Pandemic: Resident Evil VI

Chapter Twenty Eight: Extraction

For a while Jake was sure that the rapidly collapsing ceiling was going to overtake them, crushing the small group to death and then burying them underneath a thousand tons of rock, but instead they managed to stay alive. In fact, the collapse of the mine system actually slowed down, lagging farther and farther behind them until it sounded like the destruction stopped completely. Whatever the power source for all the small lights was, the cave-in must've destroyed it, because the three of them were once again dependent on the crackling blue light of Tobias's shock baton to light the way.

The tunnel ahead continued to go downward, with the young man losing track of time as they just kept going to what was hopefully another exit. Oh well, they were alive, and that Ustanak thing was buried forever at the worst part of the cave-in… yeah, now all they had to do was get out of this cave, make it to the extraction point, and then Jake would finally be on his way to a fifty million dollar payoff. Or at least, he would be if this God damn cave ever decided to come to an end.

"Are you sure you know where we're going?" Sherry asked, stumbling over a rock on the ground. "I know we don't have a lot of options, but how do you know this isn't a dead end?"

"Sherry, how do you think I got to you guys in the first place?" The yellow eyed man replied. "I know where we're going, because this is the route I took to get up on the mountain, so just relax and enjoy the walk."

Enjoy the walk, Jake thought? Was this guy for real? God, one second he was hurting and threatening both him and the blonde, and the next he was fighting off that monster to give them time to get away. Obviously Tobias was powerful, but he was a real asshole, too, and Jake didn't like the way he talked to Sherry all the time, especially that bit about her mother… it just wasn't cool to talk shit about people's mothers like that… especially when the blonde's reaction suggested that what he said was true.

Maybe… yeah, maybe as soon as they reached the extraction point, the young man would punch him out just before getting on the plane, or helicopter, or whatever the US government sent for them… yeah, it would be great to knock him down a peg or two… and he was sure that Sherry wouldn't exactly be heartbroken about it. The thought of socking the yellow eyed man right in the mouth was bringing the smile back to Jake's face, and even more so when he imagined Tobias getting knocked off his feet by the blow when he least expected it. Maybe use that baton on him a few times to see how he liked it.

A sudden breeze made the young man shiver, pulling his jacket tighter around himself before realizing what the movement of air meant to them down there. If the air was able to move by itself, smelling all fresh and much colder than the inside of the cave system, that would mean that they were almost out, and the air just kept moving faster and getting colder with each step. Eventually, the walls and ceiling of the cave vanished, replaced by open air and snow covered ground, but at least the snowstorm had stopped.

The wind was still blowing, although not as bad, and the sky was still dark, so they couldn't have been underground for more than a few hours… felt a lot longer than that, though. Apparently the tunnel had exited on the far side of the mountain, on some kind of wide plateau, because they were still pretty high up, and… and Jake could see the lights of another small city way off in the distance. Hey, if they were lucky, maybe that city was the extraction point, and even though it was probably several hours away on foot still, it was better than having to go all the way around the mountain.

From here, the group would have to climb down the last leg of the rocks, which wasn't so bad considering how tall the mountain was behind them, and then with that drilling monster gone for good, it would be pretty easy to walk across flat terrain. Jake was so happy that the danger was over, that it took him a second to realize why everything around him was suddenly better illuminated, and now the holders of several recently activated flashlights were slowly surrounding them. Just like before, those flashlights belonged to infected members of the young man's old unit, judging by their uniforms, but this time there were a lot more of them, along with… hey, wait a second…

Holy shit, he knew her… yeah, this was the same Asian lady that his unit commander had been talking too before the attack on the city was launched. That's right, she was the one who gave them the C-Virus injections, saying that they were some kind of performance enhancers, and now there were even more infected people that he recognized… guys that Jake had known for over a year, reduced to nothing but puppets for whatever the hell this woman had planned.

"All right, everyone, just stay calm, and nothing bad has to happen." A woman with short black hair said as more than a dozen J'avo surrounded the group. "Nothing except me freezing my ass off while waiting for you up here… so is this him? Is this… Wesker Junior?"

"Oh yeah, just look at his face." Tobias replied, taking a puff of his latest cigarette. "He definitely got his dad's antibodies, and… well, sorry, kid, there's nothing I can do about the way you look."

