Hello :) I know it's been a long time, but I'm back. Enjoy this updated chapter.

Chapter 3. "The Nightmare."

A blood-chilling scream disturbed the whole neighborhood. Nothing like that has ever happened before in the area. She did not like it, but Claire chooses to go to her neighbor's house and make sure everything was okay. It would be better if she checked, and nothing was wrong, rather than not checking when someone needed help.

Once she was in the front yard, she could see a broken window to the main living room, the silence was too thick for her liking. All Claire could hear was her footsteps and thumping of her heart. A feeling she learned from Rockfort Island.

The front door was half-open. The blackness behind it unsettled her. "Mrs. Evans." She called, her voice shaking.

Claire went inside as carefully observing her surroundings. The walls were spotless as well as the furniture she walked past. "Mrs. Evans," she called again. Another loud sound appeared. It was shattered glass. It made Claire flinch on reflex.

Claire shook her head to reaffirm her confidence. With every footstep, her heart would beat faster. Then she heard something, a man by the sound of it. Just some groans, but flashes of Claire's past invaded her thoughts. He was not talking, though. It was more like mumbling, moaning.

Claire felt a burst of fear and sadness mixed together. She could tell this was the ballad of the dead.

Once she reached the room, she saw a large amount of blood coming from under the door. Her breath hitched in her throat as she slowly pushed the door open.

She could not help the gasp that escaped her lips at sight before her. Mrs. Evans laid near the bed on the floor, her abdomen torn open as her innards spilled out. Intestines were spread all over the room. The rib cage was ripped apart. The heart and one of the lungs were missing. Crimson decorated the floor and near the body was what caused all of this.

Her husband, his eyes are unfocused, his mouth is twitching and drooling as if he is craving for more to consume, and the smell of his rotting face, mixed with the woman's corpse churned an indescribable feeling inside Claire.

"N-o." She stammered.

Claire closed the door and fled the house, and recalled the protocol for this very situation. She needed to contact her brother Chris or Leon and ask for help to be sent right away. Her mind flooded with ever more scary thoughts. The burning streets packed with zombies and their blood-stained teeth.

She sprinted past the fence of her house, forgetting to be careful and check if the street is safe, all she knew was that she had to go home and make sure Annie was safe, find her weapons and go out to help until reinforcement arrive.

The very moment she went inside her house, she felt Annie jump in her arms, crying. "Oh, Claire, what's going on?" Immediately she dragged Claire toward the window. "Look at the street!"

In the distance, she could see figures hidden in the night's shadows, but they were in a menacing dance of hunger as their cries can be heard clearly now. Most of those things outside shambled.

Claire took a moment and closed her eyes, breathing in and out. "Annie honey, you need to remain calm, okay, these things are attracted by sound." Claire checked outside the window again. None of the undead noticed them. "If we went in the shadows as quiet as possible, we can escape and possibly warn other people." Claire walked away from the window. "Just remain calm."

Annie held unto her shoulders, terrified. "How can I remain calm when there are WALKING Corpses in the street and..." Claire interrupted by putting her hand over Annie's mouth.

"My brother is in the BSAA, I'll make some phone calls okay, trust me I've been through this before and I know this is scary, but we need to keep our heads." Annie nodded, Claire carefully moved her hand away, and Annie walked off into a corner to process the situation.

Claire sighed. "I cannot believe it, this poor town."

Annie nodded, confused, and scared. She closed the curtains and turned off the dim light.

Claire stood in her office, staring at her gun, locked safely in a box. She felt really uncertain about what to do next. There are still questions that need to be answered; what's the cause of this? Has the infection spread through the whole town, or is this just the beginning?

The first thing to do is to find survivors, help them gather in a shelter or something, then investigate and search for the reason. Wait for evacuation.

She took a seat in front of her PC, she knew precisely the official website to contact the BSAA, but the loading screen seems to be taking forever for some reason.

'Come on, this is not the time.'

After a few seconds, the large bold text appeared. "No internet connection."

Claire frowned and punched the arm of her chair. "You gotta be kidding me." In a hurry, she searched for her cellphone in her purse. Some of the junk just got in the way. She kept telling herself that she needed to clean it out in the past.

Immediately she turned it on, though the screen showed zero signal. "What!?"

