The Diseased Heart

Chapter 28

Even with earmuffs designed for construction workers, the auditorium was incredibly loud. Maple and Olive sat in the chairs to my sides, and Jack sat in the one just in front of us, currently turned back to chat with the two.

The large auditorium put my old high school to shame, but even with such a large space, I was struggling to see even one empty seat even as people still filed in. It was dark enough I did not need my glasses, but the echoing racket caused by the thousands of people yapping was unbearable without these earmuffs.

How Clementine had managed to gather this many people in under ten hours was beyond me. And although I seemed to be the only one that truly knew why this crowd had been gathered, I refused to share any information. I would guess only about fifty people knew a Crawler was sitting in the same room as them, the rest were oblivious.

We were seated in the farthest row to the back, closed to the ceiling in the cone shaped room. There was no other way I would agree to sitting in a crowded room filled with overactive strangers for several hours without hanging off the ceiling.

Olive groaned and grabbed my arm, "Can't you tell us anything about why we are here?"

I was not in the mood to deal with anyone. I growled and yanked my arm away. She pulled back before whispering, "It's the crowd, isn't it."

"No shit, Sherlock."

She rolled her eyes in mock annoyance, "Fuck you, Wattson."

I hated to admit, that made me chuckle.

~

It felt like hours until Clementine finally walked into the center of the auditorium and stood at the podium. She looked around the enormous room, before locking eyes with me. How she was able to tell it was me up here, I was unsure. Even so, I nodded to her. She nodded back before signaling to one of the few people in this room that weren't sitting down. They went and dimmed the lights further, leaving the only remaining ones on Clementine. It finally made everyone quiet down.

She cleared her throat, "Good morning, everyone. I am quite certain many of you would like to know why I have brought you here, and many are rightfully frustrated due to the lack of current information, I assure you all, this is just as important as I made it out to be.

"I am sure we are all aware of the past week's developments regarding the species once thought extinct known as Crawlers. These creatures were once humans that had been infected by a horrific virus that mutilated their bodies, and nearly drove all of human kind to extinction  during the early 2000's.

"I'm sure this is far from new information for many of you, and this is not why I have called you here. The new information I have come across, however, could bring upon an extinction that the Crawlers had failed to enact before."

There was a faint murmur through the crowd.

"It has come to my attention that several scientists at my laboratory have begun working on a new Crawler virus, taking samples from our live Crawler and a now dead one. From what this live Crawler has managed to put together, this new virus will be more devastating and deadly than the last pandemic. Why these men have decided to create such a deadly virus willingly, I do not know. What I do know, however, is that we are in grave danger if we do not put a stop to their plan.

"We have concluded that they have already turned several people. Using the information provided in recent missing-persons reports, and the scents the live Crawler has picked up, we assume they have at least fifteen Crawlers they could willingly send out to attack the city.

"Knowing what past Crawlers were capable of, and factoring in the enhanced genetic structure of these current ones, our military will not stand a chance against these creatures. Although we do understand much about their kind, only a Crawler can truly understand a Crawler. We may have one, but it is far from enough to take on an army.

"This is far from a small request, but understand it is this, or the end of humanity."

This was the part I had feared, I dug my fingernails into my palms due to my nerves.

"We are developing a cure for the Crawler virus, it is incomplete at this time, and may not be entirely effective on all blood types, but there is a way to reverse the turning. What I am requesting is for willing persons to allow themselves to be infected, and turned into Crawlers to assist in the fight for human kind."

There were several outraged cries from the seats, and many more that simply could not believe what they have heard. Olive, Maple, and Jack turned to me, but I kept a stoic expression and watched Clementine.

"As I said, I know I am not asking a small favor, and I am not taking this lightly by any means. The virus you would be infected with, would you willingly agree to it, would allow you to retain your human mind, emotions, and sanity. You will feel instinctual reactions to certain stimuli, but it will be nothing you will be unable to control. Like any Crawler, you will grow Crawler legs, and have full function of them until you are cured. Any injuries you may sustain from the fight will swiftly heal themselves with minimal scarring, depending on the severity of the injuries.

"You will deelope a severe light sensitivity while you are turned. You will need to wear sunglasses both outdoors and indoors unless the lights are dimmed substantially.

"Again, you are being given a choice. You can choose if you wish to help or not, you can choose if this means you being turned. The cure we have is not complete, but will be in - if all goes according to schedule - several days. If you are willing to be turned, please, instead of leaving this room out the exit with everyone else, enter the door to the back of this room instead."

With the end of her speech, the lights grew slightly brighter and she stepped away from the podium. The crowd regained their racket, although now, with much different topics of discussion.

Not wanting to stay in this room any longer than I needed to, I extended my Crawler legs slightly and climbed backwards up the wall behind me. Once I was high enough, I launched towards one of the back exits no one was using to make my escape from this hellhole.