Chapter 5
To say that Elliot had mis-givings about entering back into the west side corridor was an understatement. The smell of death was still thick in the air, and along with the blood smeared walls, Elliot found himself becoming more uncomfortable by the minute. Meyer, David, and Jason accompanied him to help re-barricade the windows. He hung back as they were removing the bodies out of their way, afraid to get to close to their motionless corpses. The thought of those bodies writhing and tearing for him sent a chill down his spine.
"Hey Elliot, why don't you give us a hand?" Meyer mocked.
Elliot was pretending to sort out the boards, hammers, and nails. "Why don't you just do your job and let me do mine?"
Meyer chuckled and lifted another body up. The skin of its arm slid off in a meaty slush. Elliot turned away in disgust, vomit threatening to rise in his stomach. Meyer chuckled louder and threw the gangrenous skin at Elliot's feet in a wet plop.
"Fuck you..." Elliot whispered through his hand.
Once the bodies were cleared, they began the arduous task of boarding up the windows again. Board by board, nail by nail, they pounded, covering every inch, reinforcing it stronger than before so that another massacre wouldn't occur. Elliot watched Meyer out of the corner of his eye, and cursed him. That sick bastard...he thought bitterly. This was all just a game to him. He was trying to use intimidation and bravado to Bogart his way into a position of power.
Not with me though...it's not going to work with me.
As he continued to nail, Jason came to his side, looking as if something were on his mind. Elliot had never really taken to liking Hamilton, mainly because he wasn't a man of initiative, always following, never standing for himself. He figured that would just make it easier to deal with, unlike Meyer. The less internal conflict the better.
"Elliot, we need to talk."
"What is it Hamilton?" Elliot responded, still nailing.
Jason was hesitant. "I think I may know how all of this started...the zombies that is"
Elliot stopped hammering and looked at Jason. Meyer had stopped too and was eying them with a degree of interest. Only David continued working, meticulously pounding nails into the wood, his Mossberg hanging loosely from its shoulder strap.
"What are you talking about?"
"There was a reporter among the survivors we brought in-Ben Bertolucci, he gave me some information that implements Umbrella in this..."
Elliot was stunned. Umbrella? The largest pharmaceutical company on the planet, responsible for some of the most cutting edge innovations in medical history, not to mention the biggest philanthropist of Raccoon City. Umbrella...
"Implements them how?" Elliot asked.
"I really don't know all of the details. Apparently, there was a mansion in the Arklay Forest that Umbrella had used to develop a virus. It spilled into the city, causing all of this. Chief Irons was in on it, Umbrella payed him off when all of those murders were happening. It's all a big cover-up."
Just what the hell is he babbling about!?
"So then that means the S.T.A.R.S. were right all along..." Meyer whispered.
Elliot and Jason looked at him.
"After the S.T.A.R.S.'s investigation into those murders back in the summer, they were discredited, ridiculed, and suspended. Some good men died on that night. Edward, Forest, Enrico, Richard, Joseph, the list could go on and on, family men, men with honor, men with loyalty, brave men, and you mean to tell me Chief Irons just swept it under the rug to cover Umbrella's mistake!?"
Elliot waved him off. "Listen, we don't know whether or not any of this is true any-way. Where is this Bertolucci guy? I want to talk to him."
Meyer was infuriated. He grabbed Elliot by the collars and forced him against the gore splattered walls in a blind fit of rage.
"Just how much proof do you need!?" He screamed. "Why don't you just open your fucking eyes, here's all the proof you need right here!? Just what is wrong with you huh!?
Jason tried to come in between the two men, but to no avail. David was still calmly working, placing board after board in total silence, oblivious to the conflict happening around him.
"Get off of me!" Elliot cried. He could feel Meyer's hands enclosing around his throat, choking him.
He's...gonna...kill me... Elliot thought drastically. His hand still clutched the hammer he was using to board the windows. He swung the hammer up in one def motion----------
----------and narrowly missed crushing Meyer's skull as Jason managed to separate the two. Jason stood in the middle as Meyer and Elliot viciously leered at one another.
"What is wrong with you two!?" Jason screamed. "We already have enough troubles without us killing each other!"
Elliot rubbed his sore neck, and right then, wished death upon Meyer. It didn't matter how or when, but he just wanted Meyer dead. If it comes to it...
Elliot's police radio buzzed to life. Another burst of static and the anguished cries of their colleagues echoed over the radio.
...Elp...Ellio...we ...eed...
B Squad...
Meyer and Jason were already moving for the door. David was behind them, slinging his Mossberg into action. "Let's go Elliot..." Meyer demanded.
Not again.
Elliot just stood there, planted in place. It was the fear rising up, the fear of those dreaded things, tearing, gnashing...
"Look, if you just want to stand there and be some coward, be my guest, but I'm not just going to stay in this hell-hole and die. No one is going to stand in my way. I don't care if it's zombies, chief Irons, even Umbrella itself, no one is going to stop me!"
He barreled through the door, the other two in toe.
Damn it...Elliot thought sullenly. He quickly followed them to Squad B's location, silently cursing the mans bravery.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
David Ford was feeling an adrenaline rush like no other as he raced through the Raccoon City Police Department hallways. It was the same adrenaline rush he had been feeling for the past two days, kept on edge ever since the zombie infiltration first started. David was one of the first officers on the streets during the initial out-break. He remembered the way the zombies had spread like wildfire throughout the city, hunting every-body indiscriminately. The fact that the dead eventually rose among the zombies ranks only compounded the problem. He remembered unloading his Mossberg countless times, so much that he eventually became immune to its devastating effect.