Claire took her gun from the box, and gathered all the bullets she has, she took a belt holder and put it on, for her weapon.

It was a simple firearm… A gift from Chris in a case for this kind of emergency. A Springfield Armory XD pistol also nicknamed the 'Blacktail.' A handgun Claire took to a firing range on dozens of occasions. In a cabinet close by, Claire opened it to reveal two red ammo boxes for her sidearm.

Along with that was a belt and holster for her right leg. Claire strapped it on and nodded to herself. The belt had three pouches with several pistol magazines at the ready.

'I'm sure I could find a signal somewhere outside.' She thought to herself as she glanced back at the screen of her cellphone.

Annie was waiting for Claire near the stairs. "What are we going to do?"

Claire held into her hand and squeezed. "Relax, we can do this, I hope it isn't bad as we think."

Claire made it very clear that both of them carry a small number of belongings, including a stack of cash the duo hid in their home. If this is anything like past infections, Tall Oaks is going to be wiped off the map.

Claire took a white jacket and zipped it up then mentally prepared herself for what could lie ahead. Annie got herself cleaned up and did the same. Together, they walked out of the house. There was a weird sound in the wind like many whistling beetles were crawling around. Annie stood right behind Claire as they walked.

Once they were in the middle of the street, Annie's grip tightened on her arm. "Mark!?"

Claire followed her eyes and saw three figures, the one in the middle was the familiar face of a costumer Annie liked. The other two were his companions currently biting and tearing his skin off.

Annie hid her face behind Claire as Mark mouthed the word, "Please. Help me."

Claire aimed her gun, her eyes filled with pity. There wasn't any way around them. "I'm sorry." The gun flashed, a bullet went straight into his forehead. The force made him stagger and fall backward then started to bleed. It moaned at them as the left out reached out. Claire knew that even though these corpses are slow and stupid, their grip could spell the end.

She discharged the gun several more times, and the corpses dropped down. Claire told Annie to be wary of them. Some of them like to play dead then snap like a bear trap.

Claire backed up a step, darting her gaze left and right to make sure there are no more corpses around.

Swiftly she aimed at the other two and immediately fell into pools of blood. Nothing was to their immediate right side, and she didn't want to miss this chance to move freely.

"Go, Annie, run to that house see if there is someone in there," Claire ordered as she kept her handgun steady as she watched their surroundings.

Annie terrified, she nodded and ran to the house on the right side of the road. Claire took out her cellphone and checked for a signal. The screen showed 2 bars out of 5. "Great."

In a hurry, she pressed call at the very first number appeared to her. "Come on, please answer."

...

A man rested in his couch, his living room was dimly lit, and his suitcase and weapons are on the coffee table. It's been only a few months since that ugly mission he went through. Still, he couldn't take a proper vacation. On the coffee table as well were some empty cans of soda as well as beer, along with two empty packs of gum.

He was about to fall asleep when his phone disturbed the silence. Leon pulled himself up then slouched over his couch. The phone was vibrated on the table before him, Claire's name was on the screen, a name he hadn't heard from in a long time. Brushing an empty can aside, he picked up his phone.

"Hello?"

There was too much static in the other line, "Claire?"

"Leon, can you..."

"Hello? I can't hear you, can you speak up?" Leon rubbed the bridge of his nose. He thought he might need a new cell phone provider if this was going to be a thing.

"… can … me!? There's… -thing going on. I … … …"

Leon came to his senses. He stood on his feet, his expression changed into worry. "Claire, what's going on?"

"Report...here...monst..." these were the last words he heard, a sound of a gunshot followed, and the connection was cut off.

'Damn it, not good.' He searched through the list of names until he found the number.

"Hello, this is the BSAA North America branch, how can I help you?" A woman answered.

"Yes, this is Kennedy speaking, I need to talk with Agent Redfield, right away."

"Alright, hold on. Could you please repeat who you are again?"

(...)

Claire found herself thrown back by force, stumbling at the fence of the house behind her, and almost falling backward over it. With a loud thud, Claire groaned as she rolled to her left side before she got back on her feet. Her grip with the Blacktail didn't waver at all. Claire looked but up and shot a zombie that was at arms-length away from her in the head. It stumbled and collapsed to the ground.

Immediately afterward, Annie's voice screamed for mercy. "No, let me go!"

