Olifina: Love And Trouble

27. Bodies

"Ger!" Mum shouted. Her eyes remain fixed on the window as she shouted again. "Ger!"

We heard the sound of footsteps approaching us from behind. We all turned to see Rodas running towards us.

"Jeez! Thank God you all are alive," he said as he stopped running. He bent down to the ground where Oliver and I were seated on the bare sand.

"Are you guys okay?"

I looked at him weakly through teary eyes. He turned to Mum who was still calling unto Dad.

"What happened?" Rodas asked as he looked from one person to the other. "Rufina, where's your dad?"

Bending down, tears flowed down my eyes. "I don't know," I said sorrowfully.

"Ger! Geronimo!" Mum screamed then went into a fit of cough.

She ran toward the building which was now fully in flames. I could feel the heat where I sat metres away from the building. It was very dangerous for her to be there, but she didn't mind as she kept shouting out dads name.

"Mum!" She didn't hear me the first time so I called again. "Mum!"

Rodas ran towards her and led her back to where we were. She fell to the ground and broke down in tears.

The sound of sirens filled the air. Oliver's mood suddenly changed. "Who called the police?" he asked.

Rodas turned to him as he replied, "I'm the one. I called the police."

Oliver looked away angrily. He never wanted to involve the police. He had done everything in his power to salvage the situation but now what he had been avoiding was happening. I expected him to flare up, maybe shout at Rodas or something but he didn't. He just looked away as he clenched and unclenched his fist.

The police torches flashed into the area, signifying that they were close. They couldn't come with their vehicles due to the woods that surrounded the house so they had to arrive on foot.

They trooped in one after the other. From their behaviour, it seemed they were expecting the fire.

They came in our direction with their torches, flashing them towards the house. They flashed their torches at us and I squinted.

"Hey! Are you guys alright? What happened here?"

"As you can see, there was a fire. And please stop flashing your torch in our eyes," Oliver said in an annoyed tone.

Rodas and I glared at him. He stood up and walked away, pissed.

Mum stood up from where she sat on the floor, shaking in fear. She approached the police with tears in her eyes and shaky hands.

"Officer, my husband is in there. My husband is in that fire. Officer please, please help. Help him please."

The police officer held her hand which she stretched towards him.

"The fire service is on their way, we noticed the fire from afar and alerted them. For your treatments, our vehicles are not close-by, unfortunately. You have to walk some distance from here to reach it. But luckily we've brought our first aid kit."

That reply wasn't enough for Mum.

"But my husband is there. My husband is in that fire. Don't you understand?"

She started crying and shouting at the police. She was losing it and if no one helped her, she would flip and do something crazy.

Rodas ran to Mum and held her sobbing frame in his hands.