System: Transcending Happiness (BoyxBoy)

Arc 6.9

(This is officially the 100th published page of this book. Wow. I know some of it is Author's Notes but that's just insanity on my part. Carrying on.)

Marc walked up to the Second Base with their rag-tag team and took notice of the pile of burning zombies and large locked gates. So typical form for a base when a Zombie Apocalypse took place. Guards walked the perimeter and kept careful watch of the shambling crazed zombies. 

Their group had to make a mad dash for the 'front gate' and shout for them to be let in before a horde overtook them. They barely got in before the chainlink was shaken from the force of the Zombies. 

Crazed, the lot of them. 

"Well, that could've been worse," Jemma commented. 

Everyone seemed to agree with her assessment but dutifully didn't respond. They quickly made their way inside after talking to a few passing 'guards'. 

The facility was mostly pristine, considering. People walked the white halls with measured steps and places to be. No one was loitering per se but there were a few stragglers who seemed exhausted after having to do something about the growing number of Zombies outside, no doubt.

Jemma and Marc made their way to the Labs while the rest of the group made their way to another part of the Base where they could report back to the Commander of this one. Marc wanted to quickly get hold of all the information he needed about the pathogen and whether it was airborne or in the water. He was also curious about whether his theory was correct pertaining to the World compensating. 

Once they stepped into the Labs, Marc noticed how there was merely a few scientists within.

A man with light blonde hair and sallow skin looked up as the door opened. "Are you guys the help we asked for? We're running ourselves ragged but can't be everywhere at once."

Marc raised an eyebrow and went straight to business. "No. My name is Marc and this is Jemma. We came from Base 1. We're both Scientists."

He wanted to clarify that they weren't soldiers since that seemed to be what the guy had assumed. How he assumed that when looking at how thin and 'scientist-y' Marc looked.. well he didn't know. Jemma looked practically angelic and as though she wouldn't harm a fly unless you counted all those stabbings on their way to Base 2 but Marc wasn't looking to much into that. 

"Oh thank God! This is so not my department. I normally work on plants! Name's Anthony by the way."

Anthony seemed as though he had just drank a shot of energy after Marc confessed them to be scientists that came from Base 1. It was with that confusing thought that a few more snippets made their way into his brain. Apparently Base 1 was where the more advanced individuals went; sort of like going from a B+ to an A+ on your test scores. 

"Mind if we get ourselves cleaned up?"

Jemma put in as they both stood their looking awkwardly at the hyperactive Scientist. It was almost as though he had found his salvation. 

"Oh! Of course! There's Lab Coats over there and we've been using Sanitizer instead of the water," Anthony said as he pointed to the things they were looking for. 

Surprisingly, it was a bit chilly in the facility. At least they knew that the electricity was still running out here. With the amount of Zombies, Marc wouldn't be surprised if that failed sometime in the future. Hopefully there was a backup generator somewhere on site. 

Both Jemma and Marc made there way towards the sink and began cleaning themselves, with the sanitizer, of the grime and blood that had gotten on them. It wasn't very effective but it would have to do for now. They'd need to find the source of the virus and then attempt to separate it from the origin. He wasn't looking forward to it but someone needed to do it.

While at the sink, he grabbed a glass full of water to examine and made his way over to one of the microscopes. Marc set it down before going back to the coat rack and slipping a lab coat on over his mussed clothing. There was a box of gloves that he noticed and slipped his hands into before returning to the microscope. Everyone seemed to continue on with whatever they were doing. 

"I'm going to go try and find some plants and see if the virus has changed them as well," Jemma commented before exiting the room.

Marc was already to busy looking into the lense after using a dropper to add some water to a slide. He took notice of the normal things first; disregarding the biofilm and zeroing in on what he was trying to find. Surprisingly, it was almost as though it sprung up from nowhere. Suddenly a violent black cell fissured and began to duplicate erratically. Marc leaned away and looked at the slide but there was no visible distinction. When he went back to look through the scope, the water was completely infested with the pathogen. 

"I don't get it. What am I missing? This was clearly fine before I put it in the slide.. or was it a different factor?"

Marc mumbled to himself as he sat unseeing. There was so many different thoughts running through his head. One of the only things he could think was that it wasn't the water that was infected but something else. Which only left the air but that made no sense. Well, hypothetically, it could make sense. 

He tried to think of various situations where the pathogen was airborne and would make some form of logical sense. Say for instance, the World hadn't given the people those abilities but this virus somehow did but instead it also changed the dead into zombies; giving them some form of ability as well. 

"What the hell were they trying to create at Base 1," he asked himself before continuing his train of thought.

Clearly some type of super soldier that they fucked up but he wasn't going to think too much into it. Maybe the zombies weren't transferring their virus by saliva but instead it was some form of ability. Perhaps their teeth were capable of making the human body think it was going into Necrosis and the virus that was already in their system begins attacking it and changing the humans into the living dead.. Well, this was a long stretch but he had seen some pretty strange things and since he thought about it.. he was going to go off that idea. 

Fuck looking like he'd lost his mind. He just wanted off this planet and to be with his family.