Patient Zero: Messiah of Thorns

Chapter 3

Nico placed Elena on his underground workshop’s workbench with careful but firm hands. The room was small, cluttered with motorcycle parts, dangling cables, and the pungent smell of lubricant—the only place where Nico felt truly in control of his life. An oasis in the middle of the hell he called Chicago.

He staggered toward the sink in the corner, turning an old faucet that spat out brownish, rust-scented water. Nico splashed his face, letting the cold water dampen the heat burning in his eyes and rinse the remaining dried blood from his cheeks. His vision was still slightly blurred, and there was a throbbing sensation behind his forehead, as if a piece of his memory had just been forcibly ripped out.

“Sarah, I’m at the base. I brought someone from that plane,” Nico spoke toward the radio he had placed on the edge of the workbench, intentionally raising his voice.

Static crackled loudly, as if protesting his decision. "One person?! From Aegis Pharma?!" Sarah’s voice exploded, deafening. "Nico, have you lost your mind? You brought an enemy to our only safe haven! Why didn't you just let her turn into a kebab back there?! Where is your brain?!"

“She’s unconscious, Sarah. And she knows who I am,” Nico stared at the reflection of his bloodshot eyes in the cracked mirror above the sink. “She called me Patient Zero. She said I’m Subject 01. Aren’t you curious why I’ve survived for five years while everyone else turned into vegetables within days, or why I feel like my memories are constantly eroding?”

"I am curious, Nico! But I value our lives more! If she has a tracker or if another Aegis Pharma team comes looking for her, we’re finished! You know how paranoid they are about you!"

“I checked, there’s no active tracker,” Nico told a small lie to calm Sarah, even though he hadn't fully searched Elena yet and knew the risk he was taking. "Besides, Aegis Pharma’s bio-sensor system is complex. They need an active signal to track. This is a ruins area; the signal is bound to be disrupted. I need answers, Sarah. And she’s the only key I have. I won’t let anyone touch her as long as she’s useful."

There was a long silence from the radio before Sarah let out a resigned sigh. "Whatever. But if she wakes up and tries to kill you, don't expect me to come help. I’m locking my bunker door tight. You hear me, Nico?"

“I hear you. Thanks, Sarah. Always my best friend,” Nico turned off the radio and turned around.

Elena groaned. Her eyelids fluttered before finally opening slowly. The yellow emergency light illuminated her face, which was soiled with ash and dried blood.

“Where... where am I?” Elena asked, her voice hoarse. She tried to sit up, but the pain in her leg made her wince.

“My workshop. Underground Chicago,” Nico approached, standing in front of the workbench with his arms crossed. “You’re safe for now. Now, explain what you meant on the plane. What is Subject 01?”

Elena caught her breath, trying to regain consciousness. She fumbled in her lab coat pocket and pulled out a cracked titanium data tablet. She activated a three-dimensional map hologram that hovered in the air above the table. “My name is Elena Vance, as I said before. My father was Dr. Arthur Vance, the head of research for Aegis Pharma’s Red Rose project.”

“Your father created this hell?” Nico clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white, anger burning like steam inside him, ready to explode.

“He was trying to control cellular mutation for regenerative medicine, Nico. But Aegis Pharma... they had other plans. They wanted a weapon,” Elena looked at Nico with a gaze full of guilt. “And you were part of the first test group. The group exposed to pure spores under controlled conditions. Out of a hundred people, only you didn't turn into a mindless monster. You disappeared when the central lab exploded five years ago. My father has been looking for you.”

“I don’t remember anything about a laboratory,” Nico growled. “My memory starts when I woke up in the middle of the ruined streets of Chicago. Empty. No past. No one. That’s the effect of this mutation. Every time I use that power, a part of me seems to be erased.” He pointed to his head.

“That’s because of the neural trauma from the initial exposure, and it’s worsened every time the cellular mutation in your body peaks,” Elena nodded. She pointed to a green dot in the Appalachian Mountains on the holographic map. “This is The Greenhouse. The original research facility where everything began. The original serum to stabilize your mutation is stored there, Nico. You are the only one with the perfect cellular synchronization to activate that serum. You can stop this outbreak.”

Suddenly, Nico fell to his knees. An overwhelming hunger, unlike anything he had ever felt before, tore through his stomach. It felt as if thousands of insects were gnawing at his internal organs from the inside. Elena’s heartbeat on the workbench sounded incredibly loud, throbbing in Nico’s ears like a calling war drum.

Thump-thump. Thump-thump.

“Nico? Your body temperature is skyrocketing! You’re sweating blood!” Elena tried to climb down from the table to get closer.

“Don’t... don’t come closer, Elena!” Nico growled, his voice breaking into a beastly snarl. He clawed at the workshop’s concrete floor until his steel-hard crimson nails threw sparks and left deep gouges. “I can see the blood flowing in your neck... I can hear your heart... I feel like I want to rip your skin off right now! Stay away from me!”

Elena didn't run in fear. With hands shaking violently, she took an automatic syringe from her belt pouch and lunged toward Nico.

“This is a temporary cellular activity suppressor!” Elena plunged the needle into Nico’s arm before he could react, right into his vein.

Cold liquid surged through Nico’s veins, extinguishing the fire burning in his head. The red haze in his eyes slowly faded, replaced by an overwhelming sense of weakness. Nico collapsed, gasping for air on the cold concrete floor.

“How long do I have to be like this, Elena?” Nico asked softly, the disgust for himself clear in his voice. “I really wanted to eat you just now. I’m a monster. Why are you still here?”

“Until we reach the Greenhouse,” Elena crouched beside him, ignoring the pain in her own leg. “My family started this madness, and I swear I will end it with you. You’re not a monster, Nico. Monsters don’t warn their victims to stay away. You’re still fighting.”

Nico could only let out a bitter laugh. “You’re awfully optimistic for someone who almost died of infection. But I appreciate it.”

BOOM!

The heavy steel door of Nico’s workshop shook violently, struck by something massive from the outside. Dust fell from the ceiling, and the emergency lights flickered.

“Sarah! There’s an intruder at the front door!” Nico grabbed his wrench and stood up with what remained of his strength, his survival instincts kicking in, overriding the pain in his body.

"Nico! There’s a massive bio-energy signal right outside your door! That’s no ordinary Bloomer! The signal... it’s similar to yours! Dammit, it must be an Apostle!" Sarah’s voice screamed frantically over the radio. "Apostle signals have a much longer detection range; that’s how they found you so fast!"

The steel door finally gave way, tearing off its hinges with a screeching metallic sound and flying into the engine racks, smashing them to pieces. In the doorway, amidst the incoming fog of spores, stood a two-meter-tall giant. His body was clad in the remnants of military armor that had fused with hard black roots, forming organic plate mail.

His eyes were not red, but a cold, intelligent golden-yellow. In his hand, he held a massive sledgehammer stained with fresh blood. An aura of power radiated from him—not just any monster, but an organized predator.

“Subject 01,” the giant’s voice was heavy and hoarse, like the grinding of two massive stones. “The Messiah has called you home. Do not keep us waiting any longer.”

Nico gripped his weapon, the heat in his back exploding once more. He knew this was no ordinary fight. This was a battle for himself, for his memories, and for the remnants of his humanity. “Messiah? I think you have the wrong address. I’m just a mechanic who doesn’t like being disturbed in his own home!”