Retribution for the Damned
by DigiSim
Chapter 3
"I hate to tell you this, but I think we're lost."
"Oh great Ranma, that's all I needed. How did this happen?"
"Don't go yelling at me Grey, it's not my fault."
"Not your fault! How can it not be your fault? You're supposed to be the navigator of this little journey. You're in charge of the map, remember?"
With an exasperated sigh, Ranma slumped down in the passenger seat of the Ford pickup and threw the aforementioned map down at his feet. The Army Jeep had broken down a few days after he left Ryoga and Shampoo back in Ohio. He had been mainly wandering around the country, trying to find how to get to Raccoon City, wherever the hell that was. Somehow he had ended up in Arizona of all places. That's where he met Grey.
Grey Wulfe was a Southern California native, but sometimes went by the name Akira Kusanagi. Ranma was surprised to find a Caucasian using a Japanese name. Grey explained to him that he had been adopted by a Japanese family long ago during his high school years while part of a student exchange program. The circumstances of the adoption were a little odd. Grey, a practitioner of the Art since he was quite young, had Ranma's talent at analyzing skills and being able to perform them almost flawlessly after one or two viewings with a bit of practice.
He had been watching the daughter of the Martial Arts family he was staying with, Yamiko who he sometimes called Miko, practicing a few times. He had unconsciously picked up some moves that were strictly to be used by true students of the family's school. One day while he practiced, he pulled a few of the moves off during a particularly complicated kata while Miko's dad watched. After finishing, the man complimented him on his skill but told him that what he did, using the special moves, was forbidden to outsiders of the school. Ever since a thief stole some secret scrolls while his father had been sensei of the dojo, a perverted little troll named Happosai had done the deed, the Kusanagis had been cautious of who learns what.
Takeru then gave him two options. One was to never use any of those moves again. The other was to be brought into the family as a son. Grey of course chose the second option but never made mention that a third option, that being to marry Miko, was never voiced. The adoption itself automatically gave him dual citizenship as well. Hence the usage of the name Akira, that and because Miko called him that when they first met. It was easier for her than saying Grey since the way she pronounced it made her sound Australian.
Since the base styles of both of their respective schools was Kempo, though Grey's had a Jeet Kune Do flavoring, the two became fast friends. Ranma was glad to finally be able to have someone he could seriously spar with after so long, Ryoga notwithstanding. He was afraid his skills were going to start to deteriorate if he didn't have anyone to practice with. Grey was just glad to have someone to talk to. What was odd was the fact that they had the same tastes in hair styles. Grey's pigtail reached down to just below his shoulders. If he had dyed it black instead of leaving it in its natural dark brown state, there would be no way to tell the difference between the two young men from behind.
Their eyes were also similar, though Grey's were a more oceanic blue while Ranma's were closer to steel. Grey also knew of Ranma's problem. He discovered it by accident one day while the two of them were at a booth of some greasy spoon in the middle of nowhere. An accidentally tipped over glass of water revealed a stunning, and stacked, red haired young girl. That led to Grey learning of the Umbrella Corporation. He had never heard of them before, but from what Ranma told him of what he knew, Grey felt they were bad news.
Ranma was happy that Grey didn't think of him as a freak. He was already somewhat used to his condition but was still sensitive about it too. When he had been abducted some time ago, the water he had been doused with that gave him the curse had been altered by the scientists. Just regular Nyanniichuan would have made water drawn to him in the strangest ways. He was glad he wasn't a water magnet. That would have been too weird for words. The J-Virus version had also enhanced his senses in both forms as well as increased his strength, speed and endurance. He was on the verge of collapse when Grey had come by in his truck and found him.
Currently, Grey was driving the truck through a winding mountain road. The further along he went, the more the weather seemed to keep trying to turn him back by getting worse. That wasn't an option since the pickup was running on fumes at that point. As he was grumbling about being stuck in the middle of nowhere, he drove by a road sign proclaiming a town was near. Unfortunately it had gone by too fast for him to read the name. Looking askance at Ranma, he saw that the pigtailed youth had his eyes closed so asking him if he had read the sign was out.
Flicking on the brights to hopefully cut through the thick fog, Grey saw another sign, this one advertising the standard Gas Food Lodging that peppered America's highways and byways. Praising his luck, Grey reached over to nudge Ranma's shoulder and tell him of the sign. All he got was a grunt in reply but it sounded relieved. The two of them had been on the road for far too long and they could really use a break. Hopefully the fog would burn off so they could see what kind of town they were heading for.
After crossing over a bridge that seemed to go on forever and passing a bowling alley and gas station, both appearing to be closed, the truck pulled into the parking lot of a motel. Shutting off the engine, Grey collected the keys and got out while Ranma grabbed the maps from the glove compartment and the one still on the floor. Checking in was no problem since the motel had quite a few vacancies. After snagging their things from the back of the Ford, the two headed in to their room.
