*POV* Randall Franklin the 2nd
I walked down the line of new recruits, the newest members the supreme military sent here for training. After walking down the line I stopped beside Dominic.
"Is this all of them?" I asked.
I counted 24, but the report had said 25. "We have one locked up in the science wing." He said, shifting from one foot to the other.
I wondered if that was going to be a problem. I finished my inspection and nodded to Dominic. He nodded in return and I turned to leave. It was growing late and I still had a report to make.
"Captain?" Dominic fell into step with me as I started towards the command building. "I think you should take a look at our prisoner. She came with the recruits but as soon as she got inside the gates she attacked."
"Did we suffer much damage?" I questioned. "Yeah, 4 dead and 3 wounded. She was one crazy, little thing. We finally knocked her out and we were about to cage her." I sighed.
"Get me a report. Any signs of rune madness?" Dominic sighed as he opened the door for me. "I am afraid so, Doctor Rose and her team are watching her right now."
I stopped without entering. "Maybe we should go right now, there won't be much time left if we want to get any information out of them." Dominic smiled and shut the door we continued on to the science wing.
As soon as we entered the building we were met with skin-crawling screams and muffled sounds of something hitting a shield.
A youthful woman dressed in a white lab coat met us at the small front desk. "Oh good!" She motioned for us to follow, as we went through the narrow halls I read the signs that told me we were heading downwards.
She led us down 4 flights of stairs before we reached a door with a small sign with the number 39 on it. The screaming and yelling had grown louder, which made it hard to think.
Doctor Rose was standing at a metal table conversing with another doctor. The noise was so loud I wasn't sure how they could carry a conversation or even a simple thought. My eyes drifted to the thick glass that separated us from the prisoner.
The young woman was chained to iron rings that were embedded into the metal cage that contained her. She thrashed back and forth, it was for her own good. She would hurt herself and us if she could.
The rune sickness was brutal, it started with marks on the skin and then it took over one's mind and then their control. No one knows how they even get infected.
"Captain. Nice to see you." Rose came to my side and shouted through the noise. She grinned at me. "Have we got anything?" I asked her. "Huh?" She shouted again. I realized I hadn't spoken loud enough.
"I said. 'Have we got anything?" She nodded. She let me over to the table and pointed to a cloth folded up to show a symbol. She picked up the plastic bag and handed it to me. "It's the same symbol as the last one."
The skull with a blue line through it, Dominic took it from me. "Isn't that?" Rose nodded and pushed some papers around. All of a sudden the screaming and thrashing stopped, and the room got eerily quiet. All eyes went to the prisoner.
They had stopped all movement. "What is it doing?" Dominic asked, his fists becoming crystal. "I don't know…" Rose said her voice low. The prisoner just knelt there with their head bent to their chest.
"Doctor, maybe we should move back? Maybe put a shield up?" One of her assistants suggested. Rose seemed to think for a second but it was too late.
I didn't realize what was happening, my head hit hard as I was thrown to the ground. I opened my eyes to see Dominic getting up from where he had moved to shield me.
I heard Rose yelling but whatever the blast was, my ears were ringing. Dominic was fully crystal now, the bouncing fluorescent lights reflected off of him. "Wh- what- happened?" He sighed as he gave me a hand. I made sure my gloves were in place before I took it.
"The infected escape." My heart stilled for a second before I heard the blaring sound of the alarm start up, its ear piercing screech.
I stood, Rose and her assistants were no longer in the room. Dominic's crystal armor retracted and he sighed. "We best get going." I nodded.
We entered the large training yard/ courtyard that consisted of leveled and hardened dirt. Soldiers flooded in from the streets and the barracks.
"Captain Randall! Good, get that crazy thing off the streets before it reaches the citizens and we have a whole bloody epidemic on our hands.!" Major General Reed Eldor shouted over the noise. Before heading off.
Dominic and I both nodded and rushed for the stables. Lt. Green was waiting for me with 20 soldiers on horseback. I swung into the saddle and gave a shout.
It was getting dark and the sun had already slipped past the wall. Luckily the streets were mostly clear due to the alarm. We pushed forward heading for the west gate where it had last been seen.
We had to catch it soon, I glanced up at the slight golden color that could be seen in the sky. The barrier was still in place.
We had never had one run before, they had all just entered up dying. "CAPTAIN! THERE IT IS!" Green shouted and we pushed onward. We turned a sharp corner and I realized that it was heading for one of the dome stations.
"HEAD IT OFF!" I shouted to Green before bending and pushing myself closer to my horse. Gun fire sounded, I pulled my horse up and quickly dismounted, and grabbed for my sword.
"This is crazy!" I heard one of the men yell as he shot bullets at the creature. I could no longer call it human. The street lamps showed its distorted features. Green leveled her gun and took the shot. It hit it right in the head. It fell.
"Good work!" I told her as we rushed forward, I held my sword ready. Green kicked it. "You think it's down for the count?" I wasn't sure. "Get it shielded up, Rose will be happy to get it back."
The alarm cut off once we had entered the training yard and dismounted. Dominic was beside me in a second. "What a night! Wanna go grab a bite?" I shook my head. "Sorry I have some paperwork to do." he laughed before turning to leave.