Chapter 25: Could you kill a Monsterman?
"Bang!"
Another zombie fell victim to Josh's MP5 sub-machinegun. Josh had performed a volunteer sweep of the B2 floor's archive room due to him being well stocked on 9mm ammunition. Upon entering the room, the first sight was another gruesome scene of zombies tearing apart the remnants of yet another corpse. The two feasting zombies had almost no time at all to react to the teen's presence and both of them were struck in the temple by two well-placed shots since Josh could now make full use of the MP5's LAM unlike the one he had equipped to his earlier USP which was destroyed by Hunters not too long ago. The slight dimness of the facility allowed Josh to see the laser more clearly and what it was pointing at.
The room was capacious around the door at first, but then shelves of various records and files were placed in neat lines. Making a full sweep of the room to ensure his and his companions' privacy while looking for a much needed map and possibly evidence to use against Umbrella, he'd found another zombie hidden within the rows of shelves and like most other undead he'd come across during the grueling ordeal, Josh shot it once in the cranium and ended its suffering for good. After checking the aisles between the rests of the shelves, he found nothing else considered life threatening.
"Okay, it's clear." He called out from the depths of the room.
Ricky and Helene entered the room, taking note of the minor bloodshed courtesy of the young Ellington. In an instant, Ricky walked over to a computer module right opposite the door. It had been added with a state-of-the-art copy machine which also worked as a printer. The young mercenary immediately accessed the computer and began searching for a map.
"You sure you can work that thing?" Josh asked looking at the screen from the side.
"Please, haven't I been able to use these things in the past?" Ricky asked.
"Speaking of which, where'd you learn all that?" Josh asked out of curiosity.
"I took computer classes in high school." Ricky replied simply.
"Oh. What got you interested?" Josh asked again.
"The possibility of getting a job not as action packed as the SEALs." Ricky replied.
"So then what made you choose the action packed side of life?" Josh asked yet again.
"Kid, can I please find the map for this dump or are we gonna reminisce all day?" Ricky asked in a more annoyed tone.
"Sorry." Josh instantly brought up his hands defensively. "What time is it anyway?" He wondered. He had been trapped within Raccoon City well over two days now and since the had been underground for several hours now, he could only assume it was well past midnight. It somehow felt so fitting for an ordeal such as this. For a long time he'd felt as if he was personally experiencing a grade-A horror movie which ironically had to have a night time plot. But he was more than aware it was real and not a nightmare as he'd been hoping. The feel of his surroundings, the emotions he'd experienced, all the crazy stunts he'd done and the wounds were enough to prove himself that his mind wasn't fooling him.
After a tired sigh, he set down his backpack and took out the bottle of water he'd kept there. The liquid had long since warmed, but it was fine with him. He took a few big gulps before placing it back in the backpack, which also began to show signs of unusual wear. Dirt and mud had caked around its lower portions, noticeable scratches had appeared all around it and one of the straps used to tighten or loosen the backpack's shoulder straps had been snapped shorter and the second one had been burned. With the memories of the ordeal, the injuries, the mental scars and maybe his once favorite backpack, even if people wouldn't believe the stories about the zombies and Umbrella's B.O.Ws, most people would believe that he'd be a survivor of a major city war. If he would make it out alive that is…
"You tired?" Helene asked, noticing Josh's tired expression.
Josh nodded. "Yea." He replied. "How about you?" He asked in response.
"Surprisingly I'm not." Helene replied. "I guess this ordeal's left me too concerned to rest at all." She added grimly.
"You have my condolences." Josh said kindly. "Think I keep doing that too much lately." He asked sheepishly.
"No. It's good that you care Josh." Helene responded as she began to feel more comforted by Josh's thoughtful words.
"Of course." Josh nodded firmly. "I got something to fight for now that has meaning. I want none of this to recur ever again. That's why taking out Umbrella will from now on be my number one priority."
Helene looked at Josh proudly, "You're so brave Josh. It amazes me where you get all that courage."
"I guess I just have guts." Josh shrugged. "I've been noted to tackle challenges and this is by far the most infuriating one I ever have."
"I see…" Helene looked down on the floor before looking back at Josh. "I'm also thankful about all the comfort you've given to me."
"It's something I have to do as well. You've suffered enough and I want to protect you until we're all safe and outta here." Josh replied. "I guess you can call it a moment's first priority." He added with a small laugh.
"I'm also thankful for what you promised back in the tram." Helene said while taking a glance at Ricky's progress. So far the mercenary was still busily searching.
"Really?" Josh asked curiously, not remembering what exactly he'd said. "What did I say?"
Helene closed her eyes in thought before responding. "You promised to help me settle into you hometown after we escape. That's so sweet of you." She said with a noticeable note of happiness in her voice.
"Oh yea, I remember." Josh replied thinking back to the hectic underground subway station infested by giant fleas. It was before Josh became forcefully separated from the group of survivors he, Helene and Ricky had teamed up with earlier. He was amazed he was still alive, taking note of how forcefully he'd been thrown out of the speeding train and luckily landed on the next stop with minor cuts and bruises. "What a trip that was." He mused quietly.
"Umm Josh." Helene spoke, sounding as if she was embarrassed from something. "Can I ask you something?"
"Yea? Shoot." Josh replied.
"Since I'm probably going to have some difficulty accustoming to my coming new life… well, I just…" She began to stutter.
"Yea, what is it?" Josh asked more curiously.
