A day after the procedure…
Africa…
Shane's mouth was dry, like cotton and he couldn't seem to get any moisture from his tongue to wet it. His nose twitched, smelling something strange, like fresh baked earth and dust before feeling warmth washing over his body. Groggy, Shane forced open his sleepy eyes and tried to blink the haze from them as the drugs given to him finally started to wear off. When his eyes focused he saw he was in a room he had never saw before.
Turning his head to the side, Shane saw a table was set against the wall lined with bottles of water, juice and fancy glasses. There was some food cooking on silver heating dishes he had only seen in movies that showed how rich people ate in fancy restaurants. When he finally sat up he breathed in deep through his nose and could see chicken, potatoes and vegetables simmering inside the silver dishes in front of plates with silverware arranged on either side.
Rubbing the back of his neck, Shane slowly looked up the wall seeing a round window, sunlight shined in hitting him directly on the face and chest, which he now realized was the cause of his warmth. He smiled lightly, it had been nine years since he felt the sun on his skin but this was startling, how was he feeling it and where was he? "Where am I?" he whispered in a raspy whisper.
"You're in Africa, son." Wesker's voice broke the silence from across the room, making Shane look at the end of a plush couch to see him sitting there nonchalantly browsing through some papers.
"Africa?" Shane repeated as he slumped backwards onto the bed rolling onto his back flinching slightly as his chest ached from his movement. "Ah, shit…"
Still studying the papers Wesker spoke in stern tone," Don't move too much and don't jostle your chest too much yet, you're still recovering. Lucky for you, you awoke near lunch time. You should be ravenous after fasting for the procedure."
Shane focused on Wesker as he lay on his back massaging his aching chest. "Is it dead?" He asked watching Wesker.
Wesker looked up from the papers and soon set them down before walking over to Shane sitting beside him, "According to the tests it appears the parasite has been eradicated but because of its size and the amount of material that disintegrated into your system, you will feel out of sorts for a few days and you will most definitely be sore." Shane nodded as Wesker got up and walked over to the table, poured a glass of ice water into a glass and walked back over to Shane and handed it to him. Shane reached for the drink and the cold sweat from the glass felt good as he sat up slightly and drank the crystal clear water, finally bringing moisture back into his mouth.
A satisfied sigh escaped Shane's mouth as he set down the now empty glass leaving a contented smile on his face. Wesker lightly patted him on the head and felt Shane's forehead, "You're running a slight temperature but that's normal for the recovery process. Just relax and save your strength." Wesker then grabbed the glass and put it back onto the table before returning to his papers.
Silently Shane observed the nicely furnished room more. He couldn't remember the last time he has been in something this elegant looking. As he slowly scanned his surroundings he found his eyes drawn to a large bookshelf packed with hardcover books behind a large wooden desk that had tablets and other office supplies on top of it as well as a laptop computer. Off to the side in one corner was a huge white dry erase board next what he could tell were complex mathematics and formulas written on it.
Still his attention was drawn back to the bookshelf. For years he had wanted to pick up a nice, thick book and read it. In all of his years in the asylum Shane was only able to steal one book he had found laying in a garbage can near the cafeteria when the orderlies were occupied with another patient.
It was a ratty looking romance novel with the cover's top half torn off. All he could see of the wrinkled image was a shirtless muscular man embracing a woman in a torn dress with her breasts practically bursting out of the top of it. It wasn't the sort of thing Shane was into, in fact he hated how simple the story was written and how it mostly seemed to focus on this rich woman and her carnal urges for a handsome stable boy in the employ of her rich, old husband whom she despised. It was tripe but he cherished it as one of his sole means of escape.
Shane snapped out of his memory and a single question kept nagging at him, "Why are we in Africa?" He asked in a whisper as his eyes wandered around the room some more trying to take in as much as possible at one time.
Wesker never looked up from his papers, "We're here because it is the next step in my plan. Don't worry though, you'll know everything soon enough. Just rest, you need your strength." He repeated to him.
Shane grumbled as he was laying back down and laid his hands on his chest sighing. A big grin played across his face when he realized he was out of the asylum at long last and he chuckled.
Wesker heard the giggle and only glanced up long enough to see Shane clenching his hands in excitement before chuckling again to himself even though he was trying to keep as silent as possible. Wesker knew why the boy was giddy and he allowed him his joy. The asylum was a harsh place but it was a necessity for Shane after the trauma he experienced. Wesker had wanted him out of there three years ago but because of certain…delays, he had to put off his plans for Shane up until now. But finally, after so long in the waiting everything had finally come together.
