LEON
Deadly rain
"Operation Omega huh?" Claire asked, almost casually.
"Yeah - Don't know exactly what it involves, but I just work for them"
We eyed him dubiously.
I was about to say something - When something made me look up. A drawn out jet engine.
Jets?
As I looked up, I could see a flight wing of approximately nine black aircraft - bombers it seemed to me in a standard arrow formation hammering across the sky at quite an unsafe speed. They were far above us, so Claire and I watched as the black aircraft cruised overhead - and then suddenly, the sky was filled with silver dots, looking like crystallised ants eggs as they came closer.
"Hey..." Claire said "...I don't think those are ours"
"No shit" I muttered as the dots grew larger, and they spilled out over the city. There was a whoosh as one thudded into the ground to our left, and another loud thud as another embedded itself in the road beside us. As we looked, we saw that they were enormous canisters, some larger than the others - and all of them looking foreboding. Another crashed into a building, crunching straight through the brick building before thundering into the ground, leaving devastation behind it.
"Hey! Watch out for those things!" I yelled as more canisters thundered down around us.
The jeep screeched to the left and to the right for about ten more seconds - before the rain of canisters ceased.
As we drove on, I looked at some canisters that had landed on the bridge we were just crossing. They hissed for a moment - Before metal doors slid open in the canisters. To our horror, to the accompaniment of an inhuman screech, out leapt two hunters. They threw back their heads and screamed, sending shivers down my spine.
"What the-?" Hunk asked softly, before raising his voice "Nobody said anything about THIS at the briefing!!"
One of the hunters leapt for the jeep, its claws screeching up the paintwork before a shot from Claire's shotgun reminded it not to hitchhike without permission.
"Is the other one chasing us?" Claire asked, reloading her shotgun with spare shells.
I looked over her shoulder.
"Correction - Are the other eight chasing us"
She frowned for a second, before her eyes widened and she spun around to see what I saw. Eight hunters, all from the crashed canisters were sprinting down the bridge towards us as we sped onwards - all of who were catching up at a ridiculous pace.
"You got any ideas?!" Hunk called back, cursing as he smashed the right wing mirror off the jeep.
"Any heavy weapons back here?" I asked.
"There's a rocket launcher and a heavy-machine gun under some blankets. Use them as you will" he replied, and then concentrated on the road again.
Claire and I saw two brown bundles on the back of the jeep, and we quickly unwrapped them. Inside were precisely what Hunk said there were - A rocket launcher, with eight spare rounds, and a heavy-machine gun with two-hundred bullets.
"Save the rocket launcher" Claire said "We'll probably need it at some point"
I nodded.
"Let's set up the machine-gun and use that"
We set the enormous weapon up on its tripod, and loaded it.
"Who's going to fire it?" Claire asked.
"I will" I said "You use your shotgun to take off any other creatures that get too close"
She nodded, and I grasped the weapon in my hands, my eye looking down the immense barrel towards the road and the advancing Hunters.
I pulled the trigger, and the vicious staccato braying of the gun filled the air and as the enormous weapon jerked viciously in my grip as I barely aimed the enormous thing towards the road, and as I looked through the sights I could see that three hunters fell back, bodies laced with bullet fire, blood spraying from every wound. I hit two more, but after that my aim became pretty lousy.
I just couldn't hit anything, and it was only after a lucky shot I took down another one. The other two persistently chased us, horrible mouths open in a gesture of attack. I stopped firing for a moment, and looked up to see one jump, and then latch on to the jeep with one claw, sinking its claw deep into the metal of the jeep. Claire pointed her shotgun at its hand.
"Get off" she said simply, and pulled the trigger. The explosion tore the hunter's hand from its body in a matter of moments, and it was sent tumbling onto the road, rolling before it hit the other hunter. As we sped away, I watched the other hunter viciously attack its teammate, but then we were off the bridge and left the two furiously fighting creatures behind.
"Good fighting!" Hunk called "Just about as good as I could do once!"
I gave Claire a despairing look.
"I think Mr. Hunk needs to get off his high horse for a while" I muttered.
"No kidding" Claire replied, quietly.
We were driving along the riverbank, I held onto Claire as the jeep screamed down the road, and took a sudden left hand turn as we reached the bottom of the road, Claire and I holding onto the sides as the jeep lurched to the left.
"Do you really have to take turns so sharply?!" Claire asked Hunk, annoyed.
"It's better than giving way!" Hunk called back, obviously enjoying himself.
I rolled my eyes. Hunk was proving to be a good fighter, the 'king' of comedy and an extremely bad driver.
