him?
You lying motherfucker, you piece of shit … YOU TOLD ME SHE WAS OKAY!” Mike raged at him. He was on his knees now and felt like he was going to be sick. “Her pupils are red like the freaks outside!” he went on, his anger rising again.
"As far as we can tell there is nothing wrong with her. We have monitored her for hours with no change, her test results show everything is normal, and like I said before there are no marks on her. We may be looking at something new here, or perhaps she is resistant to the change,” Julian said to Mike in an attempt to calm him.
Mike walked back up to the office door, Eric next to him this time. Marlee was sitting on the bed, sobbing. When she saw Mike again she rushed to the door. “What’s going on, Mike, what’s wrong with me?” Marlee pleaded with him.
It was Eric who responded. “The good news is you’re healthy, but your eyes have changed; they’re red now like the people that have changed . Do you feel different in any way?”
“No, I just want to be let out of this room and get my life back,” Marlee said tearfully.
Mike and Eric shared a glance and looked back at Julian. “Have you told her what’s going on outside?” Mike asked.
“After what she went through on the ship we didn’t want to overload her emotionally,” Julian told them.
“Can we let her out?” Mike asked.
Julian signaled to his men and they quickly took up positions around the floor and at a good distance from Mike and Eric. Julian handed Mike the key and stepped off a few yards. Mike looked back at Eric, who nodded. He put the key in the door, the lock making an audible click. Mike pushed the door open and Marlee ran out in a rush and jumped on him. He was unsettled at first but quickly realized she was just squeezing him in a monster hug.
“Mike, what’s going on?” she asked as she desperately clung to him.
“Bad shit, Marlee, bad shit,” was all Mike would say and just held her until she calmed down.
Mike was going to have to tell Marlee the world had changed and in the worst way imaginable. Looking into her eyes, with that red tinge buried deep in her pupils, Mike wondered just how bad things would get.
CHAPTER 6
Rescue or Reunion
Mike held Marlee until she stopped crying, running his fingers through her thick dark hair to help sooth her frayed nerves. She loved when he stroked her hair and he hoped a familiar touch in an unfamiliar setting would relax her. When he looked up, he noticed the guards were still hyper-alert. He assumed after having seen how the Changed reacted towards others they weren’t about to take any chances.
“So what now? Do we wait this out or find a safer place?” Eric asked, looking directly at Julian.
Before Julian could respond, Mike cut in. “You have a name for them. I haven’t seen any news reports talking about people turning into monsters, so what gives? How is it that you have a team assembled onsite, in advance, and seem to know what’s going on?”
Julian gave Eric a steady stare in response, then turned and tossed Mike a pair of sunglasses. “We’ll talk later, but for now I need to get my people together so we can pull out of Tampa today. The place will be overrun by tomorrow. Have your girlfriend wear these so no one gets a twitchy trigger finger and mistakes her for one of them .”
“Mike, we need to get Reid and Ashley and get out of town,” Eric said just loud enough that Julian and his men overheard.
“Who are we talking about?” Julian asked, giving his tactical team a withering look. It was obvious he thought Reid and Ashley were somewhere in the building and had been overlooked somehow.
“No one you need to worry about, so don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out,” Eric shot back; he was growing tired of the cryptic answers Julian was providing.
“This is well past riding anything out, the Changed will spread from downtown into the suburbs and it may be beyond even
You lying motherfucker, you piece of shit … YOU TOLD ME SHE WAS OKAY!” Mike raged at him. He was on his knees now and felt like he was going to be sick. “Her pupils are red like the freaks outside!” he went on, his anger rising again.
"As far as we can tell there is nothing wrong with her. We have monitored her for hours with no change, her test results show everything is normal, and like I said before there are no marks on her. We may be looking at something new here, or perhaps she is resistant to the change,” Julian said to Mike in an attempt to calm him.
Mike walked back up to the office door, Eric next to him this time. Marlee was sitting on the bed, sobbing. When she saw Mike again she rushed to the door. “What’s going on, Mike, what’s wrong with me?” Marlee pleaded with him.
It was Eric who responded. “The good news is you’re healthy, but your eyes have changed; they’re red now like the people that have changed . Do you feel different in any way?”
“No, I just want to be let out of this room and get my life back,” Marlee said tearfully.
Mike and Eric shared a glance and looked back at Julian. “Have you told her what’s going on outside?” Mike asked.
“After what she went through on the ship we didn’t want to overload her emotionally,” Julian told them.
“Can we let her out?” Mike asked.
Julian signaled to his men and they quickly took up positions around the floor and at a good distance from Mike and Eric. Julian handed Mike the key and stepped off a few yards. Mike looked back at Eric, who nodded. He put the key in the door, the lock making an audible click. Mike pushed the door open and Marlee ran out in a rush and jumped on him. He was unsettled at first but quickly realized she was just squeezing him in a monster hug.
“Mike, what’s going on?” she asked as she desperately clung to him.
“Bad shit, Marlee, bad shit,” was all Mike would say and just held her until she calmed down.
Mike was going to have to tell Marlee the world had changed and in the worst way imaginable. Looking into her eyes, with that red tinge buried deep in her pupils, Mike wondered just how bad things would get.
CHAPTER 6
Rescue or Reunion
Mike held Marlee until she stopped crying, running his fingers through her thick dark hair to help sooth her frayed nerves. She loved when he stroked her hair and he hoped a familiar touch in an unfamiliar setting would relax her. When he looked up, he noticed the guards were still hyper-alert. He assumed after having seen how the Changed reacted towards others they weren’t about to take any chances.
“So what now? Do we wait this out or find a safer place?” Eric asked, looking directly at Julian.
Before Julian could respond, Mike cut in. “You have a name for them. I haven’t seen any news reports talking about people turning into monsters, so what gives? How is it that you have a team assembled onsite, in advance, and seem to know what’s going on?”
Julian gave Eric a steady stare in response, then turned and tossed Mike a pair of sunglasses. “We’ll talk later, but for now I need to get my people together so we can pull out of Tampa today. The place will be overrun by tomorrow. Have your girlfriend wear these so no one gets a twitchy trigger finger and mistakes her for one of them .”
“Mike, we need to get Reid and Ashley and get out of town,” Eric said just loud enough that Julian and his men overheard.
“Who are we talking about?” Julian asked, giving his tactical team a withering look. It was obvious he thought Reid and Ashley were somewhere in the building and had been overlooked somehow.
“No one you need to worry about, so don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out,” Eric shot back; he was growing tired of the cryptic answers Julian was providing.
“This is well past riding anything out, the Changed will spread from downtown into the suburbs and it may be beyond even
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