by David Shiels
She ran towards the jeep, stopping at the door as she turned sideways to Studley, he was simply standing still as she passed him.
“Don’t you ever touch me again either, freak. Having Hilisky around at the time of father’s death would have helped with the pain so much, but you took him away from me” Claudia’s voice showed clear signs of sadness as she spoke to the statue of a man.
“I haven’t seen you since you killed my best friend, 16 years ago, and I wish to never see you again after this moment”
Studley remained in the exact position he was in, saying nothing nor showing any signs of remorse.
“Retard”
Claudia opened the door wide, jumped inside, slamming the door behind her.
The key, coloured like army camouflage, had been left in the ignition; Claudia simply turned it and the engine roared into life.
Claudia didn’t bother to look around her; she didn't care who she hit. As she was mere moments away from her foot touching the accelerator a large bang was heard; Lisa had slammed her entire body onto the bonnet of the car, causing the back of the truck to slightly rise in the air.
“You evil woman! you would leave your own twin brother out here to die!”
“He’s nothing more than a part of me that my mother stained me with”
Claudia licked her lips in delight as she slammed her foot down on the accelerator, but at the exact same time that she did this a fist smashed through the window, causing pieces of glass and flesh to fly towards her. She was quick in placing her face in a defensive position, but the car was already in undirected motion.
The car spun away from Claudia’s originally planned direction ploughing directly into one of the oil pumps at the petrol station Claudia had just scavenged; the blow would have surely caused Claudia’s head to have smashed off of the steering wheel if not for a big white airbag revealing itself, softly but quickly cushioning her skull from the deadly blow.
An Unplanned Vacation
Lisa flew off of the bonnet of the car, landing on many pieces of large metal debris which had flung off of the car and the oil pump; they pierced her body in many locations, she yelled out in severe pain as each piece dug deeper and deeper into her body as she tried to move herself, blood expelling itself from five regions upon her body; her cheek, her stomach, her legs, and her left arm. It looked as if she was crucified to the ground.
In the large, soft, white mushroom lay Claudia’s head, in perfect condition, yet her body was in slight shock from the sudden and violent crash.
Studleys stood in the exact same position that he was in since Claudia’s arm was removed from him, his eyes now were fixed on the vehicle that carried his beloved twin sister. No matter how much she hated him, the natural bond twins possess filled his mind with nothing but love and respect for the woman, no matter her outlook on him. Yet his body would not move him. The love was instinct, but the mind did not comprehend the feelings.
Claudia slowly removed herself from the jeep with one hand on her head helping her balance while fighting the dizzy feeling she was momentarily experiencing.
Once she regained her bearings she noticed that the jeep had smashed through the oil pump and crashed into the large thin concrete slab behind it, if not for that wall the crash could have been a lot worse, giving the car more time to gather speed.
Oil was spraying high out of the pump in one direction, which happened to be where the young Lisa lay squirming, sprawled on the floor, blood and oil merging into one. Claudia giggled to herself as she made a crude joke about golden shower in her head.
Claudia knew that staying around here was dangerous and her second priority was to act upon this fear and leave, but first she felt an itch that desperately needed to be scratched and she set straight to scratching it; she walked up to the agonising teenager with a big grin on her face.
Lisa strained her head and with bloodshot eyes and looked at the approaching flamed haired silhouette, her details blacked out by the high sun behind her.
“It’s such a shame it’s too late for you to learn from your lesson” Claudia squatted down slowly while speaking, being sure to avoid the still raining drops of petrol “But never ever, pull the hair of Claudia Deblonge”
Lisa, unable to open her mouth due to her face being drenched in cold, strongly scented fluid, simply looked in the opposite direction while trying to deal with the intense pain and blood loss; her body quivering and spasming more each second. Her only thought was that she hoped Studley was okay and someone decent would take care of him.
Claudia returned to a standing position and turned away to continue her journey to the airbase, but not before twisting one of her feet on the metal pieces sticking into Lisa’s leg; the girl let out a loud scream which enabled petrol to slip down her throat causing her to splutter, choke and cough.
Claudia walked away from the scene, chuffed with the results, being sure first to reclaim her backpack on the way, not giving a second thought for her relations. She barely made it beyond the jeep when she felt a painless prick in the back of her neck.
The colours of her scenery began to blur and shake rapidly, her head felt heavy and sweat began to hastily accompany these feelings. Then nothing. She fell to the floor, lifeless.