Hunk hadn't given up with speed obviously, and it was this point when I was wondering if we'd gone the right way.
"Claire?" I asked her.
"What?"
"How long did it take you to get from Hotel Paradis to the asylum?"
"About...twenty-five minutes I think, why?"
"Because Mr. Hunk here appears to be taking us on one hell of a detour - We've been driving for half an hour already!"
Claire nodded, understanding.
"You're right, actually...I'll ask him"
She leaned over to Hunk.
"Hey! You sure you know where we're going?"
"Yeah!" he replied "You took a more direct route - Since then the whole goddamn street's caught fire! We've been forced to detour!"
"Okay..." Claire said, and then suddenly she turned back to Hunk "Hey! How did you know which road I took?"
Hunk sighed.
"Alright, so I haven't been honest with you totally - I arrived sometime yesterday early afternoon, I was told that I would need to be ready to rescue some civilians, and while I was looking around I saw you go out of the Hotel, get in a car and drive off down the main road. From the Hotel, it does take about twenty-five minutes. About half an hour later, two tankers collided in that road, and now half the district's in flames! Although I don't think the Hotel was hit, it was mostly out of the radius" he said, presumably remembering that both Sherry and Claire were in the Hotel.
"Let's just hope the fire hasn't reached the Hotel" Claire whispered, and I squeezed her hand.
"I'm sure they haven't" I said, softly.
There was a scream from the tyres as Hunk took the jeep screeching around the right hand corner, which took us to the other side of the jeep once again.
Then, as we drove along, we saw some extremely large metal canisters embedded deep into the road to our left. These canisters, I noticed, were much larger than the hunter containers...I felt a chill penetrate my gut.
"Claire..." I muttered "What do you think those canisters could be used for" It was not a question.
"I've got an idea..." she replied.
"Do you think we should tell Hunk?"
"Uh...well it's not confirmed - but I guess we'd better tell him"
I crawled up to the cab.
"Hunk? You see those canisters?"
"Uh-huh?"
"Well...they could belong to-"
There was rumble in the air.
Hunk stopped the jeep so we could listen closer to the sound. Apart from the moaning of zombies, and distant screams, it was one of the only other sounds.
It was quiet, but deep at first. The deep bass noise was slow, almost rhythmic. Then, it began to speed up slightly. As smoothly as the first had arrived, an identical sound added to this layer, so it became thicker. We listened carefully to the deep bass sounds.
Boom...boom...boom...
Rhythmic...Almost like...
Claire and I exchanged horrified glances, and then turned to Hunk.
"Hunk!! Drive fast, drive very, very fast!!"
"What are you-?" Hunk began, before he was cut off by a crash from a nearby building.
We all turned, to see a fairly large office block with a gaping hole in its mass, making the building look as if it had been hit by a cruise missile. Bits of debris were littered around its concrete and glass structure - and then there was another crash which billowed dust out onto the street, and send pieces of rubble and glass flying through the air.
Almost choking on the dust, we looked up to see the demonic, but horribly familiar figure of a Tyrant. It was a perfected Tyrant, a variation on the version I'd met in one last-ditch battle in Raccoon City. Its huge and muscular body was coloured dull grey, but its skin darker around the chest area where the skin was thicker. Pulsing beneath that was its evil heart, its face a mask of malevolence.
It threw back its head and two huge claws, and roared its terrible war cry...and charged.
"GO! GO!!" Claire yelled as the creature charged us.
Hunk needed very little prompting, he smashed his foot down on the pedal, and the tyres screamed in protest as Hunk forced the jeep into motion.
The Tyrant chased just behind us, it was amazingly fast, its quick and nimble steps almost a mockery of its enormous form. I heard the engine roar as Hunk sped the jeep ever faster, but with every screeching roar, the Tyrant got closer.
"IT'S CATCHING UP HUNK!! GO FASTER GODDAMNIT!!"
"USE THE FRIGGING ROCKET LAUNCHER!!!" Hunk screamed as he forced the jeep to go faster. Not long before we hit maximum speed, I thought, as the wind rushed past me in a gale.
Claire grabbed the rocket launcher
I watched the Tyrant in a combination of awe and horror - So fast!
When I snapped out of it, I was aware it was getting closer, so I propped up the heavy-machine gun.
"Okay..." Claire aimed very carefully, balancing the rocket launcher on her shoulder "Just a little closer, my friend..."
Suddenly, the gradient of the road changed and we were suddenly going up a slope.
I saw Claire visibly wince.
"Gah! Lost the damned aim!"
The Tyrant followed us effortlessly, charging up the slope with its thundering bounds.
