Chapter Nineteen: Another Operation
Ten minutes earlier...
An Umbrella made osprey made its way to the Renegade which was stopped of the coast of Argentina. Rain pelted the pilot's windows and lightning and thunder sounded off in the distance. Bill 'Crash' Ocampo sat on the bench next to his well known colleagues. Everyone here had codenames they were supposed to go by. He went by Crash. Next to him was Henry 'Surge' Cotton. Across from him was Christopher 'Speed' Gordon and Katy 'Orchid' Nova.
The plane shifted mildly in the wind, making them shift in the benches. The Osiris gave them all exact instructions to take out any threats and destroy the ship with C4 explosives. A rogue ship was nothing, but a rogue ship that was infected with a man made plague was a very serious matter. Thunder rumbled through the metal walls making it sound like a herd of bulls running around.
Everyone had the same following items: Incineration bombs which were able to vaporize anything within a one mile radius in a few seconds, G34 machine gun with a side arm of an AG-36. Five Pull pin grenades, night/heat vision goggles, two 18C automatic pistols, and a new Umbrella prototype weapon so called Cannon; a weapon that looks like a grenade launcher. It has a rotating barrel which can hold five rounds each the size of two human fists. It was predicted capable on killing a tyrant of any class with just a few shots.
Also all of them were dressed in a completely black uniform. From black helmet, to clothing, to ceramic armored plates, they were all going to look like shadows when they got to the ship
"Did Osiris mention any bio treats done there besides zombies?" Orchid asked.
"Yeah, he mentioned a few tyrants. One of the new types; the two- zero- twos." Speed said wiping his rifle.
Crash was adjusting his helmet strap when the plane then shifted again, this time more violently. "Goddamn plane," he scoffed looking near the pilot's cabin.
"Hey Crash calm down, it's just the storm." Surge said flipping on the night vision goggles, "Gosh, everybody is so green now. Now I smell almonds." He then joked taking them off.
Orchid looked at Surge, "Careful Surge. You might be the one getting gang green when we're done with this mission. I'd hate to see doctors amputate one of your arms. Or worse."
Surge looked at her stupidly and then went back to checking his supplies. Crash began checking his weapons to see if any rounds were jammed in the clipped. He wanted to be prepared. "Pilot? How much longer do we have?"
"Little less then five minutes!" the pilot answered. "Sir, the winds picked up so much in the last few minute, we can't land on the ship. Your team is going to have to parachute!"
"Shit." He mumbled to himself and looking around at his crew suddenly got up and got a parachute for each of them. Crash got up when Orchid threw one at him. He caught it and nodded his head in thanks and strapped it on.
"Two minutes remaining!" the pilot shouted, "you should open the cargo doors now!"
Surge then got up and motioned everyone to hold on tight. He held onto the side rails and pressed a red button next to doors. The doors began to open and the high pitched muffled sounds of the engine exploded through the room. Wind picked up in the room making cargo nets shake violently. Clouds flew behind the plane in a flash revealing a dark sky. Rain was a mere blur to the dark sky until lightning flashed behind, making the room brighten up tons more. Crash shielded his eyes and looked back towards the door seeing Surge make his way back to the bench.
Crash continued looking out the door. He didn't like the fact about jumping out of planes, hell he didn't like heights, it scared the living hell out of him. Stomach dropping, wondering if you'll survive, doing it right, it just sent a cold chill down his spine. He shook away the thought and looked away from the door and-
"Okay, your team is now ready to go!" the pilot then shouted. Everyone crept to the back and Crash felt his stomach drop. Orchid and Speed jumped. Crash peered over the edge seeing their bodies turn into little specks, the ship was nothing but a line in the water. Surge came up and patted him on the shoulder and leapt off.
Crash stepped back and took a few deep breaths and looked over the edge again, 'you can do this.Just then another voice shouted in his head, 'you can't do shit if it's above the ground. He tried to ignore when the plane then shuffled up, due to the rough winds. Crash lost his grip and fell off the ledge.
He began flipping through the air, shocked, and mostly surprised. He tried regaining himself and looked face down at the water. It was coming in fast, he spotted gray circles suddenly appear and he finally registered that those were his teammates.
