Chapter 4
Manuela lifted her pistol in sync with the soldiers beside her. They had just arrived in the center garden to see the target, Curtis Miller, with Angela. Immediately, she could tell from his stuttering gait that he was infected with something, and she had her suspicions that that something wasn't the T-Virus.
Her mind flashed back to Leon's account of Raccoon City. He had encountered many horrible things, but the thing he dreaded the most was the G-Virus. The things he had told her about it were...horrible.
She glanced at Angela and almost immediately regretted it. The look of shock and horror on her face was obvious, and only got worse when a pair of soldiers closed on her, grabbing her arms to get her away from Curtis.
Curtis himself was starting to stumble, body contorting violently. Underneath his clothes, his flesh rolled and began to change. Manuela held her fire and was glad to see the others doing so as well. It would only make things worse in his mutagenic state.
"In a moment," he shouted, throwing his arms wide, "I'll reveal the irrefutable truth…In my own personal way..."
As he spoke, Curtis' shoulders began to swell, flesh tearing through the fabric. The colour of his skin began to shift away from the normal healthy tones to a patchwork of sickly green and fleshy pink. With each contortion, his limbs lengthened, muscles becoming more obvious and disturbing. He threw back his head, and the final stage of his mutation came upon him, his right arm sprouting into a broad claw, with a massive, yellowed eye lodged in his shoulder. "And all of you, will be the VERY FIRST WITNESSES!"
Curtis' voice crescendoed from a yell to a roar, the inhuman tone of the monster he had become taking over. Recovering use of his body, he took a step forward, a dark look in his eyes. Manuela didn't hesitate now.
The sound of her bullets rang out with the semi-auto fire of the soldiers, though her aim was more focused than theirs. While the rifle rounds impacted every square inch of his body, her shots focused on the massive eye in his shoulder. She remembered Leon mentioning that as a weak spot in G-mutations and she intended to take full advantage of it.
She was surprised when it raised its massive hand trying to protect itself. The large shape of the hand blocked most of his body, but the force of the impacts did cause him to shake with the force, opening a few spots for targeting. Under sustained fire, the bullets sapped his strength, forcing him down, where he fell forward, collapsing. The commanding officer raised his hand, calling for a cease fire.
As he spoke into his headset, Manuela eyed the body suspiciously. It had been too easy. Leon had been chased by one of these things across an entire city, and thrown worse at it. Something told her it wasn't over, and a quick glance at Angela told her all she needed.
"Keep your arms up!" she shouted, swiftly reloading. The other soldiers startled, doing as told just as the intercom blared a warning about detecting a lethal viral strain. From the dust, Curtis began picking himself up, stumbling forward. As he walked, he regained his balance, quickly regaining his strength.
Manuela wasn't sure if she ordered an open fire, or if the soldiers panicked, but either way, the world around her was filled with gunfire, none of it effective as Curtis charged forward. The captain screamed some kind of confused, afraid proclamation, but it was cut off as the spikes of Curtis' hand impaled him like he was made of paper. Without so much as batting an eye, Curtis swung his arm in a wide arc, knocking over or back several men.
Retreating backwards, Manuela unslung the rifle she had grabbed from the armoured truck before entering. Looking down briefly, she clicked the safety off before looking back up. The world seemed to slow down as she realized she had lost sight of Curtis. Her eyes dashed upwards, and she could see him arcing towards a man off to the side, who was slowly raising his gun to fire the underside grenade attachment.
Taking a breath, she tracked the arc with her rifle, mind spinning as she tried to predict what he'd do. Sucking in a breath, she tensed her finger on the trigger, bracing against the kick. A spray of yellowish material and the horrific shriek told her she had hit her mark, and she watched as the grotesque eye spasmed horribly in its socket, damaged from the shot.
Curtis landed, rolling as his feet failed to properly stop his impact. The man he had attacked was caught in his path, and the large body of Curtis rolled over him. From this distance, she could see he had managed to survive, but only just. Determined to draw the monster's attention, she hastily took another shot, missing the eye, but hitting its chest.
It reacted just as she hoped, turning to face her. The bloodshot eye looked directly at her, twitching violently as it tried to see her through the damage. Even as she watched, the eye began to heal, steaming in an attempt to burn out the bullet, which was interfering with its healing. With a roar, it began running towards her.
