The House of the Dead 25

by RyanA136

As an AMS agent gets his head together from a night of drinking, he awakens to find out that the nearby city has become infested with the living dead. However, these zombies are not what the AMS are used to and he will need some unexpected help.

The House of the Dead 2.5

Prologue

On December 18th, 1998, a madman named Dr. Curien released zombies into his mansion. He went insane from trying to find and remove the barrier of life and death so he can save his son, Daniel. 2 AMS agents, Rogan and "G" went to the Curien Mansion after they got a panicked phone call from Rogan's fiancé, saying everyone was getting killed. Little did the AMS agents know that Curien had done experiments on advance mutations and created monstrous creations known by their tarot card name. Chariot, Hangedman, and the Hermit, were all a part of his arsenal of undead creatures. They fought their way through the house until they got to Curiens private lab, where they were introduced to his "Masterpiece". The Magician, type 0 was a super human entity that could fly with extreme speed and had a mastery over fire. Rogan and "G" defeated him and muttered before he exploded "You…Haven't… seen… anything…yet." This was a foreshadowing on things to come.

On February 26th, 2000, 4 AMS agents are sent to Venice Italy to find agent "G" who has gone missing. They get there only to find zombified humans, similar to Dr. Curiens zombies. Two AMS agents known as James and Garry are confronted by a bat creature similar to the Hangedman, but smaller and reddish. Zeal, as the bat creature is called, tells the AMS agents that this is only the beginning and that he has already taken care of "G". The pair then fights through the city fighting more monsters like the ones at the Curien Mansion case, Judgment, Strength, Hierophant, and Curiens masterpiece the Magician resurrection. After fighting the Hierophant, the AMS agents figure out that this attack was created by Caleb Goldman. After going to his Headquarters and defeating the Magician in the courtyard, the AMS agents fight their way through the Skyscraper while hordes of armored undead attack them with energy swords and brute strength. After reaching Goldman's office on the 50th floor, he tells the agents that the humans have disturbed the life cycle and that he has created a creature to rule over mankind. This creature was named "The Emperor". James and Garry are able to defeat the Emperor because he was still in his alpha stage so he was weaker. After his defeat, Goldman goes to the roof and says to the pair, "This isn't over yet. A successor will come! Farewell, friends.", then proceeds to fall of the building to his death.

This was not yet the end…

Panic

It was in the middle of the day, and I had been drunk the night before. My head was pounding like a hammer banging on the inside of my head. I looked at the calendar, April 24 2002. Getting up from my bed was a hassle because I couldn't focus. I made my way to the kitchen to get some Motrin and get some breakfast. A couple hours later, my headache subsided, I was about to walk outside to go get the paper when my PDA went off. I stood still with my hand on the door knob. I rushed to my room and picked up the rectangular PDA with the "New Message" screen on it. I froze, the only reason the AMS would send me a message is if there was an… I opened the message, it read,

"Dear Joseph, there has been a series of attacks by unknown assailants. They are said to bite their victims. You know what this could mean. I want you and Renolds to investigate. Sorry for such short notice."

I looked at the time it was sent, 5 hours ago. I grabbed my Glock pistol and my ammo holsters. I pulled out my phone and proceeded to call Renolds, then I started to hear constant banging on my door followed by moaning. I dropped my phone, then the door broke down. I aimed down my sights, then a flood of zombies flew in front of my bedroom door. I started pulling the trigger violently and watched them fall. I then went out of my bedroom to find that more 5 zombies had broken in through the back door on the left, as I unloaded at least 3 magazines into them, I heard screeching from behind, then a crash. I turned around and ran out the front door a blue van had crashed outside of the house, with the white FOX logo on the side. Oh my god, I thought. I reloaded and got in my car. It was an old ford, I couldn't tell you the model. I started driving towards Renold's house. There were hordes of zombies everywhere. What could have happened? I was about to cross onto Renolds' street when a large creature jumped down and blocked my path. I got out of the car and stared at it. It was tall and white with a large exposed heart and large veins across his body. His left arm was mutated to be a large claw. My PDA went off, it read "Tyrant T-002", its weak spot was the heart. What the heck is this, I thought. Kneeling on one knee, it stood up and looked at me, its large heart pumping ferociously. I pulled out my gun. "Alright you freak, bring it on!" I yelled.

It ran at me with its claw arm behind it. I shot it in its legs and it fell. This could be easy, I thought. It stood up, completely unharmed. "Ah shit." I yelled. It leaped in the air and flew towards me. I shot its heart. Seeing that it was unfazed by my attacks, I jumped out of the way. Its claw stuck in the ground as it came down. It struggled to free itself. I saw my chance to attack. I proceeded to put well placed rounds into its heart. Every shot disrupted its beat. It would have a heart attack if I shot it enough. Just as I was about to unload another clip into its heart, it broke the concrete from around its claw. It stood there for a second, then looked at me. I then started to slowly stroll towards me again. I started shooting its heart again, this finally did the trick. It raised its claw, fell to its knees, and finally collapsed.

Trust

As I gazed at the creature that had just almost killed me, I heard a horde of zombies coming up behind me. They must have heard my gun shots. I turned around to see that a large group of them had gathered behind me during the fight. They stumbled towards me. There was no way in hell I could kill this many. All of a sudden I heard a car stop behind me where the monster lay. A man with brown hair and a tactical vest got out of the car and started placing well put shots into each one of the zombie's heads. One by one, they fell down and died… again. The man lowered his gun and went back into his car. I started walking towards him, and then he drove off. "What the hell!" I yelled. Where could he have been going? I was going to chase after him until my PDA went off. A new message had been sent to me by the AMS. It read,

"Dear Joseph,

I regret to inform you that your partner is now dead. Your inability to rescue him cost him his life. However, you can still fight this outbreak. We have just received information that the heart of the outbreak is in an underground facility owned by the pharmaceutical company known as "Umbr…"

The message was interrupted, or corrupted. I put the PDA in my pocket and started walking towards the city. I could see smoke and fire coming from buildings, the aura of flame painted the clouds above. The screams and wail of police sirens could be heard for miles. Who could have done this, I though. Moments later, after reaching the city limits, the car I saw before pulled up beside me. The window rolled down. "Are you Joseph?" the man with brown hair asked.

