Lucas looked down from above as he stared at the dead country through the binoculars. They had been flying for seven hours, making a quick stop at one of the safe cities to refuel the chopper and grab a bite.
It wasn't just Ryker, Vance, and him. Dave had joined them as well, reducing some of the stress from Ryker's shoulders. Otherwise, the journey would have lasted longer.
"How far away are we from Aslan?" Vance asked, looking down through the binoculars.
The place was as dead as he could imagine. There wasn't one soul in sight, and all vegetation seemed to have perished with the humans.
Except for the houses and the buildings that remained sturdy, the place had been reduced to a barren land.
Time had erased the traces of the bloodshed the country went through. There weren't any blood stains on the road.
But shockingly, there weren't any dead bodies or scattered bones either, an anomaly which everyone noticed.
"Vance, are you thinking the same thing I'm thinking?" Lucas asked, and his lips pursed.
"Fuck my life! How is it possible?"
Lucas lowered his binoculars and tapped his feet lightly. "As I thought, something is definitely wrong."
"Ryker, how long before we reach Aslan?" Vance enquired, his hold on the binoculars tightening.
"Another half an hour or so."
"I thought you guys were stupid for wanting to go to Aslan," Dave commented all of a sudden. "Now, I realize why."
"This is so wrong. Something isn't adding up here," Lucas mumbled to himself and looked down again.
Since there were no street lights and the sky was still dark, he could see nothing with his naked eye. Only the night vision binoculars could help him to observe the area clearly.
Vance and Lucas continued to observe the area from above. There was not one soul present, and the mere thought that the entire country had been wiped away completely made them feel terrible.
After half an hour, Ryker slowed, looking for a place to lower the chopper. They had reached Aslan, where the monsters appeared first.
"Ryker, are you coming with us?" Vance asked, still looking down.
"No. I will remain in the chopper. In case something happens, I can rescue you guys soon."
Ryker found an empty spot and lowered the chopper, and the three men got down immediately.
"Be careful," Ryker warned, giving Vance a cryptic look. "Call me once you're done."
"Be careful, Ry."
The three men waited before Ryker was up in the sky again before turning around to search the place.
"Where do you want to go, Lucas?"
Since they were on Aslan because of Lucas's imploration, Vance sought his thoughts.
"I want to go to Wren and Jackson's lab," Lucas said, looking around cautiously.
From above, the place looked creepy. Now that they were on land, it was more eerie than it looked. Even though the temperature was modest, the air felt icy, biting their skin until their bodies shivered.
Moreover, the smell of blood, though not intense, was still present, reminding them of the disaster Aslan was struck with.
Any direction they looked, it felt as if death was lurking around, and they moved closer, clutching their guns tightly, ready to fire if something were to happen.
"Wren and Jackson? Who are they?" Dave had no idea who Lucas was referring to, and he stared at him with his brows narrowed.
"Wren was working on mutagens that could help humans evolve, while Jackson was researching cloning. They worked in the same lab."
"What the fuck!" Vance was tongue-tied and glanced at Dave, who looked equally stunned.
Ignoring them, Lucas raised his hand. "Echo Velomore, find me the direction to Wren and Jackson's lab."
A holograph appeared before him instantly, with the map of Alsan showing their coordinates. It then started directing them to the lab.
From their location, it was less than fifteen minutes on foot.
"Let's go." Lucas started following the direction, amazed to see that the holograph moved with him. Once again, he was floored by the technology in this world.
The three men followed the direction shown on the map while Ryker followed them from above, keeping a close eye on them while watching out for any danger at the same time.
The trio reached the lab in less than fifteen minutes. The smell of blood was stronger around it, and Lucas held his breath as he opened the unlocked door.
Inside, it was more ghastly than they had assumed. The walls were coated with blood, which had dried over time.
There weren't any decomposed bodies or bones. However, the blood stains were everywhere, along with claw marks and footprints that didn't seem like they belonged to humans.
Vance and Dave followed Lucas, who used his EchoTag to create a floating torch.
With Ryker's help, he had learnt everything the EchoTag could do, and in one night, he had mastered it completely.
The lab didn't look any different than the others. But since it hadn't been cleaned in months, it looked terrifying, and coupled with blood and mess everywhere, it intensified the terror, making everyone break into a cold sweat.
The lab was easily accessible, and Lucas continued exploring it. There wasn't much initially until he reached a section that had cages.
There were obvious signs of struggle as some cages were deformed and broken. It was enough to show that Wren and Jackson were involved in experiments in which humans were the test subjects.
Approaching the desk, Lucas picked up one of the documents. However, there wasn't anything useful in it.
He continued looking at the files before giving up and moving to another section. It was isolated and away from the other places. It even had a biometric look.
The door to the room was wide open, and Lucas peeked inside first, only for his heart to skip a beat when he saw the ghastly blood marks on the wall.
It was as if the monster had smacked a human against the wall until their brain exploded. It was more mortifying than all the horror films he had ever seen.
Mustering all his courage, he entered the room and looked around. There were loads and loads of files. He picked the one on the desk and went through it.
Lucas turned to the first page and looked at the name of the experiment.
Operation Genesis.
At first, he was only skimming through it. But as he read further, his forehead creased and his eyes shrank.
The more he read through the file, the more his heart palpitated, especially when he saw the chain of chemical reactions recorded in it.
Lucas held his breath as he turned to the last page. His mind exploded when he saw the final chemical reaction.
"This...this...this..." he stuttered, finding the situation utterly absurd. "How is it possible?"
Lucas's legs trembled, and his body lost all strength.
The experiment was a step-by-step copy of his experiment, the one that had led to his death on Earth.