Disclaimer: "Jackie Chan Adventures" is property of Adelaide Productions and Columbia TriStar Television (among others); Star Trek is property of Paramount Studios, and Willow Haven Outdoor Survival School is an outdoor survivalist school in Indiana, founded by Creek Stewart. You'll see why these disclaimers are here shortly. Please refer to the prologue for all other appropriate disclaimers.
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Resident Evil 6: Rampage
CHAPTER 2: SCHOOL SEARCH, STORYTELLING, SPELUNKING
"The virus has already spread three miles past the campus perimeter and it's not slowing down - you need to hurry!" - Ingrid Hunnigan, "Resident Evil 6"
"What a slimy mess. Why can't I be one of those galaxy-hopping superheroes? Why do I end up in the sewers?" - Spider-Man, "Spider-Man: The Animated Series"
To reform the four, two had to emerge triumphant in their latest challenge... the third had to be found, and the fourth had to be called. The story of that reformation begins here.
"You see one of them, aim for the head. It's your best bet." Leon advised the others.
"Got it." Helena replied as Carter nodded grimly. Both agents smiled inwardly as they swept the reception hall - not at anything to do with their objective, but rather in reaction to Carter quietly (if comically) grumbling about zombie hunting while following behind them.
"Zombies... dammit. I mean, really, where's a good transporter beam when you need one - or hell, even a phaser? Could atomize these damn zombies, or beam ourselves and a few survivors right to my SUV and drive out of this..."
And then he looked at the hall itself, and all humor vanished as he flatly finished his rant.
"...Shit."
"This was where the reception was gonna be. They'd all be here eating dinner right now if..." Leon trailed off.
Carter's grip on his gun tightened as the emotions he'd kept tightly bound behind a wall of self-discipline and control struggled for release.
'Dad...'
"You think anyone survived?" Helena asked.
"I hope so." the men murmured as the group proceeded slowly forward.
"I can't believe this is happening again," Leon mused, his voice sounding distant, "It's just like Raccoon."
"The Raccoon City Incident," Helena muttered, "You were one of the survivors."
"Yeah... one of a handful of people. And just like them, I'll never forget it."
"Dad said the same," Carter recalled, "He was the only one of his special forces team to escape when they were dropped into a waste disposal facility on the north end of Raccoon; I was visiting friends in California at the time, rushed home once debriefing was done. Dad's team, they fought some humanoid BOWs; Tyrants, they were called... he survived by luck - he was knocked out by the impact of being thrown against the rail gun his team brought in. Managed to see the battle footage - dad saved the camera, and even unconscious faced most of the action even as the Tyrants ignored him... but just the sight of those monsters, especially after they mutated, gave me nightmares for a month."
"You must've been - what, ten years old?" Leon asked, as Helena looked at Carter with an expression of respect, "You must have been very mature for your age if nightmares were the only result of seeing that kind of footage."
"I was ten, yes - and you're right; according to a lot of people, I was very mature for my age at the time. I was raised a military brat - thankfully without the massive amount of moving that normally entailed - and my father's battle footage inspired me to take life more seriously even with that maturity." Carter nodded, "A girl named Deborah, who I met in school that same year, kept me from getting too mature, though. She may have been over two and a half years younger than me, but somehow she bypassed every emotional defense I ever built - she made me smile and laugh, helped me appreciate humor, helped me retain my humanity and remember to live, not just exist; in return, she allowed me to teach her discipline, how to work hard and not just play hard... she was awesome; the best friend I could have ever had at that point in my life. I wouldn't have started my survival training ten years ago - never mind finished it at all - if not for that friendship and how it inspired me." The young man's eyes suddenly had a haunted look to them as he remembered what happened eighteen months after meeting his childhood best friend.
"Sure could've used a friend like her these last twelve years... but she and her older sister moved after my twelfth birthday; several times over the years, in fact, never coming back. I never actually met her sister in person more than a handful of times before they left - and I never got their family name either - but Deborah was sure we'd be best friends too; the three of us were almost inseparable whenever we hung out... the situation being what it was, though, keeping contact with them after the move was basically impossible, and I never met anyone else who I could connect with so flawlessly until you guys today."
Both agents winced, familiar with the loss lacing Carter's voice.
"But I've never forgotten Deborah," Carter mused, "And I never will."
"She's never forgotten you either, Carter," Helena revealed, the story jogging memories from her own childhood years, "Deborah's carried a torch for you all these years, always faithful that you would meet again."
"How do you know Deborah?" Carter asked, suspicion lacing his voice.
"It's... a long story," Helena replied hesitantly, "I'll explain later."
"You'd better." Carter frowned, that nagging sense of familiarity tickling his mind again.
'Where the hell did I meet this woman before? Is she some other close relative to the Harper sisters? Wait, they have the same eyes; share the same name...'
"We're going to this cathedral of yours," Leon explained to Helena, cutting off Carter's train of thought, "But if you really did have a hand in this, you can kiss your freedom goodbye."
Carter scowled at the haughtiness behind such a statement, even as Helena confirmed its validity.
"I know." Helena nodded as the trio reached the bottom of the stairs leading to the hall proper. Suddenly, a shadow darted out of the back of the reception hall, heading to a nearby open door.
"What was that?" Helena gasped.
"Only one way to find out." Leon answered.
"Let's move!" Carter grunted.
Manoeuvring around tables and over chairs, the group found their way to a kitchen in the back - and heard a door shut.
"In the back!" Carter muttered, moving forward with his gun in a ready stance, the senior agents hot on his heels as he went through another doorway.
