Disclaimer: I do not own any Resident Evil characters or Resident Evil terms but I do own anything else that is original, Kronos virus, everything about the project and much more coming in the next chps.
Chapter Eight: Back into Hell
THERE WAS A TIRED, SAD LOOK on Iria's face. The news hit her hard. She had heard something similar like it not once or twice but uncountable before so to her, it just seemed like unwanted daily talk.
"Harris..." she managed to speak, taking everything that Steve had told her.
Each of the scientists had their own different responses. Victor was already pacing about irritably and miserably. "Damn that redneck... He should have called us..." Katherine was at brink of tears with Yves comforting her. Jose was biting his lips, shaking his head while Samson loitered to the wall with a hint of weak legs.
Zach was the one who showed the worst; with earphones down around his neck, he buried his face in his hands and squatted down to the floor..
It was there within the foyer did Steve realize someone amiss.
"Where's Terry?" Steve meekly asked.
That stiffed the team in their places, each with different reactions but the same hint of remorse.
The rigid silence worsened his dread.
Iria sighed. "Terry... Terry was attacked by one of the specimens... It was already too late before we could do anything."
His green eyes widened before they squeezed tight. "Shit... But it's Terry...was Terry... I thought nothing could stop him..."
"We all thought that, Steve," Iria hastily said. "We all thought that..."
That didn't make it better for him, despite how very true that sentence was.
He knew Iria well. He knew Victor, Kath, Zach, Samson, Jose, Yves, Terry, Harris and Kailey. The relationships he had with the ten scientists were like...college teachers, if he had to pick. They were all older than him, had their own different tastes - other than Harris' admiration in planes, something Steve could relate - and spoke different conversations a person like himself wouldn't get. And yet, during and outside work hour, he learned more things about them than he would with a blender.
Terry, the big guy, had towered over him when he was in his small human form. Hell, he lifted weights during his free time at the gym. It had taken a while for Terry to open up to the kiddo just like the others but once he did, he was like a happy, charging bear to him. He seized any opportunity to rustle Steve's hair like some jock he forgot from high school. Only nicer. Even, a couple of times having drinks with him and Jose - Steve excluded from alcohol however.
Now Terry was gone.
Everyone was fragile. Breakable.
Then Steve remembered Terry's wife and two daughters.
"I... Someone needs to tell his wife... A-And Harris' and Kail's families too... I mean..." Steve felt jumpy inside of him. Sitting down just seemed like wasted time. "T-They need to know..."
Iria's hands pushed down on his tense shoulders. "I know, Steve. But right now, we have to focus. When we leave, I'll tell them. Ok?"
Eye to eye, he eventually settled down, sitting back. However, he didn't want to leave Iria to take another burden.
But now wasn't a good time to complain.
"...Ok."
Her hands dropped to her lap but Iria could easily read the expression on his face like a book. It had been a hard, wearing hour he had to endure. Alone. And for the second time too.
"What's that specimen doing here?"
Iria furrowed her eyebrows, glaring over Steve's shoulders, straight at the beholder of the voice that stood far away.
One of several people who were more 'irked' to be in the same room as a 'monster', had to be very vocal on a day of chaos.
"That thing should be out there! You want us to get infected! ?"
"Calm down," Samson said but the scientist didn't listen.
"Get that specimen off of here! We have enough problems already."
"Ok. Back off," Jose barked, standing in between the redhead and the charging man in white. "You're giving us problems already by losing your head."
"Me? You all have lost your heads, especially McLenlan there! Giving that thing a free pass and now this! If you don't take it out of here-"
"Any trouble?"
The raised voices soon drew the attention of Kent, who with his shotgun still in hands was gathering info from his men before he decided to step in.
"Yes, there is!" the other man barked. "This is a protected area and that specimen shouldn't be in here!"
Kent was calm. Cool-headed. But also worn-out.
"O'lright. You might as well say that to Officer Chee as well then."
"What! ?" It was a shrivelled excuse of a voice. "That man's different. And he doesn't have anything to do with-"
"I have other matters to worry about than this, wanker. If you want, you can bring him to the doors. Pretty sure them reptiles are still waiting out there."
The man froze on the spot. In front of the Aussie, the shivers underneath that smug white coat was visible to the naked eye. The scientist looked about only to catch glares from Iria and the others all hawking at him.
Iria's was the coldest among them.
"Good. Now shut up and go back to your corner."
The grunted sentence out of Kent's curdled lips quickly hurried the man off the balls of his feet. Back into probably his little group of colleagues.
"Ignore him, Steve," Iria said quietly.
He didn't eye back at her but instead kept staring down at the thin lines of the floor with every fibre tightened. It stung like barbed wire had strung around his guts and every word spat out just pulled at the wire tighter and tighter.
He still couldn't get used to the insults, even if this was something of a regular basis by now.
"How bad is it?" Iria dared to ask.
It was difficult for the Aussie to keep a straight face. "No go. GAIAN's still offline. The techs are doing everything from up here but it's looking like the damage could be at the core. Doesn't matter if we go fix it with all them bloody infected downstairs."
She bit her lips. "And the exit doors? Can they be closed?"
Kent shook his head. "You know as well as I do. Without GAIAN, those doors are just invitations for the specimens to get out. Won't be long till that happes."
"Wait," Steve croaked, standing up from his seat. "You're telling me they can get out to the island?"
"No. Not really," Iria replied serenely. "You know you are registered into GAIAN's database, right?"
"Um. Yeah?"
"So are all those specimens," Jose stepped in. "There's a failsafe microchip we put in the back of their necks. They can't get out without feeling shocked internally from a couple of metres to the exit. It's just a temporary solution in case of blackouts like this."
"Until backup power drops to zero," Kent dampened the mood. "Once this facility goes black, there's nothing stopping them from leaving."
Steve swallowed. "How long?"
"My guess. Two hours. Give or take."
"Fuck." The redhead sunk his head down. It just got better and better...
"We got two hours. Will that be enough time for us to do Plan E?"
"Plan E already went out the window. Along with F and G," Kent replied.
That soured Jose's face. "No way. We're down to last resort?"
"Looks that way. Either we get help from outside in the next twenty-four hours or we die fighting the infected. We're struck here until we're dinner for them."
"What did you just say?"
Unknowingly, one of the other staff, a janitor, had just wandered up too close to the group and overheard the commotion.
And stupidly outright spoke out.
"We're going to die here?"
It was like stirring up a pack of frightened small fishes.
"Did you hear that?"
"This is a joke, right?"
"Bloody hell," Kent groaned. Panic was the last thing he needed. "Now calm down-"
But it was already too late. It was contagious, lashing at each of them.
