The Fallout

by Knox, J. C.

  ‘Thank you chief, for all you have done for us, we are truly grateful,’ Sarah said.

  The chief lights his pipe.

  ‘Sarah, Seamus, George, join me and smoke some pipe before you go,’ the chief said, passing the pipe to Sarah.

  George always has a sense of calm in the chief’s hut and today is no different as he barely inhales, knowing how the pipe affects him, wondering for the first time, if that’s what everyone else does? He looks at the chief who has a slight smile on his face and nods as if he knows what George is thinking. The pipe has a way of making George forget all his worries, giving him a calmness, he doesn’t normally have. He wants some for the journey.

  ‘Chief, I have liquor in my hut, I will trade for some pipe?’ he said.

  The chief just sits, before starting to laugh, ‘George, how far you have come, there was a time when the pipe made you do nothing but sleep, but yes I will trade with you, I will come to your hut before you leave in the morning. Now we have shared the pipe I wish you courage to endure the long journey home.’

  Chapter 28.

  The Long Journey Home.

  George has barely slept, the heat is unbearable, and his stomach is in knots, part of him wishes that he was going alone, it would be easier, but most of him is delighted that Seamus and Sarah are coming with him. Unable to sleep George gets up, grabs a quick coffee, before stepping under the open shower he’d rigged up behind his toilet block, the water is cold and refreshing. His head is clear and has been for the past week or so, he’d cut his drinking down to a glass or two in the evening, but since he made up his mind to leave, he hasn’t had any alcohol and feels good. It’s pitch black as he steps out of the shower, he can’t see further than his hand in front of his face but always feels as if he’s being watched. Using the torch, he starts loading the truck with the supplies he’d been stock piling before anyone knew about his plan. It doesn’t take long but looking at the relatively small pile of supplies, George is worried they won’t have enough now Sarah and Seamus are coming. After loading the truck, he sits on the stool outside his hut listening to the noises of the Savanna, this morning, however there’s more gunfire and it’s closer than it’s ever been before. He’s wondering how safe it is leaving Connor here, talk in the town is that the militants are moving north towards the village. It’s only a matter of time before the village is attacked and no one is armed or trained to fight, if he’d joined the tribe, he would have made sure to prepare them for such attacks. The sun is starting to move above the horizon; he watches as daylight moves across the dusty land towards him, noticing movement out of the corner of his eye he turns slightly, spotting the chief heading towards him. Remembering about the trade George steps indoors and lifts two bottles of whiskey he’d left on the side.

  ‘Morning Chief,’

  ‘George,’

  ‘I’ve the whiskey here,’ George said, indicating the bottles in his hands.

  ‘And I, your pipe,’ the chief said, handing over a package wrapped in large leaves. ‘George, I’m not really here about the trade, but to tell you that you’ve been accepted into the tribe, you are part of our family now and when you return you will always have a home here.’

  George can’t believe what he is hearing.

  ‘Why now?’

  ‘You were asked to forgive yourself, and finally I think you have. I can see a peace within you now, you are whole again. You and your group came to Burkina Faso for a reason, do you know that Burkina Faso means land of the honest men? You George are an honest man and I am proud to call you my friend,’ the chief said, sitting on a stool next to George. ‘I wish you all a safe journey home,’ he continues.

  ‘Chief, I’m worried about the village and the militant gangs, did you hear the gunfire this morning it was a lot closer than before, talk is that they are headed this way. I think Connor should come with us and you need to get a defense in place, arm yourselves.’

  ‘Yes, the militants are headed this way, I have men monitoring the situation, they’ve taken some gang members out, but the gangs are recruiting children and my men won’t kill children. We have some boarder defense, but you’re right we need to increase the security around the perimeter and stop them from entering all together. Have you spoken to Seamus and Sarah about Conner?’

  ‘Not yet, the gunfire this morning unsettled me. I want to keep him safe, he’s the only baby that we know of from the west to survive.’

  George spots Sarah, leaving the house with a box.

