Chapter 11
Sara walked quickly through the long corridor in the HCF headquarters. After she'd been separated from her team it had taken her several days to hook up with her contact and make it back to Washington.
She stopped in front of Wesker's office and straightened her skirt. Her head quietly poked into the dark room to make sure Wesker wasn't doing anything she should walk in on.
"Ah Sara, there you are. I was beginning to worry." Wesker motioned for her to come in.
She made her way in; standing in front of his large desk. "Sorry Sir, my team was separated after we were attacked by a carrier."
"Yes…" Wesker smiled, speaking before Sara could finish her report. "Mr. Leon Kennedy I presume?"
Sara nodded. "Yes Sir." He always seemed to know everything.
"And I trust the data you collected on him is in your written report?" He said, more of a statement than a question.
"Yes Sir." She nodded again.
"Good girl." He grinned. "I knew I could count on you.
"Thank you Sir." She smiled back. Clearing her throat; she continued. "I have reason to believe that the S.T.A.R.S. team will be infiltrating the Umbrella facility in Brazil."
Wesker took a moment before speaking again. "Source?"
"Kennedy Sir, he recruited the S.T.A.R.S. team to work with his own in the infiltration." She had to resist the urge to jump with glee. This information could mean a big time promotion.
Wesker mumbled something under his breath, then looked up at her; resting his head in his hand. "And when will this all be happening?"
Sara looked down at her watch to check the date. "One month and two days Sir."
"Good, good, that's more than enough time." He stood up from his seat and walked behind her. "Sara, you've proved yourself to this company time after time." He stopped to her right side. "At ease."
She relaxed a little; turning to look directly at him instead of straight ahead. "Thank you, Sir." She said smiling.
"I was just informed yesterday that we need a test subject for a new strain…" He smiled and nodded to a silver suitcase lying on his desk and she'd overlooked before. "I put in a good word for you, and they agreed."
Sara's eyes went wide. "If I may ask," she said after a long silence, "why me?"
Wesker frowned. "Well—
She raised her arms in protest. "It's not that I don't want to, I just thought that viral experimentation was reserved for senior officers…" Her arms fell back down to her hips.
"I pulled a few strings just for you, Sara. I think it's about time you finally proved your loyalty to the company." He walked over to the suitcase and popped both locks open.
She held her hands close to her chest while speaking. "What is it?" Her voice came out slowly.
"Now, now, if I told you, would it be a surprise?" He grinned as he tapped the syringe filled with green liquid. "It's just a little something the doctors and I have been working on down in the labs."
Sara swallowed hard. She'd been waiting a long time for this moment. After the London operation she'd been promised a promotion; but instead had been ordered to follow the S.T.A.R.S. team. Nine months of acting like a blonde bimbo. Finally, some recognition. She took a deep breath; every experiment preformed on humans by HCF turned out successful, with no fatalities. She hoped she wouldn't be the exception.
Wesker startled her by grabbing her arm and pulling her close. "I knew I could count on you, Sara." He whispered into her ear; his hot breath spilling across her check. The needle took her by surprise as well, jamming forcefully into her neck.
She felt the effects almost immediately. Her head began to pound furiously, her heartbeat became erratic and it became extremely hard to breath. What's happening to me?! Her mind screamed. She could only form simple thoughts, and had a hard time speaking.
"Don't worry Sara, it's perfectly normal." He laughed.
She ripped the syringe from her neck, causing blood to flow freely; soaking her shirt. The pain was unbearable; she fell backward, smacking her head on the hard cement wall. Now in a half-sitting position on the ground; she gasped for air. Through blurred vision she was Wesker walk calmly towards the door, saw him reach for the knob and lock it.
"A few things I forgot to tell you…" Wesker headed for her. "The infection causes extreme pain for the first 5 hours of incubation." He leaned down to her and smiled. "Oh, and for the virus to take effect, your heart can't be beating."
Her head pounded harder and harder by the moment. She couldn't take the pain anymore. "Please…kill me…." She managed to whisper.
"Why would I waste such a tempting situation?" He wrapped his hand around her neck and lifted her up and off her feet. "No, I think I'll have some fun with you first."
Sara clawed at the hand around her neck, she tried to scream, but nothing came out.
"C'mon Sara, I know you can do better than that. Scream for me." His hand tightened around her neck.
She screamed, sending fresh waves of pain to her already pounding head. The loud shriek filled the large room. Her head slammed up against the wall as she struggled to get free.
"That's it…" Wesker licked his lips. He leaned forward; his tongue traced its way across her cheek to her ear. "You'll like it, I promise…" He whispered. He pulled a knife from an unseen sheath.
"Consider this a promotion…"
Claire felt weird. Her hands shook involuntarily, and yet at the same time, she was extremely tired. Her mouth was constantly dry, and she had to keep getting up for a drink of water.
Despite the way she felt, she found herself thinking of Leon; as she wad done several times a day for the last week. She sighed and laid down on the large couch in the living area. Ever since… Her eyes as she smiled. That night had been wonderful.
"You had sex!" A young voice yelled, causing Claire's eyes to shoot open. Rebecca was leaning over the armrest of the couch, staring at her upside down. "When?!"
Claire ran a hand through her short hair. "A week ago…" She said quietly.
"What?!" She screamed. "Why didn't you tell me?!"
Claire's hands wrapped around Rebecca's mouth; she didn't want anyone in the immediate area to hear…like her brother. "I didn't tell you because you've been busy with Tinker." She said in a whispered voice.
