Eve and Doc sat in silence watching Zach for anymore signs that the antidote was working.

Zach was not certain if his eyes were actually open as he  stared at the grey haze in front of him.  It seemed like he was seeing something off in the distance other than his own eye lids.  He felt a surge of warmth envelope him.  It started with his toes and moved quickly to his head. He just could not see past the  grey haze in front of him as he  embraced it.   He  twitched  slightly welcoming the feeling and then realized he no longer felt the  crippling pain that had left him unable to move.  The horrific spasms that made him curl up into a  fetus position and wish for darkness to embark on him.  Yes it was gone.  He felt light.  Light -as though he had become one with the air. So light that he was almost certain his arms and legs were the air.

He could hear the faint sounds of whispering somewhere behind him.  They were more like muffled sounds than words.  The kind of whispering you might hear at doctor office. "Dr's  office' Zach thought to himself.  He was puzzled was he sick?  His mind was blank.  "Why could he not remember anything".   he thought to himself.  He tried to turn his head to hear a little better.  He moved it from side to side but the sounds seemed to drift farther away.    He wanted to call out to them.  He wanted to know who they were and why was he here.   And then  something else distracted him.   A slight flicker.

He was not sure where he was or how long he had been there, but it felt as though he was floating.  Floating slowly through the air towards a dim light.  A soft glowing light in the distance, that he now seemed to be following.   Yes  following, he was sure he was following it.  It beckoned him as it moved, dancing before him like a ballerina.  He could not help but  continue towards the ominous light.  His limbs laid limp at his sides as he floated along.  Almost as though he was no longer in command of his body.  All he knew was it  felt good in this place.

Eve and Doc loomed over Zach.  They watched his color slowly turn from an ashen grey to a pale flesh.  Eve whispered to Doc and they watched his body twitch while  his lids flickered slightly. "We definitely have a response".  Eve softly said.   He was coming to, Eve just knew  the injection was working and he was gaining consciousness.

Lisa  had just turned off her outside lights when she heard the doorbell.    It had been 30 minutes since the last trick or treaters had come by.  She was almost certain when she looked down the street she had not seen any more walkers.  It was only 8pm , but for her small quaint suburban neighborhood they usually did not have many children come through and by 7:30 they were usually done.   Perhaps the warmer temperature has attracted some more children to stay out longer, she thought to herself.  "Must be a few more still out there." She said softly to Bella her  Pomeranian.  Bella followed her closely as she approached the door. Her tail wagged playfully as she waited for the door to open. Bella loved when they had visitors.  She happily greeted everyone.

She looked through the window of  the door to see how many more treats she needed to gather.  A pair of black eyes looked back up to hers.  He looked to be about ten years old or so and alone.  He wore a dark beret and his face seemed a bit dirty.  When she opened the door she noticed he was dressed in knickers and a  ruffled shirt. ' Trick or treat' he said with an English accent as she opened the outer door.  Lisa smiled at him as she dropped a handful of candy in a tattered looking  cloth bag he held out to her. Just as quickly as he appeared he ran off into the darkness.

Bella gave a low growl and stepped back behind Lisa.  She had not noticed  the mysterious dark man that had been standing  off to the side and was now standing directly in front of her.  He wore a black top hat and a black crisp cape that cascaded down to his knees.  Her eyes met his and she felt a chill slowly run up her spine. He smiled at her with dark piercing eyes that  seemed to see right through her. She felt almost naked as his gaze traveled up and down.  He parted his lips slightly, displaying  perfectly straight teeth that sparkled in the moonlight.  His very strong handsome looks were  hauntingly  alluring, she could not help but study his face.  He raised his left eye brow slightly as he spoke in a soft low  seductive voice.  "Good evening Lisa my dear, how are you?  It has  been a  time a very long time.  I have been waiting for you patiently. You probably don't remember me but a last I am now free again.  I only desire a moment with you to help you remember." 

Before she even had time to respond in one quick swift move he was inside, closing and locking the door behind him.   "Who are you?" she heard her self say.She was frozen with fear and fumbled backwards awkwardly not sure how all this had happened so fast.  She could feel her heart begin to race and her throat tighten.  Her eyes stared into his.  It was if she had known him before and yet did not.  She was captivated by his presence, almost drawn to him.

