Ready for a well-crafted, descriptive story that deserves a stronger publication push than we can offer? Good. It’d your lucky day. E.M. Thomner jutst submitted an awesome piece of fiction that you’ve absolutely got to check it out!

Transgenesis

E. M. Thomner (pen name)

Transgenesis

The process of introducing a transgene into a living organism so that the organism will exhibit a new property and transmit that property to its offspring.

1

It was the morning of the 23rd November and the ashen skies over Washington DC were as barren as the blue frosted streets that chained the cities guts in ribbons of winding concrete. Aside from the occasional military helicopter flitting overhead or a random emergency vehicle patrolling the vacant streets, there was nothing but the occasional chirp of a wintering bird or a sharp flutter of broken crime scene tape to fill the silence.

It had been four days since the end of “The Scourge” as the press had labeled it. And around DC, as well as the entire country, people cowered behind locked doors, huddled around their television sets waiting for updates. Waiting for the news that they were finally safe.

But there were signs of life in the Capital. An impatient commotion of news crews had entrenched themselves in front of the Washington Hospital Center which currently housed one Sergeant Klein Horner; the Hero of Overlook. Sergeant Horner had brought about the end of a Scourge fueled military uprising that could have wiped out most of the population. If the media were to be believed that was. And the people were hungry to believe any scrap of news that provided hope during these dark times.

What the populace did know was that something bad had happened. Something that had changed their friends and family into powerful, biting, cutting monsters that had damaged themselves and others like them. Until the uprising. The soldiers of Overlook had wanted not only to harm themselves and each other, but everyone. But Horner had stopped them. He was the only one that could. He had been one of them after all.

2

The broken and bandaged body of Sergeant Horner was just visible through the viewing window of Room 247. The rooms dense stillness was disturbed only by the steady beep of the machines that mirrored the cadent beat of Horner’s vital signs. Overhead, the vine of feed lines from the saline and Propofol drips ministered the patient like the umbilical cords of some alien fetus.

General Wesley Triggs chewed fervently on his unlit pipe and saluted Horner through the glass “Goddam hero is what he is.”

At the General’s side, Senator Denny Soward gazed sullenly at the paper cup of lukewarm coffee in his hand. Denny considered there had to be a law against allowing colored dishwater like this to be called coffee. And if there wasn’t, he might be the one to introduce it.

“Then we’re lucky.” Denny muttered glumly “The nation needs a hero to take its mind of this, this catastrophe.” Denny shook his head and set the cup on a low table between a copy of Every Woman’s Digest and Bass Fishing Weekly.

“Catastrophe? With something as powerful as this harnessed by the US military…well. The world will be a safer place Senator. And isn’t that what we all want?” Triggs couched his branchy eyebrows and frowned suspiciously at Denny. The pipe firmly clenched between the General’s yellowed teeth pointed an accusatory finger in the Senator’s direction.

“Sure. If you can actually learn how to control it.“ Denny sighed, ignoring Triggs stare and gazed through the window at the soldier lying motionless in the hospital room.

Horner had been segregated in the heavily guarded second floor of the Washington Hospital. He had arrived four days before with near fatal injuries. To a normal human being they would have been fatal at least. Multiple broken bones, ruptured liver, face and neck trauma, gun shot and stab wounds and missing fingers and teeth.

However since his arrival, and with minimal medical assistance, the soldier’s liver was regenerating, as was his skin, muscle, fingers and teeth. His bones were resetting nicely and the bullet and stab wounds had already healed. In another day or two Horner would be walking around like nothing had ever happened.

Denny shivered and turned away from the window.

“Wheres the Doc?” The General’s voice was barely a whisper. His attention held captive by the figure in the hospital bed.

“With Nella. She’s putting him through his paces before the press conference.”

“Excellent.” Triggs turned to Denny who was now staring at the floor “Good girl Nella. Best damn PR in this town or anywhere else. If anyone can clean this mess up its her. Not so sure about the Doc though. He’s weak. Never been hundred percent on board with our work.”

