Chapter 2: The Night stalkers of Arizona Pt 1
I don't own anything. Resident Evil belongs to Capcom and Tomb Raider belongs to Core Design, Crystal Dynamics, and I think Square Enix. The only thing I own is the changes made to the stories of the Tomb Raider games/comics and Resident Evil games/comics/CG movies, the Government branch S.P.E.L.L., the person that has taken over Kathrine Warren's life, and Rose Warren. This story also will be bloody, violent, and have cursing. It's rated T for Teen.
Country: America, State: Arizona, City: Saguaro Wells, Place: Lonely Ridge Bar, Area: Outside on the street, Month: October, Day: Saturday 10th, Year: 1998, Time: 19:19 MST…
In a town this small, things are very slow and relaxed. Neighbors know everybody's business. The good and the bad. Little Gabby Stevens is eight and will be turning nine, but her parents are divorcing. Garth Williams is champion steer wrestler, but he was recovering in the hospital for a massive head injury. Point being, if it happens in Saguaro, everyone knows about it by lunchtime.
So, when people started to vanish into the night after the cattle did a few days ago, it was very noticeable. The sheriff implemented a curfew to try to stop this from happening, but small-town folk don't like being told what they can and can't do. Many wanted to get to the bottom of the disappearances and others started planning on moving away. With how fast gossip spread in a small town, so did rumors.
Some rumors were realistic enough to be true, but others were far too ridiculous to be believed. For the missing people, the most realistic was some maniac had come to their town and was kidnapping people. The most ridiculous was that a Chupacabra or some Native American spirit had taken them. For those who were in the middle, guessed that it was wild animals. Nothing stopped people from wild imagining.
The curfew didn't stop people from going to the best bar in town, the Lonely Ridge, to gather and gossip. The history of the bar was a long one. It had gone through many names over the years and according to the latest owner, the place had been around since the Alamo. Never mind the fact that the oldest person in town could tell you it was built and established in the 1930s.
Two men stumbled out of said bar. One still holding a bottle of beer. The one who looked like a pompous cowboy without the hat looked to the man his was with. He finished off his beer before dropping the bottle on the ground.
"Heard Tommy David been missin' since Tuesday." He said looking both amused and nervous, like he didn't know if the whole thing was a big prank.
The man he was talking to nodded solemnly as his hat cast shadows on his face from the dusk light. "I heard that Rudy Suarez and her boyfriend are missin' now, too." He said looking at the bottle and kicking it over the dusty ground. "Somethin' crazy's goin' on here." His words slurring just a bit.
They walked to their car, they were brothers and lived together to help save money and keep the ranch in the family.
"Them damn gangs from the city are comin', I tell ya!" The black shirt cowboy called out annoyed as he fumbled to pull out the keys to their green ford pickup.
The one in the cowboy hat and 'Garth Rules' t-shirt took the keys as he was the one that was sober and pushed his brother toward the passenger side of the truck. He nodded in agreement. "If I ever get my hands on the creeps, they're—"
They stopped talking at a strange sound. A sound like fabric flapping in the wind. The looked at each other confused then looked up. They gaped at what they saw in the darkening sky.
"What in the hell!?" Yelled the black shirt.
Before them, swooping down and screeching were what appeared to be man-sized bats. Black as coal, faces like gargoyles, wings thin but terrifyingly large on their arms, teeth pointed and dripping with saliva that glinted in light, and taloned feet that were deformed to look more bat-like. The two men screamed as they fell back, trying to get away.
Country: America, State: Arizona, City: Saguaro Wells, Place: Black Umbrella Hidden Mountain Base, Area: Lab, Month: October, Day: Saturday 10th, Year: 1998, Time: 19:21 MST…
"Mission accomplished, Dr. Callos. Two more subjects have been procured." An elderly doctor informed a younger man as he looked up from a screen.
Dr. Callos smiled lightly. "Excellent, Vedley." He spoke. "Call the creatures home."
Vedley nodded and looked back to the computer. Under the label 'Emergency Controls' were four different buttons. Attack, Return to Base, Subdue, and Kill. Vedley pushed the 'Return to Base' one, making it glow red. Outside of their hidden base, speakers started playing a bat call, one that would attract bats to come home. Dr. Callos turned at the sound of dazed moaning.
He smiled as he walked down and between the tables of restrained and dosed up town's folk. All were dazed and confused. Some were crying silently; others were asleep from the stress. All were hooked up to an IV line that moved up to the ceiling and to the other end of the room.