The first thing both noticed was the bed, as in singular. Grey had specifically asked for a room with two beds and wondered why the motel manager was trying to screw him over. He would have gone to kick the guy's ass but he was too tired to care just then. Ranma didn't care that much either, all he wanted was sleep.
Hours later revealed a strange sight. Ranma, who was lying on his right side, was being spooned by Grey. Grey had his left arm draped over Ranma's side and his hand was being held by Ranma's. He then snuggled a little closer and sleepily kissed the top of Ranma's left ear. This woke the black-haired young man a little.
"Grey?"
"Hmmm?"
"Why the hell did you just kiss my ear?"
"Why the hell are you holding my hand?"
"Where's your other hand?"
"Between two pillows."
"Those AREN'T PILLOWS!"
Immediately, the two sprung from the bed and started writhing and dancing while making nauseated noises, shivering all the while. Pretty soon, the noises turned to conversation.
"You see that Bears game Ranma?"
"Hell of a game, hell of a game. They got a great team this year."
"Yeah, they could go all the way."
"I'm gonna go grab a shower."
"You do that."
As Ranma headed off into the bathroom, Grey sat on the bed and tried to calm his roiling stomach. The last time something like that happened to him had been when his friend from school, Kenji, snuck into his room at the Kusanagis and slipped into his bed. The guy was nice enough but him doing that had creeped him out. He didn't know what had bothered him more, that what just happened had happened at all or that he wished Ranma had been in his girl-form at the time. In the shower, the same types of thoughts were going through Ranma's mind. Was the virus taking over his psyche or was it something more? Something he just didn't want to face about himself.
Stepping out of the bathroom while pulling a clean T-shirt over his head, Grey spotted Ranma at the only table in the room checking out the map of the town that he had picked up in the manager's office when they had first arrived. Heaving a sigh as he sat in the chair opposite Ranma's after tucking the hem of the shirt into his black jeans, he looked at his friend expectantly. Deciding to break the silence himself, he asked, "So what's the news?"
"Well," Ranma began, "according to the map here, the road we came into town on, Nathan Avenue, cuts straight through this part of town and leads back out to Pleasant River 73 County which has a couple of the roads that leads to Brahms, the next town over, running through it which is one hell of a shortcut. I checked it out while you were in the shower and found out we can't use it. Seems there is some sort of construction going on and the street looks like it buckled." He pointed to the appropriate spot on the map while continuing. "Also, in case you were curious, it's still foggy out there. I could barely see three feet in front of my face. But that's not the weird part. The weird part is that the fog is totally dry. It's more like a heavy smoke than an actual fog. Also, I swear it started snowing as I was coming back here. Oh yeah, one other thing, there were some strange noises coming from somewhere but like I said the fog is too thick to see anything clearly."
Giving Ranma a deadpan stare, Grey spoke. "From what the manager told me, the gas station we passed on the way in hasn't been open in a long time. It's not that they're out of gas, it's because the guy that ran the place disappeared a while ago. From what he says, the cops tried to cover it up to keep people from freaking out but most just ignored it altogether. The only reason he cares is because the guy was his brother-in-law. Oh, that reminds me." Grey got up and went to pick up his denim jacket and then started searching through the pockets. "Found 'em."
Turning around, he tossed some keys to Ranma who caught them with ease. "What are these for, the gas station?"
Giving an "Mm-hmm" in response, Grey slipped on his jacket and sat back down in the chair. "Got them from the manager. At least we've got something going our way. Once we fill the tank, we'll take off. I don't know about you man, but there's something about this place that just sets my teeth on edge."
Genma was making good time running across the rooftops of the town. Why he hadn't thought of doing this earlier was beyond him. It wasn't that important though. Right now, he needed to get to his friend's shop before he could leave town. Robert Kendo owned a gun store just down the block from the back entrance of the police station. A visit to see how Robert was doing and to pick up some supplies was definitely in order.
The first thing he noticed from his rooftop vantage point was the wrecked tanker truck. Flames from the crash had spread to block off access to the area from the road and luckily hadn't affected the surrounding buildings much just yet. Genma actually didn't know how long ago the crash occurred. The next thing he noticed was the streets were far from deserted. There were zombies trapped in the blocked-off area around Robert's shop wandering around and one of them was obviously Robert himself, or at least what was left of him.
The front window of the store was smashed in with a smeared trail of blood leading from the opening. That must be how they had gotten him. Despite the danger to himself, Genma knew he had no choice but to check things out. Hunching over, Genma cloaked himself in the Umi-Sen-Ken, making himself completely invisible to all forms of detection. He then proceeded to leap across the space from one roof to the next and landed soundlessly far from the edge. A crackling and crunching sound made him pause as he was about to go to the storefront and jump down. Before he knew what happened, the area of the roof he was standing on betrayed him and plunged into the store, taking Genma with it.
The Martial Artist tried to control his fall as best he could but ended up landing wrong behind one of the counters, spraining his left ankle in the process. The sudden sharp twinge startled him enough that he unknowingly dropped his invisibility cloak and fell to the floor, gasping in pain. The zombies inside were surprised, if zombies could be surprised, to suddenly sense a living being in their presence. All they cared about was that a meal had arrived. It didn't matter how it had gotten there, all that mattered was that they were going to get to feed.
