30: The Heart Of Darkness
Lisa bit her lip nervously. There was nobody here. Just her, all alone in the dark, with only the flickering blue light of a distant computer screen to see by.
She'd half-expected her parents to be standing here, safe and well, and overjoyed that she'd come to their rescue. Stupid, now that she thought about it. Stupid and naïve. As if life was really that simple.
There were sounds of movement behind her. Shuffling feet. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled. Every muscle tensed…
She nearly screamed when she felt the hand on her shoulder.
"Lise?" said whoever was behind her.
Lisa breathed out again slowly.
"Oh, it's you," she said, and turned round. Jack's face was pale and ghostly in the dim blue light.
"Hey, we made it," he said, grinning. "We gonna find you parents now."
Lisa smiled weakly, but even in the dark, Jack could see the doubt in her eyes.
"What?" he said. "You dunt think we gonna find 'em?"
"I… I don't know, Jack," said Lisa, shaking her head. "It's just… this place is so big, and it's dark… and it's taken us so long to get here. Are they even still here? What if they left and went back home looking for me?"
"Lise, if they go home to look for you, we woulda seen 'em on the way here," said Jack firmly. "If they be here in the first place, then they dint leave. There be nowhere for 'em to go. They gotta still be here. Now where could they be, Lise?"
Lisa thought hard.
Now, if I was a pair of unarmed, probably terrified Umbrella scientist/researchers sheltering in my workplace from the undead, where would I be?
Somehow she doubted that her parents were cowering under a table in the staff cafeteria. She tried to put herself in her parents' shoes, but then realised she couldn't - she had no idea how her parents' minds worked.
I barely know my own parents…
"I don't know," she said helplessly. "Maybe in their lab?"
"Where they lab be?" said Jack.
"The thirteenth floor," said Lisa.
"Got it," said Jack. "Amber?"
"What - ow!"
It sounded like Amber had just walked straight into a pillar, somewhere in the gloom. After a moment's angry silence, they heard her say:
"Well here we arb. Da hard ob darkness. Ubrella… ow, by dose… I tink I broke by dose… damn billars…"
Jack and Lisa looked at each other, then they both tried to focus on Amber's shadowy outline.
"We really need some lights in here," said Lisa.
Jack looked at her expectantly.
"Well don't everyone look for the light switches at once," she sighed, and went over to the reception desk. She'd been to Umbrella HQ before - her parents had brought her here once on a "Bring Your Daughter To Work" day - and she vaguely remembered seeing light switches on the wall behind the desk.
Memory hadn't failed her. There was a row of switches on the wall, next to the photograph of an earnest-looking blonde woman, this month's "Employee of the Month". She couldn't quite make out the handwritten labels below each switch, even with the blue glare of the receptionist's computer screen to illuminate the patch of wall.
She flipped a switch at random, and was gratified to see the lobby suddenly flooded with light.
"Dow by eyes hurt too," complained Amber, whose nose was bleeding profusely.
Lisa blinked a few times, and looked around, able to see her surroundings for the first time. They were standing in the lobby, a plain white room with two pillars on either side of the plate-glass entrance doors, and a black marble floor, the centre of which was embossed with Umbrella's distinctive red-and-white umbrella logo. On the left-hand side of the room - her right - was an elevator; on the right, a flight of stairs leading up to the next floor.
Amber looked down. Her lip curled in disgust as she saw the Umbrella logo beneath her feet; very deliberately, she spat on the floor. Jack noted with interest that she managed to hit the exact centre of the umbrella, seemingly without any effort.
"Good aim," he said, impressed.
"Dank you," said Amber proudly, wiping her bloodied nose with the back of her hand. "Cabe runner-ub in da Barksbanshib Contest dis year, you dow. In fact - "
"Which way up?" interrupted Lisa. "Stairs or elevator?"
As if by magic, their gazes were drawn to the elevator. Though apparently mundane, the elevator's plain metal doors had an oddly sinister look about them, and a general aura of menace hinted at all kinds of horrors concealed within.
"I dink I'll dake da stairs, if id's all da sabe do you," said Amber quickly.
Jack was swift to agree.
"Yeah. Stairs. Definitely."
"Fine with me," said Lisa, trying not to look too relieved. "The stairs it is."
xxxxxxxxxx
They were only on the fifth floor, and already they were thoroughly sick of climbing stairs.
