A Cruel, Undead World

~ Chapter 8 ~

Too Late for Some

Tervu Infection Outbreak Active for: 0 Years, 0 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, 18:14:35.

If you've ever experienced cabin fever before, you might understand how poor Maja Vlašic felt. The fifteen year old girl from San Francisco, California was miserable. Used to running around the big city all the time and spending half her parent's paychecks every other day, being stuck in a supply closet all the time was horrific. It might not have been so bad if it were a small room that at least had windows. Maja didn't even have any notion of time anymore. Her two other companions: Michael, a man they met shortly after the outbreak; and Jodie, her personal babysitter; were able to leave. She on the other hand, was unable to even get up because of her broken ankle. At this point of her life, she was depressed.

Watching the other two sleep, she sat impatiently with a grumbling stomach. There was no reason for her to sleep, for when she feels tired is when she decides it is bedtime. On some days, she will sleep more than other days, and on other days she sleeps less. It all just depends on her pain level. Michael, though often irritated by her constant complaining, still felt bad for her. The supply closet didn't have many necessary medications to keep Maja from hurting, and he has yet to find some sort of medicine cabinet. So, he would look from room to room and search for some abandoned pain killers. At the moment, Maja was coming off of some naproxen he found a couple days ago, and feeling grouchy from discomfort. Careful to keep her foot as still as possible, she pulled herself close enough to Jodie to shake her awake. Jodie grumbled for a moment before opening her tired eyes to look at the girl.

"What is it, Miss Vlašic?" she mumbled. Jodie was in no way obligated to call the fifteen year old 'miss'. She does it however, out of respect for the young girl. The two of them have been through a lot in the past five years, and even when the younger one doesn't outwardly show respect back, Jodie knew she respected her out of everyone she had ever known. The reason being Jodie was the only one who would tell her 'no', which is something she needed to be told a lot. With the amount of money her parents make though, her parents don't care how much money the girl spends or what she does. Even if Maja sometimes doesn't like being told no (well, most of the time), she knew Jodie only does it because she cares.

Right now though, Maja was starting to feel pain, and she absolutely hates pain.

"My medicine is running out, I need you and bus boy to go get me more." Jodie exhaled quietly, not yet moving.

"What do we say?" Jodie's eyes were half closed, almost falling back asleep as she said this. Maja glared at her friend.

"Now," she told her. Jodie looked back at her with a stern look, and Maja sighed. "Oh alright…please?" she pleaded. Satisfied, Jodie slowly began to sit up and stretch, letting her eyes adjust to the dim light that hung above them. Wanting to let the man sleep longer, she silently stood up and began to open the door—what she didn't know was Michael was already awake.

"Where do you think you're going?" he questioned, his arm propped up to hold his head as he watched the older woman. She closed the door again, not removing her hand from the handle, and looked back at him.

"I was just going to go out and get Maja some more pills," she said innocently. Michael shook his head.

"If you won't let me go out on my own, I can't let you leave by yourself either. Besides…what if you were in trouble, and no one was there to help you?"

Jodie knew this was true; they had all mutually decided that they wouldn't go out alone. For one, there wasn't very many weapons lying around a hospital, so they relied on stealth mostly to get pass a wandering zombie. This is a dangerous maneuver, for the zombies have very keen senses, and with the passing weeks have become stronger and faster.

Although, if you asked her, she thought Michael used it as an excuse to be alone with her. She figured this mainly because she had the same thoughts when they left to scavenge.

Jodie switched her body weight from her left leg to her right and stood, waiting for Michael to crack many of his body parts, as he does every time before they leave. Maja glowers at him with a look of disgust appearing on her face. Michael notices and chuckles before picking up a pipe he found a little while ago, resting it against his shoulder, and following Jodie out of the room.

The two have been lucky so far, for this hospital included a cafeteria on the same floor. This is where they had been finding their food and water. They were instinctively walking in that direction, almost becoming a ritual of searching the rooms around the cafeteria for medicine then heading to the cafeteria itself for more sustenance. At first, the two were silent; then Michael cleared his throat, and Jodie looked at him, knowing this meant he wanted to say something.

"Maja really looks up to you, doesn't she?" he asked her, his eyes keeping focused on their surroundings—they haven't seen any infected yet, but he knew it was only a matter of time.

Jodie grins and looks straight ahead again as she answers. "Yeah, we've known each other for a long time. I think it's because I don't let her get away with most things her parents would have."