Refueling the Ford was an easy task. The main building at the Texxon station had a convenience store inside so the two grabbed whatever looked fresh along with what would keep the longest. When Grey returned the keys to Jack's Inn, the manager told him he would keep their room ready just in case. Giving a glare to counter the obese man's smug grin, the pig-tailed man left the office, got into his truck and drove off.
Thanks to the map and the earlier check made by Ranma, the near twins knew they couldn't use Nathan Avenue so they had to find an alternate route. A huge problem then presented itself. Both Katz Street and Saul Street that would usually cut across town was blocked off, either by the street being a sink hole or a giant wall of steel pipes and plastic tarps being in the way. Even Munson Street, which led south to another part of the town, was blocked off by the weird looking construction wall. Sadly Rendell Street, which led out of town, wasn't an option. The guys were getting sick of this quickly and decided to just take the bridge back out of town. Nathan Avenue connected to Sandford Street which wound around Toluca Lake. From there they could go to Bachman Road and straight out through an older part of the town.
Unfortunately, that way was also not an option. Grey had to slam on the brakes before he almost crashed into a line of cement dividers that someone had blocked off both lanes of the bridge with. As they got out of the truck, they discovered why the dividers were there. Somehow, the bridge had collapsed. Grey and Ranma were now effectively stuck. Ranma's bellow of rage just then revealed two things. One, somehow he had gained the ability to create ki attacks, probably something having to do with the J-Virus. Two, they weren't alone.
Ranma had been standing by the rear of the truck facing left so when he had shouted, the ball of angry red ki had flown across the road and illuminated what appeared to be a body lying on the ground. It also struck something that gave out a howl like a metal sheet being torn in two and fell off the side of the bridge. Grey would have made a comment but the body drew his attention more than his friend's newfound talent. He'd figure out how to do the attack later but would need a little time and patience to do it as easily as Ranma had done so just then. At the moment, there was something more important on his mind. Grabbing a flashlight from the truck, he switched it on and slowly walked over to the cadaver. He knew it wasn't someone that was still alive from the distance he had been when first seeing it. Anyone knew people usually need to have a head to stay alive and all this guy had was a bloody pulp.
Ranma was looking over the side of the bridge where the thing had fallen when he heard the footsteps. Turning, he saw Grey getting close to and then kneeling next to a dead body. The flashlight's beam revealed that the carcass was a disgustingly mangled mess. The smell, not unlike rotting meat and sour milk, made his stomach evacuate the Cherry Coke and Snickers he had consumed a few minutes ago. Then he realized the smell wasn't coming from the stiff, but from behind him. Spinning around, his shout of surprise birthed another blast of ki, this time a yellow beam of fear that lanced out and disintegrated what gave the impression of being two pairs of very sexy and nude women's legs attached at the waist with a small amount of torso shared between them. The creature also had a slimy sheen to it's skin before it was immolated.
"What was that thing?" The sudden voice behind him made him whirl about and almost vaporize Grey. Luckily he was able to hold back.
"DON'T DO THAT!" barked Ranma. Without realizing it, Grey had just hopped back and stood on his right leg while the left was raised and bent slightly at the knee. His arms were in an 'I surrender' pose while the fingers of both hands shifted into warding gestures, his index and pinkie fingers raised with his thumbs pointed out and the middle and ring fingers curled down.
"Okay, okay there's no need to yell. I'm sorry I startled you." Grey then relaxed his pose and walked by Ranma who was taking a few deep, cleansing breaths to examine the greasy smear left by the thing Ranma had blasted. Playing the beam from the flashlight over the smoking spot on the road didn't reveal much. Whatever the thing had been, it was street pizza now. Turning around, Grey headed back to the truck with Ranma following him.
"Well, it looks like we're going to be here for a while," Ranma thought aloud. Grey just gave a non-committal grunt while climbing back into the driver's side of the pickup. Holding back a sigh, Ranma climbed in the passenger side and just stared out the side window as his friend turned the truck around and drove back to the motel.
"Mom, can I talk to you?"
Hearing the question from her only child, Shampoo Hibiki closed the Stephen King novel she had been reading after putting in a bookmark, placed it on the end table next to her and turned towards her daughter. "Of course sweetheart, what do you want to talk about?" With her husband gone for the past couple of weeks, Shampoo was missing Ryoga terribly but knew he would return sooner or later. Right now her little girl needed her and talking to her was a better way to pass the time than reading about a haunted mountain hotel. 'I still like the movie better.'
"What can you tell me about Grandma?" Shampoo blinked a couple times in confusion. Why did her daughter want to know about her mother? She then said as much. "Well, I had a weird dream."
