Biohazard: Resident Evil VII
Chapter Nine: Louisiana Drift
Ethan couldn't believe what he was seeing. After putting four bullets from a police pistol into Jack Baker, three of which should have been fatal, the strange man was on his feet again as if nothing had happened. He wasn't bleeding, limping, or making any kind of noises to indicate that he was in pain from the gunshots, and if not for the splatters of blood on the wall behind him, there would have been no evidence of him ever having been shot at all.
"Pretty tight shot-group for a city-boy, Ethan." Jack said, brushing the floor dust off of his dirty clothes. "But if you wanna be part of this family, son, well… I'm gonna have to teach you some respect."
Casually bending down to retrieve the shovel, the strange man had already started walking toward Ethan, by the time he snapped out of the shocked trance, and found the ability to move again. This whole insane scenario was like something out of an 80's slasher film, but having watched a good number of those movies, mostly with Travis, he had a strong feeling that the gun wasn't going to be enough. The car, on the other hand…
The keys were already in his hand, so Ethan fired several shots with the pistol, some hitting Jack, and some hitting other things around the garage, as he ran over to the car, and thankfully one of them hit the strange man in the leg, giving Ethan time for his trembling hands to find the keyhole. Jack was standing up again by the time he got the car's driver-side door open, and once inside, Ethan closed and locked the door before starting the engine.
"Okay, asshole." He said, putting it in gear. "Let's see if you can get up from this."
The car had been parked sideways, so he had to back up first in order to turn the right direction; the tires making a loud squealing noise before his rear end struck the work bench where the keys had been sitting. There were bigger things to worry about than some minor damage to the frame, so Ethan put it in drive, and then stomped the accelerator, making sure to aim the center of the front end right at Jack. There was a loud thump-thump as the strange man vanished underneath the car after impact, but then there was a hard crash since Ethan was unable to stop before hitting the wall that had been behind the target.
He hadn't had a chance to put on his seatbelt, nor was he concerned with such things at the moment, so Ethan's forehead hit the steering wheel when the car came to an abrupt stop. He wasn't injured though, aside from the now throbbing pain, and there was no sign of Jack, so he put the car into reverse, and backed up so that the front end was now aimed at the garage's outer shutter. His car would probably be totaled after another hit, but he could still take the Deputy's car once outside, and Ethan was reaching for the gearshift, when something moved outside the passenger door.
Looking toward it out of reflex, Ethan gasped and had to shield his eyes as the shovel head slammed into the window with enough force to shatter it, showering him with little pieces of glass. Hearing the shovel fall onto the concrete as if it had been dropped, he moved his arm down just in time to see Jack Baker, once again recovered as if nothing happened, diving head-first through the window. He nearly landed in Ethan's lap, causing the pistol to fall onto the floor, and then the strange man pushed down on the accelerator with one hand, while grabbing onto the steering wheel with the other.
The tires squealed again, kicking up smoke as Jack let out a loud rebel yell, and there was a burning smell left in the air as the car took off. Since it was still in reverse, they were quickly turned away from the shutter, and since the strange man was cranking the wheel to the side as far as he could, the two of them quickly entered a spin. Ethan tried to wrestle control from Jack, hitting the brakes and turning the wheel away from him, but this just made them change directions before resuming the spin.
"Now, this here's drivin', son!" Jack yelled with excitement over Ethan's terrified screams. "Jus' like doin' doughnuts in the soccer field, ain't it, city-boy?! You ever seen that Tokyo Drift movie, Ethan?! Well, this here's Lousiana Drift, YEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAAA!"
Several times the corners of the car clipped the walls of the garage, and Ethan knew that it was only a matter of time before they wrecked really bad, but Jack was too strong to overpower, and the pistol was out of reach. Well, he couldn't just allow Jack to drive him to his death, and he was trying desperately to think of a solution, when the car clipped another wall, and Ethan felt something in his pocket when he was bumped against the center console.
It was Zoe's knife! The one that she had given him to free himself with, and in all the excitement, he had forgotten about slipping it back into his pants pocket. It was a struggle to reach it, given the way that he was sitting, but then he opened the blade, and now it was Jack's turn to scream when the blade was stabbed right into his eye. But Ethan didn't stop there; he stabbed the strange man in the face again and again, finally getting his other eye, and making Jack let go of the wheel… just in time for them to slam into the wall at full speed.
Again, Ethan's forehead was bashed against the steering wheel, causing his vision to go white for a second, and leaving his ears ringing even after his eyes had refocused. Jack, however, wasn't so lucky. When the front end hit the wall, the side of the car hit the shutter hard enough to bend it outward, and the lower half of the strange man's body had been hanging out the window. The front end had been mostly crushed, with steam and different fluids spraying out from under the hood, meaning that the car was a total loss… and he would probably never be able to open that garage's outer shutter now.