Shane smiled before sitting up slowly coughing once before finally sitting up in a straight position on the soft bed. His stomach grumbled and he rubbed it saying, "I think I should eat something considering the fact I have no clue how long I was asleep and my stomach hurts."
Wesker nodded towards the table of food, "Help yourself but start slow. If you rush too much solid food into your system after that procedure you'll make yourself sick."
Before Shane could get up there was a rapid knock at the large oak door making him tilt his head a little at it and wince slightly. Wesker looked at the door knowing it was Excella, "Just a moment." He said in a curt tone of voice. Wesker knew Excella was impatient and could be tedious with her constant affection but she was as much a part of his plans as Shane so he couldn't dismiss her like he wanted to.
Excella had been coming to him more often now to talk of their plans and to try and get more intimate with him. It was painfully obvious she was motivated, ambitious and lusted for more power in this world and she knew Albert was the one who could give it to her.
When he informed her of Shane, all Excella could do was ask questions about the boy and she absolutely insisted on meeting his only son once the boy was recovered enough for visitors.
Wesker heard Shane grumble again and when he looked over to him, he saw Shane had laid back down and wrapped the thick pillow over his head. "Tell them to go away." He said in a loud muffled voice beneath the pillow. "I don't want any damn pills and I sure as hell don't want any shots!"
Wesker shook his head lightly in mild disgust. The boy was tough but when he acted like a petulant child it irritated Wesker to no end. It was a habit he was determined to break the boy of. Wesker poured a glass of ice water, grabbed the small bottle of pills next to the food off of the table and approached Shane with them.
"Leave me alone.." Shane grumbled as the pillow was pulled off. "Oh…I thought you were one of them…" He said seeing the pill bottle making him groan.
Wesker sighed, "Stop being a baby. You just had a major operation done on you. Did you really think you wouldn't have to take anything after it was done? You need these to help your immune system to rebuild."
"You'd understand if you were in my shoes." Shane said sitting up holding his hand out as Wesker tapped a few into his hand. "These are the pills I take weekly..." He said looking at Wesker confused. "Why you giving me these?"
Wesker handed him the glass of water, "For what I just said, to boost your immune system and get your body back to full strength. Think of these pills as vitamins and antibiotics all rolled into one. When you take them on a regular basis you stay healthy and vital and they will help shorten the recovery process."
Shane chuckled lightly. "Like a miracle pill?" He joked taking a breath popping the nasty pills into his mouth and downed them quickly with the water shivering and gave a cough. "Still taste awful…" He said looking at the door. "Who's out there?" He asked setting the glass on the nearby night stand.
Wesker smirked slightly, "I'll introduce you to her." With that Wesker walked to the door and opened it. "Enter." He said coolly as Excella Gionne walked into the room. Shane's eyes grew somewhat wider when he looked her over. Excella embraced Wesker who seemed somewhat uncomfortable with it but returned the hug nonetheless.
Her gold high heels made Excella almost Albert's height thought the tightly wound bun of jet black hair atop her head made her appear slightly taller than him. She gave Albert a peck on each cheek leaving lipstick marks on each side. As she turned towards Shane he could see Albert pull a napkin off the table, and rub his face clean.
Her shimmering gold silk dress was impossibly tight on her body. She looked over towards Shane and smiled, "So this is Shane." she said in a thick Italian accent. She leaned down letting her ample cleavage push forward from the top of the dress and presented her hand to Shane as if to shake his, "Pleasure to meet you darling boy."
As soon as he heard that accent Shane's blood boiled and he scrambled off the bed fast grabbing a lamp off a nearby end table and wielding it like a club, "Stay back, I mean it!" he shouted nervously, his eyes wild with fear.
Shane's insane reaction startled both Excella and Wesker. Excella turned towards Wesker and asked confused, "Albert darling what is wrong with him?" He didn't take his eyes off Shane and gently pushed Excella behind him as Shane huddled in the corner with the lamp shaking visibly as if he were scared out of his mind.
Wesker put out his hands to show he wasn't a threat, "Shane what's wrong? Excella's not going to hurt you, we're your friends. Stay calm and put down the lamp."
Shane was only half hearing Wesker at this point. Shane's mind was racing and even though he knew it was impossible he felt like he was back in Raccoon City during the outbreak. And that woman, that goddamn woman with the Italian accent was trying to get him killed again.
