Chapter 15

They kept pouring into the forest, some with guns and others with huge axes. Shawn was slowly getting drained of stamina, constantly moving from tree to tree to gain ground. At that rate, he'd get run off the track. If he got lost in a forest full of those bloodsuckers, he was better off dead.

"See that our visitor fails to reemerge," he heard Effeminette say back at the pathway. "I shall see how Alucard fares."

Not yet, bitch.

Shawn saw through their meek strategy, their futile attempt to buy time. This Vlad seemed like a great deal to these bastards. He didn't know all the details, but he did know that he didn't want Vlad to make his appearance. After all he faced, who knew. It could've been a werewolf or Frankenstein himself.

There was a loud explosion from somewhere behind his guardian tree. He saw dirt fly past the shielding hulk of a plant, spraying the ground in front of him with burnt soil. Their accuracy seriously sucked. However, if he took a wrong step haphazardly, it would mean death. He listened carefully, listened to the monsters' raspy muttering. It was in English. The creatures probably understood each other regardless of language, which was strange, even for them. He then heard the sizzling sound of whatever explosive it was they were tossing. Just as that occurred, Shawn began to move, keeping very low.

Instead of going deeper into the forest, he backtracked, heading northeast. He managed to pull out his rifle, scrambling for it as quiet as he could while maintaining a vigilant stance. He only had about eight shots left for the sniper. He waited one last time for any sounds of their movements, took careful aim and-

PANG. . .PANG. . .PANG!

Three bodies hit the ground, the rest scurrying about like helpless ants. Another four blasts and those pesky lackeys were disposed of. He took into account that he had one last bullet left. There was an excited laugh from behind, filled with fervent hysteria. Shawn instinctively rolled to his right, missing the blade of the axe by inches. He jumped back up, simultaneously kicking forward his legs, knocking the stunned creature off its feet. With the monster unarmed, Shawn stomped on its face and blasted several assault rifle bullets into its decaying chest. Frantically, yet quietly, he raced to catch up to the vampire mistress. He figured it was time to get even.

When he reached the roadway, he immediately noticed her womanly figure from not too far away. He shifted his weapon to his last bullet for the sniper and took aim at her slender body. He kept his aim higher, waiting until the aiming guide pointed straight at her back, hoping for a one-hit wonder. The blast was muted, the impact ploughing her down to the ground. He looked up, saw her leaning forward and still alive, alive and getting up. The ragged hole in her back wasn't bleeding at all. She turned around, only several feet away. Effeminette smiled deviously.

"I am nothing at all like the petty life-forms you killed back there. Unlike them, I've been given an extra dose of T-virus."

". . . ?"

"Ha, ha, ha. I forgot how basic you humans are. How foolish of me. The T-virus is treated as a mutagenetic toxin, although if used appropriately, can have high potency. In this case, my body may regenerate itself any time the original design is fractured. It is pure perfection. Alucard enhanced all his agents, including himself, with the miracle potion. Now, it's our key to equalizing the world into one whole. Besides, you humans make such excellent hosts."

She began to approach Shawn, who was stunned by her incredible resistance. She was probably as strong as Hisaru, maybe stronger. He started backing away in response, aiming at her despite the realization that she'd still survive his attacks.

"What's wrong? Are you scared?" she teased, a tone of malice in her wickedly beautiful voice. "Oh, wait. I haven't even shown you what I truly look like . . ."

As she continued to walk, her flawless skin began to wither, the layer beneath pulsating wildly. The veins expanded and revealed themselves clearly. Her eyes, although partially hidden by her black silky hair, began to shine an unnatural reddish hue. Her black dress slowly began to wilt away, the temperature of her body increasing with every step she took. The blood in her veins pumped violently. And each beat her rancid heart made augmented the growth, a rapid cellular ontogenesis that struck a motley of fears Shawn didn't understand right away.