"Well… I-I've been sort of hoping that… well…" She continued to stutter trying to choose the correct words, "C-can you… I mean, could we… be together in a more 'closer' aspect?"
Josh became suddenly dumbstruck by Helene's words. He wasn't expecting ones as such at all, especially form a person he'd known for only a few days. But in comparison to Amy Tolstoy's approach, they sounded much more pleasing. Josh had never been in any form of relationship with a girl at all, so Helene's choice of words felt entirely new to the teenager. But then again, there was a first time for everything…
"So… what do you mean by 'a more closer aspect'?" Josh asked even if he was aware of what she meant.
"Well, you told me you weren't in a relationship so…" Helene murmured, but audibly enough for Josh to hear her.
"You're asking me to be your boyfriend right?" Josh implied.
"Well…yes…" Helene replied sheepishly. She prepared herself mentally to prepare for more questions, Josh's amusement to the subject or even insults. She felt so embarrassed she'd hoped the floor beneath her would have just gone and crumble.
"Okay." Came a sudden simple response.
Helene's eyes opened wide from surprise. She looked back at Josh who had a warm, caring smile on his dirt covered face.
"Y-you really mean it?" Helene stammered nervously.
Just then Josh took hold of Helene's hand, holding onto it gently. "You better believe it." Josh replied and continued smiling.
Ricky unbeknownst to the two teenagers heard the entire thing and did his best to seem as if he wasn't paying attention, keeping his eyes glued to the computer screen and continued looking for a map of the facility.
"At a boy kid, I knew you had it in ya." He thought proudly, feeling relaxed that his new friend can get a chance to partially forget the nightmarish memories of the outbreak. He then continued looking for his intended target more intently. After searching through various archives that proved otherwise worthless to the survivors. After a few long minutes of clicking and scrolling, the young mercenary found what he was looking for. "Bingo." He mused and activated the print function.
The sudden hymn of the print functions equipped copying machine permeated through the room's atmosphere. This indicated to Josh and Helene that Ricky had found their intended target. The machine then produced what they counted nine pieces of white paper. Ricky took the press-warm papers and inspected the copies' quality. He then took three of them for himself and held out the remaining six to Josh and Helene.
"Take these just in case we get separated." Ricky suggested, eliciting his younger companions to take copies of the map to themselves.
"At least now we know where we're going." Josh spoke as he looked at the map of level B2. He was surprised to see that floor was in fact much larger than he had suspected earlier. According to the map the floors were built in a rectangular shape and noticed he and his fellow survivors still had a long way to go into inspecting the remaining three floors of the facility.
"Thank goodness for that." Helene concurred in response.
"We still got a lot of ground to cover, so might as well get started." Ricky suggested. "C'mon."
They exited the room, now with knowledge on where to go next. Taking a look at the map, the corridor behind the elevator would lead them past the floor's bathrooms and the employee's break room, which came as a surprise to Josh that the facility even had those, thinking most of Umbrella's workers were either forced like slave labor or were so twisted they wouldn't even take breaks from their inhumane experiments. After getting through the rather long corridor they would then have two choices of direction, forward towards a sector used for research and testing and right to the sector where offices of various professors were in. Placed in the very back past all of them were two squares marked as elevators.
"This sure makes it easier to get around." Ricky mused. "Okay, follow me and keep your eyes peeled." He ordered and began walking with his new SPAS-12 held at waist level.
The survivors returned to the sector with the elevator they had used to enter the bottom of the facility. They now chose the only remaining direction they could take, which was the one behind the elevator. Much to their fortune or misfortune, whichever way they'd put it, they found more slaughtered zombies laying motionless on the floor.
"Our friends must have gone through here." Josh stated.
"That means they might be close." Ricky mused. "We gotta be more cautious from this point on, got it?" He asked.
Josh and Helene both nodded in response. They carefully maneuvered around the mat of corpses in case they were to rise back up form the dead like they usually did if they weren't shot in the head. The floor was practically repainted red by the dried viral blood. They went past the floor's men's and women's bathrooms into a gap in the wall. A few feet further they went past the employee's lounge, probably full of more corpses or living zombies. They eventually came to the corridor's end, two doors before them, one right in front which was a large reinforced steel door and the other door was on the right wall next to it. Also they found another sweeper's corpse lying on the floor with a large amount of flesh absent from his neck area. Josh voluntarily searched the corpse, but found nothing on him, indicating the other sweepers had taken all of the weapons and ammunition.
"So now that we're here, I suppose we're gonna go through that, right?" Josh asked pointing towards the reinforced door with 'Experimentation' and 'Biological Research' written onto it with bold red letters.
"You better believe it." Ricky replied. "But I won't enjoy it, like neither would you two."
"You read my mind." Josh replied uneasily, aware that one of the T-virus sources was just beyond these two doors and was probably the most infested area they'd been in, so he could only hope the sweepers had taken care of most of the zombies and mutants within their confines.
Ricky swallowed in fear as he took hold of the door handle. Reluctant as he was to enter, he urged enough strength to push down on the cold steel handle. Afterwards he waited, holding his breath in order to hear if anything was moving on the other side. Josh took the opportunity to train his weapon towards the door as a precaution if something were to jump up on them as soon as the door would open wide enough. As they waited for any signs of hostility on the other side the entire room seemed to go eerily silent. The only things that could be heard was the humming of the ventilation system's ducts built within the roof. Ricky was now assured that no monsters were waiting for their entry, so he cautiously pushed the door open, making Josh tighten his hold onto his MP5. After opening the door wide enough, the survivors couldn't help but gaze in horror at the sight before them.
