Project Mars (Dying Planet Book 0)

by C.O. Amal

Suddenly a scream came from outside the building.

  “What is that sound?” Prime minister asked.

  The men in black suit went near the window and looked outside.

  “It seems that people are storming in our direction.” One of the men said.

  “What? For what? I haven’t heard about any problems for the last few weeks.” Prime minister said.

  The guards quickly closed the gates to the building and they closed all doors. The place is filled with a pungent smell.

  “What is that horrible smell?” Prime minister asked.

  “We don’t know.” One of the men said.

  Then the men saw it in the sky. The hellish birds have come for them too. A laser grid formed in the entire Indian hemisphere. Birds are falling from the skies when they touch the laser grid. Indian scientists’ invention is working well. But something is not right. Why people storm here.

  “The birds about which we heard is here, and our defence system is killing them down.” One of the men near the window said to prime Minister with excitement.

  Prime Minister went near the window to watch what is happening outside. He saw the fallen birds and the people who are trying to smash open the gate. Something is entirely wrong. It seems that the people outside the building are not normal. Their bodies are filled with bruises which can be clearly seen through the window.

  “It seems that the Marselia infected people are here.” One of the men said frightened.

  Suddenly the gate broke away from the wall and it fell inwards. The people or what was left of them stormed at the building in which prime minister and the other men were discussing.

  “God! Help us!” Prime minister said.

  “We have to get out of here.” One of the men in black suit said.

  “Where should we go? The only way out of here is by that helicopter parked in the yard. But those infected people are there. They are storming towards us.” Prime minister said while looking through the window.

  The scream of the guards filled the very air they are breathing. The pungent smell is sharper now. Some of the guards aimed their pistols and fired many times. One of the infected people fell. But it is replaced by hundreds of those things.

  “We should move to the basement of this building. It is with steel doors which may save us from those creatures.” Prime minister said.

  Prime minister led them to the basement but on the way prime minister fell down. Other men helped prime minister to stand up. But something wasn’t right. Prime ministers eyes are vacant. They are black as night and his hands and face are filled with tiny bruises. Suddenly prime minister turned his head in an odd manner and he jumped on top of one of the men. The men frantically tried to push back the prime minister. But the prime minister was strong. He bit a man in the neck. Blood oozed down like water flowing through a tap.

  Other remaining men held down the prime minister but suddenly those men also fell down. A moment later they rose, reborn to kill, to infest the surviving humans.

  The creatures outside increased in number. They all rushed to the building. Creatures smashed open every doors which had protected many humans before. The entire building got filled with scream of men and women.

  Outside a helicopter hummed. Commandos have landed on the ground armed with AK 47 guns.

  Commandos shot down creatures from behind. A moment later about the whole of the Indian military arrived at the scene wearing bio hazard suits. They all joined shooting. Some of the soldiers threw grenades towards the creatures. The infected people’s number considerably reduced. But then, a sharp growl came from soldiers’ back side. Everyone looked back.

  A big horde of creatures is approaching the soldiers. The speed of the infected is greater than that possible by a normal human being. Soldiers launched rockets from rocket launchers. But that only increased the creatures’ number. The creatures are quickly attracted by the sounds of gun fire and explosions. It’s like the whole city is storming at a handful of soldiers.

  Finally soldiers surrendered to the creatures. The creatures roamed free through the roads. Soldiers’ scream got lost in the growl of the creatures. Finally India too fell like rest of the countries.

  * * * * *

  Part 4: The Sanctuary

  Chapter 16

  Pacific Ocean

  The ship USS Enterprices glided through the Pacific Ocean. Rayan, Johana and the soldiers are in the control room discussing about the future plans. Sam and Josh are at the ship’s kitchen eating nutritious food.

  “So, Guadalupe Island is totally remote?” Johana asked.

  “It is remote and the island is full of trees. Lot of natural resources. We can start a new life there, until things become normal again.” One of the soldier said.

