Ladies and Gentleman, this is my first attempt at actually producing any creative work. Yes I like to write, to imagine, but I keep my creations close to my chest. Or at least I did. I hope you enjoy the story.
I do not own Resident Evil, but I wish I did.
I also don't own Reebok, Night Of The Living Dead or Alone In The Dark.
PART I HUNTED
Chapter 1: The Begining
It was a bright day outside, almost unnaturally for the time of year. It is September, and all is well in Raccoon City... for the moment.
Gareth Knight is on his computer, in his house on Parkington Lane. He is slim, built like a runner. He has short black hair, and is always smiling. He is wearing a plain white t-shirt and bluey-grey jeans. A silver watch is on his right wrist.
Knight is something of a celebrity in Raccoon City. He is a well-known author and a responsible adult. He wrote a book which details the life of a security guard, who ends up embroiled in a hostage situation.
Gareth always wanted to help people. He attempted to join the R.P.D. after he left university, but he was unable to join because he did not meet the physical requirements, so he became a security guard. But his efforts were not in vain. Whilst trying to join, he met the love of his life, Mary Gravling, and Gareth later proposed to her, to which she accepted. Since then, Gareth has been living a steady life, writing potential best-sellers, whilst taking an active part in the local community. Mary has been living with him, continuing her career as a police-officer.
Gareth is well liked by those who know him, and is always a welcome guest at any event, with his undying sense of humour, and a firm sense of justice. It seems Gareth has everything he could possibly want.
Will it save him?
As Gareth sat at his computer, trying to draft out his next idea for his novel, Three stange people were making noise outside, moaning and groaning. Gareth tried to keep focused on his work, but the distraction was proving too large. Gareth got up, and looked out of the window of his house. He looked down the street and saw three people shuffling about, with one of them hunched over on the floor.
Sighing, Gareth put on his shoes, a pair of black Reeboks, and went downstairs and went out the front door.
It was mild outside, not too cold and not too warm, somewhere just in between. Gareth smiled at the beauty of the day, wondering how it could possibly be ruined by a few eccentric youths messing about. With his famous smile, he approached the group of people at the end of the road.
"Excuse me, but can I ask what you are doing?" Gareth asked.
The group didn't reply, or even aknowledge his presence. Gareth walked closer to the group, waving his hands in a freindly gesture. As he got closer, he noticed that the group were clustered around a body on the floor. Gareth, now going into "responsible adult" mode, quickley stepped up to group.
"Hey! what's going on here?" He grabbed the shoulder of a man in the group.
The man turned towards him, slowly. When Gareth finally saw his face, he saw a lot of blood around the man's mouth.
But then Gareth noticed that the man practically had no forehead, as Gareth could see bone sticking out of the man's head. Gareth stepped back.
"What the hell...?"
As one, the rest of the group turned towards Gareth, each showing their blood-covered faces. One of them held a severed arm in it's hand. As they began to approach Gareth, he managed to get a better view at the body on the floor.
Which was being eaten by the hunched-over person he saw earlier.
Gareth walked backwards slowly, stunned by what he had seen. Suddenly, his brain remembered what was happening, and he turned and rushed back to his house. Once he got in, he locked the door behind him, and leant against the door.
"What the hell were they doing?" Gareth asked himself.
He was breathing heavily, and slowed himself down so he could think properly. He remembered the reccent stories about cannibal killers up in the Arklay Mountains in the forest.
"And now they've dared to come straight into the city!"
Gareth looked out of the window, and saw that, slowly but surley, the strange, cannibalistic people make their way towards his house.
Gareth ran back upstairs and grabbed the phone, dialed 911, and waited.
It was ringing....
And ringing...
And ringing...
And ringing...
And ringing...
"Damn" Gareth cursed, a put the phone back on it's reciever. He tried to remember more about what he had heard about these cannibal murderers.
He remembered something that Mary said to him one night when she came home after a shift.
"You know the S.T.A.R.S., the elites of the force? well they were sent up to investigate some killings up in the mountains. Both teams had to go up there, because the first team crashed their chopper or something. When they came back later in the day, there was only five of them! When they were asked where the others were, the woman, Jill, she said that they were all dead! killed by... well she said they were killed by zombies! mindless people who kept eating dead bodies! Jill said that they were caused by an outbreak of some sort of virus, manufactured by the Umbrella Corporation, and that-"
"Wait, The Umbrella Corp?" Gareth stopped and asked himself.
Gareth recalled another memory, one he would never forget.
But it was also a memory he wanted to keep to himself.
"Shit!" If these people outside were those zombies that Mary told him about, then he had to get out of there. He needed to find Mary and get out of the city.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell-phone, and tried to phone Mary.
It was ringing...
And ringing...
And ringing...
And ringing...
"Hello"
"Mary!, It's Gareth! Listen you know those-"
"I'm sorry, but I'm not able to answer my phone at the minute, or I've switched it off. Please leave a message"
It was the answering message.
Gareth suddenly became extremely worried about Mary. He knew she was working at the precinct today, so if he drove there it shouldn't be too dificult to find her.
If those... hell! call them what they are! If those zombies hadn't laid seige to the entire city.
"Hey!"
