"Damn..." Wesker muttered under his breath, tossing the binoculars. They skidded across the floor and hit the opposing wall. He had only seen her for a instant, as she darted over the edge of the cliff. The amateur he had once known was gone forever. Replaced by someone with a special knowledge of danger. It was only through experience had Claire gained the ability to elude or overcome these dangers, and this proved to be quite an annoyance. It made her difficult to track much less corner. But that instant was all he needed to confirm his suspicion: Claire had located the tiny island and he knew her intent there was probably less than friendly.
Wesker's eyes glowed a dangerous red as turned his back to the window, which showcased a brilliant view of the cliffs and sea. Anger pulsated through him, mixed with a series of other emotions he didn't want to begin to sift through. Apprehension? Fear? For whom? It wasn't clear to him, as these matters rarely were. But he remembered once before feeling the exact same thing he was now. Wesker bowed his head slightly, his eyes closed, the emotion the memory provoked growing stronger and stronger until it was almost unbearable. It had been four months into her capture. They had already moved her from the middle east, for fear of an escape attempt, although one never came. Not until much later, when the resolve to continue imprisoning her had faded away.
By the time the incident had occurred Wesker would seldom let proceed tests that were considered harmful. But this one...they had only intended to give her the flu. Shocking, how she could survive infection by one of the most heinous viruses in existence, and what almost took her life was the flu. He supposed it made sense though. Claire's immune system had been incredibly weak at the time, though her admirable resolve still remained. Wesker watched the proceedings from an observation room. He found it becoming more and more difficult to be in her room when experiments were being performed. Bouts of anger would grasp him, their hold so tight Wesker felt as if air was a luxury he was no longer entitled to. However, as time went on watching from the observation room became just as difficult, though he could no longer see her face. Or her eyes, or the needle as it punctured her skin. This time, this test, he had convinced himself it would be harmless. The doctors had given him their reassurances, though his pride had never allowed him to ask. When the active strain of the influenza virus took effect it was as if everything was falling apart at once. Her vitals shot strangely, high then dangerously low. Her temperature climbed to almost unbearable limits. He saw her struggle, and saw his life's work and something much more fading away. The doctors worked mechanically, doing everything they could to lower the dangerous temperature. They injected her immediately with a cure, and eventually her vitals stabilized. Her temperature even did too. For awhile. And then minutes later, when Wesker felt the tightness in his chest relaxing, it began to continue its creep up. Anger, wrapped in a horrible fear grabbed hold of him. It seemed to direct his movements. He threw the door open that connected the two rooms with such a force that many of the scientists were shocked. They staggered backwards, allowing his path to be cleared. The few that stood in stunned silence were thrown back, with carefully placed and executed blows. Many of those unlucky ones didn't get back up. Wesker with a strange delicacy took the I.V.s and monitoring instruments off of her. He picked her up, with that same fragile delicacy and carried her through the stark white hallways into the vivid forest outside. The facility was under the cover of massive trees and mountains. A large lake consumed quite a bit of the area bordering the Umbrella owned land. He walked to the edge of it, trying to ignore the fact that she was shivering regardless of her burning skin. Wesker didn't hesitate a moment, he entered the cool lake, the water instantly permeating through his clothes. It didn't matter, he was focused on one thing. He submerged most of Claire's body in the water. It wasn't chillingly cold, but he knew how easily water stole body heat. He looked down at her pale face, the eyes he knew once to be a sparkling blue were still closed as she lay lifeless in his arms. Wesker willed her to wake, almost feeling angry at her for not showing more resolve to live. The minutes stretched on. Regardless of the fact that it was only a couple, Wesker felt that they were so long. They were draining the life from him, as it had been drained from her. When Claire finally stirred, her eyes fluttering open he exhaled a sigh of immense relief. He smiled down at her, thinking that never before had eyes been so blue or bright or full of life. She looked up at him, confused and overcome with a huge wave of fatigue. Claire rested her head against his chest and heard the calming rhythmic beat of his heart. Wesker eventually took her back to her stark white hell. After all, she remained his experiment. But from that point on she was treated with more gentleness. Maybe it was the scientists fear that they had over stepped their boundaries. Maybe it was Wesker's fear that he had almost lost his precious virus. Or maybe, it involved the life fading away from two big, bright, blue eyes.
The memory still gripped him, the traces of it still vivid. Wesker was disgusted that he allowed himself to linger on such things. The girl had been a vessel to the project, and that had been the extent of it. He let out a frustrated sigh and allowed his eyes to flicker once again to the cliff. She was still out of sight. Furthermore there was no trace that she had been there. Not even the tiniest fragment of rope or climbing gear. It infuriated him that if he hadn't been looking at that exact moment she would have slipped right by. Wesker turned in a moment of uncontrollable anger and released it in the form of a punch, directed at one of the sleek industrial metal walls. The wall, durable though it was, caved in leaving a sizable dent. He panted slightly, his fist still embedded in the crevice.
