Chapter 4
"Here are the latest reports on the evacuation process. So far, everything is going well. They say things should wrap up in a couple days at most."
"Thank you Piers," Chris nodded, accepting the papers. Out of all the things he had to get used to in the BSAA, reading reports had been one of the easiest. He had already taken to reading as many as he could get his hands on when it came to bioterrorism, so making it part of his job was not hard.
Chris eyed the figures, mentally adding things to the calendar. He had to smile at the figures; in the early days, even a clean site took days to clean up, sometimes even up to a week. An increase in protocol efficiency as well as technology made it much faster nowadays. Less time those affected have to suffer, Chris noted.
"How are things looking for the students?"
"Most of their parents have already made preparations to pick them up, and some are already enrolled elsewhere. A few of them are going to be held here while their parents can pick them up."
"Sounds like we've got it covered," Chris surmised with a happy note in his voice. The smile faded as he moved on though. "Any developments in the night?"
"Mother Gracia has not said anything since her capture, aside from asking for a change of clothes upon arrival. Nanan has been largely inactive, and Bindi spent most of the night either healing or sleeping."
"Any news from the labs?"
"They have confirmed the virus in question was a hybrid of G and T-Veronica samples," Piers informed him grimly, passing him another report. Chris picked it up, reading each line carefully. There was not much in the way of actual direct data, but he could see the gist of what they had discovered.
"Get the teams working on trying to synthesize a cure for this. If it starts to look too difficult, call in some of our resources. If this virus can create mutations with an air vector, then it is our top priority to cure it," Chris insisted before setting the document aside. "How is Merah doing?"
"More damage to her pride than anything," Piers noted with a smile. "A nasty bruise from the mask, but it prevented Gracia from hitting her nose."
Chris nodded, getting the implication. "I am glad to hear that. But I was more interested in how she is feeling emotionally. You know her better than me."
Piers' expression became serious and he looked to the side in thought. "Merah feels stronger than most about bioterrorism. I have never met anyone with quite as much drive as her. So I imagine she's happy we stopped the incident…"
"But not that we left Bindi and Nanan alive?" Chris finished with an understanding expression.
"She lost a lot of people. With all due respect to your decision sir, I can't honestly say I disagree with it."
"Your honesty is noted...and appreciated." Chris was about to continue when a beeping interrupted him. Checking his phone, he noted that it was an alarm. "We'll continue this later. I have to go try and talk with Bindi, see what I can find out."
Chris looked up as he stood, regarding Piers solidly for a second. He could sense the distraction at the back of his mind, and Chris almost let a small smile slip as he spoke. "Why don't you go check on Merah? We will probably need her soon?"
To his credit, Piers didn't smile at the suggestion, but Chris could tell as he snapped a salute that he was thankful for the excuse. He dropped the salute with a "yes sir!" before turning around, and leaving the office promptly.
Chris wasted no time in grabbing the documents he needed, and leaving the office himself.
Chris walked passed the "silent" observation room and the containment door, before opening the one to the "active" observation room. A couple of the science team were already inside, and Chris nodded to them.
"Have you communicated with her yet?"
"Not yet sir. We thought you would want to head that particular endeavour."
"Good work." Chris stepped up to the wall, which shone ever so slightly in the darkened room, revealing the presence of glass between him and the shutter on the other side. "Is she in a good state?"
"She seems stable. We have men waiting to respond should she turn hostile," one of them confirmed. Chris nodded.
"Go ahead and open the shutter." Chris watched as the light inside the room came on, and the metal shutter gave a small jump before beginning to slide up seamlessly. Through the widening gap, he could begin to see into the white room beyond.
Finally, the shutter raised enough to see Bindi herself. Chris was relieved to see that most of her wounds had healed, though he could see the remains of some of the mutations. A faint patchwork of white scars marred the side of her face, making it look like it had cracked and been put back together, with only the slightest of marks to betray it. However, her left eye was still a milky white, gazing ahead unblinkingly.
She crossed her arms in front of her and he could see they had not escaped the same treatment. The marks were more apparent on her arms than on her face, and the scarring was more hastily patched. Bands of thickened skin weaved over her skin, almost resembling a spider's web.. Considering how radically they had been changed, he was not surprised that the healing was imperfect. Still, considering the cocktail of a virus she had been infected with, it was not the worst that could have happened.
"Good morning Bindi," Chris greeted, trying to smile. It was not returned. "How are you feeling?"
"Tired and sore." Her eyes seemed fixed on him intently, narrowed slightly. Chris almost felt like he was being subjected to as much scrutiny as she was. Still, he would not be deterred from doing his job.
"As soon as we can move you to a more comfortable residence, we will," Chris assured. "In the meanwhile, is there anything we can do for you?"
"I doubt it."
Chris restrained a frown, focusing on the questions that most needed answering. "Would you be willing to answer a few questions at this time?"
