Resident Evil: End Game
Chapter 7
Time was flying rather quickly as Rowan sped down the road and towards the capital of Kansas, Topeka, anxious to pick up the remaining two friends in her little gang. Celica was now in the back seat, assisting Sherry, who was wrapping cloth around the wounds Shiva had aquired from her father and brother. The rags had once been tee-shirts that Rowan and Sherry owned, and had grown out of, using them as rags to clean things...but the ones that were wrapped around Shiva had been cleaned the previous day, for the two sisters had feared that Shiva would be in trouble with her parents. Celica sighed softly, wrapping a single piece of black clothe, that was now fading to a slight gray, around the younger girl's arm, watching as she winced in slight pain before allowing her to wrap it around the wound.
*Damn those two to Hell...That father...the son...how the Hell could they do something like this to their own flesh and blood?!* Celica frowned at the thought, her eyes brightly shimmering with red hot anger. *The bastards...I hope they get arrested or something...*
Silently, she sighed, reaching down to absently rub her arm, then straighten her white tee-shirt as well as her denim jeans, before returning to dressing Shiva's wounds. In about five minutes, all visible wounds were wrapped, and Celica leaned back, giving Shiva a light pat on the back before looking out of the car window for a moment, watching the buildings of Topeka rush by as they drove on. They had just entered the huge city, and were on their way to pick up Greg, then Derek. Pedestrians paced the streets and sidewalks, conversing with their families or friends, or carrying bags, showing that some had just been out shopping. Cars passed by rather quickly, while others were slower than others...but Rowan, at the moment, didn't care. Right now, all she wanted to do was pick up Derek and Greg, then head to the movies. Not only was she anxious to meet her friends again, but she was anxious to get home and meet her older friends, the ones she hasn't seen in five years.
*The ones I haven't seen since Raccoon,* she thought wearily, grinning softly.
She failed to notice the Umbrella truck that drove past her and down the road...she wasn't looking to that side, and her mind was on other things...
Rowan turned right on the road she was already on, hurrying past a strip mall and hurtling towards the area where a city bus sat, loading passengers that stood before it. She parked behind it, with the engine still on, and watched as the last passenger, a young woman holding a sleeping infant in her arms, boarded the bus, and watched as the vehicle closed the doors, then, with a jolt of the engine, began to head down the street...and, in their wake, she saw Derek and Greg leaning against the glass/plastic bus stop, staring at their car and grinning softly.
The attire they wore was very normal... Derek wore a simple red tee-shirt, as well as black jeans. His hair looked extremely odd...parted in the middle, but it had different hair styles on each side. The left side of his hair was braided and slightly greasy, while the right side of his hair was sticking up in an affro. Greg, in the meanwhile, still had his normal hairdo. is clothes consisted of a green shirt with the silver lettering of the word 'Quicksilver' written across it, and he had on a pair of denim jeans. He smirked at us before heading over to the car quickly, hands shoved in his pockets, winking at Rowan before pulling the back door open and climbing in, followed closely by Derek, who grinned a little as Celica gave him a quick embrace.
*Those two are growing into each other,* Rowan noted to herself, closing her eyes and sighing softly. *And Greg's...growing on me. He's a cute sonnuva bitch...but I can't...*
She looked behind her to lock eyes with Greg, who winked once again, waving his right hand. A faint glow of crimson began to form on Rowan's cheeks, and she grinned sheepishly back before turning to face the road in front of her, while reaching over for the and pushing it into the first gear. The car began to rattle a bit, then started to move down the road, slightly sluggishly until after about a minute. The radio nearby her played the song 'Falling' by Mudvayne, but the volume was down very low, so they could only hear a few of the high-pitched notes in the songs, as well as the chorus in it. Sighing, she looked back again for a second, smirking and speaking in a light-hearted voice.
"So...what'cha wanna do?" she asked, raising a brow before looking back to the road, hitting the brakes a little so that she could easily turn a corner. "Any movies? Arcades? Shit like that?"
"Uh...aren't they playing the new Hannibal movie at the theater back at Birchenville?" Greg asked, cringing slightly when she saw Shiva shudder at the name, and he smiled apologetically. She grinned to him, then nodded in forgiveness, while Sherry leaned back and into the seat, yawning a little and rubbing her eyes. Celica, in the meanwhile, looked up over to Greg, then smirked.
"That movie's about the Hanny when he was young, right?" she inquired, raising a brow. She saw Greg nod, and she returned the gesture, looking back at Rowan, who was still watching the road. "Yeah...the movie...you guys wanna see it?"
Derek grinned a bit and nodded to her. "Hannibal kicks ass, y'know," he mused. "And what the Hell is Hanny? Yer pet name for him?"
