The Hive
...
Cindy placed her hand over George's as the pair of them crouched by the pool of blood, all that remained of Dr Hursh.
"I'm sorry," she said gently. "Was he a friend of yours?"
"We were mostly just colleagues," he said in a heavy voice. "I tried to maintain a professional working relationship with everyone here, so that it wouldn't interfere with my work. I barely even knew him..."
"Even so, I'm sorry you had to see it. Do you... think Will might have survived, if we brought him here?"
Cindy could hear the tremble in her own voice, and George must have heard it too, since he squeezed her hand gently and gave her a sympathetic look. "There was nothing that could have saved him. The attack took us all by surprise, and he suffered a fatal injury. Even if he had been on an operating table, we would have struggled to save him."
She nodded, and said with a shaky laugh, "I know, I do. I just wish I could convince myself to believe it." She cast a wistful look towards the broken window, and the groans drifting in from outside. "I suppose even if we could've brought him, that monster would have killed him."
"I wonder if that leech man's gonna eat the doctor?" Jim wondered aloud. Cindy gave him a look to hush up. Honestly, he was a very sweet guy and had been a pleasure as a customer, but he had even less tact than Alyssa sometimes. And a greater tendency to ramble.
"I had hoped to find help here," said George softly. "Instead there is only carnage and death, like everywhere else in the city."
"We can't give up hope," Cindy insisted. "We still have each other, we're still alive."
He nodded, and they looked up as Kevin's sweep of the windows brought him over.
"Be careful, you two," he said, eyeing the broken window. "That thing could still be hanging around."
"You two?" Jim said indignantly. "What am I, huh, chopped liver?"
"You sure smell like it," Alyssa quipped, coming through the open door. David followed her, a slight smirk on his face. He always seemed to enjoy her more scathing remarks.
Cindy had never been a fan of the plumber, even when he had been a regular at the bar. Unlike Kevin and Jim, who had always had a smile and a joke ready for her, David had been nothing but surly and rude. Every friendly gesture she had made had been rebuffed, and since the outbreak, he'd only confirmed her suspicions about his violent nature. She knew they needed the help, but it was still creepy to have someone that dangerous in the group. Who knew what he was capable of?
Mark on the other hand, had been a welcome customer. Cindy gave him a smile as he entered with the others. He had always reminded her a little of her grampa, though her actual grampa hadn't been the most tolerant person, so he probably wouldn't approve of the comparison. She had loved the old man, all the same. He was the one who had put her off a career in medicine. 'You've too soft a nature, Cindy girl', he'd said. 'You'd be the first to faint at the sight o' blood.' What would he have thought to see her using a gun to fight monsters, to be treating grievous wounds alongside a trained surgeon?
It was strange, even in this great tragedy, there was a silver lining to be found. Her knowledge could be used to help people, and she even knew a couple of things George didn't. She had been the one to extract the poison from Jim's wound after the giant wasp attacked him, and bandaged it up afterwards. George had been awfully kind about her work, and she'd fair glowed with pride afterward.
"The doctor's true to his word," Mark was saying. "He restored power to the elevator, so we can access any floor we want."
"We need a way outta here," said Kevin. "How about the roof?"
"The next building's too far away," replied Alyssa. "You think I'd be here making small talk with you if it wasn't?"
He gave her a sardonic grin. "No way you'd leave me behind, what would ya do without my manly heroics?"
Mark exchanged a look with David that suggested both of them had some thoughts on that topic. Cindy wondered why they couldn't all co-operate. Mark was a veteran, he knew all sorts of things about fighting and battle, and he was older and wiser than all of them. Kevin was a police officer, used to helping people, and had a brave, kind spirit. Surely they should be working together, but they always seemed to rub each other the wrong way.
"We should follow George's lead," Cindy suggested. "He knows the hospital better than any of us."
"Well fill us in, doc," Alyssa said. "Since we're surrounded, how the hell do we get out?"
"I believe there's a canal that runs beneath the hospital, though I have never actually visited it myself." He looked slightly embarrassed. "I think it may have been used to dispose of chemicals and expired medicines. It may be dangerous to expose ourselves to whatever contaminants are down there."
"Since we're all infected with zombie plague, what difference does it make?" David pointed out.
"You misunderstand, if this virus really has seeped into the city's water supply and infected everything, it will have infected the canal too. We could be facing a reaction between the virus and the chemicals in the water, along with whatever creatures have been affected by it."
"Leeches," said Jim. They all looked at him. "I'm putting my money on leeches, yo. Where do you think that leech man came from? Something spawned that ugly-ass bitch."
