The Zyne Project (4 page)

The center was closed off to the rest of the facility by large metal doors marked “Secure Location – Medical Personnel Only”.  Bryan reached out to open the doors when suddenly, a plethora of jarring sounds filled the air from beyond the metal barrier. 

The sounds of people running, screaming, and bumping into things were crystal clear...even from outside the center.  Bryan and Rosa instinctively backed away from the doors and waited for people to come flying out in a mad rush. 

But no one ran out.  Instead, the screaming continued, followed by large thumps and the sound of furniture and glass crashing to the floor.

They both stood motionless and waited. Ten minutes ticked by and the commotion finally stopped, followed by an eerie stillness.

Bryan and Rosa looked at each other and an unspoken agreement passed between them.  It was time to go in and face the storm that had just blown through. 

They pushed the doors open.

Inside, the lights flickered.   It looked like a hurricane had hit.  Papers and folders littered the floor in all directions.  A strange silence filled the space like a heavy fog, filling them both with an almost tangible nervousness.

It was too quiet. 

Carefully, they crept along, keeping close to the wall to ensure they didn’t bump into anyone.  As they neared the first office, they could see that a person was lying on the ground in the doorway. A pale hand was resting on the ground and the rest of the body was hidden by a white wall.  Rosa backed up, not wanting to go any closer.  Bryan, sensing her fear, whispered, “Stay here.  I’ll go take a look. If you see anything weird…run back the way we came.”

She shook her head in agreement and stood terrified in place.

Bryan took a deep breath and slowly advanced, each step painfully loud in the silent hallway. As he neared the hand, he could see that the fingertips were stained with blood.  In one quick motion, he swung around and looked inside.  The hand was connected to the body of a nurse who had been attacked.  She was lying face down, but blood seeped out from underneath and was spreading left and right.  Her left leg appeared to have been pulled out of its socket and was lying at an impossible angle, the foot exposed and missing several toes.  Taking another gulp of oxygen, Bryan turned the woman over and stared in disbelief.

She had been mauled.  Her face was nearly unrecognizable, destroyed by its attacker. Both eyes were missing, the eye sockets torn and bleeding.  Long scratches ran down her face in jagged lines and her neck had a large weeping gash that was dripping down and depositing crimson drops into a small puddle on the floor.

Bryan wasn’t an expert on assault, but could tell that the woman had been killed recently.  Her office was a disaster. All of the hardware had been knocked off the table and bloody fingerprints stained the phone, desk, and wall. Amidst the mess, Bryan noticed that the fax machine had been torn free from the wall and thrown against the floor, but a piece of paper was still lodged inside.

FAX TRANSMISSION

TO:
Nurse May Westin

FROM:
Zyne Laboratories, Corp. Office

ü
 
Urgent Response Requested

Attention Nurse Westin – More test mice are showing signs of severe agitation and muscular reformation.  We need to consider a trial termination. Please have Dr. Johns contact me as soon as you can. In the meantime, we’ve scheduled a meeting with the Executive Committee to discuss our findings and assess the risk of termination. 

It is important to ensure that the test subjects are isolated,

Bryan folded up the fax and put it in his pocket.  His mind raced with countless questions and anger boiled inside his chest, but he knew that this was no time to succumb to rage.  There were strange sounds coming from the hallway and with Rosa holding down the fort outside, he needed to finish looking around.

Emerging from the room, careful not to step on the dead nurse, he looked back. To his relief, Rosa was still standing there, but she was clearly terrified.  She nodded her head quickly as he motioned towards the furthest end of the hallway.   There were several other open doorways that needed to be explored, but this time, he grabbed a large pair of scissors off a nearby table.

Just in case I need a weapon,
he thought. 

The hallway was empty and foreboding.  Lights continued to flicker on and off and in the distance, Bryan heard a soft shuffling sound.  Looking back at Rosa, he realized that there was no choice.  He couldn’t put her and the others in danger.  If Rick threatened him, he would need to handle the man carefully, but wasn’t afraid to defend himself if necessary.

This wasn’t Bryan’s first time in a potentially violent situation. Growing up in Overtown, Florida, he had been exposed to tough neighborhoods and rough situations, and knew how to maneuver himself carefully. 

He was the first member of his immediate family to successfully finish high school and graduate from college.  The NBA had wanted him before he’d received his Bachelor of Science degree from Florida State University, but instead of going pro immediately, he’d held his ground and finished up. 

His father’s reaction to those choices hadn’t been a surprise.

“You’re giving up the chance of a lifetime, boy.  Don’t be stupid.  Take it and run. I didn’t raise you to be an idiot and make bad ass decisions.”

Bryan hadn’t even responded. It was easier to hang up the phone, than get into an argument.  And he’d still gotten into the NBA.  But he often wondered if his family really loved him, or the money he sent them every month.  Sometimes he felt like a cash cow and once the milk ran out, he’d never hear from them again. 

It was easier to not think about such things, and keep moving forward.

He crept along expertly, watching with keen eyes…making sure to react quickly if something or someone jumped out at him. 

