Chapter Four: From Bad to Worse

Truly sorry about the long delay between chapters. I have been hideously busy, and didn't have much inspiration to write until today. So I hope you all haven't lost interest. Incidentally, has anyone thought it odd that there aren't any kid zombies in RE games? Weren't there any children in Raccoon City? Anyway, that's beside the point. On to the story. As always, thanks for the support! Enjoy!

Before Jan had taken ten steps, however, a huge form crashed down onto the street in front of him, landing in a crouch before rising to its full menacing height of eight feet. It was clad in a black longcoat, and above that was a pale dome of a head, bald and skeletal, with eyes that glittered red in the dark. Jan took an involuntary step backward at the sight of it.

The creature - although it was human in shape, it could hardly be called a man - took a giant step forward, lead-soled boots thumping on the asphalt. Jan swore, recognizing the intent to kill in its eyes, and quickly backed up, drawing Matilda and unloading the full clip into the thing's chest without effect. At this close of range, the bullets would have punched their way through a solid wall, but the longcoat was apparently made of some pretty impressive material.

Jan barely had time to register the situation as "bad" before a huge hand swept across his field of vision. He felt his feet leave the ground, and he sailed effortlessly backwards and crashed into a wall. There was a distinct sound of protest from his broken ribs, and he bit his lip to hold back a gasp of pain. He could taste blood.

Shit! Oh, not good …

Before he could stagger to his feet again, the monstrous form jumped - a leap that would make any Olympic athlete cry with joy - and landed right in front of him. Its hand clamped down on his head and lifted him bodily up, holding him suspended in the air. As he struggled futilely, Jan was intensely grateful for his helmet. Without it, his head would have been crushed like an egg.

Distantly, he heard someone shout. He couldn't hear properly, but he thought the words were something like, "Let him go!" Whether or not that was correct, the creature did drop him a moment later. He landed on his feet, jammed another clip into Matilda, and was ready to fire again within three seconds.

But the creature's attention was no longer on him; it was focused on Annabelle. The brainless girl, instead of running as fast as she could in the other direction, had actually come over and attacked it. She hadn't done any damage, of course, but she had distracted it enough to make it release Jan.

With a roar, it swung a massive arm at her. She dodged it with a well-timed backflip, but unfortunately, she hadn't anticipated the thing's follow-up, and its second strike knocked her flat.

"Over here, asshole!" Jan cried sharply, firing at the creature a few times before it could stomp on her. He didn't bother to aim at the coat any more, just going straight for the head. It was still less effective than he had hoped, but at least it did some damage. More importantly, the creature swiveled yet again to face him. It didn't seem to have a lot of brains, Jan reflected.

He rolled out of the way as it attacked again, unloading a few more bullets into its head. God damn, he thought, it's skull has to be made of pure titanium. He wondered if he would even be able to kill it, and realized that he probably would not. Not with the amount of ammo that he had on him now, anyway. His best option at this point was to run.

He had already used all of his frag grenades in the fight against Birkin, but he still had a flashbang left. It was totally harmless, but it might at least prove a good distraction. He pulled the pin and flung it as far away as he could.

When the ear-splitting noise came, the creature predictably turned to face it and then stomped off down the street. Jan grabbed Annabelle's hand and hauled her upright. She groaned, but he had no time to be gentle. He had to get them out of there now.

"Wait!" Annabelle hissed, standing her ground as he tried to drag her down a nearby alleyway.

He gave her an irritated look. "What?"

"Auguste and the boy! We can't leave them!"

Oh. He'd completely forgotten about the dog and the little waif. The kid was trembling next to a dumpster, his arms wrapped tightly around his thin body. Auguste was standing in front of him, crouched in preparation for a fight. He seemed to be taking his duties as a protector very seriously.

Annabelle whistled softly. "Come, Auguste! Come on! Good boy!"

The golden retriever bounded half-way across the street before stopping to look back. The boy hadn't moved. Auguste barked once, but got no response. Jan guessed that the kid was terrified beyond the capacity to move.

"Useless," he muttered. "Stay here and keep your head down." He sprinted back to the dumpster and unceremoniously grabbed the kid, throwing him over his shoulder and dashing away again before the creature could lose interest in his flashbang and come after them again.

Annabelle held out her arms for the boy, and Jan handed him over. Taking the lead, he set off down the alley, keeping an ear open for roaring coming from behind them.

At the end of the narrow passage, he took a right, shooting a few more infected that were skulking around. The pathway looked clear, apart from two mangled bodies. Their heads were missing, and their intestines spilled out onto the ground from gaping holes in their stomachs. Annabelle averted her head and made a little retching noise in her throat as they passed by.

