Disclaimer: All Resident Evil characters, places, and things all belong to Squaresoft and other involved companies. I own none of it. This fanfic is purely for the fun and enjoyment of others and myself. I make no profit from it.
RESIDENT EVIL: ROAD TO DESTINY
CHAPTER 9
"Damnit!" Claire swore as she rammed into the side of yet another locked door. She had just run down three flights of stairs, countless corridors and several numbers of twists and turns, pushing her adrenaline to the absolute limit.
She practically melted once her back brushed up against the cold solid surface of the door frame. She brushed a shaking hand across her sweat-glazed brow, still keeping a tight grip on her 9-mm berreta. Her mind began to swim through all possible alternatives as she cast a quick glance across her surroundings.
Like all the other corridors she had passed, this one sported the familiar dust and debris which lay riddled about the full length of the hallway floor. Some areas of the ceiling were dripping with plaster carrying the acrid stench of sewage and other unsavory scents along with them.
Claire was just now beginning to notice. The smell of defecation along with the toxic aroma's of rustic pipes mixed together to form a collage of offenses, yielding no mercy to the poor soul trapped within the confines of their domain. Claire bent her head low, almost gagging from the scent. She vigorously shook her head, tearing her senses away from the thought of the putrid stench and focused instead on the task ahead.
So far she had managed to elude the walking menace which threatened her at every corner but not entirely. Every exit she took, he was there. The relief she felt after every flight of stairs she descended, thinking she had reached some temporary solace, was broken once more with his presence. Claire was beginning to think there was no way for her to escape at all.
She drew her arms slightly tighter around herself as a gentle breeze brushed up against her. It was beginning to become extremely cold and unfortunately the slightly snug tee shirt she wore along with the similarly tight pair of blue jeans wasn't going to keep her warm for much longer.
'Just my luck.' Claire thought to herself with a hallow smile faintly marring her pale cheeks. 'I'm trapped in a life or death situation with a huge beast trying to rip my heart out and here I am brooding over why I hadn't remembered to pack my damn winter coat!'
Claire chuckled in mild amusement at the irony of her situation. She slowly peeled her fingers away from the handle of her beretta, feeling more relaxed after her short spurt of amusement. Flexing her fingers, she noticed the soft trail of dust raining down from above. Claire didn't have to look up to guess who it would be.
"Damn…" She said silently, raising up from her kneeling position by the door. "I guess you won't give up until one of us is dead."
Claire mechanically cocked her handgun then buried it halfway into her pocket. She looked once more down the narrow flight of stairs a few yards away from where she stood then sighed heavily. With a crisp click of her sharp boots, Claire turned fully around and once again ran further into the maze of uncharted corridors, praying she would find help soon.
****
The door cracked open slowly as Chris Redfield applied minimum pressure to it. The deep scent, following the entrance into the new room was almost suffocating due to the lack of sufficient oxygen ventilation. The whole area was submerged in the toxic fumes of carbon monoxide and other deadly chemicals forcing its occupants to proceed with due caution.
Leon squeezed his eyes shut, trying his best to ward off the intruding fumes, which threatened to penetrate his nostrils. Chris was at a similar disadvantage but managed to tear a piece of his shirt off and hold it over his mouth and nose. After taking a few deep breaths through the bunched up material, he turned his head towards Leon and held out the cloth to him.
"Here, Use this. It'll keep the fumes out of your system, at least until we can make it to a more suitable area."
Leon graciously accepted the rag and took a few puffs of strangled air himself. "But what about you?" He asked after removing the cloth from his mouth.
Chris smiled back at him and shook his head. "Don't worry about me. I've been in worse situations then this. I don't need it as bad as you do. Just follow me. I'll get us out of here and into the next area as fast as I can."
Leon shifted his head in a nod then replaced the rag over his mouth. He wasn't too comfortable with the whole idea of Chris going in without any protection over his mouth, however at this point he was too concerned about Claire's safety to waste time arguing the point.
