Here we go. Now that I've gotten some more chapters written and stocked up, I can steadily post once, maybe even twice a week.
I got a question on my reviews about who the protagonist is, so just to avoid confusion: He is the little kid with the codename VIPER while under Umbrella's employ, and is given that name by Vector. His appearance is basically the same as Takashi from canon and that is his fake name on the fake Japanese passport.
There will be some more flashback-y parts that will come up, and in that the Wolfpack will be referred to by their codename, but only in the flashback to avoid confusion for both readers and me.
Happy writing, please enjoy, and drop some comments!
With Beltway bringing up the rear, the four converged and fought their way through the perimeter of the SPEC-OPS whose numbers were increasing by the minute. Leon continued to fight back as he evaded, them, but was finally cornered, all ammunition now spent.
"You have no idea how much of our time you have wasted." As soon as those words left Lupo's lips, a swift roundhouse kick landed on his temple, sending him to the ground. "Where is that girl, Sherry Birkin?" She growled, pulling his head up by his hair.
"Claire! Take Sherry! Get out of here!" Beyond Leon's gaze was Claire Redfield who forced them to split up in the worst possible time. The minute Four Eyes found her, she glared down at Leon, firing her assault rifle at him twice. The first full metal jacket round pierced the side of his bullet-proof vest and the following round pierced the flesh. Leon groaned in pain, but continued to signal Claire to clear out.
"Leave all your weapons there and bring the Birkin girl or I will take my time with this cop. I assure you he will suffer hell before he dies." Four Eyes pulled out one of her syringes and held it poised above his neck, the needle a mere inch away from his jugular.
"Alright! Alright, we're coming down. Just…keep that thing away from him." Claire conceded, and began unholstering her weapons, tossing them off to the side before descending the ladder with Sherry towards Leon.
"Why are you doing this? For Umbrella? Money?" Before Lupo could strike again, Spectre's submachine gun's stock slammed into his injured side, silencing him as he grimaced in pain.
"Delta Team, give me a situation report."
"We have the cop and the girl." Lupo answered monotonously to the never-changing high and mighty voice through the miraculously still intact and functional earpiece.
"Eliminate them and bring us the girl."
"We can do that. But first, I am afraid there is a need to renegotiate our deal."
"What are you talking about?"
"You deployed your BOWs and left us for dead while being fully aware of our activities in Raccoon City under your orders. We want triple the original amount and an vac chopper sent to our location immediately. If you still want her, that is."
"You must be out of your mind!" Command scoffed. "We're not negotiating with you. Finish your mission!"
"Finish it yourself." Lupo snapped. "Consider our contract with you terminated."
"Then you can die along with Raccoon City!"
"We'll take our chances. Pray that we die, if you must. But remember this: when we leave the city, no amount of soldiers, BOWs, not even god will save you." The line was disconnected, and the radio went silent.
"Why won't you kill us?" Leon gasped through the pain as Claire helped him up. He was utterly confused. They had gone through so much trouble—too much, in his honest opinion—to hunt him down and kill him. Yet when they are just a trigger pull away, they had trained their sights on someone else.
"You weren't the leverage we thought you would be, simple as that. Umbrella's turned on us already. They didn't take the offer, so obviously there is no profit from your demise."
"And now that they have turned on us, there's no sense in doing something that would benefit them, no? Consider this our first step to stabbing them in the back. And for the record: if they had taken the deal, you would be choking on your own blood right now. Spread whatever intel you have to whomever you wish. Once we get out of this city, we will gut Umbrella from the inside out." Spectre laughed softly under his gas mask, imagining what the success would be like.
"What about Sherry?"
"Keep her," Four Eyes spat, "but we still have one last thing to do with her." She grabbed Sherry by her arm and jammed the needle of her syringe-gun into it
"Hey!"
"Relax, we only need about 100cc of her blood, not her arm." Inspecting the ampule now full of blood, the four left.
"Beltway, we have Sherry Birkin's blood. Give me a sitrep on your side." There was no answer. Four Eyes and Spectre tried again several times to no avail. The only reply was silence. Four Eyes broke into a sprint. She was the one that was non-proficient in combat compared to the others. As far as she knew, there was no way that Beltway—-the vulgar, hard-drinking prankster and joker in possession of the toughest body that she had ever encountered and a genius level intellect of chemistry, physics and architecture—could die before her. Ignoring her shortness of breath, Four Eyes continued to scream Beltway's name at the top of her lungs.