"Yeah. Who are you?" I replied.

"Just get in, I'll explain everything." The back door opened. I sat behind the passenger side of the car.

As we started to drive off, a redhead with a red velvet vest turned from the front of me and pointed a gun at me."What the fuck," I yelled in confusion "are you trying to rob me now?"

"No" said the man in the driver seat. "We can't trust you just yet. See, we're fugitives by trying to bring down the people behind this outbreak in 1998."

"Who, the DBR institute?" I asked.

"No, the Umbrella Corporation. In 1998, there was an incident at a mansion…"

"Curien Mansion?"

"No, Spencer Estate. A deadly virus was leaked into the mansion causing the dead to rise again and try to kill humans. This, however, was no accident. Me and my partner that were assigned to the case discovered that the Umbrella Corporation had been making Bio-Organic Weapons, or B.O.W.s for short. They were trying to make a perfect soldier using the virus to create monsters. That thing that you battled was a failed experiment of one of those soldiers. They did succeed at making an obedient soldier though, and I bet you by the end of the day, we will be seeing one of them."

"Well this is just great. Who are you exactly?" I asked.

"I am Chris Redfield, and that is my sister, Claire." He said.

"Pleased to meet you, Joseph." Claire said, holstering her gun once more and turned to the front.

We drove towards the city, seeing many infected walking the streets. How could something like this have happened? I saw Chris pick up the radio and started seeing if any law enforcement officers were still alive. I sat in the back watching as zombie after zombie passed by. I became infuriated at the fact that I was just sitting there doing nothing while people were dying. "So when are we going to help these people? They're still survivors, you know."

"Yes, I know, but we need to get to the lab first. They have a good supply of the anti-virus in their labs. After we give that to the populous, then we can worry about the infected." Chris said.

"Well if we worry about the infected now, there will be more people we will be able to save!" I said.

He started to raise his voice, "You don't get it, do you? You have no idea what kind of virus this is
the things it does or how it works. If I were you, you should just let me do all the decision making, ok? He said.

"Yeah, I guess." I said, crossing my arms and leaning back on the seat.

We kept driving, but then a burning gas tanker was blocking the path. "Man, De ja vu." Claire said holding her head.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"It's nothing, just a memory… that should have stayed a memory." She replied in a low, depressed voice.

We got out of the car. The infected were stumbling all around. "Shoot only the ones that are attacking, we don't want to waist bullets." Chris said pulling out his handgun.

"Right." I said. I looked at his gun, there was a logo on the handle, it read "R.P.D." then "S.T.A.R.S."

"What is S.T.A.R.S.?" I asked Chris.

"Special Tactics and Rescue Squad, it was my unit before the incident." He replied.

"What incident?" I asked

"After the outbreak of this virus at Spencer Estate, a lab underneath the city I worked in under law enforcement had a sample of the virus broken. The virus was ingested by rats, then ran into the sewers, then the entire city. The infected rats bit whatever humans that were near. This was just a chain reaction. Once one human is infected, it's only a matter of time until he turns and starts infecting others. Many died, most were a part of the legion of the walking dead. Then, the military decided to cleanse the city, in other words, they nuked it. Me, my sister, her partner, and a little girl are the only survivors that I know of that escaped the city alive." He replied.

I stood there in awe. How a normal human being surviving all of that is a just un-heard of, even in the AMS. I heard a zombie coming up behind me, so I turned around and shot. Directly between the eyes. It fell with a moan. I lowered my gun and heard Chris and Claire start to shoot zombies as well. We moved through the city, block by block, protecting ourselves from the undead, until we got to a tall skyscraper. On the very top, there was a logo of an octagon. Each side of the octagon was separated into 8 triangles, the tip coming from the center of the shape to the ends which were at the angles. Each triangle was in a Red/White pattern, creating what looked like an umbrella. We went through the front door of the building, the lobby was filled with infected. In the back of the lobby, past the fountain in the middle and the reception desk, there was a row of elevators. "We should be able to run through here without much trouble from them. This is a wide area, there is no way they could catch us!" I said

"Right, that is what I was about to say." Claire said, and then started to run towards the elevators.

I stood there for a second watching. Then Chris rushed by me too. I was still putting together what happened, then in started running as well. The undead started to horde around us. I opened fire on 5 zombies near the elevator. They fell with a moan. Then Chris fired upon 2 zombies that were coming up on my right. We reached the elevator at last as the horde of zombies crowded around the door. The elevator door opened and Claire yelled "Come on, get in now!"

"What do you think I was doing, letting the zombies go first?" I responded.

"Come on you two, we need to work together. No more witty remarks!" Chris said after running into the elevator.

Me and Claire followed Chris in and closed the door just before the zombies got to us. I looked at the elevator panel to see what floor we were going on. Chris pushed a button near the bottom of the panel, then we started going down. "You all right Claire?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She replied.

The elevator continued going down, then it stopped. I looked at the LED display to see what floor we were on; it read "Floor B15". The elevators opened to a laboratory with glass walls and a shiny white tiled floor. I raised my pistol just in case any zombies popped out. We got out of the elevator and looked around. There were two rooms in front of us that were split down the middle by a walk-way. Chris pointed at Claire, then at the room on the left. She nodded and went into the room. Chris then pointed to me, then down the hallway. I nodded as well and started walking down the hallway silently. Chris went into the room on the right and started to search. I guess I'm the guard dog, I thought. I got to the end of the hallway, 2 paths continued behind the rooms. I started to wonder down the hallway behind the right room. I saw Chris in my peripheral vision, still searching the room for the Anti-virus. I continued cautiously walking down the hallway, with my weapon raised. The walls had colored stripes on them; the beginning of the stripes had names of rooms written on them. Those stripes probably lead to the rooms that are listed on the wall, I thought obviously (I know that that probably made no sense what so ever, go on the internet and complain about it) I looked at the list "Let's see what Product Testing holds…" I whispered to myself.

