Chapter VIII: Alpha of Omega

No more than a few minutes had passed, and now they were travelling streets Axl had not planned on seeing on his mission path. He knew he needed to ask them to stop so he could get off and return to his mission; he felt he had done his part in helping them escape and that they were becoming an unnecessary burden. Though he knew he'd miss them, there was no point in letting attachments get in the way of the objective.

Axl spoke up, his tone of voice clear and to the point, "It's time I leave you people, you can take it from here on out; just stay safe. If I remember rightly from my map, if you continue on this large street, you will be out of the city in under ten minutes."

Gary kept driving, not turning to face Axl who sat behind him. "What is it you're doing here, anyway? Why in the hell would anyone still need to be here?"

Axl remained silent for a moment, he had to phrase this just right. The problem was, he never felt he could say the right thing at times like this. His head was down and his voice kept an unemotional feel. "I'm the last hope for someone trapped in a nightmare she can't wake up from. That's all I can tell you."

"Don't be stupid!" yelled Gary, "Whoever she is, she's dead, end of story. Face the facts, nothing could survive that. We're the only God damned survivors!" Katie began to cry; her dad yelling had scared her. It forced him to close his mouth and forgo speaking his mind.

Regina looked to Axl, who noticed her glance the instance she turned to face him. "Please Mr. Axl, you saved our son, you saved us! We don't want you to throw your life away trying to do something meaningless"

Axl had no answer. They could be right, he might just have to abort. If Rebecca were really dead, everything he would suffer through would be for nothing. It's just one life

"No" Axl shook his head, "I can't think like that! Even if there is a remote chance, I need to try! I can't leave her to die, alone and scared, running from these, theseungodly things!" Axl had just reminded himself why he was here; though knowing what to say was sometimes hard, speaking from his heart gave him the right words every time. He calmed himself, "I'm sorry, this is something I have to do. Thank you for your concern, but"

Rick had been looking at him the entire time, smiling. It was clear he looked up to him, even though they had met only a short time ago. Axl reached over and ruffled his hair and continued speaking, "I can't give up, as long as I have the power to do something. One soldier makes all the differenceAs long as the Virus causes suffering and death, I must dedicate my life to stopping it. Even if I can only save one person, that would make my life worth it."

Axl could smell the air outside, seeping in through the windows. It had become foul once more, the same smell of the Hunter Beta he had killed earlier. Axl's face grew serious, his sudden change in demeanor causing the others to grow concerned again.

"Oh no" he whispered. This time, the smell was far stronger than before. He felt the fear begin to rise as he knew what that meant, there were more now, close by. Axl had to act, dismissing any anxiety he'd felt, even for a brief moment. There was no time for fear, leave that for the people not fighting.

"Keep driving, I'm going on the roof." Axl opened the door, the pavement flying by. He held his hat and leaned out, holding the door to keep him steady.

"What the heck are you doing?!" The father looked back twice, wanting to see Axl's stunt but not daring to go against what he asked. He leaned forward, concentrating on the road.

The V-Hunter side of him took over once more. This was a combat situation. "Hunters, lots of them. We're going to be ambushed. Just don't panic and keep this thing steady, I'll keep them off us." Axl placed one foot on the seat and the other on the door's inside handle, using them as steps as he jumped up onto the top of the car. Rick leaned over his seat and shut the door, just as alarmed as the other members of his family.

The wind hit his face sharply as the car traveled over 50 mph on the four lane deserted street. He went down to one knee to reduce wind resistance and stay on the car. His explorer-esque shirt flapped wildly behind him as he kept his hat at an angle so the wind wouldn't blow it off. He looked from left to right, putting his hand over his hat.

"Where are you" He took his AK-47 from his shoulder and readied it. Though the fast moving air stung his eyes, he caught movement to the right as he saw one of the creatures he feared were following them running alongside the vehicle. The car began to swerve a bit.

Axl punched the metal he knelt on hard, "Keep it steady, damn it! Don't mind them!" He aimed, correcting for the speed they were travelling and fired three rounds at the hunter. Two of the shots struck it, causing it to trip and roll to a stop as the car left it in the dust.

"One, but I know there's a lot more" Before he could turn, he heard the metal beside him pound and a hunter's screech tear through the air. The MA-121 hunter lunged with its claws forward.

Axl instinctively rolled to the side in a desperate attempt to avoid the attack. He felt his legs miss the surface as they only made contact with air, and found himself hanging from the edge of the roof of the car with his forearms, hearing the screams inside as the family watched through the windows. Looking up, he saw the hunter see its victim at a disadvantage and move against the rushing air toward Axl.

However, the rifle had not fallen from Axl's hand, and just before the hunter knelt to slash at him, he fired a shot into the hunter's jaw, sending it reeling backwards. It failed to kill it but stopped it for long enough. Axl climbed back up as the hunter regained its senses and attempted to rise with him.