"Why are there leeches in the hospital anyway?" Alyssa asked. "What were you doing to the patients here? How much do you know about Umbrella?"
George bristled. "We had nothing to do with the outbreak in the city, I would never participate in that sort of unethical abomination. One of my colleagues was interested in alternative medicine, that's all. He kept a few in his office."
"There was a hell of a lot more than a few on that leech man," Jim said.
"They must be breeding," Cindy said, a little disturbed.
"Like I said, we'll find some big monster thing spewing them out in the canal."
Jim's words hung in Cindy's mind on the way down to the basement level. She dreaded the thought of facing another monster. It was bad enough seeing people being turned into such horrid creatures, but it seemed like everything had succumbed, even animals and insects. It was strange, but as bad as facing human zombies was, having to kill a mutated version of someone's pet dog just broke her heart. She dreaded finding any child zombies.
Cindy put on a brave face and kept a firm hand on her gun. She wished she could change into something more practical.
As it happened, they weren't able to access the tunnel that apparently led to the canal, as it required a key card. George wasn't sure where it was located, so the group was forced to split into pairs to search for it. He presumed that one of the other doctors might have one.
Cindy went with Kevin, since her skill with herbs nicely complemented his ability with firearms. And if she was honest with herself, she felt safer with him than any of the others, even George. His confidence and bravery made her feel like they really could survive.
Cindy made sure to give each pair a small allowance of herbs and a bandage strip, explaining what sort of wound the herbs should be applied to and how. In honesty, she had more faith in some of them and others. Yoko and George were sure to use their portions responsibly, but Jim would probably apply all of his to a minor bruise and Mark would probably let him. The older man never seemed to want medical attention even when he needed it.
"Be careful," she said to George as she handed him some herbs. His partner was Alyssa, who was looking more than a little irritated with the set up. The doctor didn't seem to mind though.
"I'm going to keep an eye out for any medicines we may be able to use," he said. "It's not as though the hospital can use them now."
"Well, then let's get on with it!" Alyssa urged.
Cindy watched as he was whisked off, and felt a little sorry for him. The reporter could be quite demanding.
She and Kevin headed down to the nurses' station, with the idea that an access card would be kept strictly within staff quarters.
"Think maybe they used that canal for somethin' illegal?" Kevin asked. "Other than dumping chemicals I mean."
"No way, it's a hospital," Cindy said. "They wouldn't do something like that."
"I don't know. Umbrella has everyone in its pocket though, right? It makes sense that they might have an interest in the hospital too, maybe supplying them with medical records, drugs, bodies… maybe even live patients."
"Don't say that," she said, feeling queasy.
Kevin's expression softened. "I'm sorry. It just sucks not having answers, especially now we know Umbrella was responsible. I'm starting to question everything I knew about Raccoon City."
"I know, but the hospital, with all those poor defenceless sick people? It's bad enough to think they became zombies, I couldn't bear to think that the staff were responsible."
"God, I'm starting to sound like Alyssa, ain't I?"
She gave a shaky laugh. "Besides, there's no way George would've let it happen."
"You're right." He gave her shoulder a squeeze and they cleared through the nurses' station and doctors' offices. There was no keycard, and they checked all the drawers and pockets.
Some of the staff seemed to be dead, and others had become zombies. Cindy wondered if the ones that were dead would stay dead. Alyssa and Yoko had said the virus seemed capable of reanimating dead cells. In fact, it seemed to speed the victim towards death precisely so it could reanimate them as a mindless beast.
Kevin made quick work of the zombies, dropping each one with a single headshot. Cindy kept her handgun close just in case, but with his quick aim, she hadn't needed to use it yet.
Hopefully that leech man wouldn't show up. Their bullets didn't seem to have any effect on it when they had tried to stop it from taking Dr Hursh. Cindy was reminded of George's pained expression after the monster killed his colleague. She wanted to cry every time she thought of what had happened to the poor people of this city, families and loved ones being torn apart by something so cruel. She couldn't afford to feel that way, she knew she had to stay strong and stoic. How the others managed it, she didn't know.
As they searched through the locker room, Cindy was struck with an idea.
"There's some spare clothes in here!" She pulled open a locker to reveal some simple white pants and blue shirt that had belonged to one of the employees. Cindy plucked the shirt out of the locker and held it up to show Kevin.
"Very nice," he said, sounding a little bemused.
"I should change into it, don't you think?" She asked. "My uniform isn't exactly very practical for this kind of thing. I know these capris will get grubby pretty quick, but still seems more sensible than a tight skirt. I can barely run in this thing."
"Hey, if you want to, I can wait outside for you to get changed. It's no problem."
