I'm back again with yet another chapter. This is my longest one yet. Hopefully you all will be pleased, as that what I aim to do. I'd like to thank my usual reviewers SeventhTheory, staterfs, and hpfreak2008, and also thank my new reviewers dj2104 and crono. As always I enjoy the reviews you all leave. The current hit count is now 468, up 101 from last time. In only three days!! So I'm doing something right. So sit back and enjoy!!
Chapter Seven!!
Then a figure leapt in front of the truck.
Jill instinctively slammed on the brakes, bringing the truck to a sudden halt. Something was familiar about the figure, which could now be identified as a black man.
Then Carly remembered. It was the same dude back when her and Sam were in the police station. Jill had shot the cuffs off the man which connected him to the chair he was in. He was talking a mile a minute, just as he had in the station, and it looked like he had no obvious wounds, so he wasn't infected. Yet.
The man ran up to the drivers-side window, only to find the muzzle of one of Jill's automatics pointed right in his face.
Holding up his hands in defense, the man cried, "It's cool officer, it's cool. Look I ain't one 'a them things! Ain't even been bit or nothin'." To prove his point, he did a full three-sixty. His clothes were a bit ruffed-up, and also ugly as hell, but he looked to have no apparent injuries. He gave Jill a desperate look, not knowing what would happen if she said no.
Indicating the passenger side with her head, Jill said, "Climb aboard."
The man clapped his hands quickly and rushed to the other side of the truck as he said, "Damn! I thought I was the last dude alive. But when I heard them gunshots, I came 'a runnin'." He opened the door and slid in besides Terri, and offered his hand.
"Lloyd Jefferson Wayne. But y'all can call me L.J. on account of the informal situation."
Before L.J. even had a chance to finish closing the door, Jill had already put the truck into drive and was proceeding down the street.
"Terri Morales." she shook his hand.
L.J. shook her hand, and turned his head towards Carly and Sam, who were in the seat behind him. He stared at them for a second, then suddenly his face lit up.
"Hey, I remember you two. Yea—you the ones who were in the monkey station earlier today. Am I right?"
Carly smirked. "Yea, that's us. I remember you too. You were the one who was chained to the chair. I'm Carly by the way. That's Sam next to me." She offered her hand to L.J., who quickly shook it, and was about to shake Sam's when he got a closer look. His eyes about bulged out of his head.
"Damn girl, you look like you 'bout to pass out—yo face pale as hell." he then took notice of her wrapped-up ankle. "You get caught up with one of those weird people or somethin'?" Sam weakly nodded her head, then began to scratch furiously at her ankle. She scratched so hard that after a few seconds, the wound opened up slightly and blood poured out.
"Sam you okay? Please stop scratching, it's not helping." Carly yelped in surprise. Thinking quick, she grabbed the bottom of her dress and ripped it slightly, tearing off a small piece. She yanked Sam's hand away from her ankle and quickly tried to re-cover the wound. "It hurts," Sam mumbled. "And I'm thirsty and hungry as hell." Carly sighed as she closed up the wound. Sam just leaned back and closed her eyes.
Carly was getting more worried about her Sam. She was now getting the urge to scratch the wound, which looked even worse then it did last time, she was sweating like it was a hundred degrees, even thought it had to be only sixty, and her face was even more pale than earlier, if that was even possible. All these signs pointed towards the virus, but Carly refused to believe it.
As Jill turned the truck onto another street, L.J. said, "Yo cop lady, where the fuck we goin'? Cause I'm tellin' you right now, this ain't the way outta town, and there ain't nowhere else to be but gone, you know what I'm sayin'?"
"We're searching for a certain something."
"You shittin' me. We supposed to find one little object in this town? We talkin' needles and haystacks, yo.'
"We know where it probably is," Jill said. "When we find it, the owner is going to get us out of this town."
"Yea, okay, I'm all for that. I seen shit today that would turn me white. If you can get me outta here and someplace where they don't have zombie-ass mother fuckers and big-ass white folks with tubes in they arms that shoot up cops--"
"What did you say?" Jill asked quickly.
"What did I say what?"
"Who shoot up cops?"
"This twelve-foot-tall motherfucker with tubes and packin' mad heat shot us up. Some cop named Henderson and a bunch of them moon units where there too."
