"Everyone should calm down, the train will be fixed in no time" the male train attendant said trying to calm the frightened passengers when the train abruptly came to a halt.

Nadia stretched her neck to see what was going on in the front, she was seating alone, and she couldn't hear what the train attendant was saying, in a bid to get up to ask those seated in front of her, the lights suddenly tripped off living the train pitch black.

The murmurings got louder, little children started wailing, the whole train was in chaos, being stuck in the middle of nowhere and suddenly the lights goes off is nowhere near a good sign.

Nadia shivered in fear, darkness wasn't something she could bear, it brought back the memory of that pitch-black night, adhkar rolled out of her tongue to ease the utmost fear she felt. She gently sat back on her chair praying that nothing bad happens when suddenly she felt a presence close to her.

A man clad in all black suddenly approached her placing his finger on his mouth indicating she should be quiet, something in her wanted to scream, but another thing was stopping her. The man quickly removed his bag that was lying on his back, he unzipped it removing something like a folded fabric from it,

"wear this" he handed the clothes over to her, Nadia didn't want to collect it at first but when a loud thud sounded shaking the whole train she snatched it with her shaky hands.

Spreading the clothes over her head and putting it on, it turned out to be a long hijab and niqab, "don't make any noise and follow my directives if you want to live" he said in a low tone.

"Yes, yes sir" Nadia answered in a shaky tone, she didn't know the colour of the clothes she was putting on, neither did she know who the strange man was since everywhere was dark.

The sporadic gunshot caused the cries and wailing of the passenger to be on a high increase, Nadia watched as people dropped on the ground with blood spilling from their bodies, she has never been in a situation like this.

"Bend, down and follow me" the man said to Nadia,

Nadia bent down panting heavily, following him here was risky but at least it gave her a little hope of leaving this hazardous place alive, but again how could she escape alone when everyone was in grievous danger,

"what of them?" Nadia asked whimpering as she pointed towards the other people who had a little or no hope left,

"you have to save yourself first in a situation like this" the man said before gesturing for her to crawl after him,

Nadia looked back one last time before following his lead, what he said is true, no matter how she wished she could save them all, it was impossible because her life was also in danger, she prayed silently to Allah the almighty to save them all because only he can turn the most impossible situation possible.

****

After slowly crawling through the pathway in the midst of painful screams and cries of innocent individuals, they got to the end of the train which was void of any human, the anonymous man got down of the door quietly before asking Nadia to come after him, she carried her numb legs slowly before tip toeing out of the door.

Nadia left all her belongings behind the only thing remaining with her was her phone which she clutched tightly in her right hand,

"be cautious now, we will move through the bush" he stood in front of her before pointing to her something that felt like a rope, he tied it round his waist tightly, "hold the rope tightly and follow me closely" he said with a commanding tone, she nodded her head, and they started moving down the bush.

****

They walked for few minutes through the cold thick bush before they heard the sound of footsteps coming their direction, the man quickly held Nadia fabric pushing her behind a big tree, he stood in front of her guarding her carefully, that was when she noticed he had a very bulky stature, his figure completely hid her petite frame.

****

Abdallah sat in the room after returning from Maghrib prayers in the masjid, he was starting to get worried about Nadia, he has been expecting her call since he saw her text, he knew their train would arrive at Abuja in 30 minutes time, but she hasn't called him yet. picking his phone and car key, he proceeded to his car to await her arrival in the train station, he dialed her number while ambulating down the staircase.

****

Nadia and the strange man stood behind the tree to hide from the incoming unknown persons when suddenly her phone started vibrating, she threw it down fearing what that mere noise could bring upon them, the strange man quickly bent to pick up the vibrating phone throwing it as far as possible,

"follow me" he whispered crouching down, she followed his actions as per his instructions, they hopped until they got to a dry tunnel, "lie down inside" he said to her, After he was sure she was laying flat in the tunnel, he laid down some few centimetres away from her.

Nadia cried silently to Allah, this is truly a hard situation between life and death, she won't forget this experience if Allah saved her life,

"I actually heard a voice" an unknown person said standing directly above them, but he was looking somewhere else, Nadia's heart was already in her mouth at this moment, if the man looked down, he'll spot her immediately, she closed her mouth to stop herself from screaming out of fear, she started reciting all the duas she knew,

"check over there" another distant voice said, causing the man standing directly above Nadia to change his direction, Nadia released the breath she didn't know she was holding, she now knew that having another second to live on earth was indeed a privilege from Allah.

****

Meanwhile, Abdallah found it weird that Nadia's line went through when he first called, but suddenly, it was unreachable, he wanted to turn off his phone, but he stopped when he saw a message from his news app indicating 'breaking news', he tapped on it to get the full story while opening his car door, he sat down inside while waiting for it to load, "subhanallah" he muttered, "inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi rajiun (indeed, to Allah we belong and to him we shall return)" he said as he read the news headline,

"Breaking news: the 4:00 pm train coming from Kaduna to Abuja was attacked by unknown gunmen"

Abdallah didn't know what he felt at that moment, he didn't know what to feel, different worst scenarios and imaginations played in his head, the thought of something bad happening to his wife made his heart ache, he suddenly felt something he thought he couldn't feel, he felt afraid for the first time in a long time, he felt afraid of losing her. He quickly zoomed out of the compound towards the train station.

*****

The cold air penetrated Nadia's skin into her bone, her whole body felt numb, it has been over an hour since she has been laying down there, the strange man who she can now call her saviour still laid there some few centimetres opposite her, she wanted to know why he saved her, could it have been a coincidence, but there were many other people, why her?,

"why did you save me?" she found herself asking him, he jerked his head up from where he laid, he was silent before he finally answered,

"I was sent by someone close to you" she wanted to ask more, but suddenly a torch shined brightly into her eyes,

"is anybody here, don't be afraid we are from the Nigerian army" the voice reverberated through the silent bush with the torch flickering in different directions.

"Go" the strange man said, "but don't inform them about me, they'll help you out of here" he said before turning his body to crawl down the tunnel, Nadia watched as his figure disappeared blending with the dark night.

"Don't be afraid we are from the Nigerian army" she heard the voice again before she stood up from her hiding spot, the torch they were holding suddenly stopped on her face, "miss are you OK?" the uniformed men said before running towards her covering her with the blanket one of them held.

Hmm speechless 🥺

Don't forget to like and comments, it motivates me💞💞

@zinat Abdulkadir ✍️