章 65: Cold Body

With the arrival of the five T-00 Tyrants, it became the final nail that decided the fate of everyone inside the Police Station. The five of them surrounded the vicinity of the building, not allowing anyone to escape.

The Wolfpack's leader, LUPO, although reluctant decided to lead her team to fight against one of them, otherwise they would risk their life if they keep being passive. The battle between Wade Wilson and the Winter Soldier also had to be paused as one of the Tyrant jumped to the second floor, directly in between the two. The Continental Mercenaries didn't fare well either as one of the Tyrant started chasing after them. And finally, two of the five Tyrants' advance was blocked by no other than the grim reaper, HUNK.

The odd things about the Tyrants were that they didn't bat an eye even if it was their allies that stood in front of them. No matter how big the logo of Umbrella, sewn on their clothes, the Tyrant would simply ignore it. That was why the Wolfpack couldn't stand aside as they were being targeted as well.

Wade Wilson and the Winter Soldier had to focus their energy on repelling the attacks from the Tyrant on their side. Claire wanted to help him, but Wade didn't allow her to move, saying that it was his job as the hero to save the day while muttering bullcrap reasonings that would make one knit their eyebrows.

The six Continental mercenaries were the group that had the easiest fight among the others, they easily outnumbered that one poor tyrant. It would be a matter of time until it was forced to escape.

HUNK was the one that had the hardest time, however, it was only from the point of view of the spectators. It wasn't enough to make him sweat at all. No matter how fast and agile the movement of the two Tyrants were, he would always evade at the perfect timing while inflicting the same amount of damage to them.

Meanwhile, in another place inside the building, a little boy was trying to escape while evading the escalating commotion. Without the Wolfpack to hold them back, the zombies started to find their way inside. They appeared at the most unexpected place and time, increasing casualties one after another.

Michael hid inside one of the cabinets, after sighting two zombies walking by. A moment later one of them moved away, getting out of the room. Michael heard a screaming not long after, a sign that someone must have been attacked by that zombie. His body started trembling, imagining the victim's death throes. He was deeply terrified, scared of the impending death that would knock on his door at any moment now.

Suddenly, he heard a small footstep and a ragged breath of a girl, not far from his place. A moment later, he could see the girl. It was Sherry, the 7th grader at his school. He always saw her and Edward together after school. And then he glanced at the other zombie that was still inside the room.

A voice resounded inside his head, he didn't know whose voice is that, but it keeps muttering one thing. Use her... Use her and escape. Don't you want it? Don't you want revenge against the one who killed your father? And then, Michael's eyes brightened with fervor.

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The first thing that I felt after I woke up was the burning pain that covered my whole body. No matter where it is, only pain greeted me. I also felt my throat drying, it might even form a desert if it was left alone.

"Wa...ter..."

However, I felt something odd. No, to put it correctly, I couldn't feel it, my left arm. I forced my head to tilt downward. My left arm and a chunk of the left side of my body was gone, burned to dust. Both of my legs were also damaged beyond measure. Limbo, my gauntlet, already returned to its sleeping state, ready to be called whenever I want.

The only good news was that all of the damage was slowly regenerating. But, it would need a whole day or maybe more to completely recover.

[How are you feeling, Sir.] asked Regina, noticing that I regained my consciousness.

"Not great, terrible," I replied. She then showed me a water source. It seems the subway tunnel which I was on was connected to the river. I used my right arm to crawl and dip my head inside the flowing water, chugging the water down my throat. But then, I remembered the most important thing at the moment.

"MmmbBeMbeebiVvv...!!" but my head was still inside the water and I couldn't move my body properly, so the only sound that came out was weird gurgling.

[I beg your pardon, Sir?]

I pulled my head out and then repeat it, "Nemesis!"

Identifying any threat right after waking up was the first thing that I should have done. If John knew that I forgot about it, he would have punished me by increasing the difficulty of the mock-beating... I mean mock-battle session.

[Oh... His body fell inside the river.] replied Regina.

Her answer didn't register inside my mind as I was still chugging the water, but when it did...

Pfffvvvtt!!!!

...I sprayed all of the water inside my mouth, wanting to throw up as well. I felt like I was drinking Nemesis's bathwater, which is pretty disgusting too. Moreover, isn't that Nemesis could infect others with his own virus?

[I know what you're thinking, Sir, and the answer is no. Nemesis lost his ability to infect others and turn them into mutated zombies.] explained Regina, reassuring me.

