Resident Evil 2: Living Nightmares
Well here's the second chapter, I only got One Review but I don't mind. As I said I'm taking liberties with the layout and plot since it's my Cut of the story. Opinions, questions and reviews are always welcome - actually their needed.
-II-
Joshua
He'd not been an idiot at any part of his life…or maybe he had – it was a matter of perspective…it always was. He loaded the gun again and blew the top off the zombie woman's head. He was a damn good shot since she was across the hall from him. He moved along the corridor and stopped. There was a body on the floor, he kneeled down beside it.
Sharp stabs and tears. Lacerations unlike knives or claws. Black feathers… he was pecked to death, Joshua thought, Alfred Hitchcock would be impressed or terrified – possibly both.
As he rose he heard a rapid flapping. "Shit" he moaned and broke into a run, the crows burst through the window, shrieking, flapping and causing havoc around him, they were carnivorous and cannibalistic, when one crow crashed down it was devoured by a comrade or five. The rest flew at Joshua, he fired over his shoulder the urge to run was too great – he sped around the corner andkept running with determination. He threw himself through the door and kicked it shut.
Frantic scratching was coming from the other side but it gave up. Joshua picked himself up and looked around. With grim determination he walked across the heliport. "HEY!" the officer aimed at Joshua then realized that the boy was alive.
The officer was overweight and carrying a heavy rifle. "What are you doing here kid?"
"Same question"
"I'm the one with the rifle" the guard said.
"Fine. I'm looking for the mayors daughter, Felicity"
"She's with the chief, go back the way you came and take the other passage, y'know from the Secretaries door, then take the door on the left hand wall…better get them all out of here…there's a chopper coming!"
"Hn" it was more then a breath out, more then a smirking short laugh…it was a manifesto of how the man was doomed. Joshua had a sense of these things… he could tell when a person was about to die…he had been able to do it all his life…he wasn't able to sleep without heavy sedation because of it.
Because, when he slept the things in the shadows came out to play.
Shaking off the feeling Joshua looked over the officer. "Well Officer…"
"Burgess" was the reply.
"Well officer Burgess, stay safe…I have to do something" he walked down the steps.
"There are zombies all around there!" called the man.
"Aren't there always?" snorted Joshua quietly. He shot the zombie as he walked down the steps…they were slow but numerous, their strength lay in their numbers – they were easy to take apart. He dived between to zombies and let them tear each other apart as he landed in a crouch, he rolled aside from a lurching shape and fired a shot into the zombies head from a low angle and then sprinted towards the caretakers hut. "Police Master Key" he murmured as he examined the rack keys – the zombie rose up behind him…it shuffled forwards.
Joshua spun around, one of his guns slapped off its side, the zombie backhanded him against a wall, the weapons skittered away and Joshua had to grab the zombies wrists and put a foot on it's chest to keep it at bay. "Get…OFF!" he snarled. He was getting annoyed now…there was a squelch and the zombie was flung across the room leaving on arm behind. Joshua stood up and walked forwards. "This should be legitimate therapy" he snapped. He swung down hard, the splat noises of the zombie's body being brutalized by its lost limb. "So. Much. Fun. To. Pummel." Joshua snarled.
He blinked and rubbed the bridge of his nose and then took a valve handle from a hook on the wall as well as the keys, he stuffed them into his pack and picked up his guns. Joshua strode swiftly out into the sticky night air. It was relatively humid – damn – he was hoping it wouldn't be. It was nasty when it was humid. He tucked the keys into his jacket breast pocket and climbed the steps. He'd heard the rotor blades a while ago…now he saw Burgess.
"Over here! Over here!" Burgess was shouting to the pilot. Joshua shuddered. The Zombies bore down on Burgess, he tried to fire but the woman dragged him down and sank crooked teeth into his throat, filling her mouth with his blood. His bullets razed the air.
"Burgess! BURGESS! LOOK OUT!" Joshua shouted. He was too late. The Zombies bore down on Burgess, he tried to fire but the woman dragged him down and sank crooked teeth into his throat, filling her mouth with his blood. His bullets razed the air. The chopper spun into a tailspin and crashed through a wall, straight onto the zombies. One of them ambled out on fire. Joshua walked past and shot it as an afterthought.
"Damn" he cursed.
Claire
"Okay, the problem is that the security locks are down" Marvin explained. "We have to unlock them out in the lobby to gain full access to the entire station". Gunshots rang out from a distance. "We're not the only humans around" he murmured. "We should get the chief and Ms Rockwell as well…he knows this station, he should know where to go to get us out of here".
