Journal:Airborne88
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This story is part of the Malton Chronicles. This story is fan-made, and is not officially part of any background history for Urban Dead. |
(This story corresponds with Journal:Dr Doom86)
Airborne88's Journal- (Forward)
I am not sure where to start... But I am certain that there must be some sort of proof that I existed and the part I have played in this nightmare. I know any record of me has long been erased, perhaps anyone who stumbles upon this journal will be able to see that it finds its way to the proper authorities. If not... Well maybe at least the person who reads it will understand how I got caught up in this mess and that I never really knew how in over my head I was. Maybe that person will understand that I never meant for anyone to get hurt, rather I did everything I could to keep that from happening.
That is assuming that there will be anyone left alive of course..
In The Beginning
Well, I was a Platoon Sargent in the US Army when I was approached by some CIA looking suit wearing types. At first I thought they were from US Intelligence, then perhaps the Russians.. Ah, if it were only that simple.
It turned out they were recruiters from a major international bio-tech megacorp company, the Umbrella Corporation. (I know, the name Umbrella threw me too, sounds silly) Well, they were anything but silly..
It turns out Umbrella had their fingers in everything. They produced pharmaceuticals, medical products, beauty products, electronics, my god almost anything and everything down to the tooth paste you brushed your teeth with in the morning. On a scarier level was their work for the Military utilizing genetic engineering and bio-weaponry.
And it is here where it got interesting. They informed me that Umbrella maintained a security force to protect corporation interests. It seems Umbrella keeps an eye on US Military personnel files, and when certain criteria are met the soldier is flagged as a "person of interest" to Umbrella. I guess it is a weird combination of age, health, training, experience.. who knows? Well what ever.. They were interested in me..
A Business Proposition
I was taken to a private location to discuss my "opportunity" with the company. I was informed that I had been under surveillance for some time, that my past had been researched, and that the company was satisfied with me.
Actually, I was told that the meeting was just a mere formality... All that was required of me was a simple "yes" and a signature. I was assured the rest would be taken care of.
Of course, I told them that I was not interested and that I currently was under contract to the Army. But, they were very persuasive. Money for one, was no object for them. It was explained that as long as I was a reliable employee all of my needs would be taken care of and I would want for nothing.
Needless to say I said yes, otherwise I'd not be writing this journal.. In retrospect, I think if I had said "no" to them I don't think I would have ever walked out of that meeting alive. See, I know Umbrella now and they never expose themselves with out 100% certainty that everything will be as they want it by the end of the day. In the end, not a whisper of Umbrella makes it to the general public or media.. I think maybe back then I knew that.. I think that is why I said yes. Maybe I am just grasping for straws.
Into the Rabbit Hole
And with that single word and a few quick swipes of a pen, it was over. I gave them all of my ID (Driver's License, Social S. Card, My Fool Lion discount Card) and boarded a company plane to Europe. My whole life was erased. Military Service Record, Birth Certificate, High School Transcripts/Diploma FBI finger prints records, dental records. Poof, everything I had accomplished and made me who I am, was all gone. I never went home again.
I arrived in Europe (At a classified location), and I began my integration process into Umbrella. There were only a few rules, to break them meant breaking your contract and we had come a bit too far for that.
- No contact with people from our previous lives
- No discussion of past life experiences, no use of our past life name (I was designated Airborne88)
- No discussion of the Corporation to non Corporate personnel (the first rule of Fight club is.. haha)
It was actually quite different from what I thought it would have been. There were no superiors screaming at you or waking you up a 2 am. There was no need for that, we were all professionals. Everyone was there because they wanted to be there and because they were the best. I actually started to wonder about my friends from the past who had been killed and if they all were really dead. Was there some blurb in the news about me? Was my car wrapped around a tree somewhere off base? This is why we don't talk about the past...
I passed my integration with no trouble. I was then assigned to "Special Security Detachment" at the field office in Frankfurt, Germany. Our mission was to keep tabs of all of our high profile employees in the area. We maintained round the clock surveillance on them and had an extraction team on 24hr standby. Apparently in the dark world of international bio-companies where billions of dollars are on the line, there are no rules or "fair play". It is not all that uncommon for a scientist to get kidnapped or murdered. Hence, Umbrella went pretty far to protect its interests and assets.
We lived in a "bubble" I guess. Everything revolved around Umbrella. We ate, breathed, slept, and dreamed about the Company. Don't get me wrong, we went to the store, the movie theater, and a bar just like everyone did. But there was no temptation to breath a word of the Company.. Not when you knew what they were capable of. It was not beyond reason that Umbrella would "test" your loyalty, and that would be a test you surely wouldn't want to fail.
Don't get me wrong, the security forces and myself were by no means "invaluable". Actually we were more of an "expendable asset" our job was to protect valued company assets with our lives. We all knew that and were ok with it. Umbrella took excellent care of us. Besides, I was a soldier not a genetic physicist. I had my job, the scientists had theirs. At least no one was trying to specifically get rid of me.. Sucks to be them.
Punching My Ticket& Moving Up
It was in Paris when things changed.. Everything had been pretty mellow up until this point. All dressed up and no where to go kinda thing. I suppose part of the strategy Umbrella used was "deterrence", in that there was no reason to make an attempt on one of our "peeps" because there were multiple armed response teams ready to swoop in and make things dead. Worked pretty good too. Until Paris..
I had been rotated off the rapid response team and was working physical security (hands on/ plain clothes).. Basically a bodyguard for this company clown. You know, the funny part is now I don't even remember what his job was. No matter, the only thing I knew was he was important. Much more important than me.
