Chapter 24: Welcome To Hell
As Team Delta neared the exit of the cavern, they noticed an inscription on the wall to the left of the door. It read:
'All who enter here, will face Hell's Gauntlet.'
"Doesn't Umbrella ever get tired of this cryptic bull-crap!" asked Rebecca. Leon took the light off of his vest, and attached it to the bottom of his Desert Eagle. Billy attached a specially designed infrared scope to his remington. Ada, Jill, and Rebecca all made sure they reloaded their weapons as well. They all stood and watched as Leon began to spruce up his Desert Eagle. He took his customizing kit out of the front pocket of his black vest. They knew what Leon was doing. Jill and Rebecca had seen him do it many times, and it still made them smile. Leon replaced the standard six inch barrel of his Desert Eagle with the customized ten inch barrel, extending his magnum to a power-pulsing fourteen-plus inches in total length. Billy had been around guns for his entire military career, and it still made him well-up with pride seeing the finished product. Many of his comrades-in-arms favored the Desert Eagle, but this was the first time he'd ever seen it used so efficiently by a cop, especially an ex-rookie cop. Ada couldn't resist a little flirtatious teasing of the young ex-cop, "Ooh, I just love a man with a big gun!" If the light had been on her, they would have seen Rebecca's 18-year-old, but child-like face turn a very deep shade of red, as the usually shy medic tried to hide it as she spoke, "Ahem...well...uh...are we...uh...ready?" They went through the door, and what they found would've turned most people's stomachs.
Team Omega quickly dispatched the zombies in the main lobby of the hotel, and headed up to the second floor of the building. As they reached the top of stairs, Hunk heard something, cocking his head as if trying to hear it better. Suddenly they all heard it. Something, or things, were moving through the air ducts. Suddenly, a black creature, about the size of a small person, pounced on Barry's back, attempting to bite at his neck. "CHIMERAS!" hollered Chris, and on cue, four more appeared, having broken through the air vent coverings. Barry pulled his knife from the sheath he had attached to his vest, and stabbed the monster through it's neck before it could do anything. Another one charged Claire, who quickly dodged, and it's momentum carried it until it crashed into one of it's partners. Hunk took advantage of the situation, killing both with one shot from his .44 magnum, the discharged bullet traveling through one creature's small head, and then hitting the other in it's head as well. Chris and Barry killed the last two.
"Are you okay Barry?" asked Claire. "Yeah, it didn't do any damage. It didn't get the chance." They continued down the second floor hall, checking many of the rooms along the way, but they found nothing of interest. Eventually they came to an elevator, but it only went to the third floor. "Well...," said Claire, "...I take it we're going up then." "Yeah," said Chris, and they pushed the button.
Rebecca was unable to resist the urge to throw-up as she and Team Delta saw what looked like some sort of reject dumping chamber. Skeletons, partially and severely decayed bodies, as well as several rotted organs -human and animal alike- were strewn unceremoniously around the large chamber. Amidst the remains, Billy found a diary containing a letter or a file of some kind.
May 1998
I don't know what the hell these people want with me. I followed their orders to the T, and this is how they repay me? They lock me up in some sort of frickin' lab cage, like a guinea pig. I wish I hadn't done their dirty work. This was supposed to be easy money! Blood money, to be sure, but with a family to take care of, I felt I didn't have a choice. "Go to this little village, and get us some subjects for our experiments, then cover it up." But things got complicated. Lt. Billy Coen had a fight with his conscience, and lost. "STOP!" he says, "This isn't right!" he tells me. I nailed him with my gun to shut him up. So then, these people come to clean up our mess, and set Billy up to take the fall. I didn't want to do it, but they threatened my life, and my family's lives. May God have mercy on my soul for letting it go so far, and I hope to God Billy can forgive me in time. He was one of my best men.
July 1998
They injected me with some sort of drug today. They said it would help me to stay calm at the courtmarshall hearing. But somehow, I can't shake the feeling that I won't make it to that trial. I've been in this hellhole for damn near two months now, and other people keep coming and going. The guards keep changing too. I don't think I've ever held a conversation with the same guard twice. Dammit, I hear someone coming. If they read this, I'm a dead man, if I'm not one already.
April 22, 1998
To Sergeant William Davis,
I expect you to be in my office first thing in the morning, so that we can discuss next week's mission. I trust you have your men ready? The details of your payment, as well as that of your men, will be discussed in full at the debriefing. The location has been decided upon, as well as the job at hand. You and your men will be expected to follow the orders accordingly, otherwise you will be the ones to pay the price. I assure you, you will be payed rather handsomely for this deed. Be sure to rest well, you will be traveling far. I will be expecting you at 0600 hours. Make sure you have all your best men, this is not going to be a cakewalk.
Albert Wesker
"That sonuvabitch, he set us up, he set me up!" Rebecca looked at Billy. "Billy? What's wrong?" she asked. "Here, read this. It explains alot." Billy handed her the papers, and Leon offered his light. After reading it, Rebecca went to Billy's side, to offer support. "Why?" she asked, "Why would anyone do this? I...I can't believe this man was once an honored member of S.T.A.R.S." Billy looked at her and responded, "I don't know why, I don't even care why, I just want him to pay." Suddenly, they heard what sounded like a deep, gruff, unnatural voice. It uttered one word, heard loudly, and clearly by all: "D...E...S...T...R...O...Y!!"
