A/N: Here we are once more, and this chapter will finally start tying into the RE1(REmake) storyline. Considering the wide array of things that can be altered in certain ways, I intend on making some big changes in this portion of the story. You'll be seeing them soon enough and understand what I mean.
This chapter will also bounce around a lot, getting the perspective of several people before intersecting together. I wanted to make this fic as original as I can, and I intend on doing just that.
Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil.
Chapter 16:
"There has to be evil so that good can prove its purity above it." - Buddha
In one of the silent hallways within the Spencer mansion, one of the many doors lining the walls burst open sending an infected carrier crashing into the wall on the opposite side. Struggling to his feet, a 9mm round drilled through its temple splattering blood and grey matter on the floor molding.
Ethan stepped out of the doorway, Beretta in hand as he stepped back on to the second floor of the mansion. Ever since he had left Rebecca back at the drug room to tend to Richard he'd been prowling the building's corridors, dealing with every zombie that came within range while collecting keys and solving what puzzles he could.
The first step of his plan was already being completed. The second step wouldn't start until after Alpha Team arrived.
He had been able to get into several rooms, some he had to kick doors in, but he had managed to get several sections opened for when the others arrived. He had already acquired the armor key and two of the death masks (one of which he went through gathering the herbicide and collected a bunch of herbs he stored for later).
The next one was within his grasp, but the last one he would wait until he had more firepower, all of the places he had been in supplied with a good amount of ammo, but even though the Yawn was badly wounded from their last encounter he wasn't going to chance another fight with the large serpent at the moment without backup.
The profiler had also looked hard for the remaining members of Bravo Team but hadn't come up with anything. Wondering where they could be since he had already encompassed most of the building.
Turning the corner toward the room that held the next death mask he thought of the fate of the other STARS, stepping over the bodies of a couple of zombies he had taken down when he first went through this wing of the mansion. Using the armor key to unlock the door and step into the room with suits of armor lining the walls.
A lone zombie stumbled around, turning in his direction when it heard the doors opening. Holstering his handgun, he approached the infected man, kicking his feet out from under him and laying him out on the floor so that he could stomp on the back of his neck.
Going to the back of the room and going about acquiring the third death mask. "Another one down." he said to himself pocketing it with the other two and heading back out into the hallway and heading toward the main foyer.
He paused at the door when he heard his radio beeping, "Ethan? How's everything going out there?" Rebecca's voice filtered in through the speaker.
"Whoever the hell designed this place had a sick mind. Couple of the puzzles in this place would have killed me if I hadn't had a way to work around them." he replied going through the door back on to the balcony above the entrance room. "How's Rich doing?"
"Better. His fever's starting to break and his heart rate's beginning to level out. But he's still lost a good amount of blood, so he won't be up for a while. Any luck finding the others?" she asked.
"Nada. Either they're held up somewhere or-" the sound of gunfire from the door down from the one he just came through made his head snap up. "Shit. I gotta go, contact you later!" he said clipping the radio back on his belt ignoring her startled calls and running to the entrance to the second balcony of the mansion.
Unlocking the door and storming through it into the warm night air with his weapon at the ready as he ran toward the source of the shots being fired. Going around a corner and toward a small flight of steps in time to see three undead Doberman's tearing into a man's legs as he attempted to fight them off.
"Fuck!" Ethan raised his weapon and fired. The first dog fell dead with half its head blown away, the shot catching the attention of the other two who had blood and flesh dripping from their jaws.
Bam!Bam! Two more rounds and both dogs fell dead to the ground and allowing him to approach the one they had been attacking.
His shoulders slumped when he saw that it was Forest, his vest and shirt torn open along with his stomach and chest sliced up and bleeding. His legs were completely mangled, shredded flesh and muscle revealed bone making it unlikely that he was ever going to be walking again...if he was even going to survive.
The older STARS rolled his head to the side, his face covered in deep scratches, several over his right eye meaning he had been attacked by a bunch of crows at one point. It was really bad, and with the amount of blood gushing from his injuries his chances of survival was dropping fast.
