II

First Blood

It just didn't make any sense to Richard. It all seemed like a terrible nightmare that he would wake from. But watching Forest sitting at the end of the hallway patch his wound made Richard realize that what was happening was real after all. Kevin was dead, and who the hell knew where the other Bravos were. He and Forest were alone.

They made it to the factory in one piece, although they didn't really have a clue as to where they were anyway. The radio wasn't giving off a feed of any kind so contact with the other Bravos seemed too out of reach. And the factory looked like there hadn't been anyone inside for weeks…

Maybe months…

"Where the hell is everyone?" Forest asked, wincing as he mistakenly touched the flesh of his wound, causing the pain to rush to his brain.

"I'm not too sure about that one, pal," Richard answered, shaking his head. "I'm not sure exactly what the hell is going on right now, but we're not exactly dealing with the norm here."

"Well, the sooner we can find a way out of here, the sooner we can make it to the Spencer Mansion and regroup with the others."

"We can only be so lucky."

Richard turned back to Forest and took a look at his wound. He couldn't really see it before when they were outside because it was so dark, but now that he was in dim light, he could see that the dog—or whatever the hell it was that attacked him—really put a number on Forest's arm. Bits of flesh clung to the arm, and pieces of bone were exposed. Rebecca was the field medic of Bravo Team, but they are all trained in some basic form of first aid for just an occasion as this, where the medic is nowhere to be found. And although Richard wasn't a doctor, he knew that if Forest didn't get his arm looked at soon, he could run the risk of infection, or worse: amputation.

God only knows what kinds of diseases these animals have out here...

Richard was surprised to see his comrade not only handling the pain well, but being very calm about the situation. If it were him, he would have been screaming like a little girl.

"You need me to help you with that?" Richard asked Forest, walking over to him and taking a knee beside him. "Seems like it'd be easier if I gave a hand."

"No can do, buddy," Forest answered. "First rule of survival is to only think about yourself. Not saying I don't care about you guys." Again, he flashed his famous grin. "But when all others are incapacitated or missing and you're the last man standing, you're gonna have to try to patch yourself up alone if you're injured. I know you're here in case I really need a second pair hands, so I want to try to do this on my own for now. You follow? Just look at it as some sort of...simulation."

"Simulation, huh?" Richard grinned, patting Forest on the shoulder and giving him a nod. "How's it feeling?"

"Well, besides the fact that I now know what hell must feel like, I think I'm gonna live if we can treat it soon. The bandage I got on my arm should stop the bleeding for now, or at least slow it down until we can get to some decent medical supplies. Rebecca has all that ointment and anti-bacterial stuff in her pouch, so that's out for now. I'm sure there's some sort of first-aid station in this factory to hold me off 'til we run into her at the mansion."

Richard nodded once again. "All right," he said, shouldering his Remington and standing up. "I'll go take a quick look around and come back for you."

"Thinkin' you're gonna leave me behind?" Forest asked, standing up as well, slinging his Milkor MGL to the side.

Richard quickly shook his head. "Look, Forest, I'm not gonna be gone for long. I just want to check out a room or two and then I'll come back for you. Who knows? I might be able to find that first-aid station in one of these rooms after all. Besides, you still need to look after that wound, don't you? I don't want you passing out on me because you lost too much blood."

Knowing Richard was right, Forest sunk his head low and took a seat on the floor once again. "All right," he said. "You got ten minutes. If you're not back before then, I'm coming to look for ya. How's that sound?"

"Fair enough," Richard smiled, giving one last nod as he ventured into the dim hallway. He wasn't sure how long the lights have been on in this factory exactly, but they were dimming, and the last thing Richard needed right now was for the lights to go out. Fortunately for him, he had fresh batteries in the flashlight of his Remington.

Where is everybody? Richard asked himself, opening the first door on his left and entering. It looked to be like some sort of break room, probably the place where the workers would come in the morning and punch-in before they got to work. The room was like any other normal break room: coffee table, vending machines, etc., all of which seem to have not been used in quite some time.

Richard entered the break room and noticed a door at the end. As he quietly turned the knob, he opened the door and aimed forward, only to have a mop fall down on the floor in front of him.

Just a closet, Richard thought to himself, relieved, until a firm hand gripped his shoulder. Feeling the adrenaline rush through his veins, Richard kicked back and heard a groan, then spun around and aimed his Remington at his target.

"Wait, wait!" Forest said, grabbing his groin and taking a knee on the floor.

"Jesus, Forest," Richard said, scratching his head and looking down upon his comrade. "You know you shouldn't sneak up on me like that, especially here. I'm scared shitless as it is."