In the while they've known each other, Michael has learned a lot about Jodie, but for some reason she has yet to learn more about him. All she knew was he had moved here just recently, and has been bouncing from job to job trying to make one stick. Sometimes she attempts to ask him questions about his past, but he quickly changes the subject or acts like he has to focus harder on what they're doing so he can't talk.

"Where do you think her parents are now?" Michael glanced at her, watching as her face grew grim.

"They own a private helicopter. I'm sure when it first started they were the first ones out of here."

"Without even trying to find their daughter?" his face showed indifference, but his voice betrayed his shock. Jodie shook her head.

"There's a reason I was hired—so they didn't have to deal with her anymore. The last time Maja had even spoke to her parents was about four months ago. Most of the time they are out on vacations or working." She explained.

"That's awful…"

Jodie looked at him, slight determination showing in her eyes. "What is your family like?"

Like a broken record, he stopped in his tracks, and knowing his reaction to questions like this, she stopped, too. He looked around with narrowed eyes, as if he heard something. Jodie put a hand on her hip.

"There's nothing there. Why do you do that?" He became protective and scowled at her.

"What? Make sure that we're not going to be eaten and keep us safe? Oh, I don't know, because we have no idea where the next zombie will come from?" she shook her head.

"No, you do it because you don't want to tell me about your past. Look, if you want me to stop asking, just tell me and I'll leave you alone. You don't have to act like an ass about it." She spun on her heel and began to walk away. He knew he screwed up, for she never usually responded this way.

"Wait…" he called out. She stopped and turned around again. He sighed, and looked as if he was contemplating something. Jodie waited patiently, wondering to herself if he was actually going to open up. He gulped loudly, and with a shaky voice, said:

"I haven't had the best life…I want so badly to just pretend it never happened, and…well…" he ran a hand nervously through his hair, unable to look at her. "I don't want you to think any less of me…because if I told you, I have no doubt in my mind that you would…" the two stood awkwardly for a couple minutes, neither of them sure what to say. Finally, Jodie closed the distance between him and planted a warm yet brief kiss on his cheek.

"Nothing could change how I feel about you." She admitted, a slow blush rising.

He blinked three times in surprise, staring deep in her green eyes. Struck by her beauty, it seemed time was in slow motion as he looked her over. Her red hair was greasy from not being able to wash it, but the color reminded him of the red leaves of autumn. Her green eyes never dimmed, glowing like emeralds in the broken lighting. Her blue blouse was torn in many places and clung to her body loosely. The skinny jeans she wore were also ripped at the knees, where she had fallen and crawled many times.

He felt drawn to her, and despite the layer of dirt she had over her, he saw her as a Goddess. Like two opposite sides of a magnet, the two began to gravitate toward each other, lips about to touch.

So focused on each other, they didn't hear the spider-like zombie crawl above them. It jumped from the ceiling, landing directly on Jodie and knocking Michael back. The two fell to the floor, Michael sliding across the linoleum. Jodie landed hard on the ground with the new added weight on her back, and screamed as she felt two-inch long pincers stab into her neck. The zombie still possessed a human torso, and it used its human arms to pin her arms to the ground as it sucked on her neck, trading blood for virus. Michael shouted out and picked up the pipe he dropped on impact, and swung as hard as he could at the zombie. It knocked it on its back, but with ease it flipped itself back over and scuttled away before he could swing again. Looking down, Michael was terrified to see the bite marks in Jodie's neck, and she was no longer moving. Shaking his head in denial, he lifted her limp form off the ground and threw her arm behind his neck and began to drag her as quickly as he could back to the supply room, praying to God over and over to spare her.

An armored helicopter flew above the city, followed by three others. The one in front held four people, the pilot, a BSAA agent, and two worried parents. The mother looked as if she had been crying, her eyes puffy and red. The father stood behind the pilot and agent, giving them coordinates. The helicopter broke formation and started to land, landing on a neighborhood road in front of a section of houses. The four jumped down from the helicopter and realized the situation was worse than they originally thought. Overturned cars were everywhere, and even birds were pecking at the remains of fallen humans. The agent knelt down and began sniping wandering zombies nearest the point of extraction while the parents led the way inside. The father looked around as the mother called out her daughter's name. He turned and tugged at his wife's sleeve and nodded toward the kitchen. She nodded and they ran to it, the pilot standing guard at the door with his gun drawn. What used to be an underground pantry was turned into an emergency bunker, and the father banged on the door and yelled desperately, hoping someone would answer. They waited, the mother holding a hand over her mouth, fearing no reply.

