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Optio	By : Ripsi Category: +M through R > Resident Evil Views: 8319 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Resident Evil fandom/franchise or any of their characters. I make no money from this fanfiction. It is merely a piece of fiction written by me.

Chapter List
- 1-Annus Novus
- 2-Domus
- 3-Calor
- 4-Posco
- 5-Ludus
- 6-Felix Dies Valentini
- 7-Desiderium
- 8-Dormientes
- 9-Curre
- 10-Gravatus
- 11-Vita
- 12-Vigilo
- 13-Arcanum
- 14-Phasma Phasmatis
- 15-Possessio
- 16-Mutatio
- 17-Anniversarium
- 18-Monstrum
- 19-Lues
- 20-Vita Post Mortem
- 21-Iterum
- 22-Eam
- 23-Fidelitas
- 24-Veritas
- 25-Pacisco
- 26-Mundus Novus
- 27-Febris
- 28-Chemia
- 29-In Aeternum
- 30-Frater
- 31-Historia
- 32-Familia
- 21
- 22
- 23
Optio
Chapter 22: Eam
January 14, 2002 Sunday 12:30 PM

Subject: Redfield, Claire
Location: Mixcoatl, Brazil
Status: Wary
We made our way downstream, heading to Amparo, and for a while the girl slept. In her sleep she groaned, kicked her little feet, and frowned. My inspection of her was so intense that I had managed to mostly tune out the retelling of the Raccoon City incident from Leon. Jack was curious, and being partners, it was only right that he let him know that things could get much worse from this point on. There was so much to cover I wonder how much Leon summarized, but I didn’t want to be too involved. Being thrown in this mess was enough to worry about, especially since… Uh-oh.
I pulled the satellite phone from my pocket and pressed the unlock button. Fifteen missed calls, no messages. Leon threw me a glare, but I ignored him as I hit Wesker’s speed dial number and he let the phone ring forever before he finally answered. For ten seconds there was silence, but I knew that he was on the other end, listening, too angry to say anything. “Hello?” My voice was soft, fearful even, because I didn’t know if he’d yell, if I’d cry as a consequence of his yelling…
“Where are you?” His voice was calm, but underneath his professional tone I could hear anger boiling.
“What do you mean?” I wasn’t lying, just testing his knowledge. Then again he was probably testing my honesty. The silence on the other end had gotten to me, telling me that for my sake he was keeping quiet. Looking down at the bottom of the boat I whispered, “I’m going to Amparo.”
“Turn. Around.”
I allowed for a small amount of time to pass before saying, “I can’t.”
There was an exhale, and then a click that even sounded angry. Feeling my stomach drop, I locked the phone and put it back into my pocket.
            Leon looked concerned, and I think he knew who was on the other line. “Are you-”
            “How much longer before we reach Amparo?” My impatience and anxiety was my excuse for my lack of manners, something he should have understood. Knowing what Wesker was capable of was the only thing that kept him quiet, and the confusion surrounding my relationship with him was another thing. What could he say in this moment?
“Shouldn’t be much longer.”
Clueless Jack asked, “Who was that?”
Though he’d been told a piece of the story, he still didn’t know it all, not that it would make his judgment of Wesker less harsh or more understanding. No, I would still be an enemy of the state for even having a phone conversation with the man. I just hoped that we didn’t run into him here and that he wouldn’t embarrass me or cause a scene by dragging me off by the arm. The source of my worry stemmed from his presence here, and the source of some of my relief stemmed from… well the fact that he was here. In the past when he judged me it was different: then it didn’t matter because he didn’t know me, but now it mattered because of what we had shared. Now, his opinion of me mattered more than ever, even more so than Chris’ at this moment, my brother who didn’t even know how and why this whole thing got started.
Behind me I heard a little grunt, and turned to see the girl stirring. Nervously, she sat up and backed into the side of the boat out of fear. Honestly, I didn’t blame her; at this point everyone was a suspect.
Immediately, Leon went into his caretaker mode. “You don’t have to worry,” he assured her, giving her a warm smile, something that I doubt could comfort her after all she’d seen. This kid would need a lot more than hot chocolate in front of a fireplace. Still he continued to try. “You’re fine. We’re not going to hurt you.” He glanced up at Jack who stood at the front, scouting the area ahead. I guess piranha watch was necessary at this point. Better yet he was probably recalling the tale of the giant sewer gator.
Dropping his binoculars from his eyes the blond interrupted with, “We’re the ones who saved you.”
Self consciously, she grabbed her arm, and I noticed that it was bandaged up neatly.
“Are you all right?” Leon leaned forward, and she turned away a bit like she was hiding her arm. Did someone hurt her?
