April 21st 2016, 0630 (1630 WDC Time), Seoul, South Korea
"Look over there." Hunnigan said, pointing out the plane window.
Leon glanced outside. He groaned, spotting the massive crater that stretched for several miles. "Don't remind me." He said, placing his head back in his hands.
"It's kind of funny, isn't it?" Hunnigan said. "Coming back to where it all began."
Leon glared up at her. "Forgive me if I don't see the humor."
April 21st 2016, 1700 (0300 WDC Time), Seoul, South Korea
Leon retched, Hunnigan sighed, and Sherry growled.
"Fucking jet lag…" Leon groaned, wiping his mouth with his sleeve and leaving a disgusting looking vomit stain. The truth was, it wasn't the jet lag. It was because he hadn't had a drink for over a day and the withdrawal symptoms were getting worse and worse. Headache, nausea, light-headedness, exhaustion, plus he had fully sweat through his undershirt and was now staining his white dress shirt.
Sherry and Hunnigan stood a few feet away from Leon. "I thought you said that he would be up to this." Sherry whispered to Hunnigan.
Hunnigan sighed again, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Her mouth drew thin as she frowned. "It's been rough going, Sherry. It's going to take time for him to come back to us."
Sherry looked at Hunnigan. "Time?" She said, cocking her head. "We're out of time, Ingrid. Helena's in some shithole of a hut, and every second that we waste here is one step closer to finding a dead body." She sighed, mimicking Hunnigan's motion of grabbing the bridge of her nose. "I should have just gone in by myself…" She trailed off.
Leon retched again and the two women cringed. Hunnigan turned her head to Sherry. "You need a partner in this. You need someone to watch your back." She said.
Sherry scoffed. "You know full well I don't, Hunnigan." Sherry shot back.
Hunnigan looked around the crowded operations tent. Blinking lights, bright computer screens, and enough cabling to run the circumference of Earth twice over. She grabbed Sherry by the arm, roughly pulling her aside, away from earshot. "Look," she hissed, "I don't know what they did to you in China, but you're not invincible. I know that much."
Sherry removed the mesh baseball hat she wore and ran a hand through her long blonde hair. Snapping an elastic off her wrist she quickly and expertly wrapped her hair up into a tight ponytail, tucking it through the opening in the back of the hat. "I'm not invincible, you're right. But at least I'm clean and sober."
Hunnigan glanced back over at Leon who was still hunched over a garbage can, profusely emptying his lunch and dinner into the black plastic. She sighed. "I want to save Helena as much as you and Leon do, but that doesn't mean that I'm willing to save one agent and risk leaving another one behind." She said. Her face softened. "Please, Sherry. I've watched him the past year, you haven't. Seeing him like this, seeing him get to where he is…" she trailed off. "He needs our help right now."
Sherry glanced over at Leon, her face radiating disappointment. She shoved past Hunnigan. "It certainly doesn't seem like he wants it." She hissed in passing. Sherry walked off into another section of the command tent, throwing open a tent-flap door in frustration.
Hunnigan sighed again, dropping her shoulders in defeat. "Sherry…" She trailed off quietly. She heard a sniffle behind her and a groan. Leon stood up and walked – more appropriately – limped and stumbled over the Hunnigan, grabbing her shoulder for support, causing the younger woman to jump in surprise.
"When you said she was different, I didn't think she would be so…cold." Leon said, giving a sickly frown in Sherry's direction.
April 21st 2016, 0700 (1700 WDC Time), Seoul, South Korea
The plane had landed, and that made Leon happy. He reserved his state of elation until later when he could have a drink. Customs was practically non-existent; the flight being a government charter and all. The accommodations could have been better though, seeing as him and Hunnigan were being forced to share a room; a thought that sat, surprisingly, worse with Leon than Hunnigan. He was thankful that he finally managed to get some food in his stomach, even though it was probably not going to stay there much longer. He flipped through the folder in front of him, the paper feeling overly rough on his fingers. He took a bite of his toast. "I've been meaning to ask," he sniffed, thinking he might have a cold coming on, "how's Sherry going to handle me…ya know."
"Coming back?" Hunnigan said, peering over her laptop with a spoon full of oatmeal in her mouth.
"Yeah. You said she really stepped up her game since I left. Is she," he fought for the right word, "different at all?"
Hunnigan shrugged her shoulders. "She really dived into her job after you left. The pressure that she put on herself is…unimaginable. But I'd imagine that once she sees you, she won't be any different than the girl you knew a year ago."
April 21st 2016, 1715 (0315 WDC Time), Seoul, South Korea
"She's really different than that girl I knew a year ago." Leon mumbled.
"I'm sorry, Leon." Hunnigan said. "Give her time, I'm sure she'll come around."
They walked into a central working area. Four larges tables had been pushed together, with several computer monitors sitting atop them. Surrounding them were more monitors and stacks of servers; it would have been boiling if not for the AC cranked up to full. Sherry stood in front of a large screen, easily 70 or 90 inches wide, her hands clasped behind her back, feet spread shoulder width apart. Her head cocked as she heard the two of them approach, turning to face them.
