Delayed Diagnosis Episode 30
Written by Kingsley Olanrewaju Efughi
The ride was a silent one…it was strange but no one had anything to say, or should I say we had a lot to say but we were all deep in thought and possibilities.
Anyone who reads the presentation strange eyes had prepared for me about the shadows and the way they operated would know that they were deadly people…an elite group…truly a force to be reckoned with. I on the other hand had seen one of them in action…he had been inches away from ending my life at the hospital and plunging the needle into my neck…and just the past week, I had killed a shadow…surely I could do it again?
But truth be told, I was afraid…very afraid.
“We’re at third mainland bridge right now…” The fake captain announced. He was behind the wheel, with agent Tonye in front..strange eyes and I where behind. I tried to draw strength from the fact that we were four in number…and all of us were adequately trained…I could say I had been trained by experience, which was the best teacher of all.
The captain’s announcement was met with silence…no one said anything, and I was wondering how long the silence would last when the ringing of my phone broke it.
It was my father. This was a bit strange…because most times I spoke to my father over the phone, he seldom called me. It was usually my mother and after talking she’d hand the phone to my father who was always near by. I picked the call..wondering, but happy to hear from him.
“Hello”
“Rex…my boy..how are you?”
“I’m fine…how are you?”
“I’m okay..where are you?”
“I’m…I’m…I just left the hospital now..I went to see Andy…where are you? That place is noisy”
“Eh? I can’t hear you…wait lemme find somewhere quiet”
The noise quieted down..he must have moved to somewhere quiet.
“What did you say?” He asked again
“I just left the hospital…I went to see Andy” that wasn’t exactly a lie. “Where are you?”
“Oh…De’ Omiridan’s first daughter…I’m not sure you remember him…his daughter is having her naming ceremony today…we’re just about leaving…but your mother have disappeared inside the house”
I couldn’t really remember the person…but the name was familiar and I guessed my mother was close friends with the wife also.
“”Okay..that’s good..hope the place isn’t too far from the house..its getting late already”
“No its not…Rex..that wasn’t why I called you”
I glanced at strange eyes…he was watching me intently and I suddenly wondered if he could catch both sides of the conversation from the earphone… I switched the phone to the other ear.
“what is it..what’s wrong”
“I’ve been having this feeling…a bad feeling…and your name keeps coming to my mind…I know you’re involved in some dangerous things and I’ve been worried…and I had a dream…”
I could see why he was shaken…my dad hardly dreamt…right from my childhood, I could always remember him saying it..he didn’t dream..when he shut his eyes, that was it. I had heard him joke to friends more than one occasion that when he was tired and asleep, evert part of him was asleep..his mind was not permitted to ‘act film’ behind his eye lids..that was how he had put it…for him to be telling me he had a dream now…and I could hear the worry in his voice…I didn’t need to ask him what the dream was about.
“Rex..you’re not safe…whatever it is…you’re about to do..don’t do it..I’ve been having this feeling since I woke up and I didn’t want your mother to know or else worry would kill her…but please…boy…promise me you’re not about to so something right now that will endanger your life!”
I didn’t blink. “I promise” I replied. “I assure you…I’m about to meet Olivia and drive home now..I just saw Andy and he’s already walking about..I’m not about to endanger myself”
From the front seat..Tonye turned to look at me.
“Hmmmm…okay…” My dad said and I heard the relief in his voice “is Olivia there..let me speak to her…your mother and I have really missed her”
“Eh..so its only her…you didn’t miss me…”
But to be honest I was thinking of how to get out of the tight spot I had put myself…finally I said “no..I’ve been waiting for her to come out of the toilet…I’d call you back when we’re in the car”
“Okay…hopefully I’d have seen your mother by that time” he replied..
Immediately I ended the call, I put my phone in aeroplane mode. I needed all my attention right now…I couldn’t afford to let my phone ring and distract me..I told myself that was the main reason and not that I was tired of lying to my parents.
I had forgotten Olivia was listening from the hospital via the earphone, she spoke up “Rex…Rex…I’m worried..”
