Chapter 8: Bat out of Hell
Billy and Rebecca made their way back to the main hall of the Training Facility to gather themselves up on what to do next. Rebecca still held onto the stone emblem. They knew they would have to go to the telescope room. The emblem belonged there, but Billy felt the uncanny feeling that something wasn't right. Not that anything was right for that matter, but he felt as if something was missing or lost.
"Do you think that if this emblem unlocks that door, we will finally find our escape?" Rebecca asked.
"Not sure. It seems when we think we are getting close, something else comes up," he sighed, letting her pull on his arm with the cuffs so she could play with the emblem as she looked at it.
Before Rebecca could make her smart aleck remark at him, they heard screams erupt from the second floor, like it was coming from the conference room. Billy and Rebecca hardly glanced at each other before racing up the stairs side by side, handcuffs jingling. They flew into the conference room, but it was empty. More screams came; Rebecca recognized them as a man's voice, screaming in horror. They saw the farthest door in the back of the conference room wide open, cool air spilling in from the night.
Billy and Rebecca aimed for it, both drawing their handguns. They slid out onto the balcony outside, the stone walkway lining the wall of the second floor, and wrapping around its frame. Down at the end of the balcony, where it turned right, they saw a man in a white lab coat fighting with some Eliminators. The baboon squealed and hissed, ripping at the man's legs and torso.
"Hey!" Billy called, shooting forward before Rebecca. Rebecca almost tripped from Billy dragging her.
The man was bleeding all over, and still crying out. He didn't notice Billy and Rebecca running up to try and help him. In his desperation to get away, the man vaulted himself over the stone railing and fell to the darkness below. His screams drowned out, and Rebecca felt sick. She knew he couldn't have survived the fall.
The Eliminators turned on them, baring long, gleaming fangs and screaming. Billy aimed and fired several rounds, killing one while two more took its place. Rebecca fought the pull of the handcuffs to shoot her own weapon. She heard another screech behind her, and turned just in time to see a baboon leap for her. It struck her with so much force that she toppled over the railing, breaking a part of the old, crumbling stone. Rebecca felt her heart flip over, and her stomach released butterflies at the falling sensation. She closed her eyes, knowing she was going to plummet to her death.
A sharp pierce slit her wrist, and then she realized she was dangling by the handcuff. Billy had caught himself going over with her, and was now slowly easing himself back up. Rebecca didn't even notice that the Eliminator had already plunged into the darkness after falling with her.
"I got you," Billy rasped. He started to slowly pull her up with just the handcuffs alone. He wouldn't be able to reach her with his free hand unless he lifted her up a little.
Rebecca tried to remain focused on Billy, and not the darkness below. She felt raindrops hitting her face here and there, and another cold wind swept through. Just as Billy went to reach for her already extended hand, Billy was tackled by another of the baboons. The force knocked him forward, and Rebecca let out a yelp thinking that Billy was going to fall forward. He barely caught himself, but the baboon was already doing damage with claws and teeth to his back and shoulder.
"Billy!" Rebecca cried as she heard him yell out in pain. She was helpless dandling there, with the sharp, cutting pressure of the cuffs digging into her wrist. She had no idea where her gun was, whether she dropped it into the darkness or it fell out of her hand before so. The carbine was slipping off of her shoulder, but wouldn't fall with her hand extended upward from the cuffs.
Finally, Billy was able to reach over his shoulder with his free hand and grab the creature by its arm. With all his strength he hurled it forward. Screeching, the baboon fell to its death just inches from Rebecca. Rebecca watched it fall, and in a moment, she felt herself being lifted up with a solid strength. Billy fell backwards from exhaustion just as he was able to get her up. Rebecca fell on top of him, adrenaline flowing through her veins. She was so relieved to just be alive that she didn't even bother to move for a moment.
She could hear Billy's heart thumping wildly in her ear, and his breathing lifted her up and down slightly on his torso. Rebecca moved her hand, having felt warm liquid start to soak it. She was horrified at the sight of blood that was drenching Billy's shoulder and shirt.
"Billy! You're bleeding!"
"Fuck," he hissed in pain. Rebecca moved so he could sit up. The blood was already oozing down his back as well. Rebecca didn't waste no time and got out her medical pack.
