Resident Evil: Catalyst

4

The group walked through the streets of Portsmouth. Jacks still couldn't believe what he was seeing. Buildings were destroyed, small fires raged on the streets and there wasn't a body in sight. No survivors trying to get somewhere safe, and the people who had been stumbling around or crawling along the floor late last night were no longer wandering the streets aimlessly. It looked like a ghost town.

Jacks had helped the BSAA agents plot a route through the infected area as they looked for anyone who could have survived the outbreak. But the fact that there was no one living or dead outside of the camp didn't fill Jacks with much hope of finding anyone. Guilt slowly crept into his heart as they continued their seemingly pointless mission. When he had explained to Jake he was heading back out. His nephew had cried in his arms and begged him not to go. Hearing his young nephew cry broke his heart.

To distract himself, Jacks readjusted the gun in his hands and shifted his shoulders, feeling the pull of the tight-fitting bulletproof vest. Captain Redfield insisted he wear the vest with the BSAA logo on it, so he would be recognised if he got separated from the group.

"It's completely barren", D.C. said in his deep voice, as he walked in front of Jacks.

"It's... unnatural", Nadia commented, "there should be infected walking around if anything".

"Keep your eyes peeled. We still don't know what we're dealing with here", Chris said from the very front of the group. Jacks turned and looked over at Scott who he had been partnered with. Chris was adamant that the two of them stick together and stay as far away from Ivan as they could. Scott hadn't uttered a word after they left the gates. His full attention on the mission at hand, the same with everyone else. Jacks almost found it unsettling how calm they all were as they potentially walked towards horrors that no one should ever have to deal with.

They soon reached a road littered with large chunks of rubble. "There's too much rubble in the way for anyone to be able to drive through, no one would be coming this way", Ivan stated as he glanced back at Jacks.

"As if I'd know the roads would be like this. No need to be so stuck up about it", Jacks snapped at Ivan. Scott chuckled at the comment.

"Enough. We're here to do a job", Chris reminded them. "Everyone, try and stay together and stay alert, I don't like this", Chris ordered as he picked up the pace.

Jacks followed at the back of the group behind Scott. He wasn't about to disobey Chris's orders. They climbed over the rubble and continued their search through the streets Jacks had grown up on. There were still no bodies anywhere.

"This isn't right", Jacks said as he looked around for any signs that people used to live in this city. "Keep your heads down and keep moving", Chris ordered from the front. Shutting his mouth Jacks carried on following the group further into the infect area.

As they neared Portsmouth's dock, the damage seemed to get progressively worse the closer they got to the docks. Jacks scanned the streets carefully when he suddenly spotted something nearby. It looked like a person in a hoodie had walked along the road before disappearing behind a building.

"Movement", Jacks called to the others as he lifted his gun, pointing it in the direction he had seen the person. Jacks heard everyone stop. Carefully Jacks moved forward to investigate. "Scott", he heard Chris order as Jacks made his way down the street. Jacks reached the place where he saw the person in the hoodie. Slowly Jacks approached the corner to look around and try and see where the person went. The street became a 'T' junction, the right road was blocked off by a collapsed building, but the left was clear.

Jacks couldn't believe what he saw. Down the street, he had a clear view of the dock. There was a massive ship docked there. Cages full of infected people, clawing and growling as they climbed over each other trying to get out of the cage they were trapped in, reaching their hands through the bars to grab anyone. There were also survivors being rounded up and pushed towards the ship in long lines, while people in full armoured suits carrying guns kept them moving.

There were two people that caught Jacks attention, from this distance he couldn't see them too well and he didn't have anything to see them more clearly. One seemed to be a woman with short dark hair, she was standing on the ship watching the scene below and seemed to be ordering people around.

The second was a massive brute sitting near to the women. He looked unnatural, his skin was bulging in different places under his skin and it seemed like he had large surgical tracks going across his skin.

"What the hell are those things", Jacks muttered as he crouched down to watch the scene in front of him. "More like what are they doing?", Scott said as he looked at the scene with Jacks. Glancing up at Scott, Jacks watched him indicate for the others to come over to them. As Jacks turned back to see what was going on, he nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw the women was standing not that far in front of them. How she got there so quickly was beyond him.

She had dark grey sickly-looking skin, that looked like it was stitched together time and time again. She was wearing what looked like a black specialised tactical uniform.

"Stay there!", Jacks shouted as he stood up and raised his gun to the women. "Bolder", she called, "we have some unwanted guests here". She raised her hand and pointed directly at them. Jacks had no idea where the massive creature came from, all he saw was it charging directly towards them. "MOVE IT!", Jacks shouted as he went to grab Scott to pull him out of the way of the massive monster. But he wasn't fast enough. Jacks grabbed Scott's arm just as the massive thing - the woman had called 'Boulder' - slashed at them with a massive paw. Suddenly Jacks was sent flying through the air. He felt the air leave his lungs as he crashed onto the hard pavement.