The Outbreak

"The Director of the VPA wants to speak with you Kira. Detective Irene as well." A man in a military uniform jogged over after getting out of a military jeep.

"He's on video chat." The soldier handed Kira a tablet and headed into the restaurant followed by more soldiers, armed to the teeth. Kira looked at Irene and then down at the tablet.

"I heard what happened. I understand why you made that call, even if it wasn't necessarily the correct one." Irene and Kira saw a middle aged man sitting in a chair with a stern look.

"From the reports, you encountered a Sanguine Carrier and lived to tell the tale. That doesn't just happen, did you manage to wound it somehow?" The Director leaned forward with his eyes narrowed slightly.

"The Ultra Sonic Frequency Emitter worked as well as we hoped. Though it still possessed both inhuman levels of speed and strength, it was disoriented and couldn't function at one hundred percent."

"We lost six men with barely anything to show for it?" The Director sighed and slumped, closing their eyes in helplessness when Kira's phone chimed. She read the message and a thoughtful look surfaced.

"I sent my report of the incident to the Lab. Much like we initially thought, the Sanguine Virus may have two variants. Like tonight, we should have been able to capture her, but the Sanguine Carrier now registered as V-4 was able to evade capture. If she wished, V-4 could have killed everyone present as well."

"Is there a distinctive marker between the Variants? Up to now, we have three confirmed successful confirmed kills, and the first was a literal nightmare."

"We'd need to do more in depth studying. Based on our estimates, the variant designated as V-4 happens to be is superior to the average Sanguine Carrier. Strength, speed, hearing, and even regeneration and durability receives a boost. Tonight, we didn't possess a weapon that was even able to break her skin."

"Unlike the Lycanthrope Carriers, Sanguine Carriers are more predatory and solitary, but based on the footage of the previous crime scenes, two Sanguine Carriers are acting together. This is directly contrary to our initial understanding of these creatures."

"We know that Lycanthrope Carriers possess something that weakens Sanguine Carriers. Why not try and replicate that?" Irene interjected but Kira cut her off.

"As we are now, we cannot fight the Sanguine Carriers evenly and win, and we can't afford to start another fight with the Lycanthropes." Kira sighed heavily.

The other governments around the world are focusing firstly on the Z Carriers, then the Sanguine Carriers. Lycanthropes aren't overly hostile to humans, and have saved a few lives by pushing back Sanguine Carriers who were hunting." The VPA Director opened a file and read it silently.

"So you believe the first Sanguine Carrier we discovered and eliminated was a similar variant to this Carrier designated as V-4? Looking at the pictures I received, I'm shocked you all lived."

"Another things Director. According to V-4, her heart no longer functions. A cure may not be possible at this rate." Kira interjected and the Director closed his file.

"I've been given the green light to deploy six more VPA Assault Squads to the city. Given everything that's happened, she can carry out massacres before we even reach the scene." 

"Can we go after her?! She took a girl with her when she left!" Irene stared at the middle aged man on screen who sighed and shook his head with a frown.

"V-4 has been designated as Highly Dangerous by the DoD. They're comparing it to having the equivalent of an enemy army on our soil! You want to put one person's life above that of the entire city's?"

"Director, she managed to persuade V-4 not to kill us all. If she is still alive, we might be able to try and get her to bring V-4 in to be studied." Kira stopped the director from continuing with her own words.

"Okay, forget V-4, there's also V-3 who shares the same designation of Highly Dangerous as well. If they're even half as strong as they seem, no amount of Assualt Squads will be enough, our best bet is trying to outlast them till sunrise."

"I won't officially sanction such a mission with such high stakes. I will give you two days to figure something out however. You will be granted an almost unlimited amount resources and information until the deadline. I pray for your success."

"Thank you Director." Kira saluted and ended the call and leaned back. Irene watched as her phone lit up, and a code appeared. Using that, Kira logged in to a site and looked for something.

"Since it was formed from various departments who had large amounts of funding, we have a higher budget as well. I'm looking for their facial recognition images in any places they might stay to evade the day."

"You said they were human before right? How could someone kill so brutally without a change of expression?" Irene recalled the bloody scene of the man's spine being torn out, or even when the sign sliced the commander in two pieces.

"We need to see the survivors. They should already be filled in on the consequences of failing to comply with the NDA." Kira handed the tablet to someone nearby and headed to the cordoned off restaurant.

"And what do we do if they talk? People were bound to have heard the gunfire or those who fled after seeing that." Though she hadn't been outside, she had seen the outcome of the short bout between the Lycanthrope and Sanguine Carrier.

"Cameras. We can try to pass it off as a movie scene footage being filmed." Irene didn't have to know Kira too long to know she was being sarcastic. Kira sent to more soldiers to secure the area before heading to the clothing store.

"We might not be able to cross them again today. Let's see if they left any clues behind." Kira got into her SUV, unlocked the door and headed out after Irene got on.