Before the Glitches (Book 0)

The Module

As he approached the site of the Module, Lucas, his family, and the mysterious Claire King were greeted by a throng of people.

"Let us in! Quick!" They yelled, each trying to be louder than the rest and eventually turning it into an incoherent jumble of words. "Before it's too late!"

"Alright! I'm opening it! Let me through!" Lucas yelled, pushing through the crowd to get to a steel plate embedded in the ground. Pulling a key from his pocket, he wrenched up the plate, which turned out to be a trapdoor. "Everyone, get in a single file line! You need to be checked for the Plague before I can let you in!"

Lucas felt like a teacher as he stood in front of the line of frantic people, scanning their faces and bodies before either letting them in or keeping them out if they were infected. His heart lightened when the Plague test showed negative for himself, Lara, Jade, Calvin, and Kate. And then, the last person in line, his sister-in-law, Regina.

She smiled weakly as he waved the scanner over body, it beeped gently in an almost soothing rhythm.

Suddenly, it began to blare like an alarm, and red flashed on the screen. "ALERT: PLAGUEVIRUS 078-B DETECTED."

"No!" Regina shrieked, stepping back and clawing her skin as if the rashes had already appeared. "You need to leave," Lucas said coolly, stepping back and yanking the lever to seal the Module's door permanently.

"No, no, no, no, no! Lucas! Lara! How can you do this to me!? You're leaving me out here to die! No! Stop! Open it!" She banged on the trapdoor and Lucas looked away in pain as it slid into place, muffling her screams and sobs until they were gone.

"Lucas, how could you!? She's my sister!" Lara yelled, pushing her way to the front Module and pulling at the door but to no avail. The Module wasn't built to ever reopen once it was sealed.

"You know that if we had let her in, she would've infected all the rest of us." He tried in vain to comfort his wife. "We can't afford to let our emotions get the better of us in situations like this." "You don't even care, do you? You don't care that she's going to die by the end of the day!"

"I do care, Lara" Lucas sighed. "It's just that there's nothing we could've done to help her. Please, this is no time to have an argument!"

Lara slinked back into the corner and buried her face in her hands, letting herself plunge deep into her silent tears.

"Children, would you please step forward," said Lucas, attempting to push the image of a screaming Regina banging on the door of the Module out of his conscience.

The kids who had made it into the Module slowly walked forward, their eyes wide, haunted by what they had seen outside. Most came reluctantly, unwilling to leave their parents' side, but the adults gently guided them to Lucas.

He counted them and found there were exactly thirty one. Perfect.

"Wait...who are you guys? I've never seen you around." He asked two unfamiliar girls huddled in the corner.

"I'm Megan King."

"And I'm Amanda Myers."

"King?" He turned to Megan. "Do you happen to be related to that girl over there?" He pointed to Claire King. "No," she frowned. "I've never seen her before."

Lucas nodded and turned his attention back to the Module.

"Initiate main Module tech," he said, and the lights flickered on, revealing a large chair in the center surrounded by many glowing screens. Several tunnels led back into other areas and the entire thing was made of metal.