05: Cover Up

Three vans poured into the center of Fairhaven, all of them with the BioCore logo embossed on the side. Residents went on about their normal routines, unaware of the dangers that lurked nearby. A hose was shoved through the sliding door of one of the vehicles aimed at the park where several families had gathered for the Fairhaven Round-up. It was an annual event that hosted competitions ranging from bull riding to pig wrangling to ‘roping’ or lasso techniques. There was even a petting zoo for the kids and a mechanical bull for adventurous adults.

Several charities were on hand hoping to rouse a few new donors for their cause. There were even booths set up for Girl Scouts to peddle their cookies and homemade friendship bracelets. The sun shone above like a radiant gem in the sky. For the middle of summer, the day was cooler than usual. The slight breeze fanning through the mix of maple, oak and fir trees provided a level of comfort that made the day absolutely perfect for this event.

Stopping just at the edge of the square, the driver put the vehicle in park and waited. The canister concealed in the back of the bed whirred to life, choking out a thick, odorless, tasteless liquid into the air. The mist fell down like rain. Several people ran for cover while others, children mostly, played beneath it in sheer delight. It lasted for a few minutes before the spout recoiled back inside the vehicle and the BioCore vans drove out of the area.

The screams of the four survivors had finally calmed to a low murmur but help still had not arrived. “Ericka, don’t just stand there, do something!” Raymond shouted as he started for the door to call for help. In less than five minutes two security guards rushed up the stairs towards him and he directed them to the locked door where the surviving operators were trapped.

Sam, a security officer with 8 years under his belt at BioCore, was the first to reach the door. His partner, Cody, a rookie compared to Sam’s tenure, was right behind him. “Stand back,” he instructed, aiming his firearm at the electronic keypad on the door. “Is it safe to free them?”

“I don’t know,” Raymond answered honestly. “The chemicals they were working with are quite volatile. They will definitely need to have a HazMat team give them the all clear before we can let them leave but, the clean room suppresses any gases that could be harmful to inhale. Opening this door won’t hurt us. With that in mind, I’d still stay clear of them until they are seen by the CDC and HazMat teams.”

Sam nodded his head, again motioned for the remaining scientists to move away from the door and fired a single shot. The lock disengaged with a pop and fizzle of sparks before the latch opened. The four men and women breathed deeply as one-by-one they stepped out of the room. “We can’t let you out of this area,” the second security officer, Cody, spoke. “Please step against the wall and remain there until we can have you checked out.”

They complied with few grumbles, moved against the wall and stood shoulder-to-shoulder as they waited for further instructions. “Now I want…” The officer’s words were cut short as a deep, guttural rumble echoed from the clean room. “Are there more of you?” he asked, stepping forward to peer inside the room.

“No, no one else made it out. They—” One of the male scientists’ started.

“They’re all dead,” another finished.

Curiously, Cody moved another inch closer, the smoke from the inner chamber appeared to be cloaking the end of the clean room hall but he could see an outline of a person slowly ambling forward. “Someone’s in there,” he informed and pulled the door open a little wider. “We need medical in here now!”

“Sir, stay back until we get HazMat in here,” he said, watching the figure continue towards him, ignoring his command.

Leaning in closer, Cody tried again, shouting so that his voice carried to the end of the hall. He squinted his eyes, trying to make out a face, but it too was hidden by the overcast of smoke billowing out of the fabrication center. Grabbing the flashlight from his utility belt, he fumbled with the switch a moment before he was finally rewarded with the bright glow of LED. “Excuse me, sir?” he spoke a little louder. “I need you to remain where you are.” He still didn’t comply. 

Cody flashed the light higher into the man’s face and gasped at the sight. His eyes were wide open and eerily white and his lips were blue. He was dead, or close to it. Blood spilled from the corners of his mouth, which hung open in an eerily low death moan. Another gurgling sound emerged from the man’s mouth. The man’s eyes darted towards Cody before he lifted his arms, reaching for him. The way he looked at him made his hairs stand on end. “Oh my god!” Startled, Cody fell backwards, bumping into Sam.   

