Assassination's Note: At first I just wanted to write a car chase scene with the fancy moves like the movies I used to watch, but then I figured I could make it have some plot before said thing happened. Also, I know jack about military code/signs/speak/so on and so forth, so I'm pulling it out of thin air and just going with what I heard from the game. Though...my knowledge may be a little/completely outdated since RE 5. And I can't exactly get my hands on all the RE games...
Rating it M just to be on the safe side!
"HQ to Alpha, you are to get to the Ace of Spades and infiltrate the facility."
Chris heaved a sigh and reached up to scrub his hand over his mouth. He cast a brief glance over his shoulder to his team, watching as they reloaded their weapons from the sudden firefight they'd had the pleasure of having once they landed. Piers was the first to look up, his eyes narrowing a second later at the frustration clear on Chris' face.
"All right," Chris mumbled as he lowered his hand, "everyone stay on guard and watch your six. We don't know what to expect and we'll be going into a hot zone. And who knows what Umbrella has up their sleeve."
The team responded with an acknowledging, "Sir!"
"Piers, you'll be with me when we go in. The rest of you will stay outside." Chris looked at each soldier individually as he spoke. "And you take out whatever ugly sonuvabitch that tries to get outside." His tone of voice was harsh, as an order should be, and scowled as he told them to shoot whatever left the building.
"Yes, sir!"
They moved, griping their respective guns tight, and glancing every which way as they progressed. Andy stood by Carl, both men tossing comments about the 'awesome scenery' back and forth. Every once in a while someone would look over their shoulder to make sure nothing was following. Dust was kicked up from the path, imprints of boot soles left behind as a trail.
Piers picked up the pace to walk alongside Chris. "Captain," He locked hazel eyes with brown, "are you sure we should go in alone?"
"They'll need all the man power if something worse than a couple infected get out." Chris pressed his lips into a thin line before turning his focus back to the road. "I'd say that I don't think it will happen, but given how these things adapt and Umbrella still managing to fund itself..."
Piers frowned, briefly looking at the rest of Alpha Team. He knew that Chris had good intentions but Piers wasn't as convinced. It may be a red zone, but that didn't mean something bigger would pop out of the woodwork. Even with the company creating more monsters for them to take out.
With a soft sigh, he tightened his hold on his rifle. "Just don't put Walker in charge."
"I can hear you!" came from the aforementioned man.
Piers tossed a shit eating grin over his shoulder. "Good. Maybe you'll try harder on the drills now."
"Fuck you, Nivans."
"No thanks. You're not my type."
"Oh really?"
Chris snorted and gave both of them a look as he raised his brow. "Is now really the time for this?" He shook his head as Carl jabbed his elbow into Andy's side and then turned his attention to Piers. "And you, quit riling him up."
Piers pursed his lips before he reluctantly nodded. "Yes, sir."
One of the team members laughed as he said, "Captain saves the day once again."
They reached the facility by mid-day, the trek having been mostly uneventful aside from running into a couple stragglers. It didn't have the presence of a hot zone, but they knew better than to judge from how barren the landscape was. Ben had jokingly made a passing comment about not being able to wait to sit down and camp outside the base.
Chris stood by the barred and locked door, turning to look back at his unit. He gestured to the far right, where a group of trees and foliage was congrigated. "All right. All of you go and stay out of sight. We'll be in contact unless something happens or we need to pull out. If you don't hear from us hours after our last transaction, contact HQ and evacuate. I don't want any heroics, understood?"
He watched as each and every one of them nodded before they moved to do as instructed.
Chris turned his attention to Piers, seeing that he was standing at the opposite end of the door. They exchanged a quick nod reared back, raising a foot to slam against the metallic surface. The lock broke and the door swung open with a resounding 'bang' at the initial impact.
They readied their guns not even a second later and moved in.
Piers swung to the left as Chris kept his focus on the right, eyes narrowed as the darkness soon swallowed them. Reaching a hand up, they tapped their headsets to activate the flashlight. With the hallway visible, Chris ventured further in with Piers flanking him. There were a few corpses propped up against the walls, blood smeared just about every surface it landed on and the place smelled of death and decay.
Their radios flickered to life a few minutes later. "Alpha in position. How are things in there?"
Piers raised a hand to press the button on his comm. "Nothing to report. We're making our way down."
"Copy. Stay sharp."
"You don't have to tell me twice, Airhart. Keep an eye on the entrance and don't let your guard down."
