31: Something Wicked This Way Comes
They could see its outline through the frosted glass of the door - huge, hulking, striding purposefully towards the lab.
"But we killed it!" said Lisa, almost hysterical. "We blew it up - it died! We saw it! How the hell can it still be alive?"
Jack just shook his head.
"I dunt know," he said in a whisper.
Lisa looked round frantically for a place to hide. There was nowhere, unless they climbed out of the window and hung by their fingertips from the window ledge outside. The only place they could have hidden was the cupboard, but that was occupied - she could just about hear the scientist gibbering quietly inside it.
The monster's silhouette was looming large against the glass. Jack and Amber shrank away in terror, then scrambled to get away from the door.
Oh, please, God, prayed Lisa, please don't let it figure out how to open the door…
As it turned out, the creature had no idea how to get the door open. They could hear it pounding the control panel, bellowing with rage, to no avail.
Thank you…
A fist smashed through the door, showering broken glass across the room. Lisa and Jack both screamed as the monster stepped through the remains of the door and into the laboratory.
With trembling hands, Amber raised the shotgun and fired straight at the creature's chest. It looked down at the small mark that the shot had left on its body, roared, and lunged at Amber. With one swipe it took the shotgun right out of her hands, sending the weapon flying across the room and through a window.
The glass smashed on impact, and Amber watched in horror as her only source of comfort was sent tumbling to the street far below.
"No!" she whimpered. "No, no, no!"
A low growl reminded her that she had more pressing concerns. Slowly, inexorably, Amber's gaze was drawn back to what was in front of her. It occurred to her for the first time that she was standing face to face with a ten-foot tall zombie with a nightmarish face - blank eyes, rotting skin and a mouth twisted into a permanent sneer - and, she noticed with growing alarm, a purple tentacle slowly snaking out from the end of one arm.
She gulped, and reached for her handgun. The creature watched with something like disdain as she aimed and fired several shots into its torso.
Amber continued emptying her gun into the monster, but it gradually stole over her that this wasn't working, and that the creature's patience, if it had any, was definitely wearing thin.
She ran out of bullets. At the same instant, the creature roared, and its tentacle lashed out at her, missing by inches.
Amber screamed shrilly. Hurling herself at the cupboard, she hammered on the door, shrieking "Let me in! Let me in!"
"What about us?" said Lisa indignantly.
"Kill it yourselves! You managed it just fine last time!" came the reply.
"Oh, thanks a lot!" yelled Lisa. "So much for making sure we get out of here alive and well!"
"I don't have a problem with getting you out of town! I still intend to keep my promise!" Amber yelled back. "But in case you hadn't already realised, I can only do that if I'm still alive!"
She ducked momentarily as the tentacle swept through the air again, then started banging on the cupboard door even harder.
"For the love of God, woman, let me in!" she bellowed. "If you don't then this cupboard's going through the window!"
"You wouldn't!" came a panicky, if slightly muffled, voice from inside the cupboard.
"Try me!" screeched Amber.
The cupboard opened hastily; Amber jumped in, grabbing the handle and slamming the door closed behind her. Lisa could just about hear a mutter of "Move over! Get your foot out of my face!" before a snarl reminded her of the monster's malignant presence in the room.
It was heading towards her friend, tentacle rising slowly above its head. Jack backed away, shaking all over with fright.
"No, no…" he begged. "Please dunt hurt me…!"
Lisa took several steps backwards, and began fumbling blindly behind her for something she could use to distract the creature. One hand, creeping along a shelf, came across something hard and smooth and rounded; she grabbed it, silently offering thanks to whoever had placed the object within reach.
"Get away from him!" she shrieked, and threw the object as hard as she could. She only realised, as it left her hand, that throwing a glass beaker at a ten-foot zombie with a serious grudge probably wasn't one of her better ideas.
The glass tinkled as it hit the creature on the shoulder. It might not have been the most effective weapon, but it had the desired effect; the monster turned round, snarling.
Jack relaxed a little, but only a little, because now it was Lisa's life on the line and not his. His mind raced as he tried desperately to come up with a plan. No good shooting at the thing, he knew that. But what else could he do?
