"What's happening?" Claire asked as she heard the robotic voice announce the lab's self-destruct sequence.
"Ah shit... Birkin is here, we have to go!" Leon said, and Claire looked at him with concern in her eyes upon hearing that that monster was there.
Those roars made sense now, they sounded somewhat familiar.
"Can you two walk? We have to go fast." Leon asked, reloading what he could reload and looking at the two girls.
They nodded, and before they could leave the room, Claire took a few steps toward him and handed him the magnum.
"It's okay, you can have it." He said, moving toward the door.
"I already have my grenade launcher. And the recoil on this thing is too strong for me." She said, placing the gun in the holster beside Leon's thigh, not caring whether he would take it or not.
In response, he smiled slightly and shook his head.
"Okay, then." His smile died as he looked at Sherry, and something akin to guilt ran through his tired eyes. "Look, Sherry... I need you to be strong, okay? Your mom... she's here, but she's not doing so good." He said, and a glint of understanding soon ran through the little girl's eyes.
"...Is she dying?" She asked in a low voice, a pained expression in which left a bitter taste in Leon's mouth that he had to say that.
And in the end, he simply couldn't answer by looking her in the eye, and just opened the door to the lobby.
They followed him, and soon began walking at a brisk pace toward the elevator area ahead.
And of course, as they got closer, Annette's body leaning against the elevator glass became even more visible.
Claire felt the hem of her shirt being tugged slightly, and caught a glimpse of Sherry holding her as she looked at her mother sitting covered in blood.
Leon sighed, placing his hand on the elevator scanner, willing himself to get out of there as quickly as possible.
The doors opened, and the three of them were surprised to see Annette move. In reflex, Leon grabbed his matilda and pointed it toward the woman in case she was a zombie. However, he lowered the gun when he saw that she was actually still alive, and her eyes stared in pain toward where Sherry was.
"... Sherry..." She murmured the girl's name, almost in a whisper, and at hesitant steps, Sherry approached, visibly trying to keep herself strong and not let the tears she was holding flow down her face.
"... I know... that I wasn't a good mother... and I'm sorry for that." She murmured, feeling Sherry squeeze her bloodied hand lightly, and with what little strength she had, she made a small caress with her thumb on the top of the girl's hand. "Your life is what matters now-"
"Attention: Unauthorized removal of a level 4 virus detected. Please Use the central elevator to evacuate immediately to the botton level train platform." The robotic voice interrupted Annette, and the woman lowered her head, closing her heavy eyes and breathing even more slowly.
"Please... get out of here... quickly. Save... my daughter." The weak grip the woman had on Sherry's hand was gone, and the three of them realized that she had gone still.
Sherry continued to stare at her for some time, her back turned to the two adults behind her, and she allowed herself to cry. Her blurred vision closed in completely as she gritted her teeth and felt her heart tearing in her chest.
Her father had become a monster, and her mother had died in front of her. She couldn't even think of anything else given the worst day of her life.
She didn't let go of Annette's motionless hand, she just let her body go limp against the cold ground. Her shoulders moved slightly in spasms as she sobbed quietly.
Leon had his arms crossed and was staring at this, not knowing what to do.
Claire noticed the uncertainty of the policeman beside her, and with slow steps, approached Sherry. She didn't want to rush the girl, and she cursed the world and fate for not allowing her to have her grief.
"It's okay, Sherry... hey." She placed a hand on the girl's shoulder as she said it as softly as she could. She wanted to look like she was calm, even though she was growing increasingly anxious as she heard the footsteps of something heavy approaching. Birkin, probably, but she could also hear the sound of something different, as if flesh was moving, and the unsteady footsteps she could hear suggested that he was probably going through another mutation.
Sherry, feeling Claire's gentle hand on her shoulder, turned quickly and hugged her, sinking her face just below her chest.
"... She loved you, okay? She... she made that clear." Claire said as she returned the hug. Honestly, she hadn't liked Annette, and still didn't, but at least the woman realized her mistake.
Even if it was already too late.