"E-Ethan?" he rasped seeing the rookie stepping down the rest of the way and kneeling down beside him.
"It's me, Forest." the profiler replied as he surveyed the damage a little more. Feeling helpless that there was nothing he could do for him.
Forest rolled his head back on his shoulders, knowing the same thing as the teen as he took a deep, ragged breath. "It's bad...isn't it?" he asked before coughing up a glob of blood that splattered on the front of his trashed vest. "D-Didn't expect all of this shit. Tried to hold out as long as I could...but I guess it wasn't enough." his voice sounded rough, and fading fast. "Where are...the others?"
"Rebecca and Richard are safe, I still need to find Kenneth and Enrico. Do you know where they are?" Ethan asked hoping to get what answers he could before the man passed on.
Forest shook his head slowly, "Got...separated. No idea." He reached out and gripped the teen's wrist. "You better...survive this. You and...Becca both. P-Protect...her...with your life..." his hand slipped away and he slumped against the planter he was leaning against. What life that had been in him fading completely.
A sigh leaving him, Ethan stood back up. Hand gripping his Samurai Edge as he pressed it to the man's forehead. Sending a silent prayer to his fallen brother in arms before pulling the trigger.
The dead man's head snapped back from the force of the shot and slumped once more and fell to the side. Lowering his pistol, the traveler looked to where he had been sitting and found his grenade launcher. Bloody handprints on the grip and barrel.
Checking the powerful weapon over, he found six explosive shells already loaded and ready to us. He slipped the harness over his shoulder and slung it on his lower back before going through Forest's pockets. Finding a case of explosive shells and another or incinerary shells along with two full clips for a Beretta.
Putting away the supplies, Ethan tore the name tag and STARS patch from the dead man's tattered vest and pocketed them as well before standing and heading back into the mansion. His emotions being pushed to the back of his mind as he let his logic take over.
X
Rebecca paced the length of the drug room several times. Ethan's abrupt end to their conversation filled her with dread and she wondered what could have happened. 'Was he alright? Did he find one of the others?' these thoughts bounced around in her head until she jumped hearing the radio in her hand crackle to life.
"Becs? It's me." Ethan said over the open channel.
"Thank god, what happened? Are you alright?" she asked more than a little worried.
The profiler sighed before speaking again, "I'm fine...but I found Forest..." the sound of his voice and the way he trailed off made the medic's heart lurch painfully. She lowered her head a bit understanding that her fellow Bravo was no longer with them any more.
"What got him?" she asked after a few seconds.
"Dogs, and it looks like a flock of crows did a number on him which probably made it easier for other freaks to get to him. Sorry Becs, I was too late to do anything."
Letting out a shuttering breath she pressed the receiver button on her radio, "It wasn't your fault, Ethan. I know you did everything you could for him. What's the plan now?"
Ethan was silent for a while, but she could hear the sounds of movement in the background as he moved about doing something. "I've started collecting these masks that go to another puzzle that could lead to the way out of here. I'm gonna collect the last one and meet up with you right afterward. Forest had his grenade launcher on him, I'm pretty sure he'd want us to use it to stay alive in this hell hole, so it gives us a bit extra firepower if we run into anything we can't handle with small arms."
Rebecca looked at the desk where the case of explosive shells sat unused. "I still have the spare shells here if you need them. Though I think we should be using them sparingly considering what could be waiting for us the deeper we go."
"My thoughts exactly. I'm heading toward the West-wing of the mansion to look for a way to the last mask. I'll keep you updated if anything-"
-"Is anyone out there?! This is Kenneth Sullivan of Bravo Team, is anyone receiving?!" Interrupted another, familiar voice on the channel.
"Kenneth?" asked the medic a little shocked that another member of her team had managed to get ahold of them. "It's Rebecca, where are you?"
"Rebecca? Thank god you're alive! I'm in some hallway inside the Spencer Estate close to a large dining room, are any of the others with you?" asked the point man of Bravo Team.
"Richard's with me, but he's been wounded so I'm looking after him. Ethan's out in the mansion looking for the others and should be close to you're location." replied Rebecca feeling relieved that someone else had made it.