A click was heard on the other side, followed by several louder metal scraping noises. The door finally opened to reveal the sixteen year old Emily Combs. Her blonde hair was messy, but otherwise okay. Her parents exclaimed with joy and pulled her into a deep hug, and Emily began to cry with relief. Behind her, a small boy walked up the stairs. Phillip Arraham watched the tender display without any emotion, his hazel eyes vacant. Emily turned, feeling his presence, and reached her arm out to him. His face brightening, he accepted and joined the hug. The parents expressed the need to hurry, and each parent took one child and led them back to the helicopter. The pilot patted the agents shoulder, signaling it was time to go, and they all boarded. They lifted off into the air as Emily spoke briefly to her parents, introducing Philli to them. Mr. Combs then asked the young eleven year old if he wished to join their family instead of returning to the foster program. He agreed with a nod of his head, then stood and while gripping tightly to the railing, watched Tervu, Washington appear farther and farther away. Quietly he said to himself with tears falling from his eyes: "We did it, Travis…we found a family…"

His brother would always be his hero, and he will never forget him. Shortly after Emily informed them of the situation, the house was broken into by a crowd of zombies, who had watched them enter. Emily found the gun under the counter and shot at them, killing them but not before one could grab onto Travis and bite him. They could hear more approaching, and Emily pulled at Phillip to go down into the bunker. He screamed for his brother to come with. He refused. The older brother could feel the infection rapidly spreading into his veins, and knew it wasn't long. He commanded Emily to take him away, and with tears in her eyes she pulled him away. With Travis' final breath, he whispered "I love you", and let the darkness take him.

As the helicopter flew up into the air, the now mutated brother stood in the middle of the street and watched. Eyes milky white, he had no memory of his brother, or of his entire life. He would be shot later by a random agent after he mindlessly attacks them.

The woman with the blond and pink hair pulled up into a pony tail stood up straight after kneeling. Three survivors lay at her feet, beginning to transform. Breathing out with irritation, she takes her colt python from a holster on her belt and shoots each of them, deflating the cocoon before it could hatch. She looks around, frustrated now. It has been three weeks, and she has yet to find what she was looking for. The cloaked man's words still in her head, she continued on; she couldn't fail this mission and let all these people die in vain. Walking down an empty road, she stopped suddenly when she heard voices. Thinking they were more survivors, she headed toward them, but luckily stopped herself right before the point they would be able to see her. She peered behind a tree to find outfitted men, climbing out of a helicopter.

"Alright men, you know our mission…find and rescue all survivors and take them to the safe zone." A tall, muscular, brunette man told the other soldiers. They all responded with "Yes sir!" and other variants, and split into smaller teams. She recognized the captain as Chris Redfield, a character she had to look out for. Cursing the BSAA, she knew she now had limited time. Then, she came up with an idea to follow one of the teams to find survivors, then hopefully she can find what she's looking for. Grinning to herself for the idea, she began to sneak around them, following the main group down the dismal streets.

The five at Lana Richards' house were able to live somewhat comfortably until now. Their supplies were beginning to run thin, what with all five of them, and are now only eating two meals a day. It would only be a matter of time before they had to leave for more provisions.

At the moment, Omar, Kenny and Derik were in the kitchen, laughing and making jokes to try and lighten the mood for a little while. Lana on the other hand, was tending to the cheating wife. Omar and Fiona hasn't spoken a word to each other since the day he found out about her pregnancy. Omar was a man who can handle many things—but this was not one of them. The only reason Lana was even helping her through this hard time was because of the innocent babe she carried.

The defenses they put around all entry points seemed to work: until now. The three in the kitchen were in the middle of laughing at some fake orgasm jokes when they heard a loud bang come from the other side of the wall. They stood, wondering what it could be. The bang happened again, only this time the wall shook violently. Kenny scrambled to grab the Mosin Nagant Sniper rifle leaned up against the table. Derik and Omar both picked up shotguns they had sitting on the counter next to them. The last bang shattered the whole wall of the kitchen, revealing a muscular zombie with four eyes and no hair over any part of its body. It wore shorts, making the infected have a striking resemblance to a white hulk. It bellowed at them before charging at Kenny. He dodged, sliding behind the counters as the huge infected broke the table of the adjoining dining room into tiny pieces. The three began to shoot at the zombie, but it wasn't going down easily. They couldn't see it yet, but there was a thick layer of skin that had hardened, creating a sort of armor that their bullets were barely grazing. The zombie walked near Kenny and swung at him, but he jumped over the counter to avoid it and rolled on the ground, standing again.

