18. Claire
She was restless, but she couldn't explain the reason behind it. It was an odd sensation in her guts, called instinct or survival paranoia, but she just kept having that uncomfortable feeling of being followed. The corridors were well lit, and that sort of soothed her fears. As long as there was light, she could breathe a little easier. Maybe it was only her nerves playing a trick on her, but she could swear she had heard something over her head.
The research center was well provided. It was even better than the one they had at Terra Save NA, so finding it in such a state of chaos was a pity. The researchers must have distrusted the security of their online data since they kept physical records, too, in other words, paper. While Chris's men worked on the central computer extracting the data, she paced around the shelves peeking at random folders. She had been so focused on deciphering the coding that the researchers used that she didn't notice Leon arrived by her side.
"Found something interesting?"
"You could say so," she replied as she picked up another folder. What she found inside made her frown.
The familiar lines of letters greeted her cerulean eyes as she read the file.
1 atgccggcag aaaacaagaa agttagattc gaaaatacta cttcagacaa agggaaaatt 61 cctagtaaag ttattaagag ctactacgga accatggaca ttaagaaaat aaatgaagga 121 ttattggaca gcaaaatatt aagtgctttc aacacagtaa tagcattgct tggatctatc 181 gtgatcatag tgatgaatat aatgatcatc caaaattaca caagatcaac agacaatcag 241 gccgtgatca aagatgcgtt gcagggtatc caacagcaga tcaaagggct tgctgacaaa 301 atcggcacag agatagggcc caaagtatca ctgattgaca catccagtac cattactatc 361 ccagctaaca ttgggctgtt aggttcaaag atcagccagt cgactgcaag tataaatgag 421 aatgtgaatg aaaaatgcaa attcacactg cctcccttga aaatccacga atgtaacatt 481 tcttgtccta acccactccc ttttagagag tataggccac agacagaagg ggtgagcaat ...
Claire wasn't a prodigy student, but she was capable enough to recognize what she was reading, and her doubts were confirmed when she saw the notes written under the sequences. Those were genomes and, judging by the coding, viral genomes. She flipped through the folders and realized that no all of the genomes were viral. There were some bacterial genomes and parasite sequences listed, as well.
God...what kind of Frankenstein were they trying to create?
"It seems like they were trying to make a new virus-based on multiple pathogens. These are viral genomes, but these are bacterial genes..."
"Why doesn't it sound new to me?"
"Yeah, I guess you must be sick of hearing it, right?"
Claire spent much of her free time diving through this sort of thing. She could even cite sequences of some viral genes, but to Leon, a senior agent of the secret service, the class of biology would most likely be boring. She kept flipping through the folders until a small mark caught her attention. The researchers had marked some of the genomes with two different colored codes: PJMorpheus and PJLyssa.
She was about to show it to Leon when she heard a sizzling over her head, and her eyes turned immediately to the ceiling.
"Did you...hear that?"
"Hear what…?"Leon replied, and she saw the confusion on his face.
Just great. Not only do I hear voices in my head. Now, I can hear noises, too.
She tried to focus her hearing, to see if she caught on the noise again, but then one of Chris's soldiers said he had finished copying the data. A wave of relief fell over her. However, as soon as it had arrived, the same feeling turned into anxiety. Something about the facility of the mission made Claire uneasy. Where were the monsters?
With the information safely copied into the drive, they were one step closer to leaving that place, and that was good news, but for some reason, the restlessness was still there. It was like a needle that kept pricking Claire's gut as she walked through the corridor. When they turned the last corner, she saw the doors of the elevator, and a sense of relief filled her. Unfortunately, the relief was short-lived.
" STAND BY. STAND BY. SYSTEM MAINFRAME VIOLATED. FACILITY REBOOT IN TWO MINUTES MAINTENANCE PERIOD. "
"What the...?" Hunter snapped.
"Shit...Maybe our hacking triggered the security system."
"Just great, well done, Cement. Now what?"
"Calm down. It is just a system reboot. Probably the generator needs to restart. It's a security mode when it gets overheated. It'll cut the energy for some minutes, not a big deal." Clement said.
The rest of the group seemed relieved that there wouldn't be a self-destruction protocol on its way, but Claire began to panic. There was something horrible about the idea of walking around the place in the darkness, and she wasn't sure why, but she had a bad feeling about it. Claire quickened her pace, trying to match with the team's but then…
SWISH
The redhead stopped in her tracks and looked back. The lights from the corridor were starting to shut down one by one. Like an old horror movie, she saw the darkness was coming closer with each fading bulb. If it had only been darkness, Claire wouldn't have felt so panicked. The problem was, the shadows didn't come alone.
Claire heard a soft whistle in her ear, and she realized that there was something else lurking inside the blackness.
"Run," Claire said out of sudden, startling the group.
They all looked at her quizzically.
"What?" Barry asked.
"Is something wrong, Claire?" Chris asked.
Through the shadows, they come. Demons with a thirst for blood.
Two long claws emerged from the darkness impaling the body of the soldier called Hunter. He'd been the one assigned to watch over the rear and, by default, the one closer to the shadows as it approached. Muller and Bailey began shooting, trying to help their fallen comrade, but the disgusting crunch was enough to make Claire know the man was long gone.
The body fell to the ground in an awkward and humanly impossible position, making a sickening crunch. Panic ensued as the soldiers began shooting in all directions, trying to hit the "invisible" attacker. The thing was, it was not invisible. Claire could see it in the blackness: thin, elongated, pale.
"Don't waste ammo!" Claire cried, recognizing the beast, " The bullets won't harm it. That thing moves in the darkness. If we lose the light, we are dead."
