Chapter 3

September 24h 1998- 1303:

More and more officers began to arrive at the station over the next few days, whether they were regular beat officers or members of the S.P.F, and immediately began roaming the streets answering calls. With the increasing crime rates and the mysterious disappearances of civilians, people began to avoid the city altogether out of fears of being kidnapped or shot. Sales of firearms in the city had gone up, great news for owners of gun shops such as Robert Kendo, the main benefactor of the 'boom stick boom' as the Raccoon media had named it. Brad Vickers still remained as an average traffic cop, unwilling to discuss the incident in the mountains and when not at work shut himself away from everybody else. Jill would periodically visit the station to remove any personal belongings and search through Wesker's things as she picked the various locks on his filing cabinets and on his desk to see what was going on, whilst still being an active R.P.D member although just not with S.T.A.R.S. By the 11th of September, she had resigned her commission, and was unemployed. As she left the precinct the day of her resignation, she saw an old gentleman and an officer playing chess together on their lunch break, the whole time the officer looking concerned as to how the older gentleman was doing health-wise. He was looking quite pale and was struggling with his concentration. Jill thought nothing of it, thinking it was just an old man who was beginning to show his age, she just went home.

Underneath the city, two days before, a pair of men in all black combat outfits consisting of black tactical jackets with long sleeves, black combat trousers and black full face gas masks creep stealthily through the Raccoon City sewers. Both of them were carrying MP5 sub machine guns, a lightweight, easy to use and reliable weapon and were heading towards their target. They walked along a metal walkway that ran either side of the round sewer tunnel, with the sewer water below them. Rats scurried around the area, squeaking and ducking around the two men to avoid being stepped on. The team leader looked one way and then the other, before signalling to his team mate.

"This way" he instructed, and led on with his subordinate providing cover.

Inside a laboratory hidden underneath the city, a man begins loading sealed test tubes into a reinforced metal briefcase. Highly sophisticated, expensive and complicated lab equipment was placed in various locations throughout the room, all of which was used in this scientist's research.

"It's sheer perfection" the scientist said to himself with a satisfied smirk on his face, and the look of pride in his blue eyes. "My precious G-Virus: No one will take you away from me." He loaded the last of the test tubes, filled with a purple liquid into the briefcase and closed it, before putting his lab jacked on over his white suit shirt with red tie that was loosely worn around his neck and began to leave. As the briefcase was picked up, the automatic door rose like a shutter with a mechanical whoosh and the two commandos appeared. The scientist didn't seem too phased by their arrival, as if he knew that one day, this was bound to happen.

"So you've finally come" He said to them, pointing a loaded pistol at them, alternating his target.

"Dr Birkin, we're here for the sample of the G-Virus" the leader told him, his voice cold, formal and deep, muffled by the gas mask covering his face. William Birkin, the scientist they had come to find, began to back away with the briefcase.

"I'm sorry" He said casually, "But I'm not just going to hand over my life's work." He backed away towards another door, but in his hasty retreat he knocked an empty glass jar off the table, irking one of the commandos, within a split second the commando's MP5 began unloading rounds into the scientist, the rounds that hit peppering him with bullets and those that missed smashing a cabinet used for keeping cultures warm and analysing things under ultra-violet light. As quick as he could react, the leader put his hand up to signal for his partner to stop.

"Stop it! You might hit the sample!" He exclaimed. Birkin fell to the floor, groaning in pain and it being a miracle that he was still breathing after being hit about seven times with automatic weapon fire. The commando leader checked the fallen briefcase, containing the G-Virus in a purple solution and the T-Virus in a green solution. He closed the briefcase and nodded at his partner.

"This is what we came for, let's go." The other commando nodded and they began to leave, while William was on the floor, losing a lot of blood.

"William!" his wife Annette called out after she had run into the lab upon hearing the commotion. She looked at the bullet wounds on William and was confused as to what to do. "I'm going to go and get something to treat those wounds with; Just stay with me darling!" She got up and ran off to find something to patch her husband up with. William groaned as he looked down into his left hand and noticed he was clutching onto a lone vial of the G-Virus. A syringe had fallen onto the floor and thinking that this was the only way to save his life, he loaded the purple solution into the syringe and injected it into his left arm. He felt a slight pain in his stomach and a kick go through his body like a caffeine fix and in moments, began to feel a lot better as the damaged parts of his body began to regenerate and the wounds begin to heal.

"This is Alpha Team, this is Alpha Team" the commando leader said into his radio, "we have retrieved the sample, over." There was a brief pause.

