Outside the BF4 security room was Claire, Leon and Scott. Scott explanation was enough to satisfy Claire's fierce questioning, but that was only because of his unjust acts during his career; he did work for Umbrella Incorporated, after all. It was in the late morning of Wednesday, about half seven. Sunlight passed down the turntable platform, and the birds were singing; what a joy it would be to relish this lovely morning.
Scott was sat on the floor with his knees tucked in close, opposite Claire and Leon outside the room where Sherry rested soundly with Parker. Claire was confused with herself on how to feel about Scott. She should be angry with him, seeing it was his actions that caused the outbreak. But, on the other hand, Leon was feeling only a little mad with, despite only meeting him.
In consideration, Raccoon City had a population of over a hundred thousand; Scott might have caused the deaths of at least a quarter of that. If he weren't a friend and the only hope to save Sherry, Claire would kill him, though he'd be getting off easy. He was never a bad guy; he was a real man to look up to, like her brother.
Behind his new glasses were the sad eyes of a means to an end, eyes being a window to the soul meant that she saw the broken man ravaged and left for dead by Umbrella's lies. He was a smart man that did everything he could to contain it all, but everyone knew that was his weakness, to control everything.
The uncontrollable can't always be handled as easy as that; things break apart, chaos reigns, and people get hurt. As a realist, his inability to grasp the situation left him in a constant state of stress.
Claire felt that she had to get used to these complex feelings; with Umbrella exploiting people like Scott for their research, the next problem would be the identity of their next victim. Unfortunately, that could be soon because Scott will most likely get executed for the damage he caused if he doesn't do it himself.
"After I had left her," Scott continued, carrying on the rest of his story, "I went back down to NEST to find Sherry. I walked in circles and found nothing and ended up in Chief Irons' office-"
"With me," Claire interrupted.
"Yeah, with you. The department was empty when I arrived, and everyone left."
"To think you just missed them," Leon added, "Same for us too."
"Shit really hit the fan since Marcus' assassination. I just wonder if it was better that I pulled the trigger rather than Richard. My hands weren't built for killing..." He opened his hands. Dried blood stained his palms, and his red fingers were cold. "If they were, none of this would've happened."
"I'm not sure if I wanted to hear all of that. Especially the part where you and Cindy-"
Scott held up his hand, and she hushed whatever she was planning to say. Likely to be something full of profanity. "Just felt like it was important to mention." His arms fell at his sides, and he stood. His knees ached from the lengthy period he got comfortable.
"What did Zaac mean by 'I'm sorry'?"
"For ending his life," Scott muttered sadly, almost sobbing. "He fell apart after the Mansion Incident, and I feared for his mental stability. He was there when Wesker… exposed his secret life and research. To think his own son was just a pawn or a stepping stone in his plans. What future does that leave for Xander and me?"
"How did you not know? You worked for Umbrella too."
"That I did, but it was always here under William and Annette; I never knew what Wesker did for the company. There was always something on the side at the end of the day." Scott gulped." Are you gonna kill me now?"
"If I don't, someone else will, but we need to save Sherry first." Claire and Leon walked away from Scott and headed straight for the door behind.
"I can do that. At least with me around, you won't have to search the rooms one by one."
Claire and Leon stopped after hearing something in his pouch beeping. "Wait, I'm picking up something. A signal." He pulled out his radio.
"A radio signal?" Claire murmured." From who?"
"Do you read me?"
"Annette?" Claire questioned.
"Is Sherry there?"
"Yeah," said Leon, "she was attacked; she's in critical condition. Where are you now?" There was no reply coming from Annette after the sound went very quiet. "Hey! You still there?"
"Be careful, especially with that woman."
"What woman?"
"Ada. She's a special agent sent here to retrieve the G-sample. She was approaching the researchers and obtaining information about Umbrella. She'll do whatever it takes to accomplish her mission; she's highly dangerous."
"And I think you're wrong." Leon walked nearer to the locomotive, clearly uncomfortable with what he's hearing. "You don't know what you're talking about; Ada isn't…" He hears silence coming from Annette's side. "Annette? Annette?!" His radio went all screwy, shooting off static and jumbled frequencies. "Damn it, she hung up on me."
Claire put her hand on her hip. "Look, we don't have time for her right now."
"I know." Leon put away his radio and pulled out his handgun. "Finding a vaccine for Sherry is our top priority."
