Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or its characters. I am just writing this story for the fun of it. Any reference to other characters or stories is purely to add to the environment of the story and is not meant to steal others work.
This story takes place two days after the destruction of the Antarctic Facility in RE: Code Veronica.
Comrades in Arms
Looking out of the side door window of the Bell UH-1, Barry reminisced about what had happened in the last six months. It was startling how much he had seen, endured. Glancing back into the cabin, there were only two of the six other occupants who had seen what he had saw. They had been there too.
Across from him near the other door was Rebecca Chambers, former medic of S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team. She had been in the mansion incident a day longer than any of the other survivors. She had also been next to him for the entirety of the Raccoon incident. Her mind was more mature than other people twice her age. Her left arm and ribs were still tender from her escape from the city.
Next to her sat Billy Coen, an ex-Marine officer who was convicted of killing 23 people. He had survived with Rebecca at a different facility than the mansion and disappeared afterwards. He had apparently received a pardon from the President after felicitating to him information about Umbrella. He had found Rebecca and her companions outside of the city after its destruction. His aim was better then Chris's and he would never give up.
"So why are we going to the armpit of the world," asked Enrico Lucina, one of the new fighters in the war against Umbrella. His name brought back memories of his old friend in S.T.A.R.S. He and his sister, Katrina, were family friends of Billy and former LAPD officers. He and his sister were sitting next to Barry. Katrina was cradling a scoped AR-10, muzzle down. It was her rifle and also the team's heaviest weapon.
"I told you before we left. Yesterday we received some information on Kevin's whereabouts. It pinpointed this facility. We are going to the facility to find the remains of Kevin for Chris. He told me that Claire is in bad shape right now and thinks that recovering his body might help her move on," responded Barry. "He also gave his life to fight Umbrella. There are too many unburied heroes in this war."
This made Enrico lose his cockiness and quieted him down. Camaraderie was something he could understand.
"We're five minutes out. Better make your final checks," announced Nathan Summers over the intercom. His brother Mike was sitting next to him at the pilot's controls. Both were retired Army Helicopter pilots and in their thirties.
"Do your checks," ordered Barry. In the cabin a crescendo of click could be heard. Besides the AR-10, Katrina had a SIG P-226. Both Billy and Rebecca had H&K-53 rifles, as well as Billy having his 1911 and Rebecca a Glock in .40 cal. Enrico had another P-226 and a Winchester 45-70, the heaviest rifle he had in his personal collection. All weapons were whatever they had access to. He did not think that they needed all of the firepower but he had needed more than even that in the past.
Berry checked his own weapons. He had three. His primary was a Remington 870 that had a pistol grip and solid stock. He was borrowing it from a friend. On his thigh was a SIG P-220. It had weathered Raccoon City and was still working. In his left armpit was his third baby, a .44 revolver. It had been there from the beginning.
The helo flared and finally touched solid ground. Barry and his team hopped out of the helicopter and fanned out. The pilots shut the helicopter down and stayed behind to secure it. The facility was a mess. As the team moved into the destruction zone, they could smell the decomposition of flesh coming from the debris. Some of it was still recognizable but an incendiary blast had destroyed a lot of the facility. If anything was left he would be surprised.
Moving deeper into the destruction they came across their first body. Rebecca winced as little as she knelt to check it. A second later she quickly got up, drew her pistol, and shot the body in the forehead. The sudden action made Katrina and Enrico jump. Barry and Billy turned to look at her.
"The body was fresh. It had bite marks but no burns on it. Some one has been here," stated Rebecca, not at all sounding defensive.
"Safeties off everyone," ordered Barry. After seeing everyone remove their safeties, he motioned them to start moving. Billy spotted an accesses hatch. Moving through the doorway, they entered an even more destroyed area. They moved for about ten minutes before they encountered a T-intersection in the hallway. Barry made the choice to split them up.
"Billy, you take Katrina and go left. I'll take Rebecca and Enrico and go right," he said. Billy looked a little hurt at this arrangement. He had barely left Rebecca's side since Raccoon City. But like he used to as an officer he forgot his pride and followed orders. He knew Rebecca could handle herself.
