Umm...hi! I'm back! Anyway, I finally updated, and I'll be updating Darkness as well in the next week or so, so enjoy the chapter.
Full Part 2 summary: Isaac's paranoia is his only way to survive the events of Raccoon City those fateful nights in late September, when the city becomes a real-life necropolis. Death hangs in the air, and people are dying left and right. Slowly, Isaac realizes that not only are his friends dying, his faith in other people are dying with them. Soon, he comes to the point where his humanity is so buried by tragedy and death he becomes uncaring for other people's lives. Faced with an enemy that won't stop until he is dead, he must live through the nightmare.
Disclaimer: I WISH I owned Resident Evil, but I don't, I only own Isaac.
(Chapter 16)
(September 29th, 1:25 AM 1998.)
(1 days, 22 hours, 35 minutes, 16 seconds)
I stared in shock at the person standing in front of me. I'm sure it was the same man, but he had lost the business suit, which was probably for the best anyway. He was now wearing all black, his elbows and knees protected by guards, his shotgun strapped to his back and a machete in his hand. His black hair was the same as before, spiked in one direction. He smirked at me, resting the blunt side of his machete on his shoulder.
"Surprise surprise. And here I thought you were dead. You seem to be injured though, but for the most part I'm relieved to see you alive Isaac." He commented smugly. I rolled my eyes at him and slapped one of the new full clips Carlos gave me into my gun, shooting the next zombie coming. Brent spun around, then raised the machete to strike when another zombie advanced on him. He brought the machete down on the monster's head quickly and powerfully, the zombie splitting at the middle and spilling its rotten juices on the ground. I ignored that vomit-inducing sight and kept my concentration on the hordes of undead people coming our way. I watched as Brent ran forward, cutting through the necks of almost all the zombies with unbelievable skill. The zombies all dropped as their heads detached themselves from their bodies, and the threat was suddenly diminished. He stood still, his front facing me and his head turned to his right in the direction of the hospital, then began to run back towards me.
"What's going on?" I asked. Suddenly I saw it. Six of those rotting dogs were head straight for us. I turned tail and ran, sprinting for dear life down the alleyway. Brent caught up to me and began to lead the way, turning right, the alleyway leading us back onto the main street, past the remnants of the oil tanker and the two trucks from before. They were all engulfed in furious, billowing flames, the black smoke blocking our sight. We heard barking and began to sprint once more, Brent leading me to the Raccoon City Municipal Museum. He stopped in front of one of the broken windows that were low enough to reach, making his hands a little stand. I jumped up and stepped on his hands, using the momentum of my run to jump through the window and into the dark, foreboding and silent building.
"Okay. Stay down Isaac, this may get a little loud..." Brent called from outside. I peeked my head out from the sill, and saw him pump the stock on his shotgun. I dove out of the way as the sound of the loud explosion hit my ears, deafening me. The glass at the bottom flew inward as they shattered, clearing enough glass for Brent to climb through without getting too hurt. I saw his hands grip the outside sill, and the now-not-so-normal businessman hoisted himself up and climbed through the window. I breathed heavily, then began to regret what I had done. I've abandoned what I was supposed to do. Carlos was undoubtedly a strong man, but unless he finds the instructions on how to create the vaccine, he's basically a chicken with his head cut off in the hospital...
"Shit..." I cursed. This was turning out to be a very bad luck day, zombies and large humanoid monsters aside. Brent looked at me funny.
" 'Shit' what?" He asked.
"This wasn't part of my plan. Jill's pretty much fucked now. It'll take a miracle for Carlos to make it by himself." I spoke to myself. Brent looked quizzical for a moment, but shrugged and pulled out some bandages from one of his side pockets.
"Here. Take off your shirt. I'm going to wrap your wounds." He said, coming closer to me. I was so deep in my thoughts I didn't even bother protesting. Next thing I knew I felt this extremely agonizing pain in my shoulder. I turned my head to Brent and yelled at him.
"WHAT THE FUCK, MAN! THAT SHIT HURTS!" I yelled. He chuckled as he sprayed more of the first-aid spray onto my puncture wound. Afterwards he placed a bandage and wrapped it with some gauze, effectively sealing my injury. It still hurt to move, but at least I know in a few hours it won't be bothering me that much.
"What happened to your other injuries Isaac? You had pieces of glass in your arm the last time I saw you." Brent asked. I shook my head with a smile.
"I got a doctor to help me out. It's fine now." I said politely. Brent smiled and nodded. He got up and started to walk deeper into the museum, hands in his pockets. I put my shirt and jacket back on and followed the older man, passing by all the nice pieces of artwork and sculptures. Brent opened up one of the larger doors, revealing a large lit room; each wall met with marble floor. There were benches as well, padded with leather and there were no ways other than the door we came in from to enter.
