After the fight with the station's undead canine units, BJ, Claire and Sherry took a minute to look around the parking garage. Finding a small corridor with a personal elevator and the control room for it locked up tight. A dead end.
Venturing back out into the garage, the trio tried the only other door that wasn't locked and entered a hallway that went farther into the station.
The trio had found themselves in the shooting range not long after the incident in the parking garage. After clearing out a couple of zombies they did a quick search for supplies and found several unopened boxes of ammo and empty clips that hadn't been pilfered.
One of the zombies was a police officer with his sidearm still in the holster. An JMB Hp3 with a 13 round magazine fully loaded in it. The Marine checked the weapon thoroughly before handing it and the spare clip he had also found on the dead officer to Claire who slipped it into the holster her revolver had been in before sticking the smaller weapon in her belt at her lower back.
Once they had stocked up, BJ sat on a nearby bench and propped his right leg on the seat next to him. Tearing away the ripped fabric and using the strips to tightly secure the end of the pant leg just under where the prosthetic met flesh and bone. Exposing the shiny metal leg to the low light of the room.
With the gate locked after Iron's escape they still needed to find a parking pass to get out of the police station. They had nowhere to go other than forward. However, there was a small bit of tension among the small group. And the reason was very obvious.
"Billy?" The Marine paused, closing his eyes a moment before opening them and looking at his sister who was now standing next to him. Her blue eyes locked on her brother's fake leg. Claire just behind her, doing her best not to stare but her gaze would drift to the prosthetic occasionally.
Making sure the last strip was tightly wrapped, BJ lowered his leg to the floor before sighing deeply. "I'm sorry, Sherry. But I wasn't completely honest about my discharge in my letters." his sister's face reflected hurt at the revelation that he kept something like this from her, but she let him continue.
"During my last patrol mission, my convoy hit an IED hidden in the road." BJ shivered a little, still remembering bits and pieces of that day. "I don't remember much after that. Being thrown around and our humvee being tossed from the blast mostly. Next thing I know, I'm waking up in a hospital a week later with part of my leg missing."
He looked down at his prosthetic, "I spent the following months healing and learning to walk again. My CO gave me a purple heart and told me I was being sent home when I recovered."
Running a hand over his face, BJ locked eyes with Sherry. "I didn't tell you, because I wanted to tell you in person. You were dealing with so much since I left on my tour, I didn't want you to worry about me on top of that." the Marine shook his head with a humorless chuckle, "It's a stupid excuse, but its the truth."
Sherry was quiet as she looked down at his prosthetic. "Does it hurt?" she asked nervously.
"No. It did at first, but it got better. I just have to be careful with how I move around sometimes." the older Birkin answered honestly. Sherry nodded before suddenly embracing him tightly.
"I'm just happy you're okay. And you're here with me." she mumbled into his jacket.
BJ smiled and hugged her back, "I'm too stubborn to go down like that, Sher. I promised to make it back here, and there was no way in hell I was going to break that. Even if I left a bit of myself behind." Sherry smiled despite the bad joke.
Looking over his sister's head at the brunette who had been watching. "Claire?" he asked, wondering what was on her mind with all of this.
Claire smiled back at him, "Couldn't even tell before this. It doesn't change anything with me. Besides, I bet you can take it off and hit zombies with it."
BJ chuckled, "Kinda need it to walk on, but I'll keep that thought in mind just in case." Everyone shared a light laugh, making their current situation a little less foreboding for a moment or two.
When they calmed down, Claire decided to bring up what was on everyone's mind. "So, what do we do now? Irons took off with the parking pass."
"That asshole couldn't have had the only one. They would have had others stored here that they would give out to guests and personnel. We just need to find where they are being stored." said BJ, standing up and unslinging his shotgun, "Worst case scenario, we try to find another way out. Either way, we're getting out of there."
He turned his attention to his sister, "Sherry, I need you to stick close to me and Claire. If anything happens and we get seperated, you listen to her. Okay?"
Sherry nodded before they all made their way out of the shooting range and into the dark, concrete hallway outside. Claire and BJ took out their flashlights, the beams cutting through the darkness as they made their way farther in. The Marine in front with Sherry right behind him and the young Redfield bringing up the rear, covering their backs.
It was quiet. Their footsteps echoing off the walls around them as they tried their best to make as little noise as possible in case something was waiting for them around the next corner.
Thankfully they had been lucky up to that point. But the corridor ahead of them when they came around the bend was blocked by office furniture, a door to their left being the only possible way around it.
BJ racked his brain for a moment, trying to remember what the door could lead to when he saw the faded words on the surface that he could barely make out;
'Kennel'
The Marine cursed in his head before looking back at the girls, putting a finger to his lips before shining his light on the door to show them what he had found.
Claire tensed and Sherry looked scared at the idea of running into more undead dogs. BJ motioned with his hand for them to wait a moment as he carefully turned the knob and eased the door open enough to peer inside.
