III
Friend
Forest looked like hell; the blood loss was finally starting to get to him, causing he and Richard to slow their pace significantly. Only his paler face matched his pale skin, and every now and then, Forest had to stop to take a breather, whether he had to vomit or take a moment to regain his senses.
"We're almost there, buddy," Richard reassured him, watching his friend press his hand against a wall to regain his strength. The blood from his hand was now dripping to the floor; the two haven't had time to actually stop and bandage it with all the cannibals—or zombies as he and Forest agreed to call them—attacking them left and right for nearly an hour. They were everywhere, and the numbers only seemed to be growing as the two advanced deeper and deeper towards the freight elevator.
"Are we…almost there?" Forest weakly asked, closing his eyes and letting out short, quick breathes. "My legs suddenly feel so much heavier; I can't go on much longer."
"Hey," Richard began, walking over to Forest and giving him a light shake to make him open his eyes. "You can't give up on me now, Forest. We don't have much to go before we get to the mansion, so keep your eyes open, okay? You need to hang in there, pal."
"Yeah…you're right," Forest said, giving a grin before shaking his head forcefully. "I'm not gonna be much use if I drop dead here, right? Let's just press forward; there's definitely gotta be some sort of first-aid station in the mansion; it's a mansion after all, right?"
"Right," Richard nodded, and smiled. He then looked to his pouch to assess how much ammunition he had left. Three clips…not exactly anything to worry about as of now, but God only knew how many more of them were up ahead, not to mention what lurked in the mansion above. On the good side of the news, however, Richard still had most of his ammunition for his Assault Shotgun, having only wasted four rounds on a group of the zombies he and Forest encountered in the narrow corridor just before.
From the death count so far, including the room they had previously visited, the zombies were now up to twenty-three, and there was still no explanation as to how they ended up like that in the first place.
But it didn't stop the two as they continued forward, Richard shouldering Forest as the two continued down the left path that led after the fork. "We're almost there, buddy," Richard said, looking forward and noticing only blackness. Just great, he thought, letting Forest loose from his grip and pressing forward. "Stay put," he said to Forest, venturing into the darkness with the light from his Remington on.
"Oh, don't worry, I'm not going anywhere this time," Forest laughed, cupping himself, coughing all the while.
The hallway wasn't showing any type of threat, but as Richard proceeded deeper, he noticed that there were three bodies littered on the floor, and that one of them was on top of the others, chomping away.
It just doesn't end, Richard thought to himself, not even paying attention as the hungry zombie looked over to him and opened its mouth, the saliva and blood from the other corpses dripping down its chin. Richard aimed his Remington carefully and let out one round as the hallway echoed with the force of the powerful Assault Shotgun.
The face of the zombie eater was gone; all that was left was the lower part of its mouth and chin, and the other bodies on the floor all got a brunt of the scattered shot. Richard made sure that they were down by kicking them once in the midsection. Having done that before, these men—or beasts—were very clever, so Richard did the next best thing: stomping their heads into the hard cement.
Not one of them moved after the stomping, and Richard looked forward and noticed that at the very end of the corridor were still lights that were dimmed, which led to something else.
An elevator.
Ecstatic, Richard began to walk back towards Forest to tell him of the good news when he noticed that he was gone.
"Forest!" Richard exclaimed, sprinting forward and noticing that his friend had fallen onto the floor. Oh, God, he thought to himself, please don't be dead, Forest. Please, man. "Forest! Hey, Forest!" Richard yelled, dropping his Remington and stepping over his friend, shaking him. It was in that moment that something odd struck Richard about his friend; he didn't get the same vibe from him as he normally did. Something suddenly told him that Forest was dangerous, in which way he didn't know, and he felt silly for thinking that.
He wasn't breathing.
"Shit!" Richard exclaimed, turning Forest over and pumping at his heart three times before going in to administer CPR. Before his mouth could connect with Forest's, his friend revived himself and let out a gasp of air.
"Trying…to kiss me now?" Forest smiled, looking up at Richard before closing his eyes once again.
Had Forest gone into shock so late since his wound? Or had his body had enough with all the blood loss and finally decided to shut itself down? Whatever the case was, Richard wasn't about to give up on his comrade…not after what they'd seen and been through.
"I found the freight elevator," Richard said to his friend, who opened his eyes and winced twice, probably due to his pupils readjusting themselves. "It's not too far from here, buddy, and once we're up there, we can patch you up again. I'm sure there's gotta be something that can help you out there. As a matter of fact, I guarantee it."
"Right," Forest sarcastically replied, allowing his friend to help him up before he shouldered him once again. They hadn't traveled two steps before Forest vomited on the floor.
"Shit!" Richard said in shock, stepping back and avoiding the vomit. It stunk to high heaven, and rather than comment on it negatively, Richard decided to say a joke instead. "I see you had the Lucky Charms for breakfast," he laughed.
"Screw you," Forest laughed as well, allowing his feet to drag to the floor as the strength from his body would not allow him to even help Richard in the slightest bit. Regardless of his body's refusal to give Richard a hand with helping, Richard managed just fine on his own, the two making it into the freight elevator shortly after.
