Middle

‘Are we there yet?’ asked Olga, wheezing slightly.

Owen uneasily glanced at her sideways and was quick to notice that her face looked like a rotting jack-o-lantern and his heart quivered and he for a moment felt the strong impulse to reach out to her and offer her a bit of comfort. ‘Yes. I believe so.’

‘You believe so, but aren’t sure?’ she asked.

Owen glanced at Oleg uncertainly. ‘We are almost there.’ said Owen.

‘But you aren’t sure?’ she pressed.

Owen sighed and gently grabbed her by the shoulder. ‘No, I’m not sure. But let’s just walk on. Think of it this way. The farther we go, the closer we get to the village.’

‘To its ruins, you mean?’ said Oleg.

Owen clenched his fists and angrily walked up to Oleg. ‘Listen here, sonny. I’m trying to be optimistic. And it’s not just for your sake, but for Olga too. What with you being the eldest, you should know better than to utter nonsense.’ he huffed.. ‘Stop making this hard.’

Oleg fumed, then pushed Owen slightly, but enough to make him stagger backwards. ‘Oh, and what will you do about it, young man? Its high time you became a realist. I bet if we run into a band of barbarians you’ll still have something positive to say about it. Aye? Are we to fl..”

‘We havent run into an…’ started Owen.

Oleg grabbed him by the collar and inched his face closer to his brother’s. ‘Will you shut the hell up, little twerp? I’m still talking.’

‘Are you guys fine over there?’ asked Olga, looking at them questioningly.

Oleg turned to her and forced a smile. ‘Right. Were just fine.’

‘It looked like you were dealing with the beginnings of a fight over there. What was going on?’ she pressed.

Oleg shrugged. ‘Not really. Were just fine. Aye, Owen?’

Owen grinned and gave her a thumbs up. ‘Yep. Let’s get moving. March, march, march it on. Almost there, were getting close. No hills, no valleys or mountains to climb.’ sang Owen while taking the lead.

Oleg felt the impulse to say “you mean there are” but thought the better of it and shut his mouth. He let Olga walk ahead of him and except for a few questions she asked every now and then, they trekked in silence.

After walking for a good while, Olga sank onto the ground with exhaustion. ‘Are we even going in the right direction?’ she cried.

Owen stopped and looked at her for a good while ‘I think so.’

Olga threw her arms in the air. ‘You think so! Lawd!’ she said credulously.

He studied his compass for a while then nodded. ‘Yes. We’re headed due North. We’re going the right way. I’m positive about that.’

‘We had better.’ mumbled Oleg.

‘Let’s get going. I bet we are closer to our destination.’ He said.

‘Pray, let’s rest for a minute or two!’ she cried in exasperation.

Owen’s heart went out to her. Their father’s death had completely shattered her. More than twice, she had attempted suicide Oleg had saved her. She had only stopped because they had sat her down and he had a long talk with her.

The boys worriedly stared at their sister. ‘Will she make it?’ asked Owen.

Oleg just shrugged a shoulder and looked the other way. After a minute, he let out a yell and pointed to his left. ‘Owen, the dust in that direction is rising.’ he said.

Owen rolled his eyes and followed his brother’s gaze.

‘Aye. Indeed, it is. A blizzard, maybe?’

‘No, kid!’ snapped Oleg.

‘I see a group of people approaching.’ said Olga while squinting into the distance. Of the three, she had the sharpest eyes.

Owen jumped and resorted to race walking. ‘Well, let’s get a-running, then. Those savages will certainly do us in.’ He walked for a while but stopped when he realized that none of his siblings was following. He groaned, then walked back to them. ‘You never listen to me!’

‘Stop bickering, you little minx.’ snapped Oleg.
Owen was totally taken aback by Olgas fearful look. What?’

Oleg grabbed him roughly by the shoulder and pointed towards the approaching figures. ‘Who do you see?’

‘Apes.’ said Owen.