"Look, I'm sorry, Sherry... but we have to go." Claire said, placing a hand on the back of the girl's head and stroking her blonde hair.
Without undoing the hug, Sherry nods, and a few moments later she walks away toward the elevator with her hands over her face, not wanting to show them her vulnerable state, maybe.
They entered the elevator, and just as the doors closed and the elevator began to descend, Birkin smashed through the entrance door to the west area and roared loudly.
They couldn't see him in detail, but they could see enough to tell that he was huge.
Leon didn't know exactly how the virus worked, but he had an idea that perhaps Birkin had consumed the tyrant's body to have that increase in mass in such a short time. Which was worrisome, to say the least, because if the virus had appropriated the tyrant's own characteristics, then that thing had become much stronger.
He sighed and put a hand over his forehead. It was a lot to worry about. Sherry losing her mother, the lab about to self-destruct, Birkin chasing them, and who knows what else it still had hidden in that fucking lab.
"You were right about the jacket." He heard Sherry say, and turned around, watching her alternate her tearful eyes between him and Claire. A mixture of pain and relief in the blue of her gaze. "I'm lucky to have you two."
Leon scratched the back of his head as Claire placed both hands, gently, on the girl's face.
"Thank you for being so nice... for helping me. I'm really glad to have met you guys." She closed her eyes and bowed her head as she finished her little confession.
And despite all the pain and the shitty situation they were in, both Leon and Claire felt their chests heat up as their hearts seemed to tear at the same time.
So many different and confusing sensations for a single night...
"We're glad to have met you too, girl." Claire said, and Leon walked to her side with a small smile of comfort on his lips.
"You know what? When we get out of here, I'm gonna get you a dog." Leon said suddenly, causing both girls to look at him and blink a few times, digesting the information.
"A dog?" Claire asked with an arched eyebrow. She had been so focused on simply surviving and not becoming a monster for the last few hours that she had forgotten about another problem.
Like it or not, Sherry was her and Leon's responsibility, and they had to come up with something when they got out of there.
"... Can it be a German shepherd?" Sherry asked, her voice still hoarse but with a small hopeful smile on her lips.
Claire put a hand on her waist. Well, she would think about that later, when they actually got out of there. Sherry was sweet, and, maybe it was just the heat of the moment, but taking care of her didn't seem so bad.
Caring for her alongside Leon...they seemed like a little family.
A pretty fucked up family that went through a situation that probably no one ever even dreamed of going through... but a family just the same.
Hm... things were really strange. It had been a month or so since she had been at a party laughing her ass off at seeing one of her friends drunk, and now, she was thinking about raising a child with a cop she barely knew.
And she was fine with that.
She doubted she could go back to college again, even if she wanted to anyway.
"If we make it out of here, I'll buy you the damn dog." Claire said, crossing her arms and joining in the conversation, drawing the attention of the two blondes to her.
"Really? Can I call him Redfield?" Leon asked, and an involuntary smile was born on the woman's lips, as well as on Sherry's.
"What? No! Are you crazy?"
"Okay, so can I call him Red? It suits you, and well, it's just the beginning of Redfield." She laughed as she shook her head.
Ah that stupid cop.
"Wha... what is it with you and my name? Do you think Chris would like having his last name on a dog?"
"... No... but I bet he would love it if we named the dog Christopher." Oh...
That was a good one...
She had to control herself not to laugh harder.
"Why can't we put your name on it?" Sherry asked, the beginnings of a childish smile on her face. She was making an effort, at least for that moment, to forget a little about everything that was going on around them.
Hm, that little moment between them was something that everyone there would surely miss if it ended. It was as if there wasn't a mutant monster chasing them, or that they weren't in a laboratory about to explode.
They could get used to it.
"Because it doesn't match. Leon S Kennedy... what kind of dog has the name Kennedy?"
"The 'S' goes by what?" Sherry asked, curious.
Claire had her curiosity piqued as well, especially seeing the policeman's somewhat nervous expression.
"Ahm... nothing... nothing... leave it alone, family secret."