Triggs’ short lecture was punctuated by the loud ping of the elevator as it landed at their floor. Denny was straightening his tie and dusting particles of bagel from his jacket as Nella Bertrand and Doctor Lucian Audley turned the corner and headed their way. Nella was beaming and waving excitedly. Trailing listlessly behind her, the bedraggled Doctor Audley looked as if he had just fallen out of bed.

“Talk of the devil.” The General laughed loudly and held his hands out to welcome Nella who was striding towards them in an incessant click clack of three inch stiletto heels. Even on a bitterly cold day as this, Nella wouldn’t been seen in anything other than heels.

“Only good things I hope General.” Nella said smiling demurely. She removed her gloves and laid her perfectly manicured hands into the thick mitts of the General. “So hows our guy doing today?” She asked, pecking the General lightly on the cheek.

“He’s a miracle of modern medicine. Isn’t that right Doc?” Triggs smiled proudly at a miserable looking Audley.

In turn Audley scowled out a despondent sigh and dug his hands deep into his pockets. When he finally spoke, it was directed at no-one in particular. “He’s still sedated for now. Not that he actually needs to be. Horner’s rate of healing is off the chart as we expected. More so in fact. Those injuries would have killed him if he was…well like everyone else”.

Denny wiped at his eyes and leaned back onto the window. He felt more at ease when he couldn’t see Horner. ”So why sedate him?”

Audley glanced nervously at the soldier in the hospital bed then turned his attention to his shoes “I prefer him that way, as does the entire staff of this wing.”

Triggs rolled his eyes “Don’t start this again Lucian please.”

“Don’t start what?” Denny asked. Another chill threaded the length of his spine as he began to pace the hallway. He didn’t know why, but he couldn’t wait to get the hell outside and away from the sleeping Sergeant Horner.

Audley appraised the agitated Senator before replying “Anyone entering that room reports nausea, severe headaches, nose bleeds and a general feeling that…that…well that.” The Doctor’s sentence abruptly ended with a self-conscious nudge of his wire rimmed glasses further up his nose.

“The Doctor thinks Sergeant Horner is evil” Triggs said matter-of-factly.

The Senator snorted out a laugh that was cut short by the earnest expressions of Triggs, Audley and Nella “Jesus you’re serious? I didn’t peg you as the religious kind Doc.”

”Evil isn’t a word I or any of the staff have used” Audley said softly “But I cant argue with it. And it’s not just me. There isn’t one member of staff on this wing that wants to enter that room. We draw straws to see who goes in and we go in two at a time. No-one is allowed to go in alone. You been in there with him? You should, all of you. It’s one thing worshiping him from this side of the window. It’s a whole other deal being in the room. Trust me, I feel like I need a damn shower every time I touch him.”

“Keep that shit to yourself Doctor. You and your staff. I don’t want stupid talk like that in the hands of the press. I’ve got enough to handle as it is.” Nella completed her rebuke with an irritated shake of her long chestnut hair.

Triggs glowered at Audley before speaking “Let’s get back to the real world shall we? How’s it going with the public clean up Nella?”

Nella smiled sweetly and pulled the electronic notebook from her glossy designer purse “Thankfully most can’t remember anything.” she said tapping the power button. “They are all back to normal according to reports; no intervention required. The infection – that’s the science teams name by the way not mine – seems to have a life cycle. And it generally leaves subjects with partial or total amnesia, thankfully. We’ve paid all the subject’s medical bills and contributed a sizable payoff on behalf of Schoefer chemicals in exchange for the subjects signing a non-disclosure agreement. Which seems to have shut the majority of whiners up.” Nella flushed slightly and looked nervously at Triggs “The sister is still causing problems however.”

“Dammit!” The General’s sudden outburst sent a spray of saliva onto the viewing window and his unlit pipe bounding off the floor. His pock marked cheeks reddened in embarrassment as he bent to pick up the pipe, which he dusted down gently with a pristine white handkerchief before setting it in his pocket.

