Sorry for the delay. Needed a time for myself (work and college, most)
The agent throws his torso back, dodging a horizontal knife attack that the guard in front of him attempted.
Then he crouches slightly and throws his body to the side, deflecting another cutting attack coming from another guard, this time to his right.
A training in hand-to-hand combat with a knife. Real sharp blades were used, and the agent ignored the pain of the few grazing cuts he received.
The pain did not bother him, nor the fatigue of all the training before that test, or the hair that was stuck to his forehead, hindering his vision, due to the heavy rain. He was used to ignoring it.
And although the rain made the ground beneath his feet somewhat uncomfortable for his balance, he just had to adapt.
The guards wore full protective gear while the agent wore only a black training suit. It was cloth versus military gear. The guards were relatively intact, despite having some of their equipment damaged by the agent's stabs.
The agent dodged again, turning his body to the side, and quickly counterattacked. He stabbed the first guard in the rib and kicked him away, then he dodged an attack from the other guard and countered with a punch to the stomach, followed by a stab to the back, kick to the stomach again, and an elbow to his face protected by a helmet.
The equipment protected the guards, of course. The purpose of that training was to incapacitate them. They would already be dead if this were real combat.
The agent watched as the first guard stood up and advanced towards him.
A predictable, vertical cutting attack, and the agent dodged. The guard attacked him quickly, giving him no time to counterattack, and as he spun his body around, he tried a piercing blow to the agent's stomach.
The agent dodged by throwing his body to the side, and soon, he had to dodge once more when the second guard attacked him.
A horizontal blow from left to right. Too slow, and the agent ducked.
His eyes widened and his pupils seemed to dilate a little. He saw an opening.
The agent punched the guard in front of him in the wrist, forcing him to drop the blade due to the force of the blow. Without stopping, the agent then hits the guard in the stomach. A strong punch, making the guard bend over and grunt as he feels the air being expelled from his lungs.
The agent then rolls over the guard's back, kicking the knife out of the other's hand, giving him another opening for his blows. The guard tries to fight back, however, the agent hits with a left jab, followed by a right uppercut, a hook, and a kick to the chest that sends the guard backwards, knocking him down.
The agent then turns around and, taking advantage of the momentum of the movement, lands a strong punch to the other guard's face, breaking the front of his helmet and causing the man to stagger backwards.
Behind him, the other guard advances again. He attempts a right cross, which the agent promptly deflects.
Then the guard attempts a side kick. The agent manages to defend and prepares to counterattack, however, the guard acts quickly and, turning his body, hits a spinning kick to the agent's chest, who grunts and backs away a few steps.
Before the agent could act, however, the other guard managed to recover and attacked him with a rear kick. But the agent heard him and could see him through his peripheral vision, and as soon as the guard attacked him, he did a back flip, dodging the blow and moving a few steps away from the two guards.
The agent stood in attack position and watched the two guards in front of him.
The first one quickly approached and tried a flying roundhouse kick, which the agent dodged as he ducked. The guard then tried a right cross, which the agent once again managed to dodge.
The second guard came forward and tried to kick him in the chest, but the agent was quicker and swiftly dodged under the kick, countering with a punch to the stomach.
The first guard tried to hit him with a punch to the face, however, the agent defended the punch and countered with a knee to the stomach.
Even before he retracted his leg, he turned his body slightly to the side and taking advantage of the momentum caused by hitting the knee to the guard, he delivers a rear kick to the chest of the second guard who had advanced to attack him.
Turning to the first guard again, he lands a punch to his stomach followed by a right cross. To finish, he jumps up and lands a right leg kick to the guard's face, then a left leg kick to the guard's chest and drops himself, landing almost like a cat on the ground.
Getting up quickly, he turns to the second guard, who, as he approaches, jumps up and attempts a tornado kick at the agent, who deflects.
Upon landing, the guard attempts a spinning back kick, but misses. Without giving the agent time to counter, the guard attempts a side kick.
However, the agent blocks the blow and counters by hitting the guard's leg and knocking him to the ground. Without giving the guard time to get up, the agent moves forward and hits a strong left cross, followed by a straight punch that leaves the guard incapacitated.
The agent then runs to a suitcase lying on the ground in the rain and picks up a small empty bottle. The loudspeakers of the place sound the signal, indicating the end of the training and the victory of the agent. The guards get up from the ground, still dizzy from the blows, remove their helmets, take out their knives, and begin to remove the training equipment.
Despite being protected by the equipment and even helmets, they still had bruised faces and blood was dripping from the nose of one of them.
The agent, in turn, put the knife in his holster and looked at the clock on the wall a few dozen meters away, under a cover that protected it from the rain.
Total time, one minute and forty-seven seconds. Completion of the test two minutes faster than last time.
It would be almost perfect if it were not for the few blows he received.
Sighing slightly, he walks towards the gym, glancing at the obstacle course not far from there.
Waiting for him at the entrance door to the gym was William, with his arms typically behind his back and his sunglasses on.
"Good job, agent. Your score is on a big rise lately." William said, and the agent nodded. He never knew if those small, rare compliments were really compliments or just part of Wesker's snobbish attitude.
"Thank you, sir." The agent replied, running his hand through his hair, wiping away the excess water.