"Roger Alpha Team, head to the rendezvous point for extraction" was the response from two other commandos waiting a little further along the sewer tunnel. These commandos moved up to a metal door that led up to a sewage disposal facility close to the police station to wait for their fellow soldiers. Every single member of this strike team was wearing the same all black uniform with the gas mask, making them appear dark and mysterious. They were waiting patiently for their friends to show up when they heard automatic rifle fire coming from further up the tunnel.

"What was that?" one commando said to the other.

"I don't know, but we should check it out. It's coming from over there!" They left their position and sprinted as fast as possible to where the sound was coming from.

"Shit! What is that thing?" one of the two commandos who raided Dr Birkin's lab exclaimed as he reloaded his gun. "Eat this you freak!" He began shooting again, but the monster, about eight feet in height and sporting a huge claw on his right hand, dressed in the tattered remains of William Birkin's clothes, swung at one of the commandos, knocking him unconscious and causing him to drop the briefcase which cracked open and dropped the vials of T and G viral strains all over the floor. Roaring as bullets hit him and making negligible damage upon him, Birkin impaled the other soldier on his claw and threw him back across towards a tunnel intersection where he hit the wall just as the other two commandos who had found two more comrades reached the source of the screams. Before them they saw what William Birkin had become as a result of him inflicting this mutation upon his own body: The right arm had not only sprouted the massive claw, but a huge eyeball-like tumour had appeared and a large piece of bone was extending past the shoulder area. The skin of his face had begun to rot away due to the cells evolving at an accelerated rate while his left arm and his legs appeared to be as normal with his torso having increased its muscle mass by about 200%. Birkin noticed the fallen vials of the G-Virus and open them to drink the purple liquid contained inside them to make him stronger and seek revenge on the people that had come to claim his work. The four surviving commandos began to run but William was just too fast for them, with one of them tripping over. The others all left him behind as he crawled backwards aiming his MP5 at Birkin trying to stop him. William slowly approached, again not appearing to take any damage and thrust his claw downward like a pile-driver into the abdomen of the commando, killing him and sending the MP5 flying through the air and it hit the ground hard, jamming the firing mechanism on and expending all the remaining rounds as if the commando was firing it normally.

Within five minutes, the sewers went silent. The only sounds being the drips of the water landing in the main sewage flow and the rats squeaking as they ran about the area, and all meeting near the broken T-Virus test tubes where they began to lap up the green liquid. All six members of the black ops team sent by Umbrella to take the G-Virus from William Birkin were dead, and as one member lay dead in a pool of his own blood, the rats that had drunk the spilt T-Virus began to tear his flesh from his body in a feeding frenzy. The event was an unknown occurrence to the people of the city, but they would certainly be feeling the fallout from this.

Two days after William Birkin's assassination, Doug was sent to the home of a reporter who had been printing stories in the Raccoon Times and causing more panic and unrest amongst the population than what was already deemed acceptable. Doug's car approached the house and he parked up in front of the driveway, blocking the journalist in as he tried to leave for work. The journalist frantically bashed his horn and hung his head out the window, shouting obscenities at Doug as he approached the car.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" the reporter asked, dressed in a white and black pinstripe shirt with a red tie and beige trousers. His auburn hair was tied back in a ponytail and he looked like wherever he needed to go, he had to be there in a hurry.

"Are you Ben Burtolucci?" Doug asked, resting his right arm on the roof of the car and putting his left hand on his gun and standing so that Ben had to look slightly behind him to talk to him. It was a standard operation procedure when making a stop, so that the officer at the scene can easily look at the driver, passenger and anyone in the back seats to check for any funny business.

"Yeah, I am." Ben replied. "What do you want?" Doug informed him that he was under arrest on suspicion of acts of criminal libel and opened the car door while requesting that Ben get out. Reluctantly, Ben got up and placed his hands on the bonnet of the car so he could be patted down for any weapons. Tucked into Ben's sock was a Glock 17 handgun that was immediately confiscated and Ben was then charged with possession of a deadly weapon. On the drive back to the police station, Doug asked why on earth Ben would carry something like that.

"Have you not been reading the papers lately?" he asked, to which Dough replied no. He didn't care much for the made up stories newspapers print. "Ever since the S.T.A.R.S got back from the mountains things have been turning weird by the day. As a cop, you must have noticed something, right? It's for protection, nothing more; I wasn't actually going to kill anyone with it. But you'll be running to me when whatever killed Captain Wesker in the mountains appears in the city and you'll have no idea on how to defend yourselves. Take it from me officer, this city is on the brink of destruction, the R.P.D needs to prepare for the worst case scenario!"