We were in transport mode, we had picked up the "package" and were taking him to an extraction point to be remove via company helicopter when things horribly wrong. It started when another car collided with us ejecting our driver through the windshield (Company policy states seat belts are mandatory), then we began to receive automatic small arms fire. I came to from the shock of the collision and could hear the bullets zipping through the SUV. I quickly identified them to be AK-47 armor piercing rounds. I remember thinking, "Shit! all this effort, why are they using such crappy weapons?"
All of the remaining physical security members exited the vehicle (myself included) and began to establish a base of fire. I quickly noted that we were caught in a bottle neck alley way and receiving an interlocking cross fire from elevated positions.. Basically, we were screwed.
Regardless of their substandard Russian weapons, they sure knew how to execute a decent ambush... I was the senior security operative on site, so I took charge of the situation. I knew at this point we were all as good as dead. So left with no recourse but to die, I decided to make a good show of it and at least go through the motions.
I secured my "package" (who had that deer-in-the-headlights-look) by the scruff of the neck, and drug him out of the vehicle. I called "red-con" to my fellow soldiers, their cue to lay as much suppressive fire as possible in an effort to cover me while I tried in vain to drag this idiot out of the kill zone. I remember seeing my guys falling out of the corner of my eyes and remembering that there was nothing I could do about it. Mentally I was calculating incoming fire verses outgoing fire and I was coming up short.
Then something amazing happened... We had nearly made it out of the lane way and to relative safety, that is about the time I got shot. I took one .30 caliber round through my right shoulder a good 2 inches on the wrong side of my body armor. Some people say that your adrenaline is too high to feel pain in a fire fight, I tend to disagree. I also noticed my "package" had slowed down, apparently had picked up a gunshot wound to his leg and was bleeding like a stuck pig.
God only a few yards to cover... And this fool is trying to stop! I gritted my teeth and pulled him the rest of the way out of the lane way and around a corner to safety. I noticed that the 9mm sub machine gun fire had ceased before we reached cover. That meant one thing, my men were gone.
I was sort of amazed we had made it that far, and was momentarily baffled as to what to do next. I spied a taxi cab driver staring at me in amazement, so I snapped into action and pointed my empty weapon at him and ordered him out of the car. I threw the "package" in the back seat and punched the accelerator. I was halfway down the street when a bullet whizzed through the back windshield spraying us with glass, but it was too late.. we were gone.
I drove as quickly as possible to the nearest designated safe house, but I passed out in route and crashed into a fence in someone's yard before I could get there. But it didn't matter, Umbrella's Quick Reaction Force had zeroed in my transponder and descended in on our position. They set up a hasty perimeter around us and picked up "the package". They even took me too (Though I don't remember it), it was kinda like a bonus.
I woke up in an Umbrella Sponsored Hospital (Gunshot wounds have to be reported) and found there were 2 major perks to working for a world leader in pharmaceuticals: good health care and wonderful painkillers. I spent the next few months sitting on my butt and flirting with nurses- sort of a paid vacation. I found my shoulder healed and (with a few steel pins)mostly worked the same.
The Europe Branch Umbrella CEO came to visit me and awarded me with the Umbrella Medal of Valor. Of course, I can never tell anyone how I got it since the incident never occurred. But, you gotta understand that that is the cool thing about working for an outfit like Umbrella- nobody ever asks too many questions.
I never worked a personal security detachment again. My supervisors decided they had better things in mind for me than being a "meat shield" for some egg head. I guess when you have a gaping hole in your arm any transfer seems like and improvement over your current assignment. So, I agreed to a classified lateral transfer.
Transfer, "Things may not be as they appear.."
I was transferred to the North American Branch and given command of a UBCS Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service (containment unit). a division of the Bio-Organic Weapons Department. At first, it seemed like a pretty cooshy job, I thought I was part of some sort of flashy HASMAT Team. However, When I reported for my mandatory infectious material and containment training I realized there was a bit more to it than just mopping up some spilled petri dish. It became evident by the counter measures we were being taught that the Company was into some heavy duty shit. They never came right out and said what exactly we may be dealing with in the event of an outbreak, but when one of your classes is how to emplace and detonate a small tactical nuclear weapon... Well, "we're not in Kansas anymore.."
I guess my little incident in Paris was just enough to show Umbrella how far I was willing to go for them. And, it seemed Umbrella was willing to let me go all the way to hell and back for them. When the company promotes you and raises your security clearance: Hold on to your butt, because there is no telling where you will end up.
In the early days of my new assignment, some missions were simple enough. Lots of them were babysitting canisters in 18wheelers or trains, but they were all pretty edgy missions. Some of this junk would melt your skin off right through your protective suit... And that is just the stuff that they would tell us what it would do. You could always tell how nasty the package was by how much back up we had in the event of an "incident". (4 armed gunships on station= nasty goo...)
There were also the odd missions to go to some dank basement lab and clean up after some lab tech who mixed vial A with vial B and ended up with some weird toxic gas... We'd go in bag and tag the egg heads, scrub everything down, recover data/ sensitive items, get the lab ready for the next set of fools to go in and play god. I swear for a bunch of geniuses they can be pretty stupid sometimes. I suppose on some levels we are all expendable to the corporation.
This might sound horrible, but is a simple matter of probabilities. If you do the math it all makes sense... You have "X" tons of toxic or infectious material traveling along the road or railways all the time and you have "y" number of Dr. Frankinsteins mixing up "Z" tons of explosive whatever and POW! Shit happens. It is unavoidable really. That is why Umbrella has containment measures in place. The Government wants the end product, but the steps to getting it are too messy. Plus, I am sure they want plausible deniability should the poop really hit the fan... And it has. On several occasions.
