Unleashed: A Science Fiction Horror Adventure (NecroVerse Book 1)

by Aaron Bunce

  The nurse turned away and pulled a thin, transparent screen away from the wall, a thin, flexible arm holding it aloft.

  The exam room was large, with a padded examination table and a pair of uncomfortable-looking chairs. White plastic cabinets covered one wall, a simple stainless steel sink and lab table spanning beneath it.

  Anna moved to sit in one of the chairs just as the soft rap of knuckles sounded on the door and Dr. Reeds appeared.

  “Hello again, hello again.” Reeds moved in, closing the door behind him, his balding pate gleaming in the white overhead light. “You look to be alive. That is good, yes, very good. And I see you brought someone with you this time, which is good. The support of family and loved ones can be the most powerful medicine.”

  Dr. Reeds shuffled in, gave Jacoby’s hand a limp shake, and greeted Anna, before adjusting the large monitor against the wall.

  “Is this on? Are these vitals current?” he asked the nurse, pointing at the glowing figures on the monitor. The nurse nodded and mumbled something quiet through her mask. The two exchanged a short, quiet conversation, but Jacoby couldn’t hear what either of them said.

  “To be safe, best to check it the old fashioned way,” the doctor said as they broke apart. The nurse walked over to Jacoby and grabbed his arm, before pressing her index and middle fingers against his wrist. She watched the screen, as if counting, but then shook her head and walked away.

  “It is right,” Jacoby heard her say.

  “I don’t understand.” Dr. Reeds cleared his throat and dropped heavily into the rolling chair.

  “So…what’s up? Did you find something wrong?” Jacoby asked, his stomach swirling uncomfortably. Had he tested positive for something on the blood screen? Or worse, was there something wrong with him?

  “First, how do you feel right now?”

  “I’m a little tired, I guess. And…” Jacoby started to say but paused. He tried to decide if telling the doctor about his headaches and strange impulses was a good idea…especially in front of Anna. Would he keep him from going back to work? What would Anna think? “I’ve got a headache, it’s actually been on and off for the last couple of days.”

  “Have you had any bright or dark spots in your vision, muffled or impaired hearing?” Reeds asked next.

  Jacoby shook his head. In fact, he couldn’t remember when his senses were more acute.

  “Unusual sweating, shortness of breath, or chest pain? A racing, or out of control heart rate…perhaps like you just finished running a race?”

  Jacoby took a deep breath and took a moment to listen to his body. It all felt normal. “No, I mean just tired. I feel like I could lay down for a nap right now. And if you don’t mind me asking, why? Did something pop up on my blood test? Is there something wrong with me?”

  “The results from your blood screen came back…well, so far out of the normal range that our system automatically flagged you for follow up, but….”

  “So far out of range?” Jacoby asked, his confusion deepening.

  “I’m getting ahead of myself. First, let’s just have a look at you and then I’ll explain. Would you mind taking off your shirt and stripping down to your underwear? If your lady friend wants, she can wait out in the hall.” Reeds turned back and stared at the monitor by the wall for a long moment, his face scrunched up in a scowl.

  “It’s not right,” he mumbled and turned to the nurse. “Prepare an injection of Lanoxin just in case.” She nodded and quickly left the room.

  Jacoby turned to Anna, who shrugged and simply turned in her chair. He pulled off his t-shirt and threw it at her, then pulled his pants down. It wasn’t anything she hadn’t seen a dozen or more times before.

  Dr. Reeds pulled on a pair of exam gloves and looked in his eyes, up his nose, mouth and ears, and then felt his neck, moving down to press on various parts of his chest.

  “I am going to have a listen to your heart, this might be cold,” he said, putting a digital stethoscope against Jacoby’s chest. “Is there a history of heart disease in your family…perhaps tachycardia?”

  “My grandpa died of a heart attack–”

  “Odd, quite odd…take a few deep breaths, please,” Dr. Reeds interrupted, slapping the stethoscope against his back.

  The physician listened for a long while, moving the instrument from one side of Jacoby’s chest to the other, and finally to his back. He leaned away suddenly, exhaling dramatically before rubbing his eyes.

