Remnants
Author's Note: Sorry this took so long. I've been rather busy. Hope it was worth the wait!
Chapter 8
"We were wrong about the explosion. We did an air quality test, and it showed negative. We think that Tricell were just showing off. If they were really serious about infecting everyone, they'd have used a much more powerful accelerant." Carlos said matter-of-factly.
Jill looked across at Leon and let out a massive sigh of relief.
"I also took the liberty of restocking your ammo for you. Here,"
Carlos handed out several clips to them all, as well as some shells for Claire and Jill.
"Thanks, Carlos." Jill smiled grimly at him.
"Don't mention it." Carlos nodded and looked at the floor. "A few bullets is a small price to pay for the lives of billions of humans."
"So anyway," Rebecca started, "HQ told us to investigate the area just past where we found you guys before, and we spotted something interesting."
When she didn't continue, Chris looked at Leon, who shrugged in response.
"And?" He asked.
"And we almost got shot down by some clown with a rocket launcher. Then we almost got shot down again, about six times. I didn't get a good look at what they were protecting, but Carlos is pretty sure they were your Liberados friends."
"How far past the other labs was it?" Leon asked while checking his weapons.
"About a mile, give or take."
"You're sure it wasn't the same lab?" Jill asked her.
"Not positive, but we flew right over the other entrances and there was nothing there."
"Okay, set us down just east of where you got shot at, and we'll go the rest of it on foot." Chris told her.
"Right. We're almost there, so get ready. We're gonna have to get out of here pretty fast if we want the chopper in one piece for your evac." Rebecca said.
She brought it down quickly, just above the tree line but out of sight of the rocket launching Liberados. Chris, Jill, Leon and Claire climbed down a rope ladder as quickly as they could. Leon was the last one out, and Carlos grabbed his shoulder just before he moved out of sight.
"Be careful, man. They're protecting something in there. And after seeing that explosion, I think we can expect to see much worse come from them soon if we don't act quickly. I'll try and organize a perimeter, but it'll be slow going. All the cops are fixing up the explosion, and all the BSAA are dead. But I'll come up with something. You and I both know what bastards like these are capable of, so don't underestimate them. Good luck, man. I'll be taking care of you all from up here." Carlos yelled above the noise of the rotor blades.
"Thanks, Carlos. We won't let you guys or anyone else down. Count on it."
With that, Leon dropped down the ladder and landed next to the others, drawing his handgun immediately. He nodded quickly to the rest of the little group before Jill took point and led the way to what was almost certainly more facility connected to the last one they'd visited.
"What could they be hiding?" Claire asked innocently.
"Judging by that explosion, I'd say they're hiding a massive amount of airborne strain." Leon said without turning around.
"I was thinking the same thing." Chris said somberly. "They must have been using the BSAA building as a test. They know it works on a fluid transmission level, but they didn't know about the airborne strain."
"Yeah, but I'm willing to bet they wanted to blow up the BSAA building for revenge too." Jill called back.
"Yeah…" Chris trailed off.
They reached the edge of yet another clearing containing what looked like a bunker entrance. It was just a short, concrete staircase built into the ground, with half a dozen Liberados standing around holding rocket launchers and machine guns. Leon signaled for them to spread out and wait for his first shot as the sign to start shooting. They all moved off quietly and took firing positions in the thick shrubs. Leon waited ten seconds for them to find a spot, then took careful aim with the handgun and fired a bullet into the top of a Liberado's scalp. It exploded the top of its head right off, and it slumped to the ground pathetically, thick red flesh exposed and spraying semi-coagulated blood from the remaining half of its head in the bright morning light. The sound of his shot was closely echoed by three more, and three more heads were blown apart instantly. The last two remaining Liberados started panicking – or getting angry, Leon couldn't tell – and frantically searching around for the shooters. As they turned their heads from side to side, little pieces of flesh came off and littered the grass floor.
Advanced stage of decay. The T-virus even affects Las Plagas…what are they doing? And why?