"Ok then Mr Burtolucci" Doug laughed. "I'll talk to the Chief when we've got you in your cell." Ben leaned closer to the metal mesh between the front and rear seats to talk to Doug privately, even though it was blatantly obvious no one else was in the car besides them.

"You think Irons is going to listen?" He said. "The guy has been taking bribes from Umbrella to keep S.T.A.R.S and the R.P.D out of anything to do with the murders in the Arklay Mountains." Doug's eyes widened. How did Ben know about Umbrella's connection to the Arklay Mountain incident? Even more than that, Irons being paid by Umbrella could be the only way that he was able to bring those god-awful pieces of art in to hang in the police station. Maybe it was because of the bribes that Irons wasn't willing to entertain Jill and the others on what they claimed to have seen in the mansion. Five minutes later, they arrived at the police station and Doug navigated the cruiser into the underground car park. Once parked in the bay, he got out and walked around to the back to allow Ben out and escorted him to the cells, placing him in the one furthest from the door.

"You'll be held here for further questioning, but I can't offer you a specific timetable due to the majority of the officers being preoccupied at the minute. Could be a couple of hours, yet it could be a couple of days. So make yourself as comfortable as possible." He turned to leave, stopping at the next cell along where two men were being kept.

"Oh come on Eric!" He sighed when he realised who was on the other side of the bars. "What are you and Keith in for this time?"

"We got busted trying to buy a gun from Kendo's place when we've had previous convictions. Dunno why they're keeping us in here instead of upstairs but with everything that's going down on those streets this is the best place to be." Doug knew those two well. He, Richard, Eric and Keith grew up in Raccoon City. They went to the same school, they went to the same youth clubs and while Richard and Doug got good grades all through junior and senior high, Eric was very much the Chris Redfield of their school, spending more time in the principal's office with Keith than in class. Doug and Richard went to college after school before they joined the R.P.D with Richard getting a bachelor's degree in electrical and computer engineering, a qualification he put to good use by operating most of the radio equipment in the precinct, while Doug studied History. Joining the R.P.D was probably a good choice for Doug. He was respected in his team and did his job with a professional and courteous approach to every civilian he met, but was by no means not afraid to get his hands dirty if the situation called for it, although he never answered the question as to why someone with a BA in history was working for the police.

September 24th was the day that the worry amongst the civilians in the city had reached fever pitch. The hospital had now become full of patients experiencing flu-like symptoms, a rare occurrence being that it was three months early. The morgue however was the most worrying sign. Both the morgue in the police station AND the hospital were now overflowing with the deceased, and more and more people began missing work. For the police department, this was bad news as it was becoming far too much to handle, and with some officers away being trained for S.P.F work, there seriously wasn't enough officers to answer any calls, with crime rates doubling in the space of a few hours. Doug headed for the car park where two other officers- David Ford and Elliot Edward, were chatting. He joined them by Elliot's squad car as they were discussing what had been going on.

"Did a patrol round the residential areas in the south of the city" Elliot explained. "They're completely deserted, there's nobody around. Everybody is either coming here or heading into the centre of the city and no-one's quite sure as to what's going on. A group of officers walked by carrying weapons and ammunition in large plastic boxes and began taking them towards the kennels or placing them in the back of one of the old S.T.A.R.S vans.

"What the hell's going on? Is there no room left in storage or something?" Doug asked, confused.

"Chief's ordered that all the weapons and ammo be moved around the station." David explained to him. "No idea why, but no one's seen the dickhead for days. He's been shut in his office tight and people have been saying he's been screaming at people down his phone when they've been taking him coffee and lunch." When the subject of the Chief was brought up, Doug's facial expression changed, as if he was hiding something.

"Are you alright?" Elliot asked him.

"Yeah" Doug replied, "It's just that what people have been saying about him acting suspicious around here is pretty much what the press have been saying too. I'm just thinking… Maybe it ain't all media bullshit…" They were distracted from their conversation by a mechanic calling out to someone. The mechanic was dressed in his blue jumpsuit with 'R.P.D Mechanic' in white letters on the back and a blue baseball cap on his head. His hands were grubby and in his right hand held a towel that he used to clean himself up with.

