Downfall: Resident Evil II

Chapter Twenty One: Ada and Ben

"Hey!" Leon called, watching the door close behind her. "Ada, wait!"

It had been awfully nice of her to leave all his things behind, which the young man quickly gathered up before heading through the door to the holding cells as well. Of course, the woman already had a head start down the dimly lit hallway beyond, meaning that he had to pick up the pace in order to catch up. Since he was still unsure of the police station's layout, he didn't know which way the holding cells were, or even if that was where she was going, leaving him no choice but to try every door on the way.

The first one that he came to was marked Kennels, and when he pushed open the metal door, it was a horrific smell that awaited him. The metal grated cages, clearly used for holding the RPD's K-9 Officers, had all been torn open, and while most of them were empty, there were a few that held the mutilated remains of what looked like dogs. This brought up an interesting question, as he held his nose at the ghastly scene… was it just humans that could be turned into the cannibalistic monsters that he had seen… or could animals be affected as well?

Aside from the remains and cages, there didn't appear to be anything else useful in this room, nor was Ada anywhere to be seen. He needed to keep moving in order to find her, and it was just occurring to him, as he turned around, that he needed to check up on Claire Redfield as well… however these thoughts were quickly ended. The good news was that his search for Ada was over… but the bad news was that the barrel of her pistol was once again against his head.

"Why are you following me?" She asked plainly, pulling the hammer back. "Answer quickly, please."

His reasons for doing so had sounded a lot better in his head than when he simply blurted out that it was dangerous to run off by herself, and that as an Officer of the RPD, it was his job to look out for civilians, especially in a situation like this one. In response, Ada didn't even try to stop herself from laughing, since the young man was doing such a good job of keeping things under control, but it did cause her to un-cock her pistol and walk away.

"Ada, I'm serious." Leon continued, following her further down the hallway. "There's things out there worse than the zombies, and we really should stick together. What are you looking for back here, anyway?"

"Not that it's any of your business." Ada replied, peeking around the next corner before moving forward. "But I'm looking for a man named Ben Bertolucci… the computer upstairs said he was in one of the cells, and he has information that I need."

The young man had never met a woman who was as collected and focused on her objectives as Ada Wong was, and even though she had a bit of an attitude problem… as well as a violent streak… Leon couldn't help being impressed by the way she handled herself. She was so confident, and obviously intelligent… and the way that she walked was nice to look at as well… as was the rest of her.

"Damn, the gate's stuck." She grumbled, pressing the release button. "Looks like I might need you for something, after all."

In front of them was a kind of chain-link door that was operated by the electronic switch that Ada was pressing, and while it moved a little each time, it was clear that the door had come partially off its track at some point. Well, this was his chance to impress her, so holstering his pistol, the young man stepped up to the gate, and pulled on it as hard as he could… resulting in him letting out a yelp as he fell backwards when the gate opened a lot easier than he thought it would.

Knocking over a large metal trashcan as he fell, causing old, rotting garbage to scatter across the floor… which he landed right on top of… the woman laughed again, this time so hard that she had to cover her mouth to keep from being too loud. Ada shook her head, still muffling the last of her laughter while passing through the open gate, and Leon was turning red as well as he got up… although for a different reason.

Trying not to think about how clumsy he had just been, Leon followed her into the small holding cells area, which consisted of a single long room, filled with three barred containment rooms. The first two were empty, but the third was not only locked, but occupied as well. The cell was filled with supplies like water and canned food, as if someone was making a shelter out of it, and lying on one of the cots, was a man with short brown hair and beard stubble, as if he had been there a while.

"Hey, you." Ada said sternly, rattling the cell door when he didn't respond. "Are you Ben Bertolucci, the reporter?"

Still there was no response from the man, and now that they were closer, Leon could see that his eyes were closed. He was breathing, though, with his arms behind his head as if he were sleeping, but this nap was ended when Ada took off one of her shoes, before tossing it at him. The man groaned, sitting up in surprise after the shoe hit him in the forehead, and then looking around as if momentarily forgetting where he was.

