Enhancement [Ch. 10]

The Witch had assisted Virginia, Armsy, and the Worm with injecting the enhancement serum into their bloodstreams. In order for the Worm to be enhanced, it had to be joined together as one. So that's what it did. The Witch, as she was walking over to the Worm with the last syringe in her hand, she stopped.

A shiver tingled down her spine; her groaning and dropping the syringe. Being made out of glass, it shattered upon hitting the floor. The serum in it spilling out.

"No!" One worm shouted.

"Seriously?" Another said.

The Witch unclenched her hands after shivering. She opened and closed her hands, then slowly rising back up straight. She no longer was hunching over. Her scrony legs wobbled; something she wasn't able to control just yet. Feeling her natty, staticy hair. Pulling out leaves, chunks of dried dirt and strands of hair.

A female Albino Cannibal burst through the lab entrance doors, stopping abruptly before running into the many disjointed worms sqandering amok in anger.

"Watch it stupid!" A worm snapped, flopping around to look up at the cannibal.

The cannibal slowly lowered her head, looking down at the worm who had said that to her. She raised her right hand, clenching it into a fist. After that, she raised one finger… her middle finger. Bursting out into laughter, she pointed down at the worm with her left hand pointer finger. The other worms started laughing too, putting the one to shame and embarrassing her.

"F–f–fu–fuck you!" The Albino Cannibal stuttered at first, but got out what she had wanted to say. She had a small berry bag hanging alongside her leg, it being tied around her waist. Only the bag wasn't filled with berries. It was filled with dozens of more syringes. The same syringes the Witch had received from Stitches moments earlier.

How was she able to speak? Upon being transformed into cannibals, the once human subjects lost their ability to speak and talk. But they retained little knowledge of things to say; also able to scream and shout out indistinguishable words periodically.

"What are these?" The Witch suddenly asked herself as she stuck her finger out. Inching her fingers closer, she poked her breasts. GASP! She poked them again, and again.

CLICK! The entrance doors to the lab were pushed open, their handles clicking. Walking into the lab side-by-side, came two people. A man and woman. The woman had her arm wapped over the man's shoulder. He had his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

He was weak and barely conscious. But somehow, he was still able to walk. He wasn't fully able to walk on his own. His feet dragged on the floor more often than stepping normally. In total nudity, the Witch, Virginia, Armsy, and the Worm all stared over at the couple.

"Always… always be prepared," Matthew mumbled, "expect the unexpected."

Matthew had somehow successfully cloned himself. It was the DNA from his original body that led to him resurrecting himself. His experiment was first of its kind to ever be successful at cloning a human. Sure there's been experiments performed on extinct animal species, but never before has it been carried out on humans… until now.

"I see Stitches— found the serum," Matthew mumbled as he continued to breathe heavily. Struggling to lift his head, he glanced to his right. Although he did that, he didn't need to say anything.

"Yes, they took the serum," she said in a soft, quiet tone.

"Good," Matthew responded with a faint and brief smile, then looking straight ahead to the Witch, Virginia, and Armsy. He overlooked the worms flopping sliding around on the floor. "Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to..to..A–," he was saying, cutting himself off by coughing down towards the floor.

"Allison," she introduced.

Elsewhere, Eric and Timmy had split with a few Marines. Leaving the others behind, they went their separate ways. Once a group of twelve members, only six Marines remain including the Commander himself. Helping Eric and Timmy escape was the other groups' concern. Keeping them safe was no longer their priority, but remained their mission.

"Sir, come in. Come in Commander. This is Captain Brown," the voice said through the over the shoulder radio the leader of this squadron was wearing. It was only him and one other Marine wearing a set of radios, but they had theirs set to different frequencies.

The hallway was lit sporadically, lights flickering here and there. Flashlights were still being used to navigate the never-ending corridors. The leading man of the squadron answered the call by pressing a button on the radio.

"Go ahead Captain, over," he said.

"Taking on heavy damage," the Captain said, "we won't last if we don't retreat soon. We're fighting a losing battle."

"Copy that Captain. We're on our way, over."

"Roger, on your way, over."

"We go in. Then we get out. Leave no one, understood?" the commanding Marine mumbled. They nodded their heads in response.