Moving down the corridor, things opened up a little. Everything was black with soot and blast scoring. What worried Billy was that there were lots of boot prints going in their current direction but few coming back out. His gut clenched. Something was still in the facility.
Further into the room they found a giant moth on top of a headless soldier wearing Umbrella insignias. Both were surely dead. He then heard a whisper in the air. He raised the rifle and swung the light mounted on it to try and see is there was anything in the air. Katrina quickly followed suit. Their scan found nothing. Relaxing a little, he lowered his rifle and turned to continue their search.
Just then a large shape swooped down from the ceiling and knocked Katrina to the floor. It landed on top of her and tried to lay its eggs on her. It was interrupted b a quick burst from Billy's H&K. When it lifted from Katrina, she raised her AR-10 and put two rounds into the moth. It dropped back onto her, making her grunt. Billy rolled the bug off of her and helped her up.
"Talk about bugs being attracted to the light," he said in a light voice. They both smiled and started laughing. They got hold of themselves and started searching again.
Barry hated the place. It was to short of life for him. And too dark. No power was on and no bulbs were working. The place was a grave. Rounding another corner they found Billy and Katrina walking toward them. A smile lit his face when he saw them.
"Why did I hear gunshots," he asked them.
"We had to squish a bug," answered Billy, smiling.
"BIG BUG," said Katrina, spreading her arms.
"Found anything?"
"Nope."
"Not much left here," said Enrico. He leaned against a sheet of metal. It gave way with his added weight. Enrico found himself lying on the floor of another chamber. Everyone behind them shined their lights in. The room looked untouched. Advancing into the room, the found the bodies of a dozen mercs, their bodies ripped apart. In the center, something moved.
"Steve," yelled Rebecca at the movement. The response was a tentacle lashing out at them. They all managed to dive out of the way.
"Guess not," said Berry. He popped a flare and threw it toward the center. Its light illuminated a vaguely female looking creature. It could not in any way be described as human. It had a large hole in its chest area.
"You one of Wesker's pets," he said. It responded with a shriek and another attack with its tentacles. The team had started firing by now, the room filled with the booms of the Lucinas' rifles and the sharper sound of the .223s. He shouldered the shotgun and added his weapon to the assault. When he had finished the mag. he noted that their fire was only driving it back some. Billy ignited two more flares to illuminate the room some more.
Out of the corner of her eye Rebecca saw something shine. Dodging a tentacle she got closer to it. It was a RPG-16, with its warhead in place. She picked it up but a tentacle lashed her way, making her dive to the floor. The RPG skidded across the floor, toward the creature.
Enrico saw it move across the floor. "I got it," he said as he took a running leap toward it. His fingers grasped the launch tube as he caught it. Hauling himself off the floor, he took aim with it.
"Keep clear of his back," yelled Barry. They all moved to the sides of the room. Enrico started to depress the firing stud but a sudden tentacle wrapped around his waist. He was lifted into the air. He could fell the life being squeezed out of him. He aimed the launcher the best he could at the beast.
"Die you bastard," he cried as he fully released the trigger. The room lit up as the back-blast from the rocket exited the back of the launch tub. The rocket streaked toward the mass of the creature. They all saw it embed itself deep in the lower part of the thing. The creature let out a loud shriek of pain. They thought it was a dud.
The fuse finally ignited, detonating the incendiary warhead with a forceful concussion. Enrico dropped to the floor as the tentacle separated from its body. He stood up and watched in amazement as the creature was consumed in the flames.
When the flames had died down, Barry said to Rebecca "What would classify that thing as?"
"Dead," she said. Barry couldn't help but smile a little.
A search of the room did not turn up Kevin. They found why the room had not burnt. There was some slime from the creature in the wiring. They set a twenty minute fuss and headed back to the helo.
Nathan saw them exiting the structure. There was soot on all their faces and some scorch marks on their gear. He saw that they were all there.
"Find him," he asked as they came up to him.
"No," said Barry. As if to enunciate the answer, the ground shook beneath their feet. They loaded up and took off, leaving the place for good. As they left, Barry noted that they all had made it. He felt good knowing that they had left no one behind.