by Angel Ramon
She inserts the metal plate under the bronze statue and once she inserts the plate a box from the ground rises. The box that rises has LED’s on it and she begins to touch them. There are 8 LED lights on the box and to her it looks like a puzzle.
When she touches one light another light turns one next to it. She gets the idea of the puzzle is to touch the lights in a certain way so that all 8 are on at the same time. What makes it tricky is that when a particular light is turned on another one will turn on or turn off. So it takes some time for her to figure out the puzzle. However after a bit of concentration she figures out that she needs to touch 4 lights only. She has to touch every 2 lights from the first and after doing that the lights turn one. The box opens and inside is a key.
Picked up a Key. Upon further examination, Maria finds out it is a safe deposit box key for box #110.
“Looks like I’ll be meeting Danny back at the bank after all. I’m sure that box has the other plate to open this gate.” Maria says to herself.
However, before Maria can even prepare herself to head back to the bank, Nemesis jumps from above and lands in front of her.
“What the hell? What do you want from me? What the hell is this thing?” Maria is left asking herself questions.
Nemesis runs after Maria striking her with a hard punch. Falling to the ground hard, she rolls out of the way as Nemesis tries to step on her. It runs and tries to grab her, but she sidesteps out of the way. She shoots the creature with the grenade launcher, but she misses. Nemesis runs and punches her again.
Grenade Launcher Ammo: 8 Standard Grenades.
This time though it picks her up and tries to stick its tentacle in her body, but she’s able to kick the creature in its face and escape. For the next minute or so she is running in circles trying to catch Nemesis in a weak spot until she sees a mirror on the floor.
Picked up Mirror.
“Hmm… a mirror. Maybe the light on the box will blind him long enough to get out of here.” She says as she hatches another escape plan.
Waiting for Nemesis to charge she sidesteps its attack and runs to the box where she got the key from. Waiting for Nemesis to turn its head she places the mirror next to the light. As the creature faces her, she quickly places the mirror over the light and the light strikes Nemesis’s face blinding it. She keeps the light on its face for about a minute making sure it continues to hold its eye. After the minute passes, she makes a run for it.
She runs from the area and sprints towards the next block. When she gets to the corner of Linwood St and Ridgewood Ave, she can hear the loud scream of Nemesis.
“OOOO… MARIA!!!”
“Crap, it looks like I really pissed him off this time. That nut will be after me big time and he’s going to be a relentless one to kill off. I better start thinking of a way to kill him before he gets any stronger. This should be fun.” She says knowing she has pissed off Nemesis.
She makes her way back to the bank and hopes that Danny is still alive and well. Nemesis’s scream can still be heard…
Chapter 7
Heading back to the bank, Maria runs as fast as she can just in case Nemesis is still chasing her. After 5 minutes she returns to the bank to find Nicolai and Danny still in the building. She comes into the bank busting through the doors.
“Whoa! Why the rush?” Danny asks Maria.
“He’s back… I managed to get away from him. However, he was trying to give chase to me. Now I have no idea… whether that bastard is outside waiting for us or if he’s… gonna crash in here.” Maria says catching her breath.
“Damn Nicolai you here that?” Danny asks Nicolai.
“Yes I did. Ah… listen we have to get out of here.” Nicolai says low.
“We know that or is there something else?” Maria asks.
“Hybrid… Ugghhh… they plan to launch a missile to East New York. I’m afraid we have been left here for dead. Luckily there is a chopper that will pick us up, but I’m sure Danny has told you that. This time though we need to be there as that will be the only chopper that will arrive. I’m going out to see if I can get in contact with the pilot somehow.” Nicolai explains the dire situation to everyone and heads out the back exit.
“What the hell? I should have known Hybrid left you guys for dead, like I said Danny…” Danny cuts off Maria.
“Oh man, we got to get to the bell tower ASAP!” Danny screams.
“Relax, I got a key to a safe deposit box, we’ll see what’s inside. Chances are it will give us access to the tower.” She replies.
Maria heads to safe deposit box #110 and finds the sliver metal plate for the other statue. However, before she leaves though she spots a reloading station that she uses.
Maria combines both jars of Gunpowder A and B together. The result is two jars of Gunpowder C.
The manual of the reloading tool missed the details about Gunpowder C. She experiments by mixing the two jars together, figuring that she’ll get some powerful ammo.
Maria mixes both jars of Gunpowder C. The result after putting in the station is a new type of grenade rounds.
Picked up +6 Freeze Rounds. These rounds are able to freeze their targets for a short time.
After picking up her new toy, she decides to load the new rounds into her launcher.
“Hey are your ready to get out of here?” Danny asks Maria.
“Yeah, I just decided to pick up a few things.” She replies.
“Lucky you, I didn’t find jack shit here. Let’s just hope the freak show doesn’t show…” He is cut off as Nemesis breaks into the bank.
“Well it looks like he did!” He screams firing his assault rifle.
Maria shoots Nemesis with her shotgun and grabs its attention. The creature charges at her, she is able to backflip out of the way. Nemesis ends up striking the benches and destroys the wooden benches. Then the creature stretches and screams his catchphrase.