Lisa, meanwhile, had realised that she was standing in front of the shelves, a veritable arsenal of impromptu missiles. She grabbed another piece of glassware, a flask this time, and hurled it straight at the creature's head.
"You hideous freak, why won't you leave us alone?" she yelled, grabbing armfuls of beakers and test-tubes and throwing them at the monster like grenades. "Why couldn't you have just stayed dead like the other zombies?"
"Kill…" it hissed, and swung a punch at Lisa. She dodged, and the blow took out the shelves behind her.
Glass, books, microscopes and wooden shelves rained down on the creature's head. It stumbled - and from the other side of the room, Jack saw his chance.
He took hold of a chair from beneath one of the desks and raised it above his head.
"You get away from her! Dunt you hurt my friend!" Jack cried, and tossed the chair at the monster.
It hit the monster right in the small of its back. Growling, it whirled round to face him.
"Jack, no!" shouted Lisa.
Jack was terrified, but trying not to show it. Looking his nemesis straight in the eye, he reached into his pocket for his gun, then yelled:
"Kill this!"
And he fired right into the face of the dreadful creature. Bellowing with pain and rage, it staggered backwards, raising its arms to try and shield its face. Jack kept firing - the monster kept backing away, until it came up against one of the laboratory windows.
The glass shuddered as the creature backed into it. Jack had by now used up every last bullet in his possession - but he knew exactly what to do.
Scooping up the chair he'd thrown at the monster from the floor, he gripped the back tightly, then swung the chair like a baseball bat, hitting the monster squarely in the chest.
The window smashed. With a roar of indignation, the creature fell backwards through the window. Splinters of glass flew everywhere as it plummeted to the ground below, still roaring.
"GRAAAAAAGGGH!"
Jack and Lisa rushed to the remains of the window, and looked down. They could just about see the creature falling, a tiny speck getting smaller, its roar getting fainter and fainter -
Thump.
A moment of silence descended. Jack and Lisa stared down at the dark streets below them, then looked at each other.
"That's it, I guess," said Lisa.
"Ha! I love to see it come back from that," said Jack, grinning. "No way anythin' could survive a drop like that!"
Lisa smiled. "Well done. That was nice work, Jack."
"What's going on out there? Is it gone yet?" they heard the scientist call from the cupboard.
"It had better be," came Amber's voice. "You've still got your foot in my face!"
"Well, sor-ry, but I can't move!"
"Why not?"
"I think the door's stuck…"
"You're kidding."
"I've never been so serious in my life."
"You mean to say that I'm stuck in a tiny cupboard with one of Umbrella's scientist scum?"
"As a matter of fact, yes. You are. And who are you calling scum?"
"YOU! That's who I'm calling scum! And do you know why?"
"Why?"
"Because you're scum!"
Scuffling broke out from inside the cupboard. Lisa looked at Jack, and sighed.
"Does she hate everyone who survived the zombies?" she said.
"Guess so," said Jack. "C'mon, we better get 'em outta there before they kill each other."
They turned away from the windows and went to investigate.
The cupboard was starting to rock back and forth. Shrieks, scuffling, loud thuds and cries of "Bitch! Bitch!" issued from inside.
Jack rolled his eyes, and pulled the door open. Amber and the scientist both tumbled out onto the floor, still fighting. Amber looked like she was going to punch Dr Harlech in the nose; the scientist, in turn, had grabbed a handful of Amber's strawberry-blonde curls, and the fingernails of her other hand were digging into the police officer's face.
The two women both looked up at Jack and Lisa, then looked at each other briefly, before looking up at Jack and Lisa again. At exactly the same time, they cried:
"She started it!"
"You know what?" said Lisa irritably. "I don't care who started it. I don't care. I've had enough of babysitting grown-ups and getting sidetracked on this trip. Look, all I want to do is find my parents and get out! Is that too much to ask?"
"Your parents?" said Dr Harlech, frowning.
Lisa brightened.
"Do you know my parents?" she said hopefully.
"Who are they?" said Dr Harlech, letting go of Amber's hair and face, and rolling over so that she could get to her feet.
