Fix You
Here's the next installment chapter. Again I apologize for my lack of posting and hope this chapter makes up for it. It's not a long chapter but it is something, I figure that should count. The following chapter is currently being worked on. Thank you all for your patience and support, I couldn't ask for any better fans. Is that appropriate? Any who, enjoy the chapter.
~Chapter 22
"Helena?" A knock on the door sounded. There was no response. "Hello?" A harder knock came. "Helena?" No response yet again. Where was she? Not a word had been heard from either her or Leon for over twenty four hours. Anxiety rose.
"Helena, open up." After a few seconds of silence, the door slowly swung open with a creak. Peering inside only led to darkness. Switching the light on, Ingrid Hunnigan gasped at the sight of the disheveled apartment. Shards of glass and broken furniture covered the entire floor of the living room, a clear sign of a struggle.
Quickly reaching into her purse, Hunnigan retrieved her phone and sped dial the director of DSO. "Sir, my suspicions were correct. Agents Harper and Kennedy are missing. It is clear by the signs of the struggle that they have been taken-" The woman gave a grunt as she stumbled from a sudden force shaking the building.
A deafening crash had her covering her ears, the phone in her hands dropping to the floor in response. What in the world? Making her way to the window at the far end of the room, Hunnigan peered out, gasping. Buildings surrounding the area had been destroyed and caught flame. Horrific screams of terror sounded as pandemonium ensued, people running amok in a panic. What was going on?
The building shook once again, roughly, as it caused Ingrid to fall back onto the floor. Explosions, that's what it was. Gunshots emanated following the thunderous noise of the explosions. Shit, the city was under attack! At a whimper, the woman stirred and looked up. A small puppy cowered in the corner beside the couch. What caught Hunnigan's attention and eye the most was the shine coming from the animal's collar. That must be it. That must be what she was sent here for.
The building shook and rumbled viciously. After a small struggle, Ingrid stood and carefully made her way toward the dog. "Come here boy." The animal whimpered yet did not fight back as it was picked up. "What do you have here, huh?"
Hunnigan reached into the collar, retracting a small disk. This is what was so important? What was it? What on earth was Ada Wong playing at? Why would she send her here for this? Ingrid gave a sudden scream of surprise as the walls to the living room burst into a pile of rubble and brick, forcing the woman to the ground yet again.
Pain rushed through her shoulder upon impact. A long shard of glass had embedded itself through. The world seemed to suddenly slow, as the woman scanned the area. The apartment was destroyed, part of it catching fire. The wandering eyes landed upon a figure rushing into the room.
Cassandra? The young agent knelt before the downed woman. "Let's go Hunnigan! Come on!" Her words clashed with the ringing in Ingrid's ears, sounding muffled and disoriented. What was Cassandra doing here? The agent took hold of Ingrid's arm and pulled her up to her feet. "We have to get out of here!"
Her senses and hearing returning, Hunnigan picked the pup up, tucking him inside her coat, and allowed herself to be dragged out where screams sounded. Smoke hung in the air and filled the crowded corridor where people struggled in a frenzy to escape the building.
Ingrid coughed. "What are you doing here?" Cassandra led the way through the chaos, her arm wrapped around Hunnigan's waist as a form to support her weight. "I got a message from an Ada Wong telling me to come here!" she shouted over the noise. Reaching a door that led to the stairwell, she burst through with some good old fashioned action of the shoulder.
"You too?" Hunnigan said in response. Cassandra panted as she traveled down the stairs with quick speed, "Yeah. I figured out she was the one who sent me the email about the Chupacabras for the mission with Agent Kennedy, so I just followed my gut and took heed in the message."
The agent's shoulder took more action as the two burst through the door leading to the exit. As they stepped out into the outdoors, the two froze at the chaos. Everything was… destroyed. More and more buildings crumpled under the heap of the explosions which the point of origin had yet to be determined. Fire burned fiercely. Bodies lay sprawled throughout. People screamed and ran. Gunfire continued to ring out.
Hunnigan shook her head. "This is terrible." Cassandra led the way down the disheveled street toward a red mustang. "Shit!" she cursed as she took in the state of the now wrecked car. Debris had crushed it. In anger the woman kicked what was left of the driver's door. "Damn it!"
"Forget about the car, we need to move" Ingrid said. Her brow furrowed. She was beginning to feel weak. Oh not now, anytime but now. She needed to say conscious. It would do neither her nor Cassandra any good to pass out now. Shaking the weariness off, the woman focused on keeping her eyes open and her sense of awareness alert. Stay awake.
The young agent led the two down the street. Shelter, they needed to find shelter; someplace safe. She gave a cry of surprise as the woman beside dropped to the ground, dragging her along. "Hunnigan, you alright?" she said as she knelt down before the older woman. She cupped her face, slapping her cheeks lightly. "We can't stop here, come on."
