Familiar Hauntings
Chapter Eleven
______________
"Yes sir," Jansen said as he received orders over a satellite phone. He sat in the passenger seat of one of the unmarked vans that had surrounded the campus. The camouflaged driver sped around the city blocks at dangerously high speeds for such a large vehicle, yet thankfully the roads were still nearly deserted. The man over the phone continued to bark orders to Jansen. "Yes sir. Ms. Redfield is still alive, and she was spotted going into the Biology building a few minutes ago. No doubt she's onto something, sir."
The driver cautiously looked over to the thick-jawed man out of the corner of his eye, before returning his gaze just in time to take another ninety-degree corner. The sound of the tires losing friction over the road ensued.
"She was with another girl when I got a visual, but since then reports have come in that another group of three have entered as well, and one of them may appear to be the agent that evaded security a little while ago."
The overhead streetlights blurred by them, causing the light source to examine Jansen's menacing facial features. His eyes were stone, and his face sullen.
"Yes sir, we're on our way to the underground hangar now, where we'll intercept them from behind. We have another group at the civilian entrance above ground waiting for them in the event we flush them out. There'll be nowhere for them to go." He swallowed hard, as the soldier in the driver's seat heard a man's voice cutting the air, his voice tinny over the small built-in speaker. Jansen spoke once again. "Don't worry. I'll take care of this, President Wesker. It won't get out of hand." With that, he flipped a switch, and the phone connection went dead.
There was a silence between the two men for some time; only the sounds of rising rpm's and squealing tires were heard. Jansen finally looked toward the nervous soldier. "Do you think we could get there a bit faster?"
****
Demi was quite a bit taken aback by how long the elevator ride actually was. They had been riding for almost a minute, and she wasn't sure if they were just going really slow, or if they were actually headed much deeper than a basement floor. Devon had managed to make his way over to Demi, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. She imagined it was to control her trembling, but she couldn't help wrapping hers around his waist. He placed the top of his head on hers and closed his eyes, and she was lost in the warmth his body released.
Bowman chuckled to himself as he took the first drag of yet another cigarette. He shook his head as he blew a cloud of smoke to the ceiling. He noted the bright fixtures in the elevator. It wasn't drained of power like the rest of the campus, which meant it was running off a different power source. He cocked an eyebrow in thought. "Perhaps this Lab will be a bit more elaborate than I thought."
Devon had one thing on his mind: how much longer all this was going to last. He felt he was too tired to even think straight, and it seemed the only thing that kept him going at this point was Demi. He had to find a way for her to escape, and he wouldn't let anything hurt her. He was lost in the moment and his own thoughts, as he subconsciously felt the quick pulse of Demi's heart through his own chest.
Suddenly, the elevator shook and the lights flickered, much to everyone's surprise.
"What the hell was that?" Jim said, as he looked around.
Demi's grip tightened around Devon once again. "What was it?"
With a hydraulic 'hiss,' the heavy iron doors of the armored elevator moved apart. The three stared into the BioLab. Everything seemed to be made of stainless steel, creating a sterilized look to the high-tech laboratory.
The elevator shook again, this time, accompanied by a loud metallic sound, much like a baseball bat hitting a metal pole.
Devon swallowed hard. "I think that's our cue to get out of here…"
Bowman did what he did best, and swore. "Damn Umbrella…" He looked to the ceiling, which appeared to be the source of the sound. "They're onto us now, and we don't have much time. Let's go."
The three walked rather quickly into the small ID room. There was a sleek looking door, which look much like the elevator's, save for the interlocking architecture where the door opened. To the side, was a small panel for an ID card and a numerical pad, no doubt for unlocking the door. Two small reflective windows accompanied the sides of the door, which Devon assumed were magic mirrors. Other than that, the room was bare, save for a few steel chairs joined together, and a small check-in counter, that was vacant at the time.
Bowman walked over to the keypad. "Damn. Anyone got a card?"
"No," Devon replied, his voice devoid of enthusiasm of any kind. "Geez, what's next? Are we stuck here, or what?"
Demi walked over to one of the mirrors, and cupped her hands over her eyes, straining to see through it. However, it was no use; she was only looking into her own deep eyes. She began to knock on it to see if she could get any sort of response. After waiting a minute, she turned back around to the guys. "Now what?"
Silence.
"Jim?" Devon finally ventured. "Any ideas? You know how to hack into Umbrella's files, can't you get past this lock?"
Bowman shot Devon a glaring look. He didn't like the way Devon had worded that, as if he doubted his abilities. He walked forward towards the panel. "Yeah, I got an idea." He brought his shotgun to his hip; the barrel aimed at the small pad.
