Chapter 5: 3 Years Ago: Leaving Umbrella
“ Well, that was our first meeting, right?” Kimmy asked.
“ Sure was,” Max replied.
“ Hmm, what a great way to introduce myself on our first meeting,” Kimmy sighed. Max gave a barely audible chuckle.
“ Were there any survivors that escaped from the city?” Kimmy asked.
“ I’m not sure, but I heard there were reports that Umbrella officials were sent after to find people who did escape from the city afterwards, so I guess a few survivors made it, although I don’t know what Umbrella did to them when they found out about it,” Max answered.
“ Umbrella Incorporated should not have existed,” Kimmy gritted her teeth.
“ Well, that’s what we always like to say, but nothing we do really matters,” Max replied.
“ Where were you this last three years?”
“ Hiding obviously. If Umbrella was out there to get my head, I’d hide in the deepest hole there is…okay, I didn’t mean that literally. Well, I kept a low profile, and so did my pal Phoenix. In fact, I didn’t see him till today in the terminal,” Max confessed.
“ Why didn’t you do something?” Kimmy asked.
“ Do what?”
“ Go against Umbrella. You had the notebook as proof. I hope that you still have it,” Kimmy said, almost demandingly.
“ Look it would do no good. What proof do you need? The whole world practically knows that Umbrella is responsible for all these outbreaks and they are still in business. So, what is one person against the might of a billion dollar company?” Kimmy asked.
“ The people who are protesting against Umbrella aren’t people who escaped from Raccoon city. You could make a difference,” Kimmy replied.
“ Look, the only reason why no one who escaped had taken any action is because the ended up dead. Two people tried to testify and they conveniently disappeared under the FBI’s noses,” Max replied.
Kimmy kept quiet, digesting the facts. Picking up the courage, she asked “ Did you see my brother?”
“ Well, he would be in a police uniform at that time right? I told you we didn’t go far into the city, just the outskirts. I didn’t see your brother, not that I know of,” Max replied.
Kimmy stared dejectedly out of the window. “ I didn’t even get to bury his body,” Kimmy mused.
“ I’m sorry to hear that,” Max said, meaning it. Tentatively, he reached over and held Kimmy’s hand. She felt surprised at first at a stranger holding her hand to comport her, but she then told herself that Max was not a stranger no more. She felt at peace when she felt his warm embrace.
“ So, tell me, how did you all escape?” Kimmy asked.
“ Gee…” Max said, trying to think.
---
“ Who the hell are you guys?” a policeman barked.
Max and Phoenix had arrived at the barricade which they had quickly fixed up after being destroyed by Kimmy. He looked worriedly at the girl, hoping she was alright, but he gave a watchful stare at both Phoenix and Max, who looked suspicious and dangerous with their garbs and rifles they were carrying.
“ We are mercenaries, working for Umbrella,” Phoenix said. Lying would be of no use now. The policeman probably knew who they were anyway. From the disgruntled and menacing looks the other policemen were giving them, it looked like Umbrella was being a hated entity now.
“ Hey, are you alright?” the policeman asked Kimmy.
“ Sorry about your car,” Kimmy apologized.
“ Don’t worry about it. I’ll probably get a newer one,” the policeman grinned. Max felt that it was weird that the policeman was being very cool with this.
“ My brother is in there!” she cried suddenly.
“ Look here girl, we are doing the best we can. We are barricading the city for the safety of other people. The government is sending people here to help alright. If your brother is still alive, then we will just have to wait for reinforcements to arrive. Okay?” the policeman said in a fatherly tone.
Kimmy barely nodded. The policeman ordered another guy to tend to her and get her some hot chocolate to drink. After when she had left did the man return his attention to the two mercenaries.
“ I’m Officer Quinton, the man temporarily in-charge here. What are your names?” he demanded.
“ I’m Phoenix, and this is my comrade Max,” Phoenix answered quickly. Max decided it was prudent to leave the talking to Phoenix.
“ He’s a mercenary?” Officer Quinton pointed at Max ungracefully. “ He looks like he should be in high school.”
Max wanted to answer ‘I should’ but he knew it was not a good time to say such things.
“ What is it do you want with us?” Phoenix demanded.
