A/N: It has been too long, and with RE4's Remake now making its rounds I figured it was about time I got an update out there. So I won't delay a moment longer.
X
"Sherry!" BJ's voice echoed along the concrete walls he and Claire were venturing down. Their one and only objective being to find Sherry before his G-infected father did.
With the office where they found the reports about the G-Virus not having another way out, the duo went back to the room where the elevator had crashed and found a broken railing that led to a small network of tunnels that led deeper underground.
"Sherry!" Claire's voice echoed behind him, their flashlights sweeping through the darkness. The tunnel before them was long, but thin. They had to move in single file in order to traverse it.
Eventually they reached the end where it dropped into a waterway that was part of the main sewer network. With nowhere else to go, BJ braced himself before dropping down from the tunnel opening, landing into the river below. The sewage water going up just past his knees.
When he was sure the coast was clear he looked back up at Claire and nodded. The brunette scrunched her nose a moment before jumping down as well. "Ugh...nasty." she said after she had landed.
"Look on the bright side. We probably smell too bad to eat now if more zombies show up." said BJ, trying to make light of the situation. The young Redfield gave him a look, but smiled at the attempt.
Sloshing their way through the gray water that ran beneath the streets of Raccoon City, they searched for any sign of the youngest Birkin. Hoping to find her hidden in some alcove out of sight. But so far they had no luck.
BJ grit his teeth, part of him chastising himself for not beating answers out of his mother. She and his father were reaping the horrors of their own hubris thanks to working with Umbrella. And he'd be damned to all nine circles of hell if he let them drag his sister down with them.
He was going to get Sherry, then they were going to leave this nightmare behind with Claire. Far as he was concerned, his so-called parents could rot in this city with the rest of the undead populace.
Reaching the end of the tunnel, the Marine climbed out of the river of sewage onto a nearby walkway. Offering a hand to Claire who took it without a second thought as he helped her out of it as well. They made their way down another tunnel that branched off the larger one, following the light path ahead of them and up a flight of stairs to a heavy steel door.
Pushing the door open, BJ and Claire found themselves in what looked to be a cable car tunnel that looked newer than the rest of the underground network. A station was set up with a large transport bearing the Umbrella logo on the side waiting for passengers.
"A cable car? Down here?" the young Redfield questioned.
"After everything we've seen and experienced so far, I'm not even surprised anymore. Though it does explain what Irons had said about an escape plan." said BJ, turning his attention to the walkway they were now on and noticed a ladder that took them farther up. "This way." he said, leading them both along the only path open.
Reaching the top, they went through a doorway that took them into a large control room. A pair of zombies in lab coats turned at their entry and shambled toward them. The duo raised their sidearms and quickly put them down.
"So much for your 'smelling too bad to eat' idea." Claire quipped. The Marine shook his head and chuckled in response. About to speak back when he heard something.
"You hear that?" he asked, making his way over to a ladder in the corner and following it down into another level of the control room. The young Redfield right behind him when they heard Sherry's voice from somewhere close.
BJ went father into the room up to a large window and found his sister down below among piles of garbage and other salvage. "Sherry!" he shouted, smacking his hand on the glass, but she didn't seem to hear him.
"Sherry...I told you, I cannot leave here until my work is done." their mother's voice came through a nearby PA system set up in the room.
"That's what you always say!" Sherry shouted back, swaying on her feet a moment.
"Why didn't you stay at the station like I asked?" Annette demanded. "It was safer there."
The girl looked down, fiddling with her pendant, "I got scared. Those things were everywhere. People were dying and-"
"You should have stayed with the police." her mother cut her off, "That's what we taught you."
"They're all gone! The monsters got them!" Sherry yelled back. "You weren't answering your phone-"
"Sherry...I don't have time for this." Annette said before cutting out.
BJ felt rage scorch through him...but it turned to ice when Sherry suddenly collapsed. "Oh no...SHERRY!" he shouted, slamming his fist on the glass. Taking his rifle off his shoulder and slamming the butt of the gun against the glass in an attempt to break it.