So I ask you, "How was I supposed to Just walk away from Umbrella?" Of course they'd never have let me do that, but if they did.. How do walk away from a position of authority where you are the first, last, and only defense from unspeakable horror and death? You can judge me all you want, you can point at the world today and say, "airborne! Look at what you have done to us!" Well ladies and germs, I want you to know I kept the lid on the monsters for you as long as I could. With my blood, sweat, tears and nearly the last of my sanity I held back the flood. At least you got a few extra quality years under your belt before everything fell apart. My last few years have been a voyage into madness, long before the first corpse opened its eyes beneath Raccoon City... I endured this living nightmare for you, I know you'll never say "thank you"- I've always known that. I guess you could return the favor by just keeping it in mind before you get on your soap box and preach about morality to me.
I guess I've always known it was going to end up like this... Every since I transferred to UBCS tasked to Bio-Weapons Division. There were just too many accidents, we put too many lab techs in body bags, & and too many near disasters. It was inevitable. You can argue I was addicted to the money, the lifestyle, or whatever (some were). I was scared is the truth. I knew what lurked in the shadows, I knew what was stirring 23 stories beneath your feet and just how damn close it kept coming to getting loose. How do you sleep with that kind of knowledge in your head? Well, you don't. If you are like me, you become obsessed with the task of keeping the lid on.
Raccoon City
Ok, here it goes... I still am not sure what when down there. First reports indicated the computer went nuts and killed everyone inside. Sort of believable considering all of the problems Umbrella was having with its containment systems at the time.
I'd also like to point out that I was not given 100% disclosure from the Corporation on this. Umbrella doesn't work like that. They just don't have a staff meeting and say, "Oh ya we had a major f-up at the Raccoon City Facility yesterday, blah-blah-blah.." All information is on a need to know basis, and as I said before: It doesn't pay to ask lots of questions.
Any who.. I am aware a containment team went it to figure out what the hell happened and apparently they "failed to accomplish their objectives", to put it in company jibberish. So they sent another one to reopen the hive, thereby circumventing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of containment and counter measures. Whatever answers they were going to look for came rushing out to meet them.
Apparently, a compound known as the "T-Virus" has been released during some unknown security breach inside the hive.
A Lesson on Viruses- (scientific babble)
Umbrella based much of its viral weapons on the Ebola virus discovered in Africa, Umbrella decided that it would make an efficient bio-weapon due to its near 90% death rate. It obtained samples of the virus, circumventing the Biological Weapons Prohibition Pact by claiming that they were researching it in order to find a cure. However, the virus proved unsuitable for their uses, as it cannot survive for long outside of a human host, and is extremely vulnerable to UV radiation. Furthermore, it kills its host rapidly, and is only contagious through direct contact (scratching or biting), severely limiting its ability to spread. Umbrella decided to create a new virus based around the idea of a heavily infected host that could still move around and actively infect others.
The Progenitor Virus was the next generation strain, also known as the Founder or Mother virus, is the first of the mutagenic viruses, and the basis for most of Umbrella's viral weapons. It produces rapid and uncontrollable mutation in a host's genetic code, but the mutations were not coordinated enough to produce effective BOWs. In hosts with a genetic structure less complex than humans, mutations are less pronounced, and usually restricted to increase in size and aggressiveness. In order to enhance the virus's mutagenic properties, Umbrella created a variant of it through synthesizing it with the Ebola virus, but this strain retained Ebola's photosensitivity.
The along came the crowning achievement: The Tyrant virus, or T-Virus for short.It is created through synthesis of the Progenitor-Ebola virus and leech DNA. Through this synthesis, the photosensitivity of the early Progenitor-Ebola strain was replaced with pyrosensitivity.
The Tyrant virus supposedly operates similarly to most other viruses, but also has the abilities to animate dead tissue, to substantially mutate its host, and to infect nearly any tissue in any type of host. It animates dead tissue by killing and replacing any mitochondria in infected cells, and then combining with these cells to produce enough energy for motor and lower brain functions. By doing this, most of the bodies systems, such as the circulatory or respiratory systems, are made redundant. However, this process has the drawback of severe necrosis in the host, and produces the distinctive rotted appearance of most BOWs(Bio-Organic Weapons). The mutations are produced when the virus incorporates itself into the host's RNA and considerably alters it. Creatures with genetic structures different than humans generally show less severe mutations, and usually only increase in size.
As a side effect of the virus's cannibalization of its host, specifically its digestion of the host's frontal lobes, all hosts suffer from greatly increased aggressiveness. In previously living hosts, the virus also damages the hypothalamus, which results in a flood of neurotransmitters, enzymes, and hormones which induce a psychotic rage and hunger in the host.
Meanwhile, back on the farm..
Ya, so this is what Umbrella released on the citizens of Raccoon City.. Man, I didn't even know they were capable of this. This was serious level6& security and up shit. I think every Umbrella beeper on the East Cost went off at the same time... I was in the car speeding to my assembly area before I even knew I was awake.
I drew my weapon and ammo, and when I got the situation briefing (From which above information was taken) I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Umbrella had really screwed the pooch on this one, we all knew we had one shot at containing this thing and failure was not an option.
Teams were dispatched to extract all of The Corporation's top people from the "Red Zone" before it was too late, others manned positions to seal off the city in the event the virus spread beyond containment measures, others assisted with evacuation control, my unit was slated with what we always do: Containment and Eradication. Seek and Destroy basically...
I knew it was as bad as it had ever been, we never operate out in the open.. Much less walking down Main Street shooting citizens in the head. This was the first time I had ever seen my superiors scared, which in turn terrified me. I wasn't so much scared of the un-dead as I was of what Umbrella may do to cover its ass to avoid the world knowing how bad it had screwed up.
