-2 WEEKS BEFORE THE OUTBREAK-

"Gah! I'm so sorry!" The man panicked and cringed as he fussed over the drenched man in front of him doused in a day old's coffee. The man covered in the bitter liquid removed his thick glasses and wiped his face. The coffee basically manifested itself as if it were seeping out of his face since there seemed to be no end to its constant dripping. He silently thanked his eyewear for shielding his eyes. His hair stayed matted to his forehead as the foam dribbled down the sides of his face.

"It's alright Liam...just watch where you're-" he tried to swat the trembling man's hands away from his face and scowled when he didn't seem to get the hint.

"Oof....oh no it's all over your face Doctor Lee I- lemme just-" Liam presented a tissue and proceeded to dab at the doctor's face aggravating him further.

"I think you've done enough son.." another voice interrupted Liam who squeaked at the sudden command. He bowed in a flustered manner before hurrying away from the two men he had run into.

"Back to what I was saying commander, there's something terribly wrong. The prototype, it seems to be amplifying on its own, which is very alarming since we did not foresee this happening and it's growing vigorously. The subjects are reacting to it in a way that cannot be considered normal...there is no external change except for the difference in dental structures and the elongation of nails...mentally, they are completely unstable. We can't exactly pinpoint the reason but we're working on it and we will be able to soon. All we know is that the subjects have been showing signs of harrowingly aggressive behavior. Even the ones prone to be aggressive have unnervingly increasing levels of rage" doctor Lee spoke confidently using his hands to gesture the importance of his discovery.

He and the commander walked down a bustling corridor, passing multiple labs with large glass windows for the luxury of viewing the experiments without having to enter. Each lab was occupied by different scientists with different roles and goals, all working to achieve the same outcome.

The commander waved his hand asking the scientist to continue. Doctor Lee nodded and began.

"Just a few days ago one of the assistant researchers almost had their eyes scratched out by a chimpanzee. Being one of the smartest, calmest, and most gentle animals in the lab, it had tried to harm its own caretaker...and as the trials continued its behavior changed again. During the last examination, yesterday, we found it trying to ingest its own flesh! It refused to eat anything but meat! We were forced to keep it sedated until we could find a way to fix the obvious issue but it wasn't fazed at all by the drug. Instead, it attacked the anesthesiologist and sent them to the ER. We had to put it down before it could hurt itself or anyone around it again" 

The commander sighed "If you could get to the point and spare me the details this would make our lives a lot easier"

"I cannot stress this enough....We. Can't. Possibly. Start. Human. Testing" he reasoned, pronouncing his words perfectly and pouring every ounce of emotion he had into the sentence, hoping the commander would understand the grave and urgent meaning behind his words.

The commander stopped suddenly, making Lee jerk to a halt. He turned around with a mysteriously plain smile and addressed the scientist, who pushed his specs back to rest on the bridge of his nose.

"This isn't the news I expected when you called Doctor Lee, but that's not what I'm worried about," his expression dropped all of a sudden and he glowered at the man before him, "Have the volunteers been prepped?"

Lee took a moment to register what had just happened, the commander's question seemed to have thrown him off guard.

"That's what I'm trying to say here. We can't have them prepped until we're certain that the vaccines are safe enough. We've notified them about the drug and how it will take some time-"

"You misunderstood me...I don't 'care' if they know or not. I don't 'care' about their safety or how they feel about this. What I 'care' about is that once the work is done we can finally have the weapon we've been planning to use against our enemies. We'll have complete power and control over all the superpowers. And you my dear scientist have made this possible today which is why I'm in such a good mood right now so don't you try and ruin it by concerning me with useless information" the commander explained, his hoarse voice enunciating every syllable perfectly clear in Lee's ear. He didn't know when and how the commander's face wound up so close to his own but that wasn't the only thing that shocked him. 

What was the commander implying?...

He had an idea and God how he wished he was wrong.

"I- I beg your pardon?" Doctor Lee stuttered, baffled at the commander's words.

"I was told we were making this for the soldiers so that their wellbeing is ensured when they're deployed in-" Lee gasped when the commander swiftly fisted the scientist's lab coat, bunching it up in his hand and tugging him close before he could finish. Lee looked about trying to see if anyone noticed or even tried to step in and help. But unfortunately for him, they were too afraid to even look in the commander's way and just ignored the poor scientist, hurrying along and going about their business.

"You're just as gullible as they come...let me make this painfully clear...you were lied to, Doctor. Don't tell me you had no idea what you were making. A vaccine to boost their immunity? When they're in the middle of a war? I expected more from a dignified scientist such as yourself" sneered the commander, looking at the scientist dead in the eye. 

