Hours before Leon's arrival...
"Holy shit!" The senator's irritated voice echoed through the twisted and barricaded place, causing the other people scattered around to either sigh in exhaustion, or roll their eyes in annoyance.
"Don't you realize there'a child here?" Claire asked, sitting next to Rani in a corner not far from the barricaded door and with her arms crossed.
In response, the senator merely looked at her with some irritation.
"And you don't realize that there are people fucking devouring other people out there?! This girl doesn't even understand what I'm saying or what's going on!" The senator said, too loud for the liking of everyone there.
"Oh, I guarantee you she has an idea." Claire said, but too low, more for her than for anyone else there.
Rani squeezed Claire's arm lightly. Although she really didn't understand much of what he was saying, his behavior brought back bad memories for her.
"How could you let the call drop?! How are they going to find us now?!" The senator asked, looking at the reporter not far from there.
She, like Claire, also had a tired expression.
"They heard us say where we are! They will come! And give me a break, how was I going to stop and connection from dropping? They cut the signal!" The reporter replied.
"Yes, of course. You all should thank me, if you hadn't told them I was here, they wouldn't even think of sending a rescue team!" The senator said.
"How about you stick that ego up your ass?" A man, this time, was the one who said.
Claire found him along with other survivors on the way to that place. There were seven people there in total. People she didn't know the names of, she hadn't asked.
"Who's to say that all this shit wasn't your fault?!" Another man said. This one, unlike the previous one, had an even more annoyed expression, wore purposefully torn clothes, and had a zombie mask hanging from the back of his waist.
One of the people who was at the protest before all that shit happened.
"What?! Do you know who you're talking to?! Do you know the weight of that accusation?!" The senator asked, and Claire had to stand up when the man who was at the protest walked towards him.
"Exactly what you fucking heard!" The man shouted.
"Hey, keep it down!" Claire said, but as expected, he just ignored her.
"Fuck, man! Did you guys see that shit?! I... I thought this was just a government conspiracy, I was at the protest just for fun! But... I saw that guy rip that cop's neck off with his teeth! What the fuck is going on here?!" The man practically screamed. He was getting desperate, which was more than understandable, but all that noise wasn't helping anything.
But before anyone there could do anything, a man's scream echoed through the place. Loud, very close to there, it seemed.
The scream was soon replaced by grunts and footsteps. Whoever it was, started to run.
"A survivor. We have to help!" Claire said, checking her remaining ammo as she walked toward the door.
"What?! whoa, whoa, what the fuck do you think you're doing?!" The senator asked, standing in front of her and blocking her passage.
"Are you crazy?! I'm not leaving here until the rescue team arrives!" The protester said, taking wide steps away from the people there while alternating his gaze between Claire and the barricaded door.
"It's nice to know that you guys are cowards when it really matters, so I already know I can't trust you. I'm getting out, whether you want me to or not." Claire said, glancing for a few moments at Rani, before alternating her gaze between the senator and the protester.
"Wait, I can go with you." The reporter said, and Claire even arched an eyebrow. "Well... I have this." The reporter said, and from her purse, she pulled out a pistol.
A small pistol, possibly with a capacity of nine bullets.
"I've never really used it, but the gun has helped me deal with perverts in the middle of the night before." She said, and Claire shook her head to the side briefly.
"I appreciate it, and it's nice to know there'someone brave around here. I can leave Rani under your care while I'm gone. Don't get me wrong, but as you said yourself, you've never used the gun before." Claire said, and although the reporter stared at her for some time, she sighed in defeat at the end and shook her head in confirmation.
"Rani... I'm going out... ahm, stay with that lady for now, okay?" Claire said after turning to the little girl, pointing at the reporter as she said it.
Rani alternated her gaze between her and the approaching reporter. She still looked a little unsure, especially with a stranger approaching, and Claire really didn't know if the little girl understood her or not.
And honestly, she didn't want to leave Rani there. Even more so after all the little girl had been through. However, she would not let another survivor die when she could help.
Sometimes her job was so stressful, even though it was what she wanted to do.
"Are you really sure about that, miss? Things are pretty fucked up out there." The man from earlier asked, arms crossed and frowning slightly in concern.
