The rest of the afternoon followed without any major dramas, the group had slowly drifted apart, preferring to be in different locations of the cabin like the kitchen and TV room.
As the winter night began to slowly take the surrounding bushland preparations were starting to be made.
It had been an idea thought up by Chris that the Bluewater facility be attacked in the early hours of the morning that way there was little chance of having to deal with large numbers of security.
When Jill came back inside she ignored the stares from the others and went to check on Alyssa.
Going inside the bedroom Jill saw that Alyssa had twisted herself at an odd angle while still in a deep sleep, one arm was hanging limply off the mattress almost touching the floor while the other lay across her forehead. Her two legs were in a running position as though at any moment they would quickly break free and sprint towards the door.
Walking towards the sleeping Alyssa, Jill first moved the girl's left arm away from the edge of the bed then covered her with a thick doona that had been kicked off previously.
Although Jill knew that Alyssa didn't appear to feel the cold it was best to be on the safe side as already the icy air from the outside plains had started to seep through the walls, it was going to be a very cold night.
Turning and walking outside Jill lightly shut the door before going into the TV room.
As usual the television's screen was constantly jumping as the audio leapt back and forth from the speakers like a crazed rabbit.
Sitting down in one of the battered leather armchairs Jill saw that she wasn't alone in the small darkened room; Rebecca was on the sofa while Carlos was in the other chair.
"How's Alyssa?" Rebecca asked.
"I thought Carlos and I were the only ones who cared about Alyssa?" Jill remarked. "Why the sudden interest?"
Rebecca shrugged, "I find it wrong too that we should throw Alyssa to the wolves but she's been sleeping all day, don't you find that strange?"
"Alyssa is mostly human don't forget, we didn't get back here until six thirty in the morning and she'd been awake all night" Carlos spoke up. "Leave her be, she's just really tired"
"I went in and checked on Alyssa before, she seemed ok, I'll go and wake her up at eight if she's not up by then"
"I honestly feel sorry for Alyssa, she grew up not knowing her family and the only thing closet to that is a giant mutant" Rebecca replied. "You have to admire her strength for not going insane after so much has happened"
"Alyssa has Jill and I" Carlos said as he quickly glanced towards Rebecca. "Or don't we count seeming as we're the black sheep in the group?"
Rebecca had no comment to the remark Carlos said and only returned to watching a very grainy weather report.
At first Alyssa thought that the helicopters were part of her dream, she had after all been dreaming about her escape from Bluewater. But when getting out of bed and seeing the bright lights in the distance through her small bedroom window she knew that the helicopters were real.
Alyssa wasn't the only one who had seen the approaching threat, ever since coming back from the forest Nemesis had remained seated in the large chair. When hearing the faint sound of the helicopter blades he began to growl quietly, his right hand reaching for the rocket launcher.
The rest of the group hadn't noticed the 'copters until it was too late, they were all seated around the table as Jill checked 'the map' when it happened.
Flying over the cabin the 'copters first shone their bright lights through the back window causing everyone to look up.
By now Alyssa was fully awake and had just reached the tiny living room when a barrage of bullets suddenly cut through the back walls.
Everyone instantly threw themselves down onto the wooden flooring as the bullets flew overhead shattering glass and timber in their wake.
When Alyssa finally uncurled herself she saw that the back wall now looked like Swiss cheese, moonlight began to stream through the dozens of holes made by the bullets.
The bright lights began to move around the side of the house slowly like a pack of lions circling a wounded animal.
Chris called out to everyone and they began to quickly make their way towards the front door clutching their weapons.
Jill helped Alyssa off the floor, "Are you ok?" she asked picking a few shards off Alyssa's shoulders.
Alyssa only nodded but her eyes were wide as saucers, "They're coming, they're here"
A loud roar caused both to run outside in time to see that Nemesis was no longer sitting on the veranda, instead the giant had stepped out onto the driveway in front of the cabin.
As the monster raised his rocket launcher in front of the three darting 'copters one of the nearest ones shone its bright searchlight that illuminated Nemesis, giving him an unearthly glow.
When the command came for Nemesis to drop his weapons the monster only roared back and stepped away from the bright light and fired up towards the 'copter.
Too late did the pilot realize the approaching threat and the machine exploded in a massive fireball, debris from the destroyed 'copter raining down on the field.
"What an idiot, trying to order that creature to not fire would be like telling a three year old not to touch an expensive vase" Chris remarked as he shook his head.
Jill didn't even hear what Chris had said, instead she was watching as the fiery wreckage came hurtling towards Nemesis. Once another creature like Nemesis had sacrificed itself to save a twisted individual, it too had blown up a helicopter but had been crushed under the flaming metal. Move you big lug! Jill thought.
