Resident Evil: Virus Outbreak
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT own Resident Evil.
The chilling wind howled mercilessly and the blazing flames licked hungrily at the debris of the dilapidated buildings. Fumes and smoke had long covered the entire sky, creating a dark envelope over the city. Damaged vehicles could be seen alongside the broken roads of the now deserted town.
From a distant, the door to an overturned blue sedan car suddenly swung opened, and a man crawled out from the damaged vehicle. He had a slight bruise on his forehead and his lips bled slightly. The man paused for a moment, as he tried to gain his composure, before pushing himself up from the ground. He strained at his eyes to look at the place. What the hell? The damage of the city was far more than what he had expected.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, there were sounds of firings followed by an explosion. The man quickly turned towards the direction of the explosion, only to realize that it had come from a building located down at the end the street.
"Could they have survived?"
The man immediately turned back to the vehicle and pulled out his shotgun from the passenger seat. He cocked the weapon and started jogging down the street…
Chapter 1: Danger
I received a letter today. It was from Greg, a fellow researcher whom I had gotten acquainted during my apprenticeship at the Raccoon University a year ago. Greg had requested that I make a trip down to Raccoon City to meet him immediately, saying that there was something very important he had to tell me. Enclosed along with the letter was a train ticket. I looked at the ticket in my hand and I couldn't help but feel that this trip was somehow rather fact, too 's so important that Greg can't tell me in this letter?
Two days later...
The late afternoon light from the window woke him up from his sleep.
"What time is it now?" He stifled a yawn and took a quick glance at his wristwatch, only to see that is was approximately a quarter past five. The train ride was taking a little longer than he had anticipated. He looked around the crappy cabin. It was quiet. In fact, there weren't any people in the cabin, except for a little girl seated a couple of rows away from him, playing with her doll.
It was then that his cell phone rang. The man swiftly fished out the electronic device from his pocket and placed it to his ear.
"Hello?" He said, stifling a yawn.
"Mister McKenzie?" The voice on the other line asked, nervously.
"Yes. This is Benson McKenzie speaking." Benson replied. "Who are you?"
"I-I'm Greg." The voice on the line crackled. "Gregory Richardson. We met before at the Raccoon University last year."
"Of course."
"How was your trip?" Greg asked. "I-I mean, have you reached Raccoon City yet?"
"Well, nothing much, I guess." Benson replied, as-a-matter-of-factly, looking at the surrounding. "I'm still in the train, but I think I'll probably be reaching Raccoon City soon..." His voice trailed off, somehow noticing that the doll which the little girl was playing with earlier, is now on the floor.
The little girl was nowhere in sight.
"Good." Greg mumbled. "Good…"
"I-Is it anything important?" Benson asked, diverting his attention back to the conversation. "I mean, why the sudden request for me to come all the way to Raccoon City under such short notice? Is everything okay?"
"I think it will be more appropriate for me to tell you the details when you arrive." Greg said. "In any case, I've left a parcel for you at your hotel. You will be staying over at the Apple Inn. Am I right?"
"Yes."
"Okay. The parcel should be waiting for you at the hotel front desk when you check in later. We will talk again." Greg said, before the line was abruptly cut off.
"Wait-"
The line went dead. Benson stared at his cell phone for a while as he contemplated at the mystery behind the conversation he had had with Greg. Scratching at his head, Benson slid his cell phone back inside his pocket and slouched back onto his seat. It was then that he remembered about the little girl and her doll.
"Where is she?" Benson thought, standing up from his seat and begin walking over. He picked up the doll from the floor and glanced over the seat where the girl had previously occupied.
It was empty.
"Hello?" He shouted, looking around.
Suddenly, he heard a scream. Benson quickly turned around. The scream was coming from the next cabin.
"S-H-I-I-I-I-I-T!" Benson swiftly dropped the doll in his hand and rushed over.
A young bespectacled woman sat at her desk, finishing up her work on the computer.
Click. Click.
The woman slowly moved the mouse cursor around the computer screen to open up the email application before selecting on the first unread email, dated July 12, at the top of the list.
Click.
To All Employees.
This is to inform you that due to the recent increasing crime rates in Raccoon City, the security code to all the Electronic locks in this building has been changed.
All employee passes will be encrypted with the new security code with effect from today. Should you encounter any problem with the employee pass, do not hesitate to approach any of the security managers. Manual input of the security code can only be authorised by the security managers.
