Chapter 46: Two Monsters in a Car

In the end Rick decided to go back to University and become a M.D. A choice Jill supported fully although she would probably have supported anything as long as he was making something out of his life. Lumberjack? She’d be fine with it.

Of course he chose Princeton since he had already graduated from there. It was also the closest from Baltimore after Penn. However Penn rejected his application so in Rick’s opinion they could go fuck themselves and die with an open mouth before I’d go study there.

That meant he had a bit less than eight months of wait before the beginning of the school year. That was why in the meantime he found a small construction job in the city. It didn’t pay that much but it was enough to help Jill with the rent, groceries and have a bit of money left to save. Not like he needed the money. He had been paid fairly well for the past five years but money was money and Rick wasn’t the type to waste resources. Not with the kind of childhood and life he had.

He had written to Rachel on a regular basis. To see how she was doing and to share his plans regarding his future. Much like Jill, she had been supportive of his choice to go for a M.D. but thought it a shame he was retiring for anything field related with what he could.

Her time at the FBC was alright. She wasn’t as close with her colleagues as she had been with him or the rest of the Unit. Something that had been expected. In the Unit, they all lived together, trained together, and fought together. It was a tight knitted group. The FBC was just law enforcement but specialized in bio-terrorism. She might be deployed to an area, like the FBI was but otherwise she mainly showed up for work every morning and left for home at 7 pm.

The BSAA made its official debut around March. It didn’t make any waves and few people really cared about it. As far as the American people were concerned, bio-terrosim and viral outbreaks were the stuff you found in third world countries or Eastern Europe and not a First World country like the United States. In consequence it didn’t matter to them much since they were not affected by it. They did realize how dangerous it could be and some people were more invested but for the World at large.

Another multi-national that saw the light of day and which was making waves was Terra Save. A non-governmental human rights agency. Its primary functions were to provide aid, both through supplies and manpower, during bioterrorism and medical-related incidents, monitoring medication distribution, ensuring safe drug development and research facilities, in addition to organizing mass protests against corporations and governments.

Already they were getting massive public support for their actions.

When May came around the corner, Rick travelled to Harvardville for Sherry’s graduation. It was a surprise for the teenager arranged with the help of her mother.

Rick had taken a flight for Boston instead of taking the train or renting a car. Two hours by plane was far better than seven hours by car and eight hours by train. On top of that he had an hour of road to get to the city. He would have prefered a direct trip to Harvardville airport but the prices were prohibitive due to the new WilPharma center built there. Making the rest of the distance by car from Boston was far less expensive.

When he entered the Boston Airport, he found Annette waiting for him with a little signboard with his name on it. That made him roll his eyes. Just because Annette had dyed her hair black, wore eyeglasses and changed her hairstyle, it didn’t mean he couldn’t recognize her at first glance.

The woman was still quite the knockout at thirty six and her resting bitch face was unmistakenable. He could pick her out easily in the middle of a crowd which he did. She had to do a double take and look him up and down to recognize him when he approached her.

“I bet you hadn’t expected me to turn into a hunk.” He joked but his tone was flat.”

Her answer was blunt, just as he liked. “I did. Just not that much. You sure filled in, in all the right places.”

Immediately Annette began to walk toward the exit. Her quotas from pleasantries were apparently reached and she was done with it. Rick followed her to her car and took the passenger seat.

“How are you doing?” He asked while she put her parking ticket into the terminal and rice forward when the barrier was lifted up.

Turning the wheel right she got into the traffic. “Please, as if you cared.”

“I do. For Sherry. Part of her happiness is linked to your well-being.” He looked outside the open window. “At least it’s the impression I got from the e-mails she wrote over the years. She said that now that the trials are over and Umbrella is burnt down to cinders, you found a proper job?”

Annette wanted to protest so much his comment about how he’s interested in her well-being but she couldn’t. She had read the correspondence he had with her daughter and he was genuine about his care for her happiness.

“I found a job, yes. Starting September I’ll start teaching Biomedical Engineering at the local University.”

“Really? The government didn’t force you to work for them? That’s a surprise.”

“The less the government has connections to Umbrella the better.” She switched lanes in the direction of the city’s exit.

Rick tilted his head to the side to enjoy the breeze of the speed. “Make sense. They really fucked up when they covered it up. What about WilPharma? They have a new complex, no?”

“I thought about it but decided against it.” Annette could feel his questioning stare on her from the side. “I don’t want to undo all the work I did in fixing my relationship with Sherry. If I start working again like that in that field, it would just consume me and I would lose her. For good this time.”

Rick stayed silent but inwardly acknowledged the change in the woman. That bothered her however.

“No snarky comment about me being a beast or a monster?”

He shrugged in a disinterested manner. “No. I’m happy for Sherry and I suppose happy for you. You proved me wrong and that you really cared about her. More power to you, I suppose.”

His answer picked her interest. “A mother never stops caring or loving her child. She may forget but never stops.”

“Experience makes me disagree with you on principle. Then again I’m heavily biased and my bracket is fairly limited.”

She overtook a pickup and switched back to the right lane. The way he had replied to her piqued her curiosity even more. “Your own?”

Annette was aware that he had been living on the street since he was twelve after running from his abusive home. She also knew, from his own mouth, that he ended his parents without an ounce of remorse or emotion. Beyond that? She knew nothing regarding his parents.

