What should have been a 20 to 30 minute drive turned into over an hour long drive.
Saya was right, the roads were infact not clear.
Abandoned cars and walking corpses littered the streets.
The bright orange light of the setting sun cast down to the earth.
In a residential neighborhood, a bus was parked.
The group stood in front of a house before a shocked gasp escaped someone's lips.
"No Way!" Kohta shouted excitedly. "Is that the military model 2 Humvee?"
Inside the house's fences sat a military Humvee.
"Yep, it looks like a big tank, doesn't it?!" Shizuka asked with a smile.
"What kinda friends do you have?" Ren said as he walked up to her.
Saeko also made her way to the front of the group before speaking.
"We should head inside before-"
Saeko didn't even finish her sentence before groans and moans echoed throughout the street.
Zombies emerged from all sides.
Ren turned to his group and immediately gave out instructions.
"Shizuka, you open the doors to the house and take Ryuji with you for protection just in case there isn't enough time," Ren continued. "Saya, Miyu, Hina, you three go inside the bus until it's safe, while the rest of us take care of them."
No one had any objections to Rens words as they all moved as told.
The zombies moved closer now as the three girls got on the bus.
Saeko rushed in first with no hesitation in her eyes.
Her swing came up in a beautiful arc as it made contact with the closest zombie.
Blood sprayed from the zombie's skull as it dropped. Two more zombies came up right behind that one.
Before Saeko could swing her wooden blade. The two zombies dropped as their heads were pierced by the nail gun in Kohta's hands.
Saeko turned in his direction before giving him an appreciative nod.
On the other side, Takashi and Rei moved as one.
Takashi's baseball bat smashed skull after skull. At the same time, Rei took out any zombie that got too close.
Back at the front of the house, Ryuji stayed back with Shizuka.
Ren had asked him to stay back and make sure Shizuka had enough time. He didn't understand what Ren meant by enough time, but he understood now.
"You almost got it open, Shizuka?!" Ryuji called out behind him as he swung his pipe towards a zombie's skull.
"Almost!" Shizuka answered back.
"Mmmh, not that one, not that one either, is it this one?…no," Shizuka muttered to herself.
Back in the chaos, a zombie lunged at a distracted Kohta.
Kohta was reloading his nail gun, not realizing he was about to get chomped.
The zombie never reached him.
A loud gunshot roared through the street as the bullet of Rens revolver tore through the skull of the zombie.
Hearing the gunshot, Kohta looked back and forth at Ren and the corpse at his own feet.
He glanced at Ren before giving him a thankful nod.
Ren turned his eyes away from Kohta towards the others.
Saeko was good, she didn't need his help.
Takashi and Rei were a different story. Even if they moved as one, they still couldn't match the power scale of one Saeko.
Ren pulled the trigger once, then a second time.
Two zombies fell instantly, relieving the pressure on Takashi and Rei.
Ren lowered his gun as he watched the others clean up the remaining dead.
A loud crack came from the skull of a zombie that Saeko had just struck.
It fell to the ground with a thud.
They all looked at each other as they all grouped near the entrance of the bus.
Silence took over the street for a minute.
Until a shriek tore through the street.
Everyone's heart sank to their stomachs. They had never heard something like that since this whole thing had started.
Every walking corpse had always lowly groaned.
The whole group turned their heads towards the shriek.
"What the hell was that?" Rei asked.
Ren and Saeko prepared themselves.
Their instincts were telling them something different was coming.
It wasn't long until they saw it.
It had pale skin with something starting to grow out of its left eye, with its other eye being bloodshot red.
The thing that surprised everyone was that it was running.
It was running towards them with an aggression that no other zombie had ever shown.
It was quickly closing the distance before Ren raised his revolver.
He pulled the trigger as a bullet left the chamber and headed to the zombie's skull.
The zombie's head snapped back as the bullet landed dead center in its forehead.
Its body stumbled slightly back, but it didn't fall.
A loud, violent shriek escaped its throat as its head snapped forward again and continued its charge.
Ren narrowed his eyes.
"A bullet straight to the dome didn't drop it?" Ren muttered to himself.
The distance between them closed fast.
Ren shot another bullet at its head.
The zombie kept charging even after getting a second bullet to the head.
The zombie lunged at Ren.
Ren dropped low, slipping under the dead arms reaching for his neck.
