Unlikely Heroes

Chapter 30: Ship of Horror

The ones from the nether made it to where the DSAA operated from and were reunited with Chris and Jill. After catching up with the two humans, they all met a few of the others who were important in this organization. Then those from the nether learned a bit about what the organization did and that half of them were to join Jill and the rest with Chris on a mission already. Aiko on the other hand wanted to work in the background this time and her boyfriend Cosmo wouldn't leave her. "But we've always been together!" Uma insisted when she and the rest were told of this.

"It's up to you," Nicholas said to the male android.

"I think it's best we stay out of this," Cosmo replied. "But we'll be rooting for the rest of you." The matter was settled.

Then the group divided themselves up. Nicholas, Liru, Kratos, and Venus went with Chris, while Uma, Logan, Pachira, and Napoleon joined up with Jill. They met her on one of the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It was 3:50 p.m. and already it was murky and foggy. Another human was with her but a male. The guy had a bit of an Italian accent, short black hair, and was quiet powerfully built named Parker. Everyone was geared up and walking through a tunnel and emerged out in the open to find a man in his 50s with short grey hair. It was the director of the DSAA O'Ryan. "Ah, there you guys are," he said. All of those in the DSAA had been told about those from the nether and were fine with working with them.

"O'Ryan!" Parker stated. "You don't normally join the fray."

"Well my doctor told me I need exercise." Napoleon and his nether world friends, plus his girl smirked with amusement. "I assume you all know that the DBC has cordoned off the entire area. And I take it those from the nether know why." That stood for Detaining Bioterrorism Comity that was a government organization.

"Yeah," Napoleon replied and he, plus the rest from there looked out across the water and saw in the far distance a ruined tower like structure sticking out of the liquid partially to the side. It was the only remains of what had once been a city that was considered one of the world's greatest structures. It took 11 years to complete it and was the world's first aquapolouis, named Derragrigia, operating on a massive solar energy matrix and equipped with the latest green technology. Solar energy was used to supply power to the entire city and the place it was located at was perfect. Those from the nether had heard the news of this and had planned to go. But before they could, Deltro the same group mentioned by the enemy who was a terrorist group, and one against the development of the city, launched a bioterrorist attack. They not only released a new kind of virus, but several creatures as well. The DBC, the world's leading counter-bioterror organization, operating under the auspices of the US, were called in to direct efforts to contain the attack. The DSAA which operated independently of interests of any one country, also came in to assist and observe the DBC. Realizing the need for immediate and decisive action, the orders were given to turn the solar matrix on itself. There was a chain reaction as the monsters were disintegrated and the city collapsed from the energy input. People around the world began to call this the Derragrigia Panic.

Following the incident, the DBC announced it had successfully disbanded Deltro. The remains were made inaccessible by DBC. Not just as a way to act as a monument, but a reminder the threat bioterror posed. That is until now things were beginning to pop up. "So why call us out here?" Pachira asked.

"The past few weeks a number of mysterious carcasses have washed up," the elder male human answered.

I guess the DBC couldn't cover up a mess this big," said Parker.

"Anyone who knows what happened here is gonna put two and two together," Jill commented.

"And that's why I've sent the DSAA in to investigate," O'Ryan said. He was then struck by a thought and turned to the group. "Did you pick up your new equipment from Lent?"

"Yeah…" Parker replied and brought out some kind of scanner that was square in shape with a handle and a narrow pad at the front. "The 'Genesis' or something. Is that its name?"

"You didn't bother to read the manual, did you?" Napoleon asked with a frown of disapproval as he took out the same device.

"No, but I brought it with me. Just in case." Parker began to check the pockets on his outfit for it.

"I hope you read quickly, because you're going to need it on your mission," O'Ryan commented and began to head to the beach.

"Yeah, yeah." Parker managed to pull out the manual. "I'm on it."

The rest of the group made it to the beach and saw O'Ryan by one of the corpses that was like a blob and dull color for the flesh. "Look at this mess," the human said. "They're rotted to hell."

"The skin's so pale," Jill commented, looking at it. "I've never seen anything like it."

She brought out her Genesis device and got a scan on the blob like mess. "Scan the rest and send me the data," O'Ryan told the others.

Parker went to the next one and scanned it. "Take a look at this," he said.

