Chapter 3:
Chaos
The red car was swerving all over the road. Without thinking, Taylor fire his gun at the zombies. He took out the one covering the windshield. With that done the car skidded to a stop before hitting the building in front of it. It happened to be a restaurant too, with the stove and gas tanks there. The trio ran up to the car to the car. A man was sluggishly coming out. "T-Thanks", he stammered.
"Where'd you come from?", Elly asked.
"I ran away from Sunset Bridge.", the bald, round man explained, "That area is infested with those…things".
Klonoa stared at the road that the car came from. "So, it's down that road?"
"Yes…", the man replied, "…but I wouldn't recommend it, there are creatures running rampant down the road."
Taylor was pacing. "Well, sir, you could have this." He tossed him a gun he had in his trench coat. "Aim for their heads", was the last thing he said before the wall of the building next to them shattered. Out came more zombies, led by what looked like obese, executioner zombies. They had the executioner masks on, had rough green skin and had black slack-looking pants. The cabbit fired at the fat undead, but it seemed like they could take a large amount of punishment before they could be killed. It was mostly due to their fat. Elly and Taylor, knew the best way to kill these creatures, and that way is more obvious than before. With the zombies dead, the trio had a dilemma.
"I think we should split up", the cabbit suggested. Elly agreed too. Taylor wasn't so sure. "Okay…but where do we have to go?"
"We gotta get to Sunset Bridge as quickly as possible.", Klonoa explained, "And we have to evacuate everyone there!'
"But, that's what the police are doing right now.", gritted Taylor.
"Dude, it won't hurt to help", said Elly, "You and me can check out this building, while he go up the alleyway, then we'll all meet up at the bridge. Here Klonoa, you might need these.". She tossed a handful of 9mm clips, that she got from her sweatshirt.
With that being said the three, split up. Klonoa continued on forward to a set of stairs, medical bag across his shoulder like a one strapped backpack. More zombies sprang up from vans. When he took care of these things, he noticed a logo on the side of one of the vans. It simply said: "GOLDMAN SHIPPING INC." Then something struck the cabbit inside. He remembered the journal that Dr. Curien had, and how it talked about a person named Goldman. "How could I forget?", he thought, "Guntz mentioned him, Curien wrote about him , and even the Magician gave a little clue about him. Guess I gotta tell Elly and Taylor at the bridge.". Klonoa made his up the stairs. A little dagger struck the ground nearly going through his foot, the same one he shot at the mansion. He looked and saw something leap from building. The cabbit took no chances and fired at the figure. Then it landed sternly on the ground. Klonoa hadn't seen this before. It was a zombie that had the clothes of a ninja (torn and whatnot), had two daggers in it's hands and was crouching down, ready to strike. Klonoa began firing his gun at it. This zombie was fast and agile, this caught the cabbit by surprise. It was backflipping and walking on walls. It was deflecting his bullets by pinpointing the location they were coming at, and then sticking the daggers out there. Then in a flash the ninja zombie sprang up and threw the dagger at him. It moved in a straight line. It was like a 90 mile per hour baseball, that struck his leg. The dagger went through the cabbit's shin. Klonoa almost lost his ground. The zombie though, kept doing its aerobatics all over the alleyway. With a well placed shot and a stroke of luck, Klonoa was able to hit his head. This took the zombie's rhythm as it tripped over itself. The cabbit took no chances and continued firing at its head. By the time he was done, the head was nearly decapitated. He was now completely blood stained. His shirt had little droplets, and so did his face. Realizing that he still had the dagger inside of him, the cabbit sat on the corner and worked with it, until it came out. When the dagger was finally out, his leg was drenched in blood. He took his medical bag and simply put medical tape. Klonoa was feeling pain all over him, but he didn't care he's had it much worse.
While Klonoa was tackling the alleyway, Elly and Taylor were investigating the building. It was a hotel, and it had an eerie setting because, no one was there. "Man, this is like a game of Resident Evil", Elly whispered.
