26: Park Life

"The park," said Amber, with a wry smile. "How nice. We can look at all the pretty flowers while we get eaten by monsters. Isn't that wonderful, everyone?"

"My aunt always tell me never to go in a park at night," said Jack.

"I think she was worried about you getting mugged rather than getting eaten, Jack," Renée pointed out.

"Though mugging wouldn't be a problem if the police actually did their job," said Christina.

Amber pointedly ignored the comment, much to Lisa and Jack's relief. If Christina was disappointed by her failure to bait the policewoman, however, she failed to show it. She merely shrugged, and gestured that they should continue their journey.

As Christina indicated which way they should go with a wave of her hand, Lisa noticed that there was a deep, painful-looking cut in the woman's hand, right across the palm.

"You've cut your hand pretty badly, Christina," she pointed out.

Christina gave the injured hand a quick glance.

"So I have," she observed.

Though aware that Christina and her colleagues were probably trained to work through pain and discomfort, Lisa was still surprised by the mercenary's response.

"Doesn't it hurt?" said Lisa.

Christina considered this for a moment.

"Yes," she said simply. "It does. The trick is not to mind that it hurts. Now come on."

They made their way through the park. As usual, Christina and Renée led the way. Amber wasn't far behind them, but after a while she slowed her pace a little. She allowed a short distance to come between herself and the two mercenaries. When she thought they were out of earshot, Amber muttered to Jack and Lisa:

"Does that woman actually have feelings?"

"Well… there's scorn," Lisa suggested. "And contempt."

"Disdain for all humanity," added Jack.

"Apart from that?" said Amber.

"No," said Lisa.

"No," agreed Jack. "I dunt think so either."

Amber glared at Christina's back. Possibly no other back in the world had ever been regarded with such venom.

"That witch," she muttered. "I'd shoot her if I had any bullets left."

"You don't mean that," said Lisa.

"The hell I don't!" said Amber.

"You said it yourself," said Lisa. "We need them."

"Them, I said. Not her. We'd still have Renée to help us," said Amber.

"So much for "to protect and to serve"," said Lisa disapprovingly.

"I'd be protecting and serving you kids by getting rid of that crazy bitch before she gets us all killed," said Amber, but now she didn't sound quite so convinced.

"You don't believe that any more than we do," said Lisa simply. "You just hate them because they're with Umbrella."

"I'm allowed to hate Umbrella. Joseph died because of their foul experiments."

"Yes, but the mercenaries didn't kill your boyfriend. Don't take it out on them. They saved our lives, Amber."

"When?" said Amber. "Did I blink and miss something?"

"Well, for a start, they killed the zombies," said Lisa.

"If we hadn't gone through the cemetery as per their plan, we wouldn't have run into the zombies in the first place," said Amber.

Lisa had to admit that Amber had a point.

"Renée fixed Jack's arm up," she said, changing tack.

"And he wouldn't have got hurt if you two hadn't had to leave the sewers because the mercenaries got us lost down there," said Amber roughly.

"The mercenaries only brought us down there to save us from the crows. And they killed that thing with the long tongue," Lisa pointed out.

"Yes - and then they left us down there to rot!" snapped Amber.

"That's rich coming from you!" Lisa retorted. "You left us too! I don't see why Jack and I should trust you any more than we trust them!"

"Uh, Lise?" said Jack.

"What?" said Lisa.

"Shut up."

Outraged, Lisa opened her mouth to speak; Jack shook his head.

"No, I tell you to shut up, Lise," he said. "Amber?"

"What?" said Amber.

Jack grabbed Amber's hand and slipped some bullets into her palm, closing her fingers around them.

"You wanna shoot Christina? Be my guest," he told her.

"I - I wasn't serious, Jack," said Amber, startled.

"Well if you ain't gonna do it, stop talkin' 'bout it," said Jack simply. "Both of you quit it. They gonna hear you, then they think, "Uh-oh, the civvies mean trouble, we better get 'em b'fore they get us…" an' then we gonna be pretty screwed, ain't we? Dunt let 'em get to you. Just ignore 'em; we gonna get to Umbrella soon, then we can ditch 'em for good. Right?"

"Right," said Lisa.