"Carter!" Helena hissed, "Slow down!"
And as a trash can fell over, he did - nearly causing the two agents to run into his backpack.
"Dammit, Myers...!" Leon groaned.
"Don't do that!" Helena grimaced, all set to begin a rant when Leon suddenly made a slashing motion across his throat, requesting silence.
"Listen."
Behind the door ahead was a noise - loud, raspy coughing. Raising an eyebrow, Leon quickly formed a strategy. Motioning Carter and Helena to opposite ends of the door for cover, Leon stood before the door - and kicked it open, letting the trio enter the room in a triangle formation.
"Wait!" a voice gasped as the door came down, "Don't shoot!"
As the trio lowered their guns, they saw a man in a suit - who was having a massive coughing fit.
"Are you all right?" Leon asked, helping the man to his feet.
"The fog..." the suited man grunted, controlling his cough for the moment.
"What?" Helena's eyes narrowed.
"The fog... it came out of nowhere."
And as a high-pitched scream came from elsewhere on the campus (causing the man to react with hysteria as he recognized the voice of his daughter) Carter and Helena, the two parts of the recently assembled trio who were new to 'this bioterrorism bullshit' shared a look of grim realization.
Things had just gotten worse.
"For future reference, if I say it can't get worse... just hit me, real hard." Carter growled as he looked over the monitors, seeing nothing but blank screens, zombies and the bodies of the dead. Leon grunted in acknowledgement as he looked over the screens as well.
After finding the suited man's daughter, Liz, and (in Carter and Helena's case) learning first-hand the nature of the 'fog' the duo had encountered (a situation which had briefly rattled Helena due to Liz's death and subsequent revival as a zombie), Leon, Helena and Carter had resumed their escape efforts, making their way through the underground parking; first to Carter's Ford Escape to grab additional supplies, and then to a door leading to a nearby security room... where they had found an empty room, and evidence of a dire situation.
Focusing on one screen, the trio found survivors - two college students waving signs at the camera in a hallway, zombies hot on their heels.
"Let's go!" Leon grunted, chambering a round in his gun and preparing to help the survivors to safety. Carter was at the older man's side, his own gun ready for action - until Helena grabbed his bicep in a surprisingly firm grip.
"It's too late!" Helena argued, "There's nothing we can do."
Looking back at the cameras briefly, the men were forced to agree; the survivors that had once held up signs were now zombie chow. Ripping his arm free from Helena's grip, Carter slammed a fist into the screen (the screen spider-webbed with cracks; Carter's hand, reinforced by Kevlar and leather, was undamaged) as Helena looked at her friend with sorrow in her eyes.
"Dammit...!" the survivalist seethed as he pulled his arm back, "Those people... my dad... the President, goddammit...! For heaven's sake, how many more!?"
"I know, Carter," Leon nodded, rage and sorrow warring for dominance on his own features, "I know... but Helena's right. Are you going to be okay?"
"When we find the one responsible for all of this, and dig his grave..." Carter snarled, before his shoulders slumped momentarily as he regained control somewhat, "I will be."
"Then let's get the hell out of here."
"Tall Oaks Cathedral," Helena murmured, walking in front of Carter before looking him in the eye as Leon headed towards the room's exit, "It'll have all the answers you need."
"Whatever's there, Helena, had better be worth all this bullshit," Carter's jaw clenched, "Too many good people have died for it."
"It will be, Carter - I promise. And for what it's worth, you have my word that I'll explain everything there; everything."
"Including this vibe of familiarity we have between us - and those comments you made before about Deborah?"
Helena nodded silently.
"Good enough for me." Carter growled, nodding in return, "Let's move."
After navigating the myriad of hallways, stairs and classrooms between the parking garage and the ground-level exit - finding everything from ammo to grenades to healing herbs along the way - the trio had peeked through a pair of double-doors leading to an outdoor courtyard. The party atmosphere that had been prevalent in the courtyard was now tainted by the obvious signs of struggle and death - including a scattering of zombies. Using binoculars from Carter's survival kit, the security gate was located directly across the way.
"Get to the security gate," Ingrid spoke through the group's earpieces, "It'll lead you off the campus."
"Now that's a plan I can get behind," Carter mused softly, scanning the courtyard before quietly shutting the door, "But with this being a high-end university, I imagine their campus security's pretty robust. We'll need to track down a key card - might I suggest the door to the right?"
"Is it too much to hope that someone left their key card at the gate?" Helena raised an eyebrow in Carter's direction, with Leon soon following. The survivalist threw an exasperated look at his partners - no, his friends, he realized; even with the increasingly suspicious actions Helena was taking Carter had no concrete reason to consider her anything but a friend now, and Leon S. Kennedy was solid as steel. The young survivalist began chuckling quietly as a scene from an old cartoon came to mind.
"Helena, don't move."
"What?" Helena blinked, looking over her outfit for any damage besides the slight wear and tear that had occurred so far, "What is it? Ow!"
Carter playfully (and gently) cuffed Helena on the cheek, throwing his voice to sound like an old man.
"Do you want us to waste time relying on luck alone? No? Then let's get looking for that key card so we can get out of zombie town and find out who really did this!"
Helena threw a playful smirk in Carter's direction, both fondly recalling the cartoon Jackie Chan Adventures; one of many cartoons from which they had learned a great many lessons growing up.
"Carter, when you looked out there - besides the gate, the zombies, and the mess... did you find anything?" Helena asked, her expression suddenly oozing seriousness.
