Chapter Twelve
“What was that?” Kemisola yelled crouching low at the faint thunder of explosions rumbling their way.
“The army must be engaging. They’re pushing their way towards us.” Mako’s tone was grimmer than they’d ever heard it.
“The grim way you say it doesn’t fill me with confidence.” Kemisola snapped back.
“And we have another problem __” Taiwo said pointing at the door.
There was a crack along the top hinge. The door was coming down in a big way any second from now.
“How many bullets do you have?” Mako asked.
“Not enough __ one clip left.”
“You?” He asked turning to the other soldier.
“Two clips__”
“They better __” the scream of a dozen rotor blades interrupted him.
They turned gasping in relief when they saw three helicopters streaking their way. “We are saved!” Kemisola gasped.
“I wouldn’t be so sure if I were you.” Taiwo growled as the top hinge snapped with a resounding crack. The door leaned out and the rabid screams and slurs poured out onto the roof. Taiwo squeezed off two short bursts into the gap and would have continued to do so if Mako didn’t grab his arm.
“Save your ammunition until you have something to shoot at.”
The lead helicopter hovered ahead and a ladder was thrown down.
“Kemisola first!” Mako shouted.
She grabbed the ladder and started up in a flash. Mako nodded at the soldier holding the bag of vaccine. He grabbed the ladder and started up as fast as he dared.
“You’re next __”
“You go up first.” Taiwo insisted.
“No! You first! That wasn’t a request. It was an order.”
They locked gazes for a few seconds before Taiwo grabbed the ladder swinging his gun over his shoulder as he did so. The last hinge gave out at that instant and the door came crashing down.
“Look out!” Taiwo screamed as a tidal wave of infected poured out of the door.
Mako turned firing into their ranks dropping them like flies. “GO UP NOW!”
The helicopter pilot started to ascend pulling Taiwo with it. The bullets Mako fired couldn’t stop the onslaught. The first ten slammed into him so hard he was flung into the air like a skittle, bouncing on their shoulders before he and over twenty infected went over the edge of the building plummeting to the ground below.
“MAKO!!!!” Taiwo screamed. The enraged slurs and growls were the only response to his agonized screams.
Kemisola was wailing in despair when he finally got into the helicopter’s cabin. The pilot was trying to get something across but it didn’t seem to be penetrating her traumatized haze.
Taiwo caught a few words and instantly grew still. “Kemisola! Focus! NOW!”
She froze her tears ceasing instantly. “Listen to what he is telling you.”
She took several deep breaths and faced the pilot. “You were saying sir.”
“The president insists the vaccine be dispersed immediately. Is there a way you can do that now?”
She nodded. “It is engineered to merge with the air and be carried with the currents covering wide ranges in the process.”
“How much of it do you have?”
“Two dozen canisters.”
“How do we disperse it?”
“You will have to fly higher. Once we’re high enough I’ll simply release it into the air.”
He nodded pulling hard on the controls. The helicopter climbed going higher and higher. When they had reached the required height she unscrewed six canisters and released them into the air. The green vapour dissipated quickly merging with the colourless air.
“Now we wait and see how effective it will be.”
“You did say you tested it well right?”
“Of course I did.” She snapped whirling on Taiwo so fiercely he leaned back.
“The reason I ask is we cannot afford another incident like the first vaccine.”
Her eyes grew grim but she said nothing more.
Elsewhere
Baba Adora hurried into the thick underground at such a swift pace the others could barely keep up.
“Where are we going Baba Adora?” Wole cried panting heavily. Tunrayo and his mother didn’t look any better. If he had to say it, he’d say Tunrayo was seconds away from collapse.
“There is a hut not far away from here. We should be safe there for a while.”
“A while? Why a while? We’re miles away from everyone or anything.”
He stopped turning around slowly. Cold fear slithered down their spines when they saw the terrified look on his face.
“What’s wrong Baba Adora? What happened?”
He swallowed taking several deep breaths before he could speak.
“The Evonso Virus just became airborne.”
“WHAT???”
“HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?”
“They thought they were making a aerosol vaccine. But there was something wrong with the conversion process. It mutated the virus. Now it’s airborne.”
“What happens now?”
He shrugged and started for the hut as fast as he could with them struggling to keep up.
After things went horribly WRONG!!!
Holocaust Page 13