-1PART ONE: OUTBREAK
Alyssa Ashcroft hit the 'enter' key on her laptop. That was it, the punch line to her story. She'd been working her ass off lately; covering stories about monsters and murders and strange sightings in the city. It might all just have been the collective insanity of the people since the strange explosion in the Arklay mountains, but either fact or fantasy…it was fuelling some of her best pieces.
Alyssa Ashcroft; Reporter extraordinaire! Please, ladies and gentlemen, a Pulitzer? I would humbly accept such a great honor…
Alyssa stopped for a moment, looking out the front window of J's Bar. There were a handful of drunken guys heading down the street, tripping over their feet and holding their arms out for balance. It might have been mildly amusing but her thoughts were elsewhere.
There goes that ego again kid. Forget the Pulitzer for now, just make copy by edit time.
She nodded at her internal monologue. Maybe nothing she'd ever write in Raccoon would be worth a Pulitzer…but damn, maybe a better position somewhere else.
Raccoon might have livened up a bit in the past summer with the murders and the S.T.A.R.S. fiasco, but most of the meat to the news lately was thinning down to bone. People in town were already starting to forget about the ghoulishly mauled bodies found in the mountains, or even the strangely deformed body that had washed up on the river.
Soccer mom's were back at their bake-sales and Teenagers were back on Bybee St. past dark. Sure, people were still talking about the recent upsets that had shaken Raccoon, but people weren't really scared anymore.
Maybe she should pack a bag, drag out her old tent and head up to that Spencer Estate in the woods. It might have gone ka-blooey, but maybe she could find something up there to beef up a new news story.
That would mean going up the mountain path past the…hospital.
Alyssa's mood suddenly darkened and she drown the unpleasant feeling in another gulp of beer. Maybe she'd stick to local news after all, and by 'local', she meant in town.
Alyssa sighed and shut her laptop. Maybe it was time to check her head out of 'work-mode' for the evening and just relax.
You mean get drunk, then hop on the RSTS and then gaggle-walk your way back to your apartment.
She gave a small toast to her internal voice. Getting drunk, wandering home and then passing out on her sofa sounded like a damn good idea.
Alyssa spotted the blonde waitress and snapped her fingers, getting the young woman's attention. "Another beer here!" She called. The waitress nodded and hurried around the back of the bar to fetch Alyssa's drink.
Alyssa looked around the bar. It wasn't particularly full. There were a couple of fat guys in Security jackets eating at the bar, one of them keeled over his plate. He was either drunk or monumentally sick, his Negro partner seemed concerned.
Not concerned enough to quit filling his face and take the guy home.
Alyssa huffed. In her experience there were two things men made a priority of; Booze and Food. Sex might come in third, but damned if there weren't ways to combine all three!
The bell on the front door to the bar jangled and the door opened. Alyssa turned to see a young Asian girl with long black hair enter the bar. She was wearing jeans and a dark green sweater. She looked around the bar nervously, her eyes briefly meeting up with Alyssa's and then darting away again.
She's not of age. Probably thinking of how to score a drink without having to cough up some ID.
The bartender saw the girl and called loudly to her. "Can I help you?" He asked. The dark-haired cop who had been chatting aimlessly with the bartender stopped at the interruption and turned to look at the girl as well.
"Do you serve…food?" The girl asked awkwardly. The Bartender - Will, if Alyssa remembered his brief introduction - glanced at the two Fatties eating their dinner then back at the girl. "I suppose we do. What would you like?" By now, everyone in the bar was looking at the awkward young lady.
"I just need to use the restroom. I'll look at the menu when I come back." The girl said quickly. She took two steps and then stopped.
"Where's your bathroom?" She asked. Will smiled and extended his arm towards the left-hand side of the bar. "Back there."
The girl thanked him, hiked her backpack higher on her shoulders, and made a bee-line for the can.
Alyssa chuckled to herself. Kid's these days were so strange.
The waitress returned with her beer and Alyssa thanked her. "Can you believe the news?" The waitress asked darkly, making chit-chat.
Alyssa lifted the fresh bottle to her lips. "Oh believe me, I can." She said before taking a sip of the cold, bitter brew. The waitress scooped up Alyssa's empty bottle and placed it on her serving tray. "People fighting over football with all the murders…" The waitress said darkly as she looked back at the TV monitor over the bar.
Alyssa followed her gaze and saw Kent Whitney spewing a story over the tube. "Don't listen to that guy…he's an asshole." Alyssa said.
"Huh?" The waitress looked back at her, confused. Alyssa waved her off.
"Don't worry about it. Thanks for my drink." The waitress managed a smile and scurried away.
Alyssa contemplated her beer for several moments. She was going to have to make up for the calories tomorrow and get her butt onto the treadmill. She sneered at the thought.