"Oh no, please don't leave!" Cindy blushed at the thought of what they would say at church, her getting undressed in front of some man she barely even knew. It seemed silly to think of that now, with everything that happened, but she couldn't help it. She had to cling to something familiar. "I just don't want to be alone in case the leech man comes back," she explained.
Kevin chuckled. "No worries, I'll just turn around. I'm the perfect gentleman, I swear."
She smiled as he turned to face the door, and quickly collected the clothing she wanted. Cindy had to resist the urge to neatly fold her own clothes as she took them off and pushed them into the locker. It was just too bad there was nothing to clean herself off with – she could feel the grime and sweat on her skin.
Cindy paused whilst buttoning her shirt, looking through the locker to see if there were any simple antiseptics like hand sanitizer or wipes. Even something small could help them keep infections from wounds.
She caught a slight movement out of the corner of her eye. The locker door next to hers was opening.
A desiccated hand shot out and latched onto her wrist, and Cindy shrieked. Kevin whipped round. She yanked her arm away, backing up, but only succeeded in pulling the zombie out of the locker with her.
It lunged towards her neck with its teeth, and Cindy brought up her other hand to push it away. Within a second, Kevin was with her, pulling her as far from the zombie as he could and levelling his 45. auto at its head. With one squeeze of the trigger, it was over.
The hand slackened and fell from Cindy's wrist as the creature collapsed. She gave a stifled sob and backed away. Her gun lay forgotten by her herb case.
"I forgot to use it," she said. "I didn't think, just panicked."
"Hey, hey," he said softly, wrapping an arm around her. "It's okay. I've seen rookie cops scream for their mama before even thinking of using their gun, and that's on training sessions. You're doing great, trust me."
Cindy looked down at the corpse, wearing its blood-stained nurses' outfit. "It's so hard to think that this used to be a person. Why is this happening?"
"I don't know." He took hold of her shoulders, so she had to look into his honest eyes. "But it isn't going to happen to us."
"Yes. Yes, we'll get through this." She nodded, her confidence returning. "Okay! We better look for that keycard, I want to get out of here as soon as we can."
They searched through the rest of the staff quarters in vain, before stumbling across a zombie dog in the front lobby. Kevin killed it with a couple of quick shots, but it was still horrible to see. Cindy had expected to be faced with human zombies, but animals too? All this killing was too much for her.
As they entered the adjacent corridor, Cindy placed a restraining hand on Kevin's arm. He paused, trying to hear what was making her wary. It was the sound of shuffling that suddenly stopped the moment they arrived.
She didn't think it was the leech man. Aside from the fact that the monster made wet, squelching sound when it moved. It also wasn't inclined to lay in wait for prey. They couldn't rule out ordinary zombies though. Those could be just as deadly, especially if you didn't know where they were. Her close encounter in the locker room was proof of that.
They drew their guns, the muzzle of Kevin's pointed ahead as they crept down the corridor. Cindy was straining so hard to hear the other presence, she thought she might even pull a muscle. That sure would be an embarrassing thing to happen in this kind of situation.
As Kevin poked his gun round the corner, a hand shot out and gripped him by the wrist. Kevin jerked back, then barrelled forwards and slammed the other person into the wall.
Cindy gasped as she caught sight of the strangers. "Kevin, wait!"
"You wanna get off me?" David growled.
"Alright, alright," Kevin said as the other man shook him off. "Don't get your panties all in a knot."
David shot him a glare, looking far too tense and ready for a fight.
Cindy gave a slight shiver. The plumber always gave her the creeps. The way he hung around J's Bar, never smiling or talking to anyone just unnerved her. There had also been an occasion months ago when some other shifty looking guy came in and struck up a conversation with him. It had gotten pretty heated, to the point that the other guy smashed a bottle and started brandishing it like a weapon. Jack had called the police, but he hadn't thrown out David. The owner wasn't a huge fan of kicking out regulars when he didn't have to.
Even so, the memory had stuck with Cindy. The bar wasn't usually a dangerous place, but the wrong kind of person could invite danger in.
"What the hell are you doing, waving that thing around?" David jerked his head towards the 45. auto, which Kevin still had clamped tightly in his hand.
The cop glanced at it and held his hands up innocently, sliding the gun back into its holster with a half smile. "How was I supposed to know you were creeping around here? I thought there might be something dangerous around."
"It seemed a good idea to be subtle and not attract unwanted attention." He gave Kevin a look that clearly suggested they had attracted it anyway.
"Find anything useful?" Kevin said, mostly to Yoko.
"Just zombies... and the leech man."
"Are you hurt?"
"It's not serious," Yoko replied, showing the bloody bite mark on her arm. Cindy went over to her at once, guiding the girl to a couch so that she could work.
