Sacrifices
Chapter 13: Divide and Conquer
Ellen entered the hallway outside of the medical lab, pausing to look through the observation window. She could see several people in white coats hovering over a computer in the corner; each one taking turns pointing out information on the monitor. On the opposite side of the room, two doctors were engaged in an intense conversation.
Her eyes wandered to the far right side of the room. Jill Valentine was lying on a hospital bed with an array of wires and tubes attached to her body. An oxygen mask obscured most of her face from view, but it appeared that she was still unconscious.
One of the doctors looked up and noticed Ellen standing out in the hall. He made a gesture with his hand, indicating he would come outside. After another moment of conversation, he came through the double doors to greet her.
"Good Morning, Miss Ross." The doctor removed his glasses and rubbed his weary eyes with his thumb and forefinger.
"Good Morning, Doctor Lessing", she responded. "How's the patient?"
He put his glasses back on as he took a momentary look through the glass. "All in all, she's lucky to be alive."
"Can you tell me what they did to her?" Ellen asked.
"Well, we didn't find any viral agent present in her bloodstream. However, there was some trace amounts of several drugs. "
"What kind of drugs?"
The doctor sighed. "Well, from the preliminary tests we've performed so far, it looks like she was given some form of muscle stimulants and relaxants."
"That's a rather odd combination?" Ellen looked puzzled. "Any idea what the purpose would be?"
"At this point, I could only speculate. We still have some other tests we need to run."
"Indulge me."
Doctor Lessing shook his head. "Well…" he started, "keeping in mind the people we're dealing with, of course…"
Ellen nodded. "Of course."
The doctor continued "If you gave a large enough dosage of the stimulant to a perfectly healthy person, mixed in with one or two other drugs I can think of, it would likely cause severe muscle spasms."
"And what about the relaxant?"
"It could be used to counteract the effects of the stimulant. I suppose, if it were administered in the right way, it could stop the symptoms rather quickly."
"A very unique way to torture someone", Ellen commented.
"I agree." The doctor held up some notes he was holding in his hand and pointed a finger at them. "Whoever came up with this was a very twisted individual."
"A doctor, maybe?" Ellen suggested.
Doctor Lessing narrowed his eyes at the woman. "Perhaps", he conceded. "But, they must have been a sadist."
Ellen smirked. "I thought all doctors were sadists."
"That's dentists", the doctor corrected.
"Has she regained consciousness?"
"She started to come around a few moments ago, but we sedated her, so she's sleeping now."
Ellen stared at him. "Why did you sedate her? Wouldn't it make things a lot easier if she could tell you what happened?"
Doctor Lessing shifted, uncomfortably. "Well…of course. But, Mr. Wallace was very specific in his instructions."
The redhead quirked an eyebrow. "Exactly what were his instructions, Doctor?"
"Perhaps you should be discussing this with him--"
"I'm asking you" she interrupted. She watched the doctor's expression, knowing he was debating with himself about how much to reveal.
"We were told to treat her as best we could and to keep her isolated and sedated" he responded.
"Did he give you a reason for this?"
Doctor Lessing flashed a look of impatience. "No, and I certainly was not about to ask him for one." He turned and walked back to the lab doors, pausing to look at Ellen just before he entered. "If you're as smart as I think you are, Miss Ross, you won't question him, either." He disappeared through the doors.
The young woman shifted her gaze back to the window. There was definitely more going on here than she had been told. It was obvious that Wallace was trying to keep Leon's friend quiet.
The question was…why?
***
"I've got something!" Rebecca shouted as she waved a hand to Chris from the opposite side of the street.
Chris had just emerged from the office of another trucking company. The entire group had been out all morning driving from one place to another in the hopes of finding someone who could give them the location of HCF Enterprises. After his tenth time leaving empty-handed, he was getting very frustrated.
He saw the petite brunette waving frantically as he came down the stairs. When he reached the bottom, he spotted Barry heading toward the van in the parking lot.
"Barry!" Chris called out. He pointed his finger in Rebecca's direction when Barry looked his way.
