935
It's 1945 during WWII and Dr. Edward Richtofen has to lead his spec. ops team throughout the world, realizing there is no hope left for humanity. Every last human being has been corrupted and turned into the unnatural living dead by the mysterious element 115. Can there be life once again on earth? Is there a future to return to? Now balancing on the tip of a blade he now knows that they will need a lot more than mere fighting skills to surpass this chaos and survive. But maybe what they all really need… is a bit of luck.
Chapter one: Sweet memories
"Test number three iz vithin ze test chamber, activate power." The machine rattles and rocks, lights blast from its insides while thousands of volts of electricity surge throughout its machinery. The lights flicker on and off, and Dr. Maxis is oh so impatient to uncover his finest creation yet. It stops, and the doors slide open, revealing the test subject's mangled corpse in a disturbed grotesque appearance, "Oh-oh my god." His assistant, Edward Richtofen, stares at the corpse in shock and awe, his mind couldn't grasp at the pain the poor thing had to suffer before burning and dying. "Get a hold of yourself Edward and clean zhis up. Test number three, *sigh*, vas unsucessvul. Subject has been reduced to ze same state as previous test subjects. Clean up ze test chamber and recalibrate ze system, let's do it again." "Yes doctor." Richtofen grabbed his clipboard and papers and ran out of the room, preparing to watch another experiment fail, with a smile tucked beneath his lips.
"Richtofen, Richtofen, Richtofen!" Dempsey jabs him in the ribs with his rifle and shouts even louder. "Oy vey, dammit Dempshey' zhat hurt!" As he rubbed his side Dempsey tosses him a gun, "Now ain't a good time to dose off into la-la-land Rec-toe-fan. Hahaha hey that rhymed." Richtofen rolled his eyes as he got up, "Are you alvays entertained by mere poetry American, und for your information I vasn't in, eh… la-la-land, vhatever ze hell zhat iz? Und vhy didn't you get me ze MP40, you know zhats my favorite! " "Sorry doc, couldn't find one." Just then Nikolai came running up the stairs, nearly scaring them both to death, "Jesus Christ Nikolai don't do that, I nearly blew your fucken' head off!" Trying to catch his breath, Nikolai points down the stairs where a faint moan of the undead could be heard, "The… zombies, *gasp*, are getting… closer. I've got… to sit down." "By the sound of that horde of freak bags I'd say none of us got time to sit down." Richtofen began to look around confusingly, "Hey, vhere iz Takeo?" As they started looking around the room, they heard footsteps behind them, and see Takeo approaching carrying four bottles. "I bring sodas to give us strength." He passed them out and was greeted with cheers of joy and satisfaction. "Hey thanks for the Jug' Tak'! I was starting to get a little parched." "Oh yes zank you Takeo, my mouth vas getting a bit dry. And you got me my favorite, Double Tap vroot beer!" Nikolai made a face and tried his best to be his version of "nice" to his not so close friend Takeo, "Ah yes, thanks for bringing Nikolai Speed Cola. It has vodka in it no? Yes, I like the vodka, hehehe."
After drinking their fill and reloading their weapons, the group prepared themselves for another assault. They just kept coming and coming, and they all knew that if they were going to get what they came for and leave, they were going to have to do it fast. "Nikolai I need a mag!" Nikolai tosses Dempsey a mag and quickly reloads his weapon, "Richtofen cover me!" Giving assistance he ran in front of him while his weapon was reloading, "Takeo cover me, I'm reloading!" Richtofen backed up while Takeo took his place, "Dempsey, covering fire!" Takeo backed up and Dempsey took his place. As they tore the zombies down and quickly moved forward, they opened the gate that led to the Doctor's Quarters and sloshed through the swamps as quickly as they could, "Ugh I can barely move in this shit." Dempsey slowly stuck his right foot out and stepped into a deep hole covered by the green water, "Ah son of a bitch!" Everyone laughed while Nikolai helped him up, "Yea, yea, yea, it was hilarious can we go now?"
