Prologue (3)

"We're approaching the facilities; everyone stays alert."

"We are the private security team sent to protect this sector!" Sergei's voice came through the intercom outside the facilities and security fences covering vast hectares of land.

"They are late."

Sergei frowned and said, "We were attacked by things that hunt; we eliminated all of them, but we still don't know if they were all the targets. Some of my men need medical attention due to fractures. Can you refrain from asking foolish questions or making absurd remarks and help us so we can finish our work?"

"Alright, captain, you may proceed!"

At that moment, the gates opened automatically, and the vehicles rushed into the facilities quickly, leaving behind only the complete silence of the forest, as if a maniacal predator lurked in the shadows.

"Come on, everyone inside!"

Everyone, including the wounded, entered the seemingly well-protected facilities. Sergei had changed plans and wanted to know the truth about the damn problem they were in. He didn't want to risk his men this way again, as in the past.

"Doctor Steven Swardas, at your service, may I ask about the scale of the attack?" I asked Doctor Steven, who had dark circles under his eyes and looked pale.

Sergei looked at the doctor and said in a frustrated tone, "Hundreds of bears; all of them seemed confused as if they were under the effects of rabies... They didn't flee at the sound of bullets; they were completely convinced to keep moving forward even if it meant their death."

"That's..."

"Doctor Steven, you must share with me what is happening here, so we can all be at ease and I, along with my men, can finish the job without unexpected problems. So, tell me, what exactly escaped from this place?"

"Follow me, captain..." Doctor Steven frowned and finally walked down a hallway while the injured soldiers were assisted by the doctors of this place.

"The mission you have is to eliminate any targets resembling the bears that attacked you; all of them are supposedly in the forest." Doctor Steven seemed confused, as if everything that was happening shouldn't be happening.

"What exactly are you hiding here?" Sergei was aware that this mission was not planned and that it was possibly more dangerous than any other he had participated in. He has a son like every other soldier under his command, so if he's going to continue with this, there must be a reason beyond money.

"You, Captain Sergei, ask too many questions; shouldn't you limit yourself to the information authority within your reach? If we weren't desperate, maybe you would be considered a spy sent by some enemy seeking our information." Said Doctor Steven as he walked towards a heavily secured room with viral security systems.

"I need answers because I genuinely seek a reason to continue with this mission. I have a lone son at home who needs a father at least before he enters university. Besides, we need to know what precautions to take." Sergei said with a deep voice, conveying his problems to this doctor.

"Biological weapons to combat enemy viruses of other kinds, or so we were told..." Steven, who entered a medical observation room that was watching a young man lying on a bed, smiled slightly with helplessness and said, "This was a perfect weapon to combat viruses, but halfway through the process, we were told to change the course of the weapon to an attacking one that consumes living organisms. The transmission method was direct and not viral, which was strange. Who do they want to kill that way, and why with an attacking virus that was meant to save lives?"

After saying this, Steve sighed and said, "We made the changes; the whole procedure was slow, but we progressed, and what happened is that the virus we created started mutating rapidly and impressively... We investigated and tested on animals, and what we saw terrified us, captain... The virus didn't work on animals, but it only took giving it the necessary tools for that to change. We were about to finish everything here and eliminate it, but we don't know how that virus ended up in the remaining animals that were not test subjects and finally ended up spreading that virus in this forest. One of the guards ended up infected and is now in a sedated state because his attitude is so aggressive that he has no awareness."

In the laboratory full of equipment, with walls of iron that seemed like a metal fortress, Sergei looked at the young man lying on a white bed, silently, with his arms and legs restrained by metal ties. With his pale, youthful face, numerous intravenous lines were entering and exiting his body.

"Is he infected?" Sergei asked a somewhat obvious question, but it was more than instinctual because he couldn't believe it.

"We want you to take this information out of the facilities. We discovered a cure, but no one will allow us to develop it as it's a perfect weapon for those seeking money and power... The carriers are, as the name implies, people who are infected with the Rage virus, which causes uncontrollable and senseless rage and aggression in every living being it touches through blood contact." Steve said this without answering Sergei's question as he pulled out a thick memory stick.

"Why us?" Sergei asked, a little confused now that he knew the truth.

"They are a group of mercenaries working globally with income, even in dangerous countries. You know better than anyone what viruses from biological weapons can do to the world... But what if I tell you that this virus is a thousand times more dangerous, lethal, and contagious? What would you say in response?" Steve looked at the young man on a stretcher.

