Chapter 5
July 24, 1998:Artie was bored out of his mind. He had nothing to do all day, and it was getting around 8:00 p.m. The phone rang.
"Yeah?" Artie said putting the receiver to his ear.
"Artie, it's Joseph," the Alpha responded, sounding concerned about something.
"Something's come up, we need you down here right now."
"Alright, calm down Joe, I'll be there as soon as I can," Artie replied. Artie hung up and ran for the police station.
He got to the S.T.A.R.S. to find the other five members sitting at each one of the desks. Joseph sat at Rebecca's. Wesker stood up from his and called their attention.
"Okay people, we're all here now. As most of you know, we've lost contact with Bravo Team about 12 hours ago," He began.
"So we have no choice but to go in and look for them. I want you guys to get geared up, and come back into this office in 10 minutes. Go get ready."
With that, the Alphas got up and headed for the locker room. Wesker was already in his uniform. He wore a blue shirt, covered with a black Kevlar vest and black combat pants.
The guys continued down the hall as Jill stepped into the women's locker room. Artie was the first to get into the men's, followed by Joseph, Barry, Brad and then Chris. He looked around while the other three went to their lockers.
"You're locker is next to mine," Chris said.
Artie walked over to where Chris was. Next to Chris's locker it said "Artie Scarano" on the label.
Artie opened it and took out black shoulder pads, a white shirt that had a S.T.A.R.S. patch on the left shoulder as well as the logo on the back, green combat pants, and black boots. There was a second locker below it. He opened it and in it appeared a S.T.A.R.S. custom Beretta in a holster with 6 spare magazines and a utility belt with pouches to keep them in. Artie got dressed and hooked on the belt. He put the magazines in their separate pouches and picked up the gun. He looked at it for a moment. It was well polished and nicely developed. Then, he put it in the holster and strapped it on.
Chris was wearing a green vest with gray combat pants and black boots. The vest had a knife holster with a combat knife secured in it. Barry wore a red vest with navy blue combat pants and brown boots. Brad wore a yellow vest with green camo-pants and black and green boots. Lastly, Joseph wore a bluish-gray vest with gray camo-pants and black boots.
Each of them were taking out their weapons. Chris and Brad had also taken out S.T.A.R.S. Berettas. Joseph pulled out a pump-action shotgun. Artie saw Barry take out a S.T.A.R.S. gun that was similar but seemed more advanced. The barrel was longer and the magazine was extended out the bottom, but what really made Artie's eyes widen was when Barry took a huge chrome revolver with an 8 inch barrel.
"Whoa!" Artie said. "What brand is that?" Barry looked at him, happy to answer his question.
"44 Smith and Wesson 629 Classic," he began. "It was made custom to me by a friend named Robert Kendo."
"He's the one that owns the gun shop five blocks from here, right?" Artie asked.
"Yeah, that's him," Barry replied. "Me and him like to call it the 'Silver Serpent.' It's even engraved on the side here.
"Is it powerful?" Artie asked.
"Powerful?" Barry suddenly looked insulted. "Hell, this thing has so much recoil that it'll kick you in the face." Artie laughed at the comment.
"Alright, enough talking about your toys Barry, let's get back to the office," Chris said.
They all went back to the office. By the time they were back, Jill was already waiting with Wesker. Her whole uniform was blue. The shirt, the pants, the shoulder pads, and even a beret fitted on her head. Wesker finally spoke.
"Brad, go warm up the chopper."
"On it captain," Brad replied and ran out of the room.
"As for the rest of you, just a reminder," he began. "We don't know what we're getting ourselves into. When we land, I want you to be on your best guard, and don't get too far away from the group. We don't know what's out there, it could be anything. Remember what I said. Keep your guard up. Do I make myself clear?"
They all nodded.
"Alright, let's move out," he said.
They walked out and headed down the hall. They went outside to the back of the station where they saw one of R.P.D. helipads. On top of it was the other S.T.A.R.S. helicopter, its blades roaring. Everybody walked up the steps to the helipad and climbed aboard the chopper.
Wesker sat next to Brad in the co-pilot seat. Barry slid the door closed and sat next to Joseph along the front back of the chopper while Artie sat in between Jill and Chris along the back. Artie looked down, not knowing whether the Bravos had ran into trouble. If they had run into trouble, what could it be?
Chris nudged him. "Hey, you okay?" he asked.
"Huh…oh yeah, I'm alright," Artie replied. Brad set the controls and with a loud hum the chopper took off and headed for the location.