Chapter Text

SITUATION W

 

Blood splattered onto the wall as the zombie’s corpse slid down it with the fresh bullet hole evident in its forehead. Another rapid flash of light illuminated the dark brick walls as the sound of a gunshot echoed down the alleyway. The gunshot was followed by the sound of the bullet penetrating the skull of another zombie before blasting out the other end, taking blood and bits of brain matter with it. This second corpse also collapsed to the floor as Leon backed down the alleyway away from the crowd of zombies that were pursuing him. Their groans of hunger echoed down the alleyway towards him as another zombie approached him with its arms outstretched. Leon ducked down and turned to his side at the same time so he could kick his foot up to the zombie’s chin, breaking the jaw and snapping the head back with so much force that the neck broke. As Leon stood back up another zombie came up to him from behind and tried to grab him, its cold, rigid hand grabbing his shoulder. Leon grabbed hold of the zombie’s arm and threw it over his shoulder into the other zombies to knock them over. With all the zombies on the floor Leon then took off running out of the alleyway and into one of the main streets. Burning cars, dead bodies, shattered glass, weapons, blood and other unidentifiable objects littered the street. The groans from the alleyway reminded Leon to keep moving so he kept his gun in hand and continued to run down the street. Fortunately there weren’t many zombies in this particular street so his path was fairly clear.

As he ran, he felt his phone vibrate and ring. He quickly ducked behind an overturned car so any zombies further down the street wouldn’t see him and answered the call. As usual, Hunnigan’s face popped up on the screen.

“Leon, how’re you holding up?” She asked with concern in her voice.

Leon double checked his surroundings before looking down at her and answering; “It’s not exactly the holiday I was hoping for but I can’t complain.”

Hunnigan smirked at him. “Enough sarcasm, Leon.”

Leon tutted under his breath. “I’m okay for now but I’m still looking for those survivors.”

Hunnigan sighed. “How can you be sure they are even still alive?”

Leon rolled his eyes at her pessimism. “I can’t be, but there are plenty of zombies that have been taken out around here, so they must be surviving quite well.”

“Listen to me carefully, Leon.” Hunnigan responded sharply. “Some recon jets have been scrambled to sweep the city and surrounding areas.”

“I’m running out of time, aren’t I?” Leon asked rhetorically.

“Yes you are. Unless a good reason is presented to preserve the city, they’ll destroy it before dawn.” Hunnigan explained.

“Just like Raccoon…” Leon shook his head in memory.

“The stakes here are higher than Raccoon and the virus has already spread over a much larger area.” Hunnigan explained. “The BSAA are working with the local army to secure the outer areas.”

“I’ll try to hurry up.” Leon answered before ending the call.

He stood up and checked his surroundings again to see that there were no zombies nearby. He kept his gun at the ready and continued on down the street.

 

It had been half an hour since the horde of zombies had moved on but the group were still in the bus to catch a break and organise themselves better. They had since dumped the corpse of the zombie that attacked Sammy outside so the bus didn’t get filled with the stench of death. Each member of the SWAT team had taken up a position at each of the doors to the bus except for Caelian and Sammy, who were sitting together after what had nearly happened. There was a cold silence in the air of the bus before Bishop finally spoke up.

“So, mind explaining what that was about?” He asked Ryan and Bailley with a stern glare.

“I was talking about how we first met and she exploded on me.” Ryan offered as an explanation.

“That’s bollocks!” Bailley spat. “You were chatting me up like I was some kind of cheap whore!”

“That’s enough!” Bishop barked angrily. “We almost got killed because the two of you lack any kind of maturity.”

The two of them took a breath to prepare a retaliation but Bishop cut them off by continuing.

“This isn’t the playground at school; this isn’t the happy hour in a club.” Bishop grilled them. “This is a life or death situation in which every decision counts.”

“Tell that to the idiot who thinks with the wrong head!” Bailley spat back, gesturing to Ryan.

“I’m telling both of you and you’ll do good to listen!” Bishop snapped back at her, his glare never faltering.

“I don’t have to listen to you.” Bailley retorted, looking away from him for a moment.

“Yes you do. You are part of my team now.” Bishop explained harshly. “My rules keep this team alive, so if you want to stay alive then you will abide by them!”

“Typical man who wants to control everything.” Bailley brushed him off.

“I trained to get into this position. I earned this position in the same way Samantha earned her position on this team.” Bishop answered her. “This isn’t chauvinism, this is survival. Take it or leave it.”

Bailey had the desire to retort again but couldn’t think of a good counter argument to what he had said. This gave Bishop the opportunity to finish making his point.

“I don’t want to hear another word out of either of you unless it is relevant to the safety of the group!” He finished sternly, still glaring for a moment before finally looking away.

