Chapter 18

Shu pulled up in a pitstop just off the highway, he walked into one of the small, grotty little café's and saw Camus, sitting, hunched over a coffee. He walked over and sat down beside him.

"My god, what are you doing?" He said, a slight sneer on his handsome face.

"Getting out of here, I need to think." Said the troubled young man

"Don't you think you do enough of that already?" Shu said, hailing the waitress over, she was a short, attractive you woman who was obviously pleased at the sight of the two handsome young men, seeing as all day she had had to deal with disgruntled truckers.

"What'll it be gents?" She said in a winning voice, a smile playing on her pretty features.

"I'll have a coffee and my friend here will have some tea." Said Shu, smiling at the young girl as she walked off.

"Don't you get it?" Camus said, looking at the almost cheerful looking young man "I was born in a test tube!" He then said, rather too loudly

"Ah, not quite." Shu murmured as he looked over to see if the waitress was anywhere near getting their drinks. He then turned to Camus "You were born naturally, but you were injected with the enhancement drug whilst in the womb."

Camus went silent, not sure what to think, so he had been born naturally, like Miklotov, but he had still been given what Seed and Luca had. Would he go mad as well?

He was pulled from his thoughts by the waitresses voice.

"Ok, that's one tea and one coffee." She said, putting their drinks down in front of them. "Anything else?" She said

"No' that'll be fine thanks." Shu smiled at her and she walked back to the counter, giving them one last look before she went to serve a over-sexed gentleman in a crumpled grey suit.

Shu then turned to Camus

"It's imperative that I tell you this now. You know how Seed and Luca, well. Lost it a bit." The words sounded lame, especially seeing as Shu usually had such a wide vocabulary but he seemed a bit uneasy. Too uneasy, and Camus could tell he was going to tell him something he didn't want to hear.

"Well, that was the drug's one side-effect. After a while, it'll send you as mad as Luca was."

Camus' head bowed. He knew it, he was going to lose it any time soon. Why the fuck did this have to happen to him? Everything was going so well, he had just been promoted, he had taken down the Mafia. He was a hero, and now, if he didn't get out of dodge soon, he was going to kill someone.

"So," Said Shu, pulling him from his thoughts "I need you to come with me, Leon can help you, we're working on-"

"No." Camus said quietly but firmly, getting up slowly, his usually agility and exuberance gone. "No, it would take too much time, I'm no scientist and even I know something as drastic as gene replacement could take years. By that time I could have already killed too many people."

Shu smiled grimly

"Very noble of you, but I'm afraid you have no choice, you can't live out here like a hermit all your life. Plus the madness will kill you." He said, he could tell a couple of the truckers on the table opposite them were listening so he grabbed Camus by the arm and led him outside. It was beginning to rain.

As soon as they got outside, Camus shrugged himself out of Shu's grip,

"Look, I'm a danger to everyone around me now. Think about the mindless slaughter Luca and Seed created. I don't want to ever do that."

"Anyway, you won't be the next one to go mad." Camus looked up in alarm.

"Miklotov was injected before you were, the madness spreads in chronological order apparently."

"What?" Camus said, his eyes widening. "What the fuck are you here talking to me for then!?" he shouted, looking at Shu with horror. He then ran down the small muddy hill leading to the car park and tried to open Shu's Cadillac's door. Shu jingled his keys

"You'll need these." He said

"How can you be so calm, Miklotov could be there at that hospital right now, killing people!"

"What can you do about it!? Kill him? I know you won't!" Shouted Shu down to him, walking towards the car.

"If that's what I've got to do then fine." Said the young cop grimly. They stood there in silence, Shu then walked to the door and pressed the unlock button on his keys. Camus opened the doors and got in.

"Hey!" Shu shouted, Camus looked back and a trace of a grim crept across his handsome face

"Sorry, you'd just slow me down." And then he took off, bombing down the highway, Shu left at the pitstop.

"Well I guess now I have more time to hit on that sexy waitress."

And he did.

You're a spineless worm.

"No I'm not." Miklotov said, trying to shake the voice out of his head.

You are, you're pathetic.

"Leave me alone…" He said, though his voice was empty. The voice in his head had gone on for sometime now, almost an hour, he had tried not to listen to it but it sounded just like him. But there was something else there, hate. Something Miklotov had never experienced until now.

It kept flashing images of death and pain through his head, to entice him, to make him hate.

Why won't you kill, you piece of shit!

"Get out of my head!!!" Shouted the cop, leaping out of bed and smashing the TV on his desk

That's it…

It said, a self satisfied tone in its familiar voice

"No! Leave me alone! LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!" He slammed his fist through the TV table, he felt the incredible pain but didn't care. It wasn't his fault he was in pain, it was the doctors fault, why wasn't he better yet?

Were they making him ill? Why weren't they helping him?

They don't care about you, they want you to die.

And with that, Miklotov's head hung, he gave up. He knew what to do.

Camus shot down the highway as fast as he could, how the hell did he run this far? He thought to himself, he was till maybe half a mile from the city entrance.

He heard police sirens, he was speeding. These guys were obviously new, hired by Granmeyer and the little bastards were keen.

Being keen was never something you should be if you were a policeman, clever yes, tough definitely, but being keen just got your ass kicked, which was about to happen right now. Camus stopped and opened his window. The policeman stopped and peered into his window.

"Can I see your license sir?" The young man asked.

"No." Camus said simply. And drove on, speeding even faster down the highway as if to scorn the officers. He smiled to himself, that was fun, even if Miklotov was about to kill people, scaring kids never lost its charm. And he was still grinning to himself when the drunk driver slammed his Pinto into the side of the Cadillac, he span out of control and went off the road, smashing into the highway fence and taking it down, the car rolled twice and stopped, lying upside down.

And then a small flame began to lick its way into existence near the engine. Camus swore quietly to himself and blacked out.