Resident Evil: The Recurring Nightmare of Hope
Chapter Nine: None Before Them
It's funny how the silence can deafen you or the darkness can blind you, just like how doing nothing can make you tired. All three of the BSAA agents find themselves facing intense boredom now as their drive to the location of the castle supposedly owned by Los Illuminados drags on for the third hour, the tour slowed down as they were forced to take a scenic route through the mountains. Leon can't sleep, hasn't even attempted to, now just resting his elbow on the edge of the window with his chin resting on top of his knuckles, eyes lost to the beauty of fall. Jill finally managed to force herself to sleep and is now dozing peacefully under Chris's left arm that is wrapped around her small frame. The indomitable Chris has resolved himself into an intense study of all information they have collected on Plaga, the G-Virus, and Sherry Birkin, trying his best to find the connection to why they took Claire and didn't just kill her on the spot.
A bump shakes the taxi, startling everyone but the driver, almost like he has taken this road before, "Not far from castle now."
Leon rolls around the seat and reaches for the smaller bag they kept in the front with them, digging out a few clips of ammunition for his sidearm, "Might want to wake her. Give her a chance to break the stupor from her nap."
Chris nods in agreement and slowly wakes Jill up, finding her less than agreeable as she places a hand in his face to push him back, "Five more minutes…"
Leon smirks as the two fight back and forth over whether or not she gets sleep, while his mind drifts to Claire. They had plenty of mornings like that, where they fell asleep against each other's backs when they were in infested hellzones. A small chuckle leaves his lips as he remembers the one time they actually found a pretty safe house to sleep in with a working generator.
He took watch the whole night to give Claire a chance to sleep off a nasty fall she took, dozing off just before sunrise. He awoke to the smell of coffee, which made him bolt upright, gun aimed to find the person who snuck in.
"Morning sleepyhead, black with half a teaspoon of sugar, just like you like it," the cup is placed in his hands as Claire walks back toward the steaming pot of coffee resting on the floor.
The two found a solid moment to perform small talk before the undead outside started to rap on their door, but for a moment, they found peace with each other, Claire, be safe, I need you…
11
"Claire!" Sherry brings her makeshift weapon up and slams the tip of the pipe into the jaw of one of their many attackers, snapping the head off with a burst of blood.
Red hair flips through the air as Claire spins back and pulls Sherry from the reaching grasp of another of the infected starting to surround them. A swing of her own pipe remedies this attack useless while she brings the weapon back down to take him out with a swift hit to the left temple. Claire growls and curses the situation as the two women are pushed back by the growing tsunami of bodies and blood, each one reaching for them, grasping for them, voices calling out in Spanish for them. Sherry is pulled to Claire's side and the older woman covers the blonde with her own body as the hands begin to lie upon them and drag the pair into the wall of infected flesh.
Damn it, I'm sorry Sherry, Claire awaits the bites and the scratches, but none of that comes as the two women are ripped from each other and held tight by one of the infected as the swarm splits open.
"Well, aren't you two just full of piss and vinegar…" the soldier slowly makes his way toward the two as Claire tries to bring her head back to attack the man holding her.
"We'll keep trying," Claire's voice is dark as she spits at the soldier.
A gloved hand is brought up to remove the liquid from his face, a snarl forming before melting into a smile that is made jagged by a large scar on one side of his face, "Doesn't matter at this point, ladies. We're here…"
There is little commotion as the two women are escorted up several flights of metal stairs and forced out a large door, the fading sunlight almost blinding after all their time in a relatively dark ship. Two pairs of blue eyes open to ocean as far as the eye can see in one direction, and a large, sheer cliff on the other side of the ship. What looks to be stonework from a castle of some kind is imbedded in the cliff-side, while there appears to be something floating in the chaotic waters below.
"Where is this?" Sherry shudders as Claire asks the question.
"Home," the soldier steps up and stares off into the wreckage of what might have stood on the cliff before it fell into the sea.
A blonde head rests against Claire's arm as Sherry whispers, "I was held here for a few months after they took me. There used to be a castle here, a rather destroyed one that is, but when the rest of it began to fall into the water as the cliff-side began to erode, everyone inside save for a few moved to this ship. I have lived on this ship ever since…"
"Someone must know where this place is, someone has t-" Claire slowly turns to face the soldier as it hits her, she knows who this man is.