"What are you doing?!" Demi yelled. "What if it breaks it?"
"Got a better idea, Demi?" Bowman yelled back to her.
Suddenly, the doors opened up on their own, and a certain girl with a brown ponytail and a leather jacket was on the other side, smiling.
Demi was the first to speak her name. "Claire!" She ran up and hugged her, much to Claire and Devon's surprise.
"H, hello Demi. I'm glad you're still alive." Claire cracked a small but genuine smile.
Demi's eyes shone brightly at her friend's. She said nothing, but simply smiled.
"I take it Devon's been watching over you?" She raised an eyebrow. The truth behind her words was only known to Demi.
"Yeah, um," she stuttered as she ran her hand through her rose hair, which was still amazingly in place. "I took your advice with him, Claire."
She winked at Devon. "That's good to know. But we'll deal with small talk later. Right now, things seem to be looking up a bit. Come on in, and I'll show you what we've found out."
The three followed Claire through the enforced doors, and down a small, sleek hallway. Light fixtures were built into the edges of the room, basking the entire corridor in a brilliant light. As Jim looked around in the adequate light, he saw just how tired everyone was. Devon had dark bags under his eyes and his face was pale. Demi seemed as if she was going to fall asleep at the first opportunity she could get. Even Redfield, the youngest of the mighty Redfield clan, seemed to be faltering due to the night's circumstances. Yet, she still managed to keep that sharp, alert look to her. Jim knew she was still ready for anything that would come their way. He took that time to talk to her.
"So, you're Redfield, huh?"
She frowned as she eyed him. "And who exactly wants to know?"
"Relax, I'm an…acquaintance of your brother. And Devon's best friend."
"You know my brother huh." She seemed skeptical to Bowman.
"I just said I did, didn't I?" Bowman cut his eyes at her.
Claire returned the look with one of her own. "Okay, I don't care who you are, don't get smart with me right now."
"Well hell, it wouldn't be a problem if you'd understand stuff the first time I said it."
Devon shook his head as Claire spun around to meet Bowman's face. "I should have known this would have happened, with their personalities…" Devon frowned as he shifted Demi's arm from around his bicep to his hand.
"Listen to me, whoever you are,"
"Bowman. Jim Bowman." He smirked.
"Don't cross me, Bowman. I may be a girl, and I may be tired, but I know I could beat you into a bloody pulp right now, if I wanted to."
Bowman lightly chuckled, testing Claire's patience. He had only intended to joke around with her, but judging by her reactions, she was taking it the wrong way. He decided to end it there before she really did beat the crap out of him. She shook her head, and continued walking forward. "It's so not worth it right now." She reached the end of the corridor, and there was another door much like the last one stopping their progress. Claire swiped a card, followed by a quick eight-digit pass number, and the doors slowly opened.
"Welcome to the BioLab, everyone."
It was a facility that seemed out of place with the rest of the campus. The campus itself was a very traditional setting, typical of college campuses. Brick buildings, large stone pillars, and massive oak trees were the norm. Here, in the BioLab, it simply had forsaken everything about its outward appearance. It seemed everything was awash with a silver glint, which made the room actually appear to be glowing with its own radiance. The group was actually on a wire walkway that overlooked the entire complex. Under them, to the left and right of the large room were thin desks that were home to many large workstations, many of which were shut down or on standby. A large hangar door was positioned on the left of the room between the row of supercomputers. There were chairs strewn about, lying on their sides and in the middle of the aisle below them. The four moved across the walkway, and the new arrivals darted their eyes around the room, taking in the architecture. A loud electronic hum blocked out all sound that was over twenty feet away.
"So this is where all our tuition went the entire time." Devon half-joked. "Amazing."
They descended a spiral staircase that brought them down to floor level. The room dropped off a few stairs in front of them, accentuating the importance of the control center that lay in the middle of everything. In front of it, operating as best she could, was Bobbye.
"Damn. Who's she?" Bowman glanced at the blonde girl as she typed away at the keyboard, bringing up image after image of DNA strains, enlarged viral specimens and the like. She casually rested her head against the side of her gun as she eyed the remaining scientists that were huddled next to the computer.
"That would be Bobbye Larson. A piece of work if I ever saw one." Claire replied.
Devon's eyes scoured the room. "Claire…where's Bethani?"
Claire shook her head, looking at the ground. "She didn't make it Devon. A hunter got her before we knew what was going on."
