INKWELL

Chapter Five

May 31, 2081

Mrs. Abimbola had gone quiet and I knew she was thinking of Tobi. I felt guilty. Though I hadn't forgotten about him, I had been too interested in all that had been happening to worry about him.

So many things had happened since we left home. It felt like it had been days instead of just a few hours. Every other person in the ship was quiet. We had all lost people close to us, some family, some friends and some acquaintances. Once in a while, someone would break out in a sob and then fall quiet later. I thought of all the people that had been left behind. The men at the village, those from the village who were already infected and the volunteers who had helped us even though they knew they wouldn't be leaving earth with us.

As I turned to Mrs. Abimbola, I realized she had fallen asleep. There were tears streaks on her cheeks and I felt my eyes water just looking at them. She didn't deserve to lose her son, she was a good woman who deserved every good thing.

I turned to look at Wunmi. She was looking around the spaceship, taking in everything. I leaned towards her.
"Do you truly think there is a new planet for us?" I whispered.

It was something that had been on my mind for a while. People said Angela had found a new planet for us to live in but no one was really sure. I wondered about the planet. Would we have to wear oxygen masks to breathe? Would we have to keep ourselves covered from the harsh weather conditions? No matter how I thought of it, I couldn't imagine the new planet being like earth.

Wunmi shrugged. "Angela Cassey said there is. Don't you trust her?"

I sighed. "It's not that. It's just...every time it seems something good is happening, we get a bad news. Angela Cassey came to save us but we lost men from the village, we got here but then we had to leave people behind. I just have a bad feeling, like something bad is going to happen."

Wunmi narrowed her eyes. "Don't jinx our good luck," she said, but after a minute her face fell and I could see the worry in her eyes too. "I'm afraid too."

I looked towards the direction she was looking at and saw her parents. Her parents had survived everything. I felt a tinge of jealousy and quickly pushed it away. I knew I should be happy for her, her parents were like another family to me yet I couldn't help feeling jealous. Despite everything that happened, she didn't seem to lose much. She had lost her best friend before me but other than that, her life was normal— as anyone as anyone living in the world could have.

I, on the other hand, had lost a lot. My parents were dead, I had lost all my properties and my life was taken from me. I bit my lips, mentally berating myself. Wunmi didn't deserve to lose her parents. I couldn't wish that for her.

"We'll be fine," I said. As I looked around, I really hoped we will be.

I could tell we were moving fast but I couldn't see how fast. The spaceship didn't have any windows and the screen in front had been put off. A few minutes later, the spaceship increased pace and became rocky. About a minute later, it became calm.

"We've left earth," one of the officers in front said.

The atmosphere changed suddenly. Everyone was suddenly awake and lively. There were mixed feelings, some people cried, some laughed or smiled. A few screamed. I, on the other hand, didn't know what to do. I just stood there watching everyone's excitement. Earth was the only home I knew and we were leaving it to somewhere unknown. I was happy but I couldn't get rid of the fear creeping into my heart.

Wunmi hugged me, tears rolling down her cheeks. I hugged her back and turned to Mrs. Abimbola who she fell into my arms crying.

It took a long time before every one calmed down, but even then there were still smiles on people's faces.