Chapter 22: Whispers Beneath the Flesh part 2
"Second floor, STARS office," Richard whispered, pointing up the stairs. Rebecca followed quietly behind. Each knew the other would protect from any surprise attack. Step by step they climbed the narrow stairs, every board creak echoing.
At the top, a woman's silhouette filled the doorway ahead. A stray beam from the nearby corridor light caught the outline of a pistol holstered at her hip. Both Rebecca and Richard tensed, hands jumping to their weapons.
"Stop right there!" the figure hissed.
Richard's hand closed on the grip of his pistol—until the woman lifted her empty hands in front of her. "It's me," she whispered urgently. "Elena. Don't shoot."
He froze, recognition flooding relief through him. Slowly he lowered his weapon, followed by Rebecca.
"Elena!" Richard muttered under his breath, still staring in disbelief.
Elena let out a breath she seemed to have been holding. "Where the hell have you been?" Richard asked hoarsely.
"I have a lot to tell you," Elena replied with a tight, weary smile. "It's good to see you both alive." Her eyes were wide with both relief and urgency.
Relief melted into action. Elena locked the heavy metal door to the communications room behind them and clipped a bolt in place. "Quick, come in," she urged, pulling down the blinds. Daylight was long gone, but any passing lights could catch movement inside. Next she flipped a switch on a bulky old box in the corner. Immediately a dull whine filled the room. "This is an interference box," she explained as she worked. "It jams any remote eavesdropping on our communications. For now, Umbrella's ears won't reach us." Rebecca let herself fall into a dusty chair, wincing as the healed bandages on her ribs slid painfully. Richard double-checked that the door was truly locked; his finger drummed on the trigger guard for want of something else to do.
Elena sat behind the desk stacked with radio equipment. "We have to tell you everything," Richard said, leaning forward. "Umbrella's behind this. They have labs everywhere—illegal experiments with viruses and B.O.W.s all over the country. The lab in Arklay was just one of many secrets. And now Team Alpha..." His voice trailed off in the low light.
Elena's expression grew grave. "I know," she replied quietly, cutting him off. "Alpha isn't answering. Chris's last radio call cut out halfway through. All we heard was static… and one word." Her voice cracked at the memory.
Rebecca's voice dropped to a whisper. "They're going to make Team Alpha disappear… just like they did to us. Like they did to Brad." Every word was heavy with anger. Brad was their friend, gone now in this nightmare.
Elena bowed her head, her face drawn tight with guilt. "Brad left a physical copy of his message before they flew out," she said, voice shaking slightly. "He hid it in case something went wrong. I managed to sneak it out." She dug under the desk and pulled out a crumpled folder, sliding it across to Richard. It unfurled to reveal Brad's coded notes.
Richard flipped through the pages. "It speaks of an internal cover-up… rogue agents in the force. A direct order to wipe out the entire squad if we screwed up." His fist slammed the desk with a clatter. "This is beyond sick," he growled.
Elena tightened her lips. "Exactly. That's why you must help us expose it. I got partial access to the helicopter logs. We can prove you two were evacuated, show that our data was tampered with and erased. We'll have proof."
Rebecca leaned over to scan the sheets. "And Umbrella is experimenting on humans," she added, handing Elena a few pages Brad had highlighted. Elena's eyes widened as she read the evidence of human trials. "This… changes everything," she breathed.
Just then, the radio on the desk suddenly burst to life with static. Richard flinched; Rebecca held her breath. Elena snatched up the receiver.
"Alpha? Alpha, this is Elena. Do you copy? Repeat, do you copy?" she called out urgently. The only response was a raspy crackle and then a single word barely discernible through the noise: "…damn…" Then dead silence.
Richard's face turned ashen. He shot to his feet. "It's too late," he whispered, running a hand through his hair. "They've probably been caught."
The room was deathly quiet except for the humming interference box. Elena and Rebecca exchanged a frightened glance. Rebecca rubbed her arms in the sudden chill. The air felt frigid. "We… can't just sit here and do nothing," she finally said, voice small but resolute.
Elena stood up, her chair scraping back. She pulled a small key off a chain around her neck and walked over to a hidden wall safe. Her hands trembled only slightly as she unlocked it. "If you're going back into that hell, at least you won't be unarmed," she said, voice steady. Inside the safe were two heavy tactical vests, extra ammunition boxes, two Samurai Edge pistols, and a sturdy M870 shotgun. Also tucked on a shelf was a small metal capsule blinking a faint blue.
"Here," Elena said, handing each of them a vest. Rebecca slid hers on, wincing at the pain in her side. Richard lifted a pistol from its slot; Elena handed him shells for the shotgun. He loaded it. Then Elena took the little capsule from the safe. She held it out. "This is an emergency beacon. When activated near the mansion, it will send a coded distress signal to the STARS network and to a backup channel Brad set up. If anyone's still alive in there, we can find them."
Richard nodded grimly as he and Rebecca checked the weapons in their hands. "Any map or entry point?" he asked Elena. She gave him a quick sketch of the grounds. "Brad risked carrying this out before the mission. The Alpha team landed in a clearing east of the mansion," she said, pointing. "Chris's signal cut out about an hour ago. We don't know if any of them survived the drop or the initial attack."
Rebecca adjusted the cross-strap of her vest. Pain flared through her ribs at the movement, but adrenaline and anger overrode it. "Let's go get them," she said fiercely.
Elena hesitated, looking at them both with concern. "You sure you want this? You two are hurt—barely made it last time. If you go in again, there might not be any way out."
Richard laid a hand on the shotgun's grip and flicked the safety off with a loud click. The sound echoed. He met Elena's gaze without wavering. "It's not about us anymore," he said quietly. "It's about rescuing our team. We can't leave them to die."
Rebecca uncapped a small vial of serum from Elena's supplies and pressed it to her thigh. The needle's cold bite stabbed her, but immediately a hot jolt of adrenaline surged through her veins, dulling the pain. She braced a hand on the wall as the drug took effect, then released a steadying breath.
"Besides… I'm not going to just sit around while that thing kills them," she said, voice low and fierce.
They shared a final look — exhausted, wounded, but unyielding — and prepared to move out again, back into the darkness of the Arklay night.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Writing doesn't stop the hunger… but it sure leaves you too broke to eat.If you enjoy what I do and want me to keep creating instead of turning into the village square juice vendor (something I've seriously considered), your support on Patreon would be like a warm coffee for my soul… and maybe even food for my stomach.
Here's the link—no pressure, no drama, just love and a lot of worn-out keyboard keys: on my Patreon I upload 10 extra chapters every Saturday. They're in English, with some small narrative changes, but nothing too drastic.
👉 [patreon.com/Dalaraamater]
If you'd like to support me with a one-time donation instead of a Patreon commitment, here's my secret Ko-fi link. Every $10 milestone reached will unlock 5 extra chapters of the most-voted story here on Webnovel.
https://ko-fi.com/dalaraamater