Free Reset: A Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Fantasy (Contaminant Series Book 1) by Eli Frost Duham Page A

button.  The metal arms detached and began to spin.  Suddenly, the dome began to emit a bright light, a deep blood red.  It was flashing, almost like a strobe light and every bit as bright.
    The frame bellowed out, “WARNING! CONTAMINANT DETECTED! WARNING! CONTAMINANT DETECTED!”
    Bruce’s face cracked in a thousand places, “What do I do!?”
    Tessa screamed, “Get out of there! Hurry!”
    James shouted, “NO.  YOU’RE INFECTED!” He was pointing his weapon at the frame, waiting for the arms to stop.
    Michael got up, “Whoa, don’t shoot!  This is Bruce!”
    James’ decision was made and it was written all over his face.  He was waiting for the arms to stop spinning before he pulled the trigger.
    But the arms didn’t stop spinning.  Instead, they began spinning faster.
    Bruce screamed from inside the frame, “Help me.  I don’t wanna die.  Do something.”
    The arms spun faster and faster.  The electricity build up was almost immediate and it could be felt.  The hair on Michael’s arms, legs, neck and head were rising. 
    Bruce was starting to glow blue.  All the rest looked on and knew it was too late.  The arms were furiously spinning.  Tessa had her hand over her mouth, crying as she watched.
    Bruce was getting brighter and brighter.  He shown and his light could be seen on the faces of his former crew.  They wanted to look away, but they couldn’t. 
    “What’s happening to me?!” Bruce was shrieking, turning round and round, pleading with them. 
    “Please! You gotta stop this thing!  Please somebody!”  He tried kicking at the fiberglass but his attempts were futile.
    Suddenly, he backed up as far as he could go.  In his fear, Bruce tried to jump out of the frame.  The arms got him and he was half caught between the frame and the arms for only a second.  Michael winced as Bruce took hardened metal to the face and torso, again and again and again, before he was thrown back into the chamber, slumping right in the middle.  There should have been nothing but a pile of mush, but electric blue light shined through every crack on Bruce’s face, in place of the blood. The arms continued to spin with ever- increasing frequencies until they could no longer be seen. 
    “IT BURNS!”  Bruce’s voice was not his own; he collapsed on the ground.  His blue glow turned into a bright energy that consumed him.  He combusted into flames which burned leisurely as the metal arms began to slow.  When they stopped at last, the arms stopped at the entrance and exit and clamped down, providing a seal.  Bruce burned for a little while longer, before extinguishing all together.
    The metal arms unclamped and returned to their resting place.
    Michael ran a hand through his hair.  Tears were in his eyes and Anna’s too.  Tessa sobbed quietly.  James took a deep breath and got to his feet.  After a moment, everyone else did the same.  Michael led them inside the bunker and he and Anna eased Peter onto the couch.  Then, he gave them a brief tour of everything he’d looked at before. 
    No one mentioned Bruce again.  Nor did they broach the subject of what the hell just happened.
    They rejoiced at the sight of the food.  James gave the shelves a brief glance but seemed more interested in the inventory manifest.  He looked over it, while everyone else ran up and down the aisles.
    “Hey, guys!”  He called out
    “What?!” Nobody came out to meet James.
    “Guys, come look at this.”
    Anna and Michael came out from the shelves, taking their time.
    James pointed to a line on the manifest, “It says the last air filter change was 8 years from now.”
    Anna rolled her eyes and continued to walk by James.  He followed her to the laboratory.  Jenna and Tessa came out and Michael followed out after them, shutting the door.  They all went inside the laboratory.
    James immediately consulted more logs to see what they were working on, whoever they were.
    Anna went through some research