Again, I don't own Jonny Quest, Resident Evil, or any of their affiliates.
WHEN NIGHTMARES WALK AMOUNGST US
CHAPTER 4
Race and the others had gone back up to their rooms after the incident in the restaurant. He had knocked on Phil's door, but received no answer. He wasn't sure whether he should leave his friend alone at that time; however he weighed it against what he knew of Phil and decided the I-1 agent wouldn't do anything rash. Dr. Quest and the kids obviously had quite a few questions for him and Race tried to answer them as best he could, under the circumstances.
Dr. Quest was seated at the table, lightly taping his fingers against it. "So, Race, what exactly did this Krumlanski character do to Phil?"
Race was leaning up against the wall, his hands clasped behind his back. "He murdered Phil's wife." He decided it was best to leave out the details, but whether it was for their sake or for Phil's he wasn't sure.
"Oh man." Jonny wheezed. He could empathize with Phil, having lost his own mother to violence. "I can see why he was so upset."
Race nodded. "I had advised Phil that he should lay low, however he has a job to do here as well and he couldn't stay cooped up in his room the whole time. I think we both knew that it was only a matter of time before they crossed each others' paths."
"You should have let him pummel that guy." Jonny replied.
Race forced a grin, "Believe me, Jonny, I would have liked nothing more then to let him do just that. However, we all know how that would have ended up."
"Did Corbin know that Krumlanski was going to be here?" Dr. Quest asked. He was pretty sure he already knew the answer, seeing as how all Phil had to do was obtain a guest list, but he wanted to hear Race's response.
"Yes, doctor, he did."
Dr. Quest only nodded. Race could see that he was pondering the situation. A pain of guilt stabbed at his gut, he knew that his deception was slowly coming to light, and it killed him on the inside. Lying to Dr. Quest in order to protect Corbin; it was tearing him apart. "He had planned to kill him from the beginning, didn't he?"
This was it, Race was trapped. "Yes, he did. But, in his defense, can you blame him?"
Dr. Quest shook his head. "I'm not going to judge the man, he has done too much for this family in the past, but perhaps he should have let the authorities handle it."
Race shrugged, "Benton, Phil is the authorities! Krumlanski disappeared off the face of the planet after it happened. We couldn't find him."
Dr. Quest arched an eyebrow. "We? You were involved in this as well, Race?"
It was all out there now. He knew he was betraying Phil's trust, but what else could he do. A knock on the door gave him a temporary reprieve. Jessie jumped up to answer it and Phil was standing there. He looked terrible, worse then he had since he'd arrived at the Quest's mansion a few days earlier. "Am I interrupting?" He asked; his voice low and harsh.
"No, Phil." Dr. Quest said as Corbin walked into the room, "As I'm sure you can imagine we were just discussing what happened earlier…and why."
Phil glanced at Race and saw relief in his eyes, he no longer had to try and skirt any questions; Phil would answer them for himself now. "How much has Race told you?"
"Just that that scumbag down there killed your wife." Jessie stated, trying to show her support.
"Yes, that he did." Corbin answered solemnly.
"And that you came here to kill him. What's going on here, Phil?" Dr. Quest asked evenly.
Phil sighed, "Well, what he said is true. That is why I came here. It doesn't excuse my behavior earlier by any means, however I can't lie. I've been waiting for this for over six years now. But, I can't do it."
Race straightened up and glanced at his friend, this was something new. "What do you mean?"
Phil shrugged, "If I did, would it make me any different from him?"
"I do not even think that is an issue, Mr. Corbin." Hadji said.
"Maybe not from any of your perspectives, but it is from mine."
"After what he did to you? And how he mocked you downstairs?" Jonny exclaimed, "You're just going to let him get away?"
Phil rubbed his eyes, God he was tired. He'd never felt this broken in his entire life. "I've made some mistakes here. I brought you all here under false pretenses, endangering all of you for my own personal vendetta. It's something that I would never have done if I was thinking clearly, but I haven't been. I don't know what to do anymore, but I do know that everything I have done so far was wrong. I'm sorry."
