Zombie in Lagos

At 4:30 p.m., Lagos was already angry.

The traffic had swallowed the road from Oshodi toward Yaba, turning the afternoon into a sea of yellow buses, private cars, motorcycles, and impatient pedestrians.

Heat shimmered above the asphalt.

Horns screamed from every direction.

A danfo conductor hung halfway out of his bus, slapping the metal body with his palm.

"Yaba! Yaba! One seat remain!"

A woman carrying a tray of Gala and bottled drinks squeezed between two cars.

"Gala! Cold drink! Pure water!"

Nobody stopped her.

Nobody had time.

Faji FM blasted through the open windows of a nearby danfo, the latest street banger fighting against the noise of Lagos.

"Turn am up!"

"Abeg, leave am!"

"Guy, increase the volume!"

The conductor laughed and turned the knob higher.

Music swallowed the traffic.

For a moment, everything felt normal.

That was the thing about Lagos.

Even when the city was falling apart, it had a way of pretending everything was fine.

Segun knew that better than most.

He sat behind the wheel of Bus 14, one hand resting on the gear stick and the other drumming against the steering wheel.

Oshodi to Yaba.

Another trip.

Another afternoon.

Another battle with Lagos traffic.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

"God, this heat..."

His conductor, Tunde, leaned through the open door.

"Driver, shift small! You dey block my side."

Segun glanced at him.

"Na you dey tell me?"

Tunde grinned.

"Who else?"

Segun shook his head and smiled.

Inside the bus, eleven passengers were packed together.

A woman with a sleeping toddler rested her head against the window.

An elderly market woman guarded two bulging bags between her feet.

Two university students argued quietly about football.

A banker in a wrinkled shirt stared blankly outside, his tie already loosened around his neck.

Among the passengers, one man had barely said a word since boarding the bus. He sat near the window, wearing a blue surgical nose mask that covered most of his face. While everyone else complained about the heat, he kept it firmly over his nose and mouth, occasionally checking his phone.

Everyone looked tired.

Everyone wanted to get home.

It was just another Lagos afternoon.

Until the radio stopped.

The music cut off in the middle of a song.

Krrrrrrr.

Static filled the bus.

Segun frowned.

"Wetin happen?"

Tunde reached toward the radio.

"Signal?"

The static continued for another second.

Then a woman's voice came through.

Young.

Breathless.

Afraid.

"...this is a breaking news bulletin from the Lagos State Ministry of Health."

The passengers slowly fell quiet.

"Authorities are confirming reports of a suspected viral outbreak at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, in Idi-Araba."

Segun's fingers tightened around the steering wheel.

The reporter continued.

"According to preliminary information, several individuals have been infected and placed under quarantine. Residents are advised to remain calm and avoid unnecessary movement-"

The signal broke.

"-repeat, residents are advised to-"

Static.

Then silence.

The radio died.

Nobody spoke for a moment.

Then a man at the back snorted.

"Government don start again."

A few people laughed nervously.

Another passenger shook his head.

"Every time, na breaking news. Tomorrow everybody go forget."

The woman with the child adjusted her sleeping son.

"My problem be say I hope NEPA no take light today. I get fish for freezer."

That got a few laughs.

Segun smiled.

"Abeg, Tunde. Change station."

Tunde reached for the radio.

Then someone screamed.

It wasn't a normal scream.

It was the kind of scream that made every muscle in Segun's body tighten.

He looked up.

The sound had come from somewhere ahead.

A woman was running through the traffic.

She was wearing a green hijab.

People were shouting at her.

"Madam! Move!"

"Get away!"

"Run!"

She stumbled beside a danfo.

A man jumped out to help her.

For one second, Segun couldn't understand what he was seeing.

Then the woman threw herself at him.

Her fingers dug into his neck.

Her nails tore through his skin.

The man screamed.

She kept scratching.

Blood appeared beneath her fingernails.

Someone nearby shouted for help.

Then the woman raised her head.

Her face was covered in sweat.