"No," Carter answered, confused at the change of subject, doubly so at the mischievous gleam in her eyes; a gleam which (if his theory held true) was unlike the overly serious girl he'd met once - and even less like the focused, driven woman he'd befriended.
"You terrible scout," Leon interjected in a deadpan tone. Helena's lips twitched upwards, a smile ghosting over her lips as Carter groaned.
"Don't tell me, Leon - you're a Chan fan too?"
"Grew up on his work," Leon chuckled, "I might be a little older than you two, but I recognize the jokes. I'm glad you can crack jokes at a time like this - and even make Helena joke around too. That's quite the accomplishment."
"Someone's got to do it," Carter grinned tiredly, throwing a sidelong glance at Helena, "This mess is a recipe for breakdowns - and I never did like tagging the walls with puke."
Helena smiled faintly.
"Let's get moving," she replied, "We've got to get to the Cathedral."
And so, the trio opened the doors - and immediately kicked away three zombies who were lying in wait.
"They're getting smarter," Carter grimaced as the zombies dissolved into nothing.
"Yeah - they're setting traps," Helena groaned.
Taking the right-side doorway from the courtyard, the group had arrived at a security console at the end of a long hallway, flanked on both sides by windows. Taking a break to examine the console, the trio began talking in hushed tones.
"They're just... roaming around," Carter blinked as he looked through the windows to a football field on one side and a smaller courtyard on the other, "Guess they can't smell us through the windows - but are there no survivors besides us anymore?"
"I hope someone made it in this city." Helena murmured.
"It'd certainly be a waste if no one in Tall Oaks actually watched those seminars dad and I put together, or read the blog entries we wrote... then again, those didn't exactly cover viral outbreaks." Carter grimaced.
"What caused you and your dad to become survivalists - and what caused you to sign up for the FBI, of all things?" Leon asked, "The only Franklin Myers I ever knew of before or after I joined the government was a well-respected soldier, favored by the President."
"That was my dad, yes. Ironically, Leon, the cause for that - and to a lesser extent, my joining the Bureau - was the same thing that I imagine made you join the government," Carter answered, voice distant as the memories came to the forefront of his mind, "The Raccoon City Incident."
Noticing Leon's raised eyebrows and Helena's pointed look, the survivalist continued.
"You know that my dad went on a mission into the city during the outbreak. Well, after he got back from that mission, was debriefed and finally given time off, he came home... haunted by the death and destruction he'd seen, and the fact Raccoon had been destroyed, he looked as physically fit as ever - but his eyes were hard, around everyone but other soldiers, his closest friends... and me."
"PTSD?" Helena asked.
"That's what I thought back then, before he revealed the truth to me - but no, it wasn't. Dad would've been honorably discharged if it was - he wasn't discharged from the Marines, and wasn't showing the critical signs of PTSD; only the mild ones, the ones any person can beat with enough willpower like he did. But what the situation really was..." Carter sighed.
"He showed me the battle footage from his then-latest mission as soon as he could, and explained his feelings and actions to me just over three months after Raccoon City was destroyed - on Christmas Day, no less. My mother had bailed on us after - hell, because of the Raccoon City Incident, so it was just dad and I that day. It was his opinion that I deserved to know the full truth about what happened - the truth that he had found out after he and his superiors talked to the president of that time, seeking info as to the point of their unit's destruction. Dad told me the exact same information that President Benford wanted to reveal today..."
(Flashback, December 25th 1998, 1900 hours)
"Carter!" Frank bellowed from the kitchen of his sole remaining home - the two-floor condo with two bedrooms and matching bathrooms above, and kitchen, dining room and garage below.
"Dad?" the then-nine-year-old replied from his room.
"Close the windows upstairs and then come to the dining room, please - we need to talk." The soldier's expression was stony as he shut and sealed the windows around the apartment's ground floor.
With the boundless speed only those under 12 could naturally manage, Carter was at his father's side in less than a minute. With the both of them possessing close-cropped hairstyles and wearing well-worn, loose-fitting jeans with almost-identical dark red collared shirts, any outsider would've probably mistaken the pair for dark-skinned variants of Dr. Evil and Mini-Me.
"This is about your last mission, isn't it?" Carter asked, bold as brass, "You haven't been the same since you got back."
"I know," Frank replied, "It wasn't the mission itself as much as what happened on the mission. My unit and I went to Raccoon City."
"What could the USMC possibly have wanted there?" Carter blinked, "Raccoon was infected with a virus and blown up by its own power plant, wasn't it?"
"Half right, Carter - it was infected with a virus... but a power plant explosion didn't torch the city," Frank sighed as his son's face screwed up in confusion; now came the hard part.
"Raccoon City was blown up by a nuclear missile that the government had fired - to sterilize the mutagenic toxins that had infested the city. And the USMC wanted those toxins - two viruses. Bioweapons, created by Umbrella."
"Viruses?" Carter blanched, "Bioweapons? The U.S. Government actually wants that kind of stuff? And Umbrella makes it?"
"Yes," Frank nodded stoically, "The two viruses were called T... and G."
(End Flashback)
"He told me what he knew about the Raccoon City Incident, starting with his unit's mission to retrieve the G-Virus from a disposal plant in the northern sector of the city. How Umbrella's spies in the government had fucked over another unit's efforts to take William Birkin into custody at another location in town, resulting in, as some buddies of his later found out, Umbrella's own military forces trying to steal the G-Virus themselves - setting in motion the events of the Raccoon City disaster. Dad told me how those same government spies and others in the government itself successfully conspired to wipe Raccoon City off the face of the Earth; how my father barely escaped the city with his life... and through it all, I saw his pain."
