Chapter One

I

Seven Days Later

October 8th, Monday
7:21 a.m.

Tuesday, October 3rd – The virus has spread from Raccoon City to all the surrounding areas Wednesday, October 4th – Planes have stopped. Nearly all states of US have been infected.
Sunday, October 7th – The virus has become airborne and spread to Europe, Asia, and parts of Africa. Rumors about Australia are unconfirmed.
Monday, October 8th – All TV channels are static. No communication.

"Is that all you ever do?" Elliot asked, sitting down next to Geri. Geri looked down at her notebook, sighing. She pushed the power button on the TV and the static of the TV was gone, leaving Geri and Elliot in silence.

"It's all I want to do," Geri said with a shrug. She closed the yellow spiral notebook, the pages full of cramped writing, rough sketches of zombies and mutant dogs. She'd been turning on the TV every morning since the outbreak and written down anything important. Today there was nothing.

Elliot chuckled, his youthful dimples reminding Geri he was just a kid. She'd never asked Elliot how old he was but she estimated about sixteen or seventeen. For the first few days, he'd been trying to keep his Mohawk up but he'd given up and just left it down, brushing it out of his face and tying a piece of ripped fabric from his shirt around his head. "You'd rather just sit here and write when you could be out there killing those things?" Elliot said incredulously, his brown eyes wide, eyebrows high on his forehead.

Geri didn't answer, just smiled. Elliot had taken a liking to her. He had been trying to get closer to Tony at first but Tony was too interested in Staci's little skirts and long legs to pay attention to a punk kid who wanted to learn how to hold a gun like Tony. On October 2, Geri had run out of her house to do her morning jog when she was pulled into an alley at gunpoint. The man demanded money and when Geri made it clear she had no money on her, she was just going out for a jog, the man pointed his gun at her, preparing to shoot. Geri thought about screaming, kicking, fighting, hell, she even thought about trying to run away. But before she could do any of those things, a woman with a torn, bloody lip and bleeding shoulder bit into the man's neck from behind. Geri had screamed and run out of the alley, terrified, and ran right into the arms of a tall, chubby man. The man's eyes were wide, his face as panicked as Geri's, and the two of them ran down the street together, silently. They were ushered into a fast-food restaurant, a McDonald's look-alike called Happy Burger that was getting popular, especially in Ashfield, by a boy with a Mohawk.

The man Geri had run into introduced himself as George Weston and claimed to know what the things were. The boy, Elliot, and Geri sat down in one of the booths and Weston explained that he was an ex-Umbrella employee and the whole thing was Umbrella's fault.

"It's exactly what happened in Raccoon City," he had said, his round, chubby face sweating heavily. "That 'hoax tape' wasn't a hoax at all but anyone who knew anything about it was silenced by Umbrella and now look what's happened. The virus got out of Raccoon City and it's spreading faster than they can possibly keep up with."

"What virus…what do you mean 'things'," Geri had asked incredulously. "Those 'things' are people, Satanists maybe. They're sick cannibals…"

"No, they're not," Weston had said, shaking his head. "They've been infected by the T-virus. It reanimates dead cells, ultimately bringing the dead back to life, and since the Raccoon City incident, Umbrella has been trying to keep this hushed but what they wouldn't allow themselves to believe is that they don't have control of the situation. The T-virus was originally created in the Hive, a facility under Raccoon City, but when the virus escaped the Hive, after killing all the employees there, it killed everyone in Raccoon City and anyone who escaped was taken by Umbrella for testing. I was one of those researchers and when a man was discovered to have the virus in his system yet he was not dead, he was kept isolated from anyone. One day, he was gone. The next day, many were dead, but they were still walking around. I barely escaped, but it hasn't taken long for it to spread."

"You're joking," Elliot had said, chuckling nervously. "That's impossible."

Weston had only smiled and shook his head.

Only hours later, the three were brave enough to leave Happy Burger with a few other Happy Burger employees and they quickly found Tony and Staci in a gun shop. Staci had been part of an elite team and knew her guns as well as she knew her Vogue magazines - which was well enough to be able to name the person on the cover of every Vogue issue back to 2002. Tony wasn't as skilled with his guns but he knew how to aim and he knew how to shoot and that was all that mattered. The two quickly showed Weston, Geri, Elliot, and the two cashiers, Becky and Lena, and the cook, Austin, from Happy Burger how to shoot. Becky, Lena, and Austin were all killed that day when the group made their way through a parking lot to find a car. Elliot, the youngest of the group, was a surprisingly good shot, as was Geri, but Weston was utterly useless with a gun and the only thing he could really contribute to the group was how to kill them – shoot them in the head.

