Ch. 9: Taking Casualties
A/N: I'm not dead yet! I'm merely lacking reliable beta readers!
Rebecca, Billy, and Jessica
All she wanted to do was talk with Edward. There was so much that he was missing out with their frustratingly brief conversations. She knew that they still needed to get Kevin to the hospital as fast as they could. But she was just so confused right now. Why was Umbrella committing all of these atrocities? Was there a cure to their nightmarish virus? And who the hell was Daniel?
She felt guilty about it, considering all of the implications of the first two mysteries, but she was much more interested in Daniel. He was a much less frightening, much less grotesque mystery to think about. But the more she tried to solve him, the more frustrated she became. It was impossible for him to know the things he knew. Just impossible. If he simply knew about the layout of the facility or the train, she would've simply concluded that he was an Umbrella spy. But that's not all he knew. He seem to know exactly where and when the monsters would pop up. Well, at least with the baboon, she reminded herself. But still, what can possibly explain that!? She felt a headache coming on as she walked with her new team into the conference room.
But as she regarded her companions, she felt a little relieved about that. The truth was, she was confused and scared. When they had lifted off the RPD in the city, she had tried to mentally prepare herself for the worst. This was far beyond what she even thought of trying to prepare for. She bottled it up, kept it out of her expression as best as she could. But after those... spiders, she thought with a shudder, it was now so hard to keep up the act. And while Jessica seem to be happily preoccupied with the possibility of killing more monsters, she could feel Billy observing them both even as he lead the way to the library. She didn't mind if he noticed her frustration, but the fear was something she didn't want him to know about.
After they entered the library, Billy walked over to the lift in the back of the room. The handle fit into the empty slot easily. He looked at how big the elevator was and then back at the other two. "Only two of us are going up."
Shantia, Daniel, and Edward
Daniel hated this hallway. And that truth made Shantia very nervous. A part of her chided herself for not telling him to keep it cool. After all, Edward was right there and the plan was to keep their origins, or any hint of them, secret. But, that was something else that made her nervous. Edward wasn't noticing. And it wasn't because he was so focused on the current mission. The fact was Edward didn't look good. He was pale, he was sweaty, and his breathing was irregular. Granted, he didn't look like death, but compared to how he looked earlier on the train, Shantia's confidence in him was plummeting. He should have remained in the main hall with Tim and the others. Of course, he'd probably shoot that idea down. Either way, Shantia kept her rifle in the high ready, while consistently glancing at Daniel for a sign of when things were going to get worse.
The hallway went right after they entered through the doors, then quickly executed a hard left. The hallway then made a ninety degree turn to the right. But before that turn, there was a single door. Shantia watched as Daniel looked back between the door and Edward. "We should skip it, while we finish the rest of the hallway."
Edward shook his head stubbornly. "I took a good look at the map. There's another door at the end of the hallway and that's it." He studied the two soldiers. "You two check out that room, I'll take care of this one."
Now it was Daniel's turn to study the Bravo team member. Edward raised an eyebrow as the male soldier refused to break eye contact for an entire minute. Finally, he nodded. "Very well."
As soon as Edward checked the door, then entered the room, Shantia blurted out, "What was that about?"
Daniel was very quiet when he answered her. "I might have just let him go to his death."
"What!? Why?"
"Because we never made any molotov cocktails," Daniel explained, depressed. He slung his rifle onto his back and pulled the incendiary grenade from his pocket. To Shantia's shock, he pulled the safety pin as he walked toward the edge of the hallway.
She followed after a moment. "Do you really have to be so cryptic?"
"You'll see." And, without checking the door, he started back down the hallway.
"What are yo- ?" She froze as she heard it. A slithering, moist noise squelched in their hallway. And it was getting closer. "What's that?" She whispered to him as they both backed away.
"A leech zombie." Daniel waited, carefully listening to the monster as it came closer. And, at the right moment, he rolled the grenade down the hallway at the turn. He smooshed both of them against the floor. It did not stop Shantia from getting her first look at the leech zombie as it stumbled into their side of the corridor. It would have looked human, if it weren't for the green, slimy tint of its skin and 'clothes'. She only had a second to see it in all of its 'glory'. Then the grenade exploded.
Fire engulfed the monster and it screeched. It convulsed and flailed in a mindless attempt to stop the flames. But it was pointless. The creature actually melted away. And, to Shantia's pleasant surprise, the leech zombie's own slime was enough to put out the fire along with it. "Well...that wasn't so bad," She commented as she climbed to her feet.
"It's weak against fire," Daniel droned as he stared at the burnt spot.
Shantia paused, gears clicking in her head. In front of them, the sound of bullets echoed. "Daniel, how many of those grenades did Edward have?"
Looking completely miserable, he answered, "I just used the only one."