"How do you feel now that you are getting closer and closer to proceeding on your own?" William asked, not out of curiosity.
The agent, in turn, smiled, letting out a nasal laugh. Someone who didn't care about anyone asking a question of that sort... ironic.
"As you know, sir, training will never stop." The agent said, taking a bottle of water from the hands of a guard nearby and taking a sip. "I don't feel any different, if that's what you're asking, sir. The goal is always to be the best and nothing else, isn't it." He wiped away the excess water that was running down his forehead and threatening to fall into his eyes.
The agent then turned, looking at William, waiting for him to say why he was there.
William didn't answer for a while, just stared at him with his arms back.
"...You have a mission. Hunk will be waiting for you in Mongolia. It seems that something has gone wrong in one of the hidden laboratories of our little group of terrorists. Biological weapons are loose and have already killed some people in the area." William said, starting to walk into the gym and being accompanied by the agent.
"Your mission is to eliminate the biological weapons, investigate the laboratory, and when you are finished, destroy it. You only have nineteen hours to complete the mission, more details will be given once you are in the helicopter." William stopped walking as soon as they entered a corridor that led to an area inside the facility.
He looked intently at the agent, who did not look away.
The agent's mind quickly processed the information, and a small hint of nervousness quickly passed through his chest.
This was the first time he would face biological weapons since he arrived there... and like everything up to that point, the real thing was quite different from the training.
But he was good at hiding his feelings and keeping an inexpressive face. He, more than anyone else, knew that biological weapons died as well as humans. Perhaps greater firepower was needed, but they all fell.
So, in the end, he didn't have much to worry about.
"Yes, sir." He replied, and William seemed satisfied, for he had already begun to walk away.
"You have an hour at most." He said as he walked away, leaving the agent alone with his thoughts.
The agent moved quickly through the deserted area. There weren't that many trees to grant him some cover, but considering that the whole place was guarded by William's agency, he would say he didn't have much to worry about.
The agent climbed the small hill and took a quick look back. The setting sun gave a beautiful view of the arid site, although the view was hampered by the two helicopters in the distance.
Turning again, he continues on his way, being covered by the darkness that soon catches up with him.
After some time, he finally reaches the meeting place with Hunk and some other guards from his team.
One of the guards pointed his rifle in his direction when he heard his footsteps approaching, lowering the gun again when he realized it was him.
The agent approached with calm steps, carefully observing all those guards with whom he had had no contact until that moment.
Though subtle, they were divided into groups. There were four guards on the left with submachine guns and pistols, probably a front group. On the right was another with long-range rifles with optical sighting. They were from the rear. All of them already ready to act, and Hunk with a binocular in his right hand.
"Sir." The agent greeted, and Hunk nodded in response, before pulling up the sleeve of his tactical blouse and checking the watch on his wrist.
"Two minutes earlier than expected, great!" Hunk said, waving to the group to his left and then soon after to his right. "Let's go." He then nodded to the agent, who approached and crouched beside him.
They were at the top of a hill that had a view of the laboratory a few miles away from there.
The agent took the binoculars when Hunk offered them and observed the situation. There was blood on the front of the lab, gates and mesh railings destroyed and torn by marks that looked like claws.
Ah, he remembered claws similar to those, carved into his chest.
"The lab went down at least 10 hours ago. Whatever infected were in there, they killed all the guards and scientists inside and got free. Time enough for them to get to the main road and kill some civilians traveling there. We managed to contain the situation and set up a quarantine area." Hunk explained it, and the agent lowered his binoculars.
"The area is large, I imagine you haven't been able to eliminate all the biological weapons..." The agent said, glancing at Hunk, who just nodded in confirmation.
"Exactly. And that's where we come in. We've already seen how you handled yourself against the infected. Impressive for someone who had never come into contact with something of that magnitude. I confess we are looking forward to seeing you in action now." Hunk said, getting up. The agent looked at him and did the same, without looking away.
"My team and I will hunt down and eliminate all the infected still around the area. You will be in charge of eliminating the infected inside and searching the lab. When you're done, radio us and we'll come." Hunk said, taking a small device from his rear pouch.
The agent looked at the device. It was small, but larger than his hand. There were three buttons on the side and a green screen with something like a pulsing radar.
"Walter was able to analyze that sample you took. That lab is small but it was part of the group we are keeping an eye on. That radar can detect any infected within a thirty meter radius, it will keep you from being caught by surprise." The agent picked up the radar and watched it for a few moments.
Sometimes Walter's abilities were surprising.
"Just out of curiosity, does the government that claims to fight biological weapons have anything like this?" The agent asked, placing the radar in his rear fanny pack.
"Negative. They don't have what we have. They don't even know about this incident. And they won't know until we're done. Besides, they can't just snoop around another country without authorization from the local authorities. Too much bureaucracy." He said, and they both stared at each other for a few moments. Hunk looked at him analytically, and the agent looked back in curiosity.
"The mask suits you, Ghost." Without saying anything else, Hunk turned and walked away with a military rifle in his hands. The agent stood in the same place for a few moments, raising his hand and lightly touching the mask that covered his face.
The mask was black wool with a skull on the front. Although surprised, he had to admit that it really did match.
Ghost turned and ran towards the laboratory.
