Resident Evil Recall: Operation Arklay
Episode Five: Task Force Arklay
Part Four
Parking Garage, RPD, 8:35 AM…
"Nice to not have to walk around in those uniforms for once, huh?" Chambers asked as he and Lopez made their way toward the parking garage. "You know, with us being in plain clothes and getting special equipment and all that, I feel like a Special Agent from Mission Impossible or something."
"Oh, we're special, all right." Lopez replied. "With us getting sent out into the middle of nowhere with a bunch of unstable misfits to investigate the most heinous crime in the history of Raccoon City, what else could we be called?"
He certainly had a point, but at the same time, Lopez hadn't been there to see the way S.T.A.R.S. was operated. So, if the elite Special Tactics and Rescue Service could survive with people who played Monkey in the Middle with embarrassing audio recordings, then he wasn't too worried about Task Force Arklay. McGee had already gone ahead, and Chambers imagined that Ashwood would take the longest getting ready, so he wasn't worried about rushing to get there.
"So, Liquid said he's already got a base for us." He continued as they rounded the final corner. "What do you think it is?"
"Probably some fleabag hotel in Stoneville or something." Lopez answered.
Chambers hoped that wasn't the case, but he had always heard that stakeouts were done in cheap hotels. But then again, this wasn't a stakeout, it was a full blown mission, so who knew what their erratic leader had come up with? By this time they had reached the end of the hallway, and the blue metal door at the end opened with a soft click into the parking garage. Liquid and McGee were already there, leaning against a black SUV while Liquid blew out a stream of smoke from a cigarette. He and Lopez were about halfway over to them, when the door opened behind them and Ashwood walked out, and there was not a man there who didn't stop and stare at her for a second.
"Please tell me you're going to finish that before we go." She said with eyes glued to the cigarette. "I can't stand the smell of tobacco."
Liquid kind of chuckled at her for a second as he put it back in his mouth, and then he slowly breathed in, igniting the end as it started burning. But he didn't stop there, he just kept taking a ridiculously long breath until the lit end reached the start of the filter, and then he let it all out. Chambers didn't think it was possible for one man to produce so much smoke, and by the time he was done there was a cloudy haze along a large part of the ceiling above them. Apparently he had been smoking for a long, long time.
"There, all done." The Lieutenant said as he flicked the butt away. "Now gather around, I got something for you guys."
Ashwood showed visible disgust for his habit, and this continued as the butt he flicked away vanished from sight behind one of the nearby cars. Chambers watched her shake her head before they all gathered around the back of the SUV, and then Liquid opened the uplifting rear door, causing Lopez to whistle at what was inside. Well, Liquid certainly hadn't been kidding about the equipment they would be using for this mission, and Chambers couldn't help but feel a bit excited when their leader started to pass it out.
"Chambers, I heard you're a good shot, so Merry Christmas." Liquid said while tossing him a rifle. "Say hello to the M24 Sniper Rifle. And Lopez, you look a little down, so here's an M4-A1 Assault Rifle to lift your spirits."
Everyone already had their standard issue Beretta 9mm pistols, except for Liquid and McGee who both appeared to be carrying old revolvers under their coats. Chambers was no expert on revolvers, but if he had to guess, he would say that the Lieutenant was carrying a .45 while McGee's was bigger, possibly a Magnum. It was nice to have a little extra firepower for a mission like this, though, and it didn't stop there. Next to Ashwood's 9mm, he could see the handle of a large combat knife of some kind, which was no problem since Liquid carried a shock baton that Chambers was pretty sure was illegal, but even this seemed insignificant when Liquid took a curved sword… a frickin sword out of the SUV next.
"I found this in the contraband room." Liquid said as he gave it to McGee. "If anyone asks, you damn sure didn't get it from me, okay? And for Ashwood, I have something special for you."