"Bite me, Derek."
The boy laughed at that, and quickly, a devilish grin began to from on his voice, and he lowered his voice so that it sounded close to Anthony Hopkins' voice in his movies. "Where and how hard?" he hissed, flashing his pearly white teeth and gnashing them a little bit for added effects, causing the other girl to giggle a little.
Rowan and Sherry rolled their eyes, while Shiva simply grinned, as did Greg. Both found it quite humurous, as did the two Foster sisters. Sherry smirked a little and turned to face the two lovebirds, snickering. "You two flirts might as well get a room...then you could...uh...how should I say this..." Her eyes flickered with mischief for a moment, and Rowan looked back, chuckling and nodding. Sherry nodded and looked back at the two. "Then you could get all the snacks you want..."
Rowan burst into a fit of chuckles as she turned and began to drive back to Birchenville, while Derek and Celica blushed a bright ruby, then wrapped their arms around their shoulders, grinning awkwardly. Shiva, Sherry, and Greg laughed out as they watched thier two embarrassed friends try to get over the little joke the young blonde had said. Rowan looked back for a second, then burst out laughing when she saw the expressions on their faces, while Derek frowned a little bit, humor gleeming behind his black eyes.
"Oh...kiss my ass," he said simply, smiling a bit as Celica snuggled her head into his chest, sighing in content.
Rowan looked up, her mouth opening to say a comeback, but the words that were about to come out of her mouth hung there, then diminished. Her eyes locked onto something she saw drive towards them, then past them, followed by three others. They were trucks...black trucks, almost like armored ones, except these didn't carry money or such. Normally, she would've thought they were just hauling something that needed a lot of protection, like jewels, or something along those lines, but those were immediantly ruled out of her mind when she saw the hexagonal emblems painted on the sides...an emblem with six acute triangles, colored red, white, then red again, in a pattern...
A pattern that was on an emblem she knew all too well.
Curiousity and confusion peeked into her mind, and slowly, she began to turn the car around, although nobody else in the car noticed. They were too busy chittering...except for Sherry, who happened to look up in time to see the last truck pass by, and her eyes widened to the size of saucers...
Umbrella was obviously having a convention of somesort...or something else... But whatever it was, something in the pit of Rowan's stomach began to turn...the horror that something was going, that something horrible was about to happen, or was happening at that very moment. And, althought Rowan tried to shove the thought away, she couldn't...it soon began to fog up all other thought, and silently, she followed the trucks, curious to see where they were going...
...And hoping that her rising suspicions weren't true.
**********
Dear Journal,
Everything is falling apart...at least, now it is. Only an hour ago, my grandmother fell asleep for her daily nap. Only a half hour ago, my father helped me catch a baby snake out in the backyard, which, at this moment, is laying inside of the little cage behind me, in my room. Only ten minutes ago, I was playing Tekken 3 with my girlfriend...
And only two seconds ago, all Hell has broken loose.
There are monsters in the streets...
That's right, monsters. Things that go bump in the night. Creatures with big ass teeth, sometimes claws, and that are hunting down all the living things in the area. And what's worst is that these creatures are undead...fucking zombies, and they want blood...anything's blood...
And my mother and father are outside with them, banging on the windows which are now starting to crack, clawing at the wooden doors and leaving it splintered as they tried in vain to get in. There are about twenty or so of them outside of my house...and they want in, want me, want my grandmother who is fast asleep upstairs. They already ate some of my family members... My mother and father tried to get them away from the house, confused as to why they were attacking at first, and hoping to get them help, for, at the moment, my parents thought they were injured people that must've gotten into a car crash or were in a building that collapsed on them...and when they tried to help, one of them bit my mother. Her screams attracted the attention of the rest of the monsters close by, and slowly, they hurtled towards the area Mum and Dad were in. In a mattaer of second, they were pinned down, torn into mercilessly, while I had no choice but to stand and watch. I managed to grab the broom by the door, and began to smack the shit out of some, killing, I think, one, and knocking the legs out from underneath another one before they began to head towards me... I had no choice but to get back into the house, and, from the window, I saw watched as my half-eaten parents rose from the ground, their mouths opening and closing in low groans, whilst the rest began to claw at the house.
My girlfriend was also a victim... She tried to run after I got back in the house, the fear overtaking her. I heard her screaming as she fled from my house, her possible safe-spot, and, despite my calls for her to come back, she did not return. I saw her fall victim to another line of the undead, but she did not rise again.
