Lia's files 1_Presumed extinct

by Kathrin Kilambya

But Yuki perked up her head and smiled at me.

  “No, I think she’s right. We shouldn’t just sit here and feel sorry for ourselves. Let’s carry on as normally as we can. We have to find a way to deal with this, and, with a bit of sustenance, it will sure be easier, won’t it?”

  I smiled back at her while Nin still looked dubious.

  Alice didn’t move, she kept her head buried in my lap. She would obviously need some extra cheering up. I lifted her from my lap and handed her over to Nin and Yuki.

  “Just you wait here, all of you. I’ll bring things over. You can think about what we should do next in the meantime. How about playing cards or something like it?”

  With that I got up and walked to the kitchen. While I was preparing tea and something to eat, arranging everything on a tray, I had to fight hard not to cry myself.

  I could put up a show for the others, but there was no lying to myself. I was so afraid of what was to come! Not only the next 48 hours. But my thoughts already raced ahead to the next weeks, months. When would we know that Josh and his friends would come? Or, but my entire being shied away from this thought, when, should the worst happen, would we have to stop waiting? How were we to make it to Kenya alone? And, why should we go there in the first place, if all that we might find there was emptiness, no-one! We might as well remain here and.

  And what! You are such a sissy! Giving up at the first obstacle? You will get Nin, Yuki and Alice to Kenya, and if it’s the last thing you’ll do. Do you hear me! I am ashamed of you! Brace up, there’s no room for tears or weakness now. They need you! Alice and Yuki most of all; but Nin too. And you need them!

  I sniffed and dabbed my eyes with a paper tissue.

  Yes, I wouldn’t allow myself to be weak! Whatever might happen! We had come so far, we would walk it all the way! No matter what! And we’d make it to Kenya, because that was the only way to find out about the others.

  Until middle of June! We would wait until max middle of June. Then we’d know that Josh and his friends were not coming and we’d have to start the journey to Kenya by ourselves.

  Until middle of June!

  When I brought the tray out to them Nin still looked as if he thought the whole idea ridiculous, but he indulged us, well, Yuki mostly.

  I for one was hungry by now, despite of everything. After all, I hadn’t eaten anything in almost 20 hours. And Yuki should eat regularly too, shouldn’t she?

  Alice clearly liked the distraction. She had brought Piglet and Malinda over from the fitness room and had arranged them around her. Now she was heading for the sleeping room to fetch something. Ah, the small cups and plates for Piglet and Malinda! Cute!

  We all sat around the coffee table and had tea. It was a strange setting and when Yuki’s and my eyes met, we burst out giggling.

  “You know, we are really emotionally overwrought!” Yuki said. “We change from crying to giggling in no time and I start feeling weird. But the tea is good, Lia, thank you!”

  We watched Alice pouring tea in the little cups and breaking up a sandwich into small pieces to arrange it on the little plates.

  “Piglet and Malinda are very hungry.” She explained. “I want to play a board-game afterwards. Can we?”

  Of course we could!

  It was fun and did us all a lot of good. Alice won.

  Then we played cards. This time Nin and Yuki beat Alice and me hollow.

  And by the time it was evening, the clock said it was eight o’clock, we all felt hungry again and made spaghetti, at Alice’s request.

  Nothing else happened and we settled for bed at around ten thirty.

  Alice fell asleep very soon, which I was grateful for. But sleep eluded me totally.

  Yuki and Nin didn’t stir or talk, but I wasn’t sure whether they were asleep or not.

  My mind raced! Devising plans and dismissing them as unfeasible. Whenever thoughts of Josh preyed on me, I shut my mind to them. I wouldn’t’, I couldn’t allow myself to think of him now! It hurt just too much. How I wished to hear his voice! How I longed to be able to reach out to him. But it was no good. And not helpful. One step at a time! To think and wonder about Mum, Nate, the twins, Auntie Kamene and Phil didn’t help either. Finally I found a way to distract myself: I tried to picture the exact way to Uncle Phil’s farm from Nairobi. The names of the little villages’ one came through, every junction and hill one passed. I knew the way well, and I got quite far, but eventually sleep caught up with me.

