Date: Thu, 7 May 2020 09:46:00 +0000 From: Andrew Passey Subject: The Tribe Part Two (Young Friends) I woke disoriented. Where was I? And what was that noise, sounds like I was in the fucking Rainforest Cafe in London or some shit like that. Shit. I was actually in the bloody rainforest wasn't I? I felt a big bump on my head and slowly opened my eyes. Well I was in the plane still, half of it anyway. My half seemed to be on the floor of the jungle, having smashed through some trees but luckily we'd ended up in a clearing. Ben was next to me unconscious but he looked ok, at least I thought he did. His skin wasn't ashen and his breathing was normal. I'd done some first aid training in scouts so I knew what to look for and my initial though was that he was fine. I left him and limped out the plane, I could see the other half just twenty metres or so away. I got there and almost vomited, the pilot had a branch sticking through his skull and he was quite clearly dead. Dad wasn't but he looked in a bad way, he had a branch sticking through his shoulder and his torso looked pretty smashed up. He stirred slightly and I assessed the situation. I needed to move him really but carefully in case anything was broken. Just then Ben stumbled up and I told him what we needed to do. With some difficulty I unbuckled him and dragged him outside to assess things clearly. First of all, he was badly hurt. I didn't know enough medical wise to say he was going to die or ok but at first glance it wasn't great. He had bruising around his head and puncture wounds around the body. I tended them the best I could using the plane's basic first aid kit and tentatively tried the radio by the pilot, trying not to look at him. It was dead unsurprisingly, like he was. Fuck, this was a bad day. Dad stirred and came to, he was woozy and I stopped him sitting up.I was able to have a conversation with him although he was in a lot of pain. Everything was about to get very strange though, I heard movement and two tribal men walked into view around the plane, they were dark although that was possibly from the mud on their bodies which i guess protected them from insects. They wore light almost skirt like woven decorative clothing around where their genitals would be, aside form that they were pretty much naked. They looks as tribal as you could get.Most of the tribes we met had started to become westernised, these two didn't look they'd gone down that route yet. Ben looked like he was in heaven, real tribesmen! What a fucking geek. He tried to communicate but they ignored him and they ignored me as if i wasn't there and when i tried to talk they still ignored me. My Dad tried a dialect, then another one, then another one, and another one.Each time they looked blankly at him and spoke to him in a different one. Eventually my Dad tried one and one of them smiled, then spoke haltingly. I guessed it was from a different tribe or area but they;d picked it up. The talk went back and forth and it seemed that it got heated on both sides before it broke out in smiles at the end. The two tribesmen then walked a short distance away and Dad spoke to me away from Ben. "I don't know this tribe Matt, but they do have some rituals that sound similar to those I do know. I need more medical attention than you can give me, they have a doctor or at least some sort of medical care or way of getting me to some. it's a bit confusing as neither of us are using our mother tongues. You're not going to like this next bit though" he told me. Well I didn't like any of this so I wasn't sure how bad it could get. "It seems boys of a certain age are kept seperate from the main tribe. Basically they are banned from living in the tribe between certain ages, I think 11 and 16 but it was hard to tell, might be more or less. All I know if that they leave the tribe to join other boys from the tribe in their own settlement, away from the main village and it's people. They aren't allowed to mix or return and they return once they are 16 to marry. I don't know what goes on in those settlements as it's kept secret" my Dad said. Fucking hell, did he think I was Ben or something, I just wanted to get out of here. "That's very interesting Dad, now can we get out of here" I said getting impatient. "You aren't listening Matt. You and Ben. You aren't allowed with me." He said exasperatedly. "What?! Do we just wait here?" I said in shock. I hadn't been listening it seemed. "No. You'll stay with the boys in their settlement until I am able to get us out of here. A message has been sent and they will come and collect you once were gone. The men are already worried that by being in the same space as you they are unclean" he said. "Unclean!? look at them" I said loudly which caused Ben to look over in surprise. "Spiritually unclean. Anyway we have no choice. I need help and they won't take you. Don't worry, it'll be ok. They won't hurt you, just do as your told. Look after your brother. You're in charge. I'm telling you this as you are the older responsible one. Ben has more tribal knowledge than you so make sure you listen to his advice as well" He said, then called Ben over and quickly filled him in. Ben almost looked fucking happy about it and already had a steely resolve that I definitely didn't feel. Then that was it, my Dad was helped up and carried away, while we faced an unknown fate....