These were all split seconds thoughts, and Leon shrugged them off as Jill came bolting out of the bushes towards the 'front door'. Leon and Chris quickly exchanged glances, and blew the heads off the remaining two Liberados. Claire appeared afterwards and all four of them ran down the concrete stairs and looked at a huge three metre-wide door made of thick steel.
"It's a blast door." Chris said, his fist lightly knocking the steel.
"Why would they need that?" Jill asked him.
"To hide in when the bombs go off." Claire said. "They're going to blow up everything, infect everyone. They need somewhere to hide until it's all over."
"Let's get in and mess it up before they start getting their act together, then." Chris said.
There was a single green button sticking out of the wall on the left, and Jill pressed it with her palm. Leon and Claire stood and aimed, Chris and Jill standing to the side and out of sight. To everyone's surprise, the doors just dropped down into the ground and let them in. When no one came rushing out at them, Leon looked around for a camera of some sort. He didn't see one, but that made it worse. Their guards had all been killed, so they must have known about it. And if they knew, why wasn't anyone charging up the corridor with a gun, shooting wildly at them? Something wasn't right.
"Where is everyone?" Claire asked softly.
"That's what I'm thinking. Something's wrong, we're walking into a trap." Leon said.
"Keep your eyes open." Chris said quietly.
They walked slowly down a long corridor with few lights and metal walls. On their left they passed a staircase leading down, and straight ahead there was a set of 2 lifts on opposite sides of the corridor.
"Stairs or lifts?" Jill asked.
"Lifts." Leon replied. "We should stick together, this is too dangerous."
They walked another ten metres at crawling pace, and Leon spotted an inconsistency in the ceiling just above them in his peripheral vision. Then he heard machinery warming up.
Trap.
"RUN!" he yelled.
Chris and Leon dove just as a massive wall slid down from the roof in front of them. Jill was already on the other side. Leon picked himself up and looked around. They were completely sealed off from the entrance.
"Where's Claire?" Chris asked, looking around.
She was nowhere to be seen.
"I'm going after her." Leon said, beginning to walk off.
"Are you sure that's wise?" Jill pulled him up.
"These guys don't know you two are alive. That B.O.W. in the city was sent to kill you both. You can take care of this crap, I'm going to find Claire." Leon snapped.
Jill grabbed Leon's shirt and pulled him in violently, preparing to yell at him, but Leon grabbed her wrist and held it tightly and unforgivingly, glaring at her.
"I'm going to find Claire. She'd find me."
Leon released her and stormed off towards the lifts, pried the lift doors open with brute force and grabbed the lift cable with both gloved hands before jumping in, landing one floor down with a distant thud. Jill started to jog after him, but Chris stopped her.
"Let him go."
"But he's going to get us all killed! We need him!" Jill pleaded.
"No, he's right." Chris started. "They don't know we're alive, so we have the advantage. We're the best the BSAA has, and they don't know we're here. They'll be watching Claire and Leon carefully, for whatever reason. So even though Leon's put himself in danger, he's creating a diversion for us. It's the smartest thing he could have done."
Jill thought about it for a moment, trying to come up with a reason why it was a bad idea.
"But four of us will have a better chance against-"
"-against something we could have avoided if we were in smaller groups. You're not giving the guy enough credit. He's not just throwing this all away on a whim because he likes Claire. Sure, that's a main reason, but he's also giving us the chance we need to figure out what's going on here by drawing all the defenses towards them instead of us. And in the end, what really matters is stopping this Browning guy from putting whatever diabolical plan he has into place."
Jill looked a bit defeated, and Chris took her by the shoulders.
"Hey, I know how hard this is, and I know how much you respect Leon. But it's also the smartest thing he could have done at this time. He's giving us this opportunity, and I suggest we use it. And remember, we've done stuff like this before. We can take care of ourselves."
"You're right," Jill sighed. "he probably knows what he's doing, after all. I just hope he finds her, and that they find us."