"How did you know he lost it?" I asked. And how could she keep reading my mind? Didn't she say she couldn't access my mind because it would invade my privacy? Do I have any privacy at all?

[Try to feel your neck, Sir.] instructed Regina. I moved my right hand toward my neck and try to feel it. Something was protruding from it. I couldn't feel it before, but after I touched it, I could feel a slight pain around my neck. Nemesis's tentacle, the one he used to choke me earlier, stabbed my neck a few centimeters deep. I pulled it out and wrap the bloody wound with a clean cloth inside my inventory. Thinking that I could have awakened as a zombie creeped me out. The tentacle was cut off from his body because of the explosion, so it was harmless.

"How long... have I been asleep?" I asked. I could see the sky, and it was glittering with stars. Back then, when I arrived at the Subway station, it was still mid-day.

[6 hours and 21 minutes, sir.] replied Regina. That was too long. I waste so many times, but it was a cheap price to pay for surviving a close-range C4 explosion. Not only that, a reinforced one.

"How long... until I fully recover?" I asked again.

[23 hours and 16 minutes, Sir.] answered Regina, making my situation seemed more hopeless. It was simply too long, the moment I recovered, everything would have ended.

I grit my teeth and cursed after recalling the moment that brought me here, the death of Paul and possibly Luna. I was about to give up when suddenly Regina called out to me.

[Sir, you can recover faster.] she said. Before I could ask how she continued, [Look up.]

What I thought as the stars were actually floating balls the size of marbles. I didn't realize that they floated around me all this time. It was the marble of souls, something I always saw in the game, Onimusha, where this gauntlet came from. Unlike in the game though, the marble of souls varied in colors.

"How did it appear? Did I damage Nemesis's souls during the blast?" I asked Regina.

[No, Sir, these are not Nemesis's souls, but those that he consumed to strengthen himself. When a Genma was heavily damaged, it excreted these souls to diminish the damage. If you absorb them, you could send them to rest as well as recover your power.]

"Limbo," I muttered, the bracelet turned into lights as it transformed into a pitch-black gauntlet that covered my forearm. The eye around the wrist started wriggling happily after noticing the souls on top of us. Even without my command, it slowly drew them in and absorb them. My wound started healing at a faster rate, noticeable to the naked eye.

The moment all of them was sucked inside, all of my wound, except for the still-growing stump on my left shoulder, was healed. My stamina also recovered much faster than I expected. All that was left to do was fixing all of my broken equipment using Reinforcement and go back to RPD's Police Station.

I started walking at a fast pace, returning this late at night might make Claire furious. Damn it, I should have woke up faster. Ah well, regretting it now would be useless, let's just apologize. I got to farm for EXP by killing zombies along the way, there were also several Hunter mutants, but unless it was Tyrant-level mutant, they wouldn't be a threat at all. They gave more EXP though, around 2000 to 5000, varied by their strength. A hundred of them might allow me to reach the next level.

The closer I got to the Police Station, the odder it gets. It was too silent. No patrol squads around, the lights in the building around the Station were turned off except for the street light. I could even hear the sound of the wind, making it eerier. I fasten my pace and started running. I got a bad feeling about this.

A few minutes later, I arrived at the front gate of the Police Station, or what was left of it. You could fit several cars in the gap. The front door was also blasted away. The atmosphere was thick and cold, like a graveyard past midnight.

"What happened here...?" I muttered. Regina then answered, breaking the bad news.

[Sir, please turn on Raccoon City's green bar.]

When I do as she said, my eyes widen in fear. The percentage of the casualty mark has passed the allowed point, reaching 70%.

'What the hell happened during my slumber!?' I thought.

I reached deep inside my inventory to find the communication device and turned it on, reaching for Nick or anyone, but it didn't go through. Giving up on it, I took a deep breath and went in. Lights flickered as a Glock-18 appeared in my right hand. I still activated the gauntlet just to make sure Nemesis wasn't around. Several zombies blocked my way, but they were instantly shot in the head, not having time to turn their back. I also saw Lickers, creatures that mutated from zombies. Although they were fast, I was faster.

That was when I saw a light from a flashlight, deep inside the office. Someone was here, someone that might have an answer to my question. I turned into Stealth and started approaching it. The owner of that flashlight might have heard the sound of my gun and approached me as well. It was a young policeman, but my eyes didn't lock on him, but on the woman behind him.

"Claire!" I shouted.

Smoke covered my invisible body as I appeared before them. I equipped my helmet to let her know.