“Don’t be..we’re going to save the women and I’d be with you in no time”
The car was silent again. I almost felt like telling the fake captain to slow down…he was really eating the road up and the needle on the speedometer must have been nearing 100…Don’t be deceived though, my thoughts were not for safety reasons…rather the fact that we were getting closer to Ikoyi and the warehouse so fast….
Strange eyes was leaning into the booth from the backseat rummaging around for something…finally he sat down and dumped something in my lap.
“Strap up” he announced.
I looked at it…it was a kevlar vest…a bulletproof vest.
I didn’t waste time..I put it on immediately, over my shirt. Fastening the side hooks, I asked.. “What about you guys?”
He tapped his chest and Tonye replied..”when we were waiting for you, we already put on ours…” She turned to look at me again…”you had better wear yours under your shirt… In the split second before someone shoots at you..a trained assassin might change his mind and aim for your neck up if he notices you have a vest on”
What!!!!
She didn’t need to tell me twice…I stripped down in the backseat and was just strapping the kevlar vest over my bare chest when the fake captain announced “we’re almost there…about ten minutes away”
He had gotten off the main express and was now in a less busy road.
I hurriedly buttoned my shirt up..mismatching the buttons in the process and starting all over again.
Strange eyes who had been mute all along had suddenly found his voice “Okay..the key is strategy…Rex..you need to remain covered all the time..the ware house has two side entrances and a main entrance, the best thing would be we all split and cover all the entrance…one person per entrance”
“How about the fourth person?” I asked him
“It would just be the three of us..Tonye would remain in the car and provide us with Intel”
“Which yeye Intel?! I’m going with you…I’m a field agent..field agents don’t sit in cars while her partners are working..” She sounded determined…enraged even.
From the front the fake captain added. “I agree with her…we have all the basic Intel we need about the layout of the warehouse…we have no visuals about what to expect or how many to expect so we have to make sure we’re prepared”
Strange eyes was quiet..defeated..I didn’t see what he had meant and I was about to rub it in that his point was invalid but then I thought back to the accident he had told me about…the incident he had almost lost his eye sight and had lost his partner..agent Nancy or so…it had happened in a warehouse too and she had died…I knew how he felt about agent Tonye now and I could tell he was having feelings of déjà vu again…I could understand..so I kept my mouth shut.
The ware house was massive…it stood in an industrial area..surrounded by companies and offices..there were no residences around this stretch of land..and as we drew nearer, that was the first thing I noticed…no wonder the location had been chosen..this way there were no nosy neighbours and basically nobody in general to notice any strange movements.
The whole area was lit up with streetlights, no doubt courtesy of the different companies on both sides of the road.
Tonye had the tab out and was giving the driver directions, “we’re almost there…it should be on the next street”…she said excitedly. I swallowed and held on to the gun tightly…searching for whatever comfort it could bring…instead I closed my eyes as the faces of my parents, Olivia, Fome, Andy, Mona suddenly attacked my conscience…and the last face I would see was Fumi…the same way I had seen her take her last breath…on the bathroom floor with blood gushing out of her mouth…I suddenly felt angry..her death had been avenged by strange eyes and his agents when they killed the old crooner..but in the bigger picture the real killers were out there…same with Mona..I had knelt over her lifeless body and felt helpless but the real killers were out there…and I had a chance to shoot at them now…I gritted my teeth..converting the anger to adrenaline- if it was possible “lets do this!” I announced suddenly and the other occupants of the car looked at me…even the driver took his eyes off the road for a second to glance at me. It seems the energy spread slowly and Tonye was the first to contact it…”yes….let’s go kick some ass!” She whipped out her pistol,switched the safety off and pulled the rooster back…it resulted in a snapping sound that was really reassuring…strange eyes nodded watching the woman he loved and the worry cleared from his eyes and he nodded vigorously…”yes..let’s go shine the light on some stupid shadows!!”
“Good…Good…cause we’re here” the captain announced.
We had turned into the street…we all fell quiet and Tonye killed the screen of the tab.
°•°•°•••°°
The streetlights ended at the beginning of the street and the driver killed the headlights. We coasted down the road slowly…the jeep crawling forward slowly, inch by inch.
