Chapter Twenty Six
“My childhood years were nothing fantastic. I was an only child and my parent’s doted on me. I am not sure they wanted any more children. They didn’t say and I didn’t ask. I was content and very well provided for.
“Dad was a doctor __ and a damn good one. He had several hospitals scattered across Lagos and some as far as Abuja and Port – Harcourt. He did well __
“Mum was a lecturer at Corner Stone private university. I guess it was a given I’d enter the medical line. Mum always said since a young age I’d always been intrigued with hospitals and such.
“I’d hang my dad’s stethoscope around my neck and place it on my doll’s chest as I’d seen him do a thousand times. It always made them laugh. When I started to damage and misplace his they bought me my own __ a toy one of course.”
Olatunji watched her as she talked. The love and animation in her eyes and words were impossible to ignore. She’d had a good childhood which was fortunate for her. Most weren’t that lucky __ he sure wasn’t.
His thoughts drifted as he remembered. Growing up in a slum in some forgotten area of Lagos didn’t exactly live up to the image of an idyllic childhood.
He was in trouble more often than he wasn’t, going to school had been more of a fluke than anything else. After spending some time in prison on a misdemeanour charge he’d signed up for military service and the rest they say is history.
But the years there had proved beyond reasonable doubt that this was what he was born to do. His men and colleagues were his life and family. It wasn’t meant to be any other way.
Her voice seemed to fade off into the distance as he drew more into his thoughts.
Collins glanced out the window watching a cluster of infected stumble by. His eyes narrowed as he looked at them. There was something slow and staggered about their movement. He’d seen such signs before. A dog he’d had years ago showed similar traits. It walked in a staggered fashion whenever it was hungry.
His eyes grew wide as he considered that. They were hungry. Probably hadn’t fed in a while. Most of the uninfected were staying hidden or moving from place to place. So it was becoming more and more difficult for an infected to find a decent feed.
They swept past eventually disappearing into the distance. Only then his stiff stance relax; a sound behind made him turn. She stood at the door looking as beautiful as ever. She was almost seven months pregnant. Asides from the swollen belly you’d be hard pressed to realize she was expecting. She didn’t have the bloated look many pregnant women had.
“You’re up?” He said smiling.
“Yeah __ it was getting too hot. I was baking.”
“Yeah sorry about that __ would have put on the generator but don’t want to attract undue attention.”
A resigned look came into her eyes. “Yes ___ I can see how that would be a problem.”
He smiled walking towards her. “What were you doing at the window?” She asked as he took her into his arms.
“Just checking out the terrain, we have to be more careful now __ I think they are running out of food.”
She stiffened. “And you know this how?”
He squeezed her shoulders twice and stepped back. “It’s just a hunch! I pray I am wrong __”
He stepped past her heading to the door.
“Where are you going?”
“I have to look for supplies. We need fuel to keep the generator going.”
“To keep our phones charged? Why bother? There isn’t any signal anyway __”
He shrugged.
“Ok __ I just get really worried when you leave. I am always afraid you won’t come back.”
“Why won’t I come back?” He asked hurrying back to her. “I am not that guy anymore. Now I always come back __”
She slid into his arms hugging him as if he was her last link to life. He let her hold him for almost three minutes before he extricated himself.
“I have to go babe. Be back as soon as I can.”
She nodded slowly as tears slid down her cheeks. Wiping them away he stepped back again and headed out of the sitting room into the corridor beyond it.
She heard the back door close and he was gone.
Collins jogged round the back to where he parked the car. The 2010 Honda Accord they’d acquired to make their escape weeks ago. One of the side windows was still smashed. An irritated look entered his eyes when he saw it. He still couldn’t use the air conditioning. Bully for him!
The engine started with a healthy growl and he swerved out of the parking area speeding to the front of the house. The car scraped the curb as he descended onto the road.
If he remembered correctly there was a fuel station/supermarket not too far from here. He mashed his foot down hard on the accelerator increasing speed. If he hurried Judith wouldn’t be left alone for too long.
After almost fifteen minutes of driving he saw it rise ahead in the distance. He reached it in seconds and swung in. He kept the engine idling at the entrance for almost five minutes before he drove to the front of the supermarket. There didn’t seem to be any trace of infected activity as far as he could tell. But one couldn’t be sure.
