Resident Evil: Guardian
Chapter 12
"Crimson"

Bring you down with...
Seven Point Six Two High Velocity!

I can see them everywhere
They're all around me
They're waiting for me

Descending
Unrelenting
Beauty of annihilation

Elena Siegman - "Beauty of Annihilation"

They came at us running. Running! Straight out of the dark interior of the shipping container. Out of the blackness like in a freaking little children's nightmare. Hissing, snapping, their skin was a sick brown and decomposing. Their bodies were muscular and all dressed in the same blue jumpsuits. And their eyes, they were completely bloodshot, absent of any pupils.

They were colored crimson. The color of blood.

And as they charged towards us, a seriously scary fucking thought ran through my head. They could run. And if they could run, maybe they could jump. And if they could jump, maybe they can climb…and if they can climb, then they can think, and if they can think…

I…I really don't want to think about it.

The shock and terror generated by these new crimson head, running zombies lasted for a second before I realized that they were charging our lines, and getting pretty damn close, too.

Reflexes and training overpowered my fear, taking control of my body. I sighted my target; a tall, lanky male zombie with long, shoulder length blonde hair. He was one of the undead in the front of the pack, leading the other crimson heads. I squeezed the trigger.

A three round burst escaped my rifle's muzzle and I silently swore. I had forgotten to switch my fire mode from Burst to Single Shot. With the burst mode selected, I will run through my remaining ammo at a extremely fast rate. And with the undead swarming up to us at high speed, I had no time to fiddle with my settings.

The burst that I fired hit the undead I was aiming for, but the shot went wide and only struck him in the chest. He flew backwards and face planted into the ground. He was incapacitated for moment, so I switched targets and opened fire at a second crimson head. This one went down permanently as the bullets found their mark and tore open her skull. Another one ran up, right beside her and I lit him up too. Then, spying the first zombie I hit struggling to stagger to his feet, I aimed carefully and sent another burst of rounds into his face. Promptly splattering his brains and whatnot across the Nevada sand.

Squeezing the trigger twice, in quick succession, I took down another crimson head. But then, I caught a blur of movement out of the corner of my eye. Turning slightly to the left, I spotting a single undead rushing forward, trying to catch me off guard. And this bastard was close.

In a bit of a panic, I brought my rifle to bare, jerking the trigger, unnerved.

The three rounds that shot out missed completely and I pulled the trigger again, swearing loudly. These rounds struck the undead's shoulder. Piercing through flesh and out the other end. Despite the fact that I missed the brain; hitting the zombie's shoulder slowed him down considerably. This gave me the initiative and as the zombie was just about right on top of me, I swung the butt of my rifle around and smashed into his face. He hit the sand and I aimed at his now flattened form. A quick pair of trigger squeezes and he was finished.

I looked up and aimed my rifle again. Spying another wave of crimson heads charging out of the freight container (Christ! How many of them can fit in there?!) I pulled the trigger.

The M-16 clicked. Empty magazine.

Perfect fucking timing. Now, completely out ammunition, my rifle was just about useless.

Just about.

Thinking fast, I switched to the M203, the under-barrel grenade launcher attached to my M-16. With no time to pop up the rail system to properly aim the launcher, I guesstimated the angle and prayed for the best…

"Eat Forty-Mike-Mike! Motherfu-!" I yelled as I pulled the trigger and a loud THUMP echoed as the 40mm flew up into the air and arched it's way down…

…Right into the opening of the freight container.

What a shot!

There was a small explosion as the 40mm HE round struck a crimson head directly on the chest. His body promptly exploded and his fellow zombies were shredded by shrapnel. A huge cloud of dust and sand shot into the air and I released a tiny smile of satisfaction as I dropped my rifle to the ground and switched to my M9 sidearm. Glancing over to the left, I saw Carlos, Mikey, Claire, Alice and other convoy survivors finishing off a few surviving undead. And here I thought we were in trouble…

"Look out!" Somebody cried out, and I looked back up.

They came back at us. Through the dust cloud that obstructed our vision, another wave of seriously fucking fast undead in numbers that were seemingly larger than before. Eyes wide and scared shitless, I raised my pistol up with a jerk and I fired off a few shots. My aiming was off and only a lucky few struck their targets, and none of them were headshots.

