Zombies

11

Richard as if entranced walked clumsily toward the front door. Not knowing exactly what to do he pulled his gun from it's holster and let his gun arm fall to his side. Richard walked to the front door and opened it. When he first looked in some of his fear was replaced by awe. The interior to the monstrously huge mansion was beautifully furnished. Everything seemed to be made out of strong heavy wood thickly lacquered and polished masterfully. All tables, chairs, banisters were works of professional craftsman, men who knew how to please the eye. Richard could hear the echo of his right foot as he made his first step into doom. He gave no effort to call out to Meloy; he could obviously see that there was no one in the main hall. He would have to enter through one of the doors and look for him. His first choice to make was to see whether he would begin his search up stairs or down. Trying to make himself feel better he thought nice thoughts to himself. Meloy is probably using the phone. No, he can't be using the phone because the lines are down. Maybe he's checking to see if they're on. He's probably checking things out without me. He knew I didn't really want to do this job. He's just trying to do me a favor. That's it, that's all that this is. Wouldn't he tell me? Richard pulled the hammer back on his gun; this made Richard feel just a little bit better. Knowing that if he had to use his weapon it would take a little less time since the hammer was pulled back and the trigger would now only need a gentle squeeze to fire. "Downstairs, he must be down stairs." Richard had made up his mind to stay downstairs. Now that he decided on what floor to look on he now was presented with another choice. Which door would he go through? There were four doors from which he could choose.

The main hall was one of the largest rooms of the whole estate. The lobby room was in a rectangular form and there were five doors made of heavy wood connected to the lobby. Against the right wall was the staircase with a thick red and gold rug running down the length of it. Each door was engraved with designs that were very detailed. There were five doors and each door had a different type of doorknob. On the wall to the left the doorknob was silver, the upper left door had a gold doorknob and the upper right doorknob was brass. Finally the door connected to the right wall looked like a type of green emerald material. The wallpaper was a bland sort of yellow and it looked like it had perhaps a few years left before it would have to be changed.