There was never any stopping it.. Umbrella had created its most perfect weapon. This thing had a communicability rate of 98%. One scratch, one drop of blood and you were done. The streets turned into a war zone, my men panicked and opened fire on the uninfected who in turn stood right back up and kept coming. We had to be resupplied with ammo multiple times (as did every other containment unit in the city)- so much the choppers couldn't keep up with our needs. One by one, my men ran out of bullets. One by one my men went down.
Eventually, it was everyman for themselves. I called in for priority evacuation... but so was every other unit in the city. No one could hold them off. They were the perfect weapon, and Umbrella had forsaken us.
When the radio network went down and no extraction efforts were being made I knew it was over. I Knew the company was going to fix its mistake one way the other. And it was going to involve a very big boom. Really now, you just can have a whole city full of zombies on the evening news now can you? How embarrassing.
Failure may not have been an option, but it happened anyways. The battle was lost the second that vial broke open down in that bunker. The computer as right, who knew? Hell, we couldn't keep it 23 stories below ground in a complex designed to survive a direct nuclear attack. How are we going to stop it on the streets? Game over man... Game over...
I made my way to a private airstrip in the north of the city. I secured an ultra-light personal aircraft and limped my way out of raccoon city before the nuke hit. And no, I am not a pilot. But given the option of being de-atomized or crashing in a flying lawn chair I chose the 2nd option. And here is a tip should you ever have to attempt the same: Fly low and slow. I think praying does help.
Fall Back& Regroup
I flew the lawn chair until it ran out fuel and I "landed" nose first in a farmer's field. My "landing" left a bit to be desired (the cows seemed unimpressed). I had figured on a low yield nuclear detonation so I had flown in the opposite direction of the prevailing winds and was well clear of the blast area before they cracked the atom over the city. Actually, I had gotten an old women to give me a lift and was in her car (she said I looked like her son) when the reports of a nuclear power plant melting down started coming in.
I know at this point I should have let the Corporation think I had been turned into water vapor and taken off to some South Pacific island somewhere... Well, the company might be stupid enough to let loose a virus capable of turning a whole American City into a bunch of well.. Zombies.. But they would not be dumb enough to let me slip away. They'd have caught up to me somewhere, somehow and I'd have ended up with a bullet in the old melon.
Reluctantly, I checked in. Besides, I am a member of Biohazard Countermeasure Service. I had made it out of the city.. What were the odds that one drop of this stuff had made it out too? I figured there was a pretty good chance it had. Which means I still had work to do. Who else was gonna stop it when it popped up? The Army? HA! We're all doomed then..
Things were looking pretty bad for Umbrella. There were all kinds of rumors about reanimated corpses and all kinds of shit in the news. The president even got on and denounced such rumors as "un-American" and actually thanked Umbrella for its relief efforts... I was even a bit impressed with that one! It seems most of the evidence of Umbrella's involvement had been destroyed by the nuclear strike. And it turns out they had an Army of lawyers waiting to tackle anyone or anything that tried to tie them to Raccoon City.
What was worse were the rumors floating around Umbrella. The simple fact anyone dared to talk about stuff outside their pay grade shows that this thing had shaken Umbrella down to its foundation. I heard all kinds of crazy rumors from computer tech guys about "monsters running around the city", something about how Umbrella tried to kill off some local cops for fun.. Stupid crazy stuff. As if the reality of it wasn't bad enough..
We in the containment units (what was left of us) waited and braced ourselves for this virus to pop up again. And it did, this time in Malton City..
Malton, Past Sins Revisited
It is still unclear if the T-Virus is responsible for the outbreak in Malton or if it is something new. I seriously doubt that there would be another totally random zombie outbreak so near to the annihilation of Raccoon City. I am sure Umbrella would love to have everyone believe that its competitor Necro-Tech is responsible, but I don't buy it for a minute.
Luckily, someone somewhere had enough presence of mind to figure out we just couldn't go around lobbing nuclear weapons into every major city in North America. Sort a stupid concept: Destroy the country to save it... I am not impressed.
So, just like Raccoon City they locked the gates and threw away the key. Only this time they didn't blow everything up..
Interestingly enough, a small breakthrough came out of the quarantine zone. Necro-Tech in some last minute miracle came up with a breakthrough... The revive needle. It is a serum that actually returns victims to the living. Apparently with no major side effects save a buzzing in the ears. A cure that could save the world (and be worth billions). There was just one small catch, it was stuck in the middle of a quarantined city... How does one get it out?
Well Umbrella did have one containment services member who "invented" a way out of a one quarantined City. The idea was if I could stay alive and escape uninfected from Raccoon City, why could I not do it in reverse in Malton?
I was given a mission: Infiltrate Malton, locate Necro-Tech Facilities, and obtain a sample of the revive serum. Then somehow... Get out. The company assured me that once I was on the ground they could send me more forces or whatever supplies& equipment I required. I believed them, if anyone could get around the US Army, Umbrella could.
Into the Breach, Day 1
On December 12th, 2006 at 01:00:39 I stood in the door of an Umbrella cargo plane at 20,000+ feet, fixed my oxygen mask, and stepped into the darkness. During my free fall descent toward the city of Malton I looked back to the plane one last time to see it destroyed by a surface to air missile. Things were already going bad...
I deployed my main parachute at a very low altitude and landed on the ground. I had landed in the suburb of Ruddlebank in a car parking lot. My GPS indicated my position to be [10, 86]. I made my way through the ruined streets. I explored a ransacked hospital but found no survivors. The building was a mess from the carnage that must have occurred the night the the dead came to life. There were bullet holes from someone who had wildly fired a shotgun in some attempt to return one of the recently reanimated corpses to a more "dead-ish" state. There were medical supplies scattered all over the floor from roving looters. I stooped down and gathered enough for a small first aid kit, some bandages and antiseptic to cure an infection. I noticed that the generator had run out of fuel some time ago.
