Stop it!

The very next day, something unfortunate had happened. At around 3 am, when everyone in the tribe was sleeping soundly, sudden footsteps were heard by a few men.

Before they could get up and see what was going on outside, their huts were destroyed and they were killed. Their resources were stolen and their huts were also set on fire. Nobody was spared, not even a baby.

Infact, the entire place was set on fire after being destroyed and looted. Although, a few had managed to escape. By a few, I mean less than 30 people had escaped this monstrosity.

They ran for their lives, some were with children. Some women were carrying unborn children and their husbands had to pick them up and run. They ran far,far,far off into the distance. Some tried to run, but were caught and killed.

It was now around 6-7 AM by now. They had found a den to stay in and the 24 people that ran together, were safe, for now.

"Who the hell were they? What was that?" Asked Bandar while gasping for breath. "My work. My father's work. My grandfather's work, it's all gone." Said Malik, sadly. He was disappointed in himself.

"I worked my whole life, and so did my entire family. But I, ruined it all." Continued Malik. "It's not your fault. You ruined nothing." Said Robert.

"What should we do now?" Asked a woman. "I feel a bit cold, it's a forest out here." Said another woman. The others agreed with her. Meanwhile, Malik was sitting in a corner with his head down, hyperventilating. His hands were shaking and he kept clenching his toes, again and again.

After a while, Bandar calmed him down and got him to sit upright. "First things first, we should start a small campfire here, since some of you are carrying children or already have children." Said Bandar.

"Malik,Robert and Rosa, please go and collect sticks and leaves. Don't forget to bring two stones to start the fire." Completed Bandar.

All the three listened to him and went out of the den to complete their tasks. "Raymond and Aaryan, go and find some water and eatables. Do whatever to find them but do not go separately, stick together at all times."

Raymond and Aaryan immediately followed Bandar's commands and went outside. "I think we have all our basic needs for now. Does anyone have more ideas on what we can find?" Questioned Bandar.

The others just looked at each other and stayed quiet. They all started to talk with their families and friends.

[Scene switches over to Malik,Robert and Rosa]

Robert went near Rosa to talk to her. "Hey Rosa. Don't you think O'ruler looks a little sad?" Asked Robert. "Duh. Almost all his and his family's hard work is finished. If I were him, I would be sad too." Said Rosa while picking up a few leaves and sticks in her hand.

"We are all he has left. He would give his life to protect us." She continued. Suddenly, a loud voice came from behind them saying, "I am done with the sticks, are you done?"

Rosa and Robert got startled and they let out a loud shriek. "Jeez." Said Robert. "Why did you sneak up like that. It scared the living crocodiles out of me."

"Sorry, but are you two done yet? I wanna go." Said Malik with no expression on his face and in a bland voice. "Yeah, I mean we have our hands full. Let's go." Said Rosa.

They turned around and walked back to the den.

[Scene switches over to Raymond and Aaryan]

They did not walk too far, only about 1 mile away from the den and found a body of water. Aaryan, who was a fisher man had a few steel bottles that he had attached to his fishing belt.

"Fill those bottles you have on your belt with water. Then let's go and find some fruits or whatever we can find to eat." Said Raymond.

"Yeah." Replied Aaryan. While Aaryan was filling the steel bottles with water, Raymond took a look around them and found a few apple trees. "Hey look, there are some apples over there." Said Raymond.

"Wait I am almost done. Don't go alone." Said Aaryan. Raymond patiently waited for Aaryan to finish filling the bottles. After Aaryan finished, they both went towards the trees and plucked some apples.

While they were standing on their toes and plucking apples, Raymond started talking, "What do you think will happen now? We lost all our resources. Who do you think attacked us?"

"I think those weird tribesmen who came to us a few days ago attacked us thinking we did not consider their offer and that we lied to them." Replied Aaryan. "Could be a possibility. But why burn down our homes and kill us?" Asked Raymond.

Aaryan loudly sighed and remained quiet. "I think we have enough apples to last us for atleast this night." Said Aaryan. "Yeah. Let's go back." Replied Raymond.

Aaryan and Raymond went back to the den with the water and food that they had found near.

[Scene switches back to Bandar and the others in the den.]

"Excuse me, I am feeling extremely thirsty. Are they back with the water yet?" Asked an old woman. "No, but I am sure they are on their way now. Don't worry, they will come." Assured Bandar.

He went outside the den and looked at the surroundings to see if he could find any of his people. Suddenly, he saw Aaryan and Raymond emerge from the fog in the distance. Bandar started jumping around waving his hands in the air to get their attention.

He signaled them to run the way back. Aaryan and Raymond did as ordered and ran with apples in their hands which almost fell while they were running.

"Finally. Quick, give me a bottle." Said Bandar. Aaryan handed over a bottle to Bandar and he ran towards the old woman who complained about bring extremely thirsty.

After giving water, the old woman was thankful and others too, drank some water.

"Where did you find water and food? Is it near?" Asked Bandar. "Yeah, just about a mile from here. Are O'ruler, Robert and Rosa back yet?" Asked Raymond.

Bandar replied "Not yet." All of a sudden two men and one woman came running back in the den. Everyone screamed, but the men and the woman started laughing.

Those people were Malik,Rosa and Robert pranking everyone. Bandar, who fell on the ground while trying to run said, " Are you crazy? You scared the living soul out of me.... and everyone"

The three tribesmen continued laughing their lungs off. "Didn't you bring what I asked for?" Asked Bandar. Malik and Robert handed over the sticks and Rosa handed the leaves to Bandar while giggling.

"Everyone spread out and leave the center open." Commanded Bandar. Everyone did as they were ordered and left the centre open. Then, Bandar took some sticks and arranged it.

Suddenly, he realised, there was one last thing missing. Stones. He asked the three tribesmen and for a short while, they looked at each other. Then Rosa turned around went outside and picked some stones she found. She handed it over to Bandar.

Bandar grabbed only two stones and rubbed the two stones together to start a fire.[1] Finally, the fire started and everyone started to not freeze to death now.

For the rest of the day they did nothing except lazily sitting around and talking. At night they ate. Malik and Bandar would take turns adding leaves and a few sticks to the fire at night.

So if Malik slept, Bandar would make sure that the fire would be kept alive and if Bandar were sleeping, Malik would make sure the fire didn't die. This way, there would be warmth throughout the night.

If also someone approached them, one of them would wake the others up to warn them.

([1] An ancient way of starting a fire by rubbing two stones together. Rubbing them creates sparks which will fall on the leaves and sticks and cause a fire.)