Jessica, Rebecca, and Billy
Finally! Jessica thought to herself as she and Rebecca stepped onto the lift. Of course, she won the debate that the girls get to go up while Billy had to stay behind. The medic had put up a storm of an argument, complaining that she was supposed to keep an eye on Billy. Jessica wouldn't hear it. She knew Rebecca was timid when it came to fighting and that meant a higher kill count for herself. That and she had a secret plan for the teenage cop. Of course, she didn't say that out loud, there was no way either of them would accept it. What finally breached Rebecca's defenses was a simple fact. Neither she or Jessica were strong enough to elevate the other two. Jessica played "I'm a girl, not an amazon" card when Rebecca tried to have her do the lifting. Billy backed her up, though the cowgirl had a sneaky suspicion that it was just so that he could finally be left alone for a few minutes. Meh, works for me. It probably helps that Billy helped save her life on the train, too. So, after handing his shotgun and ammo to Rebecca, the convict turned the crank, sending them on their way.
Jessica put the memory away as they reached the third floor. They were now in an old, decrepit workshop. Along one side of the wall was a table with numerous tools. Next to it was a metal, utility shelf filled with all sorts of items. The biggest item was an ancient contraption occupying most of the room on the opposite wall to the table. It was connected to a clock. Rebecca studied it as Jessica checked the table for anything usable. "The hands are missing," Rebecca declared.
"Nothing over here," Jessica complained, unhappy to find no monsters.
Rebecca took one step toward the room's only door...only to jump back in fright when something big landed in front of her. "Eek!"
Jessica was instantly on the alert as she swung her firearms to aim at the disturbance. "Ooooo! Another classic movie monster!"
The monster was a large bug with four legs, two claws and a large, long abdomen. It hissed at them violently. "Wrong answer," Jessica grinned as she fired hot lead into its carapace. The 9 mm rounds barely flinched it. It charged at her. A shotgun shell threw it flying into the wall. Its legs spasmed as it died. "Hey!" Jessica protested as she whirled at Rebecca. "That was my kill!"
Rebecca huffed angrily. "I just saved your life and this is how you repay me?"
"Saved my life?" The cowgirl repeated disbelievingly. "I was about to go bug-killer on it!"
The medic scowled at her. "You could at least say thank you."
"...thank you."
Rebecca nodded before turning toward the door.
"For stealing my kill," Jessica muttered.
Rebecca's head twitched. She turned and glared at her partner. "What is wrong with you!? Can't you at least try to take our situation seriously?"
"Hey, hey, hey!" Jessica objected. "I am taking this seriously. I'm seriously racking up my kill score."
"That's what I'm talking about!" Rebecca shouted angrily. "We're under attack by monsters who want nothing more to eat us, and you've lost one of your friends! How can you still act like that?"
Jessica began to count off fingers. "One, Bart wasn't my friend. Heck, now that I think about it, he isn't anybody's friend. He just happened to be along for the ride. Two, don't you get how awesome this is? We're killing monsters! Like heroes out of some video game. Tell me something, do you honestly think we're going to go the rest of our time here without seeing a single monster?" She challenged.
"Of course not," Rebecca snapped.
"So, what's the point of worrying 'bout it?"
"They're trying to kill us!"
"Will worrying about it make it easier to deal with that?" Jessica asked in her thick Southern accent. "Or is it just gonna make things harder for ya?"
The Bravo bit back a retort. As much as she'd hate to admit it, Jessica was making sense... she hated that. She glowered at Jessica for a moment before heading for the door.
"Ya need to learn to relax," Jessica advised as she grabbed a box of handgun ammo.
Daniel and Shantia
"We have to do something!"
Daniel felt a powerful urge to agree with his battle buddy. But, he also remembered how much it sucked to fight leech zombies. And, unlike last time, they would be the reinforcements and without any kind of fire to help them. Lastly, while his status was uncertain, he knew Shantia had yet to have been bitten. Edward's gun was still going off. "Be extremely careful," He warned her as he advanced on the door.
"Got it," Shantia said as she followed closely.
Daniel slid open the door. Shantia finally saw what kind of room Edward entered earlier: the bathroom. From the entrance, they could see the tiled floor and the start of a line of sinks. Much like the hallway, the bathroom abruptly veered right. And between shots, she could hear something wet and slimy moving around the corner. Daniel quickly advanced to the corner. He leaned past it, took a peek, and leaned back. "Clear. Remember, don't let any of it bite you." He warned her as they rounded the corner. The bathroom took another hard right at the other end of the sinks, forming a U out of the entire room. They headed for the bathroom stalls on the opposite side. Before they reached the next corner, Edward crashed right in front of them. In the darkness, Shantia could see several dark clumps on the police officer. Edward was aiming down the wing of the bathroom.