"Yeah, I can handle myself." Claire said in response, already moving some tables out in front of the door with the help of the reporter.
"Well... you really saved our lives... Jesus, good luck then." The man said, and Claire just nodded at him in response.
Before leaving, she looked at Rani for a few moments, and then at the reporter, who nodded at her in silent agreement.
The door behind her closed, and she could hear them barricading the door again.
With her gun in hand, Claire begins to walk silently down the empty corridor, but as fast as she could.
She walked for some time in that maze of empty and dimly lit corridors, until she reached the place where that scream was supposed to come from.
And as soon as she arrived, her eyes widened slightly when she saw some zombies devouring a corpse. But not normal zombies.
These zombies had reddish skin, their fingernails had been completely transformed into long, sharp claws, as had their toenails. They had longer than usual teeth, also sharp, and much of their body was stained in blood with ugly wounds.
It was as if they were in the middle of a transformation or something.
As soon as they saw her, they immediately stopped devouring that corpse and ran towards her.
Running... she had never seen a zombie run before.
Claire backed away quickly as she shot at the zombies, hitting one of them in the head, but hitting the others either in the neck or the lower part of the face, not being enough to kill them.
From the next corridor, another zombie appeared. The woman's eyes widened again and she ducked, dodging a claw-piercing attack.
Spinning her body around, she hits a low kick at the zombie that attacked her and continues firing as she backed away.
However, the zombies were quite fast, and the first one caught up with her.
Claire threw her body to the side, grunting as she felt the side of her body hit the wall, but dodging the zombie's attack.
The second approached quickly, and in reflex, the woman dodged again, ducking from the slashing attack and counter-attacking with two shots to the head of the attacking zombie.
Turning around, she fires at the first zombie that attacked her, hitting it also in the head, and narrowly avoiding the attack of the third zombie.
Throwing her body to the ground, the woman tripped the zombie, knocking him down, and ran as she got up, hearing the footsteps of the zombies chasing her.
After running for some time, she approached the kitchen wing, and as she turned the corner of the hallway, her eyes fell on the movable kitchen counter not far from where she was standing. Beside it, the chewed up body of one of the chefs.
The woman ran up to the mobile counter and pushed it as hard as she could toward the corridor.
The zombies, as they approached, crashed into the counter, falling to the floor in a heap of bodies and making a lot of noise in the process. Claire fired, killing all those who had fallen.
Her ammo ran out, and to her dismay, there were still zombies on her trail.
Turning, she ran again, but this time the corridor was long, and those zombies were faster than she was.
Before she could even reach the corner of the corridor, she felt her ponytail being grabbed and her body thrown to the ground.
Claire grunted but reacted quickly, turning around and stopping the zombie from biting her. She came face to face with the reddish-skinned zombie.
A variant that seemed to have some sort of primordial intelligence, because when it saw that it was having trouble biting Claire, it raised its arm to attack her with its claws.
The zombie was much stronger than she was, but, it wasn't as if she would just stand by and let herself die.
Lifting her waist, she unbalanced the zombie, giving her the opening to move her body slightly to the side and kick the zombie in the side of the head, knocking it off of her.
She quickly stood up and raised her pistol.
To her dismay, however, as she pulled the trigger, no shot came out, and she grumbled loudly that she had run out of bullets at a crucial time.
The zombie she had kicked was already getting up, and others were quickly approaching.
Before she could do anything, however, a hail of gunfire hit the zombies and all she could do in reaction was cover her ears because of the deafening noise to her.
Oh, how she hated some gun noises.
Moments passed, the bodies fell full of holes, and silence reigned for a few moments.
She turned around, and could sigh a little more relieved to see that it was the BSAA, along with some officers she didn't know.
Her relief was great, but she couldn't help but be a little distressed to see that there were only four people there in total.
"Are you okay?" A woman asked, the only one in the middle of that small group, and Claire stared at her for a few moments.
The woman was not part of the BSAA, in fact, only two men there were part of the organization. She and one other were part of the S.T.R. Special Response Team. Something similar to S.W.A.T in that city.
"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you." Claire thanked them, waving to the two BSAA agents, who waved back.
"Other survivors?" The woman asked as her partner, along with the other agents, checked the bodies, making sure they were indeed dead.
