Hey cuties, I hope the first chapter was enjoyable and gave you a look into our character's lives and personalities (kind of). I've read up on the background of the Raccoon City Incident and obviously memory from games too. As it said in the summary, there will be slight AU but nothing too serious. I have changed the age of Aubrey from the previous, making her a year younger.

I'm glad we got at least some follows and favorites on the story though, thanks a bunch for that!

- discordiaaa.


Chapter 2: No Longer Safe

A couple of hours passed since we watched the TV report, Harry managed to calm himself down eventually. We realized that if we were really stuck in a zombie outbreak, we had to at least be quiet. Harry decided to sit in the living room with Aubrey and explain everything to her.. why she won't see her parents again, why she had to be quiet and what's going on. While he did that, I left to secure the apartment at least. I locked every window and pulled the curtains as silently as I could so I wouldn't attract those things to the house. The last thing we needed was to be overwhelmed by them.

As I returned from my mother's empty room, I stopped just outside the door to hear Harry apologizing to his sister and comforting her. She was crying into his hoodie and telling him how much she missed her parents. It was awful to hear, I had to bite my tongue to keep back my own tears. How could you explain to a 7-year-old child that they'd never see their parents again? I was so unsure how Harry did it, but it had to be done. We were all heartbroken, I could feel their pain. It was the same pain I felt when Pops died. We were scared senseless, we lost the only kind of safety we felt and our lives were now potentially on the line. I couldn't help but touch my neck, the exact same spot the camera man had his flesh torn from.

I wondered what it felt like, the pain of having your flesh ripped from you. I wondered how much pain that camera guy was in before he died. Then I thought about the reporter. He was attacked by a group of them, all hungry to tear him apart. I shivered. If I got caught by one, I wanted my death to be quick.

"Tessa?" Harry's voice pulled me from my thoughts, they must've noticed me stood in the door, "What are we gonna do, Tessa?" His voice was shaky which was alien to me. We both considered ourselves to be so brave, I was always so stubborn and Harry was more of the smooth sailing type of person.

But our lives had turned upside down in a matter of hours, we were stuck in the middle of an outbreak and we had to tell a poor child that her parents were dead. It was safe to say we both weren't brave anymore. I wasn't sure how to answer him, what were we to do? Go outside and fight through it all? We had no chance. My gaze shifted to the carpeted floor as I tried to think of what we could do next. Nothing. I had nothing. I shrugged my shoulders at him, "I don't know..."

"Do you think we could just be quiet and wait it out here?" Harry suggested to me but again, I shrugged.

At that moment, the phone rang. I snatched it up quickly and accept it, hoping the noise didn't catch anything's attention. As I pressed it to my hear, the sound of my mother's voice relieved me instantly. She was frantic, which is obvious, but I can tell she had been crying so much. Her voice was slightly raspy, it always got like that when she cried.

"Oh my God, Teresa! My baby! Are you alright? Where are you?"

I open my mouth and my voice cracked as the tears started rolling, "I'm scared, Mom, what's going on?" Harry grabbed my arm and gently guided me to the couch to take a seat. He moved closer so he could listen in too, Aubrey was sat beside him, she watched us both and waited.

"I don't know, honey. There were those reports of cannibalism... I'm such an idiot for leaving you there on your own." I flinched a little as she cursed at herself, "I'm trying to get back but the news spread so quickly. They probably blocked all the exits of Raccoon City by now. I've heard reports that the RPD are trying to evacuate survivors, they're blocking off streets to keep those things at bay."

"C-Can't we stay here? Until it's ov-over?" my voice strained, I felt Harry wrap his arm around my shoulder.

"You can't, sweetheart. You have to get out of there and find actual safety. I lost your father and I am NOT losing you. Are you with anyone?"

I took a few deep breaths before I answered, "I'm with Harry and his little sister."

My mother sighed with relief, "You're with someone at least. Please, find some kind of weapon and find someplace where you can contact me again. Do not let those things bite you, you'll get infected and turn into one of those monsters. I'll be there as soon as I can, okay? Be strong for me, baby."

I swallowed the lump in my throat and I looked up at Harry who was staring back at me. I nodded my head, "Okay. I love you, Mom." Those words were difficult to say.

"I love you too, Teresa."

