Chapter-4 Congo Basin, 0.60°S, 17.77° E Logging Block - -Golden Logging Timber Company

The chainsaw man named Sefu took off his helmet. He was drenched in sweat from head to toe. He managed to slash 5 trees measuring over 150 cm. But since those trees were unusually large with dense canopies, the cutting technique he acquired over the years had not been able to make the tree fell the right way. Two Afrormosia trees with a diameter of 250 cm fell with their roots exposed.

Sefu opened the cap of his drink bottle. Africa's weather had always been exceptionally warm which made him parch all the time. Because of that, during his time as a chainsaw man for almost 20 years, he always brought plenty of water supplies with him.

While relishing the fresh water that flowed down his throat, Sefu's eyes fell upon a peculiar sight that caught his attention. Among the big roots of the fallen trees, he saw a bunch of pink mushrooms that looked so fresh.

Sefu got up hastily. Delicious dinner tonight! He thought. He used his bare hands to pick all the phallic mushrooms and put them into his lunch basket.

Sefu's mind turned quickly. This tree must not be the only tree that these delicious mushrooms attached to.

Sure enough. After searching on large trees that had been uprooted, Sefu found the same mushrooms. This time it was even more so that the basket was full of them.

Sefu was elated. Not only he had successfully cut down trees exceeding the target set by the foreman, 8 trees from the target of 7. He was planning to feast on those mushrooms tonight with his friends while drinking African arrack. Sefu could already imagine the excitement that he was going to have.

Whistling cheerfully, Sefu put down his work equipment and headed for a shower. He grabbed the basket filled with mushrooms so they could be washed in the small stream on the outskirts of the camp which flowed into the great river of Zaire.

Meanwhile in the small, messy office of the Golden Logging Timber Company, Mister Bob was analyzing their work so far with Adisa and Essien. Fabumi was not among them. It seemed that he had made up his mind to leave the next morning.

"Today, an average logger has reached the target of 7 trees. The majority of Afrormosia are more than 120 cm in size," Adisa said in a firm voice.

Mister Bob listened with his eyes closed. The evening coffee tasted perfect to him. "Hmm, Afrormosia is an expensive wood. If every day was like this, I could be very rich," he thought to himself.

"I heard the diameter of the tree is so big that it fell down along with the roots?" A petty question asked by Essien. His mind was elsewhere. Not in his head.

"Yup! Huge. The volume of one Afrormosia tree that was cut down today had at least 45 cubic meters per trunk. Imagine that! We got 18 thousand francs for each trunk. And today we managed to harvest 70 trees!"

Adisa imagined himself as a calculator at work.

Mister Bob's eyes bulged. 1.2 million Francs in 1 day! This is crazy! Imagine if the 10 thousand hectares could be completed in 1 year? Oh, God is being kind.

The three leaders of the Golden Logging Timber Company then talked further about some plans so that their work would not be disturbed by anything in the future. However, their conversation was stopped by panicked screams from the barracks where the workers lived.

"Sefu is going crazy! Watch out!"

"Yes, four of his friends too! They became violent and hurt five people!"

"Probably drinking too much arrack! Report to the security and Mister Bob!"

"Oh they were running around naked and attacking people!"

Immediately Mister Bob, Adisa, and Essien ran out of the office after hearing the commotion. Just when people were running frantically towards them. Fabumi was in front of the crowd.

"Sir! I told you! Pygmy warning is not bull shit!" Out of breath Fabumi called out to Mister Bob.

Mister Bob grabbed the handy talky by his waist to order the security to control the situation. However, he stopped right when he saw five security personnel struggling to tackle two raging people who were wearing nothing but their underwear.

The five securities were overwhelmed by the fight put up by those two people.

In the end the two people were restrained, and the security guards suffered from bites and scratched wounds.

The chaos ended. Four people were subdued by the security team. Mister Bob could breathe a sigh of relief. Distractions like this could disrupt their plans. This could ruin the 1.2 million Francs calculation. Mister Bob grumbled incessantly.

Mister Bob didn't really care when he received a report that Sefu had disappeared, and no one could find him.

Four people were detained at the security post. The company doctor was forced to administer sedative due to their constant thrashing. Injured security members were immediately treated. The bites and scratches caused minor wounds that seemed harmless. Seven members of the security team were injured in tonight's incident.

Doctor Cecilia also examined and conducted initial investigation on the cause of the senseless rampage.

