Fat Bob’s Apocalypse - Prologue

The human body is composed of 206 fragile little bones. Robert Calhoun could only watch, trapped in the intense visions of a lucid dream, as the 412 bones that made up his wife and daughter shattered in painfully high definition.

As the front grille of the over-powered 4x4 met the driver-side window it sent tiny fragments of glittering, deadly glass flying into the quickly compacting interior. Robert was paralysed and helpless as the impact knocked his wife's body sideways with such force that her head collided with her daughters. Serena's head had smashed right through the passenger window, the broken glass shredding her face before she rebounded. As her mother head-butted her, the force shattered both of their skulls. Their heads cracked and the blood sprayed out like a grisly liquid firework, and Robert began to scream.

The action pulled him from his deep slumber and Calhoun woke with a start to find he was drenched in sweat, tangled in his sheets and still screaming. Even when he realised it was just a dream he still couldn't stop screaming, until he had pushed all of the air from his lungs and his scream died in a strangled mewl. His skin felt like it was on fire, but at the same time, his blood ran cold inside his veins. Robert just sat and gasped for breath, spending a good ten minutes panting like a dog and trying to regain control of his body. The night terrors had been constant since the accident ten months earlier. The drunk driver had received a life sentence and Robert had lost everything that was good in his life.

Shaking and sobbing slightly, Rob got out of bed and deliberately avoided looking at himself in the dresser mirror as he threw on some crumpled clothes. Working out seemed like such a pointless endeavour nowadays and the paunchy belly that was slowly suffocating his abdominal muscles seemed to grow a little more each day. Everything seemed pointless now that Janice and Serena weren't there to share his happiness. Robert checked the clock and was dismayed to discover it was only 4 am. His teeth ground together as his anxious mind ticked over and over, every night it was the same damn thing. He went over the same desperate questions, scenarios and 'what ifs' and it all boiled down to the same hopeless realisation - he was utterly alone.

'Screw this,' he mumbled to himself as he palmed the sleep from his eyes and grabbed his keys from the bedside cabinet. He needed to keep his mind busy right now and when you're the boss of a company, the office is always open. He escaped the house in a series of short strides, as though he were trying to outrun the dark thoughts that haunted him. The dim glow of the moon created just enough light for Robert to see by as he jogged to his Audi, but it also provided just enough light for him to catch the faint ghostly reflection of himself in the car window. He tried to turn away from the image, but not before he noticed the huge dark circles underneath his eyes. In fact, they were the first and only thing he saw as he tried to focus both his sight and mind on unlocking his car.

Folding himself into the dark leather interior, he remembered last minute his uncontrollable anxiety about driving at night which had been amplified tenfold since the accident. But he had already made up his mind, he would just have to drive slowly and carefully. He took a few deep breaths, turned the key in the ignition and reversed out of his driveway and on the deserted streets.

While his eyes darted around, double and triple-checking the still empty streets, Roberts mind began to wander once again, his sleepy thoughts getting stuck on the same issue like a broken record replays the same short notes over and over. Each time he concluded that he was utterly alone, the sly voice in the back of his mind cut in to remind him he was full of shit. He tried to avoid that train of thought, the second most devastating event in his life that he tried to gloss over every day, a time before Janice and the intense happiness she brought with her wherever she went. It had been a messy affair involving a one night stand and an illegitimate child. Being the head of a multimillion global enterprise, Robert had been dragged through the court system and ordered to pay ludicrous amounts of child support every month once the paternity tests had shown a positive match. Robert didn’t mind the money so much, it was only a small fragment of his monthly salary. There was always a catch though; and his was that he was to have no contact with the child he provided for, an order that lasted until the boy turned 21 and only if he instigated the contact with his biological father. For all Rob knew, the boy could have been lied to his entire life and have no idea about his real father at all!

