Chapter 3

Jill's boots made a clattering noise against the metal ladder as she made her way down it. When she touched down, she was up to her knees in dirty, cold water. She could hear a sloshing noise and the single minded cry of the zombies. The moan, that was probably the most haunting sound in the world. Jill waded forward, as she turned the corner, a zombie did. Jill practically had a heart attack as she jumped back, aiming her gun forward. The zombie moaned and lunged for her.

* * *

Cody heard gun shots and rushed to where he'd left Jill, she was down in some sort of basement. Cody didn't even use the ladder, he jumped down the hole and slammed into the ground. The cold, dirty water, Cody sighed with disgust as he waded forward as fast as he could. He tore around the corner and saw Jill firing on a pack of zombies that were closing in on her. Cody aimed and began to fire, each bullet from the revolver sent a chunk of flesh into the wall and sent a zombie down. That's when Cody felt a icy cold hand wrap around the bottom of his leg. Cody looked down and saw a zombie grabbing his leg, it's legs and lower body had been blown off, its skin was a pale white, the water was turning it's insides different colors. Cody almost puked when he saw it's face, massive chunks of skin ripped away leaving it's exposed brain. That's when the raw fear that had always been there began to pump back through Cody's vanes, Cody snapped out of it and sent his last round into the zombies exposed brain. This dropped it dead, Cody stumbled back, feeling the contents in his stomach churning again. The awful realization of what was going on, and inescapable nightmare, Cody bent forward and puked. Cody could feel Jill patting him on the back, trying to comfort him. Cody shook it off and stood up, in Jill's right hand he saw the gem, he smiled knowing now they were one step closer to getting out.

* * *

Jill's palm began to sweat as she placed the final gem into it's slot, there was a short mechanical hum then a quick flash of lights as the bars that protected city hall slid open. Cody and Jill entered City hall and began to walk forward, almost instantly they were faced with a pack of zombies. Not something you get used to, but after a while you become accustomed to seeing them around the corner, Cody decided to save his last six shots in the revolver for the next time Nemesis came about, holding out both the Glock and the beretta Jill fired also. Quicker then usual they cleared all the zombies out of the alley and headed west until they came to another junction.

"So which way should we go?" Jill asked,

"Left" Cody said,

"Okay were going right" Jill joked,

"Hey!" Cody shouted out, Jill smiled and the two took the right path, as Cody placed his hands on the door knob, he heard the demonic cry that always seemed to make the hair on the back of his neck stand on ends.

"Sttarrsss"

"Holy shit" Jill cried out, Cody could hear the footfalls that sounded like bombs going off.

"Jill, he's close, we can't lead him back to the trolley, lets go back and to the right, maybe we can get him lost" Cody suggested, Jill nodded in agreement and snatched him by the hand and took off running back the way they'd come. Except when they reached the junction they went to the right, up a small flight of stairs and through another door. Cody and Jill ducked down and ran through the maze of gridlock cars and trucks. Once safely hidden behind the cars Jill pulled Cody down and the two stayed crouched behind the cars. Cody could feel his heart pounding like crazy,

"It's hunting me.... Cody I think It'd be safer for you to stay with Carlos" Jill said,

"No way, we said we wouldn't leave each other, besides I am not scared of that big foot look alike, Nope he doesn't scare me one bit" Cody said,

"Sttarrsss"

"OH SHIT!" Cody yelled out, Jill kind of smiled, "Nope, like I was saying I am staying with you, besides I don't think Carlos and us are on the same page here" Cody added,

"So you don't trust him?" Jill asked,

"Yea I trust him. . . . . about as far as I can throw him" Cody replied, Jill laughed slightly that's when Cody jumped at the sudden clash of motion. Jill and Cody both ran, ducked behind the cars, they could hear the Nemesis's thundering progress as it searched through the cars for them. The steel shudder that protected the shops' front door was down, but Jill was able to pick the lock on the door leading to the garage. Jill and Cody stepped into the dimly lit garage, the floor was drenched with sticky oil. Cody and Jill stayed crouched behind a counter when they heard footsteps,

"The Nemesis" Cody breathed,

"No. . . The foot steps are loud but not powerful" Jill said,

That's when they heard something beating against the steel shutter, followed up by the helpless cry of the zombies.

