Ch 4:Mr President

In just a few minutes, the creature devoured the man's entrails completely. Its hands and mouth were drenched in blood.

Carter had fought and won many battles, seen countless bodies, and never flinched. But the scene he just witnessed—a man attacking another, eating him alive—sent shivers down his spine.

No sound escaped his mouth. He was so paralyzed by fear that if he made a noise, the creature might turn on him next. For a minute, he didn't even dare to breathe, shaken to his core. He once didn't know what fear was, but now he'd forgotten what courage felt like.

the room fell into a deathly silence, broken only by the sickening sound of the creature tearing into the body's flesh.Carter pulled himself together from the deep shock and slowly turned toward Lex, his eyes burning with anger and hatred.

"Y-You… what have you done, you crazy psycho bastard? You let an innocent man die at that thing's hands! I swear… I swear I won't let you get away with this! Just untie me once!"

Carter shouted furiously at Lex, struggling futilely to free himself. The ropes dug into his wrists, leaving marks and drawing a little blood.

"Mr. Carter, remember you're my prisoner. I made that man die the way I wanted, and you can't do anything to me," Lex said, his voice laced with anger and a clear warning.

"You piece of shit! If he did something wrong, the government's laws would've punished him. You committed murder today, and I'll make sure you pay for it!" Carter was furious. In his entire life, he'd never met a psychopath as twisted as Lex, and now even he was starting to fear him.

"Shit… I was a fool to reason with this psycho, begging him to let me go.If I refuse to work with him, will he do the same to me? "

Gulp...

Carter's mind raced, desperately trying to figure out how to keep himself safe.

"One… two… three…"

Carter snapped his head toward Lex, panic rising again as Lex started counting. He couldn't make sense of what was happening.

" Nine .....ten .... eleven....."

"What's this bastard doing now?" he thought, bewildered. A psycho who knew everything about the virus, who'd just orchestrated a murder, was now casually counting as if nothing had happened.

"Hey… what disgusting thing are you planning now?" Carter demanded.

Lex ignored Carter's words, his eyes fixed on the glass room, continuing his count.

"Twenty… twenty one …"

"What the.....Hey, you bastard, I'm talking to you!" Carter shouted.Lex ignored him, keeping up the count.

"...forty five .....

fifty …fifty one …"

"Why the hell is this psycho counting? Is something else about to happen?" Carter's fear of the unknown surged, sensing something even worse was coming, though he couldn't grasp what.

And finally

"One hundred and twenty ."

As Lex reached last counted then a movement stirred inside the glass room. The man who'd been dead began to twitch, and guttural sounds came from his mouth.

"Grrrrr… grtttrrr…"

Suddenly, the corpse came to life, but it didn't behave like a human anymore. It moved like the first infected man had, rising unnaturally as if controlled by puppet strings.

It had transformed into the same bloodthirsty monster that had attacked the other man. Shockingly, the creature didn't attack this new monster, as if the two had become allies—bloodthirsty fiends united.When Carter saw the corpse rise, another shock hit him.

"H-Hey… hey… what the hell just happened? Why is that dead body alive, and why did it turn into that dangerous thing? Does this virus have the power to reanimate the dead and control them?"

Carter couldn't tell what was real or a nightmare. It felt like a dream where anything could happen, and what was unfolding before him seemed impossible.

"Hey, I need to know—if that thing infects someone, do they turn into the same monster?" Carter asked.

Lex turned to Carter and said, "Well, you guessed right this time."

"Then let me go, you bastard! This is too dangerous! The military has to stop these monsters from spreading at all costs. If we don't, humanity is doomed!" Carter finally understood how lightly he'd taken the virus. A deep regret welled up inside him, and he resolved to stop its spread no matter what.

"There's no hope now, Mr. Carter. What you've seen here will spread exactly like this. In a few hours, this virus will infect thousands. In two weeks, it'll infect millions.

In two months , 40% of the world's population will be consumed by it," Lex explained to Carter, outlining the dire future.

Carter understood the truth in Lex's words, but he refused to give up. Even if there was a one percent chance of success, he wanted to try.

"If you won't untie me, fine. Just let me make one call," Carter said, his voice deadly serious.

"Alright, you still think you can control this situation? Go ahead and try," Lex said, untying one of Carter's hands and handing him a phone.

As soon as the phone was in his hand, Carter quickly dialed a number and made the call.A few seconds later, someone picked up, their voice trembling with fear.

"H-Hello?"

"Mr. President, we're facing an international threat. This virus is extremely dangerous. Issue an order to the National Attack Force immediately—shoot anyone infected with this virus on sight. Hurry, there's no time!" Carter didn't bother introducing himself, diving straight into the urgent message, ignoring the fear in the other voice.

"A-Are you Mr. Carter…? Ughh… ugff…"

"Mr. President, what's wrong?" Carter asked, noticing the fear and pained moans in the voice.

"Ughhh… Mr. Carter, it's nothing, just a minor injury. I've already issued the order to the Attack Force," came the response.

"Oh, thank God… Mr. President, you and your family stay inside the house until I can get there. Don't leave under any circumstances," Carter urged.

"Ughhhh… urghh…" Only pained groans came from the other side.

"Mr. President…?" Carter pressed.

"I'm… fine…" the voice replied weakly.

"Mr. President, how did you get injured?" Carter asked, sensing something was terribly wrong in those pained sounds.

"…"

"What's going on? Why is the President responding so slowly in such a critical situation?" Carter's fear grew, sensing something was gravely wrong with the President.

"Hello… Mr. President…?"

"Argghhh… argghhh…"

The pained groans grew louder from the phone, and Carter recognized the President's voice.

"Mr. President, are you okay?" Carter asked desperately.

"He's not okay," Lex interrupted.Carter's heart raced.

"What do you mean?"

"That he's infected," Lex said.

"T-That's impossible! The President's house has tight security. No one can get in from the outside!" Carter insisted, desperately wanting to believe his own words. Part of him had already accepted Lex's claim, but he couldn't fully trust him yet.

"What if it was one of his family members?" Lex asked pointedly.At Lex's words, the phone slipped from Carter's hand.

He realized instantly that one of the President's family members must have visited ICENTRICA, likely among those 700 cruise passengers, and was now fully infected at home. They must have attacked the President, infecting him.

"Urghhh… ughh… Mr. Carter, forgive me. I don't think I'll make it. My son killed my wife, and she was infected. And my wife infected me."… I don't know how much longer I'll stay conscious… but I've done everything I could… ughhh… arghh…" the President's voice came through, weak and pained.Carter's heart sank as he heard this.

"Hello… Mr. President… don't give up! Hide somewhere safe, inform your doctors, and wait for them. Maybe they'll find a cure for this virus!"

"No use, Mr. Carter… ughhh… I've seen how dangerous this virus is. Creating an antidote right now is impossible… urghhhhaaa…"

"Grrrrrrrttrrrr…"

"He's turned into one of them," Lex said, pointing toward the glass room.

When Carter heard the guttural growl through the phone, only one phrase escaped his lips: "TARCIA is finished." With that, he collapsed, unconscious, overwhelmed by exhaustion, stress, and the shock he couldn't handle.

"Grrrrrrrrtttttt… graaaaaarrrrrr…" The call hadn't disconnected. Lex picked up the phone from the floor and ended it.

"Oh, man, you carried so much responsibility for TARCIA. Now it's time to retire," Lex said, looking at Carter's unconscious form with mock pity.