The ship was now looking like the size of a two by four, and began to grasp the parachute cable. Just a little longer before he would have to pull. Rain passed him upward hitting him in the face and suit. He then pulled the cable and felt a hard jerk shoot upward in his body, barely stunning him. Two metal handles popped out and hung by his shoulders as he drifted down. Crash took the handles in his hands and slowly guided his way to the deck of the ship.
He landed roughly on the metal ground and unholstered the G34 from his back and pointed it at a blank target. None of his teammates were in his field of vision and were obviously somewhere else on the 'Renegade.' He flipped on his goggles due to the difficult darkness, enveloping the background in a bright green color.
Crash grabbed his team radio and held it to his face as he stood in his place circling around for the search of threats. "Crash, to team, state your position. Over."
He held it too his ear when a burst of static exploded through his ears, "Orchid to Crash, I'm located near the front, near the crane." The radio went mute and then sounded again, "Speed and Surge to Crash, we appear to be at the back of the ship, God, it's a mess back here." Surge replied seconds after Orchid.
The line went dead and Crash put the radio back, 'if I see no one here, this means I'm in the middle section.'
Crash looked back at his surroundings now just noticing, partially washed blood, and random body parts scattered around the deck. A helicopter was set just a few meters left of him. He turned around and began a fast stance towards one of the structures near the back; which was the bridge.
He stepped near the door and slowly pulled it open. He jumped in the doorway guiding his weapon to the nearest moving object. Nothing, just a brightly lit hall, blinding his vision with the goggles on. He slipped them off and looked again. One of the cable hung fluorescent lights hung unevenly toward the ground with flickering lights.
A door stood to the left of the hall two meters down when Crash walked down the narrow area. Panels on the side of the wall were torn lose revealing wires and cables. He looked on the floor seeing a thick gooey trail of blood. He followed the trail, looking as it swept under the door he was now near. Creeping towards, the door, Crash pressed his left ear to the side of the door. Soft noises were made from inside, more like muffled, or something leaking.
Readying himself, he placed a hand on the metal handle with gun in the other and slowly pulled down the handle. He opened the door slowly and looked in seeing a room with no lights on. A moving figure was shifting in the corner, but he couldn't make out what it was, zombie? Crash placed his hand against the metal wall and felt for a switch blindly as he kept his field of vision focused on the shape. Feeling, a switch he flipped it up and then could finally make out the shape, he wished he didn't now.
There in the corner crouched a zombie feasting on the remains of a man. The corpse's stomach had been chewed open exposing the intestines and partial view of the ribcage. The zombie had its hands covered in dried blood and its teeth were dripping plenty of it. Crash rubbed his eyes due to the sight when the zombie finally looked towards him. It growled lowly in a gurgled voice as it got up and slumped toward him.
Crash fired the weapon, dispatching rounds into the rotten chest, making the zombie stumble back a few steps. He watched the zombie fall against the wall and get back to proper balance. It then stopped and Crash gave it a confused look as he watched it curl into a ball and screech loudly bringing its hands over its head.
A juicy slicing noise came from the very zombie, and Crash sent another hail of bullets, knocking off the top part of the zombie's skull. Still, the creature was in the position of crouch, its nails began to grow into thick talons, its body mass expanded, and the shape of its head formed into something else as the brain slowly grew out. The eyes disappeared into little slits; its body began to grow muscular and changed its position to an animal like position.
Then the screaming all stopped and now what used to be a zombie standing in front of Crash was a licker. Crash immediately took action stepping out of the room firing the deadly weapon at the licker as it latched itself onto the wall. It shrieked in pain as it scurried over to him, its claws ready to slice threw his body, as hot led melted through its inhuman body. He concentrated as he was about to close the door, aimed and fired at the jelly like brain. Three rounds dug their way into the memory chamber leading to the painful cries and raspy breathing of the licker, as it fell from the wall, dying before impacting with the floor.
Crash quickly closed the door and shifted left and continued down the hall to the next and only door. Before opening the door, he holstered his weapon and slid the prototype from his back. The gun felt really light in his hands due to the fact that it was loaded. He withdrew one of the G34s and edged toward the door. Opening the door as quickly as he could, Crash jumped through catching three zombies staggering around. He opened fired with the small spitfire gun, watching the stream of bullets find their target and send blood all over the place.
