Harvest Moon: Resident Evil 2
Chapter Three: The Plague Returns
That night on Flowerbud Ranch (the name of Jack's ranch), everything was quiet. Perhaps too quiet.
Of course, this quiet didn't last for very long. Around midnight, a figure appeared in the fields. Jack, who had been staying up late writing in his diary, looked out the window and saw it approaching the house. He silently got up from the table and opened the cabinet, taking out the shotgun. He paused for a moment, then opened the door and faced the figure as it trudged through the grass. Aiming the shotgun, he spoke loudly and clearly.
"Stop moving, or I'll shoot!"
The figure kept moving, as if it didn't hear him.
"I'm not screwing with you!" Jack continued. "I'll blow your god damn ass off if I have to!"
Still the figure kept coming. Finally, Jack fired the shotgun with a loud bang, breaking the night silence. The figure fell into the field, disappearing in the grass. Jack cocked the shotgun, aiming it into the grass and waiting for the figure to get back up.
It didn't.
"Jack!" came Maria's frightened voice. "What the fuck is going on?"
As she emerged in the doorway, Jack turned to comfort her. "It's okay. Somebody was trying to intrude our property."
"Was it a robber?" Maria asked.
"I don't know," responded Jack. "I'm going to check him. Is Josh awake?"
"Yeah," Maria said, swallowing.
"Stay with him. Make sure our visitor is awake, too. I'll be right back."
He stepped back outside and headed for the field, striving to get a good look.
-
Maria, Josh and Danny were all sitting in the kitchen at the table, Josh in Maria's lap, when Jack returned. He put the shotgun back into the cabinet, and then entered the kitchen.
"Was it anyone we knew?" Maria questioned frantically.
"No," Jack said. "I didn't really get a good look, though. I threw the body over the cliff into the ocean.. It's too late in the night for this; I'll worry about it in the morning."
"Are you sure?" Maria continued. "I mean, you must've gotten at least –"
"It's okay, honey," Jack assured. "We'll deal with it tomorrow."
Josh rubbed his eyes.
"Daddy, I'm tired."
Jack smiled slightly. "I think we all need some sleep. Danny, if it's okay with you, I'll get a cot in here for you."
"Sure," Danny yawned. "I've been up all night cleaning my clothes, so… anything with sheets and a mattress'll do for me."
"Splendid… let me get one."
As Maria prepared Josh for bed, Jack took a folded cot from the storage bin in the corner and unfolded it in the kitchen. He put it in the far end of the room, against the wall and almost beside the door.
"Let me know if I can do anything else for you," said Jack sleepily.
"That's pretty much all for tonight, thanks," Danny muttered, getting under the covers of the cot. "Good night."
"Yeah… g'night."
Jack turned off the light. Somehow, Danny slept, though with thoughts coursing through his head.
Was that figure really what he thought it was?
-
The next morning beside the beach, Greg the fisherman was sitting at the edge of the dock when a boat drove up to it. Getting off of it was Karen, who had returned from her trip to the big city across the ocean from them. As she got off the boat, the driver waved goodbye to her and drove off.
"Why, hello, Karen," Greg greeted. "How was your trip?"
"Excellent," Karen responded, smirking. "I had a wonderful time… It's been a bit of a while, hasn't it?"
"Oh, not really," Greg shrugged. "It was only two weeks, Karen. Though some weird things happened while you're gone…"
Karen's eyebrows rose. "Like what?"
"Oh, nothing. Pay no attention to me. Just go on home; I'm sure your parents are dying to meet you."
Karen sniffed the sea air deeply. "Yeah, that's right. I should get going."
She walked off down the dock toward the hill to Green Ranch. Neither of them had noticed the body floating dismally beside the rocky cliffs, laying facedown in the water floating back and forth towards the shore but never actually touching it.
-
As the sun shone upon Flowerbud Ranch, Doug came strolling towards the door, waiting nervously at first and then walking over to it and knocking on it.
Jack answered after a few seconds, looking rather tired.
"Oh, hey, Doug," he said slowly. "What do you need?"
"I heard a gunshot last night, but I was a bit afraid to come over," Doug explained, looking around. "Uh, is everything alright?"
"Yeah," Jack replied. "Some guy was coming towards my house in the middle of the night. I yelled at him to stop moving, but… he kept coming. So, I shot him."
There was a nervous silence.
"Well… that does explain it," Doug said. "Just making sure, okay?"
"No problem," Jack answered, closing the door. Doug stood there for a minute, then rubbed his forehead and left.
Inside, Jack sat back down at the table and ate a plate of eggs quietly.
"What do you think that was all about?" asked Maria, from the bed.
"Dunno," was all Jack said.
Josh was still asleep in his cradle. Maria yawned, looking towards the TV.
"Think anything's on?"
Jack attempted to speak through a mouthful of eggs, but failed. Shrugging, Maria turned the TV on. The first channel they saw had no signal. Switching the channel, she found herself looking at another signal-less channel.
The next two channels had the same result.
"Strange," Maria said. "None of the channels have any signals."
"Not even the new ones?" asked Jack, turning.
Maria flipped through the remaining channels. "Nope."
"Weird," Jack muttered. "I guess I'll check the connection, then."
"No, I'll do it," Maria said, getting up and looking behind the TV. "Everything's plugged in… no, everything's fine. Must be a problem down at the studios or something."
"Maybe something's happened in Flowerbud," Jack suggested, standing up and pushing his emptied plate aside. "I'll go into town and see what's up."
"Alright," Maria sighed, walking over to the kitchen door and knocking on it. "Danny? Are you awake?"
"I am now," came a voice.
"Oh, sorry," Maria said lowly. "You can go back to sleep, I already made breakfast. If you're hungry, just look through the fridge."
