Jake stared up at the woman, dumb-founded.
Lesley Archer. The woman he had been hired to murder... the woman who's life he had spared along with her two young sons.
She smiled down at him coldly. "It's been a while, hasn't it, Jake." Withdrawing her hands the woman stepped back and took in the sight of the young man before her. "I had begun to think we'd never find you. But you just fell right into our laps, all this has a touch of fate about it, don't you think?"
"Are you mental?" Jake finally managed to say. "I saved your life. Your sons. And you're working with... who? Bentley? Or that psycho, Maverick?"
Lesley shrugged dismissively, her muddy green eyes glinting dangerously. "Your mistake. I did what I had to when Urik finally found me. I made myself useful."
"And now he's dead. You don't have to do this anymore..." Jake pointed out, lifting his head as he tensed his muscles against the straps holding him down.
The woman's smile never left her face. "Ah, but you see Urik's work was only the beginning. I must say I don't mourn the pretty-boy's passing, he had more money then sense it's true. But his work is fascinating, even with all its flaws. It's a shame he was so centred on using his research for his own gain... he didn't see its full potential."
"What work? And what the hell does it have to do with me?" And Sherry. He wanted to add, holding back the words as instinct told him bringing her up would not be helpful to either of them.
"Nothing much, beside the genetic sequence within your blood. Your DNA, Jake." she told him with a tired roll of her eyes when he looked at her blankly.
"More antibody shit then." Jake said flatly. Just like before.
Lesley shook her head. Jake couldn't picture this woman as the dangerously thin and pale creature he'd stumbled across that night, who'd looked so terrified and helpless when she'd spotted the gun in his hand. "No. Your blood holds the key to more then just vaccines for any virus yet created. And we're not trying to make something new either," she informed him as he opened his mouth. "Jake your role in all this is far more important then that." Leaning in Jake felt a single loose strand of her hair fall against his cheek. He twitched, wanting more then anything to snap his face away as her lips pressed against his ear. "Your blood, and the virus within your blue-eyed sweetheart, is the key to resurrection Jake..."
Jake froze as the words sank in. Resurrection? But a virus that could bring back the dead, albeit as rotting brain-dead cannibals, already existed according to what he'd learned from Sherry. His mind whirled as he connected the dots. His blood, his DNA... it was the only legacy remaining of his father.
"You got it, hot stuff..." Lesley purred, planting a soft kiss just below Jake's ear as he felt the blood drain from his face.
All this was for the sake of recreating his dead father.
The crazy bitch was going to bring Albert Wesker back to life.
Lying as still as she possibly could, Darla waited for the men dragging two unconscious bodies from the house to load them into their car and disappear from sight. Daring a quick look she made out a mop of unruly blonde hair. Her heart skipped a beat just as she realised the shape being thrown from one of the men's broad shoulders belonged to that of a woman - the woman from the hospital. Her throat dried as she sought out her companion, only for a short gasp of surprise to escape her when she spotted the closely cropped reddish hair and sharply angled face of the man who had saved her life. What had he called himself? Chris? She shook her head, knowing it had been a lie but too desperate to escape the creatures invading her town to care.
She waited. No doubt a third body would be brought out soon. The one belonging to the frantic looking man who'd she'd just barely managed to keep track of...
The cars started, revving loudly to life before spinning away from the house and in the opposite direction of where she had just come. They must have assumed her vehicle belonged to one of them and thanked the gods they hadn't had the sense to look any closer. Cautiously Darla slid from the car and circled the house. There were no sounds, no signs of life.
Only bodies.
Littering each room were several blood covered corpses already attracting flies in the heat. Covering her face with the sleeve of her robe Darla considered turning back, but something told her to keep looking. Her instinct told her that there would be no one left alive, surely. Yet as her feet climbed the dangerously rickety looking staircase she thought she could hear a muffled moan followed by a high pitched ringing sound.
Lying on his back, a hand loosely pressed against his leg and his chest rising and falling rapidly, was the man Darla had followed. Throwing herself across the room she felt for a pulse, finding it weak and uneven. The man's eyes were closed and she could rouse no sense from him. The ringing was clearer now and seemed to be coming from his pocket. Rifling through his dirty clothes and resisting the urge to vomit as the smell of blood overwhelmed her, Darla found the small device the sound was coming from. A face looked up at her, a woman with brown hair and a tanned complexion baring the name "Hunnigan" at the bottom of the screen. Darla pressed the "accept" button hastily.
