Chapter 17: Together Escape

I don't own anything. Resident Evil belongs to Capcom and Tomb Raider belongs to Core Design, Crystal Dynamics, and I think Square Enix. The only thing I own is the changes made to the stories of the Tomb Raider games/comics and Resident Evil games/comics/CG movies, the Government branch S.P.E.L.L., the person that has taken over Kathrine Warren's life, and Rose Warren. This story also will be bloody, violent, and have cursing. It's rated T for Teen.

Country: Russia, State: Siberia, City: Siberian Wilderness, Place: Near Kitezh, Area: Soviet Installation/prison, Month: November, Day: Sunday 26th, Year: 2000, Time: 13:09 KRAT…

Lara hissed as Konstantin pushed her into the cell block corridor. She tried to break from him again, but only ended up kicking a door. She let out a pained grunt as he yanked her back toward him and marched her passed the cells. They passed by two cells before they reached the third. He then shoved her in. Lara stumbled into it and struggled to not fall flat on her face. She spun around and rushed at Konstantin. He slammed the cell door shut, making her ram into the steel bars.

She hissed in pain but glared up at him as he locked the door. "This isn't over!" She gritted as he smirked at her then walked away. She kicked the door, making it rattle. "Bastard!"

"Lara?"

Lara frowned as she panted. "Kat?"

"Hey…" Kat's hesitant voice called out from somewhere in the cells. "Fancy meeting you here." She joked dryly.

"Shit…Kat, what happened?" Lara asked.

"Well…" Kat seemed to wince. "A group got the jump on me…"

Lara frowned. "How?" She asked as she sat down against the wall.

"I fell from a roof and it…it triggered a flashback. I was Róta again." Kat told her. "By the time I came out of it, it was bad, and some asshole knocked me out. Woke up here a while later."

Lara sighed. "I thought you said that the flashbacks had stopped."

Kat was silent for a bit before she spoke again. "It helped taunt Konstanbitch."

Lara shook her head. "Don't remind me of that bastard." She hissed as she worked to pull her hands to her front.

"Perhaps that's all he knows how to be?" A man's voice echoed from the cell between Kat and Lara.

Lara startled and looked to the bared hole between her cell and the man's. "I thought we were alone." She gritted after recovering and with her hands in front of herself, got a hidden Bobbie pin from her hair.

"I was, until Katherine was brought in. So here we are." The man said as Lara used her teeth to get her pin to the right shape for lock picking. "I heard the name Lara. Is that what I can call my other new acquaintance?" He asked in a calm yet curiously couscous tone.

Lara shook her head. "Nothing." She informed as she worked at the lock. "Kat and I won't be staying."

She got one cuff off but stiffened at the sound of screaming and fire roaring after shattering glass. She swallowed once.

"Konstantin has little patience." The man said getting Lara to really look at him.

Longish hair that was clumped up from grime and sweat. He had a beard and mustache that was in the same state as his hair but was shorter. His face was bruised up and had a few cuts on it, showing he'd been through some shit. His clothing was a bit scrappy and ratty.

"Nor do I." Lara proclaimed as the man stood in his cell.

She tossed her cuffs off as she stood too.

"So, I see." The man nodded. "Nice trick." He added as he came to the bared hole in the wall as Lara walked to the cell door. "And you or Kathrine can get us out of here?" He asked.

Lara hissed with annoyance as she rattled the door. She turned around to look at the man. "There is no us." She informed him. "I don't even know who you are, or why you're here."

"Lara. He's cool." Kat called out as a rattling clang sounded then a loud "Fuck!"

Lara huffed as she put her hands to her hips. "Sorry…" She apologized. "I'm not feeling particularly trusting right now." She looked to the back of the man's cell. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you, Kat."

Kat knew what she was talking about. "It's fine. You've known Ana longer than you knew me. I get it." Kat hissed sounding pained. "See Eira anywhere?"

Lara looked around and shook her head. "No, sorry."

"Neither of you can get far without me." The man said looking at Lara with concern and some sort of knowing look.

Both Lara and Kat gave dry chuckles.

"You don't know how far we've come." Lara informed him as she looked at him with an almost smug look. "What do you know about them?" She jerked her chin in the direction she had been brought in from.

"A sect, ancient and secretive." The man said as Lara walked around her cell. "They believe themselves to be doing the work of god." He stated making Kat scoff.

