Chapter 21

John's eyes slowly opened to a blurry figure standing over him. He sat up as he looked around to see that he was sleeping under a tree. He remembered he had been so frustrated that he didn’t want to go back to the bunker. Instead he decided to sleep on the outskirts of the city not too far from where the bunker would be.

He realized the person standing over was Diane, and she was wearing glasses. She had on a lab coat and appeared to be upset.   

“You ditched me yesterday, asshole. Also, why are you out here?" Diane asked angrily.

 John looked at her, confused. He didn't want to tell her about Shadow Wolf. He didn’t want to talk about his conflicted feelings.  

He sat silently as he took a moment to try and recall everything that happened.

“I didn’t feel like going to the bunker and I wanted to be alone."

“Somethings bothering you. So, what is it?

“It’s nothing to worry about…for now.”

Diane stared at him with annoyance in her eyes. She twister her lips as she glared at him, John shooed her away as sat up. He let out a loud yawn before climbing to his feet. 

“Yesterday when you left me I went to one of the Drex-corps facilities. I found a vial of both serums. I also found research on the berserkers as well, which has made things a lot easier for me. I need to see some of your cells to confirm something." 

John frowned at the fact he had willingly subjected himself to be her lab rat. He nodded as he followed her in the direction of the bunker. He followed her in silence before they made it to their destination. 

 Once inside he got reminded of the size of the bunker. It still amazed John because there were still areas he hadn't been to yet. Diane led him down a dark hall before stopping at a strange door. He watched as she placed her hand on a security scanner. The door slowly opened to reveal a laboratory that made John look around in awe.   

Diane led John down a hall then down a flight of stairs. He found himself facing a long corridor with different rooms. She walked toward the third room on the left. Then she pointed inside. 

John slowly approached and peered inside to see a chair. John became nervous as he reluctantly walked over to the chair to take a seat. Diane quickly got to work. She put gloves on her hands and grabbed a tray of tools. He then watched her remove some of the skin on his arm with a strange tool. She walked over to a microscope to examine what she had. After a moment, she walked back over to him and grabbed his hand. She cut the tip of his finger with a small knife, causing blood to seep out. She took a sample of his blood and walked away from him again. John watched as the mist appeared around his arm while the small wound closed. 

“Alright, so what exactly are you looking for, Dr. Lee?" John asked as he looked over at Diane.

She glared at him with an irritated look on her face as she folded her arms across her chest. John shrugged his shoulders as he looked around the room again.                    

“Don't call me that ever again. Anyway, when your cells are subjected to violently negative stimuli it regenerates, but each time there is an aggressive mutation. I watched the cycle three times just now. Honestly, I don't know if there is a cure for the berserkers. Also, I don't know what this means about you either." Diane said with a worried tone in her voice. 

John could see it in her eyes that she was afraid of something. He stood to his feet as he backed away from the chair.   

“What am I, Diane?" John asked as his hands began to tremble. 

He could feel this part of him buried deep inside trying to claw its way out.  There wasn't much in the world that scared him but inside of him was something he feared. He was starting to understand that the voice inside his head was a dark part of him. A part of him had been dormant until Estella nearly killed him. Maybe it awakened because he would have died that time for sure.   

“John, don't freak yourself out about this. Whatever you are doesn't matter because you are still a great person. Now about the berserkers, if I do it right, I could reverse engineer how your blood works in the serum. I wouldn't be able to make them human again, but I'd be able to make stronger superhumans." Diane said.

She placed her hand on her chin. John's anxiousness went away as he stared at her, feeling hopeful. He wanted to believe there was a way to save the people from being these creatures.

"Inevitably, there is no hope for them because humans won't accept them as people." John said in frustration as he threw his hands in the air.

Once again, John had lost hope because turning berserkers in high-class superhumans would be even worse. Diane slammed her hands down as she looked at the material in front of her. John walked over to her with reluctance as she stared at the two serums.                            

"When I figure this out, they'll have no choice." Diane said, sounding determined.

John placed his hand on her shoulder as she touched his hand. At this point, Diane had an idea of what to do, but John knew there was going to be more she needed. Reversing the effects of his cells on the human body wouldn't do much alone. He knew she would need something else to prevent an unstable reaction.

"Let's hope the world's not at war by then, Diane." John said, turning away from her. He heard 

Diane cursed under her breath as he walked over to the door. John figured it was best to start looking for the enemy again. They walked together in silence as they passed by Celina and Rena. Rena waved at John as he walked passed her. He didn't spend much time with her, and he knew people were after her. John knew that Dr. Lee said she was dangerous and needed protection. Unfortunately, he didn't know what he was protecting her from or whom. 

“Where are we going now?” John asked.

“Valentine Medical center.” Diane replied.

“What for?” 

They took no time getting to the exit and climbing out to the upper world. John took a deep breath as he started walking through the forest. After thirty minutes of walking, they emerged from the forest. On foot, it would take an hour to get to Valentine medical center.            

"You going to tell me what this is about?” John finally asked.

