Resident Evil Recall: Operation Arklay

Episode Ten: The Trap Is Sprung

Part Three

Unknown Location, Kennels, 1:00 AM…

It was hard to concentrate, between the black-armored people's taunting and the lingering pain from when they captured him, but McGee still managed. Instead of immediately calling attention to himself as Chambers and Lopez had done when they woke up, the Detective had remained limp, attempting to gather useful information as well as construct a mental map of this strange facility's layout. It had been very tempting to look up and see who the two administrators were when they had decided everyone's fate, but hopefully there would be another chance to learn who they were.

Chambers and Lopez had been dragged off in one direction, Liquid and Carver had been taken in another, and now he was alone. He was still handcuffed, but instead of the black-armored people pairing up, the man dragging him down the hall was alone. Hopefully this would present some kind of opportunity before they got to the kennels, for whatever reason he was being put there, but for now he remained limp as his lone captor dragged him backwards from underneath the arms.

"Yeah, thanks for all the help, guys." He said sarcastically as they rounded a corner. "You know, you're a lot heavier than you look… but I guess your weight is the least of your problems, now."

Briefly stopping to push the button on what looked like a service elevator, the black-armored man was now breathing heavily as if dragging the Detective was more of a burden than expected. This might have had something to do with McGee purposely pressing his feet down into the floor, and it seemed to be working as it both slowed down and tired out his captor. The elevator arrived, and it was a silent ride down what felt like only a couple floors, before it stopped with a beep and the doors opened.

"Come on, you fat bastard." The black-armored man grunted as he resumed dragging. "Almost there."

The sound of barking dogs now reached the Detective's ears, and after passing through a security door that opened with a hiss, the smell of dogs joined in. But something was wrong… there was a horrendous, rotten scent that went along with it, and when his captor swung him around to brace him against a transparent wall, McGee saw the reason. Beyond the wall and door that he was pressed up against while the black-armored man undid his handcuffs, the Detective saw that there were over a dozen electronically locked kennels in the next room. But the dogs were foaming at the mouth, and they appeared to have no fur… along with missing patches of skin.

What was this place, he wondered. Some kind of animal testing laboratory? McGee had seen college kids protesting such places, where they tested shampoo and makeup on animals, or maybe this was medical research. Either way, there was no more time for conjecture as his handcuffs came off, and that's when the Detective made his move. His captor pushed a button to open the door, and he was starting to drag him through, when McGee suddenly stomped on his foot, slammed the back of his head into the man's mask, and then swung down his fist to hit him in the groin.

The black-armored man's rifle fell off his shoulder during the course of these blows, and as expected, he reached for it, giving the Detective plenty of time to turn around and give him an uppercut to the mask. His hand stung from punching the mask, but it was enough to send his captor stumbling backwards through the still open door. Moving quickly, McGee lunged forward and hit the same button on the wall, making the door slide closed before his now former captor could get back out. However, this also caused all of the kennels to open with an electronic beep, and the black-armored man could only pound on the door for a second before the animals leapt upon him.

This place must've been testing some new kind of rabies cure, because the animals were definitely rabid as they took the black-armored man down. The walls also must've been soundproof, because there was no sound as they tore into him, causing an ever-growing pool of blood to form underneath him until he stopped moving. On one hand, McGee felt bad about making this happen to him, but at the same time, that fate was meant for him, so he didn't feel that bad as he picked up the fallen rifle. Checking to make sure that the clip inside it was full, he was about to head back, when the service elevator went beep.

The only place available to hide was against the wall next to the security door, so he ducked down behind it as two more black-armored people stepped out. Both were armed, so it was a bad idea to take them on from the front, so he remained still, hoping that their masks would give them tunnel-vision enough to not see him. Apparently this worked long enough for them to pass right by him after coming through the security door, and McGee was about to shoot them in the back, when they noticed their man in the kennel.

Instantly running to check on him, the Detective, adjusted his aim before firing a single shot; not at them, but at the large button on the wall. He was dead for certain if he missed, but thankfully he didn't, with all those extra hours at the firing range paying off when the bullet hit the button just as they reached the wall. The transparent door opened, and then the screaming started as the rabid, hairless dogs attacked. McGee ran through the security door as the dogs took the black-armored men down, and the service elevator was still there, so it only took a second for the doors to open.