"Hey" He said to a man in tattered clothes lying on the ground near the door. When Doug saw the man on the ground, he couldn't believe he had missed him. "You can't sleep here, head for the homeless shelter on Shrewsbury Avenue." There was no response. "Sir, you can't sleep here." He turned to the three officers who were at the back wall. "These damn homeless guys" he sighed before towel whipping the homeless man. "SIR, YOU HAVE TO MOVE!" With that, the man on the ground started to move and slowly picked himself up to his feet with a groan and looked directly at the mechanic. His eyes were glazed over and his skin was beginning to hang off his bones, with a handful of maggots that had been feasting on his flesh falling out of his mouth. The mechanic called out to Doug, Elliot and David whilst backing away as the strange man started to edge closer to him. Doug and Elliot were over in seconds while David ran upstairs to report to Marvin. The homeless man lunged at the mechanic and grabbed him by the shoulders, but the mechanic did the same in an attempt to throw him off. Doug and Elliot had their guns drawn and were pointing them at the homeless man.

"Let go of him or we shoot!" Elliot ordered him. The man continued to struggle with the mechanic and appeared to make an attempt at biting the helpless grease monkey, so Elliot fired a shot at the homeless man's knee, causing him to fall to the floor. Without showing any pain whatsoever, the homeless man was back on his feet and this time headed for Elliot. In Doug's head was a flashback to when Jill showed him the video of Kenneth being eaten alive in the mansion and instantly knew what this thing was.

"Those things Chris and the others told us about" Doug said to Elliot. "They're real." Doug pointed his gun at the crazy man and fired a single shot that ripped through the man's skull and he fell to the floor, this time not getting up.

"What the hell is up with that?" Elliot asked him. "That was a clean hit; he should have fallen to the floor and rolled around in pain."

"That's because he's not human" Doug explained to him, telling him it was a zombie like what Chris, Jill, Richard, Barry and Rebecca had encountered in the mountains. Whatever caused the outbreak in the mansion was now in the city.

Raccoon City was now on the brink of collapse…

"It all started as an ordinary day in September in Raccoon City, a city controlled by Umbrella. No one dared to oppose them, and that lack of strength would ultimately lead to their destruction. I suppose they had to suffer for the consequences of their actions, but there would be no forgiveness. If only they had the courage to fight.

I guess it's true that once the wheels of justice begin to turn nothing can stop them- Nothing.

This would be Raccoon City's last chance. This would be my last escape."

The immortal words written in Jill Valentine's diary expressed her concern, anger and fear as to what was happening outside of her apartment window as she began to prepare for the worst case scenario.

Doug and Elliot headed out on to Ennerdale Street to see ambulances and police cars screaming past with lights and sirens blaring and the streets deserted. Shops were closed and those that were open appeared to have no one inside. They decided to take a police car and cruise the city looking for clues. Doug jumped in the driver's seat while Elliot put on his jacket and climbed in after him, placing his policeman's hat on his lap. Just to be sure, Doug put the lights on and they took a drive around Raccoon City. The city was just completely deserted, just police officers wandering around just as confused as Doug and Elliot were. As they drove up Fox Street, they saw someone they recognised in woodland camouflage trousers and a white t-shirt with a yellow bullet resistant vest over the top.

"Brad!" Elliot called out from the car as they rolled at walking pace alongside him. "What the hell is going on? The city is deserted!" Brad just shrugged his shoulders and walked away. He knew, but didn't want to have any part of it. They cruised around the city for another hour, finding all residential areas void of anybody. Cars were left on their drives or at the side of the road. They stepped out of the car briefly, hearing nothing but the wind. An eerie silence was all that was there, and to Doug and Elliot, they felt like they were the only people around for miles. They climbed back into the car and drove around a little more until they reached a small park that was normally filled with children, and was also where Doug and Richard played when they were younger. It was empty. No one in sight, and the swings moved in the breeze, creaking as it had been a while since the city council had given the place a maintenance check. They drew their guns and vaulted the low wall that separated the younger children's play area from the area more commonly used by older children and headed for the soccer pitch that was in the exact middle of the playing fields. It was quiet, much too quiet for their liking. They stood back to back, guns in hand, scanning the immediate area. After a moment, they heard shuffling coming from in the trees and out from under a bush crawled a woman in a tattered and dirty white blouse and a torn navy blue skirt, with a high heel missing from one of her feet. Elliot and Doug knew to keep their distance and only attempt to help her when it was known to them that she was still human. Slowly, the woman picked herself up to her feet and when she saw the two officers she raised her hands.