As the zombie lunged past him, Rens leg came up.
His kick drove straight into its lower back, sending it stumbling forward straight towards Saeko.
Saeko's wooden blade came up and hit it in the face.
The moment her blade made contact with its face, the little weird thing growing on its face erupted into a small green mist that quickly dispersed into the air.
Its head swung to the side as it dropped to the floor.
A few seconds passed as the entire group crowded around it with all of their weapons raised.
A low vibration noise came from the thing's throat.
"Don't let it get up!" Ren shouted.
Nobody wasted no time as they all jumped it.
Everyone's weapon came crashing down on its skull before Ren pulled the trigger on his revolver, and his final bullet tore through its skull.
Back at the front gate, a cheerful "Yes!" tore through the street.
"I got it!" Shizuka said as she opened the gate.
Relief moved through everyone like a wave.
Takashi wasted no time.
"Everyone, get inside," he said.
Nobody hesitated as they all moved towards the house.
As they all moved to the house, Ren stayed back observing the zombie.
It didn't take long before someone joined him.
Saya stepped even closer to the body than Ren. She crouched down next to it and studied it.
She pointed towards the left side of its face, where a huge gash was open.
"This is different from all the other ones," Saya said. "Look at this, that's not just decay."
Ren's eyes shifted to where she was pointing.
The flesh around its eye had split open.
Something pale and weird had grown through it, kinda like roots.
"Whatever this is...it spread through the tissue," Saya said quietly.
"Like a parasite?" Miyu said from behind them.
They both turned to her as she was listening in on the conversation.
Saya shook her head at Miyu.
"No, it's more like a virus...or...fungus," Saya said. "Whatever it is, it's changing them."
Rens gaze sharpened as he looked back down at the corpse.
The speed and aggression of the zombie, how two bullets to the head couldn't kill it.
His head went towards another apocalyptic world game from his previous life.
A few seconds of silence happened between the three of them.
Ren turned towards the house before speaking to the two girls.
"Let's worry about that later," he said. "Get inside first."
The girls didn't protest as they all moved to the house.
The setting sun quickly left the world as the night took its place.
Inside the home, Ren sat alone on one of the couches in the living room.
All the girls were in the shower together. He could hear some weird sounds coming from the bathroom door.
The rest of the guys were together in some room doing God knows what.
Ren closed his eyes as darkness took over.
[System]
[Leon S. Kennedy Synchronization] 19%
[Points - 198]
Ren looked at his points before speaking.
"Convert."
[Would you like to convert your Points into Percentage?]
[Confirm Conversion]
[Yes/No]
"Yes"
[Leon S. Kennedy Synchronization] 19%→25%
[Congratulations, you have reached 20%]
[New skill unlocked]
[Parry]
Rens eyes stared at the word "Parry" for a moment.
Visions of Leon's immaculate parrying came to his mind.
From zombies to cars to even missiles, it didn't matter what it was.
It could even be child support, and Leon would still perfectly parry it.
If there was anyone out in the real world living room, they would have seen Ren pumping his fist in the air.
[Congratulations, you have reached 25%]
Rens focus came back to the system in his mind.
"It's still not done?"
[System store has been unlocked]
[To open the store, just think "Store" inside your head]
"Store," Ren quickly said.
[System Store]
Available Balance: 0 Points
The blue screen with the system turned into neatly sections.
Rens eyes slowly moved across each section.
[Weapons]
Combat Knife (Standard Issue) – 25 PointsBalanced. Durable. Compatible with Parry.
Mortal Edge Hatchet – 250 PointsTactical tomahawk. Fast strikes. Optimized for close-quarters and parry use.
Broken Hatchet Frame – 15 PointsBase component. Upgradeable.
[More weapons unlocked at higher percentages]
Rens eyes stopped at the second item.
It was Leon's hatchet he used in RE9.
He had to get it no matter what.
Ren looked at how much it cost before his whole mood switched.
"250?!" Ren said in an irritated tone.
[Supplies]
Ammo Pack – 20 Points. It doesn't matter what gun you have.
Weapon Repair Kit – 30 Points. Repair any weapon.
This section was useful in case he ever ran out of ammo.
Rens eyes fell to the next section.
The section was grayed out and locked.
[Locked – Requires 50% Synchronization]
The section was dimmed, but he could faintly make out the word "Attachments".