"His pain?" Helena echoed.
"Yeah..." Carter frowned, "Dad was battered, bruised and tired - but he was also livid. He hid it well for the most part, but he wished so very badly that Raccoon City could have been saved - that even one other person in his unit that had gone into the 'Dead Factory', as he came to call it, had survived the fight with the monsters infesting the city, to say nothing of the Tyrants Umbrella sent to stop them. Dad's unit was his family as much as I was; the weeks he spent secluded at home, only going outside for his exercises, debriefings, and the odd drink with friends, he was mourning the loss of every one of them."
"But your mother didn't agree with that?" Leon deduced.
"No," Carter responded coldly, scowling darkly, "She's always subscribed to the credo that in a nuclear family the dominant adult's word was law. She believed that your blood-kin alone is your family - that any other state of being was absolutely unacceptable - and expected dad and I to fall in line. When Raccoon fell and dad's unit was decimated, she didn't console him at all - just considered all the destruction 'another acceptable loss', and 'more governmental bullshit'. Her efforts didn't work out as she wanted; I believe, as dad did, that friends and family are where you make them, and losing even one of your family is a cause for great sadness. But over the years, my mother's beliefs continued to clash with dad's... she wasn't my mom by the time it was all over."
Shaking off the cold horror that had gripped her soul - the back-story Carter was telling sounded so familiar, and explained so much about the young boy he was; the intense, driven individual Deborah had introduced to her when they were kids! - Helena asked the one question she knew Carter would despise answering.
"What happened to her? Your mother, I mean?"
Carter sighed, not wanting to answer - yet knowing Helena only asked because she cared.
"She stopped being my mother, stopped being dad's wife. She eventually left us completely, after what may as well have been a psychotic break - and one final bitter argument with us on the beliefs she was trying to instill... though 'program' would have been a better description, really. Their marriage was annulled - something about contractual terms not being met - any maternal rights on her part were severed, and she vanished into the wind. That was in November '98 - and after those events, dad and I were never the same. We basically took care of each other, and I don't remember which of us suggested it, but we decided to move to another state and regroup. So we moved to Indiana, where I met Deborah and worked my tail off for years; dad took me on workouts with him, we went to a series of classes over the years at Willow Haven Outdoor - a survival training school not too far from where we moved to - and from the lessons learned there, adjusted our lifestyle accordingly... between that school and the USMC we trained and learned so much, over and over again until it was practically second nature, and became the best we could be in mind and body, because neither of us wanted to be put in a situation where self-reliance through disaster couldn't be achieved. Reading the Kennedy Report years later only reinforced those feelings."
"Your father showed you all the files he acquired through the military?" Leon asked, knowing the Kennedy Report was restricted to military troops and government officials.
"And swore me to secrecy on every last one of them, yes - made it abundantly clear it was a life-or-death kinda deal," Carter nodded, "Dad didn't believe in holding back information from family, and we'd both trained together for years by the time of the Report anyway. After highschool I went into part-time labour work for a few years, and then to the FBI Academy as soon as I turned 21; dad kept going into battle as a Marine. The Bureau and the USMC let dad and I come to the Tall Oaks event because they figured having a couple extra defenders with survival training in the event of an attack would only help. Over the years after we arrived in Indiana, we were consulted frequently regarding survivalist methods - though I couldn't do much while at the Academy - we kept training, keeping fit, getting stronger, kept in touch the whole time... and eventually we just kept busy with everything, until President Benford called us in for today."
"And then all this happened..." Leon murmured, "Damn."
"Yeah," Carter sighed, unconsciously thumbing the safety and holstering his weapon, "Damn it, I just became an FBI Special Agent; backing up the presidential entourage was more unofficial than anything... Pops was all set to fully retire from the USMC; he'd been promoted to Captain after the Raccoon City Incident and worked his way through the ranks during 20 years of service before that, culminating in an offer to join the FBI; he was going to help fill the lost spots on the Behavioral Analysis Unit's Alpha Team. He joined the Marines straight out of highschool; turned down a ton of scholarships to Ivy League schools all over the country. Dad was so smart, so skilled... gained the respect of his CO and the President soon after... taught me right from wrong as best he could; taught me true strength... He was looking forward to us working together so much..." the young survivalist swallowed, trying to fight back the tears - and for the first time since he was five years old, losing that fight as the memories and stories of his father, the dreams of what could never be because of the latest incident, came unhindered to the front of his mind.
"Hard to believe he's dead..." Carter mused, jaw clenched as tears fell from his eyes, "I should've been able to do something...!"
Not knowing what possessed her to do so - beyond childhood memories regarding the man before her, a tremendous sense of regret, and equally great sorrow regarding his losses - Helena pulled Carter towards her, stepping back from the console and holding him in a strong hug... and the strong, badass Secret Service agent just let her equally strong, badass survivalist friend weep, as he automatically reciprocated the hug he was given.
"But you did do something, Carter," Helena replied softly, "You put your father to rest in a situation where lesser men would have done the opposite - and more than that, you saved my life in the process. I didn't know your father well, but if what I knew of him is anything like the real Frank Myers, he is so proud of you. Just like Deborah is... just like I am..."
Being otherwise occupied, the young man failed to notice Helena shedding silent tears of her own, or Leon's stoic expression cracking for a moment to reveal empathy the likes of which few had seen from the DSO founder. Looking at Leon through watery eyes, Helena made a silent vow in that moment.
