I would like to apologize to everyone for taking so long to post this next chapter. In my personal life I have been going through a lot and have had no motivation to work on this. Hopefully this was worth the wait for all of you. Also I know the last chapter was a little short but I promise to try and write the other chapters a bit longer. Again I do not own anything resident evil.
Pushing open the door as quietly as possible the captain slid in followed by Merah and myself. We had entered a massive lobby area which echoed with emptiness. Many hallways and doors led into this room and possibly held many dead. Furniture was smashed and knocked around from the panic of the students and attack of the B.O.W.s. Blood stains soaked into the tiles of the floor, the torn apart and disembodied remains of the staff and faculty littered the entire central area. The stench of decay filled the air causing a disgusting taste to form in the back of my mouth. Merah gasped and covered her mouth with a handkerchief that was in her pocket. So much carnage. I had trouble looking at it, but I couldn't turn away from them. The complete look of terror that was on the faces of the dead burned themselves into my mind.
"Focus you two. Remember why we're here," was all the captain said, but I could feel the anger in his voice.
He was right. We came here to find any survivors. The only thing is how could anyone have survived this carnage. But then again there were survivors in Raccoon city so there could be survivors here.
"Which way captain?"
"We'll head to the labs first to see if Doctor Wright is held up in there. If not then we will just have to search this place from top to bottom for anyone." The captain began to walk forward while avoiding to step on the dead.
"You coming Merah?" That's all I could manage seeing the look of pure hate on her face. Her entire body had tensed up since we all laid eyes on the pile of the dead.
She just walked past me muttering quietly under her breath," It's Raccoon all over again."
All of a sudden I heard the shuffling of feet in the distance. A lot of feet. Looking over my shoulder near one of the hallways by the entrance I saw them. A mass of slow moving people covered in blood were approaching us. Some of them had seemed to be covered in severe wounds. If it wasn't for one or two of them missing a jaw and the mass of them making a guttural moaning you could have mistaken them for injured survivors.
"Captain we have trouble." I said loudly to get his attention. Raising my gun up I was ready to fire.
Chris walked up next to me with his handgun ready and Merah watching our backs as more undead students began shuffling down the hall we were heading towards. Putting the first one in my sites, she was about 5 feet tall with dark raven black hair, her makeup running down her face mixing with blood. A large gash stretched across the side of her face. Where her eyes are now sit two pure white eyes filled with hunger. I pulled my trigger and in the seconds to follow her the bullet flashed through her forehead and out the back striking another zombie in the shoulder. In that split second a shot out three more bullets destroying the heads of three more zombies. The captain followed up with shooting a few front ones in the knees to slow down the majority of the crowd. You could hear the crunching of their broken knee caps as they still moved as fast as they could to get us. Behind us I could hear Merah's machine gun going off as she mowed down half a dozen zombies on her end.
"Merah try to conserve ammo." Chris said looking back at her. "We can't afford to run out here."
"Yes sir," she said gritting her teeth as she shot down three more.
As another zombie approached Chris shot it in the knee and then, with a quick wind up, threw out a straight punch sending the body flying back into the crowd of undead. I could feel the force of his punch from a couple feet away, it was incredible. The body had knocked a couple of other undead over causing them to jumble up a bit trying to get their footing while still trying to reach out for the flesh of the living.
That's when I heard them. The slight grinding of something sharp on stone. Looking up I saw the disgusting humanoid creatures that lingered up above. They resembled short people with three elongated claws on each hand and foot. Their faces small and disfigured with what looks like their faces peeled back, but they had no eyes.
"Captain, Lickers." I shouted as I shot at one of them. With lightning speed the bastard had jumped to one of the support pillars in the room, flickering its tongue at us.
The other three began jumping around as well. All we could do was back up into the hall that Merah was covering to try and avoid being surrounded by the lickers. As we continued down the hall the mass of zombies began shoving themselves into the entrance while the lickers clung to the ceiling moving in quickly. Coming to a four way hallway Chris pulled out a grenade. Grabbing the pin he shoved Merah and I into one hallway while he jumped the other way dropping the grenade. With a flash of light the bomb went off completely collapsing the hall in between us, crushing many of the undead.
"Captain, can you hear me. Come in Captain." I kept shouting into the radio. All I could do was sit there helpless, not knowing what happened to him.
"Glad to hear you guys are okay." The captain was all right as his voice sounded from the radio. "I guess were going to be taking a detour. Look for survivors and make sure to watch each others backs got it. I'll continue to head towards the labs."
"Rodger captain," was all I said as I looked over to Merah and she nodded her head to me.
We began down the hall, checking every possible door to make sure there were no survivors and to put down any of the undead we encountered. It felt so wrong shooting these kids down like they were nothing but monsters. It's disgusting to think that someone thought this was okay. After about thirty minutes or so we managed to make our way to what looked like a cafeteria. Slowly and carefully we made our way across trying not to hit anything that would make noise. Suddenly from underneath a table a zombie lunged up at Merah. Click click was all the noise her gun had made as she fell to the ground. Sheer terror spread across her face as the zombie closed in. With a bang the zombies head burst sending blood, pieces of skull, and brain sailing onto a nearby table. Putting my gun to rest I helped her up. She was shaking fiercely as I let her hand go.
"Merah are you okay? Please say something."
"Th..Thanks Piers, I owe you one." She began to collect herself as she sat her gun on the ground. "That's dead weight now. Maybe I should have listened to the captain more closely."
"Here." I pulled my spare pistol out of my holster and handed it to her. "Can't have you walking around here without a gun to watch my ass now can I." I joked at her while smiling as she took the gun and checked it out.
"No we can't." A small smile spread across her lips.
