Ch. 14

Time was ticking, inching towards what could possibly be an escape or an elaborate trap. As Rae continued to piece it together with optimism, the pessimistic underlining violently beat any sliver of hope that this was an actual rescue and not an abduction. She knew better. The facts just didn't add up. She wouldn't expect either of them to see it like that but, she knew she was going to have a hard time convincing them otherwise. Especially if they didn't know the whole story yet.
'Isn't that your fault?'
Rae grimaced, flipping a mental finger at her subconscious. They would understand, right? A bio-genetically engineered family member taking care of her only niece, traveling around the world to see the sights, with people chasing after them for no apparent reason whatsoever.
'Sounds legit..right..'
Of course not. They wouldn't be the first people to ask questions. Hell, given the trench coat-like scarf and goggles she was surprised that no one had reported her for being shady. Given that half the city of Brownsville evacuated before they arrived and the other half left for dead or worse, it wouldn't have made much of a difference what anyone thought, nor were they sticking around just to ask.
That cool jolt shook her as the water hit her face. A heavy rain was still pounding against the roof of their fuel station stronghold, held on temporary reserve until they could find a map, a course of action, and in Rae's case, some replacement eye wear. The memory stung her viciously, as she reluctantly gazed into the spittle-speckled mirror adorning a makeshift closet sink. Those bright, cat-like bluish-purple eyes stared back at her, as if mocking her very existence. She glared back, splashing water against the mirror to distort the view. Unfortunately, that distorted figure was a white lie until the water cleared. She was still, in fact, altered.
'Shut up..'
She wasn't like them. She had control over her mutations, her urges. She was advanced for the most part, but for how long? The explosion of the labs had ruptured her pod, interrupting her gestation period. To top it all off, she was bitten by something else. Something other than a T-virus carrier. He was too big to be a T-virus victim. A tyrant maybe? One of the T-003 class stages she'd seen paperwork for. Something didn't seem right. Replaying the scene in her mind, as she came eye to eye with him before he locked his jaws onto her shoulder, he seemed determined to rip her to shreds. The only thoughts flashing through her mind at the time were Claire's words about his former self. How he was just another victim. Rae froze, and thus resulting cross-contamination on a gradual scale. The only current symptoms she could think of was she was exhausted, but that was a given. If anything did come up though, she'd be putting their lives on the line.
'Don't think like that..you're fine..'
She barked at her subconscious, pushing the sink's knob forcefully to cease the groans from the rusting pipe system underneath. Snatching some sunglasses off one of the shelves as she exited she quickly slipped them on. Given her mutations, the darkened lenses didn't do much to her sight, and yet they still covered up her abnormalities quite well. All in all, it was still better than having everything tinted red.
Slipping back behind the cash register, Rae rummaged the shelves underneath for supplies. If this was going to be their only stop, it was wise to stock up as much as possible. So far, all she could find was a pocket first aid kit, some tape, and a chewed pencil with a missing eraser. From the looks of things, it seemed like a few people had the same idea given the mess and lack of stock. Heaving a heavy sigh, she pushed herself back up, abandoning her scavenger hunt that had turned up nothing but a few bandages–
–'Shit!'
She flew backward after coming up to meet a grizzly face and sharp green eyes. The man couldn't help but chuckle as he saw Rae almost climbing the wall behind her, heart throbbing out of her chest. Glaring at him from her perch on a disfigured bucket against a group of shelves that were now trashed from the sudden outburst, she slowly came down with a swift jump and snatched the bandages from the floor that she had dropped out of surprise. A curse escaped from under her breath as she shook her head at his amusement from scaring her half to death, rehabilitating herself once he cleared his throat before initiating conversation.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle ya..just wanted to see if you were alright.." His tone was level, almost quizzical. She'd taken a serious blow, and whatever was in that syringe Sherry had shoved into her gut was working wonders. Usually the signs would have started showing. They'd been out for nearly three hours.

"I'm fine..just tired.." She forced a smile, ignoring a strong pain that erupted from her gut.

"Alright, we're gonna be headin' out soon, grab whatever you can find an' let's saddle up.." Barry returned the gesture, looking her over one last time, slightly confused but not willing to press the subject.

'Ugh, so sick..why so sick..'

Rae watched his husky figure disappear into an aisle to the far left of her and dropped down to her knees as softly as she could, feeling them buckle underneath a tremendous urge to vomit. Shaking, she clutched her arms around her abdomen and greeted the floor with her forehead, cringing from the white hot pain. There was something wrong. Very wrong. This pain was worse than before. Her body locked up as she fought to stand, biting back at the aching wail of her muscles, climbing to her feet and straightening her face to reclaim that stoic disposition.

'It's nothing..don't forget your main objective..'

Right. Sherry was first priority over her own safety, and part of that responsibility was making sure she was alive enough to counterattack Hilda's constant advances.

A thick fog steadily rose from the streets, the dim light of the moon mixed with the fluorescent glow of flickering streetlights. The massive green bulk lay in a heap in the middle of what used to be a rather busy four-way intersection that now sat in ruin. The silence was almost as thick as the fog that blanketed the ground, until a low painful growl echoed between the buildings, followed by the sound of cement cracking under weight. The creature pushed itself up, stumbling before regaining enough balance to stand. Eyes opened, not piercing red and fierce, but instead a silvery shade of blue.

'Where..where am I..'

Heavy footsteps began to drag against the asphalt like tree trunks being rooted and replaced. It felt as such, like moving a walking tank. Memories bombarded that sliver of sanity that finally caught a flame after surviving on embers. He could finally think, after being in a sense of solitude for what felt like decades, trapped in the subconscious thoughts he'd held onto for years since the virus had completely taken over his body. Things came flooding back, unfortunately nothing that told him where he was or how he got there in the first place. Scanning the ground under him, he caught sight of his reflection in a large puddle, staring at the hulking green figure in disbelief. He was still a monster.

'Is that..blood?'

A deep shade of crimson leaked from his bottom lip, joining a larger puddle as it hit the ground. He had to hold back the urge to hurl. The idea that he was eating someone or rather–some thing – bothered him. The other part of him, the part that had stolen his body, enjoyed the gore that covered most of his face as it sent out a snake-like tongue to lap it up like soup. He couldn't control it; at least not yet. That savage craving for gore overwhelmed this new state of mind he'd finally gained control of. It was a start, but how long before it changed again was the bigger question. He decided to count his blessings, trumping off in a direction. Good or bad, he figured this was a good turn for the best. Steve Burnside was making a comeback, and there would be hell to pay.