Chapter 8: What They Say About Me?
Rayen leveled a piercing glare with dark brown eyes, "You've always been this arrogant?"
I felt the devilish smile curve my lips and gestured for her to make the first move with a crook of my finger. She was always easy to bait. Rayen shot off her rounds and Damien opted to shoot for Wesker. Despite how inhumanly quick Damien and Rayen were the bullets couldn't travel fast enough to even graze us. I flipped onto Rayen's head and clutched her skull with my thighs then used the flip's momentum to throw the girl into a pane of glass. She was quick to emerge from the shards and landed a firm punch on my sternum. My heart stuttered from the pressure and she swept my right leg from under me.
Damien nearly shot my head if I hadn't rolled back to my feet the second I made contact with the floor.
Damn, so it's like that?
My gold eyes quickly snapped angrily towards him then I lunged for Rayen.
"I'm your opponent," Wesker snarled as he locked Damien's arms in a grapple and rammed an open-palm strike up his chin. He smiled spitefully when Damien staggered back, "Do pay attention."
Damien spat blood out of his mouth and locked his gun on Wesker, "Starving for my attention little lab rat?"
Fuck that even pissed me off!
Wesker scoffed at the remark and closed the gap between them instantly. The guys traded blows but Wesker had the superior training. He jumped into a somersault and kicked at his shoulder, used his arm for support and swept at Damien's feet with his other leg, and managed to regain his balance before Damien met the floor and just push-kicked him several feet away into a beam. I felt the steel foundations ripple through the concrete from that blow.
Damn!
Wesker gripped his neck and slammed him to the ground then kicked him on the torso into the wall.
"Impudent worm. Don't bark if you don't have the bite."
Yup, never push the experiment button.
Damien deserved that. As much as I'd enjoy spectating Wesker lay the beat down on someone besides me I had an opponent of my own. I rushed for Rayen and pounced like a wolf for her neck.
She tried to block but I twisted her arm and managed to get her into a headlock, "So the band got back together? What did I do this time?"
"What did you do? You were born!" she bit into my forearm and slammed her head into my nose. We exchanged a few punches and she pressed the gun to my head, "You're too dangerous J.D."
I slapped the gun just as the shot went off and disarmed Rayen with some quick joint manipulations. The heat of incoming tears pricked at my eyes but I grit my teeth and jumped into a back-kick square for Rayen's nose. Blood and spittle flew into the air and I took advantage of my momentum to spin into an aerial. I felt her ribs crack under my boots once we landed and Damien kicked me off her. I blocked his attack and gripped his calf. He screamed and I tossed him so hard to a wall that dust and cobwebs shook off the plaster.
Blood?
I looked down at the smell of blood and noticed my nails had elongated and hardened into claws. Damien's jeans were ripped where I had grabbed him and his calf was bleeding from deep gashes. Just as Damien jumped to his feet Wesker rushed forward to slam the side of his hand into his throat. He gripped the back of Damien's head and flipped him effortlessly to the ground. Poor Damien and Rayen writhed and coughed from the pain and Wesker raised a brow at my bloodied hand.
"Why so distressed?" He didn't bother to wait for an answer and set his foot on Damien's chest. He groaned from the pain and I could hear the pop of bone strain against the pressure. "How did I come to be in this universe?" When Damien seemed incapable of answering he pressed further. Damien's scream echoed icily in my body. Instead, I pushed Wesker off Damien. "What are you doing!?"
"There's no need to torture them."
Rayen used Damien's gun and shot my arm. Wesker let out a vicious growl and slammed Rayen onto the wall by her throat. He knocked the handgun to the floor and I could see Rayen's eyes roll to the back of her head.
"Wesker!" my cry was shadowed by a masculine, much angrier tone.
"Chris," Wesker hissed and immediately sped behind me. Wesker managed to hug my arms flush to my sides and set his gun to my head. "I'd think hard about my next move if I were you."
"Let her go!" Chris trained his rifle on Wesker.
Dr. Bennett, Sherry, and Helena caught up to the ruckus, Ada unsurprisingly was not with them, and I could tell Dr. Bennett was genuinely concerned for me by his heart rate.
Aw, I wanna barf.
Helena pointed her pistol, "Put the gun down!"
Wesker's breath was hot against my left ear and sent shivers down my spine. "Do as I say. You want dear Jacqueline to live another day?"
Before I could answer another shot went off. Wesker stumbled and I gripped the arm he had around my chest. I swung my full body weight forward to flip him over my shoulder. Wesker fell onto his back and I straddled his waist to keep the bastard pinned. I pulled one of my guns and pressed it to his head. "Yeah, I'd very much like that actually. Where is she?"
"Mommy!"
I barely glanced towards Jeanette when I noticed Leon pulled her back from danger.
Ah, it was his shot. My hero!
"Don't move!"
I nearly wailed in exasperation when Damien pulled his gun to my head and I spotted Rayen setting her gun on Jeanette.
"What do you think you're doing?" Leon's dark and threatening voice cut through the tension as he stepped in front of Jeanette and leveled his gun on Rayen.
"This is getting ridiculous," I muttered.
"Indeed," Wesker grumbled.
