Familiar Hauntings

Chapter Twelve

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The troop of soldiers steadily made their way towards the front entrance of the Biology Building, eradicating any zombies that may impede their progress. There were almost twenty of them altogether, and there wasn't really anything on the campus that could cause them much harm. The undead had begun to spread out evenly among the campus, and the staccato of gunfire was heard around the perimeter as Umbrella's forces put down anyone within fifty yards. The zombies were losing ground.

With stealth-like movement, the lead soldier drifted over to the door in his crouching stance, with his support following suit behind him. He stepped through the broken glass entrance, and was somewhat taken aback with what he saw. Countless zombies lined the floor, twitching and convulsing on top of each other. Many had limbs blown off, while a few had their heads cleanly blown off, no doubt from higher firepower. He gave a signal, instructing his men to stay on guard as they began to step through the hordes. His eyes were locked on a green, bloodied hunter, which was severely wounded from the previous fight, he had imagined. It looked up at the crew with intense hatred in its eyes, yet it lacked the strength to move or attack. It was dropped on one of its knees, with one of its clawed hands resting on the other. Blood was flowing freely from the bullet wounds on its body, and its breathing was raspy and labored. The soldier in charge lifted his M-16 at eye level, setting the laser sight on the animal's chest. The creature simply stared at the red dot on its chest, and stared into the man's eyes, and waited.

Three quick bursts of fire found their mark.

As the creature slumped over, the soldier radioed Jansen, looking around the perimeter of the room.

"Charlie team to Jansen, over." The soldier waited for a few seconds before he got a reply from his contact.

"This is Jansen, over."

"We've secured the premises of the upper floor entrance. We're waiting by the elevator for further instructions, over."

"You have no further instructions." Jansen's voice was becoming less audible due to the crackling white noise in the background. "Just wait there in case they retreat back up the elevator, over."

"Sir," the soldier tried his best not to anger his superior. "I don't think they'll be coming back up this way. This elevator up here is completely destroyed. There's no way it'd be able to get through these doors. We think the tyrant is down there, over." The two metal sidings had been completely bashed in, save for a three foot slash in the middle of the demolished material.

"I was counting on that. Our estimated time of arrival to the underground hangar is three minutes. Hold your ground up there until we're sure they're dead. I want to make sure they stay trapped. Jansen out." The white noise abruptly stopped as Jansen turned off his radio.

****

Bowman's footsteps echoed along the cold steel floor of the underground hangar. There was almost no light in the corridor, which would make it much harder for him to spot the creature before it was too late. Rows of white vans similar to the ones imprisoning the campus were on either side of the dark hallway, the two rows continuing up the ramp of the hangar for an impressive distance. He looked at his watch before quickly casting a wary eye on his surroundings. He was in the middle of the tunnel, and there was nothing around him for twenty feet on each side.

"At least here the hunter can't sneak up on me."

He continued forward, glancing between the vans for anything out of the ordinary. He noted that the corridor continued in front of him at an elevated grade for quite a while, but couldn't judge how long the tunnel actually continued due to the darkness. However, using the small amount of light that was available to him, he concluded that the tunnel continued for some time. Wherever they were at the moment, they were deep underground. He stopped, and cocked his head to listen. After a while, he began walking again, after hearing nothing except the low humming of electrical devices. A crumpled figure next to one of the many vans to the left caught his attention. He squinted at his new interest, and slowly began to make his way towards it, making sure to look in every possible direction.

"Just come out, you bastard."

He nervously fingered the trigger of his shotgun as he kicked the body over.

"This must be the scientist that tried to take his chances."

He cautiously searched the bloodied corpse for anything that might be of use. After finding nothing, he casually stood up and sighed - Just in time to see a bladed reptilian hand screaming towards his face.

"Shit!"

He rolled along the floor out of the way of the claw, but not before the creature nicked him with its hind legs, slashing him along the right side of his rib cage. He quickly stood up and fired at the hunter, barely missing. He pumped his shotgun. The hunter took the time to rush him with another assault again, and effectively succeeded in knocking the gun from his hands. The clank of metal on metal reverberated against the walls, and slid out of Bowman's view. Bowman slowly backed into the middle of the room, venomously eyeing the beast. It snarled in preemptive victory, showing rows of serrated teeth.

"You're not done with me, you ass." Bowman quickly unsheathed his combat knife from his belt. Adrenaline consumed the emotions of his mind, and he flicked the knife around in front of him in an arrogant manner. Bowman was ready for a fight, the challenge dominating the fear in him. Bowman wasn't quite sure how long he could last without a real weapon, but felt confident in his abilities in a melee fight. "Come on!" He yelled through gritted teeth. "Come on!"