When her lips opened, they revealed enlarged teeth, the incisors elongated like the classic vampires. That portrayal was easily matched in ferocity by the appearance of thin, sharp nails one both hands and feet. By then, the veins covering her nude body had literally been whipping out of various orifices. Quite frankly, she no longer resembled a human. The final touch to her transformation was a pair of demonic wings, equally embraced in throbbing veins.

She laughed, her metamorphic head jolting back in delight. Her voice sounded like that of a possessed demon, lacking the eloquence it once had.

"It appears Eva left out a lot of blank spaces, mortal. I shall end your foolish ways and feed off your loathsome corpse!" She flew up high, well-hidden among the canopies above.

"Damn!" muttered Shawn, his senses going berserk. It sounded like she was everywhere at once, the beating of unholy wings bringing chills up his spine. He suddenly broke out into a sprint, racing down the pathway she had blocked before. Surely enough, Effeminette was lunging for him, her fangs exposed and her claws ready to tear him to shreds. He somersaulted forward and slightly to the right, avoiding her altogether, but not by much. In an instant, she was gone again, lost in the greenery of the trees.

He continued running, pushing his body to keep going even above its own limits. He could hear her screech, almost feel her giving chase. Shawn rolled hard on his right shoulder, simultaneously rolling around to face his pursuer. And he opened fire on her, the rapid-fire bullets punching at the slim, agile body so severely, she was immediately stopped in midair. She struggled to fight off the bursts, but lost her balance instead.

Shawn closed in on her as soon as she hit the ground. But she rose again, spinning so fast, he was smacked him onto the ground. She shrieked in disapproval, her body writhing as it began to heal the holes. She took advantage of this momentary distraction and hovered over him as he desperately pushed himself up with strength he never knew he had.

Her feet, which were now taloned claws, clutched his shoulders, stabbing as deep as she could to hold him in place. He squealed in pain, too tired to fight her off.

The next moment, she was carrying him up into the sky, above the treetops. She clawed at him with her hands, hoping to catch an eye or ear, but she ended up tearing his arms up as he shielded himself instead. Each cry of pain he let out was music to her ears, fulfilling her lust.

"I'm sorry to say that I must kill you now, human. Hope you're afraid of heights. Heh, heh, heh."

Her talons release his bleeding shoulders, sending him plummeting down. However, he took out the odd-shaped gun on time, aimed up and shot, the hook shot piercing through her body. She cried out in surprise as his weight tugged at her lightweight body. Even then, Effeminette's body struggled to heal the wound, so fast that the hook was stuck in well.

"Foolish human!" she muttered her attempts to free herself failing. Meanwhile, Shawn hung on for his life. He pressed the trigger that retracted the strong cord, trying his hardest to ignore his wounds. He was shot upward toward her demonic form, landing him right on top of her back. He whipped out his shotgun and blasted her head cleanly off. The body began to shoot down sharply, eventually crashing onto a branch and impaling her there on the spot. Shawn managed to jump a second before, the many branches smacking him and breaking his fall. Leaning on a branch near the ground, he took the time to assess what had happened and noticed Effeminette up above.

Shawn climbed down, saw her face attempting to reform.

"Wretched human, you cannot kill me!" she spat, struggling to free her body but to no avail.

"Well, looks like your body regenerated right around that thick branch. Gonna be hard getting out, unless you take the tree with you." He actually smirked, surprised with himself after all the injuries he sustained.

"Damn you, human! Damn you . . ."

"Shut your damn mouth!" he shouted, blasting off her head one last time, the silence heavenly as the sun began to rise steadily at his destination. Leaving her to rot on something much more natural than she was punishment enough, he supposed. With that last thought of accomplishment, he recalled her words on Vlad. He needed to hurry.

A L U C A R D

The sight was phenomenal. Vlad had revived perfectly. However, he wasn't in his human form, which was odd yet refreshing. Regardless, he marveled at the tall, muscular form he bore, the grey skin still restoring itself. He looked nothing at all when he faced off with him years back, causing to doubt his recollection. His face was not a face. It lacked eyes, its mouth was a toothy grin from left to right, and it didn't have much of a nose. Its wings spanned at least eight feet each greatly resembling a bat's. His claws were monstrously long, making that foul creation, Darkside, look like a chew toy. He stood at least twelve feet tall, and he wasn't fully done regenerating.