Big deal, so I chug a few brews. I'm a big girl. Besides, I'd still be smoking hot even if I had a great big pot belly!
Alyssa chuckled to herself again and lifted the bottle to her lips.
The small, gangly black guy at the keg-table in front of her made a triumphant squeal as he scribbled something in a puzzle book he was holding.
If she felt like striking up a conversation later, maybe it would be with him. She too, liked puzzles. But not the kind you doodled around in on paper. Her solutions did end up on paper, but she liked to go out and follow all the clues, get all the facts and then piece it all together. Maybe after a few more beers she tap him on the shoulder and -
The bell over the bar door jangled again and the door opened. A man with shaggy brown hair and dirt-streaked clothes shuffled into the bar. He stood still for a moment, his head hanging. It took a few moments, but an unpleasant smell carried over from where he stood and it tickled her nostrils.
Ugh. Transient.
There was a thud from the bar and Alyssa looked over to see one of the Fat Security guys fall off his chair. The negro got up to help him.
Will the bartender came around the bar and walked up to the still, stinky customer. Alyssa put her beer down as she watched Will turn his head to the side and say something quietly to the customer.
The man raised his head and gurgled something intelligible. She saw Will's face become disgusted and he took a step back.
The customer lunged at him, throwing his head into the crook of Will's neck. Will shouted as he struggled to get the man off of him. "Hey!" He shouted as he shoved the man off of him and back out the door. He slammed the door shut and slid the lock closed.
"Goddamnit!" he shouted as he clapped a hand over his neck. "Will!" Alyssa turned and saw the waitress hurry over to the bartender. "Oh my Gosh…Your bleeding!"
"What the Fuck!" The black guy in front of her shouted, jumping out of his seat and retreated away from the window.
There was thud next to Alyssa and she jumped. She turned and saw the face of mutilated man pressed against the window, his nose mashed up against the glass.
What in the sam hell is going on!
She backed up, knocking over her beer bottle as she did so. The man clawed at the glass, his peeling fingers leaving sticky trails smeared on the window front.
"Will!" Alyssa turned to her right and saw the bartender collapse. The waitress crouched down and was trying to press a cloth to his wounded neck. "Somebody call for a ambulance!" She shouted, her voice on the edge of tears.
More people were gathering at the window, thumping their palms against the glass and moaning. A loud bang came from the front door and the cop that had been at the bar ran forward and leaned against it, holding the attackers at bay. "I can't hold it on my own!" He called.
"The kegs! Use the kegs!" A man Alyssa hadn't noticed appeared beside her. He had neatly parted brown hair and was wearing a brown suit.
"You, help me push these kegs in front of the door!" The man passed her and thumped the black guy that had been doing the puzzle on the shoulder. The guy nodded and the two of them started throwing away stools and pushing the heavy kegs towards the door.
"Oh yeah that's a great idea!" Alyssa blurted. "What about the window!" But the two men ignored her.
She spun around. She had to get out of the bar. The strange people outside were massing and kegs or not, the door wouldn't hold for long.
She searched the bar, her eyes resting on an unmarked door near the bathrooms, maybe it led to a back exit.
She headed for the door, passing the bar and taking hold of the knob. She turned it. It was locked.
As the panic started to rise from her stomach into her throat, she turned around, searching for another way out. All she saw were the doors to the bathrooms. One of the doors opened and the Asian girl - her hair was shorter - came rushing out and hurried towards her.
"Something attacked me in the bathroom!" The girl blurted. She stopped and looked into the bar. The man in the suit, the skinny black guy and the cop were working together to block off the door. The waitress was tending to the fallen bartender. A man in a coveralls was helping the black security officer lift the one that had fallen from the floor.
The girl turned to face Alyssa. "We have to get out of here." She said sternly, her face pale and drained of color.
Your damn right little girl.
Alyssa turned back to the door and twisted the knob again; no luck. She turned back towards the front of the bar. "Hey! Where's the key to this door?" She shouted to the blonde waitress.
The waitress stood up. "I don't know." She said, her voice somehow whiney and frightened at the same time.
"Well look for it! Come on! We have to get out of here!" Alyssa said sternly.
The waitress looked back down at Will and then back at Alyssa. "Ok!" She said and hurried around the bar. She started moving bottles, lifting rags, and shoving aside ledgers in search of the key.
"Oh my God, What's going on out there?" The girl muttered next to Alyssa.
"It's not here! It's not here! Jack must have taken it!" The waitress moaned.
Alyssa patted the pockets of her power suit and felt the slim shapes of her lock picking tools. She pulled them out and took the first slender piece in her hand. She slipped it into the lock on the door handle and jiggled it inside. She then placed a torsion bar in the lock and felt around inside with the first piece for the tumblers. She took slow, shaky breaths, trying to hold the panic she was feeling at bay.