Yoko perched on it patiently, eyeing Cindy as she applied a herb poultice with delicate hands. The student was an excellent patient, barely even flinching at the touch, and not complaining as the bandage was wound around it.
"What happened?" Cindy asked.
Yoko glanced up at David, but he had crossed his arms and clearly wasn't in the mood to talk anymore. "We were looking through the pharmacy for drugs, but everything had been picked clean. Then... the leech man, it came down through the vent... that's how it moves around so quickly. We were trapped, but David was able to lure it away and give us time to escape."
The plumber glanced at her, giving Yoko an inexplicably hard look. "Yoko found a blood pack and figured that the fucker would be attracted to the blood."
She blushed and ducked her head. "It worked. We might be able to trick it again like that if we need to."
"That's really smart," Kevin said appreciatively. "Good thing we have you along, huh, kid?"
Yoko gave him a slightly goofy smile, looking so much more like a teenage girl and not the survivor of some catastrophe. Cindy smiled too, giving the girl's hand a squeeze as she finished up binding the wound. "Could you show us where you found them? It sounds like those will be really handy! Though I hope we don't run into it again, it's just horrible to think of what it did to Hursh. I can't bear it."
Kevin moved to lay a hand on her shoulder.
"Deal with it," David said coolly. "You'll see much worse before we're done here."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kevin demanded.
"Exactly what I said. Coddling her won't help her toughen up."
"Cindy's doing just fine. You know, she's been more damn useful than you have. The last thing anyone needs is you reminding them of how much the situation sucks, and it's not a bad thing to feel bad about the fact people have died. It wouldn't kill you to have a little humanity, man."
Cindy got to her feet and laid a restraining hand on Kevin's arm before he said any more. David was already looking livid. "Maybe we should go find that blood bank now? It's not a good idea to wait around in one spot."
She breathed a quiet sigh of relief as she heard both of the men following her and Yoko down the corridor. She made to catch up with the student, hoping to get a quiet moment out of David's earshot while they had the opportunity.
"You're welcome to come with me and Kevin, you know," Cindy said encouragingly. "I know he would be really glad to have you along."
She was pleased to see that work, as Yoko's cheeks tinged pink again. Kevin had a way of charming people and inspiring confidence. Even Alyssa, despite her acerbic attitude, seemed to have a soft spot for him. And Cindy was sure that deep down Jim and Mark felt that way too. Deep, deep down.
"I don't think David would co-operate with him very well," Yoko replied in a soft voice.
"I'm sure he would be fine on his own," Cindy replied as delicately as she could. "He seems like more of a lone wolf type, don't you think? You'd probably be much safer with us, since we're good at working as a team. Plus, Kevin's a crack shot with that gun, and I'm pretty handy with my herbs."
Yoko glanced downwards. "Me and David worked as a team before."
Cindy was actually quite surprised about that, since she had expected him to abandon any partner if it meant his own survival. She still wasn't convinced that he was worried about Yoko's safety though, just her value as a member of the group – her knowledge of Umbrella and computers.
"Has he treated you well though?" she persisted. "He doesn't seem like the easiest person to work with."
"He's not. But... he's saved my life before. And he doesn't mind me coming with him."
"It's just that... I think he's dangerous." Yoko glanced up at that, and Cindy continued. "We had trouble with him in J's Bar before, and he's always so secretive. I'm sure he's a criminal of some kind. He's sure creepy enough."
The student frowned. "He can't be any worse than a former Umbrella employee."
Cindy gasped, instantly regretting her words. "No! That's not the same at all. Everyone trusted Umbrella, thought they were just another pharmaceutical company. You were just trying to help people, that's not a bad thing." She gave a reassuring smile. "I know you're a good person."
Yoko peered at her. "How are you always so... optimistic? I'm just scared all the time."
"I'm scared too. When I stop and think about what might have happened to everyone I care about, what might happen to me or any of you, it terrifies me. It breaks my heart just thinking of all the terrible things that have happened."
"But you're always so cheerful. You never give up hope. I have no idea how I'm supposed to make it through this. Every effort I make just seems so... pointless."
Cindy gripped the other woman's hand. "It's not pointless, not while we're still alive. That's always something to cling onto, something for us to keep hopeful about! You have friends here in this group, you have a future when we escape. You have to believe that we can make it out of here. We can, I'm sure of it! Everything we've been through... it must have a reason. It won't end in this city."
"I... I'll try." Yoko gave a hesitant nod. "I'll try to believe that."
