A second piece of text appeared on the ticker beside the ‘Situation in USA’ text. It simply states ‘Animal Deaths’.
“There have also been an overwhelming number of reports of animal deaths. The deaths appear to be concentrated mainly with animals that are in regular human contact, like livestock and pets. HAPS appears to be fatal to animals.”
The next scene showed a rancher standing in the middle of the field, surrounded by dead cattle. Only some of the younger cattle were still on their feet. One of these collapsed right in front of the camera. The camera panned back to the rancher and focused on his face. He looked haggard with grief and hopelessness.
Chapter Fourteen
October 24, 2:30 a.m.
Kinazi, Rwanda
Bernard Kuvarungana awoke with a start. Somebody had knocked on his door.
There it was again, urgent and insistent.
Bernard swung his legs over the edge of his bed and sat there for a moment. Agatha had woken up beside him. Her hands found him. Grasping at his arm and back. He could sense the fear in her touch.
“Who is it, Berno? What do they want?”
“Shhh!” He commanded and shook her hands off. “Leave me be, woman. You go check on the children while I go see who is at the door.”
Bernard got up and made his way through the darkened house. The knock came again. It made him hesitate. He collected his machete, then crept up to his front door.
He stood on his side of the door and felt a moment of fear himself. The nights of massacres had happened many years ago, but the memories would always be there.
“Who is there!” He called out. The words came out rushed.
“Bernard. It is me, Theo! Open up!” The urgency was apparent in the other man’s voice. Bernard quickly opened the door and Theo slipped in past him.
“Close the door, quickly!” Theo pleaded.
Bernard closed the door and plunged the room into darkness.
Theo started talking, but Bernard ordered him to be quiet.
“Hold on.” He said, as he collected a candle. He lit the candle and motioned for the other man to follow him to the kitchen. Bernard placed the machete on the kitchen counter and the candle on the table. Both men sat down. Agatha had dressed and reappeared to pour the men some milk.
Bernard watched the other man thank Agatha and take a drink. Theo was perspiring, despite the coolness of the night. His eyes were wild. Bernard had seen this look before. Back in 1994. During the genocide. Again, the memories flooded him. Bernard took a breath to steady himself.
“Ok. Tell me what is wrong.”
Theo’s eyes grew wide. “Marie attacked me!”
Theo continued before Bernard could speak.
“She was sick. You know, like everybody is, with the stomach pain. She begged me to take her to the clinic when I put her in bed last night. I told her that I would take her in the morning. Andre and Zumi were also feeling unwell, so I planned to take them too.”
Bernard nodded. Three of his own children were suffering with stomach aches...
“Ok so what happened next?”
“I had some Urwagwa beer before going to bed. I have a bit of pain myself and was hoping that would help. Anyway, I crept into bed and Maria was asleep. I woke up later when Maria was shaking. I lit a candle and tried to get her to sit up but suddenly her eyes rolled back, and she slumped back onto the bed!”
Theo mimicked the eyes and the motion his wife made.
“I backed away from her. I think she was dead!” Theo’s eyes got wider as he relived those moments.
“I took a step closer so that I could see her face ... Her eyes! They were wide open, like so-” Theo opened his eyes as wide as he could.
“As I stood there, I could see those eyes move. She started to slowly open her mouth. I thought that she was going so say something, but she just opened her mouth very wide. So, I called her name. I said ‘Maria, love.”
“She moved when she heard me. So, I came a little closer. Then she turned her face to me! It was awful, Bernard! Before I could do anything, she lunged off the bed at me. She landed at my feet. She tried to grab my foot first, and then she lunged again and tried to bite me!”
Theo was so involved in his story that he forgot about the glass of milk on the table. He skittered backward in his chair, which knocked the table, which in turn tipped the glass of milk onto its side. A miniature white tsunami spread across the table and cascaded over the edge. Agatha rushed to try to clean up the mess.
Theo paid no attention to it, his eyes wild in fear.
“I quickly backed out of the bedroom and tried to close the door, but she got up and ran into it from the other side! The door slammed open and I fell onto the living room floor.”
Bernard could picture this. Marie was quite a bit bigger than Theo.
“I scrambled backwards on my hands and feet, just as she stumbled through the door. Then Murabe ran in to the living room, screaming. Maria turned to her baby, and I could tell she was going to hurt her. I yelled at Murabe to run back to his room and I yelled for Andre to come help!”
Theo put his hands on the table to steady himself, never noticing that he put his hand into the milk. He met Bernard’s eyes. “She was going to hurt our baby.”
“So, what happened next?”
Theo was silent for a moment. He noticed the machete lying on the counter. “I too have a umupanga.” Theo said, motioning to the machete with his chin.
“I had backed up to the wall next to the shelf. Close to where I
