Resident Evil: Fallen Paradise - 2. Search

The crimson sun was losing its light as it slowly moved downwards. There was barely any noise or movements except the sounds of flesh being eaten. Anyone would have had themselves stop in their tracks if they heard the sound of it. The aroma of death danced around the school grounds and haunted any survivors that were still in hiding.

"Have you checked the other boxes?" Caleb asked for the third time.

"Yes." Angela and Skyler answered back.

The only other weapon aside from their metal bats was a screwdriver that he can use to stab someone with. And it was not the most ideal weapon. Another would be a few baseballs that can be used as a projectile. But his skills weren't exactly the best. So, that was not a reliable option either.

He scanned the small screwdriver that was probably less than six inches long one more time and sighed. It was the closest lethal weapon they could find.

"I guess this will do. Both of you, stay behind me. No matter what happens. Got it?" The other two children nodded and they slowly pushed the boxes away from the door. "Are you ready?"

Again, the two other children nodded.

Caleb slowly opened the door. He didn't really have much leadership skills. As his old man stated, he would probably be best in espionage. But the scenario was probably the worst possible time to get a crash-course for being a leader. As the door swung open, it made a slight creaking sound that annoyed Caleb more than it should.

They looked around and saw a few students who already turned. They were feasting on the body of their gym teacher. Mr. Keller was a huge body builder. He loved to impose grueling physical fitness sessions during their PE. And he also offered a lot of muscles that the creatures could keep chewing on.

Angela just whimpered in fear as Skyler looked away. Caleb's stomach made an awful churn at the bloody sight. The story was true after all. Dead people were coming back to life. And they were out to get the ones alive.

Caleb hushed the two of them and moved away slowly.

As planned, they snuck further away from the main school building that was located in the south of the school grounds. Their safest bet was the police department and it was just north west of Raccoon High School. Caleb remembered a retractable part of their fence that students use to cut class. He never partook in those but he was glad that he knew about it.

Thankfully, no one was smart enough to use the school's secret fence. It camouflaged effectively and it was not noticeable that it had a weak link. There were woods on the other side of the fence and they had to get to the police station as soon as possible.

BANG! BANG!

More gunshots were heard from the distance. Bullets were probably being sprayed all over the place. The three of them just exchanged worried look. With a renewed determination, Caleb pulled back the fence so the two of them could go through.

But before Caleb could slip through, a weak set of footsteps was heard. He turned around to see a familiar face. Skyler and Angela looked back to see Caleb frozen on the ground. It was but a familiar face.

"Cole?" Caleb whispered. His throat went dry. Then his lips quivered at bloody sight in front of him. "No way."

Of all the people that he had to see, it had to be him.

His best friend walked in shambles towards him. Cole's once sandy blonde hair was covered in dirt and blood. It was greasy and Caleb could practically hear his best friend's annoyed voice whenever his hair would be in disarray. That voice whom he loved so deeply had turned into a voice of monstrosity.

With out-stretched arms, Cole tried to grab him. But Caleb was snapped back to reality and shoved him back with the tip of the baseball bat. His best friend still pressed forward and Caleb's knees couldn't help but shake in disbelief. He looked at him one more time to make sure there was still hope.

Caleb loved this person. All the good and bad memories that he had in his young life usually involve Cole. From birthdays, to sleepovers, to heartbreaks and even sexual discovery.

There was none. Not a glimmer of it could be present.

A pair of scissors had punctured through his carotid artery and blood was all over his favorite Marvel shirt. The facemask of Captain America on its design had lost its blue color. Someone must have tried to kill him in retaliation. But it didn't. A huge puncture wound like that on a carotid artery was surely fatal. And with careless movements like that, he should have at least passed out from blood loss.

Yet here he was, trying to grab him with the little of strength left in his frail body. His eyes were dead and unfocused. A soft groan from the throat came out and it made Caleb feel even worse. That mouth and throat had given him awesome blowjobs before. And he gave them back. Cole was the only sexual partner that he had before. It was out of curiosity after all.

Cole attempted to grab him one more time. And with another strong shove, Caleb pushed back.

