Author's Note : First up, I am EXTREMELY sorry for not updating for along time. To compensate, this chapter is a little longer that usual...i think. But anyways, I wanna thank the reviewers Rezie, jake blackthorn (although urs wasn't exactly a review, but thanks anyway!), and sigokat, who offered some good opinions which i hope have been met with in this chapter.

By the way, in this chapter I brought in the names of some Outbreak characters since my characters are going to a location that other characters obviously passed through. Hope that doesn't affect anything.

Oh, and um...I do not have any disclaimers...Yeah, that should sound just right...I think...

All right, enough rambling. Please read and enjoy (and review) this chapter while I go do up the next chapter in the story!

Chapter 5 : Chase

Andrew was pissed, and to an extremely large extent as well. Never did he think that Julian was that sort of character to leave them behind. He had gotten up to check on Desmond, who, up till now, still failed to maintain his snoring to a minimum level, and that was when he discovered that Julian was missing. Ashton's handgun was missing as well, which suggested that Julian had left with the comfort of 2 pieces of heavy metal in his hands. All that was left was a piece of scribbled note lieing on the piece of cloth where Julian was supposed to be sleeping.

"Sorry, have to go. Father may not have much time left. You 2 should escape the city first."

A hastily scribbled note. This did not really help to calm Andrew's anger, though. The 3 of them had been best friends for so long, how could Julian even think of leaving them behind in such a situation.

Which is why, when I find him, he's gonna get a serious knuckle-sandwich from me...

Desmond stirred in his sleep, his arms bandaged up from their earlier battle. Julian couldn't have gone far yet, and Andrew had a vague idea where he would stop at first. It was a risk, a very high one at that, but it's better than running around the entire town while low on ammo. Whichever way, he hoped that the path they took was the same as Julian's, and that he had cleared it of any zombies and overgrown stalkers. Desmond's condition could still allow him to fire a handgun, but his accuracy and rate of firing would be affected, since the cuts went so deep it almost touched the bone. With that in mind, he bent down and hesitantly shook Desmond awake.

"Hey, wake up. We got a problem on our hands." He mumbled, afraid that unnecassary noise would attract more of those hellish Hunters.

Desmond opened his eyes and sat up, yawning loudly. "Huh? What's going on?"

"Someone decided to bail on us..."

"What!" Desmond snapped. He glanced over to Julian's sleeping place and saw the note lieing on it. "How did he...argh!" He rubbed the bandages which wound around his arms, a sudden pain shooting through them as if his sudden surge of frustration had tore the wound open again.

"Relax, man! Wouldn't want the wound to start bleeding again." Andrew studied Desmond's bandages. True enough, a patch of red was slowly radiating out from the cuts. "Now look, the wound's open again. Gotta change it."

Andrew carefully unwrapped the bandages and removed the medical gauze that he and Julian placed on each cut. Despite having been well treated, the injury still looked serious -- a single deep gash across, 1 on each arm, several strands of flesh were, initially, literally hanging out of the cut, but slicing it off with the scalpel was simple enough, aside from Desmond's constant screaming. It would need stitching, but they have to make do with what they have now. Given their basic first aid skills, Andrew highly doubted he could seal the wound effectively without sticking needles throughout Desmond's entire arm.

He couldn't really believe what Julian said when he told Andrew about Desmond's continuouos firing even after sustaining such an injury. For someone like Desmond, who usually looked like he could catch a fever anytime, this was an act not commonly seen by him. Andrew decided that from now on, he wasn't treating Desmond like a pussy anymore. His respect for Desmond probably shot up 50 points.

Having successfully changing the bandage, Andrew gazed dismally into the first aid kit.

"We only have enough for roughly 2 more dressings, so you better be careful about that wound. Otherwise you may simply bleed out. A slow and painless death..." Andrew joked, a horrendous one at that, receiving a light punch on his shoulder. "Right, let's go meet up with our friend."