Still grinning, the creature crouched low and screeched with a deafening pitch. It lunged forward, its left arm raised above its head. Jim tossed the knife into his left hand and jumped out of the way. The claw missed by mere inches, and he swiped his left hand behind him, cutting a gash into the creatures left forearm. It shrieked in pain, and before Jim could completely recover, it thrust its right claw into Bowman's back. He cried in pain, and swung his knife around in counterattack, stabbing the animal deep into the left pectoral. It was enough for the hunter to pull back and re-evaluate its strategy. It tore its claws out of Bowman's back, which sent him staggering forward a couple of steps. He turned around and winced, shooting daggers at the beast. Slowly, he stood upright, ignoring the pain he felt through the adrenaline. "Well, come on!" He yelled. "You better not be giving up already! I'm not done kicking your ass!" The hunter twisted up its face, and crouched back into its fighting stance. However, it didn't attack. It appeared to be more cautious than before. Bowman smirked. "That's right. You better rethink things through." Bowman leaned forward and feigned an attack against the animal, testing its reflexes. Then he yelled a guttural war cry, and leapt towards the monster. The creature remained motionless until Bowman was directly on him. It then leapt forward with its powerful hind legs, spearing Bowman right out of the air. He hit the floor hard with his back, temporarily knocking the air out of him. The creature stared into his eyes, and with a demonic grin, plunged its claws deep into his shoulder. Bowman twisted underneath the creature in pain and cried out. For a second or two, the creature made no other effort to silence him; it simply stared into his worn eyes, waiting for Bowman to say or do something.

"You bitch."

With another victorious smirk, it lifted its other claw high in the air, with the intentions of cleanly decapitating its victim in one fluid swipe. However, it never did finish its attack. When the creature reared back, Jim tactfully stabbed the creature under its armpit, and dragged the knife down, across its ribs, into its stomach, through many of the creature's vital nerves. The creature fell backwards and began convulsing; the only thing keeping it from hitting the ground was its embedded limb in Bowman's shoulder. He gritted his teeth and kicked it in the abdomen as hard as he could, ripping his body free from the monster's. He rolled over and recoiled in pain, before slowly picking himself up on one knee. Beads of sweat rolled down his face, and he wiped them away, mixing them with his blood. He slowly staggered to his feet, and stumbled over to the creature; its movement slowing down due to the shock its body had received. Blood poured out of its wound freely and copiously, and it looked up at its dominator with glazed eyes. With distant eyes of his own, Bowman frowned, and in one quick swipe, he severed he animal's jugular, and finished the deed. He walked away, leaving the hunter to die. He shook his head, worn out from the fight, but still trying to think rationally. His eyes slowly followed over the row of vans, and he slowly made his way over to one of them, opening the door and climbing inside. It took quite a bit of effort for him in his state, yet he shrugged it off as best he could.

"Damn hunter."

He checked the ignition for the keys, and when he didn't find any, he proceeded to look in the console, only to find a numeric keypad of sorts. He then looked in the ashtray. The floormats. The glove compartment. The driver's visor. Bingo.

He grabbed a single key underneath a cloth flap of the visor and thoughtfully looked over it.

"This right here is my ticket out of this place."

No sooner did he put it in the ignition did a low rumbling shake the seat of the van. He peered through the front window to see a distant speck of daylight shining from the darkness. Bowman raised his eyebrows, surprised the hangar was as long as it was. From that, two sets of vehicle lights began to speed down the grade, lightly illuminating Bowman's features. Periodically, he heard the resounding sound of screeching brakes.

"Damn. Umbrella."

At a loss of what to do, Bowman lay in the seat, hoping that they wouldn't find him just yet. He heard the vans drive by slowly, and stop in front of the entrance to the Lab.

"Just keep cool, Jim. Just keep cool. Devon, be ready. They're here."

****

"Miss, I've found it!" Relief was evident in the scientist's voice as he looked at Bobbye with tired eyes.

Bobbye stopped her conversation with her group of friends to see what the man had found.

"This right here shows all the files under Mr. Olsen's jurisdiction." When Bobbye stared at him, he explained himself further. "Olsen was the scientist that left through the hangar earlier."

"Oh."

The other three survivors had begun to gather around Bobbye and the screen as well.

"What is all this?" Claire asked impatiently. She was staring at a garbled mess of words on the screen that meant nothing to her at all.

"This is…" Bobbye began, but soon trailed off, losing herself in the screen configuration. "Here," she pointed to the screen. "Go here."

The scientist typed: GOSEC DIR DEL VI BETA

A screen popped up, showing the now familiar strain of the original Delta Virus. "This is the Delta Virus in its alpha state." The strain itself looked like a bunch of conjoined pollen particles to Claire, with small spikes shooting forth from a decidedly ovular body. The scientist clicked a button, and the strain began to rotate in real-time.

