KOLLUPIA episode 6

She was trapped and she knew it.The men didn't sound like they were going anywhere.

For the past ten hours or so she'd heard them search the house,thrash her place,fight each other and then fall asleep.

They'd wake up and do it all over again.
She had to remain perfectly still.She thought.
though this compartment Micheal had built for her was safe enough,she doubted it could survive ramming in the event that her hiding place was discovered.



She looked around the small compartment again as she heard one of the men snoring in Her room.She had several canned foods ranging from corned beef to tuna.There was some raw garri and rice in the corner.Then two Fifty litre Jerricans of water.

And there she was thinking Micheal had been paranoid when he'd insisting on Adding this Compartment to the back of her wardrobe.

"Just in case,"Micheal had said with his characteristic sexy cool manner.

At the time,she didn't understand what all the fuss about this compartment was.

It had a steel door painted to look like the wall behind the closet.It had been Micheal's idea .

"Anything is possible"he 'd said.She looked at the Hand gun on the floor.

That was had also been Micheal's Idea
For months he had drilled her on how to use it.The .45 ACP.

The name had been tatooed into her brain.Nse knew everything about the gun;how many bullets it held in a clip,the way the gun recoiled and the effect it had on a target at close range.
Micheal had taken her to the Firing Range many times before, to teach her how to use it.

Her skill with the gun wasn't perfect but it was above average.

Yes she knew how to handle it,but she had no idea if she had what it took to fire at another human being.

"sleep-sleep" came the voice of a man.Then she heard the sound of heavy footfalls.

She held her breath.

"O boy,wake up Jor"The Man said.

The sound of snoring stopped.The Second Man responded in a tired and irritated voice.
"...Abeg don't disturb me"

"Mtchewww!!" The first man said then she heard him walk away.

Minutes later,the snoring continued again.
prisoner in my own house she thought.the irony of it all was humorous.

At least it was better than being raped and killed in my house.she thought.

She wondered where Micheal was.If he was still alive.

She scratched the thought out of her head.Micheal was alive she thought....he had to be.

She wished she hadn't been so mean to him that night.

She and her big mouth she thought.She had pried into his past again.She'd known it was a bad idea but she was so crazy about him,she really didn't care.It was his fault,she thought.if he hadn't been so damn mysterious,maybe she wouldn't have lost it like that.

Aside from his name and the fact that he'd been in the military,she knew almost nothing else about him which bothered.After four years of more or less living together, when he was not on one of his "secret" missions and she was so in love with him.

She'd brought it up that night.They'd had a small fight .

She'd lost her temper and said some terrible things.

Typical him,he'd gotten up without finishing his dinner(he hadly ate anyway.)

And simply walked out of the house.Nse got furious whenever he did that.

As he'd left the house that night to God knows where she'd made a vow never to call him again.

Of course she knew she would call him...eventually.

Little did had she known that that was the last night of Normalcy in their lives.

Almost three hours later,the world turned upside down.

First it was the gun-shots...

Then came the screams.....

Nse had watched helplessly as a group armed men broke into her compound and hacked her security man to death.

There was no Time to think.....they were already at her front door.

She could hear the screams,gunshots and explosions all around her.It was as if some powerful entity  snapped its fingers and suddenly the world was thrown into  a large blender.

Micheal had drilled her on this over and over.
"If any thing crazy happens grab your phone ,....make for the compartment,...put the phone on silent...and once you're in there,send me an sms" Micheal had instructed her.

Well,she'd thought as she made for her wardrobe,....this qualifies as crazy.

No sooner had she shut and bolted the steel door to the compartment when she heard her front door explode.

There was no signal on her Phone.....there hasn't been ever since.

As she sat there in the heat of the  semi dark  compartment,she considered her options

1.if the intruders didn't leave,she could stay there and hopefully not suffocate.

2.she could come out of the compartment "guns blazing"hoping the men would be too.
 slow,tired and full to reach for their guns before she had the nerve to pull the trigger.

She carefully picked up the gun again.Even in the semi-darkness,she knew every inch of the weapon.

Suddenly the snoring stopped. Nse held her breath. and listening for movement.

Suddenly there was a deafening blast against the metal frame.

Startled,she dropped the gun.
It made a loud CLATTERING sound as it hit the ground.

Nse mouthed a silent curse.

"Guys,come o.....I think there's someone hiding here"The Second male voice said.

They'd found her.




DAMIETE could feel the knife pressing into his flesh.He could smell the fresh blood on the blade.
"Please don't do this"he heard Kadilo say as the blade inched into him.

The look in Micheal's eyes was blank...totally unreadable like empty space.

He had no illusions.He knew Micheal would kill him in a blink...if necessary.

After they'd heard the whistle,they'd come out of their hiding place and scuttled towards Micheal.

They were all shocked to see the dead bodies of the Three Soldiers.

The Three men had died before they'd had a chance to fire their weapons.

Who was this guy?Their eyes all seemed to ask as they stared at Micheal.

In his usual calm,detached manner,Micheal was cleaning the blade without even giving them a second look.

"You....come here!" He said pointing a bloody finger at Damiete.

Reluctantly and fearfully,Damiete walked towards him.

"One of the Soldiers was carrying this"Micheal said hold up the Print out picture.

Damiete saw his own face staring back at him.He remembered that picture.It was actually his favourite picture.

In fact last time he checked,it was his Facebook Profile Picture.

What were they doing with that picture....how the hell had they gotten it?

"I....I ..don't know..."Damiete began.

"..They're obviously looking for you.....so who are you?"Micheal asked quietly.

Damiete was too scared to speak.Primarily because of the way Micheal was staring at him.There was no emotion behind the stare.Just an emptiness....a dark emptiness.