"You means S.T.A.R.S."
"What the fuck ever bitch, point is, they all now dead thanks to that big ass dude. So faster you can get my narrow ass outta here, the happier I be."
"Understand something asshole," Jill said tightly. "You help out, you get out of town too. Get in our way, or get bit by some asshole—and I will put a bullet into the pea you call your brain, understand?"
L.J. held up his hands. "Hey, it's cool, yo, it's cool. You the boss-lady."
"Just remember that."
It wasn't that hard for Carly to make out the building. It was by far the tallest one on the block, and it was the only one with the lights still on. She wondered if that was a good thing or not.
Jill stopped the truck in front of the main entrance, where everyone piled out. Carly had to help Sam out of the truck, but somehow she was still able to stand. The familiar red-and-white umbrella logo was displayed above the main doors, and below the logo it read:
UMBRELLA PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
Carly stood at the entrance and looked straight up. The building at to be at lease twenty stories or so. Sam whistled. "Damn, this is needles and haystacks. How the hell are we supposed to find what we're looking for when we've only got maybe a few hours?"
Jill frowned. Not until now did she realize how far-fetched this task was. She began to reconsider.
"Okay. If anyone wants to back down now, I have no hard feelings. We could either search the building and get the information, or we can try to find another way out of the city."
Surprisingly L.J. was the first to disagree, shaking his head. "I really don't think it matters what the fuck we do now. We probably gonna die either way. I say we search the damn building. If we get lucky, maybe we can also find somethin' to help out what's-her-face over here." he pointed to Sam.
Carly instantly agreed. "I have to agree with L.J. I can't turn down the possibility of being able to help Sam." Sam just nodded her head, as did Terri.
Jill smiled. "I don't know why I even doubted in the first place. So it's agreed—we find the information and catch our free ride out of here. Now let's go." She drew out both her automatics and approached the door. Carly and Sam followed her, with L.J. and Terri trailing.
They entered the doors, and were instantly met with darkness. The only light was the flickering of a distant computer screen, which gave off blue light.
"We need some light in here." said Sam.
Carly just looked at her and shrugged her shoulders.
"Well don't everyone look for a switch all at once," Sam sighed. She want over to the desk with the computer and began to feel around for a switch.
"I think I found-- ow!" It sounded as if Terri had run straight into a wall. She reached out with her arm, found some switches, and flipped them at random. Everyone was happy to see the room flooded with light.
"I tink I boke my nose," Terri said. Her nose was now bleeding profusely. "Dow my eyes urt doo."
Sam bit her lower lip in an attempt to stop her laughter. Instead, she went to the other side of the reception desk and began to look around for anything useful. She didn't spot anything of use, but she did spot something else.
On the keyboard of the computer, there was a locket of some sort in the shape of a heart. The chain on it was unhooked. It looked like it was thrown here at the last second, as half of the chain was off the keyboard and hanging off the desk. Sam picked the locket up closely and inspected it. The heart was medium-sized, and it was a light shade of pink, with a small diamond in the centre of it. It also looked very expensive, and left Sam thinking how it got here in the first place. She thought of leaving it, but reconsidered. Instead she placed it around her neck, and messed with the little hook on the chain, trying to get it to connect. After a second, she managed to get it connected, and smiled.
Sam turned around to speak, but her face quickly fell to a frown. She was met with a red laser pointed straight at her chest. She looked up and spotted a man near a doorway to her left, next to the reception desk. He was holding an automatic rifle of some kind, and oddly smiling. "What the hell!" she shouted.
Jill also turned around and aimed both her automatics at the sight of the man. L.J. even unholstered his two Dessert Eagles and aimed them at the man. Terri was still complaining about her nose to really notice.
"No, don't shoot, don't shoot! He's with me." Another figure walked out of a doorway that was behind the man. It was Alice.
Jill sighed but didn't put down her weapons. L.J. though was the first to comment. "Damn man, I thought I was 'bout to shoot up some zombie shit." He put away his weapons and nodded his head. "I'm L.J."
"Carlos Olivera at your service." he nodded his head back.
"Wait. You work for Umbrella?" Jill said, gesturing to his attire. He was wearing an all black uniform. It had a name tag with the Umbrella symbol that read Olivera.
