Several minutes later, the bats were dead. Rebecca panted as she wiped perspiration off her forehead. After a moment, she made her way back to the double doors. When she was in front of the doors, something made her look up. On the part of the ceiling right above her was a hole just big enough for her to squeeze through.
She took aim, then fired her grappling hook. Rebecca had retrieved the hook from the giant bat's corpse. A few moments later, she found herself on the roof of the church. Ahead of her was a ladder, which led into backyard. After reaching the ladder, she descended it.
Behind the church, Rebecca looked around for anything to use. She found a lever on the wall beside the ladder. Without much thought, she pulled it up. Suddenly, power was restored to an elevator. She decided to make her way toward the front of the building.
As she unlocked a gate on the right side of the church, Rebecca noticed a red herb and a green herb stood beside it. After combining them and using them to heal herself with, Rebecca stepped through the gate, then called out to Billy. Why she didn't contact him via radio was anyone's guess. A few moments later, Billy appeared. He had apparently heard her despite being partially deaf.
Once they regrouped, the pair entered a nearby elevator, which was the same elevator Rebecca had restored power to. Once inside, Billy pressed the down button. The doors slid close, then the shaft began to descend. The duo stood in silence, staring at the double doors of the elevator shaft, as they waited for their destination. Rebecca turned to look at the ex-marine, probably wanting to say something to him as he adjusted the shotgun in his hands.
She lowered her gaze from his face, and that's when she noticed the dog tag resting on his chest. As she stared, Rebecca thought back to the story Billy had told her regarding the deaths of 23 people that he had been accused of killing – or actually killed. Rebecca couldn't tell whether or not Billy had committed those murders, because his story was, as stated earlier, vague. The convict, during this time, noticed his partner was staring at his chest. He blinked, then turned his whole body toward Rebecca as a frown crossed her lips.
The reason he did so would never be explained – or even mentioned.
"What are you doing?" the convict asked, even though it was obvious that she was staring at him.
"I'm trying to read your dog tag," she replied, wondering why it took her so long to notice that he was wearing a dog tag, even though he has been wearing it for a while.
She was, yet again, displaying how perceptive she was – or, rather, the lack thereof. The young medic blinked as she raised her gaze. She was now looking at his face again. The ex-marine, during this time, blinked.
"You can admire it later, doll-face," he said. "When we're in a more private area, away from those freaks."
"This is a private area," Rebecca remarked, scowling. "There are no zombies or monsters here."
"This isn't what I had in mind."
"What did you have in mind?"
A smirk suddenly crossed Billy's lips.
"Oh, you'll see," he said, his voice a bit lower in volume.
The convict then turned back to the double doors as the S.T.A.R.S. rookie stared at him with a confused expression on her face. She didn't know what he meant by his statement.
Sure, this elevator shaft is a bit compact, but there's some room in here, Rebecca thought. Besides, what does an elevator have to do with me looking at his dog tag? Just then, another thought appeared in her head. This thought caused her to cover her mouth with a hand as her cheeks turned a deep shade of red.
"Oh, my…" the young medic said quietly as she turned away from Billy.
Once the elevator arrived at its destination, Billy and Rebecca, upon exiting the shaft, found themselves in a hallway. After navigating through the hall, the pair found a door. They entered the room. In this room were a first aid spray on a shelf inside of cabinet filled with junk near the door, a foot stool with a lamp on top and other cabinets; and another Dr. Marcus diary on a table with a vase, which stood across from a cabinet and dresser. Other items were on top of said dresser and these items and furniture pieces were located on the left side of the room.
There was also an ink ribbon with a typewriter on top of another table on the right, but the duo ignored them. Beside the table was a service lift, and a dead man rested not too far from the table. As the pair investigated the room further, they spotted a hole in the ceiling near even more cabinets, a chair, and paintings on the walls; plus, these items were near the note. Furthermore, light fixtures were on some of the walls and ceiling. After the pair picked up the note and first aid spray, they returned to the hole in the ceiling.
Rebecca turned to face Billy as she stood under the hole. She then removed the grappling hook from her shoulder.
"I'll go over there," she said as she took aim.
"Yeah," Billy replied, tightening his grip on his firearm.
Rebecca turned back around, then fired the hookshot. The ex-marine watched as she ascended into the hole above. He let out a sigh before making his way back to the service lift. The convict assumed that his partner would send him something through the lift, so he decided to wait by it. The dead body could reanimate and attack at any moment, but he decided to stay where he was.
Billy wasn't going to let a dead body potentially coming back to life deter his staying near the service lift.
