TWENTY-FOUR
THE RAIN HAD TURNED INTO A DRIZZLE, BUT
Nicholai didn't notice, walking beneath the thick
canopy of autumn leaves back through the cemetery.
Another fifty or sixty meters and he could cut east, parallel
the trail that ran straight to the water treatment facility's
back entrance. He never used paths in public
places when he could avoid them, not liking the sense
of exposure.
On last check, Terence Foster was still alive and well
and filing environmental status reports from the treatment
plant, perfectly unaware that, as the last surviving
Watchdog, his hours were numbered. Nicholai had already
decided to just kill the man outright, to hell with
talking. He'd found Chan's Watchdog data easily
enough, sitting on the small table in the receiver station;
he'd find Foster's, too. A quick encryption on the
combined files - a little health insurance - then he'd
radio for pickup and go take a meeting with the decision
makers.
Nicholai had just reached the copse of pines behind
the fence of one of the park's reflecting pools when he
saw Jill Valentine, walking casually past the water's
edge beneath a row of wrought-iron lamps and headed
in the direction he wanted to go. The low lights reflected
off the water at her, giving her a ghostly appearance,
but she was definitely alive.
He supposed he shouldn't be surprised, but he was.
The look of pain on Carlos's face when he'd talked
about her ... Nicholai had been sure it was real, he
hadn't doubted for a second that she was dead.
Ah, well, it was the last lie he ever told. Very noble of
him, to try and protect the girl from who he believes to
be the dastardly villain ... as if I would waste my time.
No time wasted if he killed her now. Nicholai raised
the assault rifle, carefully took aim at the back of her
head and hesitated, curious in spite of his resolve to
finish his business in Raccoon. How had she managed
to evade the S.T.A.R.S. seeker all this time? Where had
she been when her Latin lover had so idiotically wandered
into Nicholas's path at the hospital? And where,
exactly, did she think she was going?
He decided to follow her, at least until an easy opportunity
presented itself for him to get the answers to
his questions. As it was, with her on the main trail
through the park and him behind a waist-high railing,
he couldn't maneuver very well; telling her to freeze,
drop her weapons, and then hold still while he climbed
the fence wasn't the most desirable option.
Nicholai sank back into the shadows and counted
slowly to twenty, letting her get far enough ahead that
she shouldn't be able to hear him moving through the
trees. He would trail her until the main path became the
bridge over the park's large duck pond, confronting her
once she was halfway across, out in the open with
nowhere to run.
Satisfied with his plan, Nicholai started walking,
moving as quietly as he could. He'd lost sight of her on
his count, but unless she was jogging, he'd catch up
with her just before...
"Freeze." Her voice was calm and clear, the semiautomatic's
muzzle hard against the side of his head. "Oh,
but drop the rifle first, if you would."
Nicholai did as he was told, shocked into it, unslinging
his rifle and letting it fall. How had she spotted
him? How had she managed to circle back so quietly,
without his notice?
And how much does she really know about me?
"Please don't shoot," he said, his voice cracking.
"Jill, it's me, Nicholai."
The gun stayed where it was. "I know who you are.
And I know you're working for Umbrella, not just as a
soldier. What's Operation Watchdog, Nicholai?"
She already knew something about it. If he lied, he
lost any credibility he might still have with her.
Say and do whatever it takes. "Umbrella sent me and
several others in to gather information about the virus
carriers," he said. "But I didn't know it was going to be
like this, I swear, I never would have agreed to it if I
had known. I just want to get out with my life, that's all
I care about anymore."
Still the muzzle stayed pressed to his temple. She
was careful, he had to give her that much.
"What do you know about the water treatment plant
near here?" she asked.
"Nothing. I mean, I know Umbrella owns it, but
that's it. Please, you must believe me, I just want to..."
"What about the vaccine for the virus, what you
know about that?"
Nicholai's gut knotted at the very mention, but he
stayed in character. "Vaccine? There's no vaccine."
"Bullshit, or I'd be dead. Prove to me that you
want to cooperate here, and maybe we can work
something out. What have you heard about a T-virus
vaccine?"
Carlos. The look on his face when he talked about
her ... and when he saw the sample case.
