Yoh! Disclaimer: I don't own nothing'. Except an over active imagination and a will to rather write this than do homework. Resident Evil and it's many AWESOME characters are all property of Capcom and I am simply borrowing their likeness to fulfill my internet obligation of Rule 34.
Resident Evil Blood
Chapter 10 – Discrepancy
Rapid City, BSAA Field Camp and Training Facility. Six years after Raccoon City. Present Day.
"Alright, please begin by explaining what happened exactly during your mission." McGivern opened one of the folders to the first page. Everyone else grabbed a folder too, even Claire, although she didn't bother opening hers. "Please feel free to jump in," he motioned to the others seated around the table, "if you feel the need to clarify or add to the report." He turned back to Carlos, motioning with a hand. "Please. Proceed."
Carlos nodded, as McGivern uncapped his pen. "Thank you, sir." He began again after a small pause to open his own folder and skim the contents. "Our unit, A-1, was given the order to investigate a suspicious building about 80 miles northeast of here."
"According to the report," McGivern questioned as he glanced through the first few pages in the folder he held, "It was a possible sighting of an infected. Correct?"
"Yes, sir," Carlos nodded. "That's correct. That area, and the surrounding towns, had already been evacuated since it's outbreak and the rest was already swept, so there wasn't supposed to be any remaining BOWs or possible hosts for infection."
"I see," the Colonel answered. "Continue."
"We went in with minimal gear and weapons." Carlos suddenly stopped as he took a deep breath and slowly continued. "We secured the area around the building and then proceeded in. There was nothing unusual or out of the ordinary. We checked out the first floor and then went up to the second floor. Boyd remained downstairs as lookout. He…" Carlos paused again, slowly shaking his head.
Chris could tell he was having a hard time with this. He didn't blame him. Boyd was a good man and had been a good friend to them all.
"We received a warning from Boyd. Verbally. We later discovered that there was a problem with our radios."
"Problem?" McGivern asked.
A radio frequency jam.
Chris already knew. It had to be that. He had been in that exact same position before… A year ago…
To prevent A-1 from calling for back up.
He mentally cursed Wesker.
"Yes, sir," Jill responded, taking over for Carlos. "The radios weren't working properly."
"All of the radios?"
"Uh, yes sir," Jill confirmed, slightly confused.
"Says here all of the radios were cleared upon re-entry."
"What?" Jill furrowed her eyebrows. "No, they weren't working."
"Means we were being jammed," Carlos practically spit out. "Means Boyd didn't have to die."
He's accusing me.
Chris remained stoic, not letting any emotion pass through his face. It was evident that the gears were turning far quicker than he had anticipated.
"Boyd had to verbally shout the warning. Loud enough for us to hear him from downstairs," Carlos added. "That's why…" He paused, growling under his breath. "That's why the swarm got to him first. If it hadn't been for him, sir, I don't know if we would've been able to make it out in time."
"In time?" McGivern restated, his voice a perfect balance of calm.
"Before the swarm got to us. He gave his life to warn us, sir."
Chris did not miss out on the anger Carlos fought to subdue in those words. Or the quick glance in his direction.
"Where did this swarm come from?" the Colonel asked frowning as he scanned the folder. "There shouldn't have been anything anywhere near that kind of magnitude there."
"No, sir," Carlos agreed, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth. "There shouldn't have been."
"We don't know where the infected came from, sir," Jill hopped in, giving Carlos a few seconds to calm down. Chris couldn't help but marvel at her ability to recover and save her teammates, both on and off the field. "All we know, is that there were easily over three hundred of them in the building alone. And another two or three hundred waiting outside."
"Waiting outside?" McGivern asked suddenly confused. "How did you get into the building in the first place without noticing several hundred hostiles?"
"When we went in, sir," Jeremy interjected, "the place was clean. They didn't show up until after we got inside."
"I see," McGivern nodded, but looked troubled. "Please continue."
Carlos took over again. "We managed to vacate the premises by using a stairwell on the opposite end of the building. It was the only other way out."