It swiped with its hand, its claws whistling through the air, missing my skin by millimetres.
We edged back, and just as we thought the Tyrant would get the better of us, Hunk brought the wheel around so hard the jeep almost wiped out, but the screeching tyres obeyed us again, and despite the scream of protest from the burning rubber, Hunk took us around a sharp right angle successfully, the jeep balancing neatly on two wheels at an angle before thumping down onto all four wheels once again. It was a good move, but Claire and I had nearly fallen totally out of the jeep.
"You're out of your mind!!" I yelled at Hunk as he sped us off down the road, the Tyrant still in pursuit but somewhat further away as Claire fumbled with the launcher.
"Instead of losing it with me, I suggest you work out how to fire the damned Rocket Launcher!!" Hunk angrily shot back.
Claire glared at our maniac driver, and aimed carefully at the Tyrant.
"He's in my sights...it's looking good...FIRING!"
There was a whoosh of air as a rocket hawked out of the launch tube, and sped off towards the Tyrant leaving a white smoke vapour trail behind. The rocket thudded into the Tyrant's head, and in a deafening explosion disintegrated its skull in a flurry of gore.
"YES!!" Claire cheered.
"Great shot!!" I was grinning like a madman, and kissed her forcefully on the lips as she lowered the launcher.
There was another deep rumble as we drove along the inner city bridge - We suddenly remembered there had been three canisters of the same size...
"Oh shit" I muttered, as the entire bridge shook. Suddenly, as if we were experiencing our own private earthquake, the ground split open, pieces of tarmac crumbling to the open gap below as the hole became wider like a fatal wound.
Hunk swerved sharply to the left, and managed to get past the crack just as it tore open underneath the tyres. As we drew clear of the crack, I looked back. A huge, lethal looking clawed hand, spikes glistening orange in the heat of the fires down below thudded up onto the road way, and then a second Tyrant, identical to the first leapt onto the road, crouching as it landed. Then, with one deafening scream, it rose up and the creature charged us.
Unnerved by the second Tyrant that was rapidly gaining on us one again, Claire raised the rocket launcher again...and fired.
Her aim had been affected by the appearance of the second Tyrant, the rocket streaked wide of the Tyrant and smashed into a building standing by the raised roadway, the explosion tearing a decent sized hole in the office building. But this wasn't the focus of our attentions, as Claire reloaded the rocket launcher and, hands shaking, tried again.
"Damn!!" she cried out as the rocket missed the creature's head by inches and shot off into the distance.
She was about to fire again, when I grasped her arm.
"No, don't fire again - There may be a third one coming, so we'd better save any ammo we've got"
"But I can hit it!" she insisted.
"I didn't say you couldn't, my love" I said softly "But we're low on ammunition - So save it until the shot's a certain hit"
She looked as if she was about to argue, but then she thought better of it.
"Okay" she said, nodding "Let's wait 'til he's really close, huh?"
She grinned, and I grinned back.
"Okay, we're coming off the roadway!!" Hunk yelled back "We're taking another little detour!!!" he sounded almost euphoric during the second part of his sentence.
Claire and I exchanged glances again.
"What does he mean a little detour-AAAAH!" I was cut off by the fact the jeep was crashing through barriers and cones, which were either knocked to either side or sucked underneath the car, before another sign loomed up before us:
WARNING: BRIDGE INCOMPLETE
"Oh f-" I began, but never finished. It's probably just as well.
The jeep's tyres were suddenly gripping thin air, as the vehicle leapt off part of the incomplete roadway, and for a moment hung in the air before with a spine juddering jolt and screech of metal we landed back on the road below. Grasping onto the side of the jeep, both Claire and I turned to glare at Hunk.
"What exactly was preventing us from using the COMPLETE road?!!" Claire yelled at our driver.
"You want that thing following our most predictable route?!" Hunk yelled back.
I turned back, only to see that the Tyrant had leapt down after us, and was now hammering down the road to catch its prey.
"Hasn't exactly stopped it!" I called back.
I saw Hunk shift in his seat for a moment, mutter something under his breath that sounded vaguely like 'Oh Shit' before I felt the jeep go faster, the engine getting louder than ever.
Then, as we drove furiously onwards, there was the agonised screeching of metal, and as one we turned to see a burning, wrecked truck moving slightly, before it was thrown completely to one side.
I felt something in my stomach buckle and go limp as the third Tyrant, skin laced with flames thrust its left claw into the air, screaming in a war cry.
"TWO of them?" Claire moaned "This just makes the picture perfect!"
