Outbreak Chronicles II
SSW: It's another chapter of our Outbreak sequel! Yay! And it's been a week, so SB can take those bandages off his Nether regions. Double yay! (Turns to SB and starts removing bandages.) Hey, I just wanna say, I'm sorry I did that to you. I don't know what I was thinking. You know I get crazy when Mr. Wesker gets involved. And it was free.
SB: (Sarcastically) It's okay. I wasn't getting much action anyway. And think of the money I'll save on Viagra! Now all I have to do is have all my orifices sewn shut and Wesker will stop trying to get into my pants!
SSW: (Twitching) That is NOT true! Make false claims like that again and I'll kill you in your sleep. No wait, you don't deserve such a peaceful death. I'll think of something much worse... Perhaps I will eviscerate you, then force you to eat your own entrails?
SB: No, it's the truth! My butt's still sore from the last time...
SSW: (Enraged, pulling a knife out of nowhere) Why... you... little...
SB: Kidding! Hahahah! (Falls off chair, then stands, brushing at his clothes) Let's move on.
Disclaimer: Sweetboxer has never had Wesker inside him. Oh, and we don't own Resident Evil...
Guilt Part I
Terry sat back, her eyes closed. Jeff was holding her hand, but it no longer comforted her. She decided that she would leave him when they got out of here. If they got out of here.
She was trying to sleep when there was a rumbling sound. It passed beneath the van, then under the car in front of them. After that, it stopped.
&&&&&
Martin watched his niece and nephew pick up their game of tic-tac-toe again. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, despite seeing more bloodshed than any child should ever see. Martin guessed that the two didn't grasp the concept of death, and so avoided any mental anguish for the moment. He hoped that they would get out of here intact, both physically and psychologically.
The rumbling passed in the dirt beneath them, and as Sarah drew a last circle, winning the game, Martin saw a flesh-colored blur come out of the ground to fly at the window. Before he could react, it slammed into the right side of the car, crushing the door in and sending the car spinning out of control. Officer Bennet, the singer, and Martin all started screaming, but worse was the silence from Sarah and Colin. When the car finally stopped moving, coming to rest against the side of a brick building, the front of the vehicle burst into flames.
&&&&&
Carrie saw the giant worm broke out of the ground and strike the side of the car in front of them. SHIT! Charlene!
Officer Jones swerved to avoid the monstrous worm, then stopped the vehicle and got out, drawing his pistol. Carrie got out, too, pulling out her gun. The people in the back, David, Yoko, Terry, Jeff, an old woman with short, curly hair, and young black-haired woman, all got out.
David chuckled internally, seeing what the cops were thinking of using against this new threat. Hate to break it to ya, but that ain't gonna stop it.
"Hey, you two! What the hell do you think you're gonna do with those? Do you see how big that thing is!" he shouted.
The cops looked at each other, then hurried to the back of the van. There was a gun rack with three shotguns, a handgun, some grenades, plus some ammo. They each took a grenade and a shotgun.
"Try to get the passengers out of the wreck while we kill the bastard," Carrie ordered. Then she followed Jones to the worm. She lobbed a grenade aimed for its mouth, but missed, hitting its mid-section. The grenade went off, blowing a hole in the thing's gut. The worm reared up, then fell over, dead.
Meanwhile, David, Yoko, Jeff, and the black-haired woman went to the cop car and pulled Vanessa and Charlene out of the damaged vehicle. Martin had flown through the windshield, landing several yards away from the vehicle, and they picked him up, too. But they couldn't get the children. The right side door wouldn't open, being completely crushed, and they knew that there was no hope for the kids. They could see their mangled corpses inside. But they dragged and carried the other three away from the wreckage, the vehicle exploding when they were about forty feet away.
The ones who had survived the crash were all unconscious. Of the three, Vanessa, the singer, looked the worst. Her hair was all over the place, her makeup was smeared, and her dress was torn. She was covered in blood. But it turned out that the blood was only from minor cuts, and they the bleeding had almost stopped already. Bennet had a cut on her head and the beginning of swelling, but looked fine otherwise. Martin had cuts on his face from the windshield, and he seemed to have a few broken ribs. He woke up while they were putting him in the back of the van.