"Jonathan and Elizabeth Hartley. They work here. In the Bacter-" Lisa stopped, and corrected herself. "In the Viral Research Department. Do you know them?"
The scientist stood up.
"Yes," she said, after a long pause. "Yes, I know them."
"Did you work with them?" said Lisa.
"In a manner of speaking… yes, I did."
"Where are they? Can you take me to them?"
Dr Harlech shook her head, and Lisa's face fell.
"I don't know where they are," said the scientist. "I haven't seen them since the outbreak. In fact, you're the first people I've seen in days."
She saw the look of desolation on the young girl's face, and sighed.
"I'm really sorry, kid. I wish I could help you. But I've been hiding in this place for days, the only people I've seen have been lurching and groaning, and I really, really want to get out of the building alive. Now if you'll excuse me, I - "
A hand gripped Dr Harlech's shoulder, stopping her in her tracks. She turned round, startled.
"Oh no you don't," said Amber firmly. "You're coming with us."
"But - but why? Where are we going?" protested Dr Harlech, as she found herself being dragged out of the room.
"The seventh floor," said Amber. "And don't even think about trying to run away."
----------
For the past three days, Dr Clarissa Harlech had been in hiding. Now that she'd finally found the courage to emerge from her hiding place and attempt to escape the Umbrella building, she'd found herself fleeing for her life, sharing a cupboard with a scruffy police officer who'd called her scum and tried to beat her to a pulp, and then been taken hostage by said police officer and two teenagers.
They'd even gone so far as to handcuff her. It really was embarrassing.
Who were these people, anyway? Why - apart from the girl, who was looking for her parents - were they here? And what on earth did they want with her?
Dr Harlech sighed, and regarded each one of her three captors with a reluctant kind of interest.
The girl was about sixteen years old. She was quite pretty, but she looked tired and anxious, and there was a haunted look in her brown eyes. Her long, dark hair was damp and dishevelled, and her clothes and backpack were filthy with mud, slime and spots of dried blood.
The boy was about the same age as the girl. He had blue eyes and blond hair, and would probably have been quite handsome if he didn't look so pale and exhausted. Both his backpack and his clothes were spotted with mud and gore and smeared with transparent slime, and one shirt-sleeve was torn and bloodied.
Then there was the cop, a young woman about the same age as her, but taller. Her hair was shoulder-length, strawberry-blonde and curly, the curls slightly limp and singed at the ends. There were dark shadows underneath her bright green eyes, and there were traces of drying blood around her nostrils. The woman's navy-blue police uniform was a mess - pants and shirt torn in several places, sticky with slime, spattered with mud and rust-coloured patches of dried and drying blood, and reeking of smoke, earth, blood and…
"Sewer water?" said Dr Harlech aloud.
"Long story," said the cop gruffly. "Please don't ask."
"Okay," said Dr Harlech, taken aback. "But… who are you people, anyway?"
"Oh yeah," said the boy. "We forget to introduce ourselves, huh."
The boy had a strange manner of speech, like fractured English with a Spanish accent, and Dr Harlech wondered where he was from.
"Sorry 'bout that," he continued, and held out a hand. "Jack Carpenter."
"Uh, nice to meet you, Jack," said Dr Harlech hesitantly. "I'd shake your hand, but as you can see - " she indicated the handcuffs - "I'm a little tied up."
"No worries, lady. That be my best friend, Lisa Hartley," said Jack, pointing to the dark-haired girl. "An' this be - "
"Lieutenant Amber Bernstein, RPD," interrupted the cop.
Dr Harlech nodded politely.
"We saved her life," explained the girl called Lisa. "I'm not sure whether she's protecting us or we're protecting her. It kind of works both ways. And sorry about the whole cupboard thing, by the way. Amber's a wonderful person but she gets kind of nervous around homicidal giant zombies."
"So I noticed," said Dr Harlech weakly. "Um… what exactly do you want with me?"
"We're looking for Lisa's parents," said Amber. "Since you work here, you probably know this place pretty well, right? So, we figured that you could make yourself useful and be our guide. Once we've found Lisa's parents, you're free to go."
