Biohazard: Resident Evil VII

Chapter Seven: The Baker Family

The next part of the house that Ethan saw was more dimly lit than the laundry room had been, but the few scattered lights that worked were enough to show that this place was in a state of neglect and disrepair. It wasn't nearly as bad as the other house had been, at least as far as the walls crumbling and such, but it was easily just as dirty. There was so much clutter around; broken crates and a ridiculous amount of newspapers scattered about as Zoe pushed his wheelchair down the hallway, but this was nothing compared to what he saw after they rounded the next corner.

"Well, here he is at last." An almost cackling woman's voice announced as they entered the dining room. "Rise and shine, sleepyhead… you don't wanna miss supper, now, do ya?"

This place, as well as the attached kitchen beyond the large table that Zoe pushed him up to, were just… just disgusting. There was trash and remnants of molding food on the floor, and inside the kitchen, the refrigerator and stove were covered with what Ethan hoped was dirt. As for the table itself, it was rounded, and covered with a smorgasbord of different meats that were unrecognizable. The stench was horrific, and the meats were starting to green, as if having been cut from… whatever it came from, before being left to rot… but the others at the table, aside from Zoe, were having no trouble eating their fill.

The strange man that he had seen before, was sitting at the head of the table, and on his left was the woman with the cackling voice, who appeared to be about the same age as him, probably his wife. Like Zoe, she was dirty, although her unkempt hair was much longer, and to the right of the strange man, was another, younger man with a bald head, who appeared to be around the same age as Zoe. The final member of the group was an elderly woman, who was also in a wheelchair, although unlike Ethan, she wasn't bound, and appeared to be sleeping.

"Mia?" He asked, noticing that she wasn't there. "Where's Mia?"

"Oh, quit your worrin' now." The cackling woman answered, taking another bite of her… food. "The supper table ain't no place for frettin', so you just eat up now. It's real good."

"I don't think he cares for your food, mama." The younger man added, almost laughing. "Way he keeps lookin' over at Zoe, you'd think he were in love. Is that is, city-boy? Was you in there gettin' all sweet on my sister, huh? Was ya? Then you must be hungry… here, have some!"

With that, the younger man picked up a while plate of meat, and tossed it right into Ethan's face, making him look away and wretch a little as it fell onto the floor. The younger man laughed hysterically at this, even as the cackling woman voiced her disapproval at his actions, and he was reaching for another plate, when the strange man grabbed him by his forearm. The laughing stopped as the strange man forced the younger man's wrist down onto the table, picking up a steak knife and stabbing it right through the younger man's hand, and making him scream in more surprise than pain when he pulled it back.

"What I tell you bout' talkin' that way bout' your sister, boy?" The strange man scolded as the younger one tried to remove the knife. "Now, we got us a guest tonight, so you behave yourself, hear? Gonna make him think we're a bunch'a heathens, the way you're carryin' on. Anyhow… welcome to our home, Ethan… I'm Jack Baker, the head of this wonderful family, and to my left is my lovely wife, Marguerite. This dipshit on the other side is my son, Lucas, and, well… you've already met my beautiful daughter, Zoe. Oh, and over there by you is… well, bless her heart, she fell asleep again."

All of the Bakers suddenly let out a simultaneous awwwww, as if the sleeping elderly woman, who Ethan had to assume was Granny Baker, was the most adorable thing in the world. They all resumed eating a moment later as if nothing had happened, but none of them seemed to notice that Zoe was looking away sadly, instead of eating, herself. As disgusting as watching them eat was, it gave Ethan some time to think of how the hell he was going to get out of this mess, but unfortunately, nothing came to mind.

"Honey, he ain't eatin'." Marguerite exclaimed, pointing to him. "I made all this special for him, why ain't he eatin'?"

"Oh, calm down, woman." Jack answered, slowly standing up. "Zoe left him all tied up; can't ya see the poor boy can't eat? And he needs it, too, just look at'em… so damn skinny, if he turned sideways and stuck out his tongue, he'd look like a zipper."

Tensing up his arms in a failed attempt to break out of the duct take that held his wrists down, there seemed to be nothing that Ethan could do as Jack made his way around the table toward him. Once there, the strange man picked up a small piece of whatever was sitting in front of him, and of course, Ethan kept his mouth closed, turning his head away when the meat was brought up to his lips.

"Are you fuckin' kiddin' me?!" Marguerite suddenly screamed, jumping to her feet and pounding the table with her fist. "I spent hours puttin' this meal together for you, you son of a bitch! You too good for my food, you little… you little son of a bitch?! Then fuck you! Fuck you, and this supper!"

Now kicking her chair over, and continuing to scream her rage and disappointment as she stormed off toward the nearest door, Marguerite Baker shoved it open, before vanishing out into another hallway, with everyone else listening as her screams grew fainter. However, once they could no longer be heard, everyone else turned their attention back to a now very nervous Ethan… and Jack did not look happy.

