《Resident Evil: Vengeance》


 Chapter 1 - Clean Up Crew

    2009-Kijuju, Africa:


    My name is Page, Page Bunting, and I''m an army veteran, though I never was actually deployed. I had spent four years being stationed at various bases, until my contract was coming to an end, and I got a call from a company called Terrasave. They fight bio-terrorists, though I don''t know what on earth that is.


    I was taken back when I had first gotten the call, asking if I would like to try and become an agent. I didn''t really have many plans for when I got out of the military, so I accepted, and I managed to get in. Shortly afterwards I was sent off on my first mission in Africa, where the BSAA had requested help from us. Some new strand of virus called Uroboros had been used by bio-terrorists only a few days ago. I''ve asked around what to expect, and everyone just told me zombies.


    Page sits nervously in the back of a jeep as they cross the African savanna, the moonlight making the plains bluish-silver. Rain clouds fill the air, soaking the ground and tapping on all the windows with a rhythmic beat.


    "Don''t worry, you''re partner''s a rookie just like you," Her boss, Terry states as he chuckles from seeing another nervous newcomer. Terry sits in front of her, another guy to his right, and a second one to her right. The driver in front making up five people total.


    As the dust trails behind the tires, they listen to songs from the 60''s being played on a CD. The savannah soon fades away as they slow down, now driving through a town, the driver turns off the radio and dims the headlights. The whole place is empty, without a single soul to be seen. As they drive further into the town, buildings start to block the moonlight.


    Everyone in the jeep looks through their windows, trying to see whatever they can in the dark.


    "We should be reaching the docks in ten minutes," Terry says as he checks his watch. As they drive past buildings, small alleyways are dimly lit by small strands of moonlight that just b?r?ly manage to squeeze through all the roofs. They all look empty, minus what can only be guessed to be piles of trash. Page looks down each one closely, the atmosphere of the ghost town giving her chills. Looking down one she sees a wire fence, with something draped on it.


    It looks almost like, a body, but within seconds they pass the alleyway completely and its out of sight. To her relief they reach the docks, some flood lights connected to portable generators lighting up part of the place. They stop just a few feet away from the docks and light, the engine coming to a stop.


    "Alright, let''s go," Terry says. The four of them get out, the cold air entering the second the door opens Stepping out rain pelts the top of their heads, already getting into their clothes and making them shiver. Page pulls her hoodie straps to try and tighten it to keep as much rain out. Though she can feel her beanie getting soaked, it still provides some warmth. The faint buzzing of the generators adds to the rain splashing in the water. The faint smell of something rotten is in the air, but the rain and the generators burning gasoline manage to keep it at bay.


    Looking at the docks they seem to be empty, the only evidence of someone else possibly being there being two jeeps parked on the other side of the lights and generators. Terry pulls a radio off his belt. Several tattered up buildings surround the docks. Two large cruiser boats are docked.


    "Alpha leader Chandler, this is Bravo leader Terry, we''ve arrived at the docks," Terry speaks into his radio. He waits awhile, but there''s no response.


    "Chandler, do you copy?"


    No response.


    "Chandler?"


    Far off in the distance near the town''s edge, a blood stained radio is repeating Terry''s words, no one around to hear.


    "Gosh dammit, how many times do I have to remind him to keep his radio on?" Terry mutters to himself angrily, "They should be in one of the boats right now, come on," Terry waves for everyone to follow. Walking onto a long stretch of cement going into the massive river, the team goes up the ramp of the boat on the right, unaware of the eyes watching them from the buildings.


    Stepping onto the ship they see two bodies laid out on the deck. They walk past them and head to the door to the hull, sounds coming from inside. Terry signals them to all stop before he knocks on the door. He steadies a hand by his holster as the door starts to open. Flashlights shine on them as two men stand in the doorway. They''re both a bit skittish looking, wearing identical clothing to them.


    "Alpha team?" Terry asks.


    "Yeah," The man on the right replies. Terry signals everyone to go inside, the two men stepping to the side to unblock the doorway. They close the door as the members of Bravo team shake the water off themselves in an attempt to warm up. The hull is twice as large as the space they had in the jeep, the only source of light coming from the flashlights that the Alpha team have. Two windows lay on both sides, giving a view of the water, other boat, and part of the docks. A large table sits in the middle with built in benches going all the way around it. The cushions look very worn.


    The two men who were at the door stand a bit nervously by some cabinets while a third person stands a bit near the table. The guy by himself is bulkier than the other two and doesn''t have the same worried look as the other two.


    "There''s only three of you, where are the others? Where''s Chandler?"


    "Chandler took one of the other members with him to go investigate upstairs. He told us three to stay put," The third guy says.


    "When was that?"


    "About, five minutes ago,"


    Terry stands there silently for a few seconds before talking once more.


    "What are your guys'' names?"


    "Zane,"


    "Larry," The two guys who opened the door answer.


    "Jacob,"


    "Alright, well, now seems like a good time to introduce everyone and their partners. I''m Bravo leader Terry, this is Jayce, Zack, and Page. Zane, you''ll be with Jayce, Larry, your with Zack, and Jacob, you''re with Page. Stay with each other no matter what. Zane, Jayce, and Todd, come with me, we''re gonna go check upstairs. Page, Zack, help Jacob and Larry with clean up here, if you guys are already done, head over to the other ship. Put your radios on channel B so we can all contact each other, got it?"


    They all nod in response. The group splits up, Terry''s group heading out while the other four stay in the room.

 Chapter 2 - Separation

    "We finished checking this room some time ago, so I guess we head over to the other ship," Jacob says. With that they brace themselves for the cold as they open the door and head out. Zack is the first to head down the ramp, slipping, and falling all the way down.


    "I-I''m okay," He replies as he pushes himself up off the floor, his gloves immediately getting soaked. The others all cautiously make their way down the ramp. Going up the other ramp onto the other boat, it''s easy to tell that this one must be much older. Rust stains parts of the boat, and the deck seems to be cluttered with rope and all other types of junk.


    "Where did these come from?"


    "They were found floating on the rivers near the town a week ago, BSAA members docked them here, leaving us to check for any corpses or any form of that uroboros shit," They walk up to the hull door, the glass heavily stained with dirt that''s been there so long it refuses to budge to any rain drops that attack it. The light from Jacob''s flashlight is unable to penetrate it, preventing them from being able to see anything inside.


    Jacob pulls out his gun, putting his flashlight away before reaching for the handle.


    "Be ready," He says looking at Page. She nods and he turns back to the door. The mini flashlight on his pistol shines on the door as he turns the knob. Turning all the way he flings the door open, taking a step back and aiming into the room. He points his gun around, the small ray of light from his gun shines into the darkness that envelopes the hull. The inside looks just as old and worn out as the outside of the ship.


    Some black gooey stuff stains some of the furniture. The four slowly enter the room, Jacob in the lead. Looking around Page sees that there''s more of the black goo on the walls. They can hear parts of the ship creak as it gently sways in the water.


    The furniture inside the room is nearly identical to the other boat, but a pool table sits in the left part of the room. A body is slumped over it, black goo around their face. On the other side of the table, another body lays on the ground, their expression that of someone in complete terror. Neither body shows any sign of decay.


    As the group walks towards the pool table they hear gunshots. They all turn towards the door as two more are shot off. Larry quickly picks up his radio.


    "We heard gunshots, everything alright?"


    "Yeah, one of them was still alive, no doubt infected," As the group listens in on the call, the body on the floor starts to twitch, "No sign of Charles or the person he took with him. We''re gonna go check-" A gunshot cuts off their ability to listen as Jacob shoots the zombie in the head. With a dying m??n, the zombie falls to the floor, a few feet from Larry. Jacob walks to Larry''s side as he unloads two more bullets into its head. He than shoots the body on the table a couple times in its head.


    "Better safe than sorry," Jacob says as he unloads his magazine and reloads. He puts his gun in its holster and picks up his radio. The group just look at the corpse that had once been sitting completely still, now bleeding on the ground.


    "That last part got cut off, we had a few on our side. What were you saying?" They all stand there listening to the radio''s static as no response comes through.


    "Hello? Anyone, do you read me?" He asks, his voice being repeated in the other threes'' radios. Larry hurries outside, Zack quickly following.


    "Hey, wait!" Page calls out. She heads to the door, but sees Jacob turned back to the bodies, "Jacob come on, we need to catch up to the others," He turns to her with a look that says, ''are you serious?''.


    "I''ve seen enough zombie movies to know that it''s never a good idea to just go running off blindly,"


    "This isn''t a movie, this is real life, that is real life," She says gesturing towards the body on the floor, "I-I think, I still don''t know what I just saw...everyone told me zombies, but I, didn''t think they were actually, real..."


    "Well let''s check," He says. He walks over to the body and nudges it with his boot, "Yup, it''s real,"


    They hear more gunshots and screaming.


    "We can''t just sit here, come on!"


    Page hurries out of the room, drawing her gun. Jacob lets out a sigh before running out after her.

 Chapter 3 - Viral Outbreak

    Page rushes through the hull door onto the front deck to see Larry and Zack on the docks, being dragged towards the town by unknown culprits. Page aims her gun to try and take a shot. Jacob comes out, looking around and notices someone on the other boat. He quickly hurries over to Page, lowering her gun.


    He holds up a finger, telling her to keep quiet before he points towards the other boat. She turns to see the person standing on the upper deck, overlooking the docks. Jacob pulls out his knife and signals for her to follow. Crouching down, the two quietly make their way off the boat and onto the other one, the rain cloaking the sounds of their footsteps.


    The two make their way up and stop at the top of the stairs. Jacob peeks over the side of the railing to get a look at the person. Something grabs Page, covering her mouth so she can''t scream and drags her down the stairs. Jacob sees the person on the upper docks is wearing similar clothing to theirs, both hands are resting at their side, a gun in one hand. A radio is on their belt.


    He turns back to Page to see she''s not their. He hears the sound of a door closing. He quickly gets up, rushing down the stairs, alerting the person upstairs of his presence as he tries to open the hull door. Something on the other side is trying to keep it shut. As he hears footsteps rushing for the stairs, Jacob pulls at the door with all his might, nearly losing his balance when the door swings open.


    Pulling up his gun he sees Zane in the doorway, his eyes wide open and bloodshot like a lunatic. Looking past him he sees Page being held down in a chair by Jayce, another person, in raggidy and blood stained clothing, has something squirming in their hand. Jacob pulls up his gun and fires before Zane can do anything, just managing to hit the person, catching their attention.


    Before Jacob can take anymore shots Zane grabs him by the shoulders, screaming and trying to bite Jacob in the neck. Jacob just b?r?ly manages to grabs Zane''s throat, his chomping teeth inches from his own neck. Pulling his gun up to the side of Zane''s head he shoots, the body immediately going limp and falling to the floor. Just in the nick of time Jacob sees someone coming down the stairs, pulling up their gun and pointing it at him.


    He rushes inside as a bullet shoots where he was moments before, slamming the door shut behind him. The person in raggidy clothing brings up the squirming thing as they force open Jayce''s mouth. Jacob rushes the man, tackling them in the side and forcing them to the floor, the squirming thing landing a safe distance away from Page. Jacob struggles to keep the person on the ground as they''re much stronger than they appear, clearly stronger than Zane. Jayce let''s go of Page to help take care of Jacob.


    She quickly gets up, pulling out her taser and thrusting it into Jayce''s side, causing his body to twitch with electricity before he stumbles a couple steps away from her.


    "Sorry!" She calls out to him before helping Jacob with the man, who now has his hands around Jacob''s throat. Just b?r?ly managing to pry the man''s arms off of Jacob, who takes no time bringing up his gun. With another shot the man goes limp. There''s no break though when Jayce pulls Page away from Jacob, causing her to fall onto her back. He goes to put the squirming thing into her mouth but Jacob quickly gets up.


    Moving behind them, Jacob puts his arms around Jayce''s waist, using all his strength to pick him up off of Page. He tightens his grip around Jayce''s waist as the man flails about, screaming in a way that sounds very inhuman. A bullet shoots Jacob in the arm, causing him to let go off Jayce who falls to the floor. Page and Jacob look at the hull entrance to see a partly disfigured Terry, his eyes all bloodshot and his neck broken.


    His gun is pointed at Jacob. Before he can fire again, Page shoots him in the arm, causing him to drop the gun. She''s suddenly pulled by the legs as Jayce grabs her once more, this time trying to bite her.


    "Fuck, off!" Jacob shouts in rage as he kicks Jayce, knocking him to the floor. Very shaken, Page looks back to Terry to see where he''s at. Stumbling towards them with a crazed look, screaming as loud as he can. Page takes aim at his head, but doesn''t pull the trigger. The distance between closes quickly as he gets within only a few steps of reaching them before she finally shoots, causing him to fall down to the floor, his face inches from her.


    She quickly gets up while Jacob double taps Jayce in the head.


    "How the hell did this happened? I thought people like Terry were use to this shit," Jacob says as they stare at their bodies. Terry''s head starts to move as he starts screaming once more.


    "Die!" Jacob exclaims as he stomps him in the head, the sound of the skull breaking being the last thing they hear after the screaming comes to an abrupt stop.


    "T-They were all...normal a second ago...how did they all get infected this fast?" Page asks with a shaking breath, still processing everything that happened.


    "I told you, they probably were baited somehow. Never heard of zombies being smart though," He says as he glances over at the person in raggidy clothing. Page jumps a bit as he shoots the corpse in the head.


    "Would you please stop doing that?!" She cries, "You can''t just use up all your ammo!"


    "You saw how fast they were infected, I''m not taking any chances. Besides," He pulls out the magazine of his gun, "I still have three bullets left," He puts the magazine back in his gun and puts it the holster. He kneels down and starts scavenging Terry''s body, finding an extra magazine, "He''s not going to be needing this anymore," He says as he puts it in his bag.


    He scavenges Jayce''s body, getting the magazine from his gun, which is half full, and finding another one in his belt.


    "Why are you so, calm about this?" Page asks in utter disbelief as Jacob walks over and gets the magazine from Terry''s gun.


    "You''d be surprised how well movies and games are at desensitizing a person," He replies as he shuts the door to stop the rain and cold from coming in, "Besides, I''ve never been the caring type. We also, don''t have time to be having a mental breakdown since we have no idea how many more of those things are out there and what they did to the two men they dragged into the town. I would let you stay here while I try and figure things out, but, I doubt this is a safe room,"


    Page just looks at him, unable to think of a response as a million questions fly through her mind. She looks down at Terry, the man who not too long ago she was sitting behind in a jeep travelling across the savanna. Now, she had just shot him in the head and watched Jacob break his skull with his boot.


    This is not what I was expecting at all. This is a nightmare, how on earth can stuff like this exist?! ¡­ I guess he''s right...I need to stop thinking about this for now and figure out what we need to do next.

 Chapter 4 - Escape Plan

    The two stand by the door, Jacob giving Page a moment to calm herself as best she can before he slowly opens the door once more. He peeks through the doorway, looking around to see no one, Zane''s body nowhere to be seen.


    "Just great¡­" Jacob mutters to himself as they step outside, the rain falling down harder than it was before, "Careful, Zane''s still alive and on the loose,"


    Page nods in response as they ready their guns.


    "Over there," Page states as she points at the docks. Someone can be seen limping towards the town. As the person stumbles into the light, they see it''s Zane, "Where''s he going?"


    "I don''t wanna know, we need to stop him, come on," Jacob states as the two hurry down the ramp, Zane taking notice of them and starting to limp faster. As Page and Jacob make their way to where the jeeps are, Zane disappears into the darkness that engulfs the town.


    "Is it safe to ?ssume the others are infected too?" Page asks, glancing at Jacob.


    "Yeah, it''s best if we just get the hell out of here for now. I don''t know why they thought coming at night was a good idea," The two walk over to the nearest jeep, the doors are unlocked luckily. Checking the ignition and all around the driver''s seat, they find no keys.


    "Did Terry have the keys at all?"


    "I don''t think so, he wasn''t the one who drove,"


    "Well let''s check if he has a spare," The two hurry back to the boat, entering the room. Page keeps some distance as Jacob kneels down and starts searching Terry''s body once more.


    "Damnit, nothing. Charlie had the keys on him and he was the first to go missing. Who drove you here?" Jacob asks, "They must have keys,"


    "Todd did, he was with Terry¡­but he''s not here,"


    "...Do you know how to hotwire vehicles at all?"


    "No,"


    The two of them both know what they have to do, but neither one wants to be the one to say it.


    "...We have to go find Charlie or Todd in the town¡­" Page manages to say.


    "...Yea¡­" Jacob agrees as he stands up. The two stand there for a bit, hesitant to actually go back out to the cold before they finally muster up the strength to walk back into the rain.


    Completely soaked, every step is slowed by the weight of their clothes. Walking back into the light of the floodlights, they stand there as they gaze upon the town, it''s buildings towering over them as it waits for them to enter its lair. The faint sound of something m??ning and the occasional sound of something being kicked around can be heard.


    The two step out of the light and start their journey into the town. Not wanting to walk in the open streets, the two check a nearby building to see if the door''s unlocked. With a bit of effort, Jacob manges to pry the door open, their flashlights shining through the room. Broken boxes and metal tables now stained with blood suggest that this was perhaps a kitchen to a restaurant, or at least a storage room of sorts. A trail of black ooze similar to the stuff on the rusty ship goes along the floor. Flies surround a hanging carcass that dangles from the ceiling, their buzzing filling the air along with the rain hitting the walls.


    Shining their lights on the body, they''re greeted by the mangled face of Zack, blood dripping from his body down onto his face. Looking up they see that his foot has been impaled by a hook. More of the black ooze stains his clothes and open wounds.


    "What in the hell did this?" Jacob asks himself as he looks around the rest of the room. Following the trail along the floor, he finds Larry''s corpse, also covered in black ooze. They continue through the building, walking through a heavy metal door and into a large room separated into two sections, a kitchen and the dining room. The place is entirely empty, some dirty dishes left on the counter where the chefs put the cooked meals for waiters to pick up. The trail continues through the kitchen into the dining area.


    Heading out of the kitchen into the dining area, ???kroaches scuttle about as flashlights shine on them.


    "How the hell are we suppose to find them?" Jacob asks himself.


    "...Our radios," Page states as the idea pops into her head, "Maybe we can hear them if they''re near,"


    "That could work¡­" Jacob says as he stops and thinks, "But, let''s turn off Larry and Zack''s first,"


    "Alright" She replies with a nod. The two head back into the storage room, Jacob turning off Larry''s radio and heading over to Zack''s hanging corpse. Shining his light on it, the radio is not on the belt. The two look around the room, unable to find it.


    "Talk into your radio, but quietly," Jacob tells Page. She pulls up her radio, flicking it on. The sound of something, repulsive, complusing can be heard coming from it.


    "...That''s not radio static¡­" She states as they stand there staring at her radio. She glances at Jacob, who merely nods towards the radio. With a bit of hesitation, she speaks into the radio, "Hello?"


    "hello?" They hear a muffled version of her voice say upstairs.

 Chapter 5 - Bio Organic Weapon

    Page and Jacob glance up at the ceiling where the voice had come from before looking back at each other.


    "Let''s hope we got lucky," Jacob says as they head back to the dining area. The trail of ooze seems to go up the stairs in the corner of the room. Going up them, they enter another dining room area, tables and chairs strewn about most of this knocked onto their sides. On the other side of the room is a wall with an empty doorway leading to a smaller dining room. The trail goes into the room.


    "Speak into your radio again," He states as they stand by the stairs, shining their lights around the room, looking for the radio.


    "Hello?"


    ''hello?" The voice is clearer this time, though muffled with radio static. It''s coming from the smaller dining room.


    "Just great," Jacob mutters to himself as they make their way to the smaller dining room, guns at the ready. The furniture in the room looks around a storm had blow threw, ooze splattered everywhere. In the corner of the room, sits the corpse of a terrasave agent, thick puddles of ooze near and on them. A small red light glows from the radio on his belt. Jacob kneels down, the stench of the ooze attacking his nose as he grabs the radio, and searches the pockets of the corpse.


    He finds another magazine of ammo, which he hands to Page, and after some more searching, he feels something small and metal.


    "Thank god," He says with relief as he pulls out a key. As he puts the key away, he realizes that the radio is emitting the same grotesque sound they had heard on Page''s radio. He turns the radio off and places it back down. Jacob stands back up and the two head for the stairs. They stop when they hear the sound once more. Jacob looks to Page, who turns off her radio, but the sound doesn''t go away. That''s when they see a large black mass moving up the stairs.


    It appears to be made out of several large black tentacle like things. They all flail about as the mass starts to reach the top of the stairs. Large yellow masses can be seen between all the tentacles.


    "What, is that?" Page asks.


    "You think I know?" He responds as they back up towards the smaller room. Jacob quickly glances into the room and sees a door leading to a small outdoor area, some grate stairs attached to the nextdoor building, "Come on!" He shouts. As the two run for the door, the creature starts to drag itself towards them with two limbs, letting out an inhuman roar.


    "Jump to the stairs!" Jacob exclaims as they run out the door. The two jump for it, landing onto the stairs with a hard thud. The two waste no time bothering to see where the thing is at and hurry down the stairs, which shake violently with every step as if they might break apart. As they reach the bottom of the stairs, they hear another screech, and a large limbs made of tentacles hits the stairs.


    The stairs fall apart, Jacob and Page loosing their balance. As Page falls off the stairs Jacob grabs her by the arm, but he ends up getting pulled down with her. As they fall he wraps his arms around her and rotates them so he''s laying under her. With a hard thud he hits the ground, his arms letting go of her and falling to his side. She quickly gets up, helping him up and running a few feet so they don''t get flattened by the remains of the stairs.


    "Are you alright?" She asks as she catches her breath.


    "Y-yeah¡­" He replies, still winded by the fall. The two only have a second to catch their breath before they hear another screech from above. Looking up they see the thing making it''s way to the edge of the patio. It''s clearly not afraid of heights. The two scramble to their feet and run down the alleyway as the thing plummets to the ground. With a squishy slam the mass of tentacles lands, and continues its pursuit as Page and Jacob make their way to the street.


    "This way!" Page shouts as she heads to the right towards the light from the floodlights. The two make it halfway to the lights when they hear the thing behind them. Glancing back, it''s just made its way to the street, luckily it seems to be slow. Running to the closest jeep they get inside, Jacob going to the driver''s seat and slamming the keys into the ignition.


    As the engine comes to life, the headlights come on, illuminating several people on the docks in bloody and raggedy clothing similar to the one who had tried to infect Page. As they all start rushing towards the jeep, Jacob slams his foot on the gas and makes a hard right turn, scraping against the other jeep and knocking over a floodlight. Driving through the docks, they hit several wooden stands. He slams on the breaks when he sees there''s nothing but buildings blocking their path.


    "We have to get to that road, hold on," Jacob says as he throws the jeep into reverse and makes a fast u-turn, turning them towards all the zombies, The creature made of tentacles behind them, pushing aside the other jeeps like they''re nothing.


    "Jacob, what are you doing?!" Page asks as he puts the jeep into drive.


    "I told you to hold on!" He exclaims before slamming on the gas one more. He goes to the left, hitting a couple of zombies and does a wide turn around the large monster. It stands up, throwing out an arm of tentacles. It pierces the jeep, b?r?ly missing them, Page screaming of fright. They mange to escape it, making a hard left onto the road through the town.


    "Keep your gun at the ready, there might be more ahead," Jacob states as they rush through the town. To their surprise, nothing appears, until they near the edge of town where several of them are standing in front of the road. Jacob isn''t deterred, keeping his gas on the pedal as they continue to accelerate. Blood covers the windshield as they slam into them. One managed to avoid getting hit, grabbing onto the hole in the side.


    As it pulls itself into the jeep, Page brings up her gun, shooting it in the arm, causing it to lose its grip and fall off. They escape the town, heading into the savannah.


    I still don''t know how I''m alive. Was it luck that they didn''t go for our boat first, or that I stayed behind with Jacob for even such a small amount of time? What the hell was that, thing, in the restaurant anyways? Whatever the hell happened tonight, I''m glad that I didn''t die or become a ''zombie'' if that''s what you can call whatever they were. For a supposedly being a rookie like me, he seems pretty use to this¡­


    "Hey, uh, Jacob?" Page asks as they drive through the savannah.


    "Yeah?" He asks, glancing at her.


    "How long have you been a member of Terrasave?"


    "Um, a couple days, if you include the trip from America to here," He states rather nonchalauntly. Page just finds that hard to believe, so much so that she doesn''t even realize that she''s staring at him.


    "What? Do I have something on my face?" He asks before pulling down the sun visor and checking his face in the mirror. Seeing nothing, he puts the visor up. She continues to stare at him, completely perplexed at his calm demeanor.


    "If it''s about a date, it''ll have to wait," He says, catching her off guard, "I''m not looking for anyone right now,"


    "W-what?! I don''t wanna ask you on a date!"


    "Than what''s with all the staring?"


    "Well, I don''t know, maybe it''s cause you''re so calm after what we just went through. Did you somehow forget about that, tentacle monster thing? Not to mention, you got shot in the arm."


    "Trust me, I''m in, a lot, of pain, and I haven''t forgotten about that thing and would like to not be reminded of it. We''re safe right now, that''s all that matters. The Terrasave base is still a good hour, so rest while you can, I doubt we''re gonna have a chance for that when we get there,"


    Page wants to continue talking, hoping to get something out of him, but just from looking at his focused gaze as he stares out into the savannah ahead of them, she knows she won''t get anything out of him. Taking his advice, she lowers the back of the chair and turns slightly. If it weren''t for the rain''s melody, she wouldn''t have been able to fall asleep.


    Jacob keeps his eyes on the little cones of light that stay ahead of them. He glances over at Page, wondering what''s going to happen when they get to the base. Had he missed that shot, no doubt she would have become one of them.


    His grip on the wheel tightens as he looks back to the road, troubled by the thoughts of how they were the only ones who survived. The burning in his arm along with the nightmarish thoughts of that tentacle creature sit in the back of his mind, focusing on the road is all he can do to keep them at bay.


    March 20, 2015- New York, Terrasave Headquarters


    Page sits in her office, typing up a report on her latest mission as she recalls that night.


    That night changed my view on the world forever, I could never watch a zombie movie in the same way after that. Me and Jacob were sent back here where we were questioned about the events that happened. What was once thought to have been a simple clean up operation ended up needing the best agents to clean up the town of any remaining zombies and that thing, which we learned was a Bio-Organic-Weapon or B.O.W. which was actually a conscious form of the virus, Uroboros. Not long after that, we were sent off again, going to various places around the world, dealing with smaller incidents and helping people that got caught up in them.


    It didn''t take me long to realize that Jacob wasn''t lying when he said he wasn''t the caring type. Besides anger and annoyance, he never really showed much emotion on any mission no matter what we faced. I could count on him and felt lucky to have him as my partner, even if he could be a major ?ss...though he pleasantly surprised me on that date we had¡­


    Finishing the report, Page saves it, and emails it to records. She goes to her emails, searching up "Jacob" in hopes of finding an email updating his status. The most recent email about him was from a year and a half ago.


    A year and a half ago he got sent by himself back to Africa on an escort mission. A couple days later this popped up in my emails. It reads:


    MUST READ


    If you or have any contact with Agent Jacob G. contact Mister Norton IMMEDIATELY. Jacob is wanted for the murder of Terrasave agents Brad and Luke, and an innocent civilian under Terrasave''s protection. Most likely armed and dangerous, DO NOT try to approach him by yourself. Photos of Jacob are attached to this email, he was last spotted in Africa where he was sent to get the civilian that was killed.


    A sudden knocking on the door takes Page out of her thoughts.


    "Come in," She answers. She''s shocked to see the head of Terrasave, Norton, walk into her office.


    "Agent Page I presume?" He asks as he walks up to her.


    "U-Uh, yes, sir,"


    "Come with me,"


    Page follows him out of her office and to the elevator. Going to the top floor they enter his office, a massive room with a large desk, behind it the entire wall is a window overseeing the city. Couches are on both sides of the room and two chairs sit in front of the desk. A large, very comfortable looking chair sits behind his desk.


    "Please, have a seat,"


    She quickly complies, sitting down in one of the chairs, its cozyness helping ease her nervousness. Norton has never talked to her, and probably never even seen her.


    "You were Jacob''s partner right?"


    "Yes sir,"


    "How long?"


    "About five years,"


    "Good, than this is for you," He pulls out a folder from his desk, the word "Confidential" stamped on it, "What I''m about to tell you is not to leave this office, and no one in this building is to see what''s in this folder except for you, got that?"


    "Yes," She nods as she takes the folder, a bit hesitant to open it. Opening the folder, she see some pictures of him, and documents holding information about him.


    "I''m sure you''re well aware of what happened when he was sent to Africa. Though he''s managed to stay invisible quite well, we think we found him,"


    Page looks up from the folder at Norton.


    "He''s supposedly on an island in the Atlantic ocean. I want you to find him and bring him here,"


    "Me? Why me?"


    "He was one of our best agents Page, and no one knows him better than you. If anyone is gonna have a chance of getting him, it''s going to be you. There''s a plane ticket for you in the folder, it leaves tomorrow morning. You have the rest of the day off to pack what you need and read everything in that folder. Alright?"


    "...Yes sir,"

 Chapter 6 - Long Slumber

    July 1, 2013-Lanshiang, China:


    With a final blow from the rpg, the monstrous creature that was once Derek Simmons is knocked off the roof, tumbling down into the depths of the burning Quad Tower. Leon and Helena watch as parts of the creature start to fall off, leaving nothing but Derek screaming in anger until he plummets onto the center pillar, it''s cold, sharp, needle-like top, piercing his body.


    His outer-skin splits as he lets out one last, insect-like screech before he dies, his blood filling the umbrella logo below.


    "That''s for my sister," Helena says, in a bitter-sweet tone as the two look down at the man who was a monster long before he had become infected.


    "Come on. Let''s get to the chopper," Leon says as he places a hand on her shoulder. As the two head for the helipad, Helena takes once last glance making sure he''s dead. In the helicopter, Leon finds a data-chip in a make-up mirror, containing all the evidence they need to prove their innocence. As the two fly out of the burning city, a man walks into the base of the tower, a devilish grin on his face.


    "There you are," Luther says as he walks up to the pillar, his footsteps making small splashes in the blood. He pulls the hookshot off his back and shoots some fallen debris up above. Giving a hardy tug, the debris refuses to budge. Attaching the hookshot to his belt he lifts himself up into the air.


    "Beautiful," Luther says to himself as he reaches Derek''s corpse, examining it with much delight. He hears more stuff above start to crumble away. He puts his arms under Derek''s back and legs as the hookshot starts to lift him up once more. With a final tug, Luther lifts his body off of the pillar. Getting back onto the ground, Luther detaches his hookshot and drapes the body over his shoulder.


    "Rest while you can," He says as he puts a gas mask over his face, "You''re gonna need it," He pulls out a machine pistol as he walks out of the lobby and starts the trek back through the zombie infested city.


    ¡­


    Everything''s crumbling around me. All I can do is reach for something, anything as I fall. I feel the wind get knocked out of me as something cold pierces me in my back, the cold quickly becoming an unbearable burning pain. As I try to pull myself up I can just b?r?ly make out the silhouettes of two people at the top of the tower. Everything''s becoming...blurry..it''s...getting...dark¡­


    A woman''s laugh, a laugh, I recognize. In the darkness I see a shimmer of red but it soon fades away.. It can''t be...Ada..? As her laugh continues it starts to become a bit muffled as if she''s talking to me through a phone.


    "You''re just becoming the monster you always were," Her voice says with a mischievous tone.


    "Ada?!" I cry out into the darkness, "Ada!"


    ¡­


    Derek wakes up, gasping for air. He looks around to find himself in a, lab cell of some sort? The walls are all made of a light grey steel, the air frigid and the lighting rather dull despite the various amounts of lights present. He''s on a bed made of similar steel, a pillow being the only non metal thing in the whole cell. A sink and toilet are on the left side of the cell, on the other side of the room from him is a wall made of thick glass, a heavy metal door on the right side with a small window for giving small objects through like food.


    It doesn''t take him long to realize that he''s completely n?k?d, the cold air attacking his body. He starts to rub his arms for warmth as he sits up and places his feet on the floor, jumping a bit when the cold metal bites at them. The need to pee is enough to get him to stand up and walk over to the toilet, each step sending a shiver through his body. The air''s so cold that tiny bits of steam emit from the toilet bowl as the echo from it disrupts the quiet atmosphere.


    To his luck there''s some soap that he can use to wash his hands with. He pulls the handle for hot water, occasionally tapping the stream with a finger to feel if it''s warmed up or not. After some time it finally warms up, some steam floating up into his face as he washes his hands. After he finishes he shakes his hands to dry them off, leaving the water running so it can act as a source of heat. As he holds his hands by the stream and his face in the cloud of steam, he notices his reflection in the mirror, though the fog covering it makes it look like nothing more than just a blob.


    He turns off the sink and wipes off the mirror. He''s surprised at how he normal he looks. Surely the virus must have made him look disgusting, he knew it split apart his skin and muscles, he cold feel it every time. No lines on his face suggest any evidence of that though. In fact, he looks a couple years younger. His once short and combed hair is now a bit longer and unkempt. His mustache and goatee are now almost a full beard.


    What the hell happened? How long has it been since I passed out? Where am I?


    Derek jumps when he hears a voice to his right.


    "Ah, nice to see you''re finally awake," He turns to see a man with short blonde hair in a lab coat, an unnerving grin on his face, "Welcome back from the dead, Simmons," He says in a formal tone.

 Chapter 7 - Black Out

    "The, dead..?" Derek asks the man.


    "Yes, you''ve been dead for almost two years now. The showers is to the left, there;s clothes in there for you to put on once you finish cleaning yourself. I''ll be waiting outside where I''ll explain more. The man walks out of sight, his footsteps moving further until they stop. The sound of a heavy metal door opens, than it closes shut. A buzzer goes off as the door to the cell opens slightly.


    Derek finds himself standing there, at a loss for words and several questions running through his mind. Shaking his head, he tries to ignore the thoughts as they start giving him a headache. He opens the cell door and glances over to the right first. It''s a straight hall that ends in only a couple of feet, making a sharp right. He turns to the left to see an empty doorway leading to a large room lit up much more than the cell.


    Walking into the large room, his footsteps echo off the tile floors onto the walls which are also covered in tiles. To the left are a couple lockers going along the length of the room, several short benches in front of them. Laying on the benches near the entrance are clothes and some towels. To the right are five wide shower stalls, white curtains all scrunched up to reveal they''re empty, except the one on the far end of the room. Eager for a nice hot shower, Derek hurries over to the closest one.


    As the room starts to become filled with steam Derek finds himself standing under the shower head, hot water pouring onto him as he just stands there.


    Everything I worked for. If what that man said is true, than it''s all gone. Everyone must think I''m dead, but that doesn''t mean I can just show my face. Those fu?kers Leon and Helena...and, Ada...no doubt showed the world what I am, and what I''ve done.


    He lets out a shout of anger as he hits the wall in front of him with the side of his fist. He lowers his head, the water now going down his back as he takes deep breaths to calm himself while he tries to reorganize his thoughts.


    I can deal with that later...I need to figure out who the hell this guy is and where am I.


    If he had not been told he had woken up from the land of the dead, Derek would have savored the nice warm shower and taken a much longer time, but the thoughts were enough to shove him out of the shower and back into the cold.


    He hurries over to the benches, grabbing the closest towel and wrapping it around himself. As he frantically dries himself he looks at the clothes left by the scientist. There''s two different piles of clothes. The pile on the left like exactly like the clothes he was wearing that night in China. The clothes on the right are much more casual looking. A black v-neck, coffee-brown pants, dark brown boots, black socks, and a black belt.


    Derek forgets the coldness of the room as he stares at his old clothes, memories of that night flashing through his head. Everything falling apart. The anger, the virus, becoming infected. Ada. The hand holding up the towel tightens into a fist as a rotten feeling starts to enter his blood stream. He shakes his head as he looks away from them, trying to shake off the feeling. Looking at the other clothes he tries to ignore the thoughts and feelings mustering up inside of him.


    As Derek finishes dressing by putting on the belt he looks at his light grey coat. It is a nice coat. He hesitates, but grabs the coat, swiftly putting it on. The clothes provide a warm layer of protection from the bitter cold. As he heads out of the shower room he notices something in the cell he woke up in. Something silver laying on the pillow on the bed. Curious, he enters the cell. As he approaches the bed he realizes it''s a flashlight. He picks it up, examining it, wondering, how it got there. Cold to the touch, but very study.


    The lights go out and everything becomes pitch black.


    Click


    With the press of a bu??on, the flashlight turns on, illuminating the wall in front of him in a large cone. Derek holds the light up as he looks around the cell. He walks right up to the door when he hears something falling in the distance. It sounded like something pulling down a shower curtain. As Derek opens the door he shines his flashlight through the glass wall towards the doorway to the shower room. His light only shines a couple feet into the room. He stands there, staring into the darkness, the sounds of something m??ning echoing through the room and into the hall.


    "Fuck this," Derek mutters to himself quietly before turning around and heading down the hall. Turning the corner he finds the door leading out of the room. He turns the handle only for it to b?r?ly budge, it''s locked. There''s a card reader to the right of the door. He checks his pockets, hoping that the car he needs is in one of the pockets. Nothing. The sound of something crunching, like when you squash a bug, can be heard coming from the room.


    Derek closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before turning away from the door and going back down the hall. The quiet echos of his footsteps join in with the eerie crunching noises as he approaches the room. As he enters, the light from his flashlight reaches the end of the room, showing what looks to be an injured person walking with a limp about fifteen feet away from him. Their limbs look to have a sort of, plating on them, like an exoskeleton. The head is missing all of its skin, nothing but the skull and some muscle remaining. Both eyeballs are gone, leaving nothing but empty sockets.


    Something on the thing''s ?h?st reflects light back.


    "You''ve got to be kidding me¡­" Derek says as the things stumbles towards him. Steeling himself and tightening the grip on the flashlight, Derek takes a step forward. The sound triggers the creature, causing it to suddenly let out an inhuman screech, part human, part insect, before it suddenly starts charging at him. Caught off guard, Derek doesn''t react fast enough and gets knocked to the ground, the flashlight flying several feet away from them.


    Derek manages to regain his senses and just b?r?ly manages to put his hands on the things head and ?h?st, stopping it from biting him. The whole time the thing continues to screech, its stomach churning breath attacking Derek''s nose. As he does everything he can to keep the thing at bay he sees the flashlight off to the right. Using all his strength, Derek pushes the thing off of him and he hurries over to the flashlight. Picking it up and standing, he turns around to see the thing already on its feet and rushing at him once more.


    This time he reacts fast enough, stepping to the side and pushing it in the back, causing it to stumble forward and nearly lose it''s balance. As the thing starts to turn around Derek swings the flashlight, hitting it face. As the creature stumbles back Derek swings once more. It takes four more swings before the creature is knocked down to the ground. Derek pummels it in the head over and over with the flashlight as it starts to flail its limbs around. His coat manages to keep him safe from some of its swings but its claws still cut through and cut him. He doesn''t stop swinging until the thing goes limp.


    As Derek catches his breath, the things fowl, rotting, odor continues to attack him. He sees the reflective thing on its ?h?st is an ID Card of some sort. He quickly rips it off the thing, some blood and rotting skin coming off with it. After distancing himself he has to stand with his hands on his knees as the urge to vomit becomes stronger. He stands there, breathing in fresher air to try and flush out the smell so he doesn''t puke.


    Finally getting the smell out of his system he stands up straight as he lets out a sigh of relief. He shines the light on the ID Card, showing a picture of the scientist from before. It''s an ID for Terrasave.


    Luther C.


    Head Scientist of B.O.W. Research


    He shines the light on the thing that attacked him before walking out of the room.


    Derek swipes the card through the reader and there''s a clicking noise. He puts the card in his pocket before opening up the door. He finds himself in a small room, a short table sitting between two chairs. The room has a grey rug in the center. Two things sit on the table. A phone and an ear piece that periodically lights up blue. He picks up the earpiece, faint noise coming from it. He wipes it on his coat before putting it in his right ear.


    "Good to see you''re still alive," Luther''s voice says into his ear.


    "Where the hell am I?" Derek asks a bit aggressively, "What the hell was that thing?"


    "Now, now. You''ve only just begun the test, once you finish it all will be explained,"


    "Test? What test?"


    "The phone in front of you will tell you that. I know you''ll do just, fine," And with those words Luther''s voice goes away, leaving Derek alone once more.

 Chapter 8 - Perfect Timing

    Derek picks up the phone and the screen immediately turns on, a fingerprint icon showing up. He presses his thumb onto the screen and a blue line goes up the screen. The whole screen becomes a dim bluish-black as it shows a large map, a white dot and a red dot in different places on the map. He zooms in, and the names of rooms show up. As the dots go off screen a white and red arrow show up pointing in their directions. Scrolling up to the red dot, the room reads, "Main Lab". A small notification appears as he nears the red dot. It reads, "Objective: Get to the Main Lab,"


    Scrolling down to the white dot it reads, "Sitting Room," This room appears much smaller than the lab one, and its connected to rooms on three sides.


    The room below it is the "Cell" and the room under that are the "Showers". The white dot must be his location. He scrolls up to the red dot, the notification showing up once more. He taps on it, and a red line appears on the map connecting the two dots and going through various rooms. The line goes through the left side.


    Both doors have card readers. He approaches the left door, and swipes the ID Card, but there''s a rejection beep. He tries the other door, and it unlocks. Walking through the door he checks the phone to see if the path has changed, it hasn''t. With a sigh of annoyance he puts the phone away into his pocket as he opens the door and enters the room. It''s a long and thin room, counters on both sides with lots of scientific equipment like microscopes, flasks, and a bunch of other do-hic-ees that anyone who isn''t a scientist wouldn''t know the names or purposes of. In the middle of the room are several metal tables lined together going along the length of the room. Nothing seems to be in here besides him.


    Making his way through the room he reaches another door, this one without any sort of lock or handle. To the right is another door, this one with a handle. He tries to open it but it''s locked.


    Pushing the handle-less door open, Derek enters a room about half the length of the one he was just in. Two large test tubes illuminated by lights from underneath stand on both sides of him. Inside are two large creatures, easily a foot taller than him and have armor like what the thing in the showers had, but bulkier and sharp. On the other end of the room sits a desk, two objects shimmering in the light. He cautiously walks up to the desk, glancing back at the tubes to make sure the things inside are still unconscious.


    Walking up to the desk, he finds another card, this one with various numbers on it and a red stripe going along the top of it. Next to it is a pistol. He takes the card, placing it in his pocket before he picks up the pistol. Taking out the magazine he sees it''s full. He puts it back in as he turns around. He slowly makes his way back to the door and lightly presses his hand on the door. Derek jumps a bit when the one to his right twitches a bit.


    Derek''s relieved when it once more sits still, floating in the tube like it''s sleeping once more. He goes back into the room and quickly makes his way to the sitting room. He goes inside, pulling out the red card and swiping it through the reader. As the door clicks, one of the tubes in the other room start to drain. He opens the door, pulling out his phone to see where he needs to go. The line goes through a door in the top left corner of the room, not too far from him.


    This room is about the same size as the room with the tubes, a large table in the center with counters and shelves lining the walls. Walking to the door in the corner, he hears something bang hard against metal. He glances back to the sitting room, knowing what must have made that noise. He quickly puts the pistol''s safety on before jamming it into his left pocket. Holding his flashlight in one hand and the phone in the other he rushes through the door. He hears lots of banging and things being thrown not too far from him.


    He quickly scans the map, seeing where he is and which direction to go. Hurrying through the room he enters another room, than another, than another. The thing is hot on his trail somehow. He only has four more rooms to go.


    How big is that damn place?!


    He quickly enters a very large room, several empty tubes lining the walls and in a row down the middle. The door he needs to go through is on the other side of the room. As he gets about halfway there he hears banging coming from the door he entered through. Glancing back he sees the door is severely bent. As he shoves open the door to exit the room the other door is broken off its hinges. Checking his phone, it''s a straight shot to the lab, just three hallways.


    He just reaches the end of the first hall when the thing breaks through. He glances back to see the massive creature barreling towards him. He bursts through the door and down the next hallway. On the other end is another one of those things that was in the showers. He doesn''t have any time to fight it. The thing lets out a screech before it starts running towards him. As it nears him, he elbows the thing, just b?r?ly pushing it far enough to let him pass it. The larger creature breaks through this door much faster, as it continues its pursuit. Derek reaches the last hall, light coming from the door on the other end, he sprints as fast as he can. Getting halfway through the hall the thing comes crashing through the door.


    How can something so big be so damn fast!?


    The distance between them quickly closes as he reaches the door. Running through, he quickly comes to a stop when he sees Luther, pointing a magnum at him.


    "Move," Luther states. Derek doesn''t hesitate to jump to the side and out of the guns direction. With a loud bang, Luther fires the gun. It easily penetrates the door, and not soon after a loud thud comes from the other side. Luther opens the door to see the creature on the ground, still partly alive. He shoots it once more and it dies for good.


    "Needs a more potent dose," Luther says to himself as he examines the magnum. He puts the magnum in its holster as he walks back into the room with Derek, whose still catching his breath.


    "You did good, running rather than fighting, conserving what you have is key to survival," Luther says as he walks past Derek and starts typing something into a nearby computer.


    "Are you, going, to answer, my questions now?" Derek asks between breaths.


    "As promised," Luther says with a final click of the keyboard, "We''ll start with the beginning. Shortly after you were killed during the whole Lanshiang incident I recovered your body for research purposes,"


    "Research? Couldn''t you have just picked up any of the thousands of other infected for that?"


    "Well, you were infected with a very special version of the C-Virus. In fact, it''s so special, I''ve had a hard time recreating it, and tinkering with it hasn''t been any easier. At least, with the one by itself. I''ve managed to make tremendous progress with the one inside of you,"


    "Inside me...so I''m not cured?"


    "Well, that''s hard to say a solid yes or no to. As you can see, you''re like any other human, mostly. You aren''t being mentally affected by the virus, but you are slightly physically affected by it. You''re stronger than most people, but not by much, so an intense workout regimen is definitely going to be a must if you''re going to be useful. You can also heal faster, you no longer have any tears in your body and even look a little bit younger,"


    "If the virus is still in me, how am I, stable?"


    "Well, after I had replicated the virus that''s in you, I killed most of it off, but the problem is like with most of these viruses, it regenerates very quickly. So, I made a little device that prevents its growth, in fact its been on you this whole time, right behind your right ear,"


    Derek places a hand behind his ear, feeling a small bump.


    "That thing is the only thing keeping the virus from taking you over like how it did back in Lanshiang. Try to do anything against me, and I won''t hesitate to turn it off," He says coldly.


    "Why are you keeping me human? Why revive me in the first place?"


    "Isn''t it obvious? Having a living dormant virus in a living host is the best way to test out how strong it is. Plus, I can''t have some giant T-rex thing or saber-tooth tiger wrecking my labs. I also need someone who can be out in the field, being my eyes and ears. I have a very special test I''m going to be conducting in the near future and I need someone to record the results for me,"


    "Like the one I just did?"


    "Not quite. I''ll let you know when the time comes. But for now how about we start training? You don''t want to waste your second chance at life,"


    The past month has been nothing but intense training. Combat, firearms, B.O.W''s. In a large training room Derek''s punching a punching bag, the hard thuds from his hits echoing through the room. His sweat covered shirt has been thrown to the side revealing his much more toned body. Originally just having an average build he''s manged to pack on a couple pounds of muscle, the black t-shirt he had put on the first day he woke up now a bit snug whenever he puts it on. Given a couple more days, he''d probably have a six-pack. The beard he woke up with has been shaved down to a five o''clock shadow.


    As well trained and built his body is, his mind is another story. He''s spent the whole time living in the labs, though he has occasionally gone outside for training. It''s nothing but dense snow and denser forests as far as the eye can see. Still having no idea where he is brings him unease, and his past life constantly creeps up on him. Flashes of that night in China haunt his dreams.


    Have I really been given a second chance at life? My appearance has certainly changed, but take away the training, and it''s all the same. Working with people who make and use viruses, make B.O.W''s. Though Luther works alone, he certainly does just as much work as The Family or Umbrella. I''ve heard him talking about some new virus that''s he been making using mixtures of various others. Uroboros, C-Virus, T-Virus, I wouldn''t be surprised if he has Las Plagas and G-Virus as well. How the hell did he get all these different viruses though?


    His thoughts get cut off when his earpiece goes off, Luther''s voice talking through it.


    "Derek, come to the main lab, now," Luther says sternly


    "Got it," He replies as he grabs the punching bag to stop it from moving, "I''m on my way," He grabs his shirt, draping it over his shoulder and heading out.


    Heading into the lab Derek sees Luther typing on the computer once more.


    "Though this is a bit sooner than I would have wanted, it''s time to test my virus," Luther says, glancing at Derek, than back to the screen as he continues to type at a million words a second.


    "What?" Derek asks, completely confused.


    "I''ve found the perfect test subject for my virus and I have to act fast," He presses enter and Derek''s phone vibrates, "I''m going to be sending you to an island in the Atlantic. More information is on your phone. Get dressed and ready, I''m taking you there in an hour," Luther hurries out of the room as Derek pulls out his phone.


    Files have been sent to him. Opening them up he reads some files. The first one is from some anonymous person talking about finding some person named Jacob. There''s a picture attached showing several people in a market, the focus of the picture is on a man with dark brown hair with shades on. That must be him. The next file is from Luther himself. It reads:


    "Jacob was one of the best agents at Terrasave that I''ve worked with. He''s a now wanted man and has been in hiding for some time but was recently found on a remote island making this the perfect opportunity to test out the virus on a large scale. You are to keep your distance from him but watch him carefully, I need to know exactly how he handles the outbreak so I can best make modifications to the virus. If he dies I need to know exactly how. No doubt Terrasave is going to be sending agents after him, I''m sure he''ll have no problem dealing with them himself. If it seems like they are going to get him, don''t hesitate to take them out, they are disruptions to the test at that point. As for you, don''t get caught or seen by them. You may be considered dead, but I''m sure you don''t want them to see you. Don''t die,"


    There''s another file that''s a list of all the equipment he''s going to need.


    How the hell did he type this up so fast?


    Confused and baffled, Derek puts his phone away as he leaves the lab and heads for his living quarters to get ready to depart.

 Chapter 9 - Reunion

    March 21, 2015, 10:37am- Mazraea, Airstrip


    Page stares out the plane window as she tries to ignore how shaky the plane is. Taking public transportation to an island in the middle of the ocean is no the most comfortable thing. Norton wanted to make sure that if Jacob was on the island, that he''d have no idea that Terrasave had found him, so arriving in any sort of private vehicle was a no go. As Page looks out over the endless ocean, she catches her reflection, seeing her reddish-orange hair which is almost impossible to see with all sunlight.


    I dyed my hair shortly after he was sent on his last mission, I wonder how he''ll respond. I would have been killed in the army had I done it than, and I didn''t feel like I could do it at Terrasave until I was no longer a rookie. When Jacob had been sent off I felt that it was the perfect time to do it since I know he probably would have made fun of me to the point where I would have changed my mind about it.


    Page instinctively holds onto her chair as the place starts to drop altitude, the shaking growing a bit more violence. With a hard bump the plane lands on the runway and with a hard jerk, comes to a stop. The captain comes on the intercom telling them what she can only guess is that they have landed. Page is relieved to see the door in the front left of the plane open and people getting out of their seats to leave.


    She takes her duffle bag from the overhead compartment and heads out when its her turn, though the people behind her are rather pushy. Stepping out onto the stairs, she''s ?ssaulted by the humid air which hits her like a brick wall. As she''s walking down the stairs she gets a good look of the, "Airport" and "Runway". Nothing but just a giant slab of cement surrounded by a short fence that an ?du?t could easily walk over, there''s a short call tower and an even shorter building where nothing more than tickets are probably bought.


    As she''s looking around she''s surprised to see a man holding up a sign with her name on it. The man is in a loosened up grey shortsleeve, brown scarf around his neck, faded blue jeans and well-worn black sneakers. A pair of shades cover his eyes, and his combed dark brown hair is the most well kempt part about him. His beard makes it hard to make out the overall shape of his face. He has a gentle smile on his face as she continues to glance at him in under confusion and slight discomfort. As she follows the other people to a small gate in the fence leading to a large flea market surrounded by several small buildings, the man turns to face her.


    Secretly making sure her taser in her pocket, Page cautiously approaches the man as he lowers his sign.


    "Welcome to Mazraea," The man says kindly with a spanish accent, "I''m Pablo," He says holding out a hand. Page just glances down at it before looking back up at him, "Uh, you''re probably wondering how I know you, right?"


    "Yeah¡­" Page replies as she nods.


    "I''m a close friend to Jacob, he''s been waiting for your arrival ever since he found out you got here...fuckers been making me stand out here all morning while he sleeps," Pablo says with an annoyed tone.


    "Oh," Page says, Pablo''s answer catching her interest, "So, you know where he lives?"


    "Yeah, yeah, of course. I could take you to his place right now if you want," He says as he scratches his beard.


    "That''d be great, thank you,"


    "Right this way," Pablo says, leaving the sign on the ground as the two walk into the large flea market, "I''m parked on the outskirt, so watch out for any, pies, on the ground," Pablo comments as he guides her through the busy crowds of people. As the two are walking through the market, various smells, some good, some bad, some fowl, all fill the air. Cows, pigs, goats, and chickens can all be heard. As she glances at some of the nearby stands she sees someone whose face just seems to stand out of the crowd for some odd reason. As fast as she saw them, they blend right back in with all the others.


    Reaching the outskirts, the two walk up to a dirt-stained, orange moped. Page is caught off guard by this.


    "Want me to hold onto your bag while we drive?" Pablo asks her.


    "...Sure," Page replies, handing the bag to him. He puts the bag''s strap over his shoulder and tightens it before getting onto the moped. As she sits down behind him he turns it on. The two take off down the long dirt trail leading to large open fields just as a sick man stumbles into the market.


    Passing through the golden fields, a trail of dust kicks up from under the tires as the two approach a single story house with a small fenced off yard. The gate''s already open and they drive up to the house''s garage. They park in front of the garage door and get off the scooter.


    As Pablo stands up he places a hand on his beard and tears it off.


    "Son of a fu?k!" He shouts in a much more familiar voice, the accent completely gone. He chucks the beard onto the ground before taking off his shades and putting them in his pants pocket.


    "Jacob?" Page asks, visibly baffled.


    "Yeah," He says, rubbing his five o''clock shadow, the skin all red with irritation, "Can''t believe shades, a beard and an accent was all it took to trick you,"


    Page just stares at him before pulling her gun out.


    "Jacob, you''re under arrest for the murder of two Terrasave agents and the murder of an innocent civilian," She states firmly, trying her best to not shake.


    Jacob is a bit surprised, taking a couple seconds to react.


    "It''s been over a year and this is how you wanna say hi? Not to mention, I''m sure your handcuffs are in this bag," He pulls the strap to adjust it so it''s not chaffing his shoulder as much. She stands her ground. Jacob just shrugs.


    "We both know you''re not going to shoot," He says walking up to her. He places a hand on the gun and slowly lowers it, "So how about you come inside for a drink while I tell you what really happened, okay?" With that he goes to the front door and walks inside, leaving the door wide open. Page watches as he goes into a side room before looking down at her gun. She lets out a defeated sigh before putting it back in its holster and heading inside.


    "So, what really happened?" Page asks as she steps inside the house, entering a living room that has only a couch and a coffee table, the ceiling fan sits idle, "And how did you know I was coming?"


    "You''d be surprised how easy it is to hack into Terrasave''s databanks," Jacob answers with the closing of a fridge door. He walks into the living room with two cans of soda in his hands, "Want one?"


    "No thanks,"


    Jacob just shrugs and places one on the table before opening the other and taking a sip.


    "What was I gonna say? Oh yeah, do you remember Zane from our first mission in Africa?"


    "Y-Yeah, I think so,"


    "He was the, innocent civilian, Terrasave had sent me to get. Terrasave was trying to get Uroboros,"

 Chapter 10 - Emails

    "Get Uroboros? If Terrasave was trying to get it wouldn''t they have just gotten it from the B.O.W that had attacked us at the port all those years ago?"


    "I have no doubt they did, but what Zane had, was different. His body was able to, live in co-existence with it, making the virus a symbiote more than a disease. Someone had given Terrasave word about Zane''s condition, who that person is I''m still trying to figure out, but they wanted to make sure things went smoothly and exactly how they wanted, so they sent me. Not long after finding Zane, I found out about his, special condition, and how he could have survived that night. I knew something wasn''t right, and Terrasave knew.


    Wasn''t long after that before we were being hunted by other agents,"


    Page stands there, staring at his slightly troubled expression, trying to figure out if this is all made up.


    "...If Zane really was alive and not a zombie, why did you kill him then?"


    "Because I knew as long as he was alive with that thing in him, he would never be safe. I disposed of him in a trash facility, burning his body in an incinerator to destroy everything so no one could get the virus...but, a woman in red was there as agents showed up and starting chasing me down again. I have no doubt that if anything survived, she got it,"


    "Woman in red? There''s lots of those in Terrasave,"


    "She wasn''t an agent, at least not for Terrasave," As Jacob takes another sip of his soda Page stares at the floor, processing everything he''s said.


    "As much as I''d want to believe you Jacob, I can''t,"


    "Hm?" He asks while he''s taking another sip.


    "Hand me my bag, and don''t try anything funny," Page demands as she pulls out her taser, "I may not have the guts to shoot but I can tase you,"


    "Alright, alright," Jacob says as he takes off the bag and hands it to her. She takes the bag and heads for the front door.


    "Stay there," She states before walking outside and closing the front door. She opens her bag and pulls out the file Norton gave her. She never read anything but the mission briefing so far. As she brushes pasts the documents, reading the first sentence of each one she finds on that catches her interest. It''s an email sent from Professor Luther.


    Luther? Wasn''t he that scientist fired from Terrasave all those years ago for doing illegal experiments? Why is this in here?


    Pulling the file out she sees that the letter is addressed to Jacob. It reads:


    "Agent Jacob, the creature you and Agent Page are being sent to deal with is believed to carry a form of the G-Virus inside of it. We have something extra we need you to do, retrieve a sample of its body while it''s alive, but make sure no one sees you doing it."


    Page stands there, staring at the printed email.


    "Was this the only one?!" Page asks as she stomps back inside. Before Jacob can react she thrusts the paper at him, almost making him spill the second soda that he''s started drinking. He only has to glance at the paper to know what it is.


    "Where did you get this?" He asks with a raised eyebrow.


    "Don''t change the subject, answer my question," Page states aggressively.


    "No, this wasn''t the only one,"


    "How many more of these did you get? How many more missions were you doing stuff behind my back?" She asks with a hostile tone.


    "Every mission except the first three. I could understand being shocked but I don''t get why you''re getting so emotional about this,"


    Page reaches into her bag and pulls out cuffs.


    "What do you think you''re doing?"


    "Arresting you,"


    Page puts the bag down and walks up to him. She goes to grab the arm holding the soda but he moves it out of her grasp.


    "I''m not gonna let you arrest me," Jacob states as he looks down at her with an irritated look.


    Page reaches for his arm and he moves it once more. She goes for his other arm and he moves that one.


    "Fine, you asked for it," Page says before she takes the taser and zaps him with it. His whole body tenses up, causing him to stumble forward but he manages to stay on his two feet. He drops the soda and email, the soda spilling on the floor and the paper. Page removes the taser, leaving Jacob winded and recovering from the pain. She takes the chance to put his arms behind his back and cuff him.


    "P-Page," Jacob stutters, "You read the email, you know why I had to do it,"


    "I don''t care why you did it, now start moving," She states as she pats him on the back. He refuses to move.


    "What do you mean? Why wouldn''t you care?" Jacob turns around looking at her with a mixture of anger, confusion, and worry, "Don''t you get that I did it to keep you safe?"


    Page stands there, staring at his expression. It''s an expression he rarely has, the only times she''s seen him with this look has been whenever he''s had to save her from danger. If the date night has taught her anything, it''s that he''s a convincing actor.


    "The email didn''t say anything about me other than don''t let me see you getting the sample,"


    "What? What are you talking about? Of course they said more than that about you. Page, I''m the reason you weren''t sent with that group of agents to that island near Russia!" He exclaims with fury, "Let me see that email again, someone must have forged it or tampered with it,"


    Page glances down at the soda filled paper.


    "It''s stained too much to be able to read it," Page replies.