Rebecca's muffled 'oh' could be heard through Claire's hands. She took them away, allowing the young medic to speak. She stared at Claire for a moment. "Well?" A smile curled across her face. "How was it?"
Claire closed her eyes again for a moment. "Unbelievable." That one word summed it up perfectly.
Rebecca giggled. "Good. Now you have to give me all the dirty little details."
A door opened from the hall holding the larger bedrooms. "It'll have to wait." Leon's voice was like music to Claire's ears.
She sat up to see Leon standing in the doorway. He didn't look very happy at first, but smiled at her as soon as they locked gazes.
"Can I talk to you alone, Rebecca?" He asked, sliding a hand in his pocket.
"Oh come on Leon, I'm sure she only has good things to say. After all, it was 'unbelievable'. The redhead smiled.
He smiled at her. "It's not that…" He paused for a second. "I just really need to talk to you."
"Oh, all right." She patted Claire on the head lightly. "Just hold that thought."
They both walked back into the hallway; and as Leon closed the door Claire wondered what was up.
Leon closed to the door gently and looked down to Rebecca; she wore a confused look. He'd decided not to tell her about Claire unless it was absolutely necessary.
"So, what does big back Leon want with little ol' me?" She shifted her weight to one leg and sat her hand on her hip.
"I need a…checkup." Leon forced a crooked smile. Checkup wasn't really the best word to use in the situation, but it was all he could think of.
Rebecca cocked an eyebrow and made an even more confused face. "Are you asking me what I think you're asking me?" The confusion on her face turned to anger. "Because I could never do that to Claire—
He raised both hands. "No, no, I mean a real checkup." He interrupted. "The virus is doing some weird things, and I thought, since you're the only qualified person on the crew to do it…" He didn't finish is sentence; only wanting to give her the information she needed to know.
Her face went from angry back to the happy one she usually wore. "Oh, that kind of checkup." She said, laughing. "Well, I'll need some medical supplies; needles syringes, a magnifying glass…" She counted off the items with her fingers.
"Great!" Leon smiled. "Just give me a list and I'll have what you need by tomorrow night.
"I'll be back in a few minuets." Leon smiled at Claire before closing the door to the Shelby and backing out of the cargo hold. The cold autumn spilled in through the open windows, making him zip up his bomber jacket slightly.
As he drove off the airfield he started thinking. Thinking about Claire's subtle changes over the past week; she was drinking more liquids, and her demeanor had also changed. She wasn't her usual happy, perky self.
He stopped at a red light leading into town and wondered why his only medical contact worked in Wyoming. The sidewalk next to the street, and the street itself was desolate except for a strange clicking sound he couldn't quite put his finger on.
Click, clack, click, clack…
His passenger side door opened and an Asian woman quickly sat in the seat before closing the door.
Leon pulled out his magnum and quickly aimed it at her head.
"You are a very hard man to track down Leon." She said, completely ignoring the large gun pointed at her head, merely inches away. She turned to him and smiled.
"What do you want, Ada?" He cocked the hammer back.
"I just want to talk Leon, that's all." She said, still calm. Her hand slowly rose and lowered the barrel of the gun gently. "Just follow my directions and everything will be fine."
A million feelings shot through him at once. She's the one that did this to you, Leon, the one that did this to Claire. He gritted his teeth. "Why should I believe you?!"
Ada gave him a sincere look. "I don't want to hurt you anymore Leon, please trust me."
He knew she probably wasn't telling the truth, but he had no real reason to be afraid of her, and she might have been able to answer some of his questions. She had infected him, after all.
"Please Leon, I want to help." Her hand gently caressed his shoulder.
He stepped on the gas and shifted from first to second, but didn't say a word.
He followed every one of her directions, but that was all the talking there was in the muscle car. He stopped in front of a five story building, and Ada got out. He followed her in the front door, and up three flights of stairs.
She opened the door to her place and stepped. He walked in after her; into the clean and large apartment. Ada's apartment.
"Make yourself at home, I'll be right back." Ada turned and left before Leon had a chance to object. He still didn't trust her, and she could be going to get anything. It was Leon's best be it wasn't a bouquet of roses and an 'I'm sorry' card.
He kept his eyes on the door she'd left out of, but let his gaze drift slightly across the well furnished room. Most everything in the apartment was modern art; the couch and coffee table were in odd shapes, as was almost everything else. The walls were covered in paintings that reminded Leon of ink-blot tests.
He turned away from the door to study one of them closer. The title on the frame read: Fade to Black. He sighed loudly and focused more on the painting. It was mostly a dark gray, but he could barely make out the odd letters. 'For you…' He mouthed out. He then noticed that nothing in the apartment was very personal. People usually decorated their places with pictures or magazines or something.
Less to remind you of the life of lies you've led, eh Ada?
Before he could even react to the though, there was a sharp stabbing pain in his neck. It ran down his arms to his fingertips. That bitch!! His mind screamed. He couldn't move; he was paralyzed. What did she—
Everything went black.
Sorry it took so long everybody. School has started up again, and I sorta went through a personal hell at home the last week or so. The girl troubles didn't help either. I did the best I could, and I know there are a few typos in there… Oh well, right? So…Ada's back to her old backstabbing ways again. What else is new? That little bit with Wesker and Sara has some meaning behind it, but only one person will really get the meaning. And I'm not going to tell any of you, because you'll all be scared off.