At the last moment Nemesis rolled out of the way, narrowly missing being impaled on what could have been one of the blades.
Standing up Nemesis roared back at the remaining helicopters that only circled the monster before flying towards the cabin.
With Alyssa in the lead the group ran out across the field, fearing another barrage of bullets but instead the two 'copters flew over them and around the back of the cabin.
Moments after the cabin exploded in a bright flash of flames and yellow light.
How the explosion occurred seemed to be in slow motion, the walls erupted outwards in a shower of wood and glass, the windows shattering and falling to pieces as the wave of destruction tore through the guts of the cabin. Pieces of burning items flew in different directions, what could have been the sofa spiralled across the back while the wooden stump chair rolled forward trailing a tail of flame behind it.
Alyssa cried out in shock and shielded her eyes from the bright light, never had she seen an explosion this big and so close.
"Those bastards!" Chris cried out. "They blew it up!"
"Looks like it was planned though" Carlos said over the 'copters engines as they circled the group again. "They wanted us to get out"
"I don't think its over" Claire replied as she pointed off in the distance. "Looks like we have company"
The troop carrier's bright lights were too close to hide from, the two trucks pulled up almost along side from the group and in seconds black armoured soldiers began to jump down from the back.
Seeing this Jill cursed and glanced towards the ruins of the cabin, there was nowhere to hide from the onslaught but spotting the wrecked van and Land Cruiser, no doubt damaged in the explosion gave her an idea. "Quick, everyone get behind the cars, that should give us some cover"
As the group began to run towards the blackened vehicles the chain gun sounded off.
Alyssa peered out from behind the van and turned back quickly her face full of worry, "Nemesis can hold them off but I don't think his weapon is going to last"
Leon quickly got out his samurai edge and slid a clip in, "Then we'll just have to provide the big guy with some back up"
For once Chris didn't argue and only nodded while taking out his prized Colt, "Let's go!"
Alyssa had already jumped up on top of the van striking a lone solider that had been creeping towards the group.
By now the majority of the soldiers had figured it wasn't the best plan to run towards Nemesis as they were instantly cut down by the short bursts from the chain gun.
There weren't any shouts to drop their weapons from the advancing soldiers as the rebels rushed forward, as they came towards the soldiers the heavily armed men fell backwards from the gunshots.
As Jill shot a nearby enemy in the neck she didn't even pause to think that she was killing a human being, she only knew that it meant survival.
The squads didn't seem to stop, as three fell down more took their place and they even seemed to be streaming from the surrounding bushland as well.
As a group of five soldiers surrounded Nemesis the unthinkable happened, the chain gun ran dry!
Growling in frustration Nemesis then swung it at the surrounding men knocking them to the ground. Dropping the now useless weapon beside the moaning soldiers Nemesis extended his tentacles and picked up the nearest man and tossed him aside.
Claire had seen what had just happened and avoiding a lethal uppercut from an attacking enemy she found herself right beside Jill. Both had their backs pressed up against each other and drew their weapons as the soldiers closed in.
"You see what just happened? Nemesis is down one weapon," Claire said.
Jill only nodded and raised her magnum, "I knew I should've gotten more ammo for that gun but don't count him out yet, Nemesis is still dangerous even without weapons, ok I'll take the left you watch my right"
Both women suddenly fired delivering fatal headshots to their chosen targets.
Stepping back Jill and Claire saw that the grassy field now looked more like the aftermath of a war, lying all over the ground were at least ten bodies and a further eight more unconscious.
The rest of the group seemed to be doing well, Carlos fired a rapid burst from his assault rifle causing an armoured solider to collapse while crying out in pain.
Leon and Chris had also teamed up and were picking off the small groups that had come from out of the scrub while Rebecca and Alyssa preferred to take out their targets with a few solid kicks.
It seemed like the attempted raid was a failure but it wasn't until the two 'copters circled again and Nemesis began to roar at them did the group realize it was going to get worse.
The soldiers had only been the first wave, what would soon follow would put everything else so far to shame.
Only a few kilometres from the initial drop zone two large white semi trailers and three troop carriers sat in the shadows. The lights from all the vehicles had been switched off to avoid attracting unwanted attention while a few lightly armed guards circled the parked trucks.
Inside one of the white semi trailer's backs was a different story.
While the other semi was a transport carrier the other had been converted into a mobile observation station, its primary function was to provide a safe environment for the researchers to gather field data on any test subject without being harmed.
Inside, sitting at a silver console was Griffin, he had already sent the aerial unit to flush the rebels from their hiding place and no doubt Alyssa and the two monsters would follow.
