Episode Two: Panic

Part One:

Lina Day One 05:00

The screams were there again, each one ringing through her ears painfully scratching against the surface. She could see the people running in terror again. She could see them laughing with their blood stained faces. Insanity ruled that village ten years ago and insanity ruled today. All the laughing, all the crying, and the pain and misery was coming back to her forgotten reality.

"This cannot be happening again. No… not again…"

She slammed her back onto the metal door of a ship she found near the area she washed upon. She didn't want to be out there with the red water. She didn't want to be out there with the people who came with the rain.

"Why is this happening again!"

She slowly lowered herself to the ground, cradling herself against the cool wall behind her. Her mind was filled with the events from ten years ago when she and a few others were trapped in Hanuda village. It was a small, rural area surrounded by mountains on the island Shikoku. The land became weird, deadly. Red rain fell from the sky day and night for three straight nights while the dead came back to life. And no matter how hard you hit them, no matter how much you shot them, they always came back, wanting to cause more and more pain.

A scream came from a corridor on the ship echoing through the gray halls. She stood immediately looking for the source. She did not want any more screaming in her dreams. No, this time she was going to save someone.

She walked into a nearby room which appeared to be a bunker of sorts. On a table situated in a corner was a hammer. The instrument of construction was soon to become one of disaster. With the weapon in hand, she turned into the hallway to see a young girl running toward her. She looked scared, terrified. She should be too since only few knew what the terror really was.

The woman with the hammer jumped out as the girl passed her and watched as a man with a scythe turned into the hallway. He smiled like they always did, laughed with that strange gargle, he seemed so happy. She had to crush his happiness.

"Stop laughing!" She yelled.

She raised the hammer in her hand and dashed at the man. She made a wide right swing causing the hammer to crash into the man's head. There was the sound of something cracking. She withdrew the weapon, raising it high in above her head, and sent it hurdling down into the top of his skull. He let out a soft gargle as the hammer crashed into his skull, and then fell to the floor.

"I won't let anyone else die. Not again."

The young girl from before had stopped at the end of the hallway, watching the woman with the hammer. She walked back to her savior, quivering where she stood.

"Y-you… saved me…" the young girl muttered.

The woman turned to look at her, an abnormal amount of blood covering her face. "Who are you?"

The young girl let out a small gasp, and looked off blankly toward the floor.

"I need to know who you are," the woman spoke again. "If we're going to survive then it will be easier for me to know your name."

The young girl nodded. "Y-yeah. I'm Sophia…"

The woman smiled and held out her hand. "My name is Lina. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The girl looked up at her confused. "I'm sorry… you wouldn't… happen to be a survivor of the Hanuda land slide, would you?"

"Uh, yes I would. How did you…" Lina trailed off as she spoke.

"Do you… do you know my brother, Jacob?" Sophia asked weakly.

Lina could feel her eyes widen, and her whole body tensed. "So… that's who you are." She gulped, sweat covering her body. "Why do you ask?"

Sophia looked up to her, her body still shaking quite a bit. "Because… I'm looking for him here…"

Part Two:

Destiny Day One 04:00

Her lungs stung as she helped a complete strange hold a door closed while a deranged maniac tried to break in and kill them. Yes, that's what he was going to do; he was surely going to kill the two of them if he were to break in. Did that mean she trusted this woman next to her? Did she trust the woman with a gun in her hand?

"I don't know if I can hold the door any longer!" she felt herself shout, her nerves completely shot.

"Just a little longer. He'll give up soon!" The woman with the gun spoke encouragingly.

She was right, the woman with the gun, and the man had given up on the door and walked off somewhere else. She was right for trusting the sane one with a weapon. Where did she get the weapon though? Was she holding it when they were on the boat?

"I'm Destiny… by the way," She felt the need to introduce herself to the woman with the firearm.

"Shannon," the other replied bluntly. "But we're not away from the flames yet. That man will try to find a way back in here."

She could feel her heart skip a beat when the sound of shattering glass came from above them. A two story house probably wasn't the best place for her and Shannon to try and hold themselves in. Now there was the man with the blade roaming around upstairs, trying to find her and Shannon.

