Outbreak Chronicles: A New City, A New Story

On the Stage from the previous chapters, after 5 hours of Ashleys nonsensical teeny bopper babble (it seems a broken jaw did nothing to keep her from talking, and possibly increased it since she now has more to complain about. Ugh... God hates us...)

Ashley: Like, so anyway, he's totally the hottest guy on Laguna Beach and--

(SSW is now banging her head on the wall)

Ashley: Jessica thinks he's fugly, and I'm like, "Oh no you didn't!"

SSW: God, I can feel my IQ slowly draining away...

SB: Can't we get that bitch a cellphone, or MSN Messenger, or something?

SSW: -Points at Jello- You have a laptop!

CJ: She is not touching my computer. No fucking way...

SB: C'mon, take one for the team!

CJ: -Her eye twitching- Fine, but she is not downloading any of that teeny pop crap to my hard drive! And my David wallpaper stays on the desktop! And no MySpacing, and that is FINAL!

SSW: Okay. You got that, Ashley? You can silently use Jello's laptop, and silently go to a Laguna Beach forum or something! And for every Britney Spears song we find, you shall die a thousand deaths!

Ashley: Oh, whatever...

(Jello fetches her laptop and grudgingly hands it over to Ashley, who immediately IM's the Secret Service. They instantly IM her back saying "Tough Shit")

Ashley: Totally lame!

SSW: I said SILENCE!

SB: Finally, we can continue our story without interruptions...

Chapter Eleven: Tyrant-y Justice!

George came to, groaning. He touched his face gingerly and winced, finding that his nose was probably broken. His gun had been taken, too.

"Ugh, I can't believe I let that bastard catch me by surprise...," he muttered. He got to his feet and stumbled out of the bathroom. When he saw Carrie on the floor in front of the women's restroom, he hurried to her side.

"Officer Harmond! Wake up!" he said, shaking her by the shoulders. Her eyelashes fluttered and she moaned in pain. Then her eyes widened.

"Shit! Where's Terry?" she shouted, bolting upright. She grabbed her head, feeling a sharp pain in her skull from sitting up too quickly.

"Take it easy," George told her. He went into the bathroom, looking around for signs of Terry or Jeff. He didn't find anything, so he walked back out and knelt beside Carrie.

"It seems that you were hit a bit harder than me. You should get to the others, to see if Terry went back to them, and to tell them what happened. I'll look around down here," he told her.

"I hate to leave you alone, but I can't argue with your logic. Here, take my gun," she said. She handed it to him.

"Thank you," he said, standing up. He started down the hall, listening for any sounds and looking into the rooms as he passed.

.O.

"Terry! I'm not going to hurt you! Stop running!" Jeff called after her.

Yeah, right, she thought, taking another turn, hoping to lose him. He was gaining on her - it was a little difficult to run when you were six months pregnant. But, she had a decent lead because of the precious seconds he'd spent recovering from the blow to his face.

Terry glanced into a room to see various moving equipment, and stacks of crates. She went in, knowing that she couldn't keep running for long, and deciding to try hiding instead.

.O.

The fluid surrounding it, which was as cold as that which flowed through its veins, drained out of the stasis tank. It finally opened its eyes after its long slumber. As the thick glass door in front of it slid open, it stepped out of it's capsule and looked around. It had not been programmed for any specific targets, so it deferred to it's default target, which was simply any living thing that got it's attention. It could sense the warmth of heated blood a few rooms away, about the same distance as a grinding, whirring metal sound that humans would recognize as active machinery. It turned, let out a growl, as if internally stretching, and started walking in stiff strides toward the source of the heat: his next targets...

.O.

That Tyrant could be after him right now, and even if it wasn't, it would come after him eventually. After all, that thing lived only to kill. So, Bower hurried to the main computer room and took care of his last goal - starting the building's self-destruct mechanism, so that he'd leave behind no trace of his infiltration.

.O.

Rapid footsteps could be heard coming around the corner. Vanessa turned around to see Carrie running towards her, and she immediately wondered why the woman was alone.

"Jeff... got away. Knocked me and... George out... and took off with... Terry," Carrie panted.

"Is George alright? We need to--," Kevin started, but was interrupted by a voice coming out of the speakers:

"Warning. This facility's self-destruct sequence has been activated. All personnel must evacuate the building immediately."

.O.

