“The hospital__” Joke gasped.
“How do you know?”
“I come here often enough don’t I? This is the back entrance. A bike man brought me this way one day.”
They stepped out of the cover of the trees as she said this. A couple of meters to their right was a tiny gate and two people, a boy and a girl stood in front of it about to walk through it.
“Hey you two__” Alaba called helping Joke to sit down at the base of a tree. After he made sure she was settled, he hurried towards the duo poised at the gate. Their eyes were wary as he approached. From the stiff way they stood, he knew they were prepared to bolt at the slightest provocation. He spoke to calm them down.
“Don’t be afraid. I am not here to hurt you. My wife and I need help.”
They exchanged troubled glances. The boy stepped forward slowly. This close Alaba saw he had been wrong in the estimation of the boy’s age. He was in his late teens or early twenties, not bad looking with a strong jaw line, thick eyebrows and long lashes. He probably had a way with the women too.
The girl looked a bit younger, probably between sixteen and eighteen years old. She was breathtakingly beautiful and the emerald green dress she wore hugged her curves showing off her exquisite figure.
“My name is Collins sir__” The boy began haltingly. “And this is Judith.” He pointed at the hot girl beside him.
“Hi Collins, Judith__” He nodded at Judith. “My wife and I were attacked.”
“By creatures who looked dead?” Judith cut in.
Alaba nodded slowly.
“We saw them as they came into town. My house is on the outskirts you see.”
“Why did you come back into town then?” Alaba asked with a puzzled look on his face.
“Our parents__”
“Did you find them?”
“No we did not.”
A sigh burst from Alaba’s lips as he looked up at the high walls in front of him.
“Why come here then?”
Collins looked bewildered by his question.
“I mean why are you trying to enter the hospital? Do you think your parent’s are here?”
“We’ve searched about half of the town. Everywhere we looked was deserted. We saw the police battling a mob of those things at the gates of the hospital.”
“So you decided to enter the hospital__ just like that?”
They both shrugged. “We did not have that many more places to search.”
Nodding Alaba turned, looking back at Joke who still sat under the tree where he had left her.
“Let me go get my wife. We will enter the hospital with you.”
They nodded, watching as he went back to fetch Joke. Judith moved restlessly. She was eager to be off. A frown crept on Collins face as he watched her restless movements. Sighing he faced the high walls behind him. The police were probably already inside the hospital, those that still lived anyway. A shiver ran down his spine when he remembered the slurring creatures that walked by his house hours earlier. Nothing about the town’s present situation seemed good.
Alaba walked up supporting Joke on his arm. Collins couldn’t stop a slight gasp from leaving his lips when he saw how beautiful she was. Noticing his lustful look, Judith drove her elbow into his side.
“Ouch!” He cried whirling on her in fury.
“You are a dog Collins__.” She spat out in disgust. “Have a little dignity will you. In our present state, you can still have time to be ogling a very pregnant woman whose husband is barely three feet from you.”
“Shuuussshh!!” He gasped rushing to cover her mouth. She pushed his hand away violently and stalked through the open gate, heading towards the sliding doors ten feet away.
Alaba and Joke reached his side. They had puzzled looks on their faces as they watched Judith’s rapidly departing figure.
“Why did she rush off?” Alaba asked turning his puzzled gaze to Collins face.
Collins shrugged and started after her relieved her that Alaba hadn’t heard what they were saying. They exchanged puzzled looks and hurried after Collins.
Taiwo Betiku stood behind the reinforced glass doors that marked the entrance to the general hospital. He watched the sixty slurring shapes standing behind the glass, banging their fists against it.
Seven of his men stood behind him watching the somewhat disturbing sight. The glass door was locked and a thick long chain wrapped around the handle secured with a giant padlock. Where his sergeant had found the chain or the padlock was a mystery and as things stood, he was not sure he cared. The only thing of importance was there was a barrier between him and those vile creatures. That was all that mattered for now.
Glancing backwards, his eyes swept over the sullen faced men standing behind him. The eight of them were all that remained of the almost thirty men that engaged the creatures outside the gate of the hospital.
The main body of the horde was outside the gate. The ones that stood before him pounding on the glass were those who had figured how to climb the gate. With their twitchy and somewhat uncoordinated movements, it was a wonder that they managed it.
If these ones could figure it out, it made sense that the others would figure it out too.
“That glass isn’t going to keep them out much longer.” One of his men said pointing at a crack, which seemed to have miraculously appeared at the top of the door where the glass joined the aluminum rod that housed it.
“How much ammo do we have left?”
“Just a couple of magazines.”
Silence engulfed their ranks. The situation wasn’t looking good.
“We have to find a way to get word out to Vector one, two and three.”
“The battery of the walkie talkie is dead sir.”
“I am aware of that. There must be a phone around somewhere we can use. Let’s fall back into the hospital, possibly try and find the back entrance.”
The sergeant was tempted to remind him that they had all tried to make calls on their mobile phones and had been unable to. The mobile network seemed to be down for some reason. He kept his mouth shut though. He didn’t want to incur his senior officers wrath.