Crash followed the hall as it veered right. As he turned three more doors were in sight; two on the left, and one on the right. He checked the nearest door finding it locked and continued through the littered hall. Most of the lights were all destroyed were some lay thrown around the hall or in pieces. Some of the metal ceiling panels were violently dented in and a tyrant lay dead.
The wall next to the deceased tyrant had about ten jagged holes in it revealing the outside. Crash peered through one of the holes barely seeing the back deck. Crash drew his attention away and checked the door on the right and slowly opened it.
He was in another hall but with nothing deadly. Another door stood in front of him and he opened it and crept in searching the room with his weapons. A glint of light flashed in the corner of his eye and he quickly turned in that direction, seeing two more corpses slumped against the wall. Crash crept up to the bodies and crouched down and examined the bodies and saw the source f the glint. A small silvery keycard was hanging out of one of the body's jacket pocket. He quickly took it and carefully examined it seeing no indications of letters or signs.
He turned his attention back to the hall and went through another door, entering a very clean room. With nothing catching his interest, he went forward and opened another metal door. Stepping in, Crash noticed a staircase to his left and proceeded to it.
Crash placed his hand on the metal railing and went down to the lower levels. Their mission was to make their way to the bottom most compartment, rig the ship and rendezvous via osprey. He took a deep breath and ascended down.
Just moments after contact with Crash, Speed and Surge began to make their way to the back facility at the end of the ship, stepping over bodies and tyrants. So far the word clean didn't exist, and bullet casings littered the metal deck like skittles.
Surge was near the door when a loud high pitched shot rung through the air. A bullet hit the ground just mere inches from where he stood, and he turned towards the sound, seeing a dark ghastly figure on the roof just were the main control area was.
"Get to the building!" Speed shouted and they both turned fleeing towards the building, hearing another round ricochet off the ground, this time much closer. They were just a few meters from the building when another shot rang out, this time not hitting the ground.
'Come on! There's the door, just have to get your hands-Yes!' Surge grabbed the handle and ran into the building. "Well, that's great now we- Speed?" he said looking around the room. Surge looked out the room again and saw Speed struggling to get up just outside. He moved towards Speed when he quickly jetted his index figure across his neck and signaled him to go. Surge moved back seeing him clutch his waist and barely making out the blood pouring down out of his wound. A dark mysterious person was already walking up to him, and Surge closed the door and stared blankly at the inside.
Ten minutes into the mission and someone is already gone. Surge frowned and looked in front of him and entered a door walking into a big chamber like room, with a big shatter proof glass taking up all of the wall opposite of the room, which looked more like a control center, 'or emergency area.' He scanned the room finding no signs of anything moving and looked to his right and spotted a stairway leading to the second story of the building and the lower chambers.
Speed lay on the ground grasping his waist for he had been shot and tried applying pressure with his gloved hand. He signaled Surge to ditch him after then spotting a man walking up to him weaponless. With his free hand he withdrew the small G34 and fired at the figure.
He hit the figure, but still it came closing in on him until he could finally make out the face. The figure was a dark skinned man, with dread locks which stopped at his shoulders. He wore sunglasses and a trench coat which ended at his ankles. He wore a face of disgust and evilness as he strode forward now beginning to form a smile.
Speed sent another shower of rounds at the figure but was then shocked as they hit the man. He was not affected as small ripples went across his body as the rounds went through him as if he were water.
"Oh no... That's very inappropriate." The man said slowly and smoothly stopping just inches from were Speed lay now lowering the gun and focusing on his wound. "Well, well, well," he then said crouching down and looking at his shoulder plate and looked at the Umbrella logo. "Working for Umbrella, I suppose?"
"Yeah!-" He somehow managed to say looking up at the man, who now had one eyebrow arched above the other. "And let me guess- you're the psycho who caused all of this?"
The man looked down at him and moved his head to the side and frowning just a little. "Well, you don't know if that is entirely true. You shouldn't judge a person on how they look, dress or act, but... I'm really not a bad person." He smiled as if entertained by Speed's injury. "You just have to give it a little time and get to know me. But, I say it has to be vise versa. You don't have to know me... I just have to know you, no matter if you like it or not."
