad thought about burning it, but we didn't want to take any chances attracting the living dead. Empty tins and plastic didn't burn very well either. We ended up throwing them into this empty garbage can next to the house, which ended up attracting rodents.
This continues to be a problem around the world. The Global Council encourages us to keep cats. I have two—Rooney and Mimi—one named after one of Dad's favourite Manchester United players, Wayne Rooney, and the other I named using the common Creole name for a cat.
We didn't have any cats at the plantation. Dad thought about getting one. But the immediate issue was that we needed electrical cables. Unfortunately, when Dad had brought supplies, he didn't include cables.
"I'm going to have to go to Ramsurrun's Hardware Store in New Grove, Val," he said. "We don't have a choice. Without the electricity, how are we going to cook?"
"We'll use the gas or wood." I didn't want him to go. "It's dangerous out there, remember? We don't know what's going on."
"We don't have a choice," he said. "I have to go. We need to save the gas for worst case scenarios."
He was right. We didn't have a choice.
"I'll get some more stuff from the supermarket too, like water."
"What if those things are in the supermarket?" I asked.
"I'll be careful," he said. "No matter what happens you stay here. You have enough to survive for a long time. And don't come looking for me if I don't return."
I started to cry.
"Don't cry, Val." He hugged me. "Nothing is going to happen. I promise."
Dad took his small axe and his diving knife, and drove away. I closed the gate behind him and went to sit at the table to wait. It was early morning when he left. We had talked about going at night, but Dad did not want to run into one of the fiends in the dark and they were attracted to lights, even torch lights.
After an eternity and when the sun was already starting to go down, his truck came down the road. I checked to make sure the coast was clear before opening the gate. Inside the truck with Dad were three men.
Dad introduced them as Som and his friends Boum and Nav. They had saved Dad from the living dead in the supermarket. To me they did not look like the type of people you would invite into your home. They looked feral. That was the word that came to my head. Feral and disgusting, like rats. But Dad said the least we could do was to offer them a meal.
Som, who seemed to be the leader, said, "We're moving northeast towards Flacq. We have family there." He walked around, inspecting the hut and the grounds. "Nice place you have here, Mani."
"Yeah, it's kept us safe so far," Dad said. "Would you guys like a cup of tea, with milk?"
"Sure!" Nav said. "Do you have sugar?"
"You bet."
Nav came across as being a bit dumb.
Boum didn't say much, he just observed and watched me mostly. I hadn't been very conscious of my femininity until that day. All three men watched me. What sucked was there was nowhere I could hide. I gave them their tea. Nav drank it making slurping noises. When he saw me staring, Boum told him to be more polite and then he smiled at me, creeping me out.
"What happened at the hardware store, Dad?" I asked in Creole. I did not want to speak English around these guys. They were making me feel self-conscious.
"The hardware store was fine. I got what we need. After I finished, I went to the small grocery store in Deux Bras village, but it was padlocked. I was about to try to open it when I heard those things in there. I figured best go back to the supermarket in New Grove. When I got there, I checked the entrance and didn't see anything. I thought I was safe but suddenly about three living dead showed up," Dad answered in Creole too. "They had me cornered near the drinks section of the store. These guys came in the nick of time."
"Got them good," Som said. "Right fellas? Managed to get Mani out of that mess."
"You fellas sure did," Dad said.
"And good thing we had this handy." Som pulled a double-barrelled shotgun from his bag. He was wearing work gloves with the fingers cut off. It reminded me of the eighties action movies Mom and Dad liked to watch. "Got to get them in the head though. Otherwise it's useless."
"Thank you for saving Dad," I said. "I'm going to make dinner."
"I can help you if you like," Boum said.
"No, that's fine," I answered. "Thank you."
"Okay, little miss."
"We'll do the dishes after," Som said.
"Sure." Boum and Nav both stared at me.
As I made dinner, I could hear them helping Dad out. At one point, Boum poked his head inside the house. He didn't see me, but I saw him looking around, observing. He sniffed the air and smiled.
I set up dinner on the table outside, but we had to move inside because it had started to rain. Dad put one of the beds up against the wall and set up the foldable plastic table in the middle of the room. The three men sat on the camper chairs. Dad and I sat on one of the beds.
