Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV

Chapter Twenty Five: Unexpected Company

Regardless of Leon's arguments, Barry decided to keep a close eye on Lucia once they got back into the Second Class cabin, but no matter how long he observed her, nor how closely paid attention for anything malicious, there was just… nothing. She acted like any twelve year old would have been expected to under the circumstances; constantly fidgeting around and looking out through the blinds on the window for threats. She also helped Leon as much as possible, since he was having a little trouble getting around, so… was he wrong? Was Lucia nothing but an innocent little girl?

"We can't stay here forever." The Agent groaned while the little girl helped him sit up on the bed. "Tobias and Gillette are relentless, they do nothing but search this ship from top to bottom, over and over again, and no matter where we go, they always seem to be just one step behind."

"But we just have to stay ahead of them until the storm lets up, right?" Lucia asked, her voice starting to break. "And then your friends can send a helicopter, and we can get out of here… can't we? Isn't that what your friends said?"

Now the bearded man was starting to feel bad for the little girl, standing there with her hands shaking a little, looking like she was about to cry while staring up at Leon in the hopes that he could keep her safe. Maybe she was just another victim caught up in Umbrella's schemes, and… and to be honest, her story for why she was onboard the Starlight was so ridiculous that it might have just been true.

Glancing over at the clock on the wall, Barry realized that they had been sitting inside this cabin for over an hour, and if Tobias Liquid was hunting them, then… hey, then why hadn't he found them yet? Back in Raccoon City, the bearded man had once seen him hunt a suspected killer through the sewer system without losing his trail for more than a few minutes, and this ship was a lot less complicated than those foul smelling tunnels… so where was he?

"I think you're right, Leon, we need to go." He said, taking a look through the blinds at the empty, rain soaked deck outside. "Hey, if we got up to the bridge, do you think we could figure out how to turn this ship back around… or even cut the engines so we don't get further out of range for extraction?"

The bearded man had been a pilot in the Air Force, and the idea of trying to gain steering control of the Starlight had just come to him, but at the same time he had absolutely no idea how to drive it. Helicopters and airplanes were easy, but nautical vessels had a million different controls, from what he had seen in his limited experience. Well, even if they couldn't steer the thing, it shouldn't be that hard to find the engine shut off switch, and it wasn't like anyone else had a better idea, so it was back out into the rain for the three of them.

Lucia was the lucky one, since all she had to do to keep mostly dry was to pull up the hood of the yellow rain jacket she was wearing, but Leon was still dressed like a tourist with his flowered shirt and sandals, so if the Agent wasn't careful, he was likely to end up with pneumonia or something from getting all wet like this. The storm had intensified to the point where it was hard to see the deck ahead, even with most of the Starlight's exterior lighting still operational, so the three of them stayed under covered areas where they could.

Of course, with covered areas came the presence of more infected passengers, most of which were thankfully wandering around inside of the other cabins that they passed on their way to the next staircase. Quietly shutting the doors to those rooms served as a way to keep the zombies trapped, and the storm itself helped with muffling the sound from the pistol that Leon was carrying as they dealt with the ones who had wandered into the covered corridors.

Every once in a while they would see an infected passenger wander onto the exterior deck, and since they didn't know how to keep balance or hold onto guard rails, that zombie would soon be washed over the side of the ship the next time the Starlight hit a large wave. Bang! Another zombie went down, discolored blood oozing from its head wound after it fell to the floor, and although they were able to keep going like this without serious incident, Barry was worried that each shot would bring the attention of Tobias… or that people-mimicking monster.

But it didn't, and three zombies and four corridors later, the three of them had arrived at the main stairwell that led up to the bridge. Leon had been there before, so he led the way, although there weren't that many bullets left for his pistol, and they didn't dare use the bearded man's magnum revolver unless it was an emergency. Would it have been faster to take the elevator? Yes, but the enclosed car would have left them trapped if the doors opened and the infected were present, and even though it was more work, the stairwell gave them the option to retreat if needed.

