During his training, BJ had learned from his superiors that there would be moments where he would only have a split second to make a decision. And the outcome of such a swift decision could mean life or death.
One of such moments was happening right then and there. With a deadly abomination with claws and teeth prepared to turn him to ribbons.
Time seemed to slow down to a crawl, the Licker drawing closer as BJ felt his adrenaline kick into overdrive. The Marine quickly jerked left and rolled out of the way just before the creature's claws tore through the wall and floor like it was tissue paper.
Getting to his feet, he narrowly dodged the Licker's sharp tongue. The barbs slicing into the arm of his jacket and just barely missing the skin underneath.
Unable to pick up his dropped shotgun, BJ quickly drew his handgun and fired several shots. Each round hitting their target, making the creature shriek in alarm and pain before leaping up into an opening in the ceiling and disappearing.
Weapon trained on where the Licker had vanished, the Marine took a couple steps back, being as quiet as possible with all his senses alert as he heard loud scratching coming from somewhere in the room.
Claire came up beside him, her entire stance filled with tension with here eyes flickering back and forth. "Where is it?" she whispered, hands tight on her revolver.
BJ didn't say anything at first, instead focusing on the immediate threat. "Get the medallion, I'll cover you." he spoke softly, holstering his handgun and reaching down to pick up his shotgun.
The brunette hesitated a moment before nodding and going back to the statue. Cursing silently when she saw that the symbols on the secret lock were faded as she started trying to get it open.
Weapon held tight in his hands, BJ kept it raised. Scanning every shadow of the room incase the Licker made another appearance.
The thing may have been blind, but it definitely had sharp hearing. And if what he had went through with its tongue a moment ago, it had a great deal of strength as well. But what the fuck was it?!
It had the body of a person, but acted like a vicious animal. Some kind of mutation maybe? Because there was no way in hell it was created by nature.
The Marine could feel the adrenaline coursing through him, his heart pounding in his ears. He felt like he was back in the field, patrolling local villages, prepared for danger to appear at a moment's notice.
Only this time it wasn't other humans with guns...
He snapped his attention to a corner, shotgun aimed in that direction but found nothing there. "Where the fuck is it?" he thought sharply, "It can't see, but it knows there's prey here. No way it gave up."
The only sounds in the room were the soft grinding and clinking of metal behind him as Claire worked on the statue. BJ's eyes widened and he turned around just as the brunette managed to get the last symbol in place and took the medallion from its hiding place.
"I got it-" the ceiling behind her collapsed, the Licker dropping down from above and landed on its hunches. Claire didn't have a chance to react as its tongue shot out like a serpent and wrapped tightly around her throat, causing her to drop her weapon and the medallion as she grabbed the appendage choking the life out of her.
BJ crossed the distance fast, drawing his knife in one hand and slashing upward. The blade slicing clean through the beast's tongue.
The Licker screamed, blood spraying about as it retracted its severed tongue and back peddled. Claire dropped to her knees, removing the piece around her neck and gasping for air while the Marine unloaded two shells into the creature in quick succession.
"Claire! You okay?!" he said over the gunfire and the monster's screams of pain.
She nodded, grabbing her revolver and joining him in shooting the thing that tried to strangle her. The Licker shuddered under the barrage, hissing loudly before it lept to the wall beside it and rebound off toward the duo.
They jumped apart, avoiding the sharp claws as they kept the pressure on it, not giving the creature the chance to collect itself. The rounds and pellets tearing through its red flesh without mercy. It rose up on its hindlegs, giving one last screech before it fell backwards and collapsed to the floor, going motionless right afterward.
BJ immediately fished out fresh shells and started loading them into the shotgun, approaching the creature when he was finished to make sure it was down for the count. Claire did the same with a speed-loader for her own weapon before joining him. "Think it's dead?" she asked tensely.
The Marine pressed the barrel of the W-870 into the Licker's forehead and fired. The top of its exposed brain exploded upward, spraying a crown of blood and grey matter across the floor.
"It sure as shit is now." he said, wracking the pump and ejecting the spent shell.