Lock picking was precise, delicate work and if her hands were to jittery, she'd never get the lock to release.
"Forget that!" The Cop appeared beside her and pushed her out of the way, tearing the tools from the lock.
"Hey!" Alyssa shouted, taken off-guard by being pushed so rudely aside.
He took a step back, raised his leg and thrust it into the side of the door, pushing the entire locking mechanism through and out the other side, splintering the door and part of the frame.
"Come on!" he shouted. He took hold of Alyssa's shoulder and pushed her through into a stairwell, the Asian girl second.
"Go!" Alyssa guided the girl towards the staircase and motioned for her to proceed. Next through the door came the man in the coveralls, the negro security guard and the bald man they were carrying.
"This way!" Alyssa said, pointing them up the stairs to follow the girl.
"Come on!" The cop shouted, waving the others in the bar towards them.
"What about Will?" The waitress cried. "Forget him, let's go!" Alyssa shouted over the cops shoulder. The waitress looked torn. "Get your ass over here!" Alyssa shouted more sternly. The waitress jumped and followed, tears sprouting at the corners of her pale eyes.
"Come on, come on!" Alyssa ushered the Waitress up the stairs. "Follow the others!"
The skinny black man and the man in the suit finished placing the second keg. They turned and ran for Alyssa and the cop. But even as they did, Alyssa could see the door to the bar begin to shake and rattle. The kegs wouldn't hold long and their only exit was to go up stairs.
That's exactly what the big-boobed, bimbo's in horror movies always do…and they die
The two men made it through the door and the cop slammed it shut. "I'll secure this! Get upstairs with the others!" The cop ordered. Alyssa nodded and hurried after the others. Hopefully, they hadn't just backed themselves into a deathtrap.
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"Come on Bob…you'll be alright." Mark grunted, perhaps more to himself than to his friend.
Face it Wilkins, you know when a man is in a bad way. Something is wrong with Bob
Mark pushed his thoughts away and concentrated on moving Bob's weight into the staff room. "Put me…down." Bob requested with a low moan.
Mark and the friendly stranger in coveralls moved Bob over to a small table, they turned him around and helped him onto the floor.
"Thank you." Mark said to the man. "Name's Mark, this is Bob." Mark offered the man his hand, the man took it and gave it curt, firm shake. "David."
Mark bent down to look at Bob. He placed the back of his hand on Bob's forehead and frowned. He was very hot. After raising a son as a single father Mark was more than familiar with what a high fever felt like, and Bob was a volcano just waiting to erupt.
"Not feeling too good Soldier." Bob muttered as he laid his head back against the wall. His skin was red and blotchy and a sheen of perspiration lightly misted his rubbery-looking skin.
"Jesus Bob…" Mark was startled by a loud splintering sound. He spun around, drawing his side-arm.
He found himself aiming the gun at David, he was holding the to of a coffee table, minus the legs. "Whoa whoa!" The man in the brown suit jumped in front of him, holding up his hands.
"Motherfucker are you crazy?" ark scolded, dropping the firearm to his side. He stood up and faced the man in the brown suit. "That's a good goddamn way to get your mother fucking head blown off!"
The man looked up at him. "Look chief, I'm sorry. Let's not go around pointing guns at anyone, alright." he spoke in soothing manner that irritated Mark. "Dammit!" He threw one hand up in the air.
"And what the Hell are you doing?" He motioned towards David. David was silent for a moment.
"Barricade." He said simply and walked towards the entrance of the staff lounge with the table top. Mark watched as David passed the blonde woman in the red suit. She was fiddling with a door, the young Asian girl standing restlessly beside her.
He watched as David leaned the table top across the doorway and extracted what looked like a bolt-gun off of his tool belt. Four sharp thunks and the table-top was held in place, creating a barrier across the doorway.
"Yo that's a good idea man." A young, skinny negro in a RSTS uniform said. "We should pile all this ghetto furniture in front of that door. Keep those things outta here!" He suggested enthusiastically.
"And do what? Sit around and wait for them to break through?" The woman in the red suit asked sarcastically.
"That's a good idea. We can wait here, call for help." The pretty blonde waitress suggested. "There's a phone in Jack's office." She said hurriedly as she walked past them, headed for a door behind the couch.
"Hey." The dark-haired cop called after her. The young woman stopped, her hand on the door-knob. "Someone go with her." He said. The waitress looked around. The man in the brown suit nodded and hurried over to her. Together they opened the door and disappeared into the room beyond.
"What are those things downstairs?" The young negro asked, rubbing his arms and shivering. "Things? What do you mean things?" The cop asked pointedly.
