Documents from RES are marked in *.
Chapter Eleven: Ten Minutes until Detonation
"Absolutely typical," Ark muttered to himself.
Ten minutes to get to the railway station…god, I hope Lott and Lily make it in time…
Not waiting for the lift to fully stop, he jumped off onto the white tile floor of the B3 level. Running, having almost no idea where he was going, he burst through a set of double doors where he was greeted by another of the "Mr. X" units. Looking directly at him through those dark slits for eyes, he walked in that all-too-familiar slow cadence toward him. Not even going to waste time or bullets, he easily ran past him with ample room through another door, where two of the familiar reptilian MA-121 Hunters noted his presence and began to run towards him, letting out the familiar nail-scratching cry, drowning out the obnoxious sirens wailing throughout. Before they could leap into the air, two powerful Magnum bullets were fired, catching one dead in the face, the impact caving in the flat skull, sending skin splatting against the metallic gray wall. It fell to its knees before collapsing, pouring its contaminated blood out onto the floor. The other bullet caught the other in its left side, blowing away a massive chunk of skin, revealing the soft red inner striated muscle beneath. It immediately sent the thing down, screeching and wailing. It wouldn't die immediately, but it would bleed to death. The creature tried to move across the floor, but to no avail. The corridor hung a right, then a left to a door.
He burst through the door, aware that the precious seconds were ticking away. Entering the B3 E Area hall, he suddenly came to an intersection—the hall split into two directions—straight ahead to unfamiliar territory, or to his left, again unfamiliar territory. On a whim, he turned to his left, down another hallway to another set of double doors, hoping to find the lift to take him to B4—and he ended up in a large room with scientific instruments, computers, lab tables and computers. Straight ahead, there was something floating in a vat. Walking closer, he saw that a multitude of wires stemmed from the rear of the storage tank, attached to a set of computer monitors, looking like they were monitoring vital stats. The new creature looked nothing like anything Ark had seen yet.
"Nine minutes until detonation."
It was roughly the size of a teenage boy, maybe Lott's size. It was humanoid in body structure, but had blue skin, and there was no visible determination of gender. What struck Ark the most was its exposed abnormally large heart located in the center of its chest, the heart beating slowly. On its left arm, it sported short claws. On one of the computer terminals nearby, he spotted a piece of paper with someone's handwriting on it.
*How to extract Beta Hetero Nonserotonin:
To establish a system of mass-producing Tyrants, it is absolutely necessary that during the process of gene cultivation, a large amount of pure Beta Hetero Nonserotonin must be injected.
This material is one of the human brain's elements. It has been revealed that the material is mainly produced by the pituitary of people at the latter period of developing their secondary sex characteristics.
Also, medical data shows that this cerebral material is produced in response to the excessive secretion of noradrenalin that is produced from the locus ceruleus in the brain stem. Noradrenalin is the cerebral material secreted when people are in a state of extreme tension or
fear. As the Beta Hetero Nonserotonin only exists in active cells, you can't extract it from a dead brain.
Thus, the best way to extract the material is to cut open the subject's skull without using anesthesia. This will cause excessive secretion of noradrenalin. The pituitary is then ripe for immediate extraction.
Vincent Goldman, Commander
Tyrant Plant on Sheena Island*
What the hell kind of creature is this?
He looked once again at the creature floating in the containment fluid and it finally dawned on him.
So this is the fabled Tyrant class…created from the innocent teenagers on the island. What other sick experiments did they do here?
The female V.O. cut through the air once again. "Eight minutes until detonation." Seeing nothing else here, he ran out of the Tyrant Lab and headed into the hall, taking a left into another room filled with control panels, security monitors, and computer terminals, a sort of control room. He ran across the room to the door on the other side, and finally saw it. The lift to the B4 level shined like a beacon in Ark's mind. A wave of relief swept through him as he ran toward the end of the hall.
