Sand Land

Chris A. Le

Disclaimer: I do not own RE.

Chapter 2 - Mirage

Edward Ames eyes were still wide open as he opened files upon files, as many as his Classification would allow.

"I...got something." Ames said suddenly.

"Tell me what you have." Chris replied, his voice shaky.

"According to these documents, the virus was originally retrieved from the Umbrella HQ during a...covert raid after the Indefinite Suspension of Business Decree was issued."

"Covert raid?" Chris mumbled, "Keep talking." Ames shook his head and took a deep breath, astonished by the revelations he was pulling up.

"They recovered the virus and..." The door behind Ames opened, his secretary stepping in.

"Sir, you have a visitor." Ames glanced back at her,

"Keep him in the Lobby, I'm working." Ames said, frowning.

"Oh, I'd rather come in now." A voice called from behind the secretary. The door opened further...Edward Ames' jaw dropped.

-

"Ed? Edward?" Chris frowned, "Ames?" No reply. Chris cursed as he heard the moans that had been coming from outside come closer. He backed up against the far wall of the hut, slowly sliding to the floor. His legs were weak, the drug they had applied earlier was still in effect. The flaps burst open and a horde of the carriers stormed in, at least ten. And they all looked hungry. Chris weakly held his firearm up and fired a shot. It pelted one of the carriers in the chest, but other then a few drops of blood, it had no effect. Chris took aim again, but the bullet went astray and failed to hit any of the carriers, "Ames, you jackass." Chris mumbled, letting the weapon drop. When the gun hit the sandy floor, a gunshot rang out. Chris questioned a discharge from the gun hitting the floor, but figured otherwise when he saw one of the carriers hit the floor. It was impossible for the 9MM to kill in one hit, much less actually hit the target. His thoughts were confirmed when a woman charged into the room, a .50 Desert Eagle in one hand and a combat knife in the other. With three rapid shots, three more carriers fell. This caught their attention. They changed course and began marching towards her. She looked at Chris,

"I would find some cover!" She called. Chris took hold of the small wooden table next to him and weakly tossed it in front of him. He knew what she was planning. She began sprinting towards him, a grenade in hand. She bit the cap off, tossed it behind her, and dove behind the table next to Chris. The impact shook the hut, the straw ceiling caving in. Chris shut his eyes and shielded his face. Time moved slowly as he lay there, unable to move. Both paralyzed by the drug and the mass amount of straw piled atop him, "Fun, huh?" The girl's voice said.

"Kidding?" Chris replied, spitting several pieces of straw out of his mouth. He opened his eyes to see her shoveling the straw off him with her arms. She was nothing short of stunning. Shoulder-length blonde hair accompanyed by dazzling emerald eyes and complemented by a perfect complexion. He shrugged it off, women gave him enough trouble as it was. With mostly all the straw now shoved aside, she reached into an equipment bag similar to his and produced a syringe, "You...you're the government agent that failed?" Chris asked.

"Is that what they said? More like defected." She said, kneeling next to him and pouring some sort of liquid from a vial into the syringe.

"Why defect? And what's that you're putting in me?"

"It's a long story and this will counter the drug in your body." She said with a smile.

"How do you have something like that?" Chris asked, frowning.

"All will be explained in due time." She said impatiently, shoving the needle into his arm.

"You'd make a horrible nurse." Chris said, gritting his teeth. She gave him another smile, this one taunting. She injected the liquid and tossed the syringe. Chris still felt paralyzed.

"It'll take a few hours to have an effect...come on." She grabbed his arm and began to drag him across the burning hotsand.

"I can probably walk." Chris said, gritting his teeth.

"That would be better, wouldn't it? But I'm going to bet you can't." And so, in this fashion, they moved to another hut. The village was built around a well. It was small and there were only about ten huts.

When she finally dragged him into the next hut, which was only about 5 feet from the last, she collapsed into a bed in the corner. Chris lay half inside the house, his legs still baking in the sun outside.

"Mind pulling me in the rest of the way?" Chris asked, smirking. She groaned,

"Live with it. You know what? You're fat." She joked, not moving from the bed.

"And you're immature." Chris shot back. Some feeling returned to his legs and he managed to kick himself the rest of the way in. The two rested in silence for a while. But the girl broke the silence.

"My name is Belle. Belle Reverant."

"Chris Redfield. Mind explaining the story to me now?" Chris asked.

"I was sent here to kill Albert Wesker. But...as I kept going, there were people not fully killed by the virus. People that had been deformed."

"Carriers?"

"Not fully. They were half-way. See, what I found is that to become a 'zombie' the virus has to kill you first. Now, the virus affects blood types. When breathed in it fuses with the blood stream and sort of creates 'bad blood'. One blood type is immune, partly, to the virus. AB. Now, when those who are of that blood type are fused with the virus, it effects them halfway. I'm no scientist so I can't clarify this, but they don't die. They don't want blood or anything like that. They get seriously...messed up. Like people affected by radiation. It's enough to make you disgusted at what our country is doing." Chris closed his eyes and took the information in. It wasn't enough to make him defect, though he was sick of the United States at this point. Using Umbrella's unstable virus as a weapon, it was foolish, "You awake still?" Chris didn't respond. Belle fell quiet and the two rested in peace, unaware of the chaos that many others faced.