Rebecca ran across the street towards Chris as Barry made his way over to the two of them. She stopped at the curb, taking a moment to catch her breath.
"What did you find out?" Chris asked.
Rebecca held up a piece of paper. "I talked to a guy who told me he made a delivery to this place last week." She paused as Chris took the paper and read the information. "It was a truckload of medical supplies and he dropped them at a warehouse on the eastside. He said the name sounded right, but if we wanted to be sure, we'd have to talk to his dispatcher."
Barry had come up behind Chris and was now reading over his shoulder. "Screw that!" he interjected. "This place is only a few miles away. I say let's go check it out, now."
"I'm with Barry", Chris agreed. "I'm sick of talking. I need to do something."
"Do what?" Claire asked. The three looked over to see Claire, Sherry and Dick walking toward them. They had also been asking around, but it was obvious from the look on Dick's face that they had been unsuccessful.
"Rebecca may have found a lead" Chris answered. "The place isn't far from here."
"Great, let's go." Dick said, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder at the van.
Chris hesitated. "Can I have a word?" he asked, looking over at Claire. The two siblings stepped away from the rest of the group.
Claire stared at Chris with defiance. "I know what this is about, and you can forget it."
"Claire…" Chris started.
"NO!" She pointed a finger at him. "I'm not getting left behind, again!"
"I'm not leaving you behind"
"Bullshit!" she shouted. "That's what you always do. You're always trying to protect me, like I'm a child. When you first got mixed up in this whole mess, you didn't even bother to tell me. You just took off, leaving some cryptic message on my answering machine, for Christ's sake!"
Chris stared at her. "What was I supposed to do? Ask you to take a break from school to come and help me shoot some zombies?" he replied, sarcastically.
Her gaze was intense. "You could have told me something…anything. Instead, I was left wondering whether you were dead or alive."
Chris gripped her by the arms. "Claire, we've already been through this. I know I should have told you what was happening. I should have realized that you'd come looking for me. Everything that you went through was my fault…"
"No…" she interrupted. "That's not true."
"Yes, it is" he insisted. "I was so busy waging my own war against Umbrella that I couldn't see how I was letting other people down."
"Chris, that's not what I meant…"
"Listen to me for a minute." His tone was soft, but commanding. "When this whole nightmare began, I thought my teammates and I could handle it. We were all highly trained…" He paused, exhaling loudly. "But, nothing could have prepared us for what we encountered. One by one, we were being slaughtered, Claire. A couple of my closest friends died in that first mission. In ways so horrible I can't even bear to think about it."
"I know what you mean" she replied, looking down at the ground.
Chris waited until his sister turned her gaze back to him. "I know you do. And I'm sorry for disappearing on you. But, truthfully, I didn't really know what I was doing. None of us did. We were all running in different directions, determined to get Umbrella for what they'd done, wanting to keep our families safe. I just didn't want you to become involved in any of this." He released her arms and stood quietly for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts.
"I know that you can handle yourself, Claire." he continued. "But, as good as you are…you are not a trained soldier." Claire opened her mouth to protest, but Chris held a hand up to stop her. "This isn't a raid on some Umbrella facility. We're not going in with guns blazing. Hell, we don't even know what we're gonna find when we get there. This is a rescue mission, pure and simple. And that's one of the things the S.T.A.R.S. do best."
Claire folded her arms across her chest. She wanted to argue with him, but she knew he had a point. Her eyes wandered toward Sherry.
Chris could see she was looking at the young girl. "She needs someone to look out for her", he commented.
Claire looked back at him. "Just like me, huh?"
Chris smiled. "Not anymore."
The younger Redfield suddenly felt a tug of worry. "What about Dick?" she asked.
"Nothing I could say will keep him away. We'll just have to make sure he doesn't do anything crazy."
"Unlike someone else I know" she remarked.
"I'll do whatever it takes."
"I know." This time Claire smiled at him. "That's why I'm still around."
"We better get going." Chris started to walk back to the group when he felt Claire's hand on his arm. He turned to her, expectantly.