Oleg rolled his eyes. ‘Well maybe they are apes, but at least one amongst them is human.’

Owen squinted into the distance and nodded. ‘Yes. The one in the lead is of a female make.’

‘Good.’ said Owen. ‘What else do you see?’

‘It’s her! Lawd, it really is her!’ cried Olga.

‘It’s who?’ asked a bewildered Owen.

‘Could you be any slower!’ Oleg exclaimed. ‘If you paid close attention, you wouldve by now noticed that the lady has Mom’s stoop.’

‘It’s Mom!’ cried Olga. ‘Let’s get to her now.’ And with that said, she bounded off towards the approaching figures at full pelt with the two boys following close behind. They stopped just a few feet away from the group which had also halted.

While Olga kept her eyes on her Mom, the boys nudged each other, their eyes never leaving the peculiar looking men who were dressed the same way as the vagabonds who had destroyed their village. They peeled their eyes off the men and directed them onto Mom who was discreetly shaking her head at them.
Run, she mouthed to them.

Oleg and Owen stared at each other in confusion. They had got the message, but they just could not find it in them to bolt off and leave her. They shook their heads in unison and stayed where they were.

‘Run for goodness’ sake!’ hissed Mom.

One of the men hit her hard on the head and she dropped to the ground.

Enraged, Owen ran up to the man who had hit her and rained blows onto his protruding belly. The man stared at him, lifted him by the neck then hurled him onto the ground. Owen landed on his face and yelped and this seemed to inspire Oleg, for he jumped on one of the men and rained blows down on him. The man just snorted and shook him off. He too landed on his face. Olga took a step forward but Mom held up her hand.

‘Don’t, my love. They will hurt you.’ Olga nodded and took many steps back.

The smallest of the men bent down, grabbed Mom by the hair and hauled her up. Oleg and Owen jumped onto their feet and watched the men like foxes, fists clenched.

The leader of the group said something to Mom in a language that only Oleg and she could understand. She frantically shook her head.

‘What were they saying?’ asked Owen.

‘They wanted to know if we are her kids. She said no, to protect us.’ he replied shortly.

The men formed a semi-circle, discussed in low tones for a while and everyone nodded. They seemed to agree on something the boys couldnt quite understand.
Suddenly, one of the men turned and without any hesitation, eased three bullets into Mom’s neck.
Olga screamed and the two boys threw themselves upon the muscly men. The fight was too imbalanced to last though. In just a few swift moves, one of the men had both boys by the neck.

‘You bastards!’ growled Owen.

‘They can’t understand you, little one.’ said Oleg.

‘I dont care!’ yelled Owen, baring his teeth at the men who looked hardly affected by the boys outburst. He looked down at Olga who knelt beside Moms still body, sniffing silently.

‘See what youve done, you swine!’ he growled at the man who muttered something unintelligible and knocked their heads together. Owen yelped and felt tears well up in his eyes. Where as the yelp was caused by the contact of his forehead with Oleg’s hard head, the tears were caused by the mixed feelings that kept welling up in him.

Oleg turned and looked at his little brother, then shook his head. ‘Owen, dont turn soft. Not now at least. These men are taking us with th..’

‘Shut up!’ growled the leader menacingly, then turned back to talk to one of his men.

Oleg worried that the man understood English and had been listening to their conversations until it occurred to him that Shut up could have been the only words the man knew. He relaxed.

The leader growled out a few instructions to the men and three of them approached the children. Olga leaped out of her assailants rage, dried her tears with the back of her hand and pointed at her mothers body. The man turned and exchanged glances with his boss who muttered and walked away, followed by the others. One of the men returned to the kids, knelt beside the body and wrapped it up in an old rag, then slung it on his shoulder and followed the rest of the men. The kids were tied up with ropes and led towards the rest of the group like captives.

Olga sighed. ‘What next for us, then?’

Owen stared at her for a while, then dragged his eyes away. ‘We are prisoners, little one. Prisoners.’