Almost there…escape is just feet away--
When suddenly a loud bullet, sounding like a Magnum, was fired, missing Ark. Stopped in his tracks, he quickly spun around to see the gunman—and saw a huge, bulking figure fill the doorway from which Ark had just came. He was wearing a dark black and blue uniform with the word SWAT emblazoned on his chest. Humanoid in body structure, Ark instantly recognized him as the commander of the "Cleaners" he saw shortly after the helicopter crash, hiding in the arcade.
"Don't you even think about it," the commander said. "Put the gun down. NOW!" Hesitantly, Ark slowly placed his own Magnum down.
"There's a good boy," the commander said through raspy breathing. "HANDS UP!" He barked. Slowly Ark raised his hands in the air, despite that nagging stinging pain in his left arm. With his Magnum aimed at the spy's head, he continued.
"Well, well, we finally meet. Personally, I'm surprised you're still alive. I thought you'd be long dead."
"Guess I'm just that good," Ark sneered.
"SHUT UP! You've just been a real nuisance. I ordered my troops to cleanse the area of the contamination. I meant every word of it," he said through gritted teeth, the last four words coming out very slow and deliberate.
"By that, do you mean kill off any and all witnesses?!" Ark shot back, his gaze unwavering.
The commander chuckled. "You catch on quick, boy. Oh, how I'm going to enjoy killing you once and for all."
"Seven minutes until detonation."
"Hear that?" Ark yelled. "Seven minutes until this place becomes nothing more than a pile of demolished rubble."
The commander let out a hearty laugh. "I have an evac chopper waiting just outside the facility. Your dead body will burn with all the rest of them! You will—ack—ugh…nooooo! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Ark saw to his amazement as several sharp claws penetrated cleanly through the chest of the commander, dripping with pieces of heart and vibrant red blood. He heard the sounds of ripping flesh and uniform as the commander let out a scream of sheer agony as he met his quick demise. With one deft motion, the claw pulled out of the dead man's chest. Dropping the loaded gun, he fell to the floor, forming a pool of his own blood in the process. The bulking figure of the commander gave way to—the creature that Ark just saw in the lab, the Tyrant, free from the containment tank.
The bad guy always talks too much…and always dies by some unforeseen enemy. Funny how that works.
Glaring straight at Ark, the teenage-sized Tyrant glared hard at Ark, its heart wildly beating, the veins and arteries pulsing with vibrant life. It began to advance very slowly toward Ark, its movements slow as a result of a long confinement.
While I don't want to…I must…
Quickly picking up his Magnum, he took aim at the unusually large heart and fired. The hot slug slammed straight into one of the Tyrant's arms. It staggered for a second, the shock of impact forcing it back a step or two. Other than that, it seemed unfazed and continued its advance toward Ark. Another booming shot fired, this one slamming straight into its massive heart. Blood shot out in a wide ark in front of the Tyrant as it let out a cry of pain. Not stopping, Ark let fly another powerful bullet into the face of the teenaged Tyrant, taking a generous chunk of its pale blue skin with it, revealing white skull beneath. Nevertheless, it advanced toward Ark with the same slow speed. His arm stinging like the sensation of a thousand needles simultaneously stabbing him, he tried to steady his shaking hand to get a good aim on the abnormal growth of his heart, which was beginning to spasm. He fired another, hoping in the split second it would connect. The bullet sailed straight into the heart, shattering it on impact, releasing a splay of blood that shot out the back of the abomination, coating the walls nearby with slick red fluid. It let out a gurgle, coughing up dark blood as it tried to advance, staggering toward him. Its deep black eyes widened in pain as blood began to well up in his eyes. Overcome and crippled, the Tyrant let out one last cry before collapsing just several feet in front of the dead "Cleaner" commander, a crumpled bloody heap on the floor. Its pale blue skin almost matched the color of the floor, now becoming stained in more blood.
The female voice cut through the air again. "Six minutes until detonation."