Accompanied by 2 healthy security team members, the doctor checked Sefu's quarter, where everything started.

The small barrack was occupied by five chainsaw men including Sefu. Looked like five of them had thrown a party. The kitchen looked messy. Plates, glasses, and bottles scattered everywhere. Doctor Cecilia reached for a bottle that still had liquid in it. Hmm, arrack!

There was no way the arrack caused them to lose their mind and went on a rampage like that. Doctor Cecilia had time to examine one of them and found that the smell of alcohol from his mouth was not too strong. That meant they didn't drink much.

Maybe they drank arrack to complement to the food they ate.

Doctor Cecilia was drawn to a pot lying sideways in the corner of the room. It had such a strange smell. The aroma of delicious cooking but her sharp and trained nose sensed something else. A strange and unfamiliar scent.

Oh, mushrooms! Doctor Cecilia frowned. Tropical forest mushrooms were common and nutritious for humans. Except the poisonous species, of course. And the crew had basic knowledge to distinguish which mushrooms were poisonous and weren't.

Doctor Cecilia continued to carefully examine the entire kitchen of Sefu's barrack. What's that?

In the trash bin behind the kitchen, Doctor Cecilia in her rubber gloves found something unusual. The rootstock of the mushroom that wasn't cooked was black. While the cooked mushrooms earlier were reddish white.

Doctor Cecilia mustered the memory of how mushrooms changed color because their spores were oxidized by air. But that's after days. While these were not. These mushrooms were clearly fresh from the forest today.

In the midst of her puzzlement with the whole thing, Doctor Cecilia was surprised by the arrival of a security guard who was breathless when addressing her.

"Doc…Doctor. The seven injured security guards are acting strange now. They are aggressive and threatening. I had to run for my life because they were about to attack me!"

Doctor Cecilia was taken aback. These were signs of contagion!

"How do they look like physically?"

"Their eyes were red. But their faces were very pale. There was black foam coming out of their mouths!"

Doctor Cecilia's mind was spinning fast. Those were the same symptoms observed at the four people who were quarantined and sedated earlier!

Doctor Cecilia was dashing to the office with the light on. Mister Bob must still be in there.

Right. The three were discussing plans after tonight's shocking event that must have had an effect on the other workers. Especially local workers. Fabumi was also there but he was just sitting in the corner and wasn't involved in the conversation.

"Mister Bob! Turns out the symptoms are contagious! Do something quick. I've ran out of sedative. Seven people are showing the same aggressive symptoms!"

Before Mister Bob responded, the sound of running footsteps was heard. A mechanic came in and screamed in panic.

"Sir! The mechanic barrack is being trashed! The crew who were attacked by Sefu and his friends, are now raging wildly in the barrack! Many are injured, sir!"

Doctor Cecilia face went pale. How fast this contagion happened! Her body froze. Dazed and didn't know what to do.

"Doctor….Doctor….." Mister Bob didn't finish his sentence to Doctor Cecilia. The doctor was in state of utter shocked.

"Cecilia! What exactly happened?!" Mister Bob shouted to jolt the doctor back to the present.

"Virus! Or Bacteria! They all got infected by either one!" Doctor Cecilia shouted back agitatedly.

Mister Bob was silent for a moment. Then gave an unexpected order.

"Get the guns! You all come with me!" Mister Bob came into his study and opened a large gun safe. There was a bunch of AK 47 on the shelves.

Each immediately grabbed a gun and a magazine. Then exited the room while cocking the gun.

Except Fabumi. He grabbed Doctor Cecilia's hand to follow him. It would be very dangerous here convinced Fabumi to her. They both disappeared into the darkness.

There was a series of gunshots as Mister Bob and five of his men opened fire to the people with red eyes, pale faces and black foam oozing from their mouths. The dead bodies fell to the ground, covered in blood.

Mister Bob continued to patrol while giving orders to those who had not been infected to get behind him.

From a distance. On the bank of a small creek that led into the Zaire River, Fabumi, who continued to tug on Doctor Cecilia's arm, stopped listening before pulling a small motorboat hidden in the bush.

The sound of gunshots still echoed.

While boarding the boat with Doctor Cecilia, Fabumi shuddered. Not just for the horrors of what happened tonight. Also because of the stinging feeling in his upper arm that was felt after he had struggled and was bitten by Sefu.