AN: Story's back with a new chapter.
Chris had at least waited until Hound Wolf Squad had reunited to voice his, not unfounded, concerns. He hadn't brought it up when the women from Castle Dimitrescu had been brought down to the village, had waited until after they had linked up with Umbra Eyes and Night Howl and been brought to Dollhouse in the rest of the trucks, reunited the captives with the rest of the villagers left after the rampage of the Lycans.
He had waited until they had all been sequestered away upstairs with the Lady of Beneviento Manor and its sole occupant most days: Donna Beneviento.
"What. The. Fuck. Is going on?"
It was a little admirable that he waited this long.
Chris Redfield wasn't exactly renowned for his patience in the BSAA.
"Claire's been in contact with a source in this village. This is her source." Emily had been the one to piece it together, had decided to trust Donna when she had stepped into the manor in the first place. "She wants out of this place Chris, wants away from Miranda. She's willing to work with us to get it."
Chris spared a glance to the woman in black, the doll in her lap. Her one eye darted down from examining him back to the doll in her lap.
She looked embarrassed at having been caught looking at him.
"DID YOU REALLY PUNCH A BOULDER!" Angie's voice was back to loud and grating on their ears.
Maybe it being back was a sign of Donna being nervous, maybe it was a way for her to handle stress in a situation like this, or maybe the doll really was sentient like some of Hound Wolf Squad was starting to think. Umbra was chief among that last camp.
"Once." Chris visibly made an effort to calm down, to focus, while the doll just laughed. He dragged a hand down his face. It seemed that even to him, the talking doll was weird. "Alright, things got easier and things got a lot harder." He focused on the map Dion had grabbed from the truck, where Castle Dimitrescu had been crossed out after their futile search. "We've got Mia but we still don't know where they took Rose." He looked to Donna. "Anything you know?"
"…Mother Miranda wants to use her…She said the child was safe…Until the ceremony…" He met her eye through the veil she was wearing over her face. "…She wants her back. Her daughter. Her real daughter." For a moment, the hesitance was gone, there was something close to fury in Donna Beneviento's expression. "We were all just replacements for her, nothing but failed experiments."
"We already knew she was fucking insane." Chris looked to the map on the table in front of him once more. "What about this place here? Could he have Rose?" He looked to Donna for answers.
The woman in black quickly shook her head. "Heisenberg wouldn't be trusted with this. Mother Miranda knows about his plans, his army. She'll crush him once she has her daughter back, once all of us, the village, no longer have any use to her."
"Army?" Chris asked but all of Hound Wolf Squad perked up, were turned into avid listeners.
Any force of BOWs was concerning but there was no sign of any force but the Lycans being present. If there was something they didn't know about…
"Yes. He uses the factory to create his soldiers, abducts villagers and any who wander into the village, man and machine fused together. They are…abominations. Not like the Lycans. Moreau created them, turned men he took into monsters using the Cadou. Heisenberg welds steel to flesh, uses the Cadou in his experiments to create machines he thinks can kill Miranda." Donna shuddered. "He won't succeed but…he'll destroy this place trying. He would prefer death to what he sees as servitude to Miranda."
"He won't get a chance to use it." Chris made his decision with that, looked to the rest of Hound Wolf Squad. "Lobo, Canine, you're with me. We're heading back out there." It was just like Chris to already want to be on the move again, not even taking a chance to rest. "Pup wasn't in Hotel but we've still got places to look, still need to scout this place out for demo. Tundra, I want to know what else is going to be waiting for us out there. Find out what you can but don't get yourself into trouble. Howl, keep us talking to each other out there. Anything Tundra radios back, I want to know."
"What about Ethan?" Umbra knew his role, wouldn't be leaving the manor.
"He'll stay here. He's not leaving with Mia the way she is. If what you told me is true…there's no reason to ask him to cut what time he's got left with her short." Once Chris had been brought up to date, he had mandated they not tell Ethan what was likely to happen. Even with that order, the man had a feeling he knew, why he was so unwilling to leave her side.
Mia Winters was on a ticking clock.
She'll either turn into one of the things they've been fighting or she'll die as it tried to change her.
Without a cure, those were her only two options.
And, sadly, there was little they could do in terms of finding one. The Mold was one thing but this Cadou was different, was distinct enough that none of the medicine they had brought with them had done anything but buy her a little more time.
All they could do was give Mia her baby girl back before it was time.
They all knew they were on a clock now, needed to find Rose before it was too late.
"Anybody got any questions?" Chris asked the room at large.
"ARE YOU GOING TO PUNCH ONE OF THE BAD DOGGIES?"
Chris spared the doll a glare, only earned high-pitched crackling coming from the doll in Donna's lap.
Around the room, Hound Wolf Squad did an admirable job of stifling their laughter.
"Anybody else?" With silence as his answer he moved on. "You all know what you need to do. Move out."
"Yes sir." Five voices answered back, snapping off quick salutes to Alpha.
They emptied out the room, Chris staying behind. Donna hadn't moved from her seat, was back to staring at him. Angie was still in her lap, the doll motionless as a doll should be. Tundra spared the two a glance before she closed the door behind her.
She left the Captain and the Lady of the Manor alone.
AN: And Hunt is now un-paused.
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Peace.