Word count →_→ 1393 words

"There's still no reply from the rehabilitation home." Doctor Eli informed his comrade as the two continued to observe subject zero's blood work.

Doctor Rudolph was quiet as he looked over his slides.

"Well, according to this, our subject's condition has nothing to do with the medicine and everything to do with covid 19. It's safe to say we can now move on to the second phase." He said.

"Daniel, are you even listening to me? We are in the dark on Bucky's current condition!" Eli exclaimed.

"And what do you want me to do? March over to them? Be reasonable, Eli. If they need to involve us in the happenings, they will. In the meantime, let's try to figure out how we are going to get our patient out of the ventilator." Doctor Rudolph said as he stepped away from the slides, heading towards the door. "Now are you going to come with me to give him his second shot or not?"

With a sigh, Doctor Eli Bossing gave in.

"Very well then." He said. But deep down he was determined to get to the bottom of it.

I have a bad feeling about it all.

They swiftly changed into their biohazard suits before they headed towards that part of the lab. Misty was still keeping an eye on the monitors whilst Emilia, having finished her own procedures, stood by her side looking like a zombie.

"Miss Larsson, are you alright? You're not experiencing any covid symptoms we may need to quarantine you for, are you? You look like you need some rest." Doctor Rudolph asked.

"Very funny, Doctor Rudolph. I'm quite fine actually." She replied stoically.

However, she was in need of a rest. She had hardly slept last night. She had tossed and turned until the break of dawn. Perhaps it was because part of her felt that if she closed her eyes then Alex would disappear.

It was a silly fear but she couldn't help it. She had developed feelings for him and the prospect of losing him before she got the chance to explore those feelings really frightened her.

"I'm just being observant of your procedures, that is all." She said, keeping her emotions in check.

"Very well then, we shall proceed to the third phase." Doctor Rudolph said in a monotonous voice.

"Wait? But Doctor," Misty interrupted. "Shouldn't we perhaps first get him out of the ventilator. If he reacts to the treatment in his current condition..."

"This treatment was designed to cure any and all symptoms of the corona virus as well as kill the viral cells. If we use any other drug on him right now our results will be biased because we won't be able to fully prove if our drug is effective or not. In other words, it's CovX2 or nothing." Doctor Rudolph reprimanded her. "I don't have to tell you any of that. Now does anyone else have anything to say?"

No one said anything as they all watched him summon his aids to bring in the case that held the second dose of the medicine.

"No one said it would be easy. If that were the case, there would be no need for a trial. Everyone knew the risks and we are all here to mitigate them." He went on. "Isn't that right, Miss Larsson?"

"Right." Emilia merely raised an eyebrow, trying to figure out why he had called on her.

He proceeded to unlock the case and bring out the second dose.

"The date is February 12, 2023. Time, 0847 hours." The Doctor began to recite as he moved towards the bed.

Taking hold of the IV tube, he brought the needle of the syringe to it.

"We will now administer the second dosage of our treatment, CovX2." With that he pushed the needle into the tube, injecting the drug into it. "The second dose has been administered. To date, no side effects have been noted but we will continue to observe the subject twenty four seven."

He handed the empty syringe back to his aids as they began to file out.

"That's all for now. I will see you around if you need me." He said to Emilia before turning to Misty. "My office, now."

Emilia could not help notice how pale the woman grew despite her dark skin. She wanted to give her a word of encouragement but she figured she couldn't act like that in front of Doctor Rudolph without getting the poor woman in any more trouble.

Misty followed her superior, trying to stay calm as her heels clicked on the tiled floor. His office was upstairs, a long walk away from the basement laboratory. She felt like she was walking to her own funeral. Damn Daniel Rudolph and his hold over her.

They finally made it to his office and she followed him inside. She stood as he sat on his desk, going over his notes.

"Do you want to tell me what that was about?" He demanded, not at once looking up at her.

"Forgive me, I was merely making a suggestion." She replied in a timid manner, trying to gauge his mood. "I meant no disrespect."

"You challenged me in front of all the staff. In front of an external medical observer. That is more than disrespect, it's insubordination." He said, lifting his eyes to meet hers, his tone serious as he tried to portray the weight of his words. "I've said this before, if you have any queries, bring them to me when we're alone, do not challenge me in front of others. This will be your first and final warning. Understood?"

"Yes, Doctor." Misty said with a purse of her lips.

"Good, you can return to your work." Doctor Rudolph said as he turned back to his work.

With that,Misty turned and left him to his work.

☣️☣️☣️
16 hours earlier

Fei checked her wrist watch for the fifth time, cursing each time.

"Damnit, what's taking Cody and Russo so long?" She asked no one in particular. "Jake will be here any second now."

As if on cue, the vet walked in through the door.

"Hey, Fei. I'm back. Hope your guys have loaded him up and he's ready to go." Jake said with a smile.

"Those two idiots have been down there for hours. They should have brought him up by now." Fei replied, a hint of annoyance. "Let's go see what they're doing."

They made their way towards the cages. Taking the elevator down, they stayed in a cocoon of comfortable silence until they got to their destination.

The moment she got out of the elevator, Fei gagged on the horrid smell she inhaled.

"What... What's that God awful smell?!" She exclaimed, pinching her nose shut to avoid inhaling it. "Those buffoons! I'm gonna have their heads if they were just sitting around not cleaning!"

She stomped towards the little office without so much as a second glance at the vet whom she left standing there.

"Cody? Russo? Where did you two go off to? Wanna explain to me what's up with that..."

She hardly finished her words because she had arrived by the cages. What she saw shocked her so much that no words would come out.

Body parts everywhere. Turfs of fur, or was that hair? All over. The worst part was the blood splatter. The spray of blood was everywhere, almost as if some psychotic artist had been trying to do a piece with it.

For a moment she was convinced that her keepers had done this monstrous thing and killed all the apes until she saw a head with blonde hair in one of the cages. Her eyes were glued to the bloody spectacle. However, as frightened as she was, Fei found her body moving on its own towards the cage.

She approached the cage, and as her eyes fell on the severed head, she recognized it as the head of one of her keepers. She felt the blood drain from her face.

What the hell?

"Please...help... Me..." The voice came from behind her and it was so low she barely heard it.

She turned her head slowly, recognizing the voice. It was Russo.

He lay in a pool of blood. His eyes seemed lifeless and he could barely move and it took her a few seconds to realize why.

She was only looking at the upper half of his body. The bottom half was gone, it seemed to have been ripped off.

"Please..." He begged, causing a chill to run through her body.

She remained frozen in place, not sure how to react when all of a sudden, the body was dragged back into the shadows.