The Arklay Outbreak

Chapter Forty-Six

Sunlight streaming through the trees woke him. Or had he even been asleep? It felt more like he had been in stasis, and now the warmth of the sun was awakening his body, returning it to life. He got to his feet on the muddy banks of the stream and walked to the grass. His shirt and lab coat were gone now, washed away in the river’s fierce torrent.

He looked back and saw the small waterfall behind him. The underground river split up and emerged from the rocks at several points farther down the valley. The waterfall poured over some smooth layers of shale and splashed down into a shallow pool that formed this stream. He didn’t remember coming out, but he must have at some point during the dark of night. The cold water had slowed him, but the morning sun gave him his strength back.

He smelled the air and did not recognize his surroundings. He was miles away from his home, miles from the man and woman. He looked down at his hands and flexed his strong fingers, now clean and healed as if they had never been shot. He remembered the pain, but it was gone now. Bullets hurt, but the wounds did not last.

He jumped up and scaled the small cliff in a few seconds. At the top, just above where the water emerged from, he smelled the air again and got the scent he was searching for. And then he was off into the trees, running faster on all fours than any human could run on two legs.

He could not clearly recall why he attacked them. Like the time before, in the mansion lobby, he succumbed to an urge he could not understand. His body, once again, seemed determined to follow a path his mind could not see. He was just a passenger, that much was clear. Most of his memories had left him, and now his will was gone as well. His body had a mind and a will all its own now, and he could do nothing but come along and learn where it was taking him.

Deep down, submerged under levels of his subconscious, was a strong desire to extract his revenge on Wesker and Spencer, the two men who had killed him. But his body wanted to go after the man and woman. Why were they so important? He did not understand. Wesker and Spencer were important, they murdered him and threw him away into that dark hole. They were the ones who deserved to die. His vengeance was directed at them.

He felt his body changing again, morphing and reshaping like something made of clay. He fought to retain his mind, to see through his changed eyes and remember these moments. He had to control his mind and form his thoughts. He could not let himself get pushed away again.

He died once before and lost himself, and now that he had his body and the ability to get his revenge, he could not afford to lose himself again. This time, he would exert his own will.

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