"Get out of there!" Manuela spun with a gasp. Across the room, she could see Leon, aiming high above her with a gun he seemed to have picked up from one of the soldiers. Her eyes tracked the path, and she could see the destabilizing beam above her. With rising panic, she realized his plan and turned, beginning to run at a dead bolt.
Suddenly, she spotted Angela off to the side, standing in stunned stillness. Her eyes were trained on Curtis and Manuela could tell just from her expression that she was in shock at what was happening. Behind her, she could hear Curtis change his angle to pursue Angela. Leon's stories came back to her. The G-virus seeks out relatives, since they are the only ones capable of carrying on the perfect form of the virus.
"Angela! Run for it!" Leon shouted. Somehow, his words managed to reach her and she began to turn just as Manuela passed parallel to her. Soon, both of them were running and Leon fired. The small grenade arced through the air, impacting the barely supported steel. With a blast, it tore through the last remnants of the base, sending the whole thing cascading down.
Manuela could feel the thuds behind her as Curtis closed on them, but was surprised when Angela tackled her in the back, both of them narrowly avoiding the metal as it speared into the ground. Before he had any chance to respond, Curtis was buried underneath tonnes of metal and concrete. Both women rolled across the floor from the impact, getting sprayed with dirt and grit.
Manuela coughed as she propped herself up on an elbow. Glancing back, she saw a steel beam inches from her foot. Her eyes widened as she realized just how close she'd been to being crushed underneath all that. A part of her wondered if she'd be capable of surviving it, but she didn't exactly want to test it out. As she stood, she surveyed the area around her, trying to get her bearings.
Locating Angela not too far from her, she extended her hand to the woman. Despite the impact, it seemed Angela had fared well enough, standing with only a little pain.
"Thanks for the shove," Manuela said with a light chuckle.
"It was nothing. Where's Leon?"
"I'm over here. Come give me a hand. There are survivors." Both of them looked over to see Leon across the room, waving his hand to catch their attention. Together the three of them began locating the surviving soldiers, helping them out of whatever places they had become trapped in. Soon, a small group of survivors had been collected, supporting those members who couldn't support themselves.
Just as they retrieved the man who had been crushed by Curtis, they all heard a series of popping noises. At the same time, sprinklers popped up around the lab, spraying out a slightly yellowish liquid that carried a strong scent.
"What is this?" one of the soldiers asked, shaking his hand to get it off. Leon held a hand up to his face, sniffing carefully..
"Anhydrous ethanol."
"Are we being sterilized?!"
"Not us, the building," Leon realized aloud. Just as he spoke, the sheathes on the bases of the sprinklers popped down, revealing the ignition switches.
"Incineration will initiate in five minutes. All exits are now sealed." The electric, feminine voice rang throughout the burnt out chamber, making those present whirl about, looking for some unbarred escape.
"Get all survivors to the central rest area. Now," Leon ordered, his voice brooking no argument. The soldiers nodded, double timing it towards the elevator. Leon, Angela and Manuela followed behind them, eyes peeled for any potential attackers since they were the only ones fit to take them on. Ushering in the soldiers, the three quickly realized that there wasn't enough room for all of them. They shared a look, helping in the last man.
"Oh shit," he realized aloud. He scooted around, trying to make room. "Come on."
"We'll catch the next one," Leon insisted, reaching in to hit the button. The man caught his arm, shoving his rifle into Leon's hands, a grim expression on his face as the doors closed.
"For saving my friend."
A moment later, Manuela turned around, a horrified expression on her face. For a moment, Leon thought she was worrying about the incineration, but then he saw that she was looking off behind him. He didn't need to be told what she heard. "Angela, take this!"
Tossing her the rifle, Leon pulled out his pistols, aiming towards the pile of rubble. As he clicked in his ammo, Manuela raised her rifle, taking aim, adjusting to unheard noises.
Suddenly, the rubble burst forth and the mutated form of Curtis rose from it, brushing aside metal like it was made of fabric. Any traces of humanity had been wiped off his body, leaving behind only a vaguely ape-like monster with distended limbs.
Manuela's shot was first off, planting itself straight into the thing's shoulder mounted eye. Leon's weren't far off, targeting the few unarmoured places on its chest while it was still struggling with the rubble.
