This small man was beginning to irritate me more than I was okay with. We were in a camp jeep, driving along the long hallways and among all the people in bio hazard suits.
"Look, Susan already gave me a tour… And-and I appreciate all this but at the same time I really don't. So if you'll excuse me…" I tried to unbuckle and open my door but we came to a screeching halt that almost sent me through the wind shield. I rubbed my neck and scowled at the old fart sitting next to me
"Hey, what the hell, man? You could've killed me!" I yelled.
"So we understand each other," He said with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. His voice was gruff and sounded as though he had just gargled three cups of asphalt gravel. I frowned. "Young lady, I don't want trouble but I know how young and ignorant kids can be let alone one dealing with this situation." I fumed.
"Listen, General Grumpy-pants, I'm not a kid. I'm seventeen years old!" He smirked again.
"Names General Monger, and for your information the United States law clearly says that you become of age when you turn eighteen. You and I both know you still have a lot to learn." He raised an eyebrow and began running the engine. I tried to rebuttal but I sat back and felt my blood boil with embarrassment. He had no right to call me ignorant. He hadn't witnessed my life since I was bitten. He stuck his nose in the air at my silence.
"Now that's more like it." He said adjusting his position in the driver's seat. "Let's try this again." He said curtly. I gave his a sideways glare and took a deep breath, still refusing to let my arms relax. "This here," He extended his left arm outside the window. "Is Area-Fifty Something." I squinted glancing at the various janitors and scientists that lurked the halls, watching my every move like hungry lions stalking their rodent prey. "Established in the late sixties as a government cover up to convince the public that monsters weren't real."
"Tale as old as time." I said sarcastically.
"But as I'm sure you heard, thanks to our elite team of soldiers—er I mean, monsters," He corrected himself. "They were able to defeat the public's newest enemy, Galaxar in 2009. Damn near wiped out the entire city of San Fransisco, not to mention put all of planet earth in danger. But thanks to my instruction and leadership, that little bastard got himself blown up!" He laughed and slapped his knee causing the jeep to sway a little. I grabbed a hold of the side and held inciting him a nasty glance. "The President of these fifty states granted them their freedom and a new position as agents for the federal government: Defenders of the U.S.A." He said with wonder in his eyes. Oh boy. Just what I needed, another military happy bozo.
"I've heard this story about a kajillion times, Monger. " I said in a monotone.
"But what part you haven't heard, is your's, little lady." I squinted.
"What exactly is my part in all this then, sir? I gritted through my teeth.
"Well, this," He gestured. "Is your new home." He said.
"Let's get something straight, Monger. This place is not my home. Not now, not ever." I spat. He let out a condescending chuckle.
"Well, can't say you took it better than our last recruitment…" He said shaking his head. "Come on Ms. Richardson. Let's not make things difficult. This here facility is better than anything they'll try to coop you up in on the outside. Museums, carnivals, zoo's. This world don't take too kindly to monsters. And that's the truth."
"Being forced to join a team of radioactive freaks thrown into a ring to fight off aliens? Sounds like a zoo to me." He made an abrupt stop, slamming his foot on the break.
"Now who said anything about you joining this elite team-force?" He squinted.
"We strive to keep the streets out of danger, and you, little lady, are a force to be reckoned with." I sat up a little straighter feeling the burn lift from my chest. "And I don't mean that in a good way. Of course, you'll be staying here until we can get that little 'power' of yours under control."
"'Power'? Are you kidding me? I was bitten by a maniac who may I remind you is still roaming the streets?"
"What's important is that we keep you and the public out of danger."
"What about my parents?" I asked. "What about my life?"
"Good God, kid as far as your concerned, life as you know it is over. Everything here is on a need to know basis. So consider this your new living quarters, soldier!" I closed my eyes and tried to repress every insult my brain conjured up.
"Who the hell has a say in taking me away from my own family?" I furrowed my brows.
"Oh, you've got the President of these very states to thank for that! After you're little — outburst, he ordered to have you kept out of the public eye, make sure you don't kill nobody else. Besides, your famous. Your face is sweeping the nation and the outcry to have to locked up was hostile to say the least. Hell, you had the army screamin' like little school girls!" He laughed and patted the wheel a few times. "Like America had screaming diarrhea. And all while U.T.M.I?" He whispered and leaned in with a hand beside his mouth. "That's code for—"
"I know what it's code for!" I snapped. He frowned. "Under the monster influence. Susan told me."
"Hmph." He said frowning. "Back in my days, codes were something to be respected. Held in confidence!" I raised an eyebrow. "Any who, let's get this show on the road!" He said almost running into three terrified workers.
"Goody." I said flunked in my seat.