"We need to kill him before he kills us," Shannon whispered, pulling back on the barrel of her pistol.

"Wait, you can't be serious," Destiny spoke, feeling fear consume all her emotions.

"I'd rather be the one alive, not the one dead."

Shannon rushed to some stairs in the back of the room and Destiny was quick to follow her up the steps. At the top was the man with the blade holding the decapitated head of some woman. Probably the woman who lived here before all this happened. He laughed a bit and threw the head toward the two girls causing Destiny to scream and pull away from it. Shannon kept a steady aim on him.

"Found yoooooouuuuuu," He said, giving off a gargled laugh.

Shannon wasted no time firing off a round at the man's chest, and then aimed another between his eyes. He fell like a rock. When he hit the floor though, he began to spasm and laugh maniacally. Shannon worked her way toward him and shot another round ceasing his involuntary movements.

"What the hell is going on!" Destiny yelled, tripping to grab onto the wall behind her.

"I have no idea…" Shannon said, leaning down to investigate the man. "I came here as a because of a certain case, but this doesn't add up. It's as if that man was telling the truth…"

"What are you talking about? What man?"

Shannon shook her head. "He talks of the walking dead. He says that they're always tormented and in pain, but they will never really die. He said they want others, too; they want others to hear the siren."

"What? What are you saying?"

"I'm saying we're in hell."

The man opened his eyes, and his hands gripped tightly around Shannon's throat. She choked in his grip, unable to point the gun at him. Destiny ran toward them picking up the blade that was dropped. She raised it, let out a war cry, and forced the blade through his face.

Shannon felt at her throat, coughing a bit. "Thought he was crazy… but at this point… he's telling the truth…"

Destiny panted pulling the thin blade from the man. What did she ever do to be condemned to hell?

Part Three:

Kerry Day One 05:00

They called it the catastrophe of a life time and there was no way she was going to be passing that up. She wanted a new story, something with life and vivid images since the rest of her novels all contained those elements. They felt so real and people could see everything as if there were real. That's because she had seen them first and she knew the exact words for each destination. She knew how to bring the sun to Oregon, and she knew how to bring color to Detroit. It all made sense in her mind the more she saw the places she wrote about. This wasn't the place for an author though. This was hell on earth.

She had brought along her husband for the trip. He was something else to her, like someone dropped him from heaven and said 'This is your gift Kerry'. She treasured him as well knowing that he was right for her and she was right for him. He was nowhere to be seen though; like he hadn't washed onto shore with her.

Her assistant was on the boat as well, someone who helped her forge the words that may have become lost in the sea of vocabulary. She wasn't around either. Destiny was usually around though. She was there when Kerry needed help the most in a book.

She remembered hearing gunfire not too far off a moment ago. It was impossible to tell where though since the residential district on this island was just so big. Maybe there was some civilization out there but Kerry was not ready to find it. She just wanted to curl into a ball and cry.

"He didn't make it… did he?"

Kerry felt the necklace around her neck and grabbed it with her hand. It was a treasured pendant that her husband had given to her before they were going off to Hanuda. He told her it was meant to remind her of him if he were ever too far. She smiled the moment he put it around her neck. He was all she needed and she would never stray too far from him.

The door to the home she was in let out a loud bang, startling her. She sat up from the floor she had laid on looking at the front door. Was someone trying to just give her a scare, or maybe it was the owner of the home. She hoped they would be civil.

There was another bang. She stood herself up at this point feeling adrenaline pump through her veins. The knob to the door slowly turned. The door slowly opened letting out a long creak. It settled in an open position. A shadowy silhouette stood at the doorway.

"Who… who are you!" she yelled at the figure.

The head tilted up and seemed to look straight at her.

"Kerry…" The voice was messed up as if they were speaking with water in their throats. She was sure of it despite the flawed tone. Kerry was sure it was her husband.

"R-Roger?" she stuttered, her legs shaking.

"There you are Kerry. I've been looking aaaaaaaall over for you."