I decided to find a more safe location and headed back onto the street. I saw a lone zombie shuffling in the opposite direction and decided to let him be for fear of attracting others. Eventually I settled into warehouse just south of a cemetery for the night. I secured the doors and loosely barricaded my safe house.
I checked my supplies: an MP-5 with 7 mags, combat knife, .45 colt pistol w/ 4 mags, a few days worth of rations... I was going to have to contact Umbrella and arrange a resupply soon, perhaps see about getting some reinforcements in here. My cover was to be a Fire Fighter, I had been provided with the proper credentials and was wearing a tattered fireman's uniform. Given my ammunition was short I thought ,"Why not fully dress the part?" and took a fire axe off the wall figuring it would do should my ammo run out.
I pulled out my radio and checked in with command. More bad news.. The military was more aggressive than anticipated in defending Malton from intrusion. Any further attempts to fly over the city would only result in the aircraft meeting with a similar flaming fate.. But know worries! Continue mission, acquire serum and by then they would have figured something out.. Nuts. well it could have been worse I suppose, another minute in that plane and I'd have had the very unique experience of seeing how an SA-18 missile shreds a plane.. Ya, or I could have stayed home and seen how many beers it takes to get airborne to puke...
Day 2 in the Quarantine
December 13th, 2006 A few hours before day break I was awoke by the sound on a corpse chewing on my barricades. Using my newly acquired fire axe I split his cranium open. Oddly, it seemed down for now but not permanently out of commission. Had the virus mutated? I had a lot to learn about this city and I needed to do it very quickly if I wanted to avoid joining the ranks of the living dead...
I decided to get the lay of the city and see how secure the quarantine measures were. I made my way south to Old Arkham to inspect the security wall.
It was secure for sure... Far too strong to blast open or breech in anyway.. Also, it was way too high to try and scale, it also seemed to be topped with razor wire further impeding any effort to go "over the top". There seemed to be some sort of sentry tower a little further down, I wonder if it was manned? As I approached it a machine gun traversed in my direction and let loose a burst of .223 cal rounds in my direction.. I dove for cover and considered my options. Briefly I considered returning the favor with my MP-5 but... ah at this range, the pussy 9mm rounds would have no effect. Besides, I am sure I'll need every round I have.
I low crawled away out of range of the trigger happy grunt. I decided to get out of the area before the gunfire drawed attention from the rotting citizens of the city. I continued west into New Arkham where the wall turned and continued north at the railway station. I was coming to the conclusion that the perimeter wall was a no go and was going to have to have to either find an alternate way out or resume my primary mission to locate Necro-Tech.
On a whim, I popped open a man hole cover near the Purchas Towers. I descended into the sewer system and didn't go far before I saw that it had been filled with concrete. Rats.. Foiled again! What have I gotten myself into?
I headed north east to a vacant school and decided to use it for shelter for the night. I used what daylight remained securing the doors as best I could. I found a powered down radio transmitter in the school's office. Oddly, it appeared to have been damaged by an axe. But why would a survivor destroy a radio??? Perhaps some of them are going mad trapped inside these walls.
I found a fur tree in one of the class rooms and decided to chop it up for fire wood. The temperatures were dipping pretty low and I could use the heat from a small fire to stay warm. I'd just have to be careful to not let the light shine outside or I'd be up to my ass in zombies. The more I wielded the axe the more I liked it.. With a little more practice I was pretty sure I could get pretty good with it...
I settled in for yet another night behind enemy lines... So much to do, so little time..
Zombie, Zombies, and more friggin' zombies
I awoke to a god awful nose! The corpses were making some sort of loud groan, which was echoed by more of them in the surrounding area. Surely they were not communicating? But, they were gathering... From the ally ways and shops they came shambling out, eventually I focused on what all the commotion was about...
One of the Zombies had broken into a building sheltering a family, and had dragged them out and onto the street. Now the others were coming in to join in the feast! I heard the kids screaming some sort of inhuman scream, the kind of sound that hits a not in your soul. I was on my feet before I realized it, threw open the door to school and rushed into the street.
I thumbed the selector switch on my weapon to "full rock-and-roll" and rushed towards the forming mob of zombies. I could see the children were at the center of them, and their mother... Well, was trying to shield them by using her own body to try and hold the freaks off. She was sustaining horrible wounds and there was no way she could remain conscious for much longer considering her blood loss..
I think perhaps I may have shocked them at first, because they looked up at me with a curious look. It was short lived, I stopped about 10 feet short of their position and began spraying bullets in 3-5 round bursts. I have to admit, a part of me rejoiced in seeing the rounds impact and do their damage.. I attempted to hit in the breast bone area and work the rounds towards their head.
For the most part, the last of the bursts found their mark and dropped the puss bags. The others, were effected by the multiple "center mass" hits in such a way they were off balanced and fell to the ground. I fed my thirsty MP-5 Mag after Mag, with no regard of what I would do 10 mins from now..
But, god you have to love those Germans... They can make some sweet ass weapons... (The +P Hollow Points I insisted on didn't hurt much either)
I knew my high volume of fire had only bought me a few precious seconds, so I waded in amongst the pile of corpses, and looked for the most "living thing", what I saw was a young girl, I think she was crying.. I can't be sure.. I grabbed her and threw her over my shoulder, I turned to what I suppose was her brother, but saw his head had been hit by... Well, most likely a bullet... F@CK!