Chris promptly cracked the door open the rest of the way then scampered out into the hallways. Leon follow closely behind, ducking as low as he could to reduce the amount of toxins he took in. The hallway was a mess. A few vacant fires were alight in some areas yet they were virtually harmless now as they would soon extinguish from lack of oxygen. What worried the young ex- police officer now, aside from the fumes, was the billowing smoke, which blurred his vision constantly. Leon tried to squeeze his eyes as far closed as possible while still being able to see where he was going but even that was proving to be difficult as the heated gasses penetrated even that small crevice of space between his lids.
"I don't know how much longer I can take this." He muffled through the rag he now clutched tightly over his mouth. The heat was beginning to gnaw at him, making it feel more stuffy and humid then he could bear. Leon could feel the hot beads of sweat sliding down his back from inside the sweater he was wearing. He could feel the sting of hot gas as it skimmed past his dry skin.
Leon dragged a sleeve across his brow, desperately trying to lower his body temperature while at the same time, trying to keep up with Chris actions.
Chris too was struggling through the uncomfortable surroundings yet he stoically pushed it all to the back of his mind as his brain worked frantically to find the exit through all the clouds of black smoke surrounding them. He laboriously scaled the surface of the walls in an attempt to feel the layout of his surroundings. He could feel the burning sensations as his lungs desperately screamed for air. He could feel the scalding heat oh his face, the toxic fumes nipping at his nostrils. His lips twitched ever so gently at the urge to suck in the dangerous emissions yet by sheer will power alone he fought the urge and continued on.
Each step was a labor in and of its own. His senses were pushed to the absolute limit. He could feel the cracking of glass under his boots, the emanations of gasses as they seeped in, surrounding him. He felt the dry waves of the mist around him and continuously fought the scent, which carried toxic dangers with them.
Chris gripped his gun tighter for support. He could hardly bare it any longer. He vaguely remembered hearing Leon make a comment to him from behind but he couldn't be sure. He couldn't be sure of anything as his mind reeling in agonizing limbo. Chris knew he couldn't bare the fumes for much longer.
Chris felt his vision blurring. He felt as if his lunges were caving in on him. He took another step then found himself falling to the floor for lack of oxygen. Chris wanted to sleep right then in there. To close his eyes against the endless torture that was life. He wanted to forget it all in the peaceful spectrum that was sleep.
…But then Claire's face drifted through his mind. Her agonizing expression was enough for Chris to reach out for her. To anxiously clutch for the only family he had left. Just as his fingertips were about to reach her, her image faded and instead his hand compacted with something solid.
Immediately, Chris mind returned to the present. He cracked his eyes open and to his astonishment, saw that he had found the exit point. He quickly spun around to see Leon fumbling about, a few steps away, almost giving up on the struggle to breath himself. Chris swiftly grabbed the young ex-cop and yanked him forward. Leon's feet dragged on the dust covered, glass riddled floor as Chris pulled him further and further towards the exit. With the strength Chris never knew he had, he jerked the door open, thrust Leon inside, then pulled himself in, closing the door immediately afterwards.
Chris bashed his back up against the hard steel of the door sinking to the ground as he took huge gasps for air. He looked on to see Leon lying a foot or too in front of him coughing violently but breathing non the less. Chris smiled proudly. 'We made it.'
****
Barry frowned as he loaded the last piece of equipment into the S.T.A.R.S helicopter. It was a rather sufficient method of compiling. All the equipment and supplies were secured firmly either behind the seats or in any rear compartments they could find. There was plenty of room in the combat helicopter to support the necessary occupants who would be boarding it soon. However, the bearded man was still troubled. Chris was still not back yet and to make matters worse, the sounds of helicopter rotors were now followed by loud noises of explosions and gunfire. Barry couldn't help clenching his hands into fists at the thought of Chris and the others being stuck dead center in the middle of all of it while they were stuck in the cargo bay loading up supplies.
