HENRY ASHFORD AND THE WRATH OF MARCUS
CHAPTER 2:
BILLY AND BECKY
Having decided to remain on the train for the time being, Henry and the others reckoned they would try to find a way to get it going again. So, having vacated the dining car for the time being, they went down the stairs and into the main passenger car in time to see someone standing in the middle of the car, looking around in confusion, having apparently just entered. He was a tall, young man with hair reaching his neck, dressed in trousers and a singlet. Most noteworthy of all, handcuffs dangled from one of his wrists. When he noticed them, he frowned, warily.
"Identify yourself," Lisa said.
"Wow, you're a pretty tall woman. Are you with the Corps or something?" the young man asked, deflecting the question.
"She asked you a question," Henry said. "If you don't mind, we'd like it answered."
"British, eh? Look, limey, I've got a lot of questions of my own, like why are all these people dead?"
"Bioterrorism attack. We're the only survivors. Your name?"
The young man seemed about to retort, presumably making some unwise remark, until he stared behind them. "Umm, guys, should those corpses be moving?"
Normally, Henry wouldn't have dignified that with any response, if it weren't for a couple of reasons. The first was that he could actually hear something moving behind him. The second was that he knew these people had been infected with the T-Virus, and it had been long enough to let the infection run its course. Oddly enough, he could hear rain outside. And someone approaching the train from outside. He whirled to find the dead passengers rising as zombies.
The door leading out of the train opened, and he heard a young woman yell behind them, "Freeze!"
Hermione remarked, as the zombies approached, "I don't think these guys are listening."
"What?" After a brief pause, the woman asked, quietly, "What are they?"
"Deadly," Lisa said succinctly. "Aim for the head."
Henry turned back to face the newcomer. She was dressed in a green combat uniform with a white bulletproof vest, the distinctive logo of STARS on it, her boyishly short hair framing an elfin face. She was clearly only about their age, maybe eighteen or nineteen at the oldest. She seemed torn between covering the young man, and aiming at the zombies. "Shoot them!" Henry snapped, before firing off Cutting Curses at the zombies' heads. This galvanised the young woman, who shot them quite expertly for someone who was probably a rookie.
As the deafening echoes of the gunshots died away, a dozen zombies, once passengers of the Ecliptic Express, littered the floor, blood and decaying flesh oozing into the carpet. After a moment, the young woman stared at Henry, as did the young man. "What the hell was that?" the young man demanded. "Were those magic wands?"
"They must be," the young woman muttered. "Dammit, the Magical Congress is going to be on us for you guys using magic in front of a No-Maj."
"I think we have bigger concerns," Lisa said dryly. "Are you a witch or a Squib?"
"Squib. I am Officer Rebecca Chambers of STARS Bravo Team," the woman said. "This man is Billy Coen, a fugitive wanted by the US Marine Corps for involvement in the massacre of 23 people."
As Hermione sent a Body-Bind at Coen, sending him crashing to the floor, Henry said, "I am Henry Ashford. This is my wife, Hermione, my friend and colleague, Luna Lovegood, and my bodyguard and troubleshooter, Lisa Trevor."
"Henry Ashford?" Rebecca blinked. "You mean Harry Potter?"
"I mean, Henry Ashford," Henry said a little tightly. He got annoyed how people didn't seem to get the drill, despite making himself very clear back in 1994. "I presume you read about that mess with the Tri-Wizard Tournament?"
Rebecca nodded. "Is it true that you beat the living tar out of a dragon?"
"Yes."
"Oh. Look, what's going on? What's with those zombie-things?"
"It is a long story. First, I need to check something," Henry said. He approached Billy, his wand out.
"What do you intend to do?"
"Check something. How did you know he killed those people?"
"We found a crashed jeep, and a transfer order," Rebecca said. "The Marines there were dead. While I don't think Coen was responsible for them, the documents we found showed what he did."
"Well, my godfather was convicted wrongly of murdering people. In any case, even if Coen is guilty, he may be an asset rather than a liability. Which is why I will use Legilimency. You do know what that is?"
"A little. It's magical mind reading, isn't it?"
"Crudely put, but yes." He looked down at Coen. "Normally, I would refrain from doing this, but I believe the term is 'needs must as the Devil rides out'."