"Phil, your honor is admirable and beyond question," Dr. Quest replied as he stood and crossed the room, standing in front of a man he had always admired and trusted. Just seeing the physical state he was in was enough to convince Quest of the man's honesty in his statements. He couldn't imagine the mental anguish Phil was putting himself through. He knew that he had to be tearing himself up inside. "However, we would have been here regardless."
Phil stared at the man; that was something he didn't know. Dr. Quest spoke again before he could reply.
"Stop destroying yourself over this. Do you honestly think that anyone in this room feels or thinks any differently of you because we know the truth now? I think I can safely say that no one here does." He placed a reassuring hand on the other man's shoulder, "Believe me, Phil, I know what you are going through, you know that." Phil nodded. "Maybe your plan wasn't the best, but I think we'll be alright." Dr. Quest went and retrieved a letter from his briefcase, holding it up for all to see. "This is a personal invitation for Hadji and myself, inviting us to this conference. Umbrella is offering a full scholarship to Harvard for Hadji. They've seen his potential in science and believe he would be a great asset to their company."
Phil was taken aback. He had no idea; this complicated things even more. He looked at Race who shook his head, he hadn't known either. "Can I see that letter, Dr. Quest?"
"Of course." He handed it to Phil, who scanned through it briefly. When he reached the signature block he stopped. "This is signed by Krumlanski and Dr. Elaim."
"Yes, I know."
Phil looked up, glancing from Quest to Hadji and back. This was not good. Something was going on here. "Something's not right. This…" He didn't want to divulge what he knew about Umbrella and their experiments. Now they were recruiting children. Granted, Hadji was an extremely intelligent boy, but since the letter was signed by those two men, Phil knew this had to be for White Umbrella.
"What's the matter?" Jessie asked.
Phil glanced at Race, who shook his head; he hadn't told them about White Umbrella yet. "It'd probably nothing." He said, handing the letter back to Benton. "Congratulations, Hadji."
"Thank you, sir." Hadji replied, but with little enthusiasm, Phil's apprehension had aroused some sort of suspicion in oldest boy. He wanted to know what was going on.
Phil inhaled deeply, trying to regain some composure. "Well, this conference starts tomorrow. I'm sure you will learn more then. If you'll excuse me, I have some things to do. I'll see you later tonight." He glanced at Race one more time, showing he needed to see him later, and then he left.
"That man is so confusing sometimes." Jonny announced.
"It's part of his job." Race smirked, "It keeps his agents on their toes."
"Dad," Jonny said, "We have some time until dinner, how about we all go out and see the city? It's a beautiful day and with everything that has happened, maybe we should all get out of here for a while."
Dr. Quest smiled, "You know what, Jonny? I think that is a great idea."
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They had spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the sites in the city. They had spent a few hours at the Field Museum, did some shopping, and stopped for ice cream along the lakefront. No one spoke of the conference, or of Phil and his situation; they all just enjoyed the rest of the day together as a family. Race had received a text message on his phone from Phil, telling him to meet him in the hotel's lounge after dinner. Race sent his reply off. They were all seated at an Italian restaurant a few blocks down from the hotel.
After they had all eaten, Dr. Quest stated that he and Hadji had some things to review back in the room in regards to the conference.
"So, what are we supposed to do then?" Jonny whined, somewhat annoyed.
"You can come with us; maybe you learn something, my friend." Hadji smiled at his brother.
"No thanks." Jonny gruffed and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Well, I need to see Phil in a little while, but I don't have a problem with you guys coming with. Or you can find something to do in the hotel, there may be an arcade." Race stated.
"Nothing as good as Questworld, I'm sure." Jonny said.
"Well, maybe then you'll have a chance against me." Jessie challenged.
Jonny snorted and rolled his eyes, "You're on!"
With that, they paid their bill and headed back to the hotel.
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Race saw that Jonny and Jessie had indeed found a game room and once he was convinced they were actively engaged in their on going battle he headed up to the lounge. He found Phil seated at the bar, a whiskey sour in front of him. Judging by the amount of cigarette butts in the ashtray, he had been there for some time.