"So this was for later," Ren said.
Rens eyes fell towards the final section.
[Special Items]
One single item sat in this section.
Precision Whetstone Kit (Leon Grade)– 300 PointsSharpen melee weapons. Improves damage and parry timing window.
Rens eyes stared at the item and how much it cost.
"Even though it's 300 points, I should get that amount in a couple of days," Ren said.
At those words, another message from the system popped up.
[System Notification]
[Leon S. Kennedy Synchronization: 25%]
[Progress Milestone Reached: 1/4 Complete]
Ren blinked.
"One fourth already?" he muttered.
[Point Acquisition Updated]
[Standard Hostiles: Minimal Returns]
[Enhanced Hostiles: Increased Returns]
[Elite Threats: High Value Targets]
Ren's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Standard Hostile?" Ren said. "So what...normal zombies won't give me many points anymore?"
Ren froze at his own words before it clicked in his mind.
Normal.
What did the system mean by normal?
"Then what counts as enhanced...and what the hell counts as elite?"
Rens mind went back to the zombie they had jumped.
The words of Saya echoed through his mind.
"Fungus."
.....
??? POV
It all started in the Arklay Mountains.
When S.T.A.R.S Bravo team lost contact in the mountains, it was Alpha team who went and found them.
A bunch of stuff has happened these past couple of days.
The whole situation with Bravo team, Spencer's mansion, and finally his former captain's death.
Wesker.
His jaw tightened at the thought of his former captain.
The chaos and betrayal they went through in that mansion made his blood boil.
After getting out of that mess, he wanted to take a nice vacation in Europe.
But once they arrived back in Raccoon City, it wasn't even an hour before they were all in choppers and on their way to another country.
Now he was in Japan, trying to figure out what the hell happened.
Before Spencer's mansion self-destructed, his partner Jill managed to get a stack of files.
Those files held the locations of more secret Umbrella organization facilities around the entire world.
It didn't matter in which region of the world. Umbrella had a secret facility in every region.
Now they were here, where the second most secret Umbrella facilities were located in those files.
Japan.
A voice called out to him from behind him.
"Chris," Jill said.
"It doesn't matter how much you look at it," she said. "It won't bring whatever escaped back."
Chris glanced at her from behind his shoulder before looking back to his front.
Infront of him stood a giant broken pod with Fibrous growth clinging to the inner walls, spreading outward in uneven patches.
Something had escaped from it.
Next to the pod was a bunch of files and documents.
Chris picked them up as he started reading.
January 17, 2003
The new subject has been brought in today. No prior contact with T-Virus has been confirmed. Orders from above came through immediately, "No delay in start of treatment".
-Dr. T. Sakamoto
September 6, 2003
It has been multiple months since the start of treatment. The subject has stopped speaking, but his body continues to function even with its body completely split open and scarred by the fungus.
I will continue to monitor the subject further.
-Dr. T. Sakamoto
April 18, 2004
The subject has seemed to lose all control of itself. He has completely lost vision in both of his eyes, but has also acquired an immaculate sense in his hearing.
After more than a year monitoring this subject, I Dr. T. Sakamoto, have classified this subject as defective.
-Dr. T. Sakamoto
The last documented report from this doctor was written two years ago.
Chris read out loud for Jill to hear as well.
Jill didn't respond as her eyes stayed on the broken pod.
"Defective?" she repeated quietly.
"That's what they're calling it," Chris said.
"That thing broke out of containment," she said. "Doesn't sound defective to me."
A small silence lingered between them before Jill spotted a document containing the word "Cordyceps".
She opened the document as she read out loud to Chris.
"Cordyceps belong to the genus of ascomycete fungi, with over 260 - 700 species identified worldwide, many of which are parasitic on insects and other arthropods, while a few target other fungi."
Jill hesitated for a second before she finished reading.
"They are entomopathogenic, meaning they specifically infect and manipulate their hosts." Jill finished.
"Manipulate?" Chris asked.
"That's what it says," Jill responded.
Something had caught the attention of Chris before either of them spoke again.
Another page that was tucked underneath the rest of the documents he had read.
He turned to Jill as he spoke.
"Looks like they named this thing before classifying it as defective," Chris said.
"Named it? Named it what?" Jill asked.
"Clicker".
.....
End of Chapter 14