    "Of fu?k?n? course," He says looking down at it, "Than take me to my office in the city, I have the original emails saved on my computer,"


    "Why should I trust you? And why would you have saved them?"


    "Because we''ve worked together for years. I saved the emails as evidence against them, I''ve been living here trying to get everything I need to show everyone what Terrasave is really trying to do,"


    "They''re trying to keep people safe from bio-terrorists. That incident with the agents being taken to that island, Norton did everything he could to weed out anyone else who was suspected of doing anything of that sort again. Now," She grabs her bag and puts it on him, "Get going," She states more firmly, pointing to the front door.


    "That''s not what he did," Jacob replies as he hesitantly turns around and walks to the front door, "He was getting rid of anyone who didn''t bend to his will,"


    As the two walk outside they notice a smoke trail in the air. Following it, they see it''s coming from the flea market which is set ablaze. Jacob looks to Page who glances at him before walking up to him.


    "Where''s your keys?"


    "Front left pocket,"


    Page takes the keys from his pocket and gets on the scooter.


    "Come on,"


    Jacob gets onto the scooter, holding onto the seat as best he can with his cuffed hands.


    "Once we''re done with the market," Jacob says as she starts up the scooter, "I will drag your ?ss to my office if I have to to prove to you that I was keeping you safe,"


    "When we''re done with the market we''re leaving this island," Page states before they take off down the road towards the roaring fire.

 Chapter 11 - Sea of Flames

    As Page and Jacob drive down the road to the burning market, the sunset sky starts becoming drenched with smoke, the smell of burning trash starting to infiltrate their noses. They can b?r?ly make out someone on a roof moving out of sight. Jacob takes the chance to pull out a pin from his back pocket and start tinkering with the cuff lock. Getting closer they can see people running out of the market, most of them covered in blood and ashes.They stop a good couple of yards away from the market and Page turns off the scooter. One if the fleeing civilians falls down onto the ground. She pulls out her gun as she hurries over to them.


    "Are you okay?" She asks. As she starts to kneel down the person suddenly gets up and tries to grab her, revealing their bloody face and crazed eyes.


    Page backs up, distancing herself from them.


    "Shoot the damn thing!" Jacob shouts. Page grabs her pistol and shoots it in the head. The zombie stops, blood oozing from the bullet wound. To their surprise the blood quickly scabs up, and the zombie continues to crawl towards her. She shoots it again only for it to now be unfazed by the injuries.


    Jacob takes off his cuffs, pulling out a shotgun from the bag and walking up to the zombie. Shooting it at point blank in the face completely decapitates it, the body going limp.


    "What the fu?k," Jacob mutters to himself as he lowers the shotgun.


    "Put the gun down!" Page exclaims as she aims at him.


    "I just saved you," Jacob argues, "So how about we head to the city so I can show you the truth?"


    "No, I need to see if there''s any survivors and make sure that the plane''s okay so we have a way off this island,"


    "If I help you go into the burning inferno and come out alive will you at least consider letting me show you the emails?"


    "...Fine, but try anything funny and I will tase you,"


    "I thought you liked me being funny?" He asks in a charming tone as he checks the bag, "You didn''t pack air filter masks?" He asks with a raised eyebrow.


    "What? Of course I did, in the side pocket," She says walking over to him and opening it up. She pulls out two masks. She pulls out the two masks, holding one out for him. He takes it and they put on the masks. Page also takes two small flashlight attachments from the bag, putting one on her pistol and the other on Jacob''s shotgun. As the two head towards the flames more people emerge, many on fire, all of them falling to the floor before they can make it far. Page and Jacob make sure to keep their guns drawn as they pass by the bodies.


    Within a few steps, the air goes from a humid slightly warm temperature, to walking through a dry dessert in the middle of the summer. The masks are able to defend them from the onslaught of smoke and cinders but the smell still gets through, the nasty mixture of burning wood, stone, and other things burning. They can b?r?ly see more than a couple steps in front of them outside the small cones of light made from their flashlights. The sounds of wood crackling from the heat, various animals crying out, and people screaming fill their ears, making it impossible to hear anything else.


    As they get a couple feet into the market they can start to see remains of stands, the wood still burning bright red. Corpses already litter the ground, some covered in ashes already. Several injured people run around and even over each other, making it hard to tell whose infected or not. It''s hard to imagine that this is the same place Page was dropped off at only moments before. They suddenly see someone chasing after a woman. The chaser''s clothes are all singed, their body covered in blood and their jaws opening and closing like that of a wild animal. It takes a couple headshots from Page to bring it down.


    "Did it always take that many shots to put one down?!" Page asks as she checks her clip which is already halfway empty.


    "No!" Jacob replies. Even yelling, it''s hard to hear each other over all the other voices of agony. They continue to make their trek through the sea of oncoming people. Getting through a wave they suddenly see another one coming, this one entirely made up of infected. Though they don''t move as fast as a normal person, they move at a brisk pace. There''s no way they''d be able to push through that.


    "Into the building!" Jacob points to a nearby one story where the roof connects to other buildings, "We can cut across!" The two quickly make their way into the building. Inside a zombie is eating someone whose still alive, their entrails sticking out of their midsection. Jacob runs up to it, blasting it in the face. He gestures for her to follow as he makes his way up some stairs. Three more zombies appear from another room as they head up the stairs.


    Jacob stops at the midway point, letting Page run past him as he slows the zombies down. He shoots the first one in the head, but the distance is somehow enough to cause his shot to only temporarily stun the zombie rather than put it down. He aims to shoot again, but decides it''s a waste to shoot when not at point blank and continues up the stairs after Page. Bursting through the door Page stands on the roof looking down at all the zombies already flooding the streets down below, some of them are on fire, some seemingly unaffected while others die from the flames.


    In all my years working at Terrasave, I''ve never actually been there when the infection started. I never thought it was, this gruesome.


    Jacob meets her on the roof, closing the door and barricading the door with some boxes. He sees Page staring down at the streets below, than notices a glint on one of the roofs on the other side of the street. It doesn''t take him long to realize what it is.


    "Get down!" Jacob exclaims before he tackles Page to the ground, a bullet b?r?ly missing them.


    Page tries to get up, but Jacob keeps himself on top of her.


    "Stay down! Someone''s shooting at us," Jacob states, "Crawl to the other building, use the parapet as a shield, I''ll cover you," Jacob pushes himself up a bit and gets off her, allowing her to move. He checks the bag for anything ranged weapon, but there''s nothing but ammo and clothes. He peeks above the parapet to look for the person shooting at them. A glint in the smoke.


    As Page crawls along the parapet she hears Jacob firing the shotgun. The sound of a rifle firing feels the air, dust falling onto Page''s head. Another shotgun blast, than a rifle. More dust falls onto her as the parapet takes the shot.


    Are they aiming for me?!


    Page can b?r?ly see that far in front of her as she crawls along the ground, Jacob soon starts to follow, occasionally getting up to fire back at the unknown ?ssailant. Page is filled with some relief as she starts to see walls not too far in front of her. Her relief is short lived as she starts to see feet. She gets onto her back and pulls up her gun, the flashlight revealing two zombies coming their way. A couple steps and they''ll be able to grab her. She starts to back up as she unloads her clip on them. It takes the rest of her clip just to put the first one down. She reaches for another magazine but remembers that all her extra ammo is in the bag that Jacob is currently carrying.


    She turns around, crawling frantically at this point. It doesn''t take long for her to meet up with Jacob.


    "Ammo!" She exclaims. Every second gets harder to hear as the m??ns of the undead start to overtake the screams of the living. Jacob quickly reaches into the bag and hands her a magazine. She clicks it into her gun before aiming. The zombie is a much safer distance now, but she doesn''t hesitate to start shooting. Four bullets and it goes down. Another rifle shot hits the parapet.


    The two quickly continue to make their way to the other building. After a minute of crawing through smoke they reach the other building. Jacob quickly gets up and opens the door, providing cover fire as Page gets up and runs into the building. Page reaches the stairs to see that the first floor is entirely on fire, zombies and people burning alive. They have no choice but to go up. Above them another zombie roams the upstairs hall. It''s quickly put down by Jacob, two more clips left in the barrel and about eight cases left in the bag.


    The two go to the door and stop, both glancing at each other. It''s best to ?ssume that the snipe will be waiting for them. Jacob goes first, opening the door and looking for any cover. He''s met with a grate stairway leading down this one having a ladder leading from the second floor to the ground. The smoke seems to have gotten denser, hopefully it''ll block the sniper''s view.


    Tey hurry down the stairs, reaching the ladder and seeing all the zombie in the street. Jacob heads down first, almost jumping the whole way down as he readies his shotgun while Page climbs down. Jacob looks around them, at the street and the alley.


    "I know where we are," He states, "We''re not far from the landing strip, this way!" He heads down the alleyway, Page quickly following. Reaching the end they make a left, climb onto a dumpster, and jump over a fence. To their luck it''s empty. They head down it and make another left leading back to the main street. The market sure feels a lot bigger now that it''s on fire and full of zombies.


    There''s plenty of zombies in sight, but it''s noticeably less denser. They must all be heading to the entrance where most of the human screaming is coming from.


    Hopefully those people we first encountered are alright. They must have made it out of the town, they weren''t more than a few feet from getting out of the smoke.


    They both notice another glint up above.


    "Of course! Come on, the strip''s only a few seconds of running from here!" Jacob states as the two sprint towards the horde of zombies. Running into it, the two are bombarded by grabbing hands and loud unnatural sounding groans as the zombies try to catch their oncoming prey. Lucky the horde quickly starts to dissipate and they''re able to reach the airstrip, hopping over the short fence that surrounds. The smoke is must less dense, the island''s edge and the plane in sight. It''s completely unharmed, the flames not reaching this part.


    "The plane''s safe," Jacob states, "But I''m sure you wanna check that it can run, right?"


    "Yes," Page states, "And I''d like to take a quick break from the hoards of zombies and fire." The two take the chance to catch their breath, both of them keeping an eye on the rooftops as they approach the plane. They draw their guns when they start to hear screaming from the plane. A person emerges from the plane, only for something to impale them and drag them back in.


    "There goes our break, and ride out of here," Jacob says as the plane starts to shake.

 Chapter 12 - ?etelica

    The screaming becomes muffled as the shaking on the plane starts to subside. The plane starts to shake once more as they hear heavy footsteps. Disembodied legs hanging sideways emerge from the door. Than Page and Jacob see that they''re melted into some incomplete arm covered in a brownish-green shell like skin. They can see the legs start to fuse together as the rest of the creature walks into view. A massive humanoid creature covered in the brownish-green skin stumbles its way out of the plane.


    It''s head has no facial features except for one large bulging eye that stares at them with its feral gaze. Another, larger eye sits on the top left of its head. Parts of its body have exposed muscle, the red shining in the fire''s light. Despite the distance between them and it, the thing seems to tower over them, it must be at least seven feet tall. As the the creature reaches the ground, the legs on its arm have finished turning into forearm, a massive clawed hand at the end.


    "Please tell me I''m not seeing things," Page states.


    "I wish we were," Jacob replies, "So, how about we start running?"


    "What?! We can''t let this thing leave the market!"


    "Fine," Jacob states with annoyance. Page starts shooting the creature. It''s completely unfazed and continues to walk up to them, now only about a yard away from them.


    "Aim for the eyes!" Jacob exclaims before he aims and shoots at the creature. A couple bullets hit the eye on its face, but not enough to hurt it. The creature suddenly starts to move faster as it thrusts its claw at them. They both jump out of the way and manage to avoid it, but they end up on opposite sides of the creature. The creature turns to Page.


    "Run!" Jacob exclaims, "Find some high ground to shoot it from! I''ll distract it down here!"


    "A-Alright!"


    Page continues to back up as the creature approaches her, frantically looking around for a nearby place she could go to. The call tower''s too tall. The building next to it. It''s maybe a foot taller than the thing, that should work. Now to get past the thing.


    Before she can come up with a plan, Jacob shoots at the creature from behind. He manages to shoot it enough to at least draw its attention. She takes the opportunity to run past the creature as Jacob reloads his gun. Page slows down as she reaches the building, and something shoots the wall an inch in front of her at head level. She hurries into the building, running out of view of the glass doors.


    Before she can catch her breath, she realizes the dead bodies on the floor as they start to get up. There''s at least five of them. She hurries past them, running to an employees only room. Before she can make it to the door one of the zombies grabs her ankle. She shoots it in the arm and it lets go. Barging through the door she slams it shut and locks it. Looking around the room, she sees a ladder leading up to the roof. As she climbs the ladder, zombies start to bang on the door.


    Reaching the top she pushed on the cover, but something''s keeping it from opening all the way.


    "This can''t be happening," Page mutters to herself as she presses on the cover with all her force. The banging on the door starts to get louder as more zombies press their weight against it. Page climbs up a couple steps, having to hunch over a bit so she can fit. Using her upper body, she manages to push the cover open, pushing off whatever was covering it. She gets on the roof, seeing that a large suit case was blocking the cover. She closes it before hurrying over to the edge of the roof, seeing the creature swinging at Jacob once more. He b?r?ly manages to avoid it.


    A sparkle of light shows up in the corner of her eye. She backs up just in time to avoid being shot. She backs up so some buildings in the market cover her. There''s no way for her to communicate with Jacob. She watches as Jacob runs into the market, the creature running after him.


    She hurries over to the other end of the roof, seeing if there''s anything she can jump down onto. A dumpster. Bette than nothing. She jumps off, landing on the dumpster with a loud thud, alerting nearby zombies of her presence. She gets off the dumpster, running down an alleyway. Reaching the end of it, she barges through a doorway to her right, entering a building that''s only started to catch on fire. Rushing through the smoke she goes through the front door. Entering the main street she''s behind the creature as it continues to pursue Jacob.


    She hurries over to a nearby stand for cover from the roofs before she takes aim at the thing. Holding her breath, she takes the shot. It hits the thing dead in the eye on its head, causing it to stumble forward a bit, the part of its head around the eye falling off. As the creature regains its footing Page runs past it and to Jacob.


    "You''re not getting away that easily!" She yells angrily.


    "Getting away? I was trying to not get torn to pieces!" Jacob shouts back, "I don''t think this creature knows that I''m suppose to stay in a twenty feet radius of you!"


    As they continue to shoot at the creature, Page runs out of bullets. Jacob reaches into the bag and hands her another magazine.


    "There''s only five left!" He states. Jacob notices a nearby building starting to lean forward from fire damage. Some burning beams are the only things keeping it up.


    "The beams, shoot them when it gets close!"


    They aim their guns at the beams as they continue to back up. A couple more steps and it''ll be in the dead center.


    Two more.


    Bang!


    They shoot the beams which crumble to pieces, the building falling forward. The creature is smashed by the two story building as the flames erupt from the added fuel.


    "That should have weakened it," Jacob states as he reloads his shotgun. Page pushes him to the side as they avoid another shot from the roof. Jacob looks at where the bullet landed, "We should deal with that sniper while the thing''s still down," He hurries over to a building on the side where the bullet came from, shooting some zombies in his path.


    "What makes you think it''s not dead?" Page asks as she catches up to him.


    "Have you read any records of a B.O.W. like that dying so easily?"


    "Good point,"


    Entering the building, two zombies are feeding on a corpse. The two hurry past them, not bothering to waste their ammo and head up the stairs. Reaching the second floor the stairs to the third are almost completely missing. They''re forced to head down a hallway with several open doorways on both sides. They quickly check all the rooms for any zombies and a way up. As they pass by a room they hear something crash down behind them. Rechecking the room they see the roof of the room has collapsed, the burning floor from above now starting to set the rest of the room on fire.


    They hurry past the room and reach the end of the hall. The room to the left has windows leading to the main street. The room on the right has a window leading to the roof of another building.


    "There," Page states as she hurries over to the window. She opens the window and goes through. Jacob takes off the bag and hands it to her. As she takes the bag they hear the roof of the room start to creak.


    "Move!" Jacob exclaims as he takes a step back. Page quickly steps to the side as Jacob dives through the window, the roof collapsing down on the room. Jacob gets up and takes the bag back, dusting himself off.


    "There!" He suddenly shouts as he points to a roof above them as someone runs across it. They run along the rooftops as they pursue the person who slowly starts to get farther and farther away from them. There''s only two more buildings before they reach a branching path of the main street, the street below filled with zombies. Page and Jacob have to stop when they reach the end, but the figure leaps off the roof, pulling out some sort of gun.


    They shoot a metal telephone pole with it, a tether coming out of the gun and attaching to it. The person swings over the street, diving through a window in a building across the street and disappearing into it.


    "Hopefully he''ll stay off out backs for now, fu?ker," Jacob states as they stare at the broken window. They suddenly hear several zombies shouting as something attacks them. They turn to see a zombie covered in burnt skin attacking another zombie. The burnt zombie grabs the other zombie''s head on both sides, and crunches the skull. The body goes limp and falls to the floor.


    The burnt zombie plunges an arm into the back of the corpse, which starts to suddenly meld onto the burnt zombie. The corpse, now brownish-green goo stuff starts to move along the burnt zombie''s body.


    "That''s the fu?ker from the plane!" Jacob shouts as they run over to the side of the roof facing the street.


    "I-It''s using the other zombie, to make itself stronger!" Page exclaims.


    "Well let''s kill it before it can get more!"


    Jacob starts firing at the zombie, grabbing it''s attention. As him and Page shoot at it, the thing holds up its arm, the goo stuff moving onto it and forming a shield, an eyeball emerging onto it. It quickly runs into the horde of zombies, using them as cover.


    "Oh no you don''t!" Jacob yells before jumping off the building, rolling onto the floor below.


    "Jacob!" Page exclaims.


    "Stay up there, shoot it from above! Don''t worry about me, I''m not going anywhere!" He replies as he holds his shotgun up to the horde of zombies that take notice of him.


    "O-Oaky!" Page replies as she scans the group for the burnt zombie. She sees a large eye in the group and takes aim. She shoots, but misses as the thing suddenly moves. A nearby zombie falls down, sinking into the sea of other zombies.


    "It''s in the middle!" Page shouts to Jacob as he shoots some nearby zombies.


    "On it!" He replies, looking for a way to get into the horde. He doesn''t get past three zombies before the sound of a chainsaw starts to fill the air. The group of zombies quickly becomes mowed down as the burnt zombie tears through them with it''s left arm, which is now an organic chainsaw made of bones and organs all covered in the green skin. An eyeball sits on the "engine" part of the chainsaw.


    The creature starts charging at Jacob. As Jacob backs up and shoots at it, the creature holds up its shield arm. Jacob stops moving backwards and stands his ground, focusing on the eye on its shield. Page shoots at the thing as the distance between it and Jacob quickly closes. He shoots and jumps to the side as the thing charges past him, stumbling a bit as the shield starts to fall apart. A little less than half of the shield remains, another, smaller, eye emerging on it. The creature spots some nearby corpses, plunging its chainsaw arm into one of them. Jacob hurries over to the creature, Page running along the roofs to get closer as well. He shoots at the creature, but it''s already melted the corpse, the goo running along its body and going onto the shield.


    The shield already fully regenerates by the time Jacob gets within a couple feet of it. Page sees a tarp down below and jumps onto it, falling through it and landing on the street below, joining Jacob.


    "What are you doing?!" Jacob shouts as they back away from the creature, their bullets having no effect on the shield.


    "Helping you! I can''t get a good view of it at all up there,"


    "Well since you''re down here now," He puts the shotgun back in the bag and pulls a knife from his belt which was concealed under his shirt, "I''m gonna need you to shoot that chainsaw off it while I hold it still,"


    "What?!" Page exclaims as the creature shouts before it starts to charge at them. Jacob jumps to the side as it charges at Page. Page starts running from the creature as Jacob circles back around, running at the thing from behind.


    "Shoot it in the leg!" Jacob shouts as the creature starts catching up to her, another group of zombies forming a wall a couple yards in front of her. She stops and turns around. Aims. Fires.


    Page has to move to the side as the creatures loses it''s balance, slamming its shield to the ground as it skims a couple feet forward before coming to a stop. As the creature starts to stand back up Jacob runs over to it thrusting his knife into the head of the creature and wrapping an arm around each arm. The creature flails wildly, unable to turns its chainsaw arm to attack him.


    Page quickly moves to the other side of the creature to see its arm. She shoots, and misses the eye. Another shot, misses.


    "Any day now!" Jacob exclaims as uses all his strength to keep the thing from breaking free of his grip.


    She takes another shot, and hits the eye. The chainsaw noises quickly start to die off as the chainsaw fall apart, leaving nothing but a burnt arm. Some of the pices fly around, hitting Jacob''s arm, burning his arm from the heat. His grip loosens just enough for the creature to break free. It rushes forward and hits Page with its shield arm, knocking her to the ground.


    "Page!"


    Jacob charges the thing, wrapping his left arm around its body and using his right arm to pull the knife out of its head. He starts stabbing it repeatedly in the head as it screams and flails about. It elbows him with its normal arm, causing Jacob to loose his grip again. As it tries to break free of his grip he kicks it in the back of the leg, making it fall to its knees.


    Jacob uses the chance to grabs it''s shield arm, and plunges the knife into the eye. The creature falls back as the shield falls apart. Before the creature can get up, Jacob gets on top of it, ramming the knife deep into its head. The creature lets out one last m??n before going finally dying. Jacob gets up, hurrying over to Page. She has some blood on her forehead from an open wound. She''s unconscious and her mask got knocked off and damaged beyond functionality.


    Jacob takes off his mask, putting it on her before picking her up. There''s no way for him to safely get her out of the market like this. He hurries over to a nearby building that''s unharmed by the flames before the zombies can close in on them.


    The burnt zombie''s body starts to crystalize, a tough green outer shell forming around it.

 Chapter 13 - Ashes

    ¡­


    February 20, 2012, 5:40pm- New York, Terrasave Headquarters


    "Happy birthday Page," Jacob says with a gentle smile as he hands me an envelope.


    "Thanks," I reply as I take it. As I start to open it Jacob leaves my office, walking over to his which nextdoor.


    He didn''t even bother to seal it. As I pull the paper out it feels a bit warm as if it was just printed recently. Guess this was a last minute gift idea...it''s probably a coupon or something to a restaurant. I glance over at the wall I share with his office. This is lazy even for him.


    With low expectations I pull out the paper and unfold it. There''s only a couple sentences printed on it. It reads:


    "Happy Birthday Page! Bet you thought this was going to be a coupon didn''t you?"


    I can''t help but let out a sigh and shake my head before I continue to read it,


    "In a way, this is. I know you wanna be more than friends and I''ve gotten all your ''subtle'' hints. Since we''ve worked together for about three years I decided, ''why the heck not at least go on a date?''. So, just email me the place, date, and time and I''ll make reservations and pay for it all. Happy birthday, and P.S, also let me know what your favorite breakfast food is,"


    What the hell is this? He''s giving me a date for my birthday? This must be a prank.


    "Is this a joke?" I ask, holding up the letter.


    "No," He replies nonchalantly, "But if you don''t want I can take it back and get you something that''s on your amazone wish list,"


    "...Uh...no, it''s fine¡­"


    "I''m just, gonna take that as a, no, than," He says as he reaches for the paper. I move the paper away from his hand and closer to me. I try to think of a response, but I can''t. I never would have thought he would do something like this. Jacob snaps me out of my thoughts as he speaks.


    "Okay, well I''m gonna get back to work than,"


    He starts backing into his office, the door closing. Before it can fully close I press my hand against it.


    "Does tonight work?" I ask, pushing the door open.


    "Of course. Just send me the email and I''ll make it happen,"


    "O-Okay," I say as I step back. Butterflies fill my stomach as I go to my office. Sitting in front of my computer I start a draft for the email. As I read type up the email I start to wonder why he wants to know my favorite breakfast. Is he going to have the place make that for me? Or, is he going to make me breakfast? Why would he do that? ¡­ I can feel my face heat up as I try to get those thoughts out of my head.


    7:35pm


    Jacob sends me a text that simply reads, "here". As I go to exit my apartment I almost fall over. I haven''t worn heels in quite some time. Working at Terrasave hasn''t really given me much free time, which is partly why I decided to have the date tonight. That, and I feel like if I didn''t use it now, he''d forget or change his mind about it.


    After the dangerous trek down the apartment stairs, I exit to find Jacob standing in front of the building, leaning against a black car parked behind him. He''s in a black suit and pants, a brown belt around his waist and a red tie that catches the eye. His hair is actually done for once, moistly slicked back with some hair in the front going down over his forehead a bit before curving up. When he sees me walk out his face lights up, looking at me with a warm smile.


    "That''s a nice dress," He says as he walks up to me, "Have you always had this?"


    "Yeah, but you know, I''ve never had a special occasion to wear this,"


    "Well I''m flattered that our date is one of those special occasions," He walks up to the car and opens the door for me.


    "We''re driving there? I thought I said that we could just walk there in the email, it''s just a five minute walk from here,"


    "You did," He replies as he walks back up to me, "But, I was hoping that we''d spend the night at my place after dinner," He wraps a hand around my right hand. I can feel my face heat up as he stares into my eyes. If my feet weren''t already killing me I''m sure this would seem much more romantic.


    This must be a dream. This can''t be real, this isn''t''t Jacob. Jacob doesn''t have the emotional capacity for this.


    Well...dream or not, I might as well enjoy it.


    As I walk up to the car, doing everything not to trip in my high heels, he holds up a hand for me to grab. I eagerly take it before I have a chance to fall and get into the car. Sitting down, he closes the door for me and gets into the driver''s seat. We arrive at the restaurant in only a few minutes. It''s some very fancy looking place with glass walls that I''ve never been to, but all my co-workers who''ve gone here say it''s really good.


    We''re seated at a table, obviously covered in a white cloth, along with all the other dozen tables in the giant room. The furniture is a slick black, no stains or scratches to be found. A small clear vase sits in the middle of the table, a single rose sitting in it, water in the base of the vase keeping the stem a vibrant green and the flower a bright red.


    The waiter comes and Jacob gets us a bottle of wine. They pour us our drinks and take our order.


    "Too bad we work all the time," Jacob says with a slight chuckle as he picks up his glass, "So we don''t exactly have much to talk about in that regard," In a matter of seconds he drinks all the wine in his glass, placing it back down before he continues to speak, "Guess all we can do is ask each other questions about our lives before Terrasave,," He leans back in his chair a bit, folding his arms a bit, "I''ll let you ask first,"


    "Oh, um¡­" He completely caught off guard, "Well...hmm...I guess I''d like to know why you joined Terrasave? I mean, I might have died that night had you not been there after all,"


    "I''m sure I''ve told you this answer before but to different questions, but it was videogames and movies. When I found out that zombies and viruses were real, I signed right up,"


    "You''re kidding," I say, unable to keep myself from laughing a bit at such a ridiculous sounding answer.


    "It''s true," He replies with an embarrassed smile, holding his hands up at his sides, "You wouldn''t believe how much they laughed at me when I told the employers that," He rubs the top of his wine glass, "THey always made fun of me while I was in the bootcamp, but I was always top of the class, best in my group. Since you asked me why I joined, I guess I''ll ask why you joined,"


    "I wish it was as good as your answer, but...I just didn''t what I wanted to do and they reached out to me and I just went with it. The whole reason I had joined the army was because I didn''t know what I wanted to do after highschool. I had gone to college for a bit, stopped and got a job, than went back, than stopped again. I had always ignored the people at the campuses who look for new recruits but one day I just thought, ''why not give it a shot, maybe I''ll enjoy it''...but I didn''t really and it never helped me figure out what I wanted to do with my life¡­"


    I glance at the side of the table as I recall those darker days. The bitter cold that entrapped me, the pressure from my family.


    "...Hey," Jacob says as he places a hand on mine, I didn''t even realize I was leaning forward on the table, "It lead you here didn''t it?" He asks caringly, a gentle smile on his face as he tries to cheer me up.


    "Yeah, I guess it did," I reply, his warm hand melting away the cold. As the waiter comes with our food we both withdraw our hands. We spend the rest of the time there eating, talking, laughing. The waiter takes our plates and Jacob''s card, leaving to pay the bill.


    "So...do you want me to drop you off, or, do you wanna have breakfast at my place?" He asks with a raised eyebrow, a burning passion in his eyes.


    "..."


    We get back to his place and I start to unbutton his shirt. His skin is rotting away, the skin almost entirely gone and even some bones are visible.


    "What the-"


    Before I can react the zombie that was disguised as Jacob lunges at me, sinking its teeth into my neck.


    ¡­


    I suddenly wake up in terror, my eyes opening to see nothing but black. Before my eyes can adjust I close them as a major headache hits me. It was just a nightmare¡­but, why did it have to end at the good part...


    Oh god, my head. Feels like someone hit me in the face with a jack hammer. I go to rub my aching forehead, but my hand is stop by something cold. I open my eyes to see that I still have a mask on. But...didn''t it fall off..? I push myself up, a mixture of dizziness and sleepiness trying to lay me back down. I squint my eyes to see, but it''s very dark, a faint silver glow coming in through what I can only guess is a window. There''s footsteps as a familiar voice speaks.


    "About time," They say. As my eyes adjust to the dim lighting I can start to make out Jacob''s face, "I''ve already eaten all the snacks in your bag and I''m still starving to death,"


    "How-" The mask muffling my voice makes my head hurt even more. I take it off before talking again, "How, long have I been out?"


    "Three hours,"


    "Where are we?" Page asks as she sits up, still quite light headed.


    "Still in the market. The both of us got real lucky that this building''s first floor managed to remain practically unharmed," He kneels down and looks at the wound on her head, it''s already scabbed up and starting to heal back. As Jacob stands up Page notices a large scar on his left arm.


    "What happened to your arm?"


    "Just a small scratch," He replies, dusting off his arm, "That thing from the plane was only playing dead," He walks over to the other side of the room and picks up the duffle bag, "It''s dead for good now, but we only have two magazines for the pistol left," He walks back up to Page and holds out a hand. She takes it and stands up.


    "It''s better if you have this," Jacob states as he pulls her pistol out from the bag and hands it to her.


    "Thanks,"


    As Page catches her breath and tries to fight off the tiredness, Jacob moves the stuff barricading the the door. As he''s moving the last couple of things, Page looks at him, remembering that night all those years ago.


    That was the only night he was ever¡­human, is the only word I can think to describe it...After that he went back to being his usual uncaring self. Though it''s a pleasant memory, it just makes me wonder if that was the real him, or if this is the real him and it was all just a facade.


    Jacob pulls out his knife as he signals for Page to get ready. He slowly opens the door a bit, checking for anything outside before he opens it fully and heads out. Page follows him out the door to find themselves in yet again an unknown place. Almost every building is completely covered in scorch marks, grey ashes cover all the roofs, and streets almost looking like snow. In the middle of the street not too far from them sits a puddle of burnt goo.


    Charred remains and even some bones are visible in the thin layer of ashes.


    "At least there''s no more zombies¡­" Page says, trying to find the silver lining, "Do you know if the plane got damaged at all?"


    "No idea,"


    "We need to go double check it than. After that we''ll head to your office," She states before walking down the street. The empty streets once more give the place an entirely different atmosphere, the place once filled with the screaming of fires, people, and monsters, now filled with a deathly silence. A chilling breeze blows through the town, giving the buildings a voice to talk about the pain they''ve suffered. Arriving at the airstrip the plane is torn apart, looking like it exploded from the inside. The sight keeps them distracted from the things moving around in the market.


    "Was this the only airport on the whole island?" Page asks.


    "...Yeah¡­" Jacob replies. The two stand there staring at the shredded remains. The main reason they went through the market was for this, and now, it''s destroyed like everything else in the market. Turning around the two see a figure way off in the distance kneeling down. Their red clothes illuminate like a rose in the moonlight. Before Page or Jacob can do anything the figure stands up and takes off as shadows inside the buildings start moving.


    "Of course we''re not alone here," Jacob says as he tightens his grip on his knife, "Let''s just get the hell out of here, hopefully that person doesn''t steal my moped. You wanna walk down the street or go through the buildings?" Page glances at the buildings where she had seen the things moving inside.


    "Is either one really better?"


    "Streets it is, it''ll at least be faster,"


    The two start making their way back through the market, Jacob keeping an eye on the left side and Page keeping an eye on the right. Not worried about anything before, the two never realized how much their footsteps echoed until now. Occasionally they hear something moving inside the buildings, seeing several small shadows moving about. They look to be a bit bigger than rats or something. Whatever they are, they must be animals, or possibly insects¡­


    They pass by the charred gooey remains that was by the building they were in once more. They reach an intersection in the street, one way going straight and the other way going to the right. They continue to go straight, but as they do they start to hear the things in the buildings becoming more active. What sounds like a bunch of rats squeaking starts to fill the buildings and before Page or Jacob can react, a horde of rats come pouring out from the buildings a few yards in front of them. All the rats have blood red eyes that shine in the moonlight which reveals all the wounds and blood on them.


    The two turn to run back but see that another horde of rats are coming at them from that side too.


    "This way!" Jacob shouts as he grabs Page''s arm and starts running down the street going right. Not long after they start running down it, even more rats start to flood onto the street, trying to block their path. They can feel the rats trying to climb up their shoes as they trample some of them running past.


    "There!" Jacob shouts, pointing at a three story on their left. Running inside the two head up the stairs, the rats quickly following. As they reach the last set of stairs leading to a door to the roof, rats fill the first floor, the walls turning black and coming alive as they crawl up them. Bursting through the door onto the roof, the two continue to run, jumping down onto the next roof. Some of the rats had started climbing onto the t building already and reach the top. Jacob and Page run to the right, jumping to another roof.


    "Up the ladder!" Jacob shouts. Page quickly starts to climb, Jacob quickly following after as the Rats all try to jump over the gap, falling to the floor and quickly getting up and climbing the building. As Page reaches the top, the rats already reach the roof below Jacob. Jacob starts skipping steps and joins Page at the top. The two continue to run, jumping from roof to roof until they reach the main street. They''re only two buildings away from the edge of the market. They make a right and make it to the last building standing on the edge of the market, and can see the scooter not too far away. They hurry inside the building as the horde of rats continue their chase. They just reach the last set of stairs when rats start falling from above. One lands on Jacob, immediately biting him on the shoulder.


    "Motherfucker!" He shouts in pain as he pulls the rat off of him and hurling it at a nearby wall. They run out of the building and to the scooter. The two practically jump onto it, Jacob starting it up and putting it on max power before the rats have a chance to catch up. As the two drive down the dirt road, they can b?r?ly see another vehicle far off in the distance in front of them. As Page glances back at the market she sees a light coming from the side of the market which quickly turns off.


    "I think we have someone-" Page goes to say but stops when she sees the bite mark on Jacob''s shoulder which is healing before her very eyes, "Following us¡­"

 Chapter 14 - Hookshot

    March 18, 2015, 6:00am- Mazraea, Abandoned Docks


    Derek lays back in his seat on the small boat as they reach a large island not too far off in the distance. The ocean water sprays along the sides of the boat, some of it hitting the side of his face and shades. Luckily his earpiece is water proof. He would be checking to see where he''s at, but his phone lost signal quite some time ago. Reaching the docks, which are mostly empty, the driver ties the boat to the docks. Derek gets up, the driver handing him a slip of paper before he gets off.


    Heading to the large rustic gates that lead to a large shipping yard, Derek unfolds the paper and it''s a note that''s almost unreadable. It seems to read: "S.S. Banshee".


    Must be the name of one of the ship where I''m suppose to meet the guy Luther told me about.


    Walking up to the rusty gate, Derek walks over to the right side of it which is the end it opens up on. There''s a lock on the other side.


    "Hey, you don''t happen to-"


    Derek stops talking when he sees the person that dropped him off start up the engine and take off. He stares at the rocks the person disappeared behind as he listens to the sound of the boat quickly fade away. Looking back to the gate he notices some boxes stacked up. They''re stacked in front of the wall rather than the gate, the top of the wall lined with partly rusty barbed wire.


    I''m sure getting cut by those wouldn''t give me anything I can''t fight off...but I''d rather take the less painful route if it''s possible. What am I even doing, thinking about climbing a wall like some child. He shakes the idea out of his head, walking back over to the right side of the gate. Looking at the lock, the chains appear to be just as rusty as the gate. He places his hands on the gate, and tugs on it, the chains tightening. Derek continues to pull at the gate as he sees some of the rust starting to crack.


    Derek let''s go, catching his breath a bit before placing his hands once more on the gate. He pushes it to the right a bit before pulling it to the left as hard as he can. There''s some resistance when the chain tightens, but it breaks with a loud clink, the gate opening. Derek walks to the other side, and closes the gate back up before he wipes his hands together to get off all the rust that rubbed off the gate.


    He makes his way to the shipyard which is full of shipping freights of various dull colors. He can see some large cargo ships docked to his left. Making his way there, he quickly stands against one of the containers when he hears talking. The people are speaking some language he doesn''t know. Glancing over the edge of the container he sees two workers walking away from his location. He hurries past the large path between the containers and hides behind another set of containers.


    Continuing towards the ships he doesn''t come across any more workers. He reaches the end of the containers where there''s a large gap of nothing between all the cargo and the ships. Peeking into the area he sees no one around. He looks up at the nearest ship to see what its name it.


    The S.S. Banshee, how lucky of me.


    Derek checks the area again before he hurries over to the side of the ship where sets of stairs lead up to the deck up above. Reaching the top, he scans the deck for anyone, but no one is there. Reaching the top, he gets a much better view of the shipping yard down below. All the workers seem to be on the other side of the yard. Turning back around he sees a figure in the bridge. The person does a waving motion. Must be him.


    Making his way across the ship he goes up more stairs and enters the bridge where a man in a dirty captain''s uniform is waiting for him, a cigar in his mouth.


    "Luther''s friend?" The man ask in a raspy voice.


    "Yeah,"


    "Alright than, I got your stuff right here," He says, gesturing for Derek to follow as he walks over to a table with briefcases on it. The first one on the table is much longer than the others. The man stands aside, gesturing for Derek to open it before he folds his arms. Opening up the case Derek picks up his ?h?st holster.


    So this is where he took all my shit.


    His knife is also in the case as well, he picks it up and checks to make sure it''s still sharp before putting it in its sheath. The next case has his sniper rifle, the shoulder strap and infrared scope still on it. He picks it up, making sure the scope still works before he puts the strap on and tightening it. The second to last case on the table has something he was hesitant to take and took it last minute, a hookshot. It''s sturdy design is like that of a magnum with a large circle clip right under the barrel where the wire is stored. Derek picks it up, closely examining it.


    Ada uses one of these. At least, the last time I saw her she did...I guess I never realized that I''m basically playing her role, maybe this will let me better understand her¡­


    There''s also a leg strap for the hookshot which he wraps around his cargo pants and puts the gun into. One last thing sits in the case, a small chip. Derek pulls out his phone, inserting the chip into it. The screen lights up as it says it''s connecting to a satellite, after a few seconds it loads up a map of the entire island, showing how big the whole place is. Derek puts his phone away as he walks up to the last case, opening it up to see it contains syringes made of thick glass, murky red liquid, all slightly different shades, inside with dark red blobby things floating about.


    These must be the test viruses.


    Derek closes the close and picks it up off the table.


    "Don''t get caught with that, or they''ll have your head," The man says as Derek leaves the bridge.


    Shipping stuff like this without it getting caught is expensive as all hell, how did Luther afford this? How did he even afford everything in that damn lab?


    As Derek walks to the front of the deck he sees workers walking up to the stairs leading up to the ship.


    Derek looks around, hoping there''s another set of stairs on the other side, but there isn''t. He notices a crane in the shipping yard hanging over the large gap between the ship and the containers. He grabs the hookshot.


    Guess this is a better time than any other to test this out. Here goes nothing¡­


    Hurrying to the end of the deck, Derek aims for the crane, and fires. The hook just b?r?ly misses, landing on the floor below. Now stressed for time Derek pulls the trigger further to wind the wire back up. After a couple seconds that felt like an eternity, the hook reaches the gun. He aims again as he can start to hear the chatter of the people as they near the top of the stairs. He fires. It sticks.


    Derek glances down at the ground below before backing up a bit and than running off the deck, jumping on his last step. Flying off the boat he swings towards the containers As he nears them, he pulls the trigger to give himself a bit more height. As he reaches the top of the swing arc, he presses a bu??on on the back of the gun, the claw folding like a reverse umbrella and detaching from the crane.


    Landing on a freight, Derek falls over from losing his balance from all the momentum. As he recovers from the fall the wire rewinds back into the gun. He stands back up, dusting himself off before looking back at the ship. People are on the deck staring in his direction. They suddenly start moving for the stairs.


    Derek quickly turns toward the entrance to the shipping yard and makes a run for it.


    March 20, 2015, 8:00am- Mazraea, Market


    After he had escaped from the ship yard, Derek had spent the rest of the day locating Jacob, who he happened to stumble across while in a large city. He''s tasked to just keep an eye on Jacob until the Terrasave agents arrive. Every couple of hours He sits far off in the fields on a bike as he watches Jacob''s house through the scope of his rifle. After some time, Jacob finally leaves the house, suddenly having a beard, and a sign that says, "Page" on it.


    What the fu?k?

 Chapter 15 - Patient Zero

    Parking around the corner of a building so it''s a safe ways away from Jacob''s moped, Derek enters the market to continue his objective. Walking in the crowds makes it easy for him to stay close to Jacob without being caught, though he seems to be aware that someone is following him as he keeps glancing over his shoulder. Reaching the airstrip, Jacob sits by the gate.


    "What''s he doing?" Luther''s voice asks into his ear.


    "Standing outside the airstrip,"


    "Anything else?"


    "No, just standing,"


    "Must be expecting company...let me know if anything happens,"


    "Roger that," Derek replies. With all the people around, Derek stands there like a stone in a river, no one paying any attention to him or understanding most of what he says since most of the people don''t speak english, but they must read it since a lot of signs in the city are in english.


    This isn''t the kind of stuff Ada does. She works in the shadows of the fires of disaster, meanwhile I''m sitting here in the middle of a dirty, fowl smelling market. If she saw me now...she''d never want me¡­she''d see me as less than the shadow of the man I was before.


    After standing there forever, a plane comes flying in, landing on the airstrip. Stairs are brought up to the door, and it opens. As people start coming out of the plane, Jacob holds up the sign.


    "A plane''s just arrived, Jacob''s holding up a sign now, it just says Page on it," Derek says into his earpiece.


    "Page?" Luther''s voice asks in bafflement, "When you see the person he''s waiting for, tell me wat they look like,"


    Closely watching the people exit the plane, someone catches his attention. A woman with a brown duffle bag over her shoulder, reddish-orange hair shining in the sunlight. He watches as she heads down the stairs, looks in Jacob''s direction with confusion and than looks away as she makes her way to the market area.


    Walking through the gate, she walks up to Jacob, looking at him as if he''s a total stranger. The woman must be Page. As they talk Derek remembers he needs to tell Luther.


    "The person has come out of the plane, they have long reddish-orange hair, a brown leather vest, red shirt, and dark blue jeans," As he finishes describing them the pair starts to walk in his direction. Derek moves to the side of the street by some stands as he carefully watches them.


    "It''s time to give someone the first virus, find someone on the edge of the market, that should get things started without Jacob noticing. It''s vital we make the airstrip useless,"


    "On it," Derek replies as he starts heading for the exit of the market. Glancing in the direction of Jacob and the woman, the woman glances over in his direction. He quickly turns away and continues his way through the crowds. He beats them to the edge of the market, heading to where he parked his bike. Reaching his bike he detaches the briefcase from it, as he opens it and pulls out a syringe, a stranger walks up to him.


    "H-hey, do you know where the airstrip is?" The man asks, "I got here on boat but I''m suppose to be flying back home," Derek walks up to the man, making use of the syringe is concealed.


    "Oh, um¡­It''s right down there," Derek says as he points in the direction of the market. He quickly puts the needle into the lower part of the man''s back, quickly injecting the virus into him.


    "Ouch," The man says as he steps away from Derek, "Damn bugs," The man says as he turns to Derek, who hides the syringe, "Did you see what bit me?"


    "Sorry, no,"


    "Oh...I hope it wasn''t poisonous. Thanks for the directions," The man says as he waves goodbye before heading to the market, coughing as he enters the place. As the man walks past a stand, he suddenly feels a bit dizzy, leaning onto a nearby stand and barfing onto some of the food and the merchant, who has a small cut on their hand.


    "S-sorry, sorry¡­" The man says as they continue their trek to the airstrip.


    "The virus has been implanted,"


    "Good, good," Luther''s voice says with some excitement, "Presume your task of following Jacob now,"


    "Got it,"


    With that Derek puts the empty syringe in the case and gets on his bike, luckily Jacob is just within eyesight far off down the road. He follows them to Jacob''s house, rather than staying on the road, Derek heads off the road into the fields, distancing himself so they can''t see him. He brings up his rifle, which no one at the market cared that he had with him, and zooms in on the house.


    Jacob takes off his beard, and soon Page draws her gun on him.


    "She drew her gun on him," Derek says into the earpiece, "Should I take the shot?"


    "Not yet, she''s not going to shoot, trust me," Luther replies.


    Jacob walks up to Page and lowers her gun. He walks inside and she soon follows. Derek sits there, the sound of the grass around him swaying in the soft breeze as he waits for something to happen. As he''s sitting there he hears a faint sound off in the direction of the market. Glancing over, he sees a small stream of smoke coming from it.


    Guess it''s starting.


    After some more time, Page exits the house alone with the bag. She opens it and pulls something out. She reads it, than heads back inside. As a lot more nothing happens, the market starts catching on fire, smoke now bellowing from it.


    Reminds me of China¡­


    As the memories try to claw their way up him, he shakes them off as he focuses back on Jacob''s house. Jacob comes out his arms behind his back, with Page following. They see the giant fire that was once the market and get on the bike, as they drive away, Derek sees Jacob is handcuffed and Page''s bag is on his back ,the strap over his shoulder. Putting the rifle onto his back, he drives off after them.


    "They''re driving back to the market, Jacob is in cuffs,"


    "Interesting...keep your distance for now, let me know what happens when they reach the market,"


    Following them, he starts to see all the people fleeing from the market, most of them on fire and all of them covered in blood. Derek parks where he did before, peeking over the corner of the building to see what they''re doing. Page walks up to a person on the ground, and they lunge at her.


    Certainly more durable than any J''avos.


    Jacob takes his cuffs off, pulling out a shotgun from Page''s bag and walks up to the zombie. He shoots it point blank in the face, decapitating it. They talk for a bit, than Page pulls out some masks, they put them on, and head into the city.


    "Jacob broke free of the cuffs and has a shotgun, him and Page entered the city,"


    "Damnit, I was hoping he''d just kill her himself. Get rid of her, she''s just going to mess up the results,"


    "Alright,"


    Derek quickly heads into the market after them.


    The smoke in the air gives Derek a heavy cough at first, but he soon gets used to it as he fights his way through all the people running away. He sees Page and Jacob standing in the middle of the street as they stare at the oncoming horde of zombies. Before Derek can even grab his rifle the two run into a nearby building on the right.


    Derek looks to the left side of the street and enters for the closest one, hurrying up the stairs.

 Chapter 16 - Target Practice

    Derek reaches the top of the building, just as Page walks onto a roof on the other side, a story lower than him. He grabs his rifle, kneeling down and taking aim. All the fire fills the air with heat, making the infrared nearly impossible to use, so he turns it off before he zooms in on her. His finger on the trigger, he stares through his scope at the concerned expression on her face as she stares down at the destruction down below.


    Is this how Ada looked when she came to China, when she saw the destruction I helped cause? With all the fire, zombies, and screaming, it feels like I''m just reliving those moments from another perspective¡­


    Derek is taken out of his thoughts when Jacob suddenly bursts through a nearby door, quickly barricading it with a two-by-four. Jacob looks down at the street for only a second before looking in Derek''s direction. Derek quickly adjusts his gun. Just as he pulls the trigger, Jacob tackles Page down to the ground, the bullet flying where her head was moments before and hitting another building.


    Damnit!


    Aiming down, Derek can b?r?ly see their outlines behind a short parapet lining the buildings. He sees Jacob peek over the top of it with the shotgun. He ducks under the parapet on his roof as Jacob fires at him. Once the shots stop Derek quickly gets back up and aims, looking for Page. She''s further down, a couple yards away from reaching a three story that she can enter. He sees her hair, revealing where her head is, and takes a shot. It scrapes the top of the parapet and misses.


    Jacob fires again, Derek takes another shot, they both miss. Some zombies walk out from the building Page is crawling to and see her. She fires some shots, and than crawls back towards Jacob. Derek waits for her to reach Jacob, hoping she''ll lift her head up enough. She doesn''t. He takes another shot, this time trying to shoot through the parapet, but to no avail, it''s too dense for the bullets to penetrate.


    It''s a fu?k?n? rifle, how can these cheap ?ss buildings block the shots?!


    Page quickly dispatches the zombies in their path and the two make their way to the other side. Jacob gets back up and shoots at Derek, forcing him to duck while Page runs into the building. As Derek aims he sees Jacob enter the building, with Page nowhere in sight.


    I can''t waste my time or ammo here.


    Derek looks around for any way off the roof. The building next to the one he''s on has a pole in front of it. The street below is filled with zombies, but they''re mostly scattered apart at the moment. He puts his rifle away, pulling out the hookshot and shooting the pole. He hits it first try. As his leftover roof space reduces to only a couple feet, Derek jumps off the roof, swinging down onto the street below. He stumbles forward a bit, but manages to keep his balance as nearby zombies start to take notice of him. Jacob and Page are nowhere in sight.


    They must be heading for the airstrip.


    Derek runs past a couple buildings, winding his way through all the zombies before coming across a dense group of them, forming an impenetrable wall in the street. He heads into a nearby building on the left, a zombie is on the stairs up above. As Derek hurries up the stairs, he pulls out his knife. Reaching the zombie, he stabs it in the head, stunning it a bit. He pulls the knife out, and shoves the zombie over the railing, which crumbles apart, and the zombie falls to the first floor. Reaching the second floor, he sees an open doorway at the end of a hall leading to some roofs.


    He hurries through the hall, fire erupting from one of the rooms as he runs past it. On the roof he looks to the other side of the street for Page and Jacob. He stands there for a solid couple of seconds with no luck. He grabs his rifle and looks through the scope towards the airstrip. He can see Jacob but not Page standing a couple yards from the airplane, a giant creature emerging from it.


    What the hell is that thing?


    One of the creatures arms looks to be made out of a pair of legs, but than the legs merge together and form giant clawed hand. As Derek runs down the buildings to get closer to the airstrip, he talks into his earpiece.


    "Hey, some giant thing just came out of an airplane. Mind telling me what it is?"


    "Probably just some fat guy who got infected," Luther replies back much quicker than Derek expected.


    "This thing had legs for arms and than the legs turned into claws," There''s a couple seconds before Luther replies.


    "Oh, you''re cousin, ?etelica!"


    "Cousin what?! What the fu?k are you talking about?!"


    "The serum you injected into the person you found, it''s one of many combinations I gave you. It held a replica of the virus in you, but with some added stuff. Keep me updated on how well it does against Jacob. Is Page still alive?"


    "...Yes she is. Jacob''s been providing her cover fire,"


    "Well make the most of ?etelica distracting them then,"


    "Alright," Derek replies in an irritated tone as he runs through another building.


    The nerve to say we''re related! Having a similar virus doesn''t make me related to that hideous creature!


    Reaching the closest building to the airstrip, Derek makes his way to the roof. Reaching it, he looks down at the airstrip. Page is far off on the roof of a short building while Jacob is fighting the thing on the ground. The creature charges at Jacob, who dives out of the way. Derek aims at Page, and fires. Page b?r?ly moves in time to avoid it, backing up on the part of the roof covered by buildings.


    Great.


    Derek lowers his rifle as he stands back up and looks for some other place he could go to see her. He''s distracted however as the fight between Jacob and the creature near the foot of the building he''s on. He kneels down as he watches Jacob shoot at the creature, which only slightly flinches as it continues its pursuit on him. To Derek''s luck, Page runs onto the street from a building across the street. As Derek brings up his rifle Page takes cover behind a stand that''s not gotten hit by the fire yet.


    She shows her head, aiming for the creature. Before Derek can line up the shot she shoots at the thing, and runs over to Jacob. The two head down the street as they continue shooting at the thing, once more getting out of Derek''s line of sight.


    I had a better chance at hitting her when she was fu?k?n? crawling behind the damn parapet!


    Derek irritably gets up, jumping to the next building as he tries to follow them down the street. The next building is a two story, forcing him to go down the stairs. Hurrying down to the second floor he hurries through a hallway, brushing past a zombie and heads onto the roof. He runs into another three story, the stairs to the third floor gone. Using his hookshot, he pulls himself up to the doorway to the roof, grabbing onto the ledge before disengaging the hook. As he climbs up through the doorway, he hears a loud crashing noise from the street. He finally climbs up and hurries to the edge of the roof, looking down at the street to see Page and Jacob staring at a large burning wreckage in a few feet in front fo them.


    Derek doesn''t even bother to kneel as he brings up his rifle once more to take a shot. Page looks in his direction and moves her and Jacob out of the way as he fires. Derek stops looking through his scope as he glares down at them with a burning anger. Suddenly the two of them head for the building he''s on top of. Derek looks around and sees another three story diagonally right. He jumps to it and jumps to another one straight ahead. He turns left and as he jumps onto that roof he hears another crashing noise. Turning back to the building he was originally on top, he sees Jacob and Page on a roof down below.


    "There!" Jacob shouts pointing as he sees Derek up above. Derek puts away his rifle and starts running across the roofs as the two pursue him. He only has two more roofs before there''s a large gap in the buildings as the main street branches off in between them. A metal telephone pole stands on the other side of the street. Derek grabs his hookshot and shoots it. He pulls the trigger to propel himself forward as he jumps off the last roof. He swings across the street over all the zombies and kicks through a window, landing inside a building on the other side of the street.


    Dusting the glass and debri off his coat, Derek quickly heads out of the room and into a hallway.


    "Luther, they''ve taken down the thing spotted me and tried to pursue me. I''ve manged to shake them off though," He says into his earpiece as he heads up the stairs to get to the roof. As he goes to open the door it''s locked. He rams into it with his shoulder and it finally opens.


    "How did they kill it?"


    "Having part of a building fall onto it,"


    "Give it a minute, it''ll be fine. Them spotting you though...did they got a good look at you?"


    "No,"


    "Good, I''d hate to dispose of you this soon¡­" The cold tone in Luther''s voice makes Derek conscious of the device behind his ear, the thing that''s keeping him human, "For now just keep an eye on them, I think I could have some use for Page," Luther says eerily.


    "...Okay," Derek replies as he puts his hookshot away and grabs his rifle. He sees Jacob and Page looking down at something in the street, looking down he sees a burnt zombie with a large goo-like mass on it''s arm.


    Is that the thing from the plane?


    Page and Jacob start shooting at it, catching it''s attention. The goo suddenly forms a large shield on the creatures arm which it uses to protect itself as it hurries into a nearby horde of zombies. To Derek''s surprise Jacob suddenly jumps off from the roof down below onto the street.


    What is that crazy son of a bitch doing?


    Derek zooms in on the burnt zombie as it plunges its arm into another zombie, the zombie quickly melting into more of that goo stuff and going onto its other arm. Seeing the creature do an altered version of what he did, sends a shiver down his spine as he recalls those last moments on the roof of the quad tower. The goo turns the creatures arm into a chainsaw, its organic engine roaring to life before it suddenly mows down the zombies in front of it to get to Jacob.


    Derek watches as the two fight the creature, slowly deteriorating its shield. Page jumps down onto a tarp and falling through onto the street boy. Derek smiles a bit as he lets out a chuckle. His smile fades to a look of confusion as he watches Jacob put away the shotgun and pull out a knife. The creature charges at them with its chainsaw, Jacob jumping to the side as Page runs away from it. She doesn''t have much room though as another horde of zombies are making their way to them.


    She turns and shoots the thing in the legs The creature loses its balance a bit but continues to move forward, forcing her to jump out of the way. Before the creature can regain its footing Jacob runs up, stabbing it in the head with his knife and wrapping his arms around its arms, preventing it from moving them. Page shoots at it, missing a couple shots before shooting the chainsaw, which disintegrates. Some of the melting goo lands on Jacob causing his grip to weaken. The creature breaks free, rushing Page and hitting her in the head with its shield, her mask falling off as she falls to the ground.


    "Page!" Jacob shouts before he rushes the thing.


    Derek watches in slight amazement as Jacob grabs the creature and stabs in repeatedly in the head. It tries to fight back but is too weak. Jacob kicks it in the legs, causing it to fall to its knees. He stabs an eye on the shield, causing it to fall apart and the creature to fall back. He than gets on top of it and thrusts the knife into its head, the creature finally dying. Jacob takes off his mask and puts it on Page before picking her up and taking her to a nearby building that hasn''t caught fire.


    "The thing is dead for good. Jacob made sure of it,"


    "How did he do it this time?"


    "Jammed his knife into its skull over and over until it stopped moving,"


    "This is much better than I anticipated, I thought he''d be able to get it down with just guns. How does it look?"


    "It''s, crystallizing..?" He''s seen this before, and knows what it means.


    "Great! I can''t wait to see how G affects C!,"


    "What? G and C?" Luther doesn''t respond at all, "Luther? Luther,"


    He must have run away from his computer or whatever to type up notes. So, this thing was made using the virus I was injected with and the G-virus that wiped out Raccoon City all those years ago, the virus Ada was suppose to get me.

 Chapter 17 - Rematch

    Derek puts his rifle down as he just stares down at the street below. His phone suddenly vibrates as it receives a message. He pulls out his phone, it''s a message from Luther that reads:


    "Retrieve a sample for your B.O.W. locator. The icon with the cross-hairs,"


    Derek puts his phone away and his rifle as he heads back inside the building. Heading down the stairs he sees the bottom of the building has caught fire. He heads back to the room where he kicked through the window and shoots the telephone pole outside. He jumps out the window, the feather slowing his fall and he lands down in the street below. The second horde of zombies from before fill the street in front of him, some of them filtering into the street he''s on. He looks to the other side of the street and enters a two story. Heading to the roof he climbs up a ladder onto a three story.


    Derek jumps down onto another two story, the one Jacob and Page were on earlier. He looks down at the street, only a couple stray zombies near the chrysalid. He jumps down to the street, pulling out his knife and killing the closest one. He hurries over to the chrysalid as the other zombies take notice and uses his knife to chip off a small piece of the shell. He gets up, glancing at the building Jacob had taken Page before he hurries over and takes shelter in a building on the other side of the street. He pulls up his phone, tapping on the icon with cross-hairs.


    "Always wondered what this was for," Derek mutters to himself as the app opens. The screen turns black as light blue words appear on screen. Hold sample up for scanning. Derek holds up the she''ll piece as a light blue light illuminates from the top of the phone, scanning the piece. The light goes away as a loading icon shows up on the screen. The phone suddenly shows the map of the island, zooming in on the market, a red dot appearing near the middle of it. Derek lowers his phone when he hears the sound of something cracking.


    He moves to the doorway, peeking his head out to see the chrysalid move as the shell starts to crack open. With a loud crackle, the shell is torn apart from the inside as a large creature covered in greenish-black skin outgrows the shell. A giant eye on its back looks around as the creature tries to stand up, its changing body making it hard to stay balanced. Its right arm grows larger than the other one, an eye opening up on the shoulder. As the left arm starts to form, the muttering of a chainsaw coming to life cuts through the air. Two smaller arms emerge from its upper back, the right one covering the eye on its shoulder and the other one grabbing onto its chainsaw arm to stabilize it.


    Is this really the tourist from before? I couldn''t even tell back when it emerged from the plane, it doesn''t even look remotely like the thing from the plane anymore!


    "The, thing, has emerged from the chrysalid," Derek says into his earpiece.


    "It actually hatched a couple seconds before I estimated it to¡­" Derek''s talking catches the creatures attention, which notices him and starts charging toward the building, "It might have hatched too early¡­keep an eye on it, let me know-"


    "It heard me!" Derek exclaims as he runs up the stairs. As he reaches the second floor the creature comes slamming into the building, breaking down the wall around the doorway.


    "Gosh dammit! You''re messing up the results!" Luther shouts into his ear, "Just run until Jacob starts fighting it, hopefully it''ll go for him. If that doesn''t work...than help him take care of it, but don''t let him know who you are," Luther says the last part in the same cold tone from before.


    As Derek is running up the last set of stairs the creature starts sawing at the stairs and everything it can reach. Reaching the roof, Derek feels the building start to tip as the thing is almost done destroying the base of it. He jumps off onto a nearby two story, rolling forward and regaining his footing. As he gets up he sees the building start to fall down towards him. Derek jumps down onto the street below as Jacob comes running out of a building on the other side of the street, shotgun in hand and Page''s bag on his back.