"Please!" She pleaded with them. "Don't shoot me!" She had messy blonde hair that had twigs and leaves in it that she immediately brushed out. Elliot cautiously got close and checked her over for bite marks, as he believed that the 'zombie disease' was spread the same way is it was in stories, movies and folklore: Being bitten.

"She's clean." He confirmed. Three more zombies closed in on their position, so it seemed that the best plan was to get out of there and get back to the police station where they could at least get the young woman to safety.

"What the hell are those things?" She asked from the back of the police interceptor as Doug raced through the streets of Raccoon City with everything going: Lights, two tones and pushing the supercharged V8 of the Ford Crown Victoria to its limits. He would have loved to rev the engine high before changing gear in the lower gears for a bit of extra boost from the supercharger, but as this was an automatic like all of the Ford police interceptors, that wasn't going to happen. Doug was a skilled driver, he was what was known as a 'Level 1 Traffic Officer' that was highly trained in pursuit driving and had lightning fast reflexes, a rare gift. He did a power slide round the corner at a set of traffic lights up towards the police station, where he drove down into the car park and came to a stop in a bay. The majority of the police cars were still down here and the reason why would become apparent to them as they headed up to the main hall. Elliot took the woman to safety while Doug said he was going to head up to the East Offices where his desk was so he could find out what he should do from Marvin. He ran to the door opposite the cells, pushing his way past officers and turned left to find the stairs that came to their peak outside the night watchman's room and sprinted down the corridor to the offices. In there the officers scurried around with confusion, as the search was beginning for the weapon caches that had been moved around earlier in the day, as under mysterious circumstances, the officers that had moved them had disappeared as soon as the move was finished.

That night, Kevin thought it would be best to unwind after a totally confusing day, and had not heard about Doug and Elliot's encounters with the undead so he headed for his favourite haunt: J's Bar, located on Jack Street about five hundred yards from the police station. It was rustic in appearance, furnished like the taverns of old with a touch of Irish flavour. Bottles and glasses were kept behind the bar as well as hanging over it, with barrels being used as tables alongside the large window that looked out onto the street and the lights providing a warm homey glow. Kevin had been going to J's since he turned twenty one, and in the last few years he had been trying unsuccessfully to flirt with the young waitress Cindy who would go about her work in a blue and white striped shirt with a blue low-cut vest and a medium length black skirt with black high-heels. She kept her well conditioned hair tight back in a ponytail for work and was by far the most popular waitress there, not just for her looks, but for her cheery character that always put a smile on the patrons' faces. Kevin sat at the bar with a glass of Coke in front of him, chatting with fellow customers who seemed to be there for the same reasons. The strange thing being, that everybody was dressed in their work clothes, as if they didn't care if they were seen and later accused of drinking on the job. Aside from Kevin who stood out like a sore thumb in his S.P.F uniform, there were other characters in there: To his left were two large gentlemen, one with dark skin, a bald head and beard while the other was shorter with a head of grey hair and a moustache, the latter appearing to look drunk as he spent quite a lot of time with his head on the bar and not drinking or eating his bar meal.

"Are you eating anything?" The dark skinned one asked his friend. "Hey, Bob: Where's your mind at?" To Kevin's right was a man in grubby beige jumpsuit and appeared to be a labourer or a plumber or something as he carried a lot of tools around on a belt. He was by far the quietest of the bunch, and was also a regular who didn't say much or speak about the day he had. His hair was long and dark and like Cindy's, was tied in a ponytail. Behind him at a table, a woman in red suit trousers and a red suit jacket with a black low cut shirt and short blonde hair sat tapping away at a laptop, while at the next table along a man in a white and yellow plaid shirt with a burgundy-coloured vest, charcoal-coloured dinner jacket, grey suit trousers and brown dress shoes was sipping on a glass of whiskey and looking pretty down. On a TV in the corner, placed up high on a bracket, the evening news was being broadcast.

"There was disruption at today's football game between the Raccoon City Sharks and the Aspen Mountain Wolves when an unruly fan got out of control and sparked a riot. Fifty law enforcement officers were called to the scene where the fan was eventually calmed down. Kevin looked up at the television and just laughed and continued drinking, trying to spark up a conversation with the plumber next to him, who appeared to be in a world of his own. After another unsuccessful attempt at humouring the man, Kevin and the others turned around as the door was pushed open and in the doorway stood a man with parted brown hair. His head was hung low and his arms were limp by his side. One of the waiters put an empty glass onto a tray and looked at the gentleman who took two steps inside the bar and again stood still.

"What a strange customer" he thought to himself. The big black security guard stayed on his stool and looked across at the man, who was believed to be drunk out of his mind...