"Christ, what is it with you people?" The man grumbled, rubbing his forehead, and then his eyes after swinging his legs off the cot. "I'm trying to sleep here, so grab whatever water and food you can reach through the bars, and then kindly fuck off."

Leon was already becoming irritated with this person, mostly because of his casual attitude during such a crisis, and he was about to say something back to him, but was interrupted when Ada raised her pistol and fired. Bang! The bullet cut right through one of the chains that kept the cot anchored to the bars, making the man gasp as he found himself tumbling down onto the floor.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you how to speak to a lady?" The woman asked, just as calmly as before. "Now the first thing you're going to do is toss my shoe back over here… and then you are going to stand up, and tell me everything you know about what happened to this city… particularly about any missing persons."

The smugness and carefree expression was gone from Ben's face as he grabbed the fallen shoe, sliding it across the floor so that it passed through the bars, and then admitting to who he was, while Ada slid her foot back into the shoe. Unfortunately, the reporter claimed to not really know anything beyond what was published in the newspapers, and as for missing persons… half the city could be counted in those numbers.

"I was still investigating Chief Irons when everything went down." Ben continued, looking like he was scared to move. "I don't know how he became Chief, let alone a cop at all, with the string of sexual and violent charges against him over the years, not to mention the accusations of taking bribes for God knows how long, and…

"I don't care about all that." The woman interrupted. "I'm looking for my boyfriend; his name is John Clemens, and he was working out of a branch office of Umbrella, based in Chicago, when he suddenly disappeared six months ago. I heard a rumor that he was transferred to Raccoon City, and that's all I know."

Leon wasn't sure why he felt a sudden twinge of disappointment when Ada mentioned that she had a boyfriend… then again, most women who looked like her were rarely single for very long… if ever at all. Anyway, this wasn't the time to stand around gossiping about things like that; what they all needed to do was stick together, regardless of their differences, and even if Ben was a jackass, he was still an extra hand that could hold a gun.

"Look, we can figure all this out later." The young man said. "Right now we, all of us, need all the help we can get… does anyone know where they put the keys to these cells?"

"Sure… I've got it right here, Officer." The reporter replied, taking the key out of his pocket. "But I'm not leaving this cell… at least not until you and your buddies upstairs can give me the all clear."

For a moment Leon was dumbfounded by what Ben was saying, and then it dawned on him that maybe the reporter had been down in that cell for so long, he was unaware that the person standing in front of him was the last police officer around… a fact that Ben was genuinely surprised to discover once he was told. Like a lot of people who didn't understand their situation, the reporter turned paler with each description that the young man gave him about the state of Raccoon City.

"I know you feel safe in there." Leon continued. "But there's no help coming, and those zombies are the least of your problems, so if you want to stay alive, you're going to have to come with us."

"Okay, I get it." Ben replied, coming to the door and reaching around to unlock it. "But do you even have a plan for getting out of the city?"

Leon had to admit that he honestly did not have a plan, at least, not beyond taking shelter at the police station, and that had been a bust. Thankfully, Ben remembered hearing some officers talking about trying to get out through the sewers via the manhole in the Kennels… but that had been a few days before, and he hadn't heard from them since. Of course, even if they could get the key that the others mentioned, there was no guarantee that the sewers were any safer than the precinct.

"They mentioned the old key box in the Press Conference Room." The reporter continued, opening the door and stepping out. "Couldn't tell you beyond that, though."

"It's more than we had a minute ago." Ada replied, turning toward Leon. "Looks like keeping you around was a good idea after all, Officer… try not to take too long bringing the key back… I'll be here."

"I'll go, but I don't know where that conference room is." The young man answered. "Ben, you're going to have to go with me… I know it's dangerous, but I'll keep you safe."

The reporter was not too keen on the idea of having to go back upstairs, nor did he like the fact that Leon was a rookie. However, there didn't really seem to be a choice in the matter, so the two of them walked back through the chain-link door, making their way back toward the parking lot.