"Oh dear God!" Josh thought as he stood terrified.
The facility behind the steel doors was almost like Hell had risen from underground. Blood stained the similarly depressing gray walls, countless bullet casings were on the floor along with spent clips and used shotgun shells. Lying all around the room were battered, bloody remains of sweepers and farther down there appeared to be three dead Hunters, riddled with both bullet holes and disgusting gashes all over their scaly bodies. The door began as a wide corridor with a flashing red light bolted up on the roof that probably indicated to others of the dangers lurking all around the sector.
"What the fuck happened here?!" Josh asked in bewildered fear.
"I don't know kid, but it sure did these guys in good…" Ricky remarked looking down at the dead sweepers. The bodies themselves hadn't been searched almost at all judging from various gear they still had on their persons. He found some additional shells for his new shotgun and found five MP5-clips for Josh.
"Just look at those dents on this dude…" Josh spoke, referring to a sweeper who's skull just had to have been cracked judging from a large dent on his helmet. "It's like he was sledged in the head!"
"Maybe he was…" Ricky replied uneasily.
"Ricky," Helene interjected. "Do you think this the work of that thing my father mentioned?" She asked with a frightened tone.
Ricky thought back at the time they saw the large humanoid brute before it was lowered down into the lower levels. The large dents and sickening marking on some of the sweeper's helmets and body armor was a good choice of pointing out that something as large and undoubtedly powerful could have very easily been the perpetrator. Ricky's biggest concern now was that since seven sweepers had been downed so easily by the brutal behemoth, how could he, josh and Helene stand up to it?
"I'm not sure, but it's possible." Ricky replied solemnly.
"So we're now up against something this powerful?!" Josh asked frightened. "Aw man… we're so dead meat!" He muttered incoherently.
"Don't worry kids, I won't let anything happen to ya, I promise." Ricky declared firmly.
"Really comforting man…" Josh replied sarcastically.
The survivors made their way out of the bloodied section of the corridor and came to a less wide proportion of it. The walls there weren't covered in blood and no corpses or signs of a struggle were present. The surrounding air also began to feel colder than it did outside the experimental sector, making Josh cuss silently upon remembering the absence of his jacket.
"Geez! It's freezing in this shit hole!" He murmured angrily as he rubbed his right arm with his left hand in attempt to warm himself.
"Sure is." Ricky replied. "Must be because of the experiments."
"Will you be alright Josh?" Helene asked with concern.
"Yea, I'll be fine. I'd be just less uncomfortable if my jacket hadn't been melted." Josh replied annoyed, remembering how his once favorite jacket was nothing but a few leather pieces.
"Deal with it kid. You won't feel the difference in a while." Ricky spoke.
"I hope so." Josh replied. "I better not catch a cold of all things in here." He added.
"A cold will be the least of your worries down here kid…" Ricky thought, worried, but wary in case they were to run into the creature Helene's father had dubbed as 'the Tyrant'…
-
Littma quickly pumped his SPAS-12 and fired another direct buckshot into a zombie's face blowing it up with a blast of blood. He spat out his latest cigar while he fitted more 12-gauge shells into the powerful gun before chambering the first. He had so far made it to the B3 level of the facility after a narrow escape from his pursuer, a large, pale, green trenchcoat clad monster according to Dr. Jonouchi Nayami would have helped him clear away any hostilities. But now he had discovered the brute dubbed by his employers as a Tyrant, had gone completely wild and appeared to attack anything moving that got in its sight. But now he had to carry on with his given assignment of procuring the Genome embryo.
"God damn lying bastard that Nayami was…" He muttered as he walked over his recent kill. "Telling me that thing would keep me safe! Tch," he spat. "Thanks to that shithead I could've lost my own life. And there's no fun in that." He mused, remembering how easy it had always been for him to kill someone of something during the outbreak, but during his encounter with the Tyrant, he had almost been smashed by the towering behemoth's foot, hadn't he rolled out from under and used a flashbang to temporarily stung the monster so he could make his getaway.
He continued on in his pursuit of Dr. Stepanovitch's ultimate achievement in Umbrella's bio-weapons program. The B3 level may have been just the ideal place to carry on his investigation on the project and to secure the final Genome-sample. According to the instructions given to him by Dr. Nayami the first sample was transplanted inside a living test subject that was stored in the B4 level. The second sample had apparently been stolen by one of the projects three directors who inexplicably disappeared a few weeks ago. The remaining sample's location was unknown, but Harris was determined to find it and collect his reward resting on it.
"What a challenging job this turned out to be." He thought as he cautiously rounded a corner. No threatening B.O.Ws in sight… "I haven't had this much fun ever since the time of the Cold War."
Just then a section of grating fell down from the roof with a loud, resounding bang. Along with it came down another creature Umbrella had dubbed as a V-ACT. The monster lashed out with its claws at first, which the hardened war veteran and assassin backstepped easily. The V-ACT then reared it head back with its mouth hung agape and its tongue sticking out of its mouth like a snake. Knowing too well what the V-ACT:s were capable of, Harris quickly drew his Sig PRO handgun and quickly fired numerous shots in the monster's face, making it bring its head back down as it hissed from the pain.
