Resident Evil: Outbreak: File 0

After the battle of the bands, Adagio and her sister’s lost their magic, along with their singing voices, and have never been able to get back on their feet ever since. The three former sirens constantly argued on who was at fault for the incident. Adagio blamed her sisters for their misfortune, and Sonata and Aria blamed Adagio for her sloppy leadership. The arguments just kept getting worse and worse, until, one day, Adagio awakened to an empty house with a note pinned to the front door. It read, (We’ve had enough of your shit! We’re done with you!) Adagio desperately tried to find her sisters, but to no avail.

After hitting the lowest point of her life, and being kicked out of their former house, Adagio ended up in Racoon City, having to make ends meet by working at a sleazy Bar in Downtown, and forced to wear an embarrassing waitress uniform.

“I hate this job,” Adagio muttered to herself morosely as she was forced to serve all the drunken patrons of the bar.

A man was standing behind the bar, cleaning a glass, and watching her closely. Another man was sitting at the bar, drinking a whisky, also watching Adagio with a sly look. “Is that the girl you told me about?” He asked.

“Yep,” The Bartender replied.

“She sure is a looker,” The customer said as his smirk grew. “How much?”

“5 Grand up front,” The Bartender told the Customer.

“5 Grand?!” The Customer said, before looking back at Adagio, and smirking sadistically. “She looks like she’s worth it,” He said, and puts a brown envelope down on the bar.

The Bartender picked up the envelope, looked inside and smiled at what he saw. “Okay, same as always, take her out the back and don’t make too much noise,” He instructed the Customer.

Adagio had just finished wiping the last table, and she looked over at the two men at the bar, scowling in revulsion. “Gross, he’s staring at me again,” She thought with disgust and hatred, trying to finish her work as quickly as possible. “I should get out of here as soon as…” Adagio paused as she heard the bell above the entrance door, telling her someone had entered or left the Bar. She looked up and saw another man enter the Bar. She grimaced at his unkempt appearance. “Oh god please no! Not anymore rednecks!” Putting on a neutral expression, she walked over to the man. “I’m sorry, sir, we just closed so you’ll have to leave,” She said to the man, trying her hardest to hold her tongue, but the man just groaned and moaned at her. Despite her better judgement, Adagio couldn't help but feel that this was no ordinary drunk redneck. “Um, sir, are you okay?” She asked with a bit of concern. The man groaned again, before he straightened up, raising his head. His face was deathly pale, and his eyes were cloudy white. “Are… you okay?” Adagio asked again nervously. Before she could react, the man lunged at Adagio, shoving her down to the ground. “AHH! GET THE FUCK OFF ME!” Adagio screamed, struggling with all her might, as the man snapped his jaws, trying to bite her.

Turning toward the commotion, the two men at the Bar rushed over to save Adagio. The Customer grabbed the man and pulled him off her as hard as he could. “GET OFF HER! THAT'S MY NEXT PAYDAY-!” He yelled angrily, getting cut off as the man suddenly turned around towards the Customer and lunged at him, digging his teeth deep into the Customer’s throat, and ripping it out, blood spraying out like a garden sprinkler.

“OH GOD!” Adagio screamed in terror, crawling back away from the attacking, and flesh hungry man. The Bartender then dashed back to the bar and grabbed his gun from behind the counter. He ran over to the man who was still attacking the Customer. He then shot the man point blank in the head, killing him instantly. However, it was already too late for The Customer, as he choked on his own blood and died. “What the fuck!” Adagio said in utter shock, revulsion and disbelief, still crawling slowly away from the horrific sight.

The Bartender stared down at the remains of the mad man and his now dead Customer. “Fuck! Fucking, Fuck!” He shouted, panicking to himself. “This is the last thing I need now!”

“We need to call the police!” Adagio said as she shakily got back to her feet.

“NO! WE’RE NOT CALLING THE FUCKING COPS!” The Bartender yelled at Adagio. He took a deep breath to try and calm himself. “Okay, okay, let’s not panic.” He looked back at Adagio. “Go upstairs and grab all the bleach we got,” He told her.

“What!? You can’t be serious!?” Adagio yelled at her current boss in disbelief.

“I can’t have the Cops snooping around here! Now go upstairs and get the fucking bleach!” The Bartender yelled angrily back at her, and pointed his gun at her.

Adagio froze from fear at the sight of the gun. “Look there’s no need to…” she tried to reason, but, she trailed off as, suddenly, her eyes shrunk to the size of pinpricks, as she saw the dead and mutilated Customer rise back to his feet.

The Bartender noticed that Adagio was looking at something behind him. He turned and saw the Customer who he sold Adagio to standing behind him. “Didn’t you just die?” He said in confusion, before The Customer grabbed the Bartender and bit into his arm. “AHHHHH!” The Bartender yelled in agony, and shot his gun at the Customer’s head, sending him crumpling to the floor. “Bastard! How the fuck did you come back to life after-!” He was cut off as the door to the bar burst open, as several people forced their way in, and all of them had the same face as the first attacker, but they all looked like they had been half eaten. The group of half-eaten people advanced towards the Bartender and Adagio. The Bartender shot his gun at the intruders several times, but his efforts were in vain. One of the creatures got close enough to grab the Bartender, and forced him to the ground, as he continued to shoot his gun, before the creatures surrounded and began to devour him.