"Don't worry, Leon's been doing this sort of thing for years now. He'll find us. And in any case, this is my baby sister and her partner we're talking about. I'm not leaving without them. But none if this is gonna happen if we stay here all day. Come on, let's move. We've got Liberados to destroy."
"Okay, let's go."
Partners.
Jill thought what a strange word that was. It was used to describe so much, and at the same time could be used to hide something deeper, or to mislead people as to what their true relationship was. She and Chris had been partners for thirteen years, and she knew for a fact that it was definitely hiding something deeper. Hearing Chris talk about Leon and Claire that way…
Don't worry, you guys. We won't leave you here. I promise.
"Claire? Can you hear me?"
Leon called blindly down the corridor, not really caring if something popped out in front of him. He had to find Claire, and that was that. Tricell could send an army of Liberados after him, and he'd kill them all by himself if that's what it took to get past them.
He kept walking, heading left out of the lifts. The corridor looked much the same as the one on the floor above; all metal walls and concrete floors, not much light and not much to see anyway. There was a door to his right, the only one within sight, so he kicked it down and took aim. It was a security room, with dozens of screens mounted to the wall facing him. There was a tall chair facing the screens, too tall to see if anyone was in it. Leon kicked the chair and it spun around, revealing a Liberado with a stun rod. It got out of the chair with lightning speed and thrust the rod at his chest, narrowly missing him as Leon dodged to the side. He brought his fist down on the back of the Liberado's neck, knocking him to the floor, then took quick aim with his handgun and blasted a hole through its spine. The Liberado didn't move at all, dead instantly. Leon checked out the screens, trying to find a trace of where Claire might be. He saw Jill and Chris on one of the screens, moving down another empty corridor towards a much bigger door than the ones he'd seen so far, then they were out of sight of the camera. He didn't care anyway; they could take care of themselves, and his prerogative was to find Claire. With at least thirty screens on the wall, there should have been some indication of where she was, but there was nothing, and he was getting angry.
Where are you…
Leon impatiently tapped the barrel of his handgun on the desk in front of him as he scanned the screens left to right, top to bottom.
What the hell is that thing…
In one of the screens on the right and in the fourth row from the top, in perfect digital clarity, was the ugliest B.O.W. he'd ever seen.
Even uglier than Saddler.
It looked to be at least eight feet tall, with six muscular arms, huge legs, and a pounding, semi-exposed chest. It also had rotting skin just like anything exposed to the T-Virus, and just enough resemblance to suggest that it was once human. It was in an electric cage, just standing there doing nothing. He couldn't worry about it too much, though. He'd have to keep a lookout, but he still had to find Claire. Testing 1 East, the screen's label read.
Leon made a mental note to stay away from Testing Facility 1, before continuing his scan of the screens. Something to his left and below caught his eye, so he quickly glanced at it. When he realized what it was, his eyes went wide and he leaned in closer.
That's a lot of virus.
It was a screen labeled 'Hangar South'. In the screen next to it, there were several large cargo planes. Leon took this all in, before shaking it off and remembering Claire again. He went back to the screen with the ugly B.O.W. and continued his search. The next two screens after it were labeled 'Testing 1 West' and 'Testing 1 North', with nothing of particular interest in them. Then he saw something strapped to a chair in 'Testing 1 South'.
That's her. Now where is this Testing Facility…
Leon searched the desk for a map of the whole place, but found nothing. Frustrated, he punched the chair, and it rolled off towards the wall, hitting a green button. A section of the wall slid down, revealing more buttons, this time with warning labels. He ran over to them and started reading. They were buttons to seal, unseal or purge two testing facilities, which was useless to him; a button each to disable the electric cages in the two facilities; and a keycard labeled 'GARDEN'. He took the keycard and quickly examined it, flipping it around. On the back was a small map of the second basement floor, with an arrow pointing to a certain room, obviously the garden the keycard was supposed to give him access to. He looked at the map, trying to find a room shaped like what he expected the Testing Facility to be, and saw two large rooms next to each other towards the north of the little map.