"Oh. Uh, thanks," said Dr Harlech. "I think."
"Don't worry, we'll look after you," said Lisa, smiling.
"So," said Dr Harlech to Lisa, "Let me get this straight. You, your friend Jack and Officer Bernstein are here to find your parents - and I'm meant to take you to their lab on the seventh floor, right?"
"That's right," said Lisa.
"Okay. We're going the wrong way, though."
The others stopped suddenly.
"We are? Then which way are we meant to be going?" said Lisa.
"That way," said Dr Harlech, pointing in the opposite direction. "You can get back to the stairwell this way, of course, but the other way's a lot quicker."
"All right then," said Amber. "You first, Dr Harlot."
"It's Harlech," said Dr Harlech, bristling. "Dr Clarissa Harlech."
"Whatever," said the policewoman dismissively. "Let's go."
They all turned around, and started to walk in the opposite direction. Occasionally Dr Harlech nodded her head to indicate which way to turn.
After some time, Amber spoke.
"Okay, Dr Harlech. We've told you who we are and what we're doing here. Now it's our turn to ask a few questions."
Dr Harlech looked panicky.
"No, no, don't worry," said Amber. "It's nothing mentally taxing. We just want some answers to a few simple questions."
"Okay…"
"How long have you been working for Umbrella?" Amber asked her.
"Three years last Tuesday," said Dr Harlech, trying to sound relaxed despite her nervousness. "Before that I used to work at Raccoon City General Hospital."
"Why did you start working for Umbrella?"
"The hospital worked me like a dog, and the money sucked. Umbrella was hiring and I saw one of their ads in the paper. They were paying good wages and I really needed the money, so I applied for a job in Pharmaceutical Research."
"Do you still work in Pharmaceutical Research?"
"No."
"Where do you work now?"
"They had me transferred to the Viral Research department three months ago. Since then I've been working as a lab assistant for Dr Theresa Goddard, and - "
"What do you know about the L-Project?" said Amber suddenly.
"What?" said Dr Harlech, thrown by the sudden question.
"Don't play dumb with me, you quack," snarled Amber. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Now, I want to know everything there is to know about the L-Project - and you're going to tell me."
"But I'm only a lab assistant! I hardly know anything!" said Dr Harlech frantically. "Please don't hurt me! I'll tell you what I do know!"
"Go on, then," said Amber, quiet again. "Tell me everything you know."
"I - I know it's something to do with Umbrella's bioweapons programme," babbled Dr Harlech. "I think they're making a virus, like the T-virus but - but more powerful. I don't really know, I just made coffee and fetched Petri dishes! They hardly told me a thing about what we were doing!"
Amber gave a snort of contempt.
"Hey, don't blame me!" said the scientist. "I didn't know it was part of a bioweapons programme! I didn't even know there was a bioweapons programme until last week!"
"Pathetic," said Amber, shaking her head. "Absolutely pathetic."
"Look, it's not my fault," argued Dr Harlech. "Come on, I didn't know what was going on! I was just doing my job!"
"That's what the Nazis said!" yelled Amber. "They killed millions of people, then told the world they didn't know what was happening - they were just doing their job! "Just doing your job" is no excuse for murder!"
"I'm no murderer! I don't care what you say, you stupid flatfoot, I am not a murderer!"
"Don't you call me flatfoot, you - you Nazi scientist scum! You're even worse than the mercenaries! At least they only use bullets to kill people!"
"Oh, give it a rest, will you?" snapped Lisa. "Amber, she says she didn't know what was going on. Now leave it."
"What? You actually believe that crap?" exclaimed Amber.
"I believe in giving people the benefit of the doubt," said Lisa. "How do you know that she isn't telling the truth? I mean, thousands of people work for Umbrella - and I'm willing to bet that most of them have no idea that Umbrella's got a bioweapons programme."
"Yeah, but when they're on the bioweapons programme and claiming they didn't know? Come on, that's like a kid doing equations in maths class and then claiming they don't know what algebra is!" said Amber.
