Year:
Three days before the zombie apocalypse.
It all started with an earsplitting BOOM on the dusty plains in Texas. The Earth’s crust crackled, and a hole was indented for a mile or so. The meteorite was so small, it seemed impossible for a loud noise to be heard in Houston.
Houston, we have a problem.
The government issued a request for police to patrol the area so no dumb teenagers would sneak by, and they wanted to keep this shooting star solicited from the human touch. Drones flew overhead of this glowing meteorite, and it was all over the news for a few days until the broadcast got bored and moved on to more mainstream matters.
However, the scientists on site were definitely not bored and were intrigued as to why this thing was glowing an odd neon color. They should’ve known the red flags immediately from the meteorite not looking like any others.
Maybe they enjoy reading and watching bad romances with men that scream red flags?
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Houston National Laboratory
119 Scientists
200 workers in total
(Restricted Area)
Wear Hazard Suits and ALL skin must be covered before entering the site.
Chipping away through the comet, scientists wore glovers that went underneath their white quarantine suits. They breathed heavily in their suits, their breaths foggy on their plastic headwear. Others walked around the hazard site, putting one foot in front of the other, clumsily in their baggy gear but determined.
“Don’t get excited, Jacob,” Jackie chuckled, her radio ringing back in the man’s ears and he winced back. “It’s hardly a rock, just a dust junk from space.”
Jacob glared at her, “Can you please shut up so I can concrete?” A smile danced on his countenance while he slowly but steadily chipped at the meteorite. “You’re just jealous you aren’t the first one to discover why this star is glowing inside.”
Rolling her bronze eyes, Jackie pressed her lips as she watched him; scientists, FBI personas, and reporters stood inside the building staring like a hawk circling its prey, its beady eyes looking every moment—expect, they were looking at what would be revealed inside the star.
A crunching sound followed. “Are you seriously eating potato chips when this star might be from an alien planet or something?” grumbled Doctor Bill, scornfully judging the woman munching away happily.
Jackie retorted before her friend could respond, “She cured Influenza while you were jerking off. Have respect for the best scientists in the world. It’s not like we have time to take a piss or eat since the government forced us to be awake for 3 days straight messing with a damn meteorite.”
The youngest scientist there was quite right about her friend. Daphne was the best scientist of the year during Influenza and trying to eliminate strep throat, a bacterial infection, unlike respiratory illnesses. She had gone from zero to hero to be precise when the flu was officially declared eradicated.
“You want some chips, Doctor Bill? They are quite hitting the salty spot for me,” Daphne offered, a warm smile twinkling in her amber eyes. She wore a laboratory coat with her name: Dr. Daphne Hollingsworth. Dark circles were under her eyes, and she had no idea why she was dragged to a space site when her specialty lay elsewhere.
Doctor Bill sneered and turned his attention to Jacob painfully cracking the star open, the glow inside of it shining brighter than before. “I don’t need a heart attack from the amount of salt those chips have.”
“Well, you are certainly old to have one any minute,” snickered Daphne and Jackie snorted with her, and then the women burst into laughter because they were extremely tired, hadn’t slept for seventy-two hours, and only ran on five-hundred milligrams of caffeine.
To them, the meteorite should’ve dulled off its strange color after a few hours from crashing land on Earth, but it shone—it seemed—to spite them.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, the gleaming green liquid inside the comet ran into a glass tube Jacob was holding. There was hardly any substance in the meteorite because it only filled up halfway in the small bottle. Standing up and carefully raising the tube to examine the radioactive thing, the geologists squealed, “This is super cool!”
Jackie pushed up her white glasses to her eyes as if she could see the neon liquid clearer. She gasped and shook her friend in excitement, jumping up and down. Her braided bond bounced with her. “We made history!”
Everyone created a path for the man holding the foreign substance, gawking at it in wonder.
“It’s beautiful,” Daphne sighed and studied it longingly, wishing to be the first one to get a glimpse of what was in it.