"I'm crossing the foyer now Ken, just sit tight and I'll be there soon." Ethan's voice filtered over.
"I'm just glad to hear from someone, I didn't know how long-CRASH!-FUCK! GET OFFA ME! GET OFFA ME!"
"Kenneth?! Kenneth?!" Rebecca screamed into her radio as the sounds of a heavy struggle and growling could be heard while the man fought against whatever got to him. "Ethan! Kenneth needs help, hurry!"
"I'm almost there!" The radio went silent and the medic was left holding it in her hands praying that they were both okay.
X
The mansion interior flew past him in a blur as he ran full sprint. Nearly taking the doors off their hinges as he entered the balcony above the dining room. The newly acquired grenade launcher and ammo weighing him down but he managed to push on as he headed to the end of the room.
Two zombies were prowling the upper floor and turned toward the noise, but were no match for the teen as he spin kicked one off of the balcony. Falling to the hard tile floor with a crunch/splat, sending blood and rotten flesh flying. The second zombie was shot in the head as Ethan ran past him before vaulting over the railing.
Bending his knees on the landing and rolling with the momentum so that he didn't break anything and bolting straight for the door that led to the hallway on the other side of the dining room. "Kenneth?!" he shouted going through the door.
The sound of fighting and growling could be heard down to his left, feeling dread filling his gut be ran toward the end of the corridor and turned the corner to see Bravo Team's point man on the floor attempting to fight off a Crimson Head that was attempting to take a bite out of his neck.
Sharp claws digging into the man's vest as it tried to get its mouth close enough to feed.
Reacting quickly, Ethan ran up and kicked the mutated zombie hard in the side of the head sending it crashing into a table with an empty bird-cage. Kenneth rolled back to his feet, scooping up his dropped side arm in the process and standing next to the profiler, keeping his gun trained on the Crimson Head as it staggered back to its feet.
"Thanks for that, bastard almost took a chunk right out of me." the dark skinned man said just as the mutant undead let out an animalistic growl, charging straight for the STARS with its claws outstretched to cut them to ribbons.
The sounds of two Beretta's discharging echoed throughout the wing as rounds tore into decomposed flesh. Knocking the monster back a couple of steps until one of its knee caps was blown out sending it sprawling to the floor. Kenneth raised his gun and put two rounds through the top of its head before it could try to move again.
"Just what the fuck was that? It wasn't anything like the zombies we encountered getting into this place." he said turning to the rookie.
"I'll explain later, right now I think its best if we regroup with Becca and Richard before we do anything else." Ethan looked and saw the man's Beretta had its slide locked back, signaling a spent magazine. "How you doing on ammo?"
Kenneth ejected the spent clip and put it away while taking out a new one. "Just this spare. A lot of these things can eat ammo like tic tacs." The profiler dug through his pockets and took out the clips he had gotten off of Forest and handed them to the point man who took them gratefully. "Thanks...hay, isn't that Forest's grenade launcher?" he asked pointing to the weapon.
Ethan nodded, "Yeah...Forest didn't make it. Figured we could use it to get us out of a tight spot should the need arise. I think he would have wanted us to have an edge over these freaks."
The older man blew out a sigh, "Dammit. What about the others? I know Richard's with Rebecca, but what about Edward and Enrico? We lost contact with one another when we escaped that facility Umbrella was running."
"Edward died not long after we found that crashed jeep, a bunch of undead dogs got to him. And we saw Enrico before we escaped that same facility you mentioned, but hadn't seen hide nor hair of him since we got here. So far it's just the four of us." replied the profiler.
"What happened to Richard? Rebecca said something about him being wounded." asked Kenneth.
"Would you believe me if I said that we were attacked by a giant snake?" the teen asked.
The dark-skinned man nodded seriously, "After all the shit we all have seen and fought in the last day, I definitely would believe it." he admitted. "How bad is he?"
"Pretty bad. The fucking thing had fangs bigger than our combat knives and bit him. Becs managed to give him an anti-venom we found in a drug room on this side of the mansion and patched him up. He's just resting now, should make a full recovery if he doesn't strain too much." said Ethan.
