Chapter Six

"Adam, we can't stop. We have to keep going," said Hernandez as he readjusted the weight of Arynn's body in his arms. He could see that the gaping wound was still hemorrhaging profusely. He didn't know how much longer the woman would last. He couldn't let her die, he needed her much more than he thought he did.

Page had Arynn's pistol drawn as she surveyed the rear of the group. "We have to go." She sternly replied.

The little boy got up from off the dark concrete wall and started to walk again. Hernandez could see that he was in need of nutrients that the doctor was successful in draining him of. Adam was very strong for his age but the commando knew that if they kept this up, the boy would collapse.

Arynn coughed up blood and Hernandez immediately put her down so that she wouldn't drown in her own body fluid. The soldier felt helpless as he watched her slowly fade away. Any normal human being would've already died from what Arynn had gone through.

"Did Taylor give an ETA on when they'd get here?" Hernandez asked Page as they got onto an elevator.

"24 hours," she answered.

"Damn…" the soldier replied.

"I'm tired," Adam cried as he wiped the sleep from his eye.

Page knelt down to him. "Don't worry, we'll find a place to stay until they come."

Hernandez stared closely as the young woman.

"What!" Page shouted crossing her arms.

"I don't get it." The soldier said, "Why are you really down here? "What's your real connection in this?" the soldier asked.

"Don't worry about my ties, soldier," she said as she put her hand on Arynn's gun.

"If I'm going to help you out here," said the soldier, "then I need an explanation…Page. If that's really who you are…"

"Don't bother…" whispered a familiar voice.

Adam's eyes lit up as he rushed to Arynn who was cradled tightly in Hernandez's arms.

"She's just a rookie working for Umbrella's Recruit Faction team in Norway. She knows nothing of what's going on here." Arynn stated as she grabbed her chest in pain.

"Shh… Don't talk now, you're losing blood." Hernandez said as he calmed her down.

"I'm not going to go much further with you, Eddie," she faintly spoke.

"Don't say that, you'll heal and we'll get the hell out of here and find Tripper."

"Put me down," she commanded him.

He let her down and she stood up against the wall trying to muster up of enough strength but Hernandez caught her.

"Listen to me," she started, "Ashford is coming and he wants me. Leave me here and continue on without me."

"Why?" Hernandez questioned.

"I'm the only one who can keep him here. If he gets out, he's going to infect everyone. I can't let that happen--"

"—I'm not leaving you down here with that asshole," the soldier immediately replied, "I don't give a f** how many secrets you have, no one gets left behind. Not even a rogue vigilante from Raccoon City."

"Ha." Page cynically called out. "She's the carrier, moron!" she yelled.

"What?" Hernandez replied, looking from Page back to Arynn.

"It's true," Arynn said, "Tripper knew it. He knew everything about me. Umbrella used my mother as a host for testing. They did succeed in creating the perfect soldier, Eddie. For so long, I wondered why I never got sick and healed so fast. Kids in school called me a freak and I never knew why until I went back."

"Who told you this?" Hernandez asked lowering his voice.

"Peter told me. His uncle was the one who implemented every procedure from when I was born 'til his death. Peter continued the research."

"What's going to happen now, Arynn?" Adam asked as he pressed his head against her leg.

"I don't know. I don't want to end up like Peter. At this rate, he'll become something else; something I don't want to see."

"Arynn, if you draw the line here, then I will too…" Hernandez replied as he looked down at her. She smiled at him and lightly touched his face.

"I'm sorry. I can't let you do that. I found you alive and I wanna keep you that way." She said.

Page looked away as she held Arynn's gun and making sure that nothing was coming from the rear.

"People, we gotta go!" she called out ending the sentimental moment, "I hate saps," she whispered under her breath.

Hernandez helped the wounded woman to her feet and all four proceeded on foot once down the hall away from the elevator.

"I'm going to get you through this," Hernandez whispered to Arynn as they walked, "I promise."

She half-smiled at him looking deeply into his soul, "Don't make any promises…" she whispered back.

As the group ascended the many floors of the building, the higher they went, the less mutation they saw. There were various forms of mutations, from the evolved lickers to the adolescent gandharvas. Arynn was seeing instant change in the types of zombies and creatures as Hernandez and Page took out each and every one of them. Every fifteen minutes, Arynn would take a small look down at her chest and notice that it was healing. The blades of the saw must've not penetrated deep enough to inflict fatal injury. She still needed medical treatment to close her wound but at least she knew that she would live another couple of hours.

"We have to stop," Arynn called out in a weak voice.

"We can't." Page argued.

"We have time," Arynn stated, "Eddie, help me."

Page remained quiet.

The soldier helped the woman into a nearby room that read, "Supply Room". He watched as Arynn tried hard to walk by herself to a cabinet across the room.

"I have to tell you something," she whispered looking to the doorway for Page.

"I'm listening." Hernandez replied.

"We cannot trust Page."

"I know that." The soldier immediately answered.

"As soon as we get to the roof, we have to take her out."

When Page came into view, Arynn turned to the cabinet and looked at the various vials of chemicals and antibiotics. She came across a familiar one. It was the same one that she had injected both Hernandez and Adam with. She wondered if it would help her in her condition.

"Can you inject me?" she asked, "My hands are not strong enough."

Hernandez took out a syringe and loaded it up with the anesthesia. He examined it and noticed something odd.

"Arynn?" He asked. "Do you know anything about what this is?"

"It's a strong anesthesia." She replied as she strained to roll up her sleeve.

"That's not entirely true…" he whispered.

"What do you mean?" she asked taking the bottle and looking at the fine print.

The words, "anti-viral" and "agent" came to mind. She didn't clearly understand it.

"I don't follow," she said.

"It's a vaccine." Hernandez replied.

Her eyes lit up immediately. It made sense. When Hernandez was killed by Dorus back at ground zero, he came back to life courtesy of the virus. The medical team must've given him something to minimize the state of the virus. When she found him and injected him, the substance must've been strong enough to level out the virus altogether. It seemed strange though for the researchers to keep something so important and vital in a simple cabinet. If Hernandez was cured then what did the vaccine do for Adam? She wondered. And what would it do to her?

"Inject me," she commanded.

"Arynn, I'm not sure if I should do that." Hernandez replied.

"Don't hesitate, Eddie," she spoke, "What harm can it do that the virus hasn't already done to me…"

"It can kill you," Hernandez whispered.

Arynn fell silent. The commando was right. If she was born with the virus, it was a part of her genetic make-up. If the vaccine eliminated the virus, it would eliminate all other things that she needed to live.

"If I can't use it, then I can use it to my advantage…" she said as she gave the soldier a particular look and he caught on quickly.

There was a new sense of hope in Arynn that seemed to lift her mind and her body. Was it possible that she could get rid of the virus and free the infected of their doomed state? If there was a chance, then she was willing to take it no matter if it meant her life…