Chapter 38: Finding Sofia
So sorry for the late post. The reason is, as I've warned before, I am still writing this. I've run out of pre-made chapters that were edited. And pre-written chapters too. So as of this current chapter, I will be posting as soon as a chapter is written and edited. The other reason is I got sick, then I had writer's block, and finely I had a bad case of burn-out. So, it'll be slow going. but it's not over and I hope to have at least three more books after this. Just to let anyone curious know.
I don't own anything. Resident Evil belongs to Capcom and Tomb Raider belongs to Core Design, Crystal Dynamics, and I think Square Enix. The only thing I own is the changes made to the stories of the Tomb Raider games/comics and Resident Evil games/comics/CG movies, the Government branch S.P.E.L.L., the person that has taken over Kathrine Warren's life, and Rose Warren. This story also will be bloody, violent, and have cursing. It's rated T for Teen.
Country: Russia, State: Siberia, City: Siberian Wilderness, Place: Near Kitezh, Area: Geothermal Valley, Month: November, Day: Wednesday 29th, Year: 2000, Time: 16:17 KRAT…
People tend to think battle lasts hours. It only feels that way. It was minutes. The fire, started by guns and a few Trinity men in fire suits wielding flame throwers, were dying as people rushed around to put them out. Black smoke wafted into the air with glittering ash. Trinity had completely underestimated the villagers of Kitezh. They made a tactical retreat. But they left destruction in their wake. Even if the people had pushed them away, they still suffered losses.
There was crying of the injured and the morning around them as they walked through the smoke. Those that weren't injured or less injured than others, helped those that were in shock or too injured to move on their own. Some of the younger men had created a fire line passing back and forth buckets of water from the river to put out the smaller files, but it was clear that some buildings were beyond saving. Others still were gathering the dead and lining them up for identification and future burial.
Leon was with those putting fires out. Throwing buckets of water at the flames and kicking dirt to smother them farther. Kat was helping with the bodies, giving last rights and covering them with shrouds. Lara helped find and move injured to dry flameless areas for healing. Jacob joined in checking on the injured, anyone that started to black out, he woke up.
"Stay with me." Jacob told one of the men that held a burned/broken arm and looked out of it. "Stay with me."
Lara looked over to him from helping a man to a bed roll. She kneeled beside him and shook her head. "I'm sorry, your people don't deserve this." She whispered softly.
Jacob nodded to the man who nodded back in thanks. "It is our chosen path…" He said as he stood up with Lara. "Our duty. It's never been easy."
He walked to where Kat was with the dead. Lara following.
"I…Kat, Leon, and I…we understand what it's like to lose people." Lara said as she watched Kat stand and move to the next body, gripping her spear tightly. "Trinity won't stop, will they?"
"I doubt it." Jacob agreed as he looked from the dead to Lara as Leon and the fire brigade came back from putting out fires. "They have many resources."
"And the Atlas?" Lara asked as Leon whipped ashy sweat from his brow, coming over.
"It's an ancient map of the old city, but Trinity won't find it at the tower." Jacob explained, although seemed both resigned and reluctant, as he pointed, Lara's and Leon's eyes lifted to the tower that was both untouched from the attack, but it's ancient walls were succumbing to the elements and time. "Many of my people live in those ruins." He looked to the pair as Kat finished her whispered prayer to the last of the fallen villagers. "They won't be prepared for what's coming."
"We can help them." Leon offered.
Jacob looked from Leon to Lara, then to Kat as she came over. "Would you three do this for us, or for that which Lara seeks?"
Leon looked around him. "For your people. They didn't deserve any of this."
Kat nodded. "Too many have died before they had to." She was still in her Norse accent. She didn't remember any of the fighting. Just running, screams, and then she was pulled to see to the dead and dying. Give them prayers and seeing them off with her quiet words.
Lara swallowed and looked around. "Right now, they're one in the same."
Jacob nodded. "I'll be back with reinforcements, after we've all tended to the wounded." He walked over to a woman who got his attention. "Yes? What is it?" He asked.
"We're in bad shape Jacob." She told him. "The attack left us in shambles, and we have no one to send to Acropolis…"
"I know…" Jacob sighed sadly. "I'll see to the wounded here, we have to get them to someplace safe. When that's done, we'll gather anyone still able to fight…Sofia will hold them off until we can arrive."
"I hope to God you're right." The woman nodded. "I'll send a runner when we're ready."