What ever else the Bravo was going to ask was cut off when they both heard footsteps coming down the hallway Ethan had just come through. The two spun around and aimed their weapons at the corner, breath bated as they waited for whatever it was to show itself. Fingers tightening on triggers as the footfalls got louder until the one making them appeared. A feminine gasp coming from the owner when they saw the weapons aimed at them.
Ethan's eyes widened and lowered his weapon immediately, Kenneth doing the same. "Son of a bitch."
X 20 Minutes Prior X
The long, wide body of Bravo's helicopter was intact, not a single scratch visible. The port landing rail looked bent, but besides that and the tiny trail of smoke coming from the rotor, there seemed to be nothing wrong with it.
Alpha team closed in on the site and scanned everything over with their pen lights. The hatches stood open, the beams cutting into the shadows of the interior and what was contained within. Barry could make out that a good portion of Bravos' gear was still inside and intact.
So where were they? If there were anyone injured there would be signs of it. And they would have set up flares to catch attention if they were in trouble. But the place was clean, and if there was a crisis why would they leave anything behind?
Wesker looked to Joseph and motioned to the cockpit, "Check it out. The rest of you, spread out, look for clues; tracks, shell casings, signs of a struggle. You find anything, let me know. And stay alert."
Jill and Chris observed the chopper a while longer, both wondering what could have happened to have brought it down. And where were Ethan and Bravo team?
"Holy Shit!" Joseph shouted stumbling away from the cockpit, nearly dropping his shotgun as he got away from the craft.
"What is it?" demanded Wesker coming up to the startled man.
"I-It's Kevin! Just look for yourself!" he said pointing at the cockpit. The rest of the team gathered around and peered inside. Their insides froze when they saw what had scared Joseph. Inside was the body of Bravo's pilot Kevin Dooley, torn open in several places leaving the cockpit a blood drenched mess. The man's face was white as a sheet and had a look of frozen terror from his last moments.
The blood looked dry, the stains covering the seats, console and windshield were now brown and flaking a bit meaning that he had been dead for some time now. Jill stepped back, covering her mouth when she felt bile rise up in her throat. Chris and Barry looked to be faring a little better, but not by much.
"What...What the hell did that to him?" she asked after a few moments. Bad thoughts about what could have happened to the others if Kevin had suffered such a fate entering her mind making her swallow the lump in her throat.
Wesker adjusted his sunglasses, "We can't do anything for him now. But the others could be in just as much trouble if we don't find them and fast." Looking to the team he spoke up, "Circle out people, three meters apart, widen as we go!" he ordered.
Steeling themselves, the group got into position and began moving as instructed. Scanning the ground at their feet along with the foliage around them as they slowly moved northeast of the helicopter. Dry weeds crackled underfoot as they widened their circle, the only sound in the still, warm air except for the distant hum of their own helicopter's engine.
While they searched Chris suddenly noticed something. There was no other noise save for their copter and the sounds of their feet moving. Not a chirp, a chitter...nothing. They were in the woods, in the middle of summer, where were the animals and insects? The whole forest was unnaturally still. A shiver went up his back that he fought down as he pushed on.
Jill scanned a couple of bushes as they continued to widen their search range. She had noticed the same thing as Chris and felt afraid for the first time since they touched down. A small fog bank had started to roll in making visibility a little harder, but they were still able to see one another as they walked.
Joseph scanned everywhichway with his shotgun, the sight of Kevin's mutilated body very fresh in his mind as he tried to focus on the here and now. Shivers going up and down his back as his feet continued to crunch the grass under him.
In the still night air, he heard something like a small growl coming from his rear. Spinning around, racking his gun as he aimed at the sound-
-Nothing. The flashlight attached to the end of his shotgun's barrel cut through the darkness and revealed just trees and bushes.
Breathing a sigh of relief he turned back to continue going forward when he heard the noise again, this time from his left. Turning toward the sound, he barely had time to register what was happening before something moving fast was upon him. Claws and teeth digging into him and knocking him to the ground before he could defend.
