Page 29 of Soul on Fire
“Every two weeks, the World Food Program delivers supplies. Everything is portioned out according to how many registered refugees there are. Right now, every person gets two kilos of wheat flour, one and a half kilos of rice, half a kilo of beans, and half a cup of salt.”
“For two weeks?”
“For two weeks. There is the black market, too. Anyone can sell their rations or trade them. This isn’t a jail. There are no fences. Refugees come and go as they please. They gather firewood and try to find more food during the day. Some go into Sake or Goma and buy the things the UN doesn’t provide: kerosene, matches, soap, clothes, sandals. They resell them here. Others try to find work if they can. That is hard, though. There aren’t enough jobs in Goma for the people who live there, certainly not enough for a hundred thousand refugees.” He shook his head. “There have been troubles.”
“Aren’t there aid groups who can help?”
Ikolo smiled. “Of course there are. And they were here. They did good work, too. But you gave the order to evacuate, andpoof. They are gone.” His smile faded. “Aid workers help, but there are problems refugee camps and donations of food and medicine cannot fix. It is not enough to give a family a bag of rice and beans and tell them to rebuild their home in a plot next to a thousand others. Where do we go from here? How does life improve?”
Elliot shook his head. Everything in him ached, his soul rubbed raw as they passed tent after tent. “What about the government?”
Ikolo laughed softly. “They are more corrupt than anything else. We gave up on our government when they gave up on us. All they do is take the money your countries send for aid and divide it up between them. How much aid money do you think made it from Kinshasa out here,hmm?”
“I’m guessing not a lot.”
“None.”
“Then what’s your story, Doctor? Why are you here?”
Ikolo’s soft smile burned into his eyeballs. He stuttered, missed a step. Ikolo’s hand steadied his elbow.
“Careful, Lieutenant,” Ikolo whispered, his body pressed close to Elliot’s. “The Congo night is a fearsome thing.”
He stared into Ikolo’s eyes, wide and bright and gazing back at him. A spark burst to life inside him, something igniting deep in the belly of his soul. He hissed, a quick breath, catching Ikolo’s scent—
Whistling split the night above their heads, a flaming rainbow arcing above. He stared up, a second too long.
“RPG!” Jumper shouted. His team hit the ground, flattening in the brush outside the camp as the rocket slammed into hillside next to the UN base.
Fire bloomed sky-high and turned the night to day as pulverized lava rock and shattered debris rained. The camp came alive in a heartbeat, screams rising in a panic, thousands of people suddenly awake, suddenly terrified. Elliot grabbed Ikolo and hauled him into the bush with his men.
“Contact,” Cole said over the radio. “Tree line to the north, three klicks. Thermals show a line of fighters. They’ve got RPG and mortar tubes, sir.”
“It’s the rebels!” Ikolo hissed. “They’re attacking!”
Alarms wailed from the UN base, the emergency siren rising and falling like an air raid. Bellows from the UN soldiers rose from their compound.
“Orders, L-T?” Jumper, over the radio.
A second RPG sailed over their heads with awhoosh. It slammed into the rocky hillside at the gates of the UN base.
Ikolo tried to rise. “I need to get back to my people!”
Screaming, cries of terror. People running, escaping, fleeing. The UN soldiers fired back, launching artillery rounds from within their base. Heavywhompsshook the ground as rockets soared overhead, this time heading for the forest and tree line.
It was turning into a shit sandwich, andfast.
“L-T, are we going to light these fuckers up or what?” Jumper again, his voice tight over the radio.
Elliot grabbed Ikolo and held down. Ikolo shoved him off. “I’m going back!”
“Youhaveto take us to Majambu!”
“In this?” The camp was disintegrating, and fires blazed in a line from the UN compound to the forest. Another RPG sailed overhead, smashing into the northern end of the UN base. Shrieks rose as flaming debris shot in every direction. “How will you find him?” Ikolo shouted over the screams, the panic.
“Wehaveto!”
“L-T, they’re launching mortars!” Hood called. “Take cover!”
