The Zyne Project (10 page)

He sat and stared at the specimen under the lens.  He could see all sorts of strange activity but wasn’t sure exactly what was going on.  The red and white blood cells weren’t acting normally.  If anything, they appeared to be dividing over and over. But as he watched, the cells weren’t replicating themselves; rather they were diluted somehow…and seemed like faded replicas of their original state.

Pushing his chair back from the table, Dan ran his hands through his hair.  The original infusion was flawed…hence, the anti-therapy was also flawed.  It only made sense.

How can you fix something, when you don’t know how bad it’s going to get?
he thought bitterly.

Looking over, he watched as Rosa and Greg stood together against the wall.  Rosa’s head rested against Greg’s chest and she stared out into space, pain reflected in her red eyes.  Greg had his head against the wall, his eyes closed, as if saying a private prayer that would save them all.

Dan realized what he had to do.  It was an extremely difficult decision for him to make, but there was no choice now.

Pulling the gun out of his pocket, he slowly pointed it at Rosa.

“Rosa, I’m sorry to do this, but I’ve got to restrain you. Please don’t hate me…but I’ve got to do this.”

Rosa stared at him in disbelief. Despite her pain, she was still able to hang on to clarity and looked into the barrel of the pistol as it pointed straight at her.

“Why are you doing this?” she asked.  “I’m ok…I’m still ok.  Can’t you fix…” her voice died away when she realized that the answer was now crystal clear.  “You can’t cure me.  I’m sick and there’s no way for you to fix me.”

“I’m not sure.  Initial test results aren’t good, but that doesn’t mean it won’t work.  We don’t want to make things worse, so I’ve got to make sure the infusion is safe before giving it to you.  It’s probably best to restrain you until we can be certain of the outcome.”

Greg had not backed away from Rosa and was staring coldly at the doctor.  He hadn’t said a word in hours, but now looked calm and serious.  He stepped between Rosa and Dan. “Put down the gun,” he said, “If you don’t, you’ll have to kill me too and then you’ll have more blood on your hands than you can imagine.  I’m not going to let you tie her up.  She’s sick, but she’s not a threat.  And you,” he said pointing at the doctor, “You caused this.  You’re the reason all these people are dying.”

With that, he took Rosa’s hand and the two of them walked out of the laboratory.  For a moment, Dan considered shooting them both, but realized that Greg was right. If he killed them, he would be arrested for murder, because Greg was healthy and unaffected.

But the decision to leave with Rosa worried Dan.  She was very sick and changing rapidly.  In his expert opinion, Greg was making a potentially deadly decision.

Chapter 6

Outside the Illusions building, there were layers of officials, guards, scientists, and gaping onlookers who had pulled over to see what all the commotion was about. 

The first layer closest to the building consisted of armed national guardsmen who patrolled back and forth, guns cocked and ready to fire.  They were positioned at every end of the building, sweating in the Florida sun, and a bit bored. This was not the most exciting assignment but according to their superiors…one that required the utmost scrutiny.  They hadn’t been fully briefed about what was going on inside, but understood that a clinical trial involving gene therapy, and sponsored by a beauty products giant, had gone very wrong and the general public could be in danger. Immediate containment had been required and within a few hours of notification, the group had arrived and commenced quarantine.

Behind the national guardsmen, small white tents had been erected and were filled with government officials as well as representatives from the Zyne Corporation.  With grim faces, reports were filed and updates were given as authorities at a much higher level kept an eye on the situation from afar.

One of Zyne’s top executives, Clarence Diamond, listened on a cell phone as his contact within the pentagon relayed instructions.  The trial was a success in that it had proven that the infusion could create massive cellular changes capable of creating chaos and death, hence proving to be a powerful weapon in warfare scenarios when the enemy was contained in close quarters. With the infusion, the enemy would kill each other, saving the US military time and money. The element of hair color had been a decoy, but also seemed to be working.  It was a bit of a shame, but an understandable trade-off to ensure the creation of an ally for national security.