With no time to savor the victory, Ark turned and ran to the lift, reloading in the process. He slammed the button on the lift and headed down to the B4 Subway level. He wouldn't see the bloody pile of Tyrant slowly rise to its feet. Roaring, it turned and left the hall, stepping on the twitching body of the commander.
He landed on a dimly lit floor, leading into a wide passageway. Running toward the clearing, he heard a series of shrill cries as four of the "Cleaners" burst out from the shadows, their long arms flailing in the air and quickly heading toward Ark.
Oh, jeez, not more of you. Now you're just a nuisance.
Running out onto the platform, he fired one bullet into the fray. To his shock, the one bullet caught two of them dumb enough to be in the line of fire. Writhing in pain as the searing bullet ripped into the two, they turned to a pile of powder on the stone platform. Unfortunately, Ark had put himself in a position where one was heading for him and one was coming from behind. Suddenly Ark heard a gunshot, from a new gun. Looking toward the source of the sound, he heard another shot being fired, and just like that, the other two "Cleaners" went down. His mind spinning, he looked all around for the source of the gunman who saved his life.
"Over here!" A familiar voice yelled. Spinning to his left, he saw a waving Lott, accompanied by his sister, Lily, in front of a door into the train. Running to them, Ark just looked at Lott and smiled.
"Where did you learn to shoot that thing?" He smiled.
"I have no idea. A little bird told me," Lott joked.
"Thanks a lot," Ark said. His tone turned serious. "Look, this place is gonna blow in a few minutes. Let's get on this train and get the heck out of here."
"First you have to pull the lever to open the gate," Lott said, pointing to a wall dead ahead of Ark.
Ark didn't even give it a second thought. He ran toward the wall, near the front of the railway and pulled the lever, opening the gate.
"Get on!" Ark yelled. Lott nodded and boarded the train, almost dragging his younger sister onboard.
"Five minutes until detonation."
Ark entered from the car closest to the front, and bolted to the front car. Frantically searching for some way to start the locomotive, he finally found the large red button marked "ignition." Slamming the button down, he could feel the shaking of the railway as the engine slowly whined to life. With a sudden jerk, it began to move forward out of this place, out of this nightmare, toward safety. He looked at his watch.
Dawn will be here shortly. Hopefully we can get out of here in less than five minutes.
* * *
The train came slowly to a stop at another landing. Ark looked down at his watch again, noticing he had just over three minutes until detonation. As soon as the train stopped, Lily, Lott, and himself ran out of the train, their footsteps echoing in the dim platform as they found another lift. Not big enough to hold all three, Ark decided that he'd go up, and then the two children. Once all were safely up, Ark looked at his new surroundings. The train ride had taken them to a large space, a heliport, and to his relief, he saw a helicopter in the center of the launch pad, off. Taking a quick look, he saw that the chopper was equipped with several missiles and a couple of aircraft Gatling guns, a military chopper. Without any words, Lott and Lily both ran for the chopper, Ark following. As soon as the two children entered the helicopter, the ground beneath them shook slightly, a mild tremor. The two kids let out a cry of fear and held each other for dear life.
No…you can't blow up yet. We still have two and a half minutes…don't you explode ahead of schedule!
Before Ark could join them, a huge misshapen figure hurtled into the ground several feet away from him. It slowly rose to its feet, and Ark stared in shock as he instantly recognized the figure—as tall as Lott, pale blue skin now spattered with blood, humanoid figure, mangled heart—
The Tyrant has returned to finish us off…
As it was rising to its feet, its skin began to bubble and hiss, beginning its transformation process. Ark could hear the sounds of skin ripping and bone locking as the figure rapidly grew at an exponential rate, becoming taller than Ark. Powerful muscles instantly grew where its calves were located, and the arms grew to more than double their original width, as rippling muscle took the place of skin. Its original short claw grew long and razor-sharp, capable of slicing anything with great ease. The abnormal heart grew to double its original size, and Ark saw it throbbing and beating at a regular pace.
Oh…shit…
It stared at Ark as if to say, "come and get me." The deep pits for eyes stared hard at a surprised Ark.