XXX
Rebecca found herself in a laboratory. While searching, she found the laboratory manager's diary, which was on a chair that was partially covered by a dirty lab coat and the chair stood in front of a desk. A computer rested on top of said desk while on the other, nearby desks were miscellaneous objects, and behind these desks were shelves filled with junk. Beside the hole from whence she came was a cabinet filled with more junk. After placing the diary in her back fanny pack, she noticed that a gas tank was in the corner near the chair and hole.
Just as she began to wonder how the tank got there, she heard a crash.
"What was that?" Rebecca whispered, whirling around.
She raised her pistol, took a few steps forward, and then peered around the corner of a stack of shelves to see another humanoid, slimy creature. Beside it were empty bottles, and jars filled with bio-organic material on each shelf. There were also capsules filled with bodies on the right side of the creature. Rebecca backed up as she removed the grenade launcher from her shoulder while holstering her pistol. As the monster drew nearer, she took aim, then fired a round into it.
The creature didn't flinch when it'd received the shot as it reached up an arm, then brought it down onto Rebecca. She cried out as she stumbled back from the impact. Before she could regain her balance, the monster whipped her with its arm again. She nearly dropped her weapon as she stumbled. Once she regained her balance, Rebecca took a few steps back.
As the humanoid creature took a few staggering steps toward her, she raised her grenade launcher, aimed it at the creature, then fired a few more rounds into it. After the creature died, covering her in slime when it had exploded, she approached the machine it once stood in front of. Without much thought, Rebecca pressed a button on the machine. The light within the machine turned red, causing one of the capsules inside to glow. The young medic somehow opened the machine, then removed the capsule.
She thought about examining it, but decided that she would investigate more rooms instead. After putting the capsule away and switching back to her pistol, she made her way to the room's only exit. Beside a door, which led out of the room, was the map of the laboratory. A pile of junk stood near the map.
Well, that's convenient, she thought after she'd turned her gaze onto the laboratory map.
After reading and pocketing the map, Rebecca exited the room. She found herself in a hallway above the one she and Billy had come through. There was a balcony that overlooked said corridor. Besides the railing of the balcony, on a wall, was a red button on a panel. Near the panel was a painting.
She went over to the panel, then pressed the button.
What's the worst that can happen? Rebecca thought. Famous last words.
The wall below the balcony ascended, revealing more hallway on the first floor. The wall was now blocking the young female's view of the first floor hallway. Suddenly, another humanoid creature staggered into the initial portion of the first floor corridor. Yep, she'd just jinxed the convict because he would have to go through that corridor and fight the creature.
Oh, no, not that, Rebecca thought as she listened to the footsteps of the humanoid monster. She knew the creature's footsteps all too well, since it shares the same footfall as its brethren. Hopefully, Billy will be able to handle that monster.
She raised her gun, then spun around. Rebecca, who was out of range of the creature since it was on the first floor and the wall blocked off its view of her, walked along the second floor hallway. She tried the first door she'd come across, but it was locked. Great, even more item fetching. She decided to try the second door.
The young medic found herself on a platform outside of a control room. The only item of use in the port was a green herb. She couldn't enter the control room, because the door was locked and she couldn't climb down to the first floor since there was nothing but a table with an ink ribbon and typewriter on top at the end of the platform. There was no ladder or stairs for her to use and the gap in between the platforms looked too high for her to jump down.
The aforementioned second platform was also out of reach. Beside the out-of-reach platform appeared to be a vehicle. If only the young female could reach it; she and Billy could use it to leave the laboratory.
Not only do I have to find a key for the door behind me and the door in the hallway, I also have to find a way to move that platform so I can reach the first floor, Rebecca thought. Yep, more item fetching for the young Bravo Team medic.
After taking the herb, Rebecca returned to the hall. Once there, she turned to her right, then walked over to a door beside the one she'd come through. Rebecca raised her pistol, then entered the room. She found herself in a room that had two dead bodies lying about; one sat near three capsules filled with fluid, the other lay next to a desk which had a microscope and a Leech Growth Records note on top.
So, that's what those slimy bugs are called, the young medic thought as she read the note.
The other notes she'd read referred to the slimy bugs as leeches, but because this one was labeled "Leech Growth Records" she decided to now call those bugs leeches? Did she even read those other notes or was she really that oblivious as to what was written on said notes? In addition to the note in her hands, there was shotgun ammo on a shelf inside of a cabinet filled with junk. The lying corpse had attempted to bite Rebecca when she stepped over its head to get the note. After killing the zombie by stomping its head in, she collected the items she needed, then tried to enter a room filled with gas.