“What’s wrong?” Sam asked, watching in confusion as his partner pointed towards the hall, waiting for him to make sense.

“You didn’t see that? He’s…” Cody’s face was white with shock and he turned away for a split second to peer into his partner’s eyes, a mistake he’d soon regret.

The technician let out a terrifying screech and jammed a long, mangled arm through the opening in the doorway. The putrid stench of rotting flesh hit Cody full on as an infected hand swiped at him frantically. Grabbing hold to keep from getting scratched, Cody tried to back away but tripped on his own feet, falling backwards to the floor with a hard thud. Thick drool dripped from the man’s lips as he eagerly awaited the taste of Cody’s warm flesh.

Sam hurried forward, attempting to grab the man by the shoulders and shove him back, but he and his partner were swaying too wildly for him to get a good grip. Blotches of yellow and purple bruises had formed on the man’s sickly grey skin, and tiny lesions had started to grow on his cheeks, neck and arms. Regardless of the mechanic’s appearance, Sam knew if he didn’t act fast, his partner would be hurt.

Sam stepped back, his heart racing faster as he saw the man’s clouded eyes slowly look up towards him. Another gurgling sound rumbled in his throat, growing into a growl. The rancid, decomposing face snarled, its dilated pupils burning holes briefly into Sam before once more locking his sights on Cody lying beneath him on the floor.

Cody screamed in terror as he watched the diseased mouth stretch open, sinking its teeth into his cheek and pulling away chunks of skin and muscle. “CODY!” Sam cried, moving forward one last time. Without thinking, Sam grabbed hold of the crazed engineer with two hands, lifted him from atop his injured and bleeding partner and swung him into the door.

Unlatching the gun on his side, he grabbed hold of his weapon and fired one shot at the man. It hit him in the shoulder, jerking him just enough for Cody to slide away. Palms sweating, hearts pounding, faces contorted in fear, Raymond, Ericka and the other scientists looked on, their eyes widened in horror as they watched the scene unfolding. “Stay where you are!” Sam ordered, keeping his weapon aimed forward. 

Unfazed, the man shrieked as he charged ahead, his tongue hanging out of the corner of his mouth and his injured arm swinging unnaturally at his side. Pure, festering rage burned in his sinister eyes. All trace of humanity had been ripped away, his soul as black as the darkest night. Spurred on by the threat of death and full of adrenaline, Sam pointed his gun at the man’s leg. The femoral artery exploded, spewing blood like a geyser on the floor and on the walls but the possessed engineer didn’t stop. Within seconds, he was running straight towards Sam again. 

Shaking his head, Sam fired one more round, this time aiming for his head. Squealing like a pig, the man stumbled backwards as his face met the full impact of hot lead. The body went limp, and his screeching quieted to a soft gurgle before he finally fell silent. Cody pushed to his feet with shaking hands and stumbled over to where Raymond and Ericka stood.

Everything fell silent. Stepping away from the door, Sam tried to catch his breath and calm himself down. He could feel his entire body trembling. His heart pounded so hard he thought it would explode. “I—I had no choice. You saw that right? He—he was crazed! I had to shoot him. He just…he wouldn’t stop! I fired a warning in his leg…h-h-he just…he wouldn’t stop!” Sam stammered, stepping away from the mauled remains of the scientist. His legs felt so unstable he had to prop myself against the wall as he called for backup.

“It’s ok, Sam,” Raymond cooed reassuringly, “You did what you had to do.” Turning towards Ericka, he lost all sense of compassion as he stared into the face of the cause of all of this. “Do you see now? Do you finally understand why hurrying this research as you have was a mistake? Think about how many people you’ve just subjected to this very same outcome with your rush to judgement! You have opened up a whole bevy of lawsuits not to mention the countless lives that will be lost because of this—this—anti-aging ‘miracle drug.’”

“I—I didn’t know. I had no idea it would…”

“BULL FUCKING SHIT! It’s what I’ve been telling you all along. If you’d have only listened, all of this,” he said, waving his arms around the destruction laying in front of them. “Could have been avoided. But, that’s no longer my concern, right? Today was my last day at BioCore, but, from the looks of it, it’ll be yours too. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to finish packing!” Raymond stormed out of the room, leaving the cleanup and the fallout on the hands of BioCore’s Vice President.

