Chapter 3

Jack wakes up in the middle of the night as he hears a low thud from the other side of the wall. He was tired so he drifts back to sleep again. But several minutes later, Jack woke up and again hears a thud from behind the wall. He was not in any state to move but as his visions began to clear, a horrifying sight welcomes him from his sleep. The whole room is a bloody mess. The windows were shattered and shards of glass lie on the floor, covered in blood. The glass that's left on the frame have some tiny bits of flesh on it. Jack quickly scrambles to call the nurse but, to his dismay, the power was gone. He pulls out the chords that are attached to his body and he half expected a long beep showing his vitals are declining. "Oh, no electricity of course!" The painful part comes next.

He gets up and tries to stand when he felt like stepping on something. He quickly draws his legs back but steps on something slippery and falls. It was blood from a mutilated corpse. The whole body was a mess as many parts of the body lay sprawled across the floor. He identifies her as a women from the dress, even though it was in shambles. He finds the dress oddly familiar. Jack couldn't take it anymore and vomits on the slaughtered corpse.

After a few minutes of breathing exercise, Jack felt like he could handle it. That's when he heard faints footsteps approaching. He quickly sprang to his feet and stepped on the mess, slipping and falling again in the process. Jack ended up looking at it again, and this time, he saw a shiny necklace beneath that mess. He recognized it in an instant. The door opened and Jack was too shocked to take his eyes off the jewelry.

How did his mother's necklace ended up here?

He then looked at the blood in his hands and cries out loud.

Alex was still shocked about how he quickly became a part of another family.

As Alex sleeps on his new bedroom, he cried. He snuggles the only toy that the siblings brought with them during their escape. Jack was in a hurry and Alex was half asleep that he left his favorite toy back there, it was his little pink pony. His second favorite toy was lying beside him as he cried himself to sleep, worrying is little head about Jack's health. Alex knew his brother was having a problem with nightmares. He almost always saw his brother tired with dark circles. Alex hope that his brother won't have that when he is alone.

The room beside Alex's was still lit as Leo checked the status of his favorite sports, the Javelin throw. But a video went viral about the weird pattern of bird movements noticed by birdwatchers. It got 13M views in YouTube within 2 hours of upload and 123k likes. Leo hates click-bait videos and this one certainly looked like one. Its title was just: "Zombie Birds?"

Leo was not in a mood for the "Zombie Birds" and hence he turns the light off as December snow covered his windows.

"The city never sleeps... "

Anwar likes the night hours in Los Angeles and having night duty was a blow to him. But still he clearly likes to waste a lot of time travelling from his house to the building he works on. He always takes the metro and stares outside the window like a six year old as the metro speeds through the city. The skyscrapers that rose and touched the stars above, malls and expensive stores he could never visit and all other luxuries he can never afford were displayed right in front of him. He never had a vehicle, even though he have a license. And he have a well-paid job that most people can only dream of but he could barely pay his rents.

But today he was acting different. A set of paper was sent to his house by Dennis & Finn, A law firm that had asked him to sign it. Anwar sat on the metro and reads it.

A drop of tear fell on the documents he was holding. This was a divorce letter from his wife, or her parents. Apparently they thinks that poor treatment was the reason his wife is bedridden. He was stopping them from giving her one of the best medical treatments for cancer. He was not new to their hostility towards him. It was clear that they never wanted Adrienne to fall in love with someone like him. Anwar and Adrienne were from two different worlds. Adrienne Fox was from a French family that owns many hotels around France. One of them even having three Michelin stars. Anwar was a geneticist and had just entered the field. How can he even compare himself to them?

But a few years and he was earning half a million and his wife had two four star restaurants in New York. It was a slap on the face to all those who had disrespected them and disagreed to their relationships. They stood proudly as they announced their decision to get engaged. Two more years went by and Adrienne found herself carrying a baby in her arms. But one night she collapsed and had been on a hospital bed ever since.

She was the only person he had ever loved, and seeing her in this state sent Anwar into a long spiral of trauma that left its marks on him. His daughter was taken away from him as he was unfit to take care of her. Adrienne's parents were happy when they found out about Anwar's situation and took advantage of their opportunity to get their granddaughter back. Adrienne's business collapsed as they went bankrupt.

