Chapter Seventeen.
Leon was told of the plan first, then Ashley. Seras had been the one to tell them both and neither liked it at first. By the end of each conversation, both Ashley and Leon were on board, although Ashley still had reservations.
The Bus was stopped on the highway, shut off to let the engine cool. It was nighttime and Seras didn't feel at all like sleeping, although her human companions took the opportunity to all get some rest. Leon had reclined the driver's seat, Ashley the passenger's side. Integra and Jill slept in the back, both on the shelf beds near the bathroom.
Seras was bored and wanted to go out exploring the Nevada countryside but everyone had taken objection to it. "Anything could be out there," Integra said. "It might not kill you, but do you really want to be bloodied up?"
The real question was did she want to exert herself and then be forced to feed off one of them. Seras had been forced to consider which of her friends she would drink blood from should the need arise. Seras thought Leon, being the largest, could stand to lose the most, so in a pinch she would take him.
Once she had settled the matter in her mind she left it. Having to think about it wasn't pleasant and making a final decision had been worse. Now that she sat awake in the dark cabin, listening to them all breath, she began to reconsider.
As capable as they all were of defending themselves, she was a powerful protective force. They would last much longer with her than without her. Hell, Seras thought, she could help quite a large band of people survive for a long time in a world dominated by the t-virus. All she needed was some blood now and again. People used to donate to the Red Cross all the time, why was drinking blood from a human to fuel her powers such a bad thing?
She wondered if all vampires became monsters after making such justifications. Alucard had never spoken in detail of his past to her, but she knew a little of it. He had been a ruler of some sort in Romania or Transylvania or something like that. Vlad Dracula had been his name. People had called him Vlad the Impaler after what he did to his enemies. At some point he had become a vampire and used his awful powers to rule his people and destroy his enemies.
At first Seras didn't think Alucard had liked her much. He had called her a coward and refused to call her by name. It was always Police Girl this and Police Girl that. Even Integra had used it. Once he had said something about there being a place for a "timid evening walker" in the world, but Seras wasn't sure how he'd meant it.
She didn't want to be like Alucard. Maybe a little blood in exchange for protection was more than a fair trade, but she refused to take it lightly. Her scruples about blood drinking had eroded much over the years, but there will still some to be had and she intended to keep them for a while yet.
The computer at Jill's seat switched on and began to beep. Seras wondered if the entire vehicle wasn't able to operate by remote. It probably was. "Telephone," she said loudly and got up to push the receive button.
Everyone in The Bus was up and standing around Seras as she sat when Wesker's face appeared on the screen. He still wore sunglasses and his hair was combed back as always. "I have some information for you," he said. "Head to the coordinates I've sent you. Look for a hotel. I'm afraid that's all we know."
Before any of them could ask questions or file complaints, the monitor shut off. Everyone in The Bus knew full well that Wesker could still hear and see them and all had worked to ignore it so as to act natural about it. Seras got up out of the chair and let Jill pull up the coordinates. "I'd say it's about half a day's drive from here, provided we don't have any problems," Jill said.
Problems over the past weeks had included detours the GPS and satellite photos hadn't anticipated, mechanical issues with The Bus, scavenging expeditions, and what looked to be the corpse of an earthworm the size a small tunnel blocking the highway.
"I say we go in the morning," Leon said. "The engine is hot and my ass hurts."
"We may as well," Integra said. "If the engine blows, we certainly won't be catching up to her."
Slowly, they all shuffled back to their sleeping spots except for Seras who was once again bored. From the sounds of their breathing, she guessed they were all having some trouble getting back to sleep. Wesker hadn't called them in a while, and half a day meant they were close.
***
The Bus drove down the exit ramp and all eyes were on the monitors. It showed a gas station with a motorcycle parked near the pumps across the street from a touristy-looking hotel. In the middle of the street was a Hummer with flat oversized wheels. A gun barrel was pointing out the passenger's side and firing at the creatures that got too close.