"They found us" Cody said, he a panicky tone,

"God.... By the sound of that there has to be tons of them" Jill said, Jill looked over her shoulder and saw Cody loading a new set of bullets into the swing out chamber of the revolver.

-tatatatatatatatata!!-

Cody was surprised to hear what sounded like automatic gun fire coming from outside, Cody lunged out from behind the counter and pressed his ear up against the cold metal. No more moans, the zombies were dead,

knock knock!

Cody jumped back as someone started to beat against the steel shutter,

"Hey is anyone in there? The zombies are dead! You can open up now!" Cody knew the voice instantly, Carlos,

"Nobodies home!" Cody shot back a reply, Jill came out from behind the counter and raised the shutter door. Carlos stepped in wielding an assault rifle,

"I'm really glad to see you guys are okay, when you two weren't at the trolley I thought you might be hurt. When I saw the zombies all heading here I figured they might be after you guys" Carlos said, Jill shot a half smile and Cody stood there, finger still on the trigger. "So what are you guys doing here?" Carlos asked,

"We kind of got side tracked on our way to the Trolley, you didn't happen to see big foot lumbering around out there did you?"

Carlos's smile sunk into a frown,

"He's still alive?" Carlos asked,

"Very much so" Jill replied, "But its not a him, its an it, well a Tyrant, or some variation, Cody named it the Nemesis" Jill added,

"Well.... Cody named it well, because that is what it is, our Nemesis, oh and by the way, I've been to the Trolley, it doesn't work, we are going to need Mixed Oil, jumper cables, and a new fuse if we want to get it to run" Carlos said, Cody seemed to be ignoring the situation,

"I think I found the oil" Cody announced, after he unlocked the safe and pulled it out.

"Good job" Jill applauded, Carlos had moved into the garage, Cody could hear him fumbling with some wires as Cody handed Jill the oil and walked to Carlos. Cody went to speak when, an orange and white spark spat out from one of the wires. And before Cody could speak the floor was ablaze, the flames three feet and rising. Cody was knocked backwards against the wall. Cody covered his face as he smacked up against one of the

windows, lost in the forest of flames.

* * *

Carlos lunged out from the flames and grabbed Jill by the wrist. Pulling her outside, they both ran as fast as they could. Jill was outside when she remembered Cody, he wasn't with them. Jill tried to stop but she was boosted into the air and throwing her forward at once as a loud pressure wave washed over her, and she hit the ground, and was

surrounded in darkness.

* * *

"Jill. . . Jill are you okay?"

Jill's eyes fluttered open and she was staring up at Carlos, her head was pounding. She sat up, and at the same moment remembered why she'd tried to stop.

"Carlos, we have to go back, Cody is still there!" Jill shouted, pushing past Carlos, but what she saw made her heart skip a beat. There was no shop, all the cars were thrown about and in a burning rage, nothing but fire. . . .

"Jill I'm sorry. . . . I forgot about him, it all happened to fast" Carlos said

* * *

Cody stumbled to his feet, he'd been knocked through then window and before he knew what was going on he'd been thrown a few yards by the explosion. His body hurt more then ever now, he felt like he'd been hit with a semi truck. His left pant leg was ripped, and his clothes were singed, but all in all he was okay. Cody was lost though, he'd never really been to this part of Raccoon. But all he knew was that Jill and Carlos thought he was dead, and if he didn't find his way back to the Trolley before they found all the parts they needed, they'd leave him and he'd never escape. But as Cody ventured on he found that even the simplest things like climbing over a dumpster took every ounce of strength in his body. As he got to the top of the dumpster he collapsed, his body wanted to just give up, give into the pain and just lay there until he died.