"What are we going to do?"
"We need to call HELIX. They have procedures for this kind of thing!"
"Anyone can get them on the line?"
"What about GAIAN? Isn't she back online?"
"I didn't sign up for this! This is HELIX's problem now."
It was like a sea, the fright rushing into each person like crashing waves while Steve and everyone else who remained calm stayed back like land. He couldn't blame them for being scared.
It was the end for them anyway. Lost and confused, needing someone to help clean up this mess. Anyone.
Someone to come save them.
"ENOUGH!"
Out of the half-Spanish's mouth, the yell silenced the whole room to the point that a dropped nail could be heard. Everyone and especially Steve, froze in their places, frightened eyes darted at Iria.
She was hopping mad. In a room full of headless chickens.
"HELIX this, HELIX that! Enough! They are not going to solve anything! It's we who have to fix this!"
"Are you daft? HELIX should be stopping this disaster! "
"And where is HELIX right now?" Iria hollered, shutting the other scientist down. "Look around you! Have you noticed all of Wesker's men aren't in today? It's there in plain sight! We have been abandoned by the very company who hired us!"
Almost everyone looked around, even Steve. He had only just noticed it and the very absence spoke volume to them.
Not a single HCF guard was within the foyer. Not one soldier had clocked in for the day.
He tightened his fists. Wesker was really going to leave everyone behind. The sick bastard...
"B-But they have to," another scientist whined. "They can't just leave us-"
"They can and they did. You've all living in ignorance for too long, it's rotted your brains! The virus is complete and we are all expendables. HELIX is not going to be saving us because we know too much and we've been left here to die."
The truth slowly settled. Before the angry blonde, they were swallowing it up like a spoonful of disgusting medicine.
No matter how much they tried to deny it, the taste was down in the pits of their stomachs.
One finally spoke out.
"W-What...what should we do?"
It was a question that stirred everyone to gaze at Iria, their eyes prying for an answer. She didn't budge or flinch.
"What we can do." Iria then searched for one person in the crowd. "Some of us need to stay. And the rest need to leave."
"B-But...this outbreak..."
"There's no point in everyone staying. Right now, you have to go back to your families. You cannot lose your head right now," Iria explained. "I am not asking all of you to be heroes. I'm asking you to survive."
She then walked up to a Korean woman with glasses.
"And someone's gonna lead you all outside this facility in my place."
The woman glared at her with shock. "What are you-"
"Yu, I need you to be a leader right now."
It was a strange request, asking out of Soo-Jin Yu, a stuck-up woman with skills on the same plane as Iria. There had been several conflicts that Steve had either heard or seen, and even before he woke up from his coma. So it was odd for Iria to approach her.
"And what makes you think I'll listen to you, McLenlan? You're too quick into thinking that HELIX have abandoned us. The head director already losing her cool in a second outbreak," she spat but the insult barely dented at Iria. "We've been through this before. We just need to wait for them-"
"We have only two hours. Two hours until this hits the fan and gets into town. Do you absolutely think HELIX will be able to do anything in that timeframe?"
Soo-Jin didn't reply. But she was obviously worried, the shrewd smile sinking downwards.
"They'll simply write this off as a damn accident, with everyone dead," Iria snapped with a growing tone of urgency.
The rival facade Soo-Jin had towards Iria deflated, no mockery at her paranoia taken hold. The matter was right in their faces and she couldn't refute it any longer.
"We have never met eye to eye. For nine years, we've pretty much headbutted each other constantly. We have hated each other's guts for a long time. But right now, we can't wait for them to move their asses into saving us. You know that we need to do something. We have to save ourselves," Iria explained.
The words slowly sunk into Soo-Jin, her expression softening with a rare hint of fear. Politics and ranks were out of the window. They were defenceless, nothing but prey for the infected at anytime.
She was going to lose it if Iria hadn't continue.
"I know your family is important. So is mine. So is everyone. That's why I need you to lead everyone to the pier. Can you do that?"
"And you expect us to leave on the ferry? That's not going to hold everyone. And the storm-"
"I know. We're stuck here until we can call for help. For now, the pier is our own place of defence. In case things get worse. That's why I need you to take the lead out there, prepare that place like you're ready for war. Rations, weapons, anything important for survival. Just long enough until help comes."
Soo-Jin narrowed her eyes confusedly. "...What exactly are you planning?"
"Use the two hour window to shut the doors and send an SOS. Even with GAIAN down, communication should still work."
It was a wild idea. Soo-Jin's wide eyes were the tall tale. Was she crazy? That would be like entering a room full of hornets.
"This is the only option we have. And if there's another you know, then tell me. I'm all ears."
It was a plead that Soo-Jin had never heard. Iria asking of her for another solution. Moreover, for her to go into lengths into finally listening. But even so, she had nothing better than what she proposed.
There was no other choice.
The fear in her black eyes then settled down, followed by a sigh out of her lips. Soo-Jin glanced at Iria, not out of spite or disbelief.
Then she glared with mild annoyance, the familiar smug mask she usually cast out at her.
"Alright. I'll do this. But I'm not doing this for you. Clearly, you have one too many on your plate to handle and I'm not going to be responsible if I hear the head director gets herself killed. Understand, McLenlan?"
Iria softly smiled.
"I wouldn't think any other way."
The Korean then turned her attention to the surrounding crowd. "What are you gagging about? You heard her! We're heading back to town and moving everyone to the pier."
"Are you crazy?" the one scientist that spat about Steve the specimen being in the foyer was shouting at her. "We should wait for HELIX!"
"If you want to wait here, then fine. Be a meal for the infected. You give the rest of us a better chance of leaving," Soo-Jin coldly hissed. "The less hindrances, the better."
It was a frightful comeback, along with her icy glare. She had been terrified after her experience out from that den, tired that no solution came into light until Iria stepped in with the proposal and purely angry at the fact they had a large-scale pandemic on their hands.
She was not going to let some spineless coward with an IQ 15 points lower than hers stand in her way.
"Move it! Now!"
It was a slow stir but eventually, people were leaving through the main entrance. Calmer this time, with the survived officers funnelling them out. And no one seemed to object with the Korean woman taking the lead. At least, no one was brave enough to do so.
"Be careful, Yu," Kent uttered. "We've gotten word from other units outside that HCF are up to something. Armed."
"They're still around?" Soo-Jin exclaimed with a tint of disbelief.
"On the island, yeah. And a bit too close to town for comfort. Have a feeling Wesker left some of his men on purpose. So prepare yourself on the way back."
"Hmph. So he finally shows his true colours. I never liked that man."