"What the hell is this thing's obsession with me?" he yelled, turning to once more shoot at it. The infected ignored them for a moment, strolling over to the fridge behind him and grabbing it, lifting it over its head easily and throwing it at them. From the force alone, the fridge broke through the counters and almost hit Omar if he had not sidestepped when he did. Lana had come in now with her own sniper, kneeling at the bottom of the staircase, shooting as well. One of her bullets pierced the armor, causing it to roar in pain. Enraged, it broke through the counter and charged at Derik, who was backed into a corner.

Knowing Derik was trapped, Omar ran out in front of him as the monster reached them, and the big hands reached and grabbed Omar instead. Omar screamed in agony as the huge hands crushed his arms, causing him to drop the shotgun. The zombie roared and with both hands turned and slammed him into the ground, fracturing the back of his head and back. Once more, the zombie lifted him up and tossed him away, forcing him to hit the opposite wall and slide down.

Shouting out with rage, Derik ran up and shot the infected in the back of head, which was the armor's weakest spot. The bullets drove into the zombies head, causing it to whine loudly and fall forward-dead. Kenny, who was the closest to Omar, swung the strap of his rifle over his back and ran to him. Following suit, Derik and Lana rushed to his aid, Lana pausing to grab a handy first aid kit she kept under the couch.

Kenny turned his head to look at Derik and Lana with a grim look, and shook his head. The broken man on the ground was wheezing, his ribs punctured his lungs in many places. He didn't have long. Derik stared down, and anger starting welling up inside him.

"Why the fuck did you do that?!" he shouted, tears beginning to develop in his eyes. Omar tried his best to grin at the boy.

"Because…I have nothing more to live for…you do…" his voice broke many times and the stuttering made it almost impossible to understand him. Derik shook his head fiercely.

"That's not true! Dammit, you fool! Why?!" Derik's voice croaked and the tears streaked down his cheeks. Omar didn't answer for a while, mustering the final strength he had.

"I…will die happy…knowing…I had a son…to live for…" he told him. Derik sat there, dazed. Lana looked away with tears down her cheeks as well. The man's breath began to become shallow, and seconds later, stopped altogether.

The three stood near the man they had been surviving with for the past three weeks. The man Derik had learned how to shoot from. The man Derik looked up to as his father, since his had died in Raccoon City. And just like his real father, this one was taken away from him too.

He pounded on the floor, crying out loudly, unable to see, hear, or feel anything around him.

Eventually, the world turned black for Derik.

He woke up a little later, an icepack held to his head by Lana. He asked her what happened.

"Kenny had to knock you out. With the open hole in the wall, your yelling was attracting more of them. Don't worry, we were able to kill them all and patch the hole for now." He apologized but Lana shook her head.

"Don't. We know how close you two were." Fiona called Lana's attention away, and with a sigh of irritation she handed the boy the icepack and left. Derik sat up slowly, his head swimming from the blow he suffered from the ex-soldier. When his equilibrium returned to normal, he stood and walked back to the destroyed kitchen and dining room. Where Omar was lain, a blanket covered his now mangled body. Derik walked a little closer, but ended up falling and sliding down against the wall.

He didn't know why his luck was so bad.

He already lost his parents in Raccoon City, and his little sister was still never found. If he had believed in a God, he would think he had hated him. But he doesn't, and that's the only thing that keeps him from feeling hated.

Kenneth walked in to see the boy, and knowing he was ill, helped him up and back to the couch. Derik didn't argue, and when he laid down he was finally able to fall asleep for a short while.

Four hours later, they held a burial for their fallen comrade. Kenny and Derik spent the better part of two of those hours digging a decent grave whilst Lana guarded them. The time they spent mourning at the graveside was short, for they had to return to the house quickly.

Night was arriving fast, and Derik was already fast asleep. While Fiona slept soundly, unbothered by the death of her husband, Derik tossed and turned while mumbling in his sleep. They all decided to sleep in one room that night, one person up at a time to stay watch. They were upstairs in Lana's room, where a week ago the men pushed the guest bed into this room so they now had two queen-sized beds. Derik slept in one, Fiona was in the other.