The channel buzzed with various confirmations before it went silent and Piers readjusted his hold on his MP-AF. He glanced over to where Chris had stopped to crouch down and flip through some scattered sheets of paper that littered the floor. He took note of how Chris' brow furrowed from whatever was on them before turning his gaze back down the hall. Piers tightened his grip as a groan echoed from somewhere up ahead.
Not even a miute later, Chris was on his feet and his handgun at his side. "Looks like we're going to have some company."
"Wouldn't be the same if it was easy," is what Piers shot back before they ventured forth. "What are the chances this place has a self-destruct system?"
"You watch too many cartoons."
Piers gave him an exasperated look. "Like you don't."
Chris shook his head. "Not one bit."
"Mmhmm..."
They rounded a corner and glanced from side to side, briefly illuminating the area. There were a couple doors but most were closed. Those that were open seemed empty whenever they would pass by and see the stereotypical office requirements. Pristine, although covered in a small layer of dust.
Chris stepped into one of the rooms, gun raised as he did a full sweep before moving to the desk. He looked at the folder smack dab in the middle and opened it. Chris ran his eyes over the text, skimming for anything important that he might need to inform HQ of.
Something fell and thumped once it landed.
Chris tore his eyes from the page, immediately turning his focus to the door. He relaxed and let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding once he saw Piers give the fallen object the stink eye. Chris followed Piers' line of sight and his expression soured when he saw what his comrade was looking at.
A very human hand lay haphazardly on the beige carpet. Covered in maggots and worms.
Piers looked up from where it fell and saw a bloodied rat scratching at its ear without a care in the world. He scowled before turning to Chris and seeing that he'd gone back to scanning the pages. Sighing, Piers stepped into the room and walked alongside the wall, looking at the variety of books adorning the small bookcase. He furrowed his brows as he noticed that there were plenty of books on biology and insects.
No one really understood Umbrella's obsession with their subjects turning into bug-like mutations. It was probably a happy accident. Not that many of the BSAA operatives appreciated it.
There was another groan but this time it sounded closer.
They looked toward the door, waiting with bated breath for all of five seconds before Piers went over to the wall and pressed his back to it. He peered around the corner, the small light dancing about the tiles and frowned at the trail of blood that went in the direction they were heading. He didn't look away as Chris made his way to the door to scan back the way they came.
Nothing.
This was going to bother them. It would be so much better if the damn infected just came out to try and ambush them. At least they'd then know where they were.
Chris was the first to step out into the hall, Piers following soon after and they walked on opposite ends of the blood. Backs nearly pressed against the wall, guns up and cocked and making sure their steps made as little noise as possible. Better they take the enemy somewhat off-guard than get taken by surprise. Not only that but it was too quiet, aside from the occasional grunt, for them to be safe to wander without caution.
They went further down in the facility. Sometimes taking a detour to see if there was anything worth investigating and checking in with the men. According to Marco there wasn't much going on outside either and it did nothing to sooth their nerves.
At least they finally ran into some infected as they neared the second floor. The third seemed to be a parking lot of sorts, with some vehicles still in the spots they'd been parked before the facility was abandoned.
However, once they reached the fourth floor, they were greeted with the sight of broken glass scattered across the ground. The windows they came from were obviously containment cells. Claw marks etched into the walls and even the ceiling, reminding Chris of those Lickers he'd seen while on assignment in Africa. Sheva hadn't been too thrilled about them either. Especially not when they had to bust down a door and drew the attention of all the captive Lickers as a result.
He hoped there weren't any on this floor or any of the others.
They switched off their flashlights as they ventured through, the light fixtures above actually working but every once in a while they'd flicker. Seemed like the back-up generator was still kicking and it helped save some battery for the comms.
Piers looked into one of the rooms before calling out, "Captain," over his shoulder.
Chris turned away from one of the observation rooms, making his way to Piers and pausing once he caught sight of a human sized cocoon. The figure was hunched over, as if in extreme pain when it happened, and there was a massive amount of hardened goop behind it. There was nothing else in the room, but that alone worried them.
"What the Hell...?" Chris lowered his gun and pressed a hand against the glass as he leaned closer.
"If there's any of these on the lower levels, we might have some problems." Piers took a step back from the glass, looking down the hall.
"If we're lucky, there won't be."
After all, the J'avo and the mutations were bad enough. They didn't need that on top of everything else.
Chris pulled back from the glass and pressed his index against his comm. "Walker, status report."
