I was faced by a blinding light and a woman engulfed in a lab coat. She had soft blonde hair with brown eyes and a smile that stretched across her face. She was one of them. It was easy to tell, apart from the fake emotion it had the scratch. Right above her collar bone was a symbol, looked somewhat like an X, that had been burned into her skin. Every one of them had one. It was their mark. I held myself up starring the creature down.
"Now now. Let's not be rash about this, you don't want to do that do you?" She smiled.
"Watch me bitch!" I yelled then spat at her feet.
"Come on now, don't you like it here?" Her smile widened. The shear plasticity of her made me sick.
"To tell you the truth. NO"
She started to advance towards me, just what I wanted.
"DON'T COME ANY CLOSER! ILL LET GO!"
She slowly moved closer.
"Mr. Schwartz, you just need to calm down." She reached into her pocket and pulled something out.
A syringe with some strange liquid with something floating in it.
"You'll learn to love us. Everyone does." She got within distance and I leaped at her. We fought for the syringe but I had the upper hand. I disarmed her and within seconds her head was between my hands.
"Fat chance."I snapped her neck and her body went limp showing her true form. What use to be a woman in her late 20s morphed into a monstrous creature. It had an elongated body black as ash glittering with blue scales and a bright blue X on its collar. Its hands extended into claws and it stood on the balls of its feet. It's spine extended into a tail spiked at the bottom and its teeth, the most gruesome of features, looked like that of an anglerfish. I had no time to marvel at the demonic parasite I only had 5 minutes to get out. I barely slipped through the door as the emergency lockdown went off. My bare skin shivered under the chill of the room but I took off running. I ripped out my tracker band and dropped it on the ground and ran through the corridors.
"6543XX went that way!" I heard them running.
I ducked behind the corner and they ran past me before I continued. I jumped up on a desk and climbed into the ceiling being sure to hide my tracks. I army crawled through the rafters quickly but quietly.
"His tracker sir." I heard from below and I stopped moving and held my breath.
"Smart little insect. SPREAD OUT. we have a rogue experiment. We will not rest until he is brought back."
I heard them move out and I started inching on.
"You didn't think you could leave us so soon did you? Mr. Schwartz? "My blood went cold and a clawed hand exploded through the ceiling. "I can smell you..."
No time for special care I stuck the syringe into its hand and it howled in pain retreating. I crawled faster. It was like a scene from a zombie horror movie, claws broke through the ceiling beneath me all trying to grab at me and bring me down. I managed to make it past them with only a few scratches. My heart was exploding. I found an air duct with a straight drop down. I was running out of options, I braced myself and jumped. Lucky for me the fan was on. Most people would see this as a problem but the intense pressure of the air coming out kept me hovering just above the blades that would have otherwise neutered me. I had to think fast. I didn't like the idea but I didn't really have a choice. I struggled but I took of my prosthetic and flung it into the fan. It stopped but I knew it wouldn't hold. I climbed through just before my prosthetic snapped. That's $500 I'll never get back...I was now faced with the outside world. For the first time I'm months I saw my city. But it wasn't my city anymore. Where there once was skyscrapers, clean oceans and blue skies now held a barren waste land covered in ash and the bones of my fellow people. I stood in shock but hardened in hate as I looked at the sky of red.
We hugged each other in the sewers, I knew it was for the last time.
They were getting smarter it was only a matter of time before they found us.
"Daddy...I'm scared" whispered Janice shakily.
"Shhh...it's ok sweetie...just stay quiet " Anne said desperately trying to reassure and quiet her daughter.
"We're going to be ok Jannie June." I lied.
"Dad I hear them, the ships." Cried Shepard.
"It's ok Shepard they won't find us.."I lied again. I knew what was going to happen.
"I love you Rob."
"I love you too Anne "
The ground above us avalanched down. Janice shrieked and I covered her mouth.
I looked into Anne's eyes for the last time "run."
She looked in fear and reluctantly took off down the tunnels with our children .
When they got a safe distance away I took out a mini makeshift bomb from my pack. I pulled the peg out and tossed the cylinder down the tunnel. I backed away and the bomb exploded sealing the tunnel passage. I was blown backwards and sunk in to the sewer water. Everything went white and all I heard was a thousand ringing bells. I felt their claws on me, and the stabbing of a tracker. That was all I could remember before everything went dark.