Billy didn't say anything as she started to work on him. Rebecca even noticed her gun on the ground just inches away, but didn't bother with it. In fact, she tossed off the carbine from her shoulder. Rebecca checked through her pack, getting everything ready to apply after cleaning the wounds.
The ground started shaking. They shot their heads around, looking for the source. Pebbles fell from the roof, and another part of the railing broke off. They then noticed the wall that was blocking a path of the balcony start to lower itself. Billy and Rebecca jumped to their feet, ready for anything. The wall slowly lowered, finally stopping to where double doors were now in the place of the previously blocked path. Everything became quiet once more.
"What the hell?" Billy growled. "We better go check that out."
She grabbed his arm hard before he could step forward. "Not until I finish cleaning you up."
Billy heaved a sigh, but didn't argue. Rebecca felt guilty as she finished cleaning the gashes. One was very deep. She applied some ointment, and then made sure she wrapped them good. She didn't want them to break open again, especially the deep one.
"There," she mumbled, stepping away to put away her medical pack.
Billy turned to face her. Their eyes locked for a moment. Rebecca couldn't understand the emotions that were running through his stormy, blue orbs.
"Thanks, Rebecca."
"Why are you thanking me? You are the one who saved my life," she sighed. "Again."
"Yeah, and you are heavier than you look."
She glared at him. "You could've skipped on those words."
Billy eased a smile, his features relaxing a little more. This in turn, relaxed Rebecca. "Yeah, well, it is a good thing we were attached to the handcuffs. You aren't that heavy, really, but I don't know if I would have been able to hold onto you with a monkey on my back trying to eat me."
"Baboon," she corrected. "I'm surprised you didn't fall over with me."
"You and me both, doll face."
"Shall we go explore this door that came out of nowhere?" Rebecca asked, trying to be smart, but then suddenly feeling too exhausted to put any effort into it.
Billy smirked at her, wrapping an arm around her neck and chuckling. "Since, apparently, we haven't been close enough to death already. Sure, why not?"
They walked together after collecting their things. Rebecca found the stone emblem on the ground where she had dropped it to run with Billy and save the man. She figured she could leave it there until they were coming back to go to the telescope room. As they approached the double doors, Rebecca looked up, trying to see where the tower had lowered from. If her sense of direction was right, she was positive the telescope room should have been right above them on the next floor. Then again, the double doors looked like the same, rusting iron doors that led into the telescope room to begin with.
Her suspicions proved to be correct when they entered through the double doors to find themselves in the telescope room. Confused, the two of them went down into the control panel in the lower part of the room. Rebecca was surprised; two of the stone slabs were in their rightful positions. However, the third one was still missing. The one that Rebecca had outside. A message was flashing on the overhead computer.
Locked path to church and laboratory overwritten. Tower is now on second floor for access. Enjoy your access, …
Rebecca grunted. "Somebody overwrote the system to get the door to unlock before all three emblems were placed. That's why this room lowered. That door is unlocked now!"
"That is either very good, or very bad," Billy stated, rubbing his chin with his free hand in thought.
"Let's hope it is good."
"And let's hope that we don't run into whoever is ahead of us. It might be the same person that was watching us from the security cameras," Billy answered, glaring at the new set of double doors.
"Roger that," Rebecca sighed. "Church and laboratory path…does that sound like an escape route to you?"
"Church and laboratory? How does that go together?" Billy snorted. "Either way…no…it doesn't sound like an escape route to me."
"Let's keep focused, and hopefully we can find one," Rebecca mumbled, looking one last time at the message on the computer and trying to make sense of it.
Birkin…I read about him in one of the journals…if it is the same man…then we are bound to run into trouble. As soon as I meet back up with Enrico and the others, I need to inform them of Umbrella…
The telescope room smelled of mold and hot machinery, but it beat the smell of carrion, which filled the rest of the hallways in the Training Facility. William hacked through the computer, knowing that he could override the system into unlocking the doors without the Fundamentals of Umbrella Tablets. Ada waited not too far away, tapping her foot impatiently on the metal catwalk with her arms folded.
"Hey, there is someone on the security cameras," Ada stated, coming forward with interest.