"What kind of dream sweetheart?" Lilly then proceeded to tell her mother of the green-haired woman that had visited her in the night. She explained that the woman told her that she looked like her daughter. The woman had also told her that Lilly's grandmother was the last of her kind and that she herself was one of her heirs. They had talked for hours about a long-dead race and the powers that Lilly would inherit in a few weeks with her upcoming birthday. Shampoo had heard this all before. The mysterious woman, who turned out to be her own grandmother, had visited her in her own dreams when she was just a little girl. Apparently things were more serious if she was trying to awaken the powers that rested inside her little Lilly like had been done for her so long ago.
Rising from the armchair, Shampoo headed into the family room while Lilly followed her. She then started searching through a desk drawer looking for, ah, there it was. Turning around and facing her child, Shampoo then held out a photo to her. Lilly took it and saw what looked to be two people dressed in Amazonian wedding garb. One was a young version of her grandfather ShanPeine. The other was obviously her grandmother. The photo was actually just a picture taken of Shampoo's parent's wedding portrait.
"Hey mom, when did the Amazons get this kind of technology?" Lilly was puzzled. Hadn't her mother always told her that her 'sisters' lived out in the wilds of China in an isolated village? "Don't be ridiculous dear. Times change and people come and go. That picture was taken by my cousin, Fu La Shu. She married a man from Kodak when he defeated her accidentally by blinding her while taking pictures of Jusenkyo. It's a good thing she didn't get cursed because she was practicing at the time." Lilly then turned the picture over and looked at the back. Sure enough, the picture was printed on Kodak paper. Cool, so that's where all their money was coming from. No wonder they were able to move from place to place so easily.
Turning the photo over again, Lilly studied her grandmother's features. She could easily see that the woman claiming to be her great-grandmother was right. The last time she had seen eyes and hair like that was in her bathroom mirror this morning. Looking up at her mom she could see easily what she might look like once she got older, minus the fangs of course. She just hoped she would never end up looking like her great-great-great Grandmother Cologne. She loved her dearly but always had to suppress the urge to call her, for some strange reason, Old Ghoul. Handing back the picture, Lilly sat on the nearby couch while her mom retrieved more photos from the desk and then sat next to her. Before she could start her story, a knocking sound was heard.
"Excuse me dear, I won't be a minute." Shampoo then got up again and headed to the front door. Opening it revealed her next-door neighbor. He was a somewhat stout American man in his early to mid-thirties, his hair in a brush cut and glasses with a thick black frame resting comfortably on his round face. He was the head of personnel at a local department store in downtown. "Hey Drew, what can I do for you?"
"Hey Shampoo, I was wondering if you could watch my house for me. I'm going to be leaving town to go to a seminar and I'll be gone for a while." Drew was a nice enough guy. Ever since the Hibiki's moved into the area, he had done everything he could to make them feel welcome. His two friends however creeped Shampoo out a little. Lilly called them Oddball and Loser behind their backs in a mockery of their real names. Shampoo agreed with her daughter's assessment of the two men but told her to never call them that; to their faces anyway. She also wondered when Drew would finally break down and ask that nice woman Kate to marry him.
"Sure Drew, it's no problem. You got a spare key for me?" After the particulars were settled, Shampoo went back to the living room and Lilly. The two spent the next few hours looking at photos and Lilly learning more about her family then she thought she ever would. Her dreams that night were filled with strange people, some that were almost monstrous in nature as well as another visit from the green-haired woman. The next few weeks just might prove to be interesting if her dreams were of any indication.
Edgar Day was a nobody. His thin, lanky frame would usually go unnoticed in a crowd. Despite the fact that he topped his height at around 6'6", he still was pretty much invisible. He wasn't a loser by any stretch of the imagination. Sure his shaggy dirty-blonde hair had turned a few women's eyes his way and his soulful brown puppy dog eyes kept them interested, he was still a nobody.
In high school, he met a girl named Angela Cortez. She was taken with him immediately. Unfortunately, the school jock, Walter Reems, also had his eye on her. And whatever Walter wanted, he got. Walter and Edgar had been at each other's throats for years. Edgar hated Walter with a passion and the feeling was more than mutual. The beatings Edgar received at Walter's cruel fists were always vicious. Just like Walter. His nickname on the football team was Mad Dog. The fact that Angela always came to Edgar's rescue just incensed Walter more. And the beatings continued.
One day they stopped completely. Walter was wailing on Edgar for the kiss he saw Angela give him. It wasn't a friendly peck on the cheek but one that expressed her full love through her lips without words. Her tongue did a little speaking of it's own as well. That thought made Walter break Edgar's nose; twice. The gym teacher, Mr. Sanderson, had to wrestle Walter away along with the help of the principal and the janitor. Angela, who had never seen the attacks until just then, had run for the office for help. She luckily made it in time. While the school nurse, along with the now arriving paramedics from the local hospital attended to Edgar, Walter's eyes trailed to Angela's left hand and the sparkling engagement ring on her finger. After biting the janitor on the forearm hard enough to draw blood, Mad Dog was sedated and the police were called. Walter Reems was later expelled from school.