Devon blinked his eyes in disbelief. "Another one?" It was a chopped statement that formed in his shocked mind. Claire seemed to understand, as she nodded, bit her lip, and breathed, "Yeah."
Bobbye sighed in frustration as she hit another password restriction. "Okay, someone get me through this again."
A thin-framed scientist with wire glasses quietly spoke. "Um…Miss? You see, the man in charge of that has already tried to escape. He left through the hangar entrance about thirty minutes ago." He nervously eyed the gun the entire time he was speaking to her.
She cut her eyes at him. "Hangar entrance?"
He pointed to the massive doors on the left side of the room behind them with a shaky hand. "In there. I don't know where he's at."
"Why didn't you leave with him?"
"Because we caught sight of a specimen in there, and we don't have any firepower to defend ourselves."
"What type of specimen?"
"It's called a hunter. It's a large, green humanoi-"
"I know what it is," Bobbye interrupted.
"We figure he's dead."
"And he's the only one that knows the password?"
"Yes ma'am."
She motioned the scientist over with her gun. When he froze in terror, she used her other hand. "Come on, I'm not going to hurt you. Right now, at least. I might if you can't find a way to get around that checkpoint. Get on it."
"Y, yes ma'am." With that, he began typing away at the keyboard; a flurry of screens popping onto the monitor.
"Damn," Bowman said somewhat loudly. "You see Devon, you should take control the way she does. That's how it's done."
Bobbye turned around, and her expression changed to delight as she saw the new additions to the BioLab. "Devon!" She walked over to him, and gave him a small hug. "I'm glad you're not dead."
"Me either," he said. It was the only thing he could think to say in his state.
"Who's this guy?" She said, motioning to Jim with her gaze.
"Trouble." Claire said sharply.
"This is Jim Bowman. He came down to find a disk here." Devon said flatly.
"No, I came to save you!"
"Drop it, Jim." Devon knew that Jim was glad he was alive, but they both knew he would have come down regardless, for that disk.
"I'm Bobbye Larson." She stretched her hand out to him.
"I know. Claire told me." Bowman looked at her hand for a minute, as if he was deciding whether or not it was worth shaking. After a second or two, he obliged.
Claire was surprised he hadn't let loose with some off-hand, snide remark as he was mentioning her.
"So, what's going on here?" Devon asked.
"Okay, here's what's up." Bobbye used an all-business tone, but Devon could pick up the excitement behind her words. "We come in, and these little guys are working away on these computers. We hold them up, and threaten them with their lives until they get us to where we want to be in the system. We root around in the mainframe for awhile, and stumble across the goods. Turns out, this is the Delta Virus, and it's not quite the flop it appears to be. On the surface, it's almost no different than the T-Virus, except for the rate at which it mutates its victims."
Something she had said caused an image of Lori to flash sharply and painfully in Devon's head, and he winced and turned away. Demi looked up at him, but said nothing. She simply stared into his eyes and kissed the side of his cheek comfortingly.
"So, there is a difference between them?" Bowman said, intrigued. Claire shot him a look, surprised that he knew what he was talking about.
"Yeah, there is. Just before I hit this checkpoint, I found out there's a second stage to this thing."
"Second stage?" Claire's heart skipped a beat. "What is it?"
Bobbye shrugged. "I don't know. I got shut out before I knew what it was. It shouldn't be too much longer."
"Miss, I wouldn't say that."
Bobbye turned to meet the scientist. "And why's that?"
"Because there's millions of possibilities of where the back door might be. I don't have any idea where to begin looking." The scientist began to grow somewhat sharp, and Bobbye glared through him.
"You better find it soon. We don't have all day here, and if you don't, it's your life I'm taking." Of course, Bobbye was bluffing, but with her holding the gun, it was one that the scientist wasn't going to call. He quickly spun back around in his chair and began typing with renewed vigor.
"Are you using the backup disk for the mainframe at the moment?" Jim asked
"I didn't know there was one." Bobbye replied.
"Well, there is." Bowman turned to the white-coated men. "Someone give me that disk, or I'll kill every one of you."
"Wow," Devon replied. "Jim is unusually mean tonight."
"I'll say," Demi added. She then leaned over and whispered into Devon's ear. "Do you think he's bluffing?"
Devon's reply caused Demi's eyes to widen nervously. Devon returned the look with a solemn nod and raised eyebrows.
"What are you talking about?" one of the two lab technicians in the corner had said. Bowman glared at him, and fired his shotgun straight into the air and quickly pumped it in a hostile manner. Ricochets sounded all around the room, before part of the blast embedded in a computer on standby. Demi screamed at the sudden sound, and grabbed onto Devon's waist. Sparks showered the floor in the distance.
