Five minutes later Patryk joined Zaac on the deck with Sam Clover and Alex from the rope ladder. Clover was looking healthier on account of her broken arm when she, Sam and Alex occupied the couch next to Zaac.
Like his, theirs had a seatbelt of sorts. He didn't fasten his up. Didn't need it, so he laid down and stretched his legs. The plain shirt he had one wasn't very warm or the right size, but the gesture was nice.
He figured he deserved a little rest after everything that happened recently. Even before he got stuck on Mount Everest, he was in Africa dealing with Uroboros rejects trying to kill him. Then there was the face-off with his father. Zaac closed his eyes; he was finally resting.
"Don't look now everyone," Patryk called out, "There's someone following us."
"I think it might be Neo-Umbrella, Patryk," Mozz murmured. On the radar in their cockpit, the green area map swept and disclosed another aircraft a few hundred meters behind them - closing in fast.
"This far out? Чертовски змеиные ублюдки! They are persistent; I'll give them that." Patryk pulled back on the wheel and gained some more altitude and shoot straight up. The icons to fasten seatbelts popped up in the back and the girls prepared to fix themselves in. Zaac, instead of putting on his seatbelt, went to the cockpit and secured himself between Patryk and Mozz.
"You two should know better by now."
The green blip was getting a little too close for comfort and was almost right behind their helicopter. Mozz growled. "He's right behind us."
"I don't think so..." Patryk said slowly and calmly. "He's passing over."
"What kind of helicopter does-"
A loud mechanical roar outside tore at everyone's eardrums and got ever so closer as the aircraft above followed. A spray of bullets tore at the helicopter's hull and chewed up the rotors outside, clipping one of them off. The cockpit's windows were peppered with gunfire as the aircraft passed over, speeding past them like a bat out of hell.
The helicopter turned left, off-course slightly before returning to normal. From the change of balance and footing, Zaac regained his posture and stood back between Patryk and Mozz. "That's no helicopter... it's a fucking fighter jet!"
"We'll be sitting ducks if we don't do something," Mozz muttered.
"Pat, punch that shit!"
Patryk nodded and pressed the red button to interchange the helicopter to a jet. In less than a second, the folded wings sprung out, and the rotors collapsed into the craft and then they were able to move with less dexterity but more speed.
He pulled back on a lever to his right, and they accelerated to the max and moved as quickly as their assailant did. Only he or she turned back around to face them to fire again.
"They're going for a bombing run!" Zaac called out.
"Pat, pull up!"
"Not just yet..." Patryk's fingers were dancing over the steering wheel, anticipating the assailant's next move. At a hundred yards or more, a missile was heading straight for them. He tightened his grip, and Zaac's hand came to his and pulled the wheel back with a quick jerk.
Their jet flew high into the air at a ridiculous speed, leaving the missile to fly past them out of danger, the assailant shot off out of their radar's range. Zaac used Patryk's hand to turn the jet on its left side and upside down to follow back the way they flew up. "I'm capable of navigating on my own Zaac," Patryk complained. Zaac twisted his hand to get back on course on the right side up.
Zaac let go of Patryk's hand. "I know, but I'm just sick and tired of being shot at!"
Mozz leant forward to see the radar better. It was clear. He flipped a switch above his head and relaxed a bit in his chair. "The jet's gone."
"It's Neo-Umbrella; they'll be back." Their jet was well on the way towards Los Angeles now, far above the clouds and surrounded by the darkness.
The radar picked up the jet again, this time they were a lot closer. They were preparing to open fire again as their jet lined up with theirs. "We aren't suited for a dogfight like this," Patryk complained. He pulled back hard and jerked to his left quickly to bring it all back around to Everest. "We can't just drag this out to the cities below; we need to get rid of this fucker here and now."
The jet pursuing them started to fire its automatic weapon on their rear. The bullets were a high calibre type that able to chew up the jet's hull, however unable to pierce. Patryk twisted the jet to the left side and pulled up some more. Patryk was sweating since he couldn't shake the assailant off.
"This guy is getting on my nerves." Patryk groaned. "Can't shake him off and we don't have weapons to fight him."
"You don't need a weapon; I am one. Do you have any jetpacks in here?"
