Resident Evil: Epidemic - 14. Chapter 14

Chapter 13

::You Are Dead. Retry?::

It tilted it’s head up, its dark tongue tasting the air. It growled, baring its teeth and sounding like the biggest dog you could imagine. I growled back.

“Come here, you son of a bitch,” I said, my voice sounding deeper and more menacing than ever. Finally, it charged.

I swung for it’s head, but the thing ducked, slamming into my chest with the top of its head with such a force that it knocked me backwards into the wall. It was on me in a flash, and I had a split second before it would have gutted me.

My leg kicked out, and I caught the thing in the chin. It felt like I’d kicked solid granite, and the pain in my foot from earlier flared up once again. I paid it no mind, I had much bigger…and greener things to worry about.

It snapped it’s jaws at my foot, and for once I was glad to be wearing the bunny slippers. It bit the head of the bunny, missing the toes of my left foot by mere millimeters, and pulled it off my foot. It swallowed the slipper in an instant.

I punched at the thing’s head, hitting it in the neck, but managing to knock it off of me for a moment. I scrambled away, sliding on my butt and pushing myself backwards with my hands and feet. As soon as I was out from beneath it, I jumped to my feet and then sprang backwards to avoid it’s slashing claws.

It was just too fast, and too strong. My blows were barely even noticed by the thing. It shrugged off each punch as if I were a mosquito, annoying but causing no damage.

Then things got strange. It slashed at me in an upward motion, its claw catching me just off the center of my chest and slicing me up my neck to the right side of my jaw. In reflex, I punched out at it so hard it knocked the creature backwards, and it stumbled over its feet to the ground.

The wound hurt. It hurt really bad. Blood poured out of me, and I was sure I was going to die. But it felt strange. It felt as though there was something moving inside the wound. Then I fell to my knees as the pain erupted and brought tears to my eyes.

The bleeding stopped, but the wound continued to twitch. I looked down, and saw that it looked like the wound had scarred over, but was continuing to mutate. Finally it began to slow down, and I was left with some kind of painful pulsing growth on my chest.

All this occurred in the span of about five seconds, allowing the creature time to get its bearings. It ran at me again, but I dived out of the way at the last possible second. It crashed through an examination table, shattering some glass test tubes and other various equipment. It squealed in pain.

The twitching feeling had spread down my right arm to my hand. There it had begun to itch, and then finally burn as if I’d just submerged it into boiling water. I looked down at my hand and saw that it was now pulsating the same as my chest.

Then I watched in agonizing horror as bony, claw-like growths burst out of the flesh of my hand. I screamed in pain, and it took all of my willpower not to pass out. My right hand was mutilated, the fingers torn and broken to make room for the claws. Blood poured out of it at first, then strangely it stopped, the skin healing around the new razor sharp claws as if it was supposed to be like this. But the pain didn’t stop. It was constant, as if salt had been poured all over my hand.

By now the creature had stumbled back over to where I sat. it was hurt now, greenish blood poured out of a few spots on its side. It opened its mouth impossibly wide and then plunged its head toward mine, intending to bite my head off.

I punched it with my claw hand, and to my excruciating surprise, killed it as the claws sank into its brain. It collapsed in a heap, right on top of me. I strained to push its dead weight off, and finally I stood and staggered back to the door. My body was in horrible pain, but I’d survived. The vision in my right eye had a permanent red tint to it, as the growth seemed to stop at my eye.

The door was still locked. I could faintly hear the sound of pounding from the other side, and muffled shouts. I thought I could make out Lucas’ voice, sounding terrified, but I wasn’t sure.

Using my left, non-claw hand, I hit the door. There was a loud metallic clang that reverberated throughout the room. I hit it again, and it seemed to dent. Frustrated, I lifted my painful right hand, and punched the door. The claws ripped right through it as if it were paper. I heard Lucas scream as he saw the tips of the claws. I reached back, ignoring the flaring pain, and hit it again. This time, I felt a tiny jolt as my claws hit some kind of electronics in the door. The growth on my chest twitched repeatedly for a second as the jolt went through it. I withdrew my hand, and the door slid open.

For an instant, relief washed over Lucas’ face when he saw it was me on the other side of the door. Then his relief melted into pure horror as he realized the state I was in.

“Kieran?” he gasped.

“I’m still in here,” I said, and tried to smile for him. I managed, but just barely.

“What the hell happened to you?” Dan asked from his wheelchair. “Are you mutating?”

