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Chapter III
"Barry."
The person he had least expected of all, now stood before him, looking as surprised as Wesker felt. When he had checked the screens before leaving the control room, Barry had been busy on the upper floors of the mansion. Apparently, he had quickly backtracked towards the Main Hall for whatever obscure reason. Perhaps he was supposed to meet up with Jill… hopefully not. If that was to happen Wesker couldn't easily walk away again, that would fuel their suspiscions even more. He couldn't turn around now either and pretend not to have seen Barry.
It was time to take up his responsibilities as STARS commander again.
"Captain Wesker!" Barry eventually said, striding over to him hastily. "Where have you been? When Jill and I returned you were gone and we couldn't find you anymore."
Of course they hadn't. He had been in the Labs after all, it was highly unlikely that they found their way down there themselves. However, Barry expected an answer and he had just the right one prepared. The one that the police officer infront of him would certainly buy.
"I thought I heard a movement," Wesker lied confidently, not giving Barry the chance to start speculating. "I went to investigate, in hopes that it was Chris or someone from Bravo Team."
Barry looked up hopefully. Wesker was about to shatter said hopes.
"However, I wasn't able to find anybody. On the way back I encountered… difficulties."
Barry nodded, knowing exactly what he was talking about; or at least, believing so.
"Jill and I met one of those… things too. When we came back and found you gone we split up to search for you. This place if full of those freaks."
"I know," Wesker assured.
Barry was silent for a moment. Then he spoke again, "I have reason to believe Umbrella has something to do with it."
"Umbrella?" Wesker echoed, trying to sound surprised, even though he was more than annoyed at Barry's assumptions. "The pharmaceutical company?"
"Yeah. That one. Their logo is all over the place, and I found some documents adressed to, or written by them too."
Wesker wished he knew what exactly Barry had found, but it couldn't be anything of importance and it certainly hadn't mentioned him. Barry wasn't a good enough actor to keep that from him, if he had found any clues.
"You said you were with Jill. Where is she?" Wesker asked, changing the topic. Barry didn't seem to notice.
"She suggested we cover more ground by going solo, and even though I didn't like the idea she was right. She was supposed to be here ten minutes ago, but she hasn't shown up yet. I hope none of them have gotten to her."
They hadn't yet. Jill seemed to have been in a pretty good shape the last time he looked, but he kept on pretending to be clueless.
"On my way back I accidently stumbled into the courtyard. I saw footprints in the earth leading down a path. They looked like prints of combat boots. It could have been Jill, or perhaps some other STARS member." He hadn't actually, and he didn't think anybody had made it to the Residence, to which the way led, but if Barry took the bait Wesker might be able to lure him away from Chambers and Chris. Or find some other use for him. For now, he needed to get rid of him though.
"We found the body of Kenneth," the burly man said.
"There might still be survivors." Wesker argued, "I suggest you go to investigate where I told you to and I will cover the last parts of this mansion. If Jill is still here I will find her and we will come after you. If you find her first, wait for me there."
He paused a little, letting Barry think he was about to decide on their next actions, when in fact he knew exactly what he wanted to happen.
"If what you said about Umbrella is true, we need evidence. Nobody will believe us otherwise."
Barry nodded. Wesker once more was reminded of his team's loyality. How easy it was to lie to them, how easy they bought everything he said. Their trust was immense.
"Go now," Wesker ordered, pointing to the door, "The more time we waste, the slimmer the chance gets for us to survive."
The senior STARS member did as he was instructed and the next moment Wesker was alone in the hall again, letting out a heavy sigh. He was relieved that Barry hadn't asked any questions and hadn't picked holes in his captain's arguments.
Tactically, the orders he had just given were plain stupid. In such a situation it was best to stay together. They were facing unknown enemies – theoretically – and going off alone could get them killed very easily. Wesker for once cherished the fact that he was working – had worked, he reminded himself – for Umbrella. It gave him an incredible advantage. He didn't want to think what would have happened if he had stumbled into the Mansion as clueless as the rest of STARS. Unprepared. Scared. Weak.
