There were still structures standing, but im– mense pieces of them were suddenly missing, blown into rubble and dust. Claire took a deep breath and let it out slowly, feeling knotted muscles begin to unclench. It was all over. An– other Umbrella facility lost, because of the scientific in– tegrity they continued to violate, because of a moral vacuum that seemed to be an elemental component of the company's policies. She hoped the tortured, twisted soul of Alfred Ashford had finally found some kind of peace… or whatever it was he truly deserved. "So, where to?" Steve asked casually, and drawn back from her wandering thoughts, Claire turned away from the side window, grinning, ready to kiss the pilot. Steve caught her gaze with his, also grinning – and as they looked into each other's eyes, the seconds stretch– ing, it occurred to her for the first time that he wasn't just a kid. No kid would look at her the way he was looking at her now… and in spite of her firm decision not to encourage him, she didn't look away. He was a good-looking guy, definitely, but she'd spent most of the last twelve hours thinking of him as an obnoxious kid brother – not exactly easy to get past, even if she wanted to. On the other hand, after what they'd been through to– gether, she also felt very close to him in a way that was solid, strong, an affection that seemed perfectly natural and… Claire broke the eye contact first, looking away. They'd been free and safe for all of a minute and a half; she wanted to digest that for a little while before moving on. Steve returned his attention to the controls, looking a little flushed and there was another thump on the roof, like back in the hanger. "What is that?" Claire asked, looking up as though she actually expected to see something through the metal. "No idea," Steve said, frowning. "There's nothing up there, so…"
CRUUNCH! The plane seemed to bob in the air and Steve hurried to compensate, as Claire instinctively looked behind them. The destructive sound had come from the hold. "The main cargo hatch came open," Steve said, tap-ping at a small flashing light on the console, punching another button. "I can't get it to close." "I'll check it out," Claire said, and at Steve's unhappyexpression, she smiled. "You just keep us in the air, okay? I promise not to jump."
She turned toward the hold, and as soon as Steve looked away, she casually grabbed the rifle hanging off the back of the copilot's chair, the one Alfred had dropped. She still had the semi, but the laser sight on the rifle meant pinpoint accuracy and since she didn't want to shoot the plane full of holes, the.22 was a better choice. There had been a monster or two on the island, and maybe they'd ended up with a stowaway, but she didn't want Steve to worry, or get involved. They both needed him at the controls. Whatever it is, I'll have to take care of it, she thought grimly, reaching for the door handle. Really, she was probably overreacting to some minor malfunction, a loose roof panel and a broken hinge. She opened the door…… and leaped inside, slamming it behind her before Steve could hear the noise, so much for minor…The entire rear of the hold was gone, the hatch torn away, clouds and sky whipping past at incredible speed. Confused, Claire took a single step forward – and saw what the problem was. Mr. X, she thought wildly, remembering the mon– strous thing in Raccoon, the relentless pursuer in the long, dark coat, but the hulking creature straddling the hydraulic track wasn't the same. It was humanoid, giant-sized and hairless like the X monster, its flesh similar, an almost metallic dark gray – but it was also taller and more muscular, built like an eight-foot-tall bodybuilder, its shoulders impossibly broad, its ab– domen rippled with muscle. It was sexless, a rounded hump at its groin, and the hands weren't human hands, were far more lethal. Its left fist was a metal-spiked mace bigger than her entire head, its right hand a hybrid of flesh and curving knives, two of them at least a foot long. And it's not wearing a coat, she thought randomly, as the monster turned its cataract-white eyes to look at her before throwing its head back and roaring, an explosive howl of bloodlust and fury. Terrified but determined, Claire raised her suddenlypathetic weapon as the creature started for her, and put the red dot on its right unicolor eye. She squeezed the
trigger…… and heard the dry click of an empty chamber, deaf– eningly loud even over the raging winds that spun past the damaged plane.
NINE
THERE WASN'T A CURSE WORD STRONG ENOUGH to accurately express her dismay. Claire instantly dropped the useless weapon and ran, dodging to the right, not wanting to end up trapped in the corner, unable to believe that she hadn't thought to check the goddamn weapon. There were six or seven crates stacked against the wall near the cockpit door but no cover there, on ei-ther side; the thing would have her penned in.
