Glass Hearts: Shadows dwell, Alice is revealed
Alyssa had recovered quite well after the incident at the Innisfail labs that happened almost a week and a half ago. She blocked the events like the silver capsule and the Hunter's death out of her mind yet one thing refused to disappear. It was something that Alyssa couldn't forget as it involved someone that scared her.
Ever since she had arrived at the Bluewater labs Griffin had always been there, he would come in sometimes with a syringe and stick it in her arm taking blood samples whether Alyssa complied or not. After the horrible procedures Griffin would allow Alyssa to pick a toy or a book because she had been so good during the tests. Yet as Alyssa got older the rewards were even greater for sitting through a spinel fluid tap or being strapped down and having her blood filtered. She still hated Griffin even if he bought her items like an i-pod or a laptop to play with.
One day however Griffin walked into her cell with another person, a woman with a cold gaze, short red hair and dressed in a black leather suit. Alyssa didn't like the woman at all whom she found out was called Alice. Griffin would sometimes leave Alyssa alone with Alice for long periods of time in the room, which was when her head started to hurt.
Glancing up at Alice, Alyssa could see she was studying her in the same way a boy might study a pinned dying butterfly. Knowing it was Alice that caused the high pitch noises in her head Alyssa would scream out at her to stop but Alice simply stood there smiling cruelly aware that she was hurting Alyssa.
It got to the point where Alyssa had to do something and she did. While Alice was staring at Alyssa trying to hurt her Alyssa did the same to Alice. The effect was instantaneous Alice took one step back, her face twitching while glaring at Alyssa.
Alyssa concentrated harder picturing Alice's head in her mind, she could feel the pain starting to weaken.
That was then Alice looked directly at Alyssa, her face in a snarl and leapt towards her like some kind of ravenous beast.
The door to Alyssa's cell flew open and two men wearing bio-suits pulled Alice away who was now kicking and shouting out curses at Alyssa. As Alice was being taken away Griffin stood in the doorway and looked at Alyssa, his cruel smile mirroring Alice's. He told her that she'd been very disobedient and shut the door locking Alyssa in the dark.
When Alyssa escaped from the labs she thought that that was the last time she would ever see Alice, how wrong she was. Alyssa knew that Alice was alive and well when she entered the Innisfail labs and also when she came striding out of the forest bleeding from her side and carrying two blood stained swords.
What Alice did next however disturbed Alyssa, how she could simply grab a hold of an electric fence and allow more then a thousand volts of electricity to course through her body wasn't right. It was the fact that Alice grinned like a manic while doing this that made Alyssa realize that Alice was more dangerous then she first thought. If I see her next time I'm going to run the other way she thought. Alyssa knew how close she'd come to losing her head from the sword Alice swung towards her when rescuing Deception the Hunter.
Alice had always wanted to fight Alyssa but after the last incident all she wanted to do was get as far away from Alice as possible, now Alice had seen Alyssa nothing could stop her from seeking her prey out and hopefully something like that wouldn't happen too soon.
In the last week and a half Griffin had forgotten about Alyssa Winterstone and her unusual guardian, the truth was he really didn't give a shit where the girl was there were other matters to address.
Although the remnants of Project Conscience had been destroyed before their use by date Griffin now had the task of explaining to the board why there were not only dead specimens left to study but because they were one short.
Computers could easily be hacked into and their contents viewed which is the reason why Griffin used the old fashioned method of writing his reports using a pen and paper. Yet he struggled to find an explanation suitable for the board in pointing out not only the flaws of the failed project but the reason why the Hunters had to be destroyed.
Reading over the old yellowed documents Griffin could help but to sneer at them, the fact that such a harebrained theory was ever given the green light was down right outrageous.
Project Conscience traced it's origins back to when Dr Gregory Winterstone was running most of the Australian facilities. Somehow Gregory had a ridiculous idea that such creatures like the standard Hunter could be somehow controlled to not only obey commands but also have their own free will and personality. The Hunters apparently would be able to determine if a situation was too dangerous to enter into or not.
The only flaw was that the Hunters were too independent and began to turn against their trainers. They began to develop distinct personalities and human traits such as feelings like sadness and empathy a big mistake for emotionless killing machines.
So the project was ruled as a failure and the Hunters were kept in cages to be further studied in later tests. The only problem was that the largest of the Hunters looked out for the others, he would viscously attack anyone who came near the cages and would roar until his throat went dry when one of the Hunters was taken away. The creatures stayed in their cages for another five years being constantly poked and prodded by lab techs until they were ruled as failures and were ordered to be destroyed.
Then the rebels appeared Griffin thought meddling in all my work, releasing those creatures to roam free in the facility. It wasn't the fact that the rebels had released the Hunters or because Alice was forced to kill them, it was because the largest and most dangerous Hunter had managed to escape outside, no doubt with a little help.
Griffin wasn't so much angry with Alice, even a chimera such as herself had limits and besides she had killed the five other Hunters, it was because none of this would of happened if the late Dr Winterstone hadn't of thought of the project in the first place.
Shaking his head Griffin continued to write his report until the door to his office opened.
Alice strode gracefully in, her booted feet not making the slightest sound on the carpet, she stood on the other side of his desk, "You wanted me?"
Turning over his report Griffin looked up at Alice then went back to writing on a fresh piece of paper, "I'm sending you to another facility"
There were a few moments of silence before Alice spoke again, "Sending me away? You can't do that orders were I stay with you"
Griffin nodded not looking up from his desk as he continued to write, "I'm aware of that but the plans have changed, I must stay here and work on Phase Two and I don't think the rebels will be returning here too soon"
Alice slammed both her hands on the desk causing Griffin to causally look up into the piercing blue eyes, "So don't send me away, what if something happens?"
"It won't, this facility is very secure and besides I've organised something that I think you will enjoy" Griffin replied. He noticed that Alice had calmed down so he continued. "I know how disappointed you were when you couldn't fight the Winterstone girl, so I've put together some tasty little titbits that the rebels cannot resist"
"What has this got to do with Alyssa?"
"You didn't let me finish, upon hearing this news the rebels will want to put a stop to it and Alyssa will no doubt travel with them. You're going to meet them in the Cardwell facility, it's one of the smaller ones I know, but if you can manage to get the Winterstone girl lost down in those tunnels beneath the complex…" Griffin trailed off.
Alice still wasn't convinced, "And the others?"
"I don't care about the rebels, kill them slowly or quickly you choose, but the girl and the Nemesis unit must be kept alive, under no circumstances shall they be killed, too much is riding on that pair, if one is lost then the other will fall" Griffin answered.
Hearing this Alice looked disappointed, Griffin only smiled, "Don't worry my dear you shall have your special session with Alyssa but you cannot kill her even if her pet makes you want to, I need those two and to be honest I am being very fair, the rebels are yours to do what you want with, both of us get two each so it's a win win situation"
Stepping away from the desk Alice nodded, "Very well if that is what the orders are"
"You see all it takes is patience Alice, I'm not an ogre with requests it just sometimes takes a little bit longer to fulfil one such as yours but your hard work will pay off"
"When do I leave?" Alice asked.
Griffin opened his desk draw and took out a few pieces of paper, "When the information is faxed to its respective readers"
The last week and a half had been a blur for Jill, too much had happened between the Innisfail labs and the present day. Because of the reports and Internet conferencing with other members of the group half way across the world when Phil phoned Jill asking about the truck it had completely slipped her mind.
The medium sized white truck was still sitting behind the cabin and had yet to be cleaned of the Hunter's blood.
Walking outside onto the wooden decking Jill was surprised to find both Carlos and Nemesis seated outside staring out across the field. Alyssa wasn't with them, but hearing the TV turn on Jill assumed that she was inside.
