Location: BioCore Safe Zone
“They’re walking into their deaths. We need to stop them!”
Elise exclaimed, but Natalie was already running forward.
“MATT!” she shouted, frantically waving her arms as she
called his name, “MATT!!” It wasn’t his name that made him freeze, it was the
sound of her voice. A voice he thought he’d never hear again.
Matthew glanced towards the cluster of trees. She appeared
through the forest, arms outstretched and a smile on her face. Tossing Dominic
his weapon, he rushed forward. They met halfway, his arms instantly enclosing
her in a warm hug as she bounded into him. “I can’t believe it’s you,” he
whispered against her ear before their lips met. He could feel the moisture on
her cheeks as her hands slipped around his neck.
“I knew you’d find me,” she replied, feeling his tongue
slide into her mouth. She whimpered as he deepened the kiss and pushed herself
more into his arms.
The others walked forward. JC and Josh kept their eyes out
on the perimeter for any movement while the rest of the group sorted through
their weapons. Dominic handed Matthew his rifle and nodded at Natalie.
Elise, Eddie and Amélia stepped from out of the bushes. Eddie
dropped their captive to the ground at his feet as David appeared beside him.
His eyes moved from the large group of unfamiliar faces to Natalie and Matthew.
He couldn’t help the jealous pangs that hit him full throttle in the pit of his
stomach as he moved closer. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but our friend has an
idea about how we can get inside.”
“Wait, were you going in there?” Matthew asked. He was
unable to keep his hands off of Natalie. She smiled up at him as he playfully
squeezed her side.
“We were thinking about it,” Elise replied, eyeing Natalie
as she carefully chose her words. Matthew wouldn’t have liked hearing their
reckless plan of entry.
“There’s a service entry; unguarded,” David said, swallowing
his feelings as he watched the couple get reacquainted. “We can use that to get
inside.”
“Twenty-two,” Mathew said, carefully placing a black duffel
bag to the ground in front of him. “That’s the number of explosives we have in
total.”
“Not bad,” Jake replied. “That oughta do some damage.”
“Yeah well the problem with that is, we only have five
detonators.”
“So what does that mean?” Nicole asked.
“It means we’re going to have to be smart about how we use
them. Set the charges close together in order to run them from one trigger.”
“Wait a second, what are we talking about here?” Eddie
asked.
There was silence for a moment as everyone let Ryan’s words sink
in. Dominic looked over their faces, searching for one in particular. Finally
stopping on Natalie’s, she lowered her head, unable to look him in the eyes.
Her mournful expression was revealing but he ignored the sense of dread
squirming in his belly and asked. “Roni?” She shook her head no.
“Guys, we’re burning daylight,” Troy said.
“He’s right,” Katrina added. “We need to come up with a
plan.”
“Alright, we’ll move in groups of three. Liz and Mike, you
hang back with Nina, Jeremiah and Aisha,” Matthew instructed. Ryan and JC
worked through the weapons cache, distributing ammo and explosives. “The
rest of us keep focused. It’s the only way we’re getting out of there alive.
We’ll have 4 charges each. Make sure to set them in places for maximum
destruction. Stay together. Let’s give BioCore a taste of their own medicine.”
The group split into sets of three, each tasking an
individual with a specific job before they started for the gates. The burning,
orange sun ducked behind the mountain. Darkness was their shield. Eddie pushed
the bound man before them. He stumbled down a hidden flight of stairs, leading
the group towards a basement. A set of concrete doors was obscured by a bush in
an obvious attempt to camouflage the entrance. The man stopped just inches in
front of the gate and checked the proximity of the others just over his
shoulder.
Troy caught his hesitation and yelled for everyone to stop.
At the same time the man launched himself forward, throwing his body into a
trip wire. The doors caved in, an alarm was sounded and everyone ducked as
gunshots erupted around the facility. Troy rushed down the stairs, aimed his
weapon at the grinning man and fired.