Bishop directed his attention to Caelian and Samantha, who were huddled together as Caelian comforted her. Samantha had been shaken up from nearly being bitten by the zombie earlier and Caelian had felt totally useless because helping her would have alerted the zombies outside. For the time being Samantha had calmed down and the two just seemed to be whispering to one another.

“Sorry for holding you down, kid.” Bishop told Caelian softly. “But if I hadn’t we’d all be dead right now.”

Caelian nodded gently. “I know, my emotions got the better of me.”

“You’re human, son.” Bishop reassured him. “It happens to all of us.”

On the other side of the bus, Vincent sat with his head in his hands. His body language told how tense and upset he was. His head was in his hands so nobody could see his face or his eyes as he didn’t want to convey much weakness in such a situation where survival was paramount. He couldn’t help but see the little girl every time he closed his eyes and his thoughts went round in circles with possible ways he could have acted differently and perhaps have saved her. The image of that tall, disgusting monster smashing her head like it was a grape would probably haunt him forever.

A hand on his shoulder caused him to jump, bringing him out of his thoughts.

“You okay?” Seymour asked him.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Vincent lied.

“You’re a bad liar, you know that?” Seymour commented, trying to lighten the mood a little bit.

“I happen to be a very good liar, I’ll have you know.” Vincent answered. “You just caught me off guard.”

“Sure. Look, I can tell something is eating at you.” Seymour stated. “What is it?”

“It’s nothing.” Vincent replied, trying to avoid the subject.

“It is something and it concerns all of us.” Seymour told him. “We are all in this together, so stop trying to be Mr Mystery.”

Vincent glared at Seymour for his comment but then noticed that everyone was staring at him, all of them concerned and wanting to know what had happened. He sighed and began to explain what had happened when they were separated.

A terrified scream made him jump on the spot and aim his gun at an open door. He slowly and carefully approached the door before taking a look in the hotel room. The scene that was playing out before him made him freeze with horror as he kept his gun aimed. A little girl, only about seven years old was backing herself into a corner as a zombified woman slowly loomed over her with each step. He took aim at the dead woman’s head, preparing to pull the trigger when the little girl said something that stopped his heart.

“Mummy!” She wailed in fear. “What are you doing?”

The zombie was the girl’s mother and the poor child had no idea what was happening. The child obviously didn’t understand that her mother was dead and was simply a hungry corpse at this point. He knew if he didn’t take the shot then the little girl would get eaten alive but if he did take the shot then it would traumatise the child beyond belief. Vincent contemplated saving the girl. Even if he killed the mother and saved the girl’s life, how long would she survive? The girl would need constant supervision and protection that would be difficult to maintain due to all the horrendous creatures that were lurking in the city. Alternatively he could kill the girl and then the mother. He changed his aim but quickly turned back to the mother. He was no killer and if he was going to shoot anyone who was alive it could never be a defenceless girl. His hands shook from the weight of the gun and the mounting weight of the decision he had to make. If he left the girl to be eaten alive he could never forgive himself. It would mean enduring her agonizing screams as she dies. The girl’s desperate cries at her mother pierced his ears and his thoughts. He had made his decision.

The shambling corpse that used to be the girl’s mother groaned hungrily as it lunged for the now weeping girl but before it could grab her, a bullet shot right through its temple. The corpse slammed against the wall from the combined momentum of the gunshot and the lunge. The girl let out a shriek of grief and fear as her mother’s dead body slumped next to her. Vincent lowered his gun and holstered it before rushing up to the now hysterical child. As soon as he reached her she pushed him away from her and ran out the room, tears pouring out of her eyes.

Before Vincent could call out to her the girl turned to look to her right, then looked up and screamed in terror. He couldn’t see what she was screaming for but it became clear when a large, discoloured hand grabbed the girl by the head and lifted her out of view. Vincent jumped to his feet and ran for the door to save her, her petrified screams spurring him to move faster but he stopped dead in his tracks when her screams came to a sudden stop signalled by a strange crunch. Blood splattered to the floor before the little girl’s body landed with a sickening thud. Her skull had been crushed.

Vincent took out his desert eagle and ran out into the corridor. He was greeted with a hideous sight. The creature in front of him towered over him and was humanoid in appearance. Its skin was a mix of dark brown and grey with lots of bloated veins and arteries bulging out across it. It had a short stump for a left arm but its right arm was so long that its fist touched the floor. The creature had a relatively small head for its body size which looked more like a small skull with shining white eyes. Its face and the front of its neck were attached to its torso with long, thick strands of grey flesh that had a melted appearance.

The group around him fell into silence from shock and horror. The tragedy of the little girl hung in the air next to the horror of what the creature was. Eventually, Mark spoke up.

“So, what happened to the monster?” He asked.

Vincent gestured to the shotgun on his back. “I managed to pick this up and blow its head off with it.”

“Where could have such a monster come from?” Jonathan wondered aloud.

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Bishop answered him with a shrug.