"You really should quit smoking." Race said as he sat down and ordered himself a beer.
"You should really stop telling me that. Remember, I do write your evaluations. I'll send your ass to Iceland if you tell me to quit smoking one more time."
Race smiled, glad to see that his friend had regained his sense of humor, but the liquor probably played a factor as well. "What about you're drinking?"
"For that, you go to Antarctica. You can go protect Eskimos."
"I don't think there are any Eskimos in Antarctica." Race said, taking a swig from his beer.
Phil glanced over at him. "Exactly."
Race grinned and burst out laughing. "Feeling better, I see."
Phil nodded. "Yep. I even got a phone number while I sat here waiting for you. Unfortunately I had to tell her I was waiting for someone." He jerked his head over his shoulder in the direction of a woman seated at one of the tables. "Now she probably thinks I'm gay."
"Sorry, man."
"If I was, I would hope I would have better taste then you. You owe me."
Race laughed. "Ok, ok! I got your drinks, how's that?"
"Buying me drinks?" Phil rolled his eyes. "Great, thanks, honey."
Race laughed again. "So, what do you think about this scholarship thing? It was the first I had heard about it as well."
"I think Krumlanski wants Quest here for some reason and I don't think it is to give Hadji a scholarship."
"I agree. So, what do we do now?"
"I think we stick to the plan. Follow Krumlanski back to his lab. We can collect any evidence we need against Umbrella there."
Race nodded his agreement. "I still can't comprehend how Umbrella can be doing these things. How can human beings do those things to other humans?"
"I don't know. I guess some people feel they are God. Or maybe they think they can destroy God and do whatever they please. I try not to think about it, as hard as that is. Thinking about it makes it worse." Phil turned towards Race, seriousness on his face once more. "You know what? I'm scared to death to go to that lab. Scared at what kind of horrors we'll find there."
"I know. But, we have to. There's no question about that anymore."
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Dr. Kyle Elaim was infuriated. Krumlanski had fouled everything up with his little stunt, now Dr. Quest would be on guard for sure. Krumlanski just sat their grinning, smoking his foul smelling cigar.
"You've compromised this whole operation, Mikel! You're a fool!"
"Calm down, Kyle. We'll still get what we came here for."
"You should have left him alone or just killed him outright. Now he and his muscle bound grunt, Bannon, will be on to us for sure."
"I can handle Corbin. I broke him once and I'll do it again."
"If you kick a dog enough times, it's going to bite back. You were careless."
"Listen," Krumlanski snipped, starting to get annoyed. "You don't have to worry about Corbin. I'll take care of him…"
"You should have killed him years ago, when you had the chance. He's dangerous, Mikel, why can't you see that?"
"At the time, I would have enjoyed killing him, but now I'm glad I didn't. He and Bannon will make perfect fodder for our new creations."
"They'll compromise our research! This is crazy. If the board knew of what you have done…"
Krumlanski stood, anger swelling in his voice, "The board doesn't know and they won't know. Once we've acquired our latest editions, Bannon and Corbin will follow; there is no question about that. We'll see how long they last. It will be only a matter of time before they are both dead. I just hope that they get to face off against my new pet before that happens. Afterwards, we will contain the lab, dispose of all of the corpses, and be praised by the board. Those idiots at Raccoon City didn't know how to contain the T-virus subjects…I do. We won't have an outbreak."
"I hope you're right, Mikel."
"I am. We take them now. The conference is of no importance any more. Give the order to the men. I'll be waiting at the elevators."
Elaim nodded, he knew at that moment Krumlanski was insane. He had to get away from him, but knew he couldn't. A bullet in the head from Krumlanski would be the best death he could hope for, but he knew that would never happen.