"I told you we're almost there," Richard sighed with relief, allowing Forest to rest in the corner of the elevator as he punched in the "1F" button of the elevator. Richard wanted to laugh out loud for finally making it to where he needed to be. Finally…after everything was set in motion, Richard knew that his team was in the mansion, and that it wouldn't be long before he found them. Hopefully he'd run into Rebecca so she could help Forest.
"You think the others are there yet?" Forest asked, coughing once again. "You think they're dead? You think they're dead like Kevin, man?"
Forest was starting to slur his words, and he was certainly having a paranoid delusion for the rest of their teammates.
"You think they became zombie or dog chow just like Kevin? You think…you think…"
"Hey, hey, hey," Richard said, kneeling over Forest and leveling with him. "Nobody else is gonna die, okay? You talking like that isn't going to change the situation at all, so just leave the rest up to me. All you need to do is make sure you don't fall asleep, all right? I'm not asking for much here."
"You…you got it, chief," Forest breathed, letting out another painful groan. "And sorry…for talking like that… I won't be doing that again…"
"Make sure you don't," Richard said, hearing the ding! of the elevator, bringing the ride to a stop. It was a very long ride, Richard noticed, so how big was this mansion exactly? Or was it the factory that made it so big? "I need you to stay here for a second," Richard told Forest, slinging his Remington forward and stepping outside of the elevator.
As if his bad luck couldn't get any worse, as soon as Richard stepped out of the elevator, he noticed the body of what looked like a researcher or scientist, whatever profession allows one to wear a white lab coat, on the floor before him.
Shit, he thought to himself, lightly banging his head on the wall beside him. Not here, too, man. How far did this cult spread? Cult? What the hell are you talking about? This isn't a cult…it's a disease.
"What is it?" Forest said from within the elevator. Not hearing Richard answer his question prompted Forest to ask his question again, this time with more forcefulness. "What the hell is it?" he said in almost a shout.
Richard could feel the sweat drip from his forehead and fall to the floor below. He closed his eyes and wanted to scream at the top of his lungs, but worrying about Forest and not his sanity was top priority now. He needed to find a safe haven for Forest to rest while he went out in search of medicine.
"The things…" Richard said, his voice dropping as he spoke. "They made it here too, man. A body is right outside."
"Is it moving?" Forest asked.
Richard felt like kicking himself when he didn't think of checking the corpse sooner. He cautiously walked over to him and turned him over with his boot.
Baffled by what he saw, Richard noticed that that the corpse's throat had been ripped out, so chances of reviving itself were slim to none. As a matter of fact, Richard knew that there was no possibility of him rising again.
He stepped over the corpse and walked into the next room, shotgun erect, senses blazing, fearing the best and worst at the same time. The bloodstained kitchen was littered with another body, but rather than "disturb" the corpse, Richard saw that it was a smarter move for he and Forest to just bypass it.
Walking back toward Forest, Richard noticed that his friend had crawled out of the elevator, elbows first "Didn't…want to go back down there…"
Richard smiled and held the door open with his foot. "I hear ya, buddy," he said, bending over and grabbing his friend, taking him into the next room and up the stairs.
Down this long corridor were some doors, most of them locked, and rather than unlock them to see whatever horrors were potentially left behind them, Richard decided to go to the door on his left all the way down the corridor, which led to a vast dining room.
"Fancy," Forest said simply, looking up before slumping his head down further. "Makes you wonder why the hell we get paid so little…for our job…doesn't it?"
Richard faked a smile. "Somebody's gotta do the dirty work, right?" he said, hunching his shoulder to get more comfortable with carrying Forest. It was at this point where he wanted to leave Forest behind, but he wasn't exactly sure if the "zombies" could open doors, and even though this place was ideal, Richard preferred a more secluded room for Forest to hole himself up in.
In front of the two were fancy-looking wooden double doors. As Richard discarded Forest for a second, he whipped out his Remington and quickly opened the door.
He found the great hall.
Richard whistled, and heard it echo throughout the foyer. Whoever owned this mansion was making some serious bank. Finding out who owned the place might just crack the mystery of just what was going on here in the first place.
All that aside, Richard shouldered Forest once again and decided to leave the doors before him alone; from what he knew about places like this, all the main rooms were upstairs. If he left Forest in a bedroom to get some rest, it would give him more than enough time to take a good look around while trying to find something that would help him.
As the two made their way upstairs, Richard noticed a door directly behind him, secluded and behind a banister. He hoped it was a bedroom, and as he made his way to the door, Forest collapsed completely, taking Richard down with him.
He tossed and turned and looked like he was having a seizure. Richard turned Forest on his back and shook him hard. "Stay with me!" he exclaimed.
Forest's eyes were moving sporadically, searching for something up ahead. And after Forest's shaking had ceased, he couldn't move any longer. Richard felt his heart sink before he saw Forest open one of his eyes and look directly at him.
