A/N: I gotta tell you guys, insomnia is a real bitch to deal with. I've slept only a handful of hours in the last week and have to force myself into sleep-paralysis via melatonin just so that my body won't be run down. So either I spend my nights counting the number of ceiling tiles in my room while waiting for sleep to take me, or I read and write. The answer is pretty obvious to stave off the boredom.
But I digress, let's get on with the show!
Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil.
Chapter 9:
"Only the unknown frightens men. But once a man has faced that unknown, that terror becomes the known." - Antonie De Saint-Exupery
Pushing through the layers of dust and cobwebs and ignoring the suffocatingly close walls, Ethan continued to crawl his way through the air shaft. It was a tight fit given his broad shoulders along with his vest and equipment, he had to leave the shotgun back with Billy so that he could move through the small space.
He could hear Rebecca crawling through the shaft behind him, a sigh of exasperation coming through his lips knowing making her stand guard with Billy would have been a losing battle. He knew where they were heading, knew how they could get out of this place, but they had to go about it a certain way if they were to get out safely.
Though with multiple people watching their every move via cameras, and most likely leeches, it was hard to say what constituted as 'safe' anymore.
Picture of the facility's map in his mind, he continued to crawl through the vent until he was met with the metal grille covering the exit. A quick elbow to the center sent the cover clattering to the stone floor it had been suspended over.
Peering out into the room, he grabbed the edges of the opening and pulled himself out. Flipping his legs under him when they came out and landing on the floor in a crouch. Eyes immediately scanning for threats as he looked around the room.
Everything from the walls, ceiling and floor were made fo stone, dank, empty, and if it wasn't for the flickering light fixtures over head it would have been pitch black as well. Through the shadows he could make out chains and manacles fixed to the walls along with other devices that looked to have been used to inflict a lot of pain. There was even something that looked like a damn iron-maiden in the corner.
He also took notice of the huge hole in the floor being covered up by old wooden boards close to the center of the room and made a not to avoid it at all costs.
Put he could also make out the dark, crusty stains on the walls and floor. The strong smell of copper, decay and feces telling him all he needed to know. 'Is this suppose to be a holding room...or a fucking torture chamber?' he wondered.
"Ethan? How does it look in there?" Rebecca asked poking her head out of the vent.
"Stay there, let me make sure the room is secure first." he replied, taking out his Samurai Edge and flicking the fire selector to burst-fire before keeping his finger hovering over the trigger. Keeping his back to the wall so nothing could get into his blind spot.
Seeing a door in the South-West corner, he picked up his radio knowing where it led to. "Billy, it's Ethan. There's a door in here for a small room that leads back to the corridor we were just in. The map should point it out, can you meet us there?" he said into the device while keeping his eyes scanning on the shadows.
"Gotcha, I'm on my way." replied the ex-Lieutenant.
The moment Billy finished speaking, Ethan caught sight of movement out of his field of vision. A shadow moved along the wall on the far end, small, fast. A couple of chains rattled from the sudden movement.
"Ethan-" Rebecca started to say seeing it as well.
"Shh..." he said cutting her off. Raising his weapon as another shadow skittered from a corner. "Stay there, get your weapon out and cover me from your vantage point. Don't let anything get behind me."
He started moving slowly into the room. One foot, two feet, three. That's when the shrieking started.
It came from all directions, rebounding off the stone walls making it feel like he was surrounded. High-pitched, monkey-like in nature, and rabid.
The traveler tried to block out the noise and tried to focus on where it could be coming from. One of the shadows in the corner came out into the light, a creature resembling a baboon with short-white fur. Tears running through it revealing muscles that had grown too large for its skin to handle and was now exposed. Its large hands ended with long, razor-sharp claws that could part skin like it was butter.
Its lips curled back over yellow teeth, grinning maliciously as it moved forward on its hands and feet. Another shriek could be heard from the only other vent in the room, the one in the ceiling, shook a moment from something moving inside. The grate falling to the floor as a second monkey dropped into the room, landing in a crouch and sending what could have been a glare at the teen as he observed his opposition.
From the vent, the young medic felt her heart rate pick up seeing the infected animals. More sounds came from the vent the second one had come from telling her that more were coming and soon.
