Author's Note : Sorry, forgot to say one more thing. "X-------X-------X" stands for a change in events.
Chapter 2 : Decisions, Decisions.
Steven Lias darted down another corridor, the white, stained lab coat flapping against his legs. The sound of his leather shoes rapping against the flooring echoed around, giving him a foreboding feeling of being caged in, which was sort of true, given the current circumstances. Being a regular scientist here, he would appear to be used to the surroundings. But this was not the case, because now the dull metallic colour of the walls seemed even more eerie in the endless corridors. Sliding doors lay on both sides of the corridor, but he didn't have time to figure out which one would lead him to the exit. Steady footsteps was still heard behind him, heavy footsteps, and it would close on him in no time. Steven yanked open a door which lead to a store room, leaped inside, and close it as quietly as he dared. Pressing his ear against the door, panting, he listened for any sounds outside. Nothing. Steven heaved a heavy sigh of relief.
Shit, this can't be happening. How could Philip... Julian! I have to contact Julian! Steven kicked himself mentally for not realizing that earlier. Still, it's hard to remember many things when you're being chased by an unknown monster.
He took out his personal handphone. When he began working for Umbrella, he had secretly installed an extra component in both Julian's and his handphones, which would allow them both to remain in contact even when the line seemed dead. Of course, Julian had no idea that his handphone came with an unwanted package, so Steven expected him to be supremly surprised when he makes the call. He hastily dialled in the appropiate numbers with trembling fingers, sweat sliding down his face, and listened for the dial tone. It rang once...twice...three times...
Come on Julian. Of all times, please answer the phone NOW...
"Um...Hello?" Julian's voice came floating out of the phone, easing Steven's tension slightly. He was about to reply when he thought he heard another sound outside. Clasping the mouthset of the phone shut, he listened again, then speaking into the phone when there were, once again, no sounds outside.
"Julian! Oh thank goodness you're alright!"
"...Dad?" Julian's voice sounded as confused as Steven predicted. "How did you..."
"No time for any questions," Steven whispered into the phone. "you need to get out of town. Something terrible happened here, there was a spill and now... I'll meet you on Highway 21. Try to not get bitten or scratched, the virus spreads by contact. I suggest you bet-"
Whatever Steven wanted to suggest was cut short as he flew all the way into the back of the room when the door he was leaning on suddenly crashed open. He landed heavily on his head, making his vision blurry as if the whole world was spinning. But it was clear enough for him to see the monster that had been stalking him, standing in the broken doorway, staring at him. His phone lay right in front of it, and he could still hear Julian's voice calling him. All Steven could say was a weak "No..." before the monster took a step into the room, and instantly crushed his phone, and whatever hope Steven had. He couldn't think of anything else but Julian, before blacking out.
X-------X-------X
Julian stared at the phone, horrified, as the crashing sounds filled the living room.
"Dad, what happened! Dad, are you there?" Julian's voice was in a frantic panic, expected since it was his father on the other line.
"No..." That was all Julian heard before the line went into static. Everyone else stared at Julian as if they expected him to explode with rage, but Julian only said a single sentence which only he was determined to do.
"I...I have to go to my father..." He stammered.
"Julian are you crazy! The only lab in Raccoon City lies smack in the middle. You'll be walking straight into an undead legion! I don't know, but I think we should get out of the city while we still can..." Ashton's voice was also high with panic, partially because he didn't like shooting at things, or people for that matter.
"Then go, I'm not asking you to follow me. I... I can go by myself..." Julian's head was low, and he stared at the floor, images of what could possibly happen to his father filled his mind. He shook them out before they could make him scream out loud.
"That is completely out of the question! You won't survive 15 minutes without sustaining injuries! I think Ashton is right abou-" Desmond started, before they all jumped at Julian's shout.
"I CAN'T JUST LEAVE MY FATHER BEHIND!" Julian's chest heaved in and out as his face was red with rage. The other 3 simply stared dumbstruck at the sudden outburst. "S-sorry, I just..."
"I'll go with you." Andrew said, much to the surprise of Julian. "Don't forget, we already promised to go through thick and thin together, right Desmond?"
"sigh Yeah, guess I forgot about that. Sorry... Well, at least now we get some action!" Desmond grinned.
Everyone then looked at Ashton, who felt as if he was being sucked into a hellhole.
"Ah well, if you can't fight em', join em'. Guess i'll be tagging alone with you guys..." Ashton said, not believing the words coming out of his mouth. "Besides, I'm the only one who can drive a car!"
