Tanaka and Daniel dined in on the biscuits, apples, and chips and imbibed the water. This fellowship between two men was a blissful privilege in the dark era of death and decay. Tanaka ate a lot, exhibiting a startling gluttony. Daniel took notice of this and said, "You don"t have to finish it all, we gotta keep some for tomorrow." Tanaka immediately glanced at Daniel and said, "You never know when it"s gonna be your last meal, don"t hold back." Daniel did not challenge Tanaka, and left him to his binge feasting. After munching for a while, they began to hear the ominous sounds from outside, pervading with great malignancy. Daniel at first was startled until Tanaka told him to calm down. Daniel couldn"t quite understand why Tanaka was so calm, but he was soon told, "We"re safe because we have the torch, don"t worry. Just eat and forget about them." Daniel who was still trying to adjust to the world as it was, tried to figure out why Tanaka wasn"t remotely disturbed or at least frightened. What he didn"t realise was that Tanaka was afraid, but his fear rested on other thoughts not pertaining to the creatures in the dark, thoughts that he alone delved into as he finished feasting. Tanaka finished off the bottle of bonaqua still water whilst Daniel sipped intermittently one can of Lion lager. The m.u.f.fled sounds of their chewing and swallowing went had in hand with the cacophony of the creatures outside. The mirrors that were yanked off from the toilet walls were placed in the cubicle, bouncing off a lot of light onto the walls, making the room feel more natural and lively. Beyond the entrance of the examination room, the darkness from the shadows that were cast was great, leaving a scintillating mystery of the unknown. When Tanaka finished his meal, he took the antibiotics and pain killers that Daniel had insisted on to alleviate the pain that Tanaka had hinted as he fumbled his back from time to time with a grimace on his face. After taking his meds, he flung himself on the bed and looked at Daniel who was sipping his can slowly. Tanaka then asked, "How does alcohol taste like?" Daniel glanced at the curious youth and replied, "It"s brittle and sour, good for calming the nerves and for Dutch courage."
"What"s Dutch courage?" he asked, oblivious of the term and its meaning.
"Well you don"t know what that means?" he asked as he chuckled, "It"s when you drink to gain confidence or at least when you want to feel charged up."
"Can I try it?" he asked, with the hope of being obliged.
"I don"t think I would be a responsible adult if I let a minor drink before they were of age." he said in a coy manner.
"Well um 16 years old." he lied.
"The legal age is 18 kid," he said getting another bottle from the 6 pack casing, ""but then again, not all of us started drinking at a legal age. You might as well give it a try" Daniel threw the can at Tanaka who barely caught it in mid-air. Tanaka received it in a manner similar to that of an American football player catching a ball, immediately fumbling it and then finally opening the can. Tanaka saw the foam build up and instantly took a sip. His face at first grimaced, folding his fine features into a severe squint but he then opened his eyes wide open and said, "It"s not bad, but tastes like nyevhe." Daniel chuckled a bit then responded, "Well at least you now know how it tastes. Now give me the can." Tanaka at first thought he was joking, but Daniel"s facial expression reflected a pa.s.sive seriousness that he didn"t want to contest. Tanaka thus got out of the bed with the can and placed it on the ground, next to Daniel, with a snivelling gesticulation. As he trotted back, Daniel then asked, "So what do you think is going on in Harare?" Tanaka sat on the bed, his back fastened to the wall and said, "I don"t think its Harare alone, maybe the whole of Zimbabwe or even the whole world, but I learned a few things before we met."
"And what did you learn?" asked Daniel whose curiosity had reached its apex.
"I met this old man in a flat who told me things" things about those monsters being here because of our sins or something. It didn"t really make sense, but I think maybe we might be in h.e.l.l. He said that these things are here because of our sins, that they have come as a result of us or something." said Tanaka who looked dismayed as he narrated his tale.
"Our sins are the result of these things? Wait what happened to the old..." he asked before being interjected by Tanaka.
"He got killed. There was nothing I could do, he just died like the rest of the people in the Avenues." he said in a sullen tone. Daniel couldn"t help but pause after hearing that, but eventually said, "Sorry kid." The brief silence was subsided by the guttural ominous voices that were all emanating from outside as if the demons were marching on Old Mazoe road in the darkness. Tanaka went on to say, "I saw the thing they call their master just before he died. It was the scariest thing I ever saw in my life. I felt like I was possessed by an evil spirit, as if I wasn"t myself when I saw it. That stuff that pastors like Makandiwa and Uebert Angel talk about. It was really scary. That thing is supposed to be the leader of those monsters. That"s all I know."
