As the others went off to different places they had no idea of the terror that was going on back in their beloved town or that one of them were going to betray them all. As they all drove to their different locations they were happy until the radio told a terrifying newscast that chilled each of them to the bone.
"There is now a report of a gas leak at a local umbrella plant in our area, we heard from a spokesman at the company and he says it is nothing to worry about. Symptoms include blisters, swollen body parts, and itchy rotting flesh that flake off when you scratch it. The company says that the effect will only be temporary and not to worry, just live your lives as if it never happened"
"SHIT!" Everyone said at once, even though they weren't in the same area they could feel each other's anger and pain of the announcement. As Chantel stared a blank stare into the distance she didn't notice her car slowing or the fact that a strange large man was right in front of her car.
"Oh my god I just hit that guy." Screamed Chantel as she leaped from inside the car to see if the man was ok. He was lying there motionless and it looked like his arm was broken. He opened one eye than let out a scream of pain.
"Shit that hurt." Said the man struggling to get up. Chantel just stood there and watched as he was in agonizing pain until he finally got up and said "Thanks for the help, what were you doing not paying attention to the road." He said screaming at her. "Sorry, I just heard some news on the radio that shocked me, maybe I can give you a ride." Said Chantel angered by the tone in his voice. "You can take me to Shrewville General Hospital now that your reckless driving has broken my arm." Said the man holding his arm. "Ok I'm going there anyway get in the car, oh by the way my name is Chantel." "My name is Jake, I work at the Shrewville Press."
Meanwhile Jeremy was parked at the side of the road trying to understand what happened in the city. What could have gone wrong, he never thought that one of them was a traitor to them all and he knew he had to do something to help all those people dying in the city without even knowing it. As he sat there two people walked up to him and knocked on the window.
"Hello, are you alright, my name is Ian and this is my new wife Becky. Our car broke down and we need a ride to The Shrewville Inn, my best man Duane was wandering down the road for help but he didn't come back yet and he was driving us there since it's our honeymoon." Ian said as Jeremy still sat there. Finally Jeremy snapped out of the trance and told Ian that he could come along. As they drove there was an eerie silence in the car until Jeremy introduced himself
"I'm Jeremy, I'm on the way to the city anyway since..." Jeremy stumbled with the truth, should he tell them to truth about what is happening there or wait until he gets there to see if its true. "my vacation is over and I have to get back to work." Jeremy lied to the both of them. "Yeah, me and my wife here just got married today, I don't have much of a job yet so I'm looking for work in Shrewville, what do you do?" Another question came up that Jeremy didn't want to answer truthfully but this time there was no other choice, he had to tell the truth. "I work at the local Umbrella facility." A silence spread throughout the car and for several minutes no one said a word. Was it really that bad to work in a company that is so evil even though you are doing it to bring down the company. "Well its work." Said Ian trying to end the uneasiness of the situation.
Jon wasn't having too much fun thinking about the news either he was wondering how such a thing could of happened. He decided that its too dangerous to not be paying attention to the road so he stopped at a local diner to try to see if he could get a hold of his emotions and if he could hold his lunch too. It was a very grimy place that was very empty and only had one person running the entire place.
"Welcome to The Szczepanski Diner, my name is Ryan and I'll be your waiter tonight, can I start you off with something to eat?" Said Ryan looking happy even though it was obvious that he was crying on the inside.
"What does the chef recommend?" Jon asked looking at the menu for anything that is edible. "Wait a second I'll be right back..." he walked into the back of the room where no one was working and waited a few seconds before he returned to the table. "He recommends the Ketchup, and he suggests it raw." Ryan said to Jon who was amazed to hear such a thing. "Ok, Ryan we both know no one is back there, why do you stay here if no one ever comes?"
Ryan was troubled to tell the truth to someone he doesn't even know but he realized that he had no reason to hold it in anymore. "Ok, the restaurant was closed many years ago but I still live here just to see if anyone will come in and order anything, its just too bad that all I have for us to eat is Ketchup." Ryan explained as his smile slowly went away during his story of despair. "Well, why don't you just move in with your family." Jon asked him wondering if it was the right thing to say. "They live in Shrewville and I got my drivers license taken away for ramming into a gate at the Umbrella Corporations headquarters. I told them it was an accident but they didn't believe me since there was a lot of protesting around that time."
Jon felt a little responsible since he was one of those protesters at that time. "How about I give you a lift there since I'm going in that direction anyway, I mean what do you have to lose?" Ryan stood there and thought about it for a couple minutes and eventually decided to go. They started off towards the city after Ryan packed a few things.
As this was happening Andrew was also on his way back after hearing the bad news when he saw a man walking on the side of the road with a large gas can, Andrew slowed down to see if he needed help.
"Hey do you need a ride or anything?" Andrew asked the man hoping that he was able to hear him. "Sure, you can give me a lift I was just on the way back to my car that broke down with this gas can. My friends Ian and his wife Becky are waiting for me." The man said as he got into the car. "So what's your name?" Andrew asked the man while the car started to move. "My name is Duane, what about you?" Duane asked. "My name is Andrew, hey is that your friends car?" They passed a car on the side of the road. "Yeah, that's it, they must of gotten a ride to the hotel. Can you drop me off there too just so I can see if they are alright."
Andrew agreed and they kept driving off toward the city. Now with the four of them going back to the city with new friends they are about to find an evil that they can't even imagine.