I followed the red line until I got to a large metal Blast Door. There was a number pad on the wall to my right. I wonder what would happen if I were to shoot it, I thought. I pointed my gun at it and pulled the trigger. The keypad sparked and a small flame appeared which died down. Then the blast door started to open slowly. A rumbling sound was made as it slid to the right side of the wall. I pointed my gun into the room just in case something was going to jump out at me. Behind the big door was a large white room with a three white pillars. I walked inside cautiously and looked around. The door suddenly began closed. I tried running through it before it shut, but I failed. I was trapped in the room, alone. Then a red light started blinking on and off and an alarm went off. "B.O.W. Number 1997 prepared for testing. All personal, please leave the testing room." An intercom said as a square piece of the floor in the back of the room began the slide down. I checked my glock to see if it had ammo in it still. I pointed my gun at the platform as it began to rise up again. As it rose back up to the surface, I saw a man on his knees, strapped onto the platform. The man had long white hair and his right arm had some sort of brace it, covering his whole arm. The platform stopped and the man jerked upwards a little. I watched as the man just kneeled there. The man looked up at me. He had ice blue eyes with a sort of blue glow on them as well. He then stood up and the straps holding him down broke. He then raised his right arm. I saw something underneath the leather brace squirming. Then the brace broke, revealing a white wing. My P.D.A. went off. I looked at it as it listed "O.W.A. Type 1997", it listed its weak point at the joint between his arm and the wing. I raised my gun to fire, but he ran at me. He punched me in the stomach and I fell to the ground. He was running faster than anybody I have ever seen before. I looked up and pointed my gun at him and fired. He raised his wing in front of him and blocked the bullets. Sparks flew out of his wing as the bullets impacted. He back flipped a landed farther back. I stood up quickly and aimed my gun at him. He then disappeared and re-appeared in front of me, slashing me with his wing. A large cut appeared on my shoulder where the wing impacted. He jumped back, waiting for my next move. I raised my gun and pointed at the joint and started to fire. He side stepped out of the way before one bullet even hit him. This is impossible, I thought. He jumped in the air, with his wing behind him and tried slashing at me. I saw my opportunity and I started firing into his arm. Finally, I hit the spot. He groaned and fell to the ground. I ran over to him and tried to keep shooting him, but he stood back up and looked at me. The glow in his eyes began to intensify. He started to run at me and I started shooting. He stepped out of the way of every bullet and slashed my stomach. A large cut formed and blood started flowing out of it. I clenched it to try and stop the bleeding. He then appeared behind me and slashed my back. I tried swinging around to hit him the butt of my pistol, but he was already gone. I turned and faced the front of the room where he was, blood dripping off of his wing. "Is that all you got, you one winged freak!" I taunted.

I heard banging on the door; it must have been Chris or Claire. But before I could do anything, the man had appeared in front of me and punched me in the jaw. I flew back a couple feet and landed on my back. So strong, I thought. I stood up clenching my stomach still. I was breathing heavily. The man stood there, not even winded. He then jumped in the air and spread his arms. I took a couple shots at his wing and hit spot on. He hovered in the air for a minute, and then the air got heavy. I continued shooting his arm ,reloading, and repeating. A ball of light started forming behind him. I continued shooting. I shot enough times that he fell and the ball of light dissipated. I'm glad I didn't see what he was about to do, I thought. He stood up again, looking hurt. He ran at me with his wing raised. I shot at the spot again and he fell. A green energy then surrounded him as he stood up again. The feathers on his wing got longer and more sharp. The weak spot on his joint became visible. A large purple orb appeared where the weak spot was. His wing color turned from pure white to black and red. He stood there looking at me without blinking. I continued to watch in awe. What was he, I thought. The blast door suddenly opened and Chris and Claire ran in. "Thank god you showed up," I yelled to them, "I'm not sure I could last against this freak much longer."

"Where is his weak point?" Chris yelled back at me.

"That purple orb on his wing!" I responded.

The man spread his wing as if to show him. Chris and Claire raised their guns and started firing. The man closed his wing and started what looked like slicing the bullets in half with his wing. I started firing too, still holding my stomach. The man rushed at Chris, still slicing bullets in half. The man swung his wing at Chris, but Chris jumped out of the way just in time. As he was on the ground, Chris took some direct shots at the orb. The man jolted and jumped back. Claire ran over to me, still shooting. My vision started to get blurry and my arms and legs began to weaken. The man ran at Claire with his wing folded out to strike her. I shook my head and got a clearer view and shot at the orb. The man fell to his knee and his wing fell to his side. Claire looked at me and nodded. My vision got blurry again and I began to lose conscience. I fell to one knee, but Claire ran to me and helped me out of the room.

(First to Third Person Omniscient)

Chris was still firing at the monsters arm as he stood up. The man turned his head and looked at him. Chris stopped firing for a second. The man began walking towards him slowly with his wing covering his weak spot. Chris spaced out, then shook his head and continued firing. The man just continued striding towards Chris as bullets impacted his skin and just bounced off. When the man got close enough, he raised his wing quickly and was about to strike. Chris fired off a couple shots in the orb before he could attack. The man stumbled back and covered the orb again. He then leaped in the air and spread his arms. The air got denser and a ball of light formed behind him. Chris fired carefully placed shots into the orb. The ball of light began to expand and it engulfed the man, still floating in the air. Chris stopped firing. Then the orb of light exploded, throwing Chris against a wall, then to the ground. Chris was almost knocked out, but he shook his head and stood up again. The man hovered back down to the ground and covered the orb with his wing. "You just don't give up, do yah?" Chris taunted.

The man ran at Chris and raised his wing to strike. Chris shot the orb and he stumbled back again. The man jumped in the air again and flew towards Chris, with his wing expanded, and tried to strike him. Chris kept on shooting the orb until he was on the ground again. The man's attacks began to get weaker as he continued his charge attacks. Chris continued to bombard the orb with well placed shots with his Samurais Edge. The man fell to one knee and lifted his head to look at Chris. Chris walked over to the man and put the gun to his head. "Umbrella really outdone themselves with this one. Too bad." Chris said.

The man lowered his head and said, "Mother, I'm coming." Chris then pulled the trigger.

The man fell on his back. A green light surrounded him and his body began to disappear. Green streams of energy went around where his body was laying, then reached towards the ceiling of the room. The streams went through the room, and disappeared. "What the hell?" Chris asked, confused.

