Ghost threw himself forward in one swift movement, dodging a piercing attack from the monster. He rolled on the ground and turned quickly, firing a shot with his desert eagle into the creature's eye, which roared as it was hit.
The agent's eyes widened slightly and his body acted again as the monster's tail attacked him. A quick and lethal attack, so strong that it destroyed the concrete of the wall behind the man.
The monster turned its body quickly and struck the agent with its huge hand, causing the man to "fly" several meters forward and grunt as he was hit.
Ghost fell and rolled on the ground a few times, feeling an enormous pain spread through the stricken area.
He looked down, his eyes analyzing his twisted arm in an unusual way. It hadn't broken, which was great, but it had dislocated.
He quickly grabbed his fist and tried to put his arm back in place, ignoring the blood that was dripping and staining his hand.
Footsteps approached quickly behind him, and he saw Sherry crouching beside him out of the corner of his eye.
"Are you all right?!" She asked, nervous both at the fact that they were trapped with such a monster and at the fact that he was injured.
Without answering immediately, Ghost stood up with a grunt and took a clip from one of the pockets of his tactical vest, handing it to the girl without looking at her.
"Reload. And get out of here." Sherry took the clip and reloaded the pistol in her hands, but then looked at him as if he were crazy.
"What?! No way!" she exclaimed, hearing the monster roar again and move quickly towards them. However, after Ghost simply pushed her aside, she realized that the creature was focused solely on him, as if it hadn't even seen her there.
That... was strange, to say the least.
"This isn't a discussion, get out of here! You'll only get in my way!" He shouted back, running a few steps towards the creature, throwing himself down just as it attacked him and sliding under its legs.
The monster quickly turned around, trying to attack the agent. However, a familiar roar echoed through the room, and both Ghost and Sherry were surprised to see Lickers attacking the creature.
Two of them jumped on its back and attacked it with their claws. However, the monster simply grabbed them and threw them towards the agent, who had started running towards Sherry to get her out of there.
In reflex, he ducked and focused his eyes on the monster that was now advancing towards him, even with a Licker still on its back.
Sherry's eyes widened slightly as she saw the Licker the monster had thrown start to move again. She raised the Silver Ghost and fired at the creature, which struggled as the higher caliber shots began to hit it.
A noise next to her caught her attention and, on reflex, Sherry jumped backwards, dodging a piercing advance from another Licker, attracted by her shots.
The girl fired at the creature, which leapt towards the ceiling and began to run as it dodged.
The Licker she had previously shot ran towards her and jumped up to attack her. Quickly, Sherry threw herself to the ground and slid under the creature, firing rapidly at both creatures that were now running towards her.
She fired as she retreated, and managed to bring one of them down, killing it. However, she had run out of ammo again, and the other Licker flexed its hind legs to attack again.
However, Sherry was quicker and lunged forward, turning her body and landing a kick to the side of the Licker's head before it could attack her.
She quickly grabbed her knife and jumped on top of the Licker, stabbing it in the head several times until it was motionless.
She breathed a sigh of relief, and soon stood up, only to find herself facing three more of these creatures coming down the hole that the monster fighting the agent had opened earlier.
She drew her knife again, only to have her forearm grabbed by the tongue of one of the Lickers, and her eyes widened as she saw another leap towards her.
"Sherry!" The agent's deep voice caught her attention, and all she could see was his desert eagle flying towards her. Adrenaline was coursing through her veins, and she managed to grab the gun while it was still in the air and fire it at the Licker shortly after it jumped towards her.
She then fired at the one holding her and then at the last one.
The girl gasped a few times, feeling a certain relief spread through her chest. She was getting more action in just those few hours than in any day of work she had ever done.
The sound of the agent fighting the creature made her look towards him with the desert eagle raised, she noticed the way he moved, so unique, yet... so familiar. And it was only then that she realized, he had called her by her name.
She hadn't told him her name once. How did he know?
She shook her head, she would think about it later.
Approaching at a fast pace, she shot at the creature's eye, causing the monster to take a few steps away from the man.
Ghost fired with his rifle at the creature, which was now protecting the eye on its shoulder with its other arm as it approached at a fast pace. As soon as he got close enough, the creature attacked him.
However, Ghost threw himself forward and let himself slide under the monster's legs.
