I'm sorry in advance to those who have been waiting in anticipation of this latest chapter, but since I finished junior year I've been doing some others things I've been wanting to do, a momentary lack of enthusiasm for writing, assisting my folks in some much needed house repairs, and a bad bout of nausea. I'm feeling much better now and am in a good writing mood, so I hope you enjoy this long awaited chapter and remember that this story is rated T for language. One more thing. The completion of this chapter is rather ironic considering that it's 12AM Midnight on the 24th of July, around the time Bravo Team crash landed in the Arklay Mountains and began to search the surrounding forest.
Chapter 14: Codename – Devil
Dante:
" Well, if I'm stuck down here I might as well look around." Dante said to himself. He walked towards the elevator, only to see that the power for the elevator was inactive.
" Of course. Well, better go find the damn elevator's power switch. Man, I never thought I'd have to enter this facility again." He walked down the maintenance shaft through a pair of doors, leading him to the water regulation room that sent water to cool the hydraulics for the freight elevator, filtering water for the employees, and to cool the purified metal from the smelting pool. He walked over to a wooden chest with two boxes of shotgun shells and one magazine for his Desert Eagle inside. Dante noticed a catwalk with two boxes stacked near it across the room, seeing a doorway at the top.
" I could try to jump up there, but with the extent of my injuries I don't want to be pushing my luck. Though this box here may help solve my little dilemma." Dante thought, pushing the large metal box near the chest onto the small service elevator. Once the box was all the way on the elevator, the confirmation light flashed green. Dante stepped on and pressed the button, bringing the elevator down to the lower floor. He walked over to a corpse with a Beretta 8000 Cougar clutched in its hand and a small stapled paper on the floor next to him.
" Investigative Report on P-Epsilon Gas
-This report demands immediate attention-
The P-Epsilon gas has been proven capable of incapacitating all known B.O.W.s (Bio Organic Weapons). As such, it has been designated for emergency usage in the event of a B.O.W escape. Reports based upon data collected during prior incidents indicate the potential for negative side effects.
The P-Epsilon gas has been proven to weaken a B.O.W.s' cellular functions. However, prolonged or repeated exposure will result in the creation of adaptive antibodies to the agent. Furthermore, some species have been observed to absorb the P-Epsilon gas as a source of nutrition and use the toxins extracted against anything perceived as a threat.
Use of the P-Epsilon gas should be severely limited to extreme cases only. We strongly request the authority to re-evaluate the P-Epsilon gas deployment system. We would like this re-evaluation to take place immediately.
2nd R&D room/Security Team."
" Ugh, that stuff is horrible. I remember the one time they filled one of my training areas with that stuff, it smelled like rotting vegetation, a heavy dose of sulfur. That stuff does its work, I could concentrate very well and standing up was a challenge. Not to mention it made it very hard to see and breathe. Luckily the effects didn't seem to last too long and it only really seemed to affect me when the sprayers were on and about an hour afterwards. Lingering traces don't seem to have much of any effect." Dante thought as he walked onto a small service elevator. The elevator descended down to an observation platform that overlooked the smelting pool. Dante heard the familiar clicking sound of lickers on the metal platform, keeping his MP5 at the ready. He noticed that one had a combat knife embedded in its shoulder while the other had a heavily damaged arm, making it stumble every time it moved. Dante rose the weapon, aiming down his iron sights at the one with the knife in the shoulder. He fired, knocking the licker back with the barrage of gunfire. The second licker reared its tongue to strike when Dante put two rounds into its bad arm, causing it to collapse on the ground and bite its own tongue off. The now severed appendage flailed about momentarily, spurting blood onto the platform before ceasing movement. Dante withdrew his machine gun in favor of his colt handguns, confident the large caliber rounds would quickly made work of the already severely injured bio-weapons. He walked over to a power box, noticing the pair of dead U.S.S soldiers close to it. The one body that was leaning against the power box had several stabs wounds on the torso while the second sprawled out on the ground had its carotid artery severed. Dante moved the leaning corpse's weapon, a Howa Type 89 assault rifle, off to the side and grabbed the dog tags around its neck.