Henry was in and out of Coen's mind in a brief period, and what he saw disgusted him. "Officer Chambers, Coen is innocent. I checked his memories and found out what happened. Their squad got dropped off to deal with some insurgent group in Africa in a village. They were air-dropped in the wrong area, and some of them died getting to the village. The problem was, the village had no insurgents, but their commanding officer decided to kill them anyway. Billy tried to stop them, but he got knocked out and turned into a scapegoat for his troubles."
Rebecca looked at him. "You're not making that up, are you?"
"I would show you the memories I saw if I had a Pensieve on hand. Coen's not only innocent, we can trust him. Hermione?"
Hermione released the Body-Bind, and Coen shot to his feet, shaking his head as if to shake something out. "I don't want to go through that again. Could you ask a guy permission before you rifle through his memories like a pervert through a panty drawer?"
"It was more expedient to do it now, so that you can avoid Officer Chambers shooting you, Second Lieutenant Coen," Henry said, having gotten the man's rank from his memories.
"Just Billy," Coen said. "Do you mind explaining what the hell's going on? What did you mean, bioterrorism? And magic wands?"
"These zombies are actually humans infected by a special virus known as the T-Virus," Henry said. "It was released by a man by the name of Doctor James Marcus. The recent deaths in the Arklay Mountains were due to outbreaks he engineered in two separate secure laboratories."
"Are we safe from the virus?" Rebecca asked. It was admirable how quickly she accepted the situation, and went for a key, important issue.
"From airborne infection, yes. Just try not to let these things bite you," Hermione said.
"They kill your mind with an excess of Wrackspurts," Luna chimed in.
After a brief moment of silence, Lisa said, "She's like that."
"But who would create such a virus?" Rebecca asked.
"Umbrella, specifically their American branch," Henry said. "Umbrella has been engaged in bioweapons research since its inception, with pharmaceuticals research as just a cover, and the T-Virus is one of the products of the research. My mother, Lady Alexia Ashford, is working to move Umbrella away from bioweapons, and into researching medical uses for the viruses already created. Unfortunately, the American branch isn't playing ball. We were sent here to investigate the outbreaks. Marcus, however, attacked this train."
Coen shifted rather uneasily. "And why are you telling us this?"
"Would you prefer that we kept this to ourselves and caused a lot of misunderstandings later when it all comes out?" Hermione asked. "Raccoon's government is dotted with Umbrella's agents, most answering to the American branch, who have refused to move away from bioweapons research. Anyway, even if we wanted to cover it up, we wouldn't have to kill you: we can use a Memory Charm to erase what happened."
"She's telling the truth in that regard, Coen," Rebecca said. "I'm a Squib, a person without magic born to parents with it. If magic gets revealed in front of those without it and who shouldn't have knowledge of it, they can erase the memories with a spell." She looked at Henry and the others. "And given what they said…while I'm not sure I can trust them completely, at least they were upfront."
Before Coen could reply, there was a sudden crash from a nearby car, the one with the bedrooms. "We'll continue this later," Henry said. "That may be a survivor."
As it turned out, it wasn't. At least, not for long. The man they found was badly wounded, and was another member of STARS. Edward Dewey, one of their pilots. "Edward!" Rebecca yelled, by his side in a flash.
Hermione knelt down by his side, and examined the wounds. "He's encountered at least a zombie," she muttered.
Edward looked over them, only to start when he saw Coen. He tried raising his gun, only for Henry to get in the way. "Where is the rest of Bravo Team?" Henry asked.
"I don't know…" Edward rasped. "The forest…full of zombies…and monsters…" He looked at Henry. "Who are you?" he asked painfully.
"We are with Umbrella's Europe branch, cleaning up the mess of the Americans. Do not worry. Those responsible will not get away with this."
Edward scoffed. Sadly, that, and the weak, febrile coughing he did, was the last thing he did. He soon expired. Rebecca emitted a strangled noise of grief as she realised that.
Hermione then aimed her wand at the man's head. "Reducto," she intoned, and soon, Edward's head was pulped.
"What was that for?!" Rebecca demanded, her upset understandable given the circumstances.
"He was bitten by a zombie," Hermione said. "I'm sorry, Chambers, but his body was about to start turning into one of those things. The T-Virus can work surprisingly fast. I'd sooner not have to deal with another zombie. In any case, it's a quicker end than he would have gotten."
Rebecca's retort died on her lips when the windows smashed in, and a pair of Cerberuses, dogs infected by the T-Virus, barged in. "Cerberuses!" Henry yelled.
