TWENTY-FOUR
THE RAIN HAD TURNED INTO A DRIZZLE, BUT
Nicholai didn't notice, walking beneath the thick
canopy of autumn leaves back through the cemetery.
Another fifty or sixty meters and he could cut east, par-
allel the trail that ran straight to the water treatment fa-
cility's back entrance. He never used paths in public
places when he could avoid them, not liking the sense
of exposure.
On last check, Terence Foster was still alive and well
and filing environmental status reports from the treat-
ment plant, perfectly unaware that, as the last surviving
Watchdog, his hours were numbered. Nicholai had al-
ready decided to just kill the man outright, to hell with
talking. He'd found Chan's Watchdog data easily
enough, sitting on the small table in the receiver sta-
tion; he'd find Foster's, too. A quick encryption on the
combined files - a little health insurance - then he'd
radio for pickup and go take a meeting with the deci-
sion makers.
Nicholai had just reached the copse of pines behind
the fence of one of the park's reflecting pools when he
saw Jill Valentine, walking casually past the water's
edge beneath a row of wrought-iron lamps and headed
in the direction he wanted to go. The low lights re-
flected off the water at her, giving her a ghostly appear-
ance, but she was definitely alive.
He supposed he shouldn't be surprised, but he was.
The look of pain on Carlos's face when he'd talked
about her ... Nicholai had been sure it was real, he
hadn't doubted for a second that she was dead.
Ah, well, it was the last lie he ever told. Very noble of
him, to try and protect the girl from who he believes to
be the dastardly villain ... as if I would waste my time.
No time wasted if he killed her now. Nicholai raised
the assault rifle, carefully took aim at the back of her head and hesitated, curious in spite of his resolve to
finish his business in Raccoon. How had she managed
to evade the S.T.A.R.S. seeker all this time? Where had
she been when her Latin lover had so idiotically wan-
dered into Nicholas's path at the hospital? And where,
exactly, did she think she was going?
He decided to follow her, at least until an easy op-
portunity presented itself for him to get the answers to
his questions. As it was, with her on the main trail
through the park and him behind a waist-high railing,
he couldn't maneuver very well; telling her to freeze,
drop her weapons, and then hold still while he climbed
the fence wasn't the most desirable option.
Nicholai sank back into the shadows and counted
slowly to twenty, letting her get far enough ahead that
she shouldn't be able to hear him moving through the
trees. He would trail her until the main path became the
bridge over the park's large duck pond, confronting her
once she was halfway across, out in the open with
nowhere to run.
Satisfied with his plan, Nicholai started walking,
moving as quietly as he could. He'd lost sight of her on
his count, but unless she was jogging, he'd catch up
with her just before...
"Freeze." Her voice was calm and clear, the semiau-tomatic's muzzle hard against the side of his head. "Oh, but drop the rifle first, if you would."
Nicholai did as he was told, shocked into it, unsling-
ing his rifle and letting it fall. How had she spotted
him? How had she managed to circle back so quietly,
without his notice?
And how much does she really know about me?
"Please don't shoot," he said, his voice cracking. "Jill, it's me, Nicholai."
The gun stayed where it was. "I know who you are. And I know you're working for Umbrella, not just as a
soldier. What's Operation Watchdog, Nicholai?"
She already knew something about it. If he lied, he
lost any credibility he might still have with her.
Say and do whatever it takes. "Umbrella sent me and
several others in to gather information about the virus
carriers," he said. "But I didn't know it was going to be like this, I swear, I never would have agreed to it if I
had known. I just want to get out with my life, that's all
I care about anymore."
Still the muzzle stayed pressed to his temple. She
was careful, he had to give her that much.
"What do you know about the water treatment plant
near here?" she asked.
"Nothing. I mean, I know Umbrella owns it, but
that's it. Please, you must believe me, I just want to..."
"What about the vaccine for the virus, what you
know about that?"
Nicholai's gut knotted at the very mention, but he
stayed in character. "Vaccine? There's no vaccine."
"Bullshit, or I'd be dead. Prove to me that you
want to cooperate here, and maybe we can work
something out. What have you heard about a T-virus
vaccine?"
Carlos. The look on his face when he talked about
her ... and when he saw the sample case.
Nicholai didn't trust himself to speak, the depth of
his sudden and complete inner turmoil like a physical
force, pushing him to act - but he couldn't, and he had
to convince her that he was just another Umbrella pawn
or she was going to shoot him. He opened his mouth,
not sure what was going to come out...
... and he was saved by the very ground beneath
them. There was a deep rumble and the earth shook,
pitching both of them into a drunken stumble, leaves
and sticks jumping around their feet. The gun swung
away from his head as Jill struggled for balance.
