Chapter 95: Breakthrough

Every gun and every box of ammunition was loaded into the trunk of the SUV. Of course Rick, Angela and Nicole checked they were all empty first. The firearms, the rolls of bills and the gun which had been with them in the same were not forgotten too, neither was the computer that Rick put on the free seat in the back.

The rest of the search inside the house revealed nothing more and as a result they drove back to the Police Station. Chief Campbell’s eyes were more than a bit wide when he saw the kind of firepower that was brought in. Robert was more than happy to search for each gun their serial number in their Canadian Police’s database.

After discussing the possibility of driving to David Collins’ cabin up North, the plan was shelved. From what Campbell told Rick and Angela, the road was blocked by the snow which had fallen the whole past week. They’d have to leave it to reach the cabin and no car or truck could make the journey beyond it. That meant going on foot and Rick was not doing this. They’d have to wear rackets and should they encounter the BOW that had been roaming the wild, they would have a hard time taking it down or survive the encounter with limited mobility.

Once the computer was set down and turned on, Rick picked up his phone and made a call. At the third ring, the other person at the end of the line answered.

“Wald.” The deep and calm voice of O’Brian came through.

“Sir, I’m calling for an update.”

The BSAA director didn’t sound surprised. Rick was a very competent and efficient agent. “You already found something?”

“Yes. We were lucky at first. One of the rare victims that were identified was a man named David Collins. His place of habitation before coming to Makenzie was Raccoon City back in 93.”

“It could be a coincidence but I suppose it’s not.”

Rick looked at the computer, the thought of getting access to what it contained distracting him for a split second. “You’re correct. We checked his home and found interesting things. A safe with at least two thousand in hundred dollar bills. American. Then a panic room in his basement with enough firepower to take down a herd of elephants. If that wasn’t enough, the results of the genesis analysis of a body part of the latest victim, revealed traces of T-virus.” He could hear his boss sighing at the other end.

“How bad is it?”

“For now… We don’t know. Whatever killed those people is not any BOW I know. The marks don't match anything.”

“Any leads on a potential lab?”

“The deceased owned a secluded cabin far out of town. From the reports and testimonies he spent lots of time there. Multiple days at a time and regularly. We can’t investigate the place yet because of the snow but we do have his home computer. It’s locked but I may have an idea how to bypass it and have access.”

“What about the police?”

“Clueless from what I could tell. The moment we confirmed the involvement of a viral agent, the Chief gave us the leadership. I haven’t met all the agents yet but the few I did are not part of whatever is happening. I already gave directives to prevent a possible outbreak.”

“Everyone is busy on my end, I can’t send help before…” Rick heard some papers being ruffled through the phone. “Five days.”

“This is fine,” It really wasn’t. With a potential outbreak on his hands, Rick needed more people to coordinate everyone. “Although, it would be nice if the new recruits were finally up to speed.”

“Don’t I know it.” O’Brian grunted. “Don’t worry, things are going to pick up soon.”

After hearing his boss wishing him good luck, Rick ended the call. Looking at the computer he asked around for a screwdriver but only got negative answers. With no other choice he asked for the direction of the nearest tool store. It was relief he felt when he found the appropriate size for what he had in mind. Makenzie being a small, remote town, he thought he’d have to drive back to Prince George to buy what he needed.

“What are you doing?” Angela was watching him unscrew the screws on the computer to reveal its entrails.

Removing the last one, Rick grabbed the metallic plate and gently pulled it off. “I was thinking that maybe I could add the hard drive to a computer that’s already opened to get the information it contains.”

After pondering for a moment, Angela tilted her head to the side. “I know nothing about computers but I suppose it’s worth a shot.”

Rick delicately removed the target of his focus from its position, making sure to not damage it by doing so. After talking with Chief Campbell and receiving permission to go along with the idea, he hooked the hard drive on one of the station’s computers.

Soon enough, the finding of the added hardware proved that his idea had not been foolish. There wasn’t much data-wise and certainly not incriminating evidence. It was mostly a list of groceries or materials that needed to be bought and the receipts. It went back to 1993.

Angela noticed something wrong however. “Now that’s weird. Look.”

She pointed at the dates on the receipts. Each was separated by a single month. Every fifth of a month, Collins went to Prince George to buy lots and lots of food. Far more than one single person would need. Moreover, the deceased man had no space for so much food in his home. Maybe his cabin but that didn’t answer the fact that it was food for multiple people.

“Why go to Prince George to buy food when he can do that here? He was a hunter too, so he could get his own relatively easily.”

Rick nodded along, as her arguments made sense. “He was probably buying food for some people. Unknown people.”

Neighbours would have been aware of people living in the cabin or acquainted with Collins but it wasn’t the case. He was a loner and a bit of a misanthrope. That he was buying food for people living underground and stuck there crossed both of their minds.