As soon as he approached, he slowed his speed and raised his rifle. With slow, cautious steps, he passed through the fallen gate and ran his eyes around. No sign of anything or anyone, just blood, wrecked vehicles, and a few fallen bodies in the distance.
He approached the entrance to the lab, and before entering, he took the radar Hunk handed him and activated it.
No infected ahead.
Ghost clenched his eyes slightly. He wasn't going to use much of that thing, although he trusted Walter's abilities, a device wasn't 100% reliable.
He entered the laboratory and ran his eyes down the wide corridor at the entrance. To his right was a small office-like room. There were two bodies inside and blood stained the walls.
Still inside the office, he ran his eyes over the devices in front of him. That was the control room.
Turning around, he continues his way down the dimly lit corridor and turns on the flashlight attached to his rifle.
After passing through a few broken doors and overturned rooms, he reached a large staircase leading down to the underground.
Looking over his shoulder for a few moments, he takes the radar again and observes it.
This time, two green dots appeared on the radar. One at 15.2 meters and the other at 19.4 meters.
Putting the radar back in his pouch, Ghost begins to descend the steps cautiously, his finger already touching the trigger.
As he descended the stairs, he focused his eyes on two creatures ahead, one a few meters closer than the other.
The creatures were tall and stout, with long arms and elongated fingers. They grunted as they staggered aimlessly. Their wet, grayish skin glowed in the beam of the flashlight, and the slight movement of the light caught the attention of the two monsters.
Ghost cocked his head to the side as the creatures turned.
The two creatures had long, sharp teeth that barely fit into their mouths. The hair on their heads had almost completely fallen out, and the eyes were nothing more than two tiny dots on what was left of their rubbery faces.
The only difference between the two creatures was that the farther one had a few bones sticking out of its back and hands.
"Oh, how cute." Ghost muttered, moments before pulling the trigger and hitting the first infected with a hail of shots to the head.
The creature tried to approach the agent, however, the consecutive shots caused it to stagger backwards and fall to the ground.
The second creature proved to be relatively fast in approaching, but soon, it too was hit by a hail of gunfire. However, unlike the first, this one had some kind of intelligence, for when it realized that the agent was aiming at its head, it put its long arm in front of it to protect itself.
Ghost then stopped shooting and moved forward quickly, placing the rifle on his back and grabbing his trusty knife. His movements were quick and agile, and before the monster could even lower its arm completely, Ghost attacked it, stabbing his knife into the creature's neck.
The monster roared in pain and blood dripped from the wound. Then the creature tried to attack Ghost with its other arm, trying to stab the agent with its broad bones.
The agent was quicker and deflected, countering with a kick to the side of the creature's knee, causing it to kneel on the stricken leg. With that, Ghost stabbed the knife into the side of the creature's head twice, before grabbing his pistol and hitting just one shot to the monster's forehead, which fell backwards.
The agent noticed the other creature getting up slowly from the shots, however, he didn't act immediately. His cold blue eyes stared at the body of the monster at his feet.
There was a reason why he decided to use his knife against that thing, and it wasn't to save ammo.
He wanted to test himself. He remembered well what he had felt in Raccoon, the fear, the terror, the adrenaline. Everything he had done was for the sake of Claire, Sherry and himself.
But this time, he didn't want to be the hunted. His training, his captain, Hunk, had taught him that he could be much more than that. He wanted to be the hunter.
He wanted to know if he felt the same thing that he felt a... what, a year or two ago?
And the result was that he didn't feel fear... he wasn't scared... he was focused and knew what he was doing.
The other creature stood up, but before it could do anything, Ghost stepped forward and stabbed the knife into the center of the creature's forehead. And again, he hit a single shot with his pistol into the monster's head, which fell back, motionless.
He always had a little hesitation in the back of his mind about biological weapons, he thought that maybe, somehow, he would act the same way he did in Raccoon.
But no, he didn't hesitate... the little doubt that still existed in the back of his being had dissipated. Good.
Putting the knife back in its sheath, he looks around. Something was odd... although those creatures can certainly kill humans with some ease, he doubted that it was what had ended the lab.
Surely there were other things out there.
Looking around, Ghost picks up his rifle again and moves on.
As he walked through the dimly lit corridors, he looked again at the small radar in his hands. Soon, he felt his body lock up as he saw that the radar marked that there was an Infected right where he was.
His skin tingled, his eyes widened, and his pupils dilated as he heard a low grunt just behind him. His body acted quickly, without his command. He threw himself to the side, and could hear the loud noise of air being cut off by a fast attack.
The agent quickly stood up and pointed his rifle at the creature ahead, arching his eyebrow slightly.
Nothing... there was nothing there.
Confused, he began to take quick but small steps backwards while aiming in the same direction. He heard something, he was sure of it.
Not only that, but the extremely low and slow sound of footsteps of something heavy confirmed it. Something was there.
Something snapped a few steps beside him. A misstep, perhaps? It didn't matter.
Ghost aimed his rifle quickly toward the low noise and pulled the trigger a single time, and as soon as he did, a roar made itself present in that exact spot, blood dripped down something invisible, and angry red eyes watched him.
"Found you." He muttered to himself, widening his eyes as the creature attacked him quickly.