Shane's eyes were glassy like he was in a far away daydream as he screamed, "No! I won't let you do this to me again! NOT AGAIN!" With that Shane leapt from the bed only to have Wesker slap the lamp from the boys hand, spun him around and put him into a sleeper hold before Shane could react.
Wesker held Shane like that until his body went limp and he passed out. Wesker placed him back on the bed as Excella said sarcastically, "What a charming boy you raised Albert."
Wesker turned towards her, "He was clearly having a flashback to something… I've seen that sort of behavior in war veterans suffering from shell shock."
Excella seemed unfamiliar with the term and looked at him puzzled, "Shell shock?"
Wesker sighed, "I forgot, they keep changing the term. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. His mind has been traumatized from his time in Raccoon City and something about you triggered an episode. I need to find out what it is. Until then I need you to leave us and do not come back here until I have this all sorted out. Am I making myself clear?"
Excella nodded, "Yes Albert darling. If you need anything you know where to find me." With that Excella looked at Shane sadly and then left the room. "It's a shame," she thought to herself, "a boy that young and handsome with so many demons."
-
1998 - Raccoon City - Six and a Half Hours after First Infection
"Run!" Josh shouted over his shoulder at the small band of survivors as they ran up the street following the low flying helicopter that they were hoping was going to land. Shane was keeping up good until he tripped landing in a hard skid on the ground hurting his right arm in the process. Josh saw Shane tripped but he needed to keep running to keep the helicopter in sight. Josh yelled, "Natasha! Help Shane!" and the woman complied and ran back for the child.
She grabbed Shane under the arm pits and lifted him up, "Come on." She said with her thick Italian accent as Shane scrambled to his feet. Just as they turned to run toward the others a pack of five dogs burst forth from a nearby alleyway and started chasing after Luke and Josh. Natasha screamed, "God no!" as she saw Luke being taken down by one of the vicious animals. He was screaming and struggling to crawl as the pack surrounded him. There were several gunshots and dog yelps but soon the shots stopped, his screams became wet bubbling gurgles and then silence as the wild animals ripped him to shreds.
Natasha was frozen in terror. She couldn't see where Josh had gone as smoke and wreckage obscured the view ahead of the pack's feeding frenzy.
"This way" Shane said quietly so as not to alert the dogs. He was pulling her with his good arm. "We can cut through this other alleyway around them!" He yanked at her arm again as he whispered at her trying to get her to move. Blinking tears from her eyes Natasha looked down at Shane and nodded. He pulled her arm again and this time she moved, following after him as fast as the boy could run.
"We need a weapon, quickly or we'll never make it." She said quietly as they climbed over a rotten smelling dumpster and ran through a garbage strewn alleyway. "I know that there's a weapon shop just up the street." She said as Shane nodded. They sprinted through alley approaching a nearby square. Shane slowed down to a creeping walk and held out his hand to Natasha to make her slow down. They peered out from behind a wrecked metal Raccoon City Police barrier and paused. The chopper wasn't there like they had hoped but something else was.
Shane whispered "It's those jumping lizard things…" He whispered watching as the reptilian Hunter loped about the area looking for prey. Its yellow snake eyes glinted in the light. An explosion went off in the distance and the Hunter seemed to hone in on the sound, screeched at it and it seemed to wander towards it, stop and then walk back to where it was standing.
Natasha's eyes lit up, "Look there." She said pointing toward an RPD squad car. Shane could see a disemboweled police officer lay across the car hood holding a riot shotgun. Shane smiled slightly knowing the weapon would help them immensely until they looked back at the Hunter. It didn't seem to want to leave the general area around the police car and they couldn't just sit here in an alley hope someone would rescue them with that thing waiting to pounce on whatever moved.
Suddenly they heard the chopper, it was hovering somewhere above them. The Hunter looked around and seemed visibly agitated by the whirring noise. Natasha grabbed Shane by the shoulders and turned him toward her and whispered, "Shane I have a plan." She looked around and picked up a broken piece of metal pipe. "You're a faster runner than me…" she continued. "While I distract that thing I want you to circle around whichever way it runs and go for that shotgun." She whispered this to Shane who looked at her knowing he had to do this if they were going to live. He wasn't going to let Natasha down like he let Andrew down. "Trust me." She said smiling which made Shane somewhat uneasy but he couldn't understand why. Shane knew he had to be brave or else they wouldn't make it out alive. Uneasy but determined Shane nodded in agreement with Natasha. She patted him on the head and said in a low whisper, "Okay, get ready…"
When the Hunter looked away from them Natasha stood up and hurled the broken pipe and ducked back down behind the barricade. The pipe spun in a high arch and smashed into the rear window of a car that was up until that point miraculously untouched by the chaos around it. A car alarm started to beep in steady irritating pitches as the Hunter ran towards the bleating noise and attacked the car smashing its clawed fists into the hood.
