SB: (Wakes up, startled) Oh! You're still reading this? Well thank you! Oh! And we don't own Resident Evil
Reunion Part II
David stepped out of his car and looked up at the sky. The rain had finally stopped.
He walked around the front of the car while looking at the vehicles in the parking lot. There were four extra cars here, and Trent hadn't mentioned anything about other people at this meeting. David immediately grew suspicious. Then he thought of why he was here - the outbreak. Maybe this was a trap, set up by Umbrella, to catch the survivors and shut them up for good.
Yoko was already walking towards the entrance of the hotel.
"Yoko, wait," he called. She stopped and looked back, a curious look on her face. David caught up to her.
"This might be a trap. I'll go in first, and you follow after thirty seconds. If anything goes wrong, I want you to run to the car and get out of here," he said, handing her the keys.
She nodded, although she looked confused, and took the keys. She waited at the curb while he approached the building and went inside. After counting to thirty, she followed.
David looked around cautiously once he stepped inside, seeing that the other six survivors were here, but no one else. Still, he didn't feel quite at ease. He turned around to see Yoko coming up to the doors. After she entered, they walked together to a pair of seats and sat down.
&&&&&
How cute,
Cindy thought. And they don't even seem to know that they care
about each other. She elbowed George in the ribs and whispered,
"I told you so. You owe me five bucks."
"What? That bet must've expired. It's been months since we made it, Cindy," he whispered back.
"No way. We haven't seen them in months, so of course we couldn't end it before. Now fork over the cash, honey," she answered.
George sighed, and pulled out his wallet from his back pocket. Then he took out a five dollar bill and handed it to Cindy. She pocketed it.
&&&&&
David stayed alert, just in case something happened. He looked over at Jim to catch an incredibly stupid look on the man's face. He kept opening and closing his mouth like a fish, like he was speechless from what he'd just seen. David wondered what that could be, and realized that it might have been him arriving with Yoko.
"Don't say a word," he growled. "I'm not in the mood."
Jim just continued gaping at them.
Yoko watched the exchange and asked, "What is it, David?"
He looked over at her and replied, "Nothing. Don't worry about it."
Jim wasn't just surprised by the fact that David had walked in with Yoko. He was also shocked by her drastic change in appearance.
David didn't look much different - his hair and face were the same. His clothes were different, though. He was wearing a black wife beater and black jeans, with the same wooden sun pendant that he had in Raccoon City. Jim wondered if that necklace was lucky or something.
But Yoko... Damn was the only word that came to Jim's mind. She looked totally different. Her hair was longer now, reaching down past her shoulder blades, and she had bangs that were parted to the left side of her face. She was wearing some pink lip gloss and light pink eye shadow, and a pale green summer dress that came halfway down her thighs. She seemed much more confident now.
If King is with her, Jim thought to himself, he won the fucking Asian lottery.
At that point, Trent strolled in the front doors.
"Finally!" Jim said, although he hadn't been waiting nearly as long as the first one to arrive.
Trent smiled. "I'm sorry if I kept you waiting; I wanted everyone to arrive before I came in. I hope your trips were pleasant."
"Of course it was," Alyssa said sarcastically, sneering at Kevin.
"It would have been nicer without your bitching, that's for sure," Kevin grumbled.
Trent just looked amused at this exchange. And he said, "Shall we discuss the matter at hand?"
"Yeah, let's," Alyssa said, sounding angry again. "Why don't you tell us why one of us is getting paid, while the rest are doing this for free?"
"More importantly, what are we not getting paid for?" Kevin added. George nodded in agreement.
"Let us move to a more comfortable spot to discuss everything," Trent said. "Besides, the roof here is unstable."
The survivors looked at each other, realizing that they could've been crushed the whole time they were sitting there, and thinking that Trent spoke too non-chalantly about it. Then they followed him into a short hallway. Alyssa stopped and looked up when there was a groaning sound over her head; Kevin stopped, too, and looked back at her. Suddenly, a chunk of the ceiling fell, straight for Alyssa's head. Luckily, Kevin pushed her out of the way just in time. The hunk of concrete fell on the floor between them.
"Unstable," Trent said lightly. Kevin glared at him. We could've been killed! Does he even care if we live or die? he thought angrily.
