The End - Visions of Apocalypse

James had told the remaining staff that he was going to notify security, and quickly escaped the administrative bay and its terrible video feeds. He had to find Major Thomsen; he had promised James protection and evacuation, if necessary. James told himself that Thomsen wouldn’t have left him, he was far too important to be left behind with the regular staff. Maybe if he repeated it enough times, he would believe it.

James heard a scream behind him; they had reached the admin bay, broken the security doors. Alarms went off overhead, flooding the passageway with amber light and a low-pitched siren call. Terrified, he ran for the outer bay door, sealing it shut behind him, ignoring the shouts and curses that sounded from beyond it. He didn’t look back as they started pounding on the fortified doors, not even when gunfire erupted.

Down two flights of stairs, he jumped into the elevator; James quickly unlocked the elevator console with a flick of his imprint, frantically pushed the Vault button. With a whisper, the elevator doors slid shut and James plummeted down into the earth.

* * *

The first human trials, isolated examples, went almost too well. Within minutes the cooked virus had circulated with the air in the sealed chambers, and then quickly bypassed the body’s defensive systems. It slowly and methodically went to work on the subjects’ brain functions.

The subjects did not initially show any effects, and they tested at or below normal response limits for several hours. Symptoms began to show into day two; low levels of serotonin, along with virus mutations affecting the prefrontal cortex, changed the behavior patterns of almost every subject. Symptoms included raised tension levels, an outward hostility towards others, violent shows of anger and degraded memory function.

* * *

With a soft lurch the elevator stopped at the vault level, and James pushed his way through the doors, silently hoping that no one had heard him. He briskly walked, as quietly as he could, aiming for the bunker. As he moved, the alert sensors began to flash, rotating red lights that ran along the top of the walls in the corridor. He quickly decided that he was moving too slow, and he sprinted up to the bunker door, which was sealed shut; a flick of his security imprint and the vault door pushed outwards, allowing him entry. He breathed a sigh of thanks that his rank and office had given him clearance to the vault.

James was surprised to see that the bunker had not yet been claimed by any brass, or any other administrative staff. The displays that hung over the command console were all powered down, waiting for the override commands that would bring the console - and its sensor and command interfaces - to life. A small vault off to the side was closed, but James knew that food and water would be inside, likely enough to last him decades; the emergency rations were meant for more than one person.

With a short huff of relief, he used his imprint to seal the steel door behind him, and entered an additional encrypted security code to block external access. He was all alone.

* * *