Love and Fear

Chapter 10

It was a great day for Seth. The labs were paying wonderfully, he had gotten better clothing, furniture and food. It was his job to catalog everything and just be there to help anyone who asked. He wore a laboratory uniform he was given, it consisted of a white shirt and black slacks. He had a lanyard and an id. It was around six am and Seth had just entered the employees lounge to fill up on coffee and get this a free breakfast. When he walked through the door there were many guards standing in a corner, talking. Seth shrugged them off and went to get the coffee. He picked on some of their conversation. " I heard it took a chunk out of Luke. well i heard from Oliver that it had him shoot it. How does that even happen?" Seth grabbed a burrito wrapped in paper from the fridge and put it in the microwave. " I heard Jim say it came back to life." Seth wondered what they could be talking about. He looked at his phone. He had been instructed to get a special app that allowed him to easily communicate with any one in the building, and get his assignments and work schedule. First on it was a visit to Dr. Marshall's office. He ate his burrito as he walked and just finished it when he arrived. He knocked and heard a quiet "come in." He entered and closed the door. Dr. Marshall looked distraught. Her brown hair was a mess and there were papers everywhere. She gestured for him to sit. Seth sat in the extra chair. Marshall cleared her through. " How are you Mr. Carson?" Seth smiled, "I'm doing great,'' he responded. Marshall nodded, "That's good, I have had many of the researchers tell me about you." Seth's heart sank, did he do something wrong. " You've done nothing wrong, in fact I want to promote you and have you work on a special case." Seth's smile came back "really!?" Marshall nodded again " have Jim and Lilly debrief you after this." Seth nodded to her and got up to leave. " Oh and Mr. Carson, be careful." Marshall said before he left. 

Seth let out his excitement and jumped up and down pumping his fists in the air. His phone rang and Seth looked at it. It was a text from Jim, a high class researcher. "Please report to room 17b." Seth walked quickly down the hallway. When he came to the room he knocked. "You may come in." A man said. Seth opened the door and entered a large room. It had many desks and chairs. There was a man standing in the middle holding a paper and sipping on a cup of coffee. His name tag read Jim alabaster. Seth reached his hand out. Jim tucked the paper under his arm and firmly shook Seth's hand. "I'm Jim and this is Lilly, '' Jim said, pointing at a young woman with blond hair. Seth smiled and waved to the previously unknown woman hiding in the corner. She was bent over a desk feverishly writing on a notepad. Lilly paid Seth no attention. He turned back to Jim "so what shall I be working on" he asked. Jim gave him a small smile and handed him the paper he was holding. Read that and go to the closet to get your gear on. Seth glanced down on the paper. There was a blurry picture of what looked like a large black creature. Next to it was some information, such as " the creature stands roughly 15ft tall and seems to be predatory." There was not much beside a large warning and a statement " creature is highly aggressive because this study has been halted and blood samples have yet to be collected." Seth brows furrowed, this must have been the thing the guards were talking about. Seth shrugged and walked over to the door at the opposite end of the room. He opened it and was greeted with the sight of a dusty old closet. 

It held several racks of clothing and some miscellaneous cleaning supplies. Seth turned his head back to Jim. "What do i put on," he asked. Jim looked up from his coffee and phone "oh, pants, shirt, bulletproof vest," he stated nonchalantly. Seth cocked an eyebrow, bullet proof vest he thought curiously. He shrugged again and stepped in the closet. First he removed his outer clothing and pulled on the heave pants. They seemed to be made of a thick strong material and were cream colored. The shirt was of similar make and color. Lastly he pulled on a black Kevlar bulletproof vest. When he walked out Lilly was standing next to Jim talking to him. She held a metal tray with a few syringes on it. When they saw him they stopped their chatting and Lilly stepped forwards. "Have you used needles before, '' she questioned. Seth thought back to his dad who often needed help with his insulin shots. He nodded "yes i have '' at this statement she visibly lit up "good,good because today we want you to get some blood from this new species. 

Then it dawned on him, Seth was going to study something now one else had. He sucked in a sharp breath and tried to contain his excitement again by biting the inside of his lip. Lilly handed him the tray. "It's in room 10A, take all the time you need. She said quickly ushering him out. It was odd, like they wanted nothing to do with him. This made Seth feel a little excluded, but he knew he could prove himself. He walked briskly down the confusing maze like hallways. He had memorized them and realized that he had walked past room 10A many times without even realizing what it contained. When he got there, there was a guard standing outside holding a gun. He looked Seth up and down with cold brown eyes. "When your done scan your card and i'll let you out.'' Seth nodded and got ready to enter, his excitement almost bubbling over.