Reacting quickly, he didn't give the creature time to turn towards him and jumped on its back, climbing onto its shoulder. The monster, in turn, struggled and tried to grab the agent.
Ghost was quicker and grabbed his knife, plunging it into the creature's eye and making a deep, wide tear down the side.
Pus practically exploded from the huge eye, a wound opened wide. Ghost quickly took a heavy grenade from his vest and plunged it deep into the eye, after which he jumped away.
The creature turned and raised its huge arm, its claws opening menacingly. But before it could even attack the man, the grenade exploded in its eye. Pus, blood, pieces of flesh and bones were thrown everywhere by the explosion. However resistant the outside was, the inside was not. And that went for all biological weapons. Well, all the ones he had faced so far.
The creature fell. A cloud of red smoke from the mixture with the blood formed where it had been. Ghost had covered his eyes with his arm and stared for a few moments at the monster's fallen body.
He gasped a few times, feeling the pain of his injuries begin to bother him. He still hadn't fully recovered from his last mission, which was curious, to say the least, given that his natural regeneration should already have taken effect, even without the herbal mix.
And as if he had just remembered this, he opened one of the pockets of his ballistic vest, only to be frustratingly confronted with a broken bottle of herbal mixture. The liquid had soaked through his vest and was now dripping with his blood.
Ghost grunted angrily. The bottle must have broken when the monster attacked him earlier. He would have to deal with it in the classic way.
However, before he could do anything else, he heard the monster roar in front of him again. His keen eyes watched as tentacles emerged from the side of its mutated arm and headed towards the remains of the senator, lying not far from where they were, and some others headed towards the bodies of the Lickers.
Ghost, realizing the intention behind it, raised his rifle and fired at the tentacles. However, they were fast enough to seem to avoid his bullets, although he did hit a few,
After a few tentacles had successfully retracted, the creature's body began to struggle. It was quite simple, using mass to create mass. The explosion wound regenerated at a frightening speed while the creature's body grew and mutated right in front of him.
Ghost shot wherever he could, in the arm, in what was left of the head, in the place where the eye had regenerated, but it seemed that the more he shot, the more the monster mutated.
Something like a huge arm appeared on the creature's back, there were bone spikes all along its length and a line of small eyes that followed each other to the base of a huge bone spike at the end.
Its legs began to grow, its tail seemed to get more robust, its mouth seemed to get bigger and its head expanded, growing what looked like a malformed brain, resembling the head of a Licker.
Ghost gritted his teeth as he saw the creature's huge arms move, its body rising from the ground.
"Get out of here!" He shouted loudly, firmly, wanting the girl to get as far away as possible. It just got even more dangerous, and what's worse, he was kind of obliged to kill the thing, otherwise there would be too many victims.
"You're not serious! Come on, we can go together! The BSAA already-"
"Fucking hell, this is my job, girl!" he shouted back, irritated, firing once more into the creature's eyes, hitting it as hard as he could.
The monster roared and attacked him with its tail, but the agent was quicker and dodged, jumping over the attack.
The creature advanced again, its huge body moving with difficulty in that tight spot.
Sherry also fired with the desert eagle, hitting all those eyes on the creature's back, as much as she could until her gun ran out of bullets.
The monster tried to pierce the agent, who dodged the attack and jumped away, feeling the wall being destroyed right behind him.
The creature attacked him again, a slashing attack with the huge claw on its back. The agent gritted his teeth and leaned back, dodging the attack and feeling the air being cut off just centimeters in front of his face.
As he dodged, he grabbed a heavy grenade from his vest and threw it at the creature's feet, which roared again, irritated, as it tried to attack him once more.
The grenade exploded, loud enough to throw the agent backwards as he was too close. The creature roared and staggered a few steps, but soon recovered and advanced again against the agent, who rolled to the side, dodging the piercing attack.
Sherry looked around nervously, looking for something she could use, a place where they could escape. There was no way to kill that thing, not in that tiny place.
The place looked like a sewer, but it wasn't exactly one. The bars around each corner of the walls led nowhere, and there didn't seem to be an entrance other than the hole above them. The place looked like it hadn't been touched by anyone in years, abandoned.
In other words, some kind of prison, most likely. For what, and why, she didn't know, let alone why it was under an airport.