William paused in what he was doing, looking up into the large screen that held a list of smaller video feeds. The camera system here wasn't as good as where William was before, but William did notice the man on the balcony below them fighting with the Eliminators and screaming. He squinted his eyes at the poor fool as they watched him get ripped apart.
"Isn't that Charlie?" Ada asked, slightly chuckling. "Well, serves him right for taking my chips at poker a couple weeks ago."
William snickered. "I know he used to feed the Eliminators, but he doesn't have to subject himself to that now, does he?"
"You have a sick sense of humor, Will," Ada stated wryly, twitching a smile.
"And so do you and Wesker," William pointed out, typing in more codes. "I mean, who takes their own team into a mansion of horrors to watch them struggle and die?"
"Albert," Ada chuckled. Her lips soon frown, and she slapped William in the arm.
"Ow! What?"
"Those two handcuffed strangers are coming up. We need to get rid of them."
"Relax! They will die eventually."
"Wouldn't it be easier if we just wait and put a couple of bullets through their heads?" Ada growled.
William thought on it for a moment. "I suppose we could…but I would rather watch them get torn apart by something."
"Will, Albert told you to not play around. If those two find out everything and are able to escape-"
"Relax! They haven't even discovered the worst things yet! My lovely Hunters have been released, and Wesker just got done telling me that one of the Tyrants is loose, remember? Not to mention that Marcus is back from the dead with an army of leeches. There is no way in hell those two are going to make it."
"You sound so sure of yourself," Ada sighed, rolling her eyes.
"You need to have some faith in me! I mean, I did make the G-Virus!"
"Alright, whatever. Do what you like. I am leaving your ass anyway," Ada answered, watching the screen as Billy pulled Rebecca up over the railing to save her.
William watched for a minute, and then entered the final code. The system was overwritten, and the whole tower shuttered. They could feel the telescope room lowering like a slow elevator to the next floor down. Everything shook around them, and soon it ceased and became silent. The set of doors in front of them unlocked. William shut down the security system to where only a message displayed on the computer's screen.
William grinned at Ada, pointing to the doors. "Ladies first!"
Ada glared at him. "Are you sure there is a giant bat?"
"Yeah, there sure as hell was when I took the other route! It knocked out my power supply and I had to reboot the system AND do the test again!"
Ada heaved a sigh. "And I thought I had it easy."
They went through the double doors, coming out onto a bride that led to the once, gorgeous and ominous brick church. There were several small bats flying around, but there was no sign of a huge one. Ada got her gun ready, noticing that William got his drawn as well. Suddenly, a large mass came swooping around from the other side of the church, screeching madly. The beating wings created gusts of wind that would force the smaller bats away.
"Is that a big brown bat? Man, I just had a colony terminated in my attic a few weeks ago! I hate irony!" William barked.
Ada shoved him forward. "I don't care what kind of bat it is! Run!"
They took off over the bridge. The oversized, mutated big brown bat swooped overhead, shrieking loudly. A gust of wind swept past them, but Ada and William kept running. The bat dove for them, but Ada aimed her gun and fired several shots. Bursts of blood came from each clean shot. The bat cried out, striking one of the pillars instead and breaking it. It flew off, but it soon glided around to come at them again. William pushed the button to the elevator that would lead them down to the laboratory. He pushed and pushed the button, until the slow doors came open. Ada shoved him inside, and the doors spilled closed moments before the bat could get to them.
"Man, you're pushy," William sighed, rubbing his shoulder.
"I don't know how Albert can put up with you sometimes," Ada grumbled, but then smiled nonetheless.
William shrugged. "We have been working together since we were teens. He has to be used to it by now!"
"Once we get down into the lab, I am leaving by the cable car. I will take the path back through into the city by the sewers."
"Don't have too much fun with that."
"Same to you," she chuckled.
Billy and Rebecca stepped out onto the bridge, their eyes looking to the grand, brick church that glowed in the streetlamps' dim lights. Thunder was booming from afar, but they could definitely see lightning charging up in the sky. A thunderstorm was moving in. Billy and Rebecca stuck close together as they started walking for the church on the bridge; not that they had the choice from the handcuffs that still tore on each other's wrists. Rebecca watched as big brown bats, a common species of bat in the Midwest and here in Raccoon City fly about eating insects that were hovering over the streetlamps. They hurried anyways, not wanting to take the chance that the bats were like the crows and were infected.
