Continued from part (1); Link Below.
https://www.nikeshwrites.com/2026/01/twenty-minutes-1.html
“Men don’t cry” the masked man said as he walked up to him and pointed a riffle at him. He released two bullets again; Bomm! Bomm! and Mr Theophillus fell to the floor; lifeless.
He walked back to the doorway and continued speaking.
“You have twenty minutes to kill one and save one of your family members. In other words, you are killing two family members”
There were a lot of murmurings.
“Silence!” He shouted as he positioned his two riffles in a bid to shoot any defaulter. And there was silence.
“After ten minutes, you must release the first bullet, or you and your entire family will be killed at the spot. After another ten minutes you must release the final bullet”
He paused and looked at his wrist watch.
“I love to see people die; Let the game begin” he smiled calmly and walked out; shutting the door behind him.
“Williams what kind of trouble is this naw?!” John said, as he sobbed bitterly. “How will I raise a gun to kill my wife and other family members naw? Where does that happen?!”
Williams was quiet. If only John knew that his mind wasn’t there, he would shut his mouth. He(Williams) had his own family to think of. His wife, daughter and mother.
But John wouldn’t stop talking “Oh goodness me! I am finished oo! Williams!”
Williams only turned his face away. He wondered how the situation of the other cells were. Were they manhandling his mum, wife and daughter? “Nature please don’t do this to me” he muttered.
Suddenly the door was pushed open and three hefty men walked inside. They scanned the room for few seconds and finally pointed at John. “That’s him, A5” one of them said.
Williams looked at John’s tag. The detail inscribed on it was ‘A5’ then he looked at his own chest. His own was A6.
They untied his legs and bundled John outside the room amidst his loud cries of “Please help me! Please help me!” Which circulated the room.
Several minutes later, the first gunshot sounded which was accompanied by cries of females; those of John’s wife and his kids.
“How will I take the life of my family members?” Williams whispered to himself as fear welled up inside him. If someone ever told him that he would open his eyes the next morning to such a reality as this, he wouldn’t believe. A lot of the men inside there had already started weeping and screaming. Sometimes a guard would open the door and warn them to keep quiet, other times, they would be allowed to continue screaming without any intervention.
A few minutes later, they heard the second gunshot with another set of cries. Williams bowed his head in shame. Even if there had been a misunderstanding between Prisca and Fransisca few hours again, he still loved his family. In fact, that was what made up a family. That was what a family was about. Disagreeing to agree.
What would life be for him if he took the lives of two out of the three of them? Innocent souls. Who exactly were the two persons he would shoot? Indeed this was a set up; a real set up. The game makers were being unfair and wicked.
Few minutes later, they bundled John back to the room and tied back his hands and legs, But due to the fact that he had been breathing heavily, he collapsed and fainted. He had done the unthinkable.
In a few seconds, they came back for Williams. “There he is; A6” one of them said, pointing at Williams.
And while they untied his legs, he only mopped in silence. All eyes were on him. For a moment he felt like a criminal. He felt the look of sympathy in the eyes of the men who stared at him. He shut his eyes. Staring at them would ignite his emotions the more.
His mind went back to the previous night. The soup, the wall gecko, the misunderstanding and the settlement. His countenance changed as balls of tears rolled down his eyes while they dragged him out of the room and shut the door behind him.
When they opened the door to the inner room, they shoved him inside and the impact made him fall to the floor. He gently got up to the staring eyes of his family.
They’d been tied differently to three of the six poles which stood tall and strong inside the room. Prisca, Georgia and Fransisca looked at him with great fear.
“Daddy!” Georgia shouted in tears.
“Williams” Prisca shouted.
“My son look at what they want to do to us o” his mother said.
“Mum, Prisca, Georgia” he said as he moved in pain towards them.
Someone drew him back. “You can’t”
“Oh, Me, Why?” He asked rhetorically. Not like he was expecting an answer.
“Contestant A5, you’re here for a game and not for a reunion” a voice said. He recognized it to be the one of the masked man, though he couldn’t see him.
“Untie his hands and give him the guns” the same voice said.
He only bowed his head in silence as they untied his hands and handed a riffle to him. It was time to do the most dreadful; to kill.
“You have ten minutes to release the first bullet” the same voice said.
It was after few seconds of understanding what the voice meant, that the three females started shouting.
“Daddy please don’t kill me!”
Georgia cried
“Williams what are you about to do?”, Prisca asked.
“My son, My son, don’t release that bullet”
“5 minutes more!” The voice said. He only stood still with the gun in his right hand. He had never killed a soul before. He had only watched it in films. But today it was about to happen. Right before him. He would turn to a killer; a murderer whom God will never forgive.
“2 minutes more!” The voice said and the guards all corked their riffles in preparation to destroy his life and that of his family at once.
“20 seconds left!”
“10 seconds left!”
“5, 4, 3, 2…..”
Williams closed his eyes, spun around and released the bullet, still with his eyes closed.
When he opened his eyes, he looked at the three of them and saw his mother standing lifeless behind the pole. He had killed his own mother. The one who bore the pain of bringing him to this world.
“Williams what have you done??!, mama, mama?!! Oh no!!” Prisca shouted at the top of her voice. Georgia only cried and cried.
Mama had been the only one who protected him from external attacks and threats when he was younger, since he had no father. She was a single mother because Williams father ran away and didn’t want to have a child.
But that morning, he had taken the life of his ‘disciplined, no-nonsense’ mother.
“You have ten minutes to release the final bullet” the voice said again.
Williams only shook his head; there was no time to think. It was going to be another ten minutes of regrets and regrets. He had only one person to save between Prisca and Georgia.
“Please I don’t want to play this game!” He shouted and turned towards the guards. They all ignored him and waited for his time to elapse so that they would destroy him and his family.
“Please! Kill me Instead and leave them alone!”
“2 minutes more!” The voice said. The guards corked their guns and got ready to wipe out the whole family.
“30 seconds more!”
“10 seconds more”
“One person will be saved…in other words you’re killing two family members” he remembered what the masked man had said while explaining the so called game of death.
“5,4,3,2….”.
“Williams please!!!!!” Prisca shouted
“Daddy please don’t kill me!!” Georgia shouted.
He spun around and released the final bullet with his eyes still closed.
————————————————————————
He never opened his eyes again. It was better to take his life than to do the same horrific thing to Prisca or Georgia; two innocent souls. At least he was a family member and it was still part of the game for him to do that. So he took his own life and never opened his eyes again.
(The end)