  His  eyes stayed  fixed on her even as he made some motions with his hand toward her dog Bella, commanding  her  to sit silently.  Lisa's  beauty was breath taking and the site of her throat sent a sensation spiraling through him.   He shuttered slightly, and breathed in deeply savoring the vision before him.  His hypnotic eyes slowly traveled from her neck back up to her eyes.  Delicious he thought silently and succulent.  The wait  had been  long but now there she was.  As beautiful as ever.  A bit more modern than she was in the past, but her beauty was unchanged.

 Lisa was to frightened to look away or to move.  He stepped toward her and held out his hand.  This will not take long my love.  Before she even knew what was happening she was in his arms.  Gently he brushed her long blond hair away from her neck slightly tilting her head back to expose her slender long neck.  She felt helpless,  unable to move and a dark unexplained yearning towards this stranger.  She waited in his arms for what was next. Almost wanting more from him.   It was like he had her under a hypnotic spell .  She could feel his breath travel from her cheek down to  the nape of her neck.  Chills of excitement and fear tightly entwined together traveled through her.
.
She felt his moist lips gently brush against the soft skin of her neck and  then a slight piercing, followed by an explosion of warmth .   Ever so slowly Lisa  felt herself falling  as she surrender to the  darkness.

Eve looked at Doc several minutes before she spoke.  Her eyes were red and tired.  She brushed back a few strands of tangled tresses cascading loosely around her pretty face.  She bit her lower lip as she whispered softly to Doc.  "Zach does not have any time left.  I have to try the serum now." Doc laid  his hand gently on her arm.  He could feel the fear she was holding back.  She reminded him so much of his own daughter.  A lovely young woman like Eve also  blessed with  brains and beauty.   Full of dreams and hope and like Eve struggling to find her way up the corporate latter. Wanting more from life as fast as possible. "Lets begin." he said. "Its his only chance."

Eve filled a syringe with the serum she had mixed together.  Her hand trembled slightly as she pushed fluid to the tip.  Zach, her colleague and friend life was now in her hands.  This was her only chance to save him.  It had to work she thought to her self. It just has to. Doc helped roll up his sleeve so Eve could get to a vein in his forearm.  He carefully wiped a spot clean on the young mans  arm. He also examined the bite again on his hand.  It had stopped bleeding now.  But a dark red ring had formed around the wound.  A ring that concerned Doc.  He also noticed his  breathing had become more shallow.  He no longer felt warm to the touch and his color was so pale, almost gone. Zach laid motionless with his eyes still shut as the needle pierced his skin. "Now we wait and pray".  Doc said as he put his large aged hand on her shoulder and gently gave it a squeeze.  Eve hung her head down and rubbed at her  eyes. ' Please God'. She  felt her self whisper.  "Please let this work." This gruesome  nightmare could begin to end  if this worked she thought to herself.  Everything was riding on Zach being saved.

Upstairs Cody and Josiah carefully laid the sheet down next to Blake.  "On the count of three we slide him onto it". Josiah said.  Blake cried out in pain as the two men adjusted his body on to the large cloth."  "'Give me your tie".  Cody yelled to Tony who stood watching.  "I need to make a tourniquet to keep his leg from moving while we transport  him."  Tony handed him his tie with out hesitation.  Cody slipped the piece of wood he had taken from the lab under Blake's leg.  "This is going to hurt like hell but, I have to try to set your bone straight before I can tie this splint on." Cody had to help splint a few dogs before on the ranch that had become  injured.  He only hoped what he knew from those experiences was enough to help Blake now.   Josiah gave  Blake his belt and told him to bite down  while they straightened his leg.   Blake bit down hard on the leather and screamed through his clenched teeth.  The  pain almost made him pass out. Quickly the two men tied the tourniquet on and then let him rest for a few seconds.  Tony stood waiting for an order.  Not knowing what else to do. The three men slowly lifted the sheet and began carrying Blake down the stairs.


Eve was the first to notice twitching in Zach's left hand.  The side they had given him the shot.  She watched silently afraid to move for another twitch.  She called to Doc.  "I think something is happening.  His hand moved - I saw it twitch a few times."  Doc squeezed her hand slightly as they waited together watching for signs.