Before Daniel could stop her, she knelt next to Edward, her mind focused on keeping her teammate alive. A noise yanked her attention to her right.
It was slimy, it was green, and it was missing its torso. Shantia could only stare in shock as two legs, held together by a sliver of a waist, ran straight at her. She barely noticed the scattered, giant leeches slithering around the room behind the monster. As the legs ran at her, they bloated, doubling in size.
"Shantia! Get out of here!" Daniel warned when he glimpsed the leech monster. He sprinted down the bathroom, making an attempt at pulling her away. But she froze. She didn't feel his hand, and his fingers slipped off. He did realize she wasn't following until he was a few feet away. By then it was too late.
Shantia was still trying to comprehend the warning and the situation, when the legs exploded like a balloon. She was blinded as green goo covered her face and her glasses. She was far more worried about the thumps of something more solid hitting her torso. Her worries upgraded into terrors as the things bit into her. She screamed. Her hands tried to swipe them off, but their teeth were anchored into her skin. She could hear Daniel yelling and firing. Panic began to spread throughout her as her efforts to free herself failed. Worse, she could feel her blood being sucked out of her. Her arms moved frantically, desperately trying to peel the leeches off. But the T-virus monsters were relentless as they continued drinking her dry. She was becoming sluggish, both physically and mentally.
A glimmer of hope finally arrived when she felt one set of teeth let go. In a second, another one stopped. Then another. Until she was finally free of the leeches. She could hear Daniel talking to her, but she couldn't say anything. She was just so tired. I think I'll take a nap. And when I wake up, all of this will be a bad dream. The last thing she remembered was the feeling of being dragged away.
Billy
He ignored the gun fire that was now occurring on the third floor. Even if he wanted to, there was nothing he could do about it. Instead, he meandered over to the door, enjoying solitude for the first time in a long while. In retrospect, he couldn't blame the police officer for being extra careful with him. As far as the public was concerned, he was a known fugitive, a mass murderer no less. Still, that didn't make it any less frustrating to know that he was constantly under watch. He knew that the cowgirl wanted nothing more than to get into a fight. He had guessed that she'd probably get herself killed in the first few hours of their incident. But, she had skill (or luck) to keep going without a problem. Plus, Rebecca, from what he had seen, wasn't helpless. Together, the pair could probably survive on their own for a few minutes. And that is exactly why he helped Jessica win the argument.
He glanced at the podium as he entered the conference room. He'd never been too good with technology. In all honesty, he'd had to resist the urge to blow it to pieces when he and Edward were trying to figure it out. He ignored it as he walked back into the foyer. The scale statue was still looking over the rest of the room as he closed the door behind him. In a moment, he noticed that something was off. The rest of the teenagers the kid had brought with him were a quiet bunch. But he could hear animated voices coming from the ground floor. He walked over and looked over the stairway railing. At the bottom, the pilot was still lying down unconscious as before. However, the everyone else surrounded a spot on the floor a few feet away. He quickly recognized the other three teenagers: the couple and the quiet, tall guy. What started the internal alarms was when he noticed that Sims was back. And the other soldier, Askew, was lying in the middle of the group. Edward was nowhere to be found.
"What happened?" He demanded as he reached the bottom step.
The kid looked up to him, the others backing away, letting Billy get a full view of the downed soldier. Private Askew was incredibly pale. Worse, she was covered in slime and bites. "We were attacked by two more leech zombies," Sims morosely explained.
Billy found it hard to muster up his early skepticism as he peered over the unconscious soldier. Now that he was up close, he realized that she was barely hanging on. A check on her pulse confirmed it. He gently laid her arm back down and looked back at the kid. "Where's Edward?"
"He's dead," The glasses-wearing soldier replied bitterly. "Leeches drank all of his blood."
Billy frowned. He may not have liked the guy, but Ed didn't deserve that fate. Especially since all he did was do his job. Just like the soldiers at the humvee. "Where's all of his stuff?"
"Still with him," Sims promptly answered. "Was too busy getting her out to get it."
"Then we'll have to go and get it," Billy declared as he stood. "The faster we move, the less time he'll have to become a zombie."
Sims's frown hardened, but he nodded. "Keep an eye on her," He requested of the stocky teenager. The guy nodded back to him.
"Keep your gun close," Billy added as he started toward the door. The kid was behind him when he opened the doors. Sims took the lead as they walked down the hallway, eventually leading him into the bathroom. Nothing attacked them the whole way. Edward was still lying where he died, now no more than a pale corpse covered in slime. "We gotta get this done fast."
Between the two of them, they quickly emptied Edward's personal inventory out of his pockets. They kept a close eye on the body the entire time. With a large measure of relief, Edward didn't reanimate. Once the supplies were secured, they rapidly made their way back to the main hall.
