A/N: Wow, first full project for the summer, and I'm excited! Well, to start off, this is the first half of the prologue, and it's a slight crossover with South Park, because the location is convenient with where Raccoon City is, and it's easier for me to write that way. Also, this is the first half of Delta's history, the second half will be posted sometime later in the week. Enjoy.
Cold. That was all he remembered from that place. Snow year-round, even in the summer, at South Park Colorado. He knew about his grandmother a little as well. He remembers now, she brought a kind of warmth to a room, always sweet, never snappy or rude. Unlike he. To this day, he will never forget the absolute TERROR he felt, when his nightmares came true. The first time.
Flashback - About 10 years ago -
'45 degrees outside, and it's the middle of summer! Seriously, what kind of town in the middle of nowhere, stays this cold in the hottest season? I can't believe it!'
"Delta! You comin' outside or what?"
The raven-haired boy known as Delta snapped out of his thoughts at the call of his name, bringing him to step away from the window he was peering out of. Looking around his room, he found his outfit for the day laid out by his grandmother. Black t-shirt, normal blue jeans, a white jacket, with blue lining and fluffy blue insides, and his hat, a simple blue beanie with even lighter blue lining. He gave a small huff but still smiled lightly at his never changing wardrobe. His grandmother was always nice enough to spoil him unconditionally, and he was thankful for that. Checking himself in the mirror, the icy blue eyes raked over himself for any flaws on his frame and finding none, ran down the stairs. Yelling goodbye to his Grandmother, he quickly jogged to the door to join his friends.
Although wearing lighter winter gear, the icy-cold wind blasted him as soon as he stepped outside the house, and he couldn't suppress a shudder at the chill. Not soon enough, he dug his hands to his pockets, and shrugged into the collar of his jacket. Planning to spend the whole day with these guys, he briskly walks over to them on the sidewalk.
"What's the plan today boys?" asked Delta.
The blonde with wild hair spoke up first.
"I say w-we just fol-low C-craig today. GAH!" he stumbled.
Craig, the other boy, just rolled his eyes and flipped off the blonde as if it were routinely for him. Which it was, to him, and everyone else.
"Tweek, can't we just let you decide for once? All you do is say 'Too much pressure!' or something." Craig replied.
Before it could progress even further, Delta decided to step in and pacify his two best-friends.
"How about we eat a couple of donuts at Tweek's parents' shop, and then we go back to his place for some video games?"
Tweek just twitched in compliance, and Craig maintained his nonchalance by nodding solemnly. Now that everything was settled, the short walk across town to the shop was spent chattering about pointless gossip. Arriving at the shop, Delta took in the appearance of the quaint shop. Only a story high, the green banner across the front looked more like a curtain to the door, split in half in the middle for people to enter and exit, while the banner still draped into place. The wooden exterior and the warm colors of the inside reminded Delta of his home with his grandmother. It was, in one word, cozy.
As the boys walked into the establishment, they were warmly greeted by Tweek's parents. Almost immediately, Tweek walked behind the counter, and grabbed a thermos for himself, not asking anyone what they wanted. Sighing together, Craig and Delta walked to the counter to place their order, and walked back to the table happily with their mid-afternoon snack. After that, it went back to gossiping.
"Did you guys hear about what happened to Carter Town? The news said it was infected with something, all of it, and nobody was allowed in or out." Tweek started, "Maybe it's the gnomes! OH god! They're killing people for revenge! What if I'm next! GAH!" After that, he only continued to ramble on about the gnomes. Delta knew different though. He remembers, even though he was only four, what happened to Raccoon City. The thought of the entire situation happening again, however unlikely, was beginning to make him sick.
'Carter Town's only twenty miles away! If this made the news, this must be big. It can't be what I think it is, that's just impossible. They wiped out Raccoon City for good. But there has to be some survivors left…oh god…'
"Delta? Earth to Delta!" Craig nearly shouted.
Delta quickly regained his composure and gave his friends an apologizing look.
"I'm sorry, what were you saying?"
Craig huffed, but still re-capped his story for Delta.
"I was saying, that I think that girl Wendy still likes you, and-"
"Look! Look! The TV!" Tweek yelled, pointing to the huge fifty-two inch flat screen above the counter. As all eyes in the room settled onto the magical box, some morphed into worry, others fear. Delta finally looked at the television and now understood why there were strong reactions immediately.
The title on the screen stated in bold letters, "Viral Outbreak of Unknown Infection in Southern Colorado." Immediately, Delta felt recognition and fear rip through him while thinking of the one possibility the infection could be what he dreaded most.