Claire came back into the room as the streams went through the ceiling. She looked at them, confused. She then looked at Chris, "What the heck was that?" She asked.

"I don't know, but that thing is gone now." Chris replied.

The two left the room and walked to the room that Claire had placed me in.

Faded Memories

I awoke to find the my back and stomach had been patched up. I leaned up on my elbows to find that I was on a lab table with my shirt off. I looked around the lab for my shirt just as Claire and Chris walked back in. "How are you feeling?" Claire asked after walking to my side.

"I'm fine. Where's my shirt?" I replied.

"Over there," She pointed at a chair with my shirt slung over the back, "I had to take it off. Sorry."

"It's fine." I responded.

Chris walked over to me sternly, "You could have gotten yourself killed pulling that. What were you thinking? Are you that brain dead to think it's ok to go into a unknown room without proper back up?" Chris yelled.

"I'm sorry, ok. My curiosity got the better of me." I said guiltily.

"That kind of thing can get you killed. Just stay close to us from now on, ok?" He said.

"Ok, I will" I replied.

I got off of the lab table and grabbed my shirt from off the chair. I put it on and followed Chris and Claire out of the room. "What happened to our one winged angel?" I asked.

"I took care of him. He's gone." He said, still walking forward.

I nodded and continued following them. We walked back to the elevator and pushed the down button. The elevator door opened. I looked behind us, but was then startled by the sound of Claire screaming. I turned around to see a zombie had jumped on her from the elevator and was about to bite her. I grabbed my gun a put it against the zombies forehead and pushed him back. "Get off of her!" I yelled and pulled the trigger. The zombie fell off of her and she stood there, paralyzed from fear and shock. Chris looked at me, then at her.

"Claire, are you ok?" He asked her.

"Yeah, just a bit… Shaken up." She replied

We got onto the elevator and Chris pushed a button, then we went down. "Be ready, there may be more zombies here." He said, reloading his gun.

The elevator stopped and the door opened. There was a group of 5 zombies in the middle of the hallway. I opened fire on them, along with Chris and Claire. The zombies fell and we came out of the elevator. The layout of the room was similar to the one we were just on, "Same plan, except Joseph, you go with my sister." Chris said, running to the room on the left.

I nodded and went with Claire to the room on the right. I opened the door to the lab and 3 zombies came stumbling towards us. Me and Claire killed them and searched the room. A dead man on the floor was holding a large silver briefcase in his hand. Claire kneeled down to pick it up. The man sprang back to life and tried to bite Claire's leg. I shot him in the head and killed him. Claire looked up at me , "Thanks." She said and went back to unlocking the briefcase.

"No problem. I've had training on quick timed shots." I responded.

"Well, I guess it paid off today, didn't it." She said, opening the case.

"Yeah, even though I wish I didn't have to use it in this kind of situation. " I said.

Claire picked up a vial of a blue liquid, "Ah, here it is." She said excitedly.

She stood up and a zombie stood up a couple feet behind her. "Watch out!" I yelled and pointed my gun at it.

She dropped down again and I fired a shot into its head. I holstered my gun and held my hand out in front of her. She grabbed it and I helped her to her feet again. "Thanks. We need to get all of these blue vials, got it?" She said.

"Yeah, I got it." I said and kneeled over to get more blue vials. I stood up as Chris walked into the room.

"We found it!" Claire exclaimed in a happy tone.

"Ok, good. No more fooling around. We need to get to the surface. I'm not letting Raccoon City be repeated." Chris said.

I nodded and grabbed the case of the Anti-virus and headed back to the elevator. I exited the room and I heard a loud thumping noise behind me. I turned around to see a man with a ripped science team uniform and a large upper body and a large eye growing out of his right shoulder. His whole right arm was large and had a reddish skin and his hand had mutated to be a large claw. My P.D.A. went off. It read "G Malformation 1" Showing its weak spot at its large eye on its shoulder. I began firing at its eye as Chris and Claire came out. "I didn't bring this one out, I swear!" I yelled as I kept firing.

"Oh my god… Not here too. What is G doing here?" Claire said in horror.

"G?" I asked.

"G was a virus co-produced with the T virus. G, however, caused more advanced mutations than T. That thing is just the first stage, It'll mutate into a stronger creature every time you think you killed it." Claire said, firing at the monster.

The monster turned to us and started walking towards us. We all fired at its eye, but it kept on coming towards us. "Damn it, fall back!" Chris yelled.

We all started running back to the elevator with the monster still walking towards us, making a large thump with ever step. We got into the elevator and I frantically pressed the 1st floor button. The doors closed, leaving the 3 eyed monster in the corridor. The elevator began going up when suddenly it stopped. The claw of the monster punctured through the elevator door and started pulling us down again. Claire began screaming and Chris was stunned from being knocked back by the claw. I fired a couple shots at the large eye. The monster groaned and pulled its claw out, letting the elevator go. The elevator door had a large hole in it now and we could see the concrete wall the separated the floors. The elevator stopped again in between B14 and B13. "Damn it. Alright, we're going to have to go through the elevator shaft to get to the floor above." Chris said.

Claire began taking off the tiles to the ceiling in the elevator to reveal a trap door leading to the elevator shaft. Claire jumped up and opened it. Chris walked over to her and hoisted her up to the top. He then signaled with his head that it was my turn and I walked over to him. He put his hands together, making a step and kneeled down a bit. I put my foot in his hands and he hoisted me up as well. I got out of the way and he climbed up too. I went over to the elevator door to B13 and began to open it. It opened all the way and I climbed up. Claire went up the wall and I helped her up. I went to help Chris up too, but he refused and climbed up himself. I turned around to look around. There was just a long corridor with doors on either side of the hall way. "There must be stairs somewhere." I said.

We started walking down the hall way. I looked in one of the rooms, there was blood everywhere and 2 zombies stumbled around inside. I looked away and kept walking. The case banged against my leg as I walked. Another hallway intersected the one we were in, making a plus sign. A sign hung from the ceiling that read "Stairs" and pointed to the right. I looked down the hallway at the right. I turned to Chris and Claire and shrugged. I started walking down the hallway when I heard a large crash from the hallway behind us. The G monster was busting through the floor. "It's that thing again!" Claire yelled.