“If it was humanoid, maybe it used to be a person?” Mark suggested.

“That’s horrible but plausible.” Seymour stated in response.

“Still doesn’t explain how it came to be.” Vincent commented with a sigh, not wanting to think about the creature.

“So is the plan still to try get out of the city using the train lines?” Caelian asked Bishop.

Bishop turned back to Caelian with a nod.

“Yeah, it’s our best bet for now.” He affirmed.

The silence was then broken by the sound of jet engines passing over the sky above. The group poked their heads out of the doors and smashed windows of the bus to look up and see two objects that looked like black fighter jets flying over the city. It didn’t take long for them to disappear from view.

“What was that?” Ryan asked, breaking his order of silence.

“Reconnaissance jets.” Bishop answered. “We should get moving, time is running out.”

 

A sudden crack signalled the end for a zombie as its body fell to the floor after having its neck broken. HUNK continued through the street as he made his way for the security centre. He hadn’t used any guns for a while and wanted to keep it that way by simply breaking the necks of any zombies that approached him. In the short time he had been in the city he had already noticed how quickly everything was falling apart as the survival rate for anyone continued to decline.

Another zombie shambled out from behind a car and approached HUNK only to receive a kick to the chest followed by a snap of its neck. As the corpse dropped to the floor there was a pained groan from behind the car. HUNK kept his TMP at the ready as he slowly walked around to the other side of the car to investigate the groan. When he peered round he saw a slightly overweight man in a bloody suit lying on the ground, writhing in pain. On the ground next to him was a blood stained golf club that had been his weapon of choice. His left leg had been chewed on by the zombie to such an extent that it was almost coming apart at the knee joint. Once the man saw HUNK he crawled towards him and grabbed his leg with a blood soaked hand that caused a squeaking sound as it slid down his combat gear.

“Please help me!” The man begged. “Christ, I don’t want to be eaten alive or become one of those monsters!”

HUNK stared down at the man through the red lenses of his mask as he begged for help. The man’s breathing was raspy from the pain and the infection and his eyes were wide with desperation. HUNK answered his pleas the best way he could think of and with a tap of the trigger shot the man in the head, ending his suffering.

As the gunshot echoed around them he could hear some previously unseen zombies groaning in curiosity and hunger as they began to make their approach. Without wasting any more time, HUNK took off running away from the area knowing that the man’s corpse would likely serve as bait for any of the zombies who did manage to notice him.

After running further down the street, which just like all the others was an image of destruction and death, his curiosity got the better of him and he started to tune his radio for any signs of life. It was highly unlikely that anyone would survive for very long under these conditions but there were always exceptions. Most of the time there was mere silence or static from the local radio frequencies but eventually one of them sounded active. HUNK listened to it as he continued down the blood soaked road.

“Please help us! Send help now!” A hysterical voice cried on the radio. “We’re in the BBC Pacific Quay building!”

HUNK kept his back against a wall as he carefully looked around the corner for any threats before he continued on.

“We’ve run out of supplies and those things are everywhere!” The voice continued to plead in vain. “It won’t be long until they get at us!”

HUNK stopped for a moment as his foot splashed in a puddle of blood. Looking to his left he found the source, which was the top half of a woman’s body. There was no sign of the bottom half of her body but she must have been alive when she was cut in two due to all the blood surrounding her.

“Please help us! If you can hear this please save us!” The voice continued to plead on the radio. “We don’t want to die! Please fucking save us!”

HUNK turned his radio off as the cries for help turned into sobs of despair. He checked his surroundings and found an open area with various trucks and overturned cars. He assumed that it had been some kind of last stand against the zombies before being overrun.

“This is war.” HUNK muttered in regards to the BBC survivors. “Survival is your responsibility.”

As HUNK entered the area he found several bodies spread out across the ground. Some of them belonged to zombies and others had been the survivors. Blood stains were everywhere along with various kinds of weapons and a couple guns.

That’s when he heard it. A clicking sound and the soft thuds from heavy feet sounded from behind him. He whipped round with his TMP ready and instantly found the source of the noise. A large reptilian creature stood before him, making clicking sounds as it stared at him while taking a few steps forward.

“A Hunter Alpha model.” HUNK identified it. “Not much of a challenge.”

As if responding to HUNK’s comment, several other hunters announced themselves by jumping on top of the vans and screeching at him. The group of hunters had HUNK surrounded and were preparing to attack him. There was another shriek from one of the hunters and most of them jumped towards him. HUNK ran towards the first hunter that was also charging towards him. Once it was close enough to slash at him he ducked down and slid across the ground, opening fire on the creature’s soft chest as he slid under its legs. The creature shrieked in pain as it bled from the multiple bullet holes before collapsing to the ground.

