Forgotten

Chapter One

Dr Jones injected the disease into the prisoner's bloodstream. His whole body tensed and his back arched. A scream ripped through him as the veins around his body began to rise and turn black. Dr Jones shook his head and wrote down the results on a clipboard. He took a knife and plunged it into his head, piercing the brain, simply to be thorough. Satisfied, the doctor placed the clipboard and knife on a counter, cleansed his hands and left the room. He turned right. His heavy footsteps reverberated around the halls of the facility as he walked. Eventually, he came to a door and knocked."Enter," a gruff voice spoke from the other side. The door slid down and Dr Jones entered."Good evening, Sir, I'm here with today's report," the doctor told him. The man nodded."What are the results?" He asked."We have nothing, Sir," Jones replied. "All the tests have proven to be unsuccessful. My latest strain corrupted the prisoner's entire bloodstream,""I see, we will have to try something else," The man told him."We've tried everything, Martyn, sir, there is nothing left." Dr Jones said gently"No, there's something left," Martyn said. He shuffled through papers before giving two to the doctor. "Try and mix these, they might work,""Yes, sir," Jones sighed leaving the room.He came back to his lab. The body is gone. At least one thing had gone right today. Jones rubbed his face as his phone began to ring, he answered after checking who it was."Hey baby," he said."James Jones, why are you not back in this house yet!?" His wife yelled down the line."Jane, baby, you know I love you but Martyn is sure that we are close to this," James replied calmly."Good God, James, it's been three weeks. The kids miss you, I miss you," Jane said quieter."I know and I'm sorry but Martyn thinks this is it now, I'll be home by the end of tomorrow hopefully," James told her."Alright fine," she sighed."Love you, baby, bye," James said."Bye, I love you too," she responded before hanging up. James put his phone away and went searching for the two viruses he was to mix. When he found them he came back to the station and clipped one up to stabilise it. He gently tipped the other one in and ran back to safety. Nothing happened. He sighed in relief and called on another test subject."Here you are Doctor," The guard said strapping the prisoner down. James merely nodded and filled a syringe with the mixture. Before the prisoner could react he pushed the needle in and injected the liquid. The prisoner did not react. James shook his head and took down the notes. Without warning the man screamed, startling Dr Jones. The heart monitor began to beep rapidly. The man ripped out of the restraints and monitors behind him began to buckle and burn. James ran."Help!" He screamed. "Help me!"' The man was chasing him at a surprising speed. James came to a dead-end in his fear. They made a mistake. A very big mistake. The entire factory, being made of glass, shattered at the explosion and screams echoed down the hall. It was fight or flight. He chose to fight. His last fight but nonetheless he gave it his all, no matter how uninspiring it was. He lashed out at the creature he had created. Too little, too late. It pinned him down, it's teeth sinking deep into James' neck and ripping out a chunk of flesh. The doctor choked on his blood, his mind and eyes becoming cloudy. He was vaguely aware of the creature running away, of Martyn grabbing him and pulling him away and then... nothing. He was gone. Erased. Never to return."Mummy, when is daddy going to be home?" Ariana asked."He said by the end of the week, honey," Jane told her with a smile."How many days is that?" Adrian asked. Jane sighed quietly."4 days, sweetie," She said. Adrian nodded in acknowledgement, returning to his cereals. Jane smiled and walked into the living room to give the baby his bottle. Arlo babbled happily when he saw his mum. She gave him it, making sure he could suck without dropping it. She turned on the TV."And now for our top..." the news anchor started before someone rushed into the frame and whispered in his ear."This is an important announcement," the anchor said when the other person finished talking, "There has been a horrific accident at Meyler Institute. I cannot release any information at this time but if you have any family that was at work there today, please call the news station immediately. Please do not call if you do not have family working there,"Jane tried to process the words. James. James was there. She stood shakily and went to the phone. She dialled the number, listening to the children scream and shout. The news station picked up."Hello, are you related to anyone at Meyler Institute?" A woman asked."Yes, my husband works there," Jane told her, her mouth dry."What is your husband's name?" She asked."James Jones," Jane replied."We don't have any news on Dr Jones, it's inaccessible to us, however, I will give you a number now and you can call them, they can tell you," The woman told Jane calmly."I see, I have a pen and pad here," she said quietly. The woman quickly gave Jane the number and hanging up. Before calling Jane went to the children."Ariana, Adrian, something has happened at daddy's work okay? I need you to go up to mummy's room and get your suitcases and fill them up with everything we have talked about," Jane said. They nodded and obediently went. From birth, they had been taught this. If something happened at the Meyler Institute they had to pack their bags and leave as soon as possible. The Meyler Institute was run by a rich man by the name of Mr H. Nobody knew who he was but everyone had their suspicions. Codename for the government, a powerful man, but nobody really knew. But everyone knew Mr H was a cruel, untrustworthy man."God I'm so bored I wish something would happen in this stupid town," Charleigh sighed throwing her bag down on the bench. "I'd be careful what you wish for..." Melissa replied sitting next to her friend's bag. Charleigh eyed her friend with a hint of suspicion glinting in her eye. "What do you mean by that...?" Charleigh questioned."Well, you never know what could happen, y' know?" Melissa replied with a delicate shrug of her petite shoulders. As her shoulders fell a loud, disturbing siren began to sound. Everyone on the school grounds stared at each other in utter confusion. Teachers ran towards them and began dragging them back inside. Some of the more self-absorbed students slapped them away and told them they had no right to touch them but everyone else was well aware that something was seriously wrong. Charleigh immediately ran inside with Melissa, they needed no encouragement to mute the sound of the siren. Melissa dragged Charleigh off to the side, positioning them so they could see outside but could get away from the door if it came to it.About an hour filled with boredom, mystery and suspense passed before the teachers told them something."I know a lot of you are becoming frustrated with our current situation but something terrible has happened and we need to sort it out. You are now going to split into four groups, do not complain about them, they have been specially picked," Mrs Mayor told them. Charleigh shook her head but didn't say anything. The other students, however, had different ideas."Uh I don't care about whatever the hell happened, I want to go home and I want to go now," Mrs Mayor sighed."Brittany, if you leave now there is a high chance you will be severely injured," she told her."There's nothing out there, I'm leaving," Brittany huffed. Before anyone could catch her, she waltzed out into the open. Mrs Mayor looked on in disappointment, unsure of what to do. And it was then the first attack happened. A woman slowly came into view. When the woman heard Brittany, her head snapped up and everyone froze in horror at the mangled face she had. Even from this distance, Charleigh could still see all the gory details. Then the woman was running, charging toward Brittany at full speed and more people came racing behind her. The crowd consumed Brittany and dragged her into their numbers before turning toward the school. The teachers started shoving people away from the doors as the first of the things that Charleigh refused to believe was human began pounding at the door. Charleigh could hear the faint screaming of Melissa beside her, telling her they had to get back however, she was rooted in place. Unable to move, paralysed with fear. The glass began to crack. The glass began to shatter. The things, they began to reach for her. One of them grabbed Melissa and finally, Charleigh could move, speak, think. And she did the first thing that came to mind. She leapt at the monster shoving it harshly away from her friend. Melissa cried out in shock and ran to help her. A teacher grabbed her and pulled her back inside. Relieved, Charleigh focused on her current predicament. The whole crowd was descending on her. The thing that had grabbed Melissa opened its mouth and tried to bite her. Fearing for her life, Charleigh screamed.

