Author's Note : Hey y'all! I am so sorry to take so long to put this chapter in, as you can see how long it is... I hope the length can compensate for any frustrations you have experienced!
Disclaimers? Well, I do not own Resident Evil, or any of the characters from the AppleSeed movie (I'm referring to the most recent one, not the super-long-time-ago one) . Did anyone watch that? Great movie. and if you DID watch it, then it would be pretty obvious the name that I took from there...
Also, PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! As any typical reviewer would say, I LIVE AND BREATH REVIEWS!
Ok, enough about this, read on and enjoy!
Chapter 8 : Recollections of the Past
"Hey, Celine!" Briareos called out. "Got a lead as to where your sister is!"
Celine could barely contain a smile. She ran over to where Briareos was standing, in front of his computer and gesturing impatiently. After so many weeks of continuous searching, they finally managed to pin-point her sister's location.
It worried her. Umbrella kept looking for her sister, which made it necessary for her to constantly be on the run. Celine tried to trail behind, so as to not lose her completely, but with Umbrella blocking her path numerous times, she finally had to give up, letting her sister disappear into the world.
But now, she could see her sister again. After so many weeks, they would be able to take Umbrella on. Together.
Celine snapped out of her day-dreaming and turned to Briareos. "Great! Where is she?"
"Err…" Briareos looked back down to the computer screen. "It says that she last checked into a hotel somewhere in…" He began furiously typing at it the keyboard.
"'Err'? You haven't even read the entire thing yet?" Celine asked, tapping her foot impatiently.
"Course not! I wanted you to be the first one to know this." Briareos proudly claimed.
"Um, moving on…" Briareos continued. "As I was saying earlier, she last checked into a hotel in…… Raccoon City!"
Celine shot a look of confusion at Briareos. "Raccoon? What the heck would she be doing in some secluded city such as Raccoon?"
Briareos put a hand to his chin. "Beats me. At least now you have a… Hey! You leaving already!"
Celine stopped and turned back, smiling. "Of course. I'll give a call when I need a pick up! I'm going to take the bus this time…" She sighed at this. Buses, in her opinion, were kind of disgusting – what with snoring people and horny old guys, Celine always dreaded having to take bus trips.
Ignoring a bark of laughter from Briareos, Celine continued down the hall. She had a funny feeling inside though, as if she was walking away from all her companions forever.
No, she thought. This job will be nothing but a walk in the park…
Celine opened her eyes. Her vision was a bit blurred, and her head was slightly spinning. She narrowed her eyes, trying to remember what happened. She was still in the car, that's for sure, since the airbag was shot straight up her nose.
The…airbag? That must mean…
The car engine was smoking, a lamppost neatly embedded into the front of the car. At this sight, she began to recall what had happened. Something had darted across the road, something HUGE, looking almost humanoid in shape, which caused her to swerve into the lamppost.
As soon as she remembered that, she immediately whipped out her handgun, feebly trying to push away the airbag from her face. What was it exactly that dashed across the road? The university was nearby, she would have to be on her top guard if that thing, whatever it was, had made the university its home.
She stumbled across the empty road, still dazed from the accident. Quickly regaining her sense of direction, she began a slight jog in that direction, and soon found herself standing before a massive building. The Raccoon University, its famous clock tower towering high above the mist, probably a sign of hope. Celine grunted. She wasn't one for literature stuff, let alone see something in a totally different light.
Celine put her hand on the knob, embedded into a large, oak door, and turned it. The door creaked open, and in this kind of silent night, she felt as if the noise had alerted anything within a five mile radius. Stepping inside, she breathed in the familiar scent of polished furniture and perfumed carpets. She only came here once, but she stayed long enough to vaguely remember the layout. The reason of her sister being here still eluded Celine.
It was either bad luck, or Celine just dropped in at the wrong time. Shortly after she had arrived at Raccoon, the outbreak occurred. People eating other people, animals going mad, scenery becoming ten times bloodier, she had to exploit every single skill she had and use it to the max in order to survive.