It was dark, but there was enough emergency light to reveal the interior. BJ could make out the cages where the canine units were housed, all of them open, some with blood splashed on the doors. The wet sounds that he knew by now was chewing drew his attention to the center of the room where his heart nearly stopped in his chest.
There, feeding on the bodies of some of the dead police dogs, were two Lickers. The blind, skinless abominations too engrossed in their meal to be aware of the Marine's presence.
Slowly closing the door, BJ turned to Claire and held up two fingers and mouthed 'Lickers' to her. Causing the brunette to pale while Sherry looked confused.
'What do we do?' Claire mouthed back, grip tight on her new sidearm.
BJ thought hard. They couldn't risk sneaking past them, there were too many ways that idea could go wrong. That left taking the monsters out. But how could they pull it off before they were torn to shreds.
He suddenly remembered something that Claire had picked up a while back and got her attention. 'Flashbang.' he mouthed.
The young Redfield perked up and smirked before fishing the grenade from her hip pack. Handing the non-lethal explosive to BJ who held it in his free hand. He then motioned to the door and silently laid out his plan, being sure to tell Sherry to stay as quiet as possible and cover her ears.
When Sherry did as she was told, her brother pulled the pin on the flashbang and slowly eased the door open again enough to fit his hand through. Getting the right angle, he tossed the explosive into the room in the direction of the Lickers and closed the door quickly.
The sound of the grenade hitting the floor echoed, along with the curious sounds of the creatures before a muffled blast of sound and light could be seen through the gaps in the door followed swiftly by the near deafening screeches from the intended targets.
BJ kicked the door open and stormed inside, finding the Lickers flailing on the floor in agony from the sensory overload from the grenade. He planted his foot on the throat of the closest monster, shoving the barrel of his shotgun into its mouth and pulling the trigger, blasting its exposed brain across the floor.
Claire came in behind him, firing her new JMB Hp3 into the head of the other Licker. Emptying half the clip into the creature until it stopped moving. They did a quick sweep of the room to be sure there weren't any other threats before bringing Sherry inside.
The girl looked at the monsters her brother and Claire had just killed and shivered, "W-What are they?"
"Not sure exactly, some kind of mutation." BJ replied while loading fresh shells into his shotgun. "The police that encountered them before us called them Lickers. They're blind, but have good hearing and are wicked fast. If it was only one of them we could have snuck around, but I wasn't willing to risk it with two of them in the same room."
Claire kicked one of the dead Lickers with her boot, "How many more do you think there are?"
The Marine shook his head, "No idea. Better to not think about it." he moved his flashlight and blinked when it reflected off something shiny on the floor. Curious, he moved one of the dead dobermans aside and found a severed human hand loosely clenched around a key with a red diamond shape on the end.
"Hey, I think I got something." he said, kneeling down and prying the key from the cold fingers and holding it up for Claire to see.
"Looks like it matches the symbol on the door by the elevator we saw." replied the brunette.
"Was thinking the same thing." said BJ while pocketing the key. "The only other room in this corridor is the morgue, and I'm not in any mood to see that place. So what do you say we see where that elevator goes?"
The girls agreed wholeheartedly and they backtracked to the garage.
X
In the orphanage just up the street from the police precinct, Irons stumbled into the room he had taken as his sanctuary for the outbreak.
When things had really started to get bad the corrupt police chief had plotted his escape in the event he would need it. He knew what Umbrella had been doing behind closed doors, he'd accepted enough fat checks to make sure his employees didn't look into anything that could be led back to them while at the same time providing more security.
Then that damn mansion incident happened. The STARS teams that were sent in discovered what Umbrella had been doing and threatened to blow the whistle on what was going on. Even after Irons had disavowed the group, they still kept making waves to the point the company sent hitman squads to take them out.
But in the end, the bastards managed to give Umbrella the slip and left the city. As far as Irons was aware one or two of the former STARS were still in Raccoon but went missing when the outbreak started getting bad. And he knew it was only a matter of time before the company decided to cut off all loose ends.
Him included.
That was why he needed the Birkin brat. He knew her parents were somewhere in the NEST lab under the city and he could have used her to secure safe passage out, along with a hefty sum to go underground with.
But their bastard son just had to be here too. The fucking jarhead had ruined everything! He had to figure out a way to get the girl if he wanted to avoid any chance of being taken out by one of Umbrella's attack dogs. And that asshole and the little whore running around with him weren't going to stop him.
Cursing loudly, Irons dropped in a chair close to the table where a young blonde woman's body laid wearing a white dress. Very much dead with no chance of becoming another undead.
Removing his tie and shirt, he began treating the bullet wound. Vowing revenge against Birkin's son.
"I swear, I'm gonna kill that fucking jarhead and that damn whore of his." the police chief gritted out. Wrapping a bandage around his shoulder to stop the bleeding.
A loud crash somewhere else in the building had him jerking in his seat, wincing in pain from the strain in his shoulder. "What the hell?" he muttered, grabbing the backup pistol that he had on hand and left the room to seek out what was going on. Entering the main foyer covered in colorful carpeting and children's drawings on the walls.
