"I am the one responsible for designing the virus which reanimates the dead, it is my fault, all of it, and foolishly I sold my soul to the Devil for a fistful of dollars," Dr. Amir Osman said soberly, and the six-foot-two, dark-skinned, slender and silver-haired Somali-born American scientist looked into the camera, a haunted look on his handsome face. A look which was quite fitting, considering his exceptionally dire circumstances.
The Complex, as the lab was affectionately referred to, dwelled three hundred meters below the City of Saint Paul, Minnesota. The place was utterly deserted, save for Dr. Osman, and his research subjects. He'd had to put down his dear assistant, Roselyn Donoghue, when the lovely redhead reanimated after being bitten by one of the infected security personnel. Dr. Osman shot Roselyn, and the man who infected her, and thus found himself alone, in a labyrinth of despair...
The Complex had many cameras and satellite surveillance connections which showed him in great detail what was happening in the City of Saint Paul, Minnesota, and the rest of the United States of America. Everywhere Dr. Osman's electronic eyes looked, chaos reigned. Across America, ordinary men and women found themselves in a pitched battle against their friends, family members, neighbors and strangers. As the dead rose and began chowing down on the living, mankind found itself on the path to extinction...
"Oh, Rose, what have I done to you and to the rest of the world?" Dr. Osman asked himself, and he looked at the wallpaper on his iPhone 7 screen. It displayed a picture of the good doctor and his favorite assistant Roselyn in better times. They'd taken this picture while hanging out at the park located near Hamline University, Roselyn's alma mater. They had a picnic, made out, and took lots of pictures. It was a good day...
Dr. Osman thought about Roselyn, the curvaceous redhead with a sharp tongue, whom he found irresistible the moment they met. Always one to mix business with pleasure, Dr. Osman pursued Roselyn, who'd been involved with a young Japanese exchange student named Yamamoto at the time. It took Dr. Osman a good five months, but he finally got Roselyn into bed.
Yamamoto's student visa was cancelled and he got sent back to his hometown of Osaka, Japan, thanks to Dr. Osman pulling some strings thanks to his new friends at Erebus, of course. Roselyn needed a lot of comforting after Yamamoto's departure, and the good doctor was exactly what she needed...and then some. What Dr. Osman wasn't expecting was for their tryst to blossom into a full-fledged relationship, one which changed his life.
Once upon a time, Dr. Osman lived sorely for his work. It caused his wife Hamida Ali to divorce him and take their three sons, Mohamed, Yusuf and Hakim to Duluth. Dr. Osman was drowning in debt following his divorce, and began hitting the bottle quite often. With his life in tatters, Dr. Osman was going nowhere fast, until the fates smiled upon him.
A couple of years ago, Dr. Amir Osman, controversial researcher at the University of Minnesota, and one of metropolitan Saint Paul's leading Somali-Americans, became the recipient of a massive research grant. Erebus Incorporated, a multi-national pharmaceutical corporation with holdings in London, UK, along with Paris, France, and Vienna, Austria, approached the good doctor with the keys to the kingdom, as they say.
"Doctor Osman, your publications on cellular reanimation caused an uproar in the scientific community, and while many of your colleagues warned against your findings, we at Erebus Inc. are fully prepared to fund your research," said Anneke Hauser. Dr. Osman nodded thoughtfully, considering the possibilities, and the tall, blonde-haired, thirty-something executive gave the good doctor a smile a shark would recognize.
"Would your company be interested in ownership of the patents as well?" Dr. Osman asked, and the smiling Anneke nodded, and then informed him that he would be receiving a blank cheque for five hundred thousand dollars, just for signing up. Dr. Osman, a twice-divorced scientist with three adult sons and a shrill ex-wife to provide for, didn't hesitate much more after that.
"You made the right choice, Dr. Osman, this is the start of a profitable partnership, welcome to Erebus Incorporated," Anneke Hauser said, and Dr. Osman eagerly shook her hand. The beautiful European businesswoman's hand felt icy to the touch, but Dr. Osman didn't think much of it at the time. In hindsight, there were a lot of things which the good doctor overlooked, such as his new business associates penchant for only meeting him at night, and the fact that the Erebus Corporation had a reputation for shady dealings...
Dr. Osman only considered his perks, which included a brand new Rav4, more money than he knew what to do with, and having his picture in the New York Times and on the cover of Scientific American. At a time when America seemed to be moving backwards in terms of social progress, Dr. Osman knew that being a successful black man in the world of science made him an icon in the eyes of many.
Dr. Osman admired stalwart African American luminaries like former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, media mogul Oprah Winfrey, Hollywood heavyweight Will Smith, and of course, former U.S. President Obama. He wanted to show the world, and the African American community, that smart brothers could shine and get things done. And who better to help him achieve that goal than his eager new friends at the Erebus Corporation?
"The blood samples you've provided are a mystery, and while they look human, analysis shows that they're mutated to a significant level, when I combine them with the cellular structures I've been working on, the results were amazing," Dr. Osman said, as he showed the fruits of his labor to his new partners. On that fateful night, Erebus was represented by Anneke Hauser, along with a tall, handsome black man in a suit whom Dr. Osman did not recognize.