"Let's go," said Claire, "Come on, Scott."
Scott gripped his handgun. "Yes."
Once the three turned a right corner, they were greeted by a small group of zombies, all of which were wearing scientist scrubs. With their rampant groaning giving away their position, Leon was the first to shoot the closest one in the head, but it only staggered back into the three behind.
"Ugh! You gotta be kiddin' me…" Claire complained.
Along with Claire, Leon shot and killed the zombie on the right with a juicy headshot. "Didn't think they'd be here too!" He adjusted his aim to the first zombie and properly dropped it dead.
"It's been a bloody mess down here, Leon." Scott fired a burst of rounds at one of the zombies in the back; however, only a single round had pushed it back. "Worse things down here than zombies."
"Great." Leon aimed for the zombie on the right and killed it instantly, then coming back to the one, Scott staggered. He killed that one just as quick. Then something crashed onto the platform behind them.
"What the…" Claire whipped her head around, noticing the Tyrant from Irons' office had found her again.
"It's trenchy!" Leon called.
He's been chasing Leon too? Claire huffed. "This guy's everywhere..."
A zombie grabbed Scott's shoulder from behind. "Run!"
Claire and Leon ran towards the main shaft as Scott twisted the zombie into the Tyrant's path. While it was fast-walking towards the three, the Tyrant wasted no time backhanding the zombie out of its way; it flew off its feet from the blunt force.
"We can't fight him here," said Claire, "Sherry's right next door."
"Right." The three ran to the door, with Leon being the furthest behind, trying to draw the most attention. He shot at the Tyrant a few times, which didn't even scratch it. "Hey, trenchy!" The door had just closed as the heavy footsteps grew louder. "Come on, trenchy! You want some of this?!"
The main shaft was like a hexagonal central hub for the facility. Three catwalks pointed in the direction of a power source dead in the middle, with more catwalks connecting to the primary three. Lights rand down the walls and drawn out how tall the facility truly was.
There were three doors to take, and the Tyrant just entered the one they had just passed through. It darted forward several feet, leaning into a mean left hook. Leon's missed a good shot aimed for its face.
Leon and Claire both exclaimed, showing off their surprise that the Tyrant was pretty nimble. "He's fast!"
Leon shot the Tyrant a few times in the face; even then, it wasn't much different than hitting the thick leather coat it wore. He reloaded as Scott tugged his arm.
"This way!" Scott called, pointing to the west area. The two followed him, losing sight of the Tyrant when they looked back.
Coming from the catwalk to the right, the Tyrant slammed both of its fists downward like a mighty hammer. The extra reach made Scott fall down, fearing the blow might connect, but Leon and Claire opted to dodge back away onto the opposite catwalk.
"There's nowhere to hide," said Leon. He and Claire resumed their gunfire, focusing hard on the Tyrant's bald head. It was slower than it was fast, and the target was hard to miss. But, even when most rounds failed to hit the target, it did slow the monster down until it dropped to its knee.
"Run, we need to get further away!"
Scott lifted himself onto his feet. "Follow me; I have an idea!"
Scott ran back the way the three came, back towards B4F turntable room. Once they passed through the middle, they noticed the Tyrant was still hot on their trails. So Claire and Leon let Scott go on ahead while they let off more rounds, mostly centre mass.
"That got his attention," Claire said.
When it was sure that claim was true, the two ran back into the room Scott got a head start in. Once they stopped, they saw him outside an open elevator to the left; he waved them over and called them inside. Then the Tyrant turned the corner behind them, slowly picking up speed around halfway down the corridor, but it was in vain.
The A-2's elevator doors closed, and it began its ascension. Leon and Claire took a moment to breathe. "You think he'll come after us?" Claire asked.
"That persistent thing?" Leon replied," I wouldn't doubt it. Bloody meathead crashed through the ceiling and started chasing me down back at the precinct."
"Really?" Claire sighed. "We were in Irons' office when it crashed through the wall."
Scott nodded. "The Tyrant's most likely after us for two different reasons."
Claire breathed. "At least we're getting him away from Sherry, but I don't know how we can take him down."
"We need a plan," Leon suggested.
"I have a God-damn plan!" Scott reloaded his handgun. "We can use the facility's blast furnace; if we can somehow knock the Tyrant into the liquid-hot molten iron, we can kill it dead."
Claire nodded. "On such short time, that sounds like a good idea."
