Resident Evil_ Extinction - Keith R. A. DeCandido [48]
“Mr. President—” Hoyt started.
Getting up and walking around his large wooden desk, the president wagged his finger back and forth. “Don’t give me that shit, Mr. Hoyt, we’re past that.”
Love was staring at Hoyt with her eyes wide as saucers. “What is he talking about, Tom?”
“Nothing, Doctor. The president has been given false information about Raccoon City. Sir, it was a meltdown of—”
The president was now standing almost face to face with Hoyt, and there was betrayal and anger in his eyes. Umbrella had been a huge contributor to his campaign, after all. He had supported every piece of legislation that Umbrella’s lobbyists had rammed through Congress. This president had been a friend to Umbrella, and Umbrella had been a friend to him. There was no betrayal quite like that of a friend.
“No, Mr. Hoyt, it wasn’t. It was a missile, one that Umbrella owned illegally and which has a pattern of destruction that’s completely different from that of a power-plant meltdown. I didn’t understand a lot of what was in this report, but I got the gist: Raccoon City was destroyed.”
Another denial was on Hoyt’s lips, but he abandoned it before he could speak. The cat was out of the bag anyhow. “Yes, sir, you’re right.”
A ripple went through the room.
“You realize,” the chief of staff said, “that you’ve just admitted that the Umbrella Corporation committed treason.”
“I don’t recognize that, sir,” Hoyt said, “because I’m not a lawyer and because no charges have been filed.”
“They will be,” the chief of staff said.
“Rest assured,” the president said tightly, “I fully intend to bring your fucking company down. You’ve made me out to be a fool, and history’s going to remember me as the person who sold the United States out to the people who nuked a city and poisoned a population. Kids’ll remember me as the president who got everyone killed, and I’m damned if I’ll let you get away with that unscathed, Mr. Hoyt.”
“Be that as it may, Mr. President, I think we have bigger problems. Right now, we’re the only ones who know anything about this virus, and if you decide to engage in criminal proceedings against the corporation, that help will not be forthcoming.”
“Oh, please.” That was one of the joint chiefs, a bald pale man, who looked as if he was sweating. “You’ve been so much of a help so far that this disease has made it all the way across the country, and all your best experts are dead. Exactly how much do we lose if you’re not involved?” He wiped his brow with his hand as he stood up. “Your company, sir, is a disgrace to the United States, and I’m right with the president on this. You will be made to pay for what you’ve—”
Suddenly, the general’s eyes went extremely wide, his arm extended straight out, and he fell to the carpeted floor, his face landing right on the eagle in the presidential seal on the rug.
Chaos reigned in the room. People called for doctors; Secret Service agents came running in; people shouted.
Love took advantage of the chaos to pull Hoyt aside. “What the hell did he mean, Tom? We nuked Raccoon City? That’s crazy! How could we do that?”
Hoyt tried to formulate something in his head that would satisfy the doctor, when he heard a strangled scream.
Whirling around, he saw that the general who’d collapsed was biting the chief of staff on the ankle.
“Oh, my God,” Love said. Then she looked at one of the Secret Service agents. “Quickly, you’ve got to quarantine this building!”
The agent looked befuddled. “What?”
Hoyt realized what she meant. The T-virus had gotten loose in the White House. The general’s eyes had gone milky. He had the virus, and now he was trying to bite everyone in the room.
“Shoot him in the head, quickly!” Hoyt cried at the agent.
“Are you insane?” the president asked. “He—”
Love interrupted. “Mr. President, the general has the T-virus, and he’ll kill everyone in this room if somebody doesn’t shoot him in the—”
The general leapt into the air, making a strangled