Ch. 17: First Tyrant
Billy, Daniel, Rebecca, & Jessica
Appearances were deceiving. Of the four possible paths, three were locked. And the last held a surprise. Rebecca and Daniel checked the hallway to the elevator, next to the rubble. She spotted the key first, or at least she thought so, and bent down to pick it up. While she did that, Daniel checked the door and found it to be locked as he expected. What he wasn't sure about was Enrico. Is he going to show up now or are we ahead of schedule? When he heard gears moving behind the locked door, he glanced behind him. He inwardly grimaced when he saw Jessica and Billy stepping into their portion of the hallway, after discovering that the second hallway lead to a dead-end. And since they now heard the elevator, both of them came toward it, weapons out, just in case. Rebecca shot to her feet as she readied her machine gun. This...might not end well. For the sake of appearances, he aimed his rifle at the door and hoped Enrico didn't shoot anyone...or anyone shoot him.
When the door slid open, the leader of Bravo team froze as he noted the four guns pointed at the tall, raven-haired man. The moment of tension passed when Rebecca let out a happy shout. "Captain!"
The mustachioed Enrico relaxed, and Daniel thought everything might go smoothly...then Enrico saw Billy. Billy had lowered his weapon but only halfway. When Enrico's handgun snapped toward him, Billy's sub-machine gun retook its old post. "What's he doing here?" Enrico demanded in that deep, baritone voice of his.
So, that's his voice. Good, liked it better than the Remake's version. Wait, does that mean Leon sounds like Leon from RE2 or RE4? Dude, get off the tangent and focus back on the situation. The situation was currently holding at a very tense silence. Rebecca's earlier glee was now mixed with equal parts of shame and bewilderment. Billy kept his face blank as he aimed his weapon. And Jessica's frustration increased rapidly as Daniel watched. He opened his mouth to try to start a civil discussion but she was faster at the draw.
"What the hell man? We've got enough monsters tryin' to kill us without addin' each other to the list. Put the damned gun down!" The cowgirl demanded as she placed herself between the two men.
Enrico's eyes flashed to his medic. "Did you inform them of the fugitive's crimes, Rebecca?"
"Yeah, she did, and I ain't buyin' it!" Jessica intercepted as she glared at Bravo leader. "I don't know what ya've been up to while your squad been's gittin' beat up, but Billy here has been doing his damnedst to keep Eddy and Becky here alive, along with the rest of us, while ya've been MIA. So, from my perspective, ya're the bad guy here!"
Enrico's eyes narrowed on her, but the professional kept the rest of his expression calm, leaving Daniel to wonder if he was just angry with Jessica or also with himself. But after another small pause, Enrico addressed Rebecca again. "Is she telling the truth?"
Rebecca nodded hard, nearly popping her neck. "Yes, sir. Billy has been very cooperative with us and has been a major help to us as we've tried to find an escape route out of the facility."
"Where's Edward?"
Rebecca flinched as regret slapped her. Enrico winced and wearily sighed before his attention returned to Billy. The convict silently watched the exchange and when he met the Bravo leader's gaze, Billy slowly lowered his weapon. The older man stared at the former lieutenant with trepidation, especially at the grenade launcher on Billy's back, before he matched Billy's gesture. "Have you seen anyone else from STARS?"
"Your pilot is somewhere back in the facility, knocked out and in good need of a doctor," Jessica answered as she jabbed her thumb upward. "If ya know a way out, now might be the best time to say it."
Enrico nodded as he looked over Rebecca's shoulder to the other elevator. "I've studied blueprints and found a train terminal connected by that elevator. It might be locked, but it's the closest exit to us."
Billy shook his head. "No good. We crashed the train on our way in and the place was filled with fire."
Enrico frowned as he listened. "How long ago was that? Do we have any fire extinguishers at our disposal?"
Daniel tackled these questions. "No fire extinguishers, but it's been several hours since the crash."
"Then we should verify the terminal's current situation. The only other exit involves going deeper underground through another Umbrella facility," Enrico ordered before he focused his attention on the cowgirl and soldier. "I'm sorry for not introducing myself sooner. I'm Enrico Marini, Captain of STARS Bravo team."