She couldn't, because of the toxic gas in there; plus, the door was locked. The gas would've killed her if she was able to enter the room, but she didn't seem to care about that. The young medic would need something to cleanse the room in order to safely enter it. Beside the room and a nearby panel with a glowing red light was a red chemical canister. Upon examining the panel, it appeared to be a device for pumping gas into the room next door.
The device was currently empty. After taking some of the chemical from the canister and creating a stripping agent by combining the red chemical with the green, Rebecca left the room via the double doors across from the door she'd used to enter the room. On the wall beside the double doors in this room was a dumbwaiter. Since the young female didn't have anything to send to the convict yet, she decided to head deeper into the room. She was immediately confronted by three zombies.
Not again, Rebecca thought, backing up. I really wished I had the shotgun right now.
The trio of zombies moaned in unison as they shambled toward her. The zombie closest to her outstretched its arms. Rebecca raised her pistol, then fired several shots into the zombie. Just as it collapsed onto its butt, the other zombies reached her. Rebecca emptied her clip into one of the zombies, then scrambled to reload her weapon. Just then, the third zombie grabbed her while she was reloading her pistol.
She looked up just in time for the zombie to bite into her neck. Rebecca let out several cries as she struggled to push the zombie off of herself. After a moment, she managed to push it away. The zombie stumbled back, then bumped into the first zombie just as it got back onto its feet. The second zombie, during this time, reached for the young medic as blood streamed down its torso from the gunshot wounds it'd received in its chest.
Without thinking, Rebecca fired a good chunk of this new clip into the zombie with one shot going into its head. Blood splattered onto her as the zombie's head exploded. As the headless body collapsed, Rebecca turned, then pointed her gun at the other zombies just as they regained their balance. She emptied her clip into the leading zombie, killing it. She backed up until her back touched the double doors, then began to reload her weapon.
While she was reloading, the remaining zombie reached out, then grabbed her. Before it could bite into her neck, Rebecca managed to shove it off. While it stumbled back, she ran pass the zombie while reloading her pistol. After she'd put some distance between herself and the zombie, she spun around, then raised her pistol. Just as the zombie turned around, letting out a moan, Rebecca fired her weapon a few times.
After the zombie died, Rebecca searched the room for anything to use as she wiped blood off her face. She found two first aid sprays on a shelf of a sunken stack of shelves near a broken object and a painting on a nearby wall, empty bottles on a shelf which was above other shelves near a green door and these items were across from the aforementioned damaged stack of shelves and painting; and another note was on the floor near a table covered in dried blood and human remains, two rusty sinks and a medical monitoring equipment. There was also a green chemical canister in the corner beside the green door. After taking the note and one of the first aid sprays – and healing herself with it since the zombie attack injured her – Rebecca used the stripping agent on the leech capsule. The capsule melted, freeing a blue leech charm.
Upon examining the charm, Rebecca noticed that it was a blue sculpture specially shaped in the form of a leech. Thinking it was a key, she decided to use it on the green door, which had an indentation of Marcus' head on profile above the slot where the capsule should be inserted. To her surprise, nothing happened after she inserted the charm. It turns out that the blue leech charm did not unlock the door, because the door required a green leech charm. Great, the item-fetching quest would never end at this rate…
After getting some chemical from the green canister, Rebecca made her way back to the service lift. She called it and, once the lift arrived, she put all of the shotgun ammo she'd found and the blue leech charm into it. The S.T.A.R.S. rookie then sent the lift down to the first floor, thinking the ex-marine would need these items.
XXX
Billy turned around at the sound of the service lift arriving with the items Rebecca had sent him as its light flashed. He opened the lift's door, removed the items from the shaft, and then pocketed them. He then left the room. As he entered the hall, he noticed there was more of it than before with paintings on the walls and a red canister in a corner near a door. As he traveled along the hall, Billy encountered the humanoid leech that had been revealed after the wall had ascended.
Before he could react, the leech grabbed him, then bit into his neck. Yep, Rebecca had definitely jinxed him. Billy cried out as he struggled to push it off. After a moment, he successfully shoved the leech away. The humanoid leech stumbled back.
During this time, Billy raised his shotgun, took aim, and then fired. The humanoid leech didn't flinch as it first regained its balance, then raised an arm. Just as it brought its arm down to slam Billy onto the floor, he dodged the attack by diving to the side. Since the hallway was narrow, he slammed onto a wall. As he slid down the wall, the leech turned toward him.
After a moment, it removed its arm from the floor. Billy, meanwhile, let out a groan as he lay on his side on the floor. The monster began approaching him as he slowly sat up. As it drew nearer, Billy, now in a sitting position, took notice of its uncovered chest. When the monster was close enough, he snatched up his shotgun, aimed at the leech's chest, and then fired.
