Resident Evil: Exodus - The Tale of Elza Walker

Chapter 16 - Recce

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STAGE THREE - THE FACTORY

The survivors emerged into a small area fenced on all sides. Directly behind and some distance in front of them were large metal double gates, with a door serving the same function as a medieval-type postern gate inset into one of the sides of each pair of gates. Towering to their right was a massive warehouse at least two stories high. To their left and forward was another large warehouse just as high, and apparently twice as long, that ran well past the fence. Immediately to its right and almost directly in front of them, across from what looked like an alley of some kind, was what appeared to be an office or administration building. An overhead catwalk connected the upper part of the office building's longest section to the upper part of the large building to their left, with doors set at either end for access between the two buildings. Parked in front of the long part of the office building, the one that was almost end-on to them, were two commercial trailers of the internodal container type. One was painted rust-red and the other a dirty shade of blue. There appeared to be a parking lot or some large area off to their right past the fence, between the first warehouse and the back end of the office building, but the high fence hid it from view. Only the break in the surrounding buildings, utility poles, and overhead power and phone lines betrayed the presence of such an open space nestled among the buildings.

What caught their attention right away were the bodies ... or rather what was left of them. There were the bones of at least six people scattered around their little Factory entry area, as they were already beginning to think of it, and most of them had been stripped clean. Most bore dried blood, and there was the occasional remaining pieces of flesh, muscles, ligaments, and so on to be found mostly at the joint ends. Many of the bones had been broken or snapped in two. They were scattered unevenly around, and they could even see some poking out of the ruins of the half-crushed RPD patrol car and the wrecked tractor-trailer rig sitting on top of it to their immediate right. It had plowed through the street fence for most of its length to reach that parked patrol car but hadn't quite made it, and the ruin of its trailer plugged what would have otherwise been a rather gaping hole in the street fence. The front windshield of the truck was smashed and the driver's side door hung open. There was no body inside. Only bones remained, and what were left of those were scattered below on the pavement. All of them had seen enough revolting sights by now to steel them against such things, even little Sherry. Even so, all of them found this particular scene unnerving.

"It's like walking into a slaughterhouse," Rita said. Pistol held loosely yet ready to use at a moment's notice, she walked over to the crushed patrol car and began looking around.

"Yeah," Kevin said, "but more like a kill site on the African plains. You know, like on Wild Kingdom? You'll be going along, and all of a sudden in the tall grass you'll come across a pile of bones?" He picked one of the broken ones up, looked at it, then held the broken end out towards them. "And many of 'em will be broken, so whatever beast did the kill can suck the marrow out of them."

Linda shivered. "Are you saying there's something in here with us in the Factory, Officer Ryman?"

"Nope," Kevin said, dropping the bone back to the ground. "Just making an observation. Besides, if Elza's theory is right, then whatever did this is probably long gone in search of fresh game."

"Like us, you mean," Linda persisted.

Kevin looked at her. "Yeah ..." he finally admitted, "like us."