HI! I'm back! How are you all? Hope everything's groovey!
Shady777~I'll just put that name there for the moment! But rest assured that I mentally put all the aka's in too. ;) Anyway, what can I say? Thanks for your review! I thought it would be about time to show why Wesker don't like Chris (like we can't guess!!) so... I racked my brain and finally! I was hit by inspiration! But don't worry, I slapped it back! Um... sorry 'bout the randomness of this response. I got the idea from many places, so probably your ideas helped me out. Thank you! :) I told Victoria what you said...
Victoria: Pleas don't hurt me! I've just got a bad rep.!
Mrs. Billy Coen~ *cough, cough* riiight...
Hehe~ hehehe right back at ya!
Zarbok~ You kicked his ass! YAY! *waves GO ZARBOK pompoms* *gulp* aw, come on! Self-diss jokes are funny, ie; I was lost in thought. It's very unfamiliar territory; I don't go there often. See? Funny! Well, maybe not. But I'll try to restrain myself if it pisses you off. Thanks for the review!
Theburnin'saumari~ hiya! Thanks for reviewing! I don't really mind the length of the review, as long as it's more than three words. Then it's good! Yes... the internet can be VERY evil...
Chapter 21:
The darkness was thick and velvety, seeming to be a solid, living thing that extended through vast distances, never ending. It pressed against her eyes, her body, into her mouth, smothering her...
Sena shook herself. She fancied she heard her mother say "/there's nothing there in darkness that isn't there in the light/". Steadying her grip on Ben, she pressed on, eyes searching the gloom.
Progress was slow, encumbered by the tendency to imitate a zombie and walk with hands outstretched in the hopes of avoiding going straight into a wall. Ben's inability to walk unaided also slowed the pace, though he was not to blame for this misfortune. For what seemed like millennia, they snail-crawled their way inch by miserable inch towards what was hopefully an exit.
The steady, dull thump of footfalls alerted them to approaching people. She heard Rosanna give a resigned sigh and shared it. There was nowhere to go, no way they could fight this newcomer, no way to outrun it. The only thing they could do was hope it ran past them, or was STARS. They hadn't seen STARS for age; hoped they were okay.
They slipped to the side of the wall, en masse. Dread and mind-numbing terror took a firm grip on every mind. Sena rolled her eyes skyward, praying for some divine miracle from her estranged deity; Lady Luck. A fickle female, if ever there was one.
It seemed the prayer was heard. Closer inspection showed it was indeed STARS. Well, some of them.
"Where's Jill and Claire?" Ian asked, concerned.
"Jill was in pretty bad shape, so Claire took her to the hospital. We haven't heard from them since," said Barry. "What about you guys? You all okay?"
For an answer, Ian and Sena manouvered Ben into the torch light. His left calf was wrapped in a micro-fibre towel from Sena's OE bag, the blue material stained a deep magenta. The right was a mess of blood and scratches, some of the gouges seeming to be down to the bone. Varying shades of crimson stained the untorn skin, creating a matted jumble of flesh, hair and blood.
Chris said some obscenities that fitted the occasion perfectly. "We need to get you out of here! Even I can tell that!"
Rebecca tried to do some standard checks but the grimace on Ben's face told her it wasn't worth it. He had to go to the hospital.
Several minutes later, when Barry had forfeited his jacket to be made into a make-shift bandage, they set off.
"What way should we go?" Chris hissed. "Going back the way we came will take ages! But if we continue this way, finding an exit might take..."
"Forever," agreed Barry, "but like you said, if we go back the way we came we might meet more of those vampires and if that happens... we won't be able to win."
"So you agree to go forward?"
"Yes," Barry sighed. "I hope I'm not making a fatal mistake.
***
Victoria stepped out of her 'house' and lead the way through the sewers, fading into the darkness with such ease even Wesker, with his highly-tuned eyesight, had trouble telling the two voids apart, the vampiress and the empty space. She moved soundlessly and swiftly, the perfect predator. Then again, she'd had one hundred and fifty years to perfect it.
Behind her, Wesker tried to think of how to get himself out of this mess. At some time, and sometime soon hopefully, he had to destroy all the vampires, all things that could possibly expose the virus companies. Not that HCF really cared that much about Umbrella, but it's easier to destroy /all/ incriminating evidence instead of sifting through it all and deleting what was.... unwanted.
Although... these new vampires could only expose Umbrella... if the T Virus leaked, it could be pegged as inefficient quarantine practices on Umbrella's behalf; it was, after all, credible enough. And if Brideswell had to be bombed? So what? These people didn't mean anything to Wesker... not really. He could get his family, /James'/ family, out of the danger zone. And then... what?
