Resident Evil: Code Genesis
Disclaimer: For once in a while, I'm writing this for two of the greatest Albert Wesker fans I've met: Wesker's Countess and Madam Wesker of DeviantArt. All three of us wish for a sequel where Wesker returns. Honestly, is it Resident Evil without the guy? He MADE the series. I can accept his death, but I don't have to like it. So, for your reading pleasure, I create a story featuring his utter return. This is for fans, not to be taken too literally.
"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix."
-Christina Baldwin
"Life, death, and rebirth are inevitable."
-Rig Veda
By: VampireQueenAkasha
"Sure I'm not human anymore! But LOOK at the power I've obtained!"
-Wesker, Code Veronica
Chapter Forty-Eight: R'lyeh
Raccoon City, Colorado
"'Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death ... I shall fear no evil ... for Thou art with me ... Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life ... ' because I carry a big ass stick ... and I'm the meanest motherfucker in the goddamn valley. Three big ass monster clowns down, Lord. One bitch to go. Can I get an 'amen'?"
Everyone stared at Beth skeptically after she finished her prayer.
"You had me at 'meanest motherfucker in the valley' ... " Claire murmured, unable to resist the smile on her face regardless.
They were standing over a cliff side that overlooked the once lively city of Raccoon. Now all that it was was a desolate ruin of tipping buildings, shattered windows and broken streets. Plants had started growing through the cracks of the pavement and vines were wrapped around light posts, benches and various other fixtures.
"Son of a bitch ... "
Everyone immediately turned their attention to Chris's direction; he was looking out to the city through a pair of binoculars.
"What is it?" Claire asked.
Chris handed her the binoculars. "Check it out for yourself."
Claire gave him a look before she brought the lenses up to her eyes. Much to her shock, she saw exactly what had caused Chris' distress. There were hundreds - - no literally thousands - - of zombies that crowded through the streets of the city. They bumped lifelessly into one another and stumbled over things that happened to be in their way. Claire slowly lowered the binoculars and her eyes were wide in shock.
"Holy shit ... " she whispered.
After a moment of passing the lenses around for everyone to see, Rose began to notice that everyone slowly came down from their 'high' after seeing what Chris had seen. They were starting to notice that this would become an impossible endeavor. There was no way that they were going to turn back now, not after the things that they had been through together. She and her friends had crossed half of the country to find this guy, risked everything that they had and seen so much death and pain. She wasn't about to let them give up already, not while they were standing here.
"All right, boys and girls," she announced, starting to pace back and forth, "This guy is trying to break our spirit. He thinks that we're going to take one look at that mess and say 'fuck this shit'. We could go ahead and do that. We could turn around, go back the way that we came and spend the rest of our days playing puppet to this son of a bitch. You know what? Who gives a shit? We've fought too hard to get to where we are. We have kids to look after, people to fight for and those numbers are going to keep on dwindling until we have nothing left. We can handle it."
She stopped in her pacing and smiled slyly. "But let me say this: That old man surrounding himself in thousands of zombies tells me something. The guy is scared. Scared of you crazy, gun - wielding maniacs!" She chuckled at a few smiles and nods of agreement from them. "And you know what? He should be. Because I got news for you guys. We're gonna win this thing and we're going to fight until we have no more fight left in us."
Krauser nodded his head once. It seemed to her that he was more than willing to fight to the death. Hell, he lived for this kind of shit. "Hell, I'm game!" he said, "I spent almost a whole month with you shitheads, that's been hell enough. This will be a cakewalk."
There was a chorus of laughter from the others.
"Yeah, love you too, man." Jonas remarked.
Wesker peered his sharp eyes into the distance to an old, derelict building that towered high over the rest; it bore a scratched, cracked Umbrella logo over the rooftops. He knew that was where their enemy was hiding. It was the very center of Umbrella itself; the heart of the beast. "We will head for the Umbrella facility at the center of the city, I have a feeling that is where we will find our enemy."
"How can you be so sure?" Chris sounded doubtful as he often did.
Wesker just smiled thoughtfully. "Trust me, Chris," he answered.
"I have a little difficulty doing that right now ... "
Wesker turned his attention to Rose, ignoring the doubtful murmur from the other man. "So, do we have a plan?" he asked.