But it didn't give an inch, and the material was too thick even for bullets to penetrate.
"We need to get down there." he said anxiously, Claire nodded as they started looking for a way to get to Sherry and fast.
X
To their complete frustration, there was no definitive way to reach Sherry. The only way they could get through the door into the room where she was involved using special plugs for the junction boxes to operate the door.
The plugs themselves were modeled after chess pieces, and thanks to a few notes on a nearby bulletin board written by employees they knew which order to put them in. But they had to find the missing ones first. And with how much ground they had to cover they didn't have a lot of time.
Taking a map of the sewers from one of the walls, they stepped out of the control room and into a reservoir where the water was treated before being pumped back into the city. Claire pulled a nearby lever causing a walkway platform to lower and allow them to cross the large pit.
The young Redfield made it halfway before she noticed BJ wasn't following. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the Marine looking back at the door they came through. A conflicted look on his face.
"BJ?" he snapped his attention to her, "We'll get to her." Claire said with conviction.
BJ's features shifted to one of grim determination as he nodded back to her. Both of them crossing the reservoir to the walkway on the other side. The path on the right led to a dead end with a dead body and a safe with the combination carved into the side. The Marine making quick work of getting it open and collecting several boxes of bullets that were inside.
The other direction led to the cable car, the digital screen on the door blinked when they got close saying 'Access Denied: ID Wristband Required'. Irritated at being blocked yet again, they managed to find a T-shaped tool similar to a crank that looked useful. Claire took it and attached the crank to her belt before they went back to where they crossed the pool and entered through the only door available to them that took them back down into the tunnels.
A zombie in a hardhat and construction uniform reached out at them when they reached the bottom step, but BJ was quicker. His prosthetic leg came up and kicked the undead with a surprising amount of force, sending it reeling backwards and cracking its skull against a railing with a loud crunch.
A second zombie in tattered civilian clothes attempted to grab Claire, but the brunette pulled out the crank tool she had just picked up and caved in its skull when it got too close. Once they were sure there weren't any more immediate threats, the duo found themselves at an impasse.
On the left from the stairs they came down was another set of steps that led to a sealed metal door that could be opened with the crank. On the right was a metal gate that led back to the sewer line they had just come through.
"Lady's choice." BJ said after checking both routes.
Claire considered their options for a moment, "Pretty sure we should check where we haven't been." she said, shaking the bit of blood off the crank before slipping it into the open slot by the door. A handful of turns later, the metal door rose up enough to allow them entry.
Removing the crank and storing it, the duo entered the chamber beyond. Moving along the walkway...only to freeze when they took in the sight beneath them.
There were piles of sewage and garbage scattered about, but there were also massive tumors of pulsing flesh with tendrils trailing up the walls like tree roots. The red emergency lights bathed the whole room in a red glow and made it all look like a hellish alien world.
"...what...the...fuck…" BJ muttered. Unable to even comprehend what they were looking at.
Claire swallowed thickly, "What is all this? What the hell could have made this?"
The Marine moved his flashlight along the chamber until he settled on a pile of garbage beneath them, "I think I know." he said, motioning down where his companion saw several dead bodies piled up. Each one of them with gaping holes in their chests like something exploded out of them…
Just like Chief Irons.
"My old man's been busy." BJ said with a sharp edge in his voice. He shined his flashlight farther ahead to see another door at the other end of the large room. "Looks like we need to go that way."
"Great." Claire muttered as she took in the obstacles in their way. "I think I'd take the shit water over this."
They followed the walkway to the end where a ladder led down to the floor below. Sinking into the knee-deep water, they slowly made their way along the open path that led farther in.
BJ felt all his senses on high alert. Survival instincts kicking in. After everything they had faced so far, there was no way in hell that something wasn't in there with them. The real questions were what and where.
Claire was right there with him, her eyes straining in the low light and her hearing heightened for anything that moved.
