The Wren Blight

Chapter 1

The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through the window in his room. Casey stared longingly, trying to imagine what the vibrant grass would feel like under her feet. Vast and colorful vegetation overflowed the city street beyond the six-inch thick safety glass viewing slot. The immaculate greenery perfectly accented the pinks and purples of the wildflowers riddled throughout the arching valley of mossy buildings. It was just out of reach, not but a few feet on the other side of the window. A glimmering garden, brimming with wonder, never to be touched again.

How can something so beautiful be so deadly? She thought, taking in a stale breath of recycled oxygen. Once formed of steel and concrete, the long lost metropolis was now completely covered with sprawling flora and the ever expanding poisonous blight.

Casey’s breath fogged up the glass as her mind attempted to grasp what the fresh air must have been like—before all this. Through her father’s window, she traced over Eldora Street for the thousandth time. It was completely lined with willow, oak, and magnolia trees—their wild, overgrown leaves flowing in the wind.

Only a couple decades had passed since society had begun to crumble, but Los Angeles was now entirely re-taken by nature. Her dad had assured her that it was due to the blight itself, somehow amplifying the growth of organic matter. Not just in vegetation, but people as well, birthing a plethora of horrifically mutative, super viruses all over the planet.

Casey had been only an infant when it happened. She had no experiences to draw from before her solitude, but she would often lose herself in books, magazines, and old newspapers, creating worlds in her own mind as she and her family were trapped inside the prison of their self sustaining quarantine facility.

“You know, we could just move your room in here if you’d like,” her dad said, startling Casey. “You already spend more time in here than anyone else.”

She turned to him as he was leaning against the dark steel doorframe with his arms crossed. He smiled and she giggled, flipping her deep brown hair off her shoulder.

“It’s just so beautiful…”

“I know, Case. I wish you could’ve seen the world before.”

She put on her sweetest, most innocent smile. “We do have containment suits—I could still see it now.”

He drew in a long breath and sighed, brushing a hand through his short, salt and pepper hair. “Not this again, please.”

“Dad, come on—we can’t stay cooped up in here forever. It’s been twenty-two years. Nobody’s coming.”

He straightened up, becoming more stern. “We don’t know that for sure. Communication is down, yes, but the other facilities could very well have some survivors. At some point, our people are going to come for us. I know it. And we can make for the main branch in Sacramento. Until then, my job is to keep you all safe.”

“But dad…”

“No, we’re not going through this all over again, Case. We can’t risk it. Those suits are for the lab, not for you to go out exploring.” He gestured out the window. “One breath of that beautiful fresh air would have you convulsing on the ground, growing massive tumors all over your body in seconds.”

Casey looked out the window again and let out a sigh of her own. “I get it…I just need to see something more than this one place. It’s all I’ve ever known.”

Her dad walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. “One day—one day we’ll be able to leave. I promise…”

Chapter 2

Another week washed over Casey in her monotonous sea of endless redundancies. The family was sitting around the cherry oak dinner table together, pleasantly lit by a warm glow from the modest chandelier above. The mock dining room her parents had fashioned gave her a semblance of normalcy. However, the flat grey steel walls took away from the homey feel they had tried to concoct. Casey adjusted her favorite white blouse as she ate—a simple, yet elegant hand-me-down from her mom.

“Pass the cheese and peas, please,” Jesse said.

Casey rolled her eyes at her twin brother. “Are you going to say that every single Tuesday until the end of time?”

Jesse put a hand to his chest and feigned an appalled gasp. “Casey Marie, how dare you. It’s tradition.”

“You’re an ass,” she chuckled.

Jesse cracked a sly grin, but her mom peered down her nose and cut in. “Casey, no cussing at the table, please.”

She averted her mom’s gaze and passed Jesse the peas and zucchini derived cheese curds, before the twins went back to their food. Her mom cleared her throat as they all ate one of the four rotational meals produced via the underground hydroponics lab.

“So—Thomas, do you want to tell them or should I?”

Casey’s dad set down his fork and wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin, finishing his own serving of peas and cheese.

He smiled before he spoke. “By all means, go ahead, Cecile.”

Her mom cleared her throat again, sitting up in her chair. “Okay, so we had a breakthrough in the lab regarding one of the resistant field mice we lured in from outside the facility.” Her eyes lit up as the twins legitimately gasped. “It’s very early phase, but we may have found something hidden in it’s DNA. It may be what’s keeping them alive out there.”