"Looks like you'll have some more company, folks." Dr. Callos mocked. "A few more of you and we can begin the transmutation process." He said as he got to the other end of the lab where several bats were pinned down onto small planks and had similar IV lines going from them and up to meet with the human ones. "Thanks to Umbrella and Trinity, those fools who denied me funding for my dream, will soon be drowning in their own blood." He said darkly as he looked up at the metal box that held the key to the transmutation process.
Country: America, State: Arizona, City: Saguaro Wells, Place: Saguaro Wells Sheriff's Office, Area: Sheriff's Desk, Month: October, Day: Saturday 10th, Year: 1998, Time: 19:25 MST…
"Calm down, Boys." Sheriff Jim Carey said trying to calm the men in his office down.
The men all had weapons on hand like a modern-day village mob. Shotguns instead of pitchforks, Revolvers instead of sickles, flashlights instead of torches. But like a mob, they were all yelling, pointing and ready to fight. They just needed a target, now they had one.
"No!" Yelled on of the men. "We want action!"
"I say we form a posse and scour the hills." Called another as he pumped his shotgun. "Saguaro Wells lost eight good people already."
"No, damn it!" Jim yelled at the mob. "We'll do this the proper way. I'll have no frontier justice practiced in my jurisdiction." He told the men as they quieted down to hear him. "I know everyone's upset, and rightly so." He said stopping the new uproar by raising both hands and raising his voice a bit more. "I just need more time to get to the bottom of this. Go on back home. Now." He made eye contact with each man so they could see that he was serious, and he really was going to try and not just brush them off. The few that still looked angry he gave little nods to indicate that he understood their anger and he was just as angry. One by one, they calmed a little and turned to leave. "All the disappearances have taken place at night, please, stay in your homes come nighttime." He called to them as he looked to the door.
Country: America, State: Arizona, City: Saguaro Wells, Place: Carey Ranch, Area: Back Pasture, Month: October, Day: Saturday 10th, Year: 1998, Time: 19:28 MST…
"Hurry up, girl." Said Wayne Carey as he tried to get his cow to move. "We've gotta get you inside before it gets too much darker."
He hadn't meant for them to be out this long, but he was a teenager, and he was still learning to get the stubborn cow to move.
"All those rumors floating around, I don't want to—"
He stopped at the sound of leather flapping. He turned and whimpered at the sight of the men and women bat creatures that screeched and swooped. He jumped closer to his cow as they surrounded them.
"Just-just stay back!" He yelled waving at them and trying to scare them away.
One dove and grabbed the cow making her bellow out a scream as blood oozed from the talon punctures as she was lifted from the ground. The boy spun around as another one came down to help lift the cow.
"NOT GRACIE!" He yelled in tears as the bat-people flew up.
The others flew at the cow and began to rip her apart with the cow screaming before it abruptly stopping. Blood flew and dripped to the ground. Flesh fell to the grass with entrails that steamed in the cold chill of the approaching desert night. The boy saw one of the creatures turn its head to slowly look at him with blood red eyes and shiny teeth.
Wayne whimpered and turned round to start running. But his vison was blurry from tears that ran from his eyes and down his cheeks. He could only hear his heart pounding in his ears, the sound of his feet hitting the ground, his panting breaths. He felt himself falling to the ground as heavy weight landed on his back. He started to scream, the scream of fear, sorrow, and then pain as the bat creature sank its teeth into his neck, drawing blood.
"HELP ME!" he screamed.
He was partly lucky as truck headlights filled the area. Town's folk jumped from their cars and readied weapons, but plenty were rattled at the scene. The ripped apart cow, the bat creatures, and the boy that one had a hold of.
"Holy shit! What are those things!?" Yelled one of the men with wide eyes.
"They've got little Wayne Carey!" Yelled another. "Let 'em have it!"
With that, the shotguns, handguns and other firearms cracked over the plane. The sound was agony to the vampire bat's ears, the light of the muzzle flashes blinding. The bullets and pellets from the weapons hit a few. The combination drove the creatures off from the mutilated cow and severely injured boy.
Country: America, State: Arizona, City: Saguaro Wells, Place: Saguaro Wells Sheriff's Office, Area: Sheriff's Desk, Month: October, Day: Saturday 10th, Year: 1998, Time: 19:33 MST…
The door banged open loudly. Jim jumped at the sound and was about to yell at the people but then saw the boy the man who'd kicked the door open held. "WAYNE!" He screamed seeing the blood on his son's neck and soaking the man's shirt.
