Necrocide

Chapter 45

WARNING: Brief graphic violence

TWO YEARS BEFORE THE OUTBREAK...

The day had finally come. The test subjects were finally being sent home.

Ares, Atlas, Hermes, and several other people were lined up in the hallway in front of the exit into the facility's garage. Groups of test subjects were sent off once every two weeks since March. Schaefer claimed they would be driven into Lancaster and offered one free train ticket to anywhere in England. Sounded promising enough.

It was even more promising for Ares since Lancaster was his hometown. And now with a free train ticket, he was thinking of going on a little trip with Sarah once he was reunited with her.

"That sounds lovely," Hermes replied, hearing Ares explain what he was going to do with his new freedom.

"What about you, old fart?" Ares asked. "What's the first thing you gonna do?"

"Well just like you, I actually have family in Lancaster."

"So I guess that's where all the geezers live now, huh?" Atlas chuckled. Even at almost twenty years old, he still had the mentality of a delinquent.

"As I was saying," Hermes groaned, "once I get back to Lancaster, I'm gonna find my daughter's fiancé and kick his arse."

Ares and Atlas's eyes widened in unison. "Well, that's great," Atlas added with an awkward grin.

"What about you, sprog?" Ares continued. "Where are you headed next?"

"Easy, mate. London. Gotta find my little brother after all these years."

"Both of you are determinators," Hermes chimed in. "That's admirable. In fact, would you like to take my ticket, Ares?"

"Do you really mean it, old timer?" Ares said, secretly touched by Hermes's kind gesture.

"Why not? Lancaster's my final destination, and with that extra ticket you can go on your little father-daughter bonding trip for free."

Hermes became one of a few people in the world who got to witness one of Ares's surprisingly charming smiles. "Cheers, mate," he said.

The doors to the next room slid open, revealing a wide chamber large enough to fit the entire group, with another set of doors at the opposite end. Fluorescent lights lined the edges of the ceiling, giving the room a dim green glow. Some of them even noticed there were more water sprinklers on the ceiling than anywhere else in the facility.

"There's always something in the way between us and the outside world," Hermes groaned.

Someone at the end of the group loudly cleared their throat. Ares looked back to see Bennington standing behind him.

"Gentlemen," Bennington greeted. "I'm glad to finally send you on your way home, but Ares, I need you to come with me."

"What for?" Ares asked.

"You've proven to be one of the Ambrosia Project's most successful candidates, easily recovering from every injury and—aside from one incident—never picking fights with the staff. We just need to run one more quick test on the nanites running exclusively through your bloodstream before sending you where you belong." He stepped out of the line and held his arm out towards the rest of the hallway. "So would you kindly follow me back to the advanced trial room?"

Ares took one more glance back at Atlas and Hermes, the three of them exchanged encouraging smiles before Atlas spoke. "Go ahead, mate. You're probably gonna get out faster than we are."