The street lights lit up the car interior in a slow, steady rhythm as the car crawled along the darkened streets with the speed of a funeral procession. As his scrutinising gaze searched every foot of the roads around him, his mind raced with fantastical and implausible plots to contact the son he never met, all of them senseless and futile, all of them just dreams and fantasies. He didn't even know the boy’s name, the money was just transferred automatically to a third party bank account every month. Sure, if he really wanted to he had enough money and power to make his idle dreams a reality, but at the risk of upturning and possibly destroying a young man’s life. Robert knew what it was like to have your whole life turned upside-down and ripped apart, and he wished that on no one, not even his worst enemy and certainly not his own flesh and blood. No, the boy probably had a good life, especially with the amount of money Rob sent each month.

Robert was now in the business park on the outskirts of town, the roads between the office blocks were well lit, completely deserted and watched over by dozens of CCTV cameras. He took a left turn and drove to a car park at the end of the street. At the opposite end of the car park was the entrance to a huge, seven-story building that reached up higher than any of the other business complexes in the area. The bright white exterior looked freshly painted and the cleanliness of the structure and its surrounding land instantly soothed Rob's fraying nerves. As the engine died, Robert smoothed out some of the more prominent creases in his work shirt before taking a few deep breaths to get him into the right frame of mind for work. The ruthless frame of mind. Halfway across the car park, he dragged himself to his full height, shrugged off the tell-tale signs of fatigue and continued to walk in his usually strutting swagger.

"Flourish Health Industries"

Janice had picked the name. She said it made her think of lush green gardens in the springtime and had swept Robert into her wave of enthusiasm with such urgency that he had made it official the very next morning.

The interior was still a hive of activity even at such a late hour, especially since the accident. Robert had been working on an extra project since that tragic event; and as such had hired scores of extra staff who often worked around the clock, through passion and desire for knowledge more than necessity.

Life had become a cycle of work and nightmares for Robert since that tragic night. There had barely been a mourning period for him, he had pushed those feelings deep inside of himself. He had been in the office the very next morning, plotting over hastily scribbled projects. Flourish Health Industries had spent years developing, manufacturing and distributing a wide range of health supplements and questionable herbal treatments.

Calhoun was a businessman first and foremost, he didn't care if his products worked, just that they sold in great numbers. The health nuts were an easy target to exploit, everyone wanted to look a little better, feel a little healthier or lose more weight and Robert knew that with the right packaging and marketing he could sell almost anything. Some people would rub cow shit on their faces if they thought it would knock off a few decades of wrinkles.

Though the hour was late and his mood was dismal, Rob paraded through the building greeting his employees with a self-assured grin. Building social connections was an important part of any business and a good reputation was built on being well-liked, so he made sure to remember the names of each and every staff member. It all boiled down to making people feel important, to remember them and their likes, to listen to them talk about themselves and most importantly to do it regularly. Some days it could take a full hour for Rob to walk from the front doors and up three stories to his office, but tonight everyone was too busy with their work to offer more than a hurried “Hello, Mister Calhoun!” as they darted past.

Exhaustion still had its wicked, sludge-like grip on him and so he opted to take the elevator instead of the stairs. Unconsciously, his hand went to the flabby paunch of his stomach as he thought about how he really could use the exercise. There was a six-pack somewhere underneath that dimpled flesh, but he feared that if he tried to tackle the staircase his legs would just crumble to dust. The elevator doors opened to reveal Ernie the janitor furiously polishing the large wall mirrors. Rob stepped inside as he sounded off his salutations to the Down Syndrome caretaker, one of the few staff members he actually enjoyed talking to.

Ernie stopped his frenzied cleaning as the doors closed and turned to beam at Robert. “Hello, Mis’er Calhoun! Lovely night!” he stuttered through his warm, genuine smile.

Robert had liked Ernie as soon as he’d met him, pure innocence and goodness just seemed to radiate from the young man. It was infectious and Rob found himself wearing the first authentic smile he had sported in an age as he inquired about the young man’s mother and home life.

The janitor said his goodbyes as the elevator reached the top floor, his eagle eyes spotting a stray smudge on the mirror. Ernie took his job very seriously, meticulously carrying out every task expected of him and proving that he was one of the most industrious employees Rob had ever hired. Rob stepped out and the doors closed as Ernie triumphantly vanquished his greasy adversary.