Ariel, standing behind one of the Marines, stared down the hallway facing left. Upon raising her arm and pointing down the hallway, the commanding Marin frowned and tilted his head slightly to his right. The five others all stepped out of his way, all looking down at Ariel.

"Bad monster," she mumbled.

Corporal Uri, the leader of the squadron, looked down the hallway. Right as he did, he saw a floating head quickly retreat behind the corner of the wall. That was Stitches trying to remain undetected and stealthy.

"Eyes peeled," Uri said, raising his gun. The others followed suit by raising their guns as well. There were now six flashlights shining down the hallway. Keeping their sights focused. "We have a stalker on our hands."

Meghan and the two albino cannibals back on the yacht, had pulled the sack bags up and off of Joseph and Talen's heads. They squint their eyes due to the bright light shining on them. Their eyes quickly adjusted to their new surroundings. At first, everything was a blur. No sight, only able to hear.

Meghan took a step back from them. They were sitting on the floor in a small bedroom, their hands chained to the legs of the bed. Duct tape had been placed over their mouths to prevent talking or alerting the nearby ships. With the lights being left on, wouldn't that itself sparked some sort of curiosity from the crew aboard both vessels? Nope! Think again.

Already pre-occupied with airbourne fighting, the yacht went unnoticed. The yacht was three or four miles out from shore, while the U.S.S Rodney and Maryland were only a mile and a half out from shore. Why and how are they so close to shore, you ask? The depth of the water was still deep.

"Imagine how disappointed my father would be if you'd escaped," Meghan said, "devastated. Angry. Ugh.."

Joseph and Talen just stared angrily over at her, breathing heavily through their noses. You could even say they were pissed… super pissed. After all the trouble they've been through, why'd she pretend to help them escape; to then only trick them and reveal her true intentions to them?

Walking back over to them, she grabbed a corner of the duct tape strips over their mouths, violently yanking them off their faces. A rectangular red shape quickly appeared where the tape was torn off.

"You have questions, I'm sure," Meghan said.

"Damn right we do… bitch!" Joseph shouted.

"Good," she responded with a smile, "ask away."

The two albino cannibals stood next to eachother, holding the sacks in their hands. They didn't move, muchless pay attention to Joseph and Talen. They acted as though Joseph and Talen weren't here.

"Wh–," Joseph said. Meghan had cut him off to begin explaining herself to them. Her intentions, why she did what she did. She could potentially hint at what's to come.

The time: 9:03A.M. There was a sliding door on the left and right sides of the bedroom. On the horizon, closing in from the southwest, four black objects were spotted. Their appearance only getting bigger the closer they got. It quickly became apparent as to what those objects were; fighter jets.

"Once ma and pa get here, we're leaving," she stated.

Talen perked his head up when he heard those two words "we're leaving." Not as nearly excited as one would be to hear that, he was feeling optimistic; hoping they'd finally be able to go home.

Was this trip a mistake? Yes! For one, Woody and Jeremy were brutally murdered. Woody's remains obliterated by the dynamite, and Jeremy's remains' whereabouts unknown. They hadn't know that the Red Man had repurposed Jeremy's corpse. In the end, Stitches was born. If only they'd listened to the warnings and rumors. Then they wouldn't have ended up where they are now. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

The plan was to camp out for the weekend, explore the island, and to encounter the rumored mutants and cannibals that roamed. Now, they could only check off two tasks, while crossing out the other one; the camping out for the weekend plan. Encountered a mutant? Yes, plenty. Explore the island? Yup, plenty of exploration.

These past two days haven't been the easiest of days, but they both somehow made it out alive. Eric and the people from the camp were credited with assisting them, keeping them safe and guiding them.

"Meghan Cross, daughter to Dr. Matthew Cruss. Who would've guessed. Damn, I should've known," Joseph mumbled quietly under his breath.

"Whatever stories you've read, or the amount of research you've done… it's inaccurate. The version of events you've been told were faked and changed.

"Then what really happened?" Talen asked.

"To begin, my mother and I never perished in a fire," she began explaining, "however, we caused the fire. But for good reasons."