Oh shit, Jake thought as his mind registered exactly what was happening here; he knew they shouldn't have trusted this guy right from the start, and now he was selling him and Sherry out to… wait a second, if he was working for the bad guys, then why not just let Ustanak capture them? The blonde wasn't taking this revelation very well, either; accusing the yellow eyed man of being a liar and betraying them, but then surprisingly… he denied her accusations.

"I didn't lie to you, Sherry." Tobias explained as the J'avo closed in. "I did pick up the distress signal, and I did come here to get you to the extraction point, you're just… not going where you thought you were. Okay, Ada, your men can secure them now, but be gentle with the girl."

At the snap of the dark haired woman's fingers, the J'avo moved in, quickly attempting to restrain both him and the blonde, but Jake had no intention of going anywhere with these people. In order to grab them, the infected mercenaries had to let go of their rifles with one hand, making it easier to put the closest of them off balance with a surprise kick to the side of the leg. Grabbing the J'avo's rifle as he stumbled, the young man struck him on top of the head with the weapon's stock, but then he was surprised when the others swarmed him completely. Dropping their weapons in favor of simply grabbing him, Jake was quickly overpowered and restrained while a smaller group tried to get Sherry.

For a girl her size, the blonde put up a pretty good fight of her own, at least until one of the infected mercenaries behind her suddenly bashed her in the back of the head with his rifle, making Sherry collapse onto the ground. In a flash of movement, Tobias grabbed the J'avo that had struck her, lifting him up into the air while the others picked up the blonde, and then sinking his teeth into the infected mercenary's throat. The J'avo's struggles got weaker, and his skin got pale while his infected blood ran out of the yellow eyed man's mouth, and then Tobias simply discarded the dead husk as casually as if he were throwing a candy wrapper on the ground.

"I said be gentle with the girl!" He growled, his voice much deeper for a second while his eyed glowed brightly. "You might have a deal with my wife, Ada, but from now on anything you do to Sherry, I'll do to you times ten!"

"My apologies, it won't happen again, Tobias, I promise." The Asian lady quickly replied, taking a step back as if she were frightened. "Now come on, there's a helicopter waiting in the valley, and we need to get out of here before someone sees us, or that thing digs itself out."

Tobias looked back toward the cave, and then nodded, causing the J'avo to start dragging Jake and Sherry away, but… no… no, the young man wasn't going to let this happen. Throwing his head backwards, he put the J'avo behind him off balance enough to free one of his arms, and then he elbowed the next one in the face, while kicking the opposite one in the ribs at the same time. Twisting himself while throwing out a few well timed punches and kicks, and somehow Jake managed to get free of his captors, back-kicking the one right behind him, and then sprinting toward Tobias.

Even if he couldn't beat all the infected mercenaries, the young man could still kill this one asshole, so he leapt into the air for a punch aimed at his enemy's head… only to have the yellow eyed man duck down and smack his legs out from under him, turning the graceful leap into a clumsy head-first fall into the snow. Scrambling to his feet, Jake thought that Tobias would just shoot him, but instead the yellow eyed man was taking his jacket off… before setting it, his baton, and his revolver on the ground, and then cracking his knuckles as if they were really going to do this.

"Two choices, kid." Tobias said as the yellow faded from his eyes. "No weapons, no powers… you're going with Ada, either way, but it can be on your feet like a man… or chained up like a money on its way to the zoo."

"Fuck you!" Jake yelled, getting into his ready stance. "I'll show you who's a monkey, you piece of shit!"

Advancing toward him, the young man threw a punch, which Tobias leaned back to avoid, but when Jake followed this with a front kick, the yellow eyed man caught his leg and punched it right above the knee. There was a lot more pain with that hit than expected, but the young man now had him in one place, so Jake swung at him again, only to have Tobias grab his arm and hip sling him so that he once again landed hard on the snow covered ground. Not quite finished yet, the young man whirled his body around, forcing his enemy to back off to avoid getting kicked with both legs, and then Jake spring-boarded himself to his feet… only to get a good look at the yellow eyed man's fist as it came toward his face, sending him back down on his face.

"I knew it." Tobias declared, holding Jake down and pulling his arms behind his back while locking a pair of handcuffs in place. "We got ourselves a monkey right here… you know, kid… one of my biggest regrets in life is that someone else got to snuff out your father before I could… but putting the cuffs on you is close enough. Good night."

The young man was trying to look up at him, but all he got for his trouble was another hard punch that made his vision blur, and the last thing that Jake was aware of before he lost consciousness was being picked up over Tobias's shoulder to be carried away to God only knows where.