Rose observed the old Umbrella tower in the distance, perched over top of a building like a vulture, cupping her hands over her eyes like an Indian. Wesker stood crouched behind her and he glanced down at Chris and the others as they slowly began to make their way deeper into the city. The plan was simple: Wesker and Rose would make a bit of noise, distract the dead while Chris and the others made their way to the tower to disable any security that there was.
"Alright, ready?" Rose said.
Wesker smirked at her once. "Be right behind me." And with that, he jumped gracefully off of the edge.
Rose rolled her eyes at the jibe and grabbed a flagpole before she flipped through the air and landed onto her feet onto the ground below. Once she straightened up, she turned her attention to the undead horde and whistled loudly through her teeth.
Slowly, each and every rotting head turned in their direction at the sound. Wesker and Rose took several small steps back as the zombies began to realize that these two were, in fact, potential prey. The two turned tail and ran into the opposite direction as the zombies lumbered after them.
"So, we'll lead these guys out to the docks!" Rose panted, "Then we'll rendezvous back at the tower!"
Wesker smiled sidelong at her. "Can you keep up?"
"Oh yeah?" Rose teased, grinning right back, "Eat my dust, old man!"
While the two led the crowds of the undead away and out of sight, Chris and the others slowly made their way down the dark, empty remnants of Raccoon City. So far, everything seemed to be in the clear as they ducked behind cars, rubble and corners as a safety precaution to prevent being seen. Krauser glanced across the cracked street to Jonas and Beth who were pressed against an alley corner. He pointed two fingers at his own eyes before he gestured once for them to go ahead.
Jonas acknowledged with a nod of his own and he and Beth quickly moved on ahead. The others followed suit. Leon's eyes wandered toward the building walls and pipes where various vines had shot up and ensnared most of the former civilian territories. There was something particularly strange about these vines. They were yellow in color and the leaves were violet with little red stripes. They were definitely not natural. But then again, nothing in Raccoon City was natural anymore.
"Hey, wait up a second," he said.
Everyone paused and turned to face him.
"Hey, come on," Chris told him, "We can't stay. We have to keep moving."
Leon glanced down the length of a gaping alleyway. There was a low, gentle breeze coming from that general direction, almost like peculiar breathing. His brows knotted suspiciously and he slowly glanced up at the rows of vines as they led into the alleyway. After a brief moment of silence, Claire nudged him in the hips with her elbow. He looked down at her and she gave him a quick indication with her head.
"Leon, come on."
He gave the others a quick glance before he followed behind them as they pressed forward. Something about that alleyway had just bothered him for a moment. Something was out there ... watching them.
"What's up your butt, Kennedy?" Krauser scoffed, interrupting his thoughts, "Don't tell me you're gettin' cold feet all of a sudden?"
Leon ignored the jibe. "I don't know about you, but this seems a little bit fishy to me."
Krauser chuckled and nodded his head. "This guy knows we're coming, Leon," he reminded him, "So we just have to stay one step ahead. We gotta be ready for anything that he throws at us."
Leon tsked. "Well, aren't you the cool one? The last time I remembered us being in this situation, you were the first to lose your head."
Krauser stopped and leaned in close to Leon's face. He spoke with a warning grimace on his face. "Keep it up and I may just turn the tables on ya', Leon." he threatened.
"Hey! Knock it off you two!" Beth called back to them, "We've got more problems right now."
Looming over them was the old Umbrella Headquarters; the company logo hung uselessly to the right, cracked down the middle and withered with age. The building seemed to be the only tall tower that was standing after the explosion that had taken all of Raccoon City out. The group stared up at the building for a moment, looking for any armed guard or defense systems.
"This is useless!" Chris protested, "Wesker's out of his mind. There's no one here."
"What's that?"
All heads turned and they noticed Rose and Wesker standing a few paces away from them; they were emerging from an adjacent alley and there were no signs of the undead anywhere to be seen.
"We have to get inside, Chris," Wesker told him, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "If you do not believe that I know he is inside this very tower, then you may simply wait outside and play with the dead if that would put your fragile mind at ease."
