Hello! We are back with yet another chapter of Dark Sanctuary! Now that campaign 1 has been completed, we are now on campaign 2. We are a quarter of the way through the game (cuz the story is not going to be 40 chapters long) so yeah....it's exciting....maybe. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and if not....well, at least you read it, right? Please review and let me know how it was.
Dark Sanctuary
Campaign 2: Death Toll- Part 1
Chapter 11: The Turnpike
The chopper slammed into the pavement, sending its passengers crashing around inside the aircraft. The helicoptor slid several yards, finally coming to a shaky stop.
"Ugh...my head," Kouji complained, rubbing his sore cranium.
Takuya groaned, heaving himself up. "Is everyone okay?"
"I just said that my head hurts, dumbass," Kouji griped.
"Besides that," Takuya growled, rolling his eyes.
Tommy and Zoe were both lying on the floor, curled into balls. They each nodded, too in shock to speak. Kouichi was nonchalantly sitting on one of the seats, as if the aircraft had never crashed. He was merely staring out one of the cracked windows.
"Miracle we fucking survived that," Takuya muttered, crouching beside Zoe. "You alright?"
"I'm doing just great," she replied, painfully sitting up. "Might need some of those pain pills, though..."
"I second that," Tommy chimed in.
Everyone minus Kouichi took three pills each, swallowing them dry. They then followed Kouichi's example and looked out the windows. Although there was no one in sight, they didn't feel any relief.
"Don't think we're out of danger," Takuya told them. "We better get going, so reload your weapons and let's go."
Once they had done so, the soldier attempted to open the door. To his annoyance, it wouldn't budge.
"The impact must've sealed the door," Zoe said with a sigh. "It's been dented too badly to be opened."
"Well, now what?" Kouji groaned. "We're fucked!"
However, before he could continue on with his rant, Kouichi stepped forward. He firmly grasped the handle of the door and ripped it off its hinges. Everyone watched him in amazement as he easily threw it off to the side.
"Damn," Takuya finally said. "Kouji, your brother is friggen awesome."
Zoe smiled. "Yeah, it pays to have a Hunter on our side."
Kouji smirked at his brother. "Hmm, no kidding."
"Okay, we better get going," Tommy said, his voice tinged with uneasiness.
"Yeah..." Everyone trailed off unenthusiastically.
The five of them headed down the slightly foggy road, their hearts pounding rapidly in their chests. The road was surrounded by trees on both sides, and there was a tunnel in the distance.
"Looks like we're on a turnpike," Takuya observed.
"No shit, Sherlock," Kouji quipped.
Through the mist, they could see several figures approaching them in a familiar shaky manner.
"Fuck, we've got company," Takuya groaned, pointing his assault rifle.
The horde of infected rushed over to them, their eyes wide and crazed. Guns roared and bullets flew, penetrating deep into the bodies of the zombie-like humans. Kouichi growled and pounced on one of the infected, slashing his nails across the man's throat. Blood spurted out of the man's destroyed neck, spraying onto the raven-haired Hunter. Kouichi glared down at the corpse for a moment, then leapt onto yet another infected human, this one a woman. He brutally ripped his way through her chest easily, sending chunks of flesh flying through the air as he made his way to her heart.
As the Survivors fired at the swarm, one of the infected in particular differed from the others. It was a man who was crouched down, his stature resembling that of a monkey's. His lips were drawn back to reveal his teeth, giving him an almost skeletal-like appearence. His brown hair was short and sticking to his head with sweat, and he wore blue boxers and a white undershirt. A shrill laugh escaped from the man and he bounced towards them.
"Shit! It's a Jockey!" Takuya shouted, firing at the man.
The Jockey avoided the gunfire, leaping onto Tommy's shoulders. Tommy screamed as the Jockey laughed manically, steering him straight into a group of the infected.
"Oh my god! What's he doing to Tommy?!" Zoe cried out, trying her best to shoot the crazed infected man.
"Jockey's have the ability to latch onto someone and steer them into danger. We have to shoot him before Tommy's killed by that horde!" Takuya told them.
While Zoe concentrated on shooting down the swarm of infected growing closer to Tommy, Takuya and Kouji tried to shoot the laughing man. A bullet finally ripped through the Jockey's head, just as Zoe shot the last remaining infected person that was near Tommy. The Jockey howled with laughter one last time, before collapsing to the ground, dead.
"Tommy! Are you okay?" Takuya asked, rushing over to him.