The thing lunged for us, its giant claw scraping the ground literally inches from the car, but Hunk expertly edged the car away from the Tyrant's huge claw and we shot past the enormous creature, which then turned to us. Suddenly, there was another roar as the other Tyrant leapt into the air, and, our eyes following its trajectory, it landed right in front of us on both feet, without a single wobble.
There would have been nothing to prevent it bringing its claw down to skewer us on its giant claw. Right there and then, we could have bidden the long so-long. But something changed its mind.
That something was the third Tyrant, who was not at all pleased that another of its kind had tried to move in on its selected prey.
With another war cry, the third Tyrant charged the second Tyrant. As we looked up, the jeep going straight past the legs of the second creature as Hunk took opportunity of the distracted Tyrant, and as we looked on the 3rd Tyrant leapt at our original pursuer, and with one single powerful motion thrust its enormous clump of claws into the other Tyrant, which screamed as the spikes smashed through its back and blood splurted out in scarlet fountains, before the third Tyrant raised its identical twin up into the air, and hurled it into a nearby building with a crash of masonry.
"Damn, that was close..." I muttered, watching the gory scene.
"Could get closer" Claire pointed out, as the third Tyrant gave chase.
So it was down to this. I could hear zombies lurching by the road - And I wasn't surprised that I couldn't hear any Hunters, any Tyrant could swat the Hunters to one side as if they were flies.
Claire's faced hardened, and as the creature got closer and closer, I could see her grip the Rocket launcher, steady as a rock.
She raised it calmly onto her shoulder, and I could see her count down, hear her deep breaths.
There was a click - and then a missile streaked from the launcher as Claire fired, and it hit the Tyrant full on!
The explosion obliterated its body in a moment, the fire disintegrating skin, flesh and bone in a bloody explosion that tore its limbs from its body.
Claire dropped the launcher on the back of the jeep, and collapsed backwards, sighing loudly.
"Well done!!" I said putting my arm around her.
"I really wish..." she said, softly "...That I could just sleep"
"Me too"
I agreed with her totally, I was tired at the moment and really just wanted to relax - We knew the night was FAR from over. Umbrella was still around - we wanted to know why.
SHERRY
Ain't nowhere to run
"STAY BACK, DAMN IT!!"
Chris was screaming, unloading that deafening shotgun of his into the zombies forcing their way through the door, hinges squeaking badly as the moaning hordes outside the door smashed their hands through the wooden door, rotting, decaying hands reaching for us.
I may be a thirteen year old, but if you'd seen all the stuff we'd seen, you'd be terrified too. My nerves, ever since that day a few years ago, are endlessly stretched to snapping point - Unless I'm with my brother, Leon, and his wife and my good friend, Claire.
Chris too was a nice guy - But he seemed a little more dismissive of me than the other two were, so that was why I stuck with Claire and Leon more than the others.
Jill? Well...she seemed sweet and all, but I hardly felt like her first concern. Rebecca's nice, but a little patronising at times. I never really spoke to Barry, but when we did, he was a really nice guy, always smiling and being encouraging. I guess that all boils down to him having daughters of his own.
The door was bursting at the seams, the insistent moaning seeming closer and closer to us. Chris's shotgun was blasting through the doorway, blood dripping down the holes that Chris made (in the door and zombies).
We were walking further back, I was chewing on my hand, incredibly afraid.
"Chris? W-w-where are we gonna go?"
He turned to me.
"Is there a fire exit?"
I turned towards the windows, outside I could indeed see a metal frame clinging to the building like a parasite.
"Yeah...Do you want me to smash the window?"
Okay, so it involves vandalism - But you don't really care when you're on the verge of being eaten by hordes of vicious flesh eating monsters.
"Please!" Chris called, firing again.
I nodded, and ran to find something that could smash the window. A chair? I picked up one of the heavy wooden chairs, and just holding it - I brought it hard against the window. There was a dull thud. Nothing.
I hit it again. There was a dull crack. I looked closely at the window, and saw a small crack in it...maybe a couple more times...I smacked it again, and again and again. The cracks became larger and larger. By the, my arms were getting tired - So I kicked the window as hard as I could, and it just fell around my leg, which I drew back quickly to avoid having my leg sliced open by shards of glass.
"Chris! Quick!"
He nodded, and pushed me out onto the metal structure, into the fresh air and rain.
"Ladies first!" he said.
I ran to the escape ladder that was still slotted into place.
How to release it?
I climbed onto the ladder to find the release catch or whatever. Yeah, I'd been to fire drills, but like every schoolboy and schoolgirl, I'd spent more time knowing that I'd never be trapped in a flaming building.
The irony was horrible to realise.
