The Fifth Survivor - Episode 2

by Angel Ramon

  He can hear the screaming close by and uses his flashlight to see the commotion taking place. He spots a young teenage girl being mugged by three men who are Hispanic and African American. George becomes angry seeing young kids getting mugged in his neighborhood continuously. Holding his gun tight, he flashes his light into the eyes of the men. The men get up and are not amused by seeing an old man in front of them.

  “Who the hell are you?” One of the thugs asks him.

  “You’re gonna just stand there ese? Like the punk you are?” Another thug asks.

  “Look old man. Just go back to the retirement home. We’re not afraid to show you what we do.” The third thug says.

  “Just who in the hell are you because you’re about to die!” The first thug asks.

  “You wanna know… dead!” George says in a low tone and he quickly aims his gun.

  He quickly shoots the three men. Two of them die after being shot in the heart. The third man survives after being shot in the leg and George walks towards him ready to finish him off.

  “What the hell did you do to me? What the hell? Who are you? You’re a crazy old man! Who are you?” The thug asks in pain favoring his leg.

  “I’m your worse nightmare. All you need to know is I’m the vigilante of Brooklyn!” George answers with an evil smile.

  “Please have mercy on me, I promise to be a good boy… Just please, don’t shoot me.” The thug begs.

  “Well, I would let you go.” George says to the thug to his relief and continues, “I must say though raping and mugging an innocent girl that I know is unacceptable. Besides, the cops won’t even care enough, so I changed my mind…”

  George pulls the trigger and shoots the man in the head. He checks the teenage girl and makes sure she’s ok. Upon review, he recognizes the girl from the park. She’s a bit bruised in the face and her shirt is ripped as she was ready to be ripped.

  “Thanks so much, sir. Wait a minute, I recognize you from the park. Oh my god, you saved my life!” The girl hugs George.

  Her boyfriend shows up to make sure she’s ok after being told what happened. He sees his girlfriend hugging George and runs towards her.

  “Are you ok baby?” He asks the girl.

  “Yes, this man saved me.” The girl answers.

  “Hey I know you, I saw you in Highland Park the other day. Thanks for saving my girlfriend, I wish there was a way to repay you homie.” He replies and sees the dead bodies of the thugs.

  “Hey homie, did you kill those guys?” His face turns white.

  “Listen, we need to get out of here before the cops get here,” George says and then walks away from the scene knowing he can ill afford to stay around.

  “Babe, did he really kill those guys?” The young boy asks his girlfriend.

  “He did. All he said was that he was the vigilante of Brooklyn.” The girl answers.

  “Whoa, I think we better count our blessings and dip before 5-0 shows up.” The boy says as he and his girlfriend run from the scene.

  When George reaches his house, he hears police cars going towards the scene and sees a car rushing through his block. He rushes inside his home and heads straight for his bedroom. Turning on the television, he sees the news and sees coverage of the three dead thugs.

  He is relieved when the reporter indicates that there are no leads to who could have killed them or what even took place. He turns off the television as he prepares to head into the office of the Cypress Hills Tabloid to see his interview with Anthony Clark published.

  “That’s what happens when you cross the vigilante. This should be fun indeed. Hybrid, you’re next on my list. That’s not a threat but a promise!” He says to himself.

  July 11th, 2007

  After taking a day off to fix up himself up, George heads to the Cypress Hills Tabloid. His publication was canceled the day before for an unknown reason. Walking inside of the small building, he heads up to the president’s room. He sees that it’s closed.

  Before he goes to his room, George overhears the president talking on the phone. He thinks about eavesdropping but knows he’ll be fired if he does get caught.

  What will George do?

  1. Go to his room. (Passive)

  2. Listen in on the conversation. (Aggressive)

  You have chosen option 2.

  George decides to take a chance and attempt to listen in on what the president of the tabloid is saying. He looks around to make sure that nobody is coming up the stairs. The coast seems to be clear. At first, the president is talking too low for George to hear.