"I have to beat this. . . . . I am not going out like this, not after all that shit I went through back there" Cody mumbled to himself, Cody pushed himself off the dumpster and landed on the other side, on his feet. Cody clutched his side as he slowly, limped on, under his feet he could hear shards of glass crushing and a sloshing noise as it scrapped against puddles of liquid that were formed on the ground. Cody didn't pause long enough to look down at it but he knew it was blood. Cody was completely lost now, more then he'd ever been. He didn't know which way lead to the Trolley, or which way even lead back to the main road. He found himself lost in a maze of back alleys. But after scaling a few cars that were piled on one an other to make a block aid, Cody found a firmilar place. He'd found the newspaper office,

"Finally" Cody whispered to himself,

* * *

Jill felt all alone again as her and Carlos split up to find the rest of the parts to the Trolley. Cody was dead and she blamed herself for it, but even though she felt bad, she knew it wasn't entirely her fault. Things had happened so fast that she hadn't had time, all to fast, but at least his nightmare in Raccoon was over, it had ended in a sea of flames though. . . . She hoped that his death had been fast, and not slow, but all in all she knew he was dead. An explosion of that magnitude could have even killed the Nemesis.

"I'm sorry Cody" Jill whispered, but now wasn't the time to mourn, it was true that she'd lost a lot, and Cody was another name of the list of close friends that Umbrella had taken. Once she got out of this hell hole, she'd meet up with Chris and put an end to Umbrella, Chris and another strike team were on their way to England to infiltrate Umbrella's head quarters. Jill had side tracked all the way back to where she'd started, hoping that maybe Dario had lived till now. But when she got there she had found him dead, and dropped a few zombies which is what she was doing now.

Jill searched the inside of the large container for anything that might do her even the slightest bit of good. Jill smiled as she found a box of ammo and,

"A diary?" Jill's mind said as she picked up the small diary, it read,

I can't help but wonder if anyone will read these words, but writing them will help me maintain my sanity if nothing else. After I've become a meal for those undead monsters, will the G.I.'s responsible for sealing off the town laugh upon discovering my corpse? So is this how it's supposed to end? I don't want to die, I'm just not ready..... My wife, daughter, mother.... My entire family has been killed. But none of that matters anymore. Right now, my life is the only important thing. That's all that matters. I never would have pictured my end to be like this. I had so much left to do. Rather than becoming a salesman, I should have tried my hand at being a novelist. It's what I've always wanted, but my mother would only tell me you have a long way to go. Why did I ever listen to her? But this looks like the end for the great Dario Rosso, novelist extraordinaire. Cut down before his prime.

Jill closed the diary then closed her eyes, she found it kind of sad but it had been his choice to stay there and he wasn't anyone she was going to shed any tears over. Jill had to stop taking so much time thinking, and hurry up, they needed to get out of the city before Nemesis killed them all.

* * *

Cody found himself staring at the statue of Mayor Harris, not the most lovely mayor in his opinion. He was more then likely corrupt, him and Chief Iorns, Chief Iorns was a fat prick. More times then one Cody had the displeasure of having little talks with Iorns, he'd usually ignore every word Iorns said then walk out of his office. But Cody wasn't there for memories, he'd encountered a puzzle, and he needed the book that was in the statues hands. After removing the book Cody quickly headed back toward the shopping district. Cody was trying to be as quite as possible since he was out of ammo.

"Out of ammo and out of luck, if you don't hurry up they are going to leave with out you, and here you are; trying to complete a puzzle that could have no irrelevance to any of this" Cody's mind told him, but something else in him told him that they wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon. Cody had passed through the shopping district and headed down hill, past the restaurant and to a wall that had a book in it. Cody switched the books and decided to go with his gut feeling, Cody hurried back through the shopping district again and back to the statue. This time he placed the book he'd taken in the statues' arms. There was a clicking noise and it revealed a red button. Cody pressed the red button and the statue turned all the way around and at the bottom of the back a small door opened. Revealing a large battery,

"What the hell?" Cody said to himself, Cody bent down and picked up the battery. Why would he need a battery? His mind was racing with suggestions but none were making any sense. It was to heavy to lug around for long, with the excess weight he'd be target for any number of the creatures that were roaming Raccoon. His best bet was to. . . "Wait a minute. . . . . Didn't that lift back at that construction looking place need a battery?" Cody said to himself, Cody then turned and ran off.