Years later, Edgar and his wife Angela had a child. Her name was Estella. Two months after that, he came home from work to his apartment to find both his wife and daughter had been brutally slaughtered. The words "Mad Dog Was Here" were scrawled on the wall above his bed in Angela's blood. The coroner's report concluded that the deaths were done entirely with someone's bare hands and in some cases, teeth. A large deposit of semen was also found in the vaginal and anal cavities of Estella as well as inside her stomach. Walter Reems was tracked down quickly and arrested. His last moments on Earth were spent on Death Row. His death, however, was not at the hands of the State.
Edgar had moved into his parents' old ranch-style home in the suburbs after the trial. They had left it to him in their will and he had planned to move his family there before everything that had happened. His life had been shattered and he barely felt the need to go on. As the months went by, the pain Edgar felt didn't diminish in the slightest. One hot summer night, while sitting in front of the television in the living room and drinking nothing but water from the kitchen sink, a news report came on. Edgar's tired mind tried to wrap around the words the talking head were spouting. Something about a sickness and the reservoir water being tainted. People were told not to panic but Edgar didn't care. He was already dead in his seat. As the reporter switched to a story on the upcoming execution of Walter Reems, Edgar rose from his chair and shuffled out from his home. The only things on his mind were revenge and what would the Mad Dog's flesh taste like.
At the Raccoon City Maximum Security Penitentiary, Walter was watching the news on the television mounted on the ceiling in the hallway. It seemed like people were starting to go insane and attack others, biting and clawing at them like wild animals. This made Walter hard. The reporter, who looked surprisingly like Angela, had Walter's full attention. Her ruby red lips and dainty pink tongue spilled forth the words that made Walter shiver in sexual ecstasy. Unzipping the fly of his prison issued jeans and unsnapping the button, he arched himself up slightly and slid them off along with his boxers. Sitting back on his cot, he leaned up against the wall all the while watching the reporter and her delicious mouth.
Cupping his balls with his left hand, he rubbed the pad of his thumb over them while wrapping his right around his rigid 4" shaft and started to slide his hand up and down it slowly. All the while, the Angela look-a-like spoke directly to him. Nobody else but him. He could just imagine what it would feel like, having that beautiful and sexy mouth take him inside and lick and suck and…with a muffled grunt Walter came. Panting with exhaustion, he scooped up his juices in his right hand and contemplated them. To think, something so innocuous had got him into so much trouble. As his eyes turned towards the pseudo-Angela, a cruel smirk alit upon his features. "This is for you," he stated while raising his cupped right hand. He then hauled back and flung the goop directly at the screen. The power cut out before the mess splattered against the look-a-likes face.
With a slight screeching of metal on metal, the door of Walter's cell rushed open startling him. "What the fuck?" he gasped. He knew that if there was a power outage, the Emergency reserves would kick in to keep the doors shut. This didn't happen. An insane gleam in his eye, Walter pulled on his wrinkled boxers and jeans while thinking on how to escape. Just because the power was out didn't mean the guards guns didn't work. Shrugging it off, he figured he would come up with something. That one guard, Jenkins, might be nearby. Walter had wanted to introduce him to the Mad Dog for a while now. As he stepped out of his cell, he checked to see that the hallway was completely deserted. All the other cells doors were open like his but all were empty. Walter was the only prisoner scheduled to die.
His court appointed attorney, some smarmy little Jew boy named Ken Rosenberg, had landed him on Death Row. The guy looked like he was trapped in the Eighties or something. What was up with the no sock look anyway? The idiot should have just stayed in Miami or wherever he had been. Heh, he had promised Walter that he would get put away in a mental institution on an insanity plea. Maybe Walter should pay him a visit and introduce Rosenberg to the Mad Dog too. He didn't even realize he had been going anywhere until the gunshot went off.
"Christ! What the fuck! Hold your fire asshole!" Walter dove into an empty cell on his left, panting in fear. "Hu-hey, are you alright? You still alive down there?" The whiny voice could only be one person; it was Jenkins. "No thanks to you, you stupid prick!" Walter shouted back. "What were you thinking!" That tore it, not only was Jenkins going to get to meet the Mad Dog, Walter was going to live up to his last name and go to town on his ass. Literally. The fact that he thought Jenkins had a cute ass didn't really help matters either. "I'm sorry. I thought you were one of…who are you? Hey wait, back off! Nu-no-no. Noooo!" Another shot echoed down the hall but the sound of tearing flesh and splashing blood was so much louder.
Walter didn't know what to make of it. Someone had obviously attacked Jenkins but who? It sounded like they were still out there too doing God knew what. Maybe it was like that Angela clone said, someone had gone insane and attacked the guard. That pissed Walter off. Jenkins was supposed to be his bitch. Walter was going to break him and nobody else was allowed to. Hauling himself up from the floor, Walter stormed out of the cell and stalked towards the strange sounds. On the floor ahead were two figures. A nearby flashlight shone on both. The body was obviously Jenkins, his dead eyes pierced through Walter. The other figure was hunched over Jenkins' middle, making some sort of slurping sound while bobbing up and down. This guy was crazier than he was. Killing a guy was one thing, but to suck him off afterwards was just plain sick. Edgar's kid had still been alive when he raped it at least.