"That…still you, Rich?" his friend weakly asked, delusional, closing his eyes and licking his dry lips. "I…can't feel anymore, man…"
Richard looked down at Forest's hand and noticed that the wound looked more infected than anything he has ever seen before; it was near blackened. Forest's bandaged arm was now starting to seep through, the blood a darkened crimson. And Forest's veins…they were starting to blacken on top of that.
There was certainly something going on with these so-called "zombies" and Forest's wound. Was it possible that it worked just like the movies? If there really was an infection that turned all these men and women into mindless cannibals, was it going to happen to Forest too?
Richard shook the sudden thought away and grabbed hold of Forest once again; he didn't want to carry him any further. He couldn't cope with his friend dying in his arms. The next room he was in-no matter what room it was-he was going to let Forest rest there while he tried to look for something to aid him. The chances of Forest surviving as of now was very slim, but Richard would be damned if he didn't at least try to save his friend.
"Come on, buddy, you ain't dead yet!" Richard exclaimed, using all the strength in his body to lift the two-hundred-odd-pounds of dead weight from Forest's tall frame. His biceps burned and his back was starting to ache as he used whatever strength was in him to carry Forest above his shoulders and proceeded to the door.
Walking through, Richard sighed a breath of relief; the room he was in was a vast balcony. What got him so excited was the fact that Richard knew that they were on the second floor of the mansion, and there was no possible way that any dog could jump this high to even reach him in the first place. The second would be that the room was in such a secluded place that the mindless cannibals that were walking around would most likely bypass it.
A lone chair surrounded by flowers was at the end of the balcony, and Richard carefully set Forest on it, his friend sighing deeply as he was finally allowed some rest since the factory entrance.
"How…am I doing?" Forest asked weakly, closing his eyes and taking short, deep breathes.
"You're doing great, man," Richard lied.
With that, Forest opened his eyes and looked at Richard. "I've…lost too much blood, man…" Forest said, his voice sinking with his dreadful words. "I'm…dying, aren't I?"
"No," Richard choked, his eyes getting glassy as he placed a firm hand on his friend's cheek, feeling the freezing sensation from it the next second. "You just need to rest, that's all. I'm going to go look for medicine to get you better. We need to stop the bleeding first."
"Waste," Forest said simply, his breath getting shallower. "Used all…our bandages…"
"There's gotta be something!" Richard exclaimed, this time squeezing out a tear. "And I'm going to find it, no matter what it takes! Just hang in there a little longer, okay?"
"Always…looking out for me…" Forest said, smiling before letting out a loud cough. "Take the launcher; you're gonna need it," Forest suggested.
Richard shook his head and grinned. "You're going to need that more than me, man. I'm gonna head out of here with the weapon I got; we both know it's better than yours anyway."
"A shotgun…better than a grenade launcher, eh?" Forest asked, letting out a slight chuckle. "I must really have lost too much blood to agree with that."
Richard laughed and sniffled once; both he and Forest knew that this was the end of the road, as well as the last time the two would ever see each other again. Placing his forehead against Forest's, Richard let out one more sigh and let the choked up feeling get the best of him, the glassy eyes shattering and letting out a few tears.
"Don't…forget to…bring the fucking thunder," Forest encouraged Richard, letting out a few tears as well. "And…be careful, you hear?"
Richard nodded and stood up; he didn't want to be in that place anymore to watch his friend die. "I promise I'll come back for you."
"And…I promise I'll be waiting here…"
Richard looked at his comrade-no, his dear friend-once more before turning his back to him and exiting the room, locking it behind him. If he needed to get back to Forest, he'd either find the key to the room or break the door down; it didn't matter.
{break}
Standing in front of the freight elevator, S.T.A.R.S. Bravo team member Kenneth Sullivan pressed the "down" button for the elevator, waiting for it to descend. He noticed one of his teammate's first-aid kits at the front of the factory, and wondered who they belonged to.
All the more reason to get there quickly, he thought, tapping his foot impatiently. Come on, come on!
Many bodies littered about this place, which made Kenneth wonder how threatening these men and women were for his comrade to kill each and every one of them.
Hearing the ding! from the elevator directed Kenneth's attention to the chain gate of the freight elevator. As he went through, Kenneth pressed the "1F" button and readied his Samurai Edge, hoping to God that the decision he had made to follow his teammate's trail wasn't a fatal one…
{break}
Forest watched his friend leave his sight and knew that there was no reason to hold on any longer. Above, he could faintly hear the shrieks of crows. But in this place- in his heaven-there was nothing to despise. The flowers around him were so beautiful to look at that he didn't notice the blood that was pooling from his arm and hand.
The only thing he noticed was that he was finally allowed to get some rest. He breathed once, letting out a long, deep breath.
And his chest never rose again.
{break}
A/N: There's the latest installment to the chapter, hope you all enjoyed reading.
Also, I thought it'd be interesting to incorporate how Kenneth got to the mansion in the first place and how Richard somewhat led to his death by leaving the two corpses in the kitchen behind.
Hope people got that little hint; the corpse who didn't have his throat ripped out, in my scenario, would follow Kenneth up the stairs and surprise attack him, leading to the video either Chris or Jill would find in the actual game.
Look for more soon!