'You haven't caught many breaks, have you Carter Myers? Well, I'll do everything I can to see you through this mess... even if it costs me all I have left. Deborah wouldn't want me to do any less... and after today, I don't want that either. You are, and always have been my sister's best friend, her beloved, for life, and a damn good friend of mine too; you deserve the best... and Deborah or no Deborah I'm going to give it to you.'
Stoically looking at the teary-eyed pair at his side, Leon made a similar silent promise.
'Just like for Claire... for Sherry... for Chris and the S.T.A.R.S.; for everyone affected by the virus - everyone who's fought for a world without fear... I will scrub this virus from the face of the Earth. For their sakes... and for yours, my friend.'
Suddenly, Carter pulled back and looked away from the agents, ignoring the look of hurt and dismay that crossed Helena's features, even as an unconscious instinct did take note of the hurt he'd caused her.
"Sorry, guys..." Carter sniffed, scrubbing an arm over his face, "That was... I shouldn't have done that."
"Like hell you shouldn't have, Carter," Helena retorted, pulling him back into a hug, "You needed it!"
The Secret Service agent of the duo ignored the fact that they both had needed the emotional release, whispering something in his ear for a few seconds before pulling back one last time. Leon noticed a look of awe cross Carter's expression, before he pulled her into a third hug - this time, one felt by them both.
"Helena...!? It is you!"
"Old friends?" Leon raised an eyebrow, smiling wryly.
"Deborah, Carter's childhood best friend - she's my sister," Helena explained, "Like I said in the reception hall, Carter's her best friend too; she's carried a torch for him all this time even with over a decade of no contact... and after she introduced me to him as a kid, I could and can see why. Even as a pre-pubescent he was... interesting. Driven, intense, stubborn, practically a genius... definitely a cut above the other kids."
"And the both of you were cute, tough, and smarter than the average girl," Carter chuckled, "Nice to see that hasn't changed in your case, Helena - I see that Dad taught you well if the lessons stick even now."
The agent blushed faintly, a small smile ghosting over her lips, "Maybe he did. But I'm not cute - Deborah's the cute, tough Harper sister thanks to your dad's training."
"Yeah, Helena, she is, and very smart too - and you're the gorgeous, badass, genius sister, 'cause I know for a fact they don't let weak idiots into the Secret Service. I'm proud to have had such awesome girls as friends growing up - and even happier to have found one of them again after 12 years, grown into a beautiful badass young woman." Carter retorted with a grin and a wink, leaving Helena's blush to darken to a rosy hue as he and Leon moved back to the console, the DSO founder chuckling under his breath.
"Now as much as I'd love to sit here and spend all day getting reacquainted, there's no time - we've gotta find that key card, get to the Cathedral, and get the hell out of this city," Carter smirked.
Unfortunately, after Helena recovered from her blushing fit, barging between Carter and Leon to type in a code at the console, an ear-splittingly loud, almost scowl-worthy siren went off, causing the zombies to begin moving towards their location - and as the trio took positions at the windows, with Carter in a position to cover either of the senior agents as necessary, the survivalist proved that recent events hadn't dulled his wit.
"You guys up for reminding these deadbeats that school's out for summer?"
Leon didn't respond, busy communicating with Hunnigan regarding the locked door even as he shot, stabbed and kicked at his undead attackers - but Helena threw a saucy grin at her new/old friend before rapidly shooting three zombies in the face and roundhouse kicking away the undead trio.
"Always am. You think this is gonna stop me, Myers?"
"Never in a million years, Harper," Carter easily retorted as he reloaded his last handgun clip, quickly holstering his Sig Sauer and switching to melee tactics, unsheathing his hip-holstered survival knives and - easily, to his shock - decapitating a zombie. Hand-to-hand combat ensued, with all three survivors lashing out at zombies with fists, feet, knives and (occasional) bullets for what felt like hours.
"This is pretty tight security for a college campus!" Hunnigan mused over the radio.
"You think someone's hiding something here?" Carter asked, before elbowing a zombie in the throat and roundhouse kicking it away.
"Wouldn't be the first time an educational facility was used for that." Leon grimaced as he kicked another zombie away. The three survivors, finally having a split second of breathing room, regrouped by the locked door, with Carter's knives covered in blood - and then the zombie horde resumed their charge.
"Got it! The door's open - get out of there now!" Hunnigan ordered over the radio.
"Carter, move!" Leon barked.
"You guys go first - watch my back!" Carter responded, slowly moving backwards, towards the newly opened door even as he kicked, punched and slashed the zombies immediately in front of him to pieces, "I don't want these bastards tailing us anymore than you do!"
"Let's move, Helena! Trust him - he's got a plan!" Leon ordered, practically dragging the younger agent by the arm even as they both recognized Carter's strategy. Suddenly, as they got through the door Leon pulled Helena aside.
"Leon, the door!"
"Wait for it." Leon smirked. Helena looked through the open doorway - and was only stopped by her government training from freezing and staring in naked shock at the next sequence of events.
An instant after she peeked, Helena saw Carter slash through one final zombie before turning on his heel and sprinting for the door, only stopping to flip forward off of another zombie that was trying to head towards the agents. As his resulting dive began to come up short Carter tucked and rolled, sheathing his knives in the process and letting his momentum carry him through the door, before he pulled out the Glock 26 from its ankle holster on his leg and shot two bullets back through the doorway to trip a pair of attacking zombies. Leon and Helena shut and barricaded the door; Helena turned to Carter afterwards, staring at him for a moment, before poking him in the cheek with a seemingly delicate finger as he wiped down his knife blades and holstered his gun.
