Chapter Twenty-9: Your Rotting Ass and My Shotgun

Three doors stood in front of them in the lobby, the gunshots coming from the other side of them. Three people, three doors, which one is it.

"Which door is it?" Tange questioned, "All of them?"

"There's only one way to find out." Surge said scratching his head, "we all go through each door."

"I got left." Orchid stated.

"Right," Surge acknowledged next looking over at Tange, "looks like you have leftovers."

Tange smiled at him, "Leftovers are fine with me." He started off going through the center door before Surge or Orchid could call after him.

Surge let out a sigh and cocked his weapons glancing over at Orchid who had a worried look on her face, "Don't worry about him."

"I'm not worried about him," she replied, "just that he only has six rounds left in his weapon."

"You are worrying, there's probably a cache somewhere in this place."

Orchid nodded her head and went through the door she called and disappeared, leaving Surge by himself in the room. He stood for a few seconds and walked towards his door and slowly opened it, the door creaking on its hinges. He stepped through letting the door shut on him making him jump to the loud noise.

He was in a cramped hallway, filled with shelves against the walls and boxes tipped over and over stacking each other. He creaked down the hall with the Brownings held forward ready to shoot anything that moved. His forehead was laced in cold sweat and his head started itching like hell. His boots echoed against the concrete floor with each step he took as the corridor led to a staircase leading down.

Hesitating a bit, he took a step down and stopped peering down at the abyss below. Wait a minute! He flung out his infrared goggles and placed them over his eyes making him feel less shit scared and a little more effervescent. With the goggles on he could see things more clearly, seeing the cold ground at the bottom of the stairs.

Ahhh! Bam! Bam! Raaah! There it was again, the same goddamn noise, this time Surge knowing exactly where it was coming from; down the stairs. Why couldn't I take the other door?! Surge walked silently down the stairs hearing the screaming of the inhuman creature followed by the tearing of flesh. Surge listened, feeling his stomach go into a knot as he approached the bottom, the disgusting sounds more acute to his hearing. The stairs led him to a room filled with columns and rows of shelves filled with closed boxes, stacks of paper, and books.

Surge leaned against the wall and then suddenly jumped up turning around shooting the handguns at a power breaker box. Shit... He flung the small metal bending door open seeing one huge knob placed at the setting of OFF. Flipping the knob to ON, the flesh tearing noises stopped abruptly and the scattering of feet took off. The lights suddenly flickered on blinding Surge's vision with the goggles on. He took them off and turned around quickly facing the lined book shelves.

Click, click! Shuffle! It came from the left, Surge reacting quickly pointing both guns in different directions glancing at the white walls which had a smeared bloody handprint on it. Come on, where the hell are you, I'm waiting. He walked to the right seeing more smeared blood, this time a puddle of it on the floor. He walked to it glancing quickly at it as something caught his attention in the corner of his eye. Turning to look, his stomach dropped making him want to puke his guts out. It wasn't the attacker but the attacked. A blood covered body was sprawled against the wall; their intestines were hanging out lying on the floor. The victims head was propped on its shoulder facing Surge, its opened eyes staring at him.

"Oh, fuck!" he whispered to himself, "Oh..."

Grr... He spun around seeing the attacker; a dog, staring at him growling loudly.

"Fuck me!" he shouted to himself, raising the dual handguns at the dog. It charged at him as its mouth hung open letting multicolored fluids run out. Surge fired, scraping its ear and not affecting it in the process. Surge fired again, concentrating on his aim and the side of the dog's face disappeared into a cloud of blood and slammed into the ground and slid to a stop a few inches from his boot. Surge twirled the guns in his fingers and placed them in their holders and grinned, "Down boy," he then joked and whistled-

Ruff! Ruff!- Grr!

Damn it! Three dogs came out around the corner of the shelves were the other dog came from and stopped after spotting Surge as he took the guns out once again and took aim. One of the cerebus barked and crouched over and hurled some gunky matter out onto the floor, "Come on you blithe sons of whores!" he screamed but-

-two more dogs appeared out of the corner joining the others making it five, "Aww!-"

-Lastly, another dog came out, a poodle in identification by the fluffy afro fur deteriorating off its body making it six.

