The black jet landed, and Cora had never been so glad. The last few
hours had, quite frankly, been Hell.
It had started when Linden tried to have senior agents at the front and newer soldiers at the back. Scythe told him to fuck off, as that meant that Delta Team would be at the front except for Amelia and Marx. Scythe wanted it so Delta Team sat one one side of the aisle, and Team Biohazard sat on the other. That was met with protest too, Cora wanted to sit with Amelia and Salven wanted to sit with the Spencer girls and Cora.
Finally, everyone had just sat down wherever they pleased. Salven had sandwiched himself between the Spencer girls. Catherine was staring at him with a look of utter revulsion while Cassandra was joking and laughing with him. She didn't seem to realize what he was up to.
Knowing her sharp mind though, it was more likely that she was just amused by his audacity.
Hojo was sitting near Catherine, watching her thoughtfully. She gave him a cold stare before turning to look out the window. Her body language was obvious. 'I am surrounded by morons.'
Cora sat at the back with Amelia and Ada. Alexia did not sit too far off from Cora, but still aloof from the others. Once Cora could have sworn that those cold blue eyes were focused on her, but when Cora turned her head, Alexia was calmly unfolding a lab coat. Cora's mouth fell open when she saw the lab coat.
All of the scientists that Cora had ever seen wore plain, unadored white. This looked like Alexia had had a tailor go to this.
"That's ridiculous!" Willam Birkin had tried to sit as far away from Alexia had possible, but he still caught sight of it. Cora wondered how good his eyesight was to see the coat from that far. He burst into laughter. Alexia stared at him cooly. "You do not mean that you intend to do field work in such a ridiculous garment? No wonder you are unarmed! Any monster who sees that will be deceased from choking on their own laughter!"
"Any trogdolyte can see that someone as genetically inferior as yourself daring to speak to me as if I were a coadjutor of yours is far more genial than any article of clothing that has ever belonged to me!"
The rest of the argument sailed clear over the other occupents of the jet's heads. Finally, Alexia ended the argument by tilting her head out the window and ignoring Birkin. For a moment, this seemed to enrage him more than any nine-syllable word she could have called him. Then he merely sat down and glared at the back of the seat in front of him.
It had been enough for the men and women on the plane to forget where they were heading and why.
People stood up, chattering softly, when a loud creaking sound cut them off. They all froze.
"What the hell?" Linden asked, and then he disappeared as something enormous and green split the jet in half. It took Cora half a second to figure out what was going on - some sort of giant snake had wrapped itself around the jet and was squeezing tightly.
Cora was knocked off her feet as the jet broke in half. The snake spun smoothly, knocking the half of the jet that she and Amelia were in far off. Alexia, oddly, was merely holding onto a handrail and looking as though they had merely hit some turbulence.
/She's either a moron or insane./
"Cora!" Amelia shrieked, gripping onto Cora. The jet half landed, throwing Cora and Amelia from the jet into a thick bush.
"You okay, Amelia?" Cora asked the young girl who was shaking violently. Alexia had landed on her feet gracefully.
/How the hell? We were tossed around like rag dolls!/
Alexia made a slashing motion with a single fingernail across her wrist, then flicked it, sending blood cascading and splashing across the monster. For a second, the monster turned with Linden and Marx in it's mouth - either dead or dying.
/Poor bastards./
Then the monster burst into flame, and it toppled over. The other half of the jet and anyone inside was crushed.
"Scythe!" Cora screamed. Amelia stared at the remains of their transportation, shaking.
"Cora... what are we going to do?"
"We are going to ..." Cora checked her weapons over anxiously. She did not know. She had her knives, her Glock, and a sniper rifle. Not too good against an entire city. Maybe it would be better if she did not come back alive. If Cassandra and Catherine were dead, Spencer would kill her. There was no doubt about it.
There was suddenly a rustling in the leaves, and Cora spun around with her Glock raised. Thankfully, the people who burst through the thick leaves were not infected. Alexia Ashford, despite being a bit ruffled, was as cool and queenly as ever, and Cassandra Spencer was shaking, her sunglasses askew.