Claire regained her balance and saw what was going on before her. A creature with a hunched back. The skin looked rough, scaly, and sturdy. On the center of the body, were exposed fangs with several strings of saliva connected to the upper and lower jaws. The eyes glowed orange, then it hissed at Annie. Along the left and right side were two arms with claws shining in the light. It looked like some human-sized reptile. It lowers its head to Annie, she was on the ground, paralyzed with fear.

Claire panicked, and she fired at the strange creature. For something like that, Claire would rather expend extra bullets than learn what kind of killing potential it possessed. It flinched several times as some of the shots were wedged in its hide. Annie shook her head, then crawled backward as Claire kept the pressure on the creature.

The creature staggered a little, but it stood tall again. It turned to Claire, once it set its eyes on her, the Blacktail clicked empty. Her eyes widened as she shamed herself for being so careless. She reached for her lower back then slid a new clip into the gun. Claire aimed again, though she felt a strong slap, the force of it had thrown her far to the middle of the street.

Her mind barely registered what happened. That thing just lunged itself at her then shoved her out to the street. The damn thing didn't even use its claws on her.

She could feel the flaming wounds in her cheek and her shoulder. "Claire!" Annie screamed as she ran to the other side then hid behind a trashcan.

Claire looked for her gun, that attack had made her drop the gun somewhere. Lucky for her, the gun did sound too far off when it shoved her.

The creature charged toward her again, carefully she watched it and waited for the perfect moment. A loud screech can be heard from it then made a high jump. The entire body leaned downward with the left claw, ready to impale Claire's body.

She rolled to her right then immediately stood up again. The creature just observed Claire as she strolled backward the level her gun and did not even blink at the thing.

In the briefest of moments, Claire could have sworn that she saw the reflection of light come off the claw as it came at her. Not the way she expected to go out, but at least it beats being eaten…

"Annie!" Claire called out. "Stay close." She was hoping beyond hope that Annie could hear her.

At the corner of her eyes, she saw the gun, another screech echoed in the street, and Claire knew she had to make a jump for it. On the ground, there was a darkened object on the asphalt. This meant that the object better be the gun or she's good as dead.

The creature spread its arms apart as the claws stretched out in size, this was her chance. Claire threw herself at the gun swiftly then landed on her side, which shook her up but grabbed the weapon. With the Blacktail in hand, Claire leaned up, then clasped her hands together to secure it. It was the time for the creature to strike, then she took the gun and spun around, shooting it three times in a row.

The hunter trembled one last time, and it shrieked again then stumbled forward. It hissed once more then dropped to the ground… mere inches from Claire's feet.

Claire looked around searching for Annie, Suddenly people started running out of their houses near her, screaming.

"Run, there are more out here too!"

"Why is this happening!?"

"Wait, don't leave me here!" Most of the survivors ran around like headless chickens, terrified for their lives.

"God, help us!"

Claire shook her head sadly as she ran after them shouting. "People! Listen to me!"

But fear had spread too much, everyone was running their own way looking for an escape. Annie kept her head down behind the trash can as Claire shook her head again to regain her composure.

Claire walked up to Annie. "We have to move. We'll just attract more attention if we stay close to a crowd like this." Claire nearly stumbled forward, but Annie caught her in time.

"I think you're right." Annie offered her shoulder to let Claire rest a bit before the next danger could come their way. The two walked into the shadows as more people were killed in confusion…

(…)

A lone zombie groaned to itself. It stood in a vast room as it just finished feasting on the very person she dedicated her life to… The moaned again, then the eyes reflected a shadowy image before it. A silver blade severed the head, then with a punch, the head of the zombie snapped completely backward along with a rough stab through the chest. The soulless eyes shoved the body away then the blade flicked the blood away. Hunk stood in a moment at the front door, his ears tuned for any form of noise.

The sound of terrified people screaming and random gunfire echoed outside, which prevented him from hearing anything in the immediate area. Hunk shook his head, then sheathed his knife as he walked slowly across the room. His left hand reached for his pistol then he aimed it carefully.

He kicked the door open. He could see thick smoke in front of him; it seems the situation was going from bad to worse in mere seconds. 'You son of a bitch, I'll figure out what you're planning.' He thought to himself as he peaked into the alley. He slowly stepped in then froze… he heard an unmistakable sound. It was right next to him, and he knew what it was. He slowly turned his head to the right, there he saw two infected dogs watching him.

