Request from ROLF-Wolf-Of-Thunder. I'm loving the idea and working hard to make sure it comes out exactly as I imagine it. It'll be a multi-chapter. Exactly how long it will go, I have no clue. I'm excited to get started so here's the first chapter. Enjoy!

-2004-

The lab was always chilly at this time of day but the young scientist kept working. Others were busy, bustling around him. He had just been hired on the new project spearheaded by the US government. War was upon them and they wanted the upper hand. After all the guns and bombs they wanted to surprise attack their enemies, infect them with a virus that would kill them all off in one fell swoop. Afterward, a counter virus would be released in order to contain the outbreak. They had been at it for years. No more than that was explained to the lower level scientists such as himself. Only the higher-ups knew what the virus did. It was all hush, hush. Especially since it was still a prototype. Even family members weren't allowed to know. He sighed and turned away from the sterile metal table of his work station just in time to hear someone swear loudly to his right. A tinkle of glass followed, and then chaos.

"We have a contamination breach!" someone to his right shouted. He stumbled back to lean on the table while others ran around in the process of protocol should this happen, but his eyes were stuck on the scientist whose fault it was. He was clutching his hand where blood spilled from his palm to join the blue liquid on the floor. The broken glass must have cut him. He was breathing heavily and slowly crumpled to the floor. The young scientist glanced around to see most of his peers were already evacuated. He couldn't bear the thought of leaving the man behind, so he knelt next to him with a rag to staunch the blood.

"Can you get up?" he asked the older scientist. Silence was the only reply. He tried to lift the man but he was dead weight. Instead, he set him back on the floor. The man fell forward to lie there, body motionless.

"Um, sir?" the young scientist called to him. A guttural noise met his ears this time. A chill ran down his spine when the man sat up, ghostly eyes on him. He had a pale complexion, pointed ears, sharp nails, and black eyes with white irises. The man hissed and bared sharp teeth. The cuspids and first premolars of the top row of teeth were pointed like fangs, the cuspid slightly longer in length than the first premolar. It was enough to send the young scientist scurrying away. The thing, no longer a man, was quick to catch him by the leg and drag him back. Those teeth aimed right for his neck and tore. He tried to fight back but it was too strong. He could feel his blood spread, hot and thick. In no time his vision dimmed and he blacked out, body drained. The creature roared in triumph and then darted from the room in search of more prey.

In the next hour, the lab would be a scene of massacre and only a third of the scientists would survive long enough to warn others of the outbreak.

,~,~,~,~

Breaking News

Mass hysteria is sweeping the nation. Warnings of a virus spreading through the US has people fleeing their homes. Sightings of the creatures created by this virus have been described as pale with sharp teeth. The eyes are black with white irises. Authorities urge civilians to avoid anyone contaminated and to be ready for evacuation taking place at the city limits. Actions have been taken to try and quell the threat including extermination and multiple tests. If all else fails, extreme measures will be taken.

,~,~,~,~

-2008-

The head scientist in charge of the creation of the counter virus strode into the lab, warmth permeating the room. They had captured a few infected and studied them from all angles until they understood its workings. It would provide the answer to stopping it, hopefully, for good. Months have slipped by them with countless test subjects dying. They just weren't compatible with the injections they concocted. It wouldn't stabilize. But he refused to give up. He walked over to the two long tanks lined up at the back. Each was hooked up to wires and tubes, a breathing mask on the subjects' faces. Another had been taken apart and lied dead on a metal table nearby. It had been a failure. He examined the corpse and then turned to the two scientists stationed there. They were busy trading causes of possible death when he interrupted them.

"How is it coming along?" he inquired of them.

"After we took into account that animals take longer or are otherwise immune to the infection we decided to work with various species in hopes of a possible cure. So far only mammals have worked the best, but none as well as the canine species which shows complete immunity. We've tried them all and came out the most successful with wolves. We just need a little more time to perfect it. You see, there are side effects-" the questioned scientist began to explain.

"You still haven't perfected it? Are you aware of the fight we're losing to this virus? We've already had to bomb a city. The evacuated people barely have homes. Not to mention that word is going around that some infected have survived the blast and it's starting all over again. We have no time for absolute perfection!" the head scientist stated impatiently.

