In One Day

Chapter One - Laboratory

I looked up from my microscope, blinking awkwardly as one eye adjusted to the harsh white light of the laboratory.

I sat back in my chair and yawned, stretching my arms out as my stiffened muscles yelped in protest.

I had been sitting in this chair for almost 9 hours.

The guard standing next to me grunted, causing me to look across at him sideways, still mid stretch.

He raised his thick eyebrows expectantly and nodded curtly, readjusting the heavy gun that rested across his broad chest.

I took the hint and grimaced, settling back down with my microscope.

So yeah, I should probably explain that.

A few months ago, I was called up by Excel Research with the offer to come and work for them. Already crippled by student loans in my first few months of university how could I resist?

It wasn't until several suited men turned up at my front door with a tinted black car that I knew the multimillion pharmaceutical corporation wasn't just looking for a couple of new faces.

I now live in a small flat just opposite the building I'm in now, along with every other scientist in this research facility where we are guarded 24/7, you know, just in case we wanted to bail out on our contract and let the world know exactly what we were growing in these labs.

Hence Mr Nice-Guy with the AK-47 breathing down my neck.

It paid well that was for sure, but I still had a numb longing in my chest for home.

I awkwardly fiddled with my microscope, readjusting the slide in its clips so the drop of dried blood on the glass was directly beneath the lens.

Nine hours of sitting here today, and I had achieved absolutely nothing. I had been wracking my brains for the past few days, almost certain I was on the edge of a breakthrough but with zero luck.

I sighed and turned to my logbook, picking up the chewed biro that laid next to it and scribbling down no change next to my tab for Slide 52.

I unclipped it from beneath my microscope and tossed it into the plastic box on the other side. The pile of useless slides in there was slowly growing, as was my mounting frustration.

I pushed back my stool and stood up, clutching my back and wincing as my sore muscles complained again at the movement. By the time I got out of this lab I would be old, grey, hunchbacked and squinting from all this time of glaring down a microscope at stubborn bacteria.

I opened the freezer beneath my workbench and pulled out my next samples tray, shivering as a wave of mist rolled out onto me as I crouched there.

Fifty five...fifty four...yes.

I pulled out my next slide which was neatly labelled '53' and carefully pinched it between my gloved fingers, the cold seeping through the latex.

I slid the tray back into the freezer and slammed it shut, standing back up and sliding onto my chair as I carefully placed down 53.

I readjusted my microscope and peered down it for what felt like the bazillionth time that morning, only to see the tell-tale black smudges of dead cells. I sighed and shook my head, slipping the slide off the stage and tossing it away.

This was useless! I had spent weeks preparing this vaccine and it was meant to be perfect. On paper, it was going to earn this company millions, however in practice it had destroyed every red blood cell it came into contact with. Not a great idea if it was going to be injected into the bloodstream of everyone with a B4-7ZX infection.