"Since when are you two good friends?" Jill asked as she approached the pair.
Carlos grinned, "We go way back, we've always been amigos right?"
Nemesis growled back and nodded, his motions seeming not as animated then again it may have been a trick of the morning light.
"Well amigos or not we have to clean out the truck before Phil gets it back, that blood isn't going to come out by itself"
"I forgot about that, speaking of which have you seen the Hunter? I can't remember the name Alyssa called him was it Descriptive?"
"It's Deception and no I haven't seen him" Jill replied. She hated to admit it but when the Hunter had limped away from the group it looked like he was finding a place to lie down and die.
Carlos voiced Jill's thoughts, "You don't think that he's you know passed on?"
"No I find that hard to believe, those Hunters are built tough, it takes a clip of ammunition to bring one down"
"You think that we may have to do the same?"
"I don't know, the fact that Deception ran off is worrying but if he's anything like Nemesis then he might come back, I don't think he'll be dangerous just different" Jill answered.
Hearing his name mentioned Nemesis glanced lazily at Jill, there was something odd about the way he moved, it seemed slower.
Shaking it off Jill began to walk down the wooden stairs off the patio, "Come on then we better get that truck clean before Phil comes, I don't think he'll buy the excuse that it's tomato sauce in there"
As the pair moved off Nemesis watched them leave, it looked like as though he wanted to follow the pair but didn't have the energy to do so like someone who gets up in the morning, movements were limited. Then again it seemed that even big genetically engineered monsters got tired from constantly running and fighting.
Walking round to the small shed Jill opened it and handed Carlos a blue plastic bucket and two steel wool scrubbers. She also bought out two pairs of white plastic gloves and a bottle of disinfectant.
"Looks like this disinfectant did come in handy" Jill said as she put the gloves on. "Better go and fill that bucket up with warm water, that blood has had a chance to soak into the wood"
Carlos walked off swinging the bucket, "Well then yippee for us"
A few moments later Carlos came back with the full bucket, placing it on the edge of the open back of the truck he climbed in, "How's Alyssa dealing?"
Pouring three cap fulls of disinfectant into the bucket Jill waited for a moment before dipping one of the steel wool scrubbers in, "She seems ok I mean all Alyssa's done since we came back is sit in front of the tv and sleep, she's barely even eaten anything, I really feel sorry for the kid it's not right having so much crap dumped on her it and be expected that she deal with it"
Bending down to the floor Carlos began to scrub at the dried blood, "I guess in a way Alice did more to Alyssa in her head then anything else"
"I was thinking about that, before Alice attacked, Alyssa said she could sense her and the way Alice looked at Alyssa I'm guessing Griffin warped Alice's mind so much that she sees Alyssa as something to eliminate"
"Kind of like the Nemesis back in Racoon or something different?" Carlos asked.
Moving a few of the boxes aside Jill discovered that a few of them were also covered in the Hunter's blood, "Maybe, but something similar to that, Alice seemed more intent on wanting to fight Alyssa then killing the Hunters" she replied. "Damn, looks like we'll need something softer then a scrubber to deal with these stains on the boxes"
Carlos went to dip his scrubber in the bucket but found that it was too far away as he went to reach for it he felt it being pushed towards him. Looking up Carlos saw that it was Nemesis standing at the edge of the truck. Carlos almost tripped over due to the shock of the giant's sudden appearance and made Jill turn around, she too was shocked at Nemesis materializing out of no where.
Carlos picked up the bucket, "Thanks padre"
Nemesis only nodded and slowly with jerky movements turned and walked back around the side of the cabin.
Both watched the monster walk off before Jill spoke, "What did he do?"
"Passed me the bucket, I guess Nemesis saw that was struggling with it and knew I needed help" Carlos answered.
But it was Nemesis's erratic movements that puzzled Jill, a few weeks ago he seemed perfectly fine yet now the way Nemesis moved it was like a clockwork toy that was slowly winding down.
Shaking the thought off both continued to scrub at the blood unit the entire back was clean and smelling of pine fragranced disinfectant.
Going back inside Jill saw Alyssa sitting at the kitchen table staring out of the window that faced the patio; she seemed to have that same vacant look that Nemesis had.
Pulling up a chair and sitting down in it Jill turned towards Alyssa, "You hungry Alyssa?"
Alyssa shook her head worry clouded her face, "Something's wrong with Nemesis"
"What do you mean like he's sick?"
"No not like that, I don't think Nemesis can get sick, I sort of feel the same way like I'm really tired and can't move so fast anymore" Alyssa replied.
By now Carlos had silently joined the pair at the table and was listening in.
"Well Nemesis hasn't really slept since the two of you got here maybe that has something to do with it" Jill suggested. Though she had no idea what she talking about, the two Nemesis creatures in Racoon didn't appear that they needed sleep but it looked like the one that was with them did. It hadn't crossed Jill's mind that Nemesis could actually go to sleep, he was designed to be a bio weapon capable of murder, not some weak creature that needed rest after a mission.
Yet again Alyssa shook her head, "Nemesis needs to be active, like a sheep dog I guess, if you have one of those as a pet you need to keep it entertained otherwise it'll dig up the garden one of the reasons why my father wouldn't let me have one"
Neither Jill nor Carlos wanted to think what would happen if Nemesis suddenly turned destructive.
"So we'll take him out for a run problem solved," Carlos said leaning back on his chair.
"It's more then that, I think because we haven't done anything for a while Nemesis is starting to slow down, I heard Griffin talk about it when I was at Bluewater. He said if something like Nemesis isn't deactivated after it's mission is complete then it will go into it's defence program which will limit it's abilities until everything slowly shuts down" Alyssa explained. Then she looked up at Jill with a scared expression on her face, "Jill I don't want Nemesis to die, his body is shutting down and there's nothing we can do!"
Sitting back against her chair Jill began to think, it did seem plausible the way that Nemesis had been acting recently pointed to the fact that he was shutting down. But to help such a creature become strong again required something that she dreaded to even say. What if Nemesis kills one of us when we're trying to help him? She thought he's bigger and stronger then both Carlos and I put together.
Yet Nemesis was as much of the team now as Alyssa, if a team member is in trouble then the other members would figure out a solution that would help them. Even if the solution was crazy and life threatening.
At first Jill couldn't bring herself to say it but it had to be done, if Nemesis died then so would Alyssa and she couldn't deal with that, "I think I may have an idea"
"Careful Jill, remember Nemesis is a big creature whatever you're thinking better be sane" Carlos warned.
Jill smiled when hearing Carlos's remark, "Sane is far from it, listen Alyssa I may not know a lot about Nemesis but I do know for a fact that he does have some knowledge of weaponry and hand to hand combat am I correct?"
Alyssa nodded, "Yes he does, that's how my father made him, why do you ask?"
"Because if Nemesis is like a sheep dog and has to be kept active maybe Carlos and I can help, it would be nothing dangerous it'd be just like a training session in combat, no weapons" Jill explained.
Again Alyssa seemed to get that tired look in her eyes while she nodded slowly, "But what about you?"
"Actually I thought that Carlos and you could go out into that field behind the cabin with Nemesis, he is your responsibility not mine, I have a few emails to check and send off but I'll be watching if something happens" Jill replied.
Carlos at first seemed annoyed by the idea then he calmed down after all Nemesis was just like having an eight foot tall trainer and he did need to brush up on his hand to hand combat, "Oh sure Jill watch me get squashed into a human pancake! Then again I guess it's ok if there aren't any weapons there wouldn't be much of a field left if you included the rocket launcher"
"Then its settled, you can go outside for a little while say twenty minutes" Jill said. "I'll go the next time"
Satisfied all three pushed their chairs out from the table and Alyssa went out the front door to get Nemesis.