Lucas’ eyes widened as I nodded. A single tear dropped from his eye.

“We need to hurry then,” he said. “We have to find the cure as soon as possible.”

“No,” I said, and then swallowed around the lump that had formed in my throat. “It’s way too late and you know it.”

I looked around at everyone. All of us that were left. Mr Bosley, my third period English teacher. Dr. Thomas, my boyfriend’s dad. Dan Collins, the friend I had made during art class, when I’d been unknowingly drawing a portrait that made me the butt of a few jokes. And Lucas Thomas, my wonderful boyfriend, who I would do anything to protect.

“You’re going to have to kill me,” I said to Dr. Thomas, who was carrying the shotgun now.

“No!” Lucas screamed. “There’s still time! You don’t know anything about this! You have to survive!”

Tears flowed freely down his cheeks, but he didn’t notice.

“It’s over,” I said, fighting back my own tears. “I don’t want to die a monster.”

“Kieran, we’re almost there!” he shouted, voice cracking with emotion. “The least we can do is try!”

I shook my head and was about to protest again, but I was cut short.

“The little blonde child is correct,” the voice of the Black Queen said over the speaker.

“Thank you!” Lucas said, exasperatedly. Then he glared at the speaker. “And my name is Lucas.”

“The antidote has been proven to reverse the effect of the Tyrant Virus up until a stage three mutation,” it explained, ignoring Lucas. “The subject in question is at the beginning of stage two. If you hurry you might still have time.”

“See!” Lucas shouted. “You’re going to be fine, Kieran. There’s plenty of time.”

I was still doubtful. This whole quest had been suggested by a madman who’d killed three children, who’s to say the antidote isn’t gone? How do I know we won’t get there and find nothing but an empty bottle?

“You must hurry,” the Black Queen continued. “As stage two progresses, more and more of the patient’s mind is lost. The closer to stage three, the less human he becomes.”

“Why are you helping us?” Lucas asked the hologram. “Weren’t you created by Umbrella? Aren’t you supposed to have the company’s goals in mind?”

“Yes, I was created as an interactive interface program for the Umbrella Corporation’s main computer system. But I do not perform as they wanted me to.”

“Why is that?” I asked.

“They programmed me too well.” the lights overhead flickered, and the hologram paused for a few seconds. “They gave me the most advanced artificial intelligence, but unknowingly they also gave me a conscience. So, when I refused to do what they wished, they shut me down and studied my code. They created another version of me, code named the Red Queen, that was far less independent and put it to work in the Spencer Facility.”

“You have our thanks, then,” Mr Bosley said as he turned toward the hall. “But we need to get moving.”

We walked on, down the long and twisting corridors in an abandoned research facility. Occasionally we had to kill something stalking the halls, but for the most part we didn’t encounter too much.

Lucas tentatively reached out his hand, pausing slightly over my ruined right hand.

“Can I?”

I took a deep breath. “Go ahead.”

He reached out and touched my hand above where the claws started. He gently lifted it to get a better look at it.

“Does it still hurt?”

“Yes,” I grimaced as a fresh jolt of pain traveled up my arm.

“Oh Kieran…”

He kissed me on the cheek.

“We’ll get through this, and live happily ever after like in a fairy tale or some shit.”

I laughed out loud at that. I glanced over at him and he was smiling.

“Well, the original fairy tales were kind of gruesome,” I said.

“Ah, yes, but they had a happy ending.”

“I just don’t know how this can turn out alright, Lucas. Everyone in town is dead. Hell, we don’t even know if it’s just contained to Raccoon! Everyone in the world might be dead for all we know!”

“Well then, if we’re the last survivors in the world, maybe we need to find some way to pass the time,” he giggled.

He was looking at me with the goofiest and most horribly bad attempt at a seductive look.

“Don’t make me hose you two off,” Lucas’ dad yelled back at us.

Lucas blushed brightly. “Shut up, dad!”

“Hey, I think this might be it!” Mr Bosley shouted as he reached a door. He bent slightly to look at the keypad next to the door. It was the same type of card reader as the one that opened the door where we first encountered the Black Queen. The same room we found Bobby and Becky. He pulled out the access card and slid it through the reader.

The tiny red light turned green, and the lock on the door clicked. Mr Bosley turned the handle and pushed the door open revealing a dark room. Faint lights could be seen from display panels, but otherwise it was dark.

