Endurance Read online

  Miller pulled his gun and aimed it at Smith. He bellowed, ‘Drop it!’

  Smith’s finger rested on the trigger. His hand began to shake, his eyes tightened and his eyebrows lowered. Miller pulled the trigger and shot Smith in the head. Smith fell, shooting once into the ceiling.

  Danni stood in the doorway. Tom looked at her with relief. Miller pointed his gun at her.

  ‘Stay there. You’ve done enough. It’s gone airborne so we need to work together to make this work.’

  Danni entered the room.

  ‘Stay there!’ Miller yelled.

  Danni continued to walk and Miller’s finger rested on the trigger. As his finger tightened, Tom attacked Miller and forced him onto a table.

  Tom grabbed the gun and threw it in Danni’s direction. Danni picked it up and looked at the bullets.

  ‘You need me.’ Miller said to Tom.

  ‘No, we don’t.’

  Tom released his grip on Miller and walked toward Danni. Miller launched himself off the table and pulled out two syringes with liquid inside. Miller alternately stuck the syringes in either side of Tom’s neck and injected the liquid. Tom paused pulled the syringes out of his neck. Miller stumbled back and fell onto the desk with the CCTV footages playing.

  ‘What did you just inject into him?’ Danni growled at Miller.

  ‘You need me now, don’t you? He’ll die if you kill me.’

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘It’s the virus.’

  ‘I’m immune to it. My dad was too.’ Tom smugly said.

  ‘This is my creation. It’s far worse than his. I used it on myself and Anna Reid. I think you know who that is.’

  Tom screamed at Miller, and then clutched his head. Tom’s pupils overtook his eyes, turning them completely black. He shoved Danni away and ran toward Miller. He grabbed Miller and smashed his face into the table multiple times. Danni ran to Tom.

  ‘Tom, stop. We need him to cure you and try to stop the disease.’

  Tom threw Miller away and he landed on the ground face first. Miller wearily got off the ground and felt his bloody face.

  ‘Well, now you’ve had your little tantrum, can we try to save everyone?’

  Tom looked into Danni’s eyes. Danni looked into Tom’s pitch black eyes. Tom’s eyes now looked similar to Miller’s eyes.

  ‘Tom, we need to save you and try to stop everyone in the world from getting the virus.’

  Tom grunted.

  ‘So what do we do now?’ Danni asked Miller.

  ‘I need to get to the lab. We need to tie him down and get some of the cure into him. We need to kill every infected person inside the lab; then, I need time to warn the authorities of the situation.’

  Miller rushed from the room. Danni and Tom followed closely behind.

  17

  Sarah was still shooting at the infected. With only three left, she shot one more and the gun clicked on empty. As she pulled the trigger again, it still didn’t shoot. She looked down at the gun, and checked the chamber. It was empty. Horrified, she threw the gun at one of her attackers and began to scream. The mask over her mouth muffled her screams and pleas.

  Miller walked into the lab with Tom gripping Miller’s shoulder. They paused, assessed the situation, and allowed Danni to enter first so she could take care of the attackers.

  Sarah ran to the door, attempting to escape, but she was grabbed by one of the infected. It was Anna. She pushed Sarah onto the work surface face-first into the liquid form of the virus.

  Miller and Danni ignored the chaos to lay Tom on a bed. They secured him with handcuffs attached to the sides of the bed. They cuffed his wrists and Miller ran to the computers to his right. The room was surrounded by blood-stained glass, providing them a view of the lab.

  There was a bed with some liquids in beakers on a table and a computer next to it.

  ‘Go out there and help Sarah. The infected cannot come in here.’

  ‘Who’s Sarah? Why’s she so important?’

  Miller pointed to Tom, ‘It’s his mum.’

  Tom turned his head and tried to arch his neck to see Sarah in the other room.

  ‘Tom, lie down, you need to try to relax.’ Miller said forcefully, while pushing his head back down onto the table.

  Danni ran back into the other room to see the shot infected coming back to life. Although covered in bullet holes, they pulled themselves off the ground slowly but steadily and renewed their attack on Sarah.

