AN: Short-ish chapter this time (if you call 11 pages 'short'), for the sake of a good stopping point. I was definitely writing and developing ideas for another fandom while doing this (Rise of the Guardians, if anyone is interested). Mostly because I need something lighter to write every once in a while to balance out the seriousness. Also, college keeps me busy. College will eat up your time and energy like nobody's business. I'm not kidding. I'm studying my tail off this semester so I can keep my scholarship.
I'd like to thank the people who reviewed last chapter. It's nice to know that even though I can't post as often as I used to, people are still sticking around to appreciate my work. A huge thank you to SaiyanEpicness, Johnclaw Dragonhelm-Kitengreen, and anyone else I may have forgotten!
Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or its characters. Non-canon characters are my responsibility. Except for Delfredi, he was spawned from jedispartan217's imagination.
The group moved out into the hallway. Billy took the lead as his eyes adjusted to the tunnels. "Okay," he warned the three women as they came out behind Carlos, "Follow us if you don't feel like getting lost. If you fall behind, it's your own damn loss."
With that said, he turned and began walking. "Sheesh. Little rough around the edges, isn't he?" Kate whispered to her friends as she helped a slightly woozy Steve get feeling back in his legs again.
"The guy's been in prison for the last several years; I can't blame him for getting cranky," Stevie replied. "How are you holding up, No-Eyes?"
Mattie staggered behind Kate. "I still can't see very well," she replied, holding her arms in front of her as she walked forward, "And don't call me names!"
Stevie gave a small smile. "Here, cling to me," she instructed, moving one of Mattie's hands to the back straps of her uniform's protective vest, "We don't want you getting lost when we've come all this way to rescue you. Rest your eyes for now. The scenery is gonna get much brighter when we're out of this place."
Mattie grabbed the vest and cast her eyes to the ground. ". . . I guess I'm not the brave soldier you guys thought I'd be, huh?" she said sadly.
"Don't cut yourself down like that," Stevie reassured her, "You've been ridiculously patient so far. Which reminds me: Parker says 'Thanks for saving my skin from the Hunters!' And who says you're a bad soldier, anyway?"
"Alfred."
"Well he's a cross-dressing pansy; what would he know about soldiering?"
Mattie gave a small laugh, a relieved smile crossing her face. "At least I have some peace knowing Parker made it out alright," she commented.
"Eyup!" Stevie added, "And Piers is holding down the fort until we get back to HQ."
The half-blind cadet raised an eyebrow. "Really?" she asked quizzically, "I thought he'd come along with you guys, seeing as how Chris and I went MIA in the same area."
"The BSAA still has him on forced leave after Edonia," Stevie explained. "Guy looks like a wreck. I heard he was glad to see you when he and Chris got out of that war zone, though."
"Yeah, he was..." Mattie agreed, then her voice became solemn. "Many unforgivable things happened that day in Edonia."
"Afraid so," the blue-eyed cadet added.
"That's why we have to find Chris," a third, softer voice joined in.
Stevie flinched and whipped her head around, only to find Kate appear at her side. "When did you sneak over here?!"
"Steve seems to be back to his senses and can walk without my help," the older cadet explained. "I managed to distract him and slip away. He's Carlos' problem now."
"Stop asking me for food, loco!" Carlos spoke, not too far ahead of the girls, "I told you I don't have anything!"
"But I'm starving!" Steve whined.
"Hey, would you two shut up?" Billy admonished them, "We don't need the extra noise."
Mattie and Kate shared a short giggle. "Sucks to be them, now," the calmer agent spoke with an amused grin, only to clamp her eyes shut and shudder a second afterward.
"You okay, buddy?" Stevie asked tentatively.
Kate shook her head and looked back up at her friends. "I think I'm fine," she said, "But Excella's getting a little aggressive. I think she's prodding at my psyche." The older agent flinched again and hissed in discomfort. "Or she's just trying to give me a migraine. And I really need to stop giving her ideas, curse my imagination."
"What should I do about Alfred?" Mattie asked, leaning towards her friends so they could hear, "He won't leave me alone."