The vampires would survive. The sewers went for miles, connecting with those of other cities and, eventually, other states. There could be vampires, not crocodiles, in the sewers /everywhere/. So his efforts might not 'eradicate the threat of exposure' there supposedly was here. But it would make him friends with some /very/ influencial people. That is, of course, assuming that vampires are counted as people.
What had the big man said? /this will be inconvenient, as far as our plans are concerned./ What plans? What was Brideswell needed for? This virus, dubbed the V Virus, was probably already seeping to infect the world. And as Victoria said... no virus was strong enough to combat the undiluted V that she carried in her veins. Not even his. If he tried to beat her, he would get creamed. Even more than that, he would get /cheesed/, which is like being creamed except it lasts longer.
Nothing to stop him from going along with this plan of Victoria's. Sena and her friends were not a threat, they would run during the fighting and be safe, leaving only STARS to be killed . Nothing at all...
***
James sat in the hospital, waiting for news of the young women he'd helped to the ambulance. Sometimes he just wanted to leave Brideswell. He hadn't wanted to live here to begin with; this was his wife's, /ex-wife's/, hometown. He was just a city man stuck in a small town with annoying locals.
Sometimes he wondered if there was any truth to those jokes about rural areas. Maybe there was a smidgen, from some days long past, that would explain the unexplainable stupidity of Brideswell residents.
A young woman came out of the doctor's office area, looking a bit shell-shocked but ultimately okay. She had light chestnut hair that had been re-groomed and pulled into a severe bun, exposing several cuts and grazes on her face and neck. Her complexion was still paler then ivory, but she had an altogether healthier look than when he'd helped her to the ambulance.
He watched her benignly, ready to smile and wave is she recognised him or seemed thus inclined. She cast her glance about wearily, not expecting to see anyone she knew. Her gaze settled on James, and her lit up with recognition and gratitude.
She took a seat on the plastic bench beside him. "Thank you, for helping me earlier. I... I really needed some and you were the only person... I'm Claire, by the by."
" I'm James Leovan. You're welcome," he assured her, "people in this town aren't... very helpful, in crises. Don't get me wrong, they're nice enough people. In good times."
Claire, for it was she, skimmed over this last bit of knowledge. She rested her head against the cold, white wall of the waiting room. Her clothes were ripped and dirty, she'd have to throw them out later. However, at the moment, she was content to look like a refugee and worry about her friends.
"Have you heard anything about Jill?"
"Jill?"
"The other person I had with me. She was in a bad way."
"No," James said, shrugging. "I drove here, haven't seen her since the ambulance left. Maybe the nurse at the desk could tell you."
Claire glanced at the harassed looking nurse. "I don't think she'd answer my question at the moment... I have to get out of here! My friends are down there! My brother-"
"I don't think you're in any position to go anywhere quite yet," he cut in. "Look at you, you're dead on your feet. You need rest and recouperation." He gave a knowing nod at her indignation. "I know how you feel; my daughter and her friends are lost out there... somewhere. Hopefully with my cousin Albert, but he's never been much of a child-minder."
As James watched, a realisation seemed to dawn on the young woman. All fatigue he had seen before appeared to drain away from her. "Cousin Albert? You mean... Wesker is your cousin? And if that's so, Sena must be your daughter?"
He looked startled. "Yes, that's right. Do you know them?"
Claire leaned towards him, away from her 'support wall'. "I know where they are. They need my help, Sena and my friends. At the moment she's fine, but if we don't get to her fast that might cease to be the case."
"What about Albert? Is he okay?"
"Believe me, Wesker can take care of himself. I have to get out of here and help them."
He thought about the dangers of letting Claire just walk out of the hospital, no matter her condition, and about the other girl, Jill, dying, or worse, waking up to find no one their waiting for news, James let her get as far as the exit door before following. There was no way he was going to let his eldest daughter get herself into too much trouble.
***
Victoria sensed indecision in the man behind her. She was familiar with the signs of this... feeling. It happened when she was about to bite someone, and they couldn't decide whether they just be bitten, run or fight. It was great fun to watch the prey steam and sweat over the choices and possible outcomes.
All in all, she decided, things were going exactly to plan. Well, not /exactly/ to plan. Even better than that.
***~~~****
Um,.., yeah. Borrowed a phrase from Terry Pratchett here cos I thought it made it funnier. Ten cookies to whoever guesses what it is!!!! Any takers?? Any??
Oh, well. I'll just eat them myself. MwahahahaHA!
*scoffs cake*
Mmm... I love Wesker's baking. Can anyone else bake out there? I might need a new chef if this one gets killed by Victoria. It could happen people...(but it probably won't...)
REVIEW PLEASE!