"Well they sure as shit ain't human! What kinda human takes a bite outta a damn bartender? With their skin all falling off and shit…" The young man looked around the room, his eyes skipping over the windows and the doors anxiously. "Maybe they're crazy. Maybe its…gang members, drugs, you know?" The young man continued.
"It ain't no gang-members son." Mark said matter-of-factly.
"How do you know, pops?" The young man asked defensively. He was scratched at the side of his neck nervously.
"Because Raccoon doesn't have any active gang cells." The cop interrupted calmly. "Besides…street drugs can make you do some crazy things…but they don't rip off bits of your flesh and make you want to eat other people." The cop leaned against a beam in the center of the lounge, an old dart bulls eye was tacked to the opposite side. "That guy down stairs…the one that came into the bar…he ate the side of Will's neck. I saw him. He took a big honking chunk right out of him." The cop stared at the ceiling, his gaze far away.
"Then what are they? What would make someone do something like that?" The young man asked. "Doesn't make any sense man, eating people, what the hell is that shit?" The young man took off his cap revealing copper-blonde hair. He pulled at the hat between his hands and chewed at his lower lip.
"They're zombies." The Asian girl spoke up. She had one thumb hooked in the strap of her knapsack and she was staring at the floor.
"What?" The woman in the red suit stopped fiddling with the lock and stood up, turning to face the girl with an impatient look. "Get real honey." She said, shaking her head as if the girl had claimed something as irrational as babies being flown in by storks.
"Fine…don't believe me." The girl said absently. She seemed preoccupied with the floor.
The door behind the couch opened and the waitress and the man in the brown suit emerged. The waitress looked shaken.
"Cindy here tried the phone." The man in the brown suit said. He had one hand on her shoulder, the other on her elbow, as he guided her back to the group. "The line is dead. No signal at all."
"Yeah. Ok." The woman In the red suit extracted a slim cell phone from one of her pockets and flipped it open. She thumbed the key pad and raised the device to her ear. She cursed and snapped it shut, stuffing it back into her pocket angrily. "No cell signal either." She huffed.
"That's not all. Tell them George." The Waitress - Cindy - said, her voice meek. George let go of her and shrugged out the sleeves of his brown suit.
"There are more of them…outside." George said, wiping his brow with the back of his head. "a lot of them." Glances were passed around the rough circle.
"We need to keep moving. Those things will come up here…and that barricade wont last long." It was the young Asian girl that spoke.
"What do you suggest?" The cop asked her, crossing his arms over his chest.
"The roof." She said.
"Why the roof? I think we should stay here, reinforce that barricade and keep try to call for help." Cindy protested.
Thump. They all spun around to face the barricade David had put across the door way. They could see peeling sets of fingers grasping the table edge and shaking it.
"The roof it is." The cop said, pushing away from the wall and extracting his side arm. "Come on, let's move it!" He shouted, taking aim at the shaking barricade.
"This way!" The woman in the red suit called, pulling open the door she'd been fiddling with. She ushered Cindy, David and George through the door.
"Come on Bob." Mark bent down, slipping his arm under Bob's and hoisting him to his feet. "Let's keep moving."
"Let me help you." The Asian girl jogged forward and took up Bob's other arm, together they passed the woman in the red suit an started up flight of stairs.
"Up here! Hurry!" At the top of the stairs Mark could see George motioning for the to hurry, he was standing in an open doorway and beyond the doorway Mark could see shelves of liquor and wine bottles.
As they reached the top of the stairs Mark heard two shots go off from downstairs. Bang, Bang!
"They're coming!" The woman in the red suit hurried passed Mark, Bob and the Asian girl, slipping through the door where George was standing and hanging a hard left.
"Follow her. Go, go!" George pushed them through the door and steered them to the right. They walked along, pulling Bob's heavy, sagging frame with them passed walls of liquor and decanter. Passed an open fence Mark could see Cindy, waving them towards her. Somewhere ahead he could head a heavy banging and muffled cursing.
"Come on! This way! This way!" She was saying. When they reached her she spun and hurried on ahead.
The upstairs store room was dark and full of crates. Along the back wall mark could see piles of crates and a ladder. But the others were ignoring the ladder in favor of a downed metal shutter, severa steps up from where a forklift sat, deactivated.
"Goddamit!" The woman in the red suit was throwing her shoulder against the shutter. "Try to break the track!" She shouted over the banging of theo thers throwing themselves into the shutter.
"You're stronger than me." the Asian girl said, motioned for Mark to join the others at the shutter. He nodded and shifted Bob over to her.
He headed up the stairs and joined in, taking steps back, aiming and not only throwing himself against the shutter, but trying to push up and into it, trying to displace the lock on the track.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
They all froze, listening.
