1000 Men Have Been Killed Today[3]

PART 3 OF 5

PREVIOUSLY…

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Elizabeth’s POV

“It’s Linda…” she said, breath ragged. “she……crazy…..insane………come quickly!”

The line went dead.

My heart stuttered, then kicked into overdrive. I shoved my chair back so hard it scraped against the tiled floor, nearly toppling my drink as I grabbed my bag.

Heads turned as I rushed out of the restaurant, servers frozen mid-step, conversations cut short. Their curious eyes followed me to the door

My hands trembled as I unlocked my car. The air felt thick, like the city itself knew something terrible had happened.

I sped down the road, the steering wheel slick under my palms.

A traffic officer stepped into my lane, hand raised, shouting something I didn’t hear. I didn’t slow down. I shoved two crumpled thousand-naira notes through the window without looking, and kept going.

My chest felt tight.“ God, please,” I whispered. “God, please. God, please…”

But even as I recited my desperate mantra, a cold certainty crept up from my gut.

By the time I reached the office, everything felt wrong.

The building loomed in front of me, its glass façade reflecting the pale wash of siren lights. An ambulance sat idling at the curb, the red glow pulsing weakly against the walls.

Tomi was standing by the entrance, arms wrapped tight around herself. Her face streaked, her eyes red.

I barely stopped the car before I was out, slamming the door behind me. “What happened?” My voice broke halfway through.

“I don’t know,” Tomi sobbed, her words tumbling over one another. “She went to the toilet…. when she came out, she just… changed. She started screaming, went after Femi. She—” Tomi’s breath hitched. “She bit him. Wouldn’t let go until they knocked her out.”

“Where is she now?” I demanded, already moving toward the entrance.

“Inside,” she choked out, hurrying to keep up. “The paramedics are holding her down.”

I froze mid-step. “Held down?”

Tomi’s eyes flicked toward the door. “You need to see it for yourself.”

The words settled like stones in my chest.

I moved anyway, each step taut with dread. The hallway stretched before me, too long, too bright. It wasn’t hard to find the commotion—bodies huddled near the end of the corridor, their whispers sharp and fractured.

Then I heard it.

A sound that didn’t belong in any office. Low. Guttural. It was too deep, too primal to belong to a human being.

I stopped cold.

“Linda,” I whispered, half a cry, half a prayer, my hands rising to my mouth.

Heads turned. Faces I’d known for years: secretaries, analysts, interns, stared back at me with something akin to horror. No one spoke.

Femi sat slumped in the corner, his shirt sleeve rolled to the elbow, a white bandage blooming red beneath it. His breathing was shallow.

I crossed to him in quick strides, dropping to a crouch beside his chair. “Femi,” I said, voice trembling. “Talk to me. What happened?”

He looked up at me, eyes unfocused, sweat glistening on his forehead. “She—” His throat worked around the word. “She didn’t look like herself. I tried to help her, but… she bit me.”

“Jesus.” I reached for his arm, then stopped, afraid to touch him. “Are they giving you anything? Did the medics say—”

He shook his head weakly. “They’re… they’re busy with her.”

A sound broke through the air then, another guttural, animal noise that made the hairs on my arms rise. It came from the end of the hall.

Femi’s eyes darted toward it. “Don’t go in there,” he whispered.

But I was already moving.

A paramedic moved to block me, his arms outstretched. “Ma’am, no one’s allowed in there.”

“This is my company,” I snapped, breath shaking. “That’s my staff in there. Move.”

For a moment, his jaw worked soundlessly. Then something in his face shifted, a kind of weary understanding, and he stepped aside.

The smell hit me first.

Metallic. Sharp. A mix of disinfectant, blood, and something fouler beneath it, like copper turned sour.

Then I saw her.

Linda lay on a table, wrists and ankles bound with heavy straps, her body arched and trembling against them. Her skin glistened with sweat, and beneath it…

Veins glowed faintly beneath the surface, a ghostly green that pulsed in rhythm with her heartbeat, as if something else inside her was breathing. They spread across her body like a web, like roots crawling just under the skin.

Her mouth worked, soundless at first, then a deep rumble rose from her throat. Part growl, part words, but twisted, mangled. Language bent out of shape.

She turned her head toward me.

For a moment, her eyes caught the light—clouded, yellowed around the edges, pupils shrinking to pinpoints.

“Linda…” My voice broke before I could say more.

A paramedic moved to my side, guiding me down before my knees gave out. “Ma’am, please sit. Breathe.”

I hadn’t realized I was crying until I felt the tears on my lips, hot and salt-heavy. My hands trembled against my skirt.

“Is it…?” I choked out, looking at the uniformed woman nearby. My voice cracked in two.

She didn’t answer right away. She just stared at Linda—at what used to be Linda—then turned back to me, her expression hollow.

“I’m afraid so, ma’am. She has been infected with a particularly deadly strain of the Mechin virus. We’re doing all we can. The government’s been alerted and an isolation centre is being prepared as we speak.”

The words hit like physical blows. I pressed my palms to my face. “How… how is that possible?”

This couldn’t be happening. The airports were closed. The borders were sealed. The government had said we were safe.

Josh.

I had to call him. We needed to leave the city tonight.

Packing wouldn’t take long. Just the essentials—

My staff.

The thought hit like a slap, sharp enough to steal my breath. They were still here. They were my responsibility. I couldn’t just abandon them.

