Chapter 4

Dawson Harris Memorial Hospital

12:07 pm

Mulder checked his watch as he walked through the double glass doors of the only hospital in the small city of Raccoon. It had taken forever to make the relatively short trip across town despite the light traffic. A good portion of the streets seemed to be blocked with parked cars.

The hospital was busier than he expected. Exhausted doctors rushed from room to room, examining charts and yelling orders to nurses. He noticed a steady stream of people staggering through the main door, sweaty and pale. Carefully sidestepping the crowds, Mulder made his way to the front desk.

A young woman sat, busily answering a seemingly unending flow of calls.

Mulder reached into his inner coat pocket and pulled out his ID. "Agent Fox Mulder with the FBI. I'm here to see Kevin Richards. I was told that he was admitted recently."

The woman quickly typed something on her computer. "Down the hall," she said a moment later, indicating to her right. "Room 107."

"Thanks." Mulder said, but she was already answering another phone.

He walked down the corridor and entered the plain, busy room. The beds were all full of people, convulsing while nurses struggled to hold them down. He didn't see Kevin. "Excuse me." Mulder said to a doctor brushing past him.

"Can I help you?" the stern looking man said, removing his glasses to wipe away the grime.

"Yes, Doctor..." Mulder looked at his name tag. "Stevens. I'm looking for a Kevin Richards..." He looked around the room.

"He's dead. We had him put downstairs with the rest of the, uh, corpses."

Mulder's eyes widened. "Dead? How? I was told he was probably dehydrated."

"He appeared to be infected with what everyone else seems to have." He replaced his glasses. "And in case you haven't noticed, I'm very busy. If that's all..." Stevens began walking out of the room.

"Wait!" Mulder called, grabbing the Doctors arm. He suddenly had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. "What are the symptoms of all the patients coming in?"

"I'm not at liberty to say..." Stevens began, his narrow eyes glaring at Mulder through his wire-rim glasses.

Mulder pulled out his ID. "This information is vital to my investigation."

Stevens sighed impatiently. "High fever, followed by persistent irritation of the skin. After that, the blood begins to congeal and gangrene sets in. Is that all?"

He nodded slowly, and Stevens left the room. Mulder slowly looked around at the hundreds of other patients, and the realization hit him like a ton of bricks. "Oh Shi-"

Raccoon City Police Department

4:58 pm

Scully walked down the small ramp, passing the marble statue. The autopsy had revealed what she had expected; Sean was killed by a pack of animals, most likely canine. But she hadn't expected the decaying muscle tissue that was under his fingernails. That would imply he was scratching his attackers-one's that had been dead for quite some time...

Scully shook her head. It simply wasn't possible, victims of a virus or not. She had always found the logical explanation before, even with her partners unorthodox theories providing an easy answer.

Scully gasped as the main door burst open and Mulder ran through. His tie and suit coat were gone, and the sleeves of his wrinkled, white dress shirt were rolled up. Multiple side packs were strapped around his waist, and he held a shotgun. Mulder skidded to a stop when he saw Scully.

The receptionist leaned her head over the counter and gaped at him, her unlit cigarette falling from her lips.

"Mulder!" Scully said in surprise. "What the hell is going on?"

He didn't say anything. Instead, he grabbed her arm and rushed her out of the building.

Mulder led her to his car and fumbled for the keys to the trunk. "Kevin's dead. At least, he was. I don't know about now..."

Confusion darkened Scully's eyes. "Dead? I thought he was..."

Mulder shook his head. "Somehow he got infected. It might have been during the dog attack, but the symptoms should have shown up before now. We've got to watch our backs Scully." Finally finding the right key, he unlocked the trunk. Inside were dozens of weapons and boxes of ammo.

He handed Scully a Magnum and some extra rounds. "I stopped by a gun shop on the way over. Luckily Kendo just got a shipment in."

Scully reluctantly took the gun. "Kendo?"

"Yeah, nice guy. We talked a little; did you know over fifty people in the area claim to have been abducted by aliens? That's astronomically high for a small city like this."

"Mulder," Scully interrupted. "are you going to tell me what's going on? I mean, you show up looking like Rambo..."

Mulder strapped the shotgun to his back and began putting extra ammo in his side packs. "We're too late, Scully. It's already began."

"What's already began?"

"An outbreak." Mulder said. "And someone's been expecting it. I'm guessing Umbrella. The phone lines are down, and all the roads out of town have been blocked."

"What? How could all this happen in just a few hours?"

"These are some powerful people Scully. Who knows how deep this goes."

Scully reached into her coat pocket for her cell phone.

"Don't bother." Mulder said, tossing her his phone. The 'Out of Service Area' light was blinking. "Doesn't look like we're going to be calling for backup any time soon."

Suddenly, a scream echoed through the streets. Turning, they saw a young woman come running from around the corner about twenty feet away. Her left sleeve was torn and blood oozed down her arm.

"Help!" she sobbed. "They're after me!" Passing them, she ran into the police station, slamming the oak doors behind her.

Scully looked back at the corner and gasped at what staggered into view.

At first glance, he appeared to be normal, perhaps a drunken man on his way home from a party. But quickly, she took in the large, bloody open sores that covered the man's gray flesh. As it shuffled closer with it's arms outstretched, a low, hungry moan emanated from it's dry lips. Scully was rooted to the spot, wide eyed, barely registering the stench of decay that filled the air.

Boom!

It fell on it's back, red brain matter oozing from the liquefied remains of it's head.

Mulder lowered the smoking double barrel shotgun.

Her left ear still ringing, Scully slowly turned to face him. "That was a...a-" she stammered, most of her body still numb from shock.

"It's ok Scully. Say it...zombie. I won't respect you any less."

"But it's impossible..."

She stopped when she heard the moans. Both her and Mulder turned to see at least forty of the undead shuffling closer, inching their way along the deserted streets.

In the distance, cries and screams from civilians arose throughout the city, a symphony of horror that soon grew into a gale of panicked, deafening noise.

Mulder stared back at the sheer numbers of the T-virus victims that were slowly closing in. "Scully, get the officers out here and load that magnum I gave you."