The Parade

Chapter 5 - The Parade

It was the 20th of October and the auto-generated quote-of-the-day on Acho's phone was "The hasty who ignore ill-omens are not spared from danger". But nothing about the cool air that morning signified any ill-omen, neither did the clear skies indicate any impending dread. Already Acho, Tosh and Ben received 1,000 sign-ons to join the parade. And late last night Millicent confirmed her attendance too. Acho was elated !

Though the government announced in the wee hours of the morning that it had gotten wind of a planned protest in front of the Governor's office, and any gathering beyond 6pm will be treated as a criminal and be quelled with force, Acho did not see that as an ill-omen. In his head, what seemed to be going well far outweighed what seemed to be the ill-omen.

8:00am –500 participants showed up in front of the Governors office for the protest carrying various placards and setting up props for what will be partly protest partly concert. Acho was elated!

9:00am – Millicent arrives wearing a green sleeveless shirt and white three-quarter shorts. She did not have a facemask on. Awesome! She carried the Nigerian flag to match her outfit. "I am going to hold your hand throughout this event" Millicent said, "I don't want to get lost". Acho was elated!

12:00am – The participants were now over 1,000, as expected the protesters were vocal. Various people made their opinions through megaphones. Government officials who came to reassure changes in legislations to accommodate anti-vaxers were either cheered or jeered – depending on how articulate there were. The plan was on track. Acho was elated!

2:00pm—It was clear the tide was beginning to turn. Their voices were being heard. The #theparade was the No 1 trending hastag on twitter in the country. The mood was becoming celebratory, taking on a concert feel. A stage was set, and various musicians sang to the cheering crowd. Acho was elated!

3:00pm - A random singer comes on stage. "Show the person beside you some love!" the musician bellowed to the microphone. "What is this protest turning into?" Acho thought and giggled to himself. While he was still mulling in amusement, a strong yet tender hand drew his face to soft waiting lips, and before he knew it, he was involved in a ferocious but pleasurable tongue wrestling match. After the wrestling ordeal, Millicent pulled back, still looking at his eyes, her hands still on his face. "That's better..." she said "...this tastes like Schweppes." she concluded smiling. Acho was dazed!

4:00pm – Acho and Millicent were inseparable, holding each other and giggling. Tosh and Ben were now getting a little bit irritated. The crowd had not reduced. And as the sky slowly darkened to make way for the evening, green armored tanks were seen from a distance.

5:00pm – "We will give you fifteen minutes to clear the area, the protest should stop now" a thick man in camouflage announced to the crowd with a megaphone. He was flanked by what will be at least a hundred-armed soldiers with assault rifles. The crowd was still defiant. "Freedom of speech is what we want, Anti-vaxers we will have our rights!" Ben started chanting, within seconds others followed, and the thousands of protesters followed.

"I think we should leave now Acho" Millicent said firmly.

"Ok" he replied. But he knew he would not go; he couldn't run in the middle of a battle. Besides soldiers will not shoot victims in view of the whole world, he thought to himself as he looked at the big floodlights that surrounded the protest arena.

6:00pm – The solider in uniform still sounded his warning. The crowd still jeered. Millicent was calmer after Acho's assurance that all would go well, though she was visibly unhappy. Ben was still shouting chants and now boldly charging towards the soldiers. Tosh cheered Ben's bravery, but from a distance.

6:15pm – The big floodlights overlooking the protest areas were turned off, suddenly. The crowd was now retreating. But Ben and a few protesters still charged towards the soldiers.

6:20pm – Shots fired. Obviously, these should be rubber bullets, they all thought. Then Ben, who was at the forefront, fell, convulsing, holding his chest, bleeding profusely. Then pandemonium.

6:22pm – Shots continue. Acho, Millicent and Tosh are now running together with other protesters. Bullets chasing them.

6:23pm – Acho is hit. Then black out.

6:30pm – Acho wakes up in a gutter hurting. Then from a distance, he hears a defiant sound "Shoot me! Go ahead shoot me if you are a man...are you a coward? go ahead you jabbed bastard and shoot", then a loud "Pop!" followed. Then there was silence. He slumped again. Blackout.