"How is she?" Was the first question the kid asked.
The quiet, brown-haired girl hesitantly looked at him. "She's gone," She whispered.
Billy inwardly groaned. He's going to shut down again, he thought to himself aggravated. Instantly, another part of him chided himself. I was like that once. He turned to the last of the soldiers. Billy was surprised at what he saw. The sadness was there, and he looked tired as hell. But the kid only nodded once and sighed. "We'll have to...put her body elsewhere then."
Billy did a quick scan of the area, remembering which door lead where. He zeroed in on the portrait. The picture sat on a thin concrete wall and could easily ensure that she didn't come back to attack them later. He wasn't sure if zombies could open doors, but he'd seen enough of Night of the Living Dead to know that doors had a breaking point. Too bad they couldn't put Edward in there as well. "In there."
The kid quickly realized what he was proposing and nodded his approval. He grabbed some stuff before he told the other teenagers to empty his battle buddy's pockets. They took care of that while he and Billy re-opened the portrait. Billy ripped a piece of the recently-deceased soldier's uniform and wrapped it around her mouth. Only then did he and the kid carry her down. They didn't go too far back into the basement. They rounded the first corner and gently laid her down before walking back into the training facility. Their job was complete when they re-sealed the portrait.
The brown-haired girl and her boyfriend walked up to the kid. The boyfriend placed a hand on the kid's shoulder while the girl said, "We're sorry that happened. Is there anything we can do to help?"
Billy knew they meant cheering the kid and he was grateful for that. He didn't want any more teenagers out and about than necessary. The cowgirl had an unusual talent for the situation, but he could tell just by looking at these kids, they needed to stay far away from the monsters.
The kid sighed again and offered a weary smile. "Could you pray for her? She'll be a little surprised to find herself in Heaven so soon."
To the marine's surprise, the other teenagers nodded and formed a circle, hands joining. He sat back while they prayed for Shantia and added a late prayer to Bart. He wondered if they would pray for him like that if he bought the farm. They just finished when one of the upstairs doors opened.
Rebecca and Jessica
Zombies. Half-dead dogs. Leech men. Giant scorpions. Rebecca thought she nothing else could surprise her by now. But, at the moment, all she could do was stare blankly at the blue hoodie-wearing teenager next to her.
They were back inside now. After clearing the small workshop where the lift took them, the only door lead back outside out onto a terrace. The center of it was occupied by an active water fountain. It was circle with a marble statue of a robed woman holding up a vase. Water poured from the vase into the full fountain below, water spilling over the side. A weather-worn bench sat next to the fountain. At the opposite end of the terrace was another elevator that connected the terrace to the front porch. On the same side of the elevator, but at the opposite corner, was the only other door. Like the rest of the place, it was old. Its age denoted by the green vines and leaves that sprouted and covered half of the stone veranda.
All of that was ignored when their attention was grabbed by the cawing. Several z-crows sat here and there, waiting for a meal to show. Jessica shot two of them to begin the festivities. But hitting the last two proved to be incredibly difficult as they flew through the air. Rebecca knew she couldn't hit them with her lack of skill. In the end, the two birds were brought down by a single blast of the shotgun. Rebecca hope this incident would dampen Jessica's spirits. Apparently that was too much to hope for as Jessica happily found a box of shotgun shells. Rebecca located another helpful herb before she received her first shock.
All she wanted was a good look at the front porch. When she walked over to the stone railing, she could clearly see everything below her thanks to the moonlight. She wish she couldn't. The porch was beautifully crafted out of stone and added to the grand scheme of the place. It included a stone bridge that spanned a chasm between the training facility and the rest of Raccoon forest. And it was broken. She stared at it, as if the missing chunk would suddenly reappear at will. But no. They were cut off. The gap was too wide to jump across. The front door was not how they were going to escape this terrible place.
She wanted to scream. Out of frustration, despair, or something else, she didn't know or care. Jessica noticed her predicament and only shrugged off the new discovery. Rebecca clearly remembered what she said. "Never thought it was going to be that easy getting out of here. C'mon. If ya really wanna get Kevin out, ya'll keep movin'."
Once again, with barely-restrained frustration at the cowgirl, Rebecca pulled herself away from the stone railing and followed Jessica back inside. The next room seemed to take up the rest of the third floor. It was an expansive room that featured three pits next to the left wall. Each pit came with a cage that hovered over them. One of the cages had collapsed into its pit. Over to their right were the cranks for raising and lowering the cages. A little past the cranks was a stairway that led back down to the second floor. Across from them was another double door with two more mechanical knights to lock it.
They had taken two steps inward when Jessica asked, "So, ever had a boyfriend?"