Chapter Three: Respect is Earned, Not Given

Richard's eyes eased open as the blaring surgical light shone down from above. He could feel the cold metal underneath him contrasting with the scorching heat from the light. Slowly, Richard raised his arm but found that he was too tired to fight against its weight. In the distance, the beeping of the heart monitor drifted through the air.

"Preparing biomedical scan. Pass me the scalpel and prep the infrared scanner."

The voice was sharp and commanding, as if it demanded respect as opposed to earning it. Richard recognised the voice faintly, but his mind was too scrambled to recollect who exactly it belonged to. The voice began to bark commands again but Richard's strength was slipping and soon his eyes were beginning to droop. In a vain attempt to remain conscious Richard writhed and struggled, but it appeared that his limbs were constrained by a firm leather belt. With a final struggle, Richard pushed his body away from the table, but it was useless. In a short time, Richard was falling back into a state of unconsciousness as the figures in the room descended upon his still body.

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Richard's fingers twitched gently as his eyes adjusted to his new surroundings. The room was small, but not as small as the cell in which Alyssa had left him for dead. Biohazard signs lined the walls, leading Richard to guess that they were still inside the lab complex. Just as Richard was beginning to gather his thoughts and suspicions on where he was, a metal door slid open on the other wall and a blonde woman entered.

She was carrying a clipboard and seemed to be scribbling furiously as she looked down at Richard. Her nametag dangled freely from the white lab coat she wore, displaying the name "Dr. Deane". She looked down at Richard and narrowed her eyes.

"Ah, so I see that you are awake. I'd be careful not to move too much as the Biomedical Scan can cause a few painful irritations after the initial ten hours. I'll let you gather yourself before we move you to the lower compounds for interrogation."

"Interrogations? What for? I haven't done anything wrong." Richard's voice was still gruff yet carried a fatigued quality from the examination.

"We need to know what happened in the mansion. We suspect that the canine subjects are carrying the virus out of the research complex. As you are one of the few uninfected witnesses, it is essential that we gather the information we need before any... unexpected events occur."

"What are you on about? We were told that the complex was for pharmaceutical testing so why would there be a virus?"

"Never mind. There are certain pieces of information that are too classified for you to know; this being one of them."

""Tell me; otherwise I'm not going to tell you about what I saw in there. You can't force me to speak."

"How naive," she smirked, "there remains a quality of innocence that you still carry, blissfully unaware that the work going on around you could potentially save the world. Save from the world from itself, that is. You could speak by choice, or you could be made to speak. Either way we don't mind."

At this she flashed a handgun that dangled from her waist. Behind her serene appearance apparently lay a fierce and competitive interior.

"But you need me; after all, you said that there are no other witnesses."

"Hmm, true," she mused, "but even you are dispensable. We could always calculate what has happened. After all, human behaviour is not as complex as it initially seems."

She grasped the gun and pulled it out before Richard had the opportunity to blink. Instinctively he moved away and placed his hand in front to block the unexpected attack.

"See. Science predicts that you would have behaved like that. You may think that your behaviours are random, uncontrollable and spontaneous when in fact; they are no more different than any other animal. Now get up."

Richard dared not argue and rose without further confrontation. He knew that if he bided his time, the gun would soon be in his command and it would be Dr. Deane who was taking the orders, not making them. She guided him out of the room and into a lengthy, stone-walled corridor, without even sparing a look at him. They descended down hundreds of steps and must have passed fifty doors. Richard had seen test tubes filled with animals that he didn't even recognise, but as they rounded yet another corner, he saw a sight that, until tonight, he would only have seen in a horror movie.

At the far end of the corridor stood one of those things from the mansion, just like Steve had been, as it jumped atop a researcher. The researcher looked senior, as his long, white cloak was splattered with blood from the impact. The beast was dressed just like any other researcher except his skin was a pale brown. The sight also seemed familiar to Dr. Deane as she casually pressed a small, red button at the entrance to the corridor. This triggered a release trip in the wall as a bulletproof plastic screen fell from the ceiling, separating Dr. Deane and Richard from the 'thing'.

"Hmm, now we'll need to find a new way round. That could decrease our available time by half an hour."

Richard remained silent. He was hoping that Dr. Deane would stay distracted for long enough so that he could take her gun and escape. Dr. Deane nodded in agreement with her thoughts and turned around.

"I think that we can take the emergency lock-down elevator..."

Dr. Deane stopped in mid-sentence. Richard turned and could see that standing a foot away from her was one of those beasts. Somehow it seemed like the beast was too subdued to attack her.

"Do not move. They respond, like primitive animals, to sudden movements and loud noises. Step away gently."

"How? You locked the door behind us. We're stuck between a sheet of plastic and those things."

"They're B. actually. Biological Organic Weapons that were designed and produced by Umbrella and I don't think that panicking is going to help us. The ones in the research labs are trained to respond to certain stimuli and heavy movements are one of them."

"Well, shoot it. I've seen what they can do and I don't like it."

"Shoot it! Those things can pay out in excess of $50,000 each and you want me to shoot it. I don't think so. I'd rather shoot you; at least these creations serve a purpose."

"Can you hear yourself? These things are killers, and you would rather die than prevent them from killing someone else."

"Yes I would. Now back away and let me alert some researchers that we have a breach of security."

At this, Dr. Deane raised her arm which was enough to set the 'creation' off. It lunged forward as Dr. Deane pushed away. The expression on her face changed instantly and the fear and desperation in her face was more than obvious.

"Help me. I don't want to be bitten. I've seen what happens to the people who are infected. Help."

"I thought that you didn't want these creations to be damaged. Do you want me to help or not?"

"Do what you have to do to them, just ensure that I get out safely."

The creature readied itself as Dr. Deane and Richard stepped backwards towards the plastic sheeting that protected them from another attack. With an unsteady pounce, the creature pushed Dr. Deane up against the plastic and bore its teeth, ready to bite her throat should she move.

"Take my gun and shoot it. Do it now."

Richard reached forward and unhooked the handgun from the doctor's waist. He knew that the creature would soon turn on him if it knew that he posed a larger threat. As Richard raised the gun to shoot the creature, its attention shifted from the doctor to Richard. The doctor's neck had an impression of where the creature had attempted to strangle her. As she gasped for air, Richard raised the gun and fired it squarely in the centre of its forehead.

The bullet shot from the chamber and fired its way through the creature's skull. As the creature fell to the floor, the blood from the impact slid down the corridor wall. With its jaw agape, it sat, staring into Richard's eyes, leaving Richard unsure on whether these creatures actually died.

"Thank you, Richard wasn't it? I was unsure on whether you would actually run or help me and apparently I underestimated you. Is there anything that I can do for you?"

"Well, I wouldn't mind it if you could help me to escape. I don't really fancy the whole interrogation scene. And I suppose that I wouldn't mind it if you could tell me your name."

"Lexie, Dr. Lexie."

Both grinned childishly as they looked into one another's eyes. Lexie leaned forward and stroked Richard's stubble.

"Maybe we should get moving. We don't know how many more of those things there are skulking around."

Lexie regretted that she didn't kiss Richard while they had the chance, but she knew that what he had said was true. There could be tens of those things lurking around. They had to reach the control centre and alert the other researchers. Especially Alyssa. She was one of two people in the whole complex that was granted with the access key to the emergency exit. Whether Richard liked it or not, they needed her.