Resident Evil Recall: Operation Arklay

Episode Six: The Arklay Mountains

Part One

Raccoon City Limits, 9:00 AM…

With the smallest houses of the suburbs behind them, and even the tallest buildings vanishing from sight, the SUV continued down the main road for a few miles until they came alongside the shallowest edges of the mountains. The main road was the only way out of the valley without having to take a long detour upward, and Ashwood sort of wished they would stay on this path as she looked up at the heavily forested terrain. This was not to be, however, as they took the next turn, and the sun was partially blocked out as they passed the tree line.

"Here we go, kids." Liquid said once they were through. "Welcome to the Arklay Mountains."

Honestly, she was surprised that the road was even paved as it started to incline, but this didn't make her feel any better as the forest just got thicker and thicker. The road curved dozens of times as they went up, and up, and up, but now Ashwood could barely see through the trees. Having spent most of her life in Raccoon City, and always using the main road to get in and out, this place was like a whole different world with no lights or people, it seemed.

"Jesus, look at this place." Lopez said. "Careful, Avan, I think I just heard someone playing a banjo out there."

"Well, you're the one with a purty mouth, boy." Chambers replied with a poorly done hillbilly accent. "They're gonna make you squeal like a pig."

Their conversation quickly devolved into a series of horrendous pig-noises and even worse attempts to do that awful accent, so she tried her best to ignore them altogether by opening her new field computer and turning it on. This new model was a lot faster and smaller than the one in her office, and as she brushed through the command prompts, she realized that all of the information in Liquid's case folder had already been loaded into it. The photographs and case reports were there, as well as a Contour Map of the whole region between Raccoon City and Arklay Village.

Judging by the map there were steep cliffs and deep depressions all throughout the area, and there were a few locations marked on it as well. Obviously the city and the village, but also a place labeled as Resort, a few that were marked Investigate, and one that was simply called Base. Base was easy to figure out, since Liquid had already told them about it, and Investigate must've been the crime scenes or places of interest. As for Resort, it could only have been The Arklay Resort, since from what she was told, it was the only noteworthy thing out there. She had never been there, but it was supposed to be a really fancy high-end place that brought in tourists from all over.

"We're gonna make a little stop first before we get to base." Liquid said. "About a week ago, some kids were camping at a Scenic Overlook just off the road, and uh… let's just say that it didn't end the way they planned. Ashwood, if you're looking at the map, it's about six miles from Base."

Chambers and Lopez suddenly got serious with this new turn of the conversation, and they both leaned in to look at the map as Ashwood searched. It was hard to find anything specific since the contour lines and labels were the same white color against a black background. Maybe someday there would be a program that could show anywhere on Earth exactly how it looks at any given time, but that was probably several years away, if it was ever going to happen at all.

"I see it." She replied after finding the point with her finger. "It's labeled as Investigate #1. Wait a second, if this just happened a week ago, how come I didn't hear about it. The news said there hasn't been an attack in almost twice as long as that."

"Like we said earlier, the Mayor's been having it covered up." McGee explained. "Tourism has already slowed down a bit because if the attacks they did report, and apparently they'd rather risk people's lives than have Umbrella as the city's only real source of income. Damn bureaucrats."

"How many kids?" Chambers asked. "How many kids got killed up there?"

"Too many." Lopez answered.

"Damn right, too many, but that's why we're here." Liquid added. "I wanted to show you all this first scene, not just because it's on the way, but because I want to start off by giving you the reality of what we're facing. It isn't just random names and faces on a five second news report that are getting killed, it's our friends and family, our neighbors, our co-workers, literally anyone that you know that comes into these forested mountains could be next, but what happens when the people doing this run out of food?"

"Well, they would either starve or have to find more, I suppose." Ashwood said. "Oh God… that means…

"It means they get closer to populated areas." McGee finished. "Maybe they start off with small places like Delucia and Arklay Village, but if no one stops them there either, and the people eventually go away, there's only one place left for them to go."

"Are you talking about Raccoon City?" Chambers asked. "Do you really think that a bunch of deranged cannibals would risk doing something like that there?"

"Nothing will deter a psychopath; not a high population or law enforcement." Lopez said. "But at least a bunch of freaky looking bastards jumping on people would be a lot easier to spot in the city, right?"

