Ah yes, Chapter 12 of Love Story. The way this is going-I've decided three things:
1- Yes, I'm going to write a sequel for their wedding-with humor.
2- Yes-I'm going to include an epilogue chronicling the BEST DAMN FMV in the RE series-with Birkin's death scene.
3- Yes, I'm having fun.
Standard disclaimers apply: I don't own it, Blah, I never will, blah, blah, I'm trying to provide meaning to my meaningless life. Blah, Blah, blah. On with the show!
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Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life.
Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804)
Samantha: If you don't fall in love, you can't get hurt.
Roberta: But it sure is lonely all by yourself.
---"Now and Then"
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Spencer Mansion
Something had just occurred.
A large red van bearing the words "EPA" with sub-headings had crashed through the main dining room window and parked happily, right in front of the two exit doors.
Sherry Delaney, Medical Examiner and wife of Daniel Delaney-who happened to be present in that room at that moment-burst forth from the van dragging the chief of the fire department.
"I need a doctor NOW!" Sherry's tone offered no rebuttal. Scientists with Medical degrees came foreward offering their assistance.
"What." Kelly Woods stood over all of them-a higher being among the masses, "Is This?"
" My name is Sherry Delaney. I'm the wife of one of your employees."
"We do have a parking lot you know." Kelly replied, "Why you had to crash your van into the window-"
"Fuck you whore!" Sherry lost it. There comes a time in every human being's life when all the rage, fear, frustration, and humiliation just build up and explode out in a great mass of energy. This moment was Sherry's and hers alone.
"Fuck you whore! We were coming out to see you about these crazy murders-this man-my friend- found a fucking corpse at his door!"
"That's no concern of mine." Kelly peered down at Michael as if he were an insect, "Who is this man?" she did not let it slip that the idea of a corpse at a man's door was surprising.
"He's the chief of the Raccoon City Fire Department." Sherry said, "And he's hurt!"
"How…trite."
"What the hell is going on here?"
All eyes turned to see Albert Wesker appear in the doorway. He remained inside the haz-mat suit-but that made his figure all the more imposing. Sherry directed her attention away from Michael-peering through the crowds and looking for Daniel…
"My name is-"
" I know who you are." Wesker ignored Woods completely, "And I figured you'd be showing up sometime soon."
"Incorrect." Wood's tone became icy, "I am the placed "eye" of the board of directors. Here to report-"
"If anything is done out of line. Yeah well-"
"Mr. Wesker." Wood's voice was commanding now, "It is apparent that you, and Dr. Birkin are unable to cope with the stress of running a full-fledged Research faculty." She smiled, "We will seek out new management for this place."
"What!"
William Birkin appeared in the doorway. Annette stood a few feet behind him like a shadow.
"You can't take this faculty away from us! You just-you can't!" he sounded desperate. The little boy who had his hand caught in the cookie jar after being allowed one earlier.
"I am not bound by Umbrella Red's regulations. You all signed forms-"
"We signed forms to get pretty pensions and benefits." Wesker said calmly, "You pay people handsomely to do what we do-and we do it. So you have no place here-no order-no nothin-"
"HELP!"
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Sherry Delaney was on the floor cradling Michael Redfield's head.
"Mike…Mike can you hear me?"
Mike said nothing. His eyes were closed in repose and his face smiling softly. His breathing was soft and slow like an angel, or a sleeping child.
His wounds had stopped bleeding.
Dr. Wolf had peeled away his bandages, and was staring in horror at the marks in the flesh. It was she who had called for aid.
"These were made by a Cerberus." Dr. Wolf's voice was high and squeaky-more mouse then fearsome predator, "I'd stake my career on it."
"But that's impossible!" one of the other scientist's cried, "The Cerberus are still in development! There are only two in the kennels now, and both of them are-there's no way-" he gestured helplessly at the wounds in Michael Redfield's flesh, "No way they could make claw marks that big."
"Is there any way they could have gotten out?" Wesker said. He moved foreward and bent down next to Dr. Wolf, examining the wounds. Michael groaned as Wesker touched a finger lightly to the exposed muscle.
One of the other technicians fidgeted nervously.
"Um…"
"What happened?" his partner whispered, "You were the one who was in charge of the dogs."
Nobody saw Albert Wesker move.
He stood in front of the tech-a dangerous green shadow-the affect not ruined by the suit. Behind the faceplate-his eyes were dark and serious and deadly.
"What did you do?"
"Company policy article sixteen-six six states specifically that all personnel in the event of an evacuation are supposed to shred all unnecessary equipment, files, and animal experimentation." The boy squeaked, "Please don't hurt me! I was only following orders!"
"So were the Nazis." Sherry said from the floor. Michael remained stone cold, "Who the fuck is going to help him?"
