Notes:- Yet again I extend my apologies to everyone who has been waiting for an update! I got hit with a serious case of writer's block with this story but I've pretty much got the rest of it planned out now so hopefully you won't have to wait so long next time!
The Facility Endgame
Chapter Six
Just as they'd seen on the security cameras, the door had opened to reveal an arid desert with large sand dunes dotted across its expanse. Like a desert, it was hot. Kevin could feel himself starting to sweat underneath his t-shirt and Kevlar vest. The trek across the room was going to be a mighty uncomfortable one. But, he figured, it was better than going back to that garden. He hadn't really relished looking like a fool in front of Carlos of all people, and he definitely didn't want to risk repeating the experience.
He grabbed his gun when he felt the sand covered ground beneath him begin to shake. The shaking was followed by a metallic scraping noise that sounded like a rusty shutter being opened. Metres ahead, he saw a large, black hole in the ground. A metal lid was slowly opening across it. His heart began to race. He knew that whatever that hole was going to reveal, it wasn't going to be good. Jill and Carlos flanked him, fanning out, their own guns ready to fire.
Two large black pincers were the first things that emerged from the darkened hole. A least a metre in length, they were hard and shiny, the inside of each pincer serrated with mean looking teeth. They looked capable of ripping a person in half. Kevin could feel the sweat beading on his forehead. The pincers were attached to two meaty looking appendages, as thick as a bodybuilder's thighs. The head was next, round and flat like a shovel.
"Shit that thing's a giant scorpion"! Jill cried as the creature continued to rise out of its hole.
It was climbing out slowly and purposefully and was strangely hypnotic. The legs and torso followed next, coated in the same shiny black armour. The damn thing was as long as the alligators Kevin had seen on his trip to Florida with Claire. The legs were twitching, scuttling across the sand as it hauled its huge tail out, a tail that was long enough and thick enough to resemble an alligator's. A perfect match for its torso, Kevin thought with a bitter smile. It curled its tail forward so that it was almost touching its back. On the end of the tail was a horrible looking barb that was easily the size of Kevin's forearm. The barb ended in a fine hypodermic point capable, probably, of piercing sheet metal.
"Scorpions…" Carlos sounded strange, almost breathless. "It had to be a scorpion…"
"Carlos"? Jill questioned, sounding worried. Kevin didn't want to take his eyes off the scorpion that appeared to be biding its time, making no effort to move forward or attack.
"I've seen a lot of things…" Carlos appeared to be struggling to stay calm. "But the one thing that scares the shit out of me…is scorpions" Kevin dared to slide his eyes sideways to look at his colleague. He was holding his gun outstretched but it was shaking in his trembling hands.
"Hell this big mother fucker would scare anyone" Kevin replied.
"Flank it" Jill ordered. "Kevin, go to the right. Carlos, you come left with me" She added. Carlos nodded slowly and the two of them slowly started to move forwards and to the left. Seeing no better way to tackle the creature, Kevin started to move to the right. He kept his eyes on the scorpion which seemed to be twitching its limbs idly, almost as if it were teasing them.
Suddenly, Kevin hit the sand. He heard Jill cry out and before he could even see what it was that he'd tripped over, he heard Carlos' strangled shout.
"It's attacking"!
"This thing moves like lightning"! Jill shouted. Kevin rolled over quickly and saw what it was that he'd tripped over. Laid out in the sand was a prone body in a blood stained lab coat. The man's throat had been torn out, the flesh sitting in ragged ribbons. Strapped around the man's face was a black gas mask and pinned to the lab coat was an ID card that read 'Dr Brown'. He heard gunshots and without really thinking about it, Kevin grabbed the card and pocketed it before hauling himself to his feet.
The scorpion was less than a metre away from Jill and Carlos, circling round them, its tail raised. They were firing at its body but the bullets just seemed to ricochet off. Kevin quickly looked around for some kind of weapon and spotted a metal tool box a metre away from Dr Brown's body. Before he could make a dive for it, he watched in horror as the scorpion tensed its whole body before releasing a fine, spray like mist straight at Jill and Carlos.
After a quick scout around the tiny room, Leon had found a few things that would come in handy. He hadn't found any of his clothes but he had, luckily, found his gun belt. He'd strapped it on, still mourning the loss of the Silver Ghost. He'd sort of hoped that the psycho had found that too but he guessed even crazed psychos didn't go rooting around in almost full body dumps.
