Ancil“What’s the kind of treatment that you need?”
“Ohh nothing special, just a constant and consistent supply of food. If we don’t eat anything in the next couple of hours…..we’re dead,” Sara said. “You have food?”
“No.”
Sara sighed then said sarcastically, “Thanks for saving us, dumbass.”
“I think you should show a little more respect to the man with the gun,” I said.
“You might as well shoot us right now.”
“I might as well. I’m in more danger than you,” I quipped. “How long does it take for you to change into one of them things after dying?”
“With the symbiote already matured inside of us, it’s usually instant if you die of hunger,” Sara said, her voice softer.
I placed my hand over my face and began to pace again as I tried to find a way to cope with the dilemma that just presented itself. Leaving the lab was risky because there were hundreds of jumbies outside but staying in the lab was also risky because at any given moment Sara and her siblings could change into jumbies and attack me. I didn’t know what to do and again, I felt like I was going insane. I could have just killed them all right there and then but what would that have made me? A monster? I wasn’t a monster. Killing Sara was one thing but killing Clive, Saraya and Justin was something else entirely. They were just children who found themselves victims of circumstances. At that moment I began to recall the promise that I made to my dad before I shot him but that thought was interrupted by Sara, who said, “I could help you.”
“How?” I shouted abruptly.
“I know where you could find a car. A working car with a full tank of gas.”
“Where?”
“If I just tell you where it is you’ll just kill us,” Sara said.
“What do you take me for? A monster?”
“I’ve never met you before. I don’t know you but what I do know is that if you have to survive out here you need mobility. You need a car and I’m the only one who could give you that.”
“Okay, so when we find the car what’s stopping me from just killing you right there and then?”
“Human nature,” Sara said.
“Human nature,” I responded, mockingly.
“Look, if I help you find a car I’ll be giving you what you need to survive and in return, you’re going to give me what me and my siblings need to survive.”
“Which is?”
“Food. A consistent supply of it.”
I pondered for a while, nodding my head with my lips pursed showing her that I was slightly convinced but only slightly. “I’ll help you. I’ll help you. But if I ever feel like my life is being threatened I won’t hesitate to do what I need to do.”
“Understandable,” Sara said.
I held a piece of Sara’s nightgown and ripped out a small portion.
“Hey! What are you doing?” She asked, confused.
I didn’t immediately respond. I just tied the small piece of cloth over her eyes and said, “If they can’t see your eyes, then they won’t hurt you. We have to stay close and walk slowly and carefully until we could find that car. I hope you could find your way in the dark.”
“But I can’t see anything.”
“Well, you’re going to have to grow a third eye, because this is the best option,” I said. I did the same thing with the other prisoners and told all of them to hold hands and stay close. “Don’t take off the blindfolds until I tell you to.”
I ripped out another piece out of Sara’s nightgown, which was really flimsy, and tied it over my eyes as well.
“You just love ripping off my clothes eh?” She laughed.
“Time to…”
“Wait!” Sara interrupted me. “What’s your name?”
“You could call me Jed.”
“Nice to meet you…Jed.”
It was a long time since I last said my name to anyone.
“You too…Sara-Lee.” I then opened the door, inviting in the stench of death and we blindly stepped outside.
