Prologue:
It happened several years ago, 1998 to be exact, but it all still haunts my memories and my dreams. No matter how hard I try I can't forget the horrific sights...and the smell of rotten flesh or the death of my friends. Only three of us survived she didn't even make it..in an attempt to get back at that bastard I joined a secret government agency created just to wipe out the remnants of umbrella which led to this mission..
2003, I was in an unfamiliar country facing the same deadly monsters, terrible un-dead creatures, and terrifying abominations, they were pretty damn ugly to. I guess I should start at the beginning, about a week before the mission.
Chapter one: Syrus Magnum.
I was in an all too familiar hallway, I could the zombies' un-dead moaning and their shuffling but I couldn't see them, I just aimed my gun around into the darkness. I couldn't take it anymore, standing in a little patch of light, surrounded by darkness, waiting to die. I decided to sprint into the darkness and run, I could hear the ghouls all around me but I couldn't feel them. I really didn't care at this point I just kept running until..
Suddenly, I was in a room, that was lit be an almost unearthly dim light, just standing in this room gave me a terrible feeling. I began to look around and saw familiar faces, yet they were completely different...
My former team-mates..
I saw them, Amanda, Aaron, Lamont and even her..Stacie. They weren't themselves though they, like so many others had joined the walking dead. The sight of seeing my former friends like this again was almost too much for me to handle. Then I heard laughter from behind me, I spun around and aimed my gun at the shadow.
I couldn't see his face but I recognized him from the voice, I never learned this man's name but he was someone I thought I could trust all I called him was Sunglasses man. Almost like he was linked with my thoughts, the figure walked into the light as soon as I thought that. He was still the same, dressed in all black, brown hair and his dark sunglasses, a silenced pistol in each hand.
I began to open fire on him, hitting him repeatedly in the chest, the bullets went clean through him but it didn't seem to affect him at all. He shot me in both my legs, causing me to drop to my knees and yelp in pain. He just continued his, now sickening, laugh and began to shoot all of my zombified team-mates in the head.
First he shot Aaron, then Amanda, then Lamont, even though they were no longer living I still couldn't stand the sight of them dying but I couldn't look away or close my eyes, no matter how hard I tried. Then he turned his guns towards Stacie, a woman that I once loved, I kept trying to yell for him to stop or to get up but I was completely immobilized and my voice was completely gone.
He put the gun to her head and blew her brains out, still laughing, somehow I was able to move again and I shot several times in the back of the head, this time he fell to the ground, hopefully dead. I got slowly to my feet and looked at my team ,all of them were dead, not like they were alive before...
Suddenly I heard movement behind me, I slowly turned to see that the man in the sunglasses had gotten back to his feet and had mutated into a sickening monster. He lifted his arm and attacked, I couldn't move, his claws cut deep into my chest...
I jumped up, yelling and quickly looking around the room, I sighed and pushed my hand through my hair, I was back in my bedroom, it had all been nothing but a terrible dream. I knocked my alarm clock off the night stand, my method of shutting it off, and began rubbing my temples. I had another terrible headache. I looked at the time, I still had an hour before I had to leave so I just lied back down, thinking.
I was thinking about my dream, I've been having dreams like that often lately they were torturing me I didn't know whether it was guilt, if I was tired, or if it was because I was hung over. I got up and held my head for a minute before getting up. My head was throbbing I was up almost all night drinking, like most nights. I don't know why I started drinking so much, maybe a pitiful attempt to forget my problems, my past.
All the things I had seen, all my friends who have died, more than most men could take or maybe I just liked drinking which I used as an explanation most of the time, though it was fooling no one, not even me. I walked into a bathroom to get ready to meet the day, I took a quick shower, brushed my teeth and combed my hair. I grabbed some clothes from my closet and got dressed.
I walked through my living room and into the kitchen. I had a small apartment, that was littered with pizza boxes, beer cans and bottles, as well as dirty laundry. I grabbed a bottle of headache pills from a cabinet in my kitchen and took about four of them. I pulled a beer out of my refrigerator and used it to swallow the pills. I grabbed a piece of pizza from last night or it could've been a few days ago, I didn't care I just ate it.
I walked into my living and sat down on the couch, I turned on the TV , pushed some empty beer cans off of the coffee table, set my beer down and watched the news. I wasn't paying it much attention I just laid my head back and tried to think. I know enough about the world anyway from my line of work, the only thing this could tell me is which cats can open doors and flush toilets.
I drank the rest of my beer and got up to leave, trying to forget my dream so I could concentrate on my work. I pulled my jacket off the coatrack and the holster for my .45 magnum, I then walked out to go get my assignment. I walked out into the hallway of the old apartment building and towards the elevator but before I could make it I felt a bony hand on my shoulder.
"Magnum..." The person said, I could recognize him from his voice, it was my landlord, Mr. Jennings but that was going to stop me from messing with him.
"Satan?" I asked, turning around, "Oh Mr. Jennings, Sorry I thought you were someone else." I apologized, holding back a laugh.
"Make all the jokes you want Magnum but where's my rent?" He asked, my rent payment was a bit pass due.
"I assume by now its at the bank." I replied, always having to be a smartass.
"You better get that money or else.." He was beginning to threaten me but I cut him off.
"Yeah, yeah I know the drill." I said walking into the elevator.
"Hey hold that!" Mr. Jennings called, walking down the hall to the elevator. I began pressing the door close button repeatedly, making him think I was pushing the open button.
"I keep pushing the button but it won't stop closing." I said, with a laugh as the doors shut in his face.