"Had a couple guests but nothing we can't handle."
"Good. Keep it up." Chris narrowed his eyes at the cocoon for a minute before checking on Piers. Seeing nothing major, he decided to take the brief moment of reprieve to contact HQ. "HQ, this is Alpha. We've come across some kind of new mutation on the lower levels."
There was a minute or two of silence before his comm crackled to life. "Alpha, this is HQ. Avoid confrontation if possible. I repeat, do not engage. We'll send someone there after you clear out the area."
"Copy that." He lowered his hand and joined Piers by the door to exit the room.
The welcoming party they had expected when they first entered finally came to greet them.
"You never answered me."
Chris hummed, hunched over as his fingers danced over the keyboard connected to the PC in one of the few rooms on the fifth floor. The room looked expensive and high class. Like it was the CEO's office. Or...once upon a time CEO.
There was a handful of infected near the doorway and there were more in the hall that was littered with bullet casings and holes. Piers took a moment to reload his rifle as he leaned back against the wall.
"About the self-destruct system."
Chris paused, looking up from the screen and regarding Piers with a questionable look. "You're still hung up on that?"
"I'm just curious is all."
The latter didn't respond, simply returning his attention to the computer and moved a hand to the mouse. He moved the cursor over to a file labeled 'Project C' and double clicked. Pulling back the office chair, Chris sat down and watched as multiple files opened. All with different subjects and information. He clicked a file and frowned once, 'Please enter password' came up. He clicked another one in hopes of getting a closer look but ended up with the same result.
It wasn't even a minute later that a mechanical voice said, "Self-destruct Initiated," after Chris clicked something he shouldn't have. And he didn't even know what he did to cause it.
He looked up from the screen to regard an amused Piers. "...yeah. I think it does."
"Countdown to self-destruct: Fifty-five minutes."
"Little late for that, Captain." Piers' face then scrunched as if he'd sucked on something sour. "We should double back to the parking lot."
Chris barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he snatched his MP-AF off the desk and jogged toward the door before they bolted down the hall.
It seemed like triggering the self-destruct had caused all Hell to break loose. The J'avo came in herds, relentless and blood thirsty. Guns were fired, bullets flying past, and those with makeshift weapons would close in.
Piers twisted away from a pen aiming to dig into his shirt and slammed the butt of his gun against the J'avo's temple. He kicked it away without a moment's hesitation and fired, the bullet spiraling and tearing through bone and sinew. Blood spewed out the exit wound and the woman crumpled to the floor. He heard Chris grunt as he slammed his fist into a J'avo's gut.
Chris pulled his fist back and twisted around to kick the infected to the side. He brought his gun up and sprayed bullets into the horde blocking them from getting to the staircase. As the shots made contact, the J'avo jerked and snarled. A few tried to return fire but Piers had pulled his Anti-Materiel Rifle off his back and took them out.
They slowly but surly cleared a path to the stairs.
Once they got past the door, Chris propped himself against it and pressed his fingers to his comm. "Alpha Team, listen up! We're being overrun and the place is about to blow! Get out of there now!"
Piers clenched his jaw, swapping out to his shotgun and keeping the barrel pointed toward the door. The infected behind it rammed into it, jarring Chris and almost making him stumble at one particularly hard shove. "Captain, we have to move!"
"Self-destruct in forty-eight minutes."
Chris waited until there was another shove and ran up the stairs, Piers not far behind. They heard the resounding crash from the flight below them, knowing without a doubt that the J'avo would be scrambling up the stairs to get to them. Keeping this in mind, they pumped their legs and Chris forced his way through the door to the fourth floor.
They were met with some resistance, the doors that were once closed were now broken open. A couple of the J'avo that were holding guns were in full SWAT gear. That only made it more difficult to take them out and Chris shouted, "Just go!" to Piers once the mechanical voice announced, "Self-destruct in thirty-nine minutes."
It wasn't until there was a bang, a pained grunt and Piers no longer seeing Chris beside him that Piers stopped and whipped around to see Chris on the ground. His pantleg dyed red and his features pinched in pain.
Piers ran back, firing his gun to keep the infected away from Chris and grabbed hold of Chris' arm to haul him up to his feet. "C'mon, c'mon!" he urged, slinging Chris' arm over his shoulder. They turned, hobbling as fast as they could to the third floor and Chris shooting as best he could so they wouldn't waste more time.
"Self-destruct in thirty minutes."