"What is it about this virus that makes it mutate people faster than the others?" Claire questioned.

When the scientist was hesitant to answer, Bobbye shoved her handgun into his stomach. "Answer her question." For a second, Devon thought the man was going to pass out in fear. "I don't want you to make this any harder on us than it's already been." Her tone was demanding, unwavering. "Now, why does this virus mutate people faster."

He swallowed hard. "Well, due to the makeup of its molecular anatomy, the Delta Virus creates a cover that fools the cells of the host into thinking that it's a form of energy that needs to be broken down. Cells absorb it willingly, and that is when the virus drains the cell of most of its energy. It uses the added energy to grow, reproduce and move around the host's body until it has successfully achieved near-total contamination. While it doesn't completely destroy the cells, it takes as much energy as possible from it while still being able to control the body. And to top it off, the white blood cells are never aware of any danger at all, so they are never even used. There's nothing in a person's body that slows down the spread of this virus."

"That's horrible…" Demi trailed off, completely lost in the twirling strain of the Alpha version.

"So, what's the second stage of the virus do?" Devon frowned at the thought of a second stage being more lethal than this one.

"Well, see," The scientist started, "we ourselves aren't even quite sure yet. That's why the virus is still a prototype.

"Well, tell us what you know."

The man typed a few letters on the keyboard, and the brown strain of the Delta Virus began to shift to a dark purple color. "The Delta Virus doesn't always necessarily destroy tissue. You can form it to almost however you see fit. All the previous viruses followed this rule. Decaying zombies, and very healthy, lively hunters both were created from the same virus. The decay is simply the natural course of the virus without intervention. Obviously, hunters and tyrants and the like weren't created from people. They were all created under close supervision by Umbrella employees. One can direct the course of the virus via electric information that it intercepts, much like telling a child what to do, and what not to do. Instead of absorbing energy from the cells and ultimately deteriorating them, it can also exchange energy, which mutates the cell in the direction we see fit. There is no biological entity we couldn't create with the flexibility of this new virus."

"Oh my God…" Claire gasped.

The man ignored her and continued, obviously proud of what they had been accomplishing. "The old viruses could do this too, but the beautiful thing about this virus is that when it's combined with a specific chemical, it is able to transfer cellular energy faster than any other process on the planet. The DV1 chemical accelerates that transfer rate to various parts of the hosts body, wherever it's needed at the time."

Devon shook his head. "So, what does that mean exactly?"

The scientist began to grow impatient. "It means it can adapt muscle strength on the fly. If it is being attacked, it can focus energy on the abdomen or arms, and use it as defense. Things like that. Of course, muscle strength is the only thing the chemical converts right now, but the potential is amazing. Eventually, we could create a perfect being with this stuff."

Claire began to grow very pale. "Just…just stop…talking. Please." She shook her head, and her heart began to race. She couldn't imagine Umbrella creating atrocities much worse than what she had seen, yet what the man had said seemed to be true. Bobbye was still flipping around information on the computer, until she saw something else that caught her eye.

She typed: GOSEC DIR DEL VI ANTI

As she typed, Demi perked her head up, and cocked it to the side, listening intently.

"What is it, babe?" Devon murmured.

She opened her mouth slightly, as if she was going to speak, then frowned. She continued to listen.

"Demi, what is-"

"I heard gunshot," she interrupted.

Claire looked toward the two of them. "Bowman must have found the hunter…do you think he'll be alright?"

Devon looked towards the doors intently and slowly nodded. "Yeah," he confirmed, "Jim will be fine."

About then, Bobbye leapt up out of her chair, and ran to a laser printer, where page after page of words were shot out at high speed.

"What's that, Bobbye?" Claire asked.

"Oh," she beamed, "Just the cure for the Delta Virus."

"What?!" Devon yelled. "The thing has a cure?"

"Sure does."

The scientist interrupted the high-spirited conversation. "Yeah, and that's the reason why the virus was set loose on the campus. Your school crossed Umbrella, so they took appropriate action."

"They weren't supposed to develop a cure?" Claire frowned.

"No, they were only supposed to help cultivate the virus. Developing a cure was a breach of contract, and Umbrella doesn't take kindly to breach of contract. Jansen ordered a quarantine around the campus, and poisoned the food of the students as punishment."

"That's so sick." Claire shook her head. "The students had nothing to do with it!"

"Hey, don't look at me. It's not like I was the one who did it."

"Well…" Devon interjected, "We got the cure now, that's all that matters. I assume it doesn't reverse the effects, just stops them, right?"

"Of course," the scientist scoffed. "It can't just magically repair lost tissue."

Devon's thoughts turned to Lori once again, and his bloodied hand began to throb, painful underneath the cloth wrapping. "If only we could have gotten down here sooner. We could have saved her. I could have…" He trailed off, back into his thoughts.

