Ruby Glass

Chapter 2

We peaked around the cracked cement of an abandoned car park to see the cryptic and dark forest of the prison like Asylum. The small lab stood meekly compared to the several stories of apartments for the Infected. We heard Infected screaming from inside the walls and I got chills. The screams were animalistic but still had some humanity left in them which made it even more depressing.

We scurried toward the lab with hands over our guns in case a much expected visitor comes with bared tusks. As we entered the lab, Axel shut the door and put a desk in front of it as a barricade. I grabbed a small disc and put the corpse flesh on it as I slid it under the microscope. Axel came around and looked at the screen with me.

"So what are we looking for exactly?" Axel asked me

"We need to find red and yellow spotted bacteria, and because of the state of the victim, they won't be moving or nearly dead" I answered as I moved the camera around the sample "There! See?"

The small parasitic cells stayed dormant and Axel groaned in disgust. There were ton of them which made it even more clear that the corpse was in fact infected.

"Ok so he's infected we already knew that. Let's go! Axel said trying to leave as I grabbed their arm

"No not yet. I need to know what happened there. Because normally they will just bite and brawl but the corpse looked half eaten which is not normal behavior. And those bites looked fresh but the corpse was old"

"Yeah that's true. But who in their right mind would even-wait Ember look!"

I saw in the corner of the screen some movement. I moved the camera toward it and looked closely and saw alive bacteria. They were actively moving and seemed to be healthy. Then as I looked more I saw other microscopic organisms which looked to be some type of cells.

"Axel, find a file or book that can determine what these are will ya?" I asked as they nodded and looked through the drawers of files.

"Abnormal Atoms in Question, Advanced Physical Science..." they mumbled going through the alphabetical names of files in the drawers behind me as I observed the creatures behavior "What kind of book do you think?"

"I think these are some sort of cell or cell like organisms. So look for a book on that" I said as I zoomed in

"Calcium Intake in Food Science....Cardiovascular diseases...Cells Dictionary! Found it"

"Sweet Jesus" I said feeling overwhelmed by how long it may take to find what we are looking for

"So what kind of cell do you think it can be?" Axel asked as they flipped through the page

"I don't know for sure but from what I remember in some classes I took...those are muscle cells I think"

"Muscle cells...here we go! It says 'Muscle cells are thinner and more elastic to hold the muscles in the body together. They can be ovals or more rectangular depending on what part of the body it's from"

"Hmmm...ok that doesn't answer much" I said as I watched the two kinds organisms interact on my screen "What else does it say?"

"It has pictures of different kinds of muscles cells too" Axel said as they handed me the book

I looked at the pictures and saw nothing that caught my eye. After feeling even more at a loss I found something interesting.

"This is definitely a tongue cell" I said pointing to the picture labeled 'Tongue cells' showing rectangular organisms with a salmon pink hue "It is more of a rectangle isn't it? Don't you think?"

"I'd say so yeah...I did hear once that we shed cells everyday. Even on the tongue. They can go on the foods we eat and whatever if touches"

"And although your body does morph when you become infected, your tongue stays human...so this makes sense"

"What does this mean?"

"It means we were right...something is eating it's own kind. Because this means this is infected saliva we are looking at"

Axel got quiet and looked at the moving cells with a disgusted look on their face. Then they said "But infected can leave if they please...so why would they go for their own kind when they can leave and find humans outside the border? Something isn't right here"

"Exactly...it just doesn't add up"

"I really...don't like this Em...it doesn't sit well with me at all"

"You aren't alone with that...I already despise the disgusting bastards and now they are becoming more and more bizarre"

It went silent for a moment as I stared at the screen with uncertainty. I couldn't think of any course of action with this new theory we have developed. If something that was an infected was out there eating it's own kind then who knows what that could mean.

"Hey Em...I found a file over here about the roach" Axel said with excitement "Maybe if we take this with us we can learn more on how to stop the Infected!"

"There is no stopping them Axel...there's surviving them, but maybe it can be useful so let's take it with just in case"

I turned off the microscope and stood up sighing with stress. This all was so weird and unholy. It made my skin crawl like ants were under my flesh and tickling my bones. I hated the Infected...loathed them greatly. They took my family away and also my happiness. All my friends have either left or died before my eyes. All except for Axel. We don't know a lot about the roaches and thats what made it terrifying. I am no scientist and I could be wrong about this meaning anything bad but no matter what road it leads, I don't think we will be ready for it.

"Ummm Ember...we got company" Axel mumbled in a cautious voice

I looked where they were looking and saw a terrarium. The terrarium was old and rusted but the light that heated the tank was dimly lit and inside were hundreds of thousands of roaches. Their bright red shells made me shiver as I gulped and Axel shook their head. I looked closely at the terrarium and felt my stomach knot up looking into the eyes of the creature. Then as I looked closer there was something strange about them.

"No teeth" I muttered

"Huh?" Axel questioned

"These roaches don't have teeth...and their legs are flatter...but they look like the Ruby Roach don't they?"

"Yeah but...wait no Ember these are Palmetto Bugs...it's fine dude" Axel said as they patted my back "And look these are Brown Recluse spiders! And there's some Black Widows too. Damn if this lab is for medicines and stuff then why are there so many bugs here?"

"I'm not sure...wait a second...Axel look" I said as I found our foe

Then in the corner of the room we see the Roach...it's glimmering and glowing garnet of a shell made us rethink our visit. I looked at the small terrarium and saw the fangs of the creature. This creature started it all. This small insect made the world go into chaos. It killed my family, my friends, and ended my life.

"It is so weird" Axel whispered to themselves "Cockroaches don't really have fangs...and now that I look at it...it has six legs but also weird legs in the front"

I will admit even though we have been fighting Infected people we haven't been up close to any roaches just for the sake of safety and sanity. But Axel was right. The roaches look weird and more like an arachnid now having a closer look at them.

Then we heard a crash outside the door. We both spun around and looked at the entrance to the asylum. A crowd of beasts bared their tusks at us growling with hunger. Their naked bodies covered in blood and their pitch black eyes made me want to vomit as their new two sharp legs that had stabbed through their torsos scurried on the glass making it crack. These creatures were disgusting and looking at them made you compelled to stare at their hideous nature. Axel grabbed my arm and we tried pulling away the table from the front entrance. Suddenly as we pulled harder a shelf crashed over the table sending us on the floor. I noticed a cable was curled around the leg of the table which was connected to the shelf. Out of all the times for this to happen it had to happen now?

I look at Axel and they are completely knocked out from the impact, and their leg was caught under the table. There was no way that their leg was unharmed. I hear the door beginning to break. I stood up frantically and grabbed my sniper rifle from my back. I took ammo from my belt and heard the door shatter. I turned towards the enemy feeling my heart halt from pure anxiety. Even after five years of this war, you can never get over the fear of these animals.