They finally reached the point where they split up, but there were giblets of flesh belonging to both SPEC-OPS soldiers and infected. "Over…here," a soft groan answered. Beltway crawled out from a shipping crate, his gas mask and helmet destroyed and now rendered useless. His face showed pure fatigue, but the childlike glint of the trickster was still present in his eyes. "Guess I'll live to fight another day with you guys."
"You son of a bitch!" Four Eyes stomped her feet over to him and grabbed him by the collar, "Answer the damn call if you're alive!"
"My comms got busted in the fight! And woman, you really think those explosions that held them off did NOTHING to my FUCKING HEARING?!"
"I should kill you right now for scaring me."
"Hey, do what you gotta do." Instead, she straddled his legs, pulled his head close and mashed her lips onto his.
"Oi, you two. This isn't the Titanic. You can do that as much as you like when we leave." Remembering they were doing this in full view of the other teammates, they immediately stopped and stood up. "As for the comms, you have no need of it. We are officially going AWOL on Umbrella. We must get the blood to Viper. Vector, Bertha, I know you're hearing this right now. We have the blood."
"Well hurry up! There isn't much we can do anymore to keep his temperature under control and he's convulsing hard! Schnell!"
"Four Eyes, stay with Spectre and patch Beltway up as much as you can and catch up. I will take the blood." Trading the submachine gun she had with the syringe, she pulled out her tomahawk and gripped it tightly as she began running.
Hurry. Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry! Lupo was in tears as she ran. It didn't matter to her right now if her leg shattered or if she started hyperventilating or if a lung collapsed. All that mattered right now was to get the syringe to the boy and if anything happened to her after, she would gladly accept it. Moving her legs as much as her stamina allows her, she roared like a lioness, tearing through the infected, never stopping for anything. "Take…..this…..please…" She gasped, holding the syringe-gun out.
Viper's face was in a sickly hue that no human being should have; sheet white with veins turning a deep, dark shade of blue. His face was soaked with sweat, his breathing raspy and irregular. Every now and then his body convulsed like an invisible taser was attacking him. Bertha snatched it out of Lupo's hand and jammed the needle into Viper's neck, injecting the contents of the ampule until it was gone. The convulsions became even greater, and Viper began screaming and thrashing like a rabid animal.
Vector immediately jumped on him, pinning his body down, knife at the ready in preparation for the worst turn of events. Lupo joined in as well by sitting on Viper's legs to keep them from kicking Vector in the back. Several minutes passed and the convulsions began to recede. His breathing started to fall back into a slow, regular pace. Putting a finger to his neck, Bertha checked her watch, nodding. "His breathing has normalized and his pulse is getting stronger. He'll survive….Was zum Teufel?"
Aside from the minor bruises, scrapes and cuts, the gaping wound inflicted by the Licker was closing, healing, at an astonishing rate as if the effects of the occurrence itself were being rewinded. The wound was now nothing more than a thin and barely visible scar. As an aficionado in medical science, what Bertha was seeing was nothing short of a miracle. "Oh mein Gott…his wounds are closing."
"He's still unconscious from the massive blood loss." Vector grunted as he used the flashlight on his pistol to check Viper's pupils. "But at least there's no rejective response from the G-Virus. We need to get out of here ASAP once we regroup."
"Karena. Karena! Hey, Karena!" She grunted in surprise and jerked her head up as Vector tapped her on the shoulder for the fifth time. Realizing she had been like that for quite some time now, Lupo noticed that the floating feeling and the sound of the propellers' rapid beating of the air had stopped. They had landed.
"You alright?"
"Oui, I'm fine. Just…looking back on the past." Vector nodded and pursued the matter no further. Karena pulled out a photo with all of them huddled together, one of the few that exist that have no bullet holes or scorch marks. Karena was in the middle, smiling, her arms wrapped around a young Viper—-Ryuji—- with a pistol and knife in each hand, making a silly face while the other five huddled around them in a semi-circle, with gang signs, smirks and smiles of their own. This was a photo they took during a cookout after a successful job in the Crimean Peninsula. Out of all the photos they took, this was Karena's personal favorite that she keeps on her person. After one last look at the young boy she loved and raised as if he were her own, she tucked the photo away and descended from the helicopter.