    The building comes falling down, damaging the one next to it. Derek pulls out his rifle as he backs away from the buildings.


    "So you''re the fu?ker who shot at us!" Jacob exclaims as he aims his shotgun at Derek.


    "Hey, hey!" Derek replies as he steps away from Jacob, "I''m not the one you want to be shooting right now!" He points his rifle to the clouds of dust as the creature emerges from it.


    "Looks like it wants a rematch," Jacob states as he aims his shotgun at the thing. Jacob shoots at it as the creature walks towards them, unaffected by the blast. A zombie walks in front of it, the creature thrusts its chainsaw through the zombies body, lifting it into the air. The zombie''s corpse melds onto the chainsaw and makes its way onto its back left arm.


    Derek shoots it in the head, causing it to go limp for a second before coming back up. The creature suddenly charges at them. Derek and Jacob turn and run.


    "You don''t happen to have any sort of explosives do you?!" Jacob asks as he glances over at Derek.


    "Just my rifle and knife," Derek replies. The couple of yards that had separated them from the creature are now wearing thin into mere feet, the chainsaw''s roars attacking their ears. As the creature lunges at them, they jump to the side, the chainsaw digging into the street and making sparks fly.


    Derek and Jacob quickly get up to see the creature slow itself to a stop, standing there for a bit as it catches its breath, the eye on its back left open for attacks. Derek quickly brings up his rifle and shoots it dead center. The creature suddenly straightens up as it stumbles forward, it''s right back arm quickly moving to cover the eye. The creatures left arm, which has a weird round with an eye on the side of it, turns around to them. As the creature kneels on one knee, spikes emerge from the round thing as the arm lurches back.


    It lunges forward, hurling the spikes towards them. They jump to the side, one of the spikes hitting Jacob''s left arm.


    "Fuck!" He shouts in pain. He drops his shotgun on the ground before he grabs the spike in his arm. Derek sees that more spikes are starting to emerge from the back left arm of the creature again. He brings up his scope, aims, and fires, just b?r?ly scarping the eye, but close enough to cause the thing to flinch. With a scream of agony, Jacob pulls the bloody spike out of his arm, having to catch his breath for a second before he chucks it to the side and picks up his shotgun with his right arm. Derek aims and shoots again at the arm, and hits the eye.


    The arm flails about as the creature stands back up. Derek glances over at Jacob, seeing his wound is visibly closing at a slow pace. Before he can ask about it the creature is already moving towards them. Jacob puts the shotgun in the bag, swapping it out for a pistol as Derek continues to shoot at the thing. He first goes to shoot the eye on its shoulder, but the creature''s back right arm quickly moves to cover it as he takes the shot. He aims back at the head, shooting it.


    "Don''t waste your bullets on that," Jacob says as he aims his pistol.


    "What else am I suppose to shoot? It''s chainsaw?!" replies.


    "Yes, cause it has an eye that''s not being covered!"


    Jacob shoots at it, trying to hit an eye that''s under a ribcage forming a shield around the "engine" of the chainsaw. The creature grabs another nearby zombie, this time with it''s right arm, and puts it on its back left arm. The zombie flails about as its stabbed with several spikes, but than it melds onto the arm. The arm starts to grow thicker as the hand also grows larger and claws emerge from it. Jacob and Derek continue to shoot at it as they back up, but soon realize that a bunch of zombies lie not too far behind them.


    "We can''t let it get to them," Jacob states as he continues to shoot, "Only question is how the hell are we going to do that?" As they stand their ground and shoot at the thing, Derek goes to reload his rifle. He sees the buildings around them.


    "The buildings, we can get it to break the bases and they''ll come falling down onto it,"


    "Alright, but which one isn''t filled with flames that we can go into?"


    "This one!" Derek states as he heads for a building to their right. Jacob quickly follows, and the creatures raises up its chainsaw as it pursues them. They hurry up the stairs as the creature comes barging into the building, tearing at everything around them. To their annoyance, the creature stops sawing at the building''s base and turns up to them. The creature uses its three normal arms to start climbing up the walls after them.


    "He just had to give it G!" Derek exclaims as him and Jacob run up to the third floor.


    Jacob and Derek stop when they reach the top, realizing that it''s eyes are left vulnerable as it has to use all three arms to climb. They quickly take aim, as they only have a matter of seconds to shoot. They both fire at the eye on its right shoulder, hitting it. The arm lets go of the wall, causing the creature to start to fall down, but it jabs its chainsaw arm into the buildings wall to catch itself. The creature suddenly lowers a bit as it turns back up to them.


    "Move!" Jacob exclaims as the creature uses all its strength to jump up at them. Jacobe runs out onto the roof, pulling Derek with him just as the creatures chainsaw rips part of the doorway. A loud thud emanates from the bottom of the building as the creature falls back down, breaking most of the stairs as well.


    "I can''t get it with this, Derek come shoot it!"


    "On it!" Derek exclaims, not even bothering to think about how Jacob knows his name. He steps onto the broken doorway, pulling up his rifle and shooting the eye on its shoulder. The creature flails about on the ground before quickly getting back up and letting out a roar of anger. It suddenly starts thrashing about and tearing at the bottom of the building, which starts to shake. The two of them see a nearby three story and jump to it just before the building comes collapsing down under their feet.


    They quickly turn back to the large cloud of smoke, the sound of the chainsaw now dead. There''s a sudden spark in the mist as the chainsaw comes back to life.


    "Can''t they ever just die like any other zombie?!" Jacob exclaims in anger. As they watch the dust settle and the creature spots them, they feel a heat under their feet. The building they''re on is fully ablaze as the flames reach the floor below them. The creature comes charging at the building and grabs it with its three arms and plunging its chainsaw arm into it, furiously climbing the building. The two of them shoot at it, but it keeps charging, the eye on its shoulder now bleeding. They can feel the building start to become unstable as the wall is almost entirely cut in half now, bricks and debri falling under the creature as its claws tear out bits and pieces as it climbs.


    "Okay, maybe now we shoot the head, it should stun it enough for the building to fall fully on top of it," Jacob states as he reaims.


    "We''re on top of the building!" Derek argues.


    "Just trust me!"


    Derek aims for the creature''s head, and the two shoot it at the same time. The creature stops climbing, leaning back a bit. The piece of wall its arms are digged into starts to come loose from the creatures weight. The creature starts falling back, its chainsaw arm cutting through more of the building. It manages to catch itself a few feet from the ground. It lets out another roar before it starts climbing again, causing the building to slowly lean forward. Derek and Jacob start to lose their balance as the building falls forward towards the street.


    Derek almost falls but Jacob grabs his arm, helping him keep his balance.


    "Jump!" Jacob exclaims. The two of them jump for a building to the side, landing with a hard thud as the building falls down onto another building in front of it. The creature is caught between the two buildings, the force crushing the building beneath and sending the creature down onto the ground into a fiery inferno. Jacob and Derek get up, fighting the aching pains from the landing that cover their bodies. Jacob heads for the stairs to get down, Derek watching before remembering that he knew his name.


    "Wait!" Derek exclaims as he hurries after Jacob, "How do you know my name?!" He asks as he follows him down the stairs.


    "From reports on the outbreak in China," Jacob says as he puts the pistol away and brings out the shotgun, "And I helped Luther recover your body" They reach the bottom of the building.


    "What?!" Derek exclaims as he goes in front of Jacob and blocks his exit, "You work with Luther?!"


    "I use to, but now it seems he''s found a new guinea pig to do his bidding," Jacob says, moving Derek to the side and walking out onto the street, "Which means he''s behind this mess. When I find that fu?ker I swear I''m gonna-!" Jacob stops ranting when they hear the sound of a stuttering chainsaw, "Seriously?!"


    The creature comes stumbling into view, its body glowing with embers, the back arms severely burnt and weakened. It slowly approaches, them , readying its chainsaw for a swing. The two of them back up as it swings with all its remaining strength and than stumbles down to the ground. Jacob walks around onto its back, shooting the eye point blank with the shotgun.


    "Give me your phone," Jacob states as he points his shotgun at Derek''s face. Derek lowers his gun, slowly reaching into his pocket and pulling his phone out. Jacob takes it from him, "Thanks," And he pulls the trigger.


    Click.


    Jacob chuckles from seeing Derek flinch.


    "Relax, I''m not going to kill you," Jacob states as he lowers the shotgun and pulls out a small chip from his back pocket, inserting it into the phone. The screen fizzes out a bit before returning to normal, the chip being ejected from the phone, "Now I''ll be able to listen in on your guys'' conversations," He hands Derek back his phone, "Look, I know how Luther works, so I doubt you''re willingly working for him. No doubt he has something of yours that you care for, so I won''t tell Page, you stay out of our hairs, and once I figure out why you''re working for him, I''ll find a way to fix it. Until then, don''t die," And with that Jacob leaves.


    Derek, at a complete loss for words and utterly baffled, watches Jacob disappear into the building he had taken Page.


    ¡­


    "I won''t tell Page, you stay out of our hairs, and once I figure out why you''re working for him, I''ll find a way to fix it. Until then, don''t die," Jacob''s voice says. Luther laughs maliciously upon hearing those words, "It''s going along so perfectly...And when the time is right, boom, they''ll have to kill their brand new friend. Let''s just hope, she, does her part, unless she wants to lost her greatest treasure,"


    Luther glances at another computer monitor, which is displaying a live feed of a room where a guy with blonde hair lays unconscious on a bed.


    ...

 Chapter 18 - Co-Worker

    "The creature pursued me heavily," Derek says into his earpiece as he heads for a building on the other side of the street, "I had no choice but to fight,"


    "How''d it do?"


    "It was resilient, but broke apart everything around, we finished it off by crushing it with a building it tried to climb,"


    "We?"


    "...Uh, I said...me¡­I didn''t see Jacob or Page the whole time I was fighting it"


    "...Remind me to give you grammar books after the mission is done," Luther says to Derek''s relief. He heads up the stairs to the roof.


    March 21, 2015, 8:22pm- Mazraea, Flea Market


    Derek sits on the roof of a now burnt building, leaning against a busted ac unit, eating some slightly burned trail mix he had managed to find under some rubble. It''s been a couple hours of absolutely nothing since Jacob had gone back to the building to tend to Page. He had watched the fires die off along with all the zombies as time went on, all the streets are blanketed in a layer of ash that shines like silver in the moonlight. Not too long after the fires died down, he started to hear things moving about in the street below.


    As he''s eating, keeping one eye on the doorway leading to the building Jacob and Page are in, he hears the soft pitter-patter of something moving in the streets below. A little black dot in the ashes catches his attention, as it leaves a thin trail behind it. The burnt corpse of a zombie lays against a building. Soon, several more black dots appear, closing in on the body. Derek pulls up his rifle and looks through the scope. Getting a closer look, he sees they''re rats, all covered in scratches and eyes fully red. He''s surprised to see them furiously tearing at the corpse. Soon even more rats show up, and as their food becomes scarce, they start fighting each other.


    Guess it affects animals too. Thank god I''m up here.


    The sound of something heavy being moved along the ground suddenly echos into the streets, the rats all scattering and disappearing into nearby buildings. Shortly after that the door to the building opens slightly, Jacob poking his head out a bit before fully opening the door, knife in hand. As him and Page exit the building Derek sees the wound on his left arm is mostly healed up already, nothing but a scab left that''s already starting to disappear.


    That''s where his arm got stabbed by the spike...how the hell did it heal so fast? ¡­ He sai he worked with Luther...was we also a victim of some viral outbreak that he brought back from the dead.


    "At least there''s no more zombies...Do you know if the plane got damaged at all?" Page asks Jacob, her voice echoing through the ghost town that was full of life mere hours before.


    "No idea," Jacob replies.


    "We need to go double check than. After that we''ll head to your office,"


    The two of them start walking down the empty street to the airstrip, leaving footprints in the ashes with every step.


    As Derek watches them through the scope, he notices a bunch of small shadows moving in the buildings.


    Must be the rats.


    "Was this the only airport on the whole island?" Page asks as he and Jacob reach the airport, Derek looking away from the buildings and back at them.


    "...Yeah¡­"


    Derek looks at the plane, seeing that it''s torn to shreds. When he looks back at Page and Jacob he notices they''ve turned around and are staring at something down the street. Derek puts his rifle down as he turns his head in the direction they''re facing. He catches a glimpse of someone in red who quickly disappears out of sight. He''s left baffled as he stares at the street.


    That...that couldn''t have been...I must be seeing things...But, if it really was her¡­


    Derek''s thoughts get interrupted when he sees the buildings start to come alive as hundreds of shadows squirm around inside them.


    "Of course we''re not alone here," Jacob states irritably, "Let''s just get the hell out of here, hopefully that person doesn''t steal my moped. You wanna walk down the street or go through the buildings?"


    Page glances at the street and at the buildings before looking at Jacob with an unsure expression.


    "Is either one really better?"


    "Streets it is, it''ll at least be faster,"


    As the two of them make their way back down the street, Derek can see the shadows in the buildings following them. They pass by the remains of the creature him and Jacob finished off and soon come to the part of the main street where it splits two ways, one going straight and leading out of the market, and another going to the right further into the place. As they start to make their way down the path leading out, a horde of rats spill out of the buildings in front of them, quickly blocking the path. At the same time another horde comes from behind, blocking that way as well.


    "This way!" Jacob exclaims as he grabs Page''s arm and the two run down the pat to the right, another horde starting to form there but they manage to get past it before they''re completely trapped. As the two run into a nearby building, Derek''s phone vibrates.


    "This is your Co-Worker, I was told to introduce myself to you and that you were an old friend of mine, though I don''t have any of those. Don''t worry about the samples, I have them with me safe and sound. Though I''m sure we won''t ever see each other, I''ll warn you now that I don''t work too well with others,"


    What the fu?k? Luther never said anything about working with someone. Must have been that person in red...There''s no way she would work for someone like Luther if she didn''t want to be with me.


    Derek''s once more distracted as he sees Page and Jacob running along the rooftops, the horde of rats swarming the building to get to them.


    They''re heading for the exit, I best make my way before the rats notice me.


    Derek puts his rifle away as he starts moving from rooftop to rooftop. As he nears where they are, he makes a left, heading for where he parked his bike. As Jacob and Page exit a building and run for their ride, Derek runs down some stairs at the side of the building, jumping down onto the ground below. The briefcase with the virus samples are gone. As he hears Jacob''s moped starting up he gets onto his bike. He waits a bit for them to distance themselves before he starts up his bike.


    The engine roars to life and he takes off, rounding the corner to see hordes of rats coming in his direction. He swerves to the left, b?r?ly avoiding the onslaught and drives past them, running over a few in the process, and continues down the dirt road as he follows his targets.


    I''ll have to ask Luther about whoever this, co-worker, is.

 Chapter 19 - Containment System

    Jacob and Page drive down the dirt road toward the city, Page staring at the almost fully healed bite wound on his shoulder.


    "Stop," Page states.


    "What?" Jacob asks, glancing towards her slightly.


    "Stop the vehicle, now," She says angrily.


    "Alright. I was planning on stopping at my house first anyways. We need more ammo and I need to grab something to eat,"


    After driving a couple more minutes they reach his house, Page quickly getting off and distancing herself.


    "What?" Jacob asks with a puzzled look as he gets off his moped, "Do I have a blood stain somewhere?" He looks at his clothes checking for anything.


    "Your bite mark, it just, healed itself instantly. Jacob, I want to trust you, but how can I when there''s all these things you clearly are still keeping a secret from me?" Jacob takes a second to respond.


    "...Let''s head inside, it''s a long story, and one that I''d rather not tell on an empty stomach," And with that he heads inside his house. A bit hesitant, Page follows.


    Jacob enters the kitchen and opens up the fridge as Page stands in the doorway. Jacob pulls out a steak, grabbing a pans and turning the gas stove on.


    "Do I have to sit here and wait till after you finish cooking?" Page asks as Jacob grabs something from a cabinet full of spices.


    "It''s thanks to Luther that I am what I am," Jacob states as he sprinkles some garlic salt onto the steak, "The man was obsessed with B.O.W''s, and even more obsessed with the viruses that made them. He wanted samples anyway he could, and as fresh as possible," Jacob flips over the steak and sprinkles that side, "You see, the problem with most samples are not all the pieces work due to the way they''re taken out of a subject. He tried to find a way to take a virus out of an infected person and have it still be fully functioning, a way to never have to freeze or kill it. So, he tried to use me as a container for viruses,"


    "Container for viruses? How could he possibly use you as a container for viruses without you becoming one of those creatures or dying?"


    "By making a brand new virus from scratch¡­" Jacob puts the steak onto the frying pan, the steak sizzling, "The Containment System. A virus that holds onto anything that may try to infect the host, preventing it from spreading, until its killed or removed.


    ¡­


    June 20, 2013- New York, Terrasave Headquarters


    Jacob, only in boxer br??fs, walks into the middle of a large lab, a rotatable operating table laying in the middle. Luther stands next to the table and a rolling table full of various bottles and surgical tools.


    Jacob walks up to Luther, clearly not looking forward to what''s about to happen. Jacob glances down at the rolling table.


    "Are those all necessary, or are you going to inject those into me for fun?"


    "Most of them are for aesthetics, don''t worry," Luther picks up a small vial filled with a liquid that looks like blood, "This is the only one," Luther states with a grin that says otherwise.


    Jacob glares at Luther for a second, then glances at the vial before he lays down on top of the operating table, staring up at the ceiling.. Luther straps his arms, legs, and neck to the table, then tilts the table slightly up. He grabs a syringe with a long thin needle, plunging it into the top of the vial. The syringe soon becomes filled with the liquid, the vial completely drained. Luther stares at the red liquid with excitement. He grabs a disinfectant wipe and walks over to Jacob''s left side. Luther starts wiping a small spot on upper part of Jacob''s forearm.


    "This lab is completely soundproof, so feel free to scream from the pain this is about to cause, it''ll be good for my notes," Luther says as he finishes disinfecting the spot. Jacob glances at him, eyes filled with a burning hatred before he looks back up at the ceiling. He puts the wipe in his coat pocket and brings the syringe up to the spot, the needle shining in the light as it nears the skin.


    Jacob can feel the cold needle pierce his skin and enter his arm. The second Luther starts to inject him, a burning pain ignites in his arm. His veins become visible as the virus courses through them. He winces in pain, trying to resist the screams of pain that he knows Luther wants to hear. However, as the burning pain spreads throughout his body and becomes more severe, he soon finds himself screaming in agony as the virus becomes a part of his body.


    ¡­


    March 21, 2015, 8;58pm- Mazraea, Jacob''s House


    "The pain lasted for several hours, then it became slightly less severe, but not by much," Jacob says as he flips the steak over, "It was at least bearable. That pain wouldn''t go away for another couple of days," He chuckles a bit, "Remember those days before going to China when you asked me why I was more bitchy than usual?"


    "...Yeah¡­"


    "That was why. As much as Luther enjoyed knowing the severe pain I was in, it couldn''t keep him from being frustrated at his failure. He made the virus too strong, or maybe, my aggressive behavior affected the virus. When he injected me with a test virus, rather than holding onto it, my body constricted it, tore it apart, and completely destroyed it, leaving no trace of it."


    "I, had no idea¡­"


    "Of course you didn''t, no one did. To be honest, I''m glad I was the one he used it on,"


    "Why''s that?"


    "Well, now I have an immunity to all viruses, plus as a side effect, I heal slightly faster than the average person, and if it''s an infectious wound I heal even faster. Plus, I was able to get a good look at his lab,"


    "Why would that be a plus?"


    "Made it easier for me to sabotage it before I left for Africa. I had to make sure he couldn''t harm you before I went against his orders. He was keeping a very dangerous B.O.W. he was making in the lab, and had I defied the orders, he would have released it into the Terrasave headquarters, making you a possible casualty and Norton would find a way to put the blame on me,"


    "Norton?"


    "You think Norton''s a good guy?" Jacob glances at her before looking back at his steak and shaking his head slightly, "He was in on most of it. Him and Luther had sent us rookies to that town in africa, knowing that B.O.W''s were there. It was just a test, one that none of us knew about, and you and I were the only ones who passed it. They chose me rather than you because of my background probably," The steak fully cooked, he grabs a plate and puts it on it, than grabs a steak knife and a fork.


    "But that''s a whole nother story for another time," He says as he pulls out another steak from the fridge, "What spices you want on your steak?" He asks nonchalauntly.


    "What? I don''t want to eat anything right now,"


    "Trust me, you do. You''ve gone all day without eating and I''m sure getting to my office is not going to be a walk in the park. No doubt everyone in the damn city is infected by now and who knows what other B.O.W.''s could be waiting there for us,"


    "...fine...let me see what you have," She says as she walks over to the spice cabinet.


    Picking what she wants, Jacob prepares the steak and throws it on a different pan, the other one now in the sink.


    "So, if Norton, was, working with Luther, why did he get rid of him then?" Page asks.


    "Simple. Norton wanted viruses to make super-soldiers and B.O.W.''s to have power, meanwhile Luther had much bigger plans, wanting to use the viruses to kill everything living thing and, ''evolve'' humans into a greater species. You know, the usual bio-terrorists mindset. Main difference though, is unlike the other bio-terrorists, Luther wasn''t using just one virus, or turning just one into a slightly better version," He flips her steak over, the delicious smell reminding Page that she is hungry, in fact, she''s starving after not eating for so long, "He wanted to make a virus that had all the strengths of every other virus but without any of the weaknesses.


    He called it the Descendant Virus. Luckily he doesn''t seem to be anywhere near completing it,"


    "What makes you so sure of that? All those years in Terrasave we''ve foughten lots of different things, he must have had plenty of time and lots of different viruses to work on,"


    "True, but that thing on the plane, what symptoms of infection did it have?"


    "Well..it was once human, I think," She places a hand to her chin as she searches for the information in her head, "But was clearly injected with a very potent dose of virus. It had the green shell-like skin like victims of the C-Virus...and it had those creepy giant eyeballs like G...but it using other zombies to make itself stronger, I don''t know what that was, I''ve never seen anything like that...wait I do remember a report, from China. What was his name...Derek Simmons? Yeah, the reports from those two government agents, Leon and Helena, they mentioned him using other zombies in a similar fashion¡­"


    "There you go. From what we saw, it only had three different viruses. Though I have no doubts that he''s gotten quite far with the D-Virus, he still has quite a ways to finish it," Page''s steak done, Jacob gets another plate, puts it on it, and hands it to Page, giving her the necessary utensils to eat it.


    The two sit down in the living room as they eat and enjoy the moment of peace from all the chaos.


    "...So, Luther is the cause of all this¡­" Page says, "We''re in another one of his tests...What happens if I don''t contact Terrasave at all? Surely Norton will send people,"


    "Let''s hope we''re off the island before that happens,"


    Page was going to ask "why" but the answer popped up in her mind.


    Norton wouldn''t send help at all. He would only send agents to destroy any evidence, which would probably include me. Still...I can''t let Jacob convince me so easily, at least not until he shows me the files. I need to make sure to keep an eye on him in case he tries to do anything funny.


    After they finish eating, Jacob heads to his room with Page''s bag. He soon comes back with a ?h?st holster, pistol inside, and the bag refilled with handgun ammo.


    "You ready to go?"


    "Let me go to the bathroom real quick, where is it?"


    "Right here," Jacob says, pointing to a door behind him to the right. Page goes inside, before she uses the bathroom she pulls out her phone, she''s gotten messages and missed calls from Norton.


    Shit, I forgot to take it off silence when I landed! I guess it was for the best since Jacob won''t know that Norton has been trying to contact me.


    Opening up the messages they read:


    "Have you located Agent Jacob?" "Page, answer me" "Notify me of your status ASAP"


    ...Should I respond? ¡­ No...I''m, I''m going to trust Jacob...I owe him for everything he''s done for me, even if he has been doing stuff behind my back...

 Chapter 20 - Panikè´¸s in the City

    Finishing her business in the bathroom, Page comes out to see Jacob isn''t in the living room. The sound and smell of another steak being cooked fills the air.


    "You''re cooking another steak?" Page asks as she walks up to the kitchen and sees Jacob cooking, "It was nice having a little moment of peace, but we need to go. After we get your files from your office, we need to find a way off this island asap,"


    "Alright," Jacob says as he turns off the stove, "I was hoping you''d take long enough in the bathroom for me to cook and eat it, but, I guess you''re right. Let''s get going,"


    Page heads out the door, Jacob following, pulling out his phone and sending a message before he puts it back in his pocket and heads out. The two get onto his moped and head for the city The light breeze from before is still there, the only other sound beside the moped. Small reflections of flickering lights on the glass panes. No doubt there''s a couple buildings on fire.


    As they''re driving down the dirt road, Page notices a large creature moving in the fields to their right.


    Please tell me that''s not another B.O.W...Wait, hold on...oh thank God, it''s just a cow, no, it''s probably a bull, it has horns. Those rats back in the market, no doubt they had been infected, so...animals can also be infected by whatever virus this is. Oh no, I hope we don''t come across zombie cats, I don''t think I''d be able to pull the trigger...maybe they just act like normal cats and do nothing but sleep.


    As they approach the city, the lights all suddenly go out it seems to just get larger and larger, the density of becoming more and more apparent. Hundreds of buildings all several stories tall, a city this large is something you wouldn''t imagine at all when you think of a city on an island. As the dirt road becomes concrete they''re only a couple yards away from entering the city, already passing a sign that said, "Welcome to Atlantis City,". They''re surprised when the all the lights that were on suddenly go out.


    As they enter the city, the two are met by an eerie silence as the wind is kept out by the buildings. The moonlight that shined on the fields is also blocked out, leaving nothing but an almost pitch black darkness filling the streets. Jacob stops the moped only after getting a couple feet into the city. The headlight on his moped is the only source of light except for a single streetlight only a couple yards in front of them. A single body lay on the ground underneath it, their bloody clothes lit up by the light. Several hands, feet, legs, arms, and the heads are just b?r?ly in the circle of light, all of them already pale skinned, some even rotting.


    "How the hell could something spread so fast?" Page asks in a low voice, afraid that if she spoke too loud it''d wake the dead.


    "When you have a dense city with thousands of people, you''d be surprised how fast any sort of sickness can," Jacob replies just as silently, "But what I don''t get, is why none of them are moving?"


    "Yeah...let''s just hope these ones are actually dead¡­"


    "Still," Jacob turns off the light on his moped, "Best to be safe-"


    Bones cracking and breaking fill the air as the bull let''s out m??ns of pain, another tail sprouting out of it, a large sharp thing on the end. Its normal tail also grows a large sharp thing and they can faintly make out something happening to its face. The bull stands there in the fields, recovering from whatever just happened to it, before turning in Page and Jacob''s direction.


    "You''re handgun has a full clip, right?" Jacob asks as he glances to Page. She quickly checks her gun.


    "Y-Yeah,"


    "Alright then," He turns the moped''s light back on, the bull once more bellowing angrily, "Get ready to shoot anything in our way," He says as he revs up the motor, "And hold on tight, we''ve got a ways to go before reaching my office," Page wraps an arm around Jacob''s waste just before he pulls on the gas, the moped taking off into the city. The bull, that''s already gotten much closer, gets blocked from Page''s view by the first building they past. She quickly turns to the road ahead of them, the bodies under the light already starting to get up.


    Meanwhile, the zombie the bull had stomped starts regenerating the head that had been destroyed under its hooves.


    By the time Jacob and Page reach the streetlight, most of the zombies are already on their feet. Not too far off in the distance they can see several silhouettes, already forming a barricade that nearly blocks the whole street. As they come to an intersection, the road in front of them is already completely blocked off.


    "Time for a detour!" Jacob exclaims as he makes a sharp right onto a different street. This street is already filled with zombies. The roar of the moped is now being joined by the m??ns of the undead as they''re woken from their slumber. Something about their m??ns sounds, different, from normal zombies, but nothing Page or Jacob really bother trying to figure out at the moment.


    As they come to another intersection, the angrily bellows from before start echoing through the streets. Page glances behind them to see the bull charging through the streets, following them.


    "Why is everything after us?!" Page asks as they make a left.


    "I don''t know, do you want me to stop and ask?!" As they''re driving down the street a couple of zombies start walking in their path, the other side of the road is blocked by some crashed cars that are on fire. Page pulls up her gun, takes aim, and manages to shoot two of them, leaving a gap just big enough for them to squeeze through. They can feel the hands of the other zombies brush up against them as they zoom past them.


    At another intersection up ahead, they see lights coming from the left. Reaching the intersection they see a car coming at full speed. Jacob pulls on the gas as hard as he can. They just b?r?ly make it past the intersection, the car nearly hitting them and continuing past them. Not too long afterwards they hear a crash. Reaching another intersection Jacob makes a left. The road ahead is filled with vehicles, some crashed, some with hazard lights on, others with zombies trying to get out of their seatbelts.


    They swerve through all the cars and as they drive through another intersection, hear something crashing into the cars. Page glances behind them again to see the bull still chasing after them, ramming through the cars and pushing them aside. It''s catching up to them.


    "How much farther?" Page asks worryingly as she turns back to him.


    "Give or take eight minutes. Please don''t tell me whatever is making all that noise behind us is the bull,"


    "Um¡­yeah,"


    "Alright than, let''s see if we can''t speed things up," Jacob once more pulls on the gas as far as it will go, this time keeping it at max power. They slowly start to pick up speed as they continue to drive past cars and zombies. They make a right after a couple more intersections, the bull still keeping up. The street ahead of them is completely blocked off by a dense horde of zombies. They have to come to break to a halt to stop from running into them. As the bull continues to charge at them, Page notices a gas truck to their left which has crashed into a building making a large whole in the glass pane.


    "There!" Page shouts as she points to the building.


    "Alright, hold on tight," Jacob says as he keeps the brake on but starts revving the engine, turning the moped to the hole.


    "What are you doing?!" The bull is now a few yards away from them.


    "If I go now the bull will follow us into the store!" The bull is now three yards away. Jacob lets go of the brake and they take off for the hole just as the bull comes within feet of them. Caught off guard, the bull keeps charging forward into the horde of zombies as Page and Jacob drive into the building. As they enter the building Jacob slams on the breaks, the moped tilting forward. They almost fall forward, but they came back down with a hard thud.


    "Fuck!" Jacob shouts under his breath.


    As they get off the bike Jacob kneels down a bit.


    "You alright? Did the bull hit you?" Page asks as she gets off, the moped falling onto its side. Jacob takes a deep breath before responding.


    "No, but my balls were when we landed," He straightens back up, "Let''s go before the bull comes back, getting to my office is going to be a hell of a lot more difficult now," He says as he grabs his pistol, turning the flashlight on. Page does the same for hers, the two of them shining their light around the inside of the building. It appears to be a clothing store, several short tables covered with various clothes all neatly folded, racks of clothes making mini aisles. They spot some stairs in the middle of the store and quickly make their way to them. As they near the stairs the stench of death starts to appear, they spot some blood on some clothes a couple feet away on the other side of the stairs.


    They hear a sudden m??ning as something starts to move, a head emerging from behind the clothes rack. A zombie, skin a turning a pale grey, and eyes glowing red from their lights starts to make their way to the end of the aisle towards them. Now in a safer situation, Page and Jacob are able to realize what''s weird about the zombie''s m??ns. It''s breath becomes shallow as it breathes in, almost like its suffocating before it lets out a m??n. They make their way up the stairs before the zombie can get to them.


    On the second floor they find more zombies and clothes. Though not nearly as many clothes as down stairs since more of the space is taken up by make-up and jewelry shelves and displays. As they shine their lights around to find the next set of stairs, Jacob sees a sign.


    "I recognize that sign," He states, "I know where we are now. There''s a bridge on the third floor leading to the building next to this one,"


    "Alright, let''s get moving,"


    The next set of stairs are next to the stairs they just went up, so they have to go all the way around. Seeing how more zombies are to their left, they go right. As they near the stairs a zombie stumbles toward them, this one more mutated than the others. It''s eyes are completely red, the nose melting into the face and almost completely gone, and the skin is almost entirely a pale grey. Its teeth are longer than a normal person''s and stick out from between what remains of its lips.


    It''s breathing is shallow and unsettling. It doesn''t m??n like the other zombies and as it walks towards them shakes a little bit.


    "You''ve got to be kidding me¡­" Jacob mutters as they stare at the grey zombie.


    "What?"


    "Let''s start walking first, I can explain on the way,"


    Page nods and the two walk around some displays to get to the stares, the grey zombie tracking their every step and slowly trying to make its way to them.


    "That thing, it looks like a regenerator," Jacob says as he glances at it.


    "Regenerator?" Page glances at the grey zombie once more, the report popping into her head, "But...how? I thought someone had to have several las plagas surgically implanted?" She asks as they both glance at the zombie with a newfound horror


    "Luther must have found a way around it. I have a rifle at my office, and I think my boss had an infrared scope, we''re gonna need that if we hope to make it through the streets at all," He states as they make their way up to the third floor.


    Reaching the top they see that this floor is completely empty, except for another grey zombie standing in front of the entrance to the bridge, something shiny in the ?h?st pocket of their shirt.

 Chapter 21 - Ratted Out

    "Don''t tell me that¡­" Jacob starts to say as he shines his light past the zombie and to the bridge behind. The set of double doors are closed, "...Great, the doors to the bridge are locked,"


    "And, that has the keys¡­" Page finishes Jacob''s thoughts as she keeps her light on the grey zombie which takes notice of them and starts stumbling toward them, its shallow breathing unnerving to their ears.


    Jacob aims his gun at the grey zombie''s head, and fires, the bullet hitting it dead center in its forehead. The sound of the gun echoes through the whole floor, a soon the thud of the grey zombie hitting the floor. They start to hear the sounds of zombies m??ning down below.


    "Best hurry," Jacob says as he walks up to the grey zombie, Page quickly following. As they approach the grey zombie the hole in the back of its head is already fully head, "Are you fu?k?n?-" The grey zombie suddenly lunges at Jacob trying to grab his legs but he''s too far away. Jacob shoots it in the head several times before it can move any closer to them. Jacob quickly puts his gun away and pulls out his knife, slashing the things next as its head starts to regenerate.


    Cutting the head off, the body starts to shake about violently. Jacob flips the body over so its front is facing up. The thing starts to flail its arms about, but Jacob quickly grabs them to stop them from moving. Blood and some weird dull yellow liquid starts to gush out from the neck as another head starts to form.


    "Grab the keys!" Jacob yells at Page, whose been watching in utter shock the whole time.


    "R-Right!"


    Page quickly grabs the keys from the shirt pocket, the head already halfway made. As the two run for the bridge door, they see several zombies starting to reach the top of the stairs. She jams the key into the lock and turns it, shoving the door open with her shoulder. After Jacob runs through she takes the key out and as she''s closing the door, sees the grey zombie on the floor already getting up again, the new head fully grown. She slams the door shut and locks it from their side.


    "Page, I''m gonna need your help," Jacob says before he starts shooting at more zombies in their path. Page turns to see five zombies all on the bridge. She quickly puts the keys in her pocket before bringing up her gun. They quickly send the zombies to the ground, and not taking any chances they book it to the other side of the bridge and entering the next building. Shining their lights, they see the floor has a large circle shaped hole in the middle, a railing made of glass panels going around it, and another hole in the ceiling above. Several fast food shops line the outer edge of the floor, giving it a circular shape. Several bodies lay in blood stained chains, heads laying on the tables, others to the side in an unnatural posture.


    Some zombies are on the other side of the floor walking around aimlessly. Very dim moonlight shines from above through the hole in the ceiling. There''s stairs and an elevator on the far left side, luckily only a couple zombies are in their way. Making their way through all the tables they manage to easily avoid the zombies which try to chase after their prey. Making their way to the stairs they hear the sound of something moving inside the elevator. Page goes to walk over to it but Jacob stops her.


    "If there were humans in there, the zombies here would all be huddled in front of the doors, come on," Jacob states.


    She rejoins him and they make their way down the stairs, their footsteps echoing throughout the building. As they reach a corner in the stairs where they make a u-turn, Page and Jacob make sure to stay on the outer part of it, their guns ready in case a zombie may be waiting around the corner. The second floor looks almost exactly the same, minus the different fast food places lining the walls. As they step down onto the second floor they see a zombie crawling on the floor to their left as several small things are grabbing onto its legs which are almost entirely gone.


    Shining their light on it, they see the things are rats, which all scamper away and disappear into one of the fast food places.


    "Should we run now?" Page asks as she glances at Jacob.


    "...Let''s just, turn off our lights and go this way," Jacob says as he starts walking to the right side of the food court. Their lights off, they can just b?r?ly make out the silhouettes of objects and things thanks to the moonlight from the ceiling. They''re extra careful to make sure not to bump into anything, and stepping as lightly as possible. They pass by a table where the torn up remains of a zombie remains, its exposed muscle and organs filling the air around it with the stomach churning stench of raw meat and wet rats. Flies are buzzing around it. Page and Jacob have to hold their breath as they hurry past it.


    They''re relieved when they make it to the stairs, hurrying down them to distance themselves from the rats. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, they turn their lights back on to see the first floor of the building is a long wide hallway, with several stores lining both sides. Only a couple zombies are walking in the hallway, most of the shops having zombies walking around in them.


    "We''re gonna have to travel through the streets, my office is only a couple buildings down, we should be able to just run for it, depending on the traffic,"


    Page nods in response as they make their way down the hall to the exit. They can see a car on fire in the street through the glass front doors. As they pass by a store with its door closed, zombies inside take notice and start pressing up against the glass. Halfway through the hall Page and Jacob stop at the sound of glass breaking. They turn around to see zombies falling out through the window displays of one of the stores. Before they can react, the sound of hundreds of tiny scampering feet can be heard coming from the floor above.


    "Shit!" Page and Jacob exclaim right as they see rats starting to come flooding down the stairs. The two quickly turn around and run down the hall, rushing past zombies that reach out and try to grab them. Despite all the zombies they see out in the street, Page and Jacob hurry out of the building.


    "This way!" Jacob says, grabbing Page''s hand and turning her to the left. He lets go as they run down the zombie filled streets. Jacob pulls out his knife, slashing at any zombies that get too close to them. They don''t even make it to the first intersection when they hear the glass doors of the building they were just in break as the horde of rats come rushing out onto the street, attacking any zombies in their path.


    "It''s right there!" Jacob shouts, pointing to a building on the right side of the street only a couple yards away. As they make their way through the maze of zombies they reach a clearing where the street is filled with bodies on the ground that have all been trampled. They see the bull from earlier attacking some zombies on the other side of the clearing, the fires giving Page and Jacob a much clearer view of the creature.


    It''s black fur is now stained with blood from all the zombies its attacked, its horns have smaller horns fracturing off from the main ones. Two small limbs that end with a sharp claw stick out from the bull''s jaw, and it has two tails, both ending with sharp scythes made of bones that tear at any zombies approaching it from the back. They realize that the door to the building Jacob''s office is in, which is a police station, has its shutters down, blocking the front door. The bull quickly takes notice of them.


    "This way!" Jacob exclaims before heading for an alley to the right of the station. As the two run into the alley the bull comes charging at them, running into the building right of the station and getting its horns caught in the brick wall. A ladder leading to a fire escape sits in the alley, some zombies farther down at the end of the alley.


    "You go first," Jacob commands as he pulls up his handgun, shooting at the zombies. Page quickly starts climbing, the bull using all its strength to pull its horns out. As Page reaches the top Jacob quickly starts to climb the ladder, the bull breaking free and once more charging at them. Jacob jumps up a couple steps as the bull comes charging, destroying the bottom part of the ladder and its tails nearly hitting Jacob''s legs as he climbs onto the fire escape.


    They quickly hurry up the fire escape.


    "Which floor?" Page asks as they continue to climb the stairs.


    "The eighth floor!"


    Finally reaching the eighth floor, which is just two stories below the roof, Page opens up a large window and the two go inside. Jacob closes the window behind them as Page looks around. They''re in a break room, the lights are all on, the coffee machine filling the room with a much more pleasing scent of steamy hot coffee. The quietness of the place is both soothing and unnerving.


    "The station has backup generators," Jacob states as he heads for the door, "So everything in here should still be working," Jacob peeks his head out into the hall before opening the door, Page following. They enter a long hall, several doors lining both sides. As they start walking down the hall, they start to hear muffled voices. The two stop as they near Jacob''s office.


    "Why are you working with him?" A man''s voice asks.


    "...I have my reasons, now let''s go, we have a job to do," A woman''s voice replies firmly. Jacob readies his gun as he moves his hand to the doorknob.


    He quickly opens the door, aiming his gun at two people as they run through another door in the room and fires, only to have the click of his gun.


    "Fuck, out of bullets!" He exclaims as him and Page run after them. Jacob runs up to the door they entered only for it to be locked. He starts banging against the door with his shoulder and after couple hits forces the door open. He pulls out his knife to an empty office, the window open. The two walk up to the window, Jacob looking out of it. They turn back to the first room when they hear footsteps hurrying down the hall. Page reaches the hall first, seeing two people running down the hall in the direction where she and Jacob had come from. One is a person wearing a black shirt, the other wearing a red shirt.


    "Are you fu?k?n?-Ah!" Jacob shouts in burning anger as he slams a fist on his desk, "They deleted everything!" He exclaims as he stands back up, tightening his hands into fists. Page sees the computer has a blue screen.


    "Do you not have access to the email they sent you stuff through?" Page asks in a calm voice, trying to calm him down.


    "No, they deleted it shortly after I went off the grid. I had them downloaded onto a drive and put onto here. I didn''t just have emails though, I had data on all of Luther''s tests back from Terrasave before I hijacked his computer,"


    "If you had stuff like that on there, surely they must have made copies of it before getting rid of the files. We can just get it back from those two right?"


    "...Sure¡­" He says as he takes deep breaths to relax and think straight, "But it''s not our priority at the moment, we need to find a way off this island," He puts the bag on his desk and opens it up, unloading the magazine in his gun, "The shipping yard is our best bet for that,"


    As he reloads it Page checks her clip, which is empty. She reloads hers and he grabs a rifle laying against the side of his desk and puts it in the bag before shutting it and draping it over his shoulder again.


    "Come on, the amory is just downstairs," Jacob states as he heads for the hall. They make their way downstairs to find a hall going straight and one going to the left. No zombies in sight. As they walk down the hall the sound of their footsteps echoing and the soft buzzing of the lights are the only sounds throughout the whole floor.


    "Do you think any of your co-workers survived?"


    "I didn''t care enough to consider them my co-workers, and I doubt they did. You''d be surprised how many people don''t aim for the head when they see a zombie. Then again, with these regenerator zombies, even if they did shoot them in the head, they probably walked up to them only to get bit and infected," He states as they approach a door much more sturdy looking than the others.


    They walk to the other side, Jacob grabbing a key from under the desk and unlocking a locker with rifles and scopes. He grabs a scope and some rifle ammo, putting them in the bag.


    "Anything here you might need?" He asks as he unlocks another locker and grabs a shotgun and some ammo for it, throwing them into the bag.


    "That could be useful," She says pointing to a locker filled with various holsters and small bags.


    "I''m gonna use the restroom real quick," Jacob states as he puts the bag and locker key on the desk, "Be right back," And he leaves the room.


    Page grabs a small bag that has a strap that goes over your shoulder and grabs the locker key. She opens another locker with various handguns and grabs some ammo, putting it into her bag. As she''s about to walk away, she notices a couple magnums in the locker.


    I''ve always wanted to use one. Better safe than sorry.


    She grabs a magnum, checking the magazine before putting it in her bag and grabbing a couple extra bullets for it. Jacob comes back and he opens one last locker, inside is a large gun that looks like a bulky rocket launcher, what looks like climbing belts, and radios. Jacob grabs one, putting it on his belt and grabs another one.


    "In case something happens and we get separated," Jacob says as he holds it out for her. Page takes the radio, attaching it to her belt as Jacob grabs the gun and two belts.


    "What is that?" Page asks.


    "Zipline. We can use this to at least get past the next intersection, mind getting those?" Jacob asks pointing to a heavy duty metal tripod, drills at the bottom of the legs.


    They make their way back upstairs, but keep going up the stairs and reaching the roof. The roof stands high above with the other buildings, the moonlight shining down above them as clouds of smoke billow up from the streets. As they walk to the edge of the roof they can see all the zombies walking through the streets, looking like nothing more than moving dots down below. Jacob carries the zipline launcher over his shoulder as he faces an intersection to their right.


    He kneels down as he aims it at a building on the other side of the intersection. He fires and a hook comes flying out of the launcher, flying through the air. It hits a wall on the roof of the first building across the street, plunging into the bricks firmly, the wire tightening.


    "Bring the stand," Jacob says.


    Page comes over and places it by Jacob. He lifts the launcher onto the stand, tightening it to is and pressing a bu??on on the side. The drills turn on, digging into the roof below and giving it a firm grasp. He presses another bu??on to raise the stand up so the zipline is higher up, now tilting slightly downward toward the other roof.


    Jacob puts on one of the zipline belts and attaches a hook to the zipline.


    "Wait for me to detach before coming across, alright?" Jacob asks.


    "Alright," Page responds as she starts to put hers on.


    Jacob walks to the edge of the roof before pushing himself off, lifting his legs up and sliding along the zipline over the street below. Making it to the other side safely, he detaches his belt, and starts to take it off as Page starts to attach her hook to the zipline. Before she even thinks about going, the sound of a gun shot fills the air as the zipline wire splits in two.

 Chapter 22 - Cut Off

    Page quickly unhooks her zipline belt as the wire starts to fall down. As she takes the belt off her radio goes off.


    "Page, you alright?" Jacob''s voice asks from the radio. She grabs her radio to respond.


    "Yeah," She can see Jacob walk up to the edge of the roof he''s on, peering down at the street.


    "Alright...we need to find some place to meet up, this building''s entrance appears to be blocked off by a crash,"


    "How far are the docks?"


    "All the way on the other side of the city. I don''t think that''s a good idea, it''s best if we can regroup asap. These zombies are practically impossible for you to kill with just your pistol, and that bull, wherever it is, seems dead set on stomping us into the ground,"


    "Well, neither of us can just sit still and wait for the other one,"


    "...Fine, we''ll meet at the shipyard. See that tall building over there with the glowing red antenna?"


    Page looks over the sea of buildings, and far off past Jacob she can just b?r?ly make out a glowing red light.


    "Y-Yeah I see it,"


    "That''s the direction the shipyard is in. Try your best to check in with me, I''ll try to see if I can provide any cover fire for any zombies coming-Behind you!"


    Page quickly turns around, bringing up her gun, only to see the door to the stairs closing.


    "What was it?"


    "A person,"


    "A survivor?"


    "Not likely, they''re probably one of the two people who were in my office, be careful,"


    "I-I will,"


    Page puts her radio back on her belt before she cautiously approaches the entrance to the stairs, readying her gun as she places a hand on the handle. She swings open the door, drawing her gun to no one. She runs into the stairwell and up to the railing as she hears footsteps echoing through the whole place. She sees a door on the floor below her moving which is soon followed by the sound of a door closing.


    They might have the stuff from Jacob''s computer. But, he said finding a way off should be our priority.


    Page stand there for a solid minute, deciding what she should do. She heads down the stairs and walks up to the door the person had ran through. She opens the door, bringing up her gun to another empty area. Walking inside she enters what must be a large waiting room, a desk far off to her left, a large wall sitting behind it with a pair of double doors to the right of the desk. Some fancy looking chairs sit along the sides of the room near the desk, along with some potted plants. The ground is made of shiny tiles that are a golden color, so polished they reflect the ceiling. Some blood trails go towards the double doors.


    She''s about to go back into the stairwell when she hears gunshots coming from a door to her left. The door suddenly bursts open, a man in a black shirt, light brown pants and dark brown boots emerging from a janitor''s closet. They have a ?h?st holster and a leg holster. Page is completely caught off guard, staring at the man with a look of utter bafflement. The man is also caught off guard as he stares right back at her like someone who just tried to sneak into their house in the middle of the night but got caught.


    Before she can bring up her gun the man grabs something from his belt, throwing it up into the air and starting to run past her.


    "Wait-!" Page exclaims.


    Right before the thing goes off Page realizes its a flash grenade. As a bright flash fills the room, Page just manages to cover her eyes with her arms, the bang from the flash making her ears ring. While she''s recovering, the man takes the opportunity to head back into the stairwell.


    "I found the person," Page say, "But they used a flash bang and escaped," She closes the door to the hall before making her way back down to the eighth floor.


    "Did you get a good look at them?"


    "Yeah. A man, probably early forties, black shirt, brown pants and boots. I swear I''ve seen his face somewhere¡­he looks like...Derek Simmons¡­" She stops in her tracks just before she''s about to open the door to the eighth floor.


    "Derek Simmons? The guy responsible for the president''s death all those years ago?"


    "Y-Yeah...but it can''t be him...he died during the outbreak in China,"


    "Well whoever they are, they clearly don''t want us to know," Page enters the hall on the eighth floor, before she realizes something.


    "What''s the best way out of the police station? The fronts barricaded, and I''d rather not go down the fire escape to see the bull waiting for me,"


    "There''s a parking garage across the street, it''s connected to the station by an underground tunnel, but that also barricades which activate alongside the front''s barricades. You''ll have to get to the security room down on the first floor and use an unlock card, the boss always kept it in his office on the ninth floor. Top left drawer of his desk, a hidden compartment under all the papers,"


    "Got it,"


    She looks at the door to the ninth floor, the door wide open.


    Did that zombie, open the door? And then...fall over the railing?


    She glances back down at the bottom of the stairwell before walking into the ninth floor waiting room. Making her way to the double doors on the far end she walks by the desk, and sees the corpse of a woman on the ground behind it. Her throat is cut open, blood staining the tile around her. Some of the blood is still fresh, it couldn''t have happened too long ago. She hears muffled coughing coming from the other side of the double doors.


    She brings up her gun once more, a sinking feeling in her gut as she presses a hand on the cold metal handle on the door. She opens the door and aims at someone sitting at a large desk. A man with blood splattered on his right arm which is larger than his left, a single, long, sharp, claw where his hand had once been. The man looks to be in his fifties, in a dirty, now blood stained and partly torn dark blue suit. Some veins around his right eye are shown through his skin, which is green around the area of the veins. Another long appendage made of skinless, slightly green, muscle is sticking out of his back. A giant scythe with smaller fragmented edges on it is attached to the very end of the appendage.


    "Who are you?" The man asks aggressively as he stands up, slightly hunched over, "You''re working with that lying bastard Luther aren''t you!?" The man suddenly shouts, and in a violent rage, he jumps over the desk towards Page, the appendage on his back reeling back to slash at her. She quickly does a rolling jump to the side, the man landing where she was with a hard thud, the giant claw digging into the ground with ease. Page quickly stands up, shooting at the monster as she backs up. He uses his scythe to protect his head as he walks towards Page.


    She aims for his legs and shoots them. He falls to one knee from the pain. He raises his right arm, the limb on his back moving in sync with it. Page takes the chance to shoot him in the head, causing him to swing early. She has to jump to the side once more as the limb swings at her, stretching a couple feet and breaking the ground right next to where she had been. The guy places his left hand on his face as he recovers from the pain, the bullet in his head falling out as his body fills up the wound. Page takes the chance to shoot him two more times in the face. The man gets up, stumbling backwards. Before she can shoot him in the head again he shields it with his scythe once more.


    The man suddenly heads to the other side of the office, and uses his scythe to tear off a vent cover on the ceiling, unfazed by Page''s shots to his back. He jumps up with inhuman strength, grabbing the bottom of the vent and crawling up into it and out of sight.


    Page hurries over to the desk as she hears something moving through the vents. She sees a picture in a frame on the desk, its the guy that just went into the vents. Opening the top left drawer, she throws papers out of the way and sees a small cut out in the bottom. Pulling it off reveals a card. She puts it in her pocket and hurries out of the office, the sounds from the vents fading away as the creature moving inside them gets away.


    "Jacob," She says into her radio as she hears for the stairwell, keeping an eye on the vent openings on the walls, "I found your boss. He''s heavily mutated and moving through the vents right now,"


    "As if I didn''t hate Romero enough as a normal person¡­" Jacob replies in an annoyed, agitated tone, "Try to stay near windows facing the building across the intersection, I''ll see if I can''t help you if he shows his face, I''ve been dying to shoot it for awhile now,"


    "I''ll try, I''m heading to the first floor right now,"


    Page gets halfway down the stairs, reaching the door to the fifth floor when she hears a door upstairs open up. She glances up the stairwell, seeing someone else above her looking up. She recognizes their black shirt and holster, and quickly hurries down the stairs. As she rushes down the steps she can hear them heading down the stairs after her.


    Reaching the first floor, Page enters a short hall leading to a large lobby, two zombies roaming about, metal shutters blocking the front door and all the windows. Heading to the front of the lobby where a large desk sits, She sees a door to a room labeled, "Security". As she hurries over to it, something can be heard in the vents following her. She goes to open the door, but it''s locked. She turns around, seeing that the zombie by the front doors is in a security guard outfit. The other zombie is a couple feet away from the security guard one, both of them walking towards her.


    Hoping the key isn''t on the zombie, she hurries over to the desk, a vent sitting right above it. She starts scanning the desk counters, keeping one eye on the vent above as the sounds from above get louder.


    Come on. Please be here, don''t be on the zombie...Damnit! Nothing¡­


    Before she can look at the security guard zombie, whose only a couple feet away now, she hears the door to the stairwell closing. As she turns to the right of the lobby, the air vent above starts to break. She side steps just in time as Romero comes crashing down from above, the tile below him cracking and breaking. Page turns and runs to distance herself before Romero can swing at her. As she turns back and aims at Romero she sees the guy who looks like Derek Simmons, standing at the end of the hall.


    Being a bit busy at the moment, Page keeps most of her attention on Romero, shooting at him as he starts to move towards her.


    "Tell me where Luther is!" Romero exclaims.


    When he rushes at her and goes to swing, she runs towards the front of the building, b?r?ly avoiding his scythe. She sees a ring with keys on the security zombie''s belt, and looks to the shutters blocking the windows.


    Page shoots at Romero, shooting him in the legs and causing him to fall to one knee again. She turns to see the zombies are a bit too close. She heads to the desk as she aims at the security zombie. She pulls the trigger only for her gun to click. She quickly pulls her bag up, grabbing some bullets and putting them in the magazine. She nearly drops it as Romero jumps at her. The bottom of her leg gets scratched by the scythe as she runs out of the way.


    She fills up the magazine and clicks it into place.


    "Tell me-!"


    Romero is cut off by gun shots to the face. He stumbles back a bit, Page taking the chance to aim at the security zombie and shooting it in the head. After three shots its head is severely damaged and the zombie falls down to the ground. Page quickly takes out the other zombie and hurries over to the security guard as its head starts to regenerate. It takes a bit of struggling, but she manages to get the key ring off the belt. Romero is still recovering from the head shots. As she runs for the security office, the bullets in his head fall out. There''s three keys on the ring. She tries the first key, doesn''t fit. Tries the second one. It fits.


    Before Page can turn the handle she hears a roar of anger from behind. She turns to see Romero charging at her. As she jumps out of the way a gun fires, hitting Romero in the back of the head and causing him to run into the wall. Page turns to the other side of the lobby, seeing the Derek look alike holding up a pistol, glaring at Romero with a burning hatred.


    Romero is a bit dazed from the impact, stumbling back a bit as he recovers from the dizziness.


    "That''s, it!" He shouts as the limb on his back stabs into one of the zombies. As he turns around, he hurls the zombie at Page. She ducks to avoid it, the Derek look alike shoots at Romero as he picks up the other zombie. Romero hurls it at the Derek look alike, who jumps to the side.


    Damnit, he''s in front of the door.


    Page unloads the rest of her clip into Romero, backing up as he starts to move towards her. Romero takes a small step back, the limb on his back getting ready to strike. As he steps forward the limb comes flying at her. Placing a hand on the desk, she pushes herself up and over to the other side of the desk. Her and the Derek look alike continue to shoot at Romero. Romero starts to hunch over as they continue to shoot at him. The limb on his back starts to grow thicker as his voice starts to have a growl to it.


    "You think, you can kill me?!" He shouts as he stands back up, his pupils ovals like a wild animal, his right eye now yellow, "I won''t die until I kill Luther with my own two hands!" Romero charges at them. Page steels herself as she readies to do something she remembers seeing Jacob do a long time ago. As he nears them Page starts to run at Romero. As his scythe limb slashes sideways she falls to the floor, sliding under it and past him. The Derek look alike dives to the side, quickly getting up onto his knees and continuing to shoot at Romero, a baffled by what Page just did.


    Page hurries to the security room, opening the door and running over to a large red bu??on that sits next to a card reader. She swipes the card through the reader, the bu??on lighting up. Pressing it, she can hear the shutters opening up, along with more gunshots. She hurries back out to see the Derek look alike get slashed in the arm.


    Page brings up her gun and shoots the last two bullets in the clip, catching Romero''s attention. As she goes to reload Romero starts to move toward her, but as the shutters are almost done opening, something breaks through the window and shoots him in the back.


    "Take that you piece of shit!" Jacob''s voice yells from Page''s radio, "Turn around so I can shoot your face!"


    "Jacob?!" Romero says with a look of bafflement and fury, "So you were a spy all along?!" He says as he turns to the windows, running up to them and looking around for Jacob. A gunshot echoes as a bullet hits Romero in the head, causing him to stumble back and cover his face. The bullet quickly falls out, Romero moving back to the window.


    "Once I kill your friends, I''m coming for you!" He shouts at the window. His attention is caught once more when Page runs for the stairwell, the Derek look alike quickly following. Romero disappears back into the vents as he goes to chase them.

 Chapter 23 - Cave In

    As Page hurries down to the sub floor, she sees the puddle of blood from the zombie that fell is now spreading, almost like a plant. As she hears footsteps following she hurries through the door into a large open tunnel. Cars are scattered about, some parked, some crashed. Two cars are crashed into a large gas tanker, gasoline pouring out onto the ground.


    As Page heads down the tunnel she hears someone running behind her, the door to the stairwell closing shut. She turns around, aiming her gun to an empty tunnel. Nothing but cars.


    It must be that Derek look alike, Romero definitely wouldn''t hide. He helped me fight that monster off but, that doesn''t mean he''s on my side. He hasn''t shot at me yet, so I guess I should hurry to the shipyard.


    As she continues walking down the tunnel her radio goes off.


    "You make it to the tunnel?" Jacob asks.


    "Yeah, no sign of Romero at the moment, I''m pretty sure that guy who looks like Derek is following¡­" Page stops walking.


    "Page? You still there?"


    "Yeah...Derek Simmons died in China right?"


    "Yeah,"


    "...When we were sent to China to help evacuate civilians, we were with Luther. What did you and Luther do when we got separated from that crash?" Jacob is is hesitant to respond, "What did you do?" She asks with a worried tone.


    "...I led Luther to the quad tower, it was the last place Leon and Helena had been spotted. After that I secured an escape vehicle while he tried to get a sample of the virus Ada Wong had infected him with. He came back instead with Derek''s body,"


    "You don''t think Luther found a way to bring people back from the dead do-"


    Page gets cut off mid sentence as Romero comes crashing into the tunnel through a vent in the side. Romero swings his scythe limb at her, causing her to drop her radio as jumps back. She''s about to run before realizing her radio''s on the ground. She goes to shoot his head but he blocks. He''s learning quickly, moving his scythe down to his legs to block her shots at them. She quickly goes to shoot him in the head and then back down to the legs, but those shots get blocked.


    He swings his scythe limb around, but much wider than usual, causing her to get hit by the limb. She''s pulled close to him as its wraps around her, trapping her right arm.


    "You''re gonna have to try something new," Romero says irritably as Page struggles to break free. It starts to become harder to breath as the limb tightens around her.


    With her left arm she manages to grab her taser, plunging it into Romero''s side. He screams in pain as his whole body is filled with electricity. His scythe limb lets her go as he stumbles back, b?r?ly catching himself as he falls to one knee. Page grabs her radio and starts running for the parking garage yards away, but the pain in her leg slows her down. Being squeezed by the limb caused the scratch to open up slightly, blood now starting to stain her pants and trickle down her leg.


    Romero let''s out a roar of anger as he finally recovers from the stunning pain. He starts to charge at Page. She slides over the hood of a nearby car and runs to the side. Romero runs into the car, using his scythe limb to throw the car into the air. It comes falling down with a crash, landing upside and the windows breaking. The alarm goes off, the echo if the tunnel making it a thousand times louder. They all have to cover their ears from the obnoxious noise. In a fit of rage, Romero crushes the car with his scythe limb, the alarm finally shutting up.


