~A/N: I don't own Resident Evil, and I am eternally sorry that I
don't. Anyways, here's another chapter, dedicated to all of my loving
reviewers. NiennaAramenel: Thank you for your review, and kudos for
recognizing the similarities, I love Harry Potter as much as I love
Resident Evil. LeonFan2k3: Mass props to your for recognizing the LotR:RotK
reference, I soo owe you something. I know, I'll go get the ring from Mount
Doom! I'm sure no one will mind too much. Snikers: I love you, and your
fics, they're really well written. Blizzaga: Thank you so much, you're so
kind. I just read your fic, and I loved it, you should keep writing! Zyte:
Thank you so much for reviewing, I would have updated earlier, but I got in
a car accident and messed up my wrist. I didn't go to the doctor for my
friend's legal/insurance reasons, and so I will be plodding along from now
on, but still writing as long as people are out there reading/reviewing.
Sorry if the bitch slap was cheap, but I wanted to get a chapter out there
before people lost interest. Oh and long live Pokemon! Matro: Thank you,
and I'm glad to see that you updated. Corpasite: Thanks for the advice,
I'll consider not being all long winded all the time, I don't know how you
guys take that, and wow this a/n is becoming long winded too....sorry! Oh,
and thank you Devinedragonslayer! (Sounds like Mario) Here we go!
~***~
As the door burst open, all she could see was the tall outline of the intruder, and already she felt uncomfortable, her heart rate quickening, and the blood pounding in her head. She backed up a step, hoping to get some distance between her and the shadowy figure in front of her. That was when he, more like it, stumbled forward into the light to reveal a familiar face.
Her best friend's boyfriend, Dan, stood in front of her. Long gashes and chunks of flesh missing spoiled his once handsome face. Dark pools of blood continued to pump out of the wounds, cascading off of his face to make sickly pools on the ground. On his side a large tear was made in the fabric of his slowly reddening polo shirt, revealing a sickly amount of flesh missing just below his ribs. She watched in fascination for a moment, almost entranced by the contrast between the red of his dwindling life force and the white of his shirt. She snapped out of it as soon as he took another labored step towards her. Her eyes moved down his body, taking in his left leg which looked as though it had been in a meet grinder; his khakis were shredded, as was the meat of his thigh.
Her eyes widened in surprise, and all she could do was gasp. She let out all of her air as she screamed, long and high. She scrabbled backward towards her closet, hoping to find her field hockey stick as thoughts of childhood nightmares and movie fantasies flashed through her head. As her hand brushed over the smooth wood, she felt a cold hand grasp her arm and spin her around.
"What are you doing? Aren't you going to help me!" he screamed into her face, shaking her slightly. He had managed to get a hold of both of her shoulders, and was gripping them with such force that it took all of her self control not to whimper in pain.
"I'm sorry! I didn't know what to think, I thought you were dead. The first thing I thought of was, well zombies. But that sounds stupid, I know that now. What the hell happened to you?" she said through clenched teeth; his nails were now digging through the fabric of her shirt and into her skin.
"Zombies, is what happened!" he said quietly, dropping his hands from her shoulders, and slumping to the ground.
Cadence stood there for a minute, unable to comprehend what he had just said. She then dropped her gaze to him on the ground, and noticed that his breathing had become labored, and that he was staring around the room with unseeing eyes.
She ripped a shirt off the hanger from her closet, and knelt down next to him.
"Dan, stay with me. What happened here, where is everyone else?" she asked soothingly as she wiped the blood from his face.
He flinched before answering, "Where's Allison?"
"I don't know. I got out of class a while ago, I've been here the whole time. Now, Dan, listen to me, tell me what happened" she said more urgently this time as she held the bloodied rag to his side.
"I was in class. The doors locked. We couldn't get out. In Smith hall everyone was eating for first lunch. Allison was there. I had to get to her. I crawled out a window. Dropped to the ground. The janitor was there. He chased me. Grabbed by leg and bit me. Hurt, couldn't get up. Ate my side, my face. Kicked him and ran. People in the windows were screaming. There was a dog. I ran into the lunch building. All I could hear was screaming. Couldn't find Allison. Came here," he gasped through intakes of breath. His head began to roll around lazily on his neck, and he couldn't seem to focus his eyes.