"Thanks guys... But you all should know that you can get killed if you follow me." The thoughts of seeing his best friends die, or anyone else dieing, would forever be grafted into his mind if it were to happen.
"Course we do, but that's the whole point. If we were gonna die, we will experience some action before we do!" Andrew said, holding a thumbs-up.
Ha... Looks like you did get yourself some really good friends Julian...
"Alright then, get the car, we're moving out."
Desmond and Ashton each took a handgun, an extra clip, and a box of bullets. Andrew had the shotgun, something which he always loved to hold and 'pump', and that made him the "heavy artillery" of the group. The last box of 9mm bullets would be used as a reserve. The car was in Ashton's house, however, so the group proceeded to sneak across without attracting much attention. With that, they made it to Ashton's garage by sticking to the shadows and walking on their toes. The car Ashton had was a typical Toyota Corola-- not good in terms of speed, but it was bulky enough to run zombies over. Julian got into the passenger seat, with Desmond and Andrew in the back seats. After getting am "Ok" from everyone, Ashton started up the engine, revved it a bit, and crashed through the garage door out into the streets, already crushing 2 zombies in the process.
The car rolled past Arklay Road. Julian gazed out into the streets, fully taking in the destruction and havoc which lay in front of them. He still couldn't believe that all this happened between the time he went to sleep, and the time when the zombie had knocked on his door, which was a mere 2 hours. Now it was already approaching 5 in the morning. Andrew suggested that they stock up on some supplies and look for somewhere to rest. Julian decided against it, wanting to get to his father as soon as possible, but after seeing their tired faces, as well as an immensely big yawn from Ashton, he gave in, realizing that it'd be better to battle any zombies when on full alert, and not with half-closed eyes. Sparks Minimart seemed like a good place. It had nice reinforced shutters, plus you can practically get anything you wanted at that place.
Does that include a teleporting device to transport me to the lab? Huh, don't kid yourself Julian...
They swerved between wreckages and could finally see the minimart. Ashton parked the car right in front of the sidedoor for easy escape. It was later decided that Ashton and Andrew would stay behind in the car just in case they had to bail, while Julian and Desmond went in to clear the place out. Julian had taken up shooting classes in college, and he knew that Desmond got his experience from the arcade games. It was a question of whether Desmond could treat a live handgun as being the same as a plastic copy.
"You know the drill right? Shoot anything that moves but doesn't speak. We'll sweep the place." Julian pointed out, and was surprised at his own leadership skills.
Desmond nodded, and Julian creaked open the sidedoor. Desmond went in first, handgun held in front of him, followed by Julian who took the left. Inside, it wasn't as messed up as Julian thought it would be, though some of the shelves were overturned. Other than that, most of the minimart's contents were intact-- countless packets of Twisties, chips, Granola Bars, as well as bottles of water and various soft drinks. There would be time to appreciate and feast on the snacks, but now ensuring that their camping place was secured was of the highest importance. Julian cautiously approached and peered between the shelves for any crawling zombies, and saw Desmond do the same around the counter area. A minute was all they needed before they sweeped across the room. Julian was about to turn and walk towards Desmond when he kicked something which rolled across the floor. He picked it up and held it in the light. The object appeared cylindrical in shape, and was completely black in colour, not to mention extremely smooth as well. Desmond also looked at it with interest, then the answer hit Julian.
"What the heck is a silencer doing here?" he asked to noone in particular.
"Must've have been dropped by others when they came here." Desmond rubbed his chin, probably thinking the same thing.
"But if there were people here, and they already bailed, that could only mean..." Julian's eyes widened, and could see the same look in Desmond's face.
As if on cue, a single 'thump' sound was heard in the ceiling, coming from the 2nd floor. Julian looked at Desmond, who simply nodded, and they approached the door leading to the stairs. Desmond had managed to find a couple of torchlights during their sweep, and now they held it up beside their handguns for easy aiming. Slowly, they made their way up, with each creaking step sounding like a bomb being dropped in the still night. Julian was in front, with the silencer already attached to his gun, and Desmond brought up the rear. At the top of the stairs were 2 doors. The sound they had heard earlier did not repeat itself, making their search that much harder. Julian pointed to the right door first, before moving into place beside it. Desmond turned the doorknob and pushed the door open, instantly raising his handgun as soon as his hand left the doorknob. The light illuminated a total mess. Mattresses and pillows lay scattered on the ground, along with some chairs and newspapers. But the most obvious thing the light pointed out was the man standing beside the cupboard, facing the wall. He appeared to be fine, no traces of blood were seen on his clothes.
