(A/N) Well, isn't this a surprise. A new update and it hasn't even been a full month yet. I think I've just beaten my previous record.
As one can see, this chapter is significantly shorter than the previous two. That's due to many reasons:
1) This is a breather chapter after the long lengths of chapters 9 and 10.
2) It's a setup chapter for the long arc (should I even call it that) that is to come.
3) It turned out to be not that long on the chapter planning sheet. Correction, it looked lengthy on the chapter planning sheet, but after writing the chapter, it turned out shorter than I thought. I think most writers have been there, I don't know.
I'm going to stop telling you what I thought of the chapter, unless it's positive, as I'll always say "mixed bag," or "not my best work." I'm one of those people that doubts their work; it's a curse I'm telling you.
I'll also add that updates won't always be this fast, so yeah...
I hope you enjoy the chapter!
No flames please~! If you feel that some improvements could be made, don't be afraid to say so; tell me what I did good or bad, and like I just said, improvements are very much appreciated!
Disclaimer: I do not own these franchises, or their characters. Resident Evil belongs to CAPCOM, Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid belong to KONAMI and Final Fantasy belongs to SQUARE ENIX.
Chapter 11: Dead Ends and Rotting Meat
Run. That was the only thing that the group could do at that moment.
After they had been separated from Leon and the others by debris and a horde of monsters, Harry suggested that he, Heather, and Henry try to outrun the horde. It was a smarter option in the eyes of the brunette, because they only had a limited quantity of ammunition. Limited ammo being used on a large horde wouldn't have ended well; they would have died. Running had served them well, as they had gained a little bit of distance; the trouble rested in finding a place to lose them completely and catch their breaths.
In the distance, Harry could see what appeared to be a wired fence, letting him know that they were running into a dead end. He mentally cursed at himself. He was leading his friend and daughter to their deaths.
Standing in front of the fence, Heather immediately turned to Harry. "We need to find a way over and quick!" She yelled breathlessly, holding a hand over her chest.
Rapidly glancing around, the novelist wasn't having much luck in finding a way over the fence, as the horde was starting to catch up. Then, he thought of an idea. The fence wasn't overly large, someone could easily get over it with a little boost. The question of who was going to be boosted over was a no brainer.
"I have an idea, but we need to be quick," Harry panted, nervously glancing behind him to see the horde slow to a walk. "Henry, help me give Heather a boost over the fence."
"What?!" The girl shrieked, looking up at the fence and then back to her father. "Are you joking?!"
"No, I'm not," the brunette replied, cupping his hands with Henry's, ready to give the boost. "Come on."
"But, Dad -!"
"Heather, now!" Harry yelled, startling Heather to silence. "You're safety is my top priority!"
With reluctance, Heather ran up to the two men and stepped on their hands, allowing them to boost her up over the fence. Once she was over, she turned to them with tears in her eyes.
"Sweetie, I'm sorry I yelled, I just -" Harry stopped mid-sentence when he started coughing, falling to his knees as the coughing worsened. He felt a twinge in his stomach, as his limbs felt like they were vibrating and his muscles ached.
Henry and Heather both looked on in worry, as they knew what was coming; it was something that they had both experienced before. Their assumptions were proven correct, when blood was coughed up. Harry looked at his blood soaked hands in shock, as he heaved.
Shaking away his light-headedness, Harry stood and took one of the pills Leon had given them all. "Heather," he started, his voice hoarse as he glanced at the nearing horde. "I know it won't be easy, but find Leon."
"What about you, Dad?!" Heather asked, gripping her gun tightly.
"We will try to keep the monsters away," Henry reassured her, as Harry shook his head.
"I will be doing that, you take care of Heather," he stated.
"But, you look pale," Henry tried to argue, but what he said wasn't taken into consideration.
"I'll be fine," Harry said, cupping his hands by the fence. "Come on, I'll give you a boost."
Henry shook his head, remembering that Harry could be stubborn when he wanted to be. Due to this, arguing with him was futile and would just result in them getting killed. Seeing the horde getting closer, Henry allowed Harry to give him a slight boost and once he was over, he took Heather's hand.
"Good luck," Henry whispered, as he saw Harry aim his gun at the horde with determination. Knowing that he had a job to do, he started to drag the distraught Heather along, who couldn't hold back her tears.
"This is the place," James said, as the group turned a corner and made their way down Martin Street.
Zidane sniffed the air before wrinkling his nose. "It kinda smells, or is it just me?"