"Hey dumb fuck, what do you think you're doing?" Walter then kicked the guy gently in the back to get his attention. He had more than the guy's attention after that. The slurping stopped right away as the figure turned. Looking into those pale orbs, Walter felt his bladder let go. A huge amount of blood was smeared around the guy's mouth and in his hands were Jenkins' intestines with many bites taken out of them. As the freak of nature stood, he let go of the organ which hit the floor with a soft splorp and hissed at Walter. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he recognized Edgar right away. Despite his pale complexion and the gaping gunshot wound in his chest, it was definitely Edgar. "Hey Edgar, h-how are you doing? Nice night, isn't it?" Walter's screams rang out as the Mad Dog was finally put down.
After his lust for revenge had been satiated, Edgar left the prison. Others like him were having their own fun but he didn't care. All he felt like doing was walking. That's what he did. He walked for miles until the back of his head exploded from the gunshot. Genma's Browning Auto was quick and he was quicker as he hobbled out of Kendo's gun shop. Edgar just collapsed to the ground, his blank eyes staring off into the distant stars. To Genma, he was just another nobody; just another face in the crowd. Edgar could have cared less.
"Okay, refresh my memory. Why exactly did we ditch the truck?"
With a quiet, exasperated groan that sounded like a stretched out 'Oy', Grey stopped and turned to Ranma. "We didn't ditch the truck; we left it in a relatively safe place. Take a look around you man. This fog is thicker than my Aunt Bernice's so-called tomato soup and that stuff is thick. Besides, if you hadn't checked the road earlier we would probably be dead in that giant sinkhole by the motel or at the very least in major pain. The roads around here aren't safe. Now from what I figure, there's got to be some clue as to how we can get out of this town. We just have to find it." He then turned around again and headed on his way.
"So where exactly are we going?" Rolling his eyes, though Ranma couldn't see, and not stopping in his stride he replied, "Back at the bridge where we found the dead body I found a map next to it. There were a few locations marked on it so it stands to reason that we should check them out. The first is Pete's Bowl-O-Rama, the bowling alley we passed by on the way in. Another is a place called Brookhaven Hospital. Speaking of which, there's the bowling alley now." Walking side by side, Ranma pointed out something up ahead. "So who's the blond in the tight sweater?" Grey's eyes widened slightly in surprise and he let out a small 'Whoa' as he took in the sight.
'Sexy as Hell' was the phrase that jumped into his mind as he gawked at her. The sweater was actually a magenta sweater coat with a plunging neckline, two of the three buttons in front fastened and it exposed quite a bit of midriff, the aforementioned midriff was flat and smooth and it was easy to tell even from some distance that the woman had an innie. Her skirt defied all known laws of physics. By all rights it shouldn't even be able to stay on yet it did. It was a leather wonder, light lavender in color with a leopard-print and hugged her curves like it was painted on yet looked as if one deep breath and everyone would get a free show. A choker made of the same material as the skirt with the same design graced her slender neck from which hung a gold coin charm like the few decorating her gold chain belt, the belt itself appearing to be used in a decorative capacity only. Her boots were made of a black patent leather that ended just below her knees yet enhanced her legs beautifully. She was standing by the entrance, looking bored and seemingly waiting for someone or something. Suddenly, one of the doors slammed open and a little blond girl of indeterminate age ran out and hauled heinie around the corner of the building, the woman quickly following.
"Should we go after them?" Ranma asked. Grey just shook his head and sat on one of the benches by the doors. As Ranma sat next to him, another figure exited the building. This time it was a relatively tall man. He appeared to be in his late twenties, probably twenty-nine exactly. He had 'dirty' blonde hair, pale brown eyes and he wore a haggard expression on his face. His attire consisted of a leather Army green bomber jacket with five patches in random places, one being the U.S. flag above the left top pocket. The shirt was a gray collared button-up number that had seemingly aged well and would last through a few more wash cycles. There was a hint at the collar of another black form-hugging Tee underneath. The blue jeans were well worn like the shirt, possibly Levi's or Wrangler's. The boots were black leather and might have been either in the biker or combat style, possibly even a mix of both.
Spotting the two resting on the bench after quickly looking around, he asked, "Hey, have you two seen a little girl or a woman around here?" Before either could reply the woman returned gasping like she had run a marathon. 'How can she have a hot body like that and still be out of shape?' Grey thought.
"I…lost her," she puffed out. "She's…faster than she…looks." Straightening up, she then noticed the two new arrivals. 'Wow, two more handsome guys. How lucky can a girl get?' A friendly and slightly devious smile then made an appearance on her face as she approached the trio. Ranma wondered why he had felt an irrational fear for the contents of his wallet just then. It made absolutely no sense to him at all. Grey just crossed his legs to hide his growing excitement.
