With the mob left behind them, Nick and Parker sprinted through Raccoon City, engaging the infected only when absolutely necessary. They finally came to a stop, a block away from the Circular River.
Nick peeked around the corner; the street was empty and quiet.
Well, beets moans and screams any day…
Nick and Parker stepped out from the alleyway, slowly advancing into the open. Fires had engulfed some of the buildings down the street, the flames slowly but surely spreading to the neighboring buildings.
As Nick continued on, two shots rang out from a small convenient store. Nick made raised his hand and made a fist, signaling Parker to stop.
A third shot came seconds later, lighting up the interior of the building.
"Sounds like someone's still alive, lets move."
Nick and Parker advanced towards the one-story building, guns constantly pointed at the door. They weren't going to risk whoever, or whatever was in that house to surprise them.
As they came within ten feet of the building, the door slowly began to open. The two marines stopped, aiming their guns at the opening door as a man staggered out.
He looked like he had been to hell and back. His cloths were covered in dry blood, and he dragged his broken ankle behind him. His hair was a greasy jumbled mess, and it looked as though he hadn't shaved in days. As he walked out of the convenient store, he turned to look back inside, mumbling incoherently to himself.
Nick stepped forward and asked "Sir, are you ok-" Nick stopped himself, as it was obvious that the man was clearly not okay, as the man continued to mumble to himself. "Sir, can we offer you some assistance?"
The man spun around and looked straight at the soldiers. Nick could see the shock and horror in his eyes. As the man slowly raised his pistol, a nine-millimeter Berretta, Nick and Parker snapped up their rifles at him in turn.
"Don't come any closer!" The man shouted. "I'll shoot you! You won't turn me into one of you!" The man's eyes were wide in terror, as he slowly backed away.
"Sir, put the gun down, we're with the US government, and we're here to help you." Nick calmly said as he slowly stepped toward the man, his rifle constantly pointed at the man.
"The government? No, you're trying to fool me, but I'm not stupid." The man shook his head in disbelief. He then stared at Nick angrily. "After what you've done to this town, me, my friends, my… my… wife!" Tears began to run down the man's face, as he began to snap. "I, I had to do it! She killed Ted; she killed him right in front of me! Then she cam for me, I had to do it, I had to…"
Jesus, he's lost it! Nick thought, as he watched the man break down in front if him.
"Sir, don't worry, we'll take of you." Parker said as he lowered his MP7 and walked toward the man.
The man raised his pistol and fired three shots at Parker, but his shots went wild into the air and into the ground.
Nick and Parker ducked as the madman fired, screaming; "Come and take me you bastards, I'll take you all with me!"
Before the man could fire of another shot, Nick raised his rifle and put a bullet into the man's thigh, sending him sprawling on the ground.
As Nick stood up, and cautiously approached the man. With his rifle pointed at the man, Nick kicked the man's pistol to the side. The man began mumbling franticly to himself as Nick slung his rifle over his shoulder and began to examine the man. Nick quickly rapped bandaging around the bullet wound, which had surprisingly already stopped bleeding…
Looks like he managed to quiet down as well… Nick thought as the man's muttering subsided.
Nick carefully studied the man; his shirt was a mess, almost stiff with all of the dried blood. However, his left sleeve was still wet, indicating a fresh wound. Nick slowly lifted up the mans short sleeve… only to reveal the jagged, bloody imprint of a bite mark…
The man's eyes suddenly opened, and Nick was able to jump away just in time before the man's teeth bit down on his fingers. Nick pulled out his pistol, and fired twice. Two holes blossomed on the man's forehead, sending a spray of blood over Nicks combat boots. Nick continued to stare at the lifeless body before him as he holstered his pistol.
A little slower, and I'd be the next one on the street with my brains blown out.
Nick shook the thought out of his head. He had learned long ago that thinking about these things too much could get you killed… and he had no intention of not going home.
Parker approached him, his gun still pointed at the corpse, as if it would spring back to life at any moment.
"Stand down Parker, he's not getting up." Nick said as he walked away from the dead man.