"That guy always gave me the creeps" Sarah muttered. "He was just - unnerving"
Marvin wrapped a bandage around his injured arm apparently grazed by a knife. "Yeah well he's our best hope for getting away since he knows this place so well"
"Where is the lock control?" Claire asked as she loaded up her pistol.
"Lobby" responded Marvin simply.
"It's through there" elaborated Jim. "Marvin has the key all you need is to unlock the doors and we can move on"
"Do we really want to?" murmured Sarah. "Who knows what else is lurking out there?"
Jim opened the door for them. Claire stepped out and Marvin followed, they moved slowly across the Lobby, watching for overhead dangers as they did. Claire spotted movement and raised her pistol to fire – the boy didn't seem to notice her, instead he ran through a door on the upper, opposite side of the hall. Claire frowned. "And there we have a survivor" she murmured.
Marvin slipped his key into the control box and tapped the keys on the console. Clicks resounded off the eerily silent halls. "And we're in" he breathed.
"And whatever was in is out" Ben muttered as they stepped out into the main hall again… The developing room caught his eye. "I need to develop film" he said.
"Sorry? What of? Your vacation?" Sarah exclaimed.
"No" he snapped. "I need to find out what a guy I knew had…before he was eaten by freaky zombie dogs!" Ben shuddered at the memory and Claire nodded in understanding.
"I'll stay with him" Jim said. "We can meet up at the STARS office, that's easy to find"
"Done" nodded Marvin. "Get in any trouble – shout loud"
"Hope someone hears us then" mumbled Ben.
They split up to go up the stairs or through the dark room door and the first group progressed down the hall slowly listening for undead moans or decrepid shuffles… but all was silent.
Until the scream, shrill and full of fear, bursting from behind a door. The group burst into the hallway. Leon fired first; the shotgun blast blew the zombie away, the little girl ran down the hall. Claire moved quickly – she saw a black shoed foot disappearing through the grate by a door. A locked door. "Wait!" Claire shouted…but either the girl didn't hear her or didn't trust her…
Claire punched the door and looked over her shoulder. Leon looked at her – she walked past him to the STARS office.
Ben
Ben examined the shots as they developed. "Okay" he said. "Done – let's go meet the others". Jim nodded as he reloaded his pistol.
"Sure thing – not to say your company isn't sparklin' but – y'know" he shrugged. "I miss the chicks"
"You're not the only one" muttered Ben.
They stepped out onto the stairs…slowly they advanced up the steps, their pistols were primed and ready – but nothing leapt from the shadows at them. They reached the STARS office without any trouble…except for that brought by the silence…the encompassing silence.
Joshua
Joshua groaned as he stared at the burning hall, the wreckage was burning, it blocked the door to Irons' office. Thankfully he was able to slip through a crack in the wall that led to the store room. He sneezed – the dusty room was filled with canvas covered objects. Inspection of them revealed sadistic artworks.
A letter rested on a crate. Joshua took it out. He crunched a pill between his teeth as he read what it said:
To Chief Irons,
The $100,000 dollar payment has been expressed in the form you
Requested two paintings (The Hell of Woman and Impaled Witch by
Dietrich Solheim) purchased by Dr A. Birkin last week (2nd week of
August) as payment for your handling of the situation last weak
Annette woill be our relay should she be required
Dr W. Birkin
Annette had been like a mother to Joshua…well insofar as a prominent female figure that didn't vanish after a month in the lab could be like a mother. So…she'd been doing business with Fat'n'Ugly, what about?
Joshua pushed the note into his breast pocket and buttoned it. He was dressed in grey-black denim that blended into the shadows very well. He was invisible to the sub-part eyesight of the zombies in darkness.
He edge back out the fissured wall and made his way back towards the roof. If there's another way in there should be some sort of answer on the roof where the crash happened.
He pushed open a mesh grate marked Water Pressure control. An idea formed in his head – he remembered a prank a few weeks ago he'd planned to do it to really get Irons in a state…he locked the handle into place and started to turn it hissed and the water tank overhead moaned, it had serious stress issues as Joshua recalled.
One more turn and the water erupted – a waterfall splashed down onto the wreckage dousing the flames – the hiss rose up and the smell of melted rubber, scorched flesh and burned metal swept through the breeze. Joshua walked over to the chopper and looked around. It was heavily burned but there was one patch that haddn't been burned or shot. An ID tag hung from the roof, it was a little worse for the wear but it was legible enough.
