The Green Flu

Chapter 1 - Devon

"Maybe you should just fake sick, then you can leave work too." My good friend Daniel said jokingly, his regular smile on his face. He had been coughing for most of the day and had reached a point where he physically couldn't continue working. And he's not the only one leaving work. Many people have fallen sick today.

"Yeah, well maybe you should suck it up and actually do your job for once." I joked back.

"You have no sense of humour, do you?"

"Nope." Laughing to himself, Daniel turned around and started walking away.

"Hey, get better!" I shouted at him as he left. "This job wouldn't be bearable without you, man! So you'd better be back in the action soon!" With a wave of acknowledgment, Daniel walked to his car, coughing.

The guy didn't look bad, but he definitely didn't look good. His skin was paling and his eyes were sore and red. When he coughed, it sounded like he was hacking on something in his throat. He had a migraine and he told me he felt just horrible. There must be some sort of bug going around because he wasn't the first to leave work, and he probably won't be the last.

It was early in the morning, around 5:00 am, and now that Daniel was gone I just focused on my work. Though, there wasn't much to focus on. I was stationed on one of the side entrances to the P.S.O. (The Pennsylvania Scientific Organization) lab building, keeping my eye out for any intruders. The scientists worked 24/7 in the labs and so did the security guards. And though there wasn't anybody around that wasn't supposed to be tonight, or for the most part any other night, the people at P.S.O. insisted that we have extra security.

Which is ironic considering how many people had to leave because of sickness. I wondered if the scientists had as many people leave tonight. Somehow I doubted it. We hadn't seen anyone leave the building since the sun set. I looked around once more, making sure there wasn't anybody around. Seeing as there was nobody there, I relaxed just a bit. Nothing will happen tonight, I bet. It'll be a quiet night.

***

I continued doing my job, happy my shift was almost over. I gave another sweep of the place and saw nothing. Just as I was about to zone out, a flash of movement caught my eye off to my left, by the corner of the building. It looked like a person. I shined my flashlight towards it, but the beam didn't quite reach.

"Hey," I nudged the guard beside me, I think his name was Anthony? "There's something over there, I'm going to go check it out. Watch my back." I didn't know Anthony all that well, he had only been on the job for less than a year. He was quite a bit younger than me, maybe early twenties, but he did a good job. He nodded and stayed at the door we were guarding, watching me to see if I needed backup.

I turned and saw that the figure was still there. Whoever it was didn't seem to be in much of a hurry. As I got closer I could see the silhouette of a man. He was just standing there, kind of swaying.

"Hey!" I called to him, still walking towards him. I was only a few feet away. When he turns around, I'll be able to see his face clearly. "You're not supposed to be here. State your name and business!" He swayed a little more, like he didn't hear me.

"Hey!" I called again, this time the figure was only three feet away. The guy suddenly stopped swaying. He very slowly turned around, stumbling just a tiny bit. Just then I was close enough for the flashlight to shine on him. I gasped in horror and confusion.

The figure wasn't a man, though it looked just like one. It had a head and shoulders, a chest and torso. It had hair and clothes and skin, but its skin was a deathly pale shade of grey. As if the pale skin wasn't bad enough, its eyes seemed to haunt me. The eyes were grey where it should have been white and its iris was an unnatural golden colour that glowed in the darkness.

Before I could react, the figure shrieked a bloodcurdling scream and ran at me. I backed up and pulled out the single handgun that security guards are allowed. We hardly have to use it and it's more for intimidating people than for actually shooting anyone. But whatever this thing was, it wasn't human. Still, would it be a good idea to shoot it? Should I wait until I have to in self defense?

I didn't have to wait long. The creature soon caught up to me, it was fast and since I hesitated it got the upper hand. It tackled me and looked ready to rip me to shreds, which its blood covered hands suggested that I wasn't its first victim. When it knocked me down, my gun was forced out of my hands, so now I was defenceless. Before I could try to figure out where the gun had skittered to, the creature started clawing at me, threatening to break my skin and draw blood. It got a lucky hit across my chest, leaving two painful bloody marks on it. I bit back a cry of pain and focused all my energy on wrestling its hands away from me. And that was no easy task, the creature's sole purpose seemed to be ripping me to shreds.

Soon though, I overpowered the creature. It was skinny and had little muscle, it seemed. I was holding it as far away from me as I could laying on the ground and quickly glanced at my side to search for my gun.

Thank God! I thought to myself as I spotted my pistol not too far away. With a hard shove, I sent that creature stumbling backwards. As soon as it was out of the way, I grabbed my gun and snapped it back in its direction...

Then hesitated.

Do I kill it? It's not human, so it wouldn't be murder. But what would the consequences be?

Thinking quick, I shot and embedded a bullet into the creatures right shoulder. It gave a yelp of surprise, not of pain. As soon as it recovered it just shrieked and ran at me again. It didn't even seem to feel pain!

Two bullets whizzed by me and the creature was hit in the chest. It stopped its yelling and fell the the ground, dead. I looked up and saw Anthony standing there with his gun pointed at where the creature had been standing a minute ago.

"What the hell was that?" He asked in a panicked voice. Shaking my head, I answered with the only answer I had.

"I have no idea."