Lockdown

by Stephen Lewis

  The lawnmower was in the garage. I pushed it out into the driveway and stood looking at it for a minute or so. How do you switch this stupid thing on? I suddenly felt like an idiot when I saw the cord wrapped around the handle. Electric – I should have known. After hunting for an extension cord, I finally got this grass cutting beast ready for action, and got myself motivated to become the lawn mowing ninja with moves that would have the blades of grass begging for mercy.

  We usually get a garden service, but it’s been more than a week and the grass was looking untidy. I’d never seen the garden service before – the garden would always look tidy when I got home from school. It made me realise how much goes on at home without me.

  The lawnmower engine hummed to life as I pulled the trigger and I started pushing it forward. I think I’m doing it right? This wasn’t so hard – you just push it in a straight line, turn around and then come back. I really was the lawn mowing ninja!

  I picked up the pace and even did a roundhouse kick when I made the turn near the willow tree. Take that grass! But I spoke too soon. After half an hour and I was only halfway and already panting. I could feel the sweat on my forehead in the heat of the sun. This was more like torture. And you have to stop every few minutes and empty the grass catcher. This was going to take all morning.

  I drank some water from the hosepipe and splashed my face and hair. I clipped the grass catcher back into place, then started the lawnmower again. Feeling refreshed, I was ready to finish the last half strong. Imagining the grass as a horde of enemy warriors, I started off. As I reached the edge of the bed of roses, I swung the lawnmower before doing a spin myself, followed by some kung fu blocking and punching.

  ‘Nice moves, Boy Scout!’

  The voice startled me and I lost control of the lawnmower. It all happened in slow motion as I missed grabbing the handle again as it rolled forward. I screamed as I watched it run over the power cord. There was a whining sound as it wrapped around the blades, followed by silence as the cord was severed.

  ‘Nooo!’ I yelled out, looking at my now dead beast. I looked up toward the road.

  The runner. Stephanie. She was trying not to laugh. ‘Oops.’

  ‘Oops?’ I replied. ‘My Dad is going to kill me!’

  We stood looking at each other for a minute.

  ‘This is your fault!’ I blurted out.

  ‘My fault?’ she shot back, eyes widening. ‘How?’

  ‘You startled me! Plus... you shouldn’t even be out here! There’s a lockdown in case you missed it!’

  ‘Hey, I didn’t do anything. Looks like you lost control with all your fancy moves.’ She mimicked what I was doing earlier in a mocking fashion.

  I looked back at the silent lawn mower and sighed. How was I going to explain this to Dad?

  ‘Look...’ she finally said. ‘I’m sorry your lawnmower broke. Maybe I can help you fix it.’

  ‘Do you know anything about electrics?’

  ‘No.’ she said softly after a short pause.

  ‘Don’t worry about it.’ I knew deep down it wasn’t really her fault. I was just angry at myself.

  ‘I’m going to go then,’ she said awkwardly and started running again.

  ‘You still shouldn’t be running!’ I called after her.

  She waved without looking back and disappeared down the road like last time.

  I managed to untangle the cord from the lawnmower and packed it back in the garage. After taking a shower, I made a sandwich, sat on the couch and watched an old action movie about killer robots from the future. My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was Nkata wanting to video call.

  ‘Dude, you won’t believe what happened to me this morning! I was mowing...’

  ‘Brah!’ he cut me off. His face was pale.

  ‘Nkata, what’s wrong.’

  ‘It’s Walt.’

  ‘What happened?’ I feared the worst.

  ‘He’s gone.’

  ‘I’m sorry...’ I started feeling sadness tug at my heart.

  ‘Not dead, gone, brah! Not in his room anymore.’ I sighed in relief.

  ‘Dude! You’re going to give me a heart attack!’ I felt a sudden relief. ‘Maybe he went to work.’

  ‘His car is still here. Something is wrong.’ His voice shook as he spoke. ‘You need to come over. I want to show you something.’

  ‘I can’t. We’re on lockdown. I’m not supposed to leave the house.’

  ‘Lucas... please.’ Tears welled up in his eyes – something was wrong.