"I'm getting something… from inside it," Logan commented after scanning the body.

"Careful now," Napoleon cautioned as all the males lifted one end up and Uma with her wand stuck it and her right arm into a hole.

"Ugh!" she groaned before using her magic to pull the object to the wand like a magnate. "I've got something." The witch pulled the wand out of the hole bringing a tiny vial that was full of some kind of red liquid.

"What is this?" Pachira asked, looking at it.

"It's not blood," Napoleon said. "The color of it is wrong."

"If it's an engineered mutation, this could provide a link," Jill stated.

"I'll run some tests on it," O'Ryan said and was handed the vial. "Continue with the investigation."

The small group continued to the next blob. But then when checking out the one nearby and after scanning it, the thing moved. "Shit!" Napoleon stated after seeing it turn around and start moving towards the group, even rearing up to show the mouth which was open at an angle with some teeth.

"It moved!" Jill exclaimed, shooting at it.

"Careful!" Logan said. "God only knows what strain of virus we're dealing with." Some shots latter, the thing was killed.

"After that city incident, this must be a cakewalk," Parker commented to the rest of the group.

"I suppose," Jill replied as Pachira scanned the dead body. "So, why'd you quit the DBC for this outfit?"

"I wanted to be more involved. I wanted to fight."

"I see you guys are okay," O'Ryan commented. "Continue with the investigation, but proceed with extreme caution."

The next carcass exploded after being scanned. "Ewww. That smell," Uma grumbled.

"Must've ruptured from gas," Jill said.

"Christ, what a mess," Parker stated. The group continued to look around and got enough samples. There was even a handprint which showed the device could get those. But before they could fully get back to O'Ryan, another blob like enemy came bursting from a shack.

"Shit!" Logan cursed.

"Why the hell don't these things stay dead?!" Parker exclaimed. The thing was quickly killed.

The group quickly returned to O'Ryan. "There you are, nice work," he said.

"No doubt about it," Jill stated. "These corpses show signs of viral infection."

"And I bet it's no coincidence that they came through the DBC's blockade," Parker commented.

"Well, we did all we can," the elder male human replied. "Now we wait for the results to come back from HQ." Suddenly O'Ryan's phone went off. He got it out of his pocket. "It's the emergency line." The guy answered and took a few steps away to talk to the person on the other end of the line. "Yeah, it's me…" He paused for a few moments. "What?!" Those in the group looked to each other with concerned looks. "Yes, that's fine. I'll take it from here. We'll have to speed things up. Starting now… Uh-huh. Good. Get to it." The guy hung up his phone and sighed before turning to the group. "You guys are still on the case."

"What happened?" Uma asked.

"We lost contact with Chris, Jessica, and the rest in their group."

Everyone else started at the news. "When? How?" Parker asked.

"We're not certain. I've sent their last known coordinates to your terminals."

Jill took out hers and checked. "The signal was lost over the ocean," she said. "Thought they were in the mountains chasing Deltro."

"But judging from their position, they must be—" Napoleon commented.

"On a ship," O'Ryan replied. "I'll go back to HQ, take care of the search and rescue. You guys will be my eyes out there."

"Yes sir," Parker said and the group left the beach to get a boat that would take them to the spot. O'Ryan looked out across to where the ruins were in the water and saw the dark storm clouds beginning to gather.

It turned out there was one because by the time the group got a boat, it was already raining and the water was rough at 6:08 P.M. Parker was driving the boat while Jill was sitting down, lost in thought about the news of Chris. The rest were like that but Napoleon who was also keeping an eye out. Then the male vampire and human spotted it. "There," Parker said.

The rest looked up as the small boat pulled up to a huge cruise ship. The group stepped outside to take a closer look. "Incredible," Jill said.

"The Queen Lenobia, huh?" Logan stated, reading the name of the ship on the side.

"This thing is lucky to be afloat," Parker commented.

"Take us around," Jill told him. "Let's find a landing point."

The male human did so and everyone got on board with grappling lines that used special wenches that traveled up the lines. The humans drew their guns as did the other males. "It's been some time since Chris and his group dropped off the radar," Jill said.

"But the interpolation point from their last known coordinates puts them-" Parker commented

"Right here on this ship," Pachira finished.

