Chapter Text
- 20 minutes later. Inner Raccoon City -
The trio finally arrived at the city and Chris was shocked when it first came to view. The whole place looked completely deserted. As they got closer, it was worse than they imagined. The streets were empty, cars were all piled up, some businesses like restaurants and other shopping places were destroyed as if someone broke in and looted those places. There were barricades, destroyed vehicles, fires, electrical malfunctions among other things. Chris couldn't believe it. He asked himself what was worse; Superman and General Zod's battle in Metropolis seven years ago or this. It was somewhat comparable in a certain way. The Battle of Metropolis had way more collateral damage with half of the central city and buildings destroyed along with thousands of casualties, but at least most of the population managed to survive and Superman was able to help the city recover from the aftermath. Raccoon City didn't have anywhere near as much collateral damage but there doesn't seem to be a living soul around here. It’s like the apocalypse has hit the city this bad; basically the inverse version of what Metropolis was. How many survived? How many escaped? How many died?
*Attention all citizens: Due to the citywide outbreak, you are advised to take shelter at the Raccoon City Police Station. Free food and medical supplies will be provided to everyone in need.*
An outbreak. A zombie outbreak just like TheWalkingDead. Did I end up entering into one of my Netflix series? This is just too unreal. Even for me. Chrisdidn't have any wordsafter hearing the recorded announcement from the radio.
"Oh my God, this is so unreal." Claire was in shock and disbelief gazing at the desolated streets.
"The police station's not much farther. They'll know something." Leon said.
"Yeah, but… What if we're the only ones? What if there's no survivors-"
"No. There's survivors. It's a big city…There has to be." Leon insisted.
I hope you're right. Despite this horror, Chris was trying to remain optimistic and hoping for the best. Since this is real, so many people could have died during the zombie outbreak.
The car stopped as they were in front of a barricade and behind it, so many cars were piled up. It was a dead end. Chris gazed through his window seeing more zombies eating a corpse. Why did they have to stop here and now? Of course it had to be similar to any horror survival movie. Any vehicle will eventually become absolutely useless and they will have to travel by foot. It was so dark and if this city was plagued by zombies, getting to their destination wasn't going to be that easy. It was always the hard way, there's no easy way out; especially for himself. No powers, super-speeding or flying in the middle of a deadly zombie apocalypse. That sucked. Right now, his priority was to survive, hold out ‘til sunrise and help these two people he’d just met. They needed to get to the police station. Who knows, maybe he will get some answers and even an explanation about this whole thing there.
"Looks like we're walking from here." Leon turned off the engine.
"I knew this was gonna happen." Chris said stoically.
"Not like we have much of a choice."
"Don't you think we could have parked somewhere else?" Chris asked as he became worried.
Claire looked from her window at the same zombies that were eating a dead body. They have suddenly stopped their meal and were staring at the trio inside the police car. The zombies wanted fresh meat. "More like running."Sheadded.
"Or you can start the car again and get us somewhere safe." Chris suggested. That is if there is a safe place besides the police station. He added inwardly.
"Yeah, good call." Leon replied.
A zombie popped near the driver’s window; good thing it was closed.
"Jesus Christ!" Claire gasped upon seeing another zombie outside her window. "Leon! We gotta back up!"
Dozens of zombies were now all over the front of the police car. It couldn't get any worse than this.
"Well, that's not great…" Chris commented as he noticed a speeding truck heading their way. Now they have no way to turn back.
"What the-?!" Leon saw the speeding truck too.
The truck was hitting all zombies in the way. The driver was wounded on his left shoulder, trying to control the vehicle.
"Holy sh*t!" Claire exclaimed.
"We have to get out. Pronto!" Chris raised his voice.
"Get out you two! Get out NOW!" Leon yelled.
"Not without you!" Chris insisted as he wasn't going to lose someone on his watch.
"I can't!" Claire cried as there was a zombie outside her door too, preventing her from opening it.
"Wait!" Chris was able to kick the car door off andoverpowered thezombie on his side, sending it flying away. He then used the car door as a weapon and shield to knock away the zombie on Claire's side. Before Claire can open the door, they all noticed that the truck was so close to them now.
"Hold on!" Leon shouted.
The truck driver finally lost consciousness as the wheel turned left and the truck hit a few cars, zombies and the police carClaire and Leonwere in. Chris tried to pry Claire's door off with his bare hands but it was too late. Chris grunted anddived eight meters away in a single bound. He then got up and gave chase to the car.No, no, no, no!The car was spinning around fast, until it stopped.
Claire’s door finally opened as she got out. Chris approached the car and could smell the fuel leaking from below the vehicle and with nearby flames; this wasn’t good. Chris grabbed Claire and fell to the ground as an explosion followed. He was on top of her and used his cape to shield her from the blast. Another larger explosion from the truck occurred, and since Chris was closest to it, he was sent flying into a car which heavily damaged it. Chris felt his back crumpling the door of the car while the windows shattered and the vehicle itself moved a foot with the tires screeching slightly. To an ordinary human, this would have shattered their spine and caused critical injuries but due to Chris’s denser physiology and the extra padding within the back of his skinsuit, the impact didn't really faze him that much.
Claire was taken aback by his action. He barely knows her and protected her as if his life depended on it. It was an admiring act, but stupid. Nonetheless, she was extremely grateful.She didn't know if she would do the same for him though.
"Chris! You okay?" She ran to him worried as he got up.
"Yeah, I'm fine.” He smiled silly.
"Fine?" Claire's eyes were widened. It shocked her because she knew that kind of impact would be enough to break anyone's spine, but Chris just got up as if it was nothing.
"No…" Chris gasped as he saw the police car in flames. "Where's Leon? ... LEON!"
"Claire! Chris! You two okay?!" Came the voice of the rookie cop from the other side. That was a relief.