“ I want to know what happened,” Officer Quinton demanded.
“ We don’t know,” Phoenix lied.
“ What did you say?”
“ Our helicopter crash landed on the outskirts of the city. When we approached the city, it looked like a war zone. We decided it was better to leave. And here we are,” Phoenix said.
“ Why in the world were you guys sent in there anyway?” Officer Quinton asked.
“ No idea. Our superiors will give orders when we enter the city. Since the helicopter is busted, we could not contact our headquarters for orders,” Phoenix said. Max decided Phoenix’s move of feigning ignorance was a good move. The policemen were probably unaware of what was happening to the city. Giving them information would fuel their hatred towards Umbrella and both Max and Phoenix would be juicy targets. Besides, it would make them look like they were not involved in the matter.
“ You said that you never entered the city?” the officer questioned.
“ Yes.”
“ So, you never fired your guns?”
Phoenix could see where the argument was heading. The officer had noticed specks of blood on Phoenix’s gun. His mind started racing again for suitable excuses.
“ No.”
“ Why is there blood on your gun?”
“ The rotor blades of our helicopter lobbed of the heads of two of the mercenaries with us. I don’t need to explain any further on what happened, do I?” Phoenix answered.
“ Some magazine clips are missing from your pocket, and your pal’s knife is missing.”
“ You can’t expect us to bail out of a falling helicopter and still stay in one piece, can you?” Phoenix argued back.
The officer was lost for words. He apparently did not believe them, but he could question them no further. Phoenix’s explanations were felt slightly far-fetched to him, but he had said it in a believable way. Max was thankful to get such a resourceful and handy comrade along with him.
Before anyone could say anything else, a car came up to them. It was a black Jaguar, shiny and new. Max was not sure of the model, but he guessed it was custom made. The windows were tinted black to ensure nobody could see the insides of the car.
When the car stopped, a man emerged from the car. He was wearing a three-piece suit and a hat with large and dark sunglasses that hid most of his face. In his hand was a black leather suitcase. He wore a black tie and he emitted an air of authority. His driver also emerged, dressed in full body armour and a face mask.
“ What in the devil’s name is this?” Officer Quinton scowled.
The man walked up to the officer and spoke briefly. “ I’m Gerald Coller, from the Security Branch of Umbrella Incorporated. I will need a private word with our people for a moment,” he barked, motioning to Max and Phoenix.
“ Umbrella, huh? You bastards have some explaining to do,” Officer Quinton snarled.
“ I don’t have time to talk to such meddling folks as you who don’t understand anything,” Gerald replied coldly.
“ Why you…”
“ Silence!” Gerald ordered, raising his hand. “ Time is short and I will need to talk to them immediately. Now, I see you have propped up a make-shift tent. Get your people out now!”
“ You can’t just…”
“ Yes, I can,” Gerald replied, holding up a piece of paper. When Officer Quinton saw it, his face fell. He quietly and quickly ordered his officers to move out of the make-shift tent that was propped up nearby. Talk about the pen being mightier than the sword. Looks like the paper is mightier than both, Max thought.
“ Please, we shall have our discussion in the tent, Mr. Hunter and Mr. Grant,” Gerald motioned to the tent with a wave of his hand. Great, they even know our names, Phoenix thought. He felt like he was being ushered into his execution chamber. He looked at Max and their eyes met. They understood each other well: they need to escape from Gerald’s clutches. The question was how.
The tent was a simple and crude one hastily placed for convenience sake. It was cluttered with boxes of supplies and piles of wood. There were several chairs placed in the tent. A pot of coffee was steaming on its boiler, giving out an aromatic smell all over the tent.
Phoenix laid down his rifle and pistol by the side of the tent and stroll to the coffee pot, stretching himself. Max was wondering if dropping their weapons was a good move. He had not noticed it earlier, but Max had noticed the fully armoured guard that was Gerald’s driver had a sub-machinegun in his hands. A fleeting glance from Phoenix told Max his partner knew what he was doing.
“ How have you two been?” Gerald asked casually. Phoenix reached for the coffee pot and started pouring out coffee. Max could see that he was preparing four cups.
“ Well, alright I guess, we just made it around the outskirts of the city,” Phoenix said. He took two of the coffee cups and drank from one of them. Max took the other two, merely making a guess on Phoenix’s next move.
