Infestation

CHAPTER 5: INFESTATION

The situation in New Reiswald was not much better as Jimmy, Louie and Manny quickly came to learn. Manny drove the car slowly through the city streets, allowing the trio to observe the chaos that was occurring outside; pedestrians outrunning crawlers, police officers shooting down infested civilians, crashed cars, and piles of burning bodies everywhere.

"Madonna Santa," Manny cried, "All this happened while we were away?"

"It's that black shit from the farm," observed Louie, "You get even a drop in ya, and the next thing you know, you ain't human no more. I just don't understand how it spread so fast."

"Must've hitched a ride or somethin'," Jimmy suggested, "All kinds of delivery trucks goin' to and from the farm."

"Fuck if I know," said Manny, "We gotta get to Armando's now!"

"What are you, nuts?" demanded Louie, "We have to get to the compound and check on the Don!"

"My sister's still out there, you inconsiderate prick! We gotta find her!"

"Didn't you send a couple of our boys to keep an eye on her?"

"Yeah, but...I still gotta make sure she's safe!"

"The compound's closer," Jimmy intervened, "Your sister could be there, and, if not, then you can drop Louie and me off and go."

Manny sighed, then slammed his hand on the steering wheel in frustration.

"Alright, fine," he said, "We'll go to the goddamn compound!"

As Manny took the next right, an out-of-control car came speeding at them from the side. Manny swerved out of the way, but momentarily lost control.

"Hang on!" he said.

Manny collided with several infested civilians, one of whom clung to the windshield.

"Get the fuck off!" he ordered.

Manny swerved the car back and forth, trying to shake the creature off of the hood. He succeeded, but found himself on a collision course with a blockade of abandoned vehicles.

"WOOOOAH!" screamed the trio.

Manny slammed on the brakes, but still collided with the vehicles.

"Fuckin' Christ," said Manny, "Everyone alright?"

"Been better," said Louie, rubbing the back of his neck.

The trio stepped out of the car, grabbing all of the weapons and ammunition they had and examined their surroundings.

"Looks like we're walkin' the rest of the way," said Manny, "Come on, it ain't that far."

As the trio made their way toward the mansion, they fought off the occasional infested. As they got close, they saw two mobsters standing in the middle of the street, holding Tommy guns and facing the opposite way.

"Hey," said Manny, "Those are our guys, right? HEY YOUZE!"

"Careful, Manny," Louie warned, "Somethin' ain't right with 'em..."

Sure enough, the two mobsters turned around to reveal slime leaking from their eyes. As they aimed their Tommy guns, the trio immediately took cover behind a crashed car.

"Great," Manny yelled amid the gunfire, "These fuckin' things still know how to use their guns."

"They ain't human," began Jimmy, "But it looks like some part of 'em still remembers who they were. Same with the Yakuza back at the farm."

"Yeah?" said Louie, "Then why can't they remember who we are?"

Jimmy, Louie and Manny returned fire with their own weapons. A few more infested mobsters appeared, but the trio took care of them all.

"Alright," said Louie, "Listen up; anyone so much as coughs up slime, they get shot. I don't care if it's one of our guys, or a civvie, or the fuckin' President of the United States. We clear?"

Jimmy and Manny nodded.

"Good," Louie continued, "We're close now."

The walls of the mansion were stained with slime, but apart from some Crawlers and corpses, there was no one in sight. After conducting a quick sweep, the trio regrouped in the foyer.

"They must've evacuated already," said Jimmy.

"Lemme check," said Louie.

Louie grabbed the receiver off of a nearby telephone and dialed an unseen number.

"Who are you..." began Jimmy.

"Joe?" said Louie, "Fuck, am I glad to hear another human being's voice...Yeah?...Good, good...Alright, talk to ya soon. Ciao."

After hanging up the phone, Louie turned to Manny.

"The Don's in the bunker," he began, "Along with Joe Carozza and Vinnie Jr. They're safe for now."

"Any word on Lucia?" asked Manny, "She there too?"

Louie shook his head, while Manny groaned in frustration.

"'Scuse me," said Jimmy, "'The Bunker'?"

"Yeah," explained Louie, "We didn't tell ya about it 'cause you're not initiated yet, but...You know about the catacombs that run under the city, right?"

"Yeah," said Jimmy, "Something about the big earthquake of 1910 knockin' half of the town underground, right?"

"Right," Louie continued, "Well, we use those tunnels as shortcuts in emergencies. We even built a special room to keep the Don safe in case this place ever got attacked."

"Fuckin' A," said Jimmy, "We can use the tunnels to get around."

"That's the plan," said Louie, "You and I are gonna head down there while Manny goes out and searches for his sister. I'm gonna stop by the Bunker to check in on the Don, then meet up with you later."

"And where am I goin'?" Jimmy asked.

"The park," Louie replied, "A bunch of our guys are there, hostin' an emergency meeting. There's a tunnel that'll lead you straight to 'em."

"Alright," said Jimmy, "Sounds good. What are we waiting for?"

"Manny," began Louie, tossing his keys, "You can take my ride, but you scratch it, I kill ya."

Manny shook his head and chuckled.

"I'll try to bring it back in one piece," he promised.

Once the trio collected all of the ammunition they could from the armoury, Manny headed outside while Louie showed Jimmy the entrance to the catacombs, which was in the garden.

"Alright," Louie said, "Let's do this..."