-

Ames wiped the blood from his mouth. Now he had some broken teeth to add to his list of injuries. He kept his place on the floor, his face a bloodied mess. He gazed up at the man he so fully hated,

"I didn't think you'd go snooping. In about five minutes...you're entire life will change. Enjoy your last moments." With those cruel words, the man turned to leave. A few minutes after he had left, his secretary rushed in.

"Sir...are you alright?" She was a sweet girl...he smiled up at her.

"I'm fine. Go...leave." Ames said kindly, hoisting himself up. She frowned,

"I can get Medical Attention...who was that man?" Something went off in Ame's head. It felt like claws wrapping around his brain...squeezing. He twitched, his mouth gaping. Blood dripped to the carpet floor, his eyes bulging, "S-sir!" The girl backed away, frightened.

"Wait." Ames said, his voice raspy. He looked at her with his large eyes.

"Sir, I'll get help." She said, turning quickly. Both in fear and worry. Before she could step away, Ames lunged forward. He grabbed her waist and sank his teeth into her neck. She screamed, the taste of her blood filling his mouth. It was...the best thing he'd ever tasted. He threw her against one of the desks and wrappedone handaround her neckand the other ran up her smooth leg.He pushed her down on the desk and continued to devour her. She screamed...and screamed...and screamed. The sound was as satisfying as the blood he drank, the flesh he ate. The man returned to the room, smirking as he watched the scene unfold. He shut the door and locked it, though it wasn't needed. This man was in his complete control. The screams stopped.

-

Chris Redfield awoke to Ames' voice.

"Redfield." Ames said, his voice a bit raspier then before.

"The hell happened to you?" Chris asked, sitting up. Then he realized he had complete function of his body once again. He flexed to get complete feeling back.

"I got held up, my secretary had a fatal accident." Chris got to his feet and sauntered over to the bed. Belle was still asleep, a look of displeasure on her gentle features. A nightmare, Chris thought.

"Let's not get into details." Chris said, leaving the hut so he could speak loudly, "I ran into the other agent."

"That so? Off her." Ames said simply.

"Why? What's she done?" Chris asked, playing the idiot card. Ames didn't have to know that he knew about her defection. Maybe Ames didn't know either. Maybe he had taken her for dead.

"She's a defected agent. She's practically a terrorist. Off her." A shock hit Chris from behind, a literal shock. What felt like a hundred thousand bolts of electricity surged through his body, his eyes bulging. Then it was over. Chris whirled around and drew his pistol in one quick movement. He forced the gun against Belle's gut and turned the safety off.

"The hell did you do that for?" Chris said angrily, his finger twitching.

"You're wired. The camera that was on you, burnt out. The bug that has the potential to control your body, burnt out. Earpiece, burnt out. Everything they planted on you pretty much, burnt out. They've got nothing on you, you're a free man." Belle said quietly. Chris smirked, she was smart. He flicked the safety back on and holstered the weapon. If this wasn't such a terrible situation, this could have been considered a romantic moment. The moon, unclouded, shone brightly as the two gazed at eachother. She leaned forward, Chris knew what she expected. He leaned forward and stopped just as he could feel her breath on his face,

"It's night-time, get some more sleep and we move as soon as the sun shows." Chris said. Belle rolled her eyes,

"You don't know anything about romance, do you?" She said tauntingly as she returned into the hut. Chris sighed,

"Romance. It's almost as bad as Umbrella." Chris mumbled, turning and heading into the hut as well.

-

Ames sat in shock. Everything was gone. His screen had nothing on but the cheesy sunflower wallpaper put up by the last idiot working on the computer. Without a main objective in his now simple mind, Ames began to grow mad. He wasn't the only one.

"Send a group in to take care of this. Forget Redfield and Reverant. I don't give a damn anymore. Just shoot them and have it over with. It's too much of a risk now." Ames stayed where he was, still in shock. He looked disgusting with the dried blood around his mouth, his broken nose, and his two front teeth missing, "Get working!" The man slammed a fist into Ames' head, which exploded upon contact. Flesh and chunks off his skull splattered the room. The man frowned and scooped up the phone, pushing Edward's body aside. He placed a call. Another call. Then he set the phone back on it's receiver and glanced down at the headless body. He laughed. Blood was so comical to him.

Author's note: I dunno, something between Chris and Belle may spark up. But Chris is too torn up about his past that he dosen't want to love anyone anymore. Meanwhile, with Ames dead, someone else is taking the reins. Who is it?Oh and if you'rewondering why the'Ames eats Secretary' scene seemed sexual,it's becausethis virus is in a way related to Dracula. And if you know Dracula, it's a sign of opressed sexual desires. :pThis won't be turned into an M story but uhhh...there will be some references to Dracula as the virus unfolds.Sorry this update took awhile. I've made two different versions, both quite upsetting. Now, two reviews will get you the next!