Just like before, the leech man didn't flinch. Billy scrambled to his feet as the creature raised both arms. Before it could attack, Billy fired a few more rounds into its chest. The leech's head, arms, and torso were suddenly blown off. The legs of the leech man began to expand as they wandered about.
The convict, meanwhile, backed up.
Not again, he thought.
He didn't back up far enough, and ended up being covered in its slime when the creature's legs exploded. After wiping the slime off of himself, Billy removed the blue leech charm from his pocket, then used it on the blue door, which was identical to the green one. The blue door stood beside a door that was missing a combination dial, and this was the same door that stood near the red chemical canister. Once the blue door unlocked, Billy entered the room. He was somewhat surprised not to be greeted by a zombie or whatever creature Umbrella had experimented on.
There's not even a dead body waiting for me to come near it, so it could come back to life and attack, he thought, lowering his shotgun. Nor there's another one of those leech zombies.
When did Billy discover that the slimy bugs that make up those zombies were leeches? Rebecca didn't tell him what they were called. He must've read all of the notes they had found thus far thoroughly - unlike the young medic upstairs. While searching the room, all he found was an ink ribbon, a fish tank filled with seaweed and dirty water, which stood near the door; a ceiling fan, a painting on the wall near the door, a chair in front of a cabinet, another cabinet filled with scientific objects, handgun ammo, a lamp and books on top of a large desk that stood in front of a chair; input reg. coil, and a photograph, which were on top of a shelf of a cabinet, and this cabinet stood near a hanging human skeleton. He took everything except the ink ribbon.
Luckily for him, the skeleton didn't come to life and attack; it was just hanging around... After shoving the input reg. coil down his pants, - magically not stretching his pants despite all of the items he had shoved down into it thus far - the convict examined the photo. Suddenly, an old photo album of Dr. Marcus as a young man appeared in Billy's hands, which fabricated out of thin air. How was a photo album, like the box, appearing out of nowhere even physically possible?! And no one even questioned how said objects fabricate out of thin air!
The picture of young Marcus, which was now located in the album, looked similar to the cloaked man Billy had seen outside of the train.
"Judging from the age, that guy could be Marcus' son, or grandson," Billy thought, aloud.
After he finished pondering, he pocketed the photo and handgun ammo, then made his way through another door, which stood near the cabinet where he found said photo. In this room were two zombies, and the green leech charm, which was located in the palm of a hand of a statue. Beside the statue were other antique objects, all of which were covered in dust. These items were: a vase, framed paintings, a pinwheel, a grandfather clock, another statue which depicted a bird on a stick, and a lamp on top of a dusty old fireplace. Billy narrowed his eyes when he spotted the zombies.
There they are, he thought, raising his shotgun. It seems like they've been expecting me since they aren't pretending to be dead.
The zombies shambled toward him, outstretching their arms. They stood side by side as they headed toward the human. The ex-marine aimed his shotgun at the zombies' heads, then fired. Somehow, both of the zombies' heads exploded! Billy blinked in disbelief as he lowered his weapon.
After the headless zombies collapsed onto the floor and he pocketed the charm, Billy headed back to the room where the service lift was. Once there, he sent his partner the green leech charm and handgun ammo via the dumbwaiter. The dead body stirred suddenly, then turned its head toward Billy, who stood with his back to it. The body opened its mouth as a soft moan escaped its lips. Somehow, Billy didn't hear that.
One may guess that Rebecca's horrible piano playing actually made him deaf, or at least damaged his hearing to a certain degree. She needs to practice some more or else she would cause irreversible damage to someone else's hearing. The corpse stood, reached out its arms, and then stumbled towards the unexpected ex-marine. Well, there's the dead body he was thinking about earlier…
XXX
Rebecca, who had been whistling a tune, stopped when the dumbwaiter dinged loudly while its light flashed. She opened its little door to reveal the green leech charm and handgun ammo inside. After taking those items and putting them away, she made her way back to the green door. Once there, she used the charm to unlock, then open the door. The young S.T.A.R.S. member's eyes widened when she found herself inside of a morgue, where some of the drawers on the walls were opened with body parts hanging out.
Two lying zombies tried to gnaw on Rebecca's leg as she searched the room. After stomping their heads in, she went over to three boxes of handgun ammo on a pushing bed, and a sterilizing agent canister that stood beside the bed and a broken stack of shelves. Three body bags – with one of them opened - rested in between these items and all of the items, body bags and pushing bed stood at the end of the room. Once she pocketed the ammo and picked up the agent, Rebecca made her way back to the room where she'd found the red chemical canister. Back in this room, she placed the surprisingly heavy sterilizing agent into a slot on the panel beside the chemical canister.