"Who is this guy?" He said aloud. The waiter stood opposite the strange man who was perfectly still. Kevin's handgun was put on top of the bar, within easy reach. Drunk and disorderly behaviour was not uncommon in Raccoon City at night, and this could either end peacefully with a few laughs from both parties, or end up in a fight. The woman's laptop was closed and the man in the suit stood up to take a look. The people in the bar just stared at this man, waiting to see what would happen. Without any sign of warning, the man lunged at the waiter and started to bite into his throat. Kevin picked his handgun up off the bar and raised it, ordering the customer to back off. Eventually, the waiter was able to push the man back towards the door and shut him out, locking it when he was safely out. He then collapsed to the floor and the man in the suit jumped in to check.

"I'm a surgeon at the Raccoon City Hospital" he explained, and Cindy brought over a bar towel to try and subdue the bleeding. It was no use- The waiter's breaths became more and more drawn out until his last gasps for air were very much futile. He stopped breathing and the surgeon laid him down on the hard wooden floor as the waiter died with his eyes open in a pool of his own blood. Cindy was shocked and heartbroken to see that the waiter, whose name turned out to be Will, was dead. There was a scream as the woman in the red suit jumped away from the window, as several more characters similar to the one that attacked Will were congregating at the window, banging on it in an attempt to get in. The older security guard fell off his stool with a groan.

"Bob!" The dark man exclaimed, picking his friend to his feet. The surgeon picked Bob up as Cindy grabbed a key and unlocked a door behind the bar. The woman in red, the surgeon, Cindy and Bob ran through this door, shutting it behind them while the security guard, Kevin and the plumber remained behind.

"By the way, I'm Kevin. Nice to meet you boys" He said casually with his gun pointed towards the door.

"I'm Mark" the security guard replied, also having his gun pointed towards the door. The plumber pushed one of the big heavy barrels that were used as a table in front of the door to try and hold the strange people back.

"David" he said coldly, not even giving Mark or Kevin a look. Coincidentally, David had been doing work at this bar that day, and an iron pipe long enough to be used as an effective weapon was lying behind the bar. He picked it up and held it like a baseball bat. None of them dared to engage as they didn't want to waste ammo or get killed, so they waited for their new friends outside to make the first move. Eventually, the mass outside caused one of the windows to cave in, and that made them realise it was time to move. David opened the door the other patrons had gone through and he and Mark went through while Kevin acted as a rear guard before following them through and shutting and locking the door behind him. A set of stairs was directly in front of them, and they sprinted up them to find themselves in a staff lounge where the others were already waiting for them and they were glad they were safe. Cindy found another key and she quickly unlocked a door at the back of the staff room that had a sofa, a water cooler and an attached kitchen, with a small coffee table near the sofa, as well as changing into her trainers as high heels were not suitable wear for this sort of situation. She waved them through and at the top of the stairs they saw that they were in the liquor storage room that was in what was effectively the attic. Barrels of whiskey were along the walls and crates of bottled beer and alco-pops were on shelves above them. Kevin grabbed David's iron pipe off him and used it to smash the taps off the barrelled whiskey, causing the whiskey to flow all over the floor. David grabbed a crate of Budweiser off the shelf and following Kevin's lead, ripped open the cardboard box and threw them on the floor to cause it to spill as there were no bottle openers in sight. Cindy yelled at them to stop.

"They're zombies Cindy" Kevin explained. "They're after us and this is the only way we'll stop them." Alyssa, the woman in red, also began to smash bottles to cause them to spill all over the floor, as did Mark. When they heard the undead bashing on the locked door they had come through. They ran for the roof where they would be able to jump across into the apartment building next door and make their way out onto the street. They all ran except for David who waited for them to burst through the door and used his lighter that he would use to heat up pipes to make them expand so they'd fit together better for welding and lit the spilled alcohol. The spirits caught fire instantly and spread through the room, engulfing any undead that walked into it. As he saw this was burning more ferociously than they had thought, he headed for the roof too. When he got there he saw Bob on the floor while Mark was stood over him.

"I'm no different from them" Bob sighed. "I can feel the hunger."

"What are you saying?" Mark asked.

"I'm just going to slow you down. I'm no good to anyone. Please, allow me to die while my conscience remains" Bob raised his handgun to his head but Mark was able to pin it down while begging Bob to stop.