"That was close," he said, taking a step towards Alyssa. As he walked under the hole in the roof, several gallons of water fell through onto his head. He stood there, sopping wet, feeling very stupid.
"Thanks," Alyssa said, but she was laughing her head off. Yoko was giggling a little, too. Alyssa coughed after a almost a minute of insane laughter and apologized.
"I'm sorry. That was really nice of you. It's just that you looked so hilarious," she said.
Kevin scowled at her, then he wiped some water off his face and flicked it at her.
"Okay, that's just crossing the line," Alyssa said.
"Well then, this is definitely crossing the line," Kevin replied, scooping her up into his arms and kissing her.
"Oh come on! You're soaking wet, for Christ's sake!" she cried, chuckling. "Kevin, people are watching!"
"I don't give a damn," he said, and kissed her again.
They're always either fighting or flirting, Cindy thought wonderingly. Do they do anything else?
"I
will never understand those two. A minute ago, they were ready
to tear out each other's throats. Now, they're sucking faces and
giggling," Jim muttered.
"Amen," George replied. He turned around to see that Trent had gone ahead without them. "Not a patient man," he observed.
David grabbed Yoko's wrist, gently but firmly. "Come on," he said quietly, sounding mildly embarrassed. Yoko took one last look at the couple, then went down the hall with him. Soon after, Kevin and Alyssa finished their little love moment and followed. The rest went, too, since the show was over.
When David walked in with Yoko, he saw that Trent was sitting at the far end of one of the long tables, waiting patiently.
"Why did you bring her with you, may I ask? Why not just come by yourself?" Trent asked abruptly. He still sounded amused.
"That's not why we're here, is it? And if it's not, then what is? Tell us, now," Kevin demanded. He and Alyssa had just walked in.
David's cheeks reddened slightly as he realized he was still holding Yoko's hand. At the same time, Yoko blushed deeply and she looked down at her shoes. David quickly let go of her hand. When had they held hands anyway? David distinctly remembered grabbing her wrist. Maybe when she'd slowed down, he'd shifted his grip to her hand. Or maybe you just wanted to?I bet you enjoy touching her as much as you like looking at her. I bet you already want to do it again. You're probably planning it right now... 'Shut up' he silently told himself.
Trent smiled at the exchange between the couple, but it was a smile that said he found it funny, not sweet. He cleared his throat and spoke:
"As you all know, there was an outbreak in Raccoon City, probably caused by infected rats that carried the T-virus in their bodies. A majority of the city's population died, only to rise again as decaying virus carriers. The only instinct that these creatures had was to feed, and when they did so, they turned the victim into one of them. There were some survivors, mainly those who had weapons on hand, and eight in particular have caught Umbrella's eye. These eight consist of: Kevin Ryman, a former member of the Raccoon Police force. Alyssa Ashcroft, a former reporter for the local newspaper. David King, an ex-convict turned plumber..."
At this, David glanced at Yoko worriedly. Could she trust him, if she knew about his past? Damn, he should have told her himself, not let her hear it from this smug bastard.
Trent continued, "...Yoko Suzuki, a college student that was working for Umbrella as a hacker. George Hamilton, who used to be a doctor at one of Raccoon's hospitals. Cindy Lennox, a former waitress at J's Bar, who is also skilled in the use of medicinal herbs. Jim Chapman, a former employee for Raccoon's subway. And lastly, Mark Wilkins, a Vietnam veteran who used to work in one of Raccoon's businesses as a security guard. None of these people had more of a chance at survival than everyone else in the doomed city, and yet they all escaped mostly unharmed. They even procured a serum called 'Daylight' that destroyed the virus within their bodies."
"Yeah, we were there. We know what happened," Alyssa said, rolling her eyes.
Trent ignored her and continued. "At first, Umbrella wanted to capture the eight survivors and test them for their reactions to the serum. But, the project was cancelled for two reasons. One, Umbrella's finances had taken a blow from STARS' allegations. Even though the corporation did their best to cover it up, and most people didn't believe the STARS, there was still a negative impact on sales. People didn't trust Umbrella as much as they used to.