When she made it to the Apple Inn, it was as bleak as the rest of the city. The building loomed out into the night sky, sending cold shivers down Celine's back. Checking the register in the front lobby, Celine noted her sister's room number and ran through the double doors. She had to quicken her pace, for the loud chugging of a faulty machine coming from the boiler room suggested that it wasn't going to hold. However, her sister's room was empty – no notes, no clues, nothing. Her sister definitely did well in covering her tracks.
And now, out of pure luck, she picked up her sister's tracks again, leading her to this building. Slowly, cautiously, she began walking up the stairs in the middle of the grand hall. She always liked starting from the higher floors, it was something Alyssa and herself inherited from their mother – to always begin from the top. There was only one door at the top, tucked into the corner. Through the door, a faint banging sound could be heard. She inhaled deeply and opened it.
The first sound that greeted her was a desperate moan. Instantly, she kicked the door wide open and trained her handgun straight ahead. The zombie had already begun shuffling towards her, skeletal hands outstretched and yearning. Thing is, its fingers and mouth were stained with blood, fresh blood, judging by the drops of blood dripping down from its mouth, leaving big, red spots in the carpet flooring.
Huh, must've struck some other fellow… Celine thought, as she pulled the trigger. The gun shook in her hand, and the zombie collapsed onto the floor without a sound. Sighing, she side-stepped the body and carried on down the hall. Around the corner, was another wandering zombie which had apparently heard the gunshot, and was almost within lunging distance when Celine turned the corner, before it collapsed to the ground, two new holes in its face.
Celine breathed out slowly through her mouth. Zombies in the university? This would make her search even harder. She glanced towards the left door and saw long, thin lines of blood smudged onto the wood. Looking down to the zombie she just shot, Celine noted that it also had blood-stained fingers.
So, the zombies were banging on this door, eh? That means…
Celine was already through the door before finishing her thought. Inside, the room was lavishly furnished. Sofas and tables were arranged neatly against the wall across her. Paintings of various scenery decorated the other walls, and a statue bust lay to her right.
Still, a faint trail of blood could be seen snaking towards the other door. Celine stepped forward and pushed it open.
She wasn't even sure what had overwhelmed her as soon as she stepped into the room. She froze for only a second, before dashing over and kneeled down onto the carpet, bursting into tears as her knees slammed onto the soft carpet. She couldn't help it. She simply buried her face into her hands, and cried.
For several minutes, she cried over the corpse of her sister.
Clad in a full red shirt and pants, Alyssa lay on the ground, motionless, a combat knife pierced cleanly into one of her eyes. Despite such a painful death, her face was calm, not showing any form of fear. Her leg, however, was badly injured. Deep gashes and tears in her left shin with a distinct bite mark on her right ankle. The carpet flooring had absorbed the blood, leaving behind a big, round, crimson-coloured patch around Alyssa's body.
The blood on the doors, the bite marks on Alyssa's legs, the knife in her face. It all made sense to Celine now. Alyssa was attacked by the zombies outside, and got her leg bitten. Then, in order to prevent herself from turning into one of those things, she took the knife and ended her own life.
Celine sobbed quietly. She had to acknowledge her sister's act. To free herself from the suffering, to save others from herself, she killed herself. Alyssa was the only person Celine knew who would do such a thing. This meant that her search for her sister has ended. What was she going to tell Briareos and the others? Celine clenched her fist. She was going to avenge her sister's death, by taking out Umbrella.
Umbrella had taken almost everything away from her. They killed her parents when they were young, mostly because her parents were also newspaper reporters, and had stuck their nose too deep into Umbrella's property, gathering much evidence about their forbiddened researches. In the middle of the night, they stormed her house. Her parents shoved them into a trapdoor located in their closet, and attempted to fight off the intruders the best they could. Celine could never forget the continuous sound of gunfire, her mother's screaming, and her father's shouts of rage. In a matter of minutes, everything went silent. Celine and her sister lay frightened, shivering in the cold confined space, until the sound of heavy footsteps died away, followed by the revving of a car engine.