Leon looked to Kat as they took a seat with Lara on the ground. Resting for a moment. "How do you feel?"
"Like a deer on a spit." Kat joked as she sagged. "You?"
"Feel seasoned and roasted." He joked back.
Kat snorted. "Smell like it too."
"We all reek." Lara sighed as she smelled herself.
"Not as bad as Leon, Claire, Sherry, Rose, and I did after Raccoon." Kat told Lara.
"Like the blood on Yamatai?" Lara asked.
"Worse." Kat sighed.
Leon shuttered. "I can still remember the taste of the sewers…"
Lara gagged. "Never mind."
They looked at the people around them. They were taking the weapons from dead Trinity men, boots, jackets, and packs. Then they were piling them up to burn.
"On the new topic." Leon looked to Kat. "What was that you said before? You were listing brainwashing methods…I heard you say parasite."
Lara jolted. "Parasite?"
Kat sighed. "2004. Leon, you're gonna get a mission in Spain. Not sure if it'll have anything to do with more Umbrella or not. But it's got to do with Parasites controlling people painfully and slowly until they're undead and fully controlled." She sighed feeling worry. "In the unchanged timeline…Leon, you got infected."
Leon groaned and lowered his head. "Again?"
Kat nodded. "Good news, as far as I remember, that's the last time you get infected with something."
He huffed and pushed some dry crunchy hair from his face. "Great…anything else?"
"Yeah, if you see a guy that is as tall as Mister X, don't try a round house kick on him. It's stupid that after he knocks you out is when you get infected with the Plaga."
"Why in the hell would I do that?" Leon asked at the same time as Lara "You tried to round house a half-giant?"
"That hasn't happened yet and ain't gonna happen." He told Lara then looked back at Kat. "You're kidding right? I didn't do that."
Kat sighed. "In the OG Game, you did, but well, a remake was coming out and I died before I saw that…so some of what I tell you of it might help you or be void. Not sure."
Leon shook his head. "Well, it's not happening. I'd have to be really stupid to do that."
Lara looked up at the tower. "Let's go. We need to see if any of Jacob's people are still in that."
Kat and Leon looked at it too. "Yeah."
There were a few grunts of pain as they got up, but they didn't make a show of it out of respect for the badly wounded. Their bumps and bruises were nothing compared to family that lost a loved one. Kat took one last look at where the dying were being cared for and again felt the pull to go to them and comfort them.
Country: Russia, State: Siberia, City: Siberian Wilderness, Place: Near Kitezh, Area: Geothermal Valley/Acropolis, Month: November, Day: Wednesday 29th, Year: 2000, Time: 16:29 KRAT…
The three slipped through the hole in the old aged doors to the Acropolis. The building inside looked like it had been built into an old cavern, the walls were stacked stones where the length was straight, but where there was a curve or a dip, the rock of the cavern was left in its natural state. The pattern followed along the ground as well with patches of cobble stones broken up by natural rock pushing up through or in places where it was not possible to lay the bricks evenly.
The ground was littered with overturned boxes, some running chickens, overturned burning braziers, open boxes of food, and clothing. But they saw no people.
Lara pulled her radio and pushed the talk button. "Jacob, it's a mess up here." Lara began. "There's no sign of your people."
"Sofia might have taken them into the catacombs beneath the tower. But I lost contact with her." Jacob said to them.
"We'll look for her there." Leon assured as they looked to the barricade and a hole on the far side of the room.
"We're almost done evacuating the wounded here." Jacob told them as they jogged to the hole in the side and climbed up to it. "I'll join you soon."
They walked through the hole and came out to a short path that led to a crevasse. The opening was bridged by a thin fallen tree. They looked from the tree to each other than blew out a frustrated breath looking back at it once again was a bad idea.
"I'm first." Kat voiced.
"You've got your gear back on so you're not the lightest." Lara reminded.
"Well…" Leon walked to the edge and looked over the tree. "It looks more stable than the signal tower." He grabbed the sides and gave it a small shake. "Yeah…it's thin but stuck between the rocks." He stood back up. "So…"
"I can still go across first." Kat told them as she walked to it.
Leon nodded as he peered over the edge. "Be careful."
She looked down too and nodded. "I will."
