Fate Can't Escape Destiny Chapter 3, a resident evil fanfic

Resident Evil: Fate Can't Escape Destiny

Dusty walks up to Aya and motions toward the door, "How are we getting in?"

The Behemoth he stuck in the wall roars loudly and pushes off, its hands crunching the steel easily. Brown eyes shift to the left side of his peripheral vision, fingers grasping at the M93R as the beast takes off in a sprint. Footsteps pound into the dirt and grass, but in the opposite direction of the two humans. Dusty turns around and gazes as the Behemoth takes off into the forest, hopefully never to be seen again as Aya works on opening the door.

Why haven't I killed her? She's HCF and needs to die.. Dusty leans against the door as the redheaded Asian woman he saved works at opening the door.

He already knows the reason, even though she works for the enemy, he can't really take a life. Zombies are easy, people are harder for the cop, even when their sins are numerous. If Dusty had his way, he'd be back home in Arkansas, living out his days with the woman of his dreams, raising kids, doing the family-thing. Instead, he's fighting a couple of global companies hell-bent on destroying humanity for profit. HCF is just as bad as Umbrella, possibly worse, but intelligence on HCF is sketchy at best, nonexistent at worst. The most S.T.A.R.S. knows about HCF is that Wesker works for them, they are responsible for the outbreak at Rockfort Island, and seem to have a personal vendetta against Umbrella.

"So what were you?" her voice shakes him from his thoughts.

"Beg pardon?" the Southern accent is heavy.

She smiles and looks back at him, "What did you do before Umbrella ruined your life?"

"Was a cop in Riley, Ohio. A lab they built leaked the T-Virus into the city, as a testing ground for their new Nemesis Variants. Was one of the unlucky few to be left alive... Worked with other people who fought against Umbrella to escape and survive, but seems we created a bigger threat in the process."

"Director Weidick?"

He nods, fingers clenching at the sound of that name, "Yes. He was infected with a mutating G-Virus from the Nemesis Variant, which apparently bonded with his DNA, turning him into what the Redfield Reports say Wesker is like. He turned on Umbrella, apparently joining HCF in the process... I will kill him, ending the Riley Nightmare for good.."

He's so determined... Aya continues working on hacking the bio-hazard door blocking the Island from the Lab.

Dusty is a very strange man, almost like two different people, she's never really met anyone like him. It makes her wonder if everyone who survives bio-outbreaks are like this? She can't focus on that now as the PDA blinks again in a denying tone, not letting the redhead in. She curses in Japanese, tries a different sequence of key presses as a loud crash erupts from pretty much everywhere. Aya blinks and regains her focus, letting Dusty go off to see what the issue is.

"You better get this door open soon..." the voice is far off, but still recognizable.

"Why is that?" Aya slides her card again and enters another strand of presses.

An explosion rocks the ground as Dusty backs up into her, almost tripping over the lithe Asian woman, "Because he brought friends..."

She risks a look back, immediately wishing she had not done so as she stares at the seven Behemoths walking toward them, one still smoldering from the grenade to the face. Dusty taps her on the back, making her return to the computer in her hand as she listens to her companion reload the M79 and snap the barrel shut. Her fingers fly across the miniature keyboard as sounds of battle wage outside her field of vision. Another string of keys, another denying beep, and another explosion, but not the same one that normally comes from the M79.

This demands attention, "What was that?"

A laugh greets her before, "A Behemoth just stomped on a Spitter, pressure must have grown too massive and exploded."

Glowing green eyes whip around to witness the scene of carnage, the images of a melting Behemoth forever burned into her eyes, "Almost there I think!"

Keep going... This isn't going to end well if you don't... Dusty slides behind a tree as another Behemoth grabs a Gecko and uses it as a bat.

Each smack of the body against something sends acid into the air, rapidly decreasing the amount of objects to hide behind.. Dusty kicks off the tree and rolls through a bush as the monster takes another swing at him. He resists the urge to make a bad baseball joke and clambers to his feet, running toward Aya as he notices the door slowly opening. As the door inches slowly upward, he grabs Aya by her waist again, drops to his back, and both of them slide underneath, his free hand pulling the M93R from the holster and unloading a bullet into the control mechanism.

With a spark, a groan, and a snap, the door slams down on the extended arm of a Behemoth, severing the appendage off neatly at the elbow, "Well, that was fun..."