"Right," agreed Amber. "Can I keep the bullets?"

Jack nodded. "Sure."

They waited while Amber reloaded her handgun. Jack did the same, remembering that he'd spent the bullets in his gun while trying to stop the giant zombie.

"There," said Amber, with a sigh. "That's better. I don't feel so helpless any more."

"C'mon, we better catch 'em up now, or they be wonderin' where we get to..." said Jack.

----------

"Listen to that," said Renée, a few minutes later.

The five of them stood still, and listened. The cool night air carried a sound that they all recognised instantly.

"Crickets," said Lisa. She smiled a little; she'd always liked the sound. It brought back a dim memory from her childhood - sitting in her back yard on summer nights with her parents, lying on the grass and smiling as she looked up into the heavens, her father picking out the constellations and putting the names to each one for his young daughter's benefit.

Then the image drifted away like smoke. Lisa's heart sank with the realisation that she would never be able to do that again. The soft green grass in her back yard was soaked with blood and covered with the bodies of people she'd known since kindergarten. There were dead people wandering around in her home. And her parents could be alive, or dead – or stuck somewhere in between the two. She didn't know if she'd ever see them again. It occurred to her that she might never even find out what had happened to them.

I want my mom, she thought, for the first time since she and Jack were forced to flee her house. I want my mom and dad…

Lisa bit her lip, to stop the tears from coming. She could imagine the look of disdain on Christina's face – and, worse, the looks of pity from Renée and Amber.

Meanwhile, Amber was looking distinctly underwhelmed.

"So the crickets are chirping," she said. "So what?"

"Not that," said Renée irritably. "The other sound. Listen hard."

They gradually became aware of a faint noise, intermingled with the crickets' song.

"Sounds like frogs croaking," observed Lisa.

"It is," said Renée. She bent down and scooped something up from the grass. "Look," she said.

Cupped in her hands was a small green frog. It was still croaking away quite contentedly, seeming unfazed by the attention or by being handled.

"Eeew," said Lisa, wrinkling her nose in distaste.

"What?" said Renée, taken aback. "What's the matter?"

"Frogs are gross," said Lisa. "They're all slimy."

"I like frogs," said Renée. "I think they're kind of cute."

"Hey, Lise, you remember the time they make us dissect dead frogs in science class?" said Jack.

"Don't remind me," said Lisa, shuddering. "That was disgusting. Though it was kind of funny seeing all the tough guys go green," she added.

"Yeah. Paul look like he gonna throw up, dint he?"

"I think he did, afterwards."

The frog, perhaps tiring of the conversation, sprang out of Renée's hands and hopped away into the darkness.

"Off you go, little guy," said Renée.

She watched it hop away, smiling fondly all the while, like a doting aunt watching over a favourite nephew or niece.

"Okay," said Amber, when she felt that the little interlude had passed. "Time to go. Now which way should we - "

She broke off. Someone was coming; she could hear the sound of a person running through the undergrowth towards them.

Though she was expecting someone to appear shortly after hearing the noise, Amber wasn't quite prepared for the scream, and the policeman in riot gear bursting through a bush, almost colliding with her.

The man clutched her by the shoulders.

"Please," he gasped. "You gotta help me. They're coming!"

"What? Who's coming?" said Amber, startled.

"The frog-creatures are after me! I ran out of bullets! You gotta help me!"

"Frog-creatures?"

"Please! They – oh God, no!"

These proved to be the man's last words as a giant amphibian – a frog almost the same size as Lisa – leapt suddenly into view. It opened its enormous mouth, scooped up the hapless police officer, and swallowed him whole.

The man's muffled cries for help lasted no more than two seconds before being abruptly, permanently silenced. His legs disappeared quickly down the creature's throat. Feet followed, and then the hellish mouth snapped closed.

There was a gulping sound as the frog swallowed. Then its great round eyes swivelled towards Jack and Lisa, who stood open-mouthed with horror several feet away.

Its throat swelled, and a deep croak burst forth from the wide mouth. Then, suddenly, the frog-creature launched itself from the ground in one great flying leap towards the two terrified teenagers.

Amber was the first to react.

"No!" she yelled, and whipped out her gun, her finger already curling around the trigger as she took aim.