He'd forgone half of his ammo in the pouches for the medical supplies that he'd picked up from around the room. Bandages, gauze, alcohol wipes and antiseptic spray. He knew that they would come in useful later when he could properly tend to the wounds down his side. He was almost, not quite but almost, thankful that the psycho had cauterised the wound of his thigh which meant that the chances of it bleeding again would be pretty slim. He strapped the belt around his waist, wincing a little at the coolness of the material against the bare skin of his stomach. His search of the room had failed to turn up another scrub top. He resolved to try and find some kind of clothing or else he'd have freezing to death to worry about as well.
He stopped as he heard heavy footsteps. They were getting closer and were accompanied by a low, frenzied muttering. Leon felt his adrenaline start to kick in. It seemed like his torturer was coming back. Tightening his grip around his combat knife, Leon pressed himself to the wall nearest the door and waited, holding his breath.
The door opened and the psycho shambled in. Leon barely had time to register what the man looked like as he expertly tackled him to the floor. The man let out a strangled cry of surprise as his face hit the floor and Leon straddled him, one hand in his dirty blonde hair, one hand holding the bloodstained combat knife to his neck.
"Right you psychotic fuck. Who are you"? Leon demanded, his hand tightening in the man's hair.
"Ginny, are you sure we need to go this way"? Brad asked, trying to keep his tone calm. It wasn't easy when you had thirty zombies staring back at you. Ginny was staring at the horde, murmuring with bloodthirsty lust, her eyes wide with horror. She nodded. "There's no other way around"? Brad clarified. It had been years since he'd had to face off against the living dead. He'd almost, but not quite, forgotten the stench. It made his blood run cold and feel like he had a sharp stone for a stomach.
"There was one other way to the higher levels but the beast…" Ginny started to explain. She let out a squeak of fear when the zombies started to shamble forward.
"Look you two, can we save the girly talk for later"? Chris butted in. "I mean, Bradley, if you wanna die then that's all well and good but can you do it after we've found Leon"?
"Shit. Sorry. Yeah" Brad replied, seeming to come back to his senses.
"Just try not to run away before we floor these guys" Chris added teasingly as he opened fire on the oncoming horde.
One by one, the zombies dropped to the floor and Chris and Brad advanced on them slowly. Ginny followed closely behind and took shelter beneath a nearby pool table. Chris found himself grinning to himself as each body hit the floor, floored by a perfectly aimed headshot. He noticed that Brad seemed slower to fire, almost as if he was hesitating. He wondered how long it had been since his former S.T.A.R.S colleague had fired a gun. He was about to shout out a particularly witty insult when a pool ball suddenly flew by his left ear, barely missing his head. The ball sunk into the right eye socket of the zombie closest to him and it reeled backwards. He shot it and it slumped to the floor to join its fellow bodies. Chris wheeled round in surprise and saw Ginny standing by the pool table, a pool ball in each hand, a determined look set on her face.
"That was some throw" He said, trying not to sound too impressed. After all, why should he congratulate something that was probably a lucky fluke?
"Chris"! She called out, pointing over to Brad who was having trouble. A zombie had broken free from the remaining pack and was lunging at him ready to take a chunk out of his arm. Brad was faltering, his handgun trembling violently. Chris cursed as Brad started to clumsily wrestle with it. There was no way he could risk firing.
"Watch my back" He called over his shoulder to Ginny as he ran forwards. He rushed the zombie and crashed to the floor with it. He straddled the drooling creature and punched it in the side of the head, wincing in disgust when his fist sunk into the rotten flesh. He hauled himself back to his feet just in time to see Brad bring his boot down hard on the fallen zombie's exposed skull. It crunched and the zombie stilled.
"Yeah, that's how we roll in the BSAA"! Brad crowed in triumph. Chris rolled his eyes and wiped his gore covered hand on the thigh of Brad's combats.
"Well that was a pathetic line" He said shaking his head. Brad really was hopeless sometimes.
"Go Maverick"! Ginny called from across the room. She gave Brad the thumbs up. Chris sighed heavily. Obviously it was going to be up to him to show Ginny how a real man handled a combat victory.
There was one zombie left, stumbling amongst the fallen bodies. Perfect.
"I'll show you a real man's line" Chris said as he grabbed his combat knife. He dodged between the bodies. The zombie saw him and lunged for him. Chris spun round so that he was facing the zombie's back. He pushed it as hard as he could, sending it reeling into the nearby sheet metal wall. Chris saw his chance. He stabbed the creature straight through the head with his combat knife. The blade went straight through its skull and stuck into a rather conveniently placed cork memo board.