"Private Sims of the 287th Transpo, sir." Daniel returned with a nod.
Jessica jerked a thumb at herself. "Jessica June, monster slayer."
"I'll wait for your explanations as to how you came across a secret, bio-weapons lab after we're safe," Marini said as he stepped towards the other elevator. He glanced at Billy. "And I need you to surrender that launcher immediately."
Billy couldn't blame the cop's caution, but it was still frustrating to have to go through this cycle again, especially after being free from this ever since Edward became KIA. He didn't fight as he surrendered the grenade launcher, along with his supply of grenades. Enrico raised an eyebrow at Rebecca when he realized just how well-armed Billy was. She sheepishly looked along the walls. The captain let it drop as he resumed his march to the other elevator.
All but Daniel immediately fell into step behind him, but the Reservist lagged behind as he wrapped his mind around this new development. Is this right? I mean, it might all be moot if the train station is too smoky but what if it isn't? What if we can just walk out of here in the next half an hour? Then what? Birkin is supposed to start the self-destruct sequence but when? What if Marcus escapes? This new plan didn't sit well with him. But that warning buzz at the back of his brain was back in full force. He was forgetting something. Something very important...but what?
"Are you okay?" Daniel jerked out of his thoughts as he looked at Rebecca. The medic stared at him with restrained worry. "Nothing bad is about to happen, right?"
Daniel looked forward and saw that Rebecca had handed the key to Enrico who was only a few steps from the elevator. Instinctively, he looked at the large hallway's entrance. He saw where the door would slide down, trapping anyone inside with a very dangerous new monster. "We should catch up." Perhaps he should've said it better. Because Rebecca started scanning every piece of metal, rubble, and hole for whatever was about to hit him. No point in staring at the cracks, Rebecca. This next one isn't going to fit in there.
Although oblivious to the real danger, Enrico kept a wary eye out, both for ambush and on Billy. He easily unlocked the elevator and pressed the 'down' button. Daniel took that as his cue to shift the M16 to burst. Everyone but Enrico caught it and stared at him. You're doing it again. It's a frickin' Tyrant! Taking no chances with this one, too! Daniel maintained his stare at the rubble pile blocking the rest of the hallway, right at its top. The rest of them immediately looked at the same spot...right as a humanoid shape stepped out of the shadows.
"He's a big boy," Jessica muttered as she trained her shotgun on the creature.
Enrico heard her, turned, and froze as he saw the blue-skinned giant halted as it stared over its newest batch of victims. "What is that?" He asked, his normal, calm veneer breaking slightly as his eyes focused on its enormous claw.
The twitching monster spread out its arm and claw as it unleashed a roar into the air.
"It's hostile! Kill it!" Daniel shouted back, as he fired the first burst straight into the massive, exterior heart. "Aim for the heart!" He yelled as the tyrant barked in pain, its white eyes focusing on the soldier as its first target. Daniel responded with another burst.
"Hell yeah!" Jessica cheered as she added buckshot to the rifle rounds. Billy wished he still had the grenade launcher, but made do as he lit the tyrant up with his machine gun.
How can its heart take all that punishment and still beat!? The thought befuddled the team medic but wasn't enough to stop her from adding the second machine gun to the mix. Enrico reflexively pointed his handgun at the monster, then stopped and holstered it before reaching for the grenade launcher.
The sheer amount of firepower staggered the tyrant before it leaped at the man who started the firestorm. Daniel nearly tripped over himself as he back-stepped away from it while it nearly landed on top of him. "Damn it, Sims! Git out of the way!" Jessica yelled at him as she stopped firing and tried to swing around to remove the soldier from her line of fire. Enrico scowled, taking his finger off the trigger, just as he flipped off the launcher's safety. But Rebecca and Billy were free to continue firing, and fire they did. As massive and as powerful as that heart was, the bullets punctured it, causing it to send bright gushes of blood spraying every which way. The tyrant wailed but stomped toward Daniel, determined to kill at least one thing before it expired.
