Morning broke across the sky as sunlight pierced through clouded horizons. Birds took flight from their roosts, their wings cutting through the blend of twilight and dawn, heralding another day's arrival. The neighborhood slumbered in peaceful silence, untouched by the day's coming chaos. The Nzeribes compound reflected this tranquility, its grounds bare save for Monday, the gatekeeper, whose head bobbed in drowsy slumber at his post. He jerked awake at intervals, swatting at mosquitoes that swarmed his skin.