Code Veronica: Resident Evil IIIS
Chapter Twenty Six: Ashford Base
Claire already knew that Umbrella's goons didn't play around when it came to how they treated their prisoners, so it came as no surprise when Sir Alfred's soldiers tossed her and Steve down into the snow just to see them shiver. Focusing on the young man first, the armed men ordered him to crawl toward the building where the plane had crashed, kicking him when he didn't move fast enough, or stomping him down if he tried to raise himself up too high. As for the young woman, she no longer had the ability to crawl on her own, or any other kind of movement, really, so Steve was forced to crawl back to the tower and then carry her.
"This bitch is nothing but dead weight." One of them said through their mask. "Why can't we just waste her now and be done with it?"
"Because Sir Alfred said to bring her in alive, that's why." Another replied. "Not that she's gonna live very long by the look of her, though."
Struggling just to stay awake now as the young man carried her across the snow, Claire was starting to have a bit of trouble breathing, taking in each breath with the same labor as if she had just ran up a flight of stairs. It came as a small relief when the two of them were finally able to enter the larger building through a door that had been around the other side from where the plane crashed, but the young woman wasn't ashamed to admit that she was scared. Whether from her worsening condition or whatever Alfred Ashford had planned for them, she didn't want to die, but what could she do about… well, anything now?
Not only was the building shielding them from the wind upon entry, but unlike the freezing control tower, the interior of this place was actually kind of warm. Small waves of heat were pumping out of a furnace vent in the ceiling when Steve carried her underneath it, and all of the industrial, open-cage light fixtures were on, as if someone had spent at least a day or two trying to get this old place operational. Had the base Commander ordered his men to retreat here during the attack on Rockfort Island? Was this the coward's sanctuary now that everything was lost to the HCF?
After heading down a flight of stairs, the narrow hallway opened up into a vast, open chamber that looked almost like a factory. Metal assembly lines weaved throughout the room like snakes, passing underneath large, silent machines that looked like they hadn't been used in more than a decade, while white hardhats were scattered along the floor alongside of wrenches and other tools as if this place had once been evacuated in a hurry for some reason.
The walls, floor, and ceiling were made of concrete, with no windows built into the walls, probably since the glass would have probably just frozen and shattered… but then how was the window in that control tower possible? More Umbrella soldiers we removing around the factory, some pulling open doors to check for hidden threats, while others worked to get the rest of the lights working, and then there was another set of stairs at the far end, which Steve was made to carry Claire upward to another door.
Knocking on the door before opening it, and waiting until a familiar voice gave them permission to enter, the soldier in front turned the knob to reveal what looked like the office of the factory's foreman. Like any manager's office, it contained a large window that overlooked the lower level, as well as some filing cabinets, a big wooden desk, and a couple chairs… the largest of which Sir Alfred was sitting down on as he glared at the two prisoners from behind the desk. Like the armed men, the Commander was wearing snow gear, and his bolt action rifle was leaning on the wall just behind him.
"Ah, my two favorite prisoners." Sir Alfred said, motioning for them to come forward. "Welcome to Ashford Base… you won't find this place quite as easy to escape."
"You think getting off Rockfort Island was easy?" Steve quickly replied, trying not to show how frightened he was. "How did you get here before us, anyway? We left before you."
In response to this question, the Commander simply replied that his private jet was a lot faster than the clunky old cargo plane that the young man had stolen… and then he ordered his men to handcuff Steve to one of the chairs before bringing Claire over to him. The young man tried to fight them off, of course, but only got beat up for his trouble, and soon the soldiers were handcuffing his wrists to the armrests while the young woman was partially carried around the desk to face Sir Alfred.
"Leave her alone!" The young man yelled, pulling unsuccessfully against the handcuffs. "Alfred, you piece of…
With a simple nod from the Commander, one of the soldiers interrupted Steve's words by picking up an old rag from on top of the filing cabinet, probably once used for dusting, and forcibly shoving it into the young man's mouth. Meanwhile, the other armed men propped up Claire so that she was leaning back on the desk while Sir Alfred stood up to face her. It was hard for the young woman to even keep her head up at this point, so the Commander put his finger up underneath her chin, pressing hard enough to make her look up at him.
