Muhammad let loose a ragged scream that tore through his esophagus, his voice vanishing in a loud squeak. The world tilted, colours shifting as he looked through the glass at Allison, who was floating on her back in the water. The tiger shark was still emitting shocks of electricity, its flashing body ramming into the glass again and again. Cracks formed like spiderwebs, spreading until they formed a gaping hole. The shark escaped through that, disappearing into the reef.

He found himself crawling down the tube as fast as possible, ignoring the warning cries from Harris. He could hear someone retching behind him and felt the bile rising up his own throat. The faint smell of burning flesh reached his nose and he gagged.

Allison. Oh, please, no.

He emerged at the end but kept himself out of the water, looking towards where Allison floated. The shark was gone, eliminating the threat of electric pulses, but he couldn't make himself get into the water with the body of his crush. His lips curled in disgust as he pulled Allison out of the water and into his arms. Her body was pockmarked with scars from the electricity, the skin a mass of blue. Her skin was split like it had seams.

He turned back and started the hard climb out of the tunnel. Harris clutched her hand to her chest when Muhammad came out of the tunnel. She let out a strangled cry, her eyes blazing with sorrow and rage. She approached but started choking as the nauseating smell of human flesh entered her nostrils. Muhammad didn't even notice anymore. All he could feel was the weight of her in his arms and the sound of blood rushing through his ears. The two interns, Saren and Greyson, were against the wall, Greyson holding back Saren's hair as she threw up onto the glass floor.

"Quick, help me bring her to the emergency bay!" Muhammad screamed. He collapsed against the wall, his arms burning from the weight, but forced himself to push forwards.

Harris broke out of her stupor. "Ham, she's not coming back." She said, her voice cracking.

"I might have a solution." His heart felt like it was cracking down the middle, slowly shattering. If he didn't work to save Allison he would live with guilt for the rest of his life. When no one moved to help, he realized they were all helpless. The image of Allison's scarred face, with the knowledge that she was dead, was too much for them.

He started towards the emergency room, his footsteps echoing in his ears. It was loud, like an ominous bong crashing in his head. It was a headache that never seemed to leave. Alex appeared around the bend. He was running, yelling, waving his arms, but Muhammad couldn't hear a word he said. He slammed the opening slot to the door, rushing inside as soon as it was a big enough opening. Allison's head hung to the side as he placed her carefully on the gurney, hooking her up to a vital machine. It started to monitor her heartbeat, which stayed as a flat line.

She was officially dead.

The sobs that arose scared him. He knew she was dead, he knew it was his fault, but a small part of him had wanted it all to be his imagination. He was going to wake up, the electric serum working perfectly. This was all supposed to be a nervous breakdown in a nightmare.

Harris grabbed his shoulders and turned him around. "There's noth-"

"Yes, there is." He growled, ripping myself out of her grasp. "I made the serum. I went against your instructions and tried it out on my own. It's my fault, but I can bring her back."

"We're not using the reviving serum to bring her back." Harris's eyes turned to steel. "I will not watch her come back to life for a few minutes before she dies again."

"Not the reviving serum, the one I used on the shark."

"You want to turn her into a mutant?" Harris stiffened. She turned back, her hand suddenly flying out to smack his cheek.

He fell to the ground, stunned.

"First you disobey me, then you kill Allison, and now you want to turn her into a mutant. You're done, Ham. I'm sending you up and this entire lab is finished." She stalked out of the room without another word.

✸✸✸

Everyone on board was sitting in the mess hall, their eyes watching as fish swam overhead. No one had spoken for over an hour, the silence chokening as the temperature in the room slowly got warmer.

Saren was now sitting stiffly beside Greyson, who was watching her with a worried expression on his face. Alex was by the bar, drinking shots of the same bottle, his eyes dazed. Harris shifted her gaze between Alex and the two interns, her eyes saying that she longed to join Alex.

"I can bri-"

"Shut up, Muhammad." Dr. Harris snapped. "You're a fool. You may be smart and rich, but you're an idiotic fool who should've never gotten a place on board this lab."

Terry walked in. He had been checking for safety with Grayce, who trailed in after him. They both avoided Muhammad's eyes, nodding at Dr. Harris.

Saren looked up. Her pale cheeks were streaked with tears and she sniffled every few seconds. "Can't we try to bring back Allison? Muhammad deserves the chance to redeem himself." She looked at Greyson for support.

"Yeah," he pitched in. "Allison deserves a chance to come back to life."

