A Cruel, Undead World

~ Chapter 4 ~

Step One

Tervu Infection Outbreak Active for: 0 Years, 0 Months, 0 Weeks, 0 Days, 00:53:48.

Jordan Gates was an eighteen year old girl who was too nice and too kind to suddenly refuse the job offer after meeting the ten year old Maja Vlašic. Fresh from the California life of San Francisco, she needed a job (and really a place to stay, since her friend backed out on her after she arrived); so when she saw that a man would give her housing and free food for simply being a companion to his daughter, she leaped at the chance.

The name Vlašic was not unheard of to Jordan, for they had many companies in California. She dressed in the nicest clothes she had (which for up North was actually quite inappropriate for the weather), and was interviewed by the household lady. Jordan knew that this family had a lot of money; what she did not know was that they could afford to blow up fully furnished mansions and still barely make a dent in their bank. How does she know this? Well, she was told that of course, by Mrs. Vlašic.

Mr. and Mrs. Vlašic were survived by only one daughter, who they treated like royalty to make up for their own horrible childhoods.

"Now, she can be difficult to handle at times…" Mrs. Vlašic started to say, but Jordan cut her off.

"I'm sure she's an angel! If anything does come up, I am perfectly capable of handling it," she explained. This didn't seem to comfort the mother.

At the end of the interview, she was hired immediately. Jordan was surprised, she expected more of a competition. The moment she signed her name on that paper however, the troubles began…

Literally, the moment the pen picked up from the paper.

"I need triple chocolate cake with sprinkles and a cherry on top and I want it NOW!" they heard. The mother gulped and glanced down quickly at the paper Jordan still had under her hand. While Jordan was looking over her shoulder at the commotion, the mother slipped it out from underneath the pen, making a line on the paper.

"Maja dear, come meet our new nanny!" Jordan's nose crinkled at the thought of being referred to as a 'nanny', but she decided to let it go for now. In came a young, tan skinned, bright blue eyed pre-teen wearing a cheerleading outfit from her school. Maja simply glared at this new girl.

"Do you know how to make cookies?" she asked. Jordan knew she would not like her.

"Yes…"

"And DO YOU know how to make cookies at the exact consistency so it is soft enough to not hurt my teeth but not too gooey to get all over my hands?" Jordan thought about this for a moment. She knew if she said no, the girl would probably just be more of a handful. So instead, she simply puts on a huge grin and nods. Seemingly happy with the response, Maja smiled and ran up to Jordan, grabbing her by the hand and dragging her away from the relieved mother.

"What's your name again?" she asked her, but when given it appeared Maja did not like that name. "No, no, that name is stupid. I'm going to call you…Jodie!"

Now here they are, five years later. Jodie had taken on the name the girl had given her, along with a strange friendship no one outside them would understand.

Maja cried quietly in Jodie's lap, clinging to her like she would her purse when she felt a man walking by would steal it. Michael knew the North-East side well, and was currently driving about ten minutes away from the edge of town to Eileen Hill Hospital.

"How's your ankle back there?" Michael questioned, glancing back momentarily. Maja couldn't answer, the pain was too great. Her companion moved carefully so not to hurt her, but to see the damage. The ankle was obviously snapped, and broken so badly you didn't need an x-ray.

"It's bad…I just hope that the hospital won't be busy…" Jodie expressed, and Michael shook his head.

"It normally isn't, not many people get hurt around here."

When they arrived at the hospital, they immediately knew something was wrong. Michael had trouble parking the car, for many of the spaces were already filled. He managed to find an empty spot and he got out first. Jodie unbuckled the younger girl and helped her slide to the side door, where Michael picked her up with relative ease.

Inside was chaos. Doctors and nurses alike were running and shouting orders at each other, while patients waiting to be seen were crying and moaning in the waiting room. A nurse looked over at them and walked up.

"The wait is unbelievable right now, but if you stay in the lobby we will try to get to you quickly…"

"What's going on?" Jodie asked her, and she sighed and shook her head.