"He's so life-like." Helena mused. Leon smirked at his partner's antics.
"Ha-ha, Helena; remind me to introduce you to Agent Prentiss when we're out of this mess," Carter grumbled playfully, "So I worked with stuntmen, gymnasts, Parkour trainers and ballet dancers as a teenager - needed to develop agility somewhere."
"You are human, right?" Helena deadpanned, "You certainly feel like living flesh and blood."
"Yes, Harper," Carter chuckled, sheathing his blades and pulling out his Sig Sauer, "I'm human. Just a lot stronger and faster than when we were kids."
"It has been twelve years since you two last saw each other, Helena," Leon smiled faintly as the group proceeded through the room, "Give the guy some credit; he did say he's been training."
"And how. Wish I could say it'll be enough, though," Carter grimaced as he drank water from a hip flask holstered on his vest, "This is thirsty business."
"Well, hang in there a bit longer - once we get out of here, we'll find a way to the Cathedral." Helena nodded, "And then you'll know the whole truth."
Both men raised an eyebrow in Helena's direction - and then the group proceeded onward, retrieving the key card they needed even as Carter located a mysterious serpent-themed flash drive in one of the desks ahead.
'Old friend, what did you mean by "the whole truth"? And what the hell are these mysterious flash drives?' Carter mused after defeating another zombie that was about to attack Helena from behind, stopping afterwards to stow the flash drive in the same impact-reinforced, waterproofed, zip-sealed pocket as another one he'd found earlier.
'The three of us can look them over later on - they might hold useful info... evidence to avenge dad and President Benford, hopefully.'
The group then headed back to the gate, shooting down the odd zombie en route.
"Before we continue, guys... thanks."
Helena suddenly froze, her hand - and the key card in it - centimeters away from the card reader; something in Carter's voice sounded... off. Looking back, she saw weariness in his eyes - and concern.
"Thanks? For what?" Leon asked, shooting down a zombie that got a little too close for comfort, "Carter; we watch each others' backs. That's what teamwork's about."
"And more to the point," Helena added, swiping the key card, "You're our friend - even if Leon won't show it. Twelve years ago, Deborah and I lost you once because we walked away. Granted, we didn't have a choice then, but I won't lose you again - and once we find her neither will Deborah."
Carter grinned as the gate opened, ducking beneath it.
"Then let's get moving, guys - we've gotta... aw, for bootin' up cold!"
As Leon and Helena flanked Carter, the trio noticed a metal detector stood between them and the exit.
"Of course it'd be a goddamn metal detector - and we can't even go around it." Carter grumbled, noting the boxes blocking the clear area beside the device.
"We're almost there," Helena noted, "Let's just activate the thing and keep moving."
"And let all the zombies we haven't killed come after us?" Carter gaped at the "CIA Problem Child".
"The gate will block them, mostly," Helena replied, "at least for-"
Suddenly, the detector went off - and the duo looked ahead to see an unrepentant Leon on the other side.
"Should've known better," the ex-cop mused sardonically, smirking all the way as a sea of zombies ran at the gate. Helena stifled a laugh; Carter grimaced, to hide a grin of his own as the group moved forward - only to find something much worse beyond the next set of doors.
"Well, shit..." the survivalist groaned even as he fired at the zombies ahead alongside Leon and Helena.
"Take a right up ahead!" Helena barked through the radio.
"Come on, guys - let's save our ammo for the big leagues and get out of here!" Carter roared.
'I wonder if this is how Jackie Chan felt in "Adventures"?' he mused while sprinting down the path. After turning, the Special Agent got his answer... in the form of a massive zombie horde.
"Bad day..." Carter sighed.
"Carter?" Leon asked, not getting an answer - as the normally cool survivalist began running even faster.
"Oh, brother..." Helena groaned, hiding a smile behind her hand as Carter sprinted through the horde, screaming "Bad day!" repeatedly at the top of his lungs as he dodged zombies and drew their attention, "He's cracking jokes now?"
"Like he said before," Leon chuckled, shooting zombies down at the knees, "Someone has to do it. Besides - maybe he just wants to make you smile."
"For your information," Helena retorted faux-sternly as she followed Leon's example, ignoring the blush staining her cheeks, "He achieved that years ago."
"Cute," Leon grinned at his blushing partner as Carter skidded to a stop in front of a parked - and thankfully unlocked - police cruiser, "Shall we join our friend and get out of here?"
"Let's do it," Helena smirked. The group later reassembled at the cruiser, Carter tossing Leon the keys even as he shot down zombies.
"Leon, you're an ex-cop; you drive." the younger man teased.
"It was for one day," Leon grumbled good-naturedly as he got inside the car.
"Someone's in a good mood," Helena teased, backing Carter up as they shot down enough zombies to safely escape.
"I've got an old friend back," Carter replied, loading another clip of ammo into his handgun before carefully shooting more zombies, he and Helena backing towards the car as Leon started the engine, "I'm doing what I do best, and maybe - just maybe - I'll see Deborah soon too. You're damn right I'm in a good mood!"
"Then let's get out of here," Leon retorted as Helena entered the cruiser, "So you can keep being in a good mood!"
"He's right, Carter; move!" Helena barked from in the back seat, as she held the door open for her friend.