"The carriers, or infected, are humans who have been infected by the Rage virus that originated in this very research center. Highly contagious and spreading through bodily fluids like blood and saliva, the virus takes over the exposed host in ten or twenty seconds."

"Symptoms include constant spasms and internal hemorrhaging from all body orifices, as well as hematemesis, which causes aggressive vomiting with infectious blood. Typically, the carriers show no purpose or trace of their former selves and will not hesitate to attack their former loved ones."

"The infected individual is driven by constant, raging, and consuming anger with a determined purpose to always violently attack and pursue any uninfected individual they encounter. Although Rage doesn't directly kill its host, lacking instincts to find food, the infected eventually die of starvation, not without first cannibalizing any uninfected individuals to form their army first."

"Fortunately, those infected with this virus lack a sense of self-preservation and will not act to evade or respond to mortal danger, at least not when pursuing uninfected individuals."

"Due to the virus's easy transmission, the incubation period is very short, and the extreme effectiveness of the mindless and anger-fueled vectors, a single infected individual can cause a serious domino effect in highly populated areas, causing the infection to spread like wildfire as the infected rapidly multiply. However, the aforementioned strengths of the virus also affect carnivorous animals, making it extremely dangerous."

Just as Sergei was about to ask what exactly he needed to do next, an alarm sounded throughout the facility, followed by gunfire.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Zz... Sir, we have a situation in the medical room." Said a soldier over the radio.

"Zz. Report on the situation!" Shouted Sergei as he left the room.

"Zz... The scientists in this place are acting strange; Falcon bit them, and they started acting weird."

Steve exited the room and said, "It seems some of your men were infected by the virus; you need to kill them if you want to get out of here alive, Sir Sergei."

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Zz... Captain, they don't die from body shots, only from headshots."

"Zz... A type of virus has been released; we need to get out of here now with the survivors."

Sergei felt a sharp, tearing pain that completely invaded him behind his head. "We need to get out of here."

"Do you know what the thoughts of all the scientists who worked here are?"

"What are you saying?"

"We want to die just like that man who invented the atomic bomb; we've created something of mass destruction that, if not careful, could destroy the entire human race... A few months ago, someone hacked the systems and stole the virus, threatening us that they would release that virus in the most important cities in the world." Steve said as he walked towards a room to resume his research.

As Sergei watched the chaos of the alarms, he quickly headed towards the hallway where the sound was coming from, only to see a group of Carriers biting the skins of scientists until they were dead. Seconds later, the lifeless bodies twisted strangely and finally opened their blood-stained eyes.

"What the hell?" Sergei asked before raising his gun and shooting those infected in the head.

"How were they infected so fast?"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Sir, this way..." shouted a man alongside other soldiers who seemed to be keeping the situation under control.

Just as Sergei was jogging towards his soldiers, a figure emerged from one of the rooms at a terrifying speed and, with thunderous force, sent him flying backward, crashing into a wall.

Argh!

The fierce growl and blood gushing from the carrier made Sergei frown. But before he could eliminate it, a bullet pierced its head. Everything went well because of the masks they had, so the splattered blood wasn't a concern.

"Captain..." A weak voice pulled Sergei out of his thoughts, and when he looked up, he saw one of his men lying on the ground, spitting out a large mouthful of blood, but there was still a wild smile on his face.

"Thomas..." Sergei's facial muscles twisted violently, full of fury.

"The others went to control the situation, but they're not responding on the radio; you need to get out of here." Thomas said as blood tinted his eyes red.

"How did everyone turn so fast?"

"They might have been infected before we arrived, maybe a few minutes before... We weren't infected because of the masks, but we're not immune to damn bites." Thomas said this before closing his eyes completely.

Sergei coldly surveyed the area and then, taking his pistol, shot Thomas in the head. He grabbed a computer and locked himself in a room to at least send this information.

"If I send it to Jessica, this will never see the light; if someone close to her has it, then it will work... My son, at least you must prepare for this catastrophe that will likely hit the world if it spreads."

"Take care, son..." Sergei sent the file that would take a few minutes to be sent before checking his gun's magazine and leaving the room.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Sergei quickly exited the hallway filled with corpses to eliminate the other carriers and regroup with his squad; they should get out of here as soon as possible.

"What do you think of that level of destruction?"

"It's dangerous and beautiful; I never expected more than half of an elite squad to be eliminated that way."

"They must ensure containment of the virus; wipe everything if necessary."

"This weapon of mass destruction will be a valuable asset for the new world."