A/N : Thanks to Captain for betaing, and to Shak for being cool, and to
Ramen for the same reason. Sorry about the delay. Xoxo, Cass
"C'mon, Claire!" Claire was lagging behind, staring at a zombie that had two heads.
"Where are we going?" Claire demanded, but she picked up speed.
"To the city." It would be easier for them to hide in a city. She didn't seem to agree with this choice - she had told him about the hell that Raccoon City had turned into before, but she followed anyways.
"Chris." she said softly. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"The city will be safe."
Chris just wished that he didn't feel he was bringing his baby sister into a nightmare.
/It's the only way. Wesker and Birkin are back there. How is Birkin alive, any way? Claire told me he injected himself with his own virus./
He skidded to a stop as he entered the city. Thin plumes of smoke rose from buildings that were predominantly charred and blacked. The air hung heavy with smog and ash, the pollution a testiment to the aftermath of utter destruction
Somewhere off in the distance, a Hunter let out a throat ripping shriek. Except it was amplified a thousand times over. A building shook violently for a moment, then silence.
Claire was staring wide eyed at the building, hands shaking.
"What the hell was that?!" she finally gasped. "It sounded like a Hunter except... no Hunter could be *that* big."
Chris wasn't so sure about that. Jill had told him about something called the Yawn, a giant snake that had killed his teammate, Richard Aiken. It wouldn't surprise him if they had made a Hunter large enough into that building. It was the type of dazzlingly stupid thing Umbrella would do.
"Let's just move on. We'll find some transportation and get the hell out of here, then alert our friends in the government. Anonymously, of course."
Having a course of action seemed to comfort Claire, because she nodded.
"We'd cover more ground if we split up." her voice was brave, her eyes were filled with fear. Chris shook his head.
"And let Wesker get to one of us alone? No way. We're sticking together, Claire. Now c'mon, let's go."
They wandered aimlessly around the streets. Suddenly, a light came into Claire's eyes.
"Chris. Look!"
There was a tall building, what had once been a beautiful building. But the paint was now chipped and cracked, the windows shattered. But as Chris's gaze travelled up, he suddenly felt relief and joy drop into his stomach.
An empty helicopter, a HCF pilot twiddling his thumbs inside. For the first time, Chris grinned.
"If we go quickly, then we can get this place destroyed with Wesker, Birkin, and those Umbrella assholes still inside." Chris said gleefully. Claire gave a delighted laugh, and they dashed off together.
*
The blond woman in front of them was laughing, and there was more than just a note of insanity in there. It was a witch's cackle, mocking and full of triumph.
Watts had called for Wesker long ago. Watts practically worshipped Wesker. If he had a heart, it was made of ice. Watts longed for that status, to have men and women cower with fear and beg for mercy at his grip. And Wesker had that power. So, he would be able to take down this mad woman in front of them.
It had started out well enough, her elaborate labcoat had had an Umbrella stiched on it, so they had surrounded her and told her to get her hands into the air.
She had responded by shooting fire out of her wrists. He had lost two men right away, and two more straight after that. He and his remaining companions had fled, but she had tracked them down. And now she was about to kill Watts and the other two.
He fired at the tall blonde, but the bullets merely melted into the shimmering air. Watts let out a roar, then lunged at Alexia. He'd be damned if he ran from a woman.
She gave another laugh, and seized a handful of Watts' hair. He growled and seized her wrist with both hands. At this, the amusement on the beautiful woman's face vanished.
"You dare ... dare lay your hands upon me?! You are not worthy!"
Robert Watts widened his eyes in surprise for only a minute as blood trickled on him. Then thought ceased as he turned into an inferno.
Alexia stared distastefully at the charred corpse at her feet. She felt the need to bathe. To have her skin dirtiesd by the touch of one of those pitiful mongrels... she turned around. Albert Wesker was staring at her, a slight frown on his face. She was not sure whether it was a frown, it could just have easily been the shadows playing on his face. The sun was setting.
"I see you've killed my men." Wesker's voice said clearly that he did not care. Good. The last thing Alexia needed was to deal with someone trying to get their revenge. Wesker could pose a slight challenge, and no need to exert herself further than she had today. She put a manicured hand on her pack filled with the viruses that she had picked up around Uranium City. Some of them were useless. Others had potential.