There's GOT to be some kind pf release catch here...
There was a creak...
Then, suddenly I found myself moving downwards very quickly, clinging to the metal ladder as it shot down. There was a clank and a jolt as I found myself a few inches above the sidewalk.
"Well, I've found the way down!" I called up.
"Look out below!" I heard Chris call, and I stepped back as Chris slid down the ladder in that way they always do in action movies.
There were moans from all around us.
"I think..." Chris said, grabbing my arm and practically dragging me off down the road "...That we'd better get out of here - and pronto"
"Where to? And what about Claire and Leon?"
He appeared to ponder this as he pulled me onwards.
"I'll give them a buzz on the radio"
I eyed him suspiciously.
"You've got a radio?"
He nodded.
"Never leave home without it - I just hope Claire remembers that she's got one"
He raised up his radio, and listened for a second. Then, he winced.
"What?" I asked.
"Bad reception" he explained "We're going to have to get up higher"
We ran down the street, Chris unloading his weapon into all manner of undead creatures moaning towards us - When to my surprise, one of these green things...Hunters, I think they're called...leapt out from a window above us, right in front of Chris, and let off one of those horrible inhuman screeches, before it crouched into an attack position. Chris was quicker than them, and with two deafening booms that left my ears rattling, he blasted it to smithereens.
"What the hell are hunters doing here?" I heard Chris say.
As we ran on further, I heard more of those screeches - More hunters.
Nowhere to run, Sherry I found myself thinking Your luck has run out...
"Hey" Chris turned to me "Want to take a cable car ride?"
I looked at Chris as if he'd suggested a romantic trip.
"I...I'm sorry?"
"A Cable-Car ride? So we can go up?!" his voice was becoming more urgent.
Suddenly it clicked.
"OH! Right!"
He grabbed my hand, and steered us to the left - where a cable-car station stood, the stone walls gothic and unwelcome, blood streaking its walls as well as small amounts of multi-coloured graffiti that adorned the corners of the building. A cable-car stood on one side of one of its platforms, swinging eerily in the wind. I didn't like the look of it.
Stop being such a wimp I told myself, scornfully it's just a Cable-Car station!
"Come on! Let's go!" Chris said, and we both ran up into the station, pushing open its wooden double doors. The smell of polish and blood smacked into us - It made me feel mildly nauseous.
It was also unnaturally cold in the station, I shivered, despite the rain and wind outside.
Inside, the station was larger than it seemed to be on the outside. Some ticket queue points, a photo booth, a central clock - No different to your average train or cable-car station. Okay, so streaks of blood on the floor are never there, and lurching zombies standing drunkenly in the queue lanes aren't either...
"Maybe we can avoid them if we go past them..."
"Uh...That's what everybody in horror movies say, and they never survive" I whispered.
"What do you suggest?" he snapped "Asking them kindly not to attack us? There are twenty of them you know!"
So I was forced to tiptoe with Chris across the hall. Thankfully, the zombies were all involved in their own meals, which were other zombies.
We kept to the walls, and tiptoed along it. We were nearly home and free, none of the zombies had noticed us yet...
"Seems like they're too wrapped up in their own business to notice us" Chris whispered as we sneaked past the photo booth...When in a blue of movement that made my heart leap into my mouth, something lurched out of the photo booth at Chris. It moaned. A zombie. Greyish drool leaked out of its rotting mouth as it tried to chow down on Chris's neck.
Thankfully, Chris noticed. He yelped in surprise and stuck the shotgun into the creature's mouth.
"Lesson of war. Never sneak up on Chris Redfield when he's got a loaded gun" Chris hissed, before pulling the trigger which not only obliterated the creature's head in an explosion of gore but also sent its body staggering back into the booth from where it had come.
I felt mildly sick at the blood that had sprayed onto my jeans.
"Yuck" I said, wrinkling my nose at the stinking blood.
"That's why I'd survive the movies" Chris said, grinning "Because I carry a very big gun"
"Uh...Can we get our cable car ride now? I think we've lost the element of surprise"
Chris turned, and saw what I saw.
"Oh shit"
We'd attracted 'attention' from the twenty odd zombies in the station.
"This is where we RUN!!!" Chris yelled, and we both hammered off towards the exit onto the platform.
We heard the moaning behind us as Chris bashed open the doors, and we skidded out onto the concrete platform.
"Into the drivers section! Now!"
Chris yanked open the door (which was unlocked) and we bundled in.
The control panel was fairly bog standard, and it took only a few moments for Chris to activate the panel. There was a low hum - and then the Cable-car jolted into life, and with a screech the Cable-car started its unsteady way up its metal cable.