The next thing Rick did was check Collins’ e-mails. Rummaging through the files and documents of the hard drive, he found the login and password needed to do that. Apparently the former Raccoon City resident was too lazy to type his password every time he connected to his inbox and so registered it.

Those emails were the smoking gun they had been searching for. Conversations from Umbrella executives and from people who, from the content of the messages, were scientists. Nothing incriminating per say, just mundane tasks to do but the fact it came from Umbrella was enough. They found the groceries and materials lists sent to Collins, who saved them on his computer and printed them for a later use, confirming he was making purchases for others and not himself.

“It seems that Collins was some kind of handyman. Fixing everything that was broken.” Rick spoke aloud.

“We really need to search that cabin.”

He couldn’t agree more with his partner. The urge to check the location, braving the bad terrain, came roaring but he stomped it down. His curiosity wouldn’t put his and Angela’s life in danger. He would wait for more favorable weather. Instead Rick made a copy of the files contained on the hard drive to Angela and together they went through everything with a comb. By the end of the morning they were almost done.

They were invited to lunch by the rest of the police and had an interesting conversation about life in Canada and as a police officer. Angela, a former member of the police herself, was more than interested by the differences with the US regarding law enforcement.

When they came back to the precinct a few agents were agitated. At the sight of them Chief Campbell filled them in on the latest news: another body had been found. Its location was in the perimeter that had been delimited from the other corpses found. With no other choice than to investigate. Rick and Angela got in their SUV and followed the police car and the coroner’s van.

“What do you think we’ll find?” Angela wondered while they exited Makenzie.

“If we’re lucky: a body. If we’re not: just limbs. One thing is sure, whatever beast does it, it’s territorial.”

Twenty minutes after their departure, they left the road to a track into the woods leading into the bottom of the small mountain range. Rick remarked that the snow wasn’t as high as in the South of Makenzie which made him think that perhaps the wind and the mountains had pushed the snowy clouds away or protected the area.

Fifteen minutes of driving more and they stopped, the rest of the journey needing to be done on foot. Rick helped with carrying the stretcher to their destination so they could transport the body back.

When they finally arrived at the crime scene, things were bleak. It was a small campsite in a bad state. Destroyed tent on one side, dead fire covered in snow and cherry on the cake a full body. Or rather two separated parts of a full body. Eaten right in the middle, the legs were one way and the torso another, a few feet apart.

Robert was talking with a couple who Rick correctly presumed were the ones who stumbled into the gruesome scene. There wasn’t much to get from them so he chose to focus on the top part of the deceased. When the coroner tried to get closer to study the corpse, Rick grabbed his shoulder to stop him.

“We’re checking it first for any viral agent. Don’t worry, the T-virus only spreads through direct contact in this situation.” He added when the man paled having forgotten about the virus. Taking the genesis he scanned the corpse and the result turned out to be positive for infection. Without thinking twice he drew the knife at his hip and stabbed the disfigured head of the body right into the ear, shocking both the coroner and Campbell.

“Standard procedure when a body is infected with the T-virus.” Angela explained.

The coroner wasn’t convinced. “What kind of procedure is that? That young man is dead, I doubt—”

“He is now.” Rick pulled back his knife. “The T-virus… For lack of better terms, raise the dead.”

Campbell scoffed but the coroner simply gave Rick a flat look.

“You can read all about it on the BSAA website. It’s a bit more complicated than what I just said, of course, but that's the gist of it. Despite death, the virus is still active and hyperboost cells' activities. Why this one hadn't been raised as a zombie yet is probably because of the cold.”

“... You’re serious.” Campbell couldn’t believe his ears.

Rick simply nodded. “Utterly. Nothing short of blowing the brain put those bio-organic weapons down. You could empty a full magazine into their chest and they would still advance towards you. It wouldn’t be the first time I see half a corpse suddenly crawl and bite someone infecting them.”

Letting it go, the coroner finally crouched down and began his examination of the body. The cold had well preserved it so it was easy to make observations. The bite marks fit the other victims, there was no mistake about it. The time of death was impossible to determine for obvious reasons and so was the identity of the deceased. It still had his hands and teeth however so checking for dental records and fingerprints would provide the answer.

Angela was more resourceful. While the coroner was doing his work she went to the ruined tent to search it. Beyond basic winter gear for camping she found the deceased wallet.

“Timothy Gallagher.” ID in hand she read the name on it.

“Oh god,” Campbell’s voice was full of horror. “He’s a good kid. Volunteering at the church on Sunday, tutoring kids in difficulty at school. His family will be devastated.”

Rick didn’t correct the man on the wrong use of the present tense. It was obvious the Chief knew the dead young man personally and was badly affected by it. He still had questions however and needed answers.