They snarled at him as both dogs revealed their fangs to him. Hunk hated dogs, then before he could even move, one dog growled as the other barking. Without warning, one charged at him with blood-soaked teeth. Hunk stiffened his leg muscle, and the first dog lunged at him. By reflex, he lifted his leg then decked it hard on the torso, sending it to the brick wall… snout first. The skull slammed in, and by the time Hunk's leg came down, he took out his knife leaned his torso back as the second dog lunged at him as well. Without thinking, the knife went straight through the dog's eye, and Hunk twisted the blade so it would suffer. Once it slowed in movement, Hunk took the edge out then stabbed it through the skull four more times to make sure it would stay dead.

The amount of force the first dog slammed into the wall. The fresh coat of blood and brains was enough for Hunk to know it's dead.

The mercenary checked his pocket for his ammo and everything he needed. Since he was never meant to be in the middle of an outbreak, he only had one magazine left for his pistol. His blade would be his primary tool to get him out of this mess, and he will NOT be consumed by no damn zombie or any BOW for that matter.

Hunk took a moment to register what happened in the last four days...

"I need you, Mister Death," a client stated. "Will you take this job?"

Hunk frowned and crossed his arms. "Why do you want me to leave for that town in such short notice?"

The man sighed and laid back at his comfy chair. "I told you, I need you to retrieve the files from one named Henry Martin, you have my word. I'll pay you one hundred thousand in cash." he sighed. "That man knows a little too much about us, and about Wolf Pack, many other ex-USS members, and former scientists." A faint smile graced his lips. "I heard that many of them found new lives after Umbrella fell apart. I'm pretty sure you don't want such a thing to be revealed, do you?"

The two continued the conversation for a few minutes until the last of the details for the job was explained. In the time with clients, Hunk always thought carefully about the jobs he would take.

"If you can move in less than a day, I guarantee an added bonus of five thousand to the twenty I already promised."

Hunk ponders on it for a moment. The very notion of former Umbrella members being hunted down didn't sit well in his thoughts. The money was an afterthought for this job anyway. "Alright, you have a deal,"

"I knew I can count on you."

The image of Henry's dead corpse was still fresh in his mind, and now he understood what happened, why he was sent to this place.

If he wasn't wearing a mask, the locals could have seen his face. It turned into that of an angry lion. 'That dirty snake.' Hunk thought coldly, he should have seen it coming, all of this was an elimination plan, and still, he couldn't understand the reason behind the outbreak. He mentally cursed himself for being so damn gullible to take a job without thinking it entirely through.

His grip tightened at the trigger of his gun, and he walked to the side, avoiding the crowd running in the street. It would seem that the alleyways would be his best bet to walk around undetected. Several flashes of light flickered out on the street, followed by the sound of gunfire.

During his trek, a small park by the name of Sarah Peak Park was encased in darkness. The perfect place to lay low.

Instead of entering through the main entrance, Hunk jumped down from a wall on the east side. He went in the shadows of the trees and waited for a moment until the people vanished from his sight. Not that he didn't pay attention to any creatures either. He'd been through worse in the past.

(…)

"Claire. Where are we going?" Annie asked as she stood behind Claire.

"Please stop asking me that, because I have no idea. But we need to find someplace to be safe." Claire rubbed her forehead for a moment. The two walked across the street as there were car crashes, a dead person leaning out of over the dashboard. Small fires were was helped illuminate the streets.

Annie kept her eyes out for danger as well. Then Claire rubbed her back again, and Annie noticed that it happened for the third time now.

"Are you okay?"

"Just a bruise. That thing back there, it nearly killed us." Claire stated, and Annie knew she meant that reptile.

"Yeah. I think we need to stop somewhere to catch our breath. How does that sound?" Annie said on a whim.

Claire stopped, and Annie bumped into her back. Taking a break during an outbreak could spell doom for some people. However, Claire has been through this before, so she would not make any mistakes that would get both of them killed. So Annie's suggestion could help them formulate an even better plan.