    As Romero catches his breath from the tantrum, Page takes the chance to distance herself, running past the crashed cars and large puddle of gas. She starts shooting at Romero, managing to shoot him in the side a couple times. He starts moving towards her and the puddle of gas.


    Come on, a couple more steps.


    With a soft splash his right foot steps onto the puddle, then his left foot. Page shoots the puddle near his feet, nothing happening. Romero stares down where she shot and laughs.


    "This isn''t a movie," He says as he kicks the bullet out from the little indent it made in the ground.


    As he''s distracted, she quickly grabs her taser, tying the handle so the trigger is held down on its own, and chucks it at him. As the taser lands on the ground, the sparks touch the gas, which bursts into flames. Romero screams in agony as the flames engulf him. Page quickly runs away from the gas tanker, seeing the Derek look alike to her left doing the same. As Romero is burned alive the flames reach the gas tanker, exploding.


    Page dives behind a car as shrapnel flies everywhere. She waits a couple seconds before standing up, having to grab onto the car for support as she stands, the pain in her leg weighing her down. She sees the ceiling above has collapsed inward, the street above visible. Romero''s charred body lay under some rubble. To her surprise he starts to move, pulling himself out from the rubble, his whole body and the scythe limb still in tact.


    You''ve got to be kidding Me! I was hoping to save as much ammo for it as possible, but better safe than sorry.


    Page puts her hanging in its holster and grabs the magnum from her bag. She holds it with two hands, aiming at Romero''s head. Romero starts to talk as he stumbles towards her with a heavy limp.


    "I-It...will take-"


    Page fires, the bullet going straight through Romero''s head. His corpse falls to the ground one last time.


    "Finally¡­" Page mutters under her breath as she finally has a chance to catch it. The pain in her right leg comes back to remind her that the injury is still there.


    "Hey, you alright?" Jacob''s voice asks through the radio, "A part of the street just caved in,"


    "Yeah, I''m alright. Blew up a gas tanker to kill your old boss,"


    "Did he suffer?" Jacob asks coldly, catching Page off guard.


    "...He, caught on fire before hand¡­" There''s no response, "Jacob, is everything alright? You''re kind of worrying me,"


    "Y-Yeah...I just, really hated him, he was a man who abused his power, wanted to make sure he got what he deserved. You should try to see if you can find a vehicle to drive out of there, zombies are starting to move in towards the hole in the road, it really caught their attention,"


    "A-Alright," Looking around, Page sees the Derek look alike...no, Derek, the real Derek crouched behind some large indent in the wall, a piece of shrapnel in his left leg. The wall facing the middle of the tunnel has a window that''s been shattered. A first aid box sits on the wall. She glances at Derek, whose focused on the shrapnel, that''s about the size of her hand, in his leg, "I''m on it, see ya at the shipping yard,"


    This man killed the president, along with thousands of other innocent lives. Why should I help him? He shouldn''t even be alive¡­


    She stares at his expression of pure agony as he grabs the shrapnel. He takes a deep breath and with shouts and groans of pain, starts to pull out the piece. As he finishes pulling it out Page walks over to him.


    "Stay here...I''ll, bandage your wound¡­" Page says in a harsh tone, giving him a cold stare before walking past him and to the door leading to the room with the first-aid. He looks up at her with a confused look, wincing a bit from the pain in his leg. She enters the room and walks over to the first-aid, opening it up on a nearby table and pulling out some rubbing alcohol, cotton, and gauze. Putting some alcohol on a cotton, she takes a deep breath before rubbing it on her wound, the burning pain increasing tenfold. Throwing the cotton ball to the side, She wraps some gauze around the wound, making sure it''s nice and tight.


    Her wound now covered, Page takes the first-aid and heads outside, Derek nowhere in sight. The only evidence of him ever being there is the bloody shrapnel he had pulled out from his leg and some drops of blood making a trail that only goes a couple steps before disappearing.


    I should have drawn my gun on him¡­


    Page''s attention is drawn to the hole in the ceiling as a zombie falls down through it. Than another, and another. She quickly speed walks towards the parking garage, unable to fully sprint from the injury. She realizes that the parking garage really is darker than the police station side as all the lights are out. She grabs her gun, turning on the flashlight as she starts to head into the darkness.


    As she enters the parking garage, which is filled with tons of cars, she sees light shining on the ramp leading to the first floor. Several zombies swarm the floor she''s on, and shining her light towards the ramp leading further down, she sees it''s full of zombies. The sounds of the dead start to fill the parking garage, but there''s also a humming of an engine. Turning to the left she sees an suv with its headlights and interior lights on. Luckily only a few zombies anywhere near it. She starts to hurry over to it when her radio goes off again.


    "Page, hurry, the-!"


    His voice gets drowned out by the roaring of an angry bull. Turning around she sees the mutated bull from the fields jumping down into the tunnel from the hole in the ceiling, attacking the zombies that had fallen through. It quickly takes them all out, than sees Page''s light from her gun. It starts scraping one of its front hooves along the ground and snorting as it gets ready to charge.


    "You''ve gotta be fu?k?n? kidding me," She mutters to herself right before the bull starts to charge. She runs to the car, ignoring the burning pain in her leg, and opens the driver''s door. A zombie comes falling out towards her. She jumps out of the way just in time, the zombie falling down onto the ground below. Before it has a chance of trying to grab her ankles, she jumps into the car. She quickly scans the seats next to and around her for any other zombies. All clear. She jumps as the car to her left comes crashing into the side of the car she''s in, slamming the door shut.


    Buckling up, Page throws the car in reverse and slams her foot on the gas. As she moves backwards, she makes a sharp right. The bull comes into view of the headlights as it moves to the back of the car is just rammed into. She presses her foot on the gas once more as she straightens the wheel, putting her right arm over the side of the seat and looking through the back window as. As she''s reversing down the aisle, the bull starts to charge at her. Reaching the end of the aisle, she turns left, the bull continuing to charge forward and running into the wall.


    While it''s stuck, Page puts the car in drive and drives past the pull and back down the aisle she was in towards the ramp. She sees a figure to the right, unable to make out the details as the darkness covers their face. They back up a bit and start running towards her.


    Are they going to jump in front of me?!


    As she drives past them, they jump onto the car, grabbing onto the roof rack. The light from the interior lights reveal that it''s Derek. He reaches for the handle to the back passenger door. Page quickly locks the doors, Derek pulling on the handle several times, visibly irritated that it refuses to open. She quickly turns left and approaches the ramp when she sees the bull rounding the corner on the other side. She pushes on the gas as hard as she can as she approaches the ramp, the bull charging towards her. As she makes a sharp left onto the ramp she sees Derek is still holding on.


    What is he even trying to do? If the bull comes near the car he''ll be torn apart by its horns or tails¡­


    As Page drives up the ramp she glances at the unlock bu??on. Reaching the top she makes a sharp u-turn to the left and heads for the exit, which is filled with zombies. They''ll pass through it in less than a minute. She unlocks the car, Derek quickly opening the door and jumping inside.


    "Thanks," He says full of relief as he pulls the door shut just before they hit the wall of zombies, blood splattering onto the front and side windows. He quickly throws on a seatbelt.


    "Don''t, thank me," Page replies as she turns on the wipers and sprayers, "I don''t want to be thanked for helping a murderer ," Finally getting some vision she sees they''re about to run into another horde of zombies. She swerves to the left and drives around them, continuing down the road straight ahead. Before they drive through the intersection she sees the police station to their right.


    Alright, I gotta make a left and keep going straight, but what the hell do I do about Simmons?!? I can''t just bring him with me, I don''t even know why he''s here! I''ll find some place to drop him off, somewhere out of the way.


    Her thoughts get interrupted as she sees the bull in the rearview mirror, its catching up somehow. Derek notices her worried expression, looking out the back window and seeing the bull.


    "Go faster!" He exclaims as he turns to Page.


    "I''m going as fast as I can!" She yells back.


    At this speed it''s impossible to drive in a straight line from having to dodge all the zombies and cars. Reaching an intersection, she slams on the breaks as she makes a hard left, Derek being shoved against the door and Page having to hold onto the wheel with all her strength to keep herself in her seat. As soon as they turn all the way left she takes her foot off the break and slams the gas, taking off down the road. However, the road ahead is blocked off by several crashed cars, most of them on fire. Quickly approaching the barricade, Page slams on the breaks, making a sharp u-turn.


    As they turn around, the headlights shine onto the intersection, showing the bull rounding the corner.


    "Does that bull have a gps on us?!" Derek exclaims.


    Page drives forward, swerving to the right to avoid the bull as it charges at them. The bull rams into the side of the car, causing them to turn right and drive into a nearby building with glass walls. They drive through tables and zombies, then crash into a wall.

 Chapter 24 - Urgent Care

    Page and Derek are left dazed and a bit bruised from the impact, but otherwise unharmed. The suv on the other hand, is damaged beyond repair, the engine slowly dying as it starts to leak. The headlights are fading in and out, shining into an empty restaurant kitchen that it has crashed into the outer wall of. The hood of the car is in the kitchen while the rest of it is in the dining area.


    As Page and Derek recover from the dizziness, Page pushes the airbag away as it starts to deflate. They both lean away from the windows as zombies suddenly press up against the sides of the car, trying to get it, hitting their hands against the glass which manages to stay intact. They quickly unbuckle themselves and look for anyway out of the car, meanwhile the sound of the bull roaring can be heard. As they turn to the back window, the bull slams into the car, heavily denting the trunk of the car, and causing the windows on the sides to start cracking. The bull starts to back up to charge again.


    Page notices that the front window, which is cracked slightly, is in the kitchen area, safe from the zombies.


    "Get up and help me with this," Page states as she lifts her legs up onto the dashboard. Not wanting to be crushed by the bull, Derek quickly climbs his way to the front passenger seat. He puts his legs up and just as they''re about to kick the window, the bull rams into the car again, tearing off part of the back, the windows cracking even more. The sides of the car are now surrounded by zombies, all trying to break into the car.


    "On three," Page quickly says, "One, two, three!"


    They kick the glass simultaneously, the cracks on the window spreading rapidly, but it''s still in place. The bull backs up for another charge.


    "One, two, three!"


    They kick again, the window shattered, some pieces flying at them nad lightly cutting them. They quickly climb out onto the hood and slide off the sides into the kitchen as the bull charges at the car once more, the windows on the sides finally breaking. The car jerks forward a bit, Page and Derek quickly distancing themselves from the car. Zombies quickly start entering the windows, the ones behind them shoving them through as they try to enter as well.


    There''s a door leading to a storage room in the back left corner of the room. It''s open, showing a large shutter door on the other side of the room.


    "This way!" Page exclaims as she signals for Derek to follow. The two run into the storage room where lots of boxes of various foods and fridges sit at the sides, some stained in blood. Two chains on pulleys connected to the shutters sit on both sides of it. Page hurries over to the one on the left while Derek goes to the one on the right. They can hear the car being rammed by the bull in the distance as they desperately pull on the chains, the shutter door slowly opening up. They get halfway up when they hear an even louder crash coming from the kitchen.


    Glancing behind they see some debri falling down and the car halfway into the kitchen, the wall around crumbling apart and making a large whole, almost big enough for the bull to fit through.


    "Hold on as much as you can," Derek says, "I''m gonna get under and hold it up,"


    "A-Alright," Page says as she tightens her grip on the chain. Derek lets go of his chain, Page already struggling at stopping hers from moving while Derek hurries to the shutters. He stands under the shutters, holding his hands to the sides of his head as he uses all his strength to keep it open.


    "H-Hurry!" He says as the weight of the shutters becomes heavier by the second. Page hurries under, and as soon as she''s in the clear Derek shoves the door up and lets go, hurrying out from under it before it comes crashing down onto the ground with a hard slam. The two stand their for a bit before as they catch their breath, luckily the unloading zone their in has no zombies in it, but the street it leads to does. They jump when the shutters become heavily dented as sounds of a raging bull come from the other side.


    The two hurry to the street, the bull breaking through the shutters as they reach it. As they run through swarms of zombies that try to grab them as they run past, the bull quickly shows up behind them, mowing down zombies left and right. They hurry over to a nearby building, trying to the front doors but its locked. Before they run the bull catches up to them. As Page brings her arms up to shield herself Derek grabs onto her using himself as a shield just as the bull''s horns reach them.


    Derek screams in agony as one of the bull''s horns stabs into his lower back. The force launches the two into the door and breaking the lock. They fall to the ground on a cold wood floor, Page being pinned to the ground by Derek''s weight. Weak and starting to lose consciousness, Derek falls over onto his side, then onto his back. The bull tries to break through the small doorway, but to no avail, the walls won''t budge. Furious, the bull lets out an angry snort before going back to the streets and attacking nearby zombies.


    Page sees the blood starting to stain the floor around Derek and quickly grabs her radio.


    "J-Jacob, where''s the hospital in this town?!"


    "Hey, calm down," His voice responds, "Where are you?"


    "Um," Page quickly looks around, looking at what she can from the lights outside. The floors are wood, and there''s some tables and chairs near them, a stool a couple feet away off to the right, "A bar I think,"


    "There''s a lot of bars in this city, can you find the name of it?"


    Page grabs her gun, using it''s flashlight to look around. There''s a bar with several stools, luckily no zombies, but some blood stained furniture suggest there were at some point. There''s a sign on the wall behind the bar, it reads, "Mercy".


    "There''s a sign saying Mercy," She responds.


    "Mercy...you''re pretty damn lucky, the hospital is connected to that bar through an alley you can get to through a door across from the entrance. Place had so many injuries and casualties they named it after the hospital and connected them,"


    "Thanks,"


    "Why do you need to go there? You don''t sound severely injured?"


    Page glances at Derek, his eyes b?r?ly open as he does nothing but focus on breathing.


    "I found someone severely injured,"


    "Were they bit?"


    "No, attacked by the bull,"


    "Alright, be safe, we don''t know if that fu?ker can infect people or not,"


    "I will,"


    Page quickly puts her radio back on her belt as she walks over to Derek. Kneeling down she places a hand under his shoulder.


    "Come on, I need to get you to the hospital," She says as she starts to push him up. He groans in pain as he does everything he can to sit up. Through much struggle and pain, he manages to rise onto his two feet with Page''s help. Derek on her left, she puts his right arm over her right shoulder before tey start walking to the door leading to the alley. A red sign with a white cross sits next to it.


    Opening up the door the two head into a thin alleyway, buildings on both sides of them. On the other end of the alley is a much cleaner looking building with a pair of glass doors leading inside. As they make their way over to it she can feel Derek become heavier as he continues to lose consciousness, b?r?ly hanging in there.


    "Come on, just a little farther," She says worryingly, "I didn''t unlock the door so you could die on me," As they approach the glass doors, they open automatically. They enter a tiny lobby with a small desk that has a glass shield around it, a small window in the middle for people to speak through. Blood stains the tiny room where a receptionist should be, the lights in the lobby flickering. It''s much dirtier in here than the outside suggested. Some beer bottles lay on the ground under some seats.


    She takes Derek to the left of the desk down a small hall, some of the lights completely out, some fully working, and one near the end of the hall is also flickering. She opens the first door on the left they reach. A room with a bed and some chairs sit tidy and clean, the light in the room already on and welcoming them inside. They walk inside and she takes Derek over to the bed, laying him down on top of it. She closes the door before looking around for any medicine. She hears the door open and she turns to see a woman pointing a gun at her. Her eyes are filled with fear and her skin is a bit pale. One of her arms has a bite mark and there''s some blood on her uniform.


    "W-Who are you?!" She exclaims with shaking berath.


    "I-I''m just trying to find some medicine and gauze, he''s badly hurt," Page replies as she holds her hands up. The nurse looks at Derek than back at her.


    "Was he bitten?"


    "No, there was, an explosion, and he get hit by some shrapnel in his back. I pulled it out and brought him here as fast as I could,"


    The nurse glances at Derek before she starts nodding.


    "O-Okay...I''ll get some supplies. You stay here, you hear me? I don''t want any funny business," Page nods as the woman backs away into the hall, closing the door behind her.


    Poor woman, she''s clearly lost her sanity from this outbreak. I don''t know if she''s lucky to have survived this long, or unlucky enough to have to suffer like that, she must know she''s bit and that her time is short...


    After some time the nurse comes back with a cart, some medical supplies on it, and the gun as well. She undoes the straps off his ?h?st holster.


    "Help me turn him over," The nurse states as she stands on the right side of the bed. Page stands at the left side and they turn him onto his back, Derek groaning in pain. The wound on his back is pretty severe, a large hole showing some bone and exposed muscle, though it looks less severe than what Page expected. The nurse pulls the holster off him and his rifle, putting it on a nearby nightstand.


    "Help me with his shirt,"


    With more groans of agony, they take off Derek''s shirt. The nurse grabs a wet towel and start dabbing the area around the wound, cleaning off the blood. With every second the nurse looks closer and closer to death. The crazed look in her eyes is more focused and calm than before though as she does what''s natural to her. The blood cleaned off, the nurse puts the towel in a small bucket of water at the bottom of the cart. She grabs another towel, putting some disinfectant on it. As she dabs the towel on the wound Derek''s body twitches from the sudden searing pain.


    Undeterred, the nurse makes sure to get every spot. She than wraps gauze around Derek''s lower abdomen, Page helping her whenever it gets to her side of the bed. When they finish they turn him onto his back. His eyes closed, Derek is unconscious.


    "That''s all I can do for now," The nurse says, "I''ll go find a doctor," And she takes the cart and leaves the room. Page stares at the door, shaken by the woman''s demented demeanor. Not too much time passes before she hears the cart crash onto its side.


    Page walks out into the hall, seeing the nurse on the ground, everything on the cart spilled all over the floor. Hoping to stop the transformation, Page brings her gun up, aiming at the woman''s head. She hesitates as her finger lays on the trigger. After some time staring at the pain and fear in the woman''s eyes, she pulls it. The nurse''s body stops moving.


    That look will never stop putting shivers down my spine, despite all the times I''ve seen it. How is it that Jacob can pull the trigger with so little hesitation? At least I''ve sparred her from becoming one of those things.


    A bit shaken up, page puts her gun away and heads back into the room where Derek rests. She walks up to him, noticing that his breathing has already calmed down and he seems to be sleeping rather peacefully.


    I can''t believe I brought him here...I just saved the life of a guy who killed thousands of innocent people. But, why is he here of all places, surely this can''t be a coincidence.


    As thoughts go through her mind she can''t help but notice his shirtless torso.


    He''s a lot more built than I thought, never thought the evil business man type to workout. Though...he''s no Jacob¡­


    She glances over at his shirt laying by the sniper rifle on the nightstand.


    Son of a bitch. Was he the one shooting at us back in the market?! If he was, then why the hell did he help me? God, I understand viruses better than I understand men.


    Her thoughts get interrupted when she hears stuff being kicked around and the shuffling of feet outside.

 Chapter 25 - Help

    Are you kidding me? She still transformed?! Maybe...maybe there''s just another zombie or something¡­


    Page readies her gun as she heads to the door. She places her hand on the doorknob, but before she goes to turn it, she glances at Derek, laying asleep on the bed.


    What if something manages to get in while he''s unconscious? There''s a lock on the door, maybe there''s a spare key at the reception desk I can use to lock it. Hopefully whatever''s out there is out of hearing range now.


    Page turns the handle to the door, slowly opening it and peeking into the hallway. It''s empty, with nothing but the sound of the flickering lights breaking the silence. Looking to the left, she sees the nurse''s body is gone with nothing but the small puddle of blood from the bullet wound remaining. The stuff that fell off the cart is more scattered about as well. Looking to the right it''s empty, the door to the reception desk is partly open, that must have been where the nurse was hiding when Page came in with Derek.


    As Page steps into the hall she keeps glancing in both directions, the echos from her footsteps running all around her. She carefully closes the door to Derek''s room, only a very soft click when it shuts. The air feels completely different from when she came rushing in with Derek, the place seemed more, welcoming, a bit brighter somehow. Making her way to the door left ajar, she enters the receptionist room. She''s shocked to see the corpse of a man laying against the back wall, hidden out of sight from anyone on the other side of the desk. The blood on the wall, it''s too much to have been all from them, a lot more must happened in here.


    The man is in a blood-stained lab coat, parts of his skin are grey, but most of the skin is tinted slightly green. Luckily he''s not showing any signs of rapid regeneration.


    If I keep the door open, something may sneak up behind me...but if it''s closed and this doctor ends up coming back than I''m trapped in here with him.


    Looking around the room she sees an office chair, giving her an idea. She moves the chair near the door, so it''s impossible to get into the room without moving it, and it''s impossible for the dead guy to come back to life, if he does, without moving it too. Walking up to the desk, she looks around a mess of papers thrown about, some covered in blood and illegible. No keys. Looking through some drawers, she finds nothing, until she opens the middle one. A single key, hopefully the master key to all the patient rooms. As she closes the drawer and is about to exit the room, a hand slams against the glass.


    The nurse from before stands on the other side, a bloody green bump on her head where the bullet hole was. Her skin is similar to that of the doctor''s, but more green. Her jaw is a bit lop-sided, showing her teeth are all sharp like the grey zombies. Her eyes glow a yellowish-red, and some veins bulge out of the skin slightly. The nurse suddenly starts to stumble to the right side of the desk towards the hall, at an awkward speed that''s not slow, but yet, not even remotely fast. Page hurries out of the room, pushing the chair aside. Entering the hall she aims her gun at the nurse as she comes into view.


    She shoots the zombie in it''s head, stopping it in its tracks. It hunches over a bit, it''s head starting to shake violently. It suddenly starts to split open, the bump on the head being the center of the opening. Parts of the face start to open up, like a flower blossoming, but much bloodier and disturbing to watch. Most of the face folded open, a large round thing covered with several small eyes is revealed, along with a short tentacle like limb tipped with sharp bones.


    Page is completely shocked at what she just witnessed as the zombie starts to move in closer towards her, the tentacle now flailing about aggressively. She manages to get a grip on herself and aims at the zombie once more, aiming for the eye thing in its head. She shoots it, landing a direct hit. The zombie starts to stumble towards her, the flailing tentacle going absolutely crazy now. Page jumps back to avoid getting slashed at by it. She shoots it two more times, and the eyes all suddenly start to shake, than combust. The body falls to the ground, the tentacle becoming limp. A putrid smell of rotting meat, and soiled vegetables cooking fills the air as the body catches fire, and melts into a puddle of burnt blood.


    "...What the fu?k¡­" Page mutters to herself as she takes in deep breaths to calm herself, "Can''t any of these things just be normal zombies?"


    After staring at the puddle for a few more seconds, accepting what she just saw, Page goes to the room Derek''s in. Opening the door she sees Derek is still sound asleep. She closes it once more and puts the key in the lock, to her relief it fits. She locks the door and puts the key in her pocket before looking down the right side of the hall.


    That just leads back to the bar, and to the streets...it''s impossible to travel outside with that bull and all those zombies. There must be some way around...Wait, Derek, if he was the one shooting at us back at the market, than he must have the thing he used to swing over the street!


    Page unlocks the door and enters, quietly closing the door to not disturb his slumber. Looking at Derek, she sees the holster on his right leg, what looks like a magnum is placed in it, but the bottom of the holster is much larger than a normal holster would be. She walks up to the left side of the bed, glancing once more at Derek''s face to make sure he''s still unconscious before she reaches for the gun. As her hand nears the handle, he starts to move. She quickly draws her hand back as he starts to speak,"


    "A-Ada?" He murmurs as he starts to open his eyes. Fully opening his eyes, he becomes more awake as he finds himself staring at Page. He looks around the room than back to her.


    "Where am I? Where''s my-" He winces in pain as he tries to push himself up.


    "Hey, easy," Page says as she places a hand on his shoulder, gently pushing him back down onto the bed, "We were close to a hospital after getting shoved into the bar by the bull. I brought you here,"


    Derek just stares at her with a look of utter confusion, disbelief, and distrust.


    "...Why?" He finally asks.


    "Why, what?"


    "Why did you, bring me here?" He asks with winded breath.


    "Well, you jumped between me and the bull''s horns, so this was the least I could do to thank you,"


    Derek''s expression changes hearing her response, becoming a bit softer and surprised. Derek goes to push himself up again, and manages to sit up.


    "How long have I been out?" He asks as he turns to the left, seeing his stuff on the nightstand.


    "Not more than a few minutes, actually," As Derek turns his body to the left and gets off the bed Page is surprised by how little blood is on the bandages, b?r?ly any blood stains them.


    "Have you been standing there this whole time?" Derek asks as he puts his shirt and ?h?st holster on.


    "No, I got a key to lock the door so I could leave you," Derek stops putting his holster on for a moment before continuing.


    "...Then why did you come back?"


    "Well I have no reliable way out of here," Derek reaches for his rifle, "And seeing your rifle I kind of figured that you were the one shooting at us back in the market," Derek once more pauses as he holds the rifle in his hands before he continues to drape the strap over his shoulder, "I thought you might have the grapple thing you used to swing over the street,"


    "And what if I do?"


    "Well I was hoping to just take it while you were asleep, but now you''re awake...So I guess I have no choice but to ask for your help,"


    "Help?" He asks, looking at her with a baffled and irritated expression as he walks towards her, "You know I''m the one who shot at you in the market, yet you''re asking for my help?"


    "Yes," She replies bluntly, standing her ground, "And I also know who you are, Derek Clifford Simmons, ex-leader of the Family, and responsible for the bio-terrorist attack at Tall Oaks, resulting in the death of the president. I read the reports of the China incident and even a couple more that I wasn''t supposed to,"


    Derek is left at a loss for words.


    "But none of that really matters at the moment since I need to travel across a city full of zombies, and get to the shipping yard. So, will you help me?"


    "...Sure,"


    "Great," She replies with a slight smile, her focused expression lighting up a bit, "Let''s get moving then, but, take it slow, and be careful. These zombies seem to always have their own unique quirks,"


    Page heads for the door and goes to open it, but notices Derek is just standing there.


    "Simmons? Need a second to rest?"


    "N-No, I''m fine," He says as he walks up to her.


    Page opens the door, glancing out into the hallway before opening the door all the way and exiting the room, Derek following. Guns drawn, the two turn left and walk further into the hospital. As they reach the end of the hall they stop at the sound of something falling over. They turn around to see a zombie walking out from the reception room, it''s the doctor Page stumbled upon. Derek grabs his pistol and shoots it, hitting it in the head. The zombie falls to the floor with an echoed thud. Derek lowers his gun as the two of them stare at the zombie to make sure it stays dead. No movement.


    The two turn back around and walk into a large lobby, a pair of sliding glass doors are to their left leading to a small entrance room with another pair of sliding doors that lead out to what looks like a garden. In front of them is another hall going deeper into the hospital. To the right are some stairs, and near the stairs is another hall. Some tables are placed to the right of the stairs with some papers and ??ptops that have been thrown around on the ground. Blood trails near the tables trail up to the stairs.


    "Let''s go out there real quick, I need to contact-" Page gets interrupted when they someone m??ning behind them. They turn around to the see the zombie starting to rise from the ground, their head fully green and the bullet hole gone.


    "Guess the first one didn''t do the trick," Derek says irritably as he brings up his gun.


    "Wait, don''t-!" Page tries to warn him before he shoots the zombie in the head again. The zombie steps back from the impact, its head leaning back a bit. As its head comes back forward, it starts to shake.


    "What the-" Derke mutters to himself as the head suddenly starts to rip open, revealing a large red sack with some eye around it. tentacles emerge from under the head, one tipped with a sharp bone, the other with a round blobby thing that looks like a plastic bag filled with blood. Derek aims to shoot it again but Page lowers his arms.


    "Come on, let''s head outside, we can deal with it later," Derek glances at the thing before looking back at her. With a sigh of annoyance, he lowers his gun and the two head out into the garden area. As they exit the hospital Page''s radio starts to pick up a signal.


    "Pa...P...ge! Page?! You there?!" Jacob''s voice exclaims.


    "I''m here," Page says as she picks up her radio.


    "I forgot that hospitals blocked radio waves. How you holding up?"


    "I''m fine, I''m in some sort of garden that''s part of the hospital,"


    "That place is walled off from the streets, so enjoy the fresh air while you can. How''s the injured person, did they turn?" Page glances at Derek who looks away, "He''s fine, there was a nurse who helped me, but she had been bit, and I had to take her out,"


    "Oh, so it was a guy. He must be your type if you were so worried about him,"


    "That''s not why I helped him!" Page retaliates, "He was severely injured and in need of help, you would have done the same, wouldn''t you?"


    "...Sure," Jacob replies with an unconvincing tone, "So are you going to stay at the hospital till they recover or something? I''m almost at the shipping yard already, and it''s not looking too good,"


    "Well they''ve recovered enough to move, I''m bringing them with me,"


    "Another person to deal with, yay," Jacob says sarcastically, "If you were at the Mercy Bar than you entered the hospital from the south end, the north end is actually only a couple buildings away from the shipping yard. Head to the north end and stick to the alleys to travel between buildings and you should make it here in little over half an hour,"


    "Got it, see you in half an hour then. I''ll contact you again when we leave the hospital,"


    "I''ll be waiting,"


    Page puts her radio back, and as she turns to Derek she sees the doctor zombie is just now reaching the first pair of doors.


    "Let''s see if there''s another way back in," Page gestures for Derek to follow. Derek glances back and sees the zombie before he follows Page into the garden. Several neatly trimmed bushes make tiny little fences about three feet high, forming walkways throughout the yard. In the center is a fountain with four metal fish shooting out water towards the center where a star stands. Lights surrounded by bushes shine on the star making it appear like its glowing. Some benches are placed around, making indents in the shrub fences. A large brick wall encases the garden, providing a sturdy barrier from the rest of the city.


    Walking down one of the paths, the two zigzag their way to the right side of the garden. There''s nothing but just windows in the hospital walls, no doors to he found. As they start to make their way to the other side they see the doctor zombie is outside with them. Derek brings up his handgun.


    "I''ll just kill it and we can be on our way," He shoots it, hitting the side of its head. It stumbles to the side a bit, but continues moving towards them. Derek shoots at it again, hitting the blood sack in the middle of the head. The sack burst open, the blood spraying onto everything near it, and bursting into flames. The zombie flails about as it''s body catches fire but soon succumbs to the flames and falls to the ground, meanwhile the bushes that got sprayed by the blood are now on fire. The flames start to spread along the bushes, making the paths impossible to use without being burned.


    The two quickly jump over to a different path, running around the spreading flames and passing the fountain. As they reach the doors to get back inside, the flames start to engulf the garden.


    "Well," Page says as they stare at the fire filled garden, "Now we know not to shoot those ones," Page sees Derek hunched over slightly as he catches his breath, "You alright?"


    "Yeah," He says with slightly winded breath, "My back just feels like it''s on fire," He straightens up, "Let''s get moving, I wanna get out of this damn city as soon as possible,"

 Chapter 26 - Run For It

    Page and Derek walk through the second pair of glass doors and renter the lobby. Turning left, they head down a long hall with doors on both sides, the lights halfway down the hall are all dead, a dense darkness filling in where the light can''t reach. Page and Derek cautiously walk down the hallway, Page on the left and Derek on the right. They both have their guns at the ready, scanning the side they''re on as their footsteps echo throughout the building. They soon reach the dark part of the hall, the flashlights on their guns being the only source of light now.


    Only able to see the small cones of light in front of them, Page and Derek stand slightly closer together to distance themselves from the doors as much as possible. As they near a door on the left that''s opened slightly ajar, they can hear the sound of something being eaten. The sound of teeth moving up and down as something stretchy and chewy is mashed in between them, sending chills down their spines and making Page feel a little sick to her stomach. The two glance at each other before looking towards the open door as they near it.


    Only a few steps away, Page points her gun away from the door as she grabs the handle. Gently, she turns it as she slowly pushes the door close. With a soft click, the door closes, the sound of something eating now mostly gone. Page lightly raising her hand off the handle and grabs the key from her pocket. She tries to put it in the lock, but it doesn''t fit. She puts the key away and the two continue down the hall, their lights soon shine on another large lobby, slightly larger than the first one connected to the garden.


    As they walk into the lobby they look out the glass doors leading out to a large parking lot and see flashing red lights, along with the sound of a blaring siren. It doesn''t take them long to realize that they''re coming from an ambulance barreling towards the hospital with no intent to stop. It''s about to crash into the hospital! Page and Derek jump back into the hallway as the ambulance breaks through the two pair of double doors, glass flying all over the lobby. Page and Derek see the ambulance fly past the hallway and drive out of site, and within seconds they hear it crash with a loud bang that seems to shake the entire building.


    They hurry into the lobby to see the ambulance has crashed into the back wall of the lobby, only able to see the back side of it. The doors to the back are open, showing two dead people, one looks to have been a zombie while the other person looks to have been human, they must have both died from impact, no doubt the driver did too. They can start to smell something burning as a light starts to emit from the sides of the ambulance. The flames quickly start to spread and become larger.


    Page and Derek hurry through the lobby and enter a wider hallway as smoke alarms go off. Luckily the annoying, blaring, alarm make them put their guns away to cover their ears, because soon a loud explosion back in the lobby goes off. The two notice zombies in small waiting room to the sides of the hallway starting to move around and start to make their way towards the hallway. Page and Derek uncover their ears as they run in a full on sprint before the zombies can enter and block the hallway. The whole hospital seems to have been woken up by the smoke alarms as the two continue their mad dash into another lobby. They stop when they see that the next hallway is already filled with zombies.


    "Upstairs!" Derek exclaims as he waves for her to follow him. Zombies start to enter and fill up the lobby as they make it to the stairs in the back left of the room, practically skipping every other step as they hurry to the second floor. Reaching the second floor they see the hallway heading the direction they need tro go is also filled with zombies, but it''s not completely blocked off. Derek grabs a flash grenade off his belt.


    "Cover your eyes!" He shouts before chucking the grenade at the zombies. Page and Derek cover their eyes as the flash goes off, blinding the zombies in their way. They quickly uncover their eyes and hurry past the zombies as they recover from the flashbang. They quickly reach the end of the hall, a set of smaller stairs to their right, zombies crowding it and quickly taking notice of them. Page and Derek grab their pistols and start to unload on the zombies. Page only had two shots left in her clip, and it soon starts to just click. She quickly reloads her magazine and continues to shoot at them zombies.


    They soon all fall to the ground as both Page''s and Derek''s clip become empty. They hurry down the stairs, not wasting precious time to reload just yet and turn right upon reaching the first floor. They burst through a door and enter a much smaller parking lot. Only a few zombies walk about the parking lot, but the street a couple yards away is full of them. The two quickly distance themselves from the hospital as a horde of zombies start to approach the door they just ran through. Page sees a gas station across the street, a wide enough gap in the mass of zombies to run to it.


    They hurry towards the street and the zombies start to move in towards them, the gap slowly becoming thinner. As they run through it they can feel fingers brush against them just b?r?ly out of reach. They hurry into the gas station, Derek grabbing some movable shelves and putting them in front of the doors. Two zombies with grey skin are inside the building with them. The two quickly reload their guns and take them out with headshots. They see a hole in the ceiling, leading up to the roof.


    "Can your grapple hook work with two people?" Page asks.


    "No," He says as he puts his gun away and grabs his hookshot, "But I can toss it down to you after I use it," He heads over to the hole.


    "Hold on, how can I-" Page gets interrupted when Derek shoots the hookshot at the ceiling, and gets pulled up through the hole and disappears out of sight, "Hey!" Page shouts as she runs over to the hole, unable to see Derek at all. She turns to the front doors to the store as zombies start to bang against the entire front part of the store. The windows are already starting to crack.


    "Derek?!" She calls out, now starting to get filled with worry. She glances back at the windows, only to notice the zombies they had shot are starting to get back up, "Derek!" She yells at the hole in the ceiling as she brings up her gun and shoots at the two zombies. It takes four shots to take them both out again, but she knows they won''t be down for long. Seeing that the glass is going to give in at any moment, she looks around for some other way to escape. She sees a ladder in a back room with a door leading out.


    I hope there''s a ladder on the back wall outside. Once I find him, I''m going to taser him until he passes out. And then I''m going to drag his ?ss to the shipping yard and let Jacob handle him!


    Page starts to head to the back room when she hears something fall on the ground behind her. She turns to see the hookshot Derek had laying on the ground. She quickly grabs the hookshot just as the glass breaks and zombies start to fall into the store. She puts the hookshot in her bag as she runs into the back room. Heading through the back door she finds herself in an small driveway, the left leading around to the front of the gas station and to the right leading back to the streets.


    A ladder leading to the roof stands directly to her left. She quickly grabs onto it.


    "Page? Page?!" She hears Derek calling out from the top of the roof. Before she yell and call him a ''son of a bitch'' something in the corner of her eye catches her attention.


    The fu?k?n? bull?! Are you serious!? How does it always seem to know where I''m at?!


    The bull lets out a roar before it starts to charge towards her. She quickly climbs, reaching the top of the ladder as the bull comes charging into the wall. She has to hold on tight from the impact that caused the ladder to shake. Luckily the ladder is a caged ladder that has guards on the top half which protect Page from the bull''s tails as their blades scrape against the guarding. She reaches the top to see Derek staring down at the hole with a hand running through his hair. An troubled looked of frustration is on his face. As she walks over to him he notices her, and becomes relieved, only to notice the anger in her eyes.


    "Page you''re alright-" Page slaps him in the face before he can finish his sentence.


    "You left me, to die!" She shouts at him as he recovers from the sudden blow. He starts to rub the side of his face she slapped.


    "I dropped the hookshot for you didn''t I?" He retaliates, his look of relief gone and now an expression of utter annoyance taking its place.


    "Yeah, right before the zombies broke through the glass," Page walks away from Derek, looking around for some place they could go to. There''s a parking garage right next to the gas station. Page takes the hookshot out of the bag and, examining it for a second before walking up to the side of the building. She glances to the left to see the bull has broken free and is attacking all the zombies in front of the gas station. Derek starts to walk up to her as she aims the gun at the parking garage.


    "Hey, what are you-?" She shoots it, and pulls the trigger. She goes flying upward towards the building and is pulled into the third story level of the parking garage. She lands on her hand and knees, rewinding the grapple. She quickly looks around to make sure there aren''t any zombies. Coast is clear. She turns around to Derek.


    I really shouldn''t, especially after what he did...He''s lucky I''m not Jacob¡­


    She throws the hookshot at the building. It lands inches to the right of Derek. He grabs the hookshot and soon comes flying towards the parking garage. He lands a couple feet next to her.


    "...Thanks," Derek says hesitantly as he gets up and puts it back in its holster.


    "Try and leave me again, and I''m shooting you," Page warns before she starts walking, "Now come on, we need to go before the bull finds out where we are,"


    Derek stands there for a second before he joins her.


    "Jacob, you there?"


    "Yeah. I''m at the entrance gate to the shipping yard, you two almost here or what?"


    "We''re in a parking garage right next to a gas station that''s across the street from the hospital,"


    "Stand on the side near the road, what level are you on?"


    "The third one," Page states as she walks to the side of the building looking over the street, Derek following. She sees a large gate not too far away down the street, a lone figure standing near it.


    "There you are," Jacob replies, "I see ya now...wait, Derek''s the guy who saved your life?"


    "What?"


    "You said you helped someone cause they saved your life, but you didn''t tell me it was Derek,"


    "Uh, yeah¡­" She glances at Derek before looking back down at the gate, "Look, that''s not super important right now. The bull is at the gas station, do you think I could make it there in a car?"


    "The last thing we need is the bull to follow us to the shipping yard. If you can make down to the street I''m sure you can run here, you two aren''t that far and most of the zombies seem to be heading towards the hospital,"


    "Alright, I''ll see you in a bit," She puts her radio back on her belt, "Come on," Page says before she heads for some stairs on the far right of the floor. Luckily there aren''t many zombies so they''re able to make it to the stairs with ease. They hurry down the stairs and reach the first floor in seconds. Heading onto the street they hurry to the large gate where Jacob is. It''s only a couple yards away. They make it halfway to the gate when they hear the sound of a bull far behind them.


    Glancing behind them they see the bull has already started stampeding towards them. They look back towards the gate and see Jacob is already pulling the gate open. Soon there''s enough space to run through.


    "Come on! Hurry!" He shouts as he waves an arm at them. They reach the gate, the bull already halfway there. As soon as Page and Derek run into the shipping yard all three of them slide the gate shut and quickly move to the side of it. They all have their guns drawn as they wait for the bull to reach the gate. There''s a loud bang as the gate becomes partly dented in the middle. There here the bull snort a bit and than nothing. Pure silence. They all finally have a moment to breath when they hear the bull start to walk away, then it runs off, probably to go attack more zombies.


    As they all relax a bit, they hear helicopter blades whirling through the air. They turn towards the docked ships to see a helicopter with the Terrasave logo on it landing on one of them. It''s filled with people in full tactical vests, wearing gas masks, and machine guns at the ready.

 Chapter 27 - Moarte

    Page, Derek, and Jacob all ready their weapons as they take cover behind a shipping freight. They glance over the side of the freight to see the Terrasave agents getting off the helicopter and onto the boat. Jacob uses his rifle to get a better look as the helicopter starts to take off


    "Five men got off," He states. Looking at the two pilots in the helicopter he sees something hit the pilot on the right. It looks to be a needle of some sort which the pilot pulls out and looks at. The pilot suddenly starts to spasm about when a large black tentacle emerges from their mouth, flailing about wildly. It grabs the other pilot and starts to wrap around them. The helicopter comes falling back down to the ground, the agents on the ship see it right before the helicopter comes crashing into them.


    "Fucking hell," Jacob mutters. He looks in the direction where the needle came from and sees the women in red on some freights far off to the right. Jacob puts his rifle down and looks to Page and Derek, "One of the pilots got infected with some kind of uroboros," He states, "But I''m sure there''s something else in it. Don''t even try to run away," He states to Derek, "I''ll be keeping an eye on you the whole time," The three of them look back to the boat to see a large mass of black tentacles forming over all the bodies of the agents.


    "Fine, but shouldn''t we just find some other ship and just run?" Derek asks.


    "We can''t let uroboros just run freely, especially with all the bodies in the city," Page states, "We have to kill it first before it can get a hold of anymore bodies,"


    They suddenly hear the sound of the helicopter engine sputtering back to life. Looking at the boat they see the mass of tentacles has taken a more human shape, now a greenish-black, and is forming on the helicopter, the blades turning once more. The mass on the helicopter tears the blades off and forms into a large long arm made of pulsating tentacles. The main core of the body no longer looks like a mass of tentacles but like green skin, a head opened like a flower at the top where a large glowing yellow eye sits. As its arm moves off the helicopter they can hear the sound of metal tearing apart. Suddenly, six long tentacles erupt from its back, all filled with sharp shards of metal. Small, round, glowing yellow bulges are visible on the limbs.


    "At least we know where to shoot," Jacob says as he brings up his rifle. Before he can aim and shoot, Moarte, (the monster), lets out a loud roar, like a human screaming but much deeper, before it suddenly jumps off the boat and lands onto the shipping yard below. It starts to walk toward them, sparks flying as the rotating blades on its arm scrape against the ground. They all start shooting at it, hitting it in the head but to no avail, the eye thing seems too tough.


    "What the hell?! Shouldn''t we be hurting it?!" Derek exclaims as the thing keeps moving towards them.


    "Just keep shooting!" Jacob shouts back. Moarte suddenly starts to charge at them. They all run back behind the freight as it nears them, throwing its bladed arm at them. After running a safe distance they turn back and continue to shoot at it. When Page''s clip gets empty she grabs her bag to get more ammo, but sees the magnum. She puts her handgun away and grabs it, five bullets in the barrel.


    She takes aim, and fires it, hitting the thing in the eye. No effect.


    "Okay, I''m pretty sure we''re not even hurting it!" Derek exclaims as they continue to walk backwards. Jacob aims at the eye once more, and notices all Derek''s shots to its eyes are making holes in it, but the holes fill in faster than they''re being made.


    "We are," Jacob says as he lowers his rifle, "But it''s healing too fast,"


    "Than what the hell do we do?!"


    "Do something it can''t heal quickly, Derek, grab your rifle we need more fire power," Before Derek can grab his rifle though, Moarte brings back its bladed arm and swings it up into the air. The arm stretches as it comes flying down at them in an arc. They all jump out of the way as the arm comes slamming into the ground, the blades tearing at the concrete around it, sparks flying everywhere.


    Page, Derek, and Jacob quickly regroup as Moarte starts dragging its arm back.


    "Shoot it in the eye at my queue," Jacob says as Derek grabs his rifle, "Ready, now!" The three of them all shoot at the same time, a loud singular gunshot filling the air as their bullets fly at Moarte''s eye. They hit it, a large hole forming in its eye. Moarte lets out a scream of pain as it stumbles back a bit, but within seconds the eye is fully healed.


    "Are you fu?k?n? kidding me?!" The three of them all shout at the same time. Derek aims at it again, his infrared on notices something. Its body is shown to be mostly green through the scope, but some small circular things inside its body are a bright red.


    "Hey, there''s some weird things inside its body," Derek states.


    "What?"


    "My infrared, it''s showing some hotspots inside the thing,"


    Jacob quickly turns his infrared on and looks at it.


    "Las plagas...of fu?k?n? course, that would explain the grey zombies back in the city. Page, save your bullets for now, we''re not gonna make any progress until we can get rid of those plagas in it,. Derek, focus on shooting those,"


    "On it," Derek says as he aims and shoots one. The bullet penetrates Moarte''s skin, the hole quickly filling in. However, it has a small reaction as the bullet hits and kills one of the plagas inside Moarte, stopping for a second as it leans forward a bit. Jacob shoots a second on, which enrages it. It flings its bladed arm at them again, making another large indent in the concrete. Derek and Jacob continue to shoot at it. They can''t see anymore from the front side.


    Jacob shoots it in the eye, but its eye heals back.


    "Damnit, there''s more somewhere else in its body," He states, "You two distract it, I''m gonna try to locate the other plagas in it," And he runs off to the side behind some freights. Page and Derek grab their handguns and continue to shoot at the thing as it heads towards them. Derek and Page soon find their backs against a freight.


    "Shit!" Derek states as they continue to shoot at it. There''s a thin gap between some freights to their left, "Page, over here!" Derek exclaims as he hurries over to the gap. Page quickly joins him and they see that Moarte is starting to charge at them. Derek sees it''ll be there soon, "Go!" He shoves Page in front of him, and into the gap. She quickly slides through the gap, Derek hurring in after her as soon as there''s room. Just as Derek slides his whole body between the freights, Moarte''s bladed arm comes crashing into the freight they were in front of.


    The two quickly make their way to the other side of the freights, backing away from the gap as Moarte tries to stick its other arm into the gap. It lets out a roar of anger before it the freights suddenly start to move. The freights go flying into the air towards Page and Derek. They jump to the side, both b?r?ly avoiding being flattened as the freights go scraping along the ground and hitting some other freights. Moarte comes walking out from behind some freights and towards them. The sound of a gunshot goes off as Moarte stumbles forward. A couple more gunshots go off and the creature falls to its knees.


    "Shoot it in the eye, now!" Jacob exclaims through the radio. Page grabs her magnum and fires at it, hitting its eye dead center. It stands back up, screaming in pain once more as it stumbles back. Before Page can shoot it again, it kneels down, its head closing around the eye and bringing up its arms. Its non-bladed arm starts to flatten, becoming a shield around the front of its body as the limbs on its back suddenly plunge into the ground. Page and Derek can see several sudden cracks in the concrete moving towards them. Four jagged lines move towards them, two moving towards Jacob.


    As the cracks near Page and Derek, four limbs emerge from the ground like giant plant stalks. They start gently waving around before they suddenly lunge at them. Page and Derek jump out of the way, b?r?ly avoiding getting torn to shreds by all the metal shards in the limbs. Page shoots at the closest limb, just b?r?ly missing the large yellow mass on it. She shoots again and hits it, the yellow mass breaking apart and the top of the limb falling to the ground below as a greenish-red liquid spurts out from the part of the limb that''s still intact. The rest of the limb submerges back into the ground as the other limbs also submerge, but move in towards them.


    Page and Derek run away just in time to avoid the limbs stabbing through them as they erupt from the ground. They mange to shoot the other yellow masses on the three limbs, and they all submerge and go away. The bleeding tips of the limbs appear out of the ground near Moarte. The limbs start to grow green skin on the ends of them, which start to fill up with the creatures blood. As they fill up with blood, the limbs suddenly chuck the bags at Page and Derek. The two run to the right behind some freights. The bags land where they were, exploding and blood flying everywhere as every drop ignites, leaving several burn marks everywhere.


    "Let''s see how you like fire!" Derek shouts as they jump out from behind the freight and move in towards Moarte. They see more blood bags filling up on the limbs. Derek brings up his rifle, aims, and fires. He hits one in the middle, which explodes and sends flaming blood all over Moarte, and causes the other blood bags to explode. Moarte falls to the ground as flames engulf its body, its head opening up to reveal its giant yellow eye once more. Page brings up her magnum, and shoots. The bullet goes flying straight into the eye, and the creature falls gives out as the flames eat away at it.


    Jacob reunites with them as Page and Derek walk up to Moarte. Page unloads the last two bullets into its head.


    "Gotta make sure it doesn''t come back," She says as Derek gives her a confused look.


    "I''ve taught you well," Jacob says with a smirk, "Come on, let''s see if we can''t-" Jacob gets interrupted when bombs on the boats suddenly go off one by one, filling the air with bright explosions and smoke as the boats catch fire. They all start sinking into the ocean, crashing into each other with loud metallic bangs, "Are you...Fucking-!"


    He''s once more cutoff by a sudden banging coming from the shipping yard entrance. The banging continues until they hear the gate give way and hear it scraping along the floor, soon followed by the roaring of a bull.


    "Come on!" Jacob exclaims as he quickly stuffs his rifle into the duffel bag and grabs the shotgun. The three all look around for some place high up they can go to.


    "Over there!" Page yells as she spots a ladder a few yards behind them leading up onto some freights The three take off for the ladder as the sound of hooves hitting concrete starts to echo in the distance. They hear the bull roar again. They all glance back to see the bull has seen them and has started its charge.


    Jacob reaches the ladder first, some distance between him and the other two. He turns around, seeing the bully is going to reach them very quickly. He gets down on one knee and cupping his hands together.


    "Page, boost jump!"


    "Okay!" Page exclaims as she sprints towards Jacob, Derek heading for the ladder. Reaching Jacob, Page steps onto his hands with her right foot. As she jumps, he lifts his hands up, the force pushing Page up. As she rises into the air she grabs onto the top of the freight and pushes it. She flies above the freight a bit and lands on her two feet, Derek just reaching the top of the ladder. Jacob quickly dives to the side right before the bull comes crashing into the freight, Page and Derek stumbling a bit but managing to keep their balance.


    As the bull tears its horns out from the freight the ladder gets pulled off too. Page and Derek grab their pistols and start to shoot at it, merely angering it. Before the bull can backup to charge at the freight again, its attention is grabbed by Jacob as he shoots it in the side of the face. The bull shakes its head before turning to Jacob and letting out a furious snort. It starts scraping one of its front hooves along the ground as it readies to charge. Jacob shoots the bull in the leg its not moving, causing it to fall forward a bit.


    Jacob walks closer to the creature as it tries to get up, shooting it in the head once more. Before Jacob can shoot it again the bull jumps up towards him. He moves out of the way and the bull gets back up onto its feet. It scrapes one of its front legs much more aggressively this time and when Jacob goes to shoot it again, its unfazed. Jacob lowers his shotgun as he turns and starts to run, the bull chasing after.


    "Jacob!" Page exclaims. She goes to jump off the freight but Derek stops her.


    "He''ll be fine it''s best if-"


    "Will you two shoot the damn bull!?" They hear Jacob''s voice shout from behind some freights. Jacob appears from behind some freights, running towards them, the bull following close behind. Page brings up her gun but than things of something.


    "Do you have any more flash bangs?" She asks Derek.


    "Yeah,"


    "Lemme see one,"


    Derek quickly hands her one. She pulls the pin off and chucks it towards Jacob and the bull. Jacob sees it, jumping to the side just as it goes off. The bright flash blinds the bull, and it keeps charging forward, charging past Jacob. It runs head on into some freights next to the one Page and Derek are on. Some freights on top start to shake a bit, and than come toppling down on top of the bull.


    "It''s about time, all this, bullshit, came to an end," Jacob says as he catches his breath. As he straightens up the freights suddenly start to shake. Jacob lets out a sigh of annoyance as he brings up his shotgun. There''s some banging as the side of the freight becomes dented. The bull comes bursting out from the side, several large pieces of skin and fur missing, revealing bloody muscles. As it walks out from the freight they see that one of its back legs has been slightly torn off, nothing but several strings of muscles dragging it along.


    They''re all at a loss for words as they see its skin regenerating, the muscles on its torn back leg growing back and slowly reattaching itself to the bulls body.


    "There''s no way, it can''t be-" Derek mutters to himself as he puts his pistol away and grabs his rifle. Looking at the bull as its limp starts to become a trot, Derek sees that its filled with several plagas like the uroboros monster. The bull shakes all the blood off itself before it snorts. There''s a little spark of light far off in the distance as the sound of a rocket fills the air. The three of them b?r?ly have anytime to react as the rocket comes flying towards the bull. Derek dives towards Page, the two of them falling down onto the top of the freight, and Jacob dives away from the bull as the rocket hits. Sparks fly everywhere and chunks of concrete fly around as smoke fills the air.


    "You guys alright?" Jacob asks as he walks up to the freight they''re on. Page glances at Derek than jumps off the freight onto the ground below.


    "We''re fine," She says as she walks up to Jacob, Derek jumping down off the freight, "How are we gong to get off the island now?" She asks as she looks at the last sinking parts of the ships.


    "The prison on the east end of the island seems to be our last hope," Jacob answers as he glances at the ships too, "This place gets a lot of dangerous criminals from the mainlands, so it has some helicopters and planes on its property. With the bull gone we should be able to get a vehicle from the parking garage you two were in and leave the city for good, though we best hurry before the prison blows up too,"


    With that the group heads for the parking garage, a scarlet silhouette watching from some freights far away. As they leave the shipping yard the figure takes off and follows, neither party aware of the bull''s corpse starting to mutate.

 Chapter 28 - An Old "Friend"

    March 21, 2015, 8:58pm- Mazraea, Jacob''s House


    Derek sits against the side of the house near a window, listening in on the conversation Jacob and Page are having. The smell of freshly cooked food reminding him that he''s had nothing but a half-empty bag of trail mix between this morning and now. The sound of a the front door opening catches his attention, and soon after his phone vibrates. He checks his phone to see he''s gotten a message from an unknown number.


    "There''s some food in the kitchen, better eat fast, back door key is under mat,"


    The hell? Did, Jacob send me this?


    Derek heads to the back of the house and checks under a floor mat. A key. Unlocking the back door he opens the door, and hears the sound of Jacob''s moped starting up. He heads to the front of the house, finding a cooked steak on the counter. He grabs a fork and knife and eats it. Finishing up, he hurries over to the bathroom, washes his hands, wipes his face off and hurries out to his bike. As he turns it on he gets another message, this one is from the Co-Worker.


    "Meet me at the Atlantis Police Station, I have new orders Luther wants me to give you in person,"


    Derek closes his messages and brings up his maps, putting a marker at the police station. It didn''t take him long to find since he''s been there a couple times already from following Jacob around. He takes off towards the city, seeing the lights from Jacob''s bike far off in the distance. As he drives towards the city he sees all the lights go out.


    That can''t be a good sign.


    Nearing the town Derek hears the sound of a bull roaring, than sees a light turn on at the edge of the town which quickly takes disappears into the city. A large creature soon follows, though he''s too far away to see what. Nearing the edge of the town he sees the streets are filled with zombies. Derek glances down at his phone, which is sitting in between the handles and sees the police station is a straight shot from here. He speeds up as he nears the jumbled mess of zombies swarming the roads. Reaching the first intersection he sees the street ahead is completely blocked off by zombies, so he makes a quick right. Far down the road he sees the large creature again running down the same street, chasing after something.


    Seems like that things clearing a way, lucky me.


    Derek follows the large beast, having a rather easy time avoiding the zombies since all the zombies in its path get stomped into the ground or go flying to the sides. The bull makes a left and Derek follows. Most of the road ahead is blocked off by several crashed cars. The beast charges head on at them, knocking them into the air and to the side. One of the cars comes flying towards Derek who swerves to the left to avoid being crushed as it lands right next to him. Driving past the broken barricade he glances down at his phone to see where he''s at.


    Heading in the general direction of the station, good. I should see if I can''t take a shortcut though.


    Looking back to the road he sees a car come flying through an intersection up ahead. It drives out of sight and the sound of it crashing quickly fills the air. Reaching the intersection where the car crashed, Derek makes a left. The road ahead is filled with crashed cars, some of them on fire. The middle of the road is generally empty though, thanks to that runaway car. He drives past a couple intersections before he makes a right, now a straight shot to the police station. As he''s driving, he sees Jacob and Page turn onto the street a couple intersections ahead of him, heading in the same direction.


    The creature following them quickly follows, and Derek''s close enough to see that it''s actually a bull with two tails.


    "What in the hell?" Derek mutters to himself as he drives down the road behind them. Some distance down the road there''s another barricade of zombies blocking the way. Derek comes to a halt at an empty intersection as he watches Jacob and Page stop mere feet away from the horde. Jacob starts to rev up the engine as he turns the scooter towards a building to their left.


    "What on earth are they doing?" He asks himself out loud as he watches the bull near them. They suddenly take off towards the building, disappearing out of sight as the bull continues to charge, running head first into the zombies. The bull runs through them like a knife through bu??er, making a large gap in the wall.


    Seems like they''re heading to the same place. The station isn''t far from here, and if I can get past through that horde of zombies, I should be there in a minute or two.


    Derek quickly pulls on the gas and heads for it. As he nears the zombies, the hole starts to fill itself in as zombies start to swarm together once more. No more than a few feet open now. There''s b?r?ly any space for him. He drives through the horde, scraping past the zombies, some blood splattering onto the sides of his bike as the side-view mirrors break off from hitting zombies. As he breaks through the wall, he turns the front wheel to the right and breaks as he sees the bull only a couple yards in front of him, flailing about as it attacks some zombies.


    "Oh shit!" He quickly takes off, swerving to the right and driving on the sidewalk to avoid getting impaled by the bull''s horns. As Derek drives past the bull, it manages to avoid running into the zombie wall and quickly turns around. The police station isn''t far, he''ll reach it in seconds. The front door and windows are all barricaded with metal shutters. Derek sees a parking garage across the street and drives in there. He drives into the parking garage, and sees lots of zombies walking around. Swerving around them, Derek accidentally goes down instead of up, entering the sub-level. The bull close on his tail, he keeps driving forward, seeing light at the end of a tunnel going away from the parking spaces.


    Derek heads down the tunnel and past a crashed gas truck and reaches the end of the tunnel. With the bull close on his tail he jumps off his bike, ditching it, and running through the door. Seconds later he hears the bull hit the cement wall, than it lets out a furious roar and he hears it stampeding away. As he looks around the stairwell he ran into, he realizes his phone was on the bike. He walks up to the door leading to the tunnel, and opens it slightly, peeking at the tunnel and seeing the bull already at the other end.


    He walks out and walks over to his bike, his hone still sitting between the handles, partly cracked but seems to be in perfect working condition. He grabs it and opens up the map as he hurries back through the door. He''s at the station. Judging by the lights in the tunnel and the lights on in the stairwell, it''s safe to ?ssume the station must have some sort of backup power.


    As he goes to message the Co-Worker, he hears footsteps echoing from above. He glances up only to see the slightest silhouette of someone heading down the stairs. The silhouette disappears he hears a door open then close. He starts walking up the stairs when he gets a message from the Co-Worker.


    "Meet me in Jacob''s office, 8th floor,"


    Derek quickly makes his way up the stairs, his legs starting to feel like they''re made of heavy metal by the time he reaches the top. Exiting the stairwell, he enters a long hallway that''s well lit, with the only noises being the faint buzzing of the lights overhead. Something about the quietness and stillness in the air seems more unsettling than calming. Walking down the hall he reads labels on the wall next to doors. He stops at the one marked Jacob G. He places a hand on the doorknob.


    This is it, time to see who this Co-Worker of mine is. They said Luther told them I was an old friend of theirs¡­


    Derek opens the door to see someone in a red shirt with a ?h?st holster, black pants, and boots. They''re bent slightly over doing something on a computer at a desk, the briefcase with the viruses laying against it near their feet. As the door creaks open the person at the computer straightens up and turns to him. Derek and Ada both look at each other with looks of disbelief and shock.