“Who? What sister?” The Senator had ceased pacing and now stood gawping at Nella in nervous anticipation of her answer

“Connie Gueriro, the sister of Drew Finlay.” Nella tapped a line of long red nails over her notebook. “Drew was the victim in the first recorded event back in August. She was attacked by a Grace Theabeaut in Mischon County, Califor-”

“Drew Finlay wasn’t attacked.” Audley interjected “She was a willing participant just like all the others. Drew Finlay sat peacefully in a chair and let the old lady slice pieces of her sca-”

“And the Sheriff involved,” Nella drawled, raising her voice over Audleys. The thick Southern accent she had been so desperately trying to conceal re-emerged momentarily, as it always did when she lost her composure. “a Sheriff Joshua Kade, is still helping the sister. They are becoming quite the annoyance by all accounts.”

“And?” Trigg’s cheeks now flushed with irritation rather than embarrassment.

Nella swallowed hard, hooking a wayward strand of hair from her face. “Your guys said they would deal with it.”

The flush drained from Triggs’ face. “Pity it had to come to that but we cant have any loose ends on this.”

Even amid the strange cold that permeated the second floor of the hospital, Denny Soward was perspiring heavily. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” He exclaimed, grabbing nervously at his collar. “How many people already lost their lives over this? And now we are taking people out? My god we should never have involved the public. That was rash and just plain stupid. Experiments should be controlled. And this was anything but. The soldiers were one thing…but the public?”

Triggs’ stern gaze reset itself on Denny. “What do you suggest Senator? Hey I know, how about we tell everyone that you just happen to be a major stock holder in Schoefer Chemicals, the company that manufactured the infection laden Mx50? And that you helped ok the production and prescribing of Mx50 without human trials, along with your panel of buddies and the blessing of the head of FDA? Does that sound more palatable to you Mister Soward?”

Denny’s paling complexion now glistened under a solid sheen of sweat. “You never said anything about people dying or mutilations.”

“No and you didn’t ask.” Nella snarled, thrusting a handkerchief into the Senator’s wet palm. “You really think something this big doesn’t come with risks Soward? You took the money and looked the other way. But that doesn’t make you any less guilty than the rest of us. So do me a favor and save the self-righteous garbage for the voters.”

Soward was frantically mopping at his forehead with Nella’s now sodden tissue. “If you had told me about where the sample had come from before all this…I…I would never have agreed to…”

Denny Soward’s protestations locked in his throat as Triggs marched purposefully in his direction. Soon he and Triggs were literally nose to nose.

“Bullshit Soward.” The General growled “Deep down you wanted to know how far reaching its effects were. You and your friends read the same reports as we did from the animal lab, yet you still signed off on it all.” Triggs winked at the stunned Senator and patted him gently on the shoulder. “You’re going to be a rich man Soward, or should I say richer?”

“General, what about the artifact?” Nella’s voice was barely audible. She stared languidly into the window of Horner’s room, one small hand pressed against the glass.

“Its safe Nella.” Trigg’s said gently. “Doc hows it going with the synthesizing of the sample?”

“No luck so far. It’s very old.” Audley lowered his head and mumbled his justification into the buttons of his lab coat.

“Well being old hasn’t stop it working so far has it, so what the hell is the hold up?”

“General.” Audley said sighing dramatically. “The blood sample, it’s like nothing we or anyone else has ever seen before. You’ve see its effects for gods sake.” The Doctor nodded at Horner. “Do you really think it reacts like normal blood?”

“We can’t lose this thing Lucian, it’s far too precious. How much of it is left?”

“Not much and I can’t say I’m sad about that either.”

A thread of desperation weaved itself into the General’s normally stolid demeanor. “Can we use Horner’s blood and synthesize the infection from that?”

Audley shook his head despairingly, as if he had expected the question but had hoped it would never be asked. “I don’t know, maybe.”

“Find out and soon. Nella, do we have the final mortality numbers on this thing?”

Nella turned away from Horner, the torpor falling from her green eyes. “Huh? Oh yes, all told only 423 deaths and those were accidental by all accounts. The victims bled to death from their injuries. The remaining-” Nella glanced at her notes. “-40,487 have fully recovered.”