"Where does it go?" I asked.
"Does it matter?" Chris replied.
"Well it'd be helpful if Leon and Claire knew where we were going!"
"I'll call 'em when we're high enough! Patience is a virtue, kid!"
"Yeah, but...patience could also get you killed"
He glared at me, and then sat down on the floor, breathing heavily.
"Well...at least we're away" he said, looking up at me, and I sat down too.
"Right"
We were endlessly going up, the sensation of the swaying cable-car was not making me feel any better than I already felt.
Up and up and up.
My eyes scanned the ceiling and those adverts on the wall. Then, the map detailing our route caught my eye.
Main station, Intersection 1, Northern Heights...Northern heights?
I stood up, and clinging to the wall, I walked up to the map on the wall. It was yellow, and had a vulgar cartoon drawn in marker pen on it.
I looked at the position of Northern Heights on the map. About a mile from the mountains.
The mountains.
"Chris!" I called to him "Don't want to worry you, but how high exactly were you intending to go?"
"High enough, why do you ask?"
"Because" I said "If you don't know how to stop this thing, we're going to keep going up into the mountains"
He leapt up, and ran over to the map, scanning it for confirmation.
"Do you know how to stop it?"
"Hit the brake of course!" he said, and ran through to the cockpit.
There was a hollow click.
"Oh...you are KIDDING ME!!!" I heard him yell "You are...WHY DOESN'T ANY TRANSPORTATION IN ANY TOWN I GO TO HAVE BRAKES THAT GODDAMN-WELL WORK??!!!" he ran into the main car, only to look at the map.
"What the...Ah SHIT!"
The only thing more worrying than his filthy mouth was the predicament we were now in.
"According to this" Chris said, drawing his finger down the map "We've got about seven miles to the mountains...This thing ain't moving too fast, but we'll hit the end of the line within half an hour"
I looked up at him, a little stricken.
"And then....?"
"Then..." Chris looked a little pained "...we'll crash. And when you're two thousand feet up? That isn't the best idea in the world"
"So, how do we stop it?" I asked.
"Well, providing we act quick we can find the emergency brake - The one in the cockpit doesn't work, so we'll..." he looked as if he was trying to work it out, and then ran into the cab. I ran in after him, only to see him flick through the technical manual for the cable-car.
I heard him mutter softly, and then he stabbed the book.
"There. That's what we want!"
"What is it?" I looked over his arm (he's a damn tall guy!)
"One of the newest features is this emergency brake on the connector between the wire and the cable-car so that in case any of the manual brakes fail, then the central control office can stop the car as a last resort - However, it's also got a manual mode. If we can get on the top and hit it, then the car will stop"
I looked up at him.
"You sure this'll work?"
"Of course I'm not sure"
I sighed.
"Chris, one of the qualities Claire has that you're lacking is the fact that she makes everything sound better"
I wasn't usually the one to like events being glossed over, but I didn't want to become any more insecure than I already was.
"Well I'm SO sorry" he replied sarcastically.
"No problem - Who's going to go on the roof"
Chris looked at me.
"I am" he said "You are not going to get yourself killed by doing anything stupid"
"Chris...I'm small, and I'm light! Think about it, it's physically more feasible!"
"Sherry - No way!" he said, sternly "I don't want to lose you - and Claire & Leon would kill me if you fell off the roof!"
"Then just tell them what I've told you!"
"And they'd believe me?!"
He sighed, and sagged.
"Just promise that if anything goes wrong..." he whispered "...Then you'll come down"
I nodded.
Chris tied the rope tightly around my waist. He'd kept the rope slung around his shoulder through our entire escapade since leaving Hotel Paradis, and now he had a use for it.
"If I even see you slip, I'll grip this harder than a vice, right?"
I smiled, nodding.
We were fast approaching intersection 1, and as Chris opened the door, I felt a blast of stinging air as the station of Intersection 1 shot past, and I was aware that only a few inches separated me from falling a thousand feet to my death. At least it seemed to me like a thousand feet. Its depth was something different probably.
I was suddenly very afraid.
I gulped, and climbed outside, clinging to the metal rungs on the side that engineers' used to get onto the roof with. A single mistake...
I knew that the most stupid thing I could do was LOOK DOWN...
I hauled myself up, rung by rung, not thinking about the drop below.
I knew that the wind was strong, and the air was making me light headed too - forcing me to breathe very deeply for air. As I climbed onto the smooth metal roof, I suddenly found myself clinging to the roof, unable to move.
I was terrified of my position - High winds, moving cable-car - I wanted desperately to climb back down, to let Chris do it...
