Chapter Eighteen
He found the building without much difficulty. It was a tall stout structure with five stories glistening with brown texcote paint which looked as if it had been painted on recently; lying just beyond the Nigerian Presidential complex, Nigerian National Assembly and the Nigerian Supreme Court. These buildings were empty devoid of their usual hustle and bustle save a little slurring and growling every couple of minutes.
Even if the structure hadn’t matched the description he’d been given, the hundreds of infected in front would have still been a dead giveaway. He swallowed suddenly finding it very difficult to breathe. What in the world was he doing here? He should have gotten into one of those abandoned cars and made his escape as quickly as he could but nooo he had to come here to try and play the hero.
‘If you don’t do it who else will?’
He nodded at his silent question. Maybe this was what he was created for. President Abdusalam kept him on the team because he seemed to have a charmed life. He’d despised that line of thinking when he heard it but now he wasn’t so sure.
His eyes focused levelling once again on the building and the horde in front. How did he get in? Almost thirty minutes was spent pondering before an idea came.
Ducking low he backed into the bushes slowly taking off into the trees. He ran due west for two hundred metres eventually ducking back on the main road leading to the gates of the presidential villa. He could see it from far off. There was a disturbing stillness about the place which sent shivers down his spine.
His errant thoughts stilled as he remembered what he was looking for. Bodies lay strewn in a two mile radius. Most were civilians with a sprinkling of a soldier every now and then.
He began to search each soldier’s pockets. He went through almost fifty before he found what he was searching for. Three hand grenades. Examining them with satisfaction he headed back.
The infected were still standing the way he’d left them with a rumbling slur rippling through their ranks. There was the most awful racket coming from the second floor with the intermittent retort of what sounded suspiciously like gunfire.
The people he was supposed to lead to safety were being engaged by the infected. He had to hurry. He pulled the pin of the first grenade and tossed it into their centre ducking low as he did so.
They whirled around as the grenade went off engulfing a quarter in red fiery flames. He tossed another ducking behind a large tree ten feet away from the horde of infected.
There was another explosion; thirty people were flung into the air as if they weighed no more than dolls. A narrow path snaked between them.
Saying a quiet prayer he ducked out from behind the tree and took off towards the entrance at a fast sprint. Luckily for him, the explosions disoriented them making many not notice him. The few that did were too far into the crowd to get to him before he smashed through what remained of the two sliding glass doors.
Nine infected loitered in the lobby. He pulled his rifle off his shoulder and opened fire dropping them like flies. His scared eyes drifted left and right, flitting between the elevator and the staircase.
He tore to his right taking the stairs with long bounds. He could hear the thunder of at least half a dozen feet racing after him. His hand went for the last grenade in his pocket but he stilled it, freezing. Not yet __ the situation wasn’t that dire. He might still need it. The second floor was empty devoid of any presence save about a dozen dead bodies. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. He could have sworn this was the floor the ruckus came from.
There came a loud crash from the storey above. He grimaced with every limb trembling. The growling slurs coming from the staircase were getting closer. He took off, racing up the stairs heading to the upper story. As with the one below, this too was empty with bodies littering the floor.
A soldier twitched a few feet away. He looked like he’d just been bitten. Taiwo raced to his side. His body was a riddled mass of bites and cuts. The red blood started turning green as he watched. He’d soon be one of the infected.
Removing his sidearm he put a bullet in the man’s head before tearing up the stairs to the fourth floor. Five infected gathered at the bottom of the stairs. He started firing immediately. He dropped three; the two that remained were dropped by shots fired from the landing above.
“Who goes there?” A gruff frightened voice barked from the top of the stairs.
“Your backup. Don’t shoot __”
He took the stairs two at a time coming face to face with a burly light skinned man.
“Where are the others?” The man asked looking over his shoulder. “Are you it?”
Taiwo nodded. The man’s frightened look returned. “Are there more coming?”
“A whole lot more. We have to move.”
Taiwo led the way this time and they reached the final storey in seconds. A very attractive woman in a dirty grey skirt suit stood by the door leading to the balcony. She looked even more terrified than the rest of them and her beautiful face was stained with dust and dirt.
“Are you the doctor?” Taiwo asked taking position in front of her. He stood shielding her with his body.
“Yes I am __” She stammered.
The roar of infected racing up the stairs was ear splitting. “What do we do?” a soldier asked. His hands were shaking so bad his rifle was rattling.
Taiwo tore to the staircase bringing out his last grenade. He tossed it down as the face of the first infected creature appeared on the landing. It exploded bringing a sizeable section of the stairs down in deluge of flame, concrete and steel. A cold silence immediately followed.
Taiwo stood by the door listening. He didn’t hear a thing. Sighing he turned facing the frightened group behind.
“What’s your name doctor?”
“Catherine! Catherine Kachifo. How did you find us?”
“Someone put a message on the radio. He said he’s on the outskirts of the FCT (Federal Capital Territory), which is where we have to get to.”
“How do we do that?” a soldier asked pointing at the damaged staircase. “Even if we do succeed in crossing that __ there is no way we get past the horde am sure are waiting for us on the lower floors.”
Taiwo’s eyes drifted to the balcony railing. He strode to it peering down. There was another balcony below. Each floor had one. His eyes drifted to the drainage pipe running down the wall beside it. It reached the ground. If there was any way out of here that was most definitely it.
“How good are you at climbing?” He asked with one eyebrow raised.
She looked at him as if he was crazy. “You aren’t serious are you?”
