Standard Disclaimer
(A/N: Alright, this may be just a little irrelevant to the whole zombie-killing thing, but this plot does build up to something that will make much more sense at a later point. Nonetheless, it should be fun to read… I hope.)
Chapter 1: The Maze
- Unknown
She stirred. Her fair eyelids parted like forbidden lovers, revealing dark pupils that gradually dilated. For a moment she was extremely confused... where could she have possibly been? Running a hand of fingers through her slightly disheveled hair, she stopped at the back and winced at a sharp pain. There was a swollen bump on the back of her head, only noticeable if felt, yet it was obviously from an injury. Scanning her apparel, she found herself wearing clothing she had never seen before… something like a white, dull sweat suit.
For a moment she reflected. The last thing she had remembered was going to bed in her apartment… sleep had come somewhat quickly… and there was that strange, half-conscious dream. It held a tremendous impact, and then she had lost consciousness. Her eyes slightly widened. It had not been a dream. How could she have let herself be so careless? It had been the night she found out about Chris… that was why. At the thought, the ducts in her orbs produced warm liquid that quickly coated the bowels of her eyes. No, she mused, he would have wanted you to be strong.
The previous night, Jill had been in the middle of researching the Umbrella Corporation's whereabouts. All though they had been shut down, something told Jill to be extremely suspicious. She could call it her woman's intuition, or just distrust for the people who ruined her life. Either way, they were definitely up to something. The phone beside her rang, and she promptly picked it up. "Hello?" she answered casually, hearing slight silence on the other end.
"Ms. Valentine… we have some… bad news… about Chris…"
Back in the strange room, she carefully pulled herself to her feet, groaning and then straining her eyes in a useless attempt to make-out the dark figures in the dwelling. She was in the confinements of a room, yet there was not even a hint of light to draw her attention. Just when she thought she was losing her mind, a hint of feedback could be heard from an origin with no source. Suddenly, the room immediately exploded with light, so that not a single crevice was left in darkness. The woman felt her retinas searing with pain as she used her palms to cover them. It took her several moments, yet she managed to free her eyes…
Within the room was a single mirror. This female was startled to look upon it, before realizing it was just her reflection. Jill Valentine stared back at herself with a look of pure surprise. She seemed so… different now. For some reason, it felt as though she would never be able to smile again… then, she heard him…
"Rise and Shine, children. Nap-time is over." The voice was low, and grumbly, quite like an upset, sadistic kindergarden teacher.
"Where the hell am I!"
Jill's head jerked to face the voice's origin. All around her, there seemed to be others in her exact situation, all dressed just like her. There were two males and two females- not including herself: all of which seemed to express a different generation.
"You may be wondering exactly where you've been planted, yet that is not important at this point in time." Everyone exchanged glances of horror; save for Jill who's eyes were locked on one particular artifact in the room.
"Your objective is simple… stay alive. You will all be navigating through a series of chambers, virtually all of which carry tasks. Fail them, and you get the honor of meeting a good friend of mine… death."
Just with the sound of the word, Jill could feel the shivers working their way up her spine, yet much like her personality, she kept her expression solid and collected. Everyone around her seemed to react in his or her own way, equally terrified. At the silence, Jill threw her eyes around the room in an attempt to absorb even the minor details. The walls were bare and achromatic, much like the walls of an unpainted building. Furniture in the room consisted of the bright, swing lights strung about the ceiling as well as the source for the voice… a small speaker hanging just above the mirror. The exits were clearly the fenced doorways, each containing a number just above it. On the far left, fifty-one, in the middle, fourteen, and on the right, seventy.
"There are three gates in this room, two of which are pulsing with six hundred volts of electricity. Behind the correct one, you will find my favorite outfits of yours. Within this room, you should be able to find a clue leading to which one won't kill you. It's just on the other side. Let the sparks fly." With this, malicious laughter erupted before gently fading away. The group of people exchanged glances once more, this time hesitantly. Before, Jill would have easily taken up control and plotted the challenges one step at a time. Now… there was nothing to motivate her; where would it get her? Back into a ridiculous life surrounded by emptiness. Instead, she exhaled a reluctant sigh and sat down.
Instinctively, one of the men in the room, a young adult looking to be in his late teens quickly approached one of the fences and removed his necklace. The accessory was carved from wood, and he tossed it at the fence. Nothing. Stepping forward, he lifted his hands.
"Stop!" Jill felt her voice rip through the silence. The young man looked at her, a scowling expression written on his face.
"It's the right one!" He exclaimed, furrowing his eyebrows.
"This guy is no amateur. If you don't want to die today, listen to me." Jill replied, reminded of her past dealings with criminals and their tactics. In fact, one of her best friends had been a detective; resulting in a plethora of knowledge she would never get from service to S.T.A.R.S. The young man seemed to contemplate this for a moment, yet he encouraged himself by scoffing and rolling his eyes. Suddenly, he placed a firm hand on the fence… nothing.