Pushing the only button as he stepped inside, the doors closed, and he was on his way back up. Remembering that it was only a short ride, he crouched down toward the side of the door, keeping his newly acquired weapon ready as it came to a stop. The Detective's finger was tense on the trigger when the door opened, but thankfully no one was there to meet him. It now occurred to him that it might have been a better idea to knock one of the men out and steal armor and mask, but that strategy could have also gotten him shot, so it was best to go with what he had.

Now that no one was talking or being dragged around, the facility was eerily quiet, with the only sound besides the hum of the fluorescent lights, being the soft sound of his own steps. There was still no one around when he got back to that first junction, and now he at least had an idea of where to go, but it was a tough decision. The way forward would take him back to the large elevator and back to that dark place they had been when he first woke up, and this would be a good way to go for help, but there was no guarantee that he would find it any time soon, leaving the others trapped there.

The other two paths led to his teammates, but he couldn't go after both groups at the same time, so he had to use a little logic. Three of the black-armored people had gone with Chambers and Lopez, but the administrators had gone with the two who were handling Liquid and Carver. There was also a chance that the two who had come down the elevator had belonged to one of those groups, but they all looked alike, so there was no way to tell which ones. In the end it all came down to the simple choice of left or right, Chambers and Lopez or Liquid and Carver, so after a quick game of eenie-meenie-miney-moe, he went after the two Rookies.

However, he had only gone around the first corner, when he nearly ran into one of the black-armored people, a woman, causing them both to gasp and jump back. She immediately went for her rifle, so out of reflex the Detective made an upward swing with his rifle's stock, but hit only her mask, causing it to get knocked upward. Now blinded, the woman started firing wildly, putting several holes into the wall in her effort to hit him, but McGee was able to step out of the way and hit her in the elbow with the stock, making her rifle fall to the floor. He then hit her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her as she bent forward, before doing another upward swing that caught her in the forehead.

She crashed to the floor on her back, and was still; her only movement being to turn her head to the side as she moaned weakly. This was a good opportunity to get some information, so he knelt down and rolled her onto her back, holding her arms in place as he restrained her with her own handcuffs. She was starting to come out of it as the mask fell off, moaning and moving around more, so with both rifles slung over his shoulder, McGee roughly pulled her to her feet; one hand on her wrists, and the other pulling her hair to keep her off balance by keeping her head tilted back as far as it would go.

"What happened?" She kind of slurred. "Ow, my head."

"Task Force Arklay happened, that's what." He answered sternly. "Now you be a good girl, and help me get my friends."

She stumbled a bit, but she was a skinny little thing, so it was easy for him to hold her up as they walked the rest of the way to the holding area. Naturally, the two Rookies were surprised to see him, but Chambers seemed more focused on the woman once McGee used her card to let them out. Grabbing her by the front of the shirt, Chambers pulled her away from the Detective before ramming his knee into her stomach. He then made her stand back up, pulled her in for a very long and drawn out kiss, and finally kicked her legs out from under her while shoving her forward.

"Ha!" He exclaimed as her head smacked onto the ground. "Bet you never had a man sweep you off your feet like that before, huh?"

But she didn't respond, instead laying there completely motionless as a small amount of blood began to pool around her head. A little bit of the color drained out of the Rookie's face as Lopez knelt down to check her pulse, and even more when the half-blond man shook his head before getting back up.

"Holy crap, Chambers." He said. "You killed her, man."

"I didn't mean to." Chambers quickly responded. "Aw, man, what am I gonna do?"

"Nothing." McGee interrupted. "These jackasses assaulted and kidnapped us, and I just killed three of them when they tried to feed me to a bunch of rabid dogs. I don't know if any of this is related to The Cannibal Murders, but these people are sick, and they've still got some of our people."

The people they were up against were armed and trained, so it was more important now than ever for them to keep their heads in the game. Who knows what had been happening to the others during this little rescue, but now they were going to stop it. Giving the woman's rifle to Lopez, and her pistol to Chambers, the Detective now lead them back down the hall and toward the mysterious Quarantine where Liquid and Carver had been taken.