Note: This fanfic is based off of the game "Dead Rising" by Capcom. It is done in the perspective of Frank and a few other made up characters. While the fic DOES follow the storyline, it adds and edits events in the game. The story of Dead Rising was not made by me, and I do not claim any ownership over it whatsoever. Thanks to Berserker for the full script to Dead Rising, it was very helpful! Lastly, I give my personal thanks to Capcom for making such a badass game. Please make a sequel, and throw in more Street Fighter cameos, damnit!
Dead Rising: Justified
A helicopter flew over a large, mountain range. The large flying machine moved at an underwhelming pace, not seeming to be in much of a rush. The pilot looked around, his eyes scanning the ground beneath him. Suddenly, he spotted a road.
"Aha!" he said, adjusting his headset. "I told you I could find it. That's Route 360, the only route into town."
His passenger grinned. "Good. Follow the road. I want to check it out."
The pilot sighed. "You're the boss."
The pilot's name was Ed DeLuca, a charter helicopter pilot from the National Airport of Colorado. Used to doing tourist runs, Ed was a little surprised when he was sent out here with one other man to check out a town as insignificant as Willamette.
Come to think of it, WHY exactly does that dude care enough about this craphole to give it a visit?
His passenger looked out of the side of the helicopter. His eyes scanned the highway.
"Hey, stop for a second!" he called.
Ed brought the helicopter to a hover. "What's up?"
The man reached for the camera around his neck, and brought it up to his face. He adjusted the lens, and aimed towards a crashed diesel truck and station wagon.
"There's a car accident over there," he said to Ed. "Looks like they were going pretty fast too when they hit."
"That's a shame…" Ed replied, wondering why the Willamette county police hadn't shown up yet. "Can you see anyone inside?"
"Sorry, I can't zoom in that close. It doesn't look like anyone's there though…"
He snapped a photo. 'Perhaps this might come in handy later…' he thought to himself.
"Odd… you think the police would have shown up by now…" Ed responded, lost in thought.
The two remained silent for a while, with the only sound being the whirring of the chopper's blades.
Eventually, Ed spoke up. "Well, I'll fly us on to town. I'll make sure to file a report back at the airport once we land."
The helicopter picked up speed, and continued its flight along the road.
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"Uggghh…"
Slowly, the man opened his eyes. Everything was pitch black.
"Where… where am I?" he asked into the darkness.
He sat up, and felt his head collide with metal.
"Ow!" he yelled, as he fell back on his back. He lifted his hand over, and felt his head.
'Come on Isaac… think!' the man, Isaac, thought to himself.
Isaac was a medium sized build, about 6 feet tall, and in need of a hairbrush. His hair, while normally poker straight and combed, was in a curly, tangled mess of blackness. He wore a black and white tank top with attached hood, and baggy blue jeans.
Lost in thought, Isaac tried to recall the night before.
All he could remember, however, was mixed in a jumble of darkness. Screams, blood, gore, and the mussel flash of a pistol was all he could remember.
Looking around, he eyed an empty wine bottle next to him.
'Well, that explains a lot…' he said, holding his head. He picked up the bottle and whistled lowly. 'Whoa… this thing was loaded! I could have been out for days…'
Isaac sat there, in the darkness, trying to recall anything of use.
He was about to give up when he heard the whistling noise of wind, and a gust of air blow by him. And that's when he remembered where he was.
'Hey, I'm in an air duct!' he thought to himself, a dry smile coming to his face.
The smile vanished as he soon realized he still had no idea what he was doing in said duct.
He sighed. "Oh well, I might as well get out of here…"
The 23 year old then began to craw through the duct, his eyes now adjusted to the darkness.
After a few minutes, he reached a small service door. He maneuvered his hands towards the latch, and pushed. The door creaked open, and Isaac pulled himself out. Still a little disoriented from his wine, however, he fell flat on his face.
Cursing, he pulled himself up, and looked around.
He was standing in the mall's Security Room. Through the glass he could make out a chair, couch, janitorial closet, and a row of security camera monitors.
Isaac closed the door to the vents, and stumbled over to the exit. He walked into the hall, and leaned against the wall for support. "Seems like I'm still a bit affected by that alcohol…" he muttered to himself. After shaking it off, he continued to make his way down the hall. Reaching the last door, he grabbed the handle, and swung the door open.
He stepped out onto the balcony above the Entrance Plaza, slamming the door behind him.
Isaac walked towards the stairs to the ground floor, trying to remember what had happened the day before, when he saw the front of the mall.
Suddenly, his memories came back to him.
And so did his last meal.
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The helicopter passed over a rather open section of the mountain, as its passenger continued to photograph the surrounding area. Ed leaned back towards him, half looking at where he was going.
"Say buddy," he said, his curiosity taking hold of him. "You said somethin' about research for a story, right?"
"That's right," the passenger replied, still snapping photos. "I got a tip that something big is happening."
"In a no-where little town like that?" Ed replied, confused. "They sure didn't mention anything about it on TV…"
The passenger stopped taking pictures, and walked over to Ed. "Yeah, well I'm freelance pal. I don't make my living waitin' for the TV to tell me what to cover."
He patted Ed on the shoulder, and walked back to where he was before. Ed laughed aloud at his passenger's joke, and stole a look at him. His hair was short and black, and rather well kept. He wore a black jacket, black shades, white button up shirt, khakis, and brown loafers. 'What a crazy guy…' Ed thought, returning his attention to his flight path.
