Chapter Thirty – Two
Olatunji and Taiwo crouched by the door in the helicopter staring down at the Lagos Mainland beneath them. Hundreds of infected thronged the streets, even this high they could hear the din of their slurs and growls.
The gas mask and hazmat suits they wore were itchy and uncomfortable but they didn’t dare remove them. Catherine did a quick test as they entered Lagos airspace. It was like the reports said __ the air here was toxic to everything including bacteria. Though for some strange reason, the infected didn’t seem too disturbed by it which was a little disconcerting.
Catherine sat some distance away shaking like a leaf. Since boarding she’d stubbornly refused to go anywhere near the door. Taiwo frowned as he looked at her. He couldn’t decide whether to feel angry or sorry for her.
He still couldn’t understand why she’d insisted on coming along. The vaccine had been poured and outfitted into canisters. With her detailed instructions they could easily administer it themselves.
“We’re minutes away from the base __” The pilot said __ he yelled to be heard over the helicopter’s loud engines. Olatunji nodded grimly and started to check his weapons as did the five other soldiers with them.
“Wouldn’t the Ikeja base be over-run with infected?” Taiwo asked quietly. So quietly Olatunji almost couldn’t hear him.
“That’s why we have these?” Olatunji said with a devilish smile raising a fire extinguisher sized canister. Taiwo was on the verge of asking him what the heck it was when he tossed it out of the open window.
He looked out at the falling canister shocked to see they were just flying over the Ikeja Air-force base. It exploded on impact with the ground spewing out a thick cloud of white smoke.
The infected standing close to it started to twitch violently for a few seconds before collapsing on the hard tarmac.
“What did you hit them with? What was in that canister?”
Olatunji’s smile broadened even as Catherine answered for him. “That’s the vaccine __ I hooked you up for the air-force base incursion. I knew it would come in handy.”
Her voice trembled as she said this and she looked seconds away from throwing up. The anger faded from Olatunji’s body and he started feeling completely sorry for her.
Six more canisters were dropped in quick succession. Olatunji and Catherine exchanged anxious looks.
“What?” Taiwo asked looking worried. Looks like that hardly ever meant anything good.
“Each canister is designed for a five hundred meter spread. It is my hope the six canisters will cover the air-force base. If it doesn’t you and your team will be on your own with only your wits and training against the onslaught of the infected; their edge is their numbers. But if we’re lucky we shouldn’t be on the ground longer than fifteen minutes. If all goes well that is.”
“We just have to hope the Benin air-force pilots get here in time.”
“If we could just drop the canisters and have them do the work why do we need the air-force?” Taiwo asked with a puzzled look on his face.
Olatunji took a deep breath and counted to ten. “Haven’t you been listening to anything we’ve been saying? The vaccine needs to be administered at a certain height in the atmosphere which will enable it to bond with it. That way it will slowly spread over the country___ is that clear enough for you or do you need me to spell it out over again?”
Taiwo shook his head slowly looking a little shamefaced. It was only after he asked the question remembered how much time Catherine had taken to explain.
The chopper hovered in midair while Olatunji and five other soldiers hurriedly fixed their lines. Once they had them secured they zipped down in their ones and twos onto the smoke covered ground below. Taiwo took several deep breaths to calm himself and slowly reached for his line.
“Good luck __” Her voice was so low he barely heard it. He nodded slowly and leaped out sliding to the ground below.
He had his gun up the instant his feet touched the ground. His eyes did a one hundred and eighty degree sweep as he let go of the line and hurriedly cocked his gun. The sound echoed in every direction and he winced. It was no secret the infected were drawn to sound. His gun cock could spell his doom if there were some infected who hadn’t been in the vaccine’s radius.
“Well done you hear__” Olatunji snarled irritably a few steps to his right. His voice came so suddenly Taiwo was an inch shy of swinging the gun on him and blowing his head off.
“__ please don’t do that again __” He snapped in a furious whisper. “Do you realize I could have blown off your head? You startled me.”
“I won’t be the only thing startling you if you keep cocking that gun. We both know these things are drawn to sound and yet you keep cocking. Don’t ruin this mission before it has even begun __ is that understood?”
Stung and furious, Taiwo gave a violent nod his eyes drifting from left to right as he waited for Olatunji to lead the way. The other soldiers drifted their way with hard looks on their faces. Olatunji gave them a curt nod and headed southwards towards a cluster of building about a mile away.
Taiwo exchanged looks with the others and followed. The screech of the helicopters engines grew fainter as it flew further away. The agreement was they’d fly some distance away and look for a safe landing site. Though thinking about it now that might be a tall order __ the city was almost completely overrun by infected. It would be a miracle if they could find one close by.