As they headed inside the hut, the door was closed and secured and the area around. With all areas secure they had a chance to relax and check their weapons for ammo, keeping their guard at ready just in case. "Ammo check; who needs ammo und who his full?" "My weapon is bone dry, doc'. What about you Tak'?" "My reapon' is empty of burrets'." "Yes and Nikolai is out of ammo, but not vodka, so I'm good." Richtofen sighed, "My veapon is almost out as vell. Ve need to find vhat ve came here for quickly… zhese boards von't hold forever." Richtofen roamed around the hut, examining all his surroundings confusingly, "Uh doc', what uh, exactly are we lookin' for?" Dempsey sounded nervous, which was surprising in most cases, "I'm looking for documents left behind years ago zhat vere about ze experiments vith 115 at ze 935 testing facilities. Vhy do you vant to leave so badly American? I zought you liked getting into danger?" Dempsey hesitated, "I dunno' doc', somethin' about this place ain't right. I feel like I've been here before but can't remember why. I don't like the feeling, and I think the sooner we get outta' here the better." Richtofen felt a knot ball up within his stomach; Dempsey was starting to get his memory back. He needed to drink more Juggernog, or he was going to get complete memory of everything that happened to him before Shi No Numa. "Eh, vhy don't you just drink ze rest of your Juggernog und maybe you'll feel better ja?" Dempsey grabbed his bottle and started chugging down while Richtofen examined the papers on his desk. The maps of the Japanese swamp they were in, and a map of the Tunguska event was lying close to it. Hmm, zhat iz strange, I zought ze Tunguska event happened furzer in time. Und vhy would zhis be on my desk if I never put it zhere? "Uh doc', you may wanna' see this." Dempsey led him into another room in the hut and pointed to an old radio, "Vhat about it, it's just ze radio ve used to communicate vith ozer Group 935 stations? Und look, it's not even plugged in and its buttons are burnt out, vhat exactly iz so interesting about a broken radio?" Dempsey turned one of the knobs to change the station, "A broken radio is what we thought it was too." All of a sudden static rose into the speakers, "Listen carefully…" Richtofen leaned in with the rest of the group and listened:
"Find doctor Richtofen and doctor Maxis…"
"115…"
"Find doctor Richtofen and doctor Maxis…"
All eyes were on Richtofen. As he nervously turned the radio off he sat down on a nearby chair and went through the files he had found, Dempsey pointed his gun at him, "What the hell was that all about? Why were you in this fucked up radio, huh?" "Calm down American, it's not surprising zhat I vould hear my name in zhis area. Zhis iz one of ze stations I vorked at." Dempsey slowly lowered his weapon, "And what exactly did you do here?"
Richtofen sat quietly at his desk, organizing papers, creating files, basically recreating 'the office' in a bug invested swamp. He heard a knock, "Dr. Richtofen, ze 935 OSS, he iz here for you." "Ah yes very good, valk me down vill you?" He nodded and escorted him down stairs towards the large hut in the middle of the camp. As they entered the hut, Richtofen observed a man with a suit and sunglasses on sitting across from the exact spot he was supposedly supposed to sit. He suspected this was the man he was meant to meet, so he approached the table without hesitation. As he sat down, the man wasted no time to begin, "Good evening Doctor, I understand you are here to discuss certain 'business' applications with me." "Indeed, Group 935 is very anxious for better funding so ve may continue our important research. I assure you my plan is practically flawless." The mysterious man raised an eyebrow, "I'm listening…" Richtofen continued, "I have already perfected ze blueprints for my MDT unit und have already drawn out the prints for my vunder veapon, all I need iz your money to make it happen. If you fund my research, I assure you, you vill be rewarded greatly." The man scratched at his chin, "And what rewards exactly are you planning on returning to us for our money?" Richtofen leaned closer, "You have a military recon team from Russia zhat belongs to you correct? How vould you like to have your own army of self-sustaining super soldiers?"
"Uh hello, Richtofen you awake?" Dempsey poked him numerous times until he finally shivered from goose bumps as a cold chill went down his spine, "Ah yes, I'm fine… just a bit dizzy." Dempsey made a face, "You've been acting stranger and stranger as we've advanced throughout this fucken' swamp. And you never answered my question doc… what the hell did you and you're so called "science group" do here?" He shook his head slowly, "Ve… vorked on numerous files collecting data from ze Tunguska event zhat occurred in Siberia, Russia. Our scanners picked up large vavelengths all ze way over here in Japan, zhat is how large it vas. Unfortunately, ve didn't have exact coordinates of ze disaster und ve needed more data, so ve set up anozer science lab in ze area in Siberia. But zhis area vas mostly for supplying ze Imperial Armies of Japan, numerous amounts came through here to resupply und leave. I vorked here in ze Doctor's Quarters vhile ze Comm Room vas used to send messages to ozer Group 935 stations on our progress. A few days after I left, things began to go… horribly wrong." A grim look molded onto Dempsey's face, "What kind of horrible things started happening?"
The quietness was almost too much for him to bear. He had gotten so used to the hum of cicadas and unbearable humidity that his original desk didn't seem the same anymore. Though his plan was slowly continuing to succeed, a knot was forming in his stomach. His best friend had now become his boss and professor. Though it bugged him a little that he was put under the command of his friend, it hurt him even more knowing he was becoming quite a jerk lately. All he was focused on was his stupid daughter Samantha… and Richtofen knew who she was. Yes, he knew who she was deep down below that little girls costume there was a horrible demonic being, just waiting to be released. He knew it would take time, but eventually, even Maxis' eyes would be opened with a little push.
