Project Backlash

Jason has a meeting with his boss. Constructing the downfall of mankind is hard work, and his boss is very impatient

Chapter 1 : Two pandemics are better than one.

  

 Jason Dawn held his breath, took one last cautious glance at the street behind him, and disappeared into the shadows between two dilapidated buildings serving as watch-dog statues to an alley full of nothing but garbage cans, a smile pile of mildewed cloth, and the smell of alcohol, vomit, and feces left behind by the city's forgotten denizens. As he continued down the alleyway, Jason heard a rustling sound in one of the trash cans, and couldn't help but stop for a moment to stare at the aluminum dumpster.    
    "Meow?" spoke the can of waste in a far off, echoing, metallic voice.    
    "Damn cats," said Jason with a relieved sigh and a hint of fear and anger. He then thought of several ways to terrify the animal to make it pay for causing him to jump., including turning the entire can onto its lid trapping the defenseless feline inside. He laughed a little to himself but continued to move onward. albeit at a much quicker pace.
    Light from a small courtyard ahead stung Jason's eyes, and he emerged from the alley. Buildings surrounded him on all four sides. There was another alleyway opposite the one he just left, which also was the only other entrance to this area. There was a massive Magnolia tree in the center of the square surrounded by green grass. To the right of the tree, was a rather antique looking picnic table. Jason moved slowly towards the table and his feet left the concrete and felt the soft embrace of Mother Earth for the first time in weeks. As he sat down the wind began the blow and the leaves of the tree waved at Jason as if to say "hello," or possibly even "goodbye." Jason took a deep breath of the freshest air he could ever remember having breathed. He exhaled and with a faint relaxed smile, tilted his head back to face the sky.
    The red-tinted sky reminded Jason that his meeting with Michell Floy was to occur at sunset. As he directed his sight back towards the Earth, he noticed the small woman sitting on the other side of the table.
    "Jesus H. freakin' Christ woman!" blurted a startled Jason in a tone reminiscent of that one might give before trapping its target in a dumpster.
    "Did I startle you?" asked the auburn-haired woman in a voice that suggested "A" she really didn't care how damn scared he was because she actually quite enjoyed the look on his face, and "B" that in the event someone were to trap her in a dumpster, she would proceed to shred her way through it then disembowel her captor, gouge out his eyes, and use his soul as an after dinner mint, (assuming, of course, that souls have a pleasant minty taste and in no way resemble the taste of the silica gel packets strictly labeled "Do not eat!")
    The two stared at each other for a brief, awkward moment. Jason's oil-black hair was parted to the left in an attempt to conceal his receding hairline. His blue eyes were still wide with shock, capillaries like animals searching for a drink of water in the desert of his iris. Shadows of his lack of rest in the past thirty-two hours clung under his eyes and chin like leeches. His dry lips hung open and showcased coffee-stained but professionally aligned teeth. His green tie was blown off course by the wind. His jacket was torn just below his left shoulder, and a scab could be seen forming on the back of his right hand.

    "What have I told you about not answering my questions Jason?" Her eyes could have been made of pure titanium, and would have shared its color. A lock of auburn hair draped over the side of her face, cast an eerie shadow through her left eye that created a feeling of sheer terror in the man sitting across from her. Her skin was pale, but smooth. The lack of wrinkles indicated that she had possibly never smiled in her entire life. She wore a simple green blouse with a white undershirt and khaki pants, something someone would expect of their high school government teacher if she were both stunningly attractive and terrifyingly evil, (the latter being a more common attribute to government teachers.) 

    At this point, Jason had held the same out of breath, incredibly surprised, marvelously stupefied expression for approximately one whole minute, (which is a considerable amount of time to be engaged in a conversation without actually speaking.)

    "Yes ma'am, sorry," The statue that was Jason Dawn stirred. "I...just uh..."

    "Did you get it done or not?" She was becoming more and more annoyed by the moment.

    "Yes ma'am I did. Just as the plan said, I released Cerberus in Tokyo, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, New York City, London, and Madrid. And I've received confirmation from my partner that Sydney, Africa, and the rest of Asia have all been taken care of." The coherent thought seemed to surprise Jason even more as it burst from his mouth.

    "What about Guardian?" inquired the impatient woman.

    "The Guardian antivirus has been released in Kalispell in Montana, Cape Town in South Africa, Moscow in Russia, Ushuaia in Argentina, Berlin in Germany, and Mumbai in India."

    "And the global effects should begin in one week?"

    "Yes ma'am."

    "Good. And you made sure to inject yourself with one of the two?"

    "Of course."

    "Which one?" 

    "With all due respect Ms. Floy." He paused for a moment, anticipating to be beheaded for even announcing possible disrespect. "Any choice but Guardian would be plain idiotic suicide. I don't know why anyone would choose Cerberus after watching what happened to the test subjects." Jason paused again to shiver at the traumatic thoughts in his past. "I just ...I couldn't bear going through that."

    "Well that is a shame." Michell was now sporting the most sinister expression Jason had ever seen. The evil in this tiny woman's eyes was so immense, Jason's heart was ready to leap straight out of the nearest exit, and run clear across to the other side of the planet where it would dig a little hole in the ground and hide for a century or two.

    "Cerberus, in certain, gifted individuals, manifests itself in incredible ways." With each word, both Michell's voice and Jason's blood grew colder.

"It grants the host a very spectacular set of talents and abilities." Michell could have made Deimos and Phobos cry in the fetal position at this point.

    "Ms. Floy... I...I."

    "Shh... Let me demonstrate." Her voice still freezing cold but calm as a catatonic sloth. 

    The wind began to pick up speed and shriek as if the soul of the Earth was being ripped apart at the seems. The flowers of the Magnolia tree detached from their home and began spinning about in the air. The wood in the tree creaked and moaned in pain, threatening to snap free at any moment. Michell's auburn hair fluttered around her, and her steel grey eyes faded to a translucent crystal hue.

    From under Jason came a swift gust of wind that hurled him into the air and spun him like a pinwheel. He tried to scream but the air was absent, engaged in this other horrifying task. And with one final blow, the wind, like the hand of some great demon, threw Jason backwards into the grand Magnolia. There was a sickening rip as Jason was impaled by several branches. The wind died down, and blood erupted from Jason's mouth in one, last exhausted cough. The crimson fluid gushed down the limbs of the tree to its trunk and onto the green grass below. Jason's corpse hung from the tree, Michell Floy had simply disappeared, and a lonely tabby feline ventured from the darkened alley, curious of the noise that had passed. The animal stared at the man and the bloodied tree for a moment, then retreated, uninterested, to its sanctuary of decomposing produce.