"No, it's not", Taylor shot back. Then they heard a large buzzing noise…like a chainsaw. Elly opened the door to a hallway. "Look, over there!", exclaimed Taylor. At the edge of the hallway and into the turn they saw a man laying there, with a deep bloody hole in his back. The whole room was a awful mess. With blood on the ceiling and walls. The buzzing noise came back, but it sounded much closer. The two agents quickly turned back, guns raised, and began firing at an undead menace, wielding two chainsaws. It swiped for Taylor's head, and it jabbed the chainsaw at Elly, who thankfully got away from that one. It looked like a delusional zombie with a yellow vest and jeans. This zombie was a light blue in skin color. Suddenly, Elly looked towards the other hallway and saw zombies, quickly limping to them. "Taylor! You got that handled?", referring to the chainsaw zombie.
"Already taken care of", he commented. They fired at the zombies and headed towards the hallway. Without warning one of the suite doors slammed open and a woman stumbled out. "Help!! Oh, God! Somebody!", she wailed. The duo wasted no time dispersing the creatures. "Miss, are you okay?", asked Taylor.
"Yeah, I'm fine"
"Did you get bitten at all?", asked Elly.
"No, I was just watching what was going on at Sunset Bridge, and then these…things sprang from the windows!"
"Sunset…Bridge?", the two agents said at the same time.
"It's on the news!!", the woman chirped.
Elly and Taylor dashed to the TV, watching the broadcast.
"This is BBC News on channel 8", the reporter started, "An unknown force is terrorizing the tranquil city of Venice at this very moment. Authorities announced that the situation is critical, and say it is too dangerous for media to go there. We have however, have gotten a bird's eye view of the situation, Jack Kaupman will now report". Then the camera switched to a helicopter pilot who looked like a reporter.
"Thanks, Tom as you can see, hordes of these creatures are walking the streets, and even the freeway to Goldman building. We're not sure if the CEO of the shipping company, Caleb Goldman is behind any of this. In a moment, we'll pass right through Venice's Sunset Bridge. Just a minute! It seems like some kind of thing is keeping guard of the bridge. Oh, there are many bodies laying on the floor, if you look at the camera when we zoom in."
Taylor shut off. "I think that's enough, we have to hurry and meet Klonoa there."
"Right", said the echidna.
"Wait what about me?", the woman complained.
"Grab a weapon and follow the trail of dead zombies, the police should still be scouting for survivors", the fox ordered.
The alleyway then split into two routes, one was a bridge and another was a gate. Having taken care of more ninja zombies. Klonoa was about to head to the bridge, when he saw something sparkle. Laying next to the deceased body, was a key. The cabbit decided to open the gate. He continued walking and then turned to his left to see, an executioner zombie holding a big barrel over his head. Klonoa wasted no time shooting the barrel, but was stricken when the fat creature, started charging him. Klonoa fired rapidly until the upper half of its body until it was no more. Just as he was about to catch his breath, a door swung open. Out came a little boy fleeing from another of those executioner things. Klonoa focused on head shots. The little boy turned around to witness the zombie drop down bleeding. The cabbit walked to the boy, who wore a golf cap, had a long sleeve shirt and a sweater vest, and a pair of shorts. "Where are your parents?", asked Klonoa quickly.
"M-My dad is still inside!", he replied.
"You better come with me inside, who knows what could come out here."
He walked into a bar. The back door was being pounded on. "HELP!!", a voice screamed. Klonoa saw a lock on the door, a without hesitating shot it loose. A man stumbled down with a zombie in his trail. The cabbit blew the zombie's head off.
"My son!", the man exclaimed as he saw the little boy behind Klonoa. The man then threw out some Italian at him, and the little boy replied to him in the same language. "How can I ever repay you?", the father said in a thick accent. "By getting the hell out of here.", Klonoa ordered, "Grab a weapon and look for the police, I think they're still evacuating the city." The man nodded and ran out the bar. With a sigh, Klonoa kept walking, until he heard a news theme song on the TV. "Well while I'm here maybe I'll have a drink.", he said to himself. Klonoa poured himself a glass of sparkling cider and heard the announcers give their broadcast.