"But, sir-" the other scientist tried to say.

"What we have now, does it render the test subject immune?" he demanded.

"Y-yes, but it needs-" the stammering scientist tried once more only to be ignored.

"It needs to be administered immediately. Find me more subjects, preferably at a younger age than what we've already worked with. We need them to obey orders without question," the head scientist commanded.

"And if we can't get any more volunteers?" the other scientist spoke up.

"Then we find someone, no matter the method. We must make sure we succeed. If it works, we can begin the counter attack. Report to me when the scouts are sent out," the head scientist continued.

"Yes, sir," both scientists replied with a nod and a grim expression. He nodded to them in return and then walked away. The sacrifices they made were for the good of the population as a whole. At least, he kept telling himself that. He might have been at the top in this facility but he was not the head of the whole project. He differed to a stronger power. He had no say in the matter. He made plans to return to his office and await the report. That was all he could do at the moment.

,~,~,~,~

-2010-

Darkness cleared and sound returned. She was having a hard time focusing her vision, but soon, that was returned to her when she opened her eyes. Everything was tinted green and wavered her vision. She closed her eyes and tried to think back to the last thing she remembered clearly. She had been taking a jog around the block. It was her third lap when she received a call to come home. She had just put away her phone when…that's it. It was a blank from there to waking up now. Granted, there were a few flashes of something hanging at the edge of her awareness, but she couldn't grasp it. It was like holes in her memory. She had no clue where she was now. The echo of a slam and then multiple footsteps reached her ears through the test tube. Muffled voices soon followed.

"This one survived testing?" a deep voice questioned.

"Yes," an answer was given in a lighter tone.

"Even the more…harsher tests? The months of constant injections to temper the body and the resulting effects?" the deep voice interrogated.

"Yes. She's shown a remarkable compatibility with the Serum. At first she reacted harshly to the introduction and we almost lost her several times, but now she's perfectly fine," the other lighter voice replied.

"I want to see her for myself and run a few tests of my own," the deeper voice demanded. There was a hesitant pause before a reply was given.

"But I was told…of course. Excuse me while I begin the extraction process," the lighter voice stated. She felt herself in motion now. She was moving so that she was lying on her back. The liquid around her began to drain. As soon as air hit her face she gasped and coughed on the excess oxygen still filtering into her lungs from the mask. It was removed by gentle hands that then held her steady so that she wouldn't move.

"Careful, you'll tear these right out of you," the light voice, now clear, warned her. The bright light kept her from opening her eyes but her sense of smell began gathering information to make up for it. There was a pinching sensation at her arm and she flinched. She automatically pulled away and gasped when another pinch at her arm followed.

"I'll hold her steady. Get the rest of the needles out," the deep voice spoke up. Rough hands held her while nips of pain ran along her arms and legs. She was then lifted so that they could reach the needles along her spine. Those hurt the most and she cringed when they were removed. A whine left her lips but she was momentarily too weak to fight back.

"Help me move her to the table. We can get blood samples for now until she's a little more awake for the other tests," the light voice remarked. She felt herself lifted and carried until her back met a cold surface. A shudder rippled through her body at the contact. Her eyes fluttered open, unfocused at first but rapidly clearing. Hands held her arms and a new needle pierced her skin, drawing from her instead of injecting into her.

"You should be honored. You'll be the carrier for the counter virus. If it succeeds then we can begin to vaccinate survivors," the deep voice told her. The comment confused her. It belonged to a tall man in a lab coat. A shorter man in a similar lab coat took the vial of blood he was handed and brought it to the counter where he could run the necessary tests.

"Well?" the tall scientist pressed. The short one shook his head and returned to his side.

"It doesn't seem stable," he observed.

"What? But it hasn't killed her," the tall scientist remarked.

"The other one, the male, he turned out the same way," the short scientist responded.

"Dammit. We've tested it time and time again. What did we do wrong? Why won't it come out perfect?" the tall man griped, fists clenched.

"We might as well move on to the physical tests again now that she's more lucid. We can at least see what we couldn't with the male as he's still going through another round of injections," the short man suggested. It was then when she found her voice.

"No, please," she pleaded to them in a quiet whisper. They both looked down at her before forcing her to sit up. Her muscles protested slightly and she groaned. It felt like fire flowed in her veins.