"Used to—until they left my team and I for dead. We never had a chance."
Jill was still reluctant to put down her weapons, but when she saw Alice looking at her, she finally holstered them. If Alice was able to trust him, then Jill should.
"Well, that's all settled, but what the hell do we do now?" Sam said, who was leaning against the reception desk for support.
"Ashford said that the information was located in one of the underground laboratories. We should get moving."
Carly sighed, not liking where this was going. "For all we know there could be several levels of labs. Even so, we still could be in the wrong place. Also, no telling what the hell else could be down there."
Everyone looked at Alice, waiting for a response to that. She just shrugged.
"I honestly have no clue. That's what the man told me. So we're going in blind. Nothing we can do about it. So you guys ready or not?" She confirmed this by unloading her shotgun. She turned without waiting for a response and approached the elevator which was on the far side of the lobby.
L.J. pointed to Alice as she walked by. "I don't know about y'all, but I'm highly inclined to follow her ass." he said and began to follow. Jill looked at everyone else, and also began to follow. Sam, Carly, and Carlos followed suit, with Terri bringing up the rear. Alice was first to board the elevator, followed by everyone else.
Carly looked at the panel with all the buttons and various labeled levels. She saw two were labeled with 'Lab One' and another with 'Lab Two'. There were several other buttons which accounted for the upper levels, and some of the other bottom levels. It looked like it was going to be a long night.
"I see two buttons here for labs." she spoke.
Alice turned her head towards the panel.
"That means there's probably two floors of labs."
"Great" said Sam gruffly.
"So that means we're going to have to split up. There's no way we can cover both floors in enough time if we stay together."
"Even greater."
Alice ignored Sam's comment. "Jill, you are going to take Sam, Carly, and L.J. You guys are going to cover the first lab. Terri, Carlos, and I will take the second. Okay?"
Jill scoffed. "Who made you the leader of this show?"
Alice responded by cocking her shotgun. Carly leaned over and whispered to Jill, "I think she's got you there." Jill frowned, while Alice smirked.
"Okay, so does everyone have a weapon of some type?" Carlos tried to change the subject.
"No." Carly said quickly.
"Can you shoot?" said Alice, who looked as Carly skeptically.
"My dad taught me."
"Can your dad shoot?" Alice countered.
"He does Spec-Op missions for the Army."
"Okay, that'll work." Alice unholstered one of her handguns and handed it to Carly, who took it.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Jill, who was eying Carly.
"Can't be too sure. We don't know what could be down here." was Alice's response.
Carly stuck her tongue out at Jill, who chuckled. "Okay, as you say."
Alice continued. "So we all ready now? Good. Now lets go." She was about to push the button labeled 'Lab One', but L.J. stopped her. Alice looked at him with a death glare.
"So how the hell are we 'sposed to tell each other if we found what we came here for?"
Carly hadn't thought of that. She looked over to Alice.
Alice looked surprised. "Oh I almost forgot. Carlos--" she stuck out her hand, and Carlos produced two radios among him and placed them in her hand. "Here. You contact us when you find it, or you need help. We'll do the same if we do. Even though Umbrella has everything else jammed, they left a channel open for Carlos and his team. Just stay on channel six and we should be able to hear each other." Alice handed one of the radios over to Jill, who gracefully took it.
"So now we ready?" Alice looked around the elevator to see everyone nodding their heads. She then moved her hand to the panel and pressed the buttons for 'Lab One' and 'Lab Two'. The elevator doors shut, but the elevator itself did not. Alice just stared down at the panel and pressed the two buttons again. Again the elevator did not move. "What the hell?"
A mechanical voice blasted through an unseen speaker in the elevator.
"These levels require authentication. Please scan the appropriate key card or enter passcode into the panel."
A new panel appeared right next to the first panel. There was a small screen with numbers on it, and it also said 'Enter Passcode'. There was also a spot where someone would scan a key card. The only problem was that Alice had neither of these things.
"Shit." She began to press random numbers hoping that it would work.
"Incorrect passcode. Three attempts remaining. If the correct passcode is not entered after the fourth attempt, the elevator will shut down for one hour while the passcode is reset."
Carly sighed. They didn't have an hour to wait for the elevator to reset. Sam maybe didn't have an hour.
Again Alice tried random numbers, but had no success.