Angela watched as her comrades plugged rounds into her brother, keeping him stunned in place. In a moment, she realized why Leon had handed her the rifle, instead of taking it himself. Raising it, she felt her muscle memory kicking in, guiding her aim. With a whispered apology, she pulled the trigger, causing the grenade to arc gracefully through the air before impacting him in the chest.
The blast detonated, knocking him backwards. Unfortunately, the explosion also set off the anhydrous ethanol, causing a pillar of fire to form under Curtis' feet. Realizing what was happening, Leon pushed the two back. "RUN!"
The three ran as fast as the could, already hearing the rapidly expanding pillar behind them. Leon remembered a section of water they had pulled a soldier out of and ran towards it, flanked by both women. All three leapt forward, barely clearing the edge before diving under the waves. Above them, the flames rolled over the surface of the water.
Once they had regained their sense of direction, Leon gazed up, seeing the flames still above them. Grimly, he realized that they would run out of air before the fire subsided. Turning his gaze, he realized the wall in front of them was glass. The others followed his gaze, realizing what he was going to do. He paused a moments to let both of them grab on before pulling the trigger.
It was only a moment before the wall came crashing down, letting the water rush out. The two lighter women were pulled faster than Leon, and he briefly lost sight of them as his head was ducked under the water.
"Leon!" A hand clutched at his arm, and he had just enough time to see Manuela gripping onto him while holding a pole in the other hand before he was ripped away from her. The looming abyss of the central sink approached far too rapidly for his taste, and he began reaching for whatever he could, but everything was too smooth for purchase.
Just as he braced himself for freefall, he found his bandolier grabbed by someone else. Lifting his head, he could see Angela struggling to pull him back from the waves. Leon suddenly became aware of the fact that his lower body was hanging over the edge. Reaching up quickly, he grabbed her arm, securing his grip. Together, the two of them managed to pull him back just as the water stopped flowing.
Leon soon found himself wrapped in a tight embrace as Manuela drew him to her, repeating phrases in panicked Spanish. Her hands ran over his head, as if making sure he hadn't gone over. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm not going anywhere," he coughed, pushing himself up. Manuela let go, remembering they were still on mission. Both of them looked to see Angela standing, gazing over the edge, a pained expression on her face.
"Angela." Leon kept his voice low and gentle as he approached her, laying a hand on her shoulder. "That wasn't Curtis back there. The virus took him over. After he turned, all you became was a breeding tool."
Angela's eyes widened as she realized what Leon meant. Her expression flashed through anger straight to sadness as she accepted the truth. Leon was about to continue when a roar came from overhead. Turning up, he frowned as he saw the monster above them, hanging to an overhead fixture, looking burnt but still very alive.
"Level 4 submerge system will engage soon. Level 4 submerge system will engage soon."
"As if things couldn't get any worse," Leon muttered. "Move!"
Leon began running full tilt at the gap between the two sections, easily clearing it with a roll. Manuela was a moment after him, denting the metal with the force of her impact, though she kept her momentum up, slowing a few meters away from him. Angela was the last one over, jumping further than Leon before rolling to a stand. With a smile she motioned for him to follow.
He barely had time to move forward before Curtis landed between them, and sparing no time, promptly backhanded Leon painfully back across the gap, sending him through the air into a vent on the previous segment.
"Leon!" The countdown in the air seemed to become louder as she realized what section Leon had landed on; Level 4. She had hardly a spare moment to think before she turned towards Curtis, throwing herself in front of Angela. "Run!"
Leon, meanwhile, had picked himself up and was running at at breakneck pace, his muscles begging for him to stop. Even as he reached the halfway point, he could hear the fastenings breaking in preparation for dislodgement. Leaping over a series of pipes, he used his landing to push himself over a duct.
Once he landed, he almost immediately jumped again, rolling over the top of a catwalk with a fluid motion. Sliding off, he grabbed a pipe with both hands, sliding under another series of pipes before flipping up onto another raised section and rolling over it, continuing to run as soon as his feet hit the floor. With a final push, he kicked off an exhaust vent, leaping for the rungs of the next level. As his fingers found steel, he could feel the vacuum of the emptying space below him as the section began to drop into the depths.