It took longer than it should have for him to regain his cold, distant persona. Wesker threw the window one last look of disdain and exited the now out of use testing facility. He started for the roof, where a hovering helicopter awaited his arrival.
Claire quickly realized that her demise in the maze of caves was unlikely to be zombies. Or anything of the like. It was deserted. It reminded her eerily of the streets of Raccoon city. The chilling silence that had left her nerves on end, only penetrated on occasion by a mind numbing scream of terror or pain. However, there was a pretty big difference between then and now. Claire had little ability, and was not prepared for such a horrific sight. She had built herself up since then, and molded herself into the perfect soldier to end the project. Whether or not this was a particularly good thing Claire still couldn't decide.
The caves twisted and wove, never giving her even a slight echo in which to go on. The screams of Raccoon city hadn't exactly helped, but at least they would help her determine which way to go...Or which way to avoid. The dirt walls seemed to be becoming narrower, closing in. Which was universally a bad sign. More than once she was forced to turn around and head a different way. Although regardless of all this, and the possibility that she may very well starve or succumb to dehydration, Claire was not fearful. Fear was something that had been drained from her years ago. It was only provoked at the most painstaking moments, during those few outstanding trials the pursuit of Umbrella had birthed. This however, was not one of those instances.
Eventually, after what seemed like hours of useless search, she saw a light emitting from something other than her own flashlight. It was two torches, each on either side of a staircase, illuminating the stone steps. Claire tucked the flashlight away, not wanting to give herself away too easily to a horde of...who knew? She started up the steps, moving soundlessly higher and higher. Finally she came to a door, heavy and metal, which sharply contrasted from the stone surroundings. The door gave way to what appeared to be a facility much similar to the others she had come across. However, there were a few key differences. One of which left Claire breathless as she stared into the eerie blue glow of a large tube, many of which adorned the walls. It seemed to be the storage room of what she was sure was a much bigger facility. Many times Claire had gazed into what she knew to be to be an assortment of chemicals that would mean the death and regeneration of living beings. This was different. This appeared to be the infection, in a glorious manifestation. The entity was a grown parasite, it looked to be aged far past its larval stage. It appeared inactive, but Claire guessed that was just the work of the chemicals it resided in, as it seemed very much alive. Its skin seemed to be a flexible sort of exoskeleton that pulsated rhythmically. She gazed at its every detail, trying to put names to every appendage and structure it possessed. Though there were many common to parasites, there were others completely unknown to her. Which was odd, considering how much research she had done into the organisms upon being informed they were one of Wesker's new pet projects. These extra structures, she assumed, were genetically engineered. Claire finally tore her eyes away from the abomination and peered around the room, holding her breath subconsciously. However, nothing as shocking as the grown parasite met her gaze. Most of the tubes were empty, and only a handful possessed what seemed to be a still premature version of what she had just seen. They looked as if they were frozen in time, unable to mature and unable to die.
Claire searched the room but found nothing useful. A cold metal ladder proved to be her escape. It led to a hatch that opened with ease, regardless of the fact that it looked like it hadn't been used in awhile. Claire found herself in the midst of another sterilized and sleek looking room. It was freezing cold. The room had frost adorning every metal surface. She began shivering, her fingers quickly grew numb and it made handling her gun significantly more difficult. As Claire started through the empty room she came to a sliding door. It opened for her, leading her to the conclusion that the power generated for the facility was still very much intact. The door exposed to her another series of hallways, although these were much less of a maze than the underground caves had been. It also exposed to her a spine chilling sound. It was a rattling breath being drawn and exhaled. The screams of Raccoon City could not compare to the horrible sound, as if Death himself were inhaling. Exhaling. Inhaling. Exhaling. The sound drew closer, and Claire was at once gripped with one of those rare moments of fear. She chose to avoid the noise and ventured down another hallway. It led her into a room where 10 hostile pairs of eyes snapped in her direction. Each of the infected had a wild look in their eyes, though they harnessed weapons which was a characteristic unlike any zombie she had encountered. They seemed more fueled by violence than hunger. Claire smiled devilishly. "And so it begins," she murmured.
The infected began their attack, the quicker ones were taken care of first. A harsh, forceful, and well placed shot to the center of the chest left them lying still on the ground. One however, slipped past and wielded a foreboding looking stun rod in her general direction. Claire dove forward into a graceful somersault, causing her attacker to miss and instead the stun rod made contact with one of his comrades heads. She was in her feet in an instant. Five attackers remained. She almost carelessly tossed a hand grenade over her shoulder, and walked quite deliberately out the door. A small smile spread across her face. Though there was nothing wrong with a good warm up, Claire had much bigger enemies that needed dealing with. Or enemy rather. An enemy that though remained untouched by the insanity of the virus was afflicted by something much more sinister. She doubted there was a cure, but wished with all of her being that there was.