Chapter 12: Ian

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Chapter 12: Ian

Time was running so low that Ian could feel his own death near as Drake led him down the hall and towards the window. He pulls the curtain fully, and fresh sunlight pours into the dimly lit halls. Silently, he points below, where the entrance of the warehouse leaks security. But it was blocked off.

    A mass of infected pound on the door with dead tissue and nerves. It was horrifying, seeing gnawed off limbs, throats ripped out, and all with the accompany of infected blood in the nasty wounds. Ian made himself stare for as long as a man could see the sight, though. He needed to see the beautiful creation he made, even if the host’s body was mutilated by it. Dull snarls and in-human cries erupt from the seething crowd, and there must have been at least 50 of them.  Ian curses, not wanting to look away but forces himself to. “What do we do?” Ian breathes. This crowd was way too powerful to fight hand to hand, so it made this situation even worse. Nobody would survive this.

 Drake curses as well, trying to think of a plan. The doors won’t hold forever, and it looked like they would give any second. Ian watches outside again, the desperate bodies seething like worms. He could see more running in twitchy forms, making the crowd bigger. More and more were piling out of buildings, homes, alleys, and one even jumped out of a 2 story house to run towards here, all the while the banging on the door getting louder. Drake uses a line of cursing, turning away from the window and striding down the hall, letting the curtain fall. Ian’s retinas adjust and he hurries after Drake. There has to be a way to painfully destroy the hosts.

Ian was reluctant to kill them off, but Drake wanted to. The rusted warehouse door would give, but how would the infected find them? In a room and down winding halls, Ian was sure the parasites would get lost and ultimately not lock eyes with him.

    Ian follows Drake as he rounds a corner and into his office, yanking the door with such strength that the door flung open and almost caught him in the face. It slams into the wall with a bang, and the sound vibrates in his skull, ringing like a bell Mother would use to call her children to dinner. “Tell me what to do.” Drake demands, yanking drawers off his desk and letting all of his unimportant work clatter to the floor. Ian locks his eyes on the falling materials, his mind and eyes blank. He found the falling clutter oddly satisfying, and it sucked all of his thoughts with it. Ian’s mind totally forgot what it was thinking, and that was when the voice inside of him awoke.

   “D****t, Ian! Tell me what to do!” Drake grabs his lamp and snaps the thin metal in half, his muscles bulging with effort. That grabbed Ian’s attention, but what came out of his mouth was something far worse. It was too early. Way too early. The time had come for him, and now his has end. Something inside of him wakes deeply, like an ancient monster that emerges from the tomb, emotions running through it’s head like a car on a freeway.

    “There is no way,” Ian breathes, eyes still locked on nothingness now. He could feel his veins bulge with black, slowly crawling up his arms like an army of ants. “There is no way,” he repeats, loving the confused look on Drake’s face. By now, Ian had lost complete control, the veins bulging as they slowly reach the side of his face and eye. His whole body felt numb, and his fingers start to twitch uncontrollably. The clock ticked to zero as the last grain of sand fell from the hourglass. “What the hell do you mean?!” Drake demands, angry now. Ian felt his eyes move upon Drake, eyeing him up. What was his job to destroy what he worked so hard to create? Ian worked for decades trying to achieve his goal, and Drake was about to throw it back in a shithole. “You can’t. They can’t die. Nothing would make them leave, and the only way to disperse them is to sacrifice one to us.” Drake’s brow furrows, and realization dawns on him as he looks Ian up and down. Drake had known from the start, and right now, Ian felt like he regretted sharing his life’s secrets with him. Everything seemed off in that moment, like even the air was off. It was that awkwardness that made Ian’s blood rage. His icy eyes narrowed on Drake’s, and he could feel something wriggle beneath his fingertips. Or maybe it was his imagination? “Ian,” Drake breathes, looking at what was left of his face, the black veins coursing through the other side of his face now.

  Ian snarls, only able to control his thoughts now. By now, the virus has taken complete control, and the only thing he could do was watch as his mind races. “Sacrifice who?” Drake’s voice turns from anger to confusion. Ian could feel his body move to the side, limbs twitching as he lunges at Drake, screaming. He didn’t know what the outburst was about, but he knew that Drake somehow pissed off the devil within.

  Drake prances back, and judging from the way he grabbed the twisted lamp, Drake thought Ian was gone completely, or he was done with his bullshit of lies. He swings with great precision, but Ian’s animal-like senses cause him to dodge backwards. Incapable of words, Ian only grunts and snarls, as he bares his teeth. A thin sheen of sweat covers both men’s faces, and as Drake eyes Ian, something causes them both to stop their catfight.

    Rumbling beneath them, the warehouse shook slightly on weak foundations as the entrance beneath them gave, letting dozens of infected pour in like rushing water.