Chapter 7: The Infiltration

The night has fallen upon in this upcoming hour. In the Greek HQ, everybody has went asleep in their own quarters. Not to mention that the Greek BSAA base has some nice interior design inside and out. Once again, I got to share this nice big quarters, not only with Chris and Royce, but with Hunk and Barry as well. Natalia is safe with Claire, Genevieve, Moira and Polly in the quarters next to ours. Jennifer is also safe with them in the room. While the Greek Elite team is keeping watch all over the HQ, we get to rest easy without any problems. As for Arxenel himself, he kept watch of the base, just to kill some time on his hands. Although he is tasked with making sure that the BSAA will not succeed in their mission, Arxenel battles the controlling essence of Umbrella Olympia deep within his own mind. The effects overwhelm him into carrying out his tasks. One of the tasks is to dispose of the princess in the TerraSave quarters. He snuck into the room without anyone noticing, despite of his size. Then the masculine monster approaches the sleeping princess. He glance down at her. With his sharp claws ready, Arxenel towers over her bed and he is about to slaughter her in order to prevent her from aiding the BSAA and the TerraSave members on their mission. Suddenly, his consciousness overwhelms his mind control. Thus it helps him fight off the essence for the atmost part of times, but for how long before he loses control again? The tall muscular B.O.W. backs away from Jennifer and snuck out of the ladies quarters. Upon his exiting, he ran into me. I couldn't sleep at the moment, so I went to get a cup of water. But I ended up running into Arxenel, noticing that he came right out of Claire's quarters.

"Um Arxenel, what are you doing coming out of the women's quarters?" I asked in discernment.

Arxenel plays it cool and covers up his struggles, just to assure me that everything is alright.

"I was making sure that no unexpected visitors come to surprise our teams." Arxenel fibbed. "I'm positive you already know that."

"Oh! Ok, man." I said, shrugging off my suspicion. "If you say so."

I continue walking by him, to fetch my water. Arxenel turns to put his hand on my shoulder gently, stopping me from where I stand. Then he knelt down to whisper in my ear.

"One more thing." he whispered softly to me. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm here for you, Tony. If you need to talk with me, I'll be here."

"Good to know, Arxenel." I responded with a smile as I carried on to the lounging bay.

Arxenel just watches me walk away. He knew that his tasks will end up breaking my heart. This secret revelation will hurt him more than it'll hurt me if his motives were to be discovered. He can't bare to think about it any longer. So the B.O.W. man turns to disappear into the shadows. Morning has arrived but the sky is covered in a blue-ish grey mist. The Greek night squad whom were watching out for the HQ, saw the mist approaching the base. To them, it is an oncoming attack. The HQ went on high alert. That alarm startled me from my sleep. I just noticed that Chris, Royce, Barry and Hunk were woken up from this noise as well. We quickly get dressed ourselves up, equipped our gear on and we immediately rush out of our quarters to join the other soldiers. Arxenel too heard the alarms as he joins us and we all rushed to the open bay. Claire and the ladies were already there, alongside with the other TerraSave agents. As everyone is gathered into the bay, the Greek commander prepares us all for what is coming our way. As Chris suspected, it seems that the viral disease within the mist had to be King Charlie's doing. Even Jennifer knows it from the looks of the mist covering the air, blocking out the sun. After the short briefing, the commander ordered all of us to wear our breathable tactical masks, so it can protect us from the infectious diseases the unknown mist might bring upon the country. All of the BSAA and TerraSave military personnel stood strong at the foot of the doors in front of us. As the doors opens, we all exited outside of the bay. We should be armed and steadfast ready for whatever comes our way but this time, we were not prepared for this. The mist left all of us completely blind. Thus leaving the unknown to ambush us at any given moment. Then all of a sudden, one of our men was snatched away and all we can hear was his screams. The Greek soldiers went on high alert as a few men were picked off, one by one. Due to the mist, it's hard to see the enemy attacking us. But it hadn't stopped Arxenel for he has no problem seeing through the mist. He knew that the enemy is going to attack him. As the unknown attacker pounces on him, out of his quick reflexes, Arxenel grabs hold of the creature's neck. And then he choked the life out of the thing. It turned out to be an highly advanced infectious zombie. From the looks of it's bloodshot eyes, Arxenel realize that there's more of them coming to attack the soldiers. He was right, the minute more zombies sprung out of nowhere. We all have stood our ground and prepare ourselves for the assault.

"Here they come!" I shouted.

"Everyone! Brace yourselves!" shouted Royce.

"Let's move!" commanded Chris, readying his machine shotgun.