A survivor ahead of me hefted a shotgun and let rip a shell that tore the head off a nearby zombie. She then turned, trying to switch targets in time but the other undead were too quick. They were upon her in a second, and in that second, I saw the destructive force that they carried with them.

These crimson heads, these monsters tore the poor woman apart, literally. She released a terrified shriek before the zombies ripped her vocal cords from her throat…along with her arms and legs.

I resisted the urge to vomit as I gagged and hurriedly aimed down my weapons sights. I shot off a few more rounds and began a steady retreat, walking backwards while still firing. Stopping only to reload. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the crimson head zombies overrunning and taking down other members of the convoy. I realized that holding this ground was suicide. We had to fallback. They're too fast and there's too many. We have to fallback…!

The scream that pierced through the chaos of battle sealed the deal for me. Sure, there was plenty of screaming and yelling going on. But this scream was different. This scream was special.

This scream was her scream.

"Kmart!" I cried out. Sprinting back, towards the convoy, running as fast as my feet could carry me. Behind me, I could still hear the hisses of undead who were giving chase and I turned around, bringing my pistol up with one hand, all of this while still running.

There were two behind me. They were seriously fucking fast! They neared closing the gap between us while I opened fire.

Most of my shots missed but a lucky shot clipped a crimson head in the shoulder. He staggered for a bit before running at me again, full speed sprint.

Oh shit…

Suddenly, the zombie in front took multiple hits from small arms fire. A round went through his eye and he fell. Mere seconds after, another hailstorm of lead fell upon the other undead, ripping his body apart. He face planted into the ground, dead. I stopped running are scanned the area for whoever just saved my ass.

I caught sight of something upwards and saw Chase, giving me a small wave from up atop the replicated Eiffel Tower. I nodded a silent thanks before sprinting off, towards the direction Kmart must have ran to.

Paying no heed to the chaos around me, I searched the line of vehicles, looking for some sign of the girl I had developed such strong feelings for. At this point, my thoughts were panicked, clouded, and downright irrational. I had to find Kmart. Nothing else mattered at this point.

Hearing her voice yelling from the 8x8, I felt adrenaline surge through me and I rushed forward. There was a single undead at the truck, bashing his fists against the passenger side door. I could hear Kmart from within the truck, shouting and swearing at zombie to, "Leave me the fuck alone!"

Without hesitation, I stepped forward, pistol raised and spoke up. "Hey! Asshole." The crimson head stopped assaulting the door, he whipped his body around to face me and hissed.

"The lady asked you to fuck off!" I fired several rounds which ripped through rotting flesh and he fell, dead as dead can be.

"Behind you!" Kmart shrieked and I spun around just in time to catch sight of an undead right before he tackled me to the ground. I hit the sand, hard and lost grip on my pistol. With the zombie on top of me, I balled my hand into a fist and clocked him across the face, while at the same time, my other hand went to his neck and I clutched it with the tightest grip I could muster. I pushed up with all my strength. If I could keep him in that position, then he wouldn't be able to bend his head down to bite me.

I eyes connected with the zombie's crimson eyes and I saw death itself staring back at me. The crimson head seemed to…sneer at me and I reacted by pulling my free arm around for another punch at his head.

What I didn't expect was for the zombie to catch my fist with his palm and pull my arm to the ground with astonishing strength. Pinning me to the ground, near helpless.

The undead, h-he just showed some signs of…Jesus Christ! Was that intelligence?!

This isn't happening. This isn't fucking happening…!

He glanced down to my arm which gripped his neck and brought forth a free hand which clamped on my wrist with bone crushing force. I cried out in pain from the iron grip and the undead tore my hand away from his neck, pinning me down, now completely helpless.

Oh my god…

I stared up at him, terrified. I vaguely remember Kmart screaming my name and the realization hit me. I was going to die. I was going to die and Kmart was right there!

Kmart was going to watch me die.

The undead dove his head down and I felt a force against my chest. I yelped and the undead bite down. His head came back upward and I expected his mouth to be full of my blood.

But instead, I saw nothing but a torn, dull, grayish colored cloth hanging in his mouth. It was from my ballistics vest! My body armor stopped the undead's bite!

The crimson head spat out the torn up cloth and seemed to glare down at me. My mind was busy rushing through a dozen different escape plans when suddenly the undead's head exploded.

