PROLOGUE
Linda cursed silently as she tripped over a wet pile of muck in the alleyway. She hated taking this shortcut, but after pulling a double shift at J's that night, all she wanted to do was be home in her comfy bed. The shortcut took her through a few back alleys in the bad part of town, which was right next to where her apartment was, the "just a smidgen better than bad" side of town. It was eerily quiet for a Saturday night, no rambunctious yelling of drunks, screech of teens racing their cars. Linda shivered quietly to herself as she rounded the corner. She paused for a moment and looked back over her shoulder, she swore she could feel someone watching her. Shaking her head she told herself, "Get it together!"
She shook off the feeling and resumed her course, picking up her pace. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw the opening of the alley. Jogging briskly she headed towards it when she suddenly fell. She fell fast and hard, and skinned both knees as well as her left palm. "Smooth." She muttered under her breath as she pushed herself back up. Once back on two feet she realized what caused the fall in the first place. "Son of a bitch!" She said looking down at her brand new shoe, now missing a heel. Letting out a groan she turned around to look for her shoes' missing appendage. She scanned the alley with squinted eyes, it was dark out and the heel was practically microscopic.
Nearly ten minutes went by before she found it wedged in a crack in the pavement. Victoriously, Linda jammed the peg into her purse and headed for home, again. She was nearly 10 feet from the exit when a loud crash from behind her, made her jump out of her skin. Wide eyed and frantic, she spun around to see what caused such a racket. The figure of a man sprawled out over a pile of trash cans and garbage met her. The thought of her warm bed was calling her, but the little angel sitting on her shoulder told her to do the right thing. God, how she hated that stupid little angel. If it were up to her, she'd shoot her out of a cannon straight into hell, for the little devil girl on the other shoulder, who rarely made an appearance, to beat the crap out of her for making her do the right thing. Before she even got within three feet of the man, a sour mixture of rotting fruit, and dead flowers hit her like a ton of bricks. Wrinkling her nose, she called out to the incapacitated man.
"Hey, are you ok?" She said waving a hand in front of her face, as if trying to rid herself of the odor that assaulted her. No response. Slowly inching closer, she tried again. "Sir, are you alright?" The putrid smell was violating her senses now, eyes watering, stomach heaving, she crouched down next to him. She couldn't see much due to the lack of lighting, but from what she could see, the man was in pretty bad shape. His clothes were clotted with dirt, and what appeared to be dried blood. Probably just some homeless guy who happened to come into some sort of booze, had too much and ended up like he was. Linda put her hand on his arm to try and roll him over. His skin felt cold and clammy in her palm, and as she pushed him, it gave way. Peeling like the skin of an onion, the mans arm tore and fell away as if made of tissue paper. Linda let out a shriek, retracting her hand. For the first time, the man made a noise, a low sorrow filled moan. Linda fell backwards and froze up with panic, lost in a sea of confusion, panic, and fear. The moaning man began to stir, dragging himself up with his arms. He lolled his head to the side and locked onto Linda, who had begun to slowly push herself back. A car turning the corner by the alley shone a light down the alley and illuminated the scene. Linda let out a bloodcurdling scream. In the few seconds of bright light, she saw a scene from every child's worst nightmare. The man was pale, beyond pale, ghastly white, his eyes were covered in a milky white substance, almost cataract-like. His face was gaunt, bits and flecks of his cheeks were missing, exposing rotting muscle tissue, and bits of bones. His mouth was a gapping circle, surrounded by two puss filled lips, smeared blood covered them. His shirt was tattered, exposing more ripped flesh, chunks of gore, and more blood. The creature was now halfway upright, its gaze fixed on Linda. Though blind looking, Linda knew the creature was focused on her and only her. She tried to move but fear had paralyzed her. The creature was now upright and slowly shuffling towards her. "Get up, get up and run now!" pounded her brain over and over, but her body wasn't responded, numb to any command. Ten feet. "Move it bitch, MOVE IT!" She yelled at herself. Six feet. "Go, get up, run!" She heard herself tell her, as tears began to fall down her cheeks. Three feet. "Why didn't you just take the long way home?!" She thought, as time seemed to slow. Two feet. "This is it, you happy now?" She mocked at herself, she felt dizzy and lightheaded. One foot. She stared up the looming monster, drool dripped freely from its mouth onto her skin. Time was at a standstill, everything seemed to have stopped, from her heart to the menacing creature who was practically on top of her. This was it, the moment everyone talks about where your whole life flashes before you. Thoughts of happier times flashed rapidly before her eyes like a slide show, moments of joy captured forever in her memory. She smiled on the inside, she felt warm and happy, and felt it would be ok. The moaning from the creature had stopped, and been replaced with a more vicious growl, a growl of hunger. Linda snapped back to reality, her life as she knew it was over, the creature was on her like flies on shit, ripping at her, tearing her apart. She cried out in horror, pain, fear, a number of emotions were flying through her, but she couldn't process them all. And before she knew it, it was over, no pain, no fear, just numbness, her vision was blurred. She could make out the creature shuffling away, obviously done with her, looking for its next victim. Her head fell to the side, eyes gazing idly ahead, she saw her purse was dumped out, the contents spilled. She saw the broken heel, inches from her head. Her vision was fading steadily, and before it went dark, she muttered with strained vocal cords, "Damn, they were brand new." And then it went dark.
-Authors Note-
Woo! It feels so good to be writing again! just the prologue for now guys, hopefully it'll keep you reading! And blah blah we know the drill, I don't own the Resident Evil franchise, etc etc. So hopefully you all enjoy the story so far, and tune in for more!