Dr.William Birkin
The morning wasn't very pleasant for David Sunderland, just as the light of the sun broke through the shroud of darkness, consciousness began to return to David. The bitter taste of receding adrenaline and bile filling his mouth like rusty water, his eyes blinking open and growing accustomed to the darkness of the cold room he was in. Instinctively he tried to move, but realized his arms had been tightly secured, racing back in his mind he tried to remember what had happened. He saw blurred bits, a creature with claws, red, darkness, two personnel in gas masks, darkness, then a blinding light reminiscent of an operating room, then the most prolonged darkness he could imagine, cold and unforgiving as death itself. "Ah....so..you're awake..." hissed a very, very calm voice, almost snakelike in its foreboding. "Don't worry, I'm not with Blair..." light flooded the room, David immediately recognized his situation, an interrogation room. "Nice way to wake a guy up.." muttered David, shaking his head in the vain hope of throwing the paralyzed feeling off, but only worsening it. "You'll be a bit disoriented, that's the massive dose of painkillers wearing out, we needed to dope you up with at least 3 syringes of them when we found you...quite a nasty job that beast did on you." The lone interrogator stepped into the hazy field of vision, he was somewhat short, and wearing a dark suit, his face was obscured but a sinister smirk was barely concealed. "Mister Sunderland.." the snakelike voice again, rolling every s in a comical fashion, except this was no joke. "My name is Samuel Becker...I work for Isis..I'm what you could call a...well..a problem solver of sorts...and this city is a very big problem." hissed the voice of the man. David was tired of the games, and wanted to end this, wanted nothing more than to get out and get some payback on Piers..Markenson...and now Becker was quickly making his shitlist. "And you want WHAT with me? Hm? Did your superiors lead you to believe I knew something of value?" said David, the anger building in his voice. "Now, now David..there's no need for anger...I'm a friend...were here to help yo-" "SHUT UP, YOU LYING BASTARD, DON'T EVEN TRY THAT 'WERE HERE TO HELP' B.S. ON ME, I KNOW WHAT YOU PEOPLE ARE ABOUT, YOU AND BLAIR ARE THE SAME THING, PURE EVIL, NOW CUT THE CRAP AND ASK ME WHAT YOU WANTED TO ASK ME...BUT DON'T EXPECT ANY HELPFUL ANSWERS...you people must have forgotten the fact I was just a low level little information seeker...", David cut him off, his voice echoing off the walls. "Very well...what exactly do you know about the so called 'nemesis' ". "Well..it's big...armed with an anti vehicular missile launcher, and could very easily tear you limb from worthless, slimy limb..." David spat, defiantly glaring at the figure, his vision still retaining a blurry, dreamlike quality. "Wrong answer Mr. Sunderland..." replied the voice, mocking tone overriding it again. Becker then produced a wooden truncheon, such as would be used in riot control. David felt a sharp pain as Becker smashed the club against his head, probably knocking a tooth or two loose. "NEXT QUESTION...what is the current location of the cleaner troops Markenson sent out...we saw you're friends battling them, and we know they've vacated the city park area...choose your answer wisely David, I'm running very low on patience..". David glared at his interrogator "Go to hell...I'm starting to wonder who's more of a nutcase..you..or that Piers freak back at the lab..". The truncheon again raked across David's chin, the warm taste of blood in his mouth knocking his level of consciousness up slightly. A radio in Becker's pocket began beeping, and was promptly answered. "Yes...what is it...". "Sir, this is surveillance team 3...there's something you might want to see up here...we found the other survivors...I think.." came a voice. "Fine..I'm on my way.." the static shut off. "Well...I have other business I must attend to..but don't worry..I'm not close to finished with you yet...". He walked out laughing, dropping the club on the cold floor. "Round 1 is over you bastard...but this is far from the end.." David growled under his breath. The makeshift interrogation cell seemed to be in the basement of a building, the chair David was secured to was fairly old, the rot making itself known in every squeak of the old wood. David spat out the blood, cursing the new enemy he had just made, and struggled with the chair come on.....please let them have been stupid enough to.....HELL YES... David smiled somewhat, optimism slowly returning to his mind as the chair snapped, standing up, he shook his head and picked up the riot baton. "And so it begins again..." said David grimly, walking towards the door...