"Goddamn! Run! Run George!" They heard from further inside the building.
"They're upstairs…" Cindy whispered quietly.
Her breathy comment got them all back to work, throwing themselves at the stubborn shutter with a ferocity born out of desperation.
That Cops probably only got one or two full clips for the piece. I've only got one.
Mark suppressed a curse as his shoulder protested the most recent ramming against the steel shutter. "Come. On!" The woman in the red suit huffed and sighed, sagging against the unyielding metal shutter.
"Don't stop! You have to help!" Cindy screamed as she banged her palms against the shutter.
"Get back!" The woman in red shouted, brandishing a stun gun. Everyone jumped back as the woman jabbed the control box on the side of the shutter with the stun gun. It fizzled and smoked. A loud crack was heard and the lock on the shutter track was released. It slid up about a foot and bobbed in place.
"Why the hell didn't you do that in first place?" Mark shouted, rubbing his offending shoulder.
"Forgot I had it." The woman said tersely as she slipped the stun gun back into her suit.
"Hey quit your jabbering and get moving. Those things are up here!" The cop shouted as he ran past them, gun in hand. He grabbed the bottom of the shutter and thrust it up into the ceiling.
"Come on! Come on!" he shouted.
Uuuuuuuuuuggggggggghhhhhhhh!Mark saw the first of the zombies coming around the corner of crates. He hurried down the short line of steps and took Bob, thanking the Asian girl. Together they hurried up the steps. Everyone else was already through the but the cop held the shutter for them, keeping his handgun trained on the first of the zombies coming there way.
past the shutter was a flight of concrete stairs. Mark could hear the others at the top, and the sound of a door opening and shutting on a loud, city night.
As soon as they were through the cop hopped inside and slammed down the shutter, holding it closed. "Go! Get to the roof, I'll hold them!" The cop said. Ark could see his muscles flexing under his uniform to hold the shutter closed at such a strange angle.
Mark and the girl hurried, dragging Bob up the stairs. Bob moaned and growned, even rolled his head to the side and spewed a small amount of vomit down the neck of Marks shirt.
Hold on bother, we'll get you a doctor.
They made it to the top of the stairs and headed for the single door. The girl held it open and guided them through. "Go on! I need to help the cop!" she said with purpose. Mark nodded and shifted Bob's weight higher on his shoulder.
"Come on Bob." He huffed as they stepped out on to the roof. "Were almost there." he panted. Bob moaned something unintelligible.
Mark could hear the sound of crows circling over head and beyond, he could hear the others. They were banging against something again and shouting at one another. Behind him he listened for the sound of the girl and the cop, hoping they couldn't get swallowed up by the plethora of zombies that would come charging for the rooftop the moment that cop let go of the shutter.
"Mark!" Bob wailed weakly.
"It's alright Bob. We're almost there!" Mark said as cheerfully as he could.
"No! mark! Put me down!" Bob cried.
"Come on Man, We're -"
"Put me down!" Bob dropped all of his weight and refused to be dragged. Mark had no choice but to set him down against the wall.
"Bob?" Mark raised the back of his hand to Bob's forehead but Bob slapped it away weakly. "Bob. You gotta get up." Mark urged.
"You don't understand…I'm not different from them." Mark mumbled. He let out a weak whimper of distress. "I feel the hunger too."
"What?"
"I don't want to become one of them! Just let me die with my conscience in tact!" Bob pulled his gun from his belt and raised it to is head.
"Bob no!" Mark shouted, but he was too late. The gun had already gone off and the bullet had already punched through his friends head, leaving only a dead, vacant body behind.
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Kevin grabbed the girl and dragged her through the door. Silly of her to have stayed behind, especially to help him.
They ran out onto the rooftop, the sounds of the zombie coming through the rising shutter following them .
They ran, Kevin dragging her by the hand.
"Oh my God!" The girl cried out as they past the dead body of the security guard she and the big black man had previously been carrying. They didn't have time to stop and see what had happened.
They hung a left and found the others climbing onto a catwalk that ran the span of giant neon sign that read 'J's Bar". The blonde waitress, Cindy, saw them. "Come on! There are cops down in the street!"
They ran to the cat walk and Kevin boosted himself up, turning around to help the girl up onto the ledge.
"Run to the other building! It's the only way!" He heard someone shout. They hurried down the cat walk and saw the woman in the red suit take a flying leap for the other building.
Oh my God she'll fall!
Kevin was about to cry out in protest, but before he could open his mouth she had made it safely to the other side and was hoisting her self up. She turned around, motioned for the next person to jump.
They joined the queue, Kevin pushing the girl ahead.
