Disclaimer: I do not own Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni or Condemned 2: Bloodshot or any of the characters.
Chapter 2: Descending into Chaos
Keiichi and Rena took in their surroundings. He were an abandoned apartment complex, the walls had holes smashed in them in places, the furniture was damaged, and everything was covered by a thick coat of dust. The two of them walked into the next room, which was in a similar state of disrepair, the floor strewn with garbage: cardboard boxes, food packaging, broken beer bottles, pieces of wood and brick, and most disturbing of all, several discarded hypodermic needles. "What's that thing on the wall?", asked Rena , pointing at a round red object similar to the kind of fire alarm bell you see in buildings with older alarm systems. The device was making a high-pitched ringing sound. "I'm going to take a closer look", Rena said as she walked closer the mysterious device.
Rena walked up to the device and turned to Keiichi, a look in her eyes that Keiichi had not seen there before… the look of insanity, bloodlust. Keiichi knew instantly that something was wrong. "Keiichi-kun", she said as she raised her machete, "You though you had escaped the wrath of Oyashiro-sama, didn't you. You were just delaying the inevitable". Keiichi desperately tried to figure out why Rena was acting this way. It took him less than a second. It was that device, he was sure of it.
Keiichi raised his baseball bat and ran at the device on the wall, swerving around Rena. The high pitched ringing emanating from the object grew louder and louder, piercing into Keiichi's head, reaching a deafening level as he reached striking distance of the device. Keiichi's head began to hurt as it never had before. Then soft whispering voices spoke in Keiichi's head. "She is an affront to Oyashiro-sama….. her and all the rest of humanity." Keiichi raised his bat as the voice said "Kill….kill them all". Keiichi began to feel murderous impulse towards Rena". "NO!" , Keiichi yelled, "GO AWAY!", Keiichi yelled as he brought his bat down on the device. The machine shattered, the outer casing breaking off as the internal components of the machine flew across the room as the high pitched sound of the device stopped instantly.
"What….. happened?" asked Rena from behind Keiichi. "I was walking towards that…. thing and I sort of blacked out". "You started get this look in your eyes, an insane… murderous rage and you started saying something about the "wrath of Oyashiro-sama". "My God…", Rena said, "It is…". "It's definitely not the syndrome", Keiichi replied, "It's that device, I'm sure of it. I started hearing voices in my head when I approached, I think I only barely managed to smash it before I snapped too." "Keiichi", Rena said, "I've never been more scared in my life, not even in Hinamizawa…." Keiichi put a comforting arm around her. "It's okay, I'm scared too, but we have to keep moving. We got out of Hinamizawa together, and we'll make it through this together."
Rena and Keiichi walked into down the hallway. The room had a window overlooking an elevated commuter train track. A wooden board bridged the gap between the tracks. Keiichi walked towards the window when suddenly, two men in bulletproof vests marked "FBI" ran by, carrying a dead body. About fifty feet behind them an unkempt, homeless-looking man in a black t-shirt with a white pattern similar to a bull's eye. Chasing the third man were about twelve rioters. One of the FBI agents put down the body and drew a handgun and fired three times at the rioters, dropping one of the third man's pursuers with each shot. The man in the black shirt ran past an electrical transformer, chased by the rioters.
The FBI agent with the handgun took aim at transformer and fired. The transformer exploded, killing the rioters and throwing the man in the black shirt forward, landing him face down on the tracks. The black shirted-man got up as a group of rioters jumped onto the tracks from the building opposite the one Rena and Keiichi were standing in. One of the rioters threw a Molotov cocktail onto the tracks, creating a wall of flames in the middle of the tracks. The man was trapped with the rioters on a small section of track by the flames on one side and a downed wire that was lethally arcing electricity on the other.
Two rioters approached the man in the black shirt as he got up, both armed with 2x4s studded with nails. The man reached for the nearest weapon he could find, a piece of a handrail. The first rioter took a swing at the man, but he blocked it with the handrail and kicked the rioter in the chest, knocking him backwards into the downed power lines blocking one end of the tracks. Thousands of volts of electricity coursed through the rioters body as he made contact with the wires. He writhed in pain for a couple seconds before the electricity stopped his heart. The man in the black shirt then turned to the second rioter, swinging the handrail at him, striking the rioter in the groin, before raising the handrail and striking the rioter again, over the head, knocking him to the ground.
