|Erik|
The fluorescent lighting hums above our heads like a beehives nest. A pestering sound of fingers tapping on a keyboard echo through the vents and the lab coat man works briskly. Lifting my head up from the floor, I glance over at Pete. He is sitting, melancholy and holding a smug appearance. I want to walk over and slap him, or shake him senseless. Tia is staring over at me and I catch her; she looks away quickly.
“What?” I ask questioningly.
She glances back at me. “You are so…calm. Don’t you feel sadness still?”
I shake my head. “Nah, nothing matters anymore. Whoever I was, that is gone forever.” The hair growing above my upper lip trickles with sweat, I wipe it with the back of my hand. I proceed to reach around my neck and scratch at the metal triangular device.
She walks over and slides down the wall to sit next to me. I look over at her and decide that I want her to leave me alone. It is useless being friends when we are about to die. Putting distance between us two; I slide to the left. She cracks a smile and tilts her chin to the ceiling, letting out a sigh.
“Anymore memories?” she questions me some more.
“Nope,” I plainly answer back. “Honestly, I would rather I didn’t get any more flashbacks. It will make it easier to –” I cut myself off.
“Die?” Tia finishes my sentence and I nod in agreement. She reaches over and leans her body more to the left; reaching out, she grabs my sweaty palm. I flinch at her touch and then calmly take her small hand into mine. Why the hell not? I think to myself.
Pete glares over at us, thinking he is witnessing an intimate moment. I want to knock some sense into him and tell him she is just being…friendly. Tia interrupts as I think of ways to bludgeon Pete to death. My emotions are still out of control. I let the steam forming inside me dissipate.
“Lara, this girl you see in your thoughts, is she pretty?” she continues prying into my personal business. I feel annoyed and yet a sense of calmness with the mention of Lara.
I lick my lips and swallow hard, “Her face is always hazy, but I notice she has jet black hair.” I motion my hand up to my shaven head. “Why are you asking me this? Are you trying to make this ordeal harder on me?” I scratch at a vampire bite that is now healing on my neck.
She sneezes into her hand and rubs the end of her petite nose. “No, I just wish I had a flashback. I envy –” I stop her short of her final sentence.
“Don’t ever envy me…” I glare at her and she quickly looks away towards Pete. “Don’t ever wish to remember things you will never experience again.” I shift my body and curl my legs up to my chest. Finding it hard to maintain them, I wrap my muscular forearms around them and pull tightly.
Before she could say another word, I charge in once more. “If anything, I should envy your ability to feel again.” I wait to feel a pang in my gut. Some sign of uneasiness and despair. I cannot seem to conjure it up and take hold of it, never letting it go.
She lets out a small chuckle, “Erik, I mean, sir…” Her face turns a shade of pink at the mentioning of my real name. It’s nice to hear it again and I suppose I don’t mind to feel somewhat myself before I die.
“It’s okay, you can call me Erik.” I say back to her in a reassuring way.
“Erik.” She grins from ear to ear. “Why do you think our military or government is corrupt? I cannot understand or begin to guess why they would do this to us.” Her eyes begin to water and I become uncomfortable with her easiness to cry.
I shake my head back and forth, “I think they did something real bad that they have to fix. I think humans get scared and do stupid things, for lack of better word.”
A tear rolls down her left cheek and she sniffs. “Right, but now we must die? We must die because we aren’t what they wanted? We are damaged goods; some failed experiment.” She cries softly and punches backwards onto the wall behind us. “They made us forget who we are and where we came from. I can’t even remember my age and or if my real name is Tia. I just know that I am stuck and completely lost. Physically and emotionally…I am lost.”
“Me too, Tia…” I wipe a tear from her cheek and dab my finger dry onto my camouflage pant leg. I look over at Pete, lying on his back with his hands covering his face. I wonder if he feels the same. Hell, I know he feels the same. We were all meant to be super human’s with no recollection of a past life, only a future for war and killing. I may never know the truth and take this thought to my grave.
I just hope they scatter my ashes into the Grand Canyon.