I had to go.. These puss bag were starting to move again, and I was unsure if I had enough round to make them lie down again. I was walking out, when something caught my eye..
I saw the girls mom, she was chewed the bone, she was dead, she was undead... With her daughter thrown over my shoulder I knew what she wanted... She wanted the best for her child, she wanted what she could not provide, if possible she wanted to no be a f-n zombie.
I could feel by the weight of my weapon there were at least a few rounds left in it. I thumbed the selector switch to "semi" and put a bullet in her head. Ashes to ashes.. I hope that is what you wanted and you felt no pain. Amen..
Baggage and confusion
Ya, so here she is.. I guess she is about 10 years old, and has 3 bite wounds... I used my only first aid kit on the worst wound, I think I stopped the bleeding.. Nuts.. She hasn't said a damn word in 2 days.. And the freak show zombies aren't stupid. One saw me come in here and he did that groaning thing again.. Now there are 7 of them outside..
So, She doesn't talk.. She doesn't do much of anything really. She shivers a lot. She calls for her mom. What am I supposed to do? She feels really cold. I gave her my jacket to help keep her warm but the temperature is dropping again. I have a bad feeling about this..
- I counted my ammo today.. Three. Three stupid f@cking 3 mags.. I still have 4 mags for the .45 pistol.. But it is a sh@t weapon, the recoil is too high and can't be counted on for a direct hit.. I am screwed.
And this dumb ass girl isn't doing sh@t any more.. Unless you call moaning something.. She moans all night and all day. I can't sleep.
She does have a pulse though. But, I don't know what to do for her. I think the infection is the major issue. If only I had one of those Necro-Tech needles.. Or more medical supplies. Who knows..
I am convinced, she is going to pass in the night, and I am going to wake to her tying to eat me.. But, do I just leave her here? Logic would dictate so.. But, logic doesn't have a soul. I do.
What the hell do I do?
Up a Sh@t Creek, No Paddles
So what? I am sure you are full of ideas and you would have done and how things may have been different. I am just left with a few recourses now.
I bet you want to know what happened yesterday. You know what? Go to hell. I tried.
I feel sick. It has been about 6 hours now... God, I hate this journal...
I hate you. How can you just read this?
..I just woke back up. I am sick. I guess that is important, and a reason to keep writing.
You just get to keep reading this thing like it isn't a part of your life.
Well, this is.. Maybe you will been bitten too at some point.
..What was I saying? Oh, who knows.. I know I am dying. I refuse to just "slip" onto the other side and be a zombie..
..AH, I faded out again. I have one other option. I am armed.. I have a weapon, and could just do myself in. No harm, no fuss.
There just isn't "the time to do it".. God, help me.. I don't want to do this... I just want it to end.. I don't want to hurt anyone... It is just so hard to put a .45 cal bullet through your brain.. I just want to be numb..
F@ck, maybe tomorrow..
Ya, tomorrow will be easier. I wish I had some whiskey.
I am SO tired. Tomorrow... I will figure it all out tomorrow.
What Happened?
What in the hell happened? I woke up North Blythville at St Barnabas's Church, my GPS indicated: [27, 62].
I came to amongst a pile of corpses. I stood up and the buzzing in my ears was almost more than I could take. I violently threw up several times. I kept trying to stand up and get in doors, but I'd be stricken with another case of shivers and resume "blowing my cookies" all over the street.
I tried to reach for my MP-5, but it was gone... Too hard to think, what had happened to me? My head was exploding..
I staggered down the street, I stumbled past zombies. I could feel the infection burning in my veins. I was oblivious to my surroundings. I could feel the life slipping from me with every step.
I saw a red cross over an archway and pushed my way passed the strong barricades and collapsed on the floor. (I later found I had wandered into Julie General Hospital).
I seems I had "lucked out", I had found a safe dwelling maintained by Malton Survivors, a few of the doctors and nurses had reclaimed this building and we trying to provide some sort of medical care for the general population. They took me in, tended my wounds, and nursed me back from the verge of death and re-animation.
I woke up in a recovery room. There is no way I can express the gratitude I felt for those men and women. I still wonder to this day, who was it that put that needle in my neck and brought me back. I could have been lost out there with no soul, roaming Malton and doing God only knows what...
I made up my mind about a lot of things that day. I was going to make a difference in this city and try to find other fallen people just like me, regardless of my "Primary Mission". This fight was just too real and close to home for me. I was involved now..
The "Raccoon City Survivors"
While in the Hospital recovering from my wounds, I heard a broadcast on an old radio placed in my room about a group of people calling themselves: The Raccoon City Survivors, having recently been in that doomed city and feeling a certain sense of guilt, I vowed to make my way to their position and help them in anyway I could.
- I went though my belongings and found that in addition to losing my primary weapon I had also lost my Umbrella "MBITTER" radio (Multi-Ban- Intermittent-Transceiver-Transmitter-&Receiver)My one and only link to The Corporation... I was alone.
- I had also decided at this point that it was impossible to survive in Malton without help, I was going to have to attach myself to an established survivor group if I was going to have any chance of "making it" in this city.
As soon as I was well enough, I bid farewell to the good staff of Julie General Hospital. I made my way back to Ruddlebank where this group was located, making a short detour in Suter Boulevard Police Dept where I obtained a baretta 9mm pistol from their Arms Room and a radio receiver.
I made may way to their safe house, and was welcome by the group. I really didn't think that these people had actually been in Raccoon City, but I wasn't about to touch on the subject given my role with Umbrella.
I found that their leader User:Kyle Ryback went missing on a mission and that they were trying to recover from his loss. I also met a wonderful guy named Soccerfan666 and User:Saria231 (who would plague me later in life).