The group stepped over his body as they hurried inside the
building. “So much for the element of surprise,” Dominic grumbled as he, Nicole
and Eddie headed right down the east corridor.
Josh, Mathew and Amélia moved along the west while Edward,
JC and Ryan took the south following after Troy. Katrina, Elise and Jake headed
up to the second floor and Matthew, Natalie and David moved north down the main
hall.
“Let’s move the trucks back,” Liz said, hopping behind the
wheel of the pickup. Mike slid into the driver’s seat of the transport and
followed her towards the end of the block. Backing up into a vacant lot, they
hid the vehicles out of view of the road. “We should be good here.” She kept
watch of the road and Jeremiah moved around the other side to keep an eye out.
Aisha and Nina remained close to the vehicle, with Lucky by her side.
“Are you ok?” Liz asked, noticing Mike’s pallid appearance. She
slid her finger over the trigger guard of her gun, recognizing that she might
have to use her weapon…soon. He was shivering and clutching at his abdomen. The
whites of his eyes were red and irritated and there was a small speck of blood
on the corner of his mouth.
The building felt like a freezer; probably normal
temperatures considering it was a medical laboratory but for Natalie, it was
unbearable. The chilly conditions served to increase the ache she felt in her
kneecap. The slow in her step caused her to fall behind the others. Matthew
turned with a concerned expression, watching her struggling to keep up. “You’re
limping,” he said, pulling her against him.
“She hurt herself out in the woods,” David replied. He
swallowed hard when Matthew looked over at him.
“You ok to keep going?” he asked, resting her weight against
him.
“I’ll be fine. Let’s keep moving.”
Dominic fired rapidly down the
hall, two guards scattered around the corner. His bag was empty, and now, so
was his gun. Eddie tossed him a magazine from his bag before slinging it over
his shoulder and started for the door. “One more here,” Nicole said, setting
her final explosive beside the tank near the wall. The opaque liquid made her
skin crawl. She could only assume the cause of the discoloration. As she
prepared to back away, the machine in front of her began steaming more.
Curious, Nicole reached her hand out to clear the glass. “FUCK ME!” she
shrieked as a woman hit the glass cylinder.
“You ok?” Dominic asked, looking
over in her direction.
“Yeah. Peachy.”
“Good then let’s hurry it up,”
Eddie replied.
They had moved quickly. The
primary charge was set in the electronics control center; the next the boiler
room. It was where’d they’d encountered their first group of opposition. A
handful of armed guards came out of nowhere, firing at them as they exited the
room. Eddie had taken out two on his own but was grazed in the leg for his
efforts. He now moved with a limp but managed to keep up. The third bomb was
taped to the bottom of the stairs leading to the security office. Katrina’s
group would have to move fast before that one was triggered.
Now the group found themselves in
one of many project rooms. This one relied heavily on cold storage and vats of
indistinguishable liquids and jars of preserved body parts. “Done,” Nicole
announced, sticking the blasting cap into the C4. “We ready to move?”
Dominic checked the exit and
signaled the coast was clear. “Let’s go.”
As they exited the room, another
gunman popped up, opening fire on the fleeing group. Eddie ducked behind a large machine as Dominic and Nicole took cover near the door. “Give it up!” the man shouted
towards them. “There’s no way you’re getting out of here alive.”
“He’s right,” Eddie said, blinking
hard as the pain seared down his knee. “You guys need to get out of here. I’ll
hold them off.”
“No way man, that’s not an
option,” Dominic said. “We’re not leaving you behind.”
“You have no choice. I can’t move
as fast with my leg all busted up and there’s no sense in all of us dying
here,” he said, checking his magazine. “Just promise me one thing: you stick it to
these sons of bitches.”
“Eddie…” Nicole whined.
“GO! NOW!” he watched as Dominic
and Nicole huffed up the stairs and out of view before taking a deep breath and making his final stand.
“That’s the last one,” Katrina announced and stepped around
the security booth. “We should probably get out of here now.”