The sounds of shuffling broke his train of thought and Barry found himself looking to the side to see that Jill was similarly troubled by the current situation. Oddly, she had been quiet the whole day for some reason. Barry wasn't sure why but he hadn't had much time to think about it in between discovering the surprise attack and loading the cargo on board.
Barry reached out his hand and clasped it firmly on Jill's shoulder in a gesture of support. The brunette turned her face towards him as if suddenly broken from her own thoughts.
"You ok?" Barry asked in a soft voice.
"Yeah, I'm fine… it's just that I'm worried about Chris and the others. They still haven't returned yet."
"I know. Look, if things to close I'll take a group in and we'll get them out of there quick. There's no way I'm leaving anyone behind."
"We're all set to go." Derrick said as he rounded the corner where Barry and Jill were standing. His slightly cheerful expression faded however, when he saw the expressions on their faces.
"Don't tell me… They haven't made it back yet?"
Barry shook his head softly. Derrick was soon accompanied by all the other S.T.A.R.S rebels along with Carlos.
"What's going on?" Carlos asked.
"Take a guess." James replied in an annoyed response. "Our 'hero' hasn't come back yet."
The others expressions quickly turned sour. Barry immediately reacted.
"Hey don't give up on Chris. He probably just needs a little more time."
"That's bull$hit and you know it!" James argued back. "It was stupid of him to go without backup anyway! I'm gonna go look for him. Risakes, you and Aiken cool with backing me up?"
Both men nodded.
"Ok great. Barry, when we find him, we'll rendezvous with you at the northern most tower of the complex."
"I don't think so!" Barry interjected. "Let's say you do go off. How do you know that once you leave you don't miss him as your going past and he gets here before you? All that plan will do is create more of a problem for us."
James narrowed his eyes, half at Barry's decision and half at the logic behind it. "So what are we supposed to do then?" James asked, almost shouting. "Wait around her like lost chickens or something?"
"Yeah, we are kind'a the one's who are put in the hot spot here." Risakes agreed.
Barry knotted his brows in thought. He didn't want to admit they all had valid reason to be angry. If anything did happen, they would all pay for it if they waited any longer. However, at the same time, they couldn't just leave Chris behind. Barry was caught between a rock and a hard place and he definitely didn't want to be the one giving the order to take off, leaving Chris, Claire, and Leon behind.
"I say we start the rotors and get air born."
Everyone looked with surprised eyes at the speaker.
"What are you saying Carlos!" Jill asked angrily.
"There's no way we're leaving the others behind and that's final!" Rebecca added defiantly.
Carlos shrugged. "Look, I'll be the first person to admit I don't like this Chris guy but even still, this goes beyond what I feel about him. Besides, I've got nothing against either Claire or Leon. I definitely don't want to have their deaths on my conscience. All I'm saying is that we go air born. Like Chris said earlier, the first thing they will go after is the hanger area. If they close us in, there won't be any debate about saving them or not because it will be too late by then. At least if we make it to the air we'll be helping the others out by doing our part. Once there, we can keep circling the base until we find them. And in the mean time we can fight off as many umbrella agents as we can to clear the way for em."
Everyone mused over the sensibility of Carlos words. Barry knew that it was the best decision to make yet he still didn't like the whole idea of leaving anyone behind. It was all too risky.
"…But… but listen to what your all saying!" Sherry suddenly squealed from the back of the group. No one had noticed her at the time thus all occupants were rather shocked at her sudden interlude.
"You're saying we should leave them behind. Even if it's to make it to the air, isn't that still bad? I don't know about the rest of you but Claire and Leon are all I have left. They protected me when I was all alone. They watched after me and I know for a fact they would never abandon me if our situations were reversed. Listen to what you're saying! You're saying we should do the exact opposite. That we should leave them behind! Well I won't have it!"
Tears were now streaming down the young girl's eyes, causing them all to feel bad about themselves.
