"N—ht How- res—nd!" Was the last thing they heard before Chris's voice completely died to static. Then silence. No signal remained.
Not to the surprise of those in the cavern. With the growth along the walls and ceiling. The green slime expanded further across the area, seemingly intent on encase them like a bubble. Jill was temporarily thankful for it as the Megamicete moved above. Explosives beeped on it's underside where she'd thrown the charge, just before the goop covered up the opening. Acting as a shield to protect them from the debris falling in it's wake.
She was sure of what it was, remembering it from Moreau's territory. That recollection had come at the first sight of the goop and only grew stronger as she saw the almost sentient like way it moved. If she was right about all this—and she'd place a hefty bet on her instincts—then they had friend coming.
Night Howl on the other hand was frantically attempting to pack up their mobile station. Lamenting the fact he couldn't hold his nose while gagging at the smell. That thing was too dangerous to keep alive for long and they needed to be far away from the blast radius, let alone the lycan still feeding in from god knows where.
"The hell is going on?" Tundra asked, watching the lycan frantically being swallowed up by the goop's expansion.
"Either back-up…or a worse enemy." Jill answered as the shape of Moreau emerged from the entrance way. The glop covered only the sides of the entrance, leaving it open for use.
"I hope you were right about this." Lobo spoke quietly so only they would hear.
Jill heard it faintly as she stepped out in front of the team, approaching him. Her weapon was lowered, betting on peace instead of violence. Showing a quiet welcome with a soft smile. "I heard things are bad upstairs."
"You were right…" Underneath the unpleasant exterior, Jill thought he looked like a guilty puppy with the expression on his face. Making her cock her head to the side.
"There's something on your mind."
"I…I was…no, you'll be disappointed in me and hate me too."
She shook her head, gently stepping closer to him. "You might have done some terrible things, but you've come here to save us and right your wrongs, no?"
"Yes…yes, but…I did bad to you!"
"If you promise to come with us when this is all over, then no matter what you did, we'll forgive you." She promised, looking him in the eye.
She could see him mulling over her words. Struggling with himself internally. It wasn't only in his eyes and expression but the way he fidgeted in his spot. His entire stance uncertain and wound up tight. Until the real issue came bubbling to the surface. "You're not lying? Are you? Like mother…"
Jill opened her mouth, quick on her feet. Her brain beating her tongue. "If you want honesty, I'll tell you this. You'll no longer have the freedom to hurt or experiment on others, but you will be cared for. No one will leave you out of things again. You'll be known as our hero for helping us."
There was a shine to his eyes then. No longer fidgeting so hard as he instead looked taken aback. She could hear the others ready to go behind her. Night Howl with his equipment while Lobo and Tundra were reloaded and equipped. There was a hesitation underneath Moreau's words and stance—something Jill expected, such sudden shifts took time—but she felt relief as he accepted.
"I want to help."
Another shot rang out from Umber Eye's sniper, following by a laugh. Heisenberg's joy reverberated throughout the destroyed room, bouncing off whatever was left of the walls around them. As giddy as a school boy with his favourite candy while watching a tired Miranda fall. Well, as far as she could in-between the claws of a panting Dimitrescu and multiple of Heisenberg's remaining metal men.
The Megamicete loomed in the distance, half emerged from it's spot in the Earth's womb. Too far to give Miranda any support. Something that only furthered Heisenberg's delight. The exhausted men and women around kept their eyes and arms trained on the woman while the man gloated and gestured like a showmen.
"Oh I am going to enjoy putting you through hell for every, last, thing you put me through!" He threatened loud enough for the high heavens to hear his declaration.
Chris watched, no longer disturbed by such vendettas and sadistic glee. Once upon a time he would've been disturbed but after dealing with Wesker and all others that shared his disposition, it was as disturbing as watching a sports fan yelling at their TV. He couldn't say the same for everyone on his team as Canine's voice came through the comms.
"Captain, should we intervene before he starts torturing her?"