Nemesis turns its attention to Danny and rushes towards him. It grabs him and throws him towards the teller windows where he falls into the area.
Maria realizes that she is alone now and begins to shoot Nemesis with the shotgun again. The creature charges her and once again she’s able to sidestep out of the way. She keeps shooting it until it goes down on the floor.
Shotgun Ammo: 20
After that she runs by it, but it quickly grabs her foot and takes her down. Her shotgun falls out of her hand and Nemesis gets right back up. Nemesis tries to punch down towards her, but she rolls out of the way. The creature punches the floor so hard that it creates a hole on the floor at least 6 inches deep.
Getting up, Maria holds her chest and breathes heavily knowing she was only a punch away from experiencing a painful death. The she pulls out her grenade launcher with the freeze rounds and decides to try them out. She shoots a freeze round on Nemesis as its getting up. Nemesis stops in its tracks and Maria shoots another round to keep the creature at bay. She rushes towards Danny to try and get him back up. However, he is still down on the ground.
Grenade Launcher Ammo: Freeze rounds: 4
“Danny! Please you gotta get up! I need your help and I know you get up. Come on!” Maria yells and pushes him trying to wake him up.
After a minute, Danny gets back up and sees Nemesis beginning to move again.
“I’m alright, let’s kill this freak!” He gets up and reloads his assault rifle.
As Nemesis begins to thaw out, Danny begins to unload on the creature. Seeing the shotgun he picks it up and prepares to throw it at Maria.
“Hey Maria, catch!” He screams throwing the shotgun.
The shotgun flies over Nemesis head and heads above Maria’s head. She jumps up and grabs it in mid-air. After recovering her shotgun, the two unload on Nemesis. It rushes towards Maria and punches her in her injured arm.
Condition: Caution (Level 1)
Nemesis prepares to grab her, but she uses another freeze round to stop it in its tracks. Danny eventually takes it down and Nemesis drops ano
ther briefcase.
Grenade Launcher Ammo: Freeze rounds: 3
“OOO… Maria!” It screams before falling to the ground.
“What does this freak want with you?” Danny asks.
“I told you, he wants me out just like Hybrid wants. I know too much about them for my own good.” She answers.
“What do you mean?” He asks.
“Look never mind, let’s make sure we’re at the Bell Tower, ok?” She deflects his question.
“Alright, besides survival is what counts now. He replies ready to go.
The two head towards the Bell Tower. As they go through the streets they deal with hordes of zombies, as a team the zombies are nothing more than target practice. When they get to the residential part of the town, they spot Danny’s wounded partner fighting a new creature.
“Hey István! Get out of there, don’t try to play hero!” Danny screams.
Despite his cries, it’s too late. The creature who is a Flesher sticks out its deadly sharp tongue. The tongue cuts through István’s heart and kills him instantly. Maria uses her handgun to kill the licker in pure anger.
As seen in the second adventure, Fleshers are creatures that are mutated humans that show nothing but their flesh. They crawl and have deadly claws. However, their signature is their deadly to the touch tongue that can cut anything like butter.
Danny heads to István and tries to talk to him, “Hey István, can you answer me?”
“It’s no use, his heart has been cut. I seen these creatures before, oh dear this is happening all over again like last time. Only this time it’s all of Brooklyn, when will this madness stop?” Maria asks herself.
“No! István, damn Hybrid. If I knew this is what they… were up to… I would have never… signed up with these… sickos!” He says kicking the wall and tearing up. “These guys have gone too far! I just want… to get out of here and end my connection… with Hybrid. I don’t want my kids… to know I worked for these sick bastards.” He finishes saying in anger.
“Then it’s settled, let’s get moving. It’s too late for your friend, but not for us. You got to keep the faith.” She cheers him up or at least tries to.
The two head for the Bell Tower until they see a helicopter. While both of them at first are happy, that happiness turns to concern when they notice the chopper is losing control. The chopper begins to head towards the two. Maria heads to her right while Danny heads left to avoid being hit by the chopper. The chopper crashes onto the ground and the two survive the ordeal. However they become separated once again by the chopper crash.
“Hey Danny!” She screams.
“Maria, I’m by the Bell Tower!” He screams in response.
“I hear you, but I can’t get there. I’ll have to find another way there.” She says back.
“Ok I’ll try to see if I can find a back entrance to this place!” He screams and heads towards the tower.
Maria on the other hand has to find another way to the Bell Tower. The whole block of Linwood Ave is blocked from Jamaica Ave where the building is located. She realizes that she will have to go around. She sees a church on the same block that she went to one day when she was younger. As she remembers that experience, a flashback reminds her that there is indeed a back exit that will lead her to Jamaica Ave.
She heads towards the door and sees it’s locked. Spotting a window, she breaks it and enters the church. It’s a more contemporary church and it’s not overly huge. It’s dark, but luckily she bumps into a light switch and the lights turn on. After the lights turn on she is surprised by the sight of two fleshers. She doesn’t panic though as she shoots a couple of freeze rounds at the fleshers and finishes them off with her handgun.
