Code Veronica: Resident Evil IIIS
Chapter Thirty Five: The Island Burns
Once he had been warned about the outbreak across the island, Chris had expected to fight off monsters like the ones he had dealt with at the Spencer Estate, or the ones he had received reports about from the Raccoon City outbreak. However, as he and the stranger, who finally introduced himself as Captain Rodrigo Raval of Umbrella's security forces there, exited the building and passed the guard tower to leave the detention center, there was just… nothing.
There were bodies, to be sure; the road was littered with both infected and normal people, Umbrella, prisoners, and whoever the hell HCF was alike, but apparently the former STARS member was too late for the battle. A few weapons had been dropped amongst the carnage, so Chris picked up an automatic rifle and put the sling over one arm so that he could fire it one handed if needed, while helping Rodrigo walk… and that was when he noticed that all of the infected people had been shot in the head… as were the normal ones.
"Whoever these HCF people are, they've got experience with zombies." He explained as they continued down the road. "Destroying the brain is really the only way to kill them so that they stay dead… I really hope Claire got out before this outbreak happened."
"The dead started rising just before the planes began taking off." The Captain explained, groaning a little when they had to step slightly upward over a speed bump. "I haven't seen Alfred Ashford, the Commander here, or his personal guard since the attack started, so I gotta assume he took off too."
Wow, what a great man to work for, Chris thought as he looked around at the other buildings. Just takes off at the first sign of trouble, and leaves all his men to fend for themselves… heh, at least Albert Wesker had stayed at the Spencer Estate with everyone else from STARS until the end. Of course, there really wasn't a lot to worry about saving on this island, since the fires were spreading to the point where a lot of the buildings were already engulfed, including ones that Rodrigo identified as the administration building and some kind of training center.
"Sir Alfred's a spoiled, entitled little prick." The Captain continued. "His family basically ran Umbrella for a couple generations, but this weirdo isn't even qualified to run a backwater junk-heap like this place."
It was a long and uneventful walk to the airfield, so the former STARS member had plenty of time to listen to everything Rodrigo knew about the people who had kidnapped his sister… and the more he heard about this Alfred Ashford character, the more Chris hated his guts. Apparently his grandfather had been a top-notch scientist who founded Umbrella along with someone referred to as Old Man Spencer, but Alfred's father was a tool who disgraced the family… somehow, and the currently absent Commander of Rockfort Island was just about the weirdest guy one could meet.
"I guess everyone expected Alexia Ashford, Alfred's, uh, sister, to take over everything." The Captain explained as they passed the burning training complex. "I heard she's a beautiful girl with an IQ of 500 or something like that, but according to Alfred she became a total recluse, and no one's seen her in years."
"I'd hide too, if my family was a bunch of Umbrella sickos." The former STARS member replied. "But if this girl wants to hide, then let her; all I care about is getting my sister back."
Still unobstructed all the way up to the point of passing through the destroyed gate to the airfield, Chris could tell that there were still people on the island, since a small number of planes were parked near the runway with their engines idling, as if ready to make a quick escape if needed. The good news was that the control tower was on the opposite side of the field from where the aircraft and people were… but then Rodrigo stopped moving suddenly upon spotting another body lying on the pavement.
A prisoner, based on the torn up orange jumpsuit and collar she was wearing, the Captain seemed to recognize this deceased blonde woman, and… instead of being shot in the head like the others, her front torso had been nearly ripped to shreds by what looked like a really long blade, or… or maybe claws. She hadn't turned into a zombie, so there was no need to waste a bullet or call attention to themselves with a gunshot, but Rodrigo just kept standing there even when Chris urged him to move.
"This is… was Elza Walker." The Captain said, sniffling as if saddened by the sight. "She and Claire were cellmates, she… Elza took your sister under her wing, and was looking after her so that…
"And now she's dead because of Umbrella and their goons." The former STARS member interrupted, his tone grim while squeezing Rodrigo's arm to the point of pain. "I'm a man of my word, and I'll keep our deal, but I swear to God damn Christ… if I find my sister dead in this hellhole, I'll… I'll invent new ways to cause you pain."