The other hunters came running towards HUNK with two of them leaping towards him. He dived out of the way as they landed and opened fire but the hard scales of their backs protected them. The others who hadn’t jumped were still charging at him, forcing him to keep running to gain some safe distance to shoot at them from. He stopped at an abandoned car and turned round. A hunter that had been right behind him swung with its right arm, smashing the window of the car with its claw and stabbing the leather seat. HUNK had barely ducked out of the way in time but took the opportunity to shoot the hunter in the face before it got free. The bullets were successful in penetrating its face and head, destroying its brain and killing it. Another hunter leapt through the air towards him as it prepared to stab him with its claws but was knocked out of the air by HUNK’s gunfire.

The remaining three hunters rushed towards him but all of them missed because he dived out of the way in time. HUNK ran towards a stack of metal drums. He couldn’t tell if they were filled with alcohol, oil or petrol but he didn’t care. When he reached them, he took the top off of one of them and knocked it over to let the dark liquid cover the ground around the drums. The hunters charged at him yet again but all three of them slid on the fluid and lost their balance, crashing to the floor in a scaly heap with one of them knocking over some of the drums like bowling pins. HUNK dashed to find cover behind a wall before shooting at the fluid. As he had hoped, the fluid erupted into flames that rushed back towards the drums. When the flames reached the metal drums they all exploded one after another as HUNK ducked behind the wall as flames, metal and scorched body parts covered the area. A thick black cloud began to rise from the flames and consume the area.

HUNK reloaded his TMP and checked the area for any more hunters before continuing on with his mission. His next objective was to patch his employer through to the city’s CCTV network feed and he was now behind schedule.

 

The group continued silently through the streets. It didn’t matter which street they were in the scene was always the same. Abandoned cars, burning cars, litter, glass shards, bullet cases, blood and bodies covered the roads and pavements. Every time they passed a body they made sure to aim at it in case it got back up and attacked. The street they were in only had dead bodies as all the zombies must have been attracted by something elsewhere. The group maintained their original formation with the civilians in the middle and the SWAT members surrounding them. The only thing more unnerving than the sound of distant screams was the silence that they interrupted. A deathly silence. It was a radical change from even a few days before when it would have taken mere minutes to walk down the street but now it took over triple the time due to care for zombies and obstructions on the road.

A harsh scream filled the air around them causing all of them to point their weapons in the direction it came from. Several yards ahead a blood stained, blonde haired woman was being forced into the back of an abandoned car by a dark haired man in dirty jeans and a blood stained white shirt. Watching over them with a shovel was a younger man in a tracksuit who kept an eye out for any zombies. He panicked as he saw the group rush up to him, out of reflex he brandished his shovel but quickly dropped it when he realised how many guns were being aimed at him.

“Dougie!” The younger man hissed, holding his hands up in fear of being shot.

“What?!” Came the impatient and gruff reply from inside the car.

The woman’s attempted screams and grunts of effort as she physically protested to what was happening continued to sound from the open door of the car.

“There are people here!” The younger man yelped. It was clear he wanted to be anywhere but there at that moment.

The older man stepped out of the car, slamming the door shut before leaning against it as he fastened his belt again.

“Who the fuck are you people and what the fuck do you want?” The man, Dougie, asked them without hesitation or fear.

“We’re law enforcement and we don’t tolerate rapists.” Caelian answered, keeping his gun aimed at the man.

Dougie laughed in disbelief as he scratched his dark stubble and stared back at Caelian with dark, empty eyes.

“Law enforcement? Fucking law enforcement?” He spat out. “Fucking police at a time like this?”

“Let the woman go.” Caelian responded. “She’s seen enough horror in this city without you”

Dougie stretched his arms out to his sides and spun on the spot, looking around at the chaos in the street.

“You think there are any laws to enforce in this city of the dead?” He asked them with a rhetorical tone.

“It’s about what’s right, law or no law.” Bishop interjected, taking a step forward.

“Typical old bastard who believes in moral authority!” Dougie shook his head. “We’re all gonna fucking die but I plan to enjoy myself first!”

“You’re not going to hurt the woman!” Caelian told him, taking another step forward with his gun aimed at the man’s chest the whole time.

Dougie laughed again and pulled out a Beretta 92SB Compact with a nickel finish, aiming it at the group.

“Tell me, do you care about this woman more than members of your own little squad?” He asked with a smirk.

“You know fine well we can gun you down.” Bishop told the man. “It doesn’t have to be like that though.”

“Oh no, there are many ways this can be!” Dougie contested.

He used the gun to smash the window of the car door and aimed his Beretta at the woman who now had her hands up and was quietly pleading for mercy.

“I could shoot her instead.” He threatened. “And her death will be your fault, how’s that on your conscience?”

“It will still send you to an early grave.” Caelian threatened, taking another hesitant step forward.

“Get any close and she dies!” Dougie threatened, keeping the gun aimed at the woman.

Dougie’s younger companion stepped between him and the group with a sudden wave of bravery flowing through him.