"Will you look at what you done, boy?" The strange man said with more anger in his voice. "You done went and hurt her feelins', and, well… my wife's at that age where, you know, women tend to get a lot more sensitive bout' some little prick what won't eat their supper!"

With that, Jack picked up another steak knife, and Ethan tasted some blood as the tip of the blade was quickly slashed across his cheek, making him cry out in fear. The strange man then picked up another piece of meat, this time forcing it against Ethan's closed lips, and even starting to slide the knife into his mouth in an attempt to force his teeth open… until they were interrupted by a loud buzzing sound. This startled Jack so much that he quickly pulled the knife out, cutting Ethan's lip while Lucas also stood up.

"Goddamn it!" Lucas exclaimed, starting toward the door. "I bet it's that fuckin' cop again! I had enough of this damn pig; I'll take care of'em, daddy."

"Lucas, you couldn't take care of a damn gerbil." Jack said, looking after him. "Lucas, come back here! Damn that boy… you just sit tight, Ethan… we'll finish supper later."

Seeming to forget that they had a captive at all, Jack followed Lucas out of the room, leaving Ethan alone with Zoe and Granny. The short-haired woman waited a few seconds to make sure the others were gone, and then got out of her seat, stealthily taking something out of her pants pocket as she walked toward him. At first Ethan couldn't tell what it was, but then she opened the blade, revealing that it was a jack knife, which she used to just as stealthily slice through the tape on his wrist, and slip the weapon into his pocket as she walked past him.

"I'll just, uh… take her up to her room." Zoe said, getting behind Granny Baker's wheelchair. "Now you just… don't try nothin' while I'm gone."

Confused by her choice of words, but completely understanding Zoe's desire to help him escape, Ethan waited until she and Granny were gone, before pulling his wrist free of what was left of the tape, and using the knife in his pocket to free the rest of his limbs. Okay, so now he was free… but what now? Logic suggested that there had to be a way out of this house, but from what he had seen from the outside earlier in the day, the place was massive. That, and the Bakers probably weren't going to stay away for long.

The nice thing about a place this size was that there were probably plenty of places that someone could hide… or maybe they could just jump out the nearest window and run for it. This seemed like a much better plan than hiding, and once outside, Ethan could either run for it, or maybe try to find this cop that Lucas had mentioned. Wouldn't that be a lucky break? So he ran across the room toward the nearest window, pulled the curtains back, and gasped when he saw that metal bars had been placed over all of the windows, as if this were a bad neighborhood in the city.

"Oh, no." He whispered, moving to the next window and checking it, finding the same thing. "No, no, no, no, no."

Each window that he came to was the same; sturdy metal bars mounted on the outside to keep people from breaking in, or in Ethan's case, from breaking out. A disturbing thought entered his mind, remembering when Zoe had briefly mentioned not wanting him to end up like the others, meaning that there had maybe been more people that had ended up a captive of the Baker family? Panic was starting to set in as he realized that he was going to have to venture out into other areas of the house, where he might be discovered, but then a figure appeared in the window, making Ethan gasp as he jumped back, tripping over a small pile of books, and falling on his rear.

"Oh, so there is someone home." A man with a deep voice said while shining a flashlight into Ethan's eyes. "What, don't you people know how to answer a doorbell? Hello? Sir, I'm talking to you, now."

Holding up his hand to partially shield his eyes, Ethan was able to see that the man standing outside was wearing clothes that looked almost like a uniform, but then some of the light reflected off of something shiny on the front of his shirt, and he couldn't help jumping to his feet in excitement when he realized that it was a badge. This had to be the cop that Lucas had mentioned, and now Ethan was saved, for sure.

"Hey!" Ethan said, rushing up to the window. "Hey, man, er, Officer… you gotta help me! There's crazy people in this house, and they're trying to fucking kill me!"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down there, son." The cop replied, stepping back from the window and shining his flashlight around the rest of the room. "I need you to calm down… now, I'm Deputy Anderson, from the Vermilion County Sheriff's Office… do you live here, sir? I mean, is this your property?"

Of course, Ethan quickly told him that this wasn't his home, and that he wasn't even from this state, but all of the panic and fear from the nights events might have left him a little excited, since the Deputy seemed to be more off-put by each thing he said. Couldn't blame him though, since form his point of view, Ethan probably seemed like he was the crazy one, but eventually the Deputy just held up his hand to get him to stop talking.

"Okay, okay, just listen a second, son." Anderson said. "I can see something's troubling you, so just meet me around in the garage, and we'll talk there."

"Okay, the garage." Ethan replied as the Deputy walked away. "Wait, the garage? Where the fuck is the garage? Damn it!"