"As I said before, quite fetching for an unwashed peasant." He said, looking her over with an annoyed expression on his face. "But this little tart is nothing… I say, nothing compared to Alexia, and yet… and yet my sister is spurned for this trash!?"
Completely red in the face now from anger, Sir Alfred took a moment to hoarsely clear his throat before spitting right into Claire's face, followed by closing his fist and slugging her in the stomach. The soldiers caught her so that she wouldn't fall over, but then they let go once the Commander punched her again, this time in the face, causing her to fall backwards onto the desk before sliding down onto the floor. At the same time, Steve had done his best to leap into action, standing up with the chair and rushing toward Sir Alfred… only to have one of the armed men kick his feet out from under him.
Whump! Unable to catch himself, the young man landed hard on the concrete floor, still trying to get over to Claire by crawling, but this effort was once again stopped by the guards. They laughed at his muffled cries of anger while lifting him up so that he was sitting on the chair once again... but then Steve gasped when he saw Sir Alfred reaching for his rifle. Working the bolt so that the young man could see that there was a bullet in the chamber, the Commander calmly aimed the weapon so that its barrel was aimed in the young woman's face… smirking when the young man started shaking his head frantically while screaming into the rag.
"Oh Steve, your concern for her is so touching." Sir Alfred said, suddenly using the female voice he had spoken in while wearing his sister's clothes. "I'll admit, I've always been a romantic at heart, so… why don't we make this interesting, hmm? If you really want this lovely little gutter-snipe so badly, then I say we give him the chance to fight for her… to the death."
"What a delicious idea, Alexia, you always were the brains of the family." The Commander continued, now back in his normal voice. "So how about it, Steve? Are you willing to face certain death for Claire?"
During this brief exchange, the soldiers just looked at each other and shrugged, clearly confused by Sir Alfred's changing voices. One of them looked like he was about to say something, but another one quickly shook his head while gesturing for him to just keep his mouth shut. Claire, meanwhile, was taking in a series of labored, rapid breaths while looking up into the barrel of the rifle while everyone waited to hear what the young man was going to say once the rag was pulled from his mouth.
"You're damn right I'll risk it!" Steve yelled as soon as he was able. "You think I'm scared to fight you, Alfred? I watched you get beat up by a girl in your own house, so let me loose, and I'll shove that rifle so far up your ass that the barrel touches the back of your teeth!"
The soldiers scoffed at these remarks as if they were confident in their Commander's chances of success, but Sir Alfred started laughing while moving the rifle away from Claire. This laughter got louder and more hysterical until all of the armed men around them were doing a forced, unsure version of the laughter too, only to instantly stop and jump a little when the Commander turned the weapon upward and fired a shot into the ceiling.
"No, no, silly boy, you won't be fighting my brother." Sir Alfred laughed in the female voice. "Let me clue you in on a little Ashford Family secret; this isn't just another Umbrella research base, it's a holding pen for some of my, well… less successful experiments."
"Nonsense, Alexia, all of your experiments are glorious." The Commander continued in his own voice. "But there's only one of them who is fit to represent our noble family in a contest of honor… guards, bring them… we're going down into the pit."
Claire didn't like the sound of that, and from what the soldiers were quietly muttering to each other as they picked her and Steve up, they weren't too crazy about it either. This fear didn't stop them from dragging the two prisoners back out of the office and down into the factory, though, and they hadn't even bothered to remove Steve's handcuffs, forcing him to walk while bent forward with the chair still on his back. Two of the armed men held the young woman's arms, pulling her along so that her feet dragged along the floor, but thankfully there was an elevator toward the east side of the factory floor.
"This is your last chance, Steve." Sir Alfred said in the female voice after pushing the call button. "If you value your life, I suggest that you choose to be with me; then we can kill Claire, and you and I go back to the way things were."
"No, thank you." The young man replied sharply. "You just wait, you freak… I'm gonna win this fight and rescue Claire… and then I'm gonna kill you."
The Commander just shook his head, sighing with disappointment just as the elevator doors opened, ready to take them down to whatever it was that was waiting in the pit.