"I've been hiding out here since the crash. I was hoping I'd catch you for some time now." He spoke. I shrugged and sat down on one of the leather benches, sighing in the soft feel. I stretched out on the bench, relishing in the comfort of having something soft to lie down on. I began to stretch my arms and legs, cracking the joints and releasing the tension in them, then finally my back. I arched upwards and twisted, feeling the joints in my spine pop back into place and release all the aches and pains that were building up. I got back up and let out a great big sigh, feeling as good as new. I felt more relaxed now. I got up, facing Brent.
"Why? You could have just left and found your own way out of here. It's not like I'm of any importance to you." I scoffed. Brent smiled. He shrugged and closed the thick door, locking it. He then walked over to one of the other benches and lied down.
"In any case. We should get some sleep. I plan on escaping tonight, but it will be a lot of work for both of us. We shouldn't be tired." Brent replied. I stared at him suspiciously. His breathing began to even out, and his began to murmur in his sleep, tossing and turning in his spot. The guy was out like a light. I quietly walked to the door, whispering an apology.
"Sorry. I've been sleeping all day. I'm not tired, so I'll just go and check this place out." I apologized. I opened the heavy door quietly, and slipped out, shutting it afterwards. Like I'm going to sleep now, of all times. I scoffed. I began to walk through the corridors, holding my gun with caution. Can't go anywhere unprotected. I began to look around, staring at all the nice little pieces of artwork on display. Suddenly there was a crashing noise, and the sound of barking coming from the area Brent and I had come in from.
"Shit." I turned my head to see two of those mutated dogs passing the corridor.
(Brent's POV)
...ringringringringringringringring!
My eyes shot wide up at the sound of my cell phone going off. I groaned and got up, reaching into my pocket and pulling it out. I pressed the answer button and put it to my ear. "Englishman..." I said.
"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?" I heard Nicholai yell. I flinched at the volume of his voice, but replied calmly.
"On my way to finding the target. He's over in the Hospital, in the fourth floor where I tracked him. I'm waiting for him to leave so I can get to his files and then kill him." I lied. Nicholai let out an angry huff and then spoke again.
"You'd better not be lying to me Englishman, or I swear, I'll hunt you down and torture you slowly." He growled before hanging up. I rolled my eyes and sneered, turning off the cell phone. I'll kill him myself. He may be a strong and elusive kid, but he can only run so far before I catch him off guard. The little bastard got the better of me when we first met, throwing me to the ground like that, so I decided to play the friend. Gain his trust. In reality I don't really give a shit whether or not he dies, I'll still get my job done. My main focus was to survive. After that I get a free ticket out of the gaze of Umbrella.
I looked over to the other bench, but found Isaac to be gone, and there was no sign of his guns or messenger bag anywhere. Shit! I got up and grabbed my equipment, walking out the door.
(Isaac's POV)
I kept running, the two dogs hot on my trail. I turned corners; the marble floor making it difficult for the dogs to make sharp turns with their bloody, sinewy bodies. Once I created enough distance from the dogs I turned and began to fire, the dogs being blown off their feet by each bullet. Finally one yelped out and dropped to the floor, so I focused my attentions on the remaining canine. I fired slowly, waiting for yelp that signalled its demise. Finally it gave up, yelping out loudly and dropping to the floor, ceasing to move. I stood still to catch my breath, looking around the room I was now in. I found myself near the middle atrium, where the botanical garden was, and I kept noticing something near the other end of the hall.
I kept my eyes peeled for anything out of the extraordinary; hoping it was something useful. As I came near it, I silently thanked God. It was another two handgun magazines. I picked them up and stuffed them into my bag with my other ammo. I looked in my bag and saw that I still had a bottle half full of the corrosive chemical used to make the vaccine. I didn't think anything of it right now. It probably wasn't going to be of any use now. Then suddenly I spotted a person slouched on the wall in the corner, his breaths shallow and laboured. I moved over to him cautiously. "Hey...Are you okay?" I asked. The person gave out another grunt as he lifted his head, and in the dim light I could see a large cut across his chest, blood still flowing out of the wound. "Oh God...that's nasty..." I commented on his injury. On his lapel was the same emblem I saw on Carlos' vest, still recognisable through the blood. "Who the hell did this to you?" I asked. He opened his mouth to talk, his voice blocked by some blood, the man coughing it out and still struggling to speak.