  After a minute, the president begins to pick up his voice. Based on what George can understand, the president is not publishing the interview with Anthony. At least, not the entire interview like he conducted it. It seems that the president is planning on changing up the interview just a bit.

  “Hmm… I wonder why. If only I knew who he was talking to.” George thinks in his head.

  Once the conversation is over, he immediately goes back to his room to avoid suspicion. The president of the tabloid comes into his room and greets him.

  “Morning, Fisher. How are you doing today?” The president asks.

  The president is dressed in a gray suit with a red tie along with gray khakis. He has a chubby build and is about the same age as George. The president is of Irish descent although he was born and raised in Cypress Hills. His full name is Sean Callahan.

  “I’m doing well Mr. Callahan. I trust that my interview will be published today?” George asks.

  “Yes, yes it will be. However, we had to make sure that the interview was polished up just a bit. We want to make a good impression on Hybrid and make sure they feel welcomed. I mean you did well, but there were a couple of things that needed to be ‘tuned up’. You’ll see when you read.” Callahan replies.

  “Ok… When is my interview with Chief Irons scheduled? I remember you saying that it was sometime this week.” George asks.

  “I did say that. I regret to inform you though that we have given the interview to someone else. It’s not that your skills are not good enough. I actually have a better assignment for you.” Sean answers.

  “Better assignment? Sounds intriguing.” George replies.

  “I’m glad you think that way because you’ll be taking a bit of a small vacation. I need you to go to Westchester County towards the White Plains area. Hybrid is interested in ‘possibly’ building a second headquarters there and I want you to interview the supervisor there. Yes, you should hit him with some tough questions, but at the same time not scare him off. I really think Hybrid is gonna to do some really great things, even though there was a small accident at the hospital.” Callahan explains.

  “Small accident? I think it might have been a bit bigger than that.” George responds.

  “Perhaps you’re right, but no vaccine is perfect and they’re trying to rectify their mistake. I do feel bad for the people who were in the hospital that day, but you gotta crack a few eggs you know.” Sean says.

  George becomes angry inside and has the urge to grab Sean while beating the daylights out of him.

  What will George do?

  1. Say nothing and accept the job. (Passive)

  2. Tell Callahan off but in a passive-aggressive manner. (Neutral)

  3. Beat the daylights out of Callahan. (Aggressive)

  You have chosen option #2.

  “Look, Callahan, those poor people did not deserve to die in that hospital. If something did go wrong, Hybrid needs to admit to it. I still intend to keep an open mind though as they might improve as time goes.” George says.

  “Whoa! Calm down buddy, I understand you’re upset. However, as the official publication covering the Hybrid Corporation, this could put us on the map. In otherwords, don’t screw this up, ok Fish Master?” Sean calls him by his pen name.

  “Yeah, ok,” George replies angrily.

  Once the clock hits three o’clock, George leaves the building and heads home with more questions than
answers. Could it be that his boss, Sean Callahan is actually in cahoots with Hybrid or is he just that naive? That is a question that he has to put on the back burner for now. His next plan of attack is to break into the Clark Family Mansion and find out if any skeletons are hidden inside.

  Without a car, George will have to take the subway and take it to the Gates Ave station. He’s not concerned about the hoodlums that tend to hang in the subway, instead, he’s worried the area near the mansion has not been cleared of biohazard creatures properly. He decides to put on a casual blue shirt and a pair of black jeans with his running shoes to blend in with the public.

  He also takes Dave’s silenced pistol along with his lockpick. He doesn’t count on needing his dart gun as he’s sure many of the guards in the mansion are dead from the first outbreak. George also remembers to grab his new mini-camera so he can grab some pictures. This model does not produce a positive and the pictures have to be uploaded to a computer.

  “Here goes nothing. I’ll see what I can gather and then get the hell out of here. When it comes to that mystery woman, I’ll have to see what to do about her.” George says in his mind ready to go.