With no time to be spared, we all open fire at the hostiles. The Greek Delta team did their best to fend off the other zombies on the left, but lost quite a few more men to these things. Nevertheless, they'd buying us the time to advance forward. During the assault, one of the infected zombies nearly tried to kill Natalia. But Genevieve got to her in the nick of time as she blasts the zombie's head clean off. Then Moira and Polly covered the two, long enough for Genevieve to get the girl to safety. Royce and Hunk push harder through the hordes of zombies, combining more firepower and close combat. Barry helps the other TerraSave mercenaries fend off the horde on the right. The only ones who are leading the three groups of soldiers are Chris, Claire and me. Alongside with Arxenel as our big muscle of the force. The fight is incredibly difficult because these hostiles are moving way too fast for us. We can't even tell where they are going and when they are going to attack. But Arxenel is faster and stronger than them. Although we've lost half a number of our men, we still push harder than before. After the horrific ordeal, we managed to deal with the infected. Now we can move forward to the outer ground of the HQ. With the help of Princess Jennifer, we can pin point the location of the private kingdom of Apollia. We all have waste no time to get ourselves moving for we may never know what might be waiting for us down the road. We each got into our army trucks inside of the garages. Jennifer must stick with Claire and Chris. So she joins them inside of the truck on the frontline. Royce will drive with Hunk and Barry. I join the others in the bigger truck along with Moira, Polly, Genevieve and Arxenel. We received word from the commander that our top priority is to follow Chris and Claire, because they're protecting the princess. And she can also guide them to her kingdom. With Chris's signal, we all roll out. Our teams have departed from the HQ. While on the road to the Athens, the teams drove their trucks behind us, watching our six. I too have my R2 rifle in hand. I turn to Arxenel who also is facing down at me. He shows an expression that ensures me that he won't let anything happen to me, although I'm a soldier. But I respond back to him with a nod. Just as we all have thought that the worst is yet to come, I have a feeling that we're going to find out in a minute. After a long hour drive, we have finally arrive at the Athens. But something is not right. The ethnic towns are completely deserted. Not a single life in sight. From Chris's truck, even Jennifer is petrified by the utter silence. The buildings were in ruins, the streets are damaged, markets are abandoned and bloodshed can be seen from all over the place.

"What the hell has happened here?" I uttered under my breath.

"I can't believe what I'm seeing." says Genevieve. "Could this be Umbrella Olympia's doing?"

"No doubt about it." pouted Moira. "It has to be those motherfuckers. No human being would go and pull this shit!"

"Which is very worrisome to me." remarked Polly.

This just in, Chris radios everyone through.

"Let's keep our guard up, people." Chris commanded through the radio. "These things will appear at anytime. We may not know what we are up against. So stay sharp!"

"Oh believe me, Redfield. I always do stay sharp alright." Arxenel joked a little as he nourish his claws.

We all drove carefully on the streets as we are making our way through the now eerie Greek ghost town. Halfway through the townsite, so little that we know are that we were about to encounter another ambush. Suddenly, Arxenel can smell an incoming ambush from a tall building away. I turn to him, wondering what did he smell.

"What's up, Arxenel?" I asked him.

"They're coming!" growled Arxenel as he went into a predatory manner.

Just as he would suspected when a K'havo drenched in blood pounced on our truck. He tore the roof off with one big hand and then he tries to grab one of us. Arxenel has to fight him off before he could even lay his hands on me. Genevieve can't help Arxenel at the moment because she is driving. So Moira, Polly and I have to help him by shooting the K'havo continuously. Thus leaving Arxenel the opportunity to throw the thing off of the truck. Luckily, no one was hurt by the incident. Not even Royce's truck behind us.

"Yo, big man! A little warning would be nice!" Royce shouts from his driver's window.

"My apologies!" Arxenel responded back to him.

Inside of Chris's truck in front of us, Natalia can sense a sudden danger up ahead of them. She points out at the female zombie charging at their truck. Claire covered for Chris by shooting at the infectious woman from her window. However, the horror is not over. A massive horde of zombies came attacking them from out of the blue. We all take aim and open fire at them, one head at a time. Arxenel leaps out of our truck and attacks the zombies that are blocking Chris's advances. He unleashes his sheer brutality upon the hostilities. With him clearing the way, Chris puts the pedal to the metal, ramming through the horde like they're roadkill. We immediately follow behind them. The town is crawling with highly aggressive and more advanced zombies. They are as fast as Arxenel himself, more persistent and there is no end to the swarm of hostiles anytime soon. One of the few soldiers has to get out and aid the others on foot. Rupert smashes the zombie's head on the concrete as he went onward. Barry covered his back by firing shots at the infected dead behind him. Hunk wipes out the other horde coming out from the buildings. In Genevieve's truck, I reloaded my rifle as Polly covered for me. Then I return to the action. The fight went on for a long time. And it took some doing, but we managed to make it through. All of the hostiles are taken care of but then it is still not over. We noticed that there's more K'havos charging at us. But Arxenel fought a lot of them for as long as he could. One of the K'havos grew a an enormous sharp blade from his arm. And then he went to attack Arxenel, cutting his arm off. I saw Arxenel scream in anguishing pain. I quickly jump out of Genevieve's truck and rush to his aid.