"Shoot!" Lott cried.
Two minutes until detonation.
Snapping back into reality, he ran away from the chopper, hoping to lead the towering creation away from the two defenseless children. He fired two bullets in rapid succession, and they found their mark in the huge, thick arm, ripping chunks of pulsing, striated muscle along with skin. Suddenly, the massive Tyrant bent down low like a football player and lunged at Ark with incredible speed, closing the gap between the two in less than a second. His huge slicing claw swooped down to tear Ark a new one—and came up empty as the claw sliced through the tarmac of the heliport, showering sparks. Ark had dived out of the way, just missing dismemberment by a foot at most. Hitting the ground, he quickly got back up and ran away from the B.O.W., who was quickly getting up, and walking toward him slowly on thick legs.
Holy…fucking…shit…
Firing and running away at the same time, he still was managing to keep the Tyrant away from the helicopter. Another three bullets flew through the air, one of them missing, sailing into the stone wall. The other two slammed into the upper torso, one in the chest, ripping away the skin and muscle beneath, and one into the pumping heart, launching a splay of dark red, almost black blood into the monster's face. It looked like that was to no avail as the Tyrant ran at him again, the claw coming up for a slice—and just barely connected with Ark as the claw caught the right sleeve of the parka, slicing neatly through the shirt beneath, which was all that happened, for the bulky arm hit Ark on the non-bruised side, sending him flying into the air once again, similar to the episode with the Mr. X duo in the nightclub. He let out a cry of pain as he landed once again on the bruised side, sending a new wave of pain through his body, rendering him temporarily immobile. Ark lifted his head in the direction of the Tyrant, saw his face gazing into his own. In no time, the creature was walking in the similar pace of Mr. X toward him, his massive feet slamming the tarmac. With his last bullet in the chamber, Ark aimed and fired, the bullet slicing cleanly through the bulbous heart, through skin, bone, and muscle. It stopped in its tracks, and let out a roar of pain. While it stood there staggering, Ark slowly attempted to get up, trying to overcome the massive pain in his side. He could faintly hear the sounds of the two children screaming at him to hop on the chopper and leave the nightmare forever. He began to hobble toward the open cockpit until he heard another bellowing roar from the monster. Ark looked behind him, ignoring the pleas and cries of the children, and reloaded his trusted Magnum, wanting to put an end to this once and for all. The Tyrant stood there, kneeling, as he began to undergo another transformation. His pale blue skin began to bubble once again as sudden huge growths sprang forth out of his arms, legs, and chest area. He grew once again, more outward than upward, giving him at least double his previous mass. His claws on his arm grew to over than double their previous length, almost reaching maybe eight feet, almost reaching to Ark's position. Bones and skin grew in places where there wasn't any, and after maybe twenty seconds at most, it was complete. Now it was this massive aberration. It let out an animal roar that rocked the heliport, eliciting screams from the two children inside the chopper. It began to lumber towards Ark, moving very slowly indeed. Ark understood the gravity of the situation.
For once, the Tyrant's mutations seem to work against it. By transforming, it has lost its speed significantly. It can barely move at all.
He looked down at his watch once again. One minute to detonation.
Almost giddy with relief, he reloaded his Magnum, placing six new bullets into the chamber before slamming it shut. Taking aim at the writhing mass of muscle and flesh, he stood his ground and fired. Again. Again. And another. Another. Each bullet ripped into the giant mass, plugging bullet after ripping bullet into the gigantic build. Each one weakened the monster further and further, until finally on the sixth powerful shot, he fell to his knees, blood pouring out from massive open wounds on the body. He collapsed on the launch pad, a bloody mess on the floor. Ark could hear the sick squelch of exposed muscle as the creature fell in a pool of its own life blood. The Tyrant was no more. Now the Tyrant was no longer a threat, Ark had about thirty seconds to get out of there. Hastily running into the chopper as fast as his aching body could allow, he climbed into the pilot seat, almost tripping on a rocket launcher on the cockpit floor, and fired up the 'copter, its blades beginning to whirl into life. In a few seconds, Ark grabbed the lever, and looked back at the two children.