"En...Eng...lishman..." He said hoarsely. He began to cough more blood up, and I helped him stay upright. He struggled and reached into his jacket, pulling out a folded piece of paper, with some bloodstains on one of the corners. He held it out to me, hoarsely telling me to take it. Something silver whizzed past my face. He froze up, his eyes wide. I watched in horror as he slumped forward, a small knife sticking out of his forehead and blood trickling slowly out of the wound. My eyes widened as I turned in the direction of where the knife originated, seeing Brent standing there, his arm extended as if he had thrown the knife himself.
"B-Brent...what? What are you...what are you doing?" I asked. He advanced on me, his eyes stern and scary. I fell back on my bottom, moving backwards. My hand met paper, and I inched my hand toward the piece of paper that was offered to me before. Immediately a handgun was trained on my hand nearest the piece of paper, and Brent clicked his tongue.
"Don't touch the paper Isaac, I wouldn't want to shoot those fingers off. Stand up nice and slow." He ordered. I trembled slightly but made no move to rise to my feet. "MOVE IT!" He bellowed. I flinched and got up slowly. "Now. I want your files with Chris' documents. I know you have them. Hand them over..." He demanded. I couldn't protest to this. He had a gun trained on my head, and if the accuracy he displayed with the knife was any proof, I'm sure he's deadly with a gun. I reached into my messenger bag slowly, and suddenly my hand bumped into the bottle of the corrosive chemicals. I suddenly had an idea. I grabbed it and carefully weighed my options.
Fuck it!
I threw the bottle in an arc at Brent, the man acting quickly and firing at it, breaking the bottle with the bullet. Suddenly the bottle let out a loud explosion, the force of the boom blowing Brent farther back while I reached down and grabbed the small piece of paper in the dead soldier's hand then dashed down the hall beside me, pulling out my own gun while running. I turned at the staircase, pushing myself up the stairs to the second floor. I ducked the instant I heard a gunshot, the bullet blazing just centimetres from my shoulder, driving itself deep into the wall. I turned my head to see where Brent was, and fired in his direction. I kept running, heaving and panting as I made it to the third floor. I didn't bother stopping there, running down the hall and trying to find a way out.
I ran and ran, deep into the lit corridors of the museum, trying to avoid my would-be murderer. I ducked behind a bend in the hallway, holding my gun close to me. I trembled all over in fear, a fear I've never tasted before. It was a disgusting feeling. The feeling of fearing another person because they held a sort of power over you. It made me angry. I looked around and saw an answer to this situation. Across from me was a door. On the door was a sign that read "Rooftop Access."
Thank you, God! I got to my feet and opened the door quietly, slipping in and silently closing it, then dashing up the stairs. I burst through the door my shoes making a crunching sound on the gravel on the roof. I ran behind the small building that housed the door to the stairs and found a ladder leading to the top of it. I began to climb with haste, hitting the ground on my stomach once I got there. I heard the sounds of footsteps coming from inside the small building and silently flinched when the door burst open and the sound of feet displacing the gravel on the floor hit my ears. I stayed silent as I listened to what Brent was doing, the sound of frantic running telling me that he was searching for me. I flinched as the sound of a gunshot filled the air; the small bullet making a sonic boom as it possibly rose up into the air.
"Isaac..." Brent cooed menacingly. There was another gunshot going up into the air, the flinching getting a little less noticeable. "...come out, Isaac. I promise not to kill you...I just want your files...I can help you escape, if you cooperate." He said into the night. I wasn't dumb enough to reveal myself in any way. He killed that man without even blinking. What were the chances he'll keep me alive once he gets what he wants? There was another gunshot, but it seemed more further away than before. Suddenly there was a whirring noise coming from off in the distance, and I peeked my head up from the roof guards to see what it was. I could see a faint light off in the distance, steadily getting bigger and bigger. The wind began to pick up, and the sound of the spinning rotors got louder and louder.
The helicopter came into focus, the large black aerial contraption holding up a large rack of huge red cylinders. Brent watched the helicopter fly over top him, and suddenly one of the canisters let out a large amount of steam, and the canister itself began to plummet to the ground. I watched from my hiding spot as the canister suddenly broke apart, revealing a large, bald, trench coated man. The man from the canister himself hit the roof with a loud sounding impact, not moving. Brent moved forward, looking at the man, who looked too tall to be considered a normal man, with suspicion. Brent moved closer, then inched his way around it, the mysterious canister man not budging from his spot. There was something terrifying about that large trench-coated human thing, something even more terrifying than Brent.