After introductions had been made, the group of four headed off to find the young girl Laura. Since they weren't in that much of a hurry, they took a little time to explore as they had passed through the club Heaven's Night. Luckily, there were a few needed items in the club that would definitely come in handy later. At the moment, the four were standing out in front of Brookhaven Hospital.
Out of all of them, Maria was the only one that was unarmed. James had a Smith & Wesson Sigma 9mm; Ranma had a Glock 9mm while Grey wielded a metal pole James had found it at the Texxon station like a bo staff. Grey would have taken the pole out of the car's hood when he was there earlier but he didn't see a need to at the time. He was also pretty good at hand-to-hand but some of these monsters were not something anyone would want to touch, even if it was just to punch them.
Ranma's Glock was a birthday present he received from his family when he turned eighteen. He even gained a license to allow him to carry and discharge any sort of firearm in the contiguous United States. He had been hoping to get a Heckler & Koch USP .45 ACP but was happy with his gift since it came from the heart. The gun that James had was one he had found somewhere in the town.
At the moment, Grey was there but his mind was not. Looking up at the hospital had triggered a painful memory that he was reliving just then. The three noticed something was amiss when they stepped forward to head inside but one of their party didn't move. Ranma turned to his friend to ask what was wrong when he saw the look of anguish on Grey's face. There were even a couple of tears trailing languidly down his cheeks. Suddenly, as if in slow motion, Grey collapsed and just continued staring at the hospitals façade while sitting in the street, his tears continuing unabated.
"Sorry about all that earlier. I guess it just finally hit me." Grey lifted the Marlboro to his lips for another drag, his right hand shaking slightly. Ranma was sitting next to him on the curb outside the hospital, luckily out of the path of the cigarette smoke. "What was that all about anyway? That expression you had made me think you wanted to curl up and die." He then waved his right hand as an errant plume drifted into his face.
Blowing smoke through his nostrils, Grey replied in a tired voice. "Years ago, my girlfriend left me. I met her back in junior high and it was like a piece of myself I didn't even know was missing had been found. The two of us were inseparable; you couldn't find one of us without the other. We didn't start dating till high school but that didn't matter. It was painful for both of us when I went to Japan for the student exchange program but we kept in contact. When I came back, it was like I had never left. By the time we were attending college, we were very serious about each other."
"Back then, I didn't know what I wanted my major to be but Lisa knew she wanted to be in the medical field so she started learning how to be a nurse. Around one Christmas, I had given her a pair of jade earrings and a red sweater coat that year. The color of the earrings almost matched her eyes perfectly. What she didn't know was that I was going to give her an engagement ring the next day. As we were in our off-campus apartment, we were relaxing on the couch and I'm getting ready to get down on one knee and propose to her when the phone rings. The person on the other end tells her about this great job opportunity in some town I had never heard of. She had though because it was the one she was born and raised in. It was this town. Lisa and her parents had moved to California a little after she had finished elementary school."
Wiping away a few tears, Grey continued. "She was so elated she was practically glowing. She hung up the phone and then turned to me. I could feel she was nearly gushing with glee as she told me about the offer. I felt like someone had poured Sulphuric Acid down my throat and kicked me in the balls with a steel-toed boot at the same time. By that time, she calmed down enough to realize what the job offer meant. The trip was one-way and she wouldn't be coming back. Also, I couldn't go with her because I had obligations I had to meet there."
"The whole time we spent together that we had left, I never once told her about the ring. A few years later, I got a letter from her that just had once sentence. 'I would have said yes. Love always, Lisa.' What disturbed me were the traces of blood on the letter and the bloody thumbprint by her name. I've been traveling ever since trying to find this town. I guess I lucked out when I met you in Arizona." Taking a final drag, Grey then flicked the butt into the street and exhaled the smoke in his lungs up into the air. Ranma just sat there in stunned silence.
"I'll tell you one thing though," Grey said as he stood up and stretched, "if I ever meet that damn Dahlia Gillespie woman, I swear I'm going to kill her."
Ada was once again lost. This time, like the last, it was emotionally. Leon, a guy she thought she could have spent the rest of her life with quite happily, was gone. At least, she thought he was. The last she had seen of him had been in the secret underground lab on the bridge where that bitch Annette Birkin shot her in the back. Luckily the bullet had gone through her shoulder but the shock of being shot caused her to stumble and fall over the railing. Leon had grabbed her hand to stop her from plummeting to her demise but she was rapidly losing blood. Her hand then slipped out of his and she fell anyway.
Once she lost sight of Leon, she slammed back first on top of a huge pipe that could barely hold her weight, especially since she landed on the thing going at a good clip. The top broke open and she was dumped into a rushing wash of ice cold water. The shock of the low temperature cleared her head while the force of the water carried her to who knows where. After what seemed like forever, Ada finally shot out of the end of the pipe into what looked like a man-made lake well outside the city's limits. She had never been so glad in her life that she knew how to swim.
