I don't own Jonny Quest, Resident Evil, or any of their affiliates. I am not making any money of off this story.

WHEN NIGHTMARES WALK AMOUNST US

CHAPTER 7

Race, Jade, and Jonny headed out of the autopsy observation room into another long empty corridor. They continued ahead, not passing any doors. A right turn at the end of the hallway led them to a set of swinging double doors. A bloodstained gurney sat against the wall.

The doors were unmarked, but according to Jade they were almost to the cells. "Once we go through here the cells will be one hallway up."

Race didn't ask her if she had ever personally been there or had seen any of the horrors that were perpetrated upon Umbrella's victims. He figured if she had, it was probably punishment enough. He nodded and pushed slowly through the doors. The hallway was empty, devoid of any life. However, it was still a horrific scene. Body parts were littered across the floor, blood and gore stained the walls. An overturned gurney lay in the middle of the hallway, a solitary arm protruding from beneath. Race stepped over to it, knelt down to examine the corpse and only found half. The bottom half of the corpse was completely gone, the last moments of the person's terror were etched into the face. It was hard to tell, however the dead man had probably been young, no more then 23 or 24 years old. Race shook his head in disgust. He was having difficulty taking everything in, as he was sure the others were as well. All the unnecessary and heinous deaths that took place here were just too much for the brain to process. He knew that they had to get out of this place soon; he could only imagine how Jonny and Jessie were dealing with it all.

Jade pointed to the door at the end of the hallway. "The cells are through that door."

Race stood, tried to regain his composure and moved down to the door. It had a small window in the top center portion and he peered through it, trying to stay concealed as best he could. He could see two armed guards about half way down the hall. It would be tough, but he wanted to take at least one, preferably both, alive for questioning. He swung his rifle to his back, making sure the sling kept it secure and drew his .45. He screwed the silencer on, hoping that with it he would still have some element of surprise. He motioned for Jade and Jonny to stand fast and glanced through the window again, he watched as one of the guards turned his back to the door, the other was facing the far wall, not watching the door, and decided now was his chance. He pushed through the door, crouching low to the ground, as he was through the door, he took aim and fired. He hit the first guard in the side, the force knocking him to the ground; he fired again, hit the man in the chest, and took aim at the other guard. The other guard, who swung around when he saw his compatriot fall, reached for his sidearm, but Race had already taken aim and fired again. He hit the man twice in the legs. The guard howled in pain as he fell, dropping his weapon. Race was up and on him in a matter of seconds.

"Stay down if you don't want to die." He instructed the guard, keeping his pistol trained on the man's head. The guard, seeing the seriousness in Race's eyes and knowing that there was nothing he could do nodded and slowly raised his hands. "Any other guards down here? For your sake, I suggest you tell me the truth." The guard shook his head, the fear of dying motivating him to cooperate.

"Jade. Jonny." He called, "You can move up now."

As he spoke he heard another familiar voice. "Race? Race, is that you? Oh thank the heavens you have come." It was Hadji.

"Hadji?" Race spoke, relieved to hear the boy's voice. "Are you ok? I'll get you out of that cell in a second." Race looked back at the guard. "Keys?" The man pointed at his fallen comrade. Race looked, saw the keys, and stepped over, keeping his eyes on the wounded guard. "No funny business."

Jonny and Jade ran up to Race as he retrieved the keys and handed them to Jonny, who immediately moved to the cell Race had indicated and unlocked it. Hadji burst out of the cell, hugging Jonny tightly. "Oh I am so glad you have come, my friend. I was beginning to lose hope."

"We wouldn't give up on you so easily, Hadji." Jonny beamed, relieved to see his brother alive and unharmed. "Where's my dad?"

Hadji lowered his head. "I'm sorry, Jonny, but I have not seen him since I woke up numerous hours ago. I believe they must have taken him to some other part of the facility."

Jonny looked heartbroken. They would have to continue through this madhouse of death and horror in order to find his dad. He was overwhelmed with joy to find Hadji, but he could tell his brother was tired and appeared sickly. Being locked up down in this pit with probably no food or water hadn't been good.

Race kicked the wounded guard, producing a whimper of pain from the man. "Where's Dr. Quest? Where did you take him?"

"They took him to the main control room hours ago. I haven't seen him since, we were just told to watch the boy."

"Where is it?" Race demanded.

The guard winced again, "Main level. Towards the rear of the facility."

Race glanced at Jade who nodded; she knew where it was. They all moved to go, Jonny helping Hadji along. The guard raised his hand, grabbing at Race's pants. "You can't leave me here!" He pleaded, "Those monsters will get me for sure."