"Oh God, Dan please stay with me!" she screamed as she saw his face begin to pale beneath the blood.
She stood up and went to her door, and stepped out into the hall, searching frantically for someone that would be able to help. After seeing no one, she began to walk towards the stairs in the hopes that she would find someone on the lower levels, but stopped when she heard Dan scream behind her.
"Don't go out there! It's not safe! They can't get up the stairs."
She turned around, puzzled, and made her way back into her room. She was about to ask him who 'they' were when he shouted again.
"Shut the door! We'll be safe here together. Please, don't leave me."
"Don't worry, I won't leave you Dan. Do you know where any of my friends are?" she said soothingly to him as she closed the door behind her.
He didn't answer, instead he panted. She moved back over towards him and noticed that the shirt she had placed over his side was now soaked in blood. She got up to get another shirt when he grasped her arm in a vice- like grip, and pulled her down to the ground with him. He loosened his grip slightly, and she knew that he had used a lot of energy, almost too much in grabbing her. She wondered briefly if he was going to die and if she would have to be the one to watch him.
Almost as if answering her unspoken question he whispered, "It hurts so bad. I don't want to die."
She stared at him a moment, taking in his shallow breathing, the sluggish blood still oozing from his wounds, the way he leaned against her bed as if it was the only thing holding him up, and the way his light blue eyes stared up at her unseeingly; the pupil dilated and unfocused. She reached up and started to smooth back his hair reassuringly, whispering soothing words. Just as she was about to tell him he wasn't going to die, the grip on her arm ceased, and his face slackened, his life leaving him in one final, heaving gasp.
"Oh, no. Dan, please come back!" she whispered through gritted teeth, shaking him slightly. He didn't reply.
She stood up holding her heart subconsciously, and looked around the room as if lost. When the door burst open for the second time she jumped back and screamed involuntarily.
"Cadence! Where have you been? Oh, I'm so glad you're alive! I was in the library when..." her friend Allison, trailed off when she noticed her boyfriend slumped on the ground.
"NO! DAN! What happened to you!" she ran past Cadence and threw herself on the ground next to him. She shook him by the shoulders, making him slide from off the bed, and slump to the ground. Allison screamed as she finally noticed his blood on her hands, and she began to sob hysterically.
Cadence watched for a moment in morbid fascination, and then turned away, hoping to give her grieving friend a moment.
She had made up her mind a long time ago that she would be going out in search of her friends, but now that she had heard Dan's frantic last words, she was worried about what she would find.
Allowing her friend a wide berth, she went to her to bed and retrieved her backpack. Pawing through its contents, she found her cell phone, which she placed in the waistband of her skirt. She paused, thinking about what else she would need for the unknown something she was about to face. A light bulb flickered on in her head, and she dropped down on her knees, reaching under her bed and finding the large box she was looking for. Opening it she found some of her most precious keep sakes. She sifted through it and found the object she had been looking for, discarding the rest. A large, silver and black pocket knife that her dad had given her in the hopes she would become more like her brother, who was in the Marines. She grabbed it, and clipped it onto her skirt near her hip.
She then focused her attention on her friend that had collapsed on top of her deceased boyfriend during the time Cadence had been searching, and was now forcing dry, racking sobs.
"Allison, get up. We have to go."
"No, we don't have to go! Do you have any idea what's even out there! You've obviously been sitting her safe while the rest of us have been fighting for our lives. I wouldn't have made it had it not been for Mrs. Riley. And everyone that had been in the Educational building is dead!" she screamed through sobs.
Slightly taken aback, she stepped towards her friend with her arms out reassuringly. "Tell me what happened then? What did this to Dan, who killed everyone!" she asked frantically, hoping to finally get some answers.
"Screw you, you little princess! I wish you would have died instead of Dan. But you're going to die anyways if you go out there, and I don't care! I hope you get eaten alive by those things, just like everyone else!" she yelled hysterically.
Shocked, she grabbed her friend by the arm, and carefully picked her up, hoping to comfort her. Allison lashed out, making a shallow cut on her face, just below her cheek bone. Cadence abruptly let go of her friend, and grabbed her cheek in shock, wondering what happened to her once passive friend.