He catches Aya's look of disbelief, "What? You didn't find that entertaining?"

"Do you think it's cheating if I count the Gecko the Behemoth used as a weapon as a kill for my score?" he etches several marks into the barrel of the M79.

"I.. No... What?"

He laughs and shrugs, "Those of us in S.T.A.R.S. have a running competition for most points. I'm a little behind and could use a little help, albeit a little illegal."

"You people are fucking crazy..." Aya huffs at him and stands up, looking down at the detached arm still pouring blood onto the floor.

"So where are we now, exactly?" Dusty runs his hand over the plaque labeled 'Serenity'.

Aya stands next to him and smirks, "This is the Island-Specific Lab for Serenity. In here is all the equipment, tools, and data needed to maintain and research the BOW contained within. Each Island has its own lab, as each Island requires specific equipment for the different bio-weapons they house."

"If this is Serenity, what are the other three called? And what can we expect in each?" the brunette has taken to doing a quick ammo check as he awaits her answer.

Crap, now I got to think... Aya quickly works to gather the info her counterpart requested.

"Island One is Riparian, a lake-based area. It houses most of our aquatic bio-ware. In there you will find the Hunter-Betas reported from the Raccoon Incident. As well as our own creations the Mizu."

"I see you guys go after relatively Japanese names for your projects. Differentiating yourselves from Umbrella and their Roman names?" the sarcasm is evident in his voice.

"Whatever.. The biggest thing to watch out for is what the researchers for Riparian have lovingly called the Abyss. The few reports that trickle in from that Island about Abyss have only been size-measurements. I can't make any sense of it, they use water measurements in the Acre-Foot increment..."

She watches as his ears perk and he turns to look at her, "What was the last report?"

"Last report stated Abyss was closing in on the one acre-foot mark... What does that mean?"

Dusty rubs his eyes and blinks before answering, "It means the beast is close to forty-four thousand square-feet in size..."

Aya drops the PDA in surprise and disgust, "How is that possible? Most of our research put a maximum size for the stability of BOW at about fourteen feet tall and a weight of just over a ton..."

"Seems Isis is more powerful than anything Umbrella ever came up with... Any info you can give me on the Mizu?" Dusty begins chambering his last five rounds into the magazine for his handgun.

"Not much really, they are basically mutated Manta Rays.. Incredibly fast since they are at the most only six inches thick at the spine..." Aya finally realizes she has retained a lot more info about the state of the island than she thought before Director Weidick threw her into the basement to rot.

The click of the magazine being slid into the handgun draws her attention to the larger man she's been talking to for the last few minutes, "The other Islands?"

Aya begins to pull up the necessary information from her memory, but a loud noise from the other end of the hallway before them interrupts the conversation. Dusty whistles lightly to grab her attention, then tosses her his M93R, the gun heavier than it looks. He points to his eyes, then down the hall before slowly moving to the edge of the wall, his face barely poking out from behind it. A gunshot rings out, the brunette ducking in before it can do any damage, then he motions for Aya to step forward.

"You ever shot one before?" his voice is hushed, trying not to draw the attention of the gunman up ahead.

Aya nods slowly, "We're all required to take basic firearms training... Never shot at someone before."

"Don't look them in the eyes," he stares into her eyes, "don't ever look your target in the eyes..."

She nods slowly and raises the weapon up, ready to aim at his call, "You trust me?"

His words catch her off guard as another gunshot digs into the wall in front of them. Does she trust him? Aya's mind weighs her options, the pros and cons, but this isn't something to be trusted to facts and tables, this is a feeling from the heart. Her eyes lock with his, the question still rolling off his mouth as he repeats it.

Aya makes a great decision right here, "I do."

He smiles and looks around the corner before ducking back, "Good, then we'll survive this yet!"

I can't believe it, she actually trusts me... Dusty holds up a hand, causing the redhead across from him to raise the weapon anxiously, awaiting his order.

"Remember, breathe slowly, exhale on the squeeze... Aim straight, I'll distract him..."

Before she can retort, he dives down the hall, screaming loudly at the unseen enemy. The brunette has a silent victory for himself as the man looks at him, gun tracking in his direction before a gunshot sounds off. Dusty dives behind a table and checks himself for wounds, realizing the gunshot didn't come from their enemy, but Aya herself. Brown eyes gaze upon where the man was once standing, finding him instead situated against the wall, holding a bleeding shoulder.

