Chapter V

"What's down this way?" Aya keeps her thoughts forward and replies, "A heliport for the executives here. We have to go through the holding cell below here to get there, unless you feel up to a half-mile climb down." Dusty gulps and says, "How much further?" Aya shrugs and says, "We'll know when we get there." Dusty stomps a foot in frustration, his boot connecting with some kind of metal hatch or plate. He grins at Aya and replies, a hint of humor in his voice, "We know we're here." Aya places a hand on the hatch and feels around for a handle, she finds it and lifts, the door coming up only about an inch before she drops it. Dusty nods and lifts himself, the door lifting only three inches this time.

He drops it and looks at Aya, "A little help?" Aya nods and they both pull, the hatch coming up with a little more effort than should be necessary. Cold, biting wind rushes up from the dark tunnel, the top two rungs the only things visible. "You don't think that Isis escaped down here too?" Aya shrugs and clasps the top rung, sliding her body over and begins to descend. "Got a light up there?" Dusty frowns and begins to descend, the faint smell of death growing the farther he goes.

His boots touch down on smooth concrete and he nearly slips from the loss of traction. He grasps at the wall, his muddy fingers clenching around a small switch. He pushes it down and the loud pop of electricity flowing resonates through the many halls of the holding cell. He looks around and asks, "What the hell did they keep down here?" He gazes across thousands upon thousands upon thousands of different sized glass tubes, each and every one of them going from floor to the ceiling nearly twenty feet up.

Aya is speechless as she, too, gazes at the massiveness of each capsule. "It's like the Tyrant storage, but for the minor projects." Dusty runs a hand over the glass of the closest one, the dust rubbing off over the mud, "Seems like they haven't been used for a while." He cringes at how hollow his voice sounds as it moves beyond the capsules. Aya's voice is far off as she shouts back, "You won't like this! This capsule is broken, and is surrounded by a giant snakeskin!" Oh hell no! Great, what's next, ten-legged turtles? A low hissing noise fills the giant room, causing Dusty to raise his magnum. "Sorry! Hit a pipe! Hope I didn't scare you!"

Dusty breathes out loudly, "Not in a million years babe!" Aya laughs as Dusty reads the label sprayed in red ink across the middle of one, "G-Type2! You think that is what we killed up there?" Aya shrugs as she reads off a label, "Licker-Z! Sound terrifying?" Dusty laughs and replies, "Oh yeah, a Licker that puts you to sleep! Try this, Blue Devil! Seems like Dirt Devil has some competition." "Man, these people had no imagination. This one is called Alpha Omega! That means the Beginning of the End!" Dusty scoffs and retorts, "This one just has initials, T.W. What does that mean?" Aya shrugs and she presses the handle on a far-off door. Air rushes past her face as the door creaks open noisily. Aya jumps back and holds up the Browning as a man in a white contamination suit rolls out. Aya keeps the gun trained on him as she rolls him over, reeling back in disgust at the scene inside his helmet.

Two large holes are in his chest and his head basically exploded. "Oh sick!" Aya looks at Dusty as he places a hand above one of the holes. "Damn, this man got really jacked up. See these holes, how they're spaced evenly? That represents teeth marks. See how deep they are? That shows that they're made for hunting and eating, probably a carnivore." Aya cocks an eyebrow and asks, "When did you become Mr. Science?" Dusty shrugs and replies, "Watched Discovery Channel a lot growing up. Now, see the slightly burnt flesh around the entrance wounds, that means the thing had acid or venom. Well, that explains where our snake went. But, the main question still remains, where did it go after this?" Aya looks into the hall the door opened up into and points down it, "Obviously that way." Dusty smiles at her and says, "Take the M203, I got grenades you can use." Aya wasn't even aware he had the gun until it lays at her feet, the two grenade belts strewn over it. She takes it and loads eight grenades into the large wheel. She hefts it up and says, "You never know how heavy something is until you're covered in water and drying mud."