The oak double-doors of the old building had been smashed open, water from the coming rain spilling on the carpet.
Fear spread through Irons' body as he approached the opening and looked out into the deserted street outside. No sign of a zombie or any of Umbrella's rogue BOWs in sight.
Grasp on his weapon shaking, the chief backed up into the orphanage, eyes flickering every which way...then he heard the deep, raspy breathing...coming from behind him.
Spinning around, he saw the massive creature that had been hiding in the shadows. A large right arm with an eyeball swiveling in the socket that suddenly launched out and grabbed Iron's by the head, lifting him off the ground before a fleshy tentacle shot into his mouth and down his throat.
X
It was a snug fit, but the trio managed to ride the small elevator to the top floor. The gate opened up to a walkway with no ceiling allowing the rain to pelt the stones on the ground in a soft torrent.
BJ stepped out first, the rain lightly soaking his head and shoulders. Claire and Sherry followed as they crossed the walkway and entered an old hallway that ended with what looked like an open door. But when they got close, they realized that it was actually a section of wall that led into Chief Irons' office.
"Damn." the Marine whistled as he took in the man's lavish workspace. The many hunting trophies Irons had on display, pictures of him shaking hands with various politicians and business men and women, and awards from his time as RCPD's Chief of police. "Guess this is where taxpayer money went here in Raccoon."
Sherry went over and looked at a full scale stuffed deer by the hidden door they had just come through while Claire went over to the desk and found a few sheets of paper lying on the surface. Curious, she picked them up and started reading;
Police Chief Irons,
As thanks for your unwavering support, I have deposited a small sum into your account, to use as you see fit. I hope I can count on you to maintain surveillance over your subordinates, especially the ones that survived the mansion. Get rid of them if you must.
W.B.
X
Police Chief Irons
I ran into some trouble with Umbrella headquarters, the suits want to take the fruit of my research away. But don't worry, this will all blow over soon. You just keep doing what I tell you to and everything will be alright.
W.B.
X
Police Chief Irons
You are to up the security around my lab. Your muscle heads are to shoot any suspicious person on sight. Doesn't matter if they kill them, or even if they're Umbrella employees, I'm so close to completing G, and no asshole is going to get in my way.
W.B.
X
Police Chief Irons
Get your shit together and do your fucking job! I TOLD YOU I need more security in the sewers! Don't you know how critical of a time this is for me?! As for the money, I can pay you whatever once I take over, but not before. Why don't you get that?! Never forget how expendable you are!
W.B.
"BJ, come look at this." Claire called the Marine over who read the emails that had been left out.
"Figured the bastard was on the take, he always had the vibe of a corrupt politician." he said with narrowed eyes at the page and sighed deeply when he saw the initials and the address the message had come from. "My father sent this."
The brunette gave him a worried look as he checked to see if his sister was close enough to hear them. "None of this is making sense." BJ said quietly. "Irons said something about using Sherry as leverage, that Umbrella and my family are responsible for all this. Then there's the fact my father has become some kind of real life Frankenstein's monster. Now it turns out he was paying Irons under the table to watch his staff…"
"Any idea what it all could mean?" Claire asked.
"I don't know. Like I said after we fought my dad, if he and my mom had something to do with all this...I hate to even think about it. Our relationship was hit bad when I decided to be in the Marines instead of following in their footsteps. But I never thought they would be caught up in something like this. Worse if they did so willingly. But all the facts are starting to point to some kind of conspiracy, with Umbrella at the center of it."
BJ re-read the emails, "He sounds desperate at the end. Obviously whatever my old man was into was at risk if he's paying off Irons. G...what did he mean? Some kind of medicine? A vaccine? Dammit. What the fuck were you and mom doing dad?" he cursed, his mind trying to turn over this revelation.
"I found something!" Sherry suddenly called out, coming over to her brother and Claire with what looked like a police badge in hand. "I found this on the table."
Claire took the badge and looked it over and found that it was a STARS badge. Her finger accidentally hit a small switch on the back causing a USB connector to pop out of the top.
"It's a hidden USB dongle." said the brunette, showing BJ the discovery.
"This could be how the STARS got into their weapons locker." said the Marine. "Hold onto it, just in case we head back that way. Could always use more firepower. In the meantime let's check this office over incase there's something else we could use."
Claire slipped the badge into her back pocket before they all began to comb over Irons' office. All the while BJ looked at Sherry, worried about what he had discovered about their parents and wondering what else they had been getting into all this time.
X
A/N: If you only knew BJ. I stared replaying the RE2 Remake since getting my copy of the RE3 Remake this past Friday, wanting to make sure all my facts are straight as I go through every nightmarish moment in this story. And even though some things have changed already, BJ will soon be facing the horrors of the Umbrella corporation, and the machinations of his own family. It's a roller coaster ride the Sybil at the switch.
Then again, this is Resident Evil. Till next time folks, stay healthy out there!