Anwar coughs. He was broke and drinking on his rented apartment wearing nothing but his trousers when a knock was heard. Anwar was still able to move a like a drunkard and walks towards the front door, swaying sideways in every step. He fell forward towards the door and looks through the peephole to find a finely dressed man wearing a black suit and white shirt with a navy blue tie. He was in his mid-fifties, or late forties, as it was not clear with all the beer that had started messing up his vision.

Anwar opens the door and his vision started to blur so he blinks his eyes to clear the fog. The man seems to have a thin beard that Anwar seems to have missed.

"Who are you?" Anwar asks, gripping the door tightly to keep himself from swaying.

Sir, are you Mr. Anwar Abadi?"

"What if I am?" Asked Anwar sizing the man with his eyes.

"I think it's better if I come later." He said, smiling awkwardly. And then added "It seems you are...busy."

"No, not at all. It seems that I have been having plenty of free time for myself lately. Please come in and make yourself comfortable on my sofa." said Anwar with heavy sarcasm. The gentleman doesn't seem to mind as he smiled and walked in.

"I represent the NRT Corp. We are in dire need of your assistance." He said as he placed his suitcase and turns it so that Anwar could see what's inside.

Leo was home alone when he suddenly felt like going through his past...again. First thing that came to his mind was his wall of fame. He dashed through the hallway towards the stairway made of Oak. 'stronger than steel' his grandfather once said, 'and quite expensive' his father commented.

Leo was one of the brightest stars all from kindergarten till middle school. The principal was so proud of him that he refused to give transfer certificate. Leo was so happy back then. Holding the trophy in his hand and a triumphant smile on his eyes as the students was enviously looking at him on stage. This frozen memory brought another painful memory. This single incident turns Leo's life into a living nightmare. The reason he had to transfer school. How he turns from an all-rounder and popular kid to an introvert and nobody.

'But I have my reasons, don't I?"

Life of a teenager suddenly drowned Leo in loneliness, something he had never felt before. He suddenly felt like being all alone in the whole world. But instead if being afraid of it he embraced the feeling. Lonely became alone.

'Till she pulled me out of my bubble. That's how I met Ashley, the only extrovert I am fond of.'

That evening, Anwar was sitting on his table thinking about all the ways where he could have gone wrong. He thought that all those PhDs in Neuroscience and doctorate in Genetics were finally going to be of use when he will create his masterpiece. This was his first time working under the US government and maybe that excitement might have made him overlook something. The project was an utter failure without any progress after the death of the leading doctor. Anwar was seen as his replacement, and Anwar believes that they were right in every way. And he wanted to show them that he was more than a mere replacement. The Rainbow Hospitals assembled the best of the best doctors to create a virus that surpasses all other bio weapon and bring terror to America's enemies.

All that seems idiotic now that his project was scrapped. He feels robbed off the opportunity to shine as the president found other use for the tax money. 'We were so close. One more day and it would have been a reality.' It seems to him that he was fooled over and over into doing something nearly impossible in a short period of time.

He was to board a plane to meet his son who will be turning twelve the coming Sunday. He wants to surprise him.

He hails a taxi to the airport.

Christine sat in the taxi that had locked it destination to her house. 'Only the traffic can stop an LA taxi driver when you promised him a generous tip. He seems to be in his early twenties inexperienced and clumsy.' Christine rests her head on the door, observing everything except the ticking of her watch.

Her phone starts ringing and she checked to find it to be an unknown number. If she was happy to find a distraction from the slow traffic, she didn't show it.

"Hey sis!" She recognized the voice instantly and thought 'Now I get why I never saved this number. It was David, and it seems he escaped from the rehab.'

"Get your ass to house right now. Don't go to there, the place you are thinking of going."

"Oh, no I would never-"

Christine was loosing her patience now. "Shut the fuck up and and get home right now." She hung up and lets out a frustrated sigh.

"don't worry mam, we are almost there." The driver was scared by that angry grunt behind him.

'If you don't know David, he is my delinquent brother. after graduation his life was inside some rehab, which changes every month if he chooses to flee form there. When my husband died, I broke contact with him for two years. But now, Christine thinks he is more safer at home, with the pandemic spreading.'

The night was chill and her work clothes did less to give her warmth. She hugged herself and tried to rest her eyes. But little did she know that this night is going to be a restless one.