"Should be one in the back." Patryk turned his head to Zaac. "You're not thinking about going out there are you?" An explosion rocked the jet further on its side. He flicked some switches and focused back on his flying. "Damn it, can't lose focus..."
Patryk pulled hard to the right and pressed back on down. Zaac felt like he was a human lotto ball, rocking about inside the cockpit with his old partner's flying skills. He was getting sick of the constant defence.
"I have better chances of surviving outside than in here." Zaac pulled himself back up on his feet and stepped into the back where the girls were looking a bit skittish. It wasn't pleasant seeing capable girls so timid.
"Don't worry, girls, this shit usually happens to us."
Sam smiled, but it wasn't convincing. "I can see you three working together now."
"Yeah, to think that will be us in a few months… Flying around, shooting baddies…" Clover mused.
Zaac smiled at Clover. "Pat, where are the jetpacks?" he called. Patryk didn't respond; he was busy. Zaac turned around. "Pat!"
Sam pointed to the overhead lockers above on her left side. "They should be over there."
Zaac opened the compartment and rifled around inside. And what a surprise it was, empty. He rushed to the one on the opposite side and found what he wanted. Three jetpacks. Two were just backpacks with space inside, but one was a proper jetpack with plenty of fuel to spare. It wasn't his type when he put it on.
"This is so not my style."
Alex found Zaac wearing a heart-shaped jetpack amusing; it was so feminine compared to his sturdy, manly figure. "It's not that bad..."
"What are you planning?" Sam asked.
Zaac pressed a switch on the right side that opened the floor where they entered earlier. Fresh cold air sucked in and had a slight depressurising effect. "I'm gonna get rid of this fucker. You girls stay calm and be ready for anything."
"What do you mean by that?" Their jet pulled up quickly; as an explosion went off in the distance. They were soaring past Mount Everest away from civilisation and far in the opposite direction.
Clover looked away from Alex. "Not like there's anything else we can do. Can't exactly outplay a jet."
"You can't, but I can."
"Be careful out there."
Zaac stepped out of the jet and then it shot out of sight with the assailant tailgating firmly behind them. It was sunny outside now, just clear skies and fresh air. Clear enough to see they were almost at the peak of Everest. Zaac couldn't enjoy the sights above the clouds for too long and started up his jetpack and his offensive to chase their stalker.
Zaac doesn't like relying too much on jetpacks, but the speed did help him get close to the jet chasing Pat. The assailant pulled a hard left away from Patryk's jet suddenly out of nowhere. Patryk flew off to the right, seeming to be safe from the pursuit. Zaac stopped to find the jet chasing them gone from sight.
With heightened hearing, Zaac overhears something shoot off to his left; he twisted and made contact with a missile that was far too close to detonating. Zaac chopped the missile away with his open palm, sending it to explode elsewhere.
With the powers he harnesses, one of them was to see things at a slower rate than others. However, it puts too much strain on his mind. The missile exploded somewhere below him.
The assailant sprayed of his automatic weapon at Zaac, bullets skimmed here and there past him; he was too small and fast to hit. The sheer amount of lead spilling out made Zaac's survival chances rather low; he had to pull out and quickly. So naturally, in danger, he flew away from the jet and flew straight up. He was the target now, not Pat or the girls.
Bullets still sped past his head, and the terrifying sound was getting annoying. Zaac whipped his hand, and Sally materialised into his palm within a puff of shadows. He turned around to try and intercept some of the gunfire, needing to outlast the enemy and pull out a sneak attack. He outstretched his left arm and formed another red mist.
He could throw all the bullets he caught into the mist back at the attacker, but that would leave him open; he didn't want to underestimate the jet's accuracy. The red mist got bigger and bigger until a missile shot off during the spray. It exploded once Zaac sliced it in half.
Zaac suffered the odd round hitting his person, but the same problem was there as the jet was still firing wildly away. Neo-Umbrella really wanted to kill him; it showed because they were leaving the usual airspace and entering the very lower levels of actual space. They were a few minutes away from the Earth's atmosphere.
Zaac let all the bullets go and went full speed straight up and rivalled the jet's speed. Cutting through clouds like butter, they were going the way of a space shuttle; it was terrific how committed the jet pilot was to kill Zaac. He was losing sight of everything down below; the jet was almost a speck in the distance, so he slowed down to hatch a plan.