"In the west wing. I'll show you." She said, taking the lead and starting to walk back.
The walk was quick, and soon she was in the vip room, with Rani clinging to her waist and everyone surrounding the soldiers who had come to rescue them.
"Just you guys?" The senator asked, him taking the lead of the group as one of the BSAA agents and the S.T.R. woman closed the doors.
"We were taken by surprise. Many of our people died." The other BSAA member said. His name was Kabir, a member of the Indian BSAA.
The American BSAA members, it seemed, were dealing with something else. At least, that's what they said when Claire asked on the way there.
"And reinforcement?" The senator asked.
"So far, none. Things are getting out of hand fast. We have to get you out of here as soon as possible." Kabir replied, his expression neutral, not caring much for the senator's hostility.
Kabir was tall, six and a quarter feet tall, perhaps. He had slightly dark skin, short hair covered by his helmet, and wore the uniform of the Indian BSAA.
"Ah, holy shit! Is it too much to hope you have at least some kind of plan?!" The senator asked, approaching Kabir with an irritated expression that exuded arrogance.
Politicians like him, Claire would never understand them. And frankly, she didn't even want to.
"We will go through the lobby." Kabir replied, and the senator looked at him as if he were crazy.
"Are you crazy?! The lobby is..."
"We don't have time! There is something much more dangerous nearby, and like I said, we have to get you out of here as soon as possible! Many of our men have already been killed! Sir, I suggest you stay put, and follow us, now." Kabir said in a firm tone, but with his expression still neutral.
The senator looked at him in shock for a few moments, before starting to say to Kabir to get more respect and all that nonsense that no one there wanted to hear.
"All of you, get ready. Stay close and don't despair. Most of those things are slow, we can run through them. Know that it is possible." Kabir said, running his eyes over everyone there, before turning to his companions and giving the signal to leave.
The two S.T.R officers opened the door quickly, and the two BSAA agents came out first with their weapons pointed forward.
The two officers waved to the civilians, who soon came out after them, completely ignoring the grumbling senator.
The corridor there seemed clear, considering that most of the zombies were inside the offices and rooms they passed through.
And this made the way to the lobby faster.
They opened the doors to the lobby, and Claire blinked a few times, surprised to see that it was already night. Damn, she didn't even notice the time passing.
The lobby looked even worse than she had seen it earlier. The plane had blood all over its sides and some of its length, and as predicted, the place was infested.
The first to advance towards them were those who ran. But compared to the slow zombies, they were few in number, and the two BSAA agents taking the lead shot at these zombies, quickly eliminating them.
In the line of civilians, the reporter was right behind the BSAA agents, Claire and Rani right behind her, then that protesting man, finally the senator and that man from before who was helping him walk, having the rear guarded by the two police officers.
The slow zombies approaching along the way were dealt with skillfully, and with every step the zombies took, they took three, giving none of them a chance to get close.
"The wing of the plane is blocking the way. Come on, we have to go over it." Kabir said as soon as they reached said plane wing.
Wreckage formed a concrete wall. The wing of the plane served almost as a bridge over this debris.
The reporter went first, and the senator, frightened but feigning arrogance, went ahead of Claire and Rani, going second.
After a while, they all went up, and Kabir shot at a zombie that had crawled under a huge concrete block that was collapsed next to other debris.
That was like sounding the dinner bell, and from the door of the plane, as well as from the other part of the lobby, those reddish-skinned running zombies appeared.
The first one out of the plane threw itself at the senator, who screamed in desperation as he tried to hold the infected and was knocked to the ground.
"Help me!" He shouted, trying to keep the infected away from him. Gunshots soon echoed again as the other infected appeared.
With Rani in her arms, Claire runs up to the senator and kicks the zombie in the head, knocking the zombie off the old man.
"Are you okay?"
The senator stood up and looked at Claire for a few moments. However, before anyone could do anything, the wing of the plane shook.
In fact, it seemed like the entire lobby shook hard, and shortly after that, one of the zombies threw itself toward Claire.
The woman was not off balance. She rarely lost her footing. And her sharp reflexes were enough for her to dodge the zombie.
However, she did not expect the senator to push her toward another zombie heading toward him. She managed to avoid the approaching zombie by pressing her elbow against said zombie's neck.