"Are we the only ones?" Cora asked, trying not to sound as afraid as she felt.
"No." Cassandra shook her head. Scythe and the others found a cave nearby, a couple of them are injured. They can't continue on. Hojo and Catherine went north. They were with William Birkin."
"The rest are dead." Alexia's voice was a cool, uncaring song. "It is as well. The would only serve as nuisances."
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Cora snapped. She knew that she looked a mess next to the pristine Alexia, but that did not dull her courage any. "They're dead ... eaten alive..." she felt queasy, and shook her head. "Don't you care?"
"No." Alexia said, then she smiled. There was something in that smile that Cora did not trust, but if Alexia could take out that monster without a second thought and if she was as intelligent as she claimed, there were worse people to have by your side.
"It's not safe out here."
"I know a facility where we can go." Alexia turned around, and not waiting for her younger companions, strode off.
*
Catherine Spencer pressed her back against a tree. Her tidy black curls were a mess, her eyes frantic. She gripped the gun like she was going to bludgeon the next zombie to come around the corner. It was alien to her; she didn't know how to use it anymore than Hojo knew how to splice genes.
"This is ridiculous!" she spluttered. "Where do we go?"
"I don't know." Hojo admitted. Catherine turned her large frightened blue eyes to William Birkin, who was frowning.
"Fascinating." he was saying, staring at the remains of the monster. "The blood must have molecules which spark the fire after contact with ... not oxygen, unless if it was a delayed reaction?" he frowned to himself.
"Uh, Mr. Birkin?" Hojo asked, and Birkin turned around to give him a cold stare. "No offense, but shouldn't we be moving somewhere?"
"I don't know my way around." Birkin told him simply. "But if this was a city, all we have to do is find the city itself instead of standing out here."
/Why didn't you think about that? Idiot!/
"My lady?" Hojo offered a hand to Catherine to help her through the wilderness. He got a flat, cold stare in return.
"I can walk by myself, thank you very much." She said icily, took two steps, and tripped over a root and landed face first. When she got back up, she looked like she was about to cry.
"I guess you'd rather be in the labs?"
"Don't you condesend to me, you cretin!" Catherine fired up at Hojo, seeming to bristle with rage. Hojo blinked, then nodded.
He didn't like this group. Catherine was good enough, he had a wee crush on her. But Birkin ... he had secrets. He had seen the man pratically tear himself a way out of the jet before it was decimated.
/Maybe he expirimented on himself. All of the scientists are crazy like that./
Hojo shrugged then set about trying to think up some tactics. He could only draw a blank.
*
Chris lay on the ground, panting. Claire was sprawled on the ground from where she had flung herself out a window.
"This ... is ... crazy!" she finally managed to say, sitting up.
"You're telling me." he stood, offering his sister a hand. She took it and they examined their surroundings. A forest, but a forest full of who knew what. Zombies, probably. There always were. But with Umbrella, who could tell what they had up their sleeve?
There was a sharp crack, and Chris spun on his heel, gun out of his pocket smoothly and pointed at a young hispanic man coming out of the trees. He didn't look afraid. His long hair hung into his face, but it didn't hide the light in his eyes as he looked at Claire.
/That cheeky bastard better not be thinking what I think he is./
"Hey." the man said, turning to Claire and kissing her hand. Claire stared at him. "Hello, chica." he told her. As he straightened, Chris put the gun against his head.
"Who the hell are you?!" he barked.
"Ruben Salven. UBSC Delta Team. Probably the only surviving member. You're S.T.A.R.S.?"
"How did you know?"
"The t-shirt you're wearing says S.T.A.R.S. on it." Salven said calmly, winking at Claire. Chris snarled. "Now, look, you do know that your chances of survival are nil without a guide, right? If you were to allow me to lead you and your friend," his eyes flickered back to Claire, and he smiled. Claire did not smile back. "to a safe place, would you not shoot me?"
