Read Decay (Book 1): Civilization for Free Online Page B

is roughly 50 inches tall, weighing about 54 pounds.” Greg could sense Brian’s displeasure. “I assure you the boy is not alive Brian. I know how this must seem, and I feel terrible for the tragic loss of his life.” The melancholy could be heard in Greg’s voice as he spoke. “The boy died a few days ago. He was hit by a car and his body was donated to our research.”
    “Can a child’s body be donated for research?” Brian asked with shock. Even as a scientist he would want his child to rest peacefully.
    “Oh I’m sure they can be. Besides, this body was donated by the parents. Both of which want him to be able to help the world,” he added quickly looking into Brian’s face.
    Brian thought he caught a glimpse of that fake smile yet again, and he felt his friend wasn’t being completely honest. He chose to ignore these instincts, however. There was a feeling that it was all in his head, and that he was letting his emotions take control of his senses. Brian’s attention was drawn back to the child as his cold body twitched.
    “What is causing the movement in the body?” Brian was having a hard time looking at the child. He has seen many disgusting things in his career, but nothing made his stomach churn like seeing this small boy’s dead body lying on this cold metal table.
    “I’ve injected the brain with a chemical we’ve been working on for a while now. You know the one. After all, you developed it.” Greg believed Brian would be pleased to hear this, yet Brian didn’t appear to be.
    “And it is actually causing this? It has not even been lab tested for stability. How did you gain authorization to use it?”
    The look on Greg’s face explained everything. No one else in the facility knew about it. This was top secret research because it was never authorized by the board of directors. They were the only group other than the few researchers on this floor that had any idea about what actually happened here.
    “If this is not authorized than how did you come across this body?”
    Greg turned his back to Brian and grabbed a hypodermic needle and a vial half full of the clear liquid that Brian recognized as a chemical mixture he had been working on.
    “This was designed to trigger the regrowth of living tissue cells. The beginning to the process of growing back limbs for wounded soldiers. Why would you assume that it would work on a cadaver?”
    “It has to work,” Greg replied with determination in his voice.
    Brian found that he grew continuously more puzzled by Greg’s behavior. He stood by his friend, however, and continued to lend his knowledge when needed. The two men worked through the afternoon. The sun was just setting as Brian walked out into the parking lot and climbed in his car. He sat there for fifteen minutes and waited to see if Greg would part from his research. Brian realized Greg would continue to work throughout the night. He decided to head home and enjoy the rest of the evening with his family before they departed for their flight to Iowa in the morning.
    Three days had passed and Brian felt exhausted. Their research had them working later and later each night. They were also gaining ground. Each day the boy would move more and more, yet his tissue would never regenerate. New calculations would be made to the formula, and the body would be flushed so the new mixture could be tried.
    As Brian showed up for work one morning Greg was overjoyed. He couldn’t wait to show Brian the most recent of developments. Brian followed faithfully to lab eight. Nothing seemed different. The boy was lying where he had been with no apparent changes.
    “What are you so happy about?” Brian asked with a smile of his own. He was thrilled to see his friend in such high spirits once again. Over the days, Brian had found that he too had become more excited about what they were doing.
    “Don’t you see?” Greg failed at containing his excitement. His voice cracked slightly as he spoke.
    “I see