"My legs ache," complained Lisa.
So did Jack's arm. It throbbed like an aching tooth, and the wound burned as though he'd doused it in napalm. Every movement was agony. He'd never been in so much pain in his life.
Yet that wasn't what bothered him.
For a time, the itching had subsided. Treatment with the First Aid spray had helped for a while, but now it was returning - an infuriating itching, coupled with a desire to scratch that was becoming increasingly difficult to fight.
He didn't dare scratch. He was too afraid; afraid of what would happen to him if he did. Afraid that scratching might mark the beginning of his end…
"Sixth floor," said Amber. "These stairs just go on and on, don't they?"
"Tellin' me," said Jack, grateful for the distraction. "That elevator be startin' to look like a good idea now."
"Surely you're joking," said Lisa in disbelief. "The elevator of doom? Absolutely not! Ten to one, there was a zombie in there."
"Or something even worse," said Amber darkly. "Nothing would surprise me in this place. Heart of darkness, just like I said."
"Well, we haven't actually found anything nasty yet," said Lisa, as they reached the seventh floor landing.
"That's what worries me," said Amber. "This place is far too quiet. Don't you think that's a little suspicious, when everywhere else in town is crawling with monsters? No, I'm telling you, there's something strange about this place. And that's saying something, in a town full of zombies."
"I wish you no would say stuff you gonna regret later," said Jack. "I mean, now you just say it be too quiet, somethin' scary prob'ly gonna jump outta nowhere an' try an' eat us."
"What, every time?" said Amber sceptically. "You mean if I said right now that we hadn't seen anything creepy for ages, then suddenly a bunch of mutant three-headed zombies with laser-beam eyes would burst in through the ceiling and - "
"Shut up. Now."
Amber was about to protest, then thought better of it, and closed her mouth again. Not another word was said until they finished climbing the stairs, and found themselves on the thirteenth floor.
They carefully studied the map on the wall of the stairwell, and found the "You Are Here" arrow. It was about the only thing they could locate on a map of astounding complexity.
"Which department did you say your parents worked in again?" said Amber, after a few moments of bewildered silence.
"Research," said Lisa.
"Well, this floor appears to be home to… yes, the Market Research department, the Pharmaceutical Research department, the Software Research department, the Bacteriological Research department, and Forward Planning - whatever the hell that is," said Amber. "So which one?"
"Bacteriological Research," said Lisa. "I'm certain. My dad's speciality was in bacteria and viruses when he worked at the hospital. And my mom's always complaining about the people in Pharmaceutical Research taking more than their fair share of the budget."
The Bacteriological Research department, as it transpired, was on the other side of the building.
"But of course," said Amber, rolling her eyes. "It couldn't just be down the corridor, could it? No, that would be too easy, wouldn't it…"
Amber left the stairwell, still grumbling and expressing her grievances aloud, mostly in words of four letters. The two teenagers merely sighed, and went after her.
xxxxxxxxxx
The corridor outside the stairwell seemed to stretch on forever, with dozens of other, smaller corridors branching off in all directions. To employees, it was familiar ground; to Jack, Lisa and Amber, a bizarre labyrinth designed by a sadist.
Their footsteps echoed strangely in the empty corridor as they walked on, their shadows dancing behind them in the flickering light.
"Have we gone past it? I think we've gone past it."
"Dunt think so. Lise?"
"No, we haven't, I'm sure of it."
"I wish we had a decent map."
"Same here."
Lisa wondered again where Christina and Renée had gone. Perhaps they were in another part of the building, trying to find their comrades from the UBCS.
It was very calm here. No sound, no movement, no hint that anything was amiss. Almost as if everything that had happened outside this building was a dream; a nightmare quickly fading from memory.
A sudden, piercing scream cut through the peace like a knife. They jumped, shocked out of their serenity.
"S-should we check it out?" stammered Jack.
"Probably dead already," said Amber hurriedly. "Don't bother. We'll just get out of here quickly before it gets us too."
Despite her natural compassion, Lisa was inclined to agree. The last time they'd investigated a scream, it had been too late to do anything to help, and she wasn't thrilled by the prospect of being sidetracked yet again. Yet…
What if they're still alive and need help? We can't just leave them to die…
There was another scream, even more shrill than the first, and a couple of gunshots. As the screams continued, each sounding more desperate than the last, Lisa made a decision.
