Chapter Seven.
Integra had insisted on being allowed to walk around the entire ship before they got going again. With the security team having been killed by the Tyrant, no one argued with her, especially not with Seras backing her.
"I doubt there are any other surprises on board, but I'm through giving Umbrella the benefit of the doubt," Integra said.
They found nothing else on the ship and Seras hadn't been shy about ripping open locked doors and prying open suspicious crates. While what they found certainly would have raised the eyebrows of customs officials, back when there were customs officials, none of it was anything that would come to life and kill them.
Both Integra and Seras armed themselves by scavenging from the dead Umbrella soldiers. Both now carried M4 assault rifles with several clips apiece, and Integra had commandeered a combat knife. The sailors had seemed nervous about them having such weapons, but again, they met no argument.
One afternoon there was a knock on the door of their quarters. Integra answered and saw that it was the first mate. "The captain wants me to tell you we'll be making port at 8 p.m. Someone will come around to get her…coffin."
"I'll probably stash the coffin somewhere before we leave for the Midwest. I can't imagine dragging it all over the States," Seras said once the first mate had left.
"They're not using military time," Integra said. "That's not a good sign."
"I think we've gathered enough evidence to safely say Umbrella is losing it," Seras said, fingering the stitches where the Tyrant ripped her uniform.
They hadn't taken much with them, so prepping for their departure went quickly. The ship didn't dock until 9 p.m., so Seras and Integra had some time to ponder the state of the shore.
The Umbrella dock facility was as black and bleak as the rest of the heavily industrialized shoreline. It was also one of the few intact structures, as fires had raised many a building along the shore and in all probability, much of the city behind it. There were a few lights near the port and some in the one of the buildings, but all else was dark.
"I can hear them," Seras said. "That whole place is swarming with zombies."
A concrete wall backed by a chain link fence looked to have the dock facility surrounded on land. Seras squinted and saw that what she had first taken to be a mound of earth surrounding the fence was actually a seething pile of rotten bodies.
"I hear that's a new addition," a lanky sailor said as he stood next to them. "We was told to expect this. I guess they showed up two or so days ago. A mega-swarm, they call it."
"How long before the base is compromised?" Integra asked.
"Eh? There's a fence," the sailor said.
Seras said nothing and neither did Integra. Mega-swarm was a buzzword of sorts both of them had heard from officials back when the good fight was still being fought in earnest. Zombies, it seemed, had a tendency to gather in packs. The groups kept getting larger; the largest being found in places like China and India. There was no stopping a mega-swarm. The bodies could pile over any barricade given time, no matter how high. Not everyone had been given this information it seemed.
When the gangplank was finally extended and they disembarked, they were met by a lone man wearing a suit. The sailors filed past, two dropping Seras's coffin next to her, while the man extended a black gloved hand towards Integra.
"You must be Integra Hellsing," he said. His face was pale, his nose long, and his hair was beetle black and combed back over his head. "My name is Robert Lazarus."
"Lazarus?" Seras asked.
"Yes," he said, smiling. "Who really cares what my name is? I like it. Seras Victoria?"
Seras shrugged.
"Right then," Robert continued. "It's not at all wise for us to speak out here, so perhaps you would like to follow me inside?"
Seras looked at her coffin, then to Integra. She heaved the heavy gun case over to Integra and picked up her coffin as though it weighed nothing. Robert made no move to help nor did he seem in a position to tell anyone else to. They followed him into the facility and down a long concrete hallway that smelled like motor oil and fish, into a small office.
The room was completely trashed. The walls were yellow from cigarette smoke and there was a coffee stain on some folders lying on a table that Seras was sure was a year old if it was a day. The cup it spilled from was still lying nearby.
Seras leaned her coffin up against the wall and Integra set the cannon down on the floor. Robert Lazarus moved to the other side of the room facing away from them with his hands in his pockets. Finding nothing to open or otherwise do, he turned back around. "You'll pardon the state of the place," he said. "But tiding up after two days ago seemed silly."
"How long before that swarm topples the barricade?" Integra asked.
"A few hours," Robert said. "Maybe more. It depends on whether the dock master sees fit to take measures in order to thin their numbers, buying us a little time." Something in his pocket vibrated and he pulled his cell phone from his pants. "Sorry, urgent. Yes? I see…when? How? Alright…go ahead and do what we talked about earlier. No, the other thing. Yes. Bye. Sorry, again."
Integra sighed. "Who's the dock master? How much do you know about our mission?"
Robert wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. "The dock master is now me. The old one has apparently hung himself in his, my, office. As to your mission, I've been fully briefed by Mr. Wesker himself. We need to get you to Nevada so you can locate Project Alice."
