Lockdown: SOUTH AFRICAN ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, #1

By Stephen Lewis and Lee Herrmann

What could be worse than being stuck at home, bored to death?

 

The president has declared a country-wide lockdown, and everyone has to stay at home in order to combat the spread of the highly-contagious Falcevirus. Sixteen-year old Lucas is enjoying not going to school, but is slowly going stir crazy on a diet of video games and household chores. Things start taking a turn for the strange when he gets a frantic call from his friend Nkata, with news that his infected brother Walter has disappeared from his bedroom overnight. The strangeness escalates when over-achiever Stephanie is attacked by a dead body that the boys stumbled over the previous evening. That leaves only one explanation: zombies. With no one believing their theory, the three friends have to band together to prevent a zombie outbreak from taking over their housing estate, and potentially the country!

 

From the author who brought you KB's Log and Journal of a South African Zombie Apocalypse, Lockdown is a new chapter in SAZA (South African Zombie Association) folklore that cleverly touches on experiences very close to home.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stephen Lewis
• Release date: Jun 8, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393401216

Book preview

ENTRY 1

It’s day one of the lockdown. The South African government says we have to stay at home for 21 days – no going out. Not even to walk the dog. I can see The Mothership losing it whenever that mutt Zizi starts gnawing on the corner of the couch. I call my mom the Mothership because she’s this larger than life presence that hovers around, sees everything, and calls all the shots in the house – but I’d never call her that to her face. The estate in which we live is taking the lockdown very seriously. Only residents are allowed to enter and leave – and even then, they ask you where you’re going and if you have permission. Hectic. 

I’ve already been home two weeks. They closed the schools when the first case of the virus hit South Africa, and I’ve been stewing at home ever since. Thank goodness for fibre internet! At least I can still face-time Nkata and play games online – but it’s starting to get boring now... never thought I would say that. We also have a decent size back garden, and I throw the ball with Zizi when The Mothership and Dad are at work. This book was actually Dad’s idea. He gave me an old notebook from the study and said: 

‘Write down your thoughts. It’ll be more interesting than those video games.’ 

Dad has always been a big reader. Old-school books, no e-readers or tablets.

‘I want to feel the paper when I turn a page,’ he said. Sometimes he is so weird. He likes to sit in his study and read instead of watching television – mostly medical journals, then he makes notes in his many notebooks he has piled on the shelf. 

Okay... now I’m bored with this too. Let’s see if Nkata is online and we can frag the zombies on level 42 of our game. He’s a pretty good partner when we’re on the same team, but when I’m against him; he always gets the upper hand.

ENTRY 2

The Mothership has to work from home now – they are not letting people go in and work from her offices. ‘Social distancing,’ they say. I’m glad she’s here, but she’s always on my case.

‘Lucas, did you brush your teeth?’

‘Lucas, did you make your bed?’

‘Lucas, don’t leave your cereal bowl in the sink.’

‘Lucas, stop playing so many video games, it’s going to rot your brain.’

The only peace I get is when she is busy answering her emails or on a conference call. She works for a big insurance company – in the legal department, so she’s always answering emails and sending fat documents that would take a degree to understand. Yawn. That’s why I’m rather going to be a doctor, like Dad – at least his work is interesting. He came home exhausted last night after working for 26 hours straight at the hospital.

I asked him how bad it was, and he just smiled and rubbed my head, telling me that the government has everything under control. According to the news, we have 612 cases of this new virus – it’s called GEOIT-20, but people are also calling it the Falcevirus. They say it started in Italy last year and the governments didn’t take it seriously, now its spread to the rest of the world. Dad calls it a kind of super-flu that attacks your lungs.

Most people recover, but if you have asthma or are super-old, it can kill you. So for the last month, the government has been telling us to wash our hands like crazy and not get too close to each other.

But now it’s escalated, and we’ve gone into a 21-day lockdown, meaning we have to stay at home and go nowhere. Only essential personnel like Dad can go to work. The rest must work from home. I don’t see what the big deal is... I still see people jogging in our estate, and I’m sure I heard someone having a party a couple of nights ago. 

After Dad ate his dinner, he looked finished. 

‘Are you okay, Dad?’ I asked.

‘I’m fine. Just very tired. I have to be back at the hospital tomorrow morning at six o clock.’ ‘Why can’t you just work from home like Mom?’