Geri almost couldn't shoot the zombies at first. Her first zombie was one she would never forget, a man in a business suit, his briefcase caught on a hole in his jacket so it made him lean to one side with the weight. The man was inches from her when she finally pulled the trigger. She didn't have time to get over shooting a human because she had three more only a few feet away that she had to get rid of. The next day she would be forced to kill a child.

The group was staying in a hotel in Ashfield, preparing to go to the remains of Raccoon City where they hoped to find some answers. What exactly they were looking for, Geri had no idea. Raccoon City had been where it started so they had just decided that was the place to go. Weston, Tony, and Elliot were staying in the room next to Staci and Geri's but Elliot had come to the girls' room first thing, complaining that between Weston's snoring and Tony muttering in his sleep, he didn't get a single moment of peace.

Staci was in the shower, leaving Geri and Elliot alone.

"Can you go tell Tony to bring the van around front, I think we should get out of here as soon as possible," Geri said. The group had agreed that staying in one place for too long, usually about twelve to fourteen hours, attracted the zombies. They had been trying to keep moving but it didn't matter that much. The zombies were everywhere. According to Weston they'd be going through a small town called Silent Hill on their way to Raccoon City where it should be relatively empty. Geri hoped so. She'd give anything at this point for a day where she wasn't shooting something.

Elliot nodded and stood. A few seconds later Geri heard the hotel room door open and close as Elliot went to the men's room. Geri looked at the yellow notebook again and felt an overwhelming feeling of helplessness wash over her. She couldn't lie to herself, this was almost too much to handle. She'd even thought about taking her life several times. But Geri knew she was stronger than that. She was a survivor and she could beat this. She'd kill to live. Look at how many she'd already killed. Of course, they were already dead, but that wasn't the point.

"You want me to bring the van around front?" a voice asked from the doorway. Geri looked up and saw the slim, fit man that was Tony Bicolatti. Tony's dark Italian good looks and charm made him quite the catch and Geri had admitted more than once to herself that if there was anyone she would want to be stuck with in the face of destruction, it would be Tony. But then, Tony also had a cocky attitude that made him almost unbearable at times.

"Yeah, could you?" Geri asked, fingering the cold coils of the spiral notebook.

"Sure," Tony said with a shrug. "Where's Stace?" He looked around the room, his forearms resting on each side of the doorway, leaning to one side.

"She's taking a shower," Geri said.

"Oh…" Tony grinned. "Can I just go…you know, check on her. We have to make sure she's doing okay in there…by herself. She may need help."

"I think she's fine Tony," Geri said, shaking her head. "Go get the van."

"But I just – "

"Van, Tony!"

Tony shut the door, grumbling irritably to himself. Geri had made up her mind the day she met Tony that he had been a spoiled mama's boy. He was too used to getting his way and with Geri around, it was like a slap in the face. She had a tendency to yell if something didn't go her way and Tony always seemed to find himself being yelled at whether or not it was his fault.

Just as the hotel door closed, the bathroom door opened. Steam followed Staci as she walked to her bed, drying her blond shoulder-length hair with a fluffy white towel. She smiled at Geri when their eyes met but Geri didn't return the smile. She and Staci didn't get along. Staci knew it, Geri knew it, everyone else knew it too. The two tried to act civilized to each other but it usually didn't work out.

"Tony was here?" Staci asked, smirking. Geri almost wanted to smile back at Staci, knowing that even though Staci and Tony were growing closer with each passing day even Staci couldn't resist a smile at Tony being yelled at.

"Yeah, he's going to get the van," Geri said emotionlessly. She got up and brushed past Staci, pulling off her t-shirt as she went to take a shower. As she closed the bathroom door, she heard Elliot opening the hotel room door, asking where she was. She ignored Staci's knocking on the bathroom door and pulled off her bra and panties, turning on the water. This was one of the things she loved about hotels – the water was always warm.