A groan of sheer vexation finally escaped his lips as his ploughed in to his office and shut the door only to turn and be greeted by the slovenly sight of Professor Luton asleep at her desk in the back corner. The woman was homely looking at the best of times, her round face a little too round and a little too flat for her slender neck. Her desk was a chaotic mess of paperwork and fast-food wrappers that mingled casually with the tacky ornaments and numerous framed photographs as though they were all supposed to be there. Robert strode to his desk slowly and heavily, making as much noise as he could without actually stomping his feet. It had no effect on the sleeping woman, whose drooling slumber continued in gentle snores. Her large round glasses twisted further up her forehead with each deep breath.

Rob fell into his chair with a loud huff and kicked his feet up onto the desk with such a clamour that the sleeping Professor was startled out of her snooze with one final snorting snore. As she jumped awake, she knocked over her coffee cup, spilling the contents all over her desk and the floor and swearing loudly before finally noticing her boss was present.

“Sorry, Sir! I didn’t hear you come in, sir!” She flustered as she attempted to clean up the mess with a small packet of tissues.

“You look like shit.” He bluntly stated as he took in her shabby appearance, the dark rings under her eyes and the mess of non-descript brown hair that could currently serve as a bird’s nest.

She stopped what she was doing and looked him dead in the eyes as she replied “You don’t look too hot yourself, cowboy!”

They stood for a moment staring each other down with poker-faced intent until Robert finally cracked a smile and they began to chuckle together.

“Why are you here so early?” He asked her, his softened features no longer locked into mock-seriousness as he handed her his handkerchief to help mop up the spillage.

“I could very well ask you the same thing!” Luton laughed as she took the small square of cloth from him. The cotton did nothing to absorb the sea of coffee that was now spilling over the edge of the desk.

Robert shrugged and broke eye contact, “nightmares” he mumbled at the carpet.

Professor Luton offered him a sympathetic smile and a light pat on the arm. There was a brief silence before she remembered to reply, “I just really need the extra hours right now. The childcare costs for Jonas and Kaiden are getting pretty steep and now that Jack is getting ready for college I need the extra cash. He wants to study catering and you should see the list of stuff he has to buy! I never knew kitchen knives could be so expensive!”

Rob went back to his chair as she began her rant and made sure he appeared to be listening intently. It was very rare that Professor Laura Luton moaned about anything, so he assumed she must be having a rough time at the moment to incite such a tirade. In all honesty, he really didn’t care for much right now, so listening to her seemingly endless complaints was a little more than bothersome to him. But Laura was his best employee and a good friend so he make sure to nod, agree and make all the right noises at all the right times until she had worn herself out and was left with nothing but apologises and gratitude for his superior listening skills.

Laura finally gave up trying to mop up every last drop of liquid, it was too far spread, having seeped under each piece of mess and tat on her desk and found its way into every nook and cranny. It would dry soon, she reasoned as she picked up a large orange file from the back of her desk and took it over to her boss.

“Ah, straight down to business then! How is Project Phoenix progressing?” he excitedly took the file from her and began flipping through the sheets inside.

“Well, that’s why you’re here isn’t it?” the corners of her mouth twitched in a sad smile, “I can’t say its good news…”

Rob shot her a worried glance and began determinedly flicking and scanning the pages through a deep frown, “Can’t you just lie to me and tell me everything’s going well? Just this one time?” He sighed imploringly and then closed the file to stare at her, he would rather she tell him the details rather than reading them himself.

Professor Luton squirmed under his gaze, turning a flummoxed puce as she tried to stutter over the important details. His stare had returned her to her previous formality, though this time there would be no smiling and jokes at the end.

“Sir, we are lucky enough to have some of the most advanced technology known to man at our disposal and we have tried a great many methods – from the plausible scientific theories right down to the absolutely insane shots-in-the-dark. But once again, today's trials have proved inconclusive. They failed again, every single one. I’m sorry Rob, reconstructing and repairing a brain just isn’t possible and I doubt it ever will be. We just don’t have the knowledge and technology available, no one in the world has that! The brain is such a vastly intricate organ - like a super computer – we can give it power and make it run again but we can never repair it.”