The younger brunette nodded, his eyes wide with fear. "Uh..yeah...I'm fine....just fine...."
The five of them continued to run down the road, firing at any approaching infected humans. Deserted cars began to litter the turnpike, some of them totaled and flipped upside down.
"Go down there!" Takuya told them, pointing to a ravine.
"What? Why?!" Kouji asked.
The soldier groaned. "Because in case you didn't notice, that part of the turnpike is a low bridge! And the bridge is missing a huge fucking piece!"
"Oh." Kouji followed Takuya and the others down the hill that led to the ravine.
There were a few infected lurking around in the lower area, but they were quickly shot down in an array of bullets. Crimson stained the yellowing grass, leaving behind thick puddles.
"Get to that ladder! It'll lead up back up to the bridge," Takuya said, indicating the rusty device.
A Smoker ambled out from behind a tree, trying to wrap its thick tongue around Kouichi.
"Kouichi!" Kouji aimed at the Smoker's bloated head.
However, before he could fire, Kouichi grabbed the tongue and yanked it with all his might. The tongue ripped out of the Smoker's mouth in a bloody riff, causing the infected being to screech in agony. Zoe then shot it squarely through its head, killing it, .
"Okay, that was friggen awesome," Kouji said with a smirk. "But we better hurry the hell up."
They approached the rickity ladder, Takuya climbing up first. Zoe was close behind him, followed by Tommy, and Kouji. Kouichi simply pistoned his legs and hurled himself up past the ladder and onto the ground above. As she climbed, Zoe turned her head to make sure that there weren't any infected humans following them. Satisfied that there were none, she turned her face back up to see how much further she needed to climb up. To her surprise, her face bumped into Takuya's butt, who had stopped mid-climb. Zoe blushed, tearing her face away.
"Why did you stop?!" She exclaimed, embarrassed.
"Sorry, but I have to shoot this thing," he replied, firing his gun as he did so.
The corpse of an infected woman tumbled into the ravine, landing a few feet away from Kouji.
"Okay, it's dead, now go!" The blond gave Takuya a quick smack on the behind to hurry him up.
They reached the top in time to see Kouichi break the neck of another infected, his chest heaving. His eyes were narrowed into slits, and he was panting loudly.
"You okay?" Kouji asked, trying to put his hand on his brother's shoulder.
However, Kouichi tore away from the younger twin's touch, refusing to look at him. Kouji stared at him with a hurt expression, but decided not to say anything otherwise.
Now that they were back on the bridge, there was a tunnel in front of them. Several more cars littered the road, many of them concealed by the shadows of the tunnel.
"So...we gotta go in there, don't we?" Tommy asked nervously.
"I'm afraid so," Takuya replied with a sigh. "Just be careful because the lighting will be weak."
The five of them cautiously made their way into the ominous tunnel, hearing the scamper of a horde drawing nearer. They could see well enough to make out their surroundings once they were inside, but they still needed to squint to see things completely clear. They shot at the swarm furiously, while Kouichi resumed tearing some of them to shreds. Mixed in with the horde were a Boomer and a Jockey.
"Shit! Not those again," Takuya muttered, referring to the Jockey.
Tommy shot at the Boomer, taking advantage of the bloated human's slow pace. Its body crashed to the ground, a stream of bile leaking from its gaped mouth. This time around, the Jockey was shot dead before it could jump onto anyone's shoulders. The Survivors evaded several of the infected by side-stepping around the cars, then shooting the zombie-like humans once they were a safe distance away.
"Dammit, this friggen turnpike is filled with cars," Kouji muttered in annoyance. "Now it'll take us even longer to get through..."
"Yeah, but we'll just have to deal with it," Takuya said as he shot one of the infected through the head.
Brain matter and blood leaked out of the large hole in the woman's head and she collapsed to the ground. The group of five continued to make their way down the tunnel, shooting every infected person they encountered. On each side of the tunnel, there was a small opening, almost like a miniature path of its own.
"Hey, let's check inside those to see if there's anything useful," Takuya told the others. "We'll split up to make sure we have back-up."
Takuya and Zoe inspected one, while Kouji and Tommy checked out the other. Kouichi remained out in the open, mutilating the ambling zombie-like humans around him. His blood-soaked sweatshirt clung to him and his hood slipped off his head. However, instead of adjusting it, he merely left it to hang down between his shoulder blades.
