When Sasha got to school on Monday morning she didn’t see Prof V or his blue M3 outside the school gate. She had waited for Doreen at the taxi rank for twenty minutes, but as she had expected, Doreen hadn’t arrived. And Doreen wasn’t the only learner who wasn’t at school; the hall during assembly was half empty because there were so many students absent.
Sasha wondered how many of them were victims of the new drug and how they had been conned into taking it. The thought of all the different foods that the drug could be disguised in chilled Sasha to the bone. It wasn’t only that which scared her though. The effects of the drug seemed to be spreading from person to person as quickly as a cold virus in winter.
Sasha got a message from Simphiwe mid-morning telling her that it had hit his school too. He suggested they meet after school, regardless of whether Prof V was there or not, because they needed to make some sort of plan to stop what was happening.
They met outside school at the end of the last lesson. Simphiwe was waiting for her on an orange Yamaha motorbike, spare helmet under his arm. He looked hot on the bike, she thought. Sasha took the helmet awkwardly from him and put it on. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was nervous at the thought of being on the motorbike with him.
“Relax,” Simphiwe said, as if he could read her thoughts. “You can trust me on this machine.”
“Is it that obvious how scared I am?” Sasha asked. Simphiwe was just about to reply when they heard the growl of an approaching sports car.
“It’s him!” Sasha shouted. She quickly clambered onto the bike behind Simphiwe and they pulled out behind the BMW.
It wasn’t difficult to follow the car because the traffic was easier to negotiate on a motorbike. Soon houses gave way to shacks and shacks in turn gave way to more industrial buildings. They were in an area now that was unfamiliar to Sasha. Large factories, warehouses and used-car dealerships lined the sides of the road.
As the traffic got lighter, Simphiwe hung back hoping that Prof V wouldn’t notice he was being tailed. Eventually the BMW indicated right and pulled into the parking lot of a large, steel-cladded building. Simphiwe parked the bike a hundred metres down the road and he and Sasha got off.
“Do you think he saw us following him?” Simphiwe asked. Sasha, her legs wobbling beneath her, shrugged.
“I have no idea,” she said. “Let’s hope not.” Sasha and Simphiwe walked cautiously up to the building that Prof V had disappeared into. Sasha guessed it was an abandoned warehouse. The glass in most of the small windows was shattered and weeds grew up the sides of the building. The metal door was slightly ajar and a lock and chain lay on the ground beside it.
***
Tell us: Do you think they should have rather called the police?