The desk shuddered as his forehead hit it from despair and he kept it there for a few seconds before the realisation of her words sank into his brain. He sprang up in his seat with renewed vigour, “What do you mean ‘make it run again’?” he rose with animated hope, which made Luton become even more visibly agitated.

“Well sir, in the simplest terms: we have managed to reanimate a small number of dead mice. But they are nothing more than moving corpses with the most basic carnal instincts. The subjects vary between unresponsive to extremely violent.”

Rob noticed that she couldn’t bear to meet his gaze once during her explanation, but he wouldn’t let that dampen his hope as he listened to her continue,

“There’s no evidence to suggest they can think or feel as they once did, they’re like something straight out of a horror movie. Zombies, really.” She blushed at using such a term to describe their test subjects, but Robert intrigue was only deepened,

“Show me.”

Luton led him down the corridors, back into the elevator which was now spotless and empty. They didn’t speak, but she could feel the excitement vibrating from her boss and knew with a heavy heart that his enthusiasm would soon turn to disappointment.

The animal testing lab was on the second floor. Janice had always hated the idea of animal testing and until her death Flourish Health Industries had an ethical testing policy, using botanicals only. Her grieving husband had set up the animal testing lab only days after her passing and it was open for use before the funeral had even been held.

Of course, Luton knew the funeral was just for show, a big sham really. There had been no bodies inside the coffins, just weights, so as to not raise any questions. No, Janice and her beautiful daughter Serena hadn’t even received a courtesy burial. They were on ice somewhere, frozen in time forever somewhere in this building. Though the Professor knew the truth and she kept it well hidden, but even though it made her skin crawl to think about; she knew it was none of her business really.

The lab was almost empty of human occupants, just a lone scientist hunched over a microscope near the door who barely raised his head in acknowledgement of their arrival; the slides below holding far too much fascination to distract him. Ernie the janitor was also there sweeping the floor with extreme care, determined to have the full building flawless before standard business hours. Laura had to admire his enthusiasm and briefly wondered if she should request his help in tackling her desk.

“Ernie, should you really be in here? This is a restricted area with hazardous materials, son.” Rob seemed concerned, as though he were about to lead the young man out by his shoulders.

Ernie stood to attention at the sound of his bosses voice, his grin stretching from ear to ear, “Don’t worry Mis’er Calhoun sir! I’m really careful when I do the cleaning and I’m the only person who can do it. I gotta sweep the floor and wipe the desks and clean the glass and polish all the stuff…” he trailed off, suddenly looked very upset “I never touch nothing I’m not supposed to sir and I ain’t never broke nothing or touched the animals or the computers or the paperwork, sir!” The lad was clearly distressed and looked to be overcome with false guilt over a mishap that had never happened.

With a sweet smile directed at the troubled caretaker, Luton took control to ease both men's worries “Don’t worry Ernie you’re not in trouble. Mister Calhoun, Ernie has access to this room under supervision” she directed a nod at the oblivious scientist still lost in his work, “he carries out general cleaning duties in this room as he does the full building, adhering to and helping us to maintain the strict health and safety regulations. And might I say he does an outstanding job!” Ernie swelled with pride at the last compliment and Rob relaxed a little, nodding and letting the man return to his duties.

Luton ushered Rob over to a row of small cages in the far corner, there were four in total and each was surrounded with crowds of notes and equipment. She motioned to the third cage so that he could see the results for himself.

Apprehensively, Rob crossed the floor and stooped low to peer into the cage. Inside was the decomposing corpse of an albino mouse. “It’s dead” he flatly stated.

“No,” she replied, “it’s just waiting.”

“For what?” Rob squinted as he swayed his head from side to side, taking in the tiny corpse and looking for any signs of movement.

“To do the only thing it knows how to do.”

