Brooks
Chapter 1: escape
-Project Diablo Labs (Top Secret Government testing facility)
"Sarah, how is test subject A-117 reacting to the Rex Serum?" Doctor Musgrove, head of the Diablo project, asked as he rubbed his graying beard.
"His body is fighting it off too fast. Before long he will more than likely build up a tolerance at this rate." she replied. Musgrove gritted his teeth in frustration.
"This our last chance to bond the Rex Serum to a human test subject. All previous attempts have ended in the subject dying after injection. We can't allow our last hope to build a tolerance to Rex. If Project Diablo fails, my career is over. Sarah, double A-117's dosage of Rex. If he can fight off the normal dosage, lets see how he fairs against twice the dosage."
Sarah gasped at this new order. "But sir, that amount of Rex will surely kill him without a doubt. We can't allow that."
"Sarah my career is over if he doesn't bond with the Rex Serum either way. His survival means nothing to me. Just do what i said. Double his dosage." Dr. Musgrove demanded.
"Yes sir." she went into the room where A-117 was sedated & strapped down on a metal lab table followed by three other scientists. One of them was carrying a silver briefcase & set it beside A-117 on a small table the other two scientists had rolled in to the room. The briefcase was unlocked and opened to reveal glass vials of a green glowing substance: Rex Serum.
Carefully grabbing one of the vials, he grabbed a needle from the small table & injected the double dosage into A-117's bloodstream. Within seconds a reaction was met. The test subject began violently shaking and foaming out the mouth.
"Shit! He's seizing! Grab an Epipen shot! We need him to calm down." Sarah ordered. One of the scientists quickly grabbed an Epipen and injected it into the test subject. A-117 calmed down & returned to his natural sedated state a few moments later. Sarah took a deep breath as the event was over. "Thank you."
A-117 opened his eyes & ripped out of the straps that had constrained him & grabbed one of the scientists by the throat effortlessly throwing him into the wall breaking his neck & making short work of the others. Only Sarah was alive. The test subject looked at her with his now Orange eyes that were normally blue. Before he could kill her, he collapsed back down on the test table unconscious.
Sarah's heart raced as she looked at the three dead bodies on the floor and the now unconscious test subject. She activated the emergency restraints that clamped him back down onto the table.
Musgrove witness the entire scene from the other side of the window. Surprisingly he was not mad. Instead he was overjoyed. The Rex Serum had successfully bonded to the test subject on a cellular level. Sure three scientists were dead but this was good news for Musgrove. This meant he would be infamously known as the man who created a superhuman.
Sarah returned to Musgrove. "I hope you're happy." she said as she walked off.
Musgrove smirked. "I am." he thought to himself.
-a few hours later during the night-
Sarah walked into the room just outside where A-117 was being held & looked through the glass. He was asleep. She swiped her ID card on the lock & opened the door. She cautiously walked up to the test subject while carrying a black suitcase in her hand.
He looked peaceful in his sleep & Sarah hesitated to wake him up."Hurry & get up. We don't have time for sleep right now." she said as she set the suitcase down. A-117 woke up still groggy & confused. "What's going on?"
"I'm here get you out." she said as she unlatched the braces that held him to the table. "Just try not to kill me. I'm kind of necessary here."
He moved his joints & stretched before standing up. "I don't understand. Why are you doing this?" he asked.
"Because I'm tired of watching Musgrove kill innocent people like you for his crazy ideas. I won't allow it to happen again."
"You wouldn't happen to know my name would you? Can't seem to remember anything really before all this started."
"Your name is Mathew Brooks. Age 19. Hometown Jacksonville. Seems one of the side effects of the test procedures affected your hippocampus." she said interestingly.
Brooks looked confused. "The hippo what?"
"Its a part of the brain that processes memory." she annoyingly replied with a simplified explanation.
"I see. What's this for?" he asked as he went to tap the suitcase with his foot.
"Woah. No no. Don't do that." she said worryingly. "That's Rex serum. If you aren't careful with it it could potentially kill us all before we even leave. And it's important here too. Without it, you'll die. Since I know the process to create it, without me you'll die. Do you understand?" Sarah rhetorically asked as they headed out the door. "We're on the 8th floor. We have to go down to Floor 1 & get out without anyone noticing us."
"Right. No worries, babe." Brooks said as he followed closely behind her.
"Don't call me that ever again." Sarah called an elevator down & the two quickly got inside & began going down to the 1st floor of the building.
"So your name is?" Brooks asked. She was so worried about getting Brooks out that she had forgotten to introduce herself.
"I'm Sarah Carter. Former employee of D.I.A.B.L.O. Labs incorporated. And I'm your new savior."