One after another they jumped. Some didn't quite make it and needed to be pulled up the rest of the way, but when it came down to Kevin's turn, he looked back to see zombies climbing onto the cat walk.
They were out of time.
No time to freak out about heights!
When he saw that the young girl had made it over the gap he took two running steps and launched himself over the gap.
His shoulders were caught up by strong hands that pulled him to his feet. "Nice jump." said the woman in the red suit.
"Nice catch." He breathed with relief.
"Over there!" the women pointed him towards a doors the others were heading through. Kevin followed.
Inside the top of the building next to J's bar they found themselves confronted with a dead end and an elevator door.
Cindy hit key and jumped back as the doors opened, a single, floppy zombie staggering out and moaning. David, the man in the coveralls, stepped forward, wielding an old pipe he'd picked up somewhere and smashed the tattered woman across the back. A distinct crunching sound was heard and the woan collapsed to the floor.
"Hurry up!" George shouted and they all piled into the elevator.
"When we hit the main floor, run for the front exit, that will take us out into the street in front of the bar." Cindy said.
They were all breathing heavily and the smell of fear and sweat and apprehension was tangible in the air around them.
The doors opened and they piled out.
"Left!" Cindy shouted as she and George led the way.
They all followed, stepping over inanimate bodies. The exit was in sight and they'd easily make it.
Crash!One of the windows broke and a bodies slid into the hallways, cutting the front of the group off from the rest.
Cindy, George, the young girl and the big security kept going, heading right out he door and leaving Kevin, the woman in red, the young black guy and David behind.
"Mother Fucker!" The young guy screamed as he jumped back, pushing David in front of himself.
David grunted his disapproval of the cowardly act and raised the pole. He brought it down over the zombies head, splattering its contents across the floor.
"Let's move." He said sternly and stepped over the dead body. Together they all ran for the front door, bursting through and out into the cool night air.
Kevin might have been relieved, but all there was to see was a single cop firing off a shotgun at -
What the fuck are those?
Strange, huge, slithering insects with giant pincers on their posteriors were crawling around the streets, over the bodies of dead cops and debilitated zombies. In the distance Kevin could see a horde of the undead coming their way, getting closer to cluster of black and white cop cars that were partially blocking off the dead-end street.
Despite the number of cars, Kevin didn't see any other living officers besides the blonde guy with the shotgun.
The man turned and looked at Kevin. "Wow, you surprised me. I didn't think there were any other cops left alive." Kevin opened his mouth to speak, to tell the man he was off duty, but the man continued to speak as he reloaded his firearms.
"Look, we need all the help we can get. Those civvies that came out before you are moving that car upfront." Kevin looked up towards the front of the bar. George and Cindy were pushing a Black and White up to meet another one that was parked to block off the road.
"Hey, you guys move this one to build a better barricade." The cop demanded, pointing the a Black and White near where he stood.
Key tapped David on the shoulder. David nodded and they head for the car. "hey Come on, help us push!" Kevin shouted back to the young guy and the woman in red.
David ran around the front of the car and hopped in, putting the vehicle into Neutral and Kevin and the woman in red positioned themselves at the back of the car.
The cowardly little black guy simply stood by the cop with the shotgun, jabbering away aimlessly in shock.
"God this fat bitch is heavy!" The woman grunted as she and Kevin pushed.
"Humph!" Kevin grunted in reply as the nose of their vehicle crashed gently into the nose of the parked car head.
David jumped out of the front and hopped onto the hood of the car. Motioning for the other half of the group to come back their way. The strange slithering monsters were massing.
"Oh!" A female voice screamed and Kevin saw it was Cindy. A giant bug flew at her, its prong twitching as it threw her to the ground scrabbling over her body, its dripping mandibles looking for a soft spot to bite.
"Hold on!" The big black an shouted, pulling a sidearm from his belt and standing with his legs apart. He aimed and fired off four shots, blowing open the strange bugs head.
George scooped her up off the floor and dragged her towards the car. David took hold of her and pulled her up onto the hood.
"I think I've been poisoned!" She wailed, staggering to the edge of the hood and falling off drunkenly.
"Pick her up!" Kevin shouted and he raced forward to take one of her arms.
"Let me take her." The young Asian girl appeared by his side and took Cindy from him. George hopped down from the hood of the car and took her other arm.
"I've been poisoned…"Cindy lamented weakly.
"They're not stopping! Hurry! This way!" The cop with the shot gun beckoned them towards a closed alleyway. He shot off the lock and they all piled through the double doors.
"Hang on Cindy, we just need to get somewhere safe!" George was saying as he and the Asian girl dragged her limp form along.
They hurried through allyway, passed the piles of junk towards another set of double doors.
Oh god, not now!