"I'm coming, Arxenel!" I shouted my lungs out. "Hang on!"

But it turns out that he didn't want my help. Arxenel turns to face me as I was a foot away from the confrontational violence.

"No! Stay back!" Arxenel shouts from afar.

I stood there stunned as Arxenel's limb morphs into a razor blade sword. I have no idea he can do that. He resumes his fight with the K'havo. During all of this, a hostile zombie was going to attack me from behind. But I quickly pull out my knife and stab the forehead. We have lost a significant number of other soldiers to these things. The battle in the central Athens is going to be hard fought, but we all manage to pull through the terrain. With Arxenel finishing the last of the K'havos, it is time to press on. Chris signals the teams to move forward as he drove his truck due eastbound. Arxenel regrows his muscular arm within a split second. Then he joins me inside Genevieve's truck. Now we have to find the private kingdom of Apollia. Jennifer guides Chris along the way for she remembers the secret entry to Apollia. The one which she escaped with her servant the last time. She does hope that he's doing okay. Chris follows the map that Jennifer provide for him. It lead them to the middle of nowhere. Chris halts our advance by stopping his truck. According to Claire, it may seem that we all have to go by foot. So he ordered all of us to leave our trucks behind for the time. We all equipped ourselves in our gears and meet up with Chris, Claire, Jennifer and Natalia at the foot of the woods. As we gathered around, Chris stood tall and proud. He is about to give his regards of the upcoming mission.

"So listen up, people!" said Chris in a strong manner. "We are here at the outskirts of the city, Central Athens. You all know your orders! It is our first priority to find King Charlie and Queen Vanessa. We are to stop them and the other people associated with the Umbrella Olympia corporation. Our job is to either bring them back to the USA for justice or we have been granted permission to terminate them on the spot. Either way, we must not let them spread another viral infection across the country and the entire world. We have lost a lot of our fellow good men and women along the way. My condolences goes out to them. But we shouldn't let their deaths be in vain. They would sacrifice themselves for us to move on and to finish the job. So I say that we should honor them by putting an end to this soon-to-be nightmare before it can even happen!"

"So we will keep it short and brief!" Royce announced, standing by Chris's side. "Our other priority is to protect the princess at all cost. We must never lose sight of her and the mission at hand. She is the key into bringing the bioterrorists down to justice. That is what we're going to do. So stay on your toes, stay focus and stay alive! Are you with us!"

"YES, SIR!" shouted all of the soldiers.

Claire turns to the princess whom is standing close to their side.

"Alright, your highness. Can you show us where we are?" says Claire.

Jennifer walks over to the opening entry way of the underground passageway. She remembers the horrific things that happened when her servant protected her from the infected creatures and other nightmarish abominations. Although fearful of the outcome, Jennifer casts aside her fears and she leads them to the passage.

"It's right here." says Jennifer, pointing at the metal staircase. "This is where I escaped from. One of my servants gave his life to protect me and he assured my safety. I owe it to him. I owe it to anyone who I've ever met. If we can go to the laboratory underneath my kingdom, there's a chance we can set things right. I know the way."

"Then we leave it to you, princess." said Chris. "Lead the way."

Jennifer nods her head. Then she leads the BSAA and TerraSave people underground to the ancient catacombs of the Athens. With our weapons ready at hand, we navigate further into the ambient catacombs. During the infiltration, Natalia stays close to Barry, Moira and Polly, so they can assure her safety. Royce watches the Redfields' backs and Genevieve watches my six. Although Arxenel have our backs as well. Unbeknownst to us all, Arxenel's subconscious essence signaled the other mind controlled B.O.W.s and hybrids to wait in the shadows. Their preparations are set under the king's command. Once the big military group are separated from each other, that's when they'll strike without warning. From the looks of all the desolation here, I'm getting the feeling that we are all in for a one really disturbing surprise.