  “Do you think it will go back to normal?” Rayan asked.

  “As far as I know those things need food to survive. That means they need us. When the food become scarce they will possibly die out. Then we could live there again.” The soldier said.

  “As a matter of fact, you’re wrong. As far as I know, even if they die, their bodies continuously emit the virus. The virus even affect all other living organisms living around it. The corpses will never rot. It will become like plastic. True plastic.” Johana said.

  “And who are you again?” The soldier asked.

  “I am Johana and I work for … worked for NASA. We are the guys who researched on the Martian’s body.” Johana said.

  “Martian? What Martian?” The soldier asked.

  “You don’t know? I thought the military guys know about everything.” Johana said.

  “Well, our superiors didn’t mention about any Martians.” The soldier said.

  “Well, we have found proof that once life existed on mars. It was a mining team on mars who had found it. They said it was some biological matter. But when we actually recovered the matter, it is found to be a corpse of a Martian human.” Johana said.

  “Martian human? Mars had humans?” The soldiers asked in unison, confused.

  “Yes. It indeed was a human. We have found that the corpse wasn’t decaying at all. We also found the strange gas emitted by the corpse. The corps’ whole body was emitting the airborne version of the virus.” Johana said. “But accidentally the virus got out. And this catastrophe happened.”

  “So, this virus plague once ravaged mars?” One of the soldier asked.

  “Our conclusion leads to that. All our proofs suggested it. This Marselia virus seemed to affect plants also. Plants will soon wither and die out. If there are no plants on Earth, the carbon dioxide level will increase. It will lead to global warming and things go on until Earth will lose its capability to support life. At that time earth will be a barren wasteland, like mars.” Johana said with a deep sigh.

  “So, are you saying that we have no chance of surviving?” One of the soldier asked.

  “There is a slight chance of survival. This virus is not resistant to saline water. That means the ocean water can destroy the virus. If we find a remote island such as Guadalupe, as you had said, we may be able to survive. The only thing on the way is those hellish birds. But supposedly they will stay only in populated areas. So, we could survive.” Johana said.

  “So, there might be a sanctuary for us.” One of the soldier said.

  “Yes. In this case the Guadalupe Island could be our sanctuary.” Johana said.

  With that all the soldiers returned to their positions. “We will reach Guadalupe Island in the night. We are about hundred nautical mile away from the destination.” The ship engineer said.

  Rayan went out of the control room to get some air and to look whether there is an incoming danger. Everyone including Rayan is in biohazard suit. They couldn’t take any chances now. They all must take precautions. With the presence of airborne variant of the virus, the Marselia disease is highly contagious. Based on the position of the sun, it is evening. Sun is blazing in the horizon in red colour.

  Rayan remembered one of the movies in
which presence of red sun indicated a death. He thought how true it is. Today millions of people died or became one of those mindless psychotic creatures who ravages the entire Earth now. Will Earth’s destiny same as Mars’.

  Rayan is really afraid after all those things he got through to get here. A moment later Johana joined Rayan in full biohazard suit.

  “I was looking for a perfect biohazard suit for my sons. So, how things are going?” Johana asked.

  “So far, so good. We haven’t seen those birds again. We may have to stay inside the ship throughout night. We can’t see if those things come at night.” Rayan said. “Did you contact your husband?”

  “No. I didn’t get a signal. It seems that the entire network is down. I am afraid for him.” Johana said.

  “So, where exactly is your husband?” Rayan asked with a deep breath.

  “He is in Africa. He is a nurse in South Africa. He used to call every day.” Johana said with a deep sigh. Her eyes are filled with tears. “I am afraid he is one of those creatures. Since he is working in a hospital, there is all the possibility that he might have exposed to the virus.”

  Johana began to cry.

  “Don’t worry about it. He will be alright. At least you could think that he is alive like us, surviving somewhere in a remote place. Don’t think about probabilities.” Rayan said.