"We can't stay here Allison. Do you really wanna stay in the same room as your dead boyfriend? We'll get out of here, okay, if we stay together," she said quietly trying to keep the anger from her voice.
"No! I'm not leaving! I refuse to, I'll stay here forever with Dan. We'll be safe together. You can't make me leave! I won't go out there with those things again!"
"Allison, if you don't get up, I'll make you get up. Now, let's go!" she yelled, her fists clenched in frustration as she advanced upon her friend.
Her friend stood her ground, raising her chin jauntily, her chest puffed out in defiance. Though, she was also wringing her hands and shaking slightly. Cadence began to recognize just how scared she was of going back outside. She gently grabbed the other girl's arm, and began to pull her towards the door.
It all happened too quickly for Cadence to stop herself. Her friend let out a high pitched scream and began to babble incoherently, all the while flailing around, occasionally catching Cadence in the face and chest with clenched fists. Cadence yelled for her friend to stop, but it was drowned out by her shrieking friend. After she felt Allison's fist connect with her right eye, she felt that she had had enough; she brought up her right hand across her body and whipped out, catching her friends cheek in an unmistakable bitch slap. She fell to the ground clutching her cheek, and immediately stopped screaming. She scuttled back to her boyfriends side and glared up at Cadence with apparent hatred.
"Fine. If you want to stay here and starve to death, then you can, I don't care anymore! At least do me the courtesy of telling me what's out there. I still don't know exactly what happened," she said. As she spoke, she felt a slight pain in her lower lip, and after reaching up and touching it, found it beginning to swell.
Her friend said nothing, instead choosing to glare. Cadence turned and surveyed her room once more, searching for her softball bat. After finding it propped up against her wall near her door, she went for it, grabbing it and the door knob in one fluid motion. Without looking back, she walked out the door. The last thing she heard before she slammed the door behind her was a slight moan and Allison whispering frantically, "What, Dana? You're hungry?".
As she reached the stairs, she heard a muffled sound behind her; the breaking of glass and the 'thump' of a large object the tell-tale signs of a struggle. She hesitated, but didn't turn around when she heard a scream echo down the hall from behind her.
~***~
~A/N: Yeah, so there is another chapter. I'm not sure if that was a cliffie though, Matro, sorry. I did it again! I'm so lame with the whole, writing long, pointless chapters, I'm sooo done now. All I have to say is REVIEW! If I know people liked what I was doing, I know that I would be spurred to continue. You guys are doing good without the one-liners, but if really don't feel in the mood to review, just say how the chapter was. Oh, and if there is anything that you guys would like to see, I could see what I could whip up. I'm only asking because this is all for you guys, and only a little for me. Next installment: Reunions, running, zombies (I promise this time), and an unfeeling main character.
~***~
As the door burst open, all she could see was the tall outline of the intruder, and already she felt uncomfortable, her heart rate quickening, and the blood pounding in her head. She backed up a step, hoping to get some distance between her and the shadowy figure in front of her. That was when he, more like it, stumbled forward into the light to reveal a familiar face.
Her best friend's boyfriend, Dan, stood in front of her. Long gashes and chunks of flesh missing spoiled his once handsome face. Dark pools of blood continued to pump out of the wounds, cascading off of his face to make sickly pools on the ground. On his side a large tear was made in the fabric of his slowly reddening polo shirt, revealing a sickly amount of flesh missing just below his ribs. She watched in fascination for a moment, almost entranced by the contrast between the red of his dwindling life force and the white of his shirt. She snapped out of it as soon as he took another labored step towards her. Her eyes moved down his body, taking in his left leg which looked as though it had been in a meet grinder; his khakis were shredded, as was the meat of his thigh.
Her eyes widened in surprise, and all she could do was gasp. She let out all of her air as she screamed, long and high. She scrabbled backward towards her closet, hoping to find her field hockey stick as thoughts of childhood nightmares and movie fantasies flashed through her head. As her hand brushed over the smooth wood, she felt a cold hand grasp her arm and spin her around.
"What are you doing? Aren't you going to help me!" he screamed into her face, shaking her slightly. He had managed to get a hold of both of her shoulders, and was gripping them with such force that it took all of her self control not to whimper in pain.
