Resident Evil Recall: Necropolis

Chapter Fourteen: A Temporary Edge

The burning pain coursing through Tobias's body was starting to lessen, allowing him to get up to his hands and knees in time to see Vickers and Elza running off into the rainstorm. But something was different… where a short time ago, he had only been able to see a few feet in from of his face, he was now able to watch the two of them run out the gate of the Clock Tower's courtyard, as clearly as if the full moon hadn't been obstructed by clouds.

Not only that, but his hearing seemed sharper as well, easily distinguishing between the falling rain, the clink of the gate opening, and the slow, heavy footsteps of the monster when it stood up in the center of the courtyard. It must've been the adrenaline that made the Lieutenant able to get to his feet, the same way that getting attacked before had allowed him to start moving after being in a coma for five months, and since Vickers and Elza needed as much time as they could to get away, Tobias took the pistol out from behind his back.

"Sstarss." The monster growled.

Bang! Bang! It felt like he was aiming a little better than usual, and he could almost see each bullet flying for an instant before hitting exactly where on the monster he had wanted to hit. Kneecap, center chest, between the eyes, or rather, next to its singular remaining eye, each one was perfectly accurate, but as the Lieutenant already knew, this monster wasn't affected by small arms fire. Regardless of taking damage, the abomination was certainly irritated by it, roaring before charging full speed at Tobias.

Although still fast, for some reason it looked like the monster was moving a little slower than usual; remaining in the air for a little bit longer between strides as if being filmed with a slow-motion camera like they did on football games, and allowing the Lieutenant to avoid its first powerful punch by stepping backwards. The blow still caught his arm, sending his pistol flying out of his hand, before the monster's follow up backhand caught him in the chest.

He was knocked off his feet, making a small splash upon hitting the flooded grass, and the monster must've been pretty angry with him by this point, because it brought up its leg, aiming to crush his chest with its foot. Out of reflex, Tobias grabbed onto the massive foot as it came down, and somehow… he was able to keep it from crushing him. The black boot still pressed down, but with nowhere near the amount of strength that had struck him before, and with every ounce of strength that the Lieutenant had no idea he possessed… he started to push it back up.

Only moving the foot up a couple inches, the monster pushed back, roaring in what almost sounded like frustration as it continued trying to crush him, but still somehow being held back by Tobias's shaking arms. The Lieutenant's teeth were clenched, and it felt like he was trying to bench more than his own bodyweight at the gym… until he twisted the foot as hard as he could, putting the monster off balance.

Growling almost in surprise, the monster moved away from Tobias, stumbling sideways before taking a piece out of a brick pillar with its head on the way down. Its growl was muffled by the water when it fell on its face, but less than a second later the monster was getting up again, roaring with rage as it immediately resumed attacking Tobias with even more intensity than before. The Lieutenant had also gotten up by this time, only to duck down in order to avoid the next heavy punch that came, before jumping up and reacting with a punch of his own… that he really hadn't expected to do anything.

However, when his punch connected with the monster's face, its head tilted while the rest of its body reeled backwards, slipping on the wet grass, and falling down once again. Tobias couldn't believe what was happening… it was as if he had suddenly become supercharged with more energy than he knew what to do with, and it felt great, but… but then it was gone. One second he felt like he could literally beat this monster to a pulp, but then his strength faded away, leaving him feeling like he was an addict who was suddenly crashing after using drugs.

The Lieutenant now felt run down and sluggish, as if there was sand in his joints, and the sharpened vision and hearing that he had experienced was gone as well, leaving him just as lost in the storm as he had been before the sudden… temporary boost… whatever the hell it had been caused by. The bad news about all this, was that the monster didn't seem weakened in the slightest, growling as it got up, and then narrowing its eye at him.

Weaponless, and no longer powerful enough to stand a chance, the only option left for Tobias was to run away, and that was what he did, turning heel and sprinting toward the courtyard's gate. The monster's heavy steps could be heard following him, but the Lieutenant didn't dare look back even after passing through the gate that Elza and Vickers had left open, and the only reason that the monster hadn't caught up to him, was that it was having just as much trouble keeping its balance across the wet terrain as he was.

