Chapter 1

HOW HELL BECAME.

The old blue wagon began to drive slowly through the old rickety roads, as it approached the bushy narrow part with little or no space for two elephants to pass. It was winter season but you couldn't easily relate because the sweat that enveloped the commuters face told otherwise.

They were now close to the city called "Hell". The silence was becoming more pronounced and you could hear the cricket clearly singing their distorted notes into mother nature's ears with reckless abandon. There was no time to catch a cold or begin to sleep because It was Hell that was been approached. You would know that you are in Hell immediately following the unpleasant smell you will immediately perceive from the heap of rubbish,

which has a likeness like one of the ancient castles in Babylon as per the height it had become

,

The big sign board written "WELCOME" as one of its letters it previously had , had long died away from the sign board that stood by the left side of the road.

The left and right movements of the commuters moving like a pendulum bulb used during a physics experiment

because of the rickety roads

, street lamps already bending its way down to mother earth.

One very great landmark of Hell

, the vandalised grocery store that stands side by side a small abandoned clinic.

The more the journey the more bumpy the rides became. The commuters already knew that they should be holding tightly onto anything they can hold to give them some kind of extra balance from hitting their precious heads on the ground. No one seemed to complain about the bumpy ride as it seemed a norm to them as the wagon moved on with uttermost care thanks gracious at least it did.

Jayden quickly stared at his phone as he saw the internet bars on his phone had quickly moved from four heavty bars to one bar flickering back and forth like a bulb in a horror movie. He looked in disbelief but kept his mouth shut because all the eyes he saw in the wagon were scary. They literally looked to him like assassins with their bloodshot eyes and no one letting out a single smile.

The wagon moved on as a gunshot is heard from afar which caused Jayden to shiver as his phone dropped on the floor, But surprisingly none of the commuters moved but just remained still and gave him a stern, which also doubled as a weird look. Surely, he has let the cat out of the bag, not only has he a chicken heart but a stranger who cannot hide his identity he taught to himself.

The wagon continued to move this time in aggressive manner and faster, as he tried to maintain balance by all means, he peeped out of the window to atleast get solace from the beautiful natural display outside but atlas! what greeted him was a mist, already forming in the clouds and some many plants lined up side by side that had already began to decay rapidly. "What the hell? a head?" He whispered to himself. "A head on a street hung on a tree??" He whispered to himself in disbelieve.

The bus came to a stop at that moment, surely he was gonna die, his head his next.

These thoughts flooded through his mind as he tried to even remember a good thing for the last time before perhaps he dies, but all he saw was blackness.

He opened his eyes and looked out again and discovered that it was just the head of a pig hung on the stick and that the driver just went down to check the engines. A huge wave of relief rushed down his spine as he bowed his head down praying for the journey to end soon. The most awkward four hours of his life!!!, he was right there living it beyond all reasonable doubts. "What the heck of a journey" He thought to himself. Never would he had thought he would be in Hell, not for anything but life happens. Here he was on a journey he never planned for in his life in a city that he would vow he won't step his foot in for a thousand dollars or would he?.

The engine came alive again and the journey began..

"Get down hommie " ... This three words came down with a heavy slap at Jayden's back as he just realised he had slept along the journey.. like what in the world? He actually slept? In this wagon? He slept in a wagon? Not just a wagon but a wagon in Hell. He couldn't believe it, but finally he had reached his destination. He quickly dashed towards the door and jumped as he looked to see his luggauges already placed in a neat manner for him to pick up and get moving. Well, the only good thing he has seen in Hell maybe they had empathy after all, to put his luggages well for him.

He needed to make a call very quickly because he needed to tell his uncle he had arrived safely. He picked up his cellphone as he dialled the number of his uncle and straight to his ears, all of a sudden his cell phone was snatched from his ear in a violent manner. "First lesson in Hell;

"Don't use your cellphones in the middle of nowhere". His grandpa smilled holding his phone up high in the Sky like one lifting a gold medal he had just won. "Mehn grandpa you scared the shit out of me" Jayden said in a joking but serious manner. "Haha son, atleast tell me you learnt the lesson" grandpa said in a lower tone whispering into the ears of Jayden. "Hop into my ride old boy, we've got a longer journey ahead of us." Grandpa said as he carried Jayden's bag into the boot. "What the hell?, Jayden thought to himself long journey again,? Well he had no choice he had to continue moving.

"Hell was flourishing, it was the talk of the town , the big guns, and the high and lofty once lived here, the latest cars in the district used the roads more often. It was really a great town. Until the government decided to use here as it's permanent site to store it's nuclear weapons." Grandpa stated emphatically as he held firmly to his steering. "But why did they decide to put nuclear weapons where a lot of people lived? They didn't know they are putting lives to a risk? They had no advisers?" Jayden asked, of course wanting to join the already interesting conversation that his grandpa was cooking from his pot.

As he asked these questions, his grandpa gave him a fixative look and finally responded, "We asked these same questions, but some people are power drunken, that it doesn't only affect their manner of approach but also their brains, Clarkson never listened, he was always right in his own eyes, We gave power to a young naive and inexperienced fellow who poured gun powder right under our cushions and we watched it explode and guess what it exploded us into, Hell." Grandpa said as he shook his head slowly from left to right.

He was right, Hell that was a Haven had long become a shadow of itself. From the rickety roads, to the track filled with all manner of rubbish amidst many other demeaning factors. "Clarkson" a name that still hunts them and would forever hunt them. Many often believed that he started storing the new weapons in this city as a retaliation to the previous government who never listened to him when he was in parliament concerning his many ideas. On that fateful day, when the nuclear weapons exploded, the 1995 Well times newspaper headline read thus "Hell breaks loose on earth as thousands are barbecued alive" . Offcourse the thousands the newspaper described as barbequed were humans. After that incident many places were affected, the once beautiful city of Havana was now a mess of a place. A city once called Havana was now called Hell, because on that very day the weapons exploded, it was a very hellish experience. Since then Havana has not been the same.

Grandpa was now driving as fast as he could, However, the faster he went, the darker the day seemed to be. Suddenly, the bumpy ride on the journey wasn't felt so much by Jayden anymore as he had quickly gotten used to it and now got to know why no one complained about the road.

Driving on a bumpy road in Hell is as good as seeing the sun every morning and waking up to see the clouds. "Pull up hommie" was the last voice Jayden remembered hearing as the windscreen of his grandpa glass came shattering towards where he sat.