‘It’s my job to be on the ground and help people,’ he smiled. ‘I have a responsibility to help the sick so that we can curb the spread of this virus. That’s why you have to stay home. That’s your responsibility. To stay home and stay safe, so it does not spread any further.’ 

That’s just like Dad, always willing to help. Even if we walk in the estate, other residents will stop him to ask for a quick diagnosis. He never says no, and always gives advice with a smile. Dad could see the concern on my face. 

‘Don’t worry about me. The hospital is sterile, and we’re all wearing the correct protective gear. A hospital is one of the safest places you can be!’ He pulled me in tight, and even though I am sixteen, it feels good to be hugged by your dad.

‘Are people dying?’ I asked once he let me go.

‘No, there have been no deaths yet. As long as we obey the rules of the lockdown, we can beat this thing.’

‘But some people aren’t listening...’ 

‘Then they are putting us all in danger! If you see someone out in the streets, you call the estate security.’ 

I nodded. Dad’s eyes looked droopy, so I helped him up and we walked in silence up the stairs to his bedroom. I was sure I heard him already snoring as I closed the door.

ENTRY 3

I overheard today on the news that the number of infected cases has reached 1000, and we’ve had our first death in the country. Social media is going crazy and saying that we cannot contain this virus. The Mothership assured me there is no need to panic – the government is still getting all the data, so the infection figures will get worse before it gets better.

‘Your father and all the doctors are working very hard to fight this virus. We must be patient and do our part. Don’t worry, Lucas,’ she said and kissed me gently on the forehead. 

I decided to play some video games with Nkata to take my mind off things. We’ve known each other since primary school and have remained friends even though we go to different high schools now. His house is a few streets over, but it felt like he’s been with me the whole time. I’m grateful we’ve been able to chat and play games; otherwise I would have climbed the walls by now. 

‘So what does the Doc say?’ he asked as we duelled on a racetrack at high speed. Nkata is the only one that gets away with calling my Dad ‘Doc.’ It’s Doctor Malope to everyone else, but somehow Dad lets it slide. I think it’s his laidback character – nothing fazes Nkata. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him get angry. 

‘He says it’s all going to be fine. We must just stay home and let this virus die out.’ 

‘Did you see the news, brah? A thousand people are infected.’

‘I heard,’ I replied, braking my Ferrari heavily into a corner and trying to keep up with Nkata’s Mercedes. ‘It’s scary.’

‘My dad said it was only a matter of time before the first death. He said there will be plenty more.’ 

‘I hope he’s wrong, dude.’ I was wrestling the controls as if turning my arms would straighten the car. 

‘Me too. Oh, and you must hear what my brother is saying, brah.’ 

‘What?’ I knitted my brow waiting for the next crazy thing to come from the mind of Walter, Nkata’s older brother. He studies medicine at TUKS and always has stories about dark medicine and insane experiments. He once tried to convince us that the hospital where he worked could bring people back from the dead. 

‘He says they might have a cure for this thing.’ 

‘If that were true it would be on the news.’ 

‘He says it’s experimental and they are not announcing it yet. Ah, no man!’ Nkata cried as my car passed him on the outside of a slow corner. 

‘Watch out, dude, I’m in the lead!’ I laughed. ‘Do you believe your brother?’ 

‘I don’t know, brah. You know he talks a lot. He says they are going to test it on some people at the hospital where he’s working. We’ll see what happens.’

‘How’s your Dad?’

‘Still stuck in Angola, but he’s fine. Says he’s bored in his hotel but has a good internet connection so we can video chat with him.’ Nkata’s Dad works for a big international mining company and was in Angola when the lockdown happened. Now he’s stuck there and waiting for the government to allow flights back. Nkata acts all cool, but I know he misses his dad. 

After losing at the finish line to Nkata, we decided to call it quits on the gaming for the day. I suddenly felt like being alone and decided to read. I realised I had so many books that I hadn’t read.

Mostly birthday presents from relatives that have been sitting on the shelf for years collecting dust. I pulled out a book about urban legends. I started reading about Bigfoot, UFOs, and the Lochness Monster - how people swore they had seen these myths, but no one believes them.

The one thing I noticed about all these witnesses is that they all lacked credible evidence. Blurred photos and sketchy drawings aren’t going to