  He walks towards the Cleveland Street train station and heads up to the platform as he waits for the J Train to arrive. There are no clouds in sight, but he does notice the sky is a crimson red color.

  While the color is caused by the sun’s reflection as it goes down, to George it’s a symbol of his arrival to the lion’s den.

  “I’m bound to find something big, but what if this is all just a huge rat trap? I can’t think about that right now. I have to keep up my probe on Hybrid before the next outbreak strikes!” He says in his head trying to quarrel his fears.

  The train arrives eight minutes later and he enters. He casually takes a seat and does a good job blending in with everyone else. In fact, no one on the train tries to pick on him or even pay attention to him. Nevertheless, he keeps his hands on his gun just in case he has to play vigilante.

  “This is Gates Ave.” The automated message on the train announces.

  Once the train stops, he exits the train casually and heads down the stairs. He is one of only three people who get off the train. George gets an odd feeling that something isn’t right in the air. The air smells heavier than back home.

  “Crap, I hope the Raven Hawk hasn’t gone airborne yet.” He says under his voice.

  He walks towards the barricade and looks around to make sure nobody is around to spot him. All of a sudden, he hears a loud noise behind him. Looking behind him, it proves to be a piece of an awning falling to the ground.

  “Whew, it’s just a piece of rusted metal falling down. They really need to invest and improve this dump. It could be so much better, just a reflection of the poor governing here.” George says.

  A minute later, he hears a female screaming across the street. Running towards the screaming, he sees that the female is being eaten by a zombie.

  “Oh crap! Looks like I’m really in the shithole now!” He says pulling out his pistol.

  Chapter 4

  Game Start…

  Prepare to enter Survival Horror mode!

  Weapon Equipped: Silenced Pistol. Good for stealth missions and more accurate meaning more headshots. However, it sacrifices power for accuracy. There are eight bullets per magazine. Pistol Ammo: 16

  Side item: Lockpick. Lockpicking Level: 5 and Mini-Camera

  Condition: Fine

  “Oh great, count on me to leave my magnum at home! This should be fun!” He says in frustration.

  It’s too late to save the woman, but George knows that he can’t leave the zombie live. He shoots the zombie with a couple of head shots before it goes down.

  Pistol Ammo: 14

  After the zombie goes down and makes the ominous noise all zombies make when they are killed, he looks behind him. Upon turning around, he is shocked by the horde of zombies that are walking towards him.

  “Shit! The outbreak has expanded! I thought this area was quarantined, looks like another one of Hybrid’s lies exposed. I better get inside the mansion before I become their next meal.” He says as he begins to run.

  Running to the train station is not an option as he sees zombies blocking the entrance to the train station.

  As he’s running towards the mansion, George sees a zombie in front of him that he shoots on the run. With three shots in the head, he kills it.

  Pistol Ammo: 11

  After killing the zombie, he is attacked by a rabid dog on his right leg. The dog bites him on the leg and he’s forced to shoot it. The dog falls to the floor as George begins to favor his right leg.

  Condition: Caution (Level 1)

  “Even the poor dogs have been infected by this crap! I just gotta get inside and hope I can cure this leg.” He says in pain.

  Favoring his right leg, George continues to run to the mansion. When he gets to the gates of the mansion, he is grabbed by another zombie that he quickly pushes away. Another zombie tries to grab him and he sidesteps the zombie. He grabs it from behind and pushes it into one of the spikes on the gate. Its head goes right through the spike and its brain pops out of its head. George ignores the gore and keeps running towards the door.

  More zombies can be seen in the front courtyard. From what George sees, the zombies are mostly guards and butlers that used to work in the mansion. Ignoring all of the undead, he makes it to the front door. Upon getting to the door, he finds that it’s locked. He quickly tries to unlock the door with his lockpick but realizes that the lock is too complex for his skill level.

  Lockpicking Level 8 required!