She pulled her own Beretta, laying on her stomach in the shaft as she aimed from her higher vantage point. "Guys? What's going on?" Billy's voice came over the radio. Rebecca quickly fished her radio from her belt and pressed the button on it. "Shh," she said softly back, afraid that his voice would startle the creatures and make them attack Ethan who stood perfectly still, weapon half-raised as he waited for one of the infected animals to make the first move.
He didn't wait long. One of the baboons squatted lower, legs tensing like springs before launching forward. Shrieking loudly as it closed the gap quickly.
Ethan's weapon snapped up, the slide stuttering as three-rounds flew from the barrel. Two punched through the creature's torso, the last going through its right eye ending it completely.
The second one leaped as well, the rookie spun right and let loose another burst that sent it crashing to the floor motionless while two more dropped into the room from the vent.
From behind him, he heard two shots ring out from the shaft where Rebecca was still set up. One missed and hit floor, the second caused one of the two infected apes to screech. The bullet striking it in the shoulder, spinning it around while the other came at the older rookie with claws extended to shred flesh.
The profiler knew the distance was too close to get his weapon up in time, acting on reflex, he leaned back just far enough for the things razor-sharp talons to miss his face by inches. Spinning on his heel and slamming his foot into the monkey's back and sending it crashing face first into the wall.
A sickening crunch echoed through the room, the infected ape sliding to the floor with its skull cracked wide open. Dark blood smearing on the wall as it fell to the floor in a crumpled heap. Silence filling the room soon after, but Ethan refused to let his guard down in the off-chance that there were more in hiding.
Rebecca pulled herself out of the shaft, flipping and landing on her feet as she stepped farther into the chamber. "Think that was all of them?" she asked looking over the closest corpse.
"Not sure, but keep your guard up just in case." replied the older teen as they scanned the darkness to be sure that nothing else tried to jump out at them. "Guess this proves that the virus can cross species as well. First the dogs, now monkeys along with humans."
"Could be worse," said the young medic. "There could be infected lions or bears down here too."
Ethan rolled his eyes in her direction, "Please, don't jinx us. Zombies, undead animals, and giant insects are bad enough." Something moving in the corner behind her caught his attention. At first he thought it was a trick of the bad lighting, but then he caught sight of white and red heading right for her. "Rebecca watch out!" he shouted.
Rebecca spun around just as the lone monkey leapt at her, mouth wide open dripping saliva and hands outstretched to grab her. She barely had enough time to dodge out of the way, the tips of the creature's claws passing through her hair and missing her scalp by only a little and causing her to trip over a broken board. Dropping her gun on the stone floor as her small body slammed on to the collection of planks in the center of the room that groaned loudly from the impact.
The medic had all of a few seconds to collect herself before the boards collapsed and fell into the large hole they had been covering up.
"REBECCA!" Ethan shouted hearing her scream as she fell. He tossed his weapon aside and threw himself after her. Grabbing her hand before she disappeared through the opening completely, his other hand lashed out and grabbed the ledge surrounding the hole and finding a good hold that stopped them both from falling.
Hissing through his teeth when he felt the muscles in his arms pop in a couple of places, he looked down to see Rebecca's wide, terrified eyes looking right back up at him as she dangled from his grasp. "I got you!" he called down, making sure that he had a good grip on her wrist as he tried to pull her up.
As small as she was, and given the stretch his arms were doing just to keep them where they were, he could barely get her half-way up his body without losing his grip on either her or the ledge. 'Fuck! Gotta think, come on!' he raged in his thoughts.
As if fate itself was reminding them of how bad their situation really was. Both rookies heard the familiar screeches of infected monkeys, along with the metallic banging of them moving through the vent not far from where they were hanging.
Two more primates fell from the small opening and began hopping around, joining the third that had attacked Rebecca. Their blood-shot eyes locking into the gloved hand holding the edge of the large hole in the holding chamber and began to move slowly toward it.
"Shit!" Ethan cursed under his breath as he heard the creatures getting closer. He was defenseless, and if he released either of his grips one or both of them would die.
"Ethan..." he looked down at the younger girl. Her eyes shining with unshed tears, the fear in them very readable as she reached up and clamped her other hand on his forearm. "I d-don't want to die..." she pleaded, sounding small and the opposite of the courageous girl he'd known.