  ‘Okay. I’ll be right there.’

  ***

  It was barely four ‘o clock, but it felt like I was sneaking out at midnight. My heart was pounding as I closed the front door and headed down the road towards Nkata’s house.

  The road was empty and I walked briskly. I rounded the corner and stopped when I saw an old man washing his car in the driveway. He scowled at me, but I nodded and smiled politely before marching off down the road. When I got to Nkata’s house I was sweating – not from the heat, but nerves.

  I felt like a criminal and the whole world was looking to catch me. The front door swung open before I could knock. Nkata was standing in his grey sweat pants and black t-shirt that hung baggy on his skinny frame. I was sure he was still in his pajamas. Around his neck hung a surgical mask. I hurried in as if someone was watching.

  ‘I’m here. What did you want to show me?’

  ‘This way,’ he indicated with his head, and I followed him past the kitchen and down the passage towards Walters’s room.

  The room was empty with crumpled sheets on the bed, clothes on the floor and some dirty plates on the bedside table. There was a strange smell in the air and the TV was on, but muted, playing the end of the movie I was watching earlier.

  On the dresser lay a syringe and some vials next to containers of painkillers. I noticed the sliding door to the garden was open and the curtains lightly blew in the breeze.

  ‘I came in earlier to bring him lunch and he was gone,’ he said, indicating to the surgical mask around his neck he obviously used to stay safe when entering the room.

  ‘Where’s your mom?’

  ‘She’s at the Angolan embassy. They are trying to organise a flight back for my Dad. She’s been there all afternoon.’

  ‘Did you call her?’

  ‘Not yet. I don’t want to freak her out.’ Nkata reached over and picked up a fork from the plate on the bedside table. ‘Look here.’

  He used the fork to move the sheet. Underneath were brown and yellow stains on the bedsheet and pillow. The lingering smell intensified - it was putrid and I gagged slightly.

  ‘Aw, what’s that?’ I exclaimed, putting my hand over my mouth and nose.

  ‘No idea, brah. But I don’t think it’s good. Walt is sick and we need to find him.’

  I scratched the side of my head and looked at Nkata. I wanted to tell him to call the police, but I could see he was terrified for his brother. I swallowed hard.

  ‘Do you think he went out the sliding door?’

  ‘Yeah. He must be in some sort of fever delirium with all the meds he’s been taking.’ I took a closer look at the syringe and painkillers on the dresser.

  ‘Is this from the hospital?’

  ‘I think so,’ Nkata replied, taking a step closer. ‘There’s no label on that bottle.’

  ‘So, what do you want to do?’ I asked, looking at him.

  ‘We drive.’

  ***

  We stood in Nkata’s garage staring at his Dad’s silver Mercedes SUV. His dad loved cars, so this model was top of the range with all the bells and whistles.

  ‘Dude, do you even know how to drive?’

  ‘Sort of.’ Nkata smirked to himself. ‘This is where all the video games pay off.’

  ‘It’s not a video game,’ I said. I wasn’t sure if I was talking to him or myself.

  ‘It’s an automatic. We’ll be fine.’ Nkata reached into the pocket of his hoodie he changed into. ‘Here, we
’ll need these when we find Walt.’

  He handed me a surgical mask and some surgical gloves. I tied the mask around my neck and stuck the gloves in my pocket.

  ‘Take those as well.’ Nkata pointed to sheets piled in the laundry basket sitting on top of the tumble dryer.

  I grabbed them and threw them onto the back seat of the car. We got in and I took a deep breath as I clicked my seatbelt into place. Nkata pushed a button and started the car. It purred as he pushed a button on his remote and the garage door started chugging open behind us. He put the car in reverse and we stuttered backwards onto the driveway.

  ‘Here we go, brah.’

  We backed into the road. Nkata put the car into drive and we drove off.

  ***

  We drove for an hour, but couldn’t find Walter. We would have covered more ground faster, but Nkata was driving at 20 kilometres an hour. Whenever we saw someone, we sunk low and kept our heads down like criminals in a movie. The sun was already starting to set, the orange sky turning dark.