Jan looked back to make sure they weren't being followed. His attention was only occupied for a split second, but when he turned around again, there was a swarm of the unusual red-skinned infected that he had seen earlier in front of the lab. But these ones weren't running aimlessly in circles; they were heading straight for him.

He put a bullet between the first one's opaque eyes, cracked the second over the head with the butt of his pistol, and tripped up the third one, bringing his foot down on its head with all the force he could muster. Its skull cracked, and rotting brains squished under his boot.

The fourth one spat some kind of green slime at him. Its aim was impressive, and his vision was completely obscured as the stuff clogged up the eyeholes on his mask. He scrubbed at it with his left hand, blind-firing in the direction of the infected. Annabelle seemed to understand the situation; she shouted, "Aim higher! About a foot higher!" He followed the directions and heard a thump as the infected collapsed.

But their seemed to be no end to the swarm, and Jan realized that he had no choice but to retreat. He back slowly away, keeping up a steady stream of bullets from his gun. Shit, what a way to waste ammo. These red infected were tougher than the others; it took several rounds to take one down, and they were faster too.

There was a crash from just behind him, and he glanced around to see that a door that had been tightly closed when they first came through had just broken apart under the strain of about six more infected pushing against it. The leader of them grabbed onto Annabelle before Jan could do anything about it. He kicked it off, shouting, "Get back! Get away from here! Hurry!"

Then he was seized from the side. His elbow came around quickly, but there were just too many of them, and he was borne to the ground. Countless hands tugged at his clothes, trying to find a purchase on his body so they could sink their teeth in and start their meal.

Jan gritted his teeth. No! I will not let this be how it ends! I promised Bella I would survive no matter what, and that's what I'm damn well going to do!

He ripped the last flashbang from his belt and tore out the pin, shoving it through a gap in the mass of dead bodies surrounding him. The resulting blast of light and sound was intense, burning his eyes even through his protective mask. The horde of red infected released him and staggered back, their voices exploding in ugly shrieks. It seemed they weren't too fond of brightness or loud noises.

Jan took the opportunity, knowing that he wouldn't have long. Scrambling upright, he looked around for Annabelle. She was crouched on the ground nearby, clutching her arm. He grabbed a handful of her shirt and dragged her upright. The silent boy, for once, was right next to her, clinging to her waist with his small hands. Jan pushed the pair of them in front of him through the doorway that the infected had broken out of. There was a set of stairs ahead of them, and he made them climb it.

The door at the top was still intact, and after he opened it and cleared the room, he pushed the heaviest thing he could find in front of it and hoped it would hold up under a serious assault. He could already hear the first dragging steps of the infected on the staircase.

The place they were in now looked like a poor family's apartment complex. Kids' toys were scattered all over the floor, and Jan kicked them out of the way as he moved around. He checked the kitchen, the two bedrooms, the tiny bathroom, and the small outside balcony, but it was all deserted. Perhaps the family in question had gone on vacation before this whole mess started. Or perhaps they were all dead.

He returned to the living room. Auguste was busy marking a potted cactus in the corner as his property, but for some reason, Annabelle wasn't scolding him. Instead, she was lying on her side on the couch, her legs dangling over the edge. Her face was an unhealthy pallor, and Jan felt the first prickle of unease.

"You okay?" he asked, walking over to her. She looked up at him as though she was seeing through a haze, and managed a weary smile.

"Yeah. Fine. Just tired out, that's all. It's been a hard day."

He almost chuckled, but her breathing was ragged and way too fast, and there was a fine dew of sweat on her brow.

"Want some water?" he asked.

Annabelle nodded. He got a glass from the cupboard, checked to make sure it was clean, and held it under the tap. But the water that came out smelled foul, like something had died in it, so he tried the fridge instead. There was a six-pack of unopened coca colas, so he retrieved one and brought it back to her, cracking open the top.

"I don't usually drink soda," she protested, sitting up a little to take it from him. "It's bad for your teeth." She took a deep gulp, then held it out to the boy, who was standing silent nearby, staring at her. "Want some, sweetie?"

But as he reached out to take it, she was seized by a fit of coughing. The can fell from her hand and hit the floor, spilling bubbling pools of coke everywhere. Annabelle tried to apologize through her gasps for breath, her right hand pressed to her chest. Her left arm, Jan noticed, lay suspiciously limp at her side.

Reaching out, he lifted the limb gently and rolled up her sleeve. He already had a good idea of what he would find, but he had been hoping that it wasn't true, that she was just tired and maybe a little sick. She could have caught a cold, right?

But as the fabric went above her elbow, it was revealed: a bite mark oozing blood, in the exact shape of a set of human teeth.