There is still evil in this place..
The metal door came flying off of its hinges, propelled forward at the two with great speed. Rebecca dodged to the right, Claire the left, each quickly taking a defensive stance and aiming their sights for the beast that had emerged. The area around the door frame was form and forced apart to fit it's massive size, the monster having to have stood, at the least, 12 feet tall.
It's feet were large slumps of undefined flesh, barely taking shape enough to fit the two toes that housed emerging claw like nails on both. Though It's legs were built tough, packed full of muscle to support its massive weight, they somehow were similar to the shape of a wolf's, explaining it's sudden burst of speed. Comparably, it's arms were on par with its legs, but weren't as large, having a different function and purpose. They in turn housed deformed and yet to shape hands of 2 fingers and a thumb that all held claw like nails in the same fashion as their counterparts. It's body was built like an armored tank. Hardened skin covering both arms with extended width, seeming to be able to for some sort of shield over its face and central body, yet even so, it's abdomen was bulged into a rough muscular build with more of the hardened skin only covering it's sides and pectorals. There didn't seem to be a neck of any kind, more like it's head just burst from within his collarbone and struggled to hold any structure.
The head was tall and in the shape of an obtuse cone, the point starting at the top of it's head and expanding down into it's shoulders. On that cylindrical structure, at the tip was an expandable opening, assumed to be it's mouth, and toward the center were two slits that seemed to have been it's eyes, or more likely it's eyes cased in yet another thick shelling of skin. Somehow, Rebecca could feel those eyes, on her, and it was well beyond unsettling and caused a small chill to surf down her spine.
This is ridiculously bad, but I don't exactly hate it.
"Come and get me asshole! You're no giant scorpion or bat so you're no problem to me!"
Cried out Rebecca.
"Let's go ugly, Steve could put up a hell of a lot more fight than you!"
Hollered Claire, though, neither woman expect the other to do so just as they had, so their plans for distraction went up in smoke. Even still, the two found themselves laughing a bit at their now worsened situation. Gunfire couldn't work on the thing, and that was all they had. So, what else to do? Split up and whoever was to be followed would try to lead it away. Priority number one, rescue the survivors and avoid combat at all cost, time to start avoiding.
Hopefully with the main problem distracted, the others would be able to secure Marcus in time, but hopes were a bit far-fetched at the moment. Sprinting off as fast as she could, Rebecca could hear the beast howl. Soon after, were the footsteps, loud, quick, and getting closer. Rebecca found herself as the decoy after all, but was that something to be proud of, or terrified.
She looped around the corner of the dormitory, into an alley between it and another of the learning centers on the campus. It was dark and planted tree's from a charity event filled the overhead with a thick green brush. She pushed as hard as she could with the beast in quick pursuit. It was eagerly charging after her for it's next meal. She found herself ducking every so often, avoiding the occasional claw swipe. The monster was furious. Once again was she fleeing from it, and furthermore, it couldn't seem to get a hold of her either. It's cries began to grow more feral and filled with rage. She didn't know how much longer she would last. And just then..
Slam!
She went down. She was running with all she had, so much so that she didn't give herself a chance to dodge the body that lied on the ground before her. She tumbled, rolled, and found herself reach downward staircase heading toward the basement door. She managed to grab ahold of the railing above the staircase, effectively regaining control of herself. Escaping with only a few minor scrapes and bruises, she was lucky, though, not for long. In one quick swing, it's claw pierced the metal bars of the rail sending her crashing to the bottom, making a thud when her head made contact with the door.
"Shit! Owww.."
She groaned for the one breath that she had before it was taken away by the sudden impact dealt to her chest. It's.. Over, isn't it? The beast had dashed for her, ramming it's large shield like arm plate powerfully against her small, feminine chest. The door behind her cracked, caved in, and then split in two, sending the petite woman flying into the spaciously wide basement. Housing nothing but a pipe network hidden in the left hand corner of the room and a set of cleaning supplies, Rebecca was somewhat fortunate that there was nothing for her to have crashed into.
