Rushing out of the hospital he looked around as he looked for his bearing, after checking and finding out where he was at the moment, he took off again as there was one thought on his mind:

“Please be okay, please be okay” he prayed as he moved, passing some cars as he ran along the road raising the eyes of everyone:

“Mum look he is so fast, like cat boy” a child pointed out from a car making his mother smile

“Well, if you want to be fast like him you better stop watching PJ masks every time and start training” the lady teased her son as she turned to look at him using her eyes to hint at the phone he was holding, “No, I will still watch and I will still be fast like him, he is just like cat boy,” the child said as he pouted.

---

Richard ran through the streets barefooted not knowing when he had covered some kilometers till he reached his home area without getting tired, getting to the area he came to an abrupt stop as he looked around at the collapsed buildings and debris coming around as surprisingly his ears picked up clearly a broadcast coming from a shop some distance away that wasn’t affected by the tremor:

“Our government is always slow to react to these kinds of things, it wasn’t only our country that experienced it but several others yet they have shown no effort to help the affected victims”

“Yusuf, that is not even the talking point here, if we had stable buildings and infrastructures in place most of these topics we are having will not even be needed, according to the WHO, this wasn’t even an earthquake but a tremor, a tremor, haven’t you wondered why the well-invested areas are still standing strong…”

The debaters continued to go back and forth as the first earth tremor experienced in Nigeria was still discussed for the past day and showed no sign of stopping, Richard just shook his head as he began to move into the area to continue his search:

“Woah, was the world ever this clear,” he said as he noticed his improved eyesight helped him see a wide range and crystal clear as though a veil had been torn out of his eyes.

GULP

Getting to the spot he was some time ago, he subconsciously swallowed saliva as he remembered vividly what had happened. Although the place had collapsed and looked unrecognizable, he still could see it as though it was yesterday, that was when as he moved, he saw the syrup container that he bought that day as a bitter memory flashed through his mind:

*“Seems like you do drugs oh great captain,” Smith said as he covered his mouth in feigned shock “Wow, I never knew you would stoop this low to get such drugs, and knowing you I would assume you stole the cash to get these” Smith said as he took out the syrup “hmmm this looks tasty, but unfortunately I don’t do drugs” he said as he uncapped the drug and began pouring it slowly…*

Just the thought of it and an unbridled rage began to rise from him when he remembered the incident as though it was just yesterday, well technically it was. Unknown to him his rage had begun to raise the temperature of the surrounding as the ground had begun to melt, the debris catching fire as the cloth he was wearing began to burn up:

“Fire, bring water” a lady screamed causing people to start running up and down as they tried to avoid getting caught:

“Fast oooo, e be like say person dey burn” a local spoke in pidgin as he urged people to bring the water faster.

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Richard was unaware of this as he didn’t really know what heat or fire felt at this point as it felt warm to him, but that couldn’t be said of the surrounding as with his rising rage the temperature rose as plastics and rubber began to melt instantly, the clothes he was wearing was non-existent, as he took a step forward, he felt a cold water of water pour on him:

WAA

SHHHH

The water poured on him bringing him back to his senses as the flames on his body quickly diminished as heavy steam rose:

“Shit” he cursed as he looked at himself finding out he was stark naked he sneaked away under the cover of the steam and the surrounding flames that hadn’t died down;

“My God, pour soul, he don burn to ashes” The ignorant watchers looked around as they held faces of pity for the poor soul that had been burnt to ashes, not even bothering to check if there was any remaining at all.

---

THUD

“Well, shit I am naked now,” he said as he jumped into a compound startling the residents a bit as his entrance was sudden, looking around and seeing himself in such a situation he raised his hand as he tried smiling: “Hello”

“THEIF OO”

“MAD MAN OO”

They all jumped up and began running calling him various names, some even going to call the names of their deities like Jesus, Mohammed, etc. The bold men picked up things as they pursued the intruders. Seeing the situation, he looked around and found a wrapper hung on a line, he quickly picked it up and jumped to the roof of the building about seven feet high with relative ease as he took off stunning the men.

“The blood of Jesus,” a man said as he continuously smacked his fingers.

---

“Damn it give me a break,” he said as he tied the wrapper around his waist. The way he jumped made him look like a parkour artist that was good with his crafts causing several teens to bring out their devices as they videoed the acts. Not minding anything he stopped as he looked at the distance to where his house was located:

“Whew, it’s still standing” he gave a sigh of relief when he saw the three-story building still standing strong in the distance as he quickly took off. Entering his compound he saw some people outside the building engaging in various acts, some children were playing as the ladies were discussing, or more like gossiping as usual:

“Ah, Richard you are back” A young dark-skinned girl with moderate-length black hair ran up to him when she saw him enter the gate,

“Shola is mum upstairs?” he asked to which she nodded making him give a sigh of relief;

“Where were you yesterday I was bothered so I went to stay with her,” she said as looked him up and down “Thanks, I went to get her drugs before that tremor happened”

“Oh is that why you are dressed like a homeless man with this wrapper alone,” she said as she folded her arms, he finally had a look at himself as he blushed in shame, “uhm something like that you won’t understand, I have to go see her,” he said as he ran into the building. Shola dropped her hands in disappointment as she shook her head “The least you could say was thank you” she said as she pouted.

The building was an apartment as it contained close to forty families and the rooms weren’t the best, so passing through the tight passage he got to the door to his room and he pushed it open:

“Who is that,” a weak voice asked that put a smile on his face.