Title: Fading Away
Author: Malenkaya
Rating: R
Summary: (RE movie fanfic) A continuation of the movie, featuring old and new characters, new settings, and new conflict. In a zombie infested Raccoon City, how can Alice, Matt, and Rain survive?
Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or its characters.
Feedback: Please! Flames, as long as their explanatory, are fine.
Author's Notes: Firstly, thanks much to skittles, bsktballchik, shawn4542, po, AnimaSola, Keris, Lea, and Gabzilla for the reviews, and to all those who read the fanfic! Sorry this chapter has taken so long to be posted, but I've been busy with other things I'm writing- the next one should be up in a couple of weeks. Also, I must admit: I know very little about guns ( I'm in the process of learning about them), but if their usage and brief appearances in this chapter (or the last two) are stiff, sorry- it'll improve as the story continues.
"y" indicates a pause, because I can't get more than a one-enter space. How annoying.
Fading Away
Chapter Two: Finding A Way
"Patient shows distinct signs of recognition and coherency while conscious. Has no sign of T-virus infection or any other injury. Kept under heavy sedatives to avoid disruption."
J.D blinked, pulling the papers closer to him, hoping it would make them easier to read. The font was standard medical print- practically miniscule- and almost impossibly to read after five pages of the same writing.
The constant vibration of the van's tires as it drove over the road of potholes wasn't helping either.
Matt sat in the front seat of the stolen van, his features tense with worry and exhaustion as he drove along the road. Alice sat next to him, occasionally offering quiet words of support or guidance to him.
J.D sat in the back with Rain, who had still not regained consciousness; she lay in the middle of a few conveniently placed blankets and J.D sat next to her, his back against the front seat, looking over the files Matt had lifted from Umbrella's database.
Giving up on Alice's file- it hadn't revealed any unknown information yet anyways- he tossed it to the floor and picked up Rain's instead, paging through it.
He wished someone would tell him what was going on- what had happened earlier, in the Hive. No one was talking about it, and he knew better than to bring it up now; but it was frustrating- he was completely unprepared for whatever might happen. Matt, a rookie cop, was better fit for the current circumstances than he was.
Scanning over Rain's file, he noticed immediately the most obvious difference from Alice's file- the existence of the T-Virus. Looking over her medical chart, he noticed the number of zombie attacks she had weathered, a massive number in comparison to Alice's, and wondered again what had happened down in the Umbrella Hive. Most of the bites on her arms, he knew, had come from trying to pull him out of the sealed room, but others- the one on her neck in particular- were deeper and he wondered why Rain hadn't been able to ward off what Alice had somehow avoided completely. Or Matt, for that matter. At least Alice had been working on Umbrella's S.T.A.R.S team and had more experience than Rain.
J.D scowled, despite himself. Somehow, in the time they had been down there, Matt, Alice, and Rain had apparently forged some sort of friendship, and while Matt seemed fairly intelligent as well as competent, he couldn't help but resent him.
He tried to return his attention to the rest of Rain's file, looking over her own medications—
And the pages went flying from his hands as he toppled over, off balance, as Matt slammed on the brakes.
"Goddamn it, Matt!" he snarled, despite himself, as he pulled himself upright again and reached for the scattered files.
Matt ignored him, staring out in front of the van, and Alice was the first to see why he had stopped.
"Oh my God, is that Kaplan?"
She turned to Matt, who returned her gaze; and then, without speaking, both opened their doors abruptly and clambered out.
Sighing in frustration, J.D left the files' contents where they were and scrambled out after them.
They walked up to the dark form lying on the pavement, and Matt knelt down slowly next to it, reaching hesitatingly for a pulse; Alice and J.D both stood by, waiting, as he lay his hand on Kaplan's neck.
He held it there for a moment, and then looked up and nodded at Alice, who let out an immediate sigh of relief. "We have to take him with us."
"What happened to him?" J.D asked, shocked despite himself. In the dim light, he couldn't be sure of the true extent of Kaplan's injuries; but even in this light, Kaplan's broken leg and blood streaked forehead were painfully obvious.
Alice looked at him. "The Licker... on the train."
This clarified almost nothing to J.D; he assumed by 'the Licker' she meant the thing he and Matt had run into in the Umbrella hospital, but he didn't understand the rest of her statement and felt another tinge of helpless frustration.
Matt stepped forward, grabbing Kaplan under the arms to carry him into the van and J.D grabbed his legs, trying to be as careful as he could while they carried him into the back, laying him next to Rain's sleeping form.
In the dim lights of the van, J.D could fully see the extent of Kaplan's injuries; his right leg was broken, probably multiple fractures, and by the state of his forehead, J.D assumed he probably had a concussion, or at the very least, a massive headache.
But the most prominent afflictions were the deep scratches running the length of his back, as if he had been simply torn away by something- The Licker?
Alice crouched next to him, pulling a folded blanket from the pile on the floor and placing it underneath Kaplan's head. She unfolded the next one and laid it over him, working silently, a grim look on her face.