He could barely see the attack, the creature was still cloaked, and it was very close that the huge claws of that thing didn't pierce his chest.
However, before the agent could counterattack, the creature attacked again. A sharp attack with its claws from below.
Ghost managed to react, however, and leaped back, hitting a kick to the creature's chin (or what appeared to be its chin) as he dodged, causing the creature to move two steps away and become invisible again.
The agent pointed his rifle forward, this time prepared, for the creature was bleeding.
And just as he imagined, the moment a small drop of blood dripped from the bullet wound and touched the ground, he fired in the direction where the creature would be, not taking his finger off the trigger until the creature was fully visible.
A Hunter... not just any Hunter, a new model. Hunters could not camouflage themselves to the environment, nor did they have red eyes.
This one had light spines sticking out of its back and was big, very big. Now it made sense that that laboratory had been destroyed.
The creature roared again and advanced towards the agent, ignoring the bullets that penetrated its thick skin. The Hunter was fast, and soon jumped towards Ghost, ready to pierce him with its claws.
The agent threw himself forward and let himself slide along the ground, passing under the Hunter, which grunted as it missed the attack.
The Hunter's eyes seemed to glow brighter, however, and the Hunter advanced toward the agent again, giving the man no time to counterattack.
The Hunter tried a vertical attack with its claws, but missed. The creature then tried a horizontal slashing attack, however, the agent deflected by throwing himself backwards.
The Hunter then roared, and quickly threw itself toward the wall. The agent raised his rifle again and fired, slightly surprised to see the creature begin to move along the wall with ease.
Some shots hit the wall due to the speed of the creature, but soon, the Hunter's back became red and full of holes due to the bullets that hit it.
The Hunter then, took impulse and jumped towards the agent. It was all very fast, the creature seemed to be as fast as a bullet.
The agent gritted his teeth slightly, his jaw locked and adrenaline coursed through his veins.
It was as if everything went into slow motion.
Ghost threw himself forward and let himself slide across the floor, underneath the creature, which hit the ground with extreme force and stabbed its claws into the concrete.
Without giving the creature time to react, the agent acts. Placing the rifle on his back and picking up the Desert Eagle, the agent turns and shoots the Hunter in the head.
The bullet from the .50 hit the Hunter with extreme pressure, going through the creature's skull and hitting the wall a few feet back after completely penetrating the body of the bioweapon.
The creature fell backwards and the agent stood up, taking a deep breath before approaching the creature. That thing was big, it could kill a group of soldiers with ease since the rifle shots barely had any effect.
Ghost brought his hand to his radio to contact Hunk, however, his skin shivered again. His eyes widened slightly and a surge of adrenaline coursed through his veins as he heard another grunt behind him.
The agent turned and tried to throw himself to the side at great speed. And although he acted too fast for any ordinary human, the other Hunter was even faster, and the agent grunted in pain as he felt himself being thrown to the ground and having his shoulder bitten by the creature.
The pain was almost nonexistent, allowing him to act quickly. With the Desert Eagle, he fires twice at the Hunter's neck, which roars in pain and moves away, becoming invisible the moment it got up and the agent recovered.
Glancing over, he saw and felt blood trickle down his wounded shoulder, but ignored it.
His radio then squeaked.
"Ghost, do you copy? How's the situation over there?" Hunk's voice echoed through the empty place, and as he picked up his radio, the agent began walking in a circular fashion, looking toward where Hunter was supposedly cloaking up.
"Ghost here. I found and eliminated some infected. At the moment I am playing hide and seek with a Hunter. I'm winning, by the way." He said, deciding to take a chance and put the Desert Eagle in its holster again and grab a flash grenade.
"Good. I want you to know that we found something that looks like a nest near small stream. There are a considerable amount of Hunters around here. Hunters that are not yet fully evolved, but dangerous just the same. It might take us a while to get to you." Hunk explained, and Ghost let out a slight nasal chuckle after feeling his back lightly bump against the wall.
"No problem, Captain. I guess I'll have a little more time having fun around here then. Ghost out." The moment he turned off the radio, he threw the flash grenade forward and put his arm in front of his eyes while, with the other, he picked up the Desert Eagle.
The Hunter, seeing that its prey had closed its eyes and put itself in a somewhat exposed position, advanced recklessly.
And just as the creature was about to attack the agent, the flash grenade exploded. The Hunter roared loudly and closed its eyes, becoming visible again and staggering back from temporary blindness.
The agent then acted, he advanced against the Hunter and, placing the barrel of the Desert eagle in the creature's mouth, pulled the trigger.
The loud noise of the shot echoed through the place, the Hunter's head and part of its upper back exploded.
The creature's body fell backwards, and the agent observed the two Hunters lying on the ground.
Now, the pain in his shoulder pulsed with the beating of his heart, and he looked down at his blood-stained tactical shirt. The wound would stop bleeding in a short time, he could ignore the pain, so there was no need to drink a mixture of herbs.
He just took some bandages and covered the wound, he was not stupid to leave that exposed.
After this, he takes the radar again and looks at it, there were still some creatures around, and the faster he eliminates them, the better.
With the rifle in his hands, he walked through the twisted corridors, watching for only a few moments each body he came across.