"Ok, but please go slow..." Desmond smirked a little, then struggled to get up with the help of Andrew. He was certainly going to have a hard time running, since he couldn't exactly pump his hands for speed. As such, all was left in the hands, and shotgun, of Andrew. He glanced back at Desmond, noticing the cuts and dirt on his battered face.

And, at once, they both turned their heads to the window, the sound of a dozen gunshots, far yet clearly audible, echoeing throughout the stillness of the night air.

X-------X-------X

"Don't worry, just jump!" Julian called out to the woman hanging in midair outside the 2nd floor window. "Land on your feet and you'll be alright, dammit!"

"Shut your trap!" Celine yelled back in a panicky voice, and then murmured to herself. "What is it with you people and heights..."

Celine's legs continued to flail about in the air as she struggled to make a decision -- jump down, or climb back in and brave the squishy corpse of the monster they had just killed. Julian made it look simple enough, easily hopping out the window and landing with a loud thud. Celine only made it to the pole sticking out of the wall before her fears set in. She was a freaking woman, and why can't people see that women and heights cannot be equated together. This was gonna break one of her nails, or twist her ankle, or she could simply fall to her death from a 2nd floor window...

"Could you just hurry up! Your stunt has apparently caught the attention of a bunch of zombies, over there!" Julian pointed back, and Celine saw 3 zombies, maybe four, she couldn't see clearly in the darkness, shuffling their way towards them, hands already outstretched, eager to grasp onto warm flesh.

She looked back down at Julian and saw that he had his hands outstretched. How the hell was a teenage boy gonna catch a grown woman? Whatever the case, she braced herself for impact, but even before she could get ready, her sweaty hands slipped off the iron pole. She let out a relatively loud 'WHOA!' before falling and collapsing directly on top of Julian.

All Julian saw was a figure growing at a sudden rate before he felt something slam into his back. He fell face-flat to the floor and onto his belly, letting out a muffled 'oomph!'. He craned his neck around and saw Celine sitting on him with a dazed look on her face.

"Wow, that was some ride..." Celine said, smiling a little.

"Right. Now you could...like...get OFF me." The zombies were only a few feet away and Celine still had the nerves to enjoy her fall. Or, maybe, she enjoyed landing on him. A soft-landing, one would say.

The moaning from the zombies snapped Celine out of her daze, and she got up on the spot, adding more pressure to Julian's back. Tolerating the pain, he staggered to his feet and they both shot off in the opposite direction, legs acheing from the constant running. Julian heard one final moan from the zombies behind them before they turned the corner, losing them completely. However, more zombies started to make their way out into the open, so they couldn't stop yet. Julian wasn't made for long-distance running, but his determination and adrenaline fueled his body, giving him the energy he needed to sprint if the need arises.

Celine, on the other hand, was taking it even better than he was. She paced herself, and even in the dim light, Julian could hardly see any drops of sweat trickling down her smooth face, whereas he himself was starting to sweat like a pig.

Guess there's more to her than meets the eye. Indeed, Celine was a marvellous yet slightly secretive individual. Refusing to tell him what she was doing in the newspaper building already turned some of Julian's warning lights on in his head. Why should he care now? Time, as they say, will reveal all. He only feared HOW her secret would be revealed, if any.

As they ran, the monotonious scene poked at his nerves. For almost an entire day, he saw nothing but wrecked cars, dead bodies (including both motionless and walking bodies) and a whole lot of blood. People say that constantly staring at the same thing will definitely make you go crazy, and Julian started to think that it was true. When was all this going to end before he loses his sanity?

After I get to my father, everything will change for the better. Just, keep it that way God. Please...

Julian laughed silently at himself for thinking like that. He wasn't exactly a strong believer, perhaps strong enough only to give thanks when something miraculous happened to him. Where was God now? They were in a city of living dead, where one can probably say that the souls of hell have risen from the burning depths and possessed the dead people. No shining light or undying faith was going to save them. Only by instincts, and by his guns, would Julian even hope to see the light of day again.