A scratching sound about a hundred meters to his left made him pause. His eyes drifted that way as did his gun. He reached up with one hand and adjusted his gas mask. It was screwed on too tight and was starting to become uncomfortable. Well there was nothing he could do about that now.
He moved towards the sound, slowly and warily, struggling to see through the thick cloud of vaccine filled smoke. The smoke cleared as he got closer to the sound. An infected lay a few feet away jerking spasmodically and hitting its face into the tarmac. He circled around it keeping the barrel of his gun aimed at its head.
Its face was a red pulpy mass. It was difficult to tell if the vaccine was having any effect on it.
“What in the world are you doing?”
He turned frowning when he saw Olatunji standing a few feet away. “Heard a sound __ came to check it out __”
“Good for you __ well some of us have found the main admin building. We’ve decided to wait there for the Benin air-force pilots to arrive. Are you coming or not?”
Taiwo took a deep breath to calm himself before hurrying after Olatunji. The man was starting to seriously vex him. If he was a different sort of person he’d put a bullet into him and be done with it.
They reached the admin building. It was a massive structure __ three stories high with dust and soot covered cars in front. The air reeked of abandonment as if no one had been here for years. But he knew it couldn’t have been more than a few months at the most.
The door opened as they approached and they darted in swinging their guns in a wide circle. Three of the five soldiers who accompanied them stood in a wide area filled with tables and chairs arranged in a wide circle.
“Where are the others?” Olatunji barked lowering his weapon.
“They went to check out the rest of the building. They should be back any minute now.”
He nodded walking towards the closest chair and sank into it. Taiwo watched him yawn. His hand went to his eyes and he tried to rub them forgetting he had a gas mask on. The fatigue was getting to all of them. They hadn’t gotten much sleep for over a week now. If that didn’t change soon, some of them might start breaking down. He shivered just thinking about it.
“How long do we wait?” His words were a low growl in his throat.
Olatunji eyes drifted his way. There was no warm lurking in their depths.
“As long as it takes.”
“Are you sure they’ll be able to make it out? Didn’t they say they were trapped in the mess hall?”
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Olatunji nodded gritting his teeth as he did so. Taiwo’s eyes narrowed. It appeared he was irritating the good Colonel Olatunji; for some strange reason that realization brought him nothing but pleasure.
He was on the verge of exacerbating his irritation when they heard the faint roar of air-craft engines. The glum looks on every man’s face turned to excitement. It was almost too good to be true __ they made it __.
The roar grew louder. Taiwo and Olatunji exchanged looks and raced for the door. The runway lay about fifty meters from the admin building, high above that were four small dots; Planes!___ coming in for landing.
The reinforced barbwire fence surrounding the entire base was covered by hundreds of infected. The screech of air-craft engines snapped them out of their lethargy and they began to push against the fence snarling in fury.
Taiwo and Olatunji exchanged worried glances. “They’ll push down that fence if they keep that up.” Taiwo said in a quavering voice.
“I agree __” Olatunji said quietly giving the fence a speculative look.
“What?” Taiwo barked noticing.
“Nothing __ you stay here and keep watch. I have to do something.” And before Taiwo could protest he took off at a fast sprint towards the fence.
Swinging his gun over his shoulder as he ran he reached into his backpack and pulled out four large canisters. ‘What did she say about the distance? Five hundred meters? Well he was about to find out.
The race across the runway took almost no time at all. Reaching the fence he ran alongside it tossing canister after canister over it into the crowd of rabid infected.
He paced himself, running for almost five hundred meters before tossing the next one. They started to explode spewing thick clouds of vaccine gas into the air.
The infected dropped by the hundreds until most lay in twitching heaps. The fence was secure for now. He stopped running, leaning down to catch his breath as the planes came in for landing.
The screech of their tires hitting the tarmac was something he knew would stay with him for a long time. Taking another deep breath he sprinted for the slowing planes as they sped towards the admin building.
Before the plane had completely ground to a halt the pilot was already forcing the glass shield aside and un-strapping his seatbelts and harness. He leaped out of the plane landing with a loud whump on the smooth tarmac.
Olatunji was by his side in minutes with Taiwo joining him seconds later. Their eyes ran over the wiry intense looking pilot standing in front of them.
“Wing commander Diran Akinifesi?” Olatunji asked with one eyebrow raised.
He nodded with a deep sigh. There were deep shadows under his eyes, and Olatunji knew he could do with some rest. They all could, but there was plenty of time to do that once they got the Evonso virus situation sorted out.
“So you made it __ was afraid you wouldn’t.”
