With her muscles screaming in pain and with the pain in her side becoming
ever more painful as she stumbled towards her room.
"Damnit, Dinzali. Can't a slap on the wrist do?" she muttered, and pulled her key out of her pocket, pausing to lean against the door and to try to clear her head. She had been tackled, punched, bent, and she was quite thoroughly tuckered out. She also wanted to see Salven, and Amelia, and Mother.
To make matters worse, she didn't even get any headway on what Umbrella was up to. It was obvious that they weren't just any ordinary pharmaceutical company. Training rooms, head quarters, agents, convicts, and trainers with tempers probably weren't to be found in a local drug store.
The loudspeaker suddenly crackled, and Cora sighed and gave up on the lock to turn around.
"ATTENTION, ALL UMBRELLA PERSONNEL." a voice blared. It was alarming how calm the voice was, yet so urgent and loud. "ATTENTION, ALL UMBRELLA PERSONNEL."
"Well, this could get interesting." Cora said to herself, eyeing the loudspeaker. She thought she could hear a soft noise in the background, but she ignored it. Probably another scientist plodding around.
"A SAMPLE HAS ESCAPED FROM THE LABS." the loudspeaker warned. This was very interesting. A sample? Cora giggled at the thought, a mental image of a giant pill striding down the halls sparking in her mind. Cora thought she could hear a moan in the distance, but she ignored it yet again. "IF YOU SEE IT, NEUTRALIZE IT. REMAIN CALM. IF YOU ARE INFECTED, GO TO THE MEDICAL ROOM IMMEDIATELY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION."
"What was that all about?" Cora asked, turning back to the lock, when she heard heavy, dragging footsteps. The young trainee slowly turned around to see a man with thinning hair dragging his feet down the hall, arms outstretched. A strong smell was rising from him.
"Ooh." the man moaned. A piece of rotten skin fell from his face.
"Sir?" Cora asked tentatively. "Are you all right?"
The man did not answer, but he moaned again and he continued his shuffle. His eyes were locked on Cora. Suddenly Cora realized that he had no pupil, or iris.
"Get away from me." Cora said tersely. "Get away!"
The man showed no sign of giving up. Cora jammed the key on the lock and twisted as hard as she could. The door opened with a click. Cora clambered inside and slammed the door, locking it. Then, just incase, she pushed the table beside her bed in front of the door.
"Thump, thump." went the man's hands on the door.
"Go away!" Cora screamed. She pressed herself against the back door, then grabbed her lamp. If he dared come in, then she would smash the rest of that monster's head apart. There was suddenly a single gunshot, and a dull thump.
"Is anyone in there?" someone called. Cora didn't respond, but she clutched her lamp more tightly. "Hello? Is anyone in there? I'm human, don't worry."
"I'm in here." Cora finally called back.
"Right. Did the zombie bite you at all? Did he touch you?"
"Zombie?" Cora called back. "What the hell do you mean, zombie?"
There was a very long silence on the outside of the door.
"I think that we need to talk to you."
"There is no fucking way that I'm leaving my room." Cora shouted. "There are monsters."
"It's OK, it's safe, and I'm armed. Nothing's going to hurt you."
"Fine." Cora finally said furiously. She set the lamp down and moved the table, then opened the door a creak. The corpse was on the floor, his eyes still open. The man who she had had a lovely conversation with was standing above the corpse with a look of distaste on his face. He turned - it was Gabriel Turnbull.
"Hello, Miss Merandez." he said courteously. She didn't respond, but merely stared at the corpse on her doorstep. "I'm supposing you'll want an explanation."
"Of course I want an explanation, you idiot!" Cora exploded. This was too much for her. Rescued from prison, sleeping for days, then waking up to this insanity was enough to wear away at her nerves terribly. "You just shot a man with no eyes!"
"Well, technically, zombies do have eyes."
"Shut up." Cora said wearily. "No turning words, no stupid twists, just shut up and tell the truth plain and simple." Gabriel Turnbull looked slightly taken aback at these words. He gave a thoughtful frown, then began to tap his finger against his chin. Finally, he spoke with a voice full of wonder.
"Cora, imagine a world where no able bodied man has to go out into combat. Instead, we use B.O.W.s to do the dirty work for us. No causalities. How can you kill a soldier that is already dead? All the world's markets is looking for something like this. Of course, quite a few are reluctant. America, for one. Canada. Spain. They're all very dubious about this.
What we do, Cora, is we regenerate the dead. You can restart a human heart for a half an hour after it's death. It' quite a simple business. The only problem is, with what we have so far - the T-Virus - it robs the host of all intelligence and gives it a thirst for flesh. And of course, you always have the danger of an outbreak. The T-Virus escaping and turning human beings into monsters. Quite unfortunate. Quite.
We have several of the world's top scientists working on this. William Birkin, for one. Alexia Ashford. They all have new ideas for new ways to perfect our techniques."
"You're sick." Cora whispered. "You're all sick."
"Oh, as long as you're part of Umbrella, then you're sick too." Turnbull gave a quite nasty grin. "There's no way out for you, Cora. You're in far too deep."
