At Gun Point

~01~

Glancing at the digital watch on the dashboard of my Navara truck, it was three minutes past five in the evening.The sun was now dropping towards the rugged mountains in the west. There was so much dust on the gravel road I was driving on. I just wondered what kind of heavy trucks had passed through this road earlier. It seemed like delivery trucks for the shopping mall were the ones that had left a lot of dust in the air. I was just assuming.

The mall was about 200 metres ahead. I had to reduce my speed to 30km/hr due to the dust and the cattle that were periodically driven across the road. The cattle-headers were busy whistling and striking their whips on the cattle, forcing them to cross faster. I had to use my wipers to clear the dust from the windscreen.

The trip to the western raspberry fields my company had recently bought  had taken a toll on me. This was my first time visiting the farms after they were bought a month ago. I had to meet with the Farm Manager and his supervisors to see if these additional farms would meet the demands of our fast growing raspberry factory. The meetings had left me exhausted and famished. My stomach was rumbling and I nothing edible in my truck.

Stopping at the shopping mall wasn't part of my plan, but since I was so hungry I had no option but to park my truck and enter in there. I briskly walked towards the entrance. To my utter surprise,the place was unusually quiet.
The amount of silence prevailing in the mall was so tense. It could be felt just like a cold breeze to a naked wet body. It was real silence. Silence. My body started to report that things were out of sorts here.  Something wasn't right. The place was like deserted. It seemed like no one else was shopping inside the mall.
The last time I was here, the place was bustling with shoppers; but today the tables were turned. Who could do cause this place to be deserted like this? I asked myself as I proceeded to walk inside. I looked around and most of the shelves were disheveled, some products were strewn all over the white tiles and there was nobody at the cashier counter. The man who used to be there was a nice fellow, always full of jokes and smiles. I began to wonder what had happened here.

As I proceeded to walk deep into the shop, I could see that, besides the products on the floor, there were also bullet casings. This made me suspect I was in a hostile territory.

"Don't move!"a male voice spoke harshly behind me.

I froze with fear,and later turned my head slowly towards the direction of the horrendous and fearsome voice. A muscular dark haired black man with two artificial teeth at the front was gazing horrifyingly at me,pointing an automatic machine gun at my temple. Its muzzle was scratching
the back of my head. His face was covered by a pitch black mask, that left only his eyes, mouth and nose outside. His body's physique showed that he was a military man and one who would not hesitate to kill.

My whole body started to shiver at the terrifying man behind me. Goosebumps immediately formed on my hands and neck. Death was now knocking at the door of my life. I have never been in this compromising situation before,and had only seen it in the movies. I had to be steady and comply to whatever demands he might throw my way. This I planned to do so I would survive this ordeal.

Looking at the weapon in his hands,triggered the thought of death to swept through my head. Already I was fantasizing how the bullet would pulverize my temple and rest in my brain if it was to be released. In my mind,I could see myself falling face ward,lifeless. The thought of it made my limbs numb and my knees felt very weak and was about to fall to the ground. The gun at the back of my head made me stay put, even though fear was rattling me.

I slightly dropped my head looking at the floor,peering behind the huge man in the process. I could see blood flowing like a river, following the bends of the shelves; its red pigment gleaming from the sun's subtle rays entering through the rain damaged ceiling. Immediately, panic started to spread in my body like a bomb shell. The sight of the blood, told me someone has already been killed.