  ‘Sarah, the truck’s open if you want to start loading your gear,’ he calls, watching as she heads to the truck.

  After dropping her box off, Sarah heads over to them ‘George, I didn’t say anything before, but me and Seamus have been stock piling non-perishable foods and medicine just in case we had to go underground again. We have a lot of boxes. I’m not sure we’ll have room in the truck.’

  George can’t believe it, his heart fills with pride.

  ‘We’ll make room, we’re going to need all we can get, even the journey there will be difficult,’ he said, unable to stop the grin that’s filling his face. ‘Also, I think we should bring Connor with us,’ he said, watching the confusion spread across her face.

  ‘Oh, thank god, I didn’t want to leave him, but I wanted to do what was right for the group,’ Sarah said, tears filling her eyes.

  ‘Then it’s settled, Connors coming.’

  ‘I will leave you all to get organised but know you all have a home here and will be welcome if you want to return,’ the chief said, lifting the whiskey as he stands.

  Connor is delighted when he’s told that he can come, running a lap around the mud house and school building. Seamus and Sarah must have been stockpiling since they arrived there're boxes upon boxes of food, bottled water and medicine. It takes a good hour and a half to finish loading the truck. It’s cramped, but there’s enough space for them to travel. As midday approaches, the heat intensifies and George is wondering whether they should wait until the sun sets before setting off, all the windows in the truck are down but the heat is exhausting just sitting. Making his way to Seamus and Sarah’s hut, George finds them sitting in the shade.

  ‘We should wait until late afternoon before setting off, what do you guys think?’

  ‘Yeah, I was dreading the thought of setting off in this heat,’ Seamus said, my Irish skin isn’t built for this.

  ‘It’s settled we’ll wait; I’m going to park the truck in the shade, we’ll meet at 7pm, before the sun sets is that okay?’

  ‘Yes, it will be easier on us all,’ Sarah said.

  At almost 7pm, George is in the shade looking across the horizon watching the sun as it gets lower and lower, he spots unusual silhouettes in the distance, dashing to the truck he grabs the binoculars. Peering in the line of the shapes in the distance, his blood runs cold, there’s a gang with guns heading in their direction.

  ‘SARAH! SEAMUS!’ he yells, running towards their hut, ‘SARAH! SEAMUS! GET YOUR GUNS, WE’RE GOING TO BE ATTACKED!’ he yells handing Seamus the binoculars.

  ‘Holy fuck, how many are there? We’re completely outnumbered,’ Seamus said, handing the binoculars to Sarah.

  ‘I’m telling the chief, we need to get everyone ready to fight,’ George said, ‘Hide Connor, not in the school, I’ve heard these gangs are targeting schools, they take the children and use them in their army,’ he continues.

  Running in the direction of the chiefs hut, George barges in,

  ‘Chief, we’re going to be attacked, they will be here soon, we need to prepare,’ George said, glancing at the four men having a meeting in the hut.

  ‘Are you sure George?’ the chief asks as the other men step out.

  ‘100%, I just saw them, Sarah and Seamus are preparing their weapons, we need to hide the children as well, you know these gangs are targeting them.’

  One of the tribesmen enter nodding,

  ‘George is right, they are about ten minutes away, we don’t have
much time.’

  ‘Tell everyone to prepare to fight, women as well as men and hide the children,’ the chief orders.

  George is shocked when he is brought to a hut that is filled with weapons, everything from swords, spears, machetes, and machine guns, the chief passes the weapons out and everyone passes them on until everyone is armed. They don’t have many who can fight, but at least they won’t be taken by surprise.

  ‘Chief I have boobie trapped the perimeter, so we will know when they are near,’ the tribesman said. ‘Hopefully my trap will kill some, before they know what’s hit them.’

  A flare shoots up into the air,

  ‘They’re here,’ the chief said. ‘Everyone get into position.’

  George runs as fast as he can back to his hut where he finds Sarah and Seamus, hidden with a pile of weapons, ‘They’re here, did you see the flare? We need to fight, push forward don’t wait for them to get any closer, come on,’ George said, grabbing more guns and ammo.