Beside Griffin stood Alice who eagerly watched as the events unfolded from the small laptop screen that Griffin was using.
Before setting off the video feeds on all the helicopters were tested and although the result was a very grainy night vision out put the images were clear enough. The audio however was a different story and after a few attempts to get it working the idea was abandoned there were other devises Griffin had that would be used to record anything interesting should something arise.
Reid approached the pair from across the other side of the room, "All units are standing by both ground and air, can I give the all clear for them to move out?"
Griffin turned from the screen and swung around in his chair to face Reid, "Only send out half of your squads, keep the others here they can be our reserves"
As Reid went towards the exit he heard his name being called again, turning he saw that Griffin was staring straight at him as was Alice who was also wearing a smirk as she stood behind the chair with her arms crossed, "Oh and one more thing lieutenant should your men forget orders and damage valuable property I will be holding you responsible understand?" Griffin sneered. "Because I'd hate to remind someone such as yourself how important it is to obey orders"
Walking outside into the brisk night air Reid silently cursed the laid back Dr Griffin although he knew that actually voicing his thoughts would cost him greatly Reid silently hoped that everything didn't go to plan. What happens out on that battlefield can't be controlled with computers and remotes, Griffin and his goddamn babysitter can get screwed for all I care, the only thing I'm worrying about is the safety of my men.
Going towards the black troop carriers Reid began to ready his men, some of whom may not come back.
When seeing the cabin's destruction and the loss of one helicopter Griffin was only partly annoyed, he had after all ordered the units not to attack unless necessary. The way it had played out seemed the opposite, the 'copters had first attacked the back of the house forcing all the occupants outside which was risky as the barrage of bullets could have easily dealt plenty of damage to the human specimen.
Nevertheless the girl appeared to not have suffered any injury as the cameras showed her running with the rest of the rebels out the front door.
Then surprise, surprise! The Nemesis unit decided that order needed to be ensured and destroyed one of the helicopters with the help of the rocket launcher it always carried.
Seeing the destruction of one of the helicopters the remaining two flew around the back of the cabin yet again and each fired one missile at the bullet riddled structure. Why the cabin had been destroyed puzzled Griffin, he wanted the rebels killed but not all at once, there was no fun in that, the deaths had be spread out across a series of slow painful torture procedures.
Not only that but all those files those incompetents stole from me are now ashes! Griffin thought angrily.
Glancing at the screen Griffin saw that Reid's men had finally caught up with the helicopters but as the green grainy footage showed the soldiers were powerless against the combined strength of the Nemesis creature and the rebels.
Switching the camera view off Griffin then opened up another program and began to input commands onto the screen.
At the same time Alice's vision turned blue and she saw the words Order 71 Activate scroll across.
Turning towards Griffin, Alice only clenched her hands into fists; she knew very well that particular order had been deemed forbidden due to its dangerous outcomes but times were desperate and so it had been allowed.
Griffin only smiled, "Do what has been asked of you"
"You are aware what I must do to complete this order"
Pointing towards the door Griffin only nodded, "Wait for my signal and then we all move out"
Exiting the truck Alice then stood outside in the night air, the cold didn't bother her in fact she could hardly feel it.
In the distance the glow of the dying fires could be seen while the sound of gunfire could be faintly picked up.
One of the armoured guards leered at Alice from a distance but before she could do anything towards the gesture Griffin stepped down from the back of the truck.
Still keeping his smile Griffin began to walk towards the other white semi trailer, "Come on" he said to Alice in a cheerful voice.
Keeping a few steps behind Griffin, Alice heard him humming a tune that at first she couldn't recognize and then she knew it was BJ Thomas's Raindrops keep fallin on my head.
Deception had seen the explosion and heard the enemies approach yet he remained in the shadows hidden from view. This fight wasn't his, it belonged to the rebels, yet the Hunter had to resist the urge to lash out at a nearby solider who was a few inches from his hiding place as a squad soundlessly moved through the darkened scrub.
Creeping closer Deception could see that the rebels, which included Alyssa and Nemesis, seemed to be faring quite well against the dozen or so armed men.
It wasn't until the large flying creatures that had destroyed the cabin circled the group for a third time did Deception sense a change, more enemies were coming and by the way the others were acting they had no idea.
Slowly emerging from the bushland and into the moonlight the Hunter knew he had to fight even if it only meant making sure that Alyssa and Nemesis were safe, after all they did carry the same virus he had.
Snarling at a wounded man on the ground Deception silently approached the group and that's when all hell broke loose.
Alyssa looked up to see Deception appear from out of the moonlight and walk slowly towards the group. "Looks like we're all here now"
"That Hunter left it a bit late" Rebecca said. "All the work's been done so why is he here?"