"A leader?" he asked, engulfed with fear due to the revelation. Daniel put his beer can down and flicked his eyes as he tried to accept what was being said. This was all new to him and he felt as if he was close to reaching hypertension the more the terror of the world was unravelled.
"Yes and the old man called him Mweya Mutema. That"s what his called. Everything that"s killing people and the reason why there is no sun or moon and just darkness is supposed to be related to him. Well that"s what I think, I can"t really make sense of this s.h.i.t." he said as he starred at the ceiling with an almost empty gesture. After a brief mental meltdown, Daniel retained his claim to sanity and then asked, "So how is it that this torch is the only thing that works? When I was at the shop, I tried lighting a match stick, but it couldn"t light. But when the torch"s light was lighting it, it seemed to work. How is that even possible?"
"I don"t know. I was in the back of a moving vehicle with two white guys who were telling me things that didn"t make sense. I just woke up with the torch when their car crashed." he said with a tang of frustration.
"Wait you came out of a car accident?" asked Daniel with his eyes wide open.
"Yah, its been a bad day from the beginning." he said as he sighed, mortified by his own struggles. Daniel just looked at the boy with unbelievable stupefaction, wondering what else he had gone through before they had met. Tanaka had gone through a lot and this realisation was drawing the man into being more sensitive and selective with his words.
"Did the white guys die in the crash?" he asked in an almost hesitant manner.
"Yes. They did. They deserved it" replied Tanaka. Daniel was disturbed by the fact that Tanaka had rejoiced in the death of his two kidnappers. They had committed a grave crime indeed, but seeing such a young man behave in an angst manner was not something he was used to. In fact, the very display of such was extremely foreign, but something even more unfamiliar pressed his mind.
"I know that this is totally unrelated but how did you do that with the torch. I mean you burned that thing alive. How do you make it do that?" asked Daniel who seemed intrigued by the torch"s special attributes.
"I honestly don"t know. When um angry it just listens to me or something, even at that time when I killed that thing, I was really just angry at it. How it works is beyond me."
"I guess it all adds up now. Have you noticed something about the torch?" he asked as he got up from where he was sitting and grabbed the torch, "it has no batteries inside."
"Huh?" asked Tanaka who was surprised by what Daniel had just stated.
"I guess you never checked it. It felt a bit too light, as if it didn"t have anything inside. I then noticed that it had no batteries at all." he said with a hint of bewilderment. Tanaka just starred as he was utterly dumb founded by the information. Daniel even twisted open the latch of the batteries compartment to show Tanaka the novelty of the torch. Tanaka was left speechless when he found no batteries inside and then kept quiet for a while. Daniel went on to ask, "So what"s the plan?"
"Plan?" iterated Tanaka.
"Yah, what do we do now that we know all this. You have a plan right?" asked Daniel who looked at the boy earnestly.
"I don"t know. I don"t even think a plan is even possible with the way things are." said Tanaka who seemed irked by the question.
"What do you mean even possible? There is always a way, you just have to be optimistic." said Daniel who seemed disappointed by what Tanaka had just said.
"I don"t know. You"re the adult, think of something." said Tanaka who was surprisingly shocked by his own rudeness.
"You don"t have to be an a.s.s about it. The world is in a terrible state, but we gotta look ahead. If you got nothing then tell you what, I have an idea."
"An idea?" he asked, vexed by the sudden stance Daniel had taken.
"Yah, there is garage just opposite the Montagu shop, the Montagu garage. I found an abandoned car there with one missing tyre. There aren"t any cars around so um guessing it would be better to fix it with a spare tyre from the garage spares and then drive to some place that"s safe." said Daniel as he explained using his hands.
"A car?" asked Tanaka who at first marvelled at the thought until he said, "but I think it"s pointless. Where would we go? I don"t think there is even any safe place."
"We can try Tanaka, everything is messed up here but there might be a chance of there being a safe spot. We can go anywhere as long as it"s not here." said Daniel with fervent energy.
"To where? Masvingo, Marondera, Chitungwiza, Gweru, across the border?" shouted Tanaka who seemed to be infuriated by Daniel"s enthusiasm.