"Just follow my lead; I know where it is." The elevator stopped on the B2F level. The three walked down the long maintenance tunnel, with Scott taking the lead. There was a right turn up ahead. "Umbrella had quite a few of those Tyrants ready for deployment; they can take a lot of gunfire to take down."
"Great…"
"But molten lead is stupid hot; should be able to burn anything to a crisp." Scott turned the right corner and then took a shorter left one. He saw another door up ahead. "Even thick lumps of flesh like Tyrants."
"I hope so," Claire added, "We can't make a vaccine with that guy following us."
Leon looked up at the metal mesh ceiling. Dead bodies were lying flat on top, dressed like scientists and researchers. "Is nowhere safe down here?"
"Nope. Most of the research staff we had stationed here were wiped out by the Hunters; the facility is considered a dead zone."
"Wait," said Claire, "do you think we lost him? He's not coming after us… Do you think he's going after Sherry?"
Leon shook his head. "No. I'm sure he's following us. Couldn't have chased us only to stop and go home." Something crashed behind them, closer to the elevator. Sounded heavy, like breaking through a wall or a ceiling. "See? I was right."
The three ran to the door ahead and looked back at the Tyrant as it turned around the left corner. "He must really like us," said Claire.
"I'm counting on it." Scott opened the thick double doors and led the way into the power room. They ran closer to the centre on the catwalk as the Tyrant also came through the door behind them.
"He's here!" Claire called.
"Good." Scott smiled." We're so close now..."
Claire huffed. "It's so hot in here."
The power, or rather, the molten iron room, was a sizeable octagonal section with thick metal walls across. It stretched downwards to the lower levels, with a catwalk running around the centre for each of the floors.
There were railings, a lethal amount of height to drop, and an enormous blast furnace filled with molten iron right at the bottom. The lighting was generous, as was the immense heat. Scott led the other two closer towards the centre, skipping the little ladder to draw as much distance as possible.
The Tyrant was hot on their tails, but Leon still had to encourage it further; he fired at it with a couple of rounds. "Come on, trenchy!"
Scott noticed the Tyrant picked up its walking speed and quickly hopped over the ladder to greet him, Leon and Claire. "I think it's getting angry…" he murmured.
Leon reloaded. "Good. We can finish this once and for all."
The Tyrant went in for a left hook, but the combined gunfire of the three focused hard on its chest, causing it to recoil back heavily on its right shoulder. Once it had staggered, Leon Claire and Scott ran around the middle to the opposite side.
"Lure it to the edge!" Leon called.
Claire nodded. "Okay."
"It's gonna end right here, trenchy..."
The Tyrant followed, keeping to the right side. When the handgun rounds failed to penetrate its thick leather coat, the three focused more on the Tyrant's bald, grey head. The difference was noticeable as the Tyrant's straight punch stopped dead in its tracks, halting it for a brief second.
They all backed away on the narrower catwalk, with Claire looking over the railing, seeing the levels below. "Just a little more…" She reloaded her six-shooter, missing the extra clip size in favour of additional damage.
The Tyrant clenched its right fist, the leathers tightening loudly. It leant in for another left hook, but Leon and Scott were able to focus on its head, only this time it staggered back away a little less. At the moment of Leon reloading his larger magazine and Claire coming out of hers, it was down to Scott to cover them with his last few rounds.
Scott hit the Tyrant's head twice, leaving the remaining rounds to miss all around. That's when it hit him. The Tyrant pulled back its right fist into a straight cross, its meaty fist crunched into Scott's chest, just below the armpit. Clare and Leon had just reloaded but couldn't stop for a single second.
A lucky shot from Leon struck the Tyrant's head, pushing it back. Once it shook the bullet off, it peeled its massive weight back to deliver a front kick. Claire and Leon darted to their right, keeping as far left as possible until they felt the time was right to use the Tyrant's weight against it.
"Now!" Claire called.
The Tyrant turned around as Claire and Leon rammed it with their shoulders, throwing their combined weight centre mass. It toppled over the waist-high railing; however, it grabbed Leon before it fell over backwards. Claire tried to secure Leon by gripping his arm and shoulder, but the big, meaty fist clutched too much of Leon's uniform.
All three of them fell down onto the lower lever, Leon doing most of the yelling all the way down.
