A loud roaring sound suddenly rang out, traveling into Micheal's ears and interrupting the brief moment of peace he had wished would last forever. His eyes snapped open, and for a second he questioned whether he was even conscious, because all he saw was darkness. That was an illusion, however; the ceiling was dark, but not so much his surroundings. Micheal looked around and jolted up in fright. All around him were black silhouettes, huddled together around him. Before he could even say anything, he heard the angelic, if slightly annoyed, voice of a girl.
"Calm down. You're fine."
The voice was coming from behind him. Micheal felt a hand tug at his shirt as he turned to see the origin of the voice. His heart lurched, and not because he was blessed with the sight of a beautiful girl; it was quite the contrary. Her face was obscured in darkness, which allowed only her black figure to be seen. So what Micheal was looking at was not just her, but her soul. Even though the darkness was meant to mask the scene, it also made the unseen visible. All of this caused Micheal's heart to throb, and out of fright he quickly backed away.
"Did I frighten you? Sorry."
It took a while for him to respond, but he managed a weak "I'm alright."
As if suddenly regaining the full capacity of his senses, Micheal could hear the bickering of the people all around him, and not only that, but also their quiet cries and prayers for their god to save them. It was as if he were in the afterlife, where they were nothing but souls, completely maskless and naked, revealing their pain, sorrow, and hope for forgiveness and salvation quietly into the darkness where none could judge them. It was truly a horrifying sight for Micheal. Then he began to question whether he was really alive. What if this was just a stage? And if that was the case, did…did I…fail? Micheal thought. His breathing became ragged as the reality he interpreted came crashing down on him. And finally, at his breaking point, he let out a loud scream, but not even a second later the girl came rushing toward him, embracing him tightly, and instantly Micheal could breathe regularly again. The warmth of the girl's shirt kissed his face as she pressed it into her, to calm him. And it was working, because five minutes later Micheal was fast asleep again.
An hour later
His eyes blinked open as he regained consciousness, and he stared blankly up at the girl's black silhouette. However, the loud sound of a horn, combined with some movement from below, quickly brought back all his senses. He lay on her lap completely still, too embarrassed to speak, so he tried to close his eyes and pretend to still be asleep. But before he could, she suddenly looked down at him.
"You're awake?"
Micheal felt a wave of embarrassment wash over him as their eyes met. He didn't say anything; the words just wouldn't form. Perhaps both the embarrassment and the surrounding darkness had gotten to him. However, despite how dark it was in there, the only thing fully visible to him was her eyes. It was as if the dark had completely stripped their physical bodies from sight and instead revealed their collective souls, revealing the fact that they were all just people, similar in everything but experience. Yet that was what made people so different in the light.
"Excuse me, but your lap-time experience is over. You can stop taking advantage of me now."
"What?" Micheal said, instantly sitting up.
"I wasn't—"
He paused, having no excuse.
"Hahaha. Don't worry about it," she said, giving him a smile, though of course he could not see it.
Micheal was speechless. He desperately tried to come up with an excuse, but his brain searched in vain. He had no choice but to wallow in embarrassment.
"Hey, what's your name?" she asked.
"Micheal."
"Micheal. You have an English name just like me," the girl said, in a slightly surprised tone.
"What's your name?"
"Mary. I imagine it's a very common foreign name."
Micheal thought so too, but they had bigger issues than his embarrassment and how common her name or his was overseas. He had to find out where they were.
"Yeah, it is. But…do you know where we are?"
"Yeah, we're on a train. But don't ask where we're going, because I don't have a clue. I'm pretty sure it's somewhere in Sudan, though."
"Oh," he said.
How can she be so calm? he thought. Despite their circumstances, she didn't seem the least bit bothered. In fact, she seemed to be in high spirits, judging by the way she had been talking.
Looking around his surroundings once more, he again saw dark silhouettes huddled in groups. Some were snoring, some sniffling, and some whispering among themselves. Seeing this, he bit his lip and pinched his leg. Micheal had to make sure he wasn't dead; otherwise he would…actually, he didn't know what he would do if he were dead. Perhaps climb from the deepest depths of hell. Even if he could, it would take decades before he returned, if not an eternity. Micheal suddenly let out a sigh of relief. He was glad that he was not, in fact, dead.