In another underground chamber, a very different event was happening, the beginning of the end.. Piers walked into the antiseptic smelling room, his eyes filled with psychotic anger, his creation had failed, the Isis troops had breached the inner sanctum of his work, but he had one final ace up his sleeve. Shooting out the security camera, he walked over to an archaic looking machine. "The augmentation project...once it was meant for the military...but they abandoned it..now they'll see...now they'll ALL see...". Piers laughed slightly, sitting down in the chair at the center of the device, thinking back on all the work his colleague had done on the Lazarus project as it had been called, a covert research program, funded in part by the u.s. military to develop physical augmentations for use in combat, and to a much reduced degree, in medicine. The project had run out of interest and funding, and had been abandoned, its head researcher flying into a psychotic rampage, ending in the murder of his family, and eventually his own suicide, in a fit of anger and despair. But it wont go to waste... Piers thought, beginning the surgical procedures, the machine taking over with a press of a button. Markenson...Law.....Sunderland....the other survivors...they will soon see what I am...the WORLD will soon see...I am the beginning of the next step...I have created masterpieces..but this is truly my finest work..... A smile of contentment beamed across his face as the sedatives kicked in...within an hour...he would become the foremost result of Blair's finest minds...living, and dead...
City of the Dead
The building shook wildly as Jarred and Vanessa stumbled around in the news station lobby. It seemed as if someone was violently shaking the building with incredible force. The zombies outside and the ones that made it inside had fallen over from the vibrations. During the tremors, Jarred put down about five of the ones that posed the biggest threat. Suddenly John and Ryan came running out of the hall with confused looks on their faces.
"What the hell is going on?" John yelled over the noise.
"I don't know, let's get out of here before this place collapses" Jarred yelled running back out into the streets.
The four gunned down several zombies along the way, as they ran out into the middle of spring street and gazed at the news building.
"Oh my god, what the hell is that?" John asked.
The four stood in the middle of the road, the news station rumbling to their left. A gigantic monster was stomping around inside the building, its head, a battering ram, tossing chunks of concrete and crumbling entire floors. It let out a high pitched roar that nearly shattered their eardrums.
"Dear Jesus, Nathan and Winsor are in there" Vanessa yelled.
"What do we do?" John hysterically asked.
"Get it away from the building before they are killed!!!" Ryan yelled running back towards the building. The beast had smashed through a wall and was now on the outside, its size rivaled the very building itself.
"HEY YOU, OVER HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!" Ryan screamed at the top of his lungs, trying to distract the monster.
The creature curiously snapped one of the trees that stood by the news building, gripping it in his jaw before tossing it to the ground. Ryan pulled out his pistol and began firing at its head. The monster flinched and focused its attention towards the shooter. Ryan lowered his weapon and was paralyzed with fear as he laid eyes on the creature's huge blood stained teeth.
"RUNNN!!!" Ryan yelled as he turned and sped off towards the others.
Jarred, Vanessa, Ryan, and John ran as fast as their legs could carry them, the road shuddered as the thunderous footsteps of the creature came closer and closer behind them. They all turned hard on Riverside Drive, the road that intersected with Spring Street. Jarred quickly looked back as he ran only to see how close the monster was too them. They had to do something fast or it would be on them in seconds. Then straight-ahead on Riverside, there was an alley that the creature surely couldn't fit through.
"Into the alley" Jarred yelled as he sped towards it.
