Nemesis: Resident Evil III

Chapter Twenty Seven: Sacrifice

As relieved as he was to be leaving the urban center of Raccoon City behind, the only thing that Carlos could think about was Jill's condition as the cable car started moving. It looked like someone had beat her up pretty bad, and his first thought was that her stalker had gotten a hold of her… although if that thing had, then the young woman probably wouldn't have gotten away. There was another thought that was floating through the young man's mind, one that he didn't want to indulge in, but couldn't help it.

When Jill had literally fallen into the cable car, not only was she all beaten up, but her jacket was open, her belt was undone, and there was a large red line around neck neck as if she had been choked by something. The monster chasing her was pretty relentless and sadistic, from what the young woman had told him had happened to her last partner at the police station just before they met, but its large fingers wouldn't have had the dexterity required to do all that to her.

So, what had happened? Even though she hadn't said anything, it was pretty obvious that the Lieutenant had attacked her, but then what? Was Nikolai interrupted by the monster while trying to force himself on the young woman… or had Jill killed him before it got there? He didn't blame her, regardless of how it all went down, since any man who would attack a woman like that didn't deserve to live, anyway, so he decided to just let it go until…

CRASH! The young man heard glass breaking from the rear car, and then Jill screamed in terror just as something hit the floor hard enough to make the whole transit shake. He knew he was supposed to be driving, but the cable car was on an automatic route, so the young man readied his rifle, running to the door and opening it… just in time to see the young woman's stalker starting to get up. It must have fallen right through the rear window, judging by all the glass on the floor around it, and as for the others, Jill had fallen off the bench in an attempt to crawl away, while Mikhail had his own rifle aimed at the monster.

"Olivera, get Jill out of here, now!" The Captain ordered while the monster got up. "Hurry, we'll have to abandon the cable car! I'm right behind you!"

Ratta-tatta! Ratta-tatta! Ratta-tatta! Switching his rifle to fully automatic while the young man dragged Jill through the door into the next car, Mikhail sent a hail of bullets right into the Pursuer's face, causing it to growl while… while walking right through them as if the bullets were nothing but an inconvenience. Once it reached him, the monster grabbed the rifle and pulled it out of the Captain's hands, holding it out like it was about to perform a magic trick, and then effortlessly snapping the weapon in two.

Whack! Before Mikhail could do anything else, the monster swung its arm, the back of its hand catching him across the face, and throwing him sideways so hard that glass was cracked when the back of the Captain's head struck the nearby window. Grunting at the man before facing forward and coming toward the door into the next car, Carlos was getting his own rifle ready… only to be surprised when Mikhail not only got up, but also leapt onto the Pursuer's back.

In the Captain's left hand was a knife that he jammed into the side of the monster's neck like an anchor to a rock-face, and he used his foot to push off the doorframe so that the monster was forced to stumble backwards. Bang! Bang! Bang! Using his right hand to take out his pistol, Mikhail held on for dear life, locking his legs around the monster's waist while shooting it repeatedly in the neck opposite of the knife. Once the pistol was empty, he started using it as a club to strike the Pursuer on top of the skull… until the monster reached back, grabbed a hold of the Captain, and tossed him onto the ground up against the engine panel.

Rat-a-tat! Rat-a-tat! Now that Mikhail was out of the way, Carlos joined in, crouching down protectively in front of Jill while firing at the monster's back in short controlled bursts so as not to hit the Captain. The young man had expected it to come after him immediately, which would have given Mikhail the chance to get away or at least reload his weapon… but the Pursuer didn't seem interested in anyone else but the Captain at the moment.

Ripping the knife out of its neck and discarding it, the monster ignored the bullets hitting it in the back completely, instead choosing to smack the pistol out of Mikhail's hands just as he was reloading… and causing the Captain to cry out when it lifted its large foot in order to press it down hard on his chest. Growling as if angry at Mikhail, it just kept pushing harder and harder into the man's chest, and Carlos would have rushed in to try and help his commanding officer… if he had not seen what the Captain had taken off of his vest.