"Hey, don't be scared. We'll be alright," she said.
"What makes you so sure?"
"Our northern counterparts believe in the Islamic religion, right? I'm sure their teachings don't involve the killing of children and the innocent."
"I heard they did just that in the civil war."
Mary paused.
"Really? …They did? …Oh well, we have God on our side, so don't you worry."
"How are you so sure that he's on our side?"
"Because I just know, okay?"
Well, you can't argue with the religious, Micheal thought. Suddenly the sound of screeching iron pierced his ears, and light bathed him and his surroundings, blinding him. As soon as he regained clarity of vision, he saw the pink sky of the morning, as well as the place they would all be delivered to, and by the look of it, the place was indeed hell.
"Listen up." Micheal and everyone else turned their attention to the origin of the loud, commanding voice. It came from a young man who, if Micheal had to guess, was in his early to late twenties, still considered a brother figure or young uncle where he was from. But Micheal was no fool. He knew he would not get the care he would have gotten from the young men back in Bentiu, or rather, the ones who had been in Bentiu. To Micheal it seemed as if the rules and norms of morality had suddenly adjusted overnight. Why? He still didn't know. But what he did know was that he needed to either adapt to the new rules or die. This was the cruel reality he faced.
"We're now arriving at the camp. You must all exit at the rate of one person at a time. Anyone who disobeys will be killed on the spot. Same consequence if any of you try to run away. As of today, you are all slaves."
The young man said this before stepping into the train car with a partner.
By what he said, and by the gun hanging on his shoulder, Micheal could only assume the young man was a soldier of the Sudanese army. Micheal wondered, Was he like me? Was he once a carefree child whose life underwent a catastrophic event? Is that what birthed the man I'm seeing now? Is that the same fate awaiting me there? He hoped not. A person would find no peace once confronted by the ugliness of the world.
The sound of the train screeching on the tracks made his heart stop. He realized this was really it.
And, as instructed, the slaves stepped out of the train car one at a time. They were also careful coming out, to avoid accidentally exiting alongside another person. As for Micheal, as much as he tried to hide his fear, he simply couldn't. His breathing was ragged, more ragged than that night, and his knees felt as if they could collapse at any time. He imagined himself near the front of the exit and accidentally falling out just as another person was exiting. He could see and hear it vividly: the loud, paralyzing sound of a gunshot and the thud of a falling body. Then he looked up and saw the barrel of a gun pointed at his forehead for a fraction of a second before everything went black. Just the thought clenched his throat. But luckily that wasn't the case when he got out of the car.
"You okay?"
Micheal turned to Mary.
"What?"
"I asked if you're okay. You look tense."
"Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."
Along the train, from its start to its very end, there were people forming rows and lines, as they had been told to. Just like him, they were all more than tense; they were terrified. The newly labeled slaves were completely silent, except for the children too young to understand the reality of the situation. Seeing how carefree and joyful those children were, Micheal couldn't help but feel a bit of jealousy. How he wished he could have been given permission to be as ignorant as they were, going through the world seeing only the kindness and love of humanity, being spoiled with affection and care, feeling the love of the people close to him, having to worry only about minor problems and responsibilities like figuring out a math problem or doing chores he absolutely despised. Micheal knew their ignorance would eventually fade with the cruel, unstoppable progression of time, but what if there were a way to freeze time and live as children forever? Or what if there were a way to eliminate the other half of humanity, the darkest side, so that we could all live peacefully forever, not having to worry about death, pain, and suffering, knowing only life, love, peace, and harmony? After that, humanity wouldn't need to change. There would be no wars or murder, only blissful ignorance and a world of children. How nice it would be if that were indeed the reality; how nice it would be to be that ignorant. As it was, it seemed the only way to find true peace was in death, Micheal thought as he stared at a child pulling on his mother's breast. Then he thought to himself, What is the point of living? We are all doomed to live a cycle of joy and pain. But why should we have to go through that? If I had a soldier lay me to rest right now, I would be at peace. There would be nothing to worry about. It would just be me, existing in a state of ignorance, not knowing anything, not knowing who I am, not knowing my time in life, and not knowing the cost of living. I could do it right now. I am one decision away from obtaining that blissful ignorance. I can escape. …That's right, forget everyone else, screw them all, they are all going to die one day anyway. I don't have to put up with this.
