Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil or any related characters and/or items.
Author's Note: Alright…..so I lied. I didn't get the chapter up at the end of that week. Ah well….. I'm really excited about my fic ideas. As you know, I'm making a series. Well….I know exactly how I want to end it. I am so stoked!! I almost can't wait for the final edition…..but at this rate it will take years….;_; so…yea. I'll get on with this chapter…..only 8 more chapters after this one…..
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September 28
4:13
"Hurry Rebecca!!"
"Wha….?"
"Come on….get up…please baby….we've gotta move."
"……ugn….caaaan't……too early."
"Please honey…..we've gotta move…now. It's coming….and it's pissed…"
Rebecca slowly lifted her heavy eyelids. She saw a frantic Billy laying over her, trying to wake her.
"What happened? Something wrong? What's coming?" she muttered.
"It's alright…you passed out. You're exhausted…the sooner we get to the hotel the better." Billy said as he helped Rebecca too her feet.
"What's coming?" she asked impatiently.
Billy got a distant look on his face, like he was looking at Rebecca but not seeing her.
"It is….not sure….just…there…..alive…being…whole….yet….not whole…unaware….yet such strong emotion….but no emotion at all….like it is….but also isn't…." he said.
Rebecca stared in confusion at Billy's pointless muttering.
"Makes you think…..feeds on humans….yet doesn't touch them…feeds on….emotions….memories….existence." he said and the distance look disappeared and he looked at Rebecca with a strange look.
"Billy…what is it?" Rebecca asked worriedly.
"We must go." Billy said shortly.
He turned and led them towards the door exiting the room. As they reached the door, a loud thud echoed in the chamber above. Rebecca and Billy looked up. A scratching noise was heard followed by a creepy whisper.
"What is that?" Rebecca asked.
"Its here….gotta keep moving…." Billy said. He turned and ran through the watertight door.
Rebecca followed and turned to look at the direction of the noise. Her eyes widened in horror as she saw a long, smoky, black tentacle reach through the hatch to lower its owner in. Rebecca started to scream and Billy pulled her through the door and locked it.
"What was that?" Rebecca cried frantically. "It was a like a tentacle, only it wasn't solid. It was as if a bunch of smoke formed together…."
"I know!!" Billy cried. "That's what I was telling you!! We need to move."
They could hear the creature scratching and whispering behind the door. Suddenly the valve on the watertight door began to slowly turn, squeaking loudly.
Rebecca quickly yanked the Water Crest out of its slot. The door beeped and was electronically locked. The valve stopped turning.
Rebecca and Billy stumbled backward as a pounding came from beyond the door. The door shook as a strong force was pounding behind it.
"What do we do?" Rebecca cried.
The pounding stopped. The duo crept cautiously to the door. Suddenly they heard scratching and whispering from above them. Things were banging around as the creature made its way above them.
"The lift!!" Billy cried. He ran to it and pushed the up button.
The lift began to ascend. Rebecca screamed as a long tentacle shot down the hole, followed by another.
"Oh my God!!" Rebecca screamed.
Something was coming down the hole. Five tentacles were through now. A thing was coming down, supported by the tentacles. Only a bit got through when Rebecca and Billy suddenly felt……nothing.
They literally "fell into themselves." They were hot, yet they were cold. They were angry, yet they were peaceful. They were calm, yet they were giddy. They were happy, yet they were sad. It was all gone. All the emotion they had ever felt was suddenly disappearing. They were no longer aware of anything. They could neither see nor could they not see.
When you close your eyes, you still see. You can see the back of your eyelids, black, dark, light. Those are all sights. Rebecca and Billy saw neither of those. To them, sight never existed. Nor did sound, touch, smell, voice. Life was not a concept to them. They were not aware of anything, not of themselves.
Then suddenly, the two were aware of….something. A force so strong that nothing could ever break it. They did not know what this force was, for it was weak. It was a new force, a fire barely lighten, not yet having risen to roaring flames.
