Mother Russia

Chapter Twenty-One

After a few minutes, Ada finally climbed to her feet. She was pretty sure she had a concussion from the crash. For all she knew, she had internal injuries too. But she could only worry about one thing at a time.

With one hand on the wall to steady herself, she walked along the back of the row of businesses. The back lot was strewn with garbage and she had to carefully tiptoe around at least one broken bottle. Her feet hurt enough already, and the last thing she needed was to slice one of them open. The bottoms of her feet were probably all scratched up anyway, but at least she wasn’t leaving a trail of blood behind her.

Parked on the side of the building were some trucks with the name of a restaurant on the side. Ada checked if they had keys inside, but she had no such luck this time. It figured that she managed to find a vehicle to drive out of the city, and immediately crashed it. The same thing happened in Raccoon City, if she remembered correctly.

At the corner of the building, she stopped and leaned against the wall to catch her breath. She didn’t know how much longer she could keep going. Her whole body ached and she barely had the strength to keep walking. If something attacked her now, it was all over. It almost didn’t matter that she wasn’t armed, since she didn’t think she had the strength to fire a gun accurately anyway. Whatever uneasy sleep she’d gotten underneath the porch had done nothing to make her feel rested. She felt like she had been awake for days.

She looked out toward Volodzny Street. She could still try and make it to her apartment, but it wouldn’t be easy. Or she could try and track down the Tricell soldiers, but she had no idea where they were now. What she really wanted was to take some ibuprofen for her headache and get something to drink.

Across the street was another line of businesses, but they all looked like offices for professionals like real estate agents and lawyers. Next to that was the tall office building she had noticed earlier. She noticed vaguely that some of the lights on the upper floors were on.

Actually, when she thought about it, the office building might be a good place to check out. If she could get to the roof, she might be able to attract the attention of any helicopters scanning the city for survivors. She didn’t know for sure if Umbrella, or Tricell for that matter, were actively searching for survivors, but she had to assume they were. Besides, she would rather be up there than down on the street, since at least she could avoid Konstantin and his friend.

She eased herself out around the building, checking one more time for any zombies or other surprises. And then stopped because there were a bunch of zombies out there after all. Maybe a dozen of them, ambling across the street in the direction of the wrecked corner store. None of them noticed her, so she carefully leaned back out of sight and cursed in annoyance.

It occurred to her that there might be zombies in the office building too. After some consideration, she decided she needed to find a weapon. She went back to the restaurant trucks and dug around inside until she found what she was looking for, a metal tire iron. It wasn’t as useful as a gun, but it would work against zombies up close. Hefting it in her hand made her feel better somehow, like she wasn’t completely defenseless anymore.

She peered around the building again. The zombies had mostly reached her side of the street and were converging on the store, which was currently on fire. Gray smoke and wisps of orange flame poured out of the demolished front window. Pretty soon it was going to spread to the rest of the buildings, so Ada figured it was time to go.

She hurried out past the front parking lot and the grass divider until she reached the street, and made her way across as quickly as she could. Some of the zombies had probably noticed her, but she didn’t look back to check. If she could get into the office building, she could –

A familiar roar rattled the air behind her like a shockwave and she nearly lost her balance and fell over. She didn’t even bother to look, she just ran.

Fear and panic gave her a surge of adrenaline, but there was only so much she could take before she crashed. Every step sent a lance of pain up her legs and back. Her feet felt like she was running across barbed wire. Her chest ached with each desperate breath she took. She was crying in pain and fear, the tears streaking down her face.

She stumbled over the curb and ran as hard as she could toward the office building. The ground trembled behind her and she could practically feel the monster’s breath down her back.

“Oh shit!” she cried. Through the glass front doors, she could see another handful of zombies moaning at her and trying to get out. She wasn’t going to get past them.

She still had the tire iron in her hand. Instead of going to the door, she ran to the side to one of the windows and hurled the tire iron as hard as she could. It shattered through the window, leaving a long narrow hole in the glass. Ada spared the slightest glance over her shoulder and then ran at the window and leaped into it with all her weight.

