The Last Drop

Part One

The sun was setting as I, Amarr, emerged from the gates of our university. We were all in the third year of our program, currently on internship, but today had brought us back to campus. It wasn't a typical day. Something felt off, but I couldn't quite place it. Maybe it was the eerie calm in the air. Ridwan, Abdul Flash, PK, Darma, and Nasir were waiting for me outside. They had already bought food and were lounging, impatient for me to join them.

"Yo, Amarr! Hurry up, man! We're starving!" PK called out, his voice filled with teasing impatience.

"Alright, alright! I'm coming!" I shouted back, heading towards the street vendor I always liked. The woman selling food was friendly and knew us well, especially me. I was always cracking jokes, making everyone laugh.

I ordered dambu-a traditional Hausa dish-for myself and Nasir. Nasir, the pickiest eater in our group, had this strange aversion to street food. But I bought it for him anyway, with a packet of groundnuts. The aroma from the food was mouth-watering, and I could already feel my stomach rumble.

"Why do you bother, man? Nasir won't eat that," Ridwan chuckled, shaking his head.

"We'll see," I said, grinning. "He'll eat it today. Mark my words."

We found a shaded spot to sit and waited for our friends to come back with water, as Darma and the others had gone searching. I handed Nasir the food, and as expected, he started with his usual protest.

"Amarr, you know I don't eat food from the street," he said, pushing the food back at me.

"Just try it," I urged, knowing I had won the battle the moment I opened the container. The smell must've been irresistible because Nasir paused, sniffed, and without another word, grabbed the food from my hand. He devoured half of it like he hadn't eaten in days.

I turned away, biting my lip to suppress my laughter. This was classic Nasir-stubborn one minute, unpredictable the next. He even snatched the groundnuts and munched on them like it was the best meal he'd ever had. I didn't comment on his sudden change of heart. I'd known him long enough to let it slide.

A few minutes passed, and Darma, Abdul Flash, and Ridwan finally returned-but without any water.

"What happened? Where's the water?" I asked, confused.

"There's no water anywhere, bro," Abdul Flash said, shrugging. "We searched the entire town, every corner, every tap. Nothing."

"How's that even possible?" I asked, my face scrunched in disbelief.

"I don't know, man, but we looked. Trust me," Darma added, his tone annoyed. He wasn't in the mood to talk, and I didn't blame him.

"So what now?" PK chimed in. "Do we just leave thirsty?"

"It's not like we have a choice," Darma said, already heading to where our bikes were parked.

As we started walking toward the parking lot, Nasir, being his usual annoying self, began tossing bits of groundnuts at us. One hit me square in the back of the neck, and I spun around, my anger rising.

"Nasir, I swear if you throw one more groundnut, I'll throw a stone right back at you," I warned, my voice low with frustration.

But of course, Nasir being Nasir, couldn't resist. Another groundnut hit me. Without thinking, I picked up a stone and hurled it at him. It wasn't a large stone, but it got my point across.

"What the hell, Amarr?!" Nasir yelled, ready to charge at me. Our friends quickly stepped in, holding him back before the situation escalated.

Once things calmed down, we reached the parking lot. Nasir and Darma took off first, heading home together. The rest of us-PK, Ridwan, Abdul Flash, and I-decided to ride my bike to our homes. Just as we were about to leave, PK suddenly spoke up.

"There's this one place I know of," he said, his eyes glinting with hope. "I'm sure they have water. It's a bit far, but it's worth checking out."

Desperate, we agreed and changed our route. But as we rode, the roads became unfamiliar. We were lost.

"Let's ask someone for directions," I suggested.

We spotted a man walking along the road and asked him if he knew the place. He gave us directions, but the route was complicated. Too complicated. We were confused halfway through his explanation.

"Would you mind riding with us and taking us there?" PK asked. The man agreed, hopping on the bike with us.

As we continued our journey, I noticed something strange. Ridwan, who had been calm all day, was suddenly tense. His movements were jerky, and his usual steady demeanor was gone.

"I think I remember the route," Ridwan said suddenly. He asked the man to stop, insisting he could take us the rest of the way.

The man handed over the keys, smiled, and walked off without a word. But as soon as Ridwan took control of the bike, something changed. His laughter was manic, his hands gripping the handles in a way that made us all uneasy.

"I am wicked!" Ridwan screamed, his voice unnaturally loud. "I will not take you to the water. You will not sabotage my plans!"

The bike swerved dangerously as he sped up, laughing wildly. My heart pounded in my chest. Something was very, very wrong. This wasn't Ridwan. Something else had taken over.

"Stop the bike, Ridwan!" I shouted, panic rising in my throat.

But he didn't stop. In a desperate move, I lunged at him, knocking him off the bike. We all fell to the ground with a thud. Ridwan kept shouting, his eyes wild with rage, but it wasn't him. I could see it. Some evil force had consumed him.

I didn't care anymore. Furious and shaken, I left him there. I couldn't deal with whatever had taken over my friend. I just wanted to get home, away from this nightmare.

PK, Abdul Flash, and I got back on the bike, deciding to forget about the water and head home. But as we rode, something strange happened. A man appeared in front of us, stopping us with a stern hand raised in the air.

"Take this," he said, handing us a massive, mysterious object. It was heavy and made of some material I couldn't identify. "You will need this. Do not ask questions."

Confused, we tried to ask him what it was for, but he silenced us with a sharp "Shhh!" and disappeared into the darkness.

"What the hell was that?" Abdul Flash muttered, staring at the giant object.

We didn't know what to do with it, so we kept riding, hoping to make sense of it later. As we passed through the town, we saw people gathered around, digging at the ground, trying to extract water with smaller versions of the object we now carried.

We stopped to ask what was happening.

"There's no water left," one of them explained. "And in less than thirty minutes, all the water in the world will disappear-oceans, rivers, lakes-everything."

My heart sank. "What does that mean?"

"It means the world will die," another person said. "Unless you use that thing you're carrying. It's the only way to save us all."

I glanced at PK, unsure of what to do. I was ready to give them the object when PK stopped me.

"No," he said firmly. "We're not giving it to them."