A sigh escapes her lips, reddened by lipstick. Her dark eyes scan the warehouse once more. The place was a bit... unusual for a meeting.
It didn't look abandoned, but it didn't look like it was used very often either.
The woman ran one of her hands through her short black hair, then picked up her cell phone. The number appeared on the screen, and in a matter of seconds, three calls later, the person on the other end of the line answered.
"Yes?" The male voice on the other end of the line sounded a little confused, as if he didn't know who was really calling him. Of course, the number was different, but that made the woman arch an eyebrow in curiosity and slight confusion.
"I hope I'm not disturbing you in any way, Frederick." Her soft voice echoed through the deserted place, and the woman leaned her back against the wall, a slightly bored expression on her face.
" Oh, look... I didn't expect you to call first." The woman arched an eyebrow at his words. "What's wrong?
"Don't you think you're forgetting something? You're the one who called us here." She said, taking a few steps away from the wall. Her senses screamed, and she felt that something was wrong.
"... No, I don't." The moment he said this, her skin shivered slightly, and her eyes focused on the figure approaching calmly in front of her.
She narrowed her eyes slightly and slowly lowered her hand, bringing it closer to the gun at her waist. She heard Frederick on the line, however, to her surprise, her cell phone made a strange noise and simply stopped working, which left her slightly confused, but which made her look at the small object in the man's hand.
A small smile formed on her red lips as she put her cell phone back in her pocket.
"Well... I can't say this isn't a surprise. What are you doing here, Krauser?" She watched the man with a sharp gaze, her body prepared to act at any moment, despite her inexpressive face.
Krauser, for his part, merely snorted in disdain.
"Imagine my own surprise to hear that you'd come after the sample yourself. From what little I've seen, I can tell you're his personal slut." He said, with a sharp look and equally sharp words.
Ada just cocked her head to the side slightly, a smug smile threatening to appear on her lips.
"Jealous?" She teased.
"Hah! In your dreams. I can be nice, though. Why don't you just quit this job and come with me, huh? We may not get along at work, but I'm sure we'll get along just fine when I fuck you senseless." He said, playing with the knife in his hand. Something simple, but masterful.
"Tempting, but sorry. I'm not interested in a man who only cares about the climax." She said, starting to circle him slowly. Her movement was soon followed by his.
"Too bad. But unfortunately for you, you're going to have to come with me. I was just giving you the chance to have at least a little pleasure first." Krauser said, stopping walking after a few seconds and, to the woman's slight confusion, crossing his arms.
"... You don't have the brains to come here on your own. And even if you did, I doubt you have plans for a sample of the G virus, I assume you're working with someone." She stopped talking for a few moments, observing the reactions she would get from him.
Krauser, for his part, remained expressionless.
"What's funny... after Albert threw you out like a dog, I thought you would have been left to die in some alley. But apparently, someone managed to put a leash around your neck." He teased.
"... You talk too much. You follow that asshole's orders without even thinking twice. Without even knowing what for. Maybe if you pay close attention, Ada, you'll realize who the real dog here is." Krauser spat back, and Ada just arched an eyebrow.
"I think you're confusing something. Wesker pays well, very well, and that's it. As long as he pays me what he owes me, I don't care what his motives are." Krauser smiled at the answer.
"And that's where your fault lies." As she said this, Ada grunted slightly in surprise as she felt the ground shake.
The woman blinked a few times as she saw Krauser jump away. An impossible leap for an ordinary human, that's for sure. However, what caught her attention wasn't exactly the jump itself, but the concrete that had been destroyed where the ex-military man had just stood.
Ada crouched slightly and shielded her face with her arms. Shortly afterwards, her eyes caught sight of the huge creature emerging from the ground.
It was a man, that was still visible. He had straight dark hair, his clothes were neutral and torn due to the mutation. His right eye was gone, replaced by a huge eye on his right arm. This eye was watching her intently. Its hand had lengthened and its fingers had been replaced by claws.
Its left arm grew abnormally, but otherwise remained humanoid in appearance, with fingers that were still human.
"You're not the only ones with information, Wong. Frederick is no longer your problem." Krauser said loudly, waving his hand in clear disdain before jumping up to the skylight above. He passed through the glass with ease and exited the place, leaving the woman alone with the creature.
