Chapter 5: The madman is revealed
When Lucas came to, he was tied to a bed and handcuffed to Philip who had not yet awakened. He was in a bedroom of some sort. Everything was top quality. It was as if he were imprisoned in a mansion, this made no sense at all. Moments later Lucas realized he was not alone. A burnt out looking man stood in the shadows his face partially obscured, but it was clear he had been up for days without sleep and looked quite mad. "Where am I" asked Lucas, "my brother, is he alright". "Don't worry about your brother" said the man quietly. "I am Anubis Lynch of the Dupont Company, this is my home". "You are quite the resourceful boy aren't you? I was certain no one would make it out of that city alive. You have caused me quite a bit of trouble you know. I had to send my personal guard after you, you should be ashamed of yourself". "Were you the one watching us through the camera" asked Lucas frightened and confused. "Why didn't you do anything to help us if you could see what was going on?" "Help," asked Anubis stunned. "Why would I do a thing like that, that outbreak was my greatest accomplishment, why on earth would I help you"? "You, You did this, how, why?" asked Lucas not believing any human could be so evil they would willingly cause the destruction this man had caused. "Allow me to explain," said the mysterious man as if his motivations ought to be completely clear to all but the feeblest minded. "What you witnessed as your little friend from umbrella has probably already informed you was the work of the T virus, a mutagenic virus that turns the living into undead zombies". "This virus was originally discovered by Umbrella and tested for military uses, can you believe that, they want to make this virus into some army commander's plaything, you see, all they care about is money, lining their pockets with gold off the suffering of others, doesn't it make you sick". "I don't understand," said Lucas confused, "you unleashed the virus yourself, yet you condemn Umbrella for the very same thing". Dark clouds of anger settled over Anubis' features at Lucas' accusation. "I do regret having to destroy your little town, but it was how is it called collateral damage, you see I have a vision. Umbrella, and sadly to say my own employers were thieves and killers, I tried to enlighten them to my ideals, but they just couldn't see, so I had to eliminate them. But I am different, I am a humanitarian, a crusader, I seek nothing but god's divine will". "And god's will is this genocide, what are you going to do, infect the whole world?" asked Lucas dumbfounded. "Once more you don't understand" said Anubis impatiently, "God, himself has spoken to me, he was in pain, so much pain. I asked him what I could do to end his pain, and he told me the very presence of the sinners on his great earth ate away at him like cancer. And the only way to cleanse humanity was to exterminate the sinners". "This virus you see, is not the normal T virus, it is my own creation. The T virus is a very inefficient weapon, because it kills everything, everyone, beggars and kings all the same. My virus is smarter, more selective". "The virus itself was released in the air by weather balloons infecting every living thing in the state, but that was only the beginning. Lying dormant in your cells, the virus awaits its catalyst, the one thing that sets it off. This was dispersed in your city's water supply, the people drank the water and thus, well I'm sure you know what happened next better than I do". "What you witnessed here was only the beginning. Just as in the bible, god visited seven plagues upon Egypt. I will follow his lead and spread the virus to all corners of this world and deliver it an ultimatum. All citizens of the earth must embrace Jesus Christ as their one true savior or I will deliver them into the hell their godless souls demand. This way, if the people are trying to trick me by being believers in name only I will deliver them to the fires just as those heretics who resist from the start". "Your insane" said Lucas trying his best to break free of his restraints. "Insane" laughed Anubis, "I am a visionary, remember, they called Jesus insane to, and Joan of ark, all who follow the path of the righteous are doomed to bear the burden of humanities hatred, YOU MURDERED CHRIST for god's sake" screamed Anubis losing his composure but quickly regaining it. "You'll see, your brother is not merely sleeping, I have given him the second part of the virus. It is only a matter of time now, when your brother becomes one of those monsters, you'll witness the fate of the sinners, God demands the sinners blood, the blood of the sinners will water the earth like rain, the greatest Genocide this world has ever known will begin with you!!!!!!!" With his last explosion of anger, Anubis left Lucas alone with the unconscious Phillip. Lucas was desperate, this madman was going to destroy everything and he could do nothing to stop it, it seemed only divine intervention would free him.