"Hey zombie! Stick around"! He said triumphantly in his best action hero voice. He spun round to face Brad and Ginny and gave a little bow as though reacting to a standing ovation. Brad was looking at him with what he was pretty certain was a new respect. Ginny was smiling, probably coming to the realisation that it was him, and not Brad, that she should be calling 'Maverick'.
"Ohmigod"! She exclaimed. "A Predator reference! I love that movie"!
"I knew I'd heard it somewhere"! Brad said, clicking his fingers in realisation.
"Shut up" Chris replied, distinctly unimpressed.
Kevin swore as he saw the spray hit Jill and Carlos straight in the face. He quickly squatted down and wrenched the gas mask from Dr Brown's body before putting it on. It smelt foul and rubbery but that was the least of his problems. He kicked open the tool box and grabbed a particularly heavy looking claw hammer.
Jill and Carlos had fallen to their knees, choking on the spray. The scorpion was moving from side to side almost as if it was considering how to finish them off. Well Kevin was damned if that was going to happen. He skirted around a nearby dune and flanked the giant beast. Before it had a chance to react, he brought the hammer down on its thickly armoured head as hard as he could. He heard something crunch and the scorpion quickly skittered away behind another sand dune.
Kevin hooked the hammer onto his gun belt before rushing towards Jill who was still coughing violently.
"Jill! Jill? Speak to me"! It was hard to make her out through the gas mask's dirty and scratched visor. She turned to look at him, her eyes widening in fear. She hauled herself to her feet and pushed him away so hard that he almost fell over.
"Get away from me"! She shrieked. "Don't you touch me"!
"Jill"? Kevin was getting worried now. He turned to Carlos for help but he had his combat knife in his hands and was standing in a fighter's stance, ready to strike.
"Morir de mierda hijo de puta"! He screamed at the empty space in front of him as if he were about to face off against an imaginary attacker.
As Carlos continued to scream obscenities in Spanish and Jill continued to act like a frightened hostage, it all started to click into place for Kevin. Whatever the scorpion had sprayed at them obviously had some form of hallucinogen in it. By the way they were acting, it seemed that Jill thought she was back in Wesker's clutches in Africa and Carlos was convinced he was back on the streets of South America.
"Just what I need" Kevin muttered to himself. He turned around when he heard a loud hiss come from behind him. The scorpion was back and, judging by the way its tail was arched over again, it wanted revenge. "Oh great, you're back" He grinned as an idea hit him. "Do your worst buddy"
He started to back away. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Carlos having an imaginary knife fight and Jill crouched on the sand sobbing. The scorpion was advancing on him, obviously getting ready to hit him with some of its toxic spray. If his idea was going to work, he needed to get the creature away from Jill and Carlos. He continued to back up, as fast as he dared, and the scorpion followed, its tail waving menacingly.
When he'd enticed it away from Jill and Carlos and was a safe distance away from anything that might possibly catch fire, Kevin grabbed an incendiary grenade from one of his pockets and pulled the pin. He tossed it in the scorpion's direction and, following the next part of his plan, ran like hell as the creature burst into flames. He darted behind a sand dune and watched as the flames licked the creature's body, causing it to hiss and thrash around in pain.
"Smoking…" He muttered.
When he was certain that it was dead, he turned his attentions back to Carlos and Jill.
Jill appeared to be swapping between cowering away from 'Wesker' and trying her best to fight him off. Carlos was still attacking thin air and shouting in Spanish. Kevin had no idea how long the effects of the spray were supposed to last. He hoped that they weren't permanent or he'd really be in trouble. He stood, hands on his hips, wondering what the hell he was going to do. He supposed he could stay a safe distance and wait it out unless…
The doctor's body!
Kevin ran back to Dr Brown's body and started to rifle through the dead man's pockets. In the left pocket of his lab coat, he came across a small leather zip-up pouch. He unzipped it quickly and opened it out. Strapped inside were three syringes in a row, each containing the same clear liquid. On each syringe, was a handwritten sticker which said 'antitoxin'. Kevin stared at the contents of the pouch as a suddenly doubt entered his mind. They were in the middle of an Umbrella facility. Could he really trust what was written on the side of a syringe? What if he injected them and it turned out that it was something entirely different?
He sighed heavily and tossed the leather pouch to one side. It wasn't worth the risk. It looked like he was going to have to wait it out. There wasn't much else he could do. If it looked like Jill and Carlos weren't getting any better then he was going to have to come up with another plan but he'd worry about that if it came to it. He moved away from Dr Brown's body and sat himself down on the top of a nearby sand dune. He sincerely hoped that the scorpion didn't have any friends or family to avenge its untimely death.
