AN – Here you go. Chapter 1 of Virus HML. Thanks to my reviewers and thanks for the alerts as well. I hope you'll enjoy this next instalment.
Disclaimer – I don't own FFVII, Fallout or Resident Evil.
Chapter 1 – Isolation
The streets were devoid of people, rubble and sand covered everything. There was a complete absence of sound. No murmuring of voices, no chattering of animals. The area was a ghost town, a forgotten town. Every building was damaged. Taller buildings had partially collapsed. Lower set buildings were mostly intact however were missing glass in all windows. A rusted fence, topped with barbed wire surrounded a group of low set buildings. The remains of what appeared to be a military structure.
The surrounding area of the lost town was even more desolate. A literal desert, sand dunes slowly shifting as a gentle breeze lazily moved around the area. The purple coloured sun and sky were bitingly harsh on the eyes. A lone figure walked slowly towards the town. The figure was very obviously female. She was wearing black army pants tucked into black combat steel capped boots. She wore a threadbare khaki green singlet, with tarnished metal armour on her forearms and black fingerless gloves. She carried a small canvas backpack and her long black hair was braided and yet still reached down to her lower back. Due to the harsh biting sand that was being whipped around by the breeze the woman also wore tinted goggles.
As the figure crested the last dune before the town, she surveyed the town layout. While the area looked deserted, the woman had enough experience to know that didn't necessarily mean that was the truth. She decided to head towards the military structure first, reasoning that there may be ration packs and other supplies still available. She altered her course slightly and kept the same pace she had before. To get to the military structure, she needed to go through part of the town. Therefore she needed to be aware of enemy First Gens, Second Gens and Mutagens.
The monsters and animals of the pre HML world were affected by the Virus in a different way. The elemental effect of the virus depended on the species of animal. If the animal had certain natural element aspects prior to the virus, their elements changed to a darker aspect. For example, fire changed to dafyre, where the flame burned black and stuck to enemies' skin like napalm. The skin sloughing characteristics of Second Gen infected also affected the monsters and animals; however it was patchy rather than all consuming. Often the personalities of the monsters and animals changed too. A murderous rage filled the creatures and even the most timid monster would attack without provocation. The creatures of the new world were called Mutagens.
As Tifa, for that is what the woman's name is, entered the abandoned town she heard a strange skittering noise. Scanning the area, Tifa could not see anything, but was on high alert, ready for an attack. She shook her hands once and clenched her fists, a pale blue mist swirled around each hand and forearm, going across her knuckles and wrapping around her wrist and forearm tapering off at her elbows. Tifa crept along the damaged roads heading towards her goal. As she rounded a corner, she felt a presence and turned quickly to find a Zolokalter skittering down across some rubble from a building heading straight towards her. Two more came skittering from each side of her.
'Shit,' she muttered.
Tifa threw her arms up, parallel to her body, palms facing the initial Zolokalter, bringing them down in a diagonal motion to her side. An icy barrier formed in a semi circle around her. She then brought her right foot back behind her in a ready stance while at the same time bringing her arms into a crossed position then a made a pushing motion. The ice barrier shattered into needles and flew outwards towards the Zolokalters. The icy needles pierced their bodies but didn't slow them down. The Zolokalter to her right reached her first, attempting to bite her arm. Tifa turned and kicked connecting with the side of the Zolokalter's face, a blast of ice covered the impact zone and Tifa turned and hit the same spot on the Zolokalter with the back of her forearm. The Zolokalter flew back with the impact into the side of a building.