It climbed out and let out a yell. We all turned and started spraying him with bullets. He turned and looked. He kneeled over and grabbed a metal bar from the concrete. He pulled it out of the floor and started running at us. I started shooting at its knees. It tripped and fell. We all started running towards the stairs. The monster got up and began charging towards us again. It threw the metal bar at Claire. I pushed her out of the way just before the bar punctured her back. She stumbled a little, but she regained her balance and caught up with me and Chris again. A couple of zombies burst from the door from a room in front of us, but we ran past them. The G monster kept running, hitting them aside when he got to them. We got to the stairs and started running up them. We went up about 2 floors with the monster still pursuing us. There was a large gap in between the stairs that something must have smashed through. Chris jumped over first, then Claire. Just when I was about to get a running start, the monster ran up behind me and tried to swipe at me. I jump across the gap and barely made it. I stood up on the last step between the rest of the stairs and the hole. I stood up too fast and lost my balance. Waving my arms in a stroking manner, I managed to grab onto a piece of the rail that was hanging off just before I plunged into the stairs below. I regained my footing and ran up to where Claire and Chris were. The G monster moaned and tried to jump across. He fell short and fell through the hole. His back landed on a bar of railing on his way down, puncturing his chest. We all looked at him as he struggled to get back up, and then died. "He'll be back, but stronger next time. Let's go before he mutates." Claire said frantically. I nodded and started going up the stairs with them closely following behind me.

"Wait, there were 2 elevators. So can't we just get off at the next floor and take that one up instead of risking our lives on this endless fight of stairs that holds who knows what?" I said.

"Yeah, I guess." Chris said.

We all stopped for a rest. Then I started hearing some sort of clicking noises. It sounded like a large frog croaking or something like that. I looked up to see a creature climbing on the ceiling with large claws for hands and feet. It had no skin and all of its muscles were showing even its brain. "Oh my god…" I said in awe. Chris and Claire looked up and saw the creature.

I raised my gun and fired a bullet into its head. It shrieked and fell to the ground, lifeless. "What the hell is this thing?" I asked confused.

"They're another one of Umbrellas failed experiments. They're called Lickers. If you had let it see you, you would have seen why."Claire said.

I looked at the creature wide eyed and kicked it with my foot lightly. Its head rolled a bit, allowing its long tongue to spill out of its mouth. I freaked a little and shot at it again. Claire laughed a little and turned around to keep running up the floor above. I blushed a bit and followed her. Chris followed me as we came through the door. There were about 7 zombies stumbling around the corridor. Chris, Claire, and I quickly killed them and ran down the hallway. We came to another intersecting hallway. We turned left and headed towards the elevators. I kept looking through the doors as we ran pass them. All I could see was blood and more zombies. How could anyone do this, I thought. We were a couple feet from the elevator when another rumble shook the floor. From the floor below us, we heard an all too familiar roar of the G monster. "Quick, go into a room and hide there!" Chris said going to a door on the right.

I nodded and Claire and I went to a door on the left. I opened the door and made sure she got inside, then shut it. The room was a medium size lab with counters filled with microscopes and beakers. Cupboards filled the walls. This room was clean, no blood or zombies. I looked to the other room to see that Chris had kneeled down and turned off the lights. I did the same and sat next to Claire. We sat on the same wall as the door but on the other side of the room. Light from the hallway came in through the window on the door. I was still examining the room when a large crash shook the floor. Claire jumped a little and grabbed my arm. A couple minutes passed as we sat there. Then suddenly, the shadow of the monster came in through the window and went onto the floor. Claire looked at it wide eyed. She was breathing heavily and her grasp on my arm tightened. "We'll be alright, just stay down a couple more minutes." I whispered.

She swallow and nodded, still breathing heavily. The shadow backed off and another rumble shook the floor. Claire started hugging my arm and she put her head on my shoulder. I looked at her and blushed a little bit. Her grip began to loosen and she lifted her head to look at me, "Sorry. Even though I faced that thing before, I just can't get used to it." She said embarrassed.

"I understand. AMS agents don't see a lot of normal things either, you know." I said in a soft voice.

We looked at each other for a minute and then she got up suddenly, "We should um get going." She said blushing.

I nodded and stood up. I walked to the door and saw it was all clear. I saw Chris peaking his head up to check on the hallway too, then he saw me and stood up. We both opened the door and came out. He looked at both of us, "You guys alright?" He asked.

Claire was looking at the ground, still blushing. She looked at Chris for a second and looked away again. "I'm fine." She said quickly.

Chris walked over to her and grabbed her arm, "What's wrong? Did he do anything to you?" He said pointing his head towards me.

She shook her head, "I said I'm fine. Don't worry, he didn't do anything bad." She said.

Chris let go of her arm and walked over to me, "I swear if you did anything to my sister…" he said sternly.

Claire looked up quickly at him, "I said he didn't do anything! Didn't you hear a word I said!" She yelled

Chris backed off and nodded. He started walking to the elevators again. Claire walked passed me and winked at me. I stood there, blushing once more, and then followed them both to the elevators. Chris pressed the up button and the elevator started coming down. We heard the roar of the G monster above us as it smashed another hole on the floor above. The floor shook and Claire fell down. I helped her to her feet again and the elevator door finally opened. We stepped inside and Claire pressed the 1st floor button. The doors closed and we started going up. Then, a horror came to my head. "Guys, remember how when we first got here we ran through all of those zombies?" I asked with a shaky voice.

Chris looked at me, "Yes."

"Well, they're probably waiting for us on the first floor in front of the elevator doors." I said.

Chris's eyes began to widen, "You're right. God damn it…" Chris began rubbing his mouth.

I pressed the button for B1, "There, problem solved." I said.

The elevator continued going up. We were on floor B5 at the moment. "What floor do you think security would be on?" Chris asked.

"Why?" I replied.

"Well, the only way to destroy that G thing is by blowing it up, and since most of these Umbrella facilities have self destruct systems, I was just thinking that we could blow this place up and kill it… along with the rest of the zombies of course." He said.