"Oh, how I've waited so long!" he sang, staring into the empty face it had. Alucard saw his reflection in the thick saliva it began to secrete, his face glorified in the grace of Vlad. In the short time that remained, it would all be over, his plan, his life, his struggle, and his reflection, too. Gone and sacrificed for the future of the world. And he didn't mind one bit.

S H A W N

It wasn't long before Shawn noticed the city up ahead. It was a morbid sight to behold. The place was obliterated, cars smashed into stores and buildings, plumes of dark smoke rising into the air from many unknown sources, and bodies strewn about to decorate the streets in a grisly scene of death. When he entered the first street, his intuitive voice inside yelled to leave, to just take the copter out of the city like Eva suggested.

Sure, it seemed to hold no purpose when he looked at the big picture; after all, he was minutes away from escaping the horrible nightmare. But it was there, that tiny suppressed thought in his head that told him things were weren't fine and peachy again.

You know what those psychos are planning. Something really bad is going to happen. Plus you can't get infected. You're the only one who can do it. Plus, there's Eva . . .

Even as he thought of her, he began to wonder where exactly she could be. The woman was wily, but very presumptuous. She'd get slaughtered by "Randolph". Speaking of, Shawn also wondered what became of the bastard. It would be a pleasure to blast his useless carcass into a bloody pulp of nothingness.

A noise disrupted Shawn as he eyed the ruins of the unknown Romanian city. It sounded like a deep growling sound from somewhere in the city. It was so loud, it seemed as if it came from the city square. However, he could also hear chewing and snapping noises as well. It was the only sound in the area. In fact, he could swear there was nothing left in the city but the growling thing.

"Vlad . . ." he whispered.

He turned the corner reluctantly, freezing at the sight that slowly unfolded. A colossal figure with folded wings was gnawing at some red, fleshy bone, the creature appearing sinewy itself. It was crouched on top of a pile of bloody bodies, each with a tormented expression on the faces. Around the pile were vampires, too, all half eaten and ripped up into pieces. The behemoth tossed the body it was chewing on, and right in front of Shawn's tattered boots was that freaky man, the Randolph impersonator, dead and mangled with a sick smile on his face. The devil-look-alike turned its eyeless mess of a face right where he stood.

Speechless, his mind told him to just run, but before that could happen, he saw a laser light directed right at the devilish monster's neck, and-

PSHHH . . .

Some kind of dart-like object struck the human-shaped monster directly at the visible jugular vein. It shrieked horribly, like some monstrosity from a horror film. It jetted up into the air, appearing like some dragon. Four horns were projected from its forehead, and its wide, sharp-toothed grin took up nearly all of its face. Large muscular arms and legs held powerful, clawed appendages. It had death written on each strand of veins on its entire unnatural body.

It began gliding, ripping through buildings and wreckage as if they were just made of cardboard. Shawn remained in the same spot, not knowing whether running was worse than hiding.

"No turning back now," he thought sarcastically, his eyes training above where the sniper would apparently be. Climbing a building would most likely get him right where the monster wanted him-

-and it came swooping down, roaring like some mighty mythical creature of doom. Shawn used as much strength as he could to dodge the attack, diving at the last moment. A blast of wind it kicked up as it flew past knocked him over; one blow from any of that thing's body parts and Shawn would most definitely be a smoldered pile of flesh on the ground.

Shawn opened fire on it posthaste, the shotgun blasts tearing away at its leg. Strange blood gushed out and hardened on within seconds, repairing the wound in a flash. It almost seemed as if he did nothing to the beast.

Again, the sniper aimed at it and fired, only this time it was a rocket flying at it. The beast flew at a building and shot upward so suddenly, it appeared just like a fighter jet. The rocket was an utter miss.

It continued flying off into the distance only to make a backward dive and turn around, soaring back for its assailant. Shawn took out his Uzi and shot freely at the beast who veered in his direction for his blood.

