Volume I: The Lost Boys

Ogre looks around at the bizarre setup: the caged zombies, the guards with guns. It definitely didn't look like the pristine medical facilities of Futuregene that he was used to.

"So, if no one else is going to ask, I will."

"What sort of place is this Doc? Are you running some kind of bootleg zombie research facility? Are you turning people into zombies?"

Slugger whistles as she looks around the junkyard laboratory. She'd half-expected some government facility... or maybe even some former medical facility, converted by a wealthy and eccentric patron. This? This was pretty scuffed, and that was the opinion of someone bringing baseball gear to a superhero team. She makes a mental note when the Doc mentions "Site B"... does that mean locations change to avoid notice, or that there are simply more zombies than can be held here? Or maybe both...

When Ogre speaks up, Slugger follows it up with, "Yeah, related to that: I remember you mentioning an antidote...?" Slugger looks over at Deion to eye-ball his condition. As if she knew how zombification looked outside of movies. Or anything about severe wounds. "Maybe followed by some explanation as to what's going on?"

Clocking Retribution's shift in behavior, Slugger quietly shifts towards the back where she is and raps her knuckles against Retribution's to get her attention. Slugger holds up an 'okay?' hand sign, while staring at Retribution's mask and trying to ascertain a mental state.

"Turning people into Zombies?!" The Doctor was offended at the very question "No! All these people used to be dead"

Turning a corner, they finally reached Dr. Haris’s lab, which, as they expected, was as rugged as the rest of the compound. It consisted of little more than a waterproof tent with a stretcher, the Doc’s medical supplies, his laptop, and his feline companion. The cat, which was used to all sort of craziness by now, didn’t scamper away at the sight of unfamiliar faces. She jumped off the table to welcome the Doc, rubbing her head against his foot. "One moment, Alice. I’m gonna get you something soon"

The first order of concern was Deion. Once the Ogre put him on the stretcher, Haris hooked him up to the IV, the green fluid from the plastic bag dripping slowly into the young boy’s vein. By the time the Doctor returned with a can of tuna for his cat, Deion’s condition improved dramatically. His breathing was more regular, and he even opened his eyes once, slowly returning to consciousness.

"Good" pulse and blood pressure were returning to normal, and the Doctor, much relieved, started treating the boy’s injuries. The bite wasn’t too serious, but it could still get infected. He cleaned the wound and bandaged it; that was the most he could do, under these conditions "He’s going to be fine, but you might still want to get him to a hospital and start him on antibiotics, just in case. That bite looks pretty deep"

********************


With the boy slowly recovering, the Doctor finally turned to address their other questions.

He owed them an explanation.

"Have you ever Lost someone close to you?" he looked into each of their eyes, gathering his strength before he told them his story.

"I have. My daughter; Zaya. She would have been around your age, if she was alive" Jackob’s voice wavered. No matter how many times he told the story. No matter how much time has passed. He still couldn’t keep his emotions at bay:

"One day you go about your idyllic life. A happy family. A career. Trips out to the lake on the weekend. Laughing with your wife on the couch in the living room after the children are in bed. How fragile our existence is. How terrible it can become, within a span of a single day"

"Leukemia. That was the prognosis. I saw her wasting away. Losing her hair. Growing thinner and thinner. I was her Daddy. I was a Doctor. I was SUPPOSED to protect her. But I couldn’t. She died in my arms, telling me she was afraid. That she didn’t want to - " the doctor’s voice grew hoarse, unable to finish the sentence. It was a long stretch before he could continue

"Everyone here has Lost someone. Miguel " he pointed at the young man behind them "- lost his sister to a drive-by shooting. James lost his mother to a bout of influenza. Chayton lost his father in a car accident. Malik; the only girl he ever loved"

Slowly, the gang members, his Lost Boys, gathered around them. The Doctor could have easily went on and on, calling on the names of each and every person in the compound. He knew all of their heartbreaking stories. It was what gave him the strength to carry on...

"So much death. So many lives ended before their time. But I can bring them all back! My research; I’m making progress. These people you saw in the cages – they were all dead. Each and every one of them! But they are alive now. I just need to perfect my formula. Just a little more time..." he trailed off, wringing his hands nervously as he looked at them. They must understand. They must!

Jodelle tries to connect all this information in her mind.
Lost people, zombies....

"Wait. Doc. Are you saying that you bring people their loved ones back as... zombies? Like, one of this zombies is Miguel's sist.... wait.... is.... one of them your daughter?"

Jodelle frowns a bit. She wasn't sure what to think of this. Good intentions, but she disagreed with the actions.