Her breathing was violent.

And her eyes...

Segun's stomach dropped.

There was something terribly wrong with them.

She looked around as if she couldn't recognize anyone.

Then she lunged at the nearest person.

The road erupted.

"RUN!"

"Jesu!"

"Wetin be this?!"

People abandoned their cars.

Motorcycles crashed into one another.

A woman grabbed her child and sprinted between vehicles.

A conductor jumped from a moving danfo.

Someone began shouting that the infected woman had a disease.

Another person shouted that she was mad.

Nobody knew what was happening.

Then a man collapsed.

The crowd around him scattered.

He twitched on the asphalt.

Once.

Twice.

Then he stood.

Too quickly.

Segun stared.

The man's shirt was soaked in blood.

His head tilted slightly to one side.

Then he attacked the person closest to him.

The scream that followed drowned out the horns.

Lagos changed in seconds.

The noise became different.

It wasn't the usual Lagos noise anymore.

It was fear.

People were running without knowing where to go.

Drivers abandoned their vehicles.

Passengers climbed out through windows.

The traffic that had been frustrating everyone minutes earlier became a cage.

Segun felt his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

"Driver!"

Someone shouted from behind him.

"DRIVE!"

Segun grabbed the steering wheel with both hands.

He wanted to move.

But there were cars everywhere.

Then his phone vibrated.

He pulled it from his pocket.

WhatsApp - Adunni

His sister.

He opened the message.

BRO, SOMETHING TERRIBLE IS HAPPENING AT LUTH.

Segun's eyes narrowed.

Another message appeared.

People are attacking each other. Some of them are behaving like they've completely lost their minds.

His thumb froze over the screen.

Then another message.

I have never seen anything like this before.

Segun looked toward the road.

Outside, people were still running.

His phone vibrated again.

The emergency department is in chaos. We are trying to move the patients, but we can't control them anymore.

Another message followed almost immediately.

I'm scared, Segun.

For the first time since the outbreak began, Segun felt genuine fear.

Not for himself.

For her.

He typed quickly.

Where are you?

The reply came almost instantly.

I'm still inside LUTH.

Then:

Please, I need your help.

Segun stared at the screen.

He knew exactly what LUTH meant.

The hospital was where the outbreak had started.

And his sister was trapped inside it.

Another message appeared.

I don't know how long we can hold them back.

Then:

Please come for me.

Segun stared at the screen.

His heart was pounding.

He looked at Tunde.

"Tunde..."

Tunde turned toward him.

"Wetin happen?"

Segun swallowed.

"Na my sister."

Tunde frowned.

"Adunni?"

Segun nodded.

"She dey inside LUTH."

Tunde's expression changed.

"LUTH?"

Segun showed him the phone.

Tunde quickly read the messages.

For a moment, he said nothing.

Then he placed a hand on Segun's shoulder.

"Relax, bro. She go dey fine."

Segun shook his head.

"She say everywhere don scatter. Dem no fit control the patients."

Tunde looked through the windshield at the chaos ahead.

Then back at Segun.

"Then make we go save her."

Segun looked at him.

Tunde gave him a nervous smile.

"I just hope say my wife and my daughter dey okay for house."

His smile disappeared.

"But make we first reach LUTH."

Segun nodded.

"Thank you."

Tunde slapped his shoulder.

"Forget thank you. Na your sister. We go bring her out."

Their conversation had not gone unnoticed.

A passenger sitting nearby turned toward them.

"Wait."

Segun glanced at him.

"Una dey go where?"

Tunde looked at Segun.

The passenger repeated himself.

"Una just talk say LUTH?"

Another passenger turned around.

"LUTH?"

The entire bus slowly became quiet.

Segun tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

"My sister dey there."

A man sitting behind him immediately protested.

"LUTH?!"

Several voices came at once.

"You dey mad?"

"Na there dem say this thing start!"

"Driver, abeg, turn back!"

A young man grabbed the seat in front of him.