No I thought stubbornly You CAN do this, just gotta crawl over to that brake...that's all you need to do...
I shinned across the cold metal roof, towards the brake.
Not far to go, not far...
I was practically right next to the thing, the small metal device on one of the enormous clips...
I grabbed it, and hung on. Chris gave me more slack on the rope, and I looked at the metal device. Chris hadn't actually told me HOW to activate the emergency brake...but it wouldn't take much to guess it.
It had a dirty green button and a dirty red button hidden in a recess in the device.
Probably the red button...
"Now!!" I heard Chris yell, "We're coming up to Northern Heights!"
I thumped the red button.
There was a screeching, and the brakes clamped down on the wires. The screeching of sparks took me by surprise, and I found myself sliding towards the edge of the roof, and suddenly I was over the edge, and screaming.
Then, the rope furiously jerked as Chris grabbed the rope tight.
"Okay..." he whispered, "I've gotcha"
I smiled softly up at him as he reeled me in, and pulled me into the cable-car.
I hugged him hard.
"Thank you! Thank you!" I said, practically in tears.
"Hey...don't worry, you're alright now!" he said, a little bewildered - I knew from this that he had absolutely no skill at all with children - but I didn't care. He'd saved my life, which was the important thing.
I felt the cable-car slow and then stop.
Chris exhaled.
"Whoa...that was close"
He stood up, still holding my arm, and then slide open the doors. We were right in front of the platform.
We stepped off, and I was glad that we were on solid ground once again.
The station was distinctly more modern than the other; it was a concrete structure with some pretty architecture to make it look more appealing to tourists. There didn't appear to be a soul, living or other, in sight.
Chris drew out his radio.
"Good reception now...Okay, I'll try to contact them from here"
He spoke into it.
"Claire, you there?"
There was a crackle, and then the tinny voice of Claire answered him.
"I'm here Chris"
"Claire, we've been forced to move home - don't got to the hotel, it crawls"
"Hey! Waitasec, where are you?"
"We're up at Northern Heights cable-car station - and we can wait here for you"
There was a voice in the background that sounded like Leon's, which gave me a boost inside.
I also heard another male voice say 'Hey! That's about ten miles from here! Just great!'
"I won't even bother asking how you got up there" I heard Claire say.
"We'll meet you both up here, okay? - Over and out" Chris said, clicking off the radio, before turning to me, smiling.
"We may have to wait here for a while" he said.
"Fine by me" I said "As long as there's no zombies around, I'm not bothered!"
We went inside the station. It was indeed deserted. There was also a canteen.
"Well" Chris said jokingly, patting me on the shoulder "At least we can 'survive' a little longer"
I rolled my eyes.
"What flavours of ice cream are there?"
LEON
Breaking the speed limit without getting a ticket
Claire put down the radio
"Change of plan people"
I nodded. Hunk had stopped the jeep for a few minutes, the engine needed to cool and in the alley we seemed pretty safe from zombies and hunters alike.
"Northern Heights? Is that the place?" I asked.
"I think so. At least that's what he said"
We looked at Hunk, who looked a little concerned, his frowning face indicating bad news for all of us.
"What is it Hunk?" I asked, sternly "What's up there that should worry us?"
"Northern Heights..." he began "...Is the UOZ"
"UOZ?" Claire asked, incredulously.
"Umbrella Occupied Zone" Hunk explained "It's where our Commander's set up their command post so that they can have an operations zone for this 'Operation: Omega - I was just told to report there once my mission is complete"
"Right" I folded my arms "You've got away with so much - Now I want to know; What is Umbrella's interest in Burkitt? How could they have prepped you for such a mission when nobody outside of the town knew about the outbreak in the city?"
Hunk sighed, and bowed his head slightly.
"Guess there's no point denying that I do know something - The fact is that I heard the supervisors say something about the main Bioject offices being in Burkitt - but apart from that, I'm not lying when I say that I was sent here to rescue civilians"
We both glared at him.
"So am I right when I say that Chris and Sherry are, potentially, in very deep trouble?!" Claire asked, angrily.
"Okay!" Hunk's earlier humour had evaporated completely, and he was now looking pretty miserable "Lay it all on me! I'm an employee of Umbrella, so what? Doesn't make me a monster! They tell me what to do and I do it, I never know why they want me to do it or what they're going to do with whatever I've done afterwards"
"Anything else you want to tell us?"
"Right!" Hunk stood up straight "Better come clean with it - I know that you were in Raccoon City more than a year ago, that night of September 29th - I was there the night before, on a mission"
We stood, stunned at this revelation. Hunk continued, oblivious.