Until, ahead of him, he focused his eyes on what appeared to be the laboratory's test room. With cautious steps, he entered the room.
The first thing he saw were two of those humanoid creatures from before. These, however, still had some of their human features, as if the transformation was not complete.
Ghost looked for a while at the creature's deformed face, the skin seemed to be melting and the eyes were nothing but two black dots. Some teeth had fallen out of its mouth, and others were already elongated fangs.
Upon seeing him, the two creatures began to move toward the agent. Ghost, in turn, pointed his rifle towards the head of the nearest creature, already with his finger on the trigger.
However, before he could shoot, to his surprise, the creature in front of him raised its huge, skeletal arm and, from its deformed hand, shot a large stake of bone in his direction.
Ghost dodged it by tilting his torso to the side, and he watched as the bone stake hit the wall and fell to the floor, intact.
"Well, that's a new trick." He muttered to himself, before turning to the two creatures.
They were slow, the incomplete transformation seemed to limit them in almost everything. He saw no reason to waste bullets.
Placing the rifle on his back, he takes his knife and advances against the nearest creature, which as soon as it sees him approaching, brandishes its right arm to attack him.
Ghost dodges downward and kicks the side of the creature's leg, making it kneel on the stricken leg. And then, the agent stabs his knife into the side of the creature's head at least twice and drops it to the ground, motionless.
He does the same with the second creature, after dodging another bone that was thrown in his direction, and once he kills them both, he concentrates on investigating the place.
That room was huge. There was a supercomputer right in front of him. All around, tables, stretchers, papers, chairs, syringes, operating tables, glass tubes with more infected and experimental animals inside. Similar to what he had found on his last mission with Hunk.
Some glass tubes were broken, probably from the infected who escaped.
He scoured the place for a few minutes, looking for something useful, but all he found were some papers with information about the virus, its possible variants and effects. Nothing that Walter hadn't already discovered.
Although some of the information about "possible variants" was a bit puzzling, so he put them in his back pouch.
After scouring the place, he decides to place some C4 scattered in certain spots. However, before he does so, something catches his eye. To his right, a corridor led to a destroyed iron door.
Again, he picks up his rifle and cautiously walks down the corridor to the door. His flashlight illuminated the claws marked on the door and the surrounding walls, reminding him briefly of Lickers' claws.
As soon as he entered, the first thing he saw was the body of a Hunter lying on the floor. The creature was clearly dead, with wounds on its back but mostly below the neck and on its head.
Next to the Hunter was a man, also dead, with several claw wounds and puncture wounds on his body. Right next to him, a shotgun with a few shell casings lying on the ground.
The floor was soaked with blood from both bodies.
Ghost took two steps into the dark room, and that's when he heard a gasp from his side. He turned quickly, with his rifle already raised, but to his surprise he found no infected.
Inside a cage, like animals, there were at least five children. Boys and girls, all dressed in hospital clothes, their hands tied.
Ghost blinked a few times, watching the children, still alive, move away to the corner of the cage when they were illuminated by the flashlight attached to the rifle.
Ghost looked again at the two bodies in front of him, and then, lit up the place.
There were other cages around, destroyed cages with blood all around, probably from other subjects.
Ahead, he could see the body of another Hunter, lying next to a severed arm and some fallen ribs without a torso.
There were fallen shotgun shells lying around as well. It was clear that that dead man on the ground had killed the two Hunters before he himself died, as well as all the others.
And yet, those children were still alive.
The agent then approaches the cage, trying to ignore the clear fear of the children, and, from his fanny pack, takes a small cutting tool, twice as small as ordinary, and cuts the lock with some force.
He opens the cage door and crouches down, watching the children.
"Let's go, you can come. I won't hurt you." He said, extending a hand toward them, but it didn't seem to do much good.
And they didn't seem to understand him. Not for nothing, he didn't speak Mongolian.
Shaking his head, he reaches for his knife.
"Captain, do you copy?" He called over the radio, slowly approaching the nearest child, who said something he didn't understand and cringed in fright.
"Ghost! Not the best time, but speak!" Hunk replied, and he could hear noises of gunfire from the background. They were cleaning out the nest, probably.
"I scoured the lab, but before I could spread the C4, I found some children. Subjects of the experiments." He explained, cutting the restraints of the boy who, though still frightened, looked at him slightly surprised.
"Test subjects? Did they say anything?" Hunk asked, and Ghost was cutting the restraints of another boy.
"Probably yeah, but I can't speak Mongolian." Ghost replied.
"Okay, right, do you see any syringe marks on them?" Hunk asked, and as soon as Ghost cut the restraints of one girl, she being the last, he illuminated the neck and arms of each of them.
"... Yes. All of them. But they don't seem to be infected." Ghost replied, moving a few steps away and standing up, waiting for the children to follow him and get out of the cage.
"... Get them out of there. We'll finish up here as quickly as we can and check on those children. Depending, Walter will have to do some more tests and we'll send them to TerraSave. Hunk out." Hunk explained.
Ghost looked around once more and signaled for the children to follow him. Clearly, they were still hesitating whether to do as they were told or not, but, one by one, they slowly came out of the cage, although they didn't approach him.
Without saying anything, the agent just nodded for them to go down the corridor while he picked up some C4.
