B-3:THE HOSPITAL UNDER LAGOS

--- “Hands where I can see them.” The guard’s voice was flat. Final. Aisha raised her hands. The USB drive was still warm in the port behind her. Screen black. 99%... but did it finish? Dr. Mensah walked over slowly. He didn’t look at the guards. He looked at her. “Night shifts are hard on the eyes, Aisha. Systems crash. You should’ve called IT.” “Sorry, Doctor,” she said. Her voice didn’t shake. Thank God for 6 years of keeping calm when patients coded. He leaned in. Close enough that she could smell antiseptic and something else. Metallic. “You saw nothing. You update nothing. You go home at 6am like a good nurse.” It wasn’t a suggestion. The lights flickered once. Twice. Then the whole ward plunged into darkness. Monitors screamed. Ventilators switched to battery backup with a high-pitched whine. Someone yelled “Generator!” In the black, Aisha moved. Pure instinct. She yanked the USB from the port, shoved it deep into her bra, and dropped to the floor behind the nurses’ station. Training: when there’s chaos, get low, get quiet. Flashlights cut through the dark. “Check the terminals!” Dr. Mensah snapped. Boots moved past her. One guard stopped right beside her hiding spot. She could see his shoes. He was breathing hard. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Zainab again: _sis the light just went out here too wtf is happening_ Alive. For now. Then a new sound. A door at the end of the ward clicked open. Not the main door. The old one. The one marked *MORGUE - AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY*. It wasn’t supposed to open from the inside. A gurney rolled out into the dark hallway. No one was pushing it. But the sheet on top had a shape. Small. Female. And written in marker on the plastic toe tag: *YUSUF, Z.* Zainab. The generator kicked in. Fluorescent lights buzzed back to life. The hallway was empty. No gurney. No door. Just a blank wall where the morgue entrance used to be. Dr. Mensah smiled at Aisha from across the room. “See? Nothing to worry about. Systems glitch.” Aisha smiled back. While her fingers, under the counter, closed around the USB. The data was on it. And so was her sister’s name. ---