Wherever this room is, it has to be south of those facilities.
Satisfied, he pocketed the keycard and jogged in the general north direction, passing several more rooms in the process. He turned around a bend to the left and almost ran into Chris.
"Whoa! Leon, where were you?" Chris asked after steadying himself.
"I found a security room, and I know where Claire is now. I also saw a hangar decked out with cargo planes and huge vials of the virus. I also found this."
Leon handed Chris the keycard.
"There's a map on the back. I don't know the significance of the garden yet, but I don't have time to check it out. They're holding Claire in a testing facility, and it's got a big, ugly B.O.W. in it. I need to get her out of there." Leon explained.
"Okay, we'll have a look. Is the hangar protected?" Chris asked him.
"I'm not sure. But the testing facility doesn't look it, so I'm guessing I won't need the keycard. I gotta go, guys. Claire's probably in trouble."
"Okay. Be careful, Leon."
"You too."
With that, Leon took off for the testing facilities at a fast jog, leaving Chris and Jill to their explorations.
"So we need to find that hangar, then?" Jill asked, hands on hips.
"Yeah. If they're hoarding all that virus, we're gonna need to at least check it out." Chris answered, looking at the map on the back of the keycard.
The two of them set off in the direction Leon had gone, but more slower and more carefully. Chris led the way, jogging at a leisurely pace past door after door until the hallway branched out into a T intersection, a huge steel double-door in front of them. Jill walked up to it and read a small inscription on the door.
"Garden." She read. "So where's the card reader?"
"There isn't one." Chris said.
He thought for a moment, then started walking away to the left of the door.
"You go the other way, we'll meet up on the north side. Look for that reader." He yelled back.
Jill dutifully ran in the opposite direction, but saw no card reader and no other doors. When she reached the other side, Chris was standing at another T intersection opposite to the one they'd just come from.
"See anything?" He asked her.
"Nothing." She replied.
"Same here."
"Well, we can come back to this place. We don't even know the significance of the garden yet, but we do have to check out that hangar."
"You're right. Let's go, then."
They started jogging away, again heading north, when they heard loud footsteps up ahead. Chris motioned towards a door on their left, and they opened it quickly and stepped inside. Watching the hallway from behind glass windows in a dark room, they were pretty much invisible from the outside. The footsteps became louder, and they waited patiently for whatever it was that was making them to step into view. Jill crouched on the floor, and shifted her weight from her left foot to her right. She edged herself carefully closer to the window, handgun at the ready. Then she felt something slide around her neck gingerly, almost teasingly, and she froze. Slowly, she reached up to touch whatever it was, and felt satin-like smoothness, like a scarf. Definitely material. Then it tightened with an intensity she didn't have time to register. She gagged almost silently, and dropped her handgun, reaching up to try and pry the satin thing from her neck. Chris turned around when he heard the gun hit the floor, and only had time to see that it was an eight-foot Liberado that was choking her, before he heard the window smash behind him and was promptly ripped through it.
The scarf tightened and tightened, and Jill thought she was going to die here. She flailed desperately at the scarf, but whoever was holding it was at least three times stronger than herself. Her arms were getting heavy, the lack of oxygen in her body taking its toll. Her head felt like it was on fire, and that heat was making her drowsy. She suddenly remembered her gun on the floor, and reached for it. The Liberado that was strangling her must have seen what she was doing though, and yanked her backwards, lifting her into the air by the throat at least two feet off the ground. Her eyes bulged and tears streamed down her face like a torrential rain. She almost felt like she was in too much pain to suffocate, then remembered her shotgun. She reached up for it, the shotgun strapped to her back in the BSAA-issue shoulder holster. Her arms were very weak now, and the effort it took simply to raise them was more than she could handle. Her left hand touched the butt of the gun, and she felt her way to the safety and flipped it off. The effort was tiring her enormously, and she knew she only had one chance to pull it off. She reached desperately for the trigger, and found it just as the Liberado tightened his grip yet again. Jill grabbed her hair to keep her arm from dropping as her body shook from the motion of the scarf being tightened. Her lungs were screaming for oxygen and her neck felt like it was being crushed in a vice. Her face was drenched in tears, and she couldn't see. With one final effort, she reached for the trigger again, found it, and with an enormous surge of energy, she managed to pull it. Jill was sent flying into the closed door, hitting it head first and collapsing to the ground.