"Duly noted," Forest coughed, regaining his bearings and taking a deep breath.

"And I thought I told you to wait for me. Are you all right? How're the kids?" Richard joked, pointing to Forest's groin.

"Still there," he replied. "It was dark back there," Forest laughed, "I was starting to get the willies. So, you find anything?" he asked.

Richard shook his head. "'Fraid not," he answered, walking passed Forest and exiting the room, his comrade close behind. "I'm not sure if this place is exactly "empty", but there's gotta be someone…or at least some thing that could tell us why it's abandoned. I never even knew this factory was out here."

"That makes two of us, buddy," Forest agreed, walking passed Richard as soon as they hit the long hallway once again. There was a door on his left, and as Forest and Richard both took their positions on both sides of the door, Forest glanced at Richard and waited for his nod. As soon as he saw it, Forest pulled the handle open and the two officers piled in…but stopped at the sight they saw.

"Jesus…" Forest said, slinging his grenade launcher to his back and taking a look around the room, "looks like we found them…"

The room was littered with corpses, some of which seemed to have decayed, their faces appearing holey and decrepit. Richard looked over at Forest, whose eyes were glued to the massacre before their very eyes. Richard wasn't sure what exactly was going through Forest's mind, but he could clearly tell that he was just as confused as he was.

"What the fuck happened here?" Forest asked, kneeling over and inspecting one of the corpses. Looking at one of the victims' necks, Forest ran his finger over the lined wound that appeared all over the area. "They look like bite marks, man."

"Think it was the cannibals?" Richard asked, realizing the stupidity of his question after he asked it.

"Well, I don't really see what other cause we can really trace it to other than them. But from the looks of it, these guys have been here for days…maybe a few weeks… How long have these cannibals been in the woods? Surely there must have been one of these victims that survived the initial attack, called for help? There had to have been!"

This is all getting stranger by the minute, Richard thought, shaking his head. Some corpses sported empty eye sockets that were abuzz with maggots and flies. The odor in the room was like a mixture of rotten fruit wrapped in sour meat mixed in with fish that had been left in the sun for days.

The smell was starting to make Richard's nose singe; he couldn't stand it any longer. "Forest, I think I'm gonna be fucking sick, man," he said, walking over to the corner and coughing loudly, small traces of vomit falling to the floor shortly after.

"Just let it all out," Forest said, covered his nose with his good arm. He walked around in a circle to inspect the bodies of the others to see if there was any sign of life from any of them...and then he saw something.

A twitch.

"Hey," he said, looking back to Richard. "I think we may have a live one here."

"Huh?" Richard asked, wiping his mouth and making his way over to Forest. "You gotta be fucking kidding."

"Nah, man," Forest said, kneeling down and shaking the twitching man. "Just relax, buddy, we're R.P.D.; everything is gonna be just—"

As soon as Forest finished those words, the man turned his head and Forest could see Death in those eyes; his pupils were as white as chalk. His lip was ripped off his face, his bared teeth showing behind hungry moans, and his left eye was ripped from its socket. The man looked like something out of a horror film. It looked at Forest for a moment, studying him, as a child might. Finally, it snarled, opening his mouth to show pieces of flesh and marrow stuck between its yellowed teeth.

"What the—"

Forest could barely finish his sentence before the man lunged for him and bit his hand. Tattered flesh and blood flew freely from the wound, causing it to stain the floor below them. It took Richard no time to react as he shoved a screaming Forest out of the way and slammed his boot down hard on the maniac's head, causing it to crunch as it caved into the hard ceramic floor.

"Shit, shit, shit," Forest exclaimed in pain, bringing himself to the corner and assessing his new wound. The crazed maniac that took a chunk from Forest's hand had very sharp teeth, the wound looked like the man broke about two to three layers of skin, just enough to barely cover bone.

Aiming down at the corpse, Richard slowly moved back towards Forest but didn't take his eye off the massacre before him. "Hey, man, you still breathin'?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm still alive," Forest said, standing up to join Richard. "Not gonna lie, though; that fucker got me good, just like that dog. Just what the hell is going on in this place?"

"I wish I could tell ya, Forest," Richard answered, cautiously stepping over the bodies of the massacre and proceeding to the door. On the way out, Richard looked at the wall by the door and noticed an entire layout of the factory.

That's convenient, Richard thought to himself. "Hey, come take a look at this, Forest," Richard called to his comrade, showing him the blueprint of the factory. A conveniently marked "You Are Here" symbol made navigation much easier as the two searched for the path Enrico was talking about earlier.