The traveler knew then and there just how much this situation was effecting her. They'd looked death in the face, literally given all the zombies they'd seen, so much in the last couple of hours that she buried all her fear for the sake of staying focused. But despite all the bravado and the training she possessed, she was more afraid of all of this than he was.
His grip on her tightened, "I'm not letting you go." he said with conviction, eyes locking with hers a moment before turning to look back up. His heart dropping when he saw the three infected animals leering down at him. Yellow teeth exposed as they grunted back and forth, air wheezing through their noses as they breathed.
Ethan glared back in defiance, "I'm not letting go..." he said as the creatures shrieked. Raising their claws to slice into his flesh...
There was a loud bang of metal on stone, the infected apes looked off to the side and screeched before several gunshots rang out. The creatures shook when each round found purchase and collapsed to the ground, one of them pitching to the side and falling down into the pit and missing the teens by a foot.
"Ethan!? Rebecca?!" Billy's voice rang out filling the profiler with relief.
"Billy! Down here!" he shouted back. A moment later the ex-Lieutenant was standing by the hole, looking down at them shocked, "Hang on guys, I got you." he said kneeling down, setting his pistol aside as he grabbed Ethan's arm with both hands and pulled up.
The weight of both teens was a bit much, but Billy was able to get them high enough for the profiler to have Rebecca grab the ledge with both her hands. Helping them both out of the pit and away from certain death. Ethan had a second to catch his breath before his fellow rookie slammed into him. Knocking him to the floor with arms locked tightly around him as she cried into his neck.
Ignoring the fact that she was on top of him, Ethan wrapped his arms around the trembling girl. Tears of relief soaking into his vest as he embraced her, letting her know that everything was okay, that she was okay. "I got you, Becs." he said pressing his face into her hair.
Rebecca slowly pushed herself up and looked him in the face. A second later her lips were on his. A kiss filled with gratitude along with an array of other emotions he couldn't decipher given what had just occurred.
She pulled back, a soft gleam in her eyes as she rested her forehead against his. "You saved my life...Ethan, I..." she couldn't find the words.
The older teen kissed her forehead, "You don't have to thank me, darlin. And you never will. I'll always be there to catch you." he said softly.
Billy turned around and scratched the back of his head. It was obviously a tender moment between the two of them and he didn't want to interrupt them. After he'd heard the screeching and the gunshots he beat-feet as fast as he could to where the two of them had wound up. He didn't think twice before shooting the monkeys when he saw them and was glad he had gotten there in time.
"Billy." he turned around and saw the two rookies standing. Ethan held out his hand and clasped it with his. "Thank you. You saved our asses, I owe you one."
The soldier smirked, "You gave me a chance, something no one has done in months since winding up in jail. At this point I consider us even."
Rebecca picked up her dropped gun and regarded the man, "You're obviously not a killer, Billy. Why were you on your way to Ragithon? Were you...involved with those murders that Ethan and my Captain mentioned?"
He met her gaze evenly, "In a way. I was there." he said before looking away. "But people believe what they want to believe, whether it's the truth or not."
"Not everyone." said Ethan holstering his pistol after scooping it back up. "I know when people lie to me, and I know for a fact that you didn't kill anyone when you answered my questioning. We're not going to judge, Billy. But knowing your story will help us understand."
The soldier was silent a few moments, neither of them knew if he was going to say anything or not. "Last year, my unit was sent to Africa to intervene in a civil war," he finally said. "Classified stuff, our country pleading no involvement, that kind of thing. We were tasked with raiding a guerrilla hideout during the hottest part of summer, dropped outside the strike zone in the middle of the jungle for cover."
"After hiking a ways..." he paused. Gripping his dog tags as he seemed to remember that time vividly. "The heat got half of our team. The enemy took out most of the rest, picking us off one after another. By the time we got there, there was just four of us. All of us exhausted, half crazy, sick with the heat, and watching our friends getting slaughtered didn't do us any favors either."
"When we got there, we were ready to blow them all away. Payback for the losses we suffered for the sake of the mission. But when we got there, the hideout wasn't a hideout. It was just some village with a bunch of farmers. Old men and women, children." his fists clenched. "Our squad leader ordered us to round them up, then..."
Ethan reached out and held his shoulder, "You tried to stop them, didn't you?"
Billy nodded, "They knocked me to the ground. I was barely conscious, but I saw them killing the villagers. When we got picked up, it was their word against mine. There was a trial, sentencing, and here we are. No matter how this place turns out I'm dead, it's either this, or run and keep running."