"I have." Alexia said, her voice chiming cooly. "I hope that shan't be a source of consternation to you..."
"I want those viruses."
"Now now Albert, there really is no need to be so uncouth..." She shook her head slowly. "These belong to me. You appear to have a certain degree of obtuseness concerning matters of possession, if I remember correctly. Anxious to get our fingers burned, are we?"
If that had had any affect on the blond man, he showed no notice. He would not like being reminded of his failure against Alexia, though. They stared at each other. Wesker was unpredictable, so Alexia was on her guard. She figured that they were equal in strength, but he was faster. And he knew about her fire blood.
Then, suddenly, she had an idea.
"We are BOWs." Alexia said, gliding towards Wesker. He was the one on his guard now. "Why kill each other in a vain battle? I will make you a deal."
"What's this deal?" Wesker was obviously disbelieving.
"I give you one of the viruses, and we don't attack each other for the rest of this little mission." she gave a cold smile. "I'll let you finish your petty little battle with Redfield. But you let me carry out my own agenda."
"Fine." Wesker said. She knew that he would break that promise in a second if it suited his own needs. But he knew that it was the same for her. She merely nodded, then reached into her pouch and gave him one of the useless viruses. He did not need to know that it was useless, though. She gave him a cool, icy nod, then glided off into the city. This won her a bit more time to be about what she needed to do. So little time.
*
Catherine tiptoed anxiously through the city. Some of the BOWs hunted by sound.
/I want to be back in the labs! I cannot believe I ever wanted to go on a mission./
She stumbled over a corpse and got to her feet, sniffling back tears.
/I'm afraid. It's cold./
At first, she thought that she was dreaming when she heard a loud whirring noise. A helicopter rose up into the sky, HCF markings clear on it. Yet even with her specks smudged and dirty, she could tell that the figures inside the helicopter was not HCF.
"HEY!" she shouted angrily, jumping up and down and waving her arms. "GET BACK HERE, YOU CRETINS! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME BEHIND! I'M CATHERINE SPENCER!"
The whoops and cheers coming from the copter, however faintly, showed that if they had heard her they did not care. Catherine let out an anguished scream.
She was on her own again.
"C'mon, Claire!" Claire was lagging behind, staring at a zombie that had two heads.
"Where are we going?" Claire demanded, but she picked up speed.
"To the city." It would be easier for them to hide in a city. She didn't seem to agree with this choice - she had told him about the hell that Raccoon City had turned into before, but she followed anyways.
"Chris." she said softly. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"The city will be safe."
Chris just wished that he didn't feel he was bringing his baby sister into a nightmare.
/It's the only way. Wesker and Birkin are back there. How is Birkin alive, any way? Claire told me he injected himself with his own virus./
He skidded to a stop as he entered the city. Thin plumes of smoke rose from buildings that were predominantly charred and blacked. The air hung heavy with smog and ash, the pollution a testiment to the aftermath of utter destruction
Somewhere off in the distance, a Hunter let out a throat ripping shriek. Except it was amplified a thousand times over. A building shook violently for a moment, then silence.
Claire was staring wide eyed at the building, hands shaking.
"What the hell was that?!" she finally gasped. "It sounded like a Hunter except... no Hunter could be *that* big."
Chris wasn't so sure about that. Jill had told him about something called the Yawn, a giant snake that had killed his teammate, Richard Aiken. It wouldn't surprise him if they had made a Hunter large enough into that building. It was the type of dazzlingly stupid thing Umbrella would do.
"Let's just move on. We'll find some transportation and get the hell out of here, then alert our friends in the government. Anonymously, of course."
Having a course of action seemed to comfort Claire, because she nodded.
"We'd cover more ground if we split up." her voice was brave, her eyes were filled with fear. Chris shook his head.
"And let Wesker get to one of us alone? No way. We're sticking together, Claire. Now c'mon, let's go."
They wandered aimlessly around the streets. Suddenly, a light came into Claire's eyes.
"Chris. Look!"
There was a tall building, what had once been a beautiful building. But the paint was now chipped and cracked, the windows shattered. But as Chris's gaze travelled up, he suddenly felt relief and joy drop into his stomach.