 Chapter 29 - Confrontation

    "A-Ada, what are you doing here?" Derek asks, unable to believe that she''s really there.


    "I could ask you the same thing," She replies, her tone and expression becoming one of irritation, "You''re the one who died after all," She turns around and resumes typing on the computer. Derek walks up to her side, glancing at the screen. She''s making copies of files.


    "What are those?"


    "Don''t know, don''t care," The files finish copying and she closes the window, pulling out a usb. She then throws all the files she made copies off into the recycle bin and deletes them permanently.


    "Are you working with Luther?"


    "Yes, and it''s just as bad as the time I worked for you back in Raccoon City,"


    "Why are you working for him then?" Ada glances at him, a burning anger in her eyes.


    "...I have my reasons," She puts the usb in her pocket, "Now let''s go we have a job to do,"


    Before Derek and Ada can move to the hallway door, they hear someone grab the doorknob. Ada quickly runs for a door to the side of the desk, Derek quickly following. As they run into a side room the door to the hall bursts open, Jacob pointing his gun at them and firing but his gun only clicks.


    "Fuck, out of bullets!" They hear Jacob exclaim as Ada shuts the door behind them and locks. Looking around she sees a window and another door leading back out to the hall. She lifts the window up before heading to the door, Jacob now banging on the door. Ada peeks her head out into the hall, seeing Page running into Jacob''s office. Her and Derek walk out into the hall, quickly closing the door behind them. As they walk up to Jacob''s office door they hear Jacob break into the room they were just in.


    Ada and Derek quickly take off down the hall, and soon hear Jacob and Page running after them. They run into a break room, Ada pulling up the window and the two heading out onto a fire escape. Ada pulls out her hookshot, shooting the building right next to the station and flying up towards the wall. She goes higher than the station''s roof, reaching the wall on the other building. As she nears the wall she turns around and lets go of the trigger, kicking off the wall and landing onto the station roof. Derek quickly pulls up his hookshot and follows after. As he lands Ada looks at his hookshot.


    "Here I thought the clones of me were going too far...Are you going to start dressing like me too?"


    "No, I just figured this would be handy for my mission," Derek objects, trying to sound more angry than he really is.


    It seems her feelings for me haven''t changed, if anything she seems to hate me even more. Why must you do this to me Ada?


    "Speaking of which, what''s my new mission?"


    "Luther wants us to seperate Jacob and Page to see how they''ll do on their own. I''m ordered with keeping an eye on Jacob and you''ll be watching Page, hopefully they''ll stay far away from each other,"


    Derek wants to continue to talk, but can''t think of anything to say.


    "Now we just have to figure out how we''re gonna do that¡­" She turns around, looking at all the surrounding buildings as she tries to think of possible plans.


    I doubt I''ll have much time to talk to her, I need to get her back.


    "...Ada,"


    "What?" She answers irritably as she turns back to him, her anger sending daggers into him.


    "I, I just want you to know that, even though you did do a lot to kill me back in China...my feelings for you never died¡­" Her expression of anger softens a bit.


    "I don''t know if I should feel sorry for you or laugh. I guess stabbing you and dropping you in an inferno of flames wasn''t clear enough, so I''ll tell you with words," She states as she walks up to Derek, "I don''t love you, I never loved you, and I''ll never love you. Ever. For a man whose so smart you just can''t seem to understand that. You don''t seem to be infected with the C-Virus anymore, but it''s clear that your obsession still plagues your brain. Luther told me to keep tabs on you too and if he feels like you''re falling out of line he''ll turn you back into the monster you are, and I''ll be tasked with having to kill you again, so stay focused,"


    Her confession leaves Derek at a loss for words, a bitter cold freezing his insides.


    "...A-Alright, so, what do we do..?" He asks weakly.


    Before Ada can respond her phone starts to vibrate.


    "Yes?" She asks as she answers her phone, "Alright, on it," She puts her phone away, "Luther''s been listening in on Jacob''s phone and got word of a zipline they''re gonna use. They should be coming up soon, so I''m gonna head to the other side of the street and once the first one crosses I''ll break the line," She checks her handgun before putting it away and grabbing her hookshot, "Here," She grabs something off her belt, "A flash grenade in case you screw up. Go hide somewhere, and once we find out who is on what side, we''ll know where to go from there,"


    Derek nods, attaching the flash grenade to his belt as he heads to the stairwell entrance, going behind it and out of sight as Ada heads to the edge of the roof. Using her hookshot, she grapples across the street and lands on a building on the other side. It doesn''t take long for Jacob and Page to come walking out onto the roof. The two setup the zipline and shoot it across, the zipline reaching a building quite some distance away.


    "Wait for me to detach before coming across, alright?" Jacob asks.


    "Alright," Page responds.


    Seems like I''ll be staying here, guess it''s a good thing, I nearly slipped kicking my foot against the wall to get up here.


    Derek peeks out from behind the stairwell entrance and sees Jacob going down the zipline. He gets to the other end and Page starts to attack her gear to it. The sound of a gun shot fills the air as the zipline is cut in two. Page and Jacob soon start having a conversation over their radios.


    "...Fine, we''ll meet at the shipyard. See that tall building over there with the glowing red antenna?" Jacob''s voice says.


    "Y-Yeah I see it," Page replies.


    "That''s the direction the shipyard is in.


    Now''s my chance to sneak back inside. Maybe this place has a security room with monitors I can just use to watch her from a distance.


    As Derek tries to sneak inside the stairwell he hears Jacob yelling.


    "Behind you!"


    Derek rushes down the stairs, entering the first door he comes across, hearing Page enter the stairwell above just as he enters the floor. A large waiting room of sorts with golden tiled floors and fancy furniture and decorations. He runs to the nearest door, opening it and quickly running into a janitor''s closet. By the time he closes the door he notices someone crouched down on the ground, eating away at a corpse. A zombie with grey skin quickly takes notice of him and stands up, it''s shallow breathing sending shivers down his spine.


    Oh hell no!


    Derek runs out of the room, but before he can slam the door shut he sees Page standing a few feet from him. He grabs the flash grenade, removing the pin and chucking it into the air.


    "Wait-!" Page exclaims as Derek runs past her, the flash bang soon going off.


    He runs back into the stairwell and enters the eighth floor. Looking around he sees a set of stairs across the hall in front of him. He hurries down them and makes a left upon reaching another hall, hearing the door to the stairwell open up. Seeing a door labeled armory far down the hall Derek quietly huries over, hearing a bit of Page and Jacob''s conversation.


    "The fronts barricaded, and I''d rather not go down the fire escape to see the bull waiting for me," Page states.


    "There''s a parking garage across the street, it''s connected to the station by an underground tunnel, but that also has barricades which activate alongside the front''s barricades. You''ll have to get to the security room down on the first floor and use an unlock card¡­"


    Nearing the armory he can''t make out what they''re saying anymore. He enters the armory, seeing all the lockers are unlocked. He heads over to the lockers and goes to one full of various handguns. Not having a handgun, Derek grabs one, checking if it fits onto his ?h?st holster. No. No. No. Finally. A black handgun with a silver barrel that looks like it packs quite a punch fits perfectly into the holster. In the far left locker he finds it full of various holsters and bags for ammo.


    He grabs one, filling it up with handgun and rifle ammo, before he checks the other lockers for anything else of use. As he heads back to the right he hears a loud thud coming from somewhere far above. In the locker on the far right he finds grenades and flash grenades. As he grabs three and puts them on his belt the loud noises upstairs continue, along with some gunshots.


    What the hell could she be shooting at?


    He heads down to the first floor, and peeks his head through the door, seeing no one in the hall, but hearing a loud crash. Derek enters the first floor only to se Page run into view, she glances at him before she turns back to something out of sight, bringing up her gun and starting to shoot at it.


    "Tell me where Luther is!" A man''s voice shouts angrily. He hears rapid footsteps as Page runs towards the front of the building moments before something comes swinging at her. It''s b?r?ly out of sight, causing Derek to run up to the end of the hall to get a better look. As he reaches the lobby he brings up his handgun and peeks his head over the corner to look into the lobby. He sees Page shoot at a man in a blood-stained suit, a large tentacle-like limb tipped with a large sharp scythe made from bone sticking out of his back.


    A buisness man, he must have been making deals with Luther and got betrayed...like me¡­


    As Derek watches Page fight this monster of a man, something inside him starts to well up, a flame igniting inside him. A fire burning from a sudden anger that fills his body, one that wants him to act, to kill this creature that reminds him of what he used to be, of what he had become before he met his demise.


    Derek''s snapped out of his thoughts when hears the man suddenly roar in anger and suddenly start to charge towards Page. The fire inside him erupts, forcing him to act, and before he knows it he steps into the lobby and brings up his gun, shooting the man in the back of the head. Page jumps out of the way and the guy slams into the wall. Something about that shot felt, good, felt right, like he was suppose to do that, like he was doing something he was suppose to for the first time. Derek''s too focused on the man to worry about Page seeing him.


    "That''s, it!" The man shouts before using the limb on his back to stab into a nearby zombie. Turning towards them, the man chucks the zombie at Page. Page ducks to avoid it as Derek shoots at the man a couple more times as he grabs another zombie. This one gets chucked at Derek who jumps out of the way. Derek and Page continue to shoot at the man as he starts to move towards them.


    "You think you can kill me?!" The man exclaims, "I won''t die until I kill Luther with my own two hands!" The guy comes charging at them, the limb on his back getting ready to swing at them. Derek is surprised when Page suddenly starts running towards the man, and dives down, sliding past the man and under his scythe as it swings towards them. Derek dives to the side to avoid being cut in half, quickly getting up and shooting at the guy.


    "Eat this you piece of shit!" Derek yells as he shoots the last bullets in his clip. The shutters start to come up as he goes to reload his gun but has to jump back as the man swings his scythe at him, managing to slash his left arm. Fighting through the pain he finishes reloading his gun and moves away from the man. Suddenly a window breaks as something shoots through it, hitting the man in the back.


    "Take that you piece of shit!" Jacob''s voice yells from Page''s radio, "Turn around so I can shoot your face!"


    "Jacob?!" Romero says with a look of bafflement and fury, "So you were a spy all along?!" He says as he turns to the windows, running up to them and looking around for Jacob. A gunshot echoes as a bullet hits Romero in the head, causing him to stumble back and cover his face. The bullet quickly falls out, Romero moving back to the window.


    "Once I kill your friends, I''m coming for you!" He shouts at the window. His attention is caught once more when Page runs for the stairwell. Derek quickly follows after her, Romero disappearing back into the vents as he goes to chase them.

 Chapter 30 - Blackout

    Derek hears the door at the bottom of the stairwell open and shut, he quickly hurries, stop for a second before opening the door. Derek sees Page walking down the tunnel, her back facing him. He quickly runs to a nearby car and ducks out of sight as she turns around. As he hides behind the car he hears Jacob''s voice coming from Page''s radio.


    "You make it to the tunnel?" Jacob asks.


    "Yeah, no sign of Romero at the moment, I''m pretty sure that guy who looks like Derek is following¡­" Page''s footsteps come to a stop.


    "Page? You still there?"


    "Yeah...Derek Simmons died in China right?"


    "Yeah,"


    "...When we were sent to China to help evacuate civilians, we were with Luther. What did you and Luther do when we got separated from that crash? "What did you do?" She asks with a worried tone.


    "...I led Luther to the quad tower, it was the last place Leon and Helena had been spotted. After that I secured an escape vehicle while he tried to get a sample of the virus Ada Wong had infected him with. He came back instead with Derek''s body,"


    Shit, don''t tell me my cover''s blown already! If Luther ever found out¡­


    Derek gets up a bit, peeking at Page through a window, and quickly kneeling back down when she starts to turn in his direction.


    "You don''t think Luther found a way to bring people back from the dead do-" A loud crashing noise interrupts Page. Glancing over the side of the car, he sees the man from the lobby is back, continuing his attack on Page. Derek watches from the sidelines, wanting to act, but afraid of disobeying Luther''s orders anymore than he already has. His grip on his gun tightens he watches the man grab Page with the limb on his back which wraps around her.


    "You''re gonna have to try something new," The man says as he starts to tighten his grip on her. Derek gets a sense of relief when Page tasers him and breaks free of his grip. The man starts to charge at Page, who slides over the hood of a car and runs to the side as the man throws the car into the air, setting off the alarm. Derek has to cover his ears from the barrage of noise attacking them. SOunds of metal breaking join in the earsplitting chorus until the alarm stops.


    Derek peeks over the side of the car once more to see Page running past the crashed gas tanker, noticing the large puddle of gas on the ground. Page shoots the man a couple times as he starts to approach her. She then aims for the puddle.


    She can''t be...she''s going to blow up the whole tunnel! I gotta get to the other side before it''s too late.


    Derek quickly gets up from behind the car and starts making his way towards the other side of the tunnel. As the man steps into the center of the gas puddle Page shoots it, nothing happening. The man scoffs at her, giving her enough time to grab her taser and tie the handle around the trigger to keep it on, then chucks it at the puddle. The taser lands on the puddle and the sparks ignite the gas, setting the man ablaze. Derek runs past the puddle of gas just in time before his path is cut off from the flames and dives to the left as the fire reaches the gas tanker and causes it to explode.


    A sharp pain fills Derek''s left leg and as the dust settles he sees a large piece of shrapnel has lodged itself into it. With every little movement his leg makes, thousands of needles stab into it, making it nearly impossible to move it. He manages to sit up against a wall and catches his breath as he stares at the blood stained piece of metal. Just placing a hand on it causes the piece to tear into his leg muscles. Fighting through the nearly unbearable pain, he grabs the piece of metal.


    He tires to pull it out slowly, but the pain forces him to let go. Catching his breath again and letting the pain sear down a little, he grabs it once more.


    You can do this. On three, one, two...three!


    Derek uses all his strength to pull the shrapnel out as fast as possible, a thunderous strike of pain filing his leg causing him to scream in agony. He immediately throws the piece of metal to the side as he grabs onto his leg, taking deep breaths to deal with the pain. As he recovers from the pain he finally takes notice of Page whose only a few feet from him and approaching him.


    "Stay here...I''ll, bandage your wound¡­" She states in a harsh tone and staring at him coldly.


    She walks through a nearby door out of sight.


    Fuck, she knows...god damnit¡­I still have a mission to do, and now''s my best chance to lose her.


    Derek gets up, the pain causing his leg to stiffen up. He limps over to some cars on the left and goes to the front of them so he''s out of view from the middle of the tunnel. A large hole in the tunnel opens up to the street above, lots of debris blocking the path back to the station. As he kneels down he has to take another deep breath to stop himself from groaning in pain from his leg, though the pain seems to be getting less severe already. After some time he hears a door open and someone walk out into the tunnel, must be Page. He waits for the footsteps to sound farther away before he moves to the side of the car. Peeking through the car windows, he can see Page walk into the Parking Garage. She picks up her radio, Jacob must be saying something but she''s too far for him to hear.


    I need to get closer, I can''t let her ot of my sight.


    As he goes to sneak around the car he''s behind, he hears something moving around in the debri. Looking towards all the fallen cement, he sees the bull from before making its way down into the tunnel along with some zombies. The bull attacks the zombies before it takes notice of Page. She mutters something that Derek can''t hear as the bull starts to charge at her. She quickly runs to the left and out of sight. Derek gets up, heading towards the parking garage, and soon hears the engine of a vehicle turning on. The bull runs into something and there''s a loud crashing noise.


    Reaching the parking garage, he turns to the left to see an suv driving backwards down the aisle, the bull chasing after it. Nearing the end of the aisle, the car turns to the right, the bull continuing to go straight and ramming into a wall. The car comes back into the aisle, driving in Derek''s direction. Derek backs up a bit as he prepares to jump onto the car.


    Come on, if you don''t do this, you''re as good as dead. You can do it, just gotta not fall off¡­


    As the car nears him he starts running forward, then jumps. Landing onto the side of the car he grabs onto it tight, luckily the vehicle has a roof rack giving him something to hold onto.


    This was a mistake! This was a terrible idea!


    Derek quickly reaches for the door handle only to hear the sound of the locks engaging. He pulls on the handle several times to no avail, the door refuses to budge.


    Are you fu?k?n?-WOAH!


    Derek''s thoughts are interrupted as the car makes a sharp left. He holds on for deal life, feeling the momentum trying to pull him off and send him rolling onto the ground. They approach the ramp, the bull on the other side of the aisle and charging towards them. They beat the bull to the ramp, making another sharp left turn and heading up the ramp. Reaching the top they make a u-turn heading for the streets. A huge crowd of zombies blocks their path. As they near the horde the doors unlock, Derek quickly opening the door and pulling himself inside, slamming the door shut right before they run through all the zombies.


    "Thanks," He tells Page, full of relief, as he buckles the seatbelt.


    "Don''t, thank me," Page replies as she turns on the wipers and sprayers, "I don''t want to be thanked for helping a murderer ," Finally getting some vision they see they''re about to run into another horde of zombies.


    Page swerves to the left and drives around them, continuing down the road straight ahead. They drive past the police station which is to their right.


    Derek notices Page suddenly have a worried expression as she stares up at the rearview mirror. Turning around and looking through the back window he sees the bull is still in pursuit of them, and is somehow catching up.


    "Go faster!" Derek exclaims as he turns to Page.


    "I''m going as fast as I can!" She yells back.


    At this speed it''s impossible to drive in a straight line from having to dodge all the zombies and cars. Reaching an intersection, Page slams on the breaks as she makes a hard left, Derek being shoved against the door and Page having to hold onto the wheel with all her strength to keep herself in her seat. As soon as they turn all the way left she takes her foot off the break and slams the gas, taking off down the road. However, the road ahead is blocked off by several crashed cars, most of them on fire. Quickly approaching the barricade, Page slams on the breaks, making a sharp u-turn.


    As they turn around, the headlights shine onto the intersection, showing the bull rounding the corner.


    "Does that bull have a gps on us?!" Derek exclaims.


    Page drives forward, swerving to the right to avoid the bull as it charges at them. The bull rams into the side of the car, causing them to turn right and drive into a nearby building with glass walls. They drive through tables and zombies, then crash into a wall.


    Derek and Page are dazed from the crash, but luckily still conscious. The hood of the car is in the kitchen while the rest of it is in the dining area. They both lean away from the windows as zombies suddenly press up against the sides of the car, trying to get it, hitting their hands against the glass which manages to stay intact. They quickly unbuckle themselves and look for anyway out of the car, meanwhile the sound of the bull roaring can be heard. As they turn to the back window, the bull slams into the car, heavily denting the trunk of the car, and causing the windows on the sides to start cracking. The bull starts to back up to charge again.


    "Get up and help me with this," Page states as she lifts her legs up onto the dashboard. Not wanting to be crushed by the bull, Derek quickly climbs his way to the front passenger seat. He puts his legs up and just as they''re about to kick the window, the bull rams into the car again, tearing off part of the back, the windows cracking even more. The sides of the car are now surrounded by zombies, all trying to break into the car.


    "On three," Page quickly says, "One, two, three!"


    They kick the glass simultaneously, the cracks on the window spreading rapidly, but it''s still in place. The bull backs up for another charge.


    "One, two, three!"


    They kick again, the window shattered, some pieces flying at them nad lightly cutting them. They quickly climb out onto the hood and slide off the sides into the kitchen as the bull charges at the car once more, the windows on the sides finally breaking. The car jerks forward a bit, Page and Derek quickly distancing themselves from the car. Zombies quickly start entering the windows, the ones behind them shoving them through as they try to enter as well.


    There''s a door leading to a storage room in the back left corner of the room. It''s open, showing a large shutter door on the other side of the room.


    "This way!" Page exclaims as she signals for Derek to follow. The two run into the storage room where lots of boxes of various foods and fridges sit at the sides, some stained in blood. Two chains on pulleys connected to the shutters sit on both sides of it. Page hurries over to the one on the left while Derek goes to the one on the right. They can hear the car being rammed by the bull in the distance as they desperately pull on the chains, the shutter door slowly opening up. They get halfway up when they hear an even louder crash coming from the kitchen.


    Glancing behind they see some debri falling down and the car halfway into the kitchen, the wall around crumbling apart and making a large whole, almost big enough for the bull to fit through.


    "Hold on as much as you can," Derek says, "I''m gonna get under and hold it up,"


    "A-Aright," Page says as she tightens her grip on the chain. Derek lets go of his chain, Page already struggling at stopping hers from moving while Derek hurries to the shutters. He stands under the shutters, holding his hands to the sides of his head as he uses all his strength to keep it open.


    "H-Hurry!" He says as the weight of the shutters becomes heavier by the second. Page hurries under, and as soon as she''s in the clear Derek shoves the door up and lets go, hurrying out from under it before it comes crashing down onto the ground with a hard slam. The two stand their for a bit before as they catch their breath, luckily the unloading zone their in has no zombies in it, but the street it leads to does. They jump when the shutters become heavily dented as sounds of a raging bull come from the other side.


    The two hurry to the street, the bull breaking through the shutters as they reach it. As they run through swarms of zombies that try to grab them as they run past, the bull quickly shows up behind them, mowing down zombies left and right. They hurry over to a nearby building, trying to the front doors but its locked. Before they run the bull catches up to them. Seeing the bull approaching, Derek grabs Page, using his body as a shield to protect her.


    Derek screams in agony as one of the bull''s horns stabs into his lower back, filling his body with an agonizing burning sensation. The force launches the two into the door and breaking the lock. They fall to the ground on a cold wood floor, Page being pinned to the ground by Derek''s weight. Weak and starting to lose consciousness, Derek falls over onto his side, then onto his back.


    Is this, how I die...from jumping in front of a bull, to save some stranger I had failed to kill...why did, I...protect her..?


    Everyone starts becoming blurry and dark, some muffled voice sounding both near and very far away as they echo around his ears. A sudden pain jolts him awake, sending away the darkness as a voice becomes more clear.


    "..ne-..you to the hospital¡­" A women''s voice says as he''s sat up. He can make out the figure of someone, but it''s hard to tell who it is. Using his remaining strength, he stands up, and leaning on the person, the two walk through some dark room, then enter a slightly lighter area, seeing a bright light in the distance.


    "Come on, just a little farther," A women''s voice says worryingly, "I didn''t unlock the door so you could die on me,"


    Page...why is she, helping me? This can''t be her...it''s probably¡­


    Derek''s thoughts start to slip away as the darkness starts to once more overtake him. Before he knows it, he''s attacked by another piercing pain as he laid down, however the pain can''t stop the darkness from enveloping him. Everything goes black.

 Chapter 31 - Mixed Feelings

    Dark, it''s all dark. Am I dead? I can''t be...I, I know I''m alive, I can feel it...Wait, what''s that? It''s so bright, so warm...it must be her, she saved me, she must have¡­


    "A-Ada?" Derek mutters as he starts to open his eyes, everything all blurry and moving around, a figure standing to his right. As he recovers from the grogginess everything starts to come into focus and he realizes that the person is Page, a bit wide-eyed and worried. Derek looks around to find himself in a patience room of a hospital of some kind.


    "Where am I? Where''s my-" Derek''s questions are interrupted by a sharp stabbing pain in his back as he tries to sit up.


    "Hey, easy," Page says as she presses a gentle hand on his shoulder and getting him to lay back down, "We were close to a hospital after getting shoved into the bar by the bull. I brought you here,"


    Derek just stares at her with a look of utter confusion, disbelief, and distrust.


    She can''t be serious, she must have some other motive.


    "...Why?" He finally asks.


    "Why, what?"


    "Why did you, bring me here?" He asks with winded breath.


    "Well, you jumped between me and the bull''s horns, so this was the least I could do to thank you,"


    Derek''s expression changes hearing her response, becoming a bit softer and surprised. Derek goes to push himself up again, and manages to sit up.


    "How long have I been out?" He asks as he turns to the left, seeing his stuff on the nightstand.


    "Not more than a few minutes, actually," As Derek turns his body to the left and gets off the bed Page is surprised by how little blood is on the bandages, b?r?ly any blood stains them.


    "Have you been standing there this whole time?" Derek asks as he puts his shirt and ?h?st holster on.


    "No, I got a key to lock the door so I could leave you," Derek stops putting his holster on for a moment to her response before continuing.


    "...Then why did you come back?"


    "Well I have no reliable way out of here," Derek reaches for his rifle, "And seeing your rifle I kind of figured that you were the one shooting at us back in the market," Derek once more pauses as he holds the rifle in his hands before he continues to drape the strap over his shoulder, "I thought you might have the grapple thing you used to swing over the street,"


    I knew it, of course she was just using me for something.


    "And what if I do?"


    "Well I was hoping to just take it while you were asleep, but now you''re awake...So I guess I have no choice but to ask for your help,"


    "Help?" He asks, looking at her with a baffled and irritated expression as he walks towards her, "You know I''m the one who shot at you in the market, yet you''re asking for my help?"


    "Yes," She replies bluntly, standing her ground, "And I also know who you are, Derek Clifford Simmons, ex-leader of the Family, and responsible for the bio-terrorist attack at Tall Oaks, resulting in the death of the president. I read the reports of the China incident and even a couple more that I wasn''t supposed to,"


    Derek is left at a loss for words.


    "But none of that really matters at the moment since I need to travel across a city full of zombies, and get to the shipping yard. So, will you help me?"


    "...Sure,"


    "Great," She replies with a slight smile, her focused expression lighting up a bit, "Let''s get moving then, but, take it slow, and be careful. These zombies seem to always have their own unique quirks,"


    Page heads for the door and goes to open it, but notices Derek is just standing there.


    "Simmons? Do you need a second to rest?"


    "N-No, I''m fine," He says as he walks up to the door.


    Page opens the door, glancing out into the hallway before opening the door all the way and exiting the room, Derek following. Guns drawn, the two turn left and walk further into the hospital. As they reach the end of the hall they stop at the sound of something falling over. They turn around to see a zombie walking out from the reception room, it''s the doctor Page stumbled upon. Derek grabs his pistol and shoots it, hitting it in the head. The zombie falls to the floor with an echoed thud. Derek lowers his gun as the two of them stare at the zombie to make sure it stays dead. No movement.


    The two turn back around and walk into a large lobby, a pair of sliding glass doors are to their left leading to a small entrance room with another pair of sliding doors that lead out to what looks like a garden. In front of them is another hall going deeper into the hospital. To the right are some stairs, and near the stairs is another hall. Some tables are placed to the right of the stairs with some papers and ??ptops that have been thrown around on the ground. Blood trails near the tables trail up to the stairs.


    "Let''s go out there real quick, I need to contact-" Page gets interrupted when they someone m??ning behind them. They turn around to the see the zombie starting to rise from the ground, their head fully green and the bullet hole gone.


    "Guess the first one didn''t do the trick," Derek says irritably as he brings up his gun.


    "Wait, don''t-!" Page tries to warn him before he shoots the zombie in the head again. The zombie steps back from the impact, its head leaning back a bit. As its head comes back forward, it starts to shake.


    "What the-" Derke mutters to himself as the head suddenly starts to rip open, revealing a large red sack with some eye around it. tentacles emerge from under the head, one tipped with a sharp bone, the other with a round blobby thing that looks like a plastic bag filled with blood. Derek aims to shoot it again but Page lowers his arms.


    "Come on, let''s head outside, we can deal with it later," Derek glances at the thing before looking back at her. With a sigh of annoyance, he lowers his gun and the two head out into the garden area. As they exit the hospital Page''s radio starts to pick up a signal.


    "Pa...P...ge? Page? You there?" Jacob''s voice asks.


    "I''m here," Page says as she picks up her radio.


    "I forgot that hospitals blocked radio waves. How you holding up?"


    "I''m fine, I''m in some sort of garden that''s part of the hospital,"


    "That place is walled off from the streets, so enjoy the fresh air while you can. How''s the injured person, did they turn?" Page glances at Derek who looks away, "He''s fine, there was a nurse who helped me, but she had been bit, and I had to take her out,"


    "Oh, so it was a guy. He must be your type if you were so worried about him,"


    "That''s not why I helped him!" Page retaliates, "He was severely injured and in need of help, you would have done the same, wouldn''t you?"


    "...Sure," Jacob replies with an unconvincing tone, "So are you going to stay at the hospital till they recover or something? I''m almost at the shipping yard already, and it''s not looking too good,"


    "Well they''ve recovered enough to move, I''m bringing them with me,"


    "Another person to deal with, yay," Jacob says sarcastically, "If you were at the Mercy Bar than you entered the hospital from the south end, the north end is actually only a couple buildings away from the shipping yard. Head to the north end and stick to the alleys to travel between buildings and you should make it here in little over half an hour,"


    "Got it, see you in half an hour then. I''ll contact you again when we leave the hospital,"


    "I''ll be waiting,"


    Page puts her radio back, and as she turns to Derek she sees the doctor zombie is just now reaching the first pair of doors.


    "Let''s see if there''s another way back in," Page gestures for Derek to follow. Derek glances back and sees the zombie before he follows Page into the garden. Several neatly trimmed bushes make tiny little fences about three feet high, forming walkways throughout the yard. In the center is a fountain with four metal fish shooting out water towards the center where a star stands. Lights surrounded by bushes shine on the star making it appear like its glowing. Some benches are placed around, making indents in the shrub fences. A large brick wall encases the garden, providing a sturdy barrier from the rest of the city.


    Walking down one of the paths, the two zigzag their way to the right side of the garden. There''s nothing but just windows in the hospital walls, no doors to he found. As they start to make their way to the other side they see the doctor zombie is outside with them. Derek brings up his handgun.


    "I''ll just kill it and we can be on our way," He shoots it, hitting the side of its head. It stumbles to the side a bit, but continues moving towards them. Derek shoots at it again, hitting the blood sack in the middle of the head. The sack burst open, the blood spraying onto everything near it, and bursting into flames. The zombie flails about as it''s body catches fire but soon succumbs to the flames and falls to the ground, meanwhile the bushes that got sprayed by the blood are now on fire. The flames start to spread along the bushes, making the paths impossible to use without being burned.


    The two quickly jump over to a different path, running around the spreading flames and passing the fountain. As they reach the doors to get back inside, the flames start to engulf the garden.


    "Well," Page says as they stare at the fire filled garden, "Now we know not to shoot those ones," Page sees Derek hunched over slightly as he catches his breath, "You alright?"


    "Yeah," He says with slightly winded breath, "My back just feels like it''s on fire," He straightens up, "Let''s get moving, I wanna get out of this damn city as soon as possible,"


    Page and Derek walk through the second pair of glass doors and renter the lobby. Turning left, they head down a long hall with doors on both sides, the lights halfway down the hall are all dead, a dense darkness filling in where the light can''t reach. Page and Derek cautiously walk down the hallway, Page on the left and Derek on the right. They both have their guns at the ready, scanning the side they''re on as their footsteps echo throughout the building. They soon reach the dark part of the hall, the flashlights on their guns being the only source of light now.


    Only able to see the small cones of light in front of them, Page and Derek stand slightly closer together to distance themselves from the doors as much as possible. As they near a door on the left that''s opened slightly ajar, they can hear the sound of something being eaten. The sound of teeth moving up and down as something stretchy and chewy is mashed in between them, sending chills down their spines and making Page feel a little sick to her stomach. The two glance at each other before looking towards the open door as they near it.


    Only a few steps away, Page points her gun away from the door as she grabs the handle. Gently, she turns it as she slowly pushes the door close. With a soft click, the door closes, the sound of something eating now mostly gone. Page lightly raising her hand off the handle and grabs the key from her pocket. She tries to put it in the lock, but it doesn''t fit. She puts the key away and the two continue down the hall, their lights soon shine on another large lobby, slightly larger than the first one connected to the garden.


    As they walk into the lobby they look out the glass doors leading out to a large parking lot and see flashing red lights, along with the sound of a blaring siren. It doesn''t take them long to realize that they''re coming from an ambulance barreling towards the hospital with no intent to stop. It''s about to crash into the hospital! Page and Derek jump back into the hallway as the ambulance breaks through the two pair of double doors, glass flying all over the lobby. Page and Derek see the ambulance fly past the hallway and drive out of site, and within seconds they hear it crash with a loud bang that seems to shake the entire building.


    They hurry into the lobby to see the ambulance has crashed into the back wall of the lobby, only able to see the back side of it. The doors to the back are open, showing two dead people, one looks to have been a zombie while the other person looks to have been human, they must have both died from impact, no doubt the driver did too. They can start to smell something burning as a light starts to emit from the sides of the ambulance. The flames quickly start to spread and become larger.


    Page and Derek hurry through the lobby and enter a wider hallway as smoke alarms go off. Luckily the annoying, blaring, alarm make them put their guns away to cover their ears, because soon a loud explosion back in the lobby goes off. The two notice zombies in small waiting room to the sides of the hallway starting to move around and start to make their way towards the hallway. Page and Derek uncover their ears as they run in a full on sprint before the zombies can enter and block the hallway. The whole hospital seems to have been woken up by the smoke alarms as the two continue their mad dash into another lobby. They stop when they see that the next hallway is already filled with zombies.


    "Upstairs!" Derek exclaims as he waves for her to follow him. Zombies start to enter and fill up the lobby as they make it to the stairs in the back left of the room, practically skipping every other step as they hurry to the second floor. Reaching the second floor they see the hallway heading the direction they need tro go is also filled with zombies, but it''s not completely blocked off. Derek grabs a flash grenade off his belt.


    "Cover your eyes!" He shouts before chucking the grenade at the zombies. Page and Derek cover their eyes as the flash goes off, blinding the zombies in their way. They quickly uncover their eyes and hurry past the zombies as they recover from the flashbang. They quickly reach the end of the hall, a set of smaller stairs to their right, zombies crowding it and quickly taking notice of them. Page and Derek grab their pistols and start to unload on the zombies. Page only had two shots left in her clip, and it soon starts to just click. She quickly reloads her magazine and continues to shoot at them zombies.


    They soon all fall to the ground as both Page''s and Derek''s clip become empty. They hurry down the stairs, not wasting precious time to reload just yet and turn right upon reaching the first floor. They burst through a door and enter a much smaller parking lot. Only a few zombies walk about the parking lot, but the street a couple yards away is full of them. The two quickly distance themselves from the hospital as a horde of zombies start to approach the door they just ran through. Page sees a gas station across the street, a wide enough gap in the mass of zombies to run to it.


    They hurry towards the street and the zombies start to move in towards them, the gap slowly becoming thinner. As they run through it they can feel fingers brush against them just b?r?ly out of reach. They hurry into the gas station, Derek grabbing some movable shelves and putting them in front of the doors. Two zombies with grey skin are inside the building with them. The two quickly reload their guns and take them out with headshots. They see a hole in the ceiling, leading up to the roof.


    "Can your grapple hook work with two people?" Page asks.


    "No," He says as he puts his gun away and grabs his hookshot, "But I can toss it down to you after I use it," He heads over to the hole.


    "Hold on, how can I-" Page gets interrupted when Derek shoots the hookshot at the ceiling, and gets pulled up through the hole and disappears out of sight.


    "Hey!" Derek hears Page shout as he puts his hookshot away.


    You can''t be mad at me, you knew who I was and took the risk of trusting me.


    "Derek?!" He hears her cry out, her voice filled with worry. "Derek!" She yells again. A couple gun shots shortly follow. He can hear the horde of zombies at the front of station as they slam against the glass, trying to get in.


    They''re going to break in any second, and most likely tear her apart...why should I care? ¡­


    Something in Derek forces him to grab his hookshot and drop it down into the hole, standing away from the hole and expecting her to come up. The sound of the glass breaking but no sound of the hookshot starts to concern him.


    Don''t tell me already-!


    Derek walks to the hole, glancing down to see nothing but zombies filling the store.


    "Page? Page?!" Derek calls out from the top of the roof as he looks down at the ocean of zombies anxiously.


    No, no! Gosh dammit! Her and the hookshot are now both gone!


    In the corner of his eye he sees something moving up towards the roof, turning he sees Page. He''s filled with relief, and doesn''t realize how pissed she looks.


    "Page you''re alright-" Derek''s slapped in the face before he can finish his sentence.


    "You left me, to die!" Page shouts at him as he recovers from the sudden blow. He starts to rub the side of his face she slapped.


    "I dropped the hookshot for you didn''t I?" He retaliates, his look of relief gone and now an expression of utter annoyance taking its place.


    "Yeah, right before the zombies broke through the glass," Page walks away from Derek, looking around for some place they could go to. Page takes the hookshot out of the bag and, examining it for a second before walking up to the side of the building. She aims the hookshot at a nearby parking garage. Derek huries over to her.


    "Hey, what are you-?" She shoots it, and pulls the trigger. She goes flying upward towards the building and is pulled into the third story level of the parking garage, disappearing out of sight.


    Great, now I''m stranded on a gas station in the middle of a zombie infested city. Just great!


    However, Page soon reappears, looking down at him. He sees her chuck something towards him and his hookshot lands mere inches from his feet. Derek picks it up, looking at the hookshot, and glancing up at Page.


    She could have left me to die after I did that exact thing, but she didn''t...why?! I don''t understand! Why didn''t I just let her die?!


    Derek shoots the parking garage, and soon comes flying towards it. He lands on the third floor, Page a couple feet away.


    "...Thanks," Derek says hesitantly as he gets up and puts it back in its holster.


    "Try and leave me again, and I''m shooting you," Page warns before she starts walking, "Now come on, we need to go before the bull finds out where we are,"


    I can''t tell if she''s serious or not, especially after giving me back my hookshot...did my thank you sound sarcastic?


    "Jacob, you there?"


    "Yeah. I''m at the entrance gate to the shipping yard, you two almost here or what?"


    "We''re in a parking garage right next to a gas station that''s across the street from the hospital,"


    "Stand on the side near the road, what level are you on?"


    "The third one," Page states as she walks to the side of the building looking over the street, Derek following. She sees a large gate not too far away down the street, a lone figure standing near it.


    "There you are," Jacob replies, "I see ya now...wait, Derek''s the guy who saved your life?"


    "What?"


    "You said you helped someone cause they saved your life, but you didn''t tell me it was Derek,"


    "Uh, yeah¡­" She glances at Derek before looking back down at the gate, "Look, that''s not super important right now. The bull is at the gas station, do you think I could make it there in a car?"


    "The last thing we need is the bull to follow us to the shipping yard. If you can make down to the street I''m sure you can run here, you two aren''t that far and most of the zombies seem to be heading towards the hospital,"


    "Alright, I''ll see you in a bit," She puts her radio back on her belt, "Come on," Page says before she heads for some stairs on the far right of the floor. Luckily there aren''t many zombies so they''re able to make it to the stairs with ease. They hurry down the stairs and reach the first floor in seconds. Heading onto the street they hurry to the large gate where Jacob is. It''s only a couple yards away. They make it halfway to the gate when they hear the sound of a bull far behind them.


    Glancing behind them they see the bull has already started stampeding towards them. They look back towards the gate and see Jacob is already pulling the gate open. Soon there''s enough space to run through.


    "Come on! Hurry!" He shouts as he waves an arm at them. They reach the gate, the bull already halfway there. As soon as Page and Derek run into the shipping yard all three of them slide the gate shut and quickly move to the side of it. They all have their guns drawn as they wait for the bull to reach the gate. There''s a loud bang as the gate becomes partly dented in the middle. There here the bull snort a bit and than nothing. Pure silence. They all finally have a moment to breath when they hear the bull start to walk away, then it runs off, probably to go attack more zombies.


    As they all relax a bit, they hear helicopter blades whirling through the air. They turn towards the docked ships to see a helicopter with the Terrasave logo on it landing on one of them. It''s filled with people in full tactical vests, wearing gas masks, and machine guns at the ready.

 Chapter 32 - The Drive

    Heading back to the city, Page, Jacob, and Derek walk past the heavily dented gate which has been knocked down and lays a couple feet away from the entrance to the shipping yard. The open gateway shows all the zombies in the city walking around aimlessly, a couple wandering toward the shipping yard. Not wanting to waste any ammo, the group hurries over to the parking garage Page and Derek had hookshot to.


    Reaching the parking garage the group walks up to an suv with a red paint job. Jacob peeks inside through the windows for anyone or anything inside. A corpse sits in the driver''s seat, the skin is grey and starting to rot. Jacob grabs his knife before pulling on the handle. It''s locked. He puts his knife away and grabs a lockpick from his back pocket.


    "How much ammo do you guys have?" Jacob asks as he stops messing with the lock.


    "Um," Page opens her bag and checks her supplies, "Enough for about three more clips for my handgun and one more clip for my magnum,"


    "Two more clips for my handgun, and I''m on my last clip for my rifle,"


    "Why do you ask?" Page asks, getting a sinking feeling in her stomach.


    "Well once I unlock this door, its alarm is probably gonna go off. It''ll take me a minute to turn it off,"


    "Alright,"


    "Just make it quick," Derek says as him and Page ready their guns, standing a couple feet away from the car.


    With a small click, Jacob unlocks the door, putting his lockpick away and grabbing his knife before opening the door. The second the door opens the alarm goes off, echoing throughout the entire first floor of the parking garage. The corpse in the driver''s seat wakes up, but before it can do anything Jacob pulls it out, causing it to fall to the floor. Jacob quickly kneels down, plunging his knife into the side of the had of the zombie. He pulls his knife out and quickly checks if the keys are in the ignition.


    They''re not.


    "Damnit!"


    "Damnit? Why did you say dammit?" Derek asks as he glances back to Jacob, who stabs the zombie on the ground in the head again to stop it from regenerating.


    "The keys aren''t on the person, they must have dropped them in the car somewhere,"


    Derek turns back to zombies starting to reach the entrance to the parking garage, and some walking down the ramp from the floor above.


    Jacob quickly looks around the center console of the car to see no key, checking around the floor he spots something under one the driver''s seat. Before he even tries to reach for it he once more stabs the zombie on the ground before it can fully regenerate. Luckily it seems to regenerate at a slower pace than the other grey zombies they''ve encountered. As the zombies start to get within a couple yards of them, Page and Derek start to shoot, trying to slow their ?ssault.


    Jacob puts his arm under the chair and tries to reach for the key. After some struggle, he grabs it and pulls it out from under the chair. Sticking it in the ignition and turning it, the alarm turns off.


    "Get in!" Jacob exclaims as he unlocks the other doors.


    "You go in the passenger seat," Page tells Derek before hurrying to the back door and getting inside. Derek runs around the vehicle as the engine is started and gets into the passenger seat. As he buckles up Jacob locks the door, turns on the headlights onto the oncoming horde of zombies, and stomps on the gas.


    The wheels start burning rubber and they quickly take off, the car breaking its way through the barricade of zombies. They exit the parking garage and go out onto the streets. Passing by the nearby gas station they make a left at the intersection.


    "Hopefully it''ll be a straight shot from here," Jacob states as they drive past some burning buildings and crashed cars.


    To their luck, the drive is easy without having a raging bull after them. Though some crashed cars, and others simply parked, on the road act as obstacles, there''s nothing that stops them in their tracks. As they drive through the city Page and Derek look through their windows, seeing all the destruction that''s happened in the short couple of hours they''ve been there. Some buildings have caught fire, while others have shattered windows, hinting that someone might have broken through and fallen to their death, wethor it was an accident or perhaps zombies were sinking their teeth into them. It reminds Derek and Page of that night in China, something that neither of them have good memories of.


    "Where do you think that rocket came from?" Page asks as she looks away from the window, trying to focus on something else.


    "I have no doubts it was Ada," He replies bluntly as he continues to stare at the road ahead.


    "Ada?" Page and Derek ask at the same time. Derek''s a bit surprised that she had been found out, but it brings him relief to know that he wasn''t the only one to fu?k up his job.


    "The reports said she, also died during the outbreak in China. Don''t tell me Luther brought her back from the dead too," Page says with some concern.


    "No, that was a fake Ada, a clone,"


    "Clone?"


    "Yeah, just ask Derek here," He takes his right hand off the wheel and points to Derek with his thumb, "He''s the one repsonsible for that,"


    Page looks at Derek, who turns towards his window to avoid eye contact.


    "He was so obsessed with Ada that he started a project to make a clone of her," Jacob continues on, "Using a virus to transform a person into a person copy of her, that''s how the C-Virus came into existence and why the outbreak in China even occurred. The clone went awol and started the outbreak, hoping to destroy the world using her own strand of the C-Virus she had made,"


    "...That was in the past¡­" Derek comments, turning his head towards the front of the car and glancing at Page, "And I''d like it to stay there¡­" Page sees Jacob glance at Derek, analyzing him, before turning back to the road. They soon reach the end of town, now driving in a large open field like the one outside the flea market. As Page looks out into the field to try and forget the disturbing information she just hear, Derek also looks out the window, but not out at the field. He finds himself glancing at Page''s reflection in the rearview mirror.


    Her disturbed expression bothers him. He ponders why he had turned to her when he said what he did, like he had to make sure she heard him.


    Why should it matter what she thinks of me? Her and Jacob are just going to arrest me when we get off this damn island.


    The fields seem to be endless, as they soon reach the ten minute mark of driving. Jacob turns on the radio to see if they''ll get anything, but nothing comes on but static. Jacob turns the radio off and they continue driving in silence once more, the low hum of the engine and the tires driving on the dirt being the only noise. Luckily the prison soon comes into view, along with another larger building far off to the prison''s left. It has some large chimneys sticking out of its roof, though not much smoke comes from them.


    "What''s that?" Page asks as she turns towards the front window.


    "The power plant," Jacob replies.


    "Wait, the power plant is only a few miles away from the prison?" Page asks in disbelief.


    "Yeah, this island doesn''t have the best placement of things," Jacob replies, "But that just begs the question, who the hell turned off the power? Look, the prison lights are still on, so it couldn''t have been someone from there,"


    "Could it have been Ada?"


    "She was in the city, came from the market," Derek answers.


    "So there''s, another, person on this islands with us?" Page asks with a slightly annoyed tone.


    "Seems so, only question is who? It seems like Luther has people from the China incident involved in this mess, you, me, Derek, Ada. I bet it''s that Jake guy,"


    "How about we just focus on finding a way off this island?" Derek states.


    "Yeah, I''d have to agree with him," Page adds, "Let''s just hope whoever was responsible for it isn''t at the prison,"


    After a couple more minutes of driving they reach the prison, where a lone guard at the front gate stop them.


    "Hey, Jacob, how are things going? Looks like the apocalypse or something is happening in town," The guard says with a nervous smile. Page, Derek, and Jacob are all immediately suspicious. Jacob notices the guards hands are holding onto his gun very tightly.


    "Yeah, just a small power outage, nothing too big to worry about," Jacob says, slowly reaching for his gun with his right arm, "Seems like you guys got lucky,"


    "Yeah, yeah, we sure did. It''s a good thing too cause the last thing we need are infected people and criminals walking around this island,"


    "Infected?" Jacob asks, grabbing his handgun, "What infected?" The guard doesn''t respond. They suddenly go to bring up their gun, but Jacob brings up his first and shoots, the guard''s body falling to the floor. Jacob turns off the car.


    "Seems like they were expecting us. Travelling on foot is out best bet at getting in, keep an eye out for anyone and anything, alright?" He asks as he places a hand on the door handle. Page and Derek both nod, a bit nervous as they exit the vehicle. They follow Jacob into a nearby building where the controls for the gate are, along with a monitor.


    "Let''s see if we can''t find out whose behind this," Jacob says as he starts fidgeting with the computer. After some time he manages to hack into the prison''s camera system and starts looking through the different monitors. Reaching one showing the security room of the room, they''re all shocked to see Luther in the room with an officer. Luther sits at a computer doing something. He then turns and looks up at the camera, staring back at them before turning back to the computer and doing something that causes the camera to turn off.

 Chapter 33 - Prison Outbreak

    "That son of a bitch has been here the whole time¡­" Jacob states as he stares at the blank screen, "So I was right¡­"


    "Right? Right about, what?" Page asks.


    "Luther using this island for experiments. That''s the whole reason I came here in the first place. I''ve been searching for over a year," He slams his fist on the desk, "And he was under my nose the whole damn time!" There''s a burning glint in his eyes that disappears as fast at it appeared.


    "Well, we know where he is," Page says, "So just, calm down so we can think of a plan. I''m sure he has traps all over the place if he''s been expecting us,"


    "Yeah...you''re right," Jacob replies before taking a deep breath. He then starts scanning through the other cameras. However, all the cameras soon start shutting off one by one, "Looks like we''re going in blind," Jacob says as he moves away from the computer, "Stay close behind," Page and Derek nod in response before following Jacob back out. Looking at the prison they realize just how big it is, practically the size of the market. On the far left side of the building is a large tower, a Terrasave helicopter sitting on top. With their only way in being the front doors, which seem to be unprotected, the group cautiously makes their way past the arm-gate and down the road leading to the front.


    They don''t make a couple steps past the arch attached to the guard station before hearing the sound of a car approaching from behind. The car comes to a halt behind their SUV and Ada comes stepping out from it.


    "You promised you''d let me interrogate him before killing him," Ada says as she walks up to them, "Yet you left me in the dust,"


    "Hey, I didn''t know he was here, and besides, I''d knew you catch up in time,"


    "Hmph," She huffs irritably, "Well I''m suppose to meet him asap. I have no doubt he''s aware of you finding me out, so hurry before he tries anything funny,"


    "Will do," Jacob replies as Ada starts walking away to the left side of the building.


    "What was that all about?" Page asks.


    "Like I told Derek, Luther has something of hers and that''s why she even considered doing anything for him,"


    "Told Derek? So you knew he was here?"


    "Yeah, I found him shortly after you passed out,"


    "And you didn''t think to tell me?"


    "I thought it wouldn''t matter at the time. I never realized how terrible he was at spying,"


    "Wouldn''t matter? Letting me know that the person who killed a president and was responsible for a massive outbreak in China is on the island with us is kind of important," Page lets out a deep breath before continuing, "After we get Luther, you and I need to talk,".


    "Yeesh, okay," He replies before turning back to the prison, the three of them starting to walk, "I didn''t know having a one night stand with someone as a birthday gift meant being in a relationship with them¡­" He mutters to himself. Something about Jacob''s comment annoys Derek, but he just can''t seem to figure out why.


    As the group approaches the large grey building surrounded by wire fencing topped with razer-wire, they realize the quietness of the whole place, with the only sounds being their footsteps on the concrete road. Reaching the front doors, they peek through the small windows into the lobby, the lights are on but no one is inside. Jacob checks the door, it''s unlocked. Page and Jacob open the doors quickly, bringing up their guns, ready to shoot at anything that comes their way. But nothing does.


    The faint buzzing of the lights overhead are the only things that greet them. Making their way through the lobby to a security checkpoint, the three of them all have their guns at the ready, the feeling of something being over their shoulders starting to crawl up onto them. Through a heavy door, there''s a metal detector gate at the end of a hallway that leads to what must be a greeting area. To the side of the detector is a machine where one would put metallic items and phones to be scanned. The group walks through the gate, and the alarm starts going off.


    They all expect something to come bursting through a door or zombies to start banging on the glass where people can talk though with phones, but nothing comes. Walking through a door into a small hallway, the sound of the alarm gets muffled almost entirely once the door closes behind them. The door in front of them has no window to see what''s on the other side. Heading through, they find themselves in the cafeteria area, a large room that spans a couple yards in length. Some cells stacked on each other line the walls, with some walkways above lining the walls. A large doorway leads to a hallway full of more cells. Prisoners sit inside them, all of them now starting to shout and hit the bars of their cells at seeing the three people with guns walking into their prison.


    "So, how dangerous are these criminals?" Derek asks Jacob as he looks around at all the inmates.


    "Nothing you can''t handle, just-," A blood curdling scream brings everyone to a sudden silence. The three of them all look at a cell on the second floor at the other end of the room to see a guy pulling on the prison bars. His shirt is torn at the shoulder where a bloody injury is.


    "Someone get me out of here! This guy''s gone-!" Before he can finish he''s grabbed by another guy whose mouth is stained with blood and pulled back into the cell out of sight. More screams of agony can be heard but they soon get cutoff. Some of the inmates on the other side who can see what''s happening start panicking and freaking out.


    "Holy shit he''s eating him!"


    Suddenly more screams can be heard coming from other cells throughout the room and even coming from the hall.


    The lights suddenly go out and red ones turn on as an alarm starts to sound. Suddenly all the gates to the cells open up, and all the inmates run out of their cells, including the infected ones.


    "Shit! This way, hurry!" Jacob exclaims before taking off towards the hallway on the other end of the room. Derek and Page quickly follow. Meanwhile, several; inmates trying to escape are attacked by infected inmates, rapidly spreading whatever virus has been implanted in them. Luckily the inmates are panicking too much to be any problem to Page, Derek, or Jacob as they head for the hallway. Jacob manages to beat them, and the second he runs into the hallway, a gate slams down, separating him from Page and Derek.


    "Fuck!" Jacob exclaims as he turns around to Page and Derek.


    "What do we do?" Page asks as her and Derek run up to the bars.


    "Go to the kitchen, there must be another way around, I''ll meet you guys at the head office, it''s in the back part of the prison, second floor, stay safe,"


    "You too," Page replies before Jacob turns around and readies his shotgun. Most of the inmates have already been turned into zombies at this point.


    "Jesus, and I thought the airborne virus spread fast," Derek comments as he brings up his gun. Most of the inmates have made their way downstairs, making the upstairs walkways the much safer option. Hurrying up the stairs some inmates see them. Page notices their eyes are bloodshot and crazed. Uroboros. These zombies move much faster, and are sprinting towards the stairs after them. Making their way to the walkways they rush past cells, running past the blood stained cell where the first screaming man had been. Page is suddenly pulled into a nearby cell by a large man.


    "If I''m dying I''m having you first!" The guy exclaims as Page tries to break free of his grip but the man presses her against him, wrapping his arms around her in a tight grip.


    "Get off her!" Derek shouts as he punches the man in the face, causing the guy to let her go and stumble back a bit. Derek punches him again and again and again, blood coming from the inmate''s nose and mouth now.


    "Derek come on!" Page yells, having to stop him from punching the man again, "We need to go!" Derek turns to the man to see his scared, bloodied face, before turning back to Page. The two run out of the cell and run as the zombies continue their chase, Derek wishing he was able to beat that man to death. Nearing the cafeteria the two head down some stairs, the zombie behind them jumping down from the walkways to the floor below. They run into the cafeteria, past rotting food filled with some black goo looking stuff and through a large heavy metal door.


    They enter a long thin hall, Derek quickly shutting and locking the door behind them as they hear sudden pounding coming from the other side. They take a breather, Derek shaking his blood stained hand that he had used to punch the guy. Page takes notice of it, recalling just how angry he looked as he beat the shit out of that guy.


    "...Thanks for helping me back there," Page says hesitantly.


    "...What?" Derek replies, taken by surprise.


    "Thanks for getting that guy off me,"


    "Oh...uh, no problem¡­" He replies as he looks back to his blood covered knuckles. As he stares at them he finds himself questioning his actions once more. He still feels the sudden fury he had gotten at seeing the man grab Page, and he''s even more angered still unable to figure out why he got mad in the first place.


    "Derek, you alright?" Page asks.


    "Y-Yeah¡­" He walks past Page, avoiding eye contact, "We best hurry and meet up with Jacob, before anything else shows up,"


    Page stands there for a second, a troublesome thought idea in her mind. She shakes it off and catches up to Derek. Several doors on both sides of the hall lie ahead of them. The first door to their left has a small window that lets them peek inside. It''s the other end of the glass in the greeting area, the siren can be heard partly but the thick glass manages to keep away most of it. There''s something sitting on the counter at the end of the room. Page walks in first, keeping an eye out for anything that might appear on the other side. Derek follows, keeping an eye on the doorway.


    As Page reaches the other end she sees the thing is just a pen. As the two start making their way back to the hall they see movement. Suddenly some zombies come running into the room, and upon seeing Page and Derek, start pounding on the glass. Luckily it''s a very thick piece of glass and doesn''t budge. The two quickly head back out into the hall, making sure to lock the door, just in case. Walking past more doors, all of which have windows, they glance in to find nothing and no one. Reaching the end of the hall, it continues on to their right and a door ahead of them with no window stands in front of them.


    They look down the hall to see it just goes on and on, with more doors on the right side and some windows on the left. Page opens the door in front of them and peeks out to see it leads out to an outdoor yard, a lone basketball sitting in an empty court. She closes the door and the two turn to the right and continue down the hall. As they walk down the hallway, the lights go out, they''re only source of light being the moonlight coming in from the windows.


    Page feels something brush up against her shoulder, she sees Derek is standing close to her. Derek turns to her, noticing her noticing him.


    "Sorry," He states as he steps away, turning on his gun''s light. Page tries shake it off, turning on her gun''s flashlight and pointing it in front of her to light her way better.


    As if it weren''t bad enough that I''m stuck with him, again, but now the power''s out, again.


    As the two continue walking down the hall, that seems to have grown much longer thanks to the darkness, Derek finds himself glancing at Page. The moonlight seems to make her features softer, despite her serious and focused expression. Page realizes this, wanting to shout at him to stop but not wanting to risk making a loud noise.


    "Derek,"


    "Yeah?"


    "Can you stop looking at me?"


    "I wasn''t, I was-" Derek stops when he sees something walking outside the perimeter of the outdoor yard. Page sees something has his attention and looks out the window to see it too. It''s hard to tel what the hell it is with how mangled its body is. It looks almost just like a large black mass with four unevenly sized legs. Two large tails or limbs or something, stick out of the back end. Two large horns sit on the head, which appears to be opened up like a flower, four smaller limbs tipped with razer-sharp claws sticking out from what they can only guess to be its mouth.


    "You''ve got to be kidding me..." Page mutters as the heavily mutated bull continues to walk around the perimeter of the yard.

 Chapter 34 - Betrayal

    "Turn off your light and get down," Page commands as she turns hers off and crouches. Derek obliges, quickly turning his off too and crouching down. The moonlight shines above their heads as they walk through the hall. Suddenly the sound of something tiny hitting the window grabs their attention. Soon the windows are being ?ssaulted by thousands of raindrops, and are quickly followed by thunder. The lighting flash gives the hallway an even more forboding feeling.


    Making it halfway across the hall they stop at seeing a faint light coming from underneath a doorway. Page glances in front and behind them to ensure nothing is there with them before walking over to the door. Placing an ear against the door she hears nothing but a low buzzing of a small fan or something. She slowly stands up, looking behind her to see if the bull''s out there. It''s nowhere in sight.


    Where the hell did it go? How fast can that thing be?


    Page signals for Derek to stand before placing a hand on the handle, readying her gun. Opening the door ajar, she sees an empty room, the wall in front of her covered with monitors. The light from the monitor creates a silhouette of someone sitting in one of the chairs. Carefully approaching, she stays a couple feet away as she nears the chair, ready to fire. Moving to the other side she sees it''s a prison guard, his throat sliced open and blood trailing down his neck and onto his shirt.


    He looks like a normal corpse, not showing any signs of being infected by a virus. Page pushes the chair to the side so she can get a better look at the monitors. Looking through the ones on the left she sees one showing a long concrete hallway with lights in the walls protected by metal cages. It doesn''t look like any of the other halls in any of the other monitors from what she can see, the most obvious thing being it''s still lit up. Looking through the other ones she sees the cafeteria, where a ton of zombies are, and the greeting area where the zombies have broken the metal detector gate.


    Some other areas also have some zombies in them, but most of the place seems to empty. Movement in one of the halls catches her eye. Someone is running through the hall in the direction of the camera but it''s too dark to see who. They soon run out of sight, but before she looks for another monitor they might be visible in, something much larger appears. It looks to have a humanoid shape, but much bulkier, and looks to be almost seven feet tall.


    "That son of a bitch, he made a tyrant of his own¡­" Derek mutters as he walks up to Page, watching the same monitor.


    "How can you tell?"


    "The shape, the size, but," He leans in closer, seeing it''s somewhat quick pace, "It''s too fast to be one, this one seems more like Ustanak,"


    "Ustanak? The thing Neo-Umbrella made to get that guy who carried antibodies to the C-Virus?"


    "Yeah, the thing that my Ada-that, Carla, made," He steps away from the monitors and Page, "Let''s hope it''s not after us, I''ve had more than enough fun being chased by all these mutant monstrosities,"


    Page looks back to the monitors then sees the monitor in the bottom middle of all the others is displaying a computer''s desktop. She looks at the different icons, seeing one labeled "map" and clicks on it. A window opens over the whole screen showing a 2-D layout of the prison, separated by floors. There''s the first floor, second, sub-floor one, and sub-floor 2. Curious, she clicks on subfloor one, and it displays a much smaller area made up of only a couple rooms. There doesn''t appear to be any stairs leading down to the second subfloor. She clicks on it and nothing but a long hallway shows up on screen, the right end starting where the storage room on the subfloor was.


