If there was one thing Lupo knew, it was that Umbrella was conniving. She always knew not to feel too comfortable while dealing with them, and that had worked for her. That is, until they started to ignore her and the rest of her team. Being but a statistic in the company's overall game wasn't what worried her the most, though. No, she wouldn't be surprised if something else was going on at the same time. Four Eyes might have been a little naive, but after hearing her speak her mind, Lupo began to cultivate a theory of her own. What if they were being watched? What if Command had been so certain of their lack of professionalism in helping to cause the initial outbreak, that now they were being put through some kind of exam?
Four Eyes might have been quick to spill her thoughts, but if she hadn't Lupo might not have thought of it. At any rate, they were still surely being monitored by Command, and Beltway's outburst most likely made all four of them seem guilty of perjury. They swore to Umbrella to serve every order without hesitation, and now that their order was to die with the rest of Raccoon, Lupo could already tell they were on a new hit list. Better to act fast and die trying than sit around accepting their fate.
"Who hear is ready for some bad news?" Lupo spoke up. As the others looked her way she began to remove the earpiece connecting her with Command. She flipped a little switch on it, turning it off, and put in back pocket. "Four Eyes' theory might not be that far stretched."
"Oh, come on, Mami. Don't tell me you're thinking that crazy bitch is right?" Beltway moved his head back and forth as he slapped a hand against his forehead. "You think we're in some kind of test?"
"Not exactly. But, I do know we are the only ones in charge of our safe escape." Lupo then motioned towards her wrist, pointing at her watch.
Beltway noticed, and realized she was telling him to cut out his link with Command. She had already removed her earpiece, and now it was his turn, but he didn't plan on being as delicate about it. Instead, he slammed his wrist against the wall, crushing the watch and causing a mechanical pop to emanate from its destroyed frame. "Fuckin' retard..." Beltway hissed to himself. How stupid was he, really? He talked openly about wanting to stick it to Umbrella, but he hadn't even made sure his link with them was really gone. Lupo might have just saved his life, if it was too late already.
Lupo looked at Bertha, who had been eerily silent since they were abandoned. She must be pissed, is all Lupo could imagine, but she couldn't tell. Honestly, the blonde woman made her uneasy. But, as Lupo watched her, Bertha reached up to her ear and took out her earpiece. As she took it in her hand, she mimicked Beltway in his anger. She slammed it against the floor, breaking it with ease. Then, without a word, she moved her gaze over to Four Eyes.
Four Eyes wasn't comfortable with the change in tactics. If this was a test, she was the only one still passing it. If she cut off her link to Command, she'd surely be labeled as a defector. But, at the same time, if she didn't follow suit, the others would see her as a true threat, and no telling what they would do then. She was immobile. She couldn't decide what to do. It wasn't until Beltway shuffled over to her, kicking his way through trash and debris, and snatched the earpiece from her ear that she caught up with reality. She reached for her earpiece, but his hand was too fast. She got to her feet and fought to get it out of his grip, but he wasn't giving her an inch. He held it above her, forcing her to jump for it. She caught his wrist, and he let her pull it down. Her hands fought to get inside and save the earpiece, but his hand was too big for her to manage.
"Asshole! Give it back!" Four Eyes cursed as she studied his clenched fist, looking for a weak point.
"You really are a crazy cunt." With that, Beltway shoved Four Eyes away, pushing her off her feet and sending her head hard into the wall behind her as she stumbled over garbage.
"Beltway!" Lupo stood up as she saw Four Eyes slam into the wall. He was right, they needed to cut off her connection with Command, but he had completely overstepped his boundaries.
"Sorry, Mami, but this little bitch ain't gettin' me killed cuz she can't wake up and see the truth!" With that he crushed the earpiece in his hand, and then sprinkled the bits and pieces over Four Eye's, who wasn't moving.
Lupo shoved Beltway from Four Eyes as she knelt down to get a better look at the damage. She was still breathing, she could see her chest rising. She must have just been knocked out. Lupo placed a hand on the back of Four Eyes' head and checked for damage. When she looked at her hand it was covered in blood. Not good, but hopefully not fatal.
"Bertha! We need a medic's eyes over here!" Lupo called to the blonde woman.