"Adios bitch!" Littman shouted and with one hand fired a close buckshot right into the creature's face, resulting in another bloody burst of flesh and brain matter. The sight brought a sadistic grin onto the ex-government assassin's face. Despite his current foes not crying out or screaming in pain, it was adequate enough for him. The beheaded corpse convulsed uncontrollably as blood continued to spurt from its neck. The gruesome sight made Littman cackle insanely. "Yea! Die bitch, die!"
-
The three survivors continued their tread down the eerie halls of the research facility. Ricky like usual took the lead with his shotgun held at waist level. Taking the middle was Helene, who was not as capable in handling a tough situation. Josh took the rear so he could once in a while glance if anything was following them and alert Ricky. Their number one priority over finding the Genome embryo was ensuring each others' survival and wellbeing.
"I know I should feel grateful that we haven't run into anything and all…" Josh spoke breaking the silence. "But doesn't this make you feel anxious?"
Helene glanced back at Josh, "Yes. Now that you mention it…" She replied.
Before Helene could finish, a loud sound of glass breaking interrupted her. Unexpectedly before them stood another Hunter in the midst of a mess of glass shards. Ricky in the front was quick to react and fired a buckshot at the reptilian monstrosity, the force knocking it off its skinny feet. Before the young mercenary could pump his shotgun another Hunter of the same variant leaped from what used to be a window. The reptile shrieked aggressively and lashed out with its razor-sharp claws, catching the dumbfounded mercenary off guard.
"Agh!" Ricky yelled as the creature's claws made contact with his chest, going through his Kevlar vest.
"Shit!" Josh gasped rushing in front and opening fire on the Hunter, the 9mm bullets tearing through its flesh with relative ease. The creature fell back, landing on its back and began convulsing until it let out an agonizing death wail before falling limp. "Rick, you okay?!" Josh asked with great concern, seeing the man hold his chest in pain.
"Look out kid!" Ricky hollered.
Josh was taken aback seeing the first Hunter getting back on its feet and leaping right towards him with its clawed arm extended back. Josh recklessly opened fire on the airborne creature and was able to knock it back down, but expending his latest clip in the process.
"Fuck!" He cussed as he grabbed a fresh clip from his belt and slammed it in and reloaded. But before he was able to take aim the Hunter came rushing at him with an ear piercing war cry. But much to his luck a sudden shot rang out, making the Hunter collapse head first into the ground only inches away from Josh's neck. Taking the opportunity, Josh kicked his foot high and brought it down on the Hunter's neck with a powerful axe kick. The reptilian monster's neck didn't even break as it began to attempt at getting back up, but failed when Josh fired an long burst of shots, reducing the creatures head into a bloody heap.
"Are you okay Ricky?" Helene asked kneeling in front of Ricky.
Ricky winced form the burning sensation in his lower chest. Helene looking down noticed three rather long cuts that had gone through Ricky's Kevlar vest, oozing blood slowly, indicating the wound wasn't mortal, but it could develop worse in time.
"Aw man," Josh groaned seeing the damage. "Can you stand buddy?" He asked worriedly.
"Yea, yea don't worry. I'm okay." Ricky replied with a slightly pained tone as he got back up on his feet, but convulsed forward in pain.
"Okay my ass." Josh spat. "We gotta take care of that before it gets infected."
"Seriously, I'm okay." Ricky replied again. "It just stings a little."
"Even so, I agree with Josh." Helene interjected. "We better find a safe place and have a look at that."
"But…"
"No buts!" Josh retorted demandingly.
Ricky sighed in defeat. They might as well look at his wound instead of wasting precious time arguing. "Alright. But we gotta move now before more of those things show up." He spoke, afterwards kneeling down to pick up his dropped shotgun. "By the way, that was an impressive move." He said to Josh impressed.
"Thanks." Josh replied bluntly. "Now let's got going."
The survivors moved on, Ricky demanding to resume his place at the front. Josh in turn took his place at his side. They maneuvered around the Hunter corpses and now had to find a place where they could temporarily stop to look at the small slash wounds Ricky sustained from the Hunter's swipe. Not too far off they came to a door.
"What room is this?" Josh asked glancing at Helene.
Helene dug out her copy of the map and searched for their current position. "It says here; Diagnosis no.1." She read from the map.
"That's good enough for me." Ricky responded and walked in the door's sensor's range. But as the door opened, he was met by three awaiting, starving zombie researchers. "Or not!" He yelped quickly stepping away from the door. The zombies however were smart enough to continue their pursuit and opened the door upon getting close enough to the door's sensor. They outstretched their arms hungrily and began shuffling at the trio of survivors.
"I've got them." Helene shouted as she took aim and immediately dispatched one of the zombies with a perfect headshot. The second zombie, one which hadn't rotted much except from the side of its face, clad in a male Umbrella researcher's outfit quickly followed as if with reflex, Helene shot it dead as well.
Both Josh and Ricky looked at the Oriental girl in surprise. Never before had she been the first to rush into battle in such a manner. The surprise quickly turned to impress.
"I think you've been hanging around Josh a tad too much." Ricky remarked jokingly.
"Thank you for noticing." Helene laughed lightly.
"So… is clean for you?" Josh asked.
"It'll be fine. I'm just going to spray them a little." Ricky replied curtly.
