Chapter Text
Zombies were humans infected with a virus. I know, I know, it’s in all zombie horror movies. Horrible virus, people get infected, they die, they come back to life and start chewing on the nearest protein rich organism. This is what most people think of when they hear about zombies. But when those things finally popped into existence…
Boy.
None of us realized what exactly we were getting into, nor were we prepared.
North Corel was a ghost town.
For the last few minutes- since they arrived- it was just the sound of their combat boots echoing off the buildings around them. Black smoke from once-burning vehicles trailed into the air and blotted out parts of the sky and sun, giving the town an even more haunting effect.
Zack’s hand tightened on the hilt of the buster sword- a gift from Angeal for making First Class- as the hairs on the back of his neck started prickling up, every fiber in his body was screaming at him to flee. As he finally started to hear the minute groans and snarls as something shuffled through the alleys on either side of them. Perhaps it was the escaped science experiment? Was it the reason for North Corel being deprived of human life? Surely citizens wouldn’t be hiding from them so whatever it was he was ready for a fight.
Glancing to his left he could see Kunsel had his standard issued sword out and ready, and from depths of his helmet; he could make out the tiny glow of the other’s eyes as they met his- but they conveyed the same message. Kunsel was thinking the same thing as him.
A sharp gasp from one of the troopers snapped both soldiers’ attention back towards the front. In front of them lay a Shinra issued gun, tattered military clothes and the bloody, mangled, gnawed-on-remains of a Shinra Trooper’s lower half- or at least Zack assumed it was- from the single combat boot that had a foot still stuck in it.
Choking back the bile that clawed its way up the back of his throat, Zack wondered what higher up he managed to piss off to end up here?
:73 Hours Earlier:
You’re not one of them
Zack sighed as he brushed his thumb over the raised sentence on his wrist. The black words forever engraved on his mind and skin. The words on his wrist would be the first sentence his soulmate says to him. Ever since his soulmark appeared, when he was four, he always wondered what his soulmate meant. He wasn’t one of what? He hoped one day- if he ever met his soulmate- he would find out. Hopefully it was nothing bad.
Gently knocking his head back against the window behind him, Zack let out a deep sigh. Currently he was waiting for the rest of his team to show up for the mission they’d been assigned. A SOLDIER second named Romeo, three troopers and a Turk, all had yet to show- leaving Zack to try and entertain himself while he waited. They weren’t late- rather Zack was early for a change, having already been in Costa del Sol when the mission came through on his PHS.
The other five were due in from Midgar by chopper and from Costa del Sol- they would take a military vehicle to North Corel. Their mission sounded fairly easy; it was to find out what happened to the two infantry squads that were dispatched to the town. From what Director Lazard informed him over the phone, they were sent in for a simple retrieval mission of an escaped science experiment. That was a week ago. It had been radio silence since then.
Now Shinra was finally taking action and sending in two SOLDIERs and a Turk to investigate. The hum of a helicopter drew Zack’s attention towards the landing pad as the chopper touched down. Three troopers and a helmeted SOLDIER second jumping out, before the blades even stopped whirling.
The second soldier waved at him and Zack felt a sense of familiarity wash over him.
“Hey Zack, looks like I’m filling in for Romeo. He’s in the infirmary for a bite.” An all too familiar voice rang out over the whining of blades.
“Kuns! Sheesh for a bite? From what?” Zack stayed at his spot by the black military hummer as the helmeted second joined him. It was rare for Kunsel to even take missions outside of the East Continent, most of the time he preferred to stay back in the tower training rookies or unearthing dirty company secrets.
Kunsel shrugged and went toward the back to store his belongings, “Some guy in the slums bit him. My guess is he forgot to clean the wound before it was healed.”
“How’s that enough to put a SOLDIER in the infirmary.” Zack asked, trying to wrap his head around how a bite put a mako enhanced warrior out of commission.
“Don’t ask me. I’m not a doctor.”
“But you know things!”
“True… Last I heard he went into a fever induced coma.” Kunsel informed, adding another nonchalant shrug for good measure.
