Chapter 5

Ipyana

The bright lights dazzled me as I opened my eyes. I shut them then opened them slowly. The man in the lab coat was standing in front of a large monitor. On the monitor was an image of a female pygmy and several numbers attached to it.

“Her biometrics show that she is ready for the operation.” The man in the lab coat said.

“Yes. She is not as strong as I hoped she would be,” replied a woman I could not see.

“True but she will have to do.” The man touched the screen another image came up. It was a human cyborg. “I want to remove her left arm and leg. I will give her solar powered limbs.”

They wanted to turn me into a human cyborg. My heart felt like it was going to bounce out of my chest. A human cyborg. I wasn’t even a fan of light Techno- human modifying. I had to get out of here. The man turned and I closed my eyes. I heard the door open, the lady must have left. I slowly opened my eyes the man was facing the other direction. He was typing at the keyboard below the large monitor. My wrists were unstrapped. I quietly got up, he was so engrossed in whatever he was typing he did not see me. I moved forward. He turned around. I hit his leg, he fell down.He was getting up when I grabbed a tray from a nearby table and hit him with it. I kept hitting him till he passed out.

The man in the lab coat was already logged in. It was easy to get to the blueprint of the building. I could see the number of guards and where exactly they were. I entered Vinjero’s number so I could find where she was. I got her location. I slowly exited the room. I could see the guard. He was heading towards the opposite direction. On his left hand side was hoilster and a blaster in it. I ran up to him grabbed his blaster. He spun around. I turned the blaster around and hit him with the butt of the blaster repeatedly. He punched me. I swayed backwards. I leg swept him and climbed on top of him. I hit him with the butt of the blaster till he passed out.

Vinjero was wearing a guard’s uniform walking towards the elevator that led to this floor. I guess she was trying to escape too. I wish I had thought of wearing a guard’s uniform.

“Let’s go.” I said.She looked at the blaster in my hand. “Vinjero lets go!”

She moved to where I was and shoved the blaster out of my hand.

“Why did you do that?” I asked.

She grabbed my hands and put them behind me. “I have 911908.” She announced loudly. There was an earbud in her ear like there ones the guards always had.

“You are one of them?” I gasped.

The lights went off. Vinjero fell to the ground. Her left arm and leg had intricate lines which were glowing blue.

“You are a human cyborg!”

She did not reply. I searched for the blaster in the dark. I found it, Vinjero grabbed my hand. We struggled. I punched her arm with my other loose arm. She let go. I ran. I could see with the moonlight. On the floor lay the guards all of them had glowing circuits in their limbs. They were all human cyborgs. I got up the elevator into the main floor which held the exit. I could see many captives ranning.

“We are here to rescue you.” Said an unfamiliar voice from behind me. I turned around. It was an Akafula woman with her face painted. “Come with me.” We made it to the exit. There was a bus-pod waiting for us. I looked back at the compound. It was so huge. It had many storeys.

“Get inside quick.” The unfamiliar lady said. I got inside the bus pod. Inside were other captives. Soon more joined us among them was Tiwonge. I sat down in a seat far from the window, afraid Limbani might see us and shoot at me. Once we were in the sky, I fell asleep. When I awoke we were in Mzimba. Where were they taking us? Who were they? We pulled up at seemed like a church. There was a building beside the church. It looked like a house. A man dressed in black attire ushered us into the house. There wide room we entered, was filled with chairs.

Most of the people who rescued us were Akafula but some were not. At the entrance of the room, were three women. Two were Akafula and one was a normate. They whispered. Then one Akafula came forward. She put her fingers between her teeth and whistled to call out attention. The buzzing of chatter died and everyone turned their attention to the front.

“Hello Everyone. I am Aleke Banda. These are all my comrades.” She said spreading her arms to draw attention to the people standing beside her. “We are part of an underground resistance called Aka-rebel. We are fighting for equal rights of all Akafula in Zamania. Welcome back to the free world.”

Her comrades clapped and so did we. Her voice was gentle and yet powerful.