He just couldn't find the strength yet to attack him.

A few meters behind Cole were more of the same creatures shambling their way unto them. He looked back and saw Skyler and Angela waiting on the other side.

With a good full swing, Caleb struck one of Cole's knees that caused the latter to stumble down. A loud crack was heard and it sent chills down Caleb's spine. His best friend's body fell on the soil with a soft thud.

"I'm so sorry!" Caleb cried out. Tears start to fall from his face. He raised his weapon again to get ready. "I'm so fucking sorry. I don't mean it, Cole. I don't!"

But Cole was persistent. Despite having a shattered knee, he stood up again with a limp and kept moving towards Caleb. With all his mental strength, Caleb sniffed and gripped the baseball bat harder. He launched another full swing, striking Cole in the head this time. A loud crack came from the neck. It was a surekill.

Caleb knelt beside his best friend and plunged the tip of the screwdriver through his skull. Based on his observations, the creatures can only be taken down through the head. Lack of blood wasn't enough to kill them as seen in the carotid wound. Pain wasn't registering in their heads either. It still moved despite having a broken knee. That was his conclusion after those two things.

He took a deep breath and said a silent goodbye. Caleb stood up before the others could get even closer and went through the fence. He wanted to share a kiss with him one last time but decided against it. Too risky.

Caleb will surely miss those sleepovers that were full of sex and lust.

-

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, the Umbrella Biohazard Counter-measuring Service arrived. Three grown men who were fully equipped in neutralizing threats came out from the back of the van.

Multiple UBCS teams were being dispatched all over Raccoon City. Some had specific orders and some was just to gain the people's trust to show that Umbrella has a huge concern over the people. But in fact, they don't.

"As expected, all the survivors are moving towards the northern bridge. But according to Lt. Meyers, there won't be anyone who would be allowed to leave. It's just a cruel ruse." One of them said. Then with a slight chuckle, "but so what, we get paid for this. That's a done deal for me."

"Fuck off, you twat." Said the other in a thick British accent. It was the captain of that small team. "We're here to observe one of the latest B.O.W.s in action. The orders are to make sure no one else will intervene."

"I'm just playing rough, chief." One of them responded.

"Shut up." The captain grunted. Then someone sent him a private message through the private radio communication. "Change of plans, boys. We're moving downtown."

"Copy that." The others agreed.

-

Caleb, Skyler and Angela walked through the woods. It was an abandoned city project and quite a huge patch of land was ridden with trees. Thankfully, they didn't see anyone else there. Nor those creatures. It was eerily silent. And it wasn't the kind of silence that Caleb liked. His guts were screaming at him to get ready.

But the stench of smell was all around them. Echoes of guns that were being fired could be heard every few seconds or so. Caleb knew they were already coming from automatic rifles. That would have meant a huge disaster.

Arriving at the edge of the lot, they were able to see the deserted streets. Dead bodies were scattered all over the place. Hundreds of meters away, they could see the top of the Raccoon Police Department. It was the only source of help they could think of. They had lost track of the hours they stayed in the shed. And from the looks of it, people had started to look for a way out of the city.

The worst part is they were still stuck in the middle of it.

The roads were also riddled of cars and trucks that didn't have any alive people on them. But at least one out of a dozen car had a dead driver in it. Blood was splattered on some areas of the pavement, too. Angela couldn't help but cover her nose.

Caleb's eyes were still a bit swollen from crying. Killing off Cole wasn't the easiest thing to do. And he silently vowed to find out how those creatures came to be.

As they crossed the street, a low growl could be heard.

The trio slowly looked at where it was coming from. A couple of bloody dogs suddenly appeared on the streets. Caleb raised his bat and got ready. He signaled the other two to slowly move away. In his peripheral sight, one of the buildings had an open door.

It was their only shot.

The dogs prowled nearer and nearer. Fatal wounds could be seen all over its bodies and they were of the same creatures that they saw everywhere. There was no way those dogs would jump at them for love and affection.

"I'll distract them." Caleb offered. "Run for the door."