He shrugged holding Olatunji’s gaze with an impatient one of his own.
“Well __ I’d love to stay here and chat but why don’t we get this job over and done with.”
Olatunji nodded turning to face the soldier coming out of the administrative building. The man stooped slightly under the weight of the backpack he carried.
He set it down carefully and opened it; inside were six especially large canisters built differently from the ones they tossed from the helicopter less than forty minutes ago.
“Is that it??” Diran asked with one eyebrow raised. Olatunji nodded slowly.
“Ok good __ how do we do this?”
Another soldier came through the administrative building. He had a set of tools and what looked suspiciously like a pair of electric sockets.
“What is that?” Diran asked with a wary look on his face.
“He is going to attach them to your missile chutes. Not sure how exactly he wants to do that ___ but __ he is the expert.”
“So you’re saying I just fire the canister like a missile?”
“Yes __ that’s about it.”
He looked sceptical but didn’t say anything more. The soldier got to work. The process took about forty five minutes. By the time he was done Diran was practically grinding holes into the heels of his shoes.
“Done!” The soldier said with a sigh as he stepped away from the plane.
Diran nodded in relief and started clambering back into the plane. Some of Olatunji’s men had gotten a ladder from somewhere and set it against the side of the plane. He was up in seconds and strapping himself into the cockpit.
A quaking rumble made him freeze and he looked up his hands shaking violently. Olatunji and Taiwo spun round with their weapons raised.
Bright bursts of flame lit up the northern horizon like fireworks. “What now?” Olatunji growled under his breath. They didn’t have long to wait. The flames grew brighter and as they watched they saw it wasn’t flame bursts as they first thought, but what looked like large lizard creatures whose bodies were awash with flame.
“You best go __ NOW!!!” Olatunji yelled backing towards the administrative building.
“What altitude do I have to hit before I fire the missiles?”
“At least forty thousand feet; anything below that will be a waste of time___”
Diran cast a worried gaze at the approaching lizard like creatures before he started the plane’s engines and sped down the runway. The plane picked up speed and to his immense relief took to the air. His escorts took to the air too flanking him on the left and right.
Two approached speeding from the west blowing out thick clouds of flame bursts. Diran banked swiping low to avoid them. He barely managed it. The plane’s throttle screamed as it struggled to compensate for the swift shift. There was a debate whether they were as manoeuvrable as the F18s the Americans favoured.
One of the creatures swooped down to compensate and resumed attack. His hand drifted to the missile launch button out of habit. He stayed it with some difficulty only just remembering his missiles had been replaced with canisters of the vaccine.
He jerked the throttle back and the plane climbed, streaking to the high points of the upper atmosphere. His other pilots rallied to cover his ascent. He felt a sense of relief when he saw them let loose missiles which turned the flying beasts into flaming ash. So their weapons weren’t useless against them. They could be destroyed.
Tracer rounds spat out of the guns on their underbellies, lighting up the sky with bright tiny dots of firework style lights. The infrared picked up a gigantic surge of heat coming from behind. It took a split second for his brain to register what that was. He pushed the throttle forward taking the plane into a steep nosedive.
He wasn’t a moment too soon because a large wave of fire swept across the flight path he’d been on seconds ago. His instruments started to screech as he struggled to regain control. He spun around in a wide circle and pulled up once more.
Tracer rounds swept past the windows of both sides of his cockpit. He knew what that meant. His escort pilots were giving cover fire. He looked back catching the remains of what looked like white fluff. Ash ___ they were bringing the fire breathing lizard creatures down by the dozens.
He looked at the altitude indicator on the screen above the throttle. He was at thirty thousand feet. That meant he had about ten thousand feet to go.
He pulled the throttle back further. The plane’s engines let out a piercing scream. His finger slowly caressed the missile release button but he didn’t press it__ anytime now___
The indicator slowly inched to thirty eight thousand feet. He was almost there. The plane’s body suddenly shuddered as if something struck it and his speed started to drop. He was still climbing but __ slow and sluggish like.
Puzzled, he glanced out of his right window, his heart filled with lead. There was smoke. The engines started to cough and splutter. He wasn’t going to make it. His eyes drifted to the altitude indicator. He was at thirty nine thousand feet and starting to plumm
et. He decided to go on faith. Depressing the missile release system, there was a loud swooshing sound and the canisters took off, streaking into the upper atmosphere.
It got to about a thousand feet before it exploded spewing a thick white cloud. A smile lit up Diran’s face for about a second before the engines stalled totally. Diran felt the heat from the explosion as he pulled the ejector seat. His screams could be heard from miles away.