From inside one of the pockets of his tactical vest, he takes something similar to a spray and passes it around. It was gas.
Nothing from inside that laboratory would be left. Only remains.
He did this with some more C4 in some other areas, and as soon as he was finished, he escorted the children out of the lab.
Along the way, he could see the children somewhat hesitant at the sight of the bodies of the Hunters he had killed. As a way of saying that everything was all right, he walked over to the Hunters' bodies and kicked them both, showing that they were indeed dead, and the children seemed to calm down, although they were walking at a very fast pace, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible.
As a precaution, Ghost checked the radar one more time, and allowed himself to stay a little further back when he saw that there were no more infected ahead.
He watched the children go up the stairs, somewhat euphoric and more excited than before, certainly. Even though they were weak, they seemed to ignore it.
A single girl stayed behind, she was walking slower than the others. She seemed to be the youngest, and she was the shortest. One of the boys, equally short, came back and held her hand, helping her up the stairs.
Ghost just watched this for a few moments. It was... nice to see a scene like that, despite the circumstances.
It was refreshing to see one child helping another, a boy playing his part and taking care of a little girl.
After looking back for a few more moments, he turns and walks quickly up the stairs.
Already in front of the entrance, he moves a few dozen meters away and, making sure they were far enough away, he presses the detonator.
The explosion was great, the ground shook, and fire poured out of the entrance of the laboratory like the mouth of a volcano.
Fire and smoke rose into the sky, and the buzz of the explosion bothered the ears of those nearby.
"Ghost here, do you copy?" The agent said into his radio, looking at the children beside him, who in turn stared at the fire that consumed what was left of the lab.
"Yes, Ghost. We're on our way. What's the situation?" Hunk asked from the other side, as Ghost turned and signaled for the children to follow him toward the spot where he had met with Hunk earlier.
"Lab destroyed. Subjects are with me. We are on our way to the meeting place." Ghost said, walking slowly and glancing over the state of the children. They were too weak to walk quickly.
"Roger that. Hold position. We'll be there in fourteen minutes tops." Hunk said.
"Roger that. Ghost out." The agent replied.
After a short time of walking, they finally arrived at the meeting place. Ghost ran his eyes around and checked the radar one more time, just to be safe.
After making sure there was nothing around, he picked up his rifle and reloaded it, as well as his two pistols. A kind of excuse to glance at the children.
They were not hurt anywhere, apart from being tired and probably hungry and thirsty. He didn't have much, but it should help.
As soon as they sat down, either on the ground or on a fallen log, he took some of his military rations and tried to divide them among the five of them. The taste was not exactly what a child would like, but it would at least satisfy their hunger.
After this, he took his water bottle and handed it to one of them, who drank a few sips and passed the bottle to another, and so on, until the water ran out and everyone had a few drinks.
A girl, one of the older ones, stood up and approached Ghost with the bottle, who was observing the surrounding area while waiting for Hunk.
Hesitantly, she touched his waist, getting his attention, and held out the empty bottle to him, who took it and waved to her.
The girl said something before turning back to where she was sitting, but the agent didn't understand, and deduced that it was a form of thanks.
He turned around again and stood still, watching the fire that was taking over the front of the laboratory, looking at the radar almost every 30 seconds. And before he knew it, one, two minutes had passed.
It was a short time, of course, but it was long enough for the unimaginable to happen.
Behind him, Ghost heard the children screaming. He heard something tear, something break amidst the screams.
He widened his eyes and quickly turned around with his rifle in hand. As he turned, he held his breath without realizing it.
One of the boys had a scar on his cheek. And that was all he could recognize amidst the bones that pierced his face and back amidst his grayish skin. His body seemed to swell and his left arm grew at a frightening speed.
The little boy who had helped the girl up the stairs was in a similar situation, the only difference being that the bones in his left arm pierced his flesh and he tore a chunk out of the neck of the little girl he had helped.
Beside them, the other children screamed and their bodies seemed to swell, blood came out of their mouths and eyes.
Only one girl was not going through the same things. The one who had handed him the bottle of water earlier. She was paralyzed and with her arms clutched to her chest, terror in her eyes.
One of the boys, now just a beast without a conscience, advanced towards her.
Ghost realized, he saw, his mind acted, but his body did not.
He froze... only for a moment or two, milliseconds, but when the bullet from his rifle pierced the boy's head, his arm had already pierced the girl's neck.
For a brief moment, images of that sheriff came to his mind, along with the memory of Elliot at that police station.
He was late... again.
Anger... frustration with himself, he raised his rifle against the next infected and shot, doing what he was trained to do.
Blinking a few times due to the brightness of the place, Claire sighs slightly as she sees the gates open.
She didn't know exactly where she was, she just knew that the place was military property, and at first, she could see some recruits training in the distance.
Turning slightly away from the window, she looks at Sherry beside her. The little girl looked... excited, but at the same time, distant.
It was hard to read Sherry, she knew how to keep her feelings to herself very well. In these two years, she had changed a lot, but that, never changed.
Her hair was still tied up in a small ponytail, she had grown a little and showed that she would become a beautiful woman in the future.
Up ahead, Chris was driving alongside one of his companions. Clive Brian... or something like that, she didn't know, she didn't pay much attention, she admitted.