"Guide away." Chris said through clenched teeth.
*
It had started when Linden tried to have senior agents at the front and newer soldiers at the back. Scythe told him to fuck off, as that meant that Delta Team would be at the front except for Amelia and Marx. Scythe wanted it so Delta Team sat one one side of the aisle, and Team Biohazard sat on the other. That was met with protest too, Cora wanted to sit with Amelia and Salven wanted to sit with the Spencer girls and Cora.
Finally, everyone had just sat down wherever they pleased. Salven had sandwiched himself between the Spencer girls. Catherine was staring at him with a look of utter revulsion while Cassandra was joking and laughing with him. She didn't seem to realize what he was up to.
Knowing her sharp mind though, it was more likely that she was just amused by his audacity.
Hojo was sitting near Catherine, watching her thoughtfully. She gave him a cold stare before turning to look out the window. Her body language was obvious. 'I am surrounded by morons.'
Cora sat at the back with Amelia and Ada. Alexia did not sit too far off from Cora, but still aloof from the others. Once Cora could have sworn that those cold blue eyes were focused on her, but when Cora turned her head, Alexia was calmly unfolding a lab coat. Cora's mouth fell open when she saw the lab coat.
All of the scientists that Cora had ever seen wore plain, unadored white. This looked like Alexia had had a tailor go to this.
"That's ridiculous!" Willam Birkin had tried to sit as far away from Alexia had possible, but he still caught sight of it. Cora wondered how good his eyesight was to see the coat from that far. He burst into laughter. Alexia stared at him cooly. "You do not mean that you intend to do field work in such a ridiculous garment? No wonder you are unarmed! Any monster who sees that will be deceased from choking on their own laughter!"
"Any trogdolyte can see that someone as genetically inferior as yourself daring to speak to me as if I were a coadjutor of yours is far more genial than any article of clothing that has ever belonged to me!"
The rest of the argument sailed clear over the other occupents of the jet's heads. Finally, Alexia ended the argument by tilting her head out the window and ignoring Birkin. For a moment, this seemed to enrage him more than any nine-syllable word she could have called him. Then he merely sat down and glared at the back of the seat in front of him.
It had been enough for the men and women on the plane to forget where they were heading and why.
People stood up, chattering softly, when a loud creaking sound cut them off. They all froze.
"What the hell?" Linden asked, and then he disappeared as something enormous and green split the jet in half. It took Cora half a second to figure out what was going on - some sort of giant snake had wrapped itself around the jet and was squeezing tightly.
Cora was knocked off her feet as the jet broke in half. The snake spun smoothly, knocking the half of the jet that she and Amelia were in far off. Alexia, oddly, was merely holding onto a handrail and looking as though they had merely hit some turbulence.
/She's either a moron or insane./
"Cora!" Amelia shrieked, gripping onto Cora. The jet half landed, throwing Cora and Amelia from the jet into a thick bush.
"You okay, Amelia?" Cora asked the young girl who was shaking violently. Alexia had landed on her feet gracefully.
/How the hell? We were tossed around like rag dolls!/
Alexia made a slashing motion with a single fingernail across her wrist, then flicked it, sending blood cascading and splashing across the monster. For a second, the monster turned with Linden and Marx in it's mouth - either dead or dying.
/Poor bastards./
Then the monster burst into flame, and it toppled over. The other half of the jet and anyone inside was crushed.
"Scythe!" Cora screamed. Amelia stared at the remains of their transportation, shaking.
"Cora... what are we going to do?"
"We are going to ..." Cora checked her weapons over anxiously. She did not know. She had her knives, her Glock, and a sniper rifle. Not too good against an entire city. Maybe it would be better if she did not come back alive. If Cassandra and Catherine were dead, Spencer would kill her. There was no doubt about it.
There was suddenly a rustling in the leaves, and Cora spun around with her Glock raised. Thankfully, the people who burst through the thick leaves were not infected. Alexia Ashford, despite being a bit ruffled, was as cool and queenly as ever, and Cassandra Spencer was shaking, her sunglasses askew.
