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Post by Caliber on Apr 12, 2011 22:22:56 GMT -5
"I was thinking the same thing," Amelia responded to Jessica. "You can stay with him if you want. How are you doing on ammunition? I noticed you weren't able to carry much when we stocked up from Mike's trailer. I've got plenty of extra rounds in my satchel if you need any."
Amelia pulled out a box of 9mm rounds, max capacity 40 rounds, but only 3/4 of the way full. She set it on the desk on her way out into the main clocktower entrance room. Katy promptly trailed behind her.
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Post by Winters on Apr 12, 2011 23:08:20 GMT -5
As Amelia and Katy left to scout the building for supplies, and to rid of any infected that may be prowling around, Jessica grabbed the box of 9mm bullets and placed them into her pocket. She had her Beretta, with eight shots remaining inside it, and another three magazines loaded, one even with hollow points. But having this much ammunition wasnt the most important aspect on her mind. Sure, it was important, but right now all she could think about was Arc. The others certainly werent aware of their relationship, and might not even get the chance to know with he way things have been going. He looked to be in critical condition, and apparently infected with the T-Virus, or something worse, and even mutating. Jessica hoped that Amelia would be able to do something for him when he wakes up, otherwise it wasnt looking too good.
Walking over to Arc, and placing a hand on his wound, Jessica spoke out. Not to herself, but to the unconsious man, as if somewhere deep down inside, he would be able to hear him. "Its me, Officer McVale, from STARS. We last met in Raccoon City, 1998, im sure you remember. We got out of the city, together. But, for some reason or another, we never managed to stay together. You had South America to rejoin with, to help your people, and I had to stay with STARS, for what it was worth. Maybe I was better off going with you when the pilot split us up, I knew I shouldve stayed with you. Instead, I never found you until it was too late. I never thought id be telling you all of this now, not like this. Whatever is happening to you, please, fight it, dont let it turn you. Arcian Griffin, you have to, otherwise all of this fighting would have been for nothing..."
Jessica and Arc had known only known each other for a single night, but it was the one that changed both of their lives forever. Without the cooperation from the two, either of them wouldve gotten out of the city alive. Jessica wasnt fighting her whole life to make sure she sound Arc, and now that he was found, there was nothing she could do to help him. It was almost sickening to think about it. She wasnt even sure if she could pull the trigger if he did turn on her, did she have it in her?
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Post by Caliber on Apr 13, 2011 1:17:48 GMT -5
Amelia and Katy stood on the cold tile floor in the center of the bottom floor of the clock tower, roughly 20 feet from the room Arc and Jessica were in. They stood in silence for a few moments, when Amelia suddenly hunched over in pain, grabbing her stomach, grunting loudly. She gagged and wretched, then proceded to vomit onto the tile foor. Katy quickly grabbed onto Amelia and held her up, holding her hair back. She let Amelia down to her knees as she continued to gag and wretch, even though she was unable to vomit anymore. Katy helped Amelia down to the floor to lay on her back. "What the hell," Amelia began before dry-heaving again. Katy sat on the floor with her legs crossed. She lifted Amelia's head up off the floor and onto her lap. She began rubbing Amelia's head and making calming shushing noises.. Lightning flashes across the sky and briefly lit the room, leaking through the windows. The roaring thunder followed. Amelia twitched at the startling sound. Katy spoke softly to her. "Hold on, I'm gonna get you to a bed." She returned to her feet and jogged over to the 'saferoom'. "
Jessica, we've got a problem. I think Amelia has food poisoning. She just vomited."
Food poisoning wasn't uncommon to the survivors, often times the food they resort to ingesting has perished.
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Post by Winters on Apr 13, 2011 1:59:25 GMT -5
When Katy had entered the room, Jessica removed her hand from Arcs arm, and than turned around to listen to her speak. Food poisoning? Of all the times to get sick, now wasnt the best. But before Jessica could speak, she unholstered her Beretta, and than pointed it in Katys direction. "Move!" Instinctively doing so, a gunshot rang off, and a lone zombie dropped to the ground, blood gushing from an open wound in the side of its head. Running to the doorway to help Amelia up, Katy was there soon after, assisting her friend into the bedroom. The gunshot inside of the clock tower had echoed throughout the building, and Jessica knew that she was the one who had to remove them from this place if they were going to be staying here.