"Yeah, we are!" Chris waved back. "This place isn't safe. You need to leave. Now!" He was seeing more zombies heading their way; there were everywhere.
"Go on ahead! We'll meet you at the station!" Claire yelled over the flames.
"Got it!" Leon replied and ran off.
"Claire, stay behind me!" Chris ran over to a parked car, punched the window and started to tear the door off. With his limited strength, this took more effort to do. He intended to use the car door as a weapon and shield.
Claire's eyes widened as she saw him pluck the door off a random car.How did he just do that? Him beingshrugging off an explosion and tearing a car door with his bare hands? This was something else. No one can do that. There’s definitely something different about him.
“Behind me!” Chris repeated as Claire snapped back to reality and nodded still looking at him. With the car door as a shield, it will be easier to pass through zombies that get close to them. It didn't mean she was going to stand in the side lines and do nothing. She still had her SLS-60 and some ammo left. She will have to conserve it until she finds more.
Both ran through the streets avoiding all zombies. Chris was worried, however, because he had no idea where to go. He'd neverset foot in this city so he was pretty much clueless to where the police station could be. Claire was in the same boat since she's not from around here, but both of them knew one thing; they had to keep moving.They have to survive and meet up with Leon. Chrisnoticed morezombies were near them so he hit the undead with the car door, sending them flying away and kicking another zombie with his foot, sendingthat one flying into a nearby car while another one was shot in the head. Chris turned to Claire who nodded to him; they have each other's back.
The duo kept on running the streets. Many of the paths were blocked by barricades or piled vehicles. They took the ones that were free and hope it wasn't filled with zombies. They followed through an alley way only to find more company waiting for them.
"It's like the end of the world." Claire commented.
Chris bulldozed through a bunch of zombies with the car door while telling Claire not to waste ammo on them and keep running. Going down an underground staircase and up another one, it led them to another part of the city. There were more cars, fires and zombies too but there was one large building that caught their attention. It had the initials R.P.D. as in Raccoon Police Department. This is where they needed to go.
"The police station… Almost there!" Claire said pointing.
They actually made it already. This was a relief for Chris since he didn't know where to go. Chris kept using the car door as a shield and weapon against any approaching zombies. Claire remained behind him as they weren't that far from their destination. Shewas hoping that Leon was close by.
"There's the entrance to the police station!" Chris told her.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go!"
Zombies from all directions were getting close to them. Claire shot a few just before reaching the main gate. The way is in the clearing until a pack of dogs suddenly emerged. They were missing pieces of their flesh, showing that they were indeed infected as well as people. Claire recognized the breeds of Doberman, German Shepherd and Rottweiler, and they didn't look friendly at all. Chris told her to work on opening the gate while he kept the undead hounds busy. They charged at him but he blocked and knocked them away with the car door. Claire finally opened the gate as she went in with Chris following by. Chris threw the car door like a frisbee to take out more approaching zombies, then he closed the otherwise large and heavy iron gate as Claire helped and secured the lock. The zombies were pounding on it while the dogs were barking. That should hopefully hold them off for a while.
They were finally out of danger, for the time being. Both were catching their breath from all of the running they were doing with Claire hunching over. Although, Chris was to a much lesser extent and recovered much faster. After all, he was the one wielding a heavy car door as if it were light shield made of tin foil.
"We made it… You good?" Chris asked helping Claire up.
"Yeah… I just hope Leon finds another way to get here."
"I'm sure he will. He seems like he can hold his own, but we do have find him."
"You know…" She grinned and turned to him. "For someone in a superhero costume, you really are super strong. I mean how did you do all that? I don’t think I could even lift that car door!"
"Uh... I've been working out... a lot..." Chris fibbed before changing the subject. "So this is Raccoon City. Not gonna lie, I've never even heard of it."
"Seriously? Everyone in this country knows about Raccoon City... Anyway, why are you wearing that costume? I mean it looks cool and all but why? You couldn't have been at some birthday party, the nearest town isn't for another eighty or so miles."
Crap. She saw through my 'birthday party' excuse from earlier."It's not a costume, it's my supersuit. Well, most of the time. This is what I wear when I'm needed."
"You're kidding... What are you talking about?" Claire stood shocked, with a weird look on her face.
"Wait, you honestly don't recognize me?" Chris really wanted to find out if she knew him as Superman II.
"No. Should I?"
Chris tried to changed the subject again. She really doesn't know who I am and neither does Leon.It's as if I don't exist. "Honestly, I really don't know where I am. Raccoon City, I got that but what county or state are we in?"
"Wow, really? This is Arklay County, in Pennsylvania. Don't tell me you're one of these people that get lost or forget things so easily." Claire tried to suppress a laugh. She's beginning to think that thisguyis weird.
Chris, however, noticed and could tell what she was thinking.He thenthought. Maybe I shouldn’t say anymore. Besides, my secret identity doesn't even matter here but I won’t tell her that I'm known as Superman II. She really doesn't know who I am. There doesn't seem to be any superheroes or Justice League around here because if there were, none of this would have ever happened. It’s like as if I’m like in a parallel universe or different Earth as Barry would call it, but I hope not. She's looking at me like I'm crazy just because I know absolutely nothing about a place called Raccoon City, in the state of Pennsylvania. When the sun rises and my powers recharge, maybe I can show her the truth and put an end to this mess.
He then sighed. "No, it's just a long day for me. I can handle myself and I want to help you find Leon and your brother. That's what matters most, right?"
Claire's mood then changed back serious. "That's good enough for me." She turned to the building before them. "I hope he's here."
"We won't know until we check it out."
She nodded as they both walked towards the building. There was a small staircase and on top were the R.P.D. initials and below itread'Raccoon Police,' as they were heading to the front door of the police station.