She was 30 now; still attractive as ever. Her long legs sported loose camo pants and on her feet, were black combat boots; not exactly the most attractive attire. A long-sleeve camo jacket was tied around her waist, and she wore a grey compression shirt that – according to Leon's mind – hugged her chest a little too tightly. She wasn't wearing much makeup, if she was wearing any at all, and her blond hair seemed like it hadn't been cut in a very long time.
"Glad you could join us, Leon." Sherry said, trying her best not to sound condescending. She failed.
Leon grinned. "Of course, ma'am. Wouldn't miss this for the world." Hunnigan elbowed Leon in the side, shooting him a 'you really shouldn't joke with her' look.
"Any update on Helena's whereabouts?" Hunnigan asked, tapping her tablet. Leon swore that all she was doing was playing 'Angry Birds'.
Sherry made a 'come here' motion with her hand and a young Asian male analyst rushed forward, holding a tablet of his own. "Specialist, tell them what you told me."
"Specialist Ben Kwon, reporting." He said, turning to face the large screen. He made some tapping motions on his tablet and several smaller screens appeared. "When Agent Harper went missing, she was testing out a new type of infiltration suit. The suit has a built-in RFID tag that we can use to track it."
Leon crossed his arms. "RFID? Why not just use GPS?"
Kwon shook his head. "Too high profile. GPS is easy to hack into. RFID, you need the specific frequency to get the information on it. The good news, is that we managed to locate Helena's last position."
"And the bag news?" Sherry said.
"The signal hasn't moved in several days." Kwon replied.
"But that doesn't mean anything." Hunnigan said. "They could have taken the tag out and moved her, if they knew she was being tracked."
Again, Kwon shook his head. "Unlikely. The tag is smaller than your pinky nail; they wouldn't know to look for it unless they knew what they were looking for."
Sherry leaned over and whispered something in Kwon's ear. He nodded. "We also decrypted this yesterday morning." Sherry said. "Kwon," she signaled.
He tapped something on his tablet and a video screen appeared in front of them.
The video of rapidly approaching ground flashed before them, the unmistakeable sound of wind rushing past microphones assaulted their ears.
"Just do it!" It was Helena's voice.
Leon let out a breath; he was happy to hear her voice again. He unconsciously bit his lip, gripping fingers into his palms.
The footage flashed green; night-vision. The view shifted, moving around frantically, then focusing on something below the view point.
"The suit she wore was equipped with a camera. For both security and accountability purposes." Kwon said.
A lightning spur of teal flashed before them, Leon frowned, trying to make out what it was. The footage distorted intensely. It happened again. "What's with that flash of light?" Leon asked.
"Just watch." Sherry said grimly.
"I think I see the source of the interference. It looks like-"
Just as the words had left Helena's mouth, something appeared in front of her. It was unlike anything Sherry, Hunnigan, or Leon had ever seen; it was completely unnatural. It was a B.O.W. A gigantic maw of teeth opened with a roar seemingly out of thin air. Helena rolled out of the way, the camera distorting even more, causing the sound to cut in and out.
"What the fuck is that!?" She screamed, trying to regain her composure. She was falling on her back, staring up at the thing. It was big. Not in the sense that it was tall, more so that it was long, easily the length of several school busses and probably about as tall as one. It had fins like a shark and, as the tent crew had just seen, a maw not dissimilar to one either. Teal flashes of energy jumped from spines on it's back and the video distorted again.
"What the fuck is that?" Leon asked, mimicking Helena.
"It's a new B.O.W. We think that the Russians gave it to the North Koreans. But we don't have any proof to involve them. Keep watching." Sherry said.
Helena fell through the sky, her breath running short and ragged, the heart monitor in the corner of the screen flashed red, indicating that her heartrate was dangerously high. She flipped back onto her stomach, hearing a roar behind her, she streamlined herself. "How much further?" She asked in between panicked breaths.
"30 more seconds until optimal chute deployment." The AI said.
Helena cursed, glancing behind her. It was getting closer and fast. "Give me a proximity alert." She said, looking back in front of her.
"How close?" The AI replied.
"When it's right on top of me."
Helena's breathing became faster and Leon was sure she was going to pass out. He gripped his hands again, silently praying that she would be okay. "Come on, Helena, come on…"
Hunnigan slowly moved her hand to his, working her index finger into his fist. Her breath hitched in her throat as Leon took her hand and gripped it tightly.
"Proximity alert." The AI warned.
Helena grunted, spreading her body wide. She slowed down to a fraction of her current speed and watched as the creature sped past her. Suddenly, she started to spin. The footage rapidly rotating from sky to ground over and over. She screamed, then started crying.
"Warning: severe injury detected." The AI said, displaying a human body in the corner of the screen. The right leg flashed red.
"How close to chute." Helena managed.
"Ten seconds."
"Pop chute on my mark." She said, her voice faltering.
