G-Birkin bellowed another roar, his body larger, more bulbous and pulsing like a living tumor. Eyeballs blinked and bulged from several points, large chunks of bone sticking out of its body like spikes to form a massive mouth where a torso should have been that widened as the former Birkin patriarch bellowed a primal warcry.
BJ and Claire opened fire without hesitation. The former Marine emptying the last clip in his AR-15 while his partner spooled up the minigun in her hands and let loose a storm of slugs that tore into the creature's mutated flesh.
The large G-Mutant leapt from the top of the train and slammed onto the elevator platform, forcing the duo to scatter to avoid being crushed. "Keep it off balance! Aim for the eyes!" BJ shouted over all the noise, tossing away the empty assault rifle and drawing his MK23 and fired on one of the many eyeballs visible.
Even with the bullets ripping through it, G-Birkin kept up the attack. Bulldozing its way across the platform toward Claire who had to stop shooting and quickly scrambled out of the way. The creature's many claws tearing through metal like tissue paper as it thrashed around like a rabid bull.
Claire braced herself and her weapon to start shooting again when an explosion ripped across G-Birkin's back. Causing the monster to screech in agony. Looking past it, she saw BJ loading another rocket into the launcher before taking aim and firing again, the second explosive hitting it in the side. Blowing off large chunks of viral flesh.
"Keep him pinned down!" the former Marine shouted as he started to reload again.
The young Redfield nodded, squeezing the trigger and firing her minigun into G-Birkin again. The slugs punching through the abomination and making it stumble back toward the far wall of the platform.
Snapping another rocket into the launcher, BJ took aim and waited for the right moment…
However, the G-Mutant realized it was losing and sank its claws into the wall and began to climb up the shaft. Claire refused to let up and followed it with gunfire, destroying more eyeballs that appeared and weakening it further. The barrage proving to be too much as the creature lost its footing and began to fall.
It was the opening BJ needed as he fired.
The rocket struck G-Birkin in the center of its large mouth. The explosion nearly ripping out through its back before slamming into the metal platform and making the whole thing shutter and sink down several meters quicker from the impact.
Claire came up beside BJ as the large G-Mutant slowly rolled over, more eyeballs sprouting from its enormous mouth as it started to crawl toward them. Claire pulled the trigger of the minigun, but the weapon was empty. "I'm out." she said, dropping the spent gun to the floor.
The former Marine loaded the last rocket he had and took aim. When the monster opened its mouth to roar at them he fired, the missile detonating in its center of mass and spraying blood and bits of flesh across the floor and the side of the train car. The body collapsed to the floor, still twitching a moment before going still.
"Think it's dead this time?" asked Claire.
"Honestly, after the last few times. I wish I had one more rocket." BJ replied, tossing the spent launcher aside.
"4 Minutes Until Detonation!" The PA registered, letting them know their situation was still dire.
The elevator finally stopped, the engine facing a long tunnel with tracks leading to what they hoped was the way out. Inside, Sherry perked up when the door opened and BJ and Claire stepped inside.
"Billy! Claire!" she called out, running up and hugging them both.
"It's gonna be okay, Sherry. We're getting out of here." said the young Redfield. BJ nodded in agreement as he approached the controls.
The engine car shook as a pair of passenger cars attached to the back and locked in place. But the former Marine merely gripped the throttle and pushed forward. The train bellowed its horn before it started to rumble down the tracks.
Course set, BJ stepped back from the console and walked to the back of the car where Claire and Sherry were seated on the floor against the wall. The two girls moved apart, giving him room to sit down between them, his sister laying her head in his lap still cuddled in Claire's jacket while the brunette sat close beside him.
"So, what's the first thing you're gonna do when we get outta here?" asked Claire after a few moments of silence.
"Sleep." BJ said with a tired laugh.
Sherry yawned, "Sleep sounds good."
"Yeah, it does…though I really need a shower first." Claire added. She looked down and saw BJ's hand wrapped around hers, his other one running through his sister's hair. She smiled warmly before laying her head on his shoulder. The rumble of the train rolling down the tracks lulling them into peaceful calm.
The door to their car suddenly opened. BJ and Claire were on their feet, sidearms in hand and aimed at the intruder…only to blink in shock when they saw a familiar face standing in the opening.
"LEON?!" They exclaimed.
The rookie cop was wearing an RCPD tactical vest that was damaged and covered in grime, the rest of him looking as though he'd crawled off a battlefield, but despite that he smiled at the duo.
"It's good to see you guys too." he said in relief.
BJ grinned and patted the other man on the shoulder, "Glad you made it with us, rookie." he noticed the bloody bandage wrapped around his other shoulder. "You okay?" he asked, motioning to the injury.
Leon had a strange look cross his face for a moment before he schooled his features. "Yeah, it's not as bad as it looks." He then took notice of the little girl standing by Claire. "I don't think we've met," he said kindly.
"Leon, this is my little sister Sherry. Sherry, this is Leon Kennedy. He's a…well, I guess you could say he used to be a police officer here in the city." BJ said introducing them.