Though I had my suspicions I looked at her with an overdone smile, unable to get eye contact. “Everything will be fine. We’re gonna get you out of here.”
Completely ignoring my attempt at warming her up to us Jack turned around, his glare belonging to that of someone interrogating a terrorist (something I’d only recently found out was a huge threat to America. Damn Wesker and his ideas of what’s important). “So you’re the girl huh? The one from Javier’s mansion?” he clarified.
Her gaze never left the bed of the boat; her voice was barely even audible. “The people in the village,” she began, a look of sorrow forming over her soft features, “what happened to them?”
Without hesitation or even sympathy, Jack answered with, “They’re dead.” In response to his directness she flinched. She was a child for God’s sake.
To save her already crushed heart, Leon stepped away from the motor, kneeling down slightly with the hope that she’d at least look to him to show that she wasn’t going to completely submit to hopelessness. “We’re here on a mission looking for an American who had contacted Javier about a virus.”
My head snapped up at this new piece of information, and Leon took notice with a quick look at me. I think I stepped into more than just one war.
In a gentle tone the brunet continued, not moving an inch closer, but standing his ground. “We need to find Javier. And we were hoping you could take us to Amparo.”
She nodded, still looking down, and now I knew that I had to see her eyes. I needed to know if they were the same, if I had seen them before.

About half an hour later we came upon a dam that had been kept in great condition, meaning that without a doubt someone opened it up to flood Mixcoatl. Even more surprising, the girl spoke for the first time without prompting. “I escaped through there.” Nothing but forest surrounded us, so how far had she run barefoot? I stole a look at her legs, they were free of scratches. There was nothing…
She led us to an entrance hidden around the side, a channel that would lead us farther into the structure where we would find Javier’s mansion. “So if we follow this water channel we’ll get there right?” Leon didn’t seem too convinced that this girl could remember how to get out of here. After so many traumas I wasn’t even sure myself. Guns at the ready, we headed down the channel, seeing a pool of water ahead of us. “You haven’t told us your name yet.”
“Manuela.” I guess she just naturally had a small voice, something that bothered me a little, but maybe the truth was that I didn’t trust her. She had yet to look at me, and all I knew was that those eyes had been a part of my past before. She was so much like her, Alexia Ashford, and I couldn’t take her at her word. There was just no way. This girl was different, and Leon was too blind to notice because he was once more struck down by pretty girl, one that was definitely too young for him.
“Pleased to meet you, Manuela.” His manners were beginning to bother me, we were far from needing to be formal with one another, if anything he should have been asking her for details and why she had to escape in the first place. More importantly, he needed to ask about her arm. At first I thought she could have been tortured, kept against her will, but now I was wondering. If things had been so bad then why the hell was she taking us back into the belly of the beast?
“Now from here on out, I need you to be more careful, all right?” It was nice to see that he cared about her despite not knowing a thing about her but her name. Still, I thought that he was laying it on pretty thick. Coming to a stop, we all looked at her. “You must do as we say, no matter what.”
Jack’s order was less friendly than Leon’s. “That means stay close if you wanna get outta here alive kid.” I was glad that a sweet face and a mousy voice hadn’t won him over, and it certainly wasn’t going to make me baby her. Sure I wanted to treat her kindly, but at the same time if she made it all the way to the village uninfected despite being the one to lead the BOWs there then she could take it.
For the first time since we were in the church she turned to me, seeming to look right into me. “Yes.” There was no doubt in my mind.
Honestly this chick was creeping me out, and something else: I don’t think she liked me too much. As we entered the discharge channel we looked up at the sky above us, clouds covered the blue sky, and today would have been a good day to sit outside and get some reading done. Alas, I was here for business, business that I didn’t properly dress for as I failed to put on the proper bottoms. I stared at the flooded room with dread, I had a feeling it was cold. My boots would keep the water from my skin for now, but if it rose… damn it.
The sound of water splashing was all that we needed to locate the school of piranha that emerged from below. We easily disposed of them, but I hated wasted ammo on fucking fish. Maybe we’d run into some more though, we had to since this was an outbreak, and people had to have taken notice that their coworkers and neighbors had become homicidal. I heard Manuela gasp, and I turned quickly to see a zombified worker reaching for her. I took him out with ease, but more piranhas were schooling because of the commotion, but instead of using our weapons unnecessarily we agreed to run for the entrance ahead. My feet felt heavy in the water as I hurried to reach the door, but complaining about the disadvantage wouldn’t help me.
There was a chirping sound, and the school retreated, no longer jumping at our heels. “What’s going on?” Manuela’s confusion had yet to convince me of her innocence, but I couldn’t focus on her. Something landed on the wall behind us, as soon as it was spotted it jumped at an incredible speed to the wall next to the entrance that was our salvation. It jumped down to meet us, barely splashing any water as its barely there body landed. I had never seen anything like it before in my life, not even in Raccoon City. Muscle and bone was exposed to us, its claws being the biggest things on were also the most telling of its origins.
