The cable car came to a stop with a metallic groan, and Arthur checked outside carefully to see if they were in any immediate danger. Satisfied for the moment, he reloaded all of his guns and got his rifle ready.
Billy stepped out and, like Arthur, started doing an equipment check, his expression focused.
Finally, Rebecca stepped out, still wearing Arthur's hat and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"Alright, a quick food break, then we get moving," Arthur said as he passed cans of peaches to Billy and Rebecca.
"I'm not even gonna complain this time," Billy said, letting out a small breath as he popped the top and started eating.
Arthur reached over and took his hat back from Rebecca, causing her to pout a bit at its loss.
The three entered the factory.
"Damn it, not really anything we can skip at this point, just gonna have to go through it... shit, I didn't kill the giant bat," Arthur thought, his expression tightening slightly.
Arthur shrugged his rifle off his back and said, "We're in the heart of a monster factory. Save your heavy weapons for anything tougher than the zombies."
"I'll go check this room out," Rebecca said, pointing to a set of double doors.
"Then me and Billy will see where this lift goes. Meet up in ten," Arthur said as he climbed onto the lift, Billy following close behind.
Once the lift stopped, they made their way over, carefully shimming across the narrow walkway toward the door.
"Who the hell designed this place?" Arthur shouted, glancing down briefly.
"Well, consider the fact it's run by mad scientists and corrupt businessmen," Billy replied with a dry chuckle.
Once inside, the two slowly made their way across the catwalk with their guns raised, every step cautious.
"Why the hell is someone's workstation suspended over a huge drop-off?" Billy said, staring into the abyss below.
"Not sure, but I found a key over here." Arthur replied, kneeling next to a computer as he picked it up.
"Wonder what it goes to," Billy said, glancing around.
After looking around for a couple of minutes, the two could not find anywhere that the key could possibly be used. So instead, they made their way back toward Rebecca, their footsteps echoing faintly.
As they did, they heard two loud thumps land on the metallic walkway ahead of them.
Looking forward, they saw two large, muscular, reptilian-looking creatures with massive claws, their forms blocking the path.
"What the hell are those things?" Billy said, raising his shotgun quickly.
"Don't know, just put them down," Arthur said, already firing off rounds.
The bullets barely did anything to slow the two creatures as they closed in on the men quickly.
Arthur activated Dead Eye as the two monsters got in close, but not to fire at them—just to buy himself time to grab Billy and roll out of the way.
Once time resumed its normal flow, the two found themselves behind the creatures and started firing again the moment they got back on their feet.
After several shots and a lot of dodging, the two monsters finally hit the ground, succumbing to their wounds.
Pausing to catch their breath, the two men kept their guns trained on the fallen creatures.
"What the fuck was that?" Billy said between breaths, lowering his shotgun slightly.
"I don't know, but I don't want to see another one. Let's get moving. Hopefully Rebecca didn't run into any of those," Arthur replied, already making his way to the door.
The two made their way back across the ledge, up the lift, and through the double doors, finding Rebecca messing around with some consoles in what looked like a control room.
"There you two are. I didn't find anything here except a control panel for a turntable lift, but it needs a key," Rebecca said, glancing over at them.
Arthur held up the key. "You think this is the key?" he asked.
Rebecca took the key from Arthur and inserted it into the console, and to their relief, the console powered on. They were able to call the lift and rode it down to the bottom floor.
There was a pair of double doors to their backs and a blocked tunnel in front of them.
As they started taking cautious steps forward, they heard the door open behind them.
All three spun around, raising their weapons and training them on the new arrival.
An older man with neck-length brown hair, a brown mustache, and brown eyes stood there, wearing a brown leather S.T.A.R.S. vest, green pants, and a white undershirt.
Rebecca was the first to lower her gun. "Captain, it's you!" she said, relief flooding her voice.
The man himself had his gun raised, pointed at Billy, while keeping a sharp eye on Arthur.
"Good to see you, Rebecca. I see you found the two convicts, Second Lieutenant Billy Coen and Mr. Morgan. Good work, Rebecca. Alright, gentlemen, come with me and Officer Chambers. We're going to rendezvous with the rest of our team and, with any luck, evac back to Raccoon City," Enrico said, still keeping his gun trained on them.
"All due respect, officer, are the deaths of the M.P.s gonna be pinned on us?" Arthur asked, raising his hands slightly.
"Given all we've seen today—the dead coming back to life, those monsters roaming the forest—I think it's pretty clear you two weren't responsible. I'll vouch for you when we get back to the station," Enrico said with a nod. "It's the least I can do for the two of you having my rookie officer's back. You could've just turned tail and run. That says a lot about both of you," he added with a hint of respect.
"We couldn't leave her to get killed. Wouldn't have felt right," Billy said with a small grin.
"Yeah, I wouldn't have been able to sleep at night knowing I left her to die," Arthur said with a quiet chuckle.
"Hey, I could have handled myself," Rebecca said, pouting slightly.
Everyone laughed until Enrico cleared his throat.
"Alright, we need to move, gentlemen. In light of the circumstances, I will allow your continued use of weaponry until we're out of this mess," Enrico said, turning and leading the way.
"But sir, what about this facility? Shouldn't we investigate?" Rebecca asked, hesitating.
Arthur sighed, thinking it through, and decided it was better to see the plot of Zero through to the end.
"Listen, Captain, why don't you and Billy go on ahead? Me and Rebecca will stay behind and gather evidence, then make our way to you later. I mean, what happens if these things get out to the city? We should at least try to keep them contained," Arthur suggested.
"How do you propose we do that, Mr. Morgan?" Enrico asked, glancing back.
"I'll seal the exits," Arthur said plainly.
"You carrying explosives?" Enrico asked, narrowing his eyes slightly.
"I will neither confirm nor deny that," Arthur replied.
After a few minutes, Enrico nodded. "Alright, but don't be heroes. If it gets to be too much, you two pull back," he ordered.
"Yes, sir," Rebecca responded.
Enrico and Billy left through an underground tunnel system, and Arthur hoped having Billy with him was enough to change Enrico's fate, but he couldn't risk letting Marcus—or rather, the Queen Leech—escape before Dr. Birkin blew the place.
"Alright, Rebecca, shall we?" Arthur said with a small grin.
"We shall," Rebecca said with a grin of her own.
(Authors Note: Sorry I've been gone and sorry about the short chapter had personal shit to deal with and this chapter is short because I didn't think it was right to make the tyrant fight short)