"Leon what- who are you?" the woman, now a fully animated image rather then just a picture, frowned up at the sweaty face of the young woman.
"I'm Darla. I followed... he must be Leon... there's a lot of blood..." she stammered, suddenly feeling panic sink in.
Hunnigan paled slightly. "Show me. Turn the phone..."
Darla did as instructed, hearing the gasp of horror Hunnigan tried to conceal. "Okay, listen to me Darla. You're in a great deal of danger and you need to find somewhere to hide-"
Darla jumped as a strange scrapping sound pierced the deathly silence of the house. She could hear something... and unnatural moaning growing in strength. She had heard these sounds before... her heart leapt into her throat.
"They're here!" she wheezed, trying to stand and stumbling. "Oh no... no..."
From the other end of the line Hunnigan could make out the sound of tearing, grinding flesh as the apparent lifeless corpses littering the lower floors began to stir. Darla shook, her hands dropping the phone with a noisy clatter. It was enough to draw the attention of whatever abominations were rising from below them. Running across the room Darla slammed the door shut, searching for something to block it. There was nothing.
"Listen to me," said the voice from the phone, "Leon has a gun. Take it, use it and aim for the head of whatever comes through that door. Help is on the way but it's still a few minutes away..."
Darla approached the man who's eyelids fluttered weakly. He did have long, she knew it. With trembling fingers she picked up the weapon. "I've never used a gun before... what do I do?"
"It's easy, just do as I say Darla. You're going to be okay... I promise..."
With quivering arms Darla slumped against the furthest corner of the room and stared at the door. Shadows had appeared beneath the slight crack and the sound of a rattling death moan filled her ears as the door shuddered, the handle clumsily turning...
Sherry had long since stopped trying to examine the contents of the cells around her. Whatever they were, they were like nothing she'd ever seen before. Still human in likeness, when you looked hard enough, but... bloated, rotted... as if their bodies were wasting away while they still lived. The man in the cell opposite her had collapsed against the glass, his mouth leaving a trail of spit and blood beneath the words he'd written pleasing for help she could not give. Was this the fate in store for her and Jake? She doubted it. Maverick knew about her... ability. No doubt he would try to use it to correct whatever had gone wrong in his experiments to create such pitiful creatures.
But why would Jake be so important too? Could the antibodies in his blood stop the hideous mutations perhaps? Cradling her chest to her knees Sherry prayed that whatever was happening to Jake... he would be spared the same fate as the people around her.
She didn't realise she had fallen asleep, collapsed against the ground from exhaustion. Sherry was woken by a rough knocking on her cell wall and looked up at the smiling face of the man who made her cheek burn in memory of his last visit. Jumping to her feet she backed away as he stepped inside and smiled. It reminded her of an old song she remembered her mother singing to her only once in her life about a crocodile... don't be taken in, by his welcome grin, he's imagining how well you'd fit beneath his skin...
She shivered as he rose a hand to the indicate the monstrosities around them. "Magnificent, aren't they?" he began.
Sherry stared at him in disbelief. It was not quite how she would have chosen to describe them. Maverick continued.
"Well... perhaps not. Not in your eyes. According to... certain others... they are each an immense scientific failure."
"Creating these kind of demons has nothing to do with science." Sherry spat, feeling rage beginning to heat the coldness of her skin.
Maverick tilted his head in thought. "I would have thought, given your heritage, you would feel differently. Every failure in science is merely an example of what not to do... or at least, I'm sure someone famous said something to that effect."
Sherry narrowed her eyes. "My heritage?"
"Your father, of course. His involvement pioneered some of the most astounding genetic work ever seen in modern science. You should be proud to be a part of their legacy!"
Closing her eyes tiredly Sherry shook her head. How could anyone think she would be proud of the things her father had done, had created, and unleashed upon the world which only brought misery and destruction.
"You, my dear, are his best work yet."
Sherry's eyes snapped open just in time to catch Mavericks leer. Fighting the urge to shy away she met his gaze and the knowing glint in his eyes. He leaned forward, the small movement making the cage Sherry was in feel all the more smaller. "I am referring to your gift, of course." he told her darkly, his words rolling from his tongue with malice.
