Ground Zero

CHAPTER 4: GROUND ZERO

Some time later, Jimmy managed to stand up back up. Despite the immense pain he was in, nothing seemed to be broken. His Tommy gun, which had fallen out of the truck with him, had landed in a puddle, rendering it unusable. After several attempts at cleaning it and fiddling with the bolt, Jimmy tossed it aside in frustration.

Jimmy climbed out of the ditch he fell into and made his way along the path. All attempts to reach Louie and Manny via radio had failed, presumably because they were too far away, or because the trees were cutting off reception. His first goal was to find open terrain, such as a field, but the sun was beginning to set and he was concerned that he may be lost.

"Hello," said Jimmy, "What do we have here?"

After trekking through the woods for several minutes, Jimmy had stumbled upon the impact site. Like the farmer before him, Jimmy stepped into the crater to get a closer look at the giant rock that lay inside. However, he immediately ended his investigation upon hearing a groan.

"Anyone there?" he called out.

The groan sounded like it came from a human in pain. Jimmy called out a few more times, but no one ever responded.

"The fuck is going on in this place?" Jimmy wondered.

Jimmy eventually stumbled upon the abandoned pick-up truck parked at the forest's edge. Jimmy was at first worried that it was Manny and Louie's, but a closer inspection confirmed that it was a different make. That did not leave him any less concerned.

"Hello?" he repeated, "Anybody here?"

Jimmy discovered the double-barreled shotgun used by the farmer and immediately picked it up. He opened the barrels to reveal one of the shells had been spent. As he snapped the gun shut, he heard a noise behind him and immediately pointed his newfound weapon at it.

"What the hell?" he whispered.

It was a teenage boy with short, blonde hair. Black slime leaked from his eyes and mouth. His hands and overalls were also stained with the substance, along with blood. He dragged his feet along the ground when he walked and kept his hands held in front of his face as if trying to reach for Jimmy.

"Are you the owner of this vehicle?" Jimmy asked, keeping his shotgun trained on the boy.

The boy said nothing and continued to approach Jimmy with his bizarre gait.

"Stay the fuck back, kid," Jimmy warned, "Don't make me shoot you!"

The boy then let out an inhuman roar and charged for Jimmy. Jimmy retaliated by striking the boy across the face with the butt of the shotgun, knocking him to the ground. Despite his nose being smashed in, he did not appear to be in pain at all and kept trying to get back up. Jimmy pressed his foot on the boy's chest and fired the shotgun at his face, causing it to explode into a mess of crimson blood and black slime.

"Fuckin' A," said Jimmy, "Just what I need."

Jimmy bent down and searched the boy's overalls for anything of value. He found a box containing four shotgun shells. It wasn't much, but it was still four more than what he had now. After loading the shotgun and pocketing the rest, Jimmy continued making his way along the path. It wasn't long before he found the corpse of the boy's father, torn in half at the waist.

"Christ almighty," said Jimmy, nearly gagging at the sight, "Don't tell me the kid did this..."

As Jimmy inspected the body, he heard some rustling coming from the bushes. When he looked up, he saw several small creatures emerge. They appeared humanoid, but had no facial features except for a wide, gaping mouth. They also lacked hind legs, forcing them to crawl along the ground using their arms. Perhaps their most striking feature was that they were made entirely of black slime.

"B-Back off," warned Jimmy, "Whatever the fuck you are, I mean it!"

Jimmy then fired his shotgun at the closest one, causing it to explode messily. This did not deter the other Crawlers in the slightest. Another one leapt at Jimmy from the side, but Jimmy managed to blow it up in time. Now that both shells had been spent, Jimmy could no longer afford to stick around. He immediately bolted from the scene, attempting to reload the shotgun while running.

"Shit, shit, shit," he repeated, while picking up the pace.

To his relief, the creatures were too slow to pursue him, but he had no clue how many more of those things had infested the area. As the forest thinned out and turned into an open field, Jimmy could hear gunshots in the distance. It sounded as though a huge battle was being fought.

"What on earth?" he wondered.

Jimmy was snapped out his daze by the sound of his radio crackling. He could hear Louie screaming his name repeatedly, though reception was still poor.

"Louie?" he said into the radio, "Manny? What the hell's going on?"

"You tell me," said Louie on the other end, "The Slants have us pinned in an old farmhouse, but somethin' ain't right with 'em..."

"What?" asked Jimmy.

"Looks like some of their own turned on 'em," Louie explained, "Now they're fuckin' shootin' each other instead of us!"

"I'm on my way," said Jimmy, "Just lay low."

"Be careful, Legs!"

Eventually, Jimmy reached an orchard, where he sought cover among the fruit trees. As he turned one corner, he came across several Yakuza firing at a herd of those crawlers. When they turned and saw Jimmy, one of them yelled out a command and they began to pursue him.

"Aw, shit!" snapped Jimmy.

They fired several shots, but missed. Jimmy took cover behind a tree and waited for them to approach. With only two rounds in his shotgun, he needed to find a way to make them count. When he sensed that the Yakuza were close, he turned the corner and prepared to shoot, only to find that they had all disappeared.

"What in the...?"