  Anna threw Sarah across a worktop; Sarah landed on the other side and stayed on the ground.

  Danni pulled out her handgun, and aimed at Anna. As her finger clutched the trigger, she was forced on the floor. Landing on her side, she lost grip of her gun, it slid across the floor away from her. She moved to lay on her back and looked up to her father’s dark face. His pupils were black and surrounded by red, bloodshot eyes. The skin on his face looked peeled, revealing the tender, red skin beneath.

  Danni put her feet on his chest and kicked him away. He stumbled and fell on his back. Danni got back up to see Anna stamping on Sarah. Danni jumped on the work surface and dove toward Anna. She fell on her. Anna’s back bent over the counter; her spine cracked .

  ‘Code red! The experiment has gone wrong. Warn all authorities and tell the prime minister.’ Miller placed the phone back on its stand.

  ‘So, I don’t have a kid?’ Tom asked Miller wearily.

  ‘No, you don’t.’

  ‘Why do it, then?’

  ‘It wasn’t to be spiteful; I did it because it was an experiment. The second part, whether the human brain can endure such trauma and recover.’

  ‘Do you think I can have a normal life from this now?’

  Miller ignored Tom’s questions and continued to tap on his keypad, staring at the computer and placing the test tubes in a machine.

  ‘I’ve learnt how to kill innocent people. You caught me on footage killing innocent people who wanted me to kill them because they were suffering. Anna has haunted me, the people I’ve killed have haunted me, and now I find out that not only my dad was in this, and was twisted, my mum is as well.’

  ‘I am sorry, Tom. I’m sorry it had to be you. I do feel sorry for you, I really do.’

  Miller put the liquids into a syringe and walked to Tom. He tapped the needle and injected it into Tom’s dark vein in his neck. Tom winced at the pain as Miller injected.

  ‘Why did you have to tie me down for that?’

  ‘In case it doesn’t work. It could aggravate the virus and I’d have to kill you.’

  Danni got off the ground and looked at Anna. She stood up and threw herself at Danni. The force of Anna’s run pushed Danni into the glass wall. Anna grabbed Danni’s neck and held tightly. Her sharp, skinless fingers pierced the skin of Danni’s neck. As Danni gasped for air, her vision darkened. She weakened; she stared at Anna’s dark, revolting face. Half her face was shrunken and the other half revealed the inside of her mouth which was black, covered with white specks of mould.

  Anna’s head collapsed and she lost her grip on Danni. Sarah stood in Anna’s place holding a metal stand and stamped on Anna’s head, cracking her skull. She lifted her leg, revealing her bloody shoe with pieces of brain clinging to it.

  Danni stood up straight and looked at Sarah’s old, withered face which is covered in cuts and bruises.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said.

  Sarah nodded at her and looked toward the glass door.

  ‘Can I go in there and see my son?’ Sarah asked.

  ‘Errrrm.’ Danni looked into Sarah’s eyes that watered a little at the sound of doubt in Danni’s voice.

  ‘Please,’ Sarah whispered.

  ‘I’m sure it should be okay. We’ll lock the door in the lab, which should hold them off.’

  Danni and Sarah both entered the room with Miller holding down Tom’s head.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Sarah shouted at Miller.

  ‘He’s having a seizure. He’ll be fine any minute.�
� Miller’s voice strained as he used his bony arms to hold Tom’s head in place.

  Sarah ran to Miller’s desk where the computer sat. She grabbed a syringe and injected two liquids into the syringe. She shook the syringe and walked quickly back to Tom. She injected the syringes into Tom’s neck and pulled Miller away.

  Tom continued to seize, his head moving side to side, shaking the bed. Saliva pooled on his lips and dribbled down his chin. His arms tensed, his veins became darker and thicker. His back arched and he stuck his chest out and paused in that position. Miller walked over to the bed. He stood beside it staring, at Tom. As he placed two fingers on Tom’s neck, his eyes opened and one arm broke free of the leather cuffs on his right hand and he grabbed Miller’s neck. Tom’s hand tightened and Miller’s eyes closed. Danni ran to Miller and tried to pull him away. Tom’s hand tightened more and more.