"Spare me your insignificant pile of shit!" Speed spat. The man got up and grabbed him by the neck and held him inches off the ground with one hand.
"I don't like the way you act, you must be thought a lesson. Now they are more of you and you are going to help me find them, you are going to help me whether you like it or not." The man the replied angrily, but somewhat concealed it through his smooth talking. "It's going to be over soon. You shouldn't feel a thing."
Speed suddenly felt a sharp sting in pain. He felt his skin then split in many places as if something was sewing right through him. It felt like a bunch of knives stabbing into his body. He tried opening his eyes, but due to excruciating pain, he was overwhelmed and gave up. It body went cold and numb, as he then felt something cold wash over his face. The pain began to go away and he opened his eyes, seeing blackish purple strings suddenly blind him. Speed knew he was dying. If this was the way he was going to die, he wasn't expecting it to turn out this way at all.
Corin then dropped the man's body watching it land on its feet and look at him. It resembled the man in all ways, but the personality. Corin looked at the man and smiled and watched as the he did the same. "Well, find the rest of the intruders and destroy them." Corin then commanded. "And kill them slowly, and make them suffer."
The man continued looking at him with the same demonic smile and replied, "with pleasure, and as you command."
"I hope that you will." Corin commented as he watched the man walk off.
Corin stood there for a few minutes thinking of what he should do next with the ship. Only five tyrants remained and were wondering the lower levels searching for something to kill. Vlad and ten to twelve people of his group had made it this far, without being bitten, scratched, shot, or converted by him. He still had no primary target to hit.
Corin began to walk away towards the control bridge thinking of what he should do next. Maybe he would stop by the roof to see how Vlad was doing and compliment him for stopping the man.
Surge made his way down the staircase and came to a stop in front of a metal double door. A control panel was installed next to the door with a green button blinking. Surge was about to press it when he heard something from the other side of the door. He pressed his left ear against the cold door and covered his other with his hand.
He heard growling, no more like talking. They were two voices talking with each other and were joined by, "quiet, someone's coming." Surge backed away from the door and stood to the in front of it and pressed the flashing green button.
The metal doors slowly slid open with the sound of a short ding as Surge had the G36 aimed at the room. A group of six people stood in the open leaning against some of the eight concrete pillars, all of them armed.
They all turned their attention to him and Surge quickly went in firing a straight line of rounds. The group disappeared behind the pillars and began returning fire. Surge dove to the right behind a pillar and felt it vibrate, seeing chunks of concrete get blown away. He stood up and strafed right and fired at one of the individuals blowing off some concrete before finding his mark, watching as the man fell down.
Surge ran sidestepping behind the pillars shooting towards the opening seeing glimpses of the people disappear and then reappear from the pillars and also making it hard to see because flying debris kept clouding the other side of the room in thick dust.
Surge's gun went dry and he fumbled for another clip seeing another figure in a gas mask run up firing at him. He backed against the wall and swung at the person's head with the butt of his gun, but only stunning him. He then grabbed his head and slammed it against the metal wall and pushed it down against the ground hearing a loud crack when the ground connected with the head. Surge grabbed the body's gun, examined it quickly seeing that it was a Glock 17.
He went behind another pillar as more gunfire erupted just inches away from him. He waited until the bullets stopped and he dove out into the open and ran toward the other side sending hot led into the next person hitting him in the chest and neck and watching him fall to the ground clutching his wounds.
That's three down, three to go.Still holding the small gun he rolled between two pillars and ran out firing at the next person hitting his stomach several times. Another man pulled his way out in front of him and Surge ran towards the wall and kicked off of it and slammed his boot into the man's jaw hearing a little crack.
Surge looked behind him seeing the last figure jump out and run towards him firing an M16. Surge quickly jumped behind the body and held it as a shield as rounds pelted the body. He felt the body be moved from his grasp seeing the last person about to swing at him with their weapon. Surge blocked it and stuck the glock in the man's mouth and pulled the trigger. The back of his skull shot out in blood, skin and bone and the last person fell down and the gunfight was over.