Adagio watched her former boss get eaten by the creatures in horror. “This can’t be happening,” she whispered in denial, as more of the creatures entered the Bar and slowly walked and stumbled towards her. From panic, Adagio ran to the staff room which was located upstairs on the second floor. Once Adagio ran through the first door, she tried to lock it, but the lock was broken. “Ohhh, you cheap bastard!” Adagio cursed her now dead boss. She ran on further upstairs as the creatures chased her. She stopped as one of her heels snapped off. Cursing under her breath, Adagio quickly took her shoes off, and continued to run upstairs. Once she made it inside the Staff room, Adagio barricaded herself inside with what she could get her hands on, and kept the creatures out. “Okay... that should hold... hopefully,” She said to herself, trying to catch her breath. “What are those things? Zombies or something?” She thought for a moment. “I know, I’ll check the news.” Adagio ran toward the staff T.V, and switched it over to the news. “Okay, let’s find out what the hell’s going on.”

On the news channel, a tall blond woman was giving a live and on location report.

“This is Angela Raines reporting live from Midtown Racoon City. As you can see behind me, the police have set up a blockade right across this entire street. However, the blockade does not appear to be holding back the horde of rioters. We do not know who these rioters are, or what they are rioting against, if anything. But one thing we do know is that their preferred method of attack appears to be biting people on the neck.”

“Wait a minute, Angela, are you saying there are people eating people out there?” Asked the news anchor.

“Yes, you heard me right,” Angela continued. “They are literally biting peoples necks, arms, legs, torsos, you name it. They are behaving more like rabid animals than human beings at this time.”

Suddenly, in the background, a horde of the creatures began breaking through a police blockade, and the police made a retreat.

“Clear the street!” One police man yelled at the newswoman, mere moments before one of the walking corpses, who was horribly mutilated, came right up to him and bit him right in his neck. The cop screamed in agony, with blood spurting from his mouth, and the creature pulled him down to the ground and proceeded to devour him.

“Umm, w-we've just b-been ordered to evacuate,” the news woman said as her voice quivered with barely suppressed terror.

“Oh shit, they’re getting closer!” The voice of the cameraman yelled as he pointed behind her at the oncoming horde.

“Quick, back to the van!” Angela yelled in panic, as the report was abruptly cut off.

The picture switched back to the newsroom, where the anchor man now looked nervous. “Uh, Ladies and Gentlemen, we have just lost contact with Angela Raines and…” He paused as someone ran up to him and whispered something to him. “And I’ve just been informed that we are to evacuate the studio. Martial Law has now been declared, effective immediately. Whatever you do, do not leave your homes!” The screen went to static, before showing the Emergency Broadcast Screen.

“Oh god, if that was Midtown then…” Adagio said to herself before trailing off. Suddenly, there was the sound of an explosion outside, and Adagio ran to the nearest window. She looked outside and saw the whole City in chaos. The buildings were on fire and people were being eaten left and right, and some people were even jumping to their deaths from high up places. “Oh god!” Adagio gasped as her hands covered her mouth as she looked at the horror unfolding in front of her eyes. She then turned as the staffroom door was being bashed against, meaning the creatures were trying to force their way in. “I need to escape!” Adagio looked frantically around the staff room to find something to help her escape, and she saw an extendable ladder. “Perfect!” She quickly grabbed the ladder and took it to the window. “Okay, hopefully I can use this as a makeshift bridge to the next building,” She said to herself as she opened the window. She extended the ladder and she managed to hook it to the neighbouring building’s fire escape.
“Okay, time to put my old stage strutting skill to the test,” Adagio said to herself to psyche herself up as prepared to cross her makeshift bridge. The door opened an inch, and Adagio quickly stepped on the bridge and carefully walked across it. As she walked across the ladder, it shook a little. “Easy Adagio!” She continued to cross the bridge, focused completely on reaching the other side. Inside the staffroom, the Creatures pushed the door open and flooded the room. One of them pushed on the ladder just as Adagio was nearing the other side. The bridge moved, and Adagio picked up the pace to cross the bridge before the creatures pushed it off the ledge.

The bridge was pushed off the ledge and Adagio ran towards the fire escape, and jumped and grabbed on to the escape just in time, and held on for dear life, as the ladder went tumbling down to the ground. Adagio pulled herself up onto the fire escape, and took a moment to catch her breath. “Okay, okay, I just need to find help and figure out what to do next,” She said, crawling to one of the apartment windows, which was luckily unlocked. She opened the window and entered the apartment. The room inside was a bedroom. She could hear music being played from another room, a song called X Gon Give It To Ya.

In the other room, a tall, physically imposing woman, who obviously had a military history from all the army paraphernalia and medals of service hanging from the walls, was doing an intense workout while playing X Gon Give It To Ya at full blast. The woman had dark cherry red hair that was styled in a Mohawk, and was wearing a tank top and khaki shorts.

The door to her bedroom slowly opened, and Adagio looked out of the crack and saw the woman doing some pull-ups. She looked around the room and saw the other door out of the room, and moving as carefully and quietly as she could, she crept towards the door as the Mohawk woman continued her work out. Just as she reached the door, and was about to open the door so she could escape, she froze as a combat knife suddenly appeared in front of her, with the blade barely half an inch away from her throat. “Don’t make any sudden moves,” The Mohawk woman said in a no-nonsense tone.

“Okay, I’ll do what you say. Just, please, put the knife down,” Adagio said to the knife-wielding woman, raising her hands in surrender.

“OK, start talking. What are you doing in my apartment?” The woman demanded.

“I was trying to escape these creatures back at this bar where I was working,” Adagio answered quickly, hoping not to anger this woman any further.

“What creatures?” The woman asked in a disbelieving tone.

“Haven’t you seen the news? The City’s in chaos!” Adagio said in a panicked voice.

“Hmm,” The woman frowned. “I don’t believe you're lying, but I don’t fully believe you, either.” Still holding her knife to her throat, she then made Adagio move from the door. “Alright, we’re going to turn on the TV and see if you're telling me the truth.” She made Adagio walk to the TV. “Turn it on,” She ordered.