Zack did not know how to respond to that information. A SOLDIER being put into a coma over a bite? Zack had a feeling it was more than just an infection from not cleaning a wound. Something fishy was going on, and it probably involved those creepy scientists in R&D. Knowing Kunsel, he probably had the same feeling but wasn’t going to say much more in the presence of other Shinra personnel.
“Yo~ Soldier boys! You slicks ready to move?” Snarky and cocksure, Zack didn’t even need to look up to know who that voice belonged to, he bit back a groan as Reno came waltzing into view.
Right, that's how he got here, a crazy red headed Turk that drove like a manic when it came to the road. Now here he was with Kunsel, in the little mining town of North Corel- that was currently a ghost town.
After the remains of the trooper so far all they found were burned cars, an occasional arm, leg or mangled well eaten bodies, that were just stringy bits of meat on bones, but not a living soul in sight. However, the shuffling and groans still emitted from the empty stores and homes as they marched deeper into the town suggested otherwise.
Totally… normal for a small backward town that was thriving just a few weeks ago.
The pungent stench of decay mixed with rubber made Zack gag every now and then as he could almost taste the rubber and gas. Oh, how he wished that mako did not have to enhance his sense of smell, he wasn’t going to be able to smell or taste anything else for weeks to come.
“Whelp guess everyone here is dead.” Reno casually broke the tense silence that had fallen over the group since they arrived. “Damn, wonder what little beasty managed to escape R&D.”
“You’re a Turk. I’m sure you already know. Don’t play dumb with us.” Kunsel hissed, before snapping his attention towards a wet gurgle that sounded from the alley off to the left of them. Zack tensed, that didn’t sound good. Reno’s retort fell on deaf ears as the two soldiers focused all their attention on whatever was making the noise. The curious side of Zack wanted to check it out, but his instincts were once again on full alert. Something dangerous was coming towards them. Beside him two of the troopers shifted their weight and the rustling of their clothes was almost too loud for Zack’s liking.
“Yo! Are you slicks seriously ignoring me!” Reno shouted, tapping his EM rod against his shoulder as he stepped between Zack’s view of the alley.
Dumb ass Turk, Zack thought as more groans and hisses sounded and sounds of shuffling started their way. First, what sounded like one followed by two- three- five. Zack tensed when more than a dozen decaying humanoid bodies started shambling out of the alleyway towards them. Great Mother of Gaia. Recoiling at the strong stench of decay that assaulted his senses, instincts kicked in and Zack fell into a battle stance. Kunsel right alongside him. Just what unholy was R&D creating? And why did rot have to smell like broccoli? He definitely wasn’t going to be able to eat those little green trees again after this. His train of thought briefly wandered before he shook his head and focused back on the things in front of them.
Reno spun around and stumbled back from the alley and behind the two soldiers, his cusses and curses lost in the growing sounds of walking corpses stumbling towards them. Were they corpses or was it some inhumane project that the crack job Hojo was cooking up?
“Focus.” Zack barked at the three troopers as they stood frozen in place; their guns slack in their hands. Everything around him seemed to move in slow motion after that. One of the humanoid creatures, dressed in a tattered uniform of a grunt, darted forwards and grabbed the closest trooper, biting into the poor grunt’s neck. Gunfire sounded as the man was taken down, his finger holding down on the trigger as the thing pinned him down and continued tearing chunks out of him.
Zack watched as the other creatures seemed to be encouraged by the noise and swarmed the poor trooper. His ears ringing and blood running cold as he watched another trooper, frozen with fear, get taken down. Someone grabbed Zack’s arm, tearing him away from the slaughter happening before him.
Kunsel’s frantic voice finally cut through the ringing. “Zack, orders! Zack!” He had never heard his friend sound so scared. Snarls and groans were all around them, as the screaming and gunfire of the last trooper summoned more of the creatures from other parts of the town.
“Yo, Soldier boys! Fucking move it!” Reno shouted- panic replacing his normal snarky tone- as the Turk weaseled his way around a group of shambling corpses. The gunfire ceased as the last trooper was made into an all-you-can-eat buffet for the dead. Zack’s feet were reacting before his brain could fully process what was happening around him. Grabbing onto Kunsel, Zack made a break for it. He’d be damned if he let one of those gray peeling-skinned turn him or his friend into supper.