Ada clucked her tongue at the inconvenience. The whole thing was a setback, and a big one. She quickly reached for the gun in her waistband. She doubted she would be able to kill that thing with just a pistol and a few bullets. The rest of her weaponry was in her car, if she could get there...
Her thoughts were interrupted when the huge creature advanced towards her with a leap.
The woman reacted quickly and moved away from the impact area, dodging the monster's huge claws that were now embedded in the ground.
The whole place seemed to shake, the concrete began to crack, and before Ada could even do anything, the ground gave way, and both she and the monster fell into what appeared to be the sewer, but somewhat abandoned.
She grunted as she felt her back hit the ground, but didn't even have time to process the pain before she quickly got up and shot the creature in the eye, which was already on its feet.
The monster roared as it advanced towards her and, in one swift movement, tried to slash her with its claws in a horizontal attack.
Ada reflexively crouched down, dodging the attack.
The creature then closed its fist with its left arm and raised its hand, before bringing it down hard in a clear attempt to crush the woman.
Ada reacted quickly and jumped backwards, dodging yet another attack. Her eyes stared briefly at the broken concrete beneath the monster's fist.
She had enough experience with these creatures to know that the thing was infected with the G-virus... or some kind of variant.
Whatever it was, it wasn't good.
The woman raised her gun again and fired at the eye, backing away as she did so. The creature roared again and tried once more to attack her with its claws. Ada prepared to dodge, but she was taken by surprise when the creature interrupted its own attack and grabbed her with its other arm.
The woman grunted as she felt the strong grip around her body and struggled as she was lifted into the air. He would probably crush her, if not by the force of the grip, certainly by throwing her to the ground.
Then she quickly grabbed her knife and viciously stabbed the hand that was holding her, forcing the monster to release her. Free, she once again shoots the creature in the eye, which staggers back a few steps.
However, despite its size, the thing was certainly fast, as in the blink of an eye, it reacted and tried again to attack the woman with its claws.
Ada's eyes widened and she jumped backwards, narrowly missing the blow, and she grunted as she felt one of the claws slice into her stomach. Not deep, but wide enough to leave a scar.
The attack was so strong that, as the creature crashed into the wall, it caused the surrounding area to shake, and the place began to collapse.
When Ada saw this, she turned and started running in the only direction she could. She had to get out of there. The quicker she got her weapons, the quicker she could kill that thing.
The door opened abruptly, the noise echoing briefly through the corridors, and they both stared at the messy place, the last remnants of people being covered in dust after part of the ceiling collapsed.
Sherry entered first, along with the little girl next to her. The woman kept her gun raised and pointed at the corridor, while Ghost closed and locked the door behind them. They could still hear the noise of the approaching Lickers, but they had some comfort because the door was made of iron. They wouldn't be able to break it down so easily, if they even knew where they had gone.
Ghost walked quickly, taking the lead with his Desert Eagle raised. They were still far from being safe. It was likely that the entire airport was infested with Lickers, or other types of creatures, who knows.
"What's the plan?" Sherry asked the man, glancing at him as they walked down the corridor. He was an unknown figure, but as he certainly had more experience than her in this kind of situation, it was smart and logical to follow his orders. For the time being, at least. She didn't know what to make of the situation.
He didn't reply for a few moments. Ghost wore a slightly thoughtful expression beneath his mask.
"Take you two to safety." He replied after a few moments, checking a room with an open door on the left of the corridor. There were a few zombies in there, feasting on some of the bodies lying on the floor.
"Aah! More of those things!" The senator suddenly shouted, attracting the attention of the zombies and causing the agent to give him an annoyed look.
The windows were intact, and as they didn't know what other creatures were around, Ghost decided to just close the door. He wouldn't risk shooting and attracting unwanted attention, and it wasn't worth using his knife to kill a few distracted zombies.
"You're not going to kill them?!" The senator exclaimed again, louder than either of them liked.
"I think you'd better not speak so loudly. You don't want to attract attention." Sherry said, looking at him neutrally. The senator stared back, his disgust visible in his eyes.
"He wants to leave those freaks alive, wandering around. What's to say those things won't follow us and kill us later?"
Ghost sighed and turned to the senator, staring at him with sharp eyes.