" Reynolds. Rest in peace. Lopez. Vaya con Dios, mi amigo (Go with God, my friend)." Dante said, pocketing the dog tags of the fallen Umbrella soldiers. He pulled the switch to activate the elevator and boarded the small service elevator back to the boiler room. After trying the door accessible by the stacked boxes and discovering it to be locked, Dante proceeded towards the main facility elevator to go down into the top floor of the research facility. As the doors opened, three zombies came into sight. Dante wasted no time in taking down each infected with a well placed 9mm round to the brain. He killed a fourth that rounded the corner a moment later and quickly reloaded his handgun and performed a quick brass check.
" I wonder how Leon and Claire are fairing. In any case I guess it's time to go to work." Dante said, quickly proceeding into the actual facility.
Leon:
On the other side of the door, Leon noticed a large plant-like entity growing up one side of the large multistory scaffolding system as well as another plant creature on the same platform as him. After burning to a crisp with his flamethrower he quickly climbed down the ladder to lower down platform and quickly shuffled through the door. He knew that even though he had a flamethrower the small amount of fuel wouldn't have much of an effect on such a large plant. He heard the familiar clicking of claws and quickly readied his 1100. He slowly rounded the corner and started to walk forward, shotgun at the ready, when a licker emerged from the ceiling, almost striking Leon with the metal grating it busted through. Leon quickly fired a round to knock the Bio-Weapon back before firing a second round at another licker that lunged at Leon from around the next corner, knocking it into its ally. Leon killed both with a third round then grabbed a box of handgun rounds from one of the chairs leaning against the wall. He then noticed a third licker emerge from a nearby hallway, bringing up his shotgun again to dispatch it. After taking care of the Bio-Weapon, Leon walked through the door in the hallway the licker had emerged from, and found himself inside the facility's surveillance room. He grabbed a laboratory map and grabbed a half full box of shotgun shells from a chest near a door in the left corner. He placed shells into a pocket on his uniform and walked through the door into a T-shaped hallway. He walked to the end and saw a nearby door marked P-4 Laboratory to his left and a hallway covered in large clusters of egg sacs to the right. Leon decided to quickly run down the hallway into the room past several large larvae that dropped from the ceiling. Leon opened the door and quickly stopped once inside, taking out his flamethrower when he noticed the giant moth against the wall. He turned on the flame and slowly walked towards the giant insect. Leon got within just feet of the moth when it turned and flew towards him. He dived to the side and pulled the trigger on his flamethrower, catching one of its wings on fire. Leon walked over to where it fell onto the ground, using the last bit of propane in the flamethrower to burn the mutated insect to a crisp. Leon discarded the empty weapon and walked over to the computer in the corner and found a small crumpled note under a few moth larvae.
" Temporary User Registration for the Culture Experiment Room.
User Name: "GUEST" Password: None
Valid for 24 hours."
" Well, here goes nothing." Leon said, inputting the temporary user name into the computer and then placing his hand on the scanner next to the monitor. He turned for the door after his fingerprints were in the mainframe and readied his weapon when he saw it open.
Claire:
After leaving the security office, Claire walked through the door illuminated with red light, seeing the charred carcasses of some plant-like creatures. She walked through the door on left, finding herself on a multistory scaffolding system. She quickly climbed down the ladder, keeping a close eye on the large plant monster growing up the side of the wall. She ran down the hallway and took a right, keeping her handgun at the ready. She pressed the button on the door, watching it recede into the ceiling. Claire then found a gun pointed at her. She raised her own momentarily before realizing that it was Leon.
" Leon. It's good to see you." She said, lowering her weapon.
" Claire. We've gotta stop meeting like this." Leon replied.
" So, do we have a plan on getting out of here?" Claire asked.
" Yes and no. There's a train that leads out to the city limits but I don't know how to get to it. Come here." Leon said, showing her the crumpled note and the computer. Claire input the temporary user name and registered her own fingerprint on the scanner.
" We'd better hurry. Sherry's been infected with the G-Virus and I need to find her an antidote before it's too late."