    Going up to the second floor she looks for the room Jacob talked about. In the top part of the map she spots a medium sized room labeled "Head Office".


    "That must be it," Page mutters to herself as she scans the second floor map for stairs. She moves back to the first floor and finds the security room, it''s in the lower left side of the prison. The hall right outside seems to go almost all the way to a staircase leading up. It ends a couple rooms short though and it makes a sharp right into another hallway that turns left and continues to go up connected to the showers. At the end of that hallway are some stairs leading upstairs.


    "Okay, so we just follow this hallway and we should make it to the rondevu point in no time," Page says as she moves away from the monitor. The two head out of the room and make their way down the hall, the rain continuing to hit the windows as it tries to get in. Reaching the end of the hall they turn the corner, a door at the end of the next corner in front of them. They walk past it, turning left and continuing down the hall, seeing the door to the stairs at the other end. They stop at the sound of faint, but rapid stomping. They jump back as the right wall in front of them breaks apart. They hear footsteps running away, and as the dust starts to settle the stomping picks up and quickly follows. A large hole in the wall shows a room full of washers and dryers. However, the wall is too small for either of them to fit through.


    The stomping comes to halt as something hits the wall far ahead, and metal screeches. They see that the door at the other end has been dented on its right side. Page and Derek hurry over to the end of the hall, Page trying to open the door but it won''t budge. As Page steps away, Derek grabs it, trying with all his might to get the door to open.


    "Come on you stupid door!" He bangs a fist against it. As Page tries to recall the map to find another route they hear someone laughing. They turn around to see no one.


    "Absolutely marvelous," They hear a familiar voice say.


    Page and Derek glance at each other.


    "Everything is going just as planned. Even you, Derek,"


    Page and Derek hurry over to the hole in the wall and see Luther standing in the laundry room.


    "You know, I had my doubts at first," Luther continues on, "I thought Jacob would shoot you on sight, but I''m glad I was right in the end,"


    "What the hell are you talking about?" Derek asks, aiming his gun up at Luther.


    "Ah, ah, ah," Luther says, holding up a small device with a glowing red bu??on. Derek hesitantly lowers his gun, "You didn''t, really, think I expected you to not get found out did I? I was hoping you''d betray me, and make some new friends, so I could set off my trap,"


    Before Page or Derek have any chance to react or respond, Luther presses the bu??on on the device. The thing on Derek''s neck detaches itself, falling onto the floor.


    "Have fun," Luther says as he leaves the room. Page is about to bring up her gun to shoot him in the leg but she''s distracted by Derek''s groans of pain. He stumbles back a bit, crushing the device, and losing his grip on his gun which falls to the floor. His whole body tenses up as he feels the virus starting to spread through his body.


    "Derek? W-What''s wrong?" Page asks as she walks up to him.


    "Get away!" He shouts as he pushes her aside. As he tries to move away from her he falls to the floor, his skin starting to crack apart. Page watches in horror as his body suddenly catches fire, Derek screaming in agony. The flames quickly disappear, leaving Derek n?k?d, nothing but ashes of his clothes remaining. The guns he had on him are heavily damaged and on the ground near him. She looks down at Derek, his skin now having several cracks in it, showing exposed muscle underneath. She stands there, the air deathly still and quiet except for Derek''s heavy breathing.


    He gets up, his back facing her. It feels like an eternity before he turns around, glaring at her with a feral look in his eyes. There''s a small pause before he starts to walk toward her.


    "D-Derek," Page says as she starts to back away, "Derek, listen to me, you have to fight it!" He continues to walk toward her, and Page soon finds her back against a wall. Derek thrusts a hand around Page''s throat, pinning her to the wall. He grits his teeth as he continues to stare at her with a burning gaze of anger. She brings up her gun and points it towards his head.


    "S-Sorry," She says with struggling breath before pulling the trigger. The bullet goes straight through his head, causing him to let go of her and stumble back a bit. She quickly goes to the door to their right, but it''s locked. She quickly runs down the hall towards the security room as lighting flashes and thunder roars.


    "Sorry doesn''t cut it," Derek says irritable as he cracks his neck before taking off after her.

 Chapter 35 - Only Hope

    Page runs down the hallway, the rain scraping against the glass as Derek continues his pursuit at nothing more than a fast walk. She reaches the end of the hall, the door leading out to the yard to her right and the hall continuing down to her left leading to the cafeteria where there''s most likely zombies waiting for her. She glances out to quickly see if the bull''s anywhere in sight, she doesn''t see anything. Turning back to the hall she ran down, she sees Derek is already halfway down the hall, now nothing more than a couple yards away from her and quickly gaining. His body starts to twitch a bit before he comes to a stop.


    Derek''s skin starts to come apart, going inside out as his body transforms into a large sabertooth tiger made of exposed muscle and bone. As Page runs through the door into the outdoor yard Derek lets out a beastly roar. The rain crashes down on her head as she runs through the yard to the right side of it where a caged off staircase lies. She hears the door break open as she approaches the staircase. She pulls on the door but it''s locked, a very sturdy lock on it.


    Shit!


    Page knows she can''t just shoot it off without getting a face full of shrapnel, so she knows she has no choice but to find some other way to the main office. Turning around she sees Derek slowly pacing toward her.


    "Derek, I''ve already shot you once," She says as she holds up her gun, the rain starting to make it a bit hard to see as it runs through her hair and down her face, "Don''t make me do it again," His pace slowly comes to a halt before he lets out another roar and charges at her. Page dives to the left as he comes lunging at her. She can hear his claws scrape against the wet concrete as he goes sliding, unable to stop himself to from crashing into the cage with a hard thud. She quickly gets up and runs for the door to get back into the prison, but she doesn''t make it far before hearing him chasing after her. She glances to to see him already lunging at her. She jumps to the side, her left shoulder getting slashed by one of his claws as he flies past her.


    Despite the cold rain chilling her whole body, her shoulder is filled with a burning pain from the wound. Derek lands a couple yards in front of her, and quickly turns around. She expects him to come at her, but he doesn''t, instead he starts to pace, patrolling a small area in front of the door she''s trying to get to.


    "Don''t say I didn''t warn you," Page says as she brings up her gun. She shoots at him a couple times, but he seems unaffected, his bones acting as a tough plating, "Gosh dammit!" She goes to put her gun in her bag to grab her magnum, but he comes at her. She moves back, b?r?ly avoiding the claw he slashes at her. As Page tries to get her magnum he starts to once more slowly approach her, forcing her to walk backwards. As she grabs her magnum she feels just how empty her bag is, b?r?ly any bullets left.


    As she pulls out the magnum Derek starts coming at her again. He lunges at her again, and she pulls the trigger. She jumps to the side as, b?r?ly avoiding him as he goes past her. He lands on the ground hard, rolling a bit before stopping on his side. As he starts to get up Page hesitates to shoot, but does before he can fully recover from the blow. He falls to the floor again. Page takes the opportunity to run for the door.


    "P-Page¡­" She hears a slightly deeper version of Derek''s voice say. She turns to see Derek turning back to human as he stands up, "You''re just like everyone else, trying to kill me cause I''m a monster!" He shouts angrily.


    "What are you talking about?!" Page responds, "I didn''t shoot you until you tried to strangle me to death!" He doesn''t respond, just continues to glare at her with a burning gaze. It''s obvious the virus is taking over his brain.


    I need to meet up with Jacob, if we can get Lutrher, maybe we can get a cure for him.


    Page goes to head for the door but she sees something much larger coming at her from her right side. She runs away from the door as the bull charges through the fences like they''re made of paper. Its tails nearly hit her as it barrels past her and runs into the wall, breaking it into pieces and making a large hole. The bull quickly recovers, turning around and facing her, its mangled head splitting apart and opening up like a flower, four insect-like limbs coming out from inside its neck, a large eye looking staring sits in between the them in the center of its neck.


    The legs on its left side are all lumpy and have no skin or fur to cover them, showing the exposed and blood covered muscle. Page goes to shoot it, but the barrel is empty. The bull starts to move toward her, but Derek, whose now transformed into his sabertooth form again, shoves it to the side. He then starts running at Page.


    She runs to the far end of the yard near the outer fence as he chases, the bull quickly getting back up on its feet. As Derek gets ready to lunge at her, the bull stabs him in the side with two of its limbs. It carries him off the ground, but Derek slashes at one of the limbs, causing it to drop him. Derek cuts the other limb, causing the bull to stumble back a bit. He pulls the limbs out of him as the bull is already regenerating the severed limbs. While they''re distracted with each other, Page takes the chance to reload her magnum with the last six bullets she has for it. She has to make every shot count.


    The bull''s limbs are nearly fully regenerated but Derek lungs at the bull, slashing its giant eye. The bull bellows in agony as it steps back, the limbs flailing about. They soon retract into the neck as the head comes back together. The bull quickly charges at Derek, who jumps to the side, but he gets hit by one of its tails as the bull suddenly stops and starts flailing around. Derek tries to jump onto the bull''s side but he kicks kicked by its back feet, being sent flying and landing on the ground a couple yards away.


    "Derek!" Page exclaims as he sits on the ground. The bull turns to him as he gets up, getting ready to charge at him. The bull starts to run, but Page shoots it in the leg, causing it to fall over. Derek takes the chance to jump onto the bull''s back, turning around and using his claws to pry at the tear in its head, trying to pull it open. The bull''s tails flail about, slashing at his back but his bone plating protects him. He slowly pulls open the bull''s head, causing the limbs to come out to protect the eye. One of the limbs manages to stab into his shoulder, but he keeps the head open.


    Page runs to the front of the bull, shooting the bull in the eye. The bull spasms in pain, causing Derek to lose his grip a bit, but he holds on tight and keeps it open. Page shoots it two more times, and the eye stops moving, the bull finally going limp. Derek gets off the bull, transforming back to human as he turns to the bull, Page unable to see his face but able to hear his heavy breathing.


    "You better stay dead this time," He says sternly. Page lowers her gun, hoping he''s at least somewhat in control of himself now. However, she''s proven wrong when he turns to her, with the same hate filled look, "Don''t think I forgot about you," As Derek starts to walk toward her, Page sees something behind him start to move.


    "Watch out!" She exclaims as she runs to him, pushing him to the side. In that moment, everything seems to slow down. Derek watches one of the bull''s insect limbs lunge toward Page. The claw plunges itself into her ?h?st, and come out hers back. He can see every drop of blood fly out from the wounds and the life slowly fade from Page''s face as he''s unable to do anything but watch as he falls. Everything seems to return to normal as he hits the ground, the limb retracting out from her and her body falls backwards onto the cold concrete.


    As Derek quickly gets up the limb goes to stab him, but he grabs it, and tears the claw off. He walks to the bull''s body, the eye already recovered, and plunges his hand into the beasts neck. He grabs the back of the eye and rips it out from the bull''s body, the eye looking around, terrified. He then places his other hand on it, and crushes the eye, blood splattering everywhere. He drops the eye, which lands with a wet splash onto the ground. He turns around to see Page on the ground, her lifeless eyes staring up at the cloud filled sky. He sees Page getting stabbed by the bull again in his mind, no one''s ever jumped in front of him, sacrificing themselves to protect him. Something inside of him erupts, breaking the grasp the virus had on him.


    "Page¡­Page?!" He exclaims as he hurries over to her, kneeling down and picking her torso up, her limbs and head limply dangling, "Page!" He cries out, tears now joining in with the rain. He''s unable to think of anything else to do but hold her corpse as he hopes that somehow she''ll come back to life. He brings her closer, holding her tightly as he cries into her shoulder. Crying is something he''s never experienced, along with the pain of grief.


    Why did she do it?! Why did she get herself killed!? I would have been fine...I would have survived the attack¡­


    He''s too lost in thoughts to bother noticing a large explosion erupt in the upstairs caged staircase. Jacob watches the lower half of the monster''s body fall to the floor, the upper half now in a million pieces. As he walks past the corpse he heads into the stairwell, seeing a n?k?d Derek huddled over something, he''s only able to see a pair of legs in pants and boots, which he recognizes as Page''s right away.


    "Page? Page!" He shouts to no response. He hurries down the stairs and tries to open the door, but it''s locked. He kicks the door several times, the lock finally breaking, and runs over to her and Derek. Reaching them, he sees the large puddle of blood on the ground that''s slowly dissipating from all the rain.


    "She...she jumped in front of the bull," Derek says weakly as he lifts his head off her shoulder, too heavy with guilt to look up at Jacob, "To protect me¡­" Jacob stands there for some time, just staring at Page, looking at her pale and dead face. He walks over to the bull, throwing a fist at its side, his hand breaking through the skin and plunging into its body. He stands, a single tear going down his face as he catches his breath. He pulls his blood soaked arm out from the bull, letting the rain wash it off as he walks back over to Derek.


    "Get up, we''re not leaving her like this," He states. Derek doesn''t respond. Jacob walks over to him, grabbing one of his arms "I said, get up-"


    "No!" Derek retaliates, pushing off Jacob''s hand.


    "We need to move,"


    "How can you be so, heartless?!" Derek suddenly yells, "Your old work partner just died yet I''m the only one who seems to care about that!" He glares up at Jacob angirly, Jacob showing little to no emotion on his face as he looks back down at him.


    "...Because you''re lucky enough to feel," Jacob replies after some time, "I''ve never been the caring type, no matter how hard I try. Page always asked me why I joined Terrasave, but I never told her the truth because I knew she''d be scared of me. I use to be in the marines, stationed up in some country I''ve forgotten the name of. Me and my group were attacked, we won the fight, but it caused something inside me to stir up. I killed all my fellow soldiers, leaving me the only survivor.


    When I got back, they questioned me, and I told them the truth. They asked me why, and all I said was, ''I felt like it''. After that I was dishonorably discharged and sent a mental hospital, where doctors and therapists tried to figure me out, as if I was some elaborate puzzle, but I''m as clear as a blank sheet. I won''t ever truly know why, but I''ve grown to feel b?r?ly anything...except for bloodlust, which was I''ve come to realized is the real reason why I killed my comrades. While I was in the hospital, I was visited by the families of the people I killed, but I felt no guilt...not until my family came and I saw how they looked at me in terror, like I wasn''t the man they knew, but a monster hiding in its skin. I spent most of my days in there doing nothing, until Luther took a morbid interest in me and gave me the choice to join Terrasave, so I took it. I figured it''s better than being where I was, I''d be able to kill stuff as a job and hopefully it''d keep my bloodlust in check.


    I was given some closes and some equipment, and shipped off to Africa for my first mission, where I was ?ssigned Page as a partner. Though I hated the idea, I made a promise to myself that I''d do everything I could to kep her safe, that I''d keep myself under control. Page was the only other person in this whole world beside my family who I grew to care for, but that doesn''t mean I''m going to leave myself out in the open and cry over her corpse. If Luther brought you back from the dead, then there must be a way to bring her back from the dead, right?"


    Derek comes to a sudden realization, looking at Page before looking back to Jacob.


    "There''s a map of the prison in the security room," Derek states, "There''s a tunnel somewhere underneath the prison leading somewhere, perhaps a lab,"


    "...That seems like our only hope,"


    Derek puts an arm behind Page''s back and one under her knees and lifts her up as he stands up. He follows Jacob to the large hole in the wall and make their way to the security room.

 Chapter 36 - Collapse

    As Jacob enters the security room, Derek has to enter in sideways so Page''s body doesn''t hit the doorway. Jacob walks up to the main monitor, pulling up the map and scanning the area. Derek glances at the monitor before looking back down to Page.


    This, feeling, this, pain...I can''t recall ever feeling this way...not even with Ada¡­


    "So, have you been infected with the C-Virus this whole time, or were you injected?" Jacob asks as he stands up, closing the map and turning to Derek, finally noticing that''s he n?k?d and his skin has separated like plating.


    "I was infected the whole time, but Luther had this, device, on my neck that kept it from spreading so I could benefit from the virus without becoming some, mindless monster¡­" He looks back down to Page as Jacob looks at him slightly perplexed.


    "Then," He glances down at Page and looks back up, examining Derek''s stern expression that tries to hide his grief, "Why are you, you, still?" Derek looks at his body, seeing all the tears in his skin, exposing some his muscles.


    "I, don''t know¡­"


    "Well let''s hope you stay that way, at lest until we can fix you,"


    The two leave the security room and start to walk down the hall towards the broken door.


    "That ways a dead end," Derek states, "Something broke the door at the other end and it doesn''t open,"


    "Looks like we''re taking the scenic route," Jacob states before turning around and heading for the outdoor court. They walk back out into the rain, both of them glancing at the bull''s corpse to make sure it hasn''t regenerated. It hasn''t. Walking through the rain to the gated stairwell Jacob checks the door in front of them, but it''s locked.


    "Damnit," Jacob states, "This is the only other way to the storage room. The main office should have a spare, hopefully," He states before heading upstairs. Jacob and Derek walk through a broken off door and past the lower torso of a large creature, it''s upper body completely missing. A grenade launcher has been tossed to the side.


    "What the hell was that?" Derek asks.


    "The remains of a cop that I arrested a couple months ago,"


    Going deeper into the hall darkness starts to everything, Jacob having to turn on his flashlight to provide any sort of vision. They turn the corner to the right and walk down a hall where several indents in the walls, showing where the creature had swung. They reach a pair of dark brown wooden double doors. Opening the doors, Jacob''s light shines onto the corpse of an officer sitting behind a desk, a bullet hole in his forehead. Walking up to the desk, Jacob pushes the chair with the corpse aside before he starts brushing some blood-stained papers to the side. No keys appear to be on the desk.


    "The laundry room is right down the stairs through that door," Jacob states as he stares at a door a couple feet away across the hall, "I''ll go get you some clothes, stay here,"


    "...Alright," Derek says, feeling his face heat up a bit.


    I''ve worn suits for most of my life, yet I entirely forgot I''ve been walking around n?k?d¡­


    Derek steps back into the main office as the creaking of a metal door opening and then closing echos through the hall. He tries to look around the room but is b?r?ly able to even make out the outlines of objects. With everything so quiet, he can just b?r?ly hear what sounds like a riot coming from somewhere far off. Must be the zombies in the cafeteria, sounds like they''re attacking each other. Something catches his attention though when he hears the faint sound of a helicopter turning on. The sound soon fades away though. It feels like several minutes have passed before Derek is slightly started by the sudden noise of a door opening and closing.


    A flashlight illuminates the room as Jacob walks in, putting the clothes down on the desk. He places the flashlight on the desk facing the ceiling so the whole room is very dimly lit up. He walks over to Derek.


    "I''ll hold her while you get dressed,"


    Derek hands him Page before walking over to the desk and grabbing the clothes, which are usual inmate clothes, some und?rw??r, which looks to be just cleaned luckily, some orange pants, an orange short sleeve, and black sneakers. As Derek starts putting on the und?rw??r Ada barges into the room, quickly covering her eyes when she sees him.


    "A-Ada?!" Derek exclaims as he quickly pulls the und?rw??r all the way up.


    "You seem to have forgotten all forms of proper etiquette it seems," She says as she turns around, "Hurry up, Luther just took off with Norton in a helicopter and the island''s set to blow up in thirty minutes,"


    "What?!" Derek exclaims as he pulls his head through the top of the shirt.


    "Derek, grab my light, and calm down, we''ll be just fine," Jacob states before heading for the door to the hallway.


    "Calm down?" Derek asks as he grabs the light and joins Jaocb and Ada into the hall, "What do you mean calm down, we''re about to be blown up!"


    "You''d be surprised how many times Page asked me that," Jacob states as they hurry down the hall at a quick-pace, "I''m sure you''ve had your fair share,"


    "Don''t get me started," Ada replies.


    "I''ve had experience too, but I was the one giving the orders, not the one who was actually in the place that was going to blow up!"


    "Did you hear how?" Jacob asks Ada.


    "The island''s power plant, it''s going to overload and start a chain reaction all across this place," She replies as they reach the gated stairwell.


    "Lucky us, this prison has a hidden tunnel somewhere in the storage room. Only way is down this hall" Jacob says as they reach the bottom of the stairs, "The key to the door is in the small pocket," Ada quickly unzips it, pulling out the keys and unlocking the door. They head down a hall, going into the force door they reach which leads to a set of stairs going down. They enter a large storage room full of tons of boxes. There doesn''t look to be any way further down or out of this room except the stairs they just went down. A tarp covers the wall at the far end of the room. The group quickly hurries over and Ada pulls down the loosely hung up tarp, revealing an ordinary wall, a small round indent in the wall.


    "Knew this would come in handy," Ada states as she pulls out what looks like a small stone but is actually made entirely of metal. She places it into the indent, which it fits into perfectly, and suddenly they can hear a mechanism on the other side start to move. The wall suddenly opens down the middle, revealing a well lit staircase leading down to a long hallway.


    "Derek, take Page, Ada, keep them safe," Derek takes Page from Jacob, giving him back the flashlight, "Try and find a safe place to put her, there''s gotta be something in here we can use to bring her back,"


    "I don''t know if you''ve noticed, but we don''t exactly have a lot of time,"


    "You let me worry about that," Jacob says as he grabs his knife, "Stay safe,"


    "Wait-!" Ada exclaims before Jacob takes off down the middle isle to the other side of the room, sliding over a table ot get past some zombies, "Damnit! He''s lucky I don''t have a rid of this island or I''d just leave him to die¡­" She checks her gun''s clip, only seven bullets left, "This place better have ammo somewhere, come on," She says before walking down the right aisle.


    Approaching a zombie, Ada shoots it in the face, causing it to stumble back a bit. She kicks it in the abdomen, causing it to fall backwards onto the floor. Ada and Derek hurry past it, walking into a side door. They enter a room just as large as the one they were in. There''s a door on each side of the room, no zombies are in this room, but some blood stains leading to some of the doors suggest where they went. Heading to the door on the left, which is the only one not stained with blood, Ada opens the door to a large room where a raised platform is blocking a hole in the ceiling. Lots of surgical equipment are on some tables, and some large test tubes with weird masses of body parts and eyes floating about aimlessly line the walls.


    "Nope," Ada states as she shuts the door. They walk over to the door on the other end of the room they had entered from. She opens the door to a long hallway, several doors lining both sides. As they step foot into the hallway an alarm suddenly goes off, along with an automated message.


    "Warning, power plant in critical condition. Twenty minutes until meltdown. All personnel evacuate the facility immediately,"


    "Jacob I hope you know what you''re doing¡­" Ada mutters before they continue walking down the hall. Approaching the first door on the left, they open it up to a small room, a bed on the right side and a desk with a computer on the left side. The room is spotless surprisingly. Derek lays Page''s body down gently onto the bed.


    Take your time, we have plenty of it...


    Ada says in her mind. She would have said it out loud if she didn''t see how troubled he is by her death. For once she doesn''t see him entirely as a monster.


    "So, any idea how to bring her back?"


    "Uh...no...Jacob and I were hoping there''d be something in here that''d do that," Ada lets out an annoyed sigh.


    "You died in China, do you have any idea how he brought you back?"


    "The virus is my only guess, though he said he changed it a bit,"


    "Hmm...I think I know where Jacob was going with this¡­but I don''t think you''re gonna like it,"


    "What? What is it?"


    "My best guess is Jacob planned on giving her the virus you have,"

 Chapter 37 - Expansion

    Derek''s taken back by her suggestion. He glances at himself, then at Page before looking back to Ada.


    "...No," He replies sternly, "That, can''t be what he planned to do," Glancing back at Page, he notices the radio on her belt. He walks over and cautiously takes the radio off her belt as if it might wake her, "Jacob, you there?" He asks into the radio, "Jacob!" Some time passes by, and no response.


    Derek stands there, staring at the radio, hoping for a response.


    "Derek come on," Ada says as she places a hand on his shoulder, "We don''t have-"


    "Warning, power plant in critical condition. Fifteen minutes until meltdown. All personnel evacuate the facility immediately,"


    "Time¡­Jacob, you better know what you''re doing¡­" Ada mutters as she looks up at the ceiling where the automated voice came from, "Maybe there''s a map of the place in here," She states as she walks over to the computer, a timer in the upper right corner displaying a timer till the meltdown, "We need to find a lab¡­" She mutters as she starts typing away.


    "Derek, you there?!" Jacob''s voice suddenly exclaims from the radio.


    "Jacob, everything alright?" Derek asks.


    "Everything''s fine-!" His voice quickly cuts off, a loud metallic bang echoing somewhere near him. Ada glances over at Derek as she plugs her phone into the computer, "What''s wrong?"


    "...Were you planning on injecting Page with the virus that''s in me?" Derek asks as more noises can be heard in the background.


    There''s a lot more clanging.


    "Get back here!" A deep, disgruntled, unknown voice shouts.


    "Who''s that? What''s going on Jacob?" Ada asks as she walks up to Derek.


    "Nothing, everything''s fine! Just focus on finding that revive!"


    "Jacob? Jacob?!" Derek asks, but there''s no response.


    "I was b?r?ly able to get access to the map of this place," Ada says as she unplugs her phone from the computer, "If we have any chance of getting any important files we need to get to Luther''s personal computer," She grabs her phone, opening a map of the lab, "But I don''t see a head office of any sorts,"


    "Let me see," Derek says, holding a hand out. Ada hands him the phone and he looks through it. There''s an upper floor, which they''re on, and a lower floor. Leaving the hall would put them in the upper east wing, with the door to their left being a break room that has stairs leading down below. The first room of the lab they had entered was Sub Lab 2, which connects to a garden room and the Upper Main Lab. There''s a room for offices on the lower floor, but there''s no main office.


    Luther had his own office back at the lab I was in...but he did most of his stuff on the computers in the labs themselves¡­


    "The main lab," Derek says, turning the screen toward Ada and pointing at it, "Luther must have used a computer in there to keep his data,"


    Derek nods in response before Ada grabs her phone and heads out of the room into the upper east wing. Derek soons follows, seeing Ada disappear into the door to the left. As the door clicks he stands there for a second, staring at the door leading out to sub lab 2. He tightens his grip on the knife and heads for the door. Entering sub lab 2 the zombie Ada had shot and kicked to the floor was back up, and only a few feet from Derek, quickly taking notice of him. He swings the knife upward at the zombie, salshing it across the face.


    Before the zombie can recover from the blow Derek plunges the knife into the side of its head. The zombie starts to fall to the floor, Derek having to let go of the knife before it breaks from the pressure. Two other zombies in the room take notice of him and start making their way to him as he pulls the knife out of the corpse''s head. The lights suddenly turn off, with red ones turning on, giving the lab an unnerving redish-black tone.


    "Warning, power plant in critical condition. Ten minutes until meltdown. All personnel evacuate the facility immediately,"


    Fuck, I don''t have time for this!


    Derek runs towards the door to the main lab, a zombie blocking his path. He jumps up onto a nearby table, knocking over several glass vials. He jumps off the other end of the table and runs for the door. He enters a massive room full of tables, giant testing tubes filled with glowing liquids, and some computers on some tables at the ends of the room. The red lights almost make the liquid in the tubes look like blood. The room is easily twice the size of the sub lab. One of those large creatures that had chased Derek back in the lab he had woken up in floats inside one of the test tubes near the middle of the room.


    He hurries over to the closest computer which is only a few feet away to his left. The computer is already unlocked, a timer in the upper right corner and a red warning symbol in the bottom right by the date. Several folders cover the desktop, a lot with different names in other languages that must be the names of various B.O.W''s and viruses. He stops scanning the names when he sees one called "Derek". He quickly opens it up, a little over eight minutes left on the timer.


    Opening the folder, even more folders are inside. Derek lets out a grunt of annoyance as he quickly reads the names of the folders. They''re all dates. Some date to shortly after the incident in China. He starts with the most recent date, which dates back a couple months ago. An email labeled, "Success" catches his eyes. Opening it, he sees it''s addressed to some guy named Norton. It reads:


    "Success! After all this time, Phoenix is complete, and I was able to bring back Derek C. Simmons from the dead! I''m sure you''re excited about this too, I''m already working on another vial of it and will send it to the lab in Mazraea along with the instructions on how to make it as promised,"


    Derek clicks on the attachment in the email and a pdf opens up giving detailed instructions on how to make Phoenix. He sees a printer sitting right by the computer, so he clicks print and the pages soon start coming out of the printer.


    Derek quickly grabs the pages, opening up a map of the lab and locating the chemical mixing lab, which is connected to the upper main lab in the far back left of the room.


    I need more time! Jacob, I''m counting on you¡­


    He runs through the main lab, hurrying to the chemical mixing lab.


    ¡­


    "I''ll check downstairs, you check up here," Ada says before leaving the hall and entering the east wing. Heading for the door to the left she enters a medium sized room a little smaller than the one she was in. The room has a tile floor, most of it being covered by a large carpet rug. Wooden counters line the right side of the room, a staircase leading downstairs sits at the other end of the room on the left side. A long blood trail leads from the door over the carpet to the stairs. She double checks her magazine.


    Whatever made this trail better die in six bullets.


    With time being a luxury she knows she doesn''t have, Ada heads for the stairs. As she reaches the bottom half of the stairs she sees something feeding on a corpse that''s the source of the blood trail. In the right side of the room down below is what looks like a human with a larger upper body hunching over its meal. Its left arm appears to be slightly more muscular than the average person''s arm, but it''s right arm has swollen up to something much larger. She can just b?r?ly see part of a giant eye on the shoulder.


    You''ve got to be kidding me, did that lunatic really make another G?!


    Before Ada can attempt to make her way down the lights suddenly go out, with red ones turning on and dimly lighting up the place.


    Gosh dammit! I don''t have time to have this thing chasing me, there''s no way six bullets are enough for it! ¡­ Maybe, that thing Luther gave me will come in handy after all¡­


    She reaches in her back pocket, pulling out a pair of ordinary looking shades. Putting them on and pressing a small bu??on on the side she looks around, the glasses scanning the room for electronics. They lock on too many of the things on the counters, but she finds something on the door leading to the lower east wing. She clicks on another bu??on, locking onto it. She grabs her phone, showing her an image of the thing she''s locked onto.


    Metal shutters, perfect.


    She starts tapping on various things, getting it ready to close. Holding her phone tightly, she runs down the stairs, the mutated man taking notice of her. It lets out an inhuman roar before it starts to dash toward her as she runs past. She bursts through the door, quickly closing it and jumping away as she taps on the engage bu??on. A heavy metal door comes down in front of the door. As she takes the glasses off she can hear the thing banging on the other side of the metal wall.


    Hopefully that''ll hold it¡­


    Turning around into the east wing she sees she''s not alone, six other zombies in the room with her. She presses a bu??on on the inside of the glasses between the lenses before chucking it into the middle of the room. She puts an arm over her eyes as the glass explode with a bright flash, tiny flaming sparks flying around. One lands on her arm and she quickly puts it out. The zombies walk around blindly, some starting to catch fire from the sparks. She runs through them and heads into the sub lab 4. It looks identical to the room Derek, Jacob, and her had first entered. Luckily this room seems to be empty. She hurries to the door to the far right of the room leading to the main lab, but her steps awaken the zombies on the ground. They start to stand up, a couple standing in her path. She slides over a nearby table into the walkway in the middle and continues to the door. She enters a massive room, easily twice the size of the one she was just in. Tons of test tubes make two rows going down almost the entire length of the room. In the middle of the room is a slightly raised platform with stairs leading up to it from all four sides. Several computers sit in the corners of the platform.


    She hurries past the test tubes, most filled with various disgusting things like human bodies in various stages of rot or mutation. Some of them look like even more messed up versions of the thing in the break room. She reaches the platform and goes to the closest computer, which is already unlocked, another timer in the upper right corner, displaying a little less than eight minutes, and a red warning symbol in the lower right by the date. Several folders with names of B.O.W''s and other things cover the desktop. She sees one named "Derek" and clicks on it. It opens to show more folders, all labeled with various dates. Some date to shortly after the incident in China. Ada opens the most recent on, finding an email labeled, "Success". Opening it, she sees it''s addressed to Norton.


    So, you were still working with him all this time...guess you getting fired was just a cover up.


    After she finishes reading it she clicks on the attachment, opening up the instructions. She plugs her phone into the computer and starts copying the files into it.


    The files in her phone, she quickly detaches it, pulling up the map on it and looking for a room where she could make it. The chemical mixing lab upstairs seems to be the best bet, however it''s connected only to the upper main lab. An elevator sits at the far end on the left side of the room though, connecting the upper and lower main labs. She heads for the elevator. Reaching it she gets inside and presses the bu??on to go up, the door closing before it starts up.


    Jacob, you better do something and fast, you promised to help me get him back...

 Chapter 38 - Broken

    "Wait-!" Ada exclaims before Jacob takes off down the middle isle to the other side of the room, sliding over a table to get past some zombies. He runs through the door and enters a massive room that''s twice as big as the one he was just in. Desks with computers and giant test tubes filled with glowing light blue liquids fill the corners of the room. He hurries over to a nearby computer, which is unlocked, a timer in the upper corner displaying a little over twenty minutes. The desktop is covered in folders with various names, but he ignores them all, looking for a map of the place.


    He finds it and opens it up. The other side of the room leads to a sub lab, and the other side of that room is connected to a hall leading straight to the power plant.


    "Perfect," He mutters to himself before closing the map and hurrying to the other side of the room. He enters another room that looks nearly identical to the first room he had entered with Ada and Derek. A few zombies walk are aimlessly wandering about. He makes his way pass them and reaches the door, entering a thin hallway with white walls lit by lights in the side walls.


    "Warning, power plant in critical condition. Twenty minutes until meltdown. All personnel evacuate the facility immediately,"


    Jacob hurries down the hall, reaching a set of stairs going up to a rustic metal door. He heads through the door to enter a small room filled with computers, monitors, and gauges that are going crazy displaying the status of the machinery.


    "Alright, what the hell did Luther do to you?" Jacob thinks out loud as he walks over to the computers. He presses the space-bar on the keyboard to turn the screen on. It displays needing to scan an ID, a little device connected to it glowing red.


    "Fucking great," Jacob grunts as he taps the desk with his fist.


    There''s gotta be some workers around here, I''m sure he made sure they were all dead or infected.


    There''s two doors leading out, a large window in the middle showing the massive room that they both lead to. Floodlights are the only source of light in the giant room. He can''t see the ceiling because it''s either too high up or just too dark, but several walkways up above are just b?r?ly visible, along with giant machinery in the far back of the room, tons of pistons and gears moving violently.


    Jacob walks through the door on the left and finds himself on a large platform made of thick diamond plates. Guardrails encase the edges of it, with some ladders and stairs, some leading to a floor below, and others connecting to the walkways up above. Despite the loud noises of the machinery, the sound of metal chains swinging about can be heard echoing above. A corpse sits on the far end of the platform, laid up against the railing and having a floodlight aimed at it. Something''s wrong about this.


    Jacob tightens the grip on his knife as he walks towards the body, keeping an eye out for any movement around him. As he makes it halfway to the body, he hears a loud metal screeching noise, like something being torn apart. He looks up and around, but doesn''t see anything, but the lowest walkways above which are empty, everything else is hidden in darkness. He continues his walk to the corpse, a bit more slowly and trying to listen for anything. Nearing the body he sees something in its hands, something reflective and white, it must be the worker''s ID card. He goes to reach for it, but hears clanging from above.


    A black bandanna covers the bottom of his nose and mouth, his skin pale, and most of his light brown hair fallen off. An eye-patch covers his right eye.


    "You don''t quit do you Jerry?" Jacob asks him, "Though I gotta ask how you recovered getting your fu?k?n? torso blown up into million of pieces, and get a change of clothes too,"


    "That was a fake," Jerry replies in a deep, disgruntled voice, "Guess it wasn''t much of a challenge for you," He cracks his knuckles, his hands almost the size of Jacob''s head, "Good for me, cause I''ve been waiting for months to get my revenge on you,"


    Jacob gets into a battle stance, unwavered by Jerry''s colossal size.


    "Let''s get this over with, I''m on a tight schedule," Jacob states coldly, glaring up at him.


    The two stare at each other, only a few feet apart. Jerry suddenly comes charging at Jacob, throwing a right punch. Jacob jumps to the side, Jerry stepping forward from the momentum. Jacob slashes at Jerry''s back, b?r?ly making a cut in it. Unaffected by the hit, Jerry comes turning towards him, swinging his left arm. Jacob gets hit, sent flying back a couple feet and landing on the ground with a hard thud.


    "That all you got?" Jerry asks as he starts walking toward him, "I was hoping for more of a challenge,"


    "You should have fought me before I spent an entire day dealing with zombies," Jacob replies, still laying on the ground and holding his right arm sore from the blow. Jerry walks up to him, and as he brings a fist up, Jacob lets go of his arm, putting both his hands at his sides and bending his legs. He then thrusts his legs forward as he pushes his lower body up, both his feet hitting Jerry in the crotch. Jerry hunches over, stumbling back from the blow. Jacob grabs his knife and gets up, running to the body.


    Seems like Luther forgot about a guy''s biggest weakness.


    "Jacob, you there? Jacob!" Derek''s voice exclaims from Jacob''s radio.


    "You motherfucker!" Jerry exclaims as he finally recovers from the blow. He starts charging at Jacob. Jacob jumps to the side just in time, Jerry pummeling the corpse, breaking the railing and causing it to fall down below.


    "Warning, power plant in critical condition. Fifteen minutes until meltdown. All personnel evacuate the facility immediately,"


    The automated voice echos through the room. Jacob runs for the door back into the room with all the computers, grabbing his radio.


    "Derek, you there?!" Jacob exclaims into it.


    "Jacob, everything alright?" Derek asks, Jacob glances behind him at the sound of metal breaking. Jerry''s tearing off a piece of the railing.


    "Everything''s fine-!"Jacob ducks as a metal rod is thrown at him, flying over his head and plunging into the wall in front of him, "What''s wrong?"


    "...Were you planning on injecting Page with the virus that''s in me?" Derek asks as Jerry comes charging at him. Jacob puts the radio back on his belt before taking off the duffel bag. He holds it like a battering ram at his side. As Jerry nears him he steps to the side, swinging the duffel bag up, letting go as it hits Jerry in the face, the force knocking off his eye patch and bandanna.


    "I doubt that''s how Luther brought you back," Jacob replies as he runs to the other side of the platform for more space, "He must have made something new. Check all the files, there must be something about reviving dead people somewhere in the place,"


    "Get back here!" Jerry roars, Jacob seeing that he''s missing his right eye and part of the skin around his mouth has torn off, showing muscle and some bone.


    "Who''s that? What''s going on Jacob?" Ada suddenly asks.


    "Nothing, everything''s fine! Just focus on finding that revive!"


    "Jacob? Jacob?!" Derek exclaims before Jacob turns off the radio and puts it back on his belt. Jerry pulls the rod out of the wall with ease then chucks it at Jacob. Jacob ducks once more, the rod flying into the machinery behind him. This causes an explosion that pushes Jacob forward, causing him to fall down. As he''s getting up he hears loud stomping quickly approaching. Jacob rolls to the side, but Jerry still manages to grab him, picking him up by the throat.


    "It''s about time I thanked you for throwing me in jail to rot," Jerry says angrily as he glares at Jacob. Jacob tries to break open his grip, but it''s too strong.


    "Warning, power plant in critical condition. Ten minutes until meltdown. All personnel evacuate the facility immediately,"


    "Even when you''re about to die, you don''t show anything," Jerry states irritably, "Show me what you''re really feeling!" He grabs the knife off Jacob''s belt, and plunges it into his side, sending a wave of pain through his body. Jacob winces in pain, but continues to glare at Jerry.


    "You don''t, want me, to do that," Jacob replies with winded breath.


    "Oh, I do," Jerry pulls the knife out, and stabs it into his side again, "I want to see you suffer," Jerry starts to grin maniacally as he sees Jacob starting to break. He takes the knife out and plunges it once more into Jacob''s side, which is now getting drenched in blood.


    Jacob grabs the knife from his side, pulling it out and plunging it into Jerry''s wrist. The sudden pain causes Jerry to lose his grip on Jacob, dropping him to the floor. As Jerry starts to pull the knife out from his wrist, Jacob comes at him, kicking him in the torso, causing him to stumble back a bit. Jacob grabs the knife from Jerry''s wrist and slashes him across the face. He then plunges the knife into Jerry''s other hand before going behind him.


    Jacob kicks in both of Jerry''s legs, forcing him onto his knees with a hard thud. He then puts one arm around the top of Jerry''s head and the other on his left shoulder. Jerry''s caught in complete shock when Jacob suddenly bites down into his exposed neck. He rips off part of his neck, spitting it out and biting down once more, ripping off more until Jerry''s esophagus is exposed, blood quickly filling it. Jacob lets go of Jerry''s shoulder, rubbing his left hand along his blood-covered side, and then placing his blood soaked hand onto Jerry''s throat, causing it to sizzle and sear. Jerry starts to shake and twitch as Jacob''s blood starts burning the inside of his throat like acid. Jerry soon goes limp, Jacob letting go and his body falling back onto the ground.


    "Warning, power plant in critical condition. Five minutes until meltdown. All personnel evacuate the facility immediately,"


    Jacob pulls the knife out from Jerry''s hand, cutting off some of the fabric of the cargo pants and using it to wipe the blood off his mouth and teeth. Jacob coldly stares down at Jerry''s body, looking at the look of terror and agony frozen on his face. The taste of blood starts creeping up on Jacob''s mind, awakening his true instincts. He hasn''t tasted blood since the mental hospital.


    Even the therapist knew I was right in calling myself a monster that day¡­


    Jacob wipes the blood off his knife before putting it in its sheath and heads for the computer room, the wounds in his side already healing. Entering inside the computer room, he walks up to the computer, putting the ID card on the scanner. He gets access to the computer and starts trying to cancel the meltdown.

 Chapter 39 - Lights Out

    As Derek runs to the back of the upper main lab, the elevator reaches the upper floor, Ada stepping out to see Derek heading through the door on the other side of the room into the chemical mixing lab. Derek enters a room a little smaller than the sub lab, a large black counter in the middle of the table with various scientific instruments, most of the vials are empty but some have liquids of different colors. A corpse in a hazmat suit lays up against the wall on the other side of the room, near an empty dumbwaiter sitting in the wall a couple feet above.


    "You find the email too?" Ada asks as she enters the room.


    "Yeah, I have the instructions right here," Derek replies as he holds up the instructions.


    "Warning, power plant in critical condition. Four minutes until meltdown. All personnel evacuate the facility-"


    The automated voice is suddenly cut off and all the lights go out. Ada turns on a flashlight on her belt, a cone of light shining on Derek and the counters which reflect it back. Thanks to the counters being so reflective, most of the room is dimly lit, allowing them to just be able to make out where things are.


    "I hope that''s what he meant to do," Ada mutters as her and Derek look up at the lights in the ceiling. The lack of light in the room gives it an even more menacing feeling than when the red lights were on, one that would make you want to stand near someone so you know you''re not alone, but neither one wants to do that.


    "How are we suppose to make this stuff now?" Derek asks as he looks down at the instructions in his hands


    "Hey, you guys alright?" Jacob''s voice asks through the radio, "I''m restarting the power plant so it''ll be a minute or two before it comes back on,"


    "We''re fine, just caught a bit off guard from the lights turning off,"


    "Were you guys able to find anything?"


    "I found this thing in an email called Phoenix, it''s what Luther used to bring me back from the dead,"


    "Perfect. Do you guys know if they had any at the lab?"


    "Let me know if you find it. Once the power plant is back in working order I''ll come meet you guys back in the lab,"


    "Alright," Derek replies before putting the radio on his pocket.


    "So, where do-"


    "I''ll check the cryo-chamber," Ada interrupts, already having the map open on her phone, "You can check the storage rooms below," She turns her phone screen to Derek, showing him the map, "The first storage room is connected to the upper west wing, which is connected to this room. The second one is connected to the lower west wing and with the power out, using an elevator is out of the question. The fastest way down is using a ladder in the garden room, here," She grabs the small flashlight off her handgun and hands it to him, "Be, careful," She states firmly as Derek takes the flashlight from her hand, "There''s a lot more than just zombies in here with us. I saw, something, back in the break room, it looked like G,"


    "Thanks," Derek replies with a slight nod, "You too," And with that the two of them split up once more. Ada goes back to the main lab while Derek walks to the other side of the room, going through a door on the left side. He enters a large open room, shining his flashlight around. On the other side of the room is an elevator, the doors on both sides of it open, the flashlight not strong enough to show him what''s on the other side of it. The rest of the room''s empty except for a single corpse laying against the wall in the corner of the room. He moves his flashlight away from it, letting it sleep undisturbed once more, before illuminating a door to his right. He walks through the room, his light footsteps echoing through. As he walks through the darkness he starts to feel the air growing colder as there''s nothing to regulate the place''s temperature now.


    As he treks through the dark room he starts to feel like something is over his shoulder, but he knows nothing is there. The feeling causes something inside him to reawaken. He can feel the virus pulsating inside him, the blind rage, the mindless aggression starting to heat up and boil. He tries to shake it off as he opens the door to the storage room. Nothing but boxes on shelves fill the room. As he closes the door, the soft click of it closing awakens the zombie in the corner. He turns around to hear it''s m??ns of death as it slowly rises to its feet, the blood on its lab coat glistening in the light.


    Derek hurries over to the elevator, as he enters it his light is able to shine into the garden room, various plants inside a large glass dome. Entering the room he sees it''s as massive as the main lab, only it''s in a circular shape with the dome taking up most of the space. A grated walkway lies the outside of the dome, making up the second floor of the room. In the far back of the room to Derek''s right is a sign on a wall with an arrow pointing down, that must be where the ladder is. As he walks along on the walkways the grating beneath his feet echoed through the large empty room. With how much bigger this room is compared to the west wing, it seems like the darkness is much denser and his field of vision much smaller.


    As he nears the ladder a pain in his head comes out of nowhere, like someone is banging a hammer on the inside of his skull. He stops in his tracks as he places a hand on his head, unable to soothe the growing pain. He can feel his body start to heat up, and the feelings inside boil up again.


    "No-" He mutters to himself as he tries to fight back, "I won''t...I, can''t¡­lose control..." His legs start to feel heavy as hunches forward, the pain starting to become unbearable. He drops his flashlight as he falls to his knees, feeling his heart beating in his ?h?st as everything starts to become stained in a blood red hue. The lights suddenly come on, the sudden brightness hurting his eyes. He falls onto his side, rolling onto his back as he covers his eyes to protect them from the lights. As his eyes start to adjust, the pain slowly goes away. Soon he''s laying on the grating, catching his breath as his arms lay at his sides, the red hue fading away.


    As Derek gets up he hears the zombie from the west wing making its way into the garden room. He grabs his flashlight and gets up, going to the ladder. Looking down he sees the door leading into the large dome, nothing seems to be at the bottom of the ladder. The zombie a good couple yards away, Derek makes his way down the ladder, the area still unsettling quiet with his footsteps on the ladder echoing through the whole place.


    Making his way around the dome to the elevator shaft, he sees lots of green things on the other side of the dome, the glass distorting them and making them look all wavy. Some bright shades or red, orange, pink, yellow, and blue can be seen inside. Making his way to the elevator shaft the doors he sees they''re closed. Walking up to them, he presses a bu??on to the right of them which lights up. He can hear the machinery inside start to move as the elevator makes its way down. There''s a bit of a loud thud off in the distance, but it must be some other machinery somewhere else turning on. As the elevator nears the bottom he hears the sound of something screeching in pain as the machinery struggles to go down a bit. Then there''s a bit of a loud thud as the unnatural noises stop and the elevator reaches the bottom. The doors on both sides open up, showing a bit of an indent near the middle of the elevator floor.


    Derek cautiously enters, staying away from the middle of the elevator as he makes his way to the lower west wing. The room looks exactly like the upper west wing except there''s only three doors instead of four, no door to his left. Nothing appears to be in the general area, except whatever got crushed by the elevator. The door to the chemical mixing lab looks to have been clawed by something large. Entering the room, a large counter sits in the middle, more claw marks clearly visible. The door to the right has also been heavily damaged, already on the verge of falling off its hinges.


    Cabinets line the walls of the room, filled with vials full of various liquids. Some of them have been damaged like some large animal had been jumping around all over the place. As Derek starts to walk around the room, looking for anything labeled "Phoenix", he hears something scraping against metal behind him. He turns to the elevator to see a large indent in the floor. Suddenly a large claw emerges, breaking through the metal, then another one. Soon the head of some creature comes crawling out. It looks like one of the creatures he had read about, a Licker. It''s brain has swollen to a large size, covering its eyes and nose, if it even has one.


    It''s mouth sits right under where its brain ends, filled with rows of sharp teeth that look almost as deadly as it''s massive claws that it used to break through the metal. Any skin the creature once had is now gone showing its highly developed muscles that give it immense strength. Its lower body seems to still be stuck under the elevator as it tries to pull itself through the hole. It lets out an inhuman roar of agony as it suddenly lurches forward, the sounds of bones breaking and muscle being torn apart fills the air. Derek can see it''s upper torso is actually tearing apart from the rest of its body, nothing but a long thick spine of sorts keeping them connected. The spine looks like a centipede, being very bumpy and having several tiny legs along the side all wiggling, sending a shiver down Derek''s spine.


    This is not a normal Licker, Luther''s mutated it with something else, and I''m not sticking around to find out.


    Derek quickly turns around, running through the chemical storage room and through the heavily damaged door which breaks off as Derek flings it open and runs into a large room filled with more of those giant test tubes. A nearby one is broken, the liquid inside spilled all over the floor, guess that''s where it came from. He runs to the other side of the room, finding another elevator. He presses the bu??on several times as he constantly glances at the door to the chemical storage for any sign of the thing. He hears a door burst open on the other side of the room, unable to see through the walls of tubes.


    As his eyes dart from side to side, trying to get any hint of where the Licker might be he starts to feel the pain in is head come back. The pain grows much faster this time, somehow becoming even more painful, forcing him to lean back against a wall to keep himself up. Everything starts becoming red and his vision starts to become impaired. He falls backwards as the elevator door opens up behind him. He''s b?r?ly able to make out a large blobby thing moving towards him. He pushes himself up, pressing any bu??on he can, the elevator doors closing right before the thing can enter. He sits back down against the wall of the elevator as the pain in his head starts to go through the rest of his body.


    He can feel his body heating up as he starts to lose control, the virus overtaking him.


    Jacob enters the upper main lab. As he walks up to the center of the room he hears a door to his left open up. He sees Ada walk through.


    "Any luck?" Jacob asks as he meets Ada halfway.


    "No," She replies as they stand a couple feet away from each other.


    "Where''s Derek?"


    "He went to check the other storage-" They stop at the sound of something breaking down below. They soon hear another noise coming from the elevator shaft, like something being thrown into the elevator. They soon hear it start coming up. As the two cautiously approach the elevator shaft, weapons at the ready, Ada notices something.


    "Um, I think you''re gums are bleeding," Ada states.


    Jacob wipes his teeth against his sleeve, seeing some blood smear on it, "Guess I missed a spot," He replies, Ada glancing over at him before looking back to the elevator. As the elevator reaches the upper floor, the doors open up, Derek sitting on the ground. When he looks up at sees them his expression fills with hatred as he glares at them. He slowly rises to his feet before he starts to walk toward them, Ada and Jacob starting to back up.


    "Ada, you have the instructions to make Phoenix right?" Jacob asks..


    "Y-Yeah," She replies.


    "What?"


    "Just go!"


    Ada quickly takes off towards the chemical mixing lab, Derek turning to her and walking in her direction. Jacob runs up to Derek punching him in the side of the head, causing him to stumble sideways into the wall.


    "You''re not going anywhere, not until we get that shit out of you," Jacob states as Derek recovers from the blow, turning his attention to him, "Until then, you''re stuck with me,"

 Chapter 40 - Chemistry

    Ada runs into the chemical mixing room, holding up her phone and pulling up the instructions to make Phoenix. She looks around the room for any of the ingredients but none of them are there.


    Derek came from the lower main lab, so the storage room up here doesn''t have anything.


    Hurrying into the upper west wing, she runs to the elevator, pressing the bu??on and waiting for it to come. There''s a small ding as the elevator doors open up. She''s about to run in but sees the large hole in the floor, blood all around the broken edges.


    Not having the leisure of waiting, Ada hurries into the elevator and presses the bu??on to go down. As the doors close and the elevator makes its decent, she tightens her grip on the gun, keeping an eye on the large hole in the floor. The elevator reaches the second floor and as the doors open she sees both doors in the lower west wing have been severely damaged, like something with large claws had torn through them. A trail of blood leads out to the lower main lab, where she spots something large moving about.


    Cautiously, she makes her way to the chemical storage lab, stepping as lightly as possible. Her footsteps still make some sounds which echo through the room. She stops when she sees something move toward the entrance to the main lab. A Licker, with it''s upper torso leading to some centipede like body. The creature moves its head around the room as it listens for anything nearby. Ada glances down at her belt, seeing she has one flash grenade left. She reaches for it, grabbing it lightly.


    Ada places two fingers on the pin, the Licker lifting its head up towards her, looking in her direction. She pauses for a second, getting ready to pull it and throw, but there''s a bang from upstairs, catching the Licker''s attention. It turns around and runs into the main lab, Ada breathing in relief as it leaves. She puts grenade back on her belt as she continues to make her way to the chemical storage room. Entering she sees the door inside the room leading to the main lab is also broken apart.


    Great, no doors and an abomination of a Licker. At least that thing in the break room isn''t here.


    She pulls up the instructions once more, looking at the list of ingredients needed. She quietly and swiftly checks the cabinets for them, managing to find everything she needs. She places them on a counter by the dumbwaiter, pressing the bu??on to call it down. She can hear the cables inside the wall start to move. She hears the Licker moving inside the main lab.


    Ada turns around to see the Licker heading towards the room. There''s another thud up above, but the Licker is focused on the noise coming from the dumbwaiter. The Licker is only a few inches from the door before it enters the room she''s in. She grabs her flash grenade, pulls the pin, and chucks it towards the Licker. She covers her eyes as it goes off, the high-pitched noise of the flashbang making its ears ring. Ada quickly looks around the room for anything she can use.


    Finding a bottle sulfuric acid in a vial nearby, Ada grabs it and chucks it at the Licker. The Licker roars in pain as the acid eats away at its body. She aims her handgun and shoots it three times in the head, causing it to stumble back. The dumbwaiter arrives, and she moves all the ingredients into it, pressing the bu??on and running out of the room, the Licker recovering from the pain.


    As Ada reaches the elevator and rapidly presses the bu??on to go up, she sees the Licker enter the west wing. Before it can lunge at her, the elevator doors close and it starts going up, Ada watching the hole, expecting it to come jumping out from it. The elevator reaches the upper floor, the doors opening up. She hurries into the mixing room where all the ingredients are waiting for her. She closes the door behind her, locking it and hurrying over to the dumbwaiter.


    Ada sees the body sitting by it, and not taking any chances, she kicks it in the side of the head. The body falls over on its side, not moving at all. She grabs the ingredients from the dumbwaiter and starts mixing up the chemicals, hearing Derek and Jacob in the other room fighting each other.


    It doesn''t sound like he''s transformed into anything, lucky Jacob, he''d probably be torn to shreds by now if he turned into that t-rex thing.


    Why didn''t it say I needed that before? Fucking Luther, when I get my hands on him...now''s not the time for that. Let''s just get the serum, put it in the mixture and see if this stuff really works.


    Ada puts a lid on the glass container with the mixture and puts it in a small bag on the side of her belt. She opens the door to the main lab, quickly scanning the room only to find Jacob running towards her.


    "Move!" He shouts.


    Ada quickly ducks back into the room, Jacob kneeling down just as a broken metal pipe comes flying past him. Jacob turns around, running out of sight. Ada takes the chance to run into the main lab, seeing Jacob grab Derek in the corner of her eye. She runs through the room and reaches the cryo-lab. She runs past computers and desks and enters a large freezer, the frigid air clinging to her the second she steps inside. She starts looking through all the containers for the serum, and finds a couple vials. She opens the cabinet, even colder air lunging out at her.


    Hurriedly, Ada grabs a vial and leaves the freezer, rubbing her arms to warm them back up. She grabs some syringes ina supply cabinet by some desks and opens the instructions. She takes out the required amount, and puts it into the glass vial, the serum turning a dull blue. The next step is to inject it into the subject. She puts the Phoenix serum into her belt bag and opens the door to the main lab. Derek has Jacob pinned to the floor, a hand around Jacob''s throat and a fist raised in the air.


    Ada brings up her gun and shoots Derek in the side of the head, causing him to flinch a bit. Jacob takes the chance to punch Derek in the stomach, winding him, then grabs Derek''s waist and rolls him to the side, causing him to fall down onto his side. As Ada makes her way to sub lab 2 Jacob pulls Derek up, sitting behind him and wrapping his arms around Derek''s preventing him from moving.


    Ada runs into sub lab 2, goes into the upper east wing, enters the lodging area and runs into the room Page is in. She grabs the syringe and serum from her belt bag, fills the syringe up with the required amount, and injects it into Page''s forearm. Ada can see the serum start to make its way through Page''s veins, quickly spreading throughout her body. Page suddenly sits up, gasping for air before looking around the eye wide-eyed and in shock.


    She catches her breath as she sees Ada and realizes she''s in some place she doesn''t recognize at all.


    "W-Where am I? How long have I been out?"


    "Dead?!"


    "I''ll explain later, now come on, we have a dog fight to stop,"


    Page follows Ada through the lodging, into the east room, into the sub lab, and then into the main lab where Derek struggles to break free of Jacob''s grasp. As Ada and Page hurry over to them, Derek tries to transform, but Jacob tightens his grip, squeezing Derek and forcing him to stay human. Jacob doesn''t loosen his grip though, instead he keeps tightening it as he glares at Derek, who starts to have trouble breathing as he feels Jacob''s arms start to press into his ribs.


    "Stop!" Ada and Page shout, catching Jacob''s attention, causing him to ease up. Derek sees Page, his aggressive expression relaxing for a second, but then he goes back to trying to break free.


    "Let me go!" Derek shouts angrily.


    "Shut up before I crush your ribs," Jacob threatens.


    "What happened?" Page asks.


    "The virus has taken him over," Ada replies, "So what do we do now?"


    "Cure him," Jacob replies irritably, "Did you not think to check for one while you were making the serum?"


    "O-Okay," She responds, confused about everything happening.


    The two enter the cryo-lab and go into the freezer. Looking around they read all the labels on the vials.


    "Vaccine-C," Page states as she grabs a small bottle, "Is this it?" Ada walks over and Page hands her the vial, she examines the contents carefully.


    "Seems so. Why couldn''t getting Phoenix have been this easy?" Ada mutters as the two leave the freezer, grabbing a syringe and heading into the main lab. Ada fills the syringe with the vaccine and injects it into Derek''s arm. As the vaccine starts to go through his veins, his body starts to heat up as he suddenly screams in agony.


    "What''s happening?" Ada and Page asks, caught off guard by Derek''s violent reaction.


    "S-Shit!" Jacob exclaims as he struggles to keep Derek still, "I forgot he had a special strand! Carla, she had used the antibodies to mutate the strand. Ada, get some of my blood!"


    "What?"


    "Just do it, and hurry!"


    Ada sticks the syringe into Jacob''s arm, drawing some blood. As Ada takes the syringe out from his arm, Jacob tightens his grip on Derek, causing him to start to lose his breath. Derek struggles to breath as he''s deprived of air and unable to scream.


    "How did that work?" Ada asks as she looks at the syringe, still partly filled with Jacob''s blood.


    "It''s a long story," Jacob says as he lets go of Derek, letting him slump over onto the ground.


    "Can anyone explain to me what happened while I was dead?" Page asks.


    As Derek lays on the floor, they tell her off everything that happened after she had been killed by the bull. Page looks down at Derek, whose still unconscious, having a hard time imagining him crying as he holds her body.


    "Seems like he likes you," Ada comments with a teasing smile, pulling Page out of her thoughts, "Though you two can deal with that later once we''re off this damn island. Do we have any way off? The boats at the docks are destroyed, and Luther and Norton took off in the only helicopter I saw at the prison,"


    "The sewers," Jacob replies as he looks at the map of the lab on a computer, "That''s where the evacuation routes on the map lead to, there must be a boat there,"


    Ada pulls up the map on her phone, and looks at where the entrance to the sewers is. The only way to it is through the lower east wing, which is only accessible by either going through the break room which has the gate shut to it, or by using one of the elevators or the ladder in the garden to get to sub-lab 4.


    "There''s a Licker somewhere downstairs," Ada states as she stares at the map.