"And reports say that the infection is still only in Southern Colorado, and hasn't spread outside of a twenty mile radius. Experts at the Carter Town Police Station suggest that while it is currently contained, they estimate that the infection has most likely spread into nearby towns, such as Milltown, Dunes Hunt, and South Park. A warning is issued until the end of the week to remain mostly home-bound, to lock your doors and windows, and to be wary of any suspicious persons. Common sightings report that the infect were stumbling or shuffling, as if drunk, sickly pale, and disoriented. And in other news,-" the news-reporter broadcasted Delta's now-confirmed fear.
'This is not happening, this is not happening, it can't happen again, it won't happen again. I'll believe it when I see it. Nothing will stop me this time, I will not allow it to consume my life again. I have to go!'
"Uh, guys, I think I should check with my grandmother. I think I should pass on the news." he states with uncertainty. Craig, looking a little worried himself, nodded in agreement.
"Maybe we can hang out tomorrow?" Tweek asked, but all he got in reply was a grunt from the boys as they heaved themselves off their chairs, heading towards the exit. A little shakily, Delta opened the door for Craig and himself. Entering the cold once more, they nodded their goodbyes, and headed off to their respective homes.
Fighting off the biting chill of the wind, Delta hurried his pace to try to make it home before his toes fell off. On his journey, the sky began to turn into a deep orange, signaling the sun was going down, and the temperatures with it. More and more shadows seemed to be following Delta, as he looked back often, and he hurried away once more. Now paranoid beyond his control, the tension of his fear was too strong, as he sprinted the final few meters to his house. Slamming the front door open, and then shut, he laid down on the couch warily, finally feeling the last grip of fear and adrenaline leaving his body.
'Jeez, I really need to control myself. Running away from a shadow! What kind of scaredy-cat am I?'
Finally remembering the purpose of returning so early, he set off to locate his grandmother.
"Grandma?" he called. After receiving no answer, he decided to check the kitchen first.
'Maybe she didn't hear me over a boiling pot of water.' At this thought, he gained a small smile. His grandmother's noodles were the best in Colorado, hands down.
Entering the doorway to the kitchen, Delta found the room unoccupied, which wasn't too worrisome. Often, he found her tending to her garden around this time. 'There's no sense of peace like gardening in the afternoon sun!' she would say. Another smile graced his lips at her words of wisdom.
Opening the back door, sounds of crickets and birds chattering filled his ears.
"Grandma?" he called out once more. Again, he was met with no reply, and he decided to check the garden himself. Walking down old, weather-beaten steps, he came to a stop on a concrete platform, underneath a trellis with blooming flowers on its vines. He looked over the small space of yard that was untouched by the plants, and finally set his eyes over to the neat, closed-in area with his Grandmother's prized plants. The relatively small space was filled with vast amounts of beautiful flowers, all immaculate in the darkening orange sky. However, that unsettled him a little bit, seeing the garden already taken care of for the day.
Rushing back to the door, he grew more worried after each step. Endless possibilities were running through his head to where his grandmother could be. All fears were quelled afterwards however, at the sight of his grandmother now in the kitchen, cooking their dinner.
"Grandma! Where've you been? I called for you twice, and you didn't answer…" Delta trailed off, worry and relief flooding his face.
"Oh, I'm sorry Delta, I was taking a nap after gardening. A lot of weeds and animal prints showed up today. I don't know where they came from!" she replied reassuringly, erasing any fear in Delta's small body. "Here, why don't I make you a cup of hot chocolate, huh? It's still pretty cold out, I'm surprised there was no snow on the ground long enough for my garden to grow!" she continued, and flashed him a warm smile.
'Grandma always knows how to make me feel better. I can't believe I over-reacted again. That's just troublesome…' And with that, he went to lay on the couch again, to wait patiently for the best hot chocolate in the world. In his wait, he turned on the television set, and the machine bleeped into life. Ironically, the goal was to forget the day's events, but the channel that appeared was the news. And the title was still the same as earlier, except it now had BREAKING NEWS! in front of it. At this point, his grandmother now walked into the room, holding two mugs of the steaming cocoa. She placed one onto a coaster in front of Delta, and the other firmly in her lap as she sat down. Both now paying attention to the news report fully, Delta turned up the volume.
"Go ahead sir, you're on the air now." the news reporter said to an unknown 'sir.'