Rebecca was looking at him in a new light. Feeling bad about her earlier assumptions even though she knew that Ethan was a good judge when it came to a person's character. Billy Coen wasn't a killer, he was a good man who had been dealt a horrible hand and was paying for the actions of others because of it.
She saw her fellow rookie send a look her way, a thought projecting through them that came to her own mind.
When all of this was over, neither of them would have the heart to arrest him.
X
He watched them after the two younger members of the group fought against the primate specimens. How they had fallen into the pit together, the many cooing at the belief that they had met their demise only to be disappointed that the murderer was able to save them both long enough for their other companion to save them.
After a brief rest from their ordeal, they went about the rest of the basement level. Stocking up on ammunition and various other supplies that had been left behind when the facility fell into ruin.
Impressed, and disappointed at their fortitude, the young man turned his attention back to the murderer himself. Still very much intrigued by this one individual. So willing to throw his life away for the safety of his female accomplice, their interaction after they were saved cemented the fact that they shared a strong bond with one another.
A bond that could be used to his advantage should the need arise in the near future.
Seeing them consulting their maps again, the group came to a decision and started making their way back upstairs. Presumably for the observatory while the children watched their every move.
He had the many seek out the tablets that would be needed for their passage. Having them taken to the doors that led to the observatory, and given their show of team work and intelligence, they should be able to figure out how to activate the building's rotation which would lead them closer to their escape.
From there, they'd have to move on to the laboratory that was located behind the chapel...
He wondered what they would find there, in Marcus's laboratories. More for the female to steal perhaps? He wanted them to uncover everything they could about Umbrella's true nature, even though they had gained his ire for going through the remains of Marcus' career.
Even though everything had been abandoned for over a decade, Umbrella had come in and reactivated the key points of the facility. Mainly the labs, treatment plant, and the training center. Mostly run by skeleton crews, but when the virus was unleashed the company still lost valuable help.
Ethan, Rebecca and Billy made it out of the basement back to the lobby. Up the stairs and toward the second floor to the path that would take them to the third. Determination clear on their youthful faces, though the murderer would continue to glance over his shoulder every now and again.
As though he knew they were being watched.
How intelligent was this wretch? How was he so self aware of his environment to the dangers around them? He had dealt with the Eliminator series rather easily, though they were weakened by starvation and neglect. However, he was able to find their weakness rather quickly even though they had him outnumbered.
It made him wonder how such skill would fair being pitted against the Hunters. Or even the Proto-Tyrant that was being kept in the facility. The thoughts left him torn emotionally.
He wanted them to succeed, to expose Umbrella. But he also wanted them to die for what they had done to his children. Could there be a way to have both? What if they came to where he and the many were watching? What would they do?
The young man furrowed his brow in frustration. Sensing his emotions, a select few of the many slid up his legs and across his chest in a kind of embrace. He stroked them soothingly, reassuring them with his touch as he went back to observing.
If they managed to make it this far, he would let them pass so that they could reveal the truth. "Or, perhaps I'll kill them." he said with a shrug. It mattered not, either way Umbrella's downfall was assured. But watching them move about had become a simple pleasure to him. His indecision aside, the young man knew one thing for certain.
The murderer known as Ethan would pay for what he has done, one way or another.
X
After gathering a good amount of supplies and reloading their weapons, they managed to get to the top of the stairs leading to the third floor of the facility.
The trip had rather been uneventful, and their nerves were already stressed with all that had happened thus far. They took the silence as a moment to breathe and relax a bit. But Ethan couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched, and not just by the cameras.
He could have sworn that more than once he had seen shadows moving out of his field of vision. Slithering along the walls and stopping when he turned to look. It had taken him some time, but he managed to figure out that they were being watched by another source.
It was confirmed when he had reached for another herb that was in a corner back in the basement. The familiar scent of stagnant water that he had smelled back at the jeep's crash site and the train.
Leeches. And with the way they were able to come together and form a working body to attack someone with, long-range communication through sight and sound wouldn't be that much of a stretch for them. And their master must have been observing them this whole time since they arrived on the train...which would explain why so many doors and puzzles that they should have been working on had already been solved for them.
He was herding them. Either toward an exit or a trap he didn't know. But a feeling of dread went through him whenever he thought about it.