“Rex..take the right entrance…Dexter..you take the left..Tonye and I would go through the main”
I wanted to ask strange eyes why he was whispering but Tonye had a better question.
“Why leave Rex to go alone? He hasn’t been trained like us..his shooting isn’t nearly as perfect like us…he shouldn’t be covering a door on his own”
“That’s a valid point” the driver added
“Hmm..that’s true…okay I’d take the side…Rex you and Tonye go through the main..good luck”
I spoke up. “I would have preferred if we all went through the main..the four of us..instead of separating…surely they couldn’t handle us all?”
“Rex..divide and conquer is the best tactics trust me..”
I wasn’t about to back down.
“I think you’re missing the point of divide and conquer..it means you divide your opponents and conquer them..you don’t divide yourselves”
The street must have been a very long one…we could only hear the noise of industrial generators from both sides..probably for the night shift production of whatever was being produced.
We bantered to and fro on the formation…all the agents felt we should split up..but I was all for us staying together.
“If you play call of duty…when your character is armed surrounded by about four-five soldiers all armed..nothing beats that feeling..that’s when victory is guaranteed”
Strange eyes laughed it off like I knew he would…how could I compare gaming experience to real life…he had seen real field battle…all it would take was a very strong automatic gun…a SAW or maybe an RPG even and we were all gone…if we went in together at once that could-
The driver interrupted him…
“It seems we may have no choice after all…”
“What do you mean?” Strange eyes asked then he exclaimed in a whisper “Blood of Zechariah!”
We were at the ware house now…and we all looked at what had made strange eyes exclaim…there was a container truck parked in front of the warehouse.
The door of the containers were open and there was something like a ladder running from the entrance to the floor.
It was happening! The widows were being loaded up again!
This time..from here to the wharf were a ship was probably waiting.
| “Oh my God” Tonye gasped “What is it…what is going on?” Olivia asked over the ear phone. I could hear Andy’s voice from her side “what’s the matter..what’s going on?” No one answered..we all watched in silence. The captain killed the engine totally and the black jeep blended perfectly in the shadows. The main door of the ware house was wide open and there was no movement at first, we all watched in silence. Then a figure appeared from outside. He was dressed in black, complete with a black scarf wrapped around his face..and black boots…he looked like a ninja. “That must be a shadow” Tonye whispered breathlessly. I tell you the look of that single shadow was intimidating as hell, over the earphone Olivia kept asking what was going on worriedly but no one was really hearing…all our five senses were on the edge…all directed towards the shadow who stood by the entrance of the warehouse door. He/she stayed still for some seconds…looking around, then in a swift movement, he leaped over the ladder and into the container. “Did you see that…he has a sword on his back” strange eyes whispered. “A sword?” Tonye, the captain and Olivia all asked. I spoke up “No…not a sword…its a stick… Like a mop stick” “What the Bleep would he be doing with a mop stick?” The captain asked “is it boys scout or what?…” Olivia replied before I could. “That’s not just a mop stick…it has some kind of deadly blade at the tip..the shadow at the hospital used something similar to cut down two security guards” The captain whistled. “Shhh…” Strange eyes snapped harshly. “What’s he doing in there?” As if in reply, the shadow leapt out once more, his movements so swift and graceful. He landed like a cat on the floor then went to the door of the ware house, he stuck his head in for some seconds then returned back out. “I think that’s the signal” I whispered breathlessly. Then the shadow looked in our direction. He seemed to look with such concentration that everyone flinched reflexively…even the captain at the front ducked. “No movement…no movement…these men are trained to sense the slightest movement even when they can’t see anything” strange eyes whispered harshly…his voice sounded panicky and full of fear…the shadow continued looking in our direction for some seconds but then he struck a match and brought the flame to his mouth. “What is he doing?” Tonye whispered breathlessly Strange eyes would know of course…chain smoker that he is: “its a cigarette” He lit his cigarette and leaned his head into the warehouse once more… A second shadow appeared…he/she was dressed like the first..complete ninja style dressing with the stick hanging in a slant position on his back. But in his hands was a deadly rifle.. He opened the