She just knew that Clive was important to the foundation of an organization that Chris and Jill were about to create. Her brother seemed determined to destroy Umbrella.
And of course, Chris had forbidden her to be part of this organization. As if he was in charge of her.
However, she reassured him. Chris was a soldier, she wasn't. She didn't want to go to the front line and fight day after day against creatures from horror stories.
She already did too much of that for one night, and someone had to take care of Sherry. If possible, she would just help those who needed it.
Maybe she could follow through with her idea of being a doctor. In fact, she even already had an idea of what to do...
Pff, sure... as if Chris would like that idea.
After some more time, Chris pulled into the parking lot, and the four of them got out of the car.
"Well, Chris, I'm going to set things up. Talk to the rest of the team. See you soon." Clive said as soon as he got out of the vehicle, and Chris waved. He then turned to the two girls and waved.
"It was nice to meet you both. Claire, Sherry." Clive said, before turning and striding away from there.
Claire watched him for a few moments, until she walked around the car and opened the trunk to get her things. That would be her home indefinitely, it seemed.
"How are you two doing? Tired from the trip?" Chris asked, his hands in his pockets.
He was somewhat... conflicted. On the one hand, he didn't want to leave the two of them alone in their hometown, not after everything, not a chance.
But on the other hand, leaving them near him would only make them a target for Umbrella. Like it or not, they would be known for being close to him.
Yeah... he was having a nice conflict inside.
"Not so much. It's just... I don't know, it's just... weird." Claire said, picking up her bag while Chris picked up Sherry's.
"But it's nice, you know, to think that everything's going to be different." Sherry said, and Claire smiled minimally.
Still the same.
"This place may not be a five-star hotel, but for now, it'll do. We won't be staying long, so hang in there." Chris said as they walked to the building ahead.
"Are all those soldiers under your command?" Sherry asked, looking at the soldiers in training.
"More or less. They'll be joining us." Chris replied, opening the door to the huge house.
As they entered, Claire ran her eyes around the place.
It was large, and despite being in a military training camp, it had a certain beauty to it. The kitchen was to the right and a living room to the left.
In front was a corridor leading to the back. There were one or two doors to the right of the corridor, probably other rooms and a stair that went up to the second floor.
What caught Claire's attention, and consequently that of the others beside her, was a man who was sitting on the couch in the living room and was now walking towards them.
The man was tall, had short blond hair, stiff features. He had a strong body, almost the same size as Chris. He had a scar on the side of his right arm, a knife in its sheath on his right shoulder, and an arrogant expression on his face.
"Well, well, well, the lost puppy has decided to show his face again. You took your time, Redfield. Two days, to be exact." The man said, his voice was deep and slightly drawn out, and as he approached, Claire could see that he had blue eyes.
He was handsome in a very masculine way, but there was something about him that she hadn't really liked. It seemed like he had bad intentions in almost every action he took.
"Krauser, argh, everything was so good before you showed up. What do you want now?" Chris asked, by the slight frown of his eyebrows, somewhat annoyed.
"The usual, I'm here on business. I can't stand to look at your face for more than five seconds." Krauser replied, and soon, his rigid eyes focused on Sherry, to ultimately focus on Claire, on whom his gaze lingered longer.
"What's this? I would say you are married, but the girl is clearly not yours. New girlfriend? Is that what you've been doing?" Krauser asked, somewhat... annoyed, perhaps. Nah, there was a bit of mockery underneath.
"Argh, you're as dumb as you look. It's none of your business. And she's my sister." Chris replied, probably with a bitter taste in his mouth.
"Sister? Ha, who would have thought it. She doesn't look anything like you." Krauser said, staring at Claire again. The woman, in turn, felt somewhat uncomfortable. She hadn't liked that look.
"Well, it looks like things here are going to get more interesting than I thought. I might even like staying around here." Krauser said with clear ulterior motives, much to the chagrin of Claire, and especially, Chris.
"And I'm going to love smashing your face in every time you think to look at her." Chris said, teeth clenched, moving a few small steps closer to Krauser, who just smiled in mock debauchery.
Claire pulled Sherry back slightly, the girl wasn't scared, just confused as to why they were fighting. She thought about breaking up the fight, but knew that Chris wouldn't listen.
And honestly, she didn't want to.
"Oh, come on, Chris. I'm about to break your face, too, but we already know the outcome of that." Krauser said in arrogance.
"Yeah, your cold body in a grave." Chris replied, and before the two men could exchange punches right there, footsteps were heard coming down the stairs, and Claire couldn't help but smile as she saw Jill approaching.
"Chris! You've barely arrived and you're already picking a fight?!" She scolded, causing the two to back away as she approached. "And so are you, Krauser. You're here on a job, not to fight." She gave him a frown, and he just shrugged.
"Ah, sweetie, fighting is part of the job." He said, causing Jill to roll her eyes and sigh. She then turns to Claire and cracked a smile.
"Hey, girl. Wow, I missed you." She said as she approached, hugging Claire, who returned the hug.
"Me too. But it was nice to know that you were keeping my brother in line." She said, undoing the hug after a few moments.
"I do my best." Jill replied, before looking at Sherry. "Oh, so that's Sherry. She's prettier in person." Jill said, and Sherry, in response, smiled slightly.