At the point of impact, the Tyrant bowled over the railing again. Leon and Claire collapsed onto the catwalk; the Tyrant breaking most of their fall left them reasonably healthy. The heat from the furnace was more intense, and the yellow glow was more prominent. There was something different about the lower level…
Leon lifted himself up. "Are you alright?"
Claire was flat on her face, feeling the heat through the grated metal floor. "Barely…" She lifted herself up, only slower.
Leon looked downwards at the blast furnace, both sides he checked while seeing nothing at all. "Where did he go?"
Claire and Leon looked around the octagonal room, paying close attention to the upper platform they fell from. They didn't see the Tyrant, only a door at the ends of the catwalks and some controls in the middle of the platform.
Claire breathed. "What's that?"
Leon put his hands on the controls, staring at the small buttons, screens and dials. There was no way in hell he knew what it was for exactly, but it seemed important… "Probably for the blast furnace."
Claire turned around and gasped, seeing the Tyrant come up behind them while it was bearing down both of its clenched fists into a double hammer. Leon was about to turn around, but she did him a favour and ripped him out of harm's way towards another catwalk.
The Tyrant's powerful blow smashed into the controls, rendering them completely kaput. Then, after it peeled back, some jolts of rogue electricity shot out and fizzled the entire middle column; it was as if the whole thing was a machine…
The P.A. system came started to blare out something in a dull woman's voice that had a slight echo to it, "Warning! Safety hazard has been detected! All employees proceed to the emergency train at the bottom platform immediately! The cooling system is not safe; by default, the self-destruct system has been activated!"
Claire and Leon ran around the middle column but stopped at the ladder, listening to what's going on. "Self-destruct?!" Leon fired at the Tyrant as it came around from the opposite side, staggering its right straight punch.
"I can't believe this!" Claire joined Leon and fired at the Tyrant also. Once it staggered back, she and Leon gripped the ladder and slid down.
"We're sitting ducks!" Leon complained.
"Down here, hurry!" Claire was the first to get comfortable on the lowest platform and looked back up. Seeing a hulking mass of meat was challenging with the grated floor being so dense. She also noticed there weren't any rails or catwalks on the platform.
"Good. We can fight it now." Leon ran to the closest ledge and stared down, seeing a catwalk below with a short ladder on the edge close by. Unfortunately, it was not worth going down any further with the lack of room, not to mention increasing the already smouldering heat.
"Watch out. There aren't any handrails."
Leon smiled. "Even better!" The Tyrant was like a shadow, just appearing behind Leon and Claire as they turned around. "There you are."
Leon strafed to his right, keeping his gunfire focused on the Tyrant's head, but when it hunched low, his rounds were not landing where he wanted. Instead, the Tyrant built up speed while leading with its right shoulder, then it charged quickly, causing rounds to his the thicker mass.
The shoulder blow knocked Leon off his feet. Claire adjusted her position to shoot at the Tyrant's flank, but it turned around to face her. Again, it hunched low while she was reloading and darted to her right. When she resumed fire, it darted to her left, still leading with its right shoulder. Then it hit her.
A left hook threw Claire off her feet, her body rolling closer to the other side. She felt the brunt of the impact on her sore shoulder like someone launched a cinder block her way. Leon ran back around to meet Claire and shoot at the Tyrant that just entered his sight, mainly to the left.
"Gotta aim for the head…" Leon said to himself.
It hunched down and charged forward, following the same pace as earlier. The Tyrant charged forward and threw a left uppercut at Leon, crunching its fist into his chest. His armour absorbed most brute force, but the recoil threw him back down onto his belly. Making its large head a smaller target was working for the Tyrant, and it showed.
Leon huffed, pushing himself up into a reload, slamming his magazine hard. He was starting to feel the irritation now… The Tyrant charged forward again, weaving to the left and the right with the shoulder, taking most of the gunfire.
There was a bit of luck coming Leon's way as his gunfire focused a bit more on the Tyrant's head lead to a brief stun; it stopped mid-charge. A simple adjustment made all the previous errors magically go away. The Tyrant hopped back just as Claire entered its field of view; she stood at Leon's side.
"Come on, is that all you got?"
The Tyrant clenched both of its fists.
"He looks angry…" Claire noted.
"Good!"
The Tyrant marched forward, covering its face with one hand and letting the other wait for when it was needed. It came at Claire and Leon no matter how many rounds they pumped into its hand; it only made it move quicker. It looked like it was about to punch, but instead, it reached out in a grabbing motion.