I nodded and the elevator stopped on B1. The doors opened to reveal a blood spattered hallway with dead bodies and zombies. I heard Claire beginning to gag and then throw up behind us. I raised my gun and was about to fire when suddenly the floor beneath a group of zombies burst open. A large red claw came out of the hole and grasped the floor, followed by a barely mutated arm. Then the creature hoisted itself to the ground and stood up, letting out a loud roar. The claw and eye were larger and the face of the person was gone, replaced by a new one. The upper body of the monster had gotten larger as well, along with the skin changing to black and orange. The monster looked at the hallway behind us, then turned around to look at us. It raised its claw and started to run at us. Me and Chris started shooting the eye of the monster. It stopped abruptly and fell to one knee. It got up again and started striding towards us. We continued shooting while Claire tried to gather her senses. The monster just wouldn't stop walking towards us. I started shooting its leg. It fell to the ground moaning. I grabbed Claire's arm and started running past it. Chris followed close after. We got a couple meters behind it as it stood up again. It turned around and let out a loud roar. Claire came back to her senses and I let go. We stopped at the hole in the ground. On the other side of the hole, there was a group of zombies waiting for us to jump over. Chris pointed his gun at them, "I'll take care of them, you slow that guy down and give us some time!" Chris said as he killed zombies.

The monster turned around and began strolling towards us again. Claire and I raised our guns and fired at the eye. This finally started to do some damage. The monster jerked back and grunted. Claire kept firing as I looked behind us to check if it was safe to cross yet. "Joseph!" Claire yelled at me. I turned around to see the monster charging at me.

His large claw smacked me across the hallway, over the pit and the horde of zombies. I landed on my back and I got the wind knocked out of me. I laid there trying to exhale, but couldn't. Some of the zombies that were near the pit turned to me and started stumbling towards me. I looked at them and tried to figure out what just happened. My mind was in a daze and my thoughts were cluttered. I began breathing normally again and my mind began to clear. I shook my head and raised my gun and fired shots into the zombies head. They fell and I got on my feet again. A bullet grazed my right shoulder. Chris was still firing in the crowd of zombies. I fell backwards and I grabbed my shoulder. The zombies in front of me fell one by one until I could see Chris and Claire. The G monster was about to hit Claire so I started shooting its eye. The monster fell back a little and let out a groan. Chris stepped back a couple steps, then jumped over the gap. Claire followed him with the monster trailing her. She jumped across and the monster tried to swipe at her. I grabbed her hand and pulled her over before the monster could touch her. I tripped backwards and Claire landed on top of me. Her head went on my chest and her arms were around me. I couldn't help but blush at the moment. She used her arms to push herself up. Me and her locked eyes for a long time, then she finally said "Thanks." In a flirty voice, then kissed me on the forehead, and then got off. I was stunned for a second, still blushing. She stood up and walked towards Chris. I stood up too and went over to the hole. The G monster had fell through all the holes it had made and smashed its head on the ridge of every single one. I saw it at the bottom, twitching. I pointed my gun at its head and tried to fire a shot into its forehead. I shot its jaw, its large eye, its chest, but no head shot. I need to spend more time down at the range, I thought. I ran back to Claire and Chris. They were heading to the stairs. They turned to the hallway to the right and froze. I ran faster to them to see what was happening. I turned the corner to see about 5 Lickers in the corridor. I stood there wide eyed as well. I raised my gun, as did Claire and Chris. We picked a target, and fired 3 well placed shots into 3 different Lickers. 2 fell from the ceiling and the wall, while the 3rd flattened out on the floor, lifeless. The other 2 Lickers turned around and sat upright. They extended their long tongues and shot them towards us. We all dove out of the way. While on the floor, me and Claire both shot the other 2 Lickers straight in the head. We looked at each other and nodded, then stood up. Chris looked at both of us, "Good team work guys." He said.

I looked at him, then at Claire. She smiled at me and started walking towards the stairs. Me and Chris followed her. Just as she was about to reach the stairs, a large explosion in the floor caused a hole to form. The G monster jumped from the hole and looked at us. It had mutated again. Its Science Team uniform had completely ripped off. Most of his body was black and a skull like structure covered its head. It had an extra pair of arms with its originals on its back and larger. Another mouth formed on its chest and was surrounded by teeth. Another smaller eye formed on its leg. Me and Chris both opened fire on it. It rushed at us and tried to swipe us with its back claws. We both dove out of the way. While on the floor, we both shot at his back. The thing turned around and started walking towards us. We both shot at its even larger on the back right shoulder. It started to lose momentum and kneeled on the ground. We stood up and started running to the stairwell. The monster got up suddenly and spread its back arms and roared. We still ran towards the hole. We jumped over the hole and hit the ground running. The monster started to run after us. We reached the stairs and started running up the flights to get to the base level. A couple zombies were in the stairwell, but we quickly killed them. We reached the door to the First floor and opened it. A flood of zombies filled the main lobby. Most of them crowded around the elevator doors. "I told you." I said, pointing at the direction of the elevators.

Chris nodded. Then, the monster burst up through the floor into the lobby and climbed out using its hind arms. It let out a loud roar then started killing all of the zombies in the lobby for some reason. "Maybe it's searching for us." Claire said quietly.

It had stabbed the last zombie through the chest, then looked in our direction. It let out another loud roar and threw the zombies corpse off of its claw. It ran towards us and raised its claw. We jumped out of the way just in time and its hand got stuck in the wall. We ran towards away and it tried to swipe at us with its other claw. I ducked out of the way before it could get me. We kept running to the main desk. The monster broke free and let out a loud roar. The roar made my heart jump and I started to run faster. I looked behind us to see that the monster had not only broken free, but it was also pursuing us. I yelped and ran faster. Claire and Chris hung back, until they looked back too and saw the monster. "You two, split off, I'll lead him away so you guys can get a good shot!" Chris yelled.

Claire and I nodded and we split off, Claire going to the right and while I went to the left. Chris kept going straight and the G creature followed. Me and Claire shot the monsters legs and made it trip. It laid on the ground for a second, just enough time for us to regroup and run to the front desk. We all hopped over the desk and Chris started looking at all the floors. "Let's see… Ah, here we go, Floor 50 is security." Chris said.

"Floor 50, huh? Man, it's like 2000 all over again." I said.