Grenade Launcher Ammo. Freeze rounds: 1
Pistol Ammo: 110
When she enters the main sanctuary where prayers are done, she spots at least four fleshers. However as she learned from the previous adventure, if she is quiet enough she’ll be able to get pass the creatures. So she gets down on her knees and crawls through the middle of the sanctuary with her heart beating like crazy.
“My God, I better not get a heart attack after all this. One mistake and I’ll be Swiss cheese. It won’t only be figuratively but also literally.” She says with butterflies in her stomach as she experiences another near death situation.
Crawling ever so slowly, she gets to the altar as the fleshers continue to mind their business. Upon getting to the altar, she finds a storage room where she finds a few items.
Picked up a First Aid Spray.
Picked up +20 Handgun Bullets. Pistol Ammo: 130
Picked up +6 Freeze rounds. Freeze Rounds: 7
She sees another door down the hall and when she enters a bunch of picture frames can be seen.
“Whoa! I never saw this room before, looks pretty grim.” She says until she hears a crow. “Oh God, crows, I hate crows!” She has a fear of crows, but as long as she is calm the birds won’t attack her. Then as she turns the corner she can see a huge picture of a coffin with a message at the bottom.
“When a person has lived a full life and all the experiences in between, the pathway to the other side will be presented. It requires a person to go through a full life cycle, a person who is smart enough should know what a life cycle entails.”
“Oh great! Another damn puzzle, what is it with these creepy puzzles?” She says in disgust.
The first picture she takes a look at is a picture of a middle aged man and there is a button under it. The message under the picture reads:
“A picture of a middle aged man in his garage. He’s about to start a long day of work.”
Maria decides not to touch the button, as she is unsure of what it will do. The next picture to the right is a picture of a newborn baby.
“It’s a picture of a new born baby being held by its mother. It’s ready to start the beautiful cycle of life.”
Once again, Maria avoids touching the button, she turns the corner again and sees a set of three pictures. The first one is a picture of a toddler on a tricycle. The second picture is one of a tired old man on a rocking chair and the final picture is one of a young adult graduating college. After seeing all pictures, she goes back to the picture of the coffin. Using her critical thinking skills, she understands the puzzle being to touch the buttons from the beginning of one’s life to the end.
She goes to the picture of the newborn first and presses the button. Nothing happens to her relief.
“Wheew! I must be doing something right then…” She takes a deep breath with her handgun raised just in case. The crows remain where they are not moving an inch.
She goes on to the button under the picture of the toddler and the one under the young adult. Turning the corner she goes on to press the button under the middle-aged man. She goes around the corner again to the picture of the old man and presses the button of the picture.
Walking back to the picture of the coffin, she takes a deep breath and prepares to touch the button hoping no traps are spawned. Once the button is depressed, the wall begins to move to the right and the backyard of the small church is revealed. As she heads out of the church, she spots Nemesis with its rocket launcher walking around.
Not wanting another fight with the creature especially without Danny, she hides behind the huge pillar. Beginning to develop cold sweat, she stays still behind the pillar hoping Nemesis doesn’t spot her. Nemesis walks slow, too slow for Maria’s liking and she draws her grenade launcher in case she’s spotted. She’s barely able to concentrate and does a quick prayer to herself.
“Oh please God don’t let this killer find me. I just want to get out of here to see my love.” She says low trying not to break a sweat.
After a tense few minutes Nemesis walks the other way and screams Maria’s name in anger. Maria is only too relieved to not be spotted by the rocket launcher wielding monster. Before she escapes she finds a couple of herbs.
Picked up a green herb.
Picked up
a blue herb. Cures Poison condition.
After grabbing the herbs, she gets out of the church and heads towards Jamaica Ave. On the street she sees a horde of zombies, but she shoots a flammable canister next to them which burns them all. As she gets close to the bell tower she hears the sound of a flesher, but sees nothing. She decides to keep on walking until the sounds gets extremely loud. A flesher attempts to ambush her from her right side, it jumps towards her trying to behead her with its claw.
Maria is able to drop herself to the ground and the flesher barely misses her. She attempts to get up, but the flesher gets onto her and attempts to cut her open. Maria holds the claw with all her might. However, with her injured arms she has trouble keeping the claw away from her. The claw gets extremely close her face and begins to make contact to her cheeks.
“No!!!” She screams as she braces for impact.
Shots are heard and they hit the flesher killing it. She gets up and sees its Nicolai who saved her. Nicolai comes to pick her up.
“Thanks Nicolai! I thought you were trying to call the helicopter though. I mean I’m grateful and all, but what are you doing here?” Maria is curious.
“I was, but I could not get in contact with the pilot. The destruction has cut off a lot of the cell towers making it hard to get any signal. Look, you just need to be up on the tower as soon as possible. Let’s get moving.” He explains himself.
Nicolai goes off in the other direction before Maria could say anymore. She’s thankful for his help, but can’t help to think that he has something to hide or his age is catching up to him. She gets to the gate guarding the entrance of the Bell Tower and get to the statue to insert the sliver metal plate. Once she inserts the metal plate the gate begins to lower and after it lowers the path to the front door is cleared.
She opens the heavy wooden door and heads inside…
Act 2 - Escape