“Dougie, what the fuck are you doing?” He asked desperately. “You’re going to get us both killed!”

Dougie glared at the younger man and hooked him with his free hand. The younger man collapsed to his knees from the pain, allowing the older man to grab him round the neck and place the gun to his temple.

“Or I could kill this little shit instead!” He threatened the group.

“If you don’t drop the gun we will gun you down!” Caelian threatened, not moving his own aim away from the man.

“And then you’ll all die too!” Dougie retorted with a laugh. “You’ll attract hundreds of those undead freaks from all directions!”

“We can take our chances.” Caelian answered him. “An attempted rape is hardly something to die for.”

The older man laughed again, still pressing his gun to his companion’s head.

“You’re not listening to me!” He spat back. “We all die. We’re all going to die! Enjoy life before it’s over!”

“By raping an innocent woman?” Caelian asked in disgust.

“Innocent? Fuck, man.” Dougie answered, waving his hands around again. “She’s just a piece of meat at this point!”

Caelian and Bishop remained quiet, not sure of what to say to the man or how to react to his comments.

“So, you can either make me kill someone and attract the undead!” Dougie continued. “Or be good mates and pass me some tape to gag the bitch!”

There was a loud bang and the splatter of blood as a bullet passed through Dougie’s head, taking brain matter with it as it exited out the back. The Beretta dropped from his hand and his body collapsed onto its back on the ground with a pool of blood leaking from under his head. His younger companion wailed in shock and fear as he whipped round to look behind him, observing the older man’s dead body staring up at the sky with lifeless eyes.

The group snapped their heads round to see Bailey with her Sig Sauer P226R in her hands. Her face was filled with concentrated rage that changed to satisfaction as she looked at the man’s dead body while putting the gun away.

“And what the fuck was that?!” Ryan exclaimed in shock.

“None of you men were prepared to put that dog down.” Bailey answered angrily. “You’d all sooner have him kill someone or rape that woman than do the right thing!”

“You’re fucking unstable!” Ryan commented.

“Never tell a woman she’s crazy” Scott warned Ryan. “That only makes them even worse!”

Bailey was about to shout at them again but the sound of undead groans began to wrap around them from all directions. The younger man in the tracksuit was visibly shaken and frightened so he took off running from the group. He didn’t get far because unknown to him a zombie had been lying dormant behind one of the cars and as soon as he ran past it grabbed his ankle strongly causing him to fall to the ground. The fall was so unexpected that he didn’t have time to put his hands out to stop his fall and as a result he smashed his face against the concrete. He yelped in pain as his nose was broken and burst open, the blood running into his open mouth. The scent of the blood attracted more zombies to his location along with his screams that acted like a dinner bell. The dormant zombie that had him by the ankle bit into it, tearing a chunk out of the flesh which prompted the young man to scream louder in pain and terror. The other zombies converged upon him with surprising speed and began to devour him. His screams continued until he finally died with the zombies continuing to rip apart his body.

“Good to see your brash behaviour has landed us in a safe situation.” Mark commented to Bailey, receiving a glare.

“He’ll be a distraction.” She commented, referring to the young man being devoured a few yards away.

Bailey quickly rushed up to the car and opened the door in the hopes of saving the woman inside but she was met with disappointment. Her head hung low as she realised that the woman had found a knife in all the chaos and had slit her own throat, opting to die by her own hand than by some psychopath or by a zombie.

Bishop grabbed Bailey’s arm and pulled her back to the group forcefully.

“We are leaving right now!” He barked angrily into her ear before signalling to the others to get moving.

The group quickly and carefully ducked past abandoned cars and other vehicles, using them to out of sight of the increasing number of zombies that were staggering into the street. The group rushed down an empty, dark alleyway as the chorus of hungry groans flooded the air from behind them.

 

HUNK had finally reached the main security centre for the city. Contrary to popular belief, all the CCTV cameras in the city were fed into this one building so that local law enforcement could have all video information captured by the cameras in one building. The building was a large, grey building with solid concrete walls and a wire fence that created a perimeter. HUNK glanced to the top of the fence and discovered that it was covered in several rolls of barbed wire. He looked to the ground and found a pair of wire cutters still being clutched by a severed hand. He pulled the cutters out of the stiff, cold fingers and used it to quickly cut a gap in the fence in front of him so he could enter the facility.

As he walked towards the main building he kept his gun ready for any zombies or bioweapons that could potentially attack him. The area around the building seemed strangely silent but he didn’t let this fool him and stayed alert as he approached the main door. HUNK kicked open the door and stepped inside with his TMP aimed and ready for any threat. None came.

The entrance lobby was wide and sported a few chairs and a couple smashed coffee tables. Aside from the blood on the floor there were no signs of life. Looking ahead of him he discovered a sign pointing to the elevators just next to the abandoned reception desk. HUNK headed for the elevator, walking past the reception desk without knowing there was a decapitated corpse behind it lying in a pool of blood on the floor.

