INKWELL

Chapter Three

May 31, 2081

Even thought my eyes were open and I was staring at the scene in front of me, Wunmi still continued shaking me. I would have snapped at her if I wasn't so happy she was safe, and also confused about what was happening.

At the front, Mrs. Abimbola was trying to hold back my friend, Precious. My other friends, Yemilade and Chidinma—who Wunmi and I used to hang out with in the village—tried to hold on to Precious too. She was trashing around in their arms as if she had gone mad.

"What's happening?" I asked Wunmi. I was sure she could hear the confusion in my voice.

"Precious sister is infected, but Precious is refusing to allow them to take her away. She even mistakenly hit Mrs. Abimbola while she was trying to get out of her hold."

I turned to look at Mrs. Abimbola and noticed she was sporting a bleeding lip. Sharon, Precious elder sister, was standing quietly with two officials beside her. Sharon had lost her fiancee on her wedding day. Just as they were about to join them together, they noticed ink coming out of his eyes. Sharon cried and begged but nothing could stop them from taking him away. He was infected and like all infected people, he had to be taken outside the village. Since then, Sharon remained quiet, she barely talked.

Instead of her taking care of Precious, Precious was now taking care of her. They had no other family, their parents had died a long time ago. Precious never complained but I could see the tiredness in her eyes and the way her shoulders hunched like she was carrying the weight of the world. The burden was too much for her young shoulders. She was just 16, yet she had to find a way to provide basic things needed for survival for her and her sister.

"She's insisting on following her sister if they take her away," Wunmi said, tugging on my arm to pull me up from the ground.

I let her pull me up, my confusion slowly clearing. The weight on my chest had been lifted and I felt guilty for that. I couldn't ignore the fact that I was relieved that it was not Wunmi or Mrs. Abimbola that had been infected. I chastised myself quietly. Precious was a good friend. Even though we were not as close as I was to Wunmi, I still cared about her. She and the other girls had been there to cheer me up any time I felt down and our frequent trips to the stream had conversations that I looked forward to.

"You can't take her, please. Don't take her. I'm begging you. Please. You don't understand. I'm the only one she has. You can't take her."

I turned to watch Precious as she pleaded with the officers.

"She is infected, we can't allow her on the spaceship," a male official explained. He had a look of confusion and frustration on his face that I could relate with.

"Then take me with her. Let me go with her."

"You are not infected–" the man started, but was interrupted by Precious.

"Who cares?" she snapped. "Who cares if I'm infected or not?  Who cares whether I stay here or not? It's my life, I'm free to do whatever I want."

"What are you saying, dear? You are not thinking properly. We all care. Your friends are here, they care," Mrs. Abimbola said, trying to reason with her.

Precious shook her head, tears rolling down her cheeks. "It's my choice, it's my life. I don't care if my sister is infected, she's the only family I have. I'm not leaving without her, and if you aren't going to take her with us, I'll stay with her."

"Precious, what are you saying? If you stay on earth you'll become infected. Your sister is already infected, there's nothing else that we can do to help her. What's the need of killing yourself for her? It won't cure her or stop the inevitable. Staying with her isn't going to make her get better," Chidinma said, trying to reason with her.