She smiled when he spoke and stood there as he slowly started to walk toward her. As his body came into view, however, her smile slowly turned into a look of horror and disgust. She saw her husband, his body badly beaten and bloody. His eyes welled up with tears, and each drop was as red as blood.

"I found you Kerryyyyyyy…"

She screamed and pushed him aside running out of the door he had opened. It was just like the news clipping she had read. It was just like an old friend had told her. She didn't want to go back to Hanuda.

"You told me…" she mumbled to herself as she ran through the streets. "If I ever went to Hanuda… I was only going to find pain and misery."

Part Four:

Roberto Day One 02:00

His force of habit was to react abnormally calm in a situation of peril, or any situation for that matter. He probably wasn't even sure what fear really was. Nothing had ever instilled the image of fright that everyone else described. He could take any fall. He could take any person. He could take on death.

"But now you stare me in the face, don't you death?"

He chuckled a bit as the bloodied nurse laughed, watching her stagger slowly down the hall toward him with a crimson scalpel. He did not care though since nothing really brought fear to him. He could take anyone. This nurse was no exception to his rules.

When she came close, he gave the woman a quick drop kick. She fell with a loud screech, something that almost resembled a scream or cry for help perhaps. He never needed to call for help. He smiled at the terror reflecting off of her face before he lowered his foot on her neck. He proceeded then to repeatedly stomp on it until there was nothing but a bloodied mess of what once was.

"I don't fear the weak."

He snickered and walked away from the woman. He made it into a surgery room where there appeared to be plenty of other blood covered people. They were all strapped to stretchers, laughing maniacally at what seemed to be nothing. They were like children at a fair; all smiles and laughter.

At the far end he picked up a rifle leaning against a few open morgue cases. He clicked it back once making sure to load up the next clip. Maybe he was having fun without it. The gun was just for safe measure. The man without fear still had to watch his steps when he's dragged into hell. He wanted to come back laughing, laughing and mocking the people that believed this would be the ultimate end.

He turns on his heel to face the door to the room as he hears footsteps out in the hall. He didn't remember seeing anyone other than that depraved nurse inside the hospital but that did not mean others weren't hiding. For the first time, his heart was racing.

"Come on out. I won't hurt you too much."

He nudges the rifles barrel through the doors opening aiming out into the hallway. There didn't seem to be anyone out there but he knew that the steps were out there. He swings it open cautiously. Out in the hallway, though, he found what he didn't expect.

"She walks again. Some might call this a miracle."

He watches as the nurse he had killed moments ago staggers down the hall again. He body twitched when his voice sprung up. She turns to see him and meet him with a grin.

"Your neck is fine. A miracle…"

He shakes his head a bit. He chuckles. He almost creaks out into mad laughter with the woman that sees him.

"Some… may even call it fear…"

He raises the rifle and fires off a round at the woman blowing off the upper left portion of her head. She lets out a disturbing gargle and falls to the floor.

"Then again, I don't believe in either." He smirks and holding the rifle with the barrel pointing up. "They call me Roberto."

Part Five:

Christian Day One 05:00

"A-a-a-choooooooo."

He wipes his nose as he sneezes, his eyes desperate for a good nap or maybe some cover out of the pouring rain. The forest trees only made it feel heavier though; it made every drop plop harder from the sky above. He let out an exasperated sigh leaning on a nearby tree trunk tired out of his mind.

"God dammit! Why was I even on that boat anyways!"

He lets out a low moan of despair before falling into a sitting position, his back leaning on the tree. He remembered being on the ship for a career in Japan with some top notch anime company. They were going to pay him better than the company he helped produce commercials for. The job didn't feel worthwhile now, though; he did not want to be known as the sole survivor of this boat crash.

Soon came some rustling from the bushes nearby. He looked over his shoulder to see someone stumbling down the path ahead of him. Maybe they saw the boat crash nearby and were looking for this washed up S.O.B. . He decided he might as well wait there for the person to collect him. There was no use in walking anymore.