" Right. By the way, where's Dante? Is he keeping an eye on her?" Leon asked.
" No. We got separated when he went to try and restart the large freight elevator that brought us here. I don't know where he is now or if he's even still alive." Claire replied.
" Too bad. He'd be a big help around here right now. There's a lot of highly dangerous B. down here. Lets go." Leon said as they quickly vacated the room and proceeded down the hallway into the P-4 Laboratory room. Leon walked over to the security lockers on the left and used the key he found near the cable car on the third from the left. Inside was a box of fragmentation and sulfuric acid shells for Claire's grenade launcher and a parts kit for Leon's Desert Eagle containing a 10 inch barrel and a matching slide. Leon quickly applied the parts to the weapon, thereby making it more accurate while Claire walked through the door into the decontamination room. She quickly killed the zombie inside and walked through the other door into the lab. After killing the four zombies roaming the room, Claire quickly scrutinized the tables in the room, grabbing an Umbrella key card and a custom key marked 'Power Room'. Leon walked into the room, quickly scrutinizing the modification to the Desert Eagle before holstering the weapon and walking over to where Claire was standing.
" Find anything?" He asked.
" An Umbrella card key and a key for a power room." Claire replied.
" Hopefully we can search another part of the facility for that cure." Leon said before they left the room. Before they could proceed back into the hallway, they came face to face with Annette Birkin pointing her weapon at them.
" Annette!" Claire said.
" You killed William, I'll never forgive you for that." Annette spat, readying her handgun.
" Wait! Stop it, Sherry's in serious trouble. William implanted her with his embryo, there's no telling when they'll pupate. If that happens, Sherry won't..." Claire said, the ending of her sentence easily understood.
" What?" Annette replied before the three heard a growling noise.
" William!" Annette said, running into the hallway the noise emanated from. Annette then came face to face with her husband, now barely resembling the man Annette once knew.
" William! You're alive!" Annette said, slowly walking towards her former husband. William reared up one of his large clawed hands, catching Annette with the appendage. Claire and Leon rounded the corner as Annette screamed out in pain, seeing William retreat back into the ceiling. Claire made it to her first, surveying the gash on Annette's torso, unsure if it was fatal or not.
" W-William...is alive! He's getting stronger with each skin he casts off. Sherry!" Annette said weakly.
" Tell me what I need to know! How can I save Sherry?" Claire asked.
" I have detailed information...everything you need to know to prepare the antidote is right here." Annette said, handing Claire a stapled paper.
" Save my daughter...and tell her i'm sorry I wasn't a better mother." Annette said, beginning to fall unconscious.
" Sherry..." Annette said before ceasing movement.
" Annette!" Claire said.
" Claire, no time. We need to find out how to save Sherry." Leon said, opening the file.
" INSTRUCTIONS FOR SYNTHESIS OF THE G-VIRUS ANTIGEN: G-VACCINE, CODE NAMED "DEVIL"
Any beings infected by the G-virus will reproduce through impregnation of an embryo within another living being. Unless rejected by the host, the embryo will undertake a process of gradual cellular invasion, infecting the host's cells on a molecular level as it rewrites their DNA. Once the metamorphosis is complete, the host will be capable of continuing this cycle of self-reproducing. The duration of time for the process to run its course will vary from subject to subject. In the early stages of cellular invasion, it is possible to halt progression of the metamorphosis through the administration of the G-vaccine antigen.
The following procedures details the synthesis. The vaccine creation requires the base vaccine. This can be arranged by the activator VAM. First set the empty cartridge to the VAM and activate it. After several moments the process will be complete and the white-colored base vaccine will be set in the cartridge automatically. Then confirm the green light is on, remove the cartridge, and proceed to the next step.
Once the base vaccine has been prepared, set it in the vaccine synthesis machine located in the P-4 level experimental room. The machine is fully automated and only requires the user to push the sequence start switch. At this point, the program will run automatically and synthesis will be complete within approximately 10 seconds. As the synthesis of "devil" is an extremely delicate process, the quality will vary with slight shocks or changes in temperature. Careful handling is required for the proper results."