"I'm getting tired of this, babe. But if you come out now, I won't get mad," Jeff said. He passed the box behind which Terry was hiding, near the corner of the room. She let out a sigh of relief when the sound of his footsteps faded away.

"Gotcha!" He reached over the box and pulled her up by the hair, pressing the gun to her temple. He laughed. "You thought you were safe, didn't you, baby? Well, you don't have to worry about that for much longer... You won't have to worry about anything."

Terry closed her eyes, waiting for death. But she didn't hear the gun going off, or feel the last instant of pain... She heard a metallic clanging.

"What the hell...?" Jeff breathed. The Tyrant leapt down from a catwalk overhead, landing several yards in front of Jeff, who whipped his gun around to point it at the approaching giant. He aimed for the thing's face and took a few shots, but with little effect. The Tyrant didn't even blink. Jeff then aimed for its exposed heart, but still the monster kept coming. He tried to continue shooting, only to find that his weapon was empty. He walked away from the Tyrant, going around the box that was between him and Terry, and then he started backing up, only to find his back hitting a wall. He was cornered.

The Tyrant continued towards them, its long strides bringing it closer and closer to its targets. Jeff knew that there was no way out. He looked at the woman who he was still holding by the hair.

"Well babe, guess it's you and me 'til the end," he said with a final laugh. At least he wouldn't be going down alone.

"Get over yourself, asshole," Terry said, elbowing him in the stomach. He let go of her hair and doubled over in pain as the Tyrant swung its massive fist at him. Terry dove down on her hands and knees, narrowly avoiding the attack. She escaped to a safer corner of the room and watched in horror, and with a moderate measure of satisfaction, as Jeff was knocked to the floor. She forgot about everything else - escaping, finding a weapon, everything - and her eyes fixed unblinking on Jeff as he tried to scramble away. She just wanted to see her tormentor meet his end. She stared as the creature lifted him up by his throat so familiarly - it was so like what Jeff had done to her on numerous occasions that it was surreal. But this twisted deja vu sensation was ended when the monster extended some sort of organic bone-like blade through it's palm, and consequently, Jeff's throat, coming out the back of his neck. The blade held there for a few seconds, then retracted back into the creature's palm and Jeff just hung there from the creature's grip, his mouth stained with blood, his eyes turning to Terry. The Tyrant unclenched it's grip, dropping Jeff to the ground, then turned to face his next victim...

.O.

When he heard the scream of terror, what he already knew was confirmed - he was almost out of time. The warning about the self-destruct had started a few minutes ago. He had wondered if he could find Terry and get out in time, but it didn't matter. He couldn't leave the poor woman to fend for herself. He hurried in the direction of the scream, looking in each room that he passed, until he reached the shipping room. He could see the Tyrant approaching Terry, who was crouching in the corner.

"Terry! Hold on!" he called to her. He raised Carrie's handgun, though he knew from his previous experience that it probably wouldn't do much good. Still, he started running at the Tyrant, firing into its back, hoping to distract it from Terry, at least. It turned its head to look back at him, hesitating.

But I was right - this is having no affect. I have to try something else, as soon as she gets out of here, George thought. "Terry, go, now!" he ordered.

She slowly got up and started running alongside the wall, towards a door on the other side of the room. At the sound of her footsteps the Tyrant turned back towards her, but as George continued to shoot, it decided to go after him. It turned, took a few steps towards him, and then suddenly burst into a sprint. George saw, and heard, its claws slide out of the back of its hands, and leapt aside as the creature's claws scraped across the floor and swiped through the place where he'd just been standing. He took a few steps back, and it turned around to attack again.

.O.

She had really thought that it was all over, and when George came and saved her from certain doom, all she could do at first was run. But as she exited the room, hearing the Tyrant's claws gouge into the concrete floor as it attacked her savior, she stopped. George didn't stand a chance against the Tyrant. She couldn't let him take her place in death. With a nervous gulp, she turned and went back into the shipping room.

She saw that George was dodging another attack from the Tyrant. But, it was a dangerous game, and eventually, he would either tire out or slip up. She had to do something. She scanned the room for anything useful.

"Terry, what are you doing?" George shouted, as the Tyrant's claws narrowly missed him. He had given her the distraction she needed, and she'd come back? Was he going to die for nothing?

