Chapter 59: The Ultimate Lifeform, Again

The bomb had completely destroyed the inner part of the institute, every side of the building that was giving a view to the garden was now a ruin. Not only that but some level had serious infrastructure damage. Power was down and Claire and Rick were plunged in mostly darkness, the emergency lamps being broken for the most part. It wasn’t really a problem for Rick though.

“Seeing in the dark is such bullshit.” Claire complained while holding a back pocket of her ex’s tactical vest to not get lost.

Rick didn’t pay attention to her rambling much, too focused on moving forward. He did, however, give her an answer. “That’s life, get used to it.”

She scoffed. “Of course you’d say that.”

“There are cons that come with it, you know?”

“Like what? Super reflexes, super strength, super speed? Healing from everything? I’d like that one.”

Her sarcasms grated on his nerves. He’s been living with a damocles sword of her his head ever since Raccoon City and that was the least of his problems. He would honestly give it all away to simply be normal and have nothing to do with bio-terrorism ever again.

“Living in fear of waking up one day strapped to an operating table, for one.” His answer cut Claire short. She hadn’t thought of that in the least. She knew of course. Rick had told her of his fear when they spent that month in the quarantine camp after escaping Raccoon City. A feeling of guilt took her because of her carelessness and insensitivity.

“I’m—”

Rick didn’t let her speak. “Then there are the other problems. Like always being careful to be in control and not out yourself to the world. The greater appetite, the impossibility to donate your blood when needed because it will simply eat the recipient from the inside and kill them then there is also—”

“Alright! Alright! I get it! I’m sorry!”

Claire sounded absolutely horrified by that alone. The list wasn’t over that already, she regretted complaining. If she felt a bit guilty before, now she felt like scum. No matter how great Rick’s abilities were, it wasn’t worth all of the cons. Gripping the pocket even harder.

Rick had very few people in his life when she met him, thanks to his upbringing in the streets. An isolation forced upon himself by life and by his own making. Seven years later and Rick being what he was, isolated him even more from anyone else. Her guilt increased again remembering the promise she had made him and that she broke.

She couldn’t help it, her heart went to him. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to embrace him. To tell him he wasn’t alone, that she still loved him after all this time and give him comfort. She couldn’t. Nothing good would come out of it, she knew. Her choice had been made long ago and she wouldn’t budge, no matter how much she wanted to kiss him or feel the heat of his skin against hers. To feel his weight on her back while she was lying face down. Feeling safe, feeling protected and loved. To feel him ravaging her deep inside of—

‘Get your mind out of the gutter, Claire! Focus! Now is not the time!’

They reached an elevator that was still operating. Getting inside Rick pushed the button to the ground floor where he would be able to make his way to Level-4. When the door opened, they ended up face to face with Leon.

“Jesus,” he said, lowering his gun. “Wasn’t expecting to see you there.”

“Neither did we.” Claire answered and got out of the elevator, Rick right behind her.

“I’m on my way to level-4 to deal with the G-Virus. You?”

“After Miller. His home revealed he had plans for everything.” Leon revealed. “The outbreak at the airport and the attack on the institute.”

“Then Downing may not be the culprit then and he died in the explosion.” Claire said with a hint of sadness.

Leon quickly corrected her line of thought. “No. There was no bomb in Miller’s plans. The bomb was set by someone else. You said Downing may not be the culprit?”

“He rubbed me the wrong way.” Rick explained. “So I have him investigated. He didn’t exist before Raccoon City. No records, none. He has connections to the black market and has a sample of the G-virus.”

“That’s more than just suspicious.” Leon agreed. “You think he’s the mastermind behind all this?”

“Yeah. I think he used Miller. Radicalized him and gave him the tool for the bio-terrorism attack. At the same time I think he was the one to send those pictures to Terra Save.”

“But why?” Claire interjected then. “I agree that… He sounds like the bad guy pulling the strings behind the scene but what does he gain by doing all this? Look around the whole building is done for.”

““Money.””

Rick was faster than Leon in explaining. “With a T-virus outbreak, the need for the vaccine increases. So he sells the virus on the black market and to terrorists, then sells the vaccines to governments. The latter has more money to spend, so by creating a shortage of the vaccine he increases the prices to make more money. Since he’s the only one with the data to make more…”

He didn’t finish his sentence, there was no need for it. Claire understood.