"Devon, don't do that." Claire said. "That type of stuff happens. There wasn't anything you could do about it."

'How do you know that?!" he yelled. "She was with me, and I was responsible for her! She was one of my best friends, and I'm just supposed to accept what happened to her? I'm sorry, but I just can't." He clenched his teeth and whitened his knuckles, as he felt liquid pain seep between the shattered bones. He continued, his tone much softer. "I couldn't keep her safe, no matter how bad I wanted to. I just wasn't strong enough."

"Okay," Claire sighed, "If you want to sit there and wallow in self-pity, that's fine by me. But you've done a lot more than most people in your situation would have done. I don't want to hear you talking yourself down in this situation, because that will be what gets you killed. We all have things we're dealing with right now, but you can't let them cloud over what you need to be doing."

When Devon was silent, she continued. "What you feel is normal, Devon. I do understand how you feel. But don't let it interfere with what you need to do right now. Maybe you owe it to yourself to feel that pity, but just don't do it right now."

He nodded meekly. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks Claire."

"Don't thank me, just do what you need to."

Claire began to grow uneasy. She felt as if she was walking the line of hypocrisy a little too closely. She felt a lot of regret and remorse for what had been happening. She wasn't much different in thought than Devon; she was just quieter about it. She had tried to play out different scenarios in her mind about things she could have done to save the people of her past. Steve. Bethani. Countless people she didn't know, but died in front of her nonetheless. Somewhere in her mind, she knew there was something different she could have done to save each person, and it always ate away at her. She would just learn to be cold to that, so she could push it all away and finish her job. She didn't know how else to deal with the stakes. She just wished someone would understand her. She just wanted someone to know how what she was dealing with. She wanted somebody that she would be able to release her soul to. Sometimes, she felt as if she was holding so much in, she'd burst.

She blinked her long eyelashes, once again brushing her emotions out of the picture. Bobbye was still printing out papers, while talking with the decidedly loud-mouthed scientist. Devon and Demi were together, their foreheads touching, whispering between themselves. The remaining scientist had been quiet in the corner for sometime, and Claire wasn't sure if he was just extremely tired, or just scared. She imagined it was a bit of both.

Bobbye folded up the papers of the cure for the virus, and slipped them into the back of her blue jeans. She turned to the group. "Well comrades, I say we go to the hangar with Bowman and see if we can't figure out a way to get out of here. It's past five."

"Sounds good," Demi said. She wanted nothing more than to get away from zombies and hunters, take a nice shower in a hotel, and maybe cuddle with Devon while watching a movie.

"What about us?" The loud scientist had said.

"Well," Claire said, "You can come with us, if you want. You've done enough for us, I don't think it'd be right to screw you guys over."

"Oh, by the way comrade," Bobbye grinned. "The gun was empty the entire time. I thought you knew."

The scientist stared at Bobbye blankly for quite a while before simply saying, "You're kidding."

She smiled again, and spun back around to her friends, her blonde hair flopping over her shoulder.

Shrieking metal tore into their ears.

"What was that?" Demi yelled.

Claire looked around frantically for the source of the sound. She looked over towards the elevator entrance of the BioLab, and saw a large claw puncture the heavily armored door. "Oh my God, it's the tyrant."

"No, you mean that big thing that practically tried to kill us earlier?" Demi groaned in response.

Claire didn't bother to answer. "Alright, we've got to get out of here. Let's go find Jim."

Bobbye looked at the two scientists, and motioned them to follow.

Another metallic cry split the air.

"We don't have much time before it tears through that door," Devon said. "Let's get out of here while we can!"

Just as they began to walk towards the hangar doors, they began to open by themselves.

"It must be Jim!" Demi yelled out, and began to run towards them.

Devon frowned when he saw two vans enter through them.

"Demi, stop!" Claire yelled.

From the second van, four soldiers filed out, and held them at gunpoint. Devon slowly began to raise his shotgun, until Claire had given him a wide-eyed look and slightly shook her head.

"Drop your weapons, and put your hands in the air!" A soldier had yelled to them. The survivors obliged as another soldier and a thick-jawed man in a three-piece suit exited the first van.

"Well well well, look what we have here." The man had said.

"Jansen…" Claire growled.

"That's right. You've done quite a number on this campus, Claire."

She cut her eyes when she had said his name.

"You know, it's like killing two birds with one stone to know that I'll get to watch you die, in addition to testing the potential of this new virus."

Demi looked over at Devon, her eyes begging him to do something. His mind raced, yet there was nothing he could think to do.

A loud boom sounded in the room, and everyone looked up to see that the tyrant had busted through the doors. Jansen smiled.

"And right on time, too."

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