As they reached the door everyone who had a weapon opened fire. Within second it was open and they were through.
On their left was a canal, on their right a feul tanker. The cop with the shotgun ran ahead, heading for two more gates.
"Oh God!" He screamed as three of the giant bugs flew at him from the shadows, taking him down to the ground.
"Bleed the feul tank!" he screamed, reaching out to them from under the pile of chitter insects. "Use it to burn these bastards!" There was a wet rip and his neck snapped back. "Do it now!" he cried in a gurgling scream before his body went lip and the insects began to feed.
Even as his body settled Kevin could see more of the insects slithering out into the open of the canal. He turned back to face the others, his plan already moving through his head.
"Everyone into the Canal, now!" He screamed, waving his arms for them to jump over the ledge and dive in.
He ran around the back of the tanker and cranked open the fuel line, gas spurting out and flying down the alleyway, engulfing the insects and the fallen cop.
"Go! Get into the Canal!" he shouted as he gave the valve two more forceful yanks, opening the pipe wide.
He didn't have time to see if everyone had made it into the canal.
He ran towards the ledge, fishing her cigarette lighter out of his jeans pocket, flicking the flint and tossing it down the Alleyway.
He took two last running steps and jumped.
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George felt the blast of the tanker exploding as he pushed himself out of the canal channel and into the sewer tunnel. He landed on top of Cindy's limp form.
"I'm sorry. Are you alright?" he asked, taking her by the shoulders and dragging her away from the hole so the next man through wouldn't land on her as well.
"Poisoned…" She breathed.
"Let's just try to stay calm!" The big black security guard shouted. "Is everyone here? Did everyone make it?" He was looking around, counting off heads.
George turned his attention towards Cindy. Her respirations were weak and her pulse was thready. She had definitely taken in some sort of toxin.
He searched her neck, chest and face. There, on her left shoulder was a bite. Dark purple lines spidered out from the puncture marks, surrounded by infected red flesh. She certainly had been bitten by one of those monstrous big bugs.
"Cindy's been bitten!" he said loudly. "We need to get her to a hospital!'
"How do you know?" The woman in the red suit asked harshly, standing over them. She was wet and her blonde hair hung in strings around her harsh face.
"Because I'm doctor." George said. He palpated the area around the wound and Cindy stirred. "In my case…." She whispered.
George bent down to hear her better. "In my case….the blue herb. Arklay mountains…curative herbs." Her eyes were glassy and her muscle turgor was weak.
George searched her pockets and came up with a small, compact leather case. He opened it to find several baggies of ground herbaceous plant material.
"Oh Honey, now is not the time for a joint!" The woman in red disclaimed loudly. George flashed her a harsh look.
He'd read papers recently about the curative properties of the local plant life. He'd never much believed in them, seeing as synthetic pharmacological alternatives were always a better choice. But in a pinch…was it worth trying?
"You collect plants Cindy?" He asked. She nodded weakly. "The blue ones…rub the grounds into my wounds." her breath was light. It was unlikely that whatever anti-toxic properties the grounds had would go through her system in time. She was failing quickly. The poison must have been very fast acting and it was unlikely that even a myriad of anti-toxins from a hospital could save her now.
He unraveled the baggy containing the bluish herb grounds and shook some out onto her wounds. He rubbed them into the sore, swollen looking flesh and she winced.
"Bandage, in my pocket." Cindy said, trying to sit up and extract the item herself. He laided her back down and searched the pockets of her uniform vest. A folded cloth napkin was what he found.
He spread the napkin over her wounds and placed her hand over the make-shit bandage. Despite his professional prognosis she already seemed ore alert.
"Can you walk?" he asked. She nodded. George helped her to her feet, helping her to keep her hand over the bandage.
George looked around for the first time and saw everyone staring. "is everyone alright?" George asked and they all nodded. "We should hurry on. Cindy still needs medical attention."
The cop that heroically blown the gas tank looked filthy, tired and slightly flustered. "Come on everyone, the Doctor is right. Let's keep moving." at the young cops command everyone turned for the opposite end of the tunnel, the end that boasted some light.
"Here, I'll help." The young black man stooped and helped George pick up Cindy. "Name is Jim." He said briefly and they headed onward, following the others.
The sewer tunnel was more of a large drain, likely only to become flooded during a large rain. The concrete was damp and rats scurried about, sniffing through various bits of moist trash.
They followed the young cop who led them, down over a ledge and to the left.
"There's a ladder here!" The cop called back.
"Thank God." Cindy whispered. Her voice seemed stronger. Maybe the herb grounds really had worked.
When they reached the ladder the large black security pulled George aside. "Let me take her." George helped him secure Cindy to his back and the big man started up the ladder, Cindy clinging to him.