door of the warehouse fully and the light illuminated his hands. “Holy shit…that’s an mp-5…Belgium made…our Army doesn’t even have weaponry like that…it has a grenade launcher under the barrel…double catastrophe!” Strange eyes said..his voice was barely audible in a whisper and I shook my head…fear had really seized me. The adrenaline of before had disappeared and I knew it wasn’t just me. The shadow with the rifle marched forward and lo and behold the women followed. The first woman looked nothing more than 15..and from the short distance she seemed extremely young. She was the first one out, and as she passed, the shadow with the cigarette blew a cloud of smoke in her face and slapped her ass loudly. She broke into tears immediately and the bastard burst into a fit of laughter…in the night the laughter sounded evil…pure evil and crazy…don’t forget crazy. She was followed by another middle aged looking woman. She walked dejectedly and defeated and when the shadow blew smoke in her face and slapped her backside, she didn’t move..didn’t cry..didn’t raise her head up…nothing! “Oh my God…they’ve broken her spirit…” Tonye said in dismay. I was watching in disbelief and my blood was getting hot…not adrenaline this time…just red boiling rage…so hot I felt it would erupt! “What are we waiting for..? Let’s take them down now!!” “Sshh…lower your voice…not yet..trust me..not yet…timing is everything” “What timing?…look at them? They’ve been abused and their spirits have been broken” The women had climbed up the ladder slowly and they kept on coming out of the warehouse. The charade of smoke blowing and rear slapping continued and the lava within me threatened to erupt. “His cigarette should be almost finished now..at least there’d be no more of that” strange eyes observed in a whisper. The words had just left his mouth when the bastard shadow held on to a widow who was passing him…she was already sobbing quietly and it was twisting my heart to hear her painful sobs…but then would you believe the shadow grabbed her and squashed the cigarette butt on her neck…like an ash tray..she howled in pain and the shadow pushed her and kicked her on the rear. She fell to the ground in painful tears. I couldn’t take it anymore. “Bleep this!” I announced and dragged the handle of my door open….. It didn’t open…I pulled it violently but it still didn’t open. I looked at the captain. “I had to…now is not the time” he said “Open it….disengage the central lock now!” “Rex get a grip…you’d surely be killed now..it hurts me watching it also but the best thing we can do for now is to watch and observe” strange eyes said. For a second, I felt like smashing the gun to the window screen and crawling out the window…Bleep the consequences…I had to act! But then I saw someone and I stopped,with my hand in mid air. It was Uduak…’Big mommy’ as she was called and Chief’s alleged mother. She came out behind a widow and went to the widow who was still crying loudly and struggling to get to her feet. With amazing strength she helped the woman to her feet and for a second I thought she was going to pet her, but she slapped her..a harsh slap that vibrated through the night. “What a witch!” Tonye said angrily from the front. I said nothing…the appearance of this scary woman brought back hunting images of my dream and also traces of my conversation with my dad about his dream…I had a feeling she might have starred in his also, despite him not seeing her before. Her presence dampened my resilience..but only for a minute. As more widows trooped out, the shadow by the door lit another cigarette and continued with the blowing and slapping. “Driv- Dexter…open this door…lemme out!” “Rex for the love of God calm down…reconnaissance is the most important aspect right now” “Reconnaissance? What are you reckoning? See these women before our eyes and we’re doing nothing!” “No..not nothing…we need to know how many shadows there are and widows…Tonye how many so far?” “73 women and 2 shadows” I fell quiet after that..but for every puff of smoke and slap, I grew angrier…I promised myself then and there to kill the bastard or at least die trying. After what seemed like eternity, Tonye updated once more “that’s 237 women so far…still the two shadows outside” “It might be safe to assume there are two more inside” the captain added “Maybe more” strange eyes corrected. We fell silent. The filing continued and we watched in silence, the only audible sound was the gritting of my teeth. After sometime, strange eyes said “Rex..the priority of this mission is to save the women..not to get the shadows but to save the women..that is the number one goal…so we need to keep our anger in check…if we engage them now, we’re exposing the women to supreme danger..” “I understand…” “The best course of action is to let them finish loading, then