They are dead 3

6

There was no time to cry anymore. It was all happening so fast. All of a sudden, chaos was king and now she found herself amongst many South Africans and tourists, all running in different directions. All of them running for their life.

When they had reached the outside a few of the people who had been down in the cave came running towards the light, escaping from the horror that was the cave. Now, they were running towards the parking lot, towards their cars and towards the busses.

She had made it to the parking lot again, next to Luke who had now let go of her, his outstretched hand an offence. He had tried to grab her by the hand again when they were outside but was now repulsed by the sight of it. The hand reminded her of the forceful way he had dragged her out of the cave and made her leave those people in there without any hope. He had checked on her every now and then, however, to see if she was still following. When they had made it to the parking lot, it had been mostly deserted. It was a weird feeling. The feeling of utter hopelessness and fear.

For one, they had no other transport other than the bus and they were not about to enter it with the manic bus driver inside. The rest of the parking lot seemed like a ghost town. Like a nightmare had manifested itself in the real world. Other than the horrific scene that had taken place a few minutes earlier, there were a few dead bodies everywhere. Nomonde threw up and Luke checked back when he noticed she had stopped to do so.

"Come, let's go," he said and dropped down to her level, touching her back with his warm hand. Its heat was searing and painful, maybe just because of what was going on. She shook his hand off of her back and stood up, wiping her mouth from the acid taste.

"Don't touch me."

"I'm trying to help."

"You just left those people in there!"

"We had no choice!"

"I had a choice and you took it away from me!"

"They weren't going to listen, Nomonde! Did you not see that? Besides, we have bigger problems on our hands if you hadn't noticed." he said with a short breath and a glance backwards. He was probably right but she didn't know if she could trust him. How could she trust someone who could just let people die in a cave, knowing full well what was going to take place? How could she follow him and not think that he might not do the same to her?

"I need to sit," she said and when she did, she felt like she wouldn't be able to get up. The adrenaline was starting to wear off and the effect of medical shock was starting to overwhelm her. Dizziness blurred her vision and her breathing seemed to become more rapid.

"Lie down."

"I just need to sit!"

"You're going into shock! Just do as I say." Luke's voice sounded distant and almost inaudible, as weakness numbed her body and closed her eyes for a second or two. She didn't know what to think and at the moment she wasn't ready to give in to Luke's orders. 

"I'll close my eyes but I'm not going to lie down!" she barked and put her hands on her forehead. She could feel her head spinning as she shut her eyes as she tried to keep another spill of vomit from making it up to her throat. The breeze felt cool on her skin and the heat radiating from her body was dissipating. Nomonde could hear Luke's breathing now as it also started to lose tempo and became more constant. She opened her eyes now and looked at him again, his gaze fixed on her still and full of concern. When she noticed the worry in his eyes she could understand why. He was the only constant thing in the last chaotic hour that had passed and her stubbornness had gotten the better of her in this time of panic. He frowned as he saw her stare for a while before a soft smile stretched across his face. She couldn't help but feel comforted by it and tried to smile back at him, feeling better about it at the moment, and wanting to make him know in a way that he was indeed helping. After all, with the chaos that had transpired, who else was there to help her? 

Luke looked into the distance and tried to make out what to do next also seeming to settle in the well-needed break. The shock was a real thing, as Nomonde had discovered, and right now all she was thinking about was getting back home. 

"We need to get out of here," Luke said, and was now almost ready to get up. Nomonde knew that he was right and with a little nod and a tear making its way down her cheek, she agreed. Luke's expression seemed to lighten as she agreed with his decision and reached out to take her hand. Nomonde almost felt better but guilt had shadowed her true feelings. She had never put this much trust in any man before but now she didn't have much choice. She allowed his hand to hover over hers for a second and she looked back up at him as he squeezed at her arm reassuringly and then she saw it. Over his shoulder, Nomonde could see pale fingers curl near his neck as an outstretched hand of death inched closer from behind him.