I got up, my arms raised in the air to show surrender. "Brent!" I called out. The black haired man spun in my direction, training his gun on me. "Don't shoot! Please!" I pleaded. "I give up, okay? You want my files? You can have them, but you have to promise you won't kill me. Let me go and I promise I'll keep quiet about all this, if I survive." I surrendered. I watched behind him as the trench-coated man slowly turned around revealing his face. His eyes scared me. They had no colour, just milky white and blank. It's skin was just as pale, a pasty white contrasting with the dark coat it was wearing. This thing was definitely NOT human, I just know it. It began to walk forward slowly, Brent not really paying attention to his surroundings.
I reached into my messenger bag and grasped my backup disk, ready to hand it over to the man. Suddenly the large trench coated man moved forward a little faster, it's right hand revealed to be a hand with terrifyingly long nails coming out of it, the claw pulled back. Brent saw the attack coming too late, the monster driving its sharp claws into his stomach and lifting him up like he was nothing. I watched as Brent's body began to shake violently as the monster lifted him higher and higher, blood pouring out of his wound and onto the thing's claws. Even though the monster had to no pupils or irises, I just knew it was looking at me. I felt my chest tighten, and I was short of breath. I tried taking in a breath, but my throat felt swollen, unable to move.
The monster threw Brent's body to the side like a rag doll, the wounds in his abdomen bleeding profusely. The monster began to slowly walk forward, it's claw dripping blood on the ground. Time seemed to slow down, and the only options my mind could come up with kept flashing in my brain like fireworks.
Fight back...fight back...fight back!
Time began to speed up again, and I sped up with it, grabbing my new shotgun and pumping the stock. My breathing began to get heavier and heavier, taking in more and more oxygen in preparation of the impending battle. I was sure to die, it was obvious, but still, I had to at least try, to keep myself from regretting my actions in the afterlife. The clawed humanoid monster watched me with it's glossed over eyes, moving slowly. Suddenly it leapt high into the air, higher than anything I've ever seen before. I watched as it began to fall towards me, it's regular hand reared back to deliver a no-doubt-crushing blow to me. I hopped to the side when the monster made impact, the fist going through the thick stone and concrete and cracking the entire structure. I waited for my chance to attack; knowing that this wasn't what it was after. It probably knew I was going to dodge that. It then swung its claw towards me, trying to stab me in the stomach like it did to Brent. I quickly and surprisingly avoided the attack and saw my chance.
The claw itself was really heavy, because it was taking too much time for the monster to catch itself and attack again. I pointed up with my shotgun and fired. The beast's head snapped backward, bleeding and burned. It tried attacking again, and to try and evade I dove out of the way. Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough this time. I felt the tips of it's nails dig themselves into my back, causing me the most blinding, undeniably agonizing pain. I yelled out and twisted onto my back, my wounds hitting cold ground while I pumped the stock and fired, hitting the monster square on the side of it's face. It flinched for a few seconds, which was all I needed to pump the shotgun one more time and fire at its face again. It's head snapped backwards again and its body went with it, hitting the roof harshly and cracking the cement even more. I felt the structure I was standing on begin to shake and rumble, creaking and groaning. Acting quickly I got to my feet, ignoring the pain in my back and hopped off the edge, hitting the gravel. I watched as the rooftop entrance structure collapsed on itself, the monster's body disappearing in the rubble.
I panted and heaved, surprised with myself. I've survived, at least for now against a monster that had caught the man I was terrified of by surprise. I looked over at Brent's body that had stopped moving, and said my final apologies to the dead. I turned my head every which way to find myself an exit from the rooftop, and on the end farthest from me; I spotted a fire escape ladder. I began to half run half limp towards the ladder, looking over the edge of the museum building. The ladder went all the way down to the alleyway below, and the alleyway led to the street in front of the museum. I began to climb down, hitting the first platform and starting on the stairs down. While climbing down my mind began to wander off into the realm of whether or not Chris, Barry and Rebecca were safe. Hopefully they didn't do something too stupid to even comprehend like come back just outside the military barricade and get Barry to fly in and try to save everyone. They'll get a rather RUDE awakening then. I bet Chris is crazy enough to do it too, if he hears that Jill is still here.
I knew things were looking extremely bleak, but still...Jill and I were strong people. We'd make it out. Then my mind began to wander to the late Brent the Businessman. Why was he trying to kill me? Why did he kill the UBCS guy? Thinking that reminded me of the piece of paper that I had taken when I threw the explosive bottle at Brent, and while I climbed down onto the hard, cold concrete of the alleyway, I reminded myself to read it when I had a chance to. I emerged from the alley with a cautious look on my face, gripping my shotgun hard with both hands. Inside myself I was proud. I had survived a total of three zombie-filled days, and I had found a definite answer to my inner questions.
