World War P

A Curse made in the Mountains.

The air blew softly through the mountains of Montana. A lone building sat between two ridges, cleverly hidden from the normal view of others. If one looked close enough a thin strip of flat land that could be used as an airfield could be seen next to it.

The building didn’t look like much, a simple white two story house. It was almost picturesque. There was even an older couple sitting on the front porch knitting and chewing tobacco. what one didn’t know upon looking the tiny cottage was that it held a dark foreboding secret. A secret that would ultimately change the world; whether this change was for better or for worse is for another to judge.

The old man was not a day over 45 and the woman was wearing elaborate makeup and clothes to make her seem old and feeble. In an instant these two could be up on their feet, a revolver taped to the ‘old’ woman’s boot would find it’s way into her hand and the rickety looking rifle that was oddly modern would be aimed with pinpoint accuracy at whatever might threaten the existence of the small house.

A single man walked somberly up the small steps to the house. The old couple did not move, but the small hidden camera cleverly disguised in a tree watched his every move. He was not frightened, however. this would be the twenty fifth time he had visited this year and he was ready for the necessary scrutiny that would be carried out before he could enter the building. The old man faked having a difficult time rising from his chair and walked slowly over to the seemingly normal human being that had invaded his porch.

“Say, what you come out here for?” It was a common challenge that would trip up most spies that would try to breach the security. Most would actually answer with a definite activity or action. The challenged man simply grabbed the tag on his shirt and flipped it over so the front could be seen by the old man.

The old man adjusted his spectacles, which were actually enhanced recognition that scanned the remote database for the face name and every other detail listed on the single piece of plastic attached to his breast pocket. After a minute or so the old man adjusted his glasses again and backed away slowly and sat down, pretending to chew tobacco.

“Enjoy your stay, things are going to get mighty exciting when the storm blows in.”

The young man acknowledges the statement with a nod and no other words. Successfully passing the first test he makes his way to the refrigerator and pulls out a can from the back of the fridge. Popping the top, he lets it fizz before dumping it into the sink and crushing the can.

The next stop is the basement door which, when opened normally showed a normal basement stairwell, led to the dreaded secret the lone building hid for almost ten years. He touched the knob and turned it halfway before letting go. Unlike most doors, where the knob would pop back into position, this one popped open, expelling a intricate thumb scanner. The man scanned his thumb patiently before the a loud clunking was heard and the door slid away to reveal an intricate elevator of sorts.

It’s shiny interior and carbon fiber lined corners screamed sophistication. It was the picture perfect secret elevator to a secret lab. The visitor was not at all surprised or intrigued by the shiny interior. Taking his thumb off he then placed his eye against the thumb scanner. His retina was scanned five times and the door to the elevator was closed. A silent whir was barely audible and a dank dark staircase was seen when the door was opened a second time.

Moving quickly the man took to the steps. He was here for a reason, a very important reason that concerned his job. His footsteps echoed in a long hallway. Another security checkpoint faced him ahead, but years of visitations honed his perception. Seeing the distinctive markings he ignored this final checkpoint and opened the door to reveal a massive complex filled to the top with equipment of all uses.

Science was going on everywhere, multiple men and women worked together on a single project, the only reason why this research facility was built and protected. To preserve human life.

“You there, I need Barnes and Robby to the experiment room five minutes ago. Get on it.” Finally the man spoke for the first time since the start of his flight from Washington D.C. He spoke with the authority he had right to throw around.

The younger more timid scholar immediately acknowledged and took off to find the top scientists in the complex.

Nathan was usually angrier than this, bursting in and finding even the smallest detail out of place. He would then rant about the uselessness of his trip and the absurdity of the project itself even though his paycheck was on the expenses bill. Today was different though, he had to pull a few strings in order to request an expedited flight out to this god forsaken part of the country. Barnes and Robby seemed animated about their discoveries though. So he expected not to fire them. He wouldn’t mind it though.

Continuing his strut down the hall towards the experiment room he was like moses in a red sea. Only the most green of newbies didn’t notice when he entered a hallway, even then the aura he purveyed kept them in line and against the wall when he passed.

He pulled a random scientist from the wall and continued to walk. “How are things going here.”

Nathan enjoyed making everyone feel uneasy, it was a talent he had developed in college. “Um…” the man pulled at his collar as if he suddenly felt a rise in temperature. Nathan had picked this man before, so he knew that the scientist knew what was expected of him. “No accidents to report and the project is under budget. Only animals have been sighted on the surface and no government has yet tried to penetrate the lab. So far we have seen some promising result-” Nathan silenced him with a hand. “Thank you Bill, that will be all.” Bill let out a sigh of relief and hurried back to join his team members.

So the think tank has made progress despite being de-tracked, interesting. Maybe he won’t fire these two after all.

His eyes scanned each room he passed, looking for an excuse to get angry at a random person for doing something so out of left field they’d wonder about it until they landed in Washington to be kept in solitude until the project was over.

