Chapter 4: Theatre of the Damned

Dempsey groaned and opened his eyes. Everything was black except for a tiny corner of light in the top right corner of the crushing darkness. He was aware of sounds outside and the next thing he knew, the bit of light grew bigger, as Takeo moved the rubble that he was underneath.

"Now is not the time for sleep, American." said Takeo, as he helped Dempsey up. He looked around and saw that this place had changed a lot since they had last been here. They were in the lobby but parts of the roof had fallen in and it looked even more wrecked than before. He looked outside and saw the sky was blood-red. That's when he remembered something.

"The Earth was destroyed though. By nukes. How are we not dead from all that radiation?" he asked to nobody in particular, as he pulled Nixon onto his feet.

Richtofen's voice rang out across the cinema. He cackled madly, before saying, "Vell spotted, Dempschey! I have extended a shield around ze Kino to protect from all the radiation! Now, onto finding your leetle girl! I asked you vat vas Samanza's favourite movie? Ze film reel is somevere here! Have fuuun!"

"What is little girl's favourite movie? Something Russian?" asked Nikolai, as Michael Rooker pulled him up.

"Nein. It's ze Jazz Singer. She alvays liked foreign movies." Maxis was lost in thought for a while, before snapping back to reality and concluding, "Ve need to find zis movie."

"We should split up. Our search will be faster." said Castro, as he took an Olympia from the wall.

"What? On our own?" Nikon gasped, staring wide-eyed at Maxis.

"And I'm not going with him." sighed Castro, indicating Nixon.

Dempsey rolled his eyes and announced, "We'll go two and two. I'll put you in pairs and you'll like 'em."

Once Dempsey was done, the groups were:

Nikolai and Castro

Michael Rooker and Takeo

John Englund and Nixon

Danny Trejo and Maxis

"...and you two can go together." Dempsey said, pointing at the two marines. "I'll be fine on my own. Everybody ready? Good. Grab a gun from the wall and move out."

Dempsey took the Olympia and turned to go to the alley. As he began to walk, he heard the two marines talking in hushed whispers.

"Should we tell him?"

"No, you heard what Maxis said..."

"Yeah, but..."

One marine nudged the other and indicated Dempsey. They stopped talking immediately and Dempsey walked on, looking back over his shoulder at the two marines. Something was definitely off...

As he turned the corner, he could hear Rooker attempting to engage Takeo in conversation, without success. Then, he was out of earshot and into the alleyway. He shook his head at the Double Tap machine and walked on. Double Tap would be no use on an Olympia.

He turned the corner of the fence and saw a famillar box.

"Sweet!" he grinned, setting down his Olympia and kicking the box. The lid opened and the game of chance began. The box eventually settled on a Galil.

"Time to make some noise!" he smiled, taking the Galil from the box. He sighed and realised he might as well, so he kicked the box again. It was a teddy bear and Richtofen laughed as the box disappeared.

"Fuck you, Richtofen." muttered Dempsey as he walked on, now holding his Galil. It wasn't long before he stumbled across a zombie. It was slow and he took it down with a burst from his Galil.

"Stay dead, cheesehead!" He kicked it as he stepped over it and continued to the stage. He had still not found the reel he was looking for. He knew Richtofen was prone to lying and was starting to wonder if it was actually here.

He arrived at the stage and saw Nikolai and Castro just below.

"Found anything yet?" asked Dempsey, jumping off the stage and approaching them.

"One or two zombies." replied Castro. "But nothing else. I can't imagine he can see much anyway."

"Oh, yes? Well, you are...very smelly." slurred Nikolai, prodding a finger into Castro's chest.

Dempsey and Castro exchanged a look and Dempsey shrugged. He was beginning to wonder how Nikolai stayed drunk all the time, when a yell came from the dressing room.

"Hurry!" said Castro, grabbing his M14. Nikolai staggered after, yelling, "Wait for me!"

They all ran into the dressing room and found Maxis attempting to take down about eleven zombies with the butt of his rifle. Dempsey and Castro soon made short work of the zombies, while Nikolai vomited in the corner, and turned to face Maxis.

"Where's that Mexican guy?" asked Dempsey, looking around for him.

"Ve got separated by wreckage. Ve need to find him."

Castro called from the next room. "I found him. Kind of."

They all followed Castro in and found Danny's severed arm. It was clutching a film reel with the label, "The Jazz Singer' on it.

"Ach, Danny. Go in peace." Maxis sighed, as he plucked the film reel from his hand.

"Odd. There weren't that many." Castro said, holstering his Olympia.

"He didn't die of zombies." Dempsey almost whispered.

"Have you lost mind, American? What else could have killed him? Vodka?" asked Nikolai, swaying slightly. Maxis propped him up against the wall, as Dempsey continued.

"We have to make a sacrifice to get one clue every time. I know what Richtofen's like. He's a lot more psychopathic than Samantha."

Richtofen's manic laughter echoed around the room and his equally manic voice followed with, "You really are cleverer than you look, Dempschey! But now you've worked out the game, I can't let you cheat."

All the doors slammed shut and zombies came pouring down the stairs. The four pulled out their weapons, as the zombies edged closer.

"Zank you for playing, everyvone! Goodbye!"

Ooh! Cliffhanger! No, I mean the story, not the level out of MW2. Review to find out what happens next!