Shane was off and running before its second fist smash which made the alarm horn screech and then go silent. Shane was halfway towards the police car when a rock slammed into his back involuntarily making him yelp.
The Hunter swiftly turned towards the noise and saw Shane, screeched and started bounding full speed at him, its right arm stretched out with its clawed hand open wide. Shane ran as fast as he could towards the cop car snatching the shotgun off the corpse as he ran by. The dead cop's weight on the gun made Shane's arm jerk the heavy weapon which fired the gun. The loud noise was only rivaled by the howl of the Hunter as buckshot tore into its legs sending it into a trip that planted it head first into the squad car's passenger side door, denting it in.
Shane leapt to his feet with the gun and ran in the wide open square as he heard the chopper getting lower and the Hunter screeching in protest as it got to its feet and ran in an awkward hobble towards Shane. Seeing no alternative Shane ran towards big rig truck that had somehow gotten flipped onto its side.
Running through the huge busted out wind shield, Shane felt the air from the Hunter's hand swipe nick the bottom of his sneakers as he dove in between the seats into the sleeper cab that was thankfully empty of zombies or anything else. The Hunter was too bulky to fit all the way into the wind shield hole and started slashing at the seats trying to get at Shane. He couldn't afford to look up to aim so he held the gun up and fired blindly, the recoil pushing him backwards against the wall of the cab. The Hunter screeched and then when the ringing in his ears stopped all he heard were the helicopters rotors and felt the wind whipping into the truck cab.
Climbing out of the wrecked truck, Shane stepped over the Hunter, blood pouring out of a gaping wound in its chest. His sneakers squished into the gore and then he hopped off and away from the monster in three ginger steps. Looking down across the giant square Shane saw the helicopter had landed and Natasha was already aboard as the helicopter started to lift off. He noticed that only she was looking towards where he was standing while the crew tended to her with their backs to the door. She mouthed the words, "Thanks kid!"
Shane stood there stunned. He realized to his horror that Natasha threw a rock at him to make him scream and get the Hunter to attack him. Before he could run three knives sliced down his back, shredding his backpack and snapping the straps off his shoulders.
Shane screamed but the helicopter was already above the roof tops and heading out of sight. He stumbled forward trying to grab his own back to make the burning of his open wounds stop. His vision darkened around the edges and his knees and then his body hit the grimy street as he blacked out face first. He suddenly heard the Hunter growling over him followed by a shout that seemed so far away.
"Shane!" A voice shouted in a German accent that seemed familiar as the boy struggled to stay awake. He tried to push off the ground but his limbs wouldn't respond. "Kill it!" yelled the voice as multiple shots were heard ripping through the Hunter's flesh, its final scream a cut short in a death rattle as it fell backwards away from the Shane.
"Shane!" The voice shouted again as the boy weakly tried to pull himself to his feet but failed, slamming backwards into the over turned truck just missing the dead body of the Hunter. Two strong gloved hands grabbed him and lifted him off the ground. "Shit, Shane, you okay? Hold on…" Kristoff said picking him up cradling him against his chest as he took off in a run. "Fall back! We need to get out of the city!" He snapped at the other members of his team as Shane cried out in pain. Kristoff looked down at the boy as the radioman called in their waiting helicopter. Kristoff shouted to another man, "Medic! Tend to the boy, the rest of you watch the perimeter, we're not safe yet!"
As the medic examined the boy's badly clawed back, he sprayed something cool on it from a can that seemed to make the burning stop. Shane said weakly, "…she left…she just left me… why? I…thought we… were friends." As his vision blurred and darkness overtook him Shane's last thoughts were Natasha, sitting in the chopper coldly smiling at him as she escaped and left him to die.
-Present
Shane's eyes snapped open. It took him second to realize he was dreaming and he wasn't still in Raccoon City. His breathing was starting to calm down as he rubbed the soreness from his arms and neck. He was covered in a sheet of cold sweat that made his clothes stick to him in a way he had always hated after one of these nightmares.