Surge went to the other side of the room and picked up his empty weapon and slapped in another round and walked towards the door he was supposed to go through and took another look at the room. Slabs of concrete slowly fell to the ground and the only sound available were the waves hitting the ship, 'and the moan of zombies.'
He opened the other door and walked through it.
Orchid had made her way to level B1 and was trying to get the elevator doors opened which led to the bottom of the ship. It needed some kind of keycard. She stepped away from the door and decided to mess with it later.
She first had to go find a card and walked into an extremely long hallway. It was dimly lit and dried blood was stained on the walls and floor. She ran down it with her weapon lowered and stopped seeing a gapping hole to the left side of her. She looked at it seeing a dark massive chamber and looked at the hole. It looked more like it was smashed through, but it didn't look like it was blown open. She stuck her head through the hall and climbed to the other side.
Orchid heard water splash beneath her feet and she snapped on her goggle which gave her a better sighting of were she was. She looked towards the ceiling seeing a giant metal shutter and she figured that she was in the storage chamber; it was rather empty.
Clang! She turned towards the end of the chamber after hearing a metal clanging and then heard heavy footsteps coming towards her. She didn't want to take chances if it was a tyrant so she unholstered the Cannon and aimed it at the direction of the noise. From behind one of the metal crates another sound was made and she saw what appeared to be a metal barrel roll to the other side of the room and hit the wall causing a boom which was probably the source to the 'heavy footsteps.'
"Figures." She said turning toward the hole. She looked at the hole and stopped mid step and saw what she never wanted to see.
A tyrant stood in her way looking down at her like a giant. Who was she kidding; it was a giant, and not one of those giants which had a goose which crapped golden pellets. She stepped back as the massive beast stepped forward and pulled something out from behind and threw it forward. The object landed with a plop and rolled to her feet and she looked at it seeing a head with the eyes and lower jaw ripped out.
She looked at were the tyrant was and stopped. It was not guarding the hole, but it was gone. Oh shit.
Boom, boom! She quickly turned around seeing nothing. Then more footsteps, to her left, then right, she couldn't penetrate were the tyrant was as it kept leaping to certain areas of the room hiding behind the giant crates.
The noise then stopped and Orchid stood motionless scanning the room with the prototype. She then felt a cold hand pick her up and throw her forward. She hit one of the crates and dropped the gun which slid to the other end of the room but didn't really catch the tyrant's attention.
She slowly got up seeing the tyrant advance forward and she unholstered the previous weapon and fired dead on with the tyrant. In her goggle the vision of the tyrant was a completely blue shape. Red orange dots then appeared on its body telling her that her rounds were meeting their mark.
She began firing at the head watching it turn to a bright orange in the goggles. Orchid then dived out of the way as the tyrant smashed its fist into the wall. It quickly turned toward her direction again and stopped. She then spotted the cannon laying just behind the tyrant.
It then darted forward at a massive speed towards her. She ran forward towards the gun seeing the distance between her and the tyrant close in distance. 'Just a little longer....now!' She then dropped to the ground and rolled between the tyrant's legs and jumped up and continued her run for the gun. She heard a loud bang and she turned seeing that it had hit the wall.
The gun was then a few inches away and she jumped forward and swiped it from the ground and flipped a small switch and the weapon powered up to life. The giant barrel rotated and a loud clicking signaled that the giant round was in the barrel. She aimed at the tyrant seeing it charge at her again. Still not pulling the trigger, she stood her ground and waited for it to get closer. It was now ten feet from Orchid, with its hands stretched forward and she pulled the trigger.
Wa-Ching! Boom! The gun fired releasing a burning ball of red steaming led. The tyrant stopped and the round hit it in the chest which then caused a giant explosion. Some of the crates moved back and Orchid was thrown back into the wall. The explosion then cleared away and Orchid looked at the tyrant again, only seeing its legs and waist with smoke erupting from it. The legs then fell to the ground with a loud thud and she looked at the gun. "Fuck..." she said as she then got on the team radio, "hey Crash?"
"Yeah?"
"Damn, man you gotta try out this gun." She said clicking off the radio and climbed out of the hole and back into the hall and continued her way to the other end.
Crash was in some kind of bar when he made it down the stairs. It had looked like no one had gone down there when the ship was attacked. Behind the bar counter was a closed glass shelf with wines and brands of beer.