"Wrong." Liquid interrupted, making everyone fall silent. "When you think of a cannibal, you think of a blood-soaked maniac hiding in a cave somewhere, don't you? Someone that if they were ever seen in public, even my old blind Grandmother could spot them, right? Well, back in the 70's, John Wayne Gacy raped and murdered at least thirty-three teenage boys and hid them in the crawlspace underneath his house, but did anyone suspect him? No, he was Pogo the Clown, a local favorite at charity events and children's birthday parties. This means that the sick freaks who have been eating all these people in the mountains could be living perfectly normal lives the rest of the time… meaning that our killer or killers could be…

"Anyone." Ashwood whispered. "Oh my God, they could be literally anyone."

The passengers in the SUV now fell silent as they kept going farther up into the mountains, and this silence continued as Liquid slowed down at a fork in the road to head in the direction following the arrow on a sign that read: Scenic Overlook.

Chief's Office, RPD, 8:45 AM…

Not usually one for hesitation when it came to serious business, Proske found himself doing just that as he stood in the animal room between the administration hallway and Chief Irons' office. Both papers were in his hand, his own as well as the one that Liquid kept hitting him on the forehead with, and as much as he had hoped that the Lieutenant's was a forgery, it obviously wasn't. Both forms for use of the Press Conference Room were stamped for the same date and time, as well as signed in ink by the Chief, so why had this happened?

If the situation had just been left to itself, a contested room was not that big of a deal, but any time Liquid was thrown into the middle of any situation, nothing ever stayed not a big deal. This was crazy, because what little of the Lieutenant he knew before he went nuts, indicated that he had once been not only a good cop, but a decent person as well. No one around the RPD seemed to know exactly what happened to make him this way, but he had also asked the Heads of each Division once he got moved up, and their reaction was different than he would have expected.

"Just leave it alone, Murphy." Sergeant Branagh had said. "Some things are better off forgotten."

"That's something we don't talk about." Captain Marini had said. "Ever."

All of this was just too much drama for him to stand on a daily basis, but the first step of getting rid of drama was finding out what had caused it in the first place. He would probably never find out what happened to Liquid a few months ago, but at least he could sort out this whole thing with the Chief, so after taking a deep breath, he walked into the office where as usual, Chief Irons was sitting behind his desk. This situation needed to be handled diplomatically, because while there was a small chance that it was all a mistake, after their last conversation having to do with Liquid, doubts about this were high.

"Ah, my favorite Division Head." Irons said when he looked up. "Come in, have a seat… what's on your mind?"

"Chief, I need to ask you something." He replied as he set both papers on the desk. "Did you give Lieutenant Liquid permission to use that room today?"

Taking a quick look at the papers, Irons kind of smirked a little as he leaned back in his chair with his arms behind his head, and this was all the confirmation that Proske needed. But why? Why would the Chief of Police do such a petty and cruel thing when he probably already knew how it would turn out?

"Had a nice little chat with Tobias, did you?" Irons continued with a tone to suggest he was holding in a laugh. "Don't worry, Murphy, I've already had all the footage destroyed, but I hope this puts things into better perspective for you. Liquid may have been the greatest Detective in Raccoon City at one time, but now he's an embarrassment to the department, and there are people… important people who want to make him go away. I'm sure you agree that we would all be better off without him, yes?"

"Okay, look, Chief, I have to be honest with you." Proske replied with the first words he could form. "I know that you and Liquid have some kind of problem, and I know that you're both trying to get rid of each other, but I don't want any part of it. Like I said before, I will investigate any actual wrongdoings that the man has done, but I won't make anything up, nor will I be a part of your little feud any longer."

The happy smug expression slowly melted off the Chief's face as Proske said these words, and then Irons moved his arms from behind his head, now interlocking his fingers on the desk as he leaned forward a little. He glared at Proske and his nostrils flared a little, but then it was gone. The anger seemed to just melt away as he returned to a relaxed position in his chair, and then he shrugged.

"That's unfortunate." Irons said calmly. "But if I can't depend on you, then that's the breaks, isn't it? Oh well, I suppose I'll just have to find someone else to take that Captain's position, won't I? Why are you still here, Proske?"

Well, that was all that needed to be said, and it probably put a significant wound in his career, but Proske was happy as he walked out of the office. He was tired of people trying to manipulate him, so now he was going back to doing what he did best. When all was said and done, he was still a good cop, and beyond that, he didn't need to try and prove himself to anyone. Sure, he had tried to prove himself to S.T.A.R.S. once, and that went about as well as when Liquid tried it, but no more. Unfortunately, though, his personal resolve did not stop the problems that already existed within the RPD, and when Irons and Liquid finally came to blows… well… who knew what would happen?