"The second reason is that Umbrella has another project that takes precedent. They captured a young male that has a natural immunity to the virus, and they wish to experiment on him. The boy's name is Alexander Wilkins, and he is being held in a facility in a small town called Denneville." Trent was quiet for a moment, maybe allowing everyone to absorb the information. Mark got more than a few looks of pity. Alyssa turned a bit red in the cheeks, since she'd been so preoccupied with money, rather than the moral issues.
"And what happened to Greg and Mary Ellen?" Mark asked quietly. His head was down, and his voice was hoarse.
"Your wife was, unfortunately, killed," Trent replied, although he didn't sound sad at all. "Most likely, she died while trying to protect her children from infected dobermans. When an Umbrella team went through, before the missiles hit, they found the children hiding in a building near her corpse. The older child, Alex, had bite wounds from one of the infected, but he didn't seem to be infected himself. His wound had clotted and scabbed, which meant that he wasn't turning, although he'd been bitten over an hour before they found him. Umbrella took both of the children to study them, in case the immunity was genetic."
"And how have they been treated?" Mark asked, although he thought he knew the answer. Umbrella used people as unwilling guinea pigs - they couldn't be very nice.
"Most of the Umbrella employees are ruthless. They probably treat your children as they would lab rats," Trent replied. "They'll do whatever it takes to get a breakthrough."
Mark put his head in his hands and groaned. Cindy patted him on the back, saying, "Be strong, for your kids. I'm sure they'll be alright"
"Yeah, I raised 'em to be tough. They'll get through this," he answered.
"We must stop Umbrella's experiments. Not only because Mr. Wilkins has a personal stake in this, but because Umbrella could create a concious weapon, more powerful than anything we've seen so far," Trent said. Finally, he was showing a little passion in this. He really seemed to think that Umbrella gaining more power was unacceptable.
"Much like in Raccoon, there will be another leak in Denneville, except this one will be staged. Umbrella is using it to gather more information on the virus and the BOWs," Trent explained. "You will each go in under different aliases, meeting at a restaurant called The Palace. I warn you, there will be several spies from rival companies throughout the city, meant to collect data during the outbreak. And one of them will be in The Palace at the time of the outbreak. That's what the aliases are for. I have been unable to learn the identity of the spy, so I cannot tell you who it is. All I can say is this: be careful. Keep true to your aliases at all times, unless you are absolutely sure that no one else is around. Now, here are your false IDs." He passed around driver's licenses to each of them.
"Yoko's last name is the same as mine. Are we siblings or something?" David asked, looking at Yoko's card while he passed it to her.
"No, you two are newlyweds. I thought that you might be more comfortable that way," Trent said, sounding amused again. David now wished he hadn't asked in the first place.
Trent continued, "You two are visiting Mr. Hamilton and Miss Lennox," He passed around some notes, each person getting about two pages. "That's your backstory. Mr. Hamilton and Miss Lennox, you two are dating, and you're in Denneville, looking for a place to start a restaurant. You've known Miss Suzuki and Mr. King for several years. Mr. Chapman and Mr. Wilkins, you two are FBI agents searching for a girl named Sherry Birkin, who was last seem at The Palace." Trent gave them a pair of badges and ID cards.
"Mr. Ryman and Miss Ashcroft, you are an estranged married couple that is trying to rekindle your marriage. You are on a date, trying to find that 'spark' again, and you are speaking to a marriage counseler in Denneville. But, you often argue, because you irritate each other so much," Trent finished.
"Daaaaamn, that's a tough act," Jim commented. Everyone, except Kevin, Alyssa, and Trent, chuckled at that.
"Are you all willing to take on this mission?" Trent asked.
"Wait a minute. Look, I wanna save Mark's kids and all, but I'd be risking my own neck here. And I'm not going to go back into ZombieLand without a little extra 'incentive', you know what I'm sayin'?" she asked. Kevin gave her a look, but she kept staring at Trent.
"Understandable. The events in Raccoon City must have been quite traumatic. I'm offering each of you ten thousand dollars, in cash, upon completion of the mission," Trent said.
Alyssa's eyes lit up, and Jim whistled. They all agreed to go.