We headed through a few tunnels here and there and he almost threw me out the side door with his clear lack of driving experience. I decided to buckle my seatbelt after that. The facility was pretty incredible, I had to admit. From the weapons being tested through glass doors to all the crazy stuff you'd think would be hidden up in a top secret government confident.
"Here we have our mothership—the very ship we use for transportation on every mission." I smiled and pressed my face against the window. "Which of course you'll not be gettin' on any time soon. Let's move on!" He said cheerfully pressing on the gas pedal.
I grumbled to myself and sat back down in my seat.
"This is bullshit." I mumbled.
"What was that soldier?" He asked gruffly.
"Oh I was professing what an honor it is to be in the presence of such hero work such as your team of monsters." I smiled sarcastically.
"That's what I thought you said." He smiled, squinting his eyes. God I hated this with the fire of a thousand suns.
After he'd driven through almost fifteen pedestrians, almost thrown me out of the car multiple times, and after we'd surfaced almost every "important and relative to your current situation" part of the base, we drove to a large set of metallic sliding doors almost as tall as the jeep itself. I looked at Monger.
"I thought we were heading back to the common area…?" I said.
"Not yet, little lady. We've got one more stop." He said getting out of the jeep. I opened up my door and stretched my arms. I was beginning to realize how comfortable this synthetic jacket they'd given me really was.
"Where are we?" I asked nonchalantly. He didn't answer but ushered past a few people holding bags and clipboards. A rather boney woman in a lab coat with a tight bun showcasing every wrinkle and imperfection on her face turned around quickly and raised an eyebrow. She was clinging to a clipboard and her red fingertips tapped it rhythmically.
"Ms. Collins." He bowed his head a tad and she nodded.
"General Monger." She said without changing the cold, dead expression on her face. "Is this…" She looked me up and down in slight disgust. "The specimen?" She curved her lip to her nose slightly as if a foul odor had just made itself known.
"This is Ms. Richardson, the one we picked up last week." He said.
"Charming." She said. Even from behind the protection of her large red glasses I still felt like her cold stare could turn me to stone faster than Medusa could snap her fingers. She turned around swiftly and abruptly, typing in an unreasonably long code into the keypad and scanning fingerprint. Once the doors opened, she turned to the general and I. "This way." She jerked her head down the hallway and Monger ushered me to follow close behind.
"Charlotte Collins is the best in business, recruited her from the best government forensics lab in Utah. Worst Bratwursts in America." He shivered and regained his posture, holding his hands behind his back as he led me in first.
"Is this part of the tour or…?" I asked confused and a little hungry.
"I better let Ms. Collins do the talkin'." He nodded towards the back of her head. She was standing up so straight that a metal pole might as well have been strapped between her shoulders. She walked with haste and without any movement in her small hips or shoulders. Almost identical to a heartless robot.
"Ms. Richardson," She said without turning her head. "Ever since Area Fifty Something got a glimpse of your — rather, raw exterior, my people became increasingly intrigued by that blemish of yours." She said curtly.
"You mean my bite?" I said grinding my teeth. The very "blemish" that had dictated every waking moment of my life since I was twelve? That blemish?
"Whatever you chose to call it is just fine, Ms Richardson." She said condescendingly. "See, I've been studying human DNA and various other creatures here at the base. And more recently…Aliens." She lowered her chin slightly. "At our last meeting with the President, just a routine check up over basic diagnostics and various economic strategies concerning the base and its inhabitants, Monger so graciously informed us that a 'werewolf' would be joining us at the base. Needless to say that my interest was peeked." She said. "This way." She led us through a few more turns and then into a large open lab space with various other smart-looking people sporting glasses and lab coats, holding neon colored vials and conversing with each other in hushed conversations. When we entered the room, the smell of metal, plastic and acid was prevalent and it almost burned off every nose hair I had. I made a face and couched a tad attempting to whisk it away with a flap of my hand.
"Don't bother trying to rid yourself of the smell. Your senses are heightened and therefore ten times as strong as the average human." She said. I paused. "My senses?" I asked. She turned around and sighed with a look of sheer annoyance.
"Your senses. Audio, touch, taste, smell, sight?" She said regaining her posture.
I looked over my shoulder and saw Monger conversing with some of the other scientists, leaving me alone to with this she-devil. I shifted uncomfortably.
"Anyways, ever since the government began keeping tabs on you, I knew we had a much bigger case on our hands. That bite, Ms. Richardson," She pointed to my shoulder where my shirt still sagged from earlier. "Is not any average bite."
"What are you talking about?" She pursed her lips.