Chris scoffed quietly and cautiously advanced into the tower. "Maybe that would put you at ease, wouldn't it?" he sneered, sidelong at Wesker, "Knowing that I could end up dead and no one would know about your dirty little secret."
Rose's head flickered up and her eyes grew wide before she glowered furiously at Wesker. "You told him?"
She maintained a soft whisper so that no one else could catch on to what they were really talking about. The lobby of the building was just as rundown and filthy as the outside and everyone else moved to find something that would lead them to where they had to go.
"I told him," Wesker finally answered.
"You are a class act, you know that!" Rose whispered, venomously, "You get on my ass constantly about this; about how he shouldn't know any of our secrets and you're the first to spill the beans!"
"I don't think that it matters anymore, Rose."
"Why do you always insist on making decisions for me?"
Suddenly, there was a low bell-ding sound that caused all heads to turn toward the old elevator to the left. A light appeared between the cracks and as soon as the doors creaked open, a man in camouflage uniform stepped out from a perfectly sterile elevator room. He looked up with surprise at the sight of the group there. It took about two seconds before he whipped out a handgun and opened fire.
Wesker and Rose scattered and one of the rounds struck a BSAA soldier and he went down. Wesker quickly seized the doctor by the back of the head and delivered several nerve blows that sent the man crumbling to the floor with a sharp gasp to follow. He went still. He wasn't dead and the blows were mere nerve shots to disable him for now, but then again, Wesker wasn't about to waste his time killing a mere attack dog. He had his sights set on the MAN.
Chris immediately knelt beside the fallen man. "Shit, are you all right?"
The man groaned sharply with pain. "Fuck! Son of a bitch ... "
Redd knelt down across from Chris to check the man's condition while Wesker and Rose leaned into the elevator to inspect for any other surprises. "He's bleeding," he announced, "His, body armor stopped most of the rounds. But one got through."
"How bad?" Chris enquired.
"Not good, but he'll live."
Wesker turned to Chris and the others. "This elevator goes down further, so Rose and I will take it," he told them, "You will find another way down." He glanced down at the immobile guard and frowned. "There will be those who come looking for him. Stay out of sight until Rose and I take out whatever other guards remain."
"Wait!" Chris protested.
But it was too late; Rose and Wesker had already disappeared into the elevator. The doors roared shut and it descended deep into the underground. Chris heaved a frustrated sigh and gave his sister a look.
"I really hate that man ... "
O
Alex sat patiently in his comfortable leather chair inside his office, watching the security monitors in front of him. He smiled with pleasure at the little humans running down a flight of stairs to find his domain.
He reached over to the side of his chair toward a small cage that housed a tiny canary. He reached in and the small creature hopped immediately onto his finger. Alex brought the tiny animal close to his face and smiled gently, stroking his other finger up and down the yellow fluff of its back.
"This will truly be an event for the ages, won't it, my friends?" he murmured, to himself.
Behind him, in the shadows, something growled softly. The sounds of rattling chains filled the air, followed by the scraping of talons across the floor. Alex chuckled to himself and he flung his wrist, setting the canary into the air. The bird flapped its tiny wings and ascended toward the ceiling, but not before it was snatched up into a set of sharp, dripping teeth with an abrupt chirp of agony erupting from it.
Alex smiled at the gulping, chewing sounds and glanced down to the side, observing his "pets". They were like the Cerberus that Spencer's men had created, but unlike Spencer's toys, these possessed no form of uncontrollable appetites. There were no signs of decay among the two lounging beasts. Their skin was nothing but raw muscle and ripping tendons. They resembled massive dogs that had been stripped of their fur and they had no eyes. This was because of the massive, boil-like blisters that lined their skulls and spine. Alex had engineered these special "Cerberus" to obey his every command. There would be no lack of control under his rule.
"Oh ... Are you still hungry, my pets?" he asked, "Would you enjoy something that screams instead?"
Meanwhile, several of the guards that stood outside the elevator had their weapons trailed on the doors, waiting for them to open so that they could blast the intruders coming up. A few more joined in.
"The target's are in the elevator. Shut it down now!"