Strangely enough, though, the higher up the ship's tower toward the bridge that they climbed, the less of an infected presence the three of them encountered, when Barry would have expected the exact opposite. He figured that the bridge would be more heavily guarded, especially if Gillette really was capable of controlling the zombies to a certain extent, but when they finally reached the highest deck, where the Agent had once been taken prisoner, they found the place to be totally deserted.

"All right, what are we looking for?" Leon asked as he stepped into the bridge's doorway with pistol at the ready. "I don't suppose there's just a big red button that…

Whack! Suddenly a flash of upward movement from around the other side of the doorframe, and the Agent spit out blood after the stock of a rifle caught him underneath the chin. The pistol clamored to the floor while Leon fell over onto the nearest console in the room, and Barry would have rushed to his aid, if the bearded man had not suffered his own ambush at the same time. However, the stock of his assailant's rifle only grazed his cheek instead of being dead on, so Barry was able to grab onto the assault rifle in the arms of a man who was wearing… black riot armor?

Yes, the man who attacked him was wearing a black Kevlar helmet, gasmask, and riot gear similar to what a police department SWAT Team would have used, as was the man who was continuing to attack Leon inside the bridge. Intending to simply steal the rifle and hold the masked man prisoner, the bearded man shoved his assailant backwards, but the deck was so slippery that the masked man lost his footing after his legs came up against the railing, causing him to scream as he tumbled over the edge.

"Don't move, asshole!" A voice ordered through a gasmask as two more men came around the corners on both side of him, weapons aimed. "Toss your weapons over the side, and then get on your God damn knees, right the hell now! I said 'now', shithead!"

Tat! With that, the apparent leader of the armored men pulled the trigger, causing the bullet to destroy a small piece of the deck flooring between Barry's legs, and showing the bearded man that they were serious. As much as he didn't want to, there didn't seem to be much choice other than to do as they said, especially when he saw that one of the men was pointing a pistol at Lucia's head. The little girl was shaking with fear, and she cried out when the man grabbed her hair to keep her from running away, prompting him to toss his revolver over the side of the railing.

Two more men had joined the one who attacked Leon inside the bridge as well, and Barry could see them securing the Agent's wrists behind his back with a zip-tie, while he was ordered to get on his knees. Once Leon was helpless, the armored men knocked him to the floor and began kicking him, and once again the bearded man would have helped, if he hadn't been getting forced down onto his face so that he could be bound with a zip-tie as well. He knew what was coming next, from hearing Leon's cries of pain as the beating continued, but that didn't make it hurt any less when the boot of the nearest assailant connected with his jaw.

"Here, check this little brat." The leader ordered, pushing Lucia over to the men who were finally done working Leon over. "The Captain said the container will be marked with R-002, so don't be afraid to get rough."

The little girl screamed as two of them picked her up, slamming her down onto the map table, and very roughly examining her neck, arms, and legs as if looking for something. Meanwhile, the men outside were kicking and stomping Barry as hard as they could, laughing a little before yelling something about the man he had tossed over the side during the ambush. He tried to avoid their hits long enough to free himself, but failed, and soon the bearded man was unable to fight back as they just kept kicking him… and kicking him.

"Got it!" A voice yelled from inside the bridge yelled while Lucia kept screaming. "R-002, stamped right here on the bottom of her foot, Captain! God damn it, shut the fuck up!"

In a quick motion, the little girl's crying stopped when the armored man was heard striking Lucia across the face, and then Barry could see her again from where he was, when she fell to the floor next to Leon. They had removed her shoes and socks, as well as her rain coat, thankfully finding what they were looking for before needing to remove anything else, but… but why would she have R-002 branded on her foot? Wasn't that the number of the container that Leon said Tobias and Gillette were looking for?

"Whiney little brat." The Captain grunted through his gasmask. "You'd think she never got strip-searched before… all right, take the girl to the sub, then find out everything these two idiots know… and then toss them overboard."