"Let's see how many guards are right around that chopper." Carlos took out his binoculars.
Rain peered around where he was situated halfway behind a wall. "I count seven."
"Hold on, it's a good idea to be sure." He cranked up the zoom. There was a fair amount of distance between the evacuation site and where they currently stood. Plus, it was already difficult to make out the dark-suited Umbrella personnel in the night. "Seven."
L.J. attempted to conceal his snort with a cough.
Tucking the piece of equipment away, Carlos faced the others. "And I'll bet they're not the only ones."
"They definitely won't be," Alice agreed. She started to split off from the rest of the group. "I'll get to work clearing some of them out."
As she tried to walk past Rain, she was stopped by her holding an arm out. Alice quirked an eyebrow.
"Good luck."
"You too." She gave her the tiniest of smiles before continuing on her way.
There was a covered pathway that would lead everybody else much closer to the helicopter while keeping them out of view. Going to the front entrance could put them at risk of being spotted, however, so they opted to utilize the small, paneless windows attached to the top of large-paned ones lining the side.
Jill and Carlos easily got themselves through. L.J. went after Angie, whom he picked up so that she could reach and be helped down by Carlos. Rain had to get a bit of a running start and jump.
"Hey, wait."
Still mid-climb, she shifted her attention to Terri. The former reporter seemed uncertain.
"What's the problem?" Rain was able to get herself up and was around six inches shorter than Terri, so she definitely should have been able to as well. She was wearing heels and everything.
"I need help. I'm not a cop, or a soldier, or-or whatever you are." Terri gestured vaguely to her. "I can't even do a pull-up."
With a roll of her eyes, Rain swung her leg over the ledge, gripping it tightly with one hand while offering the other to her. "C'mon."
Terri grabbed ahold and let Rain hoist her up. She was left to awkwardly squeeze past Rain as a result, slipping forward during her efforts. Rain saved her from an unfortunate landing by catching a fistful of her blouse.
"Oh my god."
"I've got her." L.J. prepped to catch Terri.
Rain let go, eliciting a small shriek from her as she was dropped into his hold.
"Oh my god."
"We need to get a move on, guys. Stick close to the wall." Jill took the lead, leaving the group to follow her as she scanned the area ahead for threats.
They made their way to the opposite end of the pathway with haste, coming out on the side of a ramp. It had a concrete guardrail that provided good cover as they snuck toward the bottom. Two guards were stationed there.
Carlos pointed between himself and Rain. You and me? She nodded. Together, they quietly vaulted over the guardrail and crept behind the goons. Rain wrapped an arm around one's neck and squeezed hard, pushing his helmeted head forward with her free hand.
The second guard turned at the sound of the first dropping his gun. Carlos delivered a sharp kick to his chest. As the guy stumbled back, Carlos gave him another to the temple, causing him to spin and land facedown. He didn't get back up afterward. The guard in Rain's hold went limp. She threw him to the ground.
Jill rounded the railing, keeping her Beretta alternating between the unmoving figures. Just to be safe.
L.J. paused to dish out a few hits of his own. She shoved him toward the others with a healthy dose of silent admonishment.
Meanwhile, somewhere on the rooftop of one of the curved buildings, a sniper aimed down at the intruders. His scope flashed a red circle on a woman's head, indicating that he was locked on.
When he went to pull the trigger, things went dark.
He looked up confusedly, finding fingers blocking his gunsight. There was hardly a chance to process it before Alice punched his clock. Out like a light.
Four goons were standing below. Making use of what was already set up, Alice hooked herself up to some rope and began to descend. Her hair and coat whipped behind her as she ran down the stone exterior with light footsteps.
One glanced up when she was about seven feet from the floor. She dropped another foot and pushed off, slamming the toe of her boot straight into him. He hit the wall harshly.
Alice landed smoothly and unclipped herself. A second guard advanced on her. She roundhoused him while another aimed their rifle, which she managed to loop the end of the rope around. She yanked, but they didn't let go and nearly fell forward. She drove her knee into their gut as they did so.
The fourth guard lost his firearm thanks to a crescent kick. He unsheathed a small knife in its place, making a wide swing at Alice. She jolted back quickly enough to only earn a light graze on the wide holster belt wrapped around her midsection.
He slashed again, creating a shallow cut across her collarbone.
He raised the blade and went to stab.
Alice punched the back of his forearm, knocking it from his grasp. She caught it and stuck it into the back of his neck.
The third guard rose again. Alice hooked the rope around them and dragged them over, getting them well-acquainted with her fists. Following her final strike, she sharply tugged the rope in the opposite direction, leaving them to twirl to the concrete like a yo-yo.
With that, it was over to the gated area beside the helicopter. Three more goons to go.
Alice snapped the first guy's neck. He had a baton strapped to his thigh that she didn't hesitate to take.
The remaining guards both came at her. Despite all their padding, it took a mere five blows to send them both keeling over.
One staggered back to his feet, whipping out his own baton. He landed a few good hits to Alice's sides. She blocked his next attempt with her arm and wrenched the weapon away, knocking him out with it.
The other decided to try what their buddy had just failed. They raised their baton. During that brief window, Alice started to wail on him with the pair she was now wielding.
CRACK! The guard's visor shattered. Alice tossed aside the stolen weaponry, turning to the rest of the group as they were approaching.
Behind her, there was movement. Somebody wasn't done yet.
Alice didn't even get the chance to react.
BAM! A bullet struck the offending goon. As she watched him collapse, the end of a combat knife slammed into him as well.
