Resident Evil: Evanescent Dreams
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters related to Resident Evil. Any similarities between monsters in my story and someone else's is completely a coincidence.
Four
Damn, they were right, all of them were ejected. Son of a redneck, country-ass bitch.
Krueger kicks the metal debris and growls in frustration.
"Hey, Krueger, check this. It's the last escape pod, it was blocked by this I-beam. If we could move this and set the pod back on the track, we're out of here."
Krueger smiles and hugs Trudie, "I love you Trudie! Thank you! Ok, let's move the beam."
Trudie stands where she is and blinks, and blinks, and blinks, shocked, and slightly amused by Krueger's emotion.
"You coming, or what?"
Trudie turns toward him and walks, a light skip to her step.
"Ok, lift on one, two, THREE!"
They both lift and walk forward, pushing the beam flat against the wall, leaving what they hope is, enough space for the pod to fly past.
"Damn it, I forgot, there's no power..."
Krueger frowns and sits down on the beam, his second-breath gone.
"Great, after all the powerless doors, we forget there's no power? Now that's some irony."
Trudie sits down next to him and says, "It's ok, we tried, I guess we were doomed to die down here."
Krueger's left eye twitches furiously and he walks over to what he hopes is the circuit breaker for this room. He pries the cover off and stares at the number panel.
"Hey Trudie, are you any good with numbers?"
Trudie walks up to him and says, "Yeah, I'm real good with numbers. What is this?"
She stares at the nine-key and one instruction is written underneath. '3 across, 3 down, make them equal 15.'
"Well, this should take a while, Krueger, search the room. Leave me with this," Trudie orders, then she begins to work on the panel.
First try-
9-4-2=15
1-8-6=15
5-7-3=15
|| || ||
151911
Second try-
9-5-1=15
2-6-7=15
4-8-3=15
|| || ||
151911
"Damn it. Alright, one last try."
Third try-
9-1-5=15
2-6-7=15
4-8-3=15
|| || ||
151515
The pad beeps and the hum of electricity rocks the room, lights flick on, and of course, the launch pads kick on.
"Whoo! Oh yeah! Let's go!"
Krueger stands up and walks over to the escape pod, then opening the glass door. He revels in the size of it, considering how small it looks outside. He climbs over the edge, placing his waist on the edge, and looks at the complex controls.
"Ready?"
Trudie jumps over him and lands in the seat, looking over the controls, "Shouldn't you get in, completely, I mean?"
Krueger looks at her and clambers in, his foot just barely missing the launch button.
"Strap yourself in, we're leaving."
Krueger nods and looks back, trying to find the strap, but sees the worst sight ever. It has two giant legs sprouting from its shoulders, its original legs hanging loosely. Hundreds of tentacles flying everywhere, slapping its pebbled flesh. A large lump has formed over the neck, the cuts still visible.
"Oh son of a bitch..." is all Krueger can say before a tentacle wraps around the pod, lifting it up without much effort.
Trudie slams into the side and screams, just as the Hulk-creature presses its neck against the glass, a slit forming across the front, revealing forty-odd something spiked teeth.
Two smaller slits appear above the mouth and two beady, film-covered eyes blink at him. The creature roars and a spiny tongue flies out, forming a neat hole in the glass. It passes by Krueger's face and out the other side of the glass door. Krueger blinks and slices the tongue, pulling the knife from seemingly nowhere.
It withers and writhes, but it's stuck in the glass. The Hulk-creature shrieks horribly and bangs most of its tentacles onto the pod, keeping it raised in the process. Krueger holds the knife upside-down and jams it into the appendage, praying it's doing more damage than the creature is letting on.
Trudie pulls out the Mark23, but Krueger pushes it down, "No, save the ammo, I have a feeling we won't be leaving any time soon."
Trudie nods and climbs into the back, hoping the emergency hatch she spotted earlier works. Krueger checks around for some weapon other than the knife and comes up with zip.