Of course. Wesker would do this in a building where he could control the team's movements. From the moment they had entered the structure, they were already trapped.
Again, he knew. He'd been in that position already…
They never stood a chance. Damn it.
"It led us back down to the first floor and to an exit. That's where…" Carlos paused again before continuing. "That's where Kowalski stayed behind to cover us as we exited. He held off the swarm long enough to let us get out. He didn't make it out himself. I suspect he got overtaken by the Crimsons in the group."
"There were Crimsons?" McGivern asked dead serious.
"Yes sir. Several of them," Jill said in a low voice.
Fuck. What was Wesker thinking?! A normal swarm, OK. He could expect that, even understand that. But not Crimsons! No doubt that's probably also what took Boyd out. Fuck! What the hell was Wesker thinking!? By throwing Crimsons in there, how could he not have expected casualties-!
And suddenly it became clear to Chris.
He WANTED casualties. Ah! He wanted casualties, so that more attention would be paid to them and their death, and less attention would be paid to me! Damn it!
Chris didn't know what was more infuriating: Wesker's lack of human decency and respect for his old teammates, or the fact that his plan had actually worked. Everyone had been too preoccupied with Carlos' injury and Boyd and Kowalski's deaths to pay much attention to him in retrospect.
Fuck that bastard!
"When we got outside," Jeremy continued this time, "we got locked in as another swarm hit us from the front."
"That's the swarm I mentioned that was waiting for us outside," Jill clarified.
"Hm…" McGivern seemed lost in thought. "And then what happened?"
"Agent Valentine and myself were the first to run out of ammo," Carlos picked up again. "We had managed to make it a little ways to the building in front of us, located across the street, when we were overtaken."
"That's when Chris threw a grenade and gave us cover!" Jeremy tossed in.
"He threw a grenade?" McGivern asked not at all surprised.
"Yes, sir, from the top of the building that was in front of us," the younger A-1 member elaborated.
"A three story building directly in front of us," Carlos cut it, suddenly turning to look at Chris, who frowned at the glance.
He looks… Smug. What is he thinking..?
"Before that," the Latino man continued, "he sniped several head shots."
"Oh, yeah!" Jeremy nodded quickly. "You should have seen it, sir," he turned to McGivern. "It was insane! Taking them all out! Every single shot was right on the money!"
"Right on the money?" the Colonel re-stated.
"Yes, sir, a head shot! Every single shot was a freakin' head shot!"
McGivern didn't say anything. Neither did Chris or Carlos, although the man's eyes never left his mark on Chris.
Shit.
Chris mentally cursed. The man had him. Carlos had found his massive flaw.
"So," McGivern calmly asked no one in particular. "Chris had a rifle?"
For a few moments, no one answered as they all thought about it. "No, sir," Jill slowly spoke, the look of confused very evident. "Not that I saw…"
"What weapon did he have?" McGivern asked, still to the group in general.
Fuck.
Chris suddenly knew what was happening. He knew how this was going down.
Fuck!
He'd stepped right into it!
"A... 92FS, standard issue..." Jill answered again, even more confused now. The gears were turning. It was finally starting to click into everyone's mind.
"I thought you said Chris was on the roof of the other building. A three story building. Across the street?"
"He was sir," Jill turning to stare at Chris. She looked so very confused. Everyone else was also staring at Chris. They all looked equally as perplexed. And not without hints of fear.
"What?" Claire looked around, disturbed by the sudden drop in temperature. "Why's everyone quiet all of a sudden?"
"Because," Carlos finally responded, practically gloating. "That type of aim and accuracy is impossible from that range with that gun. Especially at the speed he was shooting."
Claire raised her eyebrows as she suddenly got it. But she smiled and tried to laugh it off. "Well, that's Chris for you!" she grinned trying to break the tension. "Come on Jill," she said catching the other woman's attention. "You know Chris has amazing aim!"
"Not like that, Claire," Jill shook her head, her eyes filling with uncertainty. "…Not like that."
Unknown Location… Five years after Raccoon City. One year ago.
An empty void. Cold. Dark. Desolate.