Retrieving the dropped medallion, the duo went over to the door that would lead back to the library. A bookshelf having tipped over and blocked the way that BJ took hold of and stood back upright. "How's the neck?" he asked, seeing a ring of purple starting to form on her once flawless skin.
"I'll be alright." Claire replied, rubbing her throat softly as they entered the library and made their way back to the atrium. "BJ, can I ask you a couple of things?" she asked casually.
"Depends on the question, but sure."
"What was your rank in the military? Your position, unless you can't say."
The Marine shook his head, "No, it's fine. I was a Lance Corporal before my discharge, my assignments with my squad mostly involved patrolling local villages in Iraq and providing security for the US Embassy. Tensions in the area are pretty high, and the local government definitely isn't making it any better. So our presence was set up to maintain the peace and protect the civilians as best we can." he explained.
"Sounds rough. Did you ever have to...you know..." Claire trailed off, trying to decide how to word the question.
Though BJ knew where she was going. "Yes. I've killed a couple people. Granted it was either their life or someone else's. Two I dealt with in self defense. The first is always the hardest."
"Even if it's for the right reasons?" asked the brunette.
BJ nodded, "Despite the circumstances, taking a human life is never easy. It stays with you a long time, but you need to learn how to cope with it as best you can. Especially if your fighting for your country. That kind of mental and emotional weakness could end up getting you killed if you don't overcome it."
Claire thought on his words a moment, "How did you overcome it?"
"By never forgetting that moment. Reminding myself what I was protecting when I did what I did, and to always remember taking a life didn't make me evil. Deciding the fate of a life is a responsibility to never take lightly, but at the same time only a line to be crossed if necessary and if you're prepared to bare the burden of doing so." the Marine answered almost sagely.
The young Redfield blinked, surprised at how BJ had spoken in such a deep, meaningful way. "Wow, that's..."
BJ sent her a half-smile. "I had good teachers and friends to help me through the bad times."
They entered the atrium and made their way toward the Goddess statue. Claire branched off to check on Marvin who was still laid out on the cot they set up for him while BJ put the last medallion in place.
The piece of the base slid backwards into the statue's base before the whole front part of it slid down into the floor, forming a small set of steps leading down to the metal gate leading farther down under the station.
BJ stepped down and pushed the metal door open and peered down the passageway beyond it with his flashlight.
"Looks like it goes farther down." he said over his shoulder to his companion.
A sharp gasp had him turning around to see Marvin sitting up on the cot, his teeth gritted while holding his side in obvious pain.
"Marvin!" Claire exclaimed in alarm, going immediately to his side. "You okay?!"
The Lieutenant shook his head, hissing through his teeth. "N-No, I...Just go. Both of you."
"We can't just leave you here." the brunette pressed desperately.
Marvin shook his head again, "We all know how this is going to end. You need to get out of the city while you still have a chance." he hissed again, clutching his side tighter.
BJ came up and put his hand on Claire's shoulder, "Anything we can do before..."
"No...just get out of here. Find your sister. Save yourselves." the officer said before laying back down."
Claire fought back tears, "Thank you. For everything." Marvin smiled back at her as he got settled. The two companions turned toward the hidden passage and went inside. The base of the statue coming back up behind them and sealing the entrance. Plunging them into darkness.
X
The hidden passageway led away from the atrium of the station into an office that hadn't been touched in a long time. The layers of dust on the various surfaces being proof of that. A small corridor that branched off from the old room ended at an elevator that took the duo deeper underground.
Stepping off the lift when the gate before them opened, they found themselves on the top of a concrete stairwell that went even farther down.
"How far does all this go?" Claire wondered as they scanned the darkness below with their flashlights.
"Only one way to find out." answered BJ as they began to descend the steps.
The air around them cold, the silence almost suffocating, when they reached the very bottom floor, a wide open room filled with wood planks, metal bars and bags of cement, they found a dead end in the form of a locked gate.
Backtracking, they took a corridor roughly a floor above the bottom level. Long pipes and railings ran along the walls with steam hissing out of them every so often. The ceiling was made up of grated panels with light casting through them.
The duo paused suddenly when the sound of footsteps had them looking above them. Something, or someone, ran right overhead and went down the same direction they were going.