Her first thought came from the inner police officer – don't shoot without thinking – but this was dismissed instantaneously. Shouting "Stop or I'll shoot!" was unlikely to have any effect on mutant frogs. So Amber acted on her second thought: Shoot first and ask questions later.

Two shots rang out in rapid succession. With a dreadful screech, the frog dropped out of the air. It hit the ground, and lay very still.

"Is it dead?" said Renée cautiously.

Amber didn't know. Admittedly, the creature wasn't moving. But that didn't mean anything. She'd seen zombies fall down, apparently dead, only to get up again a few moments later as if nothing had happened.

Either way, she was taking no chances.

Amber put another three bullets into the creature's brain for good measure, and wasn't entirely surprised to hear it screech again when the third shot hit home.

"There," said Amber. "Now it's dead."

This time she was definite. Blood was darkening the grass beneath the creature; nothing could bleed that much and live. And it was twitching; not a good sign in anything alive, but a very good sign in anything dead. None of the zombies that had started twitching had ever got up again.

"Well done," said Christina. "You actually made yourself useful for once."

"Was that some grudging respect I heard just then, merc?" Amber teased.

Christina snorted. "Don't flatter yourself," she said with the usual measure of scorn in her voice.

She ended the exchange in her usual way, by turning away sharply and walking off – it was funny how Christina always managed to finish every conversation on her own terms, Amber reflected. Always the one in control. Just once, she thought, I'd like to make Christina look weak.

"Come on. This way," Christina called after her.

"Time to go," agreed Renée. "Can't hang round here all day. We gotta move."

"So, Renée, you still like frogs?" Jack asked her, as he and Renée followed Christina down the path.

"No way," said Renée instantly. "Frogs suck."

Amber and Lisa didn't follow them. They stood next to the creature's twitching body and watched the others leave.

"We should go after them, you know," said Amber, after a few moments.

Lisa remained silent.

"We don't want to lose them. Not in the park. And I don't know about you but I'm short on ammunition," Amber continued. "I just used up all the bullets Jack gave me on that frog thing."

Still Lisa said nothing.

"I mean, it's dangerous round here. We could get killed."

More silence.

"It was just luck that I managed to kill that thing before it got to you. If I hadn't shot it, then I - are you okay, Lisa?"

The younger girl was wiping her eyes.

"I – I want my mom," Lisa said faintly. "I'm scared, Amber. I want to go home. I want my mom and dad!"

Amber put an arm around the younger girl's shaking shoulders.

"I'm scared too," she said softly. "But don't worry. We'll get through this."

"What about my parents?" said Lisa.

Probably dead by now, thought Amber. It was a nasty thought, and she hated herself for thinking it, but it was almost certainly true. Though she'd never say it out loud, she privately doubted that the Hartleys were still alive. They can't be. Not with all these monsters around. If the zombies didn't get them, it would have been the crows, or the dogs, or the spiders, or the giant frogs, or those – whatever the things with the long tongues are called. And if they're not dead yet, then they probably will be soon…

Of course, she couldn't say that to Lisa. Not when the girl was looking at her with fear and hope and pleading in her eyes.

"I'm sure we'll find them," Amber told her instead. It was suitably ambiguous and sounded comforting.

"Alive?" said Lisa.

Amber cursed inwardly. Bang went the ambiguity. She was hoping that Lisa wouldn't have picked up on that. Still, she had. And there was no use in lying to the girl.

"I don't know, Lisa," admitted Amber. "I really don't. But either way, we'll find them."

"Promise?" said Lisa.

Amber hesitated.

"Lisa, I can't promise you that we'll find them," she told her. "But I'll do everything I can to help you look for them."

"Thank you," said Lisa in a barely audible murmur.

"You're welcome," said Amber. "But Lisa, we really ought to go now. If we lose Jack and the others, we're going to be in real trouble."

"Yes, I know."

Lisa wiped her eyes again.

"Okay now?" said Amber gently.

Lisa nodded.

"Ready to go, then?"

"Yes. Let's go."

----------

A few minutes later they caught sight of Jack and the mercenaries, but Amber decided not to try and catch them up just yet. There was something that she was still curious about…

"So tell me," said Amber, "What is it with you and Jack, anyway?"