"No, na-ah, spit it out." Claire pressed him, and he sighed in defeat.
"...Scott." The two stared at him in silence for some time.
They just blinked, without looking away.
Scott... wasn't a bad name, not really.
But it was perfect for the damn dog.
The two girls looked at each other, and a mischievous smile broke out on their lips.
"Well... I guess the puppy will be named Scott now." Claire said.
"Oh, come on..." Leon grumbled.
"Scott is a good name." Sherry agreed.
He just rolled his eyes and shook his head in a playful way, and soon, the elevator stopped and the doors opened, interrupting the little moment the three of them had together and forcing them to face the reality of things.
Leon lifted his matilda and walked into the room, taking the lead. There were several monitors above a microphone equipment. The monitors showed several cameras, several of which had no signal, probably destroyed.
There was nothing there for them, just another soldier's body. Leon found pistol and rifle ammo. Great, he was low on bullets in both weapons.
They soon left the room and came to a metal platform with some stairs leading down to a door below. That platform was below where cable cars passed, showing just how big that laboratory was.
The sound of an explosion made them stand on guard, and the three of them looked at a burning place ahead, far away from where they were standing.
Leon and Claire looked at each other, just before they went through the door. They came to a metal walkway leading to a small elevator beside them that went down to the room below. There were huge gas cylinders in the room. The air was a little cooler and there was a certain haze that obstructed a small part of their view.
Well, something Claire blinked a few times to get used to. It didn't exactly bother her, but it was like she was seeing too much.
"Ten minutes to detonation." The robotic voice alerted them, and they hurried up the pace.
As soon as the elevator stopped, they walked down the metal walkway surrounded by gas cylinders, and on the path ahead, an ivy creature walked toward them, startling both Sherry and Claire, who hadn't seen that thing yet.
"What the fuck is that?" Claire asked, pointing her submachine gun toward the creature.
"That thing is controlled by those vines! Fire kills them quickly." Leon explained, and in a nod of understanding, Claire puts away her submachine gun and picks up her grenade launcher.
"Don't shoot yet! Save ammo, we might need it later." Leon said, firing his rifle toward the ivy monster and hitting the pus balls, destroying them and causing the creature to fall to the ground.
More of those creatures were ahead, and just like Leon, Claire started shooting at the pus balls. Because of her improved vision, she practically hits every shot, which makes her somewhat intrigued.
She could see the weak spots in more detail, which was incredibly helpful. She could also feel her hand firmer on the gun. She hadn't gotten stronger, but she felt as if her body had more precision even in her steps.
A side effect of almost becoming a monster, perhaps.
And probably Sherry was experiencing some of these effects along with her.
Not that she was complaining, so far, it had proven to be extremely useful.
After they dealt with the ivy creatures, they went through another doorway, where they were faced with a large plantation on fire, where a huge tree was the center of the flames.
They approached the railing in front of them and looked down. A small area with a door on their right.
To their left was a ladder.
They ran toward the ladder and down it, with Claire going first, Sherry soon after, and Leon last.
"Ah, damn, of course it's locked." Claire grumbled after trying to open the door, looking at Leon, who stood beside her.
He started to throw himself against the structure, even though he knew he probably couldn't open it. It was a metal door.
"There." Sherry's voice caught both of their attention, and they looked to where she was pointing. Next to them was the top of a ventilation duct that led to an opening in the wall, just beyond the plant catching fire.
"It's too small for me to get through... and the duct might collapse with my weight. Same with Claire." Leon said, running his hand through his hair in nervousness.
"I can go." Sherry said, and the two adults looked at her with surprised eyes.
"What?" Leon asked.
"I can get through. Maybe I can open through the other side." Sherry said, making the two look at each other.
"It's too dangerous. What if there are some zombies on the other side?" Claire said.
"Or worse, one of those ivy creatures? Those vines grab you from a great distance and it's hard to get loose." Leon said, shaking his head.
"I can manage. If there are any zombies, I'll come back. I escaped from the orphanage without any of them seeing me." Sherry insisted, and this time, the two students really considered that idea.