"Something wrong?" his voice is darkened by the knowledge as the redhead slowly walks up to him.
"Krauser… You betray your country like this? To carelessly promote a war powered by bio-organic weapons? Former President Graham trusted YOU to keep his daughter safe after she was taken! Why turn your back on all of that!?" regardless of who is in control here, or who has what weapons, Claire finds herself screaming at the man and pushing him back before two men step up to restrain her.
Jack Krauser looks down at her with what can only be described as dead eyes, "What would you give to have something that was taken from you given back?"
Claire stops her rant at his words; of course he would use greed to rationalize his actions, "Depends on what was lost, I couldn't really say… What did they give you?"
Krauser holds up his left arm and twists the appendage around with his gaze intently locked on it, "When we made it to the castle, where we thought we'd be safe, we fought this blind monster… Took my left arm off just above the elbow… Just like that, everything was over. The mission, my career, our lives, all of it was gone with a single slash of a bladed hand. The cultists made their way into the room and took the girl away and brought me before their leader. Was given a choice, a chance. I took it without a second thought."
"Now you are a gopher right? Nice trade for an arm," blue eyes gaze at the distinct line where his arm regrew or something, however they did it is lost on her.
"What if they offered you the chance to see your parents again? Or ask you to trade your life for the girl's? What is the one thing you want most in life?"
"Fuck you," Claire is dragged back before Krauser can do something drastic in retaliation to her outburst.
11
"Who the hell posts armed guards on a road that ends in a sheer drop into the ocean?" Chris slides the binoculars over to Leon as the three agents perch themselves behind a pile of rocks a good distance from the blockade.
Blonde hair shifts as Leon peers through the lenses, a small chuckle leaving his lips, "Pay must be good, I'd be bored by this point and drawing easy board games in the dirt."
Jill speaks up as she brings the sight of her handgun in line with the forehead of the nearest guard, "Speaking of that we still need to finish that tic-tac-toe game you left in the taxi 'by accident'."
A huff as Leon adjusts the focus to peer farther out along the road, "You were cheating."
Chris matches Jill with his own firearm, picking a target with the second guard, "It was the third move and you were pissed because she put her x in the center spot. Call it, Leon."
Returning the view of the binoculars to the duo guarding nothing, he waits for both of them to be in line and stop moving to talk before performing a three-count, "Three, two, one, nail it."
Two gunshots sound like one as both guns are fired at once, both men dropping instantly before Leon curses out loud at a botched shot, "Thought you were the marksman, Redfield."
"Fuck off, we need to get him quick before he signals for help," the older man jumps the rock outcropping and bolts toward the downed guard, his knife quickly brought to bear and planted quickly into the skull of the guard.
Chris stands up slowly and wipes the blade clean on his pants leg before stepping back as something moves under the skin, his eyes following the movement intently before motioning for his companions to move up, "What could that be?"
The three agents watch the shape move around the body, disappearing for a second as it dives into the body, only to reappear in a spot closer to the head. The thing moves closer to the destroyed head before doing a small circle in the neck, like it can't get out. Suddenly the head explodes as six silver legs erupt from where the head used to be, the body quickly rising up. Leon and Jill open fire on the form as Chris steps back, taking in what just happened with a terrified interest. Center mass of the head is now just what appears to be a bubble of silver skin with six frantically-reaching spider-like legs as the body begins to walk toward them at a pace that brings to mind the zombies from the Arklay Mansion.
"Is this Plaga?" Jill brings a foot up and kicks the form back down to the ground, where Leon joins her in pumping a couple of quick rounds into the makeshift head, the silver bubble popping in a spray of dark red blood.
Chris kicks the body once as Jill walks over to the other guard and checks the wound, making sure that one won't get up anytime soon, "The thing must grow inside the body as it takes more and more control of the host. These things could technically get to a point where they can run around on their own."
"A virus that makes its own BOWs, almost impressive if it didn't terrify me to no end," Jill shudders at the thought before wrapping an arm around Chris.
"Put it on the back burner for now, we need to see what they were guarding," Chris leads the team up the road, his handgun pointed up for headshots, not wanting to take chances anymore.
What kind of nightmarish hell have they unleashed up here?