“Okay,” Adagio said nervously, before racing out to turn on the TV, and switch it to the news channel. The broadcast showed a man sitting behind a desk with several microphones pointing at him.

“To all the citizens of Racoon City. We are facing a crisis like no other. The dead have risen and are attacking the living by eating them,” He began to explain the situation to anyone watching the news. “We are now calling the creatures Zombies, like the ones from the cliché horror films. Our information is limited, but from what we do know, it is by destroying the brain or damaging the head that can kill the zombies. We still do not know how it began, but we highly recommend that you all stay inside your homes and barricade yourselves inside. Take any measures that you deem necessary to ensure the safety of yourselves and those around you. Rest assured, we at the RCPD are doing everything within our power to bring an end to this crisis.” Once all this was said, the Woman turned off the TV.

“OK, I suppose you're not lying to me after all,” She said, finally lowering her knife.

“OK, right, so can I leave now?” Adagio asked.

“You can, but where do you plan to go?” The woman asked. “No doubt the streets are full of those Zombies.”

Adagio had to stop and think this through, which she had not had time for in the suddenness of everything that had happened. She had only escaped from the bar because she was being chased, and the only place for her to go was her apartment, her little shitty apartment, where no one is waiting for her to return. “I don’t know, I literally have no one to go back to,” Adagio said in a depressed tone, as she slumped to the ground, and the woman sat down next to her.

“Well, look, you should stay here, it’s safer here than it is out there,” she said before she stood up again. “Well, there’s nothing to do except put our feet up and get drunk. Do you want a beer?”

“Yeah, I could use a beer,” Adagio said gratefully. “It’s been one long, shitty day, and I need a drink.”

The woman nodded and walked to the Kitchen. “You know, you should get out of that stripper outfit,” she commented. “I’ve got some spare clothes that might fit you.”

“Thanks,” Adagio said as she got back to her feet, and walked back to the bedroom so she could change out of her waitress uniform, and into some normal clothes. After she got changed, there was a thud at the window. “Hmm, what was that?” She looked out the window and saw a zombie outside. She made eye contact with the moving corpse. She slowly moved towards the door, when, suddenly, the zombie broke through the window and into the room. “Ahhhhh!” Adagio screamed, as the zombie walked towards her. Just then, the door was kicked open, and the woman threw her knife at the zombie, hitting it in the head and killing the corpse once more.

“OK, come on, we have to leave,” She told Adagio.

“No arguments here,” Adagio said, not needing to be told twice.

The woman went to her closet and began to look for something, and also changing her exercise outfit for some military clothes. “What’s your name?” She asked Adagio.

“What?” Adagio said in slight confusion.

“Your name, I’ll need to know it if we’re going to work together,” The woman explained.

“Adagio Dazzle,” Adagio introduced herself. “And you are?”

The woman stepped away from the closet, having finished changing into her military uniform. “I’m Lieutenant Tempest Shadow of the Storm Brigade,” The now named Tempest introduced herself, before she then pulled a case from under her bed. “Grab some shoes, you don’t want to go outside barefooted,” she suggested to Adagio.

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” Adagio said with a frown, and quickly found some shoes to wear. “Thanks for lending me your clothes,” she said gratefully. “I suppose I’ll have to repay you for this.”

“It’s fine, just keep the clothes,” Tempest replied, holding up an M4 Rifle. She then held out an M9 double action pistol, and held out the handle to Adagio. “Here, you’ll need this,” she said seriously.

Adagio hesitated at the sight of the gun. “I don’t know how to use it, I’ve never used a gun before,” She explained hesitantly to Tempest.

“Here, I’ll show you how,” Tempest said, and showed Adagio how to use the gun. “Okay, that's all you need to know,” she said, as she finished showing Adagio the basics on how to use her gun.

“Okay, I think I know how to use this thing, now,” Adagio said, taking the gun from Tempest and testing its weight in her hand to get used to it.

“Now, just stay behind me, I’ll keep you safe,” Tempest said to Adagio, placing her hand on Adagio’s shoulder to reassure her.

Having Tempest say that to her made Adagio feel safe about staying with the Military woman. “Thanks,” she said with a smile. Before anything else could be said, another zombie entered the room through the broken window.

Springing into action, Tempest quickly shot at the Zombie with her M4, aiming for its head. The zombie fell to the ground, dead once more. “Alright, let’s move out,” Tempest told Adagio, who nodded firmly and followed her lead.

Tempest opened the door and looked into the hallway, looking both ways. Thankfully, the hallway was empty, however, some of the doors of the apartments were open, and blood was everywhere. “Coast is clear,” Tempest announced, stepping out into the hallway.

Adagio warily stepped out behind Tempest, her eyes darting back and forth, keeping an eye out for any movement. “How did this happen so fast?” Adagio asked, looking at the carnage all around them as they moved along the hallway.

“Stay close to me, and don’t make any sudden noises,” Tempest instructed Adagio who nodded. The two women slowly navigated through the hallway, passing by a good number of doors which were hanging open.

Adagio looked inside one of the apartments, and stared in horror as she saw a woman eating a child. “Oh god!” She gasped, almost vomiting at the gruesome sight of the woman eating the child.

“We don’t have time to dwell on it, just keep moving,” Tempest said grimly to Adagio, before leading her out of the apartment and onwards toward their goal, the ground floor. They made their way from the fourth floor to the third floor, which was just as bad as the fourth floor. “Shit! Why did I play my music so loud?! I could have helped these people!” Tempest admonished herself in guilt.