"Um...sir? Are you alright?" Julian said, handgun still pointed at the man. He turned, and immediately Julian felt his heart drop. The man's eyes were blank, cloudy with some kind of white emulsion, had a face completely white and expressionless. He opened his mouth and let a low moan, before stretching his hands out and stumbled his way towards them. Desmond looked at Julian and nodded.
"I'm...sorry..." Julian blurted out, before pulling the trigger. There was a muffled sound, hidden by the sound of the man's body hitting the ground, a bullethole in his forehead. The wall behind was instantly coloured with red and black with blood, accompanied by a sudden foul stench that Julian hadn't noticed before. He sighed and turned, walking towards the other door. Further inspection showed the room devoid of anything. They went back downstairs to give Ashton and Andrew the 'clear signal'.
X-------X-------X
Now how did I get myself into this...?
Desmond grumbled to himself, firmly holding onto his handgun and cussing non-stop. After they had satisfied their hunger on some snacks, a unanimous vote ended up putting Desmond on guard duty. He gulped down another mouth of water to ease his anger. Sure, he was tired as hell, but why couldn't they just yank down the shutters and they ALL could get a good night's sleep.
"It's to prevent ourselves from getting surrounded without our knowing, so that we can make a quick escape when we have to." Julian says. "It's for our own good..." He says. If I don't get any sleep soon, I'm gonna shoot them all in THEIR sleep...
That last line was definitely a joke, but if worse comes to worse, Desmond wouldn't hesitate to kill to catch a few minutes of sleep. He ripped open a packet of cheese-flavoured Twisties and started throwing them into his mouth one by one. Least he could eat as much as wanted to. The other 3 were by now snoozing around the counter. They had brought down some of the pillows from upstairs (unstained ones, of course), but had to make do with the hard flooring since the mattresses would be too big. Nobody wanted to sleep in a room which once contained a zombie, so everyone opted to set up camp downstairs. Munching down on another piece of Twisties, he sure was gonna get cranky in the morning.
Thump, thump, thump...
Desmond froze, hand in midair holding a piece of Twisties. The sounds were coming from outside, clear and audible. He slowly put the packet away and took out his handgun. Moving stealthly, he positioned himself at the side of the front door, and crouched in the shadows. He peered outside, and almost felt his jaw hit the ground.
On the road walking towards the right, was an immensely huge person. Or, at least, it had the figure of a person. In the light casted by the streetlamps, Desmond could make out the horribly deformed face of the creature. It had only 1 eye, and it was completely white, no pupils whatsoever. Where its right eye was supposed to be, was nothing but a flab of skin, joined together to the rest of its head by metallic staples. Its mouth was gaping open, its lips totally gone, making it look like it was grinning with 2 rows of white teeth. But what seemed awkward was that it was dressed in a black trenchcoat. Its footsteps sounded as if it weighed a tonne, a steady thumping which almost rocked the ground. In its left hand was a huge rocket launcher, and in its right, a heavy machinegun. Desmond wondered what the heck it was, or even what the heck it was doing with an RPG and a railgun.
"Sssttaaarsss..." came the low, deep growl of the creature. The mere sound of it was enough to pierce Desmond's heart throughly. He glanced back and forth between the creature and his 3 roommates. Should he wake them up? Or should he just run out the side-door and bail? What if it came and attacked them? The questions flooded his mind as Desmond struggled to make a sound decision, when the creature suddenly looked in his direction. In an attempt to scramble back into the shadows, Desmond dropped his gun and it clattered to the floor. He was, however, too scared to pick it back up, even though it lay right at his feet.
Ohshitohshit, notgoodnotgood... Desmond clamped his eyes shut and prayed. Pleasedon'tcomehere, pleasedon'tcomehere...
A few seconds passed, and the creature turned back and continued down the street, its footsteps drumming against Desmond's ears. He heaved a sigh of relief and watched as the creature dissappeared around the corner. He decided he had enough of guard duty, even though it had only been an hour or so since he started, and he snatched an extra pillow, lay down at where he was beside the doors, and fell asleep.
He definitely had something to tell the others in the morning.
A/N : Heh, cookies for all those who knows what Desmond saw!