“Drugg addict and part time prostitute. Pimped by Daddy dearest to anyone who could pay. Umbrella’s employees and a few corrupt cops mostly. The only thing she cared about was her fix, cock and me being beaten instead of her.”

“Well that explains your extreme pain tolerance.” She said non-chalantly, not caring about his coarse language.

“I’d like to think it’s because I’m not a little bitch but that’s probably the case.” Then Rick changed the subject a bit. “Don’t you miss it? The work I mean.”

“I do. Partially. Studying cells or organisms under the microscope mainly. The experiment on human beings? Not so much. Especially the children.”

“Color me surprised. You almost sound like a decent human being.”

The barb made her chuckle. “It’s amazing how people can change because of their environment. Remove the toxic pressure from the corporate life, an unloving husband and replace it with the love of your own child and you get a new person.”

“Hm… As far as I believe, leopards can’t change their spots but… I suppose they can try hard to succeed. Does that mean I’m safe and sound in your home? I won’t wake up in the morning with some blood missing with me being none the wiser?”

“Yes. I admit it’s tempting. Very tempting. The idea did cross my mind but it would cost me Sherry and it’s not worth it. What would I even be able to do with just a vial or two of your blood anyway? I don’t have the equipment, I don’t have the space.” Annette gave him a shake of her head, then took an exit.

“Well…I have answers as to what I am if you want them.”

She gave him a side glance and shrugged. “Why not? That would scratch a five year itch for good.”

Rick snorted at how double meaning her words were. “Or you could go to a bar and find a random dude for the night.” He joked.

Annette rolled her eyes but her face stayed stoic. “And be disappointed by a five minute romp? No, thank you. Now… What about those answers? What are you?”

Rick took a deep breath. “I’m… a failure of Humanity’s next step.”

“That doesn’t answer much.”

“It doesn’t, no.” He cracked his neck and massaged his nape. “Basically, I’m the Apex of mankind. My body is overly aggressive towards outside organic material. It quickly adapts and disassembles any threats, integrating into my DNA what it believes would be beneficial.”

Her eyes widened in shock from the information. “That’s… impossible. How could your body know…”

“No idea. Nobody knows in truth. The T-Virus enhanced my physical attributes and senses. The G-Virus enhanced them further, especially my healing factor, as you know. The T-Alexia—”

“The T-Alexia?” Annette interjected in confusion.

Rick stopped to look outside to focus on her. “Ever heard of Alexia Ashford?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “A brilliant genius from one of Umbrella’s three founding families. She died twenty years ago. I was just starting in the company. Not yet pregnant with Sherry.”

“Five years ago.” Rick corrected. “Twenty years ago she was working on a variant of the T-Virus that she called the T-Veronica. After testing it on her father, she determined that to adapt the body to the virus and nullify the loss of mental faculty she’d have to be put on ice for fifteen years. Got woken up in late December 98. She injected me with the modified strain in her body at the time. As a result the great need of food and energy the G-Virus needed to power my healing factor has greatly been mitigated. No more need for calories to heal fast.”

“Hmm… William never confirmed it but I always believe that the T-Virus and the G-virus were two different strands from the same… progenitor virus. Maybe your body is naturally tailored to—”

“Nope.” He cut her off. “My blood was tested with most viruses available and it simply killed it. It’s that aggressive. I can’t even make a blood donation because it would just kill the person receiving it.”

Annette shook her head. “That’s just… You really are the Apex of mankind. Your body could theoretically never get sick and adapt to anything. In what way are you a failure?”

Rick’s answer was swift and sounded very neutral. As if it wasn’t an issue. “I’m sterile.”

That cut the wind out of Annette’s sails and she began to laugh. “How ironic. Nature sure does have a twisted sense of humor. It creates the future of Humanity, to show us what we can become while we’re scrapping by and then make sure humanity wouldn’t evolve anyway.” She laughed some more, not trying to get herself under control, and let it all out. “I guess it’s really true, Men propose and God dispose.” She wiped a single tear of laughter that was running down her cheek.

“Yeah. Poor Humanity. Although from my point of view it’s a win-win.”

“How so?”

Rick looked back out the window and grinned. “I would make a terrible father and no child deserves that. Also no STD and no more condoms.”

“Huh.” Annette grunted. “Why am I not surprised a young man is only thinking about sex?”

“Because I’m healthy for one and because it is really the only emotional release I can get after all the shit I’ve been through. I can’t get drunk because of my healing factor and I’m definitely not doing drugs with the mother I had. I am quite limited in my options.”

“I suppose that’s fair.” She nodded in understanding.

A thought crossed Rick's mind. “Does Sherry…”

“No.” Annette answered on the spot. “The G-virus adapted. In a good way. Just like you she had an unnatural healing factor but got nothing else. Which brings me to wonder why you are sterile. If your body can heal from anything, it should have healed your sterility.”

“Never thought of that.” He scratched his chin pensively. “Not like it matters anyway. I’m perfectly happy with it.” Taking a deep breath he changed the conversation to focus on Sherry. “How is she really doing? I know what she’s telling me, that she has outstanding grades and made friends but it’s mostly school related.”

A tired smile graced Annette’s lips as she began to talk about her daughter’s life outside of school.