One second closer to death

Prologue

April 27, 2032. The date when scientist finally found a cure for Alzheimer’s. Word spread around the country like it was juicy gossip on a famous celebrity. A press conference was held in Helena, Montana where the cure was found. The head intern, Peter Ostrowsky, was in charge of the conference. Dr. Smith, the head scientist at the lab, asked for him to direct the meeting.

Peter was touching up his hair in the bathroom before the conference started. He had no idea how to do his own hair because he never worried about it. Peter was not married, didn’t have a girlfriend, and didn’t have any kids. Just the way he liked it. Ever since he was little he had no intentions of one day being married.

A knock on the door startled Peter as he was trying to flatten his hair down onto his head. “Peter,” a voice said, “They’re ready for you.”

“I’ll be right out,” Peter said. He looked in the mirror and said, “Screw it.” He turned on the water and drenched his hair. He took a paper towel from the roll on the wall and dried up his hair. He then shook his head letting his hair do whatever.

Peter walked down the hall into a big room. Cameras were lined up against the wall and reporters were sitting in fold-up chairs in front of a podium where Dr. Smith was standing with a big smile on his face.

“Please welcome Dr. Peter Ostrowsky,” Dr. Smith said. The reporters clapped as Peter walked up to the podium to shake hands with Dr. Smith. “Now, you all know how much I suck at public speaking, so I’ll let Peter do all the talking.” The crowd let out a few chuckles.

Peter stood behind the podium where microphones were lined up side by side from every news program in the state.

“Greetings, ladies and gentleman,” Peter began, “as Dr. Smith said, I am Dr. Peter Ostrowsky.” Peter took a deep breath. “Recently here at VA Medical Center have found a cure for the virus Alzheimer’s. Dr. Smith and I have been working on this for years with help from other medical facilities around the country. Our team here at VA Medical Center have worked for long hours making this cure one of our top priorities to find.” The audience clapped. A reporter stood up.

“Dr. Ostrowsky, how long did it take you to find this cure?” She asked.

“Dr. Smith and I did have spent six years in all trying to find this cure.”

More reporters stood up shouting Peter’s name. Peter pointed to a reporter that was wearing a red flannel shirt.

“What are the chemicals in this substance?” The flannel dressed reporter asked.

Peter looked at Dr. Smith. He had never told Peter what was in the cure. Peter started to panic, “personally, I don’t know exactly what’s in it. I can give that information out on a later date.” Dr. Smith shook his head and left the room.

Peter had no idea why he left the room. How was he supposed to know what was in the cure if he never showed Peter the paperwork. Peter had worked with Dr. Smith on the cure, but Peter was more of an errand boy for him than someone who wrote down all of the chemicals that were in the cure.

“How is the cure released to the public without them knowing what is in the chemical?” the flannel dressed reporter asked.

Peter saw a man walked into the room out of the corner of his eye, “I’m sure the recipe is released, I just don’t know it.”

The man that walked into the room walked up to Peter and whispered, “Something is wrong with Robert and we have no idea what to do.”

Peter excused himself from the conference and followed the man out of the room.

“What’s wrong with him?” Peter asked looking at his name tag. George Leavitt.

“He’s just ranting around like a wild animal,” George told him, “we tied him down so he didn’t hurt himself. I think this is a side effect of the cure.”

“Is he having a seizure?”

Peter and George turned the corner, “No, he’s been doing this for more than twenty minutes, way to long for a seizure.”

“Bizarre,” Peter said.

George led him into Robert’s room. Peter didn’t hear any thrashing or growls from the room. Let alone, there was nobody in there but them.

Peter suddenly heard a man shout in pain then a creature growl. The growl sounded like it was near human. It sounded like a big, muscly guy in a movie was growling mixed with a growl of a bear cub.

Peter took off down the hall to check it out. George was trailing right behind him. They both turned the corner too see Dr. Smith laying on the ground in a doorway flat on his belly with his limbs sprawled out with blood streaming from his neck.

Peter ran over to check for a pulse. “He’s dead,” he said.

“I’m going to see if Robert is still in his room,” George said pointing into the room Dr. Smith appeared to have fallen out of. He stepped over Dr. Smith’s body and paced into the room. “Hello? Robert?” he said.

Peter heard George scream then a creature that sounded near human growl.

Peter felt movement behind him, he looked there and he saw Dr. Smith getting up. “Doctor,” Peter put his hand on his shoulder, “are you okay? I thought you were dead.” Peter looked at Dr. Smith’s face as he opened his eyes. They weren’t the bright blue eyes Peter remembered, they were red. Peter heard moans and grunts coming from the room behind him. He looked as he saw the George and Robert limping out of it. Their eyes were red also, Robert lunged towards Peter’s arm. Peter pulled his arm out of reach. He felt Dr. Smith grab his shoulders and sink his teeth into his neck. He screamed with pain and ran away.

Peter found his way into the press conference room. Reporters crammed around him asking his questions. Peter felt himself blacking out. “Everyone run….” He wheezed then he felt himself fall to the ground as he heard people screaming in fear when they saw Dr. Smith.

This was just the start.