"Far from any form of holy." Kat stated bitterly.

"And what of you, Katherine?" The man asked curiously.

Lara paused by a wall that had a leaking pipe. She grabbed the pipe pulling it lightly. She felt it was loose. She pulled hard and cracked the bricks. She tightened her grip and pulled making the metal whine. She then took a breath and pushed then pulled with her full body weight. The pipe broke off and she hissed as the steam hit her arm, stinging her skin.

"Um…what'd you get, Lara?" Kat called out hearing only the cracking of stone and then whine of metal breaking.

"An old steam pipe." Lara let her know.

"And what do you plan to do with that?" The man asked peering at Lara.

Lara turned to him hefting the pipe like a crowbar. "I'll let you know when I think of it…" She stated thinking.

She looked around again. She spotted a crack in the right wall of her cell. She walked to it and peered through the crack. It looked like a store room. She pulled the pipe back and swung it at the wall. she widened the crack and chipped the bricks. She pulled the pipe back, rearing for a wider stronger swing.

"Careful…" The man said but was also encouraging Lara.

"You got this!" Kat called out even through she couldn't see what she was doing.

Lara jammed the bent end of the pipe into the crack and wrenched it back and forth, like her axe or the crowbar back at her manor. Thanks to the age of the old building, the bricks loosened then broke apart. Making a large hole the size of her head. She grunted with effort and hit the wall again with her pipe. She hooked it in and pulled with a kick. The rest of the wall broke open enough for her to fit her whole body through.

"Sounds like you got it!" Kat smiled.

"They'll have heard that." The man warned as he and Kat moved to keep watch.

"All the more reason to get out of here…" Lara reminded as she shoved some loose bricks out of her way.

She pushed into the gap she'd made. She got partly stuck and growled as she pushed herself. She gasped as several bricks pooped out of the wall by her back and shoulders. She rubbed at her shoulder as she stepped into the room. It seemed like some form of records room. Books and files one set of metal shelves. But her eyes landed on a bow on a table. It was a recurve bow and looked to be of Greek make, not the makeshift she had before. She picked it up and found a rope and smiled a bit. The new tool was a good thing to have since Jonah and Leon had all their ropes.

"Is there a way out?" The man called out.

"Find anything?" Kat asked.

"No…" Lara answered the man. "But I found something that might be useful." She said as she tied the bow to her back with a bit of the rope, she could undue it later when she got her back rig back.

She grabbed up one arrow from the floor and slipped back through the gap into her cell. She looked around the cell and saw what she was looking for. Above the cell door was a thick bit of wood with rope around it. The rope looked rotted, and the wood looked flimsy. She also now had just the tool to remove it.

"I've got rope, an arrow, and a new bow." Lara told her prison mates as she got a length of rope, tied it to the arrow before nocking it to her new bow. "Going to pull down an exit."

"Careful, we don't want to attract any more attention." The man advised.

"Lara's good at Archery. She won't miss." Kat assured.

Kat's words rang true as Lara loosed the single arrow, the only chance she had. It thunked into the wood and rotted rope. Lara gave the rope a tug and found the arrow was locked in. She strapped her bow over her chest and gripped the rope with both hands, looping the lengths around her forearms for more strength. Then she pulled sharply. With a splintering crack, the ropes snapped, and the wood bent inward. That was all that was needed as it fell from the rectangular hole over the door and into Lara's cell. It clucked and clattered a bit but didn't make too much noise.

"It worked!" The man smiled with joy. "Can you get out?"

Lara didn't answer with words. She walked to the door and climbed up the horizontal bars up to the rectangular hole. She gripped the pipe above it. She then lifted her legs and pushed them through the hole. She turned and gripped the top and bottom of the hole. She then wiggled through it fully. As she hit the floor Lara smiled. She was free. Now she had to get her things and get Kat out.

"I'll get you out in a second, Kat. I need my lock picks." Lara called as she walked to the locker on the other side of this cell block's hallway.

"Wait!" The man called as Lara grabbed her things from the locker and started pulling her pack on and her gear. "Let me out too. I can help you both."

Lara sighed as she checked her bag and gear. "Kat might trust you, but I can't."

Kat groaned as Lara checked Kat's gear. "Lara, he's cool. Trust me on that. This is another thing I am very sure of."