"Fuck me sideways!" he then said after searching for the phrase of euphemism to say, and failing to do so. They all charged at him altogether, their paws scraping the ground as they approached being met by the streams of burning metal going through their bodies. Surge unloaded round after round screaming, re-deceasing three of the six canines when-

-click, click, click! The dogs stopped as he pulled the trigger several times hearing the audible clicks of empty mags. Now he was in deep shit, no more like drowning in deep shit. He began to move slowly, his eyes locked onto the group-

Bam! Ark! Surge didn't shoot but-

Bam! Bam! Bach! The dead man was, his firing was concise, hitting and killing two of dogs, leaving one left were he then spasmed, with a gurgling noise in his throat and his body slid off the wall and hit the ground. One dog, no ammo, Surge took off darting between the shelves hearing the chomping of the dogs jaw closely behind him. As if by instinct or reflex he turned around and executed a well placed kick to the last canine carrier's head, stunning it and knocking it to the ground. It started at him with its milky eyes as it recovered from the blow. Thinking fast Surge pulled one of the shelves down watching it land on top of the cerebus, covering it in boxes and papers. He fell against the wall and reloaded quickly slamming fresh new clips into the handguns and got up, spotting another door at the other side of the room.

He approached it suddenly hearing the shuffling of paper. Surge turned around seeing the covered dog struggling to get out of the pile of boxes and papers, yelping lightly. Surge approached it and its precious yelping went to a threatening growl. Surge sighed and raised the Browning and fired, hitting the dog in the head causing the back of its head to spray contents all over the wall. Going back to where he was, he opened the door and stepped through it.

Orchid had entered an office area, each office space divided by thin walls with windows installed into them. Several of the computers on the many desks were still operating. The emergency lights were activated above the doors illuminating the sign with the big word imprinted on it: EXIT. She walked further into the room-

-Spaloosh! Sick, she had stepped into a pile of vomit, the smell radiating off it much worse then shit. She stepped on some papers going towards the dimly lit door when multiple muffled gunfire erupted below her feet. The lights suddenly flickered on making her jump and draw the shotgun towards the ceiling. Stroking back her hair she saw what she didn't see on the ground. Bodies, about three of them, piled up on top of each other. There was a purse lying next to one of the corpses as Orchid approached snatching it up and sitting on one of the paper littered tables. Pulling out its contents she pulled a small tazer out and looked at the side of it which had the description: 100,000 Volts. Keep away from children. This device is not a toy. Orchid placed it in one of her vest pockets and got up and went to the door and pushed it open and stepped through.

She was now in a huge room filled with desk after desk, the only sources of light were the lamps placed on them. Large windows stretched all the way to the top of the ceiling, some of them broken, casting ghastly light into the room. There was a presence of a stale scent drifting in the room, but Orchid ignored it, at least it was better then the rotten fruit, shit smell. She walked through the huge room passing table after table, each of them containing papers or their tops squeaky clean. Searching for a door at the far wall-

Crash! The window three desks down shattered and a human shaped figured leaped into the room, green vapors leaking out of its body. Damn, a Crimson! It spotted her right away and sprinted towards her as she drew the shotgun and fired. The Crimson stumbled after a side of its torso was blown off and recovered quickly screaming loudly. Shit! It's probably because it isn't rotten enough. She pumped the shotgun again and its lower jaw exploded, now nearly seven feet from her. Acting quickly, now arms length away from her, she kicked up her leg and placed it on the Crimson's chest as it was screaming its unpleasant cacophony at her. She ran the shotgun into its neck and grimaced a little and pushed back with her leg and fired, watching its head explode into oblivion and collapse to the ground.

"Your rotting ass and my shotgun," she remarked walking to the shattered window, revealing a squad car with its front window shattered open. Orchid climbed out of the building landing on the littered asphalt and peered into the car. Sitting in the backseat, something caught her attention. She opened the door and pulled out a police standard grenade launcher and held it up and aimed at a target and smiled to herself, sweet...

"Why hello!"

She nearly jumped turning around seeing a black man standing before her as she held the launcher in her hands aiming at him.

"Don't be alarmed." he said calm and smoothly approaching her, "I won't bite."

"Hold your horses ass wipe," she shouted, "who are you?!"

He smiled staring at her with his cat eyes. Wait a minute! Cat eyes? Holy shit!