Upon entering the room, they were suddenly shocked. Inside the room stood what looked like a large glass terrarium with something lying inside. They survivors anxiously approached the terrarium. What they saw inside made them all stare at in horror. It was something none of the three would have never wanted to see. The thing that laid within the glass walls looked a lot like a zombie, but it looked slightly different. The distinguishing feature was its blood red skin, as if it had been practically painted in real blood. Also present in this new creature were small, bony claws that seemed to have sprouted through its fingers and toes. That where the distinguishing features ended. The creature had a decayed head and a bony face, revealing soulless, white eyes and bared, blood drenched teeth, just like any zombie the survivors had seen during the outbreak. The more disturbing factor was that this creature wore no clothes…
"Ugh!" Helene groaned loudly in disgust. "That's so gross!!" She exclaimed in terror and disgust.
"What is that thing?!" Josh shouted in utter disgust.
"I for one don't want to know!" Ricky responded shaking his head and turned away from the disgusting sight. "Helene, could you come close enough for me to grab the first-aid spray?" He asked.
Helene kept her back turned to avoid looking at the unknown creature behind them and stepped backwards toward Ricky. The mercenary opened her backpack's side-bag from where he took out the can of Umbrella-brand first-aid spray. He then shed off his Kevlar vest and undid the top four buttons on his shirt which miraculously weren't hit and broken off. He violently shook the can and sprayed the green, cold substance over the slashes, causing him to wince slightly from the stinging sensation. After that he simply buttoned up his slightly torn shirt and put his vest back on.
"Appreciate it." He said and placed the can back into the backpack.
"No problem." Helene replied.
"Feeling better?" Josh asked leaning onto the wall with his arms hanging down limply and one foot touching the wall.
"Yea." Ricky replied with a nod. "It stings a little, but I'll be fine. Now let's get…" He then abruptly paused for an unknown reason.
This elicited a confused look from Josh who stood up back straight again. "Hey, Ricky?" He spoke. "You okay?"
Ricky could hear Josh perfectly, but ignored him, for his ears picked up something of more concern.
"Hellooo?" Josh spoke waving his hand in front of Ricky's face. "Earth to Ricky."
Ricky suddenly hushed sharply. "You hear that?" He whispered.
"Hear what?" Helene asked in equal confusion as Josh.
"Quiet!" Ricky ordered quietly and shot his hand up. "Listen…"
The two younger survivors piped down suddenly. At first neither of them could make out anything. First of the two to notice something wrong was Josh whose ears picked up something. They sounded like heavy, repeating thumps, like heavy footsteps. He began to feel very uneasy, the situation reminding him of a movie he once saw titled Jurassic Park. He clearly remembered when the main characters were in the radio controlled safari vans, which stopped because of a porky hacker's interference. It then got dark and it began to rain heavily, followed by similar thundering footsteps, which revealed to be courtesy of a T-rex. Now he was hearing something so similar and also equally dreadful…
"Ricky…" He whispered fearfully. "I hear it too…"
"Stay quiet and don't make any sudden moves." Ricky instructed strictly, but as quietly as possible.
Now Helene was able to hear it by halting her breathing. Through every passing second the thumps grew louder and more threatening. The survivors did their best to keep their cool and not loose their composure. Whatever made the thundering footsteps had to be large. The survivors began to feel well aware what the footsteps belonged to.
"The Tyrant…" Ricky thought, beginning to feel dread. If the creature knew they were in the room, they would be in big trouble. The Tyrant had already shown its brutality through pummeling a platoon of fully trained sweepers and a pair of Hunters.
Josh had begun to sweat from anxiety. The creature was almost at the door now, its footsteps being loud and clear and if they'd make any sudden noise, it would surely be on them in no time. He began to wonder if it was the end for him. He hated to think of dying in a place so terrifying and malicious. Would he ever see his family and friends again? Would he ever hear another attempted enticement from Amy Tolstoy? Would he be able to fulfill an important promise to one standing in the same room with him frozen in fear? It was probably his time to find out…
Just then the steps stopped. Everyone held their breaths in anticipation. Josh slowly adjusted his grip on his sub-machinegun while Ricky did the same with his shotgun, ready for anything that would bust in on them. It became completely quiet, only the hum of the ventilation system being once again the only source of sound.
"C'mon, show yourself ugly…" Josh mentally dared with his teeth clenched tightly together.
The silence continued. The survivors hadn't dare to even move, even their breathing was slowed enough for it to become soundless. What was the creature waiting for? Was it already aware of the survivors' position? Was it toying with them to make them go crazy over waiting?
"Great, now we're stuck here with a monster outside the door…" Ricky thought angrily. "What the fuck is it up to?"
All of a sudden a loud bang emanated from the door, a huge dent rising from it instantly, startling the survivors enough for Josh and Helene to yell in terror. The electrical door let out sparks as it slowly began to rise, but stopped after opening only a foot high, revealing a pair of large black boots from underneath.
"Oh, crap…" Ricky murmured.
Then a loud crash followed, the wall left from the door came crumbling down. Another crash followed and more debris came flying out. With a final slam, the wall was knocked down, raising a considerable amount of dust. Through the dust stepped forth the very creature they saw back on the upper level, but now there was nothing standing between it and the survivors. It stared down on them with it's glazed over eyes, casting a soulless gaze upon everything.
Helene finally snapped under the pressure. She let out a terrified scream upon seeing the brute. This elicited the brute to slowly plod towards the terrified survivors.
"Shit!" Ricky cussed. "Fire! Fire!" He hollered as he fired the first buckshot into the creature's chest, but the shots didn't even faze it. It simply carried on with its approach.