Static from a walkie-talkie split through the room. One of the paramedics lifted it to her ear, listening, her face tightening. Then she barked an order, and the air shifted.

They moved around Linda with mechanical precision, tightening straps, securing limbs that shouldn’t have been that strong, while she thrashed wildly.

“The isolation centre is ready, ma’am,” the lead paramedic said, turning to me, her gloved hands slick with sweat. “We’ll be transferring your staff there shortly.”

“Where are you taking her?” I followed as they wheeled Linda toward the corridor, my voice shaking.

“I’m afraid I can’t disclose that information. Please remain calm. You’ll receive further communication soon.”

“Remain calm?” The words came out as a whisper. “How am I supposed to do that?”

For a moment, something human flickered through her professional composure. She stepped closer, lowering her voice.

“Ma’am,” she said quietly, her eyes softening with something like pity, “for your own safety, and your staff’s, you need to be calm. Dismiss everyone quietly. Then leave the city. Immediately. Things will get out of control soon. The government won’t be able to contain it.”

The words settled over me like ash. Everything felt slightly off-kilter, as though the ground had shifted a fraction beneath my feet.

When I looked up, the paramedic was gone, her voice brisk and distant as the team vanished down the corridor with the stretcher.

I drew a slow breath, then another. It scraped my throat raw, but I couldn’t let it show.

Silence followed. The kind that fills a room when everyone is waiting for someone to decide what happens next.

Me. I was still the boss. Liz, hold it together.

I swallowed, desperately wishing for the bitter taste of coffee, the one thing that ever managed to quiet the chaos, to pull me back from the edge of panic.

“Alright, everyone,” I said, forcing my voice to steady, “we’re closing for the day. Take tomorrow off too. Ifeanyi will email updates once we know more. We all need time to process… what happened.”

Keep your voice steady. Don’t let them see the tremor. They need Liz, not the woman who’s falling apart inside.

I swallowed hard, ignoring the way my voice wavered. “Basit?”

“Yes, madam,” he said, stepping forward with that slight limp of his. Basit was dependable. The kind of man who’d never ask questions he wasn’t supposed to.

“Drive Femi to our hospital,” I told him quietly. “I’ll call the HMO and make the arrangements.”

He nodded, his eyes full of a concern I couldn’t afford to return. “Yes, madam.”

He moved toward Femi, who tried to mask the pain twisting through his face. His jaw was clenched so tightly and the bandage on his arm had already begun to darken, the red seeping through like ink through paper.

“The rest of you,” I said, drawing in a slow breath, “go home. I’ll make sure the accountants send some money to your accounts before evening. Just… stay inside. Don’t go out unless you have to, and—”

“Madam…”

Kemi’s small, shaky voice broke the air, tiny and tremulous. She stood by the copier, her internship ID still hanging crooked on her neck. “Madam, is it… is it the Mechin virus?”

The room went deathly still. A heavy silence pressed on the room until even the hum of the lights seemed to fade.

I looked at her and every face eager to know the answer to a question only she was brave enough to ask, and took a breath, trying to sound calm, like I still had control of this—of anything.

“We don’t know yet,” I said softly, managing a faint smile that didn’t reach my eyes. “But I don’t think it is.”

The lie sat heavy on my tongue. No one called me out, but their faces told me everything. The disbelief. The dread. They had seen Linda. They knew.

I cleared my throat, adjusting the strap of my bag just to keep my hands busy. “Listen, everything’s going to be fine. Just stay home for now. If you can, stop by the market on your way. Buy food, water, essentials. We’ll get through this.”

I looked at them each in turn. They nodded, though fear flickered in every glance. I could already see what would happen once they left. The whispers, The frantic phone calls they’d make the second they got outside. The rumors that would spread before nightfall.

“And one more thing,” I said quietly. “Please, keep what happened here to yourselves. At least for now.”

A murmur of “Yes, ma” rippled through the room.

But we all knew the truth. By morning, the half the city would know something had happened.

As the others began to shuffle out, I turned away, pulling out my phone with hands that wouldn’t quite stay still. In the dark reflection of the screen, I barely recognized myself. My eyes were wide, my skin drawn. It was a face that looked years older than it had that morning.

I scrolled to Josh’s name and pressed call.

He had to answer. He always did.

We were leaving tonight. No more second thoughts. However Linda had contacted the virus, it wasn’t ending here.

A loud noise cut through the quiet, like something heavy crashing against metal. My fingers tightened around the phone, breath stalling halfway.

“What was that?” Kemi’s voice trembled somewhere behind me.

No one answered. Instinct had already pulled half the staff toward the windows. I followed, my heartbeat climbing.

There was another sound, louder this time, a heavy thud, then muffled shouting from outside.

I pressed my palms to the cool glass and looked down into the parking lot.

Two security guards were running toward the ambulance, their green uniforms flashing under the afternoon sun. Another shouted into his walkie-talkie, waving his baton in confusion.

“What’s happening?” someone whispered.

The guards had formed a loose half-circle around the van, their movements hesitant. The air seemed to thicken with dense, expectant silence.

Then—

The ambulance doors burst open, slamming into the metal sides with a sound that seemed to split the air in two.

Something exploded outward.

A body, one of the paramedics, crashed hard onto the asphalt, folding in on itself before rolling to a stop near the security booth. The angle of his neck was wrong. His arm twitched once, then didn’t move again.

“Oh my God…” I whispered.

NEXT…