Adagio noticed the look of guilt on Tempest’s face. “Are you alright, Tempest?” She asked with slight worry in her voice.

“I’ll be fine, this is not the first time I’ve made a mistake,” Tempest replied, keeping up a serious and professional demeanour. “Come on, let's move.”

As Tempest and Adagio walked through the third floor, making their way to the second floor, a zombie walked out of the last apartment before the stairs. Demonstrating her highly honed reflexes, Tempest kicked it back inside and then slammed the door shut, trapping the zombie inside the apartment. “Why didn’t you shoot it?” Adagio asked, confused.

“Every bullet counts. Back in my days of service I learned to save every bullet possible,” Tempest explained to her.

Adagio understood what Tempest was telling her. “Ah okay,” They continued towards the second floor. When they reached the second floor, Adagio realized something. “Hey, why haven’t we seen more zombies yet?” She asked.

“They're either trapped inside the apartments or they're already outside,” Tempest said, keeping her guard up. They found the stairway that leads to the ground floor. “Stay here, I'll scout ahead.”

“Okay,” Adagio nodded. Tempest ran on ahead to check out the ground floor. As she waited, Adagio held the gun tightly in her hand. However, unknown to her, someone was approaching her from behind.

Tempest made her way down the stairway, looking around the corner and gasped at what she saw. The entire ground floor was full of zombies unable to leave the apartment building. Tempest slowly turned to climb silently back up the stairs, when she heard a gunshot from the second floor. “SHIT!” She yelled, and frantically ran back up the stairs, knowing that both her and the zombies heard the gunshot. She ran upstairs, and saw two men attacking Adagio, who was struggling desperately to get them off her. Tempest raised her gun and shot one of the men in his foot.

“AHHH! YOU FUCKING BITCH!” The wounded man screamed in pain and anger.

“LET HER GO!” Tempest yelled, pointing her rifle at the second man.

“Give me one good...” The second man said, but trailed off as his eyes widened in fear. “OH SHIT!” He yelled, letting Adagio go, before turning and running, abandoning his friend. Once he had fled, the zombies from the ground floor began to flood the second floor.

“Oh god,” Adagio gasped at the sight of the undead. Tempest then grabbed Adagio and pulled her into one of the opened apartments. Once inside, Tempest closed the door and pulled over a bookshelf to block it.

“NOOO! GET OFF MEEEEE!” They heard the wounded man scream from outside, before his screams subsided into silence.

Adagio fell to the floor, placing her hand over chest as she caught her breath, while Tempest checked the apartment for zombies. “Okay, it’s clear, we’re alone in here,” She confirmed to Adagio.

“We just left that guy to die,” Adagio said, as she finished catching her breath.

“Don’t get worked up about it. That man attacked you, he wasn’t our responsibility, and his friend abandoned him at the drop of a hat, that’s just the way it is,” Tempest said firmly. “We’ll have to use the fire escape now. The zombies have flooded both the first and second floors.”

“Will the fire escape be safer?” Adagio asked as she got back to her feet and walked over to Tempest.

“Safer than in here. The zombies are trapped inside the building, and we’re trapped in this apartment,” Tempest replied, before she walked towards the window that led to the fire escape. She looked outside to the alleyway. “I don’t see any zombies out there. If we’re fast enough we might find a mode of transport,” she said as she opened the window. “Alright, come on.”

Adagio nodded and walked up beside Tempest, and the two of them climbed out onto the fire escape, and climbed down to the alleyway. Once they reached the ground, Adagio looked apprehensive at Tempest. “So which way?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Just stay close, and keep quiet,” Tempest said cautiously, and walked towards the exit of the alleyway, with Adagio right behind her every step of the way.

The second they exited the alleyway, the front doors of the apartment building finally busted open and the zombies came flooding out into the streets. “SHIT!” Tempest yelled, and began to shoot her rifle at the zombies, aiming for their heads. As Tempest shoots the zombies, Adagio looks for something to help them escape from the horde. She then saw a police car with the driver and passenger doors open.

“Tempest, look, there's a police car there!” She called and pointed to the vehicle.

Tempest turned and saw the police cruiser. “Run for it, I’ll cover you!” she shouted. Adagio ran towards the police car and dived into the driver’s seat, while Tempest continued to shoot at the zombies, taking down several of them. She emptied her magazine and quickly swapped it for a fresh one. “COME ON!” Adagio called out to her frantically, and after shooting down one last zombie, Tempest ran to the car and sat in the passenger seat. “Start the car!”

Adagio turned the key to start the ignition, the engine revved into life, and slammed her foot down on the accelerator. The car took off as she drove like a mad woman to escape the zombies. Behind the two women, a young man who was laying down in the back seat sat up and saw the two women. “Hey! You're not the cops who arrested me!” He declared in surprise, startling the women.

“Wahhh!” Adagio yelped in shock as she almost crashed the car.

“Whoa!” Tempest called out as she pointed her rifle threateningly at the man in the back seat. “Who the fuck are you!?” She demanded.

“The name’s Mad Page, and who the fuck are you two?!” The man named Mad Page asked in annoyance.

“I’m Lieutenant Tempest Shadow, and this is Adagio Dazzle,” Tempest replied to Mad Page, still holding up her rifle.

“Okay, first, get the rifle out of my face, and second, where do you plan on going?” Mad Page asked Tempest with a glare.

“OK, fine,” Tempest said, and lowered her rifle from Mad Page’s face. She then turned on the radio to find out what was going on in the city.

“All Units return to the RCPD building immediately, I repeat, all Units return to the RCPD building,” The radio repeated the same message over and over until Tempest turned it off.

“Adagio, do you know where the RCPD building is?” she asked.