The good news, though, was that Jack wasn't moving. His lower body was crushed between the car and the shutter, and his upper half was covered in blood… his own blood, that is. Yes, it looked like Ethan had finally won, but there was no time to relax, since now there were flames starting to come out from under the hood as well. He knew that he had to get out, before the flames hit the wrong chemical and exploded, so he put the knife back into his pocket, and had just picked up the fallen pistol from the floor, when he gasped as Jack suddenly grabbed onto his wrist.
"Fuck!" He couldn't help yelling as the flames started to spread.
"Do I got your attention, now, son?" The strange man asked, looking up and forcing the pistol toward his own head. "Watch close now, cause' your bout' to see somethin' wonderful. I said watch, damnit!"
Try as he might, Ethan just wasn't strong enough to pull away, and now Jack was laughing as he stuck the barrel into his own mouth. With his thumb over Ethan's finger on the trigger, there was a loud bang when the strange man squeezed, making blood spray all over what was left of the car's ceiling, as a huge hole was blown through the back of the strange man's head. Suddenly Jack's body went limp, allowing Ethan to scramble, or rather fall out of the driver side door, and he was just getting up, when a small explosion knocked him back down on his face as the car burst into flames.
Thankfully, the garage was almost completely made of concrete, meaning that the whole house wasn't about to burn down with him trapped inside, but he wasn't exactly in condition to defend himself if one of the others showed up. He had to get out of there… he had to find Mia… but first he had to make his head stop pounding. The pounding, as well as the ringing in his ears just got worse as Ethan tried to get up, but he managed to succeed in making it to his hands and knees before falling over sideways.
Smoke was spreading from the car, and Jack's body was completely engulfed in flames, so at least he knew that the strange man wouldn't be coming after him ever again. But this knowledge didn't help Ethan get to his feet any faster. The good news was that after another minute or so, the pain started to fade, at least enough for him to make another attempt at standing, so he did, using what was left of the work bench as a brace… only to jump a little as someone grabbed him from behind.
"Ethan, stop." A familiar voice said, holding his wrists when he struggled. "Ethan, its Zoe… it's Zoe, Ethan, I'm not gonna hurt you."
Relaxing once he realized who the voice and hands belonged to, Ethan was so happy to see a sort of friendly face after the ordeal with Jack, that he couldn't help hugging the short-haired woman… although it was more like leaning on her so that he wouldn't fall over again. She didn't seem bothered by the hug, and then mentioned something about getting out of the garage, before changing her position so that he could lean on her even more while they headed toward the interior shutter.
"Just walk it off, Ethan." Zoe said, hitting the button to close the shutter once they were through. "You'll be fine, just… okay, here's the stairs… come on, big step."
It was getting easier to move, and the ringing in his ears was nearly gone, but it was still nice for Ethan to get somewhat of a rest after… everything that he had been through tonight. Once they reached the top of the stairs, Zoe took a look to see if anyone was around, before guiding him down a longer hallway that took them past the dining room and kitchen… two places that he never wanted to see again. The wall was slightly more intact in this part of the house, and there were old portraits hanging, probably of family members, since most of them looked pretty old.
Rounding a corner, Ethan spotted more pictures, modern ones, the first one being of Jack and Marguerite, and they looked… happy… and normal. There were more… there was one of Lucas, where he looked like just as big of an asshole as he had been at dinner, and then there was a really cute picture of Zoe, all dressed up next to the numbers '07, and then Ethan realized that it was probably from her senior year of high school… huh, only a couple years after he had graduated, but then again… he hadn't really expected anyone from this family to have even gone to school.
There were two more pictures, and they put Ethan on edge, mostly since the first one was of Mia… and this made him wonder if the Bakers truly considered his wife to be a part of their family. As weird as this concept was, it had probably saved Mia's life, since otherwise she might have ended up as one of the others that Zoe had mentioned. The last picture was of a little girl, and at first he thought it was Zoe, until he realized that it was newer than the other ones… that, and she looked nothing like Zoe… long black hair… a wider nose and face.
"We got to find somewhere to hide you." Zoe said as they approached a heavier looking door. "I got a place outside the main house, but daddy's always lockin' the place up tight for supper, and… well, I never saw no one get away from daddy before, so I didn't…
"It's okay, Zoe." Ethan replied, leaning on her a little less as the throbbing in his head continued to fade. "Just find me a place to sit for a minute… I need some answers."