The scientists flooded around him, Jacob being a new star…metaphorically. The FBI stood on their tippy toes and tried to peak what he was doing, but people were shoving to see the color, the thickness or thinness, the shine, the smell, and everything in between of this strange liquid.
Daphne crinkled up her nose and was the first to notice, “Is it just me, or does it smell like an animal that’s been hit by a car and its skeleton and organs decaying on the side of the road?”
Stares flicked at her oddly specific detail, but some people stepped back and plugged the noise in agreement.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Poor Jacob was an introvert and highly disliked all eyes on him and his hands shook in a social panic. Usually, he was someone who gladly stocked the cabinets or studied notes quietly. However, he was the only geologist on the staff and knew how to precisely chip through a rock from the small pick and knew the metal feel to correctly do so.
Jackie scooted closer to him and smiled, “Wow, I thought you were a failure, but you aren’t half bad.”
“Really?” rasped Jacob, his cheeks pinking. His heart pounded and when he was using a pipette to suck the liquid to the glass slide, his hands shook more with fluster and the tube slipped from his fingers.
Flinging her hands out to catch it, Jackie couldn’t grasp it and the bottle fell on the white tiled floor and cracked. Everyone jumped back from the noise and its unnatural glow, but the young scientist was brave enough to pick it up with her bare hands—ignoring the sharp broken edge scratching her finger—and she lifted the tube back up before any of the liquid spilled on the floor.
The fluid swished in the bottle and some particles flicked inside the sliver cut wound. Jackie grinned and handed back the tube, “Watch what you are doing!”
Doctor Bill had clutched his chest as if he was going to have a cardiac arrest. He breathed out a relief, “Good save, Jackie.” He ordered, “Let’s give him some space guys.” Waving the excited scientists away from Jacob, everyone groaned at the old man but listened. “Time to have the well-deserved break. Thank you for everyone being patient and keeping those bastards from our zone! Go home but remember you will come here if you are needed!”
“Who made him boss?” grumbled Jackie, “I’m going to sleep for a week now.”
Daphane nodded, “My kids are probably eating everything in the house without me there.” She headed to her small office to pack her belongings, but her room was more like a supply closet. Respected doctors and scientists said goodbye to her, she waved back and was happy to get back home.
“Hey,” Bill entered her room, “can you quickly check under the microscope before heading out?”
Frowning and giving her best bitch-resting-face, she obliged but tiringly. Daphne was ready to see her teenagers, even though her youngest gripped at her not letting him drive—he already had been in three wrecks; the oldest probably doing all the cooking and cleaning while she was on her job, and her middle child pleading to be an engineer, but Daphne was positive she would be in a better field as a scientist.
First, her daughter had a leg up to get to the best college from her mother being a great scientist and she was in advance, knowing more scientific knowledge from her parents than anyone else.
She will get out of her stage from building bombs to curing cancer thought Daphne positively and walked over to where Jacob was. He stretched up and went to use the bathroom while she looked inside the transmission electron microscope.
Blinking back in confusion from what she saw, the woman peeked back to see green atoms clumping in disorderly ways; the four bases of DNA didn’t have any pattern sequence she could find, and the odor emitting from it was awful.
The characteristics from it all screamed at one description she could think of, but her thought process currently felt empty from the lack of sleep and food.
Virus…
“Are you done?” Jacob asked, eager to keep looking at the unknown thing. Yet he leaned in and asked, "Just curious, but does Jackie ever talk about me?"
Daphne furrowed her brows, not desiring to get into the crossfire of this, but she told the truth. “No, not really.” She stood back up and realized how full her bladder was. “Hey, just be careful.” She rubbed her eyes, ambled to the restroom, and let her bladder be free. Not believing this substance could be a virus from outer space, the scientist ditched her idea, but uneasiness twisted in her stomach.
Washing her hands and splashing cold water on her face, Jackie walked out of the stall. She gripped the smooth sink’s counter, her pipals dilated and the girl breathed heavily.
“You are doing okay, Jackie?” Daphne joked, “Did you have to take a shit and relieve yourself finally?”