John, Jarred, and Ryan made a desperate leap into the alley, but Jarred quickly noticed that Vanessa was not with them. He looked to the street to see her standing in the road, obviously too afraid to move. The monster swooped down its mighty head and slammed its jaws together, nearly catching Vanessa between its large teeth. She stumbled backwards and jumped into a parked car. Vanessa crawled into the floorboard getting as low as she could, hoping that it would just turn away.
"VANESSA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Jarred yelled.
Before he knew it, Jarred had snatched Ryan's assault rifle off his back and bravely ran into the street, releasing a blitz of gunfire upon the dinosaur monster. Vanessa cried in the floorboard of the car, feeling the snap of the car's steel frame as the creature bit down hard on the roof. Jarred kept firing as it ripped off the top of the car, dropping it to the ground. The creature was in a frenzy, it couldn't be stopped with normal firepower. Jarred desperately looked around, there had to be some way to stop it. Suddenly the body of a soldier caught his eye, and he instantly knew what he saw strapped to his belt. It was a grenade, just one. He ran over to the corpse and picked up the explosive.
"Make this one count Jarred" He told himself as he pulled the pin.
He waited a second and then hurled the grenade towards the monster. As the grenade flew towards the upper body of the reptilian monster, it had lowered it's head once again, sweeping down for the kill.
BANNNGGG!!!!!!!!!
The explosion was synonymous with the painful scream the monster belted out afterwards. Its head ablaze as it crashed against several brick buildings, trying to extinguish the flame. The creature turned and ran down Walnut Street, and the rumbling footsteps eased into silence.
"Vanessa!!!" Jarred yelled running over to the destroyed jeep that was now nothing more than a wreck.
He quickly picked her up from the floorboard and squeezed her tightly. She latched onto him and wouldn't let go, she was hysterical and in tears. He hugged her back, almost in tears himself. Fire danced all around them, the grenade had worked, the monster was gone...for now.
"Your okay now, it ran off" Jarred tried to soothe her.
Apparently it worked, her cries became less frequent and she calmed down a bit. He still gripped her tightly.
"Damn, look at them, no doubt about it, they really love each other" Ryan said still watching from the alley.
"Yeah, makes you think you know?" John said.
"Think about what?" Ryan curiously asked.
"Everyone is getting together, maybe me and you should...give things a try" John jokingly placed his hand on Ryan's shoulder.
"Shut the hell up and lets get going" Ryan punched John in the shoulder.
"They say you hurt the ones you love Ryan" John said with a sincere tone to his voice, but still obviously joking.
"Shut the fuck up, we're going" Ryan walked out into the street to meet up with Jarred and Vanessa.
"Hey guys, I don't mean to interrupt but we need to head back to the news station and find Winsor and Nathan" Ryan said, being sensitive to the situation. "Are you okay?" He asked Vanessa.
Vanessa nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes, still in Jarred's arms. John and Ryan started heading back towards the building. Vanessa and Jarred still standing out in the street together.
"I made a promise to you Vanessa. I said you would make it out of this nightmare alive, and I will die, trying to keep that promise" Jarred said to the distraught girl.
"You...Saved my life...I love you Jarred" She said hugging him one more time.
"I love you" Jarred whispered to her.
"But for now, lets get back to the building and find the other two star-struck lovers" She sarcastically quipped back at him, a smile coming across her face.
"You are so beautiful" Jarred smiled wiping away dirt from her face. "Okay, just thought I would say that, but we should head back now, come on"
The two ran back to the news station building to look for Winsor and Nathan, they knew that with damage like that, the building wouldn't hold out much longer...
Jill Valentine
There will never come a day,
Where you'll never here me say, that I want, or need to be without you....
I want to give my own....Just hold me, simply control me, because your arms, they keep away the lonely...
When I look into your eyes, then I realize, all I need is you in my life, all I need is you in my life...
Because I never felt this way about love, and...I've never felt so good... Never felt this way about love, and it feels so good....