  Seeing an iron pipe next to him, he picks it up.

  Picked up an Iron Pipe. Besides defending yourself, there’s gotta be another use for it.

  George spots a window that leads to the dining room. He decides to use the pipe in an attempt to break the window. Before he can get to the window though, two zombies get close to him. With no time to arm himself with his pistol, he swings the iron pipe and strikes the two zombies. One of them falls to the ground and he thrusts the pipe into the head of the zombie.

  The other zombie stays up and grabs George. He blocks the zombie from biting him as he tries to push it away. Able to overpower his way out from the undead, he pushes it away. He swings the iron pipe onto the zombie’s head and beheads it. Blood gushes out of the neck area of the zombie. George has no time to watch though as more zombies are walking towards him.

  With the pipe still in his hand, he bashes it until the window breaks. While he’s able to break the window, it’s just above his head. So George pulls himself up the window. His weight does him no favors as he has a tough time pulling himself up along with his hurt right leg. Three zombies run towards him and get uncomfortably close to him.

  After about ten seconds, George is able to pull himself up to the window. Before he can get into the dining room, one of the zombies is able to pull on his left foot. He kicks it away and turns around to face the three zombies.

  Swinging the iron pipe, he strikes all of the zombies and buys himself time to drop into the dining room. He falls on his back into the dining room. Before he can study the dining room, he has to make sure the zombies from outside can’t break in.

  There is a cherry wood cabinet that he sees. Taking all the china plates and cups, he removes them to lower the weight of the cabinet. Once it’s free of any plates and cups, he pushes the cabinet until it blocks the window.

  “Whew! That was a close one… I better get moving through. I’m sure that cabinet won’t hold them for long.

  Looking around the dining room, he sees that the walls are made out of brick over the fireplace while the rest of the wall is made out of gray marble. He sees emblems showing the coat of arms of Croatia. That suggests that the Clark family may be descendants of Croatia.

  Walking around the dining room, he looks for anything useful. The only thing that he sees is a bronze shield with the Clark Family emblem. George sees no
use to take it for now, but he keeps it in the back of his mind as he knows mansions tend to have secret passages. Not sure where to go, he heads for the door closest to him.

  Opening the cedar wood door, he sees himself in a dark hallway with only the moonlight shining through to brighten things up. He sees a lone zombie in the hallway that he easily kills with a few shots.

  Pistol Ammo: 8

  He reloads the pistol with his last magazine and continues to move as he hopes to find something for his right leg. He sees a couple of doors along with a stairway leading down to the basement. Trying to open the first door, he sees that it’s locked from the other side.

  Walking to the red cherry wood door next to the first door, he sees the door is locked as well. However, he also sees that the door needs a special key. The only clue that he gets is a picture of the king of spades that one would see on a deck of playing cards. The indication is that he needs a key that is labeled with a picture of a King.

  With no other choice and no map, he heads downstairs. When he reaches downstairs, George opens the door and enters the kitchen. The foul odor of spoiled food and the rancid smell of dead bodies is enough to send a bad sensation to his stomach. He holds his urge to puke and walks into the kitchen. On the chef’s table, he sees a couple of items.

  Picked up a Pistol Magazine. +8 Pistol Ammo.

  Pistol Ammo: 16

  Picked up a Key. Studying the key, George finds out that it has a picture of a Jack.

  With the key of the jack in his possession, he sees a door behind him. He’s unable to open it as it’s locked from the other side. Not wanting to leave the kitchen just yet, he heads to the back and finds an elevator that has no power going to it. There is a body next to the elevator. He looks at the body and doesn’t see any evidence that it has been infected by the Raven Hawk Virus. There is no pulse though on the body.

  He sees nothing else useful and realizes he’ll have to explore the other side of the mansion. When he opens the door, a zombie pops in and grabs him right away. With no time to react, the zombie is able to deal a bite to his shoulder before he pushes it away.