Go go go!
As she scurried along the right wall, the lumbering creature slowly turning to follow, she grabbed the semi from under her belt and flicked the safety off by feel, afraid to look away from it. It stumped toward her on tree trunk legs, eerily focused on her every step. The cargo hold wasn't all that big, maybe thirty-five feet long and twelve wide. Too soon, she was at the rear of the plane, icy air suddenly pulling at her, working to suck her out into the clouds. Crouching, trying not to think about a misstep, Claire darted across the open space and reached the other wall, grabbing at a raised ridge of metal with trembling fingers. The creature was still almost twenty feet away. Claire held onto the wall, waiting for it to draw closer before running again. At least it was slow, there was that much, but she had to come up with something, she couldn't keep going around in circles. She was watching the creature, could see it clearly…… but what happened next was like some optical illusion. It dropped its silvery head slightly -
– and was suddenly five feet away, the distance closed in a fraction of a second, and it was bringing its right arm down, parting the air with an audible whoosh, knives flashing… Claire didn't think, she moved, her stomach suddenly in her throat, her own action a blur to herself. For a split second she was only a body, ducking and sprinting…… and then she was on the other side of the plane, all the way up by the stacked crates, looking back as the crea– ture slowly, slowly turned. Aw, shit on this! The plane would survive a few holes. She opened fire, sent eight 9mm rounds in a tight group– ing right at the center of its chest – and all of them hit. She saw the black-rimmed holes open up near where its heart would be if it was human, no blood but moist, dark tissue was exposed, forming spongy lumps around the wounds. The creature stopped in its tracks – and started again in about two seconds, one slow step after another, its focus unchanged. A stab of panic hit her, gotta get out of here it's going to kill me, get Steve, another gun maybe…
No, she couldn't, and it wouldn't help, it would only make things worse. Mr. X had been programmed for a single purpose, to obtain a virus sample; she suspected that this creature was after her specifically, and if she left the hold, the creature would just tear through the hatch, killing her and Steve. At least this way, he might have a chance. And 9mm was the heaviest firepower on board – if it could take eight rounds in the chest, another gun wasn't going to make a difference. Try for a head shot, like the one-armed monster. She could try, but she had the feeling that something that didn't bleed probably wouldn't go blind, either. Its eyes were strange, perhaps they weren't even used for sight… and there was also the fact that they were on a moving plane, one that shook and wavered; without a scope, how was she supposed to target, let alone hit? All that passed through her mind in about a second and then she was moving again, edging toward the back of the plane once more – afraid to run, afraid to stand still, wondering how long she had before it ran at her again and what she would do then…… and it lowered its head like it had done before, and again, Claire's body reacted, but an idea was forming, too. She pushed away from the wall and ran toward it, angling her path, if this doesn't work I'm dead…… and she felt the chill of its strange flesh as it rock-eted past her, was so close that she could smell its rotten meat smell – and then they were on opposite ends of the open space and it was slowly, mechanically turning around. It had worked, but barely; if it had been an inch closer, if she'd been a half step slower, it would already be over. Guns didn't work, she couldn't leave, so the creature had to go, but how? The air stream at the hold's open end was strong, but if she could duck past it, no way it would nab the weighty monstrosity… she had to knock it off-balance, maybe bait it to the opening and trip it up somehow, she wasn't strong enough to push it… Think, damnit! It was starting toward her again, one step, two. She looked away long enough to scan the floor near the opening, looking for something it might stumble over, maybe the hydraulic track…
The hydraulic track.
