December 21st, 2099, 9:55 PM

Ezra was spraying disinfectant on her workbench when the lights went out, plunging the lab into darkness. She could barely make out faint lights from the exit signs when she heard a flutter of sounds, like popcorn bursting.

When it stopped, the eerie silence of the lab perpetuated, just the way she preferred. Left alone. Everyone had gone to bed. Even Tehreem. Weird. Power must have gone out.

A second round of bursts rang closer this time. Ezra put the disinfectant down and moved towards the soldier on duty. "What's happening?"

But the man, one of Gracery's, was gone. The guard room was empty. She proceeded to the corridor through the anteroom.

Someone ran by the door, screaming. Ezra nearly screamed herself. Further screams sounded as she got closer to the door. What the hell's happening out there?

Then the door swung open. Someone ran into her, sending her tumbling. "Shit! Thank God you're here. I looked everywhere..."

"Tehreem?" Ezra eyed the dark corridors as she got to her feet. "What's going on? Why are the lights out? Why are you out of breath? And why are people running around screaming?"

Tehreem caught her breath, slamming Ezra against the wall when another figure ran down the corridor. "Don't know. They just came out of nowhere and started shooting people."

"Shooting people? Who and why?" Ezra didn't need an answer. "Watergate!" Only last week, she'd told him they were close with Item 349 and 350. She tugged Tehreem's arm. "We gotta get everything to the pickup point!"

Tehreem nodded. "I thought so too as soon as I heard screams and gunshots. They're shooting everyone. Not just us..."

"And Krish?"

"I don't know. I tried calling you here and his office." Tehreem shook her head. "But lines are dead. Power's out on the entire base. Remember what Krish said? If the base loses power, the firewall goes down and you can send out encrypted files and messages."

Ezra remembered. "Do you think it was Krish? The power outage?"

"I hope so..." Tehreem eyed the empty guard room. "Where's your guard?"

Ezra shrugged. "Go secure the samples. I'll send the files."

Tehreem hesitated for a moment. "Ezzie. We might die tonight..."

Ezra took Tehreem's shaking hands. "Can't think about that. Just be careful, okay? And get to the manhole Krish showed you for extraction. Don't wait for me."

"Ez."

"Don't wait for me." She gave Tehreem a desperate hug and pushed her away. "Go, while the corridor is still empty."

"I love you." Tehreem slipped into the corridor.

"I love you too!" Ezra watched her sprint for the specimen storage, towards a particular canister marked 'Damaged' but wasn't. Towards specimens that were marked as failures but weren't.

While Tehreem rushed to secure them in the travel canister and take them with her to the safety point, Ezra ran back to her office. Once there, she tilted the screen down, kneeled and turned the computer on.

Ignoring the terrifying noise outside, she checked the firewall. It was down, just like Krish had said it would be. She quickly opened the cloud as he'd instructed and started uploading the encrypted files from the small USB the size of a chip hanging from her necklace. Krish had smuggled it in, and she wore it on her body all the time. The file was huge and needed ten minutes to upload.

She couldn't remember how long Krish had said it would take for backup generators to come on and the firewall to go up again. So she prayed.

While she waited, Ezra opened another email. If this was her last moment, she wanted to say a proper goodbye to her loved ones. Good thing there were only two.

She typed the message quickly, aware of the ticking clock.

Dear Dad and Shaki,

There's a deadly pandemic coming. Go off the grid. Long term. Don't come to civilization for a few years. Please. I hope by then someone has found my research and uses it to refine the vaccine, but until then, look after each other. In case we never meet again, know this. I love you both so much. I always have and always will.

Ezzie.

Tears blurred her vision as flashes of gunfire lit falling figures in the corridor momentarily.

I hope you got the samples, Tehreem and went ahead without me...

She eyed the screen. Four minutes, ten seconds left. What if none of us makes it? I have to warn the world...

Ezra opened up another email and copied over her incomplete daily log. She clicked 'mail all', hoping at least one person would read it and pass it on to a media outlet, somebody.

LOG ENTRY: 375
DATE: 21 December 2099
TIME: 10:15 PM
LOCATION: Centre for Population Control (CPC) Research Laboratory. (Exact location undisclosed.)
Dr. Ezra Mayur, Microbiologist & Epidemiologist. Expertise: Designer Pathogens.

Mum used to say, find a job you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life. I used to think she was right for a long time. Now, I'm not so sure. If she could see me. She'd be ashamed.

I have blood on my hands. Countless blood on my hands, ones I can't wash off, no matter how hard I try. Millions, maybe even billions. Oh, God. I am so sorry. I am so sorry. It's out of my control. May Gods have mercy on your souls, and mine...

She began typing the rest...

If you are reading this, please, get somewhere safe. Now. Somewhere isolated. Away from people. Especially away from the government. Take provisions, as much as you can, and do not, for the love of God, do not go out into the population.

It's coming, the first wave. It's coming, and I don't know where. The deal I made with the devil has come at a price. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

My name is Dr. Ezra Mayur, a microbiologist, and epidemiologist at the Centre for Population Control. Yes, it's real. And for the past year, I have been forced to refine a deadly pathogen for Project Rescue, the purpose of which is human population control. I repeat. Human population control. a.k.a. massacre. Smart covert massacre...

The gunshots rang close, in unison with the blaring sirens and the danger-dripped lights of emergency protocol. Screams hurtled down the corridor at rapid speed. Soldiers' heavy boots sounded on the floor above.

She eyed the screen again. A minute left. That's when she took the pistol from her locked drawer. Another smuggled gift from Rai. Don't let them shoot you if it ever comes to that! They'll make you suffer. Don't give them that chance.

With the gun beside her, she finished her message.