"I mean... she has a point... as much as I hate to say it." Claire said, putting both hands on her waist and looking at the ground with the same look Leon had on his face.
"Nine minutes until detonation." The robotic voice caught their attention, and Leon grumbled loudly.
"Okay... damn, right. But if there are any creatures there, you come back immediately, okay?" He said, and Sherry frantically nodded with a small satisfied smile.
It wasn't much, but it was a start to repay for all they had done for her up to that point.
As Sherry moved slightly above the duct, the ivy creatures passed through the door above and dropped down to the area they were in.
"Ah, great. How much ammo from the grenade launcher do you have?" Leon asked Claire, who was already raising her weapon toward the creatures.
"Only one shell. But it's more than enough." She said, taking the lead and moving to the side as the creatures stood up.
As soon as they did, Claire shot the monster in the middle of two others. Flames consumed all three monsters quickly due to the blast area.
Claire heard a grunt behind her, but before she could turn around, she heard a gunshot and the sound of a body falling to the ground. She didn't even have to look toward Leon, she just grabbed her revolver and fired at the few zombies that were approaching amidst the flames.
"I did it!" Sherry's voice caught the attention of the two, and they both quickly ran towards the now open door.
"Good job, Sherry!" Claire said, hearing the door close behind her. She soon coughed as smoke invaded her nose, and she ran her eyes around the burning surrounding area.
Moving before the flames engulfed them, the trio ran across the room, past a few doors in different parts of the same burning place, until they ran down a long corridor in a straight line.
As they passed through the door at the end of the long corridor, their eyes stopped on the dead train ahead. Great, that was the exit.
The place was a large metal platform, suspended probably a few hundred meters from the ground.
They ran around the train, and noticed a small room just ahead as they found the stairs to board the train.
They noticed a large bag lying beneath the train, but honestly, none of them wanted to waste time going through a bag that might be empty when the exit was literally in front of them and a huge creature was chasing them.
They were anxious to get out of there, hope rising high in their chests.
Birkin's roar, however, made their instincts scream and their minds almost think otherwise.
"Get Sherry on the train, we have to turn this thing on!" Leon said, running to the room ahead as Claire and Sherry climbed the stairs to the interior.
"Look, I'm going to help Leon, we won't be long, so I need you to stay here, okay?" Claire said, crouching down in front of Sherry for a few moments, who responded with a nod.
"Okay... be careful." Claire smiled slightly and stroked the little girl's hair as she stood up, walking towards the door shortly after.
"Always." Claire said, exiting the train cabin and walking down the stairs.
As she raised her gaze to the room, she could see Leon lowering a lever, turning on the train lights.
Leon looked at Claire through the window, and neither of them could control the smiles that broke out on their lips.
He left the room, and just as he approached, the platform supporting them began to descend.
They approached each other, neither daring to look away, and they looked determined. Determined to do what... none of them really wanted to think about it, they just let their instincts take over.
They were afraid that if they thought about what to do later, they would be lost and miss their chance.
But before they could let their instincts take over, Birkin's roar echoed even louder, even closer than before.
The whole place seemed to shake, and soon, they saw a great mass of flesh and bone fall on top of the train, crushing a small piece of the sturdy metal.
Birkin roared with strength and anger, and they both looked at that monster with wide eyes. It seemed that he was constantly and endlessly evolving. Just when they thought there was no way he could get even more monstrous, he appeared differently.
He was bigger, more terrifying, but unlike before, he no longer had a humanoid silhouette. He just looked like a heap of flesh with legs and things that vaguely resembled arms. His claws were even bigger and they could barely recognize his head. On his chest, perhaps dozens of large eyes stared at them, eyes that were surrounded by large and numerous bones that looked more like stakes.
A true abomination.
Leon began to shoot toward the eyes as he ran in the opposite direction from where Claire was standing. The woman also grabbed her gun and started shooting.
Birkin, in response, jumped towards Leon, causing the ground below them to shake and they both almost lost their balance.
