The Investigation

Author's note: Okay, it's become clear that some focus of this story is on my original character of Ana Torres, being that she has been playing a rather big role in this. So for this chapter, this is one that is primarily centered on her, even though she has some support in it.

Also, as to why I am doing one centered on her, though this bit will drive the story forward, it also could be akin to how some side characters do their own thing in the games. For example, Brad in Dead Rising 1 had moments where he would go out into the outbreak to fetch food, among other things. Just like how Rebecca in Dead Rising 2 was in the middle of the outbreak to get some footage and information for her story.

I must add that I did a slight renaming of the title by adding in the "Dead Rising" in the title as it is not only a Dead Rising fanfic, but also because I have been doing the story in the style of the games.

Feel free to ask some questions in a review or a PM. Enjoy!

September 27th

2:25 PM

TIME UNTIL THE MILITARY ARRIVES:

69:34:43

It was only about 2 in the afternoon and this day had not been easy for Ana or for Agent Simpson for that matter. As hours had progressed, a lot of zombies had crowded the streets of Palm Tree City. It was only a matter of time until the other districts of the city would be infested, or worse, having the outbreak go into other neighboring cities in Florida. It had not even been a full 24 hours since the outbreak had started.

Ana joined her superior Agent Bruce Simpson, along with Paul Williams, the Australian man who had gotten some information the previous day about the camp that was close to the cabin he lived in. The question on everyone's minds was what were those people doing out in the Everglades. However, other questions sprung to their minds like who those people were involved with and what their plans were overall.

They took a ride outside of the city to go to where Paul's cabin was. Being that Paul lived out there, it was best that he drove the two FBI agents out there to where he lived, because he was only the person of the three who knew where to go.

It was made clear that it was the city itself that was being quarantined, as various military vehicles were blocking freeway entrances, but Paul found another way around, as he took advantage of another opening.

"Mr. Williams, are you sure you know where you're going?"

Paul looked straight ahead, but responded, "I know this area like the back of my hand."

He found an entrance that was closer as the area they got off on would lead them to a countryside area, which was adjacent to where Paul's house was.

Once they got out of the city, it seemed like things were normal as there were no zombies to be found. Ana looked around and it seemed cleaner than Palm Tree City was. She turned her head towards Simpson with something on her mind.

"I think I have an idea what may have happened," Ana said.

"What do you have in mind?" Simpson said.

"Something tells me that someone started the outbreak by bringing in some of those wasps," Ana said. "The question in my mind is who and who are they working for."

"We'll find out soon," Simpson said.

It wasn't long before they got to where they needed to go. It was no secret that it was best for Paul to drive, as he lived out in the middle of the Everglades, in the middle of nowhere to be exact, but he was the only one who knew the area. Ana got out of the car and looked around and noticed how everything around was so dirty, wet, and green. It was clear that the southern parts of Florida were close to the swamps and a lot of the water resources come from the ocean, as a lot of parts of Florida are coastal and close to beaches. But what was puzzling to Ana was that the area she was in seemed desolate. She had maybe gone into a swampy area a few times, but this area seemed rather remote.

Ana said, "Paul, may I ask you something?"

"Sure, love," Paul said.

"Why do you live out in these parts?"

Paul responded, "I moved out into this area to get away from it all. I got tired of living the city life. I like it out here." Paul looked for a path to get to where they needed to go. He only parked their car a bit far away from his cabin, as the idea he had was that if any of those people saw them, it is possible that they would be shot or something to that effect.

Simpson got out a case and told the two that they needed to get going. All three people walked down a path to get the area of the camp. With Paul leading the way, he had a lot of knowledge of this area. Only he was the one who knew the area, as he seemingly lived there for a long period of time. As they hiked to the cabin, the trio noticed that a handful of zombies were walking around the vicinity. There was a good idea on each of their minds why there were zombies present, but not a huge group of them like they saw in the city. The zombies approached the trio, but Ana and Simpson got out their pistols and shot them as they got closer to them.

It was not long until they got to Paul's cabin, as it was right by the swamp. Ana noticed that a lot of the wasps were swarming over the water, and noticed some irregular behavior from an alligator, as it likely got stung by one of the wasps. The features of the reptile seemed like it was decayed. No one said that animals could not turn into zombies themselves.

The cabin was located right across the lake from the camp. It was at quite a distance, so Simpson had unloaded the case he brought and started putting together a rifle. He asked Paul if he knows to use a sniper rifle.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Ana interrupted Simpson, with a confused look on her face.

"I'm about to go check out this place," Simpson said. "You two will cover me."

"No, I'll go check it out," Ana said.

"What? Don't take this the wrong way, but you're still a little green," Simpson replied.

"I know, but I want to see this for myself," Ana insisted. "Besides, I am smaller, and I will be sure to sneak past a lot of the security. I will look for some clues. You two should cover me."

As much as Simpson wanted to trust his partner, he was right that she was inexperienced. Simpson had already been a decorated agent, while Ana had only been working the field for six months up to that point. With so much skepticism under his belt, he reluctantly agreed to let her go and check out the camp herself.

