The Air We Breathe

My name is James Blackburn. I live in a secluded little town in which people rarely visit. I'm twenty-one years old and about to take my final exam. I'm five-foot-twelve and weigh nine and one-half stone. I'm not the best fighter but I crave the sciences. I live with my step dad, although we don't really see eye to eye anymore. Not since my mother died. This is a nice town, nice people, but rather strange.

I've been living in this town for around twelve years now. Twelve years, one month and three days to be exact. There was the occasional death here or a disappearance every now and then. The local shop three doors down from me would get robbed at gun point. I remember this one time it happened when I was inside. These two out-of-towners tried stealing all of the money from the shop and customers, as well as all the cigarettes and the alcohol. Luckily the town policemen were able to arrest them. I didn't feel scared or shocked. It's not the first time and it won't be the last.

Our town was quite small, but the education system was bigger then expected. We had an entire block full of schools and other education buildings. Amongst them were three primary schools, two secondary schools, and two big colleges. As you enter the town you come across most of the houses and a couple of shops, to the right is the education block. Going further up is the chemist plants, science labs and things like that, but only the scientists can get access and rarely anyone goes and leaves those places. But moving on, to the left is the supermarket, the animal pound, the hospital and the cemetery. I live five doors on the left from the entrance of the town.

Today was a special day. I was finally going to enter the science lab for the first time, to take my test and become a scientist. I was so excited I barely slept the day before. I walked down the stairs of my house and entered the kitchen; opening the fridge and seeing it pretty much empty, with one egg, some mayonnaise and ham. Not enough for a good omelette. I left my house and entered one of the shops, a sandwich shop, and bought an egg mayonnaise sandwich for one pound and fifty pence. That's a ripoff! They used to be eight five pence when I was younger.

I checked the date and time. May 6th, 2015, 08:37 in the morning. I had to be there at half nine, so I decided to eat my sandwich and walk to the science lab slowly. Better to be early then late after all. Upon entrance to the district I saw a lot of cops, like the place had been bordered off for some reason. I asked what happened and the cop responded, "There's been a murder, move along James." A murder? All the deaths of recent have been accidents, a fire, falling off a balcony and so on... but a murder?

"Dave I need to get through, I have a test to take with professor Arkyl," I responded. He just looked at me and handed me photos. I know cops shouldn't give away evidence but he always did, he was my step father after all. I stared at the pictures, within them was a couple of scientists, all dead. Professor Arkyl was amongst them, his head was removed, his legs and arms were mauled and looked like they were just thrown all over the place. I stared with disgust at the pictures.

"Any idea who is responsible for this yet?" I asked. Dave shook his head at me with a lost expression. I began to walk off, considering my test was clearly cancelled, until I heard Dave speak to me.

"Be careful James, the only victims were scientists, if this continues to happen, you could become a victim." I turned around and glared at the man I was suppose to care about.

"Does it matter to you? Ever since mum ran off you haven't shown the least bit of interest in my life so don't pretend to now!" I bellowed at him before running off in the opposite direction.

I took a walk to the graveyard, climbing over the fence and walking up to my mother's grave. I sat on the wet, cold, muddy floor and stared at the cross shaped grave. It read 'Beloved Maria Blackburn, loving mother and wife. Died August 12th, 2007'. I stared down on the floors I placed two weeks ago, decaying and dead.

"I miss you mum, there are some murders currently happening around here. Dave thinks I'll be targeted. Why did you leave me with him mum, you know he hates me." I would have spoken more, if not for a peculiar sound. The wind was bristling past the trees and bushes. I could hear a chuckling somewhere near me, but I could see nothing. Footsteps were running around, but whatever was near me wouldn't show itself. I looked at the wet ground and saw footprints. They seemed to be about a size nine, definitely human, blood on the gravestones. The killer is nearby! I ran off towards the gate until I heard the killer let out a demonic roar, a war cry.

Am I about to die?