Nathan sat helplessly in the empty hallway, weeping at the sight of Winsor's body. She was still breathing, but appeared to be unconscious. The rugged wounds that were deeply engraved into her back were seeped of blood and stranded pieces of wire from the cable, her eyelids flickering constantly as though she still felt the pain throbbing throughout her entire body.
He gently ran his fingers through her hair, his arm clutched underneath her head, so delicately, so fragile, so sincerely...
Winsor, please don't die on me, I need you. You need me. We need each other.
More sorrow erupted from his exhausted, muscularly frame, as he held her body close to his, gripping her tighter and tighter as the weeps grew louder.
"Fuck you Piers! Fuck you Blair! Fuck you Isis! Fuck everyone in this fucking god damn shit hole!!!"
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The harsh reverberations from the heavy vibrations of the explosion rang throughout her ears. Vanessa; exhausted, scared, and distraught; gripped tightly onto Jarred as her own sense of security in this horrible nightmare. The crumbled bitumen that had once formed part of Riverside Drive had been completely decimated, as the distinct scent of burnt metal wavered through the air as they stared on at the burnt car wreckage.
What the hell was that thing?
Vanessa blankly gazed on at the glowing flames that surrounded the wreckage, the intense heat warming her skin.
"Let's go," Jarred began, gently pulling Vanessa away from the fire. "We have to find Winsor and Nathan."
Ryan and John had been startled by the muffled screaming coming from upstairs on the next floor. The voice was distinctly that of Nathan; and they hesitated to enter the second floor, fearing that the worst thing that could ever happen, had finally taken it's place.
"It's Nathan, we have to go help him!" John announced, a pleading, fearful gaze overtaking his broad calm expression.
Ryan nodded as he quickly followed John to the lift, Jarred and Vanessa narrowly staggering behind them.
Ryan impatiently slammed his fist down on the rugged plastic button, the faded number "two" lightening up followed by a high pitched shriek of the elevator.
They waited a little longer, but the thick metal doors refused to open.
"God damn this thing! Let's take the stairs then!"
Heading towards the thin passage that held a line of stairs ascending up to the second floor, the light clank of several footsteps was heard beating against the hard planks of wood that formed the narrow staircase.
"Nathan? Winsor? You up here?!" Ryan yelled, hearing his own voice echo in the distance."Guys? You up here? Hello?!"
"Over here..." came a muffled response, followed by heavy sighs and weeps. "Winsor's hurt, I don't know what to do...Help me!"
Vanessa looked down at the wounded girl; Winsor's pale faced drained of all it's angry emotions and troubles. She looked like she was in no pain, she looked so peaceful.
Poor Winsor...
Sitting down next to her, Vanessa drew a small first aid-kit from her back pack, setting it down on the floor and opening it up to reveal a set of small tools, anti-septic, and bandages.
"What happened? Where is she wounded?"Vanessa asked, sincerity distinct in her soft tone.
Nathan looked at Vanessa, fear filling his gaze as he gently turned her over, revealing several heavy wounds scarred across her back.
"We were in the Elevator, then this thing came after us and then...and then.."
"Shit, this looks bad." John blurted, not thinking of the words that erupted from his thoughts. Ryan quietly hushed him, noticing the disturbed look set upon Vanessa's face as she removed the pieces of metal from the broken wounds. Gently applying the anti-septic, she bandaged the wounds, as Nathan removed his "Class of 2001" Jacket and placed it snuggly around Winsor's half-naked body.
"Half her clothing has been decapitated!" John remarked, Jarred and Ryan shooting him a 'shut the fuck up' look.
"We know," Vanessa smiled, watching Nathan pick her up in his arms. "She should be okay. She needs a lot of rest, and I suggest that two of you stay with her for the time being. She is in a very delicate situation, you are lucky she is still alive."
Nathan's facial expression strengthened as he turned and headed down the hallway, John slowly pacing on after him.
"We'll all go to with you Nathan. We are all going to stick together this time." Ryan called on after them, peering at Vanessa and Jarred who stood quietly behind him.