"Who doesn't?" Iria added.
"Unit 3, 8, 11 and 19 will tag with all of you. We're running thin here but four units should be enough."
"Thank you, Officer Williams."
With that, Iria and Kent turned away from her. The discussion was finished so now was to put everything in motion.
"McLenlan."
Iria stopped and wheeled back to the Korean.
"You said our families are important. But you might die if you go down there. So why are you doing this?"
It surprised Soo-Jin to see Iria weakly smile.
"I don't have a good relationship with my niece and nephew... Not like you with yours... I guess this is my way of being an aunt for once."
Soo-Jin said nothing, even when the two walked onwards but the silence told her that she acknowledged.
"You sure it's a good idea? She might let it go up to her head," Kent uttered.
"No," Iria replied confidently. "We all have the same goals now. I wouldn't have picked her if I didn't think she couldn't do this."
"So the plan's locking up the doors?"
She nodded. "I am not letting this virus go anywhere near Hannah and Randy." Her voice was firm. Angry.
"You do know what you plan is a suicide mission, right?"
Iria didn't respond. The Aussie could already tell, however, what she was thinking.
And she walked away from the security officer.
Kent groaned. Tilting up his head. "Of course. And you are deciding to do it yourself."
"Doc," Steve muttered weakly, absolutely shocked at the boldness she was taking.
"Iria," Katherine voiced out with frailness but it barely stopped the blonde in her tracks.
Kent immediately wheeled in front of her, an opened palm out to halt her. "Listen to me, Shelia. There are eight exits. Four on B and four below that. Two hours isn't going to cut it for just one person."
"I can most certainly try."
"No. You can't. Each door is a ton of weight. Hear me? A ton."
"I've managed to blow open a door once. I can figure out something."
"No," Kent grumbled. The Aussie put his foot down. "No more 'I'. This time, you're not doing this one-woman plan, Iria."
Stunned eyes stared at him.
"Teams. We're doing this as teams."
Iria furrowed her eyebrows worriedly. "Kent, you should go home to your wife and kids."
"To spend the last two hours with them on this island? That's a nice offer but I bloody well want to have a fighting chance. Not just for myself but for them too. And I bet you my men are going to stubbornly agree too. So we're coming with you whether you like it or not."
"I'm coming, too!"
Iria shot her head to the right, worried eyes on the kiddo.
It was something she didn't expect or even want to hear out of Steve. But he rushed up onto his feet with a determined look.
She then glowered at him.
"No," she barked. "You're going back to the surface."
Then Steve glanced at her like she had gone mad as a hatter. Again. Stop treating him like a child, dammit! "Are you kidding me! ? Like hell am I leaving you to go waltzing down there!"
And now she was putting on her overprotective guardian mode. "And like hell am I going to let you come! It's too dangerous."
"So? Have you forgotten? I've been through Rockfort! This is just the same. And I'm not exactly human anymore."
"This isn't a game and this isn't Rockfort. You died once. There's no guarantee-"
"Doc!" he yelled, his frustrated manner silencing her. "I know that. I could die again. I could as well die from old age. I get it. But I'm not leaving."
Stiff tension hung between the two, glares still standing.
But Iria gave up, sighing with her shoulders slugged down. There was no talking out of the young man.
Not that she could blame him. Earlier, she had said she wouldn't leave him.
Damn, it was like fighting a reflection. One she couldn't hate.
"Well. If the kiddo's heading in, so will I."
It surprised Iria, as well as deepened her worry once Victor stepped forth.
"Not you too."
"What? You want me to worry my head off outside if anything goes horribly wrong? Forget it. I'm going."
"Now this is where I would be saying I can't allow civilians or staff to do that," Kent said calmly. "But something tells me you're going to ignore me."
Truthfully, as much as he hated the idea of endangering lives, it was good enough an idea to get more hands on deck. Yes, besides his unit, he could have added one more into this suicide mission. The only problem was leaving two others to defend the foyer doors. Too high a risk if the specimens decided to bulldoze through weak defence.
Beggars couldn't be choosers. And Victor had the same intention of choosing to go with them as he did.
Iria scowled at Kent's failed attempt to make the man reconsider. "What about Anna? And your son?"
"And they're just more reason for me to do this. Face it, Iria. I don't want this anywhere near town as much as you don't. You're not going to change my mind."
"I want in, too."
Again, surprise out of the blonde. "Kath..."
"No," the petite scientist hissed, climbing onto her feet with an angry face. "I am not sitting this one out... Yes, I am scared. I'm terrified. We could all die right now like Harris and Kail. But I can't leave. If there's anything that I can do to just...contain this outbreak, then I'll stay."
Joining in one by one, the others stepped in. Samson and Zach hesitated at first but they ignored Iria's anxious expression.
"We're a team, Iria," Jose pointed. "We're not going anywhere."
"I made this team for the dayshift. Not for guerrilla tactics. You are not trained professionals," Iria snapped.
"And you aren't either. But we sure know how to deal with those specimens just as well as you do," Yves stated.
"Iria, we have the same feeling as you do," Victor said. "We created this virus. We caused this to happen. And we want to fix it."
Iria glanced at her team, one after the other. Every one of them had the same expression that told her no matter what, even if she were to order them to decline, they would not back down.
She couldn't comprehend the lunacy they had in deciding to take part in a suicide mission. They were not superheroes. They have people outside waiting for them.
"Give us this chance. Harris, Terry and Kailey would have wanted this too."
Victor was right. If those three were here, they'd stubbornly jump right in. Telling Iria to stop worry about too many possibilities she's piled up one after the other in her head. They would say to her those were just thoughts, not proven action.
"Numbers are looking good," Samson uttered. "We might have enough for each door."
Iria stared down with uncertainty. It was true: spread out into teams and the doors could be manually locked before the deadline was up.
But...
"You can't do this alone and you won't be alone this time," Kent added.
She eventually sighed. They could die now. They could die later. An hour. Five hours.
She could have died back in the past. So what difference did it make?
"Then we better gear up," Iria uttered. And that stretched Kent's grin even wider.
"Someone say gear?"
Out from the thinning crowd, a woman stood out like a sore thumb. In character and even attire, the dark-skinned woman from Cuba appeared in a wild, flamboyant set of clothes that said to the policies inside the facility to go fuck off. She had been flagged a few things, mainly for her choice of clothing, taking the cheery inside job of handling inventory at the only store on Level A.
Today, Amelita Ramos took the pandemonium as opportunity. Business was still business.
She logged the strap of a large silver case off her shoulder and let it hit the floor with a loud thud, the vey contents shuffling inside.