Race had no sympathy for the man. "Maybe you should have thought about that before you took a job with Umbrella and kidnapped children." Race replied and turned his back, heading back for the door.

"Jonny, where is Jessie?" Hadji asked, suddenly concerned.

Jonny sighed, "We got separated shortly after we got here."

"She's all alone?" Hadji asked exasperated.

"No. Mr. Corbin is with her. We haven't seen or heard from them since. I hope they are alright."

Hadji nodded. "My friend, I am sure they are. We both know how strong –willed Jessie is."

Jonny smiled, "Yeah, stubborn too."

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Phil and Jessie continued on through the facility, attempting to find a way out and soon. They kept moving along, not speaking much, when they heard low clicking noises coming from the intersection ahead. They glanced at each other and continued to move forward. Phil raised his M4, keeping it in the ready position as he crept along, trying to remain as quite as possible. They had almost reached the intersection when the distinct low growl of an animal chimed in with the clicking. Jessie glanced up at Phil, who kept his eyes forward, and she raised her pistol as well. Within moments two mutated dogs appeared from around the corners; blood soaked foam dripping from their jaws. They weren't normal dogs, however, their bodies covered in muscle, tendons, and blood.

"The kennels." Jessie breathed.

One of the dogs lowered its head and began growling and barking at the two humans. It could probably smell their fear. Phil watched the dog as it lowered itself and its muscles tensed. Just as it began to run, closing in on its prey, Phil fired. He hit the dog throughout its body, riddling it with bullets. It fell and its lifeless body skidded to a halt. The other dog was already on the move, Jessie fired, but only a few of her bullets found their mark. Phil swung around, taking aim on the dog and fired again, bullets tore into its body and head. During the commotion, neither Jessie nor Phil noticed the third dog that had appeared. It ran and leapt at Phil, crashing into him when his attention had been averted to the second dog. Both man and mutant dog crashed to the ground and slammed into the wall. The dog scratched and tore at the man, trying desperately to sing its teeth into his flesh. Phil held its head as far away from him as possible, his muscle weakening under the dog's massive strength. He heard shots being fired and felt the dog's body shake as it was struck. The dog howled and he took the opportunity to draw his pistol. He jammed the muzzle underneath the dog's mouth, where the neck and head merged, and fired. One round was sufficient to kill the dog and he pushed it off of him as he stood.

"Thanks for the assist." He said to Jessie after catching his breath.

"Yeah, you too." She jerked her head at the dog that had lunged for her.

Phil picked up his fallen rifle; the dog's claws must have sheared the sling in half. He removed the sling and tossed it to the ground. "Guess I have to lug it the old fashioned way now." He checked his magazine, reloaded a fresh one, and they moved on.

Both doors at either end of the hallway were locked, so they chose the one in the center. As they walked through they found themselves in another research lab, this one the largest by far. It was unmolested by any scenes of death or horror. Jessie glanced around and saw a computer. She ran over to it, sat down, and began her attempts to hack into the system.

Phil walked over to her and watched. "You think you can get in?"

Jessie nodded as she continued to type. "I hope so. If nothing else maybe we can find a map or blueprint, something that can help us get out of here."

Phil walked away and began to examine the room. Along one wall was some sort of storage system, is contents protected by thick metal doors. He saw no way to open it. He searched some of the other desks and came up with a few documents and notes, just the sort of evidence he would need. Reading through it he knew it was weak, but it was a start. He also found photographs of some of the experiments that supposedly took place in the room. He gathered it all together and, having discovered a small backpack in one of the wall lockers, shoved it all inside.

"Hey, look at this?" Jessie said from the desk.

"What is it?" Phil walked over and saw that she had indeed broken into the system.

She pointed at one of the icons on the screen. "Something labeled 'Cradle'." She opened the folder and found numerous icons; one was labeled 'Activate'. She glanced up at Phil and he nodded. She clicked the icon and almost immediately the doors that lined one of the walls began to slide open. They both turned and looked and wished that they hadn't opened the doors.

Beyond the doors was incubation chambers filled with a sickly yellowish green liquid. Inside each tube was some sort of creature, connected to tubes and filters. Two of them looked almost like human children.

"My God." Phil exhaled as he and Jessie walked towards them. "What the hell is wrong with these people?" He felt the anger filling up inside of him again. They examined the contents and saw that the two child-like bodies were the only ones that resembled humans. The others were indescribable, like nothing they had every seen before. Alien, yet somehow familiar. Their grotesque features frozen in the suspended animation of the tubes.