  

Josiah  reached the lab door just as Cody was coming out. He immediately noticed a 5 inch long, deep open wound across Cody's right fore-arm.  He stared at it briefly.  It was jagged at one end. He was not sure if it  resembled teeth marks and that frightened him.  Bright red blood trickled slowly down to Cody's large farm hand. From behind him in a back corner of the room he could see the rabid female thrashing her legs and arms as she sat strapped with some kind of cords and a mans belt to a chair.

 He felt a shiver of fear run through him as he waited for Cody to speak.  He knew what he wanted to hear from him, but as much as he tried to fight it the sting of a  deadly fear began enveloping him.  "Its not a bite. In my struggle with her" he motioned toward the lab with his head "one of the cabinets shattered. Pieces of glass flew everywhere.  I am thinking my arm must have took the brunt of the hit. Its not bad. It does  not feel like there is any  glass in it." He said wanting to reassure Josiah. "Man -We have to stop the bleeding." Josiah ripped a large strip of cloth from the tattered sleeve that hung on one of Cody's massive arms.  Cody made no movement as Josiah  made a tourniquet  for the wound.  Quickly he scanned his new friend for any other possible wounds.  "Are you sure she did not get you anywhere?' "No,  she put up a good fight for a little thing but  I held her back. It was her thrashing limbs that caused us to dance a bit."  Josiah looked at Cody.   The man was huge he could have easily crushed her skull with his hand he thought to himself.  But he didn't.  Even in danger Cody remained a true cowboy.  A gentleman to the ladies.  Cody almost felt a bit embarrassed that  a filly had given him that much trouble.  Even if she was a crazed  flesh eating one at that,  she  was a female and he had been taught how to treat a lady.

 He could almost still hear the words of his wise  Grandfather Frank.  A huge cowboy like himself.  A man who loved the ladies and they loved him back.  "See son its our job to protect the woman". He told him,  one day when he was about 5or 6.  He and his  older sister Missy had began wrestling over an old hand me down hat of his.  Missy  had felt her two years Senior over Cody had out ranked any right he had to claim an item as valuable as the old stetson.  She needed it to be like calamity Jane.    Cody had no intentions of letting his sister romp around in the great mans hat.    "Even if they get on our last nerve we got to treat em right.  We gotta treat them like a lady even  if they are not always acting like one.   As men its our job to keep them safe and always be a gentleman to them.  They are soft and pretty and well one day you are gonna see how valuable they really are.    God made it that way, Its just that simple."  Cody lived by those words. 

Josiah now feeling a bit relieved replied.  "Those gnashing teeth just don't stop.  "They are like a piranhas.'  Cody answered back. "  "She came close a few times but she secure for now.  And I didn't  see anymore of those beings. Lets just let her sit there for now until we get Blake help and can decide whats next."

Tony could hardly look at Blake as he stood next to where he laid.  The smell filling the hallway was intense. It was taking everything he had to not hurl again.  If the smell of death and rotting flesh was not bad enough the site around him was even more gruesome than the smell. He was not sure what direction to even look.  He was disgusted that things had gotten this out of control.  He needed to get out of there fast.   Further more he could not understand what was taking Cody and Josiah  so long to get back.  He looked down at his now stained Armani slacks. " Ruined ' he murmured to himself.  "Christ".  He brushed at his legs as if somehow it would remove the droplets of blood that had sprayed him earlier.

Every so often a surge of pain ripped through Blake's legs and traveled  up his back.  He winced inwardly with each wave and felt nauseous as he road it out. It felt almost like several jagged knives were   being shoved deeper into his thigh muscles.

I am not even sure there is a word for what I was feeling.  I was beyond feeling joy.  I kept my eyes fixed on Josiah as he sat on an adaptive water ski between 2 skiers.  His smile told me everything I needed to know.  He was on his second lap around the lake and beaming.  What was even more incredible was that they were not holding onto the back support of his ski.  He was skiing himself.  Hints of water began to moist  my eyes.  How was  this even possible I thought to myself.  It was incredible.