"Look, she's just an assistant. She fetches stuff and helps the scientists set up the equipment, and does what she's told. I highly doubt that they sat her down and told her they were trying to wipe out a city, and asked her to help," said Lisa.
"Thank you," said Dr Harlech, exasperated. "At least you understand. I mean, hell, they hardly told us anything! When they first transferred me, I was told that the Viral Research department was working on a new virus-based treatment and they needed more assistants down there because of the workload! It was only when Janice and Liz told me what was really happening that I resigned from the project and…"
"Wait, wait, wait. You quit?" said Amber, astounded.
"Well, I tried to, anyway," said Dr Harlech. "They wouldn't let me. They said that if I left the project, I'd be "severely dealt with"."
"Oooh, no - severely dealt with? I bet that had you quaking in your little scientist's plimsolls," said Amber sarcastically.
"Look, I may not be the most well-informed scientist on the L-Project, but I'm not stupid," said Dr Harlech sharply. "Back in Pharmaceutical Research I worked with a guy who was kind of forgetful. He screwed up one day and he was told by upper management that he'd be "severely dealt with". The next day, he got run over in the company parking lot."
Lisa winced. "I see what you mean," she said. "So they had you too afraid to stop working on the L-Project, huh?"
Dr Harlech nodded.
"Typical Umbrella," growled Amber. "Those scheming, manipulative bastards will do anything to keep their nasty little secrets from getting out."
"So that means you're on my side?" said Dr Harlech hopefully.
"Not this century," said Amber, scowling. "You're still with Umbrella. Umbrella ruined my whole life, and nothing on this earth will ever get me to like an Umbrella employee, innocent or not."
"But I didn't know we were doing anything other than making medicines," said Dr Harlech helplessly. "Not until it was too late. When I found out, I tried my best to leave the project - hell, I'd have left the company altogether if I could."
"What's stopping you?" said Amber.
"I'm in a very difficult position, Officer Bernstein," said Dr Harlech. "I want to quit, but if I do, I'm screwed, because I'll lose my home, my car, my income, my free healthcare, pension, everything. And I'm not eligible for unemployment benefits. I have no savings, no medical insurance, and nowhere to go. Effectively, they own me. Plus of course, they could just decide that I know too much for them to let me leave - and then I'll end up underneath the tyres of a company car in the parking lot, just like Ted."
"Oh," said Amber. "I see what you mean."
"I'm not the only one, either. The company's got plenty of its employees completely dependent on it," said Dr Harlech. "I know a researcher who has her rent, her taxes and her medical insurance paid for in full by Umbrella. She knows what's going on behind closed doors, but she can't quit her job, because she couldn't possibly afford to pay for all that stuff herself. To take another example at random, I know a janitor who's in debt up to his eyes - Umbrella's paying off his loans, mortgage and credit cards, but in return he's stuck working here for fifteen years, come hell or high water. And Umbrella's paying for a security guard's kids to go to college, and he doesn't want to leave because he's too concerned about his children's future."
Amber nodded.
"That's how they develop company loyalty around here," said the scientist. "The company does so much for their employees that the employees couldn't possibly manage without Umbrella."
"They got everybody too scared to leave, huh?" said Jack.
"Exactly," said Dr Harlech. "And there are a lot more stories like those - not just here, but all over."
"I can believe it," Amber muttered.
By the time they reached the stairwell, Amber - while still insisting that she would never, never like anybody who worked for Umbrella - was beginning to sound almost sympathetic to the scientist's plight.
"… those leech zombie things? Yeah, I saw one of those at the precinct. Killed a guy I knew, almost killed me too. Where'd they come from? Part of Umbrella's meddling, I expect."
"Maybe, but as far as I know, nobody in the lab was testing anything on leeches. I can't understand how they got here in the first place."
"What about those things with the long tongues? What the hell are those?"
"Long tongues? I don't know, I haven't seen anything like that before."
"Lucky you. Dogs?"
"Check. I've killed a few of those."
"Crows?"
"I ran away from the crows. Though I think they might have been ravens. I can't really tell, I'm not big on ornithology."
"Giant frogs?"