"Who the fuck are you"? Leon asked again, pressing the flat of his knife into the psycho's neck. He really didn't want to kill the guy without getting some answers from him first. His captive struggled underneath his weight, trying to free his arms to strike him but Leon kept him pinned.
"I am the master"! The man cried as Leon's hand tightened in his dirty blonde hair. "And I crave perfection! You don't understand! You won't ever understand"! He screamed as he writhed around, still trying his best to throw Leon off. "It was my gas! All mine"!
"What gas"? Leon demanded. It was becoming all too obvious that it was impossible to get a straight answer out of the man. He was obviously just some Umbrella lackey that had been driven mad, probably due to one of his own experiments gone wrong or being used against him.
"No-one understands"! The man continued to rant. "I was destined for great things! For perfection! For glory"! He continued to struggle wildly.
"What's your name"? Leon asked, hoping to at the very least, get that out of him.
"Leon"!
A familiar voice suddenly distracted him. If the psycho answered his question, Leon didn't hear the answer. He'd twisted around and come face to face with Chris, Brad and some teenage girl.
"Chris"! Leon exclaimed. A huge wave of relief washed over him at the sight of his lover, dressed and in one piece. The psycho took advantage of the sudden distraction and struggled violently, finally managing to dislodge himself from Leon's weight. Leon crashed to the floor and the psycho leapt to his feet, racing to the other end of the room as fast as his feet could carry him. He pulled a gun out of the pocket of his yellowed, stained lab coat and, with a twisted smile, pointed it directly at them.
"Nobody move"! He shrieked, breathing heavily. He had pale, watery eyes that exuded a sinister air. Seeing them for the first time sent a shiver down Leon's spine.
"Who the fuck are you"? Chris demanded, helping Leon to his feet.
"Get your arms up in the air"! The psycho ordered, the gun quivering in his grasp. His other hand was opening a nearby drawer and he started to rummage through it blindly, his eyes and his aim never leaving them.
"Leon! You're bleeding"! Chris' arm was wound around Leon's waist protectively. His deep brown eyes were scrutinising the cuts along Leon's side which were slowly oozing blood.
"I will not be ignored"! The psycho shouted, still rummaging through the depths of the drawer.
"Would you stop flapping your lid? The adults are talking!" Chris demanded, sounding bored. Leon smiled. Even if some psychopath was toting a gun, Chris never lost his attitude. He wanted to throw his arms around the older man and hug him. "Who the hell is this guy anyway"? He asked. He glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. "Probably doesn't have enough strength in that limp noodle he calls a forearm to pull a trigger"
"He's crazy" Leon answered. He motioned to the cuts. "He did this and he's pointing a gun at us so we should probably start to take him seriously"
"He's Archie" Ginny piped up. "Archibald Spencer, one of the head researcher's of the whole facility"
"SILENCE"! Spencer roared. "You know nothing"! He giggled, a gut-wrenching, unhinged giggle as his hand closed around something in the drawer. "I always said you knew too much little girl"
"Now try saying something that actually makes sense" Chris interrupted, still seemingly hell bent on completely ignoring Spencer as a threat. He turned to regard Ginny. "Wait a sec, did you say Spencer? Spencer as in the mansion guy"? He snorted. "Guess being a crazy asshole runs in the family"
"I SAID SILENCE"!
"Look Spencey. You aren't the first person to have ever pointed a gun at me" Chris sighed heavily as though he was talking to some irksome child. "If I had a dollar for every gun pointed at me then I wouldn't have been banned from Blockbuster because I would've had the money to pay all those late rental fees so would you kindly turn around so I can get on with kicking your ass"?
"I never noticed this" Brad whispered to Leon. "But Chris has a certain way with words don't you think"?
"Oh yeah" Leon muttered sarcastically. "He's a regular Walt Whitman…" He picked his bloodstained knife up from the floor. The movement seemed to agitate Spencer who cocked his gun. Leon heard the audible click as the psycho released the safety catch on the gun.
With well trained, lightning like reflexes, Leon threw his combat knife in Spencer's direction. Spencer let out a shriek of surprised pain when the knife sailed smoothly towards him before sinking deeply into his left shoulder. He dropped the gun with a clatter. Leon darted forward, seizing his chance and sweeping Spencer's legs out from under him. Spencer fell to the floor and Chris rushed forward, his gun pointing directly at Spencer's forehead.