Parker slowly lowered his weapon, however his finger was still firmly rapped around the trigger, ready to fire at a moments notice.
"Lieutenant, lets move out, we're only a block away from the river, and the sooner we can get this over with, the sooner we can get back home." Nick said as he un-slung his rifle.
Parker nodded in agreement and the two set off towards the river. Nick could soon hear the river as they neared the end of the street, finally coming to a stop next to the guardrail by the river.
"Lieutenant, watch my back I'm gonna try to get Baseplate on the line."
Parker turned around and surveyed the area, making sure that no nasty surprises were waiting for them.
A lone zombie stumbled out from the shadows of a building, turning its head in the direction of the two soldiers. Before it could even moan, Parker shot it right between the eyes, sending it tumbling to the floor.
Satisfied that Parker had his back, Nick turned his attention to the radio.
He began to type in Blackhawk 3's frequency, when he heard a series of explosions and gunshots from the other side of the river.
Moments later, a panicked voice came on the radio, Nic continued to hear panicked gunshots through its speakers.
"Baseplate, this is Delta squad leader, we need immediate extraction! Billy, over there!" Machine gun fire filled the background of the broadcast. "Baseplate do you copy?!"
Another soldier's voice came onto the radio; "Help me! They're everywhere!" Machine gun fire cut his voice short.
"Charles!" The squad leaders screamed. Nick then heard screams of pain mixed with sheer terror in the background. The screams sent shiver down his spine. "Jesus! They're tearing him apart! Don't just stand there Billy, SHOOT!" The machine gun fire resounded once again, and the screaming quickly fell silent.
"Delta, this is Baseplate, what happened?"
"There's too many of them, and more than have of my squad his dead! We need extraction NOW!"
"I'm sorry Delta, we cannot extract you at your current location, we're not risking another chopper.
"But we're getting slaughtered here! Unless we leave right fucking now, there'll be nothing left of us in five minutes!"
"Understood, Delta, fall back across the river, to… Amy Street, we'll send in members of Bravo squad to reinforce you.
"Negative Sir! We're not going anywhere near the hospital, the place radiates undead, find us a root away to the south from the Umbrella complex."
"Alright, move out towards… French Street, its directly to the south-east. Members of Bravo squad will meet you there."
"Got it, Delta out."
"Bravo, move to the North-East, and link-up with Delta, will see how we're gonna extract you guys then."
"Roger that." Nick said.
Whatever's going on to the North must be hell. Can't even imagine what must have wiped out Delta…
Nick signaled for Parker to follow and the two quickly moved toward the Eulson Street Bridge, eager to rendezvous with Delta, and get out of Raccoon City alive…
------------------------------
The operations room had quickly filled in the last hour. Dozens of technicians and scientists watched the live satellite feed, taking notes on the behavior of Umbrella's B.. Alyssa could almost feel their facination.
But they're all just waiting for the main event… Alyssa thought as she prepared for the release of their viral carrier.
To Alyssa's left, one of the technicians vomited, unable to witness the demise of Delta squad. Alyssa wrinkled her nose in disgust; she couldn't stand such incompetence. (not too mention the smell).
Some people just don't have the stomach for this line of work…
Alyssa had watched, without emotion, as half of "Delta Squad" torn apart by escaped Lickers and Hunters. The surviving members had quickly regrouped, and had thrust through the line of undead which had almost surrounded them. They were almost three quarters of the way to the rendezvous point with Bravo 1, and would get there at least 10 minutes before the Bravo squad members would reach them.
They'll be corpses for 5 minutes by the time they make it.
The viral carrier would lie in wait for the spec ops team, and quickly dispatch them before the arrival of their test subject. It would then ambush Bravo, and infect the subject with the experimental virus. HER virus, Alyssa corrected herself. The subject would be unconscious for at least 2 hours, during which he would be recovered and brought to the research station. If all went well, she would be a millionaire by tomorrow. She typed in the final string of code, which would release the viral carrier, and send it towards Delta and Bravo's meeting point. The final button clicked; her eyes narrowed in anticipation. She managed to crack a rare smile as she saw the viral carrier awake from unconsciousness...