Used to push heavy crates to the rear of the plane, to be unloaded. In fact, two of the empty crates were sit– ting on the metal platform at the start of the track, just a few steps from the door to the cockpit. The controls were set into the outer wall, right in front of the door. Too slow, there's no way. Except it was slow because it carried a heavy load; if there was only an empty con– tainer or two on the platform, how fast would it go then? She had to get to the controls, had to see… There was a blur of movement, and then the spiked mace was coining around, ripping toward the side of her head. Claire jumped forward, instinctively sidestepped, but not quite fast enough. The spikes didn't get her but its powerful forearm did, bashing painfully into her ear, knocking her off her feet. Instantly, the creature crouched and brought its right arm down, but she was already in motion, rolling the sec– ond she hit the floor. The hand blades hit the deck and sparks flew, the creature howling in rage as Claire sprang to her feet, trying not to notice her throbbing ear or the tiny black dots that swarmed at the edges of her vision. She ran for the hydraulic controls instead, as the creature rose to its feet, its movements mechanical again, as emo– tionless as it had been furious only seconds before. A few running steps and she was looking down at a simple control panel, power switch, a dial for entering approximate weight, buttons for back and forth, a tiny readout screen, an emergency shutoff. Claire hit the power switch, twisting the weight dial to the maximum limit, just under three tons. She shot a look at the creature, still at a safe distance, and saw that it was only a step or two from being in the direct path of the platform. Her hand hovered over the blue switch that would move it forward, that should send it bulleting down the hold at an incredible speed. With only a few pounds of empty container where three tons was expected, it would mow the creature down like a blade of grass.
Almost… almost… now!
When the creature was standing almost directly on the track, Claire punched the button – and nothing hap-pened, nothing at all. Shit! She fumbled for the power switch again, maybe she hadn't turned it on – and she saw what was on the little readout screen, and groaned aloud. The simple in– structions read, "Charging for load – wait for tone."
Good God, how long will that be?
The creature was still twenty feet away, walking al– most directly along the track. She might not get a better shot at it, because another blow could very well mean her death, but if she stayed where she was and the crea– ture got to her before the platform was charged, she'd be trapped between the wall and the storage crates. It would bludgeon her into pulp against the cockpit door.
Better to run for it Better to stay put.
Claire hesitated a touch too long, and the creature was in motion again. It swept toward her like a natural disas– ter and it was too late, not even tune to turn around and flee into the cockpit…
ping!
… and it brought its spiked left hand down just as Claire slammed the switch, her eyes squeezed closed, sure that the world was about to disappear in a blizzard of pain…… as the creature shot away from her, roaring, the empty crates lifting it off its feet, powering it away. Be– fore she could begin to accept that the plan was work-ing, the creature used one of its incredible bursts of speed and got in front of the barreling container, just enough to get some leverage, to push against it -
–but Claire didn't wait to see which force was greater. She opened fire again, two, three bullets hitting it in the head, bouncing harmlessly off its armored skull, but distracting it, too. The creature struggled an-other half second and then it and the two crates were gone, plunging into the dusky sky. Claire stared out at the passing stream of atmosphere for a time, knowing she should feel limp with relief, that she'd killed the monster, that she'd survived another Umbrella disaster, that they were finally, finally safe… but she was simply wrung out, any possibility for strong emotion having flown out the back along with Mr. X's big brother. "Please, let it be over," she said softly, and then turned and opened the door back into the cockpit. As she hopped the two steps up to the pilot area, Steve glanced back her, frowning. "What happened? Is everything okay?"
Claire nodded, flopping down in the seat next to him, absolutely beat. "Yeah. Score one more for the good guys. Oh, the rear cargo hatch is gone."Are you kidding?" Steve asked. "Nope," Claire said, and yawned widely, suddenlyoverwhelmed with fatigue. "Hey, I'm going to rest my eyes for a minute. If I fall asleep, wake me up in five, okay?"Sure," Steve said, still looking confused. "The hatch is gone?"
Claire didn't answer him, the dark already rushing up to claim her, her body melting into the seat…… and then Steve was shaking her, repeating her name over and over again.
"Claire! Claire!" "Yeah," she mumbled, sure she hadn't slept as she cracked her eyes open, wondering why Steve would want to torture her like this – until she saw his expres-sion, and a bolt of alarm jolted her awake. "What, what is it?" she asked, sitting up straight. Steve looked really worried. "Like a minute ago, we changed direction and then the controls suddenly locked down," he said. "I don't know what it is, there's no radio but everything else is still working fine – except I can't steer, or alter altitude or speed. It's like it's stuck on autopilot."
Before she could say a word, there was a crackling static sound from a small video monitor mounted close to the ceiling of the cockpit, one Claire hadn't noticed be– fore. Flickering distortion lines spread out across the screen, but the picture, when it came in, was clear enough.
Alfred!