***
Chris picked himself up, brushing the bits of glass out of his skin as he ran for cover. The other giant Liberado had thrown him through several doors and windows as he watched Jill suffering, unable to do anything about it. So far, he hadn't even managed to draw a gun yet. Now that he had a few seconds, he removed the magnum revolver from its holster and waited for his enemy to show himself. It didn't take long, the eight-foot Liberado just smashed through the wall of the room next to the one he was in and roared loudly before charging. Chris got up and ran out of the room, re-entering the one the Liberado had just come through.
Gotta get him before he sees me.
Chris quickly and quietly came through the hole in the wall, watching the Liberado search for him.
Perfect; he can't see me.
Chris smiled inwardly and pressed the M500's hammer down, aiming at the Liberado's skull.
CLICK.
The Liberado turned around with incredible speed and slapped the gun out of Chris' hands.
Shit, he thought to himself, before ducking a head-high blow and rolling away. He took out his other gun and shot quickly, not really aiming. The bullets penetrated the giant, but did nothing to stop his advance. He tried the same trick again, re-entering the other room and doubling back, hoping that following him would allow enough time to retrieve the magnum. Clearly, a handgun wasn't going to take this guy down. He ran through the other room, and just about shit himself when the big guy was standing right in the wall-hole screaming at him. Chris backed away as quickly as he could, never taking his eyes off the huge, infected man. He fired a few more times, the bullets sinking into the Liberado's face and spraying semi-coagulated blood everywhere, large flaps of purple-black rotting skin falling off his face around the entry wounds. But he kept coming. Chris backed into the same room, still facing the Liberado, and fumbled around on the ground for the magnum. He found it just as the big Liberado swung a massive fist at him. Chris ducked and picked the gun up, missing the blow and diving away. Quickly, he aimed the magnum up and pulled the trigger, and the bullet struck the giant Liberado in the top of the skull about three quarters of the way up. Instantly, the Liberado's head was blown completely off its shoulders and into the wall, the body sent flying forwards and crashing to the floor. Chris caught his breath as he watched the slimy, rotting flesh and bone slide down the wall and onto its former owner, headless and defeated on the floor.
He got up and ran to where Jill was being strangled to death, thinking it was too late now. She'd been fighting the other big one for a few minutes now, she'd surely be dead.
She can't be…there's no way.
He reached the room and went to open the door, but there was resistance on the other side. He pushed more solidly and it opened, revealing Jill's limb body blocking the way.
"Oh shit JILL! Jill, come on, answer me! JILL!"
Chris slapped her gently a few times, lifting her head and checking for a pulse. He found one, so he cradled her and tried again to wake her up.
"Jill, wake up! Come on! Wake up!"
Jill shook her head groggily and blinked a few times, then started rubbing her neck.
"That fucking hurt." She said angrily. "I hate being strangled."
Chris laughed heartily. What kind of woman almost gets killed, then complains about how much it hurt? He thought this to himself, then answered it. A good woman. He smiled and stroked Jill's hair away from her face.
"Thanks." She said.
"No problem." He smiled. "You might have almost died, but you did a good job on the big guy. There isn't much left of him. Take a look." Chris gestured towards the ex-eight foot Liberado, now two three-foot sections on the ground behind them. "Now let's get out of here. We still gotta find that hangar."
She sat up slowly and started giggling.
"What's so funny?" He asked.
