Chapter II: The Right Hand


Written: 12/30/2010

Completed: 3/12/2012

Author's Note: At first, I wasn't sure which creature Alice and Chris would be encountering after getting requests to continue this. I toyed with the idea of using the leeches, but deduced that would be a loosing battle from the get go (swarm = dead heroes). Afterward, I toyed with using either the Verdugo, the Regenerator or Novistador of Resident Evil 4 and the Reaper from Resident Evil 5. Finally, I just went with the Verdugo because it's the only mini-boss my sister is unable to kill whenever she reaches the sewer level in (lol).


They climbed the steel stairwell toward the rooftop, ignoring the pitchy screams of the Umbrella operatives beyond the exit behind them. Alice, for all her self-proclaimed humanity, was moving faster than anyone he had encountered. He half suspected she was afraid of whatever was mauling their enemy or she just really wanted to beat him to the top.

She didn't seem to take to fearing Umbrella born monstrosities so it had to be something else.

Alice was good ways ahead of him and closer to reaching the rooftop than he was. As Chris began to pick up his feet and run, there was an ominous clanging below him. Instinctively, Chris halted and reached for his weapon. Above him he heard the rapid footfalls of Alice come to a stop as well and looked up in time to watch her green eyes go wide with surprise.

He follows her line of sight in time to catch the briefest of glimpses of what looked like a tail before it vanished under the staircase he stood up. What the hell? The clanging from outside the door became clanging on the stairway; it was quick, too quick for Chris' liking. He followed the sound around the stairs until it finally dawned on him that he needed to run.

"Chris, duck!" Alice's voice echoed down passed him, causing him to react. Redfield launched himself forward nearly at the last second, the stair he once stood on was destroyed by what looked liked a knife at first glance. He scrambled up the stairs as the tail flailed about viciously in search of its target before vanishing down the hole it made. Chris never looked back as he climbed the stairs, Alice was reloading her glock with all the haste she could muster.

"Go, go, go!" Alice's voice teetered on the edge of panic, Chris watched her take aim behind him. Climbing the stairs at a break-neck speed, he listened to the rapid clanging beneath his feet, the hungry gurgle that echoed through the confined space of the stairwell sent his heart rate through the roof of calm.

"Duck!" Once again Chris lunged forward, the series of stairs he passed shattered into a million pieces, the shrapnel cut through the folds of his clothing, biting into his skin with its razor sharp edges. The monster latched onto the wall with a shriek, it skittered up the concrete surface without preamble, tail swishing wildly in excitement (or worse).

Alice fired her glock without hesitation, hitting the semi-visible creature square in the back each time. The creature paused, twisting it's head to face her; Alice recoiled at the sight of its face. The creature's eyes glowed blood red in the dark, saliva dripped from its open mouth when its mandibles split apart to reveal a forked tongue. 'Shit' Was about all she was able to process before it launched itself at her.

Without a second thought she rolled down the stairs, the creature landed on the railing, legs spread apart and gripping the wall behind it. The foundation of the stairs shuddered under its weight, Alice collided with the wall on the landing and began to fumble for her shotgun pinned behind her. The monster inhaled savagely, dislodging its feel from the wall. It stood at the height of seven feet or more, its structure was skeletal in design, joints were exposed to the light of day, its muscles were lean and black, like a corpse in the final of stages of decomposition.

Its neck muscles bulged, twitching with irritation. In place of hands and feet were oversized claws that looked strong enough to tear through anything. Squatting down into a crouch it began to crawl down the stairs toward her, its tail swishing through the air like a being of its own sentience.

"Fuck me," She hissed in frustration. Her fingers were wrapped around the hilt of the shotgun, but she couldn't pull it free. As it reached her, the barrage of TMP ammunition hit it square in the side. Alice pulled her limbs closer to her body in attempt to shield herself from the ricochet of bullets that weren't embedding themselves in it the monster's skin.

The creature howled in mild irritation, its attention firmly on the former military man. Dropping his weapon, Chris yanked a flashbang grenade from his belt; removing the pin, he tossed weapon into the air. Alice caught sight of the compact weapon twirling in the air as the monster launched itself over the railing at Chris.

Abandoning all attempts to retrieve her shotgun, Alice pulled her pistol from her ankle holster and fired a blind round in the flashbang's general direction. The bullet hit its mark, the grenade exploded, illuminating the confined space within a matter of seconds.

The Verdugo's pupils dilated in reaction to the light, howling in pain it curled up into a fetal position as it came crashing down. Chris barely managed to avoid it, his eyes shut tight, he made a blind dash up the stairs toward Alice. Peering one eye open he saw Alice climb to her feet and continue up the staircase. Below they could hear the Verdugo howling in pain and scratching at the environment around it.

The emerged from inside the build in two seconds flat, arms and legs pumping. "What the hell was thing?" How Chris dared to speak, much less shout was a testament to his composure. Alice shook her head, careful to keep her hand off the trigger of her pistol. "I've never seen a B.O.W. like that before," She replied.

"Never?" Chris huffed as they stopped at the edge the roof. Alice didn't respond, pulling the dual handle bar from her belt she positioned herself over the zipline. Hopping down from the edge of the rooftop Alice glided down toward the building where the Umbrella issued helicopter waited for them.

Chris was quick to follow, not wanting to be around when that thing recovered.


"Are you guys okay? Chris said there was trouble," Claire pulled away from the laptop as Alice entered the mess hall.

"It wasn't anything we couldn't handle," Alice dismissed her concern with a wave of her hand, not in any mood to recount the situation to her friend at the present. Situating herself in the chair next to Claire, Alice kicked her feet back and swallowed roughly.

Chris' question from before was still bothering her; at first she believed she answered truthfully, Alice truly had never seen anything quite like the monster they encountered in the business building; the moment they lifted off into the air, however, the memories of Matt came rushing back to her like the tide slamming against the land. It was hard to believe five years had passed since she met him and this crazy situation began, even more that she could forget it all so easily.

Spence might've been the catalyst for it all, but Matt - Rain, Carlos and the others - he'd been the counter agents. Spence was willing to let the world burn to achieve his view of happiness, but the Matt had been willing to risk himself to stop it. In a lot of ways they were the same, at least in their goals, which made their unfortunate situations so ironic. He'd been doomed to the life of a disfigured monster until the very end of his life, which saved her own. Alice had been lucky enough to get all the perks and none of the disadvantages, which in retrospect seemed unfair to everyone who died on medical table in name of Umbrella's bank account.

Even now, five years later, she missed him (maybe more than Carlos). "If it's anything important, you'll have to share with the class eventually," Claire's voice butted into her train of thought, bringing her back to the present. "This information on Umbrella you got us, it helps, but from how Chris was dodging the issue, I'd say knowing whatever you two faced might be better."

And her friend had a point, as always. "I know, I just need a moment to myself," Alice murmured, casting her a knowing look. Claire nodded solemnly, knowing exactly what she meant. She placed a consolidating hand on the resistance-leader's shoulder, her way of letting her know she was there for her whenever, then slipped away, leaving Alice to her thoughts.


(END).