"You destroyed them?" Wesker continued as if he had not heard, "We didn't sound a red-alert you ass! You've wasted hundreds of dollars of equipment and time-"
"I can fix that."
William Birkin appeared in the doorway. Behind him-Annette situated herself between the darkness and the night-like a person on the edge of a cliff. Birkin strode across the floor-his helmet off.
"What the hell are you doing?" Wesker cried, "You don't know if you're infected-"
"You the one who's in charge?" Sherry got slowly to her feet, "He said there were two. This "Wesker" and a boy." She coughed into her fist and ignored the sudden appearance of her husband-a heavyset man with a thick beard, "You the boy?"
Daniel Delaney came foreward, "Sherry-stop this." Daniel was a heavyset man with a thick red beard. Sherry seemed to release for a moment-her thin body falling like a marionette without strings-but she straightened.
"Are you the boy?"
William Birkin disliked being called the boy, but he nodded stiffly.
Sherry drew her hand back and brought it full force across his face. He staggered back a few feet-and crashed into a tech who had been browsing through a book on Russian art.
Outside a light mist was falling-shrouding the shards of broken window and van in mystery. A few scientists were contemplating the problem of pushing the van out of the window with a couple of Commandos. Strangely the black suited familiars who haunted the halls were quite absent.
Birkin picked himself off the floor. People had backed away to let the young scientist who was the leader of them all face off with this woman who had crashed a van through their window.
"What wrong did I do to you?" Birkin's eyes were wide and confused, "I've never seen, or met you until today. And you-hit me-like-"
"You're responsible for those things! Out in the mansion!"
"I hate to interrupt-but we're going to have to get this boy down to medical." Dr. Wolf looked up from Michael's prone form, "he's infected-no doubt about it."
Birkin frowned, "That's impossible…Cerberus doesn't carry the virus-"
"Actually it does-"
Annette and Wesker said it together.
Birkin glanced back and forth between the two of them quickly. Expressions darted across his face like rabbits loosed from a cage before he turned on his heel and fled from the room, the crowd parting as he went.
Annette sighed and moved over next to Dr. Wolf, "We can get him to medical and give him a dose of vaccine-but I don't know how much it will help…"
"Sherry, come away from him now." Daniel had his hand on his wife's arm, "Come on Sherry-he's sick-not safe to be around-"
"Are you safe to be around?" she jerked out of his grip.
Daniel looked confused, "what the hell is that supposed to mean? Listen, we'll go to the conference room-get a cup of coffee-I'll explain everything."
"No Daniel." Sherry stared at him as tears welled up in her eyes, "You…lied to me!"
"Now's really not the time for this." Annette stole a glance out the door where William had exited, "We need to get this man to medical."
"I'll go with you." Sherry said briskly, "I'm a medical examiner with the city."
"Alright." Dr. Wolf said, "Dr. LeDour will you assist? I'm still not a hundred percent behind the vaccine-"
"Go quickly." Wesker was looking at the body with distain, "He's close to the point of no return."
The point of no return was what they called the period where a vaccine could still fight the powerful anti-bodies. Once you passed the point of no return you were a Biological Organic Weapon-a BOW.
"Find out where Birkin went too." Wesker glared at Woods, "The three senior employees should have a meeting-don't you agree?"
Woods had remained silent throughout this. She smiled a slow cat smile and nodded at Wesker. The room was beginning to clear now.
"Sherry! If you come back-we're through!" Daniel Delaney was red-faced, "Do you hear me? Through!"
Sherry said nothing as she followed Annette LeDour and Dr. Wolf from the front room.
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Spencer Mansion
Lower Labs
Birkin buried himself in a mass of papers in the lower labs and began to cry.
How Ironic. This was the very same place where he'd met Annette earlier-a lifetime ago.
" I thought… "
When has anything ever been real but science?
Birkin dropped the papers on the floor helplessly. He had told himself constantly that he wasn't going to end up like Marcus-that he was going to start a family-find a nice woman…
But the work was there.
She was a siren, alluring him. Even lying awake at night, he was always thinking about future plans, future ways to deal with his research.
He could not admit the weakness to anyone. His reputation made him hardly human as it was, and it was difficult to share his passion with anyone.
But LeDour…
He really thought they had something.
Then Wesker had shown up. Wesker with his good looks, his self-assured attitude. Nothing could touch him! So knowledgeable, so perfect-the ideal male specimen, the Alpha.
He slammed a fist down on the table.
Why was I cursed as the Nerd?
He sighed and put his head on the smooth countertop. Science was comforting because it was so assured-nothing could change. Your work was yours-and nobody could take it from you.
A clear white sheet of paper reposed on the top of the stack.
He frowned.
To Whom It May Concern:
My life has been a mass of contradictions. I sought to heal, I sought to forgive and forget-but now that things have come to grips-I must face my destiny.