Chris' left hand was holding on tight to Piers' tactical vest and he grit his teeth with a hiss whenever he'd jar his leg. It hurt like a bitch to get up the stairs, not to mention tricky. He was tempted to tell Piers to leave him behind but kept that thought to himself as they entered the parking lot. Piers readjusted his hold on Chris, tightening his arm around Chris' waist and gripped his wrist once more. They stumbled to a nearby jeep, Chris relinquishing his hold once Piers smashed the window with his elbow and opened the passenger door. Once it was open, Piers helped Chris get in and rounded to the driver's side.
Chris leaned over and manually unlocked the door, Piers opening and hopping inside not a moment later. He removed his guns from his person and tossed them into the backseat. Without hesitation, Piers ripped open the panel covering the wires and hot-wired the jeep. It had a couple false starts before the engine roared to life.
They would have taken a few seconds to celebrate, but knew that that could wait until they were homefree.
Chris peered out the window, seeing that the J'avo had finally caught up and were readying their guns to shoot at them. "Now would be a good time, Piers." He brought his head back in as Piers jerked the gear into reverse, tearing out of the spot before shifting to drive and practically slammed his foot on the accelerator.
They sped through the lot, Piers taking sharp turns and following the Exit sign as best he could. Everything seemed to be going fine, which was weird considering every scenario they'd been in concerning the J'avo. It didn't seem right that they would just -
Chris swore once he caught sight of two vehicles pursuing them before a bullet took out their side passenger mirror. "We've got two on our six!"
"Got it!" Piers cast a brief glance to the rear view mirror and took one of his hands off the wheel. "Hold on!"
He jerked the emergency break back and returned his hand back to the wheel, turning it with his teeth grit. Piers shifted his foot to the break as the tires squealed from the traction as the jeep swung around. Returning his right hand to the gear, Piers forced it down and shifted the gear from forward to reverse before shifting from the break to the gas.
Chris smashed the glass on his side of the windshield with the butt of his nine-oh-nine, quickly running his eyes over the cars in front of them. There were a total of five J'avo, three in one car and two in the other.
"Keep 'er steady," he said as he rose his handgun, aiming and firing off a round. Unfortunately, it bounced off the hood of one of the vehicles and Piers grunted when their front got rammed into.
Piers whipped his head to the side, sticking his head out once their second rear view mirror got destroyed. He swerved to the left and brought his head back in before he really risked getting shot at. Chris fired a couple rounds, managing to take out two of the J'avo. Luckily, one had been a driver and the other soon perished once the car slammed into a wall. The vehicle burst into flames and smoke filled the tunnel.
That, however, didn't make the remaining J'avo hesitate to return fire.
A bullet grazed Chris' arm and he hissed as he clapped his hand over it. "Just keep steady!"
Piers paused for a mere second before nodding and twisted in his seat to look out the back window. He grabbed the back of Chris' headrest and white knuckled it. Another bullet hit the hood. "Captain, the car won't take any more hits!"
"We don't have much time left, either." Chris clenched his jaw and reloaded before firing wherever it sounded like the J'avo were. Funny how it was either get blown up by the facility or by the jeep exploding that would send them packing. "If we make it out of this do you want to go out for a celebratory steak? My treat."
"You know we'd make it out if that's on the line." Chris could swear he could hear Piers' cocky tone over the gattling gunfire. "Just keep them guessing 'til we're out of this fucking tunnel."
"Yes, sir."
Piers grinned for a split second before narrowly missing some debris that fell behind them. He could see Chris reloading once more after emptying another clip and was sorely tempted to join into the gunfight himself. If not to just pick off the driver -
"Captain," Piers turned to look at him to see that Chris was scowling as the fire kept being returned, "use my rifle."
Chris gave him a brief glance. "You sure?" he asked, brows furrowed. "She's your baby. Don't think I haven't seen you when someone tries touching it without your permission."
"Now's not the time to ask." Piers swung to the left, tires screeching as a pillar slammed down where they would have been if he hadn't seen it in time. "You're risking a ricochet. It's got a thermal scope -" He cut his sentence off as a bullet broke through the rear passenger window. "Just do it!"
Grunting, Chris slid his nine-oh-nine into its holster before twisting around to grab the Anti-Materiel Rifle from the backseat. Twisting aroud and sliding the kickstand down, he swapped the scope to the thermal sensitivity before peering through. He closed his left eye, steadying the cursor on the J'avo that was at the wheel. Chris took in a slow, steady breath and waited until Piers righted the jeep.
