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The General
(© Biswapriya Purkayastha)

This contribution is part of a series:-
1. The Most Frightening Thing In The World (15-Dec-2010)
Given the right circumstances, love can be the most frightening thing of all.
2. Fun And Games (10-Jan-2011)
Why are children the best soldiers one can imagine? This is Part Two of the Bisaria Quartet, and follows 'The Most Frightening Thing In The World.'
3. Malaka (13-Feb-2011)
A girl wanders alone through a land ravaged by civil war.
4. The General (15-May-2011)
The General made a mistake when he spared the woman, and a worse mistake when he let her bear his child. This is the concluding part of the Bisaria Quartet.

Page 1

The General came out of the witch doctor’s house and stretched. The sun felt good on his skin, after the damp darkness of the hut. He touched the blood the witch doctor had daubed on his face and arms, painting symbols of power. The blood belonged to the goat the General had brought as a present for the witch doctor.  It was already drying, and sticky, and he breathed deep when he thought of the power that was in him now.

The Toyota pick-up truck was waiting, under the shade of the trees across the road. His men were sprawled on the grass around it, playing cards and passing a bottle of beer back and forth. When they saw him they got up, slapped the dust from their clothes, and climbed into the bed of the truck. With their automatic rifles, bandoliers and rocket launchers they looked like brigands more than soldiers. That was quite all right with everyone.

The General’s driver, Shona, grinned and flicked a cigarette butt out of the window. "All fine, I hope?"

"All fine." The General looked back at the witch doctor’s house as Shona put the truck in gear. He decided that one day soon he would have to kill the witch doctor, because he had far too much knowledge of the General’s personal power, and could destroy his aura just as easily as he had just enhanced it. He would have done it already, but he feared the old man’s juju. "We will come back next month," he said, "at the full moon."

Shona nodded. "Where we go now?" An ethnic Kudu, his Karibu was far from perfect. His round face shone with perspiration. He was always sweating, and the smell of stale sweat hung over him at all times. The General had almost stopped noticing it. Shona was an excellent driver and mechanic. "Mine?"

The General nodded. "Mine. And after that, back to the town."

As the truck drove over the potholed road, the General took off his cap and leaned his head against the window, which he had rolled up because of the dust. If he pressed his head against the window, the jolting didn’t disturb him too badly. He closed his eyes and tried to relax, but the nervous tension inside him was rising steadily, like a rubber band being stretched towards breaking point. It was a familiar sensation, and he knew he would soon have to find a way to release it.

He felt Shona change gears and slow down for the turn off. The road up to the mine was narrow and winding, rutted heavily with the wheels of the trucks that carried loads of ore down to the railhead for sending on to N’Tiloap. The pick-up rattled and bounced, and he pressed his hand down on the seat to keep himself braced against the window. "Careful," he muttered. "Don’t let anybody fall off."

Then, suddenly, the Toyota slowed and stopped. The General opened his eyes, but couldn’t see anything outside because of the drifting dust cloud. "What happened? Why did you stop?"

"Accident," said Shona, pointing forward through the windscreen. The dust had begun to settle, and the General saw the big lorry that had toppled over, mostly blocking the road. A heap of ore had spilled from the vehicle and closed off what the truck’s body didn’t. "Can’t get through."

"Damn." The General got out and stomped angrily over to the wreck. The cause of the accident was clear; the lorry had been loaded far beyond safe limits and had toppled when the cargo shifted. There was nobody around – the crew had vanished, probably fearing retribution. The accident was very recent; he could feel the heat coming off the engine. He felt the rubber band stretch tighter and tighter, and thought that this time it must surely break.

He came back to his truck. "We can’t get past," he snapped. "You and you," he said, pointing at two of the six men in the back of the pick-up, "get round this and walk up to the mine and tell them. Get somebody to come down and help shift this and clear the road." He waited until the two men had climbed over the pile of ore and disappeared up the road. "Let’s get back to town," he said.

The road was so narrow that Shona had to reverse a good part of the way before turning. Sensing the General’s mood, he drove in silence, occasionally glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. When they had reached the main road he turned towards the town.

[ Continue to page 2 ]

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Information
Genre:General Horror
Type:Medium length story
Rating:6.72 / 10
Rated By:16 users
Comments: 0 users
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