Richard looked from door to door and began to feel panic. His legs would begin to move towards one door and change its direction before even getting started to move to they're first destination. In frustration Richard charged for the door with the silver knob. He reached the door and turned the knob not knowing what to expect on the other side. What he saw matched the main hall in beauty but not in size. There was a long but narrow hall, which had suits of knight armor standing off center to both sides. Some wielded swords but others held axes ready to cut off an opposer's head at a whim, yet others held spears and shields. They were all polished with care and placed in combat positions. There was one suit of armor that stood out from the rest, it was a very dark colored metal and it held a huge mace over it's head about to strike anyone who came against the fierce warrior. Richard wondered if the mace had ever really been used on a person during combat. He thought it probably had. Over each suit of armor there was an individual soft beam of light bearing down on it. The room wasn't unbearably dark but not very well lit either. At the end of the hall there looked like there was a pair of pants and shoes lying on the floor. A scientist jacket was thrown over both things in a careless fashion. Richard walked slowly toward the end of the hallway while looking at the armor displays, fearing that somehow one of them would move and begin attacking him he looked intently at his surroundings. Nothing did attack Richard but he did get closer to the end of the room. He could see there was a door to the upper right of the wall so he started walking towards the door when he noticed movement from under the pile of clothes. He stopped dead in his tracks to see if it was just his eyes playing tricks with him due to the poorly lit room. He began to walk towards the pile again and happened to notice a painting on the furthest wall from the door he had come in through. It was a painting of a dark valley and there were wolves in the shadows and a lamb at the very bottom of the valley. The lamb's facial features took on human qualities with its eyes in utter fear and its mouth dropped open as if to scream in fear. Richard focused his attention more closely at the picture again to see that the wolves looked as if they were laughing at the thought of ripping the lamb to pieces. It gave Richard a chill down his spin thinking about the wolves finally getting to the lamb and sinking their teeth into it's soft flesh and greedily licking up it's spilled blood. All of a sudden a hand wriggled it's self free from the sleeve that had been covering it from the pile of clothes. Richard brain was overloaded with the seriousness of the situation. He could see the figure now; it had been a body the whole time. It looked like a skeleton was wearing clothes and was now being resurrected to life again. The hand stopped moving and just collapsed where it lay. Richard now wanted Meloy by his side to reassure him that everything would be ok. Meloy wasn't there though and Richard would have to take this matter up on his own. Richard undid the hammer to his gun with careful ease and placed it into his hip holster and swung the flap of his jacket over it. He grabbed for his phone but didn't do any dialing yet. Richard looked around for a light switch so that he could get a better look at the victim but there was no switch that he could see. He knelt down next to the creature and tried to communicate with the body that began to resume its lazy movements. "Sir? Sir can you hear me? I'm an officer of the law, I'm going to help you don't worry. I'm going to call for an ambulance? Can you hear me sir?" There was a moan that sounded like if someone hadn't drunk any liquids for two weeks. It made a barely audible dry moan. Richard turned his attention to his phone and pressed the number that would get him into touch with that pretty girl whose name is Claire. While punching the number into the telephone Richard looked up at the painting again and felt as if he was that lamb amidst a huge slaughter which was exactly what he was. The phone rang and Richard felt a sense of accomplishment against the frustration that had mounted up in the last 20 minutes or so. It was too good to be true because the connection was lost and the dial tone was all that was left. In a fit of rage Richard cursed at the painting. "I won't be kept here, I'm getting out!" He began to repeat the number into the phone when he felt a tug at on his cuff. He quickly looked down at his leg to see the deathly-emaciated hand grabbing onto his ankle with the last of its strength while moaning terrible gaggles and slurs. Richard walked back in terrible fright because he knew in his bones that the body that was now crawling towards him was not looking for pity but was looking to slaughter. He was looking at a human body but he was also looking at a wolf looking at a lamb! Richard hysterically thought to himself that he had to run away from this wretched creature before he fainted. At this time Richard had been backing away from the slow pursuer and forgotten all about the gun next to his hip. Richard could not pull himself from the creatures glare; it kept him at the height of fear. All Richard knew was that he was walking backwards. Richard's feet were no longer his own but they moved of they're own accord. The gruesome creature pursued with hastening speed but the most freighting aspect of it all was it's decrepit form. It couldn't be alive, it shouldn't be moving, it should be asking for help, is shouldn't be looking at me like that! Richard kept moving until the heel of his left foot hit against the podium of the black night that was holding the deadly mace. It took a matter of seconds but for Richard he was trapped in an endless cycle of falling through space with an evil pursuer not more than five feet from where he was now falling backwards. Richard's back crashed into the metal legs of the offensive looking armor and it too began to fall. Richard could feel blunt pain as if he weren't really living the moment, he could feel warm blood dripping out from the space between where his right shoulder and head where the mace had crashed down upon. There were no more cares in the world, all Richard could do was fall asleep while the creature inched its way towards him.

Meloy waited for another second in utter disbelief and then backed into the hallway and let himself lay against the wall. He was breathing heavily and softly laughing at the same time. Resting his elbows on his knees and trying to catch his breath before he would go on searching. He thought about Richard and decided he should go back and have him try to contact the S.T.A.R.S and get back up. He gave one final look into the darkness and started toward the door he had first entered. When he got to the door he cocked the hammer and proceeded to reach for the handle when he heard a soft crash that sounded close. Meloy would have acted faster had he known that the crash was the sound of his partner falling into heavy armor and getting himself struck in the neck by a mace. Before rushing toward the noise Meloy thought it best to kneel down and try to look through the keyhole and see if he could find out if anyone was in the next room.

The dark filled room door was still wide open and the large shouldered man was still standing there with a magnum gun cocked in his hand ready to fire. He slowly lifted the gun in front of himself and walked out of the big closet ever so quietly. He pointed the gun at Meloy's back.