When Alyssa was gone Carlos turned to Jill, "Are you sure about this? Nemesis is stronger then a human being what if he grabs a hold of my arm and it breaks?"
"I don't like this idea either Carlos, that's the reason why Alyssa is going with you, if something does happen hopefully Nemesis will listen to Alyssa and back off, there's a connection with those two, a bond or something I don't really know but what I do know is that Alyssa would not stand idly by while Nemesis beats you to pulp, hopefully that will be safe" Jill replied.
Carlos only nodded despite the fact that his stomach was tying endless knots on itself.
Going outside Carlos saw that Alyssa and Nemesis were waiting patiently for him.
"Uh ok then I guess we go around the back," Carlos said not knowing exactly what to say in such a situation. It had completely slipped his mind that Nemesis had the rocket launcher and chain gun clipped on his sides.
Fortunately Alyssa noticed and remembered what Jill had said about not including weapons; she turned towards Nemesis, "Disengage primary weaponry"
Nemesis simply shrugged off the rocket launcher and chain gun placing them near the front door.
"What was that all about?" Carlos asked as he walked around the back of the cabin with Alyssa.
"Sometimes Nemesis needs to have commands given to him in order to preform an action" Alyssa explained. "It used to drive Griffin crazy the fact that you had to say certain words for Nemesis to do anything, I don't really know if that's how my father made him or not though but I learned the weapon command early"
"You know anymore?"
Alyssa grinned, "Maybe, depends what the situation is"
Nemesis could hand me a bucket but not take off his weapons, very strange Carlos thought. Then again it wasn't Alyssa's father that had made that type of command follow through, the Nemesis that was forced to fight Alice obeyed the same action. Which made him wonder if Jill was right, if the word stars was mentioned around Nemesis would he go hay wire and try to attack her? It seemed apparent that all the Nemesis creatures had the same program in their heads.
Reaching the field Carlos turned and saw that Nemesis was getting slower, the large steps the giant took were now nothing more then a very slow shuffle. I must move fast otherwise it'll get worse.
"I think we'll start off easy because of the situation," Carlos said. "We'll begin with some defence moves like blocking and evading then we'll go up to some hand to hand skills"
Nemesis growled and flexed his massive shoulders; the tentacles underneath his coat pulsed and moved, his breathing coming out in shorter gasps as he readied himself for the upcoming fight.
"What am I supposed to do?" Alyssa asked.
Carlos came and put his hands on Alyssa's shoulders, "You can stop me from becoming part of the landscape if Nemesis gets too strong ok?"
Alyssa nodded, "Ok I can do that"
Out of the corner of Carlos's eye he saw a green figure standing near the bushland, it was Deception the wounded Hunter. Judging by the way he stood the Hunter was still recovering as he had a lopsided posture, but he was simply standing there no doubt watching Nemesis fight Carlos. So he did survive he thought that Hunter was determined to live.
Ignoring Deception in the distance Carlos went and stood in front of Nemesis, "Ok padre I'll go easy on you first up but just because we're friends and all"
Trying the hit Nemesis with the current condition he was in proved more of a challenge to Carlos then he first thought. First he tried to punch the monster in the shoulder but Nemesis casually blocked it almost with a degree of boredom. Trying to kick from the side was again stopped.
Whenever Nemesis batted Carlos away, Carlos could feel that the giant was trying really hard to hold back on his strength, which was a good thing. Had Nemesis used his abilities to their fullest potential Carlos would be hit a lot further then just to the ground.
Carlos continued to circle Nemesis and attack from all sides gradually speeding up the times between kicks and punches. He noticed a change in Nemesis's movements, when he first started the giant had moved jerkily and slow now the movements were in careful timing, both eyes were on Carlos instead of wandering all over the place.
Time to kick it up a notch Carlos thought.
Without even mentioning it Carlos dove from the right side, an area he soon realized that Nemesis had a problem with. He only had the intention of landing a punch in the shoulder of the creature, but what Nemesis did next stunned him.
Sensing the attack Nemesis easily avoided it then fainting left he grabbed Carlos's arm, twisted it then threw him down onto the ground, not too hard but enough to hurt.
Alyssa was at Carlos's side in a matter of moments despite the fact that Carlos didn't even see the girl move.
A door slammed in the distance and Jill was also running out across the field yelling out.
Jill had been in the middle of replying to an email from one of the other rebels when she just happened to glance out of the window. It was a sight that made her blood run cold.
It only took a few seconds, but seeing Carlos running at Nemesis full pelt, having his arm-twisted and then being thrown down on the ground was enough for Jill.
Helping Carlos up Jill turned towards Nemesis, she didn't really feel anger for the monster he was only doing what came naturally she was in fact angry at herself for allowing such a thing to happen.
Alyssa and Nemesis walked behind the pair as they went back to the cabin, Nemesis preferring to sit outside as though he realized what he'd done.
Studying Carlos's arm Jill saw that there were large finger mark bruises made where Nemesis had grabbed the arm, the skin around the bruises was red but there was no blood and the arm didn't seem to be broken.
Going to the freezer Jill pulled out an ice cube tray and handed it to Carlos, "I knew it was a bad idea"
Wincing at the pain and cold Carlos pressed down on his arm, "It's ok Jill really, I just forgot for a moment that Nemesis was well something other then a normal person"
"You just forgot? I find that hard to believe, in fact if I hadn't of come out there in time then I don't know what would have happened" Jill said. "No matter how we look at it Nemesis is dangerous, he was made to harm and destroy"
"It's not his fault, Nemesis didn't really hurt Carlos it could've been worse had he not limited himself" Alyssa pointed out.
"He did what?"
"Looks like Nemesis knew that he was going up against someone not as strong so he didn't use the full potential of his strength, crazy I know but there were plenty of other times when he could've easily done worse to me" Carlos replied. "I'm actually keen to do it again another time"
Jill closed the lid on the laptop she'd been using before, "Well that won't be too soon, I'm assuming that Nemesis is back to his regular self?"
"He seems even faster now, I can feel it, it's like some kind of new energy is flowing through both of us" Alyssa replied.
"Good, because while all you three were outside something came on tv that I think we'll all find interesting" Jill replied as she got up and went into the small living room.
As Jill switched on the TV all three saw that there was some kind of news bulletin playing on the screen. It had obviously been playing for quite some time as banners outlining the disaster were slowly winding across the top of the screen.
A young news reporter with short red hair, dressed in a mini skirt with a shirt that showed too much cleavage was rapidly speaking into a microphone. In the distance there appeared to be a fire of some kind and people were madly running about.
"About half an hour ago one of the warehouses at the small medical facility in Cardwell burst into flames, fire crews were rushed to the scene no soon after the blaze started, it has yet to be determined how the fire began though residents in the surrounding areas are advised not to venture outside their houses. The choking black smoke from the fire is very dangerous when breathed in and not only that but in some parts of the warehouse's roof have been reported to contain asbestos," the reporter said.
"So what a warehouse burns down, big deal" Carlos said. "That's nothing new why so interested Jill did the police blame us again?"
"Keep watching" Jill replied. "It gets better"
Suddenly two soldiers escorted off the reporter and her crew, the camera was still rolling as they were taken away from the fire.
"You people can't be here, its off limits to civilians" one soldier said.
"But why is the army being involved in this?" the reporter asked. "Shouldn't this be left to the fire fighters?"
"Can't answer that but we have orders to take any non army personnel out of this danger zone"
"Was there something in that warehouse that you don't want the public to see? What was in that warehouse? The public has a right to know, these string of warehouses are owned by Umbrella aren't they?"
The camera suddenly went to one side as the reporter ran off through the barricade, the two soldiers pointing at the camera shouting at it and raising their guns. Then the report ended an ad came on about Hungry Jack's value meals.