"We were lucky to get our hands on weapons, but I'm willing to bet not being able to share ammo is going to bite us in our asses in the long run." Vladimir spoke up as he did a quick stretch after being cramped in the cockpit for so long.
"We're not here to look for a POI or to guard anyone. Fuck whoever else that isn't us." Hector chuckled as he pulled off the crate of weapons they were able to bring back across the sea. They took whatever was available that they were most comfortable with and began stuffing the plate carriers' pouches with magazines as much as possible and threw whatever they couldn't into separate bags.
"Vladimir, what's the estimated distance from here to the safe house?"
"From here? North-north east for about ten clicks, give or take a couple hundred meters. Getting the chopper onto the shopping mall was a close call, but I'm glad we made it. Last time I came here, I remember there being plenty of supplies we can use. There's a national highway nearby so getting a car would be the last of problems to worry about."
"Shopping mall, huh? Never did I ever think we'd be reenacting Dawn Of The Dead. That cliche situation has been overused like a rag in a dive bar." Vector sighed as he stuffed a pair of binoculars away into his bag, ending the quick reconnaissance. He rolled his shoulders and massaged his neck with a gloved hand. "We can't exactly call this a walk in the park. Human beings aren't all were up against. Plus, this isn't a movie."
"Dude, come on! Must you be such a fucking killjoy? How many years have we been doing this shit together? Huh? It doesn't matter who we're up against. We are the baddest of the badass teams that was, is or ever will be. And besides, if it's that cliche, all we gotta do is not follow the tropes. Makes it even easier that they're blind and slow." Hector let out a hearty laugh, giving an affectionate slap on his brother-in-arms' back.
"And these are the kinds of places where we find medical supplies and camping equipment that come in handy in the future." Christine concurred. "Zombie apocalypse flick character or not, not having a mosey around is out of the question. If there are civilians here, we do what we must. From a medical standpoint, this virus as well as animals with a frontal lobe under extreme situations are far harder to deal with than infected."
"Who knows? Vector's death-glare may actually kill someone today." Vladimir joked as he adjusted the scope of his H&K G3KA4, but immediately shut his mouth as he felt the cold muzzle of Michaela's Browning Hi-Power pressed against the back of his neck.
"That's why I'm here, dummkopf. He's still a bit of a loose cannon, even after all these years we've been together. If you think this is bad, you should have seen him when we went on a date in Rio. I specifically told him no weapons, and guess what he had hidden in his boots and belt buckle? Don't you ever get bored and sick of having weapons on you all the time?"
"No. And we ended up needing them to save each other's lives on that occasion, so I don't see any reason for you to be mad."
"Oh please," Michaela scoffed as she rolled her eyes. "We didn't need them. They were kids! They barely knew how to fight properly!"
"You were drunk!"
"Enough. Both of you." Karena gave them both a firm slap on the back to silence them.
"Fine. Let's go." Vector grumbled as he started towards the emergency exit leading to the inside of the mall. "We've been here before, so we should have everything we need within an hour."
"Michaela, I thought we've been over this matter of teasing Vector." Karena eyed Michaela in a rebuking manner. "He may not look it, but he does have a soft spot. You know that better than most of us."
"I know, it's just….part of my nature. Being a bit of a bully, I mean. But that's what makes him so cute. I'll kiss and make up with him later."
"Well, ain't Vector unfortunate. A doctor without a full deck and a long-lasting sadistic streak. OW!" The grip of the Browning came down hard onto Hector's head with a dull thunking noise. Although his head was covered with a helmet, the force was enough to make him reel. "The fuck, man?!"
But Michaela too was already gone, walking through the door Vector just opened. Vladimir and Karena followed suit, each of them shaking heads and loosening sighs.
"That one was your fault, Hector. She is less of a sadist compared to way back when, so make sure you apologize to her later. Michaela's the type of woman that holds a grudge that lasts longer than an inoperable tumor or aneurysm in the brain. Also, get the rest of the stuff, will you?" Even Christine took Michaela's side, and Hector grumbled something about women being too cruel and picked up the large knapsack and duffel bag before following the five men and women.
The shopping mall's interior was simple but chic, with supermarkets, DIY stores, clothing stores, general stores, sporting stores, pharmacies, cafes and diners, which was far more than anyone imagined.