Richard roused for one last time. The room seemed darker than before. There wasn't any strength left in his body; he could still see the picture on the wall but it didn't matter anymore. He new he was the lamb and everything would soon be over. Before Richard was lost in total darkness he heard a loud bang that seemed to echo into his mind. Richard slipped into coldness and was no more.

12

Chris Renfield had just gotten a soda from the dispenser of the police station when he noticed Claire walking towards him.

"Hey, changed your mind about getting a soda? If you did you're gonna to have to pitch in, I don't have enough quarters." Something on Claire's face looked distracted and uncomfortable. "What's wrong?"

Claire looked at Chris. "I think something might be wrong with Richard and Meloy."

Chris made a frown. "Why do you mean?"

Claire pondered trying to separate fact from worried speculation but found it rather difficult. She felt self-doubt begin to ebb in on her. "Well… Richard said Meloy was gone and he sounded panicky. "Maybe it was nothing, but it sounded…"

Chris' sympathy coerced him to console his sister's worries. "Get a five-0 on it and have them check just in case. Though I'm sure there's nothing wrong.

Chris and Claire walked back to the S.T.A.R.S. department. Nothing was said between the two. When entering the S.T.A.R.S. room Chris walked to his desk and resumed filling out a report that was due in a couple of days. Claire walked to her computer and pushed the keys that would give her the address where she would send a patrol unit.

Chris usually didn't look forward to filling out reports but he didn't feel very energetic that day. He could hear Claire on the radio sending a squad car up to the place where Richard and Meloy should have been. Reviewing what he'd written in his statement for the report he would be turning in, Claire's troubles slowly faded away from his thought.

STATEMENT BY CHRIS RENFIELD

On the day of question my unit (S.T.A.R.S.) was called in for a hostage situation. Specifically, Edison's bank (345 Washington Main) was under the control of several perpetrators. My team and I arrived at the scene at 9:16 am; where we were briefed on the situation by sergeant Patrick Williams of the Raccoon City Police Department. There were five gunmen all carrying automatic weapons and wearing protective vests. The number of hostages was not exact but close, 17 people inside 10 employees of Edison bank. Earlier attempts had been made to contact the gunmen and reach an agreement with no luck. The men were unreceptive. My team's captain, Barry [find last name] directed us on how we would engage the enemy.

There are two entrances to Edison's bank, one front door and one fire exit towards the back of the bank. The fire exit isn't used by patrons unless in an emergency. Meloy and I would storm through the fire exit when given the signal but first my teammates would enter in through the front to draw attention. Before going in though smoke grenades were launched into the store to add further distraction and confusion. The grenade was launched, my team members caused they're distraction and Meloy and I entered through the back. Four of the five perpetrators complied quickly by dropping their weapons and lying on the floor while the fifth perpetrator resisted. He turned toward Meloy and I gun in hand. At this moment I feared for the life of my partner and the lives of the hostages as well as my own life. Quickly I gave no hesitation and fired my weapon. Striking the gunman on his left shoulder disabling him. I feel as if he gave me no other choice. My unit proceeded to apprehend the suspects and escort the hostages to safety. After these events took place I made an oral report of the preceding events to sergeant Williams.

Chris was satisfied with his written statement and would later hand it to Claire for editing. For now he noticed his sister was still looking for information on the computer's database. Probably on the case Richard and Meloy were supposed to be on. "Why don't you call Richard back and see what happened?" The idea just dawned into Chris' mind.

Sounding as if she wasn't really paying attention Claire said. "I already tried that, the connection's been bad all day, I can't get through."

"Well try anyways, it might be working now. Give me the phone; I'll try for you." Chris made a gesture with his hands so Claire would throw the phone over to him. With the same lack of attention Claire grabbed the cell phone from off her desk and threw it to Chris. Chris caught the phone and tried to remember the code that would connect him to his friends Richard and Meloy. "Umm… What was that number…"

Claire told Chris the code. "Push star zero three."

Chris pushed the fluorescent buttons and put the small plastic phone to his ear.

Claire looked up at Chris and knew she had to remind him of the about the send button. "Did you forget to push the send button?"