“Someone needs to warn his loved ones. Surely, they had noticed his disappearance.”

“I’ll… I’ll tell them myself.” Campbell nodded as if to reassure himself.

“Angela will go with you.”

“I do not need—”

Rick interrupted the chief. “You do. This young man is infected, so his body will have to be incinerated which could go against the family wishes. The BSAA is taking responsibility and it wouldn’t bode well if someone else were to tell them of it.” He shook his head. “That’s simply not right and the family may have had questions you’re not able to answer."

That cut the police chief at the knee. Rick made a very valid argument and while Campbell didn’t know the family's wishes regarding their son’s burial, he knew even less about the virus, what it could do and how bodies were supposed to be processed. He was already bringing bad news, not having any answers to give would be even worse.

Angela went with the Chief without protest. In the meantime, Rick helped the coroner put both parts of the corpse into the black body bag and load it on the stretcher. The witnesses had left and Robert made a report while they were walking back down the trail.

They had been camping a bit higher in the mountain and made their way down to return to town when they came across the destroyed campsite and the body. A week ago there was nothing when they went up, meaning the victim came after them and was killed very recently. That information not only narrowed the timeline of events but decreased the radius of action of the beast.

Rick had a few more questions. “How high were they?”

“Around 300m higher in altitude.” Robert had his small notepad in hand.

“What about the terrain? Is it much different from the one around us?”

“Yes. Less packed trees and more rocks. At least for the part where they were camping: a small plateau.”

“Hmm… Is there any type of wildlife there?”

Robert frowned, not having an answer. It was the coroner who spoke up instead. “Not much. Mainly rabbits, owls… small animals overall. From time to time there are snow leopards but they’re usually crossing from one side of the mountain to the other. A rare occurrence.”

“So probably not part of the beast’s—”

Rick immediately stopped talking when he heard some kind of purr coming from the side. It was faint but he was sure of what he heard.

“What is it?” Robert noticed the sudden change in Rick and drew the Coroner’s attention.

Their advance was stopped and Rick slowly crouched down to lay on the ground his side of the stretcher he was holding, the coroner doing the same. From the BSAA agent’s face, something serious was amiss. It was confirmed when Rick drew his .45 from its holster at his thigh. The policeman imitated him.

His gun was aimed when he saw a shadow moved among the trees. A huge one that even the two men with Rick saw. Robert aimed where it had disappeared.

“Aim for the head.” Rick warned, his enhanced vision allowing him to see properly his target a bit more than twenty feet away.

The wait lasted less than a minute. Darting suddenly to the side at a speed faster than a hunter, the beast moved with agility. Rick could follow its movement easily but he had no clear shot. When the BOW came close enough to be visible by Robert, the policeman began to open fire.

Inwardly, Rick commended the man for keeping his wits and for being a good shots, unfortunately the absolutely maddening side of what turned out to be a white snow leopard as big as a horse may have been too much of a shock. The shots that didn’t miss ended in the beast’ chest and it didn’t slow it down one bit.

The leopard’s charge made it close enough for Rick to have a good view of its head. Without a moment of hesitation he fired right onto it. Because the skull was so thick or the brain so big, it took several bullets to put the beast down. Falling forward with momentum, it landed on the dirt less than five feet away from Robert who was struggling with reloading his gun.

Rick didn’t stop firing until his magazine was empty, then drew his axe and reached the BOW to cleave it head right in the middle multiple times. A good thing to do because the first hit revealed it was still alive. By the time brain matter and blood were everywhere, it wasn’t anymore.

Robert finally found his voice again. “Jesus Christ!” Shaking a bit from the fear and the adrenaline it got closer. “What a monster! It’s bigger than a cow!”

“That’s not the most worrying thing.” The coroner joined him and Rick to have a better look. Despite the calm he displayed, his hands were shaking a bit. “You hit most of its vital area in the chest and that didn’t stop it one bit.” He pointed at the leopard’s chest.

“That’s why I said to aim for the head.” Rick spoke up. “Without a brain to issue orders, the thing doesn’t move anymore. When you’ve done the comparison with its fangs, it should be incinerated. Not a single cell must be left."

“God, you’re fighting that regularly?” gun still pointed at the beast, Robert asked.

Rick put back his gun at his side. “Yes. Although this is the first of its kind ever seen. And it’s proof that there is a laboratory nearby making those things.”

“How do you know?”

The coroner used his foot to turn the destroyed head to the side. It revealed a collar. “It’s a shocking one.”

Rober frowned. “Kinda failed to keep that thing subdued. Would that even work on something that big to begin with?”

“It’s not the worst.” Rick interjected. “It has a serial number.”

Both the coroner and Robert paled at the possibility that the dead monster right in front of them was not a single freak of nature but one among many.