Patient Zero: Messiah of Thorns

Chapter 4

"I'm not your Messiah, you bastards!" Nico screamed, his voice echoing through the cramped basement, filled with pure rage. Resentment and despair intertwined, burning within him.

The crystal thorns on his back protruded with a heart-wrenching crack, tearing through the remains of the leather jacket he wore. Heat exploded at every nerve ending once more, granting a power that felt forbidden and dangerous, yet he chose to use it now.

The golden-eyed giant remained unfazed. He swung his massive sledgehammer with one hand, smashing the workbench Elena had just occupied into splinters. The heavy steel embedded itself into the floor, leaving a deep crater. "Messiah? You are the architect of our future, Nico. Your blood is the seed that will turn this dead world green, and your body is the throne for His will! Do not resist destiny!"

Behind the giant, dozens of Scavengers—rose-worshipping humans who had lost their sanity—crawled through the shattered doorway. They carried bone daggers and rusted iron spears. Their eyes fixed on Nico with insane adoration, as if he were a god descended from the heavens.

"Give us your blessing, Messiah! Let us touch the holy blood!" one of the cultists shrieked, throwing himself at Nico’s feet, trying to reach him with trembling hands.

"Nico, don't let them touch you!" Elena screamed, now huddling behind a large lathe. Fear radiated from her voice. "They are Apostles! A cult that views this plague as a holy evolution! They want to use you to accelerate the spread of spores across the entire continent!"

Nico lunged at the first attacker trying to grab his leg. The crystal thorns on his back moved automatically like living whips, shredding the cultist's chest in a single strike. Thick blood sprayed, painting the walls. "You want a blessing? Here’s your blessing, scum!"

Nico was no longer fighting like a defensive mechanic. He moved like an uncontrollable red storm. Every time his thorns pierced an opponent, he felt a horrific sensation of hunger in his gut, but he suppressed it with the pure rage burning inside. He chose to focus on his target, not the whispers of darkness within him.

The golden-eyed Apostle laughed, his voice heavy and mocking. He pointed at the Scavengers blocking his path, viewing them as nothing more than insects. With a lightning-fast motion, he slammed his sledgehammer into the head of one of his followers who was too slow to move.

CRACK!

The Scavenger’s head burst like a rotten pumpkin, brain matter splattering across the concrete wall. "Trash! Get out of my way!" the Apostle growled.

He then slammed his hammer into the concrete floor. BOOM!

The shockwave from the impact threw Nico against the concrete wall, making him cough up blood. Pain stabbed at his back, but he rejected it. "Messiah, join us willingly. The Sovereign has prepared a place by His side for you. Do not force us to take your soul by strength!"

"Who is the Sovereign?!" Nico shouted, struggling to stand even though his back felt like it had been broken. Memories of Elena calling him "Patient Zero" and the "key" flashed through his mind.

"He is the confluence of all consciousness that has merged with the Red Rose! He is the new God! And you are His favorite child!" the giant replied, stepping forward, hammer raised high, ready to crush him.

"Nico, fight them with your will!" Elena screamed amidst the chaos, trying to throw a chemical bottle at the cultists, hoping to create a distraction. "You are the first host! You have authority over this network! Command them to stop! Force them!"

Nico closed his eyes for a moment, searching for something in the darkness of his mind. He felt the pulse of thousands of plants creeping through the streets of Chicago above. It felt like thousands of whispers calling his name, trying to pull him into the collective consciousness of the Red Rose. Nausea washed over him, but he focused all his anger and hatred on the thumping in his chest. The mutation's power within him wasn't just physical thorns; it was the ability to manipulate nerve impulses and cellular energy. He felt a surge of power roiling inside him, waiting for a command.

"I... said... GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

Nico stomped his foot onto the floor with all his might. An explosion of red bio-electric spores radiated from his body, creating a blinding shockwave. The red light filled the room, instantly paralyzing the Scavengers' motor nerves until they collapsed in convulsions, their bodies smoking as if charred. The giant Apostle was thrown back until he hit the main concrete pillar, his sledgehammer slipping from his hands and flying far away.

"Hah... hah..." Nico collapsed to his knees, hot steam rising from the wounds on his back where the thorns protruded. Red sweat dripped from his chin, mixed with thick saliva. The sensation of erased memories returned, as if he had just paid a heavy price.

"Nico! We have to move now!" Elena ran over, grabbing Nico’s arm and helping him up. "Do you hear that? Aegis Pharma helicopters are already overhead! They must have detected your energy blast! They’ll level this place in minutes! We have to go!"

Nico stared at his hands, which still sparked with remnants of red electricity. "I... I really am a monster, Elena. I can feel them all in my head. This is insane." He felt the threat of memory loss becoming increasingly real.

"You just saved my life for the second time, Nico," Elena looked at him with a deeply human gaze—no fear, only determination. "Monsters don't care if others get killed. Monsters only take. You still have a choice. Come on, through the emergency tunnel. We’re heading to the warehouse next door."

Nico grabbed his charred family photo from the edge of the room and his discarded pipe wrench. "I won't let them take me again. Never again."

They ran through the darkness of the crawlspace tunnels beneath the workshop, just as the sound of the first missile struck the building above them, burying Nico’s workshop under thousands of tons of debris and fire. The explosion collapsed the tunnel walls, nearly burying them alive, but Nico kept pushing Elena forward, through the rubble and dust, toward an uncertain future.