“Guys, I heard shots,” Jake said, lowering his back against
the wall. “I think the others may be in trouble.”
“We have to get to them!” Elise exclaimed, cutting the last
wire beside her.
“No. We need to stick to the plan,” Jake said. “It won’t be
easy cutting a path clear across this facility and even if we did who’s to say
we make it in time? No. We’re on a schedule here. Grab your stuff and let’s
clear out.”
“As much as I hate to say it,” Katrina started, shoving the last of her items into the duffel bag. “Jake’s right. We have to be out of here on time. We can’t risk moving through this place like that. We need to regroup and figure it out from there.”
Reluctantly, Elise nodded and followed the others out into
the hallway. They were halfway to the exit when she noticed the light on her
trigger wasn’t on. “Something’s wrong,” she said, turning the device to show
the others.
“Great. The detonator’s not connected,” Jake replied. He
blew out a breath and tapped his hand against his head. “Alright. You guys head
out, I’ll swing back around and fix it.”
“Wait, we just talked about how crazy it would be to go
running around this place and now you want to split up?” Katrina asked, looking
at Jake in disbelief.
“It’s not a matter of ‘want’, Katrina. If those charges
aren’t set correctly then there is a chance of something surviving this place
and we agreed we wouldn’t let that happen. Someone has to fix them.”
“Fine. Then we go together. We move as a group.”
“Too risky.”
“No, what’s risky is going back alone. What if you run into
more of those guards? It was hard enough getting through them when it was the
three of us. How are you going to do it all by yourself?” Katrina argued.
“Skills,” Jake shrugged with a grin. “Look, there’s no point
in arguing this, I’m going and you two are leaving. Katrina, if the others have
finished they might have moved outside already. It’ll be easier for one of us
to get in and out rather than endangering us all. I’ve got this. You and Elise
get outside.”
“Dude, hurry it up. We need to
regroup,” JC said, watching Edward place his charge near the electrical outlet
under the window.
“I’m moving as fast as I can.
Sorry I’m not an explosives expert like some people.” Sweat glistened on his
forehead and he wiped his arm across his face to keep it out of his eyes. “It’s
hot. What kind of lab keeps it this hot?”
“What are you talking about? This
place is freezing,” JC replied. “Just hurry up!”
“It’s done,” he said, leaning away, losing his balance as he got to his feet. Edward tossed the tools into the bag and slid it towards JC. “We should…” he shook his head to clear the cobwebs and fell against the desk beside him.
“What’s wrong with you, man?”
“Nothing. I’m fine. Just woozy.
It’s too hot in here. Let’s get outside.”
“Are you guys done in there?” Troy
called into the room. He and Ryan stood guard outside, watching for any
resistance.
“Yeah. Heading your way,” JC replied. Edward stumbled as he
tried to move, groaning as he hit his shoulder against the desk on the way
down. “You are not fine.” JC said, watching as Edward struggled to get back to
his feet. He writhed on the floor a moment and JC jumped back when a mouthful
of blood shot out at him. Edward growled as he finally stood and JC raised his weapon
without hesitation.
“Guys? You ok in there?” Ryan asked, hearing a gun go off. The door opened, but it wasn’t Edward exiting the room. It was JC with a shocked look on his face. “What happened? Where’s Edward?”
“He turned,” JC said, “And he came at me. I did what I had to do.”
“That bandage on his arm,” Troy said. “He must have been bitten, or scratched.”
“Geez, man,” Ryan paused and took a step back. “Did he get
you?”
“Hell no! I didn’t let that fucker near me. I’m clear,” JC replied.
“Let’s get the fuck out of…”
A gunshot erupted. Blood
splattered Troy’s face as Ryan’s head split open. Instantly he and JC returned
fire down the hallway at their obscured attacker. “Run!” JC shouted in
desperation.
“I wonder how the others are
doing,” Troy said as he and JC swiftly ran to escape.
Shots rang out beside Amélia.