Jill turned off the TV, "It's all over the other channels, that report we just saw is an hour old but it's been airing non stop"
"I don't like it, we shouldn't go there" Alyssa said. "What if it's a trap?"
"Yeah it is a bit strange, I mean Umbrella's never been this sloppy before, first the body at Innisfail and now this? For all we know they're baiting us into going to these labs" Carlos pointed out. "We then destroy it and have our faces pasted all over the afternoon news edition"
"I thought that too, but remember that strange email we received from Trent last week?"
"What about it?"
"He mentioned something about finding a place where fish come to rest and gave us two numbers, 45 and 78, I had no idea what they meant, combinations, file numbers almost anything, but when I ran them through the map he gave us, it came up with different results. The numbers are coordinates that point directly to a small facility hidden under those warehouses" Jill explained. "I know it looks sort of bad that the facility Trent mentioned was partly destroyed but that also means less of a chance of running into too many squads there"
"Wait a minute are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"
Jill got a wild look on her face, "People have been lulled back into a comfortable view on Umbrella, we didn't get anything from the Innisfail labs before and I'm not letting those corporate liars get away with it again, the fire's just recently happened so it'll take a while for those labs to recover fully it's the perfect time to investigate we may never get an opportunity like this again and we may take out the rest of the lab as well"
"We're going to destroy the lab? What if we're walking straight into a trap set by that maniac Griffin?"
"It's a risk we'll have to take" Jill said sighing. "We've been in worse situations before and managed to get out alive this one's no different"
"I hope you're right about this Jill, it seems that Alice is more active and we kind of have two members that have the T-virus which really isn't a good thing and if you haven't noticed by now Alice seems to want to fight Alyssa, maybe those two should sit this one out"
"No can do Carlos, as much as I hate to say it but if we run into heavy security Nemesis is the perfect distraction and room clearer," Jill said. "Relax it'll be fine"
"Relax" Carlos muttered as he carefully examined his bruised arm. "That's the last thing on my mind"
When Phil came to collect the truck he was driving a smaller van, he seemed a bit suspicious about the fact that the back had a faint aroma of pine o clean disinfectant.
Phil's arrival caught the entire group off guard as the van turned into the long dirt driveway in the distance Nemesis began to growl loudly assuming the vehicle was a threat. Alyssa, Jill and Carlos had to usher Nemesis inside the cabin before the van got any closer, had Phil spotted the monster it'd be fair enough to say he'd want an explanation one that neither Jill or Carlos could afford to say.
Phil didn't say very much to Jill or Carlos and didn't even glance at Alyssa as he shoved the keys into Jill's hand, took the truck keys from Carlos got into the truck and drove off.
Watching the truck drive off Jill sighed, "At least this van isn't as conspicuous"
"What about the ID cards?" Carlos asked. "Do we need to update those too?"
"I think I heard Phil mutter something about the cards being in the front driver's side" Jill answered. Walking up to the driver's side door Jill opened it and brought out three cards on lanyards. "Looks like he got us the perfect disguise"
"Can't wait to see what we have to be this time," Carlos muttered.
As Jill gave Alyssa her card she glanced down at it, she was now Sherry Crystal with short blonde hair, blue eyes and olive coloured skin, "We're news reporters?"
Jill nodded, "Pretty much, it makes me wonder how Phil knew where we were going I didn't say very much about it to him before, in fact all I said was try and get a van that blends in with Cardwell.
Carlos dreaded his new name though when he looked at the card he realized it could've been worse, he was now called Daniel Shore. Not bad considering all the weird names I've gotten so far.
Alyssa looked confused, "Jill my picture has short hair but I have long hair do I have to wear a wig?"
Jill smiled, "No, but it means it's time to change your hair style"
Before leaving for Innisfail Jill made sure that she had enough ammo for the magnum and assault rifle and that Carlos had carefully hidden the plastic explosives beneath the seat. Both Jill and Carlos agreed that if an opportunity arose to destroy the Cardwell labs then they were going to take it; they were already branded as criminals by Umbrella so the accusations couldn't get any worse.
When seeing the open back of the news van with its cameras and various other equipment Nemesis was again reluctant to get inside. Nothing could persuade the giant from stepping one booted foot inside the truck, he roared and growled while digging his heels into the dirt refusing to budge.
"What's the matter with him?" Jill asked Alyssa.
"He doesn't like vans but I don't understand, Nemesis has never been in one before unless..." Alyssa stopped pursing her lips together frowning. "When I was little, my father was taken away from me in a van like this, maybe Nemesis somehow knows that this happened, he could have my memories, I don't really know"
What Alyssa had said disturbed Jill, she only thought that Nemesis was there to protect Alyssa and give her the anti virus serum but sharing thoughts was something different. It's like those two are connected telepathically she thought. Jill did find it odd that when Nemesis was starting to shut down Alyssa had also been sluggish and dull.
The loud horn from the van broke Jill's trance as Carlos stuck his head out from the driver's side, "Hey come on, I don't want to be driving when it gets dark"
Alyssa turned to Jill, "Don't worry I'll get Nemesis in the back you go up the front"
As Jill walked off she found it strange that Alyssa was had a phoney smile on her face and the fact she looked guilty about something.
When Jill got in with Carlos she immediately glanced through the rear vision mirror, "She's up to something"
"What do you mean? It's not like Alyssa is going to sneak drugs in the back"
"No not like that, I mean don't you find it weird that Nemesis suddenly refuses to move until both of us are in the front seat?" Jill asked.
Carlos shrugged, "I guess Alyssa thought it'd be better if no one yelled at Nemesis to move"
The van suddenly creaked as something big entered the back and then the doors slid shut and Alyssa walked around the front and got in.
"So you managed to get rid of Nemesis's fears of the van?" Jill asked.
Alyssa nodded still retaining the guilty expression on her face, "Yes I did"
Carlos only smiled as he started up the engine while shaking his head.
The van passed through two checkpoints without any problem, the back wasn't even inspected by the sunglass-wearing inspectors in the second checkpoint because they assumed it was a news van. By the time the van reached Cardwell the sun was starting to set casting long shadowy fingers from the trees across the road.
Where the fire had occurred from the news segment was easy to find, as there were still an abundance of news vans and journalists lingering at the edges.
The township of the small fishing village of Cardwell was a different story. The streets that would normally be bustling with people were empty and the lights from both the stores and houses weren't even on.
Alyssa peered out of the window, "Weird, the whole place is like a ghost town"
Jill and Carlos glanced nervously at each other, there were plenty of times back in Racoon that reminded them of this place, they half expected a zombie to jump out at them from the sides.
The van was left was far away from the nosy news crews as possible, if any of the cameras got one shot of the unusual passenger exiting the back it would be front page material. It was parked in a small inlet that was shielded from the road and any curious on lookers, nearby there was a toilet block with the strong scent of urine, and it too acted as cover for the group.
Opening up the back of the van however was a different story. Walking around the back Jill noticed that Alyssa had her head down avoiding eye contact. When asked what was wrong Alyssa said nothing and shook her head.
Unlocking the van's doors Carlos cried out in surprise as a different creature that wasn't Nemesis stepped gracefully from out of the van.
Deception had been cooped up in the back of a small moving vehicle with another larger monster for almost four hours. Although he could sense that Nemesis wasn't a threat Deception wanted out, the night air called to him, it would lead him to exact vengeance. At first Deception was cautious of all the two legged creatures but Alyssa seemed different not because she had a similar scent as himself and the larger monster Nemesis but it was her actions that allowed him to get this far. She had purposely made a distraction so that he could travel with the rest of the group.
But when the doors were opened and the night air hit Deception's nostrils all he wanted to do was to rush out. He knew that decision however would be foolish; the other two-legged non-Alyssa creatures obviously knew where the testing places were so it was wise to stick with them.
