Chapter 15: Stretching Patiences

Danielle looked down at the stairwell. "Looks deep."

Rachelle peered over he shoulder. "Yeah well, there's no other way but down, so, I guess, take a deep breath."

Danielle plunged into the water that flooded the stairwell, and dove under. Rachelle followed close behind. They were only under for a short while when they pushed open a watertight door and water flooded into the room behind. Now the water was only up to their waists. Danielle held her arms away from her sides and checked how wet she was, flicking her arms in exasperation. Rachelle looked around the room.

"Check it out, Dani."

Danielle looked around the room. The water made the whole room glow a bluish colour, and they found they were in one of the many labs. There were big specimen tanks along the walls, they had been fractured and were empty. Under the water on the floor were shards of glass from the tanks. They waded slowly through the water and opened a door that led out of the room. They peered cautiously through the window in the door before they considered opening it. Inside, a researcher was trying to run through the waist-deep water towards the door they were standing behind. He appeared nervous and kept glancing around. Danielle motioned over her shoulder.

"There's a staircase on the other side. Let's go."

Rachelle paused her. Suddenly they were thrown back as the man threw open the door. He slammed it shut behind him and looked at the two women.

"Get out of here!" he ordered in a panicked voice. "Get out of the water!"

Rachelle looked at him curiously as Danielle started for the other stairs.

"Who are you?" Rachelle asked him. He didn't answer at first, turning around and glancing through the window.

"I'm Dr Phillip Craig. Now that you know that, get out of here! Now!"

As he finished, the door behind him surged, as something rammed against it. Rachelle turned and ran after Danielle. Just as they left the water, the door burst open and they turned back to hear Dr Craig scream and disappear under the water. The water around him bubbled and frothed, turning red with blood as an unseen creature attacked him. The water slowly calmed, and the dismembered pieces of Phillip's body bobbed on the surface like so many leaves in a pond. Suddenly, a slippery form sprang from beneath the water, one of its huge, clawed hands held above its head as it came down, ready to swipe at one of the girls. They ducked aside quickly and ran up the stairs and through the door at the top. Rachelle and Danielle stood on the other side of the door and panted, the breath taken out of them. Rachelle shook her head.

"That was just sick. It literally tore him limb from limb! I've never actually seen someone killed by one of those things. I guess it's hard to imagine how it looks from either party's point of view....."

Danielle nodded. "I think that was an Aqua-Hunter. I read about them back in Raccoon City. I also read about the black and red 'Gamma-Hunter', which is supposedly faster and smarter than the originals."

Rachelle held up her hands. "Look Dani, not be rude or anything, but I really don't wanna talk Umbrella wildlife right now."

Danielle shrugged. "Though I don't forget you're older than me Rachelle, I honestly couldn't give a damn."

"You're beginning to sound like you did at the academy."

"So what if I am?"

Rachelle crossed her arms. "Oh, so that's it. You want to get out with your new best friend Annette."

Danielle looked insulted. "How can you say that!? Annette and I have an agreement! Yes we're friends — but that's beside the point!" She looked both ways down the corridor. "You want to get out? Then go on, get lost. I'm going my own way!"

Rachelle put her hands on her hips. "Fine!"

They turned away from each other and walked down the hall in opposite directions.

Annette pushed open the door with the end of her gun, looking both ways before she went through. Barry was close behind.

"We can split up now," Barry said, signaling to the two-way hall they were standing in. Annette nodded.

"Good luck to you, Barry."

"You too, Annette."

They went their separate ways. Annette ran down the left, Barry went to the right. Annette stopped running and thought for a moment. She recognised this hallway. On the left was the elevator they had ridden when they had first arrived, and just down from that was the door out to the driveway where the Tarago was parked. Annette pushed open the door and was met with the sound of crickets chirping. She stepped out and sneaked along quietly. She could hear the snarls of monsters hiding in the dark, the moans of the zombies and the occasional gargled scream of one of the few security guards or employees that hadn't made it to some sort of safety. But one sound came clear over the top of all this. It was the sound of purring. But not just any purring. The low, peaceful sound snapped her memory back to Smokey.