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the mansion, a deafening explosion shook the walls as eight armed and camouflaged soldiers burst into the mansion through the windows. Dressed in all black they looked more like ghosts than people. The only color on their uniforms being a large red and white emblem of an open umbrella on their backs. They moved with the efficiency and order of robots, they had their mission; they would accomplish it and leave nothing would stand in their way. "Do you have a read on the samples" barked the leader to one of the subordinates. "The samples are directly beneath us," reported the soldier, "This Anubis must have locked them in the labs somewhere". "We'd better hurry then," said the leader, "We need these boys alive, otherwise their useless to the company, there is no telling how long Anubis will want to play with his new toys before he loses interest and discards of them". "Don't worry said the subordinate trying to be reassuring, "I've read Anubis' file, I don't think he will kill them, at least not yet, he wants an audience, not a sacrifice. He wants someone to witness whatever it is he is planning, so he needs them alive maybe even more than we do". They continued on in silence from then on. They knew exactly where they were going. Months before, when Umbrella realized Dupont was trying to match their T virus research a mole was sent into the Dupont labs to work there and update umbrella on all advancements made in the lab. Their mole was charged with obtaining a sample of the new virus. But after this scientist Anubis overthrew and killed off his peers, the only option left to umbrella was to wait for Dupont to implement its test and try to pick up one of the survivors. They had sent John King in, an ex con who used to be known as the Coatesville stalker. The team leader felt this had been a mistake, but given the nature of their work, often the best and only options were society's more unstable citizens. This unfortunate rule applied to the scientists as well as the guards. Crazies like John and Anubis finding high-ranking positions in their respective companies was far more frequent then he liked to admit. He knew Umbrella was playing with fire. It was only a matter of time before they all got burned. But like the others he was paid to take orders, not to think. And his own past wasn't exactly clean either, so he had to make due.
The trail led them deeper and deeper into the mansion. They did not expect to meet any resistance since the security, as well as the other scientists were long dead. Anubis, the only real threat left wouldn't dare take on an armed platoon by himself, that and the fact that he no longer needed the mansion. Now he had the data he needed from his tests, he would likely abandon the base with the virus. At last the commando team reached the Dupont labs, which bizarrely had been built right into the existing mansion and not under it as the umbrella labs were built. The leader kicked the door of the room containing the samples and found both boys, tied to each other. One was struggling to get free and the other deep asleep. Without saying a word, the leader broke the binds between the two boys and picked the struggling conscious one with him. "Shouldn't we take the second one" asked the subordinate. "Too risky" said the leader, "besides, he has been infected already, he is no use to us anymore". Almost in response to the leaders concern, Phillip's unconscious body began to convulse violently as if he were suffering from a terrible seizure. When his body stopped shaking, Phillips eyes were cold and glassy like marbles. A trickle of blood ran from his mouth as his body jerked one last time. Lucas shut his eyes tightly so he would not have to see his brother hurt. Lucas was too tired to resist. He let them carry him out of the bedroom. At least any place was better than this creepy mansion. If he planned to make an escape it would be better to wait until they were outside anyway. The commandos were talking among themselves. Barking orders, something about a secret in a bedroom. He was too drugged to make any sense of it so he concentrated on his plan of escape. Lucas didn't have long to contemplate his escape. Before his captors had even left the floor they picked him up from, a deafening roar of rage echoed from his former prison. Within moments the door burst inward off its hinges. Phillip stood in the doorway, now almost eight feet tall with muscles and veins bulging unnaturally from his body, which had changed almost beyond recognition. The soldiers panicked and began to fire at him blindly trying to drive the beast back. In the chaos of the firefight, Lucas was dropped and forgotten about. Without thinking, he grabbed the weapon of one of the downed soldiers ran as fast as he could away from the fighting getting lost deeper and deeper in the gigantic estate. Lucas realized that the area of the mansion he was in now was very different from the rest. The other wings were run down and decrepit, while this wing seemed to be meticulously if not obsessively clean. This must be where Anubis lives eats and sleeps, his most secrete hideaway. The thought chilled Lucas. He didn't want to know what secrets the madman kept where he thought no one would ever see them. He almost considered going back the way he had come when he realized he was not alone. Anubis was messing with some secret safe, the contents appeared to be samples of the very virus he unleashed on Coatesville. Lucas counted sixteen vials, more than enough to infect the entire world. "Stop right