"I'm going," she said, and darted off down the corridor in the direction of the screaming.
"Lisa, no! Get back here!" shouted Amber, but Lisa ignored her and kept running.
The sound was getting nearer. Lisa was just starting to wonder if perhaps this was such a good idea when she rounded a corner and collided with the source of the screaming.
"Don't kill me!"
"Who are you? What's going on?" said Lisa, too stunned to take in any details of the person she'd just run into.
"No time! Just run! Get out of here!"
The speaker pushed past her and disappeared into one of the side corridors. She just had time to glimpse blonde hair and a flash of white lab coat.
"Why?" yelled Lisa.
She heard slow, plodding footsteps coming up behind her. Each one was accompanied with a squelch, as if the walker had just climbed out of a swamp.
Very slowly, she turned round…
xxxxxxxxxx
They heard the sound they'd both been dreading - Lisa's scream.
Jack swallowed hard.
"Lise?" he called, then, "Lise!"
There was no reply.
"Oh no…" said Amber.
Panicking, they both broke into a run.
"Lise, hang on!"
"We're coming!"
xxxxxxxxxx
Lisa backed away. In front of her, lurching slowly but steadily towards her, was a zombie. At least, it looked vaguely humanoid; she'd never seen a zombie like this one before. It had a strange greenish pallor, and didn't appear to be rotting. Instead its skin and clothes were covered in a thick layer of slime.
"W- what is that thing?" she gasped.
Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't forthcoming with information. It squelched its way forward, leaving slimy footprints on the floor tiles.
Lisa's finger squeezed the trigger of her gun three times. The zombie's body absorbed the shots with barely a tremor; that wasn't particularly unusual. What was strange were the small, slimy objects that spewed out from the bullet holes and squirmed across the floor.
"Leeches? What the hell…?" she said to herself.
The creature stopped without warning, and with a shudder it… changed. The body became a mass of brownish sinew, and the arms stretched out into flailing tentacles. As Lisa watched in horror, the head exploded into a mass of slime and leeches.
It stumbled blindly towards her, the two whip-like tentacles lashing out in all directions. Lisa dodged one just in time; it scraped across the wall behind her, gouging out huge hunks of plaster.
She had no choice but to run, which was exactly what she did - but then something shot out and wrapped itself round her ankles.
Lisa toppled forwards with a scream. She felt herself being dragged backwards, and realised that the creature had got her.
I'm not going to survive this, she thought. This time I really am going to die…
Lisa's fingernails scrabbled on the floor tiles as she tried to stop herself from being dragged to her doom, but there was no way of hanging on.
"Help, help! Somebody help! Help me!" she screamed, hoping that someone would hear her. "Jack! Jack, where are you? Help me, please!"
xxxxxxxxxx
Amber Bernstein to the rescue…
Amber's mind raced through every possible outcome. Amber Bernstein saves the day with moments to spare; Amber Bernstein's heroic sacrifice to save a girl in need; Amber Bernstein vs. the Three-Headed Mutant Zombies With Laser-Beam Eyes; Amber Bernstein runs away, screaming hysterically like the pathetic wuss she really is…
Aside from the first one, none of these were terribly appealing. Not for the first time that day, she wondered why on earth she'd chosen law enforcement as a career.
Why didn't I just become an orthodontist like my cousin Nathan? He's earning twice my salary, and he doesn't have to deal with zombies…
Jack, however, was not regretting a choice in career; he was too busy fearing for the life of the girl he loved.
Please, God, dunt let nothin' happen to my Lise! Please let her be okay, dunt let her be hurt or dead… I be a good person for the rest of my life, I ain't never gonna get drunk or swear or listen to Marilyn Manson ever 'gain… please, I do anythin', just let her be okay…
He turned the corner and stopped dead, so suddenly that Amber ran into his back. As Jack stumbled forward, Amber saw what had made him stop - a headless man-shaped creature with long tentacles, dragging a petrified Lisa along the floor.
"Lisa!" she screamed.
Jack regained his balance, and pointed his gun at one of the tentacles wrapped around Lisa's ankles.
"Let her go!" he yelled.