The man in the black shirt ran towards the wooden plank connecting the tracks to Keiichi and Rena's vantage point. The man crossed the plank and kicked it into the gap to prevent the rioters from crossing before he looked towards Keiichi and Rena. "Who the hell are you two?!" he asked. "I'm Keiichi Maebara and this is my wife, Rena", Keiichi replied, gripping his baseball bat tightly in case the man showed any signs of attacking them. "Former FBI agent Ethan Thomas", the man replied. "Former FBI Agent?", Rena asked, taking in his unshaven face, tattered clothes, and the smell of alcohol about him, "How'd you end up like this…." "Later!", Ethan replied, "I don't have time to waste on this shit, we need to get out of her before we all get killed! "
Ethan lead Rena and Keiichi though a door in the rear of the room to a hallway filled with garbage bags, cardboard boxes, and a discarded forklift pallet. On the walls, someone had written "CLEAN THIS SHIT UP". Ethan, Keiichi, and Rena then walked down another hallway, this one also filled with garbage. The walls were again, covered in graffiti, this time reading "THIS AIN'T YOUR GODDAMN HALLWAY, GET OUT!", before climbing up a staircase.
Atop the staircase, they entered another corridor, the door at one end being blocked by something on the other side. "Shit!" Ethan said when the door refused to open. "Come on", Ethan said, opening another door "In here".
Keiichi and Rena followed the ex-FBI agent into the room, part of an apartment. Like the rest of the building, the floor was covered in garbage and broken furniture, one the walls, someone had written "THE VOICES" in black spray paint, while on an opposite wall were the words "OBEY THEM". Ethan, Keiichi and Rena walked into the next room, it to had graffiti on the walls, this time it said "THEY WILL CONTACT WITH FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS". "Be careful", Ethan said, "There could be more of those psychos somewhere around here, be careful". Ethan sidestepped around a corner in the room, followed by Keiichi and Rena, to reveal another doorway, as well as more graffiti: "EAT SHIT AND DIE!".
A loud crashing sound broke the silence, coming from the door. Seconds later, the door was knocked off its hinges, knocking Rena against a wall. A large, muscular man armed with a fireman's axe charged into the room, axe raised over his head, poised to strike. He swung the axe downwards at Rena, who dodged just in time to avoid having her head split open. The axe blade lodged itself in the wall.
Keiichi swung his baseball bat at Rena's attacker, striking him in the back, but doing no visible damage. The man elbowed Keiichi hard in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him, and slamming him against a wall. The man then pulled his axe from the wall and moved in for the kill.
Keiichi Maebara saw his life flash before his eyes as the man raised his axe. He saw the horrors he experienced in Hinamizawa, his marriage to Rena, and his escape to America. "After all this, was what Rena said under the influence of that device true? Had he been living on borrowed time?" Keiichi thought. "HEY SHITBAG!" Keiichi heard the voice of Ethan Thomas yell, interrupting thoughts. Keiichi looked up in time to see Ethan knock the axe out of the man's hand with the piece of a metal handrail he was using as an improvised weapon. The axe was flew across the room as Ethan swung the handrail at Keiichi's assailant. The man managed to block Ethan's attack. Ethan kneed the man in the groin, before he raised his left fist, on which the former FBI agent had a pair of brass knuckles. Ethan's fist struck the man in the jaw, knocking him out cold. The man hit the floor with a dull thud.
"Mr. Maebara!", Ethan yelled, "Are you alright?" "Yeah, is Rena OK?", Keiichi said as he got up. "I'm fine", Rena replied as she picked up her machete from the floor. Keiichi walked over and retrieved his baseball bat from the ground as Ethan grabbed the attacker's fire axe, commenting "This'll be a better weapon than that old piece of crap.", as he threw the piece of handrail in onto the floor.