The door was to the left of him and he walked towards it and turned the metal handle. It was locked; it appeared like it needed some kind of key, 'or keys' which were supposed to go in two keyholes to the left of the door. Beside that was a fingerprint scanner.
He looked back at the bar, and spotted two keys through the glass case. He walked toward it and opened it but it was to, locked. He looked at the bar and began scanning the counter and opening the drawers. Nothing, he began looking underneath the counter and opened the cabinets finding glasses and plates. He gave a frustrated sigh and looked up and spotted a blue rectangular button just under the counter top.
Crash pressed the button and a silent click came from the case. He got up and looked back at the counter and once again tried to open it and it slid open smoothly and silently. He grabbed the two keys and went back to the door and put them in the slots.
"Please enter two individual fingerprints; commencing with first individual," said an automated voice which sounded from the ceiling.
Damn it, now he had to have two finger prints, he pressed his thumb on the scanner and a high pitched beeping noise came from the ceiling.
"Commencing with second individual."
Crash took his radio out and held the send button down when the door behind him opened. Ignoring the radio he dove behind the counter and armed the G36 and stood up quickly and aimed at the target. It was Surge; he lowered his weapon as Surge came in shutting the door quickly. Crash looked at him, "where the hell is Speed."
"Snipered." He said walking towards him, "whatcha doin'?"
"Waiting for you or Orchid. I need your help with this device to get the door open. "Place your thumb on the scanner. Surge put his hand on the scanner and another beeping signaled.
"Now commencing with simultaneous key unlocking."
Crash gave Surge one of the keys and they both put slid the keys in the slots, "On my mark...Three, two, one...Now!" They both turned the keys and a series of multiple gears began to whine in the wall, and the door slowly opened.
Crash went in through the doorway first and spotted about fifteen zombies crowded in the room. They all turned their attention on him and Surge as he then came through. "Zombies?"
"Yeah."
"Shoot'em?"
"Yeah."
Crash sent a welcome shower of bullets to the zombies and they were all stunned by the blast, Surge was then going haywire as he had his G34s pointed in different directions as he plowed through the group, shedding them to fleshy chunks. Crash aimed and fired blowing the rotten pumpkin head off one zombie as the single round went through slicing through two more zombies heads. Crash worked his way across the room to the other side plowing and pushing more carcasses to the ground.
Reaching the end of the room, he tried pulling at the door, but it wouldn't budge. "Shit!" he began looking for an opening as the horrid group began closing in on him, very slowly. He kept firing, aiming at their feet. Their lose limbs gave away and they all landed on the ground with sickening plops. Surge was still on the other side from were he was due to the sound of his spitfire firearms. 'Just a little more to go' he continued firing hitting one in the eye, and black fluid began shooting out. Firing again, all he heard was a click and his gun ran out. Now he could feel the cold crusty hands of the undead rub against his face and clothing as he fumbled for another clip. "Aw, fuck you!" he shouted, then swinging the weapon like a bat across about eight faces hearing identical cracks from the jaw and neck.
The group became smaller, as his rounds became fewer until he heard Surge shout something. Something rolled toward Crash, slowly and loudly, tripping zombies over which stood in its path. It finally came to a stop, impacting lightly on his feet and he looked at it, seeing that it was one of those ninety pound fire extinguishers. Crash got up quickly and saw about eight more zombies edging toward him, leaving a small escape path. He quickly ran through it seeing Surge aiming only one of the 34's in his hand and fired. Time seemed to slow down all of a sudden, and Crash felt the bullet fly past his face as he took another step. Surge turned his back towards him and crouched down and held his self in a ball, Crash took another step and leapt forward.
Boom! Crash was trust forward into the wall, as the room suddenly heated up to an enormous temperature, causing him to sweat almost immediately. He fell to the ground and put his face to the wall forming a ball as Surge did, feeling the hot waves of fire envelope his body. He felt the wall crumble were he once was, hearing the whining of metal. Small wet chunks of flesh landed on his suit and helmet and began sizzling as the heat began to drop down.
