At the southwest corner 15 kilometers away from Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, there was an aboriginal village isolated from the politics of the country.
It was a village with an enchanting name – Bergland Village.
It was a village enamored with festivities such as dancing and singing.
In the region five kilometers west of Bergland village, there was the mother river which supplemented the life of several nearby villages – Bergland River.
Every morning, plenty of young men from the village woke up before daybreak carried jars on their heads as they made their way to the river to draw water.
According to local culture, the early mornings were when the river water flowed like morning dew. It was the time when the river water was at its purest and sweetest.
In the group of countless members drawing water from the river, Ossas was one among many of them.
Ossas’ full name was Uvuvwevwevwe Onyetenyevwe Ugwemubwem Ossas, but the people in the village just called him Ossas for short.
Every day, before the sun broke through the clouds, Ossas carried a jar on his head and headed toward the river five kilometers away to draw water. Every day before he departed, his mother would tenderly stuff two pancakes in his pocket so he had snacks for the trip.
Ossas’ mother took care to select the best underground soil she could find to prepare the pancake.
The soil was first disinfected with fire before being screened through a sieve to remove most of the impurities. The final product was finely webbed and elastic soil.
Finally, the soil was mixed with water to form clumps of mud. Butter and salt were added to the mix and stirred evenly to form slices of round cakes which were then left under the sun to dry.
After they were dried out, they became pancakes fit for snacking on.
These luscious pancakes were only good for being eaten as light snacks. Eating too much of them may cause one’s stomach to swell and greatly weaken the body.
There was also a vast and dense forest on the east side of the village. The villagers of Bergland ate berries foraged in the forest and quenched their thirst by the river.
In the evenings, whenever Ossas’ stomach began to grumble, he would get his childhood friend Ido and they would head into the forest together in search of game.
Growing up in the vast forest which supplemented the life of the village, Ossas and Ido had developed a fine set of skills since an early age. They knew how to distinguish between various sorts of berries and fungi and occasionally caught game such as mice or bats.
The entirety of Bergland Village lived their life peacefully in this manner, free from the conflict of the world.
However, a few days ago, Ossas heard from his playmate that a fellow villager who had returned from Windhoek suddenly collapsed later that night. The villager vomited endlessly and could not eat any food.
However, Ossas paid no mind to the news. As a Namibian himself, Ossas had long understood that most of the people in the village were destined to live a short life. The sick fellow was only one among many of them.
Little did he know, the true nightmare was approaching without any warning…
It was evening, after resting for the entire day until the sun was about to set, Ossas began heading toward the north end of the village. This was their daily routine. He would first meet with Ido then they would head to the forest together in search of food.
However, when Ossas arrived at the north end of the village, Ido was nowhere to be found.
“Hm, this brat is late?”
Ossas found it a little surprising since Ido was younger than he was and in the prime of youth. Whenever they went to the forest to search for game, Ido was always more eager than he was. He was rarely, if ever late.
Ossas was not too bothered. He sat at the end of the village and started to wait silently.
As time passed, the sun had set down and the pale blue sky had turned into stark indigo. There were still no signs of Ido.
“What is this fellow up to?”
Ossas found himself becoming irritated. By nightfall, it may still be possible to catch mice and birds, but there was a small chance left of foraging berries. With this in mind, he decided he was just going to head straight for Ido’s house.
Ido’s house was a short distance away from the end of the village. Within a moment, a house constructed of soil came into Ossas’ view.
The door was left open. When Ossas approached the door and was about to knock, he heard terrible retching inside the house.
Ossas immediately rushed inside and saw Ido standing helplessly by the bed. His mother was lying on the bed on her side while throwing up into a washbasin placed at the head of the bed.
“Ugh—!”
Ossas witnessed the sight of clumps of cloudy, black substance pouring out of her mouth like a fountain. Although most of it fell into the washbasin, a good amount splashed inside the basin and splattered all over the bed.
A distinct, pungent smell came from the direction of the bed. It was closely similar to the smell of blood and internal organs mixed whenever Ossas dissected small animals.
Ossas instinctively covered up his nose and mouth.
“Ossas, why are you here?”
Ido just happened to turn around and spotted Ossas arriving, his expression was somber.
“Ido, we were going to head to the forest…”
Ossas said helplessly.
“As you can see, my mother is sick. I need to take care of her,” Ido shook his head and turned down Ossas without any hesitation.
“Alright…”
Ossas knew better than to object. He took one last glance at Ido’s mother. The lady was dry retching continuously, spitting out dark brown sludge from time to time. It appeared as if she was going to throw up her very organs at any moment…
That was not the end of it. Ossas saw the eyes of Ido’s mother becoming stained with a vibrant red due to congestion. He could faintly see two streaks of dark red blood flowing down the curve of her cheeks. It was equally bizarre and eerie…
For some reason unknown to him, Ossas began to feel anxious. It barely occurred to him to bid farewell to Ido before he turned tail and ran out of the room and back home.
Ossas initially thought that this was just going to be a minor episode but he woke up the next day to an increasingly tense atmosphere in the village.
Ido’s mother was not the only case. Dozens of families in the village had displayed similar symptoms. Their symptoms closely resembled that of Ido’s mother – endless retching that was preceded by a terrible fever. A portion of them also displayed symptoms of bleeding from the eye.
The terrifying sight was like a curse from the underworld.
These symptoms sparked a wave of terror among the villagers. They all knew that this was the start of a pandemic.
Gone were the days of villagers lazing about, whiling away their days. Some of them left the village to get away from the outbreak as they sought shelter in nearby villages.
Meanwhile, there were families like Ossas who were not capable of leaving the village. All Ossas’ mother could do was to bar the entrance in a futile attempt to prevent the disease from spreading in through their front door.
On this day, Ossas only left the house once at dawn to draw all the water they needed for the day. He locked himself at home for the remainder of the day after returning.
According to the Namibian officials, this was the only way to effectively combat the pandemic.
Unfortunately, this method did not appear to be particularly effective for Ossas’ household…
It was the third day.
After a full day riddled with anxiety, Ossas awoke from his dreams to the sound of moaning coming from outside the room.
The moans came from his mother’s room. She sounded like she was in pain. Then, it was quickly followed by bouts of dry retching.
Ossas felt a clutch in his heart when he heard that voice. He immediately got out of his bed and went toward his mother’s room. Before he even took a handful of steps, he felt an intense wave of soreness spreading across his body.
As if that was not enough, Ossas felt a wave of grogginess creeping into his head which was accompanied by a splitting headache.
Ossas paid no mind to it. He rushed into his mother’s room to the sight of his mother curled up on the bed. There was a giant puddle of black and brown vomit beside her.
When Ossas entered, his mother slowly opened her eyes.
In his mother’s eyes was a pool of red blood, traces of fresh blood trickled out of them…
Ossas felt his heart sink when he witnessed such an image. He immediately darted out of the room and went to the villager chief’s home to seek assistance.
Ossas immediately stopped in his tracks the moment he stepped out of the house.
At one glance, dozens of villagers could be seen collapsed by the path of the village. The path was covered in disgusting mixtures of black and brown vomit. The situation in Bergland village had gotten irreparably worse overnight.
The air was filled with a thick, rank stench. It was at that very moment when Ossas understood that the smell of blood and internal organs mixture was the smell of death itself…