“I’ve not been in the city that long but I have a rough idea where it is,” Adagio replied.

“Take us there, the quickest route,” Tempest said.

“So you're taking me to the police station?” Mad Page asked suspiciously.

“Yes, it’s the only place that’s safe for the moment, unless you have any ideas?” Tempest asked Mad Page, to which he simply stared at her, but remained silent. “Just as I thought,” Tempest said with a nod and a frown.

As Adagio drove to the RCPD building, the three survivors looked out across the city, seeing more zombies, dead bodies, wrecked vehicles, and burning buildings. They were stunned by how quickly everything had fallen apart.

They finally reached the RCPD building. Adagio stopped the car, and they all saw that the whole street was blocked by civilian cars, Fire Trucks, and other police vehicles. “Oh, great. We’re not driving through this,” she said with a groan.

“Alright, everyone out, we’re gonna have to walk from here on,” Tempest said as she stepped out of the car. Adagio shut off the engine and also got out of the car, but Mad Page refused to leave the vehicle. Noticing this, Tempest opened the back door of the car. “Come on, you too,” She said to Mad Page, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him out.

“Look, lady, I’m not going inside that building with these on,” Mad Page said grumpily, holding up his cuffed hands.

“Listen to me, I’m not leaving you here,” Tempest said, “and I doubt the whole police department will care about you for the moment. They’ve got their hands full right now. Once we’re inside I’ll try to…” Tempest stopped talking when they heard gunshots coming from the RCPD building. “Something’s going inside,” She said, and she turned and jogged towards the police building, with Adagio and Mad Page right behind her.

Once they got through the outer gate, Adagio closed the gate behind them and bolted it shut. “Okay, that should keep them out.” Just after she said that, a zombie slammed itself against the gate, trying to break through. “Huh, nice try you undead asshole,” Adagio said smugly, and headed to the entrance of the RCPD. Inside the building's lobby, survivors from the City had gathered for safety, and police officers were running around everywhere, turning the police station into a fortress.

A cop looked up and saw Tempest with her rifle, and in a misunderstanding, he was about to reach for his gun. Tempest saw the cop about to pull out his firearm, and lowered her own. “US Military, hold your fire!” She ordered the police officer.

“Uh, yes, understood. Apologies Ma’am,” He replied as he re-holstered his own gun and gave her a salute, before gesturing to the other two. “Who are those people with you?”

“A waitress who is under my protection and a man who we saved when we found him in a police car,” Tempest explained, “He was arrested by another officer, we don’t know who. Can you please see about uncuffing him?”

“I’m sorry ma’am, but we've been ordered to move all non-authorised personnel to the underground Jail Cells,” The officer explained grimly to Tempest.

Tempest raised an eyebrow at this information. “Who’s in charge here?” She asked the officer.

“The Superintendent is in the Press Room in the East Wing,” The officer said. “Sorry, Ma’am, I still need to take these civilians to the cells,” he went on, pointing at Adagio and Mad Page.

Tempest gave the officer a stern look. “Before I let you take them anywhere, let me talk to your Supervisor first,” She said in a no-nonsense tone.

“Alright, Ma’am, but only because you served in the Military,” The officer relented, letting Adagio and Mad Page follow Tempest as he led them to see the Supervisor. As the three of them walked through the East Wing, the police were still running around and boarding up the windows in a panic, and trying to organize themselves. They soon entered the press room, where the Supervisor was yelling at his staff.

“What do you mean the cells are full? I’ve ordered you and your men to place all non-authorised Personnel in the underground Cells!” He yelled angrily. He was a man in his late 40’s, and was almost bald with only a combover covering his head.

There was also black Police officer standing there as the Supervisor continued to yell at him. “Sir, we only have 10 Cells, and there’s just too many Civilians to fit in them,” He tried to explain to the irate man.

“Don’t give me excuses! Give me results!” The Supervisor snapped in anger, slamming his hands on his desk. “Officer Branagh, if there’s too many Civilians to fit in the cells, then the solution is simple! Throw them back out onto the streets!”

“Sir, you can’t be serious?!” Officer Branagh said with a look of shock in his eyes.

“Dead serious!” The supervisor shot back, before he looked up and saw Tempest with Adagio and Mad Page. “Oh, so the Army has finally decided to show up, eh?” He said sarcastically, eyeing Tempest with a derisive look. “If you’re here, where’s the rest of your squad?”

“Unfortunately, there’s no squad, just me. I was on leave when this whole situation happened,” Tempest explained as she gave the Supervisor a clearly disgruntled look from the man’s tone.

“Ohh, fantastic,” the Supervisor said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

“Sir, what the hell is going on? How did this happen so fast?” Tempest asked, getting straight to the point.

“Well, as you can see, we’re screwed!” The Supervisor shouted in frustration. “We can’t get a signal out to anyone! Also, we’ve got more bodies than we know what to do with!” He then saw Adagio and Mad Page and glared at them. “Who the hell are they and what are they even doing in here?!” He demanded.

“Just two Civilians I found during this madness,” Tempest explained.

“Can someone take those two to the cells, NOW!” The Supervisor bellowed.

“What!?” Adagio yelled in shock.

“Oh come on!” Mad Page shouted in indignation.

Two other Police officers entered the Press room, dashed up to and grabbed Adagio and Mad Page.

“Hey, let me go!” Adagio protested.

“Try me you donut junkies!” Mad Page threatened.

“But Sir, there’s no more room, the cells are full!” Officer Branagh tried to protest, but the Supervisor just sniffed.

“Then throw them outside!” He yelled once more.

“Alright, look here!” Tempest shouted in annoyance, “I'm the highest ranking officer here, and these two are under my protection, and they are not going anywhere without my say so!”

