Nila
IF DIAMOND ALLEY was the place where diamonds were sorted, raining eternal sunshine from giant spotlights, thenAlmasi Kipangawas the scar in the earth that’d created them.
The entire journey from the airport, Daniel kept his hand latched around my knee. I’d stewed in annoyance and repulsion but hadn’t argued or struck up conversation.
I had so much to say.
But each word would only herald more punishment.
Besides, Daniel didn’t deserve conversation. He was a lost, little boy, unable to see he was already dead. He might be a Hawk about to hurt me, but I was a viper in his nest just waiting to bite and poison him.
I had time.
I had stealth.
I’ll wait.
The driver escorted us through the silent night without a syllable spoken. His passenger-guard never rested, glaring out the window, his reflexes flinching and finger soaring to the gun trigger more than once. Especially when we stopped at red lights and drove down dirt roads.
When we traded human busyness for sparseness, he unsheathed a machete, placing it reverently across his knees. Starlight bounced through the windscreen, kissing the tarnished blade.
Hoots and howls replaced sounds of suburbia, scuttling premonition down my spine.
Inside the Jeep, we were safe...but out there...out there feasted animals far more equipped at killing than we were. Out there, they hunted; their yellow eyes flashing in the headlights.
My fatigue evaporated the deeper into Africa we drove. The driver and passenger granted me copious amounts of adrenaline as I fed off their alertness. They lived here yet they didn’t relax. They stayed on edge the entire journey.
What had they seen that I hadn’t?
What had they lived that I never would?
I didn’t want to know.
The four of us travelled together but apart—each wrapped in their own thoughts and journeys.
By the time we left barely sealed roads and clunked onto gravel trails, mymuscles cramped from anxiety.
Every bump, I flinched. Every cackle from hyenas and every growl from lions, I squeezed my eyes with fear. The weapons our guides carried weren’t to subdue me; they were to prevent whatever was out there from consuming us.
Civilisation was no more. We’d entered the heart of nature where survival superseded wealth and common-sense triumphed over stupidity.
As we pulled into the horrendous hell of Hawk territory, more and more animal eyes gleamed in the darkness as the high beams illuminated wilderness. My heart banged against my ribs as a flash of predator and the squeal of prey echoed in the night. Some poor creature died only metres from me.
I’m next.
If I didn’t kill first.
Daniel chuckled, licking his lips at the thought of some poor animal becoming dinner.
I curled my fingers in disgust, looking out the opposite window. There, I could vaguely make out knobbly trees and sun-beaten terrain. The silver cast of moonlight forgave Africa’s sins but couldn’t hide its danger.
After crossing a dried-up riverbed and navigating the death plains, we finally pulled into a permanent camp.
The driver slowed, slipping through gates that sent a shiver down my spine. For all my strength and committed confidence at killing before being killed, I couldn’t swallow the lie any longer.
I finally understood that this place was more than just a mine. More than just Hawk property. More than just their ticket to wealth.
This was my grave.