The slamming of the door announced Matt's reappearance, and he immediately started the van up again, the inhabitants silent as he pulled back into the middle of the road.
"Where are we supposed to go?"
Alice's voice was tired, beaten; she cast a wary glance at both Rain and Kaplan as she asked her question, and it was clear she felt they needed hospital assistance.
"We need a safe house," Matt said shortly. "Someplace out of town and further away from most of Umbrella's monsters."
"Matt, we need to get Kaplan to a hospital," Alice argued, her voice strained.
"Raccoon's hospitals are useless right now, and we have no way of knowing whether the city borders are even open right now." He looked at Alice through the overhead mirror, adding softly, "Kaplan's injuries are bad, but not life threatening- he'll be fine for a couple more days."
Alice looked up at him, both establishing eye contact through the mirror, and J.D looked away, feeling as if he was interrupting something.
They drove for another moment, each person quiet, running through their options, and after a few minutes, J.D broke the silence.
"I know a place."
y
It was almost midnight by the time they pulled up to the ancient, dilapidated farmhouse.
Matt drove around the outskirts of the house before finally pulling into a small cluster of trees offside the house, not wanting the van to be out in the open where anyone could see it.
Quickly and silently, they began reloading the two guns with the little extra ammunition they had, J.D peering out the window at the surrounding darkness. It didn't take a genius to understand he would most likely be left on guard duty in the van while Alice and Matt went to check out the house and make sure it was safe.
He felt another brief tinge of resentment. He now not only had no idea what had happened and why it had happened, but now he had been reduced to guard duty?
"J.D," Matt whispered.
J.D looked at him, and he continued. "Stay here and watch Kaplan and Rain, we'll check out the house."
J.D nodded, feeling insulted- now he was not only useless, but apparently stupid as well- and Matt opened the back doors of the van, climbing slowly out.
Alice hesitated, and then looked at J.D, telling him quietly, "If we're not back in twenty minutes, take Rain and Kaplan and get out of Raccoon, okay?"
He nodded again, and then she climbed out, following Matt in the trees. Closing the doors and locking them, J.D continued to look through the window as they exited the patch of shrubbery and disappeared into the night.
y
Matt and Alice walked up to the house slowly, creeping through the high grasses, both uncomfortably aware the grasses would make fantastic hiding spots for a lot of Umbrella monsters.
They reached the house in less than five minutes, Alice immediately taking in the house's wide, wraparound porch and pale yellow color. It wasn't very large, and was completely run down, the high windows cracked and shattered, the adjacent barn's roof beginning to cave in- but despite the current dilapidation of the house, it's former beauty was still prominent.
The front doors to the house were a light, pale wood and screen combination. Wind had thrown one of the doors open, leaving the house vulnerable to intrusion, and the red paint had begun to peel, giving the doors an almost eerie, broken appearance.
They slipped quietly through the door, and, with a single glance, split up as they walked into the small entrance room, Alice moving towards the left and Matt into the tiny bathroom to their right.
The living room Alice strode into was decorated tastefully in pale blues and elegant furniture, creating a room that, at one point, must have been exquisite, despite it's small size. Now the wallpaper was peeling, the plush furniture covered in rips and tears, and the soft carpet dirty, covered in piles of old newspapers, giving the room a sad, forgotten appearance.
Besides a ancient looking television and radio, the room was empty, and Alice moved onto the kitchen adjacent to the room. It too was empty, save for some scattered pots and pans.
Alice bent to check inside the cupboards, expecting to find only dust and cobwebs- and was pleasantly surprised when she pulled out a small coffee maker, setting it carefully next to the rusty sink. A quick glance inside the top cabinets added some dry cereals and cans of fruit and spaghetti to the growing pile, and she was pleased to find some decently clean mugs in another shelf, perfect for holding water or coffee.
Her search was interrupted by Matt, who tiptoed quietly into the room behind her, startling her. She jumped, and turned immediately to face him as he blushed slightly and said, "Sorry. The rooms are empty, just storage stuff."
She nodded, and asked, "Was there a back door?"
"Yeah. Boarded up, though." His attention turned to the pile of food on the counter. "Is that stuff still good?"
She nodded briefly, and then said, "We'd better check upstairs."
y
He sat in the middle of the room, yanking clothes out of his duffel bag, searching frantically for a weapon. He knew he had taken a weapon before leaving for home, but in his rush, had thrown it into his massive duffel bag and hadn't checked for it since. He still hadn't checked it, loaded it, he didn't even know where the ammunition was or how even to load the damn thing—
His searching fingers found purchase, gripping the rifle tightly and dragging it out of his duffel.
Footsteps suddenly resounded as the intruders ran up the stairs and he froze, clenching the gun tightly in his shaking hands, staring, terrified, at the locked door in front of him.
He'd heard the cabinets opening downstairs first, the slight sounds waking the paranoid medical student, and had rushed to find the first available weapon he could find. He didn't know who the intruders were, or worse, even what they were, after seeing the monsters that had attacked Raccoon—
His hand closed around a clip, and he brought it up to see in the dim moonlight flooding into the room through the boarded windows.
