Outbreak: Darkness Falls
Chapter Two
To all those who reviewed: Thanks! You guys (and girls) are the wind beneath my T-virus enhanced, mutated wings…
I can't believe I didn't post this before, but I can be seen on the Resident Evil: Outbreak free mode server all the time under the nickname "GhettoAvenger". Don't mock me, I live in Jersey. It's a way of life here.
And, heh, nobody caught the Max Payne homage-sentence there. The sun set with practiced bravado…
Downtown Raccoon City
J's Bar
7:00 PM
"Kevin, wai-"
But the intrepid police officer had already thrown the door open, shot the closest creature with his pistol, and closed the door before she could continue.
Playing the hero is his forte', after all.
That ass.
"…Nobody ever listens to me…" Cindy moaned, as she watched Kevin dash through the door.
"Welcome to my universe." Bob said sadly. Poor, poor Bob.
"And mine." Jim added. Poor, poor…no, not really.
"Uh, who are you again?" Cindy asked, a little confused. Of the group, she only knew Mark and Kevin, and that's only because they were frequent customers. Being friends with customers means big tips…
"Jim Chapman." The disheveled black man straightened his cap, a nervous tic that was ALREADY starting to become tiresome. "Hey, I got an idea! Lets go around the table and introduce ourselves! I like to know what I'm about to eat" he said sardonically, but Cindy ignored the sarcasm in his voice.
"That's actually a good idea. I'm Cindy Lennox."
"Mark Wilkins." The older man straightened out of instinct. Roll call was beginning of every morning and end of every night, back in 'Nam…
"I'm Doctor Hamilton. Oh, but please, call me George." The WASP-no, that wasn't a nice thing to call him, Cindy decided-shifted from one foot to another rapidly. It made him look like a little kid, and if it weren't for the horde of monsters outside the hallway, she might have giggled. He checked his watch.
"It's been three minutes. What's taking them so long?"
"Give him time, he'll make it." Cindy said quickly. She didn't want to abandon her best tipper, quite irrationally. "…and what's your name, again?" she nodded towards a man sulking in the corner, seemingly drawing strength from the wooden boards.
"…David."
"What, no last name?"
"King."
"I'm sure you are whitey, but she wants to know your LAST-"
"Shut up dumbass, that IS my last name." the glance he threw Jim could have paralyzed a mutant elephant, but Jim paid it no mind.
"uh…excuse me…I'm Yoko Suzuki." Her eyes darted nervously from person to person, finally settling on a
"Kevin Ryman."
"Kevin!!"
"You made it!"
"Good job, sir! I applaud you!"
And indeed, Kevin had survived, and seemed to be having little trouble in carrying the women's lithe form…
"Alyssa Ashcroft bitches, beat THAT." The red-clothed women announced, a bit haughtily.
"We'd like to, and with extreme pre-ju-dice, but we're kinda in a hurry…" Jim straightened his cap, and yelled: "Abandon Bar! Brotha's and fly bitches first!" before charging up the stairs to the staff room.
Cindy was about to start after him, but before she could make a move she was being pushed up the stairs by force.
"Move!" a gunshot, and then two, resounded clearly through the small corridor. The zombies had redoubled their pursuit.
It was more then a tragedy, it was a nightmare without end that had only just begun. As the group took the stairs, two at a time, the realization took hold that all hell had broken loose.
Jim started to laugh.
They reached the upper level staff room without further incident, the low moans of the creatures (don't call them zombies, don't call them zombies) spurring them on to greater speed, only stopping when David noticed the nail gun and the 2x4's lying in a heap near the entranceway…
"Here's what I'm thinking. The roof provides the best tactical advantage here. If we can make it to the roof, we can signal for help, and pick those thangs off one at a'time."
They all turned to look at Mark. The sound of David creating his makeshift barricade was the only sound, for the moment.
"What?"
They kept staring.
"Hey, I fought in the WAR. You listen to me, and we'll get out of here alive."
Kevin considered. "Hey, that's a pretty good idea. Is there a way up, Cindy?"
"Well, through the door there, up the stairs through the liquor room…yeah, I think so. I haven't been up there, though…Jack was real strict about that. We'll need to find another key…"
Alyssa stirred from her stupor. "sscrew that sshit, I gotss it." She stumbled to the door, and began fumbling through her pockets. Retrieving a set of tools from her pants, she began to work on the lock.
SNICK.
The door cracked open.
"Woah." Kevin remarked. "You must be a Master of Unlocking!"
A swift kick to the back of the head forestalled any more lame remarks from the policeman.
"Lock picks, dumbass. Lock picks." David muttered.
They moved onwards… and upwards. The door led to a stairway, which in turn fed into…
"Some kind of warehouse?" David said stupidly.
"Break out the beer!" Kevin cheered. Stacked up on the walls were hundreds and hundreds of the finest brews in the world, the accompanying smell so powerful that it blocked out the stench of death from the outside.
A large metal shutter blocked the way to the roof.
George moved first among them, hefting a nearby crowbar. "No choice is left to us here. We must break it down with great force."
"uHHHhhhh…"
"They're coming closer!" Mark said, drawing his own handgun from its holster. "Work fast, Doctor!" The creatures were already stumbling into view.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
BA-BAM!
