Copyright 2000 by Tom Lazur

Copyright 2000 by Tom Lazur

Disclaimer:

The Resident Evil trademark is property of Capcom and whoever legally involved, as are the Hunter and T-01 characters. The characters Gary Peterson, Kyle Gerhard, The Englishman, Madeline, Nester, Hollace, Carl, and Kelly however are my own creation and should not be used without my consent.

Dirtied Hands, Tortured Souls

by Tom Lazur

CHAPTER IV

The door itself knocked one of the zombies back through the swarm. Another lurched towards the now open portal and threw itself at Gary, slobber rolling off of its swollen lips. The zombie was met by three 9mm bullets in its head, each leaving a small hole. The stricken zombie faltered then fell as Gary pistol-whipped it with the freshly fired gun. Gary leveled his .45 at the next, the small red dot of the laser sight resting on its eye. He fired a single shot and the bullet struck true to its mark, popping the eye like a grape and bursting the back of the zombies head. It twitched then collapsed on the floor, spasms rippling throughout its decaying body. The zombies kept on their fearsome march, gasping out moans and wails, all ravenously grasping for Gary's flesh. Gary took step after step backward, retreating further and further into the office. He fired round after round into the ten remaining zombies, every now and then one of his undead enemies falling.

Gary's 9mm had spent its nine bullets and started clicking. He let it fall to the ground, reloading would be impossible under the circumstances. He gripped the more powerful .45 with both hands and continued his barrage. Soon, his gun was empty. Gary snarled and delivered a heavy kick into the center mass of the closest creature, sending it back to the others, pushing them away a few precious feet more. Gary released the spent clip, and took another from his shoulder holster. He jammed it in, and started firing again. The red light danced and frolicked from head to head, and was followed by a small, bone-cracking explosion. Blood was coating the room. The ground was getting sticky, and the bittersweet smell of the blood was accompanied by the ripe pungency of decay. Twice Gary had to blink away blood that had splattered onto his face. His expensive suit was already ruined.

Gary observed that after the zombies had their heads busted and broken, they would lose all control of they're bodies and collapse. He could only pray that they would stay down. There was one zombie left, and at that point Gary had already emptied the new clip. There was no time to reload. Gary rammed the stock of the gun into the zombie's forehead and knocked it halfway over backwards. Gary kicked its feet out from under it, and it laid there, totally at the mercy of him. Gary let out a savage cry and brought his foot crashing down on the monster's face. It crunched and squirted open like an overripe cantaloupe. Gary emptied the gun and slapped in another clip. Gary returned his aim to the opened door and didn't move. Gary listened for any threat, any evidence of another one of the creatures.

Gary took a deep breath and picked up the dropped 9mm. He holstered the .45 that he now only had thirteen bullets for. Gary replenished the 9mm with his last clip of the kind. The only considerable positive to his situation was that he didn't have to bother reloading again. The 9mm clip had twelve fresh bullets in it. Taking extra care, Gary crept over the twitching corpses. He tried to step on the festering bodies as little as possible, but nonetheless, he still had blood, brains, and many other unrecognizable juices sliding off his shoes and pant legs. Gary entered the hallway. Previously, the hallway was white and sterile looking. Now however, it was painted in crimson. Gary crept his way over to where the first guard had dropped his pistol. Gary found it and picked it up. Gary removed the half-spent clip and threw the empty pistol away. He then wiped his hands on a clean spot on the wall. Then Gary heard a moan. He snapped his head up and stared at the stairwell door. The echo of shuffling feet on carpeted floor was unmistakable. Despite all his efforts, there were still more of the monsters. They didn't stop. Another zombie began to emerge from the stairwell. Gary bellowed savagely and charged the advancing corpse with his arms raised. He met the monster full on and knocked it down the stairs. It rolled and bumped as it tumbled down the steps. It collided with yet another set of the decaying cadavers. Gary didn't stop to count them and rushed upstairs. After one flight of stairs he saw a sign on the wall labeled 5. The door to the floor was closed, and also locked. The lock needed a normal key to open, but none of the keys that the guard had fitted the lock. The footsteps below had started again and the horrible wailing of he creatures below haunted him. Gary looked up again. There was only one floor left. If it wasn't open, Gary did not know what to do next.

Gary ran up, taking the stairs two at a time. At the sixth floor the staircase ended and there was only one door. Fortunately, the door was unlocked and Gary hurried through, closing it behind him. This floor was much nicer than the previous one. The floor was carpeted in a dark navy blue, and the wooden walls were adorned with several aesthetically pleasing paintings. A plaque next to the door read Executive Floor. His footsteps were muffled and the air smelled nice. The foul aroma that had permeated the lower floors was not present in this luxurious vestibule. Gary walked down the hallway glancing at the paintings as he passed them. The path curved and Gary turned the corner. Immediately ahead of him he saw an empty receptionist desk. The chair was overturned. On top of the desk was a phone. Gary grabbed the receiver, but his heart sank into his gut when the line was dead. He pushed all the hold buttons on the phone, but none of the lines were operating. Gary sighed and gently rested the receiver back on the phone.

