Chapter 2: Bad to Worse
Some might think that flying over the sea is refreshing and very comforting; however this was not the case with Sam and Xian. Not only was the thought of impending doom (from going back to the island) scaring the crap out of them, but the reality that their 4th comrade was a semi-rookie of 24 yrs old. Leon brought out documents from a suitcase he brought along.
"We'll be landing in a clearing of the forest near the lab you described" he shouted to the headset's radio, "from what you've told us, we'll most likely encounter hostile's from the sound of the chopper."
"Understood," Xian responded, "but I feel I should ask, how are you capable of handling this situation? There's no way you could've had experience with these monsters!"
Leon looked over at Rebecca, catching a slight shiver she gave off at the fact that they would be reliving their nightmare or worse. "Six years ago there was an incident in the Arklay Mountains nearby Raccoon City. Rebecca (18 at the time) was sent in with the Bravo team from S.T.A.R.S to investigate the incident."
He turned to Rebecca again and she continued where he left off, "My team came across an overturned MP vehicle that was transporting a prisoner, Billy Coen, to a high security prison. After the team split up to find him, I encountered the prisoner and though a few unpredicted incidents co-operated with him to escape a mansion we came across, the Spencer Mansion. This mansion turned out to be a secret laboratory belonging to the pharmaceutical company, Umbrella. Shortly after entering the mansion we encountered creatures like the ones you described, Zombies. After solving some puzzles that opened many of the mansions doors, we encountered and defeated the Leech Queen. The leaches were infected with the same virus as the zombies, the T-Virus. After we escaped the mansion in a hurry because a self-destruct system was activated, I gave Billy his freedom. Shortly after I made contact with Alfa Team in another nearby mansion with the same horrors. I managed to escape with the remaining survivors of Alfa team; Barry Burton, Chris Redfield, and Jill Valentine." Rebecca sat back to take a breath.
Leon continued to inform Xian and Sam, "A few months after the Arklay Mountain lab incidents, the Raccoon City incident occurred. The T-Virus was let out in Raccoon City turning most of the population into zombies. I myself arrived at Raccoon City to start my first day in the Raccoon City Police Department, unfortunately. Many rookies would say that their first day was rough, but because of Umbrella my first day was Hell and my last. I managed to escape with two other survivors; Clair Redfield and Sherry Birkin. Soon after the U.S government executed a contingency plan to sterilize Raccoon City with a nuke. Umbrella fell and the incident attracted terrorist interest. Our organization deals with these types of outbreaks and finds survivors, extracts them, then cleans out the area if possible." Leon stared seriously at Xian who looked distracted.
"This is not the cause of the T-Virus," Xian explained, "it is a mutated strain of a virus that is passed around by the native tribe that practice cannibalism."
"Understood," Leon responded, "I'll make sure it is shown in the report so that we can keep a look out for possible risks from other tribes all over the world with the same beliefs and practices." Just as Leon finished, there was a loud bang and an alarm at the cockpit wailed. "What's going on over there?" Leon shouted into the headset.
"Engine failure!" responded the pilot, "were gonna have to make an emergency landing slightly farther than we planned!" Just then the rotor blades began to give in and the helicopter began to gain speed to the ground. "I can't control it!" shouted the pilot. The blades hit the trees and broke off along with one of the side doors.
"Sam!" Xian shouted. Leon looked up, and saw that Sam had fallen out the doorway. He turned to Rebecca who was having a breakdown, holding her head with her hands above her head and elbows forward in a position that made her look like she was going insane. Leon did the only thing he could. He grabbed Rebecca, brought her close to him and braced himself to take the fall for her to smoothen out the force that she would take from hitting the ground.
The helicopter hit the ground and slid a few feet. As it came to a stop it began to tilt, but came back to a standard landing position. A few moments passed and Xian regained consciousness at the sound of a familiar voice. "Hey Xian, common wake up, I know you can hear me." Xian focused her vision and saw Sam standing outside the helicopter next to her.