Audley scoffed humorlessly, drawing a virulent glare from Nella. “Does that death count include the 114 suicides in the last four days Nella?” Content that Triggs and Denny looked sufficiently shocked the Doctor continued on. “Wow now I wonder why your people didn’t think to tell either of you about that? And as an aside, don’t you think its interesting that the suicides started the day the uprising was quashed by our new friend in there?”

“What suicides? What the hell is he talking about? And why wasn’t I informed?”

“General they can’t prove a link. That’s why it was never brought to your attention.”

Audley smiled. “Aw come now Nella, that’s stretching it don’t you think? Over one hundred recovering infected, dead in a matter of days? And we all know that they aren’t going to be the last either.”

“Why more?” Denny’s query was little more than a muffled groan as he took a seat on the coffee table and rested his head in his hands.

“Because they all know something Senator.”

“That’s bullshit Audley.” Nella’s austere castigation was unconvincing. She coughed self-consciously and sneaked a troubled glance at the General who had returned his attention to Horner.

“You talked to any of them lately Miss Bertrand? They’re scared shitless.”

“Scared of what Doctor?” Denny clawed restlessly at his neck, his nails scratching lines of fresh pink veins in their wake.

“They don’t know, but they’re still terrified. We think that the infection may have left something behind. Permanently changing them somehow. We just don’t know how far reaching the effects are yet.” Audley checked that he still had Denny’s full attention before proceeding. “Senator only yesterday one of the survivors, Bob Serkis a twenty six year old accountant in Idaho, drank a bottle of drain cleaner in front of his wife and kids at the breakfast table. His wife said he had been afraid he was going to do something bad. And that he had talked about nothing else since his recovery. Apparently he also been having vivid nightmares about a war. The war to end all wars is the phrase his wife used if I remember correctly. And get this Mister Soward. In post interviews all of the other infected reported similar experiences. That’s over 40,000 people. Spin that one Nella.”

“Jesus.” Denny gasped. His head, which now felt as if it were stuffed with wet wool, fell back into his hands.

“Sanctimonious asshole.” Nella hissed her reply while dusting face powder across her nose with an unsteady hand.

“But hell we think the project is a great success because none of the infected public went on a killing spree? Then this one man-” Audley waved a dismissive hand at the soldier in the hospital bed. “-saves us all from a team of maniacs who almost did? A team of elite soldiers that we strapped down and injected with this shit. Full dose, after what happened out there with just a drop of it in the population’s…”. The Doctor spat out a disgusted laugh “…mood enhancing pills?” Audley took a long breath and ran a calming hand through his mop of black hair until a wave of nausea subsided. “Jesus Christ, if the soldiers had escaped from that facility?”

“But they didn’t Doctor.” Triggs yelled defiantly.

The unexpected outburst jolted Denny from his daze. His right arm whipped sideways, sending the half empty cup of coffee spilling over the floor. Denny immediately dropped to his knees and mouthed a string of obscenities as he attempted to mop the spill with a used napkin from his pocket.

The General continued, oblivious to the Senator’s plight. “This badly injured man stopped them all and almost paid with his life. This…this miracle.”

“He’s an abomination General.” Audley raised his voice to match Triggs. “You cant control him, how can you? He’s practically unkillable. My god he can probably even hear our thoughts. And who knows what else he can do that we don’t know about?” Audley voice rose with each word. “You really think we can train him to sit up, beg and roll over? And to top it all you’re already talking about him running for office?” The Doctor shook his head and jammed a skinny hand into his lab coat pocket. He quickly withdrew a stained blue cloth that he tossed to an appreciative Denny. “You are playing with fire all of you.”

“Yes he will do exactly what we tell him to.” Triggs punctuated his response by stabbing a finger at the recalcitrant Doctor. “Because he will always be a soldier. As will the others that we make after him.”

“You’re freaking insane. Man I’m really going to enjoy watching this guy and his buddies chew your stupid faces off.”

Nella slipped her lipstick back into her purse and snapped it closed with a sharp click. “Doctor! Remember who the hell you are talking to.” Her thin lips were now a vibrant paper cut amid her colorless skin.