At first, I was elated to have help and support in the city. But, that was soon lived. Without a leader, they were reluctant to make any major commitment. They were scared to leave (CLASSIFIED- To Protect The Innocent).
My military training was screaming at me to organize and take the fight to the zombie hordes.. Not just sit in "relative safety" and wait for them to come here and squash us..
It became evident, that my ideas and theirs were not the same.. I had to go. And I did.
I packed my few meager belongings, said my "goodbyes" and headed out into Malton again, alone.
Contact: Re-established, Primary Mission Is "Green"
So, I left them to sit where they were. To wait for the "resurrection" of their sacred leader who would never return.
I headed straight into the heart of The Bad Lands. I picked Galbraith Hills as my battle ground.
I left the hospital healthy but under supplied. But, no matter I had a "new purpose" in this Zombie War. I also had "directives" which could not be ignored.
I stopped off at a telephone tower (Lindsey Towers)and piggybacked a signal to corporate hq. I explained my situation and that it was not possible to "simply just take Necro-Tech's most guarded secret" and slink off like a thief in the night. I was told to hold position and await direction from Umbrella Command.
While sitting in a sh@thole telephone building I received the most important communication of my life. I was informed I was elevated to the position of "Umbrella Executive" and cleared to do "whatever I deemed necessary to accomplish my mission". I was given the coveted "level 6 security clearance" and a new set of directives.
- Secure NecroTech Serum by any and all means possible
- Establish and Lead a new Branch of Umbrella Based in Malton
- All access to Umbrella records and data is cleared (Level 6 Clearance)
- All access to Umbrella Corporation Assets currently in Malton was Authorized
- Recruit and bring new members of The Corporation "Into the fold"
-Find worthy and valued recruits, concentrate on science, medical, and military -Implement training to make venture in "Malton" successful - Ensure "Valued New Members to Corporation" gain access to Umbrella Network, log-in, report new information to database.
I terminated the Comm. Link and sat back. "Phew.." this is going to take a massive effort. I guess Umbrella decided that simply extracting me and the serum wasn't a real option, we were going to have to get the package and fight our way out of here. Well, I guess I am not going home anytime soon.
Setting Up Shop
I strolled into Adney Towers(41, 51) the site I selected as my HQ and looked around... It was a mess, papers and office supplies strewn all over the floor. I stepped over a giant blood stain and walked into the room that would become my office.
I had taken a transmitter and laptop from the telephone company and now I sat at my desk and turned it on. I linked into an Umbrella Server and access the Malton database.
I submitted the coordinates to Adney and clicked the link to alert all active Umbrella operatives within the city. Shit, those bastards had lots of operatives here! All with the same mission as me I suspect..
Umbrella had people all through the city... Cops, teachers, fire fighters... It appears there was even a UBCS unit out there somewhere. Well, they should begin trickling in shortly.
I switched off the computer to save battery power. With the alert sent there was no further need of it.
I began cleaning the building up and tried to salvage what equipment I could find. I found half of a bottle of Johnny Walker Red in the bottom drawer of my desk, this was a good omen.
Consolidation and Organization
Within a few days, a had a modest force assembled. The odd Umbrella Operative would show up usually bringing a few civilians in tow. I quickly separated the civilians from Umbrella Personnel. I set the company people to work on the building and began interviewing the civilians to see if they met my basic criteria for membership.
Everyone who arrived seemed to bring something with them. We set up a large transmitter on the roof and attached a generator in the basement. Our tower shone at night like a beacon, drawing even more survivors to us. I set up a city wide broadcast on many frequencies (27.31 was used specifically for Umbrella)telling people where we were and that they should come to us. And, they did.
We transformed the building into a citadel, it was barricaded like a fortress. It was near impossible for anyone to break into it. We had sentries on the roof and roving patrols through the area.
I finally decided I had decent amount of troops, we began to organize into skill specific groups. Combat, Medical, Recon, and Engineers. For those who were not yet combat ready, we started a basic training program to "get them up to speed." I often hung out during these training sessions. I always found it amusing to watch a "soccer mom" or lawyer fire a M-4 carbine for the first time. (Make me smile right now just thinking of it)
With the squads formed and leaders designated, I set my sites on cleaning up Galbraith Hills. The place was falling apart.. I deployed Recon elements through out the suburb, followed by "sweep and clear" teams. I kept my medical forces stationed at Thomas General Hospital to provide on site care for fallen employees. Finally my engineers went in behind the combat squads and secured and powered the buildings. In a short period of time, the suburb was a safe zone.
I think it is around this time I met Dr Doom86, I really didn't think much of him when he first walked into my office. He seem shy and timid, perhaps a bit uncertain of why he had come to us. But during the interview he suprised me.
I gave him the usual about "how we need doctors, blah-blah-blah." And I turned to him and asked, "So why do you think I should give you a chance?", and his eyes went cold. I could see the anger building in him and noted that this was a dangerous man.. He replied, "Just Teach me how to fight."
Usually, I would never let someone talk to me like that (much less a recruit).. But there was something different about this guy. Something in his eyes... It was raw potential. I liked the anger he had, and how he could focus it all in a second. He wasn't scared of me at all.. I liked that too. I knew that once we showed this guy how to use a weapon there would be no stopping him. In that moment I decided on his code name, Doom.. Hmm..Dr Doom86
I reached out and shook his hand. "Welcome to Umbrella."
Necro-Tech Facility Located
It was in March when on of my scouts returned and reported he had located a Necro-Tech Facility. Unfortunately, was located in the midsts of Zombie infested territory. It was called the the Stagg Building and was in the Southeast of Lukinswood.