They slowly came out of the closet, out into the room that had once been their bedroom. Bullet-holes decorated the walls, tables, and the bed, its feathers still floating around in the room. The door was also riddled with bullet-holes and hung on its hinges. Alyssa whimpered slightly, only to be quietly comforted by Celine. Alyssa was only two years younger than Celine, so she was indirectly charged with her safety.
Down the stairs and into the living room, was where the bodies of their parents lay in pools of their own blood. While Alyssa let out a scream and burst into tears, Celine merely stared at her parents' corpse. Covered in a sticky, red substance, the look on their parents' faces was that of anger, fear, and of course, sadness. From that moment on, it became permanently etched in Celine's mind – the horrible nature of Umbrella and their merciless doings.
Years flew by as they moved from one foster home to another. Celine could not adapt to the new environments, and neither could Alyssa, creating problems for the families they shared homes with, finally ending with them bailing out. When both of them came of age, Celine bumped into Briareos and his team. It was then that Celine's and Alyssa's life took a huge turn.
Briareos's led a small team against Umbrella, fishing out any possible evidence and thwarting their researches by any possible means. Celine was only 20 and Alyssa, 18, when they wanted in. Despite Briareos's reluctance to let teenagers into the group, he finally accepted, seeing how determined these two girls were.
Celine went through training while Alyssa stuck strictly to computer work. Within a short period of time, Celine's skill with guns increased ten-fold, fueled by her hatred against Umbrella. Everything went smoothly, their missions were simply and thorough, no casualties or injuries. That was, until Alyssa stirred up the hive by mistake. She was detected by Umbrella while trying to hack into one of their restricted files, and decided to leave the group for their safety.
Now, here she lay, pale but peaceful, on the floors of the Raccoon University. Alyssa was gone, Umbrella had finally taken away the one thing Celine had held so desperately on to, and it would be the final straw. As long as there was a single breath of air in her body, she would not stop hunting Umbrella down. Whether it would be sabotaging Umbrella's devices, or assassinating their directors one by one, she didn't care. As long as Umbrella suffers, she would be happy.
"Rest…rest in peace, sister." Celine mumbled in between sobs. She slowly lifted her head back up and noticed that there was a white piece of paper in Alyssa's right hand. Carefully, she removed it from Alyssa's death grip and flattened it on the floor. It was written in Alyssa's handwriting, clearly, and despite a few bloodstains, it was still readable.
I managed to find the cure to the T-virus, the very thing that has destroyed this entire city. The zombies outside have trapped me in this room. I don't think I will have enough time or the energy to make it to the incubator. Already, I can feel the virus flowing in my veins, eating away at my body.
I have obtained the last ingredient required to complete the Daylight. The first two had cost both George's and Yoko's lives, and now this final ingredient is going to cost my own. I cannot stand it anymore. I will not become one of those things.
Celine, if you're reading this, if you've come to find me, I'm very sorry for letting you down. I couldn't keep my promise of taking down Umbrella together. Everything rests in your hands now, all you have to do is get to the incubator on the 3rd floor. Everything else has already been prepared.
Do not worry, I will tell Mum and Dad of your achievements.
I will forever be with you, Celine Ashcroft…
A single teardrop fell onto the paper as Celine read it with watery eyes.
Thank you, Alyssa, Celine prayed. She was proud of her sister, and would not let her death be in vain.
She reached into one of Alyssa's pockets and pulled out a small, metallic capsule, inside which held a deep red substance. Not wanting to question what it was exactly, she chucked it into her own pocket and stood up. Taking one last look at her sister's body, Celine silently said another 'Thank you'. Then, turning around, ran out the door.
Incubator on the 3rd floor eh? Celine thought as she darted back into the long corridor. Don't worry, Alyssa. I'll get this done. For you…
However, it seems that the Gods weren't going to give her a smooth ride. As soon as she turned the corner, the wall behind her smashed open, throwing her clean off her feet and landing face first onto the floor. If it weren't for the carpeting, her front teeth would have broken off her gums.
Craning her neck, she turned around. The dust settled shortly after, and Celine found herself facing a monstrosity that she has never seen before. The very sight of its immense size froze her heard heart in fear.