Jill led the way carefully as the rain was making the metal deck slippery. They went up some stairs and around a corner before a wave hit the boat, causing them to lose their balance for a bit. "You okay?" Napoleon asked his girl and she nodded with a smile. Then they came to a door with a lock on it. Jill shot at it and they were able to get inside. It was very dark so the humans needed the flashlights on their vests. Those from the nether could see just fine thanks to that ruin they had. Looking showed there were abandoned boxes along with a ventilation system.

"Ugh, what a stench," Parker said.

"It's been abandoned for a while," Logan stated.

Jill continued to lead the way. The next stop was in a hallway that had a turn. "No signs of life," Napoleon said.

"Yeah but I get the feeling that something's here," Parker commented.

The female human opened the door at the end and was able to make out a figure who quickly ducked behind some shelves in the next room. "Hey!" she stated softly.

"What?" Parker asked. "What happened?"

"I don't think we're alone."

The female human and the others and made it to the door but Uma stopped them when she noticed something from the air ducts nearby. "Wait… what is that stuff dripping from it?" the witch asked.

Everyone took a look and saw what appeared to be some kind of slime oozing out. "That's just like those slugs from long ago," Pachira said. "Like the ones that founder of Rindella used."

"Maybe," Logan replied. "But the consistence and texture is different. I've got a bad feeling about this."

The group then went through the next door and found themselves in a dark hallway. They continued down it and went under the air ducts but stopped when they saw something was moving through them and caused the metal to bend a little. It was then down some stairs and then the path split into different sections. But Napoleon then noticed something. "There's blood coming from the ducts!" he stated and everyone saw it. Suddenly a figure emerged from it and hung there. It was a male human and dead. The skin was grey but what got the group was the left arm. It had been mutated into a limb with a couple of spikes.

"It's arm…" Jill said. "I've never seen a mutation like this."

Logan saw an elevator on the right and tried the button to call it up, but nothing happened. "No power…" he commented. "Which means no elevator for us."

It was then down the other path. While there was another elevator shaft, it wasn't working either. The group kept going, but were cautious as the thing the ventilation duct above kept moving and bending the metal a little. All other pathways were blocked, so there was only one. It was then through a door to a small dining area. A bit of a jump happened when a couple of rats popped out, disturbed and went their way. Then it was into the kitchen which had a grate in the middle of the floor. Jill took a look through it. "Hey, give me a hand here," she said to the others.

"Sure, no problem," Napoleon replied. They all noticed the blood surrounding it and the mess below the grate.

It was lifted up and showed it was a mess of gore and god knew what else. Jill scanned it with her Genesis device. "I got something," she said. "I think it's a gun."

"Now what?" Uma asked. "I'm not putting my hand in that."

"Give me a sec." Jill placed the Genesis device to the side and reached in herself. The sound of the stuff squishing in a disguising way caused bile to rise in Parker and Logan's throat. They almost threw up along with the females. Jill managed to get the gun and pulled it out along with a hand still holding it, covered in slime and the gore from the mess.

"So it's not Chris or the others," Napoleon said, looking at it.

The males holding the grate up lowered it. Nobody noticed though some kind of grey mass slowly rise up behind them until it was nearly able to stand. Jill whipped around and the others looked just in time to see it open its mouth to roar. There were teeth, but also some huge, strange tongue that looked like a tube that also had teeth at the end. The skin was grey and there were no eyes, only two holes that made a nose. The hands were a bit spiked and the feet were stumps with spikes pointing backward. The enemy had a limp in the walk, which made the movements it had jerky. Everyone fired at it and after some shots, the creature fell to the ground dead. The group walked over to it and saw the blood it had running out onto the ground. "This explains our missing crew," Parker said.

"This is not good," Pachira commented.

"Where are you, Chris…" Jill stated.

"Think these things got to Chris and the others?" Parker asked.

"I hope not." The other females looked worried.

"Hey, no one is saying they're dead…" Napoleon commented. "So let's find them already." Everyone then heard the sound of a lock being released.

"What was that?" Parker asked. "Was that the lock?"

"I'll check it out," Jill said. Uma and Logan also decided to go with her.