" Alright, we need to go find where the activator VAM is first. Then we can come back down here to finish synthesizing the vaccine. We should start from the top most floor near the security office. I noticed a room I couldn't access that needed a key card, so we should start there." Leon said. They quickly proceeded down the hall back into the surveillance room.
" Claire, I was wondering. Did you happen to see a woman in red in the security office when you got here?" Leon asked.
" No, I didn't. The only one who should be in there is Sherry." Claire replied.
" Damn. Ada's wandering around here with her injuries?" Leon said.
" Lets just keep going Leon, we're bound to run into her at some point."
" Yeah, you're right." Leon agreed. They walked back out into the terminal when a licker emerged from the ceiling above them. Leon knocked the monster back with his shotgun before Claire fired a frag round from her grenade launcher, decimating the upper torso of the B.O.W. They proceed back up the ladder to the west wing when Dante emerged from the doorway, almost running into them.
" Dante, it's good to see you." Claire said.
" Yeah, you too. Do you have the cure for Sherry?" Dante asked.
" Not yet, but we have the instructions on how to create it." Claire replied.
" That's good to hear. I turned on the power for the elevator but I can't get to the power room."
" Dante, is this the key you need?" Claire asked, taking out the power room key she found in the P-4 Lab earlier.
" Yes, that's it. Thanks. You two should go work on getting the vaccine. I'll go check out the power room then see if I can find our ride out of here." Dante said.
" Be careful."
" You too." Dante yelled back before disappearing behind the door. Claire used the key card to unlock the room, keeping their weapons ready as they walked inside. Leon killed the zombie close to the door while Claire grabbed a small rectangular carrying case with an empty, clear, cylindrical cartridge. Leon turned on the rest of the lights, revealing four zombies hiding in the other side of the room. After killing and moving the infected corpses, Claire found a control panel marked 'V.A.M System Controller'. She handed Leon the vaccine cartridge, having him place it into the VAM unit in the middle of the room. Leon noticed an MO disk on a nearby cart and placed it in his pocket while Claire activated the machine. After close to a minute, the green light turned on and the cartridge was filled with the white colored base vaccine. Claire placed the vaccine into the case and they quickly left the room. They noticed a shutter nearby and pressed a button on the wall, revealing a fingerprint scanner with three lights above it. Leon walked over to the scanner and read the message on the screen next to it.
" 2 or more staff need to be present to enter. Commencing with primary fingerprint verification." Leon read. He placed his fingers on the scanner and waited for confirmation. They console beeped and and the blue light on the left turned off while the yellow light in the middle flashed on.
" Fingerprint verified. Commencing with secondary fingerprint verification." The console now read. Claire then placer her own hand on the scanner and heard the confirmation noise, followed by the red light on the right flash followed by the locks on the door releasing.
" Looks like we can get in now." Leon said. Before they could proceed, the entire structure began to shake uncontrollably, when it stopped a warning siren began blaring. " What's going on?" Leon asked when the P.A system activated.
" The Self-Destruct sequence has been activated! This sequence may not be aborted! All employees proceed to the emergency car at the bottom platform!" The automated voice called out.
" Are you kidding me? I better radio up Dante. He may know what's going on." Leon said.
Dante:
After obtaining the power room key from Leon and Claire, Dante quickly proceeded back to the hallway where the security room was. He went for the door to quickly check on Sherry, but swore when he found the door to be locked.
" Shit. Of course the damn door is locked.. And I can't pick this lock because this kind of lock requires a special key. Dammit Claire, why'd you have to lock the fucking door?" Dante raged.
" Forget it, I think they keep a spare in the power room, and I happen to have the very key for it. Might as well get moving." Dante said, quickly running towards the elevator. He walked out and began to round the corner when Mr. X came into view. Dante ducked as the monster threw a punch at him, busting a small control box where his head had been moments before. Dante rolled past him and fired both of his Colt handguns at the monster's face. The monster felt to one knee momentarily allowing Dante to edge closer.
