Because his back was turned toward the tentacle whip, Jake had no idea what was happening behind him.
By the time he sensed a dangerous aura,
it was already too late. A massive white tentacle lashed out once more, striking him ruthlessly across the spine.
The blow was as heavy as a mountain, sending Jake flying forward.
He was only a few steps away from Chris. This strike sent Jake's body slamming hard into Chris, causing both men to tumble down into the corridor.
"Cough, cough...!"
"Jake, are you alright?!"
The immense force of the impact left Chris dazed and his head spinning, but as soon as he regained his senses, his first concern was for Jake's safety.
However...
When Chris saw the wound on Jake's back, the words died in his throat, and his face filled with disbelief.
Jake's entire back was a mangled mess of necrotic flesh.
It was ruined beyond recognition.
He had already been struck once by the HAOS's whip, and the progenitor virus had only just begun to repair a fraction of the damage.
Now, he had been hit a second time.
Consequently, Jake's back could only be described as a bloody, gruesome pulp; not a single inch of flesh remained intact.
Everything was macerated.
Bone-white shoulder blades and vertebrae were exposed to Chris's sight, showing signs of fracturing. For a moment, Chris thought Jake was already dead.
"Cough, cough..."
"Go... Go quickly, Chris. Don't worry about my injuries. Just get out of here first...!"
Miraculously,
Jake wasn't dead; he was still clinging to a sliver of life.
His back had lost all sensation. Jake only felt his head growing heavy and groggy, unable to feel any pain.
All he wanted to do now was sleep.
He desperately wanted to drift off into unconsciousness, so in the moment before his eyes closed, Jake stubbornly forced his lips open to urge Chris to leave!
"Jake? Jake? Jake...!!!"
"I'm taking you out of here right now, but you must not sleep! You can't drift off. If you fall asleep now, you'll never wake up again. Promise me, stay awake! Don't pass out!"
Hearing Jake's whispered urging, Chris was overjoyed. It meant Jake was still alive, still hanging on by a thread.
But seeing Jake's drowsy state,
Chris's heart immediately leapt into his throat. This was a sign of impending death, so Chris hurriedly warned Jake not to fall asleep.
Once he entered a deep sleep,
his brain would shut down and enter a state of pseudo-death. Without effective treatment, he would truly die!
With that said,
Chris didn't dare risk Jake's safety any further. He immediately hoisted Jake onto his back.
He sprinted toward the Emergency Escape Pod area, tossing his assault rifle aside.
As he fled, Chris kept talking incessantly, trying to keep Jake in a state of light sleep so he wouldn't lose consciousness entirely.
"ROOOAAAR—!!!!"
On the other side,
the HAOS behind them regained its sight. Seeing its two prey escaping, it flew into a violent rage. After letting out a deafening roar toward the ceiling,
it drove its countless lower-body tentacles to contract and pursue them frantically, determined to recapture Chris and Jake.
Although the HAOS was massive,
its body was extremely flexible, much like an octopus or a squid. They could slide their bodies through very small gaps.
It's common to see octopuses in the ocean squeezing themselves into glass bottles, and the HAOS was no different.
By contracting its body, it could move freely through the narrow tunnels, though its speed was somewhat hampered!
*Thud, thud, thud...*
Chris did not slow down even with Jake on his back.
Instead, he moved faster and faster. Driven by a resolute conviction, Chris would not abandon Jake here.
However, the repeated roars of the HAOS behind them made Chris's heart tremble. He didn't dare look back,
fearing that if he did,
the HAOS would be right on top of them. Thus, Chris could only keep his head down and run, pushing himself to be as fast as possible.
Fortunately,
the HAOS indeed couldn't catch up to them. In the narrow tunnel,
its writhing speed was quite slow, and without seawater to act as a lubricant against the cold steel walls, its sluggishness was only natural.
Consequently,
this gave Chris and Jake a significant opportunity.
Before long, the two successfully reached the Emergency Escape Pod area.
Inside, Leon was already waiting. Piers and Helena had already taken the lead and entered their escape pods.
"ROOOAAAR...!!!!"
"That beast is catching up! Hurry... Quick, Chris, jump straight into the pod! I'll activate the hatch!"
Seeing Chris and Jake's staggering figures, Leon frowned and hurriedly urged them on.