  Chapter 15 – bombs

  Thursday, 21st April 2072

  A strange rumbling sound woke me up. It seemed to come from far away, and I couldn’t make out what it might be. The rumbling grew louder and detonations could be heard and felt. The ground was vibrating!

  The others had been in bed, too, but they all started up at this strange and scary noise.

  “What’s happening, Lia?” Alice wailed. “I am scared!!”

  Nin and Yuki just looked over to me, as helpless and surprised as I was.

  I kissed Alice and held her tight. “I have no idea, sweetie. Let’s get up and go see!”

  At this Nin looked at me, alarmed. But I shook my head, lifted Alice out of the bed and walked into the main room with her.

  Whatever was happening, I wanted to face it here. Not in bed!

  Kneeling on the sofa, I held her close. It felt good; kind of calmed me down.

  Nin and Yuki had joined us. They stood in the door, embracing each other.

  We all listened to the grumbling and vibrating sound coming nearer and nearer. It was frankly terrifying!

  “Tanks?” I whispered.

  “No, I’d say airplanes.” Nin replied.

  “And the detonations?” Yuki looked up to Nin.

  “I have no idea…”

  Just then something hit the house and the entire room shook from the impact.

  “Bombs!” Nin whispered, and we all looked at one another in shock.

  More detonations could be heard and felt now. The ground, the entire room was vibrating; the heavy thuds of the impact were horrible. Alice hid her face in my chest and cried; we all froze, waiting for the final impact.

  It sounded as if our house had taken a direct hit. We could hear the blasts and the rumbling of falling walls. Down here we could feel the vibrations but thankfully the walls withstood whatever was happening above us.

  The roaring and grumbling noise got fainter now. But the sound of tumbling walls was still deafening. We all duck our heads as if waiting for the fatal collapse of the ceiling. Alice was crying and I held her tight.

  It seemed like an eternity but finally the rumbling and tumbling and the vibrations stopped.

  We were still alive!

  Not a crack in the walls or the ceiling around us! Whatever had happened to our house, we had been protected by the double walls of the bomb-shelter and the sub-basement!

  Relief washed over me. At the same time I wondered how we would ever get out of here!

  Alice was still sobbing in my arms, I planted a kiss on her hair. “Alice, little tiger, I think it’s over! Whatever it was, I think we made it!”

  Yuki and Nin stirred too. They looked up and over to us. Shock and hope in their eyes.

  Nin let go of Yuki and stepped over toward the door. He walked through the entire room, eyes everywhere, checking for structural damage to our shelter. He disappeared into each room and whenever he came out of one, his expression grew more confident.

  “Nothing, not a crack in a wall! Amazing! We really made it!”

  “These were bombs, weren’t they?” Yuki wanted to know. “We actually just survived the dropping of bombs on us!”

  She sounded a bit hysterical and both Nin and I quickly turned to her.

  He held her by her shoulders.

  “Yuki, look at me!” He demanded. “It’s over, we’ve made it! Darling! See!”

  He pointed to the room, the walls his voice almost jubilant.

  But Yuki’s face turned pale white and she sa
nk to his chest with a sigh. He rushed to lay her down on the sofa, legs up, looking frantic.

  But Yuki regained consciousness within seconds. Her eyes fluttered then she opened them. “Nin, is it over?”

  “Yes, Yuki – you gave us such a fright! Are you okay? You fainted!” Nin bent over her, gently stroking her face.

  With Alice still in my arms I hurried over to the kitchen to get something to drink for Yuki. And something sweet, a cookie. Her blood-sugar level needed a boost.

  We hurried back to Nin and Yuki. She was trying to sit up, but Nin urged her to keep lying flat.

  “Please, Yuki, you gave me such a fright! Relax a bit, please!”

  She heaved a sigh and obliged him.

  I handed her the drink and the cookie; Alice lay down beside her and gave her a smack on her chin.

