Resident Evil: Volume I

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟷𝟿: 𝚃𝚑𝚎 "𝙱𝚒𝚐-𝙱𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍" 𝚁𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚎

25th July 1998:

"What the FUCK was that?!"

I tremble as a bead of blood trickles down the end of the shotgun and drips into a puddle on the floor.

We don't know where it came from. To be honest, we're still processing what happened. After Chris, Rebecca and I left the guardhouse, we made our way through the grounds and down the vine-ridden path back into the mansion.

The footsteps were fast and the only warning was a throaty growling sound from behind us. Next thing we knew, there was this huge, bulking thing in our way. I say thing but it's more like a reptile...? Ugh, I don't even know.

Green skin. Piercing, orange-white eyes. Talons. It squealed painfully and lunged straight for us. The only thing I thought was 'shoot' so I did. Man, it took a few shells though. It was so quick; just jumping around us and swiping with massive claws. All three of us aimed between the thing's eyes until its head finally erupted in an explosion of brains and scales.

"Not sure I want to know," Becca speaks slowly, gulping as she steps away from the bloody mess.

Chris turns away from the creature with a harsh grimace on his face, "Whatever it was, it sure knows how to dance,"

With shaking fingers, Rebecca picks out some shells from her pouch and passes them over to me. She was nearest to the back when the creature crept up behind us so no wonder she's shook up. Hell, it was as big as her.

I smile in thanks and reload six shells into the chamber. A part of me just can't call the shotgun "mine" — it's still Richard's in my eyes and I'll treat it as such. Chris looks at me with an unsmiling but tender expression. He's been doing that ever since we left the guardhouse and I appreciate it a lot. Something about Chris just calms me; maybe it's the bond between us.

"I think I know where we can use the new key," he announces with a wide-eyed look of realisation.

I look up at him.

"You do?"

"Yeah - I'll lead the way," he replies with an affirmative nod.

Rebecca and I follow Chris through the door out into the familiar, P-shaped corridor with the staircase. The mansion feels stranger now that we've just spent hours in a completely different area.

A screech stops me in my tracks and we all freeze in the doorway, hearts trapped in our throats.

The sound of something heavy scuttles overhead. A large, green body crashes down in front of us with a thump against the carpet. Shit. I fling the shotgun over my shoulder and bring out the grenade launcher. Nothing like a little acid to set the record straight. The — well I'll call it reptile for now — circles around us in swift sidesteps like a predator to its prey. It leaps and swings for Rebecca with a single, glistening claw. She gets a clean shot to the head as Chris pushes her out of the way, surrounded in a fine spray of crimson.

The reptile stumbles back and flails its limbs about with a squeal. I get ready to fire the grenade launcher when Rebecca pushes at my shoulder.

"Look out!" She cries as another one bounds down the steps and shrieks out at an ear-deafening volume.

"You take that one, I'll take this one!" I toss the shotgun over to Rebecca and turn towards the stairs, "hope you like acid, freak,"

The creature bends its hardened knees, getting ready to spring. I unload a round directly into its ugly head just in time. A burst of acid splashes over its face and bubbles up, revealing the red, tender flesh beneath. My stomach lurches with a heavy mix of disgust and anger as I bring out my handgun to finish the job. Just two bullets into the exposed brain is enough to make the reptile drop to the floor in a wriggling movement. It gives a drawn out scream before slumping to the floor and rolling down the remainder of the steps like one big, scaly rag doll.