    "Well then let''s wake up Derek," Before Derek can be woken up, an alarm suddenly goes off, causing the normal lights to turn off and the red ones to come back on.


    "That fu?ker always has a back up plan¡­" Jacob mutters to himself as he looks up at the ceiling. The alarm startles Derek awake who looks around to see Ada Jacob and Page, who all look down at him.


    "What''s happening?" Derek asks.

 Chapter 41 - Detachment

    "Island''s still blowing up, now come on, we have no time to spare," Jacob states to Derek, who was once drowsy but is now fully awake. As Derek gets up Jacob lends him a hand and he quickly jumps to his feet. The four of them all hurry to the elevator and get inside, thankfully it''s rather large and there''s just enough space to not be cramped together. The elevator soon reaches the lower floor and they run out, seeing the Licker a few feet in front of them. Everyone jumps to the side as it shoots out its tongue at them.


    Jacob grabs his knife, jumping onto the Licker''s back before turning around and plunging the knife into the Licker''s head. As it tries to shake Jacob off, he continuously stabs it several times, and the Licker soon goes limp.


    "Come on!" Jacob states as he gets up. They all run down the length of the room, reaching the door at the other end leading to sub-lab 4. They run inside, past all the tables and equipment to the door on the left, and enter the lower east wing. The group stops when they see the six zombies waiting for them. The closest one tries to lunge at them, but Jacob stops it, placing a hand on its forehead and plunging his knife into its skull. Ada glances at the door leading to the break room, and sees the metal shutter is up, leaving nothing but a heavily damaged door in the doorway.


    As Jacob proceeds to kill the other zombies, something swings at the door, ripping it to shreds. Everyone turns and looks to see a large human-like creature standing almost seven feet tall. It has two heads on it, a human looking one on its left shoulder that looks to be in the process of being absorbed by the rest of the body, which is made up of visible muscle, veins and bones. The one remaining eye on the human head looks to be in utter agony. The main head of the body has two glowing yellow circles for eyes. It''s mouth is more oval-shaped, rows of sharp teeth sitting in exposed gums. It''s right arm is much larger than its left, a massive clawed-hand at the base and a giant eyeball on its shoulder staring at them. Bones that make almost a rib-cage of sorts has grown over the eye to provide some protection.


    "What is that?!" Derek exclaims.


    "That''s G, now run!" Ada exclaims to the others before they all take off toward the door to the left. Jacob throws his knife at G, hitting it in the head and causing it to stumble back a bit, giving them all just enough time to head into the sewers entrance. The creature let''s out a roar that''s an unholy mix of a human and some monstrous abomination. Running through the door, they enter a room with walls all made of cement, no paint or coverings of any sort. Some stairs with yellow railings sit ont he other side of the room going down out of sight.


    They run to the stairs and hurry down them, hearing the creature break through the door up above as they descend into a much dimmer area. Reaching the bottom of the stairs they step onto a large metal grate platform, a subway train sitting at the other end, the doors to enter wide open. They all run inside the empty train, it''s normal lights bringing some relief from the haunting red ones. Running to the right they rush to the front of the train. Ada and Page make it first, entering a small train car that has various bu??ons and gauges. A screen in the center of the console displays a message saying, "Ready for Departure". The lights on the front illuminate rails leading down a long tunnel that stretches into the darkness for who knows how far.


    Ada hurries over to a lever sitting nearby the screen and slowly pushes it forward, the train starting up and the platform to their right slowly disappearing out of sight as they head down the small tunnel.


    The monitor screen changes, now saying, "Time Until Arrival: 7:00" and soon starts counting down. They all let out a sigh of relief upon reading the message, until the countdown goes away and the screen turns red.


    "WARNING: BIO HAZARD DETECTED EXTREME CAUTION ADVISED"


    They all stand there staring at the red screen, the air still with nothing but the sounds of the wheels moving along the rails.


    "Do any of you have ammo?" Jacob asks.


    "I have 3 bullets," Ada replies as she grabs her handgun. Jacob looks to Page, who shakes her head.


    "I used all I had left on the bull," Page answers.


    "I recognize that," Derek says as he walks up to the case, "Luther had one, back in the lab I first woke up in. It killed a creature around the same size in just one shot,"


    Jacob walks up to the case, Derek stepping aside as he hits the glass with the handgun and breaks the glass. He picks up the magnum, then hands it to Derek.


    "You better make the most out of it," Jacob states as Derek takes it. Derek nods in response and the two head for the cable cars.


    "We''ll be back in a bit,"


    "Jacob, Derek," Ada states, stopping them right before they leave the car, "G is designed to adapt and evolve, be careful, I''ve seen what it can do, and what it can become," Jacob and Derek nod in response before leaving the pilot car, leaving Ada and Page all alone. Ada sits down in a chair in front of the console.


    "Here I thought I saw the last of Raccoon city¡­" Ada mutters to herself as she stares at the tunnel ahead.


    "Are we just gonna sit here and let them go by themselves?" Page asks.


    "What can we do?" Ada asks as she turns the chair to face her, "We have no weapons, no ammo, nothing. If you''ve really worked with Jacob for as long as Luther says you have, then I''m sure you know just how capable he is,"


    "...But what about Derek?"


    "But he''s different now,"


    "That''s easy for you to say when you''ve only spent a night with him and have never been personally affected by him. You best hope he''s genuinely infatuated by you and not slowly becoming obsessed like he did with me, or you''ll start seeing your face, all over the world too. Now take a seat, before you run out there and get yourself getting impaled,"


    ¡­


    Jacob and Derek enter the first car, which is empty. As they make their way down the car, they stumble to the side a bit as the train reaches a turn. Regaining their balance, they continue to the door to the next car. Jacob stops and looks around the edge of the doorway, and then looks through the small window in the door into a tiny room acting as a bridge between the cars. Looking through the window in the door on the other car, he can see G is in the back of the car, not having taken any notice of them.


    Jacob opens the door and rather than heading through the door looks around the small room.


    "Warning, missile detected. Ten minutes until impact, all personal evacuate immediately,"


    "What are you waiting for?" Derek asks as he tightens his grip on the magnum, glancing at the glass to see if G has taken notice of them yet.


    "I''m seeing if I can detach the car," Jacob replies as he looks around. As Jacob looks around, G takes notice of them, and starts heading for them.


    "Jacob, hurry, it''s coming!" Derek exclaims.


    Derek shoots at it again, but its unfazed as its skull is too thick for the gun to break through. He shoots at the eye on its shoulder, causing it to fall to its knees. As Jacob pulls the lever past the halfway point, the eye regenerates and it starts rising back to its feet. Derek shoots at it again, the creature once more being brought to its knees, several eyes start emerging on the center of its body, several bones emerging from its torso and acting as a shield for some of the eyes.


    Derek shoots at the eyes on its center two times, but they regenerate too fast.


    "Jacob, hurry, I only have one left!" Derek exclaims as the creature stands up.


    "I''m, trying!" Jacob replies as he brings the lever down to the last inch. With a final push, he presses the lever into the wall, hearing a loud clank beneath their feet as the cars separate. The creature starts running at them again, as the distance between the cars quickly starts to grow. It jumps off the the end of the car towards them, its claws slashing towards them. Derek and Jacob shoot at its ?h?st before jumping back. G''s claws tear off part of the bridge before it falls onto the ground below, rolling along the ground and quickly disappears as the darkness swallows it.


    Derek and Jacob stand there, staring at the moving rails in relief as they catch their breath.


    Inside the driver''s cabin, Ada and Page notice the warning screen on the monitor go away, bringing back the time until arrival, which is down to a little less than four and a half minutes. They turn around when Jacob and Derek enter the cabin,


    "We shouldn''t see it anymore," Jacob replies as they walk up to Ada and Page, "Let''s just hope the missile kills it for good,"


    Ada and Page are relieved at those words, turning back to the tunnel and looking at the timer. As they time gets down to ten seconds the train starts slowing down, arriving at another platform, this one made entirely of concrete and having a large cave opening leading out to the ocean.


    "Warning, missile detected. Five minutes until impact, all personal evacuate immediately,"


    "So, where do we go now?" Page asks as they all sit by Jacob whose driving the boat.


    "Get far away from here, then find Luther," Jacob replies.


    "How will we find him?"


    "Trust me, I made sure he couldn''t get away without a trace," Ada replies, holding up her phone, "I placed a tracker on him,"


    As the missile lands, there''s a tiny flash before a massive explosion soon engulfs the island, an shock wave passing through them and shaking the boat a bit. They''re soon driving through an empty ocean that seems to go on forever.

 Chapter 42 - Exhaustion

    "It''s gonna be at least a day before we each land," Jacob says as he looks at his phone, "You guys best head down into the hull and get some sleep,"


    Ada, Derek, and Page all nod in response before they start heading for the stairs. Derek stops for a second and turns to Jacob.


    "If you need to sleep, you can wake me up and I can switch places," Derek states before following Ada and Page. Jacob just nods before turning back to the bow of the boat, the lights on it being the only visible part of the ocean. The top of the ocean reflects the moonlight and stars in the sky above, making it seem like they''re drifting through space. However, the peaceful sight fades away as they drive under a field of rainclouds, blocking the sky and submerging the boat in darkness.


    Luckily everyone is safe from the rain, Jacob being in the ???kpit room and the others sitting below deck.


    The hull has adjustable lights, Ada bringing them to a low dim, giving the large room a cozy feeling. The floor is covered in a smooth caramel brown carpet, along with all the couches and chairs in the room. A round table sits in the middle of the room, some curved benches around it. The second they sit down on the couches, they feel just how exhausted they are, the couches feeling almost like luxury beds. The sounds of the boat''s engine, the ocean waves and the rain tapping against the windows and the walls, provide a comforting melody that helps them fall asleep.


    The sound of someone moving down stairs.


    Ada and Page open their eyes to see someone grabbing something from a cabinet. Before the person steps out of the room onto the deck they b?r?ly recognize them as Jacob. They glance at each other, then to Derek whose still asleep, noticing that there''s no more rain and the boat''s engine has gone quiet. They get up, quietly making their way to the door leading out to the deck.


    Opening it, they see it''s still night time, making it impossible to tell how long they''ve been asleep for. Jacob stands at the edge of the boat by a ladder leading down into the water. He places a towel down on the ground nearby before he starts taking off his shirt.


    "Jacob?" Page asks as she steps out onto the deck, Ada following, "What are you doing?" He turns around to face them.


    "Just gonna go for a quick dip," He replies before turning back around and proceeding to take his pants off.


    "Is now really the time for that?" Ada asks a bit irritably, both her and Page unable to not notice his ?ss thanks to his bright red boxer br??fs.


    "Would you mind turning around?" He asks, glancing at them.


    "No, we don''t have time for you to-" Ada starts to object but she stops to cover her eyes and look away as Jacob starts taking off his und?rw??r. Ada and Page uncover their eyes when they hear a splash in the water, seeing an empty dock with only Jacob''s clothes and a towel on the ground. They hurry over to starboard deck, seeing Jacob emerge from the water a couple feet away.


    "Just go back to sleep, I''ll be back on the boat in a couple minutes," He states before he starts swimming towards the bow of the boat.


    "Did he do this a lot when you worked with him?" Ada asks as they watch him swim farther away.


    Ada stands there, Jacob now swimming to the bow of the ship and out of sight. She pulls up her phone and opens up some files.


    "What are you doing?" Page asks.


    "Seeing what Luther wanted from him so badly," She replies as she continues to dig through the files.


    "Wait, you have the files that were deleted?"


    "Of course, I wasn''t just going to make copies for Luther,"


    "Wait a second, so you were working for Luther, but now you''re trying to kill him?"


    "He has something of mine and I''m tired of being some pawn for others. If I''m going to get him I need to know everything about...him," Ada stops scrolling through her phone.


    "What?" Page asks as she sees a glint of interest in her eyes. Page walks over to Ada''s side, and sees what she''s looking at. It''s a medical record from a mental hospital, the patient being Jacob. The two of them stand there quietly as they read the report on him. After they read it, Ada finds another file, this one being an email from Luther to the hospital, talking about his interest in Jacob.


    "We''ve been working with not only an ex-terrorist who killed a president, but also with an insane veteran this whole time," Ada states as she closes the file, "If I didn''t need him, I''d probably find something to kill him with," She says as she puts her phone in her pocket. She glances at Page to see the look of annoyance on her face.


    "Jacob!" Page calls out. Jacob stops swimming and turns around, seeing Page''s angry and worried expression. He swims back over to the ladder, but stays in the water.


    "What?" He asks with a raised eyebrow.


    "How can you still be keeping all these secrets from me?"


    "What are you talking about?"


    "I know why you really joined Terrasave. I want to know why you never told me, especially after everything that''s happened today,"


    Jacob climbs up the ladder, grabbing the towel and wrapping it around his waist before coming onboard the deck.


    "If I had told you that, do you really think you would have survived?" He asks, looking at Ada and Page with a cold gaze, one that doesn''t seem to express anything, "You wouldn''t have trusted me, or anything I said, we both know that. Since we''re some place safe, I can tell you all about if it will make you feel better,"


    The three of them all stand there, the ocean calm and quiet as it listens in as Jacob tells them of his mission, how he killed his comrades, then he goes on to his time in the mental hospital.


    ¡­


    "Jacob. Come on in, join us!" They say excitedly, with almost a child-like smile, showing how twisted of a view they have on the world, how damaged their mentality is. Jacob sees they have a shard of glass in their hand. Jacob walks up to them, the other two smiling before he punches the closest one in the face, causing them to stumble back into the wall. The other one tries to attack him, but he breaks their arm, causing them to cry in agony and run out of the room.


    The one with the glass shard let''s go of the nurse and slashes at Jacob. Jacob raises an arm to protect his face, and can feel the shard dig into his muscle and blood start to come out as the man flails the shard around, making several more cuts on him. The guy suddenly pulls his hand up then slams the shard down, plunging it into Jacob''s ?h?st. The pain makes jacob flinch for a second before the burning in his ?h?st forces him to move. He grabs the man, pinning him onto the bed at the nurse''s feet whose too scared too move. Jacob glares at the man, who simply laughs.


    Looking at him, causes something inside Jacob to well up. He starts noticing the man''s pulse more through his hand that''s holding onto his throat, and finds himself staring at it. The nurse lets out a scream as Jacob suddenly let''s go of the man''s throat and sinks his teeth into, feeling the warm blood pouring in his mouth, the savory flavor filling his head. The screaming of the nurse brings him back to reality and he releases the man''s throat from his jaws, staring at the man''s crazed expression as he starts suffocating from the blood filling his windpipe. He then looks to the nurse, her terrified expression reminding him of his mother and sister''s when they had visited him a few days ago. He goes to speak but blood muffles him, so he spits into his sleeve which turns red in seconds.


    "Are you, alright?" He asks with winded breath. The nurse sits there, shaking and terrified for a few seconds before, nodding a bit.


    "P-Please, don''t, h-hurt me," She struggles to say as tears form in her eyes. As he stares at her, he can feel the bloodlust coming up again already. He knows she''ll be next if he doesn''t do something.


    "Help!" Jacob shouts into the hall as he runs into it. He sees some guards talking to the person he had broken the arm of, "Help!" The guards see him, his mouth covered in blood which drips down onto his shirt. The guards quickly come, restraining him and taking him away. As they walk past the room, he glances one last time at the nurse.


    ¡­


    "She was never the same after that," Jacob says as he sits on a little bench by the edge of the starboard, "I was honestly surprised she didn''t quit after that. Most of the staff stayed far away from me, and I kept my distance unless the other patients starting trying to do anything funny. I came to be known as the monster who protected its prey, the prey being the staff of the hospital. Some people thought I was actually a vampire," He scuffs, "That''d sure make things a lot simpler. It was a couple months after that Luther found me and offered me a job at Terrasave, then I was sent off to Africa where I met you. And you know everything that happened after that. Now you know my whole life story, happy?"


    Ada and Page stand their, unable to think of a response. Jacob lets out a sigh of exhaustion and stands up.


    Ada contacts a US Agent named Hunnigan, whose able to get them onto a plane heading to the US. The plane lands in Alaska in less than twenty hours where they''ll take a train to reach wherever Luther is.

 Chapter 43 - Derailed

    March 23, 2015, 10:15am- Creekwood Station, Alaska


    Ada, Derek, Jacob, and Page all take their seats in the train car, an elegant carpet with intricate golden designs along the sides covering the floor. The train car is empty except for the four of them as they place their suitcases down by their seats. Ada''s in a heavy red sweater with black snow pants and black snow boots. Derek sits behind Page in a thick black coat and dark brown snow pants, with black snow boots. Jacob sits away from the other three on the left side towards the middle of the car, in a dark grey snow jacket black snow pants and black snow boots. Page sits in front of Derek and two seats away from Ada, in a dense brown coat and black snow pants, with dark brown snow boots. The windows on the sides of the car are frosted around the edges, the surrounding train station covered in snow, which workers use salt and shovels to get rid of.


    The train, which had only a hand full of people besides them enter, soon departs as it heads north, further into Alaska. The station slowly disappears out of view, and soon nothing but snow packed forests can be seen out the windows. If it weren''t for their dense clothing providing immense heat, they''d be shaking from the cold.


    The front door to the train car opens up and a women in uniform comes in pushing a snack cart filled with snacks and various wines.


    "Would you like anything sir?" She asks Jacob as he stares out the window.


    "No," Jacob replies, merely glancing at her with an unwelcoming look before turning back to the window.


    Slightly annoyed by his rude response, the women continues down the car, reaching the other three.


    "Would you like anything?" She asks.


    "No thank you," They respond, and she continues through the car, leaving through the door in the back. The car is once more quiet, except the sound of the wheels running along the rails in a consistent pattern.


    The woman reaches the last car of the train where ten people wait, a few buying some snacks and beverages. She finishes her duties, and is about to head back to towards the front of the train when someone says something.


    "Um, excuse me, I keep hearing something in the car behind us moving,"


    "It''s probably just some lose cargo, I''ll go check," The woman says, hiding her annoyance behind a smile. Every time, there''s always someone who says that, and most of the time it''s actually someone near them just opening and closing their chair''s recliner.


    She leaves the snack cart in the passenger car as she enters the storage car. She rubs her arms as the colder air attaches to her. Looking around the room at all the various container, some metal, others wooden, she doesn''t see anything out of the ordinary. She goes to turn around, but stops when she hears something moving inside a massive metal container.


    ¡­


    "They''re going to reach this place in an hour!" Norton exclaims angrily as they watch the red dot on the radar scanner slowly move toward the center of the screen.


    "Relax Norton, everything is going to work out perfectly fine," Luther replies, glancing over at a glowing red bu??on before looking at a nearby monitor, showing the feed of a camera on the large container in the train.


    "Well we''re not on an island anymore, now are we?" He asks as he turns in his chair to Norton, "They''ll all be dead within the hour," Luther sees a woman, a worker on the train walk up to the container, "So just sit back and watch the show," With those words Luther presses the bu??on.


    ¡­


    There''s a small beep from the container as a red light suddenly turns on. The container door retracts, the woman stepping back in horror to see a large creature made out of some weird, pulsating, grey material emerge standing inside. Before the woman can scream, the creature thrusts a hand at her, the arm stretching as bones thrust out from the skin. The bones stab into the woman, her corpse falling to the floor in a puddle of blood.


    Derek stares out the window at his side, staring at Page''s reflection in the glass, troubled by the hint of worry in her eyes. He wants to ask her if she''s alright, but he already knows the answer, and asking her won''t help, not if he''s the one to ask it. He glances over at Jacob, only able to see his back, envious of the bond the two have.


    Ever since we left the island he''s distanced himself from me and Ada, which I can understand, but Page too? What would make him not want to talk or even be near someone as kind as her, even more so, someone you''ve worked with for so long?


    As Page looks out her window she wonders just how they were able to get help from someone in the US government so easily. She had asked her on the plane and all she said in response was, "Personal reasons,".


    Jacob opens up one of his jacket pockets, pulling out a bag of beef jerky. He grabs a piece and sucks on it like a lollipop rather than chewing it. They all sit quietly for some time, until they hear screaming coming from the car behind them. All of them look to the door leading to the car before looking to each other. Jacob''s the first to reach into his luggage, pulling out a handgun, the others quickly doing the same.


    Getting up out of their seats, Derek takes the lead, with Jacob in the back as they cautiously head to the door. More screaming and the sound of glass breaking can be heard coming from the other side. Before Derek can open the door, someone comes bursting through it, running past them as they scream in pain.


    "Help! Oh god, help! Get them off!" The man screams as they try to shake off large grey globs of what looks like slime. One of the slimes suddenly moves to his neck and the man''s screams start to get go away as he falls to his knees, then onto the floor.


    "What the hell are these things?!" Ada asks as they group around the the body and dead blobs.


    "...Leeches," Jacob states before stepping on one of them, which shows its almost as big as his boot, and crushing it, "I remember seeing things like these back at his lab in Terrasave headquarters, though they look to be different from those ones," Ada grabs her phone and starts looking through the copied files. She finds one talking about them, and reads it aloud.


    "Leeches, the vials of the original T-Virus, though not much of a threat alone, they can be catastrophic in large groups. Extreme caution is required if one is to be moved or interacted with in anyway as merely touching one can lead to infection, though its not guaranteed to happen. Extremely vulnerable to fire and have a hive-mind,"


    Ada closes the file and is about to put her phone away when she sees one labeled, "Ooze Leech,". She opens it up and also reads it.


    "Injecting T-Abyss into leeches has given interesting results. They are the same size as the original specimens, however they are more grey than black and are more solid than liquid. This has prevented them from easily squeezing through small gaps but has given them more resistance to their predesecor''s biggest weakness of fire. Sadly, they can no longer infect people that only come into contact with their outer skin and must bite into the host to cause infection. They are still relatively weak creatures that can be taken out with the weakest of firearms, unless they are in a large enough group to form a more larger organism that''s somehow able to create bones. Whether they can change their shape is unknown,"


    They all turn to the door behind them as they hear something bang on it.


    "Help! Open this door-!" A woman''s voice shouts before it suddenly gets cut-off. The door starts to shake violently as something starts ramming into it.


    "Ada, how much longer till we reach our destination?" Page asks as they all start to back away from the door, grabbing their luggage. Ada quickly grabs her phone and checks her gps.


    "Half an hour give or take," She replies. The door stops shaking and soon starts to creak and bend as something heavy presses up against it. They''re now in the middle of the train car, the door''s bolts starting to fly off as the door gives in. It comes slamming down as a large mass of grey slime crashes down on top of the broken door. It starts to shake violently as its body turns into individual leeches that start to crawl towards the group.


    Jacob reaches into his bag and pulls out a grenade, taking out the pin and chucking it at the splitting blob. He follows the others towards the front of the car and the grenade goes off, killing quite a few leeches, but b?r?ly makes a dent in the massive pile sitting at the back of the car. A hole has formed in the floor, snow rushing inside the car. As they run into the room, Jacob sees the leeches quickly disperse as the frigid snow starts to pile onto the main group.


    The people inside the car they enter are all looking at them wide-eyed and scared since they heard the explosion.


    "Everyone move to the front, it''s not safe!" Page exclaims as she hurries down the middle aisle. Everyone starts getting up, grabbing their stuff and running down the aisle.


    "How the hell are we going to stop this thing?" Derek asks, "We can''t detach the cars and we can''t just keep chucking grenades till the whole damn train is destroyed.


    "The windows, it doesn''t like the cold," Jacob states as he points to them, "Probably can''t live if its all dried up,"


    He walks over to a nearby window and shoots it, the glass shattering and howling winds eagerly entering the car. The civilians all scream at the sounds of gunshots and glass breaking , hurrying into the next car only to be attacked by leeches and zombies.


    Soon the door to the previous car breaks down as the mass of leeches comes oozing in. It quickly starts to let out several screeches as the chilling winds rush in from the broken windows and attack the creature. Ada, Derek, Jacob, and Page all turn around when they hear a door break open from behind, another leech blob making its way into the train car. They all start shooting windows toward the other end, causing more wind and snow to get inside. The winds already feel much stronger than they were a second ago, the group realizing, that the train is speeding up.


    The two large blobs blocking both paths are kept at a standstill from the chilling winds, neither of them able to get closer to the four survivors.


    "Are we just going to stand here until this train reaches a turn and derails?" Derek asks as he glances at the others.


    "I have an idea," Page states as she puts her handgun in a holster hidden under her coat.


    "What?" Derek and Jacob ask.


    "I''ll climb out through a window, make my way over to the ladder and make my way over hte train to the conductor''s car,"


    "What?! That''s suicide!" Derek exclaims.


    "What other choice do we have?"


    "She''s right," Ada comments as she puts her gun in her holster, "I''ll go with her, don''t kill each other while we''re gone," She states as her and Page hurry over to a nearby open window. Page heads out the window first, putting her feet on the tiny railing lining the bottom side of the passenger car, the high-speeds trying to pull her off as snow starts attacking her face. She is just b?r?ly able to reach the other window, grabbing onto it before slowly making her way in front of it, her thick gloves preventing her hands from being stabbed with broken glass.


    Ada steps out onto the side of the car, the two of them slowly making their way to the ladder. As they near the end, Page nearly falls off the side as the blob of leeches tries to grab at her, the sheer cold causing it to quickly retract its loosely made limb. As she leans towards the forest and ground, she sees just how fast they''re going, trees blazing by in a blur, the ground below them going a million miles an hour. Using all her strength, she manages to grab back onto the window seal.


    "You son of a, bitch!" Derek shouts angrily as he starts shooting at the thing, killing some of the leeches sitting on the top layer of it.


    "Save your ammo!" Jacob states as he lowers Derek''s gun.


    Making their way down the car they reach a slight split in between the cars. Page backs up a bit before running and jumping, making it a couple feet onto the next car, Ada jumping to the other side shortly after. Making their way across the car they can see the turn coming closer. They spot a ladder at the side of the conductor''s car. They jump onto the front of the train, and as they make their way to the ladder, there''s a slight bump in the rails, causing them to fall over and roll slightly. They cling onto the slippery metal roof of the train and manage to stop themselves from rolling off.


    Making their way down the ladder they step down onto a walkway around the front of the train, a door to their right leading inside.


    "It''s locked!" Page shouts over the roaring winds as she struggles to open it.


    "Give me a sec!" Ada replies, Page stepping to the side as Ada pulls out a lockpick. She starts fidgeting with the lock, and soon it clicks open. They open the door, seeing the conductor''s body sitting on top of the controls, an arm holding the lever for speed forward all the way. They''ll soon reach the turn.


    They hurry over to the control panel, pushing the conductor''s body over and pulling the emergency brake lever sitting to the right of the conductor''s chair. Sparks erupt from the wheels as the breaks engage, everything inside being shoved forward slightly from the sudden force. The brakes let out high-pitched shrieks as they as their might to stop the train which refuses to give in. The train soon starts to lose steam however, and as they reach the turn, they''re just slow enough to make the turn safely and come to another long straight-track that goes as far as they can see. However, as the train loses speed the wind starts to die down.


    Two train cars down, Jacob and Derek stand in the middle, feeling the winds starting to go away as the train slows down. The leeches realize this, and start to slowly crawl towards them. Jacob reaches into his bag, grabbing a radio.


    "Page, Ada, do either of you hear me?" Jacob asks into the radio. Ada and Page hear his muffled voice coming from their bags. They quickly pull out their radios, Ada''s getting her''s out first.


    "Jacob, Derek?" Ada asks into her radio.


    "We need you to speed the train back up the winds are the only things keeping the leeches at bay,"


    With only two yards of space left, Derek and Jacob are pinned between the two blobs, until the train starts picking up speed again, the winds coming back with a vengeance as they surround the blobs that are now surround by open windows. The leeches forming the blobs all screech as they separate and try to escape, but don''t make it far before they die to the cold''s vicious claws. Jacob shoots at the blob in front of them, seeing if its actually dead or not before making his way towards it.


    Jacob and Derek climb over the seats to the sides of the aisle and around the dead mass of flesh and head open the door to the next car, where the other passengers, all now zombies, are waiting for them. They make quick work of them and head into the conductor''s car, meeting up with Ada and Page.


    ¡­


    "The train hasn''t detailed yet Luther!" Norton shouts angrily, "They''ll reach the lab in a matter of minutes-" Norton is cutoff when Luther stabs a needle into Norton''s neck, injecting a virus.


    "I was planning on them making it here," Luther says with a devilish smirk as Norton falls to his knees, starting to throw up blood and convulse as the virus in him starts to mutate his body, "Otherwise I''d have no one to test Descendant''s strength on. Have fun," Luther says mockingly as Norton tries to reach for him, his vision becoming blurry as he watches Luther leave the room.

 Chapter 44 - Descendant

    "That rail will lead us straight to Luther," Ada states as she looks at her gps, the others looking out the window at the railroad switch, one rail going straight, and the other curving to the left into the woods. They stopped the train a couple yards before the turn. A small junction box sits nearby, a large pile of snow sitting on top like a hat.


    "I''ll get it," Jacob states as he heads for the door leading to the outer walkway. He steps out into the frigid air, a low breeze attacking his face. He doesn''t bother pulling up his hoodie since he knows it won''t do much good. Walking to the edge of the walkway, he jumps down to the ground, a loud crunch as his feet land in a feet of snow. With every step he makes the snow tries to get into his shoes, but fails thanks to them being tied very tightly. The others watch as he trudges through the snow to the box, opening it up and pulling a switch, the railroad switch changing to the left track.


    Jacob comes back to the train and they start the train back up, heading into the woods which quickly block the view of the other tracks, secluding them from the rest of the world. After a few minutes of weaving through the trees, the path becomes straight, a large building off in the distance. Getting closer they see a wire-fence surrounding the infrastructure, signs warning of it being electrified on it. This was where Luther''s end, began, all those months back when he had revived Derek.


    They slow the train down as they approach a large garage on the side of the building, only the front of the train fitting inside, leaving the cars full of corpses outside in the snow. The train at a full stop, they exit the train, stepping off the walkway onto a cement floor, their footsteps echoing in the large open room, some lights hanging from the ceiling siting overhead. A single pair of heavy metal double doors lie at the far end of the room in front of the train.


    "He''s somewhere in the center of the building," Ada states before putting her phone away and grabbing her handgun, "Don''t forget out deal Jacob, he''s to stay alive until I get what I need from him,"


    "Can''t promise that he won''t have a few broken bones if I find him first," Jacob replies.


    "Just don''t kill him,"


    The group pushes open the doors, leading to a long empty hallway. A blood trail is connected to one of the doors halfway through. As they walk up to the door, Page goes to open it.


    "The trail started here," Jacob states as he kneels down by the blood. He takes a glove off and presses two fingers against the blood stained tile, bringing his fingers up and examining the blood, "It''s still fresh," He notices traces of green mixed in with the red, "And infected, that would explain the smell," He comments as he wipes his fingers on his pants before putting his glove back on.


    "You can smell the blood?" Derek asks skeptically as Jacob stands up.


    "When it was on my fingers, yes," Jacob responds, "Me and Page were trained on knowing the different smells rotting corpses had, so we could have a better chance of knowing what kind of virus to expect, this blood however is hard to pin, a mixture like the others used on the island for sure," Derek glances over to Page, who notices him staring at her.


    "It''s hard to tell, but there''s a difference," Page states, "And it has helped every once in awhile,"


    The group follows the trail as it goes from the right side of the the hall to the left, whoever was bleeding needed to use the wall as support, and should be be dead from all the blood spilled. They reach an intersection in the hall, which continues in all four directions, the trail going to the left. Ada, Jacob, and Page all stop in their tracks as they realize Derek has stopped walking. They turn to him to see him looking around the room.


    "I know where we are now," He states before rejoining them, "That leads to the training room," He states as he points to the pair of double doors the blood trail goes to.


    Walking up to the pair of grey, windowless, double doors, they ready their weapons before bursting through them. The giant room, which is the size of the main labs back at the island, seems much larger since it''s open with nothing but some sports and workout equipment strewn about. A single man stands in the center of the room, blood covering his clothes and skin. Hearing them enter, the man turns around, revealing himself to be Norton.


    "P-Page," Norton says hoarsely as his body and head twitches unnaturally, "I see, you finally found-" Before he can finish Page shoots him in the head, causing it to fall back, his neck looking like it might split apart from the weight. He grabs his head with one of his hands, and pulls his head back up. Before any of them can aim to shoot him again though, his body starts to convulse uncontrollably. His upper body suddenly starts to grow longer and bigger as they stand there and watch, hearing his bones breaking as they shift and grow. They can hear Norton''s groans of pain as sharp bones erupt from his jaws, his mouth almost opening inside out as it becomes a hole where a large yellow eye grows. Two massive pray mantis like arms emerge from his growing back as he soon reaches over six and a half feet tall. Both his hands swell up as his fingers become massive claws of bone. The clothes he had on are long gone along with anything resembling a human. Large veins can be seen on his now skinless body, pulsing as they pump blood through him.


    "Can''t any of these things die in one shot?" Derek asks as he aims at the inhuman creature that stands before them.


    Norton dashes at them almost inhumanely fast, slashing at them with his right limbs. They both manage to b?r?ly avoid getting cut in half as they run to the left. As Jacob opens his bag to get ammo he remembers he has a magnum. He stuffs his handgun away in the bag and pulls it out. As Norton turns to them he shoots him dead in the eye in his mouth, causing the creature to stumble back. He falls down onto his back. Jacob takes the chance to run up to Norton, stepping on his throat and putting the gun against the eye in his mouth. As he shoots it with the last five bullets in the clip Norton roars in pain. As he flails about, one of his limbs on his back rear up, getting ready to plunge down into Jacob.


    The limb is stopped when Derek shoots at it, causing the blade end to fall off. Suddenly a frothy yellow liquid starts to sputter out from Norton''s mouth. Jacob quickly steps away before any of it can get on him. Norton''s flailing body soon goes limp. He doesn''t appear to be mutating in anyway.


    "What a disappointing combination," Luther states as he enters the room from the other side. Everyone turns to him, seeing his skin is all cracked, separated like pieces of plating.


    "Good thing he was just given the last vial from the suitcase and not the real Descendant Virus,"


    "You crazy son of a bitch, you put it in yourself," Jacob states, reaching into his bag for more magnum ammo.


    "Well of course," Luther chuckles, "How else could I accurately record the results?" He brings up one of his hands, and he examines it, "Using Derek''s virus as the base seems to be working just as I hoped, I don''t have to worry about being stuck looking like Norton over there. Let''s see how well-" Luther stops when an arrow lands in the side of his head.


    "I don''t, have time for this bullshit," Ada states as she holds up a crossbow, "Tell me where Leon is!"


    Luther grabs onto the arrow, and pulls it out from his head, breaking it and dropping the shattered pieces.


    "He was somewhere safe," Luther irritably as he reaches into his coat pocket, pulling out a small device with a red bu??on "But not for long," Sirens start blaring as all the lights turn red.


    An automated voice says.


    "You guys go find Leon, this is a fight between me and Luther," Jacob states as he unloads his magnum.


    "This is my fight too," Page states as she puts her handgun away and grabs a tmp, "I won''t let him get away with everything he''s done to you,"


    "Guess I don''t have much of a choice then," Derek states as he grabs a grenade launcher from his bag. Jacob glances to Ada.


    "Go get him, we''ll be fine," Jacob states. Ada nods in response.


    "Don''t die until I get back," She states before running out through the doors they came from.


    The group turns back to Luther, who has a devilish smile on his face. His skin splits aparts and his body suddenly goes inside out. He starts to grow rapidly in size, taking the shape of a saber-tooth tiger, but noticeably larger than Derek had been. Several tentacles with scythes jutt out from Luther''s back. Eyes on his front shoulders open up and look towards the them. Luther lets out a beastly roar, before he starts to charge at them. Derek shoots a grenade at Luther which hits him head on, the force not enough to stop him.


    They all jump out of the way as he comes charging through, almost getting cut up by the limbs on his back. They all shoot at Luther as he turns around to them. He flinches when one of Derek''s grenades shoots one of his shoulder eyes and Jacob shoots the other with his magnum. Luther falls forward for a second before getting back up.


    "Page, shoot the tentacles, see if you can cut them off," Jacob says as he continues to shoot at Luther.


    Before they can continue to shoot Luther comes charging at them. The dive to the sides, splitting apart as he runs past. Page reloads her tmp as she gets up, then shoots at the tentacles. A couple are torn apart by the spread of bullets, but soon start to grow back.


    "They''re regenerating too fast!" Page replies as she reloads her gun.


    "I got it!" Derek states as Luther starts to charge once more. He shoots a grenade at Luther, hitting him dead in the back at the base of all the tentacles. They all fall off as Luther comes to a halt, roaring in pain. He suddenly shrinks in size as he turns back to human.


    "Warning: Self-Destruct System activated. Ten Minutes until detonation,"


    Jacob takes the chance to shoot Luther in the head, causing him to stumble back a bit. Jacob runs up to Luther, tackling him to the ground. He shoots Luther in the head again before he starts punching him in the face. However, Luther''s right arm starts to mutate.


    "Jacob!" Page and Derek exclaim before he''s suddenly grabbed by a large hand. Luther''s right arm is now massive compared to the rest of his body, the skin now gone, a giant eye forming on his shoulder. Jacob manages to free his arm with the gun and shoots the eye, causing Luther to drop him. Jacob quickly gets up and backs away from Luther as he continues to mutate further. His skin once more splits apart and his body turns inside out as he becomes an even more twisted and inhuman version of the thing that was on the train back on the island.


    His head splits open and an eye takes its place as bones grow around forming almost a second skull. He walks over to Norton''s corpse and uses his four limbs to pick it up. He turns to Page and hurls it at her.


    "Page!" Jacob and Derek exclaim. Jacob goes to run, but sees Derek is already doing that. Derek tackles Page to the side, the two of them b?r?ly avoiding getting hit. Jacob turns his attention back to Luther and shoots at him with the last four bullets in the clip.


    "You alright?" Derek asks as they lay on the ground.


    Derek sits there on top of her, just staring at her.


    "Derek, can you get off me? Before Luther throws something else at us?" Page asks.


    "Right," Derek says as he quickly gets off her.


    Page moves towards Jacob as she shoots at Luther, whose picking up a nearby weight rack. He chucks it at Jacob who ducks under it, crashing into and indenting the wall behind him.


    "That all you got?" Jacob asks as he reloads his magnum.


    ¡­


    Ada runs through a destroyed lab and enters a room full of test tubes holding various dead creatures. She runs through a door to the left and enters a small hallway, several doors on the left side. She runs to the first door, looking through the window to see its empty. She checks the next one, it''s empty too. She hurries to the last one, and sees Leon standing on the other side. His expression is one of surprise. He says something but the glass and door are sound-proof. She goes to open the door but its locked.


    She kneels down, pulling out her lockpick and starting her attack on it.


    "Warning: Self-Destruct System activated. Ten Minutes until detonation,"


    She opens up the door, seeing Leon''s in a plain white shirt and pants. Leon goes to say something but she cuts him off.


    "No time to explain," She grabs his hand and pulls him out of the room, "Come on!" And the two run out of the room.


    ¡­


    Derek, Jacob, and Page all continue to shoot at Luther, who finally falls to his knees as something inside him bursts, the eye on his shoulder bursting open. Before any of them can even wonder if he''s dead, he starts to mutate. He starts rising to his feet as his ?h?st suddenly breaks open, a hive of eyes forming in it. Derek switches his grenade to incendiary rounds, and shoots one at Luther, who screams in agony as his body becomes engulfed in flames. A spray of blood suddenly jets out from one of Luther''s arm, flying toward them.


    As it moves through the air, it catches fire. They all jump back, there clothes getting singed from some of the blood droplets. Luther''s left arm is now a bloody-black as it pulsates likes its made of a group of worms stuck together. He grabs his arm with his claw hand.


    "Run!" Jacob exclaims as he runs to the right, Page and Derek quickly following. Luther rips open the side of his arm, spraying igniting blood where they had stood. All the flames ignite the floor of the place, setting off the sprinklers.


    "Warning: Self-Destruct System activated. Five Minutes until detonation,"


    "Damnit, we don''t have time!" Jacob mutters to himself. He runs over to Derek, taking his grenade launcher and pulling out the grenades.


    "What are you doing?!" Derek asks as Jacob runs towards Luther. He avoids another spray of blood and a slash from Luther''s claw. He plunges the grenades into the hive of eyes in Luther''s ?h?st, but before he can move away, gets grabbed. His left arm is pinned but his right hand is free, however his magnum is on the ground by Luther''s feet. Luther starts to tighten his grip on Jacob. Derek aims at Luther to try and break him free, but Page stops him.


    Page and Derek turn to Luther and Jacob when they hear Luther scream in pain. They see Jacob has broken off one of Luther''s claws. He jams it into Luther''s arm, causing him to let him go. Jacob falls to the floor, quickly getting up and running to page and Derek.


    "Shoot it!" Jacob exclaims. Without hesitation, Derek pulls the rigger, the grenade flying at Luther. It hits his ?h?st, exploding and setting off the incendiary rounds which all go off. Luther steps back as his ?h?st implodes from the explosions, fire scorching his insides. They take the chance to run out of the room, Luther falling to the ground. Outside in the hall they see Ada and Leon turning the corner towards them.


    "The train!" Jacob exclaims as they all run towards Ada and Leon who are at the intersection that connects to the hall leading to the garage. They all head down the hall, bursting through the metal doors into the garage. Jumping on the train, they run into the conductor''s car and start up the train, heading in reverse.


    "Come on, come on," They all mutter as they slowly start to pick up speed. The distance between them and the lab starts to grow, but it doesn''t seem like enough. Suddenly the whole place starts to explode, the explosion running down the tracks towards them. They all stare into the flames as they come within yards of the train, but they start to slow down as the train picks up speed. They watch as the flames fall back as the train outruns them. They''re suddenly thrown to the side as the train reaches the turn back onto the straight-away, almost going too fast for it. They keep going and come to a stop once they see the explosion die off.


    They all sit there, finally able to breath.


    "Simmons?" Leon asks as he stares at him in disbelief.


    "That name died alongside the old me in China" Derek responds, "And I prefer just Derek now," Leon looks to Ada.


    "Don''t worry, he''s changed," Ada states. Everyone turns to the door leading outside as Jacob opens it.


    "Where are you going?" Page asks.


    "To switch the tracks, unless you all just wanna sit here all day," And with that he exits the train, jumping down into the snow to change the tracks back.


    "Who are the new friends?" Leon asks Ada.


    "That, charming man," Ada says sarcastically, "Was Jacob, and this is Page. She''s an agent for Terrasave,"


    "Ex, Terrasave agent," Page comments, "At least once I get back to headquarters and get all this stuff straightened out,"


    "Then you''ll need these," Ada states as she pulls an sd card out from her phone, handing it to Page.


    "Am I going to have to go too?" Derek asks with some concern.


    "As far as the world''s concerned, you died in China," Jacob enters the train.


    "What about all of Luther''s files about me?"


    "What files?" Jacob asks as he walks past them and to the controls. He glances over to Page with a smile who smiles back before he starts up the train, slowly picking up speed as it heads to the next station.


    "I''d like to know of Simmons-Derek''s whereabouts," Leon states, "I can''t just let him walk around freely,"


    "You do that with me," Ada states, "Or are you just that bad at finding me?"


    "I''ve had other things to do," Leon replies irritably, looking away from Ada.


    "What''d I tell you Ada?" Jacob asks, "Now where''s my ten bucks?" Ada let''s out an annoyed sigh before walking over to him, pulling out her wallet and handing him a ten.


    "Ten bucks? What did you two bet on?" Page asks.


    "That Leon wouldn''t ask me out on a date after I saved him," Ada says, annoyed and a bit embarrassed.


    "What?" Leon asks.


    "Don''t forget my offer Ada," Jacob states as he turns to her, giving her a suggestive wink, "I make a hell of a breakfast, just ask Page,"


    "Are you saying what I think you''re saying?" Leon asks as he walks over to Jacob, who just laughs.


    "What? You got a problem with it?"


    "Yeah I do,"


    "Then be a man and ask her," Leon just glares at him angrily, at a loss of words, and unable to think of how to respond.


    "Ada," Leon finally says as he backs down, "Can I speak to you, privately?"


    "Of course," She responds, glancing at Jacob who glances back before turning to the front of the train. The two head into the passenger car, leaving Derek and Page alone with Jacob. Derek looks at the door Leon and Ada walked through, feeling himself feeling hot and his heart starting to beat in his ?h?st.


    "P-Page," Derek says a bit high-pitched, catching Page a bit off guard. He lets out a cough before he speaks again, "I know I haven''t done, the best things in my past life, but, I was wondering, if you''d help me, create my new one?" He asks genuinely. She seems a bit hesitant to answer.


    "...I think that''s a bit much for someone you''ve only met a few days ago...Why don''t we start with a date, after everything''s straightened out at Terrasave?"


    "Y-yeah, that''d be great," Derek says, unable to stop himself from smiling.


    ¡­


    A dark room, a large capsule laying on a table in the middle of the room hooked up to other machines by several tubes.


    "Signal Lost. Transferring Memories. Administering Phoenix" A robotic, monotone, voice says as lights start to come on. The lights reveal a person that looks like Luther, the serum flowing through his veins. The top of the tube opens up and Luther sits up right, gasping for air. He looks at his new body.


    "Memory Transfer Complete," The voice states.


    ¡­

 Chapter 45 - Epilogue

    August 23, 2017, 6:28pm- Mist Springs, California


    A young woman drives in a jeep through a slightly foggy mountainous forest. She reaches a small town, stopping at a bar.


    She gets out of her car, her fuzzy brown boots stepping in the wet round rocks that slide against each other. She enters the bar, seeing a bartender, aman sitting at the bar, and three people playing a card game. She walks up to the man sitting at the bar.


    "Excuse me?" She asks, the man turning to her, "Have you seen this man?" She pulls up a picture of Jacob in jeans, brown boots, and a black and grey flannel jacket on her phone. The man''s calm and slightly drunk demeanor becomes more alert upon seeing the picture.


    "N-no, I haven''t seen anyone like that around here," The man says as he turns back to the bar, taking a drink from his beer.


    The woman walks to the middle of the bar where the bartender stands on the other side.


    "Excuse me, have you seen this man?" She shows the bartender the picture. The man looks at the photo, then up at her with some concern.


    "Yeah, he comes here sometimes...why do you wanna know?" He asks with a country accent.


    "You got a death wish young lady?" The man sitting at the end of the bar asks. She turns to the man who continues, "That ain''t no man,"


    "What?"


    "That''s a monster if I''ve ever seen one. Just ask anyone who''s ever dared trek through the woods at night, they''ll tell you the same,"


    "I''ve had my fair share of monsters," She replies, "Can you tell me where he lives, is it nearby?" She asks the bartender.


    "...Go straight down the road till you reach the first light. Make a right and follow the road, you''ll see it...best hurry though, the sun will be setting soon,"


    "Thanks," The woman says with a kind smile before heading out of the bar, starting to get an eerie feeling about the town.


    "Surprised you didn''t go about shouting werewolf," The bartender says as he nervously cleans the wine glass.


    "She would have laughed and driven off without a second thought. Hopefully she''ll be cautious, don''t need anyone else in this town disappearing," The man chugs the last of his beer, then orders another.


    She gets into her jeep and heads down the road, making a right at the light and driving down a road leading away from the town and into the woods. After driving for over ten minutes down a dirt road going seemingly nowhere, she spots a small cabin, a single car parked in front of it. A small set of stairs leads up to a front porch. She parks behind the car and gets out, realizing that the fog seems to be growing thicker.As she heads up to the porch, she hears the sound of a twig breaking off in the distance. She looks around, not seeing anything but trees and misty clouds.


    "Hello? Anyone home?" She asks as she knocks again. No response. She turns around hearing something moving in the forest around her. She holds a hand to her side, by a handgun underneath her light-green and white jacket. Hearing another sound, she heads back to the stairs leading to the dirt driveway. As she steps down she starts to hear something growling from the trees. Several wolves emerge from the woods, staring at her with hungry eyes. She goes to reach for her gun, but the wolves all turn their attention to the left when they hear the sound of something else moving through the woods. Jacob suddenly emerges from the woods, lunging at one of the wolves. He pins it to the ground, the other wolves quickly turn to him and lunge at him.


    The woman watches in shock as he fights off the wolves, some biting down onto him but only for a second before he hits them in the face or on the snout. He even grabs one and throws it. Soon the wolves give up the attack, and run away, most of them limping. Jacob stands there, watching the wolves run away as he catches his breath and readjusts his clothes.


    "Are you, okay?" The woman asks. Jacob turns to her, almost glaring at her the way the wolves did. She sees all the scratches and bites that tore through his shirt.


    "Who are you?" He asks instead of answering her question.


    "I''m a trained medical officer, I could help you with all those bites and scratches," She replies as she reaches into a little fanny-pack on the side of her belt.


    "I don''t need medical ?ssistance," He looks up at the sky, seeing they won''t have much sunlight left, "Though I''m sure you didn''t actually come here for that, come on," He gestures for her to follow and the two head inside his cabin.


    The house mainly consists of one large living room, a couch in the middle sitting in front of a tv with some gaming consoles connected to it, though they''re a bit dusty like they haven''t been touched in awhile. By the couch is a small table, on it are two picture frames. One has a picture of him and what can be guessed to be his family, a letter sitting in front of it. The other one is of the two people she had met to get information of Jacob''s whereabouts, Page and Derek. It''s a selfie with Derek giving Page a kiss on the cheek. To the left is an open kitchen with an island in the middle and a small bar with stools. Two doors sit in the back of the living room. Jacob walks up to the one on the right and opens it, walking into his bedroom.


    "Who are you?" He asks again as he puts on a different shirt.


    "My name''s Rebecca, Rebecca Chambers,"


    "Yeah, that''s me,"


    "What are you doing here?"


    "I need help finding someone,"


    "What made you think I''d be the one who could help?"


    "Well I read up on the Mazraea Incident, and I talked to Leon, whose an old friend of mine. He may have let it slip, about Derek and you,"


    "And?"


    "Well, it seems you''re good at finding, or at least attracting missing and dead people. And the person I''m trying to find is considered both," Jacob walks into the kitchen, opening a drawer with a bag of bones spun into long thin straw shapes. He takes one and puts it in the corner of his mouth.


    "Who are you looking for?"


    "Billy Coen,"

 Chapter 46 - New Boss

    March 21, 2015, 7:30pm- Mazraea, City Docks


    The helicopter lands on the boat, Ada stepping off onto the deck, glancing back at the helicopter as it takes off. She brushes aside some of her hair that got pushed in front of her face from the propeller''s winds and heads for the stairs leading down. As she walks across the empty deck, she adjusts the sleeves of her black long sleeve and pulls up the collar of her crimson red vest to help with the cool breeze blowing from the ocean.


    The smell of the ocean and the crashing of the waves reminds Ada of the time she had travelled to Spain to obtain Las Plagas. That was the last time she ever worked as a pawn for someone else, but now she finds herself in that situation once more.


    ¡­


    Ada lays on her bed in her hotel room, rain tapping on the glass and the sound of the heater running. The room phone on the nightstand suddenly goes off. She puts down her book and picks it up.


    "Hello?" She asks as she puts the phone up to her ear.


    "Is this, Ada Wong?" A man''s voice asks on the other side.


    "...Who is this?" Ada asks, already getting a bad feeling.


    "My name is Luther, and I''m needing of your, services,"


    "I require, you''re old services," The man asks.


    "Sorry, but I don''t do that anymore," Ada replies sternly, "You''ll have to-"


    "Oh, I think Leon Kennedy would disagree on that," The man interrupts. Ada glares at the phone at the side of her head, before looking back at the curtains draped over the windows.


    "What are you talking about?"


    "Hey! Hello?! Anyone there?! Let me out goddammit!" She hears Leon''s voice shout shortly followed by someone pounding their fist on something metallic, it sounds like the audio''s coming from a security camera.


    "If you want him back safe and sound, you''ll need to do some things for me, deal?" The man asks.


    "Nice try, use better sounding audio next time,"


    "Alright," Ada''s phone vibrates as it receives a message, "Just know you have twelve hours to reply. If you refuse or don''t reply within the time frame, you can kiss him goodbye," And the man suddenly hangs up. Ada sits there for a second before putting the phone down. She checks her phone and sees the message is from a hidden sender. It reads, "Do you accept?" and nothing else.


    This man has to be either the dumbest person in the world thinking I''d believe him or he''s put his pieces all in the right places¡­


    Time to see if I was right or not.


    After some time, someone picks up.


    "Who is this? How did you get this number?" A women asks.


    "That''s not important at the moment Agent Hunnigan," Ada quickly replies, "What is important is Leon Kennedy''s whereabouts. I was just given information suggesting he''s been kidnapped," Hunnigan doesn''t respond right away, making it hard to stay relaxed.


    "...Why does this concern you?" Hunnigan''s response only proves her doubts.


    "We have history together, you might say we''re friends almost,"


    "So you''re Ada¡­"


    "So, do you know of his whereabouts or not?"


    "Agent Leon went...missing just a few days ago¡­"


    Ada reaches the bottom of the stairs, her boots tapping against the concrete floor. The whole dock appears to be empty, not a single person in sight. As she makes her way to the gate leading to the massive city glowing in the darkened sky, she can hear the wind give off an eerie howl as it rushes through all the shipping crates. She reaches the gate, opening it op just enough to squeeze through and closing it behind her. She pulls up her phone, opening her map to see a dot on it, hovering over a parking garage not too far away.


    Ada puts her phone back in her pocket and walks on the sidewalk by the busy streets. Quite a bit of people are walking out of the parking garage, all of them heading deeper into the city.


    He said to expect a warm welcome...but no one seems to be infected, yet.


    Heading into the parking garage she spots someone in a thick dark brown coat and shades standing by a bright red car. She walks over to them, a smile coming across their face.


    "Perfect timing," The man says, their voice matching that of the man on the phone.


    "So, you''re Luther?" Ada asks.


    "Pleased to make your acquaintance," He replies with a slight bow, a smug look on his face.


    "So I just need to collect a sample from the flea market, and give the police chief his, ''antidote''?"


    "For now, yes, I''ll give you more orders once you''ve completed that," He grabs something from his pocket, "The briefcase is being held by your co-worker whose already there," He pulls out a pair of keys.


    "Yes, I''m sure you''ll be happy to see them, after all they''re an old friend of yours. I sent their number to your phone, so you should say high to them some time. Now, I''d love to stay and chat," Luther says as he starts walking away, "But I have other things I must attend to. Oh, and, don''t drink the water," And with that he gets into a nearby vehicle and takes off. Ada glances down at the keys then at the car. She gets in, pulling up her map on her phone and taking off.


    Driving through the calm, empty, fields the flea market comes into view and Ada sees they''re heavily burnt like a fire had started and burned almost everything. She sees a orange and grey sports moped parked at the outskirts, safe from any damage that was inflicted on the town. She parks her car and gets out. A red dot on her map shows the location of the briefcase. It''s only a few yards to her right, further down on the side of the market.


    Ada heads into the charred remains of the market, hearing scurrying in the buildings on both sides of her. Each step makes a small cloud of ash and the sound echoes through the ghost town. Charred, mutilated, corpses can be seen, some of them look like they''ve been attacked by hundreds of small creatures, several holes in them showing bones. The concoction of burnt wood, feces and death wafts through the air, as a warning to stay away.


    After walking halfway through the market, she sees one of the thing she came here for, a pile of burnt, green goo, sitting in the middle of the street. She pulls out a small vial connected to a syringe, plunging it into goo. She fills the vials and takes off the syringe, throwing it to the ground and closing the vial before putting it in a small pouch on her belt. As she stands up she sees two figures far off in the distance.


    He said co-worker, so that can''t be either of them. Still, are they part of this elaborate plan of his or are they just random people who got caught up in this whole mess?


    Ada turns and quickly takes off. Hearing something inside all the buildings come alive, Ada quickly pulls out her grappling hook, jumping up to a nearby roof. She makes her way to the edge of town and jumps down at the outskirts, where a bike sits, briefcase attached to it. As she picks it up, she receives a text.


    "New orders. You are to retrieve information from Jacob''s computer at the police station. You are to do this immediately after giving chief Romero his little gift. Inform your co-worker that you have the samples, you''ll be given more orders shortly.


    Ada glares at her phone, letting out an irritated sigh as she walks over to her car. She adds the phone number he had sent her as a contact and types them a message.


    "This is your Co-Worker, I was told to introduce myself to you and that you were an old friend of mine, though I don''t have any of those. Don''t worry about the samples, I have them with me safe and sound. Though I''m sure we won''t ever see each other, I''ll warn you now that I don''t work too well with others," She hits send and takes off for the city.

 Chapter 47 - City of Chaos

    As Ada nears the city, she starts to notice how much more, alive, it suddenly looks. Far off in the distance she can see buildings glowing orange from growing flames and screams echoing throughout the streets as hordes of people run. They all run in random directions, none of them knowing where to go or what to do. Some people have hideous bite marks on them, blood staining their clothes. They don''t run far before they start slowing down and falling to the ground dead.


    Reminds me of China.


    Ada drives past all the people, some skimming the side of her car and some even being ran over. As she approaches an intersection, several cars come barreling at her. As she crosses the intersection she sees a truck coming from the right, and it''s not stopping. Ada quickly grabs the briefcase as she pulls out her hookshot, shooting at a nearby balcony. She goes flying out seconds before the truck hits her car and keeps going. Her car is pushed to the other side of the intersection and starts to spin, crashing into the oncoming traffic. They all crash into each other, making an impenetrable barricade blocking the way forward.


    "So much for an easy mission," Ada mutters to herself as she stares down at the messy scene below, "Hopefully he doesn''t have insurance," Ada turns her attention to the balcony she''s on, looking up at all the ones above her. She stands against the railing, leaning back a bit as she aims up at another balcony higher up. She shoots the hookshot latches onto one five stories above her. She pulls on the trigger, using the extra momentum to jump off the balcony she''s on and out towards the streets. As she flies up, there''s an eruption of flames from the floor she''s going to.


    Someone screaming in agony comes running out, their whole body engulfed in flames. The railing does nothing to stop them from running off the edge as they merely run into it and the momentum pushes them forward, plummeting towards Ada. She quickly kicks a railing in front of her, pushing herself off to the right, just b?r?ly avoiding the corpse comet as it shoots past her to the ground below, feeling the immense heat of the flames as it passes by her, mere inches between them.


    Ada reaches her target balcony, taking a small breather once her feet are on solid ground again. She heads back to the edge of the balcony, shooting the roof of the building this time. Reaching the top she gets a full view of the chaos ensuing down in the streets. It''s almost impossible to tell whose infected and whose not. Cars crashing into each other can occasionally be heard. She checks her phone''s gps to find the location of the police station. It''s very far, but in a straight line from where she is luckily. She walks to the other side of the roof, the next building''s roof only a few feet away. She suddenly gets a message from Luther.


    "The police chief wasn''t at his office when the outbreak started, he sent an SOS. You need to bring him to his office safe and sound, then you can give him his, gift. His location has been sent to you,"


    Ada checks her gps, a red blinking dot a few intersections forward. She quickly takes off, jumping over the gap and to the next building. She runs from rooftop to rooftop, using her hookshot to cross the streets whenever she comes across them. After crossing two streets she nears the SOS signal. It''s coming from a large city park down below, several gunshots coming from it. Several street lights sitting among trees illuminate the grassy ground and dirt trails, along with a group of police huddled together and shooting at the approaching zombies. Some streamers and tables covered with food and gifts suggest some sort of celebration had been going on.


    It doesn''t take long for Ada to spot the chief Romero. Among all the police in uniform is a man in a blue bu??on up long sleeve and black dress pants.


    I don''t know how far the station is from here, so I''ll need to make sure we have a mode of safe transportation¡­


    Quickly looking around she spots a large gas truck parked at the edge of the park, surrounded by zombies.


    Ada jumps off the roof of the building she''s on, turning around and shooting the roof as she descends. As she nears the street, she slows herself down, stopping a few stories just over the infested streets. She opens up a nearby window and gets into the building, making her way through the deserted halls to the stairwell. Most of the doors are swung open, showing the contents of each apartment. In the corner of her right eye she can see a corpse on the ground in one of the rooms.


    Several footsteps can be heard in the stairwell as she enters it, glancing up to see several panicked people running down the flights of stairs in a mass panic. She hurries down the stairs to the bottom floor, a scream quickly coming from the entrance. Reaching the entrance hall, she sees a zombie sinking its teeth into the shoulder of an unfortunate man. Ada pulls out her handgun from her shoulder holster and shoots the zombie in the head.