She crashed through in a burst of glittering glass and fell hard on the lobby floor, the bits of broken glass slicing at her arms and legs as she slid to a stop and scrambled to her feet. Barely slowing down, she got up and limped past the front desk. The zombies all turned and took one step after her, and then the creature barreled through the doors after her.

The doors and adjacent windows exploded in a cloud of shattered glass and the zombies were blown off their feet as the creature powered its way inside. Parts of its hideous red body were scorched and burned from the fire, and whatever clothing that still dangled from its deformed body hung in thin tatters. Its arms were as thick around as tree trunks, and curved thorns and spikes erupted from its back and shoulders like enormous porcupine quills. Its face, not even remotely human anymore, was twisted in a twisted grimace of rage, the eyes glowing red like hot coals. It howled demonically and charged through the lobby after Ada, stomping the prone zombies underfoot.

Ada limped down the hall, leaning against the wall for support, and made her way to the stairs. She knew she couldn’t even try the elevator. She pushed the door open and staggered inside, leaving bloody handprints on the door from the slashes on her arms and hands. She made it up three steps before the entire wall smashed inward with a tremendous boom, knocking plaster and paneling to the floor. The door blew off its hinges and crashed the wall next to her as the creature swung its massive arm inside, reaching for her. Ada cried in despair and went up the stairs on her hands and knees, barely able to stand up anymore. She screamed for help as the entire section of wall caved in, the monster pushing its way into the narrow stairway. Grabbing the railing with both hands, she pulled herself up out of its reach.

She made it to the first landing and tried to regain her feet. The creature screamed furiously and smashed its body into the wall until there was nothing left but rubble, and then it finally squeezed itself into the stairwell and began to crawl after her. Propelled by terror, Ada kept going, even though she felt like she had used up every last ounce of stamina she had left. She forced herself up the stairs one at a time and reached the second floor, and then she kept going.

The creature roared and lurched its body left and right, smashing the walls and tearing the railing free as it made its way after her. The stairwell was too narrow for it to run, but still wide enough that it could gradually make its way after her. Ada’s only choice was to get up to the roof in the desperate hope that the creature couldn’t make it all the way there.

She climbed using the railing to hold her upright, feeling like there were heavy weights tied around her ankles. By the time she reached the third floor, she was dizzy and lightheaded, but whether it was from exhaustion or blood loss, she couldn’t be sure. Below her, the creature continued to climb after her, snarling and roaring its frustration, but it kept coming, utterly relentless and unstoppable.

Suddenly, she heard high-pitched noises above her. She didn’t even recognize what they were at first. And then, she realized in shock that they were voices. Someone was yelling. Feeling like she was about to faint, she managed to look up and see three soldiers armed with assault rifles, and all of them were aiming at her.

“Please,” she gasped, wavering unsteadily. “I’m not … not infected … please …”

One of them, a young Asian man, made up his mind and let his gun swung down at his side. He hurried down the few steps to the landing and swiftly picked her up. She fell into his arms and went limp, sobbing with relief.

“It’s coming! Jesus Christ!” another soldier screamed.

“Shoot! Open fire!”

The stairwell erupted with a deafening blaze of gunfire. The soldier carried her past his comrades who were shooting hopelessly down at the creature, and brought her out of the stairwell to the office area on the fourth floor. The door swung shut, muffling the sound of gunfire.

“Lady,” he said worriedly, looking down at the blood on her arms, “you better not be infected with that virus ...”

“I’m not,” she said, but then realized she was still speaking Russian. It took a moment for her to mentally switch languages, and then she repeated in English, “I’m not infected. I cut myself on the glass.”

He stared at her. “You speak English?”

“Yes, yes.”

Ada managed to look around and saw more people standing nearby, more soldiers and other people in business clothes. The soldiers rushed past her and went to the doors, but they opened up and the two other soldiers came out. Vaguely, Ada noticed the Tricell patches on their arms.

“It’s coming!” one of them shouted, tossing away an empty clip. “Everyone get back! We can’t stop it!”

“Line up!” a soldier with a deep voice yelled. “Tell those civilians to get back!”