"Rule #1," the older woman replied, "Know your enemy. Try to respond in ways that make him think it's not worth the energy to bother you. I tried that with Excella earlier, but it seems like she's busted through that strategy." Kate hissed again as another ache pounded against her skull. "What I'm suggesting is, 'Don't give him anything to exploit'. If he can't do that, Alfred might stop bothering you."
"But he always tries! No matter what I do!" the half-blind cadet responded, a clear note of desperation creeping into her voice. "I-I just want-" A sharp jolt of pain flew up the Mattie's arm, interrupting her sentence with a pained shout as she grasped the bandaged limb.
"Mattie! You alright?!" Stevie asked, her words going unheard as the blind cadet gasped in pain. "What do we do?"
"I don't know! " Kate replied under her breath, "I'm running out of ideas! There's gotta be something we can do to help her."
Stevie gave a short, frustrated growl. "C'mon Mattie. Think about something else!" she tried.
"I-I'm trying!" the distressed agent replied. "Gotta think . . . Chris. . . Jill . . you guys . . . Quint, Keith, Parker, Piers . . . Piers..."
"Just hang in there, Mattie. Don't listen to anything Alfred says to you," Kate instructed, only to clench her eyes shut and grit her teeth in frustration. "Just stop already, Excella," the older cadet warned, "You're really beginning to get on my nerves. . . . I'm- I'm not powerless! I'm doing the best I can!"
Stevie turned to her other comrade. "Ah great, not you too! Stay with me, Kate!" she urged, grasping her other companion by the shoulders.
"Keep the noise down!" Billy scolded, "Do you want them to find us!?"
"Not a good time, dude!" Stevie snapped back.
A few more seconds passed and Mattie began to relax. The cadet reopened her eyes, glancing about her before releasing a large sigh. "He- he's gone..." She said, a soft smile crossing her face. "I guess Piers is looking out for me, somehow."
"I wouldn't be surprised if he does," Stevie commented.
Kate sighed in relief. "Glad that's over with," she added, "Now how do I get Excella off my case? It's getting awfully obnoxious." She turned her eyes elsewhere. " . . . well so is your face," the bespectacled cadet replied to her invisible tormentor.
"Don't think about anything bad," Mattie instructed. "Think of someone- er, someTHING that makes you happy. That's what I did," she added, turning away from her comrades so they wouldn't notice the faint shade of pink that appeared on her cheeks.
The oldest of the three sighed again, this time trying to relax. "Okay, happy place, where's my happy place?" Kate said to herself. Within seconds, a serene smile spread across her face as well. "There it is."
Stevie chuckled at her friends' behavior. "Oi, don't start zoning out on us, now," she reminded, nudging an elbow into Kate's ribs for good measure, earning a semi-annoyed glare from her comrade in retaliation.
Mattie gave a short laugh, a bright sound the other two thought they would never hear in the darkness. "There are the two weirdos I know, which reminds me!" She grabbed her two companions and pulled them towards her, wrapping them in a tight bear hug on either side.
Kate let out a small, pleased squeak of contentment at the sudden affection, whereas Stevie choked out a series of groans. "Ow, . . .Mattie. .. . those are my bones!" the blue-eyed cadet whined, squirming as she tried to escape her friend's grasp.
"Huh?" The half-blind cadet murmured, blinking at her friends in confusion before she realized how hard she was squeezing them. "Oh! Sorry! Sorry!" she apologized, setting both of them gently back down.
Stevie groaned, checking her ribs for bruises. "Blimey, Mattie, have you been working out down here?" she inquired. Her eyes widened as they fell on the limb that had held her. "Wait a sec, that arm's your bad-"
"Ay, chicas. We're here," Carlos' voice interrupted, drawing the trio's attention. The men had stopped moving. Up ahead of them was a corridor as wide as the hall, with a staircase leading up. "She always took us up through here," the ex-convict spoke, "Hopefully no one is waiting for us at the top."