He didn’t like the ominous tone to Luton’s voice as she reached past him to tap on the glass.

At the sound of movement, the dead mouse leapt to its feet and began to sniff the air. The abrupt movement caused Robert to flinch backwards with a startled little sound. Within seconds the dead mouse had sniffed out their direction and it now skittered towards the glass in front of them. With shocking speed and force, the festering remains of the creature began to smash its putrescence into the glass with a flurry of gnashing fangs and vicious claws. The ferocity of its attack stunned Robert, but Luton seemed indifferent to the feverish display, having seen it many times before.

“What’s it doing?” Rob leant in closer now that his initial fright was over, feeling slightly embarrassed at letting his guard down, but glad that only his friends had borne witness to his cowardice.

“Trying to attack us, she said flatly, “we’ve conducted various experiments over the past few days and have concluded that they will only attack living creatures. They seem to be completely unaware of each other.” As she spoke, she moved to the second box, “here, watch this.” She picked up a large pair of rubber tongs and proceeded to lift a thrashing second mouse from its prison, this one being very much alive and squeaking wildly as it sensed its demise approaching.

Robert observed in silence as the Professor dropped the live mouse in with its ‘zombie’ counterpart. The noxious beast immediately spun upon its prey, leaping onto it and biting into the face and skull of the other mouse, pulverising an eyeball as the piteous screams of the victim echoed throughout the lab.

Robert was solemn but entranced as the mouse convulsed in its final death throes before becoming still. He opened his mouth to say something but Professor Luton hushed him back into silence, motioning for him to continue watching the impromptu experiment. The cannibalistic corpse gnawed its meal for a few minutes when the limp flesh form began to twitch with signs of life once again.

Robert could bear the silence no longer, “Just what am I seeing here?” he asked with his mouth agape in a mixture of awe and disgust.

“Infection. It would seem to be some kind of blood-borne virus that has an incredibly high transmission rate and rapid incubation period.” The murdered mouse began to spasm more violently until it stood upright as though waking from some horrific sleep. The first mouse merely walked away from its progeny, busying itself with attacking the glass once more. The second mouse stood for a while, sniffing around with glazed eyes as though trying to ascertain its surroundings before catching the scent of live flesh and joining in the futile charge. Rob noted that it seemed to have more stamina than the first. Sickened and amazed, he turned away to gather his thoughts.

Across the room, Ernie sprang into action with a guilty expression plastered all over his face after being caught watching instead of cleaning. Rob smiled to himself in fondness for the boy and decided against chiding his curiosity, after all, no human had ever before witnessed their discovery. He himself didn’t even know how to feel about the events that had just transpired, he looked to the Professor with an encouraging glance, desperate to hear what else she had to say on the matter.

“What you just observed was a dead mouse that was earlier pumped full of the Varserin Elixer that we have been developing and refining over the past months.” She perched precariously on the edge of a desk as she filled in the details, “As you can see, the reanimation fluid has been successful in creating the imitation of life in a deceased subject. However, this is the furthest we have been able to go with the project and after exhausting all other resources and possibilities I think this is the furthest we will ever be able to go.”

“You mean you’re stopping?” he scoffed incredulously, “after coming so far, you’re going to stop at mice? What about rats, dogs, even humans?” He gestured enthusiastically as he spoke, but it seemed that his calm manner was slipping.

“Sir, all we can create is more zombies – “

“ – Stop calling them that, it sounds so cheesy! This isn’t a Romero flick, Laura!” he was becoming irritated by her inability to see the bigger picture,

“With all due respect, sir, I call it as I see it and that thing is a damn zombie! Science can only do so much and as far as bringing back the dead goes this is the end of the line. There’s no next step, no forced evolution, just zombies that create more zombies.”

Usually, Robert would have exploded at the confrontation, but something about the way she spoke cut through his grandiose pride. It whispered through his brain in echoes, stroking the dark emotions he had bottled up as the realisation stuck him – it had all come to nothing. He would never see his beautiful, perfect little family ever again. He would not get to hold them as they woke from their slumber-like death as though the past months had been nothing but a grotesque nightmare of some past life. He finally cracked, his features melting away into a blank sadness that engulfed him deeper with each passing second until huge tears could no longer be held back in his eyes.