Standing 9-foot tall and wearing nothing but a black underwear, the monster focused its eyes onto Celine. Its shoulders were unusually broad and tough, and its tree-trunk legs only added to its beastly atmosphere. An eight-pack was clearly visible on its abdomen, and short but sharp claws glittered where its fingernails should be. Both of its hands were blackened, as if held over a fire for a long time.
Holy shit, that's……that's a Tyrant…! Celine screamed in her mind, flashbacks of what Briareos told her about Umbrella. Conducting viral research and forbidden experiments? This was completely different from all that she has seen.
Still unable to believe that she's staring at a merciless killing machine, the product of a corrupt company, Celine kicked into gear almost instantly. She rolled to her side, the Tyrant's hand shooting past her a mere second later, its claws penetrating deep into the wood. She whirled back and swung both her legs at it consecutively, kicking the Tyrant in its face, twice. It staggered only a step back, giving Celine enough time to scramble to a safe distance. However, it seemed that the Tyrant didn't always have to use its clawed hands to attack, for it grabbed the nearby shelf and effortlessly flung it straight to Celine, who tried to dodge it, but in the narrow passageway, she could only move a step to the side before her shoulder collided with the wall. As a result, the shelf knocked hard against her right shoulder before crashing into the ground behind her.
Throbbing with pain in her shoulder, Celine knew that she was no match against this thing. Her only option was to try and outrun it. She quickly spun around and ran straight for the door. A whoosh of air was heard from behind, and the Tyrant came crashing down directly between her and the door, effectively blocking off her only escape route.
Persistent son of a bitch, eh? I'm not going to lose to the likes of YOU!
Celine leapt backwards as the Tyrant swung its muscular leg at her, who proceeded to half-run, half-shoot at it. The bullets peppered into its chest, but it seemed to have no effect. It only held the Tyrant back long enough for Celine to dart into the second door in the hallway. She found herself in some kind of art gallery, full of glass displays and even a grand piano lay to her right. There wasn't time, however, for her to admire the beauty of art, for a clawed maniac was closing in on her, fast. She caught a glimpse of the Tyrant from the corner of her eye, and ducked low to the left. The Tyrant came crashing into the room, knocking the door off its hinges and sending it across the room.
Come on Celine, think! You've gotta trap it somehow…
The answer to her prayers lay at the back of the room. A large, marble statue stood against the wall, its head almost touching the roof, and as Celine barely avoided another of the Tyrant's attacks, the plan was already formulating in her mind. She opened fire at the base of the statue, while running to the side of the room at the same time. Just like she predicted, the Tyrant came charging back at her, but its lumbering size and weight worked to Celine's advantage, and she gracefully side-stepped out of the way. Celine then took position right in front of the statue, could already hear the cracking of its marble legs from the mantelpiece.
Come to daddy, you motherfucka…!
The Tyrant stared at her for a second, and charged ahead with full speed. Celine leapt to the side and rolled, causing more pain to swell up in her injured shoulder. Her plan had worked. The Tyrant had swiped downwards at her, thus chipping away a large piece of the statue near the base, causing it to come crashing down, pinning the Tyrant under its heavy weight.
Celine wanted to congratulate herself, pat herself on her own back for performing such a task, but already the statue was shifting, its pinned victim struggling to get out. She jumped back onto her feet, and ran out the room.
X-------X-------X
A lone zombie moaned to itself, stumbling its way around the room. It did not have the knowledge of how to avoid obstacles, let alone know what it's walking into. Its legs kicked aside bins and folders, crunched up papers that were strewn onto the floor and goodness knows what else it did, as it slowly walked in circles around the room.
It felt so hungry. It wanted to some nice, warm food fast. The very thought of blood sent long trails of drool down the zombie's mouth, spilling onto the floor in a disgusting, slimy sound.
Something rattled in the room, arousing the zombie out of its fantasy. It turned towards the door, its handle rattling once again. Then, there was silence, followed by a loud grunt and a crash. The door flew open, and the zombie only caught a glimpse of its meal before its entire vision went black. It collapsed to the floor, blood oozing out of where its head had once been.