As Carter jumped backwards, hoping to land in the back of the cruiser, a particularly stubborn zombie flew at him from the side. Twisting in mid-air and hastily aiming his gun, one very lucky shot to the face put the undead body to rest as Carter (all 210 pounds of him with gear) slammed into Helena - who slammed into the opposite door of the cruiser as a result of her friend's antics.
"Ow... Ok, that... was luck," Carter gasped, shaking his head as he rolled towards the drivers' side of the back seat.
"Carter," Helena grimaced, biting back a groan of pain, "You have got to lay off the burgers and the weights - you weigh a metric ton!" The survivalist threw a sheepish smile at his old friend, grasping her hand in concern as he shut the open passenger door with his other hand.
"Sorry, Helena - you ok?" Carter asked, "I didn't hurt you?"
"Nothing antiseptic can't fix." Helena smiled faintly, "Thanks, Carter."
"You both buckled in?" Leon asked.
"Yeah." Helena replied.
"Then hold on!" the ex-cop barked, driving full speed ahead. For a brief moment, the trio relaxed as Leon drove off the campus - finally able to catch their breath. Carter sipped from his hip flask briefly, and then watched for zombies in the area as Leon drove.
"We made it off campus," Leon mused as Carter shot a stubborn zombie that tried to jump on the cruiser's roof, "Now we've just gotta get through town..."
"...Without getting killed," Helena finished.
"That," Carter grimaced as he looked ahead, "Could be a problem. Roadblock!"
Leon power-slid the car to a stop... in front of a flaming inferno, caused (and fueled) by a pile-up of vehicles.
"...Well, shit."
The trio of survivors decided (on Hunnigan's advice) to enter the sewers using a manhole in front of the pileup; after another "Harper Moment" (as a part of Carter's mind began calling them) occurred after Helena followed Carter into the sewers - landing on the survivalist in the process, to their mutual embarrassment, even as Carter teased Helena about "returning the favor" - he and the senior agents pressed on, Carter activating the wireless earpiece/flashlight that came with his radio.
"What a slimy mess," Carter grumbled sotto voice, as the group neared the first door after entering the sewers.
"I said it'd be a tough road," Leon retorted coolly.
"I know, but... damn, man; you said nothing about walking in sewage! I'm gonna have to fumigate all this when this mess is over!" Carter scowled, shaking off his fireman's boots and simultaneously thanking his father for drilling the benefits of waterproofed, odor-repelling gear into his mind, "Why couldn't we be some of those sky hopping anti-bioterrorism fighters with VTOL aircraft? Why do we end up in the sewers?"
"Leon, Helena, Carter - we'll be out of contact while you're in there." Hunnigan interjected over the radio as the group moved through the door. The trio softly cursed - Carter in German, no less.
"I'll still be tracking your movements - but be careful."
The radio went silent once more; Carter sighed as he noticed a subway ahead.
"Sonofa..."
"Not a fan of subways?" Helena teased, chuckling softly.
"Not a fan of underground passages, period, which is more than you gave when Leon and I asked you something similar," Carter shot back wryly, "Then again, we haven't much choice... and at least it's not swimming. Give me dry land any day."
"Can't swim?" Leon smirked.
"Don't like to - but I can, yes, and all my gear's waterproofed too. Why?"
"Call me paranoid," Helena mused sardonically, "But I've got a bad feeling you'll need that skill - and the waterproofing - before too long."
"Helena, you're lucky we're friends, or I'd kick your ass right now for that crap... I hate the water." Carter groaned playfully, warily eyeing the open, surging power box to the right as the trio proceeded down the tracks in the other direction.
'If we've gotta swim at some point, god help me I'll kick your ass for real, Helena - because foreshadowing of that variety just damn sucks.'
"Carter, we said we'd take care of you - get you to safety," Helena began.
"Screw getting me to safety, Helena," Carter flatly interrupted, "I may not be Secret Service, but I am FBI - I can fight with the best of 'em... I can fight with you, old friend, and we can find out who really did this. I'm not gonna lose you again; I don't care if I've gotta swim underwater, hike through a hot desert, fake my own death, whatever. Dad never accepted any less of himself for his friends and loved ones and neither did my teammates; I won't accept anything less of myself for you."
"...Understood." Helena replied softly, "So you're still with us after we get out of Tall Oaks, then?"
Carter nodded, his eyes shining with emotion.
"I'm with you as long as you need me around, Helena. Let's finish this."
'I'm with you to the end, Helena,' Carter added silently, 'You and Deborah both. We'll find her, we'll end this, and maybe get the life we were all denied 12 years ago.'
'Ok, self, rule one - do not touch the goddamn third rail or you're toast!' Carter mentally screamed as he gingerly walked down the tracks alongside Leon and Helena. However, the survivalist was so wrapped up in shooting the occasional zombie - while simultaneously trying not to fry himself - that he failed to notice a slowly decreasing gap between himself and Helena - or that Helena had a small smile on her face.
"You are human after all," she chuckled softly while shooting a group of zombies that came out of spaces in the walls ahead.
"Laugh it up, Harper," Carter grimaced, "If not for my stunt training you'd be dealing with a flash-fried-"
"Train's coming!" Helena interjected, grabbing Carter's free hand and - to his surprise - successfully pulling him towards her, even as Leon dove to an empty space to their left. Instinctively knowing what his old friend was trying to do, Carter dodged the third rail and twisted to Helena's right - somehow removing his backpack in the process - and hugged the wall, his backpack pinned by one arm each between him and Helena as Leon flattened his own back against the wall... while a subway train skimmed the area ahead of the trio, missing them by centimeters.