Right now it was Lana's turn to watch, her sniper at her side, she observed the city from her window. Kenny was supposed to be asleep next to the young man, but he couldn't bring himself to keep his eyes closed for long. He instead slipped off the bed and quietly joined the woman, startling her slightly.

"Can't sleep?" she asked him. He nodded.

"Those things are getting stronger…it won't be long until we all end up like Omar…" he sat against the wall, his eyes no longer with the light they had before. The death of Omar brought back many memories for him, of the squad members and friends he watched die in his time with the BSAA. Lana was sitting in a chair, looking down on the man. At first, she said nothing; then she apologized. When he looked at her in question, she explained.

"When this first began, I assumed you weren't taking this seriously. I didn't realize how badly this was affecting you." She looked out the window. "But you can't think that way. We are all going to make it out of this."

Hopelessness in his eyes and mind, Kenny didn't respond. Lana looked back at him and noticed. She slid off the chair and to his surprise she crawled directly in front of him, forcing him to look her in the eyes.

"We are going to make it out of this. I promise." She said softly. He blinked once, actually wondering if he was just dreaming. They held the stare for the longest time, neither of them moving. She waited. Finally, he nodded.

"Okay. I believe you."

The house that Matt, Jasmine, Salmon and Alex were staying at was similar to a dream house thought only achievable for rich characters in movies. The outside was completely made of brick, while on the inside every room had wood paneled walls and only the more expensive flooring. It was nighttime now yet no one was sleeping.

Alex and Salmon sat on the roof, which there was an easy route to from what they could guess was a child's bedroom. They talked a while, asking each other about their chances of survival. It didn't take long for that feeling they felt before this all started to return from hold. They gazed into each other's eyes, and like in love stories, in the light of the moon Alex asked her to be his. Of course, they were too young for marriage proposals, but the two now saw each other as a couple after four years of being friends. The only thing that made this different from any romance was possibly the drifting zombies below.

A floor below them, Jasmine was supposed to be resting under Matt's orders. She however couldn't sleep, and he couldn't either, worrying thoughts about his family's wellbeing haunting him. He would spend this entire time looking for them if it weren't for the kids. His family had the tools to look after themselves and he knew that; these children did not.

Jasmine watched the man sit in a chair, pondering what their next move should be. She interrupted his thoughts with a question that had been on her mind for the past three weeks.

"Why did you save me?"

"Why wouldn't I save you?" he retorted jokingly, a handsome grin on his face. Even though they hadn't had the chance to shower, since the water in this house was shut off two weeks ago, he still looked dashing.

"You didn't know I would be... well… whatever I am towards this thing." She muttered. He frowned then.

"Well, I wasn't about to leave you behind, even if there was a chance you would turn into one of those monsters." He told her. This made her feel better; she wasn't sure why but it did. She then returned to her own thoughts of her own family. They have been on her mind little since this began, having to think of herself after being bit and wondering if she was going to make it. But now that it was clear she would survive, she wondered where her parents were now, and if they were looking for her. Matt watched her a moment, knowing something was bothering her.

"What's wrong?" she shook her head at first, but then she decided to tell him her thoughts. He nodded slowly, and told her he shared her fears. They sat quietly, listening to the rumbles of the zombies outside.

"Tell you what…" he started, and she looked up at him again. "Tomorrow morning, since you're better, we'll go look for our family. Deal?" She smiled.

"Deal."

A/N: So a lot has happened in this chapter, and I hoped I delivered to expectations! If not, tell me what you think! If so, tell me what you think too! I just hope it didn't seem sort of rushed at the end, I haven't been feeling too well and have been progressively feeling worse. So far, we have two dead, and two escapees.

Now, for a short message to Ebitch, owner of Emily Combs. I thank you very much for the contribution, and while Emily's time in the story was short, it was not without meaning, and she saved little Phillip Arraham's life. I hope that even without a character, you will continue to read and review the story. You can create another character, but I suggest you wait for my planned sequel, where you may add in Emily's return with a new character as well.

Quickly, I also want to thank my new editor: nightsky44; for being so prompt and helping me make this better by fixing errors she found!

And before I forget, try to hop over to the side-along story for this, Lies and Panic, because it might clue you in on a few other things that happen outside Tervu!

Thank you for reading!