I was certain that it at least had bat in it. It had no organs, I wasn’t even sure if there were any eyes in its exposed skull, but as it lashed out at us I couldn’t care less what the fucking thing possessed. Before I could begin pumping lead into it, Krauser took out the shotgun he had, the force of the bullets not enough to take it down as easy as we thought it would. It took three shells to take it down, and even in death it attempted to put up a fight. Though my curiosity was peaked I couldn’t take the time to look over the corpse; more of the bodies were reanimating behind us, and we headed for the entrance before pulling the door down.
Manuela rested her tired body against the stone wall of the dark walkway, the fluorescent lights too weak to give the desired amount of illumination for the occasion. I didn’t need creepy, I needed a clear path to get me the hell out of here. Sure I was glad to be able to watch out for Leon, yet at the same time I was in trouble that I didn’t have to be in. Again. I thought I wasn’t Claire Redfield anymore, but boy was I wrong. And now I’d be paying for my decision long after this was over.
January 14, 2002 Sunday 2:16 PM

Subject: Wesker, Albert
Location: Mixcoatl, Brazil
Status: …
Claire had no intention of coming to me, not with her friend in the middle of this mess that could have been prevented. He was only lucky that I was here merely for observation and now if opportunity knocked, extraction. Among other things Claire had failed to comprehend what would happen if she were wounded in front of Kennedy, and his partner… The blond could not be trusted, at least not until his reaction towards Manuela’s secret could be gauged. He struck me as the type to put a wounded horse out of its misery and not continue to beat it after its death. There was no doubt in my mind that the extent of Claire’s infection would push him to the edge, regardless of his response though, Kennedy would definitely let big brother know the status of his little sister. He would feel some sickening notion of a hero’s responsibility to let him know that Claire was now what he hunted down for a living.
And at this point I did not doubt that he would make an attempt on her life. He was weak and short-sighted. An idiot with hate in him which made for a horrifying combination. In his mission to stop me he had become nothing more than a “zombie” himself, hell-bent on one thing. My hypothesis was one that I kept to myself, all for the sake of Claire and her emotions, pesky things that would undoubtedly cause her to run away into the arms of the man who would bring her more grief than Umbrella had ever managed. So now I would wait, my only option for now. What had been unleashed here was not for her to see, and there was a chance that she wouldn’t be able to handle it.
January 14, 2002 Sunday 2:16 PM

Subject: Redfield, Claire
Location: Mixcoatl, Brazil
Status: Anxious
The situation had gotten out of hand, and no matter how much ammo we found it didn’t make me feel any better. More of those bat things were crawling around than I could have imagined, and Leon was willing to pull unnecessary stunts all for the sake of a girl we had just met. When we found her she was singing, all just after a wave of the undead had attacked us, but she seemed quite calm despite what was going on around her. Her reassurance was unnerving, especially since she was so young. Well, at least I saw it as reassurance. Jack saw her as stupid, something she may have been, but I didn’t see her in that light fully. She seemed to harbor some feelings of sympathy for Javier, the man responsible for her plight, and more than once she had tried to defend him. Something in her mind wouldn’t really let her do that though, but that still didn’t stop me from suspecting that she wasn’t just an innocent in all of this.
Her apologies meant nothing to me, not when she had basically rang the goddamned dinner bell for any surrounding BOWs. She may have not been too worried but I was, because if I did sustain any injury in front of Leon or Jack, I’d have some explaining to do, explaining that we didn’t have time for. Also, maybe I just didn’t want to think of what I’d say. Yeah I just got a chunk of flesh ripped off by one of those things but it’s back now and I’m starving. That wouldn’t suffice, and I wouldn’t blame him for wanting to know more. The biggest problem though would be the one I’d have with myself: accusing Manuela of hiding something when my secret would impact Leon a lot more since he was supposed to be able to trust me.
Suddenly, a voice whispered to us from the air, calling out to none other than our precious cargo.
“It’s Javier!” Leon pointed to the speaker in the corner.
“Please, my dear. Come home.”
My dear?
“Father!”All eyes were on Manuela as she looked around, her emotion either being one of fear or relief, I couldn’t tell. Holding onto her bandaged arm, she ran around the corner and through the heavy doors, but we followed as quickly as we could. This kid definitely owed us answers now that we knew she was leading us to her dad. Somehow she had managed to miss a group of five zombies that came stumbling in the doorway. We finished them off quickly, and I was surprised that in my haste I made no mistakes. When you knew you were in little danger, you got pretty wreckless, and though I could physically afford it I couldn’t with an audience.