Harris looked like she wanted to murder every soul in the room. "I can't talk to the base. They don't know about the death, but once they do I'll be fired."

"That's why we try to bring her back, make it seem like nothing ever happened." Muhammad said rapidly.

"I wash my hands clean of this. It's none of my business. Allison was an amazing coworker, I'll miss her." Dr. Harris started crying. "Do whatever you want, but don't make her suffer." She left the room. Alex and Terry followed her out, leaving Muhammad, Grayce, Saren, and Greyson.

Saren looked at Muhammad, her eyes softening when she saw how much emotional pain he was in. "Listen. I stood up for you and now you get the chance to try this, but you have to follow our instructions. On the first sign of a risk we're quitting." She looked around at the others, who nodded in agreement.

Muhammad looked down at the ground, his eyes welling up with tears. He stood up and walked to the hatch. If there was no promise of trying stuff out on Allison he wouldn't have been able to move. There was a hole in his heart. The first experiment to go wrong had been his fault entirely. The first death in Dr. Harris's career had been his fault.

Allison was lying on the gurney in the same position he had left her. Her head was tilted to the side, her arms both dangling on either side of the bed, her fingertips grazing across the tiles.

Saren lifted Allison's head up, brushing back the singed hair. She sobbed again, her fingers coming off the crisp skin. "Do what you have to do." She murmured, her forehead bowing down, hitting Allison's stomach as her shoulders shook with grief.

He went over to the cabinet and pulled out one of the serums. He had hidden it there because he knew it would end up getting found in his room. Now he twisted it, wishing he had never created it. Instead of the first mutant being a success it was a tragedy, a repeat of the Russian experiment. He hadn't gotten all the details. All he knew was that a mutant had developed halfway, turning it into a sadistic raving animal with no pain receptors. It had killed over a hundred scientists before a small bomb killed the rest, decimating the beast.

Now they were facing the same thing. He hadn't thought of the shark, but it was somewhere out there in the wild.

✸✸✸

The lagoon was peaceful. It was late at night but still the beach was lit up, music blaring across the sands. Lights reflected on the calm surface of the water, turning it various shades of purple, pink, and green.

Out in the water a large cruise ship was moored. The tourists were all on the top story, their silhouettes accentuated with the neon glow coming from the midst of the ship. Small lifeboats were being lowered down the side of the ship, passengers disembarking. Because of the reef and the steep incline, the ship couldn't come up close without causing damage to the ship and the reef. It was customary for the passengers to ride to shore on smaller boats while getting a short tour from the man steering.

Tonight was special. Since it was a music festival, the entire resort was outside on the beach. There were fires, barbeques, music, dancing, and games for the younger children. The cruise ship was only stopped there for a couple nights before it continued on its voyage, so the passengers from there were staying in their bunks.

Minutes later the first ten boats were halfway across the water. They looked strange in the water, like bobbing rocks atop the black water. The lights had dimmed and no one saw the first boat capsize, but the terrified screams drew their attention to the small portion of the water. The boat was capsized, a large hole punched in the hull. The screams of fear turned to pain and terror, slowly fading and dying out one by one. One of the other boats turned in that direction and started towards the spot, only to be flipped over.

The people on the beach could make out a monstrous shape in the water. Flickers of blue filled the waves, a strange burning smell drifting on the tropical breeze. The blue moved, trailing boat after boat. Guns were pulled out and aim was taken, but nothing stopped the monster.

It left when every boat was capsized, the rest of the passengers still on the cruise ship, gripping the rail in horror.

Not one survivor came back to the surface.

✸✸✸

Allison looked peaceful. After the injection her skin had slowly started healing, turning back to a human colour. Her skin was starting to come back together and her eyes twitched with life. She strained against the bonds they had put against her, but her eyes had still not opened.

The others had gone to bed but Muhammad still sat vigil by the bed, staring passed her ruined face to the window, where the reef continued life as always. He drifted off to sleep for an hour, setting the alarm to awake him. At precisely three in the morning he woke up, his eyes going straight to Allison.

The shark had come back after a couple hours. Allison was starting to look strange, her face looking slightly deformed. He leaned in closer, his fingers brushing her cheekbones. He jerked back when it touched, shuddering. Her skin was slippery, like it was covered in sweat. It also felt slightly rough and jagged, like a dull knife. Darkness suddenly converged beneath her skin right before his eyes. It was moving like a living force, sliding beneath her like an animal. Her eyes opened and he gasped.