So many powers to use at his disposal, so little time. The jet came into view. Zaac sheathed Sally into his belt and flew back down at a slower speed, almost looking like Superman. Bullets began to sputter again, round whizzing past him.
A quick wave of his arm over his head and Zaac disappeared into thin air just before the bullets made contact, leaving the pilots confused. Zaac reappeared some distance below the jet, and he instantly flew back up at full speed as his body solidified. The pilots couldn't understand what he just witnessed and acted accordingly.
The jet took a sharp right and turned back around; only Zaac was quicker; he knew the pilots' weakness and exploited it. They couldn't shoot a target directly above them. Zaac was able to identify the pilots. They were humans in flight suits, employed by Neo-Umbrella. They could pass off as twins.
They tried desperately to shake Zaac off, flying upside down and taking sharp turns wouldn't cut it. What did work in their favour was a smoky distraction? Thick grey smoke erupted around the rear and threw Zaac's focus off, he lost his sight and ceased. The smoke was impenetrable; he had to fly out of it and went right down a few hundred feet to relocate his target.
A missile flew at Zaac again, whizzing too fast for anyone to comprehend. He reacted quickly and swatted it away with his hand. It exploded in the distance. He can see too many things at the smallest fraction of a second until his head began to ache. Waved his arm over his head in a flourish as if he had an invisible cape.
The jet followed through where Zaac was a second ago, they lost him, and he was off their radar. They were confused again. Zaac reformed just over the engine. He knew jets too much to let one commandeered by grunts get the better of him. Zaac crawled over the cockpit window and knocked on it to get the pilots' attention.
They pulled out their handguns, and when they did Zaac punched through the glass and tugged on both of the pilots' shoulders. They were promptly pulled out and discarded - pulling a Wilhelm scream. He seized the open pilot seat and got comfortable. The jet was very similar to the ones seen during the time on Rockfort Island, made sense since this was Neo-Umbrella.
The altitude was a bit too high. Zaac brought her down and decided it was time to regroup with Pat and the girls. Felt like this whole venture was dragged on longer than it should, but hey, Zaac loved the adrenaline of a good chase as long as no one too important got hurt.
It was 07:13 am in the late morning when Zaac found W.O.O.H.P. Headquarters in Beverly Hills. It was a good thing to see after all this time away, wondering what his life would've been like if he stayed in their employment. The sight of seeing his town below him was beautiful under the sun's glare.
He radioed Patryk ahead of time, so he doesn't try and shoot him down since he's in a jet owned by their enemy. He was glad to hear his friend survived, and the girls got home safe and ready for school. Patryk and Mozz were waiting for him on the helipad on the top of the building. Zaac set the jet down and got out. They seemed far too tired to be at work this early, but that was their problem. Talk about some nasty baggage.
They wore some dark grey suits, Zaac was jealous they have so many suits available. Zaac's not nearly as rich as Patryk was. They shook hands. "Nice to see you in one piece, comrade." Patryk smiled with a small nod. "How did you get rid of the stalker?"
"The prick was was after me this entire time, not you or the girls. Just a matter of coincidence..."
"So, you killed him?"
"Simply put, yes. Both of them, in fact."
"Well, if it weren't for you, we wouldn't have lost them and got home safe. If something was to happen to the girls..." Patryk faltered. "I couldn't live with myself if they got hurt, they're my best spies, and I promised Jerry I would protect them with my life."
"They are certainly unique and… capable. You did a good job with all that flying."
Patryk smiled and shrugged. "It was mostly good timing and just general calculation. Inside I was a nervous wreck."
"Well, you did better than I would. I flew out this bastard up as high as I could before I ambushed them and… liberated their jet." Zaac took off his jetpack and handed it to Patryk. Mozz took it off his hands. "After all that I guess I should give you their jet as a keepsake since I was the one that caused this mess in the first place. Might sell well."
"I'll scrap it for parts; I have too many jets, to be honest. Although, regarding you being Neo-Umbrella's prime target, it was true. I looked into this exclusion zone, and things popped up. It was a perimeter they set up to keep an eye out over your resting place. They had constant surveillance over the airspace where you went down in 2009."