"No." Chris wasn't one for torture if he could help it, but—as morally debatable as it was—he found himself far more lenient with those so nonhuman. "Something tells me Heisenberg will be more cooperative if we let him have his vengeance."
"Sometimes makes me wonder if we're the good guys."
"After what she's done to this village, my conscious if clear." Umber Eyes offered.
"I suppose, just feels weird after dealing with the other Lords."
"Just remember the countless other assholes we've faced."
Chris interrupted their discussion, "You two keep an eye on the scene and end her prematurely if you see anything weird. I'm going to check on Wolf Squad."
"Yes, sir."
"Copy that."
"Donna, Duke." He grabbed both of their attention. "I have a favour to ask."
Call it intuition, but Ethan had somewhere to be. He knew Chris would be pissed, but the man could stand a little defiance after the shit he pulled. He also wasn't the only one who could survive these horrors. Sure, Ethan got a little brutalized back at the Baker's home, but he came out in one piece. He hated leaving Rose, but he'd do anything to secure her future.
"I have an idea of what this favour of yours might be." As always, Duke knew.
"Donna, can you look after Rose for me?" He asked, holding the bundle out to her. Donna tilted her head down, silent as she studied her. How strange, for a woman who'd always been so eager to take Rose.
"You're not allowed to run off and get killed!" Angie protested, "Don't be stupid."
That made him want to sigh as much as it made him want to smile. "Just…trust me on this, okay?"
"What'll you do if you die? Hm? You can't protect Rose while rotting with the rest of them!"
"I won't die."
"How do you know?" There was an edge to her voice.
"Hey, look at it this way, if I die than you can cradle Rose all you like." He tried appealing to her though it was hardly sincere.
"You don't know what it's like to be separated. Left in the cold and alone!"
If Ethan were a more observant man, he might have noticed how personal her words sounded, what that edge was telling him. As it stood, he was not. "You think I don't know what it's like to lose someone important? I went to hell for her and I'll come back out again for Rose."
"Mia is—"
"That doesn't change what I did and what I'm going to do again." He felt the cart stop right on cue. The corner of his lips twitched up at Duke's timing, looking over his shoulder to see a self satisfied look on the man's face. He was watching them. "I don't think our ride is going to move unless you take her."
"Stupid…" Angie grumbled but Donna gave in, taking the bundle into her arms.
Even with his insistence, Ethan couldn't help but take as long of a look as he could; memorizing Rose's features while he was still there, as if he didn't do that every day. Sadly, he couldn't stay forever. The resolve to push forward spurred him to his feet and with a final kiss to her forehead and farewell—"I'll be back soon. Be good. I love you."—he left.
The carriage door shut behind him and his boots crunched the snow. They stood on top of a hill, overlook the village, or what remained of it. It was hardly a village anymore. Half of it's homes and even it's landscape was destroyed and all was deserted. Mold, goop, and all manner of bio-hazardous material littered the ground, the buildings; if it could coat the sky it no doubt would.
Besides the obvious, something felt wrong. His intuition, his gut, was yelling and struggling against whatever it was. He pressed forward, taking his time scaling down the hill after he nearly slid onto his ass. Whatever danger his body was warning him of, it wasn't enough to stop him. Even as it grew the further he walked. Each path and corner stirred and prodded the feeling.
Along with it came a siren's call. A feeling drawing him deeper into the village. A hand beckoning him like a playful fairy. Was it a modern depiction of a fairy? A colourful creature that was helpful but childish; or was it a classic fae version? That cautioned the superstitious from stepping inside mushroom rings and stole children away to be replace by one of their own?
As if Ethan needed more reason to leave Rose behind.
That invisible feeling lead him towards the castle. So deep in lycan territory and he'd yet to see one. In fact, everything was unnaturally still and silent. The only thing showing life was the mold's tendrils. That made him confident. If he had to deal with the same monstrosities as the Baker house, well he had experience with that.
After all he went through, how…oddly resilient his body is. Perhaps he could use that to put a stop to this too. There had to have been a reason, one he was now betting on to make sure Rose had a safe future. So no one will ever be able to hunt down his family ever again. Rose, and everyone else, was going to make it through this.