there" yelled Lucas as he aimed the injection gun at the fleeing Anubis. "I swear, I'll shoot you where you stand. I don't think you want to find out what this poison does to a normal healthy human. You are going to pay for what you did to my brother". "Go ahead, just try," said Anubis in a mocking tone. "You can't touch me, I have god's blessing and protection, you are nothing but a mere insect to me". To prove his point, Anubis walked directly up to Lucas and pushes the barrel of the injection gun to his heart. "Even if the likes of you could touch me, you wouldn't have the guts to do it. Go on, kill me if you're so sure of your moral superiority". Lucas couldn't move, he knew the madman was right. He wasn't a killer. He couldn't take someone down in cold blood even if he did just hurt his brother and countless other innocent people. "Pathetic" laughed Anubis as he took the gun away from Lucas. He had the gun now. He could just walk out unopposed and leave the facility through his personal escape rout leaving Lucas to be captured by the umbrella soldiers who even now must be making their way to his position. The urge to take this man down even if it was murder filled Lucas till he almost hurt physically. He felt he could do it in a heartbeat now and not feel a moment of guilt. But all of that was meaningless now that he no longer had the gun. "Just as I thought," laughed Anubis as he pocketed the gun and walked past Lucas with the remaining virus samples. "Remember this boy, what you have witnessed here is only the beginning. With this virus and god on my side, nothing can stop me now". Anubis' laugher was cut short as Phillip broke clean through the wall and roared in inhuman rage as he focused his gaze on Anubis. "Dear god" muttered Anubis almost speechless. "You've become a tyrant, a being of pure evil, but you still can't touch me. I have the protection of god". Anubis did not raise the gun at Phillip. Instead he held his crucifix in front of him as if it alone had the power to protect him from any harm. It didn't. Lucas watched in fascinated horror as Phillip reached out and grabbed Anubis and smashed him against the wall like a rag doll. His limp form fell to the ground, the injection gun lying uselessly on the floor. "Phillip, your alive" cried Lucas overjoyed. Even though he was changed, he was still alive there was still hope. Phillip turned on Lucas and screamed in animal rage. Only inches from the beast's eyes, Lucas knew immediately that this thing was not his brother. There was no trace of life or intelligence in those eyes, only mindless rage and hunger. Lucas dove at Anubis' lifeless body and pulled out the gun as the Phillip monster smashed a hole in the floor where he had been moments before. "I don't know who or what you are," said Lucas as he aimed the gun at the monster's pulsating heart. "But you are not my brother, and you are not stopping me". Lucas fired all six vials of anti BOW gas into the beast's heart as it gasped in surprise and fell to the ground. There was no emotion in the beast's last sound. Not pain, not sadness, only the meaningless escape of air from it's deflating body. For better or worse, it was all over, and Lucas was still alive.
When Lucas came to, he was tied to a bed and handcuffed to Philip who had not yet awakened. He was in a bedroom of some sort. Everything was top quality. It was as if he were imprisoned in a mansion, this made no sense at all. Moments later Lucas realized he was not alone. A burnt out looking man stood in the shadows his face partially obscured, but it was clear he had been up for days without sleep and looked quite mad. "Where am I" asked Lucas, "my brother, is he alright". "Don't worry about your brother" said the man quietly. "I am Anubis Lynch of the Dupont Company, this is my home". "You are quite the resourceful boy aren't you? I was certain no one would make it out of that city alive. You have caused me quite a bit of trouble you know. I had to send my personal guard after you, you should be ashamed of yourself". "Were you the one watching us through the camera" asked Lucas frightened and confused. "Why didn't you do anything to help us if you could see what was going on?" "Help," asked Anubis stunned. "Why would I do a thing like that, that outbreak was my greatest accomplishment, why on earth would I help you"? "You, You did this, how, why?" asked Lucas not believing any human could be so evil they would willingly cause the destruction this man had caused. "Allow me to explain," said the mysterious man as if his motivations ought to be completely clear to all but the feeblest minded. "What you witnessed as your little friend from umbrella has probably already informed you was the work of the T virus, a mutagenic virus that turns the living into undead zombies". "This virus was originally discovered by Umbrella and tested for military uses, can you believe that, they want to make this virus into some army commander's plaything, you see, all they care about is money, lining their pockets with gold off the suffering of others, doesn't it make you sick". "I don't understand," said Lucas confused, "you unleashed the virus yourself, yet you condemn Umbrella for the very same thing". Dark clouds of anger settled over Anubis' features at Lucas' accusation. "I do