It is moments like this when it just does not matter how we got here.  Just that we did.  Maybe just maybe this really is all part of that big master plan the man up there has for us.    One thing for sure  its  during  times like this when I don't think about all the sleepless nights I spend up caring for them.  The unending hours spent at medical  appointments and Hospital stays.  The heartache and sorrow that almost drowns me at times, while I watch my sons  fight for enough muscle strength to simply lift a fork to feed themselves.  Because its at times like this when that all fades. I embrace the joy and simply know every step we took to get here was all part of this journey for reasons I am not sure of the we were chosen to  travel.

Josiah placed his phone back in his belt holder and wiped at his brow.  He looked over at where Eve was working with Doc.  She had mixed some of  the  vials she had retrieved from the lab up stairs together and was now studying them under a microscope.  Doc sat closely next to her in silence.

"You are coming with me upstairs to help Cody."  Josiah ordered at  Tony.  "There are more of those things up there.  I am not leaving this room."  Tony said stepping back  from Josiah, almost cowering away.  "The way I see it you are responsible for all of this. I am not giving you a choice."   Josiah placed his hand on his pistol as he spoke.  His eyes glaring at Tony as he felt  its  hard handle  against his fingers. He was almost daring the man to give him a reason to shoot.  Tony stared at the officer.  There was no back up man for him to call now to do his dirty work.  He felt nausea rising from the pit of his stomach.  The sites and smells he had scene filled him with a fear he had never known. "
then I need a weapon."  he almost hissed back at Josiah.  Josiah ignored his request and walked over to Doc.  He handed him the second gun he had tucked in his back.  "Doc use this if you have to.  Don't  take any risk...... if you and Eve want to get out alive."


Josiah pulled the other gun from his  holster.  "Lets go."  He said to Tony motioning  towards the door with his head. "Don't do anything stupid and stay close to me, you will be fine."  Tony followed the man.  Part of him wanting to flee.  Yes flee,  leave the country, he thought silently  to him self.  He could make a mad dash to his vehicle, get the hell out of this nightmare.  He could phone his assistant Vanessa to have a plane ready, some clothes and cash.  He had money stashed in a Swiss bank account,  he could live off that for a while.  He could hide out in some little resort in Mexico till this all fades.  A car yes I need a car.  He fantasized a bit more.  His thoughts were abruptly brought  back to reality for a moment.  Shit he thought to  himself,  he did not have the keys,  his driver had them.  They were with his driver.  His dead driver.  His color went ashen.  He did not have a chance in hell to escape with out a car.  The two men walked in silence up the stairs.  Josiah called out to Cody as they reached the first landing.  "Were just around the corner on the  second landing".  Cody called  back. 

Cody had  been planning  how they were going to move Blake.  They had to get him  out of there safely.  He had remembered  seeing some sheets in one of the closets in the lab, when he and Eve were looking for the vials.  They could stretch Blake out on one of them he thought to himself.  Easily they could get him back downstairs and wait for help.

Just as Josiah and Tony reached the scene Josiah heard is cell phone go off.  He looked at the name it was Eve.  "Eve whats happening?" He quickly said as he answered.  "I've  got an antidote.   I want to try it out on Zach.  He is getting worse.  If there is any chance at saving him we need to try it now."  He could hear the desperation in her voice. "What does Doc think?'  She handed the phone off to Doc he  spoke with a low soft tone.  Its his only chance to keep him from turning into one them."  "We are with Cody now. We will head back as soon as we get Blake ready to move.  Do it.  But keep a close eye on him."  He ended the call and turned back to Cody.  "His leg is pretty bad we are going to have to move him carefully.  Wait with him." Cody said to Josiah.  " I saw sheet in one of the labs we can use it to help move him.  Josiah agreed with a nod and knelt down to asses Blakes injuries better.

Tony could no longer contain his nausea.  The site of the blood soaked half headed corpse just a few feet from where Blake rested  was to much for him.  He tried desperately not to look at the splattered brains and human tissue that  hung loosely from what remained of the shattered skull.  He turned his back to the men and released the contents that had built up in his throat.   He kept his back to them as he tried to regain control of himself.  Beads of sweat dripped from his forehead as he spat out the remains of fluid and bial left in his mouth.

The loud sounds of objects being tossed around in the direction of the lab immediately caught all their attention. "Stay with him.  Do not leave him    Josiah said as he cocked his gun moving  toward the direction of the noise.  Tony stood frozen realizing he and Blake were now defenseless.  "Are you mad you cant leaves us here like this, defenseless." He called out after him.  "Its your job to keep us safe." he screamed.

