Virus

by Ifedayo Akintomide

  A middle-aged man dressed in a blue long sleeved shirt, tucked into long black trousers walked along the main road that meandered through the center of Oraromi. His large feet, encased in black boots, made a scrunching sound on the cold hard road.

  The Oraromi streets were deserted at this time. However, voices filtered out of the houses on either side of the road he walked on. He yawned glancing at a couple of the homes he passed. A slanting shaft of light from one of the houses he was passing shone on him illuminating the words on the breast pocket of his shirt. The words read Geowith security.

  The company he worked for provided security for the three banks and two micro finance houses in the town. He raised his hand to his lips to stiffen a yawn. God he was tired.

  He could not help but feel relief that he was on the afternoon shift and not the night shift. The houses he passed grew fewer. He approached the outskirts of the town and drew closer to home.

  A sound to his left made all his senses alert. He squinted into the darkness.darkness around him. A shadowy shape stood beside a house he was just passing. He took a step closer to it to get a better look with a deep look, frowning deeply roughening his hard bro When that did not help, he took three more steps closer.w. When he still could not make anything out, he took three more steps closer.

  “Who is there?” He called out.

  His voice to his annoyance sounded high pitched and squeaky. It sounded like the voice of a man who was very afraid. The shadowy form did not move. His face grew grimmer. If this was someone’s idea of a joke, it was not funny anymore.

  “Is someone there?” His voice this time sounded firm and authoritative. A feeling of satisfaction surged on his insides.

  When he received no response to his query, he turned and continued walking towards home. Within minutes the house and the shadow was out of sight to his immense relief.

  Twenty paces away from his house, the same sounds he heard earlier reached his ears. He turned around slowly discovering that the shadowy shape was standing fifteen feet away.

  The man and the shadow did not move for about one and a half minutes. The man suddenly darted to his right, tearing towards the two-story apartment building, which was his home. He had barely taken five strides when he felt a searing pain in both shoulders as what felt like cold slimy hands grabbed him from behind pulling him to a halt.

  He wriggled, struggling to free himself from the hands that held him. The cold hands pulled him closer until his back slammed into something hard and cold. He opened his mouth to scream, but was instantly cut off when two sharp fangs sank into his neck. His shout turned to a muffled gagging as the thing dragged his body back into the darkness where it quickly disappeared from view. The night was calm and peaceful once more.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Wole jumped startled shielding his eyes from the sun streaming through the classroom window. Some of his classmates had their eyes fixed on him and they all had worried looks on their faces. He knew what the looks meant. They probably felt he was off his rocker.

  Sighing he rose to his feet, heading to the door. He followed half a dozen students who were also filing out of the classroom. The shrill peal of the school bell continued. That was the signal that it was time for break. His stomach rumbled as he stepped out.

  He patted his pockets to check whether his lunch money was still there. Thankfully it was. The food vendors sold their wares outside the school gates, so he had quite some distance to walk. He knew he had to hurry if he wanted to get there and be back in time for afternoon lessons.

  He lengthened his strides, walking more briskly. The heels of his sandals made dull clicks and clacks on the tiled floor. A smile lifted the corners of his lips as he approached the school gate. His eyes took in the large mass of students walking out of the gates, most of them heading to the food vendors. It seemed he was not the only one hankering for a meal.

  By the time he reached the woman selling rice, there was a long line of students waiting to make their orders. He frowned impatiently, debating whether to head back to class or wait until it was his turn.

  His stomach gave a loud rumble at that instant and he decided to wait and get something to eat. Five minutes passed as the long line slowly dwindled bringing him closer to his goal.

  “Grabbing a bite to eat I see?” A sardonic voice barked. He turned, his frown turning to a broad grin as he caught the amused and somewhat weary look in Tunrayo’s eyes.

  “Can I be blamed? I am very hungry.”

  “Didn’t you eat before you left the house?”

  “No I didn’t.”

  “Why not?”

  He shrugged. “Didn’t really feel hungry at the time.” There was a pause.

  “I am sure your mother had loads to say about that.”

  “Funny enough she didn’t__ she just asked me what was wrong. When I said nothing, she gave me this strange look before asking me to take my plate to the kitchen and start heading to school.”

  “I was kinda surprised when she pushed a two hundred naira note into my pocket as I walked out of the door.”

  “Maybe she feels you are still coming to terms with__” She paused unable to continue.

  He sighed blinking back tears. There was no need for her to finish her sentence. It had been more than two weeks. Surely, the pain should have lessened by now. Not having an answer to that, he turned, looking straight ahead, his eyes fixed on the woman selling rice. He was relieved to see that it was his turn to make his order.

  “Would you care for some?” He asked turning to face Tunrayo.

  She nodded slowly. Smiling he bought a hundred and fifty naira rice and fifty naira meat. Pulling two spoons from the rack beside the woman’s food coolers, he walked over to the shade under a large tree with Tunrayo following closely. They quickly began to eat.

  Four days later

  A short beefy looking man whose name was Austin Okorocha turned his 2008 Toyota Camry off the four lane express road onto a narrow single lane road, which was the only road that led into Oraromi.