Wesker could hear their voices as they drew closer to the floor. "Hm. They have brought the welcome party this time," he mused, smirking sidelong at Rose, "Are you up for getting your dainty little hands soiled tonight, Miss. Bedford?"
She smirked at him. "As long as you are, Miss Wesker."
After a pause, the elevator jolted wildly and the lights within suddenly went out, casting the pair into total darkness.
"Oh, this is nice." Wesker remarked.
The elevator car shook once more and then came to a stop. The voices of the guards could be faintly heard on the other side. They sounded anxious and frantic. Good, the two could use their lack of proper planning to their advantage.
"Get those doors open."
"You do it!"
"That's a direct order, soldier! And get a squad up on there."
Outside, two of the guards pried the doors open with their guns and as soon as they did, the elevator car plummeted right down the shaft and crashed to the bottom below. The watching armed men stared after it, stunned.
"Wow, that was pretty easy."
"Yeah, no shit."
"Bitch fell like a rock."
"Are they dead?"
"Puh. If he wasn't before he sure as hell is now."
Inside the elevator shaft, Wesker and Rose were hanging along the sides, clinging to a ladder. Wesker looked down at her and gave her an indicating nod. She acknowledged and scaled the upper part of the doorway until she dangled upside down and stuck her head out at the guards. They recoiled with sharp cries and aimed their guns at her, startled. She smiled at them all.
"Hi, boys." she hissed.
Wesker waited on the ladder, listening to the sounds of punches, kicks and groans from the men. He sighed impatiently and glanced down at his wrist watch. Finally, Rose stuck her head into the elevator shaft and grinned up at Wesker.
"Hey, you comin' or what?" she asked.
Wesker made a mocking sound and swung himself out of the elevator shaft and into the sterile hallway. At least, it would have been save for the bodies that littered the floors. They were still alive as far as he could tell. Rose still didn't have it in her to outright kill a human being. Hah. Well, she would have to when she would face this enemy with him. There was no time for moral value here.
"Well done, Rose," he told her, "But you really shouldn't play with them so much. They may take advantage of your ... generosity."
She scoffed and shook her head at the jibe, pressing her boot into the back of a groaning soldier before he could get up. "Alright, alright, well, radio the others," she muttered, "Get their status."
Wesker gave her a small smirk before he rolled up his jacket sleeve and spoke into a small COM set on his wrist. Chris had given it to him after it took quite a bit from Claire and Rose to persuade him to do so. Wesker really didn't care about his he had acquired the device be it any means.
"Chris, are you there?" he said.
Chris and the others had made their way into the hangar bay. They were exploring the various vehicles and machinery within just before Wesker's voice filled the air. Chris begrudgingly tapped his COM link open.
"Yeah, everything checks out here," he answered, "There's no sign of our guy anywhere and there isn't much resistance on our end."
"Good. I am so delighted to see that things have worked out for you, Chris. After all, I wouldn't want you to overwork yourself now would I?" Wesker chuckled once more before his voice resumed its professional tone. "What is your current position?"
Chris inhaled sharply, forcing back an insult before he cast his gaze around the entire hangar bay. "It looks like some sort of hangar bay," he replied, "I'm guessing that these were bribery gifts from the guys he was working with."
On the other end, Wesker and Rose were observing a building map on the wall. Chris and the others were obviously several floors below their current position. They would have no trouble getting to them. Chris was tenacious; he wouldn't give up a fight so easily should this ENEMY grant him that pleasure.
"We will reconnect shortly," he told Chris, "Keep the line open should you find our man." He paused for a brief moment before continuing. "Oh? And Chris? If you do find him, he is mine."
Chris seemed to waver at the venomous tone in Wesker's voice. He had never heard Wesker speak like that since that day on Rockfort Island. Wesker had murder in mind, that was for certain.
At the corner of Rose's eye, one of the fallen soldiers was slowly getting back to his feet with a weakened groan. He shakily aimed his TMP gun at her and squeezed the trigger with round after round raining wildly in her direction. The bullets peppered her body, staggering her back slightly but not enough to outright take her off of her feet. She stared down at the smoking wounds before scowling angrily up at the horrified man as they slowly started to close.
"Mother fucker! Are you out of your damn mind?" she spat.