The Supervisor stood up from his desk with a very angry scowl on his face. “You dare come into this station, and start waving your rank around!” He bellowed at the top of his lungs, as he pulled his handgun out and pointed it at Tempest. “I should blow your head clean off for such disrespect!”

Tempest scowled as she lost patience with the uncooperative man, and quickly pointed her rifle squarely at his head. “Try it, and I’ll put a hot piece of lead right between your eyes!” She yelled furiously, as the other police officers pointed their own guns warningly at her.

They were all now at a standoff, with Mad Page and Adagio caught right in the middle of it. “Alright, everyone calm down!” Officer Branagh called out as he stepped forward, trying to defuse the standoff. “We are all a little scared and we don’t know what’s going to happen next. But shooting each other won’t help anyone right now. We need all the bullets we have to fight the dead, so let’s all just put the guns down.” After hearing his words, everyone calmed down and lowered their guns. “Alright, now how about instead of just throwing people outside to die, we let them help us fortify the station?” Officer Branagh then suggested to the Supervisor.

“Okay, you’ve got a good point, Officer Branagh,” The Supervisor said with a smirk, “We’ll put the Civilians to work.”

“Wait a minute, that's not what I…” Officer Branagh tried to protest.

“Send those two to barricade the windows, and bring up everyone else who wants to continue to stay here. Tell them that everyone pulls their weight or they get thrown out!” The Supervisor declared to his officers the new law of the station. “You go outside and make sure nothing gets through the gate!”

Tempest scowled in disgust at the Supervisor. “Sure, I'll watch the gate,” She said with contempt in her voice, and turned to leave the Press room. “Don’t let your guard down,” She whispered to Adagio as she left, before she and Mad Page were escorted to the cells.

(HR)

Hours had passed since the new law that the Supervisor invoked was put into effect, and a good number of people were thrown back into the dead-infested streets of the city when seen as ‘not useful’. Throughout all of this, Tempest was forced to watch the gate, and watch the civilians as they dug graves for the dead, and she felt truly sorry for them.

Meanwhile, Mad Page and Adagio were sitting inside a cell and waiting for their next work shift to start.

“How long have we been here?” Adagio asked as she sat on the cell's only bunk bed.

“I don’t know,” Mad Page said, as he knelt down on the floor and looked closely at the cell door lock. “If push comes to shove I’ll pick the lock so we can get out. Do you have a hair pin?” He asked.

“Sorry, I gave all the hair pins I had to a little girl,” Adagio replied with a sheepish smile.

“Aw, that’s nice,” Mad Page said with a smile, before he moved to sit down next to Adagio. “Well, we’ll just have to hope that Tempest gets down here soon and let’s us out.”

“Yeah, let’s hope,” Adagio agreed, wishing that Tempest would come and get them soon.

Outside at the entrance gate, Tempest was pacing up and down, trying to figure out what to do next. “What can I do? That Supervisor has turned this place into his own little kingdom, and we’re outnumbered and outgunned,” She thought to herself in frustration at how powerless she felt.

Just then, Officer Branagh exited the RCPD building and walked up to join Tempest. Outside, the zombies were swarming against the gate, trying to push it down. So far, they'd been unsuccessful, but for how much longer. “Man, they're never going to stop,” He said as he approached Tempest.

“Yeah, it’s bad. That gate’s built to withstand heavy weapon fire, but it can’t hold forever. Can I help you with anything?” Tempest asked him.

“No, just seeing what’s going on out here,” Officer Branagh replied with a friendly tone. “I can’t believe how this isn’t a dream,” He stated in a mix of awe and dread.

“I know, this whole mess feels so surreal, I keep thinking I’m going to wake up at any moment,” Tempest said, agreeing with Officer Branagh.

“Hey, listen, you’ve been out here long enough, you should go get some coffee, I’ll keep watch for you,” Officer Branagh offered.

“Alright, thanks. God knows, I need some coffee,” Tempest said with a weary shake of her head, taking the offer to get some coffee. “Are you sure you're going to be okay taking my watch?”

“Yep, go on. I’ve got this,” Officer Branagh said with a reassuring nod.

Tempest entered the building, the inside of which was more of a bad horror house than a police station. “How did it come to this?” She asked herself with a heavy voice, as she walked through the building to find the break room. “Ahh, my neck feels stiff as hell,” she said with a groan as she rubbed her neck to relieve the stiffness.

After rubbing her neck, she looked up and saw the Supervisor on the third floor acting suspicious. “What is he doing up there?” She asked herself, and walked through the empty station, the halls that were once filled with survivors now only had barricades and boarded up windows, with only some cops patrolling the hallways.

She passes through the armoury, passing two police officers who were wearing riot equipment. She remains cautious and keeps her distance from the two officers.

She made her way to the second floor and navigated her way to find the stairway. When she reached the third floor, she came across a door that read S.T.A.R.S. “Hmm, S.T.A.R.S, I’ve heard of those guys.” Making sure no one was watching, she entered the S.T.A.R.S room, which was clearly an office, and saw a duffel bag sitting on the desk. She stepped closer, opened up the bag, and took a look inside. “Food, guns, and enough ammunition for a whole squad.” Tempest then looked around the room and saw a personal armoury cage. She took the bag and locked it inside the cage, before taking the Card Key for the cage with her. “Whoever filled this was holding out on all of us, and I’ve got a good idea who it was.” She then left the S.T.A.R.S Room and continued to make her way through the third floor. As she made her way down a corridor, she saw two doors. “If I’m remembering this right, the right door leads to the clock tower, so what does the left door lead to? Hmm.” She decided to check the clock tower first, mostly because it was the closest. When Tempest entered the clock tower, which was under repairs, she looked around the tower, and spotted a device on the ground. It’s a tripod with a satellite dish rotating at a full 360 degrees. She recognised what the device was instantly. “A fucking signal jammer!” She whispered to herself in shock, and then kicked over the jammer and crushed it under her heel. “I haven’t seen one of those since I was on my last tour. Who in their right mind...” She was brought out of her musing when her radio crackled into life as it picked up a transmission.