"Do you think they are alive?" Jessie asked. Before Phil could answer, they heard a crash from the far end of the room, followed by a loud, hideous cry. They both turned toward the noise, Phil raised his rifle, and motioned Jessie behind him. He stood ready as another creature appeared. It was similar to the zombies in basic body shape, but both of its arms' had long steel spikes fused to the ends where its hands should have been. It was covered in sharp prickly looking spikes and it had no eyes.

It was faster then the regular zombies as well and was quickly closing the gap between itself and the humans when Phil fired at it, aiming for its head. Five shots were successful in blowing its head off, but it continued to move forward, slower, however it did not fall. A loud cracking noise came from the creature, like bones being broken, and another creature shot forth from its neck. The parasitic being possessed numerous tentacles that whipped about, each containing razor sharp edges. Its head, if it could be called that, consisted of a gapping mouth, lined with hundreds of sharp, tiny teeth.

Jessie ran for cover as one of the tentacles whipped at her and wrapped itself around her ankle, dragging her to the ground. She screamed and tried to claw her way across the floor, but the thing continued to drag her towards it. Phil fired at the thing's head, attempting to kill it, but when he heard Jessie scream he turned to see what was happening. He ducked underneath another swinging tentacle and pulled out his combat knife. He rammed the blade through the tentacle that held Jessie and was rewarded with a shriek of pain from the monster; however it did not release the girl, so he continued to stab at the thing until he had severed the tentacle completely. He got back up, grabbed his rifle, and saw his opportunity. The loss of one of its appendages had hurt the creature and it was retreating from them. He opened fire again and after half of a magazine the parasite exploded and the monster died.

Jessie sat on the ground, rubbing her leg where the thing had attached itself to her; her skin was red and irritated. Phil knelt down and looked at it for her. "You think you'll be ok? Be able to walk?"

Jessie nodded, "Yes, I should be fine. It didn't cut me or anything; I think it's just a bad reaction." She said as she stood. She turned and went back to the computer. Phil was somewhat amazed at the girl's ability to react so calmly, must be another defense mechanism. "I need to find a map."

Phil watched the girl work, not looking back at the dead creature or the things in the tubes. Suddenly the phone on the desk began to ring. Jessie glanced up at him and they both knew who was more then likely at the other end. Phil hit the speaker button on the phone once more.

"I am starting to become annoyed by you and that little brat." Krumlanski spat.

"Sorry." Phil said back.

"Your abilities are far better then I had expected. I just cannot have you two destroying all my work."

"Then you shouldn't have brought us here to play your sick little game."

"I am sure going to enjoy watching you die, Mr. Corbin. That is of course after I kill all the rest of your friends. Remember, I am in control here, I am the one who makes the rules."

Phi said nothing. Upon hearing his silence, Krumlanski attempted another route to get at the man. "I see you've discovered my children. You should look closely; I made them just for you, my friend."

Phil glanced back at the tubes, "What?"

"It is truly amazing the things that can be accomplished with DNA these days. I felt so horrible after I destroyed your life all those years ago that I wanted to make up for it. Luckily I still had a sample of your wife's blood."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Phil asked disgusted by what the man was implying. Jessie listened as she heard the man, Krumlanski, try and break Phil emotionally.

"Look closer at the tubes. You know what I am saying. You see, Agent Corbin, I have always had the upper hand. I have always had control of you…and you know it."

Jessie watched as the man who had become her protector stepped away from the phone, a look of horror, shock, and fear etched across his face. "Stop this!" She shouted into the phone.

"Miss Bannon, I hope you can survive on your own from now. The man standing there with you is done. Isn't that right, Philip? You know I have won. You can never defeat me!" His cruel laugh echoed from the speaker, echoing across the room.

"I swear…" Phil started, but was cut off.

"What? That you'll kill me? You've been saying that for six years now and still here I am. Come to me then. I will show you what real pain is. Take a good look at that misshapen hulk that will one day become your precious wife and then we will see who the stronger man is. Your pathetic life is over, Mr. Corbin. Give up now and I will release Dr. Quest. Admit it to yourself; it's the only way you can escape."

"No." His response was barely audible.

"Do it, you selfish bastard." Krumlanski screamed, "I am tired of this game." Then he regained some of his composure. "Do it yourself and keep your dignity or else come to me and I will make you suffer more then you thought was humanly possible. I'm in the main control room. Continue on your current path and when you come to the stairs, follow them down. Ahead through the doors and you will be here. I would suggest you be a man and kill yourself now."

Jessie had heard enough, she saw the effect that Krumlanski's words were having and she slammed her hand down on the phone, killing the connection. She took the phone off the hook in order to prevent him from calling back. She turned and saw Phil in a state she had never seen. He had backed himself up against a wall and he slid down, his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands. She went to his side and knelt next to him, knowing she had to get him up and moving.