"Another survivor?" asked Claire.
BJ didn't answer as they kept moving forward until they reached another open area filled with pipes and machinery. Their path continuing on a raised platform that surrounded the outside of the entire room, the way being blocked by a metal cabinet leaning against the door frame of what could have been the control room for the machines below.
The Marine slung his shotgun over his shoulder and pushed against the obstruction, but it wouldn't budge.
"Shit...Claire, give me a hand with this." the brunette came up beside him and offered her own strength. The cabinet started to move when they heard a soft sound from the room behind it.
A light shuffling, movement. And a whimper.
BJ took a step back from the doorway, taking out his flashlight and kneeling down to peer through the small opening just as something ran past the light and hid behind a stack of boxes in the corner.
"Hello? If someone's there you can come out, we won't hurt you." he called into the room softly.
A head of blonde hair slowly came into the open, slowly followed by a pale face with blue eyes. A little girl, no older than 12, but more than that...
The soldier nearly dropped his flashlight, his heart stopping in his chest a moment before kicking into high gear.
"S...Sherry?" he asked in almost a whisper, praying that his eyes weren't messing with him.
The girl got a better look at him and gasped, "Billy!"
BJ rammed the cabinet with his shoulder with renewed vigor, knocking it upright and out of the way as he ran into the room, dropped to his knees and hugged his sister tight to his chest. Afraid she would vanish into thin air.
"Oh my God, Sherry!" he said on the verge of tears, "I've been looking everywhere for you!"
"Billy, you came!" Sherry said back with a wide smile as she hugged her older brother as tightly as she could. "I thought...I thought I'd never see you again." she mumbled into his jacket.
BJ pulled back to look at her fully with a matching smile, "I made you a promise, little angel. Nothing was going to stop me from coming back to you. Not even the end of the world." he held her face in his hands, eyes never leaving hers, "Big brother's home."
Claire looked upon the heartwarming seen. Part of her beyond happy that they found BJ's sister and she was okay. But she was also envious, wanting nothing more than to have a similar reunion with her own brother.
But for how, she was happy that the two before her were reunited in this nightmare.
"Are you okay, Sherry? What were you doing down here?" the Marine asked.
Sherry tensed, as if remembering something. "I...I was hiding from-" her eyes widened and face paled when she looked over BJ's shoulder.
"Sherry?" asked the Marine, now concerned.
"He's right behind you!" his sister screamed.
BJ and Claire both spun around and were greeted with a hulking creature in the shadows. It's height and mass dwarfing them both as it stomped along the walkway toward them, denting the metal under it with each thunderous step.
The low light revealed a large and grotesque right arm that was as big as a tree with a large eye the size of a bowling ball sticking out of the shoulder that swiveled and dilated as it looked around.
"Oh my god..." the young Redfield said, holstering her sidearm while unslinging the grenade launcher.
Before either of them had time to prepare, the beast slammed its large arm into the walkway. Taking the duo off their feet as it ripped a large pipe from under them, causing the platform to collapse.
"BILLY!" Sherry screamed as she watched her brother and the woman he was with fall to the floor below.
BJ got up quickly, "HIDE SHERRY!" he shouted back to his sister while helping Claire to her feet. Shotgun aimed at the creature as it dropped down infront of them hunched over.
"Come and get it you ugly son of a..." words died in the Marine's throat when the beast stood upright. The brighter lights on this level illuminating more of its mutated form.
The arm was a mass of spiked, pulsing flesh the color of rust that spreading over to the rest of the body which was once a man wearing a torn lab coat and green slacks. When it turned toward the duo, the none corrupted side of its face was revealed to have more than a little resemblance to one of them.
"...D...Dad?!" BJ said in horror when he recognized that the creature was his own father.
William Birkin.
X
A/N: Not your typical family reunion, one must admit.
The chapters after this one will be much longer, I figured one more good cliffhanger would give me plenty of time to prepare for what's going to happen next since I will start diverging off of the main story a bit more given my OC's involvement now.
Here's to hoping I'm still making good on my promise to make this fic awesome folks!