“If anyone can hear this, this is the national guard. We are evacuating everyone at the Racoon City High School. The last chopper leaves at midnight. This message will be repeated.”

Tempest’s eyes widened in shock and surprise. “The National Guard is evacuating people!? The Supervisor said that the last…!” She suddenly turned her head as gunshots were heard outside. She looked outside of the glass face of the clock tower, and saw that the front gate that Adagio had locked when they arrived was now wide open, letting the swarms of the dead inside. “OH SHIT!” She yelled in terror, before turning on her heel and running at a breakneck pace back out of the clock tower.

When she made it back to the third floor, she ran straight towards the S.T.A.R.S room to retrieve the duffle bag. When she got to the door, she slammed into the door, shoving it open with her shoulder. Once inside the room, she stopped in her tracks as she saw The Supervisor, who was trying hard to open the cage to get at the bag.

“WHO THE FUCK PUT MY BAG INSIDE THE FUCKING CAGE!” He screamed in boiling rage, before turning and seeing Tempest, just as she aimed her rifle at him.

“Move away from the cage!” She demanded. The Supervisor merely glared at Tempest in anger and disgust, as he slowly tried to reach for his gun. “DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE!” Tempest bellowed at him furiously.

“So, what are you doing here?” The supervisor asked Tempest with contempt in his voice.

“I’m here for that bag, and why are you here?” Tempest shot back.

“What a coincidence, I’m already here for the bag. You know if you help me open this cage, we’ll split it between us,” The Supervisor said with a sly smile, trying to tempt into an offer for a cut of his stash.

“Hmm…, alright, deal,” Tempest said, pretending to take the Supervisor’s offer. She lowered her rifle and walked towards the cage. She then used the Card Key and the lock on the cage opened.

Thinking he had won, the Supervisor then pulled out his gun and pointed it at Tempest. “Thank you for unlocking the cage, now get out of the way before I shoot you!” He shouted.

Calling on all of her army training, Tempest pulled out her knife and threw it at the Supervisor. It landed in his forearm and he shot his gun in reaction to the pain. “AHHHH! YOU FUCKING BITCH!” He screamed at her in anger and pain.

Tempest pointed her rifle at the Supervisor again. “Pathetic,” She spat in disgust, “I’ve dealt with shitheads like you before and you're all the same.”

“Now, hold on, you won’t kill a fellow human? Right?” He pleaded with fear and cowardice in his eyes.

“No, you’re not worth the bullet,” Tempest said grimly, before lowering her voice and narrowing her eyes in a dark look. “Now, leave, and pray to God that you’ll never see me again,” she threatened grimly. Seeing that she was deadly serious, The Supervisor took her threat at her word, and bolted out of the room, running for his worthless life. Nodding in satisfaction, Tempest then grabbed the bag from the cage and ran to the underground Cells to find Adagio and Mad Page.

Down in the cell, Mad Page was pacing up and down the cell to pass the time. “How much longer are you going to do that for?” Adagio asked him as she rested her chin in her hands.

“Until someone comes down here and let’s us out,” Mad Page replied with a shrug. “You know, I have to ask, where’s…” He was suddenly interrupted by the sound of gunshots and screams which could be heard from outside. They both leapt over to the bars to see what was going on.

“Alright, next cell!” A man's voice shouted.

“What’s going on?” Adagio asked Mad Page nervously.

“I think they're killing the survivors,” Mad Page said as he looked back at Adagio with a dark look in his eyes, making her gasp in shock and fright.

More gunshots and screams were heard, as the cops got closer to Mad Page and Adagio cell by cell. Two cops then appeared outside the cell and stared at Adagio and Mad Page with narrowed eyes, before raising their guns, aiming them at the trapped pair. However, just before they could pull the triggers, a gunshot rang out from a rifle, and one of the cops was jolted sideways as hole appeared in his head. The second cop turned, but before he could aim his gun, he also got shot in his head, and both cops collapsed to the ground, both in a pool of blood. Adagio waited with apprehension to see what would happen next, but then breathed a sigh of relief as the unknown shooter ran up to the cell, revealing themself to be Tempest. “Are you two okay?” She asked.

“Yes, we’re fine, but what the hell is going on?” Adagio asked.

“The damn Supervisor opened the front Gate and the dead are now flooding the station,” Tempest replied, opening the cell to let Adagio and Mad Page out. “Hey, Mad Page, what were you arrested for?” She asked Mad Page.

“Nothing major, just GTA,” Mad Page said with a nonchalant shrug.

“Perfect! I’ve got a job for you,” Tempest said, and she led the two survivors out of the underground cells, down a set of corridors, and emerging out into an underground parking area for all the RCPD vehicles. “Can you Hotwire one of those armoured vans?”

“Yeah, I can Hotwire it,” Mad Page said with a grin, and ran over to the nearest armoured van.

Tempest then took off the bag with the supplies and gave it to Adagio. “You get in the back, and I’ll join you soon.” She told the former siren, and ran to the gate. Adagio quickly ran over to the armoured van and hopped inside while Mad Page was hotwiring the engine. Sure enough, he got the vehicle started.