Daniel's response was to fire one more burst before taking off a dead run back over the turntable. Need more space! The tyrant crouched low before jumping at the soldier, swinging its claw in a wide arc. Daniel felt his empty sleeve tug at him followed by a loud, metal noise. Against his better judgment, he took a glimpse over his shoulder. His left sleeve now was a measly three inches long and the tyrant's claw now embedded in the metal framework that usually held a train engine. Daniel felt like his heart was running a 100-meter dash when he realized just how close he nearly been to being cut in pieces. I don't remember it being able to jump that far!
With Daniel now directly in front of the tyrant, Billy and Rebecca ceased fire before trying to re-position themselves on the tyrant's flanks. Enrico and Jessica, with their head start, were almost in position. Enrico sprinted around the other half of the metal grating, encouraging Daniel to get more distance on the monster. Jessica grinned as the tyrant noticed her on the other side of the grating and its claw. "Hi there," she said before firing nearly at point-blank range into its face. It roared as it stumbled back, its claw tearing free of the metal, and fresh blood pouring out of its newly damaged eye.
She cocked the shotgun, ready for another round when Enrico yelled at her to fall back. While the tyrant swayed, clutching the side of its head, Daniel's race ended with him well enough away. Enrico now stood next to him, grenade launcher staring straight at the giant. "Awww, fine." She muttered to herself before she ran away from the target. The tyrant was pushing the pain away as it scanned for its original victim. It caught sight of Daniel right as the first grenade whistled through the air. It landed square in its heart.
Enrico lowered the launcher, watching as the tyrant wobbled back and forth. But when he thought it'd fall over, it righted itself even though its heart was now red, blue, and now black. "It survived?" He breathed out as he watched the creature take a shaky step forward.
"Now would be a good time to fire again, sir!" Daniel 'suggested' as he looked between the STARS member and Umbrella's prototype weapon.
The suggestion worked and Enrico braced himself before firing again, hitting the same spot. The tyrant jerked its head back as it released an agonized roar. For a brief second, Enrico thought it was going to keep coming. But the roar died away as it pitched forward, twitching once...then twice before becoming still. All five humans stared at it for an entire minute before everyone relaxed. Rebecca's curiosity got the better of her and she tentatively walked towards it. "What is it?"
"Ain't it obvious?" Jessica replied as she casually walked over to the blue body, stomping over its claw for the heck of it. "It's a super-zombie."
Rebecca tried to throw her a dubious look but she couldn't deny how true it could be. "Well, at least we know it's probably another Umbrella bio-weapon experiment."
"How did it escape?" Billy wondered as the team regrouped next to their latest kill.
Rebecca asked, "What do you mean Billy?"
"The kid and I saw a video feed of that thing in its test tube, about ten minutes ago?" Billy explained as Jessica opened the elevator. "The tube looked like it was fully functional, so I want to know how that thing woke up and made its way over here."
Kid? Daniel threw a half-hearted scowl at Billy. Don't I get a little more credit now? Whatever anger he did felt was overwhelmed by relief and happiness at being both alive and unharmed by the evil, blue giant.
"Ya think there are more of them?" Jessica asked hopefully as she gazed toward the rubble pile.
"That's not our concern," Enrico answered as he led the way to the elevator. "We need to evacuate our wounded back to Raccoon City, secure Coen, and continue our investigation into Umbrella's activities. I've located another Umbrella site that seems to be the primary labs. The others should be on their way there now."
Jessica frowned at the part about Billy, but Rebecca replied first. "Did you see them recently? Was everyone else alright?"
Enrico nodded as he headed for the back of the elevator as everyone piled in. "Everyone was fine, but I contacted them through radio. You and Edward were the only ones I couldn't reach."
"Uh, excuse me, but how's the Raccoon City bit gonna work?" Jessica broke in as she looked over the floor choices. Enrico already pressed in 'Level One', but there were two other levels, not including their own level three.
Enrico questioned Rebecca, "Did Kevin get the helicopter radio working before his injury?"
The medic wearily nodded her head. "No, sir."