Axl wouldn't let it fully regain its balance and lunged forward, swinging the butt of his rifle into its side, knocking the hunter off the roof. He felt as the wind threatened to knock him off as well, placing his foot before him to maintain his own balance. He then readied himself again, going back to one knee and faced forward. Using his left hand to hold the rim of his hat to try and help him see better, Axl saw the hunters run into the street, the car speeding toward them.

He yelled again, knowing the alarm the people inside probably felt, "Just drive right through! Don't give them an easy target!"

Axl spoke to himself, constructing a battle plan off the top of his head, "It'll take three rounds each to put of those things out of commission. I've got to aim carefully and wait for them to get relatively close so I don't waste any shots. That means I have to wait for them to jump at me for me to get a clean shot." He smiled. "Damn it, why do I have to cut these things so close"

With his mind racing, he couldn't figure even a rough estimate of their numbers, just knowing there were enough to make it tough to get through. Until the car got passed the main group of hunters, they'd all be in grave danger. He took the rifle in both hands and brought it to eye level. So, the family did need him for a bit longer after all.

"Bring it on you freaks!" He fired a burst from his rifle, shooting the first hunter he saw jump at him, killing it. "You're on the highway to hell!"

-

"Quickly, turn all monitors to the River Street cameras! We must continue observing the V-Hunter!" A well-built man stood in a dark room filled with monitors, barking orders and several people working at computer screens. The images of Axl's fight on top of the car against the attacking virals came up on several monitors, with several still showing no signal.

The screen illuminated his gruff face and crew-cut hair as he leaned over one of the operators, "What are you doing? Why aren't camera sectors E5 to E11 working?"

The man in the chair in front of the screen looked up and moved his hands frantically, "I-I don't know! The multiplexers are having trouble accepting the feed! I'll have to reroute them entirely!"

"Well fix it, damn it! We have strict orders to record battle data!" He looked at the screen, the agent kneeling on the black car, repelling the creatures sent to kill him and the survivors. "Damn it, those MA-121's are useless!"

"Perhaps you wish to rephrase that?" Wesker's voice startled the man in charge. "I see our first Viral Hunter is still alive."

"W-Wesker!" he saluted, "I thought you were tracking the second V-Hunter!"

"Don't be concerned about that, everything is under control. Now, what's the status?"

"I'm sorry to report that the agent in the hat is still alive. It seems as if your city-trap for the Viral Hunter Agents isn't working as you had originally conceived. We just couldn't have planned for this kind of resistance. This won't show well of your virus."

Wesker stood in front of the man, who was roughly his same height. He looked around the room with his hands behind his back, watching the images shown over the live feed. "What do you mean by that? Everything is working according to plan. Have patience, it'd do you good to not be so quick to judge such masterpieces."

"Listen to me, the hunters we sent still haven't killed him yet. The T-Virus specimens simply aren't effective; the V-Hunter is too much for them!" He pointed toward one of the monitors. Axl was still shooting down hunter after hunter as they came. He was yelling things and laughing as he gunned the monsters down. "You see? He's enjoying himself! We're only showing that the B.O.W.'s are a failure!"

Wesker sneered, "You seem to not know about what you're talking about. My virals will succeed. I'll have my revenge and we'll cripple Burton's organization while proving the virals' superiority. Don't think less of my creations, my new weapon will show you the true potential of the Tyrant Virus."

The man rose his voice; Wesker still remained so calm and sure of himself and his B.O.W.'s that it angered him. "You've become blind by your creations, we need to create a new plan! Our superiors will not tolerate failure; that is why they sent me to help supervise your testing. I don't care so much about using a mutating virus for a weapons program, but I will not allow this project to be a waste of our organization's time!"

Wesker stared at the man, not moving nor showing any care. "Your superiors, you mean. I no longer take orders from them."

The man became more frantic, "What?! How dare you go against us! No one survives crossing the Organization!" He forced some mock-laughter, despite him visibly shaking before Wesker, "Your B.O.W.'s are a waste! If you can't defeat just one V-Hun-" He was stopped abruptly mid-sentence.

Wesker removed his hand from the man's chest, allowing the body to fall in a heap to the floor. "Your superiors do not concern me anymore, I am in charge now. I have everything I need from your people and it is time you all learned your place. And never insult my creations, you have no inkling as to their potential."

The entire room watched Wesker, their fear paralyzing them as they had witnessed the conversation.

Wesker smiled, "Get back to work, I want to record this for posterity. This is the mere dawning of the new creation, the beginning of the end of all the human race." He began to laugh as his eyes grew wild behind his dark sunglasses, "And God said to them, be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it! Have dominion over the sea, the air, and all living things that move on the earth!"