They were blue. Electricity blue.

"Allison, you're alive." he breathed.

She opened her mouth. It was black inside, her tongue hanging in tangled strips. She let out a vicious growl, her hands flickering with light. The lights above him died, her eyes growing brighter in the darkness. She ripped the first bond out of the tabletop, the metal bending to her touch. Her growls filled the room as she worked on the others like a feral creature.

Muhammad leaped off the chair, knocking it down, and ran into the hall. He pulled a chair out of the room and put it beneath the handle of the door, wiggling it to make sure it was completely safe.

"Harris!" He yelled, running down the hall. A loud inhuman scream echoed through the lab, making him stop. The lights shut down, the entire lab turning off. Every level flickered off, one after the other, until the whole thing was dead quiet. He heard the door rattling behind him, the sheiks coming from inside unbearable. They sounded vaguely like Allison, her sweet voice barely making it through the sadistic filter.

Muhammad pulled himself up the ladder to the mess hall. Harris was up there alone.

"She's turned, hasn't she." Harris sounded defeated already, her slouched shoulders leaning into the glass.

Muhammad looked at her. "You knew this would happen?"

"Of course I did." She set down her mug of coffee. "After what happened with the shark, I knew something horrible would happen when you injected a human."

"Then why did you let us do it?"

"Because I wanted it to be done on my terms." She looked sickened. "I knew you would do it behind my back. I wanted to be responsible for the downfall of this lab, not you."

Something crashed downstairs in the hall. It sounded like the door hitting the opposite wall.

Harris smiled painfully. "You have a future, my future is limited. The responsibility and consequences of this accident are on me, not you."

"Wait, Har-"

But she was already gone, climbing down the hatch. He heard rapid footsteps and looked down the open hatch. She ran passed underneath, a streak of brown and blue. Growls followed her, Allison sauntering into view, crouched on her hands and feet. She sniffed the air, letting out an ear splitting scream. Her head tilted back and she looked straight into Muhammad with her soulless eyes. She leaped up, grabbing the bottom rungs and pulling herself upwards at an alarming pace. He closed the hatch and listened as she pounded on it, biting and tearing at it with her teeth.

"Hey!" Dr. Harris's voice shouted. "I'm over here, you ugly bloke."

The pounding stopped. There was a strange slapping sound as Allison's hands and feet hit the floor. She scrambled after Harris while I watched from above.

Once they were out of sight he went down the ladder, creeping in the opposite direction. The others would be downstairs, sleeping like Harris should've been. It got darker as he went down further, the dark ocean menacing. He shuddered, chills running down his spine. Everything he saw looked like a silent threat, ready to slay him when he got close enough.

He burst into Alex's room without knocking. He was lying on his bed, asleep and shirtless. He awkwardly tapped Alex on the shoulder, watching as he rolled over, looking at Muhammad with bleary eyes. His mouth jerked open and he yelled, sitting up. "Jeez, kid."

"Get up, Allison is out and crazy." Muhammad said bluntly. "She's chasing Harris."

Alex slowly got to his feet, his eyes filled with confusion. "Wh-"

"There's no time to explain. Just grab a weapon or something. I need to warn the others." He paused at the door. Above me he could hear Harris screaming, coming closer to the ladder leading down here. He knew she was going to take it. Alex obviously realized this too, as he said a word that Harris would've gotten mad at him for.

Muhammad ran to the next door. It was one of the two guest rooms in the lab, for when the officials came down. It wasn't often in use but he knew Saren would be in one and Greyson would be in the other.

When he walked in, Saren and Greyson were both on the bed. Greyson was leaning against the wall, his head tilted back as he snored lightly. Saren was leaning against his side, stray pieces of her hair in her mouth. He quietly cleared my throat, smiling with satisfaction as Greyson opened his mortified eyes. "We didn... I wasn..." He stuttered.

"Allison's out. Get something sharp."

He nudged Saren, pushing her shoulder. "Hey, Sar-sar, Alli got out."

Muhammad left them to fully awaken as he rushed to the last two rooms, Grayce and Jerry. He pounded on their doors, his desperation growing as he heard Harris climbing down the ladder. Their doors opened in unison as Harris landed on the floor.

"Harris, get over here." He pulled her and Grayce into Jerry's room, slamming the door closed.

"What the-"

"Shhh." Harris hissed.

He pressed his ear to the door. Allison's hollow footsteps filled the hall. She groaned, a strange zapping sound filling the small space.