Considering the building still had power he pushed the button and called for the elevator as he was not prepared to climb all the stairs if he could avoid it. The elevator didn’t take long to arrive on the ground floor and made a soft ding sound as the doors opened. HUNK aimed his TMP in case there was anything already in the elevator but he was only met with a mirror and his own reflection. He stepped into the elevator and sent it to the top floor where the main control centre was located.

The doors opened with another ding once it reached the top floor. The corridor the doors revealed was dark and bleak. Glass shards littered the floor explaining that the lights had been smashed at some point. HUNK turned on his flashlight and stepped into the corridor. The first thing that came to his attention was how much blood covered the floor and walls of the corridor in question. He walked down the corridor towards the control centre with the only noise being his footsteps crushing the glass shards that covered the floor. HUNK stopped for a moment just to listen to the building itself and that’s when he noticed a subtle sound hidden in the silence. It was the sound of breathing from some kind of animal that slowly turned into a hiss.

He quickly aimed his TMP up to the ceiling only to have it whipped out of his hands by a long tongue. The owner of the tongue was a B.O.W. It clung to the ceiling with large white claws in a posture similar to that of a big cat when hunting prey. Its body was a blood red colour because it had no skin so all its muscles were on show. It had no eyes and on top of its head was a dull pink coloured brain that was exposed. HUNK identified the creature as a licker, one of the most common of Umbrella’s Bioweapons. The licker dropped to the floor and hissed at him, whipping its tongue back and forth in a threatening posture before charging towards him. HUNK took out his knife and charged at the licker as well. When the two met HUNK jumped over the licker and slashed its back with his knife. The licker spun back round and grabbed his arm with its long tongue and vaulted towards him. HUNK grabbed the tongue and spun around on the spot to pull the licker through the air towards him and as he completed his spin he stabbed the licker in the chest with his knife. He then dropped the licker to the floor but it wasn’t dead. The licker growled in pain and frustration as it attempted to stand up again. HUNK grabbed the licker’s tongue and wrapped it around its own head like a noose before holding the licker’s body down with a stomp of his foot as he pulled at the tongue, breaking the licker’s neck.

The licker’s body slumped to the floor in a dead heap as HUNK let it go so he could retrieve his TMP from the floor. He double checked for any more lickers or for any life signs from the one he had just killed before continuing down the blood covered corridor. Once he reached the end of the corridor he kicked down the door to the main control room and swept the room with his TMP just to be sure. Fortunately there were no more threats so he could concentrate on his mission objective.

HUNK inserted a small USB device into the central computer system and radioed the commanding officer.

“Command, I have linked you to the CCTV feeds.” He told them.

“Copy that, Agent HUNK.” The commander replied. “We’re receiving the images now.”

HUNK observed the various video feeds on the monitors in front of him and took special interest in a few specific monitors. Most of the monitors showed the swarms of undead citizens wandering aimlessly through the streets. One of the monitors showed a multi-storey car park that had become home to a pack of lickers. Another monitor revealed a man under a bridge being pecked to death by a flock of infected crows. A third monitor showed a group of survivors in which half of them were members of a SWAT team. The group powered down a street in an organised formation. A fourth monitor showed the street just outside a building and depicted a tall man in a black trench coat and sunglasses entering the building. HUNK instantly recognised the man as Albert Wesker. The fifth monitor displayed a group of Tricell operatives in a gun fight with BSAA troops. On a sixth monitor he could see some kind of humanoid creature walking down an empty street. The creature was about 8ft tall and draped in black overalls with one of its hands being a giant mechanical claw and in the other hand it wielding a large Gatling gun. The creature walked up to the CCTV camera and smashed it with its claw.

HUNK radioed command again.

“Command, the unidentified B.O.W from the lab just smashed one of the cameras.” He told them.

“That B.O.W is none of your concern, Mr Death.” Command replied sharply.

“It will be if I have to fight it.” HUNK answered them. “Someone activated it and that fact could hold serious consequences for the mission.”

“Any more questions and you will no longer have a mission, agent.” The commander barked at him. “Find Wesker and kill him. Over and out.”

HUNK growled at the Commander’s attitude and suspected that there were plenty of things he wasn’t being told. Despite always being a soldier working for someone this was the first time he ever felt like a mere puppet to someone. Shrugging the thoughts away, HUNK continued with his mission and headed back for the elevator.

 

Due to the number of zombies that were loitering the streets and their desperate need for a break to discuss what had happened with the rapist, the group decided to find somewhere to stop. As they powered down the street they found a fairly undamaged looking building with light brown tiles covering its walls. The windows were narrow which reduced the risk of zombies flooding into it. They kept watch as they tried the door, which fortunately was unlocked and walked into the Café Andaluz.

