Resident Evil: I Tried, You Died
September 26, 1998. Raccoon City.
It's horrible. I can't find my dad. He said he didn't want to leave the city where Mom is buried. My brother and friends have all been turned into the living dead. All around me are the faces of people I know. I have no idea what's going on but I don't want to die here. I refuse. I have to be strong and make it as best I can. I'm not holding out the hope of a rescue party. Survival is going to be hard since the entire city is blocked off. My only chance at survival should be to get to the RPD. I think. God help me. I have a feeling I'm going to need it.
Haley Carmichael ran through the streets. The only things she'd taken from her home on Fox St. was the clothes on her back and her book bag for school just in case she found something she might need. Her father had run out on her and her brother refusing to leave Raccoon City. That left her and her older brother holed up in their home waiting for death. However, eventually the zombies did break in. And they attacked him when he tried to protect her. She saw their blank eyes, hungry mouths, rotting flesh hanging from their skeletons, and so many other things that she wished she hadn't seen. She had beaten them back and managed to get out. She had just enough time to watch her brother become one of them.
There was only one other option. Run. Her only weapon was a steel pipe that she found lying in the streets. It was protection enough for the time being. She had to cut across to Jack St. since the rest of the city was thoroughly blocked. The streets all had undead and the smell of burning and decay. Mangled cars blocked the way and trash littered the street. Although the quarantine was the logical course of action, she didn't want to die here. Not when she'd just gotten her license and was still a virgin. Of course she only thought about stuff like that so she wouldn't break down. If she stopped for even a moment to think, she didn't know if she could force herself to move again.
Her furiously pumping adrenaline was the only thing that was keeping her going. Swinging the pipe with all her might at every infected creature tired her out really quick. But she wasn't about to just give up or lay down and die. She hurried along and managed to find her way to the police station. At least she figured she'd be safe in there for a little while. It would be enough for her to rest a bit. The zombies could break glass but the lobby of the R.P.D. was secure enough for her to take a rest. She went to the computer area and curled up on the long stretch of desk. Slowly her nerves relaxed enough for her to fall into a fitful sleep with plenty of nightmarish images.
Haley woke up and checked her watch. She'd been asleep five hours and she'd only planned on taking an hour at the most. She sighed and got up still feeling exhausted. She decided to look around for a gun somewhere before heading back out into the streets. The doors were mostly locked and there didn't seem to be anything interesting in the open ones. After finding some handgun bullets in a weird hall she went back to the room with the staircase in it. Just before she was about to open the door to the evidence room a noise caught her attention. She moved to the stairs knowing that it was probably a mistake but curiosity got the better of her. And besides, they might need help. It didn't dawn on her at the time that she was really not in the position to help anybody. She checked around the corner and found no one there. So she went to the door under the stairs and wrapped her hand around the handle. She was almost positive it wasn't a zombie. Whoever it was sounded like they were looking for something and couldn't find it. And was it her imagination or did the person seem more than a little angry?
Just before she was going to turn the knob, the door flew open and she was face to face with a man. The room behind him was poorly lit and he had sunglasses on which freaked her out a bit. His gloved hands held a Beretta. He dressed all in black and had at least six inches on her in height. Her breath caught in her throat when she tried to say something or move. Haley knew that he wasn't going to help her in any way. She cursed herself for not looking harder for a weapon.
The man slowly lowered his handgun and pushed her out of his way annoyed. He didn't say anything to her. There was no offer to come with him, no kind words, or words of encouragement or help. Just silence from him. It was almost like he had better things to do. It sounded absurd as soon as she thought it. What sort of obligations did you have in a zombie infested city? But that was the best description of his behavior. Her eyes followed him as he moved towards the stairs. There was something odd about the way he moved. The man dressed completely in black had this aura of authority that demanded both respect and obedience.
"Are you a cop?" She looked at him expectantly. She hadn't even thought to take out the pipe. He didn't look like a cop but there was something familiar about him. It was like he wasn't necessarily out of place. It was a stupid question that she should have left unasked. Especially since the man seriously terrified her.
He stopped on the landing in between the floors and turned slightly. His expression was unreadable and he looked her up and down as if she was beneath him in more than literal sense. Haley could tell that something was very wrong with him. Even though he didn't appear to be infected.
"It would probably be more humane for you to just succumb. There's no way you could ever escape the city."
Haley was a little taken aback by his pessimistic candor. Definitely not a cop. "How would you know?" She retorted sounded a bit more immature than she had intended. She was sure she didn't want the answer to the question, but what could it hurt to ask if she was doomed anyway?