"W-what happened to me?" she spoke again, but they ignored her. The memory of feeling like she was being slowly torn apart surfaced and she closed her eyes against it.

"Nothing you should concern yourself with. Just listen to me and try to stand," the tall one instructed. The smell of chemicals burned her nose, and when she opened her eyes, her sharp vision locked on the taller of the two. She growled low and glared at him. He sighed and pulled her from the table. She stumbled but her strong legs quickly adjusted.

"Ok then, let's see what we've got here," the tall scientist stated, examining her. The shorter one stood back, his brows creased.

"Stop," she warned the tall man prodding at her to start walking. A strange feeling was growing within her. It was frightfully powerful and growing at fast rate. She didn't want it to take over but his incessant poking and prodding and pushing was becoming too much. He forced her past the table and she stumbled again but managed to remain standing. Her mind felt crowded with too many thoughts all at once. She needed time to herself. She wanted to be left alone. But he kept pushing her until that unknown force burst from her like an uncontrollable beast.

"I said, stop!" she roared in anger, spinning on him. He was thrown back with a swipe of her hand, thick nails slashing across his chest. He fell over and she glared down at him, her eyes soon turning to herself. She was dressed in nothing but a skin tight material that covered her bottom and top. The minimal amount of cloth bared her tan skin. She froze when she noticed the toned form of her body. She had some muscle before, but not like this. Her form was defined with strength. It was like she had been a professional kick boxer all her life. She took in the black nails tipping her fingers, blood dripping from one hand. Her tongue brushed long thick teeth where her cuspids should be with matching yet smaller ones on the bottom row. Panic set in and she rushed to find a reflective surface. She found a shiny metal tray, dumped the tools off, and held it up. Her face looked relatively normal at first, but when she opened her mouth she saw the lethal curve of her teeth. Her irises glowed a golden yellow.

"Where am I? How long have I been here? What did you do to me?" she whispered, frantic. She tossed the tray aside and grabbed the tall scientist by the front of his coat to effortlessly haul him up. She held him slightly suspended off the ground without even knowing it.

"Y-you are immune to the virus. You're our ticket to success," he grunted out. She wrinkled her nose at the strong scent of fresh blood that clung to him. Only then did she register that she had attacked him. She quickly dropped him and backed away, the strange new features disappearing with her uncertainty.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" she gasped out. The shorter of the two scientists finally returned to his senses. He was taken by surprise at first but now he had clarity. He hit the emergency call button at his belt. In a matter of seconds the sound of heavy footsteps outside the door made her spin around to face the newcomers. She was surrounded and tranquilized multiple times until she was subdued. As she fell into a deep sleep she hoped it was all just a crazy dream and she would wake up passed out on the couch in her living room.

,~,~,~,~

Report:

Subjects already infected could not be cured when injected with the Canis Lupus Serum. Subjects who have not been infected and are fully compatible with the Serum retain immunity. Others did not take well to it. Side effects are still present. More tests were given to understand side effects. Subjects showed that they had better eyesight, keener hearing, an enhanced sense of smell, and when angered grow sharp teeth and nails like that of a canine. The Serum itself causes memory loss. To what degree it is not known. In conclusion, the effects aren't a threat to health but do change human behavior to a more base instinct.

Reply:

The decision to cryofreeze the 30 subjects that survived testing has been made. Keep them for future reference and start new based off the old Serum. Find a way to reach the same conclusion without mutation to the subject. Awaiting news of perfected cure.

,~,~,~,~

-2018-

The vibrating alarm woke her up on time. She groaned and fumbled for her phone to shut it off. She was used to the vibration after many years of hiding out. Too much sound drew attention from those creatures. Although her phone lost service years ago and finding a working form of electricity to charge it was starting to become a hassle, she still kept it for an alarm. Really it was mostly for sentimental reasons, a keepsake from another time. As far as she knew, the plague started when she was really little. It wasn't a problem until a while later. It became a serious threat when it was all the news talked about. She remembered her parents herding her and her brother from city to city, trying to outrun the virus that turned people into cannibalistic monsters. She was raised in this crumbling civilization for most of her life.