She looked at the monster again, gasping as she saw the agent narrowly avoid being crushed. Well, since there was no way out of there, she might as well help him.
The girl picked up her knife and leapt towards the monster's back, plunging her knife into one of its eyes. Pus dripped from the new wound, staining her hands, clothes and face.
She grunted as she felt the creature jerk in an attempt to get her off its back, and in response, she braced her legs underneath her and scaled the creature, plunging her knife into another eye just above.
The monster roared and quickly approached the nearest wall. Realizing what it was up to, Sherry jumped to the side and staggered a little as she felt the whole place shake from the force of the impact.
She quickly moved away from the creature, and her eyes widened slightly in surprise as she felt her back collide with the man right behind her. His deep blue eyes stared into hers.
"You could have climbed out of here by now." He said, his tone scolding, which was curious to say the least. Was he scolding her?
However, despite this, she watched as he extended four clips in her direction, two for each weapon she held. She quickly took the ammunition and reloaded both the pistols she had.
"I'll keep his attention on me. You attack him from behind, understand?" He asked, also reloading his rifle and glaring at her. Sherry shook her head in response.
Before doing anything else, Ghost alternated his gaze between Sherry and the two guns she was carrying. He felt a little more comfortable seeing that she was at least armed.
"... Take good care of them, will you? They have a bit more firepower, so watch the recoil." He said, referring to his weapons and, without waiting for an answer, advanced towards the monster while Sherry watched him for a few moments, surprised and... curious, perhaps, at his attitude.
The monster tried a horizontal attack on the agent, who dodged by crouching without releasing the trigger, unloading the clip into the creature's front eyes, which roared with each destroyed eye.
Seeing an opportunity, Sherry ran to the opposite side and tried to shoot out the eyes on the creature's back.
The eyes of the huge arm on its back focused on Sherry, and in one swift movement, it attacked her. The girl dodges by throwing her torso to the side and counterattacks with a point-blank shot to one of the eyes in its extension.
The arm retracts slightly and attacks again, but Sherry is quicker and dodges, throwing her whole body back a step and firing again.
The monster roars loudly and raises both arms in front of the agent, who quickly moves away. The creature then hit the ground, so hard that the whole place shook again, like an earthquake, making them both lose their balance. Then the arm in front of Sherry attacks her arms, causing her to drop the desert eagle to the ground.
The girl grits her teeth and strikes back, turning her body, she stabs her knife into the other eye of the arm, and jumps away as she sees the limb retract.
She crouches down and picks up the weapon that had fallen. Her confused eyes looked at the creature. It wasn't trying to kill her, it was trying to disarm her.
Earlier, and now this. It was rather obvious that this creature didn't want to hurt her. But why? It was obvious that it wanted to kill that agent, so why not her?
Her eyes narrowed slightly, and she looked at the slight scars on her arms. Was it because she had once been infected with the G-virus? It didn't make sense, there was no way. They did tests, she and Claire, they were cured. Chris himself confirmed it.
Maybe, then, it had something to do with the "consequences" of her being infected?
It didn't matter, not at the moment. She reloaded her pistol and fired into the creature's eyes, taking a step closer with each shot she fired.
The agent rolled to the side, dodging an attack that would surely crush him. Just as he got up, the creature attacked him again with its other arm. In pure reflex, he leapt to the side at the same time as turning his body and, still in the air, fired into the creature's eyes, falling to the ground with his finger on the trigger.
The monster roared again, and the concrete beneath its feet began to crack, causing it to lose its balance for a few moments. Just long enough for Ghost to stand up, separate the heavy grenades between both hands and climb up the monster's huge arm.
His eyes met Sherry's and he threw two heavy grenades in her direction.
The girl's eyes widened in surprise and she put her gun to her waist, managing to catch both grenades in time.
"Put it in the eyes!" He shouted, and she obeyed him immediately. They both pulled the pins out of the grenades and put them in different eyes.
Sherry moved away quickly and Ghost jumped backwards while throwing a stun grenade while still in the air. The stun grenade exploded, the creature roared and moved away a few steps, not having time to even think about attacking the agent before the grenades exploded at the same time.
Again, no matter how strong the outside was, the inside would always be the weakest point.
An explosion of blood, flesh and bones took place. So strong that the entire structure shook and the ground beneath the creature's feet gave way, sending it tumbling into the unknown.