The other Alphas heard Joseph cry out and his shotgun go off coupled by the sounds of deep growls and barks. Small arms fire could also be heard as his screams of terror and pain echoed through the forest as they ran toward his location.
Pausing when they saw what was happening, their lights illuminating what could only be described as a pack of dogs tearing into their friend and comrade. Roughly the size of German shepherds but didn't have much fur, barely any skin with red sinew and muscle exposed when their flashlights landed on them. Joseph's screams suddenly cut off when one of the animals tore through his neck and spraying blood across the grass.
The team opened fire on the animals, rounds tearing through their bodies but didn't seem to have much effect other then knocking them away from Joseph's body. Jill kept shooting until her gun's slide locked back, but she kept pulling the trigger and only emitting soft clicks from the empty weapon.
Frozen in fear at what she was seeing as the dogs continued to feed, tearing chunks of flesh away and devouring it with total abandon. One of the creatures turned to her, a lone eye locking on to her still form as it chomped down on a bloodied piece of meat and swallowing it whole. Growling deep in its throat before charging toward her.
Like a bucket of water being doused on her, Jill snapped back in reality and stumbled back as the dog lunged for her. Bam! The animal was thrown aside when a 9mm bullet punched through the side of its head and throwing it aside.
Blood splattering on her cheek, Jill looked up as Chris ran up. Arm around her waist and hoisting her up to her feet. "Come on!" he shouted as the rest of the creatures turned and began chasing after them.
Running through the woods as fast as their legs could carry them, the dogs barking and growling as they closed in on them from behind, they both looked up when they heard and saw a familiar chopper fly over head and disappear over the treeline. "Hay Brad!" Chris shouted into his radio but didn't get a response. "Where the hell's he going?!"
One of the dogs leapt toward the point man's back, mouth open and teeth bared to take a piece out of him when a gunshot rang out, the round knocking the creature away. "Chris! Jill! This way!" Wesker shouted as he continued firing on the pursuing beasts. Barry right next to him doing the same and managing to hit two of them before they chased after the younger STARS.
They kepy running, stumbling and dodging through the woods, tripping on uneven ground as the killer hell-hounds went after them, more seeming to come out of the forest and add to their ranks.
Several meters ahead, they saw an opening through the trees. And beyond that the looming visage of the Spencer Estate. The weathered wood and stone crumbling and dark, cloaked by shadowy, overgrown hedges that surrounded it. A massive front porch presented double doors that proved to be their only option from escape.
"There! The mansion, keep going!" shouted Wesker as they kept moving, turning every so often to fire at the animals chasing them. A gurgling yelp came from within the pack as another one fell dead to the forest floor, but the howls of its siblings grew louder as they drew closer to the mansion.
Jill reached the doors first, slamming into the heavy wood with one shoulder while grabbing the handles. The doors crashed open, spilling bright light across the stone steps of the porch and lighting their path. Spinning on her heel, she provided cover fire as the other three ran for the opening.
All of them piled inside, Barry slamming his bulk against the door and wedging it closed against the snarls of the beasts. He collapsed against it, face red and sweating while Chris slid the door's deadbolt home and sealed it. Outside, the dogs howled and scrabbled at the heavy wood trying to get at them, but they were safe.
Taking a moment to gather their breath, the team looked around the large foyer they found themselves in. It was huge and the epitome of lavish, tiled in greyflecked marble and dominated by a wide, carpeted staircase that led to a second-floor balcony. Arched marble pillars lined the hall supporting the dark heavy wood of the balcony above.
Wall sconces cast funnels of light across the room, giving the impression that the place wasn't as 'abandoned' as they first believed. But the silence and stillness in the air reminded them too much of the atmosphere outside. There was also a pungent odor in the air that they couldn't seem to describe.
"What is this?" Barry asked, but no one answered him as they kept looking around.
Jill reloaded her gun and walked toward the stairs, clutching her weapon while her footsteps were muffled by the plush carpet that led from the front door. Wesker went over to a set of doors on the side, his eyebrow subtly raising when he found them unlocked, 'Hmm, strange.' he thought before addressing the others. "It's definitely not your ordinary house, that's for sure. And not nearly as abandoned as we believed with how well kept it is." he said playing it up.