Outside, I can hear gunfire, and I can hear screams. Out of the cracked windows, I can see people firing weapons...especially these men wearing black suits with a red and white Umbrella symbol on them. They have become abundant in the last few minutes...I mean, they arrived in the nick of time, right after my girlfriend, Tara, was killed... It's really suspicious of them...
I can also see the people outside running from the area, screaming, some being caught by the zombies outside, and, once in a while, a new type of creature, like that long-clawed monster that had begun lurking around here...a thing that looked like a giant lizard. Everyone's dying, and I know that I will soon wind up joining them. The Umbrella people didn't kill the monsters by my house yet...or, perhaps, they weren't aiming for them. Once in a while, a bullet would penetrate a window where I would be standing by, as if they were trying to kill *me*...
But I would not die by the hands of these beasts that stood outside of the house. I wouldn't be killed by the monsters that claimed my Mom and Dad, as well as Tara. I wouldn't...I won't let them...
My father always kept a gun in the cellar, and he would use it when he went out hunting for game, like deer, or ducks. It was a rifle, and, although I know it would be messy, it would get the job done. Besides, I've got nothing to live for anymore...my family is dead, except for my Grandma, who wouldn't wake up if the world was coming to the end, which, oddly, seems like what is happening right now.
Another bullet just flew through the window, narrowly missing my head, and I silently cursed the Umbrella person's horrible aim, wishin it would've hit me. I made my way into the cellar, grabbed the gun, and I am still down here. I've got the gun in my right hand, and I'm writing with my left...
These are my final moment, my final goodbye's. I wonder if anyone will make it out of this hellish city, and, for those who didn't, at least they won't have to live through this crazy world...this world full of corruption and turmoil. I wonder if anybody will find this journal...I wonder if those Umbrella people would destroy the monsters outside and try to save me, only to find me no longer amongst the living. That would be ironic.
Upstairs, I can hear the glass shatter, I can hear shuffling feet, rising pitiful moans, low growls...The monsters have gotten in.
Farewell to my life. Farewell to my home...
And good luck to those who wish to get out of this place...
Goodbye,
Frank Nepolia, 18
**********
The Umbrella trucks had sped along the road rather quickly, too quickly, as if they were trying to get to something in time. Rowan did not like that, it made her suspicions fill her mind, made the worries and nightmares of the past fly past her eyes, and yet, she mentally slapped herself. Why would she want to go back into danger? She had her friends in the car...even if something was gravely wrong, would she really want to put them in danger? Inwardly, she urged herself to run back and head to Birchenville again, but another part of her concious told her to keep going, to find out what was going on.
Celica looked up from her conversation between Shiva, Sherry, and Derek, and stared at Rowan in question. She blinked for a moment, then opened her mouth, speaking in a puzzled tone of voice. "Rowan?"
"Yeah...?" the older girl responded, looking back for a moment before turning to face the road again, staring at the trucks ahead of her.
"Birchenville's the other way."
"I know."
"Why are we going this way...?"
"Cuz, uh...I wanted to see if the theater in Topeka is open, maybe get better seats there y'know?"
"Oh," Celica whispered softly, and turned back to her friends, grinning and still conversin, while Rowan reached her right hand out and struck her own face lightly, cursing under her breath. She couldn't do this, couldn't endanger the lives of her friends...
...But she had to make sure that Umbrella didn't endanger thousands of more lives like they had done over five years ago...and afterwards.
She watched the trucks enter Topeka, and continued to follow them, watching as other people continued to walk throughout the area. As she followed the vehicles deeper into the city, she saw the people become more frantic, some running along the sidewalks, screaming a little before turning into corners or houses. And then, about one minute later, the sidewalks were filled with crowds of civilians, all trying to run frantically from the area they came from, the boundary between Topeka and the route to Manitou. The four teenagers sitting behind her looked up at this, gasping and speaking softly, in confused voices. They were afraid, suddenly, for this looked like what had happened during 9/11...people running from the streets. For a fleeting second, they were afraid that it was another terrorist attack, and began to shout for Rowan to pull over.
But when they looked over to Rowan, they saw her eyes captivated by something ahead of them, her orbs wide and black, filled with both shock and lack of emotion. For a moment, she looked like somebody who had her soul ripped from her body, and, when the group looked to see what she was staring at, they gasped and screamed.
There were people coming through the streets, arms outstretched as they gurgled softly for blood. Their bodies were wrecks...bloody and torn, with some clothes, skin, as well as limbs missing. Some of them had arms that were bloody stumps, and some were clawing at the ground, dragging themselves along, for they were missing the lower portions of their bodies, and their entrails were dragging along the gravel and cement of the road. Blood trailed behind them...and their eyes were soulless white pits, with no emotion, or life, visible in them. Their skin was pale, or painted red with blood...
