2099: Salvation

Chapter Fourteen - Snapped

Despite the fact that all of the teenagers were very uncomfortable and scared, Richard had a very noticeable expression of deep concern contorting his face. He obviously wasn't taking any of this as well as the others, but to be fair, it was his own sister they were talking about. He knew Rose far more than any of his friends did.

"Okay guys," Jared said. "You heard the man. Let's get to the armory. You're lucky, too, we don't even have to give you anything because we just found you guys outside the building and aren't technically legally responsible for your life."

All of the teens got up and started after Richard. All but Richard, who stayed still on his bed, breathing heavily and staring at the floor. Preston was the first one to turn around and notice.

"Yo, Richard, are you coming?" Preston called.

No response.

Bridgette, who had been listening along while turned around, noticed the lack of response. She turned to Preston who was walking along beside her. "What's going on?"

Preston just shrugged. "I haven't the foggiest idea." He slowed a bit, and turned around to call out to Richard again. With his hands cupped around his mouth, he hollered "Richard, are you okay? We're kinda leaving, you better hurry up."

Richard's voice came out loud and harsh. "I'm fine," he said, almost in a growl.

Everyone knew that wasn't true. Preston called back. "What do you-"

"I said I'm FINE!" Richard shouted, his head snapping upward, to stare directly at Preston. The loudness of his voice drew everyone's attention, and they all stopped walking to look back at him.

"Preston, let it go," Cassie encouraged. "His sister is missing, he's not having a good time. He probably wants to be left alone."

"Alright," Preston sighed. "What a party pooper."

"No, wait," Andrew said, pointing at Richard, whose eyes were a luminescent blue. Based on his experience, he knew what that meant. "Look at his eyes."

The whole group took multiple steps back. Andrew and Cassie exchanged worried looks, knowing exactly what this meant, as opposed to their other friends, who were completely confused.

"Um," Preston whispered. "Why are his eyes glowing?"

Jared tried to answer. "You guys remember when you were tranquilized last night, right?" After receiving a few nods, he continued. "Well, the tranquilizer serum was somehow spiked with venom, which was traced back to, of course, the Wanderer."

"So he has Wanderer poison in him right now?" asked Bridgette.

"We call it Venomorph," Jared corrected. "But yes, that's essentially the idea. We delivered the antidote to all of you fairly quickly, but it's a substance that is incredibly hard to cleanse your system of."

Richard was still staring at them, looking murderous. Suddenly, he leapt up from the bed and took a large step towards them.

"Ok," Bridgette said, jumping back in surprise. "I get that, I guess." She continued to step away, a hint of panic now tinting her voice. "Why does he look like he wants to kill us?"

"Probably because he does." Andrew answered.

"Venomorph is a possessive substance." Jared added. "While possessed, one will develop qualities that mimic the behavior of the Wanderer. He'll have inhuman strength and will probably sound like a demon."

"That's wonderful," Preston said sarcastically. "So what are we supposed to be doing if he's going to try to kill us?"

"I've radioed the medical staff," Jared said. "They're on the way. In the meantime we just have to stay away and hope we don't have to gun him down."

"Gun him down?" Cassie put on a concerned look, turning around to face Jared. "What is it with you guys and shooting young people?"

Jared started to answer, but before he could get any words out, he looked over Cassie's shoulder's and his eyes widened. "Cassie, watch out!"

She turned around and tried to move, but Richard was already on top of her. His murderous stare glowed brightly, physically sparking. Cassie screamed and tried to push him off, but there was no hope for her.

"Richard, get off of me!" she shouted. Her pushing quickly turned into punching and kicking as she desperately tried to escape him. After a few blows to his face, Richard let out an inhuman screech. He drew an arm back above his head before plunging it straight down into Cassie's torso.

The sound that followed was an ugly mix of both Cassie and Richard screaming. Andrew instinctively stepped forward with the intention to help, but he felt a large pair of arms grab him, dragging him from the scene. He kicked and screamed and thrashed.

"Let me go!" he yelled. "She needs help! She's going to die!"

As a response, he felt a dull pain in the side of his neck. A tranquilizer shot. Again. As his vision faded, he saw Richard withdraw a bloody fist from Cassie's stomach, revealing a large, gaping hole in her skin. She projectile-vomited up a mouthful of blood, and there was no way to describe the amount of horror that appeared on Richard's face as he saw what he had just done.