“How do you know?” One of the enforcers asked.
“I’m a sensitive ok, her heart’s slowing. “DISPATCH WE NEED MEDICAL ASSISTANCE STAT! AND WHERE THE HELL IS THE AEON UNIT?” He said into the commlink built into his badge.
A robotical voice replied. “Need for medical assistance received, Aeon control unit is in route, eta, seven minutes.”
Ezra stood up, keeping his blaster pistol in front. The stalk to it was pulsing with blue lights. He tried his best to sense the creature responsible, but nothing was turning up in his line of sight. He knew these things could vanish from sight, so it had to be here somewhere.
They made it. A fifty foot walk down the alley, and a sharp left turn and there she was. A young nurse that had been on her way home from a long shift. She was bleeding and shaking. Her blond hair dyed from the blood saturating her left shoulder laid there shaking. Ezra hunkered down quickly and tried to apply pressure on the bite wound. The one on her shoulder was gaping open.
He took off his black coat and tore the right sleeve off. He tried his best to make a pressure dressing from it around the bite. Then the one on her leg caught his attention. “Jesus!” He said loudly as his eyes widened.
The two enforcers took point, securing the location as best they could. Meanwhile Marine knelt down beside her and tried to apply pressure to her leg while calling out. “See anything?”
Marine’s eyes focused on the leg. She huffed, seemingly sniffing the air for a second. “Make sure to look up guys, these things can climb like a goddamn bug, got it?”
Marine was right. It was watching them from a fire escape six stories up, easily out of human sight. Like all infected canines, it had those piercing yellow eyes. This one, wasn’t an escaped wolf, but a German Shepard by the looks of its markings. The thing was brown and black, humanoid. It was never human, just a poor animal, a stray that licked the wrong puddle for a quick drink of water. Now it was seven feet in height when it stood upright. It had an elongated snout and stretch marks on its skin from its rapid growth. It was snarling quietly, while drool dripped from its grossly enlarged sharp teeth.
It crouched on the fire escape like a vulture, waiting for the right moment. It was far from being man’s best friend now. The alien side of it, had fully overwritten its domesticated loyalties. It was hungry and driven by a biological compulsion to spread the Aeon Strain. Its senses went wild, like a fire inside it. It sniffed the air, which triggered its senses. At the cellular level, the cells inside its body began to quiver, they could sense humanoid DNA that far away. It now craved those below, more than ever. The two pouches behind its largest canines began to swell up a little, ready to infect with a single bite.
The thing licked its lips and leaped down.
The enforcer who had taken his helmet off, was the first one to go. The creature bit into his shoulder from the side after it's graceful landing. It shook him so hard that it underestimated its own strength and his head severed with a single snap. The second enforcer was next.
The man’s compatriot managed to duck when the beast swung it's talon like claws at his face. The next blow came from underneath, when the creature swung its left arm upward. Had it been a human in a boxing match, it would have looked like an uppercut. This attack came with claws. It ripped the man’s kevlar uniform open, and sent his guts spewing like a busted water pipe.
“JESUS CHRIST!” Ezra yelled. The other two men didn’t have a chance to do anything, not even a whimper.
Ezra squeezed his trigger at close range. He witnessed seven blasts to the beast’s torso, forcing the unholy looking thing backwards. It fell on all fours to recover.
It's face slowly looked upward. Ezra’s eyes widened as he tried his best not to allow his bodily functions to get the better of him. Meanwhile, Marine opened fire. One shot to the head that didn’t kill it. A second shot to the right shoulder which only caused the creature to whimper like an injured dog.
It stood upright quickly and leaped like a frog. It's clawed hands and feet clung to the wall like an insect would. It ran up the wall quickly, evading Marine’s blaster fire. Each blue dot missed the thing but smoldered the wall with each hit.
Marine kept on firing, she pulled another clip from her pocket, and slammed the battery clip into her pistol so she could begin firing additional laser bolts. Each time she missed. “MUTHA FUCKER!”
Marine went running down the alley, keeping her eyes on the prize. Her targeting was perfect, with one exception, the creature moved right at the exact second the impact should have occurred.
The furry beast leaped gracefully from wall to wall, clinging instantly and came growling at her. It leaped again, this time from the wall onto the alley floor. Marine could see the wounds Ezra had inflicted were gone now, as was the burn mark between its eyes. These things healed quickly.
AH SHIT!” She said when the thing leaped at her. She tried to duck, but it's claws caught her shoulder. The monster slung her forty feet into the air, forcing her to thud hard against the alley wall near Ezra. She slid down slowly.
Realizing he couldn’t fire quick enough, Ezra tried something else. He knew in the reports beheading them was a sure way to kill them, but he had no blade. He knew he had to do something else, something the beast wouldn’t anticipate. He locked eyes with it as he stood up. It was running at him now on all fours.
The pupils to his eyes vibrated for a second. The monster stopped and began yelping loudly. It clawed at its vicious face, trying to halt whatever it was, that was causing its head to hurt. Ezra was unleashing a psionic flow. He hoped to generate enough deadly force, that he could just blow the creatures head wide open from the inside out since he had no other way of severing its head. He had to rely on his abilities now.
