OVERDRIVE 009

Chapter Five: How far will you go to save everyone?

Nairobi, Kenya. 1145hrs

(Borrowed from President Uhuru Kenyatta's State of the Nation address on Wednesday March 15 2017)

"Today, we celebrate an extraordinary Kenyan journey: four years of transformation, of growth, and the deepening our democracy. I want to salute and congratulate each and every Kenyan today for staying true to our solemn duty to protect, preserve and promote our constitution. Because of you, Kenya remains an oasis of peace and prosperity. Because of you, our country stands tall in the community of nations."

Every invited guest from journalist to whoever looked the part was in attendance for the President's State of the Nation address, a requirement by the constitution. Article 132 that requires the President to, once every year, address Parliament and give a report, on all the measures taken and the progress made in the realization of the national values referred to in Article 10.

Meanwhile many bystanders were trying to crane their necks to see what had happened to an innocent shop along Moi Avenue which had earlier on succumbed to a suicide bombing which had left the Kenya Police forces patrolling the city quivering. The explosion seemed to have rattled anyone walking by, but luckily, after loud screams from an old, 65-year-old lady meant that no casualties or injuries were reported. Just property amounting to hundreds of thousands of shillings going up in flames.

However, the sight of an unusual Land Rover defender cascading Moi Avenue made the bystanders think otherwise. That their safety was assured.

Not when out came an improvised machine gun and a Black Forces gunman brimming with confidence.

No one noticed him until he cocked his so-called 'darling of the brave and mighty' and his favourite call phrase.

"Allahu Akbar!"

And just like that, his darling sprayed bullets on each and every bystander, killing instantly those who were too weak to sprint far from its range. He looked like an excited madman who had just come from absorbing some serious methamphetamine! With his wild side, the death toll went from zero to 45 dead in five minutes. 46, 47, 48....he made each and every accurate shot count.

The fact that he didn't even think of adding a silencer to his machine gun meant that every gunshot he fired was loud enough to send the entire Nairobi CBD scampering for cover.

However not everyone was allowed to live. Sniper shots brought down more innocent souls from the high-rise building windows. More Black Forces militants emerged from the blind spots to add salt to the already intensifying situation that was already throwing every security force in the city in chaos.

The militants numbered not in their tens or twenties as they normally would during a shopping mall or university attack for example. They were in their thousands, popping from the hidden cover of the crowds that traverse the Nairobi streets every weekday.

Several explosives ripped through buildings and their window panes that would cost millions of shillings to replace and restore.

This is what Q meant by "Alarms all over the city going haywire. Terrorists are invading the city from the major roads, buildings, everywhere. Snipers posted on rooftops, infantry all over the place, death toll rising by the minute...."

Nairobi CBD was the main subject of the Black Forces' biggest citywide attack. Orchestrated after many years of practice using simulated cities of their own back at their hidden training base in Somalia. RPG infantry in their hundreds brought down any vehicle, military or civilian that stood in their way. Others aimed for the skyscrapers where most of the Nairobi folk went to hide.

The act of terror had already gained international coverage, with major news houses already on the scene. Kenya Defence Forces had to be called upon.