"Next time, I won't miss."
The scientist remained motionless, his features tense. Slowly he reached into his pocket, pulling out a small object that looked like a microchip from his coat pocket. Jim walked over and grabbed it out of his hand. He inspected it for almost a minute, then satisfied it was the right one, he shoved it into the pocket of his uniform.
After watching the spectacle, Bobbye turned back to her friends. "In the meantime, maybe some of us should look for that scientist. It'd be the easiest way to get through this thing, I imagine."
"I'll go," Bowman said quickly. "Where's he at?"
"He's in the hangar," Bobbye said. "At least that's what this guy tells me. Apparently, there's a monster in there too, so watch out, comrade." Bowman frowned at Bobbye's word choice, but decided against saying anything. Devon simply smiled.
"He left through the hangar." The other scientist in the corner corrected her.
Bowman pointed a condemning finger at him. "You shut up." Without another word he turned and left the group, and walked towards the hangar doors. "Be on the lookout for Umbrella, Devon. They are coming. Do what you do best, and protect your friends."
"You just worry about yourself, Jim." Claire yelled to him. She wasn't too fond of him at the moment, but if he died, that was one less person to help them out of here.
"So, it's coming down to the wire, huh?" Demi said as she watched the door they had entered from.
"I guess so," Devon began to feel nervous again at the thought of more fighting. It was odd; he didn't think he could feel emotion anymore. "Just stay with me, okay? I don't want to lose you again."
"You won't." She kissed him softly, before slightly pulling away, only to kiss him again. Claire took it upon herself to keep the scientists under control, and she left the two of them alone.
"Devon." She breathed. When she caught his deep, longing gaze, she continued. "I don't want you to take this the wrong way, or make you think I'm crazy or something, but…" She swallowed hard, finding the words to go on. "If tonight hadn't happened the way it…did, I don't think we'd be together like this. Because I was scared. I was really scared of you, and I didn't want to go any deeper than what we were."
"Why?" He was somewhat hurt by her words.
"Because…I don't know why. I really don't. But I'm…" She lost her thoughts for a moment, before pushing through her feelings. "I'm glad that I went through all this, though. Because it made me strong enough to be with you, and I love being here, like this. Now, I can't tell why I had waited so long." When Devon said nothing, she re-evaluated what she had said. "I'm not saying I've enjoyed tonight, but as bad as it's been, good stuff has come out of it. I hope you understand what I'm saying."
"No, I do. I feel the same way. It's just that-" Devon was interrupted by a yelling voice.
"Hey!" It was Jim.
"What?!" Devon yelled back, somewhat annoyed at Bowman for ruining their moment.
"I need the damn pass code for this damn door!"
Devon shifted his annoyed glance to Claire. "Claire, do you know it so he'll shut up?"
She turned and 'talked' with the scientists before turning back towards Bowman and yelling out, "Eight, four, two, six, three, five!"
In the distance, Bowman entered the number, and the rewarding sound of large electronic doors opening sounded through the area. He disappeared behind the corner.
"Do you think he'll be back?" Claire said. "He's got what he came for, he could just up and leave us high and dry."
"No, Jim won't-" Devon stopped himself in mid-sentence. Would Jim do that? He wasn't sure. "I don't think even Jim would leave his friends behind."
"Well, I'm not his friend at the moment." Claire's experience with Bowman so far had not been a pleasurable one. She watched as the oversized doors closed behind him, before looking at Devon.
"I don't know why he's acting the way he is tonight. Normally, he's…tolerable. It may just be the circumstances. This can have quite an effect on people."
"Let's hope so, for his sake."
****
The pounding continued against the reinforced doors of the elevator. It was loosening the strength and condition of the armored doors, and it shook the air in the room with each forceful blow. The outside appearance of the doors began to bulge out, and soon enough, the tip of a large claw tore through the steel structure. With amazing strength, the side of the door was slowly shoved away, and the sound of metal grinding against metal could be heard. The door moved aside, and a large nine-foot beast stepped through the small portal. It stood completely erect, and looked around the room, it's small, vacant eyes taking in its surroundings. The unmanned desk to the left. The sleek glowing structuring in the room. The cold metal doors. It was almost nostalgic to the behemoth. It brought the claw out to the side, and rushed the smaller door in front of it, spraying sparks from the door with a mighty upward swipe with his giant scythe-like claw. Again and again he pounded the door, slowly progressing to the BioLab, and to where his prey would be.
___________________