However, despite her attributes, she could not go against two at the same time. Not with Rani in her arms, and seeing that another zombie was hurtling towards her, she quickly let go of the girl. It wasn't in the most gentle way, much to her chagrin, but at least the girl wasn't bitten.
Claire elbowed the zombie that had thrown itself in her direction in the chin and kicked the side of the leg of the one in front of her, followed by a kick to the side of the head.
Getting rid of both zombies, she turns toward Rani to ask if she is all right. Again, however, the entire lobby shook, and before Claire could get close to the girl, Rani went off balance and fell down the wreckage.
"Rani!" Claire shouted for the girl, but she soon grunted as a zombie threw itself on her back. The woman remained standing and she struggled viciously to get the zombie off her back.
"Kabir!" The other BSAA agent yelled for the other, and Claire, while still fighting that zombie, saw the man leap toward Rani.
The gunshots still echoed loudly, and once again, the entire lobby shook.
This time, a concrete wall not far from there came crashing down, and an animalistic roar, but still with a human finesse, echoed through the place.
Most of the nearby zombies were on the ground, and they all stopped for a moment to look at the man, or creature, who had just torn down that wall.
He was tall, wore some dirty clothes with a dark green overcoat, had long dark hair, and part of the lower left side of his face was raw, with muscles bulging and pulsing.
The man's left arm was huge, with long claws on his fingers. The beginning of a transformation, already strong enough to kill any living thing with a single movement.
Everyone there was shocked. The two BSAA agents, and the S.T.R. cop because there had never seen anything like it, anything at all. A monstrosity that only seemed to exist in horror stories.
Claire didn't look at her for long, but she could see recognition in the frightened eyes of the woman next to her.
And Claire herself because she knew that thing. She knew that throbbing arm, that roar mingling with human voice.
How could she not recognize it? She had seen it many times before. In fact, she had been chased by something similar many times.
Several questions popped into her head, several theories. Her heart raced, very fast. It was as if her heart was beating like a drum next to her ears. Her muscles tensed and, for a few moments, she found herself face to face with William Birkin again.
That is, of course, until she heard the woman next to her.
"Curtis?" The woman whispered, but loud enough for Claire to hear, and it brought her back from her mind in shock.
The creature called Curtis roared once again, and in response, the woman's partner began firing as he moved toward the exit.
"Greg!" The woman shouted, but the man continued to move away, still firing.
"What the fuck is that?!" He shouted as he fired. The shots penetrated Curtis' flesh, but didn't seem to have much effect.
And all seemed even more lost as the shots hit him in the head, but he barely reacted. In fact, in response, Curtis ran towards them, clearly to attack them.
Kabir and the BSAA agent fired at Curtis, drawing his attention to them.
Kabir's eyes widened and he gritted his teeth as Curtis leaped toward him. He quickly shoved Rani to his partner and ran in the opposite direction of the two.
His partner took the girl on his lap and ran towards the lobby entrance, just before the impact of Curtis' landing.
The monster roared as it landed, picked up a huge chunk of concrete and, as it turned around, threw it toward Greg, who unfortunately had no way to react and was hit hard, being killed on the spot.
"Greg!" The woman shouted again, trying to run towards her fallen partner, but being stopped by Claire.
"Hey! You can't go!" Claire said, holding the woman back.
"We have to get out of here!" Kabir said, shooting Curtis in the head, who now had his attention on him.
Curtis reacted and jumped toward Kabir, trying to attack him with his claws. However, Kabir dodged as he ducked.
To the surprise and dismay of everyone there, Curtis attacked again, this time a blow with the back of his other, less transformed arm, but still strong enough to throw Kabir to the side.
The BSAA agent fell to the ground, and before he could even get up, Curtis leaped toward him already with his arm raised to pierce him.
"Curtis!" The woman shouted, and to the surprise of both Claire and Kabir, the monster actually stopped, and slowly, turned toward her.
Claire hesitantly took a few slow steps back as she saw Curtis look toward the woman. Her mind was working fast, thinking of some way out of that situation. Especially when Curtis began to approach.