trace the container and burst it before it gets to its destination” I nodded in agreement and Tonye and the captain also made agreeing noises. I watched the shadow warily when his cigarette was finishing but he flicked it away this time…I released pent up breathe and for the next few minutes he focused only on slapping…not lighting anyone again. Ratatatatatatatata! A spray of gunfire from inside made everyone jump again. “What was that..what’s going on” Olivia asked frantically, and I was beginning to think the earphone was a bad idea..she could almost kill herself with worry and I couldn’t afford to get distracted. The gunshots had come from the warehouse but neither shadow or even the old witch big mommy moved. They all continued their evil business as the women hurried amidst tears and whimpers. “My God what was that..what’s happening?” Strange eyes asked no one (or maybe God) he sounded baffled. I sounded sure…as if I had been there. “Some women tried to run for it…or tried to attack them..they were cut down with the bullets” “Chai…o ma séooo…” the captain said…. “How could someone be soo heartless…na woman born these ones?” “Cursed be the womb they came out from” Tonye spat with anger and sadness. We watched and watched as the marching continued, the cigarette was back and the puffing continued…some women he didn’t just smack but actually squeezed roughly. Finally, no woman came out again..we waited, but it seemed like they were done. “How many?” Bami asked “498” Tonye replied…”they should have been 500…there’s the other two…” We watched in stunned silence as a shadow appeared, dragging two women roughly. They were obviously dead and we could make out their blood soaked dresses. Another shadow came out with plastic bags and we watched as the bodies were bagged swiftly. “Looks like they’re four in number” the captain observed. “One for each then” I added…my voice was unrecognizable…filled with so much anger and hatred. The shadow who had been smoking conferred with the old witch (I can’t ever call her big mommy….never again!) and they stood looking down at the bodies…they seemed deep in thought. Finally, she brought out her phone and placed a call to whoever…after speaking few curt words, she terminated the call and directed the shadow. He in turn directed the other two and they carried the two bodies back into the warehouse. “Are they just going to leave the bodies there?” The captain asked. “No…they have a cleaning crew…I’m sure they’re on the way” I remembered the crew that had been sent to clean up Andy’s blood…the first man I had killed had been among that team….I wondered what had happened to the other woman…we had tumbled her van and she had been knocked into a deep coma.. The two shadows returned again. They were dressed like the previous two and they had wicked looking rifles in their hands. I wondered which of them had pulled the trigger… They all conferred with the old witch for some minutes, then they split up. The cigarette shadow and the other one who had come out after him went to the truck and climbed in. I noticed the smoking shadow sat behind the wheel….my eyes were seriously on him. |
| The other two stood waiting with big mummy, then one of them went to the entrance and rolled back the door further. After some seconds, a car drove out. The reflection from within the warehouse made us see who was behind the wheel. “We were wrong..there are five shadows in number…” Tonye announced. The shadow who had rolled the gate..rolled it back, shutting the door and he hurried to the front seat of the car. The old witch and the remaining shadow got in the back seat, and the driver flashed the headlights, signalling the container truck that they were good to go. The truck had a powerful engine and it started up with a loud rumble. It accelerated forward and after some seconds, the car followed it. The captain waited too long in my opinion and I prodded “what are we waiting for…!?!” He started up, with his headlights still off. “The best thing is to move extremely slow..you can’t afford to hit the brakes…in this kind of darkness the driver in the car might notice the reflection of the break lights” “Copy that…I’m used to the road from the journey here” °•°•°•°•°••°° We followed some distance behind, slowly till we entered the express. The captain had kept further behind when we had gotten to the side that was well lot IP with street lights, but now on the express, he accelerated and switched on the headlights. The time was 10:03pm according to the dashboard, but the express was still quite busy.. “we need to maintain visual…we can’t afford to lose sight of them” I said worriedly. At a point we couldn’t differentiate the car from about four ahead, but we kept on following the trailer and with time, we noticed the car, it always seemed to move too close to the trailer. “We’re approaching 3rd mainland bridge again” the captain announced. “We need to do something now…” I said frantically..”if we follow them to the wharf its bad news…we’re outnumbered” Strange eyes agreed “you’re right….Dexter..step on it!” The captain was a really good driver, he floored the pedal and began zapping past cars. Strange eyes turned to the boot again. This time he emerged with a canister. He handed it to me “You know what to do” “Tear gas?