Josh made his own attempt and fired a stream of hot lead at the Tyrant's chest, getting the same results as Ricky. The monster now decided which of the three to target and headed right for Josh with its pace quickening.
"Fuck." Josh whined fearfully.
The monster was now in striking range and brought both of its arms up and bent its body slightly backwards. Josh could foresee the attack, identified as a haymaker and leapt backwards. The Tyrant brought down its arms with tremendous force behind them, but all it resulted in was a plain 'whoosh' of air. That sound indicated that a single haymaker from the creature resulted in certain death.
"Hey, over here ugly!" Ricky hollered to the Tyrant and aimed upwards at its head. The following blast resulted in the Tyrant slightly staggering to the side. The Tyrant in turn switched its attention to Ricky and retaliated with a backhand, which Ricky just barely managed to dodge. "Get going!" He yelled demandingly to Josh and Helene.
"What?!" Josh exclaimed.
"You heard me! Run!" Ricky ordered strictly while getting some distance away from the Tyrant which now continued to approach him.
"Not on your life man!" Josh retorted. "I'm not leaving you to die!"
"Shut it kid! Just get outta here!" Ricky shouted over the thundering crack of his next shotgun blast that was aimed directly into the Tyrant's face. "Save yourselves!" Ricky staggered quickly over to the gaping hole the Tyrant had made in the wall while the Tyrant covered its pale face with a gloved hand. He was planning on getting the Tyrant to pursue him outside into the hallway so Josh and Helene could make their escape.
"Ricky!" Josh shouted in fear for his friend's life. Throwing down his MP5, Josh then drew his recently acquired Colt Python. Without any second thoughts for his own wellbeing, he aimed for the back of the Tyrant's skull and squeezed off a round, catching the Tyrant exactly where he was aiming, but getting taken aback by the gun's massive recoil.
The Tyrant staggered forward with its head held up high. Blood began oozing from the bullet wound, but it appeared as if the wound meant almost nothing to it. The hulking behemoth turned its attention back to Josh and began approaching him again with an even quicker pace.
"What the fuck are you doing kid?!" Ricky snapped sharply. "It'll kill ya!"
"I know! If it can catch me!" Josh retorted while stepping backwards away from his adversary. "C'mon ugly, I'm right here…" He taunted in order to hide his fear and uphold his composure.
The Tyrant then lashed out with a simple punch from the side, which Josh was able to sidestep. The teen then quickly circled around the Tyrant and fired another shot in its head, making the monster cover its head in pain. Josh could now assume that the Tyrant's only seemingly weak point was the head since neither Ricky's shotgun or his own MP5 could do any type of damage when they fired at its chest.
"Kid, don't play hero! Just listen to me and run!" Ricky demanded while firing another blast at the Tyrant's head himself, getting the same result again.
"No! We're leaving this place together no matter what!" Josh declared firmly.
The Tyrant grunted after taking another shot in the head from Josh's Colt Python. It looked down emotionlessly at the teenager and unexpectedly practically rushed at him and tackled him into the ground forcefully. The teen winced from his bruises doubling the pain in his back and elbows before looking up in terror as the Tyrant brought its foot up to smash him. Before the monster could crush its target, it was bombarded by several shots to the side of its cranium by Ricky's SOCOM, diverting its attention slightly to him. Josh took his given opportunity to roll out from under the monster's boot clad foot.
"That thing's not dying!" Josh shouted in disbelief, having shot the creature three times in the head with one of the most powerful firearms in existence, seeing the monster almost shrug them off.
"Well pointed out kid!" Ricky retorted sarcastically. "That thing's gotta be one of Umbrella's most powerful monsters yet!" He hastily un-strapped his assault rifle and strapped his shotgun around his waist. "Just listen and run!" He demanded in vain, aware of Josh's stubbornness.
Helene couldn't do anything but stand stiff with her back against the wall while looking at the battle between her companions and the huge monster. She was now completely helpless and vulnerable, not having any courage to shoot at the creature, afraid of her awaiting demise that was sure to come claim her if the monster couldn't be stopped. he breathed uncontrollably and trembled throughout the gunfire, inhuman grunts and arguments between Josh and Ricky. They were at the monster's mercy, their weapons doing from little to almost no damage. She urged to look towards the hole made in the wall by the Tyrant, their only escape path, but the Tyrant would undoubtedly pursue them even if they fled. But they had to do something or they would never catch her father's murderer.
"Father…" Helene thought in grief. She had to fulfill the promise she had made to her father with Josh and Ricky. If she were to die, she would fail him…
"Die you son of a bitch!" Josh hollered furiously as he squeezed off two more rounds at the Tyrant before his gun ran dry. He then had to duck and roll away from a right uppercut launched at him.
Ricky took distance from the Tyrant and let loose a rapid-fire flurry of hot lead aimed at the inhuman brute. The bullets tore away at its leather jacket, but the bullets had little effect, except making the monster forcefully bend forward. The monster shrugged it off just as it had from almost all the attacks it had sustained and continued pursuing Josh who had been given enough time for reloading his magnum. As Josh began to take distance form the Tyrant, it quickly brought up its foot and kicked Josh forcefully in the rear, making the youth stagger forward uncontrollably and fall prostrated to the floor.
"Josh!" Ricky gasped in terror as the Tyrant lifted the teenager by the back of his head. The teen yelled in pain from the pressure applied to his cranium, kicking wildly. Ricky had to act fast before the Tyrant would do something to end Josh's life for good. The mercenary unsheathed his large combat knife and charged at the behemoth. He lunged at the monster and drove the shiny blade right into the monster's right eye, instantly making the monster drop Josh and stagger backwards in pain with purplish ooze gushing from its eye-socket.