"I'm sorry! I didn't know what to think, I thought you were dead. The first thing I thought of was, well zombies. But that sounds stupid, I know that now. What the hell happened to you?" she said through clenched teeth; his nails were now digging through the fabric of her shirt and into her skin.
"Zombies, is what happened!" he said quietly, dropping his hands from her shoulders, and slumping to the ground.
Cadence stood there for a minute, unable to comprehend what he had just said. She then dropped her gaze to him on the ground, and noticed that his breathing had become labored, and that he was staring around the room with unseeing eyes.
She ripped a shirt off the hanger from her closet, and knelt down next to him.
"Dan, stay with me. What happened here, where is everyone else?" she asked soothingly as she wiped the blood from his face.
He flinched before answering, "Where's Allison?"
"I don't know. I got out of class a while ago, I've been here the whole time. Now, Dan, listen to me, tell me what happened" she said more urgently this time as she held the bloodied rag to his side.
"I was in class. The doors locked. We couldn't get out. In Smith hall everyone was eating for first lunch. Allison was there. I had to get to her. I crawled out a window. Dropped to the ground. The janitor was there. He chased me. Grabbed by leg and bit me. Hurt, couldn't get up. Ate my side, my face. Kicked him and ran. People in the windows were screaming. There was a dog. I ran into the lunch building. All I could hear was screaming. Couldn't find Allison. Came here," he gasped through intakes of breath. His head began to roll around lazily on his neck, and he couldn't seem to focus his eyes.
"Oh God, Dan please stay with me!" she screamed as she saw his face begin to pale beneath the blood.
She stood up and went to her door, and stepped out into the hall, searching frantically for someone that would be able to help. After seeing no one, she began to walk towards the stairs in the hopes that she would find someone on the lower levels, but stopped when she heard Dan scream behind her.
"Don't go out there! It's not safe! They can't get up the stairs."
She turned around, puzzled, and made her way back into her room. She was about to ask him who 'they' were when he shouted again.
"Shut the door! We'll be safe here together. Please, don't leave me."
"Don't worry, I won't leave you Dan. Do you know where any of my friends are?" she said soothingly to him as she closed the door behind her.
He didn't answer, instead he panted. She moved back over towards him and noticed that the shirt she had placed over his side was now soaked in blood. She got up to get another shirt when he grasped her arm in a vice- like grip, and pulled her down to the ground with him. He loosened his grip slightly, and she knew that he had used a lot of energy, almost too much in grabbing her. She wondered briefly if he was going to die and if she would have to be the one to watch him.
Almost as if answering her unspoken question he whispered, "It hurts so bad. I don't want to die."
She stared at him a moment, taking in his shallow breathing, the sluggish blood still oozing from his wounds, the way he leaned against her bed as if it was the only thing holding him up, and the way his light blue eyes stared up at her unseeingly; the pupil dilated and unfocused. She reached up and started to smooth back his hair reassuringly, whispering soothing words. Just as she was about to tell him he wasn't going to die, the grip on her arm ceased, and his face slackened, his life leaving him in one final, heaving gasp.
"Oh, no. Dan, please come back!" she whispered through gritted teeth, shaking him slightly. He didn't reply.
She stood up holding her heart subconsciously, and looked around the room as if lost. When the door burst open for the second time she jumped back and screamed involuntarily.
"Cadence! Where have you been? Oh, I'm so glad you're alive! I was in the library when..." her friend Allison, trailed off when she noticed her boyfriend slumped on the ground.
"NO! DAN! What happened to you!" she ran past Cadence and threw herself on the ground next to him. She shook him by the shoulders, making him slide from off the bed, and slump to the ground. Allison screamed as she finally noticed his blood on her hands, and she began to sob hysterically.
Cadence watched for a moment in morbid fascination, and then turned away, hoping to give her grieving friend a moment.
She had made up her mind a long time ago that she would be going out in search of her friends, but now that she had heard Dan's frantic last words, she was worried about what she would find.