They were dead, yet they kept moving.
Rowan opened her mouth in surprise, then closed it again, taking in a deep breath and watching as the trucks ahead of her stopped. The back doors of them shoved open, and men and women clad in black suits made their way out, fumbling for their guns, mostly submachines, and heading towards the monsters. They lined up in a straight line, rose their weapons, and bright flashes began to appear as the bullets showered forth. The monsters ahead stumbled a little, some falling to the ground, staying there or resorting to crawling while others simply regained composure and moved forward again. Around them, they heard screams from the civilians, who were now trying to get as far away from the area as possible. Rowan gasped now, turning to look at Sherry, who locked eyes with her before shaking her head in confusion and utter terror. Behind them, Celica and Shiva erupted into long, harsh screams of horror, while Derek and Greg simply stared, wide eyed, too scared to say anything. For a fleeting moment, Rowan wondered if any of them had wet the car's seats, but the humurous thought dissappeared within an instant, for she began to hit the gas, spinning the car around harshly and causing the people in the car to jump. Rowan gritted her teeth, then began to fly down the road, but she hit the brakes again. A thought crossed her mind, and she remembered Raccoon City.
The civilians there never stood a chance. They were killed, and only a few had survived, only to be killed by the blast from the napalm Umbrella had ordered to hit the city. Her thoughts drifted to present day, and she wondered if any of the people here stood a chance. She gulped for a minute, more thoughts piling into her head, thoughts about Brad, about Rachel, about Gartha...they were in Manitou. Those creatures came from Manitou...What if...
*Stop it,* Rowan scolded herself. *They're alive, they have to be. They know what to do in a situation like this, and so do you. Now, do what you know is right and help these people!*
She nodded softly to herself, and she turned to face the people in the back seat of her car. She began to speak, but their screams drowned out her voice. She hesitated for a moment, then cleared her throat.
"HEY!" she hissed, her voice full of terror, and yet, there was an almost parent-like tone in her voice. Shiva and Sherry stopped screaming, Derek and Greg looked over to her in an instant, and Sherry continued to stare at her, recognition of the situation flashing across her features. Smiling in satisfaction that she gained their attention, she turned her gaze to her left, where the bus she saw before when she picked up Derek and Greg was parked, engine off, and empty. Looking back to Derek, she spoke again. "Derek, you can hotwire, right?" The boy nodded. "Good. GO start that bus up. I'll be there to drive it in a minute." Derek frowned, opening her mouth to question the girl, but instead said nothing, and took off for the bus, slamming the car door shut behind him.
Next, Rowan looked over to Celica, Sherry, Shiva, and Greg. "You guys, help me get everyone's attention."
The four nodded to her and hurried out of the car, while Rowan followed a few seconds later after grabbing something from the glove compartment of the car, running into the center of the road and screaming out for attention. She got no attention, and the people continued to flee. Sherry and Greg joined in, then Sherry and Celica followed. Their combined voices gained some gazes and quieted some people, but others still kept yelling. Frowning, they shouted out louder, and many more people stopped to look at them, but the ones who kept ignoring them did not pay attention, and continued running. The people in the area had quieted down significantly, and it was almost completely quiet, save for the gunfire, the random screams, and the groans of the monsters nearing the area. The Umbrella people were ignoring them slightly, still firing at the zombies, which still began to climb from the ground, acting as if the bullets had missed, save for the unlucky few who managed to get a bullet in the head or spine.
But that ignorance of the Umbrella people was short-lived, for they turned to them for a moment, then raised their guns again, aiming...for them.
Rowan began to speak quickly, motioning towards the now thrumming bus across the street, and shouting out, "Get to the bus, get on!! We're getting you guys outta here!"
The citizens didn't hesitate. They nearly trampled over each other as they piled into the bus, narrowly dodging the bullets that began to spray from the submachine guns of Umbrella, while a few fell down, injured or dead. Rowan and Sherry exchanged glances, and quickly took for the bus, watching as the ones who had been injured were shot until killed, and anger began to glow in both of their faces. Rage began to grow...and it took Rowan all her might not to charge at the Umbrella assailants. She ran into the bus, followed by her friends, and ushered Derek out of the seat before sitting in it, grabbing the steering wheel, not waiting for the people in the bus to sit down as she slammed her foot into the gas. The bus jolted forward, and she turned it around, not too sharply, afraid it might overturn, and bulletted down the road while the bullets that Umbrella was firing hit the bakside of the bus, penetrating a few windows, and striking a few people before they were out of sight.
Somewhere behind them and in the line of Umbrella assailants, a pair of glowing reptilian eyes watched the bus leave, and a chuckle erupted from his throat before he took off after them.