"I've only seen bites like these in very specific cases. And I've been studying human DNA for seventeen years. It's no common curse we have on our hands, Ms. Richardson." I shook my head in disbelief. For years what I thought was a terrible fate thrown at me like a curve ball, wasn't a fate after all. "If my hunch is correct, with the correct research — well, with the research we've been able to conduct — there's a possibility that it can indeed can be cured." The words seemed to leave her mouth in slow-motion and my whole world began to spin.
"C-cured?" I asked breathlessly. "I can go h-home?" I stuttered almost unable to believe the words she was speaking.
"There's a chance. A very — slim chance, Ms. Richardson. Extensive research and tests will have to be conducted before anything is for certain." I was so overcome with emotion that I sprung off the ground and wrapped my hands almost three times around her tiny waist, tears of joy springing from my eyes. Immediately however, she struggled to free herself and pushed me away, fixing her slicked back bun and misplaced glasses. "Get off me, you sickly child!" She pounced backwards and scowled. "This is a place of science, not horseplay!" She snapped. She cleared her throat and smoothed her coat of any wrinkles. She then led me to a tube with a DNA sample emerged in a blue bubbling liquid.
"Here." She shoved the clipboard towards me and held a pen in her other hand. "I need your formal permission to further conduct tests and gather research. Of course if you want to stay like this, however," She raised an eyebrow.
"Are you kidding me?" I grabbed the clipboard and signed my name with haste and slammed the pen down when I was finished. My hands were shaking I could hardly contain myself. "Yes! Hell yes I consent, I consent!" I squealed. The lab went quiet and everyone looked at me with a collective judgmental stare. I cleared my throat and clasped my hands together at my waist. "I mean, yes, please." Collins stared at me and let out a sharp breath.
"Very good. We will begin research immediately." She said putting a hand on my back and leading me to an examination chair. I sat down hesitantly and laid my head back on a soft, cushy pillow and took a deep breath. Monger stifled over to me and straightened his back with his hands tied.
"Well, Ms. Richardson, what do you think?" I smiled and laughed breathlessly.
"What do I think?" I wiggled my toes and squealed. "I think I'm getting out of here!"
"We can only hope." Collins said smirking. I rolled my eyes and looked around.
"What's first?" I asked excitedly. Collins looked at her colleagues hesitantly and looked back at me.
"What?" I asked growing more anxious by the second at their sudden hesitation.
"We need you to transform in order for the proper first steps and samples to be taken." She said dryly.
"I—I don't know." I said. Collins ceased in her steps.. "I'm—unpredictable, and I'm, not — myself." I said furrowing my brows. "What if I hurt someone?" I said grudgingly. "I don't think I could live with that." I said. There was a mummer of agreement among the scientists.
"We all knew what we were getting into when we accepted these positions, Ms. Richardson. We have the best of the best on our side. And in order for this test to be successful, we need you completely turned. Precautions have been set in place to ensure our safety as well as yours. Now, if you'll please." She said almost in a whisper. She looked at two large burly nurses and nodded. They immediately strapped my chest and arms with steel bars to the bed as well as my legs and ankles.
"Are you comfortable, Ms. Richardson?" She asked.
"Barely." I said fidgeting.
"If you keep moving it will get tighter." She turned to the general. "General, perhaps it'd be best if you weren't present for this next sequence?" She said politely. He lifted his chin.
"No, ma'am. This is my facility and I have access to all it's patrons and all experimentations." She nodded and I felt a sigh of relief come over me like a tidal wave.
"Very well. But please stand by. Without the proper training, things can get messy." She explained. A few men tapped him on the shoulder and held out a helmet. He reused and laughed.
"No need. I once commanded an army of ten into a death pit with nothing on but the clothes on my back. Escaped without a scar." He said proudly. Collins widened her eyes and turned towards me.
"If you insist, General." She said cautiously. She turned to me with the same cold expression as before but somehow softer this time. A chubby nurse tied a rubber band around my arm and poked my vein slightly.
"She's clear for injection, Dr. Collins!" Her squeaky voice declared. Collins came in behind her and stabbed the syringe into my arm with great force. I let out a shriek of pain and shoved my head backwards digging my fingers into the sheets under me.
"Gimme that helmet!" Monger snatched it from the hands of the confused nurses.
"Now, you might feel a slight sense of pressure and nausea, but that's normal." She turned to everyone else. "Brace for impact, everyone Transformation in three," I felt a bubbling occur in my stomach and a pressure rise in my head. "…Two…" The world was becoming blurry and suddenly I was spinning out of control, letting our wolfish growls as I felt my fingernails sprout from my cuticles. I heard every beep, every pump and every breath taken, including the pounding of my heart against my ribcage. I let out one last scream before the world began to slow. "One."