Andrew lowered his shotgun and screwed up his face as soon as the smell hit him. That zombie must have been loitering around in the room for quite a long time, as the entire room smelt worse than shit. Still, he was going to have to tolerate it. Who knows what could have been attracted by that loud shotgun blast.
More zombies, dead dogs, Hunters… Andrew thought, remembering that fateful night when Ashton saved all of them from several Hunters, but at the cost of his own humanity and sanity. The list goes on…
He truly felt sorry for Ashton. They hadn't known him as well as Desmond did, but long enough to know that he was a good friend. Ashton did not deserve that kind of death – to lose his sanity, and then be killed by his own friends.
Breaking his thoughts from Ashton, Andrew proceeded to yank drawers clean out from shelves and dump them onto the floor, rummaging through for any sign of a square piece of metal. Documents, files, stationary, everything but the one thing he needed. After ransacking through the entire room, he stood up straight, breathing heavily. He glanced around the room. Had he missed something? The keycard should've been in here. After all, this IS one of the main offices. It was then did he notice something strange.
At the far end of the room, a single painting hung against the wall. It portrayed a beautiful scenery of the beach, reminding Andrew of what he can do after getting out of this hell-hole.
Why is there only one painting in this whole room? Andrew thought, walking up to it. He placed his hand on it, and it felt completely normal. But when he tugged at the corners of the painting, it actually slid off to the side. Shocked but amazed, Andrew continued pulling it at the corner, until the entire painting was moved aside, showing a square-shaped door with a knob on it.
One shotgun blast later, Andrew pulled the safe open through its new hole. Inside, lying beside a bunch of papers, was the keycard that he had been looking for. He snatched it and dashed back out of the room, completely unaware of the security camera overhead.
Back at the train station entrance, Desmond shivered slightly as he leaned against the metal door. Perhaps he was feeling cold, or perhaps it was the stress and anxiety that was already getting to him. It didn't matter now. Andrew had said he would be right back, and soon after, Desmond heard two loud blasts echoing down the hallway, unmistakably from Andrew's shotgun.
He knew Andrew isn't the type of person to make false promises. On many occasions, Andrew had fulfilled his promises at the very last minute, even if it had seemed hopeless to Desmond or Julian. Sometimes, he was even putting his own pride on the line. Desmond wondered: He had known Andrew for many years, but why is he remembering all this only now? It could simply be that when placed in a tight situation, it strips everyone down to their true self – Desmond had read about it, in a book called "I'm the King of the Castle".
Desmond glanced back towards the hallway at the sound of hurried footsteps approaching. Moments later, Andrew's figure came into a view. He was sweating slightly, and in his hand, much to Desmond's delight, was the small keycard they needed.
"Took you long enough! What were those two shots I heard?" Desmond inquired.
"Well, there was a zombie in the room, and then I had to decorate the wall a bit to get to this little bugger." Andrew explained, smirking.
Not wanting to know further, Desmond stood up and moved aside. He watched as Andrew stepped forward and slid the card into its reader. It emitted a loud 'DING!' and the door slid open, revealing stairs which lead down into the darkness. Desmond let out a sigh, and pulled out the flashlight he had taken from the minimart a couple of days ago. Andrew did the same, and together, they descended the steps cautiously.
The air was completely still and it was stuffy as hell, causing Desmond to cough occasionally. Obviously, nobody had come into the station in quite some time. When they reached the end of the long flight of stairs, a row of ticket counters greeted their eyes, in which they gracefully leapt over the gates. Finally, they entered a massive room, but it was still too dark to see anything, much less see how high the ceiling was.
"Hold on, I think the switches are here somewhere…" Andrew trailed off, as he shone his flashlight towards the small room beside them. He ran ahead and opened the door. Seconds later, a loud buzzing of electricity was heard as the powerful fluorescent lamps lit up, causing Desmond shielded his eyes as he looked around.
