Black cloud was rising from Raccoon City and it wasn't just some random smoke. I could see it even from a distance. The smell of smoke and ash filled the air.
The city was burning.
"I hope this is not Wesker's doing." I mumbled.
I didn't know the reason why, but the city was definitely on fire right now. I could hear imaginary screams even from here. It wasn't just some normal fire accident. Something terrible must've happened over there.
An outbreak that was worse than a normal apocalypse.
But then, this world wasn't a normal place anyway.
The system chimed in as usual, making my mood even worse.
The second choice seemed tempting, and I didn't have anything to do with the first one.
But then, it kept me away from Raccoon City so there might be something at work.
Remember, Daiki. The system's second choice had always led to a more dangerous situation. Even though the reward might seem good.
'I need to check that out.'
"Alright, Racoon City. Here we come." I sighed.
I had a bad feeling about this, but it wasn't something new to me. Everytime the system chimed in with a warning about my choices I would get this kind of gut feeling. My intuition never failed me before.
But I couldn't ignore it either. Something big might be waiting for me there and I wanted to be prepared for whatever it might be.
Not to mention, the reward for the first choice was tempting. It wasn't like the system gave a generous reward everyday. And it would help a lot if my stat increased.
So I chose the first option, even though I knew it would be dangerous.
After I confirmed my choice I rode the motorbike again toward Racoon City. It wasn't long before I saw a line of cars trying to escape the city.
The survivors seemed panicked and desperate. They tried their best to drive through the crowded street, bumping into each other in a desperate attempt to escape. It looked like they didn't know where to go yet.
Or maybe they just ran blindly, without any idea of what to do next.
There were a lot of cars and trucks parked on both sides of the street. The line of vehicles stretched as far as I could see.
Going there by car wasn't possible. Fortunately I was on bike so I could pass through the jam.
"Get out of the way! Get out!" Someone yelled angrily at another car trying to get ahead.
"Go to hell!" A woman shouted back, trying to push through with her SUV. Her eyes were wide open as if she had seen something horrifying. I couldn't blame her, though.
"Damn it, move! Move! Move!"
Everyone was shouting and cursing.
Not even the military was here, so there was no order. Not that I expected it from them, but they could've done something.
"Go away! Move! I have kids here! Please!" A woman's scream.
This was madness. People were going insane because of the chaos.
And then, I heard a scream. A scream that was so loud it pierced my eardrums.
From the distance, I saw a horde of zombies running down the highway.
A group of zombies attacked a man and devoured him.
"Arghhhh... Aaaarghhh!"
His blood spilled out on the road and the zombies were all over him, biting his body and ripping apart his flesh.
This was the end result of the zombie apocalypse.
I decided to avoid the crowd and went into the small road instead, leaving the carnage behind me. But before I left the area completely, I heard a gunshot and a loud explosion from afar.
'Was it the military?'
It was obvious that it was the military. They came here for evacuation, but the number of zombies must be more than they could handle. They probably decided to blow them up with explosives instead.
Raccoon City was free to enter now. I only had to find a safe place to stay and rest, and I would be ready for whatever was going to happen in the future.
I had no idea how I was going to survive in a city filled with zombies. I needed a place to rest, and the first thing I would need to find was a shelter, somewhere where I could sleep peacefully.
Racoon City wasn't a huge metropolis, but it was bigger than the small town I and the girls stayed in before on our journey to Chicago.
Tall skyscrapers were everywhere in the middle of the town, but the rest was mostly residential areas with houses and apartments. I saw a few small malls and shopping centers too, along with several convenience stores.
A big hospital was also there, but there were no doctors inside. At least none that I saw. The hospital was empty of people except for a few patients that lay dead or dying.
More importantly, zombies were everywhere. Their bodies were fresh and not decayed like the ones from outside the barricade perimeter. These were recently infected, and they were still active.
Zombie dogs could also be seen in the street. There were also a few of the fast types that I saw before.
A group of them ran toward my motorbike, but I just drove around them, not giving a care. The slow zombies were left in dust as the motorbike accelerated.
The city was big, but not so large that I would get lost.
First of all, I didn't know the changed timeline. Leon had already escaped the city yet the outbreak only happened again right now. It didn't make any sense.
But what could I do? This is the reality of this world. A mixture of timelines from various Resident Evil media franchises and Highschool of the Dead. So, the only thing that mattered was to survive, and that meant I had to find a way to stay safe.
I drove my motorbike around the city, searching for the police station that I remembered being an important place. If I was lucky, there would be survivors in there that could tell me where the underground laboratory was located.
If not... Well, then I'd have to look for it myself. The choice was obvious, really.
Anyway, the road was empty, except for a few crashed cars here and there.
There were a few living souls to be seen around, but they were running away from the zombies, or running from the military.
As expected, the police station was a complete mess, with no survivors inside.
The entrance was filled with corpses of police officers scattered on the floor. However, these corpses weren't fresh, so they probably had died a lot time ago from gunshots and bullets.
They must have been trying to defend themselves until the end. It wasn't surprising to see this in the apocalypse, but it was still depressing to witness such a thing.
"This place had been ransacked." I muttered as I parked my bike at the parking space and walked toward the gate.
A foul smell came from the inside. A smell of rot and decay mixed with gunpowder, sweat, blood, and vomit. I could hear the sound of flies buzzing around somewhere.
The hallway was also littered with corpses. Their clothes were stained red with blood, while their bodies were covered with wounds. It seemed that they had died from the bullets of their friends or colleagues who were infected.
I entered the building, walking past the dead bodies of the fallen officers. The smell of death was heavy, and I had to hold my breath to keep from throwing up.
I needed to find something that might help me. Something useful, or a clue to the location of the underground lab.
Bullet holes were everywhere on the walls and floor, indicating a fierce firefight between the survivors and the zombies.
However, none of the dead officers had a bite mark or scratches. Instead, their bodies were crushed and their heads had been blown apart by something strong.
Something like a Tyrant or Nemesis.
'So, that thing was also here. Fucking shit.'
I knew this would be dangerous. I just didn't think it would be this dangerous. Not only were there a lot of zombies and Tyrants, but there was also a Nemesis.