  “You’re sure you feel fine?”

  “Yes, doc. Why? You’re starting to scare me.”

  “Well, the good news is you look to be feeling much better than yesterday. A remarkable turnaround, in fact, especially considering all the people out there. You were A-typical of influenza, although I didn’t confirm with a mucus test. You were fevered, drawn, weak, and congested,” Reeds said, exhaling again as he gestured towards the waiting room and beyond.

  “I do feel much better.”

  “That’s good…that’s good. I’m so glad, because, well…uh,” Dr. Reeds said as the nurse pushed back into the room, a syringe and bottle in hand.

  “Because?” Jacoby asked, his fear and frustration growing.

  “…well, according to your vitals and the results of your bloodwork, you should be dead!”

  1130 Hours

  “Dead?” Anna echoed, her voice rising in alarm, “what do you mean he should be dead?”

  He heard her jump out of the chair, her feet slapping the floor hard. A heartbeat later, her hands came to rest on his shoulders. She was shaking. “Are you saying Jacoby is sick…dying?”

  Anna’s hands felt warm on his shoulders, that small bit of tactile contact stirring his emotions and instantly scattering his attention. His headache returned almost instantly, the pressure filling his head and pushing out from behind his eyes. Blood started to pound in his ears as his heart rate increased. The change in his body wasn’t necessarily sexual, but his desire was palpable…the need to shield Anna, to protect her from anyone and everything. Why did this happen anytime someone got near or touched him?

  Jacoby turned back to Dr. Reeds and met his differently colored eyes. The doctor studied him a moment, before looking up to Anna.

  “Well, yes and no. All of his symptoms and test results indicate that he is in acute cardiac distress. An unhealthier individual might already be dead,” he said, flatly, and stepped back to scoop his large tablet off the desk. “But before I get into that, I have to ask. Did you feel something, just now?”

  “Like what?”

  “When your friend moved out of her chair and put her hands on your shoulders, your pupils constricted and you started to tremble. Do you feel differently than you did a moment ago?”

  Jacoby moved to shake his head, but thought better of it. “Yeah, I mean. I’ve been having these strange headaches for the past few days. It’s more pressure than pain though. I can feel it in my ears, but mostly behind my eyes.”

  “Uh hm…yes,” Dr. Reeds said, his fingers tapping rapidly against his tablet. “And did that ‘headache’ as you put it, become noticeable just now?” The nurse moved in behind the doctor, an alcohol pad in one hand and the auto-injector in the other.

  Jacoby nodded and shifted towards the woman in scrubs, his heart rate increasing yet again. He didn’t do it consciously, but his body seemed to move on its own, as if to shield Anna from the woman.

  “Easy, just relax. We’re just trying to get to the bottom of…whatever is going on with you,” Dr. Reeds said, sliding back a half step.

  “What’s in the syringe? And you still haven’t told us anything yet. What is wrong with Jacoby? What is wrong with his test results?” Anna asked, her grip on Jacoby’s shoulders tightening.

  “Margo is holding an autoinjector with a dose of a rather common beta-adrenergic. We use it to treat high blood pressure. It works by reducing the force and rate with which the heart beats. The truth is, the testosterone levels in Jacoby’s blood are impossibly high. In fact,
” Reeds mumbled as he swiped against the large screen. “A man of your age and physical condition should show free testosterone levels in the range of two hundred and fifty nanograms per deciliter to say eight hundred and forty on the high side. Your free testosterone levels came back at over ten thousand nanograms per deciliter. But that wasn’t all. Your TSH levels, which indicate the health and function of your thyroid, are point zero zero zero zero one…which is within error threshold of reporting and would indicate hyperthyroid disorder if the numbers weren’t so obviously erroneous. Beyond that we’ve also detected massive amounts of androstadienone, plus another compound our computers couldn’t identify in your blood. We, uh, believe it is a compound, as you see, our computers returned a most frustrating error code.”

  “Andro…” Jacoby echoed, but struggled with the word. The doctor talked far too fast.