The inside had once been a very decorative place but the chaos of the infection had caused it to become messy and blood stained. The walls were white and the fancy furniture was dark creating an appealing contrast in colour scheme. On one of the dark chairs the corpse of a business man sat with its head hanging back, a knife stabbed through its left eye socket and a fork in the right eye socket. The macabre scene was the first of many as various other corpses were slumped inside the café but all of them were lifeless. By their appearance they had at one point been zombies but they had all recently been killed either by a gunshot or by blunt physical trauma. This was evidence that someone was there.

It didn’t take long for them to find the person responsible as a tall man with dark blonde hair stood by the window wearing black leather clothes, most noticeably a black leather trench coat. He turned to the group to reveal that he was also wearing sunglasses and gave a patronising smirk.

“Well, well, I didn’t think there would be any survivors.” He commented, more to himself than anyone else.

The SWAT team instantly aimed their weapons at him, all of them still tense from their encounter with the rapist. A gargle from the floor behind Wesker came to their attention revealing that a heavily injured BSAA member lay on the floor.

“He’s dangerous!” The soldier gasped out. “Shoot him!”

Wesker pulled out his custom STARS Samurai Edge handgun and shot the man in the head, ending the troop’s pain and life.

This was the only indication that the SWAT team needed and prompted Caelian to open fire on Wesker. To his surprise, however, Wesker jumped into the air, spinning his body to avoid each of the bullets before landing back on his feet, staring them down. Gordon Walker then stepped forward and fired his SAW M249 light machine gun at Wesker who disappeared and then suddenly reappeared next to the large black male. Gordon dropped his machine gun and reached for his Hardballer pistol but couldn’t get to it before Wesker punched him and floored him. Jonathan shot at Wesker with his Glock but the man in black leather dodged the bullets by twisting his body into different positions before jumping forward to kick the SWAT team’s sniper into the kitchen. Wesker stood up straight, running his hands back through his hair to fix any faults in it while the rest of the group looked on in awe.

“This guy’s a fucking genie!” Scott exclaimed, unsure whether or not he should bother attacking.

“Small fries; I don’t have time for you.” Wesker commented to the group, his eyes glowing red under his sunglasses.

Caelian fired at Wesker angrily without thinking which prompted Wesker to jump into the air and spin his body again to avoid the bullets. The superhuman then started teleporting in zigzag fashion towards Caelian who tried in vain to shoot his advancing attacker. Before he knew it Wesker was upon him and had pulled his Carbine out of his hands. Wesker quickly smacked Caelian across the face with the Carbine before back flipping into the air as more bullets came his way.

Bishop rushed towards Wesker as he continued to fire his own Carbine but just when he thought he had a clear shot on Wesker the man in black vanished from sight. Wesker suddenly reappeared next to him and grabbed him by the throat before slamming him into one of the tables, which broke on impact.

During the chaos and bullet showers Mark was trying to make sure everyone was okay as was Samantha who had rushed over to Caelian’s unconscious form. They kept their heads low as more bullets were fired at Wesker by Scott this time. All the bullets were dodged with ease so Scott grabbed one of the knives from a table and rushed at Wesker in an attempt to stab him. Wesker caught the knife and bent the metal with little effort before grabbing the man’s arm and throwing him onto Gordon, who had been slowly recovering from the punch he received.

Ryan fired at Wesker from point blank range only to have the man dodge his gunfire as well with a swift lean to the side. Ryan was gobsmacked that Wesker had dodged from point blank range and hadn’t needed to see the attack to dodge it.

“What the hell are you?” He shouted in confusion.

“Disappointed.” Was Wesker’s one word reply.

Wesker rushed forward and gave Ryan a palm strike under his chin and then a palm strike to his chest which sent the man flying across the room before crashing against the wall, smashing the plates that hung on it.

Vincent rushed at Wesker with a flurry of physical attacks. He put his martial arts to the test and instead of going for his face; he went for Wesker’s arms that had been held up to block the attack. He tried to hit Wesker’s arms so that he could break the man’s guard and get the opportunity to attack his body but he couldn’t go through with it. Vincent’s arms and fists ached terribly from hitting Wesker in the same way they would if he had punched a slab of concrete. He rubbed his fists and arms in pain before remembering where he was. Vincent reacted in time to know Wesker was going to punch him and crossed his arms in front of his chest just in time to block a forceful punch that lifted him off his feet and sent him out one of the windows and onto the street. Vincent groaned in pain and winced from the glass shards that were cutting into him. As he saw himself bleed his heart raced with panic as the realisation dawned on him that zombies would be converging on the café in no time.

