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Chapter 3 – Searching

A loud crashing sound snapped Jake back into reality. His mind was too wrapped up in thinking of the events that occurred hours ago, he forgot he is still not completely out of danger yet. His instincts quickly kicked in, his mind sharp and alert in a flash. He grabbed his Taurus PT-909 pistol, released the latch to dislodge the magazine and checked to see how many bullets he's got left. Ten bullets left. He's still got two more magazines tucked away in his jacket pocket.

With all the monsters around, I'm not going to last longer with my ammo, he thought critically. Reaching in the back pocket of his pants, he pulled out a small radio microphone. Normally his squad are meant to be wearing them on their ear. Its purpose is to keep in touch and to report back to his commander for news and get orders. Jake took it out a long time ago and stuffed it in his pocket. Quite frankly, he just couldn't stand the fuck hearing his commander's voice. Raising the microphone to his mouth, he turned it on.

"This is Jake. Is there anyone else out there? Over."

He waited a few seconds. No one responded. He was about to raise it to speak to it again when a sudden burst of static came through.

"Commander Blajasevic here. Where the hell are you, Jake? What's the situation over there? Damn it, you were supposed to report back to me two hours ago! You boys better not be fucking around. Over." came a nasally annoying voice at the other end of the microphone. Jake felt his jaw tense. He imagined ramming his commander's face into a brick wall. He just couldn't stand him.

"Commander I'm still in my patrol area. I'm in an abandoned building right now. Things don't look too good here."

"Well where is your squad? I haven't heard from any of you shitheads. We need to regroup. Over."

"They're fucking gone alright? We were attacked. The guys, they're all fucked up. Turned into those monsters. It's just me left, over." Being a hothead, he could feel himself lose his temper. His voice raised an octave.

"What? I knew you idiots couldn't be trusted to get the job done. All you need to do is patrol your area and what did you get yourselves into? Infected! Alright, make your way back into the rendezvous point with the rest of the other squads. We've got choppers to take you back into base. Get your ass moving, Muller. Over." With that he was gone. Static was left buzzing on the other side of the line.

"Douche bag." Jake muttered under his breath. He realized he was squeezing his microphone hard. He wanted to crush it and throw it away but he thought better. Stuffing it back into his pants pocket, he readied his pistol. He might be needing his radio again. A louder crash made his head turn to the sound. At the far side of the wall, where he entered the building, he noticed a couple of soldiers turned monsters making their way inside. Cursing under breath, he got up to his feet and hurried at the opposite direction. This just isn't my day, he thought sourly.

A strong just of cold wind sent a chill down Sherry's back. Wrapping her coat tighter around her, she made her way down the snowy village in the Eastern part of the town. Snow crunched under her boots. Snowflakes danced in front of her tickling her eyelashes. If it wasn't for reports about the viral outbreaks in this place, it would have looked like a nice peaceful town. Tiny red bricked houses lined the sides of the streets. Smoke billowing out of the chimney. Dogs barked as she passed them from their houses. At first glance it's pretty hard to believe monsters could exist in this quaint town. But they do. Ever since at a young age, she saw it herself. How a virus could turn a normal human being into a mindless animated corpse. She saw families and friends turn against each other. She saw how loving dogs could turn into their owners tearing their flesh apart. At a tender age of twelve, survival was the one lesson she learnt. Now at the age of 27, survival and moving on is what she has to cope with.

According from Jake's file, he and his squad are supposed to be patrolling the southern part of town. She needs to find him quick and she needs to do it now. Quickening her pace, she pulled out her cubed shaped smart phone and brought up the map and location of the town. A blue glowing dot locating where she is on the map told her she is not too far from the south. Her GPS mapped out the quickest route to get to where she wanted to be. Clutching it tightly in her hand, she hoped that she could find Jake on time.

After 20 minutes of brisk walking she arrived to her destination. Judging by the abandoned buildings falling apart and scribbled with graffiti she knew she had reached the southern area. Old cars lined the sides of the street, windows broken, paint peeling and stripped of their machinery. The streetlights were broken except for one blinking on and off by the side of an abandoned building. The concrete on the pavement were cracked and uneven. The smell of sewage and rot filled the air. She looked around and scrunched her nose. Her gaze stopped in the middle of the road.

As she took a few steps closer, she noticed three unmoving bodies lying on the ground. Their appearance looked ghastly and hideously frightening. Their skins have hardened into a red wax like appearance. She saw pointy razor sharp teeth under their cracked and bloody lips. Six pairs of eyes on each person stared lifelessly at her. Oh God, she thought horrified. These are worse than the zombies she encountered back in Raccoon City. She noticed that one of the monster's knee was twisted in an odd angle. Another one has a broken nose, blood trailing down to his chin and staining the front of his shirt. Whoever fought them sure did a number on them, she thought. She then heard voices. There's about two or three different people talking. Her head snapped to the direction of an old abandoned building next to the road. They seemed to be coming from there. Turning around, she hurried behind an abandoned car and hid behind it. She took out her pistol, her eyes never leaving the hole of the building.

Three people came out of the hole into the middle of the road. At first, Sherry thought they were normal people until she saw their faces. They're not too different from the dead ones lying on the ground. Less bloody but still grotesque. She strained her eyes to listen to what they are saying but they seemed to be speaking in a different language she is not too familiar with. I need to get rid of them and I need to do it quickly, she thought to herself. Fighting these monsters three to one is pretty much suicide for her. Although she knows the basics of self-defence, she is not much of an experienced hand to hand combat fighter. Reaching down into the pouch by her side belt, she unclipped an incendiary grenade. Clutching it carefully, she removed the pin at the top. She then tossed it over the car landing by their feet. All three looked at the grenade as it rolled by their feet, momentarily surprised. Suddenly fire exploded engulfing all three in flames. They roared and screamed as they tried to beat the flames with their fists. Raising her pistol, Sherry took aim and fired. A bullet hit one of the monsters in the head. He stopped moving and dropped to the ground. She didn't give time for the others to get their bearings. She started firing at them until they are on the ground.

She stepped away from the car she was hiding from and made her way to carcasses. All of them still and unmoving. Smoke still rising from the burnt flesh and bodies that she took out. She carefully stepped around them and looked at the hole where they came from. There must be something in there that got their attention, she said to herself. Reloading her gun, she made her way beside the hole her back against it. She needs to be sure it's safe to go there. She listened. Not hearing any other voices, she took aim and stepped inside. The building was dark and cold, cobwebs lined the ceiling and every nook and cranny. The concrete was dirty, cracked and full of holes and the walls were no better either. Lowering her gun, she did not see anyone or anything of interest. She was about to turn back to go outside when something caught her eye on the floor.

She stepped closer to take a better look. A syringe. Frowning she bent down and picked it up. Upon closer inspection she noticed that its contents are gone. Turning it around she read the label. It's one of those antigens, she realized. She had heard that the organisations operating in the war at Edonia were providing antigens for their soldiers. She looked back outside the hole where she entered to the first squad she saw when she got here. There were only three of them. Jake's squad is a four man squad. It seems like the wanted mercenary is missing.

Trying to suppress her fear and anxiety she hoped and prayed that Jake is still alive out there.