Finally, after outrunning a dozen zombies and sweating his guts out, the huge, ancient building of the RPD loomed into view. From afar, Julian could see that it still looked alright, could already picture opening the front doors and being greeted by several well-armed cops. Still, sure, the building looked fine on the outside, save for the column of smoke that was floating into the sky from the roof, but who can be certain about the inside?

"Come on, time's a wastin'!" Celine gestured at him, obviously impatient to get inside the RPD.

Together, they jogged till they reached the front gates, which hung wide open. On both sides of it, stood several slouching zombies, all of which, upon hearing their arrival, stood up straight and started towards them, their skeletal hands outstretched and mouths moaning. Some of the zombies were dressed in normal casual clothing, but others were in police uniforms. This could only suggest one thing.

The RPD had been lost.

But if they weren't going to get inside, they would be on the dinner menu. Even though more dangers could await them inside, they at least had to try. The RPD, after all, was his one-and-only pit stop anyway.

"Oh crap. Front doors, take out only those necassary!" Julian shouted at Celine.

"Who are you to-" Celine started but Julian had already dashed forwards, fresh new adrenaline flushing into his body. He shot 2 zombies in front of him, catching one in its head and the other in its chest, and reached the front gates, whereby he fired at the 2 zombies standing right in front of the front entrance. Behind, Celine took out another 3 and yelped when a zombie lunged at her, missing narrowly by an inch.

Julian ran in front and slammed into the double-doors, literally collapsing onto the ground when it opened. Celine almost made it through, but somehow, one of the zombies had managed to squeeze itself between the doors as Julian struggled to close it. However, it was politely greeted by the black nozzle of Celine's gun before slumping to the ground. Julian shut the doors and locked it, stepping backwards when the constant pounding and moaning of the zombies started only a few seconds after. Wiping the sweat off his brow, he turned to Celine who was also panting.

"That was close..." He said.

"Sure. But one more thing," Celine frowned and put her hands up to her hips. "next time, you do NOT command me to do anything, got it?"

Julian gave her the 'Whatever...' look, not wanting to waste time argueing with her, and turned towards the lobby of the RPD.

And was only partially surprised at seeing the massacre which lay in front of him. It then confirmed that they were going to have a rough time in the entire building. In this kind of situation, knowing that the only 'sanctuary' in the entire city was completely wasted sure helped him in the confidence sector.

Bodies of both men and women, cops and civilians, lay dispersed throughout the lobby, all of which had bullet holes in their heads, much to Julian's relief. The blood, though, had slicked its way around. In puddles, or trailing down the slopes on either side of the lobby, it stunk up the entire area. Julian cringed his nose, desperately wanting out of here. Or, at least, somewhere where it didn't smell of dried blood. Is there no single place in this city now that was still kind to their noses?

"Aw man, not here to." Celine sighed. "Listen, I got to go look for something. You go do your stuff, and we meet back here in fifteen regardless."

"Now you're commanding me?" Julian retorted.

"Just shut up and do what I say, kid." A humph was all Celine got from Julian before she turned to her right and walked through the door which lead to the east wing. The door creaked to a close, and Julian was alone again.

Great. Alone, low on ammo, unsure of what horrors are awaiting me. This couldn't get any better.

Julian had only been here twice so far -- once to apply for his IC, and another was because Andrew had gotten into some trouble, and he begged Julian to come and get him out. As such, he vaguely remembered that the night-duty room was somewhere on the east wing. He would go there later, since he didn't particularly want to interrupt on Celine's secret job. Right now, he would search the other rooms branching off from the main lobby first. Carefully manuvering his way across the sea of bodies, he entered the double wooden doors on his left. Inside, the room was well furnished, looking as if it hadn't even been touched since the outbreak occurred. There was a receptionist window along the right wall, and a whole bunch of desks and drawers sticking out from the left wall. In the middle of the room, stood a circular stand, on it rested a flower vase, its leaves still shining a healthy green. The marble floors were unstained, gleaming a fluoroscent white. After seeing the hellish state of the city, this would have to be considered a paradise on earth.