"Shit in hell's fire...!" Carter breathed, "Thanks, Helena!"
"How are the trains still running?" Helena gasped.
"There was no one at the controls!" Leon answered breathlessly, "...Zombie Express."
"Well," Carter groused, replacing his backpack on his shoulders and pressing onward beside Helena, "Forgive the old reference, but that's just Prime. First zombies, now zombie expresses - what's next? Zombie dogs?"
As the group was distracted by a loud, feminine scream, the survivalist got his answer an instant later - as (loud barks and all) an undead dog flew at him, knocking him to the floor. Carter's backpack, unsecured at that moment, flew behind him to land next to a box as Helena and Leon shot a second zombie canine.
"Carter!" Helena gasped; turning towards him, aiming her gun... and hesitating, as the grapple between her best friend and the undead beast before him escalated. For every effort the dog made at biting or scratching Carter, he dodged, or blocked - or his vest somehow stopped the attacks, leaving no damage to the vest or himself.
'I could hit him...!' Helena realized with increasing horror, 'I could end up shooting my sister's best friend - and if I do that, she'll never forgive me! Even if he is wearing a bulletproof vest, I can't...!'
"Helena!" Carter growled, seeing his friend's hesitation as he held back the zombified canine's muzzle with his hands, denying himself access to his weapons momentarily, "Don't worry about me; I've got- BEHIND YOU!"
With that cue from her friend Helena spun, reflexively lashing out with a roundhouse kick - and kicking away a third zombified dog as a result. As the dog, like the zombies before it, dissolved to nothing, Helena turned back - only to see Carter lash out with a punch to his opponent's muzzle, pushing the canine back and giving him room to draw the Glock 26 on his leg once again. Two shots later, the enemy that had Carter pinned to the floor dissolved as well, leaving the survivalist gasping for breath as the battle rush went back to manageable levels.
"Carter?" Helena stared at her old/new friend, scanning for damage as he thumbed the safety and holstered his backup gun before she helped him to his feet, "Are you ok? I was sure that dog bit you through your vest - or at least scratched you..."
"Kevlar," Carter smiled at Helena, "Reinforced with spider silk, carbon fibers and high-end ceramic ballistic plating, to say nothing of all the fancy nanomaterials in this thing. It's the same stuff used by military forces the world over, including the BSAA; if it can stop bullets, it can stop teeth - even virus-infected teeth. Except for the plates, my survival kits are made of a similar material, and so are the gloves - which is why they're full-hand, not fingerless."
"Nicely done," Leon smirked from up ahead as Carter kneeled next to his backpack, checking for damage and adjusting the straps, "You okay to keep moving?"
"'Course I am," Carter grinned, standing tall and replacing the bulky pack on his shoulders before shooting a pointed look at Helena as they walked, "Question is, can you keep up?"
Helena grinned. Carter gulped dramatically at the gleam in his childhood friend's eyes; Leon threw the younger man a look of exasperation.
"See what you did, man?" the DSO agent groused.
"Me and my big mouth." Carter joked - before letting out a yelp of surprise as Helena pushed past him, taking point among the trio.
"The hell, Harper!?"
"Can't you keep up, Myers?" Helena teased.
"Boy, do I know how to pick 'em..."
Leon chuckled as Carter jogged ahead.
'Those two are as bad as Claire and I get when we're together... but they also make just as great a team as us. I wonder if they'll see that?'
Harper's Log; July 15th, 2013 (cont'd)
Looking back, I'm actually somewhat amazed... just by being who he is, Carter managed to bring back my spirit and sense of humor in the darkest of times. Even after a minor breakdown, even after losing his best friend to life itself, and losing his father to the very bioterrorism they had fought against in their own way for years, Carter Myers' willpower, strength, and sense of humor never died. Neither did his loyalty... or his heart. And in keeping those parts of himself alive, he kept me alive too - even when I didn't want to be. I had betrayed my country, my people, my very ethics, in an effort to save Deborah... a failed effort. Yet even with all of those sins and mistakes an old friend from twelve years ago saw "something magnificent and noble", as he once described it, within me of all people, and stood by me through the entire nightmare and beyond. So did Agent Kennedy... Leon... and then or now, I could never begin to thank them enough. We are the only three-person team in the DSO - whenever the BAU can spare Carter, anyway - and one of the most successful teams in government service at all, in no small part because of what they did for me.
I just wish that the next major events had been different... we almost didn't make it to even become a team!
"He's a special guy, isn't he?" JJ asked Helena, who was practically daydreaming as the memories surfaced.
"He is," the ex-CIA Agent smiled, "I've always wanted to just... thank him. As a kid, and again in Tall Oaks, he's saved my life."
"You and your sister saved his just as much, from the sounds of it." the former BAU Media Liaison smiled, "You, Deborah and Carter are very good for each other; you wouldn't be who you are without their influence, or they without yours."
"Like you and Reid?" Helena teased, "It took divine intervention for you two to get together in this lifetime, after all."
"Helena, I'm here for you - leave Spence and my love life out of this!" JJ rebuffed playfully before the two women shared a look and dissolved into giggles, Deborah joining in soon after.
Carter, meanwhile, watched from the kitchen doorway, having just finished assembling a large homemade lasagna for the three - soon to be four, he presumed - government agents and Deborah to have for dinner.
"You're welcome, Helena... anytime." the newly-minted Supervisory Special Agent murmured, his response lost beneath the sounds of his friends' laughter as he went back into the kitchen to begin baking dinner.