"Zoe, I found some ammo....and by the looks of it, another pipe bomb." Takuya slipped the ammunition into a pouch, then stuffed the bomb into his belt. "Did you find anything?"
"Yeah, a first-aid kit," the blond replied as she slung it over her back. "Now let's get out of here."
Meanwhile, Kouji and Tommy found only a single molotov cocktail in their side of the tunnel.
"Dammit," Kouji muttered as they emerged. "This isn't going to be all that helpful."
Tommy shrugged. "Hey, it's better than nothing."
They joined the other three, their panic escalating by yet another approaching horde.
"When will this end?" Tommy asked solemnly.
"When we're dead," Kouji replied in a monotone voice.
Takuya nodded towards the end of the tunnel. "Let's just run like hell and get the fuck outta here. Just shoot the ones that get in your way. We need to find some type of safe room and fast!"
The others nodded in agreement and sprinted through the dim structure. To them it felt like a cave, just swarming with all types of vile creatures. Shrieking infected humans ran over to them at an alarming rate, but they were gunned down quite rapidly. Takuya and the others weaved around the cars, their chests burning from exhaustion. A Witch suddenly stumbled out from behind a car, pouncing on Kouji.
"Shit!" He exclaimed, his gun sliding away from him. "Help!"
"Fuck!" Takuya aimed his gun at the woman, whose sharp nails were ready to rip Kouji's throat open.
"K-K-Kouji!" Kouichi snarled and forcefully ripped the Witch off his brother.
The Witch wailed and swiped her claws at the Hunter, slicing the front of his hoodie. Kouichi only glared at her and leapt on top of her. The Witch screamed again, fell backwards. There was a spurt of blood once she had landed, squirting onto Kouichi. A rusty pole had impaled her directly through her back, emerging from her chest. Kouichi then snapped her neck, killing her.
Kouji sat up, his eyes wide with shock. "K-Kouichi? You can talk?"
The older twin grunted instead of giving him a vocal answer, but pulled roughly Kouji up nonetheless.
"Uh, guys?" Tommy intercepted. "Don't mean to interrupt or anything, but we've gotta go!"
As a hulking Tank rushed up to them from behind, everyone but Kouichi swore under their breath. Without a second thought, they all booked it down the tunnel. Unfortunately for them, the end was now being swarmed by another threatening horde.
"Dammit! What do we do?" Zoe asked, a frown on her face. "I don't think we can take them all down!"
"Fuck!" Takuya looked around, hoping to find a miracle. "Hey! Over there! There's another opening off to the side past that blockade! Go in there!"
"But what if it's another useless tunnel like those smaller ones we were just in?" Kouji looked concerned.
Takuya glanced over his shoulder, watching as the behemoth stumbled over to them. "We're just going to have to take that chance, Kouji!"
The turnpike was filled with cars, all of them parked so close together that there was no room to squeeze in between them. The Survivors had no choice but to run over the cars rather than past them. Kouichi was able to manage easily enough, while the others struggled slightly over the unsteady row of cars.
"Shit, hurry!" Takuya called out. "The Tank's getting closer!"
Sure enough, the large infected human was already close behind, knocking several of the cars out of its way. Takuya and the others jumped over the last of the cars, sprinting into the nearby opening he had indicated. Luck was on their side, as the opening led them to a staircase instead of a useless tunnel. They ran down three flights of stairs, shooting the few infected that were roaming around inside. At the bottom of the last staircase, there was a door with a hole in it.
"Dammit, there's a bunch of them through the door," Kouji said as they all peeked through the hole.
Like they had previously done, they shot the swarm through the hole, rather than open it immediately. The task turned out to be a bit easier than they had anticipated, as they infected dropped dead within a matter of seconds. Once the room had been cleared for the most part, Takuya opened the door and motioned for the others to enter the room. The room was quite large, and above them was a metal walkway.
"Now what?" Kouji asked as a few infected scampered over to them.
"Shoot the bastards, that's what!" Takuya shouted, firing his rifle at the oncoming savages.
As Zoe shot her twin pistols, she noticed a ladder off to the side leading up to the walkway. "Hey! Go to that ladder!"
"What?" Tommy shouted, unable to hear over the gunfire.
"The ladder! Climb it!" Zoe yelled. "It's our only way out of here since there are no other doors on this level!"
Tommy nodded and rushed over to it, followed by the others. They quickly ascended the shaky rungs, making it to the top seconds later. Once they were at the landing, Kouji jerked his head to the side.