Had I been blindly trusting people all this time, thinking that I was the one with the upper hand? Things that were happening around me were screaming in my ear like ten thousand banshees. And the one word they kept yelling was yes. Was that dream I had in the Clock Tower coming true? Obviously. I had slashes on my back from that giant thing, and I had only won against it for now, undoubtedly because of pure and unabashed dumb luck. And surely that thing wasn't down for the count. That leather-wearing thing took a shotgun blast point blank to the head and it still had the power to knock me out for a good eight hours. I shook my head as I swallowed one of the smaller medicine pills Dr Hamilton gave me, walking down the street. I turned onto Bayliss, where the storage warehouse was, and felt a whole new wave of fatigue gripping my head. My eyes began to burn with the desire to close, and I found myself letting out a big yawn. I didn't understand. I had been sleeping for the last eight hours. I was feeling tired again?
I decided to try and find a safe place to sleep, and the first thing that came to mind was the Bayliss warehouse. I broke out into a slow run, nearing the large building. My heart began to race when I heard moaning coming from the alley opposite the entrance to the warehouse. Jill lived near here. Maybe she had been here earlier as well...
I turned left and entered the path to the back entrance to the warehouse, the streetlights and the lights shining down the sides of the buildings illuminating the otherwise unsafe passage. There was nothing to be concerned about, but there were a few zombies lying on the ground with bullets between their eyes. One with even its head turned all the way around. I don't know anyone strong enough to do that...
Putting it to the back of my mind I walked past them, holding my handgun tightly. I turned and walked up the steps to the door, finding it unlocked. I held my gun with my right hand, using my left hand to turn the doorknob and push open the door. Inside the lit, wide-open area, silence met my ears. I surveyed the room and saw nothing but dead zombies on the ground. This was getting REALLY strange. Who could have done this? I looked at the large semi-truck and saw a pool of blood dripping from out of the trailer. I walked forward cautiously, turning my head to make sure there was nothing here that could come back to life and rip my throat out. I neared the closed door of the trailer and pulled up the handle, opening the metal sliding door. I yelled out in surprise as what I saw in there. The heavily mutilated body of a man hung halfway out of the trailer, his mouth a frozen look of pain.
I stood frozen at the sight of the dead man, with his eyes gazing so terribly into my eyes. Suddenly his body began to twitch, and a loud guttural moan came from his open mouth. The man reached out at me suddenly; forcing me to act quickly, backing up and letting the man fall to the ground I stood on. The man turned over onto his belly, using his stubs that used to be his arms to crawl in futility towards me. I regained my bearings and pointed my gun at his head. I curled my finger around the trigger and fired, callous to the explosions of sound the guns made. He ceased his movement, his arm stubs still outstretched in an attempt to grab me.
I stared at the man, then turned away, heading for the catwalks where the offices were located. I could get some rest there if I can lock the door.
I stepped onto the metal stairs, the clanking of my feet the only sound in the room. I saw nothing up on the catwalks so I didn't think to keep my gun drawn. I turned the corner and entered the first office door I saw. The place was ransacked; papers were everywhere, the typewriter still having a piece of paper in it. Deciding to have a few laughs, I picked up the paper in the typewriter and read it. I was surprised to see the first entry being one from Jill herself. I sat down on the floor by the wall after locking the office door and began to read the paper.
"September 28th, 1998.
Returning from the cable car where Mikhail and Carlos were waiting I decided to stop by and see whether or not Dario was still okay in his hiding spot. He wasn't. When I arrived I saw a crowd of zombies tearing the man apart, and the crowd spotted me. I had to kill the zombies, but I couldn't find it in my heart to kill Dario, so I sealed up the trailer with him in it, hoping nobody would try to open it again. There was nothing of use in there anyway.
Once again my thoughts drifted off into the domain of that large black clothed monster that wouldn't leave me alone. What was it? Why was it so adamant on killing me? Was it because of my involvement in the mansion incident or is it some sort of sick, twisted coincidence? I have no idea whether or not I'll live beyond today. There's been this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that there was something going to happen. Almost like a forewarning. I promised Chris I'd meet with them in Europe, and I would keep my word. For Chris' sake if any other.
A few hours before I think I had a feeling that something was wrong, and then I realized that I hadn't seen Isaac anywhere. Was he dead, or is he surviving like I am? I felt this weird feeling earlier, like my stomach was twisting in knots. I just know it had something to do with Isaac. I hope he's okay..."
I stopped reading, feeling rather happy about the small piece of paper I was reading.
I felt the fatigue from earlier grip my body, my eyes burning to be closed. I leaned back onto the wall and drifted off, dreaming of escape.
(End Chapter 16)
And there you have it. Read and Review please! I need tips and pointers!