The force of the shot took the tentacle right off the creature's body. Leeches gushed everywhere, spilling onto the floor in a horrible slimy mass. More leeches and slime poured onto the floor as Jack blew off the other tentacle; Lisa's legs, free of their restraints, dropped to the floor.
Lisa pushed herself up off the slime-covered tiles and crawled away from the creature as fast as she could. The monster tottered after her on stump-like legs.
BLAM!
Amber's shotgun took out the creature's legs from underneath it, and it collapsed. Lisa breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the creature fall backwards and hit the floor, and she stood up. Thinking it was finally over, both Jack and Amber lowered their weapons.
None of them were quite prepared for what happened next.
Slowly, imperceptibly, the creature's body began to swell, inflating like a monstrous balloon. Bulging and glistening with slime, the thing grew rapidly into an enormous, bloated carcass. Jack, Lisa and Amber watched in horrified fascination as skin stretched like fabric, and what might once have been muscles bulged obscenely.
Just as the thought that it might be a good idea to run finally seeped into their brains, the creature's distended form gave one last heave, and burst.
Amber and Jack ducked just in time as slime spattered the wall behind them, but Lisa wasn't so fortunate. She caught a spray of leeches right in the chest, and the force of it knocked her backwards.
As Jack wiped a small blob of slime from his cheek, he saw Lisa lying flat on her back, covered in slime, with leeches wriggling up her legs and torso with alarming speed. She wriggled, tried to shake them off and wipe them from her clothing, but the seething mass of bloodsucking parasites advanced faster and faster.
"No, no!" she screamed. "Get them off me!"
"Lise!" yelled Jack.
"Oh my God!" said Amber, throwing herself onto her hands and knees beside the younger girl. She started pulling the leeches off her in handfuls and hurling them across the corridor, grimacing a little at the feel of the slime between her fingers.
"Help me!" ordered Amber. "We have to get these leeches off her, fast! Don't let them stick to her!"
Jack didn't waste any time hesitating. He started grabbing leeches and pulling them off Lisa's arms and chest.
"I saw one of these things in the police station," said Amber as she worked frantically to remove the leeches. "I was hoping I wouldn't see any more. I saw one kill a man in seconds… "
Lisa's cries were abruptly muffled; the leeches were crawling over her face, covering her nose and mouth completely. Her eyes were wide and terrified, her cheeks and forehead awash with slime, and beneath the leeches she was still screaming.
Resisting the urge to throw up, Jack wrenched the leeches from Lisa's face - they came off with little pops, like suction cups - and threw them at the wall. His hands were so covered in slime that he could barely get a grip on the things, but he remembered what Amber had told him and didn't pause even for a second.
Lisa looked like she was drowning in leeches. She was almost completely covered in them; there were even some in her hair.
"This ain't workin', Amber," Jack said through gritted teeth.
"I don't care! I'm going to make it work!" snarled Amber. "I've let you kids down too many times already! I may be a good cop but I'm a useless bodyguard! You could have died after I left you in the sewers! I'm not going to let you come to any harm this time!"
She pulled about a dozen leeches off Lisa's arm, and glared at the palmful of glistening black parasites.
"I am going to get you both out of here!"
A pause as she threw away the leeches.
"Alive - "
Another pause as she discarded another huge handful of leeches.
" - and well!"
More of the slimy horrors hit the wall with a sickening splat.
Jack pulled off the leeches still covering Lisa's nose and mouth. Finally free of them, Lisa sat up with a gasp. With trembling hands, she pulled a stray leech out of her hair and tossed it aside.
"You all right?" said Jack, helping Lisa to her feet.
"Y-yes," said Lisa shakily. "Yes, I'm okay. Thank you."
She wiped some slime from her arms, flicking it away and then wiping her hands on her jeans.
"Ugh, gross," she muttered. "Even worse than sewer water…"
"Did you find whoever was screaming back there?" Amber asked her.
"Some scientist," said Lisa, straightening up. "Told me to run and darted off before I could figure out what was going on. Next thing I know, that leech zombie thing turns up."
"Which way?" said Amber.
Lisa pointed unsteadily to the corridor into which the mysterious scientist had disappeared.
"Come on then, let's go," said Amber. "Maybe he or she will know where your parents are - or where the damn Bacteriological Research department is."