Nicholai didn't trust himself to speak, the depth of
his sudden and complete inner turmoil like a physical
force, pushing him to act - but he couldn't, and he had
to convince her that he was just another Umbrella pawn
or she was going to shoot him. He opened his mouth,
not sure what was going to come out...
... and he was saved by the very ground beneath
them. There was a deep rumble and the earth shook,
pitching both of them into a drunken stumble, leaves
and sticks jumping around their feet. The gun swung
away from his head as Jill struggled for balance.
Even as disorienting as it was to try and stay upright,
Nicholai didn't think it was a real earthquake. It was localized
around them; for one thing, he could see that
the water in the pool was barely moving. The tremor
went on and on, seeming to increase in magnitude, and
Nicholai knew he wasn't going to get a better opportunity
to get away.
Feigning panic, Nicholai threw up his arms and
shouted, carefully noting where his rifle lay on the
shaking ground. "It's one of the mutants! Run!"
It was as likely to be some viral monster as it was
anything else, and telling her to run would work for
him - she'd think twice about shooting someone trying
to help her.
The quake was intensifying as Nicholai ran away
from Jill, one arm still waving frantically. He yelled
again for her to run as he snatched up the rifle and
sprinted away, not looking back, hoping she'd bought
his performance. If not, he'd feel the bullet soon
enough...
... and within twenty meters, the ground that he was
on was practically still, although he could still feel and
hear the rumbling earth behind him.
Far enough, find cover and shoot her...
There was a big oak tree straight ahead. Still running,
Nicholai reached out with his right arm and
veered left, grabbing the tree and letting his own
weight swing him around. As soon as he was safely behind
the gnarled trunk, he darted a look back, readying
the M16 as he spotted her, weaving slowly away from
the quake in the opposite direction.
Now you die, you billion dollar bitch -
- and the rumbling was suddenly a roar, and a huge
fountain of muddy white spewed up from the ground,
blocking his shot, trees crashing all around. A strange
and horrible bellowing erupted from the fountain, a
hissing bass note, and as the pale column twisted five
meters into the air and then curved down suddenly,
Nicholai realized it was an animal, one that had surely
never existed before - the gnashing circle of pointed
tusks and teeth that tipped the massive white wormbody
were proof enough.
It bellowed again, arching, a titan hybrid of maggot
and lamprey eel, of waxworm and snake, as big
around as a man was tall - and it dove away from
Nicholai.
Toward Jill Valentine.
Nicholai turned and ran away, giggling, cursing Jill
and Carlos as he dodged trees in the dark, heading for
the plant, laughing as he damned them to everlasting
hell.
Jill was running, skirting the water's edge, and didn't
know it was coming until it crashed to the ground only
a few meters behind her. A wash of foul air blew over
her, a smell of dirt and wet meat coming from the
mouth of the carnivorous worm.
Holy crap!
She ran faster, wanting to get some distance before
she dared to look back, one grenade load's not enough,
have to run for it...
Ahead, the rounded reflecting pool curved, a few
benches at the corner, a stand of trees behind them. The
ground was rumbling again, but Jill was almost there; if
she could get around the corner she should be clear,
the man-made pool was lined with cement, the thing
would knock itself out if she was lucky...
... and the benches and trees in front of her suddenly
blew up into the air, raised up on a wave of dirt, the
blind, probing worm vomiting soil from its toothed
maw as it swept its head toward her.
Jesus, it's fast! Jill raised the Beretta she still held
tightly and buried two rounds in its bloated underbelly,
the worm screaming again, deep and hissing like the
roar of an attacking crocodile.
Jill spun and took off, heart pounding, already hearing
and feeling the start of another quake as she
grabbed her Beretta. It would get in front of her again,
she knew it, she'd never make it around either end of
the long pool. Going across would slow her down too
much. Think, if you can't run what can you use to stop
it, dirt, water, trees, lamps...
Lamps. Several were leaning wildly from the underground
movements of the mammoth grub, like uprooted
saplings about to fall. Into the pool.
No time to plan, she had to get it into the water,
she'd have to bait it out. She took a last running step
and paused long enough to pivot ninety degrees right,
dashing toward the pool. It was damaged, rivulets of
scummy water draining from the concrete lip.