"A pilot from Umbrella?" Joshua murmured. "Who sent him?" he checked the information – there was an address for place of work on the tag. The library would be able to tell him more about that…
Claire
The medical bag was on a desk in the corner, Claire was grateful to whoever left it. She pulled it on over one shoulder and looked at the others. Some ammo had been left around and Leon had found a shotgun and grenade launcher in a steel cupboard. Now he was examining a desk.
"Find anything?" Claire called. The dusty-blonde head jolted up and he dropped the book he was holding. "What?"
Leon handed her the diary. "The name inside is Chris Redfield" he said quietly.
Claire blinked for a few moments and then nodded.
"You need space?" Marvin asked.
"For a moment or two…yes" Claire nodded – she had an overwhelming sense of dread in relation to the diary unless it could tell her where Chris was. She leafed through the notes he had left.
July 4th
Joshua West has really put his neck out this time – Irons is fuming over the new
prank with the creamed corn and his car – well it really smelt nasty. Wesker was
impressed though and everyone felt it was what the pervert deserved. He was
feeling up Rebecca until Wesker wrenched him off before I did – she didn't file
a case though, no one would even look at it. I think I'll investigate the chief
a little on my own…
Claire leafed through again to the last entries in the book. She read and reread them and breathed out a sigh of relief. Her brother was out of the city…but Umbrella Corp was obviously not to be taken lightly…
Forgive me Claire…what did you do Chris? I could forgive you anything! She shut the book and tucked it into the satchel on her hip along with the medical files.
"Hey! Fax!" Sarah said, the machine near the door was whirring away and Sarah plucked the end product from the tray. "It's for Chris Redfield. Re: Brian Irons…oh…oh God" she paled as she red the notes. Everyone moved in, reading the script.
Claire shuddered. If the allegations of assault, brutality, animal torture and general sadism were true (never mind the rape accusations) this man was Hannibal Lector on the wrong side of the glass!
"The Mayors daughter is with him" whispered Marvin. "Felicity Rockford…he could… she's a petite girl she couldn't…he'd be stronger"
"Then we have to hurry and get to him" Leon said. "I don't want to believe this… but it looks like I have to…expect the worst of Chief Irons"
"The man always seemed a little off" Jim said. He and Ben had joined them, they explained what Ben's film had revealed. The outbreak of the virus had begun on the outskirts and worked its way in primarily around the waste disposal region of the city. With a shudder Ben held out the photo proof.
"That little girl is trapped out there" Claire said. "Let's try and find her"
"I found the key" Ben said with a smile. "On the desk up there…it's a master key"
"Hallelujah" sighed Sarah. She paused and looked at the key. "No its not…it's a semi-master key it opens certain doors…we can only hope it'll open that one. Irons has the only Master Key I know of!"
Ben looked crestfallen that his assumption had been incorrect but they left the office and headed for the door. The key clicked in the lock and the door opened. The zombies lurched out. Leon hit one aside with his elbow and then shot it as it fell. Marvin was slammed off a wall by a burly one but Sarah shot it four times in the head. Jim fired both barrels of a shotgun into three close-standing zombies.
Ben fired off his pistol into the zombies torso then kicked it over. He stomped on its head – the skull shattered like an egg spilling useless brains out. Claire impaled two zomies through the face with arrows from her bow gun – the arrows were effective, the force knocked the weakened necks back and cause heads to fall off or severed the head from the spine decapitating them without tearing the neck tissues.
Finally the things lay dead.
"That was close" Leon murmured.
Marvin groaned, he'd hit the doorpost pretty hard, there was blood in his hair – they helped him up and brought him towards the nearby door to the library. "Hang on" Claire exclaimed as she pulled some green herbs from a bot nearby. "These are handy" she said. "They help stem bleeding and aid the healing process."
"Witchdoctoring?" Ben smirked.
"Night courses in Organic Medecines. These are rare plants that became popular for garden boxes and started to spread in the early 80's. Now they're everywhere –good thing too some variations are fast acting poison cures" she added.
Jerk
Ben shrugged and held the door open to the library. They entered the room and the creaky wood shrieked under foot. There was movement. Jim wheeled around and fired. The boy dived forwards into a roll as one of the upper level book shelves exploded. He pivoted and fired with both guns forcing the survivors to duck for cover as he made good his escape over the banisters onto a bookshelf, he dropped down to the floor and slammed the door onto the second floor passage behind him.
