Mutation (Twenty-Five Percent Book 1) Read Free Page A

fire door.
    “It works for me.  I hope Parker lets me in when he questions him tomorrow.  There’s something that really bothered me about him.”
    “You mean apart from him being able to kick your...”
    “He was fast,” Alex said, feeling defensive.  “And he had that steel rod.  I took him down.”
    “Yes, you did.  Eventually.”
    “How about we declare this topic of conversation closed?”
    “Alright, but I reserve the right to reopen it as required.”
    As they reached Leon’s door, it opened and Emma bounded out past her mother. 
    “Nice moves, Dad,” she said, grinning.  “You too, Alex.”  She held out her small fist.  Alex smiled and bumped it with his own.
    “You two okay?” Patrice asked, studying her husband for wounds.
    “Hunky dory, Pat,” Leon said, leaning down to kiss her cheek.  “I’m hunky, he’s dory.”
    “You wouldn’t think that would still be funny after the hundredth time,” Alex said.  “And I’m fine, Patrice, thanks for asking.” 
    He dropped down onto one knee and smiled at four year old Katie who was standing behind her mother’s legs.  He made a face and she laughed, running into the hallway and throwing her short arms around his neck.  He scooped her up and stood. 
    “I’m going to have to commandeer this child for hugging purposes,” he said.  “Official police business.”  He kissed her forehead and she giggled.
    “Yeah, you won’t be so keen when she wakes you up in three hours,” Patrice said, holding out her arms.
    Alex handed Katie over and waved to her.  She waved back. 
    “See you tomorrow,” Leon said.
    “Bye, Alex,” Emma said, following her father inside.
    “Bye, Em.”
    Alex wandered back into his own empty flat, locked the door, and headed into the kitchen for a snack.

2
     
     
     
     
    It began thirteen years ago.
    A new contagion, named after Julien Meir, the doctor who first identified it.
    No-one knew where Meir’s Disease came from.  The theory was an old virus got smart, found a new way of transmission, a more effective way to infect new victims.  It wasn’t the first use of mind control amongst infectious organisms, there were certain fungi that could bend insects and other creatures to their will in order to spread their spores.  But a virus controlling humans?  Nothing remotely like it had ever happened before.  It took the medical world by surprise.
    Symptoms began to manifest four to five days after initial infection.  Core temperature increased to 105°F within a few hours.  The virus released a previously unknown toxin that affected the brain and turned the irises almost white.  Night vision sharpened, as did sense of smell.  Strength increased to between two and three times that of the average human male, in both sexes, a combination of the adrenal gland going into overdrive and a rapid wave of breakdown and rebuilding of the muscle tissue.  Metabolism increased.  Brain function diminished steadily to a complete loss of personality and intelligence.  
    One single drive remained - hunger.  But those afflicted with the disease would eat only one thing.
    Human flesh. 
    Without it, the infected would die of starvation within a month.  With it, as far as anyone knew, they could go on indefinitely. 
    Those who had been infected and turned became known as “eaters”.
    The first cases caused havoc, before the authorities rapidly introduced strict measures to control the infected.  If the gestation period had been shorter, there was a very good chance that the human race would have been lost. 
    Transferred through bodily fluids, including bite, the infection rate was one hundred percent.  The death toll was high at first, but it was quickly brought under control, in the more industrialised nations.  The disease, however, spread across the globe, with a few remote islands the only places to escape the pandemic.  The method of control of the infected varied across the world depending on the