"We saved your son, Sheriff, but just barely." The man told him as he rushed to put his son on the desk. "Some sort of giant bat-monsters was attacking him."
"Is he…?" Jim breathed terrified at the fact that his son was steadily growing pale.
"He should be fine." Said the man, who was a nurse and worked in the town pharmacy. "Looks like he'll just need a couple of stitches to close that wound." He advised as someone grabbed the first aid kit and brought it over to the desk.
Country: America, State: Virginia, City: Arlington, Place: Meadow Brook, Area: Kat's bedroom, Month: October, Day: Sunday 11th, Year: 1998, Time: 04:12 EST…
Kat gasped as she gripped her pillow tightly in her bed. Her eyes scanned around the wall of her bedroom. The darkness in her room seemed to be darker than it should've been. She waited a few moments as her panting breaths calmed down. Then she was able to move. She curled in on herself as she shook her head. This time the nightmare had been seeing Rose and Sherry turned into zombies, trying to kill her on Yamatai. She couldn't kill them, and their small teeth ripped into her. That's when she woke up. She uncurled as she rolled over onto her left side to see her alarm clock.
"Sh-shit…" She shuttered as she sat up, wiping at her eyes, feeling wetness there.
She got up and walked out of her room and into the small hallway. She padded slowly to Rose's room. She swallowed as she carefully turned the knob. In the room sound asleep was Rose in her bed with pink and purple sheets, her bedside lap on with a pink scarf over it to mute the light but still be bright enough to keep the room lit enough so there were no dark corners. Kat sighed as she closed the door. She then walked to the next door, to Sherry's room. She turned the knob slowly and peered into the room. Also asleep, Sherry was in her bed with blue sheets and red pillow. She too had her lamp on and covered. She could see the radio on her desk was on. Soft static could be heard. Once they were settled, they all got walkie-talkies and keep them tuned to 14. So, if anything should happen, they could grab it and shout a warning to the others or just chat if they woke up scared. It has really helped the girls sleep apart in their own rooms, knowing they were just a button push apart. The signal that you're going to sleep was to click the button three times. If you just wanted a check in, you clicked twice, and the others would click back twice.
Kat smiled as she closed the door and felt her body shaking still from the adrenalin. She wasn't tired, she was wide awake now. She left the hallway and went into her room. She looked at her lamp and thought she would do the same later. She changed into some running clothes and put her hair into a braid. She tied her shoes and wrote notes for Rose and Sherry. She put them on the fridge downstairs in the kitchen. She grabbed her phone and keys before walking out the door, locking it, and after some stretches, started a light jog down the street.
Country: America, State: Virginia, City: Arlington, Place: Oak Haven Apartments, Area: Apartment 09, Month: October, Day: Sunday 11th, Year: 1998, Time: 05:21 EST…
Leon groaned as he heard his new phone ringing. He lifted his groggy head from his pillow and looked to his nightstand in the dark. His alarm clock showed the time in red. It wasn't a bad thing that he was waking up now. That alarm would go off in four minutes. But any amount of sleep he got was a treasure to him. He sighed and grabbed the cell phone from in front of the clock. He ran a hand through his tangled hair as he flicked it open and put it to his ear.
"Kennedy." He stated simply as he fought back a yawn.
"We've got a mission for you. It could be something you're familiar with or something new for you." The voice of Agent Adam Benford said calmly as if the man had been awake for hours and didn't need sleep. "You will have Agent Warren as a liaison accompanying you from S.P.E.L.L." He informed. "You'll need to come in for the briefing."
"Yes, sir." Leon nodded as he sat up more and was now fully awake.
"Good." Then the call ended.
Leon stood from his bed and got dressed in something professional and comfortable.
Country: America, State: Virginia, City: Arlington, Place: Meadow Brook, Area: Kitchen, Month: October, Day: Sunday 11th, Year: 1998, Time: 05:21 EST…
Kat stepped through the door and sank to the floor of it after closing it. She was a little tired now. Maybe she could exhaust herself more if she worked on ripping up the carpet of the living room. But then she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. She sighed as she rested her head to the door as she pulled it out and flicked it open.
"Hello, Kat speaking." She said with closed eyes.