I sat next to the ambulance driver in silence.  I felt numbed with fear.  My hands nervously fumbled with the items inside the small overnight bag I held on my lap.  The bag I had made ready-for the just in case- we would not be back home tonight.  My fingers grazed the soft fur of  Josiah's stuffed green Mind craft Creeper man.  His comfort possesion.    I smiled slightly  as an  image of Josiah snuggled in his own bed with his arms wrapped around the Creeper guy flashed in front of me. Oh how I wished that was where we would be right now.   I sat in my silence listening to the conversations behind me.  I could here the EMT's soft voices as they sat next to Josiah in the back.  For every bump we felt in the road they made small apologies to him for the discomfort.  Then, every so often, I'd hear  "you are doing great Josiah."  I imagined Josiah just looking at them with  his big brown eyes, smiling back.  He was in good hands now and his vital  numbers were looking good.   I knew I had to trust he would be okay.  But the fear of "knowing" almost strangled me. 

I had seen the numbers on his oximeter earlier. I heard the fear in the telle -nurse's voice as I read her the numbers displayed on the meter.  I had heard the concern from the 911 dispatcher as we waited for the ambulance. And I knew Duchenne was merciless.  It did not yield when it made its claim on its victim.  Most importantly I  saw the fear in  Josiah's eyes as he described to me what he was feeling while we waited for help.

I adjusted my self slightly  in my seat and replayed the events of the last few hours in my mind.  It just did not make sense to me that his heart rate readings went so high.  He was on a Beta blocker.  His last echo was actually normal.  His oxygen  level and his past history with pneumonia did give me concern that possibly there was something happening in the lungs.  I could feel the fear growing in me again.  It was almost one year to the date that Josiah had last been hospitalized for pneumonia complicated with uncontrolled seizures. It was a very scary two weeks in the hospital  where I watched Josiah crash  twice before he finally made a turn for the better and started to respond to treatment.  It was also during that stay when he was diagnosed with epilepsy. Another disease to add to the list that already complicated his fatal diagnosis. 

 I could feel  tears threatening me again.   I was tired and scared.  The reality was- to date  Duchenne  remained a killer. An untreatable fatal disease often  complicated by other underlying symptoms from other ailments or diseases.  Simply put their are no survivors.  So, I was scared, we had escaped death a year ago.  This is a fear every parent with a child living with Duchenne faces at some point in their journey. 
 
The ambulance pulled up to the emergency doors.  I watched as they unloaded my baby, my last born. his smile warmed my heart.   I  felt a sense of  relief that soon I  could have some  answers as to what was happening or happened with Josiah. I knew I had to be strong. Josiah needed me to be.

We did not spend the night in the hospital.  Three hours later Josiah was given a complete clear and released to go home.  Every blood test they did came back normal.    We wont ever know why or what made Josiah's numbers go so crazy.  Its possible that Josiah may have experienced a panic attack and that sort of sent signals off.  I however feel blessed and will gladly take that answer.   I am over joyed to say, Josiah has been seizure free and no signs of pneumonia for a year. His ekg and echo all read normal his lung x-rays look great.   I don't know the ' when and how" and I try not to think much about that.  We have " now"  and I will run with that. 

Cody ran in the directions of the deadly screams.  He heard the shot even before he reached the top of the stairs. Cursing he looked out at the horrific site before him.  "Jesus Christ, Mother of God", the words slipped softly off his lips. "How many more of these flesh -eating creatures are there?"  He stood for a few seconds frozen at the scene.  Watching as a large disheveled man fell in a slump next to another man dressed in uniform.  It looked to Cody as if the Officers bullet was a direct hit to the deranged man’s chest. He could see a pool of blood surrounding another man.  A man that laid very still on his side near the officer holding the gun.  He too also looked to be in uniform.

Blake kept his gun in place.  Ready, in case he should need to fire again.  His eyes followed down the now smoking narrow end of his pistol, and then to his attacker.   He felt almost certain the hit was enough to put the creature permanently down.   He let out a low sigh mixed with a hint of relief and pain as he tried to slide his broken legs away from him.   Still trying to get a grasp at what just happened he glanced at where George lay in blood soaked motionless heap. He cursed at the sight of his partner.