“But what about the G-virus?”

“As far as it is known, at least before you told me,” Leon chimed in, “There is no G-virus in circulation. Everything was destroyed with Raccoon City. The only sample available is in Sherry’s blood.”

“Yet Downing has one,” Rick spoke again. “Giving credence to the fact he used to work at Nest and somehow escape what happened there with a sample. He could sell it for millions, perhaps more if it is to a government. But he’d need to develop a vaccine first.”

Claire was seeing the big picture fully now. “Then we better hurry, because I don’t think Downing has the G-virus anymore.”

Leon and Rick looked at her in confusion. “How do you know that?” The former inquired.

“Just before the bomb exploded I saw Miller with a small briefcase inside the garden.” Feeling Rick’s heavy stare on her, she blushed a bit in embarrassment. “I forgot in panic because of… You know…” Her defense was understandable in Rick’s eyes but not Leon who gave them a blank face, misunderstanding the whole thing.

“Did you guys seriously have sex…”

““WE DID NOT!”” Their answer was heated and full of outrage.

Leon gave them another silent look. “Yeah… I’m going to believe it, betting on you guys knowing how to separate things but I do remember you fucking everywhere everywhen in the quarantine camp.”

Claire’s anger immediately flared, replacing her embarrassment. “That was then! This is now!”

“We didn’t have a mess on our hands at the time.” Rick was more composed. “Anyway. If Miller has the G-virus then he must not be allowed to leave. Leon and I will search for him. Claire, go to the control room and try to see if it’s—”

“Why me?” The flat expression she got made her realize how stupid her question was. “Right, good old civilian me versus super spy and super ex black ops.”

“Be careful. We may have another outbreak of T-Virus” Leon remarked.

“Noted.”

They split then. Claire received her ex’s phone to stay in contact, hers having been lost in Downing’s office, and went to the central tower where the control room was while Leon and Rick made their way to Level-4. Leon taking point, lighting the way with the lamp under his gun. The sound of machine guns going off told them they were in the right direction and helped them pin point better where to go.Their path was diverted from Level-4 to the garden where they found a unit of ranger aiming at a G monster. Angela Miller being right behind him.

“Shit!” Leon voiced what Rick thought.

Rick had his own comment to make. “The idiot injected himself with it.”

They sprinted and went through any obstacles on their way. Turned over furniture and debris. Their arrival was done right when G turned his attention to Angela after slaughtering half of the rangers. Rick’s action was swift, he used a flashbang to desorient everyone and use his super human speed to get the woman out of the way of a claw swing. Leon began to shoot at the huge eyeball on the creature’s shoulder to get his attention.

“You better get out of here.” Rick warned Angela.

“I can’t! My—” She sounded more horrified than angry.

He immediately cut her off. “Your brother was gone the moment he injected himself with the virus. There is no cure. So you better accept it very fast and get away or you’re going to get yourself killed.”

“I have the responsibility to—”

“You don’t get it.” He interrupted her again. “That thing has only one thought: breeding. And its principal target is someone with a DNA as close as possible as theirs. Meaning: you.”

Her face paled even more and Rick wondered if she had any blood left in it. Angela shook her head however and gathered her courage.

“It’s personal. I must stop him.”

He could understand that. “Then don’t get in the way, aim for the eyes.”

Standing up, he pulled her up with him. Leon was doing a fine job pissing off G by being very mobile. Grabbing his shotgun, Rick prepared himself to enter the fray when something he didn’t like happened. An alarm started ringing with red light blimping.

“Warning. A lethal virus strain has been detected in the garden sector. Commencing Evac’. Sterilization process starting in five minutes.”

This wasn’t good and Rick was perfectly aware. While the sterilization process, which by standards was a purge by fire, could deal with G in a permanent manner, everyone needed to get away from the garden. Easier said than done when the bio-weapon wasn’t pinned down. Despite Leon's best efforts and the assistance of the few rangers left, the mutating beast wasn’t playing along. If anything it seemed to have a particularly hard hate boner for the military men.

Picking up the two explosive grenades on his belt, Rick removed the pins and threw them right at G’s feet. The explosion was enough to stagger it, stopping his rampage.

“Get away from here!”