"Mark, you don't understand." Bob continued. "Would you rather have me do this myself or just wait it out so you have to do this for me? I'll be one of them soon. I don't want you do die in the same way". Mark looked down at the handgun in Bob's hand before looking at his friend, who was looking very pale and sick. Slowly, Mark moved his hands away, not being able to bear the thought of shooting his best friend. Bob then raised the gun to his head and pulled the trigger, sending blood all over the roof. Mark hung his head, not wanting to show any emotions just now. He wanted to get out of here and only once he was out would he worry about what he had lost. He took the handgun and handed it to David, who discarded his iron pipe.

Kevin led them towards the edge of the building, where there was a six foot gap to the apartment building on the other side. It was easy enough to make, even for Mark and Cindy. The inferno downstairs was reaching fever pitch and since they had not been followed this far, it was safely assumed that the zombies were busy being cremated in there.

"We're gonna have to jump" Kevin explained. "There's no way we can go back the way we came." He took a running jump and safely made it to the other side, and had everybody follow him. Cindy went first and jumped across, stumbling as she landed but was quickly caught by Kevin. Mark followed next and safely made it across. George Hamilton the surgeon came across next and like the others was safe. Alyssa's turn was next, but as she was about to jump, she slipped and landed just short of the edge of the other roof. She clung onto the edge for dear life while Mark and Kevin slowly pulled her up. Once she was up, she was shaking and panting from the panic, but glad she had escaped death… For now at least… Once everybody was safely across, David made the jump.

"Attention citizens of Raccoon City" A voice from street level announced through a PA system. "Due to the riots in progress, this area will be closed off soon." There were screams of panic as people rushed past the police barricade with the odd gunshot ringing out in the distance. "We need everybody in this area to meet with officers on the street so we can get you out of harm's way. If you do not follow this advice, there is no way we can guarantee your safety."

"That's our cue" Kevin told the group, and led them down several flights of fire escape stairs at the side of the building that led down into the small alley they had just jumped and down onto the street. More and more people streamed past the police barricade while other officers took shots at the oncoming zombie mass. Two were taken down and eaten while the others moved back. As the survivors of the bar came out of the alley, the officer there turned and pointed his gun.

"Shit, you startled me!" It was Doug. "I'm glad you're still here, Kevin. This whole city has been turned into a war zone. Marvin's ordered any off duty officers to assist in the evacuation of the civilians. Get your friends to that intersection down there, Matt and Paul will have a van waiting. I'll hold these guys off, you just get out of here!" He reloaded his gun and fired several shots at the oncoming zombies, who were being held back behind a barricade of patrol cars, although some were crawling over the bonnets or actually going under the cars. With Doug's guidance, they were quickly taken down. Kevin ran with the others to the van where they were safely loaded up and driven away out of the city. Kevin then ran back towards Doug so that he could assist. It was no good, the barricade had been compromised and the zombies slowly began to make their way towards them.

"We'd better get out of here" Doug warned with a sense of urgency. Kevin didn't need to be told twice and literally jumped into the car via the open window. With Doug's exceptional driving skills, they were able to reverse at speed towards the intersection and with a precise J-Turn they sped up towards the edge of town where a mobile phone call had been made regarding people trapped at one of Mr Smith's warehouses. At this moment in time nobody could work out who was human and who wasn't. So anybody was treated as hostile, and an emergency broadcast message had been sent by Mayor Warren placing the city under martial law. Civilians panicked and were running anywhere they could, with many choosing to lock themselves in their houses or places of business to be picked up by a passing police transport. Because of crashed cars and bodies on the street, it took much longer than expected to get there and once they reached the warehouse, it was discovered that this area of town was deserted. It seemed safe, but they couldn't be too careful. Doug took the shotgun from the boot of the patrol car and he and Kevin cautiously approached the dispatch office that was a small brick building attached to the back of the warehouse and looked to be their only way in. The warehouse was the largest of the six owned by Mr Smith's company Smiths Gore, a partnership Mr Smith and an ex-Navy officer set up in the 80s. The warehouse was up until recently owned by Ikea, who moved into a larger distribution centre in Denver. The door was locked, and they immediately searched for a way in. A window was the obvious answer and a stack of pallets was located next to this brick building. Kevin picked up one in his hands that was leaning up against this pile and threw it at the window, causing the whole window to smash with the pallet going straight through. Doug went in through first, slightly catching and tearing a tiny part of his trousers on a shard of glass that didn't get dislodged from the window sealant, and when he landed there was the sound of wood making contact with glass as he landed on the pallet, with Kevin following suit.