  Suddenly the ship came to a halt. Rayan looked in front of the ship. Then he saw it. Everyone saw it. A cruise ship is in front of their ship. That ship seemed to be dead silent. It is about night time. Around Seven O clock. Rayan blamed himself for not wearing a watch. Everyone looked at the ship with great expectation. There could be survivors inside the ship. They may be hiding from those hellish birds. Or there may be creatures aboard, if they are unfortunate.

  * * * * *

  Chapter 17

  Pacific Ocean

  Soldiers created a bridge between the two ships using a plane metal sheet. Ten soldiers went to the silent cruise ship pointing assault rifles. Soldiers are wearing NVGs for night vision. Rayan also joined the soldiers with a revolver in his hands.

  The ships blistered in the moonlight. The control room is empty. Blood stain is everywhere. Soldiers carefully moved inside the ship. The ship is huge.

  “We split in to two groups. We could clear more areas in short time.” One of the soldier said.

  “Guys, I don’t think that’s a good idea. We should stick together.” Rayan said.

  “We split in to two groups. We can’t waste time in this ship.” Another soldier said.

  All other soldiers agreed to that. Rayan forcefully agreed. They split in to two groups and started to move in two directions. The group with which Rayan is part of moved to the base of the ship. They all said it’s a good idea to start from bottom.

  “I hate to ask you this, but do you have, in any chance, a device that could detect the presence of the virus?” Rayan asked to the soldier in front of him. Rayan is the last person in the group.

  “We don’t have none of those things.” The soldier replied.

  The group moved farther into the ship. Darkness is everywhere. Ship’s emergency lighting systems must be down. All the guns soldiers took have flashlights on top of it. Finally the group reached the bottom of the ship. Suddenly gunfire erupted from somewhere on top of the ship. Soldiers become alerted. They searched their surrounding for any sign of creatures. None of the infected were at the bottom. Soldiers opened a door to a room and stepped inside the room. Flashlight on top of the gun lit the room completely.

  The room is completely empty. Then something caught in Rayan’s eye. He found a secret compartment in the room. He opened the small latch. Inside the secret compartment lies two young kids. Both are female. They wore face masks and they seemed to be sleeping. Rayan reached near them and touched one of the kid on the hand. Suddenly the kid woke up startled.

  “It’s Okay. We are the good guys. No need to worry.” Rayan said.

  Soldiers looked at them patiently.

  “That’s what the man who came earlier said to us. But then, he turned out to be an asshole.” One of the kid with silver hair said.

  “What other guy?” One of the soldier asked.

  “A man with same uniform as yours. He became one of those creatures. And he tried to eat us. We somehow managed to get away from him, and found this room and this secret room.” Other kid said.

  “Did that infected guy happen to be here in this level?” Rayan asked.

  “No. He is in the second level trapped inside a room. We dead bolted the room from outside. He won’t be coming through that door easily.” The kid with silver hair said smiling.

  “Do you know how long it’s been after you saw the creature.” Rayan asked.

  “It’s been about two hours now.” The kid said looking at her small watch.

  “Do you have any idea what happened to this ship and its passengers?” One of the soldier asked.

  “We were warned about the infected through news. We all wore face masks and prepared for the bad thing to happen.” The kid with silver hair said. “Then it happened in the form of those hellish birds. We both were in the cafeteria when those birds hit. Those things cleaned out everything. About all of the passengers died. Rest of them exposed to the virus and became the infected. That’s when the military came in a helicopter. Few soldiers safely landed on the ship and exterminated some of the creatures. But then we saw the helicopter on fire and it crashed into the ocean. We don’t know what caused it, but that’s what we saw.”

  “Look, we don’t have time for this. We need to clear this level and find the rest of the soldiers.” One of the soldier said.

  “I am Jenny and this is Rose by the way.” Jenny said.