"Good thing I brought all the stock I could carry."
The Cuban merchant had amazed the group many times before and this time, she had done it again.
Already sitting down on crossed legs, she flipped the fasteners off and opened the case up - showcasing weapons, magazines and grenades galore for happy-triggers. But not without an outrageous price no doubt.
"Everything and anything you need," she hummed. "Just name what you're interested and you get it, provided that you got the dough for it."
"Of course. Why am I not surprised?" Jose uttered with a rise of an eyebrow.
"Stop complaining. If it wasn't for her, we'd be low on ammo already," the Aussie exclaimed.
"And how much did you guys had to cough up?"
"You got to be kidding me."
Steve stared dumbfounded. They shouldn't be there. But the moment he grasped them in his hands, the re-polished gold metal was very much real. Scratches here and there but they were as good as they were when he first held them long ago.
"How the fuck..."
"Seems like you had a history with that pair," Amelita droned, amused at his choice on the old golden lugers. "Found them in storage."
"In storage? How...what?"
"If I had to guess, whatever stuff they managed to savage along with your body from Rockfort. Also, you're not allowed to be selling anything from storage, Ramos," said Victor. There was a soft "You didn't" moment running from his tone.
Amelita simply shrugged her shoulders."And pass by a good offer? That sounds like a sin to me." She turned back to the stunned redhead. "So are you buying or not?"
With a fleeting look on the tided line of goods, Iria examined each item carefully. Some were promising but had disadvantages. Too heavy, too small a chamber, too complicated. A weapon right now was wise for them to carry but it couldn't be too ridiculous that could end up hindering them until death knocked on their doors.
There were two traits she was looking for: a gun that she could easily use and as long as she could kill an infected with it.
One gun caught her attention, black. A Shadow.
She picked it up. Although a similar grasp like that on her trusty taser gun, this one was heavy in her hand. However, it had actually been a long time since she held something like this.
Well, let's just see how rusty she had gotten over the years.
"I'll take this." She tossed out all the money she had in her wallet. There was no need of keeping worthless paper anymore.
"Glad to do business," Amelita spoke with delight, her fingers already running through and counting each note.
"Steve," Iria started, loading a fresh cartridge into the handgun. "Remember you told me once that guns are more reliable than people?"
"Yeah?"
"I like that even more."
Click!
*/*/*/*
The foyer doors droned out a low screeching moan as they slowly opened. One eye peered out cautiously.
The administration hall was empty - although in bloodstained tatters with lying bodies about, the Hunters were nowhere in sight. But the fact that it was empty was more disturbing. No surprise attacks, nothing to stir confusion with claws and teeth. Meaning the infected were somewhere else, prowling.
Only the sound of dripping water from the fire sprinklers echoed.
"All clear."
The gap widened and out first was Kent, shotgun held up. Behind him, a few of his men stepped out with readied weapons, then the scientists and Steve and finally the rest of his unit.
"Anyone with second thoughts?"
This was the last chance for someone to back out and Kent was handing out the offer without consequence. It wouldn't piss him if one or two did decide to call quits. Live one more day with their families and friends.
But was one more day really good enough?
No one replied, despite a few shivers here and there.
"Close it."
At Kent's order, the doors behind them wedged tight by two officers from one of the remaining three units in the foyer. And the large group of people were cut off from the outside, from any other help.
Eight armed and trained officers, seven scientists and one specimen.
All with a death wish.
"Plan is simple. Team Alfa and Bravo to Level C. Charlie and Delta to B."
No arguments at the picks. At the Captain's order, his seven men split up together with Iria's team. Balanced with weapon expertise, medical skills and understanding of specimen tactics.
Steve had already decided to tag along with Iria. Kent was along for the ride too, choosing Norman the rookie as their fourth member in Alfa. Victor and Katherine were paired together with two officers for Bravo, Decker and Sullivan. Kwan took lead on Charlie, tagged with a female officer named Piper, Jose and Zach. The last one consisted of Yves and Samson with Officer Church and Alex.
There were actually two more officers, by the names of Fuller and Jacobs. But they had already been off-duty before the outbreak.
"Get to the exits and shut them off. No leaving the group for heroics. If you see survivors, tell them to head to the foyer." Throughout his orders, Kent kept a cool head. He didn't falter, he didn't mess up his words. This was, to him, just another routine like any other, despite the large scale of things. "We rendezvous at the safe point in one hour. Any questions?"
None.
"Good, move out."
And with that, the four teams split - two heading one direction and two heading the opposite.
"Steve."
He wheeled back to the petite scientist.
"Keep a close eye on Iria," she said worriedly.
He rose an eyebrow. "I don't think she needs a babysitter, Kath."
"I'm talking about her mental health. This isn't the first time she's been through this."
The serious expression out of her made him reconsider. He glanced back at Iria, noting her calm air within disordered walls as the two teams continued carefully down the wrecked and bloody path.
He had heard about the first outbreak from Harris and Kailey. He had only gotten the brief of it and nothing more. He hadn't asked more out of curiosity but it was a topic her colleagues didn't speak of around her. Even she remained quiet about it.
But from what he gathered from Katherine's concern, it had to have scarred her.
"You really think she'll lose it?" he asked meekly.
"No. But she's going to be affected badly."
"Aren't we all?"
It was a good question that she couldn't deny. One minute, Katherine was leaving early from home to set up the party after saying goodbye to her father. The next, she was volunteering to get herself killed. All with shaking hands.
Yes, immediately, she thought she was losing her mind. She'd probably come out of it with nightmares if she was lucky.
That was the thing: someone else had been through this before, muttering in their sleep, waking up in a cold sweat. And she had seen that from Iria in her office a few times.
But Iria would say a reassuring answer to her question, "Are you alright?", all with a smile.
"You've been through this before. How affected are you?"
Steve didn't answer straight away.
"...Badly... Worse than before," he admitted.
But he understood where she was going with this. If he was having a hard time dealing with this as compared to before, who was to say that Iria was frolicking through this like no big deal?
Especially when the bodies were counting... And this wasn't an attempt to escape, this was an attempt to save lives.
"Just make sure she doesn't do anything drastic, Ok?"
"...Sure." He looked back again.
It had always been Iria looking out for him. Not that he wouldn't do the same for her the other way around. The roles were easily switched every time he found her overworked in her office.
So it was very worrying to him that this time, the other way had to be higher priority no matter what.
"What?"
He flinched at Iria's voice. "Uh, nothing. Nothing."
A frown simply shot out from her. Uh oh. And those narrowed hazel eyes didn't make it better.
Then he was slapped on the head.
"Hey!"