"Oh it's just that I was kind of enjoying that moment. If it wasn't for the strangling part, the giants hiding in the shadows, and all the gore, it would have been romantic. You sure know how to kill a mood, Chris."
He laughed and helped her to her feet.
"I'll take you on a romantic holiday for a month when we get back home. You won't even recognize me, I promise. I'll dress nicely and everything. But we have to get there in one piece first."
Jill dropped her gaze, and Chris interpreted her expression as 'sorry, bad timing, I'll be good now'. Almost like a little girl who's just spilled dinner all over the carpet after trying to help her mother out. He felt bad.
"I'm sorry, Jill. I didn't mean to be a hardass. I promise I'll make it all up to you when we're out of here."
"It's okay. But you're right, we need to keep moving. I just…never mind."
Chris knew what she was going to ask him. He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips.
"Wow." She said, a grin spreading across her face. "I wasn't expecting that."
"But it's what you were going to ask, wasn't it?"
"Along those lines, yeah. That was a better answer though. Now we can get moving."
Chris and Jill started jogging again, and after a minute or two they reached another set of double doors, these ones labeled 'Hangar'.
"This is it." Jill said.
"Yeah, and it's locked with a double card system." Chris noted.
He kicked the door casually.
"Steel doors. We're not getting these open without the keycards." He said, his face creasing in frustration.
Jill walked over to the card reader on the right of the doors and examined it carefully. It was a simple design, with the card reader positioned in such a way that the user had to swipe downwards, and a little LED under the reader slot that was currently red. There was a number above the reader slot, printed in small characters. HS-02-02.
"Is there a number on that keycard Leon gave you?" Jill asked, a sudden brainwave taking over.
"Um, gimme a sec, I'll see…" Chris trailed off as he examined the card. "Yeah, here we go. Hotel sierra, dash zero two, dash zero one."
"Damn, that doesn't match up."
"It does with this reader. Let's give it a try."
Chris swiped the card, and the little LED changed color to yellow, then back to red a second later.
"What does it mean? Why yellow?" Chris asked.
"Well, I've seen these types of card readers before. When it's a double card reader like this one, usually it goes yellow for a second to allow for the other card to be swiped before going green and allowing entry."
"So there's another card around here somewhere. Shit! Leon only gave us one card!"
"Wait…the card says 'Garden' on it, doesn't it? Maybe the other card's in there?" Jill surmised.
"I suppose I should have thought of that myself. I've been through enough puzzles like these over the years." Chris smiled. "Well, only one way to find out. Let's check it out."
Leon opened the door to Testing Facility 1 quietly with the barrel of his H&K USP. He knew there was currently one Claire and one huge monster thing in the room. And he didn't care about the monster thing at all. If it threatened Claire, it was as good as dead. He knew Claire was a big girl and she could take care of herself, but given that she was tied to a chair, she didn't stand much chance unless he intervened. Then it struck him: he'd just walked into a trap. Browning must have known Leon would come running if Claire was in danger, he'd have to. He'd obviously done his research, and if he'd been any good at it he'd have known a bit about Leon's personality. Leon was a joker, always throwing one liners around, even at the worst possible times. Levity helped him keep his cool. But he was also intensely chivalrous. He'd do anything to save a pretty girl. Not that he wouldn't risk dying to save a man, but it was more obvious with women. What Browning might not know was that there were a lot of things Leon had seen and done that weren't officially on record. Operation Javier and his mission in rural Spain weren't officially recognized, so there was no way that Browning could have known about them. That would give Leon a measure of advantage, small as it was. On the other hand, Wesker knew about Leon's involvement in both cases, as did Krauser. But Wesker wasn't all that interested in Leon, he was more interested in getting revenge on Chris. In any case, the trap was set, and Leon was walking in through the front door to greet it.
Leon stepped in cautiously, taking in his surroundings as quickly as possible. It was pretty much as the cameras had detailed in the security room. To the right was the huge monster thing, complete with massive electric cage; to the left were more cages with various test subjects including rats, dogs and the like, all oversized of course; straight ahead were several steel cabinets and tables containing various melee weaponry; and behind him was-
"Claire! Are you alright?" Leon asked as he untied her.