“Holy hell,” Jesse breathed.

“Does this mean we can apply it to ourselves?” Casey barked.

Casey’s parents laughed in response. “Easy, Case,” her dad offered. “There’s still a lot of work to be done, but this is the breakthrough we’ve been waiting for. I never thought I could do it in this lab, because most of the previous data is in Sacramento. But, we somehow got lucky with the genome of this particular mouse. In time, I think it’s possible we can apply it to ourselves, yes.”

The twins we’re speechless. They gaped at each other, jaws dropped. Casey looked back to them. “Can we see it?” she managed.

Her parents smiled and nodded. “After supper,” her mom said with glee.

Her dad locked eyes with her. “Looks like you get to try out those suits after all, kiddo.”

Chapter three

Casey’s own excited breath was all she could hear inside her quarantine suit. The stark white fabric she was completely encased in was air tight and uncomfortably warm, causing beads of sweat to run down her face as her dad reached through the gloved access port of the containment box. She had her helmet pressed firmly against the glass of the four-foot wide box. He began opening the air-tight transfer vessel the mouse was in.

Casey could barely contain her excitement. She looked up at her brother and mom on the other side of the container. Their eyes were as wide as Caseys, enthralled with anticipation.

“Here we go…” her dad said through the radio system inside her helmet.

He unlatched the metallic capsule and pulled out the circular end piece. In complete astonishment, Casey watched as a lime green furred mouse steadily crept out. It was fairly malformed, with elongated legs and sharp, gaunt features. And small, mushroom like growths were scattered across it’s green body. It’s beady little red eyes darted up at it’s captors. It looked right at Casey, then slowly shifted between her other family members. Casey felt a little unnerved. This creature seemed vastly more intelligent than she had anticipated.

“We’re all mice that—aware?” Casey asked. “Before the blight, I mean.”

“Not—exactly. This one does seem to contain some elevated levels of intelligence,” her mom responded. “The first series of DNA samples we took were pretty easy to get, but this little critter seems to learn quickly. And he became increasingly more aggressive the more tests we ran.”

Casey turned her attention back to the mouse. He walked about the container cautiously—carefully. He seemed terribly afraid and anxious. Casey suddenly felt sympathy for the rodent. She had been trapped her entire life, and now she was actively participating in the imprisonment of an unwilling living thing. To experiment on it…

“It’s really quite something, actually,” her dad chimed in. “We had to keep implementing increasingly complex ways to lure him into the test capsule. Here, watch.”

He held his hands up above the green mouse and flared out his fingers, in a somewhat threatening manner. It froze—staring at the gloves towering over it. It stood completely still. Casey couldn’t even see it breathing. Her dad slowly inched his hands toward the test subject.

“Dad, stop. Don’t tease it,” Casey said.

“Yeah, no need to torture the thing, dad,” Jesse added. “It looks scared, man.”

“Oh, it’s alright, I just want to show you how responsive he is.”

Casey’s dad waved his hands slowly over the mouse. The growths upon its neck twitched as it’s muscles strained and it followed his movements. Her dad looked up to them once more.

“I think the blight has spurred some kind of rapid intelligence growth inside him. It’s truly something. If we can figure out how it works, we may be able to…”

His words were cut short as the mouse suddenly leapt six inches into the air and grabbed onto his gloved hand. Casey let out a yelp as the rodent wrapped all it’s legs around the thick rubber material and began gnawing into it.

“Oh, shit!” Jesse yelled.

“It’s alright—no need to be alarmed,” her dad said, trying to pry off the mouse with his other hand.

Her mom came around to the side her dad was on. “Should I dose him, Thomas?” She had her hand on what looked to be a red switch on the side of the container.

“No—no, if I can just get his paws off.” He finally wrenched free the mouses front legs and created some separation. “Ah, that’s better.”

In that moment, Casey’s heart felt as though it was going to leap from her chest. The mouse actually growled. Deep green veins bulged throughout its body and Casey watched in terror as the thing started growing. Her mom screamed, flipping the switch as a bluish vapor was injected into the container. The mouse reacted with fury, seizing and shaking uncontrollably.