Without returning to the safe room, Jessica kept her handgun up, pointing it at each of the corners were the infected could possible walk from. The gunshot would attract every one of them to the room, but maybe that would be safer than wandering around with nothing but dim moonlight guiding ones way. Not a minute later, three more showed up, and while still in close quarters, Jessica fired three consecutive shots, two of which downing the infected and the third hitting in the chest. As the last zombie flinched in place for a quick second, Jessica walked right up to the infected, put the gun to its head, and as soon as it was to moan out in hunger, another shot rang out and than silence.
Backing up into the doorway of the safe room, Jessica kept it open, standing in the frame, still aiming her gun outside. Two more shots rang out, and than a third, than fourth. Finally, a click, she was out of ammo. After a swift reload, Jessica fired the last bullet when the infected had stopped coming, but she wasnt yet sure if it was the last of them yet. Turning her head around to see into the room for a quick second, but than going back to aiming her Beretta around, Jessica spoke out in a calm voice. "Is everything alright in there?" She couldnt possibly think everything was alright, but it seemed like an appropriate question to ask in this sort of situation.
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Post by Caliber on Apr 14, 2011 1:30:12 GMT -5
Katy helped Amelia over to the bunk bed. As opposed to lifting her up to the top bunk, Katy pulled the mattress and blankets down off the and down onto the floor next to the frame. Amelia sat down onto the mattress and leaned her head against the wall. It had just occured to her that Jessica was shooting in the other room. Amelia pulled out Browning HP and pointed it at the doorway, shaking with nausea. "Stay here," Katy told her as she stood up and pulled the shotgun from the scabbard strapped to her back. She walked out and over next to Jessica, then tapped her on the shoulder, letting her know she was there. She raised her shotgun and aimed it across the room at a couple zombies stumbling over eachother down the stairs from the next floor up. They flinched as the pellets blew through their chests before losing their ballance and tumbling down to the bottom of the steps. She cocked the shotgun with a loud *CHK CHK*, loading the next shell into the chamber, before taking aim again.
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Post by Winters on Apr 14, 2011 2:27:54 GMT -5
As the shotgun pumped off several times, Jessica had moved in closer with her knife, and taken down the small handful of infected that remained twitching on the ground. Sometimes they would be "dead", but still have some nerves left, and when theyre laying motionless afterwards, they could possibly grab onto somebody unaware moving over them. Stabbing them in the head was the only true way to kill them, while still saving bullets, that is. It was soon after that the infected stopped coming, and Jessica put her knife away, and took out her handgun once again to scout the top floor just to be sure.
After coming back down the steps, she put her Beretta away, and walked across the main floor, stepping around the corpses that remain, checking just in case she had missed any. To their luck, the threat was over now, and Amelia would be able to lay down for a bit until the poisoning had passed. It would only take a few good stomach reactions to get rid of it, and she would be able to continue with her plans of helping Arc just as they did before. Jessica had not a single clue what was going on, and neither did Katy by the looks of things. But Amelia wasnt the one to react when it happened, she seemed almost like she had been expecting it. The woman knew something about Arc that Jessica didnt, but now wasnt the appropriate time to be harassing her with questions. "I hope the food poisoning passes... I dont have any medical training. When do you think Arc will wake up... If he..."
Cutting herself off there, Jessica felt ashamed to even think of such a thing. He was going to wake up, and he was going to be fine, thats how she needed to think. If something happened to him, she wouldnt know what to do, wouldnt have anything left fighting for. A partner was needed, and if only she went with him, maybe none of this would be happening right now.
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Post by Caliber on Apr 14, 2011 14:12:42 GMT -5
In the saferoom during the gunfire, Amelia stood up and dusted herself off. She felt lightheaded as she stood up and stumbled to the side, catching herself on the wall. She fought back nausea and crouched down by Arc's bed. She pulled a stethoscope from her satchel and put it against his chest. "Equal breath sounds, steady heart rhythm," she said aloud with relief, exhaling loudly with satisfaction. She put the stethoscope back in her satchel and stood up.