"Well there you have it – a survivor – with guns" Ben muttered.
"Come on let's lie Marvin down and treat his wounds" Claire said as she opened the medicine satchel and took out some bandages. She found the injury, a relatively small but bloody gash, and tended it, she put the herbs she'd collected into a small pestle and mortar the medic had carried (she'd had foresight though it was flecked with pink) she dabbed disinfectant on the cut and then added the herbs. Marvin sighed in relief as she applied the bandage and tidied her kit up. "Those herbs work" Marvin said.
Claire smiled proudly and looked around for anyone else needing medical attention.
"Things are looking up" Jim said. "We're doing okay-"
The lights flickered and dimmed. "What was that?" the blackness coated them all.
"Power's out" Sarah sighed.
"The old auxiliary should kick in soon-there it is" Bob nodded with a gruff voice. "But that cuts power to the control doors, security system…we're losing whatever defence this place had…we need to turn it back on"
"Marvin needs to relax before doing anything else" Claire stated.
"Agreed" Bob nodded. "We should get him to somewhere with less places for zombies to get in…"
"Clock tower?" Marvin suggested.
"Nah, no escape readily available" Bob dismissed.
"The chief's secretarial office?" Sarah supplied.
"Yeah…that'll do it's close by and we can get to the roof by the hallway" Bob said. "Man, this is more complicated then Nam."
They followed Jim and Sarah out onto the balcony around the lobby. Leon stopped at an emergency ladder. "Which way is it to the basement?" he asked.
"Not far" Jim said. "Why?"
Leon pushed the down button on the control box and the ladder descended. "If I go down this way I can cut the journey back in half – all I need is directions"
He is NOT going alone.
Jim nodded. "I'll take you, we need the power turned on, we have to go – there's no alternative if the security doors and windows are unlocked the zombies might get in and overwhelm us totally."
"I'm going too" Claire declared. "Me, Leon and Jim will meet you back in the office"
"Okay" Sarah opened the small bag she had on her back. She handed them a radio. "Keep in contact in case something comes up." There was a nervous tone in her voice.
"We'll be with Marvin" Bob said. "Once he's up and running we meet up and get moving"
Leon was already on the ladder. "We'd better hurry"
They climbed down and the door shut across the hall as the others found their hiding place.
Sherry
Sherry hid in the darkness. She heard her daddy's voice but she was too afraid to call out, her throat felt tight. The 12 year old clutched the locket tightly to her chest and shivered.
Joshua
There was a chopper overhead. Joshua cocked his head to one side and listened. The guy who'd shot at him had forced him back to the Bird Corridor…he was about to head for the wreckage and try climb over or through it…
Something crashed down. The building shook and Joshua instinctively pulled away from the door as debris crashed down, blocking it. There was a hydraulic hiss from down the corridor…then a booming footstep.
Joshua checked his pistols and advanced slowly. He could feel his heart go into a drummer solo. The fist smashed through the wall, it grabbed at Joshua's hair but he pulled away. The massive grey fist clenched a few times and then pulled through the rest of the plaster on the wall. The giant rounded the corner.
"You are a very big boy" Joshua murmured. "Hey – you wouldn't be interested in running for the governor of California would'ya?"
The response was a punch to the chest. Joshua had always been a tough boy – the punch would have done a lot of damage to anyone weaker – but it just hurled him down the hall to skid to a halt.
There were splinters in his palms but Joshua ignored them. One of his guns was missing – he spotted it near some debris. Joshua caught his breath and fired at the monster, it stumbled back and gave no sound. Joshua dived for his gun as the monster approached. He fired both weapons again and rolled aside as it stomped down.
"Geez! What freaking vitamins do you use?"
The hand grabbed him by the head and slammed him into a wall.
"Beef---steroids are not…for hum-yum-human consumption" murmured Joshua. He was hoisted up again. Then he swung both arms up and plugged his pistols fully into the monsters chest, neck and head. It groaned and fell to its knees, Joshua scrambled away as it collapsed to its knees. He took a deep breath and leaned against a wall. He gingerly stepped over the monster and headed for the door.
There was movement behind him. He turned around – the hand swung at him from the side – his body hit the window and he fell through in a hail of glass with a cry. The descent was swift. He crashed down in a dumpster.
