First Attack

Matthias has been let out of the laboratory and runs into a person that ends up becoming a friend. Then something terrible happens.

I walked in the desert for hours worrying that my death would be out here. The noonday, at least that was my assumption, sun attacked my back as I trudged along. Makija had left me with no water or food to nourish myself with. There was nothing for me to do but go along the road and hope that there would be a way for me to refresh myself.


Finally, when I thought I should just give up and lie on the side of the road for the vultures to get me, a car stopped by me. As the window on the passenger side went down, I saw that it was a lady.


"You need a ride?" She asked.


While getting a ride somewhere would help, it could probably get me killed. But, really, I was already dead. "Yes." I replied and got in.


"I can take you to the nearest motel," She replied. "But you'll have to go from there."


I nodded and fell asleep until the car stopped. As I got out I told the woman, "Thanks for the ride."


"Thanks for not being a rapist." She told me and drove off.


Looking at the motel I could tell that it hadn't seen that good of business as of late. It wasn't falling down, but it was getting there. Since I didn't have a  room, or money for one, I started knocking on people's doors. I got mostly bad reactions but putting up with that was a must since I didn't have any money.


After knocking on a door, a boyish looking man opened it. One could tell the man was in his thirties but there was still something innocent looking about him. He leaned against the door and asked, "What do you want?"


"I'm Matthias and I'm looking for a room." I said.


"Go to the front desk, they'll help you with that."


"I would but I'm out of money. My parents kicked me out and I have nothing." The man looked at me suspiciously and let me in. He must have decided that I didn't look dangerous.


"I'm letting you in now," He told me. "But I expect something back later."


I got a cup and then went to get some water out of the sink. Drinking the water felt wonderful. After drinking a few glasses, I turned to the man and asked, "What's your name?"


"Philips Noir." Philips said.


We spent a few hours talking together and we ate sandwiches for lunch. It was very peaceful and I liked the change of food. Real food tasted much better than laboratory food.


At sunset Philips looked at me. "Tomorrow there'll be a bus. You're welcome to stay the night." He said. "But you'll have to sleep on the floor." He looked a tad bit saddened at the prospect. I think, if I would have lived with him longer, he would have become a dear friend of mine.


"Thank you." I said and slept soundly on the floor. Philips was kind enough to get a pillow and some sheets for me to use. It was my first night out and it felt a little odd. The room was darker than I was used to. But I did manage to get to sleep.


When I woke up, Philips looked hurried and was packing up. "I'll give you some money for the bus." He said. After he finished packing he handed me some money. It was enough for the bus.


I went out of the room and decided to walk around to explore the area. After ten minutes of exploring, I saw a little bit of paper. Picking it up I saw that it was advertising a drug called Gralg. It was a wonder drug for people with mental disabilities.


"Hey, give me that!" An angry man said from behind me.


Quickly hiding the ad I asked, "Give you what?"


"The bottle." He said and started patting me down, trying to find his bottle. After not finding it he shoved me away. I went to the bus stop.


After waiting a little bit the bus came. After paying the price, I sat down in my seat thinking about Gralg.

The bus trip was long and boring. What made it especially hard to bear was the fact that nothing interesting was happening. For the first hour or two I listened in on conversations, but that only held my interest for so long. Mostly they talked about television shows that I had never heard about. Finally we arrived in a town called Nuscon.


Stepping off the bus, I started to walk around to find a place to stay. There were many small little shops selling items that advertised the place. These must be for what the scientists had called tourists. While looking at a t-shirt through the window, I heard some footsteps. I didn't pay them any mind because there were a lot of people walking by me.


"You new here?" A voice said and I turned around. The man was taller than any of the scientists and looked like a 'tough guy'. He was wearing clothing that called attention to his muscles. If he decided to attack me I might be in trouble.


"Yes," I replied. "I am Matthias, I just arrived here."


"Poor you." The man replied. "My name is Thomas Savan. I've lived here forever. Well, I only moved here when I left my parents." Parents. I didn't remember my parents. I did, a little, but when I thought of my father I always saw someone that looked remarkably like Makija.


My stomach growled and Thomas looked at me. "Want to go for a beer?" He asked me. I had never had alcohol before because the scientists didn't want anything to distract me.


"Sure." I replied and Thomas started walking me to what I assumed would be a bar.


We drank, talked, and ate at the bar. Thomas seemed to be unstable but grew on me the more I drank.


"So,  do you have a place to stay?" Thomas asked.


"No." I said and smiled wildly. "I'm on the road with no home."


"Why don't you stay with me? You can stay in my garage."


"You just met me." I said and laughed.


"You're amusing and you have good stories. Though they all have to do with scientists. You like scientists?"


"I'm familiar with them." I replied. I couldn't say more since something kept me from saying the names of the scientists and anything specific about the lab.