"Or were you just following the phrase...'ignorance is bliss'? You knew you couldn't back out of what you were doing once you found out. So for your peace of mind, you kept telling yourself the lie they fed you...typical.." the older man smirked when Doctor Lee's face morphed from fear and denial to a macabre realization.

"What you've been making so meticulously will make the soldiers develop abilities that could be enhanced through training which will then give them a higher chance of surviving....think of it this way...how should I put it hmm?" he chuckled menacingly. 

"How about a drug that'll magnify their reflexes and senses...and from what I've heard from your discoveries...they are resistant to any and all sedatives. An upper hand if they were ever captured I'd say...and most importantly... it'll keep them from dying easily"

There was no going back. Once the higher-ups caught a whiff of the dangerous prototype, they wouldn't think twice before putting the entire nation, even worse the world, at risk. People, innocents, children...would start reacting the same way the animals did. They were going to be massacred...

All hell would break loose eventually once the drug escaped the confines of this laboratory.

And just like that Lee's worst nightmare came true. All of a sudden, a blood-curdling scream erupted from one of the labs. The commander's grip on the scientist's coat loosened as he whipped his head toward the sound. Lee willed himself to look as well just as everyone else in the corridor did. The door to the lab from which the scream originated, burst open. A disheveled scientist stood at the door breathless, she looked up and shrieked at everyone to run. This put everyone into gear as they took off looking for the exit.

The commander and Doctor Lee stayed put watching the woman stumble over to the fire alarm, through the sea of scientists who crowded up the hall in a matter of seconds. Even as her life was in danger she still followed protocol and alerted everyone in the building giving them a chance at escaping.

The alarm blared loudly catching the attention of everyone in the laboratory. Seconds later and every door leading towards the corridor was thrown open and a horde of panicked scientists scrambled out. The alarm put everyone in a state of panic which didn't help diffuse the situation.

The crowd rushed past Doctor Lee and the commander, shoving and pushing them aside as they scurried out. It was a miracle they weren't trampled to death.

"EVACUATE THE AREA! CODE#1734:- ASSET OUT OF CONTAINMENT!! SOMEONE GET TO THE MAIN CONTROL ROOM AND SHUT THIS BUILDING DOWN! IT CANNOT LEAVE THE PREMISES!!" she shouted into the microphone connected to the alarm alerting the security and the entire building. The speakers boomed with her voice drowning out the sound of the alarm. She slammed the phone back into its place and proceeded to direct the rest of the scientists out to safety. She then found her way over to them and covered her ears and hollered loud enough for the commander and Doctor Lee to hear, albeit she was right in front of them it was still hard to hear her with all the background noise.

"The rats attacked one of the researchers in the lab and I don't think he's going to make it. It's most likely that he's dead, either way, I don't plan on finding out since someone has to find that control room! You guys get him and get the hell out of here, I'll take care of everything else! I-" She was cut off by the sound of something being thrown against glass coming from the very lab she had burst through. It looked like someone had barred the doors from being opened but it didn't look like it would hold for long.

The commander nodded at her and told her to shut the place down before anything could get worse than the shitstorm they were in at that moment. She looked at him with determination before making a run for it in the opposite direction of the exit. She turned a right down the hall and disappeared, her high heels clicking against the tiled floor as Lee took notice of the sudden silence in the air.

Soon it was just Doctor Lee and the commander left on the entire floor standing in silence. The alarm had died seconds before the female scientist left. Lee could barely move, he was frozen stiff with shock at the recent events and the outcome of the very near future. The commander, less afraid, took a step forward, his hand gliding down his cargo pants to reach inside his pocket. He pulled out a gun roughly the size of his hand and cocked it. Lee's breath hitched when his eyes landed on the firearm. He was shivering like a leaf in the wind, his trembling mouth forced itself to speak.

"Wh-what do you p-plan on doing with that commander?" he stuttered uncontrollably, sweat dripping down his coffee-stained neck.

"Let's leave.." he tried.

"I want to see it...I want to see what it's capable of..."  the older man answered without blinking an eye. He was dead serious and Lee almost laughed. 

Was he out of his mind?

"W-what?"

The commander stayed silent with his eyes focused on the door to the lab, his gun pointed downwards at the ready. The abrupt crash against the doors made Lee whimper as he almost pissed himself from the crushing fear.

Why wasn't he just running away and leaving the commander to deal with it himself? Since he was the one planning on sending whatever it was behind those doors to war? He obviously didn't care about the lives of the human species being threatened. He made that painfully clear.

So why? 

Why wasn't he trying to escape?

The answer was simple and even Lee himself knew it. The scientist was a coward. He was a yellow-bellied, gutless coward, that was why. He couldn't even move, so how could he even imagine trying to leave with nobody accompanying him?