She ignored him. Her eyes rested on a large, fixed crane that would be used for loading crates onto a conveyor belt, and she jogged over. She climbed into the machine. Lucky for her, the keys were already in the ignition. She started it up and looked at the controls, which consisted of a lever and a joystick. She tried the lever, finding that it caused the claw to open and close, and the joystick moved it, obviously. She moved the claw over the Tyrant, which was walking towards George, looking ready to charge again. She lowered the claw and clamped onto the giant mutant, lifting it high above the floor. She got out of the crane and ran over to the doctor, who was just staring up at the struggling monstrosity.

"We have to get out of here," she told him.

He looked at her, worry showing on his face. "Yes, but I don't think we have time to catch up to the others, or get out the way we came in. We have to find another way out." If there is one...

He looked back the way he came, wishing they had time to go back. He hoped Cindy would be alright without him, and that she would leave with the others. If he was in her place, he might refuse to leave.
Please Cindy, be strong...

.O.

He heard a few gunshots outside, in the hall, and instantly knew that it was the thief. He had seen that bastard steal information and kill his colleagues, and had barely escaped death himself. But now the spy was coming for him, and probably to steal a sample of the experimental T-virus variant, too.

If he wants it so badly, I'll give it to him, he thought with a twisted smile. He put the virus in a syringe and waited by the door. As Bower passed the room he was in, on the way to the escape tram, the scientist ran up behind him and injected the virus into his neck.

"Burn in hell, you dirty thief!" he screamed, laughing madly. Bower punched him in the face, spun around, and shot him dead.

"Dammit, what has he done?" the spy muttered angrily. He could feel some malignant substance coursing through his veins, spreading throughout his entire body. His skin itched suddenly and felt like it was crawling. He felt his muscle fiber growing in size, felt the sheer power growing inside him. He felt too many things at once, and the last thing he felt before blacking out was the hunger for blood...

.O.

No... He has to make it back. George, you can't let me do this by myself...

Kevin put a hand on her shoulder. She could barely feel it, but she could hear his words, crystal clear:
"We have to get out of here, Cindy. I'm sorry about George, but we have to go n-- "

Cindy's eyes grew cold. "Shut up!" she cried, swatting his hand away. "What do you care! You have everything you came here for, everything you came here with! I was begging George not to go on this mission! Now he's probably gonna die, and you're probably just gonna tell me to move on!"

Kevin mentally kicked himself, realizing how many times he'd said "let's move," or something similar, since the original outbreak, and how it may have portrayed him as unfeeling. Now he didn't know if he could say it again, because it meant leaving someone behind - an expecting mother, and a good man whom Kevin had fought alongside with. But there were still others that could be saved, and Kevin felt obligated to protect them and lead them to safety. He pulled Cindy close enough to cry on his shoulder, and he rubbed her back in a consoling manner.

"I'm sorry, Cindy. If I'd sent someone after George...maybe they'd both be here. But I can't let anyone die here if I can help it. Can you please understand?"

Cindy looked up at Kevin, her eyes wet and bloodshot, and she nodded, stepping back. "Okay. Let's go, before I change my mind..."

They all took one last look in the direction George had gone, and then hurried towards what Trent told them was the way out of the facility...

----- End of Chapter -----

Ashley: OMIGAWD! EWWW! YOU WRITE GAY FANFICTION! LIKE, ICK (pretends to make herself throw up) GAG! SPEW! BARF-O-RAMA!

CJ: (Clenches fists) Can I kill her now!

Ashley: I mean, God made Brad and Angelina, not Brad and Wesker!

SSW: (Twitches) Yes, let's kill her, slowly and painfully! (Both rush towards Ashley)

SB: WAIT! (Stands in front of them) The CIA have their orders, and whether or not they hate Ashley, they will kill us if we hurt the bitch.

CJ and SSW stand in front of him, shaking with barely controlled rage. But they each nod, knowing that what he says is true.

SSW: Fine. We'll send her back. I know those /bleep/ers at the Whitehouse said they don't want her back, but I don't give a damn. We're going to put her in a box and ship her back to Washington.

CJ: Okay, I'll get the packing tape.

They bring in a big cardboard box and some tape, not bothering with packing peanuts or anything else to make the trip more comfortable.

SB: (Shoves Ashley's head back in as she tries to escape) Say hello to Daddy Graham for me!

SSW: OK we're going to the shittiest delivery service we can find, there had better be reviews when we get back!

SB: Or else we'll bring her back!

CJ: Uhhh...we will?

SSW: (Whispers) He's bluffing! He knows I'd kill him if he did!

To Be Continued...