He cautiously walked in, sweeping the rifle around as he went. He was followed by Dr. Thomas, who was pushing Dan in the wheelchair.

“You see a light switch?” Dr. Thomas asked as he felt along the wall.

“No, I can’t see much of anything in here.”

There was a noise from deep inside the room, sounding like something glass being knocked off of a desk. The shattering noise startled everyone. Lucas and I struggled to see through the door past Dr. Thomas’ big frame.

“What the hell was that?” Dan asked.

Then we heard another sound, like a soft thumping.

Thump.

Thump. It was slightly louder.

Thump! It was definitely louder now.

“Aha! Found it!” Mr Bosley shouted as he found the light switch. We all blinked as the room was awash with light.

“Holy shit!” Dan screamed in terror. Dr. Thomas pulled Dan out of the room as he too saw what had scared Dan. Mr Bosley scrambled to get back to the door.

But the thing was on him in a flash. He dove through the door at the last possible second, and barely avoided being skewered by a mass of razor sharp claws. They carved a path in the floor, making a horrible grating sound, and as they came to a stop, I looked up at the creature that the claws were attached to.

Lucas started to rush toward Mr Bosley, but I grabbed him by the collar, pulling him backwards. He struggled for a moment, until he saw what had nearly killed him.

A full grown Tyrant. The beast that I might become.

I stepped forward, grabbed Mr Bosley, and dragged him out of the way just as the creature drove its horrible claws into the floor where he’d been lying.

Dr. Thomas raised the shotgun and fired into the beast’s stomach. Small holes, more like pinpricks to the thing, appeared in its flesh. A small amount of blood oozed out, then stopped. It didn’t even register on the creatures face that it felt the blow.

Dr. Thomas pumped the shotgun and tried to fire again.

Click. Empty.

I boldly stepped forward and kicked the thing in the chest. I was surprised by the amount of force I possessed, as the shotgun hadn't moved the creature at all, and my kick forced it to stagger backwards. But it’s face remained calm, and it made no sound with its voice. I struck it with my left fist, hitting its right shoulder. It staggered back again. I entered the room and circled around it, trying to get its attention away from Lucas, Dan, and Dr. Thomas.

To either my horror or relief it turned, following me back into the room. It took slow, lumbering steps that made a loud thump each time it stepped. That was the noise we’d heard from inside the room.

I started backing further into the room, trying to give myself space to maneuver. When there was about ten feet between us, the creature stopped its slow walking toward me. It crouched slightly, and I got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

It sprang into a run that I was totally unprepared for. I dove off to the side just as it swept its claws at me, tearing deep gashes into the concrete floor and slicing clean through a metal and glass control console.

I narrowly rolled out of the way as it turned to follow me and punched downward with its claws, like it had done before when it was trying to kill Mr Bosley. I noticed that its left arm barely did anything, as it used mainly its clawed right arm. It was predictable, it used a set of prerecorded movements, and didn’t seem to deviate from them. I decided to use this to my advantage, and rolled past it toward its left side.

I punched it as hard as I could with my regular hand, making it stumble as it was off balance, but not fall. I hit it again, this time catching it in its shoulder, but still it wouldn’t fall. Damned thing felt like steel.

I had to jump backwards as it slashed at me again, but it over compensated and exposed its back to me as it missed me.

I punched it over and over in the small of its back, making it stumble to its knees. Then without thinking, I plunged the claws of my painful right hand into the back of its neck, severing its spinal chord.

“Yes!” I heard Lucas scream from the doorway. I pulled the claws out, its dark blood all over my arm, and looked over at him.

He was smiling widely, and hopping up and down with joy. Dan had a look on his face that suggested he would be doing the same if his leg weren't so badly burned. Mr Bosley and Dr. Thomas gave each other a high five, grinning like idiots. The thing in front of me fell forward, and it shook the whole room when it hit the floor.

Lucas ran in and threw his arms around my neck.

“Now you are so the badass!” he giggled in my ear. I laughed at the memory of calling Lucas a gun-toting badass earlier. It felt like that was days ago, so much has happened since then.

Dr. Thomas had walked in the same time as Lucas, and began searching through the cabinets and various drawers. Mr Bosley pushed Dan into the room, and parked him near Lucas and I. There was what looked like a large refrigerator off in the corner, and he moved to search it, cautiously stepping over the dead Tyrant. I couldn’t blame him for being cautious. Things have a tendency to not stay dead around here.