"Incorrect passcode. Two att--"
"Damnit!" Alice slammed her fist down on the screen.
"Incorrect passcode. One attempt remaining."
"What the hell do we do now big-shot?" Jill said sarcastically. Alice gave her an icy stare.
"The hell with this. Carly, let me see that gun that Alice gave you."
"What for?" Carly looked at Sam in shock.
"Just give it to me." Carly reluctantly handed the gun over to Sam. She turned off the safety and cocked it back.
"Sam what are you--" but Carly was cut off at the sound of several gunshots that echoed loudly throughout the cramped elevator. She screamed, along with Terri. After a few more seconds, the gunfire stopped, as Sam had expanded the whole clip.
Carly was about to speak when the computer voice spoke through the speakers.
"-sscode accep..d. Ave ...ood morn...g." it said in a broken voice. The elevator than began to move, bringing the group slowly deeper beneath the earth, deeper into Umbrella.
"Or we could of just done that." Alice said. She looked very amused, as did Carlos. Jill didn't look very happy, L.J. was laughing his ass off, Terri looked as she was going to cry, and Carly just stood shell shocked.
"Dun dun duuuunnnnn. You are all welcome." Sam said, smiling.
After a minute or two, the elevator shuddered to a halt.
"-elcome to Lab One. Plea.. exit and ave a ni.. ..ay." said the broken robotic voice.
"Well, this is your guy's stop. Good luck." said Carlos.
The elevator doors opened, only to reveal total darkness. Carly turned towards him.
"Are you sure this is right?"
He shrugged "It's what the panel says—or what's left of it."
Carly sighed, not happy with the situation. Literally going in blind. Not the best option, but the only one.
Jill was the first one to exit. She was holding a flashlight under one of her automatics, which she had drawn. L.J. then followed her out, followed by Carly. Sam was the last to go. She stepped out, suddenly dizzy, and stumbled. Her vision blurred and she clutched the back of Carly for support as she began to fall to the floor. Carly quickly turned around and caught her just before Sam hit the ground.
"Sam are you all right?"
Sam looked up as her vision began to clear. The first thing she saw were Carly's brown eyes, which were wide with concern. So beautiful, intoxicating. I could stare all day into those eyes...
"Yea, I'm fine. Just got a little dizzy there. Nothing to worry about." said Sam. She still had a slight headache, but was able to stand back up, without the support of Carly.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes Carly. I'll be fine."
"If you say so..." said Carly uncertainly.
They watched as the elevator doors closed behind them, obscuring their view of Alice, Carlos, and Terri.
"Okay, let's get a move on." said Jill, who was now pointing her flashlight at Carly and Sam.
The four of them progressed along what was turning out to be a long, dark corridor with several unexpected twists and turns. Jill led the group with her flashlight, L.J. right behind her, and Carly and Sam right behind him.
After a few moments, they finally reached what seemed to be the doors that led into the laboratory. The doors weren't labeled simply as 'Lab One', but instead there was a serial number of some sort, and beneath that was a Biohazard symbol.
"Anything be in there waitin to bite our asses?" said L.J.
Jill peered into one of the windows. It was dark, just like it was outside "It's pretty dark in there, but I don't see anything nasty."
"Well, what are we waiting on? Let's get in there." Carly said.
Jill nodded, and tugged at the door, but it didn't budge. She tried again, putting all of her strength into pulling the door open, but it didn't even move an inch. L.J. came over to help, but even so the door would just not budge.
"Fuck this." L.J. said and drew one of his guns and shot two shots at the window. But the window didn't even shatter. "This shit must be bullet proof or somethin'."
"The doors must be locked, you idiots!. And I don't think we'll be getting in without something else. Look at the friggin' keyhole!" Sam said, any everyone turned their attention to the door handles.
The keyhole was something none of them have seen before. It was a weird shape—definitely not the shape of any normal key. There was also writing stitched into the wall. L.J. looked at the writing.
"Of glass, of stone, pure, black, cold, or easily broken. This centre is the key to everything".
L.J. raised an eyebrow. "The fuck does that mean?"
Jill sighed. "No clue. Let's look around here and see if we can find something to fit into that hole." Everyone nodded their heads, and began to search the area looking for something, anything.
