Another hour or so and Rebecca had found herself on one of her favorite roads. She had only been there a few times, but the calm atmosphere always drew her to it. Now it was just a mess…
Bodies littered across the ground, bloody stains; some moister than others, and other simple debris was what this street held. Rebecca hated how this did not inspire any deep emotion inside her. Normally, one body should have been enough to stir her emotions. But she had seen so much…carnage. Sticking to her professionalism, Rebecca continued to remain as silent as possible incase any trouble decided to lurk nearby. God only knew what this city was capable of, now. Then, she saw it…
The hospital! Just a couple of yards away, the Raccoon Hospital towered above her. Fluorescent lighting hit the building dramatically, inspiring a sense of fear inside of her. Stifling this strange feeling, Rebecca walked towards the doors and calmly placed a hand on the left doorknob. Before pulling, she took a moment to look down the end of the street. Absolutely nothing…then it hit her.
Rebecca could clearly make out Billy's image, just at the end of the street! It seemed he was staring at her, and then…he ran! What?
"Billy!" Rebecca shouted desperately as she sprinted towards where she had seen him. Her heart pounded frantically, although it was not because of adrenaline…not this time. This time, it was love that pushed her so much. When she came to a halt, she looked towards where Billy had ran. The distance was too far for him to have ran it all…so where was he? Rebecca sighed in disappointment. "You're losing it, Rebecca," she murmured to herself, a deep sinking feeling piercing her heart. With this upset emotion Rebecca convinced herself to walk back to the hospital doors, even though she so horribly wanted to run down that street after her apparition. Wrapping her fingers around the handle, Rebecca hesitantly pulled towards her.
She found herself staring down the barrel of a machine gun! The nerves swirled up her spine, the effect nearly making her cringe. It felt as though her stomach had literally dropped.
"W-wait! I'm human!" Rebecca justified herself, watching fearfully as the gun was tentatively lowered. A strange mix of people was standing in the lobby, but only one of them drew Rebecca's attention. There were five people in the lobby, all citizens except for that unique man. There were two teenagers, different genders. A kind, blonde woman watched Rebecca with tranquility. An elder, black man stared deeply into Rebecca's eyes from behind the others. Then there was that soldier. It seemed he was the only one that was armed. He wore a uniform…a very familiar uniform. Rebecca stifled this nostalgia and awaited some sort of response.
"Who are you?" The soldier asked her with a Hispanic accent.
"I'm Officer Rebecca Chambers, S.T.A.R.S Bravo team," Rebecca replied formally. She was somewhat thinking about how many times she would actually have to say that before she went mad.
"A cop, huh? There's not too many of you left," the Hispanic soldier began, "I'm Carlos Oliveira, U.B.C.S."
"U.B.C.S?" Rebecca reiterated in the form of a question.
"Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service," He quickly began, "We're hired mercenaries here to-"
"Let me guess," Rebecca interrupted him, "save the survivors?"
Carlos nodded. "How did you know?"
"I met a co-worker of yours. I think his name was Nicholai," Rebecca explained.
"Nicholai is still alive? Where did you see him?" Carlos asked with urgency.
"The Apple Inn Hotel,"
"I can't believe he's still alive…" Carlos began in disbelief, "But you, what've you been doing all day?" With this asked, Rebecca explained her entire story, beginning from her escape from the zombies in the alleyway down to the present point. The survivors seemed shocked, yet comforted. Rebecca guessed it was somewhat comforting to know she was there to help. Extremely curious, Rebecca felt compelled to ask a question.
"What about all of you?" she asked the group, "How did you manage to get here?" With this, all of the survivors took turns telling their individual stories of survival. Some were gruesome. Others were milder, but there was no escaping that feeling of sympathy. Matt Winnager was a teenager of seventeen years, not much younger than Rebecca. His blonde hair was styled quite casually, but his clothing expressed his urban style. Kristen Franklin was sixteen years old, and was dressed in a private school uniform. The two seemed to have met when the survivors of their schools were crammed into a warehouse for shelter. The warehouse was attacked by a swarm of zombies…they were all either scattered or killed. Even though one came from a public school and the other from a private school, they had a strange connection…like a trust in one another.
