"Freeze." Her voice was calm and clear, the semiautomatic's muzzle hard against the side of his head. "Oh,
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 localized 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 opportunity 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 thathe 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 running, 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 behind 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 comer, 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 hearing 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 underground movements of the mammoth grub, like uprooted 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
tidal wave of mud as the fifth shot blew out the light. It was going to crush her if she didn't move,close, gonna be close —
Bam! Bam!
It was the seventh shot that did it, and the results were spectacular. There was a giant, buzzingpop as Jill threw herself backwards and to the side, the lamp immersed in the rapidly draining pool. The semi-gelatinous flesh of the screaming worm shivered and shook as it raised itself up, twisting in agony. Its pallid skin began to blacken and crisp as an oily, noxious smoke poured out of its throat, the hidden length of its body thrashing up giant sprays of dirt and rock. It bellowed once more, the unearthly sound becoming choked, gurgling—