She's a better shot than she realizes... Dusty walks up to the man, aims the M79 at his chest, and clears his throat.

"Who are you?" at the sound of his voice, the man begins looking around frantically, mouth quivering, gibberish flying from dry lips.

Another several seconds of this and Dusty has had enough, so he pushes the man to the floor and squats over his chest, leaning closer in and speaking again, "Who.. Are... You...?"

"It's out..."

"What's out?"

Pin-sized pupils gaze up into Dusty's soul as the man has a second of clarity, "T..."

Dusty stumbles back at the mention of the virus that brought him into this mess, changed his life forever. Zombies, Lickers, Hunters, all looking hungrily at him flash through his mind as he recovers, stepping on the man's chest to keep him from moving. He attempts to get more information out of the apparent scientist, but that is immediately halted as a shuffling sound emits from the corner farther down the hall.

"Aya... Come down here please..." Dusty doesn't want to risk compromising the integrity of the building with an explosion.

When the Asian woman rejoins him, he slowly takes the handgun from her shaking fingers, aiming it at the sound as his friend begins assessing the man's wounds underneath him. Dusty's feet are heavy as he steps toward the sound, reeling back in disgust as the first zombie of the night arrives. The zombies here look just the same as they did three years ago in Riley, smell the same too.

How long ago was it released? This one is about to fall apart...

Aya beats him to it as she presses a hand to the bleeding wound harder than she needs to, causing the man to scream and return to reality, "How long ago was T released?"

"About three hours ago..." his fading fast, but this is useful information.

Three hours ago places it at around the time that Thomas started firing on the scientists gathered outside the mansion. Either part of the attack ruptured something in the lab under the island, or Thomas released it on purpose. Did Thomas expect Dusty to be here? Set up a game for him? These questions will remain unanswered for now as he looks at the zombie still shuffling toward him. The Beretta in his hand is raised up, sight dots positioned perfectly for a head-shot, then the trigger is squeezed silently. The explosion of the round is loud, the death of the zombie is not, the creature hitting the ground without so much as a splat.

"How many scientists were left in the Islands?"

Aya's mind is racing at seeing the zombie, it looks just like the man she was testing her new serum variant of Isis on earlier this morning. Dusty was right, she was only making a better virus, one to top Umbrella's own T and G. She doesn't even hear the question asked of her, nor the second or third time, her gaze just locked on the dead zombie.

Suddenly she is picked up from the floor, Dusty looking into her eyes, bringing her back to the here and now, "How many scientists stay behind in the Islands?"

"Um... Seventeen per Island... Even though each Island has its own lab, they're all connected by service tunnels. During High Tide they..."

"Unlock the doors so the doctors can travel freely between Islands without drowning outside... So, we have sixty-eight," he gazes at the two bodies in front of him, "sixty-six zombies to deal with, plus whoever ran inside the mansion, assuming it's connected to this system as well?"

Aya nods, "It's the central hub... Connected by a sort of forward elevator..."

Dusty holds up a hand, "I hate elevators.."

She arches an eyebrow at this, "Someone who can do what you do, afraid of elevators?"

"You ever fallen in one? It's not a fun time, trust me..." his voice is a little shaky, but she doesn't pry.

"Can I ask you a question?" her voice is small as the brunette examines the zombie before them.

"Sure," he never looks at her, it's for the best she thinks.

Green eyes rest on the scientist behind her, trying to remember his name, "Did I kill him?"

"What? No, you didn't," his words don't really wipe the worry away.

Aya stares at the gun in Dusty's hands, her mind replaying what happened a few minutes ago. She only wounded him, did the shock afterward do him in? He was conscious right before the zombie appeared, then gone in the time it took her friend to kill it. Did Aya Akechi kill this man? She dreads the change happening within her own body, not wanting to have to deal with this every time they need to defend themselves. Her eyes raise up to look at Dusty, he kills them so effortlessly, he must have done it so many times in Riley.. She heard reports about what happened there, how something contaminated the water supply, making all the residents crazed and cannibalistic. It was such a lie, they all knew, but no one questioned it, was not what they were paid to do.

"Will I still be me?"

"Will I still be me?" the words snap Dusty back to the present.

He asked himself that after Riley, when the pain wouldn't go away. Claire and Leon offered words of wisdom, caring advice, but he remembers the talk they had. They both talked about how hard it was to continue to live a normal life after experiencing what they did, what he did. The only ones who truly carried on were Chris and Jill, who were busy taking it to Umbrella's backside with a ton of firepower. Is that how he is going to have to live, going after Umbrella and others like them? Will Aya be able to go on, knowing what she has helped create?