The men nodded and set out across the dimly lit foyer. Taiwo paused his sad eyes fixed on the middle-aged man in front of the pack of slurring creatures, who was banging his head against the glass leaving a botched circle of blood and blackish green slime.
The man’s face was as familiar to him as his own. His name was Gbenga Olootu. He had a shop in a tiny shopping center in the center of town. He sold cement, not anymore though. Stifling a sigh, he hurried after his men, as the crack in the glass grew longer.
Wole’s eyes opened and closed as the people around him continued to debate and argue. To the casual observer he was on the verge of falling asleep, but the truth was, sleep was the furthest thing from his mind and thoughts.
Tunrayo was seated behind him and she had a glum look on her face. A sigh burst from his lips as he turned, his eyes settling on her torn and dirty school uniform. Seeing it only made him realize that they had not had time to get home yet. He looked down at his own uniform. His own was even dirtier than hers was and there was a long rip from his left collar down to the waistline of his shirt. His eyes hardened as he looked at it. He could not remember when it happened.
The loud debates and discussions around him continued. The thoughts racing through his head at an almost frenetic pace didn’t allow for something as mundane as watching people argue.
His dad’s face flashed before his eyes and a dull ache spliced through his heart. He had not been especially close to the man, but your father was still your father whichever way you looked at it.
Thinking of his father made him glance at his mother who was seated five feet to his right. There was a dull lifeless quality to her eyes. His own eyes grew sadder at the glum look on her face. He could not imagine how bad she must be feeling. Something told him that she probably blamed herself for his dad’s fate.
The cli
nk of cutlery on a plate made him turn around. Some of the nurses were serving themselves food and talking in loud voices as they did so. The sight of them made the sad expression on his face instantly become hard. A boiling rage flooded his insides. How dare they be eating and carrying on as if this was a normal situation. Idiots all of them.
The entire cafeteria instantly fell silent when there were loud raps on the door. The knocks continued when the silence was not broken. Several of the nurses gasped but none uttered a word. After several, more knocks a familiar voice barked out a command from outside the door.
“Would someone please open this door?”
Everyone froze at the sound of his voice. Baba Adora! What in the world was the man doing here, and what was his part in the madness that was happening around them?
No one moved for almost thirty seconds. That was until he repeated himself, this time however he wasn’t so polite.
“OPEN THE DOOR IMMEDIATELY! ABI ALL OF UNA DON DEY MAD NI?”
His harsh words snapped them out of the stupor that gripped them. Tayo the tall man who opened the door for wole strode to the door with long brisk strides. He unlocked it and pulled it open.
Baba Adora hovered at the entrance for five seconds before he strode to the door. Most people in cafeteria gasped at the strange attire he wore. It was a sort of Ibo ceremonial outfit. He had on a pair of flared bright red trousers that reached a point midway beneath his knees and ankles. His shirt was snow white with short sleeves that barely reached his elbows. His neatly cropped hair was covered by a red cap, circle shaped with a string of cowrie shells stitched to the top of it at the center.
In his hand, he held what looked like a cross between a white horsetail and a short staff. The fine white hairs on the horsetail were stitched to the staff.
His outfit was not the only thing eliciting dozens of dazed stares. There was a hardness and strength mixed with great fear lurking in the depths of his eyes. Wole found he could not take his eyes off him.
The tall man named Tayo was the first to snap out of the spell Baba Adora’s entrance had caused.
“Yes old man__” He barked poking his finger into Baba Adora’s chest.
“Its obvious you know what is going on here. Tell us this instant what is happening and what part you have to play in this.”
Baba Adora’s hard look grew thunderous as he looked down at Tayo’s finger, which was jammed into his chest. The furious look on his face scared Tayo so much that he took several steps back removing his finger so fast that you’d think Baba Adora’s chest had scalded it.
His furious look lingered on Tayo’s face for a fraction longer than he was comfortable with. Then without warning, his face grew pensive and sad. He stepped into the center of those gathered around him, sinking down into a white plastic chair.
They all crowded around because they sensed something of great importance was about to be spoken of. Adora did not speak for several moments, by which time most people were bristling with impatience. Even with their obvious impatience, Baba Adora did not speak any quicker. Eventually after what seemed like eons he cleared his throat and began speaking.
“I know a lot of you are wondering why I asked you to come to the hospital.”
Several nods greeted his statement.
“__ and you have probably guessed by now that I know more about what is going on than I have spoken of.” There were more nods.
He sighed again, remaining silent for a couple of minutes longer. When he eventually spoke, his words came out in a rush.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Oraromi is a very old town. If I am to hazard a guess, I’d say its more than two centuries old. In the early days of its existence, it started out as a safe haven for stragglers. What I mean by this is, most of the early settlers came here to escape from their former lives.
“They came from every part of what we now know as Nigeria and settled here to forge a life for themselves. For many decades, they were happy, undisturbed by any outside force or hindrance. That was until they realized that there was something else in the town.