"Damn it, we're cursed aren't we?"
The Hulk-creature bangs on the pod continuously and then stops, the veins pulsing with the pumping blood. It shrieks and then tosses the pod up into the air, Trudie and Krueger with it. They turn upside down and Krueger's head connects with the seat, completely surprised at how quickly he flipped and passes out.
He awakens sometime later and says, "What the hell happened? I feel like I was hit by a Big Rig."
Trudie sits up and says, "The Hulk-creature left, got tired of us I guess. You've been out for about," she checks her watch, "all of ten minutes."
Krueger chuckles lightly and begins to rub his neck, frowning at the lump growing on the back of his head.
"How long has it been gone?"
Trudie looks up at him and says, "As soon as you went unconscious. It left when you passed out. That strikes me as completely freaky."
Man, how much more must we suffer!
Trudie bites her lip when Krueger stirs from his sleep, having been about an hour since he awoke. She opens the glass door for the third time in twenty minutes and steps out, giving the room a once-over before she climbs back in, arriving to a fully-awake Krueger.
"Well, anything?"
Trudie holds up an empty machine gun and says, "No, only this empty machine gun. I guess it's good as a club, though."
Krueger takes it and says, "Why do you think it left as soon as I passed out?"
Trudie smiles and says, "Dunno, I think it's because you are its only challenge. Since you cut its head off."
Krueger smiles at her and says, "Aw, you're so sweet. But I don't think that's it. You've put up a good fight yourself. How about we get out of here and find something to get us out of here?"
Trudie nods and remarks, "Yeah, only because when the creature tossed us, it bent the track runners. This thing will never run on tracks unless we get the Jaws-of-Life on them."
Krueger frowns and opens the glass door, the cold wind coming from an open vent.
"Well, let's go."
Trudie nods and they hop out.
Holy crap, this thing did a number on the tracks. Every damn one of them are broken.
Krueger snaps out of his dream and they both walk through the hole, wondering where the Hulk-creature went to.
Krueger places a hand on Trudie's neck and says, "Hold it."
Trudie listens out of habit and hears them, the resounding shuffles of a hundred zombies, coming from everywhere.
"Damn it, what now? I only got three rounds left."
Krueger clenches his fists together and throws them to his left, the zombie's head smashing against the wall and his fists. Trudie nods and roundhouses the closest one, her foot smashing through the zombie's waist, tearing it in half. She looks down at the clambering zombie and stomps on the head. Krueger shoves his fist through another's head, pulling it back out as it falls. Trudie charges down the hall and jumps at three of them, her body tearing them in half. She rolls down the hall and trips two more.
She pushes herself up and runs back toward Krueger, stomping on the zombies' necks. She reaches Krueger and turns to face the twenty walking toward her. She crouches down and places her left knee on the steel. She pushes off and pulls her right arm back. She then throws it forward and slams her fist through the first five of them, severing their spines instantly. She slides to a clumsy stop in front of one and spins her right leg around, sending that one to the ground. She stands up and drops her knee into its head. She stands up and one of the rotting zombies wraps its arms around her neck, its mouth opening wide, its rotting teeth poised for the bite.
"Not me," is what Trudie says as she punches the zombie in its right temple, a weak hit if it were human, but the zombie falls dead, the blow fatal.
She looks down at it and walks back to Krueger, wondering where the rest of hers went.
Krueger kills his last one just as Trudie walks up, "You ok?"
Trudie looks at the bodies and nods, "Yeah, I'm fine, how about you?"
Krueger shrugs and then stands still, a faint beeping spewing down the hall, coming from the only room down that way. Trudie and Krueger bolt down the hall and slide into the room, staring down at the blinking computer screen.
"Well put me in a dress and call me Lilly, we got mail!"
Trudie pushes past him and clicks the message. She gasps and begins to read it aloud.
