Four Days Before Start of
Infection:
For the first time since his
visit to the lab, Gary woke up early. At 7:00 AM he got up, drank some coffee,
got dressed and started looking for a job on his old computer. The thing was so
slow that by 9:00 he had only submitted three applications, all of which were
for fast-food joints. By 10:00 he realized he was too bored to stay indoors, so
he decided to go jogging in the park across the street.
The feeling was exhilarating- he
could run again! Being able to move so easily, so quickly, with no need for someone
to push you; Feeling the wind blow past not having to worry about losing
control... His life was going to be so much better without a wheelchair.
He began to notice how little his
legs were tiring, so he picked up the pace. Again, after a few laps of full-on
running nonstop he still wasn't tired. He remembered what Dr. Graham had said,
about unlocking his true potential and whatnot.
Could he have really been serious? he wondered.
Gary noticed a group of joggers
getting on the track at the other side of the field. I guess it's time to find out, he thought.
Gary then took off in a sprint, speeding around the track. As he came up upon
the joggers they tried to pick up their pace. He still passed them in seconds.
by his ninth lap he discovered he still wasn't tired. He also wasn't paying
attention to his speed. As he looked back over his shoulder at the joggers he'd
overlapped eight times now, he suddenly tripped and found himself landing face
first on asphalt. A car honked and swerved past and another came to a stop next
to him.
Gary stood up and looked at his
arms-he was covered in road burns and bits of dust and asphalt. An old timer
rolled down the window and called out, "Whoa, you okay son? You looked
like you was flyin'!" Gary chuckled.
"Nah, I was just running fast
and forgot to pay attention." He said. The old timer suddenly watched in
awe as Gary's arms began to heal right before their eyes. The scratches and
burns shrank and disappeared in a matter of seconds.
The old timer eyed him
suspiciously before asking, "Are you on steroids, boy?"
Gary blushed, embarrassed by the
whole situation. Cars were beginning to line up behind the old timer, who drove
off before he could answer.
He got off the road and started
back towards home, wondering how he possibly reached the street so fast. Nobody alive can run like that, he thought.
As he reached the street before his house he noticed something out of place:
the blinds in his front window where closed!
I'm probably just being paranoid, he thought. Yet he definitely remembered
opening them this morning. He was sure of it.
Cautiously, once in his front
yard, he approached his front door. Here he found a second sign of intrusion:
the door knob was crushed and the frame splintered and broken around the dead
bolt. Gary pushed the front door open and peered in. It was very dark inside
his apartment, and after he shut the door it took a moment for his eyes to
adjust. Someone had closed all the curtains and blinds. Someone was in there
with him. Someone was...on the couch.
"YOU!" Gary roared,
flipping on the nearest light switch. Dr. Graham was sitting there, looking
stressed and worried. Before Gary could shout any further the doctor put a hand
over his mouth. " Quiet, he hissed. He removed his hand and stood back.
"What the hell are you doing
in my house?" Gary growled.
"I need a place to
hide." The doctor told him.
"Dr. Graham, what did you
do?" Gary questioned, his temper rising.
"Oh, cut the doctor stuff. I
quit that job. Please call me Otis."
"I don't care what your
goddamn name is-why are you here?"
"I had to...dispose of some
waste. If I had done it out in the middle of nowhere it might have raised
suspicion. In the middle of the city it just looks like an act of
terrorism."
Gary looked at Otis, disgusted.
"GET-OUT-OF-MY-HOUSE-RIGHT-NOW!" he yelled.
"Is that a threat?"
Otis sneered. "I save you, and this is how I'm treated." His eyes
began to glow bright green.
"You’re sick," Gary
told him, "You're a freak, and I'm going to kill you!"
Otis laughed. "Good luck
trying." Gary charged, but Otis disappeared. He heard a crash from his
front room and the sound of shattered glass flying everywhere. He dashed out to
his yard, but couldn't see the madman anywhere. He swore he was hearing faint
laughter in the wind.
"Gary! Are you all right?
What happened out here?" a female shouted behind him. It was Taylor,
coming down the steps from her apartment.
"I heard some yelling
and...jeez you do have a broken window!"
Gary was only half listening,
trying to figure out what just happened. An act of terrorism? Suspicion? he
wondered.
Suddenly Lissette dashed out to
the yard, shouting; "Oh my god, you guys have to come see this! It's on
the news, it's horrible!"
Taylor grabbed Gary's arm and
pulled him along with.
"Come on, let's see what
happened."
On the TV was footage of burning
car wreckage and concrete debris, while a reporter was saying,
"Firefighters arrived at the site fifteen minutes ago after getting over
forty calls about an explosion. Thankfully there is little damage, one officer
has told us. Still, there is a five-foot whole on the floor above."
A clip from a news helicopter
showed a blackened opening on top of the structure, smoke still streaming out.
Then another clip played, showing two fire trucks on the street, ladders raised
to the fifth level. "Police are saying there are no other signs of danger
here, but it will be closed for the remainder of the week for cleaning and
reconstruction..." The reporter went on, "...For those just tuning
in, there has been a car bombing in downtown Denver, at the parking garage on
19th street and Welton..." Lissette turned the TV off.
"Can you believe some
people?" she asked.
"I know," Taylor
yawned, "If you want to blow something up at least do it under a tower or
something."
Lissette glared at her sister.
"What? I was just kidding!"
"Teenagers," Lissette
grumbled, rolling her eyes. Gary, however, was still staring at the blank
screen. This isn't what Otis was talking about, is it?
What was the 'waste'? Test subjects? God, this is all because of me...he wanted
to make others...