He banished the fantasy from his mind. The Chambers girl must be taken care of now. Whether she knew something or not, she was a possible danger and best eliminated before anything that should remain secret got out. Wesker played with the thought of putting her through the test too, but only when he had assured himself that she was still as unsuspecting as the others. Yes, perhaps that would be more productive than simply killing her. Not to mention that she was probably still with Chris Redfield, not really giving Wesker the chance to get rid of her. He doubted they would part again.
Wesker opened the door towards the dining room, quickly crossing over to the other side. He made his way towards the medical room, taking notice of the corpses along the way. All had been downed with headshots.
Good aiming, Redfield.
Chris was a marksman being equaled only by few others - Wesker included of course - and it showed. No carrier was alive anymore, making the way easy and sparing Wesker of wasting precious bullets. He wondered if Chris had anymore ammo after this impressive – yet extravagant stunt.
When he reached the medical room he prepared himself to act surprised, keeping his Handgun in position nonetheless. Chris and Rebecca didn't need to know that he was strolling through the grounds avoiding the heavier infected areas on purpose.
He turned the knob to open the door, half expecting Chris to swirl around and tell him to freeze, weapon pointed at his head and little Chambers gasping in panic.
Beside the unmoving corpse of Richard Aiken, the room was empty though.
Wesker froze. Where were the others? He strode over towards the dead Bravo Team member, wondering how long he would remain that way.
That was when Wesker noticed the wound on Richard's arm. Something had taken a healthy bite out of his biceps. The missing chunk of flesh however was too big to have been caused by any of the human carriers. All other creatures were safely contained within the lab too.
Wesker frowned. Had any of the three Chimeras found their way out of the lab? Unlikely. They weren't intelligent enough to operate the elevator, which, apart from a set of emergency stairs was the only possibility to get to the surface. And Chimeras didn't attack this way.
They would maim the entire body, sear and rip until the victim was no more than a grotesque heap of flesh and bones. Richard Aiken was unscathed despite the bite on his arm. Wesker moved closer, keeping his Beretta at the ready should the T-virus choose this moment to resurrect its host.
Apart from the normal teeth marks – which were far too large for a human denture - there were four deeper punctures, two belonging to the upper and lower jaw respectively. The skin around the wound had taken on a sickly purple color indicating a possible poison apart from the T-virus.
If Wesker wasn't mistaken, Richard Aiken had been killed by a snake.
A giant snake, he added silently, scrutinizing the corpse. As far as he was informed no snakes or snake-like animals were tested on in the Arklay Labs. Reptiles and amphibians - apart from the Hunter Series, which initally had evolved from frogs - were desired test subjects at the arctic and european facilities. Raccoon rather specialized in Birkin's G-virus and perfection of the Tyrant Series.
Then it deemed on him, that the snake which had bitten Richard didn't necessarily have to be an approved experiment by Umbrella. The Spencer Mansion was old, and god alone knew what wild animals it accommodated. Nobody could tell just what mutations the virus produced in all the different species starting from a normal fly to a snake like this. It could cause rapid growth, certainly aggressive behaviour and dozens of other attributes that made Wesker shudder.
He stepped back from Richard, having seen enough. There was no reason to dwell here any longer. The situation had just gotten a tad bit more complicated and he wanted to stop it from getting even worse.
It was time to locate Chris and Rebecca, to find out how much they knew and take appropriate meassures.
Wesker wanted to get the job done.
I hope you liked this chapter. Still no deceiving Barry, though. Wesker apparently thinks Rebecca is a greater danger than Barry a good help. His opinion might want to change over the course of the story.
And still no decision about the substance Birkin has given him...well, you know me. I like to keep you here until the end. :D
Keep on reading and reviewing! I'm handing out cookies to everyone who reviews this one!
Note: The next update might come a little later; UC is released on Friday all across Europe and I'm one of those freaks who won't stop playing until she's found out every dirty secret, hehe.