"Get your head in the game. You chose to go back into this hell so you better focus."
"I know that," he whined. "Sheez."
"...I'll be fine," Iria reassured him. "Like Kent said, I'm not doing this alone... Although I'd prefer doing alone. Lessen the chance we'd get attacked as a group."
"Isn't it the same either way? I was alone in Rockfort most of the time and I barely got out of there by a hair if it weren't for Claire."
"Yeah, I guess you make a good point."
"We split up here."
The large group stopped at Kent's command and swiftly divided down into their assigned teams, one going on and the other taking the first emergency staircase.
Carefully and slowly.
Central and emergency elevators were a no go. They were nothing but death traps for sure. Only solution to head down was through the emergency staircases.
Again, those were also a quick trip into dying but at least there were openings instead of being trapped in one single small room.
"Bloody hell."
Already, the turmoil and terror had wrecked the facility from the inside. The next flight of metal steps had somehow been pulled and dismantled from the wall by something of incredible strength, in probably just one tug. If he had to guess, one of the specimens was clever enough to prevent any staff from running up to the administration level - the obvious sign of dripping and splattered blood on the other side of the hole.
No bodies. Good or bad thing? No idea, he told himself.
"Holy...what do you suppose did that?" Norman unintentionally gasped.
"I have an idea what. And I don't want to meet it," Iria replied.
"Agreed," Kent added. "We can take the next staircase near storage."
With the changes in plans, Norman quietly hurried to the door of Level B, one hand gently on the handle. Once a nod was given, he hurled it open and Kent jolted out into the hall, the barrel of the shotgun out front.
It came as a surprise to Steve at how drastic the change was to him as they walked deeper into Level B. People were walking down these white passages under the sea this morning. Now, it was a near replicate of Rockfort.
"How many mags do you have left, Steve?"
Before he answered back to Iria, he dug into his pockets and counted the auto-injectors he had. "Five."
Nearly a full stock. But that didn't mean he wouldn't finish them slowly. "We should be able to find more anywhere. Gauge your intakes if you can until we do."
"Wouldn't it be better if I go beast-mode all the time?"
"In the open, sure. By all means, go right ahead. But in narrow spaces?"
He mildly frowned at Kent's comment but it was a fair point. Parts of the structures were just too small for his other self to worm through. Even doors were another matter unless they were three feet higher.
"Um, yeah. Right."
"All I'm saying is know your limits and when. You're still having trouble controlling those outbursts, right? It can get us out of a sticky situation but it won't do you good if we can't get you out of one."
Outbursts. That was what everyone called his spontaneous changes. Not that Steve literally threw a tantrum. From what anyone understood, the reason behind his transformation was because of his fight-or-flight response, his emotions getting out of control, his heart rate whooshing too fast. He could convert back to human when calming himself but the progress backwards took a much longer time than when he turned monster.
As long as he didn't lose his temper or let his emotions get the better of himself, Steve would be able to walk around with a human guise.
"Didn't mean to make it sound like that, mate."
He shook his head. Actually, what the Aussie said to him didn't really sting as badly as other 'compliments' he had been through. Yes, he hated his other self but in their situation right there, he couldn't help but be grateful to have a trump card up his sleeve. "No. I get it. Better that I can be of some help both ways."
"Huh."
A soft painful utter crept out of Iria, her eyes on the entrance of the cafeteria. This probed Steve to join in to the dark sight.
"Kind of funny," she admitted. "We were just throwing you a party before all this happened."
It was a mess. But then again, she and her team were in a panic at the escaped Erinye. The streamers still littered the floor, now soaked in blood.
Terry's blood.
Steve's eyes tracked along the blood trail until he spotted the body lying motionlessly near the tables. The wound on Terry's neck was large, gaping - a couple more inches and the head would have been severed off - and covered in napkins.
So they had tried to save him. But in vain.
A sigh escaped heavily out of Iria and she turned to him. "Sorry this day didn't turn out the way you wanted it to be."
He said nothing. He didn't know what to say, gazing at her sadly. There was nothing that he had wanted this day to go.
"Sorry to break this moment," Kent said steadily from outside. "But we got to go."
Iria walked out, but not without one more look back at the scene. Steve stayed for a few more seconds, unable to tear away from the dead body.
Three now. He had lost three friends in one day.
He heaved in a deep breath and mustered out his determination. No more.
"Bye, Terry."
And he left the dark cafeteria.
*/*/*/*
Beep!
"Of course," Kent grumbled at the fail attempt with his keycard.
Alfa had their fair run in with a few Hunters as they made their way to storage in order to cut through. And what luck they had in finding it locked. Even with Iria's now worthless keycard - a head director's at that - had the same result on the offline ID reader.
"No GAIAN, no access. Guess we'll have to find another way."
Another fifteen minutes to waste in finding a second path. Iria didn't like that at all.
"Couldn't we, um," Norman sentence trailed off with delay as he glanced at the redhead.
"Oh, sure. Have me bust open the door because I'm the freak here."
"I didn't mean it like that."
Too much noise, Iria thought.
"Hand me your knife, Kent."
An opened palm from the scientist stretched out to him. At first, he glanced at her suspiciously but quietly handed it over. He didn't need to ask. She had already figured out a plan on the spot.
Iria slipped the blade behind the ID device and with a good jab, tore the machine off. Wires exposed out and her fingers hurriedly twinkled at them.
"Doc, what are you-" Steve stopped himself, seeing the deep concentration she had as she carefully fiddled with the insides, the knife cutting at plastic and copper.
Ding!
A loud clunk erupted as the storage door slid off its lock, just showing a gap.
"Way to go, Doc!"
"You pick a few skills here and there," she lightly boosted, handing back the knife to Kent.
The Aussie slipped his fingers around the gap, browsing back to the team. Their silence said they were ready and he hauled open the door.
The large storage section was dusty, stuffy and of course, stink of death. Indications of struggle were about the area from the fallen large and small boxes and the machinery left behind - workers dropping everything in their hands when the emergency struck.
Some were unfortunate. A few pools of blood and bits of flesh told the story.
There was one thing that tensed up the officers as the team entered. It was dead silent.
No sign of anything moving within the maze.
"Awfully quiet here," Norman muttered.
Very true. And Kent didn't like it one bit.
"You sure you saw walkers?" Kent asked.
"Definitely. I think it was Level D or E," Steve answered.
"Great. More trouble to come."
"What were the symptoms?" Iria asked.
"Black eyes. Purple veins. Definitely the K-Virus," Steve replied without hesitation.
And the answer brought more concern out of Iria.
"It can't be."
"Doc, I saw what I saw. And Harris said he was infected with it too."