"Are we the only ones?" Cora asked, trying not to sound as afraid as she felt.
"No." Cassandra shook her head. Scythe and the others found a cave nearby, a couple of them are injured. They can't continue on. Hojo and Catherine went north. They were with William Birkin."
"The rest are dead." Alexia's voice was a cool, uncaring song. "It is as well. The would only serve as nuisances."
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Cora snapped. She knew that she looked a mess next to the pristine Alexia, but that did not dull her courage any. "They're dead ... eaten alive..." she felt queasy, and shook her head. "Don't you care?"
"No." Alexia said, then she smiled. There was something in that smile that Cora did not trust, but if Alexia could take out that monster without a second thought and if she was as intelligent as she claimed, there were worse people to have by your side.
"It's not safe out here."
"I know a facility where we can go." Alexia turned around, and not waiting for her younger companions, strode off.
*
Catherine Spencer pressed her back against a tree. Her tidy black curls were a mess, her eyes frantic. She gripped the gun like she was going to bludgeon the next zombie to come around the corner. It was alien to her; she didn't know how to use it anymore than Hojo knew how to splice genes.
"This is ridiculous!" she spluttered. "Where do we go?"
"I don't know." Hojo admitted. Catherine turned her large frightened blue eyes to William Birkin, who was frowning.
"Fascinating." he was saying, staring at the remains of the monster. "The blood must have molecules which spark the fire after contact with ... not oxygen, unless if it was a delayed reaction?" he frowned to himself.
"Uh, Mr. Birkin?" Hojo asked, and Birkin turned around to give him a cold stare. "No offense, but shouldn't we be moving somewhere?"
"I don't know my way around." Birkin told him simply. "But if this was a city, all we have to do is find the city itself instead of standing out here."
/Why didn't you think about that? Idiot!/
"My lady?" Hojo offered a hand to Catherine to help her through the wilderness. He got a flat, cold stare in return.
"I can walk by myself, thank you very much." She said icily, took two steps, and tripped over a root and landed face first. When she got back up, she looked like she was about to cry.
"I guess you'd rather be in the labs?"
"Don't you condesend to me, you cretin!" Catherine fired up at Hojo, seeming to bristle with rage. Hojo blinked, then nodded.
He didn't like this group. Catherine was good enough, he had a wee crush on her. But Birkin ... he had secrets. He had seen the man pratically tear himself a way out of the jet before it was decimated.
/Maybe he expirimented on himself. All of the scientists are crazy like that./
Hojo shrugged then set about trying to think up some tactics. He could only draw a blank.
*
Chris lay on the ground, panting. Claire was sprawled on the ground from where she had flung herself out a window.
"This ... is ... crazy!" she finally managed to say, sitting up.
"You're telling me." he stood, offering his sister a hand. She took it and they examined their surroundings. A forest, but a forest full of who knew what. Zombies, probably. There always were. But with Umbrella, who could tell what they had up their sleeve?
There was a sharp crack, and Chris spun on his heel, gun out of his pocket smoothly and pointed at a young hispanic man coming out of the trees. He didn't look afraid. His long hair hung into his face, but it didn't hide the light in his eyes as he looked at Claire.
/That cheeky bastard better not be thinking what I think he is./
"Hey." the man said, turning to Claire and kissing her hand. Claire stared at him. "Hello, chica." he told her. As he straightened, Chris put the gun against his head.
"Who the hell are you?!" he barked.
"Ruben Salven. UBSC Delta Team. Probably the only surviving member. You're S.T.A.R.S.?"
"How did you know?"
"The t-shirt you're wearing says S.T.A.R.S. on it." Salven said calmly, winking at Claire. Chris snarled. "Now, look, you do know that your chances of survival are nil without a guide, right? If you were to allow me to lead you and your friend," his eyes flickered back to Claire, and he smiled. Claire did not smile back. "to a safe place, would you not shoot me?"
"Guide away." Chris said through clenched teeth.
*