"My mission was to grab the G-Virus, I was there with another small squad when William Birkin transformed. I was the ONLY survivor of both teams. There we are...I've confessed, you gonna kill me now?"
We looked at him, still gawping.
He was there too?
"You knew about the G-Virus?" Claire asked softly.
"Of course I didn't!" Hunk snapped "If I knew what the hell it did, I don't think I'd have been so positive about taking the damned thing!"
We were silent again, just standing before Hunk.
"Jesus, do you have to keep me waiting?!" he cried "Are you going to shoot me or not?!"
"No" I said "We're not going to kill you - We'd be no worse than your employers if we did"
He looked me in the eyes.
"Mercy?" he said, raising an eyebrow "You sure you want to take that risk? I thought I was the 'traitor'!"
"Damn it!!" Claire snapped "Look, we couldn't care what your past is all about, all that matters is that my brother and a little girl are in danger!! Providing we can rely on you not to point a gun at our heads when the times comes, then I think we could just get on!! Okay?!"
She then shook her head, softly.
"Bioject..." Claire said, realising at the same time as me "...A T-Virus outbreak in the town where Umbrella's arch rivals have a home-base? More than a slight coincidence"
"Right" I said "So whatever Operation Omega entails, it obviously involves the destruction of Bioject - so I don't think it had anything to do with us"
Hunk folded his arms.
"Let's get going" Hunk said "If there's some kind of destiny I got ahead then I don't want to miss it - We've gotta face what we gotta face, right?"
I nodded, silently.
Leaping into the driver's seat, the now stone-faced Hunk thumbed us to get in the back.
We leapt in, not uttering a word. The tyres screeched, and Hunk accelerated the car out of the alley.
"Okay" he said, revving the car up towards top speed "Destiny's out there and it ain't taking prisoners. Hold on tight"
"What's his thing with destiny?" Claire muttered as the jeep sped off down the road, to the accompaniment of various squishing sounds as the jeep smashed through a line of zombies.
There was a chorus of inhuman screeching, the characteristic war cry of the hunter.
I checked my magnum. Fully loaded. Claire checked her shotgun.
"Got about forty rounds, maybe a bit more" she reported.
"Well I got plenty of magnum rounds, and we got the rocket launcher and the heavy-machine gun"
"Let's save the rocket launcher - Never know when you'll need it"
"Okay, so let's just use the big-gun to get up to Northern Heights, and after that - We sneak it through, and then make contact with Chris and Sherry"
Claire looked at me, and raised an eyebrow.
"Planned this quite well, haven't you?"
"Yeah" I grinned "That's me right down to the ground"
There was a bump as Hunk took us over a speed-bump.
I looked across to the horizon, my wet hair plastering my forehead for just a moment before Claire brushed it away.
"Leon" she said, softly "You won't get yourself killed, now will you?"
"Of course not!"
"Leon" she said quietly "Promise me..."
I turned to her, stroking her glistening wet hair.
"I promise I will survive"
She nodded, smiling.
"Good"
I looked up at an illuminated sign as we drove up the two-lane road that went steadily upwards. The sign was blue, with white letters - It read: NORTHERN HEIGHTS 10 miles.
"Not far" I said, leaning back, loading the machine-gun "Not far now"
There was a screech from the road, and we turned to see two hunters charging after us, sharp claws clicking on the tarmac as the creatures chased us.
"You know..." Claire said, loading her shotgun and aiming it "...It makes you wonder if these things ever learn"
"Don't think so" I said, propping up the heavy machine gun.
I suddenly remembered how strong the kick was as I fired it, the weapon sprayed death into the road which the Hunters charged straight into, the bullets ripping into their flesh and then hurling them back into puddles of their own blood on the road.
I blew down the barrel, as if I was the man with no name.
"Nice one Clint" Claire joked.
"Do you feel lucky, punk?" I said, as deeply as I could manage.
She laughed, and rolled her eyes.
"As long as your shooting's better than your Clint Eastwood impression, I think we're home and free"
I grinned, and ran my finger up her back, and she shivered.
"Eek! That felt weird"
I put my arm around her, and we watched the dead town of Burkitt slip away beneath us, as we drove up the empty road.
I didn't know what awaited me. Somehow, I couldn't help feeling that if we got through this, there would be a sense of achievement in itself.
"Could this be the last journey?" Claire whispered "The last time we'll have to do this?"
"Somehow..." I said looking at her "...I don't think it'll be the last time"
Look out Umbrella.
The end is nigh.
END OF PART THREE
The fourth and final part is coming soon!!!