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Jade sat in a darkened booth in the lounge, she couldn't hear what Race and Phil were saying, but she knew it had to be about Umbrella. She was still upset about the other day; however she still wanted to help. She hadn't returned any of Phil's calls. She wanted it to be on her terms. She had heard about what Krumlanski did to Phil in the restaurant and it infuriated her even more. She wanted the bastard dead as much as Phil did and would do it herself if she could, but she didn't want to take anything away from Corbin. With Race along, she knew their chances of success were better, but she had to convince Phil that she could help as well. He would see her as a liability, not because she was a woman, but as just one more person he would be responsible for. She had to convince him to let her come with. She knew the lab, knew the layout, and knew the indescribable horrors that would undoubtedly be lying in wait for them. She decided to give him one more day, she'd talk to him tomorrow at the conference and if he still said no, she would go on her own.
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Phil got up to leave; he was exhausted and wanted to try and get some sleep. If he stayed any longer he would just drink too much, trying to forget all the old memories and all the horrors of Umbrella. He'd hoped the liquor would keep any dreams at bay. It was only 9 P.M., but he still had to meet up with Spnitz at 0100.
Race stood as well, "I'll pay for the drinks. I've got to go get Jonny and Jessie, so I will see you in a little while. We'll go see Spnitz together."
"Yeah, ok. Come wake me at midnight." Phil said and walked out.
He made his way to the elevators, usually he would take the stairs, but the last thing he needed was to stumble down and kill himself. Not paying any attention, due to his slight intoxication, he hit both buttons on the elevators.
"Hey there!"
Phil turned and saw the woman from the bar. He waved back at her. "Hi."
"Where are you headed to?" She said as she approached him, a sly smile across her lips.
Before he could answer, the elevator chimed. He turned and watched the doors slide open, not realizing it was headed down instead of up. Inside the elevator he saw Krumlanski, who looked just as surprised to see him as Phil was. Next to him were two masked men, one holding the unconscious form of Dr. Quest in his arms, and the other had Hadji, who was also unconscious.
"What the hell? Stop!" Corbin yelled as he reached for his pistol.
"Shoot him, you idiots!" Krumlanski shrieked, frantically hitting the button to try and close the doors.
One of the masked men whipped up his arm, and fired two shots at Phil. The woman in the lobby screamed as she heard the booming of the handgun and saw Phil's body hit the ground.
Phil felt something hit the side of his head. The impact threw him to the ground; he hadn't even had time to draw his weapon. Then everything went black.
Race heard the shots and ran towards the lobby. 'What the hell was going on?' He turned towards the elevator and saw Phil lying on the ground. "Oh, shit!" He grumbled. A woman was kneeling next to him as others were approaching to see what the cause of all the commotion was. Race ran over and knelt next to his friend. The right side of his head and his ear were covered in blood, but it didn't look as if the bullet had penetrated. 'Lucky son of bitch.' He thought to himself and he shook the other man's shoulder. "Phil? Phil? Can you hear me?"
He received a weak groan in response. Race checked his pulse, it was strong; he'd be ok.
"Quest…Hadji…" Phil managed to say, it was so faint that Race's ear was inches away from Phil's mouth. "Down."
Race grabbed the pistol from Phil's shoulder holster. He looked at the woman, "Call 911." He ordered, then he was up and slammed into the door marked stairs. He took them two at a time. Even though the garage was only one flight down, he had already lost precious seconds. All tactics were out the window; as he reached the door, he burst through, out into the garage. He scanned the area, looking for anyone. He heard tires screeching and ran in the direction of the sound. Four rows over he saw a dark van with tinted windows. It was coming straight for him. He dove out of the way and came up on one knee firing at the tires. He couldn't risk shooting at the van itself, not knowing where Hadji and Dr. Quest were inside. The .45 kicked in his hand, adrenaline pumping through his veins. The shots had missed, he hadn't taken time to aim properly and the van made a quick turn to the left and was out of sight. He ran towards the van, but when he got to the corner, it was gone.
"Damnit." he screamed. He stood there for a few moments and soon he could hear the echo of sirens, no doubt racing to the hotel.
When he reentered the lobby two uniform police officers were already there. Some hotel patrons had gathered about, obviously fascinated by the outbreak in violence at the prestigious Hilton. One of the cops saw Race and drew his pistol on him, causing people to scream and scurry out of the way. "Drop your weapon!" The young cop ordered.