Hunnigan shook her head to clear away the dizziness and faintness. Looking up the agent, her blurry vision began to clear. She nodded as she panted. "I'm fine." With a groan, she forced herself to her feet.
More and more people ran, away from the danger as the two traveled down and through the chaos. The gunfire continued, never letting up or showing any signs of stopping. Screams of terror and death filled the air. What was going on?
What was assumed to be a man, for the face could not be seen due to a helmet with a visor, dressed in black armor jumped atop the roof of an overturned car snarling as he set bright red eyes upon the two. The wicked maniacal laugh he gave sent a chill running through both Hunnigan and Cassandra's spines. An M16 was strapped to his body. He was the cause of the gunfire. No doubt he wasn't alone.
Growling, the soldier leapt into the air, lunging at the two females. A sudden gunshot caused Hunnigan to jolt. The body dropped to the ground with a heavy thud. Cassandra tucked her handgun back into the back of her pants. "Come on" she said as she took hold of Hunnigan once again.
"We need to get out of the open" Ingrid said. Cassandra merely nodded. "I know." She glanced ahead, squinting as it was hard to see through all of the dark smoke. "I can't see anything." Hunnigan looked to her aside, seeing a shop of some kind. "There" she pointed.
The agent led the two into the dismantled coffee shop, the two slipping inside through an opening on the wall. The shop was empty and dark. Cassandra gently placed Hunnigan on the floor before sitting down beside her. She panted. "We can't stay here for too long."
Hunnigan nodded, allowing herself a breather. The pain in her shoulder from the still stuck shard of glass was intense. "Do you have your phone?" she questioned suddenly. "Do you really think now is the time for that?" Cassandra hissed.
"We may not get another chance. I went out on a limb here trusting Ada Wong. Whatever is in this disk is important. Now do you have a phone or not?"
"Where's your laptop?"
Hunnigan sighed, "Back at the office. I didn't think I would need it. Now give me your phone."
The agent nodded and retrieved her phone from the front pocket of her pants. "Here" she breathed out as she handed the device over. Ingrid reached into her blazer, carefully taking Nanook out. "Good boy" she soothed as she once again recovered the disk from his collar. Handing the pup to the agent, Hunnigan placed the disk into the phone.
"So what is it?"
Files of classified data appeared onto the screen. Pictures of test subjects and animals appeared. Hunnigan furrowed her brows as she shook her head, "Looks like some type of evidence on experiments."
"Let me see that" Cassandra said as she handed the puppy back to Hunnigan, who tucked him away in her blazer, and took hold of the device. She scanned through the photos; there were all of a forested area. "This looks like Puerto Rico." Following the photos of forests, came photos of what looked like a secret military base. She caught the words 'El Yunque' a few times. "El Yunque" she spoke. "I… I know that from somewhere." Could it be? This was too much of a coincidence for it not to be. It had to be. Her mind suddenly played back the conversation she had with Leon Kennedy back on her mission in the Sonora Dessert of Arizona.
"Those aren't legends. They were created."
"That's my point exactly. There were theories. One I found quite interesting. According to the source, in Puerto Rico, it was believed the Chupacabra was a product of a genetic experiment by a secret U.S agency. It was said the creature escaped when the government laboratory at El Yunque Mountain was damaged during a severe storm in the early 1990's."
The memory switched to another in a flash; Buck stood before them as his father's head burned in a fire. His voice echoed in her ears. "The Resistance needed a change. Conquering the world with zombies just wasn't going to cut it anymore. It's too cliché… And then I met him, he told me the plaga was capable of so much more than just controlling the undead. He game the greatest idea of all time, the usage of urban legends."
It soon dawned on the agent. Urban legends… zombies… control of the undead… It all made sense. Whoever was behind this had complete control of these, things, these soldiers. It… it was war. The one behind this unleashed a war, the living against the undead. "Holy shit" she said.
"What?" Hunnigan questioned.
A dark ominous feeling suddenly crept its way down the agent's spine, her trained senses on high alert. She stood and turned her head back, gazing into the smoke that seemed to blanket the area. Hunnigan moved her line of sight straight ahead. "What is it?"
What sounded like claws scraping against the concrete put both females on edge; something was scurrying about. A deep menacing growl sounded. Cassandra took a step back in caution. "We're not alone" she spoke.
On cue, as if waiting for the introduction, a creature about the size of a small bear stepped through the smoke, allowing itself to be seen. The agent's eyes widened at the sight of the leathery green grey skin and sharp quills across its back. Oh no. Not them again. Things seemed to have just gotten worse.
Ingrid's eyes widened in terror at the sight of the creature, "What the hell is that?!"
"Shit!" Cassandra cursed. This was most definitely not good. How could this creature be here in the flesh? Hadn't she and Kennedy taken them out? "What do we do?" Hunnigan questioned, fear lacing in her voice.