If you're reading this, please get as many people out of cities as you can. Go remote. I don't know where I am. I don't even know where my family is, nor do I know the locations being targeted as ground zero. My guess is, if you're in one of the highest populated countries, or cities, you are where the trials will begin.

The pathogen is highly virulent and—

'UPLOAD FINISHED' the message popped up, distracting her. Her joy was short-lived. Searing heat pierced her shoulder, knocking her off the stool where she crouched, typing.

"Step away from the computer, Dr Mayur."

She struggled to scramble back to her feet. Two black ops specialists marched into the room. Their red laser beams landed on her torso, right above her heart.

Her breath burbled out of her mouth, tasting of blood. Did they hit a lung? Panic welled inside her like a spring. Her log was incomplete, but she had to send it off now.

She pushed up on the counter, blood sleeking like a macabre painting across her pristine white lab coat. She tried to buy time, to hit 'send'. "What did you do to the others?"

One man raised his rifle. "Orders are orders."

Ezra felt around for her keyboard. "You killed them?"

"Again. Orders are orders. Now, kindly step away from your station, Dr Mayur. It's over."

"Before you do away with me..." She reached a shaky hand towards her water bottle next to her screen.

"Hands where we can see them!" the other soldier, one who'd shot her, said, his voice familiar.

Krish? Betrayal burned in her throat along with her blood.

"In my culture, it's a sin to deny the dying water. Do you mind?" Ezra stared at him. How could you? "Please. It's just water." She staggered back to her feet, her hand landing close enough to the mouse to hit 'send'. "I'm already dying."

"Hold right there, Dr Mayur. You don't want to go making silly mistakes." Krish's partner placed his finger over the trigger.

She reached for the bottle regardless, leaning her weight on the table. What could they do? Shoot her again? Wooziness was setting in. Dark rings were forming in her vision. I have a minute before I lose consciousness. Top. While unscrewing the bottle cap with a trembling hand, Ezra clicked the mouse with her elbow. Send.

The device whooshed as it sent the email.

"What did you do?" The soldier grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back, knocking the bottle from her hand. His gun kissed her temple next. "Who did you send it to?"

Ezra laughed, on her knees, blood sputtering from her mouth. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"I could kill you right now." The soldier pressed the barrel against her temple harder. She nearly toppled.

Do it. She closed her eyes. But when the shot rang out, she was still alive.

"Your orders might be to terminate all parties. Mine was to save her pretty little head." Krish scooped her up to stand on her own shaky two feet. "Aren't you the lucky one?" He was very serious.

"Krish?"

"Who did you send that to?" He grabbed the mouse and navigated to the sent folder, scrutinising the recipients' names. "You've put someone else in danger, Ez."

"Does it matter now?" Ezra scoffed, trying to peer into those familiar eyes behind his get-up. "Are you going to kill me?"

"Is that what you think?" He pulled the USB out of her computer.

"You shot me." Ezra's heart thumped in her chest. Was it possible to panic while dying? Had Krish betrayed her, too?

"Is it anywhere else? The files?"

"Yes," she lied. She couldn't tell him it was only on that USB he held and his cloud. How stupid could she be? Was he truly trustworthy? "You shot me..." she said again, keeping herself upright.

"It's a shoulder wound. You'll live. And I had to, or he would have, in your heart." Without another word, he fired several bullets into the CPU tower. "You finally grew some balls and warned somebody, not that you can stop it now. You created this monster, Ezra. And now you're pretending to be the poor tortured doctor who wants to help people flee to safety. Let's hope it's enough. We have to get out of here now."

Her vision blurred, and her arms were jelly. "How do we do that? They'll kill me on sight."

"Keep an eye out." He leaned her against a wall and pressed his gun into her hand, before disrobing the dead soldier for his uniform. "Here. Put these on."

Ezra did so with his help. She donned the bloody, wet black uniform, disguised as one of them even if she felt sick doing it.

Krish slung her arm around his neck. "Let's get you out. You were never here."

In the corridor, the sounds of screams, shouts and gunshots echoed continuously. Ezra hobbled along or was dragged. She couldn't tell. Then Krish stopped at the bottom of the stairs, whispering in her ears, "Trust me?"

No. She sat down where he placed her. "Tehreem?"

"I'll get her. But they are coming down, and you're not a trained soldier. They'll know. Do you trust me?"

Ezra hesitated before nodding.

"Good," he murmured, pulled another gun from his back and fired it into her chest. Ezra gasped for breath as he held her in his arms. The pain and his hard gaze soon fizzled, and her eyelids got heavy. Tranquilised. She'd been tranquilised. "Why?"

"You need to look dead." Kris laid her down next to another body. The soldier who should have been with her in the lab. He was dead.

Beyond his shoulders, black-clad figures descended the stairs like a dark cloud.

Krish whispered as he turned her face down, "If you wake before I get back, play dead, or kill as many as you can on your way."

Darkness crawled at the edges of her eyes. She tried to hold on to his shirt. Don't go. Don't leave me.

"I'll be back, I promise."

The last thing Ezra heard was the snap of Krish's heels and his words. "This one's gone."

Krish. Come back...

But the world drifted away in silence.

Krish...?

{THE END}

Total word count: 33, 905 

A/N: It's midnight here in Hiroshima and I was trying to post the final chapter as well-done as I can manage. And I also can't believe I managed to finish it within the word limit! (Woohoo! I was a little nervous there for a minute). 

I know I rushed this story a little towards the end to try to finish it before the deadline and while traveling, but I hope I've delivered on drama and pacing, and ended it in a good spot.

Any thoughts on the ending? I welcome any feedback you have.

I may expand the story for the Wattys if time allows. Let's see what happens.

Thank you so much for reading my ONC!
Hope you enjoyed VIRULENT. ❤️