Wesker grabbed his boot knife and tossed it through the air toward the guard. It embedded itself into his chest and he was down with a sharp grunt. After twitching a few moments, the man was still. Wesker turned to Rose and gave her a skeptical frown. She stared back and shrugged her shoulders.
"What?"
O
Sergeant Redd and Corporal Topps began to move their way slowly down the length of a narrow, darkened hallway. It seemed to be a storage area of some kind, perhaps for viruses and test documents. There were small, dim lights on that indicated the paths down the halls, somewhat like the lights that one would see on the movie theater floors. It was eerie and too quiet for both men.
"You know, I'm starting not to like this so much," Redd protested, his gun high at the ready.
"You know, I was just thinking the same thing." Topps added, his eyes roving up toward the ceiling where there were metal beams that could have hidden anyone or anything over their heads.
"Well, maybe ... " Redd began.
GGRRRAAAAWWWRRRRLLLL!
The sound resembled them MGM lion and it was loud enough to sound like it was coming from behind the two men. They jumped and cast their weapons back down the way that they had come. There was no sign of anything.
"Shit!" Topps hissed. He waited for a brief second. "We should check it out ... "
"Speak for yourself ... " Redd whispered, shaking somewhat where he stood.
Another sharp clanging sound jolted them toward the hallway in front of them and they immediately switched on their laser sights toward a small canister that rolled on by, almost as if someone had knocked it over. The two men glanced at each other warily and they did not move.
"This is getting weird." Topps murmured, slowly starting forward. He paused and glanced back at his not-so-eager comrade. "You coming?"
Redd shook his head and gestured with the barrel of his rifle. "Go ahead then. Check it out."
Topps rolled his eyes with dismay. "Well, if you're going to be a pussy about it, then at least watch my back."
Redd didn't argue. He just grinned and nodded. "You got it."
Topps shook his head with pity before he advanced slowly toward the following hallway. He stared down at the rolling canister and noticed that it was sticky with what appeared to be strands of saliva. He touched a bit of it with the barrel of his rifle, bringing it closer to his face for study. Suddenly, Redd clasped a hand down onto his friend's shoulder and Topps whirled on him furiously.
"You scared the shit out of me, man!" he whispered angrily, "What the hell is wrong with you?"
Redd shrugged one shoulder as if it wasn't a big deal before something struck his shoulder with a dull splat. He frowned and reached up, bringing his hands to the sticky substance and squishing it between his fingers. A soft growling sound drew both men's heads upwards in the direction of the metal banisters.
The two "Cerberus" hounds lurked menacingly overhead and finally, one dove down at them with a bellowing, leonine roar. The two men screamed and attempted to open fire, but both creatures moved too swiftly for them to counterattack. The first Cerberus clamped its teeth onto Topp's wrist and the other grabbed his leg in its teeth. The two hounds began to play tug-of-war, ripping chunks of flesh from the wailing man's body.
"SHOOT THEM!" Topps wailed.
Redd attempted to lock onto the snarling, feeding animals that literally tore his screaming friend apart. As soon as his weapon clicked, one of the "Cerberus" jerked its head upwards and snarled, baring its blood-drenched teeth. Redd's hands shook as he fired a blast of bullets that ripped into the creature's tough hide, but it appeared to do no harm to it. Blood and chunks of flesh went flying, but the beast was still moving, advancing slowly onto him like a stalking predator.
"Oh shit!" Redd gasped.
Suddenly, it all happened in a blur. One minute he was standing there with his body intact, the next, the walls and windows all around him were abruptly splashed with blood. The blood-drenched COM was lying on the floor, mashed in chunks of flesh and entrails, completely ignored by the snarling, feeding animals as Chris' static-filled voice echoed from it.
"I think I'm getting close to the lobby, but there's some kind of activity going on over there. I'm gonna check it out. Split up and see what you can find. Keep in touch and keep your links open, do you read?"
Claire's voice filled the air next. "Redd. Redd, do you read me? REDD! TOPPS! Do you copy? Shit ... "
O
Note- Writer's block and... well, tooth cleaning can be a real pain. Oh and R'lyeh was a city in one of H.P. Lovecraft's tales.