Birkin attacked the cop with the claws of what appeared to be his arm. Leon, stopping shooting and letting his rifle hang at the side of his waist, runs backwards at great speed, dodging the attack but hearing the ground below being cut by the monster's great force.
Claire was firing her submachine gun into the eye on Birkin's back, and the creature soon turned in her direction.
Birkin ran at her using his arm-like masses of flesh and bones as boosters, causing him to cross the distance between him and her in a matter of moments.
Claire threw her body backwards, falling in the process, and her wide eyes stared at the claws that stuck into the ground.
She stood up and ran to the side while firing her submachine gun with only one hand. Birkin roared and leaped toward her. Claire felt her body shiver, and she could hear the sound of air against the huge body of the monster behind her getting closer and closer and at incredible speed.
Claire threw herself forward and let her body slide to the ground, hearing Birkin's claws pass above her head and feeling the wind that the movement created.
Leon appeared just ahead, firing once more into Birkin's eyes in the chest.
The monster then leapt upwards, digging its claws into the wall as the platform dropped lower and lower.
Before the two survivors could do anything, or at least think of a plan, Birkin threw himself from up there onto the platform. More precisely, exactly where Leon was.
The policeman turned and ran as fast as he could, managing to get far enough away to avoid most of the impact.
The platform fell faster from the impact of Birkin's body against the ground, and for a few moments, they worried that the platform would go into free fall. The tremor caused Leon to fall to the ground, while Claire, although affected, seemed to have better balance.
Claire recovered quickly, and this allowed her to see first hand the image ahead.
Leon stood up, and just as he did, Birkin advanced toward him. Although fast, the cop was unable to dodge the next attack, and the monster struck him with the back of what appeared to be his hand.
Leon was thrown toward the train, where he grunted loudly in pain and fell to the ground, unconscious.
Claire watched almost in slow motion as he was thrown into the air with drops of blood surrounding his body. The sound of his body crashing against the metal of the train echoed in the woman's ears, and she could do nothing but scream his name.
Birkin, however, did not forget her, and soon advanced toward Claire again.
The woman ran to the side again, grumbling as she tried to fire her submachine gun and realized she was out of ammo.
The monster, due to the speed with which it had advanced, crashed into the surrounding metal wall, creating the opportunity for Claire to run to the fallen Leon.
"Leon!" She ground him as she approached, crouching down beside him and placing her hands on his shoulders.
He was still alive, his chest rising and falling as he breathed. That already made her a little more relieved, although it was not in the least bit comforting to see that he was unconscious.
Birkin roared again behind her, and Claire sighed in anxiety.
"I'm sorry." She murmurs softly as she takes the rifle from Leon along with the ammo and raises the gun in her hands.
Claire shoots at the monster as she runs away from where Leon was until the magazine was empty. She quickly switches the magazine and raises the rifle against Birkin.
To her surprise, the monster was not chasing her, but its eyes that were still intact were fixed in her direction.
Birkin's body seemed to swell again, as if something was moving underneath his muscles, and soon, the monster spit a large stake of bone toward Claire.
The girl's eyes widened and she threw herself to the side, hearing the bone hit the metal with such speed and force that she was surprised it hadn't broken.
Claire runs around the train as Birkin chases her again. As soon as they lost each other from the line of sight, Birkin jumped on the train and stared at her from above.
Claire raised her rifle and fired again, watching as the large amount of pus and blood oozed from the stricken eyes.
The monster soon acted, and leaped toward Claire with its claws raised. The woman ran and threw herself backwards. The impact again made the ground shake, and the woman almost fell to the ground due to the proximity.
Birkin raised his arm again and tried to attack her with his claws. Claire crouched down, practically laying on the ground, and gasped as she realized that the claws had torn part of the side of the train.
What was wrong with that monster? Before, it was after her to breed, now it wanted to kill her... is it because she was cured of the G-virus?
Shaking her head, Claire gets up and runs in an attempt to get rid of that monster. She heard it roar and attack her again.
The woman threw herself to the side, escaping certain death, but not escaping one of the claws that grazed her on the side of her body.