"Oh, shi . . ."

Shawn dove behind a capsized car, the massive hulk of the creature blowing at the teetering vehicle. It spun in circles, nearly crushing Shawn where he stood.

Gotta stall. Have to escape.

The hum of a helicopter sounded from off in the distance, both startling and wracking Shawn nerves. It was the chopper Eva warned him about. If that hell spawned creature spotted it, his only means out of Romania would be blown to shit along with his life.

Shawn blasted away at the thing, its wings repairing too fast to tear. It began to salivate, the yellowish, bile-like substance landing on the trashed car and eating at the metal as if it were burning flames on paper.

"Shawn!" echoed a voice from atop of a building. She tossed the rocket launcher she used before, the weapon nearly ripping through an awning as it landed perfectly on it. "I'll distract it!" It was Eva firing, now, the machine gun shots smacking the monster all over its hardening body. The shots were starting to ricochet, the skin becoming much too tough. The beast bellowed its war cry, just as Shawn reached the awning. He climbed the nearest car and grasped the heavy, awkward launcher, the long weapon making him feel somehow reassured.

"Time to meet your maker . . ." Shawn whispered, the rocket blasting the demon directly at its back. It screeched sharply, a brilliant explosion illuminating the cloudy morning sky. It crashed onto the streets, with a earth-shattering thud. Shawn tossed the empty launcher aside, looking up to see if Eva was still up there-

-except the monster rose again, not a scratch on it! It managed to repair its wound immediately, regaining vitality. Although eyeless, it appeared to be looking at Shawn with interest, as if it had some unknown form of intelligence he couldn't comprehend. There was one final roar from it and Shawn noticed the dart in its still soft, fleshy neck, two more, then three. The beast went wild, slashing at everything in its path in an animalistic frenzy. It was obviously in excruciating pain, its color becoming a sickening pallor. It took off into the sky, swerving like a blinded bug and dive bombing somewhere into the desolated city. He heard the thing crash, even saw the gray smoke rise where it hopefully died for good.

"I-is it finally over . . . ?

Moments later, after collapsing against the wall of a café, he saw the helicopter overhead. He was drained, unable to even yell a word. His mind cried out frantically, but his body wouldn't react-

-and a flare flew up from somewhere nearby.

"E-Eva . . ."

Flashes of light faded into black as the scene changed, the city back at the infested town recurring. The zombies were back, as well as all the soldiers, his friends. Everything was wavering, twisting and turning. There was yelling again. And down an illuminated, main roadway were several men in suits and ties. They just stood there watching. The next thing he knew, there was a needle sticking out from his arm, and he was dazed. The attacks continued, several being picked off and eaten by human-like monsters, all bleeding and decaying. The men in suits were safe, though, and watching them with interest. His mind was getting foggy to the point that he could only keep shooting ahead of him. And like a cherry on top of a rotting cake, Albert Wesker came walking next to the fiendishly placid, serious men. He just stood there wearing black shades, silent. And at his side . . . Eva . . .

After passing out, Shawn awoke somewhere calm, serene. He was laying down, yet he couldn't get up. It took awhile for his disorientation to fade. Whether it was a flash of pain from his wounds or the nightmare that woke him up, he didn't want to be awake yet. And when his eyes opened half-way, he saw a woman tending his wounds. She had short, brown hair picked up in a ponytail, wearing a blanket around her body. Near her was a little boy, fast asleep. The realization hit him; knowing he survived was enough to console his battered body. He then went into a long-awaited slumber, no longer caring where he was going or what was next to come.

S A M A N T H A

The sun was up and seemingly brighter than ever, the sight outside the helicopter a beautiful blessing after the tragedy she had to bear witness to. So much death, yet the view made her forget it all, at least for the time being. The events that unfolded would haunt her for the rest of her life. But then, she thought about Drake and his cause. It made her feel stronger, like there was somewhere to go where she would most likely belong. Pretending that the past day didn't affect her would be an utter lie. And now, there was a place out there where she could exact revenge for the lives lost.