"It's nice to meet you." The little girl said, smiling and holding her hand out. Leon smiled back and shook it gently.
Before anything else could be said, the whole train shook violently and almost sent the survivors crashing to the floor. "What the hell was that?" Leon said, looking back the way he had come.
"Given what we've all been through. Nothing good." said BJ, MK23 still in hand. "Ammo check?" he asked the others.
"I got a clip and a half for my pistol, Two for my machine pistol, and two rounds for the launcher." said Claire after checking her supplies.
"Got two clips for my sidearm, eight rounds for the Spaz-12 and half a clip for the .50 magnum I got from the gunshop by the station." said Leon.
BJ went through his own pack and pockets, "Two mags for my MK23, six shells for my shotgun. And one grenade. Better make them all count."
He turned to his sister, "Sherry, I need you to stay here and make sure the train stays on the tracks-"
"You just want me to stay out of trouble." Sherry cut him off, folding her arms across her chest and giving him a hard look that would have been intimidating if it wasn't slightly adorable.
BJ smiled, "You're right. You've been put in a lot of danger tonight, and we're so close to the end. So, just bare with me for a bit longer. And we can spend the rest of our lives with you giving me hell like any little sister should to their big brother. Deal?"
Sherry kept her look for another moment before sending a smirk back at him that was like looking in a mirror. "Deal. But Claire gets to be with us too."
The former Marine smiled, despite the slight red in his cheeks. "You got it, Sher." He turned to the others and saw Claire with a slight redness in her face while Leon looked between them putting two and two together. "Let's go see if we picked up an unwanted passenger."
X
Leaving the engine car, the trio slowly made their way through the middle car that was filled with various crates. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, they continued to the last car and found the lights flickering and the floor shaking.
"Maybe something was knocked loose?" suggested Claire. "The whole facility's coming down above us, so-" Whatever she was about to say was cut off when something stabbed through the back of the train car and began to peel the metal away like cheap tin.
Large claws and long tentacles ripped through the car and pulled a massive body that had no discernable shape. Just a pulsing, tumor-like mass of flesh, bone and eyeballs that slowly sloshed its way onto their only means of escape.
"Getting real fucking sick of you stalking us OLD MAN!" BJ shouted at the unholy creature as it dragged itself forward another foot. "OPEN FIRE!"
No one needed to be told twice as they fired everything they had at the abomination. Rounds tearing into the mass of living flesh absorbing everything they threw at it.
"Running low!" Claire called out, loading the last clip into her machine pistol. Switching to her launcher and lobbing an incendiary round at the creature and setting it ablaze.
"Check the crates! There's gotta be something!" Leon called back as he and BJ fired their shotguns into the massive G-Mutant. The brunette ran back into the previous car while the two males tried to stall as long as they could.
BJ fired another shell, wracking the pump and pulling the trigger only for the weapon to click. "Shit. Almost out!" he said, tossing the shotgun aside and drawing his MK23.
"Same!" Leon said, doing the same and taking out his magnum. G-Birkin crawled toward them another few feet, their backs nearly pressed to the wall.
The former Marine grit his teeth, reaching into his vest and pulling out his last grenade. "Leon, get through the door!" He pulled the pin but held the trigger in place. The cop opened the door and ducked back into the previous car while BJ tossed the grenade toward the abomination before following after, slamming the door shut as the explosive went off.
A bellowing roar shook the whole train as Leon and BJ backed away from the door with weapons aimed at it. "Think that did it?" asked the cop with little hope in his tone.
"No…just pissed him off more." BJ replied as claws and tentacles began tearing their way through the weak barrier. G-Birkin roared, its massive maw nearly filling the whole opening as an equally large eyeball opened within it. Yellow with a slitted pupil that zeroed in on them.
Both men raised their weapons when an explosive flew between them and struck the monster in its maw. Blowing away flesh and spreading flames.
"Guys! Back here!" Claire shouted, tossing her spent launcher and pulling open a nearby crate. BJ and Leon joined her, and were shocked to find a couple bricks of C4 explosives and a detonator.
"We can't set this off while it's still on the train!" BJ shouted over the deafening sound of the train on the tracks.
"Then we'll separate the car from the engine!" said Leon, kneeling down and removing a couple of panels to reveal the coupling that connected the two train cars together.
BJ glared as the viral abomination dragged itself closer to them. He grabbed the explosives and connected them and pocketed the detonator. He gave the others a meaningful look, all of them nodded as the former Marine turned back to what had once been his old man.
Picking up a long, broken piece of pipe, he ran forward and drove the sharp end into the massive eyeball in the creature's mouth. He then jerked it upward, tearing the gelatinous flesh open even more.
Yellow fluids gushed forth like a small waterfall, a gurgling shriek emitting from the living mass as BJ drove the makeshift spear as deeply as he could. Using the opportunity to take the C4 and jam it into the opening that had been made.
Job done, BJ backpedaled and ran toward the engine car where Claire and Leon were slamming their feet on the exposed coupling. Unlatching it and causing the two train cars to separate. The former Marine put a bit more force in his steps and jumped the growing gap-
Only for something to grab his leg and yank back, causing him to slam face first onto the metal floor of the engine car.