"What happened in 2000?" Claire asked.

"A mad man released a horde of zombies in the city of Venice in Italy. His headquarter was a skyscraper like this one, and he was located on the 50th floor." I replied.

She nodded and looked over the desk. She ducked down again, "That monster is getting back up." She said.

"Well it's defiantly a tough little bastard, isn't he?" I said.

She nodded and we all stood up. The monster was on its feet and it let out a huge roar, stretching out its back claws. We shot at its eye and its head. It was knocked back a couple steps and fell on its back. We jumped out from behind the desk and ran towards the elevator. The thing stood up and roared. "Concentrate your fire on its head!" Chris yelled.

I pushed the up button for the elevator and kept firing at the monster. It stood in place, its head knocked to the side as bullets struck. The elevator door opened and we walked backwards inside it, still firing at the beasts head. The doors closed and the firing stopped. We all took a sigh of relief. I quickly pressed the button for the 50th floor. The elevator started abruptly and went upwards. We were at the 36th floor when we started to hear rumbling below us. All of a sudden, the claw of the monster burst through the bottom of the elevator floor. The claw cut my stomach and I fell back. "Joseph!" Claire yelled in dismay.

I grabbed my stomach, "I'm fine, just a flesh wound." I said, trying to comfort her a little.

She put her hand over her mouth and tried not to scream. Chris opened the elevator door with his hands and pushed Claire out, then he ran over to me and helped me up. The claw retracted back into the elevator shaft. Chris and I got out of the elevator before the creature pulled it down and broke the cables. The elevator plunged into the lower levels. There was a slight rumble and the monster jumped into the hallway through the shaft. It let out a roar and stretched its hind arms. Chris and I ran into a room and he sat me on a wall. "Stay here, I'll take care of the monster. You just rest up." He said and ran out of the room.

I looked around the room, still clenching my stomach. I saw a sword in a glass case on a stand in the back of the room. The plaque read "Heavens Blade" and smaller text I couldn't read. The blade was red and the guard was a pair of wings. At the bottom of the handle was blue gem in the shape of a sphere. I looked at the blade and had the strange urge to touch it. I started inching myself towards it using my other hand and feet. I looked out the door to see Chris flying across the hallway and Claire on the ground curled up. I looked back at the blade, and stood up. I stumbled to the case and broke it with the butt of my gun. I holstered my gun and picked up the sword. I was then jolted with a sudden burst of energy as my hand gripped the handle. My wounds ceased to hurt and my strength recovered. I stood there looking at awe into the red blade. I walked into the hallway just as the monster was looking away from me and picking up Claire. I clenched the sword in my hands and started running at it. The beast dropped Claire and looked at me. I started yelling and jumped in the air. The beast stood there with its mouth open. I pointed the tip of the blade at its head and it punctured its skull as I came down. The sword slid softly into the head of the monster as it made grunting noises. I landed on the ground and pulled the sword down with me, slicing the monster in half with ease. The 2 halves stood there, then collapsed. I stood there looking at the 2 halves of the once powerful creature. Claire looked up at me with half opened eyelids and whispered, "R… Ry…" and fainted.

I looked at her with a puzzled look, then I looked at the blade. The blood of the beast was dripping off of it still. I walked back into the room where I got the sword and looked for something to carry it in. In the glass case, I saw a sheath. I grabbed it and slid the sword inside it. The sheath came with a strap, so I slung it around my shoulder and walked back to the hallway. I walked over to Claire and kneeled down beside her. I put her arm around the back of my neck and stood up. Me and her walked over to Chris. He was on the floor leaning his back against a wall. "Chris, are you ok?" I asked.

He looked at me, "Yeah, I'm fine. How is she?" He said in a weak voice.

"She's out cold, but ok from what I can tell." I replied.

He nodded and got up, holding his stomach. We started walking towards the elevator and Claire came to. I asked her if she could walk and she said yes, so I let her go and we walked to the stairs together. I looked at the sliced creature as we passed it. Its large eye looked like it was looking at me as we passed. I looked away and continued walking towards the stairs. "Where did you get that sword?" Claire asked.

"I found it in the office that your brother put me in," I replied, "Why do you ask?"

"Oh no reason, it just looks cool I guess." She said

We got to the stairs and started climbing up the rest of the 14 floors.

Escape

We finally reached the 50th floor after running nonstop up god knows how many flights of stairs. We got to the door to the floor and we took a rest. After about 5 minutes of heavy breathing and complaining, we went through the door. There was a large room filled with computer terminals, Camera Operating stations, and other security equipment. Chris ran to the nearest terminal and started typing something in. The screen turned red and alarms started going off. An intercom sounded "Biohazard Alert detected. All personal, please evacuate building immediately. Self Destruct System has been activated, deactivating and releasing all locks."

Chris looked at me, "I gave us enough time to escape, I think. We have about 10 minutes to climb down those stairs and get out before the building explodes." He said.

I looked around the room and saw a silver door that looked like an elevator. I pointed to it and told Chris. We nodded and started running towards it. There was an up and down button next to the door. I pressed the down button and waited. About 3 minutes passed, then the elevator door opened. Me and Claire stepped in, then Chris. There was only a button to the garage level so I pressed it. Chris looked at his watch and started tapping his foot. 4 Minutes passed and we could hear rumbling from explosions in the building. The door opened revealing a lot of cars and motorcycles. I ran to the closest motorcycle and started to hotwire it. Chris went to a sports car and broke into it and did the same. Claire hopped in with Chris. We got our vehicles started after a minute. We raced off.