With in seconds of being shot the hideous rabid being began to move again.   Blake gasped in horror as he watched the animal like man raise his head once again in a crazed hunger for human flesh.  It was insane what he was seeing.   But the pain he felt from his injured legs assured him this night mare was  no dream.  This was real.   He pushed with his left arm in a desperate attempt to slide backwards, while ardently trying to keep his gun positioned on his target with his right hand.  The smacking of teeth carried an echo filled with death through the air.  Blake tried to use his legs to help move himself, but it was useless.  He groaned in pain with the attempt.  Fear crowded in on him as he felt death loom closer. 

Cody wasted no time and screamed loudly "shoot him in the head. You have to put a bullet in the bastards head."  Blake could see drool and blood escaping from its distorted mouth as the creature continued to crawl towards him.  Its amber pupil less eyes glaring as if it could see the depths of fear now surfacing from deep within Blake. Without looking to where the voice came from he squeezed the trigger and waited.  This time making a hit directly at the beast’s head.

 He could feel sharp pieces of bone and moist human tissue hitting his face, as blood and skull fragments exploded in front of him.  Blake blinked several times as he felt warm droplets spray near his eyes.  During his ten years on the force he had not ever once fired a shot to kill.  His right hand trembled as he lowered his pistol.  Both men watched as the now partially headless figure fell forward with a loud thud next to where Blake rested.  There was a stillness that immediately filled the hallway as they stared at the fallen man in silence, watching for movement.

It was Cody who spoke first.  " Don't try to move anymore. It looks like your left leg is pretty mangled.  I will have help here shortly." Cody tried to help Blake straighten a little so he could rest more comfortably while they waited.    Unable to move his eyes Blake just stared at the corps with a bloody stump where there once was a head.  All that remained was only a hint of a lower portion of a jaw and chin. 

  Josiah looked at Tony with disgust as he listened to Cody explain what had happened over his phone.  He wanted Tony to see that he held him responsible for every life lost here. 

The two men stared at each other frozen momentarily as they heard Cody's voice come over the radio that Josiah held in his left hand.  He sounded winded and scared.  "I have two more of these rabid beings thrashing around up here."  They heard some loud banging sounds and then Cody's voice again. "I am not sure how long I can keep them contained. They have broken down one door already."   There was some more scuffling sounds and a few groans and growls.  "I am sending some help.  Keep your self safe at all cost. Do what you need to do." Josiah glared at Tony as he responded.  Then  looked over Tony's shoulder to where the two uniformed officers stood.  "You both need to get up to the second floor now.  Be ready for anything.  These crazed humans seem to have only one thing on their mind, eating flesh."

Blake and George raced down the hall toward the stairs.  Trying to be cautious for movement as they moved past door ways.  George really did not understand any more than Blake.   One thing  was clear, whoever or whatever it was  held responsible for what they had seen so far, was still at large.

Blake was the first to reach the top of the stairs and did not see the  huge rabid man until he had  lunged forward towards him. It caught him off guard and in one quick motion he felt himself  slip falling backwards. His legs flailed wildly in the air as he lost his footing on the step.  There was nothing under him until he felt the stairs impact on  his back and legs. The room went black as  pain enveloped him.

George tried to stop his partners fall.  But as he reached out to help his friend the beastly man pounced  wildly at him. Together they tumbled  down the stairs. When they landed George was pinned beneath the huge ghastly figure. He did not even have a chance to pull out  his gun before he felt an awful pain tear  through his body.   He screamed out as he felt a large piece of flesh  being ripped from his shoulder.  He thrashed in a desperate attempt to free himself.  The  pain from his muscle and skin being ripped from his body  was almost paralyzing.  He let out a loud gasp while he tried to catch his  breath and fight to free himself. The hideous creature was to strong and he felt  teeth clamp down on him again.  The bite  took a large portion  out of his throat. Blood spewed out of him like a fountain.  George began to gurgle as his throat filled with the warm thick liquid.  he breathed one long last breath before the room and everything around him began to fade.