Every step counted. It wasn't a time for heroism. But if it was the very day he would die, then his pops would have been proud of his little heroism. He got to save two children from those flesh eating monsters. Caleb smiled at the thought of it despite the dangers before him.

Then the next second came. Everything went crucial. One of the dogs charged.

It's just gonna be like baseball. Caleb thought to himself. His griped braced for the incoming attack. He took a deep breath and reminded himself that panic would be his greatest enemy in a midst of a life and death scenario. That was his old man's advice.

The dog lunged at him. And with one powerful swing, it connected to its jaw. The lower part was ripped away from the head together with the rest of the body. But the other dog followed through. Caleb prepared for a back-handed swing. It wasn't going to be as powerful as the first one but it could still save their lives.

However, the dog wasn't aiming for him. It went for Skyler. Caleb still swung his bat as hard as it could. But it didn't hit the swift dog. It went in too low for his anticipation and ran right through him. The other two were just a few feet behind him but there was no way that Caleb would've made it. This creature of darkness was just too fast.

As soon as Skyler and Angela saw it, they ran for it. But they couldn't outrun it. There was just no way. The thing jumped at Skyler and immediately bit his shoulder. He fell helplessly on the pavement with a thud. His quick scream could be heard and Caleb knew it was surely going to get the attention of those other things in the area.

Caleb quickly recovered and ran towards the boy. He got himself ready and swung the metal bat with all his might. It struck the mid-part body of the dog and clobbered it away from Skyler. The swing was strong enough for it to let go of its victim and was jolted a few feet away.

It was all adrenaline.

Thankfully, Angela came back and helped Skyler back to his feet. The two went for the door as soon as they can. Then Caleb went for their attacker and did an over-hand swing on the dog's skull while it was still stunned, killing it with finality.

But when Caleb looked around, his fears were fulfilled. More of them started to show up and shambled their way towards their position. They were a lot slower and easier to maneuver against, but it was still dangerous to get surrounded by those things.

Ignoring this, Caleb ran up to Skyler and Angela.

"It's going to be okay." He whispered to Skyler. The boy just groaned in pain. "You'll live. It didn't hit any major arteries."

A blatant lie. When he looked into the blonde boy's eyes, it was devoid of hope. They both knew what it meant. Skyler saw what happened to the guard and anyone who gets bitten by one of those things will turn to them. One bite was all it takes.

As soon as they were near the door, another one of those dogs showed up, speeding towards them. It was rabid and angry. But Caleb tried to get its attention as much as he can.

"Go for it!" Caleb roared at his companions. "Close the door! I'll find a way in!"

The other two reluctantly obeyed and went inside. Caleb ran towards the first alleyway that he would see. It was a huge risk. But it was his only hope. Most of the smaller alleyways in Raccoon City had metal gates them to prevent any thieves from accessing the backdoors of some buildings.

As soon as he turned around the corner, he saw one with an open gate. He ran for it as fast as he can, not even daring how close the dog was on his tail. Caleb forced himself to run faster and successfully got it. He pulled the gate close and shut the bolt immediately, locking himself in. The dog jumped and crashed on the metal gate with a cold thud.

It got even angrier and tried to crawl in but it was too big to get inside. Only the head could go through. And with one good swing, Caleb bashed its skull through the opening of the gate.

Caleb sighed. But a noise was quickly heard just behind him.

As soon as he turned, one of them tried to grabbed him. His reflexes kicked in and he struck it by the chin with the end of his metal bat. Then he did a very low follow-up swing that connected to its shin, causing it to stumble down.

It was then he realized that it was wearing a police officer uniform. And a gun was still inside its proper holster. He mounted the creature and quickly took the bloody screwdriver from his backpocket and drove it though the skull.

But Caleb made a mistake. He didn't see that there was another one of them in the alleyway. And it had four feet. It ran towards the boy as he grabbed the handgun just in time.

He took the safety off and as the creature jumped at him, he set his fingers on the trigger. He had no time to check if there was a bullet in the chamber. Caleb closed his eyes and silently prayed that the dead police officer still had at least one bullet left.

One bite was all it takes.

And one bullet could save his life.