Chapter 4

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Narrator-

After the ghastly display of Jasper's death, the entire lab was in a somber mood. Majority of the subjects sat with their heads hanging on their chests. Some avoided eye contact with the guards and lab staff more than usual, and no one dared to utter a word. The disbelief had struck the subjects silent, and yet it did not bother the Head Scientist at all. So much so, that he pressed on with the scheduled testing.

All four quadrants were to receive their doses at 06:00 AM/PM on the dot every day, and once testing began, the Test Subjects were allowed to talk, even though there wasn't much to be said at this point.

Just as the Warlord assured, they were given food to eat, and water to drink. They had weekly exercises, and there were given books to read. There were times when the televisions displayed various photographs of green landscapes and the big blue sky, even if it was only for a little while.

The Test Subjects hardly spoke, but they did learn to observe each other to see who would make it out alive. This mode of silent observation allowed each subject to start leaning and noticing small details about each other.

For example, Khairo took notice of the fact that Adina always had one of her anxiety attacks when she felt under pressure. Khiran realized that Jackson wasn't really liked among his previous coworkers. Matthew took notice of Valerie's accent whenever she spoke, though it wasn't often, and Lauren found that she was easily irritated by Adina.

Vivian was one woman the Test Subjects learned to fear. After the Head Scientist, the guards answered to her, and according to the gossipy workers that lingered in the quadrants, she was the Head Scientist's lapdog, and the Head Scientist was Warlord's minion.

The harrowing and inhumane testing on the subjects became so casual and yesterday's news, that some of the staff members were even pulling bets on who would make it through the testing of the serum.

Quadrant Centa was the first quadrant to be eliminated.

They received serum R2, and the first week after their dosage was uneventful.

When the second week rolled around, Peter and Mary-Ella began to complain about their chests feeling heavy. Their oxygen level dropped to the low 80s, and they were both placed on nasal cannulas. By the second day of the week, they both passed from cardiac arrest.

Then remained Beth, Simpson, and John.

The walls of Beth's veins on her brain became extremely thin, and when one of them burst, she hemorrhaged in her brain and died. Simpson and John simply flat lined by the fifth day of the second week, the reason was undetermined.

In quadrant Beta, only Valerie and Matthew remained, the other three, Laury, Noah and Emily passed within the first three days of the third week. Laury and Emily shared a high fever, while Noah complained of a harsh headache.

In Exa, everyone seemed to be tolerating their serum well. No unexpected or random symptoms occurred, and their vital signs all remained within normal limits. No one experienced fevers, headaches, or shortness of breath. None of the subjects reported chest pains, or paralysis to their limbs. As far as the Head Scientist was concerned, Quadrant Exa was his best group yet.

In quadrant Dina, the fourth week is when they were eliminated.

Chamille, who had sickle cell passed away first. Her blood dried up as her heart beat faster by the minute, her jaundice eyes rolled to the back of her head, and she was gone. Jones suffered a heart attack, and by the end of the 5th week, Frank who was experiencing intermittent chest pains, difficulty breathing, and high fevers began to bleed though his nose nonstop until he also flat lined.

Sarah and Jonathan remained quiet among their dead companions, waiting for the moment when they would also die. They knew it had to be soon, some of the mathematicians and guards were betting on it.

Jonathan kept his eyes on Frank, shaking his head.

He couldn't believe Frank was actually dead. By the end of the first week of testing, Frank and Jonathan had become friends. They were each set in the room facing the other, and they joked about what they would do when they were released to go home.

Frank suffered from Lupus, and Jonathan suffered from Leukemia.

Jonathan originally believed that he would've died sooner, but it appears Frank beat him to it. Jonathan just couldn't bring himself to look away from Frank's limp body, when his eyes caught onto something.

"Didn't he just flat line a few minutes ago?" asked Jonathan to Sarah, who suffered from heart disease, and sat next to Jonathan.

"Yeah, why?" asked Sarah.

"He's moving." Stated Jonathan, in a faint and careful whisper.

"What are you crazy? He's dead." Declared Sarah, ignoring John's quiet tone, as she shook her head.

"I'm serious. Look!" exclaimed Jonathan. Sarah rolled her eyes but looked at Frank anyway just so Jonathan would stop pestering her.

At first, she saw nothing. She stared a little longer, and still saw nothing, so she opened her mouth to tell Jonathan off, when her eyes caught the movement. Frank's right knee shook almost as though he was having a spasm, then it stopped. Sarah blinked, thinking that she imagined it, but then Frank's knee shook again.

Sarah gasped, as she looked over at Jonathan, her eyes wide, her mouth open and dry.

"He's He- He- He's moving!" she whispered sharply.

"I know!" snapped Jonathan.

"Oh shit! What do we do?" Questioned Sarah.

"What can we do? Even if we had a freaking brilliant idea, we can't do shit in these chairs." Retorted Johnathan.

"We're screwed." Whimpered Sarah.

"Shut up! He's moving again." Warned Jonathan.

Frank's knees shook once more, this time, it lasted for a few seconds before going still, then his once limp fingers twitched, one by one.

One of the scientists who noticed this, approached Frank, and when he got close, Frank's movements stopped, and the scientist thought that it was nothing.