With pen in hand, Raymond sat behind his desk preparing a letter intended for the CEO of BioCore. He had to know what had been going on right under his nose and the potential lawsuits that awaited thanks to his second-in-command. Away for the majority of the year on one business trip or the next, he trusted Ericka to do what was best for the company in his stead. He trusted the wrong person.

Raymond quickly penned the letter that explained the situation, the performance of the drug from the reports he’d read and the gravity of its consequences having been rushed to testing. Hoping it would have more effect on him than it did on his supervisor, he neatly folded the correspondence and slid it beneath the President’s door. Grabbing the last box with his possessions, Raymond waved his goodbyes to his friends and started for the exit.

“There he is! Grab him before he makes his escape!” Johnathan directed of the two armed security guards standing behind him.

Wasting no time, the guards rushed forward and secured the Head Researcher’s hands behind his back, placing him under arrest. “What is this? Why am I being arrested?”

“For ordering the production of Gravaxil that prompted the explosion, leaving half a dozen of BioCore employees dead and another handful injured and in need of serious medical treatment.”

“WHAT?! I did no such thing and you know it!” Raymond replied, shouting as loud as he could with his face pressed against the cold, cement walls.

“Try again. We have you on videotape entering a room that Ericka and I have just learned was being used for personal research. You were conducting ILLEGAL human testing on patients against their wills!”

“WHAT?!” The weight of the accusation hit him and Raymond finally realized what was happening. “You—you lied to me,” he said, nearly a whisper as he thought over everything that had taken place over the course of the last few hours. “You tricked me into using that badge to enter the testing area just to get me on camera?”

“I don’t know what you’re babbling on about but you can save it. No amount of lies and innuendo is going to save you.”

“You son of a bitch! You planned this whole thing! You came to my office and coaxed me with your sob story but it was all so you could get me where you wanted! And I suppose the only video found from the entire MONTH, hell the last YEAR is just from this morning, right?”

“You know as well as I do that the security footage has a 24-hour window before it is overwritten, Raymond. Anything you may have done last night has already been erased, but we got just enough of you entering an area of BioCore’s lab to charge you with your wrongdoing.”

“I have a family, Johnathan!” 

“Well, I guess you should have thought about them before engaging in this…disgusting criminal activity,” he replied, stepping back and motioning towards the officers. “Get him out of here.”

“You people…you’re all animals! You used my research, you’ve taken my life’s work and twisted it into some grotesque lab experiment, released it on the public and then blamed me for its failure? You…you’re no better than Ericka! You’ll all pay for this! ALL OF YOU WILL PAY!” Raymond shouted as he was dragged from the building. Rylie made it outside just in time to watch him thrown into the back of a squad car and hauled off to jail.

The building rumbled again and Johnathan could hear the shattering of glasses from the handful of labs around him. Time was running out. Moving quickly, he entered his office, gathering as much data that could be transported in the back of his BioCore company vehicle. Rushing back inside, he used his master key to unlock President Andrew Barrett’s door and pushed his way into the room. It was dark, and it had a strong smell of metal…iron to be exact as well as a noticeable scent of death that filled his stomach with bile. Flipping on a light, Johnathan gasped in horror as he saw the CEO lying face down on the floor in a puddle of blood. 

There were no obvious signs of injury but it was clear to Johnathan that the man lying in front of him had expired some time ago. “Andy?” Johnathan called. Andrew’s head snapped up at the sound of his name, his eyes glaring at Johnathan as a distressing wail fell from between his parted lips. 

He was clawing and scraping, his legs twisted behind him but he was unable to pull himself forward. Johnathan noticed a piece of paper beneath his hand. It was a letter written in Raymond’s handwriting and he carefully leaned forward to read it. “Jesus. What the hell did you do, Ericka?” Grabbing the nearest object he could find, Johnathan did just as the letter instructed, caving in the skull of BioCore’s CEO. He stopped moving and Johnathan went to work.

 Continue to Quarantine---->