Dr Harlech shuddered. "Don't even mention those. One of them nearly ate me."
"Oh, you too?" said Amber, brightening a little.
"Fifth floor corridor, next to the conference room."
"Ours was in the park."
"Well, they certainly seem to be getting on better now," commented Lisa.
"Yeah, they ain't tryin' to kill each other no more," Jack agreed.
"They sound almost… amicable."
"Dunt let Amber hear that, amiga - she prob'ly kick you ass for sayin' that she sound friendly with an Umbrella employee."
"True."
They were now on the tenth floor, and still descending.
"Where do you think the mercenaries went, anyway?" said Lisa.
"Renée, dunt know. Christina, dunt care," said Jack.
"Well said," said Amber from further down the stairs.
"Mercenaries?" said Dr Harlech. "What mercenaries?"
"Oh, we ran into a pair of UBCS mercenaries a little while back," said Amber. "We lost them on the way in - we're not sure where they went. One of them's all right, but the other one, Christina, is a real bitch."
"Right," said Dr Harlech. "So you're hoping this Christina woman won't show up?"
"No, I'm hoping a zombie frog ate her head. I'm praying she won't show up," Amber replied. "Pity Renée isn't here, though. The UBCS involvement aside, I was actually beginning to like her."
They'd just set foot on the ninth floor landing when they heard an unearthly moan. It was coming from below them. As one, the group stopped dead and started fumbling for weapons.
Jack suddenly remembered that his gun was empty. Cursing softly, he rooted through his pockets in a frantic search for bullets. He came up with nothing.
"Hijo de puta," he muttered. "Hey, Amber? You got any more bullets?"
"Sorry, Jack. I've barely got enough for myself," said Amber, loading her handgun with her last handful of bullets and discarding the empty box.
"Lise?" said Jack.
Lisa too was down to her last few bullets. There were five in her gun - she'd counted - and she knew for a fact that there were only seven bullets left in the box she was carrying.
I need these, was her first thought. But so does Jack, was her second. I've got five here already, but he hasn't got any. And he just saved us from that thing again, so it's the least I can do to give him a few bullets in return…
"I've only got a few left," said Lisa, taking out the box and tipping her remaining ammunition into the palm of her hand. "But if I keep one of these and you take the rest, we'll both have six each."
"Thanks, Lise," said Jack gratefully, and took his share of the bullets. He loaded them quickly into his gun.
The flurry of activity ceased, and the waiting began. The cop, the scientist and the two teenagers stayed absolutely still and silent, listening for whatever was below them.
They heard another loud moan. It was getting closer, and now they could hear the sound of unsteady footsteps on the stairs…
"Heads up, here it comes," hissed Amber, and she leaned over the edge of the banister to get a better look. She could just see the zombie now, staggering up the stairs.
"I think I can get it from here," said Amber, taking aim.
Dong…
The sound of a tolling bell shattered her concentration.
"Blast," she said under her breath.
"What's that noise?" said Dr Harlech, looking up. "Sounds like a really big bell."
Dong…
"Must be the clock tower bell," said Lisa.
"That's not possible," said Amber, frowning. "That bell hasn't been rung -"
Dong…
" - for over a hundred years!"
"No, she's right," said Dr Harlech. "It's the only bell close enough to make a sound that loud."
Dong…
They heard another noise - the low drone of a helicopter passing overhead. They looked at each other, astonished.
"A helicopter… we're saved!" cried Dr Harlech.
Dong…
"Renée was right," said Lisa. "Remember that escape plan she told us about? Ring the clock tower bell to signal the rescue helicopter!"
Dong…
"We have to -" Lisa stopped mid-sentence. "Oh, no, my parents! We can't leave without them! We have to find them, quickly!"
Dong…
"Too late," said Jack sadly, pointing towards a window. "Look."
Through the tinted glass, they could see the helicopter heading rapidly towards the clock tower. Even if they'd found Lisa's parents that instant and run as fast as they could towards the clock tower, they would never have made it in time.
Dong…
"It won't hang around for long," said Amber, voicing the group's thoughts. "Not there. Not when there's so much dangerous stuff around."