As Nemesis exited the van he too had his head lowered like Alyssa, he'd played a part in smuggling the Hunter aboard as well.
Deception moved away from the group and stood in the surrounding shadows.
"Is this what you two were acting up about before?" Jill asked. "It had nothing to do with Nemesis being frightened of vans did it? You only wanted to take Deception with us?"
"Alyssa how did you know about Deception?" Carlos inquired. "None of us have seen him since Innisfail"
"I'm sorry if I kind of lied to you but what I said is partly true, Nemesis does have a fear of vans because I'm sure he saw it in my head" Alyssa explained. "I saw Deception a few days ago and I told him what we do as group, he seemed to understand, after all Umbrella killed his family and he wants to help destroy the labs"
"The field this morning" Carlos said. "I saw Deception standing in the bushland watching Nemesis and I fight"
Jill sighed, once again she couldn't be angry with Alyssa but now it was going to be even harder to sneak into the facility, as now there were two monsters with them. "Alyssa look maybe if…"
"Deception's no problem, he's really good at hiding in fact you won't know that he's with us" Alyssa replied cutting Jill off. "He has his own mission"
Glancing over towards the darkness the Hunter could be faintly seen, there was only a thin outline around the still form of Deception. He's like a ghost, there but not really. Jill thought.
As Jill was about to say something she was cut off again by the sound of a large vehicle approaching. This time it wasn't a semi trailer, it was an army troop carrier, three passed the inlet in a straight line no doubt heading for the facility.
"We better get going" Carlos said as he shouldered his assault rifle. "That'll only be the first wave"
Stalking through the now abandoned warehouses of the small Cardwell facility wasn't what Alice had exactly in mind. When arriving at the complex she was refused entry by a group of heavily armed soldiers. A little 'convincing' allowed Alice to pass by without causing a fuss and enter the main shed of the facility.
The labs themselves had been designed to cope with the smaller creature containments such as the failed Hunter Gammas, Lurkers and a few adolescent Neptunes so she'd heard. They were being stored above the waste tunnels but Alice was going to reserve them for something she'd planned for the rebels and the Winterstone girl's pet later on.
Walking through the phoney part of the labs where the pharmaceutical items were manufactured Alice made her way into the lower depths of the complex. She wanted everything to be perfect for the confrontation.
Ever since sighting Alyssa back at the Innisfail compound Alice had only seen a tiny amount of the girl's power. It was of course nothing harmful and not even close to her own abilities but the Winterstone girl did have something else she'd never encountered before.
Soon it will become all clear, once all the distractions are taken care of Alice thought to herself as she walked slowly down a darkened tunnel.
The news vans were long gone when the group entered the outskirts of the facility; the army presence had not moved on there were two soldiers keeping watch nearby.
When nearing the white sheds Deception uttered a low growl and ran off into the darkness.
"Oh great there goes our cover" Carlos grumbled.
Jill could only think about what Alyssa had said before He has his own mission. What ever that meant was something Jill didn't really want to think about.
Shouldering the small black bag containing the explosives Jill turned to the group, "Looks like this place is pretty much bogged down with soldiers, we'll need to clear a way before we can move into the sheds"
"No problem I'll take care of those two guards" Carlos replied.
"I think Alyssa can help us out on this one" Jill said as she turned towards Alyssa.
Alyssa looked confused, "What can I do?"
"Easy, you walk up to them crying saying that you're lost" Jill said.
Still looking confused Alyssa nodded, "I don't really get it but I guess…"
As Alyssa began to slowly make her way towards the pair of soldiers Nemesis growled softly in the back of his throat clearly worried at the current situation, if Alyssa didn't time it right she might be seen as an intruder and could be shot at.
Jill and Carlos watched a crying Alyssa with baited breath, the plan was relatively simple, Alyssa would distract the two guards by pretending to be upset while Jill, Carlos and Nemesis snuck around them. Two large open doors leading into a darkened shed were behind the two men, once inside unless the soldiers had night goggles it'd be impossible to see something even as tall as Nemesis inside.
The two soldiers were first cautious of Alyssa, raising their guns as she slowly walked out of the darkness sobbing, but soon realizing she wasn't a threat surrounded her placing their backs to the group hidden in the shadows.
Leaving a wide arc around the two soldiers Jill, Carlos and Nemesis ran silently around the pair and towards a large stack of pipes. Signalling to stop Jill carefully peered around the pile to check on Alyssa.
The two soldiers were still talking to Alyssa who was nodding and wiping her nose with her right hand.
"Ok we'll make a dash for those containers over there in a few minutes" Jill whispered. "Then we'll be close enough to enter the nearest shed"
"Let's hope it's the right one we're going into," Carlos said.
"Relax Carlos, this entire yard is owned by Umbrella I think it's pretty obvious that all of these sheds are owned by them by the logo above the doors" Jill pointed out.
Carlos began to load his assault rifle with a clip, when Jill turned around and asked what he was doing he replied, "In case we run into some company of the freaky kind inside, I want to be prepared in case some Umbrella diablo jumps out at me"
Realizing what he said Carlos turned back towards Nemesis, "No offence amigo but some of your kind are pretty scary and dangerous"
Nemesis didn't seem affected by the remarked and only grunted while adjusting his rocket launcher.
With one last glance back towards Alyssa who seemed fine for the moment Jill began to run towards the white shipping containers. Behind her she could hear Carlos and Nemesis's footsteps trying to limit the sound their boots were making on the asphalt.
Then a spotlight illuminated Carlos and a voice shouted out to him to stop.
Both Jill and Nemesis were safely behind the containers when it happened and in a way Jill was glad that Carlos was spotted and not Nemesis.
Leaving Alyssa where she was standing the two guards ran over to Carlos.
"Hey you! Stop where you are, you're trespassing on government property!" one of the soldiers called out.
Neither of the soldiers got any closer as they were suddenly bowled over by some unseen presence. As both turned around Carlos could see through them that it was Alyssa who only smiled sweetly as she sucker punched both to the ground. Both fell down and didn't get back up.
Jill called both over to the shadows, "Are you done yet?" she asked. "That was only two I'm guessing that there's more and if we don't hurry we might get that wish"
Carlos was still amazed at Alyssa's speed, "Gee that's something that I'd like to learn"
"It comes with the virus" Alyssa replied. "Besides we're all in a team we look out for each other"
As the group walked into the darkened shed Jill could only smile at Alyssa's remarked, We are part of a team and we're in this together whether we like it or not. Her only hope was that the rest of the night followed through without a hitch, how wrong she was.
Little did the group know that within the thin metal walls of the shed a game was slowly being set up by a mind filled with fury.
Despite the shed being pitch black inside the group slowly made their way to the back.
"I wonder if Deception is ok" Alyssa said.
"He's the least of out worries, look at this" Carlos cried out as he shone his small torch over the contents of the shed.
Jill grabbed the torch off Carlos, "Turn it off we don't want to attract attention"
"Sorry, but you had to see that, didn't you see it? They think that people are gullible enough to fall for that whole medicine conveyor belt scam"
"Does it really matter? We only have a few minutes before those soldiers that Alyssa knocked out are found by patrols," Jill said harshly. "I suggest we make the most of our time here"
Alyssa glanced around the shed; she could see quite clearly the phoney packaging plant that Umbrella had set up. Two main conveyor belts were in the centre of the room; on them were cardboard boxes no doubt sealed and ready to be shipped off. There were other unidentifiable pieces of machinery around the conveyor belts that had long metal arms for grabbing boxes but Alyssa didn't know what they were for.
Hearing Jill speak up slightly Alyssa snapped out of her trance and turned towards the group.
"So it's agreed, we'll stay here and check out this shed and if we have time the other one that wasn't damaged by the fire," Jill said.
