The Infected (2 page)

See ya

Sam W

12:37pm, April 25

Okay, so I’ve heard from Ryno1, and this is what he’s heard:

Ja, so my buddie Andre was at the cinema at East Rand Mall checking out that new Superhelde movie last night (
I got Ryno1’s mail today, so this happened last night, Sunday the 24
th
)
and this chick at the back started making these funny sounds. He said it were like she was choking. So he tries to go help and the girl pukes over everyone in the row in front of him. Andre didn’t want to touch her so he goes and calls the manager. When he get back three of the people that she had got sick on are throwing up too. Maybe it is catching? Hope this helps.

Weird, hey? So I called East Rand Mall and first of all they denied that anything happened, but when I said I was there I was put on hold for over four minutes. Eventually this guy comes on the phone saying that he is the spokesman for Ster Kinekor and that nothing out of the ordinary happened last night and that basically a young girl was taken away by the police for being drunk in public and under the influence of alcohol. I smell something seriously fishy about all this and will keep on digging. But for now I have to be out of here – we are going to Lil’s folks for a braai.

Any other weird stuff like this that you hear of, please let me know at the usual address – [email protected]

See ya

Sam W

10:13pm, April 25

Stunned… don’t know if I should be happy and thankful that so many people read my blog, or disappointed at the amount of these stories that are so similar to the others that have come streaming through. I’m not going to simply copy and paste all the emails I got or you’ll be here all night, so here are a few random snippets which I thought may be of interest:

From Rufio:
And then the lady who was serving me behind the counter, mid sentence, starts puking everywhere. That’s the last time that I eat at that place. Or maybe next time I’ll just use the drive-through…

This one came from user 328955:
My father told me about what happened at his work, a large bank in the JHB CBD. He said he was in the elevator going up to the fourteenth floor when the man next to him bent down and started throwing up. This, naturally, got everyone else going, and by the time someone had the brains to push the button for the next floor, my dad said that the floor was coated in sick…

DDDdiva:
We were sitting at home last night just watching TV my boyfriend and I when we herd a noise coming from outside. He went to go envestigate and called me to the kitchen window. In our back garden there was a man holding a weed eater puking into our dustbin. I shouted at him but he didn’t even acnowledge us and kept on puking for like a minute. When he was done he jumped over the wall and ran down the road with his weedeater. Arno and I went to go have a look in the bin and it was disguting – it smelt like a dead thing, like you know when a mouse or rat dies? It was horrible. We sprayed the thick, orange puke with the hose and sprayed the bin with a whole can of toiletspray but our whole back garden stinks still…

This came in from Brunker:
I was driving down Louis Botha Avenue this morning on my way to pick up my daughter, and I counted no less than four people in a space of what must have been five minutes, just standing there throwing up. I nearly drove into the back of people twice trying to see what was going on…

And my favourite… from MoRush:
So there I was, fucked out of my tree after drinking all night, and I’m trying to find my car in the pub’s car park. I can’t see it so I have a look around the back in case I parked behind the deck. I stumble around the corner and almost fall over this couple who I at first thought were going at it pomping away. Okay, I know I was drunk but I know what I saw. This guy, maybe 40 was on top of this dark haired teenage girl and he was puking… yes, puking, right into her mouth. He was making this horrible retching sound, and she sounded like, well, like she was having an orgasm. I had to rub my eyes and try shake off the tequila goggles, but I know what I saw. What the fuck is going on dude?

Good question MoRush. Good question.

Sam W

11:48am, April 26

Just saw this on News24, not that it explains much: “Over the last few days we have seen a sharp rise in the number of cases of food poisoning,” says Nthabaleng Pule, spokesperson for the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, Johannesburg. “Even though we are yet to determine a cause, we see no need for any panic,” she continues. Although Baragwanath refused to disclose any numbers, an inside source estimates that the hospital has dealt with over 200 such cases since the first reported patient at the beginning of the week. The Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital is the largest hospital in the world, occupying 173 acres, with 3 200 beds and 6 760 staff members…”

So they are blaming food poisoning? So those 200 people, and all the others that have gone for treatment at other hospitals and clinics, and the ones that everyone has seen on the streets, at the cinemas, in McDonalds, they all ate the same thing? I’m not so sure.

Lil’s starting to get quite scared now, and I don’t blame her. It seems that there’s a silence in the media about this whole thing – I mean, after hours of searching the net, this (above) is all I came up with, and the other two thirds of the article is all about treating food poisoning. I’ve had food poisoning before, and I know that I didn’t act like any of the people that I have seen or heard about. I just wish they would come out on TV and let us know what was going on.

To try get back to a bit of normality I have been working on my guitar while Lil has been out catching up with friends. The little Black & Decker sander has made a significant impact in the progress, seeing as I only worked for about 15 minutes on the body this morning and about 30 minutes on the neck. The sander is nice because it leaves you with a surprisingly fine finish even though I'm using a fairly staunch 120g paper. It also has a vacuum attachment that keeps the work area (my kitchen!) considerably dust free. The noise is a drawback though – both the sander and the vacuum battling it out for supremacy in the noise stakes – and I feel bad for the townhouse next door, although they make enough noise themselves so I don’t really care and the one below is empty so that’s cool. Another downside; it's not as flat or true as a sanding block and I'll have to finish by hand.