They had just walked past a dead body when it suddenly jerked. Their guns and flashlights spun and aimed at the corpse just as the chest exploded in a fountain of gore and a small, tentacled creature emerged and shrieked with its violent birth.
BJ's AR-15 registered several times, the 5.56 rounds tearing into the body and blowing chunks out of the little abomination as well. Reducing it to a pulpy mass of mutated flesh.
"I don't think I'll ever watch a Ridley Scott movie ever again after all this." the Marine said when he was sure the newborn G creature was dead.
"Never saw them...but I'll take your word for it." Claire added before they climbed onto a pile of garbage. Moving around the half dozen bodies with open chest cavities and dropping down into the sewer water on the other side. Weapons ready, they sloshed their way forward when something moved.
A large, fleshy mass drifted through the gray water ahead of them. At first they assumed it was just another growth that covered the rest of the room, but then it changed course and headed toward them. A large, yellow eye opened on the side and flickered about before the mass rose up and towered over the duo.
What stood before them looked like it had crawled out of a story by H.P. Lovecraft. The creature stood taller than Mr. X had been, its slime covered skin a sickening combination of red and purple with a small tentacle left arm while its right was the size of a tree with a massive hand and sharp claws tipping the fingers. Its head extended from its main body on a long neck with a pair of black, soulless eyes that zeroed in on the duo before it.
Four mandibles that made up its mouth opened, each one lined with sharp teeth, as it hissed like a massive serpent. Squirming masses of maggot-like insects dribbling out and splashing into the water under it.
BJ narrowed his eyes, switching the fire selector on his rifle before firing full-auto into the abomination. The rounds peppered along its flank causing it to screech, raising its massive right arm out of the water and swinging it at them.
Claire avoided the powerful limb and fired her machine pistol into the mutant's other side, both trying to find a weak spot as it began to lumber toward them.
Ejecting the spent clip, the marine slammed a fresh one home when he noticed the large eyeball swiveling around on the creature's back. If this thing was a byproduct of G like his father had become...then that meant they could have the same weaknesses!
BJ aimed and fired a controlled burst into the eyeball. Blood and tissue burst into the air with each round that struck before the eye eventually exploded like a grotesque water balloon. The G-mutant screeched and stumbled back, giving Claire the opening to switch to her grenade launcher and fire a flame round that lit up the monster like kindling.
The mutant's screams echoed throughout the room, flailing about as its flesh burned. It collapsed into the water moments later, its smoldering body floating on the surface.
Waiting a few seconds, the duo approached their newest kill. The young Redfield quickly loaded a fresh shell into her launcher as BJ jabbed the large corpse with the barrel of his rifle. When it didn't move he gave it a swift kick to be sure before turning to his partner.
"Pretty sure it's dead."
"Thank god for that." Claire replied as she looked the mutant over. "This used to be one of those little freaks? How the hell did it get so big so fast?"
The marine shook his head, "No idea. Whatever the hell G is, it's definitely not something to be fucked with." He looked around them, "We better get moving, there might be more of them closeby." His partner nodded, keeping her grenade launcher in hand as they pushed forward. Reaching the end of the room with no more trouble, they got out of the waist deep water and entered through a metal door and up a flight of steps that took them to a room filled with locked gates, stairs and containers.
As it happened, this room contained most of the chess piece components they needed. The problem was they had to figure out how to get all the doors open in a certain pattern so that they could retrieve them all. After several long minutes of trial and error, they managed to figure it out.
"Seriously, what's with all these damn puzzles? It's like this whole city is designed to mess with your head." Claire commented as they collected the last piece.
"Can't say. Whoever built the city had a sick sense of humor. Best not to question it too much." BJ replied, using a crowbar he'd found to pry open a nearby locker to find a couple boxes of bullets and a long weapon on a pair of hooks hanging on the wall. Resembling a bulky rifle with a fuel canister installed beneath the barrel. "And I'm not going to question an industrial flamethrower either." he muttered as he retrieved the weapon and tested its weight in his hands.