"I'll keep that in mind," Danny responded.
Maria sat back down on the bed, and soon found herself falling back to sleep.
-
As Jack crossed the intersection, he noticed the kids weren't out playing. Then it dawned on him that they were probably in the church for school. Shrugging it off his mind, he continued into town.
Popuri was out watering the plants again, and Elli was out in the yard beside the Bakery shop.
"Hey, Jack," greeted Popuri as he arrived.
"Hi," Jack said dully. "Say, does your TV work?"
Popuri looked thoughtful. "I don't know, I don't think we turned it on yet today. We usually watch it at night…"
"Go turn it on, I want to see something."
Popuri looked confused, but nevertheless she did it, coming back out a few minutes later.
"A few of the channels are out," she reported. "There were only three working ones, two were news and the other was some entertainment show."
"I see," Jack said, rubbing his chin. "All of my channels were out. Maybe some work now?"
Popuri only shrugged. Jack left, and she continued her work. As he passed the church, he saw Rick and Saibara beside the tavern.
"So, I saw Kai the other day, right?" Rick was saying. "He had these weird ass looking fruits. He said they tasted really good, though, so I took one just to be polite. I actually ate it a while later, and it actually did taste good… so… I guess that's a lesson."
"I heard about the fruits myself," Saibara contributed. "Do you know if Kai has any more? I should try these fruits for myself."
"I'm not sure," Rick answered. "He said he got them from those Arklay Mountains not far from here, but I wouldn't walk that far just for some fruit. I mean, even if it does taste good."
"Whatever," Saibara shrugged, then walked off and returned to his shop. Rick saw Jack and waved at him before leaving himself. Deciding he wouldn't find anything else out, Jack turned around and headed for home.
-
Karen strolled up the hill toward the Vineyard. Despite their problems, she was a little anxious to see her parents again.
Before she got to the door, she decided to surprise Kai first. Usually he was in the Wine cellar, which was a different building.
She didn't notice the cracks in the window as she turned around and headed for the wine cellar. Going inside, she headed down the stairs and looked around.
No Kai. Shrugging, she went back outside and headed for the door. Clearing her throat, she raised her fist and knocked on the door.
It opened on her third knock. She shrugged, then pushed it open and walked inside.
Then she froze in her tracks.
The house was a mess. Tables were upturned, vases smashed, furniture ripped and torn. A flower vase lay broken on the floor in a puddle of water.
"Wha – ?" Karen cried out, frantically searching the room. Stepping into the room, she observed the mess.
And then she saw the blood.
She saw it in a puddle at the far end of the room.
Her eyes locked onto it in fear.
"What the hell is going on here?" she asked aloud.
And then there was a creak from upstairs.
From her room.
She looked upwards.
"Hello…?" she said softly. "Mom? Dad?"
He walked over to the stairs, then looked upwards.
Silence.
The door to her room was closed.
Swearing to herself in silence, she took one step up the stairs when she heard it again.
A low creak broke the silence.
She stopped, staring intently at the door to her room.
Who was in her room? And what was he, or her, doing in there in the first place? Was it the same person who made the mess downstairs?
And… more importantly… whose blood was in a puddle downstairs?
She shuddered.
And then she took another step.
And that was when the door opened. She paused again, not moving her eyes from the door.
A figure stepped out of her room. Stopped.
And then turned to her.
She let out a gasp.
It was Kai. But there was something different about him. The flesh was rotting from his bones. His skin was pale. His eyes were ghastly, the soul taken from them. There were bloodstains on his clothing, and on his face.
And he was growling.
Karen stepped backwards.
"What… the… hell!" she panted.
She turned around, but found herself staring into the eyes of her father.
"Dad – !"
But her father wasn't any different than Kai. He let out an unearthly scream, making Karen stumble backwards.
"Dad, what the fuck is going on here!"
Her father – or, what used to be her father – did not reply. Instead, he stumbled forward and grabbed Karen.
"No!" she yelled. "Let go!"
Kai had begun to walk down the stairs. Also emerging from her room was her mother, who was in the same state as Kai and her father, all of them rotting, all of them mindless, all of them dead-ish.
All of them dead.
Karen let out a scream as her father bit into her neck. She pushed him back, and he tore out a bit of flesh. Her wound bled freely as she clasped a hand against it.
"Dad! No!" she yelled. She stepped backwards again, and bumped into Kai, who attempted to bite her as well.
Realizing these weren't the people she once knew, Karen raised a fist and punched Kai right in the nose. Kai fell backwards into her mother, and she fell back as well, banging her head on the open door. Turning back to her father, she jumped upon him, knocking them both to the floor. She was atop his strong, burly form, and when he tried to bite her again she got up, frantically searching for a weapon.
Her neck wound was beginning to ache, so she clamped her hand harder against it. The hand had gone completely red, and so had her skin around it.
Her father had gotten back up by the time she found a weapon. It was a table leg. She wielded it with one hand before the zombie as he approached.
"Dad… don't…" she croaked. It was of no use.
She swung the table leg and smashed it with a terrible crack against his head. He fell back down with a grunt. She had begun to cry, partly due to the pain in her neck and to emotion.
"I'm sorry," she said to his limp form.
Kai had reached the bottom of the stairs. As he too approached her, her dad got back up, with a nosebleed he didn't seem to notice or care about.
Karen raised the table leg again, but a sharp pain in her neck caused her to drop it and clamp her second hand against the wound. It was practically spurting blood. Covering it didn't matter.
She fell back against the wall, blinded in pain. As Kai and her father approached, she sobbed.
"No…"
The two zombies both prepared for a feast.
Karen let out a scream before her end…