"There's another staircase right over there!" He told everyone. "Maybe it'll lead us out of here!"
Blood and organs littered the room as they killed the zombie-like humans in their way. Once they were at the steps, they hurried up as fast as they could. The staircase ended with an opening, leading them back outside. The area was surrounded by trees, indicating that they were in the woods.
"Well, now that we're out of there, I say we head this way," Takuya said after a moment, motioning to their right.
"Why that way?" Tommy asked, curious.
Takuya reloaded his gun. "Because I can see a small shack and there are more of those bastards coming from the other side."
They looked over to their left see that he was, in fact, correct. Another bloodthirsty group was hurrying over to them, their eyes wide with insanity.
"Dammit!" Everyone but Kouichi shouted unanimously.
They sprinted through the woods and headed to the shack, weaving through the trees in their way. Just as they were about to reach the door, Takuya was roughly pulled back.
"Fuck!" His rifle slipped from his fingers and clattered to the ground.
A tongue was wrapped around his waist, undeniably belonging to a Smoker. However, through the thick forest, they could not see clearly and didn't know where the Smoke was hiding.
"Takuya!" Zoe exclaimed as Takuya was dragged backwards. "Oh, no you don't, you bastard!"
She stuffed her pistols into the pockets of her jacket, then leapt forward. While Takuya attempted to pull the tongue off his waist, Zoe grabbed onto him. She wrapped her arms around him, a few inches above where the disgusting tongue was.
"Guys, shoot the fucking thing!" Takuya yelled, aggrivated. "This fucker won't let go and I can't reach my knife!"
"I can't fucking see anything!" Kouji shouted.
Meanwhile, Tommy and Kouichi were busy holding off the approaching horde.
"I kind of have my hands full!" Tommy said loudly as he shot at the group. "They keep coming and they'll kill us if I don't hold them off!"
Kouichi was battling several of them as well, ripping their throats and eyes out as he snarled at them. Kouji squinted through the darkness, trying to make out his surroundings. He was too afraid to shoot randomly, as Takuya could easily be pulled into the path of the bullet.
"Dammit, let me go!" The brunette growled to the Smoker, trying to pry the tongue away.
"Takuya, where's your knife?" Zoe asked.
Takuya swore under his breath. "It's tucked in my belt, but this fucker's tongue is blocking it."
"Shit! And I don't want to shoot him because if he jerks you back the right way, I could hit you," she said helplessly.
The two of them were pulled along, Zoe refusing to let go of the soldier. Takuya dug his boots into the ground, hoping to slow the pace. It worked slightly, just in time for Kouji to finally make out the shadowy figure from behind a tree.
"Take this, you asshole!" He exclaimed, firing his shotgun once.
The Smoker's head blew off, and its body collapsed to the ground, a puff of smoke billowing around it. At the same moment, Zoe had yanked Takuya towards her with all her might. Takuya crashed into her, causing the girl to fall backwards. Since she was still holding onto him, he went down with her, landing right on top of her.
"Uh..." Takuya stared down at her, his face red.
Zoe was blushing as well, but in the darkness, neither one could see the redness in each other's faces. Takuya heaved himself off the blond, pulling her up with him. He then grabbed his dropped rifle and ran over to the shack. The soldier yanked open the door and looked at the others.
"Inside! Now!" He gave Zoe a light push through the door, then waited as everyone else entered.
Takuya shot one last infected human, then entered the shack himself. He locked the door, then glanced to his right. The others had run into another room, indicating that it was a safe room. The brunette rushed in after them, locking the door of the safe room as well.
"Fuck," he panted, sweat running down his forehead. "We made it...."
"Yeah," Zoe replied, sinking to the floor in exhaustion. "For now."
Kouji glanced at Kouichi, who was refusing to look at his brother. The younger twin sighed, but smiled to himself nonetheless. Kouichi had said his name. And that was enough to show that he remembered him.
Tommy sat back against the wall, his white shirt soaked with perspiration. "How long before we have to leave again?"
Takuya stared at them, a grim look on his face. "Soon. Very fucking soon at this rate...."
Okay, that is the end of this chapter. Hope you liked it and I couldn't resist adding that Takuminess :p So hopefully you guys saw it as a bonus. Anyway, please review and let me know what you think, okay? I just want to make sure it resembles the game's levels enough so that it's more accurate. And yes, Kouichi can talk! Sure, he only said one word, but it was Kouji's name. So it's a start, right? Right?! Well, see ya laterz!