He kept waving for them to speed up. The escape pod was already open, just waiting for the two of them to jump in.
"Leon...!"
Seeing Leon waiting there for so long, a smile of relief finally appeared on Chris's face. He had made it.
Chris gritted his teeth,
letting out a low growl,
and used every last ounce of his strength to accelerate, leaping into an escape pod with Jake still on his back.
*Clack—!!!*
Seeing this,
the quick-handed Leon didn't hesitate for a second, immediately pulling down the escape pod's release lever nearby.
After pulling the switch,
Leon quickly jumped into his own pod. Once the hatch was activated, it would take about ten seconds to eject, which was plenty of time for Leon to move.
*Boom... Rumble—!!!!*
"ROOOAAAR...!!!"
At that very moment,
a loud crash echoed through the escape pod area. A large section of steel plating was sent flying, and numerous components shattered.
The massive HAOS forced its way through the tunnel entrance, hissing and snarling. When it saw Chris and the others inside the pods,
a murderous light immediately flashed in its eyes.
It hurriedly reached out with its massive grayish-white hands and tentacles, attempting to smash the high-pressure glass doors of the escape pods.
*Thud, thud, thud...*
Unfortunately for it,
this glass was designed to withstand the pressure of several thousand meters under the sea. Its hardness and resilience were extraordinary, certainly not something the HAOS could easily shatter.
The tentacles lashed against it but failed to cause any damage, leaving the HAOS frustrated and unable to stop itself from letting out more roars.
"Goodbye... monster!"
Looking at the furious HAOS before him,
Leon, safe inside his escape pod, taunted it.
Then, without hesitation, a "clack" sounded.
The ten-second countdown ended, and the escape pod mechanisms engaged.
Four escape pods were launched rapidly, like glass marbles, quickly vanishing from the HAOS's sight.
*Whoosh...*
*Gurgle—!!!*
The moment the escape pods flew out of the Underwater Oil Field Base, they didn't need propulsion; they immediately began to float toward the surface.
Looking out through the glass at the pitch-black depths of the ocean,
and the gradually disappearing oil rig, the tension that had been wound tight within everyone finally relaxed.
They slumped into the soft interiors of the escape pods, gasping for air. This was finally a narrow escape. It had been far too difficult!
Volume 9 Resident Evil 6: Chapter 82 Nuclear Submarine
*Gurgle...*
"It's really over..."
Watching the bubbles rolling past the glass, Chris and the others couldn't help but mutter to themselves within the spherical pods.
There shouldn't be any more surprises this time.
They had escaped the Underwater Oil Field Base. Now they just had to wait for the deep-sea pressure to push them up.
The various harrowing scenes from before were still vivid in their minds,
leaving Chris and the others with a lingering sense of dread.
Now that the adrenaline was fading, a deep sense of exhaustion washed over them again, making them want to close their eyes and fall into a heavy sleep.
"Jake..."
At that moment,
Chris seemed to remember something and hurriedly turned his gaze toward the unconscious Jake beside him.
Jake's back wound had already begun to scab over. Although the blood he had shed earlier had stained the white escape pod red,
thanks to the progenitor virus,
the large patches of crimson blood had begun to clot. Of course, the lost flesh could not grow back so quickly.
Thus, even though it was scabbing,
Jake's back was still deeply recessed, as if a large amount of flesh had been scooped out. Beneath the thin blood scab, the white bone was visible.
But even so,
when Chris saw this, he let out a huge sigh of relief.
Because he knew very well that Jake's life was saved. The progenitor virus was repairing his injuries.
While Chris often loathed bio-viruses, at this moment, he had to admit that these things could indeed save a life.
"Phew..."
"However, perhaps I should also consider retirement. I retired from the Air Force at twenty-five to join S.T.A.R.S, and later founded the BSAA."
"I'm thirty-nine now, and I'll be forty in another year. Time really flies. I can finally understand Jill's decision to move to logistics. One really can't spend their entire life on the front lines of the fight against bio-organic threats."
"It's time to stop and rest properly. Though I truly wanted to fulfill my previous aspirations, it seems Javier was right; it was just a dream. I can't accomplish this alone."
"However, ideals can be passed down. The BSAA has two excellent successors now. They should be able to complete this difficult task, and I can finally rest for a while with peace of mind!"
Taking a deep breath of relief,