I toppled backwards, mainly from the shock of being bitten before I managed to lodge a bullet in the brain of my attacker. The decomposed corpse landed on my leg, blood oozing from it’s new wound. Clutching my mutilated arm to my chest, I scrambled to my feet, tripping slightly, only to be caught by Chris who’d followed me into the room. Footsteps announced Jill’s arrival as she took in the scene. The four bodies lying on the floor beside us, Chris cradling a bloody me in his arms.
My arm felt…tingly. I’d been infected. I knew that much but we had no time to inject me with the anti-virus. Pushing myself away from them, I wandered down the corridor, peering into cells as I passed. Then I paused, a smirk on my lips as I backtracked slightly, “My, my, how many times have I had to spring you from various jail cells?” I asked the person who was sitting on a raggedy old bed. She looked up at me, a grin appearing on her face, “Justin, get me out of here!” Drawing my gun, I shot the padlock then almost fell with the weight of the girl leaping on me.
That’s Claire for you.
Her eyes rested on my bite, well, more like the chunk missing from my arm and she gasped, pulling off her pristine white headscarf and tying it round my forearm, causing me to wince slightly. I could already feel the virus affecting me, I felt giddy; sick but giddy. Like I’d had too much E and mixed it with alcohol. Chris’ arm snaked round my waist as I faltered slightly, before I nodded at him, “Shall we check out the lab?” I found myself asking, my voice hoarse. A series of nods was my answer as we headed for the stairwell.
~Meanwhile at Taylor Electronics~
“Mr Taylor?”
Craig raised an eyebrow at the young man. His hair was sandy in color and he looked somewhat official. The older man nodded, “Yes?” His voice was impatient, he had no time for this youngster.
“My name is Leon Kennedy, I work for the president. I used to be a cop in Raccoon City…”
Craig’s cool façade faltered at the mention of his old home. His eyes gave away the fear he felt, “How can I help you?” Well if the man worked for the President then it really must be important.
“Do you know the Umbrella facility located here in Pittsburgh?”
No, Craig didn’t know it and he was terrified. Umbrella was here? He shook his head as he shuffled a few folders on his desk, “No, what about it?” Leon nodded as he took a deep breath, “At 1600 hours, we became aware of a series of problems occurring within the facility. It was sent into temporary shutdown, locking it’s workers deep within it….”
Craig’s face drained of all color. He remembered Justin speaking of the Arklay incident. It was a touchy subject so he didn’t know the whole story but this incident sounded so very familiar, “So? What’s this got to do with me?”
Leon sighed, “To our knowledge, a small selection of the remaining S.T.A.R.S members are locked within this facility….Mr Taylor, your son’s in there….”
Craig couldn’t believe it, after all this time and Justin was STILL working for S.T.A.R.S. He shook his head, a stony look appearing on his face, his next words shocking Leon beyond belief.
“I don’t have a son”
~Back at the Facility~
I’d managed to unlock the door leading into the lab with shaky hands. With a grunt, I’d pushed the door open and fallen, sprawled out on the floor as I looked about. Broken T-Virus vials were scattered all over the floor. My blue eyes followed Claire as she ran towards a stand where there were syringes, Chris propping me up against the wall. My sight was blurring, so far there were two of everything.
I felt something being tied round my upper arm and tightened, a hiss passing my lips as pain shot through my arm, “Oh God, Justin stop being such a wuus!” Claire teased as she readied the Anti-virus before sticking said needle in my arm and injecting.
“SWEET MOTHER OF GOD!” I yelled, the burning sensation shooting through me as I jerked against Chris’ hold. The anti-virus and the actual virus started their fight as I flailed madly on the floor, murmuring pleas for the pain to end.
Then it did, and I just sat there, shivering, my lips blue.
It’s times like these I’m GLAD I’m not allergic to it. You’d think after so many shots of the T-Virus, I’d be immune to it by now but evidentially not. I glanced around me, Jill was investigating something with Claire and Chris’ was by my side as usual. Pulling myself onto my knees was difficult but I got there eventually, pulling myself in front of the computer before lazily hitting keys to turn on the facility ventilation. However when I hit return, there was a bang and I spun around. We all stared at the door, “Justin, what the FUCK did you do!?” was my Captain’s yell as she glared at me. I blinked, confused.
The door wasn’t meant to have slammed shut and locked.
The speaker above the door crackled to life with a mocking laugh, “Well well, Valentine, Redfield’s and Taylor, it’s been what? Three years and you’re still as idiotic as you were back then!” I growled, “Fuck you Wesker!” That laugh again, “Now now Taylor, such language from such a young man. I hope you said goodbye before you came, because once you meet my newest toy, you won’t be leaving…”
Jill spun to face me as the speaker died, “Justin, find out what the fuck he’s on about!” I nodded my affirmative, before spinning around in the seat and quickly typing in pass-codes and the such, before a list of ‘projects’ came up. Narrowing my search down to the latest created, I rubbed my temples, “Captain, the newest one is a ‘Project Angelus’. A BOW found in Antarctica 18 months ago. It’s been modified using the T-Veronica Virus…” I read aloud, “And if I’m right, then it’s kept through that do…” I was cut off by a huge dent appearing in the metal. Claire who, had up till that point been resting against it, leapt back, almost falling onto my lap as my friends drew their guns, “Let me guess, Angelus?” Jill hissed at me but all I could do was nod. The door was made of reinforced steel, harder and thicker than that which made the loft door but it wouldn’t hold against a Tyrant.
The door flew off its hinges, causing Chris to duck before it took his head clean off. The tyrant was tall, taller than me by far (then again, I’m 5”8 so it’s not hard, even Claire’s taller than me!) The skin was green, under different circumstances I would have made a joke about how it looked like the Hulk but when it growled, “S.T.A.R.S”, I knew now was not the time. It had one goal and that was to kill us all. The axe it held swung towards Jill and I knocked her out the way. Claire stood still as if frozen to the floor as I glanced sideways, “CLAIRE MOVE!”
Still she stood there, staring at the tyrant before she finally opened her mouth, shocking Chris.
“S…Steve?”