What is a Life Worth?

When Madelyn went after Dr. Reynalds, Commander Hayes moved to call for help. Agent Issac stopped him before he could.

"Give it a moment."

The commander looked at him curiously, but stopped and turned his attention back to the room and the scene unfolding. Commander Hayes had been through several wars and had seen his fair share of violence. He still found himself shocked at what Madelyn was doing. The woman he knew and the woman he was seeing now were completely different.

Commander Hayes turned to Agent Issac when Soren intervened. He saw no surprise reflected in the neutral expression of the agent.

"Did you know that this would happen?"

"You didn't? They've been in that state for a while now. Even if it hadn't turned out like this, do you believe that RJ would want to live after what happened with Emily?"

That was the thing, whether the commander wanted to admit it or not, he only cared that his son was alive. The fact that his son, after mutating, had killed and ate his wife did not bother the commander. The fact that his son might not want to live with that had been overshadowed by the commander's own desires.

"I can live with him hating me so long as he's alive."

"Can you live with him committing suicide because he can't live with it?"

Unable to face that possibility, even to himself, the commander instead chose to change the subject. Watching how Soren was handling Madelyn had brought up a few questions the commander had.

"I thought it was strange that no one ever showed up at Dr. Valle's house after we received the warning. The warning made it sound like an attack was happening at any moment, yet there was no one there when you arrived.

"Soren Valle killed them all, didn't he?"

Agent Issac had the urge to laugh, though the only thing that was visible was a faint twitch in his right eye. Issac knew for certain that three were dead, but he was not certain about the remaining five. That limited knowledge allowed him to answer truthfully without giving away anything.

"I can honestly say I don't know. What I do know is that you told me to do my best to convince him to cooperate, and that's what I've done. He's done his part. We're the ones who fell short.

"Do we even have enough vaccines made to save everyone?"

Not even close, Commander Hayes said to himself. They had put so much focus on saving those who had mutated that the vaccine had been put on the back burner. It had been a calculated risk knowing that so far the virus had been spreading slowly.

Commander Hayes was curious about what, exactly, Agent Issac knew. Agent Issac had never questioned the commander before. Agent Issac had worked under the commander for the past seven years. Issac had been recruited two years after joining the FBI due to his outstanding record. In all that time he had been a loyal agent.

"You should probably call a medic or something. Your doctor is going to bleed out soon. If he dies in here I'm not stopping them anymore."

Soren's voice drew their attention back to the room.

*******

Soren looked down at the doctor who was as pale as snow. The lab coat that had been wrapped around his arm was no longer white. Soren was not certain if the arm could be saved considering how Madelyn had been gnawing on it.

Soren turned to RJ, who was still standing by the table he'd been strapped to a moment ago, and let out a low growl, commanding him to stay. He glanced at the mirror before walking over to Dr. Reynalds. The doctor was coherent enough to try and stand, attempting to getaway. Unfortunately, he had lost too much blood to move and fell down on his ass.

"What are you?"

The doctor's voice was barely above a whisper. Soren grinned and crouched down so that they were at eye level. He kept his voice low enough so that only Dr. Reynalds could hear him.

"The only difference between me and them is that I'm stronger and possess a godly level of self-control. Which is good for you, because if I had any less self-control you'd be dead."

Soren stood and took hold of Dr. Reynalds left shoulder and pulled him up. With one hand Soren held the doctor up and moved them toward the door. Growls followed Soren as the other two protested him moving their food.

He kept his eyes on the room while he opened the door and stepped through. He slammed the door quickly behind him. Almost immediately there was a thudding sound as Madelyn and RJ threw themselves at the door. Agent Issac was there the moment Soren stepped out and took Dr. Reynalds from him.

Agent Issac carried the doctor to the table in the center of the room and laid him on it. Commander Hayes moved to stand by the table, his eyes were drawn to the blood-soaked lab coat.

"Medics are coming."

Soren leaned against the wall, next to the two-way mirror, his eyes taking in everything. It did not take long for help to arrive in the form of two male nurses. The nurses brought with them a folding stretcher and a medical bag. They looked over the doctor then carefully removed the lab coat so that they could apply sterile gauzes before moving him. There was a round of gasps as they saw the extent of the wound.

From wrist to elbow, Dr. Reynalds was missing most of the flesh on his right arm. The doctor had been barely hanging on and the moment he saw the extent of his injuries he lost consciousness. The nurses quickly bandaged the wound as best as they could, laid him on a stretcher, and carried him out.

"You can choose to put them out of their misery and end it all now. You could try and work with them in the hopes that they will eventually come back to their senses. It would require a lot of finger-crossing and wishes, but it could succeed.

"Or, you can give them to me and I can attempt to bring them back. The difference between our attempts is that mine will have a higher chance of success. If it's possible to bring them back, I can do it. Not here, though, surrounded by food."

Soren spoke up after the nurses left with Dr. Reynalds. Commander Hayes turned to look at Soren, his expression was not friendly, though his words were spoken in a neutral tone.

"What would you need to accomplish this?"

"Enough tranquilizers to keep them sleeping a few hours. I could control them easily enough before because it was one human to protect. If I had to walk them through the building I cannot guarantee that people won't die.

"They're starving. Until that changes, control is tenuous at best."

"Agent Issac, go and get what Mr. Valle needs."

"Yes, sir."

Agent Issac left the room, leaving the commander and Soren alone. Commander Hayes was the first to break the silence.

"You're certain you can bring them back?"

Soren shrugged, "The odds of success are high, though I can't say how long it'll take. It could take a week or half a year. It depends a lot on the individual person."

Commander Hayes nodded his head and turned to look into the other room. RJ and Madelyn had given up on the door and were wandering around the room.

"RJ is my youngest and only son. He was never the brightest, nor was he motivated, but he is my baby.

"Madelyn has been engaged to Dr. Reynolds for three years, though they've been together since college. She's a brilliant scientist with a bright future, at least she did. Neither of them deserves this."

"The virus doesn't care who you are or what you can do. There are millions of people out there right now with the potential to meet the same fate as your son. Don't they deserve just as much attention? Their lives shouldn't be worth any less than his."