“Whatever.” The Doctor grumbled truculently. “If it were up to me I would quarantine them all and put Horner down. Even the ones that seem ok are all still a danger.”

“But thankfully it’s not up to you Doctor.” Nella said evenly “Rest assured they are under supervision. And apart from the slip ups-”

Audley coughed out the word out “Suicides”, yet again interrupting a visibly exasperated Nella.

“-they are just fine. Now our main concern in the man in that room.” Nella turned to face Sergeant Horner and the rest followed. Some more hesitantly than others.

“Doc.” Triggs snapped his fingers at Audley. “How long before we can get him before a camera?”

“God you haven’t listened to a word I have said have you?”

“How long?” Triggs said sternly.

“Another couple of days max.”

“I want him transferred to Walter Reed immediately after his sedation is lifted. I want him closely monitored, understand?”

“Whatever.”

Nella laid a conciliatory hand on the Doctor’s shoulder “You ready for the press Audley?”

“No.”

Nella sighed and turned her attention to Denny. “Senator we want you out there with the General first. You don’t have to say anything just smile and nod, ok?”

The Senator rolled his eyes and continued to drag a now saturated cloth over small islands of coffee that still dotted the floor.

“Doctor I need you to meet me in the lobby in ten minutes. That’s-” Nella pulled her sleeve up to reveal a delicate gold watch. “-10.20 ok? I want to prep you again before we get in front of the cameras.”

Audley regarded his own watch, ignoring Nella completely.

“Ok people let’s do this.” Nella exclaimed loudly.

With that the Senator set off down the corridor at speed, losing his footing briefly as he hit a patch of coffee his ineffectual clean-up had missed. The Doctor soon followed, meandering slowly around the corner and out of sight.

Triggs waited for the sound of the elevator doors closing before speaking. “The background check. Was I right? Nothing to worry about?”

Nella nodded. “Horner is average and clean. A thirty three year old career soldier.” She perused her notebook once more. “An only child born in the Middle East to an Army father and civilian mother. The family moved around various army bases before finally settling in El Paso, Texas. At nineteen years of age Klein signed up with the army just like his Father and Grandfather before him.”

“Good, good. We don’t want anything muddying the waters so to speak. Anything more on the results of the study?”

Nella typed swiftly onto her keyboard and chewed thoughtfully on her bottom lip. “Well on the mutilations the theory from the think tank is that the infected were trying to change their appearance. To look less human and more.”

“More what?”

“More like whatever they thought was inside them I suppose.” Nella shrugged. “The injuries were pretty standard across the infected. Removal of hair and scalp; gouging or flaying of the skin on the face, neck, genitals and leg area.” Nella read the injuries like a shopping list. “Removal of teeth, fingers and toes, broken kneecaps and the cutting of unidentified symbols into the chest and back. The reports of telepathy are unconfirmed as of right now. However we do know that groups of the infected were beginning to congregate in two main areas – Newington, Virginia and Palo Alto, California. But we still don’t know why; the two locations appear to hold no real significance. And they all dispersed after Outlook fell.” Nella stopped and looked up at Triggs

“What is it Nella?”

“The mutilations, they just don’t makes sense. Knowing what we know about the sample. Unless we were wrong?”

“We are not wrong Nella, I can assure you of that. And no the mutilations do not make sense.” He turned his eyes to the ceiling as if searching for something. “Perhaps their psyches just couldn’t cope with the infection and somehow rebelled. Turning on themselves and each other the way they did, there really isn’t any other explanation.” Triggs eyes returned to the hospital room. “Unlike our friend here of course. Did Horner say anything, anything at all?”.

“No Sir he didn’t. And well they sedated him shortly after he arrived.”

“Anything else?”

“All we know is he’s still the only one that didn’t react like the others. After the infection was introduced he was unconscious for about five days, probably due to the concentrated dosage. But that sedation time was no different than the other soldiers.”

“How did the other soldiers react when they woke?”

