Pestilence (© William Estes)
Page 1 Jessica woke up in the
lab. As far as she could tell she was still nude. The straps held even as she
struggled. The man in the lab coat walked up. She stopped fearing being raped.
The subjects locked in the cages proved it. Most of them were in
various stages of decomposition. The scientist pressed a button on the phone. "You have Atwell look over
your research," said the voice on the phone. Jessica knew not to speak up.
Marks across her stomach proved that point. "No, Atwell’s a freak,"
said the scientist. "Only because their
experiment achieved results," said the voice. "I’m having trouble with
one subject. No one else has been a problem," said the man. "I can always have some of
Atwell’s enzyme sent to you," said the voice. "I’ll consider it," said
the scientist. He pushed a button ending the call. "Asshole." A door opened. His
slightly overweight nurse walked in. She walked over to the scientist. "I’m having to leave
early," she said. "I think she’s anorexic." "She just has a high
metabolism. Which might explain why she’s been able to fight off every virus so
far. So, what’s going on?" he asked her. "My husband crushed his
hand at work. So, I have to go meet him at the hospital," she said. "Ok, I think Harold will
be here in about an hour, but before you go can you get me out multiple samples
of each virus?" he asked. "Are you planning on
injecting her with more than one at a time?" asked the nurse. "All if necessary. Can you
set them up on the table? I have to use the bathroom," said the doctor. After the doctor left the
room, the nurse pulled out a syringe from a pocket. She injected the fluid into
Jessica’s IV bag. Jessica realized what she had. "They already sent the
enzyme," she said. "Anything less than a
hundred percent is failure," said the nurse. Jessica lay back and dozed off. "I saw Natalie inject
something into her bag," said Harold the doctor’s other assistant. "Look at her she can’t
stay awake," said the doctor. "That’s the easy way to shut
her up," said Harold. "Shit," said the doctor. "Why
didn’t I think of that before?" "Knocking her out?" asked
Harold. "Yes, lowering her
metabolism," said the doctor. "It should let the virus take hold while her
immune system is suppressed. Too bad I wanted to test all the subjects as awake
and active as possible." Jessica woke up again. The
doctor and Harold stood in a corner talking amongst themselves. The doctor
walked over to her. Harold left the room. "Do you know what we’ve
what we’ve been injecting into you for the last three days?" asked the doctor.
She shook her head no. "If you look here," said
the doctor. A woman sat on the floor staring at a wall. "The first virus caused
them to act like a zombie and do nothing." He switched on a light in the second
cage. The man ran up to it and slammed into it. He growled and scratched the
door. "The second created a rage infused monster. But it could still die." "The third was similar to
the first, but it actually killed them and they became more active and very
hungry. Like the second it can transfer the virus to a new host," said the
doctor. "I’ve heard you explain
this before," said Jessica. She suddenly felt extremely angry, hungry and sick
to her stomach. Jessica wanted to throw up. The doctor pulled out a metal
ruler. She shut up. "So, is she still a
virgin?" asked Harold. "Yes, me and Natalie
checked," said the doctor. "I’ve talked to a couple
of men online and they want a virgin and I’ve told them we have one," said
Harold. [ Continue to page 2 ] |