Ethan entered the room behind the knock down door. It used to be a bathroom, but now the already broken fixtures were covered by a thick layer of dust, broken drywall, and bits of wood from a man-sized hole in the wall, presumably smashed open by the man who attacked them. Ethan led the Japanese couple into a hallway ending a stairwell, with more grafitti in it ("WE KILLED YOU ONCE, WE CAN DO IT AGAIN"). The stairs lead down to into a hallway and yet another room. This one has a broken window overlooking the commuter train tracks and a table in the corner with several beakers and a Bunsen burner on top. "Looks like we've got a meth lab in here", Ethan commented. Suddenly, three masked thugs burst into the room. The first on attacked Ethan with a crowbar, which he barely managed to block as the second one took a swing at Keiichi with a 2x4. Keiichi blocked and struck a powerful return blow with his bat and broke the board in two before bringing the bat down on his attacker's head, taking him down.
The third man attacked Rena with a steel pipe. Rena dodged the blow easily. The man raised the pipe for an overhead attack, but Rena was too quick for him. Rena thrust her machete into the man's chest and twisted the blade. The wound bled profusely as the man fell to the ground, dead.
Ethan, meanwhile, swung at his attacker with his axe, but he blocked the blow. Ethan then kicked the man in the stomach, knocking him backwards. The masked man fell backwards and landed on the meth lab table, knocking over the Bunsen burner and several beakers, starting a small fire. "Everyone, out that window, that meth lab's gonna blow!!", Ethan yelled. Keiichi climbed out first, then helped Rena down onto the track, before finally, Ethan exited the building. Seconds later, the meth lab exploded, no doubt killing Ethan's attacker and setting fire to the building.
"Look!", Keiichi said, "Aren't those the guys you were with before you were separated", as he said this, Keiichi pointed to a pair of men some 100 meters down the track. A helicopter flew over Keiichi, Rena, and Ethan, before landing on the tracks. The two FBI agents entered to the helicopter as several gunshots rang out. A walkie-talkie Ethan was carrying at his side crackled to life. "Lets go, this place is swarming with nutjobs!", one man's voice yelled. "Sir, we left Mr. Thomas behind", replied the second agent. "Take off now! That's an order!", the first agent replied. At that, the helicopter took off.
The door to a building across the tracks burst open. A rioter whose face was hidden by a rubber mask shaped like a pig's head raised an Uzi and prepared to take aim at the helicopter. Before he could fire, however, he noticed three people on the tracks: Ethan, Keiichi, and Rena. The rioter with the Uzi prepared to fire at Keiichi when, seemingly out of nowhere, a fire axe flew at him. The axe blade buried itself in the gunman's face, right in the "nose" of the pig mask. He was fell to the ground, dead, instantly.
Ethan ran towards to door, followed by Keiichi and Rena and entered. Ethan seized the Uzi and got out of the door. Ethan pointed across the room to an open guncase containing a .44 magnum revolver, a sawn-off double-barreled shotgun, and a box of shotgun shells. "Get those guns, we'll need 'em" Keiichi ran across the room and grabbed the magnum, and the shells, Rena taking the shotgun and brought them over to Ethan.
The former FBI agent examined the firearms. "Only six bullets in this revolver, and two shells in the shotgun, not much left in this box of ammo either, only four shells." "I'm the better shot", Keiichi said as he took the magnum from Ethan, "I'll take the .44". Ethan then handed the shotgun to Rena. "I've never used one of these before". Ethan removed the safety and said "There, safety's off, now just point the thing in general direction of any bastard that's tying bash you head in and pull the trigger. Oh yeah, if you need to reload, do this and put in more shells". Ethan demonstrated how to break the barrels of the shotgun. "Oh yeah", he said, "put the shells in red-end first."
As Ethan finished explaining the complexities of shotgun operation to Rena, about twenty-five rioters showed up on the tracks outside building the three of them were in. "Take cover", Ethan said, "I'll try and any of the bastards that have guns. As if on cue, several gunshots rang out, flying through the broken window over their heads, or impacting the brick walls of the building. Ethan leaned out the door and fired a three round burst from his Uzi. Keiichi and Rena heard one of the rioter's hit the ground. Less than a second later, Ethan fired another burst, then another, each time picking off another gunman. After leaning in and out of cover three times, Ethan said "All the guys with guns are dead, but there's still about 15 of 'em out there. Lets move now!"