Luton swiftly regretted her previous bluntness, remembering that the development of the Varselin Elixer had been Robert Calhoun's last hope of ever having happiness again, or at least that's what he believed. He'd never really shed his grief or said goodbye because he'd always had the belief in the back of his mind that he could use his power and fortune to discover a way to bring them back. The reality of the situation smashed into him like a seven-tonne truck going full speed. He began to crumble under the weight of his despair and was soon sitting beside her on the desk to stop himself from falling to his knees and howling his pain up to the crisp white ceiling.

She reached out and put her hand on his heaving shoulder, a silent apology hanging in the space between them.

"Carry on testing." He sobbed through his fingers

"Robert, you can't be serious?" she sounded so much like Janice that he flinched away from her touch, disgusted by his display of weakness he stood back up and tried to pull on more dominant body language to help cover his flaws.

"I'm deadly serious, Laura," he snapped "as far as we know, we are the first organisation to have discovered the secrets of re-animation and I want you to create and study more zombies. I want a team of your best scientists figuring out everything about these creatures and how they work. I've put too much time and money in to Project Phoenix, to not explore it further and find a way to spin it to the benefit of our company would be foolish." He had dried his eyes, puffed out his chest and pulled every inch of arrogance he could muster into his body.

On the other side of the room, Ernie giggled, causing them to simultaneously look in his direction. During their conversation, he had slinked across the lab to observe the zombie rats, who became frenzied once again when they smelled fresh blood just out of their reach. The force with which they propelled themselves forwards caused their features to distort against the glass in a comically cartoonish way which had caused the caretaker to giggle with almost childlike joy. Laura and Robert both went to call out at the same time, to get him further away from the cage and out of the range of the keen noses that longed to rip into him. No sooner had they opened their mouths, they heard the shattering tinkle of glass as tank three finally gave in to the rage of the zombie mice. They shouted his name as one and Ernie turned towards them with a smile on his face, oblivious to the zombie mice as they punched a hole in the glass and leapt through within seconds, launching themselves at his face.

Robert sprung into action first, but it was already much too late. The first mouse bit deep into his cheekbone, causing Ernie to turn his head and scream as he slapped the vile rodent. The second mouse saw an opportunity and leapt straight for his gaping jaw to bite down hard on his tongue. It sank its teeth into the delicate muscle and hung off the end, it’s flailing hindquarters scratching for a foothold on his chin.

Ernie also bit down on reflex, severing the mouse in half but not stopping its attack - the two halves continued to move independently of each other - the upper half tearing his tongue from behind his teeth and the lower half scratching his throat trying to cling on.

Ernie tried desperately to claw the small creatures from his face. Luton and Rob reached him, snatched the mice from his head and threw them on the floor, stamping on them repeatedly until they were nothing but mush.

Although his attackers had stopped their onslaught Ernie continued screaming, a steady crimson river pouring from his mangled tongue and down his chin. His cheek bore an equally horrific wound and the man gibbered pathetically, unable to muster real words through shock and injury.

Rob searched for his handkerchief, cursing under his breath when he recalled he had given it to the clumsy professor earlier. Instead, he tried to comfort the wreck of a janitor, putting his arms around the man and holding him tightly as he thrashed and wailed. Where was that damn woman? He turned from his gored friend to see the Professor replacing the wall phone in its cradle and rushing back over, accompanied by the previously occupied scientist who had finally roused from his blissful ignorance and now sporting a look as though he had just shit his pants.

Ernie began to claw at Robert's shirt and drool blood all over him as he begged for something Rob could not understand. He tried to calm the lad as he pushed him back a few inches in a bid to save his shirt, and reassured him as best he could while a team of scientists rushed in behind them.

