Barama Book 1 Epilogue

She sat alone in the dark room staring into the angry red blinking eye of the camera. It was a good thing she had night vision on it or she would not be able to do this. She took a deep breath, and swallowed hard. She owed the world this recording.

A few seconds passed before she spoke “My name is Stephanie Mc. Clark. My friends….” Her voice cracks over the word friend as a tear slides down her face. She looks away from the camera for a moment composing herself. “ My friends called me Jelly. Everyone I know is dead and it is my fault. If you are watching this I am so sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen. When the United States government forced me to do this I never thought this would be the results. I am or was rather contracted by the government as a government scientist. I was contracted when I was twenty-five. I had found the cure to everything. I doubt this entry will make it to the history books, and even if it does then I will probably be the villain of the story.” stopping again to fight back the tears. “ I owe the world an explanation, I need everyone to know how this happened.”

She looks away her breathing ragged and a soft sob escapes her lips as more tears run down her face. She takes a deep breath before starting again. “ Can you imagine being twenty-five and finding the cure of the century? So much for a “Prodigy” being smart. I had successfully cured cancer, Parkinson's, and MS.”

“When this had started I was so young and stupid newly eighteen and sure of everything. I had a theory after spending a summer in Japan studying the Turritopsis Dohrnii. I was in college at the time studying Marine Biology. But as I studied the Immortal Jellyfish I began to wonder if there was some way we could use their ability to reverse cell aging to cure some of our diseases. When they become sick they will go through a transformation called transdifferentiation where they change their cells and basically clones themselves in order to return to infancy.”

She stands and begins to pace the floor lost in her memories of long ago. “When I came home I was sure that these cells where all I needed. However my first few experiments went awry and did nothing at all. I had heard from a friend that there were plants in the Amazon that were reportedly miracle plants that could cure anything. So I went out there to see what I could find.” She laughs without humor at her memories. “So I went to the Amazons to find what else i needed for my experiment. I needed to finish this because I was sure I was onto something big. This would be the breakthrough of a lifetime; however that was not the case.”

She runs her fingers through her hair and shakes her head as her eyes go up at the ceiling. The camera barely makes out what's behind her. She sighs as a soft thudding sound comes from behind followed by grunting. She doesn’t seem to be bothered by the noise. The window behind her with a broken shutter shows pale light starting to filter through. “A friend from china said I should come there. He heard there was a rare flower blooming. The name was an odd one it was called Youtan Poluo which translates to an auspicious flower from heaven. I took it as a sign from the Gods that this must be what I was looking for. Reproducing the growth of the flowers proved difficult. But by the time i was twenty three I had the flowers growing in lab. They were so small it took a lot of them to get enough for a dosage. But the first results were promising but didn’t have the full effect I had been expecting. But after a few trial and errors we started getting results.”

She reaches down and picks something up and crosses her legs. She sets the object down in her lap and runs her hands up and down her thighs nervously. “So flash forward a few years to when I am twenty five and I am about to debut my new drug. We called it Heavens Fingers and it was going to be free. It cured everything, MS, Cancer, Parkinson's, anything that would normally kill you. Hell I am sure it would have cured aids.” Her voice fades and she looks up the sun is coming up and the night vision becomes blinding. You can hear her stand up and walk to the camera. A soft click and you can see the room in color. She sits down, her blonde hair over one shoulder looks dirty. She blinks her eyes a few times and they appear swollen and red. “ How long have I been talking?” Her voice is barely audible to the camera. She sits quietly for a moment, her tattered and stained shirt is almost falling off of her and barely holding on. Her skin is pale and dirty as she looks at the camera again.

“Anyway the government found out and decided to shut me down through the FDA. They came in one morning and took everything that was in the lab. I always keep my notes and research on me. So they didn't realize i had a few samples of the experiments and all the research in my home no one did. But that wasn't the point even if i redid everything and re-named it the government would still come in and get it. So I did something stupid. I ran to the white house and attacked the president. No one knows how I got in so easily. Because they couldn’t figure it out the President offered me a deal. Full market rights if I would do something for him. I agreed to his demands and for that I am so sorry.”

“I was working on his ‘Super Soldier’, you know the rumors are true. They wanted them to not feel pain, move fast, and require little sleep.” She shakes her head as tears slide down her cheeks leaving clean streaks. “I was sick with the flu I didn’t want to sneeze and contaminate the lab. So i stayed home…..I guess the government got impatient, some soldiers showed up and tried to take the unfinished experiment. My lab techs tried to stop them because it was not ready for human trial yet. The data said it would kill whoever ingested it. However they wouldn't listen, one of the soldiers knocked over a ton of equipment which caused a small explosion in the lab. No one knows what mixed with what but those who survived the blast--” A soft sob escapes her lips and she quickly covers her mouth remembering what happened next.

She goes quiet for awhile as she collects her thoughts. She stares past the recorder before exhaling a breath she didn't realize she was holding. “The news says that the survivors went crazy….. In the beginning we didn’t realize what had happened. I don’t think we have the full story nor will we ever have the full story. But the scientist and techs who survived attacked the doctors who were trying to help them. Those doctors and nurses then began to attack other people.” Her voice going hoarse. “ The paramedics and officers on scene also went crazy as well. At the time we didn’t understand what happened just that people had lost their mind. But later we discovered it was this green powder that was covering the victims and the scene. Touch it and it absorbs into your skin like some weird liquid, inhale it, ingest it. It makes you go insane your heart rate drops so low you can barely detect it, your adrenal skyrockets, your nerve endings go numb. You feel no pain you don't need to sleep. You just attack for the sake of attacking. You lose the ability to form words and your out of your mind. I have killed friends and family in order to survive.” She drops her head into her hands and goes silent for a long time.

She chews on her nails for a moment not looking at the camera. “We couldn’t have known what would happen. I was so angry at them for taking my work. All those years of research down the drain. How was I supposed to know?” mumbling incoherently she turns back to the camera. “It isn’t a bite that turns you, it's the chemical, we call it chemical Z-2-D. We don’t know what reacted to what. There were over three thousand chemicals in that lab and several thousand combinations on top of that.”

She looks at the camera smirking “How do you like your super soldiers Mr. President?” She shifts in her chair and raises up the gun. “I have killed a lot of people since this started. Headshots guarantee they go down. You know the irony is as a teenager I watched so many zombie movies and joked countless times about how I could survive a zombie apocalypse. I guess I got my wish.” She runs her fingers through her hair as she looks around the room.

“The chemical never goes away it just stays there; water doesn’t wash it away, heat doesn't melt it, cold does not freeze it. Try to avoid it at all cost. Animals are immune to it but they carry it on their fur. I just wanted to make my peace before I died.” She holds the gun to her head and pulls the trigger and the gun jams. She pulls the trigger two more times but nothing happens it just clicks and the recording ends.