Mutants; who is patient X?

'... perhaps some knew, perhaps they didn't, but we who survived have no way of knowing'.

T minus till outbreak:21 :09 : 47

Dion looked around in astonishment half expecting someone to catch his eye with a knowing look, but all that was reflected back at him was the unorganized movements of the students who still remained about.

'Shit'

He took a few deep breathes to calm him himself down enough for his brain to form any reasonable thoughts, then settled back into his seat.

'What's happening?'

Dion was a very smart and also well informed kid, and with his dad so deep in the medicine field, the symptoms of a tumour was not lost to him. So, Dion knew it mostly started with spells of hallucination, dizziness, intense headache...

Feeling a headache coming on, he began to feel worried, his breathe quickening.

He was confused and he was suddenly feeling sick. Something felt wrong, he felt his blood boiling, a hot sensation was moving through his body, it seemed intense, pushing at his edges as if looking for a way out. But then suddenly a chill crept through his vein network, it felt like a bucket of ice had been emptied into his bloodstream, his shirt got wet with sweat and goosebumps crept up his arms.

When the weird sensation cooled off, Dion felt tired, almost like he was struggling against something futile, a waste of effort, it was like even his spirit was spent.

He sluggishly glanced out the window and was drawn towards a huge signpost the size of a story building by the side of the road. On it was a young looking man who seemed to at most be in his mid 30s, he was wearing a regular Doctor's white overall with a stethoscope hanging out of both sides of neck, and in his hand he held a drawn syringe.

''What would you do?" Dion muttered.

Dr. Ezeh Chuka Clifford.

Popularly known as Dr. Cliff, there was perhaps not a single soul in the nation - no - the planet who didn't know of this genius, and Dion was no exception.

Who was he? Well...

Dr. Cliff was a genius, a revolutionary, a godsend in the field of medicine. From a young age, various Professor's of various esteemed institutions were made aware of this on of a kind genius, but what gave this man an Oscar, a Nobel prize and also a head researcher at WHO was pretty simple... he changed the world.

Dr. Cliff created a miracle, he created a vaccine, one that combated malaria, a straightforward but unprecedented path. Without aid from any top government facility, the young researcher dropped this bombshell out of his hat.

What followed next was history, Nigeria, due to his citizenship were able to rise to the top of world powers through various pacts made by purchases of said vaccine. Malaria, though often neglected was responsible for a huge portion of the death percentile of mankind, so with it's threat gone the balance between the birth and death rates tilted, such that in just five short years the world's population rose by as much as 3%.

So Dr. Cliff became a household name as his vaccines saved countless lives across the globe.

Thus when Dr. Cliff - now Head Doctor - came on live television two days ago and declared the impending approach of a possible worldwide epidemic, such that mankind had never experienced before, the current chaos taking place worldwide was understandable.

No sooner after the warning, various nations took his advice and began making plans to shut down various public places which promoted excessive physical contact amongst the population. This led to Dion's current situation where most schools were getting shutdown and the whole nation had unofficially began preparations for an impending lockdown.

*****

The bus slowed down and parked near a busy market and it's glass doors slid open.

"Last stop!" The old driver yelled.

Dion put on his backpack and alighted from the bus.

The place was chaotic, the prices of major commodities had crashed drastically since two days ago and was crashing still, so numerous customers were running around frantically to stock up on supplies to avoid the hunger which was sure to hit many when - if - the lockdown commenced.

Some peddlers were often very physical when selling their wares, most times they abandoned their stalls and moved about in search of prey, kind of like an 'if Adamu won't come to the mountain, the mountain will come to him' mentality.

Dion pushed up his glasses with a finger and continued onwards when someone blocked him, it was a man who gave him a once over in appraisal, he held his goods in his hands and drew them apart to showcase their elasticity and durability.

"Ladies underwear?"

The man nodded, "Pant and bra, better quality. You no go see am like this anywhere else". He spoke in pidgin English.

Dion who was stunned by both the total absurdity of the situation and the man's ridiculous marketing strategy made a big mistake, he spoke back.

"But I'm not even a girl".

The man's eyes glinted, a predator just found his prey, if Dion had ignored him and left he wouldn't have been able to stop him even if he wanted, but now...

"You wan lie say you no get girlfriend".

Dion blinked, "What?"

"All these small small boys nowadays, Una too dey 'do' ". He pushed a set of underwear into Dion's chest.

"Just five hundred," he paused, then added. "I go even put extra one".

Dion, "..."

After a while he finally got enough sense to realize that he shouldn't be here in the first place. He made a breakthrough for the road home, but the trader followed him persistently.

"You no wan buy?" he glared at Dion, almost hatefully. "So you follow for all these boys wey go 'do: run, abi".

Once again, Dion found himself stunned and lost for words but he didn't make the mistake of stopping a second time.

"I'm single and a virgin," he yelled in his defence.

The trader who saw he had lost a potential customer was furious, he stood in place and shouted.

"Be a man, fuckboy!"

After his escape, Dion found his way to a street where luxurious houses lined both sides, most of which were shielded by large gates and a gateman. By this time of the evening, the street was usually rowdy with activities as adults returned from work and children from school, but today there was an uneasy silence all about.

'Probably all gone to the market'.

But this thought left him when he got home, he saw his mother standing in front of her large room mirror, dressed in her full military camouflage. His mum, Elizabeth Chidimma Ezeh, was a lieutenant colonel in the Nigerian army, but due to her efforts and connections - mostly connections - his mother mostly worked from home, which was why when Dion walked in on his mum adjusting her barett before a wall-length mirror coupled with all the strange occurrences today, he felt scared.

"Mum?"

When Chidimma heard his voice, she turned towards him slowly. Like most Nigerians, his mother had black hair which was originally short but had been weaved beautifully to fall just above her buttocks, which was why she was having a hard time fitting it all into her barett.

She was quite young when she had her first son which was why over two decades later, she was in her late thirties but looked a decade younger.