Sherry shivered in revulsion. She was tired of his games, his grandeur. "What do you want with me and Jake?"
Maverick leant his head to one side as he studied her. Sherry hadn't been able to help the slight break in her voice was she said Jake's name. "Please be okay..." she pleaded inwardly.
"So familiar you are with the dirty little thief. I beg your forgiveness when I ask... what's a girl like you doing with a guy like him?"
Sherry clenched her jaw shut and stared at the floor as Maverick's disbelieving chuckle echoed around her. "No... surely not... you're not his super girl, are you?"
When Sherry refused to respond his chuckle turned into a full-blown howl of laughter. How did he know that nickname? She wondered. It was a private thing, between her and Jake. "I always thought," he drawled, "That bullshit Archer was always going on about was just that, bullshit. Perhaps she's right... this does seem to have a touch of fate about it..."
Sherry let him ramble, her mind already distracted by thoughts of escape. Maverick had come alone, which meant he probably assumed a tiny little woman like her would be easy to handle. If only he knew her history. She'd taken on men and monsters twice his size before. If only she could get a weapon. Her fingers fell on his knife, the holstered gun...
Without taking a second to hesitate Sherry charged, throwing her weight into Mavericks oversized middle and winding him as he stumbled back a pace. Her hands reached for the gun, her fingers wrapping around its handle as it began to slide free-
A blow to her side sent her flying face first into the tiles, her nose breaking on impact as hot blood ran freely into her mouth and over the floor. Sherry choked, the salty taste making her sick as another blow threw her onto her side. Maverick hovered over her, his one good eye now flaring with anger.
"I can see why he's so taken with you." he sighed almost wearily, securing his gun back to his side and withdrawing the knife instead. "You have spirit, you little fool. I had no intention of hurting you beyond the necessary, but now you've thrown my hospitable nature back in my face. Really, my feelings are hurt."
The flow of blood quickly stopped as the broken cartilage of Sherry's nose corrected itself, morphing back into the perfect shape it had been before. Maverick took her roughly by the chin and lifted her face, his fingers dangerous close to bruising her pale flesh. He watched with fascination as Sherry whimpered, the last crack and grinding of bone fixing itself painfully back into place.
"Like I said... his best work yet." Maverick breathed against her skin.
Throwing her from his grasp Sherry fell back against the ground. Her heart thudded in her chest with barely controlled rage, she was so tired of being the one in danger, aways in need of rescuing, so weak...
The sound of tearing filled her ears and Sherry jerked as Mavericks rough, dirt covered hands pulled back the sleeve of her shirt to reveal the perfect skin letf unmarred by the bullet wound he'd seen earlier. He ran his fingers across her shoulder, hovering dangerously close to her breast. Sherry snarled, her fingers working their way up to his face, his one good eye-
He screamed. Sherry dug her finger into the surprisingly hard tissue of his eye and hooked her finger around the orb. Maverick leapt backwards, bellowing, as blood streamed over his cheek and the force of his movement wrenched free his eyes from its now empty socket. Sherry leapt to her feet, avoiding the knife he swung wildly and picking up the gun. She ran. Maverick was no threat to her now as he felt his way across the floor blindly, still cursing and heaving in agony as the ball of flesh swung wildly against his face. She would need every bullet in the gun, Sherry told herself as she sprinted toward the only door at the end of the long corridor, ignoring the writhing and wailing creatures around her. The door was unlocked, something which surprised her, yet she didn't waste time mulling on it as she heard Maverick's voice being drowned out as the door closed behind her.
She'd ran into another wide, dimly lit corridor. Nothing marking the walls either side of her. Feeling her heart begin steady in her chest Sherry listened for sounds of movement... and heard only the whir of the security camera moments before the lights turned red and an alarm began to sound, thundering inside her head.
"Breach in Hold Three. Breach in Hold Three. Terminate immediately."
With a disturbing sense of deja vu Sherry picked the left turn at random and began running. Hoping against hope she could at least serve as a distraction and Jake might pull some of his usual crap and magic himself an escape of his own.
If he was even still alive, she thought, leaning hard against the corner of the corridor and peering around its side. Clear...
She ran on.