"No, it isn't just you," Leon replied, as they arrived at the end of the street. "You'll find the source if you look to your left," he gestured to a rotten mass of meat in the corner, which had flies hovering around it.
"That's nasty," Zidane gasped, covering his nose. "Who would even leave that there?"
"Someone who doesn't care," Leon said dryly. "Think about the situation we're in, do you think someone is going to care about disposing a dead body?"
"Wait, so you're saying..." Zidane looked at the corpse with wide eyes. "...that's a person!"
"Was," Leon corrected, feeling bad when the kid looked down at the ground. "With the state that the body is in, I'd say that it had been experimented on."
"...with what?" The boy asked hesitantly, folding his arms.
"I don't know specifically," the agent told him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "There are many viruses out there, but don't worry, I won't let that happen to anyone again if I can help it."
"It actually worked..." James said suddenly, shock written on his face as he held the key for the two blondes to see.
"No kidding..." Leon was just as surprised. "So, we're finally getting somewhere."
James nodded.
"Where did you find it?" Zidane asked, prompting James to point at the mass.
"But, it's not the same key I remember..." James added, while Zidane was gagging by some bins.
"If it's not the same key, then what's it for?" The agent asked, slightly frustrated.
"Brookhaven."
"Great!" Zidane straightened up with enthusiasm, face pale as he started to walk away. "I'll make a start!"
"Wait, you don't know where you're going!" James called after him, running to catch up. "Zidane!"
Leon chuckled slightly, looking up at the sky, hoping that they weren't taking too long with their task. He also hoped that the others were okay...
After parting ways with Harry, Henry didn't look back. He had promises to uphold; the safety of Heather and to help Leon find the President's daughter. To do that, he had to focus.
'I know it won't be easy, but find Leon.'
Harry's voice echoed in Henry's head as he shot a humanoid in the head, slightly proud of his accuracy. Leon was their short-term goal, once they find him, they can continue.
"But, what about Harry?" Henry thought, as he shot two in the chest, twice each.
Breathing a sigh of relief, he turned behind him to check on Heather, the girl in question had just finished unloading lead into a humanoid herself. With a sigh of her own, she knelt against the wall and sat down, her gaze fixated on her gun as she replaced the clip.
"She must still be upset about Harry," Henry thought to himself, as he watched her rub a few stray tears from her eyes.
With no one else there, he had to comfort her. Mentally preparing himself, he approached her.
"Umm...hey," he said, crouching next to her. "Are you okay?"
The blonde looked up at him, throwing the empty ammo clip into the distance. "Do I look okay?" She finally said, pointing to her tear stained eyes.
"No," he blurted out without thinking, immediately covering his mouth.
In response, Heather shook her head. "If you knew the answer, what was the point in asking?"
"Look," Henry began, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I know you are worried about Harry, but -"
"Worried is an understatement..." she interrupted, looking back down at her gun as fresh tears threatened to pour from her hazel eyes. "...we should have stayed to help him..."
"I know, but -"
"He wouldn't let us?" The girl snapped, shrugging the brunette's hand away and standing up. "Yeah, whatever..." She took a few steps forward as she looked up at the sky, placing her hand over her right breast pocket. "He better make it..." she choked, opening the pocket and pulling out a necklace, closing her palm around it and holding it to her chest. "I don't know what I'd do if he died..."
"He will be okay," Henry reassured, patting her softly on the shoulder. "He told you he was the strongest man in the world, remember?"
She smiled faintly. "Yeah, but -"
"He will not let you down."
The girl looked at the necklace again with a smile, as she remembered the day he had given it to her.
It was 10 years ago, Heather's 7th birthday. Her and Harry were returning home from McDonalds, almost every child's favourite place.
They went the longer way, as that would allow the pair to walk past the beach, a place that Heather also enjoyed going to so she could see the water. Playing in the sand was another reason, but she knew that it wasn't that time of day. It was almost time for the moon to come out, and as such the sun was going to bed. This resulted in the sky turning yellow, orange, pink and blue, almost in a gradient, while the golden ball in the sky sank slowly; the sunset. It was calming to watch, especially when that beautiful visage reflected off of the sparkling water.
The young Heather had always looked at it with awe and wonder, as she held her father's hand and sipped her milkshake through a straw. She was that much engrossed that she hadn't noticed when her father had stopped walking.
"Do you want to sit down for a bit?" Harry asked her with a smile, pointing to a nearby bench. "To watch the sun a little longer."
The girl didn't have to be asked twice, as she nodded and began dragging her father to the bench. They sat in silence until Heather finished her drink.
"Finished!" She announced, holding out her empty cup for Harry to throw in the bin next to him.
