He left the docks behind him as he walked down the street and looked to hail another cab. Sadly, none came his way, so he had to walk into the city. His gun was heavy in his pocket as he walked through a rough neighborhood. He checked his surroundings every so often and soon found himself in front of a computer café.

I wanted to get out of the streets for a while and maybe this café wouldn't mind letting me use one of their computers to get a better look at those videos.

George opened the door and walked in. He put some money on the counter and asked for some time on the computers. As he was about to walk away, he looked beyond the counter and saw some headphones for sale. George nodded towards the headphones and put some more money on the counter.

He sat down in front of the computer and tore open the package with his teeth. The monitor hummed as it clicked on. George input the password and username.

Now, logged in, George put on the headphones and put in the flash drive. The videos popped up and George clicked on the first one. Again the scientist stood before the camera.

"Today is the first live test of the experiment codename: Blackout. I have procured an injured Canine. I am testing the virus' recuperative abilities." The scientist said as he went about his business. He took a syringe and began to speak again. "I am now injecting the Canine with 15 CCs of Blackout. I am expecting a full recovery of this injury."

He passed his hand over the wound. The man stepped back and looked at his watch, counting the seconds. The skin merged where it was split and healed over, without a scar.

"Success!" He said excitedly. "As you can see, the wound is no longer there, no scars remain. The skin cells have reacted perfectly at an accelerated rate. Next, because of this success, I will be testing this on a human subject." The video cut off. George stretched and looked around. He hadn't eaten in a while and considered going to the bar in the café, but was turned off by a particularly large black man sitting at one of the tables, who was pestering the waitress.

"Where's yo katchup at?" He said as he shifted his large gait around. "I can't eat mah sub without no katchup. Even in 'Nam we had katchup ter put on the steaming piles of CRAP we had ter eat." His eye began to twitch as he continued his rant.

"Do you know what we had ter do in 'Nam to git sumptin ter eat? I swear I once had ter eat an entire village of BABIES ter survive! AND I DID IT WITH KATCHUP!"

The waitress hurried over to the table shakily with a bottle of ketchup. He took the bottle and poured half of it on his sandwich and devoured it in only a few bites. George couldn't look away from him, it was like staring at a train wreck happening.

He shook his head and looked back at the computer, trying not to think about the man. He clicked on the second video and started to watch it.

For the second time, the same man was standing in front of the camera.

"May 28, 1998 the first human test of codename: Blackout. With a successful animal test done, I have decided that I should move onto a human subject." There was loud screaming in the background and the scientist had to talk over the screaming. "I have once again procured a test subject and she is injured just the way the canine was, with a cut following from under her breast to the abdominal area." He traced the wound.

"Again I hope to see the recovery process sped up, while still keeping the same results." He took a needle from a table nearby and injected the woman with it. She was still screaming, but nothing was happening. George noticed that the scientist's face was contorted, fearing that this experiment might not work. Suddenly, the woman vomited and started to convulse. Her whole body began to twitch and shake. Her pigment grew paler and paler until it turned a milky white. While she was shaking, the wound started to heal over. The skin coming together, the bleeding stopped. Finally, she stopped moving and lay still on the table. Her breathing regulated and her skin started to turn back to normal.

"Well, I think we can call this a success." The scientist clapped as he spoke. The same words noting the change in her skin appeared and the video ended again.

George watched both videos over and over again, noting certain details he spotted on a note pad he had bought at the store. Looking for any details that would help him find out where the lab is, George ran through the videos once more. Finally on the second video, he stopped the video, looking at the reflection on a beaker. He could faintly make out a logo from one of the windows not shown on the video. Stopping the video, George stared closely trying to see what it was. He zoomed in as much as the video quality would allow him to go. It looked like a black dot surrounded by alternating red and white stripes.

"Where have I seen that logo before?" George asked himself as the computer's time ran out. "Damn, just what I need."

George gathered his things and began to get up. He quickly sketched the image out onto the note pad for further reference. Before he left he heard the man at the bar again, shouting at the waiter.

"Over here soldier! Front and center with mah frahs!"

A cool breeze greeted George, with the over cast skies though, he couldn't be too happy to be outside once more. The sun, though, was starting to peek over the clouds bathing everything in a warm orange glow.

George began down the street and turned every-so-often to try and hail a cab back to his office, but was finding no luck in the matter. He resided himself to walking back, it wasn't so bad because it gave him a chance to think and gather his thoughts.

He started to drift into a thought and didn't realize the figure coming up behind him. Footsteps went unheard, breathing unnoticed, a hand unfelt. George was ripped back into reality when that hand pulled him around and pushed him up against a building.

"Who the hell?" George said, surprised.

The dark figure was large, breathing heavily. George's heart stammered, threatening to jump out of his chest. He could feel the familiar cold metal of a gun pushing up against his side, the only thing throwing him off was that it was still in its holster.

"Where's yo mind at?" It was the man from the computer café. He stopped talking, not really expecting an answer but seeing if George was going to answer nonetheless. "I know what ya tryin' ter find. I can help ya find it."

"Okay, but can you first get off of me?"

"Oh, sorreh," He backed off allowing George to stand away from the building. "Din't realize I had ya pinned so hard."

"Yeah, well…what is it you want Mr…."

"Mark, just call meh Mark. No need fer last names, soldier."

"You do realize I'm not actually with the military…right?"

"Of course, what'dya take meh for, some dumb moron?"

"Just making sure. Okay, now you say you can help me?"

"Yeah, I know what'cher lookin' fer."

"So, we've established…."

"Yeah, the thing yer looking fer is in a lab in the University. Ya need to go there."

"The university, why there?"

"Has any of this made sense so far?" Mark put his hand on his hip and pinched the bridge of his nose with the other.

"Well I…it's just…" George tried to recover but couldn't.

"Look, ya need to go to the University and ya'll git the answer there."

"Well, uh…thanks, Mark."

"Just go take down that sumabitch."

"Wait, what?" George couldn't finish asking before Mark was already walking across the street. George turned to walk away deep in thought when something caught his eye. There was a flash of white, and then a loud crash as a white van collided with Mark. George felt the small shockwave that erupted from the impact, deep in his chest. The van was crushed in half; completely totaled. Mark lay still in one piece, gasping for breath.

George ran as fast as he could to the dying Mark.

"Geowjge! Geowjge! Help meh please!" Mark said pointing up into the sky.

George unscrewed a bottle of water. "Please try to use it."

"Thank ya kindly. Ya have to git to the University, ya have to take him down."

"Who?" George asked tipping the bottle for Mark.

"You need to find-" Mark's eyes shut and he let out his last breath.

"Who? Who?" George sat, waiting for a reply. He barely knew the man but he felt something for him, felt compelled to bring down the people that did this. George waited for a reply, but none came. Sitting for a moment, he reflected on what Mark said to him. "What the hell? Why does everyone die before they can tell me the information I need?"

George stood up and turned to walk back to his office, noting the immense damage done to the white van as he walked away.