regret having to destroy your little town, but it was how is it called collateral damage, you see I have a vision. Umbrella, and sadly to say my own employers were thieves and killers, I tried to enlighten them to my ideals, but they just couldn't see, so I had to eliminate them. But I am different, I am a humanitarian, a crusader, I seek nothing but god's divine will". "And god's will is this genocide, what are you going to do, infect the whole world?" asked Lucas dumbfounded. "Once more you don't understand" said Anubis impatiently, "God, himself has spoken to me, he was in pain, so much pain. I asked him what I could do to end his pain, and he told me the very presence of the sinners on his great earth ate away at him like cancer. And the only way to cleanse humanity was to exterminate the sinners". "This virus you see, is not the normal T virus, it is my own creation. The T virus is a very inefficient weapon, because it kills everything, everyone, beggars and kings all the same. My virus is smarter, more selective". "The virus itself was released in the air by weather balloons infecting every living thing in the state, but that was only the beginning. Lying dormant in your cells, the virus awaits its catalyst, the one thing that sets it off. This was dispersed in your city's water supply, the people drank the water and thus, well I'm sure you know what happened next better than I do". "What you witnessed here was only the beginning. Just as in the bible, god visited seven plagues upon Egypt. I will follow his lead and spread the virus to all corners of this world and deliver it an ultimatum. All citizens of the earth must embrace Jesus Christ as their one true savior or I will deliver them into the hell their godless souls demand. This way, if the people are trying to trick me by being believers in name only I will deliver them to the fires just as those heretics who resist from the start". "Your insane" said Lucas trying his best to break free of his restraints. "Insane" laughed Anubis, "I am a visionary, remember, they called Jesus insane to, and Joan of ark, all who follow the path of the righteous are doomed to bear the burden of humanities hatred, YOU MURDERED CHRIST for god's sake" screamed Anubis losing his composure but quickly regaining it. "You'll see, your brother is not merely sleeping, I have given him the second part of the virus. It is only a matter of time now, when your brother becomes one of those monsters, you'll witness the fate of the sinners, God demands the sinners blood, the blood of the sinners will water the earth like rain, the greatest Genocide this world has ever known will begin with you!!!!!!!" With his last explosion of anger, Anubis left Lucas alone with the unconscious Phillip. Lucas was desperate, this madman was going to destroy everything and he could do nothing to stop it, it seemed only divine intervention would free him.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the mansion, a deafening explosion shook the walls as eight armed and camouflaged soldiers burst into the mansion through the windows. Dressed in all black they looked more like ghosts than people. The only color on their uniforms being a large red and white emblem of an open umbrella on their backs. They moved with the efficiency and order of robots, they had their mission; they would accomplish it and leave nothing would stand in their way. "Do you have a read on the samples" barked the leader to one of the subordinates. "The samples are directly beneath us," reported the soldier, "This Anubis must have locked them in the labs somewhere". "We'd better hurry then," said the leader, "We need these boys alive, otherwise their useless to the company, there is no telling how long Anubis will want to play with his new toys before he loses interest and discards of them". "Don't worry said the subordinate trying to be reassuring, "I've read Anubis' file, I don't think he will kill them, at least not yet, he wants an audience, not a sacrifice. He wants someone to witness whatever it is he is planning, so he needs them alive maybe even more than we do". They continued on in silence from then on. They knew exactly where they were going. Months before, when Umbrella realized Dupont was trying to match their T virus research a mole was sent into the Dupont labs to work there and update umbrella on all advancements made in the lab. Their mole was charged with obtaining a sample of the new virus. But after this scientist Anubis overthrew and killed off his peers, the only option left to umbrella was to wait for Dupont to implement its test and try to pick up one of the survivors. They had sent John King in, an ex con who used to be known as the Coatesville stalker. The team leader felt this had been a mistake, but given the nature of their work, often the best and only options were society's more unstable citizens. This unfortunate rule applied to the scientists as well as the guards. Crazies like John and Anubis finding high-ranking positions in their respective companies was far more frequent then he liked to admit. He knew Umbrella was playing with fire. It was only a matter of time before they all got burned. But like the others he was paid to take orders, not to think. And his own past wasn't exactly clean either, so he had to make due.