"People were trapped under that building four days after the incident. My guess is the task force only searched in the areas where rich people lived. Heard someone say a man with a mask saved some of them." Diane said.

John stared at her blankly wondering if this person could be Shadow Wolf. If so then what had been his intentions? How did he even know John in the first place. Too many questions with no answers.  

“So… are trying to get information on the guy with the mask?” 

“Yes! I don’t know if they were involved with the incident but what if they know who did it? Maybe they could help us somehow.” Diane explained.

“I don’t know about this…” 

The attack happened when his people arrived, so they had to be the ones that caused the explosions. They got downtown where he saw people walking to city hall. John ignored them as he crossed the street to get to the hospital.     

“I doubt we could hist walk in and expect to question…” 

“I bumped into Jazlyn yesterday. After talking with her I asked if she could let me talk to one of the survivors.” Diane explained.

“Okay…” 

John as followed Diane as she made her way to the door. John sighed as the doors slowly opened. They hurried down the hall as he looked around at the people marching past him. Patients were being taken to different areas of the hospital, which was a massive building. They saw Jazlyn standing pacing back and forth. When they got closer, John could see how much of a wreck she had become. He half expected that since he learned Octavius had been taken too.

“Hi…” she said meekly.

“I hope this won’t be too much trouble for you…” Diane said softly.

“Nothing matters anymore. The world is going to ruin. So come on along.” 

 “Who are we going to talk to about this masked person?” John asked.

"My old friend…" she replied.

 As they made their way down a hall they saw Gizmo with flowers.   He looked up at John with an annoyed look on his face. John glanced at Jazlyn to see if she knew why he was there. Gizmo marched down the hall toward John.

"What are you doing here?" He immediately asked. 

John stood silently for a moment, waiting to see if Gizmo would become annoyed. He knew if he pushed Gizmo enough, then he would lash out. After a moment, John realized Gizmo was remaining calm. 

"I came to see a friend, but why are you here?" John asked, stepping around Gizmo. Gizmo glanced at Jazlyn before he returned his attention to John.              

"I was coming to see Marianna, but she checked out this morning. She was driven off the road and had a severe panic attack. I've been trying to check on her since Melina was reported missing." Gizmo said, sounding worried. 

John held his breath for a moment as he started worrying about Melina again. It had been a long time since he saw Marianna, but he hoped they'd find her sister soon. He knew they were close, and if Melina was found dead, then Marianna would probably lose her mind.           

"When you see Marianna tell her I said hello. Also, don't be a dick because you know she hates that about you." John said as he continued down the hall. 

John's sense heightened as he got up from the desk, allowing him to smell the scent of death, and sickness everywhere. He hurried down the hall to see a door that had a sign of stairs beside it. John pushed the door open and looked up at the spiraling staircase.            

"Do you think Octavius is all right?" Jazlyn asked behind John.

He stopped and turned to see a broken woman. Diane tried to console her as her eyes were locked on John. He didn’t know what to say but he knew Octavius. He was tough and wouldn’t go down as easy. 

“He’s the toughest guy I know…If we don't find him, then he'll find his way out of whatever situation he's in." John said reassuringly.

 He turned to walk up the stairs. He sprinted as fast as he could until he got to the door that said the second floor. John held the door open for Jazlyn and Diane to walk through first. They peered down both ends of the hall to see that no one was around. He hurried to the room he was in to see someone laying down. Her skin was a pale color. The color of her hair was changing as well, and it made John worried. What happened to woman, he wondered as he walked over to her. She opened her eyes, revealing a surprised look on her face. Rayna grinned slightly as she struggled to sit up, which allowed John to see her wounds.                

"Hey, loser it's been a few months since I saw you!” Rayna said weakly as she stared at Jazlyn. 

Jazlyn walked over and hugged her friend but gently. "It's good to see you're doing okay loser." Jazlyn laughed.

"You know I'm a tough girl, John. The doctors say I should have a full recovery soon, but I think somethings wrong with me. Maybe I'm just overthinking things I guess." Rayna said staring at the window.

"I heard there was a guy with a mask that helped everyone get out of the collapsed building. By any chance, was he wearing a mask that resembled a wolf?" John suddenly asked.

The girl named Rayna looked toward him. She appeared slightly surprised. It seems as if she hadn’t even noticed that Jazlyn wasn’t the only one in the room with her. She shook her head, causing John to look at Jazlyn disappointed.

"I thought I was going to die under there, Jazlyn. The man saved me and so many others that were trapped under there. I saw you out there trying to help as well." Rayna said as she stared at Diane.

 “Take care of yourself, Rayna. I'll try to see you again when I can." Jazlyn said as Rayna pulled away while nodding her head. 

John shoved his hands in his pockets as he used his shoulder to push open the door to head downstairs. John got to see an old friend, but he still didn't have any information on Shadow Wolf. It was like he was searching for a ghost. The fact he didn't know what to do next made him furious. All he knew was that soon things were going to get worse, and he needed to be prepared.