"Raise your voice again, and I'll kill you." He said, his voice low and cold, his eyes staring steadily at the man, who was feeling increasingly cowed and frightened by such a look.
Sherry looked at the masked man with slightly wide eyes. The image she had of him being one of the "good guys" was slightly erased.
"I'm sure that won't be necessary." She said firmly, standing between him and the senator while staring deep into his eyes.
His eyes were a deep, intense blue. They had a great power and a capacity for intimidation such as she had never seen. They were so intense that she felt as if he was watching her soul, but at the same time there was a familiar feeling about them. As if she had seen them before.
The man sighed again. He seemed to want to say something, but just let it go and turned away.
The girl stared at his broad back for a few moments, trying to remember where she had felt that sensation before. Then she turned to the senator and gave him a reproachful look, only to return to the little girl's side and follow the agent.
"You said you're going to take us to a safe place... after that, what about you?" Sherry asked, without looking at him this time, focusing on her surroundings.
"I'm gonna do my job." He answered simply, checking both left and right after arriving at an intersection with another corridor. There was fresh blood smeared on the floor, and he could hear grunts coming from the distance.
"And what is your job, exactly?" Sherry tried, but wasn't surprised to be answered with silence, she suspected he would do just that. But even so, she wouldn't stop trying to get some information.
As they walked down the corridor, Ghost's device suddenly beeped, and he put his hand to his ear.
"Ghost here." His utterance attracted Sherry's attention, and she listened in an attempt to hear whatever he was saying to his people. Of course, it was a futile attempt, but maybe she could hear something.
"HQ to Ghost. We have information that the WilPharma lab has gone into self-destruct." The voice on the radio was silent for a while, and Ghost frowned under his mask, slightly surprised by the information.
" Repeat, HQ." Ghost said, looking around quickly before focusing on his radio.
"The WilPharma laboratory went into self-destruct. We don't know exactly how, but someone broke in and ransacked the lab. Frederick has left the premises." He muttered something low, and turned away when he saw Sherry approaching.
"What's wrong?" She asked with an arched eyebrow, and Ghost just stared at her for a few brief moments before turning away again.
"We've got external motion visualization. Ghost, something is moving through the sewer, and fast. We're picking up two signatures." Ghost sighed briefly. His missions were almost never smooth sailing.
"What's the position?" Ghost asked.
"They're heading straight for you. Probably underground."
"Roger that." Ghost finished the brief conversation they'd had and turned away again. His eyes met Sherry's, who was looking at him somewhat intently. She was being careful around him, but it was somewhat obvious that she would try to get as much information as she could out of him.
"Is something wrong?" She asked again. Before Ghost could even answer, they heard the distinct growl of lickers nearby, along with some zombie grunts.
"... Let's get you out of here soon." He answered quickly, already turning and raising his gun towards the corridor, leaving no gap that Sherry could use to ask any other questions.
As they neared the end of the corridor, they focused their eyes on four approaching Lickers. Two of them were walking on two legs, slightly hunchbacked, while the other two were walking along the wall. The latter more closely resembled the Lickers Ghost was used to dealing with.
The agent put his desert eagle back in its holster and picked up his rifle. It was better to use a weapon in which he still had plenty of ammunition. According to what HQ had warned him, he'd better keep some ammo in his strongest gun.
"Are you ready?" He asked, without looking at Sherry, who had a somewhat distressed expression on her face. Despite this, she replied with a nod after making sure Salina was close to her.
"As long as you stay still, they won't even know you're here. Don't move." Ghost only said before opening fire on the Lickers and advancing at a rapid pace. Sherry even tried to say something, but he didn't give her time, so she just kept her mouth shut and looked at him attentively, ready to help him when he needed it.
The man fired at one of the Lickers walking upright, hitting it mainly in the head, but also in the neck, causing the humanoid creature to stagger backwards, stunned by the shots.
The monster next to him roared and started running towards the agent, as did the other two who were running along the wall. However, this creature became the man's new target and didn't get very far before falling under the bullets.
Ghost aimed his gun at the Lickers approaching through the wall, but they were very fast, and he was soon forced to react when one of them leapt towards him. The man threw his body to the side, dodging a piercing attack aimed at his stomach.
