Project Apollo

Chapter 2

"I heard a rumor about this while I was down there with Doctors without Borders. It had struck a few towns over. They asked for aid, so I went over and saw that whatever was brewing there was like nothing I had ever seen..." Catherine explained.

They both retreated to their own thoughts and procedures as each of the scientists worked on the samples before them. Two hours went by without a word from either of them. Catherine, only 32 years of age, had been mentored into the world of biological research by Dr. Woslowski. Although she had quickly distinguished herself as a rock star in all things contagious, today was her first attempt at processing a biological profile of an unknown substance. Dr.Woslowski entrusted her with the task, as he was able to train her ardently in the necessary procedures to perform. They had worked well together through three and a half years. The lack of questions over the headset left Dr. Woslowski comfortable that Catherine had finally found her footing in biological profiling. The ominous quiet of the laboratory always had a disquieting impact on him.

"You believe in ghosts?" He asked over the headset.

"No, why?" Catherine asked.

"You know those samples were scraped from its victims, part of them are still in it," he reminded her.

"Geez, Dr. Woslowski, could you be any more morose?" She asked as her instruments combined two liquids into one blue test tube.

"I'm just saying..." His concentration zeroed back on his work.

But then.... It broke.

Red sirens sounded off through the laboratory. A piercing alarm rang out.

"What the hell is that?!" Catherine asked over the comm.

"Hide now, Catherine!" She heard her mentor order from the other side of the laboratory. She immediately dropped to her hands and knees and crawled behind a cabinet. Impossible to effectively take cover in an inflated suit, she hoped a cabinet could offer the most help.

"What is going on, Dr. Woslowski?!" She whispered over the headset, in a yelping terrified tone. Then she heard a hushed voice come through her ears.

"An armed man has just entered the laboratory, keep your cover and listen to me...." it took a shocking moment to register, as it computed, her limbs began shaking uncontrollable. She squatted to the floor to find more cover.

"Catherine! He is coming your way, stay still!" Just as she heard this, a sight stopped her dead. It was a leg stepping in front of her line of sight of the laboratory. She saw the tip of a bloody knife dangle at the man's side. A drop of blood formed heavy and free-falled off its tip, splashing on the flashing red lab floor. Her eyes followed the man as he approached Catherine's workstation, step by step. He rummaged purposefully through her station of viles and chemicals until he came upon the blue test tube – the new bacterium Catherine had been working on. He placed a plunger in the top of the test tube to secure the liquid and then pocketed it in his assault vest.

"Do you have any idea what that is?!" Catherine jumped out from her cover, squaring up the exposed man confidently.

"Apollo is upon us..." He hissed, illuminated in red. His teeth snarled at her as he began approaching her slowly with short, heavy steps. Catherine Mueller's breaths shortened and her heart pounded in her chest. Her eyes darted to the intruder's hand, gripping around the handle of his knife. As he inched closer, Catherine backed into the corner and cowered down onto her knees. He flipped a lab cart over sending instruments scattering across the floor.

She awaited death.

The bloody knife drooled.

She closed her eyes. She felt a tug from behind her and immediately she felt the thinning of the air she breathed. Her pressurizing hose had been cut. The knife drew in closer to her – she could feel its presence. She began to feel faint as her body adjusted to the depressurizing of the suit.

Then, a voice cried out over her comm, breaking the scream of the alarm siren.

"Get away from h—" In one twitch, the man spun on a dime and flung his knife. End over end it soared across the room, slashing through Dr. Woslowski's protective face guard and straight into his right eye. His eyeball exploded on impact, the blade carved its way into the brain.

He dropped.

Catherine screamed as she listened over her comm, unable to open her eyes. She felt everything beginning to fade as she battled to remain conscience. Disarmed now, the man fled out the airlock, skipping the decontamination shower, and out of the laboratory. Catherine, paralyzed in terror, whispered through her comm mic.

"Dr. Woslowski? ... Dr. Woslowski?... please answer me...." Her clenched eyes could not see the cadaver lying motionless across the room. Her paralysis began to melt as the oxygen she breathed continued to thin. The darkness began to swallow her. She remained huddled over her knees, whispering for contact over and over until the depressurization hijacked control. Then her mind reached its twilight and she too fell limp on the laboratory floor. Their dormant bodies lay, illuminated in the red of the alarm, alone and waiting to be discovered.   

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Make sure to check out my other story Hallow Springs!

https://www.wattpad.com/story/110038969-hallow-springs

Vote, Comment and Share, and be sure to follow me!

www.Facebook.com/bbgallagher

Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14686764.B_B_Gallagher

Book Bub at https://www.bookbub.com/profile/b-b-gallagher?list=followers