"We are not enemies." The man nodded as he gripped the bars. "I can see that. Your friend can see that. I suspect that you do too."

Lara nodded after grabbing Kat's gear and walking to her friend. "I work better alone or with people I know I can trust." She voiced and handed Kat her gear.

"I know the layout." The man alerted making Lara freeze from pulling her lock picks out. "I know the land."

Lara shook her head and got to work on Kat's lock. "I'm a fast learner. Kat's faster."

"I have no doubt of that…" The man assured. "Maybe I can offer you something more valuable." He said as Lara finished picking Kat's lock. "I know what you all are after."

Lara frowned then heaved a heavy sigh.

"Lara, if there is anyone we can trust in this area of the world, it's him." Kat told her as she finished strapping her back rig with her bow, spear, and rifle.

Lara walked to the man's cell and looked at him before she started working on picking his lock. She then pulled the door open and backed up. The man nodded with relief and stepped out.

"Thank you." He said with gratitude. "I'm Jacob."

"I'm Lara, and this is Kat." Lara introduced then handed him a spare radio she'd found. "Take this. In case we get separated."

Jacob took it with a nod, but his eyes were on the spear that Kat gave a little spin and slipped it into the holder on her back, with a soft smile. He could see that she was comfortable with it. The carvings on it was not completely unknown to him but he could not place them right away. It would come to him if he could get another look at it.

He put the radio on his belt as he walked to a door and peered out of it. "We have to move. The guards will be coming through on rounds any moment."

Lara was looking around the room outside the cells first though. "Do you know the way out?" She asked as Kat picked up a tape and tape player.

"Yes…" He nodded as he kept watch. "I've had time to study this place."

Kat popped the tape in and hit play. She glared at it as Konstantin's gravelly fanatical voice spoke.

"We began invasion of the valley not twenty-four hours ago. I expected resistance and have not been disappointed.

The people of the valley think they defeat us, but the harder they fight, the stronger my resolve grows. If they weren't protecting something, they wouldn't martyr themselves so. They wouldn't endure tortures with such resolve.

They are believers. I respect that. But they are on the wrong side of this battle. It will not be long now. A new, better world is at hand."

"Trinity is here in force...with a fanatical lunatic in command." Kat stated as she put the player/recorder in her pack.

"I couldn't agree more." Lara nodded as she opened a box with a cigarette case in it. "Looks to be tarnished silver…and has been through war."

"Let's get moving. It's gonna be cold without our coats and gloves." Kat pointed out.

Lara nodded and they followed Jacob out the side door. They gasped at the sharp cold that penetrated their bones. Lara was only in her cargo pants, thin under winter shirt and her boots. Kat in a black turtleneck sweater, thinner cargo pants, and her boots. The metal stairs they were now going down had a layer of tarnished snow on them. They hugged their arms as they moved down the steps.

"How long were you in that cell?" Lara asked shivering.

"Long enough to learn that Konstantin won't stop until he's found what he's looking for." Jacob explained to them both, meaning a good long while.

"Like any asshole fanatic." Kat shook her head.

"The Divine Source?" Lara asked keeping on topic. "Is it here?"

Jacob chuckled. "Trust must go both ways, Lara." He voiced as they reached the bottom of the stairs and entered a records room of some sort.

The room had a projector with a spinning slide show projector. Shelfs of boxes for items and files lined the side walls. The wall on the back end of the room had the glow of the first image.

"What is this?" Lara asked flicking through the images of a prison, war, and workers.

"A history lesson…" Jacob said sadly. "This place has its own scars."

"It was a war camp?" Kat asked.

"The Soviets…they sent prisoners here…to work as slaves." Lara said seeing the images.

"In the mines." Kat nodded.

"Even that wasn't enough." Jacob stated with a dry chuckle. "They captured our people, took children from their mothers to work as slaves…"

"It…it must have been horrible." Kat said looking to the man who suddenly seemed much older than the possible forties he appeared to be.

"Anyone who survived those days…has stories to tell." Jacob nodded.

At that moment he looked up and met Kat's eyes. He blinked at the age he saw in them. She had the eyes of an elder. Clearly, she had some story to tell. He saw her looking at him in much the same way. He gave her the smallest of smiles. Seems they both had secrets.

One of the images gave Lara pause. "That doesn't look like mining…" She said squinting at the black and white image projected on the wall. "It looks like an excavation."