"BJ!" Claire screamed, grabbing one of his arms while Leon grabbed the other. One of G-Birkin's tentacles wrapped tightly around his prosthetic, the distance between the cars growing as it pulled the former Marine toward the widening gap.
BJ gnashed his teeth as he began to slide inch by inch toward the end of the engine car. Leon and Claire's combined strength not even remotely enough to stop what was happening.
He felt another pair of arms, much smaller, wrap around his neck and shoulder. He looked up to see his baby sister there, also trying to save his life with all the strength her little body had. All four of them being dragged to their end…
…no.
No.
NO!
There was no way in hell he was going to go out like this, and bring down everyone with him!
Looking down at his leg, he saw the tentacle was wrapped tightly, no hope of getting loose. But he also noticed that it was coiled around metal…not flesh.
With all his strength, BJ raised his other leg and slammed it down on his prosthetic. Repeating the action two more times until the leg came off. Sending the four of them crashing to the floor.
The train car with G-Birkin on it began to slow down without the engine car pulling it. A large wall of fire from the Umbrella facility burning up the tunnel behind it quickly. The creature roared in rage at the loss of its targets as the blaze just touched the back of the car.
"YEAH?! FUCK YOU TOO!" BJ shouted, taking out the detonator and hitting the switch.
As the fires overcame the train car, it was blown apart by a massive explosion. The tunnel began to collapse as the engine continued forward toward a light at the far end.
X
The bright morning sun shined down on the long stretch of road that went on for miles. Cicadas could be heard buzzing in the nearby field making for a peaceful moment.
Over the sounds of insects, the sounds of boots crunching along the asphalt could be heard as well. And through the brightness, one could see four individuals making their way down the road. Three adults, and one little girl.
BJ, Claire, Leon and Sherry had gotten off the train when it came to a stop somewhere miles outside Raccoon City. No signs of dead, living or something in between in any direction.
Knowing they were safe, the group began to make their way in the direction of what they hoped would be help after everything they'd all been through. Claire and Sherry supporting BJ the whole way, helping him walk with the loss of his prosthetic.
"Soo…are you and Claire together now Billy?" the young girl asked after some time.
Leon hid a smirk while BJ wracked his brain for an answer. "We're working on it." Claire said with a smile. "Been through one hell of a first date though."
"Would have preferred to take you to dinner and a movie instead." The former Marine followed up genuinely.
"At least it was memorable." Leon threw in as well.
More time passed as they kept moving forward, mostly running on adrenaline that was slowly tapering off as time went on.
"Think it's over?" Claire asked, hinting toward everything they had experienced.
BJ took a deep breath. "I don't think so. Umbrella's all over the world. No doubt they would cover their tracks and try their experiments somewhere else." he reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the two USB drives his mother had given him. "But that doesn't mean we can't throw a wrench, or several, into their plans."
"Definitely all for that." said Leon before he noticed something approaching them from a distance. "Heads up!" They all prepared themselves incase of trouble as three large vehicles drew closer.
BJ narrowed his eyes until he could make out what was heading their way. "Those are military humvees. Keep your weapons put away." he instructed.
It took a couple of minutes before the large armored vehicles came to a stop a few meters in front of them, blocking the road as the soldiers inside got out with weapons drawn. One of them stepped to the front of the blockade with a hard look on their face.
"I am Lieutenant James Avers of the US Army! You are inside a quarantine zone! Surrender yourselves or be fired upon!" the man ordered with authority.
BJ stood up as tall as he could, "Sir! Lance-Corporal William J. Birkin, United States Marine Corps! We will gladly turn ourselves over to your custody, sir! We have vital information on what happened in Raccoon City!"
The Lieutenant's eyes widened, "Everyone stand down!" He ordered his men who lowered their weapons in response. "Approach slowly, Lance-Corporal!" The survivors all moved toward the military squad, two of the soldiers moving to help assist the former Marine. "What's this information, son?"
Reaching back into his pocket, BJ produced the flash drive and handed it to the older man. "This contains evidence of what happened and how, along with who was responsible, sir. We'll be happy to give you a full debrief. But we've all been through hell and need to regroup."
Nodding, the Lieutenant turned to his men. "Get these folks to the FOB. Radio ahead for medical and hazmat teams to meet us."
Once everyone was situated, the small convoy turned around and went back the way they'd come before. Leon sat in the front passenger seat, leaning heavily against the window as exhaustion settled in. While in the back, BJ sat between Claire and Sherry like he had back on the train. His sister already fast asleep with her head in his lap.
Eyes growing heavy, the former Marine felt a pair of lips on his cheek and turned to see Claire smiling at him before laying her head on his shoulder and letting her own exhaustion take hold. BJ smiled before leaning his head against hers and closing his eyes completely.
X
A/N: And out survivors have made it out of the living hell that is Raccoon City. And with Leon to boot. Further proving that I didn't write the man out of the franchise and just gave him a background roll for the time being.
There is only one chapter left and this story will be officially complete. I hope to have it posted within the next couple of days to finally lay this to rest. So don't go too far folks.