Photographer's Pride
Author's note: This will be the first time I do one that is centered on a psychopath. I know that in this one, as well as my Dead Rising 2 anthology that I touched on bits involving psychopaths, but this will be one where the focal point is on that particular character-type.
It has been often said that a picture "is worth a thousand words." Any type of imagery can tell a story and you can interpret the meaning behind a single image. When looking at a picture, there's more to it than just looking at it from a technical standpoint. A lot of the time the picture gives off a vibe that makes the viewer feel something when looking at it.
Kent Swanson, a young photographer, saw the outbreak in Willamette as the perfect opportunity to shoot pictures. The young photographer wanted to show that he can get a lot of shots of different things in the midst of the hell that the small town was going through.
When the outbreak had started, he had gone through various parts of the town. He witnessed a lot of things. A man on top of a car surrounded by zombies, zombies surrounding a school bus with children and the driver likely inside, and also an explosion occurring at the Tornado gas station. Another thing he had witnessed at some point was a military jeep with three escaped convicts wreaking havoc on the town. Not just on the undead, but also on people running around trying to avoid the zombies.
But to Kent, this was just another day of getting some shots for his portfolio. It didn't matter what happened to anybody out there. These were shots of some horrific events that occurred in the midst of the outbreak. All that mattered to him was whether the shots were in focus and timed right.
When he finally made it to the Willamette Parkview Mall, he had noticed some people inside the Entrance Plaza. Two women were hugging because one of them was saddened by everything that happened. An older couple was arguing about something. Three men were trying to barricade the doors to the main entrance of the mall. So many great photo ops were around just for him to seize them.
It wasn't until the mall started swarming with the undead that things started to pick up, well, for him, anyway. Thanks the carelessness of an old lady who cared about her dog, several lives had ended in that part of the mall. But that didn't stop him from going in and taking a lot of photos of everything that was happening. Even though a lot of carnage had occurred then, many of the shots he took told a story, albeit a graphic one.
He came prepared that he brought multiple cameras with him, among other equipment to use. To him, this was just the perfect opportunity to take pictures. This whole outbreak was inspiration to him, as everything around him was worthy of a photo.
However, one chance meeting made things a bit complicated for him. That same day, he happened to be walking around the second floor of Paradise Plaza, he saw a man walking around with a camera. He had walked in through the door that went into Leisure Park right by Jill's Sandwiches. He took pictures of the zombies that were walking around. This man with a camera looked like he knew what he was doing, but to Kent, he probably was an amateur compared to him.
The man walked upstairs and went into Colombian Roastmasters. Kent saw him and then approached him. The man said his name was Frank West. Kent made his introduction, too, and also told Frank that he probably isn't as good of a photographer as he is. Frank talked in such a demeanor that he played along and wasn't about to feed this guy's ego.
Kent offered to model for him and also kill a few zombies in the process so that Frank can shoot. It wasn't long, as the two photographers went back right by the coffee shop. Kent looked at Frank's camera feed and gave him some praise. Then he showed Frank what he had shot while at the mall. He challenged Frank to do a good shot for the following day, as he believed that Frank wouldn't even measure up to his skills.
It wasn't just any shot, though. Kent had shown Frank a picture of an attractive blonde wearing a revealing dress. To him, there was just no way Frank would find any attractive women who would be of service to him. Kent felt that he can't lose this bet.
But deep down, he saw what Frank had shot and in some ways, he wished that he had gotten better angles at some of them, or even timed them much better. What was aggravating to him was that Frank only had that one camera and some of the shots were better than his own.
He wasn't going to let it bother him, though, as he felt that Frank wouldn't be able to shoot that kind of picture, especially with there possibly lacking any women wearing so little in the mall. He knows that there is no way.
The two photographers had separated. Frank went to do his thing, while Kent went to do his. He took off to various parts of the mall. He found the same jeep that ravaged through town in Leisure Park.
As time went on, more opportunities opened up. He found a couple of teenage twin sisters walking around. He even kept a distance so that he could take some lecherous shots of their bodies, especially with their thongs coming out of the waistbands of their shorts. He even took off to Wonderland Plaza to find a clown wielding two small chainsaws, as well as an obese female mall cop brutally beating some women before dragging them to a store. He even took a look inside the store.