Katy waited on the ground floor, looking around cautiously, while Jessica searched upstairs. When she returned, they nodded at eachother. The building now appeared to be clear of infected. They returned to the saferoom and Katy was surprised to see Amelia walking around. "What's wrong, are you okay?" she asked. Amelia responded in a borderline happy tone, "Arc's gonna be fine. He's showing no signs of mutation. He has a steady heart rhythm and his breath sounds are equal. I'm pretty sure the sedative effectively stopped-- or at least delayed the mutation. Well, either that or the mutation is... benign. But his veins aren't distended, which makes it look like no physical mutation has taken place. We need watch him carefully. If he wakes up and starts mutating again, I'm going to have to sedate him... again."
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Post by Winters on Apr 14, 2011 19:53:44 GMT -5
Coming back through the door, Jessica was a little surprised to see Amelia up and moving around, but it was too that she was feeling better. Katy seemed a little more shocked then she did, but all in all, the both of them were glad she was moving about. Arc was already in bad shape, it wouldnt make things any better if the doctor was sick, too. At this time, Jessica walked over to Arc, and watched Amelia doing some medical related tasks, checking for who knows what exactly.
By this time, Jessica had been listening to Amelia, and wasnt sure what to so. What she was telling them, about Arc, couldnt be true. There was no way it was possible, he couldnt have been infected with something that would mutate him. Did he tell this woman everything? "Okay, you need to tell me everything you know. Arc is an old partner of mine, we fought together during the 1998 Outbreak of Raccoon City. Im a former STARS member, he saved my life not only once. What the hell is going on, you seem to know... Please, tell me, you have to tell me everything. Whats been happening to him, and why is it happening? Is there anything you can give him to stop whatevers going on inside of him?" Jessica was worried for her partner, and it was clear in the sound of her voice when she spoke.
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Post by Caliber on Apr 14, 2011 21:06:47 GMT -5
Amelia chuckled with realization, putting her hand on her own head, realizing she had a fever. "I knew there had to be a reason you'd jump to come on this mission with us. There was no way you were coming just becuase Katy was." Amelia said to herself.
"Alright," she continued. "Arc was infected with the T-virus nearly two months ago. He was bitten. He's been suffering from what could be considered mutations ever since. He's been showing all signs of infection... and then some. His body temperature has been rather extreme. When inactive, his core temperature drops at least 30 degrees, giving his blood a sludge-like consistency. When his body temperature is that low, he's at risk for millions of infections. At that temperature, his immune system could be compromised by the common cold. When he's active-- in these... fits of rage almost, his temperature becomes irregularly high-- nearly, I'm guessing, 105 to 107 degrees fahrenheit. At these extreme temperatures, he slowly suffers brain damage. If we don't find a way to cure or suppress the infection, he'll lose all motor function and will eventually die. That's why we're heading to the S.T.A.R.S. safehouse-- to find evidence of a Tricell lab in Raccoon City. I have reason to believe they may have an experimental cure that they developed at my hospital in Seattle."
Amelia lost her balance for a moment, her knees getting weak. She knelt down over the trash can under the desk by the bed and vomited. She quickly contained herself and returned to her feet, pushing the garbage can under the desk.
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Post by Winters on Apr 14, 2011 23:19:26 GMT -5
The whole time that Amelia had been speaking to her, Jessica was looking at Arc, and then back to her. The idea that he had been mutating was almost too much for Jessica to think, and all this coming from a doctor, it sounded too real. She started to have fear for the man, fearing about how he will react when he wakes up. He certainly didnt seem like the same person he was 14 years ago, he sounds different now than he did. "Do you think it might be better to just... Shoot him?-" But the second Jessica seen the reaction on Amelia face, she rethought her statement. "...No, I cant do that..."
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Post by Caliber on Apr 15, 2011 21:48:09 GMT -5
Amelia was apalled at the suggestion Jessica had presented. "We're not going to shoot him," Amelia said strictly.
Katy sat down in a chair and leaned her head against the wall, distraught. She had a forlorn expression on her face. Everyone in the room directed their attention to her as she tapped her foot against one of the legs on her chair. "We need to get out of here," she said, running her hand through her hair. "I'm going up to the tower to scope out the road ahead. Let's hope there aren't too many infected in our path. We definitely don't have enough ammunition to waste." Katy lifted her tired body out of her chair and rolled her shoulders, cracking her neck.