The blond man didn't answer. Instead he just moved up the stairs and disappeared on the second floor. Her first instinct was to follow him so she wasn't alone. But then she weighed her options and thought better of it. He was way too creepy to be completely sane and he most likely didn't even have a plan to get out. And she was afraid that if he kept saying that she was doomed, she might start to believe him. She decided she could get a weapon someplace else and hurried back the way she came.
Once she exited the police station she managed to find herself in Kendo's Gun Shop. The man inside was kind enough to let her have a handgun and shotgun and some rounds and shells to go with them, even though it was severely against the law. Of course there was no law anymore in Raccoon City. Most of the cops were just as dead as the normal citizens so she figured it was alright. She had really wanted to stay with Robert Kendo, but she'd seen too many zombies in the area for that. After a brief conversation she was off again running down Ema St. She stuffed the pipe in her backpack along with the extra ammo. She kept out the handgun and was always on the lookout for more bullets. Her next stop was a little corner store where she picked up a few candy bars and crackers along with a few small bottles of water.
She hurried down the city blocks eating and drinking on the move. It was taking her longer than it should have since the items on her back were getting heavier with every step. Her thoughts drifted back to what the man said. About the hopelessness of her situation. But she was a teenager and she lived for proving people wrong. With a renewed sense of determination she picked up the pace. She wished that the cars she came across weren't either wrecked or missing the keys. She wished she knew how to hot wire a car or pick locks. She alternated using the handgun and pipe since she didn't have the greatest aim in the world. She'd never even held a gun before. If Kendo hadn't given her a crash course she wouldn't have been able to take out or reload the magazine.
Sometimes she had to break out the shotgun in more densely populated areas. One street had huge boxes piled up that the zombies couldn't get past. She stood up on them and pretended that it was tee-ball practice to conserve ammo. She trudged on getting more discouraged by the minute. She'd found a young woman a little older than her but she freaked out and ran away. Haley knew that the terrified woman wouldn't last too much longer. Being alone sucked. Every noise made her jump and her heart race. The silence freaked her out as much as the sound of zombies feasting on flesh.
Cautiously she peaked around a corner. Her eyes darted around in every shadow and nook but she didn't find anyone. She breathed a quick sigh of relief and hurried as quietly as possible to the next block. Just before she reached the door a growl came from behind her. A Doberman stood hunched down ready to tackle her to the ground. Its skin was just like the zombies. Fear took her and she wasted five rounds taking the thing down. She couldn't take it anymore. The stench, the constant fear, and the loneliness got to her. She bent over and hurled making sure to keep her hair out of her way.
Once done she rushed forward coming across a restaurant. Inside she found a few items worth taking and a bathroom. She took her time and collected herself before realizing the bathroom would be another good nap spot. The lock was oddly on the inside and the door secure enough. After a quick nap she went back out onto the streets.
Soon after getting underway, thoughts of despair started to root deep in her brain. It finally sunk in that her brother was the living dead. Her father had abandoned them and probably shared the same fate. Her mother had died of cancer a few years ago. She'd hadn't seen her boyfriend at all. But she could almost tell that he was dead. She'd never see her friends again. And she could never go back to the only home she'd ever known in her 16 years of life. Tears streamed down her cheeks and choked sobs escaped her lips as she numbly stumbled forward. What the hell did she have to live for anyway?
September 27, 1998
I'm so tired of fighting and I don't know how long I can make it. It seems too horrible to take and yet I keep going. I don't think I'll ever find another living human here and that realization is the most terrible. I've never been truly alone before and I don't know how to handle it. Mom, if you're watching me from Heaven, I might just see you soon.
It was already afternoon. She thought it odd that even through all horror movie shit, the sun still shone for everybody else. It wasn't fair. The world should stop and give them a moment of silence. It was only polite. Provided it wasn't all hushed up and the public were allowed to know the truth. Her conspiracy theories took her mind of her steadily worsening depression. And it also ran her head first into a throng of hungry people infected with the "cannibal disease."
The shotgun gave her a fighting chance but she was still going to be eaten alive if she didn't think of something. She ran and reloaded dropping some shells. She swore using every curse word she could think of along with a few improvised ones. She found a person up ahead of her wearing some weird army camouflage. It was the same uniform that a few dead men wore. And he was her best chance since he most likely had better weaponry than her.
"Sir, please help me. Please."
