by Ayman Ghalit
“So?” carelessly Clark responded.
“We are leaving. We don’t want to fight., and... we don’t believe in violence.”
“We also don’t believe in that, but alas, what should we do? It is the faith of Draven and his gang.”
Shifting the conversation toward him, Canth asked, “Alright, what is it exactly that you want?”
“We want to leave to Zaimur.”
“Alright, go! Who is stopping you?”
“We don’t exactly know where it is.”
“A man this age, and knows not where Zaimur is!?”
“Unfortunately, yes. I don’t know it.”
“If so, then, why don’t you fight with us? Don’t you want to avenge your mournful friend?”
“We don’t know how to fight.”
“Nay! It is because you are nothing but cowards.”
Gael replied, “Yes... yes we are.”
With a calm and benignant tone, Theodor said, “We can’t force you to fight… You are free to go.”
Thanker, who was concerned about the remaining Phugwaks, said to them, “Follow the rails, it will lead you to Zaimur. But that’s a long way on foot, for it will take you four days to reach it. You should be well victualed if you want to reach Zaimur alive.”
They said that they will take care of this, and when they stood to leave the bunker, Canth advised, “We shouldn’t let them leave this easy.”
“You want us to fight with you?” Gael questioned.
“We do not need useless cravens like you to fight with us. But caution I must seek. What assure us that you are not despicable spies?”
“This war is not our business.”
“This war is everybody’s business.”
Jack tried to convince, “We swear to God that we are not spies, we are nothing but people who want to—!”
“People!?” the Phugwaks wondered.
After clearing his throat, Jack corrected, “Phugwaks! We are nothing but Phugwaks who wants to run for their lives.”
Canth stood and approached Jack, who was worryingly awkward, looked him in the eye, and said “You are lying, you are not a Phugwak.”
“It seems that you hate us?” Bob said.
“Hate? I don’t even know you. Besides, you don’t want to know what I do for those whom I hate, pretty boy.”
“Pardon him,” said Thanker. “This is his default attitude. We did try to change it, but you know the saying; you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”
“Cowards!” Canth shouted.
“Let them be!” said Theodor, “Go, may peace accompany you. Follow the realis and be careful.”
The guys prepared to leave, and while doing so, Canth said while gritting on teeth “Oh, God! I really despite cowards. Leave, but remember this: we will be victorious. We shall build a world free from this wrongful despotism. A world where we will be free to choose. A world molded and wrapped by delicious Freedom. And when that day comes, you have to remember that you did absolutely nothing. You have to remember that you are nothing but useless waste of space creatures.”
Gael smilingly replied, “I sincerely wish you luck, and I promise to you that we will relentlessly pray for you, as we will wish really, really hard that the world that you have mentioned comes true.” Then, they left the bunker while Kais still in pain and grief.
The Run
The guys rushed and escaped the bunker toward the rails. Leading them to it, the ascending black-smoke pillars from the bombed trailers. In their way there, they encountered lots of Phugwaks whom urged them to take shelter, and to quit this risky journey. But they refused but to go. And when they passed by the flaming trailers at about 2PM, the clear smell of the burnt bodies, made Kais, who nodded in loss, tear up, saying, “Farewell, dove. May you rest in peace.”
Hastily, they followed the silver rails for about two hours till Darg’s feature started to blur in the distant horizon. The heat, the distant, and the lack of food made it a toilsome and quite threatening journey. Bob, whom his knees grew heavy, was in much pain and was heavily-breathing. He complained and begged them to rest, but Gael strongly refused saying they will not rest till that damn city completely disappear from his sight. They marched following the rails till they reached a vast and a featureless terrain that is covered with fleshy hay-like plant that sway with the slightest breeze.
“We have to stop and rest.” Bob urged, after exhaustingly dropping on his knees,
Gael looked back to see that Darg is still visible, and said, “No, we have to go.”
“We have to rest,” said Kais.