Cindy Lennox was the twenty-four year old waitress at J's Bar. She had gone off-duty earlier that day, and that was just in time to avoid the nightlife district's zombie raid. On her way home Cindy encountered one of the many zombie parades, and she was forced to run for shelter.
Mark Wilkins was fifty-four years old that very day. He worked as a security guard, until his building was attacked and he and his companion Bob were forced to flee. His friend had been bitten, and ended up committing suicide with a bullet to his head. Crushed by this act, Mark turned to the illuminated, towering hospital in the distance.
Carlos Oliveira had arrived in Raccoon earlier that day by helicopter. His squad was assigned to a specified sector in the city, but a zombie attack separated those who survived. He was forced to find somewhere to take shelter and hopefully find more ammo.
"And we all just want to get out of this place," Carlos concluded. There was a silence of reflection, but not for long. Rebecca could hear the droning moans of the zombies, and she was sure by their facial expressions that the others could hear them, too.
"They're coming…" Kristen said eerily, yet this tone was unintentional.
"We need to block the doors…all of them!" Rebecca took charge.
"Are you loca? Then how will we get out?" Carlos responded irrationally.
"We can't exactly survive if those creatures get in here," Rebecca tried to explain. Carlos sighed in frustration.
"You S.T.A.R.S people sure like to act first," Carlos answered. It was good enough for Rebecca. She grabbed a loose chair, pinning it against the doors. Quickly enough, the other survivors followed. They cluttered up the area with loose artifacts, making it damn near impossible to break through. When they were out of objects, Carlos gasped. "What about the other doors?" He shouted.
"Personally, I don't think the zombies will check the other doors for awhile. We need to split up and barricade all of the doors," Rebecca said rather calmly.
"All right, group. Time to split up. Mark, go with Kristen. Matt, go with Cindy," Carlos began, then pulling a strange white scroll out of his knapsack. He spread it on a nearby table. It was a very simplistic map of the hospital. With his index finger, Carlos showed everyone all of the first floor entrances. "There is one on the left side of the building, one on the right side, and two in the back. I say we tackle the sides first since they're closer to the front. Mark and Kristen take the left. Rebecca and I will take the right. Matt and Cindy, you two head towards the back and block those. All right. Let's move!" Carlos explained with a very firm, yet calm voice. Rebecca was rather impressed with his ability to take command. As the group moved into different directions, the door-blocking operation began…
Rebecca and Carlos wandered into a lengthy hallway just near the lobby. The single, fluorescent light fastened to the ceiling flickered in an eerie, random manner. With each flicker, the two found themselves in pitch-black darkness for a split second or so. There were two rooms on both sides of the hallway, each of the doorways wide open and leading into darkness. Rebecca could feel terrible vibes coming from the hallway. It was simplistic, yet suspicious. Apparently Carlos felt this way, as well. He lifted his machine gun, quickly turning when he reached level with the doorways. "These two are clear," he stated before continuing down the hallway.
"He's probably right about being on guard," Rebecca thought to herself, then drawing her handgun. The two were struck with an ultimate relief when they reached the exiting door, but the next room only brought the tension back. They were swallowed by near-blackness, the only light coming from a small desk lamp and a fizzing television. The door leading outside was there in the night-staff room.
"Quick, block the door and let's get out of here. This place is giving me the creeps," Carlos said, aiming his machine gun into the pitch-black darkness of the other side of the room. Rebecca sighed, approaching the door somewhat tentatively. Her walk turned into a plod as she neared it. "What're you walking so slowly for? Just block it," Carlos said annoyingly. Rebecca threw him a glare, then turning back to drag a heavy desk in front of the door.
"We're clear," Rebecca said with an exhalation, then throwing him a thumbs-up. Carlos grinned and nodded, motioning her after him. The two quickly moved back through the eerie hallway, and walked into the lobby.
The survivors all re-grouped successfully, relieved but somewhat worried with their situation. "How long will we be in here?" Cindy asked quite sweetly. Rebecca stayed silent, completely clueless. They could have been stuck there for days-weeks even. God only knew how long before the government got word of this mess.
Keep me on your Author Alert and keep checking for Chapter 5!
Ch.5 Summary: The six survivors find themselves trapped in the Raccoon Hospital. Will their search for survivors within the gigantic facility lead them into one of their worst encounters yet?