The inclusion of the celebrities had been anticipated.  They’d been hand-selected for a reason.  For starters, each of them was wanted dead, whether by their own families, or by others in very powerful places.  The Zyne Project was the perfect opportunity to get rid of them for the benefit of national security as well as the almighty dollar. And they needed to be famous in order for the conclusion of the trial to make sense.    Things were working according to plan.  There were only two people Clarence would be reticent to lose…

Dr. Dan Johns and Rosa Rodriguez.

The two had become victims of the study.  In order to maintain the highest level of confidentiality, the Pentagon had not revealed the purpose of the study to the CDC and had allowed them to send in one of their own investigators as a precautionary measure. 

Damned leak,
thought Clarence.

Once the CDC had discovered the trial, the high-profile nature of its subjects, and the danger of rushing to market, they’d intervened, but he’d been told not to worry.  It would just be a minor distraction.

As for Dr. Dan Johns, a number of people had tried to convince him to not attend the study. In fact, they had hired a robust team of nurses and technicians to support efforts inside in an attempt to dissuade him from overseeing the trial.

He had…after all…perfected one of the greatest biologic weapons ever constructed…

But now, after listening to instructions, Clarence realized that like the others, Dr. Johns was a drop in the bucket…a minor player in a much larger game.

He also came to the realization that Zyne had just become one of the most powerful corporations in the world.

Chapter 7

It was getting harder to walk…harder to think…

Rosa and Greg made it outside to the pool area, where she motioned for him to sit next to her on one of the plastic white chairs strategically placed in order to catch the best rays of sun. But without the sun, the warm, humid air smelled a bit like plastic and it was difficult to take deep breaths.  In the pool, Jennifer had slowly floated to the top and was now facedown in the water, her scalp shiny and red.

The gash on Rosa’s forehead started bleeding again and Greg grabbed a towel from one of the chairs, gently pressing it down.  The gash was larger now, and as he looked closely, he could see that the skin on her face appeared stretched, with little marks lining her forehead and along the tip of her nose.

Rosa sighed sadly and allowed him to press down on her wound, despite feeling pain from the compression.  It actually felt better to close her eyes, because within the past few minutes, she’d been feeling extreme pressure behind each orb.  It was a pulsing pressure and she knew, after looking at Rick for nearly an hour that it would only be matter of time, before her poor eyes popped out of the sockets. 

Tears formed and dripped down her cheeks.  She couldn’t believe that she was going to die as a hideous creature.  Normal life seemed so far away and they were now trapped. 

Trapped until they died.

She gently moved Greg’s hand away so that she could look him in the eye. “I really appreciate you saving me back there.  But I think you should leave me here.  I could fully change at any time and I really don’t want to hurt you. It’s just that I’m not sure how long it’s going to be before I turn into something like Rick.”

Greg didn’t move, “I’m not leaving you,” he replied, “You’re sick…yes, I know that.  But, you’re not scaring me and we’ve got to try to find a way out. Didn’t you say you were able to communicate with the people who have us trapped in here?”

Rosa nodded yes and pointed to the hole in the tarp.  Surprisingly, it had not been covered over by the guardsmen and looked to her like the only beacon of hope in an otherwise yellowish prison.

As Greg stood up and walked over to the opening, Rosa called out, “Greg…be careful.”

He turned and smiled at her, then directed his attention towards the small hole.  He was operating on adrenaline but at times throughout the day had reflected on how this job had turned his life upside down.

Greg was a pretty normal guy.  He’d been unlucky enough to work at a Miami manufacturing plant in the product distribution department when the economy tanked, leading to extensive lay-offs throughout the company.  When the plant manager had called him in for a ‘talk’, he’d been aware of his fate, even before any words were spoken.

After losing his job, Greg hunted around for months, searching for anything that would help him pay the bills.  Despite living with a roommate in a beaten-down, old apartment, he was finding it financially challenging living on unemployment checks alone.