“ I see. Did you see what was in there?” Gerald pressed. Max noted that the guard was fingering the trigger of his gun impatiently.
“ Yes, I did. Coffee?” Phoenix offered the guard, apparently surprised at Phoenix’s offer. Max did the same to Gerald.
“ No thanks, we will not drink,” Gerald replied coldly.
Phoenix immediately dropped both his cups and elbowed the man in the face. Temporarily stunned, Phoenix made a grab for the guard’s sub-machinegun. Seeing Phoenix taking action, Gerald reached for a sidearm he kept in his suit. Max instantly threw hot coffee onto him. He gave a yelp and dropped the gun, which Max quickly took up.
“ Sorry, we will be borrowing this,” Phoenix said. He gave a wave with the gun he was holding to motion Gerald to the side. Gerald obediently obeyed.
“ How are you going to get away with this, huh?” Gerald demanded. “ You can’t kill me. How are you going to escape the cops outside?” he continued, feeling bolder by the second. “ I can yell anytime now to get their attention!”
“ But you didn’t,” Phoenix replied, butting his head with the rear end of the machinegun. Gerald collapse unconscious on the floor. Without missing a beat, Phoenix did the same with the guard that accompanied the man, who collapsed on top of his boss.
“ Seriously, I didn’t know they were so intent on wiping out all information,” Phoenix replied.
“ So, what do we do now?” Max asked, nudging the bodies with his feet, making sure that they were really unconscious.
“ Let’s see what they have brought,” Phoenix said. He started ruffling through both men’s pockets. Nothing of interest caught his eye. There was the earlier form where Gerald had shown to Officer Quinton but he had already guessed what it contained. Disappointed, he turned his attention to the briefcase Gerald had brought.
The briefcase contained mainly papers and documents Phoenix had no intention of reading. However, there was an object that came to Phoenix’s eye. He picked it up and waved it at Max.
“ I wonder why they brought this along,” Phoenix said as Max’s eyes widened at shock seeing the object in Phoenix’s hand.
---
Officer Quinton looked up as he saw two men emerge from the tent. It was Gerald and his guard. He was about to walked up to the two of them to interrogate them when they quickly entered their car and left. They did not stop when Officer Quinton ran after them, yelling and spitting loudly.
What were Umbrella’s bastards doing?
He noticed that the other two mercenaries had not emerged from the tent. Feeling suspicious, he slowly walked to the tent.
As he entered, he knew some thing was wrong. Two people lay on the floor, apparently unconscious. However, his attention was not focused on the two unconscious people. It was an object propped up on a table.
It was square in shape and black in colour. His eyes opened wide as he saw a small timer in the middle of it.
It time showed 00:00:08…
Other officers looked at the direction of the tent in surprise as they saw Officer Quinton exit the tent, yelling at the top of his voice for everyone to leave. Several seconds later, the tent exploded, sending several officers to the ground and others shielding themselves as bits and pieces of wood and metal few all over the place.
Officer Quinton picked himself from the ground. The heat was slowly fading away as there was not much to burn in the tent. Officers rushed about trying to stop the fire, but there was little they could do without any supply of water. A few officers tried to throw sand and mud against the tent but it was already burning to the ground.
All Officer Quinton could do was stomping his feet and curse.
---
The black Jaguar was cruising down the highway when the people inside heard the explosion. It was rather muffled. Clouds of smoke started bellowing towards the sky, blotching out the sun slightly.
“ Where to next, boss?” the driver, a guard with full body armour jokingly asked the man seated at the back.
“ Oh, please don’t play with me,” Phoenix groaned, taking off Gerald’s hat and throwing it aside. He pulled off the tie that was practically suffocating him and took a deep, refreshing breath.
Max took off the face mask he was wearing that hid his face. Both of them had swapped clothes with Gerald and his guards. They made it quick. After timing the detonator of the C4 bomb that Gerald had carried properly, they made their way out quickly, hoping Officer Quinton won’t be a busybody and stick his nose in the tent too soon. Phoenix had gauged the power of the blast would only affect the tent, so as long as none of the officers directly enter it, they would be safe, save for minor bruises and burns from the explosion.