  “Yes, androstadienone. It is a chemosignal, a compound derived from testosterone, otherwise known as a pheromone. It is normally excreted through skin and is received by the olfactory system of the people around you, but mostly the opposite sex. There is an entire field of study on the science of physical attraction as it pertains to human sexuality via chemo signals, physical traits, and body language, but I’m afraid I am not particularly well read on the subject. But that is secondary to my primary concern, as overly high levels of testosterone are inherently dangerous and can lead to severe heart conditions.

  “Now, upon first receiving these results, I concluded that your test results were contaminated somehow. But you understand, with such obvious indicators of potential cardiac problems we had to bring you back in to check up and run a fresh blood sample. But…but, your heart rate is elevated as well, with a resting rate of one hundred and fifty beats per minute. Your blood pressure is far above normal at two hundred over one sixty-two, and your oxygen saturation levels are so rich they aren’t even registering on our equipment. There is obviously…”

  “But, what does all that mean? Jacoby is young…he’s healthy. I’ve been with him, he looks just fine,” Anna said.

  “Quite simply, that he is in cardiac distress of some kind. We need to do some more tests…another round of blood work, a cardiogram to analyze his heart rhythm, and maybe some imaging of his chest and brain. But first we need to bring his heart rate under control, before he goes into cardiac and pulmonary arrest.”

  Wrong, wrong, wrong. No, they are wrong. The thought popped up into his mind just as the pressure in his head doubled. Don’t trust a mouth that moves moves moves.

  Jacoby shook the strange thought away.

  “I feel fine. Great actually. There are lots of people out there who need a doctor’s time more than me. I mean, just look out in the waiting area. But, me, I feel just fine,” Jacoby said and pushed to his feet. Anna was there, behind him, one hand still resting on his shoulder. He turned towards the nurse, Margo, as she moved forward. She stopped mid-step, her eyes widening as her gaze met his.

  “A-a-and I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with you, so let’s just relax a minute…b-b-but all the data is showing me that something could be wrong. We just want to help you before your health turns critical. Please, just allow me a moment to do another blood test and a quick scan of your vitals.”

  False face…lies from a constantly moving mouth. He means to harm us. He cannot understand what us is! Jacoby shook his head, the thoughts banging around and feeding his growing panic. He definitely didn’t think it, but heard it nonetheless.

  “That’s really not necessary…”

  “Jacoby, please! Maybe the doctor has a point. There is no harm in just letting them do the tests to make sure you’re okay. Right?” Anna said, hooking his hand and turning him to whisper in his ear.

  He glanced at the door, his eyes drifting towards Margo. He met her dark eyes, a bead of sweat running down from her hairline to catch in her eyebrow, then to the injector clutched tightly in her gloved hand. The paper mask dimpled as she breathed in, the small indentation disappearing as she exhaled. He could smell her – sweat, small hints of body odor, and something else…sour, astringent.

  She is contaminated, sick. She is scared, he thought, confident in the conclusion although unsure exactly how he knew.

  “Listen to Anna, Jacoby. You look well, fit, and healthy, so let’s just be on the safe side and make sure there is nothing wrong…beneath the surface. You know, as I say misery…it does love company,” Dr. Reeds said, his voice quieter and shaking.

  He seeks to pacify us, bind us, cage us. Strip us apart. Strip – strip – strip. Meat and bone, flesh and blood.

  “Jacoby, please. Don’t make a bigger deal out of this than it is. Just let them draw the blood and then we’ll go,” Anna said, her voice low and calming.

  “Okay,” Jacoby said and held out his arm. He had to watch her mouth to make sure he heard her right. His thoughts were simply too loud.

  I need rest, my brain is out of control.

  “Unfortunately, I’m short three nurses and two doctors, as well as half of my lab staff, so Margo here will only assist as she’s just a tad under the weather, too. I will draw your blood again today…as I always say,” the doctor laughed uneasily, “misery loves company and there are plenty suffering right now. Why don’t you, uh, just have a seat over here.”

  Jacoby wiggled a finger in his ear and followed Dr. Reeds over to the stainless steel table. The doctor picked up the auto syringe and slid an empty ampule into the cage, wiped the inside of his elbow with an alcohol pad, and turned expectantly.