Yet I am not without remorse-and so I leave my final account in passing…
I was born into a family of nothing. At least we started as nothing. Soon we became something so much more-but it took eons-and nobody gave a-to use a term I hate-shit. My father was a brilliant man, but a horrid one. He was enamored with other women, and my mother-god rest her soul-did not care. I was left alone, the only child-the only daughter-and I was expected to soldier on.
I will not detail the account of how my father got where he ended up dying. I will simply say that it consumed me. I became obsessed with my father's death-and how to avenge him.
How Quaint.
The daughter he had once overlooked was now bent on revenging the man who had scorned her love and affection throughout childhood. I plotted and learned. My mother expressed a desire for me to become a doctor-and so I did. I became a doctor in one of the greatest states the world has ever seen-and one of the most horrid.
But it was there.
Eating away at me, the thought of killing the people who killed my father was joy. I did my job with little pleasure-until one day fate handed me a blessing.
I loved him from the first moment I met him. It was only after I found out that he worked for umbrella-that my love was set aside for a greater desire, "All children are bound to pay their family blood-debts." When I found out that I was carrying his child-my resolve was thickened.
He-my husband, and his company-had to die
I will not detail how it was done…the police will figure it out when they come in with Napalm. Nature has taken its course well, as it always does. The species that mankind created in that mansion have found their niche in the environment.
And in closing I leave my name-
Birkin gasped as he read the letter again. The signature at the bottom-signed with a familiar flourish was unmistakable amidst the trouble and turmoil of the abandoned lab. It burned into his mind in each loving stroke…
No.
It couldn't be true. He'd liked her, trusted her-
No!
Impossible!
He dropped the letter on the floor and stumbled away.
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Hospital Wing
"Give me a syringe." Dr. Wolf said calmly, "Hold him Annette-I don't want him to squirm."
Sherry watched as Michael Redfield moaned again. His hands gesticulating helplessly at his sides. The room they had given him was white-and small. The door however was unusually thick.
She immersed herself in a painting of flowers on the wall.
Annette LeDour wrapped her arms around the man who was wiggling helplessly and shrieked. She withdrew quickly, as if bitten by a snake.
Dr. Wolf's eyes narrowed, "Problem LeDour?"
"He-Smells-"
Annette mentally slapped herself. She was used to the stench of death and decay…
But never from a naturally occurring case.
"They all smell LeDour." The smell was becoming overpowering now. Sherry backed toward the door. It stunk more then the morgue at RPD HQ. It was sweet and cloying-like fermented milk.
"I'll inject him now."
Sherry's eyes drifted across the wall to an intercom box. Gray and plain-it was hidden directly in the blossom of one of the flowers that had been painted on the wall.
It spoke.
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Spencer Mansion
Above ground
The Scientists had not known what to make of this.
A few minutes ago they had been treated to humiliation, degradation, anger, rage, and fear. Various employees chewed over the fact that their lives had suddenly become a soap opera.
Outside the mist had thickened. Daniel Delaney was staring out into it.
He couldn't be sure but he thought-just the tickling of a thought-that he had seen dark shapes moving through the glass at the back of the van. He remained outside however-and wished that he had his gun, a trusty glock-like all the others got.
"Doctor?"
One of the minor researchers came over; "Yes?" he was a mouse of a man-Asian-with a balding head that looked like an egg.
Daniel licked his lips. He couldn't decide if it was his imagination or something that actually had appeared outside the window.
"There was-movement-out there-in the mansion-"
A car Alarm went off.
"Aww Fuck." One of the Techs's said. Eyes looked up nervously as the Young man smiled broadly, "Don't worry-tis mine. I'll take care of it."
He jogged out into the entry-way-the night was dark overhead. Someone had begun lighting the candles-which gave the entire place an eerie-gothic feeling.
"I can't say," the Doctor said, "Perhaps we should go and have a look?"
There were ten people in the room by that time-all nodding consecutively.
Daniel took the gun from the doctor gratefully. One of the red doors had been ripped off in the process of his wife's chase, he stepped through cautiously. Outside, the possibility of movement became more obvious-dark shapes were dancing at the back of the van, which was halfway between the mansion wall-and the world around it.
He pushed open the van door cautiously.
His heart jumped as it groaned loudly, and bounced down into the grass. The world outside was lit with moonlight-the faded shapes of cars were comforting walls in the distance-reminders of humanity.
"Hello?"
Nothing. The darkness itself spoke in silence.
"Hello? Anybody out there? This is private property!"
Surely, it was teenagers. They had no respect. A few had come before writing in graffiti on one of the side buildings. It was a dare for them-a test for the young boy's manhood-
"Hello?"
Something bounded out of the darkness, and Daniel Delaney screamed.
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Medical Room
That was how it began.
Sherry listened in horror, as the screams became pleas for mercy-mixed with a horrifying choir of moaning. Dr. Wolf and Dr. LeDour were talking in hushed voices.