He then turned towards the second Licker and threw himself to the ground while raising his rifle, firing at the creature above him. He quickly got up with his knife in hand and turned again, dodging a slashing attack from one of the humanoid Lickers and counterattacking by driving his blade into the side of the creature's head.
He then pushed the standing Licker aside and threw himself once more to the side after the other tried to attack him too.
Ghost tried to counterattack, seeing that the creature was on its side, however, he was forced to throw his body away again after one of the Lickers jumped from the ceiling and tried to drive its claws into his body, only to crash into the concrete.
Ghost then throws his knife towards the creature, hitting it squarely in the center of the exposed brain and quickly lunges at the standing Licker. He kicked the back of the creature's leg, bringing it to its knees, and without giving it time to recover, he shoved his rifle into its mouth and pulled the trigger until the brain literally exploded into blood and flesh.
The man heard footsteps approaching quickly, and again, he threw his body aside, rolling on the ground while grabbing his knife from the Licker's head again.
Sherry just watched the scene unfold in front of her. She didn't know exactly what to do, how to help... if she even needed to help him, that didn't seem to be the case.
He moved in a way she had never seen before. So fast and precise, so skillful... it wasn't the way Chris or Claire moved, far from it, it was almost something unique, a kind of lethal dance whose movements were solemnly meant to kill and nothing more.
Not only that, but he was dealing with those monsters with extreme ease. Creatures that were capable of splitting a man in half with one swipe of their claws. So fast that it was almost impossible to actually run away from them. Lickers were considered one of the most lethal biological weapons... and he was dealing with four of them at once.
"Now's our chance... we can get away from here while he kills those things." The senator behind her snapped her out of her thoughts. Sherry blinked a few times, processing what he had just said.
"What?"
"You heard what he said. If we stay quiet, those things won't even know we're here." He said it again, and the girl's expression changed to a rigid one.
"Do you want to leave him here? He saved your life!" She scolded.
"And he'll be saving it again if we leave here now. Look at him... he knows his way around." The senator insisted once more, not caring much for the girl's reproachful expression.
Sherry didn't reply for a few moments, just stared at him with a certain disgust.
"If you want to go, go." She simply said, returning her focus to the fight in front of her. Her fingers grazed the trigger of the gun in her hand after she saw the tongue of one of the Lickers pierce the side of the man's body. However, she only blinked in surprise when she saw that it didn't bother him, and he just cut out the tongue with his knife, before firing a hail of shots at the creature.
"Do you really want to let that girl so close to danger?" The senator's voice was louder than any of them would have wanted, and one of the Lickers turned towards him, roaring and rapidly advancing towards him.
The senator was startled and moved away as quickly as he could, purposely getting behind Sherry, so that both she and Salina were between him and the Licker.
Sherry gritted her teeth and fired at the approaching Licker, hitting it several times in the head. That pistol had a slightly stronger kick than she was used to, not for nothing, it was stronger than an ordinary pistol as the creature was stunned by the shots. And that's exactly why it missed its jump.
Sherry grabbed Salina by the arm and threw herself to the side with the girl in her embrace, causing the Licker to fly over both of them and hit the wall.
The blonde heard footsteps beside her, and soon, the image of that masked man entered her line of sight. He approached the Licker with calm steps and stomped hard on the back of the creature that had tried to get up, forcing it to the ground. He then plunged his knife into the side of the monster's neck, once, twice, until the creature was motionless.
Ghost sighed slightly and wiped the blood that stained his blade before putting it back in its sheath.
Sherry sighed with relief and stood up quickly, helping the little girl to her feet as well.
"Are you all right?" she asked, and the girl just shook her head in reply without even looking at her. Salina seemed very attentive to the man.
"... El fastama lo mató." She just said, while looking in his direction. Sherry did the same, and both girls watched him approach the senator with heavy steps.
Sherry knew instantly that this wasn't a good sign and hurried towards them, but couldn't get any closer before Ghost landed a powerful punch on the senator's face, so hard that it drove the man into the wall.
The senator grunted loudly and slid to the floor, feeling his vision blur and something hot run down his face. A strong pain began to spread around the spot he had been hit, and his fearful eyes stared at the huge figure in front of him.
A black figure with a skull mask, covered in blood, staring at him murderously.
"Hey, cut it out!" Sherry said as she stepped in between him and the fallen senator. She couldn't see his face, but she didn't need to, his intense eyes were enough to make her whole body shiver, and she couldn't help feeling intimidated.