Claire stashed the ammo and praised the new find, "At least we got something to get us out of here if more of those freaks are out there." The Marine made quick work of making sure the chemical flamethrower was active, releasing the gas and shooting a quick plume of fire into the air to test it before they left the storage room and went back into the garbage room.
Dropping back into the water, they waded their way back to the other side. Managing about halfway before a large mass slid out of a nearby pipe with a heavy splash. "Claire, run!" BJ shouted as they quickly got around the G-mutant as it rose to its full height, a second one sliding out of the same pipe and joining it a moment later.
The duo climbed out of the gray water and onto a pile of garbage, BJ spun around bringing the flamethrower to bare and letting loose a jet of burning chemicals into the abominations. Both creatures bellowed shrieks of agony as their putrid skin was set ablaze, their large limbs thrashing about and striking one another as they attempted to put themselves out.
Releasing the trigger, BJ jumped down on the other side of the trash pile to find Claire firing at a third G-mutant that was blocking their exit. "Claire!" The young Redfield turned to face him as he tossed the flamethrower her way. Grabbing the weapon, she lit the monster up like the previous ones. The Marine took out his shotgun and blasted its weak spot, sending it pitching to the side and giving them a straight shot to the ladder that brought them back to the walkway above.
From there the duo managed to backtrack through the sewer system, navigating tunnels and corridors and dealing with a couple of zombies and G-mutants laying in wait until they were back to the control room while finding the last chess piece along the way. Reaching the fuse boxes, and with a bit of trial and error, they managed to get all the pieces in the proper places. The locks on the heavy door disengaged and slowly opened allowing them passage.
"Hang on, Sherry. We're coming." BJ said as he and Claire ran into the next room and down a flight of stairs. Rounding the corner, they found the massive doors that led into the room where Sherry was. The Marine flipped the switch on the wall and cursed when nothing happened.
"Power must be out…over there!" Claire called out, pointing to the room not too far away that held the breakers. They wasted no time getting into the room and flipping the breakers back on, powering up the lights and equipment on this side of the facility.
"Finally," BJ said with a deep sigh. "Lets get Sherry and get the hell out of here. Before something else-"
A massive claw suddenly tore through the ceiling, spearing straight down and cleaving through the concrete wall. The Marine was thrown to the floor, one of the smaller claws slicing into his right shoulder and sending blood spraying.
"BJ!" Claire screamed as the claw retracted. The young Redfield dropped low and rolled out of the way as it stabbed down through where she had just been standing. Keeping close to the floor, she crouch-walked over to BJ who had his sidearm clenched in one hand aimed at the ceiling while gripping his wounded shoulder with the other.
"This thing doesn't know when to quit!" he said before firing into the hole above him. The claw crashed through above them a couple more times before withdrawing. One of the strikes had knocked over several oil drums, the sparks from the claws igniting it and causing a fire to quickly start spreading.
Helping the Marine to his feet, Claire scanned the room quickly to find an escape. But the only way out was blocked by a wall of fire that was steadily making its way toward them.
Of course, their situation was proven to be even worse as a nearby shutter was torn from the wall and the mutated, monstrous form of William Birkin stomped into the room. His recent transformation making him larger and more dangerous than before. Glowing-yellow eyes swept the room and locked onto the duo, the now bigger eyeball in his left shoulder narrowing at them as well before he began to lumber toward them.
BJ immediately opened fire, aiming for the obvious weak spot. Each round found purchase and caused the mutated Birkin patriarch to stumble back with a roar of pain and fury. BJ and Claire quickly ran around the monstrosity and out the opening he had made, following the corridor outside that led across a catwalk and jumping down to a concrete platform with a shipping crate resting upon it.
"Think we can lose him?!" Claire called out.
Her answer was the mutated Birkin dropping down onto the platform behind them with a ground shuttering thud.
The Marine glared at the thing that had once been his father and tried to think of something. It would just keep following them until they were dead, they had to take it out somehow.
His eyes snapped to the shipping crate, then noticed that it was attached to a crane and pulley system designed to move it about. Following the cables, he found the panel that controlled the crane and an idea came to him. "I got it!" He moved over to the panel and slammed the switch.
