Resident Evil Recall: Operation Arklay

Episode Nine: Square One

Part Two

Liquid Family Cabin, 9:00 PM…

"Lopez." Liquid's voice said. "Hey, Lopez… you okay?"

Letting out an aggravated huff, the half-blond man nodded his head. Yeah, he was fine, aside from his legs being sore from that last kick. That, and nearly getting trapped inside the still burning cabin while trying to get Ashwood out. He had expected to see some action during a case like this, since Liquid was a pretty good Detective in spite of his many faults, and was sure to be able to track down the bad guys. But what they had just gone through… there wasn't really a word to describe it.

"Yeah, I'm good." Lopez groaned as he pulled himself up into a sitting position. "Okay, so let's recap… what the hell just happened? I mean, what was with that guy? Do you think he was the one responsible for The Cannibal Murders?"

"As to your first question, I don't know." The Lieutenant replied without sitting up. "I would expect a guy that size to be pretty powerful, but with the strength he had, and the punishment he was able to take, I just don't know. He could've been on PCP, and maybe wearing body armor under that coat."

Yeah, that was possible, Lopez thought. Body armor would have absorbed most of the force from their bullets, and if he was on something like PCP, then he wouldn't have felt any pain from it, nor would he have noticed the fact that he was on fire. If this was the case, then they were lucky to have the cliffs so close to the cabin, or this might not have ended well for any of them. With Ashwood being taken down early on in the fight, and Liquid obviously running out of steam after going one-on-one with the giant, Lopez was doubtful that he could have won on his own.

"So what about my second question?" The half-blond man continued. "You think this was the guy?"

Liquid was silent for a second, laying there and looking up at the trees that were illuminated by the orange glow from the fire. Then he reached into his coat pocket for a cigarette, lighting it once it was in his mouth, and blowing out some smoke as if he thought there wasn't already spreading through the air.

"Sorry, Lopez, but no." The Lieutenant explained. "From what we know, the murders were committed by groups of people who used their teeth, with most bites happening before death. This guy had the chance to bite you when he picked you up, but he didn't, and none of the murders, to my knowledge, involved a seven-foot linebacker getting into a house by crashing through the ceiling. The 911 calls always mentioned people at the doors or windows, and there was always groaning and growling in the background… this guy didn't make a sound."

Well, that was just great. They had been in a life or death battle, which they barely won, and now it turns out that it wasn't the guy they were after. But if the giant hadn't been one of the killers they were looking for, then who the hell was he? And more importantly, how had he managed to get into the cabin by crashing through the roof? The giant hadn't exactly been subtle about breaking things, and there had been no exterior damage to the building, so he didn't climb up the walls. There were also no tree branches hanging over the cabin, at least none that could have supported the giant's weight, so he didn't do that either.

"So how did he get through the roof?" Lopez asked. "I mean, he would've had to hit pretty hard to crash through both the roof and the floor into the basement, so he would've needed to be up pretty high, right?"

"You know, you might be on to something there, Lopez." Liquid replied as he rolled over to get up. "But the only way that's possible would be for him to jump out of an airplane or something… unless he had a hundred-foot fireman's lift out here, but I don't see any trucks, do you?"

Taking a quick look around to make sure, Lopez admitted that he didn't. The airplane thing made sense, but even with as strong as the giant had been, would he have been able to survive the jump without a parachute? No, he would have had to come from lower flying vehicle, like a helicopter, that could drop him on a specific target. But did that mean… did that mean that the giant had been sent there by someone?

"How was Ashwood doing?" Liquid asked as he got to his feet, interrupting Lopez's thoughts. "Where did you put her?"

"She's out cold, man." He replied. "Come on, she's over here."

Leading the Lieutenant over to one of the trees on the other side of the burning cabin, Lopez found that Ashwood hadn't moved a muscle since being sat against it. She had taken one hell of a blow, and it had been dangerous to even move her in that condition, but on the other hand the cabin had been starting to collapse, so it was that or let her burn to death. Once they were with her, Liquid knelt down and checked her pulse, sighing with relief. Lopez took this as a good sign, which made him sigh with relief as well, and then Liquid turned back to him.

"Well, she's still alive." The Lieutenant said. "Were you able to call for help?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't easy." Lopez replied. "I tried McGee and Chambers, but they didn't answer. Then I tried the Sheriff, and they answered, but I lost them before I could really say anything. So after that I called the RPD, and the signal was really bad, but I think they said they were gonna send help… and then the radio died."

Not a lot was said over the next few minutes, with Liquid's attention going back and forth between checking on Ashwood and looking at his burning cabin. Of course Lopez didn't have to be a mind reader to know what he was thinking, because he was thinking it too: There was a good chance that the RPD wasn't going to send anyone for them. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long for McGee and Chambers to get back so they could drive Ashwood to the hospital, and he was just about to express this, when a new sound reached his ears. It was barely audible at first, but as it got closer, the half-blond man recognized it as the sound of helicopter rotors.