"Listen, Doc... I am just a beginner, but one of the laws of magic I understand is that you shouldn't bring back a soul that has moved on. If magic shouldn't, why do you think science could?" she says with a bit offensive tone, her emotions still mixed up from today's events.

The remaining spark of raw magic that burned in Jodelle fades out. She still has her spells, but the black and purple glow arround her has faded over time as they explored the lab.

"No; these people have been dead for decades. I didn’t want to resurrect any of our relatives until the process is perfected" Harris still objected to the term ‘Zombies’, but didn’t argue the point. "I don’t know nothing about ‘souls’, or ‘magic’, but you’re sounding much like the skeptics who said rail travel was impractical because passengers would die of asphyxia, or that a rocket will never be able to leave Earth’s atmosphere. They’ve all been proven wrong. I’m a scientist; pushing the boundaries of what people think possible is what we do"

Even though Retribution looks tense, actual physical contact would reveal that she's trembling - likely with the effort of holding herself back, like she's champing at the bit for... something.
Retributions eyes can just be seen under the mask at this distance, swivelling between the Doctor as he talks and the cages. Something about Dr Harris' speech gets under her skin - the moment he mentions death, loss, change. Retribution is... a loose cannon on their best of days, so Slugger would probably be able to tell they're a hair's breadth from doing something drastic, but Retribution herself isn't entirely sure whether she wants to burn this place to the ground, or throw herself at the mercy of this miracle doctor. Literally anything could knock her either side of the fence.
Retribution looks up at Slugger, eyes meeting briefly. Retribution is not a very well person. Being an anchoring presence and finishing up here as soon as possible is the best port of call, but getting rid of her indecisiveness by outwardly either condoning or condemning Dr Harris will also ease her up, not necessarily for the better.
She puts up a hand, an 'ok' signal back. She clearly doesn't want to talk about it right now, or bring anything up at all, and as much as she might need comforting gestures, she doesn't want them right now.

The journey to the junkyard 'clinic' felt like one of the longest of Blacklight's life. Having to restrain the zombie for that long until the lost boy's had it back under control had her breaking out with beads of sweat and actually physically leaning into Ogre's side once she finally was able to relax. It was only as she saw Deion staring to get better that she started to perk up. Nervously licking her lips beneath the mask she asked.
"Will there be any side effects?" There were a lot more questions some of the pointed she wanted to ask but after he saved Deion she wasn't quite feeling up to the confrontation of doing so.

Vermite can understand the thought of bringing back a loved one from the dead. She’d be tempted to resurrect her dad should she have the chance. Maybe then, her family could properly heal. But to see the monsters they become through Dr. Harris’ methods makes her more than uneasy. In fact, she finds it appalling.

What’s worse, Chayton is there. Of all people, her brother is a member of these Lost Boys. Vermite had already had a few choice encounters with the gang, so this persona is not exactly on the best of terms. There’s no telling how Chayton would react once they see each other, but Vermite can guess it wouldn’t be good.

Rather than stick around and listen any longer, Vermite decides on trying to find out about the good doctor’s skeletons in the closet. She slinks away just as the group approaches the junkyard, using her heightened senses and agility along with the guidance of her rodent friends to find the computer and dig for some dirt.

"He will be alright" the Doctor didn't want to worry the young girl by mentioning medical terms such as 'kidney failure', 'permanent disability' or 'brain damage'. While those were all theoretically possible, he didn't think them likely. "We got there as soon as he was bitten and administered the antidote within a few short minutes. I'm sure he will make a full recovery"

Under the cover of darkness, Vermite manages to break away from the group and sneak into the Doctor’s clinic. Sure enough, she found his laptop there, and cracking the password he set to protect his data was so trivial she got it right on her second attempt. Z-a-y-a-H-a-r-r-i-s.

There was too much data to sift through in one sitting. Notes of the Doctor’s research. Detailed Medical records of each ‘test subject’. There wasn’t much there to go on that she couldn't infer on her own, but it did corroborate her suspicions. She was fairly certain the medical supplies the Doctor needed for his research were stolen, or robbed at gunpoint, by reviewing his change in inventory and correlating it to the few burglaries she personally put a stop to.

There were also some remarks in his logs on some of the boys' conduct; the Doctor has made a genuine attempt to curtail the gang member's delinquency. They were all infected with his zeal, and some saw him as a father figure, but he was still dealing with a group of thieves, violent offenders, and drug dealers. His attempts were mostly successful, but the neighborhood has still seen an uptick in criminality over the last few months.

Whether he should be condemned for collaborating with street thugs, or given credit for rehabilitating most of them, was all a matter of perspective.

"Oh Chayton. What have you gotten yourself into?"