She wondered what had become of the failed experiment that her new allies had tamed. T-092, Smokey, had purred in the exact same way. But she knew it wasn't their cat. Their cat was still shut up in Research. The sound was constant. It was a fractured purr that seemed calm, but wasn't. She covered her ears and closed her eyes. If there was another Smokey out there, it wouldn't be so easy to get to the gate. Suddenly she felt a hand drop on her shoulder and she spun around. Annette jumped at the shadowed figure and almost cried out.

"Shhhh. It's me, Susanna." Susanna Chambers let go of her shoulder. Annette breathed a sigh of relief.

"Jesus, Susanna. You scared the life out of me."

"Sorry. Listen. The Main Gate is a useless means of escape. There's a huge plant monster similar to the one Linda had in the lab earlier on all over the East Wall. The safest place is in Research. Maybe then we can get Smokey out of the keeping room and use it to get out."

Annette sighed and pointed out into the darkened quadrangle.

"Alright then. You want to go out there?"

Susanna looked across the Quad, which was slightly lighter now in the morning twilight. There was a silhouette of a figure running across the wide area, into the central garden. Just as the mystery person reached the garden, a huge black form came pelting across the distance from out of nowhere and there was a shrill scream as the figure was taken down by the monster. Susanna looked away.

"There's no other way. We can't stay here. Worse than that thing is down in Laboratory."

Annette looked at her. "What is it?"

"A Bio-Organic Weapon called the 'Tyrannos'. It's really dangerous. More so even than the Nemesis, which I'm sure you know about."

Annette nodded. "That must be dangerous. How do you know?"

"Lachlahn and I were on our way out of the compound when we came across it. It's huge. Covered in tentacles, that is under its trenchcoat. It wears a steel mask with a small slit in it so it can see, and heavy boots, so you can tell when it's coming. Fingerless gloves, bad attitude."

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was targeting certain people. Umbrella can do that now. Give its monsters the intelligence required to know who, what, where and when... maybe not why, however. Who knows? The creatures may develop morals, and that's obviously a no-no for Umbrella."

"If you say so," Susanna shrugged. "To us, Umbrella is a proverbial thorn in our collective sides. They released four damn B.O.W.s into the compound, for Christ's sakes! What else are we meant to consider them as?!"

"Well, mass murderers would come to mind."

Susanna nodded. "I guess, but that's a new tune coming from you, Annette Birkin. Did you look up the word morals in the dictionary lately or something?"

"You don't necessarily have to be so bitter. I know that a simple 'sorry' won't suffice, but I'm trying my best to make amends. However, I think I realised too late I was wrong. I didn't realise William was wrong."

"Well you do now, and that's the main thing. It goes against my tuition, but I'll trust you, for now. Come on. We're not going to get to Research if we just stand here. Something will get us."

She ran cautiously out into the dim light, waving for her to follow. Annette shrugged.

"I'm waiting for that day," she said, sighing. Then she followed Dr Chambers out into the Quad.

Jill shook her head, sighing. "I don't know, Carlos. I really don't know what we're going to do. We have to get out of here, but I don't know the way."

Carlos shrugged. "And you think that I do? I've never been here before, so of course I don't know the way."

Jill held up her hands. "Look, I don't want to get into a fight right now."

Carlos nodded. "I know, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, it's just pressure, it's not your fault," Jill assured. "I'm just uptight."

"Don't blame yourself," Carlos shook his head and looked around. The corridor split. They had the choice of straight ahead, left, or right. Carlos pointed left.

"I'll take the left path. Why don't you go straight ahead?"

Jill nodded. "I'll stay straight on then. I'll meet you outside, alright?"

"You sound so sure."

"I am. That's the key to survival, thinking positive. Didn't you know that?"

Carlos grinned. "Hah, funny. You obviously don't remember some of the tantrums I chucked back in Raccoon City."

"Did that slap across the face bring you to your senses?" Jill asked smugly. Carlos rolled his eyes.

"Put it this way. I woke up to myself so bad, I could have sworn it was all a horrible nightmare."

Jill shook her head. "Well, I guess we'd better get going, huh? Otherwise we may never find our way out."

"I wish we didn't have to split up."

Jill shrugged. "Live with it. Make sure you live with it, too. I'll see you later."