"Damnit, Dinzali. Can't a slap on the wrist do?" she muttered, and pulled her key out of her pocket, pausing to lean against the door and to try to clear her head. She had been tackled, punched, bent, and she was quite thoroughly tuckered out. She also wanted to see Salven, and Amelia, and Mother.
To make matters worse, she didn't even get any headway on what Umbrella was up to. It was obvious that they weren't just any ordinary pharmaceutical company. Training rooms, head quarters, agents, convicts, and trainers with tempers probably weren't to be found in a local drug store.
The loudspeaker suddenly crackled, and Cora sighed and gave up on the lock to turn around.
"ATTENTION, ALL UMBRELLA PERSONNEL." a voice blared. It was alarming how calm the voice was, yet so urgent and loud. "ATTENTION, ALL UMBRELLA PERSONNEL."
"Well, this could get interesting." Cora said to herself, eyeing the loudspeaker. She thought she could hear a soft noise in the background, but she ignored it. Probably another scientist plodding around.
"A SAMPLE HAS ESCAPED FROM THE LABS." the loudspeaker warned. This was very interesting. A sample? Cora giggled at the thought, a mental image of a giant pill striding down the halls sparking in her mind. Cora thought she could hear a moan in the distance, but she ignored it yet again. "IF YOU SEE IT, NEUTRALIZE IT. REMAIN CALM. IF YOU ARE INFECTED, GO TO THE MEDICAL ROOM IMMEDIATELY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION."
"What was that all about?" Cora asked, turning back to the lock, when she heard heavy, dragging footsteps. The young trainee slowly turned around to see a man with thinning hair dragging his feet down the hall, arms outstretched. A strong smell was rising from him.
"Ooh." the man moaned. A piece of rotten skin fell from his face.
"Sir?" Cora asked tentatively. "Are you all right?"
The man did not answer, but he moaned again and he continued his shuffle. His eyes were locked on Cora. Suddenly Cora realized that he had no pupil, or iris.
"Get away from me." Cora said tersely. "Get away!"
The man showed no sign of giving up. Cora jammed the key on the lock and twisted as hard as she could. The door opened with a click. Cora clambered inside and slammed the door, locking it. Then, just incase, she pushed the table beside her bed in front of the door.
"Thump, thump." went the man's hands on the door.
"Go away!" Cora screamed. She pressed herself against the back door, then grabbed her lamp. If he dared come in, then she would smash the rest of that monster's head apart. There was suddenly a single gunshot, and a dull thump.
"Is anyone in there?" someone called. Cora didn't respond, but she clutched her lamp more tightly. "Hello? Is anyone in there? I'm human, don't worry."
"I'm in here." Cora finally called back.
"Right. Did the zombie bite you at all? Did he touch you?"
"Zombie?" Cora called back. "What the hell do you mean, zombie?"
There was a very long silence on the outside of the door.
"I think that we need to talk to you."
"There is no fucking way that I'm leaving my room." Cora shouted. "There are monsters."
"It's OK, it's safe, and I'm armed. Nothing's going to hurt you."
"Fine." Cora finally said furiously. She set the lamp down and moved the table, then opened the door a creak. The corpse was on the floor, his eyes still open. The man who she had had a lovely conversation with was standing above the corpse with a look of distaste on his face. He turned - it was Gabriel Turnbull.
"Hello, Miss Merandez." he said courteously. She didn't respond, but merely stared at the corpse on her doorstep. "I'm supposing you'll want an explanation."
"Of course I want an explanation, you idiot!" Cora exploded. This was too much for her. Rescued from prison, sleeping for days, then waking up to this insanity was enough to wear away at her nerves terribly. "You just shot a man with no eyes!"
"Well, technically, zombies do have eyes."
"Shut up." Cora said wearily. "No turning words, no stupid twists, just shut up and tell the truth plain and simple." Gabriel Turnbull looked slightly taken aback at these words. He gave a thoughtful frown, then began to tap his finger against his chin. Finally, he spoke with a voice full of wonder.
"Cora, imagine a world where no able bodied man has to go out into combat. Instead, we use B.O.W.s to do the dirty work for us. No causalities. How can you kill a soldier that is already dead? All the world's markets is looking for something like this. Of course, quite a few are reluctant. America, for one. Canada. Spain. They're all very dubious about this.
What we do, Cora, is we regenerate the dead. You can restart a human heart for a half an hour after it's death. It' quite a simple business. The only problem is, with what we have so far - the T-Virus - it robs the host of all intelligence and gives it a thirst for flesh. And of course, you always have the danger of an outbreak. The T-Virus escaping and turning human beings into monsters. Quite unfortunate. Quite.
We have several of the world's top scientists working on this. William Birkin, for one. Alexia Ashford. They all have new ideas for new ways to perfect our techniques."
"You're sick." Cora whispered. "You're all sick."
"Oh, as long as you're part of Umbrella, then you're sick too." Turnbull gave a quite nasty grin. "There's no way out for you, Cora. You're in far too deep."