"Thank you." She thanked her, and Jill held out her hand.
"I'm Jill Valentine." Sherry squeezed her hand.
"Sherry... Redfield." The girl said, and Jill, after shaking her hand, arched an eyebrow at Chris, who just shrugged.
"Argh, if you're done with that scene, come on, we've got work to do and we're already late." Krauser said, arms crossed and propped up beside one of the doors in the corridor.
"What exactly are you doing here?" Chris asked again.
"You're dumber than a bag of rocks, Redfield. I already told you. USSOCOM is dumb enough to trust you and your parade of little soldiers. And here I am, as their representative. Now come on, if it were up to me, I would have already given up on this idea just for the delay." Krauser said, still with his arms crossed.
"Is that so? And why are you still here?" Chris asked.
"Well, I want to get to the root of it all. Show my superiors that trusting a guy who lost almost every man on four different missions is not the best decision they had." Krauser of that, with that same tone of debauchery.
"And how many men have you lost, huh Jack? At least I've been successful in all my missions." Chris retorted.
"I admit that we were not prepared for a mass attack by Lickers. But if we had been informed beforehand, I have no doubt we would have done better than you." Krauser said, and without even realizing it, Claire held her breath.
She knew what Chris did, what he fought against, and that the missions he went on were dangerous and at high risk of involving biological weapons.
Chris was always concerned for her safety, but she was also concerned for his safety. She was totally against him going on that kind of mission, doing what he does. Even though he knew that, she never said it out loud.
Just remembering those... things. She just wanted it to end, for no one else to go through what she went through.
Especially what Sherry went through.
"Argh, is there any way you guys can stop wanting to kill each other for at least 10 minutes? Chris, show them their room and come downstairs. I'll set things up with the others. We'll start the meeting in fifteen minutes. Good to see you again Claire. Sherry. Excuse me." Jill said, not allowing room for any response from Chris or Krauser, and just walked out of the house.
"Finally someone with balls around here. Ironic." Krauser said, causing Chris to roll his eyes.
"Shut up." He said, not wanting to go through with it anymore and starting up the steps of the stairs.
Sherry and Claire followed right behind him.
As they reached the second floor, Claire ran her eyes around the office on the left, visible through the two glass doors.
To the right, a bedroom with a double bed. Ahead, another bedroom, this one with the door closed.
Chris opened the bedroom door, revealing a single bed a few steps to the right and a closet near the wall to the left.
In the right corner of the room, another single bed with a bedside table between the two beds. A lamp on the bedside table. In front, next to the wall, a table with a chair and a TV in the corner, facing the two beds.
Next to the table, a door that led to a bathroom.
"Cozy." Claire murmured, being overheard by Sherry, but receiving no response.
"Well, make yourselves comfortable. Like I said, it's going to be temporary. And don't bother with Krauser, he won't be staying long." Chris said, placing Sherry's bag on the floor between the two beds.
"You seem to have a problem with him." Claire said, and Chris snorted.
"Oh, that's an understatement. Krauser is a good soldier, but that's about it. He's arrogant, debauched, annoying... argh, let's just say he had a problem with me the moment he saw me. But that's my business, you don't have to worry about him." Chris said, walking to the door.
"Well, if you need anything, call me in a few hours, or you can talk to Parker. He's probably supervising the training of the recruits, but it will be over soon. I have to go, the sooner we finish this meeting, the better." Chris said, looking at them for a few moments before turning around.
"Wait, Chris." Sherry stopped him, and he looked at her with an arched eyebrow. "When are we going to start my training?" She asked.
Claire smiled slightly sideways. Some time ago, Chris had decided that it would be a good idea to train Sherry, the same way he had trained her years ago. She was supportive of the idea, and it would be good to keep her skills up to date.
One never knows.
"Ah, any time I'm available. We'll see. In the meantime, Claire can start teaching you the basics." Chris said, and Claire arched both eyebrows slightly and alternated her gaze between the two, who were staring at her.
"Ahm... yes, of course. I could use a little practice myself." She said, and Sherry smiled slightly.
With that, Chris just nodded and turned away. Claire then closed the door and turned to Sherry, who was opening one of the windows near the beds.
"So, do you want to go shower first?" she asked, and Sherry nodded in response, walking towards her bag shortly thereafter.
As the little girl headed for the bathroom, Claire grabbed the TV remote and started flipping through the channels.
She liked the sound of the TV, although she rarely paid attention to what was on.
But it was good training. She could better control her... attributes, so to speak. It was still strange, sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, but she was better than before, at least.
Those years had done her some good... sort of.
With a slight sigh, she sat up in bed as she switched channels, until one caught her eye.
The sound of water falling in the bathroom was drowned out by the sound of the news report playing as Claire turned up the volume.
A man was on the screen, Neil Fisher was written just below.
He was talking about how bioterrorist attacks were expanding and how this was a risk to the whole world. Images of the destruction caused by such attacks flashed on the screen.
This caught Claire's attention, because this was what she was thinking so much about.
She didn't want to fight on the front lines, she wanted to help the victims, just as this man did.
She had been determined to do this for some time. Now all that was left was to tell Chris that she wanted to be part of TerraSave.
