The Beginning of the End by Sean Kidd Page A

gloved hands, “Colonel, how sure can we be about
anything. I admit. I've spent my life working on ZMapp, but that
doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the cure all. Sophie and I have had
the opportunity to sample our serum in Africa, and we were able to
record tremendous results. Based on those findings we’ve shown
ZMapp to be, quite frankly, in this case, a wonder drug.”
    Just then, a small
bedside table tipped over in the middle of all the gurneys making a
loud crashing sound. Sophie looked at Dr. Marcil and said, “You go
on Doctor. I've got it.” Dr. Marcil nodded and thanked Sophie as
she headed out onto the main floor, “As I was saying Bob, I believe
that my ZMapp may have just saved us al-"
    Dr. Marcil was
interrupted by Sophie screaming, “Help! Help! He’s trying to bite
me!” Bob charged toward Sophie in time to see Jean-Luc tackle the
male patient who had been on top of her. Bob arrived a second later.
Sophie was leaning against the gurney, and Jean-Luc was holding a
male down by his arms. The male Ebola patient was growling and trying
to bite Jean-Luc through his suit. The male’s bites were so
exaggerated that every time he tried to bite, his teeth snapped
together. The sound of the teeth snapping together reminded Bob of
the glass marbles he played with as a boy striking each other. Bob
grabbed a pillow from the gurney and held it over the male’s face
“Ted. We need 10cc’s of Benzodiazepine Stat!”
    Bob fought to hold the
pillow, and could see that Jean-Luc was rapidly approaching
exhaustion. Ted was back just in time, dropping to his knees, fill
the syringe with the Benzo, “What happened?” “Just give him the
damn shot!” Jean-Luc yelled.
    The fluid pushed
through the syringe, the man’s arms began to weaken instantly and
finally when limp after a few seconds. Jean-Luc rolled off the male,
onto his back fighting to catch his breath, “Sacrebleu!”
    Bob stood up and looked
down at Jean-Luc, “You can say that again!”
    “Let’s get him off
the floor and on the gurney.” Jean-Luc made his way to his feet and
helped Bob and Ted get the male onto the bed. Sophie began taking his
vitals and looked up at Bob, “He’s dead!”
    Sophie pulled one of
the dead man’s eyelids open and immediately released it when she
saw what was underneath. An eye that had just been brown a minute
ago, was now glowing blue. On closer examination, it almost appeared
that the blue pigmentation was moving or spinning, and a light-gray
haze was beginning to layer over the black pupil. Sophie pulled the
pen light from her suit pocket and shined it across the eye,
expecting to see the pupil fixed and dilated. The pupil shrank to a
pinpoint when it was hit by the light. Sophie dropped the lid a
second time and stepped back.
    “What is it?” Ted
asked.
    “I must have made a
mistake. He’s not dead. His pupils were reactive.”
    Ted shot Sophie a smile
through the clear shield of the protective suit, giving her a little
snicker, “Let me take a look Sophie. Your nerves are still shot.”
    Ted borrowed Sophie’s
pen light and pulled the eyelid open again. The black pupil was
completely grayed over now. For a brief second, he was hypnotized by
the dynamic blue spinning pigment, “My God Sophie! Did you see
thi-“
    Ted’s sentence was
interrupted when the light from the pen crossed the gray pupil which
immediately shrank it to a pinpoint. The male’s second eye popped
open, already blue and cataracted. Ted’s mouth dropped open to
scream, but he didn’t have a chance. Before a word could pass Ted’s
lips, the male reached both arms up and around Ted’s neck pulling
them face to face. The male’s teeth sank into Ted’s nose tearing
away at the protective shield and the tip of his nose. The male
pulled and pulled at Ted, each time taking fleshy bits from his
cheek, chin and finally neck, tearing away at Ted’s carotid artery.
Blood sprayed all over the monster’s face with each of Ted’s
heartbeats.