After speaking a bit with the pilots and medic, she continued to further patch the surviving man's shoulders, each one punctured by something she didn't want to imagine. He must've gone through hell, too; he suffered two fractured ribs, many cuts and scrapes, the punctures and minor head trauma. Her thoughts began to dwell back on Drake, reminding her of the papers he handed down to her. She hadn't mentioned them to the I.O.P.T men yet. Curious despite the nightmare she was involved in, she decided to take a look.

The first page were maps he found of various laboratories he'd been in. One of the diagrams were that of the lab they'd been in. The second sheet was a report he had typed up several weeks before the fateful day. On top was a title, "Drake's Report".

" Oct. 23,

I managed to infiltrate a lightly secured laboratory in the Alps with the aid of my men. I believe it was an old Umbrella facility before they were shut down. Seems like they didn't have too much info on progress. Found several documents, though, that had some appeal to me. One of them stated the experiment they called Variable X, or much better known as Parasite X.

Surprisingly, it's rumored that the bio weapon was planned to be used as an enhancer of some major project those people were working on somewhere. No other document would further explain anything else, and all other documents/items were under heavy surveillance by guards, cameras etc. However, I was stunned to find out that there were at least twelve other facilities around the area. "

The next sheet . . .

"Nov. 8,

It appears there was a leakage of some sort, viral or other. My men and I are readying for any tough situations, although we don't know exactly how our luck fares as of yet. We do know that whatever the case, it's spreading like wildfire, the city we're in still in disarray. In the event where we cannot allocate any other items, I shall dispatch this packet straightaway. There weren't much, but they'll help us further understand our predicament with the U.S. government and Wesker. Apparently, our government is indeed cooperating with the madman, just as I feared. But not under their will, not to say they're being held against their will, for they lost it completely. It appears yet another B.O.W. is at work here.

My work here is most likely done. My fellow men and I will depart to I.O.P.T. Personnel HQ in France, where we will meet with the British and French commissioners of the new top secret I.O.P.T. department there, who are obviously greatly troubled by the recent events and want to get involved with our current investigation. We shall return to HQ once things settle down.

I wish you all the best of luck back there.

Drake "

"File 1 - Biologist's Assistant Diary excerpt

Oct. 28

Today, we found a rather amazing link between the T-virus and the parasite. It appears that the two reacted almost immediately as opposed to the reactions between the parasite the other substances we've tried. The growth rate was perfect, unlike anything we've ever seen before. The virus helped repair the tissue, which is quite the opposite reaction you get at other times. I was inspired by this, finding this successful evaluation as a miracle. Perhaps HCF would find a more suitable use for it, like a cure for cancer? Who knows? All I know is that this is beyond fate. I shall be bound by project, and I won't quit until I learn more from it.

Oct. 30

Just came back from the incubator room. Our specimen are looking greater as each day goes by. The incubator nurses say that they occasionally move. I knew there was a breakthrough with the parasite, but this is incredible! Still, I can't help but feel a little uneasy at the thought of growing new species of creatures. Isn't this discovery enough for now? Why rush into making weapons?

Nov. 1

It's night. I got scolded today for browsing through my superior's notes. It appears they've already began naming their bio 'pets'. The Manikins are apparently the MA-144's, which I thought were just plain creepy. And I heard in the report and from people like Richard, that they are truly killing machines. At one point, they thought about using their new underwater killers, the NS-120's, on live people, innocent people! I was appalled, so I released them into a lake where they'll die a quick death before they'd reach maturity. I figured killing them in mass that way was my best bet, for should reach maturity, their replication rate will sky rocket. I really enjoy my job here, but Mr. Wesker is taking his cause way out of proportion.