In a series of movements that were essentially a blur,Micheal closed the distance between them,grabbed and painfully slammed him against a nearby wall.

Christ!This guy was fast....and strong.Damiete thought as the blade pressed into him.

Long Silence.

"I'm not going to repeat myself...so answer truthfully..."Micheal said in a steady tone.

The rest of the group simply stared...helplessly.

With that sort of speed and strength,this guy could definetly kill all of us......easily.Damiete thought.

"....Who are you?...and why are they looking for you?"Micheal concluded.

"Please,..."Kadilo said in a small voice.

The air was still.

"....My name...is Damiete....." he began cautiously.

"...The..President..... and I grew up together.....We're first cousins...."

There wasn't so much as a flicker in Micheal's eyes.

Damiete held his breath,fearfully waiting for Micheal's next move.

The blade grip slowly inched away from his skin and the steel grip relaxed.

Micheal turned around slowly.He seemed in deep thought.

"Leverage..."He said almost to himself as the others looked on.

"They want to use you as leverage against him..."he muttered to himself.

"...who?....what are you talking about...?" Kadilo asked cautiously.

All eyes were on Micheal as he stood there.
"...This complicates things"He said,ignoring her.

"We'll deal with this later,....lets move"



MAJOR KURO stood over the battle map of Pride land.

He stared at the large paper without seeing it.

His mind was else where.

"Micheal...." he Whispered into the  into the empty room.

"....what are you up to?....why are you here?"

"Sir...?"Came the Captain's voice from behind him.

He turned around to see  Captain Dumo flanked by two junior officers.

"It's the General sir"The Captain said handing him the radio.

Two calls in one day?The Major thought.He had a feeling he knew what the General was going to tell him.

MAJOR# Sir?

GENERAL# Major,I'm sending someone over to assist with your "situation"

The Major frowned.He guessed as much.

MAJOR# Sir,I have everything under control..there's no need for

GENERAL#I was not ASKING...Major.

Long silence

Major# (reluctantly)....yes sir.

GENERAL# This person shall be in Pride Land Within the next Forty Eight hours....You are not to move on Micheal's position until then....Understood?

Another long Silence.

GENERAL# This person has the skills...and experience in matters such as these .

MAJOR#Sir..may I ask who....?

GENERAL#That's classified....you have your orders.

MAJOR#.....Sir....yes sir...

Line disconnects.

Major Kuro stood there,grinding his teeth.The anger inside him was intense.

As he stared at the Captain,he realized that in the emptiness and stillness of the room,the Captain might have heard some of the General's words.

But he was passed caring.

"Gather your men Captain,...we move now!"

"...but sir..the General..."The Captain began.

"....silence is golden Captain...and also a good friend"The Major said raising a threatening finger in the air.

"..sir,I must insist..the General's orders were...."

"...do you have an enimity with silence..Captain....?"

The Major said slowly advancing towards him.

The two junior officers exchanged fearful looks.

"...well,I suggest you reconcile your differences quickly...or I shall relieve you of your tongue...."The Major was standing only a few inches from him now.

The Captain gulped,but said nothing.

The Major continued glaring at him for a few more seconds.

He would have to do something about this man ...soon.The Major thought to himself.

But for now,he had to move fast...whatever "specialist" the General was sending wasn't going to rob him of his vengeance.

"Gather eight of your best men,.." The Major began turning away from him.

"...we move out at Twenty-One Hundred hours."he concluded.

The Captain stood there for a few moments and  simply said

"Yes Sir!"

Then left with the two junior officers.
Major Kuro stood over the Map again.

"I'm coming for you,Micheal"he whispered delightfully into the empty room.




"There's nothing here"One of the young men said to Opuwari as they searched the room.

It had taken them almost half an hour to break down the metal door.

After hitting the door over and over again with the butts of their rifles,it finally opened.

They then ran up the stares to meet yet another metal door.

In anger,the Leader...the one they called "Chiefo" Made Opuawari break the door down.
It took him a little over an hour to do so.

His hands were still trembling from the pregnant woman he had killed.And he still hadn't cleaned up most of her blood from his body.

Finally,the door gave way.

The room was empty.

There were no rifles,no people...just a few cans of corned beef left behind.

This was bad.

Opuwari realized.

Very bad.

Chiefo and the rest of the men stared at him skeptically.

Loud Cocking of a rifle behind him.He held his breath.

For a long time,they all just stared at him.

"Hold him down"Chiefo said as the men delightfully grabbed Opuawari and forced him to the ground...face down.

"Please..." Opuawari screamed as he struggled.
"They were here..... I swear" he said frantically.

"shhh" he heard Chiefo said behind him.

Opuwari could taste the sand on the Marble floor.

His body was still trembling.

"Lesson number one..."Chiefo began as the men pinned him to the floor.

Opuwari had no idea what they were going to do to him.....or how long and painful it was going to be.

"....don't ever waste my time"He heard Chiefo's voice say.

There was silence behind him for a while.

Then he heard the sound of laughter as his pants were being pulled off.

The implications of his situation suddenly dawned on him.

",..No..no please ...don't" he pleaded as he heard the sound of a zipper being pulled down.

More laughter.

Opuwari began to struggle...he began to scream as he felt Chiefo's body on top of him.

A filthy hand covered his mouth,muffling his screams.

More laughter

"This lesson,...is part of you initiation" came Chiefo's smelly breath in his ear.

And then the pain came....

More laughter

As Opuwari's muffled screams were punctuated by Chiefo's grunting behind him


...to be continued

LIFE IS A CHOICE MY FRIEND
SO CHOOSE WISELY ( say no to political violence)
ENOUGH SAID