The scientist looked over at petrified Sarah, and a pale faced Jonathan and he laughed and said "Relax you idiots. He's dead, he's not going to come back to bite you."

Then the scientist laughed again as he approached Frank and softly slapped his cheek multiple times as he said, "see? Dead as every other lab rat that was in this room."

Then Frank's eyes shot open, as he growled. The scientist jumped back, shocked.

Frank's pupils had changed into foggy white orbs that stared back at the petrified humans. He growled with every breath, his chest performing short pants. Through his foggy white orbs, Frank registered the scientist's unstable knees and shaking chin.

"Guys! Guys!" yelled the scientist, as he beckoned his coworkers over to Frank with frantic arm movements.

As more scientists approached, Frank's eyes began to change black, starting from the center, until both his eyes were entirely pitch black. Frank sat frozen staring back into the multitude of wide eyes that scrutinized him. He had no memory of where he was, nor did he remember who he was. In fact, all he could focus on was the sounds of the rushing heartbeats that surrounded him. He could hear their pulses thrum beneath their skin, and he could smell the fear that radiated from the humans around him. His sense of smell was stronger, and he could feel a surge of energy running through his body.

He was hungry.

Frank started to become agitated as he struggled against the restraints. His teeth began to grow jagged and sharp, his nails sharpening into longs dark claws. His muscles grew and bulged beneath his loose sweats, the veins on his forehead and neck throbbing with every animalistic grunt that erupted from his puffed chest. His skin became pale and ashy, as incoherent gargles and growls rose from his throat and lips.

The newborn creature cracked his knuckles as his veins bulged beneath the skin of his neck and arms, and in the blink of an eye, he broke free from its restraints, and all hell broke loose.

Frank attacked the closest victim in sight.

The unsuspecting scientist who was once so sure that Frank was dead, was pounded to the ground, as the creature plunged its teeth into his shoulder, gnawing and ripping at the meat that ran red with blood. The scientist screamed out at the painful invasion, before blood clogged his throat, causing him to cough and choke, as he thrashed violently under his predator, while everyone else dashed out of the quadrant.

The guards locked the door, trapping both Sarah and Jonathan, along with the sobbing scientist and the creature.

The creature tore his teeth and claws from the scientist that now laid lifeless after a sickening crack of his neck resonated around the deadly quiet quadrant. It turned its eyes towards the petrified Subjects who could not fend for their lives. The trapped Subjects breathed shakily, shuddering at the bloodbath they had just witnessed. As the creature began to approach a shaking Sarah, a noise stopped it in its tracks. It was the incoherent gargles of the dead scientist as he rose to his feet, his eyes also bleeding black as its teeth and claws began to grow.

Involuntarily, Sarah and Jonathan soon found themselves becoming these creatures as well.

The Head Scientist stood at a distance and watched the four creatures roam around the quadrant. "Dr. Archer I can assure you that these were not part of the projected results. What is the next step you think we should take? We have no equipment; we have no serums or antibiotics to reverse this. We don't even know what this is." Blurted Vivian as she flipped through various pages on her clipboard, her eyes frantically bouncing off the information behind her glasses.

"Get all the remaining Test Subjects together in one quadrant, lock them in alone, be sure that no one from our team is left with them. We shall observe them and see if they undergo the same transformation, or if any of them suffer from similar symptoms." Archer delegated, as Vivian nodded along with every word.

The head scientist then stook a pensive beat of silence.

"None of the others who died became a creature?" questioned Archer Glass, keeping a cool demeanor, as his eyes glanced over the strange creatures.

"No, only those you see in quadrant Dina." Confirmed Vivian.

"Alright. Go." Ordered Archer.

At the Head Scientist's comments, Vivian and the guards scurried to do his bidding.

Adina, Khairo, Khiran, Lauren and Jackson soon found themselves being joined in quarantine by Matthew, a dark skinned and tall figured young man, along with Valerie, a girl with blonde hair, light blue eyes, and pale skin.

"What is going on?" questioned a scientist as they quickly strapped both Matthew and Valerie into metal chairs.

"Something went wrong in quadrant Dina." One of the other scientists replied.

"The boss ordered that the rest of the Subjects be quarantined just in case they transform as well." Just as the scientist finished his reply, the TV blinked as a shot of quadrant Dina was displayed.

The scientists and remaining guards quickly hurried out of the quadrant, leaving the shocked and speechless Subjects alone, and locked away.

The four creatures walked around the quadrant, as they snarled and rumbled. The remaining Subjects, along with the scientists, who were now also quarantined with the guards, the rest of the staff and the Head Scientist, watched in wonder and undeniable fear.

The head of these new creatures, Frank, walked up to the machine that allowed for entry and exit to the quadrant. He placed his hand on the fingerprint pad and was denied access. Then, the turned scientist approached the scan and passed the fingerprint exam, however he was denied access at the retinal scan. This angered the creature, triggering him to slam an open palm onto the machine causing it to fizzle, pop and crackle. Suddenly, a loud alarm began to blare, and the lights in quadrant Dina dimmed, as red emergency lights shadowed the walls and ceiling.

_________________________________________

Hey guys!

Alright peoples. Here is the new chapter.

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Lots of ❤❤❤

-Tania.


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