Between Rebecca's shooting and the spells unleashed, the two zombified dogs were soon killed. "This was caused by a virus?" Rebecca demanded incredulously.
Lisa nodded. She noticed Billy taking the gun from Edward, but was not aiming it at them. "Chambers, we'll need to get the train up and running again. There's an Umbrella facility nearby that the perpetrator may be hiding at. We apologise for disrupting your investigation, but STARS' investigation has been compromised by Umbrella's American branch from the start. Rest assured, we will help you survive, and find a way to bring the responsible parties to justice."
Rebecca looked sceptical, but shook her head. "I'm going to regret this. We'll need to search the train to see if there are any survivors left. Then, we'll worry about getting it up and running…"
Alexia Ashford, thanks to the viruses sleeting through her body, rarely needed sleep now, a veritable boon to her work, even if she spent less time in the laboratory than she liked. This current crisis in the Arklay Mountains, half a world away, was eating away at her time.
Which was why, while her adopted son and his entourage were on the Ecliptic Express, she and her own entourage had taken a Portkey from Rockfort Island to Racoon City. Accompanying her was a man with brown hair and eyes with an amber ring to them, a dark-haired man with grey eyes, and a blonde woman with sharp, confident features. Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Alexandria 'Alex' Wesker.
This quartet strode imperiously into the American branch of Umbrella's secret laboratory, ignoring calls to halt. Really, what could they do? Alexia was the CEO of Umbrella now, and her aristocratic features were schooled in an expression that nonetheless screamed 'Don't fuck with me'.
They made it through various security checkpoints, before they came to a room where a trio of people were huddled around a communications set. "…radio silence until you have reached the train," said a deep, suave voice. "Over and out." The speaker then got up and looked at Alexia. Blonde haired, wearing sunglasses even in the dark room, cool and calm. Albert Wesker, former researcher for Umbrella, and now one of their spies within STARS. "Alexia…would you like me to dispense with the pleasantries?"
"Yes," Alexia said. "I came here not only because you seem insistent on doing things without my input, but also because my son has discerned vital information, information both you and Birkin would be interested in."
Birkin himself was there, a rather harried-looking scientist in a labcoat. "I heard your son and the others were on the Ecliptic Express. We've sent a unit over."
"I hope not to assassinate him," Alexia said with a dangerous smile.
Sirius nodded. "We'd take issue to that."
"You would, blood-traitor," said the third occupant of the room, a boy about Harry's age with blonde hair, and a slight resemblance to Albert.
"The unit we sent over are to find out what happened, and to destroy the train before moving to the Training Facility," Albert Wesker said, waving at the boy to remain silent. "If your son and his entourage are still alive, then they will be escorted there."
"They are still alive," Alexia said. "Henry has found the culprit."
"Of course Potter has," sneered the boy.
"Your jealousy towards my child is noted, Draco," Alexia said. "His last name, however, is Ashford."
"Draco, hold your tongue," Albert said quietly. Draco Malfoy, or, Draco Wesker as he was now known, subsided sullenly. He had only recently learned that Albert Wesker was his father, instead of that Pureblood scion Lucius Malfoy, who had been one of the casualties of Henry Ashford's decimation of Voldemort's forces. He had abandoned his mother and Magical Britain upon learning this, and was now working within Umbrella.
Birkin crossed his arms and glared at Alexia. "Are you going to keep us in suspense, Alexia? Or are you going to give us a straight answer?"
"Both. I am well aware that both of you, on Spencer's orders, assassinated Doctor James Marcus. However, you were rather careless in disposing of his body. Somehow, his body fused with the leech he had been experimenting on, and he, or at least a leech-based BOW emulating his personality and appearance, is the responsible party for the outbreaks."
Alexia had to admit, she loved the dumbfounded expressions of shock on their faces. If the situation wasn't so serious, she would have laughed out loud. But sadly, she had to content herself with a smug smirk. As galling as it was, she'd need to work with them to try and get things done right…assuming they were willing to cooperate, anyway…
CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:
So, we have the crew meeting Billy Coen and Rebecca Chambers. We don't really know much about Rebecca's background, beyond her being a prodigy, so I thought I'd make her a Squib, albeit one looked after by her parents. Yes, Harry/Henry and company are revealing too much, but they want Rebecca on side, and better to let her know the difference between Umbrella's American and European branches early on. They could always Obliviate her later if necessary, though Alexia actually wants to cultivate allies against Umbrella of America.
No numbered annotations this time.