Couldn't help the smirk from the sight of a pouty Wesker and he just flashed a really agitated look my way.
Rayen shot into the air, "Enough! Bio-Weapons are the least of your worries! She's worse than any monster your crazy ass scientists could make."
"Is that so?" Wesker murmured with a raised brow.
The moment the hammer to Rayen's gun clicked I sped towards her and snapped her wrist in my grip. Her scream barely did a thing to elicit sympathy from me. I hooked my leg around the back of her neck and forced her head to the ground with a loud thump then aimed my gun at Damien. Wesker, ever the opportunist, jumped to his feet. Chris and Piers fired at Wesker but he just jumped over the railing and descended to the ground floor.
I'm going to be seeing him again, aren't I?
Sherry disarmed Damien and Dr. Bennett quickly rushed to Jeanette. I felt the iciness of skeptical eyes on me but when Leon set his hand on my shoulder I was able to relax. He still seemed a bit apprehensive after what he just witnessed, not that I blamed him, but he still managed a warm smile towards me.
"Are you all right?"
"No. I still have to find Jacky and Wesker hid her somewhere."
"We'll find her, J.D."
Helena looked to Leon for direction, "Do you have a plan to find her?"
"Yeah, but first we have to take civilians to the roof for evac."
Chris punched at the railing and then addressed us with a deep calming breath, "Piers and I can look for survivors. How about you and the others take the civilians?"
Leon nodded then looked at me knowingly, "You're not going to the evacuation spot without her are you?"
"Am I that predictable?"
"I wish. All right, just don't give the boys any trouble will ya?"
"Hold on. They just warned us to be cautious of her," Piers interjected. "What is she?"
"An abomination!" Rayen struggled against my hold and I had half a mind to snap the rest of her arm. "If you don't want humankind to go extinct then you'll kill her right here."
"Yeah, that's not going to happen." Leon looked to Chris, "You don't have to worry. I trust J.D."
That reassurance warmed my heart so much that I nearly jumped the man for a hug. I hardly did a thing to warrant- no wait. I did jump off a balcony to save him.
Still, I had to let my hair fall over my face like black curtains to cover the heat that surely blossomed across my skin.
I picked Rayen up and looked her straight in the eye, "Where is it?"
"Where's what?"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about."
Rayen spat in my face. "It's not over, J.D."
Leon grabbed her away from me like a cop arresting a criminal.
I know, I wiped the spit from my face. At that point, I had much worse on my skin and clothes so spit was hardly a bother but most definitely rude. Both soldiers had a very distinct tartness to their scent all of a sudden.
I checked my gun's chamber and the clip before I turned to Chris and Piers, "Nervous?"
"I'm keeping my eye on you. Don't do anything stupid," Piers shot me a warning glare.
"Aw, but where's the fun in that?" Leon quickly elbowed my rib and I grinned, "Sorry."
Helena nodded at Leon. "Okay, Dr. Bennett. You're with us."
Jeanette walked past me with tears in her big eyes and clung to Bennett as they followed. Damien and Rayen both scrutinized her then looked at me like I had just committed murder right in front of them.
Shit.
"Hey," Chris snapped me out of my musings. "We better get going if we're going to get you to that evac chopper in time."
Chris and Piers kept me sandwiched between them, where it was easiest to keep sight of me, as we traversed the fifth floor. We decided to gather information from the surveillance room as I had originally intended. Somehow the fifth floor wasn't as infested as the rest of the mall.
Oh damn. That's where they set it up.
My best guess as to how the Resident Evil universe managed to leak into our own was an alchemist ritual, considering Damien and Rayen were responsible. When they forced the universe to open it started to infest ours like a virus itself so surely the setup had to be on the basement floor. For a pair concerned for humankind's survival they sure had a talent for risking it in an attempt to rid of a threat. What convinced them that I was a threat though? What made them think unleashing a universe known for global threats of bio-weaponry was a good idea!?
"Are you still with us over there?" Chris called over his shoulder.
"Yeah."
"Did you not hear our questions?"
Oh shit, I grinned. "Um, no?"
"Are you going to take care of that wound?" he sighed.
I looked to my arm and remembered Rayen had shot me with Damien's gun, "Oh."
"Oh? Do you normally brush off bullet wounds?" Piers sounded pretty agitated while he dug in his pocket for something.
"If I said no would you believe me?"
"Probably not."
"Ah so pointless to answer then." I inspected the wound and thankfully the bullet had gone clean through but why hadn't it healed yet?
Piers tapped my arm, "Here. You should put pressure on it."
I nodded and took the handkerchief he offered. It hurt once I pressed into the gaping wound in my forearm and Piers rolled his eyes when I winced.
"Now it hurts?"
"Well, I have it on good authority that I'm a raging loon so occasional stupidity from me shouldn't surprise you."
"I'll keep that in mind," he chuckled.
Hey, he's warming up to me already!
Author Note: So I'm still going through an editing process but my attention is split between this story and another RE story I'm working on with a friend. I'll finish this one soon, now that my second battle with covid is over! Yes, I got it twice ugh! I wanna take the time to thank everyone that set an alert to this story, I really appreciate the interest. Have a good one!