Then, he’d seen the advertisement online to become a part of the cleaning crew at the Illusions building.  For the past year, he’d been helping out in all aspects of facilities…cleaning rooms, sweeping floors, delivering food…there was nothing he wouldn’t do.

Life had been getting better.  Just getting a regular paycheck helped so much. He’d actually started saving a bit each week and was preparing to get his own place. He was dating a nurse he’d met at the gym and was actually looking forward to life. In fact, that same morning after a particularly intense lovemaking session that had left them both exhausted and happy - they’d been lying in bed and talking about the future.

He remembered how she had gently stroked his sensitive penis as she whispered how much she cared for him in his ear.

It had been amazing.

But then…this happened…and everything had stopped. 

Greg was now operating on automatic and knew that he couldn’t stop to think too much about the possibilities.  He wasn’t sure why all of this was happening, but did know that he couldn’t sit around and let the chips fall. He had to take control and part of that meant caring for Rosa while they looked for a way out.

There had to be a way out.

Stepping up on the chair that was positioned underneath the gap in the yellow material, he cupped his mouth and shouted out, “Hello? Can anyone hear me?”

Silence followed, so he tried again, “Hello?  Can anyone hear me?  We need help!”

Now, there were sounds of gravel and feet shuffling.   A loud almost robotic male voice responded through a megaphone, “Sir.  We’re looking for Dr. Dan Johns.  Is he with you?”

Greg thought fast. If he said no, they wouldn’t talk to him.  However, he wasn’t sure exactly how to stall and get more information.

“Yes, he’s with us, but he can’t talk to you right now.  He’s treating a patient.”

As soon as the words tumbled from his lips, Greg felt ridiculous. 
Treating a patient?  They’ll see right through that
, he thought.

Surprisingly, the voice responded rather quickly, “We understand.  But we need to speak with him before we can take any action.  When he’s done with the patient, please have him come talk to us.  Until then, please try to remain calm.  Help is on the way.”

Rosa moaned in pain and aggravation.  She couldn’t believe that their captors were repeating the same nonsense they’d said to her. 

Greg looked over as if hoping for some guidance, but she was devastated by a reality that was ice-sharp and cutting right down to her soul.

We’re all going to die
, she thought.

But Greg wasn’t giving up that easy. He tried one more time.

“Please, can you just tell me why you’re keeping us locked in here?  We’re not a danger to anyone.”

“Sir,” the disembodied voice responded, “It is only a temporary situation.  We’ll be sending in help shortly.  Now, we’ve got to get back to work, so please only call out to us if you’ve got Dr. Johns.”

Greg wondered if maybe he should impersonate the doctor, but worried that if he was asked a specific question about the infusion that he wasn’t able to answer…he might ruin their chances entirely.

Stepping off the chair, he looked back at Rosa and froze.  She was sitting up, staring into space, but her mouth was opened in a large O and she was drooling.  Suddenly, she fell to the ground and began to shake as if she was having a seizure. 

Running over to her, Greg crouched down, unsure what to do.  Rosa continued to shake and jerk until she finally gasped and ceased.  Lying on the ground, she was positioned in an unnatural angle and stared silently at the sky.

Placing his head down on her chest, Greg checked for a heartbeat.  He was relieved to feel her heart beating quickly, but was afraid she might die or end up a perpetual vegetable.  Gently lifting her off the ground, he carried her back inside to the only person who could save her life.

***

Peering into the microscope, Dan prayed for a miracle.  The cells were continuing their unusual division, having diluted themselves to watered down replicas.  The specimen itself was changing in its texture, becoming watery and strange.

Lying on the table, Rick was continuing to break apart.  It was a gruesome sight.  His face had now completely broken in half, the skin slowly sliding off the skull, dragging ropey muscle as the flaps methodically slipped down, succumbing to gravity.  Piles of useless flesh were now littering the table, creating mountains of grayish-pink lumps.

Turning away from the destroyed man, Dan stumbled and sank down to the ground.  He was utterly exhausted and desperate to figure out how to save him. But with each passing moment, it was becoming more and more difficult to hang on to hope.