Race did as instructed and kept his hands raised. "I'm a federal agent, by ID is in my back pocket and so is that man lying there bleeding." He nodded in Phil's direction. "Where's the damn ambulance?" He barked.
"It's on its way. Just keep your hands up." The cop said as he slowly approached Race, reaching behind him and retrieving his ID. He flipped it open, seemed somewhat satisfied, and holstered his weapon. "Where's his?" He said pointing at Phil.
"I don't know. Check his pockets." Race said as he lowered his hands, suddenly annoyed at these local cops. The cop knelt next to Phil, who was slowly regaining consciousness. The cop found Corbin's ID and checked it; he obviously had no clue as to the level of authority that Phil held. He reached for his radio. "Central, this is unit 14, where's the ambulance? I have a federal agent down. Over."
"Four minutes, 14. Over."
"Roger. Out." He looked at Race, who seemed satisfied. "Sir, I need to confiscate the firearm." He said as he slid a glove onto his hand and reached down to retrieve the pistol. He dropped the magazine and cleared the weapon.
"Officer, that is Agent Corbin's issued sidearm. You have no authority to take it."
At that moment, Jonny and Jessie pushed their way through the crowd. "What happened? We heard gunshots and screaming and now sirens!" Jonny announced.
"Oh my!" Jessie said covering her mouth with her hands when she saw Phil lying on the ground, the side of his head matted with blood. "He's not…"
"No, he'll be fine, that is if the damn ambulance ever gets here!" Race barked at the cop, who, seeing Race's anger, shrugged and ran off to see where the ambulance was. He was probably intimidated by the fact that he had two federal agents in his midst, one shot and the other shouting orders at him. Phil groaned and tried to sit up. Race knelt next to him, "You should stay down, at least till the paramedics check you out."
"So, I'm not dead?" He managed to say.
"Not this time."
"Damn. I'll be fine." He tried to stand, but was hit by a massive bout of vertigo which caused him to real forward, he gritted his teeth as his stomach tried to force its contents back out the way they had entered. He held it down, but it didn't feel good. He decided to stay seated. The woman from the bar was still there, her expression conveying her confusion as to the current situation.
"You ok?" She asked.
Phil held a hand against his bleeding head, the blood flow starting to recede. "I think so. Thanks." He received a warm smile in return.
"Race, did you get them?"
"No. They got away. That freckled face rookie took your sidearm as well."
"Get who?" Jonny asked concerned.
Before Race could answer, some paramedics rushed through the crowd, knelt next to Phil and began to examine his wound. "Looks like someone was looking out for you." A plush female paramedic said; she had a kind, warm face. "The bullet just grazed you. You'll be alright."
"Yeah, I guess so. Do what you can for me here; I'm not going to a hospital."
"I wouldn't recommend that, but your choice, sweetie." She said as she helped move him up against the wall allowing him to lean back against it. She started to clean up the wound. "I'll give you some stitches here, but you need to get to a hospital on your own and get them taken care of."
"I promise." He mumbled. "Can you give me anything for the pain that I'm sure will kick in as soon as you leave?"
She glanced around, "You know I'm not supposed to do that."
"I know." He smiled at her as best he could.
She patted him on the knee. "I think I got something that will help you out, but you didn't get them from me."
"What paramedic? I did this wonderful stitch job myself."
"Ok, dear. Now just relax, I'll be done soon."
He tried to close his eyes, wanting nothing more then to just get some sleep, but he heard more commotion from the doorway, he tried to turn to look, received a sharp, but gentle slap on the shoulder from his new paramedic friend, and kept his head straight.
"What the hell is going on in this madhouse?"
The two cops ran over to the detective that had just stormed into the lobby. He was a large black man. He had to be at least 6'4" and weigh a good 265, probably all muscle. His head was shaven and he had a thin goatee. "Sir, there was a shooting."
"I know that! Why do you think I'm here?"
