Biohazard: Resident Evil VII

Chapter Thirty Seven: Grief and Remorse

"Ethan!" Eveline's voice screamed, followed by more coughing. "You can't hide from me, I'll find you wherever you run!"

Still in shock and almost completely numb after seeing what had happened to Mia, Ethan had a blank look on his face as Zoe pulled him across the grated floor. Somehow he was able to stay on his feet, but if the short-haired woman hadn't been dragging him along by the hand, he probably wouldn't have been able to get away from Eveline. He could still hear the little girl calling after him, but Ethan was only dimly aware of this, as well as barely registering that Zoe had stopped him in order to open a door.

It was a heavy bulkhead like the ones that the two women had used while navigating the stairwell, but apparently the wheel was stuck, since Zoe was pulling on it with all her strength. Part of Ethan was aware that she was struggling, and that this struggle was an attempt to save them both from Eveline… he knew that if the two of them worked together that they could probably break through the rust and get the wheel to turn… but for some reason he just couldn't make himself do it.

Since coming to the Baker estate, Ethan had been through far worse than having to open a door after watching someone die. After all, he had to fight his own wife off after watching her kill Travis with a chainsaw, and also fight off Jack Baker after seeing him kill Deputy Anderson with that shovel… so what was going on? Through all of the other trials, he had known that he was going to find Mia, and that they were going to escape from this hell together… but this time he didn't have that.

"Yes!" Zoe yelled, turning the wheel with a high-pitch scraping sound. "Come on, Ethan, we gotta get outa here!"

Shoving the bulkhead open, and then taking his hand once again, the short-haired woman walked backwards as she pulled him through the passageway, only to gasp when she suddenly vanished from sight. Apparently there was no more grated floor behind her, and since she had still been holding Ethan's hand, he tumbled down as well. The fall wasn't far since they were already on the lowest deck of the ship; both of them getting the wind knocked out of them when they crashed onto the muddy ground, and that was when Ethan realized that they were no longer inside the ship.

The full moon was shining down from the clear night sky, illuminating the bayou enough for Zoe to find her bearings, and they also seemed to have come out on the other side of the wrecked ship, since there was nothing but solid ground ahead of them. The short-haired woman helped him to his feet, and then pulled him along once again, this time moving so fast that Ethan had to struggle to stay on his feet. The fall must've shaken something loose in his mind, since moving on his own was getting easier, and off in the distance he could see some kind of… small building.

Actually, there was more than one… in fact, as they got closer, he was able to see that there were several small buildings; all made of wood, and most having at least partially collapsed. The beam from Zoe's flashlight continued to bounce around as they ran, and once they had reached the first intact building, she let go of him in order to pull the door open. Now that Ethan got a really good look at the place, he saw that all of the wooden structures were gathered around what looked like the mouth of a cave… so what was this place? Some kind of old mining camp?

"We should be safe here a while." Zoe said, pulling him into the shack and closing the door. "I seen Eveline like this a time or two… she was bout' to pass out back there, so we got some hours fore' she thinks bout' comin' after us again."

"Yeah." Ethan agreed quietly, leaning up against the far wall. "We got… time."

As important as he knew that it was to escape from the little girl, he found himself reliving Mia's final moments over and over again in his mind. Watching the whiteness overtake her as her body calcified… watching her explode into powder after holding off Eveline so that he and Zoe could escape… and knowing that she had died because he had struck her in the back of the head with that fire hook.

"She was supposed to heal." Ethan continued, his voice breaking as tears welled up in his eyes. "She was still infected… she was supposed to heal… everyone else healed? Why didn't Mia heal? She was supposed to… she was supposed to…

There were more words, but they devolved into sobbing gibberish as the tears began to run down his cheeks. Suddenly feeling tired and weak, Ethan slowly sunk down until he was sitting on the wooden floor of the shack, wiping his eyes with his arm, but only seeming to make things worse as even more tears came. He was supposed to rescue his wife from all this, but instead… but instead he had killed her himself.

"I'm so sorry bout' Mia, Ethan." Zoe said, walking over and kneeling down in front of him. "I wish there was somethin' I could'a done."