"What are they?" Ashley said. Surrounding the Hummer were red zombies, moving much more nimbly than they should have been. Seras's mind flashed back to their first night out on The Bus when she had gone out to repair it.
"Mutant zombies," Seras said. "A lot of them."
Well over two dozen had surrounded the Hummer and more seemed to be in the parking lot of the hotel. What Seras found most disturbing was what had been keeping those in the Hummer alive. The zombies had given the window with the gun a wide berth. Several corpses lie sprawled in the road having been shot. No zombie Seras ever saw gave a single thought towards self-preservation but these seemed to realize they could be killed and wanted to avoid it.
Leon drove The Bus down the exit ramp and over the grass into the hotel's parking lot. "Think we should use the big gun?"
"No," Integra said. "Not on this trash. Jill, Seras, would you accompany me up to the roof?"
Jill and Integra went up through the roof hatch with assault rifles, while Seras went up last with her machete. Once up, Jill and Integra took positions with Integra in front and Jill behind, casting a glance behind them now and again. Seras jumped down to the ground, her blade drawn.
She looked through the windshield of the Hummer and didn't believe what she saw. It couldn't be him, not out here.
As she went towards the Hummer, Integra fired single round bursts at the zombies, hitting one each time and causing the rest to scatter. One reverted back to its old suicidal ways and charges Seras only to have its head sliced in two at eye level.
"Seras?" a familiar voice called. "No way."
She looked and saw that it was Carlos. He was older and more harried, but it was definitely him. Next to him in the passenger's seat was another face she recognized, but didn't care to see. "Carlos!" she shouted. "Does that thing run?" She could see that some work had been done to the Hummer, particularly in the way of its tires.
"Yeah, but there's people trapped in the hotel. Three of them. No time to explain." Gunfire from The Bus let Seras know the zombies were trying to surround them.
Seras shouted back to Integra. "Pull around to the front and get ready to open the side hatch. Three people!"
She nodded to Carlos and went to the hotels entrance where there were three red zombies crouched in the foyer. They attacked, forcing her to back up quickly and swing, cutting their heads. She dealt a kick to the third's chest and sent it flying back into the foyer, where she moved forward and dispatched it.
The sound of gunfire was now coming from the floor above her and soon the door at the end of the lobby opened and three people came running out. Two were women she had never seen before, but the third was a woman dressed as a priest. The three stopped when they saw her, standing with a gore drenched machete. "I know you," Heinkel said to Seras.
"Introductions later, outside," Seras said.
She turned and went back out. The Bus had pulled up in front of the door and the side hatch had opened. Seras stood off to the side facing the parking lot while the three behind her ran into The Bus. Heinkel fired off to the left at a zombie that had come around.
Seras entered once they were all in, and closed the hatch behind her.
"Follow us to the highway," Leon said into a microphone which blasted his voice over the outside. He threw The Bus into gear and drove it back up the off ramp.
Heinkel saw Integra, and Integra saw Heinkel. "Hellsing," she said. "What the hell is this?"
Integra, and now Seras, were looking at the woman with the short, dirty blond hair. Slowly, Integra's attention went to Heinkel. "I see some of the Vatican survived London," she said.
"You're a long way from London, Hellsing," Heinkel said. "And you've got a nice truck."
"Yes, and thank you," Integra said. "I trust there is no animosity between us?"
The blond woman with sharp blue eyes looked quickly between the two, and seemed on the edge of confusion. The brown haired woman with the ponytail didn't seemed confused, but was looking at Integra and Seras with wary eyes. "I suppose so," Heinkel said. "At least not about London. As to what's happening now…"
"I'm pulling off here," Leon said, making Claire's head perk up.
"Leon?" she said.
The Bus lurched to a hard stop. "Claire!" Leon shouted, getting up out of his seat. "It's you!"
"Maybe you can all have reunion time outside where there's more room," the blond woman said. "I'm Alice, by the way."
Seras noticed everyone on The Bus freeze.
To be continued…