  Tom looked at Danni. His eyes were a dark red and blood dribbled from the corners of his eyes. His head was covered in purple veins. Suddenly, Tom’s eyes shut and he let go of Miller’s neck, Miller collapsed to the ground.

  Miller squirmed on the ground, breathing heavily. Danni pulled him up and sat him in a chair at the desk. She looked at Tom who was now unconscious. The veins on his head were gone. The spittle on his lips disappeared, but blood still stained his lower eyelids.

  ‘Is he going to be okay?’ Danni asked Miller and Sarah.

  ‘I think so.’ Sarah said.

  Miller sat up straight and pushed himself out of the chair.

  ‘This shows how far we’ve come. This experiment was not a failure.’ Miller said.

  ‘You created this virus, it’s only right that you make a cure. You’ve ruined lots of lives, especially Tom’s.’ Danni sternly replied.

  Danni looked at Tom and held his limp hand. His eyes opened, his pupils shrank. He sat up hard and fast and took a deep breath. He looked around at his surroundings and at Sarah in confusion. He looked at Danni, and grinned and attempted to hug her. As he did, he jerked violently to one side. His right hand was still cuffed to the bed. Tom and Danni both laughed.

  ‘Let me get that for you.’

  Danni walked around the bed and un-cuffed his wrist. Tom wrapped his arms around Danni; she returned the hug.

  Sarah looked at the ground and Miller stood next to Sarah.

  ‘The cure worked.’ Miller began to laugh. ‘It really works.’

  ‘We need to get out of here now.’ Sarah told Danni and Tom.

  ‘Yes, we need to go to the authorities and help them stop the virus from spreading.’ Miller told Tom.

  ‘I’m not helping either of you.’ Tom shouted at Miller and Sarah.

  Tom released his grip on Danni and gently moved her aside. He jumped off his bed and walked up to Miller and Sarah.

  ‘You’ve ruined my life, both of you and you are not my mother, you’re dead to me.’ Tom stared at Sarah, full of anger and rage. ‘I don’t want you to find me after this; I don’t want any communication with you.’ Tom turned around and walked to the doorway. ‘And you…’ Tom pointed to Miller. ‘If you try to start another experiment with these drugs, I will personally come and find you and I will kill you.’

  Miller and Sarah both stood silently and stared at Tom. Sarah had tears dripping down her cheeks and as she opened her mouth to speak. Tom interrupted.

  ‘Shut up. I don’t give a shit what you think or have to say. You’re dead to me and so is Dad, I made sure he was. Come on, Danni let’s go.’

  Danni walked to Tom, staring at Miller and Sarah. As she reached Tom, he smiled at her.

  ‘Go out the fire exit, Tom, you might not want to go back out there.’ Miller said.

  Tom nodded to Miller. ‘You better stop this virus because I cannot deal with all that again.’

  ‘Don’t worry, we will do our best.’

  Tom and Danni stood at the emergency exit in the lab and pushed the double doors open. The red light above the door turned on and swivelled. Danni walked out the door; Tom stood in the doorway looking into the room. He looked at Miller and Sarah’s faces as they watched him leave. The red light turned the room red and Miller’s and Sarah’s faces a pale red.

  ‘You’re lucky I haven’t killed you two.’ Sarah and Miller continued to stare and kept quiet.

  ‘Good luck.’ Tom said as he left the lab.

  18

  I sit here in my house, the same house where I used to live. It’s such a relief to know that all that happened wasn’t real, well the destruction of London.

  Me and Danni live here together, her family occasionally come over to see her. Her family being Mum Lynne, sister Sadie and Sadie’s little boy Jerome. They feel like my new family too. I think me being in their family feels like the family is once again complete since Graham died.

  I’ve got a new job too. I’m a manager of an ICT company where we fix and build computers. Me and my assistant Trev, buy the parts cheap and then build some cool computers. It’s not the dream job I want but it gets the money for me and Danni. Danni also works for me, I trained her up and she’s one of the best people I have.