My head smacked into the ground, shocked and bits of gore splashed across my face. The headless corpse of the zombie fell limp over me. I pushed the carcass off and looked up to find one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen before in my life.

"You okay?"

It was Kmart, cradling a shotgun with a smoking barrel.

Hallelujah, sweet baby Jesus.

"Come one! Get up!" She helped me to my feet and guided me over to the 8x8, piling into the driver and passenger seats. She locked the reinforced door behind us, and I released a painful breath I was holding.

"Thanks." I said between exhausted breaths.

"No problem." She said, concerned. I looked at her and she bit her lip. "Are you…", Her words trailed off, and she shook her head before continuing. "Did the zombie, uh, did it-"

"No." I reassured her, knowing what she was going to ask. I looked down at my chest and pointed at the tear in my armored vest. "The Kevlar saved my life." I gave her a small, comforting smile and she looked relieved. That's good.

She nodded and we both looked out the windows, towards the combat outside. It wasn't a very pretty sight. We were losing people left and right. There was no other way to describe it. Complete chaos. 100% Grade-A Clusterfuck.

Loud claps of gunfire right next to the truck drew my attention outside. LJ was there, his Desert Eagle raised, cutting down a zombie who was charging towards him. I was reminded of my own pistol which I abandoned outside. I mentally kicked myself for that.

LJ's sidearm clicked empty and he swore. He threw the weapon to the ground and his face started darting left and right, looking for some sort of safety.

We had to help him.

Kmart kicked open the door and I yelled at him. "LJ! Get your ass inside!"

He gladly accepted the invitation and jumped into the cramped driver's space. Slamming the door behind him, a single undead only a few seconds away from the truck.

Needing to make room in order for LJ to fit, Kmart scooted over to the nearest possible seat, which just so happened to be on top of my lap. Hormones relished and I had to mentally kick myself again in order to focus. Now is not the time for this.

I also pleaded to God that she wouldn't notice the tightening sensation or bulge beneath her.

"You okay?" I said to LJ who looked worse for the wear.

"Fuckin peachy." He groaned. I was going to comment on his battered look but a loud slam on the passenger side door stole our attention.

There was an undead at LJ's side of the vehicle. He kept bashing the door, his fist no doubt putting dents into the metal. Seeing how it was futile, he then went for the window, tearing off the iron gating welded to the truck and then smashing the glass itself. He released one last hiss and snarl before Kmart pumped the shotgun she held and sent a 12 Gauge clean through the crimson head's skull. The kickback from the weapon sent shockwaves through Kmart and into me, the recoil was incredible. The corpse fell limply to the ground and Kmart set the shotgun off to the side.

"We're out of shells." She stated, quietly. I nodded and glanced back out, towards the chaos.

"The hell are these things?" I asked LJ and he shrugged.

"Zombies on steroids apparently."

"Is now really the best time to be making jokes?" Kmart questioned him.

"Now may be the last time we'll be able to…" He replied on a down note, his face was seldom serious and that sent the shocking truth through me.

We really are kind of fucked right now, aren't we?

Suddenly, the backdoors to the news van sprung open and out jumped Mikey. There were undead around his ride, tearing the van apart. He had bailed out and was trying to get away when a single undead from atop the van, jumped off and managed to grab hold of his ankle, bringing him down to the sand.

Kmart screamed his name.

He began wrestling with the undead, trying with all his might to get the zombified bitch off of him. But she was too strong and was about to sink her teeth into his flesh when her head promptly exploded. I looked into the rear view mirror for where the shot came from.

And there was Claire, beside the Hummer, holding a smoking rifle.

"Mikey! Over here!" She yelled, her rifle sending another round down range, striking another zombie in the chest.

But there were just too many of them for Claire to take down. Mikey tried as hard as he could to get away, but the undead overtook and overwhelmed him. He fell and we could do nothing but sit and helplessly watch as he was torn apart by the crimson heads. Kmart gasped, the tears springing down her cheeks, and her hand cupped her mouth to keep from screaming. I snapped my eyes shut and pulled Kmart closer. She couldn't see this. She didn't need to see this.

She whimpered and I held her tight, her tears soaking my shirt. Christ, this… this is just too much! We've lost so many already and now…? Damnit! It's not fair! It's not fucking fair!

