I'm Just a Human Who Wants to Survive

"Am I dead?" That was Jonathan's first thought as he felt himself floating in cold waters, thinking only of his parents. He didn't fear death since it was a natural part of life; what he feared was leaving his parents behind.

The memory of losing one of his best friends was etched in his mind after giving condolences to his parents. They suffered so much that they took their own lives a few days later. It was then that Jonathan knew a parent should never witness the death of a child.

He was fine living his life, wanting to achieve new goals, but even if he didn't succeed, he was okay with what little he had. Understanding that every life demands different things to sustain it, he felt comfortable with the demands to maintain his life and wasn't angry at his life at all.

But dying in this way was something he detested. He didn't want to be forgotten in this world that might only be a bad dream. Damn, that's what he longed for most since he killed the first zombie with a gun he had only seen in movies.

His heart at that moment beat like a drum; he could swear that seeing that dark, ink-like blood was something he never wanted to see in real life. Seeing a lifeless corpse is strange; that feeling of emptiness is so suffocating that he would prefer never to have felt it. When one thinks that behind that corpse was a whole life and that now there was nothing, that's when you deeply feel that life is fragile.

Jonathan didn't know where he was and how he got here; he just wanted to survive because death felt so real and frightening that he couldn't die. If it's like the movies, he needed to overcome everything in front of him and never step back. Only then could he return to his reality; that's the only way he can see his parents again.

"Jonathan..."

Jonathan, who felt deeply numb, heard a voice calling him. He was about to close his eyes and go to sleep, which was so strange. He was sleepy, but a part of him told him that he had to stand up and fight against everyone to survive. He was aware that if he closed his eyes, he wouldn't open them again, but still, he wanted to sleep.

"Jonathan!!!" That feminine voice shouted again.

Just as Jonathan was about to fall deeply asleep, it only took a few more seconds not to wake up again. But when he vividly remembered that feeling of terror, he abruptly opened his eyes and held his chest because his heart was beating so fast that he thought it would stop at some point.

"Did we win?" Jonathan asked as he looked at his bandaged hands, and his blurry vision soon stabilized. He saw Rebecca holding onto his arm, and when she heard his question, she nodded.

"We've defeated it..." Rebecca smiled slightly and said, "Although I should be protecting you, in the end, you did it; I owe you my life."

Looking at the dead centipede a few short meters away from him, Jonathan felt a sharp pain in his head and tried to hold it, but he was stopped by Rebecca, who said, "I've given you first aid. I don't have the things I would have wanted, but at least all your wounds are bandaged."

Hearing this, Jonathan lay back, held his chest with his right hand, and tried to stabilize his breathing to control those beats of his racing heart. He knew he was about to die, that feeling of tranquility actually terrified him, but now that he woke up, he felt happy to have survived.

"You're awake, rest for now, I'll take care of things..." Billy appeared from a distance holding a rifle he had gotten from who knows where and a shotgun.

"Aren't you hurt?" Jonathan asked as he closed his eyes and compared himself calmly.

Billy looked at Jonathan and said, "Some superficial wounds, but it seems like you took the brunt of it. Nevertheless, what you did was really incredible; remember, you saved Rebecca from that monster."

With the beats of his heart stabilized, Jonathan opened his eyes again and saw the shotgun that Billy was holding by his side. He asked, "Aren't you going to take it?"

"Your pistol's bullets are gone. Take the shotgun; it requires less shooting skills, and you can aim better with your injured arms." Rebecca said, her face pale. She was grateful that she had to heal Jonathan; this way, she didn't panic when she was on the brink of death.

Taking a water bottle he had from the beginning, Jonathan shared one, and he started to drink the other abundantly. This bottle was sealed, so there was no chance it was infected.

The herbs he had chewed a while ago miraculously healed most of his wounds, leaving only the pain. But the bandage helped him a lot, all thanks to Rebecca, who was responsible for the medical treatment and logistics of the S.T.A.R.'s Bravo team sent to this death forest.

After resting for a period of time, Jonathan felt that most of his physical strength had recovered. Looking at the time, it was already midnight.

"Let's go; we still need to find the exit."

Saying that, Jonathan stood up and held the shotgun, which was full of cartridges, and Billy had given him a dozen more cartridges that he could replenish once he fired.

"I found this key; do you think it might help us open that door?" Rebecca asked, looking at Billy, who was the quietest.

"It doesn't hurt to try..." Billy said, immediately taking the key.

Jonathan knew that this key was the right one, so after inserting it into the handle, the three entered Marcus's study and found his diary.

In the diary, Dr. Marcus's mental journey during the development of the T-virus was recorded. Jonathan briefly examined some pages and explained to Rebecca and Billy what he knew.

After the centipede incident a moment ago, obviously, the relationship between the three could be said to be a little closer now.

"Something that doesn't tell us how to get out of here..." Billy muttered as he entered the dungeon through a staircase leading to the ground floor.

But before getting much further, in the hallway, several huge cameras moved along the wall.

Billy and Rebecca, who were opening the way, raised their pistols and shot with great precision.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

After eliminating the spiders without any risk, the three reached the dungeon.

Here, there were all kinds of torture instruments, and you didn't need to look at them to know the miserable events that had happened here.

However, the group's whereabouts were directly exposed due to the surveillance cameras.

Seeing them enter his laboratory, Marcus released a captive mutant ape, a monster known as the Eliminator.

A monster produced by the contamination of the T-virus in apes that were used as hosts.

In a corner of the Umbrella training center, William Birkin and Wesker deduced from the information the possible identity of the man who had appeared to not make a mistake, and indeed, it was him.

That's Dr. Marcus, whom they killed back then. As for why Marcus, who was clearly dead, returned from the dead and became so young and able to control leeches, it is entirely unknown with the information they have.

But they know that if Marcus really resurrects, the Umbrella Corporation could be in big trouble.

After a simple conversation between the two, Wesker told William Birkin that he planned to leave the mansion.

But William Birkin didn't decide to follow him because he still needed the equipment and funds from the parent company to continue developing the G-virus.

The two had a dispute on the matter, but at the time of parting, Wesker said that according to the company's requirements, the S.T.A.R.S alpha team would be introduced into the mansion where the virus leaked to test the actual combat data of the bioweapons they had at their disposal.

In this way, he helped William Birkin complete the research on the T-virus.