Disclaimer: o.o Starting after this chapter, no more disclaimers, I wanna get RIGHT into the action. Thanks to everyone who reviews. You know who I own and what I don't.

Note: o.o This IS different then the game..but then again, it'd have to be, so don't get all riled up at me. Oh, Flames and Neko? I'll be looking over this thing a million times before I post it....

Die, die, die my darling
Don't utter a single word
Die, die, die my darling
Just shut your pretty mouth--Metallica, Die Die Die My Darling

"What do we do with her?"

"What else CAN we do with her? Her family is gone, no living relatives, no godparents..No one. Absolutely no one."

"She's alone."

"..Yes. She's alone. And..life is not going to be easy for her. She's young, but she will remember what happened to her parents...God, I hate cases like this."

"...What now, then?"

"....We'll wait until she's recovered fully. And when she is, we'll just have to send her to an orphanage."

"I feel sorry for her."

"..So do I...So do I..."

Amy pulled out her cigarettes and her lighter, trying to calm down further. She was still shaken by that monster, and though James had fought them before, he looked nervous also. "You want one?" She asked, offering him one. He took it, using her lighter to light it.

"...You look too young for these," He commented as she lit hers. "How old are you, anyway?"

"Seventeen," She replied, smirking a little when he stared. "And you're wondering how I got these? You'd be surprised how lax some people are about IDs, laws, things like that." She looked at him curiously. "...And you're...Not old...Not THAT old at least."

He smiled. "I'm twenty-nine. My wife was twenty-five," He said, his face clouding slightly when he said it. Amy decided that that subject was a very sore one, one she shouldn't bring up. "..So how did you get these?"

"......A friend," She admitted. "Before I left for this place..Back....home.." She said the word quickly, like it hurt. I don't have a home..not anymore. "I used to live in Chicago." He nodded, and they fell into silence again. She was thankful for it, though when she was quiet, she'd start thinking. And after that little episode by the lake, that was the last thing she wanted to do.

Instead, she occupied herself with looking around the town. It seemed deserted, though some buildings looked better than others. Cars were around, deserted, old. Rusted. At least, she thought it was rust. She HOPED it was rust. And Mum LOVED this place?! It's all run down..And creepy..It's fricking July, and I think it's snowing..But we're close to the moutains, so that shouldn't be a surprise, right? Right. There's a logical explanation for everything.

Of course, the voice in the back of everyone's head had to say something. So, what about those straight-jacket things? What's the explanation for them? Tell me, Amy: How DO you explain a person with a straight-jacket that not only holds the arms, but also the head, that is melted into the skin, and can open up and spew out green shit? Because I would LOVE to hear this.

Amy ignored it, finishing her cigarette, and flicking it away. "Here's the bar," James said, breaking the silence. They both looked around for anything and walked inside. The bar was very dark, the only light again coming from a single flickering bulb. James walked over to the bar while Amy approached the glass window.

"'There was a hole here. It's gone now,'" She read, crossing her arms. "What?..What is that? Some kind of riddle?" She glanced over her shoulder. James was busy copying something down on his map. "Yo, what do you think of this?"

He looked up, folding the map. He blinked, staring at it. "...Hey..Is..that blood?" He asked, and Amy shivered. They continued to stare at it before the teenager sighed, shaking her head.

"Oh, screw it," She muttered, starting to walk away. "Don't have time for any stupid, freaky riddles in some stupid, freaky, deserted bar.." While she continued her annoyed tirade, James continued to stare at it before walking after her.

"We need to go to Martin Street," He said. She looked at him questioningly. "According to that map in there, something's there..It didn't say. And they had Wood Side Apartments circled. Some streets are also blocked off."

Amy stretched, wincing when some pain shot up her side. Not a lot, but enough to remind her that she was probably missing a chunk of her flesh. She touched the bandage gingerly, gulping slightly when some blood touched her fingers. James wasn't looking, and she decided not to tell him. She could take care of herself. It wasn't his concern.

The radio started crackling with white noise, and both tensed up, though they didn't stop. The noise became louder, and that scuffling sound was heard. James raised the plank, but it was clear he didn't feel like using it. Thankfully, the noise got softer, and they passed by the crawler without any trouble.

".....Are we there yet?" Amy asked, feeling incredibly stupid. She hated that question so much, but they'd been walking for a good five minutes in complete silence, in the dense fog, and the buildings were all starting to look alike. She sighed, and James gave her an apologetic smile. And he hadn't said anything yet.

"It's just up here," he said, nodding ahead of him."...And..Don't look to your right." She blinked.

"What? Why?"

"Just trust me," He said, staring straight ahead. Amy did what she was told, though she was bursting with curiosity. "Hey, I'm not a little kid. What is it, a dead body or something?" James nodded grimly.

"..Yeah..In those cars..Can't you see the blood marks on the road?" To be honest, Amy hadn't. She'd been too focused on the buildings. Yet, as she though about it, he was right. Blood was smeared all over the road and sidewalk. And the cars weren't looking as old anymore. On the other hand, there were starting to look tore up, like they'd been in an accident. She tried not looking inside, but she just couldn't help it.

She started feeling sick to her stomach as she stared in horror. That person she had seen earlier was nothing like these people. They were missing half of their faces, literally. It looked gnawed off, skull and all. The flesh was rotting off, bloated and festering, their mouths opened in a scream of pain and agony. Frozen. Just like that. Half-eaten limbs were hanging out in one car, rotting also.

"J-James..." She stammered, holding back a retch. "W-Why..a-a-aren't you..affected..b-by this in..any...w-way..?"

"I used to be in the Army," He said quietly. "You..get used to death..It's part of the job." Amy would have felt stupid if she wasn't too focused on not blowing chunks.

"Fuck that.." She muttered, getting control a little. "This is like a fucking zombie movie...George Romero ain't got nothing on them...." James didn't answer, though she saw him hesitate and stiffen. "Great, now what? A zombie? A Tyrant? Anything else from Resident Evil?"

"No," He answered grimly. "Look." He pointed to a mutilated body, chewed and torn apart. Amy stared at it and held her stomach. She put a hand over her mouth and ran to the side, once again throwing up whatever was left in her stomach. And as she did, she couldn't help asking herself what the hell was wrong with this town.