Apocalypse - Keith R. A. DeCandido [77]
“Don’t judge a book by its cover. First rule of Security Division.”
“I got where I am now by paying attention to things that nag me. So I just kept an eye on you. Then I noticed something.”
“Once I realized that you and al-Rashan were coworkers and friends, it all came together. Pursuing a job with the same corporation that was all but responsible for your friend’s death, to the point where you relocated from the city you’d lived in all your adult life, a relocation you’d rejected six years earlier. Sure, there were circumstances to explain all of that—but not why you were so aggressively trying to get peeks at stuff you aren’t cleared for.”
“It’s a T-virus, and you’re right, it’s not at all natural. Believe it or not, it came about from a study into something that would retard the aging process—a skin ointment that would keep the skin cells from aging.”
“I can help you get the virus. I have access to security plans, surveillance codes, the works.”
“Listen to me. I want to know who you people are, and I want to know what’s going on here. Now.”
“Kaplan, you’ve got to hurry, you’ve got to help them!”
“My God, Kaplan, there’s something killing them in there!”
“You’re not a cop, are you?”
“That homicidal bitch may be our only way out of here.”
“Rain? Rain! We have to do something about your wounds.”
“Kaplan—hold on! We’re gonna come get you. We need to cut this wire, then we can throw it to him. Then we can go get him. Hold on!”
“Blue for virus, green for the antivirus. There’s a cure.”
“I was your sister’s contact.”
“Was that how you thought all my dreams were gonna come true?”
“I don’t know what we had, but it’s over.”
“The antivirus is right there on the platform—it’s right there!”
“Rain, please, get up.”
“I’m missing you already.”
“Hey—no one else is gonna die.”
“I could kiss you, you bitch.”
“I failed. All of them. I failed them.”
“You’re infected. You’ll be okay—I’m not losing you.”
“My name’s Alice. We’re not safe in here. That fire will spread.”
“They hunt in packs. If there were more, we’d have seen them by now.”
“I used to work for them—before I learned the error of my ways.”
“It’s nothing personal. But in an hour, maybe two, you’ll be dead. Then, minutes later, you’ll be one of them. You’ll endanger your friends, try to kill them—maybe succeed. Sorry, but that’s just the way it is.”
“Umbrella. They want to keep news of what’s happening here from getting out.”
“They did something to me.”
“His daughter Angela is trapped within the city. We find her, and he’ll help us escape the perimeter.”
“There won’t be any help. According to Ashford, Umbrella knows it can’t contain the infection. So at sunrise, Raccoon City will be completely sanitized.”
“He’s dead. You can join him—or you can do as I say.”
“She’s infected. On a massive level.”
“They made me one of their little monsters.”
“My name is Alice Abernathy. I worked for the Umbrella Corporation.”
“I glimpsed hell, saw things I cannot describe.”
“I became a freak.”
“Sir!”
That was one of the lab techs—whose name, Alice now remembered, was Cole. He’d noticed something on the brain-wave pattern indicator and was trying to get the attention of the man in charge.
Dr. Samuel Isaacs.
The man who’d experimented on her and Matt Addison, at the direction of Major Timothy Cain, all for the benefit of the Umbrella Corporation.
Isaacs, though, wasn’t paying any attention to Cole, or to Alice herself.
“Advanced reflex testing is also a priority. I want electrical impulses monitored and her—”
“Sir!” That was Cole again.
Sounding annoyed, Isaacs asked, “What is it?”
She didn’t give him a chance to answer.
“My name is Alice. And I remember everything.”
Isaacs went pale. He signaled one of the guards standing by the door, a young man named Doyle.
Before he could even draw his sidearm, Alice lunged at Doyle with the pen she still held, going for his eye.
Frozen in shock, Doyle didn’t move, even though Alice stopped just