Part of the Family

Chapter 4

    "Shit, Val!" Lucas yells, then an explosion goes off on the other side of the room.
    I feel someone sort of throw themselves on me, blocking the blast from hitting me.
    "God-," Lucas says, "That was supposed to be for you!" he yells over his shoulder. He looks down at me. "Piece of shit just doesn't know when to die..." he mumbles, "...Come on, Val. We gotta get you outta here..." He grabs me and the blanket, stands me up, and grabs my hand. His other arm has already grown back.
    I drape the blanket across my shoulders, and hold onto his hand with both of mine.
    He leads me out onto the boardwalks behind the barn, and we quickly move to a pier. "We can hide in the mines," he says, "I gotta contact our Friends, okay?"
    I nod. I scrunch my nose at the odd feeling of the splintering wood under my bare feet. "What about Evie?" I ask.
    "She don't matter," he says, "She'll be fine. She's much stronger than him. I need to make sure you're safe..."
    I nod a little. "How are we going to get to the mines?" I ask.
    He pauses. "There's gotta be a boat 'round here somewhere..." he mutters, looking around, then looking behind us, where we came from. "...come on," he says, pulling me after him.
    I nod a little, following him. I clutch onto the blanket, burying my face in it. 'Smells like old wood and dirt...' I think to myself, '...like the woods...it's better than blood and guts...'
    "There," he says, "One of Papa's fishing boats. I hope it still has gas..." He leads me over to an edge of the boardwalk. He lowers himself into the boat, and starts the motor. He laughs in triumph. "Looks like we're lucky," he says, looking up at me. He offers his hand. "Come on, Val," he says, "the faster we get out of here, the safer we'll be,"
    I nod, and take his hand, letting him help me into the little boat. I sit down on the wooden bar across the middle, facing him.
    He sits down, near the engine, and starts the boat forward.
    "We'll be safe?" I ask, quietly, "From Ethan?"
    "We should be," he says, "I rigged the mines with traps, and I don't doubt that it's crawling with Molded. We'll be going far into them, and I'll contact our Friends. I have data they need..."
    I nod a little, looking around.
    The large, distant, looming shape of the split tanker ship I arrived on so long ago makes me shudder.
    Lucas glances at it, and holds a middle finger up to it. "You never have to think about that thing ever again, Valerie," he says, "I'll keep you safe. We'll go off the grid if we need to. No one will take you away from me..."
    I nod a little. "You keep saying..." I mutter, "...that people want to hurt me. I know why I'm special, but...does everyone want to hurt me?"
    He sighs. "You...you're not a regular human, Val," he says, "people don't like things that they're not used to. They try to hurt and kill things they think are dangerous. You'd fall under that category, even without them meeting you and seeing you would never hurt a fly. There are other companies that specialize in disposing of bioweapons, and I don't doubt one is sending men to clean up here..." he glances around. "We're nearly there," he says.
   I nod a little again.
    He pulls the boat up to a small pier, and turns the engine off. He helps me up onto the pier, and leads me into the mines.
---
I've been sitting in a room deep in the mines for what feels like forever.
It's full of computer terminals, and Lucas has his laptop sitting on one of the tables. The power is off in the facility, making everything dark.
He had just gotten back from placing more traps, and is using his laptop to contact and taunt someone called "Christopher". He's been saying how he's sure the person is dead, and how we'll be leaving soon.
I'm not really listening to what he's been saying. I'm sitting in the corner, the blanket still around my shoulders, doodling on the floor with a burnt stick.
That's when I look up and see someone standing at the window of the room.
I gasp a little, and watch the person walk away.
Lucas glances at me, and glances at the window. He shakes his head, seeing no one, and looks back at his laptop.
Suddenly, the lights turn on.
We both look up at the ceiling.
"Oh, what the hell?!" Lucas complains.
I stand up, shakily, and we both look at the window as we hear a door open.
The figure I saw before approaches. They seem to be in heavy duty tactical armor, complete with a helmet hiding their face.
"Oh, fuck!" Lucas says, panicked. He grabs his laptop, then my arm, and pulls me to a door, running.
"Lucas!" the figure calls out.
"Come on, Val!" Lucas says, still running. He leads me to a large room just down the hall and puts me in a small alcove, pushing me down to crouch. "Don't make a peep, ya hear?" He says, "I'll take care of him..."