  “Well, Jenny, it’s glad to meet you two. We have to move quickly, we are going to a safer place and you’re welcome to join us.” Rayan said.

  The kids nodded and everyone started to move out of the room. The moment one of the soldier entered the corridor, one of the creature jumped on top of him. The hallway got filled with the soldier’s scream and gunfire. Rest of the soldiers quickly went outside and shot the creature in its head. The creature went down. The soldier was already covered in blood.

  “Don’t leave me like this, please. I don’t want to become one of them.” The soldier cried out loud.

  “One of the soldier came forward and pointed his gun at the fallen soldier’s head. And he fired. The soldier became motionless. Nobody said anything.

  “Quick, move forward.” One of the soldier yelled.

  But then a sharp screech came from their front. Everyone looked carefully. The site in front of them was unexplainable. A horde of creatures who are possibly attracted by the gun fire are running toward them. Quickly everyone got inside the room from which they had exited earlier. Rayan shut the door behind him.

  “Quick drag that table over here.” Rayan said.

  The soldiers dragged the table in front of the door and blocked the door. The creatures began to thrash at the door. The door vibrated. Soldiers dragged all the things in the room and piled all of the things in front of the door.

  “Now they won’t come through.” One of the soldier said.

  “They won’t come through. No doubt about that. But how will we get out of this ship?” Rayan asked puzzled.

  * * * * *

  Chapter 18

  Pacific Ocean

  Johana and the remaining soldiers rushed inside the control room. A horde of creatures are behind them. The metal sheet connecting the two ships turned upside down and fell on the water due to the weight of the creatures. Creatures are now crossing the ships by jumping from the cruise ship to USS Enterprices.

  Johana sealed the door of the control room from inside. Soldiers looked at the horde, which are thrashing at the door, with panic.

  “What should we do?” One of the soldier asked.

  “We could crawl our way through that small compartment on the ceiling of this room to top of the ship, an
d we could shoot those creatures down with ease.” One of the soldier said pointing at the small hatch on the ceiling of the control room.

  All other soldiers nodded in agreement.

  “Whatever you’re going to do, do it fast. Our friends may be inside that ship waiting for our help.” Johana said.

  “Okay, guys, move out.” One of the soldier said.

  Sam and Josh looked with wonder what the soldiers are doing. Soldiers removed the hatch on the ceiling and slowly entered in to the small vent that leads to the top of the ship from where supposedly they could kill those horde of creatures.

  The creatures haven’t stopped thrashing. The steel door vibrated due to the force with which the creatures are thrashing. Soldiers finally reached on top of the ship. They could see the violent creatures clearly now. Some of the creatures lack limbs. But they are very active. They are using their head to thrash at the door.

  Soldiers took positions on the roof and aligned their assault rifles. A moment later soldiers started to shoot. The ship’s atmosphere quickly got filled with sound of gunfire and the growl of creatures. Every bullet hit the creatures on the head in the dead centre. All creatures quickly went down. Soldiers jumped on to the floor from their positions and waved at Johana and her children from outside. Johana opened the control room door.

  “We should search for our friends on that ship.” Johana said pointing at the cruise ship.

  “We will go there, now.” One of the soldier said.

  A team of twelve soldiers jumped onto the cruise ship from their ship. They adjusted their NVGs and slowly moved through the ship to the inside of the ship. They disappeared behind a door that leads to the inside of the ship.

  * * *

  “What would we do now?” Rayan asked.

  “Hey, we could break this window and jump on to the water and swim our way to the ship.” One of the soldier said pointing at the small round window on the wall.

  “That’s a great plan. Somebody please break that window.” Rayan said excited.

  One of the soldier came forward pointing his gun at the window. He fired several shots and the window broke. Sound of creatures increased when they heard the gun shots. Rayan took his gun from its holster and he cleared the small glasses that are protruding.

  “Okay, who’s going first?” Rayan asked with excitement.