I jumped over the fence, charging back towards the police station. I could hear the killer not far behind me, not paying attention to where I was going I ran head first into a lamp-post and landed, dazed, onto my back. My eyes were dizzy. Blood dripped from my head into the cracks of the pavement; the figure standing over me now, leaning in closer. My heart stopped. My eyes wouldn't close. My hand wouldn't stop shaking. I couldn't move an inch. He grabbed my arm. I was about to end up like the others, mutilated like some cadaver experiment. I was pulled to my feet with Dave standing in front of me. I was saved... I had been certain I was going to die. I buried my head into his chest and cried, scared to death and unable to move.

"It's okay son. I know I haven't been the best father to you but I will find this killer, then we'll go somewhere. How about a lads holiday?" He asked with a cheeky smile. I couldn't help but let a sigh of relief and a little smile come over me. He took me back home and cooked me some food. I opened the fridge up to see it stacked with meats, eggs, sauces and other things. I sat back down and ate my eggs and sausages quickly, then went straight to my room. When I opened the door I fell to me knees and shouted in surprise. Dave came up the stairs with widened eyes.

My room had been trashed; books burnt. My work from school, college and university looked like it had been bitten into, like someone tried eating my work. The walls were slashed. My light-bulb was smashed against the wall. My golf club I keep in my room had been hurled through the television set. My stereo had been bitten into. Bits of teeth and blood laid out in my room. All my games and consoles were smashed into a million pieces. Feces covered my bed. I ran out of the room and back downstairs, throwing the front door open and bumping into a strange man I had never seen before; a scientist, to be exact. Dave slowly walked downstairs into the hallway and saw the scientist.

"So you must be the one taking over for Arkyl. Sorry for the faces, my son's room was trashed when we were gone. You talk to him about what you need to, while I call the station," he said. The scientist came inside, sat on a seat in the kitchen and called me over. As I sat down, contemplating what was going to be said, I saw Dave call on the radio. Just to the left of him was a window. Outside was the most disgusting sight I had ever seen.

I saw a figure, taller than the window, with a curvy figure and blood all over its body. It had what seemed to be a dismembered arm in its hand, blood gushing down the severed arm. The bone piercing through had been chewed and gnawed at, but what I saw next disturbed me the worst. I saw the thing bite into the arm, ripping it apart, chewing on the muscles and veins as it threw the arm at the window. By the time the others turned around, it had vanished. I thought I was seeing things. No, I knew I was. Nothing like that exists around here.

"They call me Professor Ector, Professor Eaton Ector. The exam you have been tasked with is a simple question. One that not many know. Tell me, what are the ingredients in an adult human body?" he asked me. I was confused, but obliged to answer. The words wouldn't slip my tongue. Tongue-tied wouldn't describe it. Professor Ector got up and started to walk away. "If you cannot answer, you fail the test," he said.

I broke my silence after that with the words, "I know the answer, it's a recipe." I recollected everything I had learned to answer this question, and finally the words flew into his ears. "Carbon 20kg. Ammonia 4 litres. Lime 1.5kg. Phosphorus 800g. Salt 250 g. Niter 100g. Sulfur 80g. Fluorine 7.5g. Iron 5g. Silicon 3g, and an average of about fifteen other elements. That should be correct."

He turned around and grabbed my shoulder with a big grin, then led me to the science labs. Inside was like nothing I had ever seen before. Nuclear reactors here and there. Transportation machines which seem to be failing. Giant labs all around, testing with animals and other things. But mine was the most... confusing.

Inside my lab was a cadaver. Nothing out of the ordinary there, but they were playing music to it, trying to get a response from it. My colleagues were talking to it like it was a real person, watching television with it and trying to play card games with it. My first thought of my new job: What the fuck is going on in here?

I was introduced to my teammates and they got me caught up on what was happening. I asked who the cadaver was but got no response. All they said was, "At midnight is when my turn takes place," as they gave me a clipboard. My test was what they call a 'Memory Repraisal.' For some reason they believe that memories off a song or a television program would help bring them back or make them wake up. Whatever the reasons it was my job now. First off, I turned on Dad's Army—season four—episode four, "Sgt—Save My Boy!" The one where Pike gets caught in barbed wire on the beach, in the middle of a mine field. But the Army engineers are slow to arrive, and it is up to the platoon to save him – with Godfrey's help.