"Good. Now onto the details. You will be at The Palace at seven o'clock, on November seventeenth. The outbreak should occur soon after that. Once you get out of the building, you need to go down Main Street, turning onto Victor Road. Try to take the alleys rather than the main roads, and avoid crossing through the park. Also, there is a weapons cache in the city. The details are in your papers," Trent said. He handed a small map to David, and a map to Alyssa. "Since you are visiting the town, it would be natural for you to have maps. Now, along Victor Road, you'll come to a blockade and some police officers. They will take you and the other survivors to the hospital. This is all police procedure during an emergency. The Umbrella laboratory is under the hospital, and you can take the elevator down. The spies will already have hacked through the codes. Go into the labs, rescue Alexander and Gregory Wilkins, and get out. The children will be on floor B2, in room number twenty-three. All that's written on your papers. And lastly, it's likely that the spy will detonate the labs once he has collected what he needs. So you should eliminate the spy, if you are able to find out who he is. If you can't, you should get out as soon as possible. Once you are finished, you should set the labs to detonate yourselves," Trent finished.
"Oh, by the way, Mr. Ryman - I know you won't listen to me, but you don't need to bring your gun," he added. "At least keep it hidden, for the sake of your alias."
&&&&&
David tried to concentrate on the road, but he didn't miss the fact that Yoko kept glancing at him. He knew what she'd want to talk about.
"Look, Yoko. During the outbreak, you told us about your past, even though it might have been painful, and you risked losing our trust. That took guts. I should've returned the favor. I'm sorry I didn't tell you this before...," he began.
"It's alright. I understand. Besides, the past is the past. It doesn't affect us here and now," she replied.
David internally sighed in relief. She wasn't pissed, and she wasn't afraid.
He said, "I killed someone." He paused for a moment. "I lived next door to this middle-aged guy. He seemed nice enough - not too nosy, but not unfriendly, either. But I noticed that a lot of kids went to his house, for a single, childless guy. One day, a little girl stopped at my house on her way to his place. She asked me - no, begged me - for help. Her name was Jenny. Or was it Jessica? God, I can't even remember anymore. Anway, she needed my help. She said that the man was doing bad things to her and the other kids. She refused to say what, exactly. And then she left. I was pretty shaken up by what she said, but I wasn't sure what to do. I thought it over for a few days. Should I confront my neighbor? Should I go to the police and have them investigate it? Turns out, I couldn't do anything. Because she was found, dead, on her doorstep before I made up my mind." David stopped at this point and pulled the car over to the side of the road. He sighed, closed his eyes, and raked his fingers through his hair. Then he continued.
"When I saw the story on the news, I felt so guilty. If I had only acted a little sooner, she could've lived. I figured that the guy found out that she was talking, and killed her to keep her quiet. The police did some tests on the girl's body, and it turned out that she'd been raped before she died. But, they couldn't figure out who had done it to her. They kept trying to pin it on the parents. That's what they always do... Dumbasses. Anyway, when I found out what that guy had been doing to those kids... I just lost it. I went over to his house, not even picking up a weapon or anything, and I pounded on the front door. As soon as he opened it, I shoved him inside and started beating him to death with both fists. I think I strangled him for a while after that. I don't remember that clearly, I was so fuckin' pissed."
Yoko was staring at him, wide-eyed now. Yeah, I thought you might feel different after you heard the details, David thought.
She was shocked by the story. She'd never have imagined something like that happening to David. But, she didn't hold it against him. She thought she saw tears in his eyes, but she must've imagined it. Still, she thought he might need some reassurance. She reached out, held him by the shoulders, and pulled him close for a hug.
"Thanks. I owe you one of these," he muttered in his usual tone, not really realizing what he was saying.
"Well, we're both former criminals. At least I finally found something I have in common with you," Yoko said. Her smile wasn't exactly happy, but it wasn't quite sad, either.
After a little while, she settled back in her seat and David pulled away from the curb, feeling as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
&&&&& End of Chapter &&&&&
SB: End of Chappy 1! Finally:
SSW: yeah!
SB: WE DID IT! BOOYAH!
SSW: WHEE! WE KICK ASS!
SB: YEAH! I feel so cool!
SSW: HA HA yeah...word! Leave a review, It makes us happy!