The shockwave was huge. It shattered the windows of the school and the cars parked nearby. It was suddenly so cold and a mist rolled out from around Charleigh. Whatever the mist touched glazed over and froze. All the monsters were no longer moving. Still in shock Charleigh tore away from them and sprinted back to her friend, falling into Melissa's arms. The whole student and staff body were stunned but it didn't last long. Nobody knew how this miracle had occurred but they all agreed they should use this time, however much they had, to create barricades. 

By the time they had finished the barricades, the mist had cleared and the beings outside were stirring. Some were even banging on the doors again. Fear was hanging in the air. You could see it on every face, everywhere you looked. Charleigh, recovering from the shock, sat in a corner, head held low. Melissa sat beside her. 

"So, what the hell was that Charleigh," a girl asked, strutting over. One of Brittany's friends. "They took poor Britt but not you? Ugh," Charleigh didn't respond

"Charleigh is still in shock, kindly leave, Tania, darling," Melissa quietly sighed. 

"Not until I get an answer," Tania scowled, hands sassily rested on her hips.

"Tania, you will be waiting there a long time, for we have no idea what happened, these are unprecedented circumstances," Melissa replied coldly. Tania scoffed and pranced back to her friends. Charleigh heard her calling Melissa a teacher's pet and raised her head a little in anger. Upon noticing this Melissa turned slightly.

"When will you talk?" She asked. Charleigh looked at her.

"They turned her into one of them," Charleigh told Melissa, glancing at the horrifying face of an old enemy.

"It was her own fault."

"That does not explain why my scream created a literal shock wave, Melissa," 

"It could have been..."

"There's not always a scientific explanation," Charleigh snapped.

"My, my, angry are we?" Melissa giggled. Charleigh exhaled.

"Sorry, Meli," She smiled.

Melissa had always been good at controlling peoples emotions. Her happiness, sadness, fear, pride, calmness and annoyance would affect those around her. Especially Charleigh. Nobody could explain it, Melissa's emotions were just contagious. Now that Charleigh had come out of her shock, she noticed there were not many people left in the main hall. She could see why, the glass was gone and those barricades were not secure. They needed to move further back, and create layers of barricades. Delaying the inevitable yet giving the rescue time to get them out.

If there were to be a rescue...