~ Damien ~
I continued wriggling my body, even though all the attempts I made to escape the Hellexra lady's incredibly firm grip were futile.
My heart thrummed when everyone else except Ryan, spoke in a unified voice:
"We have chosen to annihilate everyone on this planet that belongs to earth, now that the king is gone...and you will be the first"
Damn, it meant that I was gonna die. I was right, coming here was a very bad idea but Ryan refused to listen. I shot a frightened gaze at him but he seemed unbothered by the situation, causing me to frown.
"I surrender", he said, flinging both hands in the air.
"Hands behind your back", the bald man instructed.
He complied, folding both hands behind his back while staring at me with cocked brows. It felt as though he was trying to communicate with me, but unfortunately, I couldn't understand him.
Everyone's eyes became glued to him, but that was when something strange happened...
A bright of light radiated throughout the whole room, almost blinding everyone in the process. It was then I realized that Hellexra's grip on me was loosened, allowing me to force myself out of it.
Lucky enough for me, my eyes were well protected by the dark sunshades Ryan had forced me to put on earlier; I felt extremely grateful for obeying him.
As I darted towards him, he pulled out a sleek black blaster from nowhere and instructed me to get behind him. Knowing that my life was at stake, I hid behind him and watched as he fired at them with several energy blasts like the first one until they were all down.
Walking up to the white haired lady, he crouched and grabbed her robe until she was close enough to him;
"You don't deserve the good life he gave to you...all of you!", he yelled before turning to me.
"Go outside... I'll join you shortly", he instructed.
I tried to hesitate but I obeyed because he wore a stern look on his face, and I didn't want to aggravate him even more.
Screaming sounds followed by a sudden explosion were all I could hear, while standing in the small shadowy room. My heart skipped more than two beats when an abrupt silence engulfed the atmosphere again, but not until Ryan stepped through the door, bathed in a strange blue liquid.
I cocked my eyebrows with my gaze fixed upon his bizzarre appearance, while he continued panting;
"What happened in there?", I questioned.
"I killed them all"
***********
MEANWHILE, BACK ON EARTH:
"Mum, I'm leaving for swimming practice!", yelled Dugan before shutting the door behind him.
"Okay love, be home by nine"
Darting towards the garage, he lifted his bike from the pile of junk upon which it laid. He sighed as his gaze met with the smooth garage wall where the words 'D&D' were boldly engraved.
Weeks had passed since Damien's sudden disappearance and nothing was heard from him, not even a text message. The sad news of his father's death spread round the world like wild fire, but his disappearance managed to escape the ears of everyone except Dugan and other close friends.
Could it be true that he must've secretly relocated to London for the sake of taking over his father's responsibility as the CEO of Stanton Tech?
Everyone at school had been talking about it, but no one could tell what really happened.
Snapping out of his bothering thoughts, Dugan mounted upon his bike and began cycling down the silent street. Rustling sounds of dried leaves and papers echoed throughout the silent alley, causing his heart to jump. He gulped, pedalling as fast as possible, in a bid to escape the perilous environment.
In a split second, he plummeted and a shivery numbness took over his whole body. The only thing his flickering gaze could make out was a tall figure who seemed to appear from nowhere.
"Please...let me go", he managed to whisper, before finally slipping into the dark.
A while later, he found himself laying upon an incredibly soft bed. His eyes fluttered until his steady gaze met with a man who stood a few metres away from him, clad in a white lab coat. Turning away from this man, his eyes travelled around the whole room, allowing him to notice its pure white walls, a huge white screen, and other small beds like the one he laid upon, all strewn on the left side of the room.
"Where is this place?", he murmured.
The man's attention was drawn to him, causing his heart to skip more than two beats. His eyebrows crunched even more in confusion, when the man's stern look melted into an easy smile.
"Ah, you're awake", said the man, motioning towards him.
His attempt to sit up proved effortless, given that he was still experiencing the terrible numbness from earlier.
"Easy there wolf... it'll take a few minutes for the vaccine's side effects to wear off"
His eyes shone and his ears twitched on hearing the word 'vaccine', fear zipping through his spine simultaneously.
"Vaccine?"
"What vaccine?"
"Where am I?", he asked.
Ignoring his questions, the man turned away and began to walk towards the silver door. That was when someone, a red haired guy donned in a black jumpsuit, darted into the office.
"Agent Vin...I was just about to leave", said the man.
"How's the kid?", asked Vin.
"His body seems to be assimilating the vaccine at a faster rate, meaning that it should take a few minutes for it to completely dissipate into his bloodstream"
Perplexed by the whole situation, Dugan shut his eyes and began shrieking, drawing their attention towards him.
Irked by his unreasonable reaction, Vin yelled, "Would you stop screaming already!"
"Where the heck am I?"
"And who are you guys?"
"Of what importance am I to you?"
"Shut it and listen, kid", Vin spat, shooting an irked gaze at him.
He laid still, fixing an attentive gaze at Vin immediately the explanation began.
"The world is in grave danger because a secret organisation has released a virus that's hundred percent worse than the Corona virus..."
His jaws dropped and his eyes lit up in horror, on hearing those words. Any disease more deadly than the COVID-19 would mean world extermination; this sprouted fear within his heart as the explanation continued.
"Luckily, Stanton Tech has been able to isolate and identify the virus, hence giving us a chance of developing an effective vaccine to counteract its destructive capabilities; but--"
"You need a test subject?", he cut in.
"Yeah", Vin nodded in agreement.
"Ah, now I get it... Stanton Tech, as in Damien's company..."
"And you chose me because I'm Damien's best friend, right?", he blurted.
"You got that right...and you're lucky because if the vaccine works, then you and your family will be safe--"
"Where's Damien, by the way?", he asked.
Ignoring his questions, Vin began stroking his forehead in sheer disappointment.
"How will you guys know if the--"
He became interrupted by Vin's uneasy response;
"Let me speak, kid...or I'll kick you out"
He pursed his lips, maintaining silence while his eyes fixed upon the illustrations on the white screen, until Vin was done talking.
"Do you understand now?", asked Vin.
He sighed.
"Why should I trust you?", he spat.
Vin took a deep breath, flinging his gaze away from him.
"You don't have to trust me...not until you almost get eaten by freshly infected, poisonous zombies out there"
He shuddered.
"I gotta let my mom know that I won't be going home tonight or tomorrow or the next, until we confirm that the vaccine is effective"
"There'll no need for you to do that...I'll take care of it..."
Pushing all other questions aside, he watched Vin and the man who seemed to be a doctor, head straight for the door.
"Hey, please wait!"
Vin halted, swivelling his gaze until it fell upon his annoying face;
"What?"
"Please I need to speak with Damien real bad"
Vin sighed.
"You won't be seeing him anytime soon"
Thud!
The door came shut immediately they both exited the room, deserting him to wallow in the silence and loneliness.