Chapter 7
Time was flying rather quickly as Rowan sped down the road and towards the capital of Kansas, Topeka, anxious to pick up the remaining two friends in her little gang. Celica was now in the back seat, assisting Sherry, who was wrapping cloth around the wounds Shiva had aquired from her father and brother. The rags had once been tee-shirts that Rowan and Sherry owned, and had grown out of, using them as rags to clean things...but the ones that were wrapped around Shiva had been cleaned the previous day, for the two sisters had feared that Shiva would be in trouble with her parents. Celica sighed softly, wrapping a single piece of black clothe, that was now fading to a slight gray, around the younger girl's arm, watching as she winced in slight pain before allowing her to wrap it around the wound.
*Damn those two to Hell...That father...the son...how the Hell could they do something like this to their own flesh and blood?!* Celica frowned at the thought, her eyes brightly shimmering with red hot anger. *The bastards...I hope they get arrested or something...*
Silently, she sighed, reaching down to absently rub her arm, then straighten her white tee-shirt as well as her denim jeans, before returning to dressing Shiva's wounds. In about five minutes, all visible wounds were wrapped, and Celica leaned back, giving Shiva a light pat on the back before looking out of the car window for a moment, watching the buildings of Topeka rush by as they drove on. They had just entered the huge city, and were on their way to pick up Greg, then Derek. Pedestrians paced the streets and sidewalks, conversing with their families or friends, or carrying bags, showing that some had just been out shopping. Cars passed by rather quickly, while others were slower than others...but Rowan, at the moment, didn't care. Right now, all she wanted to do was pick up Derek and Greg, then head to the movies. Not only was she anxious to meet her friends again, but she was anxious to get home and meet her older friends, the ones she hasn't seen in five years.
*The ones I haven't seen since Raccoon,* she thought wearily, grinning softly.
She failed to notice the Umbrella truck that drove past her and down the road...she wasn't looking to that side, and her mind was on other things...
Rowan turned right on the road she was already on, hurrying past a strip mall and hurtling towards the area where a city bus sat, loading passengers that stood before it. She parked behind it, with the engine still on, and watched as the last passenger, a young woman holding a sleeping infant in her arms, boarded the bus, and watched as the vehicle closed the doors, then, with a jolt of the engine, began to head down the street...and, in their wake, she saw Derek and Greg leaning against the glass/plastic bus stop, staring at their car and grinning softly.
The attire they wore was very normal... Derek wore a simple red tee-shirt, as well as black jeans. His hair looked extremely odd...parted in the middle, but it had different hair styles on each side. The left side of his hair was braided and slightly greasy, while the right side of his hair was sticking up in an affro. Greg, in the meanwhile, still had his normal hairdo. is clothes consisted of a green shirt with the silver lettering of the word 'Quicksilver' written across it, and he had on a pair of denim jeans. He smirked at us before heading over to the car quickly, hands shoved in his pockets, winking at Rowan before pulling the back door open and climbing in, followed closely by Derek, who grinned a little as Celica gave him a quick embrace.
*Those two are growing into each other,* Rowan noted to herself, closing her eyes and sighing softly. *And Greg's...growing on me. He's a cute sonnuva bitch...but I can't...*
She looked behind her to lock eyes with Greg, who winked once again, waving his right hand. A faint glow of crimson began to form on Rowan's cheeks, and she grinned sheepishly back before turning to face the road in front of her, while reaching over for the and pushing it into the first gear. The car began to rattle a bit, then started to move down the road, slightly sluggishly until after about a minute. The radio nearby her played the song 'Falling' by Mudvayne, but the volume was down very low, so they could only hear a few of the high-pitched notes in the songs, as well as the chorus in it. Sighing, she looked back again for a second, smirking and speaking in a light-hearted voice.
"So...what'cha wanna do?" she asked, raising a brow before looking back to the road, hitting the brakes a little so that she could easily turn a corner. "Any movies? Arcades? Shit like that?"
"Uh...aren't they playing the new Hannibal movie at the theater back at Birchenville?" Greg asked, cringing slightly when she saw Shiva shudder at the name, and he smiled apologetically. She grinned to him, then nodded in forgiveness, while Sherry leaned back and into the seat, yawning a little and rubbing her eyes. Celica, in the meanwhile, looked up over to Greg, then smirked.
"That movie's about the Hanny when he was young, right?" she inquired, raising a brow. She saw Greg nod, and she returned the gesture, looking back at Rowan, who was still watching the road. "Yeah...the movie...you guys wanna see it?"
Derek grinned a bit and nodded to her. "Hannibal kicks ass, y'know," he mused. "And what the Hell is Hanny? Yer pet name for him?"