With that said, the group began to ascend the stairs, gazing upwards, searching for the end. Within seconds, a strip of white appeared above their heads, growing bigger and bigger as they moved up. Soon they were at the top, forced to squint as they surveyed the bright space before them. The room was shaped like a gladiator's arena, even with a darkened viewing window near the ceiling. A series of open corridors lined the right-hand side of the room; these were probably sealed off when Billy and Carlos' 'Playtime' came around, Stevie mused. The party crossed the threshold, only to hear their enemy's voice overhead.
"Ah, it looks like my 'Playtime" is no match for you," Delfredi greeted them over the intercom, "Your minds and wills are stronger than I anticipated. You even accepted the help of strangers. Having fun yet?"
"Fun?" Billy spat, glaring up at the viewing window. "You locked us up and put these collars on us! Just what the hell have you done?!"
Delfredi laughed. "You'll find out in good time," he replied, "In the meanwhile, a little birdie told me that you broke the rules."
"WHAT?" Stevie erupted angrily, her voice bouncing around the room.
"Impossible. We've followed your rules to the letter!" Kate asserted, adding her voice to the echo.
"Oh, you must have misunderstood me," Delfredi mocked. The women grew quiet. "You spoke amongst each other during the third 'Playtime'. That's against the rules. You were supposed to be silent from the 2nd 'Playtime' onward."
"That's bull!" Stevie shouted, her voice echoing around the room. "How do you know we even spoke!? I didn't see any of your cameras down there!"
Delfredi chuckled at the outburst. "True, I couldn't see you. But Veronica did."
"She must have been spying on us," Kate muttered in an undertone.
"Of course she'd snitch," her taller partner growled in reply.
"Since you two broke the rules," Delfredi continued, "I have no choice but to make your 'Playtime' harder."
The two women opened their mouths to retaliate, only to be interrupted by harsh grunts and gasps behind them. They whirled their heads around to find Billy and Carlos bent over, grasping at their chests as unfamiliar shapes appeared and crawled under their skin.
"Billy! Carlos! Are you guys okay?!" Mattie shouted to them.
"What do you think?! Do we look okay?!" Billy growled back.
Carlos fell to his knees, panting for breath. "Hurry!" he grunted, "Before he gets you too!"
"What's going on?! Guys?!" Mattie asked, squinting her eyes trying to see clearly.
Another set of groans sounded, this time from Steve. The agents looked to him to see him stare at his hands as a familiar green tint covered his skin. "No . . . Not this again," he murmured under his breath, then looked up at the girls. "You have to get out of here! Hurry!"
Three fountains of blood erupted all at once, accompanied by shouts of pain as red painted the floor. Billy and Carlos' skin took on a sickly yellow tint and stretched in unnatural ways as limbs extended. With a painful shout, several spikes pierced through their clothes, growing larger and taller as the fabric was ripped to scraps.
"Wha-what's happening!?" Mattie cried, her voice shaky with fear as she stepped away from the pools of blood that formed on the ground.
"I hope you enjoy my version of 'Hide-and-seek'," Delfredi taunted from above, "Don't die too early now."
The agents' attention snapped back to the men when the intercom clicked off. "Hurry! You have to go!" Steve urged, groaning in pain as his limbs grew longer, adding to his height. He looked up and met two sets of shocked eyes. "Claire! Get your friends out of here!"
"Steve-!" Kate began.
Billy and Carlos' heads whipped around at the sound of her voice, revealing red, animalistic eyes. " You have to go! I'll keep them off you! Go!" Steve urged as he stepped between the women and the monsters, "Go now!"
The oldest cadet stood stunned, unable to believe what she was seeing. "Kate! C'mon!" she heard someone yell. The bespectacled agent snapped back to reality to find Stevie appear next to her with Mattie in tow. "We can't fight them! This way!" the taller female urged, gesturing to the open corridors.
The three women sprinted into the one of the side passages, and while it took a while for their eyes to adjust to the lack of light, they kept running. "Turn left!" Stevie warned, giving enough time to keep her semi-blind friend from crashing into a wall. Once they were in, a roar echoed in the passage behind them. It was close. The monsters were coming after them.
As she and her friends ran, Kate dared to glance behind, her brain working overtime thanks to adrenaline. The passage was narrow, but one explosion in the right spot...