  Yuki smiled apologetically. “I am such a goose, sorry!”

  “Nothing to be sorry about. We all suffered a shock, love!” Nin reassured her; and Alice and I just nodded in agreement.

  There was another rumbling above us and we all froze, listening hard and staring at the wall and the ceiling.

  But the sound soon abated and nothing happened. It was weird and scary. Probably we were by now buried underneath the remains and rubble of our house.

  “Nin, how will be get out of here?” Yuki looked suddenly very anxious again. “It sounded as if the whole house collapsed onto the sub-basement. Do you think we will be able to get out?”

  Now Alice looked alarmed, too.

  But Nin quickly intervened. “Don’t look so alarmed, you two. There’s nothing to worry about. In fact, there is an emergency exit. Uncle Phil told me about it when you were gone.”

  He looked apologetically over to me.

  “And I forgot to mention it so far, because there were always such a lot of other things to discuss or going on. But apparently there’s an exit behind the heavy cupboard in the fitness room. Uncle Phil said that there is a tunnel that leads down toward the river and that there is a steel door opening up into the little ravine. You know where, don’t you Lia?”

  I could well imagine where the place was. The only spot that made sense was further down the little brooklet from where I had sat and watched the house these last days. There, an exit door would be well hidden from view and might have gone unnoticed all these years.

  “Yeah, I think I know where we will come out. Do you think we might try and have a look today? I am dying to know what happened above ground!”

  They all looked at me as if I had said something stupid, or totally unexpected.

  But I meant what I had said. I wanted to go outside and see what kind of damage had been done. Not just to our house, but to the area around it, too.

  “Look, if they threw bombs then they meant to kill us or make it impossible for us to return and live here, either one. Whatever it is, they don’t expect us to be still here and alive. And if this exit door leads to the little ravine, we will be safely hidden from view.”

  I just wanted out here, it was spooky and unbearable!

  “We’ll be careful, as usual. If you don’t want to come with I can also go and scout the situation myself.”

  At that they looked even more alarmed.

  Nin scratched his head pensively. “I think we should wait a bit – just a few hours. Let’s not be hasty and take unnecessary risks. Don’t you agree? Let’s just be careful and wait maybe two or three hours.”

  He was probably right. To have to wait from hours, though. What a horrible thought! But maybe I was panicking here and should calm down a bit. So, grudgingly I agreed with Nin.

  Then I disappeared with Alice to the bathroom to get dressed and ready for the outing. Alice had forgotten her earlier fears, now, at the prospect of going out, she was excited.

  “Lia, do you really think we can go outside today? Wow, after all those weeks! I am curious to see everything!!” She jumped up and down and would hardly hold still long enough for me to brush and braid her hair.

  “Brush your teeth, little tiger, and wash your face and hands. And then put on your jeans not just the track suit. If we’re going outside you’ll need something warmer. It’s still only middle of April.”

  Wow, it really felt good to talk about going outside! Like taking control of our lives again.

  To imagine that we might spent time outside every day now, suddenly seemed like a distinct possibility. It would do us all a lot of good. Of course, we mustn’t take any risks. But like Nin had said, if they thought we were elsewhere, far away, then there was no reason for them to come back and check on us after today.

  We headed back to the sleeping room and got dressed. Then we prepared breakfast while Yuki and Nin got dressed. We could hear some rumbling from above every now and then, but it didn’t sound too threatening or maybe we had just gotten used to it.

  We had breakfast in the big room, on the sofas, it was just cosier there.

  I checked the watch every now and then; I was really getting excited here.

  Yuki smiled at me; she looked a lot better, too.

  The idea of getting out into the fresh air was exhilarating for me who had just returned from there two days ago. How much more of treat must it seem to the other three. Only Nin looked hesitant. Maybe he thought that he had to be the wise and grown-up one here. But I really couldn’t see any problem with our little expedition.

  We all trooped over to the fitness room as soon as we were done with breakfast. Nin and I pushed the cupboard the side and sure enough, there was a door behind it. And a key was hanging on a little hook on the wall to the left of the door. We looked at each other.