Forest put his finger around the blueprint. "This place isn't really that big. If we continue down this corridor, we should be able to hit a fork in the road. From there, we hit a left and continue down that corridor until we reach the freight elevator."

"How do you know that'll lead us to the mansion?" Richard asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Look," Forest pointed out, directing Richard's view to the area where the freight area is and showing the word "Spencer" with an arrow pointing upward. "We take the elevator, we'll be at the mansion. Let's just hope we don't run into any more of these crazy fucks on our way."

"I really doubt that," Richard said, feeling a rough hand grabbing his shoulder. Remembering what Forest did earlier didn't cause Richard to react in time, but as he took a quick glance at Forest and noticed that both of his arms were being used to double-check the blueprint, his heart froze, and he quickly turned around and noticed the face of a man who's nose was ripped cleanly save for a bit of flesh and bone that clung to its former self. He had the same hungry moan the other one had and lunged for Richard.

In quick motion, Richard grabbed the throat of the lunging cannibal. The man's strength was unlike any other man Richard has ever faced; either that, or the surprise from the attack caused Richard to react much weaker than he would have a frontal attack. "Little help here!" Richard exclaimed, looking over at Forest's direction, who just realized what was going on.

"Richard!" Forest exclaimed, kicking at the cannibal's midsection and causing him to fall to the floor not too far away. "Stay down or I'll fucking drain you!" Forest yelled, watching in amazement as the deformed man rose to his feet and took another try at reaching the two men.

It took no time after that for Forest to pull out his Beretta and fire once at the cannibal's kneecap. The man fell to one knee and froze for a moment, lifting his head and staring at his two assailants. Seconds later, favoring his right knee, the man stood up and continued his charge towards Richard, causing Forest to fire another round at his other kneecap. The man's glare that was fixated on Richard was now directed to Forest.

"What the fuck?" Forest asked, firing at the man's chest twice and watching him fall to the floor on his belly.

The two officers breathed a sigh of relief, Forest still standing there dumbfounded with the muzzle of his Beretta smoking. Neither of them could believe anything of what was going on right then. They were both frightened, and both of them were man enough to admit it, although leaving their own personal feelings aside would probably be the best thing to do in the long run.

"Maybe he's on something, like that other guy?" Richard suggested, walking over to the corpse. "PCP, angel dust, coke, something!"

Richard noticed Forest was fixated on the corpse on the floor, his head cocked, as if watching something for the first time. He looked intrigued, curious, and something else that Richard couldn't seem to put his finger on.

He looks scared shitless, he thought to himself, not allowing Forest to catch him staring by looking around the room.

"He's still alive," Forest said, walking over to the man he had just shot down. "Those shots were fatal, two in the heart…but he's still alive."

"What are you doing?" Richard asked. "The man's incapacitated; there's no way he's still alive."

Forest walked over to the slumped corpse on the ground and turned him over with his boot—

—only to have the man raise his head and arms toward Forest in hunger. Forest answered the man's plea of hunger by firing a round through his forehead, the man finally going down and staying there.

"Forest," Richard said, looking at his friend standing before the corpse in utter shock. He let out a cry of pain and sped over to where the other corpses in the room were and fired upon all of them—all of them headshots.

"Bastards! You bastards!" Forest exclaimed, finishing his barrage and letting out short, heavy breaths.

Richard could see that something was bubbling in Forest's mind; he took no time in warning the man before he took his shots, and took no time after that to execute the man in cold blood. Then he desecrated all those other bodies. He understood that they were a threat and that they had wounded him, but Forest was forgetting that he was a cop, a man chosen to uphold the law, not act as a man who he should be arresting.

"Forest!" Richard called his name and heard it echo in the empty factory.

Forest merely looked at him then. He looked deathly pale, either from the loss of blood or from what had transpired. Richard never knew Forest as someone who would act like this; if anything, he was the man that broke other people out of this mood. But his look of horror made Richard even more afraid than he was now.

Making his way to the door, Forest stopped short with his back turned to Richard and said, "These men…those dogs in the woods…" He took another second to collect his thoughts before he finished his sentence. "Something happened here…something big. Whatever it is that we're facing, we can be sure of one thing."

"What's that?"

Forest turned to look at Richard, and in the most serious tone one could have, said, "They're not human."

Both men left the office and continued on their path to the freight elevator. They knew of the situation at hand, knew what horrors they were up against. But there was one thing the men didn't know…

They didn't know that Forest shared the same blood as them.