Kat then stepped onto the tree, putting her arms to the sides for balance. She moved slowly and made it across easily. She turned around as Lara crossed next. Then Leon. Not once did the tree buckle, bow, turn, or creak. They rounded a corner and came to a rock wall. Just as with other walls, Leon put his back to it and laced his fingers by his hip to make a footstep. He bent his knees for a more foot holds and nodded at Lara and Kat.
"You don't have to do this every time, Le." Kat told him as she put her foot to his hand.
"I'm taller than both of you. So, I kinda do." Leon joked as Kat climbed up him and up onto the rock above.
Kat rolled her eyes as she turned around as Lara soon joined her. "Yeah, but you're also heavy to pull up."
"Oh yeah, it would be easier if one of us had you climb up." Lara voiced in agreement as she and Kat helped pull him up.
"Okay, next time…" Leon looked from Lara to Kat, studying their muscle tones through their clothes. "Lara can boost us."
Lara smiled. "Good."
The three took off down the chasm path behind the back of the tower. Their boots splashing in the stream they ran though and feeling water spray them from the waterfall on the wall.
Country: Russia, State: Siberia, City: Siberian Wilderness, Place: Near Kitezh, Area: Geothermal Valley/Acropolis, Month: November, Day: Wednesday 29th, Year: 2000, Time: 16:45 KRAT…
After surfacing from a small pond, they walked up a hill and blinked. They were greeted by a familiar smell. Burning wood and death. Before them was the real tower and the small village around it. So, before it had been the front border gates. A helicopter was flying toward it and they knew it was Trinity.
"Fuck…I hope they're not too late." Leon breathed as a second one flew at the tower that had a goldish dome on top.
"Let's get there and hope to every pantheon in existence were early." Kat voiced as they turned and tore down the old, aged stairs.
At the bottom of the stairs, they were in the village. Buildings were on fire, things overturned or broken. It seemed they were a bit late after all.
"Oh god, no…" Lara breathed as they slowed for a moment, seeing the dead bodies and fires.
They ran for the tower, hearing sounds of battle. Sounds of yelling, the pain, the rage, the fear. Sounds of fighting, guns, explosions, and impacts. They came to an old arch that had once been a gate or great doorway. Hearing enemies near, they ducked by the pillar and peered around.
"The courtyard's clear!" Called one of the men. "What do you want us to do with the prisoners?"
One of the helicopters flew overhead, clearly working as both look out for other people to hunt and be an intimidating force to the ones hiding. The three counted three of Trinity's people pointing guns at three of Jacob's people. Kat snarled and pulled her bow and knocked two arrows on it.
"Take 'em out!" The man ordered over the radio.
Kat jumped out and loosed the two arrows and already notched then next two. Two men were hit by the arrows and dropped. The other men jolted and turned to see Kat. He raised his gun to fire only to be shot by Leon as he stepped out of cover with his shot gun. A fourth guy stepped out from behind a crumbling wall and tried to grab two of the villagers. But Lara's bullets were faster. Four shots and they were down and out.
The other men and women of Trinity came running as the Villager's grabbed up the fallen weapons. As hectic as it was, with the aid of four more people, Leon, Kat, and Lara cut through Trinity's forces. It took only a few minutes to clear the enemies from the old well in the square. They'd saved several of Jacob's people in this moment. Leon looked to Kat and saw her smiling. He wondered if she had jumped to fight so openly because of her knowledge. Whatever it was, her eagerness and all of them fighting had put a smile to her face.
Lara turned to the people who were around them now. "Any one hurt?"
Two nodded. "But we can still fight. Thank you for helping us."
"Let's keep going. There's got to be other's that need help." Kat voiced; her smile gone as she looked at the 2 wounded men, she nodded softly that they were not too badly hurt. They could still fight.
The villagers nodded and reloaded their weapons with the three before leading the way to the next area of the village. Lit red flares lead the way as they ran around a corner. It was weird that Trinity was using flares in the day. Everything was lit just fine.
"Let's move, the rest of them can catch up." They heard one of Trinity's guys say. "I don't want to miss out on the hunt."
"Jesus, you're insatiable." Another guy said to the crazy man.
They all then entered the lower catacombs and made quick work of the intruders. The combine might of a fallen Valkyrie, Agent, warrior archaeologist, and people of the Prophet turned the two men into Swiss cheese. Rounding another bend, they found a room of Trinty's men trying to push through more of Jacob's people. They didn't wait for goon dialog. Just rushed in, killing the people who threatened the lives of elderly and children.