11
Claire is snatched from her sleep as something jerks her up into the air by her bound wrists, the constraints more than likely steel cable. The room is dark, silent, void of any life besides her own, the woman unable to recall what happened last. She was on the deck of the freighter, turned to ask about an island just a bit off the coast, and then black. A small burst of cold wind fills the room as a door behind her opens up, Claire screaming out an expletive as she finds herself naked as she hangs from the ceiling.
"Ah, so you're awake, nice to see you are awake finally, my dear," the voice is familiar, but couldn't be who she thinks it is.
She finds herself spinning around as that damned telescoping pointer locks between her knees, "Thought you were dea- What the fuck?"
To her surprise, the doctor from earlier is standing before her, somehow not dead from how he landed when Sherry tripped him during one of their escape attempts, "The power of the master is stronger here… He demands the Plaga keep me alive, so here I am… Now, what does the BSAA know about us?"
Claire attempts to respond with a negative answer, but the pointer is smacked across her side harder than he's ever attacked before, her reply coming out as a sharp cry of pain, "No lies! NO JOKES! I WANT THE TRUTH!"
"You know your plan to infect us with Ashley Graham failed, right?" Claire sucks in sharply as her speaking agitates the large stinging wound on her side.
A chuckle, one that doesn't fit the doctor that tortured her before, fills the air as the pointer is placed under her chin, "It did what it was supposed to… We have all the chips in play now, just waiting for one final detail to fall into place before we begin…"
"What detail," she turns her head to the side to avoid a swipe from the metal weapon, "is that?"
"There are a few major characters that need to be in place… And if the guards are to be believed, they are almost here…" the doctor slowly pulls up a chair and sits down, propping his legs up on something Claire can't quite make out in the screwed up lighting.
"What does my brother have to do with this?" Claire feels her blood boil at the thought that her friends and family are nothing but pawns to these people.
"We'll have to delay them a bit you see, can't have the master being interrupted before the ceremony…" he is either deliberately ignoring her, or he's trying to drop hints to keep her distracted.
Claire keeps what he said in the back of her mind and finds herself involuntarily cringing as he stands up, the pointer waving around wildly as the doctor begins walking around the room, talking to himself in half-Spanish, half-English. Cursing herself for never really learning Spanish, the English half of the conversation isn't making much sense on its own. Claire tries to gaze around and find anything to use if she ever gets free, but her eyes just are unable to focus at all. There is a rustle as the doctor moves around, her skin crawling as a cold, clammy hand grasps her chin, pulling her around to look him in the bloodshot eyes.
"Do try to stay alive, Miss Redfield, would hate to see Chris and Leon breakdown at the sight of your dead and mangled corpse…" his words are spoken clearly and have a sharp edge to them, like the sentence was meant to be a threat.
He wants me to commit suicide? Or… This is so odd… her frantic blue eyes watch intently as the doctor moves from the room and with a swift swing of his right arm closes the door and encases her in darkness once again.
11
"What right do you have to ask me that? I was the one who called you about my rogue agents," Cranston Reed growls at the faces before him on the computer monitor.
The woman on the left side of the screen nods in agreement and counters, "You may have done so, Senor Reed, but we have no proof that you didn't send them here in the first place. What would three of the best agents in the Bioterrorism Security and Assessment Alliance be doing in Spain anyway? We finally succeeded in closing our last TriCell facility last year, under THEIR supervision no less."
A deep sound of the other man clearing his throat fills the room, "Reed, I have promised the Spanish Government and the European Branch of the BSAA our full cooperation in this matter."
"Sorry President Benford, the North American BSAA pledges full support into this investigation. What can I do for you, Minister Anton?"
Deputy Prime Minister Rosa Anton nods and replies, "We need access to all information regarding the missions both teams were working on."
"Afraid I can't do that. Chris and Jill keep their work personal. Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield were investigating a bioweapon sale in Paris a few days ago. How they ended up in Spain is a mystery to me, sorry," Reed keeps a straight face but inside his blood is boiling with rage.
As President Benford takes over to confirm what Reed has just said, the director of the BSAA finds himself cursing the Redfields and their compatriots. More so though, Cranston starts to hate President Benford; the man has become too enthralled by the power of his position and is risking ruining Cranston's career to save face in the eyes of the public. The two of them bonded over their love for Adam's daughter, brought into their fight against bioweapons and Chris Redfield by her death. The pain still hides in his heart for his dead love, but her death was necessary to fully bring Adam over to his side. Using his power as Director of the BSAA, Cranston backed Adam Benford's bid for the presidency, joining him at the victory ceremony when they announced him as the winner.