He was also flying, it seemed, belted into the front seat of a two-man fighter jet, or something similar. He still had smears of makeup on his face, his eyes rimmed in black, and when he spoke, it was in Alexia's voice. "My apologies," he purred, "but I can't let you escape now. It seems you've eluded another of my playthings -
–naughty, naughty." "Cross-dressing freak," Steve snapped, but Alfred ei-ther didn't hear him or didn't care. "Enjoy the ride," Alfred said, giggling, and with a final buzz of static, the screen went blank. Claire stared at Steve, who stared back helplessly, and then they both looked out over the sea of clouds, watch– ing silently as the first shafts of sunlight broke through. Steve was dreaming about his father when he started awake suddenly, afraid for some reason, the dream slip– ping away even as he remembered where he was. Claire made a soft, sleepy sound in the back of her throat and nuzzled closer, her head against his left shoulder, her breath warm against his chest. Oh, Steve thought, afraid to move, not wanting to wake her up. They'd fallen asleep side-by-side leaning against the cockpit wall, and had apparently moved closer together at some point. He had no idea what time it was, or how long they'd slept, but they were still in the air, muted sunlight still coming in through the windows. They'd talked for a while after Alfred had taken con– trol of the plane, but not about what they were going to do at the end of their hijacked ride. Claire had remarked that since they couldn't do anything about it, there was no point in worrying. Instead, they'd eaten – Claire had nabbed a few packs of vending machine nuts, for which Steve would be eternally grateful – and done their best to wash up using a little of the bottled water, and then talked. Really talked. She'd told him about going to Raccoon City to find Chris, and everything that had happened there and what she knew about Umbrella and Trent the spy-guy… and she'd told him a lot of other stuff, too. She was in col– lege, and two years older than him, and she rode a mo– torcycle but was probably going to give it up because of how dangerous it was. She liked to dance so she liked dance music, but she also liked grange, and she thought politics were mostly boring, and cheeseburgers were her favorite food. She was totally, incredibly cool, the coolest girl he'd ever met – and even better, she'd actu– ally been interested in what he had to say. She'd laughed at a lot of his jokes, and thought it was cool that he ran track, and when he'd talked some about his parents, she'd listened without getting all pushy.
And she's so smart, and beautiful…
He looked down at her, at her tousled hair and long lashes, his heart pounding even though he was trying to relax. She moved again, shifting in her sleep, her head tilting back a little and her slightly parted lips were suddenly close enough for him to kiss, all he had to do was tip his face down a few inches, and he wanted to so bad that he actually started to do it, lowering his mouth toward hers… "Mmmm," she murmured, still totally asleep, and he stopped, pulling back, his heart beating even faster. He totally wanted to but not like that, not if she didn't want him to. He thought she did, but she'd also told him a lit– tle about her friend Leon, too, and he wasn't so sure that they were just friends. Feeling tortured, having her so close but not his, he was relieved when she rolled away from him a few sec– onds later. He stood up, stretching stiff legs, and walked to the front of the plane, wondering if the reserve fuel tank had been tapped yet, the thought of dealing with that crazy Ashford asshole once again drying up the last of his positive feelings. He hoped that Claire would sleep awhile longer, she'd been so tired…… until he saw what was outside, and read the head-ing, and realized that their altitude had dropped consid– erably. The plane was starting to pitch some, bucking, and no wonder. On the map reader next to the compass was an approximate latitude-longitude for their posi– tion.
"Claire, wake up! You gotta come see this!"
A few seconds later she was at his side, rubbing her eyes – which widened considerably when she looked out the window. There was a near blizzard of ice and
snow pounding down, extending as far as they could see. "We're over the Antarctic," Steve said. "As in the South Pole?" Claire asked, incredulous. She grabbed the back of the copilot seat as the plane roller-coastered. "Penguins and killer whales, all that?"I don't know about the wildlife, but we're at a lati-tude of 82.17 South," Steve said. "Definitely the bottom of the world. And I'm not positive, but I think we're coming in for a landing. We're slowing down, anyway."