"Cute little brown bats. Well, big brown bats. I remember when I was young, my dad found a small colony in the attic with tiny babies. I begged him not to exterminate them."
"Why?" Billy asked. "They carry rabies, ya know."
"Oh, I know, but they are actually quite good to have around. They keep the bug population down. The big brown bats and the little brown bats are more common in this area, but-"
A loud shriek made Rebecca cut her words off. A large, brown mass came flying around the church, aiming straight for them on the bridge. They took one look to see that it was a monstrous bat, the size of an SUV, and they bailed for it. They ran straight for the church's front doors, hoping to God that the doors were open. Billy snagged the door, throwing it open and pushing Rebecca inside. Billy slammed the door, just before the bat could slash at them with its large, clawed feet.
"Jesus!" Rebecca cried. "What else are we going to run into?"
"I don't know, but that bat didn't look cute to me!" Billy barked as they backed away from the door.
Rebecca looked up, noticing the huge hole in the ceiling. She smacked Billy's arm and pointed up. Just as he noticed the large hole, the bat flew over the crumbling mass and dove in. Rebecca and Billy took cover in the mess of long benches that were left behind in the church. Rebecca could see a shrine at the back of the church, and a couple doors. Only one remained unblocked. Billy started firing at the bat as the flying mammal dove for them. Rebecca aimed her handgun, aiming. She fired a few rounds, and noticed that the bat had bullet holes that did not come from them.
"Somebody has already run into this thing!" she cried.
"Do you think it was the guy that was watching us in the security ward?" Billy asked, switching to the Remington to pump it full of shotgun shells.
"I don't know!"
A large blast to the chest from the shotgun made the thing squeal. It pumped its wings to gain more height, and then the winged rat dove for them again. Billy didn't have time to duck for cover before the large claws snagged him and took him to the air. Rebecca came with, dropping her gun from the force, and dangling below as Billy fought the creature's grasping claws. The smaller bats were flying in through the hole now, as if the scent of blood and the cry of their mother were drawing them up like piranhas. Billy knew the bat was aiming for the hole, and was going to fly them up high to where they could fall to a dangerous height. He grabbed his knife, sticking it into the bat's ankle. The big brown bat shrieked again. The claws came undone from Billy's aching and bleeding shoulder. Billy and Rebecca fell sixteen feet to the stone floor. Rebecca felt her ankle hit wrong, and she yelped in pain.
Billy reached for his nearby shotgun, rolling around to aim it as the creature dove again. One single blast from the shotgun to the monster's face sent it crashing into the benches. After struggling for a few seconds, the huge bat succumbed to death, and all became silent. The smaller bats flew for their escape out of the large hole in the roof, leaving Rebecca and Billy alone.
"Shit," Billy cursed, feeling pain crawl up his back and shoulder. He looked over to Rebecca. "Becca, you okay?"
"It's not broken, so I'll be fine," she sighed, already noticing it swell some. She then glanced over at him. "What did you call me?"
Billy blinked. "Becca? I thought that short for Rebecca."
"It is…it's just…no one has called me that in a long while. It was just surprising, that's all," she said, rubbing her ankle.
"Can you stand?" Billy asked.
"I think so."
They stood up at the same time so as to not knock each other off balance from the pull of the cuffs. Rebecca took a single step forward to try her leg, and it crumbled in pain. Billy caught her by the arm.
"Dammit, that hurts," she hissed.
"Don't make me wash your mouth out with soap, young lady," Billy sighed, shaking his head.
Rebecca gave a wry smile. "Says the one who cusses way more than I do."
"Are you sure you are going to be able to walk? I can carry you."
"No, I will be fine. Thanks, Billy."
Billy shrugged. "Alright, if you say so. So, I should check off Evil Bat of Doom from the list. What is next? The Badger of Terror?"
"That's not funny," Rebecca sighed.
"Well, how else am I going to stay sane right now?" Billy snorted.
"Come on," Rebecca said, motioning for the front doors of the church. "Let's go check the courtyard for an escape route."