Mr X glared at the window then turned and punched open the door to the roof. More debris crashed down behind it sealing it even more so then before.
Leon
The trio nudged the door open. Three zombies were eating a woman. They didn't see or hear the armed survivors but the gunfight was short. Edging down the hall Jim pointed to a set of double doors. Claire and Leon nodded, they burst through the doors and opened fire. The bolts knocked some zombies over and prevented them getting up easily. Leon fired his shotgun off and Jim unloaded his magnum.
Claire shut her bowgun down to its compact size and clipped it to her hip. She pulled out her pistol. She finished off a zombie and they looked around.
"Detective office" said Leon as he entered a small office space in the corner. "There's a locked safe"
"The code's 4464" Jim called. The radio crackled. "Yeah?" he answered.
"Uh – bad news guys" Marvin's voice said. "The passage to the chief's office is blocked by chopper wreckage – there was a fire at some point but it's out now…looks like the water tower burst. Problem is nothing short of blasting will get rid of it – and we're low on Semtex. It's also the only hall we can use that I know of"
"Then we're screwed" Claire muttered.
Leon smiled as he read the memo he held. "Not quite listen to this…"
Confistcated materials from an individual of unknown origin
C4 plastique explosive
Detonator
Rifle scope
Sniper Rifle
Electric Torch (x2)
Military rations (4 cannisters)
Damaged binoculars
"Ah but where are they?" Claire asked as she viewed some documents.
"The jail cells, where all the contraband and confiscated stuff gets shoved" Jim answered. "We can get that stuff when we drop down to the generator" he grinned and gave a thumbs up. "Marvin – we may have an answer…see you soon"
"Gods speed" Marvin sighed. "Out."
Leon held up the things he'd recovered from the safe. Some grenades, a map of the building and some clips of ammunition. "This is helpful" he said.
"Come on" Jim nodded. "We'd better hurry, the sooner we get the stuff the sooner we can escape this hell hole".
He opened the door, stepping over a decapitated body and pulling the locks back. They descended into the passage and made their way towards the large doors at the end of the hall. There was stiff silence here…only their breathing gave them peace of mind for a while. They entered the car park, cars that would never be driven…a large prison van was parked close to a wall and the barricade was partially closed.
"We could drive out?" Jim suggested.
Right into zombies and what could safely carry us all?
"No, there are zombies all around the precinct – we'd be suicidal to even try that they could overwhelm the car or truck. Besides the gate controls are fried" Leon pointed at the shattered box by the gate. They walked towards the van.
A shot rang out.
They whirled around – standing before them was a pretty Chinese woman in a tight red top and black pants with dark boots. Her black hair was short and well kept and she had a black jacket with fur lining on the collar. She looked them over.
"Who are you?" Claire asked.
"Who are you?" the woman replied.
"Jim Penn, Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield" Jim said as he indicated them each in turn.
"Ada Wong… I was sure I was going to have to get through this alone" she murmured. "Are there any other survivors?"
"Three others" Leon piped up. She's…pretty his brain stated helpfully. "Anyone you know of?" Ada lowered her gun and walked towards them.
"I saw a teenage boy with guns running about outside earlier – there was a little girl and I'm pretty sure I heard a man and a woman a in another part of the building when I was exploring…but I'm only looking for one person"
"Who?" Claire asked slowly.
"My boyfriend John, he was a technician for Umbrealla's mansion lab – he disappeared – I'm here trying to find someone who was talking to him…Ben Betrolucci a reporter."
"He's safe" Jim said. "We can take you to him if you like." He looked her over with an appreciative look in his eyes. God, this is not a time for ogling her.
"Well that's very kind, I accept, thank you" Ada said. "Why are you down here?"
"We're trying to start the power back up" Leon said.
"But it looks like we have to move that damn prison van" sighed Jim. "Any chance you can help?" Ada nodded. They checked the Handbrake and took it off, then shoved the van as hard as they could to reveal a steel door.
"Let's go" Ada said. They pulled open the doors and descended into the dark sublevels of the hellish police station…
TBC: In the next chapter – Joshua has a few civil words with the crew, Irons says hello, taxidermy is discussed, Mr X insists he won't die, there is shooting, blood and quippery – hope you enjoy this feedback is my lifeblood.
Ciao.
A/N: I understand that I am taking liberties with the lay out and costumes but if I didn't you'd know what to expect. I'm altering it a tiny bit in the plot…sorry.