She ducked as screaming scientists fled around her, running for cover. She
pulled from around the corner and began firing. Mat advanced while Josh held
his position. He entered a door one of the fleeing scientists left open, more
patients. Some were tied to beds, others were hanging from the rafters by
chains. None of them appeared alive.
Unzipping his bag, Mat set the charge. As he turned to
leave, one of the bodies on the bed looked up at him. Its gaze set his heart
racing. The hissing shriek it made caused him to step back a few paces and
place his back to the wall. The man’s eyes were red with fury. Mathew felt that
at any moment, it would break the leather binds holding him to the bed. Not
wanting to waste the bullet, Mathew grabbed a scalpel from the tray near him
and walked closer. Exhaling a deep breath, he swiftly drove the steel blade
through the man’s eye.
A black substance shot into his face. He screamed. The
unknown liquid made his skin burn and he could feel it melt the flesh around
his mouth and eyes. Amélia rushed into the room at the sounds of his howl and
gasped as she watched chunks of meat and muscle sink to the floor from his
face. “JESUS!” she exclaimed. “What did you do?”
“Help me,” he cried as he continued pawing at his skull.
“Please. Help me.” He stepped towards her. Amélia lifted her weapon and he
stopped, placing his arms in front of him defensively. “No. Amélia, wait,
please.”
“I’m sorry,” she said and pulled the trigger. Amélia moved
to collect his weapon and quickly turned to exit the room. Her eyes fell on the
empty bed and the liquid oozing from the opened container. Following the trail,
she gasped seeing the slimy creature standing just a few feet in front of her. Amélia
whimpered, closing her eyes as the monster moved in.
“Is everyone out?” Matthew asked, flipping the cover of his
trigger.
“Jake,” Katrina said. “Has anyone seen him?” There was a
resounding no from the group and she and Elise exchanged a look. “He went back
to fix our charges.”
“We can give him another minute,” Matthew said, “But after
that we have to detonate.” That minute was eternal agony as Elise and Katrina
stared at the door, willing it to open and for Jake to come rushing through.
When that didn’t happen, Matthew turned towards Katrina, his eyes conveying his
sentiment.
The group took a step back as the timer ticked down the
remaining seconds. Matthew flipped the final charge and the building exploded in
a brilliant blaze of orange and yellow flames. The force of the blast threw many
of the group to the ground face-first. Glass shattered. Smoke and falling dust
filled the air. Matthew threw himself on top of Natalie as the explosion tore
through the adjacent building. Elise choked on the acrid smoke and began
coughing, her ears ringing from the force of the explosion.
The echo of Nicole’s heartbeat muffled sounds with an
underwater effect, as if her head was submerged at the bottom of a muddy lake.
Through the auditory haze, fire roared. People screamed. Another explosion. She
lifted her head a slight inch, but the pain that ricocheted through it
blackened the edges of her vision.
David inhaled, and the salty, coppery taste of blood ran
down the back of his throat. He touched his nose, and his hand came away wet
and red. He looked beyond his hand. His eyes drifted right. The horror made him
want to squeeze them closed. But he couldn’t. There were bodies everywhere. A
lake of the dead and dying spread towards him across the open field.
When it was over the group stood on the pinnacle of the
destruction. The building crumbled to the ground in front of them. Fires raged
on around the compound and hundreds of zombies burned in the angry flames.
Their wails hauntingly hung in the air as what remained of their rotting flesh
was seared from their bones.
Katrina’s heart ached with the memories of each time she
stood on the brink of death. Each fear-ladened moment where she was on the run
for her life. Each tear that fell from her eyes and soaked into the bloody pavement.
And each loved one she lost along the way.
It had been a bloody battle. There were moments when it felt
all was lost and none of them would make it out alive. But their hard-earned
freedom was not without its downside. They had defeated BioCore and avenged
their murdered friends. But as relieved as they were to finally be done with
that company once and for all, they knew the struggle was far from over.