It seemed like a waste of time to me but I'm not going to complain. I wasn't even told why we were doing such creepy experiments with cadavers, they made no sense. Once that finished I tried playing some Elvis Presley, the dead man's favorite. As expected, nothing happened. So once I left, we were told that we were going to use the 'Breathable Air Methodology'. I had no idea what they meant by that. Professor Ector came to our room and pulled us all out. Then he started pouring a purple liquid into a container with a locked hatch, said to break open after a minute. We left the room and were given radioactive suits. We put them on, then stared directly at the container, waiting for something to happen.

As soon as it broke from its imprisonment, purple steam covered the room. Each door and window was protected and secured. It took exactly two minutes and twelve seconds before the room was available to enter. My colleague, Matthew, was sent in to check on the body. As he got close, its hand gripped his arm. He couldn't get free. He was screaming for our help as it woke up and stared directly at him, pulling at his arm more. The bones were cracking as he was crying out to us. I tried entering but was stopped by Ector and made to watch; watch as his arm was ripped from its socket. Made to watch as he was beaten to death with his own arm. Made to watch as his other body parts were torn off.

His fingers were bitten off and spat at him. Blood was being thrown all over the room. The body and limbs were being toyed with. He was hitting the glass with legs and bones. The guards were called in to kill the cadaver, but it kept getting up. Each and every time it was shot in the head it kept climbing back up. It's not exactly human. It's not a zombie either. It's like a poison, one that infects the mind. I threw up everything I had eaten that day and was to afraid to eat more. I got sent home after that.

Later that night, 12:15 am to be exact, I went back into the labs. Searching each room, each drawer, everything and anything but to no avail. Upon leaving the seventeenth room, I noticed something in the corner of my eye—a blue door with a sign on it, a poison sign. I went into the storage room and pulled out a radioactive suit, then put it on and attempted to entered the blue door. It was locked and I couldn't get in.

"It just had to be locked, didn't it?" I said to myself. I turned around to leave, exhaling and looking down at the floor. Strangely enough I saw a pair of feet. My heart stopped. I followed them up to see they were covered in blood and organs. Getting higher and higher, the fingernails broken and bloody, then the face, its horrible face. Blank eyes, blood-stained teeth, rotted and cut face with the most sadistic and devilish look. One word passed through my head. Just one...

Death.

It swung its arm and smashed me through the door. I hit the back wall and screamed in pain. Blood dripped from my lips and fresh wound. The only thing I heard was a monstrous roar. I couldn't look up, only watch as the blood gushed from my chest. I attempted to shift my head, only to see feet slowly moving toward me. I couldn't even lift my arms to crawl away. This time I knew I was dead. Nobody would save me.

The feet stopped directly in front of me. I managed to look up to see Dave. That bastard always appears just when I need him. He's got a God damn big-hero-complex. "Are you okay there son? Here, let me help you," he said, reaching a hand out. I grabbed his hand and stood up. "I don't know what's going on but lets get you out of here!" he exclaimed. I nodded my head and looked at him, strangely enough his eyes were widened. He dropped his gun and flashlight.

"Dad, you okay?" I asked. I tried shaking him but he wouldn't respond. "Dad! What's wrong with you?!" I shouted. I shook him fast and rapidly, just to watch his head fall into my hands and his body drop. Behind him was the same cadaver from before.

I couldn't even talk, only feel the pain. My arm was gripped in a death-grab. I felt the muscles tear and pull apart from each other. I heard my bones crack as my left arm was torn off. I screamed out and fell to my knees as my arm was getting eaten. I barely managed to barge past, but bumped into another person.

"It can't be a second one, please don't let it be!" I thought. I looked up and saw Ector. "Professor please help me! That monster from earlier, it killed my step dad! It ripped my arm off! Please take me to the hospital! Please help me!" I pleaded and begged. He just punched me to the floor.

"You've lived enough. You knew my poison was off. You knew what it was doing. You can't leave with this information," he said to me. The creature from the outside stood next to him, bearing down on me. "My pets will see to this," he said, walking off with his manic laughter. Both creatures were over me. These ugly, demonic, creatures. Not humans. Not undead. Just killing machines.