Chapter 21 - Finally Safe
Translated by: Spot
Edited by: Isalee
Not long after, the walkie-talkie in Morgan’s hand transmitted Vulture’s voice.
“Mr. Morgan, if I withdraw my men, can you promise that you won’t chase after this matter?”
Without hesitation, Morgan replied, “Bring your men away and tell me who employed you. I can pretend this thing never happened, I always abide by my words.”
“The one who contacted me was a man called Wolf, an Ethiopian man, but he is part of the ** tribe. After fighting all the way to South Sudan, we and a Sudanese troop moved together. They’re considered the Sudanese Liberation Front. The commander’s called Piper, with a total of seventy-six people, but I think they come from three different tribes and that’s all I know.”
After muttering to himself, Morgan nodded his head. Then he brought up his radio again and said, “Alright, you can leave, I’ll let you live, but you killed the country’s geography channel’s members, if the American government comes for you, it’s not my business.”
Impatiently, the Vulture said, “That d.a.m.ned idiot. Oh G.o.d, I’ve been brought death’s doors by those idiots. Mr. Morgan, the country’s geography channel’s people were killed by the Sudanese, we haven’t even confirmed the target. Those idiots just charged in and killed whoever they saw. Okay Mr. Morgan, I know I can’t rid of relations with this subject matter. I can only submit to my own sh*tty luck. However, I’m not afraid of the American government coming for me. I only care about your att.i.tude. Mr. Morgan, as long as you don’t pursue this matter, I will not be afraid. Alright, we’re withdrawing.”
After Vulture was done talking, soon after, the little plane that was continuously circling around their heads suddenly lowered its alt.i.tude, turned its wing a couple of times, then flew away over Gao Yang’s head. Just as the plane left, Vulture told Morgan a coordinate via the walkie-talkie. It was where the Sudanese people were located.
Morgan entered the coordinates into the GPS and discovered that it was only thirty kilometers away from them. From this distance, the Sudanese people wouldn’t be a problem. After leaving the encirclement from Vulture’s mercenaries, including the air reconnaissance, the Sudanese people had no way of finding them.
Even though they still couldn’t completely relax, there was much less anxiety. After telling Professor Buck and the rest about the good news, everyone was once again in a great mood and starting hitting the road.
Getting back onto the cars to continue their journey, Gao Yang’s mood was very cheerful. So long as they could reach Malakal, it would signify their complete safety.
After the mood was lightened, Gao Yang finally had a relaxed mind to ask about the current situation.
Today was February 16th, 2011. Yet Gao Yang arrived in Ethiopia in July of 2008. Thus the timespan was about three years.
Through Professor Buck’s a.n.a.lysis, Gao Yang got a rough estimate of the airplane’s course. It was possible that it fell straight down close to Ethiopia’s Blue Nile, leading Gao Yang to follow the flow of the Blue Nile down. He was washed all the way to inner Sudan till he reached the Blue Nile’s west sh.o.r.e.
Once Gao Yang arrived ash.o.r.e, he followed the A’Kuli tribe as they constantly migrated, and they slowly ended up in the plains between the White Nile and the Blue Nile. This was where the main forces of North and South Sudan clashed. Even though the large scale civil war had already stopped, they were still battling it out on a smaller scale.
Up till today, not long ago on January 9th, 2011, South Sudan confirmed through a vote that they would become independent. Thus, a new war could erupt. The country’s geography channel wanted in on this time of rarely seen peace before the new war to film a doc.u.mentary on animals. They invited the world renowned animal and natural science professor, Professor Buck, to collaborate with them, but as a result they became innocently drawn into the catastrophe.
Among the country’s geography channel’s teams that were dispatched, there were two who were killed by attackers. The rest of the fourteen people who were killed were the hire guides and bodyguards of Sudan. Of course, if it weren’t for Professor Buck and Gao Yang saving people, then the country’s geography channel’s members would all have died. Thus, when Professor Buck saved the rest of the people, he also saved himself in the process.
As for the only woman in the entire group, Kathleen was Professor Buck’s student. Even though she was a girl, Kathleen always had an interest in filming wild animals. As a result, with great effort and action, she convinced Professor Buck to finally let her join him in coming to Sudan.
After hearing Professor Buck and his crew’s explanation, Gao Yang’s questions were finally resolved. No wonder he landed right into a shootout right after getting out of the river. No wonder his plane crashed in Ethiopia, but he somehow turned up in Sudan and lived a long time without seeing civilized people.
Currently, Gao Yang and the rest’s destination was Malakal. This was Sudan’s southern country, but it was still under Khartoum’s control. There was a huge army there, so if they were to reach the city of Malakal, it would be pretty safe. They just still had to be careful on their way, however, as the Sudanese Liberation Front’s activity was highest just outside of Malakal.
With regards to Sudan, Gao Yang was only a pa.s.sing traveler. He didn’t really care about Sudan’s affairs or the outcomes. The sole thing Gao Yang was concerned about was the A’Kuli tribe. This was because Professor Buck and the others all believed there would be a war, and the warzone was fairly close to where the tribe was currently staying.
The only good news was that the location where the A’Kuli tribe was staying was very remote. Even if a war were to break out, they shouldn’t be affected by it. So long as the A’Kuli tribe stayed vigilant and headed south into the forest to hide if things were turning for the worst, there wouldn’t be too many problems.
As the time flowed by, Gao Yang and rest slowly but surely closed in on Malakal. Finally they reached a dirt road full of pots and holes, yet on either sides of the road, there were farmlands and huts made from sogon gra.s.s. While travelling on the road, they constantly encountered people with AK rifles hastening their speed. Seeing the band of cars, they yielded to one side, and under Morgan’s attentive gaze, watched them leave.
When the sky darkened, Gao Yang and the group finally arrived at Malakal’s outer walls. Throughout this entire journey no one fired their guns at them. Morgan also didn’t converge with the d.i.n.ka tribe’s support army. They tried to avoid any encounters with people throughout the trip.
Once they reached the outer walls of the city, it could finally be considered that they were in a safe location. Morgan, who was leading the group, stopped the car and told Gao Yang to give him all the guns. This was because bringing guns into Malakal had a chance of causing some problems. Evidently, giving the guns to Morgan could avoid the trouble.
Gao Yang wasn’t a homicidal maniac. The only reason why he was carrying the guns was for self defense. Now that they arrived at Malakal, having no gun wouldn’t make a difference. Gao Yang’s biggest wish was to leave this place without any dangers and frights. Experiencing danger with the only choice of b.l.o.o.d.y slaughter to escape was something Gao Yang never wanted to encounter again.
With Morgan leading them through two checkpoints, Gao Yang and the rest easily entered the city of Malakal, directly heading to Malakal’s biggest hotel.