A gloomy peace descended, with only the distant chiming of the bell and the helicopter's buzz to indicate the presence of anything outside their own private world of hurt.
But the peace didn't last for long. Their lowered eyes and bowed heads shot up at the sound of a whoosh from outside.
"Fireworks?" said Dr Harlech.
They looked out of the window, and saw something bright heading quickly towards the helicopter, which was hovering near the clock tower.
"I got a bad feeling about this…" said Jack uneasily.
The bright object reached the helicopter. For the briefest of moments, the world stopped - and then the helicopter exploded in a ball of flame.
"Holy - "
They watched, horrified, as the burning wreck of the helicopter ploughed into the clock tower. There was a second explosion and a crash of falling masonry, and the remains of the helicopter fell to earth.
There was a stunned silence.
"What the hell just happened?" said Amber.
"Beats me," said Jack.
"I don't understand. What kind of lunatic would shoot down their only means of escape?" said Dr Harlech.
"It's the mercenaries," growled Amber. "It has to be! There's nobody else left alive in this town! They must have doubled back when we weren't looking, gone back to the clock tower to lure the rescue helicopter there, then blown it up so we couldn't escape!"
"That's ludicrous," said Dr Harlech. "Why would they do that? They'd die here too!"
"Well if it wasn't them, who was it? Everyone else is dead!" Amber argued.
Through the window, Lisa could see a smoking hole in the side of the clock tower. The building had been badly damaged by the explosion. That made her think about the damage done to the building when the trolley car crashed into it - it seemed incredible that the tower was still standing - and about the woman whose body they'd found in the bedroom.
She took the identity card out of her pocket, and looked at it again. The STARS emblem, the woman's picture, and the name Jill Valentine, typed on the card and scrawled in a signature.
My best friend was on the STARS Alpha Team…
… my friend Jill from STARS…
… I was the only one in the police force who believed Jill and the others…
Lisa felt cold inside. The woman had been Amber's best friend. How could she break the news that she was now a zombie? Then again, hundreds, maybe thousands of people had died in the town, and Amber hadn't yet remarked upon her friend's absence - she probably assumed the worst had happened to Jill anyway. Perhaps it would be better if she just didn't know…
"What's that, Lisa?" said Amber, noticing the card in her hand.
Lisa's heart sank.
"Amber," she began, but then found herself lost for words. Instead, she handed the card over to the police officer, closing her eyes and turning away.
Amber stared at the card in shock.
"Lisa, where did you get this?" she demanded to know.
"I found it in the clock tower," mumbled Lisa. "On - on her body."
Amber's hand closed around the small plastic card, and she shut her eyes tightly.
"Amber, I'm so sorry," whispered Lisa.
Jack and Dr Harlech both looked uncomfortable. Neither of them was sure what to say.
Amber sighed heavily, and opened her eyes. Lisa and Jack both expected tears, a howl of anguish, maybe a tirade against Umbrella's theft of her friend's life, or at least a look of utter loathing directed at Dr Harlech. Dr Harlech had clearly been expecting the same thing - she flinched when Amber looked at her, expecting to be yelled at. Instead, Amber said flatly:
"Another thing you people have to answer for."
"Uhhhhh…"
They jumped, and realised that Amber's target, temporarily forgotten, was stumbling up the last few steps of the stairs.
"Kill it, quick!" cried Dr Harlech.
Amber raised her gun again, and aimed it carefully so that the bullet would go right between the zombie's eyes -
Its head jerked up suddenly.
"Wait! Don't shoot!"
Amber dropped her gun in surprise as she saw who the "zombie" was.
"You?" she said. "What are you doing here? What happened to you?"
"The morphine… wearing off… help me please…" gasped the unidentified person, before collapsing in a heap at the top of the stairs.
Amber bent down to examine the body. Lisa and Jack watched with curiosity, Dr Harlech with incomprehension.
"What's going on?"
"Who is that?"
"Anyone we know?"
Amber looked at them, and smiled mirthlessly.
"Well, would you believe it," she said. "It's none other than our old friend Private Lavelle..."