"Hmm, I managed to get out of the mansion, but where did they go after this?" Thomas holds up the M79 that was hanging on the broken window and throws it into the trees. He takes a step toward the Wilderness, when another G-Type2 flows from the trees to his left. "I don't have time for this, I have to get off this island." He runs past it, but a leathery tentacle wraps around his neck. Thomas grasps at it and tears it off, watching it wind back into the face of the G-Type2. Thomas sprints off, leaving the G-Type2 in pain and agony. He jumps out the way of a rejected project, watching the bulbous tongue whip past his head. He wipes the slime off his face and nearly trips over the open hatch.

He slides along the mud and clasps the edge of the hatch. He stands up and begins to descend the ladder, nearly slipping three times. He touches bottom and closes his eyes at the sudden brightness. He opens his eyes and lets them adjust to the light, the sight before him even more awe inspiring than he thought possible. "Damn," is the only word to describe it. He jogs through the stasis tubes and drops down at the body sprawled out in front of the door that leads to the heliport. "Heh! Seems like they won't escape after all. Project 747 will do the job, if it hasn't been killed yet." Thomas tears the suit open and pulls the G22 and two clips from the muck that was, at one point, a soldier. He checks the clip and runs through the door.

"You know how to fly one of these?" Dusty looks over at her and says, "A Viper? Not quite, but how different can it be from a police chopper?" Aya exhales slowly and leans back in the rubber-covered chair, practically falling asleep as soon as her head hits it. The sound of the engine spurting to life nearly drowns out everything. Dusty frantically presses buttons and flips switches as the motor roars and the helicopter jolts slightly. Dusty pulls back on the control stick and the helicopter lurches up, the moonlight flowing in trough the windshield. Dusty checks the altitude and sighs, "We're nearly clear of the hangar, Aya? Oh, sorry." He goes back to piloting when something hits the chopper, pulling it down dramatically. "What!" Dusty looks at Aya and says, "Take the controls, I'll check it out." She nods and wraps her hands around the stick, keeping it level as Dusty pulls out his magnum, checks it and walks through the cargo door. "What the hell?"

"What the hell?" Dusty's voice is muffled by the sound of something leathery scraping along metal. Aya risks a look back, but Dusty is blocking the doorway, pointing the magnum at the mass. "We got company!" Aya struggles with the controls as the helicopter begins to lower, the motor beginning to drain of life. "Grab on to something!" Dusty acknowledges and wraps an arm around the chair back, still pointing the .357 at the mass. The helicopter hits and violent booms throw the helicopter head over heels, finally crashing against the giant doors of the hangar. Aya leans up from her position on the roof of the chopper, gazing up at the chair she was once sitting in. The smell of something burning fills the cockpit as a labored breathing enters her ears. "Dusty! Where are you!" Dusty mumbles something, but Aya can't make sense of it. "Can you get up?"

Dusty groans in pain and she risks a look back, the pain in her neck slight. Dusty is pinned beneath something and the smoke is coming from something behind him. Aya jumps through the door and tries to pull the thing off of him, but it's too heavy. "Can you help push?" Dusty nods and places his arms on the machine, blood beginning to pour from the wound she never noticed before. "Alright! What was it?" Dusty leans against the wall and holds his ribs with one arm, "It was that snake... Had to be at least 17 feet in diameter. Man, that thing was huge. Did you see it?" Aya shakes her head and pulls up his shirt, instantly noticing the purple block around his left ribs. "How far down does it hurt?" Dusty points to his third rib and says, "Goes from there all the way up to my neck." Aya nods and says, "You got two bruised ribs, one broken, and a sore shoulder. Can you walk?" Dusty tries to stand up, but his legs give, fresh waves of pain coursing through him. "Don't think so, but probably if I had a little help. Is there anything I can use as a crutch?" Aya fumbles around and holds out a long, thin pipe. "Will this do?" Dusty nods and pulls himself up with it, using the pole as another leg.