They went through a different door this time. It was down the hallway and down some stairs before another door was reached. The small group emerged into a back stairway and up it towards a different level of the ship. The path eventually took them to a darkened crew room. The bunkbeds in here indicated that. Then it was through the bathroom next door that had a single enemy that was killed. The group went to the room next door and into a hallway that had a bit better lighting. There was a door here that couldn't be opened due to it being locked. There was an anchor mark on it and they took note of it. The next door was also locked, but the third one was able to be opened. As soon as the group did, they heard the scream of a woman. "What was that?!" Uma asked.

"Someone's in trouble!" Logan stated.

As they got closer they could hear them struggling against what could only be one of the enemies so far. After going down some more stairs the three were able to come to a wall that had glass that showed what was going on. "No!" the witch in the group said as it was too late. The saw one of the enemies that had been encountered so far holding up a female human. The thing threw her against the glass wall with a sickening crunch as blood sprayed everywhere. With a final cry, she was silenced by it stabbing her with one of the spikes it had. Another joined the first in feeding on her.

The group went to the room and showed no mercy with killing the monsters in here. "Guys, what's going on?" went Parker's voice on the radio Jill had.

"We found a survivor, but the B.O.W.s got her though," the female human replied.

"Who was she?"

"We're still trying to piece that together."

Logan bent down to take a look. "There's nothing here that can identify her," he said. "Maybe Genesis can help."

Jill got hers out and did a scan. An item was found that was a key that was for the Crew Quarters Area. "We couldn't found out anything about the woman, but we found a key," the female human reported back.

"Copy that," came Napoleon's reply. "Hold onto it. We just might need it."

Logan took another look at the woman. "She doesn't seem to be part of the crew," the wizard stated.

"Hey you're right," Uma agreed. "She might be from another organization."

The small group then decided to head back. They had to kill another enemy along the way. As they got up to the top of the stairs, Parker contacted them. "I found Chris," the male human said. "Make your way to our location."

"What about Nicholas and the others?" Uma asked.

"They're not with him, but for now, we have one of them," Napoleon said on the radio.

The new key was used to get to a room that had been locked which held some ammo. There were some other enemies that were killed as well before the small group made it back to Parker, Napoleon, and Pachira. "There you are!" the female vampire said. She jerked her head to the door behind them.

"C'mon!" Jill stated. "We've gotta help Chris!"

She used the key that had been obtained to unlock the door. The female human opened the door and saw Chris bounded to a chair with his shirt off and facing the opposite direction. "Chris!" Jill stated and ran up to him. The second male human didn't say anything. "Chris?" The female human touched his shoulder and the head fell off, revealing it was just a dummy. Parker came into the room while those from the nether stayed outside to guard but could see what was going on.

"What is this?" Uma asked. The male human then noticed a banner that had the Roman Numeral for two along with a pistol pointed up and a Jackal with the two front paws on top of one of the numerals. There was writing in Latin, but the name Deltro was there to.

"Oh great…" Parker groaned.

Suddenly the door behind the humans sealed off with a metal wall, stopping those from the nether reaching the humans. In the room Jill and Parker were, the lights turned off and knockout gas began to pour into the room. "Shit! It's a trap!" The male human said through his coughing. Jill was already on the ground, just about to pass out. The gas then stopped and the female human looked up, her eyes glossing over in a haze to see another door open and another human like figure approach her and Parker. The person was dressed in military garb with a gas mask to conceal the identity and protect them from the knockout kind still in the room.

"It's time you learned the truth…" they said, the voice deep and mechanical like. "Ms. Realentine…" The female human then passed out.

Meanwhile in the mountains in Europe at around 6:42 p.m., it found a group of four others bundled up due to the snow and weather except the two dogs with them since they could handle it just fine. One of them bent over to catch her breath. "Slow down Chris," she said.

"We're almost there Jessica," the first male in the group said since he was leading the way. Another with long hair looked back at the female human with a smirk. It turned out that it was Nicholas and Liru was by his side. Kratos and Venus were the dogs which meant they along with the male human were totally fine and not in any danger.

"I certainly hope so. My feet are killing me."

"I don't see why you're complaining," the male werewolf said with amusement. "We've got another female and she's doing just fine."

"Our source indicates the camp is on the far side of the peak," Chris stated.

"Maybe it's the weather, but I still can't contact HQ," Jessica commented.

"Yeah, I can't either," Liru said.

"Who'd thought we'd be stuck out here for so long."