"... An... gelaaaaaa." Claire felt her whole body lock up as she heard that monstrous voice. He spoke, in a slurred, long-suffering manner exactly like when William called for Sherry.
And that's when Curtis approached and, with his arm still not quite covered by the virus, gently touched the woman's face, Angela.
Again, memories came back to his mind. The G-virus could reproduce itself, she would never forget that. And of course, only with compatible hosts.
In other words, just the fact that Curtis hadn't killed Angela was already a great indication that they were related in some way. And as a consequence, he would try to reproduce with her.
Claire gasped when Curtis's yellow eyes focused on hers. Her heart seemed to want to burst out of her mouth as he moved closer.
She wanted to move, but she couldn't. Deep down, she knew she had no chance against a monster like that.
Yet again, to her surprise, Curtis did not attack her. In fact, just like Angela, he gently touched her cheek.
Fear and confusion raced through her body at the same speed as her rushing blood. Why wasn't he attacking her?
Why was he looking at her the way he was looking at Angela?
Questions that were unanswered, and in which she feared to know the answer.
Suddenly everything became clear, a huge noise made her temporarily deaf, and the flash forced her to close her sensitive eyes.
She didn't really know what happened. She only heard, or thought she heard, Kabir's muffled voice. She felt her arm being grabbed tightly and she was forced to run in some random direction.
Still trying to recover, all she saw was Kabir having his body pierced by Curtis' claws as she blinked to regain her affected vision. Soon after that, another flash, from an explosion, and a noise not as loud as the previous one, but still uncomfortable, hit her just before she, Angela and the protestant went through some random door.
Sighing slightly, Leon watches his helicopter drift away in the dark sky.
He still felt a little strange at the thought of killing a public figure. A senator. It wasn't as if he was killing bio-weapons dealers that no one cared about. His death would have a real effect on society, although it wouldn't affect his organization at all.
But... well, he was taught to ignore that feeling.
He wore an all-black set of military clothing. Even his ballistic vest was a darker shade.
Running his hand through his hair, he quickly put on his mask that covered both his face up to his nose and his hair. A mask with a tactical skull, the skull being the only white thing in his outfit.
Checking the ammo in his matilda, he quickly puts the gun in its holster and starts running towards the airport.
The place was quite dark, which helped him to camouflage himself among the trees and occasional bushes. There were no cars on the roads, the BSAA and the Indian government had made sure of that.
In other words, a clear path to the outskirts of the airport.
It didn't take long before he reached a spot with a good view of the situation ahead.
Placing his foot against the tree trunk ahead, he propels his body upward, runs a few steps across the flat surface of the tree, and grabs onto a high branch.
It was rather convenient that the airport was in a more remote part of town. In other words, plenty of trees, few buildings.
From the pouch on the back of his waist he takes out a pair of binoculars and observes the front of the airport. Mesh fences surrounded the place, police and military vehicles were parked, and military tents were spread out all over the area.
There was a large movement of the military, members of Terrasafe, local police and BSAA agents in front of the airport, they were quite worried, like worker ants that had their path obstructed.
They were pointing their guns at the entrance and seemed undecided whether to enter or not.
People were evacuated and vaccinated. Vaccines were being taken from the Wilpharma trucks.
Motherfuckers were trying to look innocent.
There were several unused sand barricades scattered all over the place, with most of them being near and close to the entrance of the airport.
Civilians were prevented from getting over the fences and were screaming for their loved ones on the other side.
He saw a little girl being carried by one of the nurses there, crying on his shoulders. Hmpf, he could not hide his surprise to see that it was the same little girl he had saved.
Fucking hell.
Zooming in on the binoculars, he stays a few more minutes just observing the situation, until he finally finds his target.
The senator was holding a cup of something hot in his hands and seemed to be shouting something to another man who was walking to another location.
Hm, Frederick. The agent watched the man for some time, watched when Frederick whispered something to one of the men carrying the vaccine. He watched as this man, after loading a few more boxes, bent down and placed something underneath the Wilpharma truck and the other scattered vaccine trucks.
This did not look good.
Honestly, Leon didn't know exactly how he would do that. But however it was done, the senator would be the first one.
Leon watched as the senator turned and walked towards another tent. He had to act, he didn't know how long this guy would be there.
