Chaos, Origin

Jessica Reynolds, a thin and dark headed girl of seventeen, stood silent and stunned as she watched her parents gunned down in front of her by a squad of Blackwatch troopers. Supposedly they were among those believed to be infected with the strange virus that was contaminating New York, and turning its denizens into walking corpses straight out of a horror film.

Around her, there was chaos and Jessica could hear distant explosions. A line of tanks and soldiers formed a perimeter that was keeping the infected at bay while they herded her and about thirty other citizens into a tight group.

"Alright," said one of the Blackwatch commanders with a loud voice. "You have all been selected as test subjects for a few of Gentek's infected observations. Proceed into that massive fracture at once. There will be Gentek scientists waiting on the other side to give you further instructions. No bullshit will be tolerated."

"But you can't just-" The man who was protesting was killed with a single bullet to the head before he could finish his sentence.

"Move!" Ordered the Commander. The rest of them did as he said, all chattering under their breath.

Jessica wasn't even concentrating. She already felt dead. These tests would just confirm it.

Then the line of tanks to the right just exploded one by one. People around Jessica began to run in multiple directions while the blackened hulks of burning tanks bounced noisily around the place.

Jessica was frozen. She merely crouched down with her head tucked against her chest, half wishing she was already dead.

At that moment something grabbed her. She was flying through the air as explosions echoed around her. Then Jessica lost consciousness.

"…say she's another one," said a male voice, though it sounded muffled. "We'll lock her in with the test subjects and see if she's worth studying."

Jessica opened her eyes blearily as she was dumped onto the ground. A large steel door slammed shut behind her.

As she got to her feet, she became aware of her condition. She was naked from the waist up, and her jeans were scuffed and torn in multiple places. Glowing red lines stretched through her body occasionally, and every pulse sent a sting through her torso and legs.

What happened to me? She thought.

Then a noise reached her ears. It was the sound of an infected…she knew it. Sure enough, one of them came lumbering at her a second later.

It tackled into her and knocked her to the ground. Jessica yelped and kicked at it. The force of her kick, which she thought hadn't been much, had sent the creature flying across the room.

"Surprising strength," said a voice from somewhere, over an intercom. "Quite remarkable."

As Jessica got to her feet, more of the infected creatures came barreling towards her. They clawed at her with bloodstained hands, yelling and moaning all the while, yet she felt no pain from their assault. Jessica only felt the force of their blows.

She began to attack them one at a time. Each blow sent one of the bastards flying and soon they were all dead or pulpy masses smeared across the walls.

"I'm not sure we can contain the subject," said the voice over the intercom again. "Perhaps we should-"

Then they screamed and an explosion of glass and metal followed. An alert sounded from somewhere.

One of the scientists landed next to Jessica. She glanced around before taking his lab coat and putting it on overtop her bare chest. One thing she did was tear the sleeves off, as long sleeves had always made her feel uncomfortable. It was more of a force of habit to her at this point.

Someone landed next to her. Jessica looked up and stumbled over in surprise to find Alex Mercer standing there. Then he grabbed her and pulled her with him as he smashed his way out of the building.

They landed on a rooftop not too far from the now ruined lab that was being circled by Blackwatch forces.

"Take it easy, Jessica," said Mercer.

She looked up at him. "What do you want from me?"

Alex Mercer watched her for another second, and then walked over to the edge of the building. "You see this?" He gestured out at the Blackwatch and Gentek forces that were swarming over the scene they had just vacated like ants. "Those are the people responsible for this virus that has plunged the city into chaos."

Jessica walked over to where he was. "What did you do to me?" She looked at her arm. Even as she watched it, it pulsated violently, but then became calm once more.

"I gave you a gift," Alex said sympathetically.

"More like a punishment," Jessica replied bitterly.

Alex smirked. "Maybe…but not for you. You had to watch Blackwatch agents gun down your parents. On top of that, Gentek has been experimenting on and killing innocent civilians, some of whom were no doubt your friends." Alex put his hand on her shoulder. "I gave you the means with which to strike back. With it, you'll create chaos among their ranks."

Jessica looked back at her arm.

"That's why I'm giving you the codename, Chaos…FYI." When Jessica looked back up, Alex Mercer was gone.