I walked out of the elevator when it reached the bottom floor, still snickering a bit from what I did to Mr. Jennings. I walked outside and over to my car, a black dodge intrepid and I drove off to work. I drove up to a building that didn't really stand out from the other buildings surrounding it, didn't seem to be out of the ordinary at all. I showed my ID to the security guard so he would lift up the barricade.
I quickly found some parking space and started walking to the building, I walked in through the clear glass double doors. I walked across the entrance room and over to the elevators, only to see a few people I really didn't want to meet. Paul, a red headed agent with a large and, what I thought, stupid looking mustache and two other agents that seemed to be his friends.
"And so he returns."Paul said when he saw me walk over and push the button.
"Shut up Paul." I said nowhere near in the mood to talk to him.
"Whats up with you Margaritaville?"Another one of them asked, a lot of people called me that and I can't say that I blame them, I'm actually beginning to like it a bit.
"Nothing."I said just as the elevator arrived, I quickly got in, thinking maybe they wouldn't follow me but of course they did.
"What? Are you hung over again?" One them asked in a loud, obnoxious voice, just trying to annoy me.
"What if I am?" I asked, resisting the urge to punch the man out.
"Dm Sy you need to quit that." Paul said.
"Yeah I'm gonna take advice from a guy with a big gay mustache."I said, taking any opportunity to insult his mustache.
Paul got offended but the others laughed at him, one of them earned a punch in the arm from him, he looked like he was about to turn to me but the elevator came to a stop at my floor and I quickly walked out. I felt good about insulting Paul, it really made me feel better, for the time being anyway. I was walking down the halls when I saw one of my friends and fellow agent, Jason Norah. I had known him for awhile now, I met him about five years ago during that mission...
"Hi." I said to him with a small wave.
"Yeah." He simply said, in an almost out character dismal mood. I knew something was wrong and I had a feeling it would be bad for me as well.
"Well don't get all optimistic just cause I'm here."I said sarcastically..
"Bullock wants us in his office."Jason said, no wonder he was in a bad mood, Jacob Bullock was our boss and he was, well for a lack of a better word an asshole.
"Why the hell does he want to see us?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.
"If I knew that I wouldn't be going." He said with a laugh, which I joined in on.
"I guess not, probably wants to send us on the dangerous mission of cleaning the toilets." I said Jason laughed and nodded.
We walked through the halls and soon arrived at his doorway, I took a deep breath and we both walked in. Bullock was sitting at his desk as always, I doubt he's ever gotten from behind that thing and one any field work but this time he had someone else with him. By what he was wearing I deduced the man was another agent, wearing a combat uniform, with two Jericho pistols holstered at his side as well as a combat knife.
"So you finally decide to show up." Bullock said in his usually angry way.
"Yeah well we smelt your breathe from down the hall and thought you must've died or something to put out that kind of smell." I said, almost laughing at his reaction to what I said.
"Dammit Magnum as long as you're under my jurisdiction you will show me proper respect!" He yelled leaning over his desk and into my face to intimidate me. I knew right then what I was about to do would have bad after shocks but well I honestly didn't care. I burped right in Bullock's face, he roared in frustration and sat back down.
"What did you want us for?" Jason asked, a bit nervous, struggling to hold in his laughter.
"Okay gentlemen and I use that term lightly, this is Zach Barlen ." He said, red in the face with anger but trying to be professional, motioning towards the man in the office with him.
"Yo." The man said, with a small wave, we just nodded at him.
"I have an important mission and apparently the president's advisor say you two are needed for it." Bullock said, which got me thinking of what it could possibly be that they would recommend the two of us.
"Oh well we're flattered." Jason said sarcastically, Bullock gave him a stern look but it was easy to tell he didn't care.
"They want you three to put together a highly trained team for a rescue mission, rest assured it will be dangerous." He said.
"Well why us?" I asked motioning towards me and Jason.
"They think its..uhm.. "creatures" like the ones you have faced in the past."He said, that was the last thing I wanted to hear. Maybe going by myself and only having to care about my own life was bearable but a whole team whose deaths would be on my hands..
"Who's gonna be leading this mission?" I asked, curious to see who would be in charge of keeping us alive.
"You're looking at him." Zach said. I was a bit shocked actually he was much younger than me and Jason it seemed and yet he was still chosen over us.
"Well alright but you're paying for my flight." I said, just thinking of someone who could be a good help to all of us, someone I had experience working with.
"To where?" Bullock asked.
"You said we need to make a team I'm heading to Cousier city. Better hurry up on that Jackie boy I'm heading to the airport now." I said walking out, showing Bullock no respect at all, which I knew he hated.
I heard him yell out in anger as I stepped into the hallway, not surprise that Jason followed. He finally stopped holding it in and began to laugh loudly.
"Damn good job there handling Bullock." He said with a laugh and a congratulatory punch in the arm. "So who are you looking for Sy?"
"We need the best of the best and the person I'm looking for is far from that but at least I can trust him." I said he nodded in agreement, with a grin knowing who I was thinking of.
"Going to go get Ben huh?" He asked.
"Yep, you coming?"I asked.
"Nah, sorry man me and Zach are going to be looking for recruits around here we have a few in mind actually.
"Well alright." I said, a bit disappointed but I could do it alone anyway. "How much time do we have exactly?"
"Five days." He answered. I thought about whether I could talk to Ben and get back in that amount of time but I was sure I could do it, Ben trusted me.
"Fine, see ya when I get back man." I said, giving him a high five.
Now I was off to Cousier city to find my old friend, the former weapons expert of my team and professional skirt chaser, Ben Weis.