"What?" said Lisa.

"I know there's something going on with you two. Don't try and tell me you're just friends. I know there's more to it than that."

Amber had been expecting an outright denial, indignation, or at least a sullen, resentful silence. She was therefore surprised when Lisa said:

"Yes. How - "

"How did I know?" said Amber, finishing the sentence for her. "Well, I'm a cop. You learn a lot about people in my line of work. And it's pretty obvious, anyway. It's the way you two act around each other. Don't tell me you haven't seen the way he looks at you."

"Well…"

"You two really should get together. It's like…"

Amber hesitated, and tried again.

"Did you ever watch The X-Files?"

"Yes."

"Did you ever feel like yelling "Get together, for the love of God!" at the TV every time you saw Mulder and Scully together on the screen?"

"Of course," said Lisa. "Didn't everyone?"

"That's how I feel, watching you two," said Amber. "He adores you, Lisa. It's as plain as day. And I think you like him too. So why don't you do something about it?"

She looked at Lisa, silently prompting her to answer. Lisa looked away. For a second Amber didn't think she was going to reply, but then Lisa sighed heavily.

"It's… complicated," she said at last.

"In what way?" said Amber.

"I know he likes me," said Lisa. "And I think I'm starting to like him too. But… it's my parents. They hate him. They think he's trash."

"Oh."

With that, the conversation came to a halt, as neither of them knew what to say next. The awkward pause didn't last long, though; Jack had noticed that Amber and Lisa were some way behind, and had come to see why.

"You two okay?" he asked them.

"We're fine, Jack," said Amber.

"Glad to hear it. C'mon, you better catch up. Christina gonna get mad with you if you dunt hurry. She think there be more big frogs around here an' she want us to get outta here fast."

"Her and me both," said Lisa, with feeling.

"We'd better not keep Her Royal Highness waiting, then," said Amber, rolling her eyes. "Let's go, quickly, or we'll never hear the last of it. I've had enough of her harassing us for one day."

They soon caught up with the mercenaries. Amber and Lisa were anticipating some sort of derogatory comment from Christina, but to their surprise, it was Renée who scolded them.

"You need to stick with us," she said sternly. "You could get hurt or lost if you don't."

"Sorry," said Lisa.

"Okay. But try not to fall behind again. This place is dangerous. Christina thinks this part of the park is crawling with those frog things. There's been a lot of croaking nearby."

The mere thought of more giant frogs was enough to make Lisa and Amber close the gap so much that they ended up treading on Renée and Christina's feet with every step they took.

"Will you watch it?"

"Sorry."

They pressed on through the park, past a red barrel – "What's that doing here?" said Amber, puzzled – and crossed a wooden platform that had been built over an expanse of water.

The platform hadn't been constructed well. It creaked alarmingly as the five walked across it, and more than once Jack and Lisa almost tripped over the edges of ill-fitting wooden planks. At one point, Renée's foot went right through a rotting plank; cursing, she managed to pull her foot free, and stumbled out of the hole in the floor, muttering darkly about "shoddy workmanship".

On reaching the end of the platform, they found themselves at the bottom of a flight of concrete stairs.

"Up we go," said Renée.

Climbing the stairs led them into the main area of the park. Lisa recognised the bridge over the reflecting pool; in her dream, she and Jack had stood there, surrounded by – she sniffed the air – yes, the same smell of fading roses.

She let her thoughts linger on the dream for a moment. Up until the monster's appearance, it hadn't been bad, all things considered. But it raised the whole question of her and Jack again…

Lisa didn't really know what to think any more. She wasn't sure if she even trusted her own emotions, they were so confused. What she knew was that she'd always been fond of Jack, her best friend. What she was starting to believe was that perhaps she was a little fonder of him than she cared to admit.

"Stay right there, and stay quiet," muttered Renée, edging past Lisa. "We're going to look for a way out of here."

"What about the gates?" said Lisa.

Amber shook her head. "Locked," she said. "Ever since the Leidermann investigation. Forensics couldn't find any more clues at the scene, but Mayor Warren wanted the park closed for safety reasons until we found the perpetrator."