Amelia stood up as well. "I'll come with you," she told Katy. "Jessica, you can stay with Arc, if you want. If he wakes up while we're gone, reassure him that everything is fine and tell him to rest. If he starts mutating again, give him this." Amelia reached into her satchel and pulled out a clear syringe full of liquid. "Just take the cap off, stick it... anywhere, and push."
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Post by Winters on Apr 16, 2011 4:10:56 GMT -5
"Okay... Stay sharp, dont think I need to tell you that..." Nodding and speaking with a tone of courage for the two of them, Jessica took the syringe, and than remained seated on the bed beside Arc. Amelia was STARS, just like her, former occupation. They were trained for this sort of thing, she could handle herself. Katy too. Even though she hadnt been with the group for very long, Katy always seem strong willed. For the next fifteen, twenty minutes or so, Jessica had sat with Arc, speaking to him about their time spent in Raccoon City, and then leading up to what she had been doing for the last fourteen years... "I... Went to Chicago, to see if my family was still alive. After Raccoon City though, I didnt have much hope for it. Turns out it was just the same, if not worse. Only took a few days before most of the United States had been infected. But you were already in Brazil at that time, the infected hadnt reached there for at least a month, maybe two. You had no idea this was all coming, and I didnt know how I couldve warn you. I couldnt have, thats the worst part. When I knew the infection wasnt going to end, when I knew it was just a matter of time before the world fell to the infected, I gave up hope in my own life. I wanted to find you, I knew you were the only one left still alive I knew. I knew you couldnt die, it just wasnt possible. You were always the stronger one, knew how to fight the infected. Dont forget, you were always the one who saved my life..."At that moment, Jessica felt a small twitch in Arcs hand when she spoke, and than grabbed onto it with her own hand. Feeling the life coming back into him, he was waking up, finally she would be able to tell him everything. Breathing came from him, several deep breaths, and in a few seconds, his eyes had shot open. Jumping up from the bed, Arc stumbled around the room, looking back and fourth. "Relax, Amelia put you to sleep, and we took you here. St Michaels Clock Tower, its safe here, theres nothing to worry about..." Walking forward, smiling, Jessica extended her arm, putting her hand on her friends shoulder. Bit it was that moment that Arc turned around to face her, stare her down with red, glowing eyes. Before Jessica could even take the cap off from the sedative, Arc grabbed her wrist, and squeezed it until the syringe fell to the ground, and than crushed by his boot. The pain in her hand was growing, Arc was beginning to cut the circulation off. "Arc, calm down, please, im not going to hurt you!" Wrapping her other arm around him, Jessica held onto her old friend, keeping him close, trying to calm him down for what it was worth. Arc let go of her hand, but then shoved her away, knocking her onto the floor. At this time, Jessica knew that he wasnt going to listen, and a tear fell from her eye as she reached for her Beretta. Quick taking it out, she aimed it at the man standing in front of her. Arc kicked the gun with the side of his boot, breaking her wrist along with sending the gun across the room. Jessica screaming out in pain, might not have been even heard by Amelia or Katy if they were outside on the third floor. Arc rushed forward, grabbing onto Jessicas throat, and than lifted her into the air. The woman was crying, the tears soaking her entire face, engulfed in complete fear. "Why!?!" She barely screeched out before she was tossed against the wall like a rag doll. Now laying on the ground, unable to even stand up from the pain all over her body, Jessica just waited for her time to end. Arc jumped on top of her, pinning her down onto the floor with one hand on her chest, his fingertips near ripping through the flesh. "Please... Its me... Your partner... J-" But her sentence was cut short when Arc had bit down onto her arm, biting down almost to the bone before ripping the flesh away. A ear-splitting scream emitted the Clock Tower, and no matter how far away, Amelia and Katy would without a doubt hear it and instantly fear the worst. It wasnt a normal scream of terror, it was that a young woman having her life taken from her in the most horrific and painful way imaginable. Biting again, and again, Arc took more chunks out of her, scrambling to pry apart her rip cage. When the screaming came to a halt, Arc rose up, blood leaking from his mouth. He could smell two more, coming his way.
