Free Virus by Ifedayo Akintomide

that
she did not hear the door to the quarantined room fly open. Four
other masked and rubber suited people rushed in. They all worked on
him for another ten minutes trying to revive him. When he remained
unresponsive, they eventually gave up. They declared Chike Chidozie
dead at 12.24am.
     

Chapter Fifteen
     
    Wole sat up drenched in sweat. It
was the dream. Always the same dream. His eyes flittered to the
clock on the wall. It said 3.15am. A frown roughened his brow. That
was not right at all. For as long as he could remember the dreams
always came just before dawn. Between the hours of 5.30 and 6.30am.
A sense of dread filled his insides.
    Something was wrong! Or was it his
mind playing tricks on him again? He sat up, placing his feet on
the cold floor. He would probably have continued dwelling on it if
he did not hear his mother’s footsteps moving along the passage
heading towards the kitchen.
    The frown on his face grew even
harder. What was she prowling around at night for? He suddenly
remembered that she said something about preparing moi moi* (bean
cake kind of meal). She sent him to grind the beans the previous
night. Since it took quite a while to prepare, she probably wanted
to get everything ready before it was time for school.
    He sank back down on the bed with
another sigh and closed his eyes. Wake up time for him was 5.30am.
He still had more than two hours to catch up on some sleep. He
drifted off with that thought running through his head.
     
    6.45 am (En-route to
school)
     
    Tunrayo stood at the end of the
path, which broke out onto the dirt road leading towards the
school. Her orange uniform was sparkling clean and her hair, tied
into a bun behind her head, was nicely combed and neat. Both eyes
were red and swollen, as if she had been crying.
    “Are you alright?” Wole asked his
heart skipping a couple of beats as he looked at her
face.
    “I am fine. I am just a little tired
and stressed out.”
    The look on his face said in very
clear terms that he did not believe a word she was saying, but he
did not query her any further. He started towards the school
without another word and she quickly hurried after him. They walked
in silence for several moments before anyone spoke.
    “Have you heard anything about
Chike’s condition?”
    “No I haven’t.” He replied
stiffening slightly. “Have you?”
    She shook her head
slowly.
    “I really hope he is feeling
better.”
    “Me too.”
    His voice was low, almost too low
for her to hear.
     
    7.15 am (Oraromi police
station).
     
    Taiwo Betiku sat behind a large desk
in a wide room riffling through a thick stack of papers. He was a
large man, about 6.3 inches tall and very broad. His hulk stuffed
into the black on black uniform of the Nigerian police force. Taiwo
Betiku was many things. He was focused, career driven, loyal,
honest, unmarried but most importantly, he was the D.P.O (District
Police Officer) of the Oraromi police station.
    That title meant he was the head
honcho, the lord of everything he surveyed, all things regarding
the law that is. His dark and extremely weathered face was hard,
his nose wrinkled as if he caught an extremely bad smell. That was
not the case however. His nose always went that way when he was
face to face with something he did not like; like the report he
held in his hand for instance. A knock on the door broke his
concentration.
    “Yes come in__” He barked not
looking up.
    The door to his office opened and a
whipcord lean police officer walked in. He wore the same black on
black uniform Taiwo was wearing but his eyes looked sad and weary
at the same time. He saluted and quickly went at ease after a curt
nod from Taiwo.
    “What is it sergeant?”
    “We just got a call from the general
hospital sir.”
    “And?”
    “Chike Chidozie died this
morning.”
    Taiwo gasped looking up at the
sergeant in stunned silence.
    “Didn’t they say it was just a bite?
Who dies from a bite?”
    The sergeant shrugged but did