She brought up the launcher and aimed at him, "Aww, fuck you-"

Orchid was then frozen in mid air, she was no longer holding the launcher, he was holding it in his hands, but who was holding her. She looked at what was grasping her, tentacles! Tentacles sprouting from his arms. "Never judge a person before you kill them." he said arrogantly, "I'm not here to kill you, you're not the one. So, who are you also with?"

"No one!" she lied shouting, "Just me."

He gave out a laugh and looked at her with anger and said to her through his clenched teeth, "I know you are lying, I will find out soon enough. Now I must go." With that Orchid was sent flying through the air and slammed through another one of the archives windows and crashed into a table making it split in two upon impact. Next came the launcher landing next to her.

"Oh, sh-e-it!" she cried out in pain when a huge oval shadow engulfed the outdoor nightlight and-

-Boo-Crash! In came the squad car flying through the wall, flipping many times mid air before impacting with the ground. Orchid, nearly in shock sprang up and grabbed the launcher. A fire suddenly ignited from beneath the flipped car and began to grow. Oh shit, not good! In a few seconds the fire would reach the gas tanks and-

-KA!-B-BOOM! Orchid was then thrust forward several feet as the whole room lit up. All the windows in the room exploded simultaneously due to the shockwave and glass began raining onto the ground. She got up and wiped debris off her pants and turned around and spotted a door, why couldn't I have found it before this happened?

The noise below him was deafening and forceful that it almost knocked Tange off of his feet. Wondering if that came from Orchid or Surge, he would find out soon enough when they would meet up again. The second floor was as dead as the city, meaning that it was packed with carriers. Tange took the liberty in taking the knife to the temple of all the reanimated corpses he encountered in the hall he was in which estimated by his memory to be about fifteen. Approaching the door at the end of the corridor, a phone rang.

Tange turned to his left looking over at the pay phone a few feet away from the door. As he approached it, the phone rang again and he snatched it up and placed it to his ear, "hello?"

"Tange? Is that you?" The voice was familiar and his eyes widened.

"Cypher?"

"Thank God you're all right Tange I have some information for you?" Cypher said speaking quickly on the other line, "It's very important that you listen."

"Go ahead, I'm listening."

He heard Cypher clearing his throat before he started, "They took her."

"Her?" Tange said rather confused, "who?"

"Caitlyn." Cypher added, "Umbrella took her body with them."

Feeling hot rage boiling through his veins Tange spoke into the phone, "Do you know why? Where?"

"I-I don't know. But listen to me, Tange, you have to get out of the city. Do you have a laptop on you?"

Confused on how he knew, Tange answered, "Ya, I do. Cypher where are you?"

"I can't say, this line might be tapped. Bu-but listen to me, on your map there is an Umbrella Headquarters near the edge of the walls that have sealed everyone inside. But be careful."

"Why?"

"They want you, Tange. They are looking for you. You have to get out now."

Taking in what Cypher said Tange changed the subject back to the Umbrella HQ, "So I just go to the Headquarters to get out?"

"There's more to that. I'll send the information to your laptop."

"Okay."

"And Tange?"

"What?"

"By all means stay away from Corin. He will only slow you down and must not know you are in the city." The line went dead and Tange set it back in its place when his laptop beeped.

Opening it, a picture flashed showing an envelope with the words NEW MAIL underneath it. Tange opened it and a report and pictures flashed onto the screen. He stared down at the report and began to read:

Getting out of the city won't be a simple task. There are several obstacles to accomplish in order to do so. Tange, here is a list in what has to be done to prepare for your escape, you don't have to hurry because the president and federal council have decided not to nuke the city.

1.) You must disable all Hybrid City and Arclay City surveillance by destroying the Umbrella Surveillance Building. Getting there would be an easy task for you but getting in there won't be. The place happens to be heavily guarded by Umbrella's army. They are heavily armed and armored and should be taken by extreme caution. Three extraction points must be destroyed in order for the surveillance to go haywire. There is the Industrial surveillance on the 50th floor. Economic Section is on the 100th floor. And lastly, the Residential Section on basement floor 50. There is no sequential way to do this by I suggest you start with the top and work your way down. With this Umbrella will be blind.

2.) Electricity is a huge problem if it is not there. The Power Plant must be destroyed as well. Getting there is fairly easy. In the Umbrella Surveillance Building there is a train system that leads directly to it, but I suggest you stop the train before you reach the station, there will be more of Umbrella's goons running around. The main area happens to be on the bottom most floor in the complex, it must be destroyed which will cause a sinkhole and cause the structure to collapse into the ground.