A hand on his arm snapped him back into reality, he turned to Rebecca who was watching him with concern. "Ethan, you alright? You've been lost in your own head since we left the basement." she said searching his eyes.
Ethan rubbed his eyes a bit, "I'm fine, Becs. Just trying to consider all of our options and what else could be waiting for us here. I don't want us to be caught off guard again." he admitted. It wasn't a complete lie, but he didn't want to worry her with what he had been able to observe the whole time they'd been here.
The young medic didn't look completely convinced, but let the matter drop. The fall she had survived had knocked a good deal of caution into her, and chances were the same had happened to him. His brain must have been firing a lot more than it usually did after the encounters that they have had.
A blush creeped up on her face when she remembered how he had rescued her. He threw himself into a dark pit to save her without even considering the fact that he could have died with her. Holding on even when those infected monkeys were about to tear his arm off.
Rebecca also remembered the way he held her when Billy pulled them out. The feeling of safety and warmth that came from him that she just wanted to fall into and stay in forever. A part of her just wanted this horrible night to be over, to lay on her couch in her safe apartment. Ethan's strong arms around her body giving her peace and comfort.
That wouldn't be happening any time soon...though it did give her something to look forward to when they finally escaped this nightmare.
Entering through a door when they reached the third level, the trio found themselves in a large room. According to their map, the doors leading to the observatory were on their right. Straight across was the breeding pool. A recessed, empty pit that stretched most of the room's length. And finally, the door on the right led to the outdoor patio.
"What do you think they were breeding here?" Billy asked, his voice soft but still echoed through the spacious room.
"It's probably where the leeches came from." Replied Ethan, even though he knew full well that he was only partially right. His eyes never leaving the breeding pool as they moved closer into the room, shotgun in hand as he stood waiting.
Rebecca tried the patio door and found it locked. Billy went to the one leading to the observatory and managed to open the door as a sound reverberated through the whole room. Something hard clattering against rock in quick succession like fingernails along a tabletop, only much louder.
And it was coming from the breeding pool.
Ethan pressed his shotgun to his shoulder. Racking it to chamber one of the new rounds he injected in it earlier as the noise got louder, but was being masked by the echo so none of them knew for sure where it was coming from.
Billy shouted something to them as the thing making the noise appeared out of the pool. A giant centipede that was easily four meters in length and as big around as a barrel skittered along on dozens of pointed red legs. Two glowing yellow eyes were set on either side of it's shiny black head, two long reddish antennae twitching with each movement like it was tracking something.
"RUN!" Billy shouted as he held his door open. Rebecca ran across the room, Ethan behind her as he raised the shotgun and fired at the large, multi-legged abomination.
Boom! The shot missed its target since the thing was moving so quickly. Racking the pump, the profiler kept moving back and aimed again as it drew closer to where they were headed.
Boom! This one found purchase, blowing one of the centipede's antennae clean in half causing it to emit a shriek that could have shattered glass. Yellowish blood sprayed from the small stump on its head as it flailed from the loss of one of its sensory appendages.
With it distracted, Ethan spun and double timed it to the door. Passing through and slamming it behind him as the large insect continued to screech in pain on the other side. "Well...that was interesting." he said pulling out two spare shotgun shells from his vest pocket and loading them into his gun so that it was full.
"Let's not go back that way." Rebecca said looking at the door uneasily.
"Agreed." said Billy as they looked at their new environment.
It was big, round room, bi-level. They were standing on a catwalk that circled half of the room with another set of doors at the Northern end with a short ladder close by leading down toward a metal platform with equipment.
Moving around the catwalk, Ethan grabbed the handle on the double doors and found them locked. The group of three looked at one another dismally before going down the ladder to the bottom floor and began looking at all of the different equipment that was around them.
It looked to have been an impressive place back in its prime. A large telescope dominated the room's center, its arm was high overhead and out of reach. Computer banks and various other machines lined the walls and surrounded the telescope.
Rebecca approached the base of the telescope and down at the console. Three empty depressions were on it, each shaped like a small tombstone, flat on one end and round on the other. "Looks like something was designed to go in here. Like a puzzle of some kind." she said running her fingers along the indentation.
From another corner of the room, Billy was looking over a computer console and found three stone tablets the size of paper-back books stacked on top of each other. "Got something overhere." he said picking them up and looking them over. "Think these might fit into those slots over there?"