"What? What're you doing? Where are Sarah and Colin?" he said, struggling against David and Jones.
"I'm sorry, but they're dead. And if we don't get to the hospital quickly, Bennet will end up the same way," Jones said sternly.
"I told you I'm FINE!" Bennet, who was apparently conscious now, said clearly as they helped her into the van.
"No! They can't be dead! We have to help them!" Martin said, near-panic. But then he saw the burning wreckage of the car and stilled, seeming to fall into shock. They sat him on the floor of the van next to Bennet, then shut the doors and drove to the hospital.
&&&&&
"Where are they? They were right behind us," Maddox said worriedly. He paced in the lobby, in front of the thick glass doors that served as the hospital's entrance.
Kevin hoped that they hadn't run into some trouble. Who knew what was running around this city? He was very relieved when, five minutes later, the doors opened and the rest of their group came through. He was a little worried about the unconscious woman who had to be carried, and the old man that was supported by someone else, but he was glad that David and Yoko were alright.
The three injured were examined by a doctor. He said that Vanessa had no major injuries, and that Martin indeed had three broken ribs, but his life was not in danger. He was more concerned about Charlene. He took the other cops aside, not wanting her to hear.
"She has some injuries to the head. We can't know how serious it is unless we get a cat scan. It could just be a bump on the head, or there could severe brain injuries," the doctor said.
"But she seems just fine," Carrie protested.
The doctor nodded. "Brain injury can be that way. The person can seem alright, when in fact there is major bleeding in the brain and they're slowly dying. I'd like to have a cat scan done, but I'm afraid the power is a bit unreliable."
Carrie bit her lip, worried about her friend. She went back out and talked to Bennet.
"He says you're gonna be fine," she lied. She didn't think there was any point in scaring her.
"Oh, that's good. I feel a little sleepy, though," Charlene replied.
"Okay. You just rest, Charlene," Carrie replied, turning around. She was struggling not to cry, figuring that sleepiness was bad news when it came to a head injury. She immediately went back to the doctor and told him.
"My God. This is very bad," he said, paling. Then he said sternly, "She must not fall asleep! If she does, she may never wake up!"
At this, Carrie ran back into Charlene's room, but found that she was too late. Her friend had already stopped breathing. She fell to her knees next to the bed, holding Charlene's still-warm hand.
Terry was sitting on the next bed, watching these events unfold. She stood up and went to Carrie's side.
"I'm so sorry, Carrie. If you need a shoulder to cry on..."
Carrie burst into tears and hugged Terry. "Thank you."
Terry rubbed her back and said, "You did the same for me."
"I had a feeling that Charlene would die during all this. It was the first thing that came to my mind, somehow. I was actually surprised when she came along, alive and well," Carrie sobbed. "God, I'm gonna miss her. She's always been stronger than me. What does that say about my chances of survival?"
Terry sighed, both of them standing up, "Nobody knows whether any of us are gonna survive. All we can do is not give up and hope that this'll be over soon, one way or another."
One way or another. That meant life or death. And Terry was just as afraid of the first option as she was the second. Ever since she had started dating Jeff, she'd started to fear what pains a new day would bring. She'd never hated and loved life more than when she was with him. She was so sure she loved him. And every time he'd hit her, she was so sure it would be the last time. But it never was. Why was she thinking about him now, anyway? Why did everything turn her thoughts to him? Was he affecting her on such a deep level that she couldn't think about anything else? She had to tell someone. Not now but soon, because it would kill her, if he didn't first.
"Let's just look out for each other, and that way we won't have any regrets, ok?" Terry said with the smile she used whenever her someone asked her if she was happy.
"Yeah..." Carrie nodded, regaining her composure. They turned and headed to the main room to join the rest.