Figuring that it wouldn't hurt to be a thief now, Julian began to rummage through each of the drawers. Some were locked, much to Julian's disappointment, others had nothing inside but useless papers. So far, all he managed to find was a box of shotgun shells, which he shoved into his pocket in case he stumbled across that magnificient weapon.

Thinking about the shotgun brought him back to the image of Andrew and Desmond. He wondered what they were doing right now, what they were going through. Honestly, a part of him wanted to just scream out loud, to release all his anger and guilt at leaving them behind, but he controlled himself, determined not to lose his sanity at such times. He had to be strong. He had to survive and see them again, once he made it out of the city. Dieing now would be letting his friends down, especially what they had gone through together.

Julian walked back out and proceeded to the counter. He passed by the statue of a nymph holding a water jug, and it struck him how elaborate this place was. Mansion-like, weird statues, brown walls and doors, and the last time he heard, there were reports of secret passages being found in the building. He wondered what kind of architect was employed to design such a building.

The computer was still running, its loud humming suggested that it had been on for quite some time. On the screen was a bunch of names which Julian read out to himself.

"Transport to next shelter -- Officer Kevin Ryman, Officer Rita..."

Nothing interesting here.

"Transport to Raccoon University -- George Hamilton, Yoko Suzuki, Alyssa Ashcroft..." Julian stopped and stared at the screen.

Alyssa Ashcroft? Did Celine ever said she had a sister? Or maybe, that was the reason why she wanted to come here... I better tell this to her when I see her again.

Julian flicked the monitor off. Looking up, he decided to explore the 2nd set of double doors directly across the counter. Besides, there was still time before he had to meet up with Celine in the lobby, assuming she WAS going to come back. Thus, confident in his timing, Julian pushed open the doors, oblivious to the trail of blood at his foot.

A long hallway stretched out in front of him, turning left at the end. There was a door on the right, and another further down. Furthermore, the 1st door was slightly ajar, as if beckoning him to enter. Shuddering at such thought, Julian stepped forward, pushing the door open.

And then he saw it. The room was meant to be some sort of break room, where tired officers could come and shake their legs for a while. Everything was as it should be, excluding the huge puddle of blood in the middle of the room. Spreaded out in a spatter, Julian cringed at the thought of someone bleeding out to such an extent. Then, something shiny caught his attention, beside the puddle of blood.

It was a Browning HP handgun, the exact same that Celine used. From the knowledge he gained in classes, the Browning packed more punch than his standard handgun, at the cost of having a slightly higher recoil. It was a marvel that Celine was still so graceful using it, seeing her accuracy when they were fighting the Reacher. Julian decided that he would switch his handguns for the HP. A couple of minutes of transferrin bullets and he was done, now satisfied with the slightly heavier metalweight in his hand.

This should take care of any idiot who tries to eat me...

With his pockets almost full from carrying handgun as well as shotgun rounds, Julian took his time checking out the break room. There were several half-eaten donuts laying on the table, which Julian wasn't very inclined to touch, a hint at how sudden things happened.

It was true though. Just 2 days ago, he was happily attending classes, catching up with friends, whistling at pretty girls, doing what almost every sterotypical teenager does. Then, all his work, his life, everything around him, all changed dramatically within one night. Luckily, his family members was still in New York. His mother sent him to Raccoon because life looked promising there, away from all the cheating and ridicule he had experienced in New York schools.

Then, there was his father, who was probably still waiting for him to come and save the day. A day had already passed and he was no where near the labs yet. How long could a normal human survive while being tortured and without food or water?

No. He once again told himself that he still had time. Steven won't give up that easily.