He noticed the man stumbling fell backward and started to pull himself closer and closer toward the man near the tree. He then saw a woman slowly sway back and forth toward the man who fell. She was in some kind of wedding gown which felt odd to him for such a desolate island. Then he saw the dagger in her hand.

"Whoa, oh shit!"

He stands up and begins to back away from the two of them. He can hear the man plead and beg for help from the man, but he will not respond. He was too afraid to help the one in peril.

"No one… ruins this day…" she slowly mumbled.

The woman in the wedding dress raises the dagger and begins to mercilessly impale the man below her. She laughs and laughs as the blood spurts upward. The man being stabbed chokes on his own blood making it impossible for him to even vocalize his pain. She stops when the man is left as a pile of mush and smiles at the other, cowardly man. Her face has a trail of blood starting from her eyes.

"Hello… would you like to attend my wedding?"

He shakes his head and gives off a goofy smile.

"No no, that's alright! I forgot my invitation back at home."

She smiles and her body sways. The blood from her dagger drips like the rain from above.

"That won't do… invites only…"

He backs up a bit, giving off some uncomfortable laughter and waving his hand all about in front of him.

"N-now we can t-t-talk about this, ri-right?"

She sways, staying silent, and then slowly begins to proceed toward him. He takes that moment to run around her and down the path. He yells as he passes her.

"Name's Christian! Make sure to send an invite next time!"

Part Six:

Patrick Day One 03:00

He stops at the entrance to the abandoned mine, his flashlight burning through the shadows inside and keeping a maintained amount of light. He had read the articles back in college about an incident in Japan that was very similar to the one he was caught up in. The survivors claimed the village became surrounded by an ocean of blood, and for three days and nights it rained the same color. Three of them disappeared from the radar while another was accused for a few deaths in the village. This place, though, definitely made it clear that none of them were lying; now if only he could find the crazed individuals spoken in the articles.

He checks the interior more following a few tracks made in the weak sand. He finds a spot where it looks as though someone had fallen. They must have slipped in the mud or maybe something tripped them here. Then there is a trail made as if there person had been dragged across the floor and through a door now closed.

The door does not appear to be locked. He pulls on the door to find that it slides to the right and opens into a small storeroom. He finds quite a bit of blood covering the walls. The stench is almost unbearable. He shines the light around and runs over to something situated in a corner of the room. It's a brown bag.

"This is Tiffanies…"

He picks up the bag and turns to another door in the room. It is slightly ajar and appears to have a trail of blood leading out into the tunnel beyond. He opens the door and follows the trail carefully. He finds a few petals scattered among the trail as he follows it. Inspecting them, they resemble rose petals. He gets back on the trail finding that it leads to another closed door labeled "Power Station".

He shifts the door open hearing some low music. The sound resembles an organ and the song sounds like the usual played at weddings. The room has been made to look like a chapel inside. There's a woman standing at the far end near the alter, and behind her is a man masked by shadows. He gains chills instantly looking at the two of them.

"Uh… hello there? Tell me this is normal." He feels it isn't normal

The man masked by shadows raises his right hand which appears to be empty. "Finally, three hours after her assent, he's come to find his bond is forever."

"What?"

"Patrick Kelly. Come to your bride."

Patrick freezes, his body tenses more than ever. This stranger knew his name, knew he was married. He had to be a nut job. He had to be crazy. No, he was worse than that; he had completely lost any sanity left.

Then the woman turned, a strange smile plastered on her face. Patrick knew it was her, knew it is Tiffanie in an old wedding gown. Her face wasn't right though. When she smiled at him, she cried. She cried blood.

"What… what did you do to her!"

The man turned to look away. "I've come to make some changes. It's all for her, the voice in my mind."

Tiffanie pulls a dagger out from the alter, swaying and slowly walking toward Patrick. "Forever and ever."

Patrick shakes his head. His body wants to fight but his mind told him to run. He has no weapon and now here was his wife looking like one of those crazed people mentioned in the article. She would probably kill him and that man would let her. He had to find a way to fix the problem. He had to run.

He ran.