"Many of them are complaining of bites…but these aren't regular animal bites, they were bitten from neighbors, family, Hell even a stranger off the streets!" Michael turned to Jodie and started back up.

"We have to go, now!" but it was too late, because as soon as he said that, over the intercom they heard a loud voice cut over all the commotion.

"The building is undergoing lockdown. Please remain calm and wait for further instructions."

Confused, Michael looked at the frightened Jodie and nodded at the door they came through. She hurried to it and tried opening it; the heavy door was locked with no manual overdrive. The nurse ran off to find out why the building was locked down, leaving the three by themselves in the entryway.

"Now what?" Maja asked the man. He thought for a moment, then started walking quickly away from the site; Jodie had to jog to keep up with him.

"Where are we going?" Jodie questioned.

"The supply room. We can hold up in there, grab supplies and leave before it gets out of control." He yelled back to her.

The moans from patients began to sound drier and was soon followed by screams. They didn't have much time.

Still running, they had to stop abruptly; an infected doctor limped out of one of the rooms and stood, staring at the three. They stood perfectly still, unsure of how to evade it or fight it. Maja was fixed on the man's appearance; he looked decayed and even while he stood, pieces of his skin were melting away from the bone and onto the floor. The sight made her want to gag, but she couldn't make a sound. He then shuffles slowly toward them, and they backed away at the same pace. Michael had to think fast—the fate of him and the two girls were in these few seconds. He could see the marked supply room ahead. Slowly, before the zombie could comprehend what he was doing, Michael lowered Maja slowly, just enough so she could hold some of her own weight. He glanced at Jodie—she nodded as if she read his mind. He looked back to the doctor and waited for him to stumble forward. Michael shouted insults at the infected, knowing full well it didn't understand him but forcing its focus on him. Jodie slipped by the side and when behind the zombie, she quickly apprehended its arms. Before it could react, Michael let Maja go and stepped up to the zombie, grabbing the sides of its heads and with all his might twisted. The weakened bones in the neck cracked and crumbled like shattered crackers, and he fell to the ground with a thump.

Without a moment to lose, Michael returned to Maja, who was beginning to lose the temporary balance she had, and picked her up again. They began to walk away, and were just beyond the corpse when they heard the footsteps of others coming closer. Jodie ran up ahead and grabbed the door handle, praying it'd be unlocked and pulled it open. Michael ran inside with the girl and Jodie shut the door behind them.

The four inside Lana's living room turn at the sound of a loud scream. Leading the way, Kenny opened the front door and they watched as a group of concerned neighbors were now running from the flipped car. A female infected had latched on to one of the people, and they clawed at the ground to attempt escape. Giving no sign, Kenny ran from the doorway to try and aid the screaming man, but didn't even leave the grassy yard when Lana had caught up and grabbed his arm.

"You can't help him now! We have to go inside and begin fortifications!" she barked. He stood momentarily, watching the flailing man be flipped over violently by the enhanced woman and his stomach being ripped in half. She dragged him back to the house, and once inside, Omar slammed the door shut.

"What do we do?!" the frightened redhead cried, her face pale from recently puking.

"We're going to need weapons and ways to seal this house up tight." Lana told them. Kenny said nothing as Lana led the other two to a stockpile of small weapons.

He had returned to work from his two-week "vacation". The entire building seemed somber, though he knew why. The recent bioterrorism attack in China took many of their people. He walked up to stand in the familiar line of call-off for the Alpha Team when something finally hit him. His team wasn't there. He looked around, and his gut felt like it was suddenly twisted violently. Unable to believe it, he looked up hopefully when the door opened, hoping that the team decided to come in all at once. Only one person walked through that door; Chris Redfield, his captain.

"C-captain…where is the team?" he asked hesitantly. For a moment, he didn't answer, and wouldn't even look him in the eyes. Taking a long, slow breath, he answered with a croak.

"Being selected…"

Kenneth knew what this meant. A new team was being compiled—the old team was no more. This meant…

"But—Piers! He's still alive, right?" he knew the answer before the words even left his mouth, and when Chris shook his head it was just adding salt to the wound. Piers Nivans, his best friend since the day he was assigned to the Alpha Team four years ago. He learned everything from him, who was called the best sniper in the whole squad.

