At Gun Point

~04~

Immediately after one of us was murdered in front of us, we were cuffed in pairs. The tall, muscular  man who had killed the hostage, vehemently threatened us. Telling us that if we try any silly games, bullets were going to be rained on us. He said in a such a way that we were all gripped with despair and apprehension. It was very horrific to see a person being killed like a chicken whilst you helplessly watch.

I looked at that woman who I was now cuffed with, she was crying and shaking. I just suspected it was trauma from the murder we had just witnessed. She was no longer hidden in the dark rags and her face was pale and disheveled with pain and exhaustion.

We were ordered to stand up from the ground we were still seated and form two lines on either side of the big room .

When I looked around in the room,it showed that the sun was long gone and it was around half seven in the evening. Small florescent lights were hanging all across the room illuminating all of its walls and occupants. There were eight armed men in the room, all doning black masks on their faces and clad in army regalia from top to bottom.
Their automatic rifles were all pointed in our direction. I managed to see that two of the eight were women and the rest were men.

I then removed my gaze from them to the poor man who was killed earlier. I felt very devastated as I looked at his lifeless eyes and the blood flowing on the floor.

Turning my head from the dead man, I looked at each of the remaining hostages; especially those close to me. One of them was an old chap with a well trimmed beard and a coloured face. He looked around sixty-five years of age. The wrinkles on his face were now very visible. He was wearing the OK Bazzers uniform and seemed to be the manager of mall. His partner was a boy in his mid twenties,with a long face as a phenomenal feature. The other ones to our right looked more like farm workers who had been forced to ride along leaving their hoes and shovels in the mud.

I recognized one of them,Jasper, a boy who used to work at my factory a couple of months ago and had decided to terminate his duties without letting me know why. I didn't bother looking for him,since labour is not a problem this side of the world. Upon seeing me,he jovially grinned,showing brown-yellow teeth,which showed eons of not being washed. His gesture was showing that his mind was thinking freedom was around the corner, because I was there.

There were twelve men who looked like farm workers in the room. Their figures were producing an assorted number of odours which were causing uneasiness to the respiratory system. I facially gestured to all of them, since they seemed to be knowing me, though I didn't know them personally. I guessed that some of them even worked for me since their faces were familiar and they all seemed reassured by my presence. Though they were devastated by the situation we were in, they all were behaving like I was their hero who was supposed save them from this situation.

I felt adrenaline running through my body and confidence dawned on me like a flood. The need to save them all came upon me. I didn't care of the guns trained on us. I was praying for a chance to change the tide in favor of us. I felt the urge to save them,all of them. If death was my final lap, then I was going to run it to the threshold of heaven and hell. I haven't been ready to face it earlier but now I was ready to bet against the barrel of a gun.

Maybe that's why God had allowed me to come to this lonely and remote shopping centre in the eastern side of the town. Some twenty five kilometres from the epicenter of the town. This shopping mall was built to serve the farmers around the area. It belonged to OK Bazzers, a company which owned a number chainstores in the country.

I wanted to dribble this formidable task without fear or resentment. These were my fellow men who have directly or indirectly helped me to be where I am today in the pharmaceutical and raspberry extraction industry. If they have worked so hard to make me rich why not put my life on the line for them. They all deserved it,all of them. I looked at the woman and she was pinning her hopes on me. I couldn't help myself but I silently gave them hopeful gestures.