The little shampoo and conditioner bottles were almost empty from Staci's shower but Geri was glad to have any at all. Lately, water had stopped working at most hotels, especially the ones in bigger cities like Ashfield. At least, that's what Geri had heard on the news a few days ago. She wanted to melt under the warm water, feeling the dry blood and dirt washing off her sore body. Even though she hadn't been bitten or scratched – and thank God she hadn't, as that was one of the ways the virus entered the body – she was covered in scratches and cuts from rolling on the ground, climbing over fences, running into walls, and God knew what else.

When she finally felt clean and the miniature soap bar was finally gone, Geri turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, grabbing two fluffy white towels, one for her hair, the other for her body.

Geri pulled on her jeans, jeans that weren't too tight but not baggy. She'd picked them up at a shop they'd passed when she realized her jogging outfit was too easy to be pulled off. The last thing she wanted was to be running around in her underwear because a zombie had gotten hold of her pants. Her blue t-shirt was hidden beneath a brown zip-up sweater to guard against the crisp October air.

When Geri left the bathroom, the same steam that had followed Staci following Geri, she was greeted by the faces of the whole group. Elliot dressed in his usual tight, black pants and x-large camouflage jacket, a torn piece of the jacket wrapped around his head to keep his long hair out of his eyes. Weston wore his baggy black pants and large windbreaker, looking out of place and goofy with his large, thick glasses from the '80's. Tony was, of course, wearing his loose fitting jeans and plaid button-up shirt, looking gorgeous as usual. And then there was Staci, in her own tight jeans, the skinny jeans Geri despised, and a long, black and white striped t-shirt with a half jean-jacket to cover her arms, her blond hair pulled up in a ponytail to keep it out of her eyes.

Geri looked at Tony expectantly, waiting for him to tell her he'd gotten the van and it was waiting for them out front. Instead, Tony looked hesitant, opened his mouth, then closed, and it opened it again.

"Uh…" he croaked. He cleared his throat and tried to speak again. "The…the van's gone."

Geri raised an eyebrow. "Gone?" she repeated softly. She smiled. "Where could it have gone? No one else is here."

"Maybe someone passed by and saw it," Elliot said with a shrug.

Geri ignored him, not wanting to yell at him. She had a soft spot for Elliot. "We're the only ones with the keys," she reminded everyone. "The doors were locked."

"Listen, it's not Tony's fault!" Staci said suddenly. "Maybe the zombies took it!" Everyone laughed at that, even Tony. Staci looked hurt. "They're getting smarter, you know. They're learning! We saw one open a door yesterday. I wouldn't be surprised if they were learning how to drive cars."

"Staci, the only reason that zombie opened the door was because the handle was already down enough so it just had to lean on it and the door would open," Weston said reasonably, his smile calm and kind. "It probably just leaned on it by accident and the door opened. Now, about the van." He turned to Geri, his smile gone. "It was probably someone who knew how to hotwire a car. They broke the window, hotwired the van, and drove off."

"Figures it would be ours," Geri muttered, hated being given a reason not to yell at Tony. She knew, deep down, that it wasn't his fault the van was gone but honestly, she didn't care. She wanted to yell at him so she would.

"Let's just find another car…" Elliot said, happy no one was fighting anymore. Weston smiled at Elliot and nodded.

"There aren't any other ones in the parking lot," Tony said. "The van was the only one."

"I am not walking to Raccoon City!" Staci said, sounding like a spoiled three year old.

"We won't walk," Geri said, rolling her eyes. "We'll find another car in another parking lot, Tony can hotwire it, and we'll drive to Raccoon City."

Staci pouted. "How long d'you think it'll take to find another car?"

"Longer if we don't get moving," Geri said with a shrug. "Let's go.

II

October 2nd, Monday
8:24 a.m.

Emilie van Sickle had one thing on her mind when the outbreak began – Will. She and Will had been together for years but when she'd finally had the guts to leave Silent Hill, Will hadn't followed as she'd thought he would. Instead, he stayed behind, claiming they could hold a long-distance relationship. And so far they had. She'd visited a few times but hadn't gone for a few months. She hated the feeling she got whenever she went back to Silent Hill. Like something was trying to pull her back, this thing groping at the back of her skull, pulling her in.