She set off towards the corridor. Jack started to follow her, but stopped when he realised that Lisa wasn't following him.
"Lise…?" he said, and went back to investigate.
Lisa was standing exactly where he'd left her, in the middle of the corridor. She wasn't crying - her cheeks shone with slime, not tears - but she was still shaking from her ordeal.
He wanted to comfort her, but didn't know how welcome a hug would be under the circumstances. Jack settled for putting a hand on her shoulder instead.
"I'm all right, Jack," Lisa told him. "I just wish I could stop shaking…"
She breathed in deeply, and out again, to steady her nerves. She felt Jack's other hand come to rest on her other shoulder.
They stared into each other's eyes.
"Thank you," said Lisa softly. "You saved my life again."
"Ain't just me who save you," said Jack, suddenly feeling very awkward as he started to blush. "Amber help you too."
Lisa didn't seem to hear him.
"That's the third time you've saved my life now," she said.
"Yeah," said Jack, who didn't really know what else to say. "Yeah, I guess so."
Lisa smiled suddenly.
"I think I owe you a hug, then," she said, and threw her arms around Jack, hugging him tightly. Jack stood stock still, startled by the unexpected outburst of affection, but then he started to smile. He put his arms around Lisa and hugged her back, as hard as he could.
Neither of them said what they were thinking.
I hope this hug never ends…
xxxxxxxxxx
Amber hadn't yet noticed the absence of her young friends. She continued through the rabbit-warren of dim corridors, wondering where the elusive scientist could have gone.
These corridors all looked the same; white walls, white ceiling, white floor tiles, the occasional door, and flickering neon tube lighting. Someone had tried to make the place more interesting by adding a few pot plants and hanging art prints on the walls, but it hadn't really worked. The corridor was indistinguishable from any other - she could have been absolutely anywhere in the building.
"Damn it, where did you go?" she muttered.
She stopped, and looked around.
"Where the hell did we go? Lisa, do you know where we - ?"
Amber's question trailed off into silence. It struck her just how quiet it was in the corridor, and how alone she felt.
"Lisa?" said Amber hesitantly.
She turned around, but there was nobody there behind her; only air and empty space where Lisa and Jack should have been standing.
"Lisa? Jack? Where are you?" she called out.
Her voice sounded thin and empty in the corridor. Amber listened hard, hoping desperately for a response. There was none.
Amber's consternation became alarm. Where the hell were they? Didn't they know it wasn't safe to be alone in this place, when there were probably more of those leech zombies around?
Leech zombies…
The thought sank in slowly. There'd been one leech zombie. There were probably more around. And she was alone. Very, very alone. She had a shotgun, true, but she didn't have any spare ammunition for it, and she had a nasty feeling that it was almost empty.
"I'm screwed…" she said in a small, miserable voice.
And suddenly she was angry about it. After all that she'd been through - Joseph's death, those futile months of trying to persuade the town that Umbrella was up to no good, the police station siege, getting lost in the sewers, battling monsters and arguing with mercenaries, she was alone here, running low on ammunition and facing the possibility of more leech zombies and a messy death.
She was sick of fighting. Sick of always being afraid, sick of running for her life. Sick of the universe tormenting her like this.
Time to let it all out. Amber took a deep breath.
"Goddamn it!" she screamed, and kicked a rubber plant as hard as she could.
Earth sprayed everywhere as the flowerpot bounced and rolled away down the corridor. She watched with savage pleasure as it hit a wall and smashed into pieces.
As the red mist started to clear, Amber saw something glinting on the floor amid the debris of the broken flowerpot. Curious, she stepped forward and began to pick through the pieces of china.
"Amber?" she heard somebody call. "Hey, Amber, where you go?"
Amber breathed out. There they were…
"Lisa! Jack! I'm over here!" she called.
"Where?"
"Here!"
"Here?"
"No, not there! Here!"
The exchange continued for some minutes, until finally Jack and Lisa came round the corner and found Amber.
"There you are," said Lisa, looking relieved. "We thought we'd lost you."
"I was thinking the same thing," said Amber. "What happened to you guys?"
"Oh, nothing," said Lisa, but she started to blush.
Amber knew that this wasn't the whole truth - in fact, it was anything but the truth - but she sensibly decided to let it lie.
