In pursuit of the last hope (S2)

Leaving the dormant Sam behind, Claire and Sherry head towards the NEST 2. Will they find a vaccine, or will they be swallowed by Umbrella’s darkest secrets?

Chapter 10 - Fight Against The Inevitable

Claire and Sherry returned to the nurses’ station to salvage what was left. Once they got in the room, the smell of blood in the air overwhelmed them. Sherry almost lost her control immediately and began to lick the coagulating blood on the floor like a hungry beast, while Claire was holding her fists to fight the urge.

In the rubbles she found one last blood bag that wasn’t totally destroyed in the Prototype’s attack, and handed it to Sherry carefully. The little vampire bluntly grabbed the bag and fed on it. When the blood bag was emptied, she was a little bit better, but not for long.

After resting for a minute or two, they returned to the first floor, and surprisingly found that the reinforced padlock had been picked, which meant that someone else has been here and probably gone inside. Claire became totally alert and pulled out her large caliber pistol, while holding Sherry’s hand tightly. She has come so far and wouldn’t let anything else happen to the girl.

“Stay close to me, Sherry. We’re not alone.” Claire spoke quietly and carefully opened the door.

Sherry shivered but followed her anyway. Behind the door was a downward corridor covered in weird green light and the veil of mist above ground made them uneasy. The air inside was fresh. Claire could tell that there wasn’t any vampire down here. In just a few seconds they reached at the end of the corridor where an “EXIT” sign was shining red light on a door.

What lay behind the door was the hospital’s warehouse where dozens of Umbrella trucks and containers were piling up and blocking the entrance. Claire didn’t see any vampires or signs of fights, but a strange sound was coming from the entrance.

Suddenly, the shutter of the entrance was busted and several trucks and containers flew over them. Claire instinctively protected Sherry with her body, and luckily they weren’t hit. When the dust were settled, an terrifying roar sliced the air and Claire looked at the intruder in horror.

There was no doubt that it was the G-Mass that she had encountered in the sewer system, however, it was twice bigger and its right arm got fused with the head of an alligator. The alligator. How did it survive that explosion and come all the way here? Claire watched the monster tearing the trucks and containers into pieces with the alligator’s mouth like they were papers. She now realized what Sara was trying to use the tentacle monster to fight against. But no matter what, she couldn’t beat it here.

“Claire...” The abomination once again call her name, however, its voice was less twisted this time. And, unbelievably, it sounded quite familiar.

“What... Is that... my voice?” Sherry trembled with fear.

“Come on! Sherry, we have to run!” Claire didn’t care why but just grabbed Sherry’s hand and rushed towards the opposite direction. However, the platform at the end of the warehouse has been lowered, and there was not enough time to lift it up.

Without much hesitation, Claire held Sherry in her arms and straight up jumped down. Thanks to her, Sherry was unharmed. The dozen-meter fall broke Claire’s legs, but they completely healed in mere seconds and she was able to stand up again. One of the benefits of being a vampire, huh, she thought and smiled almost fanatically as she was getting more and more addicted to her new abilities.

But no time should be wasted. Seconds after Claire took Sherry deeper into the underground storage, the G-Mass jumped down and the whole facility quaked. A heavy container fell down and blocked their path, so Claire and Sherry had to make a detour. However, Claire noticed that something was striking that container from the inside. Another Umbrella’s creation, maybe? She got an idea.

“Sherry, I need you to run to the surveillance room over there, OK? I’ll try to stall that monster and buy us some time.” Claire patted Sherry’s head with a bitter smile. Sherry was frightened, but she nodded and immediately ran upstairs into the preparation room.

The G-Mass was getting closer. Claire opened the door of the fallen container and immediately a 7 feet tall toad-like creature with white skin, a hunter γ, came out of it and howled. Having noticed the bigger threat, the hunter ignored her and went straight for the G-Mass.

The two monsters started a fight when they collided, but the G-Mass had the upper hand due to its size. Claire didn’t care who would win and just ran away. However, she realized that there were multiple containers with the same signs in this area, so she ran around and opened all of them. In total 4 of them were released and they had teamed up with the first one to fight the G-Mass.

“That should do it...” Claire breathed heavily and head towards the surveillance room.

When she got to the second floor by the elevator, Sherry was quietly standing there. Her eyes shone happiness when she saw Claire was alive.

“I knew you’d make it!” She smiled.