"Isn't this nice and cozy?" Som said. He was always smiling. But I wasn't smiling back. I didn't think it was impolite. I got the feeling he was the type of person who was used to people, especially girls and women, not smiling back at him. He knew he put them off and had accepted it. Boum and Nav didn't look all that different from Som. Nav looked as if he was lost, completely out of it. He was dependent on the other two to take instructions on what to do. Boum was the type of guy you saw around Mauritius who leered at school girls when they walked past. The type of guy that made you walk faster when you went past him. All three were a bit like that.
I ate in silence. The men talked. One of them, I forgot who, brought out a bottle of rum. They asked me if I wanted some. Dad said of course not. Even he didn't have the rum.
"Beer drinker myself," he said.
That didn't stop them from passing the bottle around. They took heavy thirsty swigs, as if it was water.
"I suppose we'll have to crash here tonight," Som said. "Wait until the rain passes."
"I guess you will have to," Dad said. "I'll give you guys this room and Valli and I will take the kitchen."
I looked at Dad and opened my eyes wide.
"Keep it tidy?" he said to them.
"Of course. Dinner was delicious, little lady," Som said.
"Very good," Nav said.
"Tasty." Boum licked his fingers. "How about some dessert?"
"I have some guavas." I got up to go to the kitchen.
"That's not the type of dessert we want." Som, who was closest to me, grabbed my hand and pulled me to him.
"Hey!" Dad stood up.
But the other two were on top of him. Pinning him down.
Som pulled out a knife and put it against my stomach.
"You better stay still if you don't want me to gut your girl," he said.
He ran his tongue along my cheek. It was disgusting. I struggled but could hardly move. He had me locked tight.
"Please. Please don't hurt her," Dad said. "You can have the pickup, whatever you want. Don't hurt her. She's all I have."
"That's too bad. Take him outside and soften him up boys, I'll deal with him later. First I need to get me some dessert."
"Save some for us, Som," Boum said. "Last time you left nothing."
"I will. Now get lost."
"I want to watch," Nav said. He had gone from looking dumb to looking like a gremlin. Drool came down his chin.
"Outside. Now!" Som yelled.
They dragged Dad outside. I called to him. Som turned me around and slapped me. I fell on the bed. I tried to get up, but he was on me again.
"Make this easy on yourself girl."
I scrambled back towards the head of the bed, against the wall.
"Just give in and I won't hurt your daddy."
I knew he was lying.
He grabbed my legs and pulled me back towards him. He was on top of me, grabbing, poking, pushing. He smelled horrible, his beard scratched my face, my eyes, and he kept trying to kiss me. I thought, is this how I'm going to lose my virginity? Is this man going to take away what is not his to take and mine to give to whom I choose?
The rain was coming hard outside, making a drumming sound on the corrugated roof. Something snapped inside of me and I fought back. This took him by surprise. He slapped me hard. With one hand, he held me down by the throat with the other he was trying to remove my pants. I was wearing jogging pants and the drawstrings were taut. I was struggling, pushing him away; he was not going to rape me. I remembered the knife. I reached over the side of the bed with my left hand, Dad had taped a small kitchen knife there, in case we got attacked by the living dead when we were sleeping. Som thought I was giving in.
"That's it make it easier on yourself and I won't have to hurt you."
I heard two shots and the door opened just as I grabbed the knife and pulled it off the tape.
"Help me with this little bitch," Som said. Suddenly, he screamed. Someone pulled him off me. I took my chance and stabbed him once in the chest and once in the stomach as he came off me. It was Dad who was pulling him. He had hit Som in the back with his small axe and was pulling him up with the axe embedded in his back.
"You piece of shit," Dad said and threw him outside. "You okay? Did he hurt you?"
"No. But my lip is bleeding," I said between breaths. "Dad, he's getting away."
Som was stumbling off the porch, clutching his stomach. He was trying to head to the gate. Dad went after him and I followed. Dad hit him in the back of the knee with axe, Som screamed, and fell. I saw Boum and Nav on the ground. Nav had Dad's diving knife sticking out of his head. Boum's knees had been turned to mush. I didn't know if he was alive or not. Dad dragged Som back towards the outside table.
"Grab me the rope," he yelled to me.
I went inside and got him some rope, the tough one.