They were in the drivers' area of the office, a small reception area where drivers checked in to find out where stock was going and how much of it they were taking. A counter was in front of them with a grey wooden door visible at the back which the two officers assumed led into the warehouse. Kevin climbed over the counter to see that this room was bigger than they thought: It stretched out to the right where there was a small kitchen and a computer with lots of filing cabinets nearby. To the left was a board room where supervisor meetings must have taken place. Aside from the mess Kevin made to gain entry, there appeared to be no sign of chaos taking place: No blood, no gore and no violence. The only thing lingering in the air was the smell of coffee and toast, as the toaster in the little kitchen had been put to good use. Luckily the door to the warehouse was open and gingerly it was pushed open. The warehouse was much bigger than the one they had visited before. The racks were higher and there were a lot more of them. A cherry picker had been parked neatly against the wall while a forklift with its driver still inside had crashed into the racking, causing one to fall over onto another all the way to the end in a domino effect. Doug drew a torch from one of his trouser pockets and clipped it to the shotgun. The lights were on, but the warehouse was eerily dark, and they were going to need all the light they can get to avoid danger. They headed in between two racks that were still standing and made their way to the back of the warehouse where they discovered a shutter blocking a doorway with another door to some toilets next to it. Doug raised the shutter and used his radio to contact anybody that was not involved in the evacuation effort.

"Romeo Two Six, request backup at 1671 Brookmere Road, over."

"Affirmative Romeo Two Six, please state why you need the backup, over."

"I'm at a warehouse in the north of the city. I can hear movement upstairs, possible civilians. I am now heading up to confirm suspicions, over."

"Roger Romeo Two Six, backup will be en route when situation is confirmed and under control- HQ out"

Doug and Kevin stepped through the now open door and saw a door to the toilet to their right and a staircase immediately to the left. The noises upstairs were slightly louder now they had opened the shutter and opened the door. Kevin went up the stairs first, treading quietly as not to irk whoever was up there. At the top of the stairs there was another door that was slightly ajar. It was opened with great care and Kevin went through first and checked the kitchen door that was directly opposite while Doug went to the left. Ahead was a large open rectangular room with people sitting on the floor, talking and looking scared. Doug alerted Kevin and they quickly headed for the group, with Doug radioing HQ as he ran. The R.P.D's dispatch offices were not in the city, but located in the town of Applewood, close to where Doug, Kevin and their new friend Leon had been training.

"This is Romeo Two Six I have secured seven civilians. Request a van sent to 1671 Brookmere Road, over."

"Roger Romeo Two Six, Romeo Two Zero is en route. Keep them calm, check for injuries and…" All that came through the radio after that was static. Doug threw the radio to one side, now useless.

"Are you guys alright?" Kevin asked the group while Doug looked out the window to wait for the transport.

"We're all okay" A gentleman in a suit explained, but Sally here is eight months pregnant and she needs to get out of here as soon as possible." Sally was lying on her back with several coats used to prop her head up and looked to be in some discomfort.

"We have a transport coming to get you out of the city" Kevin explained. "We're really close to the highway too, so once it's here, you'll be out in no time." Doug ran back downstairs to wait for the van to show, with the civilians panicking further when they heard a shotgun blast from downstairs, with Doug sprinting back up soon after.

The transport eventually arrived, and the civilians were quickly led downstairs out into the loading area where they were helped aboard.

"What the hell happened to the radio?" Doug asked the officer driving the van.

"No idea man" The driver replied. "There's complete comm. blackout, we're getting nothing from HQ and stuff coming into the precinct is laced with so much static we can't hear what the hell is going on. What shall we do once these guys are out?"

"Take them straight to Stoneville, make sure the pregnant woman is alright" Doug ordered. "Don't even think about coming back." The driver nodded and sped away while Doug and Kevin jumped back into their car and sped back to the centre of town.

They came to an unexpected stop close to Main Street, where the Raccoon City Mall and various other large shops were located. The roads were barricaded with police cars and there was nowhere for them to go by car, so they'd have to go by foot. Kevin and Doug swiftly got out of the car and looked around. A little further up Main Street was a pair of police officers at a crudely erected barricade taking pot shots at the undead advancing towards them, while another officer fiddled with something on the ground.

"Doug!" Kevin called out to Doug, who was trying to push one of the parked police cars out of the way so that he could drive back to the police station. "I'm gonna go and help those guys over there then I'll meet you at the station!"

"Okay Kevin" Doug called back, managing to get one of the cars moving. "Take care of yourself."

It would be four years before they saw each other again...