The Incident

Chapter 3 (Matt's POV)

As we pulled up to the serum location, I glanced out the window, looking at the old park. I had been there many times before, mostly for Team Edge videos. I got out of the car, making my way to the trunk to get the bats, but while I did so, I gazed at the landscape. A huge metal bridge stood right before us, along with the rolling hills of Santa Clarita, and, of course, many dead and dry brush everywhere. I opened the trunk and then grabbed the bats, glancing at Quinn in the process, giving him a nervous look. He returned the look with a concerned glance from behind the camera.

I grabbed the bats, closed the trunk, and started towards the bridge. The bridge was an old metal one with support beams on either side, rope holding it up on both sides. This thing must've been here forever going by the state it's in. I pulled out my phone to look at the coordinates again, jotted down in the notes app. I copied and pasted it into Google maps, showing that the serum happened to be right below the bridge. Greatttt... I walked up to the bridge, glancing off the side of it, trying to look for any clue to where the serum was. I hopped part of the fence, partially climbing on the bridge, trying to get a better look, I found nothing. I looked for a path to get down below the bridge, and I located one just to the left, behind some brush.

"Alright, let's try to get down there. There's a trail right over there that should hopefully lead down there," I said, pointing to the trail.

"Aight," Quinn responded. I started towards the trail, and just as I was about to start walking down the trail, my phone rang. I pulled it back out of my pocket to see Woods calling. Something must be really wrong for him to be calling, especially this soon after an argument. I quickly picked up the phone, nervous for what he was going to say.

"What's going on?" I asked in an anxious tone.

"Matt, something happened and we need your help," Woods replied. I could hear faint crying coming through the phone, only worsening my anxiety.

"W-what happened?"

"It's Sam, I'll explain it better later, but you have to come quick. I'll text you the coordinates."

"O-okay, I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Thanks, Matt, see you in a bit."

"Alright bye." Just before I hung up I heard a distant shriek, which once again worsened my anxiety and made me start to fear the worst.

"Who was that?" Quinn asked, obviously concerned by my reaction to the call.

"Woods," I replied, "I guess something bad happened, we gotta go now." Quinn nodded from behind the camera and we quickly rushed to the car, opening the trunk and shoving the bats in. I quickly headed to the driver's side door, and got in, opening my phone to get the coordinates. I copied and pasted the new coordinates into Google maps and started the directions.

It looked like it wasn't too far away, probably about 10 minutes. I sped out of the parking lot, only thinking of the possible dangers Woods and Sam ran into at the Syntec location. What if there was a trap? What if they were exposed to the serum? What if they ran into the phantom? What if... I spiraled into a panic, breathing more shallow and quickly.

I couldn't bear to think of what happened to them. And, if anything did happen to them, it would be my fault. I decided to split up the team. I decided to split the antidote. I'm supposed to protect them...I failed... I gave a nervous, and saddened, chuckle. I failed...

I focused on the road once again, unaware of how close I was to the car in front of me. I let up a bit on the gas pedal when my phone alerted me to get off on the next exit. The location was just off of the freeway, meaning we would be there any minute. As I turned off the freeway, the phone directed me to turn into an alleyway. This is already alarming...

I glanced back at my phone, showing that I had arrived at the location. I pulled into one of the spaces in the makeshift parking lot, audibly sighing. Well, this is it...I can't believe it...all of my bad actions have come to this... I glanced at Quinn, behind the camera.

"You ready?" I said with a nervous chuckle.

"Yeah," Quinn replied, sounding nervous yet exhausted. I got out of the car, opening the trunk and grabbing the bats. I looked onward at the building. It was old, weathered bricks outlining it, with windows that looked like they hadn't been cleaned in years. There was a basement door on the side, a few radioactive signs plastered next to it. I walked up to the door, giving it a slight tug, and it opened easily.

I glanced back at Quinn, giving him an unsure look. He looked back at me, encouraging me onward. C'mon, Sam could be dying in there, I gotta get past this fear. I opened the door to see a staircase going downward to another door. I rushed down the stairs and opened the second door. I pushed the door clear open and started looking around, anxiety getting the better of me.

As the door closed behind Quinn, a click rang out. Wait... I rushed back to the door jiggling the handle, but it didn't open. I sighed. Great, we're locked in here. I quickly forgot about that however as I heard a blood-curdling shriek coming from one of the rooms. T...that was Sam... I froze, still trying to process what had happened. I ran to the next room, trying to listen to find the source of the noise. I turned the corner, going through a dark hallway and coming out in a room filled with white and red hued lights.

As I turned the corner once more, I located, in horror, the source of the shriek. The scene before me left me defeated, overwhelmed with guilt. The shriveled form of Sam was slumped over on the ground, shivering and writhing in pain. Tears were streaming down her face, pooling on the ground, along with another substance, red, and glowing. Woods, completely broken, terrified, sat next to Sam, trying his best to comfort her, knowing full well that there was no way to relieve the pain.

"W-what happened?" I rushed over to where they were, my worst fear being brought to reality. Woods snapped his head towards me, an expression of pure terror, but also slight relief, painted on his face.

"T-there was a phantom a-and..." Woods trailed off, clearly overwhelmed.

"It's alright, okay breathe, okay? Just breathe," I said, giving effort to comfort him. I rushed over to Sam, getting a closer look at what had happened to her. I saw her face more clearly, my blood turning to ice. Bright red, glowing, veins ran up the left side of her face, down her neck, and down her arm, all stemming from the injection site. The injection site itself was red and swollen, with burn marks around the edges. I glanced back up at her face, seeing what was making the pool of tears a slightly red hue. Blood...no, serum, was pooling in her mouth, dripping down slightly, burning the skin around her lips. Oh god, how could I let this happen? She was clearly in a lot of pain, clutching her arm, a pained look in her face. I tried to softly calm her down,

"Sam, it's alright I'm here, you're gonna be fine, we're gonna get you out of here." With what little strength she had, she glanced up at me, and gave a slight smirk before returning to the same pained expression. I couldn't stand the sight of her, attacked, in pain. Woods interrupted my concerns, however.

"Did you leave the front door open?" He asked, in a worried tone.

"No, it locked in on us," I replied, "Okay, since there's no clear way out of here, how about let's deal with the matter at hand right now. Can you tell me exactly what happened to Sam?"

Woods let out a shaky sigh and replied, "We came to this location, looking for the serum, going through different rooms. And then a phantom came up behind her and...injected her...I wasn't able to do anything in time." My heart stopped.

"Okay, I-it's not your fault dude, just right now, we should focus on easing the pain a little, enough so that we can at least get her out of here."

"Okay."

I focused back on Sam, who was still whimpering and wincing in pain. I silently cursed myself for leaving the antidote in the vault. I turned back to her, "We're gonna get you out of here..."