"Keeping up appearances I guess" Carlos remarked.
"That'd be the day, a self conscience monster, give me a break, that Hunter was too scared to show himself while all the fighting was going on" Chris replied. "Speaking of which I think we all should get the hell out of here before more show up, I don't think a group of twenty armed soldiers is Umbrella's idea of a big army"
No sooner had Chris said those words than a pair of high beams illuminated the group. The helicopters circled the area again as the lights grew brighter.
"You just had to say it didn't you Chris?" Leon shouted over the 'copters rotors.
Moving away from the bright lights all began to run towards the darkened bushland but instead were stopped by a hail of gun fire and a voice commanding them to stop.
Deception was already busy doing what he was created for easily slicing through the thin uniforms of the advancing soldiers.
Jill groaned when she saw at least thirty men run from the blinding lights, checking her magnum she realized there was only one round left, "I wish I grabbed more ammo before the cabin was destroyed" she said to no one in particular.
The others were in the same position; they too had only grabbed their main weapons and not ammunition.
Using the ruined cabin as cover the rebels quickly dodged a hail of gunfire from the soldiers and began to return fire as another line of men appeared.
In the confusion Alyssa had hidden behind the fire-blackened van, she didn't want to hurt another person and hearing the roar of Nemesis she slid down the side of the van and sat on the dusty ground. If I stay here then I won't be found, but if I do that then the others will die she thought.
The helicopters circled again, their searchlights singling out the group hiding behind the rubble.
Alyssa peered out from the side of the van and heard a bullet ricochet off one of the helicopter's front glass panels, this caused both machines to turn and fly higher up into the sky.
Glancing towards Deception and Nemesis, Alyssa saw that the two monsters had now teamed up and were fighting enemies from both sides. Nemesis had his tentacles extended to their full length and was easily picking up advancing enemies and throwing them aside. Deception however was taking a more violent approach and lashed out with his razor sharp talons snarling savagely.
Stepping out from behind the van Alyssa saw two soldiers come running towards her, one had a large combat knife strapped to his shoulder, which he took out when in close range.
Ignoring the soldier with the knife Alyssa easily moved aside and concentrated on the second one.
Closing in Alyssa first kicked him over then with a downward strike towards the centre of his back easily breaking it; she heard the loud crunch as the spinal cord snapped like a brittle twig.
Turning back towards the other solider with the combat knife Alyssa first dodged the lethal slashes then quickly turning towards the startled man grabbed a hold of the arm with the knife and turned it sharply downwards.
With such force applied the arm easily broke and the man cried out in pain as he dropped the knife, but Alyssa wasn't done yet. Picking up the knife Alyssa threw it towards her grounded enemy and at the same time imagined the soldier flying back towards the van.
Hearing the cries stop and a soft squishing sound Alyssa turned to see the now dead soldier nailed to the side of the van, his broken arm hanging at a limp angle while blood began to flow from his stomach where the large combat knife had landed.
Alyssa knew that what she did was wrong but she was not going back with Griffin, she might as well use her abilities to help friends and taking out two armed men was only the start.
Walking forward Alyssa saw something large behind the bright lights of the trucks; it looked like a giant harpoon gun but its purpose had yet to be revealed.
A sharp burst of pain caused Alyssa to grimace and put her left hand to her head, glancing in all different directions through the advancing soldiers, fighting monsters and gunfire Alyssa couldn't see the source but she could sense that something wasn't right.
Just like before in the Innisfail labs the noise had been different, slightly altered to become an even stronger signal that only Alyssa could sense.
At the same time that Alyssa heard the sharp note the tear gas grenades were thrown towards not only the rebel's hiding place but also at Nemesis and Deception.
Both the monsters easily avoided the choking smoke and used it to their advantage striking the soldiers foolish enough the rush forward into the haze.
The gun fire stopped as the smoke enveloped part of the field, either both sides knew that finding a target in the surrounding smog would be useless or the ammunition had just run dry. Either way the only sounds coming from the conflict were shouting voices and the roar of the monsters.
Ignoring the high pitch sound in her head Alyssa ran forward taking down a solider in a gas mask with a well placed high kick in the chest.
Approaching Nemesis and Deception, Alyssa didn't hear the sound of footsteps behind her. Being taller then a regular human Nemesis easily saw the solider coming up behind Alyssa with the intention of hurting her.
Roaring loudly Nemesis shot forward and easily impaled the screaming solider on one of his thick razor sharp appendages. Shaking the twitching body free Nemesis then turned towards Alyssa and growled softly.