"To the members of the Sweeper Crew. You must escape immediately, our plans to keep the head execs out of this matter has failed, they are going to scrap the project. If you followed orders and disabled the drill, then head to the service shaft and use the high-speed pod. If anything gets in your way, be it human or otherwise, kill them."
Krueger walks behind her and shouts, "Son of a bitch! This just takes the cake. Does it say when the message was received?"
Trudie nods and says, "Yeah, five minutes ago... You think we can find the service pod?"
Krueger looks up at the twinkling light and says, "I don't know. They didn't tell them what Umbrella was planning, but I doubt it's good."
Trudie nods and they walk back to the split, heading down the third path, keeping their gazes on the ominous staircase at the end of the hall...
What is it with Umbrella and stairs?
The thought echoes through Trudie's mind and she descends them, holding the knife.
Krueger clenches his left fist and steps off of the last step, stomping into another water-filled hall, "Damn it, beware our little steel-muncher. We got water."
Trudie replies and she steps in after him, the water spilling over the toe of her boots.
She begins to lumber through the water behind Krueger, noting the worried look on his face, so she asks, "What's wrong?"
Krueger stops and says, "That's it, besides the water, there's nothing wrong, that scares me. Keep an eye out for anything unusual, I doubt the Hulk-creature is down here."
Trudie nods and holds the knife underhand, her senses on high-alert. They skulk through the halls for at least another half an hour until they finally find something, but not what they hoped...
"Look out!" shouts Krueger as the steel-muncher rounds the corner, gaining speed.
Krueger dives to the left and Trudie dives to the right, the steel muncher tearing between them. Krueger spins around and watches as it bangs into the reinforced door. It screeches its disapproval and bangs into the door repeatedly. Krueger snatches the knife from the water and dives forward, holding the blade downward. He lands on the creature's back and throws the blade down, not stopping until the repeating metal-on-metal scrapes fill his ears.
I haven't hit it? What the hell is this thing? Two centimeters thick?
Krueger stomps down in the fin and the creature writhes frantically, the blow obviously doing some damage. He continues to stomp on the fin until the screeches fade into a gurgled groan. He sits down on the metal and pulls the mashed fin up, his jaw dropping at the sight...
The creature was approximately one inch wide, just a tube with a fin.
"How the hell did something like this tear through steel?"
Trudie walks up next to him and says, "I dunno dude."
Krueger drops the dead beast and stands up, the water dripping off of his torn and worn leather pants.
He leans back against the wall and sighs contently, "Ah, that's much better... Now, where to?"
Trudie steps past him and begins to walk the way they were going, before their little mishap with the tube-beast.
"Hey, there's some more stairs, want to go down?"
Tudie hangs her head in defeat and nods, "Sure, once you've gone down one set, you've gone down them all."
Krueger nods in agreement and they take the stairs, their boots clanging off the metal steps.
"You think anything heard us?" is Trudie's question as they hit bottom.
Trudie said it more as a joke, but Krueger took it to heart, "Of course, now let's be careful..."
Almost as if on cue, the next form of the Hulk-creature appears at the end of the massive tunnel.
"Aw damn it."
What the hell is up with this thing, it never leaves us alone!
Trudie holds up the handgun, but lowers it again, knowing it won't do them much good.
"Hey, Trudie? I want you to run down the offshoot up ahead, I'll distract it."
Trudie shakes her head, "No, I'll distract it. You go."
Krueger protests, but Trudie wins out. Krueger stands back as Trudie runs forward, taking the knife before going. She jumps at the beast and Krueger pumps down the tunnel, keeping a tight bead on the offshoot. He sees Trudie drive the knife into the eyes of the beast before he disappears into the offshoot.
Trudie turns from Krueger and loosens her grip on the beast's face, sliding down, taking the knife with her. She lands on the ground and looks up, watching as the huge cut seals up, the blood clotting instantly.
"Oh shit."
