This is a story of catastrophic events accompanied by fight-and-flight responses from people of a town called Hale in Nigeria during the disastrous period of the COVID-19 pandemic, which occurred some years ago. While other countries across the globe were devising methods to contain the virus's spread and also invent a vaccine, in Nigeria, it differed quite a bit. This developing country was fighting both a pandemic and also the insurgency of criminals who leveraged the turmoil to steal and cause harm to its citizens. The notorious gang 'One Million Boys' was infamous for breaking into homes, stealing, and also harming people. They started the group because there was a no-movement policy during that period of outbreak, and a lot of people lost their jobs and also their source of income. This could have been mitigated, but there was little to no provision for palliatives given to families by the government.
During a hot afternoon, Ola, who was asleep, suddenly heard a scream, 'wón tin bo, won tin bo.' It's a sentence in the Yoruba language that meant:
They are coming; they are coming.
It was Ola's mom, Bawa. Bawa is a beautiful short woman in her mid-fifties. She has brown eyes with long black hair and a few grey strands in-between. Bawa had a peculiar character and experience. As a child, she was a victim of robbery. This traumatic encounter happened in her family home, so it significantly influenced her decision-making and also her behavior when faced with danger. Her flight hormones tend to get easily activated when posed with danger.
Ola woke up immediately, and then he saw his mom's face. She was shivering with fear. She told him that the gang was raiding, hurrying him to run outside now. Ola, being young and also nonchalant about situations like that, sluggishly wore a shirt and was moving at a snail-like kind of pace. It was at that moment Bawa left her whole family and ran away because they weren't moving at the same frequency as her.
Chief Shina, who was a tall, dark, aged man and also held the position as the current chairman of Hale. He was elected for his wisdom and contributions to the town. The chairman tried to contain the situation by reaching out to the police for help, but he wasn't getting a response. Hale is a rural area in the most remote part of the country, so there wasn't a police station nearby that could speedily come to their rescue.
Moments later, when everyone got outside, they realized it was a false alarm. Bawa heard someone say the 'one million gang' had gotten to them, and she helped spread the rumor. Every resident in the street was literally running away without even seeing the problem.
Ola's dad's name is Lolu. An aged dark man with dimples and tiny brilliant eyes was very furious at his son. When everywhere and everyone was in turmoil, Ola was surprisingly nonchalant about it. Lolu lectured his son on respecting time and also being ready to act, whether in precarious situations or even medical emergency cases. Negligence could be really costly. He also queried Bawa for leaving the whole family. He told her that the children were a priority and she shouldn't save herself alone when danger arises.
Later in the evening, all residents took camp outside to watch and protect sections of the town. The gang might not have gotten to the area yet, but the news gave instructions for everyone to be vigilant because the gang was still on the loose and was tagged as dangerous.
Thank you for reading ♥
Images From leonardo.ai and meta.ai respectively
The Inkwell Fiction Writing Prompt #227
