No Time To Bleed

Brett fastened his suit buttons before him, feeling the ache of the alcohol in his abdomen. He hadn’t seen his son around anywhere and things were beginning to bother him, no things were beginning to anger him.

How dare such vile creatures break into his compound and cause such confusion? Breaking glass rooftops, escaping mistaken creations, stealing clothes, disrupting crowds, breaking out of top secret areas, and causing fires?

He hated, absolutely seethed the fact that they were rearranging the plans for his day.

But, plans must move on and he wasn’t to wait for things to get any worse.

“Do you need another drink of water?” His assistant asked. She was running over the back of his suit jacket with a lint roller. “I could ask the guards to go searching for your son?”

Brett scoffed. “Oh please, I’ll have them haul him through when things are over. I know how to handle things with him.”

His son had a way of straying from his father’s intentions for him. He liked to have his own ideals as he called them. It angered Brett even more that the boy acted just like his mother, the same mother who’d abandoned their family.

And it was the exact reason he’d paid for an accident to happen to Rodney’s girlfriend. She’s been a total distraction, a full and utter roadblock in his son’s life. His son would never stop speaking of the girl. He stopped attended his classes in business. He’d derailed his whole life for some girl he claimed he was head over heels for.

Brett remembered the girl’s funeral quite well and ever since, Rodney had been a different boy. He’d become determined, cold and calculated. His decision to end that girl’s life had been the best he’d ever made for his son and it didn’t guilt him the slightest bit. He’d done worse in the past.

“Alright, turn on the screens. It’s time we started this thing. I’m tired of waiting for the inevitable.” Brett accorded.

The guards stood on his sides. They’d arranged for the main eating area to be cleared out and fixed with a stage. The morning’s festivities had doused the area with water, but cleaning personnel had done their job as intended. The hardest part had been wrangling an unruly crowd back to solidity. It had taken longer than expected, but the speech was only a good 10 or so minutes late.

Brett walked on stage, glad that he’d consumed the needed amount of alcohol to calm his nerves just as he usually did before a speech. His hands felt against the smooth black of the podium as he stood.

He overlooked the crowd of twitching people.

“Hello citizens. My name is Brett Wiggins and I am currently the head CEO of Lexicon. I am the one that has been in charge of running this branch of safety for all of you.”

Disgruntled moans went through the crowd and he cleared his throat.

“I know many of you have come a journey’s way, seeing many horrible things from this virus that has implicated upon your lives. But, here we’ve tried to set up the best facilities, provide clean bathrooms, warm beds, hot food, and around the clock protection. We’ve also been doing extensive tests to ensure that none of you are infected.”

He gave a strong smile then. “And I can assure you that all of you are safe of the virus.”

“Well, what about those freaks you said had escaped? What about them?!” A single voice from the crowd’s center screeched.

“Well, that has been taken care of. We have found the source of those issues and are dealing very confidently with the issues. It’s under control.” Brett answered. “But, there are other things that need to be discussed…”

The crowd held a stony silence.

“What things may need to be discussed you might ask? Well, first of them is how you all will leave these facilities, a very strict plan has been regimented.”

A few bursts of excitement rushed through the crowd, tingling Brett’s fingertips. “Beginning today, jet fuel will begin to be transferred from the basements of this airport to the jet carriers near the airplane landing strips. Over the next few weeks, a very set in schedule will be cast forth to bring you all to an uninfected state.”

Brett felt the vibrations of the crowd shattering into applause at this new prospect. He cut a smile to his face so devious even he would have himself fooled.

None of these people knew how their lives would truly end.