The two remaining Zolokalters lunged towards Tifa, but she backflipped out of the way. They collided and staggered slightly off balance, however they composed themselves quickly and skittered towards Tifa again. Tifa landed on a pile of rubble slightly elevated from the Zolokalters and jumped over the pair, grabbing the tail of one of the Zolokalters and sending ice down it, encasing half of the body in ice. The momentum from Tifa's jump and the brittle iciness of the tail caused it to snap. The Zolokalter screamed in anger and lunged out at the Zolokalter at its side, knocking its legs out from underneath it. Both Zolokalters shrieked and took a few moments to regather themselves. Tifa however had slammed both hands palms down on the road causing the ground underneath the Zolokalters to become slippery. Their legs were unable to gain any friction and they kept slipping over and over again. Tifa stood up, clenching her fists again, a sharp, pointed icicle about a foot long formed in each hand. She threw both at the Mutagen missing its tail piercing through two of their green diamond shaped eyes. The Zolokalter spewed black oozing blood from its wounds and began to perform Toxic Barf in a panic. Fortunately for Tifa, the Zolokalter was facing the other Zolokalter. Unfortunately it did not have any effect on it. Tifa formed another two icicles and threw them at the relatively uninjured Zolokalter, causing it to also spew black oozing blood. Tifa brought her arms out in front of her body, palms facing downwards and made two fists, ice shot out and formed an icy javelin which she immediately threw at the more injured Zolokalter, piercing through its body. It let out a strangled shriek and collapsed, its sticky black blood forming a puddle around it.
Tifa quickly formed another ice javelin and took a running leap, twisting her body in midair to land on the Zolokalter's back, immediately thrusting the sharp point into the base of the Zolokalter's head piercing the brain and killing it instantly. Tifa breathed heavily for a few moments before flicking her hands and 'turning off' her icy mist. She turned and headed towards the military compound at the same steady pace she initially entered the ghost town with.
It did not take long for Tifa to reach the rusted gate at the entrance of the military compound. A swift kick broke the brittle rusted chain holding the gate closed and Tifa entered the area. A quick scout of the first two buildings yielded nothing in the way of useful items. Both buildings were simply administrative buildings with only shattered computers and toppled filing cabinets and office furniture remaining inside. The third building Tifa encountered had what used to be a card swipe entry. All power to this entry had long since stopped working. Tifa flicked her hands and pressed her palms to the door. Ice swept across the entire metal door turning it white. Once the whole door was covered, Tifa stepped back and kicked hard, the door broke into many fragments giving her access to what seemed to be another administrative building. This building however did not have any windows. She stepped inside and noticed that the emergency lighting on the ceiling was faintly lit.
'There must be a generator somewhere in here,' she mused, 'but what is so special about this building?'
Tifa looked carefully around and noticed a flip out computer attached to the back right hand wall. She flipped out the keyboard and the computer lit up asking for a password.
'Ok, it's been a while since I've hacked into a computer. Let's see if I still have the skills.'
Twenty minutes later the computer made a beeping noise and the text, 'Password Accepted' flashed on the screen. Then Tifa heard a screeching and groaning noise and noticed a panel on the floor moving to reveal a metal staircase. She cautiously walked down the short staircase to another metal door, she reached out to the large handle and with a bit of effort was able to turn it and pull open the door.
There was a long metal hallway with a few glass windows showing different laboratories. As Tifa walked down this hallway, the overhead lights turned on with a loud buzz. A sickly yellow colour bathed the hallway and the air smelt stale. At the end of the hallway there was a door with a hallway leading left and one leading right. Tifa opened the door deciding to go down the hallways after, mentally mapping out where she had been already so she wouldn't get lost.
Tifa stepped into the room, there were many large metal pipes running up and down the sides of a catwalk. Tifa leaned over the guardrail slightly but wasn't able to see anything down below except for some steam or mist. She walked along the catwalk and up some metal stairs to a metal and glass door. Pushing a panel on the left hand side the door slid open with a whooshing noise. This room was a lab or medical room. There was a large side table with chemistry equipment along the left hand side. In the centre of the room was a metal operating table. Along the right hand side there were three metal tubes with an oval glass opening. The glass openings glowed blue. Curiosity pulled Tifa over to the tubes. She glanced inside the first tube and saw nothing. The second tube yielded the same result. The final tube however held something in it. Tifa peered in and gasped in shock, "Zack?!"
AN – Muhahahahaha cliffhanger. Let me know what you think please. J Oh and yes, the Zolokalters are actually an enemy in Final Fantasy VII.