"Jill, get back!" The young man warned, hitting the button for the door to close. "Get out of the way, cover your head!"

It was a grenade that Mikhail had grabbed, pulling the pin and then giving the finger to the Pursuer just as the doors to the front car were closing. Jill had been unable to pull herself away from the door, so Carlos got on top of her on the floor to shield the young woman from what was coming next so that BOOM! Every window on the cable car was shattered as the concussive blast made the whole transit jump; lights flickering as the door between the cars was knocked off its hinges to reveal that… it had all been destroyed.

The entire back half of the rear car was just gone; black scorch marks along the metal around the hole where the outside world was now visible, and no sign at all of Mikhail or the monster. The young man had hoped that the Captain somehow survived, but a grenade blast at that range… no… no, Mikhail had given his life to protect him and Jill, well… probably mostly for Jill, but… hey, that was strange… with the engine gone the cable car should have been slowing down, but then… why were they accelerating?

Taking another moment to help Jill up to a sitting position, Carlos rushed to the controls, only to look out the window and see that the reason they were accelerating was because the cable car tracks were now taking them down a very steep hill. No problem, the young man thought, quickly looking over the controls for the throttle, he could just slow them down a little, and then everything would be okay. However, the throttle didn't respond… probably because they didn't have an engine anymore, so he pulled on the brake lever just a bit to slow them down… and then a bit more… and then a bit more… with absolutely nothing happening.

Mikhail's grenade must have destroyed the brakes as well, because now nothing was working, and even the lights inside the transit flickered out a second later. The first thing that Carlos saw as darkness filled the transit was all the lights shining from the clock tower, which was apparently at the bottom of the hill… however, in the streetlights around it, he could also see that the tracks curved sharply to the right in order to proceed around the tower's outer wall toward Raccoon Station, but… at that speed…

"Jill, we're gonna crash!" He exclaimed, crouching down and using his body to protect her once again. "Shut your eyes, and hang onto something!"

For a few more seconds the ride was smooth, but then just as the young man predicted, the cable car was going so fast that it jumped right off its tracks at the bottom of the hill, and kept going. Sparks flew as the transit tore across open concrete, striking vehicles and simply shoving them out of the way as it bounced toward the large outer wall of the clock tower's courtyard, and then there was an overpowering crunch after the car jumped one last time, and everything came to a sudden stop… everything except for Carlos and Jill, that is.

They were thrown forward, slamming into the floor and walls as the cable car tilted sideways, destroying part of the wall as it embedded itself halfway into the top part of the wall like a kind of bizarre modern gargoyle. They were alive, though… all bruised and cut up, holding onto each other like a couple of kids who had just been scared by a horror movie, but alive. Alone now, too, the young man had just realized… Mikhail and Nikolai were gone, and now it was all up to him to find a way for them to get out of the city.

"Jill, come on." Carlos groaned weakly. "Come on, we gotta get out of here… the others will be inside, they… they'll have medical supplies."

With all the damage to both the cable car and the wall itself, the only way for them to get out of the ruined transit was to climb out through the car's front window, which would have been hard enough if the two of them hadn't been in their current condition. It took a while, but working together allowed the young man to climb down onto the grassy courtyard first, and then having to catch Jill when she lost her grip, causing them both to fall onto the ground.

Well, they had made it… this was the St. Michael Clock Tower, or at least its brightly illuminated courtyard. The wall completely encircled this area that was carpeted with grass and stone walkways. A very large and elaborate decorative fountain dominated the center of this place, like the Mayor's statue had done at City Hall, and the really old fashioned light poles allowed them to see plenty of short, well-manicured hedges along each walkway.

The front door was up ahead, a big and grandiose set of wooden double doors, set into a massive stone building that was accented with stained glass windows, making this place look more like a church than a clock tower. The sun had completely set now, leaving Raccoon City shrouded in darkness, and Carlos definitely did not want to be outside when those giant insects he had seen before, decided to crawl out of their tunnels.

"Mikhail." Jill said weakly, the young man not sure if it was a statement or a question.

"Let's just get inside." Carlos replied, helping her up. "Come on… we'll be safe inside the tower."