Betha stood up casually and walked over to the two women. On her way she looked at Beltway, her gaze unwavering. When his eyes met hers she didn't break the connection. He shifted his weight slightly without speaking, but as Bertha got closer to the other women he merely grunted.
"What? Cat got your tongue, Blondie?" Beltway opened his arms as he spoke, begging her to come to him. "Make a move, let's see who wins, you creepy cunt!"
"..." Bertha didn't speak, but did tilt her head to the side in response. Creepy cunt, that was a new one, and she had to admit she liked the moniker. "You wouldn't know what hit you." Bertha's words read with a tinge of giddiness. She wanted to fight him, kill him, feel his blood spill against her flesh. What did he do? Play with bombs for a living? Well, she was a surgeon, and CQC was her specialty. It would only take one, tiny flip of her wrists, and his head would be rolling around her feet.
"Oh? You want to try me? Please, I'm beggin' you! Give me the satisfaction of kicking another weak bitch's ass today!" Beltway puffed his chest as Bertha inched her way towards him, her head tilting back and forth, and her hand trained near her knife, waiting to strike.
"No! Stop, goddammit!" Lupo cut between them. She knew she was getting tired of Beltway and his sexist remarks, but they still needed to stick together. "Quit trying to kill each other! We need to be a team, stick together. When we get out of here, then you two can have at it!" Lupo placed a hand on Bertha's arm, edging her towards Four Eyes and away from Beltway.
"Humpf..." Beltway huffed. He wanted to smash that German wench's face in. He just watched as she tilted her head to the side again, her eyes still on him. She made his blood run cold. "Bitch..." He turned around and went back to his corner.
Bertha smiled to herself and turned to face the defeated Four Eyes. As she knelt down Four Eyes began to stir. She groaned a few times as Bertha lifted her up enough so that she could get behind her. "Wha..." Four Eyes murmured as Bertha began to part her hair. Bertha ignored her as she zeroed in on the gash in her scalp. She reached for her flashlight, and brought it to Four Eye's face. " Look into the light for me." Bertha commanded. When Four Eyes tried the first time she winched them closed. Bertha took it upon herself to open one with her fingers, and shined the light right in, mercilessly. Four Eyes hissed and fought weakly, but Bertha saw all she needed to see.
"She has a light concussion. Nothing too serious, but she will be weak for a while." Bertha announced as she moved back to the gash. "I'll have to... stitch it." The lust in her voice was palpable.
"Jesus..." Lupo cut a glance at Beltway, who only laughed softly, relishing in the damage he had caused. As she looked at him his laughter stopped and he looked away, waving a hand towards her. A silent apology. "Lucky you're here. I've only been able to do the crudest of stitch work." Lupo looked at Bertha now as she readied her needle.
"Indeed..." Bertha licked her lips as she brought the needle towards Four Eyes' scalp. "Scream, if you need to." She mocked sympathy as she began to press the needle against the skin.
"Uhhhh..." Four Eyes groaned as the needle entered her scalp. She held strong, though. It wasn't like she was being a limb removed. No use crying over something so trivial. She kept her composure through the whole ordeal, all the way to getting the wound sterilized with a brief splash of alcohol.
"Tough puppy..." Bertha sounded as if she was praising the Japanese woman. "Tis a shame..."
Bertha packed her medical supplies after cleaning them, then made her way back to her corner. She was a little put off that Four Eyes didn't even whimper good, but it couldn't be helped. There would always be another time her services wouldn't be embraced so comfortably.
"Okay," Lupo spoke as she stood in the middle of the small store. She searched the floor for foodstuffs, and came upon the cereal Beltway had found, and farther back in a demolished case were a few bottles of water. She handed some cereal to Bertha and Four Eyes, and then a bottle of water to each of them. "Pack it up, we need to move out. If we are being watched, this is the last location they will know we've been." Lupo squirreled a bottle of water away into her back pocket, then checked herself for anything that might have been loose. "And anyway, staying here is certain death."
"Certain death?" Beltway questioned, his head rising at the words.
"She means, this whole place is going to be cleansed." Four Eyes spoke up as she pulled a small roll of gauze out of her side pocket, and wound it around her head.
"Oh shit!" Beltway laughed at the thought of the place getting nuked. It was positively enthralling. "We're going up in flames, bitches!"