Metal groaned as the crane shifted, pulling the shipping crate off the platform and swinging it around out of sight. "We gotta get him in place and stun him!"
Claire figured out what he was doing and brought the flamethrower forward and unleashed a torrent of fire. The mutated Birkin roared, stepping back and using his larger arm to protect him from the heat. The distraction was enough for BJ to bring out his AR-15 and fire several three-round bursts into the exposed shoulder-eye.
Birkin stumbled, dropping down to a knee and holding his smaller arm over the damaged organ. It was the opening the Marine was hoping for as he slammed the switch on the panel, which caused the shipping crate to come swinging back around.
Skin still blistering and crackling, the mutated Birkin stood back to his full height. Turning to the left in time for the six ton metal crate to slam into him with the strength of a wrecking ball. The force of the blow sending him skidding off the platform, his massive claws dug deep into the concrete, keeping him from plummeting into the pit below.
"Damn! We gotta hit him again!" BJ called out, having the crane pull the crate back again as the G-infected patriarch pulled himself back onto the platform. Waves of bullets and flames washed over his mutated form, but were ultimately shrugged off as he knelt down and charged forward.
"SHIT!" Claire dove aside to avoid being trampled, but was unable to avoid the mutant's smaller arm that sent her rolling across the platform and close to the edge. The flamethrower clattering out of her reach.
BJ switched to his shotgun and fired several blasts into the abomination's flank, empty shells clattering at his feet as he moved around his target. G-Birkin spun, swiping with his larger arm in a wide arc attempting to swat the Marine who threw himself back to avoid being sent flying. The distraction allowed Claire to get back to her feet and fire her grenade launcher into the monster's back and staggering him.
Running back to the panel, BJ slammed the switch and sent the crate flying into his former father. The impact sent the abomination skidding across the platform…but it managed to dig its heels in and avoid going over the edge.
"For fuck's sake, would you just DIE ALREADY!" The Marine roared as he brought out his rifle and unloaded a whole clip into the G-mutant.
With a hard shove, the former Birkin patriarch sent the crate hurdling forward, forcing the duo to dodge out of the way while the crane screeched as it forcefully spun away from the platform.
BJ pulled himself to his feet before a vice grip latched around his neck and pulled him into the air and brought to eye-level with his father. The Marine drew his sidearm and fired several shots into the abomination's head to know effect, the grip on his neck tightened to the point where he saw spots, his gun falling from his failing grip.
"Will…iam…" The older Birkin rasped, bringing up his other hand where a long tentacle slithered out of his palm and began to make its way toward his face.
Gritting his teeth, BJ struggled with what little strength he had. His wounded shoulder brushing against the approaching appendage that was intent on infecting him and smearing his blood on it.
The tentacle sharply withdrew, William dropped BJ with a startled shriek and took three large steps back. The Marine coughed and rubbed his throat, looking up to see his former father tearing the tentacle from his hand and throwing it to the floor. Wisps of white smoke emitted from the appendage along with a sharp sizzling noise, the flesh darkened and shriveling as though it was being burned.
"What…the fuck?" BJ wondered out loud.
"BJ GET DOWN!" The Marine snapped his head around and saw the crane coming around fast and immediately dropped flat to the ground. The crate passing just an inch or two above him as it smashed into G-Birkin, sending both it and him flying off the platform and plummeting into the darkness below.
Taking a second to catch his breath, BJ pushed himself up to his knees and turned to Claire who was standing at the control panel for the crane. "Nice shot." he said with a grin.
The young Redfield grinned back before helping her partner back to his feet. "What happened back there?" she asked, looking at the shriveled remains of the severed tentacle.
"Not a damn clue." BJ replied, touching his wounded shoulder and looking at the blood that came away on his hand. "Guess he didn't like my flavor." Shaking his head, he gave Claire a serious look, "Come on, we need to get to Sherry."