“A strange force, evil, maybe even spirit inhabited the forests and hills surrounding their small town. This thing had been here for centuries. It lay dormant, unmoving and unchanging, but every one hundred and fifty years the darkness would awake and run wild killing all it came in contact with by spreading a strange disease. An infection, which had no cure.
During the scourge, a couple of settlers who came from the east hit upon a plan. They were a group of powerful men and women, seasoned in the dark arts and the occult. There was a spell; a very powerful one which they said would bind this dark creature for ever. The spell would entomb it, so it would never prey on human kind again.
However, there was a clause. Seven families would be chosen and a blood oath taken. They and their descendants would forever see to the guarding and safe keeping of the creature to ensure that it did not escape. In the event that it did, only they could return it to its prison.
He paused glancing at the frightened eyes around him. A sigh burst from his lips as he continued.
“They searched the hills and outskirts of Oraromi until they found a cave which suited their purposes. Through some creative thinking, the creature was lured into the cave where certain spells and runes of captivity were activated. When it was subdued and put into what they called the permanent deep sleep, one it would never awake from, the spell they used shrunk it in size thus enabling them to secure it in a crypt. Securing and sealing the cave up made the disease vanish almost instantaneously and the bodies of the dead that were animated were laid to rest.
With their job done, every family was sworn to secrecy, vowing never to speak of it again. Oraromi continued its normal boring existence, the generations after not knowing of its dark past.
As a safety precaution however, one of the families received a gift from the ancient spirits worshipped at the time. This gift was what they called the sight. Those in possession of this gift were called seers. In present day, they regard them as fortunetellers or psychics. They see the future.”
“That was how you knew we’d be safe here.” Tayo murmured, his eyes as wide as saucers.
Baba Adora nodded slowly taking a deep breath before he continued.
“___ not only safe__.” He paused unsure of how to continue.
“Please continue.” Anike said in a murmur as she leaned forward.
“I don’t know how to say what I need to say__” He paused again.
“As you have probably guessed, I am a seer. I come from a long line of seers. My gift alternates from mere feelings to visions. For months now, I have been having a dark premonition that the creature had awakened. It made no sense to me because I know what always follows its awakening. The spread of plague and the dead that will walk, but I saw no such sign.
“It did not become clear to me until Wole told me that his friend Chike had been bitten. That was when I knew hell on earth was about to be unleashed.”
“But if you knew this, why in the world didn’t you warn the town of the impending doom?” One of the nurses yelled from behind.
“Who would have believed me?” He asked sadly. “I realize I ought to have gone to the shrine to investigate, but I am sorry to say I was too scared to do so. Now the whole town is overrun by evil and I feel its my fault.”
“IT IS YOUR FAULT!!” Tayo interjected in righteous indignation. “Because of you, hundreds, maybe even thousands will die. Those undead creatures are going to find us eventually; they will force that door down and kill us.”
A terrified silence followed his harsh words. Some of the nurses began to sob as others exchanged frightened glances. Heaving a deep sigh, Wole stepped to the front.
“There must be something we can do.”
More silence followed for a few minutes before Baba Adora rose to his feet slowly.
“We have to put the creature back into the deep sleep again; otherwise all of Oraromi will be destroy
ed.”
“How exactly do we do that?” Tayo barked giving Baba Adora a hard look. Baba Adora met his hard gaze with a furious one of his own. Feeling overwhelmed, Tayo lowered his gaze slowly.
“We must lure the creature back into the cave as my ancestors did in the old days. We also have to speak the words they did.”
“How do we lure it back to the cave? Knowing what happened last time, its not likely to fall for that trick again.” A grim faced doctor said scratching his arm absentmindedly.
“It might__ for one thing.”
“Which is?”
“For the lives of the descendants of those that put him in the prison in the first place.”
“Descendants?”
“Yes descendants. Some of you are the descendants of the people that used the spell to bind him.”
Everyone in the room began exchanging puzzled glances as they wondered which of them could be the descendants.”
“Two are already here. The other three are on their way.”
“Who are the two?” Tayo asked stepping forward slowly.
Baba Adora took a deep breath and pointed at Wole and Tunrayo. Several shocked gasps greeted this action. Wole stared at him in shock and disbelief. Tunrayo looked even more shocked than he was.
“That is so not possible. We only moved down to Oraromi fifteen years ago. Neither his father or I are natives of this town. You better get your facts straight fortune teller.” Anike snapped her eyes blazing with her irritation.
Baba Adora sighed giving her a exasperated look.
“How much do you know about your ancestry? Or the ancestry of your husband?”
“Not much I admit. But I do know none of his family members have ever lived here. They lived in the east, in what is now known as Delta state. He was drafted to the west for his national youth service. We moved here two years before we had Wole.”
“What brought you here? Be specific__”
“Not sure really__ its so long ago. Wole’s father lost his job and a friend who had a farming business here invited us to join him when he heard of our plight.”
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