"Josh, you alright?!" Ricky asked whilst observing for any signs of blood.
"Y-yea…" Josh stuttered rubbing his head. "How did you…?"
Before Josh could fully comprehend what had happened, the enraged Tyrant took hold of the knife lodged in its eye and yanked it out, causing more purplish ooze to spurt until a sickening tear of flesh sounded and its eye was immediately replaced by a new one. Josh and Ricky could only stare in disbelief as the Tyrant tossed the knife aside and began rushing at them.
"Scatter!" Josh exclaimed as he leapt up and ran to the side with Ricky doing the same in the opposite direction, causing the Tyrant to look and decide which one to go after.
The Tyrant shifted its gaze at Josh and once again chose him as its intended target. The monster began to approach him, but Josh was now ready for it. Having taken aim at its head before it began its approach; Josh fired a shot that connected with the Tyrant's brand-new regenerated eye. The monster covered its eye in pain, giving Josh a chance to slip by through its blind-spot. But the Tyrant wasn't going to give up despite having a severely injured eye. It punched out recklessly with its right arm, catching Josh in the chest and made him slam into the wall.
"Josh! You alright?!" Ricky called out in concern. That's when he realized they were one person short. "Where's Helene?!" He gasped, seeing only her Steyr AUG on the floor.
Josh growled in pain as he too noticed Helene's absence. But he couldn't focus on it for too long as the Tyrant's eye seemed to regenerate again, judging from the increased spurting of its purplish blood and sick tearing of flesh. The Tyrant began its retaliation and charged at Josh with a shoulder tackle. Josh had enough time to jump out of the way, lading painfully on his own arm, which was now bruised in several places besides the bandaged part of his arm. The Tyrant struck nothing but the wall, denting it severely to prove even more how powerful it was. As payback for his injured friend, Ricky trained his assault rifle while the Tyrant was recovering from its last attack, but he was taken aback by a sudden explosion that covered the monster's chest for a split second. A projectile came flying at the monster and exploded on impact, making the Tyrant stagger yet again. That was followed by the sounds of reloading.
"Helene?!" Ricky gasped in amazement, seeing the Oriental girl wielding an M79 grenade launcher, probably the same one they found back at the surveillance room. The girl swiftly fastened another round into the gun and closed it, taking aim at the Tyrant again.
Josh couldn't believe the event unfolding before his eyes. Though not experienced with almost any weaponry, Helene was utilizing a powerful grenade launcher against the Tyrant with such skill as if she'd been doing it before in her life. The sight encouraged Josh to stand up and stand flank next to Helene. squeezing off another round from his magnum, catching the still recovering Tyrant in the forehead. Ricky also moved my the situation trained his M4A1 and fired what was left of his current clip before reloading. Helene launched her third explosive round from her launcher, striking the Tyrant point-blank in the face, charring it black in an instant and forced the Tyrant into bumping onto the wall behind it. The survivors were not going to let the chance slip by and continued bombarding the behemoth with all they had with a cacophony of explosions, thundering bangs and rapid-fire. After firing at the monster nonstop for over ten seconds, it finally fell prostrated to the ground, battered and charred with its once shiny jacket scorched and smoldering.
The survivors could finally lay down their arms. They stared at the smoldering remains of the mighty Tyrant in awe at what they had just achieved. Ricky and Josh finally hollered in victory and gave each other a high-five.
"Yea!" Ricky cheered to his heart's content. "Oh thank you Lord Almighty! Yes!" He shouted to the heavens with his hands held high.
"Helene…" Josh looked at Helene dumbstruck. "D-did you just do that?" He stuttered in disbelief. Never did he imagine Helene of all people to save both him and Ricky form such a dire situation, let alone handle a weapon as powerful as a grenade launcher. "Christ that was awesome!" He shouted emphatically.
Helene looked up at Josh, not seemingly as overjoyed compared to him. She looked back down at the weapon she just instinctively retrieved in her state of fear. Next thing she knew, she was back in the room where chaos had ensued and took down the brutal Tyrant without any experience with her new weapon. She couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. It could have been her ambition of rescuing her two friends, especially Josh since now he was the only person she could ever get close to.
Helene shut her eyes in thought. A small smile formed on her face and opened them, looking Josh straight in his blue eyes. "I guess drastic times call for drastic measures." She grinned innocently. Her current expression made her look rather adorable in Josh's opinion.
"Or you've seriously been around me too much." Josh remarked with a hearty laugh. This elicited a few giggles from Helene, who still held onto the grenade launcher almost unknowingly.
"Yea, what a way to go 'Mrs. Ellington'." Ricky complimented from the side, making Josh cringe in embarrassment.
"Oh shut up!" Josh retorted. "Besides, we still gotta go catch the guy who murdered Dr. Nayami!" He added grimly.
Ricky suddenly put his mind on their task at hand. "Good point." He replied in a more solemn manner. "Let's move on." He said and began walking out of the room, signaling Josh and Helene to follow.
-
Littman finally found his way to what used to be Dr. Igor Stepanovitch's workroom. The room's interior had a white coloration and looked much like an office. Adjacent to the heavy metallic door were two file shelves and at the back was a table that had been bolted to the wall that reached all the way from the left side of the room to the right. Placed in the middle was Stepanovitch's laptop which according to Harris' superiors contained valuable information on the facility and Stepanovitch's personal research. Also present on the long table were many piles of papers. The information contained within the laptop and the reports were without doubt vital for the completion of his given assignment as a Supervisor.