Meanwhile, Tempest was about to open the gate out of the parking lot, when she blanched as a shot sounded, and a bullet grazed the floor mere inches from her feet. She turned to see who had shot at her, and glared with fury at who it was.

There was the Supervisor, who was standing behind a car with his gun pointing at her and matching her angry glare with twisted, malicious glare of his own. “Alright, Miss Military, step away from the gate,” He told Tempest in a demanding tone. “And you, get out of the van,” He ordered Mad Page, who stepped out of the van and raised his hands. “Hold on a minute. Where’s the other one?” He asked after not seeing Adagio.

“She’s dead, not like you care,” Mad Page replied as he stared the older man down.

“Aw, how sad for you two,” The Supervisor said mockingly, before bellowing, “NOW MOVE AWAY FROM MY VAN!” Mad Page merely nodded, looking almost bored, as he moved away from the armoured van.

Inside the van, Adagio was hiding in the back. She opened up the bag and looked for something to help them. Her eyes widened as she found a Glock and some ammo, before quickly loading it. “Alright, all I have to do is shoot that piece of shit, and then we can escape from this god forsaken place.” She said to herself with a smile, and got herself ready to help Mad Page and Tempest. She opened the back door slowly, and was about to take careful aim at the Supervisor, but paused as a strange hissing noise reached her ears. She looked up and saw something crawling on the ceiling of the parking lot. “What the hell?” She whispered to herself.

As Tempest and Mad Page moved away from where they stood, The Supervisor kept his gun trained on the two of them.

Mad Page looked darkly at the cowardly man. “So what-” he tried to say, but stopped as the Supervisor shot his gun at Mad Page.

“Shut up!” He shouted in frustration. “Now, the two of you are going to-” He abruptly stop speaking as a creature jumped out from the shadows and landed on top of the Supervisor, knocking him to the ground. The creature looked like a humanoid monster that had been pulled inside out. With its huge claws, it tore the screaming Supervisor to pieces, and then began to consume him.

After being momentarily stunned at the sudden and horrific occurrence, Tempest looked over at Mad Page. “Get to the van!” she shouted. Mad Page ran back to the van, while Tempest ran to the gate. Tempest opened the gate, which distracted the creature's attention from it’s gruesome feast, towards the opening gate, and also, Tempest. It let out a ferocious hiss and charged towards her. Just before it could reach her, Mad Page restarted the van. At the sound of the vans engine, the creature’s attention was now on the van.

Mad Page, who was now in the driver's seat, sees the creature looking in his direction. “OH SHIT!” He exclaimed as the creature crawled towards the van.

With it’s attention off her, Tempest aimed her rifle and began to shoot wildly at the creature. “FLOOR IT!” She yelled to Mad Page, who did as he was told, slamming his foot down on the accelerator, and the van shot forward, and slammed into the creature, throwing it across the floor. The creature was stunned for a moment, before it got up and shot out its tongue at Tempest, which was extremely long. Tempest jumped out of it’s way just in time, and as it got closer, she jumped and grabbed onto the van, and held on tight while Mad Page drove out of the parking area, onto the road, and sped away from the Police Station. Breathing a sigh of relief, she opened the passenger door and climbed into the van. Once she was safely inside, she looked into the back to check on Adagio. “Are you okay?” She asked.

“Yes, I’m fine,” Adagio said, her hand over heart from the harrowing experience. “What happened back there? What about that...that thing? What the hell even was that?”

“That doesn't matter now,” Tempest said seriously. “All that matters is that we escaped from that god forsaken place, and we’re getting as far away from here as possible.”

“So what now? Where are we going?” Mad Page asked as he drove onwards.

“Do you know where the High School is?” Tempest asked.

“Yeah, I know where that is, why?” Mad Page replied.

“I received a transmission from the National Gourd. They said they were evacuating civilians from the High School with helicopters,” Tempest explained.

“What? Are you sure?” Adagio asked with wide eyes.

“Yes, but the last helicopter leaves at midnight,” Tempest finished explaining.

“How long do we have left?” Mad Page asked.

Tempest checked her watch. “40 minutes,” She replied.

“OK, then no screwing around, let’s do this!” Mad Page shouted, and drove at full speed towards the high school.

After 30 minutes of fast driving, Mad Page, Adagio and Tempest finally made it to the school.

“Alright, people, we’ve got 10 minutes. Let’s move!” Tempest told Adagio and Mad Page, and the three of them jumped out of the van. Adagio grabbed the bag of supplies from the back of the van and followed Tempest and Mad Page towards the school entrance. As they crossed the street to reach the school, they came to a stop as the sound of screeching brakes was heard, and a Cable Tram came to a stop near them. Tempest pointed her rifle at the Tram, and Adagio passed the Glock she found to Mad Page who also pointed it at the Tram. Adagio then searched through the bag and pulled out another gun for herself.

The Tram’s door then opened, and a young woman with red and yellow streaked hair jumped out of the Tram with her hands up in the air. “We’re not looking for a fight, we’re just trying to escape the city!” She called out to them.

Upon hearing the woman's voice, Adagio’s eyes widened in recognition and shock. She knew that voice anywhere, and wouldn’t forget it for as long as she lived. “Sunset Shimmer?! Is that you?!” Adagio called to her.

“Adagio Dazzle?!” Sunset called back, looking just as shocked as she stepped into the light to reveal her face.

“Do you know her?” Tempest asked.

“Yes, I do,” Adagio replied with a scowl, as she stared at the woman she had not seen for years, the same woman who had ruined her life, and now, at the worst possible time, within the city of the dead, and surrounded by all kinds of nightmares, she had been reunited with Sunset Shimmer, the one person she had hoped never to see again.

To Be Continued…