"No. They took my guns. But thanks for getting me out of here. You realize this is a trap, right?" She responded frankly.
"Yeah, I know. You were probably bait to get me to fight that thing." Leon pointed to the huge monster.
"That's right. We should probably-"
"-Greetings, Agent Kennedy. It's so good to see you alive and in the flesh." Browning boomed from a door straight ahead of them.
Leon raised his handgun and aimed it at Browning.
"Why? So you know we're still able to get eaten by that thing?" Leon glared back at him.
"Thing? You really should have more respect for women, 'Agent' Kennedy. Especially ones you work with on a daily basis."
"What are you talking about?" Leon didn't move his aim away from Browning's forehead.
"Surely you recognize this face?"
Browning gestured at the monster's face, but got no response from either Claire nor Leon, so he continued.
"This is the face of your favourite pilot, Leon." Browning snarled. "Harman brought her to me, and I gave her a new purpose. With you, all she had was mediocrity and death. With me, she has meaning, and power. TRUE life, Leon."
"Oh my god…Amy…" Claire said softly.
"That's right!" Browning grinned toothily.
"You bastard, Browning." Leon said quietly.
"I'M the bastard? You're the one leading everyone you spend time with into the depths of darkness. Look what happened to your partner, Jack Krauser? And what about your friend Luis Sera? Look what happened to them! And you have the nerve to call me a bastard?"
"How do you know about Luis?!" Leon yelled. Browning had struck a nerve by mentioning that name.
"Your dear partner Krauser told me everything. Told me how weak you are, and how selfish. And you still persist in attempting to end everything great about bioweapons? You don't have the right. I'll end your life here and now, Kennedy. Wesker's dream will come true at last."
"You're dreaming, Browning. I've stopped people like you before, and I'll do it again. Look what happened to Birkin, and Saddler, and Javier Hidalgo? Even Krauser. Bioweapons stole his life. They stole Luis' life too. There's no way you can win."
"Calm down, Leon. Don't lose your head." Claire whispered to Leon, noting how angry he was getting.
"Well, it seems I underestimated your friends Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield. They appear to be still alive. I may have to get my hands dirty after all. But it's no matter, your friend Amy here will enjoy keeping you company while I destroy your allies. It's too bad, though. I was just starting to enjoy Claire's company. But business is business, after all. I can't change the world if three of the best are after me. Sorry Claire, but you're just not on the same level as your brother. Farewell!"
"Bastard!"
Claire snatched Leon's handgun and fired several rounds into Browning's back and arms as he fled.
Browning moaned as he fell, but quickly gathered himself and ran off through the door he entered, clutching a glass syringe of some sort and a remote control.
"What was he carrying?" Leon asked while pulling his desert eagle out of the holster.
"Some sort of syringe, I think. He said he was getting his hands dirty, maybe he's going to fight Chris and Jill himself?"
"Pro-"
Leon's sentence was cut off by the sound of Amy's electric cage being turned off.
"Here we go." Leon said, taking aim.
The Amy monster woke up instantly and bent the bars of the cage open with relatively little effort, then roared loudly. She saw Leon and Claire aiming at her, and charged straight at them. They dodged to separate sides as Amy came crashing through, smashing into the wall behind them.
"Exposed chest! Aim for the exposed chest!" Leon yelled.
"Right!"
Claire blasted off a few rounds in between Amy's ribs, splattering blood everywhere and creating a gushing stream of blood out from the bullet holes, which sealed itself almost instantly. The ribs expanded straight afterwards, creating an airtight seal.
"Shit…I thought that might happen." Leon muttered. "They'll probably open up again. We've gotta be quick!"
Amy swiped at Claire, collecting her legs and tripping her over. She fell to the ground flat on her back with a grunt, knocking the wind out of her. Amy picked Claire up by the arms and drew back all four remaining fists, ready to strike.