He tied Som to one of the beams that held the roof over the dining area. Som was whimpering.
"Look at me you piece of shit," Dad said. The rain was dripping off his face. I had never seen him look like that. He hit Som in the face really hard. "You touched my daughter, you bastard."
Dad got up and went over to Boum. He dragged him to the other post that held up the roof of the dining area and tied him to it. He took the knife from Nav's head. Som watched him walk over. Dad stabbed him in the stomach again. He went over to Boum and slapped him until he woke up and started to cry in pain.
"You're going to die."
Dad stabbed him in the stomach too. The blade went through him and hit the wood on the other side. Dad recoiled from the counter force and had to pull the blade from him by putting a foot on the beam and pulling hard.
"Please," Boum said.
"Go to hell," Dad said and spat on him. He grabbed the shotgun and took me inside.
Dad hugged me.
I sobbed in his arms.
"I'm so sorry baby," he said over and over again and also started to cry.
He patched up my lip, cleaned me up and put me to sleep. I didn't sleep properly. I couldn't. No one had ever touched me, not even Andy. We had only kissed. I shook a few times, like spasms. That asshole didn't get far with me. There are men, women, and children who went through worse after the outbreak. And many before the outbreak started. But at that moment it was the worst thing I had ever experienced.
Dad sat up next to me, watching the door with the shotgun on his lap.
When I woke up Dad was not in the hut. I panicked. I opened the window near my bed. It overlooked the dining area. I saw him standing there with the shotgun. I went outside to join him.
"Please, please, some water," Som asked. "I'm so thirsty."
Dad only looked at him.
"You're not getting any water," he said. "Get used to that idea."
"Boss," Boum whispered. "Miss. Please, please. I'm sorry."
"Shut up."
"Daddy?" I tugged at his hand, I thought we could at least give them some water.
"Go inside, Valli."
I had never heard him take such a tone. I didn't argue. I went back inside. I climbed back into the bed and looked out of the window. Dad dragged Nav's body into the back of the truck. There was a huge hole where Dad had stabbed him in the head. Then he dragged the other two to the truck, I went back outside.
"I told you to stay inside," Dad said as he pulled Som onto the flatbed throwing him on top of his dead friend.
I stayed where I was.
Dad tried to pull Boum up on to the flatbed, but he was a big guy, I went over and helped him. They both had their feet and hands tightly bound.
"Boss, what are you doing? I'm sorry," Boum said. "Miss, I wasn't going to hurt you."
"Are you taking us to a doctor?" Som asked.
Their blood was all over the flatbed.
Dad ignored them. I ignored them.
"Val, let's go," Dad said.
With the three men in the flatbed, Dad drove the truck out of the farm. I closed the gates and climbed into the passenger seat. The two men whimpered. They were frightened. I was frightened.
"Where are we going Daddy?" I asked.
"To New Grove," Dad said.
I had no idea what Dad wanted to do. He drove along in silence. We soon came to a small store, on the border of Deux Bras and New Grove. I was in a bit of a haze watching events unfold.
We stopped in front of the store. Dad got out and opened the tailgate. I opened the door.
"Stay where you are Valli," Dad said.
I stood up, standing on the side step of the truck and hanging off the door.
"What are you doing, Daddy?" I asked.
Dad didn't answer. He dragged Nav's body from the truck and then the other two, letting them hit their heads on the ground.
Dad walked over to the shop and took out a small axe, he hit the padlock on the door. Immediately, I heard groaning.
"What are you doing?" Som asked.
Boum was sobbing. "Please, not that. Please...."
"Go to hell," Dad said and gave the padlock a final blow which broke it, he opened the door. Two living dead came out. The men called after him as he headed back to the truck, but he ignored them.
Dad jumped into the driver's seat and turned on the ignition, with the door open he started driving away. We didn't get far when Dad hit the brakes.
I looked in the rear-view mirror. The mort vivants were making for the two men and their dead friend. They screamed as they were getting eaten. The rear-view mirror made it appear much closer, although we were a few meters away. I watched and heard bones getting crunched as the fiends fed. The screams suddenly died out. Their screams had also attracted more living dead. I saw them coming from behind the shop. They fell on to the bodies, ignoring us.
We drove back in silence.