"Edward?" She was surprised to found me appeared out of nowhere, but that surprise soon turned into happiness. She ran toward me and hugged my small body. Tears flowed on her small face as she muttered, "where have you been. I was scared that you would..."

She didn't continue her words, but I already know what she meant. "I'm sorry, aunt Claire. I should have returned to you earlier."

Then, Claire noticed that something was wrong with my body. She asked after found what was missing, "Ed? Where's your left arm? What happened to you"

Her face crumpled as she sobbed, her poor nephew came back with a missing arm. It hurts her more than it hurt me. Looking at her crying, I panicked and explained a little bit of everything that happened, reassuring her that it would grow back. After she calmed down, she finally let me go, releasing her warm embrace.

'Ah... we're completely ignoring him.' I thought as I glance at Leon's side. It was the first time he saw my face, but he seemed calmer than I expected.

Claire then proceeded to explain everything to me. Nick and Chris successfully led the civilians to safety, leaving the Station and the building around it empty. The five Tyrants were subdued right after by their opponents, forcing them to flee. From Claire and Leon's description, it seemed their helper were the Wolfpack, the Continental mercenaries, and HUNK. I was also surprised to found Wade Wilson being mentioned by them.

"So? What are you guys doing in here?" I asked.

Claire wiped her teary eyes and said, "Sherry's missing."

"What? How!?" I exclaimed.

Claire then explained how they were attacked by the Winter Soldier, who was so keen to take Sherry away. Claire told her to run away as she blocked that man. It would have turned even worse if not for Wade's entrance. Anger surfaced on my face as I swore to make the Winter Soldier pay for it. Even if he was controlled by Hydra, I won't let him go unpunished.

As I started forming my torture sets, Claire who noticed my grim expression calmed me down, "It's okay. I'm fine, so let's focus on finding Sherry. Don't ever try to do something dangerous before me."

'Isn't that too late? I've been doing it the whole time.' I thought.

"I know. So stop doing it from now on, young man," said Claire, seeming to know what I was thinking.

"Stop reading my mind. Why did everyone know everything I thought!?" I asked out of annoyance. First Regina, now her too.

Suddenly, Leon interrupted from the side. "Can you guys tone it down? You're gathering unwanted attention," he said, pointing at the zombies behind me.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"That was what I aimed for," I replied, shamelessly, putting down the gun in my hand. The more the better. Which means I would ease the threat that would come for Sherry or anyone around.

We started looking for Sherry, it would take too long to explore the whole building. But I insist to not allow them to wander alone, who knows when the Tyrant would come back, and they were not the only thing that we would need to worry about.

With my observation skill, I started to look for her trace, which now led us to the second floor, Chief Irons's office. This was the only place that was left untouched, and the last place on our list that hasn't been checked. When we went in, the place was empty, with no sign of life, but I knew someone was here, and he/she didn't leave yet.

I stood before the female statues. There was an instruction to place two small gems that have the same weight to open the secret door. Ain't nobody got time for that!

I pulled out Blackbeard and shot the wall twice, disintegrating it and revealed a room behind it. I used my strength to tear it down. Upon walking into the room we noticed a large number of stuffed animals and a small figure reclining on the wall.

"Mi...Michael?" I muttered, reflexively. Beside him was Sherry, laying on the floor. Claire checked on her and found that she was fine and just sleeping.

Michael then opened his eyes and looked at me. "Ed...ward? Is that you?" he said, weakly, and smiled.

I noticed that he handcuffed himself to a metal pole, an animal stand. 'Why did he do it?' I asked myself. Then I noticed that his shoulder was bleeding.

"Michael! What happened!?" I said, shaking his cold body awake. The answer came from my side.

"He saved me," said Sherry. "If it wasn't for him, it would have been me sitting in that place."

I observed her, checking that she was truly fine. I held the handcuff, trying to snap it apart, but Michael held my hand.

"No...It's too late..." he said. I couldn't accept it, he might be annoying, and always got in my ways. But he was someone that I know, someone that unconsciously hold a presence inside me. I... couldn't accept it. Besides, she saved Sherry from danger, that was enough of a reason to save him.

Clank!

The chain snapped after I pull it apart. I said, "Don't worry, we can cure you!"

Leon explained to me earlier that Wade Wilson hold guard of the cure for this plague and its maker. Both the cure and the researchers were in the U.S. Army's guards. The place where they took the civilians to, Saint Michael's Clock Tower.