"Oh," said Lisa.

Amber, Renée and Christina had already drifted away. They were spreading out and searching for another exit. Lisa looked round for Jack; to her horror, he was standing on the bridge above the pool.

She hurried over and grabbed him by the arm.

"Jack!" she hissed, trying to tug him away from the bridge. "Get down from there!"

Jack wasn't really listening.

"Nice place," he said vaguely, looking out over the water. "Dunt think I ever come here b'fore. I like the skate park a lot better than regular parks. 'S nice here, though. Peaceful."

Lisa tugged at his arm again.

"Jack, get down - it's not safe!"

"Sure it be safe, Lise. C'mon up."

"No way," said Lisa, but she found herself being pulled up and onto the bridge nevertheless.

She was horrified.

"Jack!" she protested.

"What? You dunt like it up here?" said Jack.

"No I do not," said Lisa sharply. "Now get down at once."

Jack just smiled. "Hey, chill, Lise. We just stay here a minute, while Amber an' the mercs find us a way out. No harm in that, right?"

Lisa wanted to disagree – but didn't know how.

"I guess," she said reluctantly.

"Okay."

Jack smiled again. Anxious and slightly annoyed though she was, Lisa started to smile too. She couldn't help it. The smile was so disarming as to be contagious.

And then Lisa made the mistake of looking into Jack's eyes.

She hadn't been mistaken. If anything, Jack's eyes were even bluer than they'd been in the dream. An intense, captivating sky-blue, and so bright… eyes she wanted to swim in.

"Te amo, Lise," said Jack quietly.

I love you. So she was right.

Lisa suddenly recalled the moment before they'd seen the giant zombie. Her hand on Jack's arm, their lips all but touching, neither of them caring about anything else except the joy of being together. Right then and there, her myriad of fears hadn't mattered. Nothing had mattered; nothing except that moment.

Best friend or not, she would have given anything, everything, for that one kiss.

This moment reminded her of that one. And yet…

Something didn't feel quite right; all the while she sensed something dark and dreadful behind her, something she couldn't see but could certainly feel. Whatever it was, it was unmistakeably evil -

"Time to go."

Lisa jumped, and turned round; Christina was standing there, hands on hips, her boot tapping the ground impatiently as she glared at them. Her displeasure at being kept waiting was clearly evident.

"We found a way out," she continued. "There's a gap in the fence behind the bushes near the gate. It's just big enough to squeeze through. It comes out directly opposite the old hospital. We can continue from there."

"Uh, right," said Lisa. "Thank you. Let's go, Jack."

She and Jack stepped off the bridge, and they followed Christina towards a clump of bushes close to the park gates.

Amber was already climbing through the gap in the railings when they arrived. Renée was leaning against an adjacent tree, waiting for Amber to move out of the way so that she too could climb through.

"Ah, there you are," said Renée jovially, on seeing Jack and Lisa. "Thought we'd lost you. How're you doing, Amber?"

"Almost – okay, I'm through," Amber called through the railings. "Who's next?"

It was decided that Lisa should go first; Amber was particularly insistent on this, having seen the effect of the frog incident on her. With undisguised relief, Lisa squeezed through the gap in the iron railings. She somehow got the impression that by leaving the park, she'd just managed to avoid a dark and dreadful fate.

But what about Jack? She caught sight of him behind the bars, and suddenly she feared for his life all over again. Not because she thought that the monster was around – after all, I killed it, she reminded herself – but because she'd felt evil behind her on the bridge, and when she'd turned to look at it, she'd seen Christina.

Lisa was aware that the woman was less than friendly by nature, and that she didn't make for pleasant company, but she'd never considered her to be a threat. Now, though, she was starting to feel distinctly uneasy in Christina's presence – and about Jack being anywhere near her.

She was greatly relieved when Jack made his way through the gap and joined her on the other side. Renée followed him soon afterwards, and then Christina started to make her way out of the park.

If only we could just run now, and leave Christina far behind, Lisa thought, as she half-watched Christina climb through the railings. She immediately scolded herself for this uncharitable thought; all the same, she couldn't shake the feeling that the mercenary – or, possibly, both of them – spelt nothing but trouble.