"See?" He muttered. As if on cue, his body stiffened and trembled ferociously. Bodily fluids were out of control as his organs were fried with tremendous amounts of electricity. His fair-hued flesh turned darker, into an almost purple type of hue before the voltage struck his heart and ended his life. Blood poured out of his mouth as his lifeless corpse released the fence and dropped to the wooden floor with a loud thump. Everyone was motionless, staring in absolute awe and terror. Jill could only sigh and turn away. The pool of blood was increasing, flooding the crevices between the boards before continuing to spread. It was possible that the pure sight of death had left them all in shock, until one of the younger females screamed and began sobbing hysterically.
"Just get us out of here…" one man pleaded, his voice breaking with desperation. Jill looked up at him, sensing the hope within his eyes and somewhat motivating her. She could only nod, standing once more and beginning to contemplate the message. The clue is in the room, and it's… on the other side? Jill continued musing until her eyes fell upon the small mirror she had sighted earlier. Quickly she marched toward it, looking behind it. There was nothing. Was she thinking too simply? How complex could something like that be?
Her contemplation was suddenly shattered by the sound of the breaking glass of the mirror. Jill whipped around to see the remaining male with his shirt tied around his fist. Stepping back, he looked upon the glassless mirror. Jill mimicked his back-step and glanced with surprise. There upon the wooden board was a message painted in red. "One of you has a number that is truly dear to you. Use it and add the digits to one another. This number will be marked over the door to your temporary safety."
"Anyone have a lucky number?" Jill suddenly questioned, averting her eyes from the board to scan the others' expressions. The one girl was still uncontrollably crying, and Jill could not help but be aroused with sympathy. She was so young…
The others looked at Jill with blank expressions. Apparently they were not feeling lucky enough to remember such a number. "You could try nineteen," one of the older women then stated, looking to Jill with eyes of desperation. Nine plus one is ten. Can't this lady read? She shook her head with frustration, then turning to stare down the message in an attempt to see something past it. Her mind was blank with the exception of one thing. Why isn't this as easy as it seems?
Suddenly, an idea popped into mind. Jill swerved to face the girl crying on the floor. She kneeled next to her, placing a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. "Hey sweetie, just relax, okay? I promise you, you're going to be fine." The young lady glanced up at Jill, wiping away some of her tears before sniffing back the contents in her nose. She reached for something around her neck.
What was it with these people and necklaces? A gold locket emerged in her palm, and on the face was the number seventy-seven. Jill's eyes shone with excitement, thankfully embracing the girl for a few moments before releasing her and heading toward the fence in the middle. With one, swift kick, the gate swung open and Jill marched inside. The room was enveloped in the darkness, yet apparent sensors sparked on a series of lights much like the ones in the previous room. The rest of the group followed her in. A trunk just by the doorway sat quite innocently, and Jill quickly swung its lid open. There, placed on the top, was the outfit she had worn to escape Raccoon City. I thought I trashed this, she mused, tentatively picking it up. Beneath her own clothing were other, unfamiliar articles that struck the others as surprising. Without glancing much deeper into the room, everyone mindlessly changed into their clothing and continued inward.
Within it, the arrangement was much different. This dwelling was at least two times larger, and blocking the victims from their exit was a wall connecting the floor and the ceiling. This wall, however, marked the entrance to something the group could have never expected. A maze of glass walls. Jill received flashbacks of days in carnivals, where she would navigate through the fingerprint-laden walls through a series of sections toward the end. Unfortunately for her, this time it seemed that not only was the glass clean and hardly visible, there would be life risking within it. The maze was composed of two floors, and Jill was sure she would be using both in order to escape. What was the trick, though? What was to stop everyone from getting out alive? Then, it came…
"Well, it seems you have managed to make it through your first, simplistic task, yet this time you may expect some… difficulty. Within the doorways of this maze are a series of invisible laser sensors. If they are tripped, you will be enclosed in a small space in which not only is the oxygen vacuumed out, but also the walls will slowly come together. If this should occur, a timer will be set on the entire maze. If you do not escape within five minutes, consider yourself… crushed. Before you is a stool, and resting on it is a spray. This is a spray that if used will reveal the lines. Don't get yourself pressed in a tight spot!"
Jill felt her stomach drop in pure disgust. Who could be so insanely sadistic? She was ready to vomit, until she managed to regain herself with a deep breath. "If we're going to do this, I need to know your names." Jill suddenly decided, turning to face her companions. One by one, they all introduced themselves. The remaining male was in his late thirties, and went by the name "Aaron." The younger girl from before announced herself as "Anna," and the other woman around Jill's age was named "Cynthia".