There, right in the middle of the room, was the huge Umbrella train. Somehow, it appeared to gleam and shine in the light, indicating that it probably had not been touched by the unclean hands of the undead. The tracks ran ahead into another dark tunnel, into their long awaited freedom. Desmond had a sudden urge to just get into the train and leave, but there was Julian. He could never think of leaving one of his best friends behind.
Andrew spent a little while in the min-office before coming back out. "Ok, I checked and everything seems to be in working order. All we have to do is get on board, start up the engine, and then wait for Julian and his father to come."
Desmond nodded his head in agreement and followed Andrew to the front-most carriage. Desmond looked towards the train windows. It was dark inside the train, and the light from overhead could only allow him to see that much. He followed the windows all the way until the end of the second carriage, and froze. There was a huge hole on the roof of the third carriage, and as Desmond shifted his eyes to one of the windows, he thought he saw something moving inside.
Repeated pants from Andrew made him tear his gaze from the window. Whatever it was moving inside, they would've have to check it out later. Desmond saw that the door into the carriage was firmly closed, and Andrew himself could barely open it. He stepped forward to help, but just as he placed his hands onto the side of the door, a loud crash sounded in the entire room. Both of them whirled around, weapons ready, just as a massive, hulking creature landed right in between them and the flight of stairs they just took.
By just looking at it struck fear and rage into Desmond's heart. The four-legged creature in front of them bore resemblance to the monster that had attacked Ashton, had transformed him into a monstrosity. Its brain was clearly visible, pulsating on its head. Two rows of sharp teeth lined its huge mouth, as clouds of hot, fetid breath floated out from inside the gaping hole. It snarled, and as it did, an extremely long, pink tongue shot out from its mouth, swinging in the air and flinging drops of drool everywhere. However, this one was much bigger and much more menacing. Its skin was no longer the same shade of pink that Desmond remembered, but had a much darker shade, as well as patches of brown skin, making it look as if it was burned. Its back was rippled, and Desmond realized that it was actually the creature's spinal cord. On all four of its legs, reflecting the bright light, were one-foot long claws that clicked against the floor as it moved towards them. All in all, it looked like a behemoth.
Andrew yelled something, but Desmond didn't need to hear what it was to know. He immediately dashed off to the left as Andrew ran to the right, fresh new adrenaline pumping throughout his body. As soon as he was out of the Behemoth's attacking range, he began firing his handgun. A second set of loud blasts indicated that Andrew was unloading his shotgun on it as well.
9mm bullets and shotgun rounds peppered into the Behemoth's body, but it simply stood there, looking left and right as if taking its time to choose its prey.
All the better for us… Desmond thought, as he continued pulling the trigger.
All of a sudden, in one massive stride, the Behemoth leapt into the air and almost landed on top of Andrew if he hadn't ducked to the side. It shot its tongue out towards him, but he managed to stop it from penetrating his skin by using his shotgun. With the Behemoth's tongue wrapped neatly around Andrew's shotgun, both of them engaged in a tug-of-war.
"Could use some help here!" Andrew yelled, almost losing his grip on the shotgun. He gave a heave and yanked the shotgun towards him a little more, trying to buy some time for Desmond.
Desmond's handgun clicked on empty, and he hastily reloaded it, looking around the room for anything useful. The train itself, the small office, the stairway, a few iron pipes on the ground in the corner. There was nothing which would seem the smallest bit useful.
Andrew shouted. Desmond turned his head back, only to see Andrew's body crash straight into a pile of rubber tubes, effectively entangling around his body in a complete mess. He was just about to fire into the creature's head when he saw it, shining in the light across from where he was, and partially blocked by the Behemoth's hulking body.
Barrels filled with methane gas, the flammable sign clearly painted on it in red.
An idea instantly sparked in his brain, a relatively crazy one as well. He would have to strain his already healing wounds in order to execute it successfully. He had it all planned out, the only thing left to do was actually getting to the barrels himself first.
"Andrew!" Desmond called out, seeing that he had managed to free himself from the rubber tubes. "I need you to distract him for a while!"