"Thank you!" The four people that the men had ben threating called as they took ammo and weapons from the dead.
Lara smiled down at a grandmother that lifted one of the rifles and started to check it over with practiced ease. Her lined face was smudged with soot and blood, but there was a fire in her eyes that would make a grown man shudder in fear. She was almost feeling bad for Trinity, they had no idea how capable these people were.
"Keep moving! Others need aid!"
They came to a courtyard. However, since Kat, Lara, and Leon were in the lead, they triggered a trap. The ground fell out from under them too late for the warning shouted to them.
"Are you okay?" Shouted one of the women.
"We're good, you keep going!" Kat called to them as Lara cursed rubbing at her head.
"We'll be fine. Save more of your people!" Leon agreed after rubbing his knees.
The people above moved quickly around the triggered trap hole. Leon, Kat, and Lara ducked down behind some old sandbags. They could hear foot falls that weren't the villager's returning.
"These bastards are resourceful." They heard one of them say as they switched to melee weapons. "They might have set up some traps."
"Don't worry." Said one as Leon pulled a smoke bomb, seeing both Lara and Kat nod. "I'll kill anything that moves."
"Just take it slow. Stay sharp." The first one said as Leon mixed the ingredients then tossed the bomb at the men's feet.
The white-gray smoke erupted out and filled the air around the pair of men. They coughed on it and hacked. Leon and Kat rushed them after vaulting over cover. Leon sliced over the man's throat and Kat stabbed into the other's chest. They coughed a bit as they dropped the two to the floor and stepped out of the smoke.
"I think I prefer fighting zombies." Leon said after he coughed a few times. "Zombies aren't crazy, just dead."
Kat nodded. "Same. After the things I've fought in S.P.E.L.L. zombies are easier to kill."
Lara sighed. "I'm just hoping I don't have to fight zombies myself. But I get the feeling I will. With that bunker."
"Let's keep going." Kat shook her head as the smoke filtered out through the hole above.
They walked to a wall that had a small hole in it. They had to climb then roll thought it. Once Leon squeezed through, they heard more people talking.
"All right, my friend. Your turn." The man said sounding annoyed yet enjoying himself.
Leon, Kat, and Lara crouched down and snuck down the hallway.
"I won't tell you anything." A male voice said with grim determination.
"I see." The Trinity man said as they reached the corner of the room. "I believe you."
The three peered around the corner, readying their weapons.
"Which is why we're just going to beat you until you stop breathing." The man laughed as he flexed his hands. "That way when I ask the next guy, where the Atlas is, he'll know I'm serious."
Just as he moved to punch, the group attacked. A smoke bomb rattled and bounced on the floor as the white fogged the room. Everyone in the room were coughing and hacking on the smoke. They couldn't see. The men and women of Trinity stumbled out of the smoke. Kat used her spear and her axe on two of them, cracking her axe into one's head and gutting the other. Leon pulled his knife and used some minor Krav Maga moves on a woman and man, disarming and slashing throats. Lara pulled her axe and knife, cracking skulls and cutting throats.
It took seconds. But all six Trinity's people were dead. As the smoke cleared up the few people in the room who were alive looked relived and yet sorrowful.
"Bastards!" Sofia hissed as she leaned over the body of one of her people who had perished before the three arrived. She looked up at them as they pulled their shirts from their noses and mouths. She wiped her tears then stood and held her bound hands at them. "Untie me." She ordered with wrath in her voice and rage in her eyes. "I'll kill every last one of them!"
"Easy, Sofia…" Lara tried to calm her as she cut the redhead's bounds.
Sofia looked around the room, sorrow peeking through her anger. "So much bloodshed…" She breathed as anger took back over. "We're losing too many people."
Leon looked around too and looked at the floor. This was way worse to witness then his past missions. Some of the dead…they were Rose and Sherry's age, and younger. He swallowed and looked to Kat before looking at Sofia. "You all have suffered enough."
Sofia looked at the three, seeing that Kat and Lara agreed with Leon. "It's…" She looked around her at the dead and injured. "all we've ever known." She sighed and looked at the three earnestly. "I misjudged you three."
"Just tell us how we can help." Kat told her as Lara and Leon nodded.
Sofia bobbed her head. "I've got to get the rest to safety." She then gestured to the blocked up old door. "But the entrance to the catacombs are blocked."
Lara nodded. "We'll find a way to clear it."
