Adam

I was not the first, but I am the only one that survived. One of the many 'Adam's' to be created in the lab. Me and my predecessors were the products of gene editing and manipulation, with the goal being to create a 'perfect' human.

We were made to be faster, smarter, taller and stronger. All the senses were heightened, emotions controlled and geared toward learning and taking orders. As we were not replacing regular people. We were being created to kill regular people. CRISPR was used in what I heard called Operation: Sicarius.

For 10 years I had lived in the lab or 'home' as they had me call it. But as I learned more and more of the outside world through my training and studies, I knew this was a type of brain washing tactic. The same reason they had me call the head researchers: Mother and Father. Though I did learn that wasn't entirely false, I was brought into this world with their DNA being the base before the editing.

In the beginning I was fine with the expectations put on me. I had been treated favorably due to being the only Adam to survive past infancy. I wanted to complete the task that Mother and Father had created me for. However as I learned more of the normal lives of humans, the real family dynamics, I started to question it.

I was trained to be able to slot in to any lifestyle. I had knowledge of many subjects and knew several languages already. "Children have the highest receptivity to knowledge compared to adults." Is what they would always tell me. One factor they didn't consider though is curiosity. Or maybe they did but they likely never considered the negative aspect of it.

Because now I knew that I no longer wanted to be just a killer. My whole purpose being a cold blooded assassin. That's why on my 10th birthday I finally decided that enough was enough, and during my usual blade training session I 'slipped'.

They would bring in death row inmates or killers from all around the world for me to fight and get used to killing. Of course they had preventative measures to make sure they didn't kill me, but that didn't include preventing me from killing myself.

I had thought I had succeeded too, except I just opened my eyes to the view of a hospital room. Nothing like the infirmary of the lab. Looking around I was momentarily surprised by all the outdated equipment surrounding me. The Lab had all brand new technology, some that wasn't even available to the public yet, but to see all this..

I was still in my training clothes, a black form fitting body suit that was covered by grey loose pants and a grey t shirt. The black body suit had sleeves that extended down to my wrists. I swung my legs off the edge of the bed and slipped silently on to the floor. I didn't have any shoes and met a tile floor with a pleasant neutral temperature.

Nothing felt off about my body, but just to confirm I padded into the bathroom that was in the opposite side of the room from the bed. Silence was a key part of training, and going unnoticed in an unfamiliar environment was the standard.

Facing the bathroom mirror I felt the tension I had in my body leave as I saw my familiar black hair and grey eyes. My hair was kept short so it wouldn't be easy to grab during a fight. And the grey of my eyes was due to the gene editing. Light eyes like blue absorb more sunlight and make the eyes sensitive, leading to the need to squint. Grey is neutral and allows my eyes to withstand brightness much easier than others.

I was taller than the average 10 year old at 5 foot already, and stronger than likely all of them. I looked more like a 13 year old if not for my younger facial features. As I was testing the sink water I heard a crash from outside my room. Followed by the calls of help from an older man.

Turning off the faucet I edge to the door and hear him call again for a nurse. Were there no nurses around to help him? I had noticed that it was quiet if not silent in the building, but I had never been outside the The Lab. I was beginning to think that the outside world was quiet, but now I realize how wrong I was.

The only thing I could see for a weapon quick enough was a pen and a clipboard. It wasn't much but I figured it would be enough for the time being. Approaching the door I began to notice the horrible stench, a stale, aroma of death and decay lingered just on the other side. Though I didn't smell any fresh blood, all of it was definitely older.

Not having any grease or oil there was nothing I could do to prevent the squeaking of the door hinges as I peeked out. Not wanting to make even more noise I squeezed my body through the crack once I didn't see anything that looked like a threat. Though I was surprised by the state of disarray in the hallway. Medical equipment and papers were strewn across the floor and I was starting to get an idea of my situation.

It seemed some kind of battle or skirmish had taken place if not inside the hospital then definitely outside of it. I could hear the faucet running in the room directly to my left and cursed myself for having been so weak to make such a noise without making sure it was safe to do so.

This room that the noise was coming from had a gurney blocking the door, though the door opened inward into the room so I'm not sure what use such thing would do. A minor inconvenience at best. The sink was turned off and I could hear the smacking of bare feet agains the tile as whoever was on the other side made its way to the door.

Going off the voice I heard it was likely a male, so I backed up to doorway on the opposite side and kept the pen braced behind my back. I was probably the more skilled fighter, and judging by the sound of his steps he seemed weakened by something. But I was not one to let confidence in my abilities turn into an arrogance that gets me killed.

The door creaked open much like mine had and I came face to face with a scraggly bearded man in a hospital gown that open at the front revealing his bandaged torso and his boxers. He paused and seemed surprised to see me and smiled softly, wincing when he went to raise his left arm to wave.

"Hey there, kid. Do you know what's going on? I just woke up." He spoke in an accent that i recognized as southern American. Judging by his expression and demeanor i could tell that he was being genuine. Everything about him seemed to say that he was a good person. Behaviors were one of the areas I was forced to learn as well.

