17. A Night Without Hope
Kevin, Alyssa, and Mark sat in Marvin's police cruiser as they traveled down the streets of Raccoon, which were vibrant with the flames of hell at every corner. The smoke from the fire covered the night's sky. Mark glanced out the window.
"Ah used ta' think that no matter how ah was feelin'," Mark said. "Ah always had the stars ta' comfort me, cuz they was always there. They gave me hope in somethin' greater, their beauty, their mystery, their glimmerin' power. But ah cain't see the stars no more. Not through this hell tha's become mah home."
Kevin sat in the front of the car with Marvin as Alyssa and Mark sat in the back. Alyssa, looking out the window, turned towards Mark.
"Relax big guy," she said. "They're just stars, it's no big deal. We've got the big bad boys in blue, and none of us have even gotten close to getting infected. I'd say hope or faith has little to do with our situation right now. You don't need hope when you've got lots of guns and ammo!"
"I love the way you think Alyssa," Kevin said, securing his .45.
"Ah suppose yer right, Alyssa," Mark said. "But ah cain't help getting a strange feelin' in th' pit a' my stomach, like this night is far from over. That this is jus' the beginnin'."
"That's no intuition," Alyssa said. "That's all those doughnuts you've been scarfing down!"
"Play nice," Kevin said. "Mark saved our asses out there earlier don't forget that."
"I know I know," Alyssa said, then punched Mark on the shoulder. "You know I'm joking with you big guy, no hard feelings."
Mark smiled weakly.
Soon they arrived at the gates of the Raccoon City Police Department, an immense building at the center of the city. They filed out of the cruiser and Marvin escorted them to the gates. There, a SWAT officer decked in full armor met them, his arms clinging to a large automatic shotgun.
"Identify yourself," he said.
"Officer Marvin Branagh," Marvin reported.
"And you?" the SWAT said, looking at Kevin.
"Officer Kevin Ryman," he responded.
"We have some civilians," Marvin said. "We need to get them to the shelter."
"Are any of you infected?" the SWAT said behind his dark black visor.
"No." Kevin responded.
The SWAT moved off to the side and pulled a switch that slowly opened the gate.
"Get in quickly," he said.
The group walked in and made their way down the large parking area, where a large blockade of SWAT and RPD vans and cruisers in addition to an ambulance created a fortress around the entrance of the building. They walked to the door and met a decorated officer who stood guard.
"Marvin, Kevin," he said. "It's good to see you back."
"Good to be back sergeant Cortez," Marvin said.
"We have a situation here," Cortez said. "The front doors to the building won't lock."
"What's the problem?" Kevin said.
"As you know the doors are electronically locked," he said. "It requires a passcode and keycard to gain access to the locking mechanism through the computer, but the keycard is missing, and the officer in charge of the passcode is dead. The only person who could access the mainframe through fingerprint is Chief Brian Irons, but he also is missing. We've tried to break into his office but we found nobody, just a corpse of a young woman. Nobody has any idea where he is, or what he's doing."
"This is insulting," Kevin said. "How can Irons just abandon us at a time like this?"
"I don't know," Cortez said. "But it's not entirely hopeless. Come inside."
Cortez opened the door and led them into the lobby and front desk of the RPD.
"The fire department dropped off some survivors, and one of them happens to be a computer hacker."
"Yoko?" Alyssa said.
"David, Jim!" Kevin said.
David stood leaning against the wall with his arms crossed as Yoko sat at the computer working feverishly until she noticed them. Jim sat with his feet propped up on the desk.
"Holy shit!" Jim said. "It's the cop and the reporter bitch! I thought you guys'd be zombie shit by now!"
"You do know he's infected," Alyssa said spitefully.
"We are aware," Cortez said.
"Man you still at my throat bitch?" Jim said. "I'm beginnin' to think you in love with me or some shit, you always on my case about somethin'."
"I generally don't like the idea of somebody around me ready to turn into one of those things at any second," Alyssa said.
"And you can bet your ass that when I do turn," Jim said. "I'm takin' a bite a' that nice booty you got bitch!"
"Stop it dammit," Mark said.
"What happened to you guys?" Kevin asked.
"It's a long story," David said. "One I don't feel like regurgitating."
"Yeesh," Kevin said. "You're a cheerful as ever."
A door in the back opened as everyone turned their heads.
"Cindy! George!" Kevin said excitedly.
"Kevin!" Cindy said with glee.
"How in th' hell did you two survive that explosion?" Mark said.