She had pulled on her loose, grey slacks and a beige long-sleeved shirt that morning, taking extra care to curl her waist length blond hair in long, bouncy ringlets. Her make-up was flawless, her heels had never been worn outside, her hair was shiny. She looked gorgeous and she knew it. She was about to get into her car when she saw them. People were screaming, running. Two men ran her way and begged to be let into her car. She almost didn't let them when she saw a child gripping an old woman's leg, chewing on the woman's calf hungrily as the woman screamed, "No! Please, Stevie! Let go!"

It was absolute chaos. She hardly knew what she was doing as she locked the front door and unlocked the side door so the two men could get in. The taller man with the thick black hair and short, scruffy beard sat in the front passenger seat, next to Emilie, and the shorter man with long, blond hair pulled into a loose ponytail climbed into the back seat, shutting the door quickly behind him.

Emilie drove as fast as she could without hitting anyone. People banged their fists on the windows, some begging to be let in, some just snarling, pressing their bloody mouths against the windows, scraping their teeth against the glass.

"Just drive over them!" the black-haired man yelled. Emilie felt sick as she pressed her foot harder against the gas pedal and she heard the anguished screams of the people who weren't eating each other.

"What's going on?" Emilie asked tearfully, feeling herself fall apart.

"Just keep driving," the blond man said.

"I'm Joey O'Connell," the black-haired man said suddenly. With his thumb, he motioned to the backseat saying, "That's Josh Grey."

Emilie didn't bother telling them her name, forcing herself to concentrate on the road. The crowds of people were lessening and she knew she was headed toward Ashfield.

"Where are we going?" Josh asked from the back, leaning forward in his seat to lean his elbows on the two front seats.

"Silent Hill," Emilie said tonelessly.

III

October 2nd, Monday
10:30 a.m.

Will Hahn sat awkwardly in one of the Happy Burger booths, looking around the half-empty restaurant. No one really wanted to be at Happy Burger first thing in the morning but Josie had made him promise to meet her here. Neither Lucy nor Josie had shown up for work yet, not that Will was too surprised. Josie hated working at Happy Burger and Lucy was completely content with listening to whatever Josie said. No doubt Josie had decided work wasn't worth coming to, especially with the snow. Will checked his watch. Emilie was coming over in a few hours for a visit – the first visit in months.

Will knew he had a decision to make. Josie or Emilie? He wasn't sure how to make the decision. He had only been with Josie for a few weeks, but he'd been with Emilie for years. Could he really just leave her like that? He knew he couldn't. He knew Emilie wouldn't let him. She had sounded so pleased with herself when she called him.

"Will, guess wha-a-at?" she'd sung into the phone when he picked up.

"What?" Will had asked, honestly not in the mood for guessing games.

"I got time off!" Emilie had squealed. "I'm coming down for the weekend! Isn't that great?" Will had celebrated with her, made plans to go down to Rosewater Park, to go downtown and visit the antique shops, to do all the things they used to do. But inside he was groaning. He'd been hoping that all this separation would just make her realize the relationship wouldn't work unless they were together. Will couldn't leave Silent Hill and unless Emilie was interested in staying, they could never be together. Why Emilie continued hoping the relationship would work was beyond him.

So now here Will was, waiting for Josie who was obviously not going to show up and wondering what to do.

"You look pretty troubled," came a voice a few feet away. Will looked up and saw a pudgy man looking at him, a bacon burger squished between his fat fingers. The man grinned at Will. "Girls?" he guessed. Will nodded weakly, feeling his stomach churn. The man's nose was pressed against his face so he looked like a pig, his lips wide and thin like a frog. One of his pointed ears was bent at an odd shape, like a terrier's ear. "I bet a guy like you would have girl problems."

"What do you mean?" Will asked tiredly. He ran his fingers through his brown, shoulder-length hair, feeling it fall in front of his eyes.

"You're one of those pretty boys," the man said, his mouth full of half-chewed burger. "You probably got the girls all over you."

"Hardly," Will said with a good-natured chuckle, though he felt as though he were going to throw up if the man didn't close his mouth soon.

"Arthur Armstrong," the man said, extending a greasy hand to Will.

Will hesitated, then shook Arthur's hand, wiping his own on his jeans when Arthur released him. "Will Hahn," he said

"Will…short for William?" Arthur asked.

"No, just Will."

"So, what's the problem?" Arthur propped his fat elbows on his table, part of his loose jacket falling into his little tub of ketchup.

"I've got two girlfriends, one's coming to visit and neither of them know I'm with both of them," Will summarized, pleased with his short explanation.