Once she crawled out of the water, she staggered over to the tree line and sat against a pine to catch her breath. She then bent over and ripped a good portion of the bottom of her dress off to use as a makeshift bandage. Hopefully it would stop the bleeding.
Blinking her eyes, she shook her head to clear it and looked around. She was sitting on her bed in the motel she had checked into before heading to Raccoon. Ruining her dress it had been her favorite had been worth it since she was still alive. The memory of what she had gone through not a couple days ago was still fresh in her mind. She hoped that Leon had made it out in time. The automated recording warning of the laboratory's imminent destruction had worried her. The strangest thought that had occurred to her once the warning sounded was that the woman that had made the recording still owed her twenty bucks.
Leon wasn't the only thing on her mind however. While in the Raccoon lab, Ada had found a file describing something called the Nemesis Project. It had described everything that had been done to the "subject" to make them what they became. She knew that the Nemesis was a much more advanced version of the Tyrant. A grandfatherly type she had come to trust, a man named Emilio Sharpe, taught her that. Whatever happened to him anyway?
What bothered Ada the most was who they had used to create the Nemesis. It had been years since she had heard the name but seeing it again on that form brought back a flood of memories.
Flash
Growing up in Japan in a family full of love.
Flash
Being one of three sisters.
Flash
Losing her mother to cancer.
Flash
Her eldest sister being forced to take over the care of the house since their father was useless due to his own grief.
Flash
Being attacked in her own home by men that looked like they would fit in better in a sci-fi movie.
Flash
The cries of her sister and the shouts of her father as she was smashed in the face with a rifle butt.
Flash
Waking up to the face of a kind-looking gaijin but having no idea who she was.
Flash
Growing up under the care of the man who told her to call him Trent.
Flash
Training in martial arts of many different schools.
Flash
Learning the skills of an assassin.
Flash
Her first kill.
Flash
Hunched over a toilet and puking her guts out after her first kill.
Flash
Learning to steel her heart so she could continue with her chosen path.
Flash
Her name, her real name.
Flash
It took all of her willpower to not break down and cry on the spot once the memory flood ceased. Her own sister Kasumi, Ada discovered, was a member of an elite team and the Umbrella bigwigs were sending a murderous juggernaut after her because they thought her a nuisance. Now she knew what Trent had been talking about. Right now, sitting in that lonely room, Ada would have given almost anything to become blissfully ignorant of what, no, of who the Nemesis really was.
She figured after a good night's sleep, she could think about what to do next. She had to come up with a way to get revenge against her soon-to-be former employers. Nobody messes with Ada Wong. Correction, nobody messes with Nabiki Tendo.
Dark. That was the first thought that fluttered through his mind. It was dark. Why was it dark? 'You have your eyes closed idiot.' Oh yeah. That would explain it. The next sensation he experienced was a slight pain. His head hurt and he didn't know why. 'Probably when you fell.' That made sense. Now if he only knew who he was. 'Grey.' Things didn't look gray. They were still black but that's because he hadn't opened his eyes yet. 'No, dumbass, your name is Grey.' Oh, so why was he arguing with himself? No answer came after that question. The sound of an air-raid siren died off in the distance.
A soft burbling replaced the siren just then. It was barely recognizable, like someone trying to gargle and talk at the same time. Turning his head to the left, he realized he was lying down on some sort of backless leather couch. Cracking his eyes open revealed nothing but blurry images. One shape in particular was mostly white and red. Squinting, he tried to force his eyes to focus on this shape. It soon resembled a woman. He could have sworn she was drenched in blood but a blink made it seem like it had been a hallucination. She was garbed in a stark white nurse's uniform, one of those paper hats with a red cross on her head. Her light brown hair was long and lustrous, framing a face of exquisite beauty. A pair of jade earrings dangled from her pretty ears. On her face, she wore a look of surprise. "Grey?" she asked him. Confusion grew on his own face as he questioned her back, "Lisa?"
Author's Notes:
Yes, it's Lisa alright. You can probably guess by now where Grey and Ranma are. I'm sorry to all my readers that I took this long to release this chapter. It just didn't feel right and I wanted to flesh it out some. I suck when it comes to writing more than a few pages. The characters used in the Edgar Day sequence, except for the brief appearance of Genma and the mention of Ken Rosenberg, all belong to me. I find it odd that any characters I create, I usually kill off right off the bat. Either that or in the case of Naomi Greene, they're already dead. Grey Wulfe, however isn't dead and won't die any time soon. He's also my creation. I actually created him when I got the Vacation expansion pack for Sims 1. He's gone through some changes since then.
After this chapter, I'm not sure where I'm going to take this story. I'm not abandoning it or anything. I'm just confused on what to do next. I guess I made a liar out of myself when I said I would explain Kasumi's reaction to Ryoga's curse. I really couldn't come up with one. If I did own the characters I don't currently own, them and all the ancillary rights I'd be a rich man. Too bad I don't. Nuts. Anywho, that's it for this chapter. I don't know when the next one will come out. We'll just wait and see. As always, remember my motto, "My fic, my rules." See you in the funny papers.