"... I said... stay quiet, and they won't know you were here. A simple task." His voice was cold and rigid, and at the same time that he seemed to be able to stare deep into her soul, Sherry felt that he was talking past her. However, that didn't change the fact that he looked much scarier up close, especially covered in blood.
"We heard... and I think he's learned from his mistake." She answered with a firm tone, despite the fear she felt of going against him. It was strange, with all that fear she felt, she also had a slightly familiar feeling... those eyes... she'd certainly seen them somewhere before.
"A mistake that could cost you your lives. Both yours and the girl's. He's nervous, cowardly, selfish, egocentric, hypocritical... he's good for nothing but being live bait." His fingers lightly squeezed the hilt of his knife. An action that didn't go unnoticed by the girl's attentive eyes, which swallowed a little saliva.
It didn't take a genius to know that his world was different from hers. He dealt with outbreaks like that on his own, as far as the information indicated. A mistake, no matter how small, could be fatal. That was his anger at the senator.
But still, her world wasn't like that. And she certainly wouldn't let him kill someone simply because he was inconvenient. Well, at least she would try.
"You broke his nose. I think he's learned his lesson." She insisted once more, and for a few moments, Ghost didn't reply. They both stared at each other in silence for what seemed like minutes.
The agent didn't understand very well, he was... disoriented. He could very well push Sherry aside and put a bullet in that senator's head, especially knowing that he was one of the main suspects in the G-virus smuggling, an accomplice of Frederick.
He could simply say that she didn't give him orders and get it over with. However, he couldn't. Or rather, he didn't want to.
As he stared deep into the girl's steely eyes, he felt something he never imagined he would feel one day. A kind of pride growing in his chest. She looked very much as he remembered, but she was no longer the frightened little girl she had been before. She was strong enough to face the nightmares alone now, strong enough to go up against not just biological weapons, but people like him... and while that was dangerous, it made him... satisfied... maybe that was the word.
"... One reason... just one." He said, raising his hand and placing his finger in front of his face. Sherry continued to stare at him with her face unchanged, but she breathed a sigh of relief knowing that she had stopped him from killing the senator.
Without waiting for an answer, Ghost turned and began to walk down the corridor, watching the little girl cowering a few paces away for a few moments, before focusing his gaze on the end of the corridor.
Sherry watched him walk away for a few moments, but then focused on the little girl next to her, who was holding the hem of her shirt. The blonde smiled softly in an attempt to calm the girl down. She reminded her of herself a few years ago, and she knew exactly how the little girl's head was at the moment.
She then turned to the senator, who was still grunting on the floor. A sigh escaped her lips. This didn't look like it was going to be easy.
She crouched down in front of the fallen man and extended her hand towards him.
"Can you get up?" She asked sweetly, only to receive a slap on the hand in response.
"Fuck you! I don't want your help!" He just said in a slightly slurred voice, getting up with some difficulty.
Sherry sighed slightly, this situation was bad enough, she didn't need a grown man throwing a tantrum right now.
"But you'll want to keep quiet from now on. You know very well that next time I won't be able to stop him." She said, her serious tone making the senator stare at her for a few moments, his mind rethinking his next steps... she hoped.
The girl turned and nodded to Salina, silently asking if she was all right. The girl nodded in response, before taking Sherry's hand and following after the ghost.
The ghost walked quickly, a little hurried by the information he had received. Whatever was heading his way, whatever he would face now, he would feel much better doing it alone, as always.
The sooner he got Sherry to a safe enough place, given everything that had happened, the better, both for him and for her and that little girl.
As they walked through the empty corridors, at one point they heard screams echoing through the place. More than one voice, but with the same desperation.
Sherry stopped walking and paid attention to the screams, trying to locate where they were coming from while Ghost continued walking as if he hadn't even heard, causing her to look at him a little incredulously.
"Someone's in danger! We need to help!" She said, making him stop and turn to her. His inexpressive eyes staring deep into her expectant ones.
"Why?" was all he asked, and for a few moments, Sherry didn't quite know how to respond, her eyes blinking a few times as his question ran through her head.
"Why... that, we can't let other survivors die!" He didn't sound surprised, or convinced, or anything, to tell the truth.
