Project Doomsday Paradise

The moment Benji opened his eyes in the morning, he knew something was different.

'What is going on? My eyes!' His eyes wandered slowly through the living room.

The room was still the same but the way he perceived it, had somewhat changed.

Benji stood up slowly, his eyes wide opened.

'My eyesight! I can see so many details all the way from over here.' Noticed Benji thrilled.

His ears twitched, and he turned his head towards Miriam who was sleeping peacefully.

'Not only my eyesight, my hearing ability....' He hadn't finished his thought when he an overwhelming amount of different odors assaulted his nose.

Benji grimassed, 'Bah, this is unbearable!'

It took him some time to get somewhat used to it.

'All of my senses have improved, but I can feel that there is something more there...' Thought Benji as he closed his eyes, his whole attention shifted inwards.

'There, I can feel it. It's strange I can't grasp it fully, what is this?'

He tried to grasp the thing that was irritating him.

Benji began to notice something peculiar.

His vision was dark because his eyes were closed, but he still sensed something.

It was very weak in the beginning, but it started to become stronger the more he focused on it.

There was a weak presence, Benji could sense it now better.

He frowned deeply.

Two things made him from, first that the weak presence was slowly constantly moving, it was slow but still never stopped to move. Second was that the presence was above him.

Benji finally opened his eyes, looking up at the ceiling.

His gaze stayed fixed on the ceiling, 'Is it what I think it is?'

Benji glanced at Miram on the couch, 'I can see and hear her but I can't sense her like...'

He hated that feeling of not knowing what was going on.

Benji put his military trench coat over his hoodie while covering his head with the hood.

This was one of those moments where he knew it might turn out to be a stupid idea but, Benji felt like it was worth the risk...

Armed with nothing more than a wooden plank he ripped off from the bed inside the sleeping room of Miriam's mother. He went outside of the flat, closing the door silently behind him.

Benji wasn't concerned because he had already taken the key to the flat.

He froze in the stairway because his senses picked something up.

'Three...no! I sense six more presence inside this building...so in total seven of them..'

Benji went slowly the stairs up to the third floor.

'I can sense it better now, there is also more to it...' His senses began to pick up weak emotions.

'Hunger...so much hunger and violence!'

'There is no doubt about it anymore, my transformation allows me to sense zombies!' Thought Benji half delighted and half scared.

'It should be inside this apartment...' Benji stood outside of it, sensing the location of his prey.

The door was wide open and he sneaked carefully in.

It was then that the presence that was slowly moving at the end of the apartment made a surprising turn and walked into the corridor, where it noticed Benji.

Benji had no time to react and cursed inside his head, he wished nothing more than that the zombie stayed silent and go back from where it came from.

He took a fighting stance, gripping the wooden plank harder.

Benji was ready to face the chaos and madness when he realized that he was screwed but...

Benji stood there flabbergasted, his mouth wide open.

'What the? It ignored me? Does it thinks that I'm a zombie too? No, it wanted to pounce at me and tear me apart, I sensed how its brutal emotions flared up for a second when it discovered me...There must be another reason for its behaviour....' Thought Benji hard.

Benji gulped, 'Heck, I need to figure it out!'

He walked carefully towards the zombie.

It stood still, without moving in the middle of the kitchen. Benji held the wooden plank between him and the zombie.

The zombie didn't move, it kept staring at the air like Benji didn't exist.

'It doesn't sense me...what did I do when it saw me?'

He thought hard, and went through his memories, step for step.

'The first thing I did was curse in my mind and....that's should be it. I wished for it to stay silent and god back from where it came from...'

'Let's try it out.'

He took a deep breath and focused on the zombie.

'Go right!' Ordered Benji with his thoughts.

He wasn't very optimistic about the idea that he could control zombies with his mind, it made no sense, but it was his best lead to find out why the zombie acted the way it did when it should have attacked him.

To his shock, the zombie moved to the right, like a puppet.

It was then that he finally sensed the connection between him and the zombie.

Benji stared blankly at the zombie.

'It worked...it f*cking worked! I can control them with my mind!' He became euphoric.

It had been a very long time since he felt this excited, it was too good to be true.

'The price for this powers....'

A fierce light lit up, deep in his red pupils.

"To think I would get such a gift...I don't care anymore."

'Now lie down on the ground and don't move!' Ordered Benji with his thoughts.

The zombie did as ordered and lied down on the ground, not moving anymore.

Benji searched through the drawers in the kitchen until he found a satisfying knife.

"Sorry buddy it will get rough from now on....I need to figure some things out!"

Meanwhile in a secluded facility at the border between Italy and Austria...

There were a group of researcher listening to the video call from a very brutal looking soldier, "Impossible! Are you absolutely sure?" Shouted an old Professor agitated.

The soldier nodded with a grave expression, "There is no doubt about it Professor Krychowiak, we secured the specimen but we lost 8 soldiers...." Reported the Soldier coldly.

The mood became heavy.

One of the researchers muttered, "That's ridiculous, it's been only five days since "Project Doomsday Paradise" began..."

"We designed the virus and perfected it through the years. There is always a possibility of mutations but after only five days?" An elderly female researcher shook her head in disbelief.

"Did we make a mistake and oversaw something?"

"Nonsense! Our virus is flawless."

"Carl, they caught the living spiceman...."

"We are in huge trouble if this isn't an unique case."

The researchers and professors started a heated discussion.

'These bunch of smart*sses f*cked up!' Thought the brutal soldier on the screen, his eyes becoming colder with every second.

Suddenly the door to the meeting room opened and a beautiful woman walked inside.

The whole room descended into silence the moment they saw the woman.

The woman smiled faintly, her red eyes lit up for a second.

She turned to the screen, "Gianluca." Said the woman softly.

The soldier straightened up and saluted, "Professor Volari!"

"To say the truth....I'm shocked by your discovery. I'm very sorry for the loss of your man Gianluca, but it is from immense importance that you caught the specimen alive."

The soldier stared at her with respect and a bit of fear, "Thank you Professor, they knew the risk...at least their families are safe under our protection." Answered the brutal soldier dutifully.

The Professor nodded, she turned to the other researchers and professors inside the room.

"We can't change what happened but we will find the cause for that....anomaly and find a solution. That's what we do, it's somewhat ridiculous after five days but I guess that is what happens when one works with extraterrestrial things..." Spoke Professor Volari.

The other researchers and professors nodded their heads silently.

"Amelia..." Said the old Professor.

"Yes Carl?"

"We developed the virus for 8 years and nothing like that ever happened, how is it possible for the specimen to devour other specimen and gain such powers through it?" Asked the old Professor.

The other nodded in agreement.

Amelia stayed silent for a minute, "I want to know it too Carl..."

She turned back to the screen, "Gianluca I expect your team back in 8 hours!"

The soldier saluted, "Yes Professor, we will fly back as soon as possible."