Claire and Leon changed their position while keeping their distance from the ledge; even if they had to run circles, the Tyrant had to die. Then, in a perfect rotation, the Tyrant stood before them again, looking even more irritated.
The Tyrant covered its face again while picking up its own speed, but instead of a grab, it went to punch. When the right straight came Claire and Leon's way, its other hand lowered. Once the opportunity was seized, the Tyrant was left reeling back from the barrage of headshots that it left itself open for. It shifted back.
"I'm right here!" Leon called," What ya gonna do?!"
The Tyrant flexed, raising both of its arms into the air. Its grumbling was louder than its leathers stretching. Then its fists slammed onto the platform hard, shaking it like a ruddy piece of sheet metal; Claire and Leon lost their balance as their footing was critically disturbed.
Then like a hawk, the Tyrant leapt into the air, whooshing downwards at the pair like a predator to prey. Its right fist rammed right through the floor, leaving Claire rolling to her right while Leon ducked low and shifted forward.
Claire stood up and reloaded. "One more push like that!"
Leon had rolled onto his shoulder and back onto his feet; it was all a quick motion. "Good! Do it again!"
Claire was about to fire at the Tyrant as it was open for attack, but then something started to creak loudly, that being the platform. Rather than ripping its hand free, the Tyrant gripped and tore out the flooring its hand was buried in. The metal was right on the edge, the very edge Claire was standing on, and the Tyrant just ripped it from underneath her feet…
Claire was in shock, feeling her body feel weightless as it launched off the edge. She yelled, feeling the heat draw closer and closer. Finally, the metal scrap fell into the blast furnace, splashing into the molten iron like a thick paste.
"Claire!" Leon wasted no time and ran across the platform to check on Claire. He stopped by the ladder, looking down at the platform below. He smiled. "Claire…"
Claire was still alive, hugging the platform like it saved her life. "Don't worry; I'm alright!"
Leon felt a big hand gripping his right shoulder; just like that, he was thrown far back away. He landed on the flat side of his back, where there was little armour. Claire stood helpless, only hearing the Tyrant's heavy footsteps and the occasional thudding around.
The Tyrant grabbed Leon's head while he was dazed. His body was lifted right up like a ragdoll, measuring the Tyrant's monstrous height. It was quite vocal up close, still only able to grunt, grumble and moan, however. Hardly a reasonable humanoid when it's holding you by the head with a vice-like grip.
Something exploded, and the Tyrant dropped Leon flat onto his face, his head throbbing like never before. The Tyrant threw its arms about and collapsed onto its hands and knees, grumbling loudly and deeply. A handgun was pressed against its head.
"Just another one of Umbrella's failed experiments," said Ada.
The Tyrant looked up and grabbed Ada's handgun, its big fingers clamped down on the slide and most of her right hand. She was taken by surprise with a bit of gasp and pulled the trigger. A bullet ringed out and blew out the Tyrant's left eye. It flailed back and pulled Ada close, only to lean back in to throw her back.
Ada was thrown off her feet, slamming into the middle column hard enough to leave a cavity in the machinery. Her body fell with a heavy thud and a grunt of agony. The Tyrant covered its face, throwing its body side to side, every step closer to the ledge until none was left. It fell backwards.
Claire was only just climbing a ladder back up, watching the Tyrant fall into the blast furnace. It was dead; the head and shoulders would be eaten away by the molten iron first until nothing was left. Its grumbling was consumed by the heat. She carried on.
Leon rushed over to Ada and brought her into his arms, keeping her awake and staring at her beautiful eyes. "Ada!"
Ada breathed. "This place is gonna blow; there isn't much time left. Leon… you have to get out of here…"
"No… Not without you…"
Ada smiled, really drawing out the perfection of her eyes, hair and lips. "It's… strange… I barely know you…" She brushed Leon's cheek. "But I knew you'd say that…" Her hand brushed around to the back of his head, she moaned.
"Ada…"
Ada leant closer to Leon and kissed him, closing her eyes and delving into the temptation that was always there. Leon felt time stop; feeling Ada's flawless lips caress his was as wonderful as he hoped. She had to be the one to pull away from the man that cared for her, even when she didn't need it…
"Favour… returned…" Ada withdrew her arm, and her head felt light, right as she let off a final breath. Her head sagged in Leon's arms; he hung his head low.
Leon let off a heavy sigh of remorse, fighting the urge to cry. "Ada..."