And then our call cut off, I held it against my ear for a few more seconds and waited for her to come back. But she wasn't. I dropped the phone onto my lap and buried my face into Harry's jumper, I didn't cry anymore, I just wanted to hide. Harry held me and minutes passed as I tried to calm down. Aubrey even moved and laid her head on my lap to comfort me in a way.

"We have to go," I broke the silence, my voice was muffled and then I pulled back from Harry, "We can't stay here, it's too dangerous. The police are evacuating survivors." Aubrey moved and I stood up from my seat, placing the phone back on the table. I walked towards the door but Harry's voice stopped me.

"Where are we supposed to go?" I heard him ask me, I turned around to look at the siblings, who stared back at me in disbelief. Poor Aubrey's face, she looked terrified as she clung to her brother. I shrugged, finding the police was the only thing on my mind but I didn't know how we'd do it.

I left them, walking off into my room to be alone for a little while. I sat against the door once I shut it and burst into tears myself, they patted against my skinny jeans as I quietly sobbed to myself. My life had been turned around in a matter of hours and now I was forced to fight for it. The window was shut but I could still hear the chaos outside. The groans of hungry zombies and screams of citizens as they tried to escape. The streets must've been stained red by now from the blood spilled by those disgusting monsters.

I looked across the room to the large, stand up mirror. I stared at myself through the dim lit room, my strawberry blonde hair rested on my shoulders in the two braids I styled this morning, but they were messy now and my hazel eyes were surrounded by the redness that occurred through crying. I inhaled through my nose deeply to get rid of the blockage of snot and decided to pull my hair out of the braids. My red locks were now wavy and still rested upon my shoulders. For some reason, I found it hard to look at myself. I turned away from the mirror quickly before I broke down again and rubbed the tears away from my eyes and cheeks. I had to be strong, for Mom, for Harry and Aubrey.

Our survival was important now and we had to get out of town one way or another. Moments passed as I calmed myself down and I stood up against the door. Then I went to grab my backpack from the bed to pack it with some essentials. I always kept a first aid box here, even though I was hardly ever accident prone. It kept Mom's mind at rest while she was away. I took it from underneath my bed hesitantly, overthinking about something hiding underneath it. I slipped it into my backpack and quickly left the room, I walked to the kitchen.

Harry heard me and followed me in, leaving Aubrey in the living room to keep an eye on the phone and TV, "Tessa? What are you doing?" He questioned me, he watched me take out a couple of the biggest and sharpest knives from the drawers and pack them away.

"We can't stay here, Harry, it's too dangerous. Those things will overrun the street and we'll be stuck here as food for 'em." Was all I could say, I looked into the small pantry we had where some of the house tools were kept.

"I know that, Tess, but how are we supposed to find the police?"

I grabbed the torch and gave him a look, "The police station maybe?" Harry scoffed at that idea and I rose a brow at him. It wasn't the time for me to become so stubborn but I couldn't help it.

"The police station? There'll be no officers there to keep us safe, they're all probably out trying to fight the cannibals and keep people safe." He was right. I didn't argue back but an idea popped into my head in no time.

"We need to find a major street, they'll probably be evacuating people that way," I handed him the torch and he took it, looking at me with quizzically, "There's a major street nearby right? Main Street it's called. We should try there."

Harry bit his lip a little and eventually agreed to the idea, then he looked at the knives in the back, "What's the point in them being in there? We need to defend ourselves right?"

I mentally slapped myself, taking the knives back out and handing the larger one to him. As we stood, armed, Aubrey walked into the kitchen to see what we were up to. She looked at the knives and then at the torch in Harry's hand. We both gazed back at her, she questioned us about the knives. Harry had to explain to her that we needed to protect her and ourselves now, there were bad people out to get us. A little fear was forced into her, but she understood.

"Say, do you want to keep hold of the torch for us, Aubrey? I think you'd be sensible enough for it." I suggested and nodded to the torch in Harry's hand, he passed it to her.

Aubrey nodded, she seemed to figure it out quickly as she clicked it on. The light was strong, strong enough to remind me of another essential: batteries. I hunted through the drawers quietly to retrieve some and shoved them into the bag too.

As we headed back into the living room, I shut the doors behind us. We stood around the table, planning out the quickest route to Main Street. It was a few blocks away, and one of the quickest routes was through the a couple of back alleys and just around a corner. In a confined space like the alleys, we had to be extra careful and make sure we get rid of anything that goes for us. Harry and I decided to have Aubrey between us but still able to flash the torch forward so we could see our way.

