The Beginning of An Apocalypse

Marcus sat outside the bookstore reading some of the new books Cas had bought for him. He had his notebook beside him and whenever he read an interesting scene or read about a magical setting, he would draw it into his notebook. He loved taking scenes from books and drawing them out.

He wished he had someone who did the same thing so he could see what other people thought about the scene. What other people read and what they thought it meant.

Because depending on the person who reads it or sees it, it means something different. No same person has the same opinion and he wanted someone out there to tell him that they saw his situations were some grand opportunity. That there was something good that could come out of this.

He continued to read till he got to the next chapter. He didn’t want to finish the book too quickly as he wanted to pretend he had something else to do. So he didn’t read it all and then have nothing else to do afterward.

He got himself a coca cola and a bag of chips from the vending machine and sat there in the warm August air as he ate. Marcus checked the clock inside to see that it was only 3:47. Cas wouldn’t get off work till eight and then it would take her another ten minutes to walk there. Slower if she decides that she wants to go talk to her friend Rick again.

Marcus looked around from where he sat and watched people. He made up lives for them and made profiles of them. He guessed what their jobs were, and what their biggest problem was. He gave people names and if they had a family or not. The people who were speeding made up impossible scenarios as to why they were speeding through like there was nothing else happening.

Some were superheroes and some were on a journey to save their loved ones by sacrificing themselves. The ones that looked nervous were the henchmen a villain who was about to pull off a diabolical plan that the henchmen had to set up.

It was fun and ate up a lot of his time.

Marcus looked at two men who were walking down the sidewalk he was on. They were serious official-looking people. He made up a story for them quickly too. They weren’t dressed officially but their body-language and their walk made it seem so. So they were part of a secret government branch that no one knew about it. If he was a great storyteller, they worked with aliens and monsters. They were looking for someone who would potentially destroy the world.

He thought that until they walked up to him and they didn’t keep walking. They looked at him as if they were studying him. The shorter one grabbed out his phone and looked at something and then up at him.

“Are you… Marcus Tyler?”

“Who?” Marcus asked. Cas and he had gone through many talks about strangers and what he should do if he was threatened or confronted by someone. He never really listened to them, but he was glad he at least caught some of Cas’s words. It looked as if he needed them right now, he thought.

“Marcus Tyler. Related to Cassidy Tyler. Mother is Lana Tyler and your father is Damion Tyler.”

Marcus sat up and grabbed his things. He wrapped his arms around them and was ready to start running. “Why are you looking for this person?”

They looked at each other before the one sighed and turned his phone around. “Are you telling me this is not you?”

“I never said that,” Marcus said. He looked at the photo and it was him. It was a sloppy school photo from when he was in eighth grade. “Tell me what you want?”

“We want you to come with us. Our boss wants to meet you or even your sister, Mr. Tyler,” The man said.

Marcus laughed. “I am not going anywhere with you. And if you try to make me I will scream. I am not stupid enough to fall for this.” Marcus got up and walked away from them. He wouldn’t fall for this. He had no intention of being kidnapped and worrying about his sister when he ends up missing and then dead.

Marcus looked back and saw the two people standing there. The smaller one was on the phone with someone. He put a little more speed in his walk and he finally felt some ease. He decided he would go to Cas’s work instead of waiting and going back to the bookstore.

Marcus kept walking and continued on his game of making lives for other people. He looked around for someone to make a life for when he saw the expensive car driving slower than it needed to be on the road. The uneasiness was back and by the time he started to speed up so did the car.

Marcus was stopped when he hit a stop sign and cars were driving over his path. The car stopped beside him. He looked at it as he took steps back. The back window rolled down and Marcus could see who was inside.

“Gabrial Everett?” Marcus asked when he saw him. He was more shocked that the person following him was someone he knew. Well, Marcus didn’t know him, but he knew of him. Marcus’s parents were scientists and worked for the government. When they would sit down for dinner and his parents would talk about the day they talked about how Gabrial Everett was going to be the number one scientist in the world. He was going to be the one to make the changes that the world needed.

He knew that his parents had met with Gabrial Everett a few times and they said he was a good man. That thought made him feel less worried than he did.

“Yes, I’m glad you know or this would be a little awkward,” he said. “I am sorry for my men they are idiots when it comes to social interaction.”

“They do suck at confronting people,” Marcus said. “Why are you looking for me?”