On the third shot, Kevin added his own powerful weapon to the equation, sending a creature down with a well-placed headshot.
"ComeoncomeoncomeoncomeonCOMEON!" Jim yelled, as he beat at the shutter with all of his might. Frustrated, he balled up his fist and smashed it into the damaged metal. "BREAK!"
It broke. The catch keeping the shutter in place had shattered under Jim's improbable attack.
"See? I'm lucky like that." Jim said, as the others stared in utter amazement.
It didn't last. Another creature shuffled into the picture, as a dry click heralded the next problem.
"Empty!" Mark shouted.
"sscrew it, letss go" Alyssa moaned, as she staggered through the shutter. Taking the steps two at a time, Kevin led them to the roof. As the door turned, a burst of cold September air struck him hard in the face, mixed with the stench of the creatures. Huge, and all-encompassing, the smell could hardly be ignored. It was the smell of a decaying necropolis, going up in flames.
"It was the smell of SHUT UP AND START RUNNING!" Alyssa shouted, shoving the burly police officer from behind. He turned, startled, and stared. She half-smiled.
"Your noise was twitching. Now start moving."
"Yes, ma'am."
Jim elbowed David hard in the side. "Notice how the cop always walks away with the fly lady at the end? It's a conspiracy, I tell ya."
David turned, and stared at the man out of the corner of his eye. As he debated pulling out his switchblade and gutting the little twerp, half-seriously (but that was up 50% from the usual amount), a police bullhorn shattered the few moments of peace.
"Attention! This is the Raccoon City Police Department. Due to the riots in progress, this area will be closed off soon. Please proceed to this checkpoint-IMMEDIATELY. If you do not leave the area in time, we-CANNOT-guarantee your safety."
It was David who summed up the opinion of everyone else.
"…shit…"
"I…I can't…move anymore…"
Everyone turned abruptly.
Bob continued. "I know me…and…I'm not going to be…someone else's…burden!"
He reached into his holster, and pulled out his standard-issue pistol. Before anyone could react, he placed the barrel against his head, and-
"No! Bawb, stop!" Reflexes honed in the Jungle Conflict went into hyper mode, and Mark slammed the gun away from his friend before he could end his own life.
"No…YOU don't understand, Mark…"
David leaned closer. Something seemed…
"I'm...no different from them…."
Cindy saw it before anyone.
"I…feel…the hunger…"
George saw it next. Bob's eyes glazed over, and his head drooped in surrender.
"…Bawb?" Mark said, terrified at his old friend's condition.
"No! Get away!" Alyssa yelled, but it was too late. With a hideous groan of sorrow, the bob-monster hurled itself upon the nearest target, and Mark found himself staring into the zombified face of his closest friend.
"Nooooooo!!!!" Mark yelled. Horror gave him strength, and with a burst of adrenaline, he pushed the bob-thing off of him…
…Through a badly-rusted fence…
…And off of the building, falling three stories before smashing apart like a pumpkin on Mischief night.
For a moment, Mark could only stare.
"BAAAAWWWBBB!!!!"
He yelled into the bitter September air.
"Not you too…they're all dead…" he sobbed. The war had nearly overwhelmed him, but compared to this…the Vietcong devils were like angels compared to…
Cindy approached him first. Gently taking his shoulders, she led him away from the grisly site.
"Shit!" Kevin said suddenly. "The time limit!"
And it all came rushing back. The zombies, the RPD barricading off the area and leaving them to starve…or worse…
The next building seemed a long ways away.
"We have to try it anyway." Kevin said. A well placed kick destroyed the gate barring their way. Not a moment too soon: the creatures from the bar finally smashed through the stout metal door, moaning as they saw their prey rapidly disappear into the distance.
Cindy Lennox led the way, stopping at the point where the space between buildings was the shortest.
There was a short pause.
"I'll go, then." George said, making up his mind. He took a step back, then two, and finally running forward and throwing himself across the expanse. "YAAA!" He shouted, pulling himself up.
"Next person, then." George called.
Cindy made her choice, as well. She hurled herself towards the cheap apartment building like she was Indiana Jones.
As it was, she barely got her hands on the other side. Stupid high-heels.
"God!" she yelled, more of a prayer then a curse. Somebody evidently heard her, for the next moment, she was surrounded by crows.
"You disturbed their nest when you hit it!" Kevin yelled, taking aim and firing into the murder. Several fell to his weapon before the murder came to a decision.
If being surrounded by a hundred crows is bad, being pecked at by that number is worse.
"I can't hold on much longer!" she cried to the man above her, praying that he could hear her over the crow's noise.
"You gotta be kidding me! Zombie CROWS?!!" Jim cried.
"Hold on, Cindy!" George called. "Don't panic!" as he stretched himself just a little further…
Suddenly, the two locked eyes, and George was hit with the sure knowledge that it was too late-
Cindy started to fall.
- - - - - - - -- - - - - - - -- -
A/N: Phew, I finally updated this thing! Or "Thang", if you speak like Mark. I didn't get to update before because of a 3-week trip to Italy, and then a lot of home repairs and the like…a bit of free time here, though, and a little there, and wham! An update. A 2 AM caffeine-powered update, but text is text, regardless of its content. I gotta go lie down. Peace, yo.