“Yea, we should.” Jack agreed. “The damned city is way too far right now.”
“The threat is not fixed,” said Gael, “The soldiers will easily come to us. We have to keep moving.”
“Let’s rest, Gael. Only for moments.” said Carl.
It was almost sunset when they agreed to rest. The afterglow painted the sky red, creating a comforting atmosphere in that place which was so quiet and calm for them all, save Gael who had never knew what silence really is, because his hearing is always being disturbed by tinnitus; which is a noisy ringing sound that never stops!
They sat, and glance at the miraged capital from a distance after agreeing to drink wisely from the water bottles. And after plucking fleshy plants from the ground and eating it raw, they figured out the reason that made the human cook his food. It was hard to chew and digest, but the instinct of survival forced them to fill their stomachs of what will let them live for another day. Moments later, Jack, who was gazing at the capital, restfully exhaled, and said, ‘Thank God. Who would believe that we survived all the horrible events in there; the bombs, its random speeding fragments, and the collapsing buildings, without a scratch!’
“Speak for yourself.” Kais replied.
“Oh, Am, am sorry… but still!”
Carl hummed in thoughts, and said, “Though we are indeed substantially different, but ironically, there is something mutual between every intelligent creature. And that is war and disagreement.”
They paused for a bit thinking about that, Kais then said, “Isn’t it shameful?”
“What is it?” Bob asked.
“We ran. We cowardly ran away from the rightful thing to do. And that is fight and protect the innocent.”
“It is not our war,” said Gael, “we got nothing to do with it. And we shouldn’t care about it.”
“I know, but don’t you feel ashamed and disgraced? Don’t you feel it in your inner self? Don’t you feel your conscience telling you that you did the wrong?”
Carl replied, “True, but it is a state of mind that one must not follow its direction, especially in this matter. You must know that it is only the coincident that brought us to this wicked planet, and you must know that we are not super humans. We got nothing to do in their matter. Even if we chose to lend them our insignificant and senseless help, it will take us ages to defeat and succumb evil. Take it from this point of view; there are people in this universe, right at this moment, being horribly tortured, and others being delightfully pleased. Some are gathering to deliver a baby, others are gathering for the funeral. The happy and sad, the smiling and the frowning, the slave and free, the carefree and worried. And there is nothing you can do to them, Kaiser. What we have witnessed is nothing but a natural outcome of an accumulated injustice, oppression, iniquity, and betrayed expectations. This is the crop of every tree that had been wrongfully implanted.”
Kais nodded, and said, “Yea, but shameful was our look when we gave them our back and ran. It was pathetic.”
Gael replied, “Canth’s words might still be ringing in your head! Well, fuck Canth, and fuck them all. We got nothing to do in their so-called freedom war. Besides, we were anonymous to them. Am really loathed to quote Mort, but remember; for the anonymous there is no shame!”
Bob, who remembered Mort, wanted to ask about what should they do about that matter, but got silenced by loud whizzing jets that reechoed
in the sky and forced them to duck and hide in the hay-like fleshy plants. And it was only moments for them to see a flying fleet heading to the capital and followed by rapid bombardments. The rumbling explosion sound reached their ears moment after they witnessed its explosions. It was a fierce attack that they even used a self-immolating bomb that brightly blazed, forcing them to avert their eyes. Shortly after, its shockwave swept the field making the birds fly barking. And when it reached them, it loudly rang their ears.
“Is that nuke!?” Bob frighteningly asked.
Gael urged in fear, “Damn it. We are still in the danger zone. Time to keep moving.”
They packed their stuff and kept moving. Hours later, the night came, but luckily for them, the two moons were appearing full that night, and it was a phenomenon that happen once every three years. The land was lit as its feature can easily be seen. And after about three hours, after the lights of Darg completely despaired, Bob couldn’t take it anymore. He groaned in pain saying that his feet are hurting him, and his back is totally busted. Gael urged saying that they must walk for another hour. But they all urged him to rest and sleep for the day, saying that they are too far from trouble. They chose to rest under a giant and tall golden boulder that they glanced at the distant. And when they reached it, they found it huge, round, and with smooth surface that shows no crack, slash, or a dent. Almost perfect as if it fell as one piece. And the lunars light reflection on the golden boulder made its view enchantingly magical in their eyes.
