Throw in Well ( short story)
Throw in Well (short story)
By David Aoloch Bion
War broke out in May 1983. For some it was just a mere rebellion and for some it was longest struggle for freedom from domination and marginalization for decades. The soldiers who rebelled had communicated with other soldiers of other battalions.
The Major who was the commander of one of the rebelling battalions organized his rebellion different from what happened in places
.In June .a radio message was sent form General Headquarter that the salaries of soldiers had been released and would soon be taken to them. From that information, the Major told his soldiers they would rebel as soon as the money arrives. the Major put his soldiers on maximum alert while they waited for paymasters. In the battalion HQS, there were three Nissan trucks. These trucks were evacuated to nearby forest and all the soldiers were in their trenches waiting for paymasters.
At 12 noon , the paymasters arrived. When the truck of paymasters arrived at trench line. The Major himself fired four volleys at the truck. The soldiers on board shouted
“We are your soldiers”.
“We are friends”.
The Major stopped and stood up; one of the paymasters got out of the truck and said,
“Why do you shoot at us ?”
“I thought you are soldiers of 105 battalion who rebelled some weeks ago ”.
‘’we are not please’’
The truck proceeded and stopped at offices. As soon as the soldiers who were on board got out, they were disarmed. There were sixteen soldiers on truck, three masters, and eleven soldiers of escorts, driver and his turn boy. All were detained. The Major came and addressed them briefly he said
“Before, we were colleagues and members of the national army, now we no longer members of the same army and that’s all I can tell you take them”.
All fifteen men were led to the well. And thrown into the well, one by one except the driver whom the major sent to where the three trucks were kept…
A driver was given one soldier to escort him where the trucks were kept in nearby forest. The driver begged the soldier who escorted him to have mercy on him because driver thought he was going to be killed.. As it has been said in the stanza of traditional poem;
No war ever erases sevenfold hand on earth
No greatest war without single survivor
No smallest war without single dead
The soldier allowed the driver to run and he fired in the air. He came back and said the driver had run.
“Why do you let him run? Who will drive the truck now? I spared his life so that he drives the vehicle.’’ The Major complained.
The driver ran through forest, he arrived at Canal where a friendly, loyal company was based. He narrated what happened. . A radio message was sent to General Headquarter that Battalion 104 had rebelled, killed three pay masters, eleven soldiers who escorted them, turn boy and only the driver escaped from death . In the morning a helicopter was sent from General Headquarter to pick the driver for investigation
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