Rain and Carlos were standing closest. Rain had her TomCat drawn. Carlos was poised as though he threw the blade.
"Behind you."
"Beat me to it."
Alice cracked a quick grin at them as a laugh escaped her. "Let's get going."
The rear hatch of the chopper was already open. She was halfway up the ramp when she got a proper look at the set of medical monitors sitting in the back. In an instant, she locked up, finding herself back in the hospital.
...Her vision was blurred. She couldn't move anything aside from her head and eyes. The rest of her body felt leaden. She was being poked, prodded, and injected with things.
To her left, Rain was lying on a metal table like a corpse, boring into her with wide, dilated eyes. She seemed entirely unblinking. Alice couldn't stand the sight of her so lifeless.
To her right, Matt was in a similar position, staring at her with a dead blue eye. The other was missing, alongside a decent-sized chunk of the skin and bone surrounding it. Awful, awful.
A couple of men in lab coats were standing over him. Both were middle-aged with cold, emotionless gazes, which found her as well...
"We have to hurry," Alice murmured.
Carlos regarded her tense form with mild concern and confusion. "We're okay," he tried to assure. "We have time."
"No! We have to hurry." She headed further into the aircraft.
"She's right."
Carlos glanced over his shoulder, finding Rain appearing equally as tense as Alice.
"We've gotta go right now." Rain nudged Angie to board quicker and seized L.J. by his light brown leather jacket, redirecting him toward the ramp before pushing him onto it. "Move!"
Alice pointed her pistol at the pilot. "Take off," she ordered.
He didn't. All he did was stare dumbly at her.
"I said take off!"
The exact moment Rain tried to follow after the others, two goons appeared and grabbed her. "Hey!" She struggled and flailed as they began to drag her away. "Let go, you assholes!"
Alice wheeled around, aiming for whoever had her partner.
Unfortunately, despite how much she wanted to open fire, she wasn't able to. Alongside the pair currently struggling to contain Rain, there were another three guards aiming their own guns at everyone else.
There was also a man in a black leather jacket and a pair of blue suit pants. His face was one that had just flashed through Alice's mind. His name was Cain, she was pretty sure, and he was giving her the same cold, emotionless expression. A chill went down her spine. He had taken Angie and was holding a handgun threateningly close to her. "What's the rush?" He tilted his head at Alice. "We've been expecting you."
Upon being stripped of all her weapons, Alice's hands were secured behind her back with a few zip ties.
Jill, Carlos, L.J., and Terri were undergoing the same treatment as she was begrudgingly directed back outside. Rain was continuing to fight against the guards, who had her bent over slightly with her arms craned as far behind her back as they would go.
A third smashed the butt of his rifle against her temple. The pain may not have been there, but that didn't stop the blow from causing her to see stars. Thoroughly disoriented, the men holding her arms took the opportunity to force her onto her knees.
"Angie!" That was Ashford's voice. He had been removed from his wheelchair and left on the ground not far from it.
"Daddy!" Angie ran over to him. Cain let her. She went straight into Ashford's embrace. "I knew you wouldn't leave me."
He held her tightly. "No, no, never, never."
"This one has a camera, sir." A goon held up Terri's camcorder.
"Hey—!" She tried to take it back but was quickly deterred by a gun barrel being pressed against her forehead. She slowly lowered her hands, and a zip tie was placed around her wrists.
Cain carefully studied her. "You seem familiar. You were formerly on Raccoon 7, correct?"
"Um..." Terri managed a nervous smile. "Are you a fan?"
"Not at all." He directed his attention back to the guy holding her camera. "Destroy that."
"No, don't!"
The device was thrown onto the concrete and promptly stomped on until it was nothing but a bunch of broken pieces.
"We can't have you going and tarnishing Umbrella's reputation, can we?"
"You won't get away with all this," Jill spat.
"Even if you survive, nobody will believe you on word alone. You ought to know that from experience, Miss Valentine."
Her glare could have melted nails. Cain fully ignored it.
"For that reason, I'm going to share something with you. This helicopter... It was originally intended to transport Project Nemesis. But we could not get a response from him. It would seem somebody interfered. So disappointing. Only two left to make do with." He stood between Alice and Rain. "Both of you showed such promise, but we had yet to see you in action, and most impressive, most intriguing you have been. Heightened speed, strength, agility, killer instincts... Though, I suppose that's clearly stronger in one of you than the other."
"What are you getting at?" Alice interrupted.
Cain smirked. "You're going to help us discover which is superior."
"No."
"We're not your fucking circus monkeys, dickhead."
"So crass." He tsked. "But you are right. You aren't circus monkeys. You're lab rats. And right now, I'd like to perform a test. Fight each other."
"No." Alice's voice came out stronger.
"Fight. Or they'll all die."
"You can't—"
Without warning, Cain fired a round directly into Ashford's chest. There was an immediate gut-wrenching cry of, "Daddy! Daddy, no!"
"He was a valuable asset to the corporation. I don't even care about these people."
Angie sobbed, trying desperately to get a response out of her father. The life was leaving his body quickly.
"Jesus christ... Alice, I don't think we've got a choice here."
Alice tried and failed to swallow the lump in her throat. She nodded in agreement.
"Wonderful." Cain signaled for a case to be brought over. As it opened, various vials of green liquid were revealed. "Now, I do believe that in order to see the most authentic results, Project Rain needs to be coaxed into fully showing what she is truly capable of."