The rangers didn’t need to be told twice, already some were retreating, dragging their wounded towards the elevator. For his part, Rick moved forward and began to shoot at G, aiming at the giant eyeball despite the head of Curtis Miller being still there. With a bit of luck, the damage will delay G mutating further and increasing the odds of it burning to cinder by the sterilization process.

Angela was right behind him and was shooting with her assault rifle. The courage she had displayed wasn’t just for show. Rick was glad to witness that. He always had a thing for women who stood up to adversity. More importantly, it meant she wouldn’t be a burden he would need to save. That was one worry and complication he didn’t have to think about.

Despite the suppressing fire holding G in place it wasn’t enough to truly incapacitate it. When it was time for Rick to reload his shotgun he threw another flashbang at the thing’s feet, to give himself some time.

Three shells were put inside his weapon when he heard Leon yelling to move. Stopping immediately what he was doing, he grabbed Angela and darted away. It was the right call as soon enough an explosion above them destroyed part of a suspended bridge that fell on top of G, crushing it down.

Rick knew it wasn’t enough to kill the B.O.W but it may stall it long enough to exit the area. That was why he didn’t let go of Angela’s hand and kept going to the elevator. Luck ran out then when the rangers left were taking the whole space in the elevator. With no way to get in, Rick began to reload his shotgun while Leon joined them.

“You think it will hold him long enough?” The USSTRATCOM asked, aiming one of the assault rifles he picked up from a dead ranger in G’s direction.

Rick’s answer was blunt and short. “No.” He pumped his shotgun to load a shell in the chamber and aimed too.

“But… How can he survived—”

“G is constantly mutating. The more damage it takes, the more it mutates. It’s in a way the ultimate lifeform. You need to do so much damage to it in one go that nothing’s left, otherwise it will heal from anything.” Rick explained.

“You’ve encountered one before.” Angela realized that Rick wasn’t just talking from simple knowledge taken from reports. He was speaking from experience.

““Raccoon City.”” The two men answered.

“Oh, yeah. You got to see it at the end.” Rick remarked to Leon in a tone that didn’t fit the seriousness of the situation.

“I had Claire fill me in, then I read the reports.”

Angela’s expression turned to fury. “Raccoon City. It’s always Raccoon City. Will there be a day when what happened there does not destroy anyone else’s lives?”

“I wish.” Leon replied then muttered something else. “I wish I could forget that day.”

Rick snorted. “I wish I could forget that whole week. Heck my whole life. But yeah… If I could choose one day…”

He wasn’t sure he would pick that day. It had been the worst of the outbreak, true, but it was also the day he met Claire. Thinking more about it for a quick moment, Rick would definitely pick that day. The hurt and pain that resulted in meeting Claire hadn’t been worth it. Not when he’s been feeling it ever since.

“You lived there?” Angela inquired.

“Born and raised, unfortunately. Glad it’d been nuked.”

That incensed her. “How can you say that! Thousands of people died from—”

“No.” Rick cut her off. “By the last day, everyone was already turned into zombies or worse. The city was lost three days after the start of the epidemic. No amount of ground forces would have been able to reclaim it. There would just have been more bodies to add to the horde. I’m sorry to say, your family was probably gone before the government’s final solution.”

“So my brother blamed the government for nothing. Everything he did—” It was as if her soul left her body.

“Oh, he was right. President Rotkins was complicit with Umbrella’s—”

“Rick, that’s state secrets.” Leon warned him.

“The asshole is dead, anyway and with how public bio-terrorism is nowadays, sooner or later the truth about Raccoon City will come to light. Regardless,” Rick gave a side glance to Angela. “That doesn’t justify your brother’s actions. He didn’t need to involve innocent people.”

“I—”

The huge pile of steel that was crushing G was sent flying. The creature had mutated again, bigger and far stronger than before. Getting to its feet, it jumped high up in the air. Not towards the trio. As their eyes followed the bio-weapon’s trajectory, they witnessed it land against the elevator containing the rangers.

They heard the screams of the men being attacked, fearing for their lives. G began hitting the cage, destroying its shell until finally the cables snapped and everything went tumbling down. No rangers survived the crash.

As if it wasn’t enough, the automated voice spoke again, while inflammable liquid began to be dispersed all over the place, covering the trio.

“Sterilization process starting in one minute.”