"Correction. You're going up in flames. I have kept my word to Umbrella, and they will see how valuable loyalty is and get me out of here." Four Eyes closed her eyes as she could feel Beltway staring her down.
"Wow, I guess I didn't smack you hard enough! You still spouting that bullshit?" Beltway was astounded. The dumbass was going to die with her ignorance, and he was inclined to let her. "If that's the way..."
"If you are confident of this, you should stay here. Staying with us will only get you killed." Lupo cut in on Beltway as she spoke to Four Eyes. "You're a great virologist, and I hope for your sake, you are correct about Umbrella's intentions." Lupo made her way to the barricaded exit. She knew Beltway was with her as he started to get up and follow, but Bertha was still sitting in her corner. "I wish you luck. Bertha? What are you going to do?"
"Let's go. If she wants to die that badly, let her." Bertha got up and moved to the exit without looking at Four Eyes.
The three left the store, and Four Eyes, without a second glance. She may have still been breathing, but she was already a casualty. Lupo led while Beltway kept an eye on the rear. The streets were still clogged with the infected, but they casually strolled by the hands that were reaching for their throats. At that point in their journey, dealing with the infected in the most sensitive of ways was second nature. No more fighting, no more using the guns. At any moment a B.O.W. could point out of the sky, or from around a corner, and they were not as forgiving as the infected.
Occasionally they needed to stop and wait for a good moment to move. They needed to sneak around the B.O.W.'s, especially since Four Eyes was no longer with them. This hesitation was costly in terms of time, but it was essential to their survival. Then, after about an hour of hustling through the crowded streets and alleyways of Raccoon, they reached a train yard. It was a welcomed change from the city, as the train yard was expansive. There were a few dozen infected within the space, but they were more than manageable.
Lupo looked around the gated entrance. There was a small opening, the electronic gate not having closed all the way. She held up her hand to the two behind her as she told them to wait while she went in to check it out. She stayed low to the ground, her side against a train that appeared to be rusted to the tracks. As she got to the end of the train, and looked around, she began to feel secure. She turned her head to motion to the others, but as she lifted her hand a shot rang out and her leg gave way. It was too quick to be painful, but she knew it was bad. She tried to find where the bullet came from, but the pain began to creep into her system.
"Come out!" A woman's voice was loud and clear over the train yard. She knew Bertha and Beltway were there, and she was determined to bring them out. "Lower any weapons, and she'll be fine!"
Bertha led the way, coming out with her hands up. She had long since abandoned her gun, but her knife was still attached to the belt on her hips. "The knife!" The woman demanded. Bertha finally saw where she was. Perched on a rooftop on the other side of the yard was a woman hidden behind a air conditioning unit. She couldn't make out any specifics, but that didn't really matter at that point. Bertha reached down to unbuckle her belt, but as she did so she pulled a scalpel from her kit before throwing it to the ground, and hid in in the small of her back.
Beltway came out next and looked over towards Lupo. She was on the ground, and barely had the strength to throw her gun and knife to the side. She was bleeding badly, and the infected had already taken notice. As an infected man started getting dangerously close to her the woman on the roof shot him down. "Don't worry, I'm keeping my eye on her! Now, come out and drop those toys, Sugar!" Beltway could barely see her, but he knew to fear her. Who could she have been.
"Who are you, baby?" Beltway yelled out to her as he came into view with his arms up. He used one hand to pull his gun from around his shoulder and throw it to the group.
"I'm the one in charge here, big boy. Now," She responded as she aimed for Beltway's heart. "drop the pocket knife!"
"Bitch..." Beltway cussed softly as he reached for his knife and threw it.
Kepow! Another shot came out. This time, an infected woman fell to her knees without a head as she neared the crippled Lupo. Beltway was furious. He wanted to pull that sniper down from her nest and stuff her full of explosives. Stupid bitch, aiming at him! He saw her little laser sight return to his heart. He put his hands back in the air as the laser sight roamed his body. Then, he saw the little red dot rest upon his crotch. "Darn, Sugar!" He heard the woman shout then. He wanted to bash her face in. How dare she look at him that way, even if he might have liked it in a different situation.