“Well you read the reports on Overlook Sir. They were psychotic. Uncontrollable random acts of violence against each other and the non-infected staff.” Nella flipped her notebook shut and slid it under her arm. “That part was new. The general population only hurt themselves or other infected, never the non-infected. And these guys were cogent too, highly organized. It wasn’t blind rage by any means. Unlike the mindless zombies that appeared in the general test subjects. What’s really interesting is that none of the soldiers injuries resulted in their incapacitation. But the injuries they inflicted on the non-infected were quite the opposite. We have eleven dead so far, five in ICU and thirty seven others still recovering. And chances are four out of the five ICU patients won’t make it.”

Triggs nodded softly, his eyes never leaving the sleeping soldier. “Side effects?”

“Yes Sir. Increased strength, resistance to pain and incredible healing ability. The mutilations were ironically ineffectual because of that. Plus possible signs of telepathy as mentioned.” Nella regarded Triggs nervously, unsure if he was actually listening to her. She moved a step closer to him. “As I said the majority of infected can’t remember a thing. The others memories are hazy at best. So much so, the reports on infected behavior has mostly come second hand from loved ones or hospital staff that were caring for them.” She coughed politely before continuing. “There appear to be no carry over effects. Their healing ability, strength etc. have all returned to pre-infection levels. Well apart from Klein, his levels haven’t changed. On the plus side for the pubic, all ailments and diseases they had prior to the infection have not returned. And that’s including cancer. The medical ramifications alone are enormous.” Triggs face remained indifferent and it was apparent to Nella that he hadn’t heard a word she had said. “General?” He blinked hard as if waking from a deep sleep. “General do you really think its…him? I mean is he in Klein somehow?”

“From interviews with the survivors at Overlook, the staff here and a couple of the cops that helped bring him in, I’m thinking he has to be. It was his blood after all. And this man risked his life to safe all those people. Audley and his staff of superstitious nurses would disagree of course. But even if its not him, what we have here is still something truly wonderful.” Triggs pressed his face to the viewing glass like a child staring longingly into a toy store window. “We are witness to the birth of a new kind of human-being Nella. And he’s all ours.”

“But what if Docs right and we cant control him?”

“We put him down as the Doc suggested of course. It will be tougher,being what he is and all. But not impossible.”

“But you want to try and make more of him. Surely the more of them there are, the harder to control they would be.” The Southern drawl had crept its way back into Nella’s voice as she clawed weakly at Triggs arm.

“Dammit you sound just like the Doc Nella. Don’t be getting scared on me child.” The General’s features softened as he placed his beefy hands on her frail shoulders. “You wanted this just as much as the rest of us.” he said gently. “Yes there can only be one of him. But if we can build a troop of men with his even a fraction of his gifts? We have to keep trying.“

Nella blushed. “Sorry of course General.” Her hand began to flap blindly at her side, trying to locate her purse. “When are the others coming?”

“Some this evening, the rest tomorrow.” The General heaved in a deep breath. “Truly momentous times. We are blessed you and I to be part of this”.

“Yes.” Nella’s hesitant affirmation was tinged with fear and went unnoticed by the General. “Well we really should make our way down General. Its cold outside, remember and pick your coat up on the way out Sir.”

“Yes, yes of course.” Triggs saluted Horner once again. “Our prayers have finally been answered Nella. This miracle and his soldiers, his apostles, will bring peace once more to this Earth. Praise be to Christ our lord and savior.” Triggs closed his eyes and kissed the window with a radiant smile. “For he has returned.”

3

The winking red numbers transformed into a letter M, signaling the elevator carrying Triggs and Nella had finally reached the main reception area. The hospital corridor was now empty but for the two armed soldiers standing to attention at either end. Silent sentinels for the special guest in Room 247.

The bathroom door adjacent to the elevator shuddered briefly, breaking the quiet with a short timorous squeak. The door quivered again, creaking loudly this time as Doctor Lucian Audley materialized back into the corridor. He smiled a nod at the wary guard, tapping his clipboard in an effort to look as officious as possible. The guard returned the nod. The Doctor was after all, on the safe list.