Alyssa only smiled, "I didn't see that one"
But as the helicopters circled back towards the group after a long absence Nemesis roared at them and raised the rocket launcher.
Realizing the monster's actions Alyssa's smile faded as she tried to stop the events unfolding, out of the corner of her eye she saw the black harpoon machine start to move forward and knew that this could be the last battle for both her and Nemesis.
As smoke from the tear gas descended over the group the shooting suddenly ground to a halt as everyone backed away in an attempt to avoid being affected.
Hearing the roar of Nemesis close by Jill glanced up and saw two things: one was the giant slowly aiming the rocket launcher at the descending helicopters and two was a large black machine that resembled a harpoon moving forward.
Backing slowly towards the darkened scrub Carlos called out to Jill, "Let's go, the bush will give us more cover!"
But Jill hadn't heard Carlos she was watching another battle slowly unfold and she had a gut feeling it wasn't going to end well.
Alyssa was standing beside Nemesis and tried to stop the monster from firing but had no choice but to move aside as the helicopter began firing at the giant.
As Nemesis positioned the rocket launcher on his massive shoulder and aimed it at the firing helicopter Jill was powerless to stop the attack. Just like before with Carlos she thought.
When the first creature had stalked her, Carlos had come to Jill's aid and with a lucky shot was able to destroy the rocket launcher the monster had carried. It had blown up with enough force that the creature had flown several feet backwards onto a bed of fire.
Now Jill didn't want the same thing to happen but she knew it was too late to prevent it.
The black harpoon machine began to move, the turret containing the actual harpoon pointing straight at Nemesis.
Then it happened, the nearest helicopter dipped low and fired towards the rocket launcher.
At first the bullets bounced off the metal surface temporarily distracting Nemesis as he sought balance, pointing the weapon up towards the other 'copter Nemesis squeezed the trigger and the last rocket sped towards the machine.
Two explosions happened at the same time and Jill thought that somehow both of the helicopters had been destroyed in the blast, she was very wrong.
Only one of the circling choppers had been blown up, the other began firing towards Nemesis who still had the rocket launcher pointed skyward and that's when the second explosion came.
One moment Nemesis was standing, the next the monster was down on the ground, small flames dancing across his back and arms. Nemesis roared with pain and fury and attempted to rise only to become pinned under the flaming wreckage of the first helicopter. There weren't any roars after the flaming debris had fallen.
During the explosions the harpoon gun had fired and this only resulted in something much worse then a monster being crushed by twisted metal.
Although Deception had moved far away from the helicopters when they descended Alyssa hadn't and when seeing the explosion she had instinctively stepped aside to avoid the flames.
When the harpoon entered Alyssa didn't feel anything, there was no sudden burst of pain just the feeling of something very heavy on her back.
Hearing someone cry out her name Alyssa turned to see Jill trying to run towards her only to be held back by Carlos.
Searching the field Alyssa could see a large group of soldiers trying to corner the others and a crying Jill trying to be pulled away by Carlos, but she couldn't see Nemesis anywhere. All Alyssa could remember was a big explosion and the helicopter crashing and now a heavy feeling in her back.
Feeling light headed Alyssa tried to turn and find the others but it was something she found impossible to do.
As her vision began to cloud Alyssa glanced down to see what seemed to be a large jagged spear poking out of her middle. The sharp end had gone into the soft dry earth anchoring Alyssa with it.
Blood was already running down the thick black metal and as Alyssa put a hand to her chest and discovered it too was covered in blood, she frowned at it.
Glancing across the field and not seeing anything but blurry shapes Alyssa half smiled, "It's so dark" she whispered as the shadows finally took over.
Seeing Nemesis taken out was one thing but when Alyssa was impaled it made Jill completely forget she was in a dangerous situation.
As she rushed forward to try and help Alyssa someone reached out and grabbed her by the arm.
Turning, Jill saw it was Carlos, "Let go Carlos, those bastards are going to kill them both if we don't do something fast"
"They're already dead Jill" Carlos said in a soft voice. "I don't think there's anything we can do now"
Tears had already started to cloud Jill's vision as she watched a pair of soldiers walk towards Alyssa, "No, I won't accept that!" raising her magnum Jill shot one of the approaching men in the head.
Carlos grabbed Jill by the shoulders, "Listen to me! Neither one of us are helping Alyssa or Nemesis if we're both killed here and now, we have to go with the others understand?"
Turning away from the horrible scene caused Jill to sob even harder, the image of Alyssa hanging limply while supported by the harpoon that was through her mid section was too much, "We can't leave them here to die!"
But Jill knew that even if Alyssa had somehow managed to survive her horrific injury she was as good as dead, Nemesis had been crushed under a ton of burning metal.