His patience officially lost for anyone who worked for the company, Chris pulled the Captain away from the body so that they could continue on toward the control tower. That boot he had given Rodrigo to the chest back at the detention facility had partially reopened his stomach wound, and as much as he wanted to either leave the Umbrella shithead to his fate of shoot him right there… the former STARS member was still willing to help him get into the tower's first floor so that he could get a first aid kit or whatever was there.
"I know I did bad… and I didn't deserve Claire's help." The Captain said when they were almost there. "Just like I don't deserve yours, but… I'll still thank you for it like I did her… your sister's an angel, Chris… she really is."
Chris didn't reply, instead just taking a deep breath to try and swallow his anger toward this person and everyone like him, and then pushing open the door to the airfield's control tower. Except for a couple people in riot armor, two of them having been violently gunned down while the third had been executed by a single bullet to the head while his hands were zip-tied behind his back, the whole place was deserted. The gunfire that killed the first two soldiers had really done a number on the place; peppering the concrete walls, shattering a couple windows, and destroying the coffee maker… but the first aid kit on the wall looked intact, so this was where he and Rodrigo parted ways.
"Thank you, Chris." The Captain said as he sat on a plastic chair in reach of the kit. "I really hope you find your sister."
Again, the former STARS member didn't respond, instead just heading right for the stairs at the far end of the room, and then walking up to the second floor. All of the computers and communication screens were dark, not that he really knew how to use Umbrella's system… or really any computer system for that matter… but still, how hard could it be to find the most recent flight takeoff logs? Yeah… piece of cake… just gotta find the power switch, and… and where in the God damn hell was the power switch?
Oh yeah, Chris thought as he searched high and low around the room, he was off to a great start to tracking down his sister, if he couldn't even figure out how to turn the airfield's computer systems on. There was power to the building, since the lights above him were on, at least the ones that weren't broken, so he kept looking around with no further progress, until out of desperation the former STARS member just started flipping all of the switches on the wall that he could find.
Lights went on and off, as did something that sounded like the building's heating and cooling system, and then finally the very last switch, which was a lot harder to move, brought the whole place to life with a hard click. In unison, all of the computers and monitors in the large, open room began beeping and humming, activating familiar systems like the facility's radar and weather forecasting systems… but also a lot of other ones that just looked like a bunch of random letters and numbers on the screens.
With a little bit of patience, Chris was able to figure out a few of the screens, such as how many planes were lined up for runway access, and what the air traffic was like in the air currently, but nothing about the course data from flights that had left out in the past twenty four hours or so. For a moment there was a glimmer of hope when he thought about checking the paper copies of the tower's logs, but then he remembered that this wasn't an option, because there had to be people working in there to print it off.
"Sure, Chris, you can track a nineteen year old American college student halfway around the world." He grumbled to himself, leaning on one of the cabinets. "Yeah, no sweat… Jesus, I can't believe I'm saying this… but I wish Tobias Liquid was here."
The former STARS member hated Tobias, hated him since the day they met, but if anyone could have hunted down Claire Redfield with almost nothing to go on, it would have been him. Damn it, all these computers and systems were getting him nowhere, and his sister was in more and more danger with each passing second, so what in the purple fuck was he supposed to do?! Wham! Kicking one of the data cabinets, Chris jumped when the largest monitor screen in the room suddenly came to life, nothing but static at first, but then slowly focusing into the image of a woman who appeared to be trying to… maybe fix the screen on her end?
She continued to adjust something that was just above her screen, apparently not realizing that her image was coming through yet, but man… this woman was hot. Long blonde hair, green eyes, slender build… and a great view of her cleavage in the cute purple dress that she was wearing… but then she gasped, visibly startled by seeing him through the screen on her end, before… her eyes took a moment to look him up and down.
"Hi there." Chris said, taking a good look at her as well before waving. "Does this have audio, too? Can you hear me? Hey, sweetheart, hello?"
"Uh, yes… hi." She answered, starting to crack a nervous smile, but then clearing her throat. "Er, sorry, I've forgotten myself… ahem… pleased to meet you, my name is Lady Alexia Ashford, and… oh God, please tell me you're Claire's brother."