  The shooting starts from the east as George, Sarah and Seamus watch the silhouettes in front of them, they run until they are close behind the group and start firing into the gang. Taken by surprise, men drop all around them, as more firing comes from in front. George spots a child no more than eleven with a machine gun firing aimlessly at the village and puts a bullet through his temple, blowing the side of his head completely away. George takes down at least seven men before they even knew they were being shot at, Sarah and Seamus fire into the crowd, taking out numerous militants. An arrow whizzes past his face, he looks in the direction it came, realising someone was aiming at him and lifts his gun putting a bullet through their head before they could fire another arrow. The shooting continues for at least ten minutes before darkness descends and everything quietens down, realising that he only has three bullets left he checks where Sarah and Seamus are, but can’t find them in the dark. George crouches down listening to the last of the gang running away from the village. He makes his way carefully back to the center where he finds his friends unharmed.

  ‘Thank goodness,’ he said, throwing his arms around them both.

  ‘Where is everyone?’

  ‘One of the tribesmen was injured; they’ve taken him to the chiefs hut,’ Seamus said.

  ‘Come on, we must make sure everyone is okay before we go, what about Conner, where did you hide him?’

  ‘In your storage hut,’ Seamus said, ‘Along with the rest of the children, the gang didn’t get near the village so they should be okay, I told them to stay quiet until someone they know comes.’

  ‘Good.’

  It only takes a few minutes to reach the chiefs hut, it’s busy, George pokes his head through and asks if he can come in.

  ‘Yes, come in,’ someone calls from inside.

  The injured man is on the floor he has been shot through the shoulder, but it looks a clean enough wound.

  ‘George, I must thank you for warning us, we survived this time with very little injuries, but they will be back.’

  ‘Yes chief, you must be prepared for the next attack, send your men to stock up with as much as you can. Now I know everyone is safe, we are going to head, the children are in my hut, I will send them to you as soon as I get back.’

  ‘Be careful, these gangs are everywhere, take more ammo from our supplies we can get more,’ the chief said, sending one of his men to get more supplies.

  ‘Thank you chief, hopefully we will meet again,’ George said, hugging the man he now counts as a friend.

  ‘If not in this life, we will in the next,’ the chief said, leaning over to hug Sarah and Seamus as they say their goodbyes to the tribe and gather the extra ammo before leaving with George.

  Connor is waiting for them at the truck when they get back,

  ‘Glad you’re all okay,’ he said, ‘It was scary listening to all the shooting in the hut, there was a girl who wouldn’t stop crying, her brother had to hold his hand over her mouth to keep her quiet.’

  ‘You were all very brave, but we’re fine and we have to make a move, we don’t have that long until the sun rises again when it will be too hot to drive,’ George tells him, climbing into the truck.

  ‘I’m glad we were here, when it all kicked off, goodness knows what would have happened if you hadn’t spotted the gang before they got here,’ Seamus said.

  ‘Yeah, it was a close call, I’ll take the first shift driving, you should all rest until I need a break,’ George said.

  George’s nerves are on high alert as he navigates the dusty dark road. He’s been driving for about half an hour after Seamus finally fell asleep when he spots something glinting up ahead, his adrenalin surges instinctively he turns the truck lights off.

  ‘Seamus! Sarah! wake up,’ he whispers, trying not to wake Connor.

  ‘What’s up, do you need a break?’ Sarah asks, rubbing her eyes.

  ‘Shush… No, look!’ he said, pointing up ahead.

  ‘What is it, I can’t see anything, why are the lights off?’

  ‘Seamus wake up,’ George hisses.

  ‘George, what did you see, I can’t see anything... Ohh! I see it now, something is glinting up ahead, slow down, we need to get more ammo.’

  ‘What’s going on?’ Seamus asks, sleepily rubbing his eyes.

  ‘There’s something glinting in the road up ahead, have you got your gun?’ Sarah asks, handing him a handful of bullets.

  ‘Yep, locked and loaded.’

