"Why haven't we talked about taking the tram, like we had planned before," Jim asked again.
"The only available path is through that horde of monsters at the main gate; there's no way we can get passed them, especially not with our limited ordinance," replied George. Maybe it was the words he spoke or the haggard look on his face, but Jim thought at that moment that George seemed quite the soldier. A leader, even.
Jim opened his mouth to counter, but thought better of it. Cindy was walking towards them, her eyes carefully averted from theirs.
"Have we decided?" she asked, finally turning her bright eyes towards Jim, who suddenly seemed like he had nothing to say.
"Yes," George answered. "We're going to try for the Umbrella facility."
Cindy smiled brightly at his response, and they began to gather their belongings once again.
The four survivors walked with flashlights now in hand. Despite the risk of moving in the open at night, they were all in agreement that spending the night on an open roof was probably not the best idea. Cindy shivered at the thought of facing another of those pouncing lizard beasts with their long claws and slimy jaws, creeping up on her while she dozed. Descending the city hall building had been happily uneventful, as the zombies had congregated at the main door, still feebly pounding at the large steel doors. They were taking extra precautions this time, moving upwind, wary of the zombies' sense of smell.
Rubble lay scattered across nearly every step of the sidewalks and roads. Crushed cars lay stacked one upon another, broken barricades lay in ruin, and small fires smoldered with the glow of the dusk. Jagged shadows darted and bent around every corner, every alleyway, and the dark spots seemed to stretch just out of eyesight. What lay beyond the soft glow of their flashlights was something none of them wanted to consider, but the frightened imagination was not so easily tucked away.
Jim for once was silent during the trip. He had taken point, the barrel of his wavering gun combing over every dark area before them. He had been upset about their decision, but what troubled him most was his final coin toss before they'd left. Three tails in a row; not a good sign. The last time that had happened to him, he'd lost three weeks salary at a casino. The bitter memory still remained, even if the bumps and bruises at the hands of the casino goons had long faded.
A loud explosion rang out on the next street over. The group ducked into a nearby alleyway, clicking off their flashlights once they were sure the narrow space was void of undead. Huddled in the shadows, they were surrounded by silence, only the sound of occasional ragged breathing. The outside world slowly sunk in: the dull roar of distant fires, the gentle whistle of wind, the hollow moans of undead. And then…something else. A loud, rhythmic thumping, like a large war drum being slowly pounded by something incredibly heavy. Then, coming towards them…the light patter of running feet. No zombie moved that quickly. The group edged forwards, their weapons at the ready as they reached the far end.
Across the narrow space at the alleyway opening, a flash of blue suddenly flew by them in a blinding blur of movement. Jim couldn't believe his eyes: what appeared to be an attractive young woman dressed up for a night on the town had run by in full stride, and she appeared to be armed to the teeth. They heard more of that heavy pounding, getting closer and closer, until they heard the brutal, guttural growl of something far more dangerous than anything they had yet encountered.
"STAAAAARS…"
That was all they needed to hear to turn around and run.
Walking again in the darkness, no one spoke of the incident. Whether it was shame at having left someone or it was the danger of the night, it remained unsaid. Yoko suddenly decided to break the silence.
"Do you guys remember hearing about that mansion disaster a few months back," she asked aloud to no one in particular.
"I can kinda remember hearing about a big explosion in some fancy estate…" said Cindy, racking her mind for the rest of the memory. "Something with the SWAT team?"
"You mean that incident with the STARS team," corrected George.
"Some shit about monsters, yeah," said Jim suddenly. "But no one believed them, right?"
"Looks like they were right, though," said Yoko, her voice distant.
"Well, if this is all one giant fuckin' 'I-told-you-so'…God's got one fucked up sense of humor," Jim mumbled.
"God has nothing to do with this," said George, his face grim.
"Maybe we can use some information from that story," suggested Yoko.
"Those stories came out slanted against everything the STARS team said, though," George said. "I doubt there would be anything of use in them," he added.
"That's true," said Yoko. "But what if we could find their original statements or testimony?"
"You mean what they'd been saying from the beginning," Cindy said.
"Right," she replied. "None of that journalistic, eh…editorializing."
"You mean 'bullshit'," added Jim. They all seemed to nod in silent agreement as they continued to trudge through the dark. The city rag hadn't broken a newsworthy story in over a decade; and the one chance it had, the story was too incredible to believe.
Cindy was walking beside Yoko, and she couldn't help but study the mysterious young girl from the corner of her eye.
"Yoko…" began Cindy. "How were you able to remember that STARS story from so long ago?"
The young girl turned to her, a bit of mistrust in her tired eyes. The eyes softened though, perhaps at the memory of Cindy's persistent kindness.
"It's kind of strange, Cindy," said Yoko. "But when I heard that huge…thing say 'STARS', something just clicked in my head, and the memory was just there, like it had been waiting for me to finally find it," she finished. "That sounds weird, huh?"
"That sounds so…" Cindy said, searching for the words.
"Awfully fuckin' convenient?" suggested Jim, a few steps ahead.
"Jim!" cried Cindy. "No need to be vulgar," she chastised.
"Jeez, sorry moms," he responded, not even turning around to face them.
"It's ok, Cindy," said Yoko, casting an angry look at Jim's back. "Some people just don't know any better." Cindy half expected the young girl to stick out her tongue at him, but she seemed content to just walk silently.
The night had grown calm. They hadn't encountered a zombie in over two hours, and the heat was finally relenting. Thick clouds remained in the sky, masking the moon and the stars. They stumbled through the heavy darkness, finally arriving at the news building.
The Raccoon City Press was much smaller than its editors would have preferred its readers to believe. It was barely three stories, and its highest circulation ever had topped off at 70,000 copies. Raccoon City wasn't that big of a place, after all. Word of mouth was still the fastest news service; old fashioned gossip the choice of longtime locals. No need to shell out the forty-five cents to hear news everyone already knew, news that was already old by lunchtime.
It had cost them three valuable hours to circle around the city's main block in the dark. The main street by City Hall was still clogged with walking undead and thus utterly impassable. Jim had grumbled for most of the long and slow walk,but though it went against the hopeless cynic in his heart, he held a glimmer of hope that there was something they could use at the news office.