"Let's get out of here. Any other way we can escape?" Aya shakes her head and replies, "Nope, the employees and execs took the main planes and helicopters, and that damned snake destroyed this one. The only way off this rock is to swim." Dusty groans in frustration and holds up his .357, "Lost two of the shells, but I think I'm good, as long as you can reload for me." Aya nods and picks her Browning off of the windshield. "I lost the M203, but I still got the grenades." Dusty laughs and says, "Great all we need now is a launcher." Aya opens the cargo door and steps out, instantly noticing the overpowering smell of decay and death. "It's still here." Dusty plops out and says, "Figures, keep an eye on me, an eye on your surroundings, and one on your escape." Aya nods and takes a step forward, staring at the giant hole in the far wall, "That hole is nearly 18 feet tall." "That's where we're going, I saw movement to our left. Slow, easy movements." Aya holds up the Browning and takes light steps toward the hole, walking on the balls of her feet for added silence. Dusty is trying his hardest not to make much sound, timing the drops of the pole with the bangs of the tail rotor scraping the ground.

"Damned brats, they don't know when to die." Thomas walks past the remains of a 233 and tries the closest door, not really sure where the heliport is. He finally finds the door and steps through, bumping into the rubbery flesh of 747, or the Bloodflower as the scientists named it. "Great, this just flat out sucks. Is that burning fuel? Then that means it crashed the chopper." Thomas slides along the wall, trying his hardest to avoid touching the Bloodflower. It is named that because of the growth on its forehead, which resembles a flower. Whenever it begins to track prey, the growth begins to emit light amounts of blood, not nearly enough to kill it, no matter how long it bled. The snake was a little over 17 feet in diameter, nearly three hundred feet in length, and smelled worse than a decaying Ivy. Thomas gets situated in the corner and waits for the Bloodflower to move. He begins to breathe easier knowing that Dusty and Dr. Akechi have met their maker.

Aya steps out into the open sky as Dusty stumbles once, the sound of the pole resonating off everything at once. Aya shoots a glance back as Dusty shouts, "Go! Just GO!" Aya nods and runs for the cliff, hoping the fall to the ocean below isn't long. She hears massive movement from where Dusty said he saw the snake and prays that Dusty can kill it.

Dusty fumbles to put two rounds into the magnum as the movement of the snake makes the dirt and dust on the ground shiver and move. He closes the wheel and pulls the trigger back, just in time to have the sky blocked out by the snake standing up, its massive head eclipsing the moon. Dusty aims quickly and fires twice, the first shot going high, but the second punctures the flesh right beneath its left eye, barely any blood flowing from the wound. Dusty rolls to the left and fires again, the round grazing the right eye, the monster neither flinches or makes a sound. "Oh damn, I'm screwed, I'm screwed." Dusty fires two more times, the first tearing a red streak across its face, the second digging into the left eye. The snake throws its head from left to right in agony, but regains its composure nearly a second later. "What kind of monstrosity takes a .357 round to the eye and just flinches?" Dusty fires his last round and pulls out the M93R, not really caring if it will be enough, just wanting to have something in his hands. He fires three times in succession and limps toward the wreckage. The snake begins to slide toward him, its body hitting the walls as it slithers past a small crouched figure near the door they entered.