Bang.
Chris watched as the round tore through the smoke and hit dead center. The corner of his lips tugged up as he leaned back in his seat. He brought the rifle back and set the butt on the jeep's floor, flipping the stand back down.
He whistled as the second car went up in flames from crashing into the wall. "She's quite a beaut', Piers. I can see why you keep it in top condition."
Piers huffed a laugh. "Also counts on the handler."
"Just focus on the -"
The tunnel rumbled and shook as both operatives stared wide eyed at the flames licking at the walls in front of them. Debris and chunks of brick broke from the structure, causing the jeep to bounce with each it ran over. They swore as Piers turned the wheel to a hard left to swing the jeep around to face front.
"Goddamn Umbrella..." Chris growled, twisting around to stare out the back window and watched as the explosions created a domino effect. Not to mention catching up. Fast. "Piers, if we make it out of here, I'll buy you lunch for two weeks."
Piers grit his teeth, flexing his wrists with narrowed eyes. "Don't need that much motivation, Captain." He pressed his foot down, hard, on the gas. "But I'll hold you to that."
"Of course you would." he muttered, absentmindedly tightening his hold on the rifle. "Just don't drag me to any places that cost an arm and a leg."
Piers tisked as he swerved around a pile of bricks. He looked up to the rear-view mirror, taking note of just how close they were to being fried to a crisp. "Wouldn't dream of it." Lowering his gaze, Piers bit the inside of his cheek as he forced himself to keep his eyes on the prize. The exit was so near, although it also seemed far. "Maybe I'll get you to try teriyaki when we get back."
"I don't know." Chris flexed his jaw. "It doesn't sound good."
"Can't knock it 'til you try it."
"Piers...maybe we can talk about this later."
"Nah."
They could feel the heatwave from where they were, sweat beading down their foreheads and soaking their uniforms. Chris knew what Piers was doing and, really, he appreciated it, but with how fast the wreckage was catching up...
"C'mon, Captain. You said two weeks and that means I get to show you how awesome the culinary world is." Piers grinned, casting a quick glance Chris' way and Chris returned it with a scowl.
"I'm good with pork rice, thanks."
The tunnel shook again. This time it made their hearts take a nosedive into their stomachs.
Piers' eyes widened when he saw the foundation begin to collapse in on itself, falling to pieces behind them and it was, maybe, a good ten feet behind them. He dropped his gaze to the ground and all the broken concrete. Instead of driving around it, he drove right through it.
"Hang on!"
The car jumped and shook as the tires ran over the debris and cracks in the asphalt. Chris swapped hands holding Piers' gun in favor of grabbing the handle above the door for dear life. They could hear the facility breaking and with one last boom, the wind backlash sent the vehicle flying out of the exit. It soared through the air for a couple of seconds before the front tires slammed against the concrete, jarring the two men inside.
Turning to look back at the wreckage, they heaved a relieved breath and Chris relinquished his hold on the handle. "Okay. Two weeks of lunch on me."
Piers gave him a look before raising a brow. "Don't forget the celebratory steak."
Chris waved his hand dismissively. "Yes. And steak." He turned his attention to the Anti-Materiel Rifle for a moment before handing it over. "I don't think we're going to be driving back to the others."
Piers reached out and took his rifle before pursing his lips. He opened the door and hopped out, popping the hood to give the engine a once over. Piers furrowed his brows for a minute then shook his head. "Don't think so. It's completely shot."
"The one time I hoped I was wrong." Chris shook his head and popped open the passenger door as Piers shut the hood. He set his right foot down on the ground but hesitated on doing so with the other. Chris looked over to his partner, seeing that Piers was looking at him expectantly. "Think you could lend me a shoulder?"
Piers made his way over and Chris hooked his left arm around Piers' neck. He grabbed hold of Chris' wrist with one hand as he wrapped his arm around Chris' waist to steady him. "Might want to cut back on the burgers, Captain." Piers muttered once Chris leaned against him.
"I heard that, Nivans."
"Good. Maybe you'll finally listen."
"Very funny." Chris reached his hand up to press against his comm. "Alpha Leader to HQ, the facility is no longer a hot spot and is out of commission. Requesting pick up."
"Alpha, this is HQ. Good work out there and pick up will arrive in 0100 hours."
Chris lowered his hand, grabbing hold of Piers' shoulder. "You heard the man, let's move."