A harsh wind blew outside, but the Team Biohazard members inside were not
affected by it. Tweek was furious, glaring at the splint on his leg. Foxx
was muttering darkly. Scythe was looking at Ada. A stray bullet from Marx's
gun as he tried to escape his fate at the jaws of that ... that monster had
grazed her arm, and she was beat up besides. She was also giving her laptop
an unreadable look.
"Anything wrong, Pandora?" he asked.
"Four of our team members are out there. Spencer, Hojo, Phoenix. And I don't know what to do! My mission was always 'just go to the control room', just go there and get files or whatever! But now ..." she let out a soft hiss of frustration, punching her thigh in anger.
"What we do, is wait." Scythe said patiently. "Tweek isn't going anywhere."
"Which fucking bites!" Tweek interjected.
"And we know *nothing* about this situation. I'm trying to think. Even if I didn't care about any of your lives, if anyone dies, it's on my head. You know Bolt, old Delta leader? He survived the HCF raid. Not for long though. They like to consider us rather valuable, and if a leader's stupid enough to get his team killed then ..." he shrugged. "I don't know how Umbrella works, but I know enough not to piss them off."
The wind gusted again, whistling through the make shift barricade of broken sticks they had set up.
"If any thing like that lizard comes, we're screwed." Foxx told the others.
"Light fires." Scythe said grimly. "I don't intend to die."
It would be hard defending themselves in such poor conditions, Scythe did not see what else they could do, so he kept a firm hold on the one thing in this situation which gave familiarity to him and his men; he continued to give orders.
"Try not to make them smoke only fires." he said, getting himself to his feet. He was not injured, just stiff and sore. And possibly in shock - he had not liked Linden, but seeing him up in that giant thing's mouth, the jaws piercing him ... Scythe gave a slight shudder. That could happen to any of Team Biohazard, if he was unlucky.
He would not allow it to happen though. *
Half way to the city, Amelia Merandez, covered with sticky zombie goo and blood, decided that she could not take it anymore. Her solution was to sit down and cry.
"I can't take this anymore." she sobbed. "It's horrible. It's horrible and I hate it."
The three women had to stop in their tracks. Alexia Ashford looked disgusted, as though Amelia was doing something grotesque.
"Get up you obnoxious child!" she said to the crying Amelia.
"Don't talk to my sister that way!" Cora said indignantly, placing her hands on her hips. Cassandra blinked, then knelt by Amelia's side. She fumbled in her belt pouch for a moment before pulling out a small needle.
"Only a sedative." she assured Cora. "I wouldn't infect her - you know that, right?" Cassandra scowled as she scooped up the now sleepy Amelia in her arms. "She won't make a fuss now."
"Perhaps you are not as imbecilic as I first hypothesied, my dear." Alexia's face was calm, showing nothing, and her voice was just as cool and condescending. Cassandra for a moment looked as though she wanted to hit Alexia, but she covered herself with the same icy calm and nodded before hurrying off.
"There is a small lab not far from here." Alexia said. "We will go that way."
"Won't it be infested?" Cassandra asked.
"There may be a smattering of the Infected there." Alexia said. "But it will pose no more than a minor inconvience."
"She's too arrogant." Cassandra whispered to Cora.
"I can hear you." was all Alexia said. Cassandra went slightly ashen faced - the woman was more than twenty paces away. But she still hurried after her. *
For a man with a gun trained on him, Ruben Salven was looking very calm. Claire had offered him a sandwich, and he had accepted it and was now gnawing on it. He might have been an all right man - but Claire could not forget the fact that he was Umbrella.
/Jill told you about Carlos./ Claire reminded herself. /He was Umbrella./
Salven had finished the sandwich and sighed, gripping his Socom tightly. By the look on Chris' face, he was strongly considering killing Ruben and taking the gun for himself.
"So. Where's this city?"
"No clue." Salven admitted freely.
"You told us that you could act as a guide!" Chris growled.
"Well, first I need to figure out where the hell we are." Salven said as though he was speaking to a two year old. Then he flashed Claire a smile. "Linden had me examine those maps until I was blind. I could kill him. But wait - isn't he already dead?"
At this, Salven broke into raucous laughter. Claire frowned. He was treating the death of his teammate like it was a funny thing.
"Well, go on then. Find us a safe place." Chris ordered. Salven nodded.
"There's a lab around here somewhere, a small one." and with that, the Umrella Agent sauntered off into the wilderness.
"Hullo, you ugly bastard!" Salven's voice greeted.
There was the sound of a zombie moaning, a gunshot, and then silence. Chris and Claire hurried, lest they lose the Umbrella soldier.