An empty helicopter, a HCF pilot twiddling his thumbs inside. For the first time, Chris grinned.
"If we go quickly, then we can get this place destroyed with Wesker, Birkin, and those Umbrella assholes still inside." Chris said gleefully. Claire gave a delighted laugh, and they dashed off together.
*
The blond woman in front of them was laughing, and there was more than just a note of insanity in there. It was a witch's cackle, mocking and full of triumph.
Watts had called for Wesker long ago. Watts practically worshipped Wesker. If he had a heart, it was made of ice. Watts longed for that status, to have men and women cower with fear and beg for mercy at his grip. And Wesker had that power. So, he would be able to take down this mad woman in front of them.
It had started out well enough, her elaborate labcoat had had an Umbrella stiched on it, so they had surrounded her and told her to get her hands into the air.
She had responded by shooting fire out of her wrists. He had lost two men right away, and two more straight after that. He and his remaining companions had fled, but she had tracked them down. And now she was about to kill Watts and the other two.
He fired at the tall blonde, but the bullets merely melted into the shimmering air. Watts let out a roar, then lunged at Alexia. He'd be damned if he ran from a woman.
She gave another laugh, and seized a handful of Watts' hair. He growled and seized her wrist with both hands. At this, the amusement on the beautiful woman's face vanished.
"You dare ... dare lay your hands upon me?! You are not worthy!"
Robert Watts widened his eyes in surprise for only a minute as blood trickled on him. Then thought ceased as he turned into an inferno.
Alexia stared distastefully at the charred corpse at her feet. She felt the need to bathe. To have her skin dirtiesd by the touch of one of those pitiful mongrels... she turned around. Albert Wesker was staring at her, a slight frown on his face. She was not sure whether it was a frown, it could just have easily been the shadows playing on his face. The sun was setting.
"I see you've killed my men." Wesker's voice said clearly that he did not care. Good. The last thing Alexia needed was to deal with someone trying to get their revenge. Wesker could pose a slight challenge, and no need to exert herself further than she had today. She put a manicured hand on her pack filled with the viruses that she had picked up around Uranium City. Some of them were useless. Others had potential.
"I have." Alexia said, her voice chiming cooly. "I hope that shan't be a source of consternation to you..."
"I want those viruses."
"Now now Albert, there really is no need to be so uncouth..." She shook her head slowly. "These belong to me. You appear to have a certain degree of obtuseness concerning matters of possession, if I remember correctly. Anxious to get our fingers burned, are we?"
If that had had any affect on the blond man, he showed no notice. He would not like being reminded of his failure against Alexia, though. They stared at each other. Wesker was unpredictable, so Alexia was on her guard. She figured that they were equal in strength, but he was faster. And he knew about her fire blood.
Then, suddenly, she had an idea.
"We are BOWs." Alexia said, gliding towards Wesker. He was the one on his guard now. "Why kill each other in a vain battle? I will make you a deal."
"What's this deal?" Wesker was obviously disbelieving.
"I give you one of the viruses, and we don't attack each other for the rest of this little mission." she gave a cold smile. "I'll let you finish your petty little battle with Redfield. But you let me carry out my own agenda."
"Fine." Wesker said. She knew that he would break that promise in a second if it suited his own needs. But he knew that it was the same for her. She merely nodded, then reached into her pouch and gave him one of the useless viruses. He did not need to know that it was useless, though. She gave him a cool, icy nod, then glided off into the city. This won her a bit more time to be about what she needed to do. So little time.
*
Catherine tiptoed anxiously through the city. Some of the BOWs hunted by sound.
/I want to be back in the labs! I cannot believe I ever wanted to go on a mission./
She stumbled over a corpse and got to her feet, sniffling back tears.
/I'm afraid. It's cold./
At first, she thought that she was dreaming when she heard a loud whirring noise. A helicopter rose up into the sky, HCF markings clear on it. Yet even with her specks smudged and dirty, she could tell that the figures inside the helicopter was not HCF.
"HEY!" she shouted angrily, jumping up and down and waving her arms. "GET BACK HERE, YOU CRETINS! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME BEHIND! I'M CATHERINE SPENCER!"
The whoops and cheers coming from the copter, however faintly, showed that if they had heard her they did not care. Catherine let out an anguished scream.
She was on her own again.