They turned and started for the trucks. Thousands of twinkling stars lit their path in the silky black sky as
they went on the hunt for a new beginning. One far away from this mess. “Wait,” Troy said, pausing just
beside the tree line. “I think someone’s down there.”
“Oh my god!” Katrina gasped.
Group: Ericka & Kenneth Vanguard
Location: Vanguard Manor (Bonus: Origin Conclusion)
“Kenny?” Ericka’s voice echoed down the hallway of her multi-million dollar mansion as she tossed her keys into the tray beside the door and made her way through the home she shared with her husband and two Maltese dogs.
Met with the sound of silence, she continued further into
the house, stopping at the entrance to the living room. The area was in
disarray. Furniture was overturned, paintings had been ripped from the walls,
glass vases were broken; their pieces scattered across the floor. “Kenny! What
the hell went on here?” she shouted, appalled at the appearance of her home.
Now on a mission to locate her good-for-nothing husband and
let him have it, Ericka tore through the house, entering into the kitchen. Her
eyes fell on the opened back patio door and she sighed with irritation. “You
left the door opened again? I swear you’re worthl…” her words caught in her throat
at the sound of scraping against the wood flooring and the sudden realization
she was not alone in the room. “Kenny?”
A dreadful moan answered her. Ericka opened her mouth to scream, but all that came out was a thin croak. She could only stare in abject
terror at the thing standing not ten feet in front of her. Half of its face had
been ripped open. The flesh hanging from its chin dripped a greenish-red liquid
of what she could only assume to be a mixture of blood and oozing pus. The
white of his skull was visible, and it gleamed underneath, its teeth sneered at
her with a grotesque and otherworldly smile. It reached out his decaying arms,
fingers quivering. Another ghastly wail escaped its mouth as it started towards
her.
“Kenny?” she tried as the monster opened its jaw and lunged.
She screamed and fell back, feeling its teeth tear into her arm. Wrestling
away, Ericka scurried to the back wall of the room, watching as the walking
corpse clambered to its feet.
With her heart pounding fast in her chest and her legs weak
with fear, Ericka grabbed hold of the item closest to her—a cast-iron skillet—and
swung it at her husband’s head with all her might, crushing his skull in three
blows. Blood streamed down the crack in his head, over his jaundiced, papery
skin. Blood—her blood—lined his mouth, drooling over his neck and chest.
A warm ache spread through her arm to the rhythm of her
pulse yet her body shook to a different beat. Hot tears formed and dripped from
her eyes; the taste of bile fresh on her tongue. He had bitten her! And from
what she’d learned about this outbreak, it wouldn’t be long before she became
just like her husband—what was left of him. But she had no choice. She had to
survive. It was him or her. And she had to live.
But her arm—what the hell was she going to do about her arm?
One thing was clear: she couldn’t turn; wouldn’t turn. There had to be a way. An
abrupt consciousness aroused her as she felt the disease spreading through her
arm: Dr. Bell’s research. It was back at the lab. She needed to act fast.
Snatching a dish cloth from the sink, she crafted a tourniquet
just below her elbow, tightening it as much as possible. Her car was just out
by the street, maybe forty feet from the front door. Rushing through the
hallway, she lifted her keys from the dish, trying to ignore the pain in her
arm. Suddenly, an icy feeling came over her and she stopped in place.
Standing motionless for a moment, she noticed as something zipped
within her peripheral vision just beyond the door. Just then, a large object collided
with the front entrance. Ericka moved quickly to lock it. A yellowed face with
bloodshot eyes hungering for her peered at her through the window and was soon
joined by more.
---------------------------------------
*Author’s note: This story was met with a lot of unfortunate mishaps. Even having a huge head start, I was not able to effectively execute the second part of the trilogy for the Outbreak series and I deeply apologize for that. Real life drama and in-game delays created the worst case scenario possible for me. I appreciate everyone sticking with me until the end. Thank you for reading even if the story veered tremendously off course.*
P.S. I fully intend to go back and add shots to the missed chapters.
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