"It seems to be working." LeDour said quietly, "Look-he's no longer spasming."
Indeed-Michael Wolf had ceased moving.
"When-When will he-wake-"
"Up?" the woman called Annette LeDour smiled, "In a few minutes I should think. We gave him a high dose-don't you worry about it."
"No." Dr. Wolf was glancing along with Sherry at the squawk box, "I'd be more worried about what's going on outside right now."
The screams grew louder.
"We'll go back up in a few minutes-once he wakes. We'll need everybody-and besides-we're safe down here."
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Michael Redfield-
He was in a field.
A big field, filled with tall high grass.
A fire hazard. He thought, I should get somebody to mow this place-I can't imagine what it must be light when it gets hot-
Come to think of it, it was getting warm. The entire place seemed to be going up in smoke.
He coughed.
Why don't I have my gear…if I'm out fighting a fire?
The level of smoke increased. Michael coughed. A few feet ahead of him he could see people-
"Uncle Mike!"
Chris?
" Mike! Here! Its not safe!"
Claire?
His brother's children.
He took a step foreward-amazed at how heavy his foot seemed. It was as if his gear was invisible-strapped onto him like rocks.
Another step
And another
"Mike! Hey!"
Kevin?
Kevin Redfield was there now. His younger brother with the wife who's name he could never remember. Michael Redfield kept taking steps-as more of his family clustered around them-distant specters, like those things at the mansion house…
More steps-he had to make it. If he didn't get out of the field he was going to die.
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Spencer Mansion Medical Room
"Odd."
Sherry Delaney looked up, startled. She was engrossed in the noises on the squawk box, "What? What is it?"
"His Fever's spiking… "
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Michael Redfield's mind
He was almost there. The details on their faces were so clear it made him cry. Claire with her adorable smile, Chris with his wisdom beyond his years, Kevin-smiling and holding his arms out-
"Michael!"
Sherry?
Sherry Delaney stood among them.
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"Give him more medicine!" Dr. Wolf was pulling back the already ruined arm, trying to inject a syringe into the rapidly healing flesh, "He's regressing!"
Sherry Delaney stared at the ballet with wide-horror filled eyes.
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"I'm sorry Michael."
His family had vanished. The field was hot now, so hot. Why couldn't he go? Leave the field with Sherry-go to where family was. He wanted family, people, people were good.
Good…
"I'm so very sorry." Sherry was smiling, but her face was blurring out of focus. Michael fell to his knees.
Why couldn't she let him out? He wanted people. People were good-soft warm people-warm like fire-FIRE!
"Why?"
" You have to die now."
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Michael shot straight up. His eyes flew open and stared directly into Sherry's.
Blood.
Blood ran down out of his eye sockets and from his mouth in a rush. Already they were healing-quickly-so quickly
Sherry Delaney screamed and threw herself backwards out the door. Dr. Wolf put a restraining hand on Michael Redfield's chest and forced him back down.
"He's beyond the point of no return!"
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And Michael Redfield felt the fire consume him.
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Spencer Mansion Medical Room
All Annette LeDour saw was the zombie awake.
Dr. Wolf screamed as the man sank his teeth into her flesh. His own flesh was starting to shift-to mutate on his arm-
She ran.
She dove outside and rolled atop the woman, Sherry, her name is Sherry the door creaked on its hinges as the thing with the mutating arm turned its attention and its horrible dead eyes toward them.
"CLOSE THE FUCKING DOOR!"
Annette pushed the door shut and slid the thick lock into place just as the creature dropped Dr. Wolf's body and began to throw its weight against the door. She felt something grab her from behind as the woman flew at her screaming. Sherry Delaney flipped herself over and began to hurl.
Annette moaned and looked up at the face of her rescuer.
Albert Wesker saluted her from inside his suit and went to go help Sherry.
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Upper Mansion Grounds
Kelly Woods smiled widely as the thing with the long white teeth tore into her flesh. Her theory had been validated-Birkin and Wesker had failed. Something had escaped…
A boot appeared near her face.
"Are you-death?"
She peered upward into the figure's face and recognized it. She started to say something just as the figure bent its head closer to hers.
The face!
" I know you-you're-"
The woman smiled consciously, as she traced a red smile from one of Kelly's ears to the other. As her hearing began to fade, she heard a song-distant-yet clear…
There was a friendly, but naïve king
Who met a very nasty queen
The king was loved, but the queen was feared…
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Author's note: AND THERE'S CHAPTER TWELVE! I really, really like the end. I think it's absolutely great to have-
Birkin- DON'T TELL THEM WHO IT IS!
Author: *whimpers * sowwy.
Anyway-I have Chapter thirteen halfway done-so it shouldn't be that bad. Your reviews are so appreciated (thanks to everybody) I can't say that enough-Resident Evil Rules!