Chris expected resistance as he jogged through the tunnels. Yet, there was hardly any. Majority of the lycan he found were all gathered dead near the end of it. A massacre's worth as he emerged into the cavern where the squad was. Lycan corpses littering the ground. A few were only chunks of limb, to which he wondered if the goop around that smelled of vomit and acid were to blame for those deaths.
"Chris!" He didn't have time to show his relief as Jill began to chew him out. He knew it was coming. He knew that tone. He knew that tone in every one of his squad members but Jill and Umber Eyes were the biggest for it. "We have things under control, why are you here? Miranda is the bigger threat."
"She's been taken care of." He came over to where everything had been packed up and everyone looked ready to leave. "She's worn out and under control. The only thing left is…" He trailed off, looking to Moreau. Sure, he turned against her, but something told him the man would be less than pleased they were allowing Heisenberg to torture her. "To set the charge."
"Already finished, Captain." Lobo gestured up with his head and Chris followed with his eyes. He only saw the debris held off by the goop but he trusted his men. Choosing to nod in confirmation.
"Alright, everyone head out. Lobo, you're with me." He instructed, heading further past them and towards the lab.
The lab itself had been gutted of everything someone—likely Night Howl—had deemed important. Paper, books, and a few specimens were missing (not that Chris would notice). Lobo took point as they entered, guiding him to Mia's body that hadn't been touched yet. Chris's eyes took in the damage. It was hard to tell from first glance if she had been tortured or had a swift death then experimented on and dissected like a frog.
His face fell at either option. As much as he loathed those with her sort of past, it was still a failure on his end. A life taken and body desecrated like this under his protection. No chance to truly redeem herself after the horrors, suffering at the hands of what she helped make. It wasn't the first time he'd seen it, but he was getting close to it being the last.
"Carry her out. Let Ethan bury her properly." He commanded, turning away to leave. There was a rustle of clothing behind him as Lobo did just that. His steps out were a higher pace than before, ready to leave this place behind. The rest had gone on ahead.
Besides the occasional echo of those ahead of them, it was quiet. Silence just as Jill had heard when the squad first went down. It wasn't until they were far enough away from the group that the radio comms slowly came back online. The silence turned into static and then into broken words. Voices that were once calm turned into concern and swiftly into panic there after.
"-he goi— -azy!"
"Repeat!" Chris demanded into the mic, jogging to get further away from the interference. His first thought was Miranda. Had she played a trick or gotten a burst of energy? Was it the Megamicete?
"Ge- back!" He heard Canine yell, breaking through the static.
"Repeat, damn it!" He yelled in frustration before hearing the last thing he wanted to hear.
"Ethan!"
Rose was holding Donna's finger. The rocking of the carriage over the bumpy trails acted like a rocking chair in an unconventional way. Tiny attempts at speaking came out of her little mouth in happy pitches. Angie was sitting beside her occasionally tickling her feet and making her giggle. Half-playing and half-revenge for the smell that was only just dissipating from changing her diaper.
"Big dumps for a big baby." Had been Duke's lighthearted remark and way of brushing Angie's string of complaints off.
"I hope whatever Ethan's doing is worse than this." She grumbled as they left the dirty diaper in the snow somewhere. "He deserves it for leaving this with us."
"You can't have a baby without the gross parts, dear Angie." Duke chastised to be met with mumbles and grumbles galore. Only dying down once the smell did too.
"I like this part more." She huffed. "She's so happy, relaxed, no crying, no smells…"
Rose's grip on Donna's finger tightened as he smiled faded. Her face scrunching up unpleasantly. Angie attempted to soothe her, "No, no! I didn't mean anything bad! Go back to smiling!"
Rose wasn't calmed by Angie's words or the soothing pats Donna attempted to give. Instead she began to fuss and kick as she grew more distraught. In turn Angie got on the ground of the carriage and began pacing around. "What is it now!? Ethan!"
"They're more connected than they know." Duke spoke quietly to himself with a nod.