"Would you agree with that sentiment, Cranston?" he nods and responds positively before delving back into his hate.
To see a longtime friend turning his back on him is just infuriating as his anger grows deeper and deeper, but Cranston forces it down and smiles at the camera, "Yes ma'am, I will attempt to call them back again. Yes, if I fail, you have my authorization to use lethal force to neutralize the unknown threat they present."
As both lines are disconnected, Cranston turns toward the large window overlooking the city below, "If Los Illuminados fails to reinvigorate the threat bioweapons face… They can't fail."
11
"So, yeah, what do we do now?" Leon stares down the long drop to the rocky waters below as Chris punches a tree nearby.
"There was a village nearby; maybe we could rent a boat?" Jill's idea is squandered as Leon mentions the thought of a large Plaga-infected water monster.
Chris steps up to the edge, his eyes focusing on the ship anchored a bit offshore, "We need to get onto that boat… Claire is on there, I know it."
"Doesn't help us get there…" Leon sighs as he tries to think of a way to get across the expanse separating him from Claire.
As Chris and Jill discuss ideas for ways to access the freighter in the distance, Leon sits down at the edge of the cliff and stares at the boat floating out on what appear to be calm waters. Claire is almost within reach and the former cop can't stand it, he needs to see her, make sure she is safe. Leon finds himself realizing he took it all for granted; everything from the smell of her hair, the warmth she adds to the room or car they both occupy, even the annoying attempts she made to sing songs she didn't know the lyrics too. Leon grunts in frustration and punches the dirt with his right hand, his eyes flashing as he hears something jingle in his pocket. His fingers pull out from the pocket tangled in the golden chain of the necklace he had made for her for her birthday. He completely forgot that he never actually gave it back to her after their talk on top of the SUV, a small smile crossing his lips as he thinks back fondly on that night.
"Guys, we need to risk it. Let's head down to that village," Leon ushers his two friends in the direction of the village, finding his eyes focused on the large plume of smoke crawling over the trees and into the darkening sky.
11
Sherry stares at the wall as her left index finger slowly rolls a pencil back and forth, her mind not able to focus on much of anything, let alone what they want her to write, "Write a letter to your friend. Telling her to cooperate. Give her hope. Why give her hope?"
Blue eyes drop down to the single word she's been able to write since they dropped the pencil and single piece of white stationary in front of her, "Hope. I had hope once… When I was first taken…"
That single phrase, 'I had hope once', echoes through her mind and the pencil drops from her grip, bouncing off the table before hitting the floor, "Oh fuck…"
Sherry begins to write the letter they requested, putting everything they want into it, the right words working into her mind as she flips the page over and continues pouring everything onto the paper. Tears fall from her eyes as Sherry scribbles a note just for Claire in the bottom right corner. Before she can offer it to the man before her he rips it from the table and storms out, the door slamming loudly at his exit.
"Damn it all, Claire… I'm so sorry…"
11
Claire groans as she is awaken by the ship swaying due to being hit by a large wave, "Hello?"
The feeling that someone else is in the room rings true as a voice speaks up, "I'm sorry Claire. Sorry for what they are putting you through on my account. Do not worry though, Chris and Leon are coming for you. Keep strong and don't give up, Claire."
The voice appears before her, sitting a wooden chair down before taking a seat and smiling at the bound woman, "Must be nice to be cared about, hmm? I've never known what that feels like, growing up on the streets, taken by those who would only use me to their own means. You though, you have a family, a support system. You, Claire, have love. She seeks to give you hope, but there is none here, no hope for the wicked my dear…"
"Hope is always the last thing to go," Claire cringes as the man erupts into laughter that is just too loud for her cramped and silent room.
"Life is the last thing to go. Hope is before that. Know what is usually the first thing to go? Pride. You give up fighting and use all that strength to cling to the hope of rescue. I know a thing or two about that…" a snap fills the air before the door to her cell is flung open and random goon number three hands a folder to the doctor before her.
"Ah, a gift, a sign of good faith if you will," the man stands on his chair and hangs something from the ceiling.
"Never say we haven't been gracious hosts…" he exits promptly, leaving Claire with a large photo of Chris, Jill, and Leon in what appears to be a small village, guns poised to fire at something off-shot.
END