"Let's go guys. We're still a long way away from the ending to this nightmare..."
Joker
The group made their way down to an exit to try and escape the nightmare here. "The whole idea of coming here had been an absolute fucking disaster", Ryan thought. All he had succeeded in doing was getting Winsor hurt. That was the last time he'd share an idea like that.
Ryan suddenly snapped. He wasn't going to let this venture or anyone's injury go in vain. He suddenly split away from the group.
"And where are you going, Ryan? Are you nuts?!?", Jarred exclaimed.
"Maybe, but I suggested we come here to do something and I intend to do it!", Ryan said, exasperated.
"I'll go with you!", John suggested.
"No, you'll need everyone you can get!", Ryan replied.
"At least take your rifle, then!", Jarred called after him, knowing he was too stubborn to be talked out of his action.
"No, you'll need it more than me!"
"But..."
"No more questions! You have Winsor to attend to! You do your job, I'll do mine!"
"What happened to sticking together?", John called but Ryan had already disappeared from view.
Nathan sighed. "What job? ", he pondered. Ryan could be a real stubborn bastard. Still, he couldn't help but wish him well. His heart was in the right place, even if his mind was not at times.
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Ryan slowed to a walk and raised his Beretta in the two-handed Weaver stance as he'd seen his father and his workmates do so many times before in the Gaines PD. He carefully checked around every corner, weapon high at every shadow, every movement, everything that might move...
After some tense minutes, Ryan finally made his way to where they had tried to get the camera working. He didn't know how to connect it, but he could think it through logically.
Looking around at what he had at his disposal, Ryan thought to himself, "How hard could it be?"
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Lieutenant Keel had met up with Sierra Team at the church and was now heading for the news station. As they made their way there, they were confronted with a veritable wall of zombies.
"Jesus Christ!", Keel blasphemed. "Suppressive fire! Watch those flanks!"
The cacophony of small arms operating at full-automatic would have been deafening in a more enclosed space. As it was, the sound was just enough to be heard a few blocks away, inviting more undead denizens to join the fray.
Keel watched from the confines of his rifle sights as their weapons cut a bloody swathe through the zombies. However, they were still advancing. During the firefight, Keel couldn't help but think, "Do we have more bullets than they have zombies?"
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Ryan fiddled about with the numerous co-axial cables around the news studio, trying desperately to find one to put the digital camera on a live feed.
There was the sound of shuffling feet and a moaning emanating faintly from the direction Ryan had come.
"Damn it... come on...", Ryan said quietly, trying to keep himself quiet to conceal his location.
As he tried more and more cables and riggings, the sounds of moaning and shuffling became more pronounced. More of the undead were congregating together and now, more of them had discovered Ryan's scent.
The sounds came closer. Ryan quickly bolted toward the door, threw it shut and locked it. The flimsy lock on the door wouldn't hold against the zombies Ryan estimated to be out there, of that he was sure, but it might buy him a little more time.
Frantically trying to connect the camera, the pounding on the door had started. They had found him. He needed to find the cable... fast...
One cable, then another, then another, none worked. Ryan had only got through about seven more cables before the weight of several bodies on one door proved greater than the lock could bear, the door bursting open and spilling the undead forth.
"Just one more...", Ryan said to himself. He didn't even have time to see whether it had worked. He had to go.
As Ryan set the camera down, he fired at a few zombies to keep the horde occupied. By a stroke of luck, the fallen zombies had tripped the others, making a rather large pile-up. Ryan burst out the opposite exit and set about finding a way out.
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Piers was watching the surveillance monitors intently, changing between this frequency and that with an evil grin forming on his face. Those kids would soon be dead and his problems would be over.
As he flipped through the frequencies, one got his attention. The moans of the infected were clearly audible. It appeared the camera had been abandoned as it lay on its side. However, it was clearly the news studio of the Gaines News Station.
"What the... this can't be...", Piers said breathlessly. "Surely they couldn't have patched a camera into a live feed!"