  Sweat streamed down his face in-spite of the Camry’s powerful air-conditioning which was on the highest setting. He kept glancing at the stack of papers on the front passenger seat as he drove. Each time he looked at it, the sweat seemed to pour down his face more. He loosened his tie and sighed as a blast of cool air touched his heated skin.

  “Gotta show someone the report__” He muttered, biting his lips nervously.

  “__ someone has to listen. It’s too dangerous to leave the situation uncontained.”

  The memories of about half a dozen meetings he had had over the last six days flashed before his eyes and the frightened look on his face quickly became a thunderous one.

  Stupid bureaucrats! No one had taken his warning seriously. Anyway, what had he been expecting? Why should stuck up and important members of the hospital management board listen to the mad ramblings of a teaching hospital’s chief hematologist.

  The frown on his face quickly became harder. Stinking blood-sucking leaders. It was sad to say that there were few concerns taken seriously in Nigeria. It was stupid and naïve of him to think this one would be.

  The look on his face grew even grimmer as he deftly increased speed, mashing his foot down on the accelerator. The Camry leaped forward as if it had been stung, eating up the miles between it and Oraromi.

  Taiwo’s face was thunderous. The officer standing in front of him swallowed and took two careful steps back.ck carefully. He could not help wishing he were miles away while someone else delivered the report he had just dropped on the D.P.O’s desk. A report he was certain tain had just dampened his senior officer’s mood.

  He could not remember the man ever smiling much, everyone knew him to be quite a prickly character. There were few times however that he had seen him look as angry as this.

  What the sergeant did not realize was, it was not anger that nger that was made making the DD.P.O’s l.P.O. look thunderous. It was worry mixed with some
thing he would never admit to anyone, least of all his men. That thing was fear.

  According to the report he held in his hand, more people had gone missing. That in itself was weird, especially since they had not been able to find any of them even after weeks of searching.

  The number of people missing was close to three hundred. In a town with a population of four thousand,usand people, that was a worrisome number. The second disturbing thing was the strange creature they found in the crypt in that shrine kind of hut deep in the forest had disappeared. When his men went back to bring it in for observation, they found the crypt empty and the creature gone.

  He immediately ordered a thorough twenty-kilometer search in all directions, searching for tracks, a trail or anything that could lead him to the creature, or even the missing town’s people. They came up with nothingthing. ing. All that had been achieved was howaurs and hours of man-hours wasted.sting tons of man hours.

  A loud banging on the door of his office made him and the officer standing before him jump.

  “Who is that?” He yelled unable to stop a surge of anger on his insides. It was embarrassing that the sudden banging had shaken him.

  “It’s me sir__” A deep voice barked from outside the door. He recognized it. It was one of his junior officers.

  “SO YOU WANT TO BREAK MY DOOR DOWN BAH???” Taiwo roared.

  There was silence on the other end for a couple of seconds before a faint “No sir.” Filtered into the room.

  “Come in!” He barked rolling his eyes in disgust. His officers could sometimes make a saint swear.

  The door opened slowly, too slowly in his opinion. It opened as if the person coming in was afraid that something lurking behind the door was preparing to attack him.

  A tall man walked into the room. He was six foot five inches tall, his muscular body stuffed into the black on black uniform of the police force.

  “What is it?” Taiwo barked, his eyes hardening in disapproval when he saw how scuffed the shoes the man standing in front of him were.

  “There is a man to see you sir.”

  “Who is he?”

  “He said he is the chief hematologist of the Kargo teaching hospital in the next state.”

  “Oh did he now__” Taiwo growled preparing to launch a verbal assault on his junior worker about the state of his shoes. The man’s next words stopped him.

  “He said our general hospital sent him some blood samples taken from Chike Chidozie.”

  “Why didn’t you say so? Send him in immediately.”

  The man’s mouth in shock, his eyes hardening as he prepared to defend himself, he closed his mouth when he saw the hard look on Taiwo’s face. He stepped out of the office with a hard frown on his face, returning a few moments later with a beefy looking man wearing an ill-fitting grey suit.

  “Good afternoon D.P.O__” The man began wiping the sweat off his face with a pristine looking white hanky.

  “Good afternoon __” Taiwo growled scowling.

  “My name is Austin Okorocha, chief hematologist of Kargo teaching hospital. You have a serious problem here sir.”

  “When are you going to tell me something I don’t know? People are getting sick, quite a few have died and over three hundred are missing. So I think I am well aware of the fact that we have a problem.”

  Austin sighed taking in a deep breath afterwards. “You are going to have to evacuate everyone in Oraromi. Everyone that is not sick that is. Those that are sick will have to remain here.”

  A long silence followed his words, and then Taiwo and three of his men that were in the room burst into laughter. Thoroughly incensed, Austin surged forward smashing his right fist into Taiwo’s desk. The four men jumped startled instantly becoming quiet.

  “Do you think this is a joke? The results of the test I carried out on the blood sample your hospital sent me reveal you are dealing with a deadly, yet unnamed Virus. It is highly infectious and capable of killing a healthy human being in less than thirty-six hours.