The Asian soldier hurried to a side wall and set Ada down as gently as he could. “Sorry, lady, just stay here, okay? You’re gonna be fine.”

Ada laughed at that as she rolled onto her side and tried to get up. Sure, she was going to be just fine. The floor quaked under her feet. People were running around, and then she felt someone grab her around the waist and try to help her up. She looked back to see the soldiers, maybe a dozen of them, spread out in the middle of the room, preparing to shoot. The wall facing the stairwell suddenly buckled inward, knocking a framed picture to the floor. One of the soldiers fired his gun in surprise.

Then the entire wall disappeared in a cloud of debris as the creature swung its arm and smashed right through it, as if the structure was made of balsa wood and papier-mâché. The civilians all screamed and ran for their lives, and the soldiers opened fire, but shooting at it was like trying to stop a runaway train. It roared and smashed its way free of the stairwell and crawled through the wreckage like a demon emerging from hell.

Ada finally managed to get to her feet and stumble away as the soldiers kept shooting. It surged forward and smashed another wall to pieces, and then the soldiers had no choice but to back up, even as their commander was shouting for them to keep shooting.

In the back of her mind, Ada felt guilty about leading the creature here. She had no idea the office building had any survivors. Now they were all going to die.

She limped around a corner and made her way through a maze of cubicles with gray walls. One of the civilians was hiding under his desk, cowering in fear. Ada figured he had the right idea. Maybe the creature wouldn’t find them if they simply hid from it. But of course, there was nowhere to hide.

The creature crashed through another wall, sending a cloud of dust and wave of debris into the hall. Ada pressed against the wall and watched as the soldiers backed away, shooting with every bullet they had left, but they weren’t enough. Finally, the creature surged forward and reached out to swat one of the soldiers with the back of its huge red hand. The soldier’s body crumpled and he went flying into the cubicles.

Ada tried to make her way around to the other side of the building, but she couldn’t seem to get her bearings. She took a deep breath and limped along the wall, passing more cubicles and small offices to her right, facing the windows. The creature roared again and swung its arms back and forth in a wild frenzy, smashing everything close to it. It bolted forward and smashed through the maze of cubicles like a bull in a china shop.

“Go! Go!” a soldier shouted. “Grenades! Now!”

“I’ll do it!”

Ada hurried on wobbly legs and suddenly the entire office area seemed to explode around her. The thundering boom knocked her off her feet and the creature screamed loud enough to deafen her as it ran forward, propelled by the explosion. It swung its arm, taking out most of a wall and office, and Ada along with it. She fell to the ground and was swept away in a tidal wave of churning debris. A huge wooden desk smashed through the office windows in front of her, and she could only scream helplessly as she was pushed across the floor with the rest of the wreckage, the creature behind her pushing the wall of debris like an out of control bulldozer.

The creature went right through the entire line of offices, taking out a row of windows twenty feet wide, and flew out into empty space in a swirling mess of falling wreckage, spinning wildly in the air as it tumbled out the window, screaming all the way down as it fell.

Ada went through the window and felt herself spin around, weightless, surrounded by falling debris, the blue sky above and dark gray parking lot below spinning over and over. It only lasted a split-second, but it felt like she was suspended in mid-air for several heartbeats. And then something reached out and grabbed hold of her arm, nearly yanking it out of its socket. The rest of the debris crashed down around her, falling to the ground four stories below, but Ada swung down and slammed down hard against the side of the building, hanging by one bloody arm.

Her head lolled dizzily and she looked past her bare feet to watch in disbelief as the creature tumbled through the air, screaming the entire way, until it landed on a row of power lines connecting to the office building. With a flash of light, the power lines broke and tangled around the creature’s body as it hit the ground. Its scream could be heard fifty blocks away as the electricity arced brightly around it, crackling and sparking until the transformers exploded from the overload. The creature’s body, smoking and burned to a crisp, lay motionless on the concrete.

Ada lifted her head and looked up. A gloved hand was gripping her wrist in an iron grip. She followed the hand up the arm and to the body of the soldier holding her, and was surprised to find herself gazing up into the gray eyes of Theodore Hunklemeyer.

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