"I killed her, Zoe." He sobbed, burying his face in his hands. "I killed my own wife! I killed Mia… I killed your dad… I killed your mom… and I tried to kill a little girl, twice! What the fuck is wrong with me, Zoe?!"

The short-haired woman immediately began trying to assure him that none of that was his fault. It was Eveline's fault for infecting and controlling everyone, and if was Mia's fault for bringing her there in the first place… but Eveline and Mia hadn't been the ones to give the death blow. Eveline hadn't chopped Jack Baker in half, and Mia hadn't burned Marguerite Baker with kerosene… and neither of them had bashed Mia in the back of the head. Had there been another way? Had there been another choice that he hadn't seen? These thoughts only served to torture him, and now Ethan's face was turning redder each time he relived it.

"No, no, Ethan, no… come here." Zoe continued, sitting on the wall next to him, and putting her arms around his shoulders. "Ethan, there's nothin' wrong with you, and Eveline ain't no little girl, neither. She's a monster, Ethan… she's a monster who destroys people's lives an' families… I watched each time, you know? I saw you fightin' with my mama and my daddy… with Mia, too… you tried to talk'em down… you did everythin' you could, Ethan, but…

The short-haired woman sniffled as a tear ran down her cheek as well, and as more of them came, Ethan suddenly felt like he had been extremely selfish. After all, here was a woman who had just lost both of her parents, and who was in danger of losing her brother if they ran into Lucas again… not that Ethan hadn't suffered, having lost both a friend and his wife… but Zoe had been going through this for three solid years… watching God only knew how many people get tortured and killed at Eveline's whim.

"Ethan, we're… you an' me, I mean… we're all we got." Zoe continued, wiping her eye on her shoulder. "And there's still hope… the old mine you saw comin' in, it… I mean, if we can get through, the other end'll take us to the edge of the property… we can get outa here, Ethan. We're so close to gettin' away… jus' stay strong for me a little longer, okay? I need you, Ethan… I…

Her voice was breaking as well, and now Ethan wasn't sure who was supposed to be comforting who as they sat there holding each other. Not that he minded, since being held by someone, anyone, seemed like a brief respite from all of the terrible things that they had been going through. She was right though… the two of them were all that they had left in the world, and although he had failed to protect both Travis and Mia… there was no way that Ethan was going to lose Zoe as well.

Pulling her a little closer and giving her a kiss on top of the head, there didn't seem to be much else to say, so they just rested there with their heads together. At some point, Ethan must've fallen asleep, since the next time he opened his eyes there was light coming in through the window of the shack. He knew that it wasn't moonlight since it was pink instead of white, meaning that the sun was going to be up soon.

At first this thought relaxed him, since he was comforted by the prospect of a new day… but then his eyes snapped back open as he realized that Eveline had been resting for the same amount of time that they had. According to Zoe, it would take the little girl several hours to recuperate from everything that had happened, but he didn't want to push their luck, so he tried to be gentle as he shook the short-haired woman awake, but was probably a bit rougher than he meant to.

Zoe was startled at first by this sudden awakening, but after looking at the light coming in through the windows, she appeared to have the same revelation about Eveline that he had. So they both scrambled to their feet, with Ethan opening the shack door for them to leave, and he was stunned for a second by how different everything looked in the pink light of a new day. The wrecked ship sat at the end of the muddy field, and beyond that was the bayou… but now for some reason it didn't seem as scary as it had the night before.

"My flashlight should be enough for us to see." The short-haired woman said as they walked around the shack. "But let's jus' hope we can find an old lantern or somethin', cause' this old mine can be dangerous."

From the look of the place as they approached the cave entrance, no one had used the camp of the mine itself in many years, and hopefully that meant that there were no bodies inside for a certain little girl to use as her friends, either. Still, if the other end of the mine ran to the far edge of the Baker's property… did that mean that they once owned it? This didn't really matter now, since the place was clearly out of use, and the dominant thought in Ethan's mind was the hope… the desperate hope that they would get through and escape before Eveline woke up.