With that we continued on until we left the cafeteria far behind us and continued through the kitchen. Not a single room in this place had a chance of escaping the carnage. An arm lying on a table, blood oozing down the floor drains, dismembered bodies leaning against the walls. As we continued through the kitchen and into the pantry Merah asked if we could sit for a minute to collect herself. As she sat into a folding chair I leaned against the wall next to the door way to keep an eye for any of the undead. Something must be up cause we haven't even been here that long and she already seems troubled. To be fair that was a close call and those lickers weren't exactly something we were hoping to run into. This all must really be bringing up some bad memories for her.
"So Merah, are..are you okay?"
"I'll be fine, it just reminds me of Raccoon that's all. A painful reminder of what happened to my parents."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."
"Piers your fine you goof. Don't get so up tight about something you said. You aren't responsible for the memories or whats happening. Okay?" She just looked at me with a half ass'd smile having cut me off. "Besides thanks for caring okay."
Blushing I turned my head to look out the door again trying to hide my face. "N..No prob Merah."
"So to change the subject, what's it like working with Captain Redfield? I've heard a lot about him, but I've never actually worked with him." She looked at me with curiosity as she crossed her legs.
"Tough, it always seems to be the toughest of jobs when working with the captain. Not gonna lie, but working under him is inspiring and intimidating at the same time. He's awesome to see in action. Strong, fast, and precise; he can handle any B.o.W. or terrorist that comes his way. Also he's so strong that he literally moved a boulder in a volcano to help his partner. No one is expendable in the BSAA. He makes sure we know that and he wouldn't ask us to do anything he wasn't willing to do himself." After my last sentence I took a breath and realized that I had been rambling on about the Captain. Now I know my face was really red, but all i could do was rub the back of my head and laugh about it a little hoping she didn't notice.
"Soooooooo when did you start to get the hots for the captain." She said smirking and pointing at me.
"Wha... I don't know what you're talking about." I had to look away from her now. If I look her in the eye she'll know I'm lying for sure.
"I can see the way you look at him. It's fine, you don't have to be afraid of how you feel rookie. Personally I think it's adorable how you are around him." She stood up, hands on her knees, stretching her back. Looking up at me she winked and said, "I can always try putting in a good word for you with the captain."
"No, no no no no. Don't say a word to him about any of this." With that last word I just paused as a huge pit formed in my stomach, I just spilled the beans.
"Got ya, I knew I was right." She stuck her tongue out at me and was about to say something but she was cut off by the radio.
"Piers, Merah what is your location." It was the captains voice.
Scrambling for the radio to avoid our conversation I picked up and answered. "Sir we are in the pantry near the kitchens. I'm figuring were farther on the western side of the academy." I took a deep breath in relief hearing his voice.
"Glad to hear it, I found Doug and his nephew Ricky. I'm sorry Merah, but Doug's gone. Only Ricky made it."
"Damn, thanks captain." She balled her fists and lost her playful demeanor again.
"Listen Merah I need you to hunt down Bindi Bergara. From what Ricky has told me she is the one behind the viral outbreak. I'll send what info we have on her now. Piers continue to search for survivors while you head up here to the labs. Ricky and I are gonna check a lead left by the headmistress about a possible way out of here."
"The bitch is as good as caught captain."
"Also you two be careful. That's an order," Chris ordered.
"Got it captain." I looked up at Merah and nodded.
As she was about to head out I stopped her. "Merah, what were you about to say before the captain radioed in?' He was curious.
"It'll have to wait for another time lover boy." Merah winked before slipping out of the pantry.
I stood still for a moment trying to find my center of focus to clear my head for the mission.
After my mind was ready I headed out the door looking around to saw Merah was already gone. Raising my gun to my shoulder I continued my trek to the labs. The only company I have being the dead and an occasional zombie. Where are all the zombies. For all the students that went here there aren't that many zombies around. Step after step I was prepared for a throng of them to rush me around every corner. But nothing, absolutely nothing and that's what scared me. If they aren't here then that means that Merah or the captain could be running into them at any moment.
With a sudden tug my leg was above me as I fell to the ground. Hitting the ground hard I gasped for air aiming my gun trying to figure out what happened. Still dazed I looked down to see a long pink tongue covered in small blades wrapped around my boot. At the end of the hall two lickers approached from the ceiling while a third remained on the ground, the culprit behind tripping me. Bullet after bullet the creatures jumped from wall to wall as I attempted to kill them. After a few more shots one of my bullets connected, tearing into the front leg of the closest one causing it to fall to the ground. Blood spurting from its wound as it attempted to get itself situated. Meanwhile the other one continued its approach towards me. With a sudden lunge it flew towards me with its front claws pointed forward like a spear. Quickly as I could, using my free leg, I kicked the creatures side sending it into the wall. Aiming my gun I shot it in the head three times until its brains where in chunks. Turning my attention to the wounded one I shot it in the head just as it got itself up. Pointing my gun at the final one I pulled the trigger and nothing.
"Shit." My clip was empty.
No time to grab another clip the last creature began its advance. Slipping my knife free from my vest I aimed and threw it. The creature left the ground to leap only to meet face first with my knife. I could hear it slice through the creatures head like butter. Going limp the licker fell not even a foot from me where it began to bleed all over. I lied there in a cold sweat breathing heavily. "Shit." Was all i could get out of my mouth. Sitting up I unwrapped my foot, pulling out a new clip for my gun. With a tug I relieved the licker's face of my knife.
"I got lucky." I whispered to myself, panting heavily.
Looking to my right I noticed that there were windows looking out into a large park. Must be a place a lot of the students went between classes. What caught my attention was in a garage across the park. In a garage sat a jeep, military grade. Finding the nearest door I made my way towards the garage. As I approached I sat in the drivers seat and started looking around. As fate would have it the keys were left in the ignition.
"Damn if this thing works, then this really will be my lucky day."