The first blast he shot with a heavy heart.
The second with survival in mind.
The third with a tinge of excitement in his gut.
...And after that, it became like a game.
Turning zombies into "fertilizer" as he called it. Unloading round after round, it was becoming an unavoidable task. David could care less about Elliot's and Meyer's machismo out-pourings, all he wanted to do was shoot something.
As they zeroed in on squad B's position, David could feel the adrenaline rising even further. His hands were shaking, and his heart was thumping against his chest.
This is it...He thought nervously. The cold weight of his Mossberg was comforting as he held it in his clammy hands. This is it!
Jason and Meyer took point while Elliot cowered behind them. Meyer, and Jason rushed into the corridor, guns raised. It was an expansive passageway with light tan walls, and unlike the last corridor they barricaded this one had a a set of electronic steel shutters covering the windows. Some-how or another, they had been raised, allowing the zombies to attack. David was expecting no less than a tragedy as they stormed the hall-way, and that was exactly what they saw. All the members of Squad B lay slain before them, zombies hunched over their lifeless bodies, feeding. At the sound of their entering, the zombies lifted their disfigured heads, their rotting gaping, mouths already hungry for new blood.
Beside him, Meyer was already springing into action. David watched as a bloody hole appeared in one of the zombies fore-heads. It crumpled to the floor, life-less again.
Damn that guy is good.
David raised his shotgun and fixed his sights on a zombie in the remains of a tattered business suit. He set the stock firmly against his shoulder, braced himself for the kick...
BOOM!!
The blast exploded the zombies head. It fell to its knees and over on its side. More fertilizer. He cocked his Mossberg and unloaded on another zombie, knocking it back as its chest was obliterated in a hail of pellets. More and more zombies were coming in through the windows, crawling over each other, ripping them-selves open on broken glass. As they continued to shoot one of Jason's bullets came dangerously close to hitting the control switch for the windows automatic shutters.
"Watch the breakers!" Meyer screamed at them.
The zombies swarmed into the hallway, congesting the passageway with their putrid bodies.
They're getting too deep. David thought frantically. Despite their slow and unsteady movements they were still formidable enough. David's hands were becoming increasingly unsteady. He fired his Mossberg, and the shot went wide, missing his intended targets head and hitting another.
Concentrate...
The zombies that were permeating through the broken windows were becoming clogged by their own unintelligible actions. Their grisly hands swiped the air in front of them in a futile attempt of action.
"I'm going to close the shutters! Cover me!" Meyer ordered.
Before they could say anything, Meyer darted through the multitude of corpses, skillfully dodging the hands that reached for him. Beside him, Jason continued to fire away, keeping the wraiths at bay. Meyer managed to make it across the hall-way unscathed. He fumbled with the control panels switches, finally managing to lower the steel shutters. David watched as the zombies stuck in the windows became crushed under the shutters heavy weight. The sickening sound of bones being crushed echoed over the zombies moans. David was so transfixed by the macabre scene that he did not see the zombie itching towards him until it was too late.
It lunged for him, grasping its rotting hands around his shoulders. David brought his Mossberg up to shield himself from the things gnashing jaws. The stock of his weapon went wild in the struggle, striking Jason in the temple. He went down as David continued to wrestle with the zombie. The zombies thrashing jaws latched onto his Mossberg, relentlessly biting into its hard surface. The zombie was over-powering him, knocking him backwards with every violent thrust: he wouldn't be able to keep it off of him for long.
It wasn't until he heard the shot and saw the zombies head snap forward that he realized that Meyer had saved his life. He stood on the opposite end of the corridor, gun raised, with a look of sheer determination in his eyes. That was the last time David had saw him, as the remaining zombies obscured his view. David aimed his Mossberg at the back of one of their heads and pulled the trigger, and was rewarded with an audible click.
Shit!
He fumbled for his ammunition pouch, wrapping his cold, sweaty fingers around a fresh shell. He took out a shell and tried to reload, only to drop it out of his unsteady hands. David watched in horror as the zombies continued to surround Meyer. Gunshots could still be heard coming from the wall of un-dead but any attempt he was making to save his life was futile. Then, like a miracle, Meyer was able to bursts through the mob of zombies. His uniform was ripped in bloody and deep wounds covered his body, but there was still the same irrevocable strength on his face. Their eyes met, and at that moment, David felt like shit. He had panicked in the middle of combat, and had cost Meyer his life.
His Mossberg hung limply at his side as the throngs of zombies enveloped Meyer once more. This time, there was no escape. The sound of his flesh being ripped from his body could be heard over the terrible moans. He had died trying to save us...
This realization made David drop to his knees, oblivious to the zombies just in front of him.
Meyers dead...I could have saved him...
He felt hands grab him by his shoulders and pull him back. Davids head lazily rolled back to see the shocked, inverted face of Elliot dragging him away from the carnage. He also dragged the prone body of Jason away, displaying an unbelievable burst of intensity. Elliot barely pulled his fellow officers out of the corridor when the zombies came for them, their angry cries echoing throughout the precinct, but David was not listening, he wasn't hearing a single sound...