All four began to walk along the wall of the shed, testing it in some places for a switch or a hollow opening.
"If this is the fake side there has to be a real side…hang on I felt something" Carlos replied as he stepped away from the wall.
A thin line of light began to outline a small rectangle where Carlos had tapped the wall, at the same time Nemesis began to growl threateningly.
Reaching out Carlos pushed it cautiously and the rectangle slid into the wall while making a soft ping. A metal doorknob suddenly popped out of the wall with a clank.
Alyssa stepped away shaking her head, "I don't like this, it's all too easy" she hadn't mentioned to either Jill or Carlos that she could feel a slight tingling sensation in her head as it would only make to situation worse.
"It's now or never," Carlos said as he turned the metal knob.
The new door that appeared opened into a long flight of stairs that were lit by lights on either side like the movie cinemas do. Below there was another steel door that was lit from the inside, a slight humming issued from it.
"I guess we go down then" Jill replied. "Still all this trouble to hide something in such an obvious place"
"Well like you said before Jill, if Umbrella hid their labs in top secret places then that's where the inspectors would look" Carlos remarked as he descended the stairs.
"Maybe, but you'd think that they'd be over the whole cloak and dagger secret agent stuff by now, some things never change" Jill said as she attempted to catch up with Carlos.
Alyssa watched the pair go down the stairs and sighed, her headaches were starting to get worse but they could just mean nothing. Yeah right and since when have I ever had anything normal happen to me? She thought. Turning to Nemesis, Alyssa gestured down the stairs, "Should we follow?"
Nemesis nodded and growled out the word 'yes'
Seeing this Alyssa smiled, "I knew you'd say that, you're so predictable"
Alice had sensed Alyssa's approach the moment the girl had entered the perimeter of the facility. Walking down towards the containment area Alice began to formulate a plan that would not only spilt up the group but also take the Winterstone girl away from her overprotective pet. She knew that although the monster was weak by her standards would only get in the way, it had to be put down if Alice was going to get one inch towards Alyssa and she wanted all her energy for the main event not wasted fighting an unnecessary opponent.
Entering the concrete containment area Alice strode past the sleeping shark like Neptunes, such creatures would be useless in separating the group she needed something fast and aggressive.
Her eyes stopped on the Hunter Gammas, the eight blue froglike creatures each floated in their separate tanks surrounded by red goo. The Gammas wouldn't last the trip to where the group was in fact they'd have to be released later when they were closer. The creatures needed to be kept moist otherwise they would quickly dry out and die, the Gammas were seen as failures and had been stored in the Cardwell facility for a very long time.
Turning her back on them Alice spotted the four other tubes that contained a deadlier creature then the Gammas.
Walking up to the tubes Alice ran her hand across one, wiping the condensation on the tube away. The light brown frog like creature floated up right with its claw like feet stretched out as though it was ready to pounce.
The Lurkers were another failed experiment in an attempt to create an amphibian based B.O.W. they didn't possess the intelligence to be a true biological weapon. Being one of the earlier experiments with the T-virus the majority of the specimens had been destroyed, except for four that were being kept in stasis for some unknown reason.
Stepping back from the four containment tanks Alice smiled, the Lurkers would be perfect in providing the distraction she needed. Closing her eyes and concentrating Alice visualised the life support being turned off and the locks that held the metal base shut open up allowing the Lurkers to escape.
As the creatures began to stir inside the tanks Alice reached out and touched their minds. Although primitive and simple she managed to gain control of the Lurkers easily implanting easy to follow orders that the most dim witted creature could understand.
All Alice heard was the smashing of glass and the sound of four very large creatures slowly hop out of the room making wet squelching sounds.
Watching them go Alice smiled, Stage one is complete now its time to enter stage two.
Alyssa was the first to hear the approach of the Lurkers; the creatures were now climbing on the ceiling and making very little noise as they did this.
"We have company," Alyssa cried out. "They look hungry too!"
Both Jill and Carlos glanced up in time to see the Lurkers crawling towards them, their long tongues snapping forward in anticipation.
One of the Lurkers jumped down between the pair its tongue slapping the walls.
Both Jill and Carlos parted and reached for their weapons.
"Where'd those things come from?" Carlos asked.
"They must've been let loose or escaped from somewhere," Jill shouted back as she fired her magnum at the nearest Lurker.
Alyssa didn't like the Lurkers at all; they looked like large frogs with muddy coloured warty skin, clawed flipper feet and puffy lumps where their eyes used to be. She dodged aside as a Lurker tried to hit her with its long pink slimy tongue.
The Lurker turned around and found Alyssa again despite the fact it had no eyes and leapt forward croaking.
The long pink tongue was stopped by a large arm that grabbed a hold of it and pulled the Lurker inwards.
Turning, Alyssa saw that it was Nemesis who roared at the Lurker and still with a firm grip on the creature's tongue swung it around and hit the nearest wall with its soft body.
With so much force being applied to the Lurker, its body seemed to explode in slimy meaty chunks showering Jill and Carlos with the remains.
Jill stopped to wipe the slime from her eyes and turned towards Nemesis, "Warn us next time you're going to pull something like that ok?"
Nemesis only roared and raised his chain gun as a Lurker appeared above Jill with its long tongue snapping downwards with the intention of impaling her.
Jill called out to Carlos who threw himself down onto the floor as a hail of gunfire hit the Lurker off the ceiling. Most of the bullets however didn't just hit the Lurker they also hit two large canisters of kerosene at the end of the corridor.
The entire hallway was then suddenly engulfed in flames that caused the two remaining Lurkers to run haphazardly towards the group screeching as their flesh caught on fire.
One ran towards Alyssa it's smouldering flesh making her sick, ignoring the scent of burnt frog she grabbed the tongue as it came towards her and mirrored the move that Nemesis did and threw it against the wall. Instead of exploding however the Lurker hit the wall, fell down and started to twitch before going still.
Jill finished off the last Lurker by shooting it between it's empty eye sockets, the creature fell back as dark purple blood streamed from its forehead then collapsed onto the burnt ground.
The sprinklers above began to switch on one by one slowly putting out the flames but at the same time creating a choking smoke wall.
Over the confusion Alyssa heard Jill call out to everyone to move down the hallway, at least she thought that's what Jill said.
So Alyssa moved down the now wet hallway careful to over step the Lurker corpses. The smoke had soon cleared as she descended a staircase that the others must have gone down too. At the base of the stairs was another open door and as Alyssa entered through it calling out to the others to slow down the door slammed shut.
No matter how hard Alyssa pounded on the door it wouldn't open, she tired to turn the doorknob only to find that there was a metal plate over it.
Turning and looking down the hallway Alyssa realized she was no longer in an office type setting she was down in some kind of sewer system.
I knew this was a bad idea Alyssa thought as she began to walk down the darkened tunnels.
Something was wrong; it didn't feel right in fact it almost felt to Alyssa as though someone had purposely led her down here.
Walking down the tunnels reminded Alyssa of when Nemesis and herself had just met with Jill and Carlos. All four were going back to the cabin when the forest suddenly became quiet, although Nemesis had growled out a warning Alyssa knew that the silent soldiers were out there waiting for them to approach.
Only now Alyssa was by herself walking in the darkness through a bunch of sewerage tunnels, there was no one to warn her of approaching enemies not that she needed to be told. Thanks to the T/G virus Alyssa had an acute sense of hearing, all of her body's normal senses had been super charged when infected with the virus all those years ago so it was something that she'd slowly gotten used to.
Rounding a corner Alyssa first peered down the long tunnel, she didn't want to run into any more of those frog creatures, she'd never really liked frogs they had big bulging eyes and long sticky tongues.
