Chapter 7: Death Masks
The three decided to stick together as the mansion was starting to become more dangerous than they thought it would be.
"So Chris, how is the investigation for you?" Jill asked.
"So far, aside from finding both Rebecca and Richard, the investigation felt stale. Haven't found any new leads but did encounter some zombies, especially one of them that was way different from the others," Chris explained.
"How so?" Michael asked.
"Well the zombie looked more crimson like and they ran faster along with being more aggressive compared to slower ones," Chris stated.
"No wonder the note mentions that they become stronger if we don't burn them," Jill said, as Chris looked curious.
"What note?" Chris asked.
"It's nothing, but anyways if what Richard said was correct, there should be a giant snake in that room," Michael pointed out. "But the question remains as to how we'll take out the scaly bastard?"
That's when Jill found a grenade launcher, as she inspected the weapon.
"This could be useful," Jill said, before going back to the others.
"You guys ready?" Chris asked loading his handgun, as Michael loaded his shotgun, while Jill loaded the grenade launcher.
"We're ready," both Jill and Michael said in unison.
"Let's do this!" Chris said, as he kicked down the door and the three rushed into the room, guns out.
"Huh, the room is clear save for the spider webs," Michael said, as the three lowered their weapons.
They explored the room, but their exploration was cut short when the so-called snake arrived. The snake was giant, but not like Jormungandr big, rather it looked like an adder snake that was abnormally big. The snake hissed at them, as the three backed away.
"Scatter!" Chris yelled, as the three jumped away from the snake that tried to bite them.
"Open fire!" Michael yelled, as he shot the snake with his shotgun.
The three rained bullets on the giant snake, as it coiled around trying to find someone to swallow. However, the snake did strike Jill, catching her off-guard.
"Jill!" Michael yelled, as he slid quickly and fired his shotgun at the snake as it was almost about to devour Jill.
The snake hissed in frustration, before slithering away in defeat. The three breathed a sigh of relief, as Michael went to Jill.
"Jill, you alright?" Michael asked.
"I'm fine, thanks for saving me back there, could've almost become snake food," Jill said.
"Here's a healing spray, use it just in case," Michael said, handing Jill a spray, as Jill thanked him before using the healing spray.
"Hey guys come take a look at this," Chris said, as he kneeled down to pick something up.
"What is it?" Michael asked, as Chris showed them a mask.
The mask had no nose, but it had eyes and a mouth.
"Hang on, I think it's one of the death masks," Jill said, as Michael looked shocked, while Chris looked curious.
"Are you serious?" Michael asked, as Jill nodded.
"Death mask?" Chris asked.
"Right, let's inform Chris on the details," Jill said, as she explained to Chris about what they found.
"Let's be clear, you guys found a chamber with a coffin hanging up top along with four sculpted faces that require a mask with certain details, correct?" Chris asked.
"That sums up everything," Michael stated, as Chris shook his head.
"What have we gotten ourselves into?" Chris asked.
"Trust me, I asked myself the same question," Michael jokes without any humor.
"Come on, let's get out of here," Jill said.
The three left the room, but as soon as they left Jill had a major headache.
"Jill? Are you ok?" Michael asked, looking a little concerned.
"I'm…I'm fine, just a headache that's all," Jill said, assuring them everything was fine.
But soon she slowly slumped against the wall, which shocked both Michael and Chris.
"Jill!" Chris said, rushing to her side, as Michael checked her pulse.
"Shit! She's been poisoned and I don't think a healing spray is going to work," Michael said.
"Wait, those herbs! I think I passed by a blue one nearby, but I didn't think much about it," Chris said.
"Stay here with her, I'm going to grab the herb," Michael said, running to find the herb, as Chris nodded and stayed with Jill.
With Michael
It was a race against time for Michael as he tried to search for a blue herb to help cure Jill. The last place he remembered to find the herb was in the room with a typewriter and storage box, along with the serums. As he ran to find the room, he came across the zombies roaming around the area.
"Out of the way bastards!" Michael shouted, as he rained bullets on the zombies while dodging them.
However, Michael encounters a new type of zombie that was crimson looking and ran fast, just like the one Chris mentioned.
"God can I just go a minute without encountering these undead fuckers?!" Michael ranted, as he dodged the crimson zombie and blew its brains out.
Soon Michael found the room with the blue herb, as he breathed a sigh of relief. With the blue herb, Michael rushes back to both Chris and Jill while avoiding any zombies in the area. He soon found the two, as Chris was taking care of Jill.
"You got the herb?" Chris asked, as Michael nodded.
Michael crushes the herb and places it in Jill's mouth. It took a minute for her to swallow it given her condition at the moment. Chris of course left the area to continue the search, while Michael stayed with Jill. Michael tried to stay awake and monitor Jill, but eventually he too was exhausted as he closed his eyes in forced slumber. Soon Jill wakes Michael up, as Michael quickly looks around in shock before realizing it was Jill waking him up.
"Oh, it's you Jill. Welcome back to the land of the living. Glad this mansion didn't claim another victim," Michael said, giving Jill a small smile.
"I can tell, but if it weren't for you I could've died, so really thank you," Jill said gratefully as Michael nodded.
"Of course, after all we're partners. I've got your back so long as you got my back," Michael said before getting serious.
"Oh and I did encounter one of the crimson zombies you and Chris mentioned," Michael said, as Jill looked shocked.
"They didn't hurt you or anything?" Jill asked, sounding worried as Michael shook his head.
"Nah they were merely just an annoyance, scary fuckers indeed, but an annoyance," Michael said nonchalantly.
"I'm still surprised that you're calm about this whole situation," Jill said, as Michael chuckled.
"Well to be fair, I was originally scared, but as of now I'm more annoyed and frankly I just want this mission to be over with so I can head home and catch some sleep," Michael stated.
"Agreed, I want to get out of this madhouse quickly before I turn mad myself," Jill said in agreement.
After resting up, the two continued to search for the Death Masks. Eventually they found the rest through a series of puzzles scattered in the rooms of the mansions. Once they got all four masks, they went back to the chamber and placed it on the four faces. However the coffin soon fell to the floor, as the chamber locked them in. Out of the coffin came one of the crimson zombies, as it looked pretty aggressive.
"Oh for god's sakes," Jill said in annoyance, as she and Michael fired bullet after bullet on the zombie.
The crimson zombie was like a bullet sponge, as it seemed to be taking a lot of bullets. The crimson zombie eventually tackles Michael and is prepared to bite Michael.
"Get off of me you bastard!" Michael yelled, trying to get the zombie off of him.
Luckily Michael had a flashbang on him and decided to place it on the zombie's mouth before kicking it away. The zombie took a bite of it and was stunned momentarily.
"Jill, take the shot!" Michael yelled, as Jill nodded.
Jill managed to get a headshot using her Samurai Edge handgun, as the zombie was now headless thanks to it getting its brains blown out.
"I'm really starting to hate this mansion," Michael retorted, as Jill nodded in agreement before helping Michael up.
They went to the coffin to search for anything and sure enough they found a switch, but also a medallion.
"What do you think the medallion might be used for?" Jill asked.
"I'm not so sure, but come on let's get out of here," Michael said, as the two left the chamber.