THE VOICE
Episode 1
it was a monday morning, in the city of calabar.
People could be seen walking to and fro. Every
young and old folk were walking briskly to their
destination.
The city of calabar is always a beehive of
activities. People going to their various
workplace could be seen rushing to avoid getting
late to work.
Some stood on the road flagging down vehicles
that would convey them to their destination.
There was a sonorous noise in the whole city
which was incessant &clamorous.
The noise which came from the fast moving
vehicles was accumulated with the noise of the
hawkers, who were displaying their wares.
All moving vehicles suddenly came to an halt. It
seemed as though, there was a gigantic traffic
withhelding them from moving.
All drivers peered outside through their window
with a puzzled look on their face, wondering
what was happening.
All the cars queued up within a short while
causing a heavy traffic jam.
Different car horns blared loudly as the drivers
tried to create a way but all efforts was futile.
The hawkers were elated and gratified at the
traffic jam. As they saw it as an opportunity to
sell their wares. They moved from vehicle to
vehicle propelling passengers to patronize them.
Detective cole sat in his BMW car and was on
the wheel.
He was extremely infuriated at the traffic jam as
he checked his golden wristwatch persistently,
which his wife Nora bought for him as his
birthday’s gift.
He was running out of time and he disdain
getting late to work.
He angrily banged the horns of his car with a
clenched fist.
“holy s--t!” he cursed under his breath and
removed his seatbelt.
He decided to go have a look of what caused the
traffic.
He adjusted his tie properly and alighted from
the car.
He hadn’t taken more than three steps when he
heard an explosion which came far away from
where he stood.
Before he could comprehend what was
happening another sounded and swept everyone
away from their feet.
The second explosion reverberated and flung him
far away.
Just like flash, everything happened within a
second.
The cloud of debris and pieces of scattered flesh
and car’s fragment with a huge puff of smoke
was all one could see.
In no minutes, the police came rushing to the
scene with their sirens blaring loudly
accompanied with tons of Ambulance vehicles.
Three officers jumped down from the van and
walked closer to the victims. While the other
officers cleared the way for other Ambulance
vans.
They rushed out an carried the remainant of the
dead bodies on stretchers into the waiting vans
and immediately sped off.
~
The light stung her eyes as she opened them,
Nelson Nora shielded her eyes with her right
hand and pulled herself up from the sofa with
her left.
She rubbed her forehead, they banged in a way
she had never experienced before.
She had just dismissed Cole her heartthrob for
work an hour ago before she slumped on the
chair and slept off.
It was the headache that woke her up and the
pain she felt at the moment was unbearable,
they threatened to split her head.
She reached for the television remote control
which was laid on a low stool in front of her and
turned on the t.v set.
She never wanted to do so, but something she
couldn’t attest to, propelled her to do so.
The sound coming from the television was going
straight into her head and she decided to switch
it off but something caught her attention.
It was the news flash. She restrained and squint
her blurry eyes to read the headline.
‘A Nuclear bomb blast in calabar city.’ was the
breaking news headline and a video footage of
the explosion was shown afterwards.
She readjusted her sitting position to have a
clear view of the footage.
She saw dead bodies and fleshy pieces being
carried away into the vans in haste, then the
reporter was shown.
It was a female reporter which one could guess
was in her mid-twenties.
“this is the first Nuclear bomb blast of this kind
that this city has seen and experienced.
Five hundred and three (503) people were
confirmed dead who were victims of the
unfortunate incident and twelve (12) were found
injured including our beloved detective Cole who
was trapped in the traffic jam before the
explosion”
Nora suddenly sprung up as though, she was
being poured hot water.
She was aghasted and petrified that Cole was
also a victim.
Beads of sweat immediately formed on her
forehead and her legs started vibrating.
The bangs on her head doubled from worse to
worst.
She tried to catch up with the last details as she
concentrated on the t.v screen.
“the police are yet to comment on the bomb
blast, we will be back with an official police
statement. its lance Kayle reporting. thanks for
watching, stay with us.”
the reporter said and her pretty face gave way
for a bank advertisement.
She switched off the television and paced up and
down with worriment.
She touched her forehead and the pain was
severe, she became dizzy & her legs twitch. She
couldn’t hold on any longer, it gave way and she
slumped to the ground.