"Leon! Gimme a hand here!" She yelled.
Leon ran underneath Amy's huge head and fired straight up into her chin with the desert eagle. There was no wound whatsoever, but Amy screamed in pain and dropped Claire, clutching at her neck and roaring angrily.
"I think all you did was piss her off." Claire said.
Leon looked around, trying to think of something he could use. He couldn't see anything interesting enough to pose a problem for Amy in this form.
"Leon!" Claire tackled Leon to the ground, narrowly missing several massive swipes of mutated arms.
They crawled out of the danger zone and got to their feet, running to the north side of the room with the array of melee weapons.
"Distract her! I'll try and find something we can kill her with!" Leon yelled.
"Okay, I'll try!"
Claire ran off and fired a few shots, yelling at Amy to follow her. Leon hid for a few moments while Amy chased Claire around, trying not to create a counter-distraction that would ruin his plan. He scanned the contents of the table quickly, seeing various stun rods and swords, but nothing that would be useful against something like mutated Amy.
"Leon! I'm out! AAAHHHHH!"
Claire screamed as she was sent flying into a cage containing a huge rat. She ran to the other side of the cage and hid for a moment.
"Here!"
Leon slid a new clip across the floor to her, and she picked it up just as Amy lifted the cage up and hurled it across the room at Leon.
"Whoa!"
Leon ducked instinctively, and the cage bounced off the melee weapon table and onto the floor behind him.
Claire screamed again as the four-foot rat took an interest in her, but Amy simply picked the rat up with two of her left hands and ripped it apart.
"Oh shit…not good…" Claire whimpered as Amy once again glared at her, towering over her as she raised several fists.
Leon spotted it just as the table's contents started littering the floor around him: an incendiary grenade that had fallen from one of the steel cupboards. Leon grinned and picked up one of the swords, then took off for Claire and mutated Amy.
Claire raised the handgun and fired a round into approximately the same spot as Leon had shot earlier, and Amy roared, again clutching her massive throat with all six brutally strong hands. Leon reached her and handed her a heavy sword.
"When I shoot, cut the hole as big as you can, as fast as possible." Leon ordered.
"But the ribs are still shut! We have to move! She's going to start swiping again!" Claire yelled frantically.
"Watch."
Leon pointed to Amy's ribs as she recovered from Claire's shot to the throat. Mutated Amy seethed in infected rage, her horrible exposed chest heaving. Then she roared again, and her arms spread wide, retracting her ribs and exposing the tender organs inside. Leon fired 4 rounds as quickly as he could into the general direction of Amy's heart, and the inevitable river of thick, bright red blood came from out. Claire jumped up and thrust the sword into Amy's chest, and Amy screamed in agony, clutching at the sword as Claire swiped it left and right around in Amy's body. Amy ripped the sword out and hurled it at Claire, who dodged just in time to avoid decapitation. Claire's eyes were wide with horror and fright as she registered that she'd nearly lost her head. Then she was being pulled to her feet and dragged with ferocious speed towards the north exit of the Testing Facility.
Leon had thrown the grenade into Amy's chest, and dragged Claire as fast as he could away from the blast. They reached the door and opened it, and started running down a corridor to their right just as the grenade went off. They heard the loud splat of gore hitting the wall behind them, and Claire stopped to look. Leon turned her around by the shoulder.
"Let's go. I don't wanna see that. Amy was a good girl, she deserves better. Especially after that."
Claire simply nodded. She knew somewhat how he felt, having been through Steve Burnside's mutation and subsequent death years ago.
"Let's go find that son of a bitch and kill him." Claire said, Leon's handgun at the ready.
Author's Note: One last chapter, and it's all over! I've had fun writing this, it's been good to make up a story based on a series I love so much. Admittedly, it was a shitload harder than I originally thought it'd be! I'll try and make a decent finale. Once again, thanks to anyone who read this fic, and/or said nice things about it.