"Hey, what you got there?" said Jack, peering at the thing in the palm of her hand.
"Oh, this?" said Amber. "Here, take a look for yourselves."
Lisa held out her hand, and Amber dropped her find into her palm.
It was a necklace - a heart-shaped pendant, made from some kind of smoky-coloured crystal or glass, strung on a plain silver chain. Despite its simple design, there was something strangely compelling about it.
The pendant spun gently as Lisa held the necklace up to the light.
"It's beautiful," she murmured. "Amber, where did you get this?"
Amber pointed towards the sorry-looking remnants of the flowerpot.
"Kicked that, and I found this when it broke. Guess somebody lost it and it fell in the plant."
"Maybe somebody put it there, for safe-keeping," suggested Lisa.
"Why would they do that?" said Jack blankly.
"No idea. It doesn't look valuable. It probably just got lost," said Amber. "Can I have it back now, please?"
A little reluctantly, Lisa handed the necklace back. Amber carefully undid the clasp, and put the necklace around her neck. For the briefest of moments, Lisa felt an inexplicable urge to snatch it back and keep it for herself.
"What now? Do we find that scientist or keep looking for the damn Bacteriological Research department?" said Amber.
Lisa hesitated.
"Well, we don't know where the scientist is now," she began. "But we don't know where the department is either. I don't know what to do. I mean, I don't want to leave that scientist all alone in this place, but I want to find my parents before - " she swallowed, " - before it's too late. Do you think maybe the scientist knows where the Bacteriological Research department is?"
"I expect so," said Amber.
"Maybe we oughta just keep goin'," suggested Jack. "See which one we find first, the scientist or the department."
"Yeah," said Amber. "That's probably the best solution. Lisa? What do you think?"
Lisa couldn't help thinking of the scientist, alone, helpless and scared, running from monsters. She felt guilty until she remembered that the monsters were products of the T-Virus; in that case, she told herself, it probably served Dr Frankenstein right if he was killed by his own creation.
She didn't feel any better about it, though.
"Jack's right," she said, letting out a sigh. "We'll carry on, see what happens and then decide."
xxxxxxxxxx
"Hey! Over here!"
Jack was standing proudly in front of a frosted glass door with the words "Bacteriological Research Department" emblazoned across it. Lisa's heart rose, only to sink again when she saw the numerical keypad next to the door and the message it was displaying:
Please input your 7-digit entry code.
"What's wrong?" said Amber, seeing Lisa's dismayed expression.
"We need an entry code for this door," said Lisa. "I don't know what it is."
Amber sighed.
"Great. An electronic lock. Just what we need."
"Guess the code," said Jack.
"Okay," said Lisa uncertainly, and punched in some numbers at random.
5684732
Incorrect entry code. Access denied.
2015986
Incorrect entry code. Access denied.
1928375
Incorrect entry code. Access denied.
Lisa kicked the bottom of the door in sheer frustration. She half-hoped that the glass would smash into a million pieces, but it didn't even crack.
"Must be reinforced for security," said Amber. "But I think you're onto something, Lisa. Here, hold this and stand back for a minute."
Lisa took the shotgun from Amber's hands and stepped aside obligingly. Amber drew her handgun. She pointed it squarely at the centre of the glass door, and pulled the trigger.
They all ducked, but it was a dull thud that followed the shots, not the explosion of shards they'd been expecting. When they opened their eyes again, the glass pane was still intact, but it now looked more like a sheet of frost than glass.
"That should weaken the glass. Okay, Lisa, try it again," she said, and stepped backwards.
Lisa kicked out at the door again; this time the glass dissolved and dropped out of the doorframe like snow.
"Nice," said Jack, impressed.
Lisa blinked once or twice, then cautiously waved one hand through the gap where the glass used to be.
"Wow," she said.
"That solves that problem," said Amber briskly, replacing her handgun in its holster as Lisa handed the shotgun back. "Thanks. Okay, Lisa, you first."
Lisa nodded. She stepped carefully through the empty doorframe, and beckoned for her companions to follow.
Sirens blared.
"Intruder alert. Intruder alert," announced a robotic voice. "All security personnel report to Floor 13, Corridor 9, Section 5. Intruder alert."
Lisa froze in her tracks.
