Souleymane Koffi – You want to know what I saw?
Interviewer – Yes. Please, tell me everything.
SK – Things just started to happen. I woke up one day and the station was packed. People were trying to run away. Trying to leave.
I – Did you live in the train station at that time?
SK – Yes. In Gare du Nord. I had no other place to go.
I – And haven't you heard the news about the plague earlier than that?
SK – People were talking about it, but none of us took it seriously. It did not seem to be something serious.
I – When you say "us", who are you referring to?
SK – Those that I knew, those that I met every day and made business with.
I – What kind of business?
SK – You know ... Everything that we could do to survive another day. When I saw that crowd, I immediately thought, this is going to be a fine day. I'll make a lot of money!
I – Do you mean by stealing?
SK – Of course. The more crowded, the better. But you could sense in the air that there was something wrong, almost devilish was going on. I saw a man fainting and a woman bleeding through her nose, mouth and ears. Everybody was shouting, elbowing, pushing each other. It was a horrible scene. A little girl was trampled to death, and many others started to fall on the ground. I heard gunshots and teargas bombs were fired. It was a war. I thought I was going to die. You know, I've seen death many times in the eyes before coming to Europe ... I knew exactly how it felt.
I – How did you escape?
SK – I'm big, as you can see. I shoveled my way among the people and got off to the street. The army and the police were outside. Helicopters in the sky. It was as if I were in a movie. I ran and I ran. I dashed towards the canal. I had to find a safe place to hide, and wait until it was over. I met some of my folks and they grabbed me by the arm. Souleymane, what the fuck is going on? They asked me. I don't know. I said. So we found shelter under a bridge and only got out after it got dark.
I – And what did you see?
SK – Everything looked much calmer. The police were patrolling the streets, but you could perceive that the panic was over. Let's get out of Paris. I said to my friends. Where to? They asked. I don't know, but we'll die if we stay. I said, and I knew some days later that I was right. The city was razed to the ground. Nothing was left
I – And how you managed to survive this far?
(Souleymane laughs)
SK – Doing my business ...
vħ~z$
YOU ARE READING
Notes from the End of the World
HorrorThe Collectors Guild hired him to be the Postman, to gather the notes that will help the humankind to have a deeper understanding on how and why the world ended. Nobody knows anything for sure; the only certainty is that it's really dangerous out th...