I barely took heed to Claire and Carlos cleaning up the remaining infected outside. Instead, the nearby hissing sound caught my notice, my eyes opened and I looked up.

Oh God…no…

LJ was… LJ was one of them!

How did we not see it? How could we not have seen the signs? He was sick, feverish, tired, sweaty, lethargic, pale, there were bag beneath his eyes. Those we're clear signs of infection. How? How could be not have known?!

Maybe because it was LJ.

LJ, the convoy's heart and soul. He had a joke for every occasion, capable of making anyone and everyone laugh. Lighthearted, kind, full of life LJ.

He couldn't be dead, he just couldn't.

But he was. Or at least undead.

Sensing the impending doom, Kmart glanced up, just in time to see LJ lean in to bite.

She screamed and I kicked my boot up, pressing it firmly into his chest, effectively keeping the zombified LJ away from Kmart. He wasn't going to get to her. I'd die first.

Suddenly, another pair of hands grasped LJ from behind, pulling him off of us. It was Carlos. He looked confused. As if trying to make sense out of our situation.

Then, LJ bit into his arm.

Carlos cried out in pain as he tossed LJ out the 8x8. He squirmed as he tried to get back up, trying to bite him again.

"LJ…" Carlos said quietly, pistol raised as the now zombie LJ made a last ditch lunge upwards.

Carlos fired.

I flinched as the pistol sounded off. As much as I hate it, there was nothing I could to. LJ was gone. We have to move on.

Breathing heavy, with tired eyes, Carlos looked at us.

"Have you seen Alice?"

I shook my head. "No"

He nodded before speaking again. "You two alright?"

I didn't speak for a moment. I certainly didn't feel alright. In fact, I felt like complete shit, the worst I've felt in a long time… but Kmart was still alive, I can't complain. Not now. Not after all this…

I glanced down at Kmart once more, her breathing was rough and her eyes were still wide with shock. I shook my head and looked at Carlos.

"We're still alive." I told him and he nodded, understanding the hidden meaning behind my answer. Sure, we we're fine physically, but mentally? I'll be carrying the scars of today with me for the rest of my life…

"Come on," Carlos said, motioning towards us. "The rest of the undead are gone." He gave one last depressed look at the fallen LJ before he walked back over to the back of the 8x8, helping the kids out of the back.

My eyes followed him as he went; LJ had bitten Carlos, there was no point in denying that, Carlos was infected.

Carlos was going to die.

I swallowed a lump in my throat at the thought of that. One more name to add to our list of dead.

I glanced down to Kmart, she was still clutching my chest, her eyes wide, still in a bit of shock.

I hoped to god that she didn't realize that Carlos was bit, her heart was broken enough already…

"Kmart, come on, we need to go." I nudged her shoulder and she snapped out of her dazed state, looking upwards to me.

"Okay." She whispered and I opened up the truck door on my side. I-I don't think I have the strength to walk over LJ's corpse…

Stepping out of the 8x8, the first thing I noticed was the soft, quiet sobs. It was Claire; grieving over Mikey's fallen form. Kmart bit her lip and sniffled at the sight, I gave her shoulder a small squeeze and she look up, eyes red and puffy.

"Claire could use you right now." I whispered to her and she nodded, nearly running over to Claire and enveloping her in a comforting hug. The two of them cried together and I turned away. As much as I wanted to cry alongside them, I couldn't. They needed to be alone.

My radio started squawking, Carlos was broadcasting over it. "Chase, come in. Are you on this frequency? Chase, respond. Chase?!" He kept trying and I realized it was hopeless. Chase was gone. Another fallen friend.

I squeezed my eyes shut and buried my face into my palms. Dozens of names, faces and memories flashed through my mind. My long list of the dead.

All my comrades lost back in Colorado, Otto, Betty, Chase, Mikey, LJ, soon to be Carlos…Mom…

And then slowly, but surely…I felt apart of myself die inside.

…Fuck…

Yay, another chapter done. And we're nearing the end, got about 4 more to go!
And in a slighty related note; they just released a trailer for Resident Evil: Afterlife, which for some reason, they find the need to put in the movie in 3D.
Seriously? wtf?

And now, to the following, thank you for reviewing both chapter 10 & 11:

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Till next time
-Tomato