  “The good news is it is transmitted by the infection of a person’s blood, possibly through injection or blood contact. That does not mean that it will not eventually mutate and become air-borne or something, and something tells me that is what the damn thing wants to do. You have to get everyone out of town before that happens.”

  “But__but__” Taiwo stammered. “What happens to those left behind?” The look on Austin’s face grew grimmer and a cold silence filled Taiwo’s office.

  Elsewhere

  (Tee –junction on the way into Oraromi)

  Wole and Tunrayo stood still, their gazes locked on each other’s faces. Their houses lay in opposite directions, but neither of them was ready to leave, not yet at least.

  “I should be getting home now.” Wole said softly. His voice was so low she was barely able to hear what he said.

  “Me too__” She whispered.

  A long silence followed. Neither of them attempted to leave. Wole’s eyes narrowed when he saw a scared and panicked look enter Tunrayo’s eyes.

  “What is it?” He asked turning to see what she was looking at. His eyes widened in shock when he saw huge billowing flames burning on the northern axis of Oraromi, just within their line of sight.

  “What is that?” Tunrayo asked in a shaky voice pointing at the flames. Wole stepped forward squinting as he tried to get a better look.

  “I think some houses are on fire.”

  “OH NO__” Tunrayo murmured. “ORAROMI IS BURNING!!!”

  “Come on___” Wole yelled grabbing her arm. “Let’s go find out what is happening.”

  He raced off dragging a reluctant Tunrayo with him.

  WHEN SPIRITS COME ALIVE

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The race back into Oraromi took them less than ten minutes. The whole town had an orange hue to it due to the brightness of the flames that engulfed more than three dozen houses.

  Scores of people ran wild in the street. A few were trying to put the fires out, while the rest were simply trying to escape from the hungry flames. Spinning around in alarm at the chaotic scene, Wole was shocked to see a ragged, mad looking Baba Adora walking towards them. From the vacant look in his eyes, he looked like someone who was in a dream state.

  Wole took a deep breath and hurried to his side.

  “Baba Adora what is happening?”

  He did not respond. He kept walking forward with a dazed look in his eyes. His body was stiffer than a wooden post and little drops of spit gathered at the corners of his mouth.

  Wole exchanged puzzled glances with Tunrayo, watching as Baba Adora slowly disappeared into the thick smoke ahead. Taking his eyes off Baba Adora’s tragic looking figure, Wole faced the direction of his house, which was just two streets away from where they stood.

  His eyes grew wide with horror when he saw thick black smoke rising from his street. He released a deep breath and was on the verge of sprinting away when a cold hand seized his shoulder.

  He jumped letting out a piercing scream. Frightened by his scream, Tunrayo began to scream too.

  “Calm down.” Baba Adora slurred. “Its me__ I am not going to hurt you.”

  “You scared us.” They gasped giving him accusing looks. “Why did you not answer us before?”

  “Before?” He asked looking puzzled. “Did you speak to me before?”

  They exchanged troubled glances. Had the old man lost his sanity?

  “You mean__” Tunrayo began slowly. “You mean you did not hear us before?”

  “When you say before__ when was that exactly?”

  There was a troubled silence. Tunrayo swallowed and took a couple of steps back. Wole on the other hand kept looking at Baba Adora as if he was a particularly nasty insect.

  His wary look hardened, slowly turning to a scowl. This was getting them nowhere.

  “I am going to look for my parents. I need to see if our house is still standing.”

  Tunrayo nodded in agreement but did not speak. Wole broke i
nto a run leaving Tunrayo and Baba Adora behind in a thick cloud of smoke. Tunrayo hesitated for three seconds before she tore after him.

  “AFTER YOU DO THAT, FIND YOUR WAY TO THE HOSPITAL__ YOU__” Baba Adora yelled after them, his voice fading away the further away the got.

  They were now running side by side. “Did you hear the last bit of what he said?” She panted glancing at Wole as she ran.

  “No I did not. It doesn’t matter anyway__ I think Baba Adora has gone mad!”

  They said no more as they vanished into a cloud of thick black smoke.

  Taiwo Betiku and five of him men listened as Austin Okorocha explained what the virus was the simplest way he knew how. As understanding came so did the horror.

  Taiwo raised his eyes from the papers stacked on his desk. He scanned the faces of the men standing in front of him. They all looked terrified. Something told him that quite a few of them would bolt the instant they left his office. He would have to keep a close watch over them.

  A worried looking junior police officer rushed into his office startling the six of them.

  “Sir we have received reports of fires spreading across the northern part of Oraromi. Over twenty houses have been burnt so far.”

  “Where are the rest of the men?”

  “They are still combing the bushes surrounding the hut we discovered three days ago.”

  “Have them called in__ we have a fire to put out. The rain has not fallen for months. Oraromi is as dry as a tinderbox. If the fires are allowed to continue, the whole town could be engulfed by the flames; only the gods know what started the fire__ or rather who started the fire.”

  He and his men began to hurry out of the office when Austin’s loud shout stopped them in their tracks.