"Look, I will cover you," Simpson said. "I cannot let anything bad happen to you. But you're on your own out there. If anyone tries to kill you, I will act fast."

Ana nodded, "Don't worry, I will be fine."

She then took off, while Simpson and Paul stayed behind at the cabin. As much as Simpson respected Ana as an agent, he felt that this was too soon for her to embark on such a mission, but nonetheless, he had to keep his eye on her, as he looked right through the scope of the rifle at all times. Paul sat next to him with binoculars in case Simpson needed support. More often than not, snipers work in pairs, and in this case, Simpson needed all the support he could get.

Man, why did I volunteer to do this? The one thing on Ana's mind in that moment while she had her body pressed behind a truck was that she volunteered to sneak around the base to find clues. She was not close to being an experienced agent like her partner was, as this was quite a dangerous mission she found herself in. Sure, she had endured numerous zombies, as well as vicious gang members prior to this, but if she gets caught, the mercenaries will shoot her, no questions asked. She peeked over to make sure that no one was scoping the area she was in, and right then she made quick break to a tree that was nearby. As soon she hid behind the tree, she took a deep breath. She took a look out from the left side of the tree and noticed a strange-looking machine at the center that was adjacent to the lake. She quickly got out her phone and took a picture of the machine.

I have to find a disguise. She looked around and noticed on a nearby crate that there was a jacket and a hat that was similar to what the mercenaries were wearing. She quickly grabbed the jacket and hat and put them on. She then got out her phone to shoot a picture of the insignia on the truck, which said "Phenotrans." She then walked around and shot another picture of the lake with the bees swarming over the water. She walked around and noticed that the guards were wielding some assault rifles. She remembered that where she found the jacket and hat, there was also an assault rifle lying around, so she quickly went back to that area and picked it up. She then let out another breath.

As confident as she was to be on this mission, she still displayed a level of fear deep down. She had to maintain composure, or else her cover will be blown, and if that happens, not only is the mission a failure, but she will also be dead. Out of the corner of her right eye, what was seen were two scientists being escorted into a trailer by a mercenary. She then went up to the man and the two scientists. Before she got any further, she got out her phone and set the camera to video and tucked it into her waistband with the camera rolling. She followed the mercenary and the scientists into the portable building.

From the other side, Simpson kept his eye on the scope and noticed Ana getting inside the portable building. "Shit, I can't see her now."

Paul looked with his binoculars. "She looks like she is standing by the door." He then glanced at the scientists talking with what appeared to be a mean-looking boss. "I have a bad feeling about this."

Back in the portable building, Ana had the camera rolling with her phone set around the area of her stomach at the waistband of her pants. Not wanting to arouse suspicion, she stood near the door.

Relax, Ana, you're doing fine. She thought.

The two scientists stood before a man whose back was turned towards them, a man who wanted to see them.

"You wanted to see us, Mr. Walters?" said one of the scientists.

"Yes, I wanted to see both of you," the man said, as he turned around to face them. This man wore a suit and sunglasses, and had a scar on his right cheek. "Professor Edwards and Professor Logan, it has been brought to my attention that you two are starting to have second thoughts about being a part of this operation."

Mr. Walters lit a cigarette and took a puff and blew out the smoke. "Someone has told me that you guys don't want to do this anymore, and that maybe you wanted to blow the whistle."

"What are you talking about?" Edwards said, while Logan stood by and said nothing.

"You see, I know that you guys don't like the idea of causing a lot of deaths out there, in order for us to save lives," Walters said. "Don't you remember that we need to harvest a lot of queens to make Zombrex? I mean we are already making a killing on Palm Tree City. It's only a matter of time until our sales go up. How do you think Ms. Mallon would feel about the sales going down, especially because a couple of our scientists decided to blow the whistle?"

"Killing on Palm Tree City," you got that right. Ana thought to herself.

The two scientists stood there frozen stiff, but only one would break from the stiffness.

"You know damn well that Ms. Mallon does not tolerate failure," Walters said. "She told us to make sure that everything goes according to plan, especially with unleashing the king bees."

"Oh, cut the bullshit, Walters!" Edwards yelled. "You think this is about us going soft and not giving a shit about the infected? I heard some stuff about you making a deal with a special client, stating that we made a deal with him to start the outbreak in Palm Tree City, and from what I heard, he is a wanted criminal, who approached us to start the outbreak in exchange for getting his father out of prison! I heard about your plans. I mean I know what we do is shady, but to work with a criminal like that is a whole new low, even for an asshole like you!"

Ana's mouth opened slightly having heard that statement. Getting his father out of prison? Special client? Who could it be?

Logan turned to Edwards and muttered under his breath, "What the fuck are you doing? You'll get us killed."

Edwards said under his breath, "We're already dead, but I'm just getting this off my chest." Edwards then passed what looked like a flash drive to Logan, and he put it in his pocket. Ana took a close look at that.

