There and then it started.

The first to die was a young woman who had been tending the
goats, for she screamed as if in pain, stumbled backward and fell on her backside with an
agonised cry that pierced our ears like sharpened nails through soft flesh. Then from far
away, we heard a loud thud followed by another scream and more screams, some of them
so close at hand that I thought they were coming out of my own throat and body.

Then came the sounds of gunfire but there was no shouting now. Instead the cries became
louder, and all around me men began falling down like dead bodies thrown into a pile.
They were not hit – they weren't even seen – they simply dropped where they stood or lay
on their backs, with blood seeping slowly from their mouths or flowing over the sides of
their heads. All around us people were dying in droves. And still the sounds of gunfire
could be heard, but it sounded different somehow: less frenzied; quieter.

Now and again I saw something moving amid the darkness and these things moved with
a purpose. First came the small figures of children carrying torches and then the women
who worked in the fields carrying spears. After this, one by one, appeared the other
villagers, armed with knives and sticks and bows and arrows, all advancing toward us.
Now they were shouting angry, fearful words at us, but we didn't understand what they
said. We could only hear the sound of their voices, and the words seemed to come from
nowhere near us. Their voices were so thin and distant that we couldn't tell whether they
were far off or right next to us, just beyond our sight.

The villagers' advance continued until they reached the perimeter fence surrounding the
village. There they stopped and stood facing us, surrounded by the dark shapes of the
trees against the starlit sky. Then one of the children shouted something in their own
language, which sounded strange because of its harsh intonation. It was the same voice
that had spoken earlier, when he told us to go away. But this time his words were not
directed at us personally, for instead they were addressed to the others standing in line
behind him; and the rest of the villagers responded by repeating what he had said in their
own language.
'Go away,' the child repeated, 'or you will die.'

And then one of the women in front, a young girl perhaps ten years old, raised her spear
high above her head and pointed it straight at us. She took a step forward, and then
another, and another, until she stood directly before me, holding her spear aloft and
pointing it at my chest. I looked down at the shaft of the spear. It wasn't long, just three or
four feet, but it was very thick and heavy, and it felt cold to the touch. I wondered if I
would feel the tip piercing my heart or lungs, and I shivered at the thought. I tried to think
about something else, anything else, but I couldn't. I wanted to turn and run, I really did,
but I couldn't move. I was paralysed by fear.
'Shoot!' yelled one of the men in the line behind her.
I heard the sound of the bow string being drawn back, and I saw the archer take aim with
his bow. His eyes were fixed on the figure of the young girl standing before me, and he
pulled the arrow towards him with his left hand. He let the string go and released his hold
on the bowstring, and at last I found myself able to move again. I turned and ran, but
there was no escape. Everyone was running away from us, the women with their spears,
the children with their torches and the elderly folk with their bows and arrows. I watched
them retreat into the darkness ahead of us, disappearing into the shadows between the
trees.

As I ran I heard the sound of the bowstring drawing back, and then the thud as the arrow
struck the ground beside me, sending up a puff of dust. I kept running, but I knew I
wouldn't get far. The arrows would soon find me, and then the spear shafts too. Even if I
made it into the forest, I'd probably never see my family again. I might be lucky enough
to avoid the spears, but it was certain that the children would kill me with their arrows. At
least I could try and escape the spears by running deeper into the forest. For a moment I
hesitated, and then I set off after the other villagers.