Empty.
He swore in frustration and threw it back into the bag, frantically searching for another.
The doorknob turned.
He stared at it with wide eyes, his alert gaze fixed on the door.
He heard a curse as one of the intruders realized the door was locked. There was silence in the room, and he fought back a sigh of relief, thankful for whatever presence of mind had reminded him to lock the door.
Then he heard the scratch of metal against metal and realized, with a thud of horror, that they were picking the lock.
Abandoning his search, he jumped up, clutching the rifle in his shaking hands, hoping that he could at least attempt to scare them off.
The sound stopped. Everything went suddenly, deathly, silent. He stood in front of the doorway, panting, his own heartbeat thundering in his ears.
Then the door blew open off it's hinges and the intruders leapt into the room, holding guns in their hands, pointing them at him—
Abandoning all attempts at courage or defiance, Michael threw his failed rifle to the ground, falling to his knees, his arms in the air, and cried out, "Don't shoot! God, don't shoot!"
"I'm human."
y
It had been 27 minutes already.
Part of J.D just wanted to pack up and leave, find a way out of Raccoon City, do something besides sit around in the van. Alice and Matt could fend for themselves, for all he cared- all he was worried about was getting himself and Rain out of Raccoon.
He knew his thoughts seemed unfair- Kaplan, Alice, even Matt, in a way, were all part of the team now. Their experiences in the Hive, no doubt adrenaline and terror filled, had understandably brought them closer together- leaving J.D not only the odd one out, but the only one unprepared for whatever Raccoon might throw at them.
To be fair, Alice and Matt had gotten them this far.
But J.D had already died once. He didn't want to die again.
Kaplan twitched in his sleep and J.D jumped, despite himself. He leaned forward and checked that the doors were locked again before peeking out through the windows.
The patch of forestry they were in was empty and still as before, lit with the slightest paths of moonlight passing through the trees. J.D squinted, trying to peer past the tree line, uncomfortably aware of how many things could see better in the dark than he could.
Rain sighed, and he turned to look at her and Kaplan's sleeping forms, huddled underneath the blankets they'd found in the van. The bright Indian print seemed falsely cheery, almost gaudy in the moonlight, and he was struck suddenly by the realization of how completely helpless they would all be if another Umbrella mutation found them. Alice and Matt had taken the only weaponry they'd had when they'd left, Matt totting the revolver he'd found in Umbrella's hospital and Alice, her automatic rifle.
Which left J.D to fend off any attackers with his fists or fast running, all the while looking after two unconscious people.
He shook his head, warding off the thoughts- the odds of anything attacking in the middle of the dilapidated farmhouse were nearly nonexistent- and instead reached for the stack of Umbrella files, still propped up against the seats. He discarded Alice's, and then Rain's files without bothering to look over them again and picked up Matt's instead, flipping carelessly to the first page.
His search was interrupted by the sound of a key sliding into a lock, and he turned warily towards the back doors of the van. He had no doubts the visitors were Matt and Alice, but he slid in front of Rain and Kaplan anyway, assuming a defensive stance.
The lock clicked, and Matt swung open the door, Alice smiling at him reassuringly. "The house is empty, we can stay here for the night."
J.D handed off the files to Alice, climbing out of the van- and noticing, as he did so, the third figure who stood to the side of Alice.
"Who the fuck is he?"
"Michael," Alice answered promptly, as Matt grabbed the anti-virus case out of the van and handed it to her. "He's a medic, he'll take care of Rain and Kaplan." She grabbed the case by the handle and turned, hurrying back to the house.
Michael nodded, his face pale. J.D stared at him, taking in his bright green eyes, messy brown hair, and wire-rimmed glasses as he turned away, nervous under his scrutinizing gaze.
"Couldn't he have just stayed inside the house?"
Matt flashed him an exasperated look. "We needed him to help us take Kaplan inside." He held up the flat top of a wooden table as evidence. "Make shift stretcher."
J.D nodded, and reached out to help Matt ease Kaplan onto it's blanket covered surface, careful not to jostle his right leg. They left another blanket spread over him for warmth, and the third, Michael rolled up and tucked underneath his head.
Grabbing the top end of the stretcher, Matt told him, "Just wait here. We'll bring Kaplan in first, and then come back for Rain."
J.D shook his head. "Don't bother. I can carry her." He clambered back into the van as the two left, carrying Kaplan between them, and gathered Rain carefully into his arms.
Climbing out slowly, he locked the doors with his elbow and slammed them shut with his foot before starting towards the house, carrying Rain close to him, following the two other men as their figures cut shadows across the high grass, lit by the full moon wavering in the sky.
A/N: In case I forgot to mention this... it's my birthday today! (July 30th, in case it's posted too late...). At 9:10 tonight I shall be 16! So please review; I shall think of it as a birthday gift, lol. Thanks!