The Rise of Lucas

Roosevelt walked into the school premises gloomy as always, today was a beginning of a new session and though she would have loved to stay at home and watch tv, her mom would not hear of that. Being a low profile high school student, it was practically hard to maintain a smiling face because of constant bullying activities. Roosevelt was not poor, in fact she was from a rich home – ‘a stinkingly rich home’ but she just hated the idea of associating with the rich spoilt kids and even the poor ones too.

The bell rang to signal the beginning of class, the teacher came in and the class started off boring as usual. ‘Well it is time to zone out again’ she thought as she relaxed in her seat and let the fresh air breeze her into her world of fantasy. Not only was Roosevelt a social weirdo, she was also classified as a shy provocative idiot so everybody practically underestimated her, even her teachers.

“Miss Roosevelt can you solve the problem on the board?” The teacher asked.

As she walked to the front of the class she could feel all eyes on her.

”kpooos”

The marker fell from her trembling hands causing the whole class to erupt in laughter. It was a usual thing for her to experience such attitude from her mates, but this time, it was different. With tears running down her cheeks and an unknown anger brewing within her, she ran out of the class.

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In a back alley somewhere in NYC, experiments were going on, different types of animals were being tested and experimented upon. Scientists were working day and night trying to find the cure for a rampaging virus that had laid waste to cities and towns with no means of controlling or stopping it, in a situation where a cure would be so cherished that it would be bought at any price, it was really necessary for them to find one. Dr Laurence stood shivering and trembling before a man standing at a dark corner of the lab. Fear was evident in his eyes as he waited for the man to speak.

“Dr Laurence, when am I getting the result?” he asked, an evil smirk plastered on his face that made the doctor’s blood freeze in his veins.

Dr Laurence was also worried about his inability to find a cure for the virus, he had been confident in his ability and qualification before agreeing to take the contract despite knowing about the man

standing before him and his reputation. He had seen it as an opportunity to strike it rich but it was becoming a life threat to him and his family.

“Ehn… ehn… I… I… please give me a little more time” he replied dropping to his knees.

Seeing the pathetic response of the doctor, Sky’s smirk grew wider, he enjoyed being at the top and oppressing other people. He was a psychopath – at least everybody that he had interacted with even once called him that.

“That’s alright too doctor, I just hope you fulfil your promises” he said with an evil grin as he walked away.

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Roosevelt walked into her home looking like a zombie, her light makeup had been ruined by her tears, her hair was a mess and her dress looked a mess too. Her maids looked at her worriedly but kept their distances. Despite being a respectful young mistress, she could also be very rude and disrespectful when disturbed at times like that.

She walked into her room and immediately prepared for a hot bath, as she walked to her private washroom her believe that she needed that hot bath seemed to better solidify. She hit the play button on her music box as she walked just pass it before entering the washroom. Sinking into the bathtub, she allowed her body to relax and her mind to wander as she subconsciously began to scrub her body, hoping to perhaps scrub

all the humiliations, regrets and anger that had grown in her.

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TWO WEEKS LATER…

Dr Laurence was in his private lab testing out samples of the hypothetical cures he had produced, within the pardon time given he and his co-scientists had managed to make some progress and he couldn’t wait to test their achievements before Mr Sky arrived for his cure. In the course of their progress however, he had grown an obsession for the research of the virus and wanted to find out more. He had experimented on several animals and there had been different reactions. While some had died after a period of time, some had died instantly and some had reduced their level of activities, some of the had become more active and fe-

rocious like the white rat like animal that was caged and was trying to get out.

“Oh cutie cute” he cooed and stretched out his finger to pet it when it suddenly bit his finger.

With a scream, he withdrew his hand and went to find tissues to stop the blood that had begun to flow out. ‘Stupid rat’ he thought as he packed his things and left for home.Dr Laurence got home feeling tired.

‘I guess I stressed myself experimenting instead of resting’ he thought. He sluggishly dragged his ass into the bathroom for a hot bath. However, as the water flowed down his body, he realised that he was becoming feverish. “I guess I need to stroll for fresh air” he murmured.

As he walked along the street, his fever continued to rise making him uncomfortable and tired but he somehow felt he needed the breeze. Suddenly, he lost control of his body and fell face down, choking sounds escaping his mouth as he slowly lost consciousness. As he blacked out, Dr Laurence couldn’t help but wonder why the smell of flesh suddenly seemed appetizing ‘or was it his imagination?’ he thought.

The sudden collapse of a person on the street plunged the street into chaos, several people surrounded the unconscious doctor and discussed amongst themselves. A young man suddenly fought his way through and pushed the crowd back to give space. After confirming that the unconscious man was still alive, he began to apply pressure to his chest and open his air ways when suddenly unconscious Dr Laurence sprung into a sitting position and grabbed the neck of the helper and helped himself to a large chunk of flesh.

“….” The crowd.

There was silence for a few seconds as the crowd was dumbstruck by what they had witnessed then. Nobody knew who first screamed but everybody was screaming and running for their lives. It was a bit late for some people however because within their moments of dumbstruck, ex-Dr Laurence and the now turned helper had pounced on some more people and infected them. All in about an hour, HELL BROKE LOOSE!....

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Roosevelt let out a deep breath as she awaited her drink, it was one of the clubs her family owned and it was definitely not a big deal whether she was underage or not. Thinking back, since her thirteenth birthday, she had started sneaking into the club whenever she had a need to get away from her very stressed live. Besides, since her parents never seemed to even remember her apart from the birthday presents that seemed to assure her they knew she existed, she would have probably made the club her home.

‘Its happening again’ she thought as she slowly stood and tried to look as daring as she could while avoiding the gestures and calls of men sitting around.

As Roosevelt hit the radio button in her car, news of a spreading virus was being announced.

“Motherfucking” she mumbled and turned off the radio. ‘Better drive in silence than listen to that shit’ she thought.