1/18/2000
Period D
In a small rural area of northern California, lies the peaceful town of Raccoon City. Tucked away in the woods, this town's populace was happy. But the entire town had some connection to Umbrella Inc. Umbrella, an international producer of chemical weapons hides behind the guise of a food additive company. What else do they do?
"Resident Evil: Virus"
Sounds of gunfire and boots marching fill the air. The only door to the small office is kicked down, as something slithers into a vent. A lone soldier, in special ops gear, finds a tape recorder on the desk.
"Sir?" he calls. "I've found something." The tape recorder snaps to a stop.
A more heavily armed man walks in. "Good job, lieutenant. Rewind and play it. Maybe we can figure out what happened here."
The tape hums into reverse, and quickly starts its auto-play feature. The label on the side reads, "Umbrella Inc. T-Virus science records. William Geist's logs." A voice plays out from the speakers.
"March 21st, 1995, 1430 hours. William Geist reporting for first day in Lab 13. Unfortunately, Lab 12 was destroyed by Raccoon's Special Tactics And Rescue Squad unit two months ago. On the bright side, this new lab is featuring D-Con systems. In case of a spill, sensors activate a mix of low-level gamma pulses and high intensity ultraviolet light to decontaminate the lab. These logs are to record the possible progress of mutation of the failed T-Virus. Umbrella wants supersoldiers, not zombies, and I'm hoping I can alter the proteins enough to make them happy."
"March 23rd, 1995, 0900 hours. My associates and I agree that to be able to successfully mutate the T-Virus, we should note all of its properties first. We've ordered three vials, but only two came through the sewer route. I can only hope the company read my writing as a two, or better yet, they only had two to give. If that third vial was lost on the way here, the entire town runs the risk of zombie infestation.
"Same date. 1130 hours. I have used both vials in a test. Fifteen injections were given to both a series of rats and humans. I had the extra space in the lab converted to hermetically sealed cells. Nothing, not even bacterium can get in or out. Three shots in each group were placebos. They were released with no ill effects. These are the records of the others: ten rats died, two survived. Eight humans died, four survived. We are studying the bodies."
"March 25th, 1200 hours. Same results as previous T-Virus tests. As previously stated, only two rats survived, yet now I see six walking around, and the other six starting to twitch. As for the human subjects, no signs from the cadavers, but the survivors are complaining of epidermal irritation and an insatiable hunger. I've had the security teams dig up some flame-throwers from the armory locker and I've put them on an intercom switch. Wait, a human corpse has started twitching. It has begun."
"March 28th, 1995, 0900 hours. After studying all properties of the T-Virus, the subjects were destroyed and the cells were decontaminated. More subjects were brought in, and the first successful mutation of the T-Virus has been created. Noted T-Virus alpha, or Alpha for all later purposes, it has been injected into all ten human and rat subjects; no placebo was administered."
"Same date, 1500 hours. Alpha is a failure. While it proved extremely potent in cultured blood samples, we had not expected any problems due to dietary cholesterol. Not only did the virus become neutralized; it actually lowered their harmful cholesterol levels. We are starting work on Beta."
"April 3rd, 1995, 0800 hours. After injecting Beta into subjects, we have come to a horrifying discovery. Rearranging the gene sequences in the T-Virus only reversed the order of its stages. Subjects turned almost immediately to zombies, then hours later dropped dead. Cells have been cleaned and decontaminated. Starting on Gamma."
"April 4th, 1995, 1300 hours. Since Gamma has a different protein shell structure, it can no longer be classified as a T-Virus strain. I have decided then to name it the G-Virus. I have injected it into four people, and so far they feel better than ever. This may be a successful formula, if only we could find the stimulus. After exposing them to a concentrated airborne form of smallpox, their heightened immune system stopped it almost immediately." Sounds of a wheeled office chair rolling across the floor play. "I am depositing a beaker of the G-Virus into a spectrographic analyzer. In about 48 hours, the results should be in."
"April 5th, 1995, 1200 hours. Unfortunately, the G-Virus seems to be a failure. Apparently, if the correct stimulus isn't given, the body hyper-decomposes into a lifeless corpse. I'm leaving the bodies until the analysis is complete."
"April 6th, 1995, 1330 hours. Only a few seconds to go until analysis is complete." The same sound of a chair rolling repeats. The clicking – buzz of a printer wheezes as it finishes. " Hmm…" the voice mumbles, as suddenly a thump of a body on a window echoes, followed by the sounds of a chair falling over and glass shattering. A faint, high-pitched hum fills the radio silence. "Ack!" The voice yells. A click of a switch being pressed is played. "Security, get up here and burn cell A. Then burn it again. And get a doctor up here to bandage this gash on my hand…"
"April 7th, 1995, 0600 hours. I think I may be infected with the G-Virus. Even if the D-Con system activated, there's no telling how fast it can flow into the body. I'm feeling slightly dizzy." The sound of footsteps is heard.
"We're here for the G-Virus," the new voice says.
"But the studies aren't complete, I need time to"
The sound of a gun cocking clicks familiarly. "We don't care." Gunfire distorted through the speakers, blares out of the recorder. "Take the vials. We'll have to go out through the sewer. The Police station will be too busy now, after the shooting. And we don't need thi" a click of the recorder stopping, then starting again.
"Same date, 1900 hours. I think I may have found the necessary stimulus. The virus acts as a stronger white blood cell. But, unless the stimulus is applied, the virus builds up and chokes the body's blood vessels. But if the stimulus is applied, the coagulating red blood cells are destroyed and replaced by new flowing viral cells. The stimulus, is death by any means other than blood clotting. I fear I may be changing into something more brutal. But now I know of one thing: a voice in my head tells me I have something to do in the sewers…"
"April 9, 0800, I have to hide under clothes at work. My skin is becoming bony like armor, and is changing colors. The bodies were finally found by the sewer entrance, but no one suspects me."
"April 10, about 10 am. The lab was cleared today. They found a body. I couldn't help it. She looked in on the lab and saw me. If it weren't for an odd eye growing out of my arm, I wouldn't have been able to catch her. I decided to stay, and they allowed me. In a few days, a new S.T.A.R.S. member comes into town."
"4/12, early. I heard a rumor that Umbrella is sending a Special Forces team in to investigate the deaths. Let them come."
"Dawn," Multiple voices and growls merge into one voice. "Guns. They bring guns. The vent. Vent is safe." Sounds of gunfire and marching boots fill the recording, followed by voices of soldiers.
"Sir?" he calls. "I've found something." The tape recorder snaps to a stop.
The commander snaps around and faces the vent. "Men, if this is accurate, he's still in there." All seven men face the vent, weapons drawn. Unfortunately for them, they don't notice two tentacles, slowly lowering a monstrous creature from the ceiling.
In a secret basement in the Police station, a man in a suit turns a key. The screams and sounds of firing echo as the labs seal off with a hiss, behind four-foot thick metal doors. The man walks out of the basement, past the front desk and out of the Police station into a limo. His cell phone rings as he closes the door and the limo speeds past a group of zombies on the street.
"Yes, Sir," he says. "Weapon G is safely locked away. The team, Sir? I had to seal them in too. It needs to eat, after all…."
The End
Credit is given to Capcom™ for the use of the names of cities, viruses, and other terms from their inspiring video game series, Resident Evil.