RESIDENT EVIL
A N A M N E S I S

Written by Nick Blackford
Based upon Capcom's Resident Evil created by Shinji Mikami

Chapter Five: More Than Sick

The people of Raccoon City, like those of any other large city, had very little time for each other. It was funny then, that suddenly four of them had been put together, around a table in a café like old friends. Outside the café however, beyond the empty dark streets, acts of most deprived and sickening violence were occurring that none of them could possibly imagine.

"I was on my way back into work," Celeste began. The group had exchanged names and were now trying to backtrack the days events before the accident in an attempt to gather clues about what had happened. "Everything seemed normal enough. There wasn't much traffic, but …" She trailed off as she remembered the speeding police car and truck she had seen while waiting at the bus stop.

"I noticed that too," Mike said, his leg up on another chair with his trouser-leg rolled up. His leg looked badly bruised and swollen below the knee. "There wasn't anybody on the road. Hardly anyone on the rounds all day either."

"The hospital were I work was inundated with patients, but I noticed the streets were real quiet too." Lisa added. She hadn't received any more pager alerts though, that was strange.

"So what now?" Nathan snapped. "We sit here and wait?" His tone was aggressive.

"There's not a lot else we can do." Celeste said before looking back at the shutters.

"For who?" Nathan yelled. "Who the fuck is coming to help us when those things are outside? I know I wouldn't."

"Maybe you wouldn't." Mike said.

"What's that supposed to mean? You're the one who crashed the bus and got us into this mess. This is your fault." Nathan barked.

"Calm down, it's not like we don't have time to think about what to do next. And this is nobody's fault." Lisa said defiantly.

"If the hospital's so busy then we should go there. The more people the better, safety in numbers and all that." Mike suggested, not making eye contact at Nathan.

"It's not a bad idea, and it's not far from here." Lisa said. Somewhere familiar, she liked the idea. While the café was safe there was a bad atmosphere about it. It was too brightly lit for the situation they were in and Nathan obviously needed some space.

"I'm not going with any of you," Nathan said standing up. "I'm going to find my girlfriend." He said. "Girlfriend? Which one?" his conscience asked him. Where was Amanda now? Amanda, who he had been so eager to leave earlier. If he'd only known how much he'd need her less than an hour later he'd never have left.

"That's it then? You're just gonna take off, on your own?" Celeste asked.

"I'm not staying here and I'm sure as hell not going to the hospital. I'm finding my girlfriend and then I'm gonna find out what's going on." Nathan pulled his jacket off the back of his chair, slung it on and made his way to the kitchen door.

"You'll get yourself killed." Celeste shouted. "There'll be more of those birds outside."

"I can handle myself, and I can run faster than any of you." How childish he had sounded. Nathan grabbed the door and swung it open to find a woman standing on the other side. She lunged at him, both hands on his shoulders. Her face was tort and grim. Nathan had his hands on her arms and pushed with all his might, the woman staggered back. It was then he got a proper look at her.

She stood awkwardly, as if her frame had been broken out of shape. Her head was hanging down. Blood-matted hair fell from her balding scalp; it was thin, tangled and dirty. Her dress was loose, torn apart and also filthy. Slowly she regained some sort of balance and raised her head. Her expression was twisted with a vicious anger, her eyes milky and vacant pearls that sat loosely in her thinning face.

Suddenly she lunged forward again, this time faster than before. Her arthritic hands grabbed Nathan's shoulders again as she snarled and snapped. She was trying to bite him, bent on biting him. Celeste and Lisa out of their seats but Nathan didn't need any help, he pushed the woman back again, this time harder than before and she collapsed backwards. Slamming the door shut again he quickly locked it with the key which was luckily still in the door.

"Jesus! What the fuck was wrong with her?" He yelled.

"Listen." Lisa whispered. From behind the door they heard her scramble to her feet slowly, uncoordinated. She fell against the door and let out a groan. It was low, breathless and husky, the groan of a heavy smoker in the morning. There was a silence. Everyone jumped suddenly as she hit the door. She let out another groan, this one longer, more desperate, she sounded upset that the door wasn't opening, frustrated.

"She's sick." Celeste said.

"That was more than sick." Nathan added, taking a step backwards away from the door which the woman was persistently but weakly throwing her hands at.

"She needs help." Lisa said. The others all looked at her in the same way. "Are you mad?" their looks said.

"She tried to fucking bite me." Nathan reminded Lisa.

"We can't leave her out there." Lisa said. The idea of leaving her outside was worse to a woman who spends her time devoted to the sick.

"We can't let her in. I don't want to catch whatever she's got." Nathan retaliated.

"Looked like rabies to me." Mike said from his chair, prodding his leg's new bruise.

"You didn't see her face," Nathan said. "We're not letting her in."

Celeste felt guilty about leaving the woman outside. But her instincts told her that leaving her outside was the right thing to do. After all, she'd tried to attack Nathan when she had the chance of sharing their sanctuary.

"What are you doing?" Lisa asked as she spotted Nathan going through the drawers of the kitchen. He didn't answer; instead he pulled out knife from the rack that sat next to the sink.

"I'm still getting out of here, and I'm not having that diseased bitch out there trying to stop me." He said, admiring the sharpness of the knife he had chosen, the largest of the set.

"You don't need that." Celeste said. "She could hardly walk."

"Don't I? I'm willing to bet that between those birds and her," Nathan pointed at the door with the knife. "There's plenty more reasons I'm going to need this." Nathan pushed the knife behind his belt on his side and made his way back to the door.

It was the first time any of them had really put the events together. But before they could dwell on the matter, the shutters at the front of the café shook with a sudden urgency.

"Thank God." Lisa cheered. She began to make her way to the shutters when Celeste tugged at her arm.

"Wait. Just wait a second." She said cautiously. Perhaps she was being over-vigilant but over the moaning from behind the doors and the shaking of the shutters they heard nothing.

"What for?" Lisa asked. The prospect of other people, normal people, was too good to wait for.

"Why haven't they said anything yet?" Celeste warned.

"She's right, listen." Mike said. And as the group stood in silence they heard the same drawn out, grave groans from behind the shutters.

"Shit." Nathan spat. It became clear that there was more than one of them behind the shutters. Two, perhaps three of them were hitting them in the same relentless, exhausted way. "There's only one of them that way," Nathan gestured at the back door. "You guys ready?" He asked, pulling the knife out from behind his belt again.