“I’ve been looking for you ever since your parents disappeared, I’ve only just found you,” Gabrial said.

“Again, why are you looking for me?”

“Before your parents had disappeared I had heard a lot about them. Their research and regeneration were exquisite. And my project deals with the same thing, I was hoping we could talk and maybe you could help me out..”

“I didn’t know that,” Marcus said.

“It was a government project. Confidential. Where are you headed to, Mr. Tyler?” Gabrial looked out the window and then back at him.

“To my sister’s work,” Marcus said. “Thanks to your goons I am not staying there.”

Gabrial smiled and nodded. “Sorry about that. Why not you let me give you a ride?”

“No thank you,” Marcus said. He looked around and saw he was free to go. People were waiting for him to go. Or they were waiting for Gabrial’s car to go. “I can make it. It’s only ten minutes.”

“I will get there in four or five,” Gabrial said. “Plus, I would love to meet your sister. I was a big fan of your parent’s work. Five minutes, Marcus, only five minutes.”

Marcus looked across the street weighing his options. He eventually nodded his head and Gabrial opened the door for him. Gabrial scooched to the other end and Marcus sat in. He clenched his arms around his books and sat there looking out the window and back around the car. He hadn’t been in a car in a long time.

“What have you and your sister been doing for the past year?” Gabrial asked.

“Living homeless,” Marcus said without much emotion in his voice.

“Sorry to hear that,” Gabrial said. And he didn’t sound very sorry, but he sound like he wanted to know more about him.

Marcus shrugged. “What did you want when you started looking for me?”

Gabrial sat up and fixed his jacket and put his arms over his folded legs. “I am in the middle of a very important project like I said. It is a disease. Like cancer and trying to prevent death from it. Give people a full recovery.”

“That’s a good idea,” Marcus said, “If it can be done.”s

“It can and it will,” Gabrial said. “With your help.”

Marcus turned to look at him for real this time. He ignored the triumphant look in Gabrial’s eyes and showed his confusion and worry. “What do you mean?” Marcus asked.

“One of the reasons I was searching for your parents to help me with my project was because they have… they have special DNA that isn’t like normal people.”

“I don’t know what that means?”

“It means you are special,” Gabriel said. “And that you could help so many people learn to survive the number one cause of death. Like cancer.”

“And you want me to… What?” Marcus asked. He wasn’t the stupidest person, but it was obvious he wasn’t the smartest, Gabriel noticed.

“I want you to help me out. All I need is your blood and nothing else. It’s a test in my experimental trial that will come out a success.”

“Why would I even do that?” Marcus asked.

Because you are homeless and I will promise you a hundred thousand dollars. Plus, I will give you your government-funded house for you and your sister. Plus a better job for your sister. School for you. Things to get you back on your feet.”

Marcus couldn’t help but feel pulled into his suggestions. With what Gabrial was offering, how could he even think about saying no? Gabriel was offering them a lot of money plus a free home, everything that they needed now.

Marcus remembered the millions of times that Cas stood there by herself keeping her tears in when she looked at their lives. How she forced herself to take on every shift she could. All that she has done for him. How much pain there was.

“And all I have to do is… give you my blood?” Marcus asked after he thought for even a little that he may do this.

“It’s more complicated than that, but basically yes. I will need you to come to my lab and let me keep you for the next few days to see the effects of the treatment.”

“Wouldn’t you need to test it on someone who has cancer? Why should I stay when I don’t have cancer?” Marcus asked. Marcus looked at the impatient smile Gabrial gave him when he asked the question. The worry that he had before came back up. Marcus looked out the window to see where he was. He didn’t recognize where he was.

“Because I need to see how your blood reacts with my experiments. Trust me, It’ll be easier on the both of us if you stay a few days.”

“I’ll just give you my blood now. I don’t like all this secrecy,” Marcus said. “Your experiment doesn’t make sense. Is it really for cancer?”

“It is for people who are prone to cancer but don’t have it yet. I want to be able to make the body heal from cancer before it even starts. No more cancer. No more disease. People could live without worrying about the things they eat. Worry about their future health.” Gabrial turned to face him.

“Marcus, you will be helping millions of people. Not just you and your sister. The entire world, no one else would have to lose a loved one to cancer or any other disease. Like your grandmother.”