A moment of silence passed and he could see Bindi's gaze retract, her expression neutral. Patiently, he awaited her response, concerned by the long wait. Still, it would not help to interrupt her decision.
"Go ahead. I'll answer."
"Thank you." Chris straightened up slightly, his expression focused. "When you injected Nanan, what happened afterwards?"
"At first, nothing happened, but then it was like her skin began to melt. But not like melting plastic. It turned somewhat translucent, like molten glass, and I could kind of see what was going on inside before it hardened into a solid shell. I was beside her the whole time, and when it began to glow, it was really hot."
"Eventually, the shell began to hiss, and it even steamed a bit before shattering. Then she climbed out, brought back to life. All the changes had happened inside. It was almost poetic," Bindi mused absently before shaking her head. "The shell looked just like her before it broke."
Chris could hear the scratching of notes behind him, along with the sound of the recorder. Reaching behind him, he picked up one of the reports, thumbing through until he found what he was looking for. Holding it up to the glass, he waited a moment while Bindi slid off the table, walking towards him. He noted that she walked with a smooth, powerful gait; something he had learned to recognize in the infected after a long time in the business.
"The things you described are consistent with what we have discovered about the virus. The heat was likely due to the Veronica virus, while the rapid mutation is more consistent with the G-virus," Chris explained as Bindi read. He paused briefly as she continued reading, digesting the details. Despite the visible marking of her eye, it did not seem to have affected her actual vision as she read through each line quite quickly. Finally she finished, motioning for him to turn the page.
"As of the moment, we are still unsure about why the virus affected you and Nanan differently. Until we have more samples and time, we are operating under the assumption that they could be two different strains." Chris turned the page as he spoke, surprised at Bindi's speed. As she read silently, he realized he should not have been surprised; Marhawa was a fairly prestigious academy. It stood to reason that the students had at least some skill beyond the norm.
"A good base assumption," she admitted. "But you would need to confirm that before going on to any kind of testing. Which means you need a sample from Nanan."
Very observant, Chris noted. He had initially underestimated her intelligence; he would have to be careful in the future. "You are correct. And as of the moment, you are the only one we know of that can get her to cooperate-"
"You want my help," she interrupted with a half-smile.
"We would prefer not to harm her if possible. With your help, we can do that. Additionally, it reflects good on both of you if it goes over smoothly."
Bindi regarded Chris for a second. "So aside from landing in the good books, what else do I get?"
"We are willing to negotiate, however the offer is limited in time. Every second counts."
"Alright then," Bindi agreed, leaning back. "Let's make this quick then. I want to be with Nanan."
"Until we determine whether the strains are separate-"
"If they are the same strain, you allow us to be together. If they are different, then we'll renegotiate. Sound like a deal?"
Chris narrowed his eyes at Bindi, weighing the options in his head. "I will present the idea to the others. If they turn it down, we can renegotiate. I won't leave you flapping in the wind."
"Thank you," Bindi said with a bow, a small smile on her face. "Are you going to need to restrain me?"
"Only until we get to the containment gate," Chris assured her. He turned to the scientists behind him. "Get the crew."
"Yes sir!" One of the scientists got up, leaving the room while the other stayed behind to dutifully record.
"So, I heard you mention to Mother Gracia that you were the head of the BSAA," Bindi noted. Chris nodded, turning back to her.
"I am. One of them at least. It's a ceremonial title mostly."
"You still earned it somehow," Bindi pointed out knowingly.
"It's a long story. Long story short, I have been around for about as long as there have been viral incidents." Chris lifted his gaze as the containment team stepped into the room. The team glanced between him and Bindi for a moment, waiting for the go.
Bindi turned back to Chris, and the two met gazes for a moment. At length, Bindi nodded, forcing herself to relax. Turning to the team, Chris nodded. The whole thing went pretty quickly, as they moved around her, forming a careful formation to escort her from the room. Chris watched as they stepped out into the hallway, losing sight as the containment doors closed.
Chris didn't feel the need to be there personally for the reading of Mother Gracia's charges. Besides, the camera in the cell would capture it all should it be needed. In the meanwhile, he had more pressing matters to handle.
"Captain Redfield reporting in." Chris' voice was muffled by the gas mask he wore. "How is progress on clearing out the building?"
"We cleared all the students out," the site advisor, a woman about his age, explained. "We are now preparing for the burn. I see you are already geared up."
Chris nodded, the buckling on his body clinking at the slight motion. His normal fatigues had been replaced with heavier materials, and treated carefully to prevent the spreading of flame. The rather large fuel tank hung on his back, but did little more than make his already large frame more imposing. "It's a shame all these buildings have to go. Still we can't take any risks."
"Agreed. According to Bindi's testimony, they travelled through a number of buildings during their uncontained period. It's a miracle there hasn't been a secondary infection."