Walters looked at Edwards, but rather than be angry with him, he smiled a bit. "You know, you're good, you think you know some shit, don't you? But really, you don't know shit at all. In fact, none of this will get out."

Walters approached Edwards and looked directly at him, enough that he lost focus on Logan, who slowly started to back away a bit, while Ana looked right at him. The mercenary got out his pistol and aimed it right at his head. "Want this done fast, boss?"

Logan was already close to the door where Ana stood. He turned around to make sure that no attention was on him.

Walters shook his head, "No, I have an even better idea." Walters approached his desk and picked up a jar with what looked like a larva inside. He opened the jar and gripped the larva. The mercenary held Edwards down by his arms, as Walters approached the defenseless scientist. "Open your mouth wide, NOW!"

Edwards shook his head with sweat running down his head. His mouth slowly opened, which gave Walters the opportunity to shove the larva right into Edwards's mouth. The larva crawled right down his throat after he had swallowed it. At that moment, Edwards started to tremble, from his head to the rest of his body; he shook and then vomited blood, as veins started to pop out of his skin and his eyes glazed. Ana and Logan stood there, with sweat running down their bodies and trembling at the sight of what just happened. Ana put her right hand to her mouth as she was ready to throw up at that horrific sight. Right then and there, both Ana and Professor Logan opened the door to get out of there, and Ana vomited at what she just saw. It was only at that moment when Walters realized that Logan made an escape as he saw that the door was open. The moment Ana walked out the door, she picked up her phone and pushed stop on the video recording.

"Go find him and kill him, Tyler!" Walters said to the mercenary.

Logan ran as fast as he could, with Ana right behind him. As she ran, her hat had come off, at which point Walters and Tyler noticed that Ana had blown her cover.

"Wait, who is that girl? I've never seen her before," Tyler said, as soon as he got out his gun, a gunshot came his way, but barely missed. The bullet had come from the other side, as Simpson had made his move. "Boss, we have a sniper on our hands."

"Fuck!" Walters yelled. "We'll find those two later."

Logan continued to run, with Ana right behind him.

"Sir, stop, I'm not one of them, I just want to talk to you!" Ana pounced onto the scientist and leaned over to his ear. "Listen, I'm an FBI agent. I'm trying to figure this stuff out. I saw your friend give you a flash drive. If you come with me, I will keep you safe and you can tell us what is going on."

Logan nodded. "Let's go."

Ana and Professor Logan ran back to the area where Simpson and Paul were. More mercenaries came out to try to shoot Ana and the scientist, but each of them were gunned down at the hands of Simpson and his trusty rifle. He then saw a zombie wearing a lab coat getting out of the trailer, and Simpson shot it, too. The two did not stop running until they got to safety. Ana was dying to tell Simpson about what just happened.

"I got some information, and I got some stuff on video, too," Ana said.

"Wait, you got video? Great, we'll have to look at it when we get back to base," Simpson looked at the scientist. "Who is this?"

"I'm Professor Aaron Logan, I just saw my best friend turn into a zombie at the hands of our boss," Logan said. "My friend gave me a flash drive that he stole. It contains a lot of information that may be linked to the outbreak of Palm Tree City, and more that may come, unless we stop them."

Simpson looked at him and then looked at Ana and Paul. What this man said could be a ticket for them to get some questions answered.

"Let's get out of here," Simpson said, and looked at Paul. "You're driving again."

"Right, mate."

All four people got out of dodge and headed for the vehicle that they got there in. Ana looked behind her to make sure that they weren't being followed, but from a distance, some people looked to be going towards their direction. Paul went right into driver's seat with Agent Simpson riding shotgun. Ana and Professor Logan entered the backseat. There was no time to waste as Paul started the ignition and as soon as everyone had fastened their seatbelts, he put the vehicle into drive and they were off.

"Man, that was close," Simpson said.

"Tell me about it," Ana said. "I will show you guys everything later after we get back. I think I need to lie down for a bit when we get there."

Professor Logan sat in his seat and looked directly at the floor. Ana turned her attention towards him and noticed a look of sadness on the scientist's face, as a tear slowly ran down his face.

"Professor, what's wrong?" Ana said.

"I just saw my best friend turn into a zombie right before my eyes," he said, and then got out the thumb drive that he was given. "I will make sure that those Phenotrans assholes will pay."

Ana then turned her head forward and sat there in silence. She felt the pain that Professor Logan was going through. She saw that Professor Edwards had guts in trying to confront what appeared to be the head of the operation. The one thing was on her mind was that the late scientist had mentioned about a special client that Phenotrans was helping out. Who could it be? Could it be who she thinks it is?

Am I right? Could it be Mendoza? What would he have to gain in order to start an outbreak in the city? What's his endgame?

So many questions were on her mind that she was determined to have answered soon enough.

September 27th

3:32 PM

TIME UNTIL THE MILITARY ARRIVES:

68:27:13

NEXT CASE WILL OCCUR AT

6:00 PM