What do I care? Her work is going to create more suffering anyway, she should suffer herself... Dusty thinks it, but doesn't believe a word of it.

"I can't really answer that, you can try, but it depends on how much blame you place on yourself... One day at a time, you'll find your answer soon enough.."

"Blame I place on myself?" of course she focuses on that part of the entire reply...

He shakes his head placing a hand on her shoulder, "Don't focus on the blame, if there even is any... We have to survive.. No matter what.. HCF is the monster here.. Not you, not me, not the zombies we will be facing.."

She puts a small smile on, not fooling Dusty for a second, so he smiles at her, a genuine smile, "Wh... What?"

"One last piece of advice?"

"Sure?" her voice is curious.

"Don't think of the zombies as old friends or people you knew.. It makes it harder..."

She smirks back, "Then you better keep the gun..."

He laughs quickly, liking her quick replies as his fingers rifle through the dead scientist's pockets, pulling out an extra clip he can milk the rounds from. The spare handgun is tucked into his belt, safety engaged, round not chambered. With the four rounds in the M93R as well, Dusty and Aya now have a count of thirty-two handgun rounds and four grenades for the M79.

"What kind of handgun did he have?"

Dusty looks down at it, smiling faintly, "A BU9 Nano by Beretta, personal defense really."

The room is bland by all standards, design, furnishing, technological, even mechanical, the four walls only being covered in a single set of monitors, images from the entire island flashing over the LCD screens. In the lone chair rests a single man, hair slicked back, eyes focused on the only monitor showing movement, the machine gun resting in his lap as a finger traces the HCF logo engraved into the plastic stock. The monitor shows a man he has come to hate looting a body of a scientist that died moments earlier. The same finger that was tracing circles now flicks a switch on the controller attached to the chair, the monitor switching to a shot showing a room full of infected shambling about. The map to the left, barely illuminated by the light of the monitors shows that room to be only a couple of turns away from the position of the brunette and redhead he has been watching for the past hour or so.

"I'll have to wear you down first, deplete your ammo with these lovely toys before I come after you myself, Dusty..." Thomas sighs and taps the monitor back to the image of his hated foe.

Dusty got the upper-hand against him in Riley, using Twist itself as a weapon to knock the two of them off the rail and into the pit of molten steel. Thomas barely managed to jump off of Twist's burning body to safety before the BOW was devoured by the orange metal in the vat. Thomas still burns with the rage of them escaping, himself almost being caught in the nuclear explosion that leveled Riley and destroyed any evidence of Umbrella's involvement or the Bio-hazard Outbreak that occurred there. Soon after, Thomas joined HCF, which has been seeing steady increase in profits since they first made themselves known to the world at Rockfort Island. From there Thomas used the virus in his blood to become the Director at Isle Eras, turning his blood into Isis. The promise of the virus was enough for HCF, giving the mutant full control of the island and everyone on it.

The silver clipboard on the table to the left of him set today's events in motion. He overheard Dr. Akechi's verbal notes on the genetic application of Isis, using nano-machines to tweak the DNA to cure innumerable ailments and diseases. The thought was too much to let go unnoticed, so he used the only person she trusted to get the data from her.. With this, Thomas can develop a new virus, possibly the greatest threat the world will ever see. He smiles lightly, knowing that his enemy is keeping alive someone who helped create the greatest viral compound since the T-Virus... A flash on the screen draws his attention back to the scene before him, Dusty and Aya now approaching the room where the zombies await to devour them completely.

"Have fun..." his finger taps in the key sequence to open the door, hoping they take the bait...

"Get back," Dusty presses his hand into Aya's stomach, pushing her back lightly as the door to his left opens up, the sounds of dozens of undead leaking from inside.

His eyes slowly adjust to the darkness within, seeing heads shamble about the way the infected do, his ears picking up the sounds of them knocking over objects and other zombies. He opts to push her past it all, but something inside grabs his attention, the silver case barely reflecting the minimum amount of light inside.

"Is that a weapon case?" Aya's voice is tiny compared to the roar of the undead in front of him.

Dusty shrugs, "Possibly, could be empty... Could hold a nice little surprise... It's a trap, has to be."