There was no light. There was no tunnel. There was no warmth. Or shinning brightness at the end leading to a promised heaven. There was only cold. And darkness. And emptiness.
Forsaken tendrils stretching to wrap around the thoughts of what might have been, floating in a sea of eternal chaos on an endless expanse of oblivion. Nothingness. All around. A sea of eternal nothingness.
And in the middle of that vast stretch of emptiness, Chris wandered.
Thoughts refused to form; memories nothing more than broken fragments of refracted light glaring off sharp obsidian waters. His mind stretched into frayed threads, each pulled taunt against the undercurrent of existence. A wind; a nameless ripple, ghosted through the darkness, surrounding each metaphysical body part, tugging and suckling at him.
Pain. It flowed like shocks of electricity, swarming the encompassed plane, like thorned vines, cutting and squeezing, until nothing but the static of its presence sizzled and exploded. Pain! Loud and indescribable! And Chris screamed into the darkness, begging for light, for feeling, for anything!
Visions whipped by, clouding the empty void like halo projections of lost moments in time. A strange and random circus of images and thoughts conglomerating in a turbulent and meiotic whirlpool of insanity. He screamed again, his desperate pleas to any god willing to listen drowning in the destruction of his senses.
He arched, his mind breaking, flowing into tears of mental anguish at his forlorn fate, feeling his body dismember into black dust as the threads of his sanity snapped, riveting in discord like hair slow falling in the wind, disappearing in the gloom of nothing… Leaving emptiness behind.
And Chris ceased to be.
Wesker turned suddenly, having heard an impossible cry bellowed from the depths of the barge. Standing on the top deck, his long black leather trench coat flowing in the night wind, he narrowed his eyes as he questioned what could possibly have made that pitiful moan.
Not one to take arbitrarily strange noises made in the dead of night for granted, the Tyrant languidly walked towards the cabin entrance and descended the multiple flights of stairs downwards. With each level advanced, his pace quickened though, as he quite suddenly realized that the cries were emanating from the area of the ship where he had left Chris.
Then, at a mad dash, he raced down the corridors that lead to the storage hull, stopping abruptly as the sounds disappeared all together. This only intensified his excursion as he practically destroyed the hatch leading into the vast storage complex.
Kicking it to the side, he calmly walked in, his heightened sense of smell having already picked up the strong copper tinge mixed with the acid salt sting of the ocean's residue. Blood and salt. Lots of it.
Wesker's bioenhanced eyes scanned the darkness, not bothering to draw his 92FS. He found nothing, save the usual dull grime of unused containment units and dirty metal drum barrels piled high in dangerous stacks. Instead, he turned to his keen hearing and scoured the room.
He could hear the constant drips of slow leaks long abandoned and the eerie groaning of the ship's desolate age made evident. The scurrying of rats was contrasted to the scampering of roaches and other vermin as they all moved in and out of the way in Wesker's presence.
The Tyrant ignored them in favor of a strangely delicate although loud sound he couldn't quite put his finger on. It thumped on a mismatched rhythm of synchronized beats; each pulse becoming stronger yet fainter all at once.
And then Wesker saw it. And he understood what the noise was. There lay Chris, hunched over in a fetal position, unmoving on the dirty floor, a vacant expression on his face, utterly lifeless. But Wesker could hear it, loud and clear - the beating of his heart.
***************************** Author Time! *****************************
Yoh!
Ah! I got back wonderful songs from you guys! Thank you SO much!
If you're new to the fic, basically, we're all working together to come up with a play list for Resident Evil Blood! (one song for each chapter) Feel free to submit your song choice! I'll post a list for reference in the next chapter! Great song options guys! I'm loving them all! Keep them coming!
R/R please! I drink reviews like Mint boba tea!
dolly-cola
Thanks for the review! Oh, yes, many NIN songs wonderfully for WXC. They have a good feel for it. Yup, song added to the list, thanks! Hope you continue to enjoy the fan fic!
DeathAngel90
Heh, yeah. I always get excited over new chapters, even when they are my own, heh heh. I'm glad you like the fic so far and I hope you like the rest too! Oh, yeah, chapter 15 is awesome! Chris is gonna get owned soon! Shhhhhuuuu!
