Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2016 20:12:51 +0300
From: Cooper Max <lmd4208@gmail.com>
Subject: Diplomacy and Lust Part 5 (Adult Friends)

Diplomacy and Lust Part Five

	Dave never saw it coming; the explosion caught him completely off
guard. The explosion was intense; hot, deafening, blinding. Dave was thrown
into air and landed hard against the concrete; smashing his head. His
vision went blurry. He was covered in dirt and dust. An eerie silence
settled over the plaza as dust still clung to the air obscuring his blurry
vision even further. He could barely make out the rough, in descript shapes
of people moving slowly, staggering through the dust.

	The sound of automatic gunfire suddenly ripped threw the haunting
quiet. Dave, his instincts taking hold, started to come to his senses and
he crawled behind a large potted plant for protection not sure which
direction the gun fire was coming from. The sounds in the plaza were
playing tricks on his perception. Voices shouted in terror. Somewhere
through the thick dust a child's shrill, terrified voice cut threw the
sounds of gunfire. Dave could hear the bullets ricocheting off the walls.
He grimaced at the sound of each ricochet - waiting for one of the bullets
to rip hotly threw his flesh.

	Dave felt up and down his body to check if he'd been wounded in the
blast. His heart pumped rapidly as adrenaline shot through him, his head
felt like it was going to burst with pain. He coughed, inhaling the dust
that still clung to the air. Dave felt wetness on his hand; he was
bleeding. A bit of shrapnel had torn threw his pants and cut his calf.

	Dave tried not to panic. The gunfire continued; AK-47s no
doubt. Dave thought to himself This has to be al-shabab. How the fuck am I
going to get out of this? Am I going to die here? Dave froze himself stiff
as he saw figures moving decisively through the dust toward his direction.

					------------

	"Nate, oh my god, did you hear?" Susan came running into Dave's
cubicle, a look of utter panic on her face; terror in her voice.

	Nate, startled, glanced up, "Susan, what the hell are you so worked
up about?"

	"The plaza, it's been attacked. Al-shabab detonated a bomb and now
they're attacking people in the plaza with weapons." Susan said shrilly,
her face red and tears streaming down her eyes.

	It took a minute for Nate to register what Susan had said. "The
plaza, you said? Here in Nairobi?" Nate asked confused.

	"Yes! Right in here in town!" Susan said with an air of annoyance
as she sped off to talk to colleagues standing few cubicles away.

	Wait a minute! Nate thought to himself Dave said he was going to be
at the plaza today for a working lunch.

	Panic surged through Nate as he shot up from his seat. His phone
buzzed. He reached for it desperately thinking it may be Dave calling to
tell him he was fine but it was an emergency message from the State
Department telling him what he already knew about the attack.

	By now everyone had heard the news or received the message and a
frenzied panic set over the office. People scrambled to call their spouses
and friends to see if everyone was ok. Someone flipped on the news and the
story was already all over the stations. The number of dead was unconfirmed
but estimated to be high. The police and army had yet to enter the
plaza. Reports said the plaza was still under siege by armed gunmen but no
one could confirm how many.

	God this is West Gate all over again. Nate thought to himself. This
shit wasn't supposed to happen again. He thought angrily. Al-Shabab had
launched sporadic attacks in Northern Kenya and at Garissa, sadly killing
hundreds, but nothing had happened in Nairobi since Westgate.

	Guilt surged through Nate as he thought back to his last
conversation with Dave. The two had a furious fight and of about all things
it was about gay rights. Dave was absolutely incensed at Nate because he
had suggested that the USA had bigger issues than gay rights to hold Kenya
accountable for. President Obama, during his July visit to the country, had
with great controversy raised the issue of gay rights. Dave railed against
Nate saying of all people, Nate should understand how important gay rights
were to the gay Kenyans living in fear every single day, unable to be
themselves openly.

	Nate had countered saying that just because he was gay didn't mean
that he couldn't prioritize other important issues that had a much wider
affect on the majority of Kenyans; battling corruption, improving the rule
of law, increasing access to basic resources like clean water, battling
diseases like HIV and malaria and ironically improving the security
situation were all on the top of Nate's list. Being gay didn't
automatically mean that he had to put gay rights above everything else he
had screamed at Dave.

	The two went their separate ways fuming at each other with anger;
the matter completely unresolved. It was such a petty and stupid argument
especially looking back on it now.

	Nate knew that he wasn't being the most reasonable person at the
time of the fight; something else was bothering him that fueled his desire
to lash out at Dave. A new State Department employee had transferred into
the facility Ð young, in shape, very handsome- and the new guy and Dave
were already all chummy and friendly. Nate didn't want to admit it but he
was jealous at the amount of time the two were spending together Ð
lifting, golfing, going for lunch.