Nov. 4

This will be my last entry, then I will have to escape from this hell. I'm leaving this here for anyone who finds this, it's all I can do for the others. The past few days felt like they never happened. I've been having blackouts frequently and my chest pain has only gotten worse. I firmly believe it was the cause of the 'vaccine' everyone in the lower departments needed to take. It must've been some kind of poison or something. Regardless, I plan to take the next plane in the nearest airport and I secretly hope everyone else draws the same conclusion. My proof? I went to deliver Crowley, my superior, my report on the Manikins, and he was placing the bodies of other workers into cryogenic tanks to be frozen and saved for further experimentation. I refuse to end up like them. I never imagined they'd stoop this low, like Umbrella did. I will be . . ."

The file ended just as it appeared. The next one, though, was a bit more disturbing. Sam squinted her eyes a bit to read the strange note.

"File 2 - Evolution Theory

As the expert in my department, I have thought up a theory regarding the effects of Parasite X. Because of the T-virus enhancement, it was difficult to figure out the parasite's original behavior. Apparently, it was dying out quick before the T-virus was administered, leading us to believe that at one point it did thrive, but failed as an adapting life-form.

Regardless, there are some who, when administered with Parasite X, exhibit extraordinary feats, such as enhanced strength, modified tissued recovery, and abnormal blood plasma. We've yet to keep one in reserve for lack of handling, but there have been reports of extreme cultists who possessed amazing capabilities resembling vampires and monsters. This is because the parasite embeds itself in the chest of the host, mutating the veins and capillaries in such a way that blood is brought faster to the heart than the body can have. This results in what I call 'blood dehydration' in which blood thickens, and in some rare cases, dries up, causing an immediate need for blood; a similar trait the T-virus inherits. It seems the parasite shares the same blood, and since it requires about a third more blood than a human needs, this occurs.

My theory has correlation to an ant colony. First off, it may help to say that the Progenitor virus, extracted from an ant's genes, was used to create the T-virus. And parasites, for the most part, usually work together like in a hive. What I came up with was quite obvious. Just as one of the average ants can end queen of the colony, so can the parasites. One out of several parasites grow to be much more competent than the rest, allowing for a potential queen. Because the Parasite X creatures work in groups, it's safe to say the strongest, or rather best evolved one will emerge to lead.

My last thoughts on the parasite has to do with the Las Plagas. That parasite was less complicated, yet just as interesting. HCF has found that its use is boundless, since the queen can control its subjects nearly firsthand. In fact, it was said that if used accordingly, it could be used for mass control. "

Sam's eyes widened at the last thing the researcher wrote in the report, her heart sinking down into the pit of her stomach.

"It is also notable to mention that we've nearly perfected 'Darkside'. Our experiment failed to follow what we encrypted about three hours later. However, we did find something peculiar. We've watched its actions and behavior for awhile after his insubordination. It so happens that it mainly pursued those infected strongly with the parasite. Because it incorporates the parasite, my opinion is that it fights them to determine which is more superior in the 'hive'. Thus, it hunts the strongest of the strongest, killing them in the process. One might even say it would leave them unscathed so long as a stronger parasite remained in its presence. Then again, this is solely a hypothesis. We shall continue experimentation . . ."

Sam thought back at the incident with the rampaging monster and the boy. And even before that, it attacked Drake first, who was infected. But if the monster went specifically for the boy, what could that mean . . . ?

She took a look at Devon and jumped lightly when she noticed he was sitting up staring at her. His face was serious.

"Is something wrong?" he asked monotonously.

"N-No, everything's fine," she replied with a smile. The boy frowned.

"I was having strange nightmares."

"About what, sweetie?"

" . . . I don't know," he said with a puzzled look. "There were a lot of people in a dark room. They all looked like me, but they were different. They all had . . . ugly faces. They stared at me funny. For some reason, I . . ." He paused, looking down in shame. Sam waited, her smile turning into a nervous frown. "I wanted to kill them. I don't know why, but I did. I wasn't angry or anything . . ."

"It's okay, just go back to sleep. Everything will be okay once we reach the big building. It'll take only an hour. Everything will be okay." She gave the boy a hug, half feeling fear and half feeling pity. And in the back of her weary mind, she knew the horror was yet to be over.