Run. That was all his instincts were screaming. Every molecule within him knew those things were not wanting to have a nice chat about the Sunday news or get his autograph, they saw Zack and them as a nice juicy steak on legs, or better yet, prey.
Weave in, weave out, avoid the outstretched hands, duck here, dive there. Zack was on auto pilot looking for a way out of the horde of monsters that now swarmed the streets. Kunsel right behind him hot on his heels. They had long lost sight of Reno, a flash of bright red hair was the last thing they saw before he vanished down an alley teeming with those flesh-eating things.
Ahead of Zack, he could see an opening, and he sprinted right for it. Sure, he could stand and fight these things, but the sheer number would be overwhelming for even a SOLDIER. Not to mention these things were fast when they decided to strike. From their hallowed glowing blue eyes, and glow spider-web veins, Zack’s gut told him that these things were somehow mako infused, and he didn’t want to find out if they inherited any of the SOLDIER traits.
Finally reaching the opening, Zack raced down the street. The extra set of footsteps mixed with his told him that his friend was still right there. An alley to the right of them was devoid of any of the fiends and he hurried ducked into it. These things seemed to follow sound more than sight and scent.
Pausing to catch his breath, Zack trembled as he tried to process everything they had just witnessed. “Those weren’t people, were they? Kuns, tell me those weren’t the towns folk.” Scenes of the troopers being eaten alive by those things- flashed through his mind’s eye. He’d take the war in Wutai over this... whatever this was. Gaia, he rather face all three of the other Firsts over this or insult Loveless in front of a certain fiery auburn-haired first that would surely set him on fire.
“I think we found the escaped experiment... and the missing units…” Kunsel finally muttered, causing Zack’s stomach to drop. Yeah, he had seen those things that wore Shinra uniforms, some were missing their faces or arms. But there was no mistaking the uniform of grunts. How many ended up like the three that were with them?
“Gaia, what is R&D up to and what is Shinra up to? Those things aren’t human…” People called SOLDIERs monsters but this was way worse than anything a SOLDIER could do. He had seen those things be riddled with bullets and still keep moving. Those poor grunts it was a lost battle the moment they were grabbed.
“Zack, some of those things were Shinra troops. That means…” Kunsel didn’t need to finish for Zack to know where he was going. The dead came back as indestructible man-eating weapons that somehow; despite having their organs missing, moved with speed when they found squealing prey.
Hurried footsteps rushed towards them and both SOLDIERs fell back-to-back swords at the ready. They’d go down swinging this time and take as many of those creatures with them as possible.
Don’t tell me they have enhanced hearing too… Zack internally whined. He was ready for this nightmare to be over. Wouldn’t it be nice to wake up and this is all just a horrible dream brought on by the Turks crazy driving? Shaking his head Zack chided himself for letting his thoughts roam when an enemy was nearby.
Seconds ticked by and when nothing came shambling into the alleyway Zack relaxed his guard. He could of swore he had heard footsteps.
“You hear-” a force crashed into him from above, catching Zack off guard enough that he stumbled into the wall behind him.
“You're not one of them.”
Kunsel’s startled gasp and a thunk as something slammed into the wall next to his head became background noise at that sentence.
“Woah easy there Spikey!” Zack gawked, blinking at the knife buried in the wood just a few centimeters from his head, as the words of his haggard blonde assailant, rattled around like loose bullets in his head. Baby blue eyes widened just a little before the groans of one of those things echoed from the other end of the alley, had their owner snapping his attention towards it.
“Follow me, I found your screaming idiot Turk.” He ordered before taking off down the alley towards another street. Zack stood frozen in place processing everything that just happened. His assailant was a grunt and from the grunt the words that were etched into Zack’s arm for so long were finally spoken. Finally, the pieces clicked into place.
“Oh come on! Seriously of all circumstances this is how I meet my soulmate? When we’re about to be someone’s dinner!?”