"They're in the wrong place at the wrong time, and they're certainly making a lot of noise, they're drawing all the nearby biological weapons towards them. Their desperation will be over soon." He said in a neutral voice, his tone indicating that he didn't think this was anything more than an opportunity to move through the corridors a little more safely.
Showing that he really didn't care.
Sherry opened her mouth, feeling anger rise in her chest at the lack of empathy in the man in front of her.
"You're going to leave them to die, just like that?"
"And I'm going to help a woman with a scared little girl along with a senator. You can't save everyone, you never can." Ignoring the tone that indicated there was some trauma behind that sentence, Sherry shook her head and clucked her tongue in disdain.
"If you won't help, I will!" She said, starting to walk hurriedly towards the screams.
Ghost stopped walking and took a deep breath. They didn't have time for this.
"Don't be an idiot. What about the girl?" He asked, looking at the woman who had stopped walking after him.
"Back at the terminal, I saw you run to save her. You may be cold enough to leave civilians to die, but an innocent little girl? I don't think so." She said, looking at him over her shoulder.
Well, apparently she'd managed to read a bit of him in that time, which made Ghost cluck his tongue in disgust.
He wasn't used to this. He felt restless, nervous and even a little anxious. All because of her... was a single night enough for her to make such an impact? His training should have taken care of that. If not the training, then his experiences afterwards.
But, as it turned out, that wasn't the case.
He glanced at the little girl. She didn't seem to want to be near him, as she looked tearfully at Sherry.
Fuck...
"Let's get this over with." He said, walking towards Sherry, who disguised the small smile that appeared on her lips when she saw him walking towards her and Salina immediately grabbing his hand.
"What?! Why-" A single look from Ghost was enough to make the senator shut up and simply start following him. He wasn't stupid enough to open his mouth once more, his face still hurt like hell.
Sherry wanted to say something, even tease him a little, as she did with Chris in similar situations. But she was smarter than that, she knew he was far from being like Chris.
After whispering to Salina to stay close to her, the girl began to run alongside the man, and after a while, they reached a long corridor.
There were three people in front of them. One man and two women. They were standing in front of a double door to a room that was probably locked. The man had an iron bar in his hands and was using it to ward off some zombies while the two women were trying to open the door.
The problem was that due to the screams, a worrying number of zombies were approaching, and along with them, some Lickers were running towards them.
"I'll take care of the Lickers." That's all Ghost said before he started shooting.
Sherry looked at him for just a few moments before turning her gaze to all those zombies.
"Stay here, Salina." She said, just before raising her pistol and firing at the zombies as she approached quickly, drawing attention to herself.
Two steps forward, she aimed the pistol and shot two different zombies in the head. Another step and one of the zombies in the group tried to attack her with its nails, probably with the intention of scratching her to infect her. However, she dodged and fired again.
Two zombies ran towards her, she shot one of them but as she went to shoot the other, she felt her forearm being grabbed. The girl quickly kicked the leg of the zombie that had grabbed her and plunged her knife into the side of the head of what had been a woman until recently.
Before she could pull the knife towards herself, she felt her wrist being grabbed by an icy hand, and her eyes focused on the zombie that was crawling on the ground and trying to bite her arm. The girl quickly turned her body and shot the undead in the head.
Quick footsteps approached and she focused her eyes ahead. In reflex, the girl threw herself to the side while kicking the leg of the zombie that had run towards her. Quickly, she moves away from the wall, dodging an attack from another zombie and, in the process, shooting it in the head.
She turns once more and fires two more shots before turning and firing at the one that had fallen.
After making sure she was no longer surrounded, she ran towards the three survivors ahead.
The man had killed a few zombies, and there were some bodies lying motionless on the ground. However, at the moment, he was fighting two who were pressing him against the wall, and the only thing standing between him and those bloody mouths was his metal bar.
Sherry approached and shot the first zombie in the head. Seeing that she had run out of bullets, she picked up her knife and plunged it into the head of the last one.
The girl pulled her knife back out and wiped off the excess blood, her eyes scanned the area briefly, and after checking that it was safe enough, she looked at the three survivors.
They were scared, sweaty and bloodstained in places. But otherwise, they seemed fine.