"Good morning, Kathrine." Agent Robert Nolan's voice came through. "I hate to wake you up so early, but we've got your first mission."
Kat nodded. "Okay. Let me get the girls up and ready for school."
"Of course. Oh, we'll be meeting at the STRATCOM branch for the briefing." Nolan said.
"Got it, sir." She nodded as she stood. "I'll be there." She then hung up and walked up stairs for a shower.
Country: America, State: Virginia, City: Arlington, Place: STRATCOM HQ, Area: Briefing Room, Month: October, Day: Sunday 11th, Year: 1998, Time: 05:36 EST…
Leon looked up from his seat to see Kat enter the room with Nolan. Kat despite looking clean and professional, still had a look of tiredness about her. She took a seat at the table next to him as he gave her a concerned questioning look. She looked at him and shook her head, signaling they'd talk later. He didn't like it, but they were in a meeting so it would have to wait.
"We're all here then." Benford nodded then opened his briefcase. "This mission is your first for both of you." He said as he pulled out two files. "It's a joint mission from both STRATCOM and S.P.E.L.L. for a reason." He slid the files to the two. "In Saguaro Wells, Arizona, people have been going missing. Some livestock too." He began as Leon and Kat opened their files. "Last night things came to a head. The town's people saw, bat-monsters attacking the Sheriff's son and killing their family cow. They scared the creatures off, but the boy was bitten."
Leon let out a sigh through his nose as he turned the page in his file to see a picture of the son, pale gray and in a hospital bed. The kid looked to be just a couple years older than Sherry.
"What happened to the boy?" Kat asked closing and putting the file down, then cupping her hands on top of it, trying to stop them from shaking.
"He slowly rotted, then turned in the hospital. The medical staff tried to subdue him. Drugs didn't work. They had to restrain him." Benford informed. "His father made the decision for him to be killed this morning."
Kat closed her eyes as she sucked in a breath. After suffering a nightmare involving her girls turning into zombies, this was gonna be a hard case.
"Do we know if it's the T-Virus?" Leon asked as he closed his file as well.
"We suspect it to be so." Benford said. "A sample from the boy is being sent to the labs here, but it'll take a few days to get here and a few more for testing." He leaned on the table. "We cannot wait that long. We are sending the two of you to Saguaro. Find out what this is. Vampires, virus, Umbrella, someone new, we need to know."
Leon and Kat nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Your gear will be given to you in the armory." Nolan said then turned to Kat. "Do you have anything on this?"
She lifted a hand and Leon could see it had a slight tremble. "I don't think so. I would have to look through my journal." She looked at Nolan and knew he had a copy of it, so if he didn't find anything, she may not have known of this event. "This could be something completely different. Not related to T or G-virus at all."
Country: America, State: Virginia, City: Arlington, Place: STRATCOM HQ, Area: Armory, Month: October, Day: Sunday 11th, Year: 1998, Time: 05:37 EST…
Leon finished strapping his new bullet resistant vest on. It was a little lighter than the police one for Raccoon, but not by much. He could definitely move around in it better. He slipped it back off and packed it into a large duffel, no need to fly all the way there in their gear. He looked over to Kat. The pair had changed into more combat friendly clothing. They went with two layers of clothing for the cold of the desert night and the heat of the day. Leon was in grays and blues, Kat in blacks and dark greens. She'd put her hair into a tighter French braid.
"Are you gonna be okay?" Leon asked her as he pulled his riot gloves on.
Kat looked at him as she slipped her vest, elbow, and kneepads into a duffel. "Yeah. I'll be okay." She looked around them a moment before lowering her vice. "Three-year-old me didn't remember this one."
"So, we're blind?" Leon asked her in the same low tone.
Kat nodded. "But hey, we'll feel like the Winchesters." She joked snorting then grimaced. "Shit, the show's not out yet."
Leon snorted. "You'll have to show me the sources of these jokes at some point."
"Oh, I plan to, Leon. The shows just aren't out yet." She assured him. "I think the show Supernatural would become a fast favorite for you."
"We'll see, Kat." He turned to her after putting his kneepads into his duffel. "Ready?"
She nodded as she put on her belt. "Yep. Feels better than the first time I geared up like this." She admitted as she slipped her climbing ax into the duffel with her crossbow in a case on her back.
"I couldn't agree more." Leon nodded. "They are going to fly us into Phoenix then we will drive to Saguaro Wells. Looks like it is a good hour drive there. We will check in with the Sheriff first."