Blake tried to move his legs as he  opened his eyes.  He heard his companion's deadly screams and desperately tried push himself up.  He managed to get to a half sitting position.  Pain throbbed in his lower back and twisted legs. He let out a low groan as he  attempted to move his limbs.  Five feet away he saw  George laying  in a mangled bloody mess,  with a monster attacking him.  It was insane what he was seeing. The creature continued ripping flesh from  George with his teeth while George now laid motionless.  He pulled out his gun and felt the bullet fire.  It ripped into the grotesque man chest, knocking him part way off George. The monster man was covered in blood and tissue.  He watched in horror as he saw the creature struggle to push himself back up. Turning his head in the direction the bullet had been fired from he snarled.  His amber pupil less eyes stayed fixed on Blake when he saw him.  With  gnashing teeth and fragments of blood mixed with saliva spewing from his mouth he  let out low animal like roar towards  Blake while he pushed his himself up onto his knees in an effort to try and position himself to make a full attack on his next prey.   

From inside the lab room Cody heard the screams. He swung with all his force and sent  the rabid female he had been trying to contain flying hard across the room.   Her head bounced in several directions as her torso and shoulders made  impact on the wall and then to a  metal cabinet and then finally to the floor.   He watched as a pool of blood began to form   where her skull had split open.

Tony studied Josiah's  face for a moment before he spoke again. He had to somehow take charge of the situation. His head pounded and he felt sick to his stomach.  He looked down at his Brunello Cucinelli Italian loafers.  He cursed  as he noticed a slight stain of blood on the side of his left foot.  The whole scene was a gruesome nightmare.  This just could not be happening,  he thought to himself.    He needed to get this country hick to back off him.  He wanted the files he had sent Nathan in to get  and he was not about to let some Barney Fife get in his way.    Not only that he  had to make sure Eve was held responsible.  Most importantly, Tony had to make sure none of this  lead  back to Copeland's head office pointing a finger at him.   He had everything to lose and he was not  going to let that happen, not ever, no matter what it took.   "What happened here." He demanded again, in a tone that bellowed through the air.  Josiah stepped aside slightly to let Tony enter the room.  "You tell us what you and your  Copeland group created out here."  Tony surveyed the room in silence.  How the hell could things have gotten so out of hand. He wondered to himself.  He felt his  perspiration build and his pulse quicken. How could the sheriff and the other law enforcement idiots still not have the situation under control.   His eyes went directly to  where Eve was working.  He felt the heat of anger rise in him.  That bitch he thought to himself as he stared at her.  In one of the corners of the room she had set up what looked like to him make shift a table top lab.

 Eve studied  a blood sample she had drawn from Zach's arm  under a microscope, silently.  Then made a few notes in a ledger book.  She rubbed her temples and closed her eyes for a second.  She could feel fatigue fighting to take control.  She looked at  another small specimen tray of fluid.  Then turned a few pages in another spiral notebook.  She went through several more notes, suddenly it seemed she found  something.  Something perhaps that she had been  looking for.   Eve did not even bother to notice Tony had entered the room.  She looked over at Doc and  motioned for him to come look at the scope.

It was hard for Tony to hear as the two spoke softly to each other. Anything she might have found he needed to know about.  He started to move in closer to where the two conversed.  Josiah grabbed at his arm roughly.  "Why don't you just start telling us what the  hell your labs have really been doing for the past 6 months."  Tony  pulled his arm back and stiffly jerked away from Josiah's grip. "Take your hands off me.  I think Eve would be the person with all the answers.  She has been in charge here since we opened trials." Tony sneered at Josiah as he spoke.  He was insulted to be addressed in this manner and wanted to make sure the sheriff understood he refused to be addressed this way. Josiah stared into Tony's face waiting for the man to answer-almost daring him to make a move.  It almost  seemed the he had  no regard for the human life that had been  lost.

Josiah hated  cooperate guys like this.  He knew the kind.  They ride in on their high horses only after they send in the front guys first.  Tossing their power around wanting people to scramble at their beck and call.  Passing the blame to keep their own name clean at all cost.  He believed Eve when she said she had placed several calls in to the headquarters weeks ago, when she first suspected  something.

Eve turned rising to her feet as she heard the shuffle between Josiah and Tony. She felt disgust as she looked at her boss.  She was beginning to put it all together now.  The incomplete files, the early release of study participants.  The frequent change in staff shifts.  All the different  lab people Copeland had recruited that had passed through her office, it all was beginning to make sense now.