Dusty drops and rolls underneath the tail, missing the tail rotor by a foot. His back slams into the wall and he fires six times, the rounds banging into the tail rotor, knocking it loose slightly. The rotor begins to wobble as Dusty fires one more time, hitting the rotor and sending it flying high into the air. The rotor slices the flower-looking mass off of the top of its head and the snake squirms and shrieks in true agony. Blood quickly coats its body and it slams into the ground, breathing rapidly. Dusty grasps the wall and pulls himself up, watching as crimson blood coats the floor. A shrill laugh, one that has haunted him since he got to Isle Eras, emanates from the shadow he saw earlier. "Thomas!" Thomas waltzes from the corner and walks toward him. "Well, good job! I never would've thought of that!" Dusty pulls up the M93R and takes aim, aiming at the bloodshot orbs that were once his eyes. "I thought, you died in the mansion explosion!" Thomas laughs again, the sound going from a forceful laugh to a shrill giggle, "I can't die! I'm invincible! The only way to kill me is to completely evaporate me!" Dusty fires twice, watching as the rounds puncture his eyes. Thomas clutches them in mock agony and laughs again, bringing his head up and smiling as the eyes reform, this time though, they aren't bloodshot.

"Nothing short of a nuclear explosion can kill me!" Thomas steps in front of the snake's head and wipes the white gunk off of his face. "I can't stress enough how pointless..." A loud squeal shakes Thomas to the ground as the snake lifts its head up, then bringing it down, shoving its foot-long fangs into Thomas's side. "No.. Agh! I can't die! I can't!" Thomas's body begins to turn a dark purple and his hanging left arm falls off, melting before it hits the ground. Thomas writhes in agony as the purple venom reaches his brain. He screams in agony as the rest of his limbs fall off. He throws his head back in a silent scream as his body melts away, flowing from the snake's mouth. The snake hisses approvingly before collapsing one last time. Its head crashes into the cement, causing cracks to emit from its face. Dusty falls on his butt and exhales loudly, suddenly feeling limp and tired. "Dusty! You still alive?" Dusty mumbles and Aya runs up to him. Dusty coughs twice and says, "How do I look?" Aya nods and says, "Like every other thing on this island, like you went through hell." Dusty laughs and says, "Ditto." Aya examines herself and says, "I doubt you can swim 500 miles to the closest island, so, there's nothing we can do to get off of this island." Dusty growls and says, "All this because Thomas had a grudge. Why am I cursed so?" Aya shrugs and helps him up.

Man, he looks horrible. "I don't know, let's go out into the rain, get you cleaned up." Dusty nods and says, "That sounds nice." He limps toward the hangar doors and steps out into the rain, listening to its soothing sound as he plops onto the concrete runway. "Is it just all of you working here, or are there different shifts?" Aya sits down next to him and nods, "Yeah, we have three week shifts, I think mine ends today as a matter of fact." Dusty's eyes light up and he asks, "How do they get here?" Aya frowns and says, "We go get them in one of the choppers." Dusty leans back and screams in pure frustration. "Man, that blows so bad I just want to wake up right now and figure out it was a dream." Aya nods and says, "I agree, now let's figure out how to get off of this diseased rock." "Amen!" "Hello over there! This is the coast guard! We're here to help!"

Dusty growls and says, "Run, we can't let them find us." "I think it's a little too late for that." Dusty spins around and notices that man is grabbing for Aya from an orange boat. He raises the M93R, but another man grabs him. "Let me go!" "I'm sorry, but they can't have you alive!" Dusty grunts and flips the man over his shoulder, grunting at the growing pain in his left ribcage grows. He fires at the man's head and fires at the one pushing Aya into the boat. Aya pulls out her Browning and kills the two men at the controls. "Let's go before they figure out what happened!" Dusty hobbles into the boat and Aya gets the boat going. The man that grabbed Aya pulls out a small device and presses the white button. Dusty drops to the bottom of the boat as a white flash precedes the sudden absence of sound, then the loud, sudden explosion rocks the waves, nearly knocking the boat over. He stands up just as the debris rains down over them.

Aya steers around the flaming chunks of metal as Dusty sits down next to her. "It's over." Aya looks at him and asks, "What about Umbrella?" Dusty tilts his head toward her and says, "Let the ex-S.T.A.R.S. handle them. We just destroyed a major part of HFC." Aya nods and turns to the breaking sunrise, "I guess it is over for us then."

The End. . .