Across the Desert – pt II
by M.R. Karugi
Back in the tent, the captor operating the camcorder seemed comfortable with the gadget, maybe he had been a photojournalist in another life, Muhandis thought. The recording took a short while since no words were uttered by the captives. Perhaps insurgent headquarters would edit the same to include their demands. After ensuring the clip was fine for their purposes, he removed the mini-cassette, stowed away the camcorder, picked up his assault rifle, and stepped outside with the mini-cassette in hand. Muffled voices could be heard outside the tent, and shortly after the clip-clop of a horse’s hooves on the sand were heard going farther away from the tent. The short video clip was on its way to be shown to the rest of the world. This made Muhandis feel there was hope in this whole saga, that finally the world would know their fate.
He actually prayed that the messenger would reach his destination without a hitch. The other gunmen hurdled in a corner, conversing in low tones in a language that none of the captives could understand. All the time, two sentry guards kept their rifles trained on the captives, fingers at the trigger, as if anyone would bother trying to escape, Muhandis thought.
By his calculations, if he made a dash for it, movie style, he would not last long in the desert without water. They were very far away from any civilization, but the captors had planned well it seemed, and they were fully stocked on all essentials. No starving or dehydration here.
Surprisingly, they had been very well treated, being allowed time to eat, drink and rest while travelling. Each time they stopped, at tent would be put up, they would be ushered in and the black cloth covering their eyes unbound. They would proceed to be fed and allowed some little time to rest before they were bound again and were on their way.
At night, the same would happen, and they would fall soundly sleep after a heavy meal. It was surprising that one managed to fall asleep under the circumstances, but fatigue levels were usually at the highest by nightfall.
Muhandis shook his head vigorously to keep from falling asleep again. Prior to his journey, he had read all he could about the country he was going to work in, its history, economy, politics, society and all other details. This was to try and mentally prepare for his assignment, never having left his home country before.
Obviously survival skills in the desert had not been part of that repertoire. All his reading however was of no use in the middle of the desert as he faced an uncertain future.
Their captors seemed to be discussing a very serious matter judging from the intensity of the exchanges, wild gestures and contorted facial expressions. An agreement was soon reached. The camera man was now inserting another mini-cassette into the camcorder.
It seemed there was more recording to be done. He then propped the camera on its tripod, but this time moved the whole assembly to one side of the tent, angled to the space between the captives and the door of the tent.
He said something to two other sentries who were huddled near the door. They rummaged through their luggage, and took out a white bed sheet which they spread on the sandy patch between the captives and the tent door.
to be continued ………..
