Chapter Six
Taiwo followed the big bulky men headed to the president’s quarters to give him the bad news. Usually he wouldn’t even be allowed near the man but since his return from Oraromi the president insisted he never leave his side. Why? He honestly did not know. For some strange reason the man seemed to think he was effective but he somehow doubted that.
He hadn’t succeeded in any mission he’d been sent on. He didn’t succeed in capturing patient zero; neither did he get a blood sample from him. All he did in both instances was to survive while the tough war hardened soldiers sent with him died like cattle. Perhaps that was why the man respected him. Maybe cos he survived when more trained people could not. It got him wondering sometimes.
The door opened before they reached it. Five heavily armed men stood inside his expansive quarters giving the visitors hard glances. The president snored quietly many meters away. Taiwo couldn’t stop a quiet gasp from leaving his lips when he saw how big the man’s bed was. It was the size of a small continent when compared with his, stuffed in a tiny apartment in the chaos that was now Lagos.
“We have to wake him __” The lead escort barked at the stony faced guard towering over him.
“What’s this about?”
“Wetin you think e dey about?” The leader snapped switching to Pidgin English. “It’s about the disease and the vaccine. Now would you please wake him up so we can give him the information?”
Both men exchanged hard glares. Taiwo shifted uneasily, praying with all his heart that the situation did not degenerate into a free for all. The guard eventually backed away heading to the president’s bed. They waited, watching as he tapped him gently. He didn’t stir. It took four hard shakes before he was able to rouse him. Taiwo felt sorry for waking him. He needed to sleep. Unfortunately, it couldn’t be helped.
Abdusalam’s eyes narrowed when he saw them standing by the door. His gaze grew troubled. Rising quickly, he hurried towards them.
“What is it?”
The leader swallowed and spoke.
“The research facilities in Ghana, Cairo and Cape Town have been destroyed.”
“WHAT???!!!”
“I am afraid so sir.”
“What happened?”
“We are not sure __ security operatives are still investigating.”
“All of them! At the same time!! This can’t have been a coincidence.”
“We don’t think it is sir.”
“What about the vaccine? Were they able to complete the conversion process?”
“I am afraid the vaccine was completely destroyed in Ghana and Cairo. No aerosol was developed in either place. ”
Abdusalam’s eyes narrowed.
“What happened in Cape Town?”
“It was attacked and destroyed as with the other places. But fortune smiled on us __”
“Explain_”
“Well one of the South African security agents found his way to the research facility just before the attack. He managed to escape the facility with a cylinder of completed vaccine aerosol.”
“Was he the only survivor?”
“No __ one of the lead researchers got out with him. The aerosol hasn’t been certified for testing yet. They were going to test it over the next couple of days__”
“So in effect __” Abdusalam growled interrupting. “__ that is the only vaccine in aerosol form that we have.”
“Yes sir it is.”
“Can it be duplicated?”
“Dr Kemisola seems to think it can __”
“Can it be done here?”
They exchanged troubled glances.
“What is it?”
“Well __ it can be done here __ in Nigeria __ but only in one place.”
“And where is that?” Abdusalam asked his heart filling with dread. He suspected he wasn’t going to like what he was about to hear.
“The Lagos Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.”
“But Lagos is a death zone!”
“So you see the problem sir.”
A long silence engulfed their ranks.
“Where is Doctor Kemisola now?”
“In her quarters resting.”
“Get her to the conference room immediately.”
“Very good sir __”
“And get me General Mako on the phone.” He growled striding for the door of his wardrobe where his robe was hanging.
“General Mako is on the field sir leading the troops to contain the horde of infected.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Bring him in immediately I have a more important assignment for him. Is that clear?”
“Crystal sir!”
“Good! Now get to it.”
The men cleared the room fast. Taiwo brought up the rear.
General Mako had a large binoculars pressed to his face as he watched the chaotic scene unfold before him. Thousands of infected raced down a wide grass covered plain heading towards the two thousand strong military force he commanded.
The three tanks he brought on this engagement rumbled out of the midst of his soldiers. They stopped ten feet in front, their long guns swinging into position. His order to fire was a simple nod.
The crack of the tanks guns going off at once deafened every man present. A cloud of fire blanketed the slope raising a searing cloud to the heavens. The tanks pounded the slope for ten minutes before he gave the order to stop.
It took another five minutes for the wind to blow the smoke away. Piles of mangled, burnt and bloody corpses littered the ground covering a five mile radius.
The roar of rotor blades made he and his soldiers look up. A military helicopter was coming in for landing. One the helicopter’s occupants had a white lab coat on. A doctor __ that didn’t bode well.
It landed, scattering dust and sand everywhere. Mako walked forward swinging his rifle over his shoulder. The doctor alighted, quickly heading his way.
“General Mako?”
“That’s me!” Mako shouted yelling to be heard over the screeching rotor blades.
“The president needs you to come in.”
“What for? The north east as you can see __” He began making a sweeping motion across the corpse riddled plain. “__ is overrun with these things. We are the only thing standing between them and the uninfected population. If we leave __”
“General sir __ I think you misunderstood me. The president isn’t asking your troops to pull out. He wants you to come with me. He has a very important assignment for you.”
“Why didn’t he call me himself?”
“I am not sure you’ve noticed, but we’ve been having increased problems with our communication network. The virus spread has affected civilian communication. Its effectiveness is now down to fifteen percent.”
“What is the job?”
“Come! I’ll tell you about it on the way.”
Mako paused turning to face his second in command, a beefy scar faced behemoth with dull bloodshot eyes.
“You are in charge Mustapha. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He nodded slowly barking out a sound which Mako assumed to be affirmation.
He and the doctor raced to the helicopter and clambered in. The helicopter took off heading in a westward direction.