Resident Evil 9: Return

Chapter Three: Welcome, Lycans and Gentlemen

Averie woke up, and she was still on the bus. People were running around, screaming. And she could smell fire. Someone pulled her to her feet, and she noticed it was the older gentleman from before, who had tackled the woman to save her. He handed her the knife, and Averie saw blood running down his face.

"We can't stay here, you know. The bus is on fire." The man said, smiling. Averie looked around, and saw Carson beside her. Where was Taylor.

Thanking the man, Averie grabbed Carson's hand and led him off of the bus, looking around. Most of the people were off of the bus at this point, and Averie slung her backpack over both of her shoulders.

"Taylor!" She called out, keeping Carson beside her. Averie alerted others of the situation at hand, and though they were all still shocked about the bus crash, many people called out for the young girl as Averie walked around. Around the other side of the bus, Averie noticed people grabbing all of the luggage before the fire could consume them. Averie grabbed her gym bag and made sure Carson grabbed his belongings. The young man from before came forward, and held out Taylor's bags.

"I saw her name on them." He said.

"But where is she?" Averie demanded, feeling her anxiety rise. She went around to the front of the bus, and heard Carson scream.

"Taylor!"

The older woman, the one who had kidnapped the two children, had Taylor in front of her and was holding a gun to her head. Taylor had tears falling down her face, but she didn't move.

The young man held Carson back as Averie slowly stepped forward. The woman, now brandishing a busted lip and a bloody forehead turned her attention to Averie.

"You couldn't stay out of the way, could you!" She spat.

"None of this was supposed to happen. Not the crash, not the fire, none of it!" She yelled, and Averie wondered how sane this woman was. Feeling for the knife in her pocket, Averie took slow steps forward, but at a slug's pace so the woman wouldn't notice.

"We all just survived a bus crash, and are exhausted, scared and confused." Averie explained, hoping someone would sneak up behind the woman and grab her before she killed someone.

"You tried to kidnap two children, but you failed. You were caught, please do not make this any worse."

The woman stared at Averie, and smiled. A wicked, evil smile. And started to laugh. Manically.

"Oh, but I've succeeded! I brought them here, and this is where they were requested to be sent! Where all of you were to be sent! I did my part, I fulfilled my vow!" Taylor was fully crying at this point, and the woman shook her slightly.

"Now all I need is the boy, and I will have triumphed." The woman stated. She pointed her gun in Carson's direction, and Averie stepped closer.

"Ahh, ahh ahh, not so fast." The woman said, pointing her gun back at Taylor.

"I need the boy too." But Averie shook her head.

"You're not taking either of them." She looked around for the armoured man, and saw him back at the bus. He was looking around, noticing the village gates about one hundred metres away from the bus. He then turned to Averie's direction, and whispered something into the walkie talkie he was holding. Averie wanted to scream at him to help.

"He's here, you know." Averie looked back at the crazy woman, who was looking Averie up and down.

"Your father. Your family is here, Delinor. Waiting for you. They are all waiting for you!" She laughed manically once more, and the armoured man pulled out his gun. But not to use on the woman. Straight out of the field of corn behind her, a giant creature jumped into the air and behind the woman. It stood about six feet tall, towering over the woman and Taylor. Its hair was matted, its skin a sickening grey colour and its clothes torn. It screamed at the crowd and sniffed the air, smelling blood.

"This wasn't meant to happen this way." The kidnapper stated, and for a moment her attention was away from Taylor. Averie slowly sneaked up on her, not wanting to startle the creature more than anything. But the creature was angrier than Averie was, and attacked. Averie grabbed Taylor just in time and pulled her away as the creature grabbed the woman and bit into her head. Carson screamed in terror as Averie pulled Taylor away. The kidnapper was most certainly dead as the creature raised its head, smelling the air once more. He looked over at Averie, who pushed Taylor away as the creature lunged.

A bullet from the armoured man's gun hit the creature in the neck, but he wasn't dead. He pounced onto Averie, and was ready to finish her. But Averie used the knife she had and hacked away at the creature's abdomen, refusing to be its dinner. She screamed and yelled as she stabbed, until the creature went limp, but not before leaving a sizeable cut on Averie's shoulder.