Not sensing anything Alyssa began to walk slowly down the tunnel.
That was when her headache turned into a high pitch ringing tone, gritting her teeth and steadying herself against the cold brick wall Alyssa glanced up in time to see someone appear out of the darkness.
Stopping a few metres away from Alyssa, Alice smiled aware of the suffering taking place, "Hello Alyssa" she said.
When the smoke had started to clear Jill had called out to Carlos, Nemesis and Alyssa, but she'd told them to move away from the smoke not to run through it.
"Follow my voice if you can't see me" Jill called out. "We'll all go back to the stairs"
It was too risky to further explore the complex the smoke would've attracted unwanted attention so it was best to leave and hope that whatever 'business' Deception had would've been finished.
Although it was a cowardly thing to do Jill knew that none of them were equipped to handle any special forces that Umbrella would've flown in to deal with trespassers. Even Nemesis had his limits; if too many enemies over whelmed the giant there was a possibility that he'd be easily taken down.
It was a stupid idea to come in the first place Jill thought as she exited the smoke cloud. I don't know what possessed me to lead everyone here, what could we do?
Carlos emerged from the smoke holding his left hand over his mouth coughing, "That was an interesting turn of events"
"I think we may need to get a warning system in place the next time Nemesis pulls a commando move like that" Jill replied.
Both then turned and waited for Alyssa and Nemesis to appear, no doubt they had fallen behind in the confusion.
As the smoke finally dissipated and the sprinklers turned off neither Alyssa or Nemesis could be seen.
Carlos was confused, "Where'd they go? They were right behind us"
Jill only groaned, "One of the reasons why everyone was supposed to stick together, one of them must've run off in a different direction and the other has followed"
"Three guesses who that would be"
Jill threw Carlos the bag containing the explosives, "Come on we better start looking for them, I find it very hard for something like Nemesis to get lost in a facility like this"
Both then ran down the long white corridor together.
Slowly Alyssa allowed herself to look straight into the cold blue eyes of Alice. That cruel smile Alice always wore gave her the creeps.
"I've been waiting for you Alyssa" Alice said. "I'm surprised you made it past the four Lurkers"
"You planned all this?" Alyssa asked.
Alice nodded looking proud, "Griffin helped set it all up though, the explosion and a few news crews to report on it yet I find it hard to believe that you were capable of killing all four of those creatures I set loose, surely you had help?"
Alyssa could feel the sharp note in her head yet ignored it, "You sound surprised that I could"
"No matter, your pet and the rebels will soon fall by my blades, but as for you I have something very special planned just for us"
"I won't fight you Alice, I know that's the reason why you made me come down here and the answer is no" Alyssa said forcefully.
Alice stared back at Alyssa not allowing her words to have any effect and raised an eyebrow, "Is that your final answer Alyssa? Because I'm giving you a choice either you can decide or I will and believe me if I choose then it's going to be very painful" She then leaned in towards Alyssa and lowered her voice, "Here there aren't any guards or even Griffin to stop me so if anything should happen to you well it isn't going to be nice let's just say that shall we"
Alice then stood on the other side of the tunnel facing Alyssa, "What is your answer?"
Alyssa glared back at Alice, "No I won't fight"
"Are you sure about that? No second thoughts?" Alice replied in a mocking tone.
Leaning hard against the wall Alyssa still retained her glare, not that it would do any good, a simple glare wouldn't frighten a manic like Alice.
Alice was brimming with anger at the Winterstone girl's refusal to fight; here was an opportunity that wasn't going to be taken by the lab brat. She managed to repress her anger for the girl by shrugging it off. "Have it your way Alyssa, don't think that being silent will save you, I can find ways to make you scream without lifting a finger, maybe once you've seen true power then you might reconsider"
With her right hand Alice pointed down towards the floor of the tunnel and began to make swirling motions.
Alyssa readied herself; as much as she didn't want to fight Alice she'd have no choice if a torrent of water tried to drown her.
Instead of a wave of water bursting forth, six small dagger like ice crystals appeared. They slowly spun out of the water and hovered above Alice's out stretched hand. Flicking her hand towards Alyssa she directed them to her target.
Had Alyssa been an ordinary human being she would've been impaled by the ice daggers but she wasn't and was able to dodge all but one. The last one dipped low and sliced a clean cut through the jeans Alyssa wore causing blood to flow on her right leg.
Alyssa cried out and tried not to show Alice that it had hurt her, by the time she glanced up at Alice she had already created more of the ice daggers.
"Impressive, for an amateur" Alice sneered. "Why don't you show me what you're truly capable of Alyssa Winterstone"
The ice daggers flew at Alyssa quicker then before, Alyssa had no choice but to dodge and roll under them. They never seemed to end and what she assumed was the last one to fly over her, another larger dagger flew at Alyssa as she was getting up.
Her hyper reflexes kicked in and Alyssa was able to stop the dagger with her bare hands inches away from piercing her face.
Alyssa tried to throw the ice dagger back towards Alice but it suddenly melted.
"Oh please don't tell me you thought you could throw it back to me?" Alice said laughing. "Your mind is more primitive then the Lurkers"
Alyssa had, had enough of Alice's torments, if she had to fight Alice then so be it. The high pitch ringing had stopped in her head no doubt because Alice had her mind elsewhere so Alyssa's mind was clear. Without saying a word Alyssa stood tall and confident and stared back at Alice.
Noticing Alyssa's body language change Alice smiled, "So changed our mind have we? Smart choice not that I have anything against tearing you apart piece by piece slowly but I think it's time we took it to the next level don't you think?"
Alyssa stood squarely and raised her hands, "If I don't have any other choice"
"Who said that you were in charge of this?" Alice snarled as she ran towards Alyssa.
One moment Alice was standing a few metres away from Alyssa snarling with hate the next she was a few inches away tearing down the tunnel.
Alyssa dodged aside then ran up the wall in time to catch Alice in the face with a roundhouse kick that sent her tumbling onto the wet cement.
Rising, Alice pretended to dust herself off while watching Alyssa turn around, as she'd expected the Winterstone girl had instinctively moved aside but the true testing had only begun. She only laughed when seeing Alyssa looking triumphant standing away from her fists raised waiting for another attack. "You're not trying hard enough Alyssa you think that last hit counted? I let you have it"
Alice dove towards Alyssa again only this time she followed the girl's movements catching Alyssa off guard.
Alyssa tried to push Alice away with her right hand but this was blocked, again she tried a low kick but yet again Alice blocked the move. Now that Alice had a hold of both Alyssa's arm and leg she twisted her onto the ground and stepped back.
Slowly Alyssa got up and saw that Alice was watching with a sadist's amusement. She's gotten a whole lot faster all of a sudden but I have to keep up with her unless… Glancing up above Alice, Alyssa saw that there was a small metal grate, large enough for a person to fit through.
Alice slowly took out one of her twin samurai blades and scraped it across the tunnel's walls creating a small burst of sparks, "It puzzles me to see that someone like you would help a group of people to bring down Umbrella, they're only using you and your pet as a media flag, the rebels aren't your friends Alyssa they'd betray you to the highest bidder if they had the chance"
"You've never had friends before Alice so you wouldn't know" Alyssa remarked.
"Why fight what you have Alyssa? You possess abilities that have the potential to get you whatever you want, unless that's how your foolish father taught you to be, weak and pathetic just like he was, like father like daughter, he probably died begging for mercy"
Hearing this Alyssa cried out and Alice smiled knowing that she'd hit a nerve.
What Alice didn't expect was for Alyssa to suddenly come rushing up to her and deliver several kicks that had the potential to make any normal human being's spine snap.
Alyssa attacked so suddenly and ruthlessly it caused Alice to step back instinctively, all her senses fixated on trying to locate where the girl was.
