The Cry of Death: Thanks a lot. I'm really glad you like it, and I'm not going to stop writing any time soon.
SpiffyAngel-4: Thanks. I had that planned from the very beginning during my planning stages of the fic.
Sergeant Nicholai Sokolov: LOL. Update complete, my friend. :P
rain1657: Yeah. Jill and Rebecca are my favorites, too. Glad you like the story.
Chapter 4: Project: Nemesis
She doesn't look too good. Are you sure the antidote is working?
Yeah, I'm sure. It's worked before, hasn't it? I don't see why it would be any different.
Well, it may be because she's just a kid. Wouldn't poison have a greater effect on a child?
I don't know, Barry. It could, but I'm really now too sure about that. I just hope she wakes up soon. We have to get moving and get out of this city ASAP.
Danielle could hear faint voice, bringing her out of her unconscious state. Her head hurt like heck, and she still felt weak. She opened her eyes a bit, and found herself staring up into the face of Rebecca Chambers. The young medic held a damp washrag in her hand, and was using it wet Danielle's forehead in an attempt to cool her down.
"Hey," Rebecca said softly upon seeing she was awake. "Are you feeling any better yet?"
The teen struggled to talk. "Still hot… And I feel so weak…"
Rebecca turned to look at some other people out of sight, a worried look on her face, then looked back at Danielle. "Not good. The poison must still have an effect on you… But we have to get out of here, and I'm not too sure about moving you."
"We don't have any other options, Rebecca," a male voice said. "We have to get out of the city before Umbrella tries to cover up the outbreak in a rather 'violent' way." Danielle turned her head to the speaker, and saw a young man with brown hair wearing a black S.T.A.R.S. vest and an olive green shirt and pants.
"I know, Chris. But if she's not up for moving, then we'll have to leave her here, and I'm not doing that. She's just a kid, you know." Rebecca sighed deeply, looking back at Danielle. "Danielle, this is Chris Redfield, another S.T.A.R.S. Alpha team member. He was also on the mission to the Spencer Estate a few months ago."
Chris smiled a bit. "Yeah. And I rather not have been… I'm amazed that a kid your age has lasted this long in Raccoon City."
With a weak grin, she slowly pushed herself into a sitting position. "I'm a lot tougher than I look, trust me…"
A man with a reddish colored beard and hair, and wearing a Kevlar vest with a revolver holstered on his belt, chuckled deeply. He was pretty tall, and it looked like he worked out a lot. "Sounds like someone else I know," he said while glancing at Rebecca, who blushed a bit. "The name's Barry Burton. I'm glad that Jill managed to find another survivor and bring them here. We were planning to leave town when we found Jill, since we couldn't find anyone else still alive." The smile on his face fell away. "This is just proof that Umbrella stole the normal life of yet another person… Sick monsters…"
Rebecca nodded, an angry look on her face. "But we're going to give them what they deserve." She turned to Danielle. "Are you up for getting out of here? You still don't look too good."
The teen nodded. "I think so. How soon are we leaving?"
This time, Chris spoke up. "As soon as--" he was cut off by a loud crash coming from the front room and a deep, guttural roar. "Everyone get ready!" he shouted, bringing up his pistol. The others followed suit, aiming at the wooden door that led to the front room. Seconds slowly passed by, and nothing happened. When Danielle thought that maybe they were in the clear, the door exploded in a shower of splinters.
"What the heck is that thing?" Jill asked as a towering monster stepped through the ruined doorway. It was unlike anything Danielle had seen before. Its skin was a brownish color, it had no lips, making it seem like it was grinning with its white teeth, and one side of its face was stitched up. It wore a long, black trench coat that covered up its entire body except its head and hands.
"Starrrsss…" it said in a low voice, looking around the room at all of them. The S.T.A.R.S. team opened fire, and bullets slammed into its chest. They seemed to do little or no damaged to the creature. It took a step forward, closing in on Danielle. She got off the table and slowly backed away, heart pounding in her chest.
"Danielle! Run!!" Jill shouted, firing at the monster. It ignored the bullets and shot out a massive hand, grabbing Danielle around her neck. The teen struggled to get free, punching at its hand. Even more bullets were fired, some hitting its head, but doing little damage. The monster's grip tightened, and Danielle found it harder to breathe. Suddenly, it let out a roar of pain and released her, grabbing at its hand. Barry grabbed Danielle's arm and pulled her away, watching the monster. Impaled up to its hilt in its hand was a combat knife.