"I can't say exactly," George said. "It's all a blur now, but we were able to leap into the river and make our way through the sewers. We didn't know if the rest of you made it."
"Did you patch our people up Hamilton?" Cortez said.
"Yes," George replied. "They are already on their way to the temporary shelter, and none of them appear to be infected if my test is accurate."
"Test?" Kevin said.
"I received a letter from an old colleague," George said. "He explained what may have caused this atrocity. A viral outbreak of some sort by the name of the T-Virus which reanimates dead cells in organisms and has different effects on different people. I was able to gather tools that allow me to test for the presence of the virus before we arrived here."
"That could be very helpful," Alyssa said. "How many of you in here are infected anyway?"
"I haven't tested everybody, but…" George said nervously. "I'm afraid Cindy and myself may be infected."
"Great," Alyssa said. "As if it wasn't bad enough Mr. Jim here is gonna be one of those things, now the useless bag of fluff and her middle aged boyfriend will be dining on our innards. When the hell can we get to this shelter? I'm sick of this and I need some sleep!"
"That's right," Cortez said. "We will escort you there just as soon as Miss Suzuki can,"
Suddenly a ruckus could be heard outside, with loud explosive gun bursts audible from within.
"Ryman," Cortez ordered. "Stay outside by the door. Marvin, come with me. Miss Suzuki, do NOT, I repeat, do NOT stop until the doors are locked."
Kevin took his position by the door outside the building as Marvin and Cortez ran to the front of the police blockade. Snipers positioned on the top of the vans fired repeatedly at the gate area, where a group of as yet unidentifiable creatures pounded fiercely against them.
"What the hell's going on," Cortez asked another officer.
"They're trying to break though," he said.
Suddenly one of the creatures leaped high into the air and over the wall of the gates. It leaped down to the floor just as a sniper shot hit it between the eyes. The creature was a hunter, the same Kevin, Alyssa and Mark faced in the library.
"These aren't zombies," the officer said. "We've fired at them repeatedly and nothing keeps them down."
Suddenly the iron gate began to dent as more and more hunters leaped over the walls. Eventually they tore a whole through the gate and began to flood into the parking lot, running quickly and fiercly, resembling an army of demonic stormtroopers, screaming their blood curdling, reptilian battle cry. There must have been at least thirty of them, and there were at least fifteen or twenty officers firing round after round into the oncoming armada of hunters. One leaped into the air over a police car and swiped downward, slicing open an officer's chest and knocking him to the ground screaming. Another ducked a volley of shots and leaped over another car onto a SWAT member, then swiped horizontally, ripping the man's face clean off his skull and spraying blood all over the floor. Another SWAT officer fired round after round from his automatic shotgun into the thing, knocking it backward, then knocked another leaping monster against a SWAT van as several officers fired round after round into it at point blank range. Soon the numbers became overwhelming as the monster stormed the parking lot, breaking through the first blockade and proceeding to the next. One SWAT officer lifted a grenade launcher and sent a round into the massive crowd, then reloaded and aimed again only for a hunter to duck down and swipe in an uppercut motion, sending the man flying backward and setting his gun off in the opposite direction directly into a police cruiser, exploding it and sending two officers flying backward in the large fireball. They rolled around as they were consumed by flames, some officers trying to decide whether to help them or continue defending their positions; but the choice was soon futile as the hunters leaped onto the SWAT vans and passed through the second blockade. They now greatly outnumbered the officers but valiantly they held their positions, each one succumbing to their faster, stronger, and numerous enemies. Marving and Cortez fired shot after shot when a Hunter leaped into the air and swiped at Marvin, cutting him across the chest. Cortez pointed his shotgun directly in the hunter's face and pulled the trigger, blowing the hunter's head in half as black blood spewed into the air. Cortez helped Marvin up.
"Kevin!" Marvin screamed. "Get back inside, NOW!"
"But," Kevin said.
"DO IT DAMN YOU!" Cortez screamed, firing his handgun while holding Marvin up.
"Get those civilians to the shelter, NOW GODDAMMIT!" Marvin screamed, blood dripping from his mouth. "Forget the locks, just get them out of there! We've lost, you're all they have now! GO GO GO!"