Leaving the Clock Tower behind and running out onto the main street, the Lieutenant didn't realize that the sidewalk ended, causing him to fall over the curb just as the monster was taking another swing at him. White Tobias fell on his face on the pavement, the monster went right past him; the momentum of its own punch causing it to collide with an abandoned car, where its fist easily shattered the window. As bad luck would have it, there must've been another survivor hiding inside the car, because no sooner had the window broken, when a woman's scream rang out, followed by gunfire.

Only a single shot rang out before the growling monster grabbed onto her, ripping the door off its hinges as it pulled her from the car, kicking and screaming as the abomination lifted her up into the air with one hand as if she weighed nothing. Now one of those tentacle appendages was slithering out from under the sleeve of its free arm, poised as if to stab the screaming woman in the face… and it surely would have, if Tobias hadn't been there.

Ending his own plan to escape once he saw that a civilian was in danger, the Lieutenant came running back toward the car, picking up an empty metal trashcan, turning it upside down, and slamming it down over the monster's head, and needing to use all of his own weight in order to get it down over the abomination's massive shoulders. Letting out a muffled roar as it was forced to drop the dark haired woman, the trashcan was already twisting and warping under the monster's strength.

"Come on!" Tobias yelled, grabbing her hand. "We have to get away before it frees itself!"

The woman didn't argue, instead doing her best to keep up with the Lieutenant as he pulled her down the street, nearly losing her balance when he turned sharply down a small alleyway. From behind, there was a sound of aluminum being tossed onto the ground, before a no longer muffled roar reached his ears. Any moment now the monster would be hunting them down, and the alley turned out to be a lot shorter than expected, leaving the two of them with nowhere to go… except…

A few moments later the enraged monster came charging into the alley, but didn't seem to find anything after reaching the wall at the end. Growling, it turned around, focusing its eye through the pouring rain, and growling again when it didn't find the ones that it was after. However, instead of roaring and tearing the place apart to find the two of them, the monster seemed to regain its composure.

"Sstarss." It said, turning around and slowly walking out of the alley, most likely resuming its mission.

However, if it had searched the alley a little more thoroughly, the monster might have noticed the large dumpster in the corner, where inside amongst the long forgotten trash bags, were Tobias and the dark haired woman that he had rescued. The smell of rotting garbage was horrific, and water easily flowed down past the hard plastic doors, but it was better than what would have happened to them if they hadn't dove inside.

"It's okay… I think it's gone." The Lieutenant said, allowing himself to relax for the first time in what felt like years. "Holy shit, what a nightmare."

"What the… hell, was that thing?" the dark haired woman replied with a shaky voice. "I've never seen a zombie like that before… yeah, this is my life now… zombies."

Tobias could've tried to explain that the S.T.A.R.S. hunter wasn't a typical zombie, but then again, he didn't really know what it was, beyond fast, powerful, and damn hard to kill. The good news, though, was that they had managed to get away from it… at the cost of the monster being after Vickers and Elza now. Of course, this woman he had saved clearly knew how to use a gun, so maybe she could be of help in saving the young woman… and Vickers, too… if there was time.

"Yeah, I think we're safe for now." The Lieutenant said, peeking through the opening between the doors. "I'm Tobias Liquid, by the way… I'm a…

"I know who you are, Detective Liquid." The dark haired woman replied, struggling to take a cigarette out of her pack and light it. "I just couldn't believe it when I saw your face… you're looking well, for a man who spent the last five months comatose in a hospital bed… damn it, be a gentleman, and help me with this."

Her lighter wasn't working, so Tobias took his own out of his pocket, and finally got a good look at her in the brief orange glow that followed. Shoulder-length hair, tall, slender build, wearing a light weather jacket and jeans… really pretty, too, and a lot closer to his own age than Elza. She finally started to relax after blowing out a puff of smoke, hesitating to lean back on the garbage, but then rolling her eyes and laying back anyway.

"You know, we had orders to call the police the moment you woke up." The dark haired woman continued, taking another puff. "They wanted to crucify you for everything that happened up in the mountains last spring… but then those S.T.A.R.S. people made an even bigger mess in July, and I guess everyone forgot about you. Oh, sorry, you have no idea who I am, do you? My name is Linda Lo… and I'm your Doctor."