"Hold on tight! This is going to be a quick exit!" The two were firmly fastened to their seats in the cockpit as tightly as they could. Ark pulled back the lever and the chopper jerked off the launch pad and flew into the air, finally leaving, escaping the nightmare forever. As the chopper rose over what was about to become ground zero, Ark breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at his watch.
Ten.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
Six.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
In one.
Zero.
At zero, a series of hidden, interconnected explosive charges connected electronically, and like a domino effect, the entire underground lab exploded floor by floor, ending with the heliport. A giant fireball of bright orange and yellow filled the sky as a tremendous sound accompanied the blast, utterly destroying the Sheena Island Umbrella facility and all that remained inside its walls. Ark, Lott, and Lily had managed to acquire a minimum safe distance away in those short seconds. The final explosion devastated the remainder of what was left of Sheena Island.
"We made it," Lott said, sighing.
"We did—aah!" Lily suddenly screamed as the chopper shook wildly, pitching into a nosedive.
"Hold on!" Ark screamed in shock. He pulled back the control lever, aligning the chopper true. Suddenly he saw something climbing up the chopper to his right, climbing on board.
"Lott, Lily, get up here! Lott, pilot the helicopter?"
"What?!" Lott cried. "You expect me to pilot this?!"
"Just do it or we all die!" Ark ordered.
"I can't! I don't know the first thing about piloting an aircraft!" Lott screamed back.
"Fine…" Ark muttered. The stowaway had pulled himself into view—and Ark could not believe his eyes.
No…no…you can't be serious!
Pulling itself toward the cockpit was the oh-so-familiar form of the gargantuan Tyrant, trying to pull itself on board to finish what it was designed to do—kill. With one mighty fist, it pounded the passenger side of the cockpit, bending the sheet metal, conforming it to the immense fist shape of the mutation. Lily let out a shrill childlike girl scream, startling Ark.
"Do you mind?" Ark yelled at Lily. "Everyone, hold on tight! I'm taking this bird for a spin!" Ark quickly turned the steering mechanism hard to the right, and suddenly the chopper shifted sharply to the right, hoping to lose the Tyrant, hoping to make him lose his grip and fall to the ocean below. Quickly he brought the chopper back to level, hoping. The bird dipped to the right again as the Tyrant lost his grip—and held on with both hands at the landing "feet" of the chopper. He wouldn't be able to get back up—he was much too big. Despite his huge, muscular build, his arms wouldn't be able to lift him back up. Because of this, an idea suddenly led to another bright idea that flashed like a neon sign in his mind.
If I bank the chopper to the left enough, it'll put him in line with the missiles on the exterior of the chopper. I can fire the missile. As a result, the missile will send him flying away, and then I can fire another missile to hit him, and he will finally be destroyed, once and for fucking all.
"Lott, get up here in the seat next to me!" Ark ordered. "I need your help! Don't worry, you won't have to fly the chopper!" Quickly, Lott unbuckled his safety belt and moved his way to the passenger seat next to Ark, fastening himself in.
"What are you going to do?" Lott asked loudly over the roar of the helicopter blades.
"I'm going to do the same thing that I just did, but in the opposite direction. See this joystick-looking lever with the little red button right here?" Lott found it directly in front of him.
"Found it!" Lott responded.
"Good. I'm gonna bank this bird sharply to the left. On my signal, push that little red button to the right. That's gonna fire the right missile. With any luck, that'll get him off our backs for good," Ark explained. All three could hear a faint roar over the roaring sound of the spinning chopper blades. Lily whimpered slightly.
"Don't worry, sis! It will all be fine," Lott told her reassuringly.
"Ready?" Ark asked.
"Let's do it!" Lott said, grinning. As if scripted, Ark turned the steering mechanism sharply to the left, sending the chopper into a wide yaw to the left, almost on the verge of spinning it out of control. Lily let out another panicked scream. The creature let out another boisterous roar.