She stands up and is then flying backwards, the creature nailing her with a tentacle.
"What was that?" Krueger looks back, just in time to see Trudie fly past the tunnel, the knife held loosely in one hand.
"Just go! Go Krueger, damn it!!" shouts Trudie.
Krueger takes a moment's thought, and then charges down the offshoot, the gun in hand.
"It may not do much, but I gotta try.."
He jumps out and lands face-to-neck with the Hulk-creature. He stands up and stares into its green, glowing eyes, the fire inside growing at the sight of him. Krueger continues the stare-down, trying to figure out one thing, why isn't it attacking him?
He presses the barrel of the Mark23 into its left eye and smiles, "Here's the competition, enjoy it while it lasts."
He fires twice, the gun running dry quickly, much to his disbelief.
"Aw fuck a nut."
He jumps back and throws his arm forward, using the empty gun as makeshift brass-knuckles. His fist connects with the fast-healing eye and bursts through, blood and other matter covering his upper body. He connects with the spine and grasps it, watching as the tentacles flail wildly, tearing through the lights and steel plating.
"How do ya' like that!"
He pulls out, watching as a large chunk of the spine comes with the gun and fist. The Hulk-creature shrieks in pain and turns, its body hitting the wall drunkenly, then takes off down the tunnel, its body tearing through the walls.
Krueger falls onto his back and begins laughing, amazed at his victory over the creature, and at how easy that victory was, too easy.
"Hey, what did you do?" asks Trudie as she walks back to him, holding her head and side.
Krueger leans forward and says, "Pulled its spine, you ok?"
The 'you ok' came out like, 'yokay?', which strikes Trudie as odd, considering he's always had perfect English.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Now, did you get a good look down the offshoot?"
Krueger nods and says, "Yeah, but you won't like it, more.."
Trudie cuts in, "Stairs? Aw, damn it. Ok, let's go.."
Krueger laughs slightly and they turn to the offshoot, staring into the eyes of a zombie. Trudie frowns and shoves the knife into the left temple of the flesh-eater. The zombie twitches and falls dead, well deader. Trudie walks over the body without a second thought, which freaks Krueger out, literally.
He throws his hands into the air and shouts, "What is wrong with you? DO you not care that you just killed a human being?"
Trudie looks back at him and says, "Yeah, but if you dwell on it, you'll go nuts. So, just forget that part. Now, let's fulfill Umbrella's stair-fetish."
Ok... That didn't go as planned.
"Yeah sure, let's go."
They stomp up the stairs, after going back and looking where the tunnel lead. After figuring out it lead to the waste control room, they climb the stairs, which are ominously plush, covered in deep red carpeting. When they reach the top of the stairs, the scene before them is awe-inspiring. The room, no the apartment is fully-furnished, everything silk-lined and expensive.
"Holy Christ. Someone was paid well."
Trudie nods in awe and says, "No shit. Is that a damned mini-fridge? Look, in the bathroom, there's a gargantuan tub. Damn....."
They survey the room and come across something out-of-place. Krueger picks up the purple vial and shakes the contents. He holds it up to the light and notices the white sticker attached on the other side.
He turns it over and says, "G. Hey, Trude, you know what 'G' means?"
Trudie runs up to him and snatches the vial out of his hands, "Are you stupid?!" she sits it down on the desk and turns to him, her eyes looking behind him, "Where did you get that?"
Krueger turns around and looks at the indentation where the vial was, a small button behind it.
"Trudie, head down the stairs, NOW!"
They both break into a sprint and head toward the stairs, reaching them as they break away, leaving a vast void, the stairs once positioned over a 'bottomless' pit.
"Aw, fuck," is Krueger's only sentence.
"Well, that isn't good at all..." Trudie regrets the statement as soon as it left her lips.
Krueger whips around and walks back into the room, which is growing a little hazy from an unknown substance.
"What the hell? Hey, Krueger, grab the vial, we may need that."