"Ugh….my head" she managed to respond. She looked across from her to see if the others were alright. Leon was still holding on to Rebecca trying to calm her down as she could do nothing but remain in the same unstable mental position she began to have during the crash. "Poor Rebecca, she must've had a similar situation before." Xian said. Leon was still trying to calm her down, but only managed to slightly quite Rebecca's whimpers.
"She looks like she saw Death" Sam blurted.
"Hey! As far as I know, we all did!" Leon snapped.
They both turned their attention to Xian's voice, "Guys, bad news. The pilot didn't make it." Leon picked up Rebecca in his arms and began to walk.
"Where are you goin?" Sam asked.
"With all the racket made by the crash we should move from this area." Leon responded, "Zombies are always attracted to loud noises; gather all the supplies you can quick." Leon managed to grab a few weapons and some ammo, then began walking but stopped, "By the way, most likely we will run out of ammo, so I had a team inspect the chopper you came in on and they found some blue prints. I asked for copies to be made for each of us of all the blue prints you had and placed in an easy to carry case, there should be four cases in the rear containment unit of the helicopter."
Sam and Xian grabbed what they could and the blue prints then followed Leon. After walking for a while, they reached a research camp outside the laboratory. Sam and Xian knew there was a survivor here. They went to the trailer they last saw him in and sure enough he was there.
"Oh my god, its you! And you brought help!" the scientist scrambled to his feet to reach the window.
"We need you to tell us if there has been any change at the laboratory." Xian stated "We're here to help you get off the island but first we need to know if you have seen anyone or head anything enter or leave the lab?"
The scientist took a moment to think, "Yes, actually. I heard the screams of a girl, most likely in her teens coming from the lab earlier today, so I checked some surveillance footage and saw that she managed to barricade herself in one of the rooms."
"Thanks we'll come back for you after we get her out." Sam said.
He began to walk away when the scientist called him, "wait, this might not be much, but before this happened the military had us start work on a weapon from a video game to use in real life. They said they wanted a better last resort or way to save their soldiers, but if you ask me they just wanted a more brutal way of killing their enemies. You'll find the weapon in the room nest to the one the girl barricaded herself in alone with blueprints on how to make it and its older version." With this tip (advice, hint, you get it) the group headed for the lab.
Upon arriving at the entrance, they heard a faint ghostly voice, "Heeeelp…..meeeeeee…."
Xian went alert and whispered to Leon, "Suicider, they get close asking for help because they still have some consciousness left but the minute you get close, they explode." Leon was still carrying Rebecca, who had fallen asleep unintentionally, and began to walk as carefully as he could. They arrived at the room that contained the weapon and at that instant; a scream of pain shot out of the air and a zombie came in running craving living blood and flesh.
"OPEN FIRE!" Leon shouted. Xian and Sam didn't hesitate as five more zombies came in. Firing one bullet after another, the loud gunshots ceased as the last zombie hit the floor.
"We wasted half our ammo!" Sam exclaimed.
"Remember, while its not one shot kill with these zombies, shoot them in the head anyway it's the most effective way to kill them." Xian alerted while turning to check on Leon and Rebecca.
"You O.K.?" She asked.
"Yeah, we're fine" Leon responded.
Rebecca began to wake up, "What happened?" She asked dazed.
"You passed out shortly after your mental breakdown," Xian explained, "Leon carried you the whole way here." Rebecca looked up and retreated her head as she realized that she was in his arms and almost smashed his head in.
"Oh my god, I am so sorry," she apologized and got to her feet helping Leon up, "Please forgive me for my unprofessional behavior!"
"Relax Rebecca, I understand," Leon responded, "I don't blame you, and as for formal and professional behavior in this situation…let's just say we should leave some of it out since we need to trust each other better that professionally." Leon noticed that Rebecca began to blush.
Rebecca quickly changed to subject to avoid attention, "So what are we doing here?"
"We're here to recover a weapon and rescue a girl who trapped herself in here." Xian replied.
"I think we should rescue that girl first before grabbing the weapon, just to make sure she's safe."Rebecca suggested.