Then it came back. All they had lost hit them with such a force that Rebecca screamed and Billy yelped. They looked and saw that the lift was closing on the creature. A tentacle got caught and was severed. It simply vanished as smoke into the air. The lift closed, the hole was sealed.
Rebecca collapsed into Billy's arms. He leaned against a wall and hugged Rebecca close.
"What was that?" Rebecca asked shakily. "That….feeling. Or lack of feeling. I can't quite remember it …for it wasn't really there, yet it was so strongly present. The inability to think, the lack of awareness. I remember…..yet….I don't. For I was unable to create a memory."
She shivered and Billy held her tighter.
"I told you." Billy said. "I said that it fed on humans……but not physically. Mentally. Feeds on thought…life….power…emotion….existence."
"It's so confusing." Rebecca whispered. "So hard to explain. It's as if…the creature feeds on…..your soul…"
The two hugged tighter.
"But what was that…feeling?" Billy asked. "That emotion that was unbreakable. It was there, but I couldn't tell what it was. It was too weak."
"I don't know." Rebecca admitted. "It was so strongly present, but I couldn't grasp onto it. Do you think-"
Just then the scratching got louder and the creature was banging on the ceiling. Rebecca and Billy stood up and watched in horror as the ceiling slowly bent inward.
"RUN!!" Billy cried.
The two ran to the other door and flung it open. They ran through and slammed the door just as the ceiling in the room they came from caved in. Rebecca saw a desk next to the door and dragged it in front of the door. The creature started banging on the other side of the door.
"Let's move!!" Billy cried.
They turned and ran across the small room. It was full of buttons and levers. Rebecca stopped and looked at a lever.
"Come on Rebecca!!" Billy cried.
"Wait!!" she cried.
She pulled down a lever. The screen next to her showed the water level rise. They heard water flowing above them. It filled the room they just came from. The creature let out a roar, cry, scream, whisper, shout, laugh, and sob all at once. Rebecca and Billy looked at each other, frightened.
Suddenly, water started coming out of the door.
"It's not watertight!!" Rebecca cried.
They turned and ran through the last door. It led to a single lift. They closed the door and boarded the lift. It led them to them into another small room. They entered through the door.
They entered the second floor ledge of the giant aquarium room where Billy fought the hybrid. The first floor was completely filled with water. They could see a dark shape swimming around in it. They knew what it was.
"Let's get out before it attacks again." Billy said.
They ran around the catwalk and towards the elevator Jacques took. They entered just as a long smoky tentacle reached onto the railing.
The small service elevator rose and opened into a sewer tunnel. Billy exited and scanned around, spotting a ladder against the far wall.
"Our escape. Let's go." he said.
They ran towards it and Billy climbed up, followed by Rebecca. Billy pushed off the manhole cover and jumped out. Rebecca followed.
They looked around and saw that they had reached the other side of the river. Rebecca raised her eyebrows.
"Well," Billy said. "At least we made it across."
A series of moans and cries arose from the opposite bank. The duo looked across to see hundreds of undead stumbling down the streets towards the river. All types of zombies. Men, women and children, in pajamas, dresses, suits, work clothes, nightgowns, and nude. All of them were gathering at the edge of the river. Every pair of eyes were transfixed on Billy and Rebecca.
"Why are they gathering here?" Rebecca asked.
"Maybe there's no one left…." Billy suggested.
"It looks like it…" Rebecca murmured. "Every zombie on that side of town is here. But…zombies aren't able to tell where the rest of the life is…are they?"
"These are different zombies then." Billy said.
Indeed it seemed as if the undead had gathered at the edge of the river because the rest of the humans were there. Zombies were pouring in from buildings, alleys, streets, everywhere. Most of them were Crimson Head. They roared and screamed.
"What is with those guys?" Billy asked, pointing to the Crimson Heads.
"They're Crimson Heads." Rebecca explained. "I encountered them in the Mansion. It used to be that if you did not decapitate or incinerate a zombie when you killed it, they mutated. But these are strange. They mutate if they taste human blood. That's why half of the zombie's are Crimson Heads."
