Reanimated as Death's Bane

Trapped in a Body-bag

Pete woke up with a slight headache, he turned his head slightly to get the aspirin in his drawer, but he couldn't move his hands.

He jerked his head and that's when realization hit him, he was restrained in a small white room with monitors and some equipment hanging around him.

At the same time the door swung open and two figures in a white hazmat suits entered the room they had gas masks on so it was impossible to determine their facial features.

But it was obvious one of them was a female because her curves were visible under the suit.

Pete gathered his strength and continuously tried to yank himself free from the restraints, bruises formed on his wrists with each tug but he kept going.

The masked man turned towards the woman with a nod and she instantly injected a sedative into Pete.

Pete fought the urge to shut his eyes, he wriggled his arm with every bit of strength in him, then it happened he felt his mind slip away, dragging him back to the darkness.

The Academy was his only shot at life, coming from a single parent home with a crippled mom and a little sister who was separated from him due to the Dashkyr attack, and here he was laying to be used as a lab rat, maybe death was better than this.

The scientists scanner gave a silent hum, bathing Pete in a blue light then a description displayed on a monitor

Mutation markers - unidentified

Age of subject -16

Abilities - undetected

Exposure markers: Residual Dashkyr radiation detected in tissue (dormant)

The scientists were confused when they saw Pete's status, his condition was strange.

A mutation marker was a metric in the academy to indicate the serum type consumed when a regular human was about to go through mutation, they were categorized into;

Physical essence, Mental essence, and soul essence.

It serve as a guide for a mutant to know what their forte would be.

Like Dave who wielded fire, his mutation marker would be soul essence, a telekinetic ability user would be mental essence, and a mutant who has enhanced physical abilities would be physical essence.

His ability tab showing ‘Undetected’ instead of ‘Null’ came as a surprise, since he was a stage one mutant not capable of wielding an ability, along with the Dashkyr radiation in him detected by the exposure marker.

A tracking system meant to indicate how much serums are left in a mutants system after consuming their first mutation markers and the effects it would have on them but Pete's case was different.

“Shayla, do you think it's best to keep working on this anomaly?” The man suggested.

“Why not, besides this is a new discovery” she replied with a shrug.

Then the man took out a sparkly slimy green liquid from a beaker with a syringe and injected it into Pete, minutes passed and there was no chemical reaction from Pete's vitals, it caused the two to exchange glances.

After thoroughly checking his vitals and comparing the results to their former experiments they came to a decision, he was labeled as a failed experiment, and was put in a body bag for disposal.

In a dimly lit metal chamber, Pete lay motionless in a black body bag, along with several other bags scattered around the room. After the slimy green liquid had been injected into him and his vitals did not react he was labeled ‘dead’ like the others.

Little did they know that the liquid they used would trigger a dormant gene within Pete, rendering his vital signs undetectable before the awakening. This lack of information, led the scientists to believe he's dead.

As the workers prepared to incinerate the bags, a sudden EMP surge hit the facility, disabling their security systems, and leaving the facility in a black out.

This was caused by the systems reacting to the radiation coming from Pete's awakening body.

Pete sluggishly opened his eyes swallowed by the darkness, then the memories of what had occurred flooded in.

He stretched forward expecting cold restraints, but instead his hands met with a soft blockage, like a cocoon.

He was confused, he swayed sideways stretching his limbs, the bag’s thick fabric trapped his skin, restricting his movements.

The realization hit him like a punch. He was in a sealed bag meant to trap the dead.

‘Think, Pete, think.’

He used his fingers to find the edge of the bag, where it folded then twisted his body, curling into a ball to create slack in the fabric. His breaths became shallow and the air inside was becoming stale.

‘If I can tear it…’ He scraped his nails against the ridge until one caught, splitting with a sharp sting.

Gritting his teeth, Pete pressed his palms against the bag’s interior, pushing until his muscles burned. Then a faint rip sounded, freedom. He froze listening to his environment.

It was silent, Just him and this tomb. He dug his fingers into the hole and the fabric ripped apart slowly. When the cool air hit his sweaty face, he let out a heavy sigh and crawled out sluggishly from the bag.

His body felt different in a refreshing way. He knew the scientists had done something to him but he couldn't tell, right now he had to get to safety.

He shoved the door open and slipped into the dark corridor.

Guided by the red blinking lights, he reached the beginning of the corridor leading to separate paths, then the lights suddenly came on, the saucer shaped security drone, the size of a throw pillow, patrolling the corridor came to life.

‘Oh shit.’ he pressed himself against a door frame, hoping the drone wouldn't notice him, but one of its four lazers would detect him anyway.

As it hovered within his arm’s reach, Pete launched, slamming his fist into the saucer. The drone split in two and dropped on the floor instantly.

‘damn that was easy.’ He smiled, stunned by his action.

He sprinted down the silent corridor on instinct, his footsteps echoed lightly because he was barefoot, he reached a dead end, it looked like no one had visited this part of the facility in a while.

He shoved through two heavy doors and was welcomed by a corridor, one with many doors stretching down.

But one that caught his attention on it had an inscription ‘Project Eidolon'.

The room looked like a graveyard of science, cracked beakers, rusty monitors, and scattered papers littered on a table.

Dry green liquid oozed down the metal walls, claw marks and dents on almost every side of the walls, it looked like a violent battle had taken place between monsters.

Thick sweat formed on Pete's forehead, could he have run into something worse, ‘What happened here?’ He stepped closer, brushing his fingers against a crumpled file labeled.

‘Hybrid protocol… Dashkyr blood… Super humans… catastrophe.

Was this what he’d become? A failure like this place, or something worse?

His eyes landed on a narrow pathway with two rusty lockers on each side.

The left one contained lab coats and dusty flasks, some glowing faintly with chemicals. The right one was heavier, its door creaked as he pulled it open.

Inside, a stack of files spilled out, one landed on his forehead. Pete angrily grabbed it. ‘Hybrid Protocol… What the hell are hybrids?’

‘Dashkyr blood fused with human DNA. Results, Enhanced strength, shapeshifting, emotional depth, indistinguishable from humans until triggered… wait what?’

Another page detailed an escape three years ago about a hybrid too powerful to contain that left the lab in ruins.

He saw a name in one of the descriptions, ‘General Kade Project overseer’. Pete shivered. ‘Kade? He’s behind this?’

He glanced through the files, digesting any meaningful information. ‘Specimens exhibit rapid learning, forming social bonds, mimicking humans perfectly.’

A troublesome note followed under.

‘Some released into human society, living normally, unaware of their true nature.’ Pete gasped, this was too much information for him. ‘Hybrids… living among us?’ ‘Kade made monsters… and let them loose?’

His mind flashed back to his own transformation ‘Am I one of them?... no I have parents, haa, a family’ Pete laughed convincing himself.

Then came the thought of Dave, the only one who ever had his back like a brother, who stood up for him when everyone else didn't. And he was repaid with suffering.

Pete's smile was replaced with anger, hatred for himself, he had brought this upon himself and Dave, he couldn't protect himself but Dave did, now he was dragged into his miserable life, he couldn't stand it.

He punched the locker in front of him leaving a dent, he gritted his teeth and kicked it again then grabbed a flask from the left locker and gulped its contents at once.