The Zyne Project by Sara Brooke Read Free Book Online Page B

a bit of panic rising in her chest.  When phone lines were down that could only mean one thing. The entire building was under quarantine.  She’s worked at the CDC long enough to know when a situation was serious enough to shut off all communication to the outside world.  And that knowledge made her very, very, nervous. She wasn’t feeling well, nor were the others. And there was only one person who could help them.
    Dr. Dan Johns. 
    She wondered where he was.  He’d gone upstairs with Tim and Teresa a while ago and since then, they hadn’t heard from him.  She concluded that he was the only person 100% clear on what venomous solution was running through their veins and how to fix it. 
    A sharp pang of pain raced through her skull and for a moment she thought she was going to pass out.  Dropping her head between her knees, she moaned, waiting for the sensation to pass.
    Bryan came over and put his hand on her shoulder. “Are you ok?” he asked.
    “Yeah, just not feeling so hot and I’ve got this wicked headache.”
    Bryan agreed. “I’m feeling pretty shitty too. And my eyes are really hurting.  Do they look ok to you?”
    Rosa peered into one of his eyes and saw a red hue in the iris. The rest of the eye was red-rimmed and appeared inflamed or infected.  She hadn’t noticed it before because they were too preoccupied with the chaos erupting around them, but now, his ailment was clear.
    “Well?” he asked. 
    “Your eyes do look a little red, but not too bad,” she lied. 
    Jennifer, who had been searching around in a desk, slammed the drawer and leaned up against the wall. “This is ridiculous. Where they hell did they put our stuff?  I swear, I’m going to sue the hell out of these people when we get out of here.”
    Rosa glared at her and realized that the snooty socialite had no idea just how bad things had gotten.  They hadn’t shared much with her other than they found Rick running around like a crazy person and needed to call for help. 
    Judging by the way she reacts to things, it’s probably for the best , thought Rosa.
    After ten more minutes of searching, they agreed that their phones had been hidden somewhere else. In the distance, they heard a voice calling for them. 
     
    ***
     
     “Bryan…Jennifer…Rosa…where are you guys?” Dan called.  He stopped once he got to the common area.  The room was an absolute mess.  Everything was thrown around or broken. And it wasn’t a great mystery as to what or who had caused all of this.
    Unless someone else had…turned…
    Dan swallowed hard.  The whole situation was turning into one huge fucking mess and he didn’t have much time to come up with a solution. First though, he needed to find everyone. He’d left Teresa sleeping upstairs and figured she was safe in her room.  After all, the entire cleaning crew was up there with her and could help out if Rick somehow reappeared. 
    He also decided that it would be best to keep the whole situation with Tim quiet for now. If he shared that the surfer was dead, he could have full-blown hysteria on his hands.  Plus, he wasn’t sure what condition the subjects would be in. The metamorphosis that was happening within their cells apparently unfolded at a different rate, depending on the person.  So, he’d have to be careful.
    He found the group sitting in the Illusion building’s reception office. They didn’t look good.  Bryan, the basketball player, was displaying moderate symptoms and both Rosa and Jennifer seemed sick.  He wasn’t sure if he was seeing things or not, but Bryan and Rosa’s shaved heads appeared slightly swollen.
    “Hey guys, how are things down here?” he asked, trying to sound casual.
    Bryan actually growled at him in anger and was about to say something, when Jennifer cut in impatiently. “What the hell is going on?  Why is Rick acting all crazy?  When can we get out of here?” Her voice had taken on a shrill edge and she was clearly a few minutes