"Are you okay?" She asked, but before she could answer, she quickly turned around when she heard the growls of a Licker right behind her.
However, as she turned around, she only saw the huge creature squirming on the ground with a knife in its chest, and that man calmly approaching with the rifle on his back and the desert eagle in its holster.
She watched him pull the knife out with some violence just before the Licker went still.
Sherry had so many questions, a curiosity both personal and professional.
She shook her head slightly and turned to the man again, who alternated his eyes between her and the man behind him, relief present in his gaze.
"Ah... ah, thank you... thank you. If it hadn't been for you." He said, panting, trying to catch his breath.
"Are you from the rescue team?!" One of the women asked. She was wearing a dark social skirt and a white social blouse. She had long dark hair and brown eyes.
"No, unfortunately not. We just heard the screams and decided to help." Sherry said, looking sympathetically at the disappointed expressions until her attention was drawn by Salina, who stood next to her.
"But... they'll come, right? You're a member of TerraSave. They'll do something, right?" The other woman asked. He wore simple clothes, standard jeans and a long pink blouse. He had short dark hair and light eyes that contrasted nicely with his dark skin.
"A rescue team is already being prepared. They should be in action in the next few hours." This time it was Ghost who said it, drawing their attention to himself.
"Next few hours? Oh, and how are we going to make it through all this?" The man asked himself, frustrated.
"The situation is just as dangerous for you as it is for them. In that time, you need to stay in a safe place." He said, his serious voice and rigid tone leaving no room for any further comment from the frustrated survivors.
"We... have some survivors gathered in a room nearby. We went out to see if we could get in touch with the authorities outside." The man said, to Ghost's delight.
"Good." He said, and then turned to Sherry. "Go with them-" Before he could even finish saying anything, the whole building seemed to shake, causing them all to almost lose their balance.
The silence lasted for a few moments, and then a roar echoed through the place. A roar that sent shivers down the spines of the survivors.
A somewhat familiar roar, unfortunately for two people linked by a common trauma.
The building shook again, this time just after what sounded like an explosion.
The concrete beneath their feet began to crack. The walls began to crumble and the ceiling started to fall in.
Sherry immediately pulled Salina into her grip, protecting her as best she could.
The more the building shook, the more it destroyed itself. At one point, the concrete of the wall next to them broke in an explosion and something large came crashing through.
Ghost's eyes widened and, out of pure reflex, he dodged an attack that would certainly have killed him, grazing the side of his body and his arm. The senator wasn't so lucky, however, and was hit full on, sliced open by its claws and thrown violently to one side.
The huge creature roared, and Sherry stared in awe at the thing. Uncomfortable memories flooded her mind, and her thoughts went straight to the little girl in her arms.
"Get out of here, run!" She said, pushing the girl aside and focusing her eyes on Ghost, who had fallen to the ground.
"But-"
"Go on! Stay with them!" She shouted, and even reluctantly, the girl moved away.
The moment she did, however, the creature tried to crush the fallen man, and the force of the blow was so great that the ground gave way, and the three bodies fell to the abandoned ground below.
Due to her regeneration, Sherry recovered quickly, and her blue eyes met the animalistic yellow of the creature that now had its full focus on her.
Sherry raised her gun, but clicked her tongue as she remembered that she was out of bullets.
The monster approached slowly. Its footsteps were so heavy they made the ground shake. The creature's tail moved, the tip of its tail bringing back even worse memories.
However, unlike what she thought, the creature didn't attack her. Instead, it gently touched her face, as if it were actually giving her some kind of caress.
This left her confused, stunned and disgusted.
The strange moment was soon interrupted by a shot that hit the eye on the monster's arm. The creature roared and staggered backwards, being hit several more times by more shots.
Sherry looked away, focusing her eyes on the man who was rapidly approaching the creature.
He was bleeding from his wounds, it certainly hurt a lot, but he ignored the pain and walked on regardless.
Soon, he grabbed something from his back.
"Cover your ears!" He shouted, and realizing what it was, Sherry closed her eyes and covered her ears. When the stun grenade exploded, she soon felt herself being pulled hard to the side.
Opening her eyes, she saw the man advancing against the creature, he looked... angry...
And only then, after watching him move towards the thing, watching him shoot and stab the eye on the monster's shoulder, did she realize how familiar his back was.
