***** CHAPTER THREE *****

Kai's heart skipped a beat. The visitor was one of the most gorgeous women he had ever met. Her eyes sparked with a deep, natural blue. She was of short stature, had obtained a good, strong build, and the chest was desirable for any man, and coveted by women.

As he began to analyze her face and body, she waltzed into the apartment and headed for the kitchen.

"Do you have any cups?"

"Uh, yeah. Back cupboard, above the stove." He closed the front door, latched it, and walked toward the kitchen.

"This one?" She inquired.

"No, one more to the right." He watched as she strained to reach for the cupboard, failed, and tried again.

He watched for a few seconds. "Uh, can I get that for you?"

"Oh, no, I'll get it. What drinks do you have?"

"Hard or soft?" He winced at his words.

"Huh? Oh, right. Um . . . do you have orange juice?"

"Lemme check." He dug in the refrigerator and held up a jug. "This okay?"

She turned, nodded, and continued to reach for her glass. Kai's eyes fell from her head to her chest. She was bouncing up and down in feeble attempts to lay a finger on a glass, breasts following with her movements. She finally stopped, placed her hands on her hips, and sharply exhaled, irritated. She turned to Kai, now allowing assistance.

His gaze quickly shifted to her face.

"Would you get a glass?" Her voice was sharp and to-the-point.

"Yeah, sure." He pulled down a large glass and set it on the counter.

"Than-kyu." She poured her drink and took a sip.

"So . . . uh, who are you?"

"Clar . . . is. Claris Fields. You're Kai Hunter?"

"Yeah. Why . . . how do you know me?"

"Papers. You're a survivor from Raccoon, according to them. True?"

Kai was curious as to her inquiries. "Yeah."

She took a drink and began heading to the living room. She plopped down on the sofa and rotated her body so that her legs were hanging over the arm. "You were infected with the . . . an odd virus, right?"

He cautiously walked into the living room. "I guess so. They wouldn't tell me--"

"What symptoms did you have? Besides the . . . obvious ones, no one knows the symptoms."

He slowly sat on the recliner, facing Claris. "Who are you? I mean . . . your affiliation."

For the first time, she targeted his eyes with a deadly glare. Suddenly, her blue eyes weren't so beautiful. "Answer the question."

Kai became defensive. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Whose house are you in?"

"My apologies," she replied, sarcasm filling her voice. her gaze calmed and centered on her drink.

"Answer my question."

Her eyes swiftly shifted behind Kai, into the kitchen. She stood and slowly began to move toward the doorway.

"What?" He rose to his feet.

A quiet, sharp pop emitted from the bedroom doorway beyond the kitchen's rear. Claris dove behind the sofa, narrowly escaping a projectile the landed in the center of the front door. Another pop fired, forcing Kai to hurtle toward the recliner in a state of semi-consciousness. He landed in a sitting position, leaning against the front of his chair. Soon after, he had fully lost consciousness.

***************

The door would not hold forever. The pounding grew more intense and fierce.

"What the hell is that!? What did you lead here!? You do know that you put my family in danger, right!?"

"What did you want me to do? Get eaten by it?"

"If that's what it took to keep my family safe!"

Brad took shock from Kai's response. "Look. Do you want to get out of here?"

"Shit--what do you think!?"

"Then shut up, calm down, and look around!" He looked irritated.

It was ominously quiet, at least until Kai's young son, Jacob, jerked open the upstairs door and came dashing out of the office, screaming apparently at his mother. He ran across the balcony, down the stairs, and toward the still door. He reached for the locks, failed, and tried again.

"Jacob, no! You can't go out there! It's too dangerous!"

"I DON'T GIVE A SHIT! NEITHER DOES MOM! NO ONE CARES ABOUT ME--IT'S ALL ABOUT YOU!" he screamed shrilly at the top of his lungs. He then saw a ventilation opening to the left of the door that apparently lead to an adjacent room. Immediately, he crawled in and disappeared.

By the time Kai had regained his balance after Jacob's explosion and reached the hole, his son was nowhere in sight. The duct was far too small for Kai to fit. He strained to see anything in the dim light of the other room. He saw a shadow in the next room that didn't look human . . .

***************

"AAAWWWWWW!"

Kai was rudely awakened by the feeling of well stuck duct tape ripping off of his mouth. A blindfold lifted and he found himself blinded by bright, pure white lights, immediately brewing a headache. He squinted over at his waker; an older man, hair greying, but full, including a complete, yet short beard. He wore a red-and-white tag on his labcoat that looked very familiar:

"GRAMM, WARREN"

"UM-B3 / DENVER, CO"

"RANK B-1 CHEMIST"

"ID#: 82450"

"Hello. Glad to see your eyes are focusing. Please say your full name."

He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing emerged but strained air.

"Hmmm . . . I will be back momentarily. I suggest you stay where you are." He strutted quickly out the electronic door.

Kai was now alone. He began to scan his surroundings. White lights covered the walls from top to bottom. The floor was tiled with white marble. All that was in the room was his bed, a tray of medical supplies at the foot of his bed, and a machine to Kai's left, which seemed to be reading his vital signs. One of the screens caught his eye; A security camera was divided into two screens. They showed him and another lab hat appeared the same as his. In it, Claris was sleeping. She wore only a garment covering her lower torso, leaving the rest revealed.

She was a voluptuous woman, especially with her hair out of the ponytail. The light brown beauty flowed over the edge of the lab bed like a gentle waterfall. Her serene, yet expressionless face showed that she had entered a dreamless sleep. Her breasts were perfect in size and dimension. Kai could tell that they were very firm, unlike most women's. They fit the rest of her gorgeous body like the finishing touch of a delicate puzzle.

"Ahem."

Kai whirled around, falling off the bed. Doctor Gramm had returned with a small syringe, a cartridge of some sort, and a disk. He walked around the embarrased Kai, to the machine, and plugged in the disk and cartridge. After a second, a bluish-green liquid showed behind a clear plastic panel. He stuck the syringe in a hole, next to the cartridge. It filled with the chemical.

He pulled the syringe out. "There. This will relieve your groggy state. Please return to your bed. I will administer this to you."

Kai scrambled back into the bed. The man injected two shots of the fluid into his wrists. Kai began to feel nauseated, then relieved. His headache had subsided, as did the acute dryness in his throat.

The man still lacked emotion. "Please say your full name."

"Kai Hunter. Where am I?"

"You looked at my tag. You know where you are, and you know who I am."

Kai was surprised that he had noticed. "Why am I here?"

Doctor Gramm ignored his inquiry. He made a few adjustments to the machine and quickly left the room. Kai quickly got up and looked out the duraplastic window. Another man, younger, was gathering memos and reports from his desk. He paid no attention to Kai.

Failing to get any attention from the receptionist, he tried the door. Naturally, it was locked by numeric code on a panel. He punched in a few numbers, but to no avail. Irritated, He crept back to the bed and lay down. The monitor on the machine had been turned off, and was locked by code. He resisted sleep, due to the recurring nightmare, but his boredom and confusion broke his resistance, and he began to doze.