The body is primed, so I highly doubt that there's any sort of quality grain underneath it. Still not sure whether to check it out or not. The neck is not primed and has an ok'ish grain underneath. One dent is bothering me though, I may have to go digging...

Alright then, I’ll keep you updated if I hear anything more about the “food poisoning.” Keep safe people.

See ya

Sam W

7:48pm, April 29

Things have been pretty quiet on the ‘food poisoning’ front. If I think about it, I haven’t heard anything on the news or got any mails from people with ‘sightings’. I supposed it’s a good thing but I was secretly enjoying all the suspense. Am I evil?

Lil goes back on Monday, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! But I’m not thinking about that now, I’m enjoying my time with her while I can, and when she is away with the giraffes and lions, I will head back into emo kid mode (make a mental note to skip my posts from the 4
th
of May onwards).

Work has been good – my favourite: high paying for hardly any work. Been designing a website for an online car sales company and my monthly furniture store catalogue. Riveting stuff.

Of more interest (possibly) is my progress with my guitar, although I’m still sanding... the neck is being done by hand and is almost done. Then comes the fun part… the painting! I’ve narrowed my choices down to matte black, gloss white or digital camo – I’m 167% sure it will be digital camo though.

Cool blogpeople – enjoy the last long weekend for a while (what is the public holiday for on Monday anyway? Do we even care?)

See ya

Sam W

9:37am, May 2

Damn, I’m really getting into this guitar project – I even woke up early this morning (on a Saturday!!!) to do some work on it. Lil had to go do a bit of shopping for her time back at work so I was able to make a big mess and get away with it! I am now almost done with the neck. The red paint has been sanded off and it's now natural with only the face of the headstock in the original black. My job this morning was to tackle the front of the body, and try to get through the paint and primer. It’s been long and arduous, I know, but the fun stuff is coming!

UPDATE: It’s now just past 1pm and I am done! So now I’m nearly ready for painting, though I am still somewhat undecided as to the finish…

Okay, let me go get cleaned up – I’m taking Lil out to the Butcher Shop at Sandton Square tonight for a nice dinner, meaning that I am going to shave and, get this, maybe even wear a button-up top (gasp!). So, enjoy your evening eating two minute noodles or peanut butter sammies, cos I’m going big!

See ya

Sam W

9:03am, May 4

Just popping in quick, can’t stay long – have to drop Lil off at the airport shortly. But I just had to say… May the fourth be with you.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

See ya

Sam W

11:45am, May 5

So Lily left yesterday morning and I am only now able to drag myself out of my depressive little stupor and sit down in front of my computer. Even the weather has turned horrible and seems depressed with me. I don’t know what to say…

I feel like shit. I am missing her so much. I don’t know how much more of this I can take. She says she will probably do the game ranging until the end of the year and then come back and finish her Masters in Environmental Management, but still, that means that until January, I will only see her for probably 6 or 7 weeks. I don’t think I can handle that. But then I see her face when she describes her close encounters with the animals, and who am I to deny her that? It’s crazy, but at times she probably feels more connected to a pride of lions than me. But that makes her happy and that’s the person I fell in love with.

My eyes have started leaking again…

See ya

Sam W

1:23pm, May 5

Holy shit. Turn on the news. Something fucked up is going on.

4:41pm, May 5

Oh man, we are so screwed. I don’t know what the hell to think. After seeing the reports on the news I just had to go out and see for myself. And I don’t know how I made it back alive. Crap – WHAT IS GOING ON?

11:09pm, May 5

Okay, here’s what I know. From my kitchen window – with my lights off, doors locked and windows shut – all I can hear are screams. Every now and again I see someone getting chased by… by one of
them
. Or hear a car screeching and coming to a sudden, crunching stop. I am scared. So fucking scared.

Let me just make myself a cup of coffee and I will come back and let you know what I know…

I’m back. I can’t get hold of Lil. But that’s not unusual, she is out of cellphone range most of the time anyway. More worryingly, I can’t get hold of my folks and they always answer their phones. I hope and pray that they are alright.

Just after 1pm today my friend Dave called me on my cell. I had never heard anyone sound like Dave did – breathless, terrified, despondent. I asked him what was wrong, but all he said was, “Put on the TV, man. Put on the fucking TV.” In those ten words I could tell that my life was about to change forever.

So I put on the TV, and even though I was constantly flicking through the channels, the picture was still the same. I could make out the Nelson Mandela statue at the Nelson Mandela Square at the Sandton City shopping centre. I could also make out a few of the restaurants, especially the distinctive red seating of the Butcher Shop where I had taken Lily the other night. But I could also see a mass of people rioting, or at least that was what it looked like at first. Then I noticed one man in the bottom right hand corner of the picture. He was running to the left across the screen, a briefcase in his one hand, a suit jacket in his other. He must have been in his forties and his long brown hair at the back, although he was balding on top, was flapping in the wind as he ran. He was dodging people as he ran, and although he was pretty plump and had an impressive beer gut, he was moving pretty quickly. That was until a woman jumped out from the right and pulled him down by his legs. She knocked him off balance, and although it looked like he might have been able to get back up and keep on running, two other people, another lady and a young man, clambered up on him and seemed to be holding him down. And then the first woman bit his ear off.