"Good idea." Claire looked around then noticed a small sign at the end of the street. Sarah Peak Park would be on the next turn off. That's perfect, a place to hide, and it's wide enough for Claire and Annie to run in any direction in case they needed to. Plus, she needed to catch her breath. The two of them moved carefully as they entered from the south side.

Several zombies were easily avoided as the two walked past the iron gates. Annie and Claire both took a moment for themselves and eventually found a small picnic area they could use to hide in. Annie noticed there was a water fountain then went to get a drink. She did so in silence then noticed something peculiar in the distance…

(…)

It's been fourteen minutes since Hunk took cover in the park. The sound of the guns and people weren't as prevalent as before. So he dusted his left leg off and placed his back to a tree.

He was about to move when he heard a feminine voice. "Hey you!?" he spun around, knife at the ready, but all he saw was a young woman approached him with a gun at the ready. There was a sharp look of disgust in her eyes.

"You're Mister Death. You did this, didn't you!?" she screamed.

Hunk heaved a long annoyed sigh. "I have no time for you." Hunk lowered his gun and turned away from her.

"Hey! Stay where you are. I didn't-" Claire stated as she took a step forward. Hunk snapped into action by taking a step forward then lowered his body so his right leg could sweep the grass and force Claire to avoid it then for her to take aim at him. It happened too late since Hunk brought Claire to the ground then he tried to restrain her. For this young woman, however, she wasn't helpless as before, so in reflex from practice, Claire clenched her left fist and then brought it around to strike Hunk on the right temple which was protected by his gas mask.

"Argh!" He grunted, then Claire shoved him off of her. She reached for her gun, but Hunk swiped his arm, so it rolled away on the grass.

Claire rolled back to her feet as she raised both of her arms into a boxer's stance. Hunk cocked his head as he was more than annoyed by this point. Even with the gun out of the way, Claire specifically told Annie to stay away from the fight.

Hunk's gloved hand gently rubbed his temple. Claire took a step forward than before she could say anything. Hunk straightened his back, then lowered it and spread his arms apart. Claire didn't wait for him to make the first move as she dashed forward, swiped her right arm around aimed for Hunk's temple again. He blocked it, then her left arm jabbed him in the chest. Hunk reacted by leaning forward and making an 'X' formation with his arms then split it apart for her arms to knock them out of the way. He flicked his right leg then brought it up to strike Claire in her stomach.

"Bwah!" Claire uttered from the pain.

Claire had the wind knocked out of her as well as some spit. She recovered from it by spinning around for her left leg to do a roundhouse kick. It caught Hunk on the left shoulder, then Claire jumped up and brought her right leg then knocked Hunk back. He stumbled, and she closed the distance by circling around him then jabbed at his left calf for him to drop to one knee. Once that happened, another roundhouse to the temple should knock him out for good. So she raised her leg again to do so.

Hunk leaned forward, and the kick whiffed above him. The mercenary rolled to his back, then trapped her free leg from his boot, then tugged at it. Claire completely lost her balance as she was brought to the ground, and Hunk leaned forward so he could pin her leg to the ground. He was in the position to possibly break her leg… something like that could be a death sentence in an outbreak.

"That was cute." Hunk whispered. "Are you done?"

He let go of her leg, and then he rolled to his left. Claire moved to her right, and the two stood at arms-length from each other. "Oh no," Claire snapped. "I won't let you out of my sight,"

Hunk grunted. "So irritating."

"Oh sure, it's in my blood. I have to annoy people," she replied, keeping up with his steps.

"You have bigger problems than worrying about me." Hunk kicked the Blacktail back to Claire. Annie revealed herself from the bushes to hide behind her. Claire didn't break her concentration until she heard several moans behind her.

Apparently, they stayed too long in the park as a small crowd of zombies started to move toward them. There were about seven zombies, and each of them showed their teeth in excitement. Hunk's red lenses reflected that as he pulled out his knife. He prepped his combat stance.

She frowned in his direction. "You'll pay for this."

"Stay out of my way, little girl." Hunk sneered.

Without hesitation, he sprinted forward to attack the first zombie before the others closed in.

Claire gritted her teeth in a fury. "What did you just call me!?"

Annie held her arm, stopping her before she tries to attack again. "Claire, please, we got monsters to worry about!"

Thank you for reading, more to come, I'll update as soon as I can.

A big thank you to The95Will my beta reader for his great help.