Maybe Alfred's plan was to drop them in the middle of nowhere and let them freeze to death. Not flashy, but it would certainly do the trick. Steve wished he could get his bare hands on the guy for just a minute, just one. He wasn't much of a fighter, but Alfred would melt like a cream puff. "We must be headed for that," Claire said, pointing right, and Steve squinted, barely able to see through the storm… and then he saw the other planes, and the long, low buildings that she had spotted, only a few minutes away. "You think it's one of Umbrella's?" Steve asked, knowing before she nodded that it had to be. Where else? The plane's nose continued to dip down, carrying them to whatever Alfred had in mind, but Steve was ac– tually a little relieved. Meeting up with Umbrella again sucked, of course, but at least someone else would be in charge, and not every Umbrella employee was as shrink-wrapped as Alfred. He couldn't imagine that everyone would drop what they were doing to kiss Al– fred's ass, either. Maybe he and Claire could find some– one to bargain with, or bribe somehow… They were closing in for a first pass, the ride getting squirrelly, the wings probably heavy with ice – when Steve realized that they were way too low, too low and too fast. The landing gear had dropped at some point, but there was no way they could land at their speed and altitude. "Pull up, pull up…" Steve said, watching the build-ings get big too quickly, feeling prickles of sweat break– ing out all over. He slid into the pilot's chair, grabbing the yoke and pulling back – and nothing happened.
Oh, man. "Belt up, we're going to crash!" Steve shouted, grab-bing for his own belt as Claire jumped into her seat, the buckles snapping shut just as they touched down and alarms started shrieking as the landing gear crumpled and tore away, the plane's belly slamming into the ground. The cabin bounced wildly, the seat belts the only thing keeping them from hitting the roof. Claire let out a yelp as a wave of snow crashed into the wind– shield, and there was a giant metal SCREECH behind them as the tail or a wing ripped away – -and enough of the churning snow pack fell away from the glass for them to see the building in front of them, the out of control plane sliding for it, smoke com-ing from somewhere, they were going to hit and…
TEN
CLAIRE'S HEAD HURT. AGAIN. Something was on fire, she could smell smoke and she was incredibly cold, and she suddenly remembered what had happened – the snow, the building, the crash. Alfred. She opened her eyes and lifted her head, the action awk– ward and difficult because she was still strapped into her chair, now tilted forward at about a 45 degree angle and there was Steve in his chair, not moving.
"Steve! Steve, wake up!"
Steve groaned and mumbled something, and Claire breathed easier. After a few tries she managed to get her belt off and slid into a crouch, her feet on what had been the instrument panel. She couldn't see much out of the windshield with the angle they were at, but it appeared that they were inside some big building. There was gray metal siding some fifty or sixty feet in front of them, and through the gaping hole on her side of the plane, she could see a bit of walkway with a railing maybe eight or nine feet below. So where is everybody? Where is anybody? If it was an Umbrella facility, why weren't there a dozen soldiers dragging them out of the wreckage? Or at least a few pissed off janitors… Steve was coming around, though she could see a nasty bump at the edge of his hairline. She reached up and found that she had a matching bump just above her right temple, about an inch higher than the one she'd woken up with… yesterday? The day before?
My, how time flies when you keep getting knocked un-conscious. "What's burning?" Steve asked, opening bleary eyes. "I don't know," Claire said. There was just a trace of smoke in the cabin, she figured it was coming from some other part of the plane. In any case, she didn't want to stick around, see if anything blew up. "But we should get out of here. Do you think you can walk?" "These boots were made for walking," Steve mum– bled, and Claire grinned, helping him with his belt. They salvaged what they could from the weaponry that was piled at their feet, Steve's machine pistol and her 9mm. Unfortunately, they were low on ammo, and a couple of clips had gone missing. She had twenty-seven rounds, he had fifteen. They split them up, and with nothing else to keep them aboard, Steve lowered himself out over the walkway, dropping the last few feet. "What's out there?" Claire asked, sitting on the edge of the hole and tucking her gun in her belt. It was cold enough for her to see her breath, but she thought she could manage for a little while. "Not a whole hell of a lot," Steve called back, looking around. "We're in a big round building – I think it's built around a mine shaft or something, there's a straight drop through the middle. There's nobody here." He looked up at her and raised his arms. "Come on down, I gotcha."