Jacob looked at the image of his people working on uncovering things. "It's, uh…possible." He walked closer to the projection. "They dug anywhere they caught wind of wealth.

Kat changed the image and squinted at the unearthed statue depicted. "That's old. No, older then old. That's-They're ancient." She voiced.

"What did they find?" Lara asked.

"You'll have to ask them." Jacob said as they heard a sound that startled them. "We have to go, we aren't safe here."

Lara found a tape on the table next to the slides. She grabbed it and put it in her own player. She hit play and breathed harshly at the sound of Ana's voice.

"I've finally laid my betrayals bare. Lara knows the truth. Yet she seemed as if she…knew. Perhaps she suspected. Deep down.

Now a strange series of emotions has gripped me. Remorse, certainly. Remorse for a piece of me that was left inside that tortured cell.

But something else, too.

I know Konstantin thinks that I have lost my edge, that my time with the Crofts has made me soft. But he's wrong. It isn't softness. It feels instead like a new kind of resolve.

I knew Lord Croft to be an intelligent man. I know his daughter holds secrets in her head. As an ally, she'd be invaluable.

As an enemy, she'll be a difficult problem. I must make sure that Konstantin's arrogance doesn't get the better of him as we take her on."

Lara glared at it as she put the recorder in her pack. "A fragment of Ana's personal journal. She's been manipulating my family for years. All this time...and I trusted her."

Kat looked to Lara. "I know. And I'm sorry."

Lara nodded. "I still should've listened to you. You're right about a lot. About Himiko, Raccoon, Sherry. Ana…She's just wrong."

"I hate being right, Lara. Just this once I'd like to be wrong about something." Kat said sadly.

They walked to join Jacob by a door.

"The lock's been welded shut." He explained. "It's one of the way's out."

Kat pulled her axe and slammed it home. She began rocking it back and forth. With a whining crack, the door burst open. But Kat looked to her axe.

"Shit…" She showed it to Lara.

Lara looked at it and saw that it was chipping. "Shit. Where did you buy this?"

"I'm not buying anything from them again, I'll tell ya that." Kat sighed as she put her axe to her belt and shivered at the cold coming into the room from behind them and now in front of them. "We should get moving again."

They stepped into the cold of another outdoor stairway. Snow covered these steps too and ground. The wind wasn't there, but one didn't need the wind to feel how cold it was.

"Our best chance of escape is to make our way to the old train yard." Jacob clarified gravely as they moved for the stairs, Lara and Kat gripping their weapons of choice.

"And after that?" Kat asked as they passed the first part of the stairs.

"My village is in a valley on the other side of the mountain, we'll be safe there." He spoke as they reached the top.

"Command post 2, last chopper inbound." They heard someone say, making them duck down into crouches.

Lara's eyes looked to the ladder with Jacob and Kat's.

"Rodger." A male voice on radios responded.

"That'll be the last shipment." The voice said as they moved to the ladder on the back side of the small room. Lara gripping out a climbing axe, Kat her spear, and Jacob curling his hands into tight fists. "Reports of trouble at the communications depot." That got the women's attentions. "More natives?"

Lara was climbing the ladder first, Kat right behind her, then it would be Jacob.

"Negative." Said the voice on the radio spoke. "We caught a pair of armed intruders from the outside." The voice said making Kat and Lara roll their eyes once they climbed the top of the ladder. "Some women. They stirred up trouble on the perimeter."

"We expecting others?" The other voice asked as Kat rushed to the open upper wall, looking up at it.

"Possibility." The radio said as Kat jumped to the lip and gripped its edge. "After the initial attack, we stepped up patrols. One of the perimeter teams ran into some trouble with two men. But they split up and the team lost them. A few casualties. They think one is wounded."

Kat looked to Lara as they both knew that they were talking about Leon and Jonah. That was good to hear they had lost them, but they were separated and someone was hurt. Kat took a breath and trusted in Leon and Jonah skills.

Kat pulled herself up and onto the edge in a crouch. She pulled her spear from her back and dropped over the lip and down onto the snowy metal roof, keeping low. Lara was right behind her followed by Jacob. Both staying low as they moved to cover and peered out at the darkened landing space. Spotlights were on and the group wondered just how long they were in the cells. A single helicopter was slowly lowering a large shipping container. A man stood on it as it lowered, waving an arm as if guiding the aerial vehicle.