"Do you think the others found this place?" asked Jill rejoining them.
"Possible, considering what we found outside it could make sense-" the Captain was cut off when they heard a barrage of gunfire coming from the double doors on the left of the foyer. Roughly five or six shots total before there was pause, followed by two more before the mansion was silent again.
"Someone else is here!" Jill said making for the doors.
"Hold up." Chris said heading her off, "We don't know what could be out there, and after what happened outside none of us should be on our own. I'll come with you."
Wesker nodded, "He's right. The two of you go and investigate, Barry and I will secure this room. If you find anything, fire your weapon and we'll come looking." Nodding to the Captain, the two STARS went to the door and entered with their guns ready.
The duo found themselves in a large dining hall, the kind you usually see in movies about rich people. A grandfather clock filled the cool air and echoing off of the shining black and white tiles that made up the floor. Like the front room, this one had a high ceiling and a balcony surrounding it, decorated with art with an inset fireplace at the far end with a coat of arms emblem made of wood above it.
Lowering their weapons, Jill and Chris found themselves in slight awe at the wealth that made up the abandoned mansion. Being the daughter of a master thief, Jill knew her father would have considered this place a 'perfect score' with all the valuables contained within. The artwork lining the walls surrounding the long wooden table that ran the length of the room passed by as they walked around it on either side.
Chris swept the room with his weapon, but still not finding anyone or the cause of the gun shots. His boot connected with something solid and looked down to receive another shock he hadn't been expecting. "Jill! Over here!" he called out.
The woman spun and ran to his side as he crouched down, eyes widening when she saw what he was examining.
Laying in a pool of dark blood was the body of a man. Roughly in his late thirties wearing ratty and torn clothes stained with blood and other fluids. His skin was a pale-grey and sunken around his face, eyes filmed over with a milky white making it seem like he was blind. The smell coming off of him was rank, to say the least, the odor of rot and decay strong as they examined him.
"Jesus," Chris muttered checking for a pulse and finding nothing but ice-cold skin that felt waxy and stiff under his touch. "He's been dead a while, looks like he fell from up top and hit the ground hard."
"Then that would mean there were people here. This place is suppose to be boarded up and condemned. What the hell is going on?" Jill asked as she stood up and looked around again.
Chris shook his head, "I don't know, but we need to find who fired those shots. It could have been one of the others and we need to figure out what happened." He looked over to the fireplace and saw a door that led out of the room. "There's a door over there. Go have a quick look, I'll keep looking around here for anything we might have missed.
Nodding, Jill stepped over the dead man and headed to the door. Giving one last look over at Chris before going through into a narrow corridor beyond, dimly lit by antique fixtures on the walls. Checking both directions, she perked up when she heard someone talking in low tones from around the corner to the left.
Weapon up, she approached the corner slowly. The voices suddenly stopping making her heart beat faster, swallowing a dry lump in her throat, she rounded the corner and found the barrels of two handguns aimed right at her face.
She gasped and took a step back as both guns lowered, "Son of a bitch." said a familiar voice. Jill looked at the two standing before her and felt unbelievable relief fill her when she recognized Ethan and Kenneth standing before her.
"Ethan? Kenneth? You guys are okay." she stepped forward and wrapped her team's rookie in a tight hug, beyond thankful that the teen was alive. She stepped back and saw that he was a little roughed up. Dried blood caked to the side of his face and the top of his shaved head, his vest looking torn in a couple of places and his right sleeve ripped completely off exposing his arm.
Kenneth looked a bit better, he had dried stains on his uniform from something and looked out of breath but just as much in good shape than what she had feared. "Good to see you Jill, are the others here too?" asked Ethan.
"Yes, though we ran into trouble when we touched down. We found your downed chopper...and Kevin with it." she said shivering when she recalled the sight they investigated.
"Where are the other Alpha's?" asked Kenneth.