Man, this is some good shit right here! He thought, as he saw some women tied to some of the tables, as well as one tied to a chair, while the mall cop got out taser and a nightstick.
Right through the lens, he saw the mall cop look at her two weapons like she was deciding on what to use. One shot, click! The cop looked at her taser. Another shot, click! The cop looked at her nightstick. Through the lens, the cop then started touching the girl in the chair in such of lecherous way.
Frankie, you can't beat shots like this! Kent thought as he grinned while he continued to photograph what was going on.
When night had fallen, it was time to use his flash, but he had continued to stay out of sight so that he could avoid suspicion. If anything, this whole outbreak was going to be his best work yet.
It was now the following day. He had set up a meeting with Frank once again to see if he had shot anything sexy. So much excitement was running through his veins, as he knew that Frank wouldn't measure up to his level in terms of sexy photos.
But it wasn't just that kind of photo. He managed to catch what looked like a cult organizing an execution in the middle of the mall, as well as a young girl being surrounded by a large swarm of zombies in a moat. So much stuff that he can't lose this bet with Frank.
The meeting had come and Frank handed Kent the camera so that he could search the feed. He found a couple of photos of that nature. One was of an auburn-haired woman in the security room sitting on the floor and some of it was focused on the positioning of how she sat, and also a glimpse of her underwear through her skirt. The other was of a blonde woman sitting on a cot next to a man lying down. She sat in such a way that her cleavage was showing and also her underwear through the bottom of her skirt.
Kent saw the pictures and then looked up at Frank of mild disdain. He then went through the feed a little more. One picture that stood out was that of the cult coming right at him. Another was of an older couple hugging each other. There was even a well-framed shot of a couple of Japanese tourists doing some pose for him.
The look of disdain went from mild to heavy. He handed the camera back to Frank and turned his head and said with the same level of disdain in his voice, "Beginner's luck, that's all."
How could this have happened? It was right then that he knew that Frank was a much better photographer than he was. He happened to be front and center with the cult. He got different shots of some random things in the mall, as well as some more emotionally-moving shots than he ever did.
But he couldn't live with that thought in his head, as he challenged Frank to one more contest. Kent had to ensure that Frank would not win this time. There had to be a way to get the perfect shot to one-up Frank West.
What kind of shot should he do? He saw that there were a lot of zombies around. He also saw that there were some living people around. While he went ahead and got some shots of the cult kidnapping people, as well as snipers in the Entrance Plaza, this wasn't going to be enough. Kent wanted to prove that he really was better than Frank at this. But how? What was he going to do? There had to be a way. There just had to be.
After a while, he started noticing some other people turning into zombies in the mall. Not just through being bitten, but also through being stung by some wasps. At some point, Kent discovered that when he killed one of the wasps, several zombies not only collapsed and died right then, but also some stuff had come out of the zombies. Kent took a closer look and saw that it was larvae, which would evolve into the wasps at some point. How would he know? Not long after, he witnessed a larva somehow crawl into a living person who was lying on the ground somewhere in the mall. He took a look through his telephoto lens and saw it crawl into the man.
It didn't take long for the man to get up but then noticed how light-headed he was. But it didn't take long for the person to finally reanimate into a zombie.
Wow, his body couldn't handle it, huh? He thought. But then it hit him. He finally came up with the perfect shot, or at least few shots. Hell, maybe he could shoot a video. But this was all about getting the perfect shot and he knew that this will show that he is better than Frank.
Throughout the entire time, before his third meeting with Frank, Kent had searched the mall for any survivors who happened to be strolling around. One man caught his attention. It didn't matter to him on if it was a man or a woman, just any person would be viable for this photo opportunity.
He found a man and got out his 9mm pistol and pointed it right behind his head.
"Stop right there," Kent said.
"Who are you, man?" the man said. The man turned out to be Tad Hawthorne.
"I'm an artist and you're going to model for me," Kent said.
"What?" Tad said. "What are you talking about?"