In exasperation Chris realized he did and he had been holding the phone to his ear for about five seconds waiting for a response. "Stupid send button! There aren't any on real phones why do we have to have them on these huh?" Claire chuckled and so did Chris. He scanned for the send button and found it alongside the power button and then pushed it. He waited a few seconds and then heard a ring. "I got it Claire." Claire looked up from her monitor and waited for what would happen.

13

From inside Richard's coat jacket came a high-pitched squealing noise. The entity consuming Richard paid no head to anything except for the delicious corpse. Meloy's large bleeding body was slumped up against the door he had tried to peek through. The little green vile was still in his coat pocket safe and tucked away. Flagg was around, waiting to send the results of the G-virus specimens back to Umbrella headquarters. Flagg thought to himself that after all his hard work was over he'd be written down in history. Randolph Flagg, the man who created the perfect killing machine.

14

"Nope… no answer. Either the ringer's off or the phone is in the car." Chris still didn't exactly know the location of the facility and so said. "The unit is probably already there, just radio them and see what happened to Meloy and Richard.

For a fact Claire knew the police weren't there and wouldn't get there for at least half an hour more. According to the database's information the lab was far out, almost past city limits. She would wait 30 minutes or so before she would check with the unit. Meanwhile Claire would try to entertain herself in some manner or another. She was sure that Chris would like to have her look over his statement of the bank robbery. That would shave off most of the time, but she started to feel a little grumble in her belly and thought she should probably catch a burger instead. "Hey Chris, you hungry?"

"Mmm… Yeah, what do you feel like? Burger? Chinese? Mexican?"

"Nah, how 'bout sushi?" Claire awaited Chris' response with foreknowledge.

Chris' face contorted in disgust and turned his head away from Claire in fake-shame. "Raw fish and rice! I thought you were hungry! Let's get some tacos and soda."

"But we just got tacos!"

"When?"

"A couple of days ago after work! You want them again? Nah, nah, nah, we'll go to the deli you get a sandwich and another coke you're not even finished with that one and I'll get some sushi and a bottle of juice. I don't feel like eating much that's why."

Chris was satisfied with the menu and gave it the ok. "Alright I'll get a sandwich and you can get your raw fish if that's what you want." Chris laid his papers on his desk and stretched before standing up and feeling the dizzying affects of sitting down to long without moving. "Wow, let's go before I fall asleep. I'll need another soda."

Claire was already up from her desk and was waiting for her brother with his jacket in her arms. "Don't forget this, it's cold out there remember?"

"I'll be alright don't worry."

"Just put this on!"

Chris didn't have to be told twice and slipped the dark colored jacket on and zipped it up to the middle of his chest. "Alright then, ready? Let's go."

Chris and Jill walked down a narrow stairwell towards the first floor when they saw to individuals walking up their way. The two men were S.T.A.R.S.; there was Wesker and Barry and they both had coffees in their hands most likely coming from the lounge where fresh donuts and coffee were waiting for anyone who wanted a quick bite.

Wesker was the first to speak. He was the leading officer of the S.T.A.R.S. and the oldest. He was also the founder of the new group (S.T.A.R.S.) and he was instrumental in its success. He mostly wore the same colored fatigue when he worked. Black boots, black fatigue pants, and a black fatigue shirt with more pockets then he actually would have use for. His hair matched his clothes and personality; it was a crew cut. His shades were in his shirt but on most sunny days he wore them.

"Where are the two of you going?" Wesker asked this question in a non-confronted way and simply wanted to know where two of his officers were going.

Chris answered. "Sis and I are gonna get some grub, want something while were out?"

"Have you finished your statement yet?"

"Don't worry boss I just have to give her the look over and she'll be done ok?"

"I guess so, did you want anything Barry?"

Barry was a large built man; somewhat close to Meloy's physique but clearly everyone knew that Meloy was stronger. Meloy was in a category all to himself and he would be sorely missed. Barry was wearing a brown leather jacket, green army pants, and brown leather shoes.