"Liquid, do you hear that?" He asked as they both stood up.

"Yeah, I do." The Lieutenant replied. "Stay sharp."

They were obviously thinking the same thing: This could be help for them, but it could also be the ones who brought the giant. Thankfully though, it was the former, as shown by the emblem of the RPD on the side once the helicopter got close enough to be illuminated by the orange light of the fire. It swiveled around a bit, with Lopez and Liquid having to shield their eyes as the searchlight illuminated them, and the yard in front of the cabin was big enough, so it slowly came in for a landing.

The Arklay Resort, 9:00 PM…

"I can't believe this." Chambers said to himself. "I just can't believe it."

They had nothing. All that hard work, and near-death experiences, and they had nothing to go on. The top three floors of the resort were now completely engulfed in flames, and the gas jets had stopped once the Arklay County Fire Department had arrived and shut off the main, but it was still a losing battle with only three trucks there to battle the blaze. Sheriff Thompson and his Deputies were also on the scene after a short time, making it a little easier to keep the people back to a safe distance.

"So, let me get this straight." He heard Thompson say to McGee. "You're telling me that Reginald locked you on the top floor with a bunch of deranged lunatics, some of whom you shot, and from which you escaped by doing something out of a bad MacGyver episode. You then confronted Reginald in his office, where he attempted to take Officer Chambers' weapon, resulting in you having to shoot him dead. Is that about right?"

"Just about." McGee replied as Chambers joined them. "Reginald also admitted to us that he was going to make sure that no one ever found out about what happened up there, which I assume meant that he started the gas fire that you see here."

Thompson exhaled deeply as he scribbled down some notes on his pad. He had to cross out a couple words and add in some corrections, but soon he was finished and able to look up at McGee again.

"So, what you're saying." The Sheriff continued. "Is that Reginald started the fire in order to cover up his own criminal activities, the nature of which is not known beyond the fact that he had a bunch of crazies locked up on the top floor. Now, I'm not accusing you of anything, Detective, but… is it possible that as you were shooting at these people during the attack, that one of your bullets could've struck a gas line?"

"No, it's not possible." Chambers answered. "Gas lines aren't run through the main hall in plain sight, they're run through the ceiling and floors because the guests would consider them to be an eyesore. Sheriff, I don't know exactly what was going on up there, but it was bad enough to make Reginald try to kill us and destroy the building to hide it."

The Sheriff looked like he was about to say something else, but stopped as he was illuminated by the headlights on an approaching car and had to step to the side. The vehicle had County plates on the front, and after it stopped, the door opened to reveal the County Commissioner whom Liquid had referred to as Aunt Yvonne. There was a disheartened look on her face when she stepped out of the car and looked at the burning resort, and then she shook her head before turning to Thompson.

"Well, Adam?" She asked.

"Oh, this one's a doozey." The Sheriff replied as he looked at his notepad. "Two fire alarms tonight, one false, and the other, well… this. Obviously it's a gas fire, but McGee and Chambers here say there's a lot more to it than that. They say that…

Suddenly Yvonne grabbed the notepad from him, making the Sheriff stop talking as she looked at the writing on it. Whispering to herself as she read, the Commissioner took her time studying the notes carefully before finally handing the pad back to Thompson. She then looked at the burning resort, the two RPD Officers, and then back to the Sheriff once again.

"Well, this explains the phone call I got earlier." She said. "Reginald said that a couple of city cops were at the resort causing all kinds of trouble and unrest, and that they demanded to see the top floor even though he assured them it was under construction. So how could he lock the two of them in a place that they forced him to let them into? Reginald also said that they didn't have a warrant… do they, Sheriff?"

"No, we don't." McGee admitted. "Reginald allowed us to conduct our investigation freely. Look, I know we don't have any evidence anymore, but you have to believe us that there was something horrible going on in that building. I don't know if those people were sick, or on drugs, or what, but Reginald said that it started with one person and ended up being the whole floor."

"They were deranged, Commissioner." Chambers added. "They tried to kill us, and Reginald said they had been locked up there for weeks because he didn't want to disrupt tourist season, and…

"I have heard enough." Yvonne interrupted. "Sheriff Thompson, arrest these two under suspicion of Murder, Arson, Criminal Trespassing, Violation of Civil Rights, and Disturbing the Peace."

Chambers started to move toward Yvonne as the Sheriff and his nearest Deputy came for them, but McGee shook his head while using his arm to block the Rookie from going any farther. The Detective then put up his hands, and Chambers let out an angry growl as he did the same so that the Sheriff could take their weapons. Their keys were also taken; tossed to another deputy who was probably going to drive their SUV to the impound yard.

"Sorry to say this, boys." Thompson said as he and the Deputy put handcuffs on them. "But you two are under arrest."