Vermite definitely isn’t all too happy about what she’s reading. The science is a little beyond her intelligence, but she can recognize dangerous behaviour when she sees it. It’s an "end-justifies-the-means" philosophy. Fortunately the Dr. Harris and his followers haven’t killed anyone…yet. Given how his test subjects escaped once, it’s safe to assume it can happen again. Or maybe his goons will get more ambitious or desperate, needing equipment or medicine that pushes them outside of their moral bounds. That not only puts innocent civilians in danger; it puts her brother in danger too. She can’t rightfully abide by it. Even if she’d love to see her father come back, she also knows that he’d be horrified at what Chayton did to make it happen. Would he even be their father anyways? Or would he just be some carnivorous, mindless zombie?

With haunting speculations running through her head, Vermite turns to sneak back to the group, but not before taking a little peek at Dr. Harris’ notes on Chayton. Her curiosity and worry get the better of her. She needs to know what her brother has been getting into.

Jodelle frowns a bit.
"Got it, doc. I admit that what you are doing here is... scientifically quite extraordinary. And maybe science might do things magic can't... but... maybe also ask the question if you should instead if you can. Animating the dead? It would be considered the darkest of all witchcraft."

Ogre shuffles uncomfortably while the ethical debate unfolds.

"We should get Deon to a hospital"

He goes over and gently lifts Deon.

"Any suggestions what I should tell the hospital doc? Because they're going to ask, and 'zombie bite' might set off a few alarm bells."

Even if Dr. Harris thought raising the dead was unconscionable, he still would have done it:
"I have to get her back. I have to. She'll come back, and everything, too, will go back to the way it was. We will be happy again..." his boys started huddling around Jodelle, so close she could feel them breathing down her neck. They, too, lost people close to them, and they didn't appreciate the young girl trying to dissuade the Doctor from doing what was necessary

"She died so young. It's not fair..."

The Doctor was too distraught to answer the Ogre's question. He didn't say anything when the giant went to pick Deion up.
But the boy did:

"Where?" the young teen opened his eyes, trying to figure out where he was through the haze "Where am I?" He was regaining his strength, but has yet to fully recover from the ordeal "Ogre? Is that you?"

Slugger nods to Retribution and pulls away, instead looking to the doctor. She'd seen enough and heard enough from him and Shadowhex alike to know where her own thoughts on the matter lay.

"Pretty sure the same things were said about inventions that actually did lead to worse things. Heroin. Nukes. Good intentions don't always lead to good outcomes. What would happen if someone twisted decided they liked the zombies, and liked them best without the human inside them?" she asks, trying to appeal to the doctor's sense of compassion.

Slugger glances at Ogre. "We can tell 'em it's a dog bite or something." How to convince Deion not to give his account of what happened... that was a different story. And Slugger wasn't sure she even wanted to convince him to lie. "But you're right... his health is more pressing right now. We should go." That, and it was probably a good idea to get Retribution out soon, especially with the doctor's gang starting to get... twitchy. Even if the doctor was changing locations, Slugger didn't doubt that the group could find his operation again if they needed to put a stop to him.

"Gentlemen!" she calls out to the boys closing around Shadowhex. She flicks her arm and sends the bat in her hand spinning. She lets go, and for a second the bat appears to hover in the air before she catches it again with both hands and bringing it to rest on her shoulder in a relaxed-yet-ready position. "I believe your boss gave you a time limit to pack up. Do you really wanna spend it starting a fight?" Being the non-super in the group... yeah, Slugger was keenly aware of the firepower they were holding... but when they started trying to intimidate a team member, her blood started to boil a little.

Vermite manages to sneak back to the others, but remains hidden once she notices the goons are encircling the team. Amongst them of course is Clayton. Though she has no qualms about wailing on Dr. Harris and the rest of the boys, she can’t bring herself to hurt her brother. Or let him make a big mistake for that matter. She’s familiar with what the team is capable of. Clayton might get clobbered.

Instead, she elects for a different approach. After all, they are in a junkyard, rife with all sorts of pests. She could hear them chittering in the back of her mind as soon as they entered the place but didn’t want to cause a huge scene. Now, a scene is exactly what the team needs. She hunches down on all fours, gripping onto the earth. Hundreds, maybe thousands of voices echo through her head. Beneath her mask, beads of sweats start to dribble down her temples.

"Come on. Come on. I know you can all hear me. I’m going to need a distraction. Please help me out."

Blacklight stepped in and tugged on Jodell's sleeve. "Come on lets go, there's nothing more to do here." Opening up a swirling shadowy portal against one wall to allow them all to take a few easy steps and be back in the alley. Unlike Eriko Min was hardly powerless, and such a casual display of power didn't seem to be harder than breathing for the hero, though to those watching as the shadows crept up the wall it would be an awe and possibly fear inspiring sight.