"NOW!" Ark ordered. Pressing with his thumb as hard as he could, he pushed the red button switch to the right, activating the right positioned missile. He could hear the beeping sound it made, followed by the release of pressurized air. Time seemed to pass in slow motion once again as the missile began its trek toward the target. As Ark began to bring the chopper level, he felt the chopper lift some as if a great weight were being released. Suddenly entering his field of vision was the huge bulking figure of the Tyrant, a missile lodged firmly into its stomach, carrying it away from the chopper, with it a look of contorted pain. As Ark felt a wave of accomplishment, Lott let out a cry of triumph. The missile looked like it was moving at a slow clip, which would play an advantage when the second missile was fired.
"Wait until he is out a distance before you fire that second one—we don't want to blow up along with him. Wait for my signal." Ark positioned the helicopter so that the missile would be directly in line with the flying Tyrant. Several seconds later, Ark looked straight ahead at the flying creature, and with a determined look, said the word, "Fire."
Lott pushed the red button once again, a look of pure glee on his face. In less than a second, they heard once again the sound of releasing air before they saw the second missile hurtling toward the receding body of the B.O.W. A matter of seconds ticked by until the explosive projectile flew straight into the path of the other missile, firmly planted inside the Tyrant.
Gotcha now, you fucker.
The three in the chopper stared in amazement as an explosive ball of light and sound filled the sky, orange and yellow. Bone, skin, and muscle exploded in all directions, spraying a massive shower of blood. As the chopper flew past, Lott could see the burnt chunks of body that was once the Tyrant smoking, falling, taking them toward the ocean below. The detached blackened head of the former Tyrant sailed straight into the rapidly spinning chopper blades, slicing it into many tiny unrecognizable pieces. Finally, after all of that, the Tyrant was dead. He wasn't coming back. He was falling toward the ocean, all four billion singed and crispy chunks of him.
"Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" Ark yelled, overcome with giddiness as his mind registered the fact that it was now over.
"Yeah! All right!" Lott yelled, pumping his fists in victory in the air.
"YAY!" came the happy cry from the 11-year old Lily.
Ark slumped back in his seat, controlling the chopper as Lott went back with his sister. Both of them hugged tightly, happy to be alive, deeply thankful for the man that saved them, the rogue spy. Now that the trio was safely out of the disaster area, Ark knew that Umbrella was not going to like that, not at all. Boy, he would have a wealth of information for Leon. As for now, he had to find someplace where he could safely land this chopper. Breaking the silence, save for the chopper blades, Lily finally spoke up.
"Where are we going?" she asked diminutively, the way that only little children could ask a question.
"To be honest," Ark began, "I have no idea. I do know that we can fly as long as we have fuel, and by the looks of things, this baby was filled up when we left. We'll go wherever we're able to."
Lily seemed satisfied with that answer. "Okay."
"For now, though, I suggest you two get a little rest. It's been a trying time for all of us, you two especially."
"Good idea," Lott agreed. "I'm already beginning to get a little tired."
"See what happens after the adrenaline wears away? Plunk, like a stone," Ark said, followed by a chuckle. "You two sleep. I'll fly this bird to a safe landing."
"Fine then," Lott replied. "Good night."
"Morning," his sister replied quickly, then giggled.
It was calm out over the open ocean. As the chopper flew over the pristine ocean waters, Ark could see the warm orange glow of the sun as it slowly began to rise over the horizon, giving the fading night sky a dazzling light show of oranges, reds, and blues.
What a nice sunrise. What a nice way to end all of this.
The chopper flew into the rising sun, heading for nowhere and anywhere.
A/N: And thus, we end the novelization of RE: Survivor. But wait! The story isn't done yet! There are still chapters to be written! What about Leon and Claire? She has a pending trip to Paris coming up! How did I do with the novelization? Let me know! Review the story thus far! Soon I will have up Chapter Twelve.