He turned off the car’s engine popping the trunk at the same time. Exiting the car he retrieved the jerrican from the boot and headed to the manhole style cover that marked the opening of the underground tanks.
Pausing over it, his eyes drifted around; his ears perking to hear even the tiniest sound. There was no movement neither was there the slightest sound.
He relaxed and crouched down in front of the cover. A tiny padlock prevented it from opening. A quick glance around eased his concern and he reached into his pocket removing a deadly looking handgun.
He considered shooting off the padlock but decided against it for two reasons. One was the chance of explosion and secondly he didn’t want to attract the attention of any infected that might be lurking around.
He gave the butt of the gun a quick examination and eyed the padlock again. Looking around once more he drove the end into the padlock as hard as he could and with a satisfactory clicking sound it snapped open.
He lifted it grimacing as the strong smell of petrol hit him. It was so strong he gagged. Removing a pencil slim flashlight from his left pocket, he turned it on, shinning it into the opening.
The underground tank was filled to the brim. All he had to do was reach down and fill his Jerrican with fuel. His eyes drifted around again. A pale green bucket lay on the floor some distance away. He retrieved it, relieved to see there were no holes. He leaned down once again dipping the bucket into the tank. Filling it he brought it out, empting the contents into the jerrican.
He repeated this process five more times before the jerrican was full. Once done, he walked back to the car and dropped the jerrican in the trunk. Giving his surroundings one more glance he walked round to the driver’s seat. His fingers closed around the handle when he realized he hadn’t closed the underground tank cover properly.
He did that quickly and started back to the car. His eyes drifted to the supermarket and he paused. He almost forgot to get supplies. Taking a deep breath he pulled out his gun and walked to the entrance.
The inside was dark and gloomy. A quick kick shattered the glass and he walked through. His eyes swept through the supermarket’s expansive confines. There was no movement. The shelves were high, crammed with goods of all kinds.
There were several trolleys stacked to his right. He took a deep breath and picked one up. The walk around the shelves took no time at all and in minutes he had all he needed.
He hurried outside and froze when he saw an infected man standing beside his car. Where did he come from? His hand tightened around his gun while he gave his surroundings a careful sweep. For the moment it seemed like he was alone.
He cocked his weapon and strode forward. The infected man looked up spotting him. His mouth opened in a snarl and he hurtled forward, running in a staggere
d sort of way.
Collins raised his weapon and fired. The bullet struck him in the head dead centre flinging him back a foot where he collapsed on the concrete. He twitched a couple of times and became still.
Collins continued to look around as he hurried to the car. He was in the driver’s seat in a flash and turned the key. The engine spluttered but didn’t start. A chill ran down his spine. He looked up as a slurring wave of sound reached his ears.
Hundreds of infected gathered three hundred meters ahead pausing for the briefest of seconds before hurtling towards him; he swallowed and tried the key again trying hard not to panic. The engine spluttered again but didn’t start.
They were a hundred and fifty meters away and closing. He tried it again and this time it started. He punched the gear into drive and did a sharp a hundred and eighty degree turn before racing back the way he had come.
The horde started to recede in his review mirror until he could no longer see them again, only then did his racing heart slow. ‘You were careless.’ An accusing voice said in his subconscious.
“To hell with you!” He yelled out loud. Forgetting he was talking to himself.
He’d checked out his surroundings about half a dozen times. Where had they come from? He’d been extra careful. It must have been the gunshot. It had to be. How else could they have known he was there?
He snapped out of his reverie when he noticed a cluster of at least fifteen infected walking ahead. His eyes drifted to the right and he spotted a hundred more walking across long stretches of well tended fields.
He put on an extra burst of speed. Some turned starting to shriek when they saw the speeding car. He increased speed again driving the needle of the speedometer to a hundred and forty kilometres per hour.
Two infected raced to intercept him. He smashed into them so hard that the force tossed them almost fifty feet into the air. There was a sickening sloshing sound as their bodies connected to the asphalt.
The others gave chase but he quickly left them behind. He was in the clear; all that remained was Judith and home.
Holocaust Page 30