Jill motioned with her head back to the door she had came through, "Chris is back in the dining hall, he found a dead body on the floor and investigating it. Barry and Wesker are checking out the main foyer. Joseph...he didn't make it. A bunch of dogs got to him and tore him apart before we ran here." her voice shook, the event having shaken her to her core witnessing the man being devoured alive.
Ethan clenched his fist when he heard Wesker's name, it tightened when he heard about Joseph's demise. "We better regroup with them, Rebecca and Richard are alive too but are in a locked room on the other side of this wing."
Jill felt a little tension leave her when he told her that there were other survivors from Bravo team. Something in the faded light caught her gaze and drew it to the floor where the body of the Crimson Head the two males had taken down laid in a pool of spreading blood. "What is that?" she asked in disgust, eyes being drawn to the reddened skin and sharp claws on the tips of its hands.
"We'll explain when we get the others right now we have to grab Chris and the rest of the team before we-" Ethan stopped when a crash out in the dining room caught their attention, the three STARS bolted back through the door leading out there and saw Chris attempting to hold off the man that had fallen from the balcony.
Black, bloodied teeth attempting to draw closer to his neck while its cold, skeletal fingers held tightly on to his arms. The man had managed to get his gun free and fired two shots into the zombie's chest, plumes of red mist spraying from its back but only delaying it a few seconds.
"Chris!" Jill shouted just as a blur went past her. Ethan jumped up on to the dining room table, took two running steps and leapt off, driving his foot into the carrier's head. Snapping it to the side and causing the undead man to release Chris before crashing hard into the wall, slumping to the floor and leaving a trail of blood on the cream colored paint.
The profiler leered at the downed corpse, "Stay down this time you undead fuck." he growled before turning to his fellow Alpha. "You good, Chris? These things got a good amount of strength for being dead."
Looking down at the body while trying to shrug off the feeling of the cold hands that had gripped him like a vice, Chris turned to the rookie trying to make sense of what just happened. "That thing was dead, how the hell was it still moving around?" still not believing it.
Ethan held up his hands, "Look, like I just got done telling Jill, we need to find the others and link up with Becca and Richard. I'll explain everything that happened to us and what's going on, but we need to grab Barry and Wesker." the way the teen said the Captain's name as though it were poison as he headed for the doors leading back to the foyer.
The three older STARS looked at one another confused for a moment before following after him. Entering the large room seeing the profiler standing in the middle by the grand staircase.
But Barry and Wesker were nowhere to be found. "Fuck." Ethan cursed with his shoulders sagging.
X
Rebecca had just finished changing Richard's blood soaked bandages when she heard a knock at the door. "Becs, it's me." A smile lit up the medic's features as she crossed the room and unlocked the door. Ethan stood on the other side smiling at her, "And I brought guests."
A gasp left her when Kenneth stepped in behind him, she enveloped him in a hug as a wide grin spread out on his dark face. "Good to see you in one piece, Becca. I owe your boyfriend here for saving my ass." he said as they stepped back.
The younger rookie was surprised and happy to see him, but not nearly as much when she saw Jill and Chris come in and shut the door behind them. "You guys are here too?" she asked.
"The Captain pulled us into the office earlier and told us that contact with you guys had been lost last night, we came out to investigate." said Chris as they all tried to settle in the now slightly cramped drug room. "Can you guys tell us what's happened, and how this has anything to do with the zombified dogs and people that have come after us?"
Ethan took Forest's grenade launcher and the spare rounds for it and set them on the desk before turning to everyone. "Get comfortable guys, this is going to take a while to explain." he said, his tone completely serious as he was about to change the course of coming events that night even more than he already had.
A/N: And this is just the start, with Richard and now Kenneth alive things are going to change a lot. And with Chris and Jill still together while Barry is out in the mansion on his own the whole group has the strength of numbers as well as skill on their side. Ethan's going to have a hell of a time explaining everything including Umbrella's involvement, but by the end of it the STARS will be prepared to face what else awaits them within the mansion.
The real question is, will he be able to prove Wesker's betrayal? Or keep it to himself until they encounter him in the labs under the estate? Already working on the update guys, so keep an eye for it.