"Don't worry son, I'm going to pass you over to the medical team and they will have you patched up and home in time for tea!" Ernie bayed and clung tighter as the white-coated assistants tried to prise him from Rob and whisk him away to quarantine. Robert raised his voice to be heard over the cacophony of voices, "Don't worry, Ernie. Everything will be fine. I promise."

As the buzzing scientists finally freed him, Rob stepped back from the bloody mess he had indirectly created and stared into the baleful eyes of his employee as he was hurried from the room in a blur of white and red.

The silence that followed crushed his ear drums. Luton unfroze first, grabbing a handful of paper towels and attempting the thwart the largest bloody puddle with a frown deeper than the canyons of hell. Robert merely stared at her and pondered how a woman with three children could be such an incompetent cleaner. He had no idea what would happen to Ernie but the events that had just transpired backed up his previous request of studying the creatures they had somehow managed to create. "So what happens now?" his tone was flat, giving no clue to his underlying emotions.

Luton stood up, blood stains smeared all over her clothes as she went to inspect the remains of the test animals. "The infection, whatever it may be, has been an unexpected side-effect of our work and as such we have not yet had the chance to study it." She sighed as she threw paper towels over the viscose and still steaming puddle that used to be a mouse, "As such we have no cure or suppressant for the virus and I cannot even hazard a guess as to how it works - it's still early stages. In the best case scenario Ernie's own immune system will fight off the virus and he will be well and able to leave quarantine in a few days.”

She stood once more and purposefully avoided Rob's questioning stare as though afraid to go on. Finally, she let the words escape, "From what we have witnessed so far though, even small doses of the infection can have lethal effects, resulting eventually in death and subsequent re-animation of the corpse. The likelihood of Ernie surviving his injuries is incredibly slim."

Rob immediately began to pace the lab, running his fingers through his hair and mumbling curses under his breath. They were alone now and he really didn't care about his guard slipping, not in front of Laura who was almost a friend and practically his peer. So many thoughts clawed the inside of his skull. How would he handle this? How many people would have to be paid off? Why was this world so offended by innocence that it felt the need to devour everything good and beautiful? Was it he who was cursed?

"Sir? I don't know what to do. We're awaiting your orders."

More bloody pressure! But underneath it all was a grinding determination, an effort to prove to himself that this was not all pointless. He was a businessman, he could make this work for him. It would never bring them back, it wouldn't cure Ernie but this new discovery held such power that he found it impossible to back away. This was something no one had ever achieved before, a secret knowledge that only he could share with the world. He finally stopped pacing right in front of Luton, one hand was still tugging at his hair, his eyes were dark and distant.

"Human trials start today."

"You can't be serious" Laura spat in revolt,

"We're going to be monitoring Ernie anyway, why not study him and collect data at the same time? We have to know what this is and how it works -"

"I'm out!" Laura threw up her hands and started to walk away in disgust, "If you want to do this then no one can stop you but I will not be a part of-"

"I'll triple your salary and double the salary of any scientists whom you choose to be on your team." he crossed the room to catch up with the now motionless Professor and lay a heavy hand on her shoulder. She didn't turn to meet him, her breath had caught in her throat at his rebuttal. "I need you on the team Laura, you're the best brain in my whole company and you've been here since the start. You have the experience, the qualifications and most importantly you have my trust."

Tears welled up in Laura's eyes. That bastard! He knew just how to snare her into his wicked little plans. It was a case of need more than greed - raising three boys on her own was difficult enough and to refuse his more than generous offer would be lunacy; things were tight in the best of times.

"Plus I know you and Ernie are good friends, you know how the lad can be. It would be a lot better for him if you were there doing the work instead of a stranger, it'd be more calming for him." Robert sidled around so that he was facing her, to look imploring into her eyes and run her through with her own sense of guilt. Double bastard!

"You can't be serious?" tears began to form in her eyes but she was quickly resigned herself to her new fate. She really needed the extra money. She finally nodded submissively and hurried from the room, excusing herself and quelling any worries from her superior as she left.

"Don't worry, I'll get to work sorting this. See you later, Bob."

If you enjoyed the prologue of my novel, please like and share it with your friends. Chapter One will be released very soon.