Krueger runs in and runs back out, his dirty wife-beater covered in a yellow something.
Krueger wipes the yellow stuff from his face and smiles, holding the vial in shaking hands, "That stuff is cold, I mean, ball-shrinkin', freeze-the-spit-in-your-mouth COLD!!"
Trudie shudders as she suddenly feels a breeze flowing from the direction of the bathroom.
"Now where to? It seems we activated their trap. And," she looks over the edge, growing more worried at how the stairs haven't hit yet, and says, "that is not helping any."
Krueger looks across the gorge and says, "I can....." he looks a second longer, "not make it. That is at least 200 feet across and 70 feet down."
He sighs loudly and sits down, crossing his legs in the process, "This blows..."
He places his head in his hands and tries to keep warm. Trudie sits in front of him and mimics him, the air becoming frigid and biting.
"What is up with Umbrella and elevators?"
Cain Wiseman holds the nub where his arm was ripped out, by that monster. He hisses in pain and walks to the staircase, his vision blurring.
"Damn zombie bit me, three or four times?"
Ever since then, his mind has demanded that he eats, constantly. He pulls up the sleeve of his jacket and stares at the claw marks, just the sight of it making his arm itch horribly. He scratches it and watches in painless awe as almost ALL of his arm skin comes off, absolutely no blood.
"Great.... meat...."
The words were slurred, but the thought behind them was strong. He holds the skin up to his cracked lips and shoves it into his mouth, blood now beginning to pour from his skinned arm. He swallows the 'meat' and groans in pleasure, smiling at his first taste of flesh, which will not be his last. He moans and scratches his itching face, carving deep trenches in his face, both missing his eyes.
He moans and groans one last time, then First Class Private Cain Wiseman dies, becoming one of the mindless creatures. It bends down to its own pool of blood, places its hands into it, and licks them clean, if shakily. It repeats the process and moans longingly, the blood not quite quenching its lust for flesh.
"So uh, got any threes?" asks Trudie as she clasps her empty hands together, the deck of cards nonexistent.
Krueger mock-laughs and says, "Nope, threw them and my other cards down that pit!"
He kicks a rock that fell from the ceiling into the pit, listening as it bounces off the left wall. He looks up slightly and smiles, the sight attached to the wall giving him an idea.
He taps Trudie on the shoulder and says, "You afraid of heights? I got an idea.."
Trudie follows his gaze and sees it, a small ledge that the staircase was sitting on, the other side part of the trap.
"Oh no. I will not do that..."
Krueger is already at the wall, motioning for her to go first. Trudie reluctantly steps onto the overhang and slides along it, holding the wall for balance. Krueger follows behind her, keeping a hand close to her, just in case the worst happens.
"Almost there, keep going.. Watch out!"
Trudie's foot breaks a small chunk of the ledge, losing her balance. She begins to free-fall, then a firm hand grasps her hand, her body swinging down and around, her body swinging in a curve. Krueger hoists her up, having to strain to pull her up and keep himself up.
"Hang on tight," shouts Krueger as he begins to slide across the wall, pulling her along with him.
"Ow, damn it."
Krueger pulls her up and tosses her onto the base of the stairs. She lands on her shoulder and rolls out of the way, just as Krueger lands.
"You ok? I threw you kind of hard there."
Trudie rolls her shoulder and nods, the pain intense, but bearable, "Yeah, I'm fine... I'm fine. You got the G-Virus?"
Krueger reaches into his front pocket and pulls out the glass vial, a small crack crawling up the vial, "It ain't big enough to leak anything. So... Where to now?"
Trudie looks out into the offshoot and sighs, then replies, "The only route left, we follow the Hulk-creature."
Krueger sighs in protest then tosses her the knife, which lands at her feet, the blade dug into the ground.
Trudie jerks her head up quickly and spurts, "Jackass."
Krueger nods back at her and she stands up, grabbing the knife in the process.