May 31, 2081

I was in trouble. My mind shouldn't have been distracted but it was. I shouldn't have immediately noticed the sound of the voice coming from the phone in Tobi's hand but I did. I turned to look at it.

"Hello, Ivy." It was a feminine voice with a smooth texture. A voice that could put a child to sleep. It reminded me of my mum.

I rushed towards the phone but Tobi held it away from me, glaring at me. The dial tone returned and I bared my teeth in frustration.

One of the RICCO CORP guys walked forward. He had just pulled his mask up to reveal his mouth and opened it to talk when a noise in the air took all our attention. A strange like object appeared in the air, hovering above us. Ropes dropped down and ninja like people slid down the ropes. Before we could recover from our shock, they attacked RICCO CORP's men.

All of us who lived in the village ran helter skelter trying to find somewhere to hide. Everything was happening so quickly, I had a hard time following it.

I was looking for a place to hide when Tobi grabbed me and pulled me to him. I shrieked and he put a hand over my mouth, tugging me behind a tree. It seemed he still didn't trust me and despite the confusion, he wasn't willing to loose sight of me. I could hear his heart beating a calm, steady beat as he held me. I would have been impressed at how calm he was if I wasn't so annoyed.

A few minutes later, the RICCO CORP guys were laying on the ground. They were no match for the ninja people. Tobi had relaxed his hold on me but he didn't remove his hand.

The hovering object came lower and a door opened. A beautiful woman dressed in a blue long gown stood at the door and we all watched quietly as she slowly walked down the lowered stairs. She was covered in black ink just like us but that didn't make her less entrancing. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and called out in a smooth but loud voice, "Ivy Adekoya!"

It was the same voice I had heard from the phone!

I pulled out of Tobi's arms and surprisingly he released me. I guessed he was too shocked. I walked towards the woman but stopped when I saw the stance the people around her took. She raised her hand and they relaxed.

"Angela Cassey?" I called out quietly.

"Yes. Are you Ivy Adekoya?" I nodded and she smiled. "I got your calls."

Tobi came out from behind the tree and walked towards us. "You are Angela Cassey? And she," he pointed to me. "has been calling you?"

"Yes." She frowned at Tobi, probably wondering who he was, then turned to me. "I received your calls when they started coming a year ago but I couldn't reach you. I tried to talk to you but it was obvious you weren't hearing me. I tried to trace your phone which took a while and when I finally traced it to Nigeria, it was hard finding this place but I'm glad I did," she said, looking around with kind eyes as the villagers emerged from the trees.

"But what about all these people? RICCO CORP's men?" Tobi gestured to the men laying on the ground. "How did they find us?"

"I'm guessing they traced the phone. It's, after all, their product. They must have felt a signal coming from this part and so traced it."

I met Tobi's eyes and he looked away, guilt and shame in his eyes. He knew I would have been in a lot of trouble if RICCO CORP's men had not arrived to distract the villagers attention from me. I also understood his guilt. Years ago, his best friend had been a victim of jungle justice and was killed for something he knew nothing about. It affected him and I was sure he was remembering it.

"We don't have time. You are the last batch we have to get. We are leaving earth today."

My eyes widened. "What do you want me to do?" I asked, eagerly.

"Let's just get everyone to file into the hover ship carefully before any more of RICCO CORP's men come."

It became chaotic as people rushed to their houses, wanting to get one or two things they considered important. A threat to leave them made them rush out of their houses. After a few minutes, we managed to get everything in order. The adults arranged the children to go in first, and I helped. After the children had gone in, we took the younger adults. Though it was supposed to be the elders next, most of them refused to go in as they weren't sure the ship would contain everyone and if it didn't, they figured they could give the younger ones a chance to leave and live. It brought tears to my eyes and I could see even Angela Cassey was touched by it.

A sound caught my attention and I turned to see another set of RICCO CORP's men pouring out from the trees. A few adults met them head on, with sticks and stones, trying to push them back from the ship. The ship was full by now and a few elderly people were still outside with the few adults fighting.

"We have to go now, Ivy. The ship can't take any more."

I looked around, my heart going out to the people we were going to leave behind. Behind the acceptance of their deaths in their eyes, I could see happiness for us that were going to be saved. I watched the four elders as they waved at us, smiles on their faces.

The ship lifted slowly in the air and I was waving back when Wunmi and Mrs. Abimbola rushed towards me. Wunmi took hold of my hand. "Ivy, have you seen Tobi?"

I turned reflexively to look out of the ship and my eyes caught Tobi fighting with a guy from RICCO CORP. His mother had apparently seen him at that time too. "Tobi!" she screamed.

He turned to look at her and a bittersweet smile spread on his lips. I didn't understand why he was not making any move to join us.

"Come on, the ship can take you," I said even though I didn't know if it could but I didn't think one more person could hurt.

He turned to look at me and that was when I saw it—black ink rolling out of his nose.

I froze, shocked. He was infected!

He wiped it off and shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. A small smile on his lips, his eyes remained fixed on mine as the ship slowly lifted into the air until I could no longer see him.

©Jesutofunmi Fekoya

AUTHOR'S NOTE
Good news: Angela Cassey came.
Bad news: Tobi is infected.
What a day!

Inked is available on http://iwritewithink.com, sign up to the website and download the original book. If you like this chapter, please remember to vote, comment and share.