Beltway put his hands behind his head as the red dot moved from his dick to his heart. Then, a door opened from the building underneath the sniper. Out came a man with his gun pointed right at him and Bertha. Then, behind him came a woman with brown hair and a bald man covered in tattoos. Beltway watched them cautiously. Spec Ops, he was sure of it. He was cussing inside of himself. He hated those pricks. They thought he was a loose cannon, liable of all kinds of crazy shit. So, he moved on and picked his side. Unfortunately for him, though, it appeared that neither side was the right choice for him.
"Who do you work for?" Called out the man with the gun pointing right for them. He looked down at Lupo, who was now under him. He didn't kick her, or bust her aside the head with the butt of his gun, but just looked at all of them. "What division are you from! You aren't any citizens!"
"Dee, we gots us some Umbrella goons!" The sniper called out. Clearly she saw an umbrella logo somewhere on one of them.
"Umbrella? Any last words?" The man called Dee asked as he pointed at Bertha, who was closer to him than Beltway was.
The man stayed where he was as he looked at the two standing soldiers. Bertha simply held her head high as she waited for the bullets to enter her body, and Beltway couldn't take his eyes off of the ground. He was furious, no beyond furious. He was going to die by these fuckers? Wasn't that his luck!
"Umbrella abandoned us. As far as we are concerned, fuck them..." Lupo spoke from the ground. He voice must have sounded sincere to them, as the man motioned for the bald man to come forward.
"Got it!" The bald man rushed forward. He shot a few infected that were wandering towards him, and the woman with the brown hair helped to clear a few out that were getting close to Lupo. "Just stay still while I check to see if yer hidin' anything..."
"Spec Ops?" Lupo huffed as the bald man checked her for any concealed weapons. "In case you're still wondering, we were members of the U.S.S., but..."
"Enough." Dee cut Lupo off. "We're going to check you two out, then we are going to put in confinement for questioning. I'm assuming you'll tell us anything we want to know, at this point."
Dee moved forward towards Beltway as the bald man gently lifted Lupo up into his arms. Beltway couldn't help but look at the bald man's tattoos. It was some fine ink, that was for sure. Dee nodded towards Bertha as he passed her, signaling for the brown haired woman to check her out. When Beltway felt the other man's hands begin to pat at his body, he started to puff out hot breath. Fuckers. He had to stay calm, though. They had Lupo now, and out of everyone in the Wolf Pack, he wanted her to make it out of this. He wasn't sure why, though. He couldn't tell if they were friends, or just business partners. While the hands roamed over his body, checking pockets and patting against baggy areas, the little red dot left left his heart and moved towards Bertha.
Bertha stood still as a statue as the brown haired woman checked her for any hidden weapons. She was confident the scalpel hidden in her back would be undetected, and she was right. After checking her legs, the woman declared her safe, and with that she was pushed forward. Both Beltway and Bertha had rifles pointed towards their backs as they walked into the Spec Ops' makeshift base. Bertha saw several new faces upon entering, and they were all focusing on her. There were five inside, making that six of them altogether when counting the sniper on the roof. They were outnumbered, but Bertha didn't let that worry her too much.
Lupo groaned as she was placed upon a table. The bald man pulled back on his latex gloves before cutting away some of the fabric from her uniform that surrounded the wound. "Just a nasty graze, Girlie. Nothin' to fret over," he spoke to her. She was worried about their situation, but for some reason she felt coming into the train yard was the right move. She could have been wrong, but something told her these people had something Wolf Pack saw as a weakness. Compassion.
As their medic began to clean her wound and pat at it with cotton balls, the man named Dee walked over towards her. Lupo looked for Beltway and Bertha, and saw them on the other side of the room being tied up to a few pipes. Beltway looked pissed, as usual, but Bertha was calm. Neither one of their reactions surprised her, and perhaps them being restrained was the right idea.
"Now, it's time to talk." Dee said to her, grabbing her attention. "How willing are you going to be in telling us what happened here, and why you were deployed?"
"You heard me. Umbrella left us, caused us to lose the other half of our team. For them, I keep no secrets." Lupo talked through the pain of her wound being cleaned. "We were sent here to destroy evidence. Umbrella wanted all connections between them, and Raccoon City, severed."
"A cover up mission, interesting. And you say you lost half your team? Are the three of you the only ones left? Or, are there others?" Dee looked over his shoulder at the blonde woman and the heavy-looking guy that were tied up.