The deadly gas was suddenly cleared from the smaller room, unlocking its door and revealing a dead body lying inside. After a moment, Rebecca Chambers entered the chamber. Heh, get it? Rebecca Chambers entered a chamber. Get it, get it, get it…? Nobody got it, because the room wasn't a chamber…
The young medic crouched, then began to search the corpse. The wannabe coroner has struck again! She looked around and found a key on an object beside the dead body. She picked it up, then placed it in her front fanny pack. Suddenly, the dead body began to rise, startling her. Rebecca immediately scrambled to her feet, then darted out of the room.
She was greeted by another zombie, who was outside of the smaller room. After killing it, she reentered the hall where the first locked door was. Rebecca went over to the locked door, used the key, and then entered the room. She searched the room, passing a large stack of shelves filled with items, chains protruding from the walls and cages covered in dust, until she found a note on the floor in a corner. After picking it up, she read it.
Suddenly, two hunters burst out of their cages. Rebecca ran toward the cages, narrowly dodging the hunters who lunged at her. Inside one of the cages was a dial. She quickly stashed it and the note in her front fanny pack, then made her way out of the room, dodging the hunters' attacks yet again. Either Rebecca has improved her dodging skills greatly in such a short period of time, or these hunters have lousy timing.
Back in the hall, she made her way to the room where the service lift was. Once there, she called the lift so that she could send her partner the dial, because she somehow knew he needed it. How come the S.T.A.R.S. rookie was oblivious to many aspects of her surroundings, and yet knows what item the ex-marine would need and the exact time for when said item should be utilized? The survivors weren't radioing each other, so she had no clue that he would need the blue leech charm and the dial. She just sent them to him under the assumption that he would need them.
XXX
Billy had finished reloading his shotgun when the light of the service lift flashed while it simultaneously dinged. He opened its door to reveal a dial inside. He assumed that it was needed for the locked door down the hall, so he pocketed it. Why else would Rebecca send him a dial if it wasn't needed for the locked door, or a safe with the door's key? Billy made his way to the only locked door in the hallway outside of the room with the service lift, stepping over the zombie he'd killed after he'd sent Rebecca the green leech charm and handgun ammo.
Once there, he placed the dial into a hole in the door. He let out a grunt when he realized that he didn't know the combination to unlock the door since his partner neither told him via radio nor sent him the note that had the four numbers needed to unlock the door. He decided that he would turn the dial, anyway, until the door unlocks. After several minutes of turning the dial clockwise and counter-clockwise, the door unlocked. Billy let out a sigh of relief before entering the room.
Ahead of him, beyond a railing, was an aerial cable car. This cable car was used to leave and enter the laboratory. This was the same vehicle Rebecca had seen when she'd entered the upper level of the port; though, she wasn't able to make out what it was due to the lack of lights in the room.
"Maybe I could use this," the convict said. He decided to contact Rebecca via radio as he barely leapt over the railing, since he still had the input reg. coil in his pants.
"Rebecca here. Over," she said as Billy inspected the cable car.
"Billy. I found something here that might make you happy," he told her. Wait, there's something else that would make Rebecca happy beside the supposed fantasy she had of Billy prior to meeting him on the train? "It's an aerial cable car."
"Really? That's great," Rebecca said a bit cheerfully. "Now we can get out."
"Yep, let's regroup as soon as possible."
"Roger."
Once the conversation ended, Billy pocketed the radio in one of the front pockets of his jeans. Man, he sure had a lot of pockets… Billy walked over to a wall beside the cable car because there was a lever located on it. Once there, he pulled the lever up. By pulling up the lever on the wall, the ladder on the platform above the cable car moved closer to the upper balcony, allowing access to the upper floor.
After the platform ceased movement, the ex-marine climbed its ladder. Once he was on the platform, he walked along it, until he came across the output reg. coil, which lay on the floor. He crouched, picked it up, and then shoved it down the back of his pants. Just then, a door opened.
XXX
Author's Note: Well, folks, this is the end… of the chapter! I'm still busy with school, but I'd managed to find some free time, so I went ahead and posted this chapter (which was written a while back, of course). The conversation that Billy and Rebecca had in the elevator was written one night while I was sleepy so it may not make much sense, especially in the context of the story… I think. Anyway, leave reviews, add this story to your favorites and/or story alerts, and I'll see you later, alligators!
