2- Outbreak

7:35 am

The bus gave a jerk as it started the three mile drive to the high school. The rain fell continuously, eventually coming down in sheets. What had started as a refreshing drizzle had become a veritable monsoon in the matter of an hour. The wind pushed at the sides of the bus, making it sway back and forth slightly. The sky grew darker and more menacing as the minutes went by.

Edd and Ed talked a bit on the way to school. Their conversation consisted mostly of Ed gushing over some monster movie he had seen the night before. Ed was an expert on all things paranormal, monstrous, or anything just plain strange. His room was filled with movies and horror memorabilia.

Almost fifteen minutes later, the school came into view. The bus parked in the loop, the driver trying to maneuver it as close to the entrance as possible. The doors were flung open and the kids stood up, ready to run for the school's entrance. As they all filed out, Edd saw Eddy, who had been forced to sit near the front, waiting for them with a smile on his face.

"Thanks for helping me with Kevin" he said, clapping Edd on the shoulder as they stepped off the bus under Edd's umbrella.

They made their way to the doors, "I was just tired of him bullying us, it was just plain childish" he replied.

The three walked in the warm lighted hallway and made their way to their lockers. The halls were packed with kids. Edd saw Kevin talking with a few other guys, Nazz at his side. His jacket was zipped up to his neck.

"Well," continued Eddy, "That jerk-off deserved it!" as he said this they reached their lockers.

Ed opened his saying, "Yeah, Double-D! You were awesome! Just like the ninja from Samurai 4!" He shoved some papers aside and pulled out his notebook.

Edd laughed a little, "Well I'm flattered, Ed, but I only did what needed to be done." He pulled out some books and papers from his locker, still smiling.

Eddy slammed his locker, smiling his broad, cocky smile. "At least he won't be bothering us anymore" he said excitedly. "I'll see you guys at lunch" he said as he shoved his papers and books in his bag.

Edd and Ed said goodbye to Eddy as they turned and headed up the stairs to their first class; Current Events. The first bell rang as they got to the second floor, a few kids rushed past them, hurrying to get to class before the final bell. Edd spotted Jimmy and Sarah among them.

Ed opened the door ahead of Edd. He saw Most of the class already in their seats. Edd walked to his right next to Nazz and sat down. He saw her glance at him out of the corner of his eye. She seemed a little uncomfortable. Edd turned to her and she looked quickly away, apparently unaware that Edd had known that she was looking at him.

"What is it, Nazz?" He asked, wondering what she could possibly be thinking about. Nazz wasn't usually the one to act shy or uncomfortable, she was usually pretty outspoken.

She shook her head a little, her cheeks flushed slightly. She opened her mouth and took a breath as if to say something, but was interrupted when the classroom door opened.

"Sorry I'm late, guys" Said their teacher, Mrs. Lealman as she entered the classroom. She had a stack of damp papers in her hands and her blonde hair was slightly out of place. "That damn storm just keeps getting worse and worse" she continued as she placed the papers on her desk and straightened out her skirt. "Speaking of the storm, I thought we could use it as a chance to get some extra credit points" as she said this, she glanced at Ed who was struggling to open his book from the spine.

Mrs. Lealman sighed and continued, "We are going to watch some live news segments covering the storm and the damage caused by it" she flicked on the TV that was mounted in the corner above her desk and continued to speak as the static on the ancient screen settled, "I want all of you to write one paragraph, summarizing what we learn about the situation."

A commercial was just finishing up as they all focused on the screen. The logo for the local news station flashed, preceded by the fake Hollywood smiles of the two anchors behind the desk.

"Good morning, I'm jerry Fields" said the man on the left. His hair was slicked back and he was wearing a suit that seemed much too tight. He turned to a woman at his side, her face was caked with makeup and her lips were smeared with a thick layer of ruby red lip stick.

She smiled a wide grin, flashing her bright white teeth, "And I'm Melanie Malone" She shuffled some of the papers in front of her as she continued, "Our top story today; the storm sweeping over the city has been consistently increasing in size and strength. There have been countless accidents and a lot of property damage. Flood and tornado warnings have been issued for all cities surrounding the Raccoon City metropolitan area. We are expecting rain and wind to continue into the weekend."

Edd looked around and some of the class looked a bit worried. Some were excited of the fact that they might be excused early from school. Edd looked back at the screen which was showing footage of the storm in the city and pictures of a few highway accidents.

The screen returned to Melanie, "Weather experts have concluded that…" she stopped mid-sentence and reached a hand up to the tiny headset in her ear. The smile faded slightly from her face as she struggled to wrap up her last sentence. "T-this just in; the body of a young man has just been discovered on Fission Street. We take you live to reporter Katie Reynolds who is on the scene with the full story, go ahead, Katie."

Edd's attention perked up as the screen switched from the clean news room to a rain soaked street. Katie, a pretty, short girl, maybe in her late twenties, stood under an umbrella with a microphone in her hands. Her brown hair was pulled into a tight high ponytail that hung over her shoulder. "I'm standing here with R.P.D officer Rebecca Chambers on this quiet side street where, just moments ago, the body of a young man was discovered." She stood by the tall thin Rebecca Chambers. Her short red hair was soaked and she had a worried look on her face.