We ran through the doors, the sight of a still Manuela was before us with her hands down by her sides and her head titled up. Standing above her across the channel was an older man who Leon referred to as Javier. Javier wore a pair of shades possibly to convey a sense of cool. His jacket was draped over his shoulders, making me think that he only did so to pretend that he possessed an air of regality. Gold necklaces hung beneath his white collar, a pendant dangling from one of them. His moustache and beard were neat, and his brown hair was combed back away from his face.
He looked like a used car salesman more than anything, but you could never underestimate his type. It was the content of the book, never the cover. However he sounded like as much as a snake as he called his followers, persuasive and slick, but no matter how smooth he sounded you could tell that every word leaving his mouth would be either a lie or a means to get him what he wanted.
In his accented voice, he proclaimed to his daughter, “Everything that I have done has been for you.” Like a disappointed father, he looked away and paced bit. “You need only to follow my directions for fifteen years.”
As Manuela backed away until she was behind the men, I had a feeling that he wasn’t just being a protective dad that didn’t want her dating the boy with the motorcycle. No, the girl’s face spoke volumes that she herself didn’t dare reach. Once more she was holding on to her bandaged arm, but I looked back to Javier hoping that he was about to justify my immediate dislike for her.
“This will prevent the transformation.”
She shook her head, but I was soon able to put two and two together.
With a shallow breath I looked to her. “Fifteen years? A transformation?” These guidelines were not even given to me in a complete list but I managed to figure it out pretty quickly. “Where did you get your eyes Manuela?”
“I-” She couldn’t even answer me.
“My dear, you must be patient!” Javier was not pleading with her, he was telling her.
“What the fuck?” Jack’s ignorance of the subject was forgiven, but I think that more than now he felt like he was in over his head, and he wanted out.
Javier took hold of the railing and leaned over to stare even harder at Manuela, showing that his skills of imitation were never wasted. “The man who gave us the Veronica virus told me it would work.”
Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit.
Maybe it was denial, but whatever it was it made my arm shoot up to aim my gun at that controlling son of a bitch. “What is the man’s name?”
“Ah!” Manuela’s scream broke my focus, and we turned to see her being held by one of Javier’s men with a gun aimed at the side of Jack’s head.
“These Americans cannot save you, my dear! Only I, your father, can help you now.”
“Fuck you!” I yelled, turning around to shoot, but the sound of water crashing over itself down the channel was roaring in my ear and I felt my legs being swept from under me. Automatically my eyes closed and as I felt my body being engulfed completely by water I held my breath, failing my arms without know where I needed to go or even where I was going. I managed to pry my eyes open for a second, only to see myself heading towards the stone wall, unable to stop myself, unable to throw my arms out to slow the impact.
Crack!
?

Subject: Redfield, Claire
Location: ?
Status: ?
She laughed for no true reason, just because she was mad. And though our interactions were very few I would never forget her face, her voice, or her eyes. Nothing was wrong with what she was doing: the experiments, killing her father, killing Steve. All she knew was that this world was meant for her and she would take it by the balls, all for no particular reason. Alexia Ashford’s selfishness had no rival in this world, and neither did she. While I compared Manuela to that lunatic it was unfair, because while her secrets were harmful she didn’t mean to hurt us. Alexia meant to hurt me.
I hadn’t dreamed of Steve in a while, something that was a good thing, but at the same time it wasn’t. Now I was no longer used it, seeing those eyes that hadn’t belonged to him, hearing his voice so strained, and seeing his body being stretched and torn from its original form. He wanted to kill me, he wanted to follow his orders that had somehow been passed down from his new queen, and he should have. I should have been dead.
Steve had something that she didn’t though, something that couldn’t be grown overnight: a conscience. Steve Burnside had somehow beat the one thing that was supposed to be unbeatable, the one thing that was supposed to guarantee her, her throne, but he succeeded in his fight for his humanity. Was Manuela doing the same thing? Was she proof that her research, her life’s work was flawed? After all this time had Alexia finally lost?
A beeping noise was loud in my ears, and my eyes snapped open. For a moment it was hard to take anything in, just because I had been out for so long, and my mind was trying to piece together the puzzle but it was almost impossible. I remembered Leon, Jack, and that girl that was the cause of all of the trouble. Nothing else surfaced, and I was faced with the task of identifying my current position. There was an empty chair across from me, wooden and worn from either use or neglect, I couldn’t tell. Soon the sound of footsteps met my ears, and the fact that I could identify them based on their pace was both odd and a good thing. Then a figure cloaked in black stepped in front of me, taking a seat in that very chair.
It was time to answer for my mistakes, and this wouldn’t go over well.
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