Billy nodded, taking slow steps for her as they headed out. Rebecca swallowed the pain, and limped slightly, but knew the pain would subside. She was glad that Billy didn't persist on carrying her, though she did notice the watchful eye he had on her, as if he was bound to make sure she was okay. She smiled up at him.
"How's your shoulder?"
"Fine," he said. "If I start foaming at the mouth, then I have rabies."
"Rabies is the least of my worries right now," Rebecca replied grimly.
"Yeah, you're right."
They checked the courtyard, noticing that rain was starting to fall, and the thunder was coming ever closer. They could find no route to escape using the old walkways, all overgrown with weeds and plants. Instead, they found an elevator and took it down.
The doors dinged with an old, dying noise, and the doors shuttered before opening. They found themselves in a narrow hallway made of stone. The hallway went up and then turned to the right, out of their view. There was also a door on their left, and a staircase that was destroyed beyond all repair. As they moved farther down the hallway, a thick stone slab slid down and slammed on the floor, preventing access to the rest of the hallway.
"I don't know about you doll face, but I think we are still being watched," Billy growled, letting his fingers glide across the stone slab.
"Let's just hope we don't run into them," Rebecca sighed, turning to their only option, a small door to their left.
"I do. I want to show that piece of shit a thing or two."
They went through the door, and found themselves in a large library. The room was gloomy and cool, and together they walked around it, getting their surroundings. Most the books were of biology, virology, pathology, and microbiology, just like the library back in the Training Facility. However, Rebecca noticed all the documents of Umbrella lying about, and she grew sick. Bioterrorism…that was what they were doing? Creating biological weapons. The creatures made since now, and so did the virus that was turning people into zombies.
"We really need to get out of here. I need to warn Bravo Team," Rebecca mumbled, horrified by the documents. "Umbrella is…playing God."
"I agree," Billy said, staring in disgust at the papers before him. He looked over, noticing a dead scientist slumped in the corner.
Rebecca pulled up her walky-talky. "Enrico? This is Rebecca. Do you copy, over?"
There was only static that came from the device. She waited for another moment, her heart filling with dread. What if Bravo Team had already succumbed to the horrors of Umbrella? And worse yet, none of them had been able to contact Alpha Team to get help or warn them. Rebecca gulped, knowing Captain Wesker would send the Alpha Team in for aid if he felt something bad happened.
"Forest? Do you copy? Kenneth? Richard? Does anyone copy me?" Rebecca asked into the device, her voice cracking. No answer came from the other side.
Billy gently grabbed her hand that was holding the walky-talky. He lowered it for her, shaking his head. "Maybe you are just out of radius. We'll find them."
"Yeah, your right. But this room is a dead end. Where do we go?"
"There's a giant hole in the ceiling right there. Looks like it leads right up into another room. Let's use the furniture to stack so we can get up there," Billy suggested, pointing to the many tables and desks that decorated the room.
Rebecca and Billy walked over to the end of the library, looking up into the large hole that led to the room above them. Rebecca was too short to really see what was up there. She just hoped that there were no zombies or monsters waiting for lunch to crawl up there. They heard a moan. Spinning, Billy had just enough time to grab the grimy, slick arms of the undead scientist as the zombie tried to grab him for a bite. The scientist must have waited until they passed before getting to its feet. Billy kicked out his leg, striking the zombie right in the torso. The force knocked the zombie back. Rebecca aimed her handgun and fired two rounds to the chest. The zombie crumbled to the floor, twitching as blood pooled around its stinky, mangled corpse.
"Let's get to stacking," Billy heaved, wiping his arms on his jeans.
"Okay," Rebecca answered meekly, staring at the dead zombie before them.
A/N: Holy Cow, so sorry for the long wait! I meant to update this story much sooner! . All well, hopefully the wait was worth it! So, Becca and Billy are finally in the laboratory! Uh-oh! That means a lot of calamity is going to go down! ^_^ We got Hunters and sewers and Tyrants and traps and Queen Leeches and normal Leeches and crazy Marcus leeches and William....okay, so William seems harmless, but dang it he is funny! Okay, sorry...I will stop ranting. Thanks for reading, and please review and enjoy! XD