  “Shall we?” I asked.

  Nin checked his watch. “It’s ten o’clock now. About two and a half hours since the bombing. It’s probably as good a time as any. Let’s go!”

  We put on shoes and jackets and everybody got a torch.

  Nin took the key from its hook; it perfectly fit into the keyhole and turned smoothly. The door opened and a whiff of mouldy, cool air hit us. A tunnel lay ahead, utterly dark and a bit spooky, its concrete floor wet. We briefly hesitated, then Nin led the way. Yuki and Alice followed him, but I quickly turned back to fetch some binoculars and followed them.

  It took us about five minutes to reach the other end. The tunnel gently sloped down and we trod very carefully because the floor was not only wet but slimy in places.

  At the end of the tunnel we found another steel door with a big padlock, the key to it hanging on the wall. Nin stuck the key in the lock and turned it carefully, but it didn’t make much noise and turned effortlessly. He opened the door and we could hear the water of the little brooklet nearby and saw the bushes and trees of the grove I had spent so many days in.

  Nin began climbing up the slope and I motioned for Alice to stay close to me. We were a bit down from the edge of the grove, in the cover of bushes. The air was cool but the sky was clear and the sun already up in the sky quite a bit. It would be a wonderful spring day.

  Nin carefully made his way up to the edge of the grove while the rest of us waited by the entrance of the tunnel. He disappeared for some minutes then came back, waving for us to join him. We climbed up to where he was and when we reached the edge of the grove we all crouched down and looked about us in stunned silence.

  What had until this morning been a posh suburb with detached and semidetached houses, extensive and carefully groomed gardens and lots of trees was now just rubbles and ruins!

  They had not only bombed our house but the entire neighbourhood. As far as we could see everything was destroyed; not a single house left untouched. It was incredible! Terrifying!

  We couldn’t see the city centre of Berne from where we stood but we saw smoke billowing up from that direction, so it was a fair guess that destruction had occurred there, too.

  A smell of dust and burnt plastic and wood was in the air. Our house was just a heap of rubble. Thankfully there was no fire; but the remains of another house further down
the slope were burning.

  The airport?

  As if on cue, we all turned around and looked down across the river where the airport was. The main building was destroyed, but the runway still intact and the small buildings where the smaller airplanes were parked were still standing. Good! Very good!

  Yuki and Nin stepped forward as if they wanted to leave the cover of the trees, but I tugged at their sleeves and motioned for them to wait. There were no people anywhere and an eerie silence hung all around us. But we couldn’t be sure and we mustn’t take risks. We had to remain as unobtrusive as possible.

  I searched the area with the binoculars then handed them to Nin to double-check.

  But we saw nothing! Nobody anywhere!

  I was kind of used to this, but I could see on the other’s faces that it shocked them; not just the destruction of our neighbourhood, but also this eerie silence and emptiness. Alice looked scared and Yuki uneasy.

  Nin handed me the binoculars. “Nothing, shall we move?”

  Not wanting to leave the cover of the trees, I hesitated. Was it really safe to step out into full view? I felt very uneasy at the thought.

  And Alice and Yuki didn’t look ready to venture any further, too.

  “Let’s stay here for a while.” Yuki suggested. “Let’s just watch, I don’t feel ready to go any further, not yet.”

  And Alice and I just nodded in agreement. Nin looked disappointed, he clearly was eager to go and check out the surroundings; but he stayed with us.

  We all settled down at the edge of the grove, everyone trying to find as comfortable a place to sit on as possible.

  “Where did you stay all those days, Lia?” Yuki wanted to know.

  “A bit further up the slope. I in fact you can see the tree from here, it’s that big spruce tree up there.” I pointed up to the slope toward it. “The one with the big trunk and whose branches hang very low, see. It was a nice place to sit and watch over our house and all of you. ”

  It seemed like ages ago that I had sat up there and wondered what to do and whether Alice, Yuki and Nin were safe.

  So much had happened since then.

  We sat there and watched our surroundings for hours.