* * *

Jill headed back toward the Trolley with the jumper cables and mixed oil,

"Maybe Carlos found the fuse, if not we could be here a while" Jill said to herself,

* * *

After placing the lift battery into the lift Cody found himself at some sort of power planet, Cody turned the power switch on and made his way to the Voltage Regulator. Cody pushed a few buttons, not exactly sure of what to do. Somehow he had to get the doors open, hopefully he'd be able to find some ammo or something before returning to the streets. That's when the machine started to blink and door A opened. Cody dashed over to the door and found a fuse on the shelf.

"Bingo" Cody said, smirking he stuffed the fuse into his pocket, suddenly, Cody heard the sound of shuffling feet at the entrance. Cody rushed out from the room and found dozens of zombies trying to break in, Cody's heart skipped a beat and he began to sweat. "I don't have any ammo! I can't take them on! I'm dead!" Cody cried out, backing up in complete fear. This was it, he was-

Cody backed into the voltage generator and it began to over load, Cody dropped to the ground as a fury of blue and white shaded beams of electricity spat out, clinging to anything metal. Cody could hear the sounds of the zombies spasming, the generator popped and smoke began to rise as it all stopped. Cody stood up and his nose was assaulted with the stench of fried decayed skin. Cody looked around, he'd managed to survive once again, but he knew that didn't mean he was safe just yet. The generator was fried but thankfully it had trigged the other door open. Cody rushed in and searched desperately for anything that would do him some good. There, on the shelf was a case of fifty magnum bullets, this made Cody smile ear to ear. After loading the chamber with a new set of bullets Cody headed back the way he'd come.

"Sttarrsss"

Cody's heart skipped a beat again, no, it couldn't be, Cody looked up and saw a giant black mass jumping at him. Cody turned and broke into a full run as he heard the asphalt explode as it landed. But why? He wasn't with Jill, why was the Nemesis after him now!? Cody turned the corner with all his speed, he could hear the Nemesis's thundering foot steps behind him. Cody reached the lift and stopped, placing his hand on the switch he looked at the Nemesis, it was just standing there; at the end of the hallway.

"Sttarrsss" it howled,

"I'm not S.T.A.R.S." Cody said softly, putting his thumb against the button, trying not to make any sudden movements.

"Sttarrsss" it cried out again,

"Go to hell!" Cody spat, pushing the button in, the lift slowly starting to crank,

"Sttarrsss!!!" it screamed, a massive, loud, deep and desperate voice that shook the entire hallway, as it bent it's waist and knees, looked at him, it seemed to growl as it pushed off the ground in a dynamic lunge that sent cracks down the pavement. The lift was going down but slow,

"HURRY UP!!" Cody screamed, but as the Nemesis reached him, it stopped, standing upright and bending it's arms at it's side. Tilting it's head back and screaming wordlessly, bellowing to the stars above. Cody was almost down the shaft when the Nemesis looked back down at him. One fleshy tentacle coming out from under it's sleeve, lashing around like a snake. Cody's eyes widened, Cody grabbed for his magnum and lined it up with the monster's knee cap. But before Cody could do a thing he was snatched up off the lift and into the air by the Nemesis. It held him level with his face,

"Sttarrsss" it growled, with out thinking Cody rammed the magnum into Nemesis's forehead as it brought it's other hand up. And Cody began to pull the trigger, each, massive blast made the Nemesis stumble back, and finally as Cody clicked empty, the Nemesis let go of Cody and fell backwards, Cody fell down the hole and onto the lift.