First he handed her a .45 pistol, and this was good since it had a lot more stopping power than the 9mm, but then even her eyes widened as he took out a brand new laptop computer of some kind. She quickly took it and opened it up, and Chambers saw a series of text flash across the screen followed by a list of commands that made no sense to him. There was a good amount of ammunition for all of the weapons in the back of the SUV, as well as a small shotgun that no one had been given, but it was probably Liquid's
"Oh my God, this is… this is the new one, isn't it?" She asked while entering commands. "Liquid, the 12 Series isn't even supposed to be finished yet… how the hell did you even get this?"
"A magician never reveals his secrets." He replied. "Now put it all back and load up… we've got a good drive ahead of us."
Everyone put their equipment back where it came from, and Liquid closed the back while everyone got into the vehicle. Lopez stretched out across the back row of seats, Chambers and Ashwood shared the middle, McGee got into the passenger seat, and last to get in was Liquid who was apparently driving. A second later he started up the engine and backed out of the parking space.
"Well, I gotta hand it to you guys." Liquid said as they started toward the exit. "You certainly look like a bunch of city people going into the mountains for vacation."
Chambers wasn't sure if that was supposed to be a compliment or an insult as they pulled out of the parking garage, but with the personality of their leader, he decided to just let it go. What he couldn't let go was the wonder he had about how Liquid had gotten this whole operation approved so easily. Having just come back from a forced extended leave, one would think that he would have been put on some kind of probation, not thrown back into the field after a single day of behaving… actually, not behaving at all. But it was too late to ask about that now, since they were out of the parking garage and on the road to who knows where?
"Okay, here's the real briefing, now that we're outa that place." Liquid said. "There's a folder up here that McGee's gonna pass around, and I want you all to take a good look at the contents."
McGee passed back the folder to Ashwood, and she gasped when she opened it. Inside was a collection of case reports of incidents that happened outside the city, and each one came with photographs that encouraged her to quickly pass it along to the others. Chambers and Lopez both looked as well, and even the half-blond man seemed to be a little shaken by the brutality and raw carnage of the photographs.
"Gentlemen and Lady… I present to you The Cannibal Murders." Liquid continued. "At first glance, these incidents appear to be unrelated; a home invasion here, an attack on a camper there… in all cases there have been no arrests and no witnesses. However, the one linking factor is each case is that the victims were eaten alive."
Ashwood grabbed the folder and took another look at the photographs, specifically looking closely at what she thought were stab wounds from a serrated knife like the one she carried. But they weren't… they actually looked like something that would happen from an animal attack, but the nameless fear in the bottom of her stomach told her that it wasn't. Her mind just wasn't ready to accept the reality of it yet.
"Are you saying that a person did this?" She asked. "An actual human being attacked these people and mauled them like a wild animal?"
"That's why it's called The Cannibal Murders." McGee replied. "Chief Irons wrote the whole thing off as a series of isolated incidents, but you can only have so many before they become not so isolated… this usually happens right about the same time that the Press gets wind of it, and then they send out people like us to do the dirty work."
"We don't have much to go on." Liquid continued. "There's a couple crime scenes for us to check out, but they're so old at this point that the evidence is probably mostly gone. We've also got a few reports about strange noises in the night, and those may or may not be related to the case. At some point we're gonna have to link up with the Arklay County Sheriff since Irons wouldn't give me enough people for a full team, but for today we're gonna get settled into our base and go over the plan."
"Aren't there, like, a hundred places for a lunatic to hide up there?" Lopez asked. "Aren't there all kinds of hunting lodges and abandoned mines, and whatnot?"
"Yes, there are." McGee answered. "The Arklay Mountains are a maze of trees and rock, and Tobias here, is the only one of us who really knows the area. Make no mistake, this is probably the most dangerous assignment that you will ever take on with the RPD, but if we don't do this… well… lunatics aren't usually the type to stop on their own.
Now the SUV fell silent as everyone tried to process the reality of what they were about to face, and Chambers was really beginning to have doubts about their chances for success. He tried to stay confident, since it wasn't like he was going into the woods alone or anything, but it got harder to do so as the buildings around them got smaller and smaller until they finally passed a sign that read:
YOU ARE NOW LEAVING
RACCOON CITY.
Come back soon!
"Sooner rather than later, I hope." He whispered to himself as they drove toward the forested mountains ahead.