"Just us." Lupo said with a sigh as the medic began to stitch up her leg. "But I can't be sure Umbrella doesn't have it out for us."
"Yeah. As you have already said, Umbrella doesn't seem to like leaving any loose ends." Dee brought a hand to his chin as he thought of his next move. She seemed trustworthy, but looks could be deceiving. "Look, I want to trust you, but we can't be jumping to any conclusions. Harley here will fix you up, but then I'm going to have to insist you be secured, at least until we can figure things out."
"Ten-four." Lupo responded. She wasn't in control here, so it was a good idea to stay in line and follow the new rules.
"Muchly appreciated." Dee nodded to Lupo. "Name's Dee-Ay, and you already know Harley, here." Dee patted Harley's shoulder softly.
"Lupo, assault." She responded, and after she did so she saw him stick out a hand. He wanted her to shake his hand?
"Assault, we already have something in common." He laughed as she put her hand in his. She looked so shocked. He could only imagine what it must be like working for Umbrella.
After a few more minutes Harley finished up with Lupo's leg. The stitches were neat, and rivaled that of Bertha's work. He helped her over to where Bertha and Beltway were tethered up, and help her down easy. She might have been from the other side, but she had been nothing but appreciative and compliant, so she didn't deserve anything less, as far as he was concerned. He secured her next to Bertha, who never even looked over at him. Lupo looked at her, and she couldn't shake a feeling that had been nagging at her. Something was off. Was Bertha aware of it already, but couldn't tell her yet? Whatever it was, Lupo wasn't enjoying it.
The three of them sat there for a few hours. Lupo could hear Beltway beginning to gripe
more and more, but she couldn't see him that well. Bertha sat between them, so she could only make out the edges of his body. As she looked at the others, she could see them trying to figure something out. Dee-Ay just rolled up a map , and walked into a different room before they looked back over at her. They discussed something, but it ended when a red-headed woman raised her hand and started moving towards her. She looked strong, and Lupo was sure she was going to be asking her some questions.
"Well, hi there, kiddies!" The woman teased briefly, but her face didn't look like she was trying to be rude. "Let's have a chat, shall we?"
"..." Lupo didn't speak as the woman crouched down in front of her. Her red hair looked a little fake from up close, but Lupo didn't pay it much mind for long.
"Name's Tweed. Don't worry, I'm not here to rough you up. Besides," Tweed then reached into her back pocket. Lupo held her breath, but let it go when she saw what Tweed was holding. "It looks like you lot have already been through the meat grinder..." Tweed held a white cloth in her hand, and pulled out a bottle of water from her pant pocket. Then, after moistening a corner of the fabric, she slowly brought the cloth to Lupo's temple. "Why did you come into the train yard? Came to eliminate us?" Tweed just wiped away at the grime on Lupo's forehead.
"You are the ones that shot at us!" Beltway blurted out, seething.
"And you're the ones that work for Umbrella and came on our turf." She said back to Beltway without moving her eyes from Lupo. "Now, you may be sheep in wolves clothing, but how can we be sure?" Tweed started wiping at Lupo's cheek now.
"Because..." Lupo was exhausted. Not only had she been running around for days, but now she had been shot, so playing games was the last thing she wanted to do. "I just want to get out of here and see my children again..." Tweed's fingers stopped for a moment before continuing.
"You're a mother? I never would have guessed." Tweed let her fingers trace over Lupo's lips for a second. If she bit at her, she couldn't be trusted, for sure. But, she never did. "I mean, you don't look old enough."
"Please..." Lupo chuckled lightly, flattered. "Don't play games..."
"No games." Tweed looked down as she brought the cloth back and reapplied water before bringing it back to Lupo's lips. Now she was completely neglecting the other two captives as her sights couldn't be torn from the somber mother. "We can help you. If you testify against Umbrella, then none of this will ever happen again, and we can maybe even get you a pardon." Tweed sounded hopeful as her hand stopped cleaning and simply cupped Lupo's face.
"I'll help as much as I can, we all will..." Tweed's hand was a welcoming warmth. Soft yet rough. Like a man's hand, but so much better. She looked over with a smile to Bertha and Beltway. Beltway stood still from what she could see, but something about Bertha was off. "Ber..." Lupo began to say, unsure.