Audley sauntered down the line of vacant rooms, took a sharp right into Room 247 and slowly closed the door behind him. As the door clicked shut he collapsed back onto it for support, his heart hammering wildly in his chest. He gagged as his hungry lungs sucked in mouthfuls of sour tasting air. He coughed, trying to spit his mouth clean, unsure if it was still the air in the room that was contaminating his mouth or the vomit rising in his throat. Audley popped a breath mint and steadied himself on the door until his breathing slowed and the nausea subsided.

When his head had finally cleared enough to allow him to at least walk in a straight line, Audley leaned over the machinery monitoring Horner’s vitals and switched off the warning alarm. There was no reason to shutter the blinds to the room, as neither guard could see him or Horner from their positions. And they never moved from their posts. Not unless their was an emergency of course. All he needed was a little time. With that in mind Audley had awarded his team an extended lunch which ensured he wouldn’t be disturbed by his staff for at least the next fifteen minutes. He would be completely alone. Alone with this thing.

And that was the real problem. No-one believed that the shell lying in this bed was a monster, not even his crew of nurses. He had lied to Denny and Triggs when he had claimed they had felt the same things he had. The nosebleeds, headaches and other ailments affected him and only him. And when Audley missed his meds, the side effects from being in this room were even worse.

So all his staff treated Horner like any other patient. Apart from Maria his assistant that was. She said she actually felt at peace in Horner’s presence, blissful even. Just like those stupid cops and paramedics had said when they brought Horner here. And only yesterday Maria swore she had seen an aura of light around Horner’s head.

But it was all lies. Hallucinations brought on by this manipulator, this deceiver. Audley had realized only this morning that he was the only one that could see through the lies, which is why it punished him the way it did. Why no-one else suffered from the headaches or the nosebleeds. Why it most probably feared him. But he couldn’t convince anyone else of this things dark powers, not even his drinking buddy Sven. Sven, a raging alcoholic and avid reader of a conspiracy newsletter called “The Secret Curtain”. His best friend had ultimately been his last hope. The only other people who would have believed him were the test subjects and they weren’t talking anymore. Well all except Connie Gueriro, her sister and their Sheriff friend. But their days were numbered thanks to Nella.

But none of that mattered now. The Doctor took a step back, dropped the clipboard onto the bed and studied the knot of lines feeding the unconscious soldier. He considered how easy it would be to get an air bubble or a fatal amount of say epinephrine into one the lines. And either would be almost untraceable. Then again Audley no longer cared if he was caught. Right now he was just thankful that Horner was heavily sedated. Only this morning he had increased his Propofol to levels that would have killed a normal human being five times over. And how he had hoped it would have.

But this wasn’t a normal human being. Not anymore. Audley didn’t know what it was, but he knew it wasn’t the messiah they were hoping for. The blood they had salvaged from that damned ancient sword was from someone else or rather something else entirely. And if all the stories from the survivors were true, then this beast was going to herald the end of the world itself.

Audley instinctively reached for Maria’s bible. She had left it as a gift on Horner’s bedside table after witnessing the supposed halo of light. The Doctor ran a trembling finger over the books ruddy leather binding and prayed that he could do what needed to be done. He was no killer, he knew that. He was a lifetime member of Amnesty International and The Humane Society for gods sake. His job was to heal; to save people from death when he could. But then Horner wasn’t a person anymore was he? The failure to kill him with the Propofol had proven that. But if a surreptitious air bubble or overdose of adrenaline also failed in their task, there was always the scalpel in his pocket. This thing healed fast but he doubted even it could regenerate a completely new windpipe in time to save itself.

Audley’s hand had barely grazed the pocket containing the scalpel when the one exposed eye of Horner snapped opened. His unanticipated awakening was ushered in by a trickle of warm blood that traced its way over the Doctor’s top lip. A familiar pain soon followed; shredding Audley’s nerve endings in an almost blinding haze of pain. And scarcely hidden behind the agony, the blood and the panicked confusion was something else. An entity, digging ravenously into the deep recesses of Audley’s mind. Rummaging around his thoughts with curious fingers.