“Oh my god!” her dad yelled, as the mouses jaw cracked open, revealing what looked to be retractable fangs. It’s legs tripled in size, latching onto his other hand—the one he was holding it with. “Oh my god!” He yelled once more as Casey heard bones starting to snap.

”Out!” her mom screamed. “Jesse—Casey—get out of here! Now!” She pointed to the quarantine door.

They both made for it without another word. Jesse hit the green button to engage the opening mechanism. The door took a few moments to depressurize, and opened. They darted into the clean room and turned back to see their mom pulling on her husbands shoulders, trying to pry him loose as he cried out.

“Oh my god!” Her dad kept screaming. “Gas it again! Gas it again!”

Her mom hysterically flipped the switch again and again as the clean room engaged it’s cleansing protocol and showered Casey and her brother with a white sanitizing mist. Casey was completely frozen. And she couldn’t see anything now. She could only hear her fathers screams over the radio. He wailed for what seemed to be a full thirty seconds, and then he stopped entirely…

“Thomas! No! Thomas!”

Her mothers cries echoed in her ears as the mist dissipated. Casey saw her dad lying on the floor, his arm gnawed off at the elbow. Unmoving. Her mom wept, holding him in a pool of blood.

No! No—no, please… Casey thought. Jesse wrapped his arms around her and she caved into his chest. She started shaking as he pulled her in close. Then she saw it. The mouse—the creature. It was some kind of mutant now. It poked its blood drenched head out of the glove hole opening. It had horribly elongated legs with black barbs sticking out of it’s skin. Rows of barbs ran along the head and length of it’s mangled spine. The growths were now excreting a horrid greenish-yellow puss. And it’s face… blood red eyes adorned the haunting, snake like head. And needling yellow teeth protruded from this things terrifying mouth.

“Mom! Get out of there!” Jesse yelled.

Casey’s mother looked up and beheld the stuff of nightmares. She screamed once again and scrambled to her feet. She ran for the door as Jesse pressed the button again. But at that same moment, red lights began flashing above them. An alarm sounded and a woman’s voice came over the intercom.

“Breach. Code red. Breach. Code red,” the voice said over and over.

Jesse started hitting the button frantically. Their mom made it to the door and pressed her hands up against the glass.

“Breach. Code read.”

“Mom, it’s not working!” Jesse yelled.

“It’s okay…” she was crying profusely, gasping for air. “I love you both so much. Just know that, please.”

“Mom, no…” Casey whispered.

“It’s okay,” she repeated, looking back toward the mutant crawling out of the container opening. She took a deep breath. “Computer, engage breach protocol six.”

“Confirmed. Breach protocol six engaging in ten—nine—eight…”

She looked back to them. “I love you both.” She tried her best at flashing a smile. “Look up personnel file 117 on your fathers computer. It will tell you everything you need to know. Please—please forgive us. I love you…”

“I love you too, mom,” Casey choked out. As did Jesse.

“Three—two—one.”

There was a ferocious growl from the mutated rodent approaching Casey’s mother from behind. And it leapt at her. Her mom turned in time for the thing to latch onto her helmet, causing Casey to let out a scream of her own. She and her brother started weeping as the entire room then burst into flames. Jetting, liquid napalm filled the entire lab. Greenish yellow fire now consumed the only people they had ever known and loved. They stood there, utterly terrified as their mother, father and this unholy mutation melted away before their eyes…

Chapter four

Casey wasn’t eating or sleeping. Neither of them had been since it happened… Days ticked by. They were ghosts, hovering around the facility. Hollow—aimless. Until they both found themselves sitting in front of their dad’s computer monitor, staring at a blank screen.

Casey reached out for the computer mouse and Jesse gently grabbed her hand. “Wait, Casey. I don’t know if I can do this.”

“Jess, we talked about this. We need to know…”

“I know that. I’m just not sure I’m ready. What could they possibly need to ask forgiveness for? That means they’ve been keeping things from us. In a world that’s not really even a world anymore, what could they possibly have been too afraid to tell us? If they hid it for all these years, it must be really, really bad.”

Casey felt her face heat up as she took a moment to think on his words. Fear gripped her momentarily, but she shook it off. She raised her chin and responded. “There’s no use in speculating. We’ll only drive ourselves crazy. We have to see this, Jess. For better or worse. We have to…”

He exhaled a shaky breath and released her hand, nodding agreement. Casey turned back to the monitor and clicked on the screen. She went through her father’s desktop and found the personnel files. Selecting file 117, there were three video clips—nothing else. Casey took a deep breath and clicked play on the first one.