He glanced over just in time to witness Curtis' claw coming down towards Manuela. He had no time to call out before she had unsheathed her rifle, bringing it up as a shield, catching the claw between the scope and the barrel. It stopped Curtis long enough that she was able to flick it to the side, opening a brief window. With a flourish, she aimed directly into Curtis' mutated head.
Unfortunately, the virus had mutated him far beyond standard anatomy, and the shot did little more than piss him off. Flinching only lightly, he immediately swung his claw upwards, catching Manuela upwards across the chest, only avoiding being lethal due to her improved reactions. Still, he could see the arc of blood as she was thrown backwards towards the edge, obviously unconscious from the impact.
Her blood managed to buy Angela a moment as Curtis struggled with the flames licking at his skin. Backing up, she began looking for an escape, backing up all the way to Manuela by the time Curtis regained his bearings. Glancing at her downed companion, she could feel her hope begin to die, only to be replaced by resolution at the last moment.
"Curtis…" she whispered, staring at the advancing figure. Deep within the horrific monster he had become, she swore she could still see a fragment of her brother in it. Curtis stopped, looking at something on the floor. Angela followed his gaze, realizing with shock that it was her family portrait. It must have fallen out of my pocket!
Picking it up in his fingers, she watched as he held it tenderly, lifting it so he could view it through his massive eye. A strange tenderness shone in the bloodied optic, contrasting the horrific qualities. Angela was about to speak when he uttered a single word. "Run."
Anything she had wanted to say died on her tongue, and she could only choke out a plea. "No...no!"
"I don't want to hurt you," he struggled, shaking his head. "Please…"
Angela nodded, standing proudly before him. Her eyes shone with brilliant resolution as she regarded her brother. "Alright Curtis. Let's finish this."
With that, she closed her eyes, awaiting oblivion. Unbeknownst to her, Leon had made his way around the other sections. After grabbing Manuela with one arm, he fired his grappling hook up, securing a catwalk above them. Quickly, he slid his other arm around Angela, who's eyes opened in surprise a moment before the platform fell away from her feet. Leon groaned as he struggled to hold both women, his grappling line retracting in response to the change in force.
Just as they were about to reach the catwalk, Leon felt Angela come to a stop. Reacting quickly, he flipped upside down, securing the line with his leg. Reaching down, he grabbed Angela's arm just as she was ripped from his grasp. Below them, he could see Curtis, his tail wrapped around Angela's leg.
"Let me go!" Angela insisted angrily, her eyes brimming with tears. "Let me go damn it, or you'll both fall too! You have to destroy these viruses."
Seeing the resolute expression he wore, Angela's anger faded to sadness, and she began pleading with him. "Please, Leon, don't try to save me."
"If you don't try to save one life, you'll never save any," Leon echoed, causing Angela's eyes to widen in surprise. Leon groaned as he contorted, tilting his hips, causing his pistol to fall. Angela reacted quickly, snagging the weapon. Realizing what Leon meant, she looked down, conflict filling her eyes.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, firing a shot into Curtis' remaining human eye, causing him to lose his grip, the tail sliding off her leg. She watched as he fell, seemingly in slow motion due to the immensity of the hole. Without his extra weight, she could feel both her and Leon's iron grip, supporting her.
Within moments, blast doors began to close in beneath them just as Curtis disappeared from view in the darkness. A roaring ball of flame rushed up the shaft, and for a moment, Angela thought they'd be consumed, but the blast doors sealed before it reached them. With a grunt, Leon clicked his grapple, causing them to fall the short distance to the blast door.
Even in as much pain as he was in, he let out a sigh of relief, enjoying the cold metal. His relief was short lived, as he remembered Manuela, and was almost immediately beside her. Slipping one arm under her back, he tilted her head towards him, seeing she was truly unconscious.
"She defended me," Angela said quietly. "Will she be alright?"
Leon inspected the long gash in her uniform that ran from her stomach to her collarbones. The wound was deeper at the base, but even then, it was quickly healing. The worse problem was the blood around the wound that was still smouldering. Transporting her to get medical support would be troublesome. "She'll recover. Give me a hand and grab her legs. We have to carry her out of here. Don't get any blood on you."
Angela nodded, grabbing Manuela's legs securely while Leon lifted her under her shoulders, carefully placing his hands to avoid tilting her or getting himself bled on. Together, they lifted her up, and began carrying her out of the burnt ruins.