A low rumbling growl caused both Jill and Carlos to look towards the fiery remains of the helicopter.
As four soldiers freed Alyssa from the harpoon and began to carry her body off the twisted burning metal began to move, as the growl grew louder.
From out of the burning wreckage six thick tentacles shot out and burrowed into the ground.
A figure began to drag itself upwards like some kind of wingless phoenix, rising from the ashes, the growling turning to a wavering roar of pain.
Seeing this Carlos gasped and Jill smiled thinly, "Nemesis" she whispered.
It seemed that this particular Nemesis wasn't going to let fire or metal stop him from protecting someone he cared about.
The top half of the leather outfit Nemesis wore had been completely burnt away by the flames and while his skin had evidence of burns there were also wide stitches running across his back, evidence of the terrible surgical procedures he'd endured in the past.
Limping towards the soldiers Nemesis let out a loud roar as his tentacles whipped the air behind him.
Five other heavily armoured guards stepped forward; each had taser guns, which they fired towards the advancing monster.
The new burst of pain only caused Nemesis to momentarily step back growling loudly but the razor tentacles easily cut the majority of wires.
By now Jill and Carlos had been forgotten by the soldiers and they had slowly walked past the burning wreckage and towards the group who were busy taking out a smaller troop of armed men.
Jill however couldn't take her eyes of Nemesis, the monster who she thought was long dead had exploded from the burning wreckage howling for revenge.
The taser guns were only the first attempts to bring Nemesis under control as the giant dashed forward and grabbed two soldiers more surrounded the pain stricken monster and fired several large tranquillizer darts into his back.
Throwing the men to the ground and delivering a lethal stomp to them both Nemesis now turned towards the black armoured men who had shot at him.
Others attempted to encircle the monster but were impaled by the thick tentacles Nemesis had. Although his vision was starting to fade Nemesis still managed to grab a hold of one screaming victim and break their neck.
Throwing the solider to the ground Nemesis then snatch another with one tentacle and hoisted him overhead while pulling the man apart. As the blood from his victim rained down Nemesis roared and took another step forward ignoring the pain from his right leg he could no longer sense Alyssa and through his confused mind this troubled the monster greatly.
Jill and Carlos heard someone call their names but neither could turn away from what was happening.
"Nemesis has gone crazy it's like as though he's become a different monster" Carlos remarked.
"It's the pain," Jill said. "That's what's making Nemesis go out of control he's gone mad from it"
By now only a few soldiers remained and as they slowly backed off from the blood drenched monster something else stepped forward.
Through the blazing flames Jill only caught a glimpse of the towering monstrosity, it was the same size as Nemesis only this thing was in a better condition.
As the creature stepped forward Nemesis roared at it clenching his two massive fists while his long tentacles spread out in different directions.
Three more darts went into the upper torso of Nemesis causing the monster to howl with pain and take a step back and that's when the other giant struck.
It took a matter of seconds for the creature to dive forward and grabbing Nemesis in a chokehold slammed him up against the burning wreckage.
Jill and Carlos were now too far away to be picked up by this strange new creature and could only watch as the giant held a struggling Nemesis with ease by one heavily muscled arm as slowly the darts took effect.
The monster wore a green trench coat, on its hands were gloves and thick boots were on its feet, while its baldhead was grey its eyes appeared to be silver. The creature expressed no emotion, as it held onto Nemesis, not even moving aside as its victim attempted to release the chokehold with both hands.
Soon however the drugs had taken effect and Nemesis let out one last soft growl before slumping at the giant's feet.
As Jill and Carlos ran towards the group they knew for a fact that the giant with the silverly eyes and long trench coat would be something neither would forget.
Turning towards Jill, Carlos pointed towards the dark scrub, "You go ahead I'll follow"
At first Jill was confused as to what Carlos meant but when she saw the approaching soldiers she understood, this was not a time to argue so she only nodded and began to follow the others into the forest.
Chris had also seen the appearance of the silver-eyed creature and how easily it took down Nemesis but now he was more focused on the approaching enemies. A quick inspection of the Colt told Chris he only had a few rounds left but that was ok seeming as he'd managed to grab some ammunition for it before the cabin was destroyed.
Seeing Carlos approach him Chris nodded, "Looks like this is it, how's your ammo?"
Carlos raised his assault rifle, "I have a quarter left, it should be enough"
As the small squad came closer something jumped behind them and grabbed a hold of two members.
At first Carlos assumed it was Deception but when the two men fell forward he only saw the cold blue eyes of Alice.
The remaining members of the squad backed off but not before Alice kicked another over and then bending downwards snapped the man's neck with a twist of her right hand.