Ethan walked over and looked at the tablets. Each one with a word inscribed in them. 'Unity. Discipline. Obedience.' Running his fingers over the stone, he pulled them back and saw a small amount of clear slime coating the tips. 'This proves my theory. The guy controlling the leeches is leading us.' he thought with his eyes narrowing.
"Obedience breeds Discipline. Discipline breeds Unity. Unity breeds Power." he recited the automated message they heard in the lobby after they arrived.
"And power is life," Rebecca finished as they took the tablets and set them in the slots in that specific order. As soon as the third tablet fell into place a loud sound filled the tall room. The sound of machines working together as they felt the room around them , including the walls , start to descend like an elevator.
Beneath the platform, the darkness that had been below began to become agitated and turn into a froth revealing it to be water. A moment later everything came to a stop. The platform now motionless once more and the sound of machinery dying away as everything fell into silence.
A resounding click was heard overhead, coming from the Northern doors they had tried to open before. "That, would be our ticket out of here." said Ethan as they ascended the ladder that had extended like the rest of the room. Reaching the catwalk and opening the doors, they stepped outside into the cool night air.
The trio found themselves on a long, narrow walk that lead to another building fifty meters ahead. The path bordered on either side by what could have been considered a lake or reservoir.
The profiler looked up at the church in the distance, the hair standing up on the back of his neck thinking about what was housed within. But there wasn't any other way around it, and they would have to face what was inside if they wanted to get out of here.
Walking forward, all three of them taking deep breaths of the misty night air, all the while keeping their eyes open for anything hostile. "Any idea where we are?" asked Billy as they treaded slowly along.
"No idea. Somewhere with a phone, I hope." replied Rebecca.
"And a Kitchen." said Ethan, "Haven't eaten anything since lunch before we headed to the precinct yesterday."
The medic at his side agreed wistfully, "Yeah. A large pizza and ice cream sounds really good right about now."
"Pepperoni?" offered Billy with a smirk.
"Extra meat." agreed Ethan.
"Half-Hawaiian with a side of pistachio ice cream." added Rebecca getting odd looks from the two men. "What? Don't knock it until you try it."
The traveler shook his head, "I did once, Becs. Remember? I don't knock you for loving it, but that snot-green treat isn't for me." his response was a pout and a light slap on the arm. Billy chuckled at their antics.
"You two act like an old married couple. It's pretty funny." he said causing both teens to freeze in mid-step. Their faces darkening at the teasing behind his words before they managed to shake it off and continue on, all the while the soldier was grinning like a cat that got the canary.
They passed by a small guard shack and their good mood died rather quickly. Inside laid a body, or at least part of a body. The legs and one arm were missing, the rest too far gone to tell whether it was either male or female as it laid face down on the floor in the middle of a thick pool of blood.
Sobering up fast at the reminder of their situation they continued on. Approaching the structure ahead of them and studying the layout for a moment.
There were small paths branching off the main walk in front of the building, hemmed with flowers and trees that had started to wither from lack of treatment. The paths disappeared behind rough shaped hedges and going out of sight, several unbroken outdoor lights cast large shadows on the ground below.
Going up the small set of stone steps toward the front door, Rebecca grabbed the handle and found that it was locked. "Guess there's another way in." she said, but her fellow rookie gently pushed her aside.
"Yeah...fuck that." he raised his shotgun and fired into where he knew the lock and dead-bolt was. Wood and metal was blasted to pieces as a fist sized hole was punched through the door. A swift kick later and the doors were wide open revealing the church's interior.
The place was as ornate as any house of the lord any of them had seen. Gleaming wooden pews were lined up on either side of the main room, several of them overturned or broken in pieces. A large, stained glass window dominated the back wall behind the altar at the front, above that was a gaping hole in the ceiling where something had crashed through it.
Surrounding the main platform was hundreds of burned out candles and broken statues of religious figures along with an array of dead flowers scattered everywhere.
Ethan ejected the spent shell from his weapon and stepped inside. The other two on his heels with their own weapons out. Billy's double-barrel sweeping the air for anything that might drop in, Rebecca covering the ground with her MP5 as they approached the altar.
"I've got a bad feeling about this place." said the medic said not liking the still, emptiness around them.