Just as they went up a bit, Nicholas looked up and to the right. "I hear something…" the male werewolf said. Liru did as well. Ten seconds later the humans did which was the sound of a plane descending. Then it appeared with all the engines on fire.

"The plane!" the female werewolf exclaimed as they all saw it go down and explode. "My god… it crashed!"

"There shouldn't be any shipping routes in this area," Nicholas commented, frowning. Chris was thinking the same thing as well.

"Then the intel we got on Deltro was on the money," the male human stated. "Come on."

The group made it to the wreckage. "Jesus…" Jessica whispered. "No one could have lived through that."

"Investigate the site," Chris told the others. "Let know if you find anything."

The male human and the werewolves had Genesis devices as well. Kratos and Venus were sent ahead by Nicholas and Liru to sniff out anything. Chris found a few crates that were easy to break with his knife. The werewolves discovered a gateway that was partially up that blocked a tunnel. Just then the two dogs let out barks. "They found something!" Nicholas stated and the four went to them. Kratos and Venus were at a door and pawing at it.

"Good work," Liru praised them. Chris opened it and out fell a dead body of a pilot. Jessica let out a sound of surprise.

"He might be Deltro," Chris said. "I'll scan him."

The male human did so and found a flight schedule on the person. "The manifest should give us a lead to work with," Nicholas said and began to look through it with Jessica.

"Let's see…" the female human commented. "They were headed for… Valkoinen Mokki Airport."

"If that's where they are then this mine nearby should take us there," Chris stated.

The group went to the gate and had to lift it up to get pass it. They noticed the temperature drop in an instant. "This cave is too cold," Jessica complained.

"You've should've worn your thermal underwear," Nicholas grumbled with annoyance.

The small group made it down some ledges with Kratos and Venus right behind them. The two dogs then let out growls while barring their teeth. "What's with them?" Chris asked Liru and Nicholas, having never seen them act like this.

The two werewolves sniffed the air and got a scent. "Trouble is what they smell like me," Liru replied.

Suddenly the sound of wolves howling could be heard echoing throughout the cave. "Hey, you hear that?" Jessica asked as even the humans in the group could hear it.

The all rounded a corner and saw dogs coming in. But one look at them showed these were enemies and mutated by some kind of virus. When they turned their bodies, everyone could see the huge hole each had revealing the ends of ribs exposed along with other bone fragments sticking out of the bodies. "I think they're infected," Chris said. "Careful Jessica!"

"Kratos, Venus, to me!" Nicholas called to the dogs. These two, while having been giving a canine form of the immunity to all the viruses previously by ways of magic from Logan and Uma, wouldn't have for whatever this was. The two dogs that weren't infected got behind the male werewolf as he drew his katana, slicing one of the enemies' heads off. Liru flinched, but managed to kill another one. Soon the small amount had been dealt with. When dead, the bodies melted away.

"I always hated doing that," the female werewolf said. "It reminds me too much of how Kratos and Venus could end up looking…"

"Nothing will happen to them, I promise," her boyfriend commented with a reassuring smile to his girl.

"This is why I like Chihuahuas," Jessica said.

"Was the plane transporting these things?" Liru asked.

"Looks that way, doesn't it," Chris responded.

"Then Deltro is back from the dead…" Jessica whispered.

"Yeah, and we have to stop them before anyone gets hurt."

The group continued to go forward for a bit and then rounded a corner where they saw another infected dog. But this one was larger and black in color. "This one looks different," Nicholas said softly.

The enemy then turned and spotted them before letting out a howl to call in more of the dogs fought before. "Shit!" the male werewolf cursed and had to fire at one before it got too close.

These were quickly defeated even if the black furred enemy required more shots to kill. Then came a quick hop across to the other side were some kind of grenades were found. "What are these?" Liru asked.

"They're B.O.W. decoys," her boyfriend said. "They're useful for luring in infected enemies." He took the few that were already here.

Just up ahead there was a small ledge to the next level but no enemies. The group jumped down and then monsters appeared. Nicholas used one of the new weapons and it worked, drawing the mutated dogs to it and blowing them all up. Even the second wave was quickly disposed of. Jessica then spoke up once the next section was reached. "So… Jill, was it?" she asked.

"Was what?" Chris commented. "Stay focused."

"She was your partner before, right?"

"Yeah, my partner from before. What about it?"