Without saying a single word Alice began to walk towards the pair, her face full of fury.
"Distract her" Chris whispered. "I have something planned for that sadist"
"Oh right a distraction" Carlos grumbled not taking his eyes of the approaching Alice. "Sure leave it to me"
Pointing the assault rifle at Alice's feet Carlos let off a short burst, which haltered her advance. "It'll get worse if you come any closer"
Hearing this Alice smirked, "Are you threatening me Carlos?"
"Yeah I guess I am and another thing…" Carlos was cut off in mid sentence by cold fingers wrapping around his throat.
Choking at the sudden lack of air Carlos could only stare into the blue feral eyes as Alice tightened her grip.
"We've been here before haven't we?" Alice said mockingly as she twisted the rifle from Carlos's hand. "Face it, you've lost this battle and by the looks of things been abandoned by your friends, but don't worry once I'm finished with you I'll go after Jill and make her heart stop beating it's really easy to do want to see?"
"If you're going to kill me" Carlos choked out "Then just do it don't waste time talking about it"
Cutting Carlos off Alice smiled coldly, "Very well then, goodbye Carlos Oliveira"
But as Carlos began to turn blue and start to choke someone was coming up behind Alice.
Chris hadn't run off completely just far enough so that his enemy couldn't spot him.
While Carlos had Alice occupied Chris was a few inches behind her and noticed the twin samurai blades in their scabbards. Seeing them Chris smiled, it was time for payback, this monster had hurt his sister and now they would experience the same amount of pain.
Reaching forward Chris quickly removed one of the blades then without even pausing plunged the sword through Alice's upper torso.
Throwing Carlos to the ground Alice spun around to see Chris smiling back at her.
"That was for my sister you sadistic freak!" Chris said forcefully. "It hurts doesn't it?"
Casually glancing down towards the blood stained blade Alice only shook her head, then reaching around with her right hand easily removed the blade without flinching, making eye contact with Chris she returned his grin, "Doesn't even come close to pain"
As Chris raised the Colt he felt something strike his leg, looking down he realized that the sword was now in his left leg, gritting his teeth Chris tried not to show any emotion as he sank to the ground while holding onto the sword.
"Although I think that you may have a different opinion" Alice sneered.
"Hey leave him alone if you want to hurt someone try me!" Carlos cried out.
Sharply turning towards Carlos, Alice took out her other sword, "Why so eager to die Carlos? You're not proving anything"
The sword in Chris's leg wasn't in as deep as he first thought and with a little effort he was able to remove it.
Keeping his eyes on Alice who was closing in on Carlos, Chris glanced towards one of the dead soldiers on the ground. On the utility belt was a single tear gas canister, which Chris snatched up and began to limp towards Carlos.
By now Alice was standing over Carlos and was just about to thrust the sword she held downwards when Chris appeared in front of her.
Grabbing Carlos off the ground Chris glared back at Alice. "Forgotten about me?"
"So you want to die together? How noble trying to sacrifice yourself for the others, it won't work I'll go after the other members of your precious group and crush this little resistance once and for all" Alice snarled. "Now how would you like to die? Slow and painful? Or quick and painless?"
Behind his back while still balancing Carlos, Chris pressed the button to activate the canister's gas release.
Alice stared back at them and raised an eyebrow, "I'm waiting, or do you want me to decide?"
"I'll pick fifty-fifty" Chris said as he threw the canister forward.
The canister started to surround the area in a choking cloud of tear gas; a cry of frustration followed the pair as they limped away.
Through the haze Alice could only watch as her wounded prey slowly got away, despite the order being authorised she knew it was useless in going after the two rebels, the others could be in the vicinity and besides their death was a constellation prize. She'd seen the creature take down Nemesis and Alyssa had fallen to the Jack Knife. Even though Alice was slightly pissed at the fact that yet again she'd fallen for the same trick Chris had used back at the Innisfail complex the time would come when Chris would run out of options and then she'd strike.
Stepping back from the tear gas Alice found her other sword, the blood from Chris still lingering on the blade, scowling at it in disgust Alice held onto the sword as she walked slowly back towards the parked semi trailer. Griffin would be too pre occupied with the two captives to worry about the rebel's escape so Alice knew she wouldn't be punished when he found out that she hadn't killed any of the rebels once again.
High above Alice a helicopter circled the field and flew over the scrubland; it's searchlight penetrating the cold winter gloom.
Chris and Carlos both limped through the darkened bushland keeping their eyes peeled for the others.
"You ok?" Chris asked as he avoided stepping on a large fallen branch.
