Chapter One: The Survivor
I knew this day would come. I felt it, knew it in the back of my mind. Even when I boarded that chopper out of Raccoon City, I knew that the devastation wouldn't stop there. The Umbrella Corporation was hell bent on destroying the world. Now they'd finally succeeded.
It was probably the craziest thing I've ever experienced or felt while in such an intense situation. What did I do?
I laughed. Loud. Hard. Couldn't help it. Everyone else turned and looked at me. I holstered my pistol and looked at them with the most somber expression that I could give. This was all too much at the moment.
"What in the hell is your problem?" The team leader got in my face. I looked at him and gestured at the ruined cityscape.
"My problem? Well, in a nutshell- I've seen this particular scene before. Didn't like how it played out then either." I said.
The team leader looked at me. I glanced down at his name tag. It said 'E.J.'. I looked back at him, then pulled my pistol back out and chambered a fresh round. I wanted to be prepared for the onslaught we were sure to come up against.
E.J. and the rest of the team looked at me wearily. I knew for a fact that they didn't trust me, but that was beside the point here. They were a fresh team, new to the horror that they were sure to see once we began our mission. I was hardened to it already, had come to terms that you can't possibly save every civie that you see. Risking your own neck meant going to your own death. I couldn't have that. My nickname was 'The Death.'
I looked around at everybody and decided to put it to them straight. E.J. gave me a hard look.
"What in the hell are you talking about, soldier?" His voice had somewhat of a challenge in it.
"What are you talking about? Are you idiot? Don't you hear those people out- shouting, screaming? The gunshots? What in the hell do you think is happening out there?" I asked.
One of the younger members looked at me. His tag identified him as 'Branson'. He spoke up- like a true idiot.
"Obviously we're here because of a terrorist uprising. They're killing people out there. It's an urban war. We've seen this type of stuff all the time." He said. I looked at him and shook my head.
"No, dumb ass. You're wrong. This isn't guerilla warfare going on. Yeah, oh yeah- people are being killed for sure. But what's killing them isn't anything that you're even prepared to face!"
I walked over to the edge of the railing and pointed out at the city. Everyone looked at me intently.
"Those people out there are being killed and eaten- by other people!"
There were loud protests from various members of the team. Obviously, they didn't believe me. It was like I'd just said that an alien had invited me to play charades on its ship. These guys just simply didn't believe me. I shook my head and walked off towards the building's exit stairs which would lead us to the apparent hell below. If they chose not to believe me, that was fine. They were in for the shock of their lives, one way or another.
"Well, that about wraps it then. You guys don't believe me." I said.
One of the men looked at me and scoffed. He stepped forward and spit on the ground at my feet. I stood there and waited for it. Sure enough, he said what I'd been expecting to hear.
"What are you trying to tell us? That these people are being attacked and killed by zombies?" He asked. I nodded my head.
"Yes, you could say that. Those things down there are people who used to live here. They're dead."
Branson shoved his way forward again through the crowd. His face had a very indignant look of disbelief. I turned and looked at him.
"You've gotta be shitting us, man. Nothing like that can happen. I mean, honestly!" He told me.
With him saying that, I knew it was time to play my hand, let them know how screwed we really were on this mission. I turned and faced everyone.
"Any of you ever heard of Raccoon City? A small city out west? Got completely destroyed?" I asked.
E.J. looked at me. I knew he'd heard of the place, and a few others nodded their heads too. At least some of them had heard of the place, even if they didn't know the true story of what had really gone down there. One of the guys looked at me.
"Yeah, I heard of the place. As I recall, the nuclear power reactor for the town went critical sometime early in the morning. Killed everyone." He addressed me as well as the remainder of the group.
I nodded and looked up at the sky. It felt strange, in all the years since that terrible event- I'd never uttered a mention of it. Now those feelings of fear and despair were coming back to me, and before long, these men would know those exact same feelings.
"There was no nuclear reactor explosion in Raccoon City. The U.S. president at that time had to pass judgement over the residents of that city. In effect, he ordered a tactical nuclear strike to destroy the city and its inhabitants. There was no other choice. It had to be stopped." I said.
Branson looked at me suspiciously. "What had to be stopped?"
I cleared my throat and then let out a long, slow breath. It was only a matter of time anyway.
"A viral contaminant caused that incident. It was a weapon that Umbrella developed. It escaped laboratory containment and numerous people got infected by it. But not only people- animals and other organisms were infected as well. The resulting spread of the contamination made it damn near impossible to fight it effectively."
E.J. cocked the sliding bolt on the machine gun, then looked at me. I felt his eyes burning into me.
"How in the hell do you know all this? How could you possibly know anything like that even happened?" He challenged. I looked at him and pulled a piece of cloth from a pocket on my uniform. As I showed it to everyone, I explained to them what it was that I held in my hand.
"This is the shoulder patch of the unit I used to belong to. These are the names of the men in my unit that died when that incident occurred. They died because WE were the unit that Umbrella sent in to get the viral contaminant in the first place."
The look on their faces told me that it was starting to sink in. E.J. walked over to me and glared right at me.
"You mean to tell me that this has happened before? How!" He declared. I took another breath.
"The night that my team went in to retrieve the viral sample, we encountered the man who was responsible for the research. His name was William Birkin, and he was trying to keep his research from Umbrella. There was five of us, and Hodges, Michelli, Burrows, and Anderson went to retrieve the sample from the good doctor while I was left to watch the escape passage that we would use to get out of the city." I said.
E.J. looked at me, and his eyes narrowed. "And?"
"And- unfortunately, Dr. Birkin tricked them. He led them to believe that he'd locked the virus sample inside a transport container. What they didn't know was that he had been holding the sample in his hand the entire time. For whatever reason, Burrows ended up shooting the doctor while Hodges retrieved the sample. Michelli, Anderson, and I were waiting in the sewer passages to escape with the sample, only Birkin injected himself with it instead."
I looked at the other team members, I wanted to make sure that they understood what I was saying about the whole mess.
"The virus mutated him- horribly. He'd developed a virus that was potent enough to make a person change in less than an hour or two. The bad thing was that he tracked Burrows and Hodges down in the sewer and killed them. Anderson and Michelli caught up with him, and in his new unstable form- he made short work of them too."
I snorted. "Long story short, I was left by myself to try and find a way out of the sewer passages without getting myself killed. As much as I hate to tell you all this- fighting here, is not really an option. You guys do what you want, but in the meantime- I'm leaving." I shoved the unit patch back into my pocket and buttoned it, before heading back to the door of the exit stairwell.
E.J. grabbed me by the arm as I reached the door. I stopped and looked at him.
"You're not deserting this team. You do that, and I'll shoot you right here- right now." He said.
I took his hand and very slowly, forcefully removed his grip on my arm. Everyone was watching us. I didn't want a fight, it was simply better to conserve what ammo I had.
"Relax- I'm not deserting anything. But I'll tell you something now: DON'T expect me to be a hero. If something happens, I'll put a bullet in each and every one of you. Once you understand the true situation that Umbrella has placed us in, you'll appreciate the offer I just gave you."
I looked around at everyone, then right back at E.J. Our eyes locked on each other.
"There's NO EXCEPTIONS to that rule. Now, since we have a mission to complete- I say that we get to it."
I put my hand on the doorknob, but before I opened it- I looked back at everyone else.
"Oh- and one last thing, when in doubt, aim for the head. It's the only way to kill the things."