"Let's go. I think I spent enough already." Thomas said, seeming to ignore my disdain for the scientists.


* * *


"Another pancake?" Thomas asked.


"Yes." I said and Thomas gave me another pancake. I liked the pancakes, though it was weird seeing Thomas do any form of cooking. But, then again, he did live by himself.


"How do you like this place after two weeks of living here?" He asked me and sat down.


"Nuscon is a good place to be."


Thomas shook his head. "You must not have been many places then."


"No, I haven't." I replied truthfully. "So when do you want me to leave?"


"I think I can support you living here a couple of months if you can't find another place." Thomas said.


After I finished my final pancake, I went to the garage and took out the Gralg ad. It appeared to be a fake drug. So why did it interest me?
*                  *                  *
"Watch out!" Thomas yelled as I nearly went face first into a cactus. I stopped just in time and shook my head. It wouldn't have been the first time that I had run into a cactus today.


"Thanks." I said and looked around for any other objects. Thomas had decided that today would be a great day for me to explore. Unfortunately, he had decided to take me out where there was no one else. So if we got in trouble, no one could help us. But, then again, I should've expected something like that from Thomas.


Looking up I saw that the sun would set in a few hours. I shook my head, Thomas and I had been out in this unknown area nearly all day. Luckily, though, we had brought supplies. Unfortunately, they would run out soon.


"We should start heading home soon." Thomas said. "It'll probably take us around an hour or so to get back to our car."


"Are you ever going to tell me why we are out here?" I asked.
"Does everything need a reason?" Thomas replied and I sighed. Maybe I should have some beer so that Thomas would seem sane to me.


After a little bit, Thomas looked down at a small plant. I could see what type it was: algae. Looking at it I tried to think of why it was out here and what exactly it was.


"Do you know what this is?" Thomas asked.


"No." I replied.


"This will be fun." He said and scraped a little of it off the rock it had been on. He looked at it for a moment and then ate it. "No harm done."


"For now." I replied and thought about taking him to the ER if something should happen. It was remarkably stupid for him to put an unknown substance in his mouth. But I knew that even if I had known what he was going to do I couldn't have stopped him.


"Come on," He said. "Let's go back to the car and go home."


I followed behind Thomas so that if anything should happen I could react quickly. For the first ten minutes nothing happened and then Thomas' walk got slower and his breathing got heavy.


"Are you okay?" I asked him.


"Probably just a passing phase. Besides, we need to get to the car." He said and we continued on.

Thomas' posture grew more rigid and his breathing grew heavier. I checked the surroundings and realized I couldn't find my way back to the car if my life depended on it. The thought that Thomas was lost also crossed my mind.


"Thomas, are you sure you know where we're going?" I asked.


"Of course I know where we're going." Thomas said and turned to look at me. "Besides, what would you know? You're a loser and can't do anything. Do you know how embarrassing it is for me to cook in front of people? I bet you go out and tell all the people you meet that I cook."


As he continued, I realized that the look in his eyes seemed to grow less and less human. After a few seconds, the last bits of humanity seemed to have left his eyes.


"Dad!" He shouted and ran at me. I was punched down to the ground, rolled over, and dodged a kick from him.


"Thomas, it's me! Matthias!" I shouted, but Thomas seemed to be someone else now. After minutes of running around and dodging attacks, I realized that I'd have to knock Thomas out to escape.


Seeing a shed, I ran towards it. As soon as I went to go towards it, Thomas caught up to me and kicked me down. "Arg." I huffed. As soon as Thomas went to kick me again I caught his leg and made him fall. When he went down he attempted to bite me.


I didn't have much respect for Thomas, but I didn't think he'd ever bite me in anger. He had seemed a little more reserved than that. I managed to move his mouth away from me but he finally got his teeth into me.


I yelled and then punched his face hard enough to make blood come out of his mouth. Whether it was his own blood or my own, I didn't know. Twisting and punching, I managed to get out of his grasp and started running to the shed again. A man came out of the shed and looked at me.


Thomas attempted to punch me and I blocked him. I became lost in the moment and my attacks started to become stronger and stronger. As Thomas yelled Dad, I let out my own yells. An idea of killing him came to me. It would be the only way to stop him forever and he didn't seem to want to talk.


"Bye." I said and aimed to kill Thomas. I picked up a rock and let him punch me once so I could aim for his head. I grew dizzy after the punch, but still managed to hit his head once. His expression grew dizzy and, for a moment, I thought he'd punch me again. Not letting another second pass, I hit him again and he fell to the ground.


Even after he fell down, I kept hitting him with the rock to make sure he was dead and would never attack me again. After brains and blood came out of his head, I decided to stop. I was relieved that the attack was over.


I turned to look at the shed. The man looked shocked and ran back inside. Well, at least Thomas wouldn't attack me again. Though I would miss having a house to stay in.