Cindy gave her a warm smile, hoping that she really would. She had seen the student staring off into space in their rare moments of peace. Yoko was so quiet, she seemed to spend all her time lost in her thoughts and worries. Maybe that was why she liked David, since he made no effort to try and pull her out of the maudlin thoughts? Cindy would just have to make an extra effort in future to keep hope alive for the others.
It was so hard, sometimes, especially when Jim or Alyssa started complaining. Or when the group fought amongst themselves. They were stronger when they worked together, but tensions ran high when everyone was so scared and nervous. If someone had to keep everyone motivated, then Cindy would do it. She would see them all escape Raccoon city and live long, happy lives.
The blood bank was tucked away in a section of the drug storage room, with trays of blood packs according to different type. Cindy wondered if it would be helpful to keep hold of a few just in case anyone ever lost too much blood and needed a transfusion. She supposed by that point it might be too late since they wouldn't have time, but even so it could come in handy.
"What's that?" Kevin hissed.
They all paused, Cindy with a couple of blood packs in hand. They felt so cold under her fingers, and she wondered if she should put one down.
Then they heard the groaning of the vents up above. The leech man was moving around up there. She glanced nervously over at the others, and David raised a finger to his lips, giving her a hard look.
The four of them stood frozen there, listening to it moving. Dull, wet thuds accompanied the leeches periodically dropping off its body. One slithered through the grate and landed on the ground with a disgusting splat.
And then the danger had passed, for now. David stamped on the fallen leech to make sure it was dead, and Cindy averted her eyes. She didn't care if he thought that was weak, she couldn't watch something get killed so casually, even if it was infected.
"Let's get out of here," Kevin said. "We still need that keycard."
She nodded, glancing at Yoko. "Are you coming too?"
The student glanced at David, who was loading himself with more blood packs and apparently oblivious. "I think I should stay and help." She gave Cindy and Kevin a small smile, seeming a little more confident than she had earlier.
Cindy and Kevin decided to head on down to the basement level to look through there. Possibly some of the maintenance staff or lab workers had access.
It was strange down here, not like a hospital anymore at all. It reminded Cindy of the underground Umbrella labs, but she hoped they wouldn't find anything similar to the Hunters.
Someone screamed.
Kevin and Cindy exchanged a glance, and simultaneously readied their guns. The sound had come from the lab to their left, and was definitely a human sound. The room was a temperature lab, similar to the one at the Umbrella facility.
Kevin booted the door open and rushed in. The leech man was inside, staggering towards Mark as he beat it back with a length of iron piping. George was behind him, trying to tend to Alyssa's profusely bleeding arm. Jim was hovering in the background, aiming his gun but too nervous of hitting his friend to take the shot.
The leech man turned to face the new arrivals as they shot it, and Mark took the opportunity to lay into it with the pipe. It writhed in pain, and some of the leeches separated from its body and moulded around the pipe, welding it to the monster until Mark was forced to let go and back up.
Alyssa started shooting too, even as George was fitting her wounded arm into a sling.
The leech man whirled around, shooting a spray of leeches into Kevin's face. He reeled back in horror, trying smack them off himself.
Cindy felt a surge of anger, and grabbed a bottle of strange liquid off a shelf. "Hey!" she shouted, flinging the bottle at the leech man. It exploded on contact, hissing as what looked like acid burned the leeches. She grabbed another bottle. "Hey, you big meanie!" The bottle smashed and burned into the leech man, and she grabbed more. "Leave!" Smash. "My!" Smash. "Friends!" Smash. "Alone!" Smash.
It was lurching towards her now, ignoring the shots from her friends. Cindy backed into the temperature lab, and it followed.
"Cindy, get out of there!" George cried.
"Turn the heat on, burn it!" she shouted, ducking out of the way as it tried to shoot leeches at her.
"Get out of there!" he repeated.
She ducked around the leech man, throwing her last bottle to stagger it before she fled. The moment the electric door squealed shut behind her, she yelled "Now!"
This time George hit the button, and a whirring sound started up on the other side of the door. Judging from the expressions of her friends, she knew what was happening. She didn't need to look through the glass for confirmation.
"That was badass!" Jim exclaimed.
Cindy giggled, shaken but exhilarated. "Is everyone okay?"
Alyssa nodded, despite her arm in its sling. George applied antiseptic to the bite marks the leeches had left on Kevin's face. "Looks like we're all alive," the cop said pleasantly. "And guess what, looks like there's a keycard on that leech man."
Cindy looked through the window at the disgusting form of the leech man. That was their chance to escape. She felt like things were coming together. The end was in sight, if only they could stay focused on it. She realised that this situation had called her to do so much more than she thought she was capable of. And she had done it, she had protected her friends and survived horrors. Perhaps there was a silver lining in that.