He walked slowly slinging his head forward while trying to increase the psionic output. The monstrous dog’s face and head began to pulsate from the psychic pressure occurring inside its head. The beast shrieked in pain. The left side of its face began to hemorrhage, it's eye burst open, spewing blood on the alley floor. It fell to its knees, yelping loudly.
Ezra’s eyes kept squinting as each psionic pulse emitted from the lobe between his eyes that sensitives had shot out like a shockwave. His face was turning red, his nose started dripping a few droplets of blood from his nostrils. He kept trying, he was giving it all he could, but the creature was healing too fast for him to generate enough force to cause the monster’s head to explode.
While he had it in place, he tried firing his gun while doing his best to keep up the psychic attack. To his own horror, each blast only healed… He needed a blaster rifle.
Ezra lost his focus. The creature was slowly getting up, while whimpering its distorted canine noises. Ezra had to think fast. His eyes beheld the dumpster beside the injured woman. He cocked his head and exerted himself again. His head followed the motions the dumpster made as it flew into the air and crushed the humanoid dog against the alley wall. Pinning it to where only it's head could be seen.
More of the creature’s blood shot out from its eye socket. It tried to grow another eye, but he was at least keeping that from occurring. He tried to force the other eye to burst, hoping that blinding it would buy him some time. All he could do at this point was stand there and watch its face swell up, he couldn’t make it go beyond that. He was wearing out fast. He couldn’t keep it pinned for much longer.
Marine woke up. When her eyes opened, they were yellow, amber colored. “FUCK IT!” She said. She was angry. She knew the creature was about to rip her partner into more parts than they could count in the autopsy, she had to act…
Standing there, her eyes fixated on the beast that was pinned. She saw Ezra standing there trying his best to injure it further. She knew his limits and he was almost there. She had to do something that was frowned upon. She had her own secret, she was an Immortium a born werewolf of the yeti pack. She knew that they’re kind had been outed. There was no going back now.
She walked up to Ezr
a and put her hand on his shoulder. “GET BACK!” She yelled.
His partner locked eyes with him, he saw her yellow eyes. It startled him. Ezra thought she had become infected but had never heard of someone turning this fast before. “GET BACK EZRA NOW!” She yelled again. Her partner walked back slowly.
The dumpster was making a dragging noise into the solatex tiles, it still sounded like a chalkboard as it scrapped. “Time to play dead!” She said under her breath.
Marine’s body began to grow white fur. Her afro began to change color, becoming white as snow. She developed a snout, but not one as long as the creature in the alley. She grew pointed ears, and the same thick black talon shaped claws. Her pants began to rip as her body grew. Her shoes burst open, with her long white furred toes. She pulled off her jacket and tossed it to the side. She cracked her neck as the morphology of her body continued. She looked like a female version of the wolf man, though her fur was a perfect white with a few black streaks running around the ears. She let out a loud howl, which quickly caught Ezra off guard. He fell over from the sight of her. She just looked at him and snarled. “I SAID GET BACK!” She yelled once more, this time sounding far from human.
A quick leap into the air, allowed her to land and in front of the garbage container. She pulled the dumpster back to free the creature and tossed it. Next, she evaded the dog’s advances until the right swipe allowed her to come up fast, grasp its arm and sling the beast, tossing it twenty feet into the air like it was nothing.
After it landed, it got up quickly. From that point on, it looked like two dogs fighting over a meal, only this was to the death. Marine clearly had the upper hand, clawing at the right moments, biting with the next carefully thought out attacks. It took her all of thirty seconds to kill the infected dog. By then, HKC droids had arrived and began shooting at Marine.
She let out a canine whimper when a blast hit her right side. She fell forward and forced herself to transform back. “DON'T SHOOT!” She cried out.
Ezra had known she kept secrets. He had tried to read her before but found it difficult at times. Often just seeing the woods when he tried to get something specific. Now he knew why. She was one of the Immortium that the news feeds were searching for. He had seen the Madam Supreme’s statement this morning, informing the public that they existed….
He was cautious, he walked over to her slowly. He could see the blast in her side, trying to heal. “Marine?” He asked. She only looked up at him with an annoyed look.
Chapter 6
Trevor Graves.
Five days had passed since the outbreak started. In that time, five Aeonians and several Immortium had come forward aside from Marine Evans. So far not a single Alpha had come forward, Marine was just a Delta as were the others.
Trevor had arrived at a private island estate that he had owned for years. The estate was well hidden, off the coast of Brazil. It had tropical themes, palm trees, and a lavish mansion on the property. He landed on the landing pad and got out of his private Dronemobile after the fans retracted upward to the large oval shaped vehicle.
He was in a tux as usual, and took a moment to take a deep breath, breathing in the ocean air. He began his walk along a row of exotic flowers planted near the landing pad. The row led him to a swimming pool made of natural stone. He wanted to take a dip and relax for a few.