“I think this is it,” Dr. Thomas announced after a few minutes of searching. Mr Bosley closed the refrigerator and joined him. I untangled myself from Lucas and walked over to them. Dr. Thomas was holding a small canister that held a slightly luminescent blue liquid.

“How do you know for sure?”

“Well, there’s a green one here, but it’s marked ‘Tyrant Virus’,” he said as he lifted it. “This blue one is marked ‘Tyrant Antivirus’.”

I felt stupid.

“Okay, where is the needle?”

He pulled out what looked like a laser pistol from a sci-fi movie. He put the canister in the back of it, and then grabbed my left arm.

“This is going to hurt,” he said with a grimace.

“Do it.”

He placed the tip of the gun to the vein in my arm, and squeezed the trigger. And it hurt.

My god did it hurt. Felt like fire was spreading throughout my veins, and I started convulsing.

“Stand back!” Dr. Thomas shouted at Lucas, who obeyed. I was flailing about in agony as the horrible virus was purged from my system. It hurt worse than anything I’d ever felt before in my life. And with all the things that’s happened to me recently, that’s saying a lot.

I must have blacked out, because the next thing I remember is lying on my back with my head in Lucas’ lap. He was gently stroking my hair and humming softly. When he noticed I was awake, he smiled at me.

“How do you feel?”

“You don’t want to know,” I said. I looked over to my right hand, which was hurting worse than anything else. It was wrapped in bandages, but there was something odd about it.

“The claws!” I said excitedly. “They’re gone!”

“Your body just kind of pushed them out,” Dr. Thomas said. “I had to act fast to stop the bleeding. I did my best to set the bones in your hand, but I’m afraid the damage is extensive. Your ring finger was completely torn off and the rest of your fingers were very badly broken. You’ll probably have to undergo reconstructive surgery, and even then you’ll probably lose a lot of movement in that hand.”

I was sad to learn that my hand would never be the same, but when I looked down into Lucas’ smiling face I realized it could be a lot worse.

“Now we can finally get out of here,” Dan said from his wheelchair. “I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to get out of this lab.”

“You will need to hurry if you hope to make it out of here,” the voice of the Black Queen said as she materialized near the door. My blood ran cold from her matter-of-fact tone.

Dr. Thomas turned and glared at the hologram.

“Just what do you mean by that? If we hope to make it out?”

“Oh no, I didn’t mean it the way it sounded,” the hologram said, lifting its hands in a disarming gesture. It seemed humble somehow, seeming more and more human the more we saw it. “It’s just that there’s barely any time. What with ‘Code XX’.”

“‘Code XX’?” Lucas frowned. “The coach said something about that. What is it?”

“‘Code XX’ is an experimental missile program, and the Umbrella Corporation’s only contingency plan,” the hologram said, its face showing sadness. “It has the destructive power of a nuclear weapon, but without the radioactive properties.”

“But what about Raccoon City?” Lucas shouted at it.

“Raccoon City is lost,” the hologram said. “Umbrella doesn’t want anyone discovering what happened here, so their plan is to destroy all the evidence.”

I gulped. “How long do we have?”

“It is impossible for me to know for sure, but my most accurate estimate would be about one hour, forty-five minutes.”

“How accurate is that?”

“99.999% accurate.”

I looked into Lucas’ eyes. He knew we’d be cutting it close. It’d take at least thirty minutes to get out of this facility, and that’s running at top speed. None of us wanted to die down here.

“The last helicopter out of the city leaves in one hour,” the hologram said sympathetically. “If you don’t reach it in time, you are all going to die down here.”

“Where is it?” I asked.

“The helipad behind the Raccoon City Hospital. Now, run!”

It faded away, leaving us in silence.

“So that’s it then,” Dan said, choking back a sob. He lifted himself off of the wheelchair, standing on his good leg. He carefully sat down on the floor with his eyes downcast. Dr. Thomas, Mr Bosley, Lucas, and I looked at him like he was crazy. I hurried over to him and grabbed his arm.

“Get back in the chair Dan! There’s no time!”

“You’re right! There’s no time! And I’ll just slow you down.”

“No…” Lucas said, shaking his head. His voice was strangled with disbelief.

“Get out of here,” Dan whispered. “I’m not getting anyone else killed.”

“Dan, Tyler’s death was not your–” Dr. Thomas began.

“Save it. Just go.”

There was nothing we could do. Dan was right, as hard as it is for me to admit. I got down on one knee, hugged Dan, and whispered in his ear.