"Oh, no... what do I do, what do I do?" she hissed.
"Nothing," said Amber. "Those security personnel are probably all dead. Come on, let's keep going."
"Are you sure about this?" said Lisa.
"No," replied Amber. "But it's that or leave town right now, without your parents. You want to find them?"
"Yes."
"Then keep going. Jack and I are right behind you."
Lisa couldn't help thinking how weird it was, as they walked through the hallway with the sirens' nerve-shattering shrieks in their ears and warning lights bathing the corridor in a crimson glow. She'd expected hordes of security guards to appear from nowhere and apprehend them, in accordance with dramatic convention.
Jack also looked ill at ease. He kept looking around, as if he too was expecting to be arrested by Umbrella's security guards and was wondering where they were.
Probably all dead…
Lisa shook the thought out of her head. No time to worry about that now. They had a job to do.
Lining this stretch of the corridor were doors, similar to the one they'd just smashed their way through. Each one was an office-laboratory, with the name of the occupant engraved on a neat little plaque beside the door. On one of those plaques, she knew, would be her parents' names.
"So we need to find the door with Hartley on it?" said Amber.
"Uh-huh," said Lisa, not really listening. She was already crossing the hallway to peer at the names by the doors.
"Dr W.H. Arden… Dr Thomas J. White… Dr N. James and Dr R. Emerson… Dr A. Keller… Dr Sarah Zimmerman… Dr I. Fernley-Goodman… Dr L. Ylönen…" she read, as she passed from door to door.
Jack, meanwhile, was checking the doors on the other side of the hallway:
"Dr Martha Pellini… Dr B. Chapel… Dr T. Simmons… Dr W. K. Andrews… Dr Harvey Tullis… Dr F. Portokalos… hey, found it."
Lisa rushed over to Jack's side of the hall, her heart beating so hard she thought it might explode. She nearly squealed out loud with delight when she read the words:
DR J. R. HARTLEY & DR E. D. HARTLEY
"This is it!" she said happily, pressing the button marked "OPEN" on the control panel beside the door.
The door moved noiselessly aside, and Lisa entered the darkened room. Three steps in, the lights unexpectedly flickered into life, illuminating the space she was in.
This was what Lisa saw:
On her left, a filing cabinet, and two desks placed against the wall; these were bare save for two lifeless computers. On her right, taking up the rest of the room, was an abundance of scientific equipment, multiple work surfaces, a sink, a storage cupboard, and shelves stacked with reference books, glassware and all the usual laboratory paraphernalia.
The room was perfectly organised and tidy… and tinted with grey. Lisa ran her finger along the desk, and discovered why. The entire place was coated in a thick layer of dust.
"Look at that dust. It look like nobody use this place in months," remarked Jack, from the doorway.
"But that's impossible," said Lisa, turning to look at him. "My parents spend practically their whole lives at work! They're both neat freaks, too, so there's no way they'd let their lab get into this state! The only way it could get so dusty on its own is if…"
She trailed off. It suddenly struck her how vacant and unused the place looked. The last time she'd seen this room, there had been papers on the desk, and a desk tidy full of stationery. There'd been a few family photos placed in between the humming computers, and glassware, Bunsen burners and microscopes had been left out on the work surfaces, plainly in use. There'd even been a spider plant flourishing on the windowsill. Now there was no spider plant, no family photos, no papers or desk tidy, and all the equipment was tidied away on the shelves, gathering dust.
One thing was plain. Their names might have been on the door, but the Hartleys hadn't used this room for some time.
"I don't understand," said Lisa, bewildered and faintly alarmed. "Why is this room empty? What happened to my parents? Why don't they work here any more?"
"This is why," said Amber, who after seeing the state of the room, had been opening and shutting the drawers of the filing cabinet, in search of an explanation. She took out a single sheet of paper - the only thing in the entire filing cabinet - and handed it to Lisa.
It was a printed copy of an e-mail, sent to her father's work address. Lisa read it carefully.
Sender: "Dr Wilfred Hazlitt" wilfhazlitt
Recipient: "Dr Jonathan Hartley" flyfisher
Re: Transfer to Virology
It is with great pleasure that we inform you of your successful application for transfer to the Viral Research Department. Your work in the Bacteriological Research Department has been of an exceptionally high standard - particularly impressive was your involvement in the research and development of the First Aid spray - and we are confident that you will go on to accomplish even greater things in your new position.