Quickly gathering and reloading their weapons. BJ and Claire backtracked their way back to the heavy door they tried to get in before. Throwing the switch on the wall, the door began to rise.
"Sherry? Mommy's here…" Annette Birkin's voice was heard as they entered the room with guns drawn. "Sherry! Sherry, can you hear me?!"
BJ was at his sister's side in half a second, "Sherry! Baby-girl talk to me!" he shouted, cradling her in his arms. The low light of the room revealed the little girl's skin was now almost as gray as stone, her lidded eyes having a yellow tint to them with a series of angry red veins stretching out from her left one.
"Oh my god…" Claire said in horror at Sherry's condition.
"William?" BJ whipped his head around and glared up at the camera and loudspeaker in the corner. "What are you-"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" he roared. Snapping back to look helplessly at his baby sister. "This…This is all your fault. This is all your fucking fault! You! Fucking Umbrella! And that piece of shit I called a father!"
The Marine stood, Sherry held in his arms as he stared with so much hate and fury at the camera Claire ended up stepping back. "It was bad enough you chose your fucking careers over us! But now, you allow this to happen to my sister!?"
Silence rang heavy in the air. Tense seconds passed.
"I'm taking her out of here." BJ said sharply, "I'll find a cure and we'll leave this shithole behind. And if you even try to stand in my way-"
"I can cure her!" The Marine stopped cold.
X
In an observation room on the other side of the facility, Annette Birkin had her eyes closed and head bowed over a desk with a black and white monitor showing her son and his companion.
"Sherry's been implanted…but she can be saved."
"Then get the fuck down here and do it already!" BJ shouted.
"You don't understand! Your father is still out there somewhere-"
"FUCK HIM!" She jumped at his outburst. "Your children should be more important than anything! You were supposed to be there for her! For US! But we were never important enough to you were we?! I was more of a parent to Sherry than either of you ever were! She means everything to me! And I'll burn this whole fucking city down if it saves her life!"
Annette was silent.
"If you have a means to save her…then for once in your fucking life be a goddamn mother instead of a fucking scientist!"
She clenched her eyes, a tear escaping. "I can treat her here in my lab. But I'll need your help to do it. You need to hurry…millions of lives are at stake along with hers."
X
Sherry's eyes cracked open a bit more, "...mommy?"
"Sherry…mommy loves you, sweetie." said Annette.
BJ glared at the camera one last time, "Your last chance to prove it."
"There's a cable car nearby. The bracelet on Sherry's wrist will give you access and bring you to the labs." The camera switched off after that.
The Marine held his sister close and left the room with Claire right behind him. Neither said a word as they went back to where they saw the odd cable car. The young Redfield kept them covered along the way, keeping her own anger at their mother in check for the sake of helping to get Sherry what she needed.
Approaching the transport, the bracelet on Sherry's arm activated. The screen beside the door came online before the door slid open allowing them entry.
BJ went to the nearest bench and laid his sister down. The brighter lights in the cable car showing her horrible state more clearly, fear and helplessness threatening to overwhelm him. "You're gonna be okay. I swear, on my life I'll get you out of this and I'll never leave your side again."
Sherry looked up at him, reaching out and touching his face. "I know…You've always been…an amazing big brother…Billy."
Fighting back tears, BJ kissed her on the forehead before he stood up and approached the controls. Activating the cable car and setting if off down the tracks deeper beneath the city. Claire came up behind him, resting a hand on his shoulder.
A moment passed before he reached up and held it with his own. The gesture feeding him strength with the knowledge that he wasn't alone.
With what was coming next, they both were going to need it.
X
A/N: We're fast approaching the endgame of this story. And with the stakes as high as they are, BJ and Claire are in for the roughest part of this ride.
On a side note, i am making plans for making my own branches of the RE-Universe. This one being the harbinger, and you all have already seen the preview of the one I was testing out for RE3's remake. There will also be one for RE4, with all of them tying together in a number of ways to make it all worth it. But that is for the future, for now I'll keep working on this one.
Till next time.