He didn't know how long he spent reflecting on all that had happened. It was foolish to do that now, what's done is done. Only thing left is to kick the ass of anything that tries to piss him off. Or, eat him.

Regathering what hope remained in him, Julian turned and walked out of the room. He decided that he should check out the rooms further down. Who knows what his search would turn up?

Maybe a grenade launcher, or a particle cannon, or some kick-ass disintergrater... Oh yeah, you just keep-

THUMP!

Julian whirled around, back towards the door which lead back to the main lobby. The loud effect didn't repeat itself, but it sounded like someone jumped down from the 2nd floor and landed hard on the legs. What made it worse, was that Julian didn't exactly close that door properly, it was still swaying slightly on its hinges.

"Err...who's there? Celine?" Julian's voice trembled.

Just then, a hand shot out and grabbed the side of the door. Julian took a few steps back at seeing the blood-soaked hand.

Wait, that's not blood, that's the colour of its skin!

He was right. The skin colour was of a sickening crimson red. His thoughts suddenly drifted to Ashton's mutation, recalling how rage-filled his face had been, completely red, remembering how hard it had took them to kill him when he turned phsyco.

The door slowly creaked open. But that was enough for Julian to turn tail and run for what he was worth, even as the door behind suddenly exploded open, an enormours roar echoeing in the narrow hallway.

X-------X-------X

"Ugh, what the hell is this thing...?" Desmond gagged as he stared at the enormous carcass.

"I don't know, and I don't want to know. Think this was where those gunshots we heard earlier occurred, which means..." Andrew trailed off.

They had been jogging for a while and wanted to stop for a rest. That was when they caught sight of the dead creature. It was huge, with several tentacles branching out from where its lower abdomen would be. The entire body was riddled with bullets, plus it was smoking too, making it look like whoever who fought it wanted not only to kill it, but mutilate the body as well.

"That Julian was here?" Desmond finished his sentence. "But I don't think he could've caused this much damage by himself..."

"As long as we know that he's still alive and runnin', it's possible. Come on, we still have some distance to cover."

How the heck did something like this come into existence anyway? Andrew thought. All of a sudden, his thoughts drifted to his father. Amidst the chaos, Andrew didn't know why he chose only now to think about his father. Something inside him told him that his father had something to do with what happened in Raccoon City, but he didn't think it was possible. Earlier that year, Philip said that he was going to be overseas for the rest of the year, so he couldn't have anything to do with this. Could he?

Andrew brushed the thought aside. His father wouldn't lie to him about anything, neither would he unleash a deadly virus into the very city his son was living in.

Leaving the rotting carcass of the monster behind, they continued down the path that would take them to the RPD. Desmond didn't think it was such a good idea to simply take a stab in the dark and head towards the RPD, but Andrew knew that the RPD was along the way to the lab, so it would make sense that Julian stop by. They wound their way around trashed cars and debri to avoid the zombies, wanting to conserve the little ammo they had left, until the enormous RPD loomed into their view. Their hopes rose for a short while, until they saw the problem at the front gate.

A group of zombies were banging their hands against the front entrance, moaning loudly. Outside on the field, many other zombies were loitering around, some already turning towards them.

"Quick, the stairs!" Andrew yelled.

They dashed ahead through the gate and immediately ran off to their left. Andrew noticed that there were already some dead zombies lying on the ground. Good sign, for it showed that Julian was inside. At the bottom of the stairs, Andrew spotted a small duct that he could barely fit into, and it probably lead to some area in the RPD.

Hell, anywhere would be fine, as long as we can avoid being zombie chow!

He impatiently gestured for Desmond to crawl in 1st, and turned towards the top of the stairs. Already, some zombies were starting to make their way down the stairs. Andrew didn't think they were smart enough to climb up or down stairs, but if they simply tripped and fell all the way down, he was going to have a problem.