If the commander were to come with him he would have felt safer, either way, there was no way he would leave now since it was too late. Even if they left now, they wouldn't make it in time to the gates since that woman would have reached the control room by that time and she would most probably shut the place down without knowing they were still inside with her.

Although the good in him fought against the cowardly instinct telling him to run. He'd be damned if it meant that he was going to have to leave that woman here all alone to fend for herself.

The doors crashed open all of a sudden making the commander step back slightly. Silence entered the corridor halting the older man from breathing. The sound of something wet sliding against the floor made Lee inhale sharply. A man limped out of the room, his wounded foot pointing the other way around as he exited the lab. He was covered in scratch marks and bites from god knows what. And then Lee realized something horrible....the rats...they attacked him.

The scientist felt his heart drop to his stomach at the sight of the man's horrifically mangled leg. He groaned loudly as he limped forward. On instinct, the commander pointed his gun at the man aiming for his head. He flipped the safety off and pulled back the lever on the handgun, loading it as he kept his gaze fixed on the unknown man.

The man's goggles fogged with sweat covered his sight, leaving him blinded temporarily. He seemed to notice the presence of the two men standing to his right watching him with uncertainty. He immediately reached for them with his bloodied hand and begged for help.

"Please...h-help m-me" he gurgled and coughed out blood, making the doctor step back petrified. The dark red liquid spread across the floor contrasting heavily with the white tiles. The commander raised his hand to his lips, tilting his head back slightly for the doctor to see, signaling him to stay quiet. If the rats did this to him...where the hell were they?

"The rats.." Lee whispered to himself. The battered man whipped his head towards the scientist, his goggles were still completely fogged up and he was relying on his hearing.

"I a-ate them.." he cried out suddenly terrorized by his actions as if he had just made that discovery and couldn't believe it. 

(A/N:- 🧍‍♂️he prolly enjoyed his ratatouille yall- i- Ill shut up now-)

The commander gaped at him, he heard Lee's quiet voice like he had just been whispered to in the ear. His hearing was impeccable and even the commander had to admit he barely heard Lee's words, but the man 5 feet away from him heard it perfectly clearly.

"Remarkable.." the commander breathed out. Even if he was amazed he never once let his guard down during that small period of disbelief, he was a smart man and he wasn't going to be reckless.

"I ATE THEM!" the man repeated, his voice cracking this time, as he spat out even more blood. Lee felt his stomach churn, those rats were infected with the unsuccessful drug. They were kept contained and isolated for a reason. So what in god's name made the scientist want to eat them? Even when they were attacking him? 

He was completely insane.

"Commander...let's get out of here...I don't think we want to find out what else it can do besides hearing well..." the scientist warned, keeping his voice as steady as he could. The commander nodded slowly, stepping back when he realized the man was getting more and more aggressive in the situation.

"L-LEE!" the man suddenly cried out, ripping off his goggles when he finally noticed that they were strapped to his head and not just his actual eyesight. The commander's expression turned grim. The man was bleeding through the eyes. Like tears, they cascaded down his scratched-up face, thick and heavy.

"Hwan?..." Lee whispered slowly recognizing the infected man before him. 

A/N:- HEY YALLLL HAPPY NEW YEARRRRRRRR AND MERRY FUCKING CHRISTMAS KJBFKJRGW THE ORDERS WRONG BUT I DONT GIVE A FLYING SHIT LMAO- ANYWAYS I JUST WORKED MY ASS OFF FOR THIS CHAP AND I WOULD APPRECIATE THAT U ENJOY URSELVES THIS WEEKEND -W-. I PLANNED IT LIKE MONTHS AGO AND IVE BEEN WRITING DOWN EVERY IDEA FOR A CHAP I GET IN A BOOK AND LIKE TODAY I DECIDED TO JUST SHOVE IT IN HERE AS A FILLING CHAP FOR ANSWERS AND SHIT but if yall hv any questions regarding the story pls ask, I understand there a bunch of plot holes but ill get there eventually :>>

Just an fyi... pls dont stress me out by asking me for updates please?...its rlly hard since i hv a life outside of wattpad and yes i do love reading ur comments but sometimes i just need a break. Like i love yall asking for new chaps but pls dont be too pushy ill come around and drop a few chaps here and there and ill make them interesting just for u but pls rmber not to stress any author out there its rlly hard to think straight okay?  just wanted to get this off my chest :>

anyways have a lovely weekend and a week ahead mmwah <33 

have a good morning/day/evening/night/ (for u night owls out there<3) midnight adventure;)))

i love all u hoes

and ill bid u adieu :33