Both the agent and Sherry covered their eyes and shielded themselves from the impact. A cloud of red smoke mixed with concrete debris and dust hung in the air for a few moments.
The agent stood up, a little disoriented. No matter how much it happened, he never seemed to get used to it.
After a few gasps, he felt the pain spread through his body, the weakness hitting him. He had lost a fair amount of blood due to the wound on the side of his body caused by the monster's claws.
He sharpened his gaze as he heard the creature below them roar in exhaustion. A frustrated groan escaped his lips. That thing just wouldn't die.
However, it was another noise that caught his attention. A groan of pain from the other side of the room. His heart raced and he quickly walked towards the moan, his eyes focused on the bone stake driven into the girl's stomach.
"Girl!" he said without realizing it, walking towards her at a brisk pace and kneeling down beside her. It was lodged deep in her stomach.
"What the fuck... you need a hospital." He said, and watched as she carefully put her hands around the stake. "Hey, no, leave it there."
"It's... okay... it'll heal." She said, to the agent's slight confusion. Sherry gasped loudly as she pulled the stake out of herself, and a groan of pain mixed with relief escaped her lips as she finally got rid of the thing.
Ghost prepared to rip off part of his tactical shirt, but his eyes stared in disbelief as the wound simply stopped bleeding. He stood motionless as he watched the wound begin to heal right in front of him, until it closed completely and left nothing but a small scar, barely visible to the inattentive eye.
Sherry gasped a few times and sat down, leaning her back against the wall. Her tired eyes then met the agent's serious ones. Serious, surprised and... fearful?
A smile appeared on her lips. That was usually the reaction... well, at least of the few people who saw it.
"I... hope this doesn't make you kill me or something... you know, I'm not infected, it's... it's complicated." She said, ducking her head for a moment.
It was complicated, yes, but Ghost knew exactly what she was talking about. So his suspicions were right, it did have side effects... he just couldn't tell if they were good or bad.
"I won't ask then." That was all he said, and the girl watched him move a few steps to the side and sit down, also with his back against the wall. He was hurt, and she knew that his injuries had caught up with him.
"Really? That's it?" She asked, watching curiously as he pulled out a small compartment from inside the handle of his knife. A familiar liquid was present inside a small vial. A mixture of herbs.
"Do you have any involvement with the creation of bio-weapons?" He asked after drinking from the small vial. It wouldn't do much, the amount was too small, but it was better than nothing.
"What? No." Sherry replied, watching him gasp as he took some bandages from one of his vest pockets.
"Are you a bio-terrorist trying to end society as we know it?" She grimaced.
"No!"
"Then why would I kill you?" He asked, opening the cap of the bottle and pouring a dark liquid into the wound on his arm and the side of his torso. The pain was sharp, but bearable.
"So that's what you do? Fight bio-weapons and bio-terrorists? Sounds a lot like the BSAA." She said, remaining silent for a few moments, but, seeing that she wasn't going to get an answer, she stood up and walked over. "Give me here, I'll do it."
He looked at her for a few brief moments, looking uncertain, which made Sherry roll her eyes.
"Remember what you said before? When you told me to get out of here because it was your job to fight that thing?" She asked and he sighed. "Well. Taking care of survivors of bio-terrorist attacks is my job. Now give me that."
Ghost lowered his head and sighed once more, clicking his tongue shortly afterwards. Rolling his eyes in defeat, he hands the bandages to the girl, who kneels beside him.
"I have no idea how you managed to move like that with this injury." She said, more to herself than to him, because she knew she wouldn't get an answer.
She concentrated on her work. Or at least she tried to. Something caught her eye.
After wiping away the excess blood, she realized that his arm was covered in scars. Some deeper than others. But there were two that brought back memories.
Claw scars, just below the shoulder, three claws, the middle one being the widest. And on his forearm, a bite mark. Both scars had been healed for years by the state, but she could see them very well.
And she certainly remembered someone who had exactly the same marks years ago. She clearly remembered looking at the marks on his arm several times when he had his shirt off. She remembered the horrible marks visible even under a shirt from the claws on his chest.
And she remembered a bite mark that both she and Claire had agreed not to ask him about. Not so soon, anyway.
