Standing in front of the military compound of Ramsville kinda feels like standing in front of a haunted castle. You just get that aura of evil from it. But then again, this is a military compound, full of people either trained to kill anything that moves, or people inventing things that can kill anything that moves. Seems to be trendy thing in here.
"You guys stick close and follow me. Seriously, you can get lost in here," Uncle Pete chuckled, leading us inside. We stood in a large reception, practically void of events. Hell, even the lady at the counter looked like she would try eating the magazine in her hands out of boredom. "You know, I haven't even been to every part of this huge-ass complex, and I've worked here for three years!"
"Damn, this must be a pretty big place." I replied.
"You bet your ass it's pretty damn big."
We followed him through many corridors and doors, to the point that I lost count of how many we'd gone through. We reached the end of another long hallway to stand in front of a service elevator. We stepped in and Pete hammered away at the keypad. The elevator roared to life, and began descending.
"This elevator sure is inviting." I said sarcastically. It was the elevator that looked to be made for vehicles rather than people.
"The normal elevator's out of order at the moment." Pete explained. "Somethin' weird has been going on with the hardware at this place. And I ain't kidding, but I could swear I heard something crawling in the ducts…" he shivered slightly. "It sure as hell didn't sound like no rat."
"Sounds freaky." Katt stuttered, shuffling closer to me.
"Hey, don't fret over little things. I'm sure it was nothing." I reassured her. She seemed a little better after that.
"Here we are, folks." Pete announced as the elevator came to a halt. "Level B8, the Sci Labs."
"You guys actually go eight floors underground?" I exclaim. That's pretty damn deep if you ask me.
"Actually we go down twenty. All the dangerous experiments are kept underground for safety reasons, as well as their transports. There's an underground rail system linked at the twentieth floor." Pete led us off the elevator, where we saw your typical lab look. Plenty of white walls, rooms with glass walls, probably triple paned or something. And of course, lots of guys dressed in white coats.
"So Uncle Pete, where exactly you taking us?" Jason asked, shielding his eyes. He was never much for bright light, after all, he wasn't exactly a morning person.
"An old college buddy of mine, he's the guy who's gonna be examined Nick here. Way back when, he told me about the T-Virus outbreak. The purpose, the zombies, the works. He also told me they made a countermeasure, and from the way it sounds, Nick is behaving exactly like the countermeasure that was created."
"Say what?" I thought to myself. He sure threw me a mouthful, and I was lost. Didn't have much time to wonder though, as we reached one of the labs. Walking in, I took a look around. Other than your everyday test tube samples and various chemicals, the one thing that caught my eye was a capsule, similar to the one that contained Project D.A. A man, balding head and brown beard, walked over to greet us.
"Pete, how've you been, buddy?" I guessed he must've been the college buddy.
"Perry! I brought the guy I told you about. Meet Nick." Pete slapped his hand on my back and shoved me forward. Perry walked up to me, examining me.
"Hello Nick, it's a pleasure to meet you." He said, raising my arm and feeling it.
"Uhm, likewise…What're you doing?"
"Your physical condition is indeed far superior to an ordinary young man of your age range." Perry dropped my arm and took a seat. "Nick, I've been told that you've found yourself to possess extraordinary strength. Is this correct?"
"Yeah."
"Can you tell me how this happened?"
"I guess, but it's a long story. And hardly believable."
"I've seen incredible things, this is merely the tip of the iceberg to me."
"Well, you asked for it…"
I explained everything since the day I took the dare. The chemical D.A container, the zombies, and of course, my crazy-ass power. He asked me to tell him more, so I told him about Tower… er, King… As well as the senile old man that gave him orders. When I finished, he seemed fairly flustered. So much for the tip of the iceberg.
"W-Well," he put his hand on his chin, thinking. "You've sure been through a lot."
"Meh," didn't feel that amazing to me. Sure, I knew it was amazing, but hey, I guess I'm just that lazy.
"Nick, let me tell you about D.A. It was a project started by a friend and myself in hopes to fight the T-Virus's er, aftermath. After three years of research, we had finally created it, however, it seemed that there is a certain genetic quality required to properly fuse with D.A. And there's also the danger involved with joining with D.A to begin with. Having two living beings in a single body can be a strain on the body's mechanisms."
"Danger?" Jason asked in shock. "What the hell kind of danger?"
"Well, on a physical scale, the D.A is a very demanding 'ability'. When in use, it can eat away at the user's energy and strength. And also, there's the emotional problem of sharing your body with another being."
"Another being?" Katt looked at me. "Is there really someone else in there with you?"
"Uh…I guess so." Had to tell them at some point. "His name's Mick."
"Well, this Mick would indeed be the incarnation of D.A. It seems Nick is taking this quite well, so it's no problem."
"And what about that genetic thing you talked about earlier?" I asked.
"You shouldn't bother with that. As you can see, you're perfectly fine. It is quite the coincidence though, as we estimated only two people in the world can have that certain gene."
I rolled my eyes. "Wow, I feel special."
"But now that you have merged with D.A, you will have many responsibilities on your shoulders."
"Say what?"
"Well, for a start, you'd have to keep this info confidential."
"That's easy,' I puffed at him. Haven't told many people yet, have I?
"Well, secondly, we'll need you to help us end the plague of zombies."
"You're kidding right?" Pete spoke up. "I mean, he's just a kid."
"He's the only one who has managed to sync with D.A! Kid or not, he's the only thing that can stand up to Seran and his army of bodies."
"Who's Seran?" I ask him. Perry looked down and sighed.
"Seran… is the man that you talked about earlier. The man who controls King."
He turned away from us and stared at the capsule on his desk. "He was also my partner in creating D.A."
I looked at him in surprise. He worked with that freak? And they made this thing that's inside me?"
"Hey, at least call me Mick," the voice in my head piped up.
"Shut up, you!" I say in my head.
Perry looked pretty disappointed in himself, and I felt kinda bad for him. I sighed and walked up to him, and stared at the capsule he was looking at. It also said 'D.A' on it.
"Okay… What do you need me to do?"
He got up with a gasp and stared at me. "R-Really? You'll help us?"
"Sure, why not. After all, nobody else wanted this thing in me, right? Might as well use it for something worthwhile."
He practically hugged me, which I wasn't really comfortable with. After all, Katt was watching. "Thank you, young boy! Thank you!"
"Well then," Pete started. "If you plan to work with us, we're gonna have to get you ready. I'm talking military training, and we ain't gonna go soft on you. Think you're up for it?"
"Man, bring it!"
And so, I was signed up to have a crash course in military tactics. During this time, Perry said he'd prepare a team to work with me and help me infiltrate Raccoon City and deal with his old partner.
Really, I seem to be a magnet for big trouble. Well, at least big trouble round here leads to handing me a bigger gun.
TO BE CONTINUED
A/N: Yeah, just a little story pushing, but action's gonna be coming through next chapter when they assault the City like it's nobody's business. Review please?