"I don"t know yet, but staying here is not a good idea. You might have the torch to protect you, but who knows, it might switch off or things could change. We gotta make a move for it." he said with a stern disposition.
"I want to believe you, but I don"t think it will work. There is no point." said Tanaka who seemed to be shivering as if close to tears.
"Don"t be like that. Don"t just throw in the towel. We have to try. There might be help elsewhere." he said, trying to console the young man into a positive light.
"If there was a safe place then the Zimbabwean defence force would have done something. Nothing happened, no military, no police, no help, just dead people and false hope. You haven"t seen Mweya Mutema haven"t you? Of course you haven"t because you were in your car hearing everyone die the whole time. We are just lucky for now because of the torch but going out is pointless."
"Why are you being like this? Don"t you want to survive? Don"t you want to be somewhere other than here?" asked Daniel who seemed astonished by Tanaka"s defeatist behaviour.
"I wanna survive, man I don"t want to die, I don"t want to end up like everyone else. I wanna live, but live for what? Tell me, what is worth the effort of going somewhere?" shouted Tanaka.
"So you want to stay here, is that what you"re saying?" asked Daniel who looked at Tanaka who seemed to have been getting emotional over the issue.
"I don"t know. I honestly don"t know, um not sure. I just don"t know, but all I know that it"s pointless!" cried out Tanaka.
"Kid you"re no longer alone, we can face this together. You"re afraid, but we can"t just stay here and do nothing. We need to make a move, there is always hope. You just got to fight the fear and share it with me. We can do this together." said Daniel who looked at Tanaka with a fixed gaze.
"I have nothing to look forward to, mama is dead, daddy is dead my sister is dead. The world is screwed. The whole of Parinyenatwa hospital and Avondale are gone. You"re trying to be nice, but we are just gonna end up like everyone. Just food for those things." poured out Tanaka who felt the pangs of his emotions hurling poignant blows at him.
"You can"t honestly believe that. Um sorry for you, but we can"t give in. I know that you"re a kid, but you have to be strong. You have to. You can"t just give up." said Daniel as he approached Tanaka.
"You don"t know what you"re saying. I looked into that thing"s eyes, Mweya Mutema, and I know that we are doomed." he shouted as Daniel came close.
"Um trying to help you Tanaka, um scared too but we got to man up and see this through. You obviously want to live and I do too. You never know what going far away from here will entail. Trust me on this." said Daniel as he tried to condition the boy into positive thinking. Tanaka went silent, irked by the man"s nagging and said, "Leave me alone, you wouldn"t understand." Daniel was completely abated by that last remark and watched Tanaka as he lied on his bed in a foetal position. Daniel"s words weren"t getting to the boy and he clearly was defeated. Daniel halted his advance and let the boy have his tantrum. Tanaka covered his head with the pillow and sunk his fingers into it to spite Daniel. Daniel was frustrated by the boy"s actions, but reserved his anger and just sat on the floor, thinking about what to do next. Tanaka had been selfish, not considering that the information concerning the demons had also affected Daniel who most probably lost more than his wife. Daniel just sat there and starred at the boy as he pondered over possible contingency plans for the future.
After a while, Tanaka slept, succ.u.mbing to the effects of his medication. He began to dream, seeing himself in Mt. Pleasant heights with his family. He was in his front yard, playing with his soccer ball whilst the family was having a braai. The girl of his dreams was also there and everything was going well as planned in his reverie like fantasy. He was smiling and dribbling the ball until the sound of thunder broke the fellowship. Tanaka glanced at the sky and saw the c.u.mulonimbus clouds, which began to pour rain, but the colour of the rain was black. The rain began to paint the world completely black, erasing Tanaka"s field of vision. His family was bloated out of the image and all that was left was complete darkness. In the vastness of the void, he then heard the ominous sounds and slithering of vile fiends. Tanaka began to feel weak in the knees and cried as he heard a voice explode into disturbing laughter. In that defining moment the voice screamed, "You know that you belong to us, how nice of you to stay!" Tanaka"s flesh was instantly destroyed upon it uttering and it immediately woke him up from his dreadful nightmare, causing him to sweat and pant. Daniel was lying against the wall, drooling a bit of saliva as he snored. The ominous sounds were still audible but seemed more precarious than their usual ruckus. Tanaka glanced at Daniel as he breathed in and out, wiping away the sweat off his forehead. Tanaka began to relax, when he realised that all was well, but suddenly all that peace of mind disappeared the moment the voice from the dream had had returned.