Movement above caught Billy's attention, then something huge and black swooped down toward them from the high-vaulted ceiling. "Up high!" he shouted as the thing coming at them emitted a high-pitched squeal. Giant dusty wings flapping on its sides as it dive-bombed them.
The ex-Lieutenant's weapon registered loudly in the open space. Ethan and Rebecca had their weapons up and started firing as well as the winged creature screeched from the sudden barrage. Flapping its wings and changing course, shooting back up toward the ceiling into the cover of darkness it possessed.
"What the hell was that?!" Billy said fishing out a fresh shotgun shell and loading it into the available spot in his weapon.
"It looked like some kind of bat, only way bigger." said Rebecca sweeping the shadows above with her submachine gun. Her small finger found the fire-selector and switched it to full auto. If there was a time to use that setting, it was probably now.
Ethan's eyes narrowed, racking the shotgun and sending the spent shell clattering to the floor as he searched for the creature hiding above them. "We need to leave, the thing has an advantage in the dark and in the air." he said hearing claws scraping wood from somewhere in the shadows near the ceiling.
"I have no issues about leaving." said Billy as they began to back up toward the door.
The large bat screeched when it saw its prey attempting to flee its territory. Dropping down from the rafters of the church, it swooped down in another dive-bomb maneuver. It's feet leading as it prepared to snatch up one of the humans below.
Rebecca saw it coming and raised her weapon. The MP5 chattering loudly as the rounds sprayed from the barrel, the sudden vibration causing the bullets to go in several directions before she regained control of it and focused on her intended target.
The oversized creature squealed when the rounds peppered its body, some tearing through the thin membrane of its leathery wings and forcing it to retreat once more. "Now's our chance, go!" The traveler shouted as they ran through the door back out, down the steps, and taking the path on the right leading around the church.
Thankfully they had some protection, part of the pathway that skirted the building covered. It turned sharply at a few points, overgrown bushes and other plants hid parts of it but they managed to keep moving. Picking up pace when they heard the sound of claws on the shingles of the building before the loud flapping of wings. "Keep moving!" Billy shouted, not wanting to look back from the last couple of images they had of the predator now hunting them.
To the right of the path just ahead of them, the trio caught sight of something they weren't expecting. An elevator, free-standing at the side of the church. Without giving it much thought they ran for it, squeezing themselves into the space that could have barely fit two people. But they managed under the current circumstance.
Pressed tight against Ethan's front, Rebecca moved her arm around him and hit the switch. Sealing the door and causing it to descend smoothly. The panel with the switches showing them going further down until they stopped at level 'B2'. The doors opened without a sound and they had their weapons ready for what might be revealed to them.
The corridor beyond was littered with rubble, but otherwise empty.
Stepping out in to the open, Ethan and Billy swept their shotguns for anything that could be hiding while Rebecca reloaded her submachine gun. Much like the training facility, the decor and architecture of this level of the complex was refined and probably priceless. The floor made of marble, chipped yet polished to a high sheen, support pillars lining the walls with entries high and arched.
There was a door to their left that led to a stairwell, but it was blocked floor to ceiling with broken rock and drywall. A second door was also on the left a little ways ahead, then the corridor turned sharply to the right at the end.
Examining the rest of corridor, the trio found a third door that was fixed with a combination lock. And at the very end of the hall was the hidden door that Ethan knew they needed the key for. Standing before them was a type of shrine; twin statues stood on either side of a large bust of someone that looked a lot like James Marcus. Beneath the profile was an indentation the size of a child's fist.
'We need the missing piece.' Ethan thought before turning back and making his way back to the first available door open to them. Inside was a room vaguely U-shaped, a stained oriental rug on the floor in the first section with several lamps on making this room the brightest one they had ever gone through all night. A couple of shelves with low tables were scattered around, one of them had a slip of paper laying on it that the teen picked up and scanned as his companions followed in after him.
" 'Trouble is unlikely, but I've taken precautions.' " he read out loud. " 'To hide a leaf, put it in the forest. To hide a key, make it look like a leaf.' "
"Great, more riddles. What kind of goddamn place is this anyway?" asked Billy, taking note of a large hole in the ceiling around the corner from the door. "Hay, come take a look at this." The rookies followed his voice and looked up at the dark opening above them.
"I could go up, have a look around and see if I could find a rope or something." Rebecca said after thinking it over.