Unauthorised personnel shall be denied entry.
Jon Schwartz
Security Superintendent, Raccoon Press
Click.
She closed the email and proceeded to open up the next unread email down the list. It was from one of her co-workers, Geoffrey Andrews.
Click.
Ashley.
The police doesn't believe the survivors' reports. They claimed that those were just some pranks concocted by some attention-grabbing citizens wanting to be in the news. The zombies. The biological experiments. The missing people. The strange disease.
Why isn't anybody doing anything?
Geoffrey.
Ashley swore her heart skipped a beat when she saw the email. She read the written text twice to make sure she got it correctly.
"Zombies?" She thought.
She took a look at the date of the email. It was dated July 15. The email was sent more than a week ago. How long ago had she last access her emails? A week? Maybe two? The fact that Ashley hasn't been reading her emails recently was because she had been out of town. Ashley quickly moved the mouse cursor on the screen to the next email.
And sure enough, it was from Geoffrey again.
Click.
Ashley.
The news said the police have found the grisly remains of a mountain tracker in the forest. This is insane. Of this, and everything that had happened. It's crazy. I've got to make a trip down to the police department first thing in the morning to check on the things that's happening around Raccoon City.
Wish me luck!
Geoffrey.
Ashley stared at the flickering screen.
"It has to be a prank… it had to be. None of this is real." She reassured herself repeatedly in her mind, before she clicked on the following email.
Click.
Ashley.
I was right. Something is indeed wrong with this place. The entire police department was in a mess. I've just gotten inside information from a reliable source that the Chief of Police Department had ordered for the weaponries to be relocated and scattered to different parts of the station building. What was the purpose for such motion? Was it to ensure the security of the Police Department? Or was it a move to cripple to defense of the entire force? I'm going to find out more about this.
Geoffrey.
There were no more unread emails in her Inbox. Ashley made a quick reference on the date of the emails. The former was dated July 17 while the latter, July 18. It has been more than one week since Geoffrey's last email. What had happened since then? Ashley sat quietly at her desk.
"Geoff, what have you discovered? What the hell is going on?" She looked up and brushed the strands of her brown hair away from her face and tucked them behind her ear.
She needed answers. And she needed them now.
As she sat there, lost in her thoughts, she failed to notice the door to the staff office slowly creaked opened.
Benson opened the door to the adjoining cabin and stepped in. Rotting smell filled the place as woeful moans echoed in the grimly-looking cabin. Passengers could be seen either lying face down on the floor or slouched on their seats. There were also many slimy slugs slithering all over the cabin.
"What the hell?" He gasped, staring at the motionless passengers. "H-hello?" Benson asked, as he approached a nearby passenger sprawled on the floor.
"Sir, are you alright? Sir?" He asked.
It was then that he heard some scuffling sounds from behind and he immediately turned around. A woman clad in a blood-stained floral dress was slowly staggering towards him with her arms stretching forward. There was something about the woman that just doesn't seem right. Her skin looked pale and clammy while both her pupils were white and lifeless. Lumps of rotting flesh could be seen hanging from the woman's face. Benson gasped and took a step back away from the approaching woman. Suddenly, he felt a grip tightened around his ankle.
Benson quickly looked down to see the man on the floor grabbing at his left leg. The man was slowly closing in with his mouth wide open. Benson quickly kicked himself free from the grip and stumbled further into the cabin, away from the body.
"What the fuck?" Benson shouted. "What's going on around here?"
"No. Please don't hurt me… please!" A voice cried. Benson quickly looked over his shoulder to see a frightened little girl clinging tightly behind one of the seats next to him.
"Are you alright?" He asked, reaching for the little girl.
The little girl struggled as Benson tried to pull her out from behind the seat.
"Calm down." Benson hushed.
"Zombies… zombies…" She continued to scream.
"Zombies?" He thought, pausing for a while before looking back at the infected passengers.
"I'm not a zombie." Benson said, turning back to the little girl.
"Y-you… are not a zombie?" She asked, sobbing.
"Yes." He replied, turning back once again to look at the infected passengers. One by one, more infected passengers started staggering their way up from their resting position and are closing in towards them.
"We need to move to the next cabin… hurry!" Benson said, pulling the little girl with him as they rush towards the door at the other end of the cabin.
End of Chapter 1