Eri Kamei
Rockfort Island City
October 9, 3:01 AM
Eri switched the dim flashlight off at
the base of the covered alley steps and looked up, numbingly staring at the closed door blocking her from the other side, and took a deep breath, trying
to psych herself up for whatever came next.
The chill
of the dark corridor behind her pressed at her back like an
icy hand, but still she hesitated, the pistols grip haft sweaty beneath her fingers as she slipped the warm flashlight into her
back pocket. She wasn't particularly looking forward to
ascending into the unknown, but she had nowhere else to
go, not unless she meant to go back to the sewers.
She could
smell oily smoke, and she guessed that the flickering
shadows at the top of the wide cement steps meant fire.
But what's up there? Oh, a zombie city of course . . .
What if it was like BIOHAZARD, what if the attack on
the island had unleashed a virus, or some of the animal
abominations that an evil corporation kept creating? Or was
'Rockfort' only a prison for their enemies? Maybe the
prisoners had rioted, maybe things had only been bad
from Eri's point of view ...
...maybe you could walk up the dang stairs and
find out instead of guessing all day, hmm?
Her pulse thumping, Eri forced herself to take the
first step up, vaguely wondering why movies always
made it seem so easy, to bravely throw oneself into probable
danger. After tonight, she knew better. Maybe she
didn't have much of a choice about what she had to do,
but that didn't mean she wasn't scared. Considering the
circumstances, only a complete moron wouldn't be afraid.
She climbed slowly, opening her senses as new adrenaline
flushed her system, replaying the brief glimpse
she'd had of Sayumi when she set off to 'rescue' Risa. No help there, if anything, Sayumi is probably asleep, remembering how soothingly calm she was.
There was definitely a fire close to the
door, but apparently not a big one—there was
no heat filtering down, only a cool and humid breeze
that carried the pervasive smoke smell through the tiny hole. It seemed quiet,
and as she neared the top, she heard drops of rain hissing
as they met the flames, an oddly comforting sound.
The warm door knob was stuck, so Eri pushed with all her strength and eventually nudging the door enough for her to climb out, she emerged and she saw the
source of the fire, only meters away. A number of, what looked like to be military vehicles had
crashed, a large portion of it merrily burning amid a
thick, smoking haze. To her left was a wall, and what looked like a looming tower with prominent lights just
past the flaming wrecks; to her right, the open space of
a city street, gloomy and shrouded by the increasing
rain and the oncoming night.
As she fixes her bangs away from her stinging eyes, Eri squinted into the rainy dusk and made out a
number of dark shapes, though none of them seemed to
be moving; more debris, she thought. A whisper of
relief edged through her anxiety; whatever had happened here
seemed to be over.
Amazing, she thought, that she could possibly be relieved
to be alone in a war-torn unknown city at night. Even after watching all those horror films, her imagination would never have conjured up all
sorts of horrible things that happened in the past 24 hours. It appeared that ghosts and
cursed souls just didn't cut it on the scary meter anymore,
not after her recent run-ins.
She took a right towards the open street on the ruined U-shaped path, moving
slowly remembering how she'd been led through the
sewers before being pushed to the red-headed zombie. She thought
she could make out what looked like to be the entranced gate to the tower past the line
of rubble about 100 meters away, or at least an open
space in the far wall—
—and suddenly she was flying, the sound of an explosion
behind her assaulting her ears, WHUMP, a wave
of broiling heat throwing her into the mud, knocking her backpacks off, not to mention vaulting the pistol from her hands. The wet twilight
was suddenly brighter, the reek of burning chemicals
stinging her nose and eyes. She landed without
grace but managed not to stab herself with the combat
knife conjured against her landing zone, all of it happening so fast that she barely had time
to register confusion.
—don't think I'm hurt—a fuel tank must
have blown—
"Unnnh..."
Eri was on her feet instantly, the soft, pitiful, unmistakable
moan inspiring a near panic of action, the
sound joined by another, and another. She spun around
and saw the first one stumbling toward her from what
was left of the burning wrecks, a man, his clothes
and hair on fire, the skin of his face blistering and
black.
She turned again and saw two more of them crawling
up from the mud, their faces a sickening gray-white,
their skeletal fingers grasping in her direction, clutching
air as they reeled toward her. She positions her arms to fire her pistol, but realizes-
Sheesh! Nice way of losing the only thing between life and death Eri!
Thinking quick, she hastily picked up the combat knife, not knowing where her pistol or even packs of supplies went, she didn't have time for disbelief or dismay, not with
three of them closing in, not when she realized that there were others farther along the path. They staggered out
from die shadows, slack, brutalized faces all turning
slowly toward her, mouths hanging open, their gazes
blank and unchanging. Some wore shreds of military uniforms,
camo or plain gray, guards and what looked like to be prisoners. Eri scourged against the newly found smoke.
"Uhhhh..."
"Ohhh..."
The overlapping cries epitomized great longing, each
plaintive wail that of a starving man looking at a feast.
This... is so LAME!
It was beyond
lame, the transformation from human into mindless,
dying creatures, decaying as they walked. From what Eri got from the movies, the
inevitable fate of each zombie virus carrier was death, but she
couldn't let herself mourn for them, not now, her pity
limited by the need to survive.
Go go go NOW!
Her assessment and analysis lasted less than a second
and then she was moving, no plan except to get away.