Your new laboratory is located at the centre of the Viral Research department on the seventh floor, and is to be shared with another researcher, Dr Alistair Morton, due to a temporary shortage of office space.
As a Viral Researcher, your salary will be increased by a further $200 per week, excluding expenses, as will that of your colleague Dr E. Hartley, who will be working as your assistant.
We wish you every success in your new position, and look forward to seeing the results of your new line of research.
Sincerely,
Dr Wilfred Hazlitt,
Director of Raccoon City Branch Headquarters
It was dated July 12th, 1997. Lisa stared at the paper, unable to believe her eyes.
"Viral Research?" she said at last. "But they never told me they were being transferred…"
"Do they often discuss their work with you?" asked Amber.
"They used to tell me all about the assignments they'd been working on," said Lisa. "And whenever they got promoted or given a raise, we'd always go out for dinner at Grill 13 to celebrate. But they started working on a new project in February, and now they don't tell me anything any more."
Amber's eyebrows raised.
"A new project?" she said warily. "Did they mention anything about it?"
"No," said Lisa, shaking her head. "All I know is that it's called the L-Project, and I only found that out by accident."
"Hmm," said Amber, the look on her face perfectly matching the suspicion in her voice. "I hate to say it, but it doesn't sound like your folks are working on First Aid sprays this time, Lisa. Rumours about a new Umbrella bioweapons project, a transfer to Viral Research… this whole thing smells bad."
Lisa said nothing. She felt sick at the thought of her mother and father, working diligently in a laboratory to create a new virus - the same kind of virus which spawned the very freaks of nature that she and Jack had been fighting all night.
No, she told herself. Mom and Dad wouldn't do something like that. They'd never do anything like that… would they?
She didn't know any more. She hardly spent any time with her busy scientist parents - and after trying and failing to imagine herself in their shoes an hour ago, Lisa was beginning to wonder just how well she knew her mother and father, or even if she knew them at all.
"Well," said Amber, slamming the open drawer back into the filing cabinet, and heading towards the door. "Come on. We'd better go back downstairs and look for your parents."
Lisa nodded glumly, and made her way towards the door. She was almost there when she heard a loud creak behind her.
She whipped round, eyes quickly scanning every corner of the room for danger, trying to work out where the sound came from.
There it was again - fainter this time, but still clearly audible. It was coming from inside the storage cupboard.
Gripping her gun tightly in her right hand, Lisa trod softly across the room, trying to make as little noise as possible. Jack and Amber watched uneasily from the doorway.
"Maybe you oughta just leave it," said Jack, looking nervous. "You prob'ly dunt wanna find out what they keep in there…"
His warning went unheeded. Lisa was already standing in front of the cupboard, and eyeing it with grave suspicion. Very cautiously, she reached for the door handle, and yanked it sharply.
There was a muffled shriek from inside, and a blonde woman in a lab coat tumbled out onto the floor, landing in a dishevelled heap at Lisa's feet.
"All right, who are you?" Lisa demanded to know, pointing her gun at the scientist. "What were you doing in there? Were you spying on us?"
The woman looked up, and Lisa recognised her instantly. She was the one who'd been running from the leech zombie - and now that she got a closer look at the woman's face, she realised that her picture was hanging in the lobby downstairs.
"Employee of the Month, right?" said Lisa.
The young woman nodded silently.
"Well, congratulations, Dr…"
"Harlech," said the scientist, pushing a lock of hair out of her eyes and tucking it behind her ear. "Clarissa Harlech."
"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Dr Harlech," said Lisa. "Now what are you doing in my parents' lab?"
"Hiding," came the hoarse reply. "It's after me."
"What's after you?" said Lisa.
There was a thud somewhere outside in the corridor, and the ground shook for a moment.
"That!" cried the scientist, and scrambled back into the cupboard again, pulling the door shut behind her.
"What's going on?" said Lisa, puzzled. "Why - ?"
She stopped mid-sentence when she saw the looks of terror on Jack and Amber's faces.
"What is it?" she asked them.
"Kill…" rumbled a deep voice from outside the lab.
Lisa's heart almost stopped beating from fright.
"Oh, no," she whispered. "Not again…"