She swallowed some saliva, shook her head and hoped he hadn't noticed her staring. She had no way of knowing if it was really that. That man, from all the stories she'd heard, from all the information she had, was fighting biological weapons on his own. Who knows what he'd been through.
Scars like that were common in that line of work. It meant he'd survived another day of the nightmare. And considering that he worked alone...
It could just be a coincidence... just a coincidence.
"Ghost to HQ, come in!" Her thoughts were interrupted by his thick voice, now no longer as tired as before. The girl looked at his wounds. They were healing. Not as fast as her own regeneration, but faster than an ordinary person, which made her wonder if he also had some kind of enhanced healing.
"Yes, Ghost."
"One infected with a variant of the G-Virus. I tried to kill it, but the creature regenerated completely by ingesting mass. The creature escaped." He reported, the tone of frustration present in his voice. Sherry finished bandaging his wounds and knelt beside him, looking at him suggestively.
"We understand. Ghost, that thing is close to leaving the airport. The BSAA and TerraSave are already nearby, but considering that the more mass it ingests, the more it mutates, I don't think they'll be able to do much." Ghost sighed, and Sherry became a little apprehensive. Perhaps Claire was close to the team.
She knew she could take care of herself, but just imagining Redfield coming face to face with a creature like that, even more mutated due to the consumption of mass, made her stomach turn.
Her attention was then drawn to Ghost, who reloaded his rifle and checked his equipment.
"... Call the reaper. Prepare the G-guns and bring supplies for refilling." He said, cracking the bones in his neck. From the way he acted, despite being frustrated, he seemed calm. Frighteningly calm, to Sherry's surprise and fear.
Just thinking of all the victims that creature would claim...
"Helicopter leaving in five minutes. Estimated time of arrival, thirteen minutes and twenty-seven seconds." Ghost looked at Sherry, silently signaling her to recharge what she could.
"Good. In the meantime, I'll draw the creature to me, try to reduce the number of victims. Ghost, out." That was all he said, just before turning to Sherry. Despite the mask, she knew he was serious. His eyes showed enough.
"You'll stay close to me at all times, you'll move when I speak, you'll do as I say, understand? As soon as we leave the airport, you go to your group and tell them to stay away, let me do my job and that's non-negotiable. If anyone from TerraSave or the BSAA shows up, I will kill them." His words were firm and harsh, making the girl feel a little cowed.
She had no doubt that if he wanted to kill her at that moment, he would. And she also had no doubt that he would actually do what he said, she had seen enough to confirm it.
And although it was against her will, she just decided to nod in response. It would be smarter to agree with him at the moment than to go against him, especially in this situation.
Without saying another word, he turned and walked over to the huge hole in the center of the site. He investigated the area below. The hole wasn't very big, and there didn't seem to be anything or anyone around.
After signaling Sherry to stay there, he jumped down, raising his rifle and checking his surroundings. That place wasn't a sewer, it looked more like one of the tunnels that connected the entire city to WilPharma.
To his left was a trail of destruction, the obvious path the creature had taken.
Ghost signaled Sherry to get down, and as soon as she did, they followed behind the creature, the agent in the lead, and Sherry two steps behind with the Silver Ghost raised.
They walked down the dark corridor until they came to an intersection. There were two paths, one to the left and the other to the right. However, it seemed that the infected had created a third path. There was a huge hole in the center that led underground, forming a kind of destroyed cave.
They followed it until they found a part where the ground had given way, and Ghost again jumped first.
He landed in an abandoned area of the airport, a disused subway station that led near the parking lot, still inside the airport.
They climbed the stairs until they were close to the lobby. The first thing they both saw were the blood marks on the floor. There were pieces of flesh, bones, limbs and even severed heads everywhere.
Ghost went through it impassively, it was just another part of the job, nothing he wasn't already used to. But it was different with Sherry. She made a face of disgust, disbelief and pity, her stomach churned and, for a few moments, she couldn't even breathe properly.
A movement caught her eye, a grunt put her on alert, and when her eyes focused, she felt her throat close and her body immediately move towards the one squirming on the floor.
Lying next to a severed leg was Salina. Her stomach was punctured, blood covered it and tears flowed from her eyes. Her despair was so great that she didn't even seem to notice Sherry standing right next to her.
Sherry couldn't exactly say anything, she just tore off part of her shirt and tried to stop the bleeding. She was used to dealing with injuries, some uglier than others, but she still didn't have much field experience, usually more experienced people who dealt with more serious cases.