Her parents were capable survivalists and taught her their ways. She caught on fast, and things were going fine, but then they were caught in an ambush. At seventeen she lost both her parents but escaped with her brother, Nathan. Now, three years later, she was twenty and her brother was the same age she had been when they died. She was very protective of him and did everything she could to keep him safe. Currently they were hiding out in an old rundown motel. Slowly, everywhere they went, cities fell under contamination. It hit hard and scattered the remaining survivors. She and her bother came from New Jersey and had worked their way toward the coast of New York where they hoped to catch the ship that was said to pick up survivors. That was her goal, to get her brother there, alive, no matter the cost.

"Jade?" a sleepy voice called to her in the dark. Speaking of which. She turned over to face her brother even though she couldn't really see him in the dark.

"Yeah, Nate?" she replied, just as tired. She hadn't gotten much sleep since she was usually the one to keep watch. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, she was just too worried to leave him alone. She was always slept right next to him, but that didn't matter. To her he was alone and vulnerable.

"Are we almost there?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so," she answered. He yawned and then cleared his throat.

"Good. I miss people," he remarked. Jade laughed at his claim and smacked his shoulder lightly.

"I'm a person. You have me. Isn't that enough?" she demanded, somewhat playfully.

"You know what I mean. I've always been the more social one," he pointed out. She nodded even though he couldn't see it. Where she was content to be alone or just talk to one person, he preferred a whole group of people. When there wasn't someone he knew he made friends. In contrast, she tended to find a corner to sit in and kept to herself. People pissed her off and 'normal' people scared her. It was okay because she scared them with her love of scissors, horror, and dark fashion sense. She was considered Goth but she never saw it that way. She just wore what she liked, never trying to be anything other than herself.

"Besides, I heard that they have, like, actual food on that ship," he continued. She smiled at that.

"And we don't have actual food?" she questioned.

"Ugh, you know what I mean. Don't be difficult. It's too early for that," he complained.

"Yeah, well, the more sunlight hours we have the better. It may not grant us complete protection but most of them don't like it enough that it's safer than traveling at night," she replied pointedly.

"I know, I know," he groaned as he pushed himself into a sitting position. She followed him off the bed and moved to open the blinds. They both flinched and groaned when the bright light lit up the room.

"I might as well be one of those things," Jade grumbled under her breath, referring to her dislike of the sunshine.

"You mean vampires?" Nathan corrected. She could hear him getting dressed behind her so she stayed staring out the window. He always made a fit if she saw him anywhere close to naked, even though she already saw him naked many times when they were growing up.

"They aren't vampires," she snapped.

"They are too. They're violent, drink blood, have super senses, pale skin, fangs, thrive at night, and are blinded by sunlight. If that's not a vampire I don't know what is," he argued.

"Sounds like humans with rabies to me," Jade commented.

"You just like to disagree," he said, giving up. She turned around to see that he was dressed now. She crouched by her backpack and began digging out some less dirty clothes than the ones she had on. Once she had them she began to get dressed whether he saw or not. With a sound of disgust, her brother hastily turned away, just as she knew he would. He had a weird thing against being naked, something that really shouldn't matter in the world they lived in.

"Ok, I'm dressed," Jade announced. He peeked with a single eye first before turning all the way around. Jade just rolled her own matching blue-green eyes. They almost looked the same except Nathan had their mother's blonde hair while she had their father's dark hair.

"Ok, let's split soup and then get the heck out of here," he proposed. Jade nodded and moved back to her bag to grab a can. She took it to the kitchen where she checked to see if there was water. Turning the tap gave nothing. She sighed and hoped the gas line still worked. It did, so she quickly opened the soup by the handy pull tab and set it on the stove. Alex came out a moment later and stopped to look at her.

"Yeah, yeah, cooking it in the can is bad for your health, blah, blah, could be dangerous. I don't care. Look, we need to eat. I don't trust finding dishes to use when we don't have water, so this is how it's gotta be, ok?" Jade stated. He raised a brow and crossed his arms in a look he perfected from watching her.

"Hey, that's copyrighted," she complained teasingly with her hands on her hips. He rolled his eyes now and made his way into the kitchen.

"You're burning the soup," he pointed out. Jade glared at him and then jumped to attention, shutting off the stove. They let it cool before splitting it, packing up, and heading out. They still had a long way to go and there was no time to lose.