Edd had met Rebecca through his uncle Leon. She was a skilled medic and was one of the nicest members of the S.T.A.R.S team that he had met so far. The first time they met was during a training session between him and Leon. He was doing some target practice with his uncle. Edd had been working on targets for a few hours, learning the ins and outs of many of the fire arms used by the R.P.D.

It was while Edd was practicing with a powerful shot gun that he was pushed back by the force of the blow. He fell to the floor, his shoulder knocked out of place. It had been Rebecca that had treated him, ever since, they had been good friends. She was often the one that he spoke to during his visits to the police station.

Katie continued to speak, holding tightly to the umbrella, the wind threatening to pull it away at any moment, "Rebecca, can you give some insight as to what has happened here?" She held the microphone out towards Rebecca.

"Well, Katie, the body was discovered approximately thirty minutes ago. The markings on the body are quite unusual. He is almost unidentifiable, though we believe him to be local business owner, Neal Ortiz who went missing late last night" as Rebecca spoke a picture of a male in his mid-twenties with short black hair appeared on the screen.

Rebecca continued, "The murder definitely occurred early this morning, the wounds are still fresh." Behind her, you could see the form of a body under a bright yellow tarp. Countless police officers were walking back and forth and there were squad cars parked with road blocks between them. "Due to the unusual circumstances, S.T.A.R.S. was called to the scene to investigate, at this time we don't have much more information."

Edd could see Chris Redfield talking with some of the officers in the background. He wondered if his uncle was there too. He glanced at Mrs. Lealman who was sitting on the corner of her desk, engrossed by the screen. He looked at the students; they too were staring at the screen.

Katie spoke again, "And what exactly was the cause of death, Mrs. Chambers?" she asked, again shoving the microphone in her face. She looked just as eager as the students surrounding him to get answers.

Rebecca spoke up, "Well, the victim suffered many bite wounds, primarily to the neck and face. Disturbingly, the bite marks seem human in nature, but we have experts checking into it now and are awaiting confirmation."

Edd's eyes widened and he heard a shallow gasp come from his left. Nazz had her left hand over her mouth. Edd didn't blame her, 'human?' he thought to himself, 'how could they be human?' it sickened him that it was possible that a person could have done something like this.

Edd looked back up at the screen; Rebecca now had Chris by her side. Katie was avidly questioning him, a worried look peeking through her calm posture. Chris was a big, muscled guy with a little facial hair lining his jaw. He was drenched but he seemed not to notice. He spoke with a grim look on his face, but Edd could no longer take in the words. His mind was reeling, he had never heard of something like this happening.

Suddenly he heard a shout from the screen. He looked up quickly, seeing Rebecca who now had her back to the camera, "Chris, look!" she shouted, pointing at something off-screen.

Chris's eyes widened, "Shit" he yelled as he pulled out a small handgun and began firing. Katie stood behind him, no longer trying to stay calm. She had dropped both the umbrella and microphone.

It was absolute chaos, police officers were running back and forth, the camera swung around wildly, making it hard to focus on one image. The, students in the class were suddenly buzzing, whispering to one another. Even Mrs. Lealman was too astonished by the images on the screen to move.

Suddenly the camera focused on Katie's face. She seemed to be holding it steady as she yelled, "Jake, we've gotta get out of here! Let's…" she stopped and looked wide eyed at something off screen. The camera spun around and focused on a human like figure. It let out a low growl then launched at the screen. There was a long, loud, pain filled scream as the camera fell to the ground. Something red was splattered on the lens, something that looked like blood.

There were a few more terror filled seconds until the screen went blank. Suddenly the room was loud with many voices. The students in the classroom were almost in a panic, nobody knew what to think.

Some students stood up to leave only to be blocked my Mrs. Lealman who tried to calm them down.

Suddenly a long, high pitched sound began emanating from the TV. The students grew quiet, looking back up at the white screen which was blank only seconds ago. There was now a logo which resembled a shield with wings with the words Emergency Response System surrounding it.

A man's monotone voice began to speak, "A security alert has been issued for Raccoon City and all surrounding areas. A viral outbreak has occurred. Do not venture out doors and do not interact with anyone who appears pale or faint." Edd's thoughts were reeling again. How did the warning come out so fast? That was unusual, even for the highly efficient Raccoon City Task Force.

The voice continued, "The breach is centered on Umbrella Inc. in Raccoon City. The virus is being carried by humans and animals and is spreading rapidly. It is reportedly transmitted through bites and scratches. As of now it is not known if the virus is airborne. Military personnel have been sent to evacuate schools and office buildings. If you are currently at home, pack only the essentials and evacuate from the city as fast as possible."

Edd's eyes widened, 'Virus? Evacuate? What the hell was going on?' he thought as the message began to repeat itself. He looked around at the panicking students, not knowing what to say or do. This all didn't add up. How did the task force know so much? How did this all happen so quickly? What was going to happen now?

Edd was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed that Mrs. Lealman had already shut the TV off. It was the crackle of the PA system that brought him back to reality.