The Extinct

CHAPTER

55





The celebration lasted well into the night. The meat that wasn’t eaten was hung over thick vine and smoked dry. The hide was cut up and would be used as clothing and the bones would be made into weapons and tools. Nothing was wasted.

Eric woke in the middle of the night and sat up. An image ran through his mind: William lying on the ground, blood leaking into the earth. It didn’t let him sleep. The whole incident replayed in his head over and over. The smell of gunpowder and blood, the bassed sound of large rifles, William’s last breaths.

Eric stood using a wooden crutch the villagers had carved out of a log for him. He walked outside the tent and stood in the night. The moon was high and lit the valley before him in pale light. There were swarms of gazelle and deer grazing in the tall grass. He looked around the village; it was empty and the fires were all out except for one at the end. He hoped Jalani was still awake.

Eric began slowly limping over, the bare wood of the crutch digging into the flesh of his underarm. A breeze was blowing and it felt cool against the burnt skin on his face. Snoring was coming from some of the tents he passed, a few groans of pleasure coming from others. He made his way to the last fire and looked into the tent.

Sandra’s nude body lay on a bed of fur. Thomas was on top of her, kissing her passionately, his hands caressing her soft skin. Eric moved away from the tent, but stood nearby. What kind of woman would . . .?

An epiphany screamed in his head and he had to sit down on a nearby stone to quiet it down. He looked toward the tent, disgust and guilt going through him in waves. He finally stood up and wobbled back to his tent.

The next morning came quietly, most of the village sleeping off their drunkenness well into midday. Douglas woke Eric and told him they would be leaving soon. Another jeep had been brought from Kavali and they would be going back there.

Eric hadn’t slept more than a few hours. His dreams were filled with blood and laughter and screams. He saw William’s torn body. It was standing upright and speaking to him, trying to say something but no sound was coming out. The flesh was so badly ripped on his face Eric didn’t recognize him at first. He said something and then collapsed.

Eric rose and limped out of the tent. His ankle felt better though the swelling hadn’t gone down. He was pretty certain it wasn’t broken.

The sun was already bright and the cool breeze of last night was replaced with a wall of boiling heat. He looked out before the valley before him, observing the contrast between the sapphire blue sky and the golden grass below. A leopard stood over a gazelle, carefully glancing around every few seconds to make sure nothing was trying to spirit away her kill. She looked up once and saw Eric on top of the plateau.

“Come on, Eric,” Douglas said, “we’re riding with Thomas.”

They loaded everything in their jeep and Eric sat in the back, Thomas and Douglas sitting up front. Jalani had left with Sandra and Dr. Namdi an hour before and her jeep was already well out of sight.

Thomas walked into a few tents, presumably to say good bye, and then hopped into the driver’s seat and started the engine. They pulled away from the village and slowly made their way down the side of the plateau, Thomas carefully applying the brakes to keep from gaining too much speed. Occasionally they would slide and he would turn the wheel sharply left or right, causing the jeep to twist to its side and come to a halt. But they made their way down and the jeep chugged along the dirt path.

Eric pulled out the handgun Jalani had given him. He aimed it at the back of Thomas’s head.

His hand began to shake and a familiar choking sensation came over him. It was hard to breathe. He felt the weight of the gun in his palm and was taken back to his mother’s kitchen, standing over a bloody corpse. Thomas’s gray hair ended above his neck and sweat was starting to form on the skin below it. Eric watched a drop roll down over the skin and absorb into the collar of his shirt.

Eric threw the gun over the side of the jeep.