Carlos smiled, "I should be asking you the same thing, you're worse off then me"
"That's true, look I know this isn't the best time but I guess I have been rough on both you and Jill over the past few days it's just with all those changes and all, actually I have no idea where to begin"
Thinking about what happened to both Alyssa and Nemesis made Carlos feel guilty and horrible at the same time. We left them there; we left them behind to be found by our enemies.
His mind flashed back to what he'd seen happen to Alyssa, the poor sweet little kid, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time and the expression on her face, it was as though she had no idea what had happened. Alyssa didn't deserve that, she had no right to die it should have been me!
The fate of Nemesis wasn't as harsh but it didn't sit right with Carlos how he could only watch as the pain stricken monster be taken down with tranquillizers and a mysterious giant creature. Both himself and Nemesis had been through so much together and when he had needed Carlos the most the help didn't come.
Shaking his head Carlos pulled away from Chris feeling he could stand on his own two feet, "Past is past Chris, I don't hold grudges"
Chris only nodded and tried to stand on his injured leg, winching at the short burst of pain, "I just thought I'd make sure"
Hearing the approach of footsteps both looked up to see the other rebels coming towards them.
Leon pointed off into the distance, "We found a place to sit out the forest patrols"
The large bleeding patch on Chris's right jeans leg caught both Claire's and Rebecca's attention.
"What happened?" Claire asked as she bent down to examine the wound.
"Did you get shot?" Rebecca inquired. "Or was it something else?"
"Something else, a sword to be more precise, would have been much worse had Carlos not provided a distraction" Chris replied. "We sort of got each other out of a bad situation"
"A sword? I thought the soldiers only had guns" Leon remarked looking confused.
"There were other things out there then just soldiers" Jill suddenly spoke up. "Which is the reason why we should get a move on, the cliffs aren't that far"
As the others began to move off Jill went up to Carlos and walked beside him, "You and Chris seem to be getting along now"
"Amazing what a run in with the local sword wielding maniac will do"
"Alice was there?"
Carlos nodded, "With bells on, she tried to kill Chris and I but luckily we were able to escape"
Nearing the edge of the clearing Carlos looked up to see a familiar looking mountain. The white walls appearing to glow in the moonlight giving the entire area an eerie feel.
"This place" Carlos breathed. "It's where we first met them didn't we?"
Jill blinked away a few tears that had started to form and turned towards Carlos, "You ok to climb?"
"I think I can manage" Carlos said. "How about you? Are you ok?"
Rubbing both her eyes Jill only nodded, her lips appearing to say something but no sound followed.
Despite his wounded leg Chris was able to quickly climb up the side of the wall and into the small cave.
Inside the cave it was dark and silent, in the far corner there appeared to be a pile of sticks and fabric but because of the complete darkness it was impossible to tell what it really was.
In the right corner something moved as it changed from a standing position into a crouching one.
Carlos saw the movement and in the dim moonlight knew it was Deception. Somehow the Hunter had managed to escape the carnage and follow the group and in a way Carlos was glad that Deception was still alive. Even though Deception had his own agenda and didn't seem to care for others around him he was still part of the group, they had already suffered a tremendous loss as it was.
Chris was now sitting against the wall of the cave while Rebecca and Claire were on either side helping to clean up his open wound.
Leon preferred to stand leaning against the wall his head touching his chest while his arms hung down by his side.
Jill stood at the cave mouth and stared out across the dark bushland just as she had done in what seemed to be years ago when in reality it had only been three months.
In the distance she could see the glow of lights no doubt from the raid, close by a helicopter still circled, it's own beam bouncing over the tree tops as though it had a life of its own.
Putting her left hand into her pocket Jill felt a small cold object, taking it out she realized it was the silver key Alyssa had given her. Can you keep it safe for a while? I'm frightened I might lose it. Her voice echoed through Jill's head, it was like Alyssa knew that she would be captured again.
"Alyssa" Jill said softly, just thinking about her caused the tears to flow and this time Jill didn't stop them from falling. "You knew it was coming and no one listened"
Down below the cave torchlights could be seen but Jill didn't care, tears had blurred her vision, she could feel them slipping down her cheeks and onto the floor of the cave.
Jill suddenly felt something warm wrap around her, turning slightly she realized it was Carlos who had wrapped his arms around her.
"You look a bit cold" Carlos said smiling slightly.
Jill only watched as the lights down below disappear and the helicopter in the distance slowly fly off.
"What's the plan now?"
Jill pressed her tearstained face against Carlos's left arm and sighed, "I don't know Carlos, I really don't know"
Slowly darkness reclaimed the bushland as the high beam lights gradually switched off one by one as though they were like candles being blown out by the wind.
Life is but a futile dream…
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