"Sir, the man who was shot is over there." The cop reported as he pointed towards the elevators. Superficial wound, the paramedic is stitching him up now, over there." He handed the man Corbin's ID. "We confiscated his sidearm as well. The other agent used it…"
"Shut up, rookie." The detective barked, snatching the evidence bag, which contained Phil's pistol, out of the rookie's hand. He marched over to the scene, the few people that still remained moved out of his way in a hurry. He stood in front Phil watching the paramedic finish up her work. "You should keep better track of your equipment. Didn't you learn anything in the Army? Or did that cushy government job make you go soft?" He said as he tossed the pistol into Phil's lap.
Phil looked up and smiled, "Billy Jenkins. Or should I say, Detective Billy Jenkins. Good to see you again."
"If I had known you were going to come to my city and get shot the hell up I never would have called you."
"I'll be fine, thanks for your concern." Phil retorted sarcastically.
"So, since you're the only sorry son of a bitch sitting here bleeding, I assume you let him get away."
Phil had known Billy Jenkins from his days in the Army. He may have come off as intimidating and harsh, but he was a good friend, one that could be relied upon. He had been the one who informed Phil about the conference and Krumlanski. Billy hadn't been involved in the retaliation on Krumlanski's men, but he knew about what happened and was another trustworthy ally who Phil knew would offer his assistance any way he could.
"All done." The paramedic said. "I'll be right back with those meds, ok? Stay seated for a bit. Detective, I just did some great stitch work, try not to ruin it as you chew him up, ok?"
He grinned at her, "Who me?" He turned back to Phil, who was holding his head with one hand, trying to light a cigarette with the other. "What happens now?"
"Billy, there are bigger problems here then just Krumlanski."
Race and the kids walked over, glad to see that Phil would be ok. Race had told the kids what had happened, they were scared, but also eager to get after Krumlanski. He had to calm them down and explain to them that they had to wait on Phil. Race shook hands with the detective. "Hey, Billy."
"What's up, Race? You still hangin' around this guy?" Billy jerked a thumb at his wounded friend.
Race shrugged, "Yeah you know how it is. He still needs someone to kick him in the ass every now and then."
"I'll do it." Billy offered.
Phil took a drag from his cigarette. "Wow, all the love in this place is making me gag. Billy, I need your help. Krumlanski took Dr. Quest and his son, Hadji. I know where they are headed."
"What do you need?"
"I need a truck, a Suburban. I also need some black fatigues for Race and I. And bulletproof vests, two that will fit the kids as well."
"Make it three sets on fatigues."
They all turned in the direction on the voice to see Jade standing there. "I'm going too."
Phil tried to roll his eyes, but it hurt too much. 'Shit, here it comes' he thought to himself.
"Jade?" Race was dumbfounded, "What are you doing here?"
"I'll explain later. I'm going with. I know the route and the lab itself."
Race glanced from her to Phil, "Race, meet my Umbrella informant. I believe you already know her name."
Race shook his head, "I feel like I'm the one that just got shot." He raised his hands, "Ok, whatever, what's the plan."
"Can you help us out, Billy?"
"I'll have the stuff here in an hour. I'd come with you too, but I'm swamped right now."
Phil finally stood up; he got up slowly, bracing himself against the wall. "Yeah, I know, man. Thanks, I appreciate it. See you in a few."
Billy nodded, turned, barked some more at his officers and stormed out of the building.
"As soon as he gets back we're leaving. We have to hook up with Spnitz." Phil stated. "Race, as much as I hate this Jonny and Jessie have to come with. I know that if we don't take them they'll just follow. So, they'll be safer with us." Race nodded, he didn't like it either, but he knew those two and knew Phil had hit it dead on. "They need to know what's really going on and what we are going to be up against."
"Yes, I know." Race said grimly. Phil hit the button for the elevator again. Hoping he wasn't about to get shot twice in one night.
"I need to take a shower; I think I have blood in my hair."
The others laughed. For a man who had just been shot, Phil could still pull out his sense of humor at the right time. Unfortunately, it would be the last time any of them would laugh for a long while.
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To be continued…
I hope you all are enjoying the story. Now, it should start to get exciting.