"Bite me, Derek."
The boy laughed at that, and quickly, a devilish grin began to from on his voice, and he lowered his voice so that it sounded close to Anthony Hopkins' voice in his movies. "Where and how hard?" he hissed, flashing his pearly white teeth and gnashing them a little bit for added effects, causing the other girl to giggle a little.
Rowan and Sherry rolled their eyes, while Shiva simply grinned, as did Greg. Both found it quite humurous, as did the two Foster sisters. Sherry smirked a little and turned to face the two lovebirds, snickering. "You two flirts might as well get a room...then you could...uh...how should I say this..." Her eyes flickered with mischief for a moment, and Rowan looked back, chuckling and nodding. Sherry nodded and looked back at the two. "Then you could get all the snacks you want..."
Rowan burst into a fit of chuckles as she turned and began to drive back to Birchenville, while Derek and Celica blushed a bright ruby, then wrapped their arms around their shoulders, grinning awkwardly. Shiva, Sherry, and Greg laughed out as they watched thier two embarrassed friends try to get over the little joke the young blonde had said. Rowan looked back for a second, then burst out laughing when she saw the expressions on their faces, while Derek frowned a little bit, humor gleeming behind his black eyes.
"Oh...kiss my ass," he said simply, smiling a bit as Celica snuggled her head into his chest, sighing in content.
Rowan looked up, her mouth opening to say a comeback, but the words that were about to come out of her mouth hung there, then diminished. Her eyes locked onto something she saw drive towards them, then past them, followed by three others. They were trucks...black trucks, almost like armored ones, except these didn't carry money or such. Normally, she would've thought they were just hauling something that needed a lot of protection, like jewels, or something along those lines, but those were immediantly ruled out of her mind when she saw the hexagonal emblems painted on the sides...an emblem with six acute triangles, colored red, white, then red again, in a pattern...
A pattern that was on an emblem she knew all too well.
Curiousity and confusion peeked into her mind, and slowly, she began to turn the car around, although nobody else in the car noticed. They were too busy chittering...except for Sherry, who happened to look up in time to see the last truck pass by, and her eyes widened to the size of saucers...
Umbrella was obviously having a convention of somesort...or something else... But whatever it was, something in the pit of Rowan's stomach began to turn...the horror that something was going, that something horrible was about to happen, or was happening at that very moment. And, althought Rowan tried to shove the thought away, she couldn't...it soon began to fog up all other thought, and silently, she followed the trucks, curious to see where they were going...
...And hoping that her rising suspicions weren't true.
**********
Dear Journal,
Everything is falling apart...at least, now it is. Only an hour ago, my grandmother fell asleep for her daily nap. Only a half hour ago, my father helped me catch a baby snake out in the backyard, which, at this moment, is laying inside of the little cage behind me, in my room. Only ten minutes ago, I was playing Tekken 3 with my girlfriend...
And only two seconds ago, all Hell has broken loose.
There are monsters in the streets...
That's right, monsters. Things that go bump in the night. Creatures with big ass teeth, sometimes claws, and that are hunting down all the living things in the area. And what's worst is that these creatures are undead...fucking zombies, and they want blood...anything's blood...
And my mother and father are outside with them, banging on the windows which are now starting to crack, clawing at the wooden doors and leaving it splintered as they tried in vain to get in. There are about twenty or so of them outside of my house...and they want in, want me, want my grandmother who is fast asleep upstairs. They already ate some of my family members... My mother and father tried to get them away from the house, confused as to why they were attacking at first, and hoping to get them help, for, at the moment, my parents thought they were injured people that must've gotten into a car crash or were in a building that collapsed on them...and when they tried to help, one of them bit my mother. Her screams attracted the attention of the rest of the monsters close by, and slowly, they hurtled towards the area Mum and Dad were in. In a mattaer of second, they were pinned down, torn into mercilessly, while I had no choice but to stand and watch. I managed to grab the broom by the door, and began to smack the shit out of some, killing, I think, one, and knocking the legs out from underneath another one before they began to head towards me... I had no choice but to get back into the house, and, from the window, I saw watched as my half-eaten parents rose from the ground, their mouths opening and closing in low groans, whilst the rest began to claw at the house.
My girlfriend was also a victim... She tried to run after I got back in the house, the fear overtaking her. I heard her screaming as she fled from my house, her possible safe-spot, and, despite my calls for her to come back, she did not return. I saw her fall victim to another line of the undead, but she did not rise again.
Outside, I can hear gunfire, and I can hear screams. Out of the cracked windows, I can see people firing weapons...especially these men wearing black suits with a red and white Umbrella symbol on them. They have become abundant in the last few minutes...I mean, they arrived in the nick of time, right after my girlfriend, Tara, was killed... It's really suspicious of them...