She found herself sprawled out across the floor painfully forcing a hand to her chest. The pain felt unbearable and each breath seemed impossible. Her chest however was not the only affected area. Her back that had been forced through the door itself and slammed onto the concrete floor of the basement was dealing with it's own spasms of pain. She would have been lucky if none of her vertebrae found themselves cracked or dislodged. Lastly on her own personal pain tour, was her head, which still found itself spinning in confusion, throbbing, and unwilling to cooperate with her body on anything but the movement of her arm. With the world twisting around her and the ringing in her ears, the only thing she could be certain of was that by no means was this over.
It took a bit for her to establish movement of her body, it first attempting to answer if any of her ribs were cracked, yes, but only one, and if that one had penetrated anything vital to her survival. She barely managed to roll onto her stomach and aching chest, an action she almost immediately regretted, and in a feeble attempt to escape, began to crawl toward the upward staircase at the far end of the room. Roughly 5 meters away, would that number really be what her life depended on? To make matters worse, the beast behind her, though now partial trapped within the door frame, was not going to stay there long. It had already begun to tear away at concrete, smashing small chunks and pieces in the aim of breaking a hole large enough to continue the chase.
3 meters left, and it had already forced it's shoulders through, all that was left were it's hips and thighs. She was close, the throbbing in her chest had begun to slow, but was that because of adrenaline or simply her body giving up. It was amazing enough that she could still continue, and the only likely cause was by sheer willpower and determination, but another question was what she was so determined for.
Her life had been in danger many times prior, but what was different now? She had never fought this hard, not through a hopeless situation. Even within the mansion, the train, the training facility, she always gave it her all but knew when enough was enough and when to turn tail. She had become a master now ammo conservation, monitoring her vitals on a moment's notice, routing enemies in the fastest and most efficient ways. Hopelessness was something she grew used to, something she accepted, but never enough to push where a push was useless. There had to have been only one reason for her actions..
1 meter away now, and her state of shock had now begun to wither. The simplest of movements felt monumental with the ever increasing strain on her body becoming more and more apparent. She was able to sluggishly get up onto her feet, and with the help of the hand railing she had found herself resting upon, she soon was able to count her steps upward.
1 step, she reached for her radio. 2 steps, she hit the button. 3 steps, she attempted to speak.
"..base.. ment.."
And step 4, she fell. She collapsed onto the stairs, so far from the doorway to safety. She felt the pulsing start to return slowly within her chest. Furiously, she began to remove her vest, an extremely poor decision on the front lines, but if she were going to die either way, the least she could do was breath. Finally tossing it aside it went crashing on the ground at the bottom of the stairs, and as it landed, another much greater crash invaded the room, bringing with it an unwelcomed guest.
Taking in a deep breath, she found herself wasting it on a slight chuckle. You really fucked up huh? Just had to end up in the basement. Her waste of breath laughter caused her to gasp, choking on the air almost immediately after receiving it, evident in the small fit of coughing to follow. Once she managed to calm herself a bit, she looked at the palm of her hand, or rather, her glove. Her tan fingerless gloves found itself stained, lightly, with a small smudge of blood. Great. Rebecca looked forward to see her pursuer drawing near. She had stopped running, thus, it had calmed it's rage and took its time. Returning to it's slow, almost non existent footsteps, Rebecca found herself feeling a bit impatient, but more so annoyed.
Her death she could accept, but this just seemed unnecessary. The slow wait felt like watching an hourglass countdown. To make matters worse, if she attempted to move again, it would hasten to end her life. It would be suicide, which brought up the question of, was she really ready to end it all like this? It seemed that that question was one she could have pondered for, say, the next 3 minutes, but that all changed once she heard the sudden click of the door above her. Someone had creaked it open, just enough to peek a curious eye through the side. With all of the lights off, the eye was all she could make out, but that was enough. The monster before her could barely get through the door frame, how would it fare with a narrow stairwell? Taking another breath, lifting her vest toward her with her leg, and turning over slowly, she grew a smirk. Not over yet huh?
