"Yo Burton!" The clear, brisk voice of Kevin sounded from the hallway outside Barry's office. "We're taking off!"
"When?" Barry replied sleepily. He had been resting for a few hours, preparing for his mission. His team, the Green City S.T.A.R.S, was being sent to Green Heights, where the majority of the attacks had taken place.
"As soon as I get the 'copter warmed up and get everyone's gear together." Kevin responded.
"Right. Let me know when we're ready to go. I'll get ready." Barry said.
"Yes sir!" Kevin gave a mock salute and then went in the direction of the helipad.
It had been only a month or so since the attacks on Raccoon, but Barry Burton, veteran S.T.A.R.S member, was already assigned to Green City to fight off another escaped strain of the T-Virus.
"Umbrella bastards." Barry said to himself. Umbrella was the source of all their problems. It was Umbrella who started the T-Virus research. They also were the ones who let it escape from the Spencer Mansion in Raccoon forest into Raccoon City. The virus had infected the entire city, turning the citizens into bloodthirsty zombies who had no mind of their own. They constantly went on killing sprees where they killed entire families by eating them alive. Also spawned by Umbrella research were the hunters.
The hunters were the most deadly things you could hope to face, except the Tyrant maybe. Hunters could run faster than any human, and they were incredibly resistant to conventional weaponry. It would take an entire clip from a standard-issue Beretta to take one down. Maybe a few rounds from a Remington shotgun, and one or two shots from a magnum. But that's only if you got the chance to hit it. It would leap at you and tear you apart, if you were lucky. Most of the times, an encounter with a hunter would leave you headless.
Barry still shuddered at the shriek of the hunter. It was a high-pitched nails-on-chalkboard type sound that made you shiver and made your hair stand on end. Then there were the dogs--
"Captain!"
Snapped out of his thoughts, Barry looked up at Kevin.
"Yeah?"
"We're ready to go, sir."
"Thanks, I'll be right up, I just need to get my magnum."
"Yessir!" Kevin mock-saluted him again and ran off.
Barry got up and went to the tall, brown bookcase in the back of his office. He pulled out the book title Gun Collecting for Dummies. A mechanical click sounded, and the drawer on his desk opened up, revealing his beloved Colt Python with its .357 rounds. It was an extra security precaution, just in case some zombies made their way into the station, he didn't want one getting at his gun. The last thing they needed was a zombie running loose with a magnum. He slapped a few rounds into his gun, and headed for the waiting 'copter.
***
Alicia hurried through the hallways of the police department.
"Dammit, dammit, dammit." Alicia puffed as she ran to the 'copter, assuming it was still there. She was certain it had taken off without her. She didn't exactly have a knack for being on time for anything. She had even been late for her best friend's sister's wedding and had been lucky enough to run in before they said, "I do". She was reassured though, by the whirring sound of the 'copter's blades slicing the air.
"Come on Alicia, get your butt over here before we leave without you! We need to get in the air!" She heard the voice of Matt call out at her as she neared the 'copter.
"I'm here, sorry it took so long." She apologized. "I uh… got lost." She was new; she had only been a member of the Green City S.T.A.R.S for a week. She hadn't really gotten used to the station's winding corridors yet.
"Remind me to get you a map when we get back then. We can't have you lollygaging whenever we head out." Charlie yelled from the pilot's seat. "Now sit down and strap yourself in."
The 'copter lifted off and they all felt a jolt as it lurched forward toward the vicinity of Green Heights.
***
As they flew over the hilltops, they searched for a suitable place to land the 'copter. There didn't seem to be all too many, and any that looked good were surrounded by trees, and it would have been tricky for Charlie to land in the middle of them, not to mention taking off again. They had noticed some rather large shapes slinking around the rocks though, and that freaked them all out. They looked like half man, half green reptile. It had an elongated face like a snake, but it had the body of a man, a very strong man.
Kevin looked out the window, helping Charlie scope out a landing area, when something caught his attention. It looked like something square was rising out of the ground, and it was slowly turning to face the 'copter. Something flew out of it, something that looked remarkably like a bird.
"Yo, we've got something incoming over here!" Kevin said to the other S.T.A.R.S.
Barry turned to look out the window that Kevin was pointing out of. He saw what Kevin had seen, something that looked like a bird that was flying toward the 'copter.
"Charlie, lose some altitude, there's something flying at us." Barry told the pilot.
"Gotcha. Dropping a bit." Charlie responded.
The "bird" continued to fly closer and closer, until Barry saw it in clear detail.
"Holy sh-- Charlie move! Evasive maneuvers! Evasive freaking maneuvers!" Barry desperately yelled.
The "bird" he saw, was definitely not a bird at all, but some hideous mutation. It looked like a man, but the resemblance stopped at the shoulders. It definitely had a man's torso, but the legs and feet were those of a bird of prey. The head looked like a snake, but it ended in a sharp, cruel beak with serrated edges. The wings looked like something out of a fairy-tale, because they looked like they belonged to a dragon. It was tailless, but had it owned one, Barry was sure it would have had some type of weapon attached. The thing was red all over, but it was skinless, like the mutant dogs that had attacked his previous team in Raccoon Forest. It was a hideous sight to behold.
It flew straight into the 'copter, knocking the whole team silly inside, like someone had taken hold of it and shook it. The 'copter spun in circles, and Charlie wrestled to regain control of the out of control vehicle. Once he finally got it under his control, the 'copter was shaken again by the monster, and this time it snapped the tail off. The 'copter plummeted downward, and Barry prayed that they wouldn't land on sharp rocks.
***
When Kevin finally woke up, he thought he was dreaming. The 'copter was a derelict. There was no way they were going to salvage the thing, no freaking way. The blades were mangled, and one whole side of the thing was ripped off like a can of tuna being opened.
"I never liked to fly anyway. And I don't think I ever will again." Kevin said to himself. He then started to search for the other member of his team. He found Barry first. He was awake and was also searching for others. Alicia was lying unconscious in front of the 'copter, but she was alive. The same went for Charlie, who was shaking his head, trying to regain his senses. Kevin noticed, however, that Matt was nowhere near them. Barry shouted to the S.T.A.R.S and they ran over to him. He had found Matt. He was pinned to a tree by a jagged piece of the 'copter that had pierced the left side of his head and run clean through the tree. There was blood running down his face, and his eyes were open in a horrifying stare.
"No way, we did NOT just lose a member of our freaking team. No freaking way!" Charlie yelled.
But they had. They had lost Matthew. The quiet, aloof individual who always had something nice to say, if he ever spoke at all, was gone, never to be nice again. But he would not be the last of them to perish, not by a long shot.