…tear gas won’t cut it this time…did you see those cats…they’re wrapped up…ordinary gas won’t work here…” “I’m approaching the car..make up your mind!” The captain announced…he was gaining on the vehicle. I was frantic…”Bami…when your agents attacked the Chief’s residence..you used something…it had this deafening beep that stung the ear and a blinding light…it really disoriented everybody” “Bingo..a flash grenade…you genius!” He turned back and rummaged once more. “Hurry up..hurry up..5 more seconds to impact max…” He handed it to me. It looked like a real grenade. I wanted to ask him if he was sure but I thought: what the hell? I wouldn’t mind blowing up everyone in that vehicle till kingdom come. “You pull the pin and toss it…be accurate” Bami shouted. The jeep was on my side so it had to be me We approached the car and the captain shouted suddenly “the windows are up…the windows are up!!” Tonye sharp as ever shouted “move closer! Move closer now!” The captain turned his steering to the right and brought us dangerously close to the car. I could see the old witch looking at the jeep..she was in the backseat closest to the window. Tonye was swift and strong…she rolled her gun like the old movie character ‘sledgehammer’ and using the gun like a sledge hammer smashed the window with two quick fierce strikes… I pulled the pin…. There were shouts from the car and our jeep was already pulling away…I was like steph Curry on the three point shot, Lebron James on the free throw, Kevin Durant on the slam dunk. I channeled all anger and adrenaline into throwing the grenade into the small hole Tonye had made with her gun and I tell you even if my eyes were shut I would have made the shot. There’s something with ‘now or never’…when you know you have to do something and failure isn’t an option…it was like slow motion and I let the grenade fly. The captain pulled away and Bami was shouting “Did you get it?! Did you get it?!” I couldn’t answer…my heart was racing and I wasn’t really hearing him. The flash bang replied his question. Peeeeeeeeeeemp! The sound still affected our ears despite the fact we were a bit far off.. The sound was followed by a bright flash..so bright it reflected before our jeep. I turned back to see the car lose control and veer of the road…it slammed into the corvette, but the speed was too much, it tumbled over and into the water below. “Good throw mate…good fucking throw! That was so satisfying…now we take down the trailer…” The captain shouted excitedly He accelerated and began catching up to the trailer still talking excitedly. “Bleep! They’re gone…that was so good Rex…you’re the fucking-“ He stopped talking suddenly and I had been looking out the window, at the water..my mind on the occupants of the car and hoping the old witch was drowning.. Tonye gave a short scream and I looked front. The captain was spraying blood on the windscreen. He slumped forward on the steering, his chest pressing against the horn resulting in a sharp sound: paaaaaarrrmmm!! I looked up in horror, the trailer was just ahead of us, but the passenger door was open, the shadow was perched on the door, hanging like a lizard and his free hand held the deadly rifle he had been holding. “Oh my God!!” Strange eyes was shouting. We knew what was coming next…the rocket! (I wanted to end the update here but the suspense would be soo illegal ) The captain was slumped on the steering and his body moved to the side..the movement causing the car to drift sideways and bringing my side of the door closer to the trailer… I didn’t think..I acted subconsciously.. I jerked my door open and maybe it was the sheer force, or the power of will…but it obeyed this time and opened! I leapt to the ground, rolling once twice, three times till I lost count..my skin broke apart from the friction in different places…but I didn’t feel the pain…I managed to get on my knees, lost my balance and rolled once more..but then I regained balance, I leapt up and in one move, I was holding on to the handle of the container door. My legs were flaying behind and I tried to lift myself before both ankles break from the contact with ground. I heard the explosion and knew what had happened….the rocket had been fired! I shouted “Noooooooo!” and looked back in time to see the car fly up and burst into flames. |
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