MUTATED

Prologue

As the sun slowly descends, hiding behind the tall empty buildings, the whole town of Sirecester was then engulfed with darkness and silence. The skies above were coated in gray turbulent clouds ready to pour heavy rain.

The once busy streets transformed into an eerie scenery; scattered busted cars, rotting dead bodies, a splatter of blood painted almost everywhere you look. Everything seems so lifeless.

A mysterious guy, wearing a black hooded jacket, was sprinting on the deserted street covered in sweat and blood. He's carrying a machete and from the looks of it, he's running away from something.

Drops of rain were starting to pour and the guy has thought that he needs to find shelter. He saw one huge glowing signage of a pharmacy on the other side of the street so he immediately changed his direction, crossing the road, hoping that someone is inside to help him.

As he arrived at the pharmacy, the glass doors were not locked but it was dark and no lights were illuminating inside, the signage was the only thing that has been lit up. He was panting heavily holding on to his chest. He wiped the sweat on his face and took a deep breath before going inside.

On his left hand, was a flashlight that is almost running out of battery while on his other hand was the machete that he's gripping tightly. His heart was throbbing in his ears, loud and irregular, but he barely heard it, for his mind was clouded with terror. He's not afraid of the dark but he's terrified of what might lurk inside.

He heard footsteps across the room and it goes louder as it gets closer. Cold sweat started to pour down his body as he tried to stay still as possible. Whatever comes from the dark he's ready to fight it with his remaining strength.

He focused the flashlight where he heard the footsteps and he saw someone walking in his direction. He can almost hear his heart pounding as he slowly lifted the flashlight and focused it on the face of the person, that if it's a person. The tension that was rising on his body immediately lowered as he saw that the person in front of him was completely normal and realized that it was just a teenager.

"Are you lost?" The teenager asked but terror still overtook him and it took him a moment before he answered.

"U-Uh, no, I-I was trying to find a shelter, I-It's raining outside," he stuttered and was trying to calm himself.

"Is that so? I thought you were running away from an infected," the teenager's lips form a grin that made him feel that something is not right.

"I, uh, sorry, I should probably find some other place—"

He wasn't able to continue what he was about to say because the teenager cut him off. "I'm Alexis... and you?"

"Theodore."

"Nice to meet you, Theo, can I call you Theo?" The teenager named Alexis said and Theodore was starting to sense something. Before he could even say a word, a loud banging sound that came from across the room made him flinch as his heart started to race again.

"Oh, don't worry about that Theo, it's just my sister," Alexis said and Theodore feels like something is off. He's starting to question himself why is he so terrified of a mere teenager, "anyway, you should stay since it's raining cats and dogs outside," Alexis chuckled.

"Thank you for your concern but I need to go, I-I still need to find my brother," Theodore forced a smile and started walking away. He was about to open the glass door but a terrifying monster was standing outside. His heart raced and adrenaline rushed through his veins, immediately raising the machete above his head and took two steps backward. He knows that it wasn't just an infected, it was a mutated one. It has sharp claws and some parts of its body were filled with black fur. It has the body of a man but it has the features of a feline.

"You know, Theo, you're really bad at lying," Alexis said behind him that made him totally confused.

He turned around and faced Alexis. "W-What are you?" He asked with his hands started to shake uncontrollably.

"Oh, Theo, I'm just a human like you, but smarter," Alexis' lips formed a grin that made Theodore shiver down his spine and he didn't even notice that the monster was already standing behind him.

The monster grabbed him by the head making him drop the machete and the flashlight from his grip. He started to panic and stifled a scream but the rain was too loud that no one could ever hear him and the monster was too strong that he couldn't get away from its grip.

He was dragged by the monster to a room and witnessed something horrible. The room was illuminated with red lights and the walls were stained with blood. He saw other people inside, faces filled with fear as they whimper and asked for mercy. They were all naked and chained on the wall while their mouths were covered with clothes.

The monster ripped his shirt including his pants and undergarments, making him completely naked, and was tied up with cold and heavy chains. The monster dropped him on the ground as he felt the cold and wet linoleum floor. His body was shaking uncontrollably and a tear started to form in his eyes.

"Why are you doing this?!" Theodore yelled but Alexis just chuckled.

"Well, I'm collecting people, normal people to be exact because I need subjects for my experiment," Alexis flashed his terrifying grin again making Theodore burst into tears. He can't do anything at all, he was all tied up and he realized that he just stepped into a trap, "now, Audrey, cover his mouth shut, I don't want to hear any noise while I take a rest."

A girl suddenly walked inside the room and picked up Theodore's ripped clothes on the ground. But the thing that made Theodore even more terrified is that the girl that Alexis just called Audrey has a large pair of wings on its back and a beak was starting to grow on its mouth, it was another mutated monster. Audrey covered Theodore's mouth with his ripped clothes and pushed him on the wall.

"Let's go, sis, let's call it a day," Alexis let out a maniac laugh while Audrey slowly followed him outside, "Welcome to your new home Theo, Ciao!"

Alexis flashed him a grin, which Theodore hated so much, and closed the door shut followed by a loud clap of thunder. He has successfully caught another victim, and now, he can finally begin with his experiment.

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A.N: Hi everyone! I'm back! This is book 2 of Infected and I hope you'll like it. I'll update every Monday so make sure to stay tuned. Just a reminder, if you haven't read book 1 then you should really read that first. Just visit my account and fin the story "Infected". I can't add an external link because I'm just writing stories through my phone.

Anyway, any thoughts about the prologue? Don't forget to leave a comment and a vote is deeply appreciated. Ciao! :)