Jackie snapped up at her friend and bubbly drool ran from her mouth, dripping on her chin and to the floor. Shaking her head, she dropped to the ground and grabbed her friend’s white coat. Her bronze eyes were terrified and lacked any brownish tint they usually had.
Lowering her voice, she gasped in a beseeching manner as if she was already doomed. “Something is wrong with me!” When Jackie spoke, her breath smelled like rotten fish, and she hadn’t brushed her teeth in ages. Her gums were blackened and her teeth were a color of mold.
“The neon substance, I think, touched my wound!” clarified Jackie, showcasing the cut on her finger; it was looking horribly infected, and green yeast showed around the affected area.
“We have to get you to a doctor!” gasped Daphne, her first reaction to seeing the infection sight. She tried not to grimace and hold strong because if she panicked, the poor girl would too. They had known each other for only three days during the meteorite site, but no one wanted to be friends with a rookie scientist, and she liked the rookie a lot, her personality outshining, and she was smarter than most here anyway.
“No!” shouted Jackie and then she whispered, “I don’t want to be a game pig!” Sobbing and a heartbroken plea, she gripped the lab coat even tighter, her eyes moving back and forth in a fearful state. “If the wind gets that I might have that liquid thing running through my veins, they will experiment on me! Please, I don’t want that to happen!”
Freezing in her spot, Daphne gulped in vexation and said, “Jackie, you know the rules. We must report you.”
“I have a mom in the hospital and she’s going to die any minute. I need to get back to her, please Daphne.” Jacke croaked and stared up with hopefulness, “You’re a mother, aren’t you? Wouldn’t you want to see your children before you died?”
The girl who had just begun her scientific journey had to have a horrible fate befall her. In her gut, Daphne should’ve said no and turned the cold shoulder. She knew the rules and breaking them led to consequences. The state Jackie was in, should’ve told her to flee from her and leave her to her own demise, but the words squeezed the woman’s heart.
“You are the best scientist, whatever I have, you can cure me!” Jacke added quickly.
Daphne grunted and knew there was no more time to waste. Anyone could come waltzing and the bathroom and see this awful state they were in. She surrendered, “Alright fine. I have a laboratory in my house you can stay until we find something for you.”
“Thank you!” gasped Jackie and she hugged her friend. After grabbing her backpack, they headed to a private jet that would fly to Ohio.
There would be a five-hour drive to Daphne’s house. It was going to be a long night, but she looked forward to seeing her kids. On the long flight, she dozed on and off, seeing Jackie’s hands fidget on her lap and glance around in a manic way.
When she also dozed off, saliva dripped from her mouth, and she grinned…which worried the older scientist, but ignored her. Jackie woke up twenty minutes before landing and seemed more anxious as if she was a college student in the finals, and hadn’t studied yet, and everything was due at midnight that night.
When the plane was landing, Daphne grabbed Jackie’s hand, almost flinching away from her cold skin. Instead, she murmured and tightened her clasp, “You are going to be okay.”
While driving on the way to her house, she had put the radio on a soft sound so Jackie could sleep for she desperately needed it. Daphne listened to the news broadcasting about the meteorite and scientists discovering something from the public, and the government is hiding something, some alien life form in that tiny comet or whatever useless shit they rambled on about to enter their audiences.
Daphne kept glancing over at Jackie and hoped she would be okay. She went back to the virus theory and gripped her steering wheel until her knuckles were white. Her heart beat unsteadily with these past days. The cars’ head beams shone back, almost blindly glaring at her. Rain pattered on her window. The night was ominously dark, with no moon to cast any light or warmth to this daunting situation.
She was the best scientist who cured Influenza but was the worst at the same time. My mother, Daphne Hollingsworth, started the zombie apocalypse from kindness. Imagine that the first step of the world ending isn’t because of a selfish prick pressing the red button (that will come shortly), or some demons with a grudge fighting a never-ceasing war between good or evil, or aliens come to harvest our organs, but an act of kindness had to destroy mankind.