"But that's too fast an infection. This outbreak only happened in just an hour or two."
"Maybe they were bitten by one of the specimens," Kent proposed. "It has happened before."
"Maybe..." It was half an agreement. Already, she was ramming at her brain for ideas. She knew the virus and even its variants inside and out, as much as she disliked it.
She laid out the mental cards quickly. The virus was not airborne or waterborne but there were means to spreading it, similar to the t-virus and other concoctions they had below. Moreover, there was the need of a catalyst or else a host with the K-Virus would be walking around fine and dandy - so to speak.
What was more was the time needed for a host to be infected with the Kronos virus in the first place...
"We better be careful. There could be other viruses out in the open acting as its catalysts."
"More bad news," Kent grunted. "Terrific idea to keep all of the worst viruses in one place."
"Hang on. I'm also infected. Can you get...more infected?" Steve dared to ask.
"If that happens, then please don't pass it on to us."
"Miss McLenlan?"
The two men wheeled back at Norman's call. Iria had stopped - a very bad thing to do. But she stood still, deep in thought and irritating puzzlement.
Something was nibbling at her deeply.
"Is it really transfer by specimens?"
"Doc?"
"Infected employees in just a short amount of time. And with catalysts speeding up the process. It's too fast for a disaster situation. Even with GAIAN offline, there's no way for the viruses to be released accidentally..." A grim thought crept forth in her head, one she feared. "What if the viruses were intentionally released from the labs before the outbreak?"
The dread from her question stuck to each of everyone inside the quiet storage room. It was an idea that nobody rejected.
Again, she ran her thoughts again. She went down the list of names. Wesker was her likely suspect - that bastard of a rat surely including that into his plans.
No, she then thought. That would be the first thing to pick. Wesker wasn't the kind to dirty his hands or even waste the viruses for pointless sport. If anything, he'd be buffing that he had anything to do with this...
"Only those with access to the labs could do that."
"So it's an inside job," Norman conducted.
"Or Wesker did it," Steve grunted with a fold of his arms.
She bit her lips. The idea of an employee having done this displeased her. That there was someone with intention to set loose the viruses.
"...There's no point in figuring out the answers now. We can get them after we've contained this outbreak."
"Yeah." She had to agree with the Aussie. There were too many variables to think of without any concrete evidence. "Sorry."
"We want answers. Just not right now, Shelia."
Tink! Clunk!
It was soft. Faint. Somewhere behind them.
Steve cautiously twirled back, lugers in the air. But no one, nothing was there.
It was far, the other side told him. But it was there.
"Steve?"
"Shh!"
Everyone went on standby, grips on guns tightened. For the three humans, the silence was deadly suffocating to their ears.
Even to the red-haired specimen, he couldn't hear anything other than that little clanking noise. Why? Everything makes noises. So why couldn't he hear it?
Then a thud from in front shook them to spin.
A box, fallen from a shelf.
Something was swiftly moving about.
Swimming inside the storage like a shark circling its prey.
"Any sign of it?" Kent whispered softly.
Steve tried to search for the source. If a tyrant, he would easily detect anything giving heat, visible sound waves, anything. But the boxes around him blocked his somewhat average supervision.
So whatever it was, it was using the storage as its sea like camouflage.
"No. Bastard's smart and I hate that."
"We'll be cornered if we stay. Move. Quietly."
No one objected, continuing down the narrow lanes.
However, one was slowly falling back without the others noticing.
His head pounded lightly. The headache had been there since this morning. And only recently did he hear a slight humming in his ears.
No, Norman told himself. Stay focus.
Again, the pain struck and he squirmed his eyes, lowering his weapon. For a split second, his surroundings had warped and twisted around him like the swirling rainbow colours of a bubble.
When he opened his eyes, his vision returned to normal. His team had already walked down to the right and as he glanced to the left...
His heart felt like it stopped. He almost lost his breath at the sight down the left path.
Again, he rubbed his eyes, this time out of irritation. No. That couldn't be true. It was just an illusion the moment he'd open his eyes again. Yes, just an illusion.
He looked back and was overcome with the need to cry.
All sense of logic was telling him there was no way she could be there. She shouldn't be there. But he didn't care. At the other end of the lane, the apple of his eye stood there as real as everything around him.
He had lost her once and moved on. Now she was there.
It was then that Kent peered back over his shoulder and spotted his comrade far from the group.
"Connor, move it!" he hissed softly.
The young officer didn't listen. Instead, he wandered further away as if in a hypnotic daze.
"Joanne."
"What?"
Norman wheeled back to the team with large hopeful eyes. "Captain, I just saw her! Joanne! She's there." Before the confused Aussie could utter back at him, he was already running down the other way. "Hang on, Joanne!"
"There's a survivor here?" Steve uttered.
"We better find her quickly-" Iria stopped at hearing a soft "Impossible..." gasp out from the Aussie. It was uncharacteristic for the captain to show a pale face. Horrified. "Kent?"
"Joanne is dead!"
The two stared with wide eyes, stunned and slowly with creeping horror but Kent was already bolting before they could get any answers.
"Connor!"
The rookie didn't listen and naively followed after the fantasised Spanish woman as she quietly walked out of sight.
All the things he had wanted to tell her, the constant apologies he had wanted to say to her on that day he received the news. To be able to hold her warmth again. To finally be able to exchange their vows like they were supposed to...
So when she disappeared behind the corner, the terror of losing her again pushed him further.
"Joan-"
Around the corner, Joanne wasn't there anymore. Gone like air.
Only the pair of red-blood eyes behind a thin jelly membrane stared down at him.
"Connor!"
The training in his head vanished, consumed up by fright. And the Captain's voice seemed so far away.
He was petrified at the specimen climbing down the shelves, his first time ever seeing it but he had read the reports once. One would describe it as having 'outgrown its human skin' and a thin membrane-like sheet in a disgustingly blue and glassy colour kept its muscles, bones and organs all in from spilling out. Hardened shoulders and arms thickened out enough to be called giant skinless bat wings, the ends of the fingers thinned and stretched out like needles.
Faintly, he could make out the skull, teeth and eyeballs underneath the sheet - the only thing keeping that large and long amphibian-like specimen on narrow legs from eating at him.
Of course, there were the six hound-shaped tentacles snaking from its sides, each of them ending with sets of human teeth.
He never had a chance to scream.
"Connor!"
Kent's eyes bugged out in terror once he turned around the corner, already an audience to the ripping and tearing. He hurriedly lifted his shotgun up.
The flaying of Norman's limp body blocked his sight on the towering specimen. No good aim without hitting his comrade.