Keiichi ran out of the door and took aim at a rioter wielding a hunting knife advancing on Ethan, who was looking the other direction. He pulled the trigger and let loose a round with his magnum. Keiichi was somewhat shocked by the recoil of the weapon and missed the shot. Keiichi braced himself and this time, he managed to maintain control of the gun as the round impacted the rioter's neck with such force that it completely decapitated him. Keiichi fired on another rioter, blowing a hole in his chest.
Rena meanwhile, was not faring a well with her shotgun. A rioter with a sledgehammer ran at her. Rena pointed her gun at the rioter and squeezed the first of the double-barreled shotgun's two triggers. As she did, her finger slipped onto the second trigger, firing a two-shell burst that, while making mincemeat of her attacker, also caused severe recoil, with her only barely managing to maintain a grip on the gun. Worse yet, she had fired off both shots and had to reload. Rena opened the barrels of her shotgun and reloaded as fast as possible, covered by Keiichi, who shot a man who tried to attack her with an axe while she reloaded.
Rena took aim at the next nearest rioter, a man in a (probably fake) gasmask wielding a shovel with a blood-stained blade. "Come on Rena, you can take this guy", Rena thought as she make sure she pulled only one of the shotgun's two triggers. Rena's attacker caught a face-full of buckshot and fell to the ground. Rena then proceeded to take down a man armed with a crude spear made from a broom handle with a knife duct-taped to the end with a second shot, before reloading again.
Ethan Thomas proceeded to mow down three of his assailants with a long burst from his Uzi, before he spotted a man advancing on Rena with a crowbar. "BEHIND YOU!" he yelled. Rena turned on the spot, holding the shotgun in one hand by the pistol grip. She stuck the barrel against her assailant's chest and fired off a single shot. The gun's recoil was so great that it was launched out of her hand by the force. Rena felt a sharp pain in her wrist. She screamed loudly and yelled "I can't move my right hand!" "Hang in there!, there's just a few more left", Keiichi yelled as he fired off the last round in his magnum into yet another rioter.
Rena drew her machete with her left hand as a final rioter made a lunge at her. The rioter, however, was cut down by a two round burst from Ethan's Uzi. Keiichi ran over to his wife, followed by Ethan. "Are you okay?" Keiichi asked her. "Move over!", Ethan said as he pushed Keiichi aside, "Let me see that!". Ethan took a look at Rena's hand and said, "Looks dislocated", before grabbing Rena's wrist. "AAAAGH!", Rena yelled as Ethan popped her wrist back into place. "Can you move you hand now?", Keiichi asked. "Yeah, I'm fine, but I don't think I'm gonna be using another of those any time soon!", Rena replied.
Keiichi helped Rena to her feet and followed Ethan over to a destroyed rail car that was blocking the tracks. Ethan looked through a gate chain link fence on the side of the tracks. Suddenly, the former agent yelled "LaRue, open the fucking gate!". "Who are you talking to?", Keiichi asked. "LaRue, one of my former colleagues at the FBI, he….. Dammit LaRue get back here and open the…", Ethan replied. "What?", Rena cut Ethan off, "There's no one there." "What the hell are you talking about! I was sure I saw him, he just went into that door over there!." "Never mind that", Keiichi said, "We have to get out of here before more rioters show up." Ethan turned to Keiichi and said "All right, guess we're gonna climb this fucking fence."
Ethan climbed up the fence first, followed by Keiichi, who paused at the top for a moment to help Rena up. "Thanks", Rena replied to Keiichi's gesture. Ethan walked over the door he had seen his former colleague disappear through. He grabbed handle, but the door stayed firmly shut. "Shit, it's locked, how the hell did he get through there?", before adding, "All right, looks like the only way through is across that plank. The plank created a sort of bridged to an open window of a factory of some sort. Ethan went on the plank first and crossed to the factory window. Ethan leaned out of the window and said to Keiichi and Rena "It's safe to cross, come on up. After a few minutes, all three of them were through the window and into the factory.