"The trick to this is conservation. I'll lead the way through, so all you have to worry about is sticking close. Make sure to listen to anything I say."
Aaron was an extremely cooperative man, and he nodded. Anna seemed quite hopeful with Jill, while Cynthia looked rather redundant.
"Sure," Cynthia uttered, looking contemplative.
Spray can in hand, Jill led them up to the maze's entrance, which was a simplistic doorway surrounded by the outer, glass wall. Surely enough, Jill took a hesitant step in, finding that breathing had become a difficult task. She found that they were now in a small, narrow corridor. Her brown, combat boots echoed as they made thumping footsteps. At the first break in corridors, Jill found that the hall was shaped like a "T". Hesitantly she allowed her index finger to rest on the nozzle of the can, and extremely gently she put pressure on it.
Modestly, a ray of liquid shot out into the expanse with a soft hiss, and Jill traced the opening downward until she reached the floor. There was nothing. Holding her breath, Jill hesitantly stepped forward and found that the branch was clear. Suddenly, a straggler in the group found themselves peering down a part of the hallway. At the end, she spotted her companions, and advanced forward. There was a slight curvature in the hall, and she continued toward her companions. For some reason, it seemed she was not getting any closer…
Twenty paces into the corridor, she found the reasoning. Cynthia placed a hand on the planted mirror, then realizing the error she had made….
Not long after the group had changed, Cynthia found a strip of paper bundled in her clothing. She unfolded it, and there was a message typed on it. You can be assured survival if you don't mind losing your companions. Just go along with them for now, and you will soon find the perfect opportunity to betray them. Do this for me, Cynthia, and you will escape, scot-free. She folded the strip once more and buried it within the pocket of her blazer…
Now, she turned around, crying out in horror. "Jill!" She screamed running back toward the branch that the others had taken. Just when she would cross the mid-section of the T-shaped corridor, she felt a painful impact against a glass wall that had apparently slid shut. There was movement… the wall began coming in. Her eyes fell upon the others in the distance, running toward Cynthia looking quite frantic and crying out her name. Jill was first, shouldering the glass and only groaning with pain. Aaron tried to mimic the gesture, yet the glass was simply too strong. Cynthia huffed a breath of air, and exhaled just as quickly. When she attempted to inhale… she couldn't. Her voice had gone, and she could feel the pressure building up in her lungs, there was a terrible strain that made her feel like simply imploding, yet she continued to back away from the incoming wall. She thought she may have been able to turn and run, yet she found only another wall, which just as gradually moved toward its counterpart.
Tears built up in her eyes, tears of pure desperation. Tears that ensured her she was living her final moments in absolute torture. The strain on her lungs was unbearable, as she could feel both walls now. Why wouldn't she just die? Slowly, the structure of her bones began to decompose within the pressure of the glass. She could feel her skull cracking in several places as there was excruciating pain searing throughout her entire body. The pressure would get no worse, before she felt herself snap and life slip from her grasp…
Jill watched in absolute horror as Cynthia struggled to survive and had her contents splattered into nothingness. Anna and Aaron looked positively disgusted, and Jill was just about ready to upchuck every last content in her stomach. Something would not let her, though. Time. A loud, beeping noise occurred every second, a reminder of the five minutes the three now had to escape the maze or be killed. "Let's move!" Jill suddenly commanded, inspiring the two to sprint after her down the corridor. Everything from that moment on seemed to be a complete blur. The air was stale and hot, making the three sweat profusely as they continued on through the winding and whirling corridors. At one point they reached a staircase, on which every other step was a laser sensor.
They evaded the trick and managed to navigate through a majority of the second floor, finding the second staircase descending to the last leg of the race against time. The timer above the maze beeped horrendously loud, a constant reminder of the seconds slipping away. It could be considered much more profound, as their life was slipping away just as quickly. Jill could feel the spray bottle becoming much lighter, up to a point were there was only a puddle left at the bottom. She sprayed one particular branch entrance, finding it was clear and led straight to the exit! Jill sprinted forward, only to run into a wall dividing two parts. The can, however, was empty. One part led to the exit. The other… to their doom.
The timer now counted down into the remaining fifteen seconds, as the trio became extremely racy. "What do we do?" Aaron cried out, sending a hand of fingers through his buzzed hair.
"Shit, shit, shit! Okay… I'll try one. If it takes me, you guys need to run the other way and get out!" Jill then volunteered, taking a deep breath. Aaron shook his head, but it was too late to protest as Jill crossed into the branch. The doorway had not closed! Quickly but surely, the three victoriously ran through the remaining leg and dived through the exit milliseconds before it rapidly slid shut. Panting and on the ground, the three stared up at the huge contraption as each of its walls began coming together. They would not stay and watch, however, because another, foreboding doorway called to them…
(A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! Thank you all so much for the reviews! Definitely keep them coming!Chapter 2 coming soon!)