No, dead comrade. His teeth gritted at his helplessness.
Something flew over him.
CRACK!
A small little test-tube cracked onto contact of the creature, the smell of chemicals wavering in the air.
As the disgusting beast started to boat dizzily, Kent felt a feeble hand grab him tight.
"It's too late! We got to go!"
"...Shit!"
The three ran the other way. The drug was certainly not going to hold off for long.
Their hope, however, was answered at the form of the second door, an exit out of storage.
And of course, locked too.
Quickly, Iria began at the reader, knife back in hand.
Stomp, stomp, stomp. Steve veered back to the direction of the large footsteps. The freaky thing was using the high shelves like trees, slithering closer to them but in a clumsy fashion. This thing was still moving even when drugged! ?
Wait. Hang on.
An idea.
Steve leapt to the nearest shelf, hands pushing on it. It didn't easily budge at first, its legs fastened by bolts into the concrete floor.
It would have been a dumb idea for one human. But he wasn't human and kept at it.
The strain was already seeping out his adrenaline, green veins snaking under his skin.
Kreee-THUD!
He felt the shelf tilting, relief sweeping away his rising outburst before it could even start. But still the shelf wouldn't fall.
Come on! One more!
Another set of hands joined the shelf. He peeked up to see Kent, getting the same idea and shoving the mantelpiece with all his might.
Kreee-THUD!
The last bolts finally gave way. And the shelf fell down like timber, hitting the next one. And the next one arched down on the one before that.
Down, down went the shelves like dominoes.
One clawed foot went down with them and the disgusting sack monster shot its glare to the collapsing ledges. And it went down too, sinking underneath wood and boxes.
"Doc, hurry!" Steve hollered. Already, its tentacles were working at taking the fallen furniture off its body for it to wiggle out.
"It'd go a lot faster if I wasn't under pressure!" she snapped.
Ding!
"GO! GO!" Kent hollered, shoving open the door and the two slid out behind him.
BAM!
The large BOW raised its arm up, deflecting most of the shot. Stray pellets easily bounced off of the glass sheet.
Except for one. Revolting blue goo dripped from punctured hole at the side of its head.
It lunged.
Kent ducked right out of the door, watching the swift specimen crash onwards on something else. What it was, he didn't care. Leaping back onto his feet, he sprinted after Steve and Iria.
Up ahead of him, Iria had suddenly stopped - her hands on another device.
BEEEEP!
Right. The safety grill.
CRASH!
The sound of something being torn open drew him to look back. The huge tentacle-dressed monster pounced into the hall he shared, the flowing eyeballs inside its sheet bag swaying at him.
But he kept going.
"Come on!" Steve hollered from the other side of the descending grill.
The grill, each bar thick with titanium that an electric saw couldn't go right though them let alone claws and teeth, inched downwards along with his chance of escaping.
Dropping down on his knees, his body slid underneath it.
BEEEEP!
He could have slammed into the grill itself. He could have gotten his body split in two. But some sheer luck was with him that day because he most certainly made it.
KA-CA-KLANK!
The sack bag crashed into the grill, the teethed tentacles bashing into the narrow gaps to widen a hole for them. But it was pointless. Then again, it didn't know a thing about giving up.
"Hurry!" The two men streamed away from the grill at Iria's shout, seeing her at the staircase.
Further down in the half-dark hallway they were in, many glowing red eyes were staring at them.
Shades.
Iria jostled open the emergency door and they all leapt in - not without Kent jamming a broken piece of metal into the lever.
The door pounded heavily on the other side but they had already descended.
Steve was the first to reach the third floor, bursting out from the staircase. Breathe in, breathe out, he told himself as he hunched down with hands on knees. Iria was right behind him, catching her breath by a wall while Kent shut close the door.
At last, a small moment of peace and safety under flickering red light.
BAM!
Iria and Steve nearly jumped out of their skins, turning to the Aussie who had driven his fist into the door angrily.
Regret. He had just lost one of his own men.
"What the flamin' hell happened to you, Connor?" he muttered quietly.
"...Joanne Macias... She was there at the first outbreak, wasn't she?"
The tempest inside of him calmed down as he turned to the worried blonde.
Yup...that was her name. A scientist who worked in the DNA labs six years ago. A year before that was the first day on the job for the rookie and already, Norman was smitten by her on a stroll routine.
"...Rookie had asked me to be his best man a day before that outbreak."
Why did he have to say that? To get it off his chest? That Norman was gone?
He merely rested his head on the door. It had been a long time though. Very few people talked about the incident, as if trying to forget a bad nightmare.
Norman never spoke of it after he got the news about Joanne. If Kent hadn't stepped in as a captain, he was sure that rookie would have blown out his brains back then.
"I didn't know... About her and Norman..."
The Aussie straightened up. Fine time to be losing to stress. He shook his head at her. Already he could see right through her in taking in the responsibility. The guilt from six years ago.
"It's old news. Don't beat yourself around the bush," Kent spoke softly.
No time for rest, no time for mourning. He could do all that once they were out. The team was down to three, which meant getting on thin ice here on out.
So he couldn't lose his cool again.
He grabbed for the radio on his vest. It had been a while since the last contact.
"This is Williams. We've made it to Level C...but we've lost Connor."
Click.
"bzzz-bzzz...kst-bzzz..."
He scowled. "Come in, Bravo, Charlie, Delta."
"kst-bzzz-tsak...bzzz-bzzz..."
"Arrgh. I knew this would happen," Kent cursed.
"What's wrong?" Steve warily asked.
Kent didn't answer - too focused on handling the radio.
"What?"
Iria replied instead. "I was afraid of this. With these thick walls and the servers down, it's expected we'd lose touch with the other two teams upstairs."
"Seriously?"
"We're hundreds of metres underwater far from the mainland. Do you think we can get good reception down here?"
Surprised, he pulled out his phone. Sure enough, the lack of a full bar was right there on the screen.
Oh. A message.
"Bravo, Charlie, Delta, do you read me?"
Before he pressed a button, the itching static from the radio distracted him away. No, not a good time to be reading.
"Bravo, Charlie, Delta, do you read me?"
Kent was almost about to call quits, his fingers lightly off the radio...
"bzzz-bzzz...Will-ksst, bzzz..."
A woman's voice.
"Piper," he uttered. "I hear you."
" kst-bzzz-tsak...have some compa-ksst, bzzz, bzzz..." The white noise distorted and stretched the words to almost inaudible.
"Say that again. You're breaking up."
"bzzz, bzzz-HCF soldiers heading down-ksst, bzzz-tsak... Watch out-kaa-bzzz!"