    The zombie goes limp, it''s sudden dead weight causing the man to fall down to the ground. As Ada heads for the exit, the man starts to convulse as the virus infects his body. She shoots him in the head as she walks by, his body going limp. Heading out into the street, she sees just how fast the infection has spread only a few people running among the growing sea of zombies. Several zombies stand in the way between her and the park, but lucky there''s a streetlight on the other side at the park''s edge. She quickly shoots it and holds her finger by the trigger as the zombies take notice of her, stumbling their way towards her.


    Seeing an opening to the right, Ada runs a few feet in that direction before pulling the trigger, the force pulling her to the other side of the street. Halfway across the street, her feet are lifted off the ground as she approaches the streetlight. As she nears the other end of the street she detaches her hookshot, landing in the park with a hefty thud. The group of police and bystanders are far off in the center of the park, struggling to keep the relentless onslaught of zombies at bay.


    Romero seems to be away from the group, by a large playground, on his phone, angry and distressed. Ada sneaks around behind bushes and trees to avoid being seen by zombies and people alike, making her to Romero. Upon seeing her, Romero finishes his conversation.


    "About damn time," He complains as he meets her halfway, gunshots and people crying in fear filling the air, "My men aren''t going to keep the zombies distracted for much longer, so, how do we get out of here?"


    "I need to know how far the station is from here first," Ada replies, already not liking having to help him.


    "A few blocks that way," He says, pointing to the left from where Ada had come from, "My car''s totalled, some crazy son of a bitch crashed into it not too long ago,"


    "The guy who drove that gas tanker," Ada says as she nods towards it, "Did he happen to be here?"


    "Yes, but he was the first to go,"


    "Where''s his body?"


    "Over there by the food," Romero points to a table far off in the park, several zombies around it,"


    "Think you can make it to truck by yourself?"


    "Of course I can," He replies, crossing his arms, "But without the keys I''ll just be a sitting duck,"


    "I''ll get the keys, just meet me at the truck," Before he has a chance to respond she takes off. Luckily with all the noise being made by the group of people it''s not too hard for her to reach where Romero said the truck driver''s corpse was. She spots the man, now a zombie, walking around with a grey bu??on up shirt that has blood and food stained all over it. It''s impossible to tell where he was bit though as there''s no visible sign of any injuries. She shoots him and he falls to the ground, but is still moving, so she shoots him a second time.


    The gunshots draw the attention of some nearby zombies. She quickly checks his pockets, no keys in either front pocket. She goes to check the ?h?st pocket on his shirt but he suddenly starts moving again.


    What the hell?!


    She shoots him again and he stops moving once more. She quickly checks the pocket, it''s not there. As she goes to flip him onto his stomach, she notices the bullet hole in his head is filling itself in. She quickly flips him over, checking his back pockets and finally finding the keys, just as he starts to move again. She puts them in her pocket and quickly gets out of there before th zombies surround her. Reaching the edge of the park she sees zombies surrounding the truck, Romero sitting in the driver''s seat, glancing around at all the zombies just b?r?ly unable to reach the window to bang their fists against it.


    Ada hook shots a window sill on a building behind the truck and lands on top of the truck''s hood. She empties her clip shooting some zombies on the passenger side and gets in, handing Romero the keys. He jams them into the ignition and starts up the truck, the engine roaring to life and the lights turning on, shining on the zombies in front of them. The sudden loud noise attracts some of the zombies that were in the park and all the nearby ones on the street. Romero presses his foot on the gas and the truck starts moving forward, running over the zombies in front of it with ease.


    Reaching an intersection at the corner of the park they make a right, barreling through the undead horde. As they drive down the street Ada receives another message from Luther. It reads, "I need you and your co-worker to separate agent Jacob from agent Page and keep tabs on how they do, here''s what they look look like," pictures of them pop up, followed by another message, "Inform your co-worker to meet you at the Atlas station, you''re in charge of giving him this information,"


    I swear, this fu?ker doesn''t even have a plan, he''s just making up stuff as he goes. Guess I''ll have to meet face to face with whoever this, "old friend" is.


    "Meet me at the Atlantis Police Station, I have new orders Luther wants me to give you in person," Ada sends to her co-worker as Romero keeps driving down the street, pushing some crashed car aside. After some time they make a left, the police station and a large parking garage across from it. As Romero presses on the brakes, nothing happens, the truck keeps going.


    "Are you fu?k?n? kidding me?!" Romero exclaims.


    "What?" Ada asks with a raised eyebrow.


    "The damn brakes don''t work. He was suppose to have them fixed a week ago," He states irritably as he keeps pressing down on the brakes only for nothing to happen.


    "Then just crash it," Ada states as she unbuckles herself.


    "What?"


    "Just do it. Before we get too far past the station, we can just walk the rest of the way,"


    "...Alright, hold on," He replies as he unbuckles himself. They quickly pass up the station, Romero turning the truck towards a nearby mall. As they near the other end of the mall, the truck nearing the wall of it, they jump out. As they land on the ground they hear the truck crash into the building, going into it a good couple of feet before coming to a halt. Ada gets up before some roaming zombies can get to her and hurries to the other side of the truck, where Romero is dusting himself off.


    As they run to the police station all the lights in the nearby buildings suddenly go out except for the station. Reaching it they find the doors locked. Romero bangs on the doors, catching the attention of some workers inside who quickly run over and unlock it.


    "Put the shutters down," Romero orders as him and Ada enter, heading straight for the elevator.


    "Y-Yes sir!" One of the officers nervously replies before running into a nearby room. They get into the elevator and head to the top floor. Ada opens up the briefcase as they near it, pulling out a vial and syringe.


    "Here''s your gift from Luther," Ada states as she carefully hands it to him, the elevator doors opening up.


    "Thanks," Romero replies with an eager smile as he takes what he thinks is the vaccine. As Romero heads for his office, his ?ssistant not at her desk, Ada turns left to the stairs. Approaching it, Romero can hear the sound of someone eating. Approaching the desk he finds his ?ssistant''s corpse on the ground, being eaten by a zombie.


    Ada hurries down the stairs to the floor below, entering a long hall. She walks by the doors, checking the name plates until she finds the one labeled, "Jacob G." She enters it and pulls out a USB as she walks up to the computer, bending down slightly to use the mouse and keyboard. Plugging it in, she cracks into the computer and starts extracting all the files on it. She stands there, watching the little progress bar slowly fill up. After a few minutes its nearly complete. That''s when she hears the door open behind her.


    Ada turns around to see Derek Simmons.

 Chapter 48 - Separate Ways

    The man who got me caught up in this world to begin with, the reason I''ve had to deal with all these bastards and monsters, the one cloned me and had the whole world think I tried to unleash some stupid fu?k?n? virus...How is he alive?! Leon killed him!


    Staring at the face of the man she hates, a flame ignites inside her.


    "A-Ada, what are you doing here?" Derek asks with a look of complete bewilderment.


    "I could ask you the same thing," She replies in an irritated tone, having to keep herself from just grabbing her gun and shooting him, "You''re the one who died after all," She turns around and resumes typing on the computer. The reflection from the screen shows him walk over to her side.


    "What are those?"


    "Don''t know, don''t care," The files finish copying and she closes the window, pulling out the usb. She then deletes all the data on the computer.


    "Are you working with Luther?"


    "Yes, and it''s just as bad as the time I worked for you back in Raccoon City,"


    "Why are you working for him then?" Ada glances at him, a burning anger in her eyes.


    "...I have my reasons," She puts the usb in her pocket, "Now let''s go we have a job to do,"


    Before Derek and Ada can move to the hallway door, they hear someone grab the doorknob. Ada quickly runs for a door to the side of the desk, Derek quickly following. As they run into a side room the door to the hall bursts open, Jacob pointing his gun at them and firing but his gun only clicks.


    "Fuck, out of bullets!" They hear Jacob exclaim as Ada shuts the door behind them and locks. Looking around she sees a window and another door leading back out to the hall. She lifts the window up before heading to the door, Jacob now banging on the door. Ada peeks her head out into the hall, seeing Page running into Jacob''s office. Her and Derek walk out into the hall, quickly closing the door behind them. As they walk up to Jacob''s office door they hear Jacob break into the room they were just in.


    Ada and Derek quickly take off down the hall, and soon hear Jacob and Page running after them. They run into a break room, Ada pulling up the window and the two heading out onto a fire escape. Ada pulls out her hookshot, shooting the building right next to the station and flying up towards the wall. She goes higher than the station''s roof, reaching the wall on the other building. As she nears the wall she turns around and lets go of the trigger, kicking off the wall and landing onto the station roof. Derek quickly pulls up his hookshot and follows after. As he lands Ada looks at his hookshot.


    "Here I thought the clones of me were going too far...Are you going to start dressing like me too?"


    "No, I just figured this would be handy for my mission," Derek objects, trying to sound more angry than he really is. Speaking of which, what''s my new mission?"


    If it didn''t increase my work load, I''d just have Luther infect him. Hm...maybe if he spends time stalking Page he won''t be so obsessed with me...


    "Luther wants us to seperate Jacob and Page to see how they''ll do on their own. I''m ordered with keeping an eye on Jacob and you''ll be watching Page," She lies, "Hopefully they''ll stay far away from each other. Now we just have to figure out how we''re gonna do that¡­" She turns around, looking at all the surrounding buildings as she tries to think of possible plans.


    "...Ada," Derek says hesitantly.


    "What?" She states, the fire in her now starting to erupt into an inferno.


    "I, I just want you to know that, even though you did do a lot to kill me back in China...my feelings for you never died¡­" Her expression of anger softens a bit.


    Are you fu?k?n? serious? God, this bastard really doesn''t know how to take a hint does he?


    "I don''t know if I should feel sorry for you or laugh. I guess stabbing you and dropping you in an inferno of flames wasn''t clear enough, so I''ll tell you with words," She states as she walks up to Derek, "I don''t love you, I never loved you, and I''ll never love you. Ever. For a man whose so smart you just can''t seem to understand that. You don''t seem to be infected with the C-Virus anymore, but it''s clear that your obsession still plagues your brain. Luther told me to keep tabs on you too and if he feels like you''re falling out of line he''ll turn you back into the monster you are, and I''ll be tasked with having to kill you again, so stay focused,"


    It brings her some joy seeing the disheartened look on his face. Maybe he''s finally taking the hint.


    "...A-Alright, so, what do we do..?" He asks weakly.


    Before Ada can respond her phone starts to vibrate.


    "Yes?" She asks as she answers her phone, "Alright, on it," She puts her phone away, "Luther''s been listening in on Jacob''s phone and got word of a zipline they''re gonna use. They should be coming up soon, so I''m gonna head to the other side of the street and once the first one crosses I''ll break the line," She checks her handgun before putting it away and grabbing her hookshot, "Here," She grabs something off her belt, "A flash grenade in case you screw up. Go hide somewhere, and once we find out who is on what side, we''ll know where to go from there,"


    The two talk for each other, too far for Ada to hear anything. Jacob puts on some kind of harness, attaching part of it to the zipline. As he comes across, Ada takes aim with her handgun. Jacob reaches the end and detaches himself from the zipline, and she takes her shot.


    The sound of a gun shot fills the air as the zipline is cut in two, Ada ducks behind an ac unit. Page and Jacob soon start having a conversation over their radios.


    "...Fine, we''ll meet at the shipyard," Jacob states into his radio, "See that tall building over there with the glowing red antenna?"


    "Y-Yeah I see it," Page replies.


    "That''s the direction the shipyard is in. Try your best to check in with me, I''ll try to see if I can provide any cover fire for any zombies coming,"


    Ada glances over the side to see Jacob has his back turned to her, facing the station, then sees Derek walking to stairwell entrance.


    "Behind you!" Jacob suddenly yells, Derek darting into the stairwell out of sight.


    That idiot''s gonna get himself killed.


    "What was it?" Page asks.


    "A person,"


    "A survivor?"


    "Not likely, they''re probably one of the two people who were in my office, be careful,"


    "I-I will," Page soon heads into the stairwell.


    Jacob puts his radio down and starts turning around, Ada quickly leaning back behind the unit.


    He''s almost as big as that military meathead in China. Probably best to watch from afar.


    She hears the sound of a door opening then closing. After waiting some time, she peeks over, seeing Jacob standing at the stairwell entrance. His eyes look towards her as she quickly moves back behind the unit.


    How did he¡­


    She can feel her heart rate quicken a bit, something about the look in his eyes was...unsettling. She looks around for a place she can hookshot to, but rather than hear footsteps heading towards her, she hears the door to the stairwell open up again, a longer pause before closing. She quickly glances over, seeing Jacob no longer there.


    He''s clearly more than just a meathead, this''ll be fun.


    Ada gets up and heads over to the stairwell entrance, pausing for a minute before opening the door slowly. She peers inside, nothing but darkness waiting. What little light is able to get inside shows the end of the walkway, where some railing sits. Stepping inside and looking down the black abyss, she sees a few feet down moving further down, footsteps echoing throughout the whole thing. The light disappears as it moves underneath where she''s standing, a door creaking open. She grabs a small flashlight attachment, putting it on her handgun and turning it on.


    Cautiously, Ada makes her way down the stairs, reaching the door one floor down. She turns her flashlight off, the darkness enveloping her, before opening up the door. Some light from the fires in the streets outline cubicles. A shadowy figure, who is probably Jacob is walking between some of them. Ada enters the room, quietly shutting the door behind her as Jacob starts heading to the left. The air is somewhat warm from when the heater had been running.


    Despite its warmth, the stillness of the air creates an uneasiness, the silence taking up the whole room. As Jacob reaches the other end of the room towards the windows overlooking the street, Ada sneaks up to a nearby cubicle, using it at cover. Leaning against the outer wall of it, she can look into the cubicle across from it, the light just b?r?ly strong enough for her to make out a body sitting in the chair. It''s leaning forward, their head and part of their upper body laying on the desk as if they suddenly passed out.


    The quietness is suddenly interrupted by Jacob''s radio going off.


    "I found the person," Page''s voice says, "But they used a flash bang and escaped,"


    "Did you get a good look at them?"Jacob asks as he brings his radio up to his mouth.


    "Yeah. A man, probably early forties, black shirt, brown pants and boots. I swear I''ve seen his face somewhere¡­he looks like...Derek Simmons¡­"


    "Derek Simmons? The guy responsible for the president''s death all those years ago?"


    Why am I not surprised he''s already been found out? Did that corpse just move? No, it''s completely still, must have just been the light.


    "Y-Yeah...but it can''t be him...he died during the outbreak in China," Page replies.


    "Well whoever they are, they clearly don''t want us to know,"


    "What''s the best way out of the police station? The fronts barricaded, and I''d rather not go down the fire escape to see the bull waiting for me,"


    "There''s a parking garage across the street, it''s connected to the station by an underground tunnel, but that also barricades which activate alongside the front''s barricades. You''ll have to get to the security room down on the first floor and use an unlock card, the boss always kept it in his office on the ninth floor. Top left drawer of his desk, a hidden compartment under all the papers,"


    "Got it,"


    The return to silence is short lived when several m??ns can be heard as the sleeping zombies wake from the sound. The zombie in the cubicle across from Ada opens its eyes, which seem to glow red in the dark. They look directly at her as the zombie slowly rises to its feet along with several other zombies. Soon the once empty looking office floor is now filled with the undead. She quickly backs away, drawing her handgun, only to find another zombie behind her.


    The blast of a shotgun bursts through the air, shortly followed by another, and then another, and then another. The zombie behind her is shot in the side of the head, and quickly falls to the ground. The one in front of her falls too shortly after. The sound of a zipper opening and closing alongside footsteps nearing her keep the silence from coming back.


    She stands and aims her gun up at Jacob as he steps in front of her, flashlight shining in his face, his flashlight shining in her''s.


    "Here I thought you might''ve been a threat," Jacob states, unwavered by the gun, "You''re actually kinda cute," He says with a ?ustful gaze, throwing Ada completely off, "Too bad I don''t have a type," He adds, the look in his eyes going away as fast as it came as he heads for the stairwell. As he opens the door, his radio goes off again.


    "Jacob, I found your boss," Page''s voice says, "He''s heavily mutated and moving through the vents-" The door behind him closes, stopping Ada from being able to hear the rest of the conversation. She stands there, annoyed that he got the drop on her and by the fact that she''s impressed by someone like that.


    "Guess I''ll have to put him in his place," Ada mutters to herself as she heads for the stairwell, the zombies already recovering from their injuries.

 Chapter 49 - Gifts

    Ada enters the stairwell, already hearing another door somewhere down below closing. She heads down the stairs, each step echoing into the surrounding darkness. She reaches a door, and slowly turns the handle, opening it slightly to peek inside. The floor looks exactly the same as the one above, only no walking corpses, and no Jacob. She closes the door and starts heading down once more, when she hears the door overheard open up, and m??ning. She steps back from the railing when a zombie comes falling down the stairwell, landing on some stairs a few floors down with a heavy thud.


    Ada carefully continues down the stairs, treading softly to prevent her shoes from making any sounds. Her cone of light from her handgun is all she can see. The groans of the dead bite her ears, caving in around her as it seems to come from every direction. She reaches the next floor, opening the door. It''s the same as the other floors. She''s about to close the door when she hears a gunshot followed by glass shattering. She heads into the floor, gun at the ready, but sees no zombies. This floor is heavily trashed, like the people here saw the chaos happening outside before they either succumbed to the virus or fled and got mauled by zombies.


    The window on the fer left facing the street has been shattered into a million pieces. The roar of raging fires, car alarms, and the occasional distant screams can be heard from outside. Reaching the large center area, Ada spots Jacob, standing on a suspended scaffolding, aiming a sniper rifle somewhere out of sight. The sound of some sort of mechanism moving suddenly goes off. Ada stands behind a cubicle, looking over it at Jacob as he puts an eye up to the rifle scope. He fires.


    "Take that you piece of shit!" Jacob exclaims, "Turn around so I can shoot your face!" After a few seconds, he fires again. He lines up for another shot, but then lowers his rifle, "Damnit, he ran away. That fu?ker," He mutters as he stands up. He puts the rifle back in his bag and pulls out a flashlight. Suddenly the sound of glass breaking comes from above. Jacob quickly jumps back inside the building as shards of glass and a couple zombies come crashing down onto the scaffolding. Ada ducks for cover as Jacob comes running. As he nears her, she sticks her leg out, tripping him.


    Rather than falling face first into the carpet, Jacob rolls forward. He looks behind to see no one there, Ada hiding behind another cubicle.


    The rest of the journey through the next couple of buildings proceeds to be Ada bordely watching Jacob make his way through the zombies, occasionally talking to Page on the walkie-talkie. They reach a building that''s under construction and devoid of zombies, across the street and a few buildings down from the parking garage and entrance to the docks.


    Jacob walks through the baron concrete skeleton, some caution tape floating in a light breeze. Ada leans against a pillar, reading a file about some experiment Luther had done on Jacob.


    "I swear if he does anything to Leon¡­" She mutters to herself as she closes the files and puts her phone away. She glances over at Jacob, whose halfway across the floor now.


    Something doesn''t feel right about this. What''s the point of him having me just watch someone walk across a city. I can''t help but feel like I''m walking into a trap¡­


    "So, why are you working for him?" Jacob suddenly asks as he stops in his tracks and glances over at the Pillar Ada''s behind. She doesn''t respond, not sure if he''s talking to someone else or what.


    "You''re that Ada chick, right? The one who had a clone that nearly destroyed all of China?"


    "How do you know that?" Ada asks as she steps out from behind the pillar.


    "Luther told me, back when I worked for him. So, why are you working for him? Money? A virus? Blackmail? He doesn''t work with anyone he doesn''t have any control over,"


    "All you need to know is that you need to get your ?ss to wherever you''re going so I can be on my way,"


    "Alright," Jacob shrugs, "Luther certainly is the kind of guy to keep his to his word, so I''m sure whatever it is he''ll certainly not go against his word,"


    "Sounds like you''re speaking from experience,"


    "Anyone whose smart can easily tell he''s not trust worthy. Which is why I fu?k?d up his plans to blackmail me. I have a knack for that sorta thing. Maybe if you help me kill Luther, I can help you get whatever it is you''re after, or¡­" He walks up to Ada, "I could cook you breakfast one morning?" He asks with a slightly raised eyebrow.


    Ada throws a right punc at his face, which he quickly blocks with his left arm. She quickly goes for a left punch at his gut which he also blocks. She pulls back her arms and does a backflip, Jacob jumping back in time to avoid getting kicked in the face. As she lands on her feet, she does a right side kick. Jacob does a left side kick, connecting with her''s. They quickly switch legs, practically at the exact same time.


    "Could have just said no," Jacob states as he stands there, his ankle pushing against hers. Ada glares at him for a few seconds before putting her foot down.


    "We capture Luther, I get what information I need from him, then you can do with him as you please," Ada states sternly, "Deal?"


    "Sure thing," Jacob replies.


    ¡­


    After some more time Jacob reaches the docks, opening up the gate and waving for Page and Derek as they run from a mutated bull.


    What the hell does he think he''s doing?


    Ada stares down as the three of them run into the docks, closing the gate behind them.


    The three enter the shipping yard. Ada walks to the edge of the floor, and shoots a crane on the other side of the concrete wall, separating the docks from the city, with her hookshot and lands on top of some freights. A helicopter comes flying towards one of the ships. Ada gets a message from Luther.


    "Infect the pilot, use the special gun so you can stay hidden,"


    Ada opens up the case and grabs one of the syringes.


    If I''m gonna have any chance of getting what I want, I''ll have to play the teacher''s pet...Jacob you better know what you''re fu?k?n? doing.


    She loads the syringe into a tranq gun with a scope attached and aims at the helicopter. Some people just got off the helicopter and it''s starting to take off. She shoots, the shot going straight into one of the pilots necks. She puts the gun back in the case and watches as things start to unfold. As she sits on the crate, she gets another message.


    "There''s some gifts for you in the helicopter by the way, you should see if they survived. Let me know if they didn''t so I can move onto my backup,"


    Ada glances over at the helicopter wreckage and then at the group of three as they run from the massive monster. She makes her way from crate to crate, then onto the boat''s deck. She heads to the crashed remains, and finds a heavily armored box. She drags it out from the wreckage and opens it up, an rpg and a remote detonator inside. A note is also inside pinned to the detonator, "Make sure they don''t leave the island just yet. Here''s some extra fire power in case they don''t survive my experiment, and it comes for you,"


    She puts the detonator in her bag and gets a firm grip on the rpg before she gets a safe distance from the boats on top of a freight. She places it down and pulls out the detonator. She watches as they take down the creature.


    "Sorry to ruin you''re moment," Ada mutters to herself as she turns on the detonator and pushes the bu??on. One by one the boats are consumed by explosions, and sink into the ocean. Soon after she sees the bull that had chased them into the docks break through the gate.


    "Come on!" She hears Jacob exclaim. They finally take down the bull by getting a freight to fall on top of it. However, it''s mangled boy comes breaking through it nad quickly heals back up.


    At this rate they''ll be here fighting that damn thing all night.


    Ada grabs the rpg, aiming at the bull, and fires. With an explosion the bull becomes nothing more than corpse with half of its side missing. As the group down below gathers their bearings, Ada gets a call from Luther.


    "I heard the explosions, how are things going?"


    "They took out the thing from the virus with ease, however an infected bull came charging in a proved to be quite the challenge, however they took care of that too," She says as she watches the group head for the parking garage.


    "An infected bull? That sounds like quite the happy surprise. I have some important information for you that I need to tell you in person, regarding Jacob, meet me at the prison, I''ll be in the far back office,"


    "Got it," As Ada hangs up the sound of a car alarm going off fills the streets, attracting hoards of nearby zombies. She quickly hook shots to the garage, landing in a much higher floor. She finds a car that''s still running somehow, shooting a zombie in the driver''s seat and throwing them out from the car. The car alarm has gone quiet now. She gets in, pulling up her map and finding out where the prison is. releasing the brakes and putting it in reverse, she backs out before puts it in drive, running over the zombie she had thrown out as she makes her way to the down ramp.


    Getting closer to the street level, the floors become more and more filled with zombies, the windshield becoming almost completely covered with blood by the time she makes it out onto the street. As she drives through the chaotic streets, she has to swerve to the left to avoid getting hit by an oncoming car. Once she makes it out of the city she''s able to finally to ease her grip on the wheel, the windshield wipers now stained red. Reaching the prison she spots Page, Jacob, and Derek heading for the entrance. They all stop and turn as she nears them and comes to a stop.


    "You promised you''d let me interrogate him before killing him," Ada says as she exits the car and walks up to them, "Yet you left me in the dust,"


    "Hey, I didn''t know he was here, and besides, I''d knew you catch up in time,"


    "Hmph," She huffs irritably, "Well I''m suppose to meet him asap. I have no doubt he''s aware of you finding me out, so hurry before he tries anything funny,"


    "Will do," Jacob replies as Ada starts walking away to the left side of the building.


    As she rounds the corner she uses her hookshot to get over a fence, landing in a courtyard. A nearby window in the second floor is open. She grapples up to it, crawling inside. She lands inside a dark room. Her flashlight shows several plastic chairs lined up in rows. Beside her is a podium.


    A preaching room or something?


    She walks up to the door, the air naturally quite for a prison, especially in this type of situation.


    With the power out, shouldn''t the prisoners be trying to break out or something? Or perhaps Luther has already infected them.


    Ada creaks open the door slightly, surprised to see the lights are on. She looks in both directions before stepping out into the hall. It''s unsettling how quiet it is, nothing but the buzzing of the lights overhead. Reaching the corner, she glances down the hall to make sure the coast is clear. Right as she''s about to walk down the hall a pair of double doors halfway down open up. She quickly move back out of sight as two men come walking out of the room.


    "You''re positive nothing is going to be found? Nothing that could lead this to us?" A man''s voice asks.


    "Relax Norton," Luther''s voice replies. Ada silently walks up to the corner of the hall, glancing over to see two men disappear down some stairs. She hears a door below open then close. She takes the chance to walk down the hall and enter the room they were in. She spots a strange stone laying half-hazardly on the edge of the desk. Touching it, the stone feels much more like metal. Shr grabs it and puts it in her bag.


    If I''ve learned anything from this line of work, it''s that random shit like this is useful for something. Guess I should wait for Luther to get back, he did say meet in the back office afterall. As Ada sits down in one of the chairs she''s caught off guard by the lights suddenly going out and an alarm going off. She grabs her gun when the door suddenly opens up. Luther puts his hands up as she aims at him.


    "Calm down, I''m not a zombie," He states. Ada puts her gun down.


    "You''re rather late, but that''s not important, come with me, quickly," He states, signalling with his hand. She follows, entering the hall to see another man with Luther, who is probably Norton, and they walk down the hall towards where she had come from.


    "Now, I would love to stay here, but me and my friend have some business we must attend to," Luther states, "So, I need you to stay here while we go off to my lab to examine the results we have so far,"


    Results, what results? I haven''t even told him anything yet?


    "Alright," Ada states as she follows through a door onto a roof where a helicopter is waiting, grabbing something from her bag.


    "Oh, but before we go," Luther states, as he stops in is tracks, Norton heading onto the helicopter, "I must tell you something else," He grabs Ada''s right hand, shaking it firmly, "It''s been a p???sur? working with you, it truly has," He says with a sincere smile that just gives off a suspicious energy, "And thanks for bringing this," He snatches the briefcase before quickly heading into the helicopter, its blades already starting to rotate and waves goodbye, "Oh, and here''s one last gift!" He exclaims as they fly off.


    Gift? What-


    Ada''s thoughts are cut off when she sees something come flying at her from above.

 Chapter 50 - Ljuska

    Ada quickly dives away from the door into the prison as something comes crashing down, digging into the building. She turns around to see some guy in torn up prisoner''s clothing. Both their forearms are gone, being replaced by large blades made of bones. The skin is gone around it is gone, the exposed muscle pulsating and dark shades of red and purple. A crater in their ?h?st exposes their beating heart.


    "How in the hell did he you make you?" Ada mutters to herself as she grabs her gun. Ljuska makes a muffled grunt and puts its blade arms to its sides as if angered by her comment. Not wasting anytime, Ada shoots at Ljuska in the heart. It quickly reacts, bringing up its arms to shield itself, however one bullet managed to hit, causing it to step back. Ada goes to shoot its head, and Ljuska raises its arms. She quickly shoots one of its feet and it tilts forward a bit as it almost loses its balance. Out of bullets, she quickly backs up as she reloads her gun.


    Ljuska takes this chance to go on the offensive, suddenly charging at her with, closing the gap between them in seconds. It jumps up, lunging its right arm at her. Ada dives to the side, b?r?ly avoiding it. She quickly falls back down onto the ground to avoid its second slash. She rolls to the left as it plunges its right arm down. As it tries to free its arm from the ground Ada reloads. She grabs a flash from her bag and chucks it towards Ljuska. It rolls between its feet and goes off, blinding the creature as it pulls its arm free. It stumbles around, flailing about its arm wildly. Ada aims carefully, before shooting at its heart.


    Ljuska stumbles back a bit, Ada taking another shot. It falls to the ground, completely motionless. Ada carefully walks up to it to get a better look and make sure its dead. As she steps within a few feet of it, it suddenly jumps up, slashing at her. She does a backflip to avoid getting her legs cut up and quickly unloads the rest of her clip on it when she lands to keep it from charging at her.


    "Smarter than Krauser, I''ll give you that much," She comments. She reaches into her bag to grab her knife as she drops the empty clip from her gun. As she hoped, Ljuska comes once more attacks her. It swings its left blade at her which she avoids by jumping back, the space between her and the wall closing in. It swings at her with its right and she ducks. Its blade hits the wall, digging into it. She quickly rolls to the side as it thrusts its left blade at her. Both arms stucks, Ada goes behind it and puts her right arm over its shoulder, plunging her knife into its heart. She keeps stabbing it over and over, until Ljuska breaks free, the force causing her to fall backwards onto the ground.


    Ljuska turns to her, knife still in its heart, before promptly falling to its knees then face first into the ground, the knife digging deeper into it.


    "I take it back," Ada says as she gets up and catches her breath, "You''re just as dumb as Krauser," Before she heads back inside the prison, she gets an alert on her phone.


    "WARNING: POWER PLANT OVERHEATING. THIRTY MINUTES UNTIL MELTDOWN EVACUATE THE LAB IMMEDIATELY"


    Just great.


    Ada puts her phone away and heads back into the prison. She heads for the office, hoping to find something that could get her off the island. Opening the doors she''s greeted by a n?k?d Derek.

 Chapter 51 - The Werewolf of Mist Springs

    June 2, 2015, 8:54pm- Mist Springs, California


    A calm night. A slight breeze rustles through the mountain trees. The air is refreshingly cool after a long day of summer heat. The full moon in the sky paints everything in silver. Two men with backpacks, filled to the brim with various things, hike along a trail. Various bugs and birds can be heard going about their business in the trees and bushes around them.


    "Feels great to finally get away from the miss'',"


    "I''m sure they''re thinking the same thing bout us,"


    The two of them start laughing like hyenas as they continue their trek. They finally reach a nice open area large enough to set up their tents. Taking off their backpacks fills their back with relief after carrying them for hours. They make a little campfire and set up their tents. Sitting on the cool dirt floor, they roast marshmallows and make some smores.


    "Reminds me of when we were kids,"


    "Tastes as good as I remembered,"


    "Take it easy, you''re burning through the whole damn bag!"


    "I cam''t help mehselff,"


    "Can you at least stop talking with your mouth full?"


    "...Sorry. That better?"


    "Better,"


    "..."


    "..."


    "Hey, remember those crazy stories we''d tell each other?"


    "What? The ''scary'' ones about witches and goblins?"


    "Yeah, those ones!"


    "Don''t tell me you want to talk about those,"


    "Of course, ya big baby. It''s tradition, besides, I found a lot of good ones,"


    "...Fine. Whad''ya got?"


    "Now, I haven''t actually read any of these, I just picked the ones I thought had cool titles, so b?r? with me here. I got, the Witch, of the Willows. What, Really, Happened to Raccoon City. Why You Never Go, To the Swamp at Night. My Encounter with Mothman. And, Always Carry a Silver Bullet,"


    "I gotta say, those all sound really shitty,"


    "Aw come on man, just pick one,"


    "Alright, alright...how about...the silver bullet one,"


    "Alright...Ahem...It was a normal night like any other night. I was sitting in my room, huddled up in my bed reading a good book, until I got interrupted by my dog suddenly barking. My dog was quite the talker, but I had never heard my dog like this before. She was barking very aggressively, snarling almost, as if trying to scare something away. Finding this a bit odd, I got up and walked to the living room where she was at. All her fur was standing up, and she was showing her teeth, I''ve never seen her like this before. She was barking at something through the glassdoors leading out into the backyard.


    My parents called out, asking what was going on, and I replied telling them our dog was just barking at something outside. I couldn''t see anything due to how dark it was, and it didn''t help that I left my glasses on my nightstand. What I did next was the dumbest thing I ever did and I still regret doing it to this day. I ignored the sinking feeling in my stomach, and my dog''s warnings, and walked up to the doors, up to the switch for the back light. When I flicked it on-"


    The sound of a twig snapping in the distance cuts him off. It sounded no more than a few yards away.


    "When I flicked it on, that''s when I saw it. A massive, towering creature covered in dark fur. It stood up on hind legs and slightly hunched it, like a person, but it wasn''t, it couldn''t have been. I couldn''t make out the shape of its head, but I will never forget its eyes, and its teeth. The eyes were a sickly yellow, and the pupils were small and narrow, like a wolves''. The teeth were massive, all sharp as knives, sitting in rows like in a dog''s snout. I immediately screamed as my dog started barking even more. My parents came running, my father with his gun and they both saw the thing I was staring at.


    We all stood there, frozen in terror as we watched the thing quickly take off into the night. After that my father got a shotgun, and made sure to buy silver bullets. Though we never speak of it, there''s some comfort in knowing I wasn''t the only one who saw that, thing. I think the scariest thing is, I live in an urban neighborhood, there''s no forests for miles, so what on earth was that creature doing in our backyard? I''ve tried to forget this memory, but it won''t go away, and now it haunts my dreams ever since a couple days ago when I swore I saw two glowing yellow orbs in the far end of my backyard,"


    "Man, that''s a load of bull,"


    "I thought it as pretty good. What else should we-"


    "It''s getting late man, let''s just call it a night,"


    "You baby. Hehehe...I guess it''s for the best, last thing I need is to wake up from your screaming when you get a nightmare and piss yo self,"


    "I was eight,"


    "We both were,"


    As they lay down in their tents, it''s hard not to notice how quiet the forest has gotten. Nothing but the crackling of the campfire can be heard. The unnatural silence makes it hard to not feel slightly uneasy.


    Crunch.


    "Hey, Charles, ya up?"


    "..."


    "...Charles?"


    He lays in his tent, wrapped up in his blanket, his heart starting to pound in his ?h?st. The sound of something being torn open is quickly followed by a blood-curdling scream. The hiker practically jumps out of his tent and looks over at his friend''s only to see a large blobby shadow inside it as the tent starts shaking.


    "Charles?!" The hiker exclaims as he runs over and sees a large hole torn open in the back side of the tent. Inside the tent, a man with no shirt is on his knees, hunched over, his head above Charles'' neck. Blood is trailing down it onto the ground below. The man is shaking his head like a wild beast tearing at its prey as Charles screams in agony. The horrific sight stuns the hiker, but he manages to regain control of himself and grabs his gun. He shoots the man, hitting him in the shoulder. The man freezes for a second, before lifting his head up and looking up at the hiker.


    His eyes are feral, and filled with hunger. He glares at the hiker, baring his blood-covered teeth. As he stands up, the hiker shoots him in the ?h?st. He''s completely unfazed by it and proceeds to thrust a hand around the man''s throat, gripping it tightly. The huker drops his gun and tries to break free of the crazed man''s grip, but is unable to, forced to stare him in the eyes. The hiker''s heart is practically beating out of his ?h?st, he can feel the vain in his neck pressing against the man''s hand with every pulse.


    After an eternity the man lets go, and then knocks him unconscious with a swift punch.


    Everything goes black.


    The hiker wakes up, as if from a bad nightmare, only to realize that it wasn''t a nightmare. It was real. He sees Charles'' tent, the back part torn up. And Charles'' corpse sitting inside, the neck looking like a wild animal had torn it apart or something. The sight makes the hiker back away until he bumps into a tree.


    "You''re one hundred percent sure that''s what happened?"


    "I swear, that''s what happened? He was my best friend! You really think I would kill him?! You''ve seen the body right?! Does that look like something I''d do?!"


    "Alright, alright, calm down,"


    ¡­


    The hiker sits at the bar, chugging down his second mug.


    "Another," He says as he slams the empty mug down onto the bar.


    "I think you''ve had enough,"


    The door to the bar opens up and a man with dark brown hair walks inside. He sits down at the bar.


    "Can I get a water and a, club sandwich?" The man asks.


    The hiker glances over at the man, and just seeing the man from the side, brings flashbacks of that night. Gasping for air. The fire in the back. The man''s glare.


    "Y-You¡­" The hiker mumbles as he quickly becomes more sober.


    "Excuse me?" The man asks as he turns to the hiker with a raised eyebrow, "Have we met somewhere?"


    "You...you were there¡­"


    "...Where?" The hiker draws his gun.


    "I-I know what you are,"


    "Hey! Whoa, whoa, whoa! Calm down, Terry!" The bartender exclaims.


    "Let''s just put the gun down," The man says, "We both know it won''t do any good. I just came for some water and a sandwich," Terry looks at the guy, seeing no trace of fear in his eyes, unnerving him.


    "Terry, give me the gun, you''re drunk,"


    "...Like hell I will," He replies as he puts his gun away, "Just get me another one,"

 Chapter 52 - Cleaning Up

    April 2, 2015, 9:15pm- Terrasave Headquarters, New York


    Despite how late at night it is, the office is buzzing, filled with people running about, talking to other people, handing each other documents, talking about deadlines, and scrambling to get things back on track.


    Page sits at her desk, chugging a cup of coffee to keep going. Everyday has been like this since her and Jacob got back and exposed the truth behind Norton and Luther. Jacob''s taken most of the work load, practically living in his office, occasionally going home to eat something that isn''t fast food or microwaved, and to check up on Derek, who they''ve been hiding there. The files of Phoenix and it''s creation along with Descendant Virus mentioned Derek C. Simmons and his revival. However, Page and Jacob reported taking him down. As far as everyone knows, he died for good on Mazraea.


    Work hasn''t been made any easier by the fact that the new person in charge, William Davidson, was not trained for this sort of chaos. He was second in command, but knew just as much about leadership and running this agency as much as the other agents. It wasn''t his fault however, Norton had spent most of his time doing things in secret with Luther, and thus never actually spent much time helping William. It''s not uncommon to see William head into Jacob''s office to ask about how to do things. Jacob''s medical records were kept a secret and all the files regarding the incident in the marines and his time in the mental asylum were destroyed, aside from the copies he decided to keep.


    Exhaustion taking over her, Page decides to call it a day. She gets up from her chair, stretching her aching back, and grabs her coat. Draping it over herself as she leaves her office she looks around at everyone, the chaos reminds her of the flea market. All that''s missing is fire and zombies. She glances over at the office door next to her''s, and decides to enter it. Jacob is on the phone with someone.


    "The files are being emailed to you right now," Jacob says as Page opens the door, "Thanks again, Leon," He hangs up and puts his phone in his pocket and looks up at her. Seeing it''s Page he lets his face rest, an expression of irritation coming over his face.


    "Need help with something?" He asks as Page closes the door.


    "No, I just, wanted to know how you''re doing," She responds, "I b?r?ly see you at all,"


    "I''m perfectly fine," He replies before turning to his computer and working on some files.


    "So, what are you sending Leon?"


    "Some files Luther had. It seems he might have had connections to the Family,"


    "Of course he would¡­" She mutters before glancing at Jacob, seeing the tiredness in his eyes, "...Don''t you think you should get some sleep? Real sleep, on a bed, not your chair," He glances up at Page, seeing her concerned expression.


    "...After these files are done," He replies hesitantly.


    To make sure he keeps his word, Page stands by the office door and waits. After a couple minutes, he closes all the windows, and logs off the computer, the fan finally getting a break. He gets up from his chair, stretches and heads over to the door. He opens it to find William standing there, his hand in the air about to knock.


    "Oh, Jacob, I-I need to ask you something,"


    "What is it?" He asks with a much softer expression on his face.


    "The U.S. Government''s been calling asking about some files regarding Luther and the Family, I don''t even know what the Family is,"


    "I just sent them, if they call and ask again tell them to check with Leon, alright?"


    "Thank you," William replies with a nervous smile before he hurries to the elevator.


    "Shouldn''t you tell him you''re leaving for the night?" Page asks as they head for the elevators.


    "No," Jacob replies. Reaching the elevators, he presses the bu??on to call one, and the door on the left opens up.


    "...I''ll, text him then," Page states as they walk inside. Not even more than a few seconds after she texts him, Jacob gets a phone call. It''s William. He rejects the call.


    "What was that for?" Page asks.


    "I''ve given him more than enough help, he''s gonna have to learn to do things without me soon anyways,"


    "What does that mean?"


    "After this whole mess is taken care of, I''m leaving,"


    "Leaving? Where?" She asks in bafflement.


    "Probably somewhere isolated," He responds. It''s not hard to see how serious he is.


    "Well...then I guess I''m going to leave too," Jacob glances over at her with a raised eyebrow.


    "What about Derek?" He asks.


    "Well, I could buy a house back home. No one there knows who he is or really anything involving what I do,"


    "That''s quite a bold move to take with someone you haven''t even dated yet,"


    "Well, what else am I suppose to do?" The elevator doors open up.


    "Fair point,"


    "Do you think I could come over to see how he''s doing?" Page asks as they walk through the parking garage.


    "Sure," The two get into their cars and drive off for his apartment.


    Derek sits on the couch in the living room area of the main room, watching a movie and eating a peanut bu??er and jelly sandwich he made. Some of the crumbs fall onto his black short sleeve and sweatpants. Adjusting to this life-style hasn''t been easy on him. He can''t just go wherever he wants and buy whatever he wants. Jacob gave him a card with a small spending budget that he''s allowed to use to buy stuff. If it wasn''t for the months spent in the Alaskan Laboritory, this would have felt like torture to him, but now it feels rather nice. He got himself some nice long sleeves, short sleeves, and pants, and shorts and two pairs of shoes. That took up practically all his money, which means he''s stuck with whatever food Jacob buys.


    Hearing the front door unlock alerts him and he quickly gets up. As the door opens he sees Jacob enter.


    "How''s Page?" Derek asks as he walks up to him, something he''s done every time Jacob''s come home, "Is she-" He freezes when he sees Page walk in behind Jacob, "Alright¡­" He stares at her for a few seconds before remembering he''s in a shirt and sweatpants that he''s been wearing for a few days now and has crumbs all over himself. He quickly brushes off the crumbs and wipes the peanut bu??er and jelly off the side of his mouth. Page can''t help but chuckle a bit. Never would she imagine someone like Derek C. Simmons, someone who was a high ranking member of the government, in such a casual state.


    "I''m going to bed," Jacob states as he heads to his room, ""Don''t be too loud," And with that he closes the door, leaving Page and Derek alone.


    "Excuse me," Derek then says before he heads off to his room, leaving Page alone. Page takes the chance to look around the apartment. It''s almost exactly as she remembers it, aside from the messes Derek has left in the living room and kitchen. Some weights sit to the far left of the room along with a rolled up mat.


    "Seems like he adjusted rather well¡­" She mutters to herself.


    Derek soon comes barging out of his room in light brown pants and a grey bu??on-up short sleeve.


    "Looks like you''ve been working out," Page comments.


    "What?" Derek looks down and realizes he completely forgot to bu??on up his shirt, "Oh!" He quickly starts to bu??on it up, his face turning a bit red "Y-Yeah, it''s uh, kinda become a, habit after having to do it for so long," He sees all the plates and stuff he''s left lying around and starts picking them up, "Sorry for the mess, I wasn''t really expecting to see anyone other than Jacob here,"


    "Well, it''s nice to see you''re doing good," Page responds as he dumps the dishes into the sink.


    "Yeah...So, it seems work is affecting you too,"


    "Hm?"


    "You look pretty tired...I mean, not that you look bad or anything, just¡­" He can''t really think of anyway to recover from what he said.


    "Thanks," Page says with a smile, awkwardness filling the room "Well, I, should leave and go get some rest," She heads for the door, "It was nice seeing you,"


    "Wait," Derek says as she''s just about to leave, "You, haven''t forgotten about the date, right? After you''re done with everything at Terrasave,"


    "I haven''t forgotten," Those words bring a smile to his face. With that, she leaves and heads off to her apartment.

 Chapter 53 - Inner Demons

    February 20, 2012, 8:40pm- New York, Jacob''s Apartment


    Jacob lays in bed, a now asleep, Page resting on his ?h?st, her left arm draped over him and holding onto his right bicep. His left arm is draped around her side, resting on the red blanket that keeps in the heat. He holds onto her left arm with his right arm as he stares at the ceiling, just now starting to fall asleep. His eyelids finally close and everything goes dark.


    ¡­


    A blood curdling scream opens his eyes. He looks up at the ceiling of his apartment, or what little of it he can see. Something warm and wet suddenly soaks his hands. He lifts them up, and sees something dripping off of them onto the bed and Page.


    "What the..?" He mutters to himself as he brings his hands closer to his face to get a better look. It''s too dark to see. Carefully, he stretches his left arm out, reaching for a lamp on the nightstand.


    Click.


    The harsh light stabs his eyes, forcing him to cover shield his face with his hands. That''s when he sees the blood covering them. As his eyes adjust he turns his hands so the palms face him, and he sees the fresh blood stream down them and drip onto his ?h?st. It''s warm to the touch, very fresh. Before he can fully realize what''s happening, the intoxicating smell fills his lungs.


    Badum...


    Badum...Badum¡­


    Badum, Badum.


    BADUM BADUM BADUM


    The smell starts to drive him crazy as his heartbeat speeds up. Page stirs awake, opening her eyes and looking at him with a groggy expression.


    "Jacob..?" She asks, still clearly asleep, "Everything, okay?"


    Jacob moves his hands to the sides and looks at her, then back to his hands. The blood is gone. But the smell remains.


    "I''m...I''m¡­" He can''t think straight anymore, the aroma now infecting his brain. He places a hand on his forehead as he looks up at the ceiling, feeling light headed, a sudden hunger draining him of his energy. He glances at the person on top of him, only one thing on his mind.


    "Jacob?" A voice asks as the figure starts getting up. Before they can escape his reach, he grabs their throat, shoving them onto the bed as he rolls over on top of them. He can feel their pulse through their neck as they struggle to break free of his grip. He lunges down, sinking his teeth into their neck. As blood goes everywhere, there''s a scream. As his hunger is sedated, everything starts returning to normal.


    He finds himself staring at Page''s corpse, her blood staining the bed, his body, and his teeth. The lifeless eyes express nothing but fear. Blood drips off his teeth onto the corpse, a loud banging in his ear as they land. Cold claws start to squeeze his ?h?st as the realization of what he did sinks in. The corpse suddenly grabs his throat, and shoves him to the side. As he''s pushed down onto the bed, he lands back in his apartment, opening his eyes to the ceiling once more.


    Jacob lays there, catching his breath. He lifts his head up slightly and looks at Page. She''s still asleep. He rests his head back down on the pillow, letting out a sigh of relief. His grip on her tenses up as visions of the dream flash through his mind. He can still feel the blood on him.


    "...Page¡­" He mutters as he stares at the ceiling with a cold gaze, "I''ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe from me...I swear," Page readjusts herself a bit, still fully asleep, hugging him a bit tighter.

 Chapter 54 - Wittikka

    Rebecca opens up the door, the setting sunlight b?r?ly able to illuminate more than just a few feet into the building. She turns on her flashlight, shining it around to see if there''s anything inside. Nothing. It''s starting to get dark, hopefully she can spend the night here. Hopefully Jacob''s alright, wherever he''s at. Maybe he''s found Billy and now they''re looking for her. She seems to always be the damsel in distress, but, not this time.


    With a deep breath, Rebecca steps foot into the Park Museum. Every step echoes throughout the massive, empty, room. It''s so dark, only what''s in the flashlight''s cone of light can be seen. The room seems to span several meters in length, and twice that in width. The light shines off the polished tile floors and the marble walls. The place certainly looks they spent a lot making it, how did they get the funding for this? The door slowly closes itself behind her, the sunlight no longer able to protect her.


    Some chairs are scattered about the room, some b?r?ly scratched, and others broken into several pieces, with most inbetween. Some banners sit on the back wall by some curved staircases, one of them has been almost completely torn off the wall, now hanging over the welcoming desk. Some bloody claw marks dig into the floor, looking almost like some sort of animal footprints, but what they belong to is a mystery. Almost shaped like hooves, but with, claws? Whatever made these, hopefully it''s long gone. A blood trail leads up to the welcome desk.


    Rebecca approaches it, seeing a faint light coming from the other side of a computer monitor, and the buzzing of flies. Walking around, the ravaged corpse of someone lays on the ground, their organs laid about in a bloody mess with flies fighting each other for it. The computer monitor shows nothing but a blank screen split into four rectangles by four white rectangles, all with numbers in the corners. The bottom of the screen has several bu??ons below it. Maybe they''re security cameras?


    Rebecca holsters her gun as she grabs the mouse and moves it down to bu??ons. Hovering over each for a few seconds shows the name of them. She stops at one with an eye, the pupil a crescent shape. Nightvision. Clicking on it, the screens suddenly have a green hue, revealing things hiding in the dark. A red dot in the corner of her eye catches her attention. She looks up to the right, and sees a red dot. Looking at camera one on the monitor, she sees the right side of herself standing at the welcome desk.


    The second camera is the the entrance room, but from the other side. The next camera is a hallway of some sort, along with the fourth camera. She changes one to the fifth camera which shows another large room. A black blur in the camera feed suddenly dashes about, and the sound of something falling comes from behind to her right. She quickly draws her gun and she turns in that direction, shining her light down a hallway. The sound of something scurrying in the distance faintly echoes.


    Rebecca slowly shuffles sideways to the front of the corridor. A couple doors sit on both side. The corridor is only a few feet in length, leading to a giant room. Parts of some sort of fossil can be b?r?ly seen off in the distance. She cautiously makes her way to the large room, holding the flashlight underneath her pistol. Every step echoes throughout the entire place. Entering the large room reveals a massive skeleton of a wooly mammoth towering over everything else around it.


    Something suddenly dashes from behind the mammoth''s stand, running to the right side of the room, startling her. The flashlight follows it to show something dark and fluffy squeezing into a small door connected to a large glass pane. The thing goes to the other side of the glass, entering a little makeshift forest exhibit, and running into a log. Approaching the glass, the light shines onto a sign. There''s a cartoonish drawing of a raccoon waving a paw in the air. It reads:


    "Hello, my name is Stripes! I''m a rescue that was found as a baby and raised here in this very museum! I''m shy and easily startled, so please don''t knock on the glass. If you see me walking around, please give me space,"


    "Stripes?" Rebecca mutters to herself as she shines her light into the exhibit. Illuminating the log the thing ran into, a pair of large, beady, eyes looks at her. A fat, and very fluffy, raccoon trembles in fear as it''s hiding spot is exposed. She just stands there, taken completely by surprise. It''s so bizarre seeing something so, innocent and cute, in such a creepy place, especially with those, things, running around. This raccoon, Stripes, is very lucky to be alive.


    Rebecca turns around, a single can rolling along the ground. Following where it came from, reveals a broken vending machine, the glass shattered and stained with blood. A person stands in front the vending machine, aimlessly rummaging through what little amounts of snacks remains. The massive gash in the side of the face, exposing their jaw, makes it clear they aren??t human. It still sends a shiver down her spine seeing a zombie. The light catches its attention. It turns to her, showing even more injuries on the other side of its face. Its right eye is completely missing, nothing but darkness in the socket.


    It starts slowly making its way to her. Luckily, the room is so large, several meters stand between them. She aims her gun, and with a well aimed shot, shoots it between the eyes. The gunshot explodes throughout the room, making her jump. The zombie falls to the floor with a thud, some blood starting to spill out from the head. Before she can put her gun down, a bone-chilling screech wails in the far distance.


    Turning to the right where the sound came from, she aims her light and gun, showing a doorway leading to another room. Approaching the doorway, the light reaches the back wall, showing that most of the wall is one massive window, overlooking the surrounding forest. Most of the bottom half has been shattered to pieces strewn along the ground. The outline of something in the distance can b?r?ly be seen, horns jutting out at the top.


    Rebecca quickly turns and runs, heading for the closest door. Reaching the hallway she reaches for the first door on the right. The door is locked. She hurries to the next one, it''s locked. She runs to the other side and tries the first door. Locked. Running to the last door in the hallway, the door is unlocked. As she enters the room, the faint sound of hooves hitting the tile floor echoes from the distance.


    Automatic lights turn on, revealing that the room is a small office, with two desks sitting on opposite sides of the room. A slouched corpse sits in a chair behind the right desk, a large open cut on their arm. She hurries over to the left desk, crouching behind it for cover.


    The chair on the other side starts to creak. She glances over the side of the desk, seeing the zombie getting out of the chair.


    "Shit¡­" Rebecca mutters to herself. She stands up, aiming her gun at the decaying corpse as it slowly stumbles its way to her, letting out a tired m??n.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    It takes two shots for it to fall onto the carpeted floor with a soft thud. The clinking of hooves quickly approaches. Rebecca ducks behind the desk once more, squeezing her way al the way underneath it. Within seconds there''s a bang against the door. Then another. Then the door swings open violently as something steps inside. She holds her breath, trying to keep herself calm as the soft footsteps of something moves around the room. They''re on the other side of the desk. They move to the other side of the room, then come back to her side.


    They make their way around the desk, each step getting louder. She nearly jumps when the skull of a deer suddenly comes into view from the side. Rotting flesh and exposed muscles only covers the back and lower parts of the skull near its neck, most of the skull exposed, with dried blood stains all over it. The skull turns away, unmoving for a few seconds before it turns the other way at her. What''s left of its left eye is danging out the hollow eye socket. They stare at each other for what feels like an eternity, every split-second an hour.


    The fear that it can actually hear her heartbeat starts to sink its claws into her ?h?st as she sits motionless, not even breathing. The skull disappears and the thing walks away, its hooves soon clacking against the tile flooring as it continues its search for prey. Rebecca closes her eyes and takes a deep, but very quiet, breath as she stays under the desk, waiting for the thing to get a safe distance away from her. The footsteps seem to wander around, but soon go dissipate.


    Rebecca gets out from under the desk, lightly stepping to the doorway. She holds up her flashlight and gun, looking around, it''s nowhere in sight. Tip-toeing, she heads back to the welcome desk, looking at the security monitor to see if it''s anywhere near. She lightly taps the keys to change the camera. It doesn''t appear to be anywhere. She stops when the camera changes to one of the entrance cameras, and the deer is only a few feet away from the desk, slowly making its way towards the desk.


    She slowly looks up, and can just b?r?ly see it. Looking into the hollow sockets on the sides of the skull. She slowly brings up her right hand, gun at the ready, as the thing continues to stalk towards her. She aims her gun as it gets within inches, it''s head lowered at the desk''s height. Her finger rests on the trigger, careful not to accidentally make a sound. The thing raises its head a bit, staring at her once more, letting out a loud huff, warm air bellowing onto her.


    She pulls the trigger.

 Chapter 55 - Jacob

    Name: Jacob G.


    Age: 28 (During Mazraea Incident)


    Height: 5''08ft/1.76m


    Weight: 142lbs/64.4kg


    Eye Color: Green/Grey


    Hair Color: Dark Brown


    Likes: Meat (Beef in particular), Food that isn''t vegetables, Sleeping, Working out, Flirting, Sarcasm, Being Angry, Snug Shirts, Flexing in front of Mirrors, Wearing just basketball shorts when alone, Page, Family


    Dislikes: Most people, Big organizations, vegetables, Interacting with anyone, Work, Staying up late, Not being able to workout, Any emotion that isn''t anger, Bulky clothes, Luther


    Jacob was an agent for Terrasave who worked alongside Agent Page, but also went on several solo missions given by Norton himself. Terrasave took interest in him thanks to his impressive record in the marines. An ?ss-kicker, quick-thinker and able to adapt to any situation, he quickly became a valuable ?sset to the organization. It would come as a shock to everyone, especially his partner Page, when he went rouge during a retrieval mission. He killed the civilian he was tasked to bring back from Africa, along with other Terrasave agents. It''s presumed he disposed of the civilian''s body for unknown reasons, as no one was able to find it.


    Hiding out in Mazraea, he spent his time as a cop there, taking the law into his own hands, which ironically was less corrupt than what the other cops did. He rarely socialized, always rather being in his home doing research and trying to find Luther until he was discovered and Page was sent to take him under custody. The two would find themselves surviving several viruses all being various combinations of viruses previously encountered by others, such as G-Virus from the Raccoon City Incident and C-Virus from the China Incident. While escaping Mazraea island, Page would discover that she didn''t know him as much as she thought, finding out about his secret work with Luther, the Containment System the flowed through his blood, and his own Bloodlust that landed him in a mental institute before Luther had offered him a job at Terrasave.


    After the Mazraea Incident, Jacob rejoined Terrasave, if only for a couple months, in order to help straighten everything out. He soon left, along with Page, and the two went their separate ways. Jacob went off the radar, finding a quiet life in Mist Springs, California where the locals would soon think him a werewolf after an encounter with some tourists hiking at night. He spends most of time in his cabin, or walking around in the forest. He receives letters from Page and his family, always making sure to write back. After spending several nights awake contemplating it, he finally decides to go visit his family.

 Chapter 56 - Page

    Name: Page, Bunting


    Age: 26 (During Mazraea Incident)


    Height: 5''05ft/1.5m


    Weight: 130lbs/58.9kg


    Eye Color: Light Brown


    Hair Color: Orange (Dyed), Brown (Natural)


    Likes: Comfortable Jeans with Pockets, Jacob (More when shirtless), Family, Light Makeup, Music, Hot Cocoa, Milkshakes, Romance Stories, Cheesy Hallmark Movies


    Dislikes: Zombies, Offices, Being Stuck Inside All Day (Minus During the Rain), Yoga, Stretching, Being Hit On (Minus Jacob), B.O.W''s, Her Boss, Luther


    Agent, Page Bunting, was nearing the end of her four years of service in the army when she was contacted by Terrasave for showing remarkable determination. She may not have been the best in her group, but she didn''t let that stop her. Her first mission would really show what she was capable of when her and Agent Jacob were the only survivors after being attacked by a group of infected. The two would become the most successful pair in Terrasave.


    When Jacob was sent off on a solo mission back in Africa, Page was sent on her own mission to the Arkley Mountains. There she would venture through the ruins of Raccoon City and her own survival skills would truly be put to the test. After several months of being partnerless and doing solo missions, she would be sent off to arrest Jacob on a small island somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. On the island she would encounter several deadly mixes of past viruses that had threatened the world in the past.


    Rather than arresting Jacob, Page would be forced to work alongside him once more for survival, uncovering the secrets of Terrasave that hid in the dark and Jacob''s past that he had kept hidden for all those years. She would also encounter Derek, a bio-terrorist thought to have died in the China Incident. After escaping Mazraea and taking down Luther and Norton in the secret Alaska Research Facility, her and Jacob would secretly house Derek. After everything was done and over with, Page and Jacob would both leave Terrasave, going their separate ways.


    Page returned to her small hometown in Wyoming with Derek. She''ll have a new struggle, trying to balance a new life and hiding an ex bio-terrorist that her family thinks is her secret boyfriend.

 Chapter 57 - Revision

    Hey everyone, author here, sorry I haven''t been updating any stories or anything, I''ve recently moved all the way from California to Texas and will be moving to Florida in a little less than two weeks. I have been writing however, though not for any of the stories I have on here because I''ve just been having trouble thinking of what to right for them. However, I''ve been playing Resident Evil 5 and 6 and it got me looking back to this story.


    As of this morning, I''ve started working on a revision for the entirety of "Resident Evil: Vengeance". I''m going to be going back over the entire story and some things may stay practically the same while other parts will be drastically different. I also plan on expanding the story with brand new things that I originally thought of having in the original story but just never ended up putting in. I''m making this "chapter" to let you all know that something big is coming, but it''ll be awhile cause I don''t plan on releasing it chapter by chapter like this one. All the chapters will be released at once, when the revision is finished.


    I hope you guys are all looking forward to it! And thank you all who have read this story!