CHAPTER FOURTEEN
HOPE
Kakaburyis another town they found, after having walked a long corrugated white icy terrain. From a distance, the town looked small in size. Wooded houses with old architectural designs were covered with snow. This was the first place they smelt life existing. They wobbled to a halt. The smells in the air gave them an impression that there were some people living here, who perhaps preferred staying indoors here. The look of the sky was bizarre, as tough it was ready to dump a blizzard of snow.
Chloe was quiet, preferring not to because she still had visions of the bears playing repeatedly in her head. She realized that she had a new threat to deal with, although hope was the biggest arsenal she always had at her disposal.She remained calm and polite as they both studied the village to see whether they could see anybody moving around. The area looked like a white desert; the houses there looked dilapidated and old enough to collapse at anytime. All the houses there were small, and appeared crowded together as they were unseen from a distance.
Clijsters decided that they should go closer to one of the houses. “Keep a look out for other people here. It doesn’t really look like a ghost town,” said Clijsters. “It would be good if we were to find people here, because the weather is getting extreme.”
Eventually a few people came out to see them; they seemed inquisitive, but suddenly they started retreating, running back. The whole town suddenly seemed to have gone into hiding. Was it because something mysterious was approaching the town? Chloe wondered. Women in colored skirts were running back and forth with their children trailing them, and men in their thick jackets and sombreros, all of them disappearing down to their houses.
Nobody even looked at them. Chloe started feeling confused until one old man who was lagging behind stopped to speak to them. He watched Chloe and Clijsters with trepidation. Some people rushed back to their houses and locked their doors while others were fighting in a queue to enter inside what seemed to be the town church.
Chloe looked everywhere; she started sensing what was happening whilst Clijsters inquired of the old man why everybody was running. The old man was small, sweet eyed, and had a grin that charmed. It was also seen that on the other side, men stood next to high walls, armed with guns, bows and others with machetes. The men looked ready for a battle. This alarmed both Chloe and Clijsters.
“Aren’t you afraid of the Santa shadow?” the old man shouted, pointing to the far side where you could see a thick fog of dust moving towards the town. It was a quick alarm that something was prone to attack this town soon. “Santa” had now become a common word to Chloe. She definitely knew who the hell it was, and she didn’t need any more hints to imagine the consequences. So now the town looked deserted.
Immediately, Chloe and Clijsters followed the old man. Though, he looked at Clijsters, strings of caution sparking in his eyes, his face seemed worried... had he met Clijsters before? “This way,” said the old man. “Run fast.
Loud explosions started to be heard behind them, as they followed the old man. It was a group of “Santa-looking” attackers invading, Kakabury. There was no room for peace; Chloe and Clijsters were trapped in this town, so they had to run to a safe haven very fast.
Clijsters wanted to stay behind; but Chloe insisted that he should accompany her. They entered a cave. Next the old man urgently called them to stop arguing and move on, hoping to help them to escape through the town’s secret cave, and flee from the mystery Santa.
“Are you coming with me?” the old man asked. “Yes,” Chloe answered. “Yes right behind you.”
“Here’s a secret cave that leads you straight out from this town, and if you hurry, it will save your lives before they find out that you have been here,” said the old man. “So many people have died, not even knowing this cave existed beneath our town.”
“Oh, but we don’t know this way.” Chloe said.” Do you think we could get lost?”
The old man looked at Chloe and said in a strained voice, “go if you still value your life.”
Immediately Chloe decided not to get into any discussion with the grumpy old man. Though, she had an idea that he was well aware of what would happen next, although he did not disclose anything to them.