"Oga, stop this bus!"

Tunde raised his hands.

"Everybody calm down!"

But the passengers were already panicking.

A woman holding a small boy tightly against her chest spoke from the back.

"Oga, I understand say na your sister, but you wan carry all of us go where people dey bite each other?"

Her son couldn't have been more than two years old.

He was asleep against her shoulder, completely unaware of what was happening outside.

Segun looked at the boy through the mirror.

Then back at the road.

"I go drop anybody wey wan come down."

Nobody moved.

Not yet.

Because outside was worse.

A man sprinted past the danfo.

Behind him, three people chased him.

Not running.

Hunting.

The man tripped.

They fell on him.

The passengers screamed.

Tunde grabbed the side of his seat.

"Segun..."

Segun stepped on the accelerator.

The yellow danfo pushed deeper into the chaos.

Home was no longer an option.

There was only one place left.

Idi-Araba.

LUTH.

And his sister.

Behind him, Lagos was beginning to burn.

Ahead of him, the city was still alive.

For now.

Segun tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

He had no idea that before the sun went down, Lagos would become a different city.

And he had no idea that getting to LUTH...

might be the biggest mistake of his life.

Segun pushed the accelerator down.

The yellow danfo jumped forward.

He turned the steering wheel hard, squeezing through a narrow gap between two abandoned cars.

The side mirror clipped one of them.

CRACK!

Tunde grabbed the side of his seat.

"Jesus!"

Segun didn't slow down.

The road ahead was almost impossible to recognize.

Cars stood at strange angles.

Some had been abandoned with their doors wide open.

People were running in every direction.

A motorcycle lay on its side, its engine still running.

Smoke drifted across the road.

Segun leaned forward, searching for a way through.

"Hold tight."

Tunde looked outside.

"Bro..."

Segun glanced at him.

Tunde pointed toward the pavement.

A man was lying on the ground.

Three people were standing over him.

One of them suddenly bent down and began biting his shoulder.

Tunde looked away.

"God..."

Segun kept driving.

His eyes stayed fixed ahead.

He couldn't afford to stop.

Not now.

⸻

The closer they got to Idi-Araba, the worse the streets became.

A police vehicle was parked across part of the road.

Two officers were trying to hold back a crowd.

"BACK!"

"Everybody move back!"

One officer fired into the air.

The crowd scattered.

But only for a moment.

Then people began running again.

A group of area boys came charging from a side street.

One carried a metal pipe.

Another had a wooden plank.

A third held a broken chair leg.

They were chasing a man covered in blood.

"Hold am!"

"Don't let am bite you!"

The man turned suddenly.

His mouth was covered in blood.

He lunged at the nearest area boy.

The metal pipe came down.

The man dropped.

Nobody celebrated.

They simply ran.

Segun swallowed.

The streets were no longer controlled by police.

They weren't controlled by anyone.

⸻

Then the coughing started.

COUGH.

Tunde turned around.

The sound had come from the back of the danfo.

The masked passenger sat near the window.

The same man who had barely spoken since Oshodi.

He coughed again.

COUGH.

The woman with the child pulled her son closer.

The masked man raised a hand.

"I'm okay."

A passenger stared at him.

"You sure?"

The man nodded.

"Just cold."

Another cough.

This time, everyone heard something wet in it.

A young passenger stood.

"Oga..."

The masked man looked at him.

"Wetin?"

"You need come down."

The man shook his head.

"I'm not infected."

Another passenger stood.

"Na everybody dey say that."

The woman with the child immediately protested.

"Abeg, leave am!"

The argument spread through the danfo.

Segun glanced into the mirror.

"Everybody calm down!"

Nobody listened.

The young man grabbed the masked man's arm.

"Come down."

"Leave me!"

The man pulled away.

Two other passengers moved toward him.

The woman screamed.

"Stop!"

Segun slammed his palm against the steering wheel.

"Enough!"

For a second, everyone froze.

Then the masked man coughed again.

Blood appeared across the blue mask.