I was, you know, just asking." Nicholas and Liru exchanged smirks as the werewolves suspected there was more to it.

"If it makes you feel any better, she was our partner to," the male werewolf told the female human.

Jessica then got ahead in an open area that could be reached by hopping across ledges. Nicholas, Liru, and the dogs followed just fine. But when Chris did his turn, the space he landed on broke off, sending him sliding down to the bottom. "Aw shit!" the male werewolf stated.

"Oh, shit…" the male human said and then grunted in pain as the slide down was on a hard surface. Chris came to a stop at the bottom. He tried to get up and couldn't.

"Chris!" Jessica exclaimed. "Are you okay?!"

"It's just my leg. I'm not going anywhere for a while."

Suddenly they all heard the sound of howls that were coming closer. "Great, more enemies," Nicholas growled. "Liru! Kratos! Venus! Come with me!" The guy transformed into his four-legged wolf form as did his girl. Then they managed to make it down the same path Chris had fallen without hurting themselves before the werewolves turned back into their regular forms.

"Here we go again," the female werewolf said and cocked her gun as more infected dogs began to come out.

"Hold on, I'll be right there!" Jessica stated.

Chris began to fire at the enemy while Liru and Nicholas watched out for him. For the one they didn't get, the female human did. "Damn, how many are there?1" Nicholas growled as he took down another infected dog.

"Hang in there!" Jessica stated to them as she was getting closer. "Me and my sweet ass are on the way!"

"Whatever you say!" Liru shot back.

The dogs kept coming and were killed before Jessica finally made it. When the last of the enemies were killed, she walked over to Chris. "Can you stand?" the female asked and helped him up. The guy took a couple of shaky steps.

"Thanks…" he replied. "I'll be okay."

"Let's get the hell out of here before more show up," Nicholas said.

"Sorry to bring this up again, but…" Jessica trailed off.

"Bring what up?" Chris asked.

"Do you trust me as much as Jill?"

"There's no need to compare. I trust you both. Besides, trust is built through actions, not words."

"That's so like you Chris. It's always about the job, isn't it."

The group made it to another gate and lifted it up in order to continue. They were out of the mine and approached a ledge. "Look," Liru said. "Is that the airstrip?"

"That's their hideout," Chris answered.

Jessica brought out her binoculars to take a closer look. Suddenly Chris's communicator went off and the guy answered. "This is Forkball, do you read?" came the voice of O'Ryan.

"Chris here. We read you sir."

"Are you guys alright? Where are you?"

"The interference killed our signals. We're at Valkoinen Mokki Airport."

"Damn it," said O'Ryan. "It's all a setup…"

"What do you mean?" Nicholas asked as he and Liru got a bad feeling along with Chris.

"I sent Jill, Parker, and those with them to the Mediterranean on faulty intel," O'Ryan replied. It was now 7:07 pm. "And now I've lost contact with them. I haven't heard from them since."

"How?" Liru asked, worried about them. "What's going on?"

"Guys," Jessica suddenly said, "You'd better look at this."

They all did so with Chris going last. The two werewolves and male human saw on the radio tower the same crest on a yellow flag that Jill, Parker, Uma, Logan, Pachira, and Napoleon had found on the ship. "That's impossible!" the male human exclaimed.

"Shit," Nicholas growled. "O'Ryan, you're not going to like this. We just found the Deltro crest."

"Then stories of their resurrection are true," came the reply on the communicators. "If that's the case then…"

"Then the setup that got Jill, Parker, and those guys, it was all…" Jessica trailer off as everyone knew the answer.

"Yeah, I'd almost guarantee it."

"O'Ryan, we'll go after Jill, Parker, Uma, Logan, Pachira, and Napoleon," Chris stated. "I hope that's not a problem."

"Not at all," came the reply on the other end of the line. "Make your way to the Mediterranean, and we'll keep you posted."

"Any idea what's going on?" Jessica asked.

"You're asking the wrong people," Nicholas replied.

"I just hope they're alright," Liru whispered.

"Knowing them, I'm certain they'll do whatever it takes to stay alive." The female and male werewolf came in for a reassuring hug.

"We need to move," Chris then stated and this group were quickly on their way.

