Resident Evil: Field of Blood (Fireheart Fury Book 1)

Chapter 18

“You okay?” asked Leon as he leaned back from the steering wheel.

Sara wriggled herself upright and looked over the dashboard at the dimly lit chaos of the room beyond. “Yeah, I’m good,” she answered.

“All right. Let’s get moving. But stay alert. We don’t know what Ramsey’s got cooked up in here.”

Nodding, Sara opened the door and hopped out of the truck. She looked around warily. The place was dark and deathly silent. “I don’t imagine there’s a light switch around here,” she remarked as Leon came up beside her, weapons drawn.

At the word “light”, a row of bright recessed lights came on, bathing the room in a blaze of fluorescent illumination. 

“Voice-activated lighting,” Leon said. "Okay."

Behind them a portcullis-style gate slammed down, halted by the high roof of the truck.

“The lights aren’t the only thing we activated,” Sara said uneasily.

“Looks like we tripped a silent alarm,” Leon noted. “God knows what else has been set off besides that gate. Try to be as quiet as possible and stay close.”

Oddly, as large as it was, the room was sparsely furnished. Long sideboard tables with runners and empty candelabras flanked the long walkways, but aside from a pair of plain benches at the end of the hall, the room was bare. A long staircase with ornate banisters wound upward to a shadowy landing.

“The vaccine’s probably up there,” Leon whispered, pointing with a gun. “C’mon.”

A wave of nausea swept over Sara, and the room seemed to suddenly roll. She gasped, tripping over her own feet and crashing into Leon. “Oh! I’m sorry!” she exclaimed, trying to steady herself.

Leon turned to help her, his expression grim. Sara looked up at him dully. Her body ached, and an unpleasant, feverish chill made her shiver. “Sorry,” she repeated lamely. “I’m a little dizzy,” she whispered.

“Just hang on a little longer,” Leon said gently. “We’ll find the vaccine. We're close, I know it.”

Weary and too dejected to disagree, Sara nodded feigned assent. But she was beginning to believe that even if they found it, it would be too late. “I’m okay. Let's go."

Inclining his head, Leon moved on. Feet feeling leaden, Sara followed. She balked suddenly, an eerie feeling coming over her. "Wait," she hissed. "I feel like something's… lurking."

Leon halted, listening with her. For a moment there was nothing but deathly silence. They both stood stock still, scarcely breathing. Presently, the low sound of grating stone broke the vault-like hush of the tower. A metallic scraping noise followed, drawing closer with each passing second. Heavy footfalls joined the scraping. Sara and Leon exchanged uncomfortable glances.

“Get behind me,” Leon said.

Sara obeyed helplessly. What horror was advancing now?

A creature stepped out from a panel hidden in the wall. It towered over them, its extremities asymmetrical and abnormally bulky. A yellowish pus-like fluid seeped from incisions that had been sloppily sutured with large staples. Its left hand had apparently been severed, and in its place was a stump sealed with a metal cap from which hung a massive chain that ended in a spiked iron sphere the size of a cannonball.

The monster glared at them from a single large, protruding eye; the right eye having been gouged out and covered by a piece of metal bolted to its skull. It roared angrily. The sight was gruesome and terrifying, as its lower jaw had been ripped off, and its long, thick tongue lobbed over its wide chest. Bloody saliva dripped perpetually from its mouth, forming a puddle at its gargantuan feet. A pulsating, yellow-green sac protruded from its neck.