Averie rolled the creature off of her, and presumed it was dead as she stood up. But as she moved away, the creature slowly stood as well, and snarled. It slowly limped over to the body of the kidnapper, but another bullet hit the back of its head and the creature collapsed.

"Alright lads lets take a look." One of the men from the bus yelled, as a group of men approached the creature and prodded it with anything they could find. One man used a fishing pole he had brought with him and poked the creature's head. It didn't move, instead disintegrating into dust underneath the tip of the fishing pole.

"We're clear." The man stated.

The first man who had led the others to check on the creature turned on Averie, stepping closer. His footsteps were harsh and sounded menacing, causing the young man who held onto Carson to step up beside Averie. Taylor joined her younger brother a few feet away.

"What did that woman know about you, Delinor?" He demanded, stepping as closer as he could before he remembered Averie was brandishing a knife, and had protected herself from a creature that had close to 150 pounds on her.

"That's what I would have liked to know, but that creature stopped her from spilling anything else." Averie defended.

"Besides, I was a bit preoccupied keeping that woman from killing a kid or anyone else!"

The man cursed under his breath and walked away. Averie turned to the young man beside her.

"After all this, I still don't know who you even are." She admitted. "And you've already heard a crazy lady confess to knowing something about my father."

The young man smiled. "I'm Kai Hastening. I thought you could handle that guy, but wanted to be nearby in case anything went down."

Averie nodded her thanks, and walked over to Taylor and Carson. Both embraced her immediately, and Averie felt an older sister instinct kick in as she stroked the kids hair, letting them know they weren't alone.

"So, anyone have any brilliant ideas on how to get out of here?" The rude man from before bellowed. He pointed at Averie.

"We already know that she has something to do with this."

"With what proof, genius?" Kai stepped up, giving Averie some backup that she wished had been provided sooner.

"That woman was crazy, who knew what was going on with her! Averie was the only one of the bus who was willing to stop her from kidnapping two innocent kids. She kept that woman from killing Taylor, yet we're deciding it would be easier to blame her for what happened! Why don't we ask the bus driver who crashed the bus in the first place."

Speaking of which…a group of twenty or so had been able to push the bus back onto its wheels, creating a levee with the large, thick branch the bus had fallen onto. But out of nowhere, the headlights flickered on, and the engine started to go. Averie noticed the bus driver was back in his seat, wondering if he had ever left. Suddenly, the bus took off into the forest that it had emerged from, with several of the passengers giving chase.

The rude man from earlier looked out at the crowd of people and nodded.

"We go after that bus." He decided, and a group of six followed him.

"What about the rest of us?" The old man from earlier had asked. The rude man shooed him away, focused on taking out the bus driver.

"Figure something out, man. Make us some food for when we get back."

"I think I'd have rather kissed that ugly monster than make him food." Averie admitted under her breath, causing Carson and Taylor to giggle.

As the group disappeared into the forest, Averie and the others could hear noises from farther away, towards the village gate nearby.

Leaving the children for a moment, Averie approached the body of the kidnapper, and wanted to throw up. Her head was detached from her body, and the grass was now painted red. Trying her best to ignore the sight, Averie reached down and grabbed the woman's handgun.

The old man from before approached her, smiling.

"Have you ever fired one of those, girlie?" He asked. Averie shook her head, and the man gave her a demonstration of how to use the gun.

"Remember, only in am emergency do you use this." He said, handing the gun back to Averie. "I've fired many a gun in my day, and know when the best time to use it is. Besides, you seem to do alright with that knife, and I don't think we'll run into any creatures any bigger than 'im."

Averie nodded, and headed back to the others. The armoured man approached Averie, arms across his chest.

"You're Delinor's kid." He said, sounding disappointed. Averie nodded.

"Do you know how much trouble your father is in?" He demanded.

"No, that's why I came to look for him." Averie explained.

"But maybe we should talk, so you can explain to me why my father is in danger. I want to find him and bring him home."

Before the man could respond, the village gate opened, and a group of villagers walked towards the group. They were brandishing weapons, and didn't look impressed to see new people.