Nathan chuckled, knowing also that his facade of a good mood didn’t fool anybody in the lab. He finally arrived at the correct door, buried so far into the lab that a rat couldn’t make it’s way through without directions. The two people he wished to fire most were standing at both sides of the door, trying very hard not to shake with fear as their superior walked up to them and scrutinized them.

Nathan stopped right in front of them. His mood darkened from ‘I’m thinking about firing you’ to ‘Give me a reason.’ “Hello gentlemen, you got me to fly over 6 states, my time is valuable, your job is not.”

If the two were not already scared they were now. They both nodded in acquiescence.

“Good. So what’s the deal, do we have something to show the board or not?” Nathan questioned impatiently. It was bad enough to have the board breathing down his neck without a couple know it all scientists that keep trying to make excuses for nothing to show.

“Actually, we do. A recent test on Betsy,” that was such a stupid name for a body. “has shown some signs of activity in the deceased brain and stem cells. We may be seeing full functionality in the next 10 tests, or even less!” Finally, some good news.

“Let me see ‘Betsy’.” Nathan was intrigued, if these crack jobs could get a working serum that extends life, the United States could become the most powerful country in the world once again.

The two middle aged scientists quickly shuffled out of the hallway into a circular area with no other doors and a glass oval in the center, a body lay on a table in the middle.

“We are not trying to create zombies so we’ve taken every precaution. This room can be sealed in seconds and with automated turrets on the walls, the creature would be killed and a multitude of sensors would detect and airborne virus immediately.” The man looked proud of that statement, but if he impressed Nathaniel at all, it didn’t show.

“Well then, let me see the screen.” Nathaniel was actually very eager to see what lay in the future for humanity.

A black square was brought forth from the wall that showed the room in one corner and a microscopic x ray view of Betsy’s head and also one of her spine. To Nathan’s astonishment he saw moving cells, not many, but they were definitely moving. “This is incredible gentleman.” He spoke in a calm voice to mask his excitement. “Have you prepared a new improved dose yet?”

“Actually we have.” One scientist exclaimed.

“It’s that red needle you see on the table to your right actually.” The other butt in before his partner could finish.

“Good, I would like to administer the injection this time.” Protocol be damned, he, Nathan, was going to be the first to see a body, rise back to life from death. “As the higher ranking person in this room right now I’m ordering you to let me do this,” he finished before either one of the coated men could reply.

Picking up the needle carefully he walked over to the table and watched as the glass door slid sideways to give him access to the body. Many chemicals and de-agers were used to keep the smell to a minimum, but it was still enough to force him to resort to a gas mask held on a hook by the door.

He walked up to the body slowly, holding the needle at his side loosely, grinning behind the mask as he thought about the awards and accolades he was going to get for making this great discovery. In a tribute to mad scientists everywhere he lifted the needle high above his head and paused for a second before thrusting down.

Unfortunately for Nathan, he was gripping the table too hard, water that built up from previous encounters was enough to make him slip and fall. Both scientists watched in slow motion as he fell and the needle released from his grasp. Their eyes disengaged from the needle to watch the man who antagonized them with bitter sweet smiles. They knew he was going to be extremely pissed when he arose from the floor.

The needle, it’s red fluid sloshing continued it’s free-fall to the ground, however. Nathan groaned as he moved a hand to his back. wincing as his back responded with pain signals to his brain. The needle continued slowly and the scientists finally realized their blunder. They rushed forward, almost tripping over each other to try and reach Nathan, but it was all for nothing. The needle landed askew, but still inside Nathan, near his heart.

Gasping loudly he grabbed the thing in his stupor and plunged the rest of fluid into his system while trying to pull it out. After gasping loudly he looked at the empty needle in wonder. The next thing to hit him was his pain. It was receding like low tide. He got up and looked at the two scientists with a smile on his face. “It works! It really works!”

Nathan started patting himself down. “I don’t feel at all bad, the pain in my back is gone, my knee doesn’t feel at all stiff like before and I feel 21 again!” He didn’t know why he wanted to, but he hugged the two confused scientists and started running down the hall yelling the good news.

The two middle aged men took one last look at the empty plunger, shrugged and walked off. For some reason they felt extremely happy as well. Well of course they were happy, they just achieved their life’s dream. They exited the room and turned the lights and machines off with a simple flick of the switch. It wouldn’t be needed again.

~~~~~

17:26

Retrieved from the emergency email of the President.

Dear Mr. President,

I have wondrous news. There has been a breakthrough in the serum! I recently tripped and fell and was exposed to the serum being developed for testing. At first I was frightened, but then I realized that i was experiencing no pain from my fall. Any other problems with my body were also fixed. We have developed the fountain of youth in the form of a simple shot to anywhere in the body. At the moment we are injecting all the scientists and researchers in the lab. After we are done we will expedite a shipment to the Whitehouse for your personal use.

-Nathan Deleon