"We should go for it..." he hates it when people say that.

"Not going to do it, it's what whoever is controlling this place wants us to do."

Before Aya can say another word, Dusty slides the door back down, ignoring what could be a shotgun or machine gun lost in the sea of undeath. Another few footsteps and another door flies open, leading into the same room. This one was booby-trapped though, a zombie that was leaning against it falling out. Dusty can't kill it fast enough, the moan that leaves its lips for his flesh grabbing the attention of the others behind it. Slowly they turn toward the two humans, broken bones snapping more, skin tearing, hands stretching toward them as the stench becomes too much. The brunette grabs the door to pull it down, but it won't budge, the controls overridden by the master of the mansion.

"Shit, Aya, run!" Dusty pulls out his M93R, backing up quickly as the zombies crawl out of the doorway and into the hallway currently occupied by the living.

The duo reach a set of stairs leading up to the surface, Dusty unable to focus on whether it leads to the mansion or one of the Islands, his finger squeezing the trigger, dropping a zombie perfectly, the others tumbling over it to get at them. Ammunition conservation, key to survival. As Dusty turns from the undead following he has gathered to ascend the stairs, Aya calls out in pain before falling down. Dusty reaches out to grab her and picks the lithe woman up quickly, kicking a zombie that got a little too close for comfort. Aya regains her balance and continues up, rounding the corner effortlessly, giving Dusty ample space to take the stairs two at a time, gaining on her as they reach the door at the top.

Dusty spins around and pulls up the M93R, aiming the weapon at whatever might make its way up the stairs, "Get it open, now!"

Aya holds the PDA up to him, the device cracked into four pieces, "From my fall.."

"God damn it! Get down to the next level of stairs, take this, aim for the head," he pushes the Nano into her hands and turns to face the door, a spare grenade already being slid from the strap around his body.

Dusty pries the explosive from the shell, leaving the casing of gunpowder in his left hand. The explosive is pushed back into the strap, then his right hand swipes around his face, gathering sweat he can then squeeze into the powder. This makes a paste that he then spreads along the hinges, then to the locking mechanism itself. Happy with the job, Dusty jumps down the stairs, pushing Aya down after she dispatches a zombie that somehow made it up a few steps.

"Cover your ears," he aims the M93R at the middle of the goop, pulling the trigger.

First there was nothing after the ping of the ricochet, but that is replaced by an explosion, heat, noise. The zombies at the base of the stairs tumble over from the explosion, but by the time they regain their vertical stance, the two humans are up and through the door. Dusty grabs Aya's arm and holds her in place as they arrive in what appears to be a rather large foyer for a mansion.

"This is it, Host Mansion..." Aya is still enthralled by how impressive the main entrance is, even after years of working here.

"Suitable name, considering..." her partner in crime seems to be less impressed, but that is normal, given his hatred for any maker of Bio-Weapons.

"I'm surprised the Islands connect into the main hall, seems a little unsafe," her friend grunts an agreement, his eyes scanning the hall for any threats.

"I see you made it to my humble abode, with far more ammunition than I'd like, but I'll take whatever good luck I can get..."

"THOMAS!" Dusty runs into the middle of the mansion, his face red with held-back anger and frustration.

"So glad to see you still have that spark... Been so long since I've had a proper fight..." the voice comes from everywhere, bounced around by several speakers embedded into the ceiling.

Aya walks up next to Dusty and she asks, simply, "Why are you doing this?"

A laugh fills the hall, forcing them to cover their ears, "Did he not tell you the details of our first encounter? Such a shame, Dusty.. I thought you were a gentleman..."

"I threw him into a vat of molten steel..."

Aya blinks at the brunette before him, "I'd be pissed too..."

"No time for that, where is the Director's Office?" Aya is caught off-guard again by his directness.

"Second floor, just past the main dining room."

Suddenly they are running, up the stairs, through the dining room, past the upper-kitchen, and are facing a solid steel door emblazoned with the standard Bio-Hazard label. Dusty kicks the metal in frustration, his right hand grasping the grip of the handgun so tightly, his knuckles are turning white. Aya places a hand on his arm, then pulls him from the door, motioning to another hall down the way.

"Come on, we can get probably get around somewhere through here.."

"What's the point? He probably has any back way in rigged or blocked off... We need to get him to come to us..." Dusty's eyes arc upwards, locking with one of the speakers.

"I heard you.. Good luck getting me out..."

END