The older cadet skidded to a stop and turned back towards the intersecting path. "Kate! What in the world are you doing?!" Stevie shouted to her.
"Go on ahead! I got an idea to slow 'em down!" the older agent urged. As her friends vanished into the corridor, Kate took a grenade from inside her harness and looped a finger around the pin. Another roar echoed into the corridor, this time from closer inside.
There was no time to hesitate. She pulled the pin, dropped the grenade, and sprinted back up the passage, aiming to put as much space between herself and the impending explosion.
BLAM!
The following shock of air forced the bespectacled agent to the ground, only for her to get back up and continue her wild sprint, hearing a pained roar behind her as pieces of rubble fell from the ceiling and filled the doorway of the passage. The rocks continued falling until the doorway was solidly blocked. Nothing could get past it without bringing more rocks upon their head. Not even Tyrants.
Kate took one last look at the barrier. Satisfied, she grinned wildly as she timed her breaths and jogged further into the shadowed corridor.
She found Stevie and Mattie leaning against a wall. "Hey, you're back," Stevie greeted wearily, supporting Mattie by volunteering to be a mock crutch.
"Are you guys all right?" Kate asked as she slowed to catch her breath. "Status report."
"I think I twisted my ankle earlier, but other than that, we're fine," Mattie stated, "What was that blast we heard earlier?"
Before the other agent could answer, Delfredi's voice came on over the intercom, unleashing an enraged growl before speaking. "You're ruining everything! My test subjects subdued by traps, my prisoner gone, and you still refuse to understand what I am trying to do! I'll make sure you pay-!" Hacking coughs cut off the speech. "V-Veronica! Veronica! Where are my pills! -"
"Pills...?" Mattie repeated, squinting up into the darkness for the source of the madman's voice.
"Sounds like this guy has a weakness," Stevie added under her breath.
Delfredi's voice came back. "Bah! I've- had it with you! Don't you ever tire of foiling me!?" His words were spaced by heaving breaths, "You must understand what I am working towards! Don't you get it?! The past will always come back to haunt you! You can only rely on yourselves! The world needs to change so the future can be better! Join me, or you can never be a part of it!" A metallic crash sounded through the speaker. "Sir! Your voice modulator!" Veronica's frantic voice sounded. Delfredi gave a low growl, and the intercom shut off.
"Well, at least we lost the monsters," Kate noted, taking one last glance at the rubble pile.
Stevie sighed and put her hands on her hips. "Now we gotta find a way out of here. Otherwise you just single-handedly doomed us all." She licked one of her fingers and held it to the air. "...There's a breeze. Smell that? Fresh air. Or at least cleaner air. We should be able to get out of this corridor."
Mattie slunk against the wall, hitting the floor with a soft 'thud'. "I'm exhausted. What time is it?" she asked.
Kate checked her watch. She saw the numbers, but didn't want to acknowledge how long she'd been awake. "Early morning," she replied, opening one of her pockets. After a little digging around, she unearthed a protein bar and a half-empty bottle of water. "Here. It's no chicken dinner, but it's what we've got," she said, offering the nourishment to Mattie, who gratefully accepted.
"Never thought I'd be glad to see one of these bricks again," the rescued cadet commented in a sarcastic tone. Nevertheless, she ripped the packaging open and starting gnawing on the protein bar.
"I think we should rest until we get some of our strength back," the older agent suggested to Stevie, "My adrenaline stores are depleted."
The taller cadet nodded in agreement. "How long do you think Delfredi going to keep this up?" she asked.
Kate sighed and slid down the wall to sit next to Mattie. "If he wanted us dead or as test subjects, he'd have done worse by now," she deduced, "Something tells me he's playing with us. He wants to be found, and he wants us to face him. If that's what's going to happen, we'll need as much energy as we can get."
"I don't get it," Mattie added, "If he wants to be found, then why make you go through his 'Playtime'?"
The older girl exhaled deeply. "My guess, he's wants to see if we're worthy opponents," she said, "He won't bother coming out if we give up or go insane, whichever comes first,"
"That's not gonna happen," Stevie added before walking a short ways into the passage ahead. "You guys rest up."
"But-!" Mattie started.