Marvin turned back around to see at least five hunters decimating one officer, one ripping his arm from its socket, another stabbing into his back, as the others ripped and clawed at him like dogs fighting over a piece of meat. Kevin punched the door and ran back inside as Marvin and Cortez unloaded all of their ammunition until that low but immensely loud "click" sent terror shooting through their bodies. Marvin dropped his gun and Cortez his shotgun as every hunter still alive slowly crept towards them, sending them walking backwards towards the door. Every other officer on the lot was dead. The hunters converged on their prey and formed a circle around the two. Cortez pulled out his hunting knife and taunted them as Marvin pulled out a small revolver from his pants.
"C'mon you sons of bitches," Cortez said. "If I'm doing, I'm taking one of you with me…"
"Guess it's time to finally reach Valhallah," Marvin said. "It'll be an honor to die by your side, sir."
"Let's finish this like men," Cortez said.
Cortez ran forward and screamed, slicing and stabbing at one of the hunters as all the others simply stood and watched. Cortez managed to dodge some of its swipes until it ducked one of his attacks and swiped him, knocking him to the ground. Cortez tried to get up as the hunter let out a scream, then lifted its hand into the air and swiped in a downward angle, slicing Cortez's stomach open. Cortez stood in shock and disbelief as his intestines poured to his feet and splattered on the ground.
"Shit…" Cortez said, dropping to his knees and to the floor face first.
Marvin stood with his back against the wall, the revolver pointed at the approaching hunters.
BLAM….BLAM….BLAM….BLAM…BLAM…
The bullets had little to no impact on the hunters, and for a second Marvin considered using the last bullet on himself, just to make it easier.
"No," he said to himself as he leaned with his back against the door. "I'm not gonna give you bastards the satisfaction."
Marvin lifted the revolver and fired the last shot, hitting a hunter between the eyes and knocking it to the floor. He tossed the gun aside and began to laugh, holding his wound as the others approached. One of them stepped forward and stared at him menacingly, saliva dripping from its gaping maw. Marvin laughed again.
"Go on," he said. "Finish it, you ugly mother fucker."
It let out a shriek then stabbed forward deep all the way through Marvin's body. Marvin puked blood as the hunter looked directly into his eyes as if in mockery, almost enjoying the sight of life leaving his body through the vacancy of his eyes. Marvin let out a few blood gargled coughs until his head drooped down and his eyes shut. The hunter then tossed his lifeless body aside and turned its attention to the door.
On the other side Mark, David and Kevin stood in front of the door, their firearms aimed, listening to Marvin's last words and seeing his blood seep from the bottom of the door. The door began to move as the hunters bashed against it and the three men blocked it.
"I don't mean to pressure you Yoko," Kevin said. "But MOVE YOUR ASS! These guys are worse than Jehovah's witnesses!"
Frantically Yoko pressed buttons on the computer and navigated countless menus as Alyssa looked over her shoulder.
"C'mon girl," Alyssa said. "Just focus, don't listen to those morons. You can do this."
Jim tossed his coin in the air then caught it.
"C'mon my asian princess," he said. "Lady luck is on our side! Get Jim out of this mess! Ya!"
The strength of the hunters allowed one to creak the door open slightly, only for David to jam the dagger between its eyes.
"Not gonna happen…" he said, pulling the dagger out as Kevin aimed his 45 through the opening and fired a few rounds, knocking two hunters to the ground so they could close the door.
"There!" Yoko said, as two thick bolts beside the steel doors fastened them shut. Kevin, David and Mark stepped away as the loud banging of the hunters against the door echoed throughout the large room.
"Yes! Yes! You did it Yoko!" Alyssa said.
"You the bomb Yokester!" Jim said gleefully.
"It probably won't last long," George said. "The doors are reinforced but we must keep moving, there's no telling how long it will take them to find a way in. Kevin, are you aware of the temporary shelter they were talking about?"
"Yeah," he said. "I can get you guys there. Let's get moving."
"Wait," Mark said. "Is the cell block on the way?"
"No," Kevin said. "But we'll see if we can get there first. It may just take longer."
"We'll find Jerome Mark," Kevin said. "You don't hafta worry. I couldn't let you come all this way just to leave your son. I'll bet even Alyssa would agree with that."
"Hmph," Alyssa harrumphed, almost like David. "Just make it quick, I don't want to hang around this creep fest any longer than I have to, especially not with you people."
"I agree," David said. "Let's just get the hell out of here, we're wasting time. We can sort this shit out later."
"Well," Alyssa said, spanking Kevin in the butt. "Lead on, cowboy."
"Yes ma'am!" Kevin said, neighing like a horse.
"Idiots…" David muttered with his hand against his forehead as if he had a headache.