Cassandra's heart rate picked up as her heat raced, beating against her chest. Where was the pack? Coyotes were much like wolves, they hunted in packs. So where was the pack? "Cassandra" Hunnigan called.
The growling grew, intensified as more creatures stepped from the shadows of the smoke, surrounding them. Shit. Their chances of living through this were just cut down slim to none. They stood no chance. Options were limited. The gun hidden in the back of the agents pants would only buy them mere seconds of life, and that was stretching it.
The two women flinched at the loud gunshots. The rest of the enemy was drawing closer. Cassandra glanced to her right, seeing an opening in through an alley. "We're going to run" she said, swallowing the lump in her throat.
Her heart beat against her chest, as she reached for a discarded chair. Acting quickly, she threw the chair towards the two creatures blocking the exit of the shop, took hold of Hunnigan and took off full speed.
Snarls filled her ears. Cassandra needn't look back to know the creatures were in pursuit. Pushing herself, the young woman jumped into the alley. Both women landed side by side with a thud on the concrete.
Remains of a large sign hanging from the side of the still standing building dropped down behind her, blocking the way in and crushing a few of the infected coyotes. Oh thank god. The panting agent allowed herself a breather. The two should be safe for now.
Cassandra panted heavily and leaned back against the wall. Hunnigan too was breathless; it was becoming a bit difficult to stay conscious. She bobbed her head in the agent's direction. "Thanks." The agent stood. "Don't mention it." Slowly she stood and helped Hunnigan up with a grunt. "We better move."
XXX~ "You let them get away so easily."
Paxton turned back toward the voice. "It's all part of the fun." With a smug grin, he turned back to the many screens mounted on the wall. Currently, Lexington resided in the central control room of the military base. An almost silent chuckle slipped past his lips as he shook his head slightly. "My, that agent is incredible."
On the top corner, a camera displayed Leon's performance of a clean beautiful kill with a simple blade, resulting in him slicing the throat of the soldier standing before him. Paxton watched in silence as he witnessed the escape of Harper's and the male's escape from the base. It seems he may have underestimated the value of the male agent. "Is everything according to plan?" he questioned suddenly, eyes still on screen. A small moment of silence followed before the same voice replied. "Yes. The planes should have already arrived and started their destruction, as were your orders."
Paxton's grin grew, "Excellent work Ms. Wong. "
With lightning speed, Leon disarmed another soldier and fired four clean shots into the forehead of the other approaching men. "Perhaps instead of killing him, I should make him my own personal bodyguard. What do you think Ms. Wong?"
"Why do you have so much interest in this woman?" was the unexpected reply. "It seems almost pitiful you would go through such extends just to extract revenge on something that happened so long ago" Ada's voice echoed. "For your crimes, I'd say you got what was coming to you."
Paxton was silent before speaking up seconds later. "Is this where I share my touching story that will explain why I wish to extract my revenge?" He chuckled meekly. "I'm afraid this isn't the case here."
In the blink of an eye and without even the slightest flinch, Ada's wrist was caught in Paxton's hand, his grip strong and clenching. The slightest flick of his hand had the woman crying out in pain, the butterfly knife in her grasp dropping to the floor.
Completely overpowered, Ada groaned and dropped to one knee as Paxton stood up from his chair, "Tsk, tsk, tsk. I figured you to know better than your clone to attack me." The vixen shot the male a glare, wincing as the hold around her wrist tightened.
Paxton chuckled as he stopped a second attempt of a stabbing, "Did you really think you had me fooled?" Effortlessly, he snapped the woman's second knife in half as if it were a mere toothpick. "I've planned this for years and no mere spy is going to stop me!" He delivered a blow to the woman's face, knocking her several feet aside.
Ada gave a cry of agonizing pain from the blow and the impact of the surface. She lay on her side, her face pressed up against the cold floor. The Asian panted, her body quivering. Surreptitiously, she reached for her handgun tucked away inside the holster strapped to her leg. After cocking it she aimed.
Paxton merely chortled. "Oh my, someone's prepared. You seem to live up to your potential Ms. Wong." He took a seat on the chair. "Good thing I too prepared for a situation just like this, and so, I took the liberty of infecting both Harper and Kennedy beforehand. Well, actually you did."
Ada narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about?" Paxton chuckled more, "Your clone. The tranquilizer darts she shot them both with, they were filled with strains of the C-virus."
"You lie. They would have turned the moment the virus entered their system."
He waved his pointer finger in a jeering manner. "Ah see, that's where you're wrong." He leaned back into the chair in a casual manner, folding his hands together and placing them into his lap. "You see, I added a little something extra to the virus. I control the virus now therefore I am linked to them and as long as my heart still beats, they won't turn. The virus will remain dormant inside them. But if I die…" his chuckle changed to a dark sinister laugh. "So Ms. Wong, the fate of the one you love lies in your hands. You can kill me now or you can make sure I stay alive. What will you do, Ada Wong?"
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