"All right then. I'm Brooks apparently." He introduced himself awkwardly. The elevator chimed & the doors slowly crept open.
"We just have to get through these hallways & out the door without any of the night guards spotting us." Sarah explained.
The two headed down the hallway, suitcase in hand making sure the guards didn't spot them. There were quite a few a guards at night but not many scientists that were mainly only there if someone happened to attacked or tried to escape the facility.
"Hold up." Sarah said stopping just before turning the corner. "Two guards up ahead. Wait for them to pass."
"Hey, you ever wonder why we're here?" one of the guards asked the other.
"Why do you have to ask that every single time that we have patrol duty, Gus?" he asked sighing.
"Whatever. It's funny & you know it." Gus told the other guard as they continued down the hallway & conveniently turned down the opposite hall that Sarah & Brooks needed to head through.
The two quickly headed down the halls before the guards came back through. Suddenly, Brooks began feeling dizzy & his head felt like it was being beaten in with a boulder. He dropped to his knees grasping his head & trying his best to hold in his painful screams. Sarah put the suitcase down & went to check on him. "If you aren't quiet the guards will come damn it. Shut up before you kill us both."
"I can't help it... It hurts so bad. My head is pounding & i can't feel my limbs. What's going on?!" he asked her in between painful cries.
"I- i'm not sure. This is the first I've seen you have these side effects. Are you okay? Can you still walk?" she asked as she checked to make sure no one was around. "We're almost there. Just a couple more turns & we should be home free."
"Sarah. I don't know what's going to happen next but if it's anything like what I'm seeing in my head right now, then you may want to get away from me before it starts." Brooks managed to tell her.
"What? What are you talking about? What's in your head, Mathew? Sarah asked.
"I SAID GET AWAY!" Brooks angrily shouted. His voice had gotten deeper & had started sounding demonic & inhuman. Sarah quickly went back around the corner they'd just come from to get away from whatever was happening to Brooks.
His eyes had turned blood red & suddenly he emitted an evil laugh that would send chills down even an insane serial killer's back. "Killing is all that can quench my thirst for blood. Bring on the massacre." He said with an evil grin as a sudden burst of flames engulfed his body that burnt a footprint into the floor with each step he took.
Brooks walked into the main plaza area of the floor just before the exit of the building & the guards all began shooting at him with their automatic rifles. The bullets all bounced off his body as he continued walking & grabbed the head of one of the guards. The guard shrieked in pain as his face and skull slowly melted.
"Burn to nothing." Brooks said maniacally as the man was engulfed in flames & fell to the floor in a pile of ashes.
The others were all terrified of this demonic beast that had somehow been set loose among them. They all tried their best to shoot him dead to no avail. Brooks melted them all to ash within minutes. The smell of freshly baked human engulfed the air & made Brooks smile at the carnage he had committed.
"Hmm.. I think a little more death will suit this place well." he told himself.
Sarah watched in a wild mixture of shock, awe, & fright as Brooks killed everyone with no hesitation. "Mathew! Calm down before you blow the place up!" she yelled to him realizing what was going on.
Something changed hearing her voice & Brooks' consciousness returned to normal for a short few seconds.
"Sarah!" he yelled as he turned back to her. "Get out of here before i blow you up with this place! Please! Hurry!" Brooks urged as he lost control again.
Sarah quickly grabbed the suitcase & dashed out the building before Brooks exploded. She turned back to see the entire building incinerate & be destroyed by the explosion caused by Brooks.
Musgrove had been inside the building when it was destroyed so he was dead & Brooks had managed to kill hundreds of innocent & not so innocent people within a few minutes.
With the amount of blood spilt, Brooks craving had been satisfied & he returned to his normal self. His clothes had burnt off & he was now left bare in the scene of the explosion. He walked up to Sarah who tried her best to ignore it & handed him a set of clothes she'd grabbed from one of the lockers. Brooks got dressed & the two quickly left the scene to head out for Jacksonville.
"What did i just do? I killed so many people. I was on fire!" he exclaimed.
"That is what we call "Bloodlust". Without a steady dosage of Rex, you will go into this uncontrollable mode until you have killed enough souls to soothe your greed for death. Its an extremely powerful form that we have only seen a few times before. But you shouldn't use it unless absolutely necessary." she replied as she injected a vial of Rex into Brooks' bloodstream.
"Why? It seems useful if I'm fighting gods or an army."
"It puts a massive strain on your body. Each time you use it, you will be speeding up the day your death arrives. Luckily I'm around to keep you on a steady dose so that it doesn't happen again." she explained as she grabbed the suitcase & continued to walk to her car. She out the suitcase inside the trunk. "Get in. I'm taking you home." she said as she cranked the car up & Brooks got in with her.