  ‘It’s getting late, Nkata. Your mom must be home by now,’ I said. Nkata didn’t respond and continued to look out of the window.

  ‘Maybe he left the estate?’

  Nkata shrugged. ‘Five more minutes?’

  I nodded as we took a left towards the far area of the estate that still had to be developed. Without any street lights in this area, it was dark, with only open plots and a few brick shells of homes that had to stop construction since the lockdown.

  This was the last area of the estate that had to be developed, so security would often patrol here to make sure no criminals or vagrants were hiding in the long grass. I was about to tell Nkata again that we should head back, when I saw a light up ahead.

  ‘Over there,’ I said, pointing in its direction. ‘What’s that?’

  As we got closer, Nkata pulled over, bumping the tires against the pavement. A security car was parked with its high beams pointing into the field. We got out, closing the doors quietly. Standing together we scanned the field.

  I nudged Nkata and pointed down the beam of light. A security guard in light brown tactical gear was stomping over long grass and weeds towards something. I squinted, trying to focus my eyes in the dark. It looked like a person, but something wasn’t right.

  ‘That’s Walt,’ Nkata whispered, his voice sounding relieved.

  ‘Are you sure?’ I replied. ‘That person looks weird.’

  The figure the security guard was approaching was moving slowly, almost in a jerking fashion, hampered by the long grass. From where we were standing I could hear a soft throaty hiss.

  ‘That’s his pyjamas, brah.’ Nkata replied as I took note of the white t-shirt and red boxer shorts the figure was wearing. Nkata walked forward, into the long grass.

  ‘Wait!’ I whispered, instinctively following him.

  ‘That’s my brother. He’s zonked on all his meds. We need to get him back home.’ I fumbled in my pocket for my surgical gloves and pulled my mask up over my mouth and nose. ‘Walter!’ Nkata called out.

  The security guard spun around, putting his hand to his hip where his gun was. Seeing us approach, he waved his other hand telling us to back away.

  ‘It’s okay... he’s my brother!’ Nkata called again as we got closer. The security guard lifted his hand to shield his eyes from the light.

  In that instant there was a wet growl and Walter clamped down on the security guard, biting into his neck.

  I screamed in fright into my mask as the guard yelled out in pain, trying to spin around with Walter on his back.

  We stopped dead and watched him thrash before both of them toppled over into the long grass. There were moaning and gruesome crunching sounds as the grass quivered violently.

  ‘Walter?’ Nkata called out, taking a few steps forward.

  I screamed again as Walter popped out from the grass. But this wasn’t Walter... something was very wrong with him. His eyes were pale and milky, and his mouth and nose were covered in blood. He opened his mouth and let out a wheezing growl.

  ‘Walt? It’s me... Nkata, brah.’

  Walter rose and staggered towards us, still making the growling noise. His clothes were filthy and the front of his white shirt was caked in yellow stains.

  I grabbed Nkata’s arm. ‘We have to go!’

  ‘We can’t leave him.’

  ‘There’s something wrong with him! You saw how he bit that guy!’

  Still pulling at Nkata we bounded in the long grass back towards the car. My foot suddenly hooked on something heavy and I toppled forward landing on my chest.

  ‘You okay?’ Nkata asked as I picked myself up.

  ‘I tripped over a log or something,’ I replied brushing grass from my sweat pants.

  ‘Brah...’ Nkata was looking down at what I tripped over.

  I jumped. It was a body. Must have been a vagrant - he was wearing tattered and dirty clothes, but he was all bloody, and chunks were missing from his shoulder and chest.

  Did something eat him? Did Walter do this? I struggled to breathe behind the surgical mask and pulled it down, breathing in the cool, evening air.

  ‘What the...’

  The thrashing in the grass stopped Nkata from finishing his sentence.

  ‘Run!’ I cried and we sprinted towards the car.

  The doors slammed as the engine started and Nkata put the car into reverse. As we spun backwards the front bumper scraped the pavement and the headlights caught Walter emerging from the grass and staggering into the road. He bumped off the side of the car as we sped away.

  I felt out of breath and could feel my body wet with cold sweat.

  ‘What the hell was that?’ I finally said as we drove past the houses.

