Chapter One:
The road to nowhere.
They ran as fast as humanly possible. The heels of their boots clicked furiously against the morning-lit streets of the city as they made their way to an abandoned thrift store. "In here!" Jill Valentine ordered her companion as she approached the building. She forcefully thrust her foot into the door, causing it to swing open and darted inside. Once her partner made it inside, she barred the door shut. The young man fell to his knees as he tried to catch his breath. "T-This can't be happening!" he managed to sob through heavy breathing. Jill reached into the back pocket of her black slacks and retrieved a cigarette, along with a lighter. She flicked the lighter and lit up the tobacco strip. "Don't be such a coward. We should be safe in here for now," she replied sharply while blowing a wave of smoke through her mouth.
The inside of the thrift store was surprisingly dim, despite the intense sunlight outside. But then again, the windows were savagely barred shut with wooden planks, preventing any sunlight from illuminating the room. The store's inventory lay scattered throughout the area, as if someone had searched through them. It was generally a mess. "So, what's your story?" Jill questioned the young man while she gently plopped herself on to the counter. The young man slowly rose to his feet and dusted himself off. "My name is Roberto," he swiftly replied. Roberto gazed down at his black boots, which appeared to be worn out from the previous running. An expression of sadness flushed his face. The room grew deathly silent.
"And?" Jill broke the silence. Roberto looked up at her, revealing his watery brown eyes. "I remember being peacefully asleep in my room and then waking up to the screams of my brother as he was devoured by my own sister." He quickly brushed his tears away with the sleeve of his navy blue jacket. Roberto was averagely tall at 5'10 for being 23-years-old. He possessed a slim build, which he was still getting used to after being overweight more than half of his life. The young man sniffed as he reached into the side pocket of his black jeans and pulled out a small photograph. He handed Jill the photo and watched as she examined it.
The photo displayed a happy family, which consisted of a man and his wife, along with two sons and a daughter. "I'm sorry," she empathized and returned the photo. Roberto placed it back into his pocket and brushed his light brown hair with a wave of his pale hand. He then began to nervously pace the room. "What if those monsters out there find a way in? We can't keep running forever!" Finished with her cigarette by now, Jill tossed the bud on the floor and stomped on it with the heel of her brown boot. "After the Raccoon City incident and finding about its origins in Africa, I've been doing this all of my life." Roberto stared at her BSAA uniform and then examined her face. Jill appeared to be reaching her late thirties, and she looked worn out from the constant battle against the undead. Her short, dirty blonde hair hung loose just above her shoulders. She slowly walked towards the back of the room and motioned for him to follow.
"If we are to stay alive, we must find something to protective ourselves with." The two approached the back exit of the thrift store and Jill placed her hand around the door's knob. "There is a gun shop several blocks away," she informed him. A look of bewilderment took over Roberto's face. "We have to run through those monsters? Why can't we just stay in here where it's safe?" The woman turned around to face him and she appeared to be clearly unamused. "We'll starve to death if we remain here. It's best to keep moving." Roberto heaved a sigh and hesitated a bit before he nodded in agreement. Jill retrieved a silver pin from her shirt pocket and used it as a lockpick on the doorknob. Once the door was unlocked, she placed the pin into her pocket and slowly opened the door.
"We stick together," Jill whispered as she stepped into the illuminating light of a bright autumn day. The air was deathly still as the two evacuated the building. Corpses lined the streets and sidewalks of this particular urban neighborhood in Manhattan, New York. Several abandoned cars lay scattered throughout the area with shattered windows and flat tires. The entire neighborhood appeared to be the host of a massacre. It was the sight of a post-apocalyptic Zombie outbreak. "There are no monsters around, thank God," Roberto breathed a sigh of relief. Jill wasn't as enthusiastic. She moved forward, quickly making her way through the ruins of a neighborhood devoid of life.
They managed to safely travel half a mile through the dead city, passed empty stores and other residences. "Can we stop for a second? My legs hurt," Roberto whined as he stopped in front of an empty video games store. He leaned his back against the glass display window of the store, trying to relax his aching leg muscles. Jill took this time to light up another cigarette. "You shouldn't smoke so much, it's bad for you," Roberto informed her. She gave him a slight smile and blew a puff of smoke through her mouth. "Kid, if you've seen half of the things I've seen, you'd probably be smoking as well," the woman laughed. Roberto returned the smile and laughed as well.
Suddenly, the glass window behind him crashed, sending shards of glass flying everywhere. Before he could react, he felt someone violently tugging on the sleeve of his jacket. Frightened, the young man turned around stare into the face of an undead. The zombie's flesh appeared to be deteriorated and blood oozed through a deep cut on his bare chest. He was shirtless and wore only blue jeans with black sneakers. As a previous human being, the zombie could have possibly been in his late teens. The stench of death which surounded his body was intoxicating. "Let me go!" Roberto shrieked as he unsuccessfully struggled to pull free. The zombie replied by releasing a low moan of agony. He was clearly hungry for Roberto's flesh and had no plans to release him from his grip.
Jill tossed her cigarette away and quickly reacted by finding the nearest object around her, which turned out to conveniently be a steel pipe. "Duck!" she yelled at him. Obediently, Roberto ducked and watched as Jill immediately swung the pipe at the zombie's head. The force of impact made the head detach itself from the body and roll across the floor. Blood splattered all over the young man's face and jacket. They heard the moans and groans of several approaching zombies. "They're coming! We must hurry," Jill cried as she grabbed his hand and ran forward. The two quickly made their way away from the area, struggling not to trip along the way on the corpses of civilians.
"Over there!" Jill led him towards an alleyway. The two stopped once they arrived in the alleyway, and struggled to catch their breath. Roberto had clumsily knocked over the trash can, causing all of its contents to sprawl all over the ground. An unpleasant odor drifted through the area. "That was close," he cried while removing his blood-stained jacket. Underneath, he wore a plain long-sleeved shirt. Jill tossed aside the bloody pipe, which she still had in her possession. "The gun shop is only a few yards away. Once we are there, we can stock up on firearms." Roberto used the back of his jacket, where the blood had not yet seeped through in order to wipe his face clean from the previous zombie's blood. "And then what? We run for the rest of our lives?"
The woman ignored his question and quickly pressed forward. "Let's not waste any more time." Roberto released a sigh and tossed his jacket on the ground as he trailed behind her. Unbeknownst to them, they were being followed by a shadowy figure in the distance. The mysterious persona watched as they left the area and leaned down to pick up Roberto's abandoned jacket. "I've finally found you former S.T.A.R.S member, Jill Valentine," the man quietly spoke to himself as he grinned.
