Whatever It Takes: Mutations

Chapter Three

The Start of the Insanity

Fallout: September 30th, 2:42am

Current Location: Baltimore, MD
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As usual, I had a hard time falling asleep that night. It wasn't the first time, and I was sure that it wouldn't be the last. I'll admit that I happened to doze off a few times, but my body acted like it was bad to sleep. During the four months of peace, I could sleep a little; still not as much as I should, but some.

My ears picked up a tiny clatter and mumbling outside of our room. Olivia mumbled and rolled over to her other side, and I made sure she was still asleep, which she was. Slowly sneaking out of the bed, I cautiously opened the door to see who was up at this time of the night, besides myself.

I was confused. Sgt. Brown was pacing back and forth in the living room where I watched the action happen on the screen yesterday. He was mumbling something I couldn't make out, and thoughts immediately started to rub through my head. If I was right about the bite, was it starting to mess with his mind? I wasn't sure, but I wanted to talk to Dad about it. If something was going to happen, I wanted to be ready for it, of course. If anything happened to anyone else, especially my siblings, I would never forgive myself for it.

After a while, Sgt. Brown walked back towards a table with some sort of medical materials on it. When he picked up a syringe, my eyes widened and my grip tightened on the door. He raised it to his arm where the bite was, but before he inserted it, he swiftly grabbed a rag and stuffed it inside of his mouth. Then he quickly stabbed it into his arm, and I watched with horror as he muffled a scream. He pushed the liquid into his skin, and when it was done, he took the syringe out and laid it back onto the table. I saw a little bit of his eyes, and they looked extremely wild and wide awake. They weren't normal, for sure.

"Jeremy...?" A quiet voice said. I swiftly closed the door and turned around, trying to recollect myself after what I just witnessed. Thankfully I didn't make any noise.

"What is it, Olivia?" I said, slowly making my way back towards the bed. Braxton was still asleep, fortunately.

"Is everything okay?"

I smiled, admiring her compassion. Ever since the summer, she's definitely changed her attitude towards the world and other people.

"Everything's okay, I promise."

Was it though? Was everything truly okay? Those thoughts continued to run through my mind as it got quiet again. I tried my best to fall asleep, but again with no success.

I continued to lay there until I did happen to doze off for a while.

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The next morning started off with Dad lightly shaking me awake. "Wake up Jeremy, we're about to get breakfast."

Immediately, I thought of the events from early this morning. I seriously needed to tell him about it. "Can we talk for a minute?"

He frowned and shrugged. "Of course. What's on your mind?"

"There's something...disturbing that I saw last night," I started, then lowering my voice. "It was Sgt. Brown."

Dad stepped forward, and the look on his face grew serious. "What did you see?"

"I...I don't even know for sure. He was pacing in the living room and mumbling to himself," I said, getting nervous thinking about it. "There was also a table filled with medical supplies, and later he picked up a syringe and stabbed it in his arm. He even acted like he wanted to scream in agony."