"Let's just see what you've been keeping here Stepanovitch." Harris mused as he approached the laptop. At first the room felt devoid of any possible dangers, but upon taking a few steps, Harris Littman heard that all too familiar groan.
Quickly turning to the side, Littman saw a hunched being that once used to be Dr. Igor Vladim Stepanovitch. What remained of the doctor was now his rotting cadaver that had been brought back from the dead by the very same virus infesting the entire city aboveground. His skin had turned a sickly pale-grey and lacked the large spectacles he was portrayed with in a photo shown to Harris before being dispatched. Overall, not much had changed about him in addition to his skin, his head remained bald, but it didn't shine in the strong lighting of the workstation like it had before. The zombiefied doctor looked up at Littman with his soulless glazed eyes. What happened next was very usual for any T-virus affected human, Stepanovitch opened his mouth and with a guttural moan lunged at Harris, but the hardened assassin was too quick and fired a single shotgun blast, the force sending the walking cadaver slamming into the wall behind it and slumping down and finally falling on its side.
"Pathetic." Harris scoffed looking down at the remains of the head of the facility. "You were a prick already, so no need to go overdoing it." He quipped lowering his shotgun. He turned his attention back to the laptop, "Now let's see what kinda goods you got waiting for me." He mused stepping over to it and accessing it. Much to his annoyance, the computer denied his access due to its highly sophisticated security system. "Hmm, a minor setback…" Littman thought and took out from his sidepack a small device the size of a TV-remote. The supervisor yanked from it a cord and linked the device into Stepanovitch's laptop. He then pressed some buttons on the device. In a matter of seconds the laptop's security system was bypassed and before Littman opened all of Stepanovitch's personal files. The most fascinating one was the one titled 'Project Genome'. "Very interesting…" Littman mused as he opened the file and found all the detailed information and procedures regarding the creation of his intended target.
"C'mon, where're you keeping it?" Littman mused scrolling down on the file, ignoring the disgusting photos of the embryo and the test subject used in the project. After scrolling down Stepanovitch's own personal views of the project, he came out with nothing of use to him. "Dammit!" Littman growled slamming his fist on the table furiously. He then looked down on the various written reports scattered across the table. "Don't think you can hide the embryo from me Stepano-bitch!" He quipped angrily as he began scanning through the reports with intent.
Little did Littman know of the key that had fallen out of Dr. Stepanovitch's pocket upon taking impact on the wall. It was a circular key very small in size, only a few inches. He was also fully unaware that a person present in the facility along with him carried one exactly the same as this particular key…
-
The three Raccoon City survivors continued with their pursuit of Dr. Nayami's murderer. They walked in a quickened pace to not waste too much time loitering in the narrow halls of the facility. They knew their mission and were intent in fulfilling it no matter what the odds. They had been trapped like scared little mice with the predators closing in, but they retained the courage to fight on, for their lives, for their futures and for each other. They didn't know what was awaiting them when they reached the deepest confines of the facility, but they were ready for it.
"The elevators should be close-by now…" Ricky informed looking at the map with his SPAS-12 held by its frame in his other hand. "Remember. We're going down where this cold blooded killer is, so keep your eyes peeled. He'll shoot you without warning for all we know." He explained as strictly as he could. "Our lives are now on the line."
"Tell us something we don't know…" Josh mused quietly, tightly clasping his MP5. He had gone from the hellish aboveground Raccoon City all the way down to one of Umbrella's secret facilities dedicated to the varied usage of the very virus that destroyed the once peaceful mountain community. Despite feeling dismayed and terrified of all he had seen in his short time in the city limits, he was intent on surviving this nightmare and getting back home no matter what he'd come across. He was accompanied by two good people who wanted to do the same for each other and for themselves. "But what scares me more is not some man clad in combat gear. It's the other thing…" He thought, remembering what abomination was contained deep inside the facility.
-
It finally opened its eyes. After what felt like an eternity in darkness, it was able to see for the first time in its new existence. Its vision however was blurred through the somewhat-watery liquid it was surrounded by. All it could hear was the humming of the machinery around it and its deep breathing through a black breathing mask strapped over its face. It was getting impatient. It wanted out, to freedom. To freedom where it could begin its new life bent on massacre and destruction. It stiffened its muscles in its arms, but still felt too weak to break out into the world around it. It needed time, but its patience was growing thin…
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A/N: Well, that's another keeper. I hurried it as fast as I could, but still made sure about the quality of my vocabulary and the plot. Now we'll see how the three survivors make it down to pursue Littman who has unknowingly stumbled across something seemingly important. What do you all think it is? Sorry, but that's going to have to be revealed in the later chapters.
Interesting fact: This chapter's title was made up from the song title: "Would You Love a Monsterman?", a song written and sung by the Finnish hardrock/heavymetal group Lordi.
Chapter 25, woo! This is already the longest story I've written in my young, confusing life, but I assure you it's still far from over. This story will be at least thirty or so chapters long, so don't think I'm closing the curtains yet. There's still many answers to solve and much bloodshed to come. This has got to be one of my most action packed chapters, I hope it was intense enough for ya'll. Look out for chapter 26. And remember, the nightmare's far from over…