Even as disorienting as it was to try and stay upright,
Nicholai didn't think it was a real earthquake. It was lo-
calized around them; for one thing, he could see that
the water in the pool was barely moving. The tremor
went on and on, seeming to increase in magnitude, and
Nicholai knew he wasn't going to get a better opportu-
nity to get away.
Feigning panic, Nicholai threw up his arms and
shouted, carefully noting where his rifle lay on the
shaking ground. "It's one of the mutants! Run!" It was as likely to be some viral monster as it was
anything else, and telling her to run would work for
him - she'd think twice about shooting someone trying
to help her.
The quake was intensifying as Nicholai ran away
from Jill, one arm still waving frantically. He yelled
again for her to run as he snatched up the rifle and
sprinted away, not looking back, hoping she'd bought
his performance. If not, he'd feel the bullet soon
enough...
... and within twenty meters, the ground that he was
on was practically still, although he could still feel and
hear the rumbling earth behind him.
Far enough, find cover and shoot her...
There was a big oak tree straight ahead. Still run-
ning, Nicholai reached out with his right arm and
veered left, grabbing the tree and letting his own
weight swing him around. As soon as he was safely be-
hind the gnarled trunk, he darted a look back, readying
the M16 as he spotted her, weaving slowly away from the quake in the opposite direction.
Now you die, you billion dollar bitch -
- and the rumbling was suddenly a roar, and a huge
fountain of muddy white spewed up from the ground,
blocking his shot, trees crashing all around. A strange
and horrible bellowing erupted from the fountain, a
hissing bass note, and as the pale column twisted five
meters into the air and then curved down suddenly,
Nicholai realized it was an animal, one that had surely
never existed before - the gnashing circle of pointed
tusks and teeth that tipped the massive white worm-
body were proof enough.
It bellowed again, arching, a titan hybrid of maggot
and lamprey eel, of waxworm and snake, as big
around as a man was tall - and it dove away from
Nicholai.
Toward Jill Valentine.
Nicholai turned and ran away, giggling, cursing Jill
and Carlos as he dodged trees in the dark, heading for
the plant, laughing as he damned them to everlasting
hell.
Jill was running, skirting the water's edge, and didn't
know it was coming until it crashed to the ground only
a few meters behind her. A wash of foul air blew over
her, a smell of dirt and wet meat coming from the
mouth of the carnivorous worm.
Holy crap!
She ran faster, wanting to get some distance before
she dared to look back, one grenade load's not enough, have to run for it...
Ahead, the rounded reflecting pool curved, a few
benches at the corner, a stand of trees behind them. The
ground was rumbling again, but Jill was almost there; if
she could get around the corner she should be clear,
the man-made pool was lined with cement, the thing
would knock itself out if she was lucky...
... and the benches and trees in front of her suddenly
blew up into the air, raised up on a wave of dirt, the
blind, probing worm vomiting soil from its toothed
maw as it swept its head toward her.
Jesus, it's fast! Jill raised the Beretta she still held tightly and buried two rounds in its bloated underbelly,
the worm screaming again, deep and hissing like the
roar of an attacking crocodile.
Jill spun and took off, heart pounding, already hear-
ing and feeling the start of another quake as she
grabbed her Beretta. It would get in front of her again,
she knew it, she'd never make it around either end of
the long pool. Going across would slow her down too
much. Think, if you can't run what can you use to stop it, dirt, water, trees, lamps...
Lamps. Several were leaning wildly from the under-ground movements of the mammoth grub, like up-
rooted saplings about to fall. Into the pool.
No time to plan, she had to get it into the water,
she'd have to bait it out. She took a last running step
and paused long enough to pivot ninety degrees right,
dashing toward the pool. It was damaged, rivulets of
scummy water draining from the concrete lip.
It rises up then crashes down, takes it a second or
two to raise itself again - A second or two, that's how long she'd have to get out of the water. Assuming she
could knock a lamp over with bullets first, and that
the monstrous worm would obligingly dive into the
pool.
Calculating the odds meant she'd have to think, and
the ground was already trembling, shaking hard enough
to send her to her knees. She fell and slid through a
thick layer of grass and mud, and then she was trying to
get to her feet and keep the gun dry...
... and it was bursting up through the edge of the
pool not ten feet to her right, blotting out the cloudy
sky in a blast of mud and stone, concrete and water.
There was a single lamp between her and the monster,
already almost touching the water.
Move!
Jill scrambled backwards, moving faster than she
would have thought possible, stopping as she saw that
the creature had peaked and was starting to bend over,
sheets of water pouring from its swollen form.
She opened fire as she rolled up onto her feet, the
first shots wild, the third and fourth clanging off the
metal post. The worm was coming down, creating a
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