‘And something did go wrong,’ said Paul.
‘I’m coming to that. The project was designated The Phoenix Project and from the beginning things went well. We made some marvellous breakthroughs and soon realised that we might actually be able to achieve what Brinkstone wanted. To be honest, most of us scientists were just humouring him at the start and looked upon the project as an opportunity to carry out experiments we couldn’t do anywhere else.
‘What we came up with was an artificial gene — a genetically engineered, all-purpose package of DNA capable of overriding the genetic code of the host body and enabling it to adapt suddenly to drastic changes in the environment. We called it the Phoenix unit. Basically you could describe it as a genetic repair kit. The idea was that people carrying Phoenix within their cells would survive a lethal dose of radiation because the unit would alter their metabolism accordingly. In a sense it would provide instant evolution…’
‘And you actually made this new gene?’ asked Mark. ‘Yes. In fact that was the easy part. The difficult bit was in finding a way of incorporating it into a host body. The plan was for it to spread through a body from cell to cell like a virus but, of course, there was the problem of rejection. Like any virus the Phoenix unit set off the host organism’s immune system. Somehow we had to build into Phoenix an adaptable set of antigens which would keep changing and not allow the host’s antibodies to bind onto Phoenix and destroy it.
‘This shouldn’t have been an insurmountable problem as some viruses possess this ability naturally but it began to seem as if we would never solve it. We made countless versions of Phoenix and tested it on different species of animal and in every case Phoenix was either rejected or provoked the host’s auto-immune system into such a violent reaction it died before Phoenix could complete its attachment to the nucleus of each cell…
‘It began to look as if the project was going to be a failure but then, unexpectedly, we found a species where everything worked as planned. Phoenix was able to overcome the creature’s simple immune system and incorporate itself into the chromosomes. This meant we would be able to study Phoenix in action and move onto the next stage, which was to devise a version suitable for use in humans. But then… then…’
A shadow passed across her face and her voice died away. Mark was reminded of the way Shelley had looked the previous night.
‘Something went wrong?’ prompted Paul.
‘Wrong?’ she repeated dazedly. ‘Yes. Wrong. Very wrong.’
‘This creature, the one that accepted Phoenix. What was it?’
She didn’t answer. Instead she turned and stared fearfully at the door. ‘It’s coming,’ she whispered.
Both men automatically looked at the door. Mark couldn’t hear anything but the tone of her voice made his skin crawl with atavistic fear.
‘What’s coming?’ asked Paul urgently.
She stood up quickly. ‘I’ve got to get away. You stay here. You’ll be safe here. It’s me it’s after…’ She began to hurry towards the door. Paul leapt to his feet, snatched up the M16 and followed her.
‘Wait, don’t go!’ he cried, making a grab for her arm. What happened next was totally unexpected. The girl spun round, grabbed the M16 out of Paul’s hand and then gave him a shove in the chest. It didn’t look a very hard shove to Mark but to his amazement Paul literally few backwards through the air. He landed on the rack of video tapes which tipped over and hit the floor with a loud noise. Fearing the worst Mark rushed to him but was relieved to see that Paul was still alive. Obviously winded by the impact he was gasping for breath. As Mark helped him to sit up he choked, ‘The girl… stop her.
But it was too late. Even as Mark turned he saw the door closing and heard a distinct click. He ran over to it and found, as he expected, it was locked. ‘Shit!’ he cried, ‘she’s locked us in!’
Still gasping, Paul staggered to his feet and lurched to the door. ‘We’ve got to get out of here… if that thing, Charlie or whatever it’s called… is on the loose again we’ve… got to warn the girls…’
Mark kicked at the door but it was solidly built and he knew it would be impossible to break it down. ‘It’s no use,’ he said disgustedly, ‘we’re trapped in here.’
‘Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba-Barbara Ann; Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba-Barbara Ann.!’
Linda felt for the handle of the small calibre revolver that she’d thrust into the waistband of her jeans at the small of her back. The situation was looking bad. Alex was getting drunker by the minute and she knew it would only be a matter of time before he made a move against either her or Chris.
He was sitting on the couch eyeing them both in an increasingly suggestive way. The bottle of whisky that he’d unfortunately discovered in the back of a cupboard was almost empty now and he wasn’t even paying any more attention to the TV set on which an incredibly graphic pornographic video film was unspooling towards an imminent, and sticky, end. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a naked woman surrounded on a bed by several men making use of her every available orifice.
Alex took another swallow out of the bottle then resumed his maddening drone: ‘Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba-Barbara Ann; Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba-Barbara Ann!’ His eyes moved back to Linda, travelling slowly up and down her body, lingering on the tight crotch of her jeans. She felt as if he could see through her flesh as well as her clothes; that he was penetrating deep into her most vulnerable inner places. She could feel the waves of lust radiating from him like heat from a fire. She could sense the cruelty mixed in with the animal desire; if he got his hands on her she knew he wouldn’t be satisfied with just sex, he would want to hurt her too. And badly. She gave an involuntary shiver which she hoped he hadn’t noticed. If only Paul and Mark would get back. Where the hell were they? They’d been gone all morning…
Even Rochelle’s return might be enough to avert what was undoubtedly going to be a nasty incident. But no, she didn’t really expect Rochelle to come back yet. She had left furious and in tears a half an hour ago after Alex had viciously slapped her when she’d tried to take the bottle from him. Linda knew now that she and Chris should have left with her. It was too late now. Alex would surely stop them if they made any attempt to leave.
Linda glanced at Chris. She looked pale and tense and was obviously thinking along the same lines as her. Linda wondered what to do when Alex made his inevitable move. Shoot him? She’d like to but she didn’t think she’d be able to. But then perhaps she wouldn’t have any choice… if he tried to rape either her or Chris she would have to shoot him. If only he would just pass out…
‘You. C’mere. I want you…’ He was pointing at her with the bottle.
The muscles of her stomach tightened. Oh shit. ‘What do you want?’ she asked calmly.
‘Wannafuck. That’s what I want.’ He lurched up out of the sofa, swaying badly. She hoped he would fall but he didn’t.