"You better come back in one piece," she said, firmly.
Chris gave her a crooked grin. "That's the plan."
***
Leon watched as Carlos continued to pace back and forth. "You're gonna wear a hole in the rug, you know."
The young mercenary stopped in his tracks and looked at the floor. "It's tiled."
"Just an expression" Leon mumbled, rolling his eyes. "Why don't you sit down?"
"I'm tired of sitting, and I'm tired of waiting." Carlos threw his arms up in the air. "I don't give a shit what this guy did for Jill, I'm outta here." Just as Carlos reached the door it swung open. He took a step back in surprise.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." The man stood in the doorway, blocking Carlos' exit.
Leon glanced up at Wesker, but remained seated. "Do you know your floor has two hundred and twenty tiles?"
Wesker looked at him, blankly. "Again, I apologize." He turned to Carlos and held a hand out to him. "Andrew Wallace. How do you do?"
"I do just fine, thanks." Carlos didn't offer his hand. "I'd like to pay my friend a visit now, if you wouldn't mind getting out of the way."
Wesker didn't move. "Why don't you have a seat, Mr. Oliviera."
Carlos looked taken aback. "The name's Guerra," he corrected.
Wesker grinned at him. "I make it my business to know who gets on one of my planes." He gestured to an empty chair next to Leon. "Now, why don't you sit down. I assure you that your friend is in good hands."
Carlos glared at him for a moment before finally giving in and taking a seat. He shot a look at Leon, who could only shrug his shoulders.
Wesker stepped in and closed the door, stopping to pour himself some coffee before taking a seat. He looked across his desk at the two men, noticing the differences between them. While Leon sat calmly, waiting for Wesker to make the first move, Carlos Oliviera could barely sit still. He was leaning over the desk as his fingers drummed the surface, almost imperceptibly. But, few things went unnoticed by Albert Wesker.
"What's going on with Jill?" Carlos blurted out.
Wesker smiled to himself. Oliviera was an impatient man. That was a good thing.
"The doctor's are still running tests, but she seems to be doing very well", he answered. "There's no sign of any virus."
Carlos released the breath he had been holding. "Has she woken up, yet?"
"No," Wesker replied shaking his head. "But, the doctors don't think there's cause for concern. She's been through a terrible ordeal. Her body needs rest."
"What happened to her?" Leon asked.
"We're not certain." Wesker leaned back and folded his muscular arms across his chest. "The doctors tell me she was probably tortured." He watched with amusement as both men visibly flinched.
"Bastards." Carlos muttered under his breath. He slumped back in his chair and stared at the floor.
Leon's expression darkened. "When can we see her?"
"As soon as the doctors give me the okay, which should be within a few hours", Wesker lied. He had no intention of letting the two men see Jill. That privilege belonged to him, and he could hardly wait. "In the meantime, however, something's come up that needs your attention."
Carlos narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Our attention?" he questioned.
Wesker smiled. "It's a simple matter, really." He focused on Carlos. "Since we flew you all the way across the country to be with your friend, I thought you might want to show your appreciation."
"I don't work for you" Carlos stated, flatly.
"No…" Wesker agreed. "But you did work for the U.B.C.S., and that gave you some special skills that we are in need of, at the moment."
"How do you know so much about me?" Carlos demanded. He suddenly found himself wishing that Larry were there so he could beat the crap out of him. His former teammate had obviously offered up some information to this man.
"As I said before, I make it my business to know."
"What is it you need us to do, exactly?" Leon questioned.
Wesker pushed an envelope across the desk toward Leon.
"I need you to pick something up for me."
***
"You're gonna wear a hole in that rug."
Claire stopped her pacing to look at Sherry seated on the couch, idly flipping television stations with a remote. "You're beginning to sound like Leon."
The young blonde smiled, obviously enjoying the comparison. "I'll take that as a compliment", she answered, smugly.
"I knew you would." Claire folded her arms across her chest and glanced at the program that Sherry had stopped at, trying to find anything to focus on, other than her own thoughts.