Putting the binoculars back in his pouch, he climbed down from the tree and made his way quickly towards some trucks parked outside the quarantine area.
There were many soldiers making their rounds, but the dim lighting would work in his favor.
He didn't want to kill any soldiers who were just doing their jobs. No chance of that happening. But he would need to knock them out if necessary.
Throwing himself forward, he hid behind some bushes when some soldiers making rounds appeared, and patiently waited for them to move away.
The fence surrounding the airport was not very high, the problem would be the barbed wire.
Running as quietly as he could, he jumps up and hangs on the fence after pulling a pair of pliers from his bag. Climbing a little higher, he begins to cut the barbed wire just enough so that he could jump over it without tearing his clothes or dropping any of his equipment.
Voices caught his attention, and as he turned his face away, he focused his eyes on two other soldiers making their rounds in his direction.
Flashlights lit their way, and when they reached the part of the fence where Leon was, there was nothing there, they just continued their patrol and Leon crawled out from under one of the military trucks when they were far enough away.
He climbs back up the fence and manages to cut some of the barbed wire, which already allowed him to jump over to the other side.
As soon as he did, he quickly ran to the side and hid behind some sand barricades, kneeling on the ground to fully cover his body.
Leaning his torso slightly upwards, he observes the situation.
Several people were being taken to the various tents that stood in the center. Many military personnel were gathered in the tents in front, and the civilians already vaccinated, wounded and rescued were in the large tents behind.
And as expected, the senator had a tent just for him and some soldiers to guard him until he could leave.
The tent was in the corner, between two others. Far away from the great movement in the center, but still very visible.
Getting up, he quickly jumps forward and hides behind another sand barricade.
Taking a few deep but slow breaths, he comes out from behind his hiding place and runs to the back of one of the tents.
He could hear some survivors crying and low talking inside and in the following tents as he moved.
When he finally reached the senator's tent, he could hear the man practically shouting angrily from inside, demanding that other agents come and get him out.
From the shadow he was making, Leon could tell that he was the only one inside the tent.
Nothing too surprising about an extremely selfish and arrogant senator.
Taking a small blade from his pouch, Leon tore open a small part of the tent and looked inside.
The senator was sitting sideways to him on a chair further forward, and was talking to someone on a phone.
Leon moved to the side, if he tried to enter that way, he would certainly be seen.
At the side of the tent, he focused his eyes on one of the windows covered by the thin plastic and quickly ripped it open after making sure no one would see him.
A vertical cut, large enough for him to pass through, but small enough that it could go unnoticed by someone inattentive.
Putting the blade back in the pouch, he sneaks through the hole he created and keeps himself crouched behind some boxes with medical kits on top.
He slowly takes his knife out of its holster and tilts his body slightly to the side, watching the senator.
"I don't give a fuck what the public reaction will be! And neither do you, dammit! I have to leave, now!" He practically shouted into the phone. "Oh, really? We had a deal, I did my part, and I almost died because of it!"
Leon kept himself hidden for a while longer, listening to the conversation that had caught his attention after he said that last sentence much lower than before.
"You can tell that asshole that he and his new species can go fuck themselves! I should be part of that!"
New species...
Leon narrowed his eyes slightly.
"No, no! Listen here, you bitch, I helped you! I funded the fucking project and you didn't make it! Because of your incompetence, a lab up north was destroyed and everyone was killed! I know it was you who abandoned them! I would help, and you would help me, that was the deal! Now get me out of here!" The senator said, getting up in irritation and walking a few steps to the center of the tent.
Leon would have to act, in that situation, the senator would see him or someone would walk in there. Not to mention that he didn't have much time. Curtis was still out there.
The senator didn't see anything. The guards there didn't hear anything but the silence that remained after Ron finished his conversation on the phone. Or so they thought.
A knife to the neck, the theft of an encrypted phone whose connection was cut off the moment Ron suddenly stopped talking.
The light breeze swayed the edges of the tent and the darkness camouflaged the agent who moved in hiding. No blood on his hands, but blood on his blade.
No one heard or saw him.
A ghost... the nickname suited him well.
Silent and deadly. A force that was capable of causing chaos.
A chaos as great as the one caused by the explosion of the T-virus vaccine trucks.