His anger took over; he shouted at the top of his lungs and turned around, punching the wall so hard his hand went through. He would never tell, and never admit, that two tears fell from his eyes that moment. He looked up as if maybe Piers himself was listening.

"I swear to God I will kill every one of those mother fuckers if it is the last thing I do!" he growled. Chris grabbed his shoulder, firmly but still caring.

"Kenneth…you are a good soldier…but I think it might be time you re-evaluate what you are doing…I want you to take time off, go someplace you can be alone, and honestly think to yourself if you should still do this…" and then after a moment, he added "we've lost too many good men, Kenny. I don't want you to be one of them. Save yourself while you still can."

"Is that an order?" Kenneth grumbled, turning his head slightly but refusing to look Chris in the eyes. If he were, he would see the kindness and sincerity.

"No, it's a request from a friend."

Phillip Arraham was a foster child with nothing good in his past. His brother and him were brutally beaten and now bear burns that never fade; Phillip's was on his left, Travis on his right. The blind hag that marked them did so to make sure she was hitting the right child after Travis tried taking the fall for him many times. Even after they were taken away when Phillip was four years old, the torture still wasn't over for the two brothers. Every foster home held more problems, each different but equally worse than the last. Two years after being taken away from their birth parents, they made a solemn vow: that even when no one would love them, they would still love and protect each other.

This foster home they lived at seemed perfect at first, with the parents having two children of their own and enough money to make sure they had three square meals a day. However, that was all about to change.

Travis hurried his little brother up the steps to the house and opened the door, pushing him inside and quickly shutting it behind him. He turned to see the family standing across the hallway from them. They were gasping for air still, and the mother was knelt on the ground, holding her three and five year old son and daughter. The father held a knife in his hand, held out and pointed toward the two brothers.

"What is this?" Travis asked them. The mother began to sob while the father gulped and with his other hand, dabbed away some sweat with a handkerchief he kept in his breast pocket.

"We're sorry we have to do this…but we heard what happened at that school…we can't risk our children for the sake of you two…" he explained slowly. Travis couldn't believe what he was hearing, and began pulling Phillip behind him.

"But nothing happened to us! We ran before anything could get us!" he tried to convince him, but the father just shook his head. The knife was raised and trembled violently as the father started towards them, and Phillip acted quickly, pulling the door open once more and he and Travis ran through it; no matter how much they wanted to, they didn't look back.

The sound of growling and blood-lust shrieks behind them, the three teens continued to crawl through the sewer shaft. It seemed like they were crawling for hours, and in the darkness with little light to guide them, they couldn't tell how far they have gone or how much longer they had.

To break up the silence, the older teen introduced herself as Jasmine, and the other two gave their names as well.

"Is your name really Salmon?" Jasmine asked the girl ahead of her. Salmon shook her head, forgetting that she couldn't see her.

"No, my full name is Therasia Salm Leclair," she told her with a sound of hatred toward the name. "So I changed it to Salmon." She also said something that Jasmine could not understand, but she had mumbled it so she assumed that meant it wasn't for her ears. The three continued to crawl a while longer, and Jasmine's knees and hands were beginning to hurt. Coming on with a headache, Jasmine's breaths became shorter. Not able to withstand any longer, she called to the others to stop, and she partially lay down on the slimy surface of the shaft and rest her head on her arms.

Salmon looked back, annoyed.

"What's your problem?" she inquired. Jasmine took a couple more steady breaths before answering.

"I have anemia…I'll be okay…I just…need a second…" she pleaded. Salmon was annoyed, but decided against mouthing her off; after all, if she was telling the truth it isn't her fault. Once she felt better, they continued on.

"How much longer?" Jasmine questioned, her headache still lingering but not prohibiting her from moving forward.

"Not much farther." Alex replied.

After a few more minutes of crawling through dankness, they could see three little circles of light coming down from above.