"Right fucker. You're gonna give us some answers" Chris ordered as Spencer lay on the floor, seemingly sobbing with pain, his hands over his face. The muffle of his hands however, proved to be deceiving. As he moved them away from his face, his huge smile was became clear. His pale, liquid eyes looked straight up at Chris.
"Too late, too late, too late" He chanted, smiling even wider. He opened the fist that had been hidden in the drawer. Inside it was an empty syringe. A dribble of blood dripped from an injection site on his inner wrist.
"So you've injected yourself with something"? Chris asked in a mocking tone. "And your going to turn into some monster that's gonna be all hard to kill? Couldn't you at least try to find a new trick cos that one's getting old…"
Leon had retrieved the gun that Spencer had been toting and he too was aiming for the crazed scientist's forehead. Spencer continued to grin as he tried to get to his feet. Chris kicked him hard in the ribs. Spencer curled into a ball, blood steadily oozing from the wound on his shoulder.
"I don't think so" Chris said sharply. "If you try to run, I've got six little friends and they can all run faster than you can…"
"From Dusk Til Dawn"! Ginny piped up, startling Brad and making him jump. "I love that movie"!
"Shut up"! Chris hissed through clenched teeth. He looked over at Leon who was smiling at him, a teasing look dancing across his features. Chris narrowed his eyes at his lover.
"Looks like you need some new lines" Leon said with a smirk.
"Leon"! Brad cried out. Leon's attention snapped to Brad and then down to his own feet. Spencer was going for him. He'd pulled the knife from his shoulder and was aiming for Leon's thigh. Before he could even swing back the knife, a bullet hit him in the side of his head, sending blood spurting, hitting both Chris and Leon. Spencer's now lifeless body slumped to the floor, the knife slipping out of his grasp. Leon stared down at it in shock for a few moments before finally coming to his senses. He looked back at Brad who was still holding his smoking gun.
"Oh Maverick that was so brave"! Ginny gushed.
"Thanks Brad" Leon nodded at the former S.T.A.R.S officer gratefully. Brad shrugged modestly, placing his gun back into its holster.
"Well look at that"! Chris exclaimed. "Bradley can actually shoot"! He teased. He was all bravado as he clapped his hand down on Brad's shoulder but Leon saw the brief but grateful squeeze that followed.
Within seconds, Chris was back at Leon's side and pulling him into a gentle hug, careful not to press on the cuts that ran down the length of his side. Leon grabbed Chris' stubbled chin and kissed him hard.
"Don't you ever fall down a fucking chute again Kennedy" Chris warned, breaking the kiss reluctantly.
"Wouldn't dream of it Redfield" Leon replied in a mocking tone. Chris smiled but the smile quickly turned serious.
"We need to get you sorted out" He said, tugging Leon towards the old gurney. Out of the corner of his eye, Leon could see the girl practically hanging off Brad's arm, begging him to tell her how to fire a gun and repeating over and over how brave he was.
"Someone's got a crush…" Leon said, wincing in pain as Chris sat him down on the gurney. He rummaged in his gun belt for the first aid supplies that he'd looted and handed them over.
"Are you ok"? Chris asked as if Leon hadn't just spoken. He tore open a couple of the gauze pads and began to gently wipe the blood from the cuts.
"Fine" Leon answered, trying not to sound as annoyed as he felt. He knew that Chris meant well and he knew that if the situation was reversed, he'd be asking the exact same question, but it was irritating all the same. He knew what connotations the simple question had. Chris was really asking if his PTSD was getting to him.
"Fucking psycho" Chris muttered, spraying the wounds with the antiseptic spray. "He didn't do anything else did he"?
"No" Leon lied quickly. "He didn't get the chance"
"Good" Chris grunted. He unpacked a bandage and started to wind it round Leon's body. He gave Spencer's dead body a contemptuous look. "Guess I should've taken him a bit more seriously"
"He kept talking about a gas" Leon said, quickly changing the subject. He knew from their experiences in Africa that distraction was the best way to steer Chris away from his dark thoughts. "I don't suppose you and Brad came across anything"?
"Nope" Chris shook his head. "We came straight down to the lower levels after you fell down the chute" He secured the bandages with some medical tape. "Jill could've found something though"
Leon opened his mouth to ask whether or not Chris had worked out why Jill was acting so strangely around Carlos but he was prevented from speaking by a sudden loud scraping noise, echoing along the corridor outside. Ginny had stopped her chatter and was clinging onto Brad fearfully.
"What the hell is that"? Leon asked Chris.
"The Beast" Chris answered grimly.