Page 2 of Marked Omega

I wait until Dr. Lucian has turned back around in his seat to face the front. Then I lean forward, my mobility restricted by this uncomfortable suit, and I rifle through the satchel that is stowed under my seat. After a bit of frantic digging, I finally find what I’m looking for.

My small, rattling pill bottle of nihiloxin tablets.

I can feel Sara eyeing me as my clumsy, gloved fingers struggle with the child-proof lid, but I don’t care. Yeah, I’m a desperate nihiloxin addict. So sue me. Half the population is addicted at this point, so it’s hard to be too embarrassed about it.

Hell, the government practically encourages the use of nihiloxin at this point. Along with its sedative effects, it has the side effect of inhibiting sexual urges. In the government’s view, that’s a good thing, considering the rampant overpopulation that’s stretching the hive city’s resources to their limits.

Once I manage to get the stupid bottle open, I shake one small purple tablet into my palm and knock it back. It is chalky and bitter on my tongue, and I swallow it back without water.

As I’m about to put the pill bottle back into my satchel, Sara touches my arm.

“Can I get one of those?” she whispers.

I pass her a pill, trying to be as discreet as possible about it.

Almost immediately, I can feel the relaxing effects of the drug washing through my body. It doesn’t erase my terror about venturing into the quarantine zone. It just dulls it. It doesn’t negate my fear of getting eaten alive, or worse. It just makes it seem…like it doesn’t matter all that much.

It helps me detach, like I’m watching everything happen to somebody else in the third person. When it comes to the soul-crushing existence of daily life in the hive cities, a lot of people find this drug very useful.

Settling back into my seat, my mind now slightly at ease, I remind myself why I’m doing this.

Eva.

The reason I’m here is Eva. She was my best friend at SynerGen Labs. In fact, she may have been my only friend.

Shit, I need to stop thinking about her in the past tense. She may still be alive.

Eva went missing several weeks ago during a previous top-secret excursion into the zone. The mission was so secret, in fact, that I haven’t been given any details about it. All I know is that Dr. Lucian was present on that mission too, and Eva was accompanying him as his assistant, just as Sara and I are accompanying him now.

I remember when Eva confided in me that she would be going on an excursion into the zone. I thought she was crazy for doing it, but I suspected the professor’s winning smile had helped persuade her.

Or even more likely, he threatened her job if she didn’t go along. It’s hard enough for a woman to find anything better than menial work these days, and lab assistant is an extremely prized position. I have little doubt that Dr. Lucian used that leverage to cajole Eva into making the trip.

Now she’s gone missing. And now I’m the one going into the zone like a damn fool.

I wish I could say I’m not second guessing my decision now. I wish I could say that I’m that courageous girl who fearlessly charges into harm’s way to save her friend, no matter the cost. But the truth is I’m scared shitless.

Oh well, at this point, the decision has been made. There’s no turning back.

Still, I can’t help wondering why on earth a pair of lowly corporate research assistants like me and Sara would be brought along on a rescue mission. In my case, it’s even weirder considering my skill set. Yes, I work in the biotech sector, but my area of expertise is with computers, designing programs to run data analysis operations. I’m hardly a field researcher.

Dr. Lucian simply claimed that he needed someone to assist him during the mission, but that just raises another question…

Why is a corporate biotech expert participating in a rescue mission?

When I questioned him about it, he told me that it is standard protocol to bring a scientific expert on every excursion into the quarantine zone.

But I’m starting to wonder if I can trust anything that man says.

All that talk about the protective armor of our vehicle and the big strong security troopers who will defend us against the mutants? That’s all well and good. But obviously it wasn’t enough to keep Eva safe.

The comm unit on the vehicle’s front console crackles to life, startling me out of my thoughts.

“This is Vigilance Station Thirteen,” a stern, militaristic voice comes over the speakers. “Identify yourselves. Over.”

Commander Bishop takes one massive, black-gloved hand off the steering wheel and reaches over to the console to depress a large green comm button there.

“Copy, Vigilance Station, this is Sword of Fire, embarking on Directive Sixty-Six. Request entry to the quarantine zone. Over.”