"Reasons worth sharing, perhaps?" Joseph questioned, shrugging his shoulders. Meghan shook her head, scoffing and smirking.

"Not important," she said, "after my father was fired, he raged and acted out. It wasn't until after Sahara abandoned the island, that my father seeked revenge. To disappear and go off the grid, we plotted out how to fake our deaths."

"Go on," Joseph said.

That's when she suddenly realized that she was getting into more detail that she wanted to. So she stopped talking, ceasing to explain anything more.

Outside overhead, the six fighter jets zipped by. Their payloads being released from their wings. Instead of missiles, there were large oval-shaped containers. In them, the contents included napalm and other flammable liquids to help spread the napalm around more efficiently. The more damage, the better.

BOOM! BOOM, BOOM! BOOM! Those were the sounds of the napalm tanks exploding upon impact with the ground. Huge plums of smoke billowed up into the air above, igniting the nearby oak trees, bushes, and the cannibal houses and villages.

Joseph and Talen both began chuckling as Meghan watched the napalm spread like wildfire around the island. What her family called home for years, now going up in flames. The Cowman began running around in circles, squealing and roaring as it burned. Cannibals fighting on the ground did the same.

Before the napalm strike team arrived, almost all invading forces retreated back to their assigned ships. Rushing onto the beached landcrafts, they were transported back. Throughout the short-lived battle, both ships suffered heavy damage. Some dynamite had struck their intended targets. The boat decks on both ships burned in many places; thick and heavy black smoke billowing upwards into the air.

"Face it bitch, your family's lost," Joseph muttered. Meghan slowly turned her head to her left, looking down at the two of them. She tilted her head.

"Have we?" She asked, followed by a short chuckle and sinister smile.

Two Weeks Later…

July 20, 2022

| DailyNet News | – Two Weeks Later, Speculation Remains After Military Silence. President To Adress Congress On Operation Fiery At State of the Union Adress Tomorrow Night | Mysterious Creature Raised From Seafloor |

| July 20, 2022 – 8:45P.M |

| Updated 4:43P.M, 07/22/2022 By: Joy M. Patkins |

DailyNet News – Two weeks have passed since secret military operation was carried out eighty miles offshore. Information was not made public until the night of the invasion. Sources claim the Government had known about the threat on the island long in advance to their invasion.

Top Military Analyst Kimberly West explains in detail the thought process behind this operation. As for the public, a noticeable percentage of Americans disagree with the reactions of the Navy. Some disapprove, while others support the decision behind the operation.

Some details have been left unannounced, but why? We will continue to cover this breaking news story as more information becomes available or is attained. Check back soon.

| DaileyNet News – 1949-2022 – All Rights Reserved®. Subsidiary of U.S Central Broadcasting, Corp |

While news broke of the happenings of the recent military operation, back on the island things were looking bleak. Virginia, Armsy, the Witch, Matthew, Allison, and Meghan had all lived through the attack. As for the island itself however, it's a different story.

Charred, burnt to ash. Trees torched and burned. No vegetation remains. Only a charred landscape. Joseph and Talen were still being held captive on the family yacht. As for Meghan, Allison, and Matthew, they stood on the beach looking out at the endless, vast ocean.

Virginia, Armsy, Stitches, the Witch, the Bird, and the Worm were all standing on the beach. They kept their distance, watching the mutants.

"As far as we're concerned, we haven't lost. We can rebuild and restore what was destroyed. It'll take time, yes. For now, we wait."

"Wait for what?" Allison asked as she wrapped her arm around Matthew's right arm, resting her head on his shoulder. In his other hand, he held an empty syringe.

Looking down at it, he showed Meghan the name of the serum he had created for the mutants. She read the name aloud:

"Mutant Enhancement," she said. "What does that mean?"

"Once they were afraid of water," Matthew said, "but now…," he said as he nudged his head. He signaled to her that she needed to look down at the beach where the mutants were still standing around.

"That," he said, "look."

Virginia was the first to take a step closer to the water. Small waves continued to crash up onto the shore. The Witch, Armsy, Stitches, and the Worm all watched her take another step… and another. Then…

"Wait for it," Matthew said, "Look!"

Virginia took one more step forward. Only this time, she took her first step into the water...