And true enough, the zombies began to trip and tumble their way down. Even after such a fall, they sluggishly stood back up and began to stumble their way towards Andrew. As such, he turned and dove into the duct, cramming himself into the small passageway to safety and leaving the haunting moans of the zombies behind.

X-------X-------X

"Ah damn, it's not here too!" Celine exclaimed to herself, thrusting her arms into the air.

Her search of the night-duty room hadn't been too fruitful, obviously, and the messy state of the room only added to her frustration. She had earlier skipped the entire east office because the night-duty room seemed to be the most obvious location to search in. Now she regretted not searching there first.

Heck, I'll check that bloomin' office later. Better see what's in the prison first.

Flinging a bunch of useless documents into the wall, she stomped her way out of the room. Her desperate ransacking only turned up an extra clip for her gun, nothing else. Not even a little notebook with directions pointing her to where to look.

Nearing the end of the stair railing, she thought she spotted movement to her right, and immediately whipped her handgun in that direction, down the long hallway she just took. The 'movement' she thought she saw was only the twitching body of the dead Licker that lay in the middle of the hallway.

Initially, when she saw the carcass when she entered the hallway, time literally froze for a few seconds, flashes of memories sweeping through her mind as her eyes widened and her anger intensified. She recalled the blood, the gunfire, the screaming of her helpless nephew as a Licker tore him apart like a fucking rubber toy. It was a pity this Licker was already dead when she came, otherwise she could vent out her anger on it by tearing it to pieces, just as it did to her 10-year old nephew.

Celine felt a tear suddenly roll down her left cheek, and she hastily wiped it away. There was no-one watching, no point in making herself look good. But she wasn't a crying or emotional person. It would deem her as a weak-minded individual, something which she absolutely hated. After witnessing the death of her nephew right in front of her eyes, she had to be strong. She had to get out alive and spread the word about what happened in Raccoon. Whoever did this will definitely pay.

She tip-toed her way down the stairs and found herself in yet another long, dull hallway.

"Geez, does this place revolve entirely around narrow walkways!" Celine grumbled to herself.

Proceeding down the hallway and turning right at the junction, she continued to grumble to herself until she reached the underground garage. It was funny, though. No zombies were seen along the entire way, only dead ones that had a pretty hole in their heads. Seems like someone already cleared the building.

Huh, some luck at last.

She was so engrossed in thanking her luck that she didn't see the 2 people standing near the small hole, until they trained their guns towards her when she suddenly strolled in happily. In an instant reflex, Celine responded in kind.

A few moments passed with both parties staring into each other's barrels. It appeared that the 2 people she was aiming at were only teenagers. However, it WAS kinda funny to see one holding a standard handgun and the other with a Remington 12-gauge shotgun, especially with her only holding a Browning handgun.

"Who are you?" Celine demanded.

"An...Andrew Jacobs. This here is Desmond. Now may I ask who are you?" The slightly-fat one replied, still holding the shotgun high.

"I'm Celine, and that's all you need to know. What are you doing here anyway?" She lowered her weapon, and saw them do the same.

"Um...we came here looking for someone. Have you seen a-" Desmond started.

Somehow, Celine couldn't control herself. Something told her that these were the 2 friends that Julian said he left behind, back when they were still at the newspaper office. "You mean Julian Lias?" She interrupted. "Sure, I've seen him."

She saw Andrew's eyes light up upon hearing her words. "Really? Where?"

"All I can say is that he is in this building, we just split up a while ago. Speaking of which..." Celine trailed off. It was almost 15 minutes since she left the main lobby. She should be getting back, especially since now there were 2 extra teenagers she had to babysit. It would be better if she dumped them with Julian so that she could check out the prison area.

Then, as if on cue, a distant roar could be heard in the oil-filled air of the garage, followed shortly after with several gunshots.

Oh man, not again...!

Reading each other's minds, all 3 of them dashed towards the door Celine came from. She could only pray that Julian hadn't gotten himself into a very bad monster situation.