  Bite, fight, and run. Survive we must, as we did with father. Run and hide…or fight. Jacoby wiggled a finger in the other ear and shook his head again, trying to dislodge the strange thoughts. It was just stress, damn it.

  Dr. Reeds cocked his head, his differently colored eyes watching.

  “Spell your last name please, Jacoby?” he said, indicating the chair.

  Jacoby turned to find Margo behind him, her dark eyes moving rapidly, her weight shifting continuously from foot to foot. The syringe was still in her hand.

  “M-a-s-o-n.”

  Anna moved in next to him. Her closeness and smell were a comfort but not nearly enough to quell his panic. She pushed him gently into the chair, despite every ounce of muscle fiber in his body twitching and begging him to run. His thoughts were almost constant now, the voice speaking directly to his arms and legs.

  “Perfect, Jacoby. We’re just going to draw some blood now, and while I do that Margo is going to take off your medical bracelet and replace it with a new one, so we can get a better set of vitals.”

  Dr. Reeds hovered around his arm, his black nitrile gloves making his hands look like thick-legged spiders. Margo, the nurse, moved in next to him and unclipped the bracelet, wiped his wrist clean with an alcohol wipe, and put a new one in place. She was shaking, too. He could see it, and somehow, feel it through the air between them. Why were they shaking? Why were they so scared?

  “I can see that you’re a little on edge, Jacoby. I can understand that…”

  Ready to run…to fight. Both are to live. To live is the design. The strong live.

  “Just a little poke,” Reeds said, a hot pinch flaring as the needle jabbed through his flesh and into the vein. The doctor’s hands shook…no it was almost his whole body now.

  Jacoby watched blood start to fill the ampule and tore his eyes away, his gaze sliding up to the display on the wall instead.

  His vitals showed as dashes and zeroes, until the nurse tapped on the new bracelet and it glowed to life. The monitor beeped and numbers started to appear.

  HR must be heart rate, he thought, trying to focus on something and bring his thoughts under control. The number flashed as triple zeroes and then climbed abruptly, cycling through blue, green, and finally red numbers.

  184 bpm – –

  A bead of sweat ran down his cheek as the number continued to rise. He sniffed the air – it was warm and thick, the sour odor of bodies, breath, and his mor
e recent peculiar odor filling the small room.

  Damn, can they smell me?

  “heart rate two oh one and climbing. Blood pressure is showing topped at three hundred diastolic, doctor. They’re still rising,” Margo whispered, leaning in to Reeds, her mask practically touching his ear.

  Jacoby could hear her though, clear as day. His heart didn’t feel like it was beating fast, far from it. He looked to Anna, who didn’t seem to hear any of it. She squeezed his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile, although worry lines had formed around her eyes. She was breathing harder, too…harder than him, in fact.

  “That will do it,” Reeds said, pulling the needle from his arm. A large bubble of blood formed when the doctor didn’t cover the needle mark right away.

  “Just relax for one moment, Jacoby. I’m going to run this test right away,” the doctor said, his voice slow…overly calm. He was trying to act calm, but a part of Jacoby could see, hear, and smell the man’s panic. It was oozing out of his sweat, dissipating and tainting the air all around them. Hell, it told him everything. The smaller man was practically ready to piss in his pants.

  “Call the others in. Have them prepare a bed and crash cart…with restraints,” Reeds whispered to the nurse as he dropped into the chair and rolled back towards the desk.

  He admits the truth…finally. Jacoby reached up and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. His muscles tensed up, bunching into painful knots.

  “You know, doc, you can just send me another message when the results come back,” Jacoby said, wiping the bleeding spot on the inside of his arm. His thumb hit the dark fluid and slid forward, smearing it down his forearm.

  Run! His legs twitched.

  Margo walked to the wall and tapped a small digital screen. An orange light above the door appeared.

  Don’t be weak. Leave. They can’t stop us.

  “I feel just fine, doc. Right, Anna? I’m good. I’ll just go back to my quarters and lay down. You can send me the results.” Jacoby moved forward just as the door opened, two bodies shadowing the hall. A young man in scrubs walked in first, followed by a young woman.