I can also see the people outside running from the area, screaming, some being caught by the zombies outside, and, once in a while, a new type of creature, like that long-clawed monster that had begun lurking around here...a thing that looked like a giant lizard. Everyone's dying, and I know that I will soon wind up joining them. The Umbrella people didn't kill the monsters by my house yet...or, perhaps, they weren't aiming for them. Once in a while, a bullet would penetrate a window where I would be standing by, as if they were trying to kill *me*...
But I would not die by the hands of these beasts that stood outside of the house. I wouldn't be killed by the monsters that claimed my Mom and Dad, as well as Tara. I wouldn't...I won't let them...
My father always kept a gun in the cellar, and he would use it when he went out hunting for game, like deer, or ducks. It was a rifle, and, although I know it would be messy, it would get the job done. Besides, I've got nothing to live for anymore...my family is dead, except for my Grandma, who wouldn't wake up if the world was coming to the end, which, oddly, seems like what is happening right now.
Another bullet just flew through the window, narrowly missing my head, and I silently cursed the Umbrella person's horrible aim, wishin it would've hit me. I made my way into the cellar, grabbed the gun, and I am still down here. I've got the gun in my right hand, and I'm writing with my left...
These are my final moment, my final goodbye's. I wonder if anyone will make it out of this hellish city, and, for those who didn't, at least they won't have to live through this crazy world...this world full of corruption and turmoil. I wonder if anybody will find this journal...I wonder if those Umbrella people would destroy the monsters outside and try to save me, only to find me no longer amongst the living. That would be ironic.
Upstairs, I can hear the glass shatter, I can hear shuffling feet, rising pitiful moans, low growls...The monsters have gotten in.
Farewell to my life. Farewell to my home...
And good luck to those who wish to get out of this place...
Goodbye,
Frank Nepolia, 18
**********
The Umbrella trucks had sped along the road rather quickly, too quickly, as if they were trying to get to something in time. Rowan did not like that, it made her suspicions fill her mind, made the worries and nightmares of the past fly past her eyes, and yet, she mentally slapped herself. Why would she want to go back into danger? She had her friends in the car...even if something was gravely wrong, would she really want to put them in danger? Inwardly, she urged herself to run back and head to Birchenville again, but another part of her concious told her to keep going, to find out what was going on.
Celica looked up from her conversation between Shiva, Sherry, and Derek, and stared at Rowan in question. She blinked for a moment, then opened her mouth, speaking in a puzzled tone of voice. "Rowan?"
"Yeah...?" the older girl responded, looking back for a moment before turning to face the road again, staring at the trucks ahead of her.
"Birchenville's the other way."
"I know."
"Why are we going this way...?"
"Cuz, uh...I wanted to see if the theater in Topeka is open, maybe get better seats there y'know?"
"Oh," Celica whispered softly, and turned back to her friends, grinning and still conversin, while Rowan reached her right hand out and struck her own face lightly, cursing under her breath. She couldn't do this, couldn't endanger the lives of her friends...
...But she had to make sure that Umbrella didn't endanger thousands of more lives like they had done over five years ago...and afterwards.
She watched the trucks enter Topeka, and continued to follow them, watching as other people continued to walk throughout the area. As she followed the vehicles deeper into the city, she saw the people become more frantic, some running along the sidewalks, screaming a little before turning into corners or houses. And then, about one minute later, the sidewalks were filled with crowds of civilians, all trying to run frantically from the area they came from, the boundary between Topeka and the route to Manitou. The four teenagers sitting behind her looked up at this, gasping and speaking softly, in confused voices. They were afraid, suddenly, for this looked like what had happened during 9/11...people running from the streets. For a fleeting second, they were afraid that it was another terrorist attack, and began to shout for Rowan to pull over.
But when they looked over to Rowan, they saw her eyes captivated by something ahead of them, her orbs wide and black, filled with both shock and lack of emotion. For a moment, she looked like somebody who had her soul ripped from her body, and, when the group looked to see what she was staring at, they gasped and screamed.
There were people coming through the streets, arms outstretched as they gurgled softly for blood. Their bodies were wrecks...bloody and torn, with some clothes, skin, as well as limbs missing. Some of them had arms that were bloody stumps, and some were clawing at the ground, dragging themselves along, for they were missing the lower portions of their bodies, and their entrails were dragging along the gravel and cement of the road. Blood trailed behind them...and their eyes were soulless white pits, with no emotion, or life, visible in them. Their skin was pale, or painted red with blood...