Carlos nodded and ran off down the path that headed left. Jill stood on her own for a moment, before continuing on. Most of her trip was uneventful. She poked her head into several rooms along the way, but found nothing of great interest. Suddenly she heard a sound down the hall. It sounded like heavy boots on the tiled floor. She remembered that Rachelle wore combat boots. She ran down the hall, turning a corner, and froze. So did the massive figure, headed in her direction.

It wore a thick coat, just like the one that the Nemesis wore. Heavy boots on its big feet made the loud clumping that had led her to believe that maybe one of her fellow S.T.A.R.S. members was down the hall. Fingerless gloves half-covered misshapen hands with thick fingers and dirty, speckled palms, and a shining, steel mask hid its facial features from her; apart from a thin slit which it used to see through. It was human-like yet stood taller than a professional basketballer and was more heavily built than a pro-wrestler. Jill stood where she was, gaping at the hideous monstrosity which had begun its advance upon her. Feeling herself regain control over her legs, she turned tail and pelted off down the hall, but she could hear the steps of the monster behind her.

"Carlos! Carlos help!"

Jill closed her eyes and ran as fast as she could, but no matter how fast she ran, she could still hear the footsteps behind her. Suddenly she felt someone grab her around her waist and pull her through a door. She sat in the dark, with her rescuer holding her close. She clamped her eyes shut and shivered until she heard the footsteps stop right outside the door. The monster paused, then just as she thought it was about to come crashing through the door, it kept going.

"It's alright, you can open your eyes now," a soothingly familiar voice whispered. Jill slowly opened her eyes, but couldn't see anything in the dark. The room brightened as a small kerosene lamp was lit behind her. She turned around and smiled up at Carlos.

"I owe you," she thanked him shakily. Carlos shrugged.

"You'd do the same for me, right? Think nothing of it."

Jill was shivering uncontrollably, and she suddenly began to cry. It was unusual for her. Carlos came over and put his arms around her shoulders, rocking her gently.

"Hey, you're safe for now. That monster's gone, how about we both go the way you were heading, that way we won't run back into it."

"How do you know that the path doesn't overlap?"

Carlos held up a folded piece of paper. "Among the other interesting things in this room, myself included," he said with a grin, "I found a map of the laboratory. The path you took would lead straight to the way out, after a few twists and turns and changing floors, that is. The way I was going went right into the heart of the main laboratory, which is a giant maze. Not very fun, considering all the nasties that are probably down there."

He wiped the tears from her eyes. Jill looked around the room from where she sat on the carpeted floor. There was a trunk, a typewriter, and a set of shelves with some interesting looking things on them. She got up to have a closer look. Carlos joined her. The shelves were stacked with boxes and items that could prove useful. Jill picked up a small box and opened it. Inside was some sort of diary and a magnum. Jill slipped the gun into her pocket. Carlos grinned.

"Stealer."

Jill looked up at him and laughed. "What? It's not like the person who put it there is really going to need it."

"Wouldn't you feel guilty if they did?"

Jill shrugged and turned to the diary. She gasped when she saw who owned it.

"Carlos, this diary belongs to the girls."

"Who?"

"Rachelle and Danielle. From when they were in the academy. It's theirs."

"Well, what does it say?"

Jill opened the diary to the first entry and smiled. "It's a letter book. I used to have one when I went to high school. It says;

Dear Shellie. I just finished target practice. The instructor says I'm pretty good. Oh well, bet I'm better than you! Whales can't shoot for quid! Sorry Shellie, that was uncalled for, you're not a whale, you're a dog! That's right, a b-i-t-c-h. Woof! Nah. God I'm in a mood. Oh yeah, you remember the last day of the McDoughal assignment? Did you give Lock your addy? I gave him mine. He's invited us to come up to that place in the mountains for the summer. Even though it's a scientific-sorta thingy, maybe it'd be a good chance to get away from Dawny the Horny for once! What'dya say? Wanna go?

                        D.A.

D.A.? I wonder what that stands for?"

Carlos shrugged. "Who knows. Must be a nickname. Come to think of it, aren't Danielle's initials 'D.A. Lanza'?"