"Here she is!" Ed said to his passenger as a town appeared in the distance. "Here she is. Hahaha! Willamette, Colorado. Population: 53,594. Distinguishing characteristics: Jack shit!" He burst out laughing at his own joke, and then regained his posture. "About the only thing to do in this town is kill time at the shopping mall."
The passenger flipped off his shades, and put them in his pocket. Raising his camera to his face, he zoomed in on the approach bridge to Willamette. Men armed with machine guns patrolled a barricade, reinforced with a tank. The passenger grinned and snapped a picture.
"What was that?!" Ed asked, shocked. "The army?!"
The passenger smiled. "Looks like taking a helicopter was the way to go. I bet they've got all the roads blocked off by now…"
He walked over to Ed.
"Alright, listen…" he said, tapping Ed's shoulder. "I want to get shots of the whole town before the National Guard finishes roping it off. Take me over the main street."
Ed nodded his head, and the helicopter began its run over the main road.
After a few moments, Ed spotted a group around a car. "Whoa, what is that? Some kinda riot?"
The passenger pulled out his camera, and zoomed in.
There was a lone man atop the car, with a bloody baseball bat in his hand. He swung madly at the group of people surrounding his vehicle, striking them in the skull and chest, driving them off the car. One of the rioters grabbed his leg, and, in retaliation, the man brought the bat down on his skull, smashing it apart in a bloody mess. The passenger snapped a photo at the exact moment, catching the brutal moment on film forever. The man then noticed the helicopter, and began waving his arms wildly. However, one of the rioters grabbed the man's leg, and pulled him off the vehicle. The man fell, screaming, smashing his head on the side of the car in the process, leaving a bloody trail. The group converged on the man, still screaming, and began to rip him apart.
"Is this what you came to take pictures of?" Ed managed to say.
The helicopter continued on, and eventually came to a school bus surrounded by rioters. Children inside screamed and cried, while the bus driver tried to calm them down.
"No way! Check that out! Look at all those people!" Ed yelled, pointing at the bus. "What the hell's happening here?"
"I have no idea…" the passenger replied, snapping a photo of the bus. "But one thing's for sure. Whatever's going on down there…"
He was interrupted as the rioters managed to flip the bus over, smashing open the glass and crushing a few of their group.
"… it isn't business as usual in this town," he finished, snapping a photo of the bus.
The helicopter flew past a few more overturned cars and rioters, but eventually it came upon a gas station. As the passenger got ready to focus in on the gas station, it exploded, sending fire and debris everywhere.
"Whoa! Holy shit!" Ed yelled, steadying the helicopter. "Did you see that?!"
"Yeah," the passenger replied, thankful he got that on film. He the focused his camera on what looked to be people burning alive, and took a few more pictures.
"I'm gonna take her up for a second," Ed said, as he made the helicopter rise.
"Wait!" the passenger yelled, noticing a large group on a nearby building. "Take us down! We have to check out that building!"
"Huh? Where?" Ed asked, looking around.
"Right below us," the passenger answered.
The helicopter flew down to the rooftop. As they approached, the passenger noticed a woman near the edge of the building shooting at the approaching crowd of people with a pistol. It didn't seem to slow them down at all, so the woman turn and ran. She reached the end of the roof, and, realizing there was no way out, she turned back to the crowd and began to shoot again. After a while, she ran out of ammo, and threw the empty pistol at one of her attacks, smacking him square in the face. She turned to the helicopter and yelled something illegible to them, right before a member of the crowd charged her. She turned in time to see him grab her, and the two fell off the roof. They plummeted to the ground below, and hit with a splat, smearing blood all over the concrete. Ed gasped.
The passenger grimaced, a bit sad that he caught the woman's final moments on film. He then turned to his pilot. "I want to see the center of town. Take me there."
"Roger," Ed replied, and the helicopter turned towards the center of town.
As the helicopter approached the center of town, it flew right by the Willamette Parkview Shopping Mall.
The passenger noticed the large crowd of rioters by the entrance, and began taking pictures. As he looked around, he saw a helipad by the back of the mall, on the top floor.
"Hey!" he called to Ed. "Can you get me to the rooftop of that mall?"
"You gotta be kidding me!" Ed said, looking at his passenger. After seeing his passenger's look of determination, he sighed. "Aww man… you ARE nuts!"
Ed brought the helicopter around, and flew straight for the landing pad.
"Alright, listen…" the passenger said, as he stood up. "Don't forget to come back for me!"
"As long as you aren't dead, Fred," Ed replied.
"It's Frank… Frank West," the passenger said. "Remember that name cause the whole world's gonna know it in three days when I get the scoop."
Ed was about to reply, when, suddenly, a black military helicopter flew straight at his helicopter.
"Shit!" he said, jerking the helicopter to the side.
Frank cursed as his suitcase of supplies flew out the side of the helicopter and into the mob below.
More military choppers flew towards Ed's helicopter, and he began to pull away.
"Get us back to that rooftop!" Frank yelled.
"Oh man, I know I'm gonna get my butt chewed off for this one…" Ed muttered, going as fast as he could.
The helicopter descended towards the rooftop.
"Damnit, there's no time for a drop-off!" Ed yelled. "Sorry Frank, but I'm gonna have to-"
However, Frank never let him finish his sentence, as he leapt out of the side of the helicopter, towards the rooftop below.
"WOOOOHOOOO!!!" he yelled, as he fell in freefall for the roof.