That same evening the youngest wife of the Chief of that village did not know what to do. She was pacing in her room like a confused woman. She would sit and stand again. At a point she stopped moving and spoke to herself, "Do they mean this? They are asking that I become part of heir plan to kill our own husband, isn't this a taboo and won't the gods be against us forever if we should commit such a crime, such an abomination?" She would sit after a while and folded her arms, her head bowed and her mind far away in a deep thought.
******
Inside the pit where Charles, Jude and Shanty had been put they Charles had said that he had never seen anyone like the villagers that he saw. He wasn't sure what it meant but he knew that he had only noticed such a thing once during one of his battles with his enemies when they had to exchange gun fire during exchange of drugs. He could recall that the man when shot at did not die. He wasn't sure what the man did to be able to withstand that bullet but he was sure and it was clear that there as no blood on him after he was shot at. That same day Charles began to think that if a man like that could be immune to bullet he too could be immune to it but he did not put his mind to it and so did not bother to go deeper in his quest to become like that man. He did not think about it further and soon it left his mind and he stopped thinking about becoming like that man but seeing what happened while he shot at the villagers that had taken them in he began to wonder what actually happened. He was still contemplating when suddenly it appeared that there was someone moving to towards the well in which they were thrown. When the footsteps stopped they looked up and then saw a stranger standing there, a giant who had three eyes and Shanty screamed ontop of her voice. On seeing this she was scared to her toes. The giant spoke to them, "These are mine and soon I will have a taste of you all" He then laughed. Just then another man came close to the well and looked down at them and said, "It is an honor to die in the hands of this giant, many who died at his hands praise the gods for such honor and privilege. It is also..."
"Can you please stop talking and let me loose, I mean if he was as powerful as he looks he will need to defeat me to be able to qualify to eat me!" This was Charles speaking and the man that stood with the giant looked at the giant to see his reaction to what Charles had said. Charles had mocked the giant and he could only bellow in anger.
"Bring out that one to fight me, that I may eat him!!!" the giant shouted and Jude and Shanty wondered why Charles had to say the words he said.
"Boss don't do this" begged Jude.
"I aren't doing this for you but I am doing it for the sake of loyal family that I left behind in the city. I can't die now Jude but you and your woman, both of you deserve to die" He the began to climb out using the ladder that had been given to him to use by the cannibals standing with their leader and the giant. When Charles was out he was held by the chest and forced to enter the wagon that they had brought with them, then the mouth of the well was covered again.
" Boss has made a grave mistake" said Jude.
"He is trying to prove himself but unknown to him these people are not like the people from the city, they are nothing like us and it will be so dangerous of us to try to handle them the way we handle our enemies in the city" said Shanty.
"If he dies we will be dead we well" said Jude.
"And what if he wins?" asked Shanty.
"Will that be possible?" asked Jude.
"It is. Mr Charles knows quite alright of what those people are and he had seen that bullets don't kill them. Yet having known this he still decide to fight with a giant in a single combat. Is it not a thing of fear to hear this and it is also a thing of relief to hear it as well"
"Whose side are you on by the way?" asked Jude.
"Whose side I am on? On the side of survival" said Shanty.
"What makes you think if by any chance, which ofcouse sounds Impossible, and he wins the giant he won't come for us as well?" asked Jude.
"Why would he come for us if he defeats the giant? He will still be facing the cannibals with us as well. Nobody is free here and it is a pity" said Shanty.
******
Veronica had entered a forest using the map that was given to him by Ken. She looked at the map and then that was it; the map stopped there and now it is left for her to look for Mr Charles by herself without any aid. She walked towards a tree and sat under it. She brought out the things she had brought with her to the forest, things she could feed on and then she began to eat. After eating she remained seated there and hated herself for a second, wondering why of all things and of all people it was Edu whom her mind shifted to. She rose and began to walk deeper into the forest, by now holding her pistol, with a backpack on her back.
She reached a certain cliff and began to wonder how she was doing to be able to cross it.
*******
The youngest wife of the Chief of the neighboring village, her name was Kepa and she was the most beautiful amongst all the women that the Chief had married. Having been told what the rest of the wives, her cowives were preparing against the Chief, their husband she did not know what else to do. She began to think she needed to go to the Chief and tell him about this evil plan against him. She thought twice too.
"What if the Chief does not believe me, what if he thinks I'm making it up since he feels I must be trying to redeem my image before his other wives. Kepa was pacing again in her room when suddenly she saw that her door opened the eldest wife walked in, running her eyes all over her.
"What are you looking at?" Kepa had to ask.
"I'm looking at you Kepa, I'm looking at you and wondering what exactly you have in mind. Tell me Kepa, tell me and be fast about it; the rest of us have already decided to do this and you having been included to be part of this plan we want to carry you along but you see we also want to make sure that you want to be carried along, that you want to have what it takes to be part of this plan and that you are trying to work against us. You see Kepa" the woman continued when she had sat down, facing her, "You need to make up your mind and also you need to admit that this life was never the life you wanted, this wasn't it. you ere caught up in this life because your father died too early and your mother could not feed you and your brothers. You did not come here because you loved the Chief. None of us came here because we loved the Chief but you see my cowives aside you are worried, they are worried that you might start to think silly and that if care is not taken you may start to work against us, a thought they already decided how to handle if it came to become a reality; they will kill you Kepa, they will. If you want to do anything outside what we have already agreed we will hunt you down and we surely mean it. The reason why I have come here is to make sure that you are not working against us and also to make sure that you are willing to do what you are supposed to do in order to get your mind in the same way it is practiced. I hope you understand this better" She then stood up and began to walk towards the door and when she got there she held the door while Kepa watched her. She stood there for a while before she turned, still holding the door with her left hand and she said to Kepa, "You may not be appreciative of what we already agreed to do to our husband but with time you will and I hope when that time comes you will be able to say Thank You to us" She then opened the door and walked out. Kepa sat down and covered her face with both hands, wondering what next to do.
It was already night and Charles had to wait till the next day to face the giant from the home of the cannibals.
Charles sat down inside the hut given to him by the leader of that village and when he had taken his bath a girl was sent in to him and the lady standing before him said, "It is our custom and tradition that I stand by you until tomorrow when you go to the field to die at the hands of Goro" Charles stared at her and stood up.
"What do you mean by that?" he wanted to know.
"I meant that our leader would want me to stay here with you till tomorrow morning, to keep you company until the time you will be given the access to meet with Goro to meet with your death" said the lady.
"What makes you think when I meet Goro or whatever you call him he will kill me?" asked Charles.
"Nobody meets with Goro at the field of battle and survives it. Goro is deadly and he has already killed over ten thousand people. I would advise you to say no to this fight. You already know that if you meet with him face to face in the battlefield you will die, why not die by hanging or by arrows or the by the axe of the executioner, why die at the hands of the one that is feared in all of our land?" At this point Charles felt he had heard enough from her and so he walked to the door and opened it.
"Get out of here now" he said.
"I can't" she said.
"Excuse me?" he wasn't sure if he heard her right.
"You heard me right. I did not come here by myself and so I won't go simply because you asked me to go" she said.
"What does this mean then?" asked Charles.
"What it means is that I do not own myself and there is no way I will disobey my master. It is against our law and so I would suggest you keep me here with you even if you do not find me attractive enough to take to your bed" she begged. Charles stared at her for a while, seeing that fear in her face. He shook his head and then sighed. He went back to the bed and retook his seat on the bed.
"I'm sorry" she said amidst tears.
"Hey lady where I come from emotions are seen as mere expression of deception. If you cry a river your tears won't move me. You want to stay? then you will sleep on the floor"