Approaching the first office, he quickly determined that it was a laboratory that had been ransacked. The vials housed along the various shelves had been smashed and a strange sulfuric stench filled the air. Gagging, Bryan started to back away but noticed that there were wet footprints on the floor, leading to a large mahogany bookshelf that was separated from the wall with a space behind it that could easily conceal a smaller person.  Carefully, he moved towards the bookshelf, preparing himself for the worst.

“Umm, is anyone there?”

No answer.

Feeling ridiculous and frightened at the same time, he crept closer.   Now, he could hear a very low sizzling sound.  Like bacon frying in a pool of vegetable oil…

Heart pounding, Bryan was standing right in front of the bookshelf and began to move around to the side.  Suddenly a hand shot out and gripped his shirt.  As he backed away, the technician who had been hiding came into view.

He was an awful sight.  Half of his face had been eaten away as if his attacker had thrown a vial of corrosive solution all over him.  Skin was missing, replaced by pink wet ropes. Muscles and the blank white appearance of skull-bone glinted against the synthetic fluorescent lights. One eye was destroyed, a red oozing mess.  The other one was swollen and pained as he begged Bryan, “Please help me…”

Bryan gagged and tried not to vomit.  Backing away further, he tried to get some information. “What happened to you?  Who did this?”

“Not sure…one minute I was…working…next minute, there was acid all over my face. He was crazy…and not…not normal,” the man was babbling, barely coherent.  He swayed back and forth in place.

“What do you mean, not normal?” Bryan asked, a chill racing through his veins.

“His face...his face was moving.  He was like a creature…but a man at the same time…it hurts!  You’ve gotta help me…” and then the technician fell to the floor, shuddering, and fainting in a pain induced coma.

Like a creature?
 
This is totally fucked up,
thought Bryan. He backed up again and nearly screamed when a hand reached out and touched his shoulder.

“Damn Bryan, it’s just me.  Oh shit!” screamed Rosa as the damaged technician came into view.

“I didn’t want to wait there anymore. It was totally freaking me out.  What the hell happened to him?” she asked.

As quickly as he could, Bryan explained what he’d seen and pulled the wrinkled fax out of his pocket.

After reading the fax, Rosa sighed loudly and decided that it was time to tell him exactly who she was.

When she was done, he was staring at her distrustfully.  “So, you knew all along that this clinical trial had problems?  Why did you let us all get stuck and fucked with?  We’re all screwed, aren’t we?” 

Rosa felt horrible, but knew that she didn’t have time to stand and argue. Things were going downhill…fast.

“Look, I need to get my cell phone.  If we can call out, then I can reach the CDC and warn them.  They’ll bring help.  We should try to get out of here as soon as possible.  I mean, we haven’t even tried the front doors yet.”

Bryan wasn’t sure he wanted to listen to her.  After all, she’d been lying for days about being a doctor. But, he had no other choice. If he didn’t at least give her a chance, he could end up like the horrible, messed up bastard lying on the floor. 

“Ok. Let’s get your phone. But, don’t fuck with me. We need to grab our shit and get out of here. Do you understand?”

Rosa nodded. “Yes, we need to get out of here, but we’ve got to take everyone with us.”

Suddenly, they heard someone
howling
in the distance. It was a terrifying sound…filled with pain and anguish.  But something about it was not quite human and the sound pierced through Bryan and Rosa’s bald heads, making their dull headaches even worse.

“What…what was that?” Rosa asked.

 “Look, I’m not exactly sure what we’re dealing with here, so stay close to me.”

The two crept slowly to the doorway and peeked out, just in time to see what looked like Rick stumble to the doors, throw them open, and race out.  But just the sight from behind was enough for both of them to realize that there was something seriously wrong with him. 

His head was misshapen and bald…all of the new hair, gone. There were large cyst-like lesions protruding from the skull and pushing against the skin.  He was also hunched over as if something had happened to his spine.  Purplish ooze leaked out of one of his ears and trickled down his neck.

Then, the doors swung shut. 

Quickly, Bryan and Rosa checked the other rooms to be sure no one was in immediate danger, and were greeted by dead bodies that had been severely mauled amidst toppled furniture and damaged equipment.  The center was in shambles.

Unable to find anyone else alive, the two subjects headed back out towards the hallway.

***

Forgotten and sitting alone in the common area, trying to read a magazine, Jennifer was tired, feeling like shit, and couldn’t believe she had put herself through this torture just to become a redhead.  Right now, she was bald, ugly, and left to fend for herself.

Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. 

It isn’t fair,
she thought. 
People always let me down. They think my life’s so perfect because I’m rich. But what they don’t know is that I’m so unbelievably lonely. And here I am once again…alone.

But her self-pitying thoughts were interrupted by a strange, howling sound.  She sat straight up and listened. 

Silence.  

Then, a few moments later, a
crash
as the doors to the clinic banged hard into the walls.

Jumping off the couch, she ran from the room, looking for somewhere to hide.  The reception area was empty, so she ran behind the front desk and curled up underneath the counter.  Heart racing, she could hear sounds in the distance.  The shrill, delicate clinking of glass breaking filled the air as tables were overturned and lamps were tossed from their resting places.