Kent then got out a rag with chloroform on it and put it right to Tad's face. In a matter of seconds, Tad started to get woozy and then fell asleep. Kent then dragged Tad's body inside a store in Paradise Plaza and then tied his wrists together.
He then got out a jar with a larva in it and smiled. Oh, Frankie, wait until you see what I got up my sleeve.
It was now noon. Kent had brought Tad, who was tied up and on his knees right in front of Colombian Roastmasters and the second floor of SporTrance. He held Tad at gunpoint and said, "Don't worry, you're going to be fine." And then chuckled a bit.
Frank happened to be walking by and saw Kent holding the man at gunpoint.
"Ah, Frankie, good timing!" Kent said as he held the pistol to the man's head and then gets out the larva.
Tad continued to squirm a bit while kneeling on the ground.
"I was just about to shoot my piece resistance!" Kent said. "I'm going to capture on film the exact moment a human crosses into zombiehood!"
Kent then throws the larva towards Kent behind him. As the larva crawls close to the man, Frank reacts and quickly stomps on it. Kent looks up and his eyes widened.
"What are you doing? My shot," Kent said and then looks down at the splatter from the dead larva. "Y-you ruined my perfect shot!"
A scowl grew on Kent's face as he raised the gun to Frank's face. But that wasn't going to stop him, after what Frank had faced the whole time he was at the mall. Because Frank knew that Kent wouldn't just blast him right on the spot.
Before Kent pulled the trigger, Frank reacted and shoved and then punched Kent in the face. But that wasn't going to stop Kent, as the moment he noticed Frank quickly jumping around, he drew his handgun again and started shooting. He was a horrible shot that none of the slugs landed close to him. Kent started running after him and then tried to deliver his jump kick, but then missed.
A look of anger was on Kent's face, as he then rushed right towards Frank to tackle him against the wall right next to Marriage Makers.
"You ruined my shot, you son of a bitch!" Kent said.
But Frank then pushed him off and then punched him to knock him back a bit.
"That man does not deserve that!" Frank said. Realizing that this fight wasn't worth it, Frank then approached Tad to help free him.
Kent looked over with the same scowl, except this time his teeth started to show. He looked over and saw the pistol from before. He reached over and slowly crawled right towards it. His hand felt the metal and gripped the gun's grip. He slowly got up and pointed it right at Frank, who stood behind Tad undoing the restraints.
"Hey, Frankie!" Kent yelled.
Frank and Tad looked up right in front of them as Kent pointed the pistol right towards both men.
It was now or never. Frank immediately rushed towards Kent to tackle him to the ground. Kent held onto the pistol and was ready to open fire, but Frank countered his attack and then pressed the barrel against Kent's stomach and then BANG!
Frank quickly got up and noticed some blood on his stomach, but it wasn't his. There were no open wounds, but then saw that there was more blood on Kent's stomach. It was clear what just happened.
Kent lied there and handed Frank his camera. He told Frank to take a picture of him right there and that it would look good on his mantle. But Frank wasn't about to do that, especially after what had just happened. He saw that Kent had gone insane. The previous day, Frank saw how Kent's ego was affected when he saw more of his pictures.
It was obvious that his ego was his only problem. Kent wanted to show that he was better, but he also showed how far he was willing to go, even at the cost of someone's life.
Another note: I decided to add in bits with Kent looking at Frank's other photos to really bruise his ego a bit. I know a lot of people found this character to be annoying (I know I did), but I wanted to illustrate how far he was willing to go. Plus, the only other photo you could do for the second meeting was of Sophie, but I know the better choice was that of Jessie. I decided to use both of them.
Also, I like to think that there were other survivors that turned at some point, which gave him the idea of his photo for Tad to turn into a zombie.
I can relate to this whole thing because I, myself, am also into photography. I take pictures of different things myself, but then there are photos that I can see are done better or done with different styles. I have felt jealous, but after a while, I decided to see that styles vary and that I shouldn't compare myself to others.
Speaking of photography, I also have thought of doing the mission of "Cheryl's Request," but that would more of a comical approach in that I want to touch on the expressions from the other survivors. I mean, seriously, wouldn't you be confused about a photo shoot going on right in front of you, especially with a woman doing sexy poses? I think I might do that one soon.