Then, shocking all within the warehouse, a shot rang out. The sniper on the roof fired a round, and then the sounds of scuffling could be heard, and then her voice. "Get off me, fucker!" She was being attacked, and everyone looked up. Lupo could see Tweed looking and she started to stand up. Lupo noticed the brown haired woman and a black man begin to make their way up some stairs leading to the roof. Then, out of the corner of her eye, Lupo saw it. Bertha stood up straight. No longer was she tied down, and she began to sneak up behind Tweed. Lupo's heart stopped. For some reason she already liked Tweed more than anyone else in her team, and seeing Bertha creeping up behind her made her want to scream. So, she did.
"Look out!" Lupo called to the red-haired woman in camouflage.
Tweed began to turn too late as Bertha held her scalpel in her hand, and swiftly brought it down right into the woman's jugular. Bertha made sure to stab deep, and it was so sudden that Tweed couldn't even make a sound before Bertha was bringing the scalpel back to cut through her windpipe. As Tweed's body began to buckle at the knees, Bertha reached for the gun she had slung over her shoulders.
"Help her!" Lupo yelled out, knowing already it was too late.
"Traitor swine!" Bertha said before whipping a foot across Lupo's face, knocking her out.
Bertha moved quick. Within a few seconds she made her way to a table and toppled it, hiding behind it for cover. The others were a little confused, she could tell. Who to go to first, the one on the roof, or the one downstairs? Bertha reached a hand up to her hair, and fumbled around. Then she pulled out a small needle that she had hidden in her hair, and secured by a strap of her mask. Quickly she stabbed it into her arm and stood up. She could hear bullets whirring by her, but all she could feel was a numbing adrenaline. Suddenly she was an ace. She aimed at the brown haired woman making her way to the roof, and fired. Direct hit. Like Tweed, she got her right in the jugular. Most thrilling. She started shooting at the black man, but he rushed behind cover. "Willow!" He yelled, as the brown haired woman clutched at her throat and began to collapse.
Then, with a slam, a door on the other side of the warehouse opened. Dee-Ay rushed her. She shot at him, and while some hit, they weren't good enough. In seconds he was on her, tackling her to the ground and throwing punches. She fell to her back, caught off guard by his sheer stopping power. He knocked the wind out of her when his shoulder slammed into her chest, but she didn't let that phase her for long. Swiftly, she rolled out of the way of his foot as it came down for a stomp. Then she kicked at his ankle. He stumbled for a minute at the contact, and ended up falling to the ground. Then, a bullet hit the wall next to her. Bertha fell to the floor in escape, and looked for whoever was shooting. Harley was hidden behind a steel column. She couldn't get a good shot, but she tried anyway. Once she forced him back into hiding she realized Dee-Ay was upon her again. She threw down the gun and readied herself. Like it was an invitation, Dee-Ay did the same. After his gun hit the ground he was on her with clenched fists. She dodged most of the hits, but a few struck. They were hard and mean. She could feel his anger entering her with each contact. While she didn't get as many hits as he did on her, those she did score were doubly effective, because she knew where to hit. She dodged a hit and retaliated with a jab to the neck. He tried to kick her legs out from under her, but she braced herself and shoved him back. Then, as he came in for a deadly right hook, she brought up an arm and guarded against it. She kept his arm there, and when he was open she brought her scalpel up and stabbed him through the eye. The stainless steel went through him like partially heated butter. In a second it was in his brain, and in the next Bertha was twisting it and pulling it out.
Bertha huffed as she watched her third victim fall to the floor, dead. Then all went black. A single shot echoed through the warehouse, followed by the sounds of a limp body crumpling to the floor. Beltway was speechless at the sight. Bertha had just single-handedly shoot one person down, and cut her way through two others. He was suddenly overwhelmed with a sensation of good fortune. What if he did try and fight her back when he knocked out Four Eyes? No way he would have walked away from that one! Now he watched as Bertha fell to the ground with a bullet wound in the right temple. He looked for whoever it was that fired the lethal bullet and saw someone he hadn't expected to see ever again. There, standing next to the door to the roof, was Vector, with his gun still pointed at the now dead Bertha. Vector had shot down his own teammate, and now he was aiming his gun right towards Beltway, clearly itching to pull the trigger.