He turned to face her looking thankfully normal. "Move out." A few more soldiers came out of hiding and they took off at a run down the alleyway leaving her behind. One of them hit her in the temple with the butt of his gun. She stood shakily forcing her body to fight unconsciousness and move. A throbbing pain settled in her head as she got up and started running again albeit slowly and unintentionally zigzagging. But now the zombies were closing in. She cursed again, aiming all her venom at the soldiers. She had no idea if she was going in the right direction to get out of the city but that was now a secondary concern. She ducked down alleys hoping to come out on Raccoon St. Thankfully only a few zombies stood in front of her allowing her to make quick work of them without slowing too much. Unfortunately after a very short while she felt weighed down and tired. The stink of death got worse as they gained on her.
Finally she stumbled upon Raccoon St. and saw the Clock Tower in the distance. After going through a few doors she had lost the crowd of zombies. At the very least it should be a good place to take stock of her inventory and collect herself again. Breaks were few and far between considering. But she needed it. She slid over the hood of a cop car thankful for the huge barrier that the stupid zombies couldn't cross. She slowed a bit looking at the structure. It was so close she could taste the relative safety and perhaps slight bit of rest she'd get. She broke into a run suddenly afraid something or someone might get in her way or try to stop her. Her legs pumped and the backpack thumped against her back. She promised that she'd sleep for days if she could just make it inside.
She came closer and she ran into another soldier. Haley fell backward unable to keep herself from falling. Her gun landed at his feet. Without thinking she started scooting back before standing up.
"Stay away from me," Haley warned the soldier. She couldn't think. She focused on her peripheral vision wondering if there were others close by. Her eyes moved back to the soldier as he knelt and picked up her handgun.
Only one thought ran through her head. He's going to kill me with my own gun. Her eyes found his and he didn't look malicious. Not that she'd really know how to tell. And she chalked that up to the optimism of a doomed person. Then he took a few steps forward. And she took a few steps back. She heard him sigh. He put away her gun and tried again reaching out to her with one hand palm up. But he still had his rifle slung over his shoulder that could be drawn in seconds. Haley took another few steps to the rear but this time a piece of debris was behind her and she fell back onto her butt five paces away from him.
A low growl came from nowhere and everywhere. Her body froze with fear although her eyes darted around looking for the source of the sound. Finally she looked behind her and saw another zombie dog crouched down and ready to pounce. She scrambled to get the bat from her pack since the shotgun was out of ammo. The dog's eyes were glazed over as it decided now was the right time. It propelled itself forward and Haley flinched wrapping her arms around her neck. She closed her eyes and curled up into a ball. When no pain came after a few seconds she slowly opened her eyes. The soldier was holding a shotgun of his own. The crazed zombie dog was dead five feet away from her.
"Are you alright? Ms . . . ?"
It took awhile for her to grasp everything that was going on. She was still huddled on the pavement. "Haley Carmichael." She looked him up and down as she pulled herself into a sitting position. "Thank you." It wasn't spoken very graciously, but instead held a certain cynicism.
"You're welcome. Patrick Gruber. I didn't mean to scare you." He held her handgun down to her grip first. Her hand shook a little as she cautiously reached out and grabbed it.
She checked the safety and stuck it in the waist of her jeans like she'd seen on tv. Haley still eyed him warily though. "You saved me. Why? What are you here for?"
"We're here to rescue civilians."
She gave a very un-lady-like snort. "I don't think all of your buddies got that message." Bitterness peppered her words. "There were others dressed in the same uniform. They hit me on the head and were going to leave me to be eaten alive while they save their own asses." Her gaze never left his. She dared him to deny it. Especially since she could still feel a trickle of blood gently running down her cheek.
"I admit that not everybody is performing their best in the situation. I promise that I won't do that to you. Besides, I could've let you die just now and run. But I didn't." He extended his hand to her.
"You're right." Begrudgingly she took his proffered hand and got to her feet.
"I know." He gave her a charming smile to accompany his mock arrogance. "Come with me. I need to look at that wound." Patrick became a bit more serious now. "Will you let me help you?"
Haley didn't take long to answer him. He wasn't like the man in black, or the other soldiers. "Yes. I would appreciate it very much if you would."
He nodded. "Follow me. Keep sharp. It's dangerous all over."
September 27, 1998
We managed to reach the clock tower. Out of desperation we robbed some wounded soldiers of their weapons and used the surviving citizens as decoys. We were taught to do this in order to survive on the battlefield, but I've never enjoyed it. However, a girl showed up in front of me at the clock tower. She's one of the survivors. She looks just like my sister before she starved to death. . .