Sam, though, remained by the door. She was trying to interpret what the hell was written in the wall. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. She flipped it open and aimed it, using it as a light to get a batter look at the writing and the lock.
Of glass, of stone, pure, black, cold, or easily broken. This centre is the key to everything
"What the hell..." she whispered.
Sam stared at the writing, and could not think of any means as to what the phrase was supposed to mean. Instead, she traced her fingers along the edge of the keyhole, which was a weird shape.
Suddenly, she had an idea. The outline that she had traced from the keyhole was in the shape of a heart...
A heart of Glass, a heart made of Stone. A pure heart. Black hearted or cold hearted. Hearts can be easily broken. The heart is the centre to everything... Of course!
Sam began fumbling with the chain around her neck to hurriedly take it off. She unclasped it and it fell into her hand. She looked at the diamond encrusted heart. It looked about the right size to fit into the keyhole.
Maybe this was the key they're looking for. Oh well, there was only on way to find out...
Sam inserted the necklace into the keyhole, where it fit perfectly. At first, nothing happened. Sam frowned. She was so sure that this was what was going to get them in. She reached out to remove the necklace, but there was a loud thud, and the heart began to turn in the keyhole.
"Hey guys! I think I found our way in!" Sam shouted to the others, who hurried over to the door.
The heart turned until it was upside down in the keyhole. There was another loud thud, and lights began turning on inside of the lab. Jill slowly reached her hand out towards one of the door handles and tugged at it. The door didn't budge at all. She frowned, and was about to give up, then suddenly decided to try the other door. She tugged at the handle and it opened swiftly.
"How the hell did you get the doors to unlock?" said Carly, who was staring at the doors like it was a monstrosity.
"Well, I looked at the keyhole up close, and noticed that it was the shape of a heart. And then I realized I just might have the solution to the problem," Sam pointed down to the necklace. "so I just put in to see what would happen and boom—Doors unlocked."
"What? You found the key? Where the hell did you find it? Let us see!" Jill said.
Sam reached down and gently removed the necklace from the keyhole, afraid of what would happen, but nothing did. She handed it to Jill, who held it closer to her flashlight so everyone could get a better look.
"Where did you find this?" asked Jill
"On the desk in the lobby when we first entered the building."
"Wow, this looks expensive as heck. Who would be stupid enough to just leave it lying around?" asked Carly.
"Some stupid-ass motherfucker, that's who." L.J. cut in. "Wait a sec..could this possibly be the thing we were sent here to look for? By the way, what the hell are we looking for? We was never told."
Jill frowned, but shook her head.
"I don't think this is it. Alice told me that Ashford described it as being in an aluminum case. And there would be several other things inside of the case, all of which is needed."
"Damn, and I thought we had it easy right here, ya know what I'm sayin'?"
Jill smirked. "You wish."
"We all do." said Carly.
Sam pointed towards the necklace.
"Can I have that back now?"
Jill nodded and handed it back over to Sam, who then put it back around her neck. "Don't lose that. It might be useful again later." Sam nodded.
"Maybe we should radio the others and tell them what we found. They might have the same problem as us." Carly states.
"You're right. I'll take care of that." Jill reached for her radio, which was clipped to her waist. She turned it on and spoke into the receiver.
"Alice, Carlos, this is Jill. Do you read me?"
There were a few seconds of static, but the voice of Carlos came through.
"Yea, we read you. Everything ok?"
"Yea, we're just entering through the lab doors now. Did you guys have any issues?"
"Yea, the doors to the main part were locked. But we managed to get in by using a vent system we found. We just entered the lab and are moving forward."
"Copy that. Radio in if you guys find something."
"Roger that. Good luck."
Jill returned the radio to her waist and spoke again.
"Is everyone okay to go?" There was a unanimous chorus of 'Yes'.
"Good. Lets go then."
The group's mood lightened considerably as they entered the laboratory. But even as Jill opened the door to gain entrance, Sam realized she had just lied to the others. No. she was everything but okay.
Her head ached. She felt sick, dizzy, and was sweating like a pig. She didn't think she could take it anymore. The first time she itched it in the truck it wasn't that bad. But this time—No—she couldn't stand it any longer.
Sam finally gave into temptation. Her hand moved to her unbearable, itchy ankle, and she started to scratch...very hard...