They always seemed to make him aware of his wounds. Just when he would forget about them his nightmares would remind him he didn't make it out of that godforsaken city without a scratch and without sacrifice. Sometimes late at night when he had one of these episodes Shane could swear he still felt that Hunter slicing into his back. The room was partly dark now and he almost mistaken it as his cell before he saw that it was still the nicely furnished room he had been in before his episode. All he remembered was that woman speaking to him and then his vision went red and then nothingness until the nightmare.
He was alone and the only sound in the room was the gentle hum of an air conditioner pumping cool air from a vent above his bed. Shane sat up slowly and put on a new lamp that was sitting on the nightstand next to the bed. Wiping his hair back with his hand Shane stood up and took off his sweat drenched white tank top and looked across to room and saw the full length wall mirror he barely took notice of before when he was awake. Shane stood in front of the mirror and then turned around and twisted his head around to see the wide scars that ran the length of his back in a diagonal. Shane still couldn't believe it didn't kill him or paralyze him considering all three claws raked directly across his spine. So damn lucky he wasn't infected but he smiled to himself remembering what Wesker had told him but then Natasha's face flashed inside his mind and he instantly became angry again.
"Damn woman..." He said in a low growl rubbing one of the scars. "I should have known better…I just should have known…" He said scolding himself. Shane walked away from the mirror still tracing part of the scars with his finger. "I won't make that mistake again." He whispered as he walked towards a door marked as a bathroom.
As Shane got into the bathroom Wesker hit a button on the wall that made the mirrors in both rooms opaque. He had the special soundproof room specially built as an add-on to Shane's bunk room so he could record and personally monitor him without his knowledge. Wesker turned towards Excella who had been sitting in a comfortable chair in the small soundproof room.
"Well, what do you think?" he said to her.
Excella sighed, "I think you're extremely lucky he rambles in his sleep."
Wesker smiled, "Luck has nothing to do with it my dear. One of my pet projects at the asylum was the use of hypnosis. Once a patient was in a deep enough trance or in Shane's case, the proper sleep state, we could trigger them into speaking using subliminal audio queues through a hidden speaker in the room."
Excella seemed to understand now, "Oh, so that is what you were whispering into that microphone. So now we know I remind him of that Natasha woman. What can you do to fix it?"
Wesker smiled, "Now that I know what it is, I can add in a subliminal routine into the white noise recording I have pumped into his room and it will eventually make him trust you or at the very least not try to attack you."
Excella seemed happy with this, "I think I can win him over as long as he doesn't become violent darling. I won you over after all, didn't I?"
Wesker smiled tightly, "That you did, my dear that you did. Let's get to sleep we have a much to do tomorrow."
With that the pair exited the hidden room and retired for the night.
-Fifteen minutes later…
Shane came out of the bathroom feeling better after having a quick hot shower. When he walked into his room he was toweling off his hair. When he pulled the towel from his face he was surprised to see fresh clothes neatly laid out on his bed which had been made.
Shane felt weird knowing someone had been in his room while he was naked in the shower. Feeling self conscience he wrapped the towel around his naked waist and walked over to the clothing. All of them seemed to be designer label and everything from the tank top to the fancy boxer shorts were black. The only exceptions were the pair of white athletic socks.
Shane was amused by this since he had planned to wear this exact outfit once morning came. He smiled and thought to himself, "It's like they read my mind." Shane was thrilled knowing he finally got some real clothes for a change instead of those uncomfortable institution clothes from the asylum.
He took a deep breath and stretched his arms above his head, flinching slightly from a sharp pain in his right shoulder, when Wesker had twisted it behind his back that day at the asylum, he definitely pinched a nerve but it would be fine once he worked his arm around for a while. Slipping on his boxers Shane was impressed with how comfortable they were, almost like silk.
Walking around in the boxer shorts to 'test them out', Shane walked in a circle and then toward the desk and the bookshelf at the far end of the room. He noticed the laptop was still there and noticed it was still on. When he opened it, the screen lit up and a window asked for User Name and Password. Behind the open window was the famous TriCell logo.
Shane wondered aloud, "TriCell? Is that who they work for?" He stared at the screen for a moment, shrugged and closed the laptop. He knew without the name and password it would have been futile to sit there and try to do anything with it.