Can they at least do that?
-------------~*~--------------
“Ambush!”
One of the chubbier soldiers throws his hands in the air laughing. I didn’t think this was a time to have fun…
Pvt. Krimmel yells over the rumbling engine of the Humvees. The Kevlar helmet wears heavily down on my head and I push it up to swipe the sweat from my brows. A hand full of us soldiers cram in the back; bumping shoulders as we hit grooves in the road. Static voices echo through the CB radio. We are ordered to halt and take position.
This is one of many missions to find those who are not infected. I hope and pray that I run into Lara. The last letter I had received she mentioned our hometown was becoming a ghost town. People were running for their lives, hoping to avoid getting this widespread disease. I wonder if my parents are okay…I have stopped worrying and just wished for the best. This will be the second mission I’ve been engaged with. These creatures, being called the Turned, are nasty-blood sucking beasts. What is sad is that they use to be a friend or someone we loved.
“Diaz!” Krimmel hollers in my right ear over the roaring noises.
“Krimmel, I’d like to keep some of my hearing, bastard!” I shake my head, smiling.
“This could be our last mission, yah know?” He yells not only to me, but towards the rest of the crew.
“Hooah,” I say nonchalantly.
He shifts his body weight towards me again, “What do you think of this vampire bullshit? It’s like a real life horror flick.” Shaking his head back and forth, “I thought when I signed into the military; I’d be fighting the Middle East. Yah know? Fight the war our fathers fought proudly!”
“Damn right!” I pat him on the back and we start to laugh when suddenly, the Humvee comes to a quick halt. Our body’s crash into one another and my Kevlar strap yanks hard, choking my throat. I cough and loosen it; gazing around at the wide eyed soldiers.
The engine shuts off and I hear the driver choking. Bursting to the front of the Humvee, I watch as my fellow comrade holds his throat. It has two large holes protruded into his jugular vein. Blood squirts outward, onto the windshield.
“SHIT! We’ve got a bleeder!” I yell to the remaining soldiers. Pressing my hand tightly to his wound, I stick the tips of my fingers into the holes to clog the bleeding. Glancing outside the blood stained windows, I see shadowy figures blurring in and out. They are so white against the snow it is hard to keep track where they disappear. The right passenger window is shattered and I watch as a pale hand reaches inside. Holding my breath, I wait to come face to face with a Turned.
The first mission I had gone on, I never saw one, only bodies in transformation. We killed them like a lab rat; fast. However, this Turned is fully formed and twice the evil.
Hissss…
I raise my M-16 and start shooting off rounds. The bullets explode through the shattered glass and penetrate the snow. Pale fingers slide back outside the window, leaving a trail of its blood on the splintered pieces of glass. I glance back at my fellow soldier and continue to press my fingers inside his wound. Gun shots are sounding off outside and I hear yelling erupt. I look behind me to see the vehicle had cleared and the men and women are fighting outside.
“Diaz…” The dying soldier whispers my name as he chokes on his own blood. “Kill me…kill me!” His hand wraps around my wrist and he pulls it in to bite. I punch him square in the jaw and watch his head snap sideways. Blood trickles from his bottom lip and he turns back to look into my eyes.
“KILL ME!” His irises are no longer blue and his canine teeth sharpen. My hands tremble as I release his wound. Pulling a pocket knife from my pant leg, I take a deep breath. His skin pales over and I watch as he wound begins to clot itself; starting to heal…
“I’m so sorry.” I whisper close to his ear and jam the knife into his chest. His body slumps onto my shoulder and my body shakes violently. This was the first man I’ve killed. I guess when you sign up for the military you do it for the guns, comradely, and uniform. I never knew I’d actually kill someone, let alone, a friend.
I flinch as two pale hands reach over my shoulder and drag me out the passenger door into the red soaked snow. I scream and flail; trying to fight off the Turned. Sharp teeth protrude into my neck and then everything goes black.
-----------~*~--------------
“AMBUSH!” I jump up suddenly and Tia is grabbing at my shoulders. I look up at her, breathing heavy. Pete walks over to me kneeling and shakes his head.
