I was really happy with the way this chapter went. I felt it was a good turn around to the 2nd chapter which I wasnt too happy with. The next few chapters will be a lot of violence and swearing. After that the action is gonna dumb down somewhat as I will dig deeper into why Veronica and Drake are in Raccoon City.

Enjoy, and leave a review!

Chapter 3: Mile 1 - Bloodletting

10 seconds...

Veronica scrambled to get far away from the building.

9 seconds...

Drake tried to gain grip on the damp grass, slipping slightly but managing to get running.

8 seconds...7 seconds...6 seconds...

Drake and Veronica ran to a small access road behind the building, about 50 feet away. Both doubled over, catching their breath.

5 seconds...4 seconds...3 seconds...

Drake looked up and glared at the lifeless eyes off on the things trying to get out of the window. It clawed desperately to escape.

2 seconds...

Both Drake and Veronica took deep breaths.

1 second...

Drake closed his eyes as Veronica covered her head.

Times up!

A fire ball erupted from the small opening in the window, blowing out the rest of the glass, sending metal shrapnel flying, along with blood and body parts. Its was over even as it began. Drake and Veronica raised their heads to see what was left. A hole the size of a tree trunk was blown in the building side, arms and legs of the mutants strewn about the grass, which was also coated with a layer of blood. The man that tried to escape through the window was split in half, with one half sitting in the middle of the grass, the other half was missing. Drake took a deep breath before pulling out one of the Beretta's.

"Ready when you are." Drake looked over to Veronica, who had a stunned expression on her face. "You alright?" Drake said as he waved his hand in front of Veronica, getting her to snap out of it.

"Yeah im fine." She said while shaking her head at the carnage in front of her.

"Alright, well we have to cover 25 miles in..." Drake paused as he lifted his wrist to see his watch. "In just under 9 hours." Drake continued. Veronica nodded. "Its not gonna be easy, im pretty sure that there are a lot of these things out there and I doubt they are gonna go down without a fight. Time to go." Drake said as he loaded another clip into the Beretta.

Veronica nodded as she held up her Ruger. They made their way, slowly, around to the front of the building, hugging close to the building. Even before they reached the front of the building, they could see shadows looming around the front of the building. Drake glanced slightly around the corner. He could see what was waiting for them. He counted 12 maybe 15 of them, looming around, wandering, seemingly without direction. Drake turned and looked at veronica.

"Well like I said this isn't gonna be easy." Drake said, as quietly as he could. "Do you a patrol car we can use?" he continued.

"No, because of the budget cuts this station was limited to three cars. I had to share a car with another officer, I let him use it tonight for his rounds. Obviously I didn't expect this." Veronica said as she tried to get a better look at what was ahead of them.

"Damn" Drake said in a whisper. "We cant walk it the whole way, we gotta find a car." Drake said as he peaked around the corner again. A looked around when all of a sudden a zombie turned and looked in their direction. "Shit," Drake proclaimed as he whipped his head back behind the corner.

"What is it?" Veronica said with a shocked expression on her face.

"Um...I think they know we are here." Drake said wide eyed.

"What! How fuck do they know we're here? What fuck did you do?" Veronica said, quietly but very angrily.

"I don't know how they saw me, but don't blame this on me." Drake said, with a hint of desperation in his voice.

"What the hell are we gonna do?" Veronica said in a panic.

Drake shook his head and tried to think. He paused and looked up at Veronica.

"What?" Veronica said, still very angry.

"While like I said this wasn't gonna be easy." Drake said as he dropped his duffle bag and un zipped it, pulling out the other Beretta. He cocked back both guns and smirked at Veronica, before popping out from behind the side of the building.

"Drake!" Veronica shouted.

Drake immediately opened fire on the creatures. He was a superior marks man, even with the pistols, either that or it was pure luck. Most of his shots hit there target, directly in the middle of the mutants head, splattering whatever was left of their rotten brains on the walls behind them and pavement below them. He had a look of anger, of emotionlessness on his face. Why was this?

"Shit!" Veronica said as she contemplated what to do, hearing nothing but the sounds of bullets flying and blood splattering. "Damn," Veronica muttered, pulling out her Ruger and stepping out from behind the wall. But when she popped out, all she saw was him. He stood there with his guns drawn out, like a statue, like ice, not moving. All of the of bodies lie on the ground, not moving.

Drake swung around to face Veronica. He holstered his guns before taking a deep breath, He looked around at the carnage he caused. "No Problem," Drake said smugly as he walked back over to Veronica. He returned to the side of building and opened his bag, pulling out some ammunition for the guns. He knelt down to reload the guns, as veronica walked up behind him.

"What was the about?" Veronica said quietly, almost concerned.

"What are you talking about?" Drake said, without taking his eyes off what he was doing.

