Detour (Page 2)

~~~(POV: Samuel Grimm)~~~

~~~(Location: Piloting Blackhawk, Over Manhattan, New York)~~~

~~~(Day, Date, Time, Year: Thursday, January 11th, 7:36 PM, 2024)~~~

~~~(Age: 19 Years)~~~

The water's edge of the Hudson River is approaching below the helicopter. After less than a minute, something I had not anticipated decides to throw a wrench in my plans of escaping Manhatten.

Beep!

Beep!

Beep!

The beeping sound takes my attention, and the memories of the pilot I've absorbed tell me a missile is on its way. I calmly press the flare defense system activation button, and the beeping quickly stops.

VROOOOOOM!!

VRRRRRROOOOOMMM!!

Two jets pass by the Blackhawk. I watch them start turning around for another attack a few miles out. I'm not getting over the Hudson in one piece. So I sharply turn before I'm over the water and start heading North over the city.

It's not long before the beeping is back. I look out the window a bit to see where I'm at, but I catch a few glimpses of familiar buildings.

"Uggh..."

A massive headache hits me, and I almost lose control of the helicopter. As I regain control, the beeping has intensified. I'm out of flares, so there is only one option left. I open the door and leap out of the Blackhawk.

As I fall, I turn my body and spread my limbs out. Slow down in midair and gain control of where I'm going. I'm gliding through the air.

BOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!

Missiles impact the Blackhawk above me, and I feel warmth on my back. Calmly turning my body, I impact the top of a building. Glass from the floor below breaks out the windows.

The Blackhawk falls to the streets below. Narrowly missing the building I've landed on. As I stand up to my full height, my body morphs from that of the pilot to that of Samuel Grimms. The jets overhead pass by and leave in another direction.

Walking over to the edge of the building; I stare out in the direction that gave me a headache. Once my eyes land on the grassy area with buildings all around them, a surge of memories hit me.

'C'mon! We'll be late for class!!'

'Prof. Carnid has been waiting for our research all week.'

'The class is bound to be packed. We need better seats today.'

One of the voices I recognize as my own. I have no idea who the other two belong to. That's not all I'm shown to. Flashes of moments I don't remember bombard me. Showing me sitting around a table with people.

Laughing as we do.

Another scene shows me looking into a microscope and jotting down information. Then, turning to a computer.

A new forgotten memory appears, and I'm walking down one of the stone paths as snow lines the ground. I don't even realize I'm on one knee holding my head. I have to shake away the disorientation, and after a second, I stand back up.

"I went to this college."

It's Columbia University.

I went to school here before everything went to shit. The memories I've absorbed have given me enlightenment on the situation. Two weeks ago, an outbreak of a new disease hit New York.

However, it was discovered that this disease was popping up in other parts of the world.

Since this started two weeks ago, the world has changed significantly. At least according to the memories I've taken from the people I've consumed.

A part of me knows that getting out of Manhattan is a priority. But I know next to nothing about myself.

About Samuel Grimm.

I know what I have to do. Before leaving this city, finding information about who I am is integral. Looks like I'm going back to school. As I'm looking over the edge of the building to the streets below, I see people fighting and struggling.

Thousands of people. Screams echo and ring across the city, and gunshots do the same. It seems the defensive line at West 124th Street has broken. The dead are attacking the rest of the city.

Not wasting another moment, I crouch and gather power in my legs. After I feel sufficient force is gathered, I leap into the air. Spreading my limbs out and gliding across the tops of a few buildings before having to land again.

This time, I get a running start. A slight distortion in the air happens as I gain speed and then leap off the building. Gaining way more distance and speed this time.

Gliding across several streets, I start to lose momentum, and I'm forced to adjust. Hitting the side of the building, I impact it with my feet. Instead of falling, I gather power and begin running up the side of the skyscraper.

Gaining more and more speed as I do. I launch myself off the side of the building before hitting the roof and start gliding again. I'm now gliding over Columbia University. But it won't be a soft landing.

Instead, I dive down from the sky. Screams from students and faculty being attacked ring in my ears. All before my impact.

KRRRRRRRAAAABBOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!!

The force I hit the ground with causes a concussive blast to reverberate from my impact zone in all directions. I stand up from the small crater and look around. Taking in the area I'm in. In the distance, I see students trying to make it into some of the campus buildings.

Escaping from the forming horde. My huge impact has drawn the attention of the zombies in the area. All of them are running in my direction.

After stepping out of the crater, hundreds of the undead rush to me from all directions. As I'm watching this, I feel something shift inside me. As the shift ends, black tendrils race down my arms.

However, instead of it being claws. My arms are encased with one medium blade on each arm. Sharp spines race up the lengths of my arms.

"RAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!"

Their faces and bodies are bloody. Some of them even have boils and malformations riddling their bodies.

"GRAAAAAGGGHH!!"

As the forming hordes' initial numbers reach me, some of the closest ones tell me they're almost here. On instinct, I swing my arms out and spin around. Both are elongating as I do.

They're whips.

And I cut through dozens at a time with each fierce movement. With each death I induce on these zombies, they're quickly absorbed in the process. After what seems like only a minute, the few hundred zombies that were charging me are all gone now.

All that's left of their existence is the blood-stained grass around me. My whip-arms disappear as there are no threats anymore. My normal-looking arms are what replace them.

My attention turns to a building close by. I'm hit with memories of staying in a dorm room there. I leave my spot at the epicenter of the bloodbath and make my way to the front doors of the dorms.

Once I open it, there is nothing but silence. I start walking down the hall and after turning a corner. I see a trail of blood leading into the women's bathroom.

On approach, the smell of rotting flesh and gruesome sounds greet me. I calmly open the door, and there on the ground, is an undead girl eating who I assume is her friend. As the door gives a little creak, her head jolts.

Turning her body to look at the source of the sound. Seeing me as she does. She leaps from the location of her meal and charges me. I throw out my hand and grab her head.

"RRAAAGHH!!!"

"SNAARRRRRR!!"

She growls and snarls in my grasp. That soon comes to an end as I crush her head in my hand, and the black tendrils quickly absorb her.

My attention turns to the dead girl on the ground, but only for a moment. Instead, what catches my eye is my reflection in the women's bathroom mirror. Upon seeing myself for the first time since waking up, I can't help feeling strange.

I had forgotten what I looked like. Black hair and hazel eyes are what appear prevalent. I'm wearing a simple leather jacket with a black T-shirt underneath.

They're imitated.

Artifical.

The clothes that appear natural are created from my biomass.

I'm coming to understand more about my powers. It's only bits and pieces, though. Whatever happened to me to cause this must be an anomaly among what's happening to the world. Everything I've seen so far, nothing is close to me.

I take one last look at myself in the mirror and see someone that I don't recognize. The young man's features are handsome. While it is my face, it's also not my face.

Time to move on.

As I leave the women's bathroom, the silence of the dorms hangs heavily on the surroundings. I make my way to the stairs, and as I start climbing. Memories flash in my head. All of them are about which floor I lived on and in which dorm.

On my final step up the stairs to my floor, I hear mumbled voices arguing. There are surviving students on this dorm floor.

They're not something I'm concerned with. Instead, I make my way down the hall. After what seems like forever, I finally reach the door to my dorm room. A few doors back are where the voices were. They stopped talking, thinking a zombie had found their way to them.

I reach my hand out and take hold of the doorknob. Turning it as I do and opening the door. As I look upon the room, I'm assaulted with memories.

Memories of playing games with friends, spending late nights on homework, and relaxing in bed with a smartphone.

As quick as they come, the memories leave. I stand in the middle of the room and look around. There are posters of songwriters and video games. On the dresser, there is a vintage lava lamp.

I slowly walk over to what looks to be a homework station. I run my hand across it, and it's a familiar texture I know I've felt a thousand times.

I've spent so much time here.

Samuel has spent so much time here.

"What caused this to happen..."

The question quietly leaves my lips for no one to hear. I stay in the room for a few minutes. Making my way over to the bed and sitting down.