Gareth snapped out of his thoughts, and went back to the window, looking to see what was happening.
He saw one of his neighbours, Andrew Heckleton, approach the zombies.
"Now, I know that on such a lovley day, you young people feel the urge to show off your spirits, but I'd appreciate it if you could show off your spirits elsewhere"
As the zombies turned to face Andrew, he was non-plussed by the gore on their faces.
"Yes, you look incredibly terrifying, Hell! you scared that Knight lad away, but you'll need to try harder than blood around the mouth to fool me!"
Gareth opened the window and screamed at his ignorant neighbour.
"Andrew! get the hell away from them!"
Andrew looked up at him
"Nonsense, Gareth!, there's nothing freightfull about them at all, why look! They're completley harmless"
One of the creatures reached for Andrew, pulled him close, and proceeded to bite his throat.
Andrew's scream never seemed to end. It hit Gareth like a bullet. It also triggered something in Gareth's mind. Something that told him "You need to see this through"
Blocking out the scream, Gareth grabbed his dark green combat jacket and his journel that he always took with him where-ever he went. He then went downstairs, and into the kitchen and opened a drawer.
"I hoped I'd never need to use this. Now I hope it keeps me alive" Gareth said to himself, and pulled out a 9mm handgun from the drawer. He then swiped his car keys from a tabletop and, taking a deep breath, went out the front door.
Andrew was no longer screaming. Three former human beings were devouring his bloody body. Their backs were to Gareth. He walked up to them as quietly as he could. As soon as he got within reaching distance, he held his gun up to the closest creature, and recalled something that he heard Jill Valentine say after she returned from the mountains.
"Aim for the head" He said silently, and fired.
The creature droped to floor, and the other two began to rise. Gareth took careful aim at them both, and shot them too. He heard a groaning to his left, and turned to see the other zombie, evidently tired of it's previous meal, and now wanted to see how Gareth's flesh tasted. Gareth shot it as well, but missed. He fired again, and this time hit his mark, partly because the creature could practically reach him already.
Gareth took in what had just happened. He had just shot and killed four creatures that were once human beings. He looked down at Andrew. His throat had been torn out, and blood trickled over his clothing.
"It's going to be a long evening..." Gareth said to himself, his light-hearted side trying to emerge.
"Gareth, what the hell's going on?"
Gareth turned, and was relieved to see David Chambers, his closest freind and next-door-neighbour. He was followed by his girlfreind, Sarah Conneley. Gareth felt more comfortable kowing that he was not alone in this crisis.
"You remember watching Night Of The Living Dead when we were in university?" Gareth asked him.
David frowned "Vaguley, could you be a bit more specific?"
"Okay, think Alone In The Dark"
David's mouth widened in horror "But how?"
"I have no idea, David, but I think that the Umbrella Corporation has something to do with it"
"Umbrella?" Sarah repeated "But they've given this city everything! Why would they- No! How would they do something like this?"
"I don't know, but if stick around here, we're not going to live long enough to find out" Gareth replied.
"Andrew!"
The trio turned, and saw Elizabeth Heckleton approaching the body of her now dead husband. She sobbed over his corpse, and looked at Gareth.
"How did this happen?" She asked him.
"Those cannibal killers have gotten into the city, and it seems they've lost their minds"
"But, what are we going to do?" Elizabeth sobbed.
"We're going to the police station. We can hole ourselves up their, and then we can think about how we're going to survive" Gareth told her.
"Is Mary working at the precinct today, Gary?" David asked him.
"Yeah" Gareth answered
"Hey, I got no problems with that, Shakespeare, I understand" David said, detecting a bit of spite in Gareth's voice.
"So it's settled. Let's go, before more of them arrive" Sarah announced.
"I think it's a bit late for that, look" Gareth told her, and pointed up the road behind them.
They turned and saw what looked like a horde of people shuffling towards them. As David, Sarah and Elizabeth stared in awe, something caught Gareth's eye. He looked down, and saw Andrew Heckleton reaching for Elizabeth's ankle, his mouth outstretched. Gareth, acting instantly, raised his gun and fired at the man that was once Andrew Heckleton was put to rest.
The other three snaped out of their shock and turned around, and saw where Gareth was aiming.
"What are you doing!?" Elizabeth demanded, outraged.
"That man isn't your husband anymore, Elizabeth" Gareth told her.
"But... but..." She stammered
"Elizabeth, If we stay here, you're never going to be able to survive" David told her.
Elizabeth remained silent for a momment, and then nodded.
"Right, everyone in the Gareth-mobile!" Gareth announced, his light-hearted side finally braking through, now he had people with him to entertain.
They all got in Gareth's car. Gareth driving, with David at the front with him, and Sarah and Elizabeth in the back.
As Gareth started the car and drove away from Parkington Lane, Gareth remembered what a crazed man once told him whilst he was a security guard;
"Though it is the end for me, it is only the begining for you..."
So, thats the end of the chapter, and I leave you with some questions that you can ponder on. What will happen to the our reluctant heroes? Is Mary Gravling okay? Who is this crazed man from Gareth's past, and of course, Why has the city errupted into chaos? Find out by reading more of Resident Evil: Knightfall.