ShivaTheDestroyer
Ah! Thank you! Yeah, this one and the next are meant to set up chapter 15 which is finally gonna be yummy yaoi! Yes! But, yeah, I'm glad you like this chapter and I hope you like the next one too! As always, it's a pleasure to hear from you!
2ScarletRibbons
Great recommendations! I'd never even heard of Skillet before, but I'd heard some of those songs! I had no idea who sang them. Wonderful choice! They've been added! Thank you so much and I'm extremely happy that you're enjoying the fic so far. Yes, you'll enjoy chapter 15 especially! It's delicious!
Automne
Hahaha! You rock! Yeah, I loooove cliffhangers! You'll see, when you least expect it… I'm'a hit you with three cliffhangers! Whoo-pah! Heh, yeah, I think zipping back and forth from past to present can lend an interesting perspective to story telling. All my favorite movies do it, so I figured, ah, hell, why not do it in fanfiction, right? Oh, in Chapter 14, it actually comes together to twist into a super nice cliffhanger that hits you from both the past and the future! You'll see… Damn! I love cliffhangers! Ah! But, at least, you'll always get a lovely fic once a week, so the wait isn't too unbearable I hope! Heh. Yes! Give me your music selections! If you'd like, just post one or two songs each chapter, that way, it's not too many. Oh, and yeah, Chris… He's still alive… Or is he…? Dum-dum-DUM! *kills the cliffhanger* Yes, he is. Heh.
PS: Hahaha, at the teacher part.
xXxSakoyoAragoniRaveGirlxXx
Oh! Oh! Oh! I adore Luis! He's my favorite from RE4! Ah, but if I could put him into this fic I would, I assure you! But he's… *sobs* Whaaa! Why do all the hot ones die! (Wesker is ultra hot!) No! I musn't think like that! Wesker isn't dead, no! Never! Capcom will bring him back! They have to! I mean, he's Wesker! They can't kill Wesker! They tried in RE1 and you saw what happened! A volcano can't stop him! Nothing can stop him! Mwahahaha! *gets smacked with a lolli* Ow… Thanks, I needed that. Heh. Oh, thanks for the song! I've added it to the list! Super awesome! Hope you like the next chapter too!
Ultimolu
Heh, yeeeeeah. Can you guess what's gonna happen next? Like, why Chris is there? What he's gonna do?! Oh! The choices! Heh… By chapter 17, you'll find out exactly what Chris is there to do… I wonder if you can guess it before it happens… I'll be sure to drop you some clues in chapter 15 and 16! Just for you! Heh. I hope you liked this chapter and the next. Just wait… It's gonna get crazy once we get past 14, oh man! Ah! And yeah, that song is high-larious, heh.
tntfriday13
Solved! Chris is actually alive! Oh, wha-?! But… *gasp* What could this mean?! Ah! You'll find out in the next chapter! Heh, thank you, and I hope you like this chapter too. Thanks for the review! Yay!
Nuki Yin
Turmoil, YES! Such fun! Turmoil is to characters, as cliffhangers are to readers! YES! Heh, thanks! It's always great to get reviews from you. I like saying your name in my head, hahaha. It sounds amusing, thank you for that! I hope you like the next chapter too! You rock!
Sc00byD00
Oh, man! You want WXC? Just wait until chapter 15 – lots of it! And after that, at least every other chapter is gonna have WXC all over it, YES! It will be epic! Ah! But yeah, thank you for the review! Heh, yes, college, been there. I share your pain! Fics are so fun to come to after school and be all like, "OK, did my homework – it's rape time! All right!" Hahaha! I'm glad you like the fic, hope you like the next chapter too!
livxuponxhope
Ah, thank you! I'm so glad you like this fic! I hope you'll like the rest too! Oh, wow! So much music! And they're already attached to particular chapters?! Epic! Oh! I'm going to have the best time ever listening to all that! And it's from groups I've never heard of before, so it's even better! I love listening to new music! I've already started right now! Thank you so much!