"The situation on Venice has exceeded as the slaughtering at Sunset Bridge is begin to reach a new high. A creature has been the culprit of this as the police are doing the best they can to evacuate the city and handle the situation, so far…it hasn't gone well."
Elly and Taylor walked into a cellar that has taken up water. They spotted more zombies at the bottom, but these ones were different. All they had was there upper torso intact and seemed to be quick with their hands. The agents took care of them and crossed the puddle of water and into the next room. It looked like a wine storage place. "Better look around here, Taylor", said Elly. The place was completely empty until a door burst open. Leeches slithered out all over the place. Millions of them. "What the hell are these things!?", Elly stammered as she fired her gun. "They look like leeches, but not the ordinary ones.", Taylor answered. One of the leeches jumped up and clinged on to the echidna's hand. "Agh, you little ass!!", she shouted shooting it off. Then another one jumped on the other hand, and then another and so forth. "Shit! Taylor open the freaking door!!", she cursed. The fox shoved the door open and the two tripped in. Taylor shut the door in a hurry. The leeches were still trying to get through. Elly winced in pain, as her hands were covered with her own blood, as it smeared from the little punctured holes in her gloves. "Don't worry that cabbit has that medical bag.", Taylor said trying to encourage her. The duo kept walking down the hallway. Finally they made out of the building. The sun was setting now, but they couldn't tell for big purple clouds covered what could of been a beautiful orange sky. They ran down and crossed a bridge that was above one of Venice's canals. "That's where all those lovebirds would come by, in those little gondolas", Elly pointed out. Everything seemed peaceful, but a slimy green hand ruined that when it splashed out of the water and grabbed Taylor. It dragged him to the canal. It looked like a zombie that had seaweed like skin, had flipper like hands. It's face was gruesome as it had seaweed all over and his teeth were all disfigured. Elly fired at the being before it had a chance to strike. The creature sank down, with its blood staining the murky green water. Taylor swan up to nearest ladder and grabbed Elly's hand. "Ugh, dude you freakin' stink!", she complained. Taylor let out a heavy sigh.
Klonoa walked down the tight passageway. The passage turned left. The cabbit almost had a stroke when he saw that it lead to a sidewalk, that was all broken up and had sunk into the huge river up ahead. He couldn't tell how deep he was, for he knew water and him are like sworn enemies. Fish sprang out the water, and the kind you'd want to fish for. They had razor sharp teeth, and looked very mutated. The cabbit was dodging the fish that were flying out. But this made him lose his balance as he face planted into the water, which wasn't so deep. Klonoa shivered when he got up. He followed the sunk sidewalk, and suddenly seaweed zombies crawled out. His quick wits took care of those monsters. Klonoa was relieved to find a set of stairs. A sign was near them read: "Welcome to Sunset Bridge". He sighed in accomplishment that he finally made it. Now he had to wait for Elly and Taylor. He walked up the stairs and saw two executioner zombies, carrying battles. He shot the barrels and killed the one to the left, but the other was charging at him. Klonoa got the wind knocked out of him and he rolled back down on the stairs. Then he looked up and saw the zombie leap off the top of the stairs and body slammed him, hoping that its weight would constrict him. Klonoa was under the fat zombie, gasping for breath. It felt like his eyes were going to explode, as the zombie wouldn't get off. As a last resort, he pointed the gun, with his free arm and continuously fired at it until rolled over dead. The cabbit got himself up and made his up the stairs…again.
The two agents finally made it to the bridge. "Hey! There's Klonoa!", yelled Elly. Klonoa wearily climbed the steps. Taylor was just about start speaking, when the cabbit interrupted him by saying: "Can it Taylor, I already know what's going on at the bridge.".
"So, you saw the news too, huh?", Elly commented.
"Yeah, I know, that thing is killing everybody around here…but I know who's behind it!"
Elly and Taylor looked at him with great curiosity.