3.) Finally, you will have to go to the Umbrella Headquarters and take off in one of their choppers. Getting to the HQ is not my problem but yours. There might be a convoy vehicle in the parking lot at the Plant so good luck.

I hope you will survive through this.

Good luck, Cypher

Damn, what a shit load. Tange closed the laptop and smiled to himself, "Thank you Cypher." He then opened the door and stepped in. Wouldn't Surge and Orchid be surprised on what we would have to do next.

Coming back to reality he found himself in another winding corridor, which was not as lit as the previous hall. Some of the fluorescent lights were dismantled, hanging by the wires, and flickering on and off. The corridor turned left and revealed a blockage of books, shelves, boxes, desks, and chairs. Tange stared at it for a few seconds before lightly hitting, suddenly catching the attention of a door to his left. He opened it, revealing a catwalk to another building. A sign was place midway on the catwalk saying: Arclay City Library. Glancing over the catwalk, looking down at the street, there were no carriers wondering around. The only noise was the howling of the wind, the ruffling of papers, the screaming of the woman below-

Whoa..."Hey!" Tange shouted down to her catching her attention-

"Help me!" she screamed when-

-Meh....Arr... Great, now when things were about to be peaceful, carriers started pouring out from the corners of the street, attracted to her presence.

"Please, help me!" She repeated. Tange looked down the catwalk and spotted a device installed to the side labeled LADDER. He ran to it and pulled the release switch and watched it slide out and stop-

-only about seven feet from the ground! Shit, Tange glanced over at her again trying to make a jump for the ladder when she reached into her pocket or whatever, he couldn't see and pulled a small pistol out and began firing wildly, panicking as Tange climbed down the ladder-

Boom! Boom! Boom! Three of the carriers went down in an instant. But she wasn't the one shooting; it was someone else who was probably packing a sniper. At the bottom of the ladder he put his hand down and screamed to her, "Hey! Come on! Grab my hand!"

She did, jumping up and wrapping her hands around his arm. Tange took a couple steps up the ladder watching her as her feet found the ladder steps. One of her hands let go and clasp around the ladder and a second later he was free of holding her and made his way back up to the catwalk. Turning around, he crouched down and pulled her up in one fluid motion and fell backwards on his back.

"Thank you so much!" She said already to her feet giving Tange a hand as he got up, "If it weren't for you I would have been dead."

Tange smiled looking at her, "It's not a big deal."

She changed the subject quickly by introducing herself, "My name's Erica Stevens and you are?"

"Oh! Tange Roland."

"Tange. I like that name."

"Same to you. I've never met someone named Erica" She then handed him a bag from around her back and he took it opening it, pulling out a pair of binoculars and a shortwave radio, "May I ask what this is for?"

She smiled pointing down the street from which she came, "My dad. We heard an explosion from the archives and sent me over there."

Tange got a little aggravated, "He sent you over hear by yourself in the open occupied by hundreds of undead?"

"Hey, chill out, he cleared a path before sending me over," she shot back, "He owns the gun store down the street, that's why there's a radio for you."

He looked at the radio and held down the send button and put his mouth a few inches from the speaker, "Hello?" He let go of the button letting a burst of static pour through when someone replied on the other end.

"Hey, man. I see you have Erica with you. If you could use those binoculars and look down the street..." Tange put them to his eyes seeing the gun store named: Joey's Arsenal. He spotted a man on a sniper rifle pointing directly at him and watched him wave to him.

He complied and held down the send button, "That's a pretty hefty gun you have there Joey."

"Thanks man, now let me talk to Erica." Tange handed Erica the radio, "Hey Erica?"

"Ya, Dad?"

"Sweetie, I don't know if you two can make it back here. These goddamn zombies are just pouring into the street now, it's like a sea down there."

Tange lowered the binoculars and looked down at the street. Carriers, hundreds of them were now pouring nonstop into the street. Damn, this is just great!

"Come on we have to go, tell your dad that we'll keep in touch." Tange saw her nod her head as he walked back into the archives and a few seconds later she came back in. "Ready?" he asked.

"Ya, let's go."

Note: How's this? This took me a week to write! Haha. Please review and tell me what you liked. Or you can tell me if it just flat out sucked! L8a!