Alice didn't need to wait long as Alyssa came from the ceiling this time hitting the sword out of her hands with a flurry of kicks. Trying to grab Alyssa was useless as she slipped away from Alice's grasp; the girl was a blur of movement.
Again Alyssa came at Alice and managed to land a kick straight in her face causing blood to flow from her upper lip.
As Alice fell down hard she heard a scraping noise above her, for a brief second she dreaded another barrage of fists to come at her but instead the tunnel went silent.
Spitting out a mouthful of blood Alice slowly stood up and retrieved her sword. Looking up at the ceiling of the tunnel she could see that a small steel-grating door had been removed.
Seeing this made Alice smile despite the fact that it hurt her upper lip as more blood began to slowly leak out. The plan had gone smoothly although the initial test of the Winterstone girl's abilities had been cut short, Alice now had accurate knowledge of what Alyssa was capable of.
Going after the girl would be a waste of effort there would be plenty of other times when the two would meet, patience was the key.
Sheathing her sword Alice entered her concentration zone, the rebels were still inside the facility and the Gammas were hungry.
Picturing the sleeping creatures and shattering of glass in her head Alice began to walk slowly down the darkened tunnel pleased at the night's events.
By the time Jill and Carlos caught up to Nemesis, the monster was standing at a large blue steel door attempting to open it with his large hands.
Carlos called out to Nemesis who looked up from the staircase and roared.
"I think he's found Alyssa" Carlos said.
Jill frowned, "Why would she go down into the lower levels?"
"Who knows, maybe Alyssa got confused with all that smoke before"
Nemesis suddenly climbed back up the stairs that creaked under his weight; he then walked past the pair and down another hallway.
"Now what?" Jill groaned. She'd had enough of following Nemesis around the facility; all she wanted to do was to get out before more security came from the outside.
Both followed the monster in time to see part of the ceiling start to move.
Jill raised her magnum up towards the movement as Nemesis started to growl threateningly his left hand curling around the handle of the chain gun.
"You think it's more of those frog things?" Carlos whispered watching the ceiling, his own assault rife in hand.
"I'm not sure but I really don't want to find out" Jill replied.
The moving ceiling suddenly stopped as a section was pushed aside and a shadowy figure dropped onto the carpet.
Both Nemesis and Jill relaxed when they saw it was Alyssa, she was covered in dust, no doubt from the ceiling and had a nasty bleeding gash on her left leg.
"I'm not a monster!" Alyssa cried out as she collapsed.
Nemesis was at Alyssa's side in moments, holding her still and allowing her to lean against his body.
Jill noticed the gash on Alyssa's leg, "What happened to you Alyssa? Where did you run off to?"
Alyssa winched at the pain from her leg and attempted to stand on her own but then resorted to leaning against Nemesis, "We have to go right now you hear me! Right now!"
"Why? Is the facility set to explode or something?" Carlos asked.
It was then Alyssa looked up at both Jill and Carlos with fear in her eyes, it was the same look she had when they went to the Innisfail labs. Alyssa only had to say one thing that spurred the group into action "Alice is here"
A smashing of glass not to far away caused everyone to look down the hallway they all just came from.
From around the corner there came a shrill cry and the sound of something wet running very fast across the carpet.
"Ok I think that's enough convincing for me" Jill remarked. She then turned to Alyssa who was now standing on her own. "You ok to run?"
Alyssa nodded, "I'll last, it's only a scratch"
The shrill cries got closer to the group sounding more hungry and angry then ever.
"Whatever they are those things can move fast!" Carlos said.
"All the more reason to run" Jill replied. "We'll set up the plastic explosives on our way out that should slow whatever those creatures are down"
The group then broke into a run with Nemesis at the end, Alyssa only caught a glimpse of their pursuers and saw only bulbous blue bodies and clawed webfeet.
Escaping form the rabbit warren of corridors and cubicles all four ran up the wooden staircase that led into the shed.
Carlos dug into the black backpack and retrieved two brick sized objects stuck them on either side of the doorway, "I don't know if this will do any good we really aren't destroying anything"
The sound of the creature's cries grew louder as they approached.
"Either way is good, besides we're pissing Umbrella off what more do you want?" Jill remarked. "Better hurry before those things catch up"
Pushing the small charge Carlos grumbled under his breath, "Yeah yeah I know every thing's a rush, get ready to run in three...two…one…go!"
As all four broke into a sprint Alyssa looked up at Jill, "How long do we have to get out of here?"
"About three seconds and then we're all toast" Jill replied.
Behind them Nemesis growled as though expressing his sense of frustration at the lack of time they had in order to avoid being fried by the explosion.
Hearing this Jill couldn't help but smile, All part of the team thing she thought as she ran.
This particular testing place held no familiar enemies for Deception, after leaving the group he took to the shadows and slowly stalked the soldiers posted there.
He enjoyed playing with his victims; they were after all with the men in white coats because they were at the testing place.
Stalking the soldiers was easy, he'd make a noise not far from where they were, they'd go to investigate and then when in range Deception would attack.
Although the killings weren't necessary Deception knew that they all had to pay, he had too much vengeance to let a few easy victims walk past him.
The last soldier in the area walked closer to where Deception was hiding no doubt to inspect the scraping sound he'd heard a few minutes ago.
Sitting and waiting was the hardest part for Deception, he had to allow his prey to come to him. The Hunter limited even breathing; he was like a statue, motionless in the dark.
As the soldier came closer with the flash light Deception flexed his two muscled scaled arms and stretched his taloned hands. He could smell fear on the soldier who came closer towards his hiding spot.
Deception then uttered a low throaty growl, which caused the man to look up and illuminate the Hunter with his flashlight.
The light temporarily blinded Deception as his mind sought to rectify the new situation he was in. Raising a scaly arm Deception blocked out the light and rushed from the side roaring like some unholy beast.
The last thing the frightened soldier saw was a shadowy reptilian monster come screaming towards him, claws raised and yellow eyes blazing with hatred.
Deception easily sliced across the man's throat with his right taloned hand and straight across the chest area with his left hand.
The soldier fell back gurgling, spraying blood from his throat onto the concrete ground.
Satisfied that his opponent was dead Deception threw back his head and roared victory to the night sky while standing beside the still twitching body of the soldier.
Close by four forms came hurtling towards the Hunter as one of the white sheds exploded in an orange fireball.
Seeing that it was Jill, Carlos, Alyssa and Nemesis, Deception followed closely behind them his clawed feet clicking across the asphalt.
When the group got back to the van parked in the shadows not a word was said, even Nemesis didn't utter a growl when seeing Deception appear from the darkness.
Jill noticed that the Hunter's claws were still dripping with blood and he had a large smear of it across his chest. Thinking about what Alyssa said gave her chills, whatever Deception did away from the group was something Jill didn't want to particularly think about.
Alyssa opened up the side of the van and both Nemesis and Deception got inside without a fuss, they both knew the mission was finished and wanted to go back home.
It wasn't until the van was travelling on the main road did Alyssa turn towards Jill.
"Alice knows you and Carlos doesn't she?"
"How do you know that?" Jill asked.
Alyssa shrugged, "I guessed, did you know that she was evil before?"
"In a way we both did" Jill replied. "We were only with Alice for a short time so neither Carlos and I formed a proper attachment with her, she wasn't with us long enough to be called a friend"
Alyssa nodded and stared out of the window watching the world of black go by, "Alice was back at that facility, she wanted me to fight and I had no choice. Something's changing inside of her, she's getting stronger because of the virus. Alice is more powerful then when I was back at Bluewater and I think she's going to continue to get stronger I can sense it"
There was nothing that neither Jill nor Carlos could say that would turn that situation around all they could do was concentrate on their main goal: Bring Umbrella Down!
The fight continues…
49