“Welcome to KZW News, Los Angeles,” a handsome African-American man said. Handsome, but distraught. His brows were drooping, and there was a tremor in his voice. “I’m Chris Gleason, reporting on the continuation of the harrowing crisis: The Wren Blight.” The man looked down at his desk, and shuffled some papers in front of him. “My friends, it seems the worst has come to pass. It is confirmed that Wren Labs is the source of the outbreak. And Thomas and Cecile Wren, the founders of the most cutting edge bio-engineering lab in the country, have gone silent.”

Casey’s breath fully went out of her. She suddenly felt faint.

The news anchor rubbed the back of his neck and took a sip of water from the glass on his desk. “The famed elite couple, well known for their patented work on curing the H-9 virus, are nowhere to be found. It seems, those we thought to be the saviors of humanity, have in fact spelled out our doom.”

Jesse shot up and kicked the computer chair out from under him. “No! Dammit, Casey! No!” he cried out.

She stood and wrapped her arms around him, feeling tears stream down her face. His whole body shook as he wept. They stood there crying for what seemed like an eternity. Until Casey finally worked up the nerve to speak.

“You were right, Jess—I’m so sorry…” He squeezed Casey so tightly. “I love you,” she said.

“I love you, too,” he breathed.

After what must’ve been ten minutes, she leaned back and peered up at her brother. “We have to keep going.”

“I know…” he managed.

They both took a little more time to regain their composure and sat back down, before Casey started the second clip. This was a video feed from the lab—the lab that their parents had just died in. Casey forced herself to keep her eyes open as she beheld a synthetic pearl casing of some kind. It was two feet tall and oval shaped—like an egg. Red shaded heat lamps were overhanging the strange object.

Casey could see her mother and father, dressed in quarantine suits. Her dad took a small, electric surgical saw and began cutting into the object. After a handful of minutes, it split open and to Casey’s astonishment, she heard cries emanate from within. Human cries.

Two human babies came into view as her mother and father scooped them up and began coddling them. Her parents hugged each other, and seemed to be crying beneath their helmets. Caseys jaw dropped.

“It can’t be…” Jesse whispered.

Casey gulped down her fear and confusion as the clip ended. They sat there in silence, staring at the screen—at the completed video.

“It can’t be us…” Jesse repeated.

“I think it most definitely is us.”

“What, so we’re an experiment, now? Just like that mutated field mouse?”

“No, not like that. Mom and dad loved us. No matter what, I have to believe that.”

“That’s a nice sentiment, Casey.”

“We have to believe that, Jess,” she whispered, her voice cracking as she did her best to convince him—to convince herself.

He put his hand on her shoulder for comfort. Just like her dad often had before. “Click the last one. Let’s finish this.”

Casey started the video. It was her dad this time, sitting at the very desk they were at now. “Hey, you two.” He took a deep breath, with a solemn expression on his face. “If you’re watching this, it means that something terrible has happened to me or your mom. Please forgive us for what we brought into the world, and for everything we’ve kept from you. The two of you were our miracle.” He scratched his chin, pausing for a moment.

Casey felt the urge to ball her eyes out, but she did her best to stay strong.

“The two of you were born in our bio-engineering lab. The synthetic womb that brought you into the world was the most advanced to date. You were genetically modified to withstand any virus, disease, infection or mutation. Even aging itself. And though we never had the nerve to test it, both of you more than likely will be able to survive outside of our quarantine facility.”

Casey’s mind raced as her dad looked up to the ceiling, seeming to be collecting his thoughts. “Your DNA was to be the key to stopping people from dying. Yet, your perfect genetic structure wasn't enough alone. We needed a catalyst to spur cell growth. This is what the public ended up calling the Wren Blight. For years, we have been trying to combine your DNA with the super virus developed at Wren Labs, using test mice. But, it always results in mutation and death. If we can just figure out how to get your DNA to bond safely with the super virus in it’s mutated form, I think we can still somehow end this.”