"True, now come on!" Sam exclaimed and headed for the barricaded room. Sam tried opening the door normally but the door didn't budge, so he asked Leon to help him. They both took a football players stance and shoulder tackled the door, bringing the door off its hinges. They took a quick look around the room and spotted the girl sitting in a corner of the room.
The girl looked up, "Who are you?" She asked. The girl had slightly light purple hair that reached a little beyond her shoulders, blue eyes, slightly dark skin, and strange black clothes with long sleeves that matched her hair. The Strangest thing about her was the fact that her ears were pointed outwards and drooped slightly like one of an elf but slightly longer, one would classify this fictional image as an Elvan.
"We are the search and rescue team sent to find survivors on the island." Leon responded.
"What island?" the girl asked. No one could help but show a puzzled face at her question.
"The one you're on, crazy." Sam explained.
Xian elbowed him in the ribs, "Sam, don't insult her!"
Rebecca approached the girl and touched her fore head, "Do you remember how you got here?" she asked.
The girl gave her a shocked look, "Actually…..I don't!" she replied with fear, "H-how….? Why can't I remember!"
Xian came close and examined her. "I don't see any busies or cuts on your head, but somehow you have amnesia." Xian and Rebecca helped her up and lead her to the doorway. Leon and Sam followed.
"Do you at least recall your name?" Leon asked. The girl threw herself into deep thought, thinking hard then gave a face of relief.
"Yes, my name is Prishe." she replied. They returned to the room that contained the weapon and began their search.
"I found the blueprints!" Sam shouted.
"Hey, look what I found!" Prishe called out excitedly. She came out from behind a painting with what appeared to be a fictional assault rifle in her hands. The rifle had no stock, but had an unknown lever on the top left side of the gun that appeared to turn on another mechanism in the gun. There was what appeared to be a chain with steel teeth that ran from an area near the magazine, up to the front, under the barrel to the gun, and back into it. The gun was a two handed, one hand would hold on to the trigger handle and the other on the area under the barrel in an opening that had the chain run around it. Prishe pulled the unknown switch with her left hand and the chain came to life.
"It says here that it's called the Lancer, equipped with a chainsaw bayonet and fires almost any type of ammo." Rebecca explained, "Pretty convenient. The blue prints also show that its sibling is called the Retro Lancer that has a standard but slightly longer bayonet and stronger firepower, but if you don't know how to use it or if you're not strong enough, the gun could tear off your arm." Everyone turned their attention to a deep roar that came from the door. At the doorway was a massively built zombie.
"Thug!" Sam cried out, "Don't get too close or it'll send you flying!" Prishe ignored (or didn't hear) Sam's warning, revving the chainsaw and slamming it into the thug between the shoulder and neck. The thug let out a roar and began backing up, but Prishe didn't let up and pushed the chainsaw bayonet deeper into the zombie in a diagonal path. The bayonet finally ate through completely and the zombie split in two while Prishe slightly lost and regained her balance. She turned the chainsaw off and shouldered it, turned her head to the group and tilted it slightly backwards.
With a smile that made her look like a psychopathic serial killer (especially with all the blood splattered on her face from executing the thug) she said, "That was too easy, but satisfying." She let out a giggle and led the way out of the lab.
Rebecca could not hold back her concern to Leon, "Do you really think we should let her keep that weapon? You don't think she'll turn on us do you?"
Leon saw how worried she was, "Don't worry, we'll keep a close eye on her but for now it seems she could help us clear some of the zombies without wasting ammo." They continued to walk. Leon brought her close and whispered, "Relax. If something happens, I'll be there for you." as Leon gave her a smile, Rebecca couldn't help but blush.
"Alright!" Prishe shouted, "we're coming for you stupid zombies and you won't eat anymore survivors!"
"Good to know she has the energy for this" Xian said.
"Looks like she has a talent for ripping flesh apart…" Sam responded. They stopped at a clearing and began to prepare themselves for their long journey that waited, a journey through hell.
Chapter End