RE - Chapter 345: It Exploded After All (Patreon)

“I hate self-healing BOWs more than anything.”

“Are there any BOWs you actually like?”

“No. I just mean comparatively.”

Once the three realized bullets were not enough to hold the creature back, they immediately split up and switched to hit-and-run tactics.

Chris raised his weapon and ducked into a room. After confirming there was no immediate threat, he shut the door and locked it behind him.

With a brief pocket of safety, he searched the room for anything useful.

Anyone researching viruses generally understood how dangerous their work could be, so facilities like this usually had emergency systems and contingency measures in place.

There were exceptions, of course, though no one was usually left around to talk about how those exceptions turned out.

The room Chris had entered was clearly a crew office. Several computers were still running.

Documents lay scattered across the floor. He skimmed them quickly but found almost nothing useful.

Finally, on a partition toward the back, he spotted a hand-drawn map of the cargo hold. Apparently, some crew member had made it to keep from getting lost.

“...No idea who you are, but thanks.”

The map was rough, but the written labels were still readable.

Chris marked the “Incineration Room” and “Experimental Area” as their next likely destinations.

The gunfire outside was getting heavier. Every so often, the blast of a flashbang or Claymore mine cut through the noise.

Alan and Leon were still fighting. He could not stay here any longer.

Chris quickly memorized the route and matched it to their current position.

The moment he was done, he pushed the door open and ran toward the gunfire.

At the same time, Alan and Leon were having a rough time of their own. They had already used up their incendiaries, and their other weapons could do little more than buy time.

At this rate, it did not matter how much gear they had brought. Eventually, they would burn through all of it.

“No wonder Wesker put so much effort into researching this thing.”

Leon saw his magazine run dry just as a tentacle whipped toward his face. He immediately slung the gun behind him, drew the knife at his chest, and blocked.

The blade was sharp enough to sever the tentacle the instant they made contact.

It did not help.

The cut end regenerated almost instantly, slipped around Leon’s knife, and wrapped tightly around his waist.

“Damn it.”

With both arms pinned, Leon could only try to hook the tentacle with his legs and kick it away.

He had clearly underestimated how tough the thing was.

By the time Alan reached him, he found himself staring at a sight he knew he would never forget.

Both of Leon’s arms were bound by tentacles. One leg was wrapped from calf to thigh, while the other hung uselessly in the air.

Just as another tentacle was about to force its way into Leon’s mouth, Alan snapped out of it, rushed forward, and cut him free with his knife.

The tentacle snapped apart, and Leon hit the floor hard. He had no time to worry about the pain.

He scrambled up and pulled away, only to look back and see Alan kick the monster aside.

Then Alan’s leg got caught too.

...Why did this somehow look kind of sacred?

The thought made Leon’s skin crawl. He shook it off at once and rushed forward to help.

“Cut it!”

“I can’t. It’s too thick.”

“...Shit, forget about me! Stab the core!”

Leon immediately stopped hacking at the tentacle. He reversed his grip on the knife and drove it straight toward the glowing core visible between the writhing limbs.

His aim was slightly off, but the blade still hit.

“GRAH!!”

The monster recoiled in pain. The tentacles binding Alan instantly withdrew, surging back toward the core like a receding tide.

Leon looked at his now-empty hand and decided retrieving the knife could wait.

The creature was obviously furious. He and Alan turned and ran.

At that moment, Chris finally appeared and waved them over.

“This way!!”

...

Deep on the freighter’s second deck, a group of guards was struggling to hold off Krauser and the others.

They had been trading gunfire normally enough when a group of mutated creatures suddenly attacked them from behind.

Watching their comrades have their skin, flesh, and bones torn apart alive brought back memories of the day Wesker had casually grabbed one of their own and forced a parasite into him.

Then he beat him to death with his bare hands.

“...Jesus.”

“Captain!”

The shout snapped the squad leader back to reality. When he looked around, one of his men had just thrown himself out from cover and tackled the zombie behind him.