Marcus’s mom spent a lot of time in the hospital when his grandmother was diagnosed with cancer. She came home crying a lot of the time. She and his father got into fights and she was not the nicest with him or Cas then. Marcus was only seven but he remembered the painful toll it took on everyone for those months and the months after her passing.

“Can I talk to my sister first?” Marcus asked. “She would like to know before I do anything.”

“Me coming to you is completely confidential. No one else can know to ensure that this project does not get leaked and put at risk. I contacted you because you take more of your mother’s side than your sister who takes after your father. I need you.”

Marcus looked at the ground of the car. He looked at his broken shoes and the dirt-stained clothes that he wore. He thought about the many nights of sitting there in the rain trying to sleep.

“Think about your sister. She works so hard to create a life for you, and I know you want to do everything for her. And maybe even entirely for yourself. Marcus, this will be a good thing.”

Gabriel stopped playing and put on a serious voice to match his expression. “Think about how you wear the same clothes every day because you have nothing else. Think about sleeping behind a dumpster because you don’t have shelter. Think of the millions of people you could be helping by doing this. You could save everyone like your grandmother.”

Gabriel smiled, “Save some other little kids Grandma. Save someone else’s little sister. Someone’s baby. Someone’s wife. Someone’s husband. Be a superhero Marcus. Take the first step and help me create the world the way it should be: Without death. Create a world where you live comfortably and are happy. You and your sister.”

Marcus felt tears in his eyes and he didn’t even know why. He looked out the window and saw the people that could be needing a miracle. A miracle for them or for someone they know. And he could be that miracle for them. He could save their loved ones while he helps himself.

He could be a superhero like the ones he drew.

“I should still tell my sister,” Marcus said after the longest pause. “Even if it’s over the phone, I should tell her.”

“I will have someone contact her and tell her what you are doing. She will be so happy you are doing this Marcus. You are saving her. You are what the world needs, Marcus,” Gabriel said. Marcus turned to him and looked at Gabriel more confidently than he felt this entire car ride so far.

“Okay,” Marcus said, “I’ll do it.”

“That’s wonderful Marcus,” Gabriel said. “You will not regret this. When everyone is saved and you and your sister are living the way you should. You won’t regret this.”

Marcus didn’t care for that, Gabriel’s told him that a million times. It’s a good bonus, him and Cas finally living well. But knowing that he was going to be saving so many lives, for Marcus, that was enough. That made his heart a little happy.

“I know I’ve said this, but what is the experiment?” he asked. “Like is it like an injection or are you taking my blood? I don’t know how science works.”

“Well,” Gabriel said. He shifted himself up to be more comfortable. He looked out the window and back at Marcus with a reassuring face. “It’s nothing too bad, don’t worry. It’s going to have to do with some shots and we’ll have to monitor you and how your body is responding. The entire thing will probably take a little more than an hour if things go smoothly.”

“Will it hurt?” Marcus asked. “Like are there shots?”

“Are you scared of needles?” Gabriel asked.

“No,” Marcus said. “I’m cool with needles being there, but I’m not a fan of them being stuck into my skin. I don’t like pain that much.”

Gabriel watched as Marcus clench his books with his hands. Marcus’ knuckles went a little white and his face was bursting with emotions. Gabriel could read them all. He understood where he was coming from, but now was not the time for that. Now was not the time for him to second guess and back out.

He understood the fear, but it was only a few needles. It was only a little pain that he had to deal with.

“Do you have any other worries you’d like to explain to me?” Gabriel asked. “I want you to feel comfortable with this.”

“I just…” Marcus sighed. He didn’t even know what he was trying to say. He didn’t know why he was feeling so much crushing anxiety over everything that was already said. He knew this was the right thing to do and he ignored the little part of him that told him to jump out of this car. But he couldn’t ignore some of the doubts he had.

“Is this legal?” Marcus asked. “What we’re doing?”

“Of course,” Gabriel said. “My ways of reaching you are not formal, but I’ve had everything cross-examined and we have full support over this. The only thing we need to get done before we start is to have you sign some papers.”

“I don’t have them with me,” Gabriel added. “It was dumb of me to forget the one important piece of paper that could let us continue. But it’s in my office and we’ll get it once we get in there.”

Marcus looked out the window as if he would see Gabriel’s lab. He didn’t. Marcus looked back at Gabriel and even with the little bit of doubt in Gabriel’s slightly suspicious tone and words used, he nodded. “Okay.”