“Yeah. We’re almost there.” Claire joyfully took Sherry’s hand and walked her to the door at the end of the room.

After going through a long corridor behind the room, they finally arrived at the entrance of NEST 2. The UV lights in the sterilization room had been disabled, so Claire suspected that whoever came before them were also vampires. Whoever they might be, they have been a great help since she could walk past here freely.

Following the directions on the wall, Claire took Sherry to a sick bay. Aside from a power-off computer on the desk, there wasn’t anything useful in here. Sherry already felt the thirst coming back and she was uneasy.

“I’m sorry, Claire... I don’t know what I’d do without you.” She said in low spirits.

“Are you kidding me?” Claire stood up to cheer up the girl, “You were doing just fine without me until I came along and got you into all sorts of trouble.”

That’s quite an interesting assumption but it might be true. Sherry has been hiding in the station and avoiding the vampires for half a day, and she has survived all kinds of dangers. If she hadn’t been taken to the parking garage of the pharmaceutical factory by Claire, she wouldn’t have been captured by Irons and suffered all that came after...

“But I can’t control the thirst... It’s devouring me...”

“We’re going to get through this. And we’ll live together happily ever after, alright? You have to keep fighting and keep moving forward!” Claire gently stroked Sherry’s hair and smiled.

“OK... OK, I’ll try.” Sherry sighed with her head down.

“Good girl. Alright, let’s see if we can find out where the vaccines are.” Claire turned on the computer on the medical officer’s desk and tried to look for some clue. However, in addition to the map of the facility, what she also have found was more terrifying, “Oh my god...”

“What’s wrong?” Sherry was nervous when she heard Claire’s shaking voice.

“The US government has decided to destroy Raccoon City with a missile strike this morning. The missile will be launched in... less than 3 hours, I’m afraid.” Claire couldn’t believe what she saw on the screen. That would be right after the sunrise, she did some maths and shivered. She needed to get Sherry out of the city before the total destruction.

“Sherry, I need you to get to this elevator here.” Claire pointed at the screen and said anxiously, “It says that could bring you to a container yard where they parked the helicopters. I’ll meet you there after I find the vaccine.”

“OK. Please be careful.” Sherry understood the dire situation and calmly nodded.

“I will.” Claire held Sherry’s hands tightly before leaving the room.

She rushed towards the lab area as quickly as possible. According to the information she has found in the computer, there was an equipment in the main lab that could synthesize the vaccine. She had to get there and find out what ingredients she needed.

The main lab was just around the corner, but suddenly she smelled something. Blood. Fresh blood from a living human. Who could that be, in this vampire infested facility at this moment? Claire grabbed the pistol and quietly stepped towards the lab. She carefully peeked inside to room and, when she saw the silhouette of the man standing in front of the machine, she was shocked.

“Leon!?” She screamed happily went in the room without thinking too much. She couldn’t believe that Leon was still in the city, and in this facility. And yes, she was once again pointed by a gun by this warm-hearted police officer, but she didn’t mind at all.

“Oh my god... Claire, you’re alive! It’s so good to see you!” The moment Leon realized it was her, he immediately lowered his gun and rushed towards her. He held her in his arms tightly.

“Me too!” Claire sobbed quietly. His warmth was stimulating her in every way possible and she was overwhelmed. The happiness of their reunion, the thirst for his blood, the lust for his flesh... Something hot was stirring in her stomach. She could barely control herself and her vision was becoming blurry.

The sweet scent of his blood was clouding her senses, washing away her self control and inviting her to have a taste. Claire held Leon tightly and slightly twitched while opening her mouth, baring her elongated fangs. Her eyes were crimson at the moment as the insatiable thirst was attempting to take over.

Just bite... You haven’t tasted anything since you left the police station with Sherry... You need to drink... It’s inevitable... A voice was echoing in her head. Her own voice. And it was urging her to feed. Claire looked at Leon’s neck with a lustful smile on her face. She could see the blood pumping in the veins under the skin.

What’s wrong? It’s Leon, isn’t it? You’ve always been fantasizing about feeding on him, fucking him, claiming him, making him yours... Claire couldn’t shake the horny thoughts off her head when the warmth from Leon was seeping into her veins and her bones. She’s struggling, but her fangs were getting closer and closer to his neck.

Such fresh blood... You can have it... One bite and it’s all yours...