RE - Chapter 312: Where Do We Go From Here? (Patreon)

A torrent of gunfire erupted from the helicopter’s weapon pod, aimed straight at Alan as he sprinted away.

Bullets tore craters into the stone pavement, blasting dust and debris into the air.

Before the barrage could catch up with him, Alan slammed through the door ahead and immediately cleared the area.

Sure enough, no matter how sturdy a wooden door was, it stood no chance against sustained fire from an armed helicopter.

Bullets punched straight through it and ripped into the interior.

Already behind cover, Alan let out a quiet breath and drew his handgun before cautiously peeking out.

Sunlight streamed through the bullet holes in the door, scattering bright spots across the rubble on the floor.

The helicopter had stopped firing, but it remained trained on the entrance.

The cabin door opened, and ropes dropped down.

Several heavily armed soldiers in black uniforms and gas masks rappelled to the ground.

The man leading them made a few hand signals, and the soldiers around him immediately moved into position.

Four rushed the entrance. One kicked the door open, another threw in a tear gas grenade, while a shield-bearing soldier forced his way inside with a breacher close behind.

Alan fired several shots at the shield, only to be met with immediate return fire.

Assault-rifle rounds hammered the walls, shattering tiles and spraying chunks of plaster everywhere.

His shots were getting him nowhere, and the tear gas was already filling the room.

Alan covered his mouth and nose and quickly retreated.

“Don’t pursue him. Establish a defensive perimeter. We’re short on time, and we don’t need to pick a fight with him.”

The order came through their headsets.

The soldiers stopped advancing, shifted formation, and took concealed defensive positions around the area.

Their leader looked down at Victor and crouched to help him up.

Only then did he notice that Victor had been struck in the abdomen by a stray bullet and was bleeding heavily.

The man frowned beneath his mask and opened a comm channel.

“The target is critically wounded. Stray round to the abdomen. I’m administering first aid.”

He pulled a hemostatic agent and a vial of green liquid from a pouch at his waist.

“Who... who are you?”

“That doesn’t matter. I’m just here to complete a job.”

He injected both substances into Victor.

Victor’s struggling visibly eased.

“Captain, we’ve got someone entering the airspace.”

“That wasn’t in the intel... Draw them away. I’ll evacuate the VIP. Alpha Team, prepare to withdraw. Stay alert and maintain overlapping fire.”

He helped Victor to his feet.

“We’re using your helicopter to get out. Do you have the key?”

“Hah... Yeah. I do.”

“Good. Alpha Team, withdraw immediately! Cover the VIP!”

“Wait. My research... over there.”

The leader glanced at the briefcase lying nearby, quickly retrieved it, then withdrew under cover from his teammates.

At the same time, Leon spotted a black armed helicopter in the distance, directly opposite his own.

A warning alarm suddenly began blaring inside the cabin.

“Damn it! They’ve locked onto us!”

The pilot immediately banked away, trying to escape the enemy’s firing arc.

Too late.

Two rockets were already streaking toward them, trailing white smoke through the air.

Seconds later, both struck the helicopter’s tail with pinpoint accuracy.

Flames erupted.

The instrument panel went dead.

“We’re going down! Hold on!”

The sudden loss of control sent Leon staggering.

As the helicopter rapidly lost altitude, he rushed toward the cockpit.

“Get out of the pilot’s seat!”

“No time.”

The pilot looked at how close they were to the ground and gave a bitter smile.

The next instant, the nose slammed into the earth.

The impact threw Leon across the cabin.

Sparks erupted everywhere. The crash left his ears ringing and sent searing pain through his back.

By the time he managed to get back on his feet, the inside of the helicopter was already glowing red with fire.

The pilot’s head was covered in blood, with shards of glass embedded in his face.

Leon hurried over and freed him from the seat.

The moment he did, the instrument panel exploded and the entire fuselage began to shake violently.

Leon slung the pilot over his back and ran from the wreck.

He had barely taken a few steps when the helicopter exploded behind him.

The shockwave hurled him forward as debris and mud sprayed through the air.

The force of the blast made the pilot cough up a mouthful of blood.

Having accomplished its objective, the enemy helicopter immediately disengaged and disappeared from Leon’s sight.

At the same time, Victor escaped the Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center in another helicopter.

Leon watched it go with frustration, but tending to the wounded pilot came first.

He lowered the man to the ground and checked his condition.

“Hey. Stay with me. You still conscious?”

“...Yeah... barely.”

Leon patted him on the shoulder.

“That’s what matters. You’re getting one hell of a long vacation after this, so look on the bright side.”

“...Cough... cough...”

The pilot grimaced and passed out.

Leon quickly moved him to a safer spot among the wreckage, then contacted Alan.

“Alan, you all right?”

“...Not a scratch. But that bastard Victor got away.”

Alan bent down and picked up the syringe that had been left behind, watching the parasite writhing inside the liquid.

“Still, I didn’t come away empty-handed... How are things on your end?”

“My helicopter got shot down. Damn it. Nobody died, thankfully, but the pilot’s badly injured.”

Alan looked toward the now-empty helipad at the Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center, his thoughts unreadable.

“Buy that pilot a fruit basket for me... I’m going to keep searching the care center.”

Leon glanced at the injured man beside him.

“I’ll wait for Hunnigan’s people to pick him up, then I’ll come over.”

...

“You look terrible, Victor.”

“Zeno... I didn’t expect it to be you.”

A trace of surprise crossed Victor’s eyes as he looked at Zeno on the screen.

“You should consider yourself lucky. When you asked The Connections to help evacuate you back then, I had them leave surveillance equipment behind.

“More importantly, you’re still useful to me.”

Zeno took another look at Victor’s battered condition.

“Though looking at you now... will you really live long enough to repay me?”

Victor’s voice carried both the relief of narrowly escaping death and simmering resentment.

“I’ll survive...”

“I didn’t save you for free. You understand that, don’t you?”

“...Don’t worry. I’ll do everything I can. Consider it repayment for saving my life.”

Zeno nodded, then looked toward the leader standing beside Victor.

“I admire you. Your abilities, your judgment under pressure. Have you given any more thought to joining us?”

“I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you. I don’t casually join organizations.”

“Heh. People like you are too cautious. You should think about yourself once in a while instead of nothing but the mission.”

“And you think joining you would make me safer?”

“...Never mind. There’ll always be another opportunity. You handled the mission well. The payment will be transferred to your account in installments, along with a bonus to cover the ammunition you used.”

“Well, thanks for that.”

The leader glanced toward the helicopter’s position and said nothing more.

But he had already formed a suspicion.

He had probably miscalculated badly this time.

A mission where they had attacked two government agents and still managed to walk away cleanly was bound to have consequences. Now that he knew this much, pretending ignorance probably wouldn’t be enough to keep him out of trouble.

But he couldn’t exactly drag the rest of his team into this...

He had always known that having too much of a reputation brought nothing but trouble.

And sure enough, someone had finally set their sights on him.

Then again, with a résumé like his, perhaps that was inevitable.

HUNK sighed and slowly removed his gas mask.

“...Alpha Team, Beta Team. Report to base for a briefing once the mission is over.”

“Copy that,” several voices replied.