" Maybe these will keep you down for awhile." Dante said, raising his colts to the monster's head. He pulled the triggers but only heard clicks. He looked at his weapons more closely to see that the slides were now locked back, indicating that his weapons were empty.
" Well shit." Dante said, quickly holstering the weapons and reaching for his Desert Eagle. Before he could draw the more powerful handgun, the trench coat clad Tyrant stood back up and punched Dante in the stomach, knocking him into the door leading to the water regulation room.
" Ah! Bastard doesn't wanna quit." Dante said, vision blurring momentarily. He finally drew his magnum and emptied the magazine into the monster. The first three rounds hit the upper torso but the remaining four hit Mr. X directly in the forehead. The damage finally proved to be too much, causing the monster to double over, apparently dead. Dante rubbed his injured stomach and searched the side pack on the behemoth, managing to find a box of .50 Action Express rounds.
" At least this stupid bastard was good for something." Dante said, slowly stumbling through the door. He climbed up the boxes to the door and inserted the key. After waiting a minute to regain some strength, tossed the key away and opened the door. He slowly walked over to the console, searching for the box containing the master key. After another minute he found it hidden in a small compartment on the side, placing the key in his pocket. He looked at the locket given to him by Sherry, looking at the picture again. He tapped his thumb on the button on the top that opens it, suddenly seeing a hidden compartment behind the picture open up. Inside was a small tube filled with a purple liquid.
" I don't believe this. Sherry was being stalked because of this. And then that Tyrant has been stalking me wherever I went..." Dante said, realizing why the Tyrant had been following him. When he decided to finally leave, he saw Mr. X walk through the door, cutting off his only route of escape. He could tell that the monster hadn't completely healed from the damage still evident on his face. Dante thought for a moment and slowly walked towards the monster, holding up the tube. He moved it from side to side slowly, watching the Tyrant's lifeless eyes minutely follow the tube. He started to walk past when the Tyrant threw a punch, breaking the console and sending a shower of sparks everywhere. Dante backed up a few steps, looking over the edge and below.
" So this is what you've been stalking me all night for, huh? Well, you want it? Go get it!" Dante said with a smirk on his face, tossing the tube over the edge into the smelting pool below. The monster attempted to grab the tube but broke the railing and followed it into the pool of molten metal.
" Sucker." Dante said. The console behind him began to spray sparks wildly as electricity pulsed up the large structure connected to it. Seconds later he heard a warning siren followed by a voice over the P.A system.
" The Self-Destruct sequence has been activated! This sequence may not be aborted! All employees proceed to the emergency car at the bottom platform!" The automated voice called.
" God Dammit, not this shit again!" Dante yelled. Suddenly the radio in his bag began to beep. He quickly grabbed it out and hit the button.
" What is it?" He asked.
" Dante, the self-destruct system has started. Would you happen to know why?" Leon asked.
" You remember trenchy?" Dante asked.
" Yeah." Leon replied.
" He broke something very important that must control the cryogenics the facility has. In others words if this place wasn't about to explode the viruses they have stored here could be released to the surface. Thankfully we don't have to worry about him anymore. He's taking a nice swim in a smelting pool. But that's besides the point. Do you have the vaccine?"
" No, we only have the base vaccine. I need to head to the P-4 Lab in order to complete it." Claire said.
" Did you happen to find a magneto-optical disk anywhere?" Dante asked. He was only met with silence.
" An MO disk! Did you find an MO disk?" Dante asked again, slightly annoyed.
" Yes." Leon replied quickly.
" There's a computer terminal near the P-4 Level lab. Insert the MO disk and it will take you to a cargo elevator that will bring you to the emergency train. Be quick." Dante said.
" Thanks. Wait, how'd you know about that?"
" Never mind that now. I'm gonna go get Sherry and get the train ready. Be ready. At 30 seconds the train has to get moving. Whether or not your on. Dante out." Dante said, throwing away the radio. Dante looked at his watch, quickly setting the counter on his watch to match the self-destruct countdown timer.
" I don't have too much time. If i'm going to get that and Sherry I better get moving." Dante said, quickly pushing open the doors before running for the elevator. As Dante left the room, he didn't notice the large clawed hand emerge from the smelting pool.