Billy nodded. Suddenly, a moan was heard and the duo turned to see several zombies were climbing over the truck that was blocking the bridge. The other hundreds of zombies were following them.
"No way," Rebecca said. "These zombies are too smart."
"Listen." Billy said.
She listened for a few seconds. Then she heard it. There was a scratching and whispering sound coming from the manhole. It was getting louder.
"It found us." Rebecca said.
"Run!!" Billy yelled.
They turned and fled down the street as a wave of zombies came over the truck and after them. Rebecca looked behind her to see hundreds of Crimson Heads and zombies chasing after them. Five tentacles were reaching out of the manhole, slowly pulling up….
Rebecca turned her head and continued running with Billy. They hit a road block and ran down a side alley.
"I hate these alleys!!" Rebecca cried.
They navigated through the maze of alleys. They came to a dead end with a door. Billy glanced at Rebecca and she nodded. They entered the building.
It was a large dining room, illuminated by a single candelabra. The floor was heavily coated with dust. It was misty; they had to peer closely to see around. Suddenly a voice spoke.
"Welcome back." Jacques Ashford said. "I see you've met my little toy."
"What do you want?" Billy asked.
"The same thing you want." he replied. "A second chance at life."
Rebecca glanced at Billy. His face showed no emotion.
"What was the toy you mentioned?" Rebecca asked.
"Oh that." Jacques answered. "You know. Makes you feel as if you were never born."
"You created that monster?!" Billy asked.
"Do you know what that creature is?" Jacques asked. "The power it contains? That thing can single-handedly destroy the world. It can eat the soul of every person on the planet. What would be left? Just a bunch of mindless bodies lulling around."
"Is that what you plan on doing?" Rebecca asked. "Using that monster to take over everything?"
"Not me!!" Jacques answered. "Course not. Umbrella is trying to take over. The mindless beings have proven to be the most worthy test subjects. Have you heard of Nemesis and Proto-Nemesis?"
"Yes." Rebecca said impatiently.
"Well. The mindless bodies left from the creature were used in the creation of the Nemesis and Proto-Nemesis."
"What?"
"Yes. An Umbrella corporation here in Europe discovered the Nemesis Virus."
"Which is a parasite." Billy added.
"Exactly." Jacques said. "But no test subject would survive with the parasite in their head. Only one test subject survived. The rest of the subject's minds wouldn't cooperate with the parasite. So the parasite killed it."
"Who was the only survivor?" Rebecca asked.
"A woman." Jacques answered. "Little is known to us about her. The base in Raccoon Forest has been performing countless tests on her. She has turned to and immortal mutant who still retains some human thinking ability. We suspect her to be Lisa Trevor."
Rebecca gasped. "No……"
"What's wrong?" Billy asked.
"Lisa….poor girl…..what did you do to her?" Rebecca cried.
"Ah yes." Jacques said. "I remember. You ran into her a couple of times, when the S.T.A.R.S. were in the Mansion. Yes, little Lisa has been most helpful. You see, the Nemesis virus was allowed access to her ear canal. It climbed in, and simply…vanished."
"What?" Billy asked.
"Lisa absorbed it." Jacques said. "It became apart of her. The researchers deemed her useless. But I was there. I stayed to watch her. They thought the virus had disappeared. But it only got stronger. It absorbed some of Lisa too. She had been infused with so many viruses that the Nemesis Virus mutated. It left her, a much different entity. It was still a parasite, only much larger, and much stronger. I captured it. I took it back here, and named it. I called it, the Corrupt Virus."
"What?" Rebecca cried. "That monster is the true virus? What about that red liquid Wesker had? And what is with all the research if no one can get near the creature?"
"The red liquid you saw is an extraction from the head of Corrupt." Jacques saw. "We had to use machinery to get it. We administered it to humans, dogs, cats, everything we could get. Corrupt had to be fed. So we allowed it to eat the soul of humans we'd capture. We'd pin it on someone else, accusing them of murder, rape, whatever."