"Sherry…" Rebecca whispered in a compassionate voice. "Maybe you should-"
"NO!" Sherry cut her off. "If…if you all decide to leave then fine!… Leave! But I won't come with you. You'll all have to leave me behind as well!"
Barry quickly walked up to Sherry before the young girl could continue. "Sherry wait a minute. Listen to me, none of us wants to leave anyone behind understand? But what Carlos is saying makes sense. If we get the helicopter going, we can at least ensure we have an exit point."
"I don't care!" The girl stubbornly yelled back. "If you dare try to leave then I won't go!"
BOOOOM
Everyone was shocked as the far left wall suddenly exploded into shards of debris. Huge rocks quickly sped their way. Barry instantly dove forward, pushing Sherry out of the way as a huge rock flew towards her. The explosion was immediately followed with the spray of gunfire coming from the entrance.
"$hit!" James hissed as he dove behind one side of the helicopter. The others quickly followed suit as the number of bullets quickly doubled.
"Looks like its too late for that getaway plan!" Carlos yelled above the blare of gunfire. "They've found us!"
Barry ducked low making sure he and Sherry were safely secured under the support of a large boulder which had planted itself a few feet in front of them after the explosion. Barry looked down at the poor girl lying under him. She had passed out after the explosion, her head hitting the hard cement floor while he was getting her out of the way.
"Hang on there kid." Barry whispered then dipped his head from cover slightly. Bullets quickly rang out and he zipped his head right back down. Barry's thoughts were all jumbled. Everything had happened so fast. He pulled out his Colt Python then trained his eyes on the helicopter which, he noticed, had several bullet holes already.
"Damnit!" He hissed. "Listen up! We've gotta fight them off. Keep them away from the helicopter! That's their target!"
Derrick looked back at Barry from his cover a few feet away then trained his eyes on the helicopter. "$hit! You're right!" He yanked out his M16 and quickly sprang to his feet firing a horizontal succession of bullets then dropped back down for cover. However this only had the adverse effect as the bullets only compounded more on them.
A few feet beside the helicopter, Risakes eyes widened in shock.
"What's wrong?" James asked in a distracted manner as he hurriedly pulled out his shotgun from his shoulder pouch.
"Take a look at what their pack'in dude." Risakes said in a shocked voice, never taking his eyes off of the enemy.
James grit his teeth in annoyance but turned and looked as well. His breath quickly caught up in his throat. "Oh hell!"
A few Yards away, marching straight at them, was a full platoon of Zombies flailing their arms out for want of fresh blood. However, they weren't the brunt of the attack. Behind them, was yet another platoon. This one had real soldiers. Umbrella troopers firing at them using the zombies as cover so they wouldn't get hit.
"Man oh man!" Risakes said. "I heard a gazillion things about these things from Derrick and Barry but a picture truly speaks more then a thousand words!"
"Yeah…" James replied, gulping a heavy lump down his throat. His hand shook violently as he gripped his shotgun tighter.
"Hey bro!" He yelled from his position a few feet behind. "We got a $hit load of trouble here; living dead style!"
"Understood!" Derrick yelled back. "Maintain your position. Aiken, you still packing that desert eagle?"
"Yeah!" He yelled over the hail of bullets.
"Good. Let loose on em with a few rounds of that. The rest of us will follow you up. We'll see if we can knock em out as fast as we can. Each in succession everyone!"
James grumbled in anger at the command. "'Maintain your position' my a$$!" He spat out. He once again clutched his shotgun around his hands.
Risakes gave him a knowing glance then grinned slightly. "Time to let lose and kick some a$$ huh?"
James grinned back and nodded. "What you got?"
Risakes smiled then slowly revealed an M178 grenade launcher, small type. James grinned even wider. "Hell yeah. It's definitely time to kick a$$ and take names."
::::::::::To Be Continued::::::::::
Authors note: Thanks for reading. Please stay tuned for chapter 10.