Leon and Claire:
" Claire, go and complete the vaccine. I'm going to search this room and then try to find Ada. If time starts to get too low I'll follow you." Leon said.
" You better." Claire said. She quickly walked through the door and back towards the scaffolding system. Leon readied his shotgun and opened the door. Inside he saw two enhanced lickers skulking around, one feasting on the body of a scientist. Leon rose his weapon and quickly made work of the two B. and then killed a third near a dead soldier. Leon grabbed a box of .50AE rounds from a box on the dead soldier's vest. Leon grabbed the MAC-11 in the man's hand to use as a temporary weapon. He quickly looked around the room, seeing the experiments in large glass containment tubes before walking out. He rounded the corner to proceed towards the door when he noticed Annette, holding the wound on her side and her weapon on Leon. Leon noticed the cartridge.
" Annette. Claire and I thought you were dead." Leon said.
" I know what you're looking for! You came for the G-Virus didn't you? You won't take it from me! This is my husband's legacy! Now, where's that spy you were working with earlier, you know who I'm talking about." Annette said.
" What?" Leon replied.
" You really don't know anything do you!" Annette laughed. " You're so gullible! She's one of the operatives sent here by the agency. The only reason why she came here was to obtain the G-Virus."
" That's a lie." Leon proclaimed.
" No it's the truth. I discovered this when I did a background check on her. She specifically got close to John and became his girlfriend to get information about Umbrella." Annette revealed.
" That can't be! I know her; Ada wouldn't do something like that!"
" If you don't want to believe me, I don't care. Your about to die anyway." Annette said. Suddenly the entire complex began to shake again, sending down small bits of dust and concrete.
" What happened?" Annette asked before being struck by a pair of three inch wide water pipes, knocking her unconscious and most likely fatally injuring her. Leon walked over to her and grabbed her sample of the G-Virus, hoping to turn it over to the government and possibly aid in revealing Umbrella. Leon left the room and proceeded for the west wing.
" Leon!" Ada said. Leon turned, seeing Ada pointing her weapon at him. " I've been waiting for you Leon."
" What are you doing?" Leon asked. " You know what this is about, so just hand over the G-Virus!"
" I don't believe this. Annette was right...about everything." Leon said.
" That's why I told you to leave without me, but you wouldn't listen! Now hand it over. Don't make me shoot you!" Ada said.
" You can't do that." Leon said. Ada knew he was right and lowered her weapon. A shot suddenly rang out and a spray of blood emerged from Ada's right shoulder. Ada dropped her weapon and collapsed over the railing. As she was about to fall to her death, Leon managed to reach over and grab her arm.
" Ada...Ada, I've got you...Don't give up." Leon said. Leon turned his head momentarily to see Annette holding her weapon seconds before dropping to the ground, blood pooling around her.
" G...G-Virus..." She said before finally succumbing to her numerous injuries.
" Its over. Let me go." Ada said. " Shut up! You're gonna make it!" " It's too late Leon. We both know it." Ada replied.
" No! I promised you we would escape. You just have to help me out here!" Leon said, not willing to let Ada go.
" I really wanted to escape with you...Escape from everything...Goodbye..." Ada said, getting Leon to release his grip.
" AAAADAAAAA!" Leon yelled. He collapsed to his knees and pounded the floor with his fists.
" No..." Leon said, reaching into the pocket he'd placed the G-Virus in.
"So... this is what everyone's been dying for?" Leon reared his arm back and tossed the vial of the G-virus down into the shaft. Leon inspected Ada's handgun, finding the magazine and chamber to be empty.
" She couldn't have shot me if she wanted to. I better go meet up with Claire." Leon said, running into the west wing.
I know for a fact that many of you know that Raccoon City has been the home of more than its fair share of tragedy, but these tragedies were the ones that stood out among them. It's a subtle Irony that many of the people employed by Umbrella would be struck down and brutally murdered by the creations revered by their employers. I hope everyone has enjoyed the progress in this story thus far and stays tuned for Chapter 15: Loose Ends and the 2nd Epilogue