"How…" Integra began but was interrupted.
Robert, his forefinger in the air, said "Try not to interrupt. There's a vehicle specially designed to transport you all the way to Nevada, past infested zones. It's decked out with the latest in technological advancements. GPS, fuel conservation, weaponry, the works. The only problem…"
Integra pulled her sidearm and fired into the microwaves slightly off to Robert's left. He flinched, but otherwise wasn't startled. "Talk down to me again you miserable Umbrella toad, and the zombies won't even want to eat you once I'm through. I've had about enough of being treated like an Umbrella employee."
Seras smiled and only wished this Robert Lazarus was a little more afraid of death than he was letting on. He nodded calmly. "My apologies. I understand your history with us is checkered." He swallowed hard. "As I was saying, the only problem is that the vehicle isn't quite ready to go just yet. It needs some fine tuning to the engine before we can be reasonably sure it will take you to your destination.
"And how long will this fine tuning take?" Integra asked.
"By the time they're finished, the technicians working on it will have cause to be getting a little anxious. No one bellow a certain rank in this place is fully aware of the danger we're in. We're keeping it that way, as space on that vehicle is extremely limited."
Seras was no longer smiling, and didn't think she would have cause to do so again for a while yet. "I hate to ask, but how likely is it that everyone in this facility will be in a position to escape before it's overrun?"
Robert ran a gloved finger over his collar and strained his tie. "Some will be leaving on a boat. A very poorly supplied boat with no place to go. Others are going to have to figure something out in a hurry."
"Good God," Seras said.
"God, yes…" Robert said. "In any case, I think it's best you follow me to the motor pool. You'll be leaving as soon as possible directly from there. On a good note, I think you'll like the people we're sending with you. They've been trained to operate the vehicle's many functions and serve in any capacity you might need."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Seras asked.
"There's a freezer with as many blood packets as could be spared onboard," Robert said. "Although I'd save it as a last resort were I you."
"I'm sure you would," Seras said.
"Let's go," he said. They followed him out of the room, this time with Seras carrying both pieces of her luggage under each arm. With possible space for her coffin, she didn't want to be without it if she could help it.
As they went, Robert continued to talk about the machine's capabilities. They would be able to contact Wesker when they needed to, provided satellite linkups held out, and would have enough fuel to make it to Nevada provided they had at least one luck break when it came to foraging.
Seras saw it through the dirty window of the motor pool. It was the size of a large tour bus, only wider and built more like an armored car or a tank. It had small windows covered by mesh, a plow on the front for pushing aside bodies and debris, along with some of the thickest tires she had ever seen. Working around it were four men in filthy white coveralls.
Robert led them into the motor pool via a red steel door and down a short flight of metal stairs. Seras nearly dropped her coffin and gun when she saw the three people waiting patiently by a trash barrel next to duffel bags.
All three were dressed in UBCS uniforms with the logos torn off. Seras couldn't picture Leon Kennedy, Jill Valentine, or, she had to blink to make sure, Ashley Graham wearing such insignias for very long voluntarily.
"Your crew," Robert said, gesturing dramatically. Seras ignored him and set down her things. She moved over to them slowly, but picked up the pace seeing the smiles on their haggard faces.
They stopped just short of having a group hug. "I'm glad you're all…"
"Alive," Jill finished. "Some days I don't believe it myself."
"Do you know what happened to Carlos?" Seras asked.
Jill shook her head. "We lost contact."
Seras kept looking at all three of them, and they her. Seeing them again had been so unlikely she hadn't even had to give up hope, it was never even a consideration. Seeing the three of them again in one place, especially that place, was surreal. "How did…"
"We'll each explain," Leon said. "If things go right, we'll have some long hours on the road where we can talk."
"And if we go wrong…" Ashley said quietly, casting a sideways glance at the working technicians.
Integra and Robert had walked over, putting a slight dampening on the reunion. "I'm thinking it might be prudent to load your things and get ready," Robert said. "These men are all set, but should anyone come down here…I don't think any of you want to be in a position to tell them there's no room.
Seras watched the disdain appear over her three friends' faces as Robert spoke. She didn't need further reason not to like the man, but took it all the same. "Mr. Kennedy, Ms. Valentine, and Ms. Graham here have all been fully briefed on the departure plans, so I'll leave you now."
Robert Lazar left abruptly, leaving an awkward silence between the five. "Well let's load our things," Integra finally said. "I'm sure Seras will make the appropriate introductions once we're settled."
Seras thought she could hear distant gunfire through the ceiling, but by the looks of it, she was the only one.
To be continued…