"As soon as we find transportation." Chris told his sister softly. "I will kill him."
"Why?"
"Are you crazy? He's Umbrella!"
"Still." Claire shrugged, then trailed off. Carlos had been Umbrella. And Steve's father had worked for Umbrella. "They're not *all* bad apples." she finally said.
Chris snorted in disbelief.
*
Catherine, Hojo, and Birkin were making their way towards a lab. Or at least, they had been - before the six armed zombie had tackled Catherine. She had shrieked, smashing his face in but not managing to keep herself safe. She had been seconds away from being infected before Birkin had torn the zombie apart.
Literally.
He had seized the thing by an arm, tugging ferociously with one hand and taking it's head off with a single ferocious gesture. The thing had stumbled around, and Birkin had finally remembered that he had had a gun - emptying the entire round into the thing.
He had seemed as shaken as they, and when Catherine tentavely raised the question, he had snapped at her. So now they continued on in the silence, ignoring the moans of the dead and Hunter's screams.
What was going on here?
*
Albert Wesker was not concerned with the monsters in the city. They would not bother him at all. He was more concerned with the humans. He could make out vaguely the remains of a jet in a clearing, which meant people.
Maybe he could have a bit of fun. He landed beside the sleek black jet. There was a cave nearby filled with people, and he could scent a hint of smoke among the scents of the soldiers. But what fun was it to take out helpless people? They were immobile - he would come back for them later.
He strolled over to the crudely cut out trails that people had made for themselves. Familiar scents, some of them. Something akin to Spencer's went in two directions. Relatives, perhaps? A soldier and another familiar scent that confused him to no end. He was lucky the weather was so mild - any wind at all would throw this ability off to no end.
Merandez had gone one way, it seemed. With Alexia. Most scents weren't familiar - except for the smell that was familiar , that he had once known very well, but was now unremembered. But he could pick out the scent of Alexia and Merandez anywhere. Alexia had withheld the T-Veronica from him. He was not used to resistance.
And if she had somehow survived Redfield, she would not survive him. And Merandez. How had she gotten away from him that time months ago? He had promised to make her scream , and he would. There was no way she would survive. He gave one last sniff to see what was ahead - and there was a scent that made him both overwhelmed with joy and blind with fury.
Redfield.
"Sir?"
"What is it, Watts?" snapped Wesker. Watts gave a start, they were not used to his heightened senses.
"Any orders?"
"Yes. Follow me."
"Anything wrong, Pandora?" he asked.
"Four of our team members are out there. Spencer, Hojo, Phoenix. And I don't know what to do! My mission was always 'just go to the control room', just go there and get files or whatever! But now ..." she let out a soft hiss of frustration, punching her thigh in anger.
"What we do, is wait." Scythe said patiently. "Tweek isn't going anywhere."
"Which fucking bites!" Tweek interjected.
"And we know *nothing* about this situation. I'm trying to think. Even if I didn't care about any of your lives, if anyone dies, it's on my head. You know Bolt, old Delta leader? He survived the HCF raid. Not for long though. They like to consider us rather valuable, and if a leader's stupid enough to get his team killed then ..." he shrugged. "I don't know how Umbrella works, but I know enough not to piss them off."
The wind gusted again, whistling through the make shift barricade of broken sticks they had set up.
"If any thing like that lizard comes, we're screwed." Foxx told the others.
"Light fires." Scythe said grimly. "I don't intend to die."
It would be hard defending themselves in such poor conditions, Scythe did not see what else they could do, so he kept a firm hold on the one thing in this situation which gave familiarity to him and his men; he continued to give orders.
"Try not to make them smoke only fires." he said, getting himself to his feet. He was not injured, just stiff and sore. And possibly in shock - he had not liked Linden, but seeing him up in that giant thing's mouth, the jaws piercing him ... Scythe gave a slight shudder. That could happen to any of Team Biohazard, if he was unlucky.
He would not allow it to happen though. *
Half way to the city, Amelia Merandez, covered with sticky zombie goo and blood, decided that she could not take it anymore. Her solution was to sit down and cry.
"I can't take this anymore." she sobbed. "It's horrible. It's horrible and I hate it."
The three women had to stop in their tracks. Alexia Ashford looked disgusted, as though Amelia was doing something grotesque.
"Get up you obnoxious child!" she said to the crying Amelia.
"Don't talk to my sister that way!" Cora said indignantly, placing her hands on her hips. Cassandra blinked, then knelt by Amelia's side. She fumbled in her belt pouch for a moment before pulling out a small needle.
