Lockdown: The Arcadia Diaries

Escape from the Hardware Store

Author's note: Listen to Absurd Advent from the soundtrack of Resident Evil 2 (2019) for this chapter

One year earlier...

Arcadia, ME

July 5, 2019

Terra M. Kimbrough

"Millie? Millie!" I gasp in horror at the sudden rash that has broken out on Millie's arm and the mass of blood and vomit that she puked into the nearest trash can. "Oh, my God! Millie!"

"She's infected! Stay back!" David is soon joined by Erica, Larry, and Emma-the bandana girl-who all have their guns drawn. "

"PLEASE!" Millie screams out in pain, clutching her stomach; it's the same high-pitched, agonized scream I heard in the hospital last night. Faith, Kyle, Eva and Charles run towards me, trying to get as far away from Millie as possible. Millie looks into my eyes, and she immediately senses my helplessness towards the situation. "Terra...!"

"Don't touch her!" Larry warns. "Those things may be inside her body and they'll get on you too!"

"Please!" Millie attempts to scream again. "Shoot me! Shoot me!"

Before she can say another word, she doubles over in pain, before vomiting a huge mass of black barf on the floor. Suddenly, the creature inside her mouth begins clawing its way out of the side of her neck! All the people around her begin to disperse, knowing what's coming.

"Millie?" I attempt to calm her down.

"It's inside me! It's inside me!" Millie squeals. "It's inside me! Please kill me! It's going to eat me! Just please-kill me now! Kill me!"

"Millie, no! We're going to get you to a doctor! We're going to get this thing out of you-!" I suddenly stop myself, then scream at what happens next.

"It's too much pain! I can't do this anymore!" Millie screams. "Please!" She then reaches for a knife, then tries handing it to me. 

"Millie, no-!" I protest.

"Please take it!" Millie pleads. "Take it, take it!"

"What's wrong with you?!?" I screech.

"FINISH IT!" Millie cries. "Finish it before it eats me! Please, it's too much! Help...finish...!"

Faith suddenly begins screaming and pointing at something crawling from inside Millie's neck.

Before I can react, the grotesque head of the parasite bursts out of Millie's neck as she collapses to the ground.

BOOM! Both Millie and the parasite that has infected her meet their end.

But when I turn around, I find that the shooter isn't Larry, Emma, John, Kuri, Erica, or David.

It's Sarah Miller, the singer from yesterday's concert. Sarah is breathing heavily, but relieved that she was able to stop a parasite from infecting another human being. "Where'd you get that gun?" I ask.

That's when I hear more screams coming from the other end of the hardware store. "Holy shit!" Erica gasps. 

The entire hardware store transforms into complete pandemonium as newly-infected people begin screaming madly and some even begin lunging at other uninfected people, pleading for help. Though some of the people can still speak, most of them are unable to due to the parasites undoubtedly eating their tongues. I then happen to catch sight of the Goth folks Aurelia, Clyde and Brooke, who are trying to scream for Amy and Mary, but are unable to due to their tongues being eaten by the parasites inside them. Nonetheless, the other three get the message and take off, and seconds later the parasites inside the three infected Goths suddenly explode out of their mouths and throats, completely destroying the lower halves of their faces and killing them.