Metal Thunder (Karl Heisenberg - Resident Evil)

Chapter 4 - Lord Karl Heisenberg

It was still pitch black when Emily woke and realized she needed to get out of the chamber. Even though it seemed serene and devoid of danger, she knew she couldn't stay much longer, in fact, she didn't know if she could stay in this village either. It was obviously a jumbling wreck with its only remaining population being a crazy cult she wanted no part of.

She strode forward until she could see a faint speck of light, it grew as she approached, and the ground became uneven, the light ahead took her up a stone ramp until she was in a corridor with prison cells on each side. Most of them were empty while one contained a single Lycan too busy gnawing on something that looked like a single bone, it was too preoccupied to notice her.

The ceiling had spikes, perhaps used for booby traps, if Heisenberg knew she was down here, he would have certainly activated them. She sighed relieved knowing that she had lost him down here and continued to follow the path past the cells, forcing herself not to look at the spike traps above. Mind your step, anything could set them off, she told herself and turned a corner and up the stairs.

But the idea also perplexed Emily that Heisenberg didn't try to look for her after she jumped off the bridge, it was almost like he wanted her to survive. As she climbed the stairs and followed another quiet tunnel, she recalled that Dimitrescu: the tall lady, said Heisenberg's devotion to Mother Miranda was questionable. Was he scheming? Emily didn't want to contemplate the answers too much. Whatever was going on in this village, she wanted no part of it if it meant being weaponized, her journey to find solitude and peace was still a long way away now.

The room she was in now, had a bunch of other disabled spike traps some that had dropped to the floor with chain pulleys to support them. Her exit was on the other side of the low-hanging traps, Emily swallowed her fear of being crushed, lowered herself onto her stomach, and squeezed her way underneath the hanging traps like an inch-worm in a dirt tunnel. The jutting spikes tickled her hair and brushed her clothes as if trying to tear into the latter, but she kept crawling forward. Once on the other side, she stood up again and pushed the metal door open to another set of stairs with light at the top.

An iron gate awaited her at the top with a locked latch, but thankfully, it was locked on her side and not the other. Emily lifted the latch, opened the gate and entered a small cemetery. The sun had risen higher but was still concealed within the clouds which made Emily believe she wasn't out for long in the darkness. As she stepped outside, a pair of hens fled at her sight clucking in panic.

"Yeah yeah, I know you don't want to be electrocuted," Emily said sarcastically, as she exited the graveyard and went down the steps there she saw the same small church from earlier where she was ambushed. The damage from the Lycan attack was still present but Emily had no desire to stick around, perhaps her best bet was to leave this village. She walked past it and a strange noise caught her ear, like something static from inside. Halting, Emily peered inside the broken church window curiously but nothing was present and the noise still persisted.

Emily had traversed too deep into the village to believe she could exit the way she entered. She really wanted to leave, but the static sound was starting to unnerve her, like a noise you couldn't block out no matter how hard you tried. The only way to relieve such a feeling was to investigate the source. Emily sighed and glanced quickly around the area and saw no Lycans. Then she climbed the steps and reentered the little church.

"Maybe Miranda, Heisenberg, and the others will think I died when I fell down that tunnel. Maybe I should stay here for the time being," she muttered wearily, shutting the door behind her.

The hole in the ceiling remained and the benches had fallen like dominoes from the attack, some of them were broken. Even though Emily was not religious, the utter sacrilege that lay before her in the aftermath left her uneasy like there was going to be another one should they find out she was still alive. The altar, however, was unscathed with all five portraits still standing and the candles still lit. Something had also changed there, right at the base, stood a vintage television with two antennae. It was turned on but the screen was grey and static making that unpleasant buzzing noise.