Silence.

The young passenger stepped back.

"Jesus Christ."

Someone opened the door.

The masked man grabbed the seat.

"Please..."

His voice trembled.

"I'm not infected."

But fear had already taken over.

Three passengers pushed him toward the door.

The woman with the child shouted:

"Stop!"

Segun tried to reach back.

"Leave am!"

But the passengers were stronger.

The masked man fell onto the road.

The door slammed shut.

Segun immediately drove forward.

He looked into the side mirror.

The man was still alive.

Still sitting on the road.

Still watching them.

Segun looked away.

⸻

They had barely gone another street when the road ahead erupted.

People came running toward them.

A woman carrying a handbag.

A man with blood covering his shirt.

Two school students.

A policeman without his weapon.

Behind them came the infected.

Dozens.

They poured around the corner.

Tunde stared through the windshield.

"Segun..."

Segun hit the horn.

"Move!"

Nobody moved fast enough.

An abandoned car blocked the lane.

Segun turned sharply.

The danfo mounted the edge of the road.

Passengers screamed.

The vehicle bounced violently.

Then they were through.

Behind them, the crowd crashed into the abandoned cars.

Tunde looked back.

"They plenty."

Segun nodded.

"Yeah."

His voice was low.

"Too many."

⸻

They passed another intersection.

A man was fighting an infected woman with a wooden plank.

She bit his arm.

He screamed.

People pulled them apart.

The man fell against a car.

Blood ran down his arm.

"Help me!"

Two men dragged him away.

Segun watched through the mirror.

Then something caught his attention.

The man stopped struggling.

His body became completely still.

Tunde noticed it too.

"Why he no dey move?"

Segun slowed slightly.

They watched.

The man's head lifted.

His breathing changed.

His eyes became empty.

Then he attacked the man holding him.

Tunde's face went pale.

"How long?"

Segun looked at him.

"What?"

"How long before he turn?"

Nobody answered.

The man who had been bitten had changed in less than two minutes.

Tunde stared at the road.

"Less than two minutes..."

Segun nodded.

"Yeah."

Tunde looked down at his phone.

His hands were shaking.

He called his wife.

No answer.

He tried again.

Still nothing.

He sent a message.

Where are you?

No reply.

Tunde stared at the screen.

"My wife suppose don reach house."

Segun kept driving.

"She go dey okay."

Tunde didn't answer.

He called again.

Nothing.

⸻

A few minutes later, Segun saw a small side street ahead.

The main road was becoming impossible.

Vehicles were abandoned everywhere.

Smoke covered part of the intersection.

People were running across the road.

Segun turned into the side street.

It was narrower.

Quieter.

For the first time in several minutes, there were no infected immediately around them.

Segun slowed the danfo.

He found a small open space beside a closed roadside shop and pulled over.

The engine remained running.

Tunde looked at him.

"Why you stop?"

Segun looked through the windshield.

"This place safer."

Tunde stared at his phone.

Then he looked at Segun.

"Bro..."

Segun knew.

"You need go home."

Tunde nodded slowly.

"My wife. My daughter."

His voice broke slightly.

"I need make sure say they dey okay."

Segun looked at him.

"We still dey go LUTH."

"I know."

Tunde swallowed.

"I know say I tell you say make we go save Adunni."

He looked down.

"But I no fit continue."

Segun said nothing.

Tunde continued.

"I keep thinking about them."

He looked at the road outside.

"If something happen to my family while I dey here..."

He shook his head.

"I no go forgive myself."

Segun understood.

Tunde looked at him.

"I'm sorry, bro."

Segun nodded.

"Go."

Tunde looked surprised.

Segun repeated himself.

"Go find your family."

Tunde's eyes became wet.

"Thank you."

Tunde reached into his pocket and brought out the money they had collected from the passengers.

As conductor, he was the one who kept the day's transport money.

He counted the notes quickly.

Then he held them out to Segun.

"Take."

Segun looked at the money.

Then at Tunde.