Looking at the bookshelf, Shane licked his lips grabbing one of the thicker books off the highest shelf. Its green hardcover and gold lettering 'The expanding world of Botany' made it stand out to his eyes. Popping it open he read about various flowers and their uses making him remember his gifts his grandpa Ozwell always sent him.
Shane suddenly stopped reading as soon as the thought entered his head. Sofia wasn't his real mother, and if she wasn't his real mom, then who the hell was Ozwell? Could she have made him up to make him think he had relatives like a normal kid or was there something more to this? Shane shut the book and placed it back on the shelf.
He would have to go to the one man who might be able to shed some light on this but it would have to wait until morning when he was awake. Shane suddenly felt giddy again. He could actually go outside this room in the morning, and do whatever he wanted. He could go outside and not have to look over his shoulder and he could do whatever he wanted in his room and nobody could stop him. Shane ran over to the bed and started jumping on it like he used to do as a kid before belly flopping onto the mattress which seemed to let him sink into it like a giant mushy sponge.
Shane was ready to lie down and try to sleep some more before morning but then he saw a covered tray of food on a small trolley near the plush couch. Shane crawled off the bed towards the trolley and grabbed the covered plate. A small note that read 'Take your pills' was perched on top of it. He saw the tiny cup on the trolley next to a large bottle of water near where the plate was. Shane grabbed the cup and popped the pills in his mouth without hesitation before washing them down with the water.
He grabbed another book off the shelf, climbed back onto his bed and read it as he munched on the banana that was sitting next to a large sandwich on a roll and a cup of orange gelatin with fruit inside it. Shane smiled as he read since he felt like he was fourteen again, studying in secret to improve his mind and knowledge. He recalled how he often hid the books he had under his pillows or under the bed though when it came to the playboy magazines he had managed scavenge during those years, he hid them in a much better spot under a loose floorboard in his closet.
The food that was given to him was fresh and tasted so much better than the asylum food and he relished every bite of it. Shane smiled eating the sandwich while looking through the pages of the biology book he had picked out. He flipped towards the back of the book and looked at the back cover and saw a faded 'Property of Umbrella Corp.' stamp across the back.
"Umbrella…" He said in a whisper and without realizing it his back started to itch and he began rubbing it against the backboard of the bed to make it stop. Realizing he was being silly Shane flipped the book back over to the page he was reading before. "Doesn't matter anymore…" He said to himself. "Umbrella is dead and anyone still left alive that knew of me from there is either dead or thinks I'm dead…"
Shane scanned through the book when he noticed there were handwritten notes on some of the pages and as he scrolled through there were more and more of them. Whoever wrote them obviously had some strange ideas about the things talked about on each page. Shane read the book in under an hour, including the notes and he seemed to absorb the information just as easily as he had in school.
Closing the book Shane's mind started wondering where Wesker was and what he was doing before thinking of his girlfriend Excella, he growled to himself thinking of her face and voice but he realized he had to stop hating her. There was no way she was Natasha, she was not the woman that almost had him killed. She'd done nothing wrong except introduce herself and he reacted like a wild animal. He may not like her but Shane was determined he would have to be friendly towards her.
-
1998 - Raccoon City - Seven Hours after First Infection
"Where is that damn helicopter?!" Kristoff snapped looking at the radioman who shook his head unsure himself, they were told it would arrive in a few minutes, and that was twenty minutes ago. Kristoff and his men knew they needed to get out of the city now. The outbreak was spreading like wild fire through out the city. Already several units of UBCS had failed to report back in or simply couldn't be raised on the radio as the night wore on into the morning.
Frustrated by Umbrella's incompetence with this whole operation Kristoff cursed, "Das ganze Betrieb ist nur eine riesige Wichserei!" before kicking a chunk of wood away from his boot. Kristoff shook his head to shake his anger away. He needed to stay frosty for his men's sake. Without a good leader they would lose cohesion as a unit and then they would be no better off than the poor bastard civilians trapped in this hell hole.
When he thought of survivors, Kristoff looked over at young Shane. The boy was barely in his teens and already he had survived in a place worse than any war zone a person could imagine. Shane was lying on his side as the medic was sowing the boy's back shut as best he could with his field kit.
Kristoff was genuinely concerned for the boy, "You holding up okay?" He asked kneeling beside Shane. Shane took notice of the patch on Kristoff's sleeve and seemed to get agitated. Kristoff looked at the patch and then at Shane, "I'm a UBCS Shane. It stands for Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service. It sounds complicated but what that name means is when something like this happens we're sent in to help civilians get out of there. You have my word I will do whatever I can to get you out of here safe." With that said Kristoff extended his hand as Shane nodded lightly placed his trembling hand in Kristoff's hand and shook it once.