"You're not some kind of pervert are you?" I decided to ask as I gestured with my eyes to his state of dress. His mouth dropped open and bobbed up and down before finally tightening the gown across his body, tying it closed.

"N-no? My name is Rick Grimes, I'm a Sheriff's Deputy in Kings County." He said.

"Kings county?" I asked. I didn't know every county of every city. I knew the counties of the biggest cities of the US but to know all of them for every single state wasn't realistic.

"Kings County, Georgia. Just a little southwest of Atlanta if that helps."

I knew of Atlanta obviously, it was home of the CDC. But from what i understood The Lab had been on an island off the coast of Florida. Now one second I had been dying in the training room, to being hundreds of miles away, waking up in an abandoned hospital.

"Ya that does." I said as I kept thinking.

"So do you know what's going on?" He asked while gesturing to the state of the hallway. I shook my head.

"No, I just woke up as well. I mean I didn't even know I was in Kings County." I said.

"I see. Well maybe we can help each other then. We can get out of here and maybe we can find your parents." Rick said trying to comfort me.

"I'd rather not. Mother and Father aren't good people." I responded, and Rick seemed to read more into that than what I had intended. Based off the tightening of his jaw he must have thought they were abusive. Which I guess they were, especially when compared to the usual family dynamic.

"Well we won't figure anything out staying in here." Rick changed the subject and winced as he turned from side to side too quickly. I could smell the rankness of his wound through his body odor. I hadn't been able to notice it at first due to all the other smells overwhelming it, but now it was obvious.

"We should find some supplies and clean up your injury as well." Rick seemed to agree as he nodded while leading the way. All the rooms were in similar states as the previous, most everything taken. At the end of the hall was a supply room, still locked.

"Well what can you do. We'll have to find some supplies elsewhere." Rick sighed, but I noticed a desk. Nurses statistically were likely to be female and that means bobby pins for their hair.

"Don't give up just yet, Rick." I smiled as I begin digging through the papers and junk before finally being rewarded. Rick watched me curiously as I crouched in front of the door I broke the pin at the bend and inserted them into the lock. I was glad for the older style of this hospital, it was a lot easier than what I had been trained for.

"I know they do that in the movies, but it's not that e-" Rick's sentence was interrupted by a click as the lock flipped, and with a twist of the handle the door creaked open.

"That was easy." I smiled as I turned to Rick.

"Kid who are you?" He asked.

"Adam. I was wondering when you would ask."

"That's not exactly what I meant, but it's nice to meet you Adam. Why do you know how to do that?" Rick asked.

"Father said that it's a very useful skill." I shrugged as I stepped into the supply room. Rick didn't say anything, and I didn't say anymore. I just grabbed the stuff I needed to for his wound and had him grab a gurney from the hall way.

Pulling the left side of his gown down I unwrapped the old wrapping and winced at the smell. A shower was definitely needed sometime. How long had this guy been sleeping here?

Judging by the condition of the wound it seemed like he had had it for around a month, so he might have been in here for that long. I flushed both sides of the wound with saline to clean, and then put some medicine over the wound and covered them with a patch.

"How do you know how to tend to wound so well? I would have thought you were a nurse if you weren't so young." Rick said incredulously.

"Father said that it's a very useful skill." I replied, moving over to where a bag was and began stuffing it full of the remaining supplies.

"Your Father taught you some interesting skills." Rick grumbled as he put his arm back through the sleeve and I just shrugged.

"What about your mom?" He asked while helping me gather everything.

"Mother taught me useful skills as well." I replied and he didn't speak anymore. He seemed to be thinking hard about something.

As we continued walking the smell of death grew and grew until we came across a chained and boarded set of double doors.

[Don't Open Dead Inside]

Rick went to walk closer and I held out a hand to stop him. I could hear something on the other side, not to mention the stench.

"Somethings wrong." I whispered. Just as I did the doors were pushed from the other side and a grey hand slipped through the crack. It was the hand of someone who had been dead for while. What in the world was going on here? 'Dead inside' I had thought it meant dead bodies, but it seemed like it was more than that.

We made our way to a fire exit and began descending. It was darker in here but my eyes were better than the average human. I needed just a little bit of light and I could see as if it was normal lighting. At the final door we were met by more disgusting smells of dead bodies and decay. I had hoped for fresh air, but at least it wasn't stale or as stifling as it had been inside.

Bodies littered the parking lot, wrapped in sheets, even stacked on the trailers and beds of trucks. Was there a war happening? Miltary vehicles were stationed in the parking lot up the hill and the hospital had holes in the walls.

"We should look for weapons." I said as we stood looking at the military camp. Rick looked at me and back at the camp.

"It doesn't look like much is left." He said.

"But it's more than we have and we still don't know what's going on." I replied.

"Alright. Just don't stray too far." Rick sighed.