Tunde pushed it closer.

"Na our money from today."

Segun stared at the notes for a moment.

Then he smiled.

It was a tired smile.

Almost sad.

"Keep am."

Tunde frowned.

"Why?"

Segun shook his head.

"Money don become useless."

Tunde looked down at the cash in his hand.

For the first time, he seemed to understand what Segun meant.

There were people dying in the streets.

People were fighting to stay alive.

Nobody was thinking about transport fare anymore.

Nobody cared about money.

Segun looked at him.

"Go to your family first."

Tunde said nothing.

"Go save your wife and your daughter."

Tunde slowly closed his fingers around the money.

His eyes became wet.

"I'm sorry, bro."

Segun nodded.

"Go."

Tunde opened the door.

Before stepping down, he looked back at Segun.

"Please find Adunni."

Segun smiled faintly.

"I will."

He stood beside the danfo for a moment.

Then he started walking.

After a few steps, he turned around.

Segun was still watching him.

Tunde raised his hand.

Segun raised his own.

Then Tunde disappeared around the corner.

Segun watched until he was gone.

The danfo suddenly felt much bigger.

And much quieter.

⸻

Segun looked at the remaining passengers.

There was no point pretending anymore.

He turned around in his seat.

"I'm going to LUTH."

Nobody spoke.

"My sister is still inside there."

He looked around the bus.

"If you no want follow me, get down now."

Silence.

Segun continued.

"I no go force anybody."

The passengers looked at one another.

The old market woman held her bags tightly.

The mother held her sleeping son.

Finally, the young passenger near the door stood.

"I'm getting down."

He stepped out.

Another passenger followed.

Then another.

The bus slowly emptied.

The mother with the two-year-old son remained seated.

She looked outside.

Then at Segun.

"Oga..."

Segun waited.

"Where I fit go?"

Segun thought for a moment.

"Go toward the Island."

She frowned.

"The Island?"

"For now, e safer."

She looked down at her son.

Then nodded.

She stepped out of the danfo.

Segun watched her walk away.

She disappeared into the street with her child held tightly against her chest.

⸻

The old market woman was still sitting at the back.

Segun looked at her through the mirror.

"Mama, you never get down?"

She shook her head.

"I get nowhere else to go."

She lifted one of her bags.

"My children dey Badagry."

Segun sighed.

"Badagry far."

"I know."

"Na opposite direction from where I dey go."

"I know."

Segun looked at her for a moment.

"You no fear?"

The old woman looked outside.

"Fear no dey carry person reach house."

Segun said nothing.

She continued.

"For now, Badagry still safe."

Segun looked toward the road.

He didn't know whether that was true.

But he couldn't argue with her.

He looked at his phone.

Adunni:

Please come.

Segun locked the screen.

Then started the engine.

"I'll take you there after I find my sister."

The old woman nodded.

"Okay."

⸻

Segun shifted the gear.

The yellow danfo rolled out of the side street.

The road ahead was still filled with smoke.

Sirens echoed in the distance.

Somewhere nearby, someone screamed.

Segun tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

He glanced at the rear-view mirror.

Tunde's seat was empty.

So were all the other seats.

Except one.

The old woman sat quietly behind him.

The bus that had carried eleven passengers was now almost empty.

Everyone had chosen their own direction.

Segun had chosen his.

LUTH.

His sister.

Whatever was waiting for him there.

He pressed the accelerator.

The yellow danfo disappeared back into the chaos.

It was 5:20 PM.

Lagos still had more than two hours before darkness.

And Segun was driving straight toward the center of the outbreak.

The danfo was almost empty.

Segun had lost most of his passengers along the way. Nobody wanted to follow a driver heading toward LUTH after hearing the hospital was where the outbreak began.

Only the old market woman remained.

And now she sat quietly behind him, her market bag pressed against her legs.

Outside, Lagos was changing by the minute.

The smell reached them before the scene did.

Blood.

Mixed with petrol, burning rubber and smoke.