He watched, horrified, as his private little incident had now become a public spectacle. He hoped that it would be dismissed as a B-grade horror flick, but that was too much to hope for. Eventually, after some time of seeing the footage of undead walking around, moaning, it would only be a matter of time even Joe Average would know what was going on...
Carlos Oliveira
Nathan turned to John and lifted Winsor towards him.
"Please take her." he said in a whisper.
John spread his arms and took up the weight as Nathan lowered her to his arms. As soon as John had her Nathan reloaded his rifle and 9mm. Looking at everyone his gaze settled on Winsor and without looking up he spoke.
"John. Take care of her. Tell her I loved her. That I,....trusted her. I'll never forget any of you." Nathan turned and started out the doorway.
"Hey! Where the hell are ya going?" Yelled Jarred as he grabbed Nathan's arm to stop him. Nathan turned with one fluid motion and had Jarred's arm pinned behind his back. He pushed hard and tossed him to Vanessa who managed to catch him.....barely.
"Don't even think about stopping or following me! I Have things to do and they don't concern you guys. Everyone near me gets hurt! Can't you people see that?!? I wasn't meant to be happy! Now just leave me alone please!!" he yelled at them as he sprinted away. John noticing the syringe falling from his pocket. The one with the last of the anti-viral serum.
Nathan ran to the nearest car. A Chevy S-10 pickup truck and busted the window with his rifle stock. Unlocking the door he opened it and hotwired the truck. Stepping on the gas hard it spun for a moment before catching solid at propelling the truck forward. Turning the wheel hard he disappeared around the corner on to Riverside Dr. and then turning again onto Second St. Stopping in front of the Court house his truck was only 2 blocks away from Riverside. He parked it with a screech of tires and stepped out. Walking to the courthouse he wandered inside and began his search.
(If there was anything here about Isis or Blair I'm gonna find it.) he thought to himself. He had another reason for coming here. His fathers office. It was time for some payback and his dad was about to send some help from the after-life. Heading to the lower floors he rounded a corner and saw the office. Slowly he opened the door and walked inside. It took everything he had not to lose it. This was his father's office where he would no longer sit, or drink coffee, or work,...nothing. He stepped to the locker and punched in the code,.......~20-25~.....and with a soft click it opened. Nathan immediately saw the custom made twin D.E.'s that his father owned. He checked to see that they were loaded and then strapped them on and grabbed a few extra clips. He grabbed the small steel box and lifted it out setting it on the desk. Going back to the locker he found an Assault Rifle with a heat vision equipped scope as well as a grenade launcher attached to the bottom. He loaded a few in and slapped in a fresh mag as he pocketed a few more. He turned to the box and flicked the catch causing it to spring open. Inside was an insanely large wad of 100 bills. He pocketed it as well as the bank card and slip of paper with the pin number. after memorizing it he set it aflame with his lighter and tossed it to the floor. Looking in again he saw a fresh pack of smokes.
"Always could get on you to get me smokes dad." he said to himself.
Taking it, he opened them up and lit one. Tucking them back into his vest he realized the syringe was missing.
"Shit!? How did I lose it?"
The final thing in the box was a letter. He opened it carefully and started to read.
My Son, By now you should be well equipped to leave this town and start over. I've told you everything I could. Have a good life son. I love you.
Dad.
P.S. Stay away from the town hall! Piers is there as well as more creations of his. Again I'm sorry.
"Thanks dad. You've given me more then you could imagine." Nathan said with a wicked grin on his face.
"Now your ass is mine Piers!!!" he said
Rushing out the door he ran back upstairs and out the front. Jumping into the truck he started it up and headed for the Hall. His mind set firmly on one thing that he was willing to die for. After all he had nothing to lose. He wasn't 100% sure on Sam's feelings for him but he didn't think they were that strong. Tossing the crumpled letter out the window he sped away. It was time for,.....Revenge!