“Another one?” he examines me over to make sure I am okay. I nod and push Tia’s hands away from me.
“Yea, I’d rather not talk about it.” I stand up and walk over to the window. Peering through the glass, I notice the other room has no one in it. Maybe I won’t die today…
Pete and Tia whisper harshly from behind me and the overwhelming feeling of dizziness takes effect. The room starts to spin and I glance upward toward the vents. Red smoke slithers in like a snake; ready to attack its prey.
I twist around and watch them grabbing at their heads; yelling in confusion. The red smoke becomes so thick; I no longer can see their figures. An alarm sets off and I am faced with a group of soldiers with gas masks.
BEEP…BEEP…BEEP!
Punching and kicking at them; I fight hard and fast. The room begins to twirl and I fall against the wall. Hands grab at me and restrain my arms behind my back. I feel my feet dragging while I am being carried out of the confinement. I jerk my body around and face back towards the outside of the room I was held in. Tia and Pete are pounding at the window and the red smoke consumes them. Tia’s tears stream down her face, exposing clean skin against her once dirty. Pete beats the glass window with his fists until his knuckles break skin. Blood dribbles down and matches the now smoke filled room. I can only hear their muffled cries and yelling. I feel numb and I cannot seem to yell back.
I continue to be pulled away and watch the men in the gas mask re-enter the room, rifles held forward and then…
POP…POP!
“No!” I yell. They drop my body to the cold floor and I rest my face against it.
This moment I feel sadness again; then everything goes blurry.
-------------~*~---------------
I am sitting in a metal chair, with my arms stretched behind me; bounded together at the wrists. The leather strap in my mouth is rendering me from swallowing and I bite at it ferociously. Wriggling my body; the chair wobbles on each leg, then slams back onto the floor. I squeeze my eyes to rid them of the tears forming due to the red smoke...
These tears are also for the death of Tia and Pete.
I try not to think about it and slump my head forward. My breathing is even; chest muscles rising and falling. Raising my head again, I look at my surroundings. I am sitting in the center of an office, with a large cherry oak desk. There are actual thriving plants that do not seem deprived from the cold winter weather that has doomed our planet. Each green stem even blooms a small precious yellow flower. I jerk my head to the left when the sound of high heels taps towards the entry of the doorway.
"Erik Diaz, I presume?" The sleek female voice echoes into the room. Her high heels tap closer to where I sit; I crane my head upward to examine the woman.
She was tall, thin, and sophisticated. Her long dark brown hair hung past her shoulders and her eyes are a fierce golden-brown. I look away quickly when I notice her annoyance with my appearance.
"You look like shit, Diaz." Her hands fall from her hips that fit tightly into a business skirt. She loosens the leather strap in my mouth and I stretch my jaw to see if it can move again. The strange lady rounds the desk and gracefully lowers herself into the leather chair. I watch her while she smooth’s her palms over top of the desk and she lifts her gaze into my eyes.
I cough and jerk forward, "Who are you people?" It hurts to lean forward; leather straps dig into my wrists.
She smiles and I almost think it is kind, until I see it fall as quickly as it came.
"We are the Ancient Changers of the Elemental Space." Her stare is solid and serious.
I couldn't help myself and began to laugh; throwing my head back. My body shook as the laughter poured from my beaten soul. I look straight back at her and my chuckle withers away.
"You are kidding me right?" I continue to smile in disbelief at such a ridiculous notion. "So, you are saying you are from outer space?" I tilt my head upward; pointing toward the ceiling.
She nods her head up and down, "Call us, ACES. It will be easier to remember, Diaz." Then that wicked smile spreads across her face.
I let my own smile drop and swallow hard. What kind of bullshit is this?
"Are you associated with the Turned? YOU are responsible for THIS?!" I found myself yelling. I jerk forward and the chair wobbles on two feet.
"Yes." She leans back into her chair and rests her small hands into her lap.
"Tell me everything..." My voice cracks and I let my body relax.
"In due time..."