"So?" Arthur raised an eyebrow, a skeptical grin on his face.

"'So?' What do you mean?"

"Keep 'em both!" Arthur chuckled. "Two for one!"

Will laughed. "It's not that simple."

"Sure it is!" Arthur said, his voice growing a bit too loud. A few people looked over and Will felt his cheeks growing red. "Just make sure they never find out!"

"I can't do that," Will said, shaking his head. "I'll figure something out…"

"You can't just – " A loud bang interrupted Arthur and both men looked up at the glass doors just in time to see a woman with a torn cheek and ragged throat throw herself against the doors a second time.

"What the hell is wrong with her?" one of the cashiers said, stepping away from the door.

"Artie, go lock the doors," another cashier said.

As Artie approached the door, the ragged woman threw herself against the doors excitedly, snarling and panting, smearing blood all over the glass so a red glow was cast on the tiled floors of Happy Burger. There was a click as Artie flicked the lock.

"What are you guys doing?" a woman cried from one of the booths in the back of the room. "Let her in! She obviously needs help!"

"We've got someone calling an ambulance," said the cashier that had told Artie to lock the door.

"Kim! The phone's dead!" a voice called from the kitchen.

The cashier, Kim, frowned and disappeared into the kitchen to where the voice had come from. A few seconds later she reappeared. "Does anyone have a cell phone?" she called out. The woman outside had been joined by three other people, all bloody and torn apart like the woman. They threw themselves against the door and windows, smearing blood and saliva everywhere they touched.

A few women dug around in their purses for their cell phones, men reaching into their back pockets. Will checked his own cell phone and groaned. His frustrated groan was lost among the rest as everyone at once realized they had no reception.

"Damn it!" Kim swore. "Artie, try to get them to leave…" she suggested. The tremble in her voice revealed her hesitation.

"Fuck!" the voice from the kitchen screamed. "Kim, they got in through back!"

"Shit…" Kim looked around. "Okay, everyone, stay calm, we'll get this under control!" Kim shouted before disappearing into the kitchen again. "Shaina, where are you?" There was a moment of silence as the whole restaurant held their breath, waiting to hear Shaina reply, but there was nothing. "Oh my God!" Kim screamed. "Get off her!" Artie darted behind the counter, followed by Will, Arthur and a few others.

Will stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Shaina. The pretty tomboy of a cashier Will had gone to high school with lay on the ground, her throat ripped out, eyes lifeless. Kim was on her knees, sobbing by Shaina's body. The person that had killed Shaina lay in the corner of the kitchen, a knife in his head. The back door was securely locked but the sound of pounding from the other side made it obvious there were others waiting to get in. Will and Arthur exchanged glances but before anyone could say anything, Shaina sat up.

"Shaina?" Kim said softly, sniffling. Shaina wrapped her arms around Kim and pulled her close. Kim was about to put her arms around Shaina as well when Shaina sank her teeth into Kim's neck. Kim screamed but Shaina kept a firm hold on Kim, tearing away the flesh at Kim's neck and shoulder. Artie, Will, and Arthur tried to pull Shaina off of Kim as quickly as they could while the woman and other two men who had followed tried to get Kim away from Shaina.

Shaina finally let go of Kim and turned on Artie, her teeth finding his cheek and pulling, revealing white bone and muscles. Artie screamed, holding his cheek in horror, and tripped over someone's leg, breaking his head open as it hit one of the broken tiles with an edge that stuck two inches out of the ground. One of the men threw up on Kim's leg as Kim lay twitching on the kitchen floor, blood pouring out of her neck and shoulder. Arthur pushed Shaina away with all his strength. The back of Shaina's head hit the sharp, metal corner of a counter and she fell to the ground, dead. Then there was only the sound of Kim gurgling, the blood catching in her throat. She twitched one more time and then was still.

Will backed out of the kitchen, feeling sick. The few people still out in the restaurant stared at him in horror. He looked at the door and opened it, knowing what he was letting in…and knowing that he was getting out.

Scrunchii Note: So hopefully you guys liked this! I have no idea when I'll update but the second chapter is more than halfway done so it probably won't take too long! Please review, but try not to just leave, "I liked it, update!" or "I hate it, die!" Constructive criticism would be wonderful, please! Thanks so much!

Much love and big kisses,
Steph