Gael proposed before they lay down to sleep, “We shouldn’t lower our guards here, we don’t know what kind of a creeping insect and prying creature might be out there.” They agreed to take turns for guarding. Gael volunteered to be the first warden because he got the gun.
They took a sip or two from their water, and laid for sleep that didn’t come easy, though they were tired and weary. Jack was lying on his back, thinking about his beloved one, Nora. He wondered about her; ‘How is she? Does she miss him, how many texts had she sent to him?’ Later, while deeply thinking about her, he noticed in the sky the same shining star Kaiser had saw yesterday. He gazed at it for a while, and realized that he is far, he is too far from home, and too far from her. Then he remembered that they didn’t find the key that might be still in Darg, and he also thought about Mort, ‘where the hell is he? he might be dead? or he might be ran a way to leave them die in here!’ He was about to lose his mind and panic when something urged him to scream and shout, but he tamed that urge after realizing it won’t do any good. So, he barely kept it in himself, and worrisomely prayed in silence, “O, God, please help us.”
Haunting Thoughts
Kaiser was the first to wake up early in the morning. He found Gael, whom was supposed to warden them, in a deep sleep. He then glanced his left and right observing this strange land that his eyes couldn’t get used to. Disquieting grief he felt when he remembered his dream that almost came true. He thought about Alma and her delighting appearance, her joy-bringing smile, her lively laughter, and the sad fate of her and her innocent family… that made him sorrowfully exhale. Slowly, dark depression encloses on him when he recalled his mother and her merciful touch, his father whom will undoubtfully lend him his help, her innocent little sister, and his room in Planet Earth; that calm room wherein he always finds comfort and peace. He said that he was a carefree-man there with no troubling concern, nor anything to worry about. Moments after, while still in burdening concern, a nearby howling creature urged him to wake up his friends. He started with Gael, and mockingly, said “Thanks for the guard.” They woke up their friends, ate, and drank what will provide them with what will push them a little bit further.
Ominous Journey
It was 7AM when they packed their stuff for leaving. The sky was covered with ashen clouds which added another concern upon their worrisome minds. Headed by the railroad while walking upon fleshy planet, they started the journey. Everyone was silent, and anxious. Jack, whom his brain was stormed by lots of disquieting thoughts, broke the silence by letting a burdening question out of his chest, “What about Mort?” he asked.
“Where are not in the mood for this right now.” Gael answered.
“We have to talk about this. I see us intentionally avoiding this topic! We don’t know where are we going, and to whom are we heading?”
“Jack, please, cut this off. I don’t want to even talk about this.”
“We have to do this, Gael. What if Mort died or ran? let us discuss this unavoidable issue!”
Feeling bothered, Gael answered, “Alright, we must not forget that our goal is Narbiz, not Zaimur… And I really don’t want to even think about this outcome, but if Mort is dead or simply gone! Then we will have to accept living in this dreadful planet for good.”
“That is not pleasing to hear.” said Bob.
Carl added “True, but remember, suicide might be a better alternative if you don’t want your life to go all dark and gloomy in this planet. And if we want hope to accompany us and bring its warmth to our desperate heart, then we have to wish that the human finds this planet and rescue us.”
“That is fretting thoughts, indeed!” worryingly said Jack.
Kaiser tried to revive hope by assuring them that Mort will surly call, but Bob staggered and crippled their spirits by mentioning something that they almost forgot, saying, “Guys! I hate to break this to you, but Narbiz is in the middle of a dessert. That’s mean we have to cross a dried-out land to reach it. With that much of food and drink, I don’t think we will ever make it!”