They were dead, yet they kept moving.
Rowan opened her mouth in surprise, then closed it again, taking in a deep breath and watching as the trucks ahead of her stopped. The back doors of them shoved open, and men and women clad in black suits made their way out, fumbling for their guns, mostly submachines, and heading towards the monsters. They lined up in a straight line, rose their weapons, and bright flashes began to appear as the bullets showered forth. The monsters ahead stumbled a little, some falling to the ground, staying there or resorting to crawling while others simply regained composure and moved forward again. Around them, they heard screams from the civilians, who were now trying to get as far away from the area as possible. Rowan gasped now, turning to look at Sherry, who locked eyes with her before shaking her head in confusion and utter terror. Behind them, Celica and Shiva erupted into long, harsh screams of horror, while Derek and Greg simply stared, wide eyed, too scared to say anything. For a fleeting moment, Rowan wondered if any of them had wet the car's seats, but the humurous thought dissappeared within an instant, for she began to hit the gas, spinning the car around harshly and causing the people in the car to jump. Rowan gritted her teeth, then began to fly down the road, but she hit the brakes again. A thought crossed her mind, and she remembered Raccoon City.
The civilians there never stood a chance. They were killed, and only a few had survived, only to be killed by the blast from the napalm Umbrella had ordered to hit the city. Her thoughts drifted to present day, and she wondered if any of the people here stood a chance. She gulped for a minute, more thoughts piling into her head, thoughts about Brad, about Rachel, about Gartha...they were in Manitou. Those creatures came from Manitou...What if...
*Stop it,* Rowan scolded herself. *They're alive, they have to be. They know what to do in a situation like this, and so do you. Now, do what you know is right and help these people!*
She nodded softly to herself, and she turned to face the people in the back seat of her car. She began to speak, but their screams drowned out her voice. She hesitated for a moment, then cleared her throat.
"HEY!" she hissed, her voice full of terror, and yet, there was an almost parent-like tone in her voice. Shiva and Sherry stopped screaming, Derek and Greg looked over to her in an instant, and Sherry continued to stare at her, recognition of the situation flashing across her features. Smiling in satisfaction that she gained their attention, she turned her gaze to her left, where the bus she saw before when she picked up Derek and Greg was parked, engine off, and empty. Looking back to Derek, she spoke again. "Derek, you can hotwire, right?" The boy nodded. "Good. GO start that bus up. I'll be there to drive it in a minute." Derek frowned, opening her mouth to question the girl, but instead said nothing, and took off for the bus, slamming the car door shut behind him.
Next, Rowan looked over to Celica, Sherry, Shiva, and Greg. "You guys, help me get everyone's attention."
The four nodded to her and hurried out of the car, while Rowan followed a few seconds later after grabbing something from the glove compartment of the car, running into the center of the road and screaming out for attention. She got no attention, and the people continued to flee. Sherry and Greg joined in, then Sherry and Celica followed. Their combined voices gained some gazes and quieted some people, but others still kept yelling. Frowning, they shouted out louder, and many more people stopped to look at them, but the ones who kept ignoring them did not pay attention, and continued running. The people in the area had quieted down significantly, and it was almost completely quiet, save for the gunfire, the random screams, and the groans of the monsters nearing the area. The Umbrella people were ignoring them slightly, still firing at the zombies, which still began to climb from the ground, acting as if the bullets had missed, save for the unlucky few who managed to get a bullet in the head or spine.
But that ignorance of the Umbrella people was short-lived, for they turned to them for a moment, then raised their guns again, aiming...for them.
Rowan began to speak quickly, motioning towards the now thrumming bus across the street, and shouting out, "Get to the bus, get on!! We're getting you guys outta here!"
The citizens didn't hesitate. They nearly trampled over each other as they piled into the bus, narrowly dodging the bullets that began to spray from the submachine guns of Umbrella, while a few fell down, injured or dead. Rowan and Sherry exchanged glances, and quickly took for the bus, watching as the ones who had been injured were shot until killed, and anger began to glow in both of their faces. Rage began to grow...and it took Rowan all her might not to charge at the Umbrella assailants. She ran into the bus, followed by her friends, and ushered Derek out of the seat before sitting in it, grabbing the steering wheel, not waiting for the people in the bus to sit down as she slammed her foot into the gas. The bus jolted forward, and she turned it around, not too sharply, afraid it might overturn, and bulletted down the road while the bullets that Umbrella was firing hit the bakside of the bus, penetrating a few windows, and striking a few people before they were out of sight.
Somewhere behind them and in the line of Umbrella assailants, a pair of glowing reptilian eyes watched the bus leave, and a chuckle erupted from his throat before he took off after them.