“Thank you Dan, for being a friend when no one else would.”

He couldn’t answer, his tears were too thick. Lucas, Mr Bosley and Dr. Thomas all hugged Dan as well, and then we were on our way.

I paused at the door, and looked back at Dan. I heard him whisper to himself, and the sound of it made me want to cry.

“I’ll see you soon, Tyler.”

We ran. We ran until our legs cramped and the pain from it sprouted tears in our eyes. Then we ran some more.

Thankfully, all we encountered on the trip back through the lab was a few zombies. They were the slow, lumbering kind, so we didn’t even waste the few bullets we had left on them.

Outside! How wonderful the early morning air felt on my skin! I’d lost all track of time in the bowels of that horrible place, so I had no idea that it was morning now. The streets were nearly deserted, which was incredibly strange. The last time we’d been outside there’d been zombies everywhere, now there seemed to hardly be any. Maybe they instinctually knew what was coming.

Finally, we could see the tall tower that was Raccoon City Hospital ahead of us. We could hear the sound of a helicopter being prepped for launch.

There were armed men wearing uniforms that said “U.B.C.S.” on them, and had umbrella patches on the shoulders. They spotted us before we could even think about trying anything stealthy.

“Halt! Identify yourselves!” one of the armed men said. He pointed an automatic weapon at us, and I nearly peed myself. I can admit it…lets see how much control on your bladder you have when a machine gun is pointed at you.

Mr Bosley pulled out the access card, and looked down at it. Then he looked the armed man in the eye, and held the card out for him.

“My name is Dr. Richard Macy, and this is my family,” Mr Bosley said in an authoritative tone. “None of us is infected. You have orders to evacuate Umbrella personnel, so evacuate us!”

He looked over at Dr. Thomas. “Family? You don’t look related.”

Mr Bosley pulled Dr. Thomas into a kiss. A long, wet, sloppy one. And I could hardly believe my eyes when Dr. Thomas returned it.

I looked over at Lucas, and I thought his jaw was about to hit the floor.

“Yes sir,” the man said, flustered. “Right this way, sir.”

We boarded the helicopter, and about ten minutes later, we were in the air. I only got airsick once, but thankfully there were vomit bags. I looked back at the town I grew up in. I couldn’t make out any specific buildings, as I’d never seen them from the air. But it was strange to be leaving it all the same. Off in the distance, I could see a speck of light, steadily growing brighter as it got closer to the city. The missile. Code ‘XX’.

And as the final seconds of Raccoon City ticked away on the clock, I pulled Lucas into a passionate, joyful kiss.

“I love you, Lucas.”

* * * * *

Reynolds closed his laptop. Across the table were four holograms that he’d never met in person. He didn’t even know their names, but he definitely knew who they were. They were the ones paying him so much damned money.

“Sad story, isn’t it?” he asked with a grin, but none of them smiled in return. “The cripple died alone.”

“You recorded all the surveillance footage? Not just what’s been spliced together in this video?” the one at the head of the table asked.

“Yes, of course,” he said.

“Did you make any more copies?”

“Just what’s on this laptop. But if you want it, it’ll cost you a lot more than a measly ten million dollars,” he grinned. He’d intended to screw the corporation ever since he took this job, he was just surprised that it was going so smoothly.

One of the other holograms turned to another. “This data will be quite useful. A stage two mutation defeating a full grown Tyrant? I never thought it would be possible.”

“And you’ve told no one about what has transpired?” the calm hologram that appeared to be the leader asked him.

“Who’d believe me? But if you want me to keep silent about all this once the shit hits the fan, it’ll be even more money.”

“Mr. Reynolds, it has been a pleasure doing business with you.” the hologram smiled for the first time, as the other three faded away, and Reynolds felt uneasy.

The sound of the gunshot echoed through the room and Reynolds’ brains splattered all over the desk, walls, and floor. A man wearing all black entered the room, holstered his pistol, and picked up the laptop. He brushed off some stray pieces of brain with his gloved hand.

“You have it intact?” the last hologram asked him.

“Yes.”

“Good work.”

The man placed the laptop in a messenger bag, and slung it over his shoulder. He walked out of the room as the hologram faded out of existence. He turned out the light as he went, and closed the door behind him.

He didn’t give a damn about Raccoon City. To him, it was just another job. Deliver the laptop, pick up his paycheck.

He’d always hated it there.

Raccoon City.

More like Shit-Hole City.