"Whatever I've become... It started with Samuel..."

That's all I know.

I am Samuel Grimm, and I am not.

As I'm sitting in the dorm room, thinking about what's happened to me. I feel the ground in the hallway shifts a bit. My eyes turn to the door to my room, and I wait for the people to arrive. After a few minutes, a man pokes his head around the corner.

Seeming that I'm looking at him.

He stands in the doorway and points a kitchen knife at me. Two other guys stand behind him. Weapons in their hands, too.

"Are you bitten or scratched."

The question comes out calmly and steadily. He's not panicked or scared. Based on his reaction to me, I can see he's not a member of these dorms. He would've recognized Samuel.

"No, I'm not."

"We'll need proof!!"

One of the more on-edge guys behind speaks a little too loud. Who I assume is the leader, quickly spins around and pins the guy against the way.

"If he were bitten, he'd have turned already. It only takes a minute, and he walked past almost five minutes ago. Use your head, Jim."

I stand up from the bed and turn in their direction. The third guy, who isn't involved with what's happening with Jim and the leader, looks at me.

His eyes trail up and down my body. And that's when I realized something. These guys are covered in blood. They're tired and look in need of something to eat and drink. However, I look nothing near that.

I'm perfectly clean and don't look the least bit in need of human sustenance.

"Harry. This guy doesn't have a hair out of place. It's weird."

The man staring at me gets the leader's attention, Harry. The man lets go of Jim and takes a moment to look at me as well. Seeing what the third guy has seen.

"You're right, Mark... Not a hair out of place..."

That's when I feel the energy shift. All three of them tighten their grips around their weapons and look ready for a fight. I flatten my hands in preparation for tearing them apart, but the conflict that's about to occur is put to an end.

"Guys! Who is it!?"

A woman's whispering and rushed voice grabs all the guy's attention. They turn to look down the hall. Taking their eyes off me in the process. They look back at me and see that what was building into a fight is now gone.

The footsteps in the hall finish their approach to the door, and a woman peeks through. Her eyes widen, and a huge smile appears on her lips. Tears begin forming in the corner of her eyes.

"Oh, God! Sam!"

She excitedly pushes past the three guys and rushes to me. Wrapping her arms around me. My imitated clothes begin moving and folding like real ones when touched by another person.

"I thought you were dead..."

She softly cries and releases tears into my chest. There are brief flashes and glimpses of who she is, but I don't know specifically.

Instead of pretending to know who she is, I grab her shoulders and push her away from me. She looks at me with surprise and concern as I do this. Confused as to why I'm doing this. She knows me.

Know Samuel.

"I'm sorry, but do I know you?"

Her eyes widen slightly, and an angry look appears on her delicate looking face.

"This isn't the time for jokes, Sam."

The frustration and anger are quickly growing in her, but all I do is stare at her. With no clue in the world as to who she really is.

And she stares back into mine.

After a few seconds, her mouth hangs open a little. She reaches up with her hand and runs her fingers against my cheek. The three guys' reaction to that affectionate action doesn't go well with them.

"You really don't know who I am... What happened to you..."

Tears start falling from her eyes.

"When you disappeared out of the blue two weeks ago. I knew something was wrong."

That's when I get curious. She knew something about me right before all this happened. And I find it interesting that Samuel Grimm disappeared from everyone in his life right before this outbreak occurred.

I gently grab her wrist and remove her hand from my cheek. She has to look away for a second and then turns around to look at the three guys.

"He's the person I've been waiting for, guys. Now that I've got him, we can return to the Auditorium."

From the sounds of it, she's been waiting for me to come back. She still hasn't told me anything about her, but if she's waiting for me in this shitshow. She must care about Samuel Grimm.

Whoever she is, it doesn't matter anymore. I'm not the Samuel Grimm she knows.

I'm different.

A monster in her eyes.

In everyones eyes.

"I'm not going."

She stiffens and spins around. Looking at me confused. Anger quickly growing and frustration appearing on her face.

I don't know her. And I'm not going somewhere I don't need to be.