"Wha-What!" Andrew shouted back, already raising his shotgun.
"Just do it!" Desmond replied. He made a mad dash towards the barrels as the Behemoth lumbered after Andrew, who had begun firing again.
Don't be locked, don't be locked, don't be locked… Desmond prayed repeatedly in his mind, that the barrels wouldn't be locked in place by metal chains. Much to his delight, they weren't. He immediately grabbed onto the closest barrel, which stood up to his shoulders, and pulled it till the barrel fell onto its side. It was supremely heavy, despite being filled with gas, and it landed with a very loud 'thud'.
There was a sickening whipping sound, and Desmond saw that Andrew had narrowly avoided the Behemoth's whip-like tongue by a few inches. He was also fumbling around in his pockets, possibly for more ammo, which meant that…
Damn, out of time…
Desmond placed his foot onto the side of the barrel, and with all his might, kicked it towards the Behemoth, at the same time calling out to Andrew to 'get the hell away'. There was a good 10 feet between him and the creature, and the barrel was rolling quite slowly. Seeing this, Desmond started to fire into the creature's back.
It turned, feeling the sting of the bullets in its massive hide. The Behemoth did not care about the barrel of gas rolling towards it at this very moment, it focused its mind entirely on the human which was standing at the far wall. The barrel was already at the halfway distance when it ran and jumped over it.
Desmond was ready. As soon as the Behemoth jumped into the air, he pulled the trigger while aiming at the barrel.
BAM!
His timing was perfect. The barrel ignited in a fiery explosion directly below the Behemoth, knocking the senses out of it and launching it even higher into the air. Desmond did not hesitate. He sped off to the side, and a few seconds later, the Behemoth came crashing down, right into the pile of barrels.
At this point, Desmond flung himself forwards and spun around in mid-air, holding his gun out with two hands to steady his aim. In that split second of concentration, he pulled the trigger as he landed hard on the floor.
Time seemed to slow down at that point. Desmond could see the bronze bullet cutting through the air, leaving a thin trail of smoke in its path. It flew towards the pile of barrels, and penetrated neatly into one of them.
In the next second, Desmond actually slid across the floor as the barrel erupted, setting off the other barrels around it, resulting in a mighty explosion that rocked the entire compound. He knocked his head against the wall as he slammed into it, and for a few seconds, could see nothing but stars as the fire continued to burn.
A minute passed, and the sprinklers finally kicked in, squirting out water and drowning the fires. In the back of his head, Desmond could faintly hear Andrew's voice.
"Hey, you alright?" Andrew said, giving Desmond a helping hand to sit up.
"Err…kinda. Just knocked my head hard, that's all…" Desmond murmured, rubbing the back of his head.
Andrew heaved a sigh of relief, then spoke again, this time in a joking manner. "How the hell did you come up with such an idea? You're pretty crazy sometimes too…"
"Come on, if I didn't think of that, we'd both be dead by now…" Desmond trailed off.
He gazed towards where the barrels once stood. Right in the middle of the blackened area, lay the two halved of the once powerful and lethal Behemoth, now reduced to two sizzling, roasted lumps of meat. It was still hard to imagine that it was him who did it, who saved both of them.
"Well, you did manage to blow up the back half of the train as well, though…" Andrew added, pointing to the last few carriages on the train. True enough, the force of the blast had wrecked the back carriages and even thrown them off the track. They would have to disconnect the front carriages from the back ones if they were ever going to move the train.
Leaning against Andrew's shoulder, Desmond slowly got up. Surprisingly, he did not suffer any severe injuries, save a few scratches and a nasty bump on his head. To this he felt some pride.
See, guys? I'm not as hopeless as you think I am… Desmond thought proudly, as he and Andrew slowly limped to the train.
X-------X-------X
A/N : Alright, I apologise for not mentioning a single thing about Julian in this chapter. That's coz i had to write that huge part for Celine, and by the time I finished the 'boss fight', the whole thing was already 12 pages long in Microsoft Word! Fret not, for I will be bringing Julian back in the next chapter (duh!) !
Oh, and...um...PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!