The World Burning

The Rooftop

They remained in the room searching for clues for a few minutes while the girl stepped out of the room to breathe quietly, hands shaking as her lip quivered. Closing her eyes tightly as she tried to regain her composure. She walked down the hallway she had gone down alone once more and stepped into the larger room, looking at the multiple hallways and doors that surrounded her. She could hear the faint sound of footsteps, too quiet to be dead. Too loud to be friendly. She felt her pulse quickening as she moved to hide behind one of the couches in the room, fitting flush between the wall and the fabric. Several armed operatives stood in the center of the room talking, discussing with their superiors what they should do next. Her breath caught in her throat when one of them said her name, mentioning that she was of high priority. The men continued to talk while the other part of the group barricaded their room for safety after Hewie alerted them. Leon leaned by the doorway, ready to strike if someone got inside. Worried about the girl who had been out there alone and seemingly disappeared.

-

Chris' team stood on the rooftop, looking down at the city below. They could see a few soldiers running amongst the hordes of undead while taking out as many as possible. Jill looked at the stairwell quietly, thinking about how the other team was fairing. "Do you think they're alright?"

"They have Leon, I know they will be," Chris reassured, laying his hand on her shoulder. She nods and gives him a weary smile. "Remember we have to meet them back in the main part of the building in an hour, we'll know if something is wrong then."

"I know, but what if we end up being too late?" She asked but dropped it when Chris looked worried. She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, thinking to herself for a moment. She stepped around the side of the wall and crouched down to observe a bag laid haphazardly on the side of the brick. She opened it and pulled out a piece of paper, lips pursed together as she began to read it.

It's too late to save everyone, but this guilt keeps eating me alive. I wish I had been there to stop them from this. I could have done more. I should have done more. Whatever happens now could have been prevented if I had just taken the girl and threatened her life. I should never have let this progress this far. When I find her I'll personally make sure I rectify my previous errors. No one in this city can keep her from my clutches, like a moth drawn to a flame. She'll be here. I'll kill her by the end of the night. And if I should fail then I will fall victim to this cruel monstrosity of a hellscape. This cannot progress any further. Even she should know that.

- Captain Kurt

Jill looked at the blood stain on the very bottom, lips pulling down as she continued to search inside the bag. As she moved things around she felt something slide against her hand and jerked away from the bag quickly. As it toppled over a decapitated woman's head rolled out and caused her to gasp and cover her mouth with her other hand. As she regained her composure she looked around the rooftop a bit more before shaking her head. "We have to be missing something."

"There's nothing up here, but that." Chris gestured at the woman's head and the note in Jill's hand. The blonde-haired woman frowned and shook her head. Her eyes darkened as she walked down into the stairwell and returned to the second floor of the building. She stepped into another room that hadn't been explored and found a body slumped up against the wall with a machete pinning it to the wall. She stepped closer and watched as it tried to reach up at her, being stopped by the blade. She noticed a name engraved on the machete and frowned, confused. Perhaps she had a brother? Jill thought to herself for a moment longer before noticing another note on the table, picking it up and breathing in heavily.

Today's experiment: Human psyche. 

Subject: Young woman, approximately twenty-three years old.

Test: Danger expectancy, Survival rate.

Information: Do not approach. Test subject is highly dangerous and prone to attacks of instant rage. Uncontrollable. Viral. Highly infected. Do not cross paths, if you do say goodbye to everything you know about the world. Shows no obvious signs of virus traces. Incurable. Could potentially hold a cure somewhere in DNA? Too dangerous to proceed with tests. Put the patient down at all costs. Y/n L/n. Terminate on sight.

Jill's eyes widened and she nearly dropped the paper, eyes lacing back over to the machete in the man's corpse. Reading the name on his jacket. Captain Kurt. "Oh no..." She whispered, looking to see Chris walking into the room. She picked the letter up, scrunched it into a ball, and put it into her hip pouch, turning to greet Chris. "I think we should head back early and make sure the area is still intact."

"Good idea, we haven't found anything useful here anyway," Chris added, patting her shoulder as he glanced at the corpse before leaving the room. Jill watched him go and approached the corpse, lifting her silenced pistol and shooting it in the forehead. Once it stopped moving she grabbed ahold of the handle of the machete she pulled until it slid from the body with the sound of flesh being sliced. Perfectly sharp. She shook her head and cleaned the blood off of it on the corpse's uniform before carrying it downstairs and holding it in her lap as she sat in one of the chairs.

-

The young girl lifted her head enough to peek out at the soldiers talking, looking between them with clinical preparation. She could feel an unwelcome lump forming in her throat as she went back into hiding, stomach churning. She covered her mouth with her hand as the group of soldiers walked down the hallway towards Leon and the others, stopping just outside of the barricaded door. She threw up a sickly ball of black and red blood onto the ground, shivering slightly as blurs danced over her vision. She stood up slowly while leaning against the wall for support. She let out a heavy breath, eyes glazing over before she stumbled out from behind the couch. Using her sleeve to wipe the blood from her chin while her eyes dilated slightly against the light.