Allowing her friend a wide berth, she went to her to bed and retrieved her backpack. Pawing through its contents, she found her cell phone, which she placed in the waistband of her skirt. She paused, thinking about what else she would need for the unknown something she was about to face. A light bulb flickered on in her head, and she dropped down on her knees, reaching under her bed and finding the large box she was looking for. Opening it she found some of her most precious keep sakes. She sifted through it and found the object she had been looking for, discarding the rest. A large, silver and black pocket knife that her dad had given her in the hopes she would become more like her brother, who was in the Marines. She grabbed it, and clipped it onto her skirt near her hip.
She then focused her attention on her friend that had collapsed on top of her deceased boyfriend during the time Cadence had been searching, and was now forcing dry, racking sobs.
"Allison, get up. We have to go."
"No, we don't have to go! Do you have any idea what's even out there! You've obviously been sitting her safe while the rest of us have been fighting for our lives. I wouldn't have made it had it not been for Mrs. Riley. And everyone that had been in the Educational building is dead!" she screamed through sobs.
Slightly taken aback, she stepped towards her friend with her arms out reassuringly. "Tell me what happened then? What did this to Dan, who killed everyone!" she asked frantically, hoping to finally get some answers.
"Screw you, you little princess! I wish you would have died instead of Dan. But you're going to die anyways if you go out there, and I don't care! I hope you get eaten alive by those things, just like everyone else!" she yelled hysterically.
Shocked, she grabbed her friend by the arm, and carefully picked her up, hoping to comfort her. Allison lashed out, making a shallow cut on her face, just below her cheek bone. Cadence abruptly let go of her friend, and grabbed her cheek in shock, wondering what happened to her once passive friend.
"We can't stay here Allison. Do you really wanna stay in the same room as your dead boyfriend? We'll get out of here, okay, if we stay together," she said quietly trying to keep the anger from her voice.
"No! I'm not leaving! I refuse to, I'll stay here forever with Dan. We'll be safe together. You can't make me leave! I won't go out there with those things again!"
"Allison, if you don't get up, I'll make you get up. Now, let's go!" she yelled, her fists clenched in frustration as she advanced upon her friend.
Her friend stood her ground, raising her chin jauntily, her chest puffed out in defiance. Though, she was also wringing her hands and shaking slightly. Cadence began to recognize just how scared she was of going back outside. She gently grabbed the other girl's arm, and began to pull her towards the door.
It all happened too quickly for Cadence to stop herself. Her friend let out a high pitched scream and began to babble incoherently, all the while flailing around, occasionally catching Cadence in the face and chest with clenched fists. Cadence yelled for her friend to stop, but it was drowned out by her shrieking friend. After she felt Allison's fist connect with her right eye, she felt that she had had enough; she brought up her right hand across her body and whipped out, catching her friends cheek in an unmistakable bitch slap. She fell to the ground clutching her cheek, and immediately stopped screaming. She scuttled back to her boyfriends side and glared up at Cadence with apparent hatred.
"Fine. If you want to stay here and starve to death, then you can, I don't care anymore! At least do me the courtesy of telling me what's out there. I still don't know exactly what happened," she said. As she spoke, she felt a slight pain in her lower lip, and after reaching up and touching it, found it beginning to swell.
Her friend said nothing, instead choosing to glare. Cadence turned and surveyed her room once more, searching for her softball bat. After finding it propped up against her wall near her door, she went for it, grabbing it and the door knob in one fluid motion. Without looking back, she walked out the door. The last thing she heard before she slammed the door behind her was a slight moan and Allison whispering frantically, "What, Dana? You're hungry?".
As she reached the stairs, she heard a muffled sound behind her; the breaking of glass and the 'thump' of a large object the tell-tale signs of a struggle. She hesitated, but didn't turn around when she heard a scream echo down the hall from behind her.
~***~
~A/N: Yeah, so there is another chapter. I'm not sure if that was a cliffie though, Matro, sorry. I did it again! I'm so lame with the whole, writing long, pointless chapters, I'm sooo done now. All I have to say is REVIEW! If I know people liked what I was doing, I know that I would be spurred to continue. You guys are doing good without the one-liners, but if really don't feel in the mood to review, just say how the chapter was. Oh, and if there is anything that you guys would like to see, I could see what I could whip up. I'm only asking because this is all for you guys, and only a little for me. Next installment: Reunions, running, zombies (I promise this time), and an unfeeling main character.