Herbert ran past Chloe to where the Colonel now stood. Bronn had removed his jacket and had a needle and one of the red IV bags. He gritted his teeth, in obvious pain but still proceeding. He was feeding the werewolf serum into his arm, squeezing the IV bag to force it in as fast as possible. Herbert skidded to a stop in front of him, going to his knees and putting his hands over his face at being too late to stop him from injecting himself.
Jackson shifted Blake's weight onto Chloe, stepping forward to face the Colonel. Quent was right behind him. Their faces were hard and ready for a fight. If that red substance had made Blake and his friends into werewolves, Chloe could only imagine what it was going to do to the Colonel. It made her shudder to think of the possibilities. She started walking her brother toward the back of the room, grouping the three new Weres together and hoping they would be able to protect themselves from whatever the Colonel was going to change in to.
Colonel Bronn let out a sinister laugh. "I can feel it!" He flexed slightly, the veins in his arms and neck pulsing. "The strength! The power!"
Jackson licked his lips and growled. Quent's eyes already glowed. The Colonel looked at them and laughed again. The red bag was already almost completely emptied into his system. His eyes were turning red, as though he were a demon summoned from the pits of hell. Herbert sat on his knees, looking up at the mutating Colonel with fear in his eyes.
The red bag was empty. The Colonel roared, raising his arms above his head. The seams on his shirt split open as his muscles expanded. He ripped the IV from his arm, flinging it across the room where it landed with a splat. Little red drops fell to the floor as though it had been murdered.
The Colonel growled, rolling his shoulders and feeling the fire of the serum rip through his veins. He howled his dominance, taking a step toward the shaking Herbert.
One step was all he took. The Colonel's body shuddered, and he shook his head. He tried to move, but his body refused to respond. A look of panic passed through his eyes before they rolled up in his head and his body collapsed.
He was dead before his head hit the floor.
Herbert shook his head at the dead man, sadness in his voice. "I told you, the serum will only work on those with the gene."
The room was silent except for the hum of the lights and the computer. Chloe clung to her brother, unsure of what was going to happen next. Everything already felt like a dream, so she was mentally preparing herself for the Colonel to come back to life as dream monsters always seemed to do.
Herbert rose from his knees. His shoulders slumped forward for a moment, but then seemed to find an energy. He turned, squaring them before facing Jackson and Quent. He took a set of keys from his pocket and undid the ring, pulling a brass car key from the set. He handed it to Jackson.
"That goes to the supply van outside that door. Get them away from here. I'll take care of things," Herbert told him.
Jackson took the key and slid it into his pocket. "What are you going to do?"
Herbert looked back at the fallen Colonel. He seemed less afraid now that the man lay dead at his feet. "He was the only one who knew the true extent of the experiments. He wanted all the glory, so he made sure to keep the exact reasons for my research a secret." Herbert turned back to Jackson and Quent.
"As far as the government knows, I was working with these soldiers, of their own accord, to work on healing and regeneration via the Lycan gene. There is going to be a tragic accident that will destroy the servers with the information and the entire supply of the cross-gene formula." Herbert looked down at his hands.
"And that will keep them from investigating?" Quent asked.
Herbert nodded. "As far as anyone will know, the experiment was a failure. The Lycan gene is just junk DNA and trying to activate it is a fruitless endeavor."
"What about him?" Jackson pointed his chin toward the Colonel. Herbert turned to look at the dead man with pity.
"The truth. He didn't believe me and took some of the formula himself."
Jackson and Quent looked at one another, their eyes holding a silent conversation. Herbert took a deep breath and walked past them, going to one of the filing cabinets along the wall. He punched in a code, unlocking one of the files and pulled out a USB drive. He held it in his hand for a moment, then wrapped his fingers around it and turned to the two me.
"On this drive is everything I learned. It's the only copy." Herbert took a step and opened his hand, offering the USB drive up to Jackson. Jackson took it carefully from the scientist's hand and placed it in Quent's.
"What about the Council?" Quent asked, pocketing the research.
"I will submit myself to them at the next moon," Herbert said. His voice held a dead calm. Quent nodded his approval.
Herbert nodded and walked over to one of the tanks. He hit a button and it filled halfway with water. The scientist closed his eyes, moving his lips as though saying a prayer, and then pushed the tank over. The heavy cylinder fell with a horrible crack that made Chloe jump. Water splashed out of broken glass, lapping up against the other two tanks. Electricity began to jump from the cords to the water, humming and buzzing with destruction.
"We need to get out of here before anyone comes asking questions," Jackson said, turning around to face Chloe and the three soldiers. They both stepped forward, careful to avoid the sparking water. Jackson put a hand on Herbert's shoulder in a quiet gesture of understanding. The man didn't respond, just staring at the complete loss of his life's work.
Quent lifted the blonde soldier's arm over his shoulder while Jackson did the same with the other. Chloe held onto her brother, coaxing him forward with small steps. They reached the door to escape out of the lab and Chloe looked back. The lights flickered slightly as the computers continued to short circuit. The last thing she saw before they disappeared out into the night was the back of Herbert's white lab coat as he destroyed his work.
Chapter 26
Chloe struggled under her brother's weight, but she didn't slow down. She followed Jackson and Quent as they carried the other two soldiers down a short, dark hallway and out into the snow. Jackson found the van easily enough, and they quickly pushed the tired soldiers into the back.
The cold night air burned her lungs as she gasped for air. It wasn't just the exertion from carrying her brother that had her gulping down mouthfuls, it was every
thing that had happened in the past thirty minutes. She glanced at her watch, shocked that it had been less than a half hour for everything she had just seen to happen. Thirty minutes ago, she was still looking for her brother and the Colonel was still alive.