"You sick people." Billy said.
"But we had to do something with the bodies." he continued. "So we decided to perform experiments on them. That's when I had an idea. Since these bodies had no mind…they couldn't fight the Nemesis Virus. So we ordered a sample. We administered it to a body. The parasite was able to work with the body. Soon it began to mutate. We sped up the process by giving it some T-Virus. Then we added some Corrupt Virus. That's where we went wrong. Thus the Proto-Nemesis was born. It was unstable, not a very good B.O.W. But the authorities were intrigued. They ordered the other base to give their research to us."
"Authorities?" Billy asked.
"Leaders of Umbrella, at the main headquarters." Jacques said absently. "So we performed on another body. This time we added T-Virus, but not any Corrupt Virus. Thus Nemesis was born. But Corrupt started getting restless. It was starting to develop such strength that it was kept in Maximum Containment. So we moved it. We created a passage from the base to the sewers. It was stored their, with plenty of room to move about."
"How did it get out?" Rebecca asked.
"Well," Jacques began. "Some asshole tried to steal a sample of the virus. But we booby trapped it. We knew what he was up to before he did it. So creatures were let out. But we'd been prepared. We handled it pretty well. But something happened. Something we didn't expect. Nearby residents decided to investigate. They entered the building and saw what we were up to. Soon the whole town knew."
"And you couldn't let that happen." Billy said.
"No. We couldn't." Jacques said. "So we threatened to let our creations loose on the town if they told. They kept quiet. But we knew they wouldn't for long. When you two arrived we realized that someone in the town had tipped S.T.A.R.S. off. So we needed to kill off the whole town. We cut off every retreat, and slipped the Corrupt Virus and the T-Virus into the water supply. People were dying left and right."
"You bastards!!" Billy screamed.
"The zombie population expanded rapidly." Jacques said smugly. "What we hadn't expected was for the townsfolk to retaliate. The police banded together, and secured the hotel. Many citizens took up arms and stayed in the hotel for shelter. They blew up an oil truck on the bridge, so the zombies wouldn't be able to get passed."
"But how did Corrupt get out?" Rebecca asked impatiently.
"I decided that we needed to get rid of the town quickly." Jacques said. "That's what I was doing when we met in the sewer. I set it loose, knowing it would find its way out. I was hoping it would kill you, if the hybrid didn't. But you escaped. So now, I can kill you."
He raised a pistol and aimed at Rebecca's head. Billy grabbed her and they huddled together. But they heard something. A noise outside, very familiar to them. Scratching. Whispering.
"It's Corrupt!!" Jacques cried. He turned and fled out another door. Something fell out of his pocket. Rebecca stooped down and grabbed it.
"It's the fire crest!" she exclaimed.
"Let's move!!" Billy cried.
So they ran out a different door. It put them on the main road. Straight ahead was the hotel. She could see police cars around it and people moving around. They weren't walking like zombies.
"We made it!!" she cried.
Suddenly, Corrupt jumped in front of them. Rebecca let out a scream.
It looked like an octopus, with black, smoky tentacles. But the head was solid. It was somewhat shaped like a brain. What was even more bizarre was the eyes all over the head. They were looking all around. Then she saw the mouth. It was a small hole. It reminded Rebecca of a nose. The whispering was coming from it. It seemed to be tasting the air, smelling it, looking for life. Corrupt was bigger then Rebecca and Billy combined.
Rebecca and Billy expected to "fall into themselves" again. But Corrupt was distracted. It wasn't paying attention to them. Rebecca automatically gripped her crossbow and shot Corrupt. The arrow stuck on its head and it did its scream, cry, laugh, shout and sob. Its eyes focused on Rebecca. The whispering got louder.
Billy watched as Rebecca's eyes emptied. Her body went limp and she started stumbling pointlessly. Then she collapsed on the ground and twitched. Billy felt horror just watching it.