"Come on Drake. You couldn't have done that just because you felt like it." Veronica said as she stared down at Drake.

"What did you expect we do? Just waltz past them, give them a how do you do, and walk our asses right to HQ." Drake said with anger in his voice. "Now if you have any better ideas, I suggest we get moving." Drake stuffed the box of ammo in the bag and slung it over his shoulder. He adjusted the strapped on the shotgun before walking past Veronica.

"Drake..." Veronica said silently before shaking her head and walking out from behind the wall.

Drake walked out in front of the building and stopped at the large map of the city, displayed in a plastic and metal frame. He looked at building, trying to determine where to go from here. He quietly talked to himself, while tracing a possible path with his finger. Veronica walked up behind him, watching were he was pointing to.

"If we go north about 4 miles then cut east, we while be able to hit more buildings, allowing for more cover. But until then all we have for cover, is trees, some shrubs, and a few, small buildings. I suggest we find a car, and fast." Drake said, looking at Veronica. She took a deep breath before nodding. "We got about 8 and a half hours." Drake continued. Drake turned and walked out into the front courtyard of the building, with small fires burning nearby, and bodies of the deceased strung about.

"What do you think these things are?" Veronica piped up while walking next to Drake.

"Hmmm...I've seen a lot of movies and the only thing I can classify these things as...Zombies." Drake said while looking straight ahead, gun still out but not raised.

"Zombies? Well that's a first in Raccoon City." Veronica said with her Ruger hanging down by her side. They moved forward to a group of small buildings, trying to duck between the buildings, hoping to avoid the zombies. They stayed close to the side of the buildings, stayed in the shadows. Some of the zombies loomed around, moaning, trying to find whatever the hell they were looking for. They kept as quiet as possible, Drake constantly checking his watch. They got through the small pod of buildings to a large opening, only dotted with a few trees for cover. Drake got down to one knee on the side of building. He panned of the area, counting the zombies that plotted about.

"I count about 45." Drake said very quietly as he kept his gun at rest.

"Your not gonna try any Last Action Hero shit now are you?" Veronica coyly said.

"No, not considering we have only covered a mile." Drake panned his eyes across the plane, watching there movements. Drake looked around trying to find a way out.

"Hey look." Veronica pointed to another group of buildings on the right side of the courtyard. "I think if we can get to those buildings, we should be able to get around the courtyard and continue north." She continued as she looked at the zombies.

"We gotta cut in front of this building to get over there. We gotta be quick." Drake said, looking at Veronica. She nodded as she gulped. Both of them slowly stood up and made their way out of the shadows. They didn't take their eyes off the wandering dead as they quickly crossed in front of the building. The small fire illuminated the night, but they had yet to be seen. They quickly darted into the alley between two of the buildings. Both of them took a deep breath.

"Did any of them see us?" Veronica questioned, as she tried to catch her breath.

"No, I don't think so." Drake said as he took a quick look around the corner. "Alright if we cut down this alley, and turn left we should be able to cut through with out any problems." He continued. Veronica nodded. They looked ready to go, when they heard a loud moaning noise.

"Drake, don't do that your scaring me." Veronica said pushing Drake on his shoulder.

"I didn't do that." Drake panned around, before they heard the moaning again. Both turned around to see a Zombie staggering, slowly towards them.

"Shit!" Drake proclaimed.

"What are we supposed to do." Veronica said in a panic. She held her gun up as did Drake.

Drake turned to look at the courtyard. "Oh Fuck!" he shouted

"Quite down Drake, or they are gonna here you." Vanessa said as she trained her gun on the Zombie wandering down the alley.

"Too late..." Drake said as he grabbed Vanessa by the shoulder and turned her around. She looked in shock as the 45 zombies had their lifeless eyes trained on Drake and Vanessa. Both stood with shocked expressions, not knowing what to do. The Zombie behind them staggered closer.

"What are we gonna do drake?" Veronica panicked, trying to focus on the zombie behind them and the group in front of them.

Drake shook his head in disbelief before looking up at the zombie straight ahead. "I guess I am gonna have pull some of that Last Action Hero shit." Drake quickly pulled the shotgun off his back. He cocked it back and fired, blasting the Zombie halfway across the alley.

"Shit, Drake!" Veronica proclaimed, as she lifted her Ruger.

"What, you didn't think that you wouldn't do something like this today." Drake said with a smirk as he turned to the group of zombies. He strapped the shotgun to his back and pulled the two fully loaded Berettas out of his holsters.

"Damnit," Veronica exclaimed as she held up her Ruger.

"You ready?" Drake said, staring at 45 lifeless beings.

"Damnit" Veronica said once again.

"That's what I though." Drake said as he rushed head long into the group of Zombies.

"Damnit!"