"You told me before not to listen to that man." Jessie started. "You have to do the same thing. Don't believe a word of what he said."

Phil shook his head, but did not respond. He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out an old photograph of himself and his wife, taken shortly before she was killed. He stared at it for a long while then let it slip out of his hands.

"He's afraid; I could hear it in his voice. He knows you are close so he's trying to break you down emotionally. He said those things because he knew it was the only way he could get to you. You can't let him win."

"He has won. He's right. I'm sorry." Phil said as he reached for his sidearm.

"No!" Jessie exclaimed, grabbing the man's hand. He stopped his movements. "You cannot do that. If you do he will have won. Don't you see, he knows he messed up and he scared to death to face you, so he's trying to manipulate you."

"Stop it, Jessie. You don't understand."

"Damnit, Phil, I do understand!" She barked, bringing a look a shock from the man, she had never called him by his first name before. "You need to man up and take this scumbag out." She lowered her voice again, "You can't leave me her alone. I'll never survive. Do it for me, please. Do it for all those people that we had to kill because he made them into those monsters. Do it for them and their families."

Phil looked at her, overwhelmed by the girl's resilience, but he knew she was right. He couldn't give up now. It was too close to the end. He stood back up, retrieved his rifle, took aim, and blew the incubation tubes apart. He would not believe what Krumlanski had said, could not believe it. Jessie smiled inwardly; Agent Corbin was back and he was pissed as all hell. Someone was going to pay. He walked back to the desk, glass crunching and gore splattering underneath his boots, picked up the backpack and handed it to the girl that had just saved him from his own destruction. Jessie moved to the computer and began typing.

"What are you doing?"

"I found some interesting information here. I don't have any way to save it so I'm e-mailing it back to myself and the Questworld mainframe in Maine." After completing her task she stood, ready to move on.

"Let's go and finish this once and for all."

Jessie smiled. "Hell yeah."

With that they moved out of the room without looking back, following the directions that Krumlanski had given them.

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Krumlanski was brewing with anger. He watched the video monitor, hoping to end his misery by witnessing Corbin's own self destruction, but the brat, Bannon, had stopped him. Then to make matters worse, he watched in horror as Corbin destroyed the incubation tubes, killing his children. He wanted that man dead, more so then he had wanted anything else in life.

Dr. Quest watched as Krumlanski fumed. He was pacing back and forth, babbling to himself. Finally he turned, barking orders at Dr. Elaim. "I want the Hades project waiting for him when he walks through those doors. I want to watch as my beautiful creation rips that man apart. I want his head in front of me."

"Hades is still unstable, Mikel." Dr. Elaim pleaded, "We don't know for sure how it will react once we release it."

"I don't care. I want Corbin dead. I want all of them dead!" Krumlanski glared at Dr. Quest. "This is all your fault, Quest. I tried to convince the board that you would never join us, but they wouldn't listen. Now your government friends are ruining my lab and all the work I have done."

"Perhaps you should have thought about that before you made this unholy pact with Lucifer." Dr. Quest countered.

Krumlanski stormed over to the man, Dr. Elaim rose out of his seat. "Mikel, don't do anything rash."

Krumlanski struck Dr. Quest across the face, a small trail of blood forming on the bearded man's lips. "Don't you ever speak to me in such a way, Dr. Quest, I can kill all of them this very moment if I so desired. If you think I am bluffing, go ahead and try me."

Dr. Quest stared back at the man, but said nothing. Krumlanski was unstable and Benton was not about to risk any more harm to the others. He stayed quiet and just hoped that the others would get here soon and end this nightmare.

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Approximately thirty minutes later Phil and Jessie found themselves in front of the door that Krumlanski had said led to his location. Phil checked his weapon, ensuring he had a fresh magazine locked and loaded, and a 40mm round in the tube of his launcher. He looked at Jessie, glad to have her by his side, but knowing they were about to enter a dangerous and deadly arena.

"Stay low and hidden, no matter what happens to me." Phil instructed. "My guess is Krumlanski is holding Dr. Quest and Hadji in there with him, but he's not going to just let us walk up and take them."

"Yes, sir." Jessie replied; seriousness etched into her words. "Let's get this over with."

"If you can, try and get to them. If not, just like I said, stay hidden and safe." He smiled at the girl, "Remember don't listen to anything he says, and don't believe him."

Jessie jabbed her finger into the man's chest. "That goes for you too."

Phil nodded, kept his weapon in the low ready and moved through the doors.

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To be continued…