He looked past the desk and saw a hallway that lined with four mahogany doors, two on each side. At the end of the hallway there was a large double-door. One was opened just a crack and a sliver of light shone through. Gary heard voices. Gary had his back to the wall as he slid silently across it towards the door. When he got closer, he could make out the voices clearly. There were two people talking, both men.

The first one's voice was high-pitched, nasally and there was an obvious English accent. "Mr. Yunoki, I'm afraid this facility is now a liability. The security of this place has been breached. Both by the escape of the subjects and by the investigator. From his memos one can obviously discern that there are people getting suspicious in high places."

"Their suspicions are only that. Suspicions! They have no hard evidence! They can't expose us if they don't find out!" This voice was probably that of Mr. Yunoki. The man Gary had set out to question.

"That's obvious Mr. Yunoki. But I'm afraid you've left us in quite a dilemma. If that Peterson fellow hadn't arrived, I'd say perhaps the situation would be salvageable. But now…" The as yet unnamed man let his sentence trail off, and for a few seconds, there was an uncomfortable silence. Yunoki finally broke it.

"Well, what are we going to do?"

"We?" The man's chuckle bordered on a husky giggle. "Oh Mr. Yunoki, I think you realize how much I do not trust you right now. Your services are no longer needed." Gary didn't like the direction the conversation was going. He carefully looked around the doorframe to see what was going on. All he saw was a massive back. The man in front of him was gigantic. He was over seven and a half feet tall. His shoulders were square and four feet wide. He was dressed in a long, black overcoat and steel-toed boots. Black leather gloves covered his hands, and his head was shaved. Gary stared at the man's head. His skin seemed to be gray, as if it was once black but the color had been almost drained from the pigmentation. He was a picture of strength and power, and was obscuring Gary's view of Yunoki. The Englishman however, was in plain view. He was very small in comparison to the giant, standing no more than five feet tall, with blond, curly hair. He turned away from the out of sight Yunoki and walked to a display hung on the wall.

The display was a suit of samurai armor coupled with a long, slim katana. Even under the dim lamp light from a nearby desk, it gleamed. The Englishman took the sword and made a few playful stokes in the air. Yunoki stepped toward him and came into view. "Please, put my sword back. It's been with my family for over four hundred years. I…"

The Englishman cut him off. "Oh come now Ino. Don't be so childish. Live your last few moments on Earth with dignity." He nodded to the giant and said, "Have you met my friend Thomas?" Yunoki's eyes were wide and began to water. He tried to speak, but only whimpers and squeaks escaped his lips. The Englishman smiled pleasantly. "Say hello Thomas." The giant lunged at Yunoki and grabbed him by his neck with one hand. The Englishman plunged the sword deep into Yunoki's back, the sound of the metal splitting flesh was sickening. The Englishman laughed and said, "Now say goodbye Thomas." The giant put his other hand on Yunoki's forehead and squeezed. It cracked like a bloody egg and the pieces fell on the wooden floor, covered in the gory slop.

"Damn it Thomas, you almost got some on my shoes. Be more careful next time." The Englishman glared the giant, and the giant nodded in comprehension. "Now Thomas, listen to me. I have new orders for you." The giant nodded and stood at rapt attention. "I want you to go to the fourth level and kill everyone on it, okay? Bring the body of the investigator back up to me. I need to know for sure if he's dead." The Englishman pulled out a driver's license. It was Gary's. "Kill him any way you have to." the Englishman took on a concerned expression. "Actually, make sure his head is intact. I want to be sure it's the right man. Well then," he smiled a toothy grin and clapped the giant on the arm. "Off with you now. Have fun!" The giant nodded and began to turn. Gary spun and put his back to the wall. His discovery seemed imminent. Gary holstered the pistol and brought up the air rifle. As he grabbed a dart labeled Tranq-5 and loaded it into the rifle's chamber, the ground began to shudder and vibrate. Thomas had begun to walk.

The floorboards creaked as the massive man strode to the door. He pushed it open and the door swung out and in front of Gary. He grabbed the handle and held the door over his body, covering him from the giant's view. Gary held his breath closed his eyes tight. He didn't even trust himself to blink. Gary could feel the giant's overpowering presence. The giant took a few steps, then stopped. The presence was waiting, watching. The giant was scanning the hall, searching for something.

