Quarantine

Chapter 2: Infection

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"So… What was this guy's name again?" One of the examiners, a Human, asked to his colleague.

They were in the morgue beneath the main complex of Gentek, studying Miles Prowers' body. The other, a Mobian whose name tag suggested as Chris, sighed, already answering this question a number of times. "For the last time Mark, he's Miles Prower; he was a researcher here, until the virus got to him."

"Ah…" The Human, Mark, said while examining the large gash in the patient's chest. "God… It's only been an hour, and it's already spread through his entire body." Chris grabbed a scalpel from the operating table, "I guess we should cut him open now, see what damage has been done."

As he brought the scalpel down against the patient's chest, he suddenly woke up, gasping for air. He climbed down from the operating table, stumbling on the floor. The two examiners stared at him in fear.

"Let's get out of here!" Mark yelled, to which they both agreed, sprinting from the room. Tails stumbled around, lifting his vision from the ground to around the room. "What the…" He groaned, "I need to get out of here…"

He stumbled from the room, the pain in his chest preventing him from walking straight. He reached the side entrance to the facility, leaving the building and propping himself up against the wall. He peered around the corner, seeing the two examiners with a Blackwatch team at the front entrance, arguing with them.

"What the hell was all that about?! A, clearly dead, patient just got up like a walking corpse!" Chris yelled straight in the face of a soldier. The soldier looked to his commanding officer, seeing him nod. The soldier pulled an M9 pistol up against Chris's face, to which his eyes widened. "Hey, what are you-" He couldn't finish as a bullet shattered his skull, splattering his brains onto the floor.

Upon hearing gunfire, Mark looked to his right, only to be fired upon by a soldier's M16 assault rifle, leaving him dead within a second. The commanding officer placed a finger against his earpiece, signaling his superiors. "No witnesses." He simply said. Tails stared in shock, "I need to get out of here."

He ran across the front yard, until a soldier spotted him. "There he is! Engage fire!" They all fired upon him, making Tails back up against the wall due to the force of each shattering impact, except this time… He was fine?

Tails was utterly shocked. He looked down at himself, "… What am I...?" The squad looked at him with determination to bring him down, as if they had done this before… He looked to his right, seeing a pile of boxes stacked up, and nearly reaching the top of the barbed wire interior.

As if upon instinct, his wound hardly hurt anymore, as he sprinted towards the boxes, the soldiers firing at him as he did. He ran up each one, until taking a huge leap upon the final, propelling him over the wall. He looked up in surprise, "How did I make that…?" He was snapped from his thoughts as a helicopter hovered above him. "You, Stop!" He did exactly the opposite, as he sprinted down the streets.

He was beyond being surprised at this point; he was able to do things that were seemingly impossible to a normal Human or Mobian. As he sprinted down the streets, he looked behind him, seeing a rocket launcher being aimed directly at him from the helicopter's side. He skidded to a halt, the rocket firing against the street, flipping a car into the air. His eyes widened as the car was, seemingly, going to crush him, until he grabbed it as it slammed down upon him.

He was holding a car. Without a care in the world. He needed to think about this later, right now he was preoccupied with the soldiers chasing him down. "What do you want with me!?" He yelled, before throwing the car with great force towards the helicopter. Seeing as the pilot wasn't expecting this, the car smashed against the cockpit, exploding and bringing the chopper down with it.

Tails looked at the scene breathing heavily. He needed to get away from here. He looked at some buildings. If he was able to do all these things… Then surely he could easily get to the top of a building, right? He ran towards it, taking a huge leap. He spun his tails; his new "enhancements" making him feel stronger. He easily rose to the top.

He was ecstatic. He felt incredible. He looked towards an even taller building, and smirked. He spun his tails, and shot forward due to the burst of energy. He took an even greater leap, thanks to the use of his tails, and began running up the building, his tails propelling him further. He jumped to the top, and sat down against a conditioning unit.

He was feeling great, until more helicopters found him atop the building. "Oh come on!" He yelled, and ripped the unit from the building, throwing it straight at a chopper, destroying it. Another chopper though, had soldiers grappling down to the building. He clenched his fists, and got ready to sprint. As soon as they landed, he made his move. He ran towards a soldier, smacking his gun to the ground and punching him with great force, smacking him against the side of the roof railing, cracking it.

He picked up another unit and threw it against a group of soldiers packed together, crushing them. There was only one left, and he was clearly showing his fear as his gun was shaking crazily in his hands. Tails walked towards him slowly as the soldier shot him. A bullet collided with his shoulder, making him flinch, yet he continued walking towards him menacingly. The soldier threw his gun to the ground, "No, Please!" He surrendered, but Tails wasn't having it. He grabbed him by the neck, lifting him in the air as he was choking. He clenched his fist, making the soldier gasp for air desperately, and making him struggle with panic. Tails finally clenched his fist and sharply twisted it, being rewarded with a loud snap.

The soldier lay limp in his hand, until he threw his corpse on the floor. He stared at the bodies, his sense of adrenaline finally dissipating, making him realize his actions. He looked down at his hands, "… What have I become…" He asked himself. He descended the building to the streets, his oppressors finally dealt with. His pain came back; making his vision blurred and making him stumble yet again. He stumbled into an alleyway and lay down against the ground, his vision finally seeping away as he fell unconscious.

- 2 hours later -

"Command, I think I got him." The Blackwatch captain relayed to his superiors, coming across Tails' corpse in an alleyway. Just to make sure another mistake like back at the facility didn't happen again, he shot him in the forehead, leaving a gaping bullet wound buried deep within his skull. He turned his back on him, "Yep, I got him. Requesting a pickup." He announced.

As he was waiting for transport and a squad, he didn't notice the bullet wound seal up within Tails' brain. He got up from the ground and creeped towards him. He grabbed the unsuspecting captain and threw him against the ground, punching him repeatedly in the face and chest, before slamming his fists down in a haymaker against his face. Yet another instinct took over, except this time something… Disturbing happened.

Fleshy tendrils grew from Tails' back, picking the soldier up and ripping him apart, pulling his body within Tails piece by piece, as if consuming him in the most disturbing way possible. As soon as Tails had consumed the captain, he grabbed his head in pain as some sort of dream played deep within his mind. He heard the captain he had just consumed speaking of some location. "Keep the civilian in captivity! She must surely have some information against Prower! We'll interrogate her once I get back." Was all he heard, before seeing flashing images of someone very dear to him, Cosmo.

He shot his eyes wide open and gasped, the pain finally disappearing as the… He assumed it must be the "memory" of the captain he had consumed. "They know where she is…" He gripped his head in his hand, "… I know where she is." He could see based on the memory of the victim. He set off towards the apartment complexes of the city; he needed to get her back.

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Told you I was telling the truth this time. Well, until next time! Remember, nobody's perfect.