"This is it…" Salmon told them. She stopped and with some difficulty, managed to push the circular hatch open. She placed her hands carefully up top, and could feel the dewy grass from under her fingers. Lifting herself up, she offered her hand to the other girl, who took it and was pulled up. Alex followed suit, and when he was all the way on the surface, pulled the seal back over the shaft.

Standing up, Jasmine looked around, not recognizing the place around her.

"Where are we?" Salmon stood up and brushed off her jeans.

"This is where I live, Breezy Villa Apartments…we're about ten minutes away from the park." Salmon pointed toward the East. She helped her friend up, who thanked her fondly with a dashing smile. The two started across the small playground that marked the center of the circular-like apartment complex, with Jasmine awkwardly walking behind them.

Salmon glanced back at Jasmine as they began up a flight of stairs to reach the second floor. "My dad can probably take you home so you can tell your parents what's going on…"

"That would be awesome…thank you." Salmon nodded back, and at room 227, she opened the front door and let them inside first, then followed. Alex entered the living room first, and stopped with a sigh.

"Uh oh…" he muttered.

Lying on a couch was a girl that appeared younger than Salmon's age, but not by much. On top of her with his tongue deep in his mouth was probably only on the brink of teen-hood. Jasmine was confused at Alex's expression—until Salmon walked in and saw this with a similar expression. Upon hearing his little sister's footsteps, the boy panicked and jumped off the younger girl, who in turn twisted around to see who it was. Seeing it was only his sister, he glared, but had a hint of a smirk on his face.

"What do you want, slut?" he demanded. She took a deep breath.

"Where's mom and dad? We need to talk to them, it's important." She tried explaining, but the girl sat up and cut her off.

"You aren't allowed to call them when I'm over, remember? Daddy's rules." Salmon rolled her eyes.

"Just because your dad has to live with us because he's a bum who can't hold a job doesn't mean he can order the rest of us around." She sassed. Her brother stood as the girl's cheeks turned red.

"Don't you dare talk to her that way! Go into your room and stay in there or I swear I'll beat the living hell out of you!" Salmon scoffed and grabbed Jasmine and Alex by arms and began leading them away.

"C'mon…we can call from my room…"

"Don't even think about calling mom and dad!" her brother called after them, but she ignored him.

"Who was that?" Jasmine asked, referring to the girl under Salmon's brother. Salmon tried to act cool but still looked shaken.

"My cousin." She opened the door to her bedroom, which was decorated with typical teenage signs saying "KEEP OUT" and the like, and once inside she slammed the door behind them.

Amid destruction, she was queen. Nothing attacked her as she casually strolled down the mall corridors. She reached into her fluffy pink coat pocket for a blue-tint clear rectangular device. She pressed a couple buttons on the surface, which created a rippling affect inside the material. Then, she flipped the rectangle to create a cube, and inside went black.

"Step one is complete." She spoke to the cube. From it, another voice responded.

"Excellent. Continue with step two." The man directed. With a small smirk, the woman slid her fingertips over the cube, and the black hue retracted until clear again. The cube then flipped up to make a rectangular prism once more, and she slipped it back into her pocket. Walking into one of the stores, she stopped to look at a wandering zombie, who only glanced at her before continuing its amble. She huffed with satisfaction and proceeded inside, where the surroundings were dark except for one illuminated object. There was a metal case with an over-light shining upon it. She walked to it and opened it, revealing first-aid-sprays, herbs, handgun ammo, and a couple of grenades neatly laid out inside. She swung a small pack from her back and placed these inside, then lifted the soft black padding to reveal a second compartment. Inside were two Colt Python revolvers.

A/N: That's right! NO ONE DIED! That DOESN'T mean however that your character is safe! From now on, dice will be rolled to see who lives and who dies, and the chances of death increases every chapter no one dies!! I decided to give this chapter to you guys alittle earlier than normal, just because I was so excited to give it. I would like to thank everyone, contributors or just readers alike, for having interest in this story. I will try my best to continue the hard work to get this story to the end. I would like to ask everyone who can to comment how they felt about this chapter and what I can do further to improve my writing. Again, thank you! OH, and by the way, everyone who has entered or will enter characters will be seen in Chapter 5!