He shrugged turning away. “You either climb or become food for them.”
The slurring growls started again. They were coming at great speed and he didn’t think the damaged staircase was going to stop them.
He climbed over the railing, moving right in a slow smooth motion and stretched out his left foot. It touched the pipe __ just. He lowered himself, grabbing hold of the concrete the floor of the balcony was built of.
Finding a firm foothold and grip he started to descend. Two soldiers followed next. The third gently steered Catherine towards the railing. She looked faint. This was a no brainer. Falling five stories was still preferable to being eaten. There was no gainsaying it.
She started down with the help of the soldier. Unable to find a foot hold with her heels she kicked them off and started to descend. Her confidence grew. It was easier than she expected. She tried not to look down. This was way out of her comfort zone cos she had a fear of heights. Amazing what one would do if you were desperate.
Though Sheldon of the big bang theory would be quick to point out that a fear of heights was preposterous. It would be more reasonable to suggest a person had a fear of falling.
Her eyes grew amazed. Why in the world was she considering such a thing now? The mind was a strange complicated thing. She took a deep breath and looked down. Taiw
o was on the ground with his weapons raised. It seemed to take forever but eventually her feet touched ground. She had never felt so relieved.
They took off in an eastward direction. Catherine saw he led them away from the major road which was puzzling. Why were they going this way? Unless__
“There are too many on the road. There is a secondary road not far from here. We should be able to find a car that’ll take us to the outskirts.” He explained as if he could hear what she was thinking.
“Do you know how to start a car without the keys, because, I most certainly do not.” A soldier growled.
“We won’t have to. Most turned while driving their vehicles. I saw quite a few cars as I approached. The keys were still in the ignition.”
They reached the road as he was speaking looking left and right. It was a side street, there were a few cars dotted around. Five infected people stood a mile away. They had their backs to them and seemed unaware of their presence.
Taiwo nodded striding to a gleaming black Toyota Corolla. He wasn’t an expert on cars but it looked like one of the newer models. He strode to it grimacing at the long crack on the windscreen which marred the aesthetic beauty.
He tried the door and it opened easily. The driver’s seat was stained with a little dried blood. He looked in the back, asides from a little blood it was empty.
Entering the driver’s seat he heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the key still swaying in the ignition. It was quite fortunate it wasn’t one of those push to start models. Cos the key would have been in the pocket of whoever owned it. He turned it and it started with a healthy growl.
“Get in __” He barked at the others hovering outside. They nodded leaping in. He put it into gear and swept away from the curb heading towards the major road.
“Keep the windows up. Under no circumstances do you roll them down understood?” They nodded. His worried gaze drifted to Catherine who was already starting to sweat.
His eyes shifted to the dashboard. He found the air conditioning and turned it on. Cool breeze flooded the cabin refreshing everyone so good they sighed.
“Thank God for technology!” one soldier murmured. Taiwo smiled weakly as he eased the car on the express road. The road ahead was blocked with cars. Long lines of crimson stained the road at varying points but there was no sign of the infected.
Taiwo pushed hard on the brake and drew to a screeching halt. Catherine turned in her seat looking out the back window.
“We might have to go back.”
Taiwo looked back too. She was right. The road behind was clear. Out of the corner of one eye he saw Catherine snap her seatbelt in place.
“What’s that for? The road safety officials aren’t likely to book you. I am sure they have more important things on their minds right now.”
“Force of habit.” She said smiling weakly. He nodded understanding. She needed a sense of normalcy. And the seatbelt was that, for the time being at least.
“Loookkkk!” A soldier cried pointing his meaty hand through the space between the two front seats.
They turned gasping when they saw a host of infected flood out of the trees on either side of the road. They were like a black swarm innumerable in their numbers.
“I think we should get out of here.” Catherine said in husky whisper.
Taiwo nodded shoving the gear into reverse. The corolla swept backwards picking up speed. When he felt he’d gathered enough momentum he spun the wheel, making a perfect hundred and eighty degree turn. He shoved it back into drive as he completed the turn without the engine stalling for a second.
“Good driving __” She gasped.
In-spite of his fear he couldn’t stop a tiny smile from lifting the corners of his lips ever so slightly. The mass exodus of infected from the bushes on either side continued. They were like locust streaming out in droves, in an attempt to overrun the car. They kept ahead by inches, barely.
A particularly large group smashed into the Toyota’s rear end almost forcing it into a tailspin. The corolla swerved from left to right. Taiwo was barely able to keep control of it.
The four hundred metre tall monolith that was Aso Rock (Landform the presidential villa derives its name from) loomed on the skyline to his left. Hundreds more swept in from that direction. He mashed his foot down on the accelerator hard. As he measured the distance between this new swarm he silently debated their chances of escape if the car was overturned.
It took a few seconds, ten in total when he was absolutely certain they weren’t going to make it.
“Brace!” He yelled.
They smashed into the side of the corolla so hard two of its wheels were lifted off the ground. Taiwo drove the car on two wheels for twenty metres before it slammed down on all fours again. He mashed the accelerator to the floor and they were off again speeding towards the outskirts of the city.
“Thank God they didn’t break the windows.”
Taiwo gave Catherine a ‘are you kidding me look.’ She smiled. Looking at her smile made his lips start to twitch for some strange reason. Soon he was laughing. The soldiers at the back gave themselves puzzled glances. But soon they too were chuckling. Soon everyone in the car was laughing, the strain of their near death experience momentarily forgotten.