“Comrades. Comrades.” A non Akafula man called Levi Mumba. We stopped clapping. “Tomorrow we will trace your families and give you transport to make it back home. The men follow me to the other room in a minute. The women follow Aleke over there.” We were led back to the room full of beds and told to pick one. Then they showed us where the toilets and bathrooms were. Some people showered, I lay in my bed thanking God I was finally taken out of hell. After thirty minutes an Akafula lady called Vera Chirwa came to tell us food was ready.

The dinning room had a large table in the middle filled with different types of food. My nostrils filled with the aroma of beef and rice. Actual food! My stomach rumbled. An Akafula reverend stood in front of the table. He introduced himself as Reverend Phiri.

“I can not even begin to imagine what you all have been through.” He said. His voice was calm but emotionally charged. “Being held against your will. I hope that such atrocities become a thing of the past. Ever since we found out at about that Vwaza HMC,” my mind paused what was a HMC oh human modifying camp. “We have not stopped praying for you. Your families, their despair and your own plight under your oppressors. God is merciful he has helped us rescue you.” I had a mental image of him saying many fervent prayers for us. It touched my heart. “My doors are always open to those who wish to seek counselling services.” His caramel brown skin shone in the light. “Let’s bow our heads in prayer.”

I closed my eyes. At the HMC we did not close our eyes in prayer before “feeding times”. I think none of us felt that the pills were anything to be grateful for.

“Dear Father I thank you for the success of this mission. I thank you for the brave men and women who risked their lives to save others. I also pray for those who were held captive. Father heal their emotional wounds.” That touched me. All of our physical wounds had been healed. The clinic at the HMC made sure of that. The day after my fight with Rumbani and Tiwonge, I awoke with no bruising at all. Vinjero told me they worked on me during the night. They needed us in tip top shape for the experiments I figured. “Amen.”

We walked slowly to the table in a single file line. I could see that Vitumbiko was excited his eyes danced as he looked at the food. I could not wait till my turn came.

“It’s come to out attention that some of you are wounded.”An aka-rebel soldier called Levi Mumba said. “We have a make-shift doctor’s office. One at a time you may go in there. After you’ve taken your food of course.” He chuckled. So did most of us.

I had stewed beef, rice, boiled plantains with fried cabbage. My mouth salivated as I brought the fork to my mouth. It had been long. I ate more than I should have. Then I walked to the doctor’s office.

“The bruising on your fingers and face is recent.” The doctor said holding my hands. He let my hands go.

“I was trying to escape.”

The doctor went to his desk and grabbed a bottle of mono-septic. Then returned to his seat beside the bed and rubbed the paste into my palms and face. The pain started to lessen, the red parts turned back brown.

“I have a sister in Nkhatabay, Chinteche.” I said, my eyes darting from the pews, the altar and the Akafula in front of me.

“We will book you onto a Train heading towards Mzuzu.” One of the Aka-rebel operatives said. “Be at the parking lot after breakfast. A couple of people are heading back to Nkhatabay via train you will go with them.” She passed me the tablet she had in her hand. “Please enter your information here.”

I entered my name, address, district and age. I handed her back the tablet.

She swiped it. “Please take a photo of yourself. It’s for our website; so the donors see where their money is going.”

I don’t know how I felt about my photo being on their website. How could I protest though? When they had rescued me?

I leaned past the train’s open window letting the wind kiss my face. I could see my twists dancing in the wind. They were in need of some conditioning for sure. I looked at the trees in Chikangawa Forest. Freedom, my heart said. I was free.

Author’s Note

Allow me to express my gratitude to you dear reader, for coming this far in my book.

Aka-rebel: Akher- Rebel (as pronounced in English)

Aka is the name for nomadic pygmy people found in Democratic Republic of Congo and Brassavile. Most tribes in Malawi and some in Zambia trekked down from the Democratic Republic of Congo. This migration was done centuries ago.

Discussion: What do you think will happen next?

Do you think Ipyana is really out of danger??

What are your first impressions of Aka-rebel the group that rescued her.

How do you think Ipyana and Salifya’s reunion will be like?

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Next week's chapter will be in Salifya's POV. You will learn why she abandoned her little sister.  I can not wait to share it with you.