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Post by Caliber on Apr 16, 2011 11:16:45 GMT -5
Amelia and Katy trotted along the waist-high brick wall at the balcony leading to the top of the tower. They gazed out into the forest ahead. A combination of the rain, the fog, and the dense forest made it difficult to scope out farther than the immediate surroundings of the tower. "Something feels wrong," Amelia told Katy. Before Katy could ask for elaboration, Amelia stopped moving and hushed with a "Ssshh..". "What's wrong?" Katy asked her in a hushed tone, now holding her Beretta 90Two up with her right hand. "I think I heard something," Amelia told her. "Something? Something as in a zombie? A gunshot? The sound of you being extremely vague and not answering my qu-" Katy was cut off by a high-pitched, chilling, blood-curdling scream. It wasn't the kind of scream you get when someone is frightened or startled, it was a scream of pain and despair. It was Jessica, and they both knew it. They immediately sprinted for the door and down the stairs leading to the balcony hanging over the first floor. They could see the saferoom door from here, and it was wide open. The sounds of the infected could be heard vividly from inside. "They got in!" Amelia blurted out, nervous, as she ran down the last set of stairs to the bottom floor. Katy followed her.
The door was now in full view, and the sight from inside horrified both Amelia, and Katy. They both knew what had happened. Inside was Arc, not in the lower bed of the bunk they left him in, but standing over a corpse; Jessica's corpse, and he was tearing off chunks of her with his teeth. Amelia stood in disbelief at the sight infront of them. "You son of a b*tch," Katy muttered through tears, raising her shotgun toward Arc. Amelia put her hand over the barrel of Katy's shotgun and took it from her, pushing her to the side behind the staircase. Amelia slowly approached the door. It was going to be difficult sneaking up on Arc since he was huddled over Jessica's body while facing the entryway. Amelia put herself against the wall next to the door to the not-so-saferoom.
She whipped around the corner and charged into the room. With an upward swing, she slammed the grip of the shotgun against Arc's head, knocking him onto his back. Amelia quickly jumped on top of him, stradling his chest. His eyes glowed red furiously. She reached over him to grab the syringe from Jessica's lifeless corpse. She pushed Arc's head back and jammed the needle into his neck and injected the sedative, hoping it would still work now that further mutation had clearly taken place.
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Post by Winters on Apr 16, 2011 14:28:30 GMT -5
Deciding to shake it off, Arc ignore the two scents, and continued to rip apart his kill. Jumping back down onto the woman, he tore bits and pieces off, not even feeling that hungry, but just ripping her in different sections. It wasnt until than that Amelia and Katy burst into the room, and Arc noticed, but didnt really care. If they were going to shoot, they would have already, and he was already occupied with his own kill to bother with them just yet. Suddenly however, he was knocked onto the floor with a hard swing from the shotgun, and sent onto his back. In the next instant, Amelia had been on top of him, and jammed another sedative into him.
Feeling it nearly instantly taking effect, Arc pushed off with his legs, sending Amelia away from him. As quickly as she recovered, he now stood, staring at the two of them, not making it look like he was even effected by the sedative. However, the sedative this time, had been slowing down his heart rate, and in turn, making his eyes flicked from the red glow back to their normal color several times. Feeling weaker and weaker, Arc regained his mind, even for just a moment, and spoke out, pulling something from his pocket. "Help... me..." Falling onto his knee, Arc didnt blank out, his heard had just slowed back down to a poor state, and he was dying just a normal human would if their heart slowed down as much as his did. A small bottle of unknown medication rolled out of his hand, shaking several times before coming to a stop, and Arc coming to a stop as well.
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Post by Caliber on Apr 16, 2011 21:29:54 GMT -5
Arc dropped to the floor and everyone took a breath. Amelia tossed Katy back her shotgun and knelt down beside Arc, picking up the medicine bottle that fell out of his hand. A plain, orange bottle-- no label. It was completely empty. "Arc, what'd you take?" Amelia asked him. "Tell me what you took, now or you could die." She quickly pulled her stethoscope from her satchel and put it against Arc's chest. "He's bradycardic, the sedative is working but his heart rhythm is too low and still declining. This, along with whatever else he took... he could slip into a coma," she said aloud to nobody in particular, more to herself than to Katy. Grabbing his face and making him focus, she yelled, "Arc, you need to tell me what you took!" Katy dropped to the floor and hung her head over Jessica's corpse. They weren't close, but she hated to see someone die like this because of her own negligence. "Bastard..." she said under her breath, standing up and walking out of the room.
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