"Okay, listen up. We're going to have to get out of here with Saren, Greyson, and Alex. I want a group of you to head the opposite way. If more of you go, she will follow you." Muhammad instructed. "I'll go after you're gone. Hopefully it follows you."

Harris investigated the room, pulling several glass sculptures off of his bedside table. "I won't even ask what these are, but right now they're our best weapon."

Everyone in the room jumped as something slammed into the door. Muhammad bent down and looked through the peephole. A large eye peeked back at him, screaming as he came into view.

"Take this." Jerry ripped a metal rod off the wall and handed it to me. He dove into his closet and pulled out several electric rods. "These were for dives, but it looks like we'll use them now."

"Will they hurt her?" Grayce asked, turning hers on.

"We'll have to hope they do." He tossed Muhammad one. "Good luck kid. Hide in the closet until we're out."

He jumped into the closet and watched through the crack as they opened the door, Allison launching herself onto them. The next few minutes were complete chaos. They were cautious not to let Allison touch them, pushing her back with wide swings until they were at the door, the empty hall behind them.

Then, with a couple last swings, they vanished around the corner, Allison chasing after them.

Muhammad's heart pounded in his ears as he stepped out quietly. Vomit was rising in his throat and he spit it out onto Terry's bed, wiping his mouth on his loose sleeve. His stomach turned as he looked at the doorway. Blood was splattered across the walls, but it wasn't human blood. There were black vein-like structures in it, broken. Down the hall, the door opened. Alex, Greyson, and Saren appeared in the doorway.

"Where are the others?" Alex asked.

"They went down the hall to distract it while I was supposed to get you guys out." Muhammad looked around the corner of the doorframe. There was nothing out of the ordinary. "Lets head back out to the top deck. It can't get up there. We'll communicate with Harris from up there."

Greyson pulled a pistol out of his pocket. "I know we weren't supposed to have weapons down here, but the company sent me down with a tranquilizer gun." He held it nervously in his fingers. "I don't know if bullets would stop Allison-"

Sudden rage filled Muhammad. "That's not Allison." He growled, grabbing Greysons wrist. "Don't call it by her name."

"Woah, Ham, calm down. He didn't mean anything by that." Alex stepped in and pried his hand off Greysons wrist.

Saren and Greyson took the lead towards the ladder. Saren went up first, her boots echoing down the hall. Greyson followed. Alex gestured for Muhammad to go but he shook his head. Alex shrugged and climbed up. He got all the way up when Muhammad slid the hatch closed, placing a small piece of metal in the handle to keep it from turning.

"Hey, Ham. Open the hatch.' Alex's gruff voice shouted.

He didn't reply. His hands went down to his pocket and he pulled out a small flashlight. It slipped from his fingers and landed on the metal ground with a loud clang. He bent down to pick it up, his fingers around the slim handle when he heard the dripping water coming from behind him.

Stay calm, don't move.

The growl came before the attack. Something sarp dug into his arm, gouging out a piece of flesh. Muhammad screamed, clenching his teeth as pain shot through his body. He spun around, his rod held in his hands. The mutant was up on the ceiling, its head tilted as it took in his scared face. The lips that had once been Allison's, the ones that he had wanted to kiss so many times, slowly smiled. Blood dripped out of the cracked skin, running down its pale neck. Beneath its skin the blue light of electricity flared, traveling to different places. Darkness flowed through its veins.

A gurgling shriek came from its mouth. It leaped down into him, its claws outstretched. He cried out, expecting an electric shock to kill him. The hands pushed him against the wall and he struggled to breath. Electricity flowed through him, the flow stemmed enough that it hurt but didn't kill. He brought the rod over his head, smashing it onto her back as hard as he could. He pressed the button and it started electrocuting her. Instead of falling to the ground like he'd expected, it strengthened her. She roared and threw him across the hall, where he landed on the ground, groaning.

She took a step towards Muhammad but someone yelled and jumped over his body, smashing something heavy across its face. It snarled, blood dripping own its jaw as it let loose a cry of rage, shaking the entire building. Alex turned and looked at me. "Get out, quick." he smashed the bar into its face again. It fell to the ground, wailing and trying to crawl forwards. Blood filled the cracks behind it, steaming on the metal floor.

Adrenaline rushed through his as he jumped to his feet and started running. His arm hurt, blood dripping around him as he ran around the corner, bumping into Grayce. She grabbed his shoulders, her eyes widening when she noticed the large gash.