Rebecca was gone. Her emotions were being emptied. She couldn't see, couldn't remember, nothing. She wasn't aware of her actions. She wasn't aware of being there, being a human. But then she felt it. A small feeling, stronger then before. Senses started returning. She was aware, aware of not being aware. So she grasped onto the small emotion.
She felt something. Something alien, foreign. Confusion. But not from her. As she delved deeper into the small emotion, she realized it was Corrupt's confusion she was feeling. It was confused. Its prey had never fought back. It was also angry, angry that there was and emotion it couldn't get to. Rebecca felt another sense coming back. Her fear was hitting her full force. But before she could use her limited ability to ponder what her fear was, all her feelings hit her full force. She screamed loudly and fell back on the ground.
Billy pumped the shotgun and shot Corrupt again. Corrupt did its roar again then turned and started sucking Billy's emotions. Billy lost everything. But felt that small emotion again. He grabbed it. Then everything came back.
Rebecca fired the crossbow again. She ran forward and slammed her fist straight into Corrupt. It roared and started eating Rebecca. But it had barely started when it felt a hundred bullets enter its body.
Rebecca and Billy turned to see a police squad attacking Corrupt with pistols, shotguns and assault rifles. Corrupt flew into the air. It hovered for a moment, letting bullets enter its body. Then it attacked. Immediately and officer fell on the ground. Before he could come back, Corrupt grabbed him in its tentacles.
There was a blinding light. Rebecca could have sworn she heard a whooshing sound as the body of the officer fell to the ground. He rolled around, and made sputtering noises. It was over. His soul was gone forever.
Corrupt attacked the remaining officers. It was able to drain two officers before it weakened. Rebecca and Billy had entered the fray. Corrupt started going berserk, and everyone in that area suddenly disappeared. There bodies were there, but they had no minds.
Rebecca and Billy grasped the small emotion they felt. It was getting stronger. Soon a few abilities were coming back to them. Corrupt was too distracted by the other officers to pay too much attention to there defense. But it noticed them. It fought back as well as it could. Rebecca and Billy realized that it was only absent-mindedly fighting them. It could easily defeat them.
Then they received sight. Looking down, Rebecca saw a gun in her hand, but didn't know what it was. She dropped it. They realized they could control their hands. They got excited. Then they wondered what excitement was. They delved deeper into the ever-growing emotion.
Rebecca reached into her boot. It was merely and explorative gesture. She was wondering why she was wearing a boot. She wanted to know what her feet looked like. She felt something. She pulled it out. It was her combat knife. Suddenly a brief memory hit her. The first memory she had felt. It was a memory of her stabbing something with it. Then she felt a new emotion. Hate. She realized she hated Corrupt. She put her emotion and her memory together.
Looking around, she spotted Corrupt grasping an officer in its tentacles. She stumbled to it, and drove the knife into its head.
Cries erupted from the area. All the emotions flooded back into the officers and Rebecca and Billy. They stood up to see Rebecca standing with a knife in Corrupt. Corrupt was not moving. Before their eyes, it suddenly turned to smoke. A breeze caught the smoke and drove it towards sea.
"Merci vraiment ma'am!! Êtes-vous bien? Nous vous avons entendu crier et avons vu la créature et sommes venu pour aider et-" an officer said.
"Wait!!" Rebecca cried. "We're American. I'm Officer Rebecca Chambers from S.T.A.R.S. This is ex-Lieutenant Billy Coen. We're here to stop Umbrella."
"Oh!! Thank goodness some help has arrived!! You are truly good luck, ma'chere. Where is the rest of your troops?" the officer said in pretty good English.
Rebecca glanced at Billy.
"We'll talk at the hotel." Rebecca and Billy said together.
So they walked with the remaining officers down the road.
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Yay!! I'm done!! I think this was a pretty good chapter. Please read and review!! Your reviews really keep me going. Thanks!! Can any of you guess what the emotion the Corrupt can't eat and only Rebecca and Billy have (as far as you know)?