Trevor’s naked body would have driven a lustful person that had a thing for muscular swimmers builds insane. He stripped right down, and dove right in. When he came up, his neatly kept hairy chest glistened in the moonlight above him. He just smiled for a moment, and then went back under, trying to see how long he could hold his breath. Underwater, he gracefully treads for a bit, keeping himself submerged. His length seems to swim with him, as he stayed down. Finally, he came back up, taking a deep breath and started treading water again.
After twenty minutes he finally came up the stone walkway at the end of the pool. He walked out of the water slowly, stretching. He had a muscular back that lit up with the moonlight’s soft glow. When he stretched, two scars around his scapulars, near the spine came into view. It looked like he had been sliced open at one point around the shoulder blades in a perfect half circle, lining his bone structure.
A woman, a maid from the looks of her attire, stood ready and waiting with his white robe and a towel. “Mr. Graves?”
He ran his fingers through his black hair, and shook his head before reaching for the towel with no qualms whatsoever at his servant looking at his naked body. He started drying his hair, grasped the robe, and concealed himself before taunting. “Wanna go for a swim later?”
The youthful help smirked. “NO thanks.”
“Suit yourself?” He said slyly.
The maid crossed her arms while tapping her foot. “Is it true? We haven't heard from you in days now.”
“Is what true?” He asked while getting the water out of his ears.
“The Global Alliance’s proposal? This Aeon Strain? All of it?”
Trevor wasn’t accustomed to his help questioning him, but he did give her a nod.”
So… What’s the plan then?” She asked.
Trevor rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry your pretty little head Sophia. Just don’t, it’s my place, not yours… mine to worry about!”
The woman rushed off grunting mad.
Two men approached Trevor as he leisurely strolled up a stone walkway leading to his posh home. Both of his guards were wearing blue suits, and had actual hand guns in their holsters, not laser pistols. “Ah, Brian and Steve, I trust you two have kept my home secure?” Trevor asked snobbishly.
Both men were fit, Brian was the most athletic of the two. Brian had short brown hair, a military cut, while Steve was bald, shaven. Both men were young, early thirties by the looks of them. Brian seemed to be the more senior of Trevor’s security staff. “Sir, there’s been an issue.”
Trevor didn’t seem happy about that. “Define issue?”
“Your sister, Camelia, she arrived last night. She’s been trying to open the vault.”
Breaking from his usual aristocratic demeanor, he couldn’t help himself but blurt. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me?”
Brian shook his head. “No sir, I wish I could say that I was.”
Trevor crossed his arms and took an aggravated pose. “Did you try to stop her?”
Both men just looked at one another fearfully, then Brian finally answered. “It’s. your sister sir... We’re… not a match for her Mr. Graves…”
Trevor rolled his eyes while asking. “Has she breached the vault?”
“No sir, it's not that she hasn’t tried.”
Trevor had hoped to get dressed, but the fact that his loosely woven sister was on the premises and trying to open a door that only he was ever to have privileges too, pissed him off. He stormed into the white marbled home.
Several of his servants, from butlers, housekeepers, to cooks, waited on his entry. He passed four more security guards dressed the same way as Brian and Steve. Each of his staff were no older than forty, a visitor to his private estate would have easily conclude that Trevor’s affluent persona prompted the man to surround himself only with beauty. From his artwork hanging on the walls, lavish marbled walkways, to his very staff, physical flaws were vacant in his domain.
He was almost at a run he was walking so fast. His robe barely had enough time to keep up with his hairy legs.
He reached the kitchen where he pushed past two cooks, and another cleaning lady. He pressed a hand print module on the wall, which prompted a door to raise upward in the black marbled kitchen. Down below, he could hear a banging in his wine cellar doors.
Camilla Graves didn’t look much like Trevor. The rumor was they had different mothers. Camellia was blond, blue eyed, and had an unkempt temper. She wasn’t as refined, despite her evening gown and lavish sparkling shoes saying otherwise. She heard Trevor coming down the steps and turned her head slowly. Her beautiful blond curls falling elegantly i
nto place. “Where the fuck have you been Trevor!?”
“Great to see you too sis. Now why the hell are you here in my home?” He demanded.
She smirked at his garb. “A robe, really?”
“It's not as if you had given me proper time to prepare for your unexpected visit Camilla.” He said while crossing his arms. “Now, why have you come?”
Camilla snarled. An eye lens, like a crocodile’s eyes, came down from underneath her upper eyelids, making her eyes appear solid black. When she opened her mouth, her canines elongated, along with her lateral incisors. “It has been almost a week since this shit show began, and there’s not been a goddamn word in regard to the old ones having been awoken. Just when were you planning on alerting them as to what's transpiring?”
Trevor rolled his eyes. “Why do you think I’m home dear sister?”
Camilla taunted him. “You should have woken her days ago. The humans know about us, our cover is blown. We have no choice but to wake her now. You should have been here the day after the comet and woke the elders. This is her chance to regain a foothold…”
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