"Then we're going to have to accomplish it the old-fashioned way. Rebecca, you'll lead the civilians, Private Sims, Kevin, and the fugitive back to Raccoon City, contact and send Alpha team to a location to reinforce Bravo squad."
Several cries of protest sounded off from everyone else except Billy. "Captain! I think I should continue to be involved in the investigation as I am the team's medic," Rebecca countered strongly, both angry and fearful at the thought of leaving her team behind.
"Sir, I may be infected," Daniel began reluctantly. "It might be best if I travel with you and provide some heavy firepower until...we determine if I'm infected or not."
"Like hell ya're sendin' me back!" Was Jessica's simple yet ferocious message.
"You're a civilian, it's our job to keep you safe, not put you squarely in the face of danger," The STARS veteran started before turning to Rebecca. "You may be the only medic, Rebecca, but you're also our most inexperienced officer. You're not prepared for this situation and can serve STARS best by being out of danger and being ready to treat any wounded officers returning from the investigation." Lastly, he directed his attention at Daniel. His verbal counter-attack, smooth so far, faltered now as he regarded the soldier, his eyes flashing at the bitten arm. "There is a possibility that there's a vaccine located at the primary labs. If you continue to be involved in this investigation, you may very well increase the rate of your current infection."
"And if there is no cure, then all you've done is placed a zombie in the center of the town," Daniel argued. "If there is no cure, then speeding up the rate of infection will at least give me a quicker death."
"From what I've read, there's a chance that you could be immune-" Enrico offered as an alternative explanation.
Daniel cut him off, "Then you'll need me more for this investigation since you won't have to worry about me dying to the T-virus, and I have extensive combat experience against Umbrella's bio-weapons, which your other STARS members will lack...sir." He added respectfully to make up for his rude interruption.
The elevator doors opened and while heat quickly rushed into the elevator car, Rebecca noticed that it wasn't nearly as smoky as she remembered it. "We'll finish this conversation later, private," Enrico told the soldier before he carefully advanced out of the elevator.
Billy silently added a few more points to Daniel's tally as he followed the Bravo leader out. Jessica glowered, nowhere finished with her arguments but willing to restrain herself…for now. For once, Rebecca sympathized with the cowgirl. Partially. I'm not being sent back on my first mission, she promised herself, and she was determined to not let another comrade die.
The train engine sat a few feet away from the elevator's exit, facing forward to the far wall. Billy barely recognized the space between the engine and the first car as where he and the others choked and tried to see through the haze to their only exit. Now, the fires and smoke receded, giving him a much clearer view. His view left their spot and focused on the rest of the train. While he couldn't see past the third car, he could see enough to see that there was a path, if the tiny size of outside fire patches indicated anything about the interior.
Enrico experimentally touched the car's door. When the metal didn't burn his skin, he gripped the knob and threw it open. "Cover me."
"Wait," Rebecca said as she faced the exit that lead back into the sewers beneath the training facility. "I should head back now and get Kevin to the infirmary and see that he's fully treated before we leave." She glanced at Daniel. "We should also see the rest of your friends are doing, too."
"You're right; Rebecca take care of that at once," Enrico affirmed as he looked at the remaining three able-bodies. "Coen, you're staying here with me, Private Sims, you escort Ms. Chambers and Ms. June to the other members of your party."
"Hold on! Stop with this 'keepin' me out of danger' BS! I can fight just as well as you can." She argued as she glared at him.
"You're a civilian, and my job is to protect civilians, not put them on the front line of danger," Enrico countered matter-of-factly, his attention already back on the train as he measured its state, still standing behind Billy, keeping the fugitive in his line-of-sight.
"And does your job include fightin' through legions of undead? Or fightin' big-ass bugs? Or, how 'bout this one, do ya really want to be the only one with the scary 'mass-murderer'? No offense, Billy." She quickly added.
"None taken."
Enrico paused before reluctantly replying, "Defend the rear, and if you disobey that order that I'll send you with Chambers and Sims."
"Just go with it, Jessica," Daniel whispered to her.
Jessica glared at her partner-in-crime before she heaved an overly dramatic sigh. "Fine."
"You must survive in order to expose this nightmare..."