Oh my god, the mouse in the lab…

“The outbreak was never supposed to happen. I swear to you both. The virus proved to be much more aggressive and contagious than we ever imagined. Your mother and I are not evil people. Please…please believe that. Our aim was to stop super viruses from overtaking the planet. In the early 2030’s, they had grown at an unprecedented rate, and sicknesses was running rampant all over the world.”

Jesse grabbed Casey’s hand and squeezed it tight. She squeezed back.

“The plan was to combine your DNA with the super virus, sparking cell growth and curing disease all in one expertly designed bio-evolutionary contagion. But…things went horribly wrong. The virus mutated and escaped the lab before we had a chance to successfully bond your cellular structure with it. Before we knew it was happening, the virus went airborne. We were still in the lab under lockdown. We managed to purge the entire facility of any airborne contagions, and we have remained here ever since. Casey—Jesse, your mother and I have come to love you, so, so much. Please forgive us. We only wanted to help the human race.”

Casey started crying again, unable to keep her tears at bay any longer. Jesse wrapped his arms around her.

“One final piece of information you need to know. There are more of you. More bio-engineered children were created before the blight. Thousands more. They are likely at the other facilities spread out across the country. You are not alone. We lost communication ten years ago, but they must be out there. They have to be. You are both still the key to saving the human race. I fully believe that. I hope one day, you come to believe it as well. I love you.”

Chapter 5

Casey took another bite of her cucumber salad. This was the last meal she would eat here. “I’m leaving today, with or without you…”

“Casey, there is no way in hell we are separating. Stop saying stuff like that.”

“Then you’re coming with me. Because I’m walking out that blast door today, Jess.”

“And what are we going to do for food? Our meals are completely provided for here. We are safe. Don’t forget that lab mouse, either. There could more more mutated things like that out there. Do you really want to risk that?”

“I am leaving this place. Our entire lives have been a lie. And though I believe mom and dad did love us, it doesn’t negate the fact that they kept us prisoner here. They used us for a cure. They made us in a tube. Like you said, we are test subjects. And I’m not going to live in this experiment any longer. I’m breaking free of it. With or without you…”

Jesse stared down at the red oak table. He scratched at it with his finger. “I hear you, Case…”

“I love you, brother.”

“I love you, too. You’re going to be the death of me, sis.”

Casey gave him a weak smile. “We’ll keep each other safe. There’s a full arsenal in dad’s security locker. We have the maps leading to the other facilities, food rations for weeks, and we are immune to disease. Not to mention, have you seen the vegetation out through dad’s window? We could never run out of food if we wanted to.”

“Yeah, food that could kill us—if the air doesn’t first.”

“Immune to disease,” Casey repeated.

“I hear you…” Jess said again. “I just hope you’re right, Casey.”

“I am. I know it. We’ll do it together…”

He took another moment before nodding his head. “Together…”

After the final meal, the twins gathered food, water, weapons, and a survival kit. Then, they made they’re way to the blast door. Casey’s heart was beating a thousand miles a minute. She had been waiting for this her entire life, despite that fact that her world had just been turned upside down. Despite the fact that her parents had just met brutal, horrific deaths, Casey was finally going to be free of her prison.

“Last chance to change your mind,” Jesse said, holding his hand over the opening mechanism to the blast door.

“No chance in hell, brother.”

Jesse swallowed hard, before initiating the opening sequence. Casey could hear gears engaging within the structure of the walls. And then—the six-foot thick steel door began sliding open. She could barely control her breathing as the blast door depressurized and split apart. Blinding rays of golden light broke through the crack in the door, before Casey took in her first breath of real, undiluted oxygen.

Her head instantly started spinning as the fresh air hit her. She thought she might pass out for a second, but it passed. The outside world smelled like flowers and incense, and every wild combination of vegetation and earthy aroma imaginable. The light was so bright, she had to squint her eyes momentarily. But, once they adjusted, she beheld the most awe inspiring sight she could never dream of. Immense trees towered over them. And the flowers…mind bending vibrance and pure, unfettered life washed over them both. The view through the window did not do it justice. Not one bit. All the impossibly lustrous colors sparkled in the breathtaking daylight, as the wind shifted her hair and she took another deep, surreal breath. Casey was finally home.

“Oh Jesse, it’s everything I hoped it would be…”

Casey Wren looked over at him as he was staring in wonder. She grabbed her brothers hand and they walked into the light. They went forward, into this new world of brilliant green. To find a new life. And to find themselves in the process.