Finally, the elusive Necro-Tech was located and I could take steps toward completing my primary mission. And perhaps the first steps of getting the hell out of this godforsaken city? Maybe, maybe not.
I reported to Umbrella Command of the new development and was ordered to secure the building at all costs, retrieve a sample of the serum, and whatever research or data we could find. This mission was given the "highest priority".
I threw my forces into the fight, and as soon as we turned on the lights the zombies came for us. We battled day and night for Stagg, in the lulls we scoured the building for data. There were plenty needles, but the secret of how they were made remained a mystery. I hoped that our scientist would be able to unlock the secret back at Adney and we could simply transmit the recipe to the Corporation.
I actually believe the zombies knew the importance of this building because they were relentless in their efforts to break in. They seemed intent on making sure this building remained out of commission. I tried to keep the building operational as long as I could, but the battle was wearing on my men. We were running out of ammo quick and it seemed we would have retreat soon.
I dispatched some of my forces north to loot ammo from the Ackland Mall, but with the reduction in manpower we had trouble maintaining the barricade levels. It became necessary to sleep in the nearby museum and going back in the morning to repair the damage the zombies has done. Eventually, my forces were to battered to go any farther... Reluctantly, I ordered my weary troops back to the safety of adney towers. I prayed my men could unlock the secret of this serum ith the samples we had secured...
The Secret Remains Elusive
Back at our HQ, we tended to the wounded and restocked on ammunition. I found that some of our men were lost, amongst them the head of my Medical Squad. I promoted Dr Doom86 to lead them.
My happiness at securing the samples of the serum was short lived. The scientists informed me that the substance was very unstable and when exposed to air, instantly broke down. Thus, preventing analysis. Obviously, it was some sort of "safe guard" Necro-Tech had put in place.
It was possible to manufacture the needles while inside of a Nacro-Tech building, but the process was automated. The NT computers were secured by firewalls and their database locked. The documents we located in stagg were inconclusive, much of it off topic or vague. For our efforts, we had accomplished nothing.
Umbrella Command was furious. They demanded the scientists work 24hrs until they got somewhere, but all they succeeded in was ruining the rest of our samples. I am sure if we had access to one of Umbrella's research facilities they could have made some real progress, but our equipment was lacking in many areas... Plus, the "scientists" I had were just people we found wandering the city streets, nowhere near the caliber required for reverse engineering. (I think one of them was a high school teacher..)
It was decided that it was too dangerous to return to Stagg at this time, instead we concentrated on trying to find another NT. It was my hope that someone may have made a mistake in one of the other NT Facilities.. Perhaps a computer that had not been properly logged out, some sensitive paperwork left laying around, anything.. Our only other recourse would be to try and find an employee of Necro-Tech, but would there be any left alive? Did Necro-Tech evacuate everyone who knew the secret of this serum?
We would just have to keep looking for answers and hoping that Necro-Tech had made a mistake somewhere. But my mission had just become much more involved... I was going to have to begin searching the whole city and find every Necro Tech building in the hopes someone had made some small security error. That could take forever... I nearly lost my whole force trying to keep Stagg operational for 4 days... This is beginning to feel like an effort in futility.
Troubling Reports From Outside The City
Things were progressing well in our new group. There was a steady stream of fresh recruits, the basic training was producing combat efficient soldiers, the specialty squads learning to work together, and the surrounding suburbs were improving. All in all, I was very impressed with the effectiveness of my small army, then I got some disturbing news...
My secure line began to ring in the early hours of the morning, waking me from a deep and troubled sleep. It was an Corporation District Executive, he was calling to inform me of some "Developments" outside the quarantine zone.
Apparently there were unsubstantiated reports of "unknown infectious outbreaks" in several major cities in the Continental United States. Information was scarce because the US Government was not including the Umbrella in any containment efforts. Which made sense considering Congress was holding hearings into possible company involvement in Bio-Weapon and Viral Research.
I was told that contact with the Umbrella Secure Network and certain Company Executives maybe disrupted while Umbrella "implemented protection measures". (God only knows what those maybe) But not to worry, it should all be sorted out and running smooth in a day or so.. Click..
Sh@t... If there were further outbreaks, it is possible this thing could spiral out of control.. We could lose the whole east coast... Or North America. I decided to keep this information to myself. My troops moral was fragile enough without filling their heads with "possibilities of what could be wrong.."
I rolled over, but it was not possible for me to return to sleep.
A Change Of Heart
I was up early the next morning, I was on the top floor with a cup of coffee when the morning sun broke and started to shine on the ruined city. I descended to the lower levels of Adney and wandered don the hallways of the building.
My Head Quarters was looking less like a Military Command Center and more like a refugee camp. I hadn't really noticed before how many "Non-Combatants" had sought shelter here... The offices were filling up with women and kids, they were sleeping in the hallways and on desks. I guess technically they were a burden on my forces (eating food and using medical supplies), but I couldn't turn them out on the street...
I wonder how many of these people would not be alive had we came along and offered them shelter, food, and comfort.. Half? All of them?
For the first time I was thinking beyond my "company's mission" and my own selfish existence.. Sh@t, if we found this many civilians on accident... How may more are out there hiding in basements or closets?
My heart was pounding, here we were armed to the teeth running around looking for this revive serum and all of there innocent people were being munched on.. And what was Umbrella really going to do with this miracle drug? I am pretty sure they were not going to mass produce it at their own cost and hand it out for free on every street corner.. So what the hell are we doing?
I don't want to say I gave up on trying to figure out the secrets of the serum, god knows Umbrella would have me shot and replaced in a heart beat.. But.. I would say it has been a bit lowered on my priority list.