"Did you have fun today?" Harry asked.
"Yeah," she replied, grinning widely. "Thank you, Daddy."
"It's okay," he pulled her into a side hug. "I have another present for you, do you want to know what it is?"
Heather pulled away and gasped in excitement. "Yeah!"
Chuckling, Harry reached into his pocket. "Okay, hold your hands out."
She did as she was told, a confused look on her features when Harry had placed something in her hands. "What's this?"
"Heather, you know what a necklace is," he told her with a smile. "What do you think?"
"Umm..." The girl looked at it closely and watched as the chain and spherical pendent glistened in the sunset. "I like it!"
"Do want me to put it on?"
She nodded and turned around, allowing her dad to fasten the chain.
"Remember to take good care of that and to never let it out of your sight," Harry had told her, as he watched her smile at the pendent.
"I will," she looked up at Harry and hugged him tightly. "I love you, Daddy!"
"I love you, too, sweetie," he hugged her back. "Happy birthday."
With a sigh, Heather placed the necklace back in her pocket.
"We have to find the others," Henry stated quietly, giving the girl a light tap on the shoulder.
"That's easier said than done," she replied, placing a hand on her hip. "We don't know where they are."
"And it could stay that way if we stand here," the brunette stated, looking around their surroundings for any monsters.
"I guess you're right," Heather sighed, as her and Henry began to walk in their original direction. "Do you have any idea where we're going?"
"Martin Street."
"Do you know where it is...?"
"Without a map...no..."
A sigh escaped the Saviour's lips as she observed the camera feed. They seemed to be making decent progress so far; surviving the relentless onslaught of monsters and even figuring out where Autumn Squad had hidden the hospital key...she knew there was a reason why she left them to the menial tasks.
However, now that she thought about it, the reason for them finding the key was shear luck; it just so happened to be in a location that James was familiar with. How convenient...could there be a mole in Autumn Squad? One who knows James well enough for him to divulge details about his time in Silent Hill? No, surely not, the squad members were merely slaves to her will at that point...
Shaking the doubts out of her mind, she looked back at the tablet displaying the camera footage. Her theories could wait, putting her plan into action couldn't. Gesturing to the two guards by her throne, she asked one to get her a radio to communicate with Sphinx and another to communicate with Uno Squad. After she nodded, both guards pressed the blue button in the centre of each radio; a red light signalled that the transmission was being received by both parties.
"Sphinx and Uno Squad," Saviour began, relaxing a little in her chair as she kept her gaze fixed on the camera footage. "To aid you in your individual objectives, I have decided to contact you to inform you of your target's location," she explained, giving a small sigh. "Admittedly, this is going to be a tedious affair, as they have split up into three groups, unintentionally, of course. Uno Squad, considering your objective, your best course of action would be to target Harry Mason, if he is still alive that is. He is, to put it simply, surrounded by monsters, so any clues to his location cannot be made apparent on my end. At the very least, you know what to look out for."
She sighed again. "This next piece of information is specifically for Sphinx, but Uno Squad listening in will not jeopardise the mission in any way and will, in fact, aid them with their other targets. Sphinx," she started. "Heather is currently with Henry, carefully navigating the rooftops of the buildings, most likely in an effort to avoid the monsters. Leon and Zidane are on their way to the hospital with James, judging by the fact that they found the key. They should be the easiest to track down."
"Roger, we will make a start on tracking down this Harry Mason character," Delta could be heard coming through one of the radio's speakers. "We will not let you down. Uno Squad out."
"Thank you for the information, Saviour," Sphinx spoke up, sounding almost excited. "I will make my way to the hospital now."
"Before you go, Sphinx," Saviour said. "You are not to hurt them fatally, just try to capture them."
"As you wish," he replied. "Just the girl, emo agent, and the monkey boy, correct?"
"Yes, but the former and latter are your priority."
"Of course, Sphinx out."
With that, he disconnected. Saviour sighed.
...she hoped that this plan would come to fruition...
And that concludes chapter 11!
Some parts feel out of place, but I, for the life of me, could not figure it out. It's weird writing that saying on paper...I mean text...did I even have it right?
I don't know when chapter 12 is going to come out, hopefully not in a year, but I know what I can be like sometimes. And yeah...the plot is going to get bigger and weirder judging by my planning sheet, so brace yourselves.
Improvements are appreciated, please tell me what I did right, wrong and how I can improve. If you would like, you could also favourite and follow this fic, as well as suggest ideas for future chapters. R&R and thanks for reading!