One by one they followed, up the ladder and onto a street. It was deserted it seemed.
Not quite.
"Look!" George pointed down the street, past a large hotel and some shops. There was a cop with a megaphone.
"This is the Raccoon City police department. Please try to remain calm. There are vehicles standing by to commence evacuation." The cop said over his loud speaker.
As one the group ran, hobbling and sprinting for the cop.
Evacuation. We're getting out.
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"we're not sure what happened. It seemed to start on the edge of the city, near the forest. Monsters…we put up barricade after barricade, but it wasn't enough. They just kept coming."
The cop driving the van they had all been loaded into was talking quickly as he wound his way through the abolished streets of Raccon, passing torn-down lam posts, pile-ups and hordes of zombies.
"We're going to the police station. We'll be a lot safer there." he was saying.
Cindy tried to breath slowly, taking each breath one at a time. The blue herbs were working, but the posion had been strong and it was going to take some time for her to recuperate her strength.
"Damn!"
The van screeched to a sudden stop.
"Another barricade!" The Cop shouted, punching the steering wheel angrily.
The young black man - Jim - leaned over the front of the cab. "Barricade? Barricade y ass mother fucker! That's two boards and some nails. Drive through it!"
But the cop refused. "I'm sorry, you'll have to continue on foot." Cindy groaned and started to get out of the Van.
Jim and Mark followed as she slipped out. The others remained in place.
"Look, I'm gonna go up ahead, see if there is another way out. Otherwise we're just gonna have to plough through this barricade." Mark said sternly. The others agreed.
"Cindy, you should stay here." George said, reaching for her.
"No…I'm fine. We'll just go check, then we'll be back."
"Take the shotgun in the back…you might need it." The cop up front said. The young Asian girl handed the shotgun to Mark, how passed it to Jim. "alright. We'll be back in jiff. Stay put."
Jim went on ahead as mark helped Cindy to walk. "Sure you don't wanna stay behind?" He asked.
"I'm sure. The last thing I want is to stay still. I just want to keep moving." It was true. Sitting put and waiting to see what would happen next was the worst possible thing Cindy could think of doing.
They headed up a long flight of stairs, Cindy ustering more and more strength with each step.
"Come on! I see the bridge!" Jim shouted.
They hurried to catch up to him .
As they crossed the bridge they stopped and looked out below.
Oh my god.
Hundreds, if not thousands of zombies were massed against a police barricade. They extended on for blocks.
"Jesus will you look at them?" Mark whispered, standing at the glass.
Down below they could see a group of four cops, one working desperately at what might have been a bomb while the other stood with their guns aimed at the barricade line.
"Eric! What's taking so long?" One of the cops shouted. But before the cop could answer, one of the barricade bars came down and zombies began spilling out.
"We gotta help them!" Jim screamed. But before Mark or Cindy could stop him he was already running across the bridge, heading towards the giant amassing of zombies.
"Come on. We gotta stop him. He'll never set that bob off!" mark said, taking her hand and dragging her behind him as they hurried across the bridge, down the opposite steps and out onto the street.
Oh Lord.
Zombies were everywhere, and the cops had disbanded. She could see jim weaving in and out of the zombies, ducking and sprinting. A metal handle in his hands.
He has the detonator.
She wanted to turn back, to run back to the van. Even if the zombies didn't get to her first, the bob would go off and they'd all die.
Cindy took two steps back wards before she heard the bombs down the street begin to go off.
One, farthest away. She was back at the stairs, taking them two at a time.
Two, the stairs themselves were shaking and she'd only made it up the first flight.
Three, the explosion was on top of her, the stairs falling away, and wet, hot things falling down all around her.
Everything went black.
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Everyone felt the explosion in the distance.
"Forget the barricade, drive man, drive!" Alyssa shouted, banging on the back of the drivers seat.
"Oh my God!" he shouted, kicking the shuddering paddy wagon into gear.
They shot through the barricade, the van protesting as bits of pile-up were thrown aside.
"What about the others!" The Asian girl shouted.
"forget them! Drive!" Alyssa shouted again, holding herself steady between the seat as they drove through pile up.
They punched out the other side, onto a street lined with banged up, abandoned cars. She saw a water hydrant sewing water and a set of large, rusted gates.
"It's the station!" Someone shouted.
Thank God.
But before he van could stop, and safely let the out of the van and into the station, they smashed into another vehicle, a cop car that had come seemingly out of nowhere.
The van rolled, throwing the mall for a loop, banging their bodies against the paddy wagon seats and the lockers.
When they came to a stop, Alyssa remained conscious just long enough to see the driver pick up his radio and mumble something into the transistor.
"Outside RPD….request assistance…."
(c) Claire East 2007