Crash got up slowly, feeling his back crack in many places, sending a sign of relief to him. Surge got up and began wiping cooked flesh off his shoulder and let out a long loud sigh, "Wow, that was easy, now let's see what's behind the door you tried to open."
He looked at it seeing that the entire wall was completely incinerated, and half of the next room was also brunt to a crisp. "There is no door." He said walking into the next room. "This must be the security room to the labs.
Orchid felt a light vibration to the floor as she exited the extremely long hallway. Now she was in another one. Two doors were on both sides of the hall, one was the men's room, and the other was the women's room. She went to the other side and opened a door and walked in, still in search of the card which was needed to unlock the elevator. She entered the next room, which appeared to be some of the crewmates sleeping quarters. Metal bunks were scattered across the room creating some sort of maze.
She went into the only opening and followed some sort of zig-zag pattern seeing no other ways to get through, she could climb across the beds, but most of them were soaked in blood. She turned a corner and stopped seeing an exposed brain creature chowing down on the remains of a human, or something, whatever the hell it was. It was now to hard to make out to see what it was. She gave a quick gasp in shock and knew then that she made a mistake. The licker then arched its head up quickly and looked to what it appeared to be doing was smelling the area. She stood still as it slowly turned around quickly and she could see the bare eye slits, it had no eyes. She kept staring at the brain, as it slowly pulsed, as the licker took deep breaths. It was now just a few inches away from her, as she stood in still shock watching it carefully.
It then stopped and turned its back to her and she gave out a silent sigh.
Raaah! The licker gave out a long, shrill, terrifying cry making Orchid jump slightly. Another cry was heard from across the room and the licker was joined by another, and then two more. Now there were four lickers in the same spot. They came towards the one by falling from the ceiling or just crawling down from the top of the beds. She silently aimed her weapon at the group as one of them suddenly quickly turned to face her and bump into her boot, catching her by complete surprise.
Oh, fuck! She fell to the ground as the licker barely rubbed against her leg. Lying on the ground, she moved her head up and fired at the group as they were already alerted and all just suddenly jumped up to the ceiling rotating their bodies which seemed that gravity did not apply to them. She got up to her feet and began firing at the ceiling only hitting one of the lickers as they split up and began their hunt to kill her. She kept firing at one of them knocking the ceiling boards out as it quickly and lightly crept across the ceiling.
Dink! She turned seeing one of them had just detached from the ceiling and attached itself sideways to the bedpost and leapt to another post and shot its tongue out at her. She moved out of the way as a speck of saliva hit her cheek as she fired as it leapt once again for another post hitting it midway in the stomach and it went limp all of a sudden, and landed on the floor and began squirming and then lay dead.
She focused on the ceiling again as she continued to follow the path to the other side of the room. Two more landed in front of her and she fired at them, as they leapt towards her with their claws ready to swing, but both failed as she slammed rounds in their faces, killing them instantly.
Orchid smiled slightly and looked for the other one. It was nowhere in sight. She then heard something springy and looked at one of the top bunks of the beds and saw two claws appear and the last licker poked its head out and shot its tongue at her. Failure to dodge, she was hit in the shoulder and fell to the floor as the licker then jumped off the bed and over her body and swung the gun out of her hands. She was now petrified as it then arched its body upward and held its claw up and-
Ratatatatata! It shrieked in pain and fell limp onto her; she could feel the stickiness of its skin against her arm as she tried to get up. The licker was then pulled off of her and she saw Surge and Crash standing above her. "Oh thank God!" She said getting up and picking her gun off the floor.
"It's nice to see you again." Crash said.
"Yeah, I found an elevator which is supposed to go down to the lower levels but I need some kind of keycard." She then said.
She saw Crash pull out a silver card and handed it to her. "It has no words or symbols whatsoever, but it might work."
Everyone then got back in the hallway that Orchid said she was in before and made it into a big hallway. Surge had finished reloading his guns as they came to the elevator. Orchid slid the keycard through the slot. A loud mechanical beep was sounded off and the doors suddenly opened. To their surprise they saw someone they weren't expecting to see in the elevator. It was Speed. He stood there looking at them as he stepped out of the elevator; he wasn't wearing any of his armor, but all he held was a pipe.
"Hiya, guys." He said.
Note: This was actually two chapters in one. Wow.