"Ok, what do you suggest?" Chris asked.
"Yeah, run!"
They began running as fast as they could. The wave of chasing darkness was right at the group's heels. Claire managed to catch a better glimpse of the creature that hunted them as it moved closer. Unlike the one Leon and she had seen outside, this one was smaller and, by the looks of it, female. She could see the pale skin that covered the curves of the naked body. It could have been taken by as a regular person if it hadn't been for the abnormally long fingers that ended in black sharpy nails and the twisted faceless head. The lack of facial features seemed to be a common trait in the new strain: none of the specimens they had encountered so far had facial features except a largemouth.
The monster scratched the walls with the tip of her nails, making a creepy screech. She could hear her as she moved closer under the black veil of darkness. Their run was interrupted by another scream; this time, Muller had been the victim; the sound of tearing flesh and cracking bones made her feel sick.
"What the hell is that?" Chris cursed and visibly upset about losing to men in a matter of minutes.
"Is one of the new mutants." Leon said, "These bastards are tough ones, Chris..."
"Was it hiding all this time?" Jill said, reloading her gun.
"No, it's photosensitive! The fluorescent lights must have kept them away, but with the system reboot and the energy out, it took the chance of the lights going off to attack us. We need to stay a secured light if we want to stay out of reach." Claire replied, " or at least stay safe until the energy is back!"
You know the odds are against you.
The annoying voice was back. Claire tried to ignore it, but the voice suddenly seemed to be a lot louder than usual.
They are all going to die here, and it'd be your fault.
Claire kept trying to ignore it. The voice not only annoyed her, but it seemed to make her clumsier. Suddenly, she felt a great pain rip her right shoulder, and she flew against a wall. One of the monster's claws had, painfully, impaled her shoulder, pinning her against the metallic wall. She could see her white blouse start to go black as the blood began to spread through the fabric.
Then she felt an acrid warmth in her face, and she saw the monstrous face in front of hers. The monster did not attack, and instead, it seemed to... sniff her?
"CLAIRE!" she heard many voices shout.
The screams echoed through the corridor, followed by the blast of gunfire.
Claire could not describe the pain she was feeling. It was a mix of a burning sensation and pulsating pain. She couldn't move, and her breathing was becoming difficult.
"You son of a..." she heard Chris shout, followed by a wave of bullets.
But the creature barely reacted to the attack. The creature's "face" had gotten close to hers, and Claire could feel the uneven breathing on her. Maybe it was the fast blood loss or the sudden headache that pierced her skull, but her surroundings were beginning to blur. She could barely make out the screams and shouts her friends and brother were doing.
SYSTEM RESTART IN THREE MINUTES.
The electronic voice echoed. Three minutes? If she could manage to stay alive for three minutes, then maybe she had a chance to make it out.
BIOHAZARD DETECTED. STERILIZATION PROTOCOL INITIATED. FACILITY WILL BE PURGED IN TWO MINUTES. PLEASE EVACUATE THE BUILDING.
Fuck. Claire thought; if they didn't do something, they would all die here. She caught a glimpse of Chris and the remaining team shooting at the monster, the flashes of the fire barely lighting their expressions of frustration and worry.
You know what you should do.
She couldn't let them die here.
Are you brave enough to do it, though?
She heard Leon shout something.
This was supposed to be something you faced alone.
Jill screamed something to Chris, but she didn't understand it.
Two are dead already. How many more will you kill?
One, she thought.
"Chris!" she shouted as loud as the pain let her, "Chris, get the hell out here. Forget about me."
"Don't even think about it. I am not leaving without you, Claire."
"You have to. This place...is gonna blow up. You...need to...get...out with that...data."
"Don't you dare say it, Claire? NO, simply no..." Chris growled stubbornly.
"For god's sake, Chris...I can...distract it long enough for you all to leave. JUST DO THE RIGHT THING. The data is more...important….than my life and you know it. What's one life...in exchange for millions that...could be saved?"
Chris did not reply. Claire knew her brother was painfully aware that her words were the right; she trusted that he'd do the right thing.
Chris...
"I am not leaving you! You can't expect me to just leave, damn it!"
Claire could feel the pain in her brother's voice. She knew abandoning her was hard on him. It'd been hard for her, too, if it had been the other way around. The creature put pressure on her shoulder, and she had to bite her lip to avoid screaming. Her cries of pain would only make it harder for Chris.
"Christopher Redfield!" she screamed with the little energy she was feeling, "GET YOUR ASS OUT OF HERE ...AND IF YOU REALLY WANT TO HONOR YOUR WORD AND MAKE ME PROUD...TAKE THAT...DATA AND DESTROY THE ...BASTARDS WHO...DID THIS!"
Her words finally seemed to reach him. Chris clenched his gun so hard that it almost seemed as if he was trying to bend it. His face showed his hesitation and pain. It broke Claire's heart.
FACILITY WILL BE PURGED IN ONE MINUTE. PLEASE EVACUATE THE BUILDING.
The light of the elevator came through the opening doors, and she saw how the soldiers were fighting to pull Chris in; Jill and Barry grabbed Leon, who, like Chris, did not seem delighted about the idea of sacrificing her. Claire saw them enter the small space in slow motion, she felt sad, but at the same time, she knew she had made the right decision.
She could feel the creature's nails tearing apart the muscles of her shoulder. She would die in here, but not as mutant food. She heard the countdown start like a distant voice; when the counter ran to zero, Claire lost the sense of everything as the fire and heat surrounded her.
-END OF PART I-