Chapter One: The Beginning of the End
Darren Panel stared down at the file in his hands. When he was a child, he had always wanted to create something that would help save lives. He had always pictured his name being mentioned on the news for saving millions. He had never pictured himself creating something that would end up killing millions of lives.
He believed that he had the vaccination correct. He believed it would work. After all the blood, sweat and tears he put into his work, he came out with something worse than nothing.
His superiors had called it a virus. At first he didn't believe them. He had still believed that the vaccination was working superbly. Of course he thought it odd when Carl went into a CT scan and the results showed high brain tissue loss.
The next few hours showed the continued deterioration of Carl. The whites of his eyes became discoloured and his fur started to shed.
Hiram Berry, a highly respected scientist throughout his department, stepped in when Carl collapsed and went into what we believed to be cardiac arrest. Carl's body stopped moving after a moment and the scientists in the room believed the chimp to have died. Darren had originally ordered two of his interns to bring Carl into the surgery room but was stopped by Hiram who ordered him to leave Carl in his enclosure.
Darren was outraged that Hiram was ordering him around when he was the main founder and conductor of the experiment. He was about to voice this until he saw Carl stand from his position on the floor.
Everyone in the examination froze to watch Carl as he took in his enclosure once again. They watched as Carl sniffed around his enclosure, looking for something that none of the scientists were aware of.
"Holy mother of god…" Darren mumbled as Carl started screeching and throwing anything he could get his hands on.
"Put him down." Hiram growled to Darren, glaring straight through the young scientist.
"W-we can't. The board hasn't authorised it." Darren replied, flinching when Carl through his tire swing at the one of the walls in his enclosure.
"This thing is a danger to everyone in this building. If we don't put him down now, something will go wrong and it will all fall on your shoulders." Hiram said angrily, poking Darren roughly in the chest to make his point clear.
"I don't have the authorization to put Carl down. If I did, I would be fired. A lot of money has gone into this and it isn't my choice." Darren said through clenched teeth.
"Listen to me now." Hiram hissed lowly, stepping into Darren's personal space. "Look at what Carl is doing. That is not safe. Those walls can't hold forever. He is going to break free and cause some major damage that you may not be able to fix. So I'm going to say this once and only once. I am going to go and get authorization from the board while you write the necessary documents to allow me to do so. You will arrange for animal control to be here at four o'clock this afternoon to put down Carl. Then you will shut this project down. Understand?"
"Yes sir." Darren growled, turning away from the older man.
"I'll be back in thirty minutes to collect the necessary files and documents from you. I expect you to be there at the board meeting to back me up on my claims. I will not allow this project to go any further." Hiram stated before exiting the room and calling the necessary people to arrange the board meeting that would be held within the hour.
"Dr. Berry, what is so urgent that we have this meeting?" Arthur Williams, the head of the board of directors, asked.
"We need to terminate Project Five, forty-nine due to the outcome becoming out of control." Hiram started, placing the photo copied files in front of each of the board members.
"What do you mean out of control?" James Dylan, one of the newest board of directors, questioned.
"What I mean is, Dr. Penal managed to create a toxin, virus, or bacteria, whatever you want to call it and injected it into the subject called Carl." Hiram continued, looking from each member to the other, silently begging them to understand the enormity of the situation. "The virus affects the central nervous system causing the infected subject to become disorientated, aggressive, and in some cases cannibalistic."
"So you're saying Dr. Penal has created a zombie Dr. Berry?" Arthur asked, finding the idea absolutely atrocious.
"I believe so." Hiram replied, feeling a rare occurrence of anger churning in the pit of his stomach.
"Are you sure Hiram?" Harry Manning, one of his oldest friends, asked in concern.
"The facts support my hypothesis. The virus killed a large number of Carl's brain tissue and he survived. He was still lively and energetic until about 24 hours later when he went into cardiac arrest. Five minutes after he collapsed, we believed him to be dead. Until he rose."
The scientists all took a moment to take in the information and read through the files Hiram and Darren produced.
"We'll call you back in, in a few minutes' gentlemen." Arthur said, breaking the tense silence in the room. Hiram and Darren nodded their acknowledgement to the older man before moving out of the room.
They said no. They were going to allow the continued examination of Carl. Hiram paced back and forth throughout his office, thinking about how this could affect his husband and his daughter. What if the chimp broke out of its enclosure and bit someone? What happens if it turns out to be infectious? What then?
He needed to stop this but he didn't know how. He could do two things. He could terminate the project himself, probably resulting in him being fired, or he could leave it.
Every particle in his being was telling him to do something. To stop the massacre that was bound to happen if just let it be.
An alarm disrupted his thoughts and he knew what was happening. He told them and they didn't listen. It was perfect timing.
He immediately stopped pacing and stepped out into the hallway. A number of security guards were standing down the hall from where he was. He walked briskly to their position and noticed Arthur Williams being mauled by Carl. A security guard tried to pry away the crazed chimp before he was bitten as well.
"Hiram we have to go." Darren yelled into his ear, tugging on the back of his jacket. Hiram looked back and forth between the young scientist and the security guards before he turned away from them both and raced away from all the commotion and headed in the direction of the administrative centre.
He could send out a warning from there and set the building under quarantine. He looked over his shoulder every now and then, checking to see if Carl was following him. He noticed Darren not far behind him with a determined look upon his face.
He burst through the administration doors and looked for the manager of this department before he saw her talking to a young woman with red hair. He made her way over to her and cautiously tapped her on the shoulder. The older woman spun around to him, a questioning glare in place.
"Hi, I'm Dr. Berry and this Dr. Penal." Hiram introduced, gesturing to himself and Darren.
"If you don't mind, could you just explain to me why you are here? We have other matters currently going on at the moment." The manager said icily, flicking her blonde hair out of her eyes.
"Of course, Dr. Penal is the main scientist of Project Five, forty-nine. You need to put this building under quarantine and anyone that may have been bitten into a secure location." Hiram whispered, noticing the woman with red hair looking slightly pale.
"We can't do that. There are too many people." The woman replied, looking at the young girl worriedly.
"Is she okay?" Darren said from behind him, noticing the girl's slight demeanour change.
"She was bitten. Why is it so important that we get people bitten under quarantine? I can't authorize the quarantine without knowing everything there is to know about the situation." The woman said quickly.
Hiram stood solemnly looking at the young red head.
"She needs to be put in a secure location. You can't be near her when the changes start to occur. All you need to know is that the virus works fast and that the changes occur over the duration of 24 hours." Darren chipped in for him, moving past the older scientist to properly explain the situation to younger woman so the younger girl wouldn't hear him.
The woman, Janice, stepped over to a desk and picked up one of the landlines. She dialled a number to fast for Hiram to decipher and started explaining the situation to the Army base that was located in Lima.
Janice hung up the phone and closed her eyes whilst holding the bridge of her nose.
"They'll be here in thirty minutes." Janice announced, staring sadly at the young girl.
Hiram stood quietly and prayed they were able to get this under control. He couldn't risk this being the beginning of the end.