Segun slowed.

A car was burning beside the road.

Its driver's door was open.

There was nobody inside.

Twenty metres ahead, an empty danfo sat across two lanes, its engine still running.

Segun stared at it.

"Keep your eyes front," the old woman said.

He did.

They drove on.

A police checkpoint appeared ahead.

Several officers had blocked the road with their vans.

One officer stepped into the lane.

"Stop!"

Segun stopped.

The officer approached the driver's window.

"Where you dey go?"

"Idi-Araba."

The officer's expression changed.

"Turn around."

"My sister dey LUTH."

"I said turn around."

"Officer, I need to get there."

The officer leaned closer.

"Listen to me. Nobody is going into Idi-Araba."

Behind him, a woman was arguing with another officer.

"My husband is inside LUTH!"

"Madam, please move back."

"My husband is a doctor!"

"Move back!"

A man pushed through the crowd.

"My daughter dey there!"

The police were struggling to hold everyone back.

Then a gunshot cracked through the evening.

BANG!

Everybody froze.

An infected man had attacked someone near the barricade.

Two officers rushed forward.

Another shouted:

"Everybody BACK!"

The crowd surged in the opposite direction.

Segun looked at the officer.

The officer pointed at him.

"Turn your bus around!"

Segun glanced at the road beside the checkpoint.

A narrow opening.

Then back at the officer.

"I'm sorry."

He turned the wheel.

The danfo jumped the curb and squeezed between two buildings.

The old woman grabbed the seat.

"Driver!"

"Hold tight!"

They disappeared down the side road.

The smaller road eventually opened into another street.

Segun slowed.

Something felt wrong.

There was almost no traffic.

No hawkers.

No horns.

Just a generator humming somewhere behind a closed shop.

Then they saw the bodies.

Not many.

Three.

A motorcycle lay beside them.

Segun kept driving.

Then-

CRASH!

A man ran into the side of the danfo.

Segun slammed the brakes.

The man fell.

"Help me!"

He scrambled up.

Behind him came three infected.

The old woman grabbed the seat.

"Don't open that door!"

The man banged against the danfo.

"Please!"

Segun looked at him.

Then at the infected coming closer.

He unlocked the door.

The man jumped inside.

Segun accelerated.

One infected slammed into the rear of the bus.

Another grabbed the door handle.

Segun swerved.

The infected lost its grip.

They escaped.

The rescued man collapsed onto the floor.

"Thank you."

Segun didn't answer.

He was staring at the road.

His hands were shaking.

The old woman noticed.

"You dey alright?"

"I'm fine."

She didn't believe him.

They reached a larger junction.

And there, Lagos fought back.

A group of area boys had barricaded the street with wooden tables, metal drums and whatever else they could find.

They weren't running.

They were defending people behind them.

One boy was handing out planks.

Another was shouting at civilians.

"Get inside!"

"Lock your doors!"

"Nobody stay for road!"

Three infected came around the corner.

The boys attacked.

There was nothing heroic about it.

It was desperate.

One of them recognized an infected man.

"Kola!"

He stopped.

"Kola, na me!"

Kola lunged.

His friend stepped backward.

"Kola!"

Another boy screamed:

"Don't let him bite you!"

Kola knocked one of them down.

The others dragged him away.

Then the boy who knew Kola raised his weapon.

He hesitated.

Kola charged again.

CRACK.

Kola dropped.

The boy stood there, breathing hard.

His eyes remained fixed on his friend.

"Sorry, bros."

Then he looked toward the civilians behind the barricade.

"Everybody move!"

Segun drove past.

The old woman watched through the window.

"At least some people still get courage."

Segun nodded.

"Some people no get choice."

6:05 PM

The government broadcast returned on the radio.

"The Lagos State Government continues to urge residents to remain calm. Residents are advised to stay indoors and avoid unnecessary movement. Security agencies are responding to isolated incidents across the state."

Segun looked at the burning vehicles outside.

"Isolated incidents."