It was one thing to receive clients in a protected area with average injuries. It was quite another to see something like this happen right in front of you. Especially to such a young child. Even more so as part of her job.
However, she wouldn't say it was too much of a shock. After all, she had survived Raccoon City. But she'd be lying if she said it wasn't incredibly frustrating and sad.
She had no way of looking after that girl, not there, not without equipment, and her brain refused to accept it. And in an instant, before her mind could process anything, she heard the sound of a gunshot, and the girl's body went still.
Her eyes caught sight of the agent next to her. He stared at the girl's body for a few moments, then simply turned away. His action was cold, as if it were something trivial.
"... What's wrong with you?" she asked, her voice low, frustration and disbelief present on her face.
The agent turned around. His cold eyes had a slightly curious gleam.
"What? Would you rather see her suffer?" His cold voice sent shivers through the girl's body.
"... It wasn't long ago that you saved her. Not that long since she was on our side. And you're feeling nothing, you're just... cold. Like you don't even care." She said, the frustration she felt with herself betraying her thoughts and forcing words out of her mouth. She didn't know exactly what she wanted.
Maybe that he would show something... maybe that he would be frustrated with her.
"Good. That means my training worked. Now, if you're done with that, let's go, you can grieve later." He said, not waiting for an answer and continuing on his way.
Sherry, for her part, swallowed some saliva, and her eyes went to the girl's body, now with a bullet hole in her head. She didn't want to leave her there like that. The girl had survived one nightmare only to die in another...
It wasn't fair.
She clenched her fist in frustration... how could he be so cold? How could he be so distant? It felt like she was talking to a robot, something inanimate, devoid of feelings.
Maybe it was for the best... maybe it was good that he was the way he was... she had no idea why he was the way he was, or what made him like that.
Her legs began to move to reach the agent at the same time as anger spread through her chest. Her mind recalled his words from a few minutes ago.
"... You're an insensitive asshole." Her words didn't elicit any reaction from him, as expected. "But I respect what you do, especially for doing this kind of thing for a living, alone. Instead of arresting these terrorists, you kill them, don't you?"
Her question made him glance at her, although she kept her gaze forward.
"What do you want to ask me?" He knew she would ask something... hm... maybe she should have expected it.
"You obviously know a lot, you're so skilled, well prepared with all those weapons. But still, you don't seem to be from any organization. Not BSAA, not DSO. Why? Who exactly are you? Who do you work for?" Even though she knew he probably wouldn't answer her, she asked anyway.
She couldn't understand why he didn't join the other organizations; he would be a great ally for everyone.
Ghost remained silent for a few moments, his mind working on an answer and wondering if he should answer her at all. A sigh escaped his lips.
"You talk too much." That was all he said after a while, drawing a frustrated groan from Sherry.
"Forget it, I shouldn't even have asked." She shook her head in disapproval at herself, and again, the agent glared at her.
"You work for a corrupt government." She looked at him, slightly surprised, but very curious. "You work for people who claim to be against bio-terrorism, but are loyal customers on the black market. BSAA, DSO, FBC, TerraSave... you're like good little puppies. Ignorant of the real reasons of your superiors, and those who know all this, don't have the guts to do anything."
Agent... silence.
"Not us. While you are limited by laws, human rights, dictated by your controlling government, we do what has to be done. We see the truth and we apply what they deserve, no matter what we have to do."
You've already said too much.
"You say you're against Umbrella, you say you want to go against these bio-terrorists but you don't sacrifice what's necessary to defeat them. Think of it this way... while the BSAA was involved in useless meetings, Veltro was buying off the authorities and increasing its experiments. While you were worrying about the enemy outside, Lansdale was making deals with Jack Norman, the terrorist leader. While you and your little group were trying to convince the authorities in Africa to let you help the refugees because of an old intrigue and the country's corrupt government, people were dying for lack of medical supplies."
Shut up, Kennedy!
"A word of advice." He stopped walking, his cold and even slightly angry eyes staring deep into Sherry's wounded ones. He stared deep into her fear, her sadness, so much so that he didn't even notice his own mind calling out the name he had sworn to bury. "Go home. Get away from this. This place, this life, is not for you."
He continued on his way. She didn't.