Jimmy then heard a scream. When he turned to look, he saw a Yakuza pinned to the ground by two crawlers while a third one leapt onto his chest and vomited black slime down his throat. Jimmy chose not to stick around to see what would happen next.

After making it out of the orchard, Jimmy found two groups of Yakuza battling each other; one group appeared healthy, while the other had signs of slime infestation. Jimmy sought cover from the bullets by entering a nearby barn, where he was pursued by two men.

As they searched for him in the barn, Jimmy emerged from behind a crate and put one of them in a chokehold, while blasting the other with his shotgun. He then pushed the second man to the ground and pointed the shotgun against the back of his head.

"Talk, motherfucker," Jimmy commanded, "What in God's name is going on here?"

The man cursed at Jimmy in Japanese, prompting Jimmy to blast his head open. He then collected the man's Tommy gun and some ammunition. As he reloaded the weapon, he noticed that the cows in the barn were infected with slime, but were dead.

"This shit is everywhere," he noted, "Looks like only affects humans though."

Jimmy fled the barn and fought his way to the house. He could hear shooting near the front entrance, so he opted to enter via the rear entrance that led into the kitchen. All attempts to reach Louie and Manny by radio were met with silence.

As he entered the house, Tetsuo's Wakagashira, Kenshi, ambushed Jimmy by striking him across the face, which knocked him back and forced him to drop his Tommy gun. Kenshi then grabbed Jimmy by the collar and slammed him into the kitchen table, which collapsed under his weight.

"Ow," said Jimmy.

"Anata ga shinde iru!" said the man, drawing a Tanto from his hip holster.

From the floor, Jimmy glanced up and saw that Kenshi had slime caked around his mouth, but seemed unaffected by it. As the man prepared to execute the killing blow, Jimmy retaliated by kicking him in both of his shins, then grabbing a nearby dinner plate and slamming it on his head, sending him reeling back.

"Ya like that?" Jimmy asked as he rolled back to his feet.

He then grabbed one of the kitchen chairs and slammed it down on Kenshi, who blocked the blow with his forearm, shattering the chair to splinters. Having dropped his Tanto, Kenshi tackled Jimmy, slamming his head against the cupboard over the sink.

"Aw, fuck!" Jimmy yelped.

Kenshi wound his left fist and delivered a swing that completely shattered the wooden cupboard and its contents. Jimmy ducked in time to avoid to the blow, then grabbed a frying pan from inside the sink, which he slammed into Kenshi's ribs. He then followed that up with an uppercut to the jaw and two horizontal blows across his face. As Kenshi fell to his knees, Jimmy slammed the pan down on his head, knocking him out for good.

"Bet they didn't teach that in Karate class," Jimmy quipped, while tossing the dented pan.

Jimmy searched the entire house for Louie and Manny but found no one except for several dead Yakuza soldiers. While standing in the living room, Jimmy hailed them via radio.

"Where the fuck are you guys?" he demanded angrily.

"We had to get outta the house," said Manny, "The Slants burst in and started shootin' each other up. Louie and I managed to steal one of their cars."

"Alright," said Jimmy, "Just make you way back to the house and get me, alright?"

"We're tryin'," said Manny, "It's a fuckin' warzone over here!"

Just then, Jimmy heard a noise. Before he had a chance to turn around, something grabbed him and hurled him into a nearby armchair, causing him to tumble over it and fall to the floor.

"Ugh," said Jimmy, rubbing his aching back, "This really ain't my day..."

When Jimmy looked up, he saw Kenshi alive once more, only this time, slime was pouring from his eyes, nose and mouth. His groans were pained and inhuman.

"You again?" Jimmy asked, "Don't you know when to fuckin' quit?"

As the now-infested man lumbered his way over, Jimmy spotted a dead Yakuza near him, still clutching onto his pistol. Jimmy rolled over to him and snatched the pistol, using it to blast Kenshi's kneecaps. As Kenshi fell to his knees, Jimmy walked over to him and shoved the pistol into his mouth.

"Say 'Ahh', motherfucker," quipped Jimmy.

Jimmy then fired, blowing the back of the man's head open. As Jimmy collected his Tommy gun, he heard a honk coming from outside. He stepped out and saw a black car parked.

"What are ya waitin' for, kid?" Louie asked, "Get in!"

Jimmy was about to make his way to the car, but found something tugging on his pant. When he looked down, he saw Tetsuo Hiromoto, lying near the door covered in both blood and slime.

"You..." he spoke through pained gasps, "You cannot hide..."

"What is all this shit?" asked Jimmy, "I bet you assholes had something to do with it!"

"The Alpha sees all - Knows all - There's...Nowhere to..."

Without warning, Tetsuo was shot dead. When Jimmy looked up, he saw Louie standing outside the car, holding a smoking revolver.

"You gonna move or what?" he asked, "We ain't got all day!"

"Glad to see you guys in one piece," Jimmy said, as he entered the vehicle.

"I don't know what the fuck is going' on here," began Manny, "But I ain't stickin' around long enough to find out!"

"Come on," added Louie, "Let's get back into town and warn the boys about what we saw!"

With that, the trio took off, leaving whatever remained of the Yakuza behind to deal with the infestation. Little did they know, this was only the beginning...