Gordon and Caelian jumped at Wesker at the same time but the leather clad man blocked Gordon’s attack and punched Caelian at the same time. He then grabbed Gordon’s arm and tossed him across the room before blocking Caelian’s next punch. Caelian winced in pain and shook his hand to alleviate some of the pain. Wesker ducked down and teleported again, kicking Caelian across the room before jumping out of the way of Mark’s gunshots. Wesker appeared to cling to the ceiling like a spider and used his Samurai Edge to shoot Mark’s Inox out of his hand.

He then dropped back down to the floor and advanced towards Mark to continue his attack but Seymour stood in front of him. Despite knowing they couldn’t beat the man, Seymour refused to stand back and not try to protect his fellow group members. He threw a punch at Wesker who caught it in his hand with ease. Despite Seymour’s superior body size and obvious strength he was no match for Wesker’s own. He threw another punch with his free hand and struck Wesker in the face but this punch did nothing other than hurt his hand.

Wesker pushed Seymour away and stepped back just as Bailey swung her axe at him. He continued to step back as Bailey swung at him wildly, decapitating some corpses in the process before Wesker stopped backing up. Bailey swung at him again but he caught the axe just below the head and pulled it out of her hands. He broke the handle of the axe over his knee before smacking her across the face with the broken handle.

He threw the head of the axe at a zombie that was trying to climb in the broken window and decapitated it instantly. Wesker then started jumping forward, each time he spun in the air in a horizontal position to avoid the bullets that were being fired at him by Bishop and Seymour. He continued to avoid the bullets in this way until he was close to them. Wesker kicked the weapon out of Bishop’s hands with a downward strike before placing his hands on the floor and kicking upward to knock Seymour’s USP Match out of his hands. He vaulted into the air and spun again before kicking both Bishop and Seymour off their feet.

Outside the café, Vincent could see the fight going on inside and stood back up, strengthening his resolve to keep fighting Wesker. He knew Wesker couldn’t be unbeatable, even if he was superhuman in pretty much every sense. Before he could continue his train of thought a zombie grabbed his arm and tried to bite him. He jumped back and lost his balance, falling to the ground on his back with a groan. The zombie shambled over him and dropped down on top of him in an attempt to eat him. He held the zombie back by placing an arm under its chin while his eyes scanned for something he could use to kill it as he couldn’t reach his gun. He growled under the strain of keeping the zombie from biting him as his free hand came across a large shard of glass. Vincent took hold of the glass and held the zombie further away from him before he shoved the glass shard into its eye and pushed it all the way inside its skull. The zombie stopped moving and collapsed on top of him. With another groan he lifted it off and got back up.

The group were on one side of the café and Wesker was on the other. They had all retrieved their guns and kept them aimed at him despite knowing he would just dodge the bullets even if they did choose to shoot at him. Wesker held his arms out and shrugged his shoulders at the group before him.

“Do any of you actually believe you can defeat me?” He asked them arrogantly.

“At this rate we won’t stop until we’re all dead!” Caelian shouted at him in blind fury.

Wesker chuckled at this answer. “Well then, I’ll just have to kill all of you.”

Just then, Vincent came running up from behind Wesker and jumped in the air and attempted a flying side kick. Wesker ducked down, causing Vincent to sail right over him. Vincent landed on his feet and turned around to throw a kick at him but Wesker grabbed his leg and spun on the spot, throwing Vincent towards the group. Vincent flew through the air until he slammed into the wall behind the rest of the group and dropped to the floor with a groan of pain.

“Now that you’re all together.” Wesker threatened as he advanced. “It’s time to end this.”

Suddenly the strong light of a car’s headlights lit up the café as everyone turned to see the source. A truck was rushing towards the café with a zombie at the wheel that had no chance of driving the vehicle. The truck slammed into the café, shattering the remaining windows and causing the front wall to collapse as the truck smashed through the furniture before stopping at the back wall. The truck erupted into flames with the zombie’s corpse slumped against the steering wheel, sounding the horn constantly and ultimately formed a barrier between the group and Wesker.

Vincent got up with the help of Seymour and Mark and looked past the flames but he couldn’t see Wesker.

“He’s gone.” He commented to the rest of them, still dazed from his injuries.

“Good because we’ve got bigger problems!” Bishop warned them.

They looked through the hole in the wall caused by the truck’s crash and noticed that a large group of zombies was advancing upon the site, the sound of the horn attracting them from all around. They didn’t need to talk to one another to understand that if they didn’t move right away then the zombies would overrun them and kill them. The group made their way through the café’s undamaged kitchen and out the backdoor that lead into yet another alleyway. They quickly ran down the alley and along the adjacent street in a desperate attempt to get as much distance between them and the zombie horde at the café as possible. As they ran there was one question that plagued all their minds. Who was that superhuman man?

 

So Chapter 7 is finally complete. Chapters 8 and 9 are fully planned out so it’s just a question of getting them done when I have the time to write them (time which is very limited right now). As per, leave a review if you’ve read the whole thing and I hope Chapter 8 doesn’t take too long to write.