  The virus hasn’t spread. I mean, there is news every now and then about the outbreak and saying there is a lot of people infected, but they are being cured when found. They say millions are infected and will change slowly but you know what the media are like. Miller is on the TV a lot, speaking about the cure and that he is getting the support he needs to prevent an outbreak. He also released a book revealing the dark side of the Endurance experiment. He went to court for hundreds of charges and was found not guilty. I suppose you can be found not guilty if you have the government on your side. There have been assassination attempts on Miller, but we do need him to help stop the virus from spreading.

  I do not know where or if Mum is even alive. But I simply don’t care because she’s been dead to me for years.

  I never ever thought I’d have a normal life again but I do. Except… sometimes… I see her. When I lie in bed I sometimes see her standing in front of the wardrobe staring at me. Or when I’m driving to work, she’s sitting on the back seat staring at me in the mirror. Even when I sleep, I dream about her. I dream about what we used to be like and then I dream of that night when she was killed, the impact, the sound of the tyres and then her body, knotted and twisted. I still see her body sometimes in random places, the cracking of her bones as she clicks her broken neck, her shattered arms and legs always rings through my ears. I make out to Danni that I can’t see Anna. Deep down she must know I do.

  I can’t cope with it anymore. I can’t move on from her and the trauma is too much. Everyday is hard. It wears me down.

  So I sit here in my house, in the sitting room, writing a suicidal note to Danni. A chair is in front of me, a rope is tied to the ceiling where the light and fan used to be.

  I’ve been here before. A month ago, I couldn’t go through with it, I had a rope ready. I’ve even stuck a gun down my throat but now seems the right time.

  I don’t have any real family, but I think that Danni and her family can cope. They’ll pull through this, Danni will meet a new guy and then they’ll be happy.

  Tom stood from his chair; he picked up a photo from the arm of the chair and stood on the wooden chair below the rope. He put his neck into the noose he’s tied. He raised the photo to his face and looked at the photo of him and Anna sitting in a restaurant together. She’s sitting on his lap and they’re both smiling. One of his tears fell onto the photo. Tom pulled the photo away from his face.

  As he stared through the window onto the street where he lived, he kicked the wooden chair from under his feet. The noose tightened; his weight travelled downward but doesn’t reach the ground. As Tom struggled and kicked his legs, the rope dug into his neck, it tightened as he struggled. His vision blurred. He looked ahead to see Anna standing in front of the window, where the sun beams into the room. He heard the front door unlock and open.

  ‘Hello.’ Danni shouted.

  She
closed the door, placed her keys on the table next to the phone in the hallway and walked slowly toward the sitting room door. Her hand clutched the golden door handle on the door leading to the sitting room. The shining handle created a mirror image of Danni’s hand and caught her attention. She began to slowly open the door. She opened it halfway to see if the TV was on. The TV was off and so was the Sky box underneath the TV. She then let go of the handle and wandered to the kitchen, dragging her feet.

  ‘Tom, where are you babe?’ Danni shouted, while unpacking her shopping in the kitchen.

  Here I am, looking out the window onto the street. The sun is smothered by the clouds, the birds’ tweets silent; the car noises from a distance are silent and the vibrating bass from music playing from houses, cars and passing pedestrians’ speakers have disappeared.

  This is the most silent it has ever been while living here.

  The silence is interrupted by a piercing scream from Danni. Danni ran to Tom’s body, grappled with his legs and lifted him up. Her arms shook and tears drenched her face. She grabbed the wooden chair and stood on it; she untied the rope, releasing Tom to the ground. His legs buckled and his head smashed onto the carpet.

  ‘Tom, can you hear me?’

  Danni pulled out her mobile phone and dialed 999.

  I look down to my lifeless body. I feel different. I’m floating. Danni looks traumatised and she shakes as she holds my body in her arms. She’s called the ambulance but by the time they get here, I’ll be long gone. A waiting time of approximately five minutes or longer, they might as well not bother.

  Danni lay Tom on the ground and began to push down on his chest, whispering,

  ‘One, two, three, four.’

  Opening his mouth and blowing into his mouth. She repeated the same actions four times before she looked down at Tom and rested her head on his chest and began to scream.