The trail led them deeper and deeper into the mansion. They did not expect to meet any resistance since the security, as well as the other scientists were long dead. Anubis, the only real threat left wouldn't dare take on an armed platoon by himself, that and the fact that he no longer needed the mansion. Now he had the data he needed from his tests, he would likely abandon the base with the virus. At last the commando team reached the Dupont labs, which bizarrely had been built right into the existing mansion and not under it as the umbrella labs were built. The leader kicked the door of the room containing the samples and found both boys, tied to each other. One was struggling to get free and the other deep asleep. Without saying a word, the leader broke the binds between the two boys and picked the struggling conscious one with him. "Shouldn't we take the second one" asked the subordinate. "Too risky" said the leader, "besides, he has been infected already, he is no use to us anymore". Almost in response to the leaders concern, Phillip's unconscious body began to convulse violently as if he were suffering from a terrible seizure. When his body stopped shaking, Phillips eyes were cold and glassy like marbles. A trickle of blood ran from his mouth as his body jerked one last time. Lucas shut his eyes tightly so he would not have to see his brother hurt. Lucas was too tired to resist. He let them carry him out of the bedroom. At least any place was better than this creepy mansion. If he planned to make an escape it would be better to wait until they were outside anyway. The commandos were talking among themselves. Barking orders, something about a secret in a bedroom. He was too drugged to make any sense of it so he concentrated on his plan of escape. Lucas didn't have long to contemplate his escape. Before his captors had even left the floor they picked him up from, a deafening roar of rage echoed from his former prison. Within moments the door burst inward off its hinges. Phillip stood in the doorway, now almost eight feet tall with muscles and veins bulging unnaturally from his body, which had changed almost beyond recognition. The soldiers panicked and began to fire at him blindly trying to drive the beast back. In the chaos of the firefight, Lucas was dropped and forgotten about. Without thinking, he grabbed the weapon of one of the downed soldiers ran as fast as he could away from the fighting getting lost deeper and deeper in the gigantic estate. Lucas realized that the area of the mansion he was in now was very different from the rest. The other wings were run down and decrepit, while this wing seemed to be meticulously if not obsessively clean. This must be where Anubis lives eats and sleeps, his most secrete hideaway. The thought chilled Lucas. He didn't want to know what secrets the madman kept where he thought no one would ever see them. He almost considered going back the way he had come when he realized he was not alone. Anubis was messing with some secret safe, the contents appeared to be samples of the very virus he unleashed on Coatesville. Lucas counted sixteen vials, more than enough to infect the entire world. "Stop right there" yelled Lucas as he aimed the injection gun at the fleeing Anubis. "I swear, I'll shoot you where you stand. I don't think you want to find out what this poison does to a normal healthy human. You are going to pay for what you did to my brother". "Go ahead, just try," said Anubis in a mocking tone. "You can't touch me, I have god's blessing and protection, you are nothing but a mere insect to me". To prove his point, Anubis walked directly up to Lucas and pushes the barrel of the injection gun to his heart. "Even if the likes of you could touch me, you wouldn't have the guts to do it. Go on, kill me if you're so sure of your moral superiority". Lucas couldn't move, he knew the madman was right. He wasn't a killer. He couldn't take someone down in cold blood even if he did just hurt his brother and countless other innocent people. "Pathetic" laughed Anubis as he took the gun away from Lucas. He had the gun now. He could just walk out unopposed and leave the facility through his personal escape rout leaving Lucas to be captured by the umbrella soldiers who even now must be making their way to his position. The urge to take this man down even if it was murder filled Lucas till he almost hurt physically. He felt he could do it in a heartbeat now and not feel a moment of guilt. But all of that was meaningless now that he no longer had the gun. "Just as I thought," laughed Anubis as he pocketed the gun and walked past Lucas with the remaining virus samples. "Remember this boy, what you have witnessed here is only the beginning. With this virus and god on my side, nothing can stop me now". Anubis' laugher was cut short as Phillip broke clean through the wall and roared in inhuman rage as he focused his gaze on Anubis. "Dear god" muttered Anubis almost speechless. "You've become a tyrant, a being of pure evil, but you still can't touch me. I have the protection of god". Anubis did not raise the gun at Phillip. Instead he held his crucifix in front of him as if it alone had the power to protect him from any harm. It didn't. Lucas watched in fascinated horror as Phillip reached out and grabbed Anubis and smashed him against the wall like a rag doll. His limp form fell to the ground, the injection gun lying uselessly on the floor. "Phillip, your alive" cried Lucas overjoyed. Even though he was changed, he was still alive there was still hope. Phillip turned on Lucas and screamed in animal rage. Only inches from the beast's eyes, Lucas knew immediately that this thing was not his brother. There was no trace of life or intelligence in those eyes, only mindless rage and hunger. Lucas dove at Anubis' lifeless body and pulled out the gun as the Phillip monster smashed a hole in the floor where he had been moments before. "I don't know who or what you are," said Lucas as he aimed the gun at the monster's pulsating heart. "But you are not my brother, and you are not stopping me". Lucas fired all six vials of anti BOW gas into the beast's heart as it gasped in surprise and fell to the ground. There was no emotion in the beast's last sound. Not pain, not sadness, only the meaningless escape of air from it's deflating body. For better or worse, it was all over, and Lucas was still alive.