"I gotta better idea." Ethan said slipping the 12-gauge into the holster over his shoulder and taking a couple of steps back. Bracing himself, he ran toward the corner, jumping up on to a desk that had been under it and launched himself up toward the hole. Grabbing the edges and pulling himself up in one clean motion.
Still in a crouch after pulling himself up through the opening. The profiler looked around at the darkened lab he now found himself in. The place looking like it had been used intermittently in the last ten years and hadn't been cleaned up since. Dust covered the shelves and floor, but tracks had been made through it meaning things had been moved around recently.
Ignoring his Samurai Edge and shotgun, Ethan drew his revolver as he stood up and stepped farther into the room. Moving around a large shelf that bisected the area, seeing a pale-bluish light emanating from a hidden section. Weapon raised, he rounded the corner and was prepared for what he saw.
Four identical human-sized specimen tubes, filled with clear liquid and lit from the inside. Each one containing a different horror that had once been a living person. The traveler's anger at Umbrella and their actions went up as he quelled his rage and focused on the task before him.
Moving past the larger tubes to the smaller ones within a larger tube. Each one held a dead leech inside, but none of them was what he was looking for.
Reaching inside, he pulled out a tube that held something that resembled a leech, but had been sculpted out of a cobalt-blue stone. "Bingo." he said tossing the tube in his hand a few times. Catching it on the last toss, he raised his hand and smashed the tube on the floor. The 'leech-key' clattered out along the shattered glass allowing the profiler to pick it up.
"Ethan? What was that?" Rebecca called up from the opening. Ethan walked back to the hole and looked down at their waiting faces.
"I found a way through that 'wall' at the end of the corridor." he said tossing the stone down allowing Billy to catch it. "You guys go check it out, I'm gonna keep looking around up here a bit longer and see what else I can dig up."
The other two looked up from the key back at their companion. "You sure?" Billy asked a little uneasy about them separating again after what happened last time. The young medic at his side didn't look so accepting of the idea either.
"I'll be fine, I've got my radio if there's trouble. There might be something here we can use later if we need it." he reasoned before disappearing from sight again.
Billy looked at Rebecca who was still looking at the dark hole above, "Come on, let's check out the other rooms quick and regroup before anything can happen." he said slipping the 'leech-key' in his back pocket.
The medic bit her lip before nodding as they left the room to go look at the bust of James Marcus at the end of the corridor. The soldier patted her shoulder, "You're boyfriend will be fine. After what I've seen, he could put a lot of the soldiers I stood with to shame."
"I know, but I can't help but worry about..." Rebecca trailed off realizing that she hadn't rebuffed the 'boyfriend' part of his statement. He caught her, and the grin he was now sporting proved it.
"Gotcha, little girl." he said as her face took on a whole new shade of red.
X
Back in the lab, Ethan had started looking through the desks around him. If there was any evidence to prove what Umbrella was really doing it would be around here. Marcus could have left notes behind either up here or even in his inner-sanctum where the other two were on their way to at the moment.
If not, the people running the place after he had been 'taken care of' would have left something when the T-Virus had been spilled.
Moving papers around, he suddenly froze. Spinning around and aiming his Python at a dark corner, his eyes moving slowly in search for any sign of movement. Through the smell of dust and mildew he picked up the faint aroma of stagnate water and knew right away way he felt he way he did.
"I know your watching us, though I yet to have a name for who or what you are." he said to the darkness. "Should I call you the 'leech-king'? Or James Marcus?" his response was silence. Though he could have sworn he saw something slithering along the wall deep within the shadows.
Ethan's aim didn't falter as he continued. "I'm not afraid of you, or your children. If you've got something up your sleeve for me and the others it won't work. We're getting out of here no matter what get's thrown at us. So either stand aside or face us like the man you 'pretend' to be."
A soft chittering sound was heard before everything went silent again. The teen lowered his weapon and continued his search, all the while keeping his senses aware of his environment.
Something told him that bad things were coming their way soon. And with what he knew, it was a damn safe bet.
A/N: Bad things indeed. Things are really just getting started, and the night is far from over. I'm making the progression of Ethan and Rebecca's relationship as steady as I can, and with the situations they keep falling into it's pushing them closer together the longer they survive as a team. And the teasing from Billy just seemed to add a little more to the situation.