  Nkata didn’t say a word. ‘Was Walter a zo...’

  ‘Don’t say it, brah.’ Nkata’s eyes welled up. ‘Zombies are not real. He’s just sick... he doesn’t know what he’s doing.’

  We pulled into Nkata’s driveway. The headlights settled on his mother, standing in the garage with her arms folded.

  ‘Ma!’ Nkata started as he got out the driver’s seat.

  ‘I don’t want to hear it, Nkata!’ she shrieked. ‘Look at what you did to you father’s car!’

  We looked back and saw the silver paint scratched off the bumper where Nkata hit the pavement.

  ‘But listen... it’s Walter...’ he pleaded.

  His mother raised her hands to silence him. ‘I don’t want to hear it. Get inside!’ She turned to me. Even though I was taller than her, it felt like she was looking down on me. ‘I think you should go home, Lucas. You mother will be hearing from me.’

  ‘But, we saw...’

  ‘Go!’ she yelled, not blinking.

  ‘Yes, Mrs. Radebe.’ I replied sheepishly and started walking down the road.

  ***

  When I got home, The Mothership was sitting at the dining room table on her laptop. Her eyes were tired.

  ‘Hi Mom...’

  She looked at me, thinning her lips.

  ‘I would ask where you were, but I just got a call from Nkata’s mom. Joyriding? Really?’

  ‘It wasn’t like that,’ I tried to explain.

  ‘I don’t want to hear excuses. We’ll talk about this in the morning.’

  ‘There is something going on...’

  ‘Enough!’ I could tell she was irritable. ‘I still have a lot of work to finish.’ She shifted her attention back to her laptop, typing a few lines.

  ‘Where’s Dad?’ I asked.

  ‘At the hospital,’ she replied, not looking up. ‘He’s sleeping there tonight.’

  I mumbled good night then walked up the stairs, still hearing her type as I closed my bedroom door.

  ENTRY 6

  I couldn’t sleep last night. I kept thinking about what we saw. I kept trying to convince myself it was a dream, that it was all somehow not real. I tried calling Nkata twice, but his phone was off or his mom must have taken it away as punishment.r />
  I tossed and turned for hours, thinking about the body in the field and the security guard that Walter attacked. Was he really a zombie? Did he eat those people? But how? Maybe it had something to do with those vials and the syringe in his room?

  There were too many questions and lying in bed wasn’t going to answer them. It was just after five in the morning - I quickly dressed and tip-toed down the passage.

  I paused outside my parents’ bedroom door – I could hear The Mothership breathing heavily in bed. I was already in trouble – what more could she do, ground me? The whole country was grounded already. I crept down the stairs with my sneakers in my hand.

  Zizi was sleeping in her basket in the kitchen and if she heard me she would definitely sound the alarm with that high-pitched bark. It felt agonisingly slow but I got to the front door and I slipped out without making a sound.

  I sat on the front step and tied my shoes. It was still dark and there wasn’t a sound – not even a dog barking. I walked in the direction of Nkata’s house, still thinking about the night before. I’m not sure what the plan was, but if there were zombies, we needed to tell someone... someone who would listen.

  ‘Hey!’

  I jumped at the voice coming from behind me. Stephanie. Did this girl do anything else, but jog? She was running towards me... but really fast. As she got nearer I saw her eyes were wide and she was pale, panic streaked across her face. She stopped herself by grabbing onto me, panting heavily, battling to get the words out.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ I asked.

  ‘I was attacked...’ she gasped, her hands were shaking.

  ‘By who?’ I asked, looking down the road from where she came from.

  ‘Some guy... he was acting very strange. Moaning... and full of blood.’ She was starting to get her breath back. ‘I was running when it came out of the bushes and tried to grab me.’ She fought to hold back the tears.

  ‘Was he wearing pyjamas? Red shorts and a vest?’ I asked, thinking it was Walter.

  ‘No. He looked like a homeless guy. In dirty clothes.’

  Could it have been the dead guy I tripped over had come back to life? I barely finished my thought when I saw a shambling figure at the bottom of the road. Stephanie noticed me looking past her and turned her head.