"Harris, this looks infected." She commented, ripping away my sleeve.

Harris pulled the skin. Green fluid was flooding away from it, the veins rising up. "Who knows what's trapped in that demonic creature."

"It's coming." Grayce said nervously.

Harris took the piece of fabric and wrapped it tightly around Muhammad's arm. "This should keep anything from spreading too much. There's nothing we can do right now, not yet anyways."

They took off down the hall as the mutant came silently closer.

✸✸✸

Saren and Greyson were nervously waiting in the hallway when they appeared from the lower level.

"Where's Alex?" Harris looked passed them, searching down the long hall.

"He went to find morte weapons." Greyson answered.

"Alone?" Grayce was holding onto Muhammad's side, propping him up to keep him from collapsing.

"Hey, he wanted us to wait for you. We thought it was better to listen to him." Saren raised her hands in mock surrender.

"We'll go find him. The best thing we can do is leave this place." Harris looked back at Muhammad, her sad eyes borrowing a hole into his chest. He breathed deeply, trying to calm himself down, but the finger pointing was inevitable. This was all his mess, his mistake.

"We have to leave in the pods." Alex walked around the corner. "That's the only way. If we stay any longer we're going to die."

Harris nodded. "I agree. Everyone is leaving. Someone else will have to come down here, someone more qualified. They'll terminate the lab."

Muhammad's gasp was audible but no one looked over at him.

They headed through the labyrinth of hallways. The pods were all on the second level. They were attached to hatches, like the one Allison had always used to go outside the lab. They had never been used for emergencies before.

"I need to go up and grab something from the mess." Harris looked back at us all.

"Then we'll all go. No one is splitting up." Alex argued. The rest of the group nodded their heads. They were in agreement.

Harris just sighed. She led the way to the ladder and one by one everyone piled into the small room. Harris grabbed one of the laptops sitting on the table, the one she always carried around in her bag. "We can't leave without this. It carries all our work." She started typing quickly.

"What are you doing?" Alex demanded impatiently. "We have to get out!"

"Give me a second." She snapped.

Saren and Greyson were looking around. They seemed fascinated by the lab, even though it wasn't completely new. The excitement was palpable, like energy coursing through the air. They approached the glass and placed their palms on it. Saren let out a startled shriek. She was pointing to something drifting closer.

Muhammad pushed Grayce off him and approached the glass. It was a small object with red streaming out behind it, floating on the gentle current. As it neared he realized it was a hand, a human hand, severed from its body.

The water was growing redder, just a faint tint on the usual blue. Sharks began to appear, drawn on by the scent. They gathered above the lab, circling around it slowly.

"Things just changed." Alex muttered.

Harris screamed, ducking as something swam directly above the glass. It was a shark, but it looked different. As it came back around, leaving streaks of blood on the glass, Muhammad recognized it.

It was the tiger shark.

Alex pulled open the hatch and started climbing down the ladder. Greyson led a crying Saren to the ladder, pushing her to go first. Harris was following, but Muhammad stayed put, staring at the tiger shark. It was eying them, pulling back before ramming into the glass. Saren cried out and Harris gasped as cracks ran across the top of the lab.

Once everyone else was out, Muhammad jumped down. He could hear the shark pounding the glass. It was going to break at any moment, leaving the ocean to pour in.

Harris stayed at the back of the group, pushing them to go. She opened the hatch to the first pod and pushed Grayce and Alex into it. They buckled in and she closed the door. Greyson and Saren were going into the next one when we all heard it, the unmistakable sound of breaking glass. The roar was unbelievable, an opened space suddenly letting in tons of water. Muhammad could hear it echoing off the metal walls, rushing towards them. Harris closed Saren and Greysons door. It stuck, refusing to move. Muhammad and Harris strained against it, helping seal it.

Something cracked on the glass wall beside them. He screamed, ducking as the door to the next pod opened. He clambered inside and pressed the button. Harris started to climb in but she let out a groan as the door stuck. She climbed back out just as the wall of water came around the corner, a massive angry wave heading straight towards us.

"Harris, get in." Muhammad screamed. She pushed on the door and it closed. The wall reached it moments after. He screamed, looking outside the glass walls. The wall beside him was broken, the tiger shark now inside the walls of the lab.

The pods ejected, travelling upwards at a steady pace. He sank against the round wall, curling up into a ball and crying. The pressure shifted, his ears popped, and the pods exploded to the surface.

But still he didn't move.