	The way Dave smiled at this new guy irked Nate. The way this guy
smiled right back made Nate's gaydar burst in full force.  He would have
bet his aunt elma and uncle arnie that this new guy was gay and into
Dave. Looking back, Nate realized how petty he had been.

	Hell he and Dave weren't even officially together. There were no
rules saying Dave couldn't fuck this guy's brains out if he wanted to do
so. Nate just assumed that with the way things were going, he didn't have
to worry about any competition. Now, though, wasn't the time to focus on
all that drama, Dave could be hurt or even worse. Nate's eyes flicked back
to the tv hoping for any kind of update.  As he watched, he kept dialing
Dave.

					--------

	Dave held his breath. The figures kept getting closer to him. As
the dust finally settled, he could tell they were masked, armed with
automatic weapons. The men screamed and fired sporadically throughout the
plaza aiming at whatever moved.

	The masked gunmen were just feet from him. Looking around
desperately, there was nothing in sight that Dave could use to defend
himself. With the dust gone, Dave could see the bodies strewn about the
plaza. Some writhed, clearly injured. Others didn't move at all. The moans
of the wounded clung to the air and the horrible smells of blood and death
started to seize the air too. Dave panicked with each step the gunmen
gained not knowing if these would be his last few minutes on earth. The
gunmen, finally close enough to make out the color of their eyes, spotted
the potted plant he hid behind.

	Fuck. Shit. I'm done. They see where I'm hiding. This is it. I'm
dead.  Dave thought to himself.


					----------

	An hour had passed and Nate still couldn't reach Dave. His stomach
felt like it had a two ton weight in it; he had never felt this sick with
worry in his life. Nate just kept dialing; over and over and over and over
hoping each time wouldn't be like the last, hoping that Dave would finally
answer. The worst thoughts ran through Nate's mind. He couldn't imagine the
panic and utter horror Dave was going through right now.  A tinge of guilt
and shame pulsated through Nate because in the back of his mind; he was
glad he wasn't there himself.

	All around him, people cried or burst out with anger. Some just
stared at the television in shock. Everyone felt the collective weight of
what this situation meant; everyone likely knew someone in that plaza. The
possibility that the community had lost colleagues, friends or knew someone
who had lost someone in this brutal attack was very real. Life wouldn't
return to normal for many months to come; a sense of helplessness permeated
through the atmosphere. Nate dialed and dialed and kept glancing at the
screen. Suddenly a news anchor came on with a breaking report.

					-----------

	The masked men had drawn their guns and pointed them at Dave; they
had finally seen him. Backed into a corner, Dave didn't have anywhere to
go. The gunmen stood between him and the exit. Dave could run but he'd only
be dodging bullets until he reached the wall behind him.

	Dave jumped to his feet; the gunmen looked startled. They pointed
their weapons right at Dave and began to scream wildly.

	BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM

	Explosions rocked the plaza. Gunfire erupted again; this time more
of it. Dave dropped to the ground again as dust filled the air once
more. The plaza was utter chaos as more explosions rang out. A weird gas
started to fill the plaza.

	Holy shit! Are there more of them? What the fuck is going on. Jesus
Christ in heaven. Dave thought to himself.

	Dave's mind went blank as he passed out onto the cold pavement.

					----------

	"This just in," the news reporter started, "The Kenyan military in
coordination with the Kenyan police have entered the plaza in a decisive
action. The explosion sounds you hear behind me, we are informed, are stun
grenades meant to disorient the gunmen. The plumes you see behind me are
not dust but tear gas instead as an added measure to disorient the
assailants.


	The entire room erupted with cheers.

	"TAKE THOSE BASTARDS DOWN!" Someone screamed.

	"After the West Gate attack, the Kenyan military and police have
made significant steps to better coordinate their responses. The effort
you're seeing behind us is evidence of the increased joint preparedness."
The reporter said calmly, "We are informed that every effort is being made
to take the attackers alive so that intelligence can be gathered from the
assailants."


					----------
	Dave woke up completely disoriented on the ground. He felt wetness
on his legs. As he groggily looked around him he noticed that he was lying
in a pool of blood. Panic surged threw his body again as he felt up and
down his body while dragging himself from the pool of blood. With an
enormous sigh of relief, he realized he still had all his limbs and no
puncture wounds Ð the blood wasn't his.

	Camouflaged men rushed towards him; Kenyan military by the looks of
them but Dave couldn't be sure. Al-Shabab could have dressed in military
gear as a disguise.

	The men spoke rapidly to him in a mix of Swahili and English. Still
in shock, he stared bewildered at them, barely able to understand a word
that was being said. He understood enough to know that if they wanted him
dead, he'd already have been killed.

	He muttered, "Get me the hell out of here! Get me home!" and
collapsed in utter fatigue on the pavement.


				TO BE CONTINUED