Chapter Fifteen.
The Bus was parked in a ruined gas station over the spot where fuel trucks used to stop to refill the underground tanks. There wasn't much gas left in them, but the special siphon hose The Bus had been equipped with had been designed with scrapping the bottom of the barrel in mind.
Seras had publicly announced that she should go looking in the surrounding township for supplies along with Jill and Integra. Leon and Ashley was all that was needed to man The Bus's current operation.
The talk had been a long time in coming. Far too long. Seras was at a loss to explain how it had slipped her mind for so long. Maybe she had been under more stress than she suspected.
Crossing the street and rounding a corner they stood in the back lot of a small McDonald's. The dumpster had been tipped over and the lot was strewn with old blown about garbage. Jill and Integra carried the assault rifles while Seras kept her machete drawn. Seras thought she sensed a vague air of menace in the town, but none of them had seen any zombies. The sun was low in the sky, making Seras squint.
"So what have you found out?" Jill asked in a low voice. No one knew just how good the bugging equipment on The Bus was, but if it was on par with some of its other features, caution was necessary.
"It's definitely wired for sound," Seras said. "I can't be sure, but I think there's some video as well. There are some pinholes in the corners that look suspicious but I can't look at them too closely."
"Surveillance is one thing," Integra said. "What about the other?"
Seras licked her dry lips. She almost didn't want to state her other suspicion, but the more she thought about it, the more it seemed true. "It's definitely rigged to blow. There's wires under there that don't look right and I think I can smell it." Smell wasn't the right word, but it was the best she could do.
"So what should we do?" Jill said. "They've got us by the neck. We can't abandon that thing. Not out here."
None of them said anything. Even Integra seemed at a loss. "It's clear that the bugs and the bomb are an insurance," Integra said finally. "They didn't want us driving off with their toy and leaving them with nothing to show for it. I don't like to admit it, but that was rather prudent of them."
"We don't live up to our end, they blow us up. Fair enough," Jill said. "But why not tell us about it? Why make it a surprise? Granted, it's something they would do just because they're Umbrella but…"
"We're not thinking ahead far enough," Seras said, tapping her shoulder with the machete and looking off to where the near translucent moon sat stamped in the sky. "When we give them Alice, then what? What good will we be? No one seems to have forgotten that we're enemies."
It was true, none of them had thought beyond handing Alice over to Umbrella. Even that event was nebulous. She might come quietly after some convincing or they might have to take her by force. "We give them Alice, they tell us to take The Bus as thanks, The Bus blows up with us in it, vampire and all," Jill said. "Sounds like an Umbrella plan if I ever heard one."
"This shouldn't change anything," Integra said. "We need to consider what our actions will be once Umbrella has what it needs. I'll confess, I haven't thought beyond that point."
"I don't think anyone has," Jill said.
Seras wondered if that wasn't because no one felt there was anything beyond that point. Wesker showing up at the lighthouse had seemed like an extension program, this entire journey a kind of afterthought. "Borrowed time," Seras said. Jill and Integra looked at her. "Let's face it, it does seem like we're all living on borrowed time. I don't mean to be gloomy, but we're looking to Umbrella to save the world."
She stopped as what she had left to say was in fact rather gloomy. "You're right," Jill said. "It does feel a little like we're just trying to save face."
"Have either of you ever played Hearts?" Integra asked.
"Is it like Bridge?" Jill asked.
"No," Integra said. "The object of Hearts is to score as few points as possible. Each card in the Heart suit is worth a point and the Queen of Spades is worth thirteen points. If you end up with the Queen, you're in bad shape, unless."
"Unless what?" Seras asked.
"Unless you Shoot for the Moon," Integra said. "Get every Heart and the Queen of Spades and you win the game. Or you score no points that round, I forget exactly how it goes, but you get the point."
Jill and Seras looked at one another, then back at Integra. Integra sighed and pushed her glasses up. "The T-virus had overrun the planet, we're stuck out in the desert surrounded by mutants and freaks, we're completely under Umbrella's thumb and even if we do get Alice we're still apt to be killed. We've got the Queen of Spades and just about every Heart in the deck. It's time to Shoot for the Moon."
Seras's brow wrinkled and Jill clicked her tongue. "So we should shoot ourselves?" Jill said. "Eat zombie flesh…I don't follow."
"We are essentially Umbrella employees now, correct?" Integra said. Both women shrugged and reluctantly half-nodded. "Umbrella has made a good show of keeping up the corporate image, but aside from Wesker, Umbrella is still made up of human beings who are likely as disappointed with the apocalypse as we are. How do you think Wesker has been able to keep it together like he has?"
Jill let out a breath and shifted her weight. Seras too was beginning to feel impatient. Talking about the bomb had been her only goal along with scavenging the nearby houses for food and supplies. "They've got nothing else," Seras said. "the company is the only structure they have left, why not follow it? It'll keep them alive longer."
"The point I am trying to make," Integra said, "is that Umbrella is now closer to a post-apocalyptic tribe of humans ruled by a brute than an old-world corporation. They follow Wesker not only because he's a mutant freak and can murder them, but because he gives them direction and can lead. What I'm proposing is a hostile takeover of Umbrella Incorporated."
Seras looked directly up into the sky, her mouth a little open and brought her head back down. Seras wanted to ask Integra if she had gone insane, or rather accuse her of it, but she didn't, wondering if it really was all that insane. She looked at Jill. Her expression had turned cold, but her eyes seemed to show she was pondering something. "So you'd like to run Umbrella," Jill said.
"Yes," Integra said. "You can think I'm power hungry all you like, but consider this: Umbrella is the most powerful group in the world. The dim and distant hope for humanity is all up to Umbrella. We can entrust that with Albert Wesker, and our ghosts can take comfort knowing he'll be the one setting the tone for the New Humanity, or we can take charge."
"Shoot for the Moon…" Jill said. "Can we change the name?"
"Let's call it Hellsing," Seras said.
"How about STARS?" Jill said, smiling.
"We can call it the YMCA for all I care," Integra said. "So long as Wesker's head is on a pike and someone with a soul is leading that company for a change, I'll be happy."
"We need to let Ashley and Leon in on this," Seras said. "When we get back, we can talk about doing scavenging in shifts. Throw in a little argument to make it sound real, and tell them each separately."
"What about the bomb and the surveillance equipment?" Jill asked. "We won't be able to do much with that over us."
"I had an idea concerning that," Integra said. "That annoying plug under The Bus? The entire machine goes dead once its disconnected. There isn't even any backup power supply. They can't blow the machine while the power is cut."
Both Seras and Jill looked skeptical, but Seras began to nod. "That's true. The cable is a complete design flaw they didn't have time to fix. We could park The Bus and go under with the pretense of securing it, unplug it, and remove the bombs and cameras."
"We should talk that over with everyone first," Jill said. "It could go wrong."
The three nodded, all looking at the wall of the McDonald's in the direction of The Bus, half expecting to hear it explode because they underestimated the sound bugging. "Let's go back," Jill said.
"You two go," Seras said. "I'm actually going to look around. Nighttime in closed spaces isn't a good idea for either of you."
"Fine, but be careful yourself. You're not the indestructible vampire your master was," Integra said.
Seras nodded, wishing she hadn't mentioned Alucard. Hinting at him was sometimes enough to make Seras think about him, something she didn't care to do before walking into danger. Integra was right, she was not indestructible and needed to pay attention.
To be continued…