A Fight for Survival

Chapter 7

The storm raged outside, but inside the petrol station, time seemed to stand still. The air was thick with the scent of blood, sweat, and fear. Ntsiki knelt beside Thabiso, her hands pressed tightly against his wound, her mind racing. She could feel his life slipping away beneath her fingertips, and the reality of the situation was crashing down around her.

Thabiso’s breaths were shallow, his eyes fluttering as he struggled to stay conscious. "Ntsiki…" he murmured, his voice weak, barely a whisper.

"I don’t want to die… not like this."

"You’re not going to die," Ntsiki insisted, though her voice trembled. She didn’t know if she was trying to convince him or herself. "We’ll find a way. Just hang on, okay?" Sello stood a few feet away, watching them with a grim expression. His face was streaked with blood, his eyes dark and unreadable. "We don’t have time for this. We need to move before they send more people after us."

Ntsiki’s head snapped up, fury flashing in her eyes. "He’s dying, Sello! We can’t just leave him here!"

Sello didn’t flinch. "If we stay, we’ll all be dead by morning. They won’t stop coming." She shook her head, refusing to accept it. "There has to be a way! You said you’d help."

"I will," Sello cut her off, stepping closer, his voice calm but firm. "But you need to understand something, Ntsiki. This isn’t a game. This isn’t some movie where everyone makes it out alive. People die. Right now, if we don’t think smart, we’ll all be among them."

Ntsiki’s throat tightened. She hated how cold Sello sounded, but she couldn’t deny the truth in his words. The men who had attacked them hadn’t come to negotiate, they had come to kill. If more were on the way, staying here was a death sentence. Thabiso groaned softly, his body trembling from the pain. "I… I can’t feel my legs."

Ntsiki’s heart broke as she leaned closer to him, her hands shaking. "We’ll get you out of here, Thabiso. I promise." Sello crouched beside her, his expression softening just slightly.

"There’s no saving him if we don’t move now. We need to get to higher ground, away from the storm. There’s an old cabin a few kilometres north, if we can make it there, we’ll have a chance."

"But he’s too weak to walk!" Ntsiki protested.

"How can we get him there?" Sello glanced at Thabiso, then back at Ntsiki. "I’ll carry him. But it’s going to be slow, and if they catch up to us…."

He didn’t finish the sentence, but the implication was clear. Ntsiki swallowed hard, her mind whirling with indecision. Every fiber of her being screamed to stay, to find a way to save Thabiso, but she knew that staying meant death for all of them.

Sello stood, looking down at her with a mixture of pity and resolve. "You need to decide, Ntsiki. Are you coming, or are you staying?" She closed her eyes, fighting back tears. The weight of the decision felt unbearable, but there was no time left. Thabiso’s breathing was growing weaker by the second, and she couldn’t let him die here in this freezing, blood-soaked petrol station. Ntsiki nodded, her voice barely a whisper. "We’ll go." Sello didn’t waste any time. He bent down and hoisted Thabiso’s limp body over his shoulder, the strain evident on his face. "Stay close," he ordered, his tone leaving no room for argument.

"We’ll take the back route. If they’re watching the front, it might buy us some time." Ntsiki grabbed a blanket from one of the shelves and threw it over Thabiso to keep him warm. She knew it was a futile effort, but it was the only thing she could do to feel like she was helping.

As they exited through the back, the storm greeted them with a ferocious howl. The snow was blinding, whipping across their faces as they trudged through the thick drifts. Every step was a battle against the wind, and Ntsiki could barely see a few feet ahead.

Sello led the way, his movements steady despite the burden he carried. Thabiso’s breathing was shallow, his body completely still. Ntsiki followed closely behind, her heart pounding in her chest, her mind racing with fear and uncertainty.

"How far is it?" she called over the wind, her voice barely audible. "Not far," Sello shouted back.

"If we keep moving, we’ll make it." But as they pushed forward, Ntsiki’s doubts grew. The storm was getting worse, and every step felt like a monumental effort. She could feel her strength waning, the cold seeping into her bones. And all the while, she couldn’t shake the fear that they were being watched that at any moment, the men hunting them would appear out of the blizzard.

Suddenly, Sello stopped, his hand raised as a signal for Ntsiki to do the same. She froze, her heart racing, as she squinted through the snow.

"What is it?" she whispered, panic creeping into her voice. Sello didn’t answer right away. He stood perfectly still, his eyes scanning the landscape. Then, in a low voice, he said, "We’re not alone."

Ntsiki’s blood ran cold. "What do you mean?"

Sello nodded toward the trees to their right, barely visible through the snow. "There’s movement. Someone’s following us." Her heart leaped into her throat. "What do we do?" Sello’s eyes were sharp, calculating. "We keep moving, but we stay quiet. If they’re tracking us, they’ll know we’re heading north. We’ll need to make a detour, throw them off our trail."

Ntsiki nodded, though fear had taken hold of her. Every step now felt more dangerous, more uncertain. The storm raged on, and with it came the growing sense that they were running out of time.

They veered off the main path, trudging through a narrow ravine that offered some shelter from the wind. The snow here was deeper, and it slowed them down, but Sello seemed to know where he was going. Ntsiki followed in silence, her eyes darting to the treeline, searching for any sign of their pursuers.

After what felt like an eternity, they reached the edge of a frozen creek. Sello paused, his breath coming in heavy puffs. He adjusted Thabiso’s limp body on his shoulder, then turned to Ntsiki.

"We cross here. The cabin’s just beyond those trees," he said, pointing to a thick cluster of pines on the other side of the creek. Ntsiki’s heart soared with a flicker of hope. If they could just make it to the cabin, they might have a chance to rest, to regroup. But as they stepped onto the frozen creek, a loud crack echoed through the air.

Sello froze, his eyes wide with alarm. "Don’t move," he whispered, his voice tense.

Ntsiki’s blood turned to ice. The sound of the crack was unmistakable, the ice beneath them was breaking. She stood perfectly still, her heart hammering in her chest. The weight of the moment, the danger of every move, was suffocating. Then, in the silence of the storm, she heard it the distant sound of footsteps approaching from the woods behind them. They were out of time.