And just as Audley feared he might pass out from the pain, a light began to shine around Horner’s head. It was faint but growing in size and intensity. Audley blinked rapidly trying to clear his vision, but the light not only remained, it began to glow. The radiant aura pillowed the soldiers head in a light that was almost blinding now. But it was also beautiful. Audley couldn’t take his eyes from it. It comforted him. And there was a smell of flowers. Roses? He felt a frail tear run down his cheek. How could he have been so wrong? Was he wrong? He had to be. His doubt had brought on the pain, he knew that now. But the pain was gone, as was his fear and his doubt. And in its place there was the light. The room was full of it. He could feel it inside him, running through his veins. His tears continued to flow. But now they were tears of happiness.

“Forgive me.” Audley said softly. His face frozen in an almost desperate smile.

As he uttered the words, a third eye sheathed over the gray of Horner’s iris like the shutter of a camera lens. It was a slow faineant blink like that of a contented feline. Then the membrane receded to reveal a new eye. The eye was a mirror and the room and Audley with it, reflected over the orb’s strange bowed surface.

With that the spell was broken. The blissful aura of light and the scent of flowers vanished. In the reflective pool of Horner’s eye, Audley saw his face and realized that it was not tears he could feel running over his skin, but blood. It continued to flood from his nose and his eyes. The torrent ran in an untidy river over his lab coat, splashing onto the crisp white sheets of the bed.

Audley tried to scream for help, but in his terror all that escaped was a blood filled squeak. His fear had become cold hands, crushing his throat and stealing what was left of his breath. Audley’s mind began to cloud again. But instinct still told him to run; to escape Horner and the withering vacuum of the hospital room. But he couldn’t run, he was paralyzed and not just from fear. Some thing was holding him in place. All but for his left arm, which moved independently from his will and unnoticed, removed the scalpel from his pocket.

Audley was staring impotently at Horner while his now liberated appendage slowly raised the scalpel directly in front of his face. His owlish eyes widened in sickened realization seconds before his hand ripped forward, jamming the knife deep into the yielding pulp of his left and right eye in turn with quick viscous strokes. The ineffectual barrier of his glasses shattering under the force. Audley was dead before he hit the floor. His skull splitting open with a unpleasant crunching sound as it shattered on the hard limestone floor.

Horner glanced indifferently at the dead Doctor. A halo of blood had began to pool around Audley’s startled face. The scalpel jutting up from one ruined eye like a radio mast. And then as he watched, the Doctor’s corpse began to disintegrate. Like a decomposing animal on time lapse, his skin and muscle shriveled like burning plastic. The stark white of his bones simply crumbled as if made of nothing more than chalk. Even the blood stains on the cotton sheets faded to nothing. Soon all that was left were his clothes, shoes and broken glasses. And then they too began to decay until there was nothing of Doctor Lucian Audley but a layer of fine dust.

“No one comes to the Father except through me.“ Horner said. His mouth was muffled by bandages but the words, tinged with a serpentile hiss, were decipherable.

A stale laugh followed. And with it a sound of some thing choking on thick liquid. And as it laughed, the bandages covering its mouth bloomed crimson. The dressings twitched and stretched as the soldier’s mouth broke into a wider smile; his glassy focus finally shifting to Maria’s bible.

Outside the sky darkened under inky storm clouds that had appeared from nowhere. The windows trembled. Roosting birds exploded into the air above DC en mass, flocking in confused spirals over the portentous sky. One by one dropping dead to the wintry ground. The sound of sirens began to wail mournfully in the distance. Their lamentations quickly drowned out by the bewildered cries of the press gathering that was still in progress on the steps the hospital.

Back inside the room the air had chilled markedly. The mirror over the sink basin and the monitors grew opaque with frost. The window to the corridor followed. The now frigid lights flickered and dimmed. There were barks of confusion from the corridor but no one came. The mirror of his eye however remained clear and now followed the cold smoke of his breath into the air above his bed. Horner sighed as the shouts from the corridor continued to intensify. More soldiers were coming. Even if they knew what was happening, which they didn’t, there was nothing they could do. No one could help them now.

So the being that had once been Sergeant Klein Horner closed it eye and retreated to the solace of its self imposed dormancy once more. And waited for the storm.

End