Ark 3 - punishable crime

The next day the chief of B Base and some other important indivuduals gathered inside of the labaratory. The tables were pushed up to the walls and in the middle of the space the chairs formed a half circle to give every present human a place to sit. Among them were also Zhao Yang, Xu Dan and the head scientist.

Shu Ning stood next to Hu Jin on the other side of the gathered crowed and waited for everyone to settle down. This was the moment of truth. If things worked out the way it was planned then there was a chance for humanities survival. If not, then the protagonist could roam free once more and the likelihood of getting at the guy again were slimm. This was the last chance they would get.

"Thank you everyone for comming today. As the chief probably already told you all, we have developed our first prototype of a vaccine. It is not yet perfect, but it can fend off the virus in a newly infected person and heal a low level zombie. This, we are going to demonstrate to you all today and if it works as promised, there is no reason why we shouldn't be able to develop an even better working vaccine in the future."

After Shu Ning finished his little introduction, Hu Jin stepped forward and placed an inconspicious looking metal box on the ground. With ease he slid off the lid of the container, revealing two transparent tubes, wrapped in a black cotton cloth. With keen concentration the people watched as the male took out a syringe that had been taped to the lid and drew up the liquid into it.

With a nodd, Shu Ning signaled Nian Zhei to card in the metal cage. Up to this point it had been covered by a thin white sheet, resting quietly in a corner of the room and staying unnoticed by the assembled people. As soon as it got moved though, a growl resonated from beneeth the fabric and the restless moving of feet could be heard.

"Is that...?"

The chief nervously looked at the approaching cart, sneaking one of his hands underneath his vest to grab onto the army knive hidden there. The other humans were already clutching their own weapons in fright and only Zhao Yang still sat there with his legs leisurely stretched in front of him.

"Don't worry. The zombie can't break out of this cage."

Shu Ning calmly walked over to the confinement and pulled off the white sheet. A gastly grey hand shot out from between the bars, trying to grab his shoulder and making the bystanders gasp in horror. However, before the appendage could reach it's target he grasp onto it, holding it in a vice like grip.

Hurriedly Hu Jin poked the tip of the syringe into the zombie's arm and deposited all of the liquid inside of it. With a wrathfull screech the creature jumped backwards and hissed at humans before suddenly falling silent.

A few minutes later the undead crumbled onto the ground, it's body twitching and it's chest rearing up from the ground in a pained howl. The zombie's limbs started flailing around and from time to time the nails created an earpiercing sound as they clawed for purchase on the metal cage's floor.

After half an hour the creature stopped moving entirely, only growning in pain from time to time as the color of it's skin turned from a pale gray towards a pale brown and the sharp finger and toe nails fell onto the ground to give space to the more human version of it. When the transformation was done and the captive's chest started rising and falling with every breath he took, the present humans erupted in an excited cheer.

Nian Zhei bend down in front of the metal bars to feel for the person's puls and when he found it he smiled at the chief in relief. This affirmation made Xu Dan's face turn ashen in an instance and with a fierce glare he turned towards the head scientist who was still looking at the cage in obvious bewilderment.

"Please give me your attention once more. I know that you are all very thrilled about our success today, even if it is just a small win against the onslaught of zombies in the world. But I must sadly inform you this here could have gone so wrong instead."

With a theatric pause Shu Ning ruefully glanced at the head scientist before moving his gaze onto Xu Dan. Realization dawned on the latter's features and for a moment he was frozen in place, just staring back into those indifferent eyes. When he finally pulled himself together again he noticed two well build men approaching his and Bancho's chair from behind, placing a hand on each of their shoulders in warning.

Xu Dan couldn't help but flinch as the male's fingers dugg themselves deep into his flesh and was just about to utulize his water abilities in defense when he felt another pair of dark eyes upon him. Glancing towards his right he saw Zhao Yang leaning back into his seat, casually playing with a small purple light in his palm while keeping his gaze trained on Xu Dan.

"Hu Jin and I have created two sets of solutions for this day which have been kept in two different locations. One we put into the labaratorie's safe and the other we gave to Zhao Yang for safekeeping. That's also the one we used for the demonstration in the end. The one in the safe was coated with a transparent gel which turns purple when touched by sunlight. Now, Xu Dan and head scientist, please bring your hand's over here, so that I can look at them."

Zhao Yang stood up from his seat and grabbed Xu Dan's arm to drag the boy forward. When he turned around to do the same to the head scientist, Bancho was already on his feet and following the directions without fuss. With quick fingers he unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled up the sleeves untilll they rested just above his elbows, revealing dark purple fingertips and a lighter purple colour travelling all the way towards his wrists. Xu Dan's skin was an even darker shade, coating the entire palm in a dark hue.

"So you see. They touched the tubes stored in the Labaratory without our permission. That of corse does not mean that they tempered with them. But if you look closely at the solution, you can see that there are small bubbles floating inside, which should not be the case and I'm very sure that the liquid responsible for this change can be found with the head scientist. Also with a purple colour."