Karena and Vector began raiding spare changes of clothes, camping equipment and emergency food supplies; Vladimir and Hector searched for tools, fireworks, firecrackers and alcohol which they can use for creating IEDs and for repairing machinery; Michaela and Christine rummaged through the pharmacies from daily necessities like deodorant to prescription drugs such as powerful painkillers and antibiotics. Once the Wolfpack have enough supplies that they could carry without losing too much speed, they started moving back up to the roof.
"With this much, we'll need at least two cars. Vector, you're our quietest when it comes to moving. Find us something big, like a 4WD or an SUV. I'll follow and cover your six. Vladimir, post up on the roof and watch our back. You're our eye in the sky. If you must take a shot, don't hesitate. Just—"
"Make every one count. I understand." From the mountain of supplies, they pulled out a bundle of climbing rope and harnesses and got to work.
"Christine, Michaela and Hector, take all this to the cars once we get them here. We'll haul them down with the rope." The three of them nodded and stifled a laugh as they stared at their unchanged leader. "What?" Her rebuking eyes telling them to take the matter seriously only succeeded in coaxing their laughter even more.
"Oh, nothing. Just…do us a favor and don't ever change. This is why we need a woman like you." Michaela snickered as she wiped a tear from her eye.
"Indeed. Mama Wolf must always be large and in charge."
"Yes. We are the Wolfpack because you are what makes us the Wolfpack, Karena."
"Just…get the stuff, please? We are on a timetable." Karena barked and turned her head to hide her slightly rosy cheeks and headed towards Vector who was all set to rappel down. She fitted on a harness of her own and tied the rope to the karabiner.
"Vector, Karena, your targets are the white Tahoe and the Volkswagen next to it." Vladimir announced. "Assume there are no keys."
"Hot-wiring them isn't impossible, but I'm not too keen on taking my chance with that, especially in these circumstances. Cars nowadays are a bitch to steal. If the alarms go off, the starter gets locked, and it's unusable."
"Ah, indeed. But not to worry, tovarishch. I will leave Michaela to watch your backs while I hack the cars. No alarm, no problems. The cars can be driven to our position as we planned."
Once the plan was set, Vector and Karena descended, landing and disengaging the karabiners carefully. Telling her to follow him, Vector slowly took each step, taking care to lower even his breathing to a bare whisper; a trick to keep his presence hidden from enemies beaten into him by HUNK. His hand lay flat on his left waist, right on the hilt of his trusty knife.
The cars were about a hundred or so meters away from the two cars, but with all the infected standing in their way, the mere hundred felt like the journey to the west itself. However Vector quickly turned some switches in his mind.
Calm down. It's just like infiltrating without killing the guards. All that's different is that there's no cover and the enemy is blind. All that's needed is to deceive their ears.
"Vector, Karena, I'm ninety-five percent done. When you hear the engine start, raise your hand and get in the car. Our supplies are almost all on the ground as well." After about a minute of waiting, the locks on the car doors were disengaged, and the engines roared to life. They immediately jumped into the cars and floored the gas pedal, running over infected and sending them flying into the air. Once they stopped the cars to the drop-point, the four were climbing down the steel fire escape ladder. Vladimir had already retrieved the rope, which would definitely be of some use again at some point.
"One minute. Get them in the cars." Three of the Wolfpack stepped forth to hold the onslaught of infected while the others began tossing bags into the trunks. However, the cars seem to have been a lot louder than they anticipated. They were facing down an entire army of infected right now. Even the large SUV would have trouble getting through all of them without having a corpse or two getting stuck in the axle.
"Too many…Should we go around and out the back?" Vector asked Vladimir who was sitting next to him in the Volkswagen.
"No need for that. The diversion should activate. Right….about….now." As he snapped his fingers, the loud and irritating sound of a car alarm parked far away from the building went off and echoed into the distance. The infected all turned their head towards the sound in unison, and in a matter of few minutes, they all lumbered off. "Karena, time to drive fast."
As the two cars roared off into the roads, Hector and Michaela were hooting in celebration of their success, and everyone could hear it through their earpieces.
"Fucking YES! We are the best in the goddamn world from Argentina to Xinghua, China! Every last goddamn one of us is still good to go, man! YEAH!"
"Indeed. The ever fearless vanguard duo, with the peerless speed, skill and guts. We can go meet our boy now. Fucking finally, I might add."
Lupo stroked the picture in her pocket with a finger, with a wide smile plastered on her face.
Hang on. We're almost there. Just hang on.