"Right now? I'm on right now?" a shaky voice answered. He sounded spooked, scared even. "Okay, you know the infection you're reporting on Southern Colorado? That's it's stuck in Carter Town? That's complete BULLSHIT!," he started screaming now, losing control, "I live on Coolridge Road, South Park, and one of those PEOPLE, just took my daughter! She's 8 years old, playing on a swing, and then a scream, and then she's GONE! I saw it! It was shuffling, making sick, wet, noises when it moved. It came up to my daughter and bit her! BIT HER, on the NECK! She was screaming for me, crying for me, and I couldn't stop them…"
By now, the news crew, the ENTIRE crew, were mortified, frozen in shock, at what the caller just claimed.
"Harry. HARRY! Hang it up…", the reporter ordered, the manager, Delta supposed, Harry to hang up the caller. Right after, a dial tone was heard, and then finally, silence.
"I'm very sorry you had to hear that," she started uneasily, "I, uh, I guess we'll be back after this, um, the commercial break…" she ended lamely. Unsettled and perturbed, she ordered the camera to cut, and the commercials began.
Delta had gone pale with terror during the entire newscast. Every sign, every symptom, of his fears were just confirmed, and now everyone he knew, everyone, would soon die to the very infection that had murdered most of his family.
'They couldn't contain it! Umbrella failed! We need to get out! We need to RUN!'
He stood up quickly, too quickly, he sensed, as he just spilled the entire contents of his cup and startled his Grandmother. She was still calmly sitting in her seat, worry over-taken her features as she stared at her cup of cocoa.
"Pack your things, Delta." was the only thing she uttered, her face grim, trying to read the future within the brown, frothy liquid.
On cue, Delta sprang up the stairs to his messy room. Taking a brisk pause to look around his room, he quickly moved back into action. Grabbing an old, black book bag, he stuffed as much of his clothes he could. Another backpack contained food and water, and another for personal items. His flurry of motions ceased when he could fit no more into the final bag, and with a last look back, turned and left the room.
Rushing back downstairs, he found his grandmother gravely packing belongings into a suitcase of her own. Delta was fighting back tears now, full realization hitting him. The plague that ruined his old life, the plague that DESTROYED his old life, was back, haunting him with every step. It was back, and it was ready to kill again.
"Where are we gonna go?" he asked in a broken whisper, as tears were beginning to stroll down his face. There was a heavy silence for a bit, the tension deafening to the two occupants in the room.
"Away." was the only answer he received, before a shriek from outside shook them both out of their solemn stance. Quickly finishing packing, she zipped up the case, and started to lug it to the front door. Delta went for the keys to the car, crossing the tan, plush, carpet in the living room with a few strides. The key hanger was at the top of the staircase, the rack low enough for the eight year-old to reach and grasp the car keys. Delta's grandmother was first down the steps with her huge suitcase, and Delta followed with his three bags, and the keys.
"The car is in the garage, go pack our things and wait for me, I'll be back." his grandmother instructed, as she opened the garage door, leading to their escape. It opened agonizingly slow, but the more it opened, it revealed pouring rain, and the cold, dark shadows of night.
Delta followed the instructions, and within a few minutes had everything packed into the backseats, just in case if the bags were needed quickly. We're running out of time, he thought, as he sat in the shotgun seat, to wait patiently for his grandmother. Seconds pass by, and after each one, Delta was growing more and more worried. Suddenly, a flash of shadow ran past the car, and onto the driveway. Delta recognized his grandmother's figure immediately, and ran after her without second thought.
"What are you doing!" he yelled. The shadow stopped at the street, hunched over a shadowy lump. His grandmother may be in her later years, but she was still fit from her gardening. As he neared, the lump became more visible through the rain and the dark.
"Are you okay?" his grandmother asked the prone figure. At no reply, she flipped the child onto their back, hopefully making it easier for them to breathe.
It was a grave mistake.
Delta almost realized what it was in time, but the split-second before anything could be done, the worst happened. The eyes opened, revealing inky pools of white, no pupil to be found. The rain coming down on the monster made it seem paler than it already was, and the now-apparent scratches on its face were being cleaned of blood. For a second, nothing happened, both Delta and his grandmother frozen in fear and shock, until everything moved into slow-motion. Painfully slow to Delta's own eyes, he watched in absolute HORROR, as the thing shifted its gaze to his grandmother, and bit down. An ear-shattering scream tore through the silent night as the monster chewed off a piece of her hand. Paralyzed by the unfolding events, Delta was unable to turn away when the infected leaned up and tore a clean chunk off of her neck. More screams and more blood, it only seemed to egg the monster on as it continued to feast on Delta's grandmother alive.
Something inside of him snapped, while watching the absolute gore in front of him. It was in that moment, that Delta realized, he was now finally and completely, alone.