Claire doubted it. He was in good shape but had a runner's physique, not overly muscular. On the other hand, she couldn't stay in the plane all day, and she hated jumping off things higher than a few feet, she def– initely wanted a helping hand… "Coming down," she said, and pushed herself off the hole's edge, holding on as long she could -
– and then she was dropping, and Steve emitted an oof sound, and then they were both on the ground, Steve on his back with his arms around her, Claire on top of him. "Nice catch," she said. "Aw, 'twas nothin'," Steve said, smiling. He was warm. And attractive, and sweet, and obvi– ously interested, and for a few seconds, neither of them moved, Claire content to be held… and Steve wanting more, she could see it in the way he searched her face.
For Christ's sake, you're not on a vacation! Move! "We should probably…" "… figure out where we are," Steve finished, and though she could see a flash of disappointment in his eyes, he did his best to hide it, sighing melodramatically as he dropped his arms in pretend surrender. Reluc– tantly, she got to her feet and helped him to his. It did seem to be a mine shaft, sixty feet across give or take, the walkway they were on running about half way around, in steps – there were a couple of ladders, and she could see at least two doors from where they were, all down and to their left. There was only one door on their level, to the right, but Steve checked and it was locked. "So where do you think everybody is?" he asked, keeping his voice low. There was a definite echo effect probability, as massive and empty as the chamber was. Claire shook her head. "Making snow angels?" "Ha ha," Steve said. "Shouldn't Alfred be jumping out right about now with a flame thrower or something?" "Yeah, probably," Claire said. She'd been thinking that herself. "Maybe he isn't here yet, or he didn't expect us to crash, so he's in one of the other buildings where we were supposed to land… which means we should book. If we
can get to one of those other planes before he finds us…" "Let's do it," Steve said. "Do you want to split up? We could cover more ground that way, hurry things along." "With Alfred running around somewhere? I vote no,"
Claire said, and Steve nodded, looking relieved. "So… thataway," Claire said, and started for the first ladder, Steve right behind. A short climb later and they were at the next door to try, actually double doors set in a little ways from the walkway. Also locked. Steve offered to try and kick it in, but she suggested they try the others first. She was feel– ing more and more uneasy about how quiet things were, and didn't want the echoing thunder of a door being bro– ken down to announce their presence, though they'd have to be comatose not to have heard or felt the crash…
On to the next, the only other door before an opening in the wall with a flight of stairs going down. Claire jig-gled the handle and it turned easily; she and Steve read– ied their weapons just in case – and at a nod from Steve, Claire pushed the door open -
– and felt her mouth drop open, totally shocked.
What are the odds on that?
It was a bunk room, dark and reeking, and at the sound of the door opening, three, four zombies turned and started for them, all of them freshly infected, most of their skin still attached. At least one of them was starting to go gangrenous, the noxious smell of hot, rot– ting tissue heavy in the cold air. Steve had gone pale, and as she slammed the door closed, he swallowed, hard, looking and sounding kind of sick. "One of those guys worked at Rockfort. He was a cook."
Of course! She'd thought for a second that there'd been a spill here, too, but that really was too giant of a coincidence. At least one of those planes outside had come from the island, probably a bunch of panicked em– ployees – presumably not scientists – who hadn't real– ized they were carrying the infection with them.
More sick and dying viral cannibals… and what else? Claire shuddered, trying to imagine the kind of soldier Umbrella would be trying to invent for an arctic environment… and what natural animals might have been infected before their arrival. "We definitely gotta get out of here," Steve said. Well, maybe Alfred got eaten, anyway, Claire thought. Wishful thinking, though they certainly deserved a lucky break. "Let's go." The last place to check, a set of winding stairs, marked the end of the walkway, descending into a near total dark– ness. Remembering the matches she'd found at Rockfort, Claire handed Steve her gun and fished them out of her pack, giving him half before taking her weapon back. He took the lead, striking two of the matches about halfway down the stairs and holding them up. They didn't give off much light, but they were better than nothing. They reached the bottom and started to edge forward down a tight hall, Claire on high alert as the darkness closed around them. Something smelled bad, like rot– ting grain, and though she couldn't hear anything mov– ing, it didn't feel like they were alone. She was generally big on trusting her instincts, but it was so still and silent, not even a whisper of sound or movement… Nerves, she thought hopefully.
