Toxic: Prologue

This is the prologue to my new novel "Toxic," enjoy.

It was a clear summer morning in the humble city of Suffolk. The children played all over the streets indulging in the summer sun, rejoicing in their long awaited school vacation. The quiet neighborhood of Cedar Lake Shores was excitedly expecting new neighbors to meet. What they didn’t know the neighbors weren’t you’re average Mr. and Mrs. Smith’s.

Two Russian men warily walked out of their black enigmatic truck and into their new one story white home. The taller man of the two carried a slim briefcase handcuffed to his right wrist; no one could see the handcuffs effortlessly due to his long sleeved black suit. Only two boxes sat alone in the back of the truck, waiting while both of the men went into the house. The short man came back out of the house unaided to retrieve the boxes, ignoring the greetings of the other neighbors getting their mail. One by one he took the boxes into the house, making sure not to tilt or damage them. After the last box entered the house he took another looked out the door then shut and locked the freshly painted wooden door.

Inside the house was only silence. Neither of them talked because they both knew what they had to do.  The man with the briefcase went down to the basement and the other followed him with the boxes. The short man put the two boxes on a long old wooden table in the center of the room, then left to do his obligations. He was assigned to assist the doctor and secure all the rooms, which meant boarding all the entrances.

The basement was dark and clammy, even for a basement. Every few moment a drop of water from the leaky pipes would fall on the floor, leaving a puddle in the corner of the basement. Spider webs were all over the ceiling, spiders calling it home. The vents vibrated whenever the air conditioner was on.

The doctor was left in the basement by himself to complete his mission. He grabbed a key out of his pocket and took the handcuffs of the briefcase and his wrist. He opened the briefcase and inside was gloves, two syringes and five bottles of a clear liquid. When he put the gloves on he opened one of the boxes, and inside were four jars of ladybird beetles, typical in Russia. In the other box were empty jars, for when he was finished. He carefully picked up one of the beetles and injected the liquid into its back and put it into the empty jar. After filling up the first jar he reached inside the box to get the lid, but little did he know one of the infected beetles was on top of the stack of lids. As he reached for the lids the beetle bit him and scampered to the other side of the box.

“No,” the doctor cried out watching the iota of blood run down the latex glove. He knew it meant doom.

The other Russian opened the basement’s door slightly and peeked through the crack. He saw the doctor’s arms on the table doing nothing. Opening the door wider he stepped one foot in the basement and saw the jar filled with the infected beetles was broken on the floor next to the doctor; He laid his hand on the pistol that was holstered behind his back.

“Doctor,” he called out walking towards him.

The doctor didn’t respond to him, he still faced the table with his arms on it. The man timidly walked closer to him, stepping over the beetles and the shards of glass. When he was a foot away from the doctor he heard a groan from him. He pulled his gun out and pointed at the back of the doctor’s head.

“Doctor,” he yelled again.

This time, the doctor turned around and now was facing him. The assistant looked at him with his gun still pointed towards him. His bloodshot eyes were the first thing he noticed different about him; he wasn’t the same anymore. You could see all of his blue veins on his face and hands, his short brunette hair was now gone, and his mouth spewed out blood. He tried to back away from the doctor but it was too late, he was already in the doctor’s grasp. Before his last breath he shot of three bullets at the doctor’s stomach, but it was useless.

When the neighbors surrounding the house heard the shots they immediately called the cops, and fifteen minutes later they were there. Only two of them arrived, because they were the closest ones in that area. This was the first time in months the cops came to the neighborhood, so many people were watching from their windows trying to see the commotion the new neighbors brought to their quiet streets. 

The two officers walked to the door and knocked. They heard moving, but no one answers the door. The more robust officer stepped back and kicked to door off its hinges and when they entered the infected beetles scurried out of the house. They both went upstairs and saw all the doors of the rooms were covered by thick sheets of plywood.

“What’s with all these bugs,” the robust officer asked.

“I don’t know,” the other replied. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

They went back downstairs and checked the kitchen, they found nothing. They checked the living room, still nothing. When they were about to call it in they saw the basement door was open. When they went down to the basement they saw the gun on the floor. And next to used gun was a horrid site, feeding.

“Oh God,” one of the officers said watching the doctor bite the flesh of the soulless corpse. “What is he doing?”

The doctor heard the officer’s droning and stopped consuming the corpse. He stood up and turned to the two officers. It sounded like air releasing when the doctor opened his mouth and targeted his new prey. He wasn’t alive anymore, he was something entirely different.

“Freeze,” the robust cop yelled aiming his pistol. “Put your hands up!”

The doctor ran to him taking shots to his entire body. He tackled him to the ground and bit his throat, killing him. The other officer stood at the door motionless, his mind was telling him to runaway but he couldn’t. The doctor dropped the body from his arms and looked directly at him. He shot his entire clip at the doctor, but it didn’t work. Soon both officers were dead in a pool of their own blood.

As the doctor was feeding his bullet wounds vanished. Every speck of blood, every bite of flesh; every taste made him stronger. Not long after more police officers came, but they had a bigger challenge to deal with. The doctor’s prey soon became one of them… zombies.