The very moment her body touched the ground two soldiers in the same large black armour she had encountered before appeared from behind the building, rifles at the ready.
The two soldiers held a brief discussion when they turned over her body.
“Is this her?” quizzed one of the soldiers.
“She matches the pictures and description perfectly.” The man held his arm, a picture of Claudia was displayed on a flickering LCD screen. “It is a shame there is no ID, but it has to be her.” Replied the other.
“Going at it incognito was much smarter than what the original plan was, but we had no idea there would be that many wolves, we have had a lot of casualties” The soldier placed a hand to Claudia’s neck
“She’s breathing fine let’s radio for pick-up and get the hell out of here”
“What about the other two? I think they might match descriptions of her blood relations”
“We will take them, I’ll call for a medic to arrive with the transport, go see to the man and I’ll check out the girl!
One of the soldiers picked out a radio from his small pocket and began calling for assistance while walking towards Lisa whilst the other soldier approached Studley. The man was unresponsive to all of the soldiers questions; his eyes still fixed solely on Claudia.
The soldier put his arm around Studley and walked him to his sister.
It only took ten minutes for a large people transporter helicopter to arrive and park besides the building.
The medic quickly removed a large red stretcher from the helicopter which Lisa was soon placed on.
One of the soldiers picked up Claudia with both arms and carried her to the helicopter; Studley was led close behind, his eyes still fixed on Claudia.
“Take us back to the lab, stat” Said the medic to the driver, and the helicopter began its flight.
As the helicopter took to the air, over on the peak of a nearby hill were a pack of wolves, all looking up towards the departing helicopter, carrying their queen.
But they knew where she was going and that she was in no immediate danger, and it was a gamble they were willing to take to assist them in taking over the last safe piece of land on earth.
America.
Outbreak: Days two to Four
Solve the mystery,
Or else
The night was a deep shade of venomous black with no stars to guide weary travellers. But on this long open road was merely one single black van which had quickly made the journey from city life to the wilderness and knew exactly where it was going. Voices could be heard from within.
Inside the van was a young woman wearing a long white lab jacket, tied with a white belt around the waist, which reached down to her ankles. Opposite her
were two men in black suits wearing black sunglasses. Everyone was seated, swaying gently as the van sped down the road.
“Why am I being shipped off to some out of the way lab? I could be doing so much more back in the city” Said the young scientist, her hair was tied up in a small blonde bun, the bun swinging from side to side as her head shook as she spoke.
“I don’t consider being dragged from my workplace telling me my daughter has been slaughtered and you will take me to see her body a choice, but a deception”
“You must understand, time is short and we needed to act as soon as possible”
“You could have asked, it was a sick lie to concoct. What makes you think I will help you now?” The woman folded her arms, her face scowling at the two men.
“The world needs you Ms. Blight. You have heard of the wolf crisis that began recently in eastern Europe I am sure, but it is much more severe than the government is revealing to people” Said one of the men.
The intensity on her face began to calm, but her guard was not yet lowered. “Then why did you not just ask me?
“No one can know about where you are going, this work is important and needs as few people involved as possible, we apologise for the deceit but we had to ensure you would come”
The other man added more.
“We needed the best America could offer as well, we heard about your research breakthroughs relating to animal cells. There are two other scientists also being recruited as we speak”
“Recruited huh? or deceived.” The woman’s face returned to its scowled form.
“You will save a lot of lives, when we soon reach the lab you will understand.”
They sat in silence for the rest of the rocky journey.
Jessica was now too busy thinking about what awaited her at this lab, she had seen some news reports of violent wolf attacks in europe but not enough to make her think it was world threatening.
The men had approached her showing her their government badges when they showed up at the lab she works at in California, they acted normal enough if a little bit too serious, but considering the news they had for her it made sense. The news had caused her to break down in more tears then she thought she could give when they had announced that her daughter had been killed by two knife wielding men just hours ago. She did not hesitant to go with them.
To find out it was all a lie is a relief, but at the same time it’s left her feeling disgusted that such a lie was created by government officials. She wants to never feel that way again that they made her feel. If what they say is true she will help however she can, but she will not support any selfish projects that just benefit the rich and greedy.
The ride went on for another twelve hours. Jessica and one of the men had fallen asleep during this time. The deceived woman would periodically awaken, her body on automatic alert, an inner fear of being assaulted, but would soon drift off again when her mind took over and reminded her body that if they meant any harm, it would have happened by now.