His deep thoughts were interrupted by a slight knock on his door, "Excuse me, Doctor?" "Mmhm, Yes vhat is it?" The assistant hesitated, "Zere is someone on ze line for you from our station in Japan, and he says it is urgent." Richtofen nodded and lifted his phone from its holder, carefully dialing the number needed to reach the other open line. "Herro, herro, am I speaking to the doctor?" "Zhis is Doctor Edward Richtofen of ze 935 protocol at ze main facility in Breslau, Germany; vhat is zhis 'important call' about?" "We have good and bad news, both of the same provocative. A meteor has randed' outside the base with extreme revels' of element 115, we need you to come back as quickry' as you can doctor." Richtofen scratched at his chin in frustration, How come every time I leave zhat vretched place zhey call me back in? He sighed, rubbed the area between his eyes and tried his best not to growl at the terrified imperial on the phone, "I vill see vhat I can do." "Thank you doctor, I fear that this isn't the end of our misfortune, prease' hurry!" After they hung up, Richtofen finished his paperwork and began packing for his return to the Japanese swamps… he knew not what he would find.
He stared at Dempsey for a moment before he could answer, "Vhy don't I just show you vhat happened?" Though they were all confused they none-the-less followed him out of the Doctor's Quarters and crossed the main building in the Storage Hut. He stopped them just outside the fence and there, laying and emitting large amounts of 115, lay the cause to the deaths of thousands of Imperial Army in a hundred mile radius. Nikolai blinked, "A… meteor, that's what brought those hell pigs?" Richtofen nodded, "Indeed, these meteors are carriers of ze element 115. After it landed, ze men here began to get sick. Zhen, slowly but painfully one by one, zhey turned and attacked everyone who vas still alive. Luckily, I had barely made it out alive to inform the rest of Group 935 and its leaders."
Richtofen tucked the files he had found in his old office into his jacket pocket and began trudging through the thick swamp towards the main building, before he could even reach the door, Dempsey stops him, "Ok, I understand what you had to do with this place, but why, everywhere we go, the zombies follow us… specifically us?" Richtofen could feel that anxiety start to form a knot in his throat; he couldn't allow his plans to be compromised to his comrades. If they found out, they certainly would stop him to drastic degrees, and he could not allow that. He opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted but the screams and moans of the undead now surrounding their area and moving quickly. "Quickly, everyone get inside ze storage hut!" They banded together and ran inside, securing the door with barb wire and wood planks and boarding up the windows. "Zis von't hold for long and ve're out of ammo, ve need to find anozour vay out or ve get to be tasty zombie snacks." They quickly scrambled to separate corners of the small hut and searched for an alternate route while the zombies began to double in quantity and their force gradually getting stronger. Soon they will break in… and Richtofen knew this all too well. Come on Edward think! Vhere vas zat secret entrance Chan told me about? Please tell me it vasn't in a different hut!? It has to be here, I know it is! He frantically dove from corner to corner searching for the entrance when he tripped among the carpet which attached itself to his boot lace like Velcro. As Dempsey and Nikolai laughed their asses off, Takeo and Richtofen noticed a line creating a large rectangular shape just beneath them, "Quickly Takeo, help me break ze boards!" They yanked the carpet up and began stomping atop the floor, with every bang and clash of their foot, Richtofen could feel the boards crack. Dempsey and Nikolai ran over to help, "Vait stop, it von't be able to-" Before he could finish, the weight of all of them was too much to bear and the entire floor beneath them gave way with a loud CRACK. "Aua, mein Kopf… is everyone shtill alive? I von't carry dead veight." He was greeted with grunts and moans of pain and the sound of joints cracking and knuckles popping. They all got up and dusted themselves of the dirt and grim that freely flew from the floor. As they observed their surroundings, they noticed that this secret floor board covered a rather large entry way, with a tunnel that was wide and clotted with clay to help support wood beams to keep the tunnel from clasping. Richtofen leaned towards an unlit torch that had been lying near its holder and lit it, "Vell, ve do not know how far zis stretches onvard. I suggest ve hurry, if it's longer zhan ve think zhan zhese tunnels vill soon be filled vith ze undead." He led them ahead until the zombies could no longer be heard… until the darkness swallowed them within.
(Aua, mein Kopf: Ah, my head.)
Hey guys i know I've been kind of slow but I promise I haven't forgotten about you! I post chapters as often as I can so they usually aren't done until I've posted the beginning part of the next chapter.