As Team Delta neared the exit of the cavern, they noticed an inscription on the wall to the left of the door. It read:
'All who enter here, will face Hell's Gauntlet.'
"Doesn't Umbrella ever get tired of this cryptic bull-crap!" asked Rebecca. Leon took the light off of his vest, and attached it to the bottom of his Desert Eagle. Billy attached a specially designed infrared scope to his remington. Ada, Jill, and Rebecca all made sure they reloaded their weapons as well. They all stood and watched as Leon began to spruce up his Desert Eagle. He took his customizing kit out of the front pocket of his black vest. They knew what Leon was doing. Jill and Rebecca had seen him do it many times, and it still made them smile. Leon replaced the standard six inch barrel of his Desert Eagle with the customized ten inch barrel, extending his magnum to a power-pulsing fourteen-plus inches in total length. Billy had been around guns for his entire military career, and it still made him well-up with pride seeing the finished product. Many of his comrades-in-arms favored the Desert Eagle, but this was the first time he'd ever seen it used so efficiently by a cop, especially an ex-rookie cop. Ada couldn't resist a little flirtatious teasing of the young ex-cop, "Ooh, I just love a man with a big gun!" If the light had been on her, they would have seen Rebecca's 18-year-old, but child-like face turn a very deep shade of red, as the usually shy medic tried to hide it as she spoke, "Ahem...well...uh...are we...uh...ready?" They went through the door, and what they found would've turned most people's stomachs.
Team Omega quickly dispatched the zombies in the main lobby of the hotel, and headed up to the second floor of the building. As they reached the top of stairs, Hunk heard something, cocking his head as if trying to hear it better. Suddenly they all heard it. Something, or things, were moving through the air ducts. Suddenly, a black creature, about the size of a small person, pounced on Barry's back, attempting to bite at his neck. "CHIMERAS!" hollered Chris, and on cue, four more appeared, having broken through the air vent coverings. Barry pulled his knife from the sheath he had attached to his vest, and stabbed the monster through it's neck before it could do anything. Another one charged Claire, who quickly dodged, and it's momentum carried it until it crashed into one of it's partners. Hunk took advantage of the situation, killing both with one shot from his .44 magnum, the discharged bullet traveling through one creature's small head, and then hitting the other in it's head as well. Chris and Barry killed the last two.
"Are you okay Barry?" asked Claire. "Yeah, it didn't do any damage. It didn't get the chance." They continued down the second floor hall, checking many of the rooms along the way, but they found nothing of interest. Eventually they came to an elevator, but it only went to the third floor. "Well...," said Claire, "...I take it we're going up then." "Yeah," said Chris, and they pushed the button.
Rebecca was unable to resist the urge to throw-up as she and Team Delta saw what looked like some sort of reject dumping chamber. Skeletons, partially and severely decayed bodies, as well as several rotted organs -human and animal alike- were strewn unceremoniously around the large chamber. Amidst the remains, Billy found a diary containing a letter or a file of some kind.
May 1998
I don't know what the hell these people want with me. I followed their orders to the T, and this is how they repay me? They lock me up in some sort of frickin' lab cage, like a guinea pig. I wish I hadn't done their dirty work. This was supposed to be easy money! Blood money, to be sure, but with a family to take care of, I felt I didn't have a choice. "Go to this little village, and get us some subjects for our experiments, then cover it up." But things got complicated. Lt. Billy Coen had a fight with his conscience, and lost. "STOP!" he says, "This isn't right!" he tells me. I nailed him with my gun to shut him up. So then, these people come to clean up our mess, and set Billy up to take the fall. I didn't want to do it, but they threatened my life, and my family's lives. May God have mercy on my soul for letting it go so far, and I hope to God Billy can forgive me in time. He was one of my best men.
July 1998
They injected me with some sort of drug today. They said it would help me to stay calm at the courtmarshall hearing. But somehow, I can't shake the feeling that I won't make it to that trial. I've been in this hellhole for damn near two months now, and other people keep coming and going. The guards keep changing too. I don't think I've ever held a conversation with the same guard twice. Dammit, I hear someone coming. If they read this, I'm a dead man, if I'm not one already.
April 22, 1998
To Sergeant William Davis,
I expect you to be in my office first thing in the morning, so that we can discuss next week's mission. I trust you have your men ready? The details of your payment, as well as that of your men, will be discussed in full at the debriefing. The location has been decided upon, as well as the job at hand. You and your men will be expected to follow the orders accordingly, otherwise you will be the ones to pay the price. I assure you, you will be payed rather handsomely for this deed. Be sure to rest well, you will be traveling far. I will be expecting you at 0600 hours. Make sure you have all your best men, this is not going to be a cakewalk.
Albert Wesker
"That sonuvabitch, he set us up, he set me up!" Rebecca looked at Billy. "Billy? What's wrong?" she asked. "Here, read this. It explains alot." Billy handed her the papers, and Leon offered his light. After reading it, Rebecca went to Billy's side, to offer support. "Why?" she asked, "Why would anyone do this? I...I can't believe this man was once an honored member of S.T.A.R.S." Billy looked at her and responded, "I don't know why, I don't even care why, I just want him to pay." Suddenly, they heard what sounded like a deep, gruff, unnatural voice. It uttered one word, heard loudly, and clearly by all: "D...E...S...T...R...O...Y!!"