Sherry stared at the man's back with watery eyes. Her heart was pounding and her chest was heaving.
What bothered her wasn't the harsh words. It was the fact that he was right and she had simply refused to see it before. She, like many others, had thought it best to remain ignorant with the excuse that they couldn't get their heads around situations beyond their control.
She thought she was doing good by joining TerraSave, she thought she could save more lives by moving up the ranks. And yes, she did, but she ignored much bigger problems. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't help everyone.
But they could at least lessen the loss.
With her head lowered, she followed the agent.
... You're pathetic.
Ghost forced himself to keep walking, following that trail of destruction. He tried to focus on the roars coming from afar, tried to concentrate on the number of victims he would save if he hurried. Anything but his rigid words.
He didn't want her to follow his "advice", to listen to his words. But at the same time, he felt strange. A certain kind of fear that he had no idea exactly what it was. A fear... he thought he had eradicated any chance of ever being afraid of anything.
Part of him approved of the idea of Sherry helping other people, but another part was afraid of her getting too involved in these matters. Otherwise, the deal he had made years ago would be practically useless.
There were still a few zombies in the area, not killed by survivors or consumed by the monster. But he didn't even care about them, he didn't have time. As long as they didn't bother him, he wouldn't waste bullets on unnecessary things.
Ahead was another hole. The creature had already left the airport. He saw cars overturned and destroyed, vehicles on fire, bodies lying on the ground, bullet casings scattered near military vehicles.
The thing must have been in some kind of advanced mutation. He had to hurry. The G-gun would do the trick, but the more the creature mutated, the more victims it would have.
He walked through the overturned cars, his eyes focused on two zombies running towards him.
With a sigh, he raised his rifle and fired at them both, speeding up his pace a little.
"Sherry!" A voice stopped him. Shivers spread through his body and ran down his spine. Deep down, he had considered the possibility, he just chose to ignore it. He hoped internally that, by that time, he had already taken Sherry to safety and that he wouldn't have to take that risk.
He turned to the side and saw a very familiar woman running to embrace the blonde. She was wearing TerraSave clothes, similar to Sherry's. She was a little dusty and part of her pants were torn. It was clear that she had faced that creature before.
Despite the years, she hadn't changed much, and at the same time, she looked different as fuck.
He watched Claire hug the girl tightly. His heart beat faster and his mind screamed at him to act. He could turn around and leave before the two could notice him, he could leave as he always did, silently and invisibly.
However, his body wouldn't obey. The last time he had even glanced at how they both looked was years ago. As a form of security, his mind had chosen to bury them both deep in his consciousness, and everything had been fine... until that day.
"Are you all right?" Claire asked, undoing the hug and holding Sherry's face with both hands.
He heard Sherry say something, but didn't pay much attention to what it was. And in the next instant, they were both looking in his direction.
He tightened his grip on his rifle and swallowed some saliva. He felt... strange in front of their gazes.
At first, he tried to comfort himself by saying that the choice was made in the heat of the moment, but that he felt good about saving the lives of two people. They didn't need to have such an impact on his life, after all, he had only known them for one night.
And, as it turned out, that was enough.
He watched Sherry start to approach and he stiffened. His eyes tried to focus on the girl, and not on the woman approaching a few steps behind.
"Here... your weapons. Thank you for saving me." He analyzed the small smile on her lips, noticing the relief she felt. Placing the rifle on his back, he picked up both his pistols, gave them a quick check, and put them in their proper holsters.
"Don't mention it." He said, and unable to control himself, he looked at Claire. His blue eyes met hers, to his dismay. He tried to react minimally, internally grateful that she couldn't see beneath his mask.
The creature's roar echoed again, along with the sound of destruction. It was enough to snap him back to reality and, with one last look at Sherry, he turned and ran towards the monster.
Both women watched him walk away, until Claire put her hand on the girl's shoulder.
"... That's the guy Chris and Jill mentioned, isn't he?" She asked, and Sherry looked at her for a few moments.
"Yes. He... helped me out of there." Claire turned back to face the way he'd come.
"... His heart was racing." She said, and arched a curious eyebrow when she saw Sherry just looking in the same direction. "We need to talk. But that's for later. Let's go."
Sherry didn't react for a few moments, but then she nodded and turned, running to Claire's side.