It rises up then crashes down, takes it a second or
two to raise itself again - A second or two, that's how
long she'd have to get out of the water. Assuming she
could knock a lamp over with bullets first, and that
the monstrous worm would obligingly dive into the
pool.
Calculating the odds meant she'd have to think, and
the ground was already trembling, shaking hard enough
to send her to her knees. She fell and slid through a
thick layer of grass and mud, and then she was trying to
get to her feet and keep the gun dry...
... and it was bursting up through the edge of the
pool not ten feet to her right, blotting out the cloudy
sky in a blast of mud and stone, concrete and water.
There was a single lamp between her and the monster,
already almost touching the water.
Move!
Jill scrambled backwards, moving faster than she
would have thought possible, stopping as she saw that
the creature had peaked and was starting to bend over,
sheets of water pouring from its swollen form.
She opened fire as she rolled up onto her feet, the
first shots wild, the third and fourth clanging off the
metal post. The worm was coming down, creating a
tidal wave of mud as the fifth shot blew out the light. It
was going to crush her if she didn't move, close, gonna
be close...
Bam! Bam!
It was the seventh shot that did it, and the results
were spectacular. There was a giant, buzzing pop as Jill
threw herself backwards and to the side, the lamp immersed
in the rapidly draining pool. The semi-gelatinous
flesh of the screaming worm shivered and shook
as it raised itself up, twisting in agony. Its pallid skin
began to blacken and crisp as an oily, noxious smoke
poured out of its throat, the hidden length of its body
thrashing up giant sprays of dirt and rock. It bellowed
once more, the unearthly sound becoming choked, gurgling
-
- and then it collapsed, dead before it hit the
ground, before its outer layer of skin began to curl
away, revealing the cooking meat of its innards.
Jill staggered to her feet, left hand pressed to her
throbbing shoulder as she backed away from the frying
worm, the smell of it making her gag repeatedly. She'd
actually done it, she'd killed the goddamn thing!
A warm swell of triumphant victory surged through her as
she breathed in another wave of roasting worm smell,
I did it, and then she bent over and vomited her guts out.
When there was nothing left to purge, Jill shakily
stood up and started walking east again, thinking about
her confrontation with Nicholai. He wasn't as good a
liar as he thought, and if she'd had only suspicions before,
she was now certain that he was extremely bad
news.
Her plans hadn't changed, but she was going to have
to be very careful when she got to the water treatment
plant. Nicholai was going to be there, she had no
doubt ... and if he saw her first, she'd be dead before
she knew what hit her.
The roadblock was a massive pileup of cars that had
actually been stacked three and four high, stretched between
several buildings at the end of a block in a rough
semicircle. Carlos could still see the crisscross of greasy
treadmarks from whatever piece of heavy machinery had
managed the feat, just as he'd spotted them on the last
three streets he'd tried. Umbrella and the RPD hadn't
been screwing around when they'd sealed the city.
He stood in front of the stacked, partly crushed metal
wall, experiencing an almost desperate indecision. Go
back, try heading north first, then east - or try climbing
over one of the precarious barricades, which seemed to
have been specifically set up to deter him from finding
Jill.
That's what it feels like, anyway. All that was north
of the clock tower was a big park, but maybe that was
the only way to get to the Umbrella facility; he couldn't
imagine Jill scaling a wall of cars with a bad shoulder,
and crawling through them was too dangerous...
... but you're assuming she even made it this far, a
nagging little voice whispered. Maybe she's already
dead, maybe the Nemesis came for her, orNicholai, or...
Carlos cocked his head to one side, frowning, his
thoughts disturbed by a distant sound. Shots? Possibly,
but the light mist that was falling was having a dampening
effect, distorting and muffling noises. He couldn't
even be sure from which direction the sound had
come ... but he was suddenly even more frantic to find
Jill than before.
"After all I went through to get that vaccine, you better
not get yourself killed," he murmured lightly, but it
was too close to the truth to be funny. He had to do
something, now.
Carlos stared at the wall of cars for another moment,
picking what appeared to be the most stable route, over
a minivan and two compact cars. He took as deep a
breath as he was able to manage, mentally crossed his
fingers, and started to climb.
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