A smile appeared on Micheal's face as he took a step forward, then another step, and another. His heart began to throb, as if it wanted to break free from his chest, but he ignored it, because he believed that in a couple of seconds that beating would stop. However, before he could go any further, he felt someone grab his arm. And of course, it was the saint herself, Mary.
"What are you doing? Are you crazy?"
Micheal looked at her, grinning.
"Don't worry. That god of yours will protect me," he said, mockingly.
"Whoa, whoa, don't test God's power," Mary said, slightly stunned by his daring.
"Well, it doesn't matter, right? That God is all-powerful and the embodiment of love. Surely he would save me."
He violently broke free of Mary's grasp and charged through the lines of people toward an armed soldier. All the sounds around him were completely swallowed by his presence; all he could hear was the loud beating of his heart and his erratic breathing, and of course his mind, and in that mind he thought, This is my chance at true freedom. It's right there. It's just a few strides away. I can see it. …I can. His thoughts were interrupted by a force crashing into him and sending him flying to the ground. Looking up, Micheal saw that it was a person, pinning him to the ground. What are you doing? Calm down, the person said. But Micheal refused to listen. He managed to get one of his arms loose and elbowed the person in the jaw.
"What are you doing? Stop it!" Mary screamed.
But he couldn't hear her. Micheal and the person began to wrestle violently in the dirt, Micheal focusing entirely on hurting the person as much as possible in hopes he would give up, and the person focusing entirely on restraining Micheal in hopes that his madness would eventually subside. As they went at it, a soldier rushed toward the person and kicked him in the ribs. The pain was visible on the person's face, but he still held on dearly to Micheal until Mary came over and helped restrain him. Right after, the soldier brought down the butt of his gun and struck the person on the head. Then the soldier asked angrily, "What are you doing?" But the person only smiled and looked up at the soldier with no rage or pain in his eyes, only love and kindness.
"I'm sorry, sir, but my friend and I got into a slight disagreement about something. I promise it won't happen again."
The soldier stared down at the person, looking him up and down.
"I didn't know initiates of the church also indulged in violence," the soldier said, chuckling.
"W-well, yes, you are right. I admit, I have violated my teachings. But I shall ask God for forgiveness. Isn't that the beauty of our Lord and Savior, and of being human? Despite the horrible things we do because of our emotions and urges, humans always strive to be better. And God always offers us that chance to change and become someone new. The only thing we have to do is accept and believe. Don't you think so, good sir?"
The soldier didn't answer. He only stared down at the person, annoyed, before spitting in his face and walking away. However, this did not bother the person in the slightest. He only wiped it off his face and let the dirt absorb it.
After the whole commotion, their new owners escorted everyone into the camp, their new home, until most likely the war was over, or until they were all dead. As they went deeper into the camp, the people could see others like them, closely watched by soldiers, hauling equipment into a tunnel, and on another side people carrying things out of another tunnel. A few months or a couple of years ago, those people had been them, looking at the people who had been working before them. Could they ever have imagined their lives would lead to this? And if they had, would they still have chosen to advance forward? Micheal thought as he walked alongside Mary and the person who had saved his life. The person was a young man, just one or two years older than him. He was dressed in an all-black church uniform, the kind priests wear. He was tall for his age and looked to be of Arabian descent. He was handsome and had very soft-looking black hair. His eyes were completely the opposite of Micheal's. Though dark, they could actually see and absorb the light, and because of that light he looked alive, unlike Micheal's plain dark eyes, which, to him, made him something akin to a possessed person.
Suddenly the loud sound of a microphone interrupted his thoughts.
"Listen well, newcomers. As of today, you are the government's property. You are no longer human beings. Forget about your past, your loved ones, and your sense of self-respect and morality. If you do not abandon those things here, you will die, or perhaps be dealt a punishment worse than death. So with that being said, let me give you some warnings. If you run, you will be killed like an animal. If you rebel, you will be made an example of. If you disobey, you will be treated worse than a disobedient dog. Remember this: as of today, you are no longer human beings. You are tools used for our benefit until the day you die. You would all do well to remember that." Then silence. By the time the introduction was done, they had already been divided into groups and locked in cages like animals. Light was completely absent. Only darkness. In the coming time, darkness would be the only thing they knew when it was time to rest.