Suddenly, he yawned. 
What time is it?
  he thought. Looking at his watch, he was stunned to see that it was 6:10pm.  The day had flown by in a haze of death, panic, and urgency. But now, sitting alone in the laboratory with a creature he had created, the world slowed down and the weight of failure was sitting on his shoulders. 

He was beaten. 

Suddenly, he remembered that Rosa had spoken with their captors, relaying that they would not speak to anyone but him.  Perhaps he could convince them to let everyone out and quarantine the sick…

Dan’s thoughts raced as he mentally debated all of the negotiations he could broker to help him escape.

Standing up, he turned to leave when a noise caught his attention.  It was a low snarl coming from the direction of the table.  Heart pounding suddenly, he slowly pivoted to face the creature.  

It was sitting up and staring out into space.  With no eyes, it seemed to rely entirely on sound, so Dan tried to be as still as possible.  The creature slowly swung its legs over the side, sending piles of rotting flesh to the floor.  The skin made a squishy sound as it landed on the linoleum floor in clumps.

The creature moved its mouth…or mouths…as its lips had completely parted now into four discrete sections, but rather than speaking coherent words, it made a painful moaning sound.

Dan was shocked at how swollen and large Rick had become.  He was at least double his original size and was still continuing to swell and grow.  Dan knew that his organs wouldn’t be able to withstand the metamorphosis much longer and would fail.  He could hear the creature wheeze as it took in each breath and could tell that complete congestive heart failure was probably going to occur sooner rather than later.

Backing away, Dan reached for his pistol.  He didn’t want to kill Rick, because if the creature died, he wouldn’t be able to observe it to see if the transformation stopped.  In addition, he would have to blindly inject Rosa with the solution in hopes that she might be cured.

But there was no choice.  The Rick-creature was slowly lowering itself off the table and with a loud
squish
sound, landed on the floor, only a few steps away from him. Dan slowly lifted the pistol and as the melting, swelling nightmare started to approach him, he raised the firearm and shot the creature directly in the head, aiming straight for the brain.

His shot rang out sharply throughout the ruined hallways of the medical center, reverberating off the walls.  And there was no drama.  Rick fell to the ground and shuddered one last time in a pile of flesh, blood, and ooze.

Shaking, Dan dropped the gun to the floor and stared at the mess in front of him.  The creature was actually disintegrating in front of his eyes, shuddering, and melting in a mass of pulsing, dying, flesh.  Tearing his gaze away, he staggered out of the laboratory and saw Greg approaching slowly.  The man was carrying Rosa in his arms.  She appeared to be unconscious.

As the two men neared each other, Dan could see that Greg was sweaty and out of breath.  Rosa had also grown due to the metamorphosis and her skin was glistening and stretched under her swelling cells. Her eyes were shut and the gash in her face had deepened and was now stretching out in a vertical direction, similar to the way Rick’s face had looked.  But, she was still human and despite her changing appearance, Dan felt sorry for the woman and knew that her time was quickly running out. 

“What happened?” he asked Greg.

“She was ok, just in a lot of pain, when she just went into a seizure.  She fell on the ground and hasn’t woken up since.  Is there anything you can do for her?  Please, you’ve gotta help her.”

Dan looked down and gently touched Rosa’s face.  Her skin felt like rubber and was hot to the touch.  She was in serious distress. 

Soon, they would all be in distress as it was growing warmer inside the building and becoming more difficult to breathe.

“Let’s put her in Lab C.” He quickly shared with Greg that Laboratory A contained the mess that used to be Rick and it would be difficult for them to work in there unless they cleaned it up…a task that no one wanted to perform.

Greg agreed and started to carry Rosa in that direction, but Dan didn’t follow right away. 

“I’m going to go back outside,” he said.  “I’ve gotta give it one more try with those guys to see if I can get some help.”

Greg didn’t turn around or acknowledge that he heard anything, just continued to trudge toward the laboratory, his precious cargo a virtual deadweight in his arms.