I nod a little, and we both look up as someone enters the room. I hug the blanket closer to myself.
"How the hell are you still alive?" Lucas says as he backs away from me, his voice coming from the loudspeakers in the room, "You should be dead,"
"We got your emails," the person says, "We know you're funneling info to someone,"
"That's none of your god-damned business, Chris!" Lucas says, "A lotta people out there want to know about our little Evie, and the Ghost Walker, too. A lot of people..."
'Wait...' I think, '...was he selling information about me? To whom? I...I trusted him...no...he'd never...there's probably an explanation...'
"Your friends, the Connections know about this?" Chris asks, walking right by me, and pausing, though he doesn't notice me, "They don't strike me as the forgiving type,"
"That's my business," Lucas says, "You let me worry about them. You're about to have your hands full..." Lucas lunges at Chris from his hiding place, stabbing at him with a knife.
They both fall to the ground, grappling.
Chris pushes Lucas off of him with his foot, sending Lucas to the ground, but Lucas scrambles back to his feet, going to stab again. Chris draws a gun and shoots Lucas in the chest.
"No!" I scream, then clap my hands over my mouth, eyes open wide in terror.
Chris' helmeted head turns to me, then looks back at Lucas.
"I can't...I don't...no..." Lucas is mumbling as he thrashes a little on the ground, "I don't believe it..."
Tears well up in my eyes, but I find I'm unable to move. I'm terrified.
"Believe it," Chris says, kneeling next to Lucas, "it's over,"
"No," Lucas says, chuckling a little, "No way..."
"Just shut up and accept it, Lucas," Chris says.
There's an odd bubbling or squelching noise coming from Lucas now. "Oh, you'd love that, wouldn't you?" Lucas laughs a little, though his voice is still tainted with pain. From what I can see, Lucas seems to be melting, or changing. "Oh boy..." he says, his voice starting to distort, "so this is what it feels like,"
Chris stands up and stumbles back as Lucas starts to transform.
I huddle further into my hiding spot and cover my ears, squeezing my eyes shut as well.
The muffled sounds of a fight raging fills my ears, even through my hands.
    I grit my teeth, wishing I wasn't here. I take deep, shaking breaths, and I find myself starting to sob.
  Then, everything is quiet.
I slowly open my eyes and lower my hands, raising my head a little. I wipe my eyes on my sleeve, and look up as someone approaches me. Tears and some smoke hinder my vision somewhat. "Lucas?" I ask, quietly.
"You're safe now," the voice of Chris says as he kneels next to me. He's not wearing his helmet, and I can see his face. He's conventionally handsome, dark hair and eyes, and looks at me with a mix of fear and regret, though his face stays placid. "Were you trapped here by the Bakers?" he asks.
"Redfeild, what's going on?" someone asks over his radio.
"I've found someone," He says, "Looks like Lucas was keeping a hostage,"
"Wh-where...where is he?" I ask, my voice quiet.
He sighs.
"Describe them," the person says.
"A fairly young woman," he says, "Early to mid twenties, extremely pale skin, white hair, pale blue eyes. She's wearing a dirty pair of jeans, too large for her, a tank top, no shoes, and has a blanket around her shoulders,"
There's a pause.
"Redfield," the person says, "you need to bring her back, immediately. That's V-003, also known as the Ghost Walker,"
He pauses and stares at me. "Her?" he asks, "You're kidding. That name is way too intimidating for someone who looks like this..."
I look down at the floor. Tears leak from my eyes and plop onto the floor.
"Bring her back," the person says, "Umbrella needs to keep her out of the hands of the Connections,"
"Okay, got it," he says. He looks at me. "Looks like you're VIP, huh?" he asks. He extends a hand to me. "Come on, kid," he says, "I'll take you somewhere safe,"
I stare at his hand. I take a deep shaking breath, and gather my bravery. "Monster..." I mutter, glaring up at him.
    He pauses. "What?" he asks, looking confused.
    "You're a fucking monster," I say, louder, and I scramble to my feet. I push Chris away from me, and run as fast as I can toward an exit.
    "Wait!" Chris calls after me, "Don't run! I don't want to have to do this!"
    I keep running, and project a large wolf behind me as I run, to keep Chris from following me. I slam open a door, continuing my mad dash to freedom, when I trip over something.
    My wolf projection catches me, and carries me on it's back as we continue to run, exiting the mine and running into the wilderness of Louisiana.