"Boy why haven"t you given us your flesh? You know that there is no point in living, give up and feed us. We have waited and waited for you to die. Don"t make us sad, we just want you with us. Please understand that you"re our friend. Friends feed the hungry. Please make us happy!"
The voice broke into depraved laughter, which reverted into a ghastly cough. Tanaka was prompted by the voice to wake Daniel up, shaking him until he gained consciousness. Tanaka recalled the grave occurrence that had happened before he met Daniel and began to feel great fear. As soon as Daniel woke up, Tanaka shouted, "WE GOT TO GO NOW. YOU WANTED US TO LEAVE, THEN LETS GO!" Daniel was taken by surprise and broke the chains of his sleep immediately. Daniel went on to ask, "What"s going on? Did those things get inside?"
"Something worse, we have to leave!"
"No! You"re going to feed us you fool!" said the voice. Daniel was frightened out of his wits and wondered what that was, but Tanaka dragged him out of his corner, grabbed the torch and ran away with him, heading towards the exit. The walls and ceiling of the examination room that they were in began to peel off and self-imploded into geysers of blood and flesh. The corridor walls began to resemble the inside of a mouth as Tanaka and Daniel dashed forth towards the exit. Unfortunately for them, the exit deformed and sprouted teeth that resembled that of a crocodile with excessive serrated features. As they pa.s.sed via the exit, the teeth launched themselves onto Tanaka and Daniel. Tanaka and Daniel managed to escape, dodging the ill fate of death. From there they sprinted towards the garage that Daniel spoke of. The encompa.s.sing darkness and surrounding demons were screeching and making their sounds as they saw the two running, drooling at the thought of quenching their thirst for blood with the meat of these two survivors. As they pa.s.sed Montagu Avenue, they noticed that the road ahead had begun to rapture. Tanaka began to flicker his eyes as he snivelled over his dilemma, shouting, "No, no, no!" Daniel who had just caught his breath began to ask, "What the h.e.l.l is going on? Why are we out here? I thought you didn"t want to come here and what the h.e.l.l was that voice?" Tanaka"s ears couldn"t resonate with what Daniel was asking; all he could here was the sound of the voice as it grated his mind with its violent pitch, laughing as it mocked his very existence. The Montagu garage and the surrounding architecture began to disintegrate into a primordial soup of blood. Even the Josiah Chinamano heights flats self-imploded into geysers of blood. The very brick walls that had been worked hard on to sculpt the walls of these buildings had been rendered into piles of flesh. Tanaka felt prompted to run the opposite direction but when his torch light revealed the disintegration of other buildings from afar, he fell into a suffocating panic. Daniel shared the same anxiety with the boy who couldn"t help but feel hopeless, wondering how they would deal with the impending doom. Tanaka averted his attention to the right, but was devastated by the sight of most of the buildings past Blackstone road having disintegrated into volumes of blood. The overflow of the blood began to reach their knee level, gradually increasing with every intention of going past that point. Tanaka was out of options, glancing from side to side as despair immersed his body. Daniel"s horrified expression mangled his handsome face and left him down-casted. Daniel even struggled with his words as if he were choking and asked, "What can we do Tanaka?" Before Tanaka could respond the voice shrilled out, "Become one with us and feed us your flesh!" The moment that was uttered the wind pressure changed drastically, pulling the blood at the direction that lied from their south. The blood was no different from a flood, but before Tanaka could make use of his torch in time to repel the blood stained elements, he and Daniel were swept away by its wave. They were like dead fish in the current as they were dragged by the volumes of blood, which circled them with the power of a violent rapid. All of the flats and various facilities from 2nd street towards Prince Edward road had disintegrated into greasy blood, devouring a colossal portion of the Avenues. The ripples and flow of the water resembled that of a gargantuan spiral. Tanaka and Daniel barely had time to realise that they were being dragged into a whirlpool from h.e.l.l. At the centre of the abominable orifice emanated the voice and it shrilled, "Finally! I will drown you into my bowels!" Tanaka held Daniel"s jacket by the lapel and held the torch with his right hand as the demon made its inglorious announcement. Fate had landed yet another crude blow at Tanaka and his new accomplice in survival. This was another tribulation he would have to overcome as he drew closer towards the centre of the whirlpool from h.e.l.l.