&&&&&
"Hey Kevin. I wanna talk to you," David said quietly.
"Yeah? What?" Kevin replied, stepping close to the plumber.
"I think we need to tell these people what's going on. They'll be better prepared to handle whatever we might face," David said.
"I dunno. They might freak out, or just not believe us. Besides, how will we keep our aliases if we tell them about Umbrella? How would a bunch like us figure something like that out? And the spy will know what we're up to," Kevin replied.
"Well, how do you think they're gonna get outta here before the explosion if no one tells them? Don't you think the spy will figure it out anyway if we mention that? Or would regular civilians know about that?" David asked sarcastically.
Kevin sighed. "I guess you're right. But can't you at least wait until we have an idea who the spy is?"
David looked behind them at the people in the room. He didn't buy the lawyer's story about finding the gun in the restaurant, so he was a suspect. He thought that the pregnant woman was hiding something, but Umbrella wouldn't be stupid enough to send someone who was disadvantaged like that as a spy, would they? Her fiancée seemed to be hiding something, too, but maybe it was some problem between the two of them.
Kevin looked around, too. The lawyer seemed a little too obvious - he acted cool and calm in this situation, but you'd think he'd cover it up better if he was a spy. That Martin guy was here with his niece and nephew, and I don't think a spy would take kids with him.
"It's possible that he or she died already. We lost a couple people along the way," David said.
"We don't know, so it doesn't help us any," Kevin replied.
&&&&&
The TV was on in the room, and the news was on about this recent incident. Cindy was surprised that the media was still going under these conditions. She was sure it wouldn't last long.
"I'm so scared," she said, putting her face to George's chest. This was mostly for show, but she didn't mind doing it anyway.
"I know. I am, too. But we'll get out alright," George said, patting her on the back.
"God, how could I let this happen? How am I going to tell Agatha's sister?" Martin said to himself, in the seat next to them. He heard the reporter on TV saying this:
"...Another suspicious factor is the STARS allegations that were made only weeks ago, in which they described the very monsters that we are seeing today. The dead walking the streets; vicious, rotting dogs; large, amphibian-like, humanoid beasts; and worse abominations - the STARS claimed to see all of these things in the Arklay woods. They blamed the Umbrella Corporation for the creation of these monsters. They were laughed out of town, but perhaps there is more to Umbrella than meets the eye..."
"Great. And now I may be working for the people who caused all of this," Martin said, shaking his head.
Cindy lifted her head and turned to him. "Do you want someone to talk to?"
He continued staring straight ahead and said tonelessly, "You can't help me. I've lost three of the most important people in my life, all within an hour. Nothing you say could make me feel better." He stood up and walked into the hall.
"It's terrible," Cindy said miserably, watching him go.
"Yes, but things like that are probably happening all over the city. It's the way it is during an outbreak," George replied, putting a hand on her shoulder.
&&&&&
Vanessa looked up as the old man blew past her heading for the hallway.
"Rude!" she said, glaring. He ignored her.
I don't care if he lost his kids or whatever; he still doesn't have the right to act like an ass, she thought to herself. It's not like the rest of us aren't suffering. I must look like a real mess, and my beautiful evening gown is ruined! I can move better with it torn at the thighs, but it looks like I ran through a lake full of pirahnas.
Oh, come on, another voice sighed. Drama queen, anyone? Vanessa, you have no right to be a bitch when he lost his kids, and who knows what else.
Hey, it ain't my fault the guy's had some problems. I haven't done anything to him, so he shouldn't be so rude to me, Vanessa argued back.
&&&&&
"Excuse me, officer, but Martin went out about fifteen minutes ago and he hasn't come back yet," Cindy told Carrie, worry in her voice.
"Normally, that wouldn't be much of an issue. But in these times... Let's send a few people to look for him. You and you, take Vanessa, Terry, and Jeff," Carrie said, pointing at George. Noone said a word as they got up, one by one, and headed in the direction Martin was last headed.
End Of Guilt Part I