Chris agreed silently, shifting slightly to rest the weight of the flamethrower more easily. It was surprisingly refreshing to be on the ground for a standard clean. He felt better when he was doing the BSAA's good work on the ground.
He watched from the corner of his mask as the crew kept track of all the operations. He did not envy their job in the slightest. The logistics of this mission were particularly horrifying, seeing as they were tearing down a whole academy.
"All teams are clear of the building, and the wind is not slated to pick up for some time. We can begin the burn." Chris nodded, shrugging the pack into place before stepping forward, each footfall sounding heavily on the wet grass.
Planting himself on the ground, he unhitched the nozzle, lifting it towards the building. Taking a deep breath, he yanked back, letting the flame shoot forth. Instantly, he could feel the heat radiating off the tool, and he was thankful for his mask, even as the hairs on his neck began to feel uncomfortable under the layers of fabric.
Slowly, he concentrated the stream on one spot, waiting until the washing flames gained a foothold before sweeping slowly to the side. The rain the night before was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they did not have to worry about burning the rainforest down on accident, but it also made their job harder.
As he focused on spreading the flames as efficiently as possible, he let the back half of his mind ponder the bigger picture.
There was still someone out there with their hands on a virus that seemed to combine the worst features of the t and g together, and unless they stopped them, scenes like this would only become more common. They had been lucky this time, but there was no guarantee for the future.
Chris had very few ideas about who it could have been. None of the people on the watchlist had any kind of facilities nearing the level of study this would have required, and since Wesker's death, the samples of the virus had been largely rounded up and destroyed or otherwise taken care of. There was certainly a possibility that some were still at large; in fact, he counted on it. But most threats had been nipped in the bud, so something of this scale was concerning to say the least.
The BSAA would certainly have its hands full trying to find their mystery woman. All they had was a vague description of the woman in question, and that would not be enough to find her. Still, there were not a whole lot of women in the field of bioterrorism sales, so it did narrow it down some.
In the meanwhile, he had another problem; what to do with Bindi. She had been contained, that much was certain. Still, he couldn't help but feel mixed about her containment. On the one hand, he still felt a sense of concern about how calm and collected she was. She could well just be waiting for some opening, and then strike right at the heart of the organization that would oppose her. He doubted she could truly pull it off, but he was not willing to risk the lives of his men on it.
On the other hand, she had been more than cooperative, even to her own detriment. Her testimony to the willful infection of innocents (even if she did not consider them such), would be damning in just about any court. With how much she had provided though, he felt certain they could claim protection over her, even if it her crimes had not been fully forgiven.
But as long as she was under BSAA custody, she would not be able to go anywhere without the BSAA's knowledge and command. The second they decided to let her go, all bets were off about what would happen to her. If she wasn't rounded up to face her crimes, she could well be grabbed by someone wanting to cut into the viral market.
Her only real option was to stay with the BSAA.
Chris knew enough about prisoner psychology to know that without any kind of activity, Bindi would likely become stir-crazy, and that would not end well. She would have to be given something to do. And while he was not entirely sold on the idea, there were very limited things they could do for her, and combat training was one of those.
He had an idea on that front, but he would have to make a few calls. A snapping sound restored his concentration, and he watched with satisfaction as a section of the wall seemed to buckle. A few other team members had joined him, quickly engulfing the building in flames.
"That should be enough. Pull back to behind the safety perimeter."
"Understood," Chris confirmed, releasing the nozzle. The sound of the flame dying was loud but brief, and he waited a moment before putting it back onto the pack. Turning around, he headed back towards the command center.
"I need to make a call," Chris excused himself, walking towards the sterilization lock. Compared to normal, the procedure for cleaning took a lot longer, especially to get out of his fire clothing, but he felt a lot lighter in the end, emerging into the sterile mobile center.
"What time is it in DC right now?"
"About 0100 sir."
Chris frowned, but nodded. Pulling out his comms device, he punched in the number, stepping into one of the unoccupied offices as it rang. To his surprise, the phone was picked up.
"Chris. Wasn't expecting to hear from you."
"Hope I'm not interrupting," Chris apologized before continuing quickly. "A situation has come up that I believe one of your agents would be most helpful with."
He could hear the sound of blankets being pushed off in a hurry on the other end. "Details?"
"We'll send over a file shortly. My team has to finish clearing a site, but I will authorize the transfer of files to you shortly. I need to know if you will be willing to loan us one of your agents for a brief period."
"They will have to decide for themselves, but you have my go-ahead. I'll want to see that file first, but I trust you."
"Glad to hear it. You should have the file in the next half hour."
"Understood. Anything else?"
"Say hi to Sherry and the others for me," Chris said with a small smile. "Other than that, nothing else. Thanks for the help."
"No problem. Leon out."