A Look Into The Future
When Jessica awoke from her dreamless sleep she immediately felt her body was more moist than it would normally be at this time of the year and hour of the day. She rubbed two fingers together, noticing the humidity. She placed another hand onto her forehead, noticing it was clammy, not yet satisfied with her examination, she raised both of her arms in the air, checking how much her clothes were sticking to her body. One of the men noticed her curiously checking her sweaty parts and put her curious scientific mind at ease.
“We probably should have mentioned that the lab is very secluded, and by very secluded we mean in the desert”
Jessica sighed and lay her head back down.
“Can we just...get this over with now”
“First we need to blindfold you” The man approached her with a small silk white piece of cloth. “You cannot know where this place is located. It has many different uses”
“Fine” Jessica sat up and let the man place the cloth around her eyes.
The back doors of the van opened outwards and immediately Jessica felt the rush of hot air slither across her face; the fresh heat made more sweat expel itself from her already drenched pores.
Her anxiety did not help her situation as she was afraid of not only the darkness but she still did not fully trust these men. However, She was an intelligent woman and knew when she was in a situation where she had to just go with the flow.
One of the men constantly kept a firm grip on her arm, leading her at a brisk pace to their destination, so firm that she was sure a bruise would soon appear; she was easy to bruise, once her daughter has thrown a brick of lego in one of her many tantrums at her foot and by the next morning it had caused it to show a large bruise and caused an even larger amount of pain to walk on.
The walk in the desert was an uncomfortable one; she would often stumble or trip on small rocks or her foot would sink into small pockets of deep sand, then she would be dragged forward by the man before she was able to lift her foot back out. Wind would randomly decide to swoosh past the walking trio picking up sand along the way which would always find its way into her mouth; it tended to blow in her direction every time she opened her mouth even for the smallest amount of breath.
After approximately a ten minute walk they finally came to a complete and sudden halt. The man released his hand from her arm. She heard him reach into his pocket and pull something out.
A sound of a small metal lid sliding up was followed by multiple bleeping sounds in quick succession; Jessica knew that this was a number pad being tapped. In her office back in California she would have to tap in her code to enter almost every single door, she could have dementia in twenty years and that code would never be forgotten from her mind; it had been burnt into her mind over the past five years.
The moment the last digit was entered a loud rumbling sound echoed throughout the quiet, lonely desert landscape, the sound seemed to get louder and louder as the seconds passed and she wondered;
Why would they so through so much effort to keep the place secret then have THIS sound when you want to enter the darn place? not very subtle.
After twenty seconds the grinding sound returned to being a quiet secretive silence. The men lead her a few meters forward and stopped still, Jessica could hear a lot of familiar sounds around her, security cameras, lasers and machine turrets. The thought of all these things watching her made an anxious feel charge over her body, more sweat began to form, even though it was much cooler inside the mountain. A few moments later she knew she was now moving in an elevator; a surprisingly smooth ride considering the ruckus that was just made upon entering.
When the elevator reached its destination which Jessica’s calculation was about 100 meters deep, her blindfold was carefully removed; the dim light of the elevator saving her eyes from being burnt by the sudden array of lights that surely lit up the lab. Moments later the doors opened treating her to something her childhood self would phrase as ‘dreams coming true’.
The lab was magnificent and everything she thought impossible. She was in a long hallway and to each side of it were large glass walls, behind this was darkness, but behind the darkness she could see all of the extremely hi-tech equipment. It looked as if it could be straight from a science fiction movie. As she walked down she passed huge, thick, metallic doors which slid open surprisingly fast upon them knowing someone was within walking distance.
Each new area she walked into was immediately in complete darkness but would light up instantly as the trio entered the area and shut off just as quick as they left it.
For a secret lab it was surprisingly open, she would see directly into each and every room they passed, not an inch of it was unseen or at all private.
It could mean they either trust their scientists without question, or did not trust them at all.
After walking around many corners that looked exactly the same, Jessica began to lose her orientation and worried how she would find her way around this
huge place, which surely had many other floors to it also.
“Finally!” Jessica let slip, dazzled by the long walk as they reached a corridor that was already lit and voices could be heard nearby.
The two men lead her into large room which resembled a university lecture hall and the voices heard now also had faces to them; there were two other scientists that looked as uncomfortable as Jessica felt and a man in front of them who looked like a man with much authority.
“Ah, I see our third potential saviour has arrived!” The man clapped his hands together, his old skin sounding like two pieces of old leather being slapped together.