"Wow… I'm so special. Neo-Umbrella couldn't forget about me for a single day."
"Makes sense," Mozz added. "He's at the top of Neo-Umbrella's list along with some others from Verkraft."
Patryk looked to Mozz and still smiled, even though the information wasn't positive. "Makes you appreciate being at the bottom of the list, doesn't it?"
"Who's below WOOHP?"
"A collection of individuals. No-names, mostly. With Tricell gone, the Connections and Family pushed out of power; it seems Neo-Umbrella's kill-list is a bit more streamlined." Patryk folded his arms. "You, some from Verkraft and then the B.S.A.A."
"Then us," Mozz added.
Patrky sighed. "That too."
"Have you heard anything from Verkraft while I was gone?" asked Zaac.
"Just the usual, mystery employer an' all that." Patryk sighed a little to deflate his ego. "They've been hiding for a while now, Neo-Umbrella might skip them."
"Straight to the B.S.A.A."
"Then WOOHP will be next."
Zaac smiled. "And you can guarantee that either Jerry or you will be the first to go."
Patryk whimpered. "I don't like any of that."
"That's not good..." Zaac slyly stepped away from Patryk and Mozz and stopped at the very edge, looking down at the city. It was beautiful being nearly a hundred floors high up. Cars were speeding past, people walking around like ants, buildings waiting for excitement from the people. "Guess now's a good time to take back STARS and shed some light on all this terror."
Patryk cleared his throat and stepped behind Zaac. "STARS isn't around anymore. Ended in 2010 due to finances."
"I expected that. I shouldn't have had the licence passed to Chris; too much to handle, but I trusted him. The L.A.P.D. would just sell everything I built from the ground up. I guess I can just revive them again just like the first time and do what I can."
"I would like that. It would be nice having an ally in the mix, one that truly knows Neo-Umbrella's capabilities."
"It will be a team effort to put Neo-Umbrella out of commission."
Patryk joined Zaac at the ledge. His hands were behind his back. "That will be a problem for tomorrow. For now, I think you should go home and get some sleep. You missed a lot since you died. New people and new mysteries will wait for you until tomorrow morning."
"To think of the excuses I got to come up with to patch things with friends and family. I don't think the usual 'I'm a superhuman; I can survive things others can not' excuse will work this time. I'll sure as hell play it out as long as I can."
"I figured as much. Being born from the Prototype virus could give an unborn person some inhuman perks. You're a prime example. Ironic. You're technically a B.O.W."
"Only difference is I'm not used as a mindless weapon, nor that I act as one in the name of tyranny. I think. I act. I live. I have a life and a family. That makes me human; even though I'm a superior one."
Patryk mumbled a bit in his closed hand. "I think that excuse would work with the wife. The unknown complications in something not many people understand would leave them open to accept what happened. Like, for example, the nine-year death."
"I would prefer to call that an accident. I was frozen so… it was kinda against my will." Zaac chuckled morbidly. "There's nothing much to it than that." His humour faded, still, he smiled. "If it weren't for three young girls from WOOHP, Mount Everest would've been my resting place."
"I heard Alex was the one who found you."
"I'm glad she did. I owe her a favour."
"After all this exposition, it doesn't sound like a bad excuse." Patryk looked at Zaac. "Works for us. What makes Claire any different?"
"You both cannot be compared to my wife. I love Claire."
"You're right." Patryk straightened up with his back to Zaac. He turned back around with his hands to his sides. "Freezing up there was just an accident. The trap was a necessary one at that."
"A necessary one to kill Wesker. I think she might just be a little glad. Dying for nine years sounds a hell of a lot better than forever now, doesn't it? Better than nothing."
"Nothing can possibly go wrong now."
"I dunno about that. Life, uh, finds a way."
Patryk sighed again. "Some dark times are coming, Zaac. To have you on our side might be all we need to protect our people."
"Believe me, Pat, I will fight Neo-Umbrella to my dying breath; only a matter of time we pick off their executives, leaders and their director. Once they're gone, their company will crumble; we just need to outlast them."
"Good to have you back, Zaac."
"Don't push it."