Jill nodded. "We'll have to ask about this 'Dawny the Horny' later on."

They both chuckled. Carlos took the diary and turned to the next page. He laughed.

"Rachelle's reply. Hah. She sounds happy with Dani's opening comments."

"Well stop stuffing around, read it!"

"Alright already! Rachelle says;

Dear D.A. Nice to hear about your ability to maim and otherwise rob people of their rights to live through the use of assorted firearms. You must get those skills from your good old daddy dearest! At least I come from civilised Wales, not from the foxhole you were found in. And I'd rather be a dog than a schizophrenic psychopathic evil bitch! Anyway, you got mail from Locky? Okay, I'll go. Dawny the Horny is getting to me, too. Hey! I'm broken!

                        Shellie.

Haha. I'm broken. I wonder what that means?"

"They really loved each other, didn't they? They've been inseparable for years," Jill said with a smirk. "I wonder when they stopped writing in this?"

Carlos flipped to the last entry in the book. He pointed to the page and read it over.

"The date is.....6th October.....1998. That's only a couple of days ago."

Jill looked confused. "How? This was hidden really well."

Carlos shrugged and began to read it aloud. "It reads......

'Shellie! I found our old diary! Isn't that great? But I have to tell you something. But I can't tell you aloud, it belongs here, forever in this book, and maybe never even read by you, or anyone else for that matter. The past few months have had a drastic wear-down on me. I don't think myself special, it's happening with all of us. My attitude sucks, I could look better, and I feel like I'm trying to put myself above everyone else. I need to sort things out once and for all. I know for a fact that Bio-Counter labs will be under attack within the next few days, and I don't know if I'll make it out of this one alive. So, I'm going to put this down in written words, should my last spoken ones be unheard and incoherent.

'There is a major Umbrella lab hidden in the Rockies, almost right on top of the Canadian border. It's the American headquarters. All the Umbrella labs in America operate under this lab's supervision. Even though it's not the main HQ, taking it out will hit Umbrella where it hurts. But even if I do make it, I still may not go with you. I need to find my father, I know that he's alive somewhere. I also have a brother in this world, he's out there somewhere, I know it. I feel like I'm so close, especially when we're all together, I get this feeling that I can't be far off. I'll tell you what I've never told anyone.... Don't tell, okay?

'When I was really young, I heard my mother and father arguing about something. My father had received a letter from a woman in South America who he had an affair with secretly, and the child was born 3 months before me. That means that my brother is only 3 months older than me. I can't remember the name, I know it begins with a C......I honestly don't remember. If you ever find out, please tell either him or me. And if I don't get out, make sure the others don't get up to anything too dangerous. You guys are like the family I never had. We're like sisters, and I hope that my secrets are safe with you... As if you really were my sister. I flicked through this book, and took note of some of the mean things I said. Sorry.

                        D.A.

"That's so....Sad. Sweet, in a way. She cares about us a lot. I want to go find her now but, what will she say if she finds out we read her book?"

Jill shook her head and slipped the book into one of the pockets on the trousers he was wearing. She shook her head.

"She won't say anything. Because she's not going to know."

Carlos stared at her. "Wh... what? Why are we taking it with us then?"

"Something tells me we should. But don't let her know, whatever you do."

"I can't keep that sort of secret from her, it's dishonest."

Jill nodded. "I know, Carlos. How about this. We tell her when all of this is over."

Carlos nodded subduingly. "Alright. But if I slip by accident, you have to back me up. She's the sort of person you tell your darkest secrets to without realising until after you've done it."

"I know, she's pretty manipulative. But she can't maneuver you into telling her if she doesn't even suspect that we have it."

"I feel like I'm an Umbrella operative keeping secrets from the staff here. It just doesn't feel right. This is going to be on my mind until we tell her now."

"Try to forget about it. But I guess it explains why she's been acting distant, and hasn't been herself lately. Perhaps it was while she was in a weak state of mind that Annette Birkin roped her into-"

"Hey. I kinda like Annette. She's not that bad. Give her a chance."

Jill rolled her eyes. "Oh Carlos. I'm only poking fun. Come on, let's go. I wanna get out of here before Mr Tall, Dark & Ugly decides to come back for another look around."