"No buts!"
The half-blind agent's eyes hardened. "I want to help," she insisted.
"And what about you? Aren't you tired as well?" Kate added.
"You guys under much more mental stress than I am," the blue-eyed agent said, "At least no one's entered my brain. I'll keep guard. We'll switch off after an hour or two. Some sleep is better than none. And considering what just happened, this might be the most peace we get for a while."
Kate nodded. "Alright." She turned to Mattie as Stevie walked off. "You holding up okay?" she asked.
"My arm still hurts," Mattie groaned as she shifted against the wall.
"We should check to make sure it hasn't gotten worse," the long-haired cadet suggested. "May I?"
Mattie rolled her eyes and begrudgingly stretched her bad arm towards Kate. "You sure we're safe here?" the semi-blind cadet asked.
"I doubt they can get to us through that rubble. And the smell of gunpowder should have thrown them off our scent," the older cadet explained as she began unwinding the bandages, "But still, we better not make too much noise. I don't know if their hearing's improved."
"Okay."
Kate examined her friend's arm carefully. It was difficult to see in the dim light, but she could see enough without a flashlight. "It hasn't spread. I'll take that as good news," the calm agent said as she started winding the bandages back up her friend's arm.
"Do you think there's a cure?" Mattie asked.
The older agent bowed her head for a moment, unwilling to speak her mind. "I don't know," she admitted, "If we can find Delfredi's notes, the BSAA scientists might be able to do something-" The brunette woman's train of thought ground to a halt upon seeing a solemn, grave look cross Mattie's features. "Hey. . ." Kate spoke, grabbing hold of her friend's shoulder, grasping it gently as not to cause pain. "We're not letting this infection beat you without a fight. Okay?" the bespectacled agent tried to reassure her, "You know what we're gonna do? We're going to do everything we can to make sure this thing doesn't hurt you anymore than it has. Alright?"
Mattie nodded and looked into her comrade's eyes. "I just hate feeling so helpless," she replied with a small shrug, "And I really wish Piers was here right now."
Kate sighed. "I don't like being helpless either. But we need to rest," she whispered, "We'll need our strength for whatever Delfredi throws at us."
"Alfred's been quiet for a while now," Mattie added. "Do you think he's gone for good?"
"More likely biding his time," the older woman commented, "Come to think of it, Excella's left me alone for a while too. I've been waiting for her to reappear for some time now; it's like Chinese water torture."
Mattie chuckled. "Alright. Nighty night," she said, moving down to lie next to her friend's side.
With her friend falling asleep, Kate's thoughts turned inwards. "What was I thinking?! Freezing up like that earlier?!" she silently admonished herself, "I could've died once already in the tunnels, and now it happened in front of BOWs! Stupid! Stupid! . . . Maybe I'm not cut out to be a field agent; there are so many reasons why. Breaking orders was a bad idea." Her thoughts turned to the room she and her friends had fled from. "I hope Steve's alright. Sure, he's mutated before. But . . ." Even with his own mutation, Billy and Carlos had still dwarfed him by comparison. Who knew if he was able to hold them off without getting hurt himself? The oldest cadet blinked tears away from her eyes. In the short time they had traveled in the tunnels of the prison level, she had already become somewhat attached to Steve Burnside; she didn't want his death on her conscience. Nevertheless, there wasn't anything else she could do now, except to rest and conserve her energy. With that in mind, the bespectacled cadet leaned against the wall, letting her head fall forward as she closed her eyes.
Meanwhile, Stevie stood steadfast in front of the camp, watching the hall should anything come up. "This is too much," she decided, "Any civilian would give up by now, but that's not an option. We have no choice but to move forward." She glanced back at her companions, finding them in the throes of restful sleep. "Jill's a strong soldier. I know she can tough this out. But the others . . . I'm beginning to fear for their mental states. Seeing Billy and the others change into monsters in front of them was a serious scare. Even I'm beginning to think this whole thing is a little hopeless. We'd better find Jill soon."
One by one, their minds fell silent. And all they could do was rest and wait.
AN: Don't forget to review! It lets me know that people are still reading and enjoying this story.