Two words perked the three right on alert.
"What's HCF doing inside at a time like this?"
"Something tells me Wesker sent them to pick up the Kronos virus in the mayhem. Figures as much," Iria grumbled.
"Well, now we know. We'll deal with them when we cross paths. For now, the doors," Kent urged, taking the lead. "The northwest exit isn't too far from here."
Just a straight walk. The only good thing so far was no infected. Good, the quicker they shut the exit door, the faster they could move on to the next one.
At the corner of his eye, he could have sworn he saw something...orange?
BAM!
"Ugh!"
He felt the pain surge at his left, like a pipe just swung at his skull. His legs gave way at the sudden change of momentum as the world spun around him.
Humiliating that he was taken down by a cheap shot.
"Kent!"
Laughter boomed about as he tried to comprehend. Sounded too familiar, as well as that orange colour circling around him.
"You assholes!"
"Ah-ah-ah! Don't move, pretty boy. Or this guy gets it."
"Don't touch me!"
"Doc!"
"We got ourselves a lady! Woo-hooo! Oh! Check out this tattoo too."
"Well, well. If it ain't one of the bosses, McLenlan. Was hoping it'd be that old git. We've been meaning to give that chief our gratitude for our humble time here. Ah well, can't complain... Clean them out. Make sure they aren't hiding anything."
The spinning and the ringing still wrapped his mind up as he felt his hands being seized and twisted to his back. He tried to struggle but was pushed down to the dust-littered floor. Worse, he felt lighter - shotgun, handgun, everything he carried taken off of him.
"Whooooa! Sweeet, this one's got a knife."
At last, his vision ceased its vertigo as one of the orange-clothed hooligans squatted down to the fallen officer. The ringleader, if he had to guess, as the grinning man with a goatee and recently-trimmed out mohawk style inspected him with sick curiosity.
He knew exactly what he was dealing with, especially from the tattoos on his neck, shoulders and arms. Drug trafficking, child trafficking, weapon trafficking all in the comfort of El Delmor, captured in 2004 and sent to this island after being admitted at his prison hospital for a mental breakdown.
One sick wanker.
"Welcome back to Deephall Center, Officer Williams."
What a fine time to be held captive by prisoners.
Enemy Data
Scylla (Stage I)
Based: Human
Created via: Combination of Kronos virus and T-Veronica virus, and further mutation
Purpose: Kronos Virus infection, BOW
Scylla is a specimen created when the Kronos virus and the T- Veronica virus are combined in an active host's body and undergoes a secondary mutation within it under harsh sea pressure levels. It was developed from a project intended for water-based strategy without having the body disintegrate easily in and out of water.
Internally, Scylla had underwent a dramatic change in which it literally grew out of its host's skin in mass and height. It has grown a thin jelly sheet in between its old skin and internal organs - surprisingly impenetrable to bullets and attacks. The sheet reduces friction, allowing them to move freely underwater and even on land with little to no sound. Despite this sheet seemingly covering its entire inner body, it still has all functioning senses, even smell - which some speculates that the sheet has fine pores in certain areas or that some parts are not sheet-protected. There are evidence to support this theory as it can receive damage at the sides of its head - where the host's ears originally were.
Its only way of consuming prey is by its six long, powerful tentacles on its back - both a minor accidental mutation setback and a potential method area of attack. Its front arms surprisingly serve little purpose in combat as it conserves its energy in both swimming, climbing and moving. If resulting to using its arms, it will easily tire out so it relieves on its tentacles for other functions.
Scylla is first encountered by team Alfa in Level B, trying to sneak-attack on them. It managed to kill one of the teammates, Norman, who had wandered away from the team.
In Greek mythology, Scylla was one of two monsters that lived in a narrow channel of water and attacked passing sailors who attempted to avoid Charybdis, the second monster, during their voyages. Originally, she was the daughter of a river God transformed into a hideous monster with four to six dog-heads ringed around her waist. In the famous literature, Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus successfully sails his ship through the channel past the two monsters but Scylla managed to catch six of his men, one head per one crew, and devoured them alive.
Norman Connor (Deceased)
White Pawn
Date of Birth: 1971
Age: 29
Blood Type: O
Gender: M
Race/Nationality: Caucasian/American
Occupation: Security, Private
Teammate Class: Field Agent/Medic
Weapons of Choice:
Melee – Combat Knife
Primary – Handgun (Security standard)
Secondary – Machine Gun, Tranquilizer Rifle
Stats:
Strength: **
Stamina: ***
Accuracy: ***
Wits: **
Speed: ****
Endurance: ***
Ability:
Game Objections:
-Go to Level C.
-Escape from Scylla
Vickie: What's up, all! Here is the next chapter you guys have been waiting for! And I had to say, MOST of the parts here, I did not expect to be writing them but I did. I had a few parts roughed out here and there but haven't completely connected them until I began writing them down. Even the monster description and its attack patterns were something I just recently thought off and way before this, I had already chosen Scylla as a BOW mini boss but no idea of what it looked like
Speaking of what it looks like, it's um, kinda like that hideous monster with the tentacles in the Darkside Chronicles but not with the hand-mouth and it's less rigid and even more squirmy than that. With bat like arms and a human coat to boot. I know, sounds weird but it's a lot creepier in the description that this one. All I can say is it's loosely based on that mutation during Leon's second campaign but literally a moving jellyfish sack bag. :Y
And yeah, we have our first red herring. Norman Connor is a playable character but he's a fake one as Tim from earlier would be replacing him. I actually feel sorry about this though because again like the other characters, I really have given a lot of thoughts into them all that you start to connect with them. Yes, he's short-lived but come on! I feel guilty! D: You will be missed, Connor.
Also, we have our merchant. Actually, one of two merchants. Amelita Ramos is the RE merchant we'll be seeing. Kinda like the RE4 merchant but with a savvy attitude when it's about money. And yes, you have to buy for weapons, items and such with money and treasures. And funny story, I actually thought of adding that Cape Inacio used to be a place for pirate ships and hidden loot so literally, there will be gold and treasure lying around or picked up by the locals that you can just use as currency like RE4 style. XD
Now before I wrap this up, I'm gonna let you guys to make some deductions of how this all will pan out, even about the virus. This story revolves around the Kronos virus and while you won't get the full description of it, you'll learn bit by bit just how much of a powerful virus it is and how these people are going to stop it. :D Heck I've only just given at least the surface on the info about the virus. I warn you, there's gonna be a lot of twists and turns onwards.
Anyway hope you enjoy this chapter, even if there were a lot of talking but I still hope I kept the action rolling. Please read and review and look out for the next chapter!