  ‘There’s definitely someone there, look there’s movement at the side of the road, I can’t see them properly, but I sense movement,’ George said, his adrenalin pushing him to continue forward and not stop. He knows if they stop, they will all die, these bandits are trained to kill.

  Never has George been so grateful for a full moon, trying to keep the truck as quiet as he can, navigating along the dark uneven road. Unsure whether to plough forward and give their position away or continue to move forward slowly possibly undetected, he continues as they are, moving forward slowly until they’ve almost reached the area where they first spotted the glinting. As he reaches the spot, he flips the lights on, pushing his foot to the floor ploughing into a person who stepped out into the road aiming a rifle at them, shots are fired from behind, but George keeps driving full pelt for at least a mile, long after the shooting stops.

  ‘I think you need a break let me take over for a while, maybe we should work in pairs,’ Sarah said, swapping seats with George.

  ‘Yes, I’ll stay up with Sarah, you get some rest, George.’

  George doesn’t remember falling asleep, but he wakes with the sun shining in his eyes, rubbing his eyes he sits up taking in the surroundings. Sarah is still driving; Seamus has fallen asleep in the chair next to her and Connor is awake looking out of the window.

  ‘You okay mate?’ he asks Connor, who turns giving him a big smile that melts Georges heart, he never thought he could unconditionally love another human as he does Connor. It’s not like he’s his child and he’s programmed to love him; no, he just does, and it’s a strange concept for George to grasp, it’s something he just can’t explain.

  ‘You awake?’ Sarah calls from the front, ‘I think we should find somewhere sheltered to stop and set up camp until the sun goes down this evening,’

  ‘Yeah, I’m awake, if you want, I’ll drive for a bit, it’s still early we should keep moving as much as we can, it’s not safe.’

  ‘Yeah, okay I need a break, my body’s broken, you okay little man,’ Sarah calls to Connor.

  ‘All good Mum, you should have taught me to drive then I could’ve helped.’

  ‘What’s happening?’ Seamus mumbles as George climbs into the driver seat.

  ‘Nothing go back to sleep you need to rest while you can,’ George tells the already sleeping Seamus.

  It’s another hour, before they arrive at a town, George stops at a garage and fills the truck with fuel before buying bottled water and bananas.

  ‘The guy in the shop said there�
�s a camp where we would be safe to stay for the day, we just have to pay a small fee,’ George tells the group. ‘He also warned that the gangs are rife around here.’

  ‘Where is this camp?’ Sarah asks

  ‘Just down the road on the left.’

  ‘We should check it out and see what the vibe is, before committing to anything,’ Seamus said. ‘Isn’t it ironic that most of the world has been wiped out by several atomic explosions and the one place that managed to escape are killing each other,’ Seamus continues.

  ‘It’s human nature, someone always wants to have more power than the others,’ George said, navigating the truck towards the camp.

  Stopping outside the fence, he turns to the group, ‘What do you think, shall we ask to stay for a while?’

  The four of them sit in the truck, sweltering from the blistering heat watching as children play in the water running from a tap placed in the middle of numerous temporary shelters.

  ‘Yeah, let’s ask,’ Seamus said, ‘I want to sit in that water.’

  ‘Me too,’ Connor said, his face pressed against the window watching the children.

  Leaving the truck where it is, George gets out, bringing the goods for trading with him, walking to the gate, he doesn’t get far before a tall skinny African man steps out with a rifle in his hands,

  ‘What do you want?’ he yells in French.

  Glad he didn’t completely give up learning French, George replies,

  ‘Me and my group would like to rest for a while in your camp,’ he said, not sure whether the man will understand English.

  ‘We mean no harm, we are travelling to Dakar and need to rest,’ he continues when the man doesn’t lower his weapon.

  ‘How many are there?’ the man replies in English.

  ‘Three adults and one child.’

  ‘It will cost you, what do you have to trade?’

  ‘I have medicine, anti-biotics to fight infections,’ George said, showing the man what was in his bag.

  ‘How long do you want to stay?’