Claire grunted loudly and fell with one hand over the wound, feeling the palm of her hand become stained with blood within moments. She looked down, grunting from the sharp pain she felt. The wound was not deep, but it was wide. A large cut starting from the side of her ribs and running down to just above her stomach.
She stood up with some difficulty, moving her hand from her wound and raising her rifle again.
Birkin turned toward her and roared. Claire pulled the trigger and shot him in the eye until the magazine was empty.
"You are fucking kidding me..." She muttered in anger as she saw that she had run out of bullets. Dropping the rifle and letting it hang off the side of her body, she picks up her revolver and fires at Birkin, who again advances on her at incredible speed.
"Claire... watch out!" Leon's voice caught her attention, and she turned to him.
Before the monster could get closer, however, a flash exploded in front of it, causing Birkin to fall and be dragged along the ground due to his own speed while Claire covered her eyes and was stunned.
The noise was too loud, probably louder than it would have been had she not been with those... attributes, so to speak. She became temporarily deaf and her eyes took time to regain normalcy.
Staggering, the woman turned to the side and focused her eyes on Leon. The cop was sitting with his back propped up on the train, his face expressed pain, and he had a large bag beside him.
He seemed to be calling out to her, but the noise around her was still muffled, slowly returning to normalcy as she recovered.
"Claire... move... ammo here!" She could make out those words along with other still unknown noises, but it was enough for her to run toward him, though still dazed.
As she approached, Claire's eyes stopped on the black bag. There were grenades in there, several, along with some ammo.
Ammo for her grenade launcher and for Leon's magnum, for example.
She soon ducked down and resupplied herself while Leon threw another stun grenade as Birkin began to recover. All eyes seemed to cringe from the glare and Birkin grunted weakly as he fell to the ground, too stunned to try to get up.
Claire grabbed some grenades and placed them in her waistband. Soon, she turned and ran toward Birkin, still dazed.
With her knife, she rips one of the eyes into the monster's chest, takes out the pin of a grenade and sticks the grenade into Birkin's body, walking away soon after.
A second later, she heard the monster grunt and move its arm to attack her. Although the movement was relatively slow compared to the previous attacks, she had no doubt that if she was hit, she would certainly be in trouble.
Two seconds, Birkin tried to get up, but soon fell to the ground again when Leon, still seated, shot one of the creature's eyes with his magnum. The biggest eye there was among all those still intact.
Three seconds later, the grenade exploded, Birkin roared as he lifted his body, and a hole appeared in his chest. All around, the eyes were destroyed, though there was a row of them left.
"Six minutes until detonation." The robotic voice echoed the moment Birkin stopped roaring.
Raising the grenade launcher, Claire watched as the fire engulfed the monster's massive body. The remaining eyes have turned a blood red color.
Still on fire, Birkin sticks its claws into the ground and pulls its body forward, not giving up on attacking them.
"Persistent son of a bitch." Claire muttered in anger, reloading her grenade launcher and firing once more. Even larger flames covered Birkin's body as Leon fired with his magnum and Claire, to finish, threw another grenade.
The grenade bounced a few times and rolled under the monster's body, exploding. Blood, flesh, and pus flew with the blast, and Birkin's roar seemed to become muffled, as if he were drowning in his own blood.
The remaining eyes, now an even more intense red, rolled back as if in pain, and suddenly they exploded.
Birkin's body fell to the ground, motionless as the flames engulfed him more and more.
The place was silent, save for the sound of the fire burning brightly, and it took the two survivors a while to digest it all.
But when they pulled themselves together, they could hardly believe that that body had remained motionless, indicating that they had survived.
They survived...
(Well, this is the shortest chapter I have posted so far, I think, but that is because I should have posted it with the previous chapter, but the chapter was going to be too long, more than ten thousand words, so I decided to cut it in two. I was supposed to post it earlier, but I've been playing games all afternoon and I forgot haha. Well, here it is. Next chapter will probably, maybe, who knows, be the last, but I can't promise anything. Although short, this story had some pretty big chapters).