Unfortunately, Krauser’s gunfire struck the man in the leg and abdomen.

The pain loosened his hold. The zombie beneath him immediately turned on him and tore into his body. He died before he could even get out a final word.

“...Donald.”

Krauser caught the scene from a distance. He did not stop firing, but he still felt a measure of respect for an enemy willing to risk his life to save his captain.

“There’s no shortage of good people in this world. Bad things just don’t care who they happen to.”

“Kyle, Sheva, grenades!”

“Got it!!” x2

Two pins hit the floor. A second later, a pair of grenades traced arcs through the air and dropped behind the enemy cover.

The explosions sent blood and flesh flying as screams filled the corridor.

Krauser checked his ammunition, exchanged a glance with the other two, then vaulted over the cover and advanced without a word.

The squad leader, who had somehow survived, looked down and saw half a length of intestine lying across his palm. A sharp pain immediately shot through his abdomen.

But when he looked down, he found himself completely uninjured.

The intestine was not his.

It belonged to one of his men.

“...”

Whatever was going through his mind, he still forced himself to stand despite the weakness in his body, the ringing in his ears, the dizziness in his head, and the tears gathering at the corners of his eyes.

Then he ran into the darkness behind him.

“Stop!”

Krauser raised his gun and fired. Bullets punched through the man’s arm and calf.

He pitched forward and slid hard across the floor.

Pain. Blood. Grief. Rage.

Maybe he had no right to talk about any of those things, but...

He slowly forced himself back up, used the darkness for cover, then lunged into a nearby room and locked the door behind him.

By the time Krauser reached it, no amount of pushing would make it budge.

He stepped back and looked at the sign beside the door.

“Engine Room.”

“...Fuck. This is bad.”

Krauser kept trying the hatch, but nothing worked.

“Wait, Krauser. Do you hear something in there?”

Kyle listened to the repeated metallic grinding beneath the engine noise and felt a chill creep up his spine.

A furious shout echoed from somewhere inside the engine room, confirming his worst suspicion.

“All of you, stay the fuck right here!!”

“...Run!!”

BOOM!!!

“Figure out what happened, Ghost?”

“The whole freighter’s alarms are going off. Someone released the access restrictions and triggered the security system.”

“Released the restrictions... like opening the cells during prison yard time?”

“Exactly. Right now, the entire freighter is in ‘open’ mode.”

Soap hurried to the hatch and peered outside several times, making sure no strange creature was waiting to ambush them.

Jill was adjusting the freighter’s heading when the entire ship suddenly lurched hard enough to nearly throw her to the floor.

“What happened?”

The words had barely left her mouth when a line of flame erupted near the stern, blasting a massive gash through the deck.

The explosion drew everyone’s attention. Ghost immediately contacted Price.

Price was the operation’s free-roaming support, responsible for responding wherever trouble broke out.

“Price, did you see the explosion on the second deck?”

“I saw it. I’m already heading over. Damn thing nearly knocked me off my feet.”

“Be careful. This isn’t a lake. If you go overboard, we’re not fishing you back out.”

“Thanks for the concern.”

Price ended the call, spotted the flames in the distance, and immediately rushed toward them.

On the bridge, Jill stared at the control panel with a deep frown.

“Damn it... The ship’s losing power!”

“What?”

Ghost moved to Jill’s side and saw it for himself. The freighter’s power output was steadily dropping toward zero.

Jill continued, “Worst-case scenario, that explosion came from the engine room.”

“...I knew this plan wouldn’t go perfectly.”

Ghost grabbed the weapon beside him and called to Roach, who was standing guard nearby.

“You’re with me. We’re checking the engine room too.”

“Copy.”

Soap pulled open the hatch and gave Ghost and Roach a serious look.

“Watch yourselves. I don’t want to have to mourn either of you.”

“Little John, I was about to say the same thing to you.”

“Fuck off.”

Ghost nodded to Soap, then turned and ran into the distance.

Soap watched the two disappear, took one final look, then slammed the hatch shut again with all his strength.