Haley gripped the gun a little tighter making sure the safety was off. The barrel was pointed harmlessly at the ground for now since she had no intention of shooting Patrick. Her eyes darted around as he led her inside. A bit of blood dripped in front of her eyes and she stopped to wipe it out. She looked up and yelped. They were in a large hall with a wide staircase. And at the top she could make out some sort of creature up there.
"What is it?"
"Spiders," she pointed to the second floor.
"It's okay we don't have to go up there. This way." He walked through a door and through a dining room and into a ballroom. At least that's what it looked like since there was a piano and the floor looked like a dance floor.
The large glass windows freaked her out. She walked over to one and looked out for a moment. Patrick had moved to the other door. "Coming?"
"Yeah." She turned away and caught a glimpse of something outside. The glass broke under a sudden impact and zombies came pouring in the room. Patrick went back over to her and the chapel was now blocked off.
"This way." He fired at a few blocking their path out before grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her along back the way they came. In the dining room they were blocked in long enough for a zombie to grab hold of Gruber. He cried out as teeth sank into his arm and neck and forced him down due to their combined weight. Haley fired being careful of the angle since she didn't want to shoot him on accident. Gruber was very thankful that he had taken the antigen though he now had at least half a dozen marks all bleeding. He pushed himself up attempting to shield Haley while pulling them to safety.
"Go!" He ordered forcefully and they ran. Patrick used his mass to barrel through them while Haley used the shotgun to blast through any that got too close. Tears streamed down her face as she saw the wounds on her rescuer. Would he turn then try to kill her? She didn't want to be alone again. At last they reached the main hall shutting the door to the dining room and giving them a slight bit of rest.
"Are you alright?"
The UBCS nodded. He didn't have time to talk about his well-being. He had to track down Campbell and get going. "Look, there's an evac chopped that's going to get us out. All we have to do is get to the bell. I need to see if I can find my partner then we need to get out of here."
"But, my dad's out there somewhere. I don't want to just leave him." She realized that he didn't deserve it since he ditched her, his own daughter. But what kind of person would she be if she didn't try?
Patrick didn't want to argue with her. But he decided to make a concession. "Alright. We'll wait a little while and see if he turns up. First we need to find someplace safe."
Haley nodded and leaned against the door. Without warning a couple zombie arms burst through the wood and started clawing at her face and chest. She screamed in fright struggling to get away from the monsters that shouldn't have been that strong considering the state of their bodies. Gruber took out a knife and severed the offending body parts and dragging her away and up the stairs.
Haley had completely forgotten about the mutant arachnids hanging about on the second floor. She ran with all she had left to get to the door up ahead but one was lying in wait and it pinned her shooting poison. She cried out as the viscous liquid hit her skin and started burning. Moments later she was being pulled through the door.
The room was weird and had three clocks and statues each holding a stone. If she was able to think straight she would've found it insanely creepy. Of course even being on the open streets wasn't any better. Patrick pushed her down on the floor and she didn't fight it. He searched her pack for some first-aid but couldn't find anything to cure the poison completely. He gave her something to ease the symptoms but knew that it wouldn't help for long. At that point the blood loss caught up with him and he sank down beside her pulling her close.
September 28, 1998
I wanted to evacuate as soon as possible, but the girl didn't. Her father insisted that he wouldn't leave the city where his beloved wife rests in peace. I really wanted to save the girl but Campbell said, "All I care about is our lives." That's how I felt before, but now. . . The clock tower has become a dangerous place and I don't want to make any more mistakes.
"Campbell come in," Gruber tried the radio hoping his comrade was alive and willing to help.
"Gruber? Where are you man?"
"I'm in the clock tower. I need you to find something to cure poison with and get to the second floor in a hurry."
"Okay I'll be there shortly."
Gruber knew that he wouldn't bother to risk his life. He'd already made that perfectly plain. But he wanted to give Haley every chance to live. He didn't realize that she'd already slipped into unconsciousness.
"I'm sorry Haley. I couldn't find your dad. I couldn't protect you. I couldn't even protect myself. Stay strong okay?" Breathing got harder and he let the darkness take him. There wasn't anything left for either of them to do but wait to die.
A/n: Just a piece of useless information, all the streets I mentioned are in Raccoon City. I'm slightly obsessed with Resident Evil if no one's figured it out by now. If anyone else bothered to waste their money on that book "Resident Evil Archives" and read it back to front I'm sure you're aware.