There were about 7 floors to go until we reached the surface. I drove besides Chris as we went up the first ramp. And explosion behind us shook the ground. Concrete collapsed behind us. We continued racing up the ramp, then turned to the right. The floor below us had engulfed in flames. The explosions made a hole and a ramp in the concrete. We accelerated and made the jump. I landed and slid to the right to go up the next ramp. Chris landed and turned following me. There were 5 zombies on the ramp, but they were quickly blown off by another explosion. I was hit with chucks of concrete as I passed the pillar where the explosion came from. We made another turn to the right where an explosion had made another hole. We jumped over it and proceeded. I felt explosions above as I turned the next corner. A large chunk of concrete was about to crush me. I accelerated and popped a wheelie and got out of the way before it crushed the ground behind me. We made another right turn and continue trying to beat the explosions to the top. We were on ramp 4, 3 more to go, I thought. I sped up and got in front of
Chris. I saw another group of zombies, so I took out the sword from the sheath and sliced their heads off as I drove by. I heard Chris honk his horn behind me. I smiled and kept driving. We made another right turn. I estimated we had about 45 seconds left. A large chuck of concrete fell in front of me. I almost whipped my bike to the side and turned sharply to avoid it. I almost whipped out, but I regained balance and sped off again. I put the sword back in the sheath. Another explosion rocked the structure as we made another right turn. We sped until the foundation below us started to collapse underneath us. Chris drove faster and got in front of me. I tried driving faster, but me tires kept of flinging back bits of concrete. I made a right turn just as the floor behind us collapsed. The floor above us started to tilt to the left. We made the right turn and adjusted ourselves to the change in elevation. The platform sank deeper and deeper into the left side. My tires started to slide down to the side of the structure. I turned to the right and saw the end of the tunnel. A large blast door was closing and red alarm lights were flashing. I started racing the cycle up the ramp as fast as it could go with Chris still in front of me. Chris made it out barely. The blast door was about to close, so I turned the bike on its side and tried skidding under it. Sparks flew in my face as I raced towards the light. My front tire made it through, then the part I was on. The door closed on my back tire and I flew off. I skipped across the ground a couple times until finally coming to a rest on the pavement. I looked up at the skyscraper. I saw flashes of light coming from the windows, then it started to sink down. Chris did a turning stop and made the car face towards the building. The building began to disappear into the ground. The sound of crashing metal and concrete filled the streets around us. A large plume of ash filled the air. 2 cars then drove up near me. I looked at them as 2 people got out of each car. I recognized them all. "Rogan, G, Amy, Harry!" I yelled

"Joseph, thank god you're alright!" Amy said while she ran over to me.

"Man Joseph, you made quite the mess." Rogan said as he walked over to me. G followed close behind him.

Harry stood by the car still, not saying anything. "It's ok Joey, we took care of the outbreak out here," G said, "You guys can rest now."

Claire and Chris got out of the car and started walking towards me. Amy helped me to my feet. "Hey, where's James and Gary?" I asked.

"They're still cleaning up the city of the zombies." Harry said.

"Who are these people, friends of yours?" Chris asked.

I turned to Chris, "Yeah, they are other AMS agents. That is Rogan, G, Amy and Harry." I said, pointing to them.

"And who might you two be?" Asked Rogan.

"I am Chris Redfield, and that is my sister, Claire." Chris said.

"Nice to meet you all" Claire said with a little wave.

"So you help Joey with this one?" G said.

"Quit calling my Joey." I said.

"Sorry, Joseph" G replied.

"Yeah, he proved to be quite the agent. You're lucky to have him with you." Chris said.

Claire nodded in approval and I started to blush, "Well you guys were amazing back there too, you know." I said.

"Yeah, but you kept saving me in there." Claire said.

Chris looked at me with a smile. I looked at him and nodded. "Well we need to… Oh SHIT!" I screamed.

"What is it?" Claire asked.

"I forgot the fucking case!" I yelled and fell to the ground.

"No you didn't." Chris said and walked back to the car. He went inside and rummaged around for a second, then pulled out the large silver case, I picked it up after you helped me up in the office. You know, after that thing knocked me against a wall." He said.

I nodded. "Well this is going to make an interesting report for the boss." I said.

"You seriously do the case reports?" Rogan asked.

"You did for the Curien Case." I replied.

"Well, yeah I did… but… Never mind." Rogan said.

I laughed a little and looked at Chris and Claire again. "Will I ever see you guys again?" I asked them.

"Probably not, but it's not a complete impossibility." Chris said.

I nodded. "Well then, we should probably get some rest," I looked at the AMS agents, "I'll see you in the office."

They all nodded and got back in their cars. I turned to Chris and Claire, "As for you guys, I guess I won't be seeing you around."

Chris walked over to me and put his hands on my shoulders, "Even if that's the case, you were a great partner. You would have been a great addition to S.T.A.R.S., even if you screwed up a couple times. I guess it happens to the best of us though." Chris said, then putting his hands at his sides again.

"Yeah, I guess. What are you going to do now?" I asked

"Continue trying to take down Umbrella, like I always have since 1998." He replied

I nodded, "Sounds like a plan. Well, I guess I'll see you sometime in the future hopefully." I said.

"Alright. Until then." He extended his hand for a hand shake.

I looked at his hand, than took my hand and grasped his, "It was a pleasure working with you, Chris." I said.

"Likewise, Joseph." He said.

Our hands let go and we turned away from each other and started walking away. "Joseph!" Claire said.

I turned around to see her running to me. She stopped in front of me and took my hand. She opened my hand and put a small piece of paper in it. I looked at it, than back at Claire. She kissed me on the cheek, then ran back to Chris's car. They both got in and drove away. I stood there blushing with my arm still in front of me. I looked at the piece of paper and opened it. There was a bunch of numbers written on it. Looked at it more closely to see it was a phone number. "She gave me her phone number. He… Hehe…" I said to myself. I put the paper in my pocket and looked as the car turned a corner. Then a loud horn behind me broke my concentration. "Damn it Rogan!" I yelled. I turned around and walked to Rogan and G's car. I opened the door and sat in the back seat.

"Aww, is little Joey in love?" Rogan asked.

"Shut up Rogan" I said crossing my arms.

"Hey, I'm just messing with you. Calm down. So, where do you want to go?" Rogan asked.

"I just want to go home." I said, grumbling.

"Alright. Hey, what's that thing on your back?" He asked.

I took the sword off of my shoulder and pulled the blade out of the sheath, "This is just a little memento I found." I replied.

"So you're going be a gun wielding swordsman now or something?" G asked.

"No, the sword is just awesome. I mean, look at it, it has badass written all over it!" I said, looking at the blade.

"No, it says put it away before you hurt yourself with it." Rogan said with a laugh.

"Go fuck yourself." I said jokingly. I put the blade away and looked forward, "What a day…"