Chris and the others had dropped her and Sherry off at the hotel before heading over to the warehouse. While Sherry had been relatively calm since they returned, Claire was about ready to jump out of her skin. Sitting and waiting were two of her least favorite things to do. She didn't have patience for it. Her mind kept conjuring up thoughts about what the others might be facing.
The sound of the telephone ringing startled her. Claire leaned over and snatched up the receiver from the table. "Hello?"
There was a momentary pause. "Miss Richards?"
"Yes?" Claire answered.
"This is Renee at the lobby desk. Someone left an envelope for you."
"For me?" Claire asked. "Do you know who it's from?"
"The note on it says it's from someone named Kennedy."
Claire's heart skipped a beat. "I'll be right down." She hung up the phone and headed for the door.
Sherry glanced up at her, curiously. "What's going on?"
Claire barely gave the girl a second glance. "I just have to run down to the lobby for a second." She didn't want to say anything to Sherry until she had a chance to read whatever Leon had sent.
"Okay."
Claire bolted out the door and ran for the elevator. By the time she reached the first floor her nerves were jangling. She walked at a brisk pace through the hotel lobby. The room was bustling with activity. She looked around as her eyes sought out a woman working behind one of the desks. She could make out the nametag as she approached.
"Renee?"
A young woman of about twenty-five glanced up from her computer screen. She put on her standard helpful hotel smile. "Yes?"
"I'm Diane Richards. You said you had an envelope for me?" Claire drummed her fingers, nervously, as the desk clerk reached under the counter. Her hand emerged with a small, white envelope a second later and she handed it to Claire.
"Here you go." The young woman smiled, but was already looking past Claire at the next person she could help.
Claire stepped away from the desk and quickly tore the letter open. She unfolded the small piece of paper and read what was on it. Her eyes widened as she continued to stare at the words. It was a single sentence in bold, black letters.
You shouldn't have left Sherry alone.
As the meaning of the words began to sink in, Claire sprung into action. She bolted across the lobby towards the hallway. Several people turned to look at her as she pushed her way past a group waiting for the elevators. She spun around, nearly frantic as her eyes searched for the stairs. Finally spotting a sign in the corner, she threw the door open and ran as fast as her legs would carry her.
Her only thought as she climbed the stairwell was reaching Sherry. The girl was helpless without her and Claire knew she should never have left her…even for a moment. She could only pray that Sherry wasn't paying the price for her carelessness.
Claire pushed the door open and ran down the corridor. The first thing she noticed as she approached her room was that the door was slightly ajar. She slowed her pace as she moved closer and reached back to remove the gun tucked in her belt. She took several deep breaths as she came to stand in front of the door.
Peering in through the crack she couldn't see any movement. With the softest touch, she slowly pushed the door open. There was no sound coming from inside. Claire could recall when she left that the TV was playing a bit loudly. Now, there was absolute silence.
She stepped across the threshold, moving as quietly as possible. As if confirming what she already knew, the TV was now off. Slowly, she continued on further, trying to keep her eyes on everything.
"Sherry?" she whispered as she walked through the room. There was no response. Claire walked toward the kitchenette, trying to peer around the corner of the 'L' shaped room. The small dinette set was visible as she continued forward, the gun held out before her.
There were two figures seated at the opposite end of the table. The young brunette froze as she took in the sight before her.
"Hello, Claire."
The woman sitting in the chair smiled at Claire as she looked down at the face of the young girl seated in her lap. Sherry's eyes were closed and her small form remained motionless. The tip of a hypodermic needle rested against her throat.
Claire stared in disbelief. The gun was still raised as her hands began to shake. Her mind screamed at her that what she was looking at had to be an illusion. Her voice could only whisper a single word.
"Alexia."
***
Well, that took a while, didn't it? Sorry, but life has been very hectic, lately. I'm already working on the next chapter (lots going on in that one), so I'll try to post it asap. I'm still searching for a beta-reader, so please drop me a line. Later, folks.