"Only a sedative." she assured Cora. "I wouldn't infect her - you know that, right?" Cassandra scowled as she scooped up the now sleepy Amelia in her arms. "She won't make a fuss now."
"Perhaps you are not as imbecilic as I first hypothesied, my dear." Alexia's face was calm, showing nothing, and her voice was just as cool and condescending. Cassandra for a moment looked as though she wanted to hit Alexia, but she covered herself with the same icy calm and nodded before hurrying off.
"There is a small lab not far from here." Alexia said. "We will go that way."
"Won't it be infested?" Cassandra asked.
"There may be a smattering of the Infected there." Alexia said. "But it will pose no more than a minor inconvience."
"She's too arrogant." Cassandra whispered to Cora.
"I can hear you." was all Alexia said. Cassandra went slightly ashen faced - the woman was more than twenty paces away. But she still hurried after her. *
For a man with a gun trained on him, Ruben Salven was looking very calm. Claire had offered him a sandwich, and he had accepted it and was now gnawing on it. He might have been an all right man - but Claire could not forget the fact that he was Umbrella.
/Jill told you about Carlos./ Claire reminded herself. /He was Umbrella./
Salven had finished the sandwich and sighed, gripping his Socom tightly. By the look on Chris' face, he was strongly considering killing Ruben and taking the gun for himself.
"So. Where's this city?"
"No clue." Salven admitted freely.
"You told us that you could act as a guide!" Chris growled.
"Well, first I need to figure out where the hell we are." Salven said as though he was speaking to a two year old. Then he flashed Claire a smile. "Linden had me examine those maps until I was blind. I could kill him. But wait - isn't he already dead?"
At this, Salven broke into raucous laughter. Claire frowned. He was treating the death of his teammate like it was a funny thing.
"Well, go on then. Find us a safe place." Chris ordered. Salven nodded.
"There's a lab around here somewhere, a small one." and with that, the Umrella Agent sauntered off into the wilderness.
"Hullo, you ugly bastard!" Salven's voice greeted.
There was the sound of a zombie moaning, a gunshot, and then silence. Chris and Claire hurried, lest they lose the Umbrella soldier.
"As soon as we find transportation." Chris told his sister softly. "I will kill him."
"Why?"
"Are you crazy? He's Umbrella!"
"Still." Claire shrugged, then trailed off. Carlos had been Umbrella. And Steve's father had worked for Umbrella. "They're not *all* bad apples." she finally said.
Chris snorted in disbelief.
*
Catherine, Hojo, and Birkin were making their way towards a lab. Or at least, they had been - before the six armed zombie had tackled Catherine. She had shrieked, smashing his face in but not managing to keep herself safe. She had been seconds away from being infected before Birkin had torn the zombie apart.
Literally.
He had seized the thing by an arm, tugging ferociously with one hand and taking it's head off with a single ferocious gesture. The thing had stumbled around, and Birkin had finally remembered that he had had a gun - emptying the entire round into the thing.
He had seemed as shaken as they, and when Catherine tentavely raised the question, he had snapped at her. So now they continued on in the silence, ignoring the moans of the dead and Hunter's screams.
What was going on here?
*
Albert Wesker was not concerned with the monsters in the city. They would not bother him at all. He was more concerned with the humans. He could make out vaguely the remains of a jet in a clearing, which meant people.
Maybe he could have a bit of fun. He landed beside the sleek black jet. There was a cave nearby filled with people, and he could scent a hint of smoke among the scents of the soldiers. But what fun was it to take out helpless people? They were immobile - he would come back for them later.
He strolled over to the crudely cut out trails that people had made for themselves. Familiar scents, some of them. Something akin to Spencer's went in two directions. Relatives, perhaps? A soldier and another familiar scent that confused him to no end. He was lucky the weather was so mild - any wind at all would throw this ability off to no end.
Merandez had gone one way, it seemed. With Alexia. Most scents weren't familiar - except for the smell that was familiar , that he had once known very well, but was now unremembered. But he could pick out the scent of Alexia and Merandez anywhere. Alexia had withheld the T-Veronica from him. He was not used to resistance.
And if she had somehow survived Redfield, she would not survive him. And Merandez. How had she gotten away from him that time months ago? He had promised to make her scream , and he would. There was no way she would survive. He gave one last sniff to see what was ahead - and there was a scent that made him both overwhelmed with joy and blind with fury.
Redfield.
"Sir?"
"What is it, Watts?" snapped Wesker. Watts gave a start, they were not used to his heightened senses.
"Any orders?"
"Yes. Follow me."