"Thank you…" Shane said weakly before looking away. Everyone he had trusted to help him at this point had died or abandoned him. Shane felt hopeless and thought no matter what anyone said, he couldn't trust them anymore.
Kristoff frowned and mumbled, "Was haben Dir die Hurensöhne angetan?" when he realized what the boy was mumbling about before. Someone he trusted had abandoned him to die.
Kristoff spoke sternly but softly in his thick German accent, "Listen to me Shane. We're not leaving you behind. We're leaving this city today and taking as many survivors as we can with us. Any man here will sacrifice himself to make sure you get out of here safe, right boys?" In unison the squad answered back,
"Yes, Captain Rohm, sir!"
The Captain smiled tightly and never broke eye contact with Shane. "I'm not going to lie to you. We can't stay here much longer and we have no choice but to move on to another extraction point. We have to cover several blocks until we reach the main highway access. Once were on the overpass we can signal our chopper. If that fails we can hoof it from the overpass to the military roadblock outside of the city before anything bad happens."
"I…I'm not sure…." Shane replied. "I mean, with all this going on in the city, there are things out there, x-factors you can't imagine. If you come up against something you're not prepared for then what?"
Kristoff smiled and pulled out an assault rifle with a grenade launcher attached to the bottom. "Do you see this? This is my X-factor solver. And if it doesn't solve the problem I got six more around me that can." He chuckled as Shane smiled slightly. "I'll be carrying you myself, so don't worry about anything, Sergeant Carmack here will be close by to make sure you don't start bleeding again." He told gesturing to the medic working on Shane's back.
The medic continued to treat Shane's wounds as he spoke to him, "Since we're on a first name basis Shane you can call me Stan." Said Sergeant Carmack in a British accent which seemed to comfort Shane a bit.
Kristoff nodded at Shane, "He's one of the best medics I've served with Shane, so don't worry, he'll have you patched up and ready to move in no time." Shane made a painful gasp as Kristoff looked at Carmack. "What's the situation?"
Carmack sighed, "He's sustained some very deep muscle and tissue wounds. It looks like the claws actually nicked some of his ribs but thankfully didn't damage the spinal column." Shane groaned feeling a needle being pushed into his back. Stan spoke apologetically, "Sorry Shane, you needed that to help stop the infection from spreading. This will be uncomfortable but you'll live. I'm sorry I can't do more until we get to a proper medical facility." Sergeant Carmack wrapped bandages tightly around Shane's torso. When he finished he took off his green medic's jacket and put it around Shane. Carmack smiled, "Be a good chap and sit still and keep that jacket on, right? You'll need to stay warm."
With that Carmack walked a few yards away to where Kristoff was standing with a pair of binoculars. Pulling out a file from his medical bag he tapped Kristoff on the shoulder and with the file and then handed it to him, "You'll want to see this old boy." He said opening the folder showing Shane's picture. "This was one of our objectives Mr. Spencer gave us personally."
Kristoff swore in disbelief, "Scheißdreck…"
Both men looked back at Shane who had his eyes fixed on the other members of the team. They turned back around while Carmack continued to speak, "I thought that might perk you up. I heard the others say that if we did find him we should hold onto him for ransom or even sell him to the highest bidder. Someone who is supposed to be the perfect human might fetch a hefty sum." Kristoff looked at him sharply and then back at Shane trying to sit up and wincing in pain.
Kristoff seemed unsure, "I don't know…" He said in a whisper before looking at the file with their objectives again. 'Extract the subject alive.' His eyes fell back to Shane now sitting up watching the others patrolling the area before lowering his head. "Something wrong Shane?"
"I miss my mom…" he said, his voice cracking slightly. The simple response from the young boy seemed to affect a lot of the men. Some looked at each other or him for a second feeling sorry for him while others simply maintained their vigil watching for movement from any shadow. Shane slowly crossed his arms across his legs grimacing in pain, "Can we leave now?" He asked looking at Kristoff and Carmack. He could see they were studying a folder with some papers in it but right now he didn't care. He just wanted to get out of there.
"Soon." Said Kristoff as he handed the folder back to Carmack, who immediately stuffed the file into his bag. Kristoff smiled, "Very soon, I promise."