With the path blocked in both directions, she leaped for
the gate in the distance, clambering over the heated jagged
metal wreckage that marked the resting places of the true dead. Her
wet, muddy jeans clung to her legs, hampering her, her
shoes slipping against the smooth slabs, but she
managed to climb up and balance her weight between
two of them, out of reach for the moment.
For thesecond!
You gotta get out of here, fast.
This knife is no good, she didn't dare get close enough to use
it—a single healthy bite from one of those things and
she'd end up joining their ranks, if they didn't eat her first.
The one with the blackened face was nearest, his hair
melted away, part of his uniform still smoldering. He was
close enough for her to smell the greasy, nauseating
smell of burnt flesh, overlaid by the stench of the fuel
that had cooked it. She had ten, fifteen seconds at most
before he'd be close enough to grab for her.
She shot a glance at the center of the gate,
her arms out for balance. There were only two of them
between her and the entrance, but that was two too many,
she'd never make it past both of them. She knew from
the sewers that they were slow, and that their reasoning
skills were zip—
-they saw prey, they moved toward it in
a straight line, regardless of what was in the way. If she
could just bait them away from the gate—
Good idea, except there were too many on the
ground, six or seven of them, she'd end up surrounded—
—but not if you stay on the wreckage.
There were multiple zombies to either side of the center
row of debris, but only one standing at the end of the
line, directly in front of her ... and that one barely functional,
an eye gouged out, an arm broken and hanging.
It was a risky plan, one stumble and she was toast, but
the burned man was already reaching for her ankle with
his charred and shaking hands, rain sizzling on his upturned
face.
Eri leaped, arms wheeling as she landed with both
feet on the narrow top of the next smoldering wreck in line. She
started to pitch forward, jerking and swiveling her body
to maintain her center of gravity, but it was no good, she
was going to fall—
—and without thinking, she quickly jumped again,
then again, using the uneven wreckage like rocks in a river,
using her lack of balance to propel her forward. An
ashen-faced virus carrier snatched at her lower legs,
moaning in feverish hunger, but she was already past it,
leaping to the next 'landing' spot.
She didn't have time to
consider how she was going to stop, which was just as
well—because the unlikely path ran out one jump later
and her next leap was into a sloppy shoulder roll against
the muddy, concrete ground a meter below.
Oof,a hard drop, but she followed through and came
up on her feet, just barely, her legs sliding unsteadily in
the muck. The one-eyed zombie lurched toward her,
gurgling, within easy reach—but she quickly stumbled
around it, keeping on its blind side, the knife ready. The
creature attempted to turn, to find its meal once more,
but she easily stayed out of its limited sight.
She risked a glance away from her awkward, shuffling
dance and saw the other zombies closing in. The
rain intensified, sluicing the mud off of her.
It's working, just another few seconds—
Frustrated by its lack of success, the half-blinded carrier pawed at the air with its one good arm. The dirty,
blackened nails scraped across her chest and the zombie
moaned anxiously, scrabbling at the wet fabric, but it
couldn't get a solid grip.
God, it'stouchingme —
With a wordless cry of fear and disgust Eri slashed
out with the knife, deep, nearly bloodless cuts opening
up across its wrist. The zombie continued to clutch at
her, oblivious to the damage she was doing as it staggered
closer, and Eri decided that it was time to
leave.
She pulled her arms back, hands clasped, and then drove
them forward into the creature's chest, pushing as hard as
she could. She turned again to the center line of wreckage as
the creature fell backward, the others much closer now.
How she managed to climb back up so quickly she
didn't know; one second she was on the ground, the next
she was on top of beveled, burning metal. She saw that the gate
was clear, the zombies now loosely grouped near the
west wall.
Her hopping second journey along the rubble
was only slightly more controlled than the first, each
leap like a leap of faith, that she wouldn't slip and seriously
injure herself. The rain was tapering off, and she
could hear the wet, sucking sounds of their plodding,
slow-motion chase clearly; unless one of them suddenly
remembered how to jog, they were too far away to catch
up to her.
Now I just have to pray that the gate isn't secured,
she thought dizzily, jumping down from the last wreck.
Even if the gate was standing open, but if another door behind it wasn't; if it turned out to be locked, she was probably
doomed.
Three giant strides from where she landed, she reached the gate, reaching for the handle of a dented
metal knob, the exit set into the stone wall. It clicked
open smoothly and she held the knife ready, hoping that
if there were more carriers on the other side, at least the
odds might be better. Behind her, the chemical cannibals
lamented their loss, moaning loudly as she stepped
through.
Some kind of courtyard with a door beyond it, which was the entrance to the actual tower. Everything was surprisingly fresh, piled with pieces of random
wreckage, overlooked by a low guard tower and a few Japanese flags with an enormous plaque that had the words-
ROCKFORT ISLAND PRISON –
EST. 1944
sprawled across it.
There was
an overturned transport vehicle to her left, a low fire
burning inside. The night was coming on quickly but the
moon was also rising, either full or close to it, and as she
secured the door behind her, she could see there was no
immediate danger—no zombies headed toward her,
anyway. There were several bodies strewn about, none
of them moving, and she mentally crossed her fingers
that at least one of them had a gun and some ammo—
A brilliant light suddenly snapped on, a spotlight on
the guard tower, the force of it instantly blinding her—
—and as she instinctively looked away, the whining
chatter of automatic fire broke out, bullets splashing in
the mud at her feet. Blind and panicked, Eri dove for
cover, the random thought that she might have been better
off in that sewer repeating itself through her terror.
Topic: Eri Kamei vs. Morning Musume (Read 101249 times)