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.