Jill and the others ran out the building through the front room, with Barry pulling Danielle along. The streets were unusually empty, considering the fact that there had been zombies everywhere when Jill, Rebecca, and Danielle had been there before. The group ran along, not stopping until they were several blocks from the building.
"I think that's far enough," Chris said, gasping for air. He stared down the street, gun still in hand. The others watched along with him, silent for a few seconds. "Well, it looks like it's clear… What the heck was that thing? Our bullets didn't even faze it!"
"It may be another of Umbrella's experiments. Obviously, they made something even worse than the Tyrant, and much smarter." Rebecca glanced at Danielle, who was shaking in fear. The medic put a hand on her shoulder, looking into her eyes. "Are you okay?" she asked softly, hoping to comfort her somehow.
"Yeah. I'm fine," she replied quickly. "As for that monster…" Danielle swallowed hard, a memory coming to mind. Just before her family had left Raccoon City, her father had received a phone call from Umbrella. She was in the room next to him, and could hear every word he said clearly.
"So, the T-Virus is starting to spread through the city? This isn't good, but perhaps we can use this to our advantage." He paused while whoever he was talking to spoke. "As you know, the S.T.A.R.S. still have people here in the city. If I make a call to them from somewhere and tell them that the T-Virus escaped, it may bring them running to the city. It'd be the perfect chance to test out our new experiment. The clearance code? Sure, I'll activate the program now. Project: Nemesis activated.
"I'll handle the call to the S.T.A.R.S. on my way out of the city, as much as I would like to stay and watch our little pet take care of those cursed people. I recommend having some people in place to record data on Nemesis for use in future projects." He chuckled. "Those S.T.A.R.S. won't stand a fighting chance against Umbrella's greatest experiment. My wife and I worked very hard to come up with Nemesis, and we know everything about it. It's the perfect killing machine, and none can stand in its way. Now, I must be going. We have to get out of the city before the carriers become too numerous to escape from."
With that, he had hung up the phone, and his wife had walked in. "Who called?"
"The office. They wanted to know if we were escaping. It seems the T-Virus has spread into the city. I activated Project: Nemesis. All we have to do is call the S.T.A.R.S. on the way out of town, and they'll be attracted like moths to a flame. They'll do anything if it means a chance at revealing what Umbrella really does to the public." He laughed. "Of course, the only thing that they'll find here is the one who will kill them."
"That's perfect. I know how much the S.T.A.R.S. have been troubling Umbrella as of late. I'm sure Nemesis will handle them without a problem. Let's get Danielle and get ready to leave. I'll prepare to make the call while we're driving out of the city."
"Is something wrong?" Rebecca asked her. Danielle snapped out of her daze, and noticed that everyone was looking at her.
"I just remembered something from before the car crash," she whispered, not sure if she should tell them. How would they react if they heard her parents worked for Umbrella?
No. I'm not going to lie. I've had to live with the truth about Umbrella's actions, and it's already been gnawing at my soul. These are people who would understand the truth, not shun me for it.
"What is it?" Jill asked this time, looking rather worried.
Taking a deep breath, Danielle tried to think of how to say it. "My parents work for Umbrella… I remembered that my dad got a call before we left town. I'm pretty sure it was Umbrella. He said something about the T-Virus spreading, and placing a call to trick you into coming into town."
The words hit hard, and anger appeared on the faces of the S.T.A.R.S. team members. "Dang it! It was all a trap, and we fell right into it!" Chris shouted angrily, clenching his fists tightly. "They cared more about getting their revenge on us than trying to save the people here! They're monster!"
Danielle looked down at the ground, feeling guilty about all of this. "That's not all…" she whispered quietly.
Chris's eyes narrowed, and his voice was cold and full of anger. "What do you mean? What else is there?"
"My dad activated something called Project: Nemesis. I saw some papers that he left out one night on it. Nemesis is an experiment with the T-Virus, based off the Tyrant-class of experiments." She looked up at them. "If what the reports said are true, then it is invincible and will not stop until its mission is complete."
"And what is that mission?" Jill asked.
"The complete eradication of all S.T.A.R.S. members."