The footsteps started again and gradually tapered off, and Gary could hear a door open and close in the distance. He got out from behind the door, dashed into the room, and pointed the rifle at the startled Englishman. "Don't speak, put your hands in the air, turn and face me." The Englishman sighed and did as he was told, but his right hand was clenched in a fist. Gary looked to the body of Yunoki than quickly averted his eyes. "D'you realize that I just saw you and your friend commit murder?"

The Englishman smirked. "Do you realize you are about to die?" He opened his closed fist and revealed a small remote control. It was a tan plastic and had two small buttons and one small, flashing red light. Gary stared at the remote, then, in a single solitary moment, a profound understanding of what had just happened settled on him like a sack full of bricks.

Gary squeezed the trigger and the dart whistled into the Englishman's chest. The Englishman stared down at his chest in disbelief and promptly fell down in a heap. The sound of his body hitting the ground was joined with the rapid tympani boom of heavy footsteps. Gary swore and groped for his bag. He hastily pulled out another Tranq-5 dart and tried to shove it in the chamber. It slipped out of his hands and bounced on the floor.

"FUCK!" Gary cursed and snatched the dart from the floor and fumbled it into the chamber. He looked up and saw the giant tearing down the hallway. Gary barely bothered to aim as he shot the dart. It sailed straight and true into the giant's stomach. The giant didn't even stop. He brushed the dart aside and continued his deadly pace. Gary rushed forward and pulled the door shut, locking the deadbolt and sealing the padlock. An instant later, two mighty fists drove two dents into the three-inch thick mahogany door.

Gary hurriedly loaded one of the Neuro-Z darts into the rifle, And looked for other possible exits. When he looked at the window, he saw a fire escape outside. Gary could barely make sense of anything with the mind-breaking din coming from the door. Thomas was hammering at the door, the wood splintering and flying to pieces. Gary kicked out the window, shards of glass tinkling and cracking as they plummeted to the earth below. Gary leapt through and planted his feet on the rail staircase. He pulled the latch and a metal grate barring the way down swung open, and Gary threw his rifle over his shoulder.

The door broke open and chunks of wood soared through the air, one striking Gary in head. He half gasped, half choked, and his mind went swimming. His almost pleasant swimming illusion was shook away when Thomas grabbed him by his neck. The towering goliath pulled him inside the room and tossed him like a rag doll across the room. Gary landed on the desk, sending all items resting upon it on the floor. The giant walked to the unconscious Englishman, knelt down, and placed his enormous hand gently to the Englishman's wrist, feeling for a pulse. He then noticed the dart. He plucked it out, stared at it, and then did something that disturbed Gary a great deal. He growled. It was a low bass rumble that started in the giant's chest then prevailed itself through his throat.

Gary reached for the rifle, but it was missing. As was his pistol. The giant got up and advanced little by little towards his dizzy prey. Gary looked all around himself until his eyes rested upon the sword still dirtied with Yunoki's blood. Gary grasped the sword in his hand, facing away from he giant and hiding the weapon. Gary waited until the giant was almost upon him, and putting all his strength into his arms, stuck the blade into the monster's face. The point snaked up past his cheek and nestled itself deep within his eye. The giant howled in agony, his fist punching down into Gary's chest. Gary rocketed to the ground, pulling out the sword he still held firmly in his hand. Gary scrambled to his feet, bolts of pain shooting from his chest all throughout his body and stopping in his brain. He scrambled like a wounded calf to the window and tumbled out.

Thomas cupped one hand over his eye, roared in fury and set himself upon Gary. Gary danced back, grabbing the rail of the staircase with his free hand. The giant hit the stairway, crumpling and snapping it. The stairway's infrastructure creaked and heaved, and with another strike from the giant, began to detach from the side of the building. Gary clung to the rail and held tight as it bent back and twisted down. With wild eyes, Gary watched a piece of metal fall from the stairway and drop down several dizzying stories. Vertigo's effect was gripping Gary, as the ground below seemed to spin and race further away from him. The fall would surely kill him. He pulled his arm that still held the sword up over the rail and looped around the failing metal. Either the giant didn't realize the danger of the crippled stairwell, or didn't care, for without hesitation, he hopped onto the weak carriage.

Thomas restarted his relentless pursuit of Gary's demise, ripping the railing apart with his bare hands. The staircase gave one last sigh and swung down in an arch that crashed against the lower level of the building like some terrible slinky. The window on the side of the building that the railing collided with was destroyed, and Gary was sent rolling through, landing on his shoulder. The rest of the staircase wrenched free of the building, and floor-by-floor, toppled to the unyielding earth with the giant still on it. Seconds later, a loud crash trailed up through the window, and Gary could still hear the giant's call.