I do not own Resident Evil or its monstrous creations. If someone would like to use the original characters in this fanfic for any reason, please notify me first.
Fighting for Life
Chapter 1: Running
My name is Miranda Nielson, and all my life all I've ever wanted to do was run. There was this sort of extreme joy that came with it, for me anyway. My coach would always complain that I had a lot of potential but no initiative. He said I should run more competitively and not just for fun. Now that I think about he would probably kill to see me running the way I was now. A shame really, because all I felt was fear.
Those… things wore our faces, faces of ones we knew and loved. But it was more a mask than a face. I went to school that day expecting to find the usual students and teachers, but instead I found Hell. Armed with nothing more than my wits and reflexes I dodged through a mob of those monsters. The only thing that I could be thankful for was that my heart was beating so hard I could hear it in my ears, loud enough to block out the sounds of their moans. It felt like an eternity before I finally got far enough away that I couldn't see them anymore. I ducked into a dark alleyway to rest, and to think about how my life in my peaceful home, Raccoon City, could possibly turn into something out of a George A. Romero film. I was so exhausted that I didn't notice the pale white hand until it grabbed my shoulder. I yelped.
"Shh! It's me!"
I whipped around and saw my best friend, Agatha Mathers. She was dressed in a black blouse with long hanging sleeves, a black skirt, and black platform boots. She had on the silver necklace of a broken heart that she always wore and violet nail polish on. She brushed one of the blue dyed bangs away from her face; her purple eye shadowed black eyes happy to see me. Her shoulder length black hair stuck to her cheeks and neck due to sweat. Apparently her morning hadn't been uneventful either. I cried out her name in relief and gave her a quick hug, and she responded with the same.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Define 'okay.'"
"Yeah, I know what you mean. 'Nightmare' is an understatement, huh?"
I nodded in agreement.
"Did anyone else get out of the school with you?" I asked.
"I skipped today."
"Figures."
"But I did find someone all the same."
She pointed to a small girl I had failed to notice hiding behind a trash can. Melinda Joyce was the spitting image of your classic bookworm. She was small and not at all athletic, her red hair tied into pigtails and her green eyes emphasized by her big thick square glasses. Dressed in a yellow collared polo shirt, khaki shorts, teal running shoes, tall white socks and even her backpack, she was definitely headed to school when these monstrosities were unleashed.
"H-Hey…" she greeted me timidly.
"She missed to bus to school." Agatha explained. "I decided to help her walk the distance when we came across those things. It was good luck on her part."
The frightened little girl gripped her backpack strap and nodded.
"What's in the bag, Linda?" I asked. "Is it okay if I call you 'Linda'?"
She blushed of embarrassment and nodded. I had forgotten how shy she was and, though I didn't really think about it, I was one of the more popular girls in school. Talking to someone with my social status was probably a new experience for her.
"Just some school supplies, and my laptop. I can't get a connection here, though."
I nodded and smiled, then turned back to Agatha.
"What should we do?" I asked. Agatha started to answer when Linda cut in.
"We should go to the church. Demons don't like churches."
I had forgotten the girl believed in the paranormal.
"They're not demons," I insisted, "they're -"
"- zombies."
We all jumped. Looking around I saw the one thing (or rather "person") that could've terrified me even with the way things were now: Nicholas Savage. The kid scared me shitless every time I saw him, and for good reason. With that dirty black hair that drooped to his chin and those piercing black eyes full of hate, even the Goth clique at school stayed the hell away from him. Though rumors have circulated about him, only two things were positive facts about him. First was that his parents were dead and he lived in Raccoon with his uncle. Some say he killed his parents, other say there deaths turned him into what he is now. Second was that he was preparing for something. By how calm he was acting, I dared to think this was it.
Seeing him now made by hair stand on end and my knees began to buckle. Agatha went a tint paler, something I wouldn't have even thought possible. Melinda almost fainted under the stress.
"Not demons," he continued in a cold tone. "This has nothing to do with the supernatural."
"T-Then w-what is it then?" asked Melinda, desperately trying to sound brave in front of him.
"A virus," he answered calmly. "Made by the Umbrella Corporation."
"'Umbrella!?' Please! That company sponsored this city! Why would they want to destroy it?!" Agatha's rage and disbelief gave Melinda and me the courage we needed to face up to Nathan. I was getting a bit upset myself.
"I didn't say they released it purpose. Besides, what makes you think they even care about us?" The anger in me was gone, but I wasn't afraid anymore. His point was valid; there was no reason for Umbrella to send anyone to save us.
"They're probably working on a cover-up right now," he added. "If that fat idiot Irons wasn't on Umbrella payroll there might've been a chance this city would've listened S.T.A.R.S. and prepared accordingly."
"Chief Irons was working for Umbrella?" I asked.
"You sound surprised."
I couldn't believe it. The chief of police was just the cleanup crew for Umbrella. If there was any doubt S.T.A.R.S. was nuts he would make sure to put the final nail in the coffin. Not that he needed to; The S.T.A.R.S. story was too incredulous to believe in the first place. Or, at least, it seemed that way…
"We should head to the police station," I said. "They have weapons and if we're lucky some officers who would-"
"Bad idea," Nathan interrupted. "I was down that area looking for an escape route. That whole area is clogged with the undead, likely people who had the same idea you did."
I glared at him. I'd never felt so proud of myself, that I was finally able to look right into those murderous eyes and not feel any fear. He didn't seem to notice.
"Well then, what do we do?" I demanded.
"Well, first I would get better dressed for the occasion."
We looked at ourselves in embarrassment when we realized what he meant. My back was protected by noting but a green T-shirt and my long blonde hair. I had on a purple mini-skirt, blue socks and white sneakers. Linda and Agatha didn't feel too much better about themselves either, especially when compared to Nathan. Black combat boots covered the bottoms of black jeans; his black leather jacket was opened to show a black T-shirt with the unmistakable insignia of the Grateful Dead imprinted on it. To top it all off was the machete strapped behind his right shoulder.
"I'm going to the hardware store, and then the mall," he explained. "I'll wait there until 9:00 and 9:45, respectively, and then I'm on my way out of here. You can come if you like, but know that I'm not going to spend any extra time waiting for you."
He turned around and vanished into the shadows without as much as a clunk of his boots.
"Wh-What are we gonna do?" asked Linda. Agatha and I looked at her worried and desperate gaze, then back towards each others' faces, seeing we had the same expression. Nathan gave off the feeling of a cold-hearted, ruthless psychopath that would kill us at any time if we slowed him down. Still, he seemed to know what he was doing, and he did just offer us an opportunity to tag along.
"Do you think it's worth it?" Agatha asked. I looked at my watch. It was 8:07. We had less than an hour before he left the hardware store. I picked up the deadliest thing I could find; a conveniently placed lead pipe.
"We've got some time," I said, trying to calm myself. "Let's see if we can't find anyone else before we go."
The two of them looked at each other and then nodded to me. If we were lucky we might get out of her before dawn tomorrow.