The Tainted (An Original Story)

Chapter 1

Pandemic

Adjective - (of a disease) prevalent over a whole country or world

Noun - an outbreak of a pandemic disease

Romania

The sirens began to blare as doors to the outside world came to a sudden and final stop. The building was on lockdown, those who were inside tried to prevent the virus from escaping. It was nearly impossible to do so with 150 men and women under one roof and many of which were infected. They had no idea what hell they had just unleashed on the world.

24 Hours Earlier

Vlad Romanov was the head scientist for the CDC in Atlanta. He's been sent to Romania to work on a new virus that had been found in the jungle of China weeks prior from the dung of bats. For six months he'd been here, holed up in a tiny office, wishing that he was back home in New York City with his wife and two daughters. He missed them dearly as last month was their 10th Wedding Anniversary and all he was able to do was to talk to his wife and girls on a 10- minute call. All other communications had been strictly restricted here for the safety of their work.

He sighed as he pulled his glasses off his face and pinched his nose. His hazel eyes flickering over the final results of his experiments. Today he would be heading home to be with his family and it sure as hell wasn't coming as fast as he wanted. He placed all his work into a folder and placed it on the desk. The new scientist coming on would have all his work and would continue it. He prayed that if they ever determined what this virus was, that it would not fall into the hands of terrorists or it would mean the end of the world as he knew it.

He packed the vials into the refrigerator and locked it. He glanced once more over the office he'd been using and sleeping in for the last few months and shook his head, before turning on his heels and exiting the room, closing the door behind him. He stopped at the main entrance and handed over his badge before leaving the building. A black SUV sat waiting for him. He climbed in and they took off for the airport in town. From there he would take a place back to the States, back to New York City and to his family. It was time for him to take back his old life before all of this happened.

14 Hours Later

A small fire broke out in the office of Vlad Romanov. The culprit was the old refrigerator that held the virus he'd been working on. The power line shorted and the fridge turned off, only to cause a spark and then a fire. The vials inside shattered and the virus began to leak through the shattered glass. The alarms began to screech as doors to the outside world closed upon themselves, trapping all those who were inside. At first, everything seemed to be alright and the room had been sealed shut and was currently in quarantine. Minutes later, some people in the nearby lab began to fall ill and were taken to the med lab to be checked out. At first, they were sick to their stomach, had high fevers and blisters. Then they were hot then cold and started to have fevers. Within 20 minutes of being brought to the med lab, all those infected were dead. 40 minutes after that 15 souls would be lost and 60 more infected – changing many of them into something totally inhuman.

10 Hours Later

Vlad had started to feel ill as soon as he entered the plane. He thought that by being trapped inside a building for 6 months had run down his immune system somehow and thought nothing of it. The flight attendant placed him in his seat and had him rest. She kept others away in case it was the flu. He would fall asleep for the whole plane ride, unaware of what was happening around him.

But he was finally home and he was greeted by the sight of his family waiting for him in the corridor of the airport. Ever since waking, he'd been coughing and wheezing. No one thought the better of it since it was the cold season. He was tired, sore, and drained. He hugged his wife and daughters, trying to be cheerful, but all he wanted to do was to sleep. His wife grabbed his bag and grabbed his arm and led him and their children out of the congested airport to their awaiting car outside.