Xu Dan started to scream bloody murder at Shu Ning's face and pulled fruitlessly at his arms still in Zhao Yang's grasp. The boy even tried to twist his body around to bite at the offending apendage without success. With a stormy expression the chief directed some of his people to take the struggling male from his son and then turned his glare towards the head scientist.

"Search him!"

"There is no need chief. I confess everything."

As Bancho had been feeling guilty over this matter the whole night and barely slept a wink, it hardly needed a push to bring him to crumble. So with a ruefull smile on his face the head scientist plopped down onto the ground and recounted everything that had happenned from the moment he had met Xu Dan on the streets.

After the man had finished his explanation he slummed on the spot in exhaustion and didn't argue when someone lifted him up by the arms and dragged him out of the room. Xu Dan's arms and legs had to be restrained by ropes first before he could be safely carried towards the elevator himself. A few seconds later the screaming and whaling grew quieter and quieter untill it could barely be heard anymore.

"Wei Shi, please get that human out of the cage and clear things up for him. Let Hu Jin check him out once more as well."

Shu Ning looked over to the cage the chief was gesturing at and noticed a pair of confused eyes look back at him. The young man was sitting upright now, only clad by a pair of ripped trousers and tightly gripping the bars. With a guilty shrug Shu Ning walked over to the human and knelt at his side, directing Hu Jin to follow suit.

While those two were busy filling in the new addition of their Base, the chief grabbed his son's shoulders to draw his attention away from the kneeling figure. With a startle Zhao Yang turned his gaze towards his father in question.

"Son. This is getting a bit rediculous. Everyone can tell that you fancy Shi Wei quite a bit, but you have not yet made a move. Life is short, especially in the appocalypse, so don't let this opportunity go to waste. Go and chace that boy before it's too late. My blessing you already have, alright?"

"Father, I.."

"Nah. No excuses. Shi Wei is a strong and intelligent young man. You won't find another one as good as him in this lifetime."

"I know, Father. But he has a son..."

"A son, yes. But no wife or girlfriend. And even if he is straight, so what? There are not many girls left anymore, so it isn't strange for guys to pair off instead. Listen to your father and pursue him, ok? Shi Wei likes you and his son likes you as well. That gives you a good advantage."

"Hmm. Ok."

Zhao Yang's gaze travelled back towards the cage where Shu Ning had just opened the door and was now helping the still weak human climb out. With the help of Hu Jin they managed to support the male all the way towards a chair where the guy slummed in on himself again.

Shu Ning left the ex-zombie in Hu Jin's care and was just about to walk over to Zhao Yang's side when the door of the elevator opened and a small person came barelling towards him. Seeing the child stumble over it's own feet and almost fall face first onto the ground he darted forward to scoop the other up from the ground and into his arms. In response Shi Yong burried his head into Shu Ning's neck and clutched onto the latters clothes in a vice like grip.

Gasping for breath Shi Juan also came running over and worriedly glanced at the sobbing child. When he stayed silent for too long, Shu Ning impatiently raised his eyebrow at the other in question while soothingly rubbing Shi Yong's back.

"A-Yong had a nightmare. He didn't want to tell me about it and just begged me to bring him to you."

"Papa.... Papa.... You can not leave me. Don't leave me alone."

Teary-eyed, Shi Yong lifted his face to look at his caretaker while repeating those last words over and over. After some time Shu Ning lowered his head to place a gentle kiss on the child's forhead and comfotingly pet the younglings hair.

"I won't leave you, sweety. Whenever I have to go and do my job I will always come back again, ok? There is no need to worry."

"But, but.... In my dreams there were monsters and they were eating Papa. Then Papa couldn't come back anymore and I was all alone again."

"But I'm still here, right? What you saw was just a dream and not reality. I won't let those monsters eat me and I promis to always return to you."

"I will also make sure that he comes back to you, little one. I promis to always protect him, alright?"

Zhao Yang left his father's side to move closer to the distressed child and earnestly looked into Shi Yong's eyes. With a happy smile the latter used one of his hands to grap the other's coat and pull him closer so that he could throw his arms around both of the adults. Almost tipping over from the sudden tug at his clothes, Zhao Yang stabilized his body by wrapping one of his arms around Shu Ning's waist and place the other against the nearby wall.

For a second Shu Ning just stared into the other male's eyes, feeling slightly dizzy. Then he realized that the vertigo he thought he was feeling actually came from the trembling ground. A low rumble seemed to be passing through the stone underneath their feet and the air around them suddenly pressed down on them, making it harder to breath. An ominous feeling spread inside of the room.

"The zombie king is born."

With a  chocked out wisper the ex-zombie's face paled in horror. Shortly afterwards his eyes roled into the back of his head and he unconciously dropped onto the floor.