"It was Goldman", Klonoa started. "The Goldman? The one who works at Goldman building?", asked Taylor.
"Yes, that Goldman, he was behind the Curien case and now he's the link to all of this."
"Dude, how do you know he was behind the '98 Curien case?", Elly butted in.
"He literally put a TV with a stand in front of the entrance, to the doctor's underground lab."
There was a short pause. "What happened to your hands?", the cabbit asked.
"Leeches…what happened to your leg?", Elly replied.
"Ninja zombie."
The echidna raised a brow when she heard the reply.
Suddenly they felt a huge eruption and heard the citizen scream and yell. The trio rushed over to the bridge and saw that it half of it was blown to pieces. "Holy crap…", whispered Elly. Then a huge mutant leaped from the wreckage and almost crushed the trio. The thing looked like some sort of sea creature. It had a eel-looking face and had green scaly arms and legs. It had a long staff with a huge blade at the top. It's chest looked like it was bursting out. Then it opened up revealing the creature's own heart pulsing in there. "That rib like chest is probably what's protecting its weak spot right?", Taylor guessed.
Klonoa flipped through G's files and found the creature there. "The Hierophant, Type B 05". A thick circle was drawn over the mutant's chest and heart. "It's the heart! The red pulsing in his chest". The two agents began to fire at the Hierophant's chest. Bullets bounced off the rib-like covering. "Hey, man! It's not working!", shouted Elly. "That's because you have to wait for the casing to open up!", the cabbit snapped. The covering opened up and the trio, wasted no time firing at the beating heart. The monster bellowed in pain and anger. It regained it's balance and leaped up in the air, with it's staff blade pointing down. In a blink of an eye the creature hurled down. Unfortunately, Taylor didn't react fast enough to dodge the attack, but fast enough not to get killed. He attempted to leap back, but the blade cut right through his foot. Now he was pinned. The Hierophant took this opportunity to slash him to death. But it revealed its weak spot, and took heavy fire from all three of them…again. The mutant withdrew his staff from the fox's foot, and leaped back down to the river. They ran after it only to find it floating in the water. It screeched in command and pointed its scaly finger at them. Then, fish started diving out, towards them. Klonoa noticed that the creature still opened its chest up. "You guys can take care of the fish", he said dodging the yellow fish, "I'll aim for its heart." Elly and Taylor managed to stop the barrage of fish. Klonoa greatly weakened the beast. With its options running low, the Hierophant sunk down to the river. "Did it finally give up?", asked Taylor, who had a strained face on.
Elly and Klonoa exchanged looks for they don't know if it was defeated or not. Suddenly, the monster sprang up from the right. Taking by surprise, Elly accidentally pulled the trigger. With a stroke of luck, the one bullet hit the target, and the beast was thrown of balance. The creature roared in anger, and jumped back down to the river. "It's probably come out on the right", the cabbit guessed. He was right, the Hierophant leaped from the left side of the bridge, blade pointed down. The trio pounded it with bullets. The monster screeched in defeat when it landed. It was gripping its chest as though it was about to explode. It's ironic to say that it did burst. His heart burst into pieces, with blood spraying out. Bleeding and gushing, the creature free fell to the river, this time dead. They could see it floating lifeless, with the river being stained in red. The trio was covered in the creature's blood. "Well, that's that.", commented Elly. Since the cabbit had a medical bag, they were able to fix up Taylor's foot. "The streets are probably invaded with hordes of the living dead.", Taylor said morbidly. Soon, Elly spotted a docked boat, a speed boat. "Maybe, going down the river would be better.", she suggested.
Meanwhile at one building linked to this, a patient Goldman sat on his desk. "Well, I finally captured G…all I need to do is wait for his transformation to be complete. I hope that I could use him for another time.". He got up from his desk and took the elevator from his office. He went to the top of the building in the helicopter pad and walked to a blue-glowing pod, with many tubes coming out. "The Emperor shall awaken soon, though…"
--
gasp Could G's transformation for the book to go supernatural?
Don't worry everything will all be revealed at the end.