She quickly kicked herself up onto her feet, another sudden gasp hitting her and immediately being expelled in another fit of coughing as she sluggishly charging her way up the stairs toward the door. Once again, anger grew within the monster, it snarled, growled, and quickly found itself rushing after her. It thrusted it's claw into the stairwell in an attempt to reach her before she managed to go too far but it's attempt failed. Thrashing it's shoulders against the entrance, it started to slide it's shoulder inside, but not enough for it have made any difference. Rebecca huffed and groaned as the tightness in her chest worsened. Reaching the door, found herself thrusting it open and diving inside having another spasm of pain, this one paired with a fit of gasps and coughs, upon the floor. She couldn't catch her breath, she couldn't move anymore than her body instinctively allowed in attempt to suppress the pain, and above all else she couldn't even identify the figure that slammed the door behind her.
Whoever it was, wasted no time lifting her up off of the ground and onto her feet, tossing her arm over their shoulder. Rebecca couldn't gather anything from her situation. She couldn't make out how far the were travelling, had traveled, where she was, which way was up, which was down, or even if her body was still in one piece. She couldn't hear the sound of their voice, but could feel they were shouting. She stopped caring about any of it, anything happening around her after a while. At the least, she had made the B.O.W. have to work for it's kill and that was enough.
Looks like you'll be joining us soon, won't you Rebecca? Hope your "special one" won't miss you too much.
She looks so tired, really, maybe she should just give up. It's so much easier that way, besides, she did give up on us.
Okay okay guys, I think she gets the memo. Just remember Rebecca, that we'll always be here, even if you don't want us to be.
The spinning began to slow, as did the beating of her heart. Her body grew limp and weak, and she found her eyes closing themselves. She had begun to lose consciousness, but the real question was if she would return, or more so, was she willing?
Her body grew heavy, stiff, and still. Breathing was faint, and any of her previous painful movements faded from existence and became nothing. The girl was not gone, not yet at least, but she surely was not there. Drifting into what felt like a deep sleep, Rebecca found herself standing before a wall of pitch black darkness with nothing but the sounds of her failure surrounding her.
You're nothing Rebecca but a traitor.
How could you do this to us?
I'll never see my daughter again and it's all because of you!
Before she knew it, she had curled herself up into the fetal position, tears staining her cheeks as the voices only seemed to grow louder and angrier. What she had done WAS unforgivable, but to suffer in such a way was far beyond her comprehension at the time. She knew what would come next, she knew where her mind was leading her, but, she refused to allow it to happen. So long as she had her one "special" person, she refused to give in to the torture of her own guilt.
It was this stubborn friction in her mind that drove the girl to places she never could have imagined. Her mental state was something only she could hope to understand, and unfortunately it would seem that it would stay that way. Was she crazy? Maybe, but there's always a reason behind the madness.
She found herself rising to her feet, an action she thought impossible seconds ago, and balling up her fist. With a fierce stomp, she let out a cry of anger, hollering as loud as she could.
"You're not here! You're all dead and that's how it's going to stay!"
And with that fierce cry, the wall before her shattered, revealing a face that stared at her with extreme concern. Her eyes were open now, and she was lying on the bed of one of the dorms, her head in the lap of a more than welcomed comrade. The world hadn't yet soaked in yet, but it was slowly beginning too. She was starting to understand that she had survived, but not entirely. There was still doubt that she was in nothing more but an elaborate dream, that is, until woman holding her spoke.
"You finally back Becca?"
With a soft groan, a slow inhale, and the notice of wetness upon her lips, she attempted to respond. Her voice raspy and quiet, her words coming out like sandpaper, Rebecca softly whispered,
"All thanks to you, Claire.."
A weak smile managed to surface upon her lips, not much of one, but enough to be noticed. She was alive, there was no way her mind would have allowed such a moment of relief upon her poor soul. She had somehow, once again, survived.
Author's note: Hey I just want to take a moment to mention that the next chapter will be a bit short. I decided that every 5th chapter will be to give my brain a break and to let some special information soak in. These will be mostly informational and (though I highly advice you don't) I guess are skippable if you don't care much for them. I say give the first one a shot, might just be your favorite part about my story, just don't expect much story or action from them. Ah! And lastly, I want to thank IntelligentFish for the review! I'll always recognize and respond back to reviews on the story so feel free to ask questions, make comments and such. I would love to have discussions with you guys. Well I guess I've babbled long enough huh? Sorry guys, but I'm gone. Thanks for reading and I hope to see you next time. *warps away*