The old woman shook her head.

"Na them sabi."

The broadcast continued.

"Citizens are also advised not to share unverified videos or information on social media, as this may create unnecessary panic-"

Segun switched the radio off.

His phone buzzed.

A message from Adunni.

BRO, WHERE ARE YOU?

He replied.

COMING TO LUTH.

Three dots appeared.

Then disappeared.

Nothing came.

Segun called.

No answer.

He put the phone down.

"Drive faster," the old woman said.

A few minutes later, they heard a child screaming.

Segun saw him.

A 10-year-old boy was trapped inside an overturned car.

An infected woman was trying to reach through the broken window.

Segun stopped.

The old woman grabbed his arm.

"No."

"There's a child."

"Driver, you wan risk your life?"

Segun looked at the frightened boy.

Then at the road ahead.

LUTH was still waiting.

His sister was still waiting.

He grabbed the wheel spanner.

"Keep the door locked."

He jumped out.

The infected woman turned toward him.

She charged.

Segun swung.

Missed.

She slammed him against the car.

Her teeth snapped inches from his face.

Segun pushed her away and struck again.

She fell.

He grabbed the child.

"Come!"

The boy crawled out.

"Where's your mother?"

He pointed toward the distance.

"She was driving."

Segun looked around.

Nothing.

Just abandoned vehicles.

The boy was crying.

"What's your name?"

"Daniel."

"Daniel, you're coming with us."

Segun carried him back to the danfo.

The old woman pulled the boy beside her.

"Come, my son."

Daniel held onto her.

Segun returned to the driver's seat.

The old woman stared at him.

"You no fit leave anybody."

Segun started the engine.

"I can't."

She looked at the road.

"Then God help us."

6:22 PM

The road toward Idi-Araba was almost completely blocked.

Cars were piled against one another.

Some had crashed.

Others had simply been abandoned.

A police van sat sideways across the road.

An ambulance had smashed through a roadside barrier.

Smoke drifted over everything.

And beyond it-

LUTH.

Segun could finally see the hospital.

His chest tightened.

They were close.

But the closer they got, the worse the road became.

At the LUTH checkpoint, the rescued man suddenly leaned forward.

"Oga, stop here. I need find my wife."

Segun looked at him.

"You sure say you wan go alone?"

The man nodded.

"She dey somewhere around here. I need find her."

Segun pulled over.

The man opened the door.

"Thank you, Oga."

He stepped down and disappeared into the crowd.

Segun watched him for a moment.

Then turned back toward LUTH.

Police officers had sealed the entrance.

A crowd was pressing against the gates.

Some wanted to get out.

Others were begging to be allowed inside.

"MY BROTHER IS IN THERE!"

"OPEN THE GATE!"

"LET US IN!"

Police shouted back.

"STEP AWAY!"

"EVERYBODY MOVE BACK!"

Segun stopped the danfo.

He jumped out.

"My sister is inside!"

A police officer approached.

"Go back."

"She's a nurse!"

"I said go back!"

"Her name is Adunni!"

The officer looked toward the hospital.

Then back at him.

"Nobody is going inside."

Segun pointed at the gates.

"That's my sister!"

The officer's expression hardened.

"Everybody inside that gate is already trapped."

Segun froze.

Behind the officer, something slammed against the hospital entrance.

People screamed.

The police turned.

Segun stared through the gates.

LUTH was only a few metres away.

Yet it might as well have been another city.

His phone vibrated.

ADUNNI.

He answered immediately.

"Adunni!"

Silence.

Then-

a faint whisper.

"Bro..."

Segun stepped closer to the gate.

"Where are you?"

Static.

Then her voice again.

"Don't come inside."

The call died.

Segun stared at the phone.

The old woman stepped beside him.

"Driver..."

He didn't answer.

Inside LUTH, another scream echoed through the hospital.

Then another.

Segun looked at the sealed gates.

His sister was inside.

And for the first time since the outbreak began-

he had nowhere left to drive.