Another burdening thought rested heavily on their shoulders as they found them self between the hammer and the anvil. Should they return to civilization and try to find another reasonable way of transportation? Or should they march forward and hope for an easy creature to kill and drink its water? They paused still thinking about this, and while in despaired silence, Gael gazed at a car in the far distant. He involuntarily started to wave his hand and shout loud for their help. He desperately hoped that the car driver may notice, but the car did not change its direction. Kais questioned, “You really thought he will hear you?”
When he was about to respond, the car turned to their direction. That planted a relieving smile on Gael’s face. Carl advised, “We have to be cautious, he might not be a trust worthy.”
“Don’t be a bummer, Carl.” Bob urged. “Let us hope that he is... let us hope hard this time.”
The car, which was all-wheel-drive with crumpled and dented golden body, stopped before them. Then, two huge, tall, and ugly-faced young men stepped out of it. They were identical twin, wearing shabby and patched rough cloths. One of them had an exotropia in his left eye, while the other had it in his right eye. Gael incontinently gulped, slowly waved his hand, and said, “Peace!”
“Howdy!” said one of them.
“Hey! We... we ran away with our lives from the ruinous war, and followed the rails in hope it might lead us to Narbiz, but the distant is long, and the journey is toilsome. Now, we are lost with no food.”
“So?” one of them, carelessly said.
“…umm? We, we do hope that you help us.”
One of them smiled, and said, “Alright, hop in, we will deliver you to Narbiz.”
“Really!” Gael joyfully asked.
“Yea! You are more than welcome. Besides, we were actually heading there. Am pretty sure your company will be pleasurable.”
His welcoming respond eased their concern, except for Kais and Carl whom found it too reckless to easily throw their trust on those two. After that, they got into the car, and sat off following the rails.
Moments of awkward silence landed upon them in the car. One of the twin broke it saying, “Oh! where were our manners? Pardon us. My name is Alton, and this is, of course, my brother Alston.”
“It’s truly relieving that we met you. I am Gael, and this is Carl, Jack, Bob and Kaiser.”
“Much welcome.” said Alton.
“So, what had happened to Darg?�
�� Alston asked.
“It turned tragic. Darg got havocked and went into blazing flames, as lots have been blindly killed; children, women and elders were not spared.”
“That sounds bad! Then, Why did you run?”
“Well, we had to run for our lives.”
“No, no. What my brother meant is that why did you run? Why didn’t you stay there and fight? Why didn’t you defend your land? Why did you forsake your brothers?”
Gael felt confoundingly awkward, answering “We… We are not from Darg, we are originally from Narbiz.”
“So? Aren’t they your cousins?” said Alston. “You should have stayed there and fight for your people and your land, or is it became too difficult for your finger to squeeze the tiny trigger?”
“Fighting is much easier nowadays.” Alton added.
Jack tried to balance the argument by saying “True, but we wanted to check in our families first.”
“No, it is because you are cowards.” said Alston.
Bob responded “Then, why didn’t you two show us your bravery? Go there and fight.”
“We will, but not now.” said Alston.
“So do we, but not now.” Gael swiftly responded.
The twin suspiciously chuckled, and said “We’ll see.”
The concerning silence that followed after, brought fear and doubt about these twins. And after half an hour or so, they averted their direction to the west. “Where are you going?” Gael asked.
With a weird smile, and while looking at Gael through the rearview mirror, Alston said, “What’s wrong? Are you scared!? We have to fill up the gas tank, we can’t deliver you to Narbiz with this amount.”
Kaiser, who grit his teeth after sensing that trouble will surly arrive, cautiously, and slowly elbowed Gael, who knew what he meant. Carefully, and without being noticed, Gael pulled out his gun from under his belt, and tuck it in the space between the seat and its back. And after dreadful minutes, the twin reached what looked like a shack; an old and worn out shack, made of uneven golden bricks and with a roof built with crumpled white tree-bones. The guys knew that they are in deep trouble.
