Read Online Mutation: Parables From The Apocalypse - Dystopian Fiction by Norman Christof - Free Book Online

traffic flow. Chaz was oblivious to those around him, intent on getting off this level. He ignored comments from those he pushed aside. Once he got to the elevator, he pushed himself to the front of the line and waited.
     
    A tall medical tech behind Chaz didn’t appreciate being bumped back in line. “Hey buddy, what do you think you're doing? We all have places to be, what makes you think your more important than the rest of us?” Chaz just turned and glared, while doing his best, to keep his clenched fist at his side. He took a deep breath, and turned back to wait for the elevator doors to open.
    The tech wasn’t satisfied. Tapping Chaz on the shoulder, he said, “Hey c’mon buddy, get to the back of the line. You can wait like everyone else.”
    Chaz turned again, grabbing the techs hand from his shoulder. He snapped the tech's wrist back, until the back of his hand almost touched his forearm. Everyone could hear the cracking of bone. The tech fell to his knees in pain, while others took a step away from Chaz.
     
    The elevators doors opened, and Chaz stepped inside. No one followed. Muffled groans and thumping could be heard coming from the ceiling of the elevator, but Chaz ignored it. He scanned the crowd for a moment, then pushed the close button on the elevator panel.
     
    As the doors closed on the elevator, the thumping from above increased, but Chaz was lost in thought. W hat’s my move here? My endgame has always been the eradication of those freaks, but now it seems my commander in chief says that isn’t so. Well, not really my commander in chief, more like his right hand man. But that’s really the same thing isn’t it? I’m a soldier that's supposed to follow orders, and at least until recently that was the thing to do. Now everything is getting muddled. The pounding on the ceiling got louder, and Chaz yelled back, “Shut the hell up. I’m the one that put you there, and I have no intentions of letting you out. You’ll have to find yourself another hero to come to your rescue.”
     
    Christa isn’t making things any easier. Sure she didn’t ask for any of this, but hell, neither did I. And it sucks if a kid has to pay the price for saving the world, but that’s a deal I’d make any day. It's the logical choice. Logic won't chase thoughts of her carved up and in tanks out of my head. Hell though, where she ends up isn’t my responsibility, and I can live with that. More or less. The pounding and yelling from above became even louder. It sounds like the damn ceiling is about to cave in.
     
    Chaz pushed the emergency stop button on the elevator. Pushing the access panel away, he pulled himself up into the elevator shaft and glared at his former prisoner the lab researcher, who now actually looked relieved to see him. Chaz hesitated for a moment, then punched the researcher in the face. The researchers nose bled profusely.
    Spitting blood he complained loudly, “What the hell was that for?”
    “You make too damn much noise, and if you don’t keep your voice down, I’ll hit you again.”
    The researcher went quiet. Chaz continued.
    “I need to know what they're going to do with the girl Christa. What do you know?”
    “I don’t know much. I just run lab work for her. Her results are like nothing we’ve ever seen before.  They're actually remarkable.”
    “Even more remarkable than patient zero?”
    “How do you know about patient zero?”
    Chaz made a fist. “I’m the one asking questions here!”
    The researcher coiled back. “Yes, totally remarkable, even more so than patient zero. Stronger, across the board. And her rate of change is quicker. Every day we test her, the results are stronger still. We’ve never seen a mutation move at this pace.”
    “What are they going to do with her after they bring her back?”
    “Bring her back? I didn’t even know they were going to let her go. I told you, I just do the lab tests. I don’t decide any of that other stuff.”
    Chaz