Harry wanted to take lead, he didn't want either of us hurt. I appreciated his bravery and how much he cared for me, but I didn't want him to get hurt either but there was no arguing with him this time. He already decided it in his head and consulted me last minute, so I was at the back to make sure nothing was behind us.

"Alright, we should get there in about 10 minutes if we're quick and quiet enough. Keep an eye on Aubrey for me, Tess."

I nodded to Harry and I actually smiled for once during these miserable hours, he returned the smile too and I felt a slight sense of relief. And now the dreaded moment was upon us.. to leave the safety I once knew behind and walk into a City of Madness. I stared at the door as Harry approached it cautiously, he slowly turned the door handle and pulled it open. The cold air blew in and sent shivers down my spine. It was far more eery than it usually was. Aubrey also clung to me as we shifted over to the door too.

Harry stepped out into the streets, walking down the 3 step staircase to inspect. Then he beckoned us to follow, Aubrey went first slowly and then I followed. I pulled my brown jacket from the hangers and threw it around me to keep the chilly air from me. As I stepped out, I noticed the street was empty. Small patches of blood spattered the sidewalks and the roads. The nearby apartments were lit up but abandoned or filled with those creatures.

Speaking of them, we could see only a couple stumbling around like drunks. Blood stained clothes, some torn apart possibly from the struggle against their infectors. Or maybe when they were devoured by them too, I could see flesh missing from their torsos, legs and shoulders. I kept back the retches and tried to push the thought from my mind as I looked away.

These people were my neighbors previously, they weren't even human anymore. Aubrey let out a sharp gasp and Harry covered her mouth quickly, we both looked at what made her gasp. Right by the staircase was a corpse, a woman. I recognized her, she lived in the apartment above me. Her name was Barbara, I couldn't remember her last name. She was one of the dodgy folks I'd avoid, she had a name for herself of being a prostitute and she was dressed for the job too.

In a skimpy outfit that showed way too much skin that looked like it was rotting, changing from it's usual bronze color to a deathly grey. Her dark hair was pulled all over the place and stuck to her the dried blood on her face. I really wished that she wasn't in that stupid skimpy outfit because it was showed the amount of flesh she had lost to whoever attacked her. God I hated the sight, I wanted to throw up.

We heard a groaning above us and we looked up, seeing a male zombie half hanging out of a window that closed on his body and trapped him there, at least for now. He must've been one of her "clients", he was quite a big man, dressed smart with his white shirt unbuttoned slightly and a tie hanging loosing off of him, he probably turned in the middle of their session and attacked her. His teeth were bloody and he snarled and struggled to fight against the window for freedom, probably hungry to finish his meal. But how did she get down here?

Then it dawned on me, he must have grabbed and pushed her a bit too hard when he took a chunk out and she fell. But wouldn't the window be smashed too? I wondered if she had jumped from the window herself to get away from him and accidentally ended up killing herself. That was the most likely scenario and he followed her out and got stuck. She was the one that I heard scream earlier, the one that woke me up into this ugly nightmare.

I was thinking way too much into it and I was thankful Harry pulled me from my mind, "We should move. I don't think the window will hold him for long." He whispered into my ear. I nodded and we pulled Aubrey along with us quietly to the middle of the street, nothing seemed to notice us yet.

I held the knife close to me as though my life depended on it, well, it did. As we looked around, we could see abandoned cars left with doors open. Some of them were occupied with zombies too, probably passengers that have turned and been trapped in them. They beat their hands against the windows, yearning to be set free. Then a noise caught our attention, we looked forward to see Barbara twitching on the floor. She groaned and moaned as she sloppily pushed herself to her feet. She had turned in a matter of hours and was now one of those monsters. The sound of the window breaking made us jump, the "client" dropped to the ground beside her with a thud, followed by a sickening crack. He laid there, not moving, his neck must have snapped because we watched his head roll away slightly. He was already decomposing.

Harry decided it was time to go and pulled us along towards the first alley we had to venture through, avoiding the other zombies nearby. We stood just before it and Aubrey flashed the torch down it, it was pretty empty but we couldn't let out guard down. Harry began walking forward followed by Aubrey and I.

This was the beginning of what seemed to be a never ending nightmare and what was once safety was gone...


This chapter feels a little bit shorter this time round but I wanted to add a little more detail about our characters here. Let me know what you think!