Meanwhile back on the ship, it was now 8:32 p.m. in one of the guest cabins. It found Jill stirring before awakening. The female human slowly rose up and found that the room was dark with the only light coming from the TV. All her weapons and equipment were gone but the communicator. "What…?!" she asked. "Where…?" The human turned her communicator on.

"Jill?" came the voice of Parker.

"Parker!" she stated.

"Where are you?" came the voice of Napoleon.

"I don't know. A room I think. Somewhere on the ship."

"Damn it," Parker growled. "Bastard took all my weapons."

"Can you reach HQ?" Jill asked.

No, comms are out it seems," Logan's voice then said. "We should regroup. It seems you two were the only ones caught in that room so the rest of us have weapons. Find a way out of there."

Jill first looked by the door and saw a panel that was screwed on pretty tight. The way out was locked so that wasn't good for now. The female human saw the line from the panel was connected to it so that had to mean it was part of the locking mechanism. The only other door was by the TV which had a small dresser in front of it. Jill moved it out of the way and found herself in the bathroom. By the state of the sink mirror which was broken, this had happened a while ago. The room itself looked like nobody had been in here for the same amount of time. There was nothing in the bathtub even after draining the water. But under the toilet seat, there was a screwdriver taped to it which the female human took. She went out and from the closest, another of the mutated enemies seen before burst out. Jill waited and then moved so the thing charged into the TV. The monster broke the glass and was electrocuted by the wires and metal inside, killing it.

She then went to the panel and got it open with her tool. Inside were wires that Jill rearranged and got the door unlocked. The door ahead in the hallway had a padlock so that was no good. "I wish I had my weapons," Jill grumbled.

Just then the others contacted the female human and learned she was out but without a weapon. "You can't fight without them," Pachira said. "Just do your best to dodge."

Jill ended up going through a few different rooms, even finding a shotgun in one which couldn't be taken at this time. Her path eventually took her to one of the dining areas of the ship. It was here that she managed to get to the others. "Jill!" Parker exclaimed. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but the ship's crawling with B.O.W.s," she replied.

"Ok, we're going to need to get your weapons," Logan said.

"I think I saw them on my way here before running into the others, but I couldn't reach them," Parker stated. "We should be fine as long as we work together."

He was the one that led the way. Although there were enemies, those from the nether took them out. Right before the group reached the door that had the stolen stuff, Jill found a case that had custom parts that could be used to upgrade her gun. The humans kicked the door down and their stuff was inside this room. Here Jill used the new parts on one of her guns while Parker geared back up. "We got the equipment, now what?" Uma asked.

"Now we contact HQ and tell them what the hell is going on here," Jill replied.

"We should be able to do that from the bridge," Parker stated. "Let's go."

"By the way, what's the deal with the guy in the gas mask?" Pachira asked. "What's his game?"

"I bet we'll get that answer soon," Napoleon replied.

Jill led the way while any monsters that appeared were killed. The group eventually got to an elevator that they rode to get to the bridge. When the doors opened, everyone saw this hallway was somewhat dark and the humans turned on their flashlights. It was a short walk down to get to the door where they saw a padlock on the floor. "Someone's been here…" Jill stated when everyone noticed this.

They were cautious as they went pass the couple of doors and made it to the bridge. Jill picked up a handgun ammo case which would be helpful for her weapon. But then they all looked at the place for communications and saw the system was down. There was even smoke coming from it and some wires out. "We can't change our course," the female human said, checking this. "We're completely adrift."

"This is recent," Parker stated after taking a look. "The perpetrator can't be far."

Suddenly the group heard and saw an explosion from outside and ran to the window. "Don't tell me that was the tug boat we came in on," Logan groaned.

"Shit!" Napoleon cursed. "We'll be stuck here!"

The group began to run out but a shadowy figure come out of nowhere and grabbed Jill. "Jill!" Uma stated.

After some struggling, the female human managed to kick the person on the face. They let out a groan, showing it was a male. The flashlight he had in his left hand fell from his grasp and rolled to the side, shinning the light onto him. But it wasn't fully lighting up his features so nobody fully saw his face. "Freeze; drop the weapon," Parker order, aiming his gun as did everyone else. Jill went to their side and did the same thing.

"Drop yours… Parker," the second human male replied, his face down.

"Who the hell are you?" the first guy asked, confused. The second man looked up, drew a gun and fired.