Leon turned around, freeing his hand from Hunnigan's. His face twitched in a combination of anger and sadness. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "Turn it off." He demanded.
"What?" Sherry said.
"Turn it the fuck off." He yelled. "I don't want to see my ex-girlfriend get devoured by some fucked up sky-eel."
"Leon…" Hunnigan said, placing a hand on Leon's arm.
"You're not in command here, Leon. I'm sorry." Sherry said.
"Then fucking fast forward it, goddammit." He said again. "I don't want to watch this shit…"
Sherry sighed angrily. "Kwon, speed up the footage."
Kwon nodded. Helena suddenly started falling at a supersonic speed, her body snapping into place as her chute deployed and appearing to fall dangerously fast as she touched down on the ground. Kwon set the speed back down to normal. "You're going to want to watch this."
Leon frowned, his brow furrowing. "Fine." He snarled.
Helena lolled her head back, resting it on the tree she sat against. She was crying. "Fuck." She whimpered out. "Fuck, fuck, fuck." She repeated.
"Agent Harper, I am detecting several heat signatures approaching your position."
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" She said again, her voice quivering. "Send this back to command, encryption code Foxtrot." There was a loud hissing noise. So loud that Leon and the rest of those watching flinched in pain. The angle shifted, displaying Helena's face. Her eyes were red, her upper lip was split, and there was a large gash on the left side of her cheek; she was scared. "This is Agent Helena Harper," she paused, sucking in panicked breaths. "I have encountered an unknown B.O.W. My right leg and several of my ribs are broken." She closed her eyes, her brow furrowed. "The mission is a failure. Do not attempt to rescue me, I knew the risks." Her head suddenly snapped to her right, voices could be heard over the speakers. Korean voices. "Don't come for me." She said, her brow and lips quivering.
Helena grunted, the camera spun rapidly and then impacted the ground some several feet from where she sat. More angry voices echoed out, getting closer. Gunfire erupted, the camera catching sight of bright muzzle flashes. A scream, not one of fear or pain, but one of accepting death echoed out over the speaker. There was a pained grunt, the shooting stopped, and the feed went dead.
Silence gripped the tent. The beeping of the servers and the typing of other analysts the only audible noise. Leon gripped his hands tightly; he thought his knuckles were going to pop. "She's alive…" he breathed. "I know she's alive." He said.
Sherry's mouth drew thin. "We don't know for sure."
Leon whirled around, staring Sherry down. "But I do. I know her. She's tough. She's still alive."
Hunnigan gripped Leon's arm, more gently this time. "Leon, you saw the tape. I didn't even know we had this until now. She doesn't want anyone to come for her."
Leon ripped his arm away from Hunnigan. "Fuck. That." He said, his eyes burning a hole in her head.
Hunnigan had seen this look before, several times. Leon had a way of convincing people with just a look, and she was not immune to his charm. Hell, she couldn't think of a single woman who was. "Leon…"
"It's a shame, really," Sherry said, "I'm going to have to reassign the elements that I had planned for the infiltration and the exfiltration. That's not going to be easy…"
Leon looked over at Sherry. She was grinning. He grinned back. The first positive moment they shared since reuniting. "It would be a shame to waste such well made plans." He quipped.
Hunnigan removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes. "I hate it when you two get like this."
"One hour." Sherry said, turning and picking up a phone.
His symptoms had lessened; he was surprised. Maybe it was the feeling of dread that he got imagining Helena's broken body. Or maybe it was the feeling of purpose he suddenly had again. Whatever it was, his body had been kicked into overdrive recovery mode. He still craved a drink, but he shoved it away, compartmentalizing it with all the other horrible thoughts that he had. "I'll get my things." Leon said, moving past Hunnigan and out the tent door.
Sherry appeared beside Hunnigan. "Is he gone?" She asked.
Hunnigan nodded. "You're sure we shouldn't have shown him this?"
"Entirely sure. He wouldn't have been able to focus." Sherry replied.
Hunnigan tapped on the tablet, bringing up the same footage that they had just watched. It continued past where the feed went dead. The helmet raised off the ground. A face that clearly used to once be beautiful appeared on the screen, eyeing the camera curiously. Black hair, almond shaped eyes, the left side of her face sagged with burn scars. Even though half of her mouth was scarred, her sly smirk was apparent.
"Well, hello there." The woman said.
A/N: Dat Resident Evil: Vendetta trailer though...
Good to be back everyone! I hope you all enjoy the new chapter and would love to hear some feedback on it. More action coming in the next one for sure so don't feel like things are slowing down just yet. I've started putting together a little playlist on Spotify with all the chapter songs in it, so feel free to go and check that out! Just search Resident Evil: REbirth on Spotify and you should find it no problem.
Hope everyone had an awesome Holiday and safe New Year. Let's just say that after spending a week in Florida it was wonderful to get back to Canada's -10 degree weather. Going to start working on the next chapter soon, just need to figure out where it's going to end up...check back soon!
J.
