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.Satisfied with his plan, Nicholai started walking,moving as quietly as he could.He'd lost sight of her onhis count, but unless she was jogging, he'd catch upwith her just before."Freeze." Her voice was calm and clear, the semiau-tomatic's muzzle hard against the side of his head."Oh,but drop the rifle first, if you would."Nicholai did as he was told, shocked into it, unsling-ing his rifle and letting it fall.How had she spottedhim? 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 asoldier.What's Operation Watchdog, Nicholai?"She already knew something about it.If he lied, helost any credibility he might still have with her.Say and do whatever it takes."Umbrella sent me andseveral others in to gather information about the viruscarriers," he said."But I didn't know it was going to belike this, I swear, I never would have agreed to it if Ihad known.I just want to get out with my life, that's allI care about anymore."Still the muzzle stayed pressed to his temple.Shewas careful, he had to give her that much."What do you know about the water treatment plantnear here?" she asked."Nothing.I mean, I know Umbrella owns it, butthat's it.Please, you must believe me, I just want to.""What about the vaccine for the virus, what youknow about that?"Nicholai's gut knotted at the very mention, but hestayed in character."Vaccine? There's no vaccine.""Bullshit, or I'd be dead.Prove to me that youwant to cooperate here, and maybe we can worksomething out.What have you heard about a T-virusvaccine?"Carlos.The look on his face when he talked abouther.and when he saw the sample case.Nicholai didn't trust himself to speak, the depth ofhis sudden and complete inner turmoil like a physicalforce, pushing him to act - but he couldn't, and he hadto convince her that he was just another Umbrella pawnor 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 beneaththem.There was a deep rumble and the earth shook,pitching both of them into a drunken stumble, leavesand sticks jumping around their feet.The gun swungaway 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 lo-calized around them; for one thing, he could see thatthe water in the pool was barely moving.The tremorwent on and on, seeming to increase in magnitude, andNicholai knew he wasn't going to get a better opportu-nity to get away.Feigning panic, Nicholai threw up his arms andshouted, carefully noting where his rifle lay on theshaking ground."It's one of the mutants! Run!"It was as likely to be some viral monster as it wasanything else, and telling her to run would work forhim - she'd think twice about shooting someone tryingto help her.The quake was intensifying as Nicholai ran awayfrom Jill, one arm still waving frantically.He yelledagain for her to run as he snatched up the rifle andsprinted away, not looking back, hoping she'd boughthis performance.If not, he'd feel the bullet soonenough.and within twenty meters, the ground that he wason was practically still, although he could still feel andhear the rumbling earth behind him.Far enough, find cover and shoot her.There was a big oak tree straight ahead.Still run-ning, Nicholai reached out with his right arm andveered left, grabbing the tree and letting his ownweight swing him around.As soon as he was safely be-hind the gnarled trunk, he darted a look back, readyingthe 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 hugefountain of muddy white spewed up from the ground,blocking his shot, trees crashing all around.A strangeand horrible bellowing erupted from the fountain, ahissing bass note, and as the pale column twisted fivemeters into the air and then curved down suddenly,Nicholai realized it was an animal, one that had surelynever existed before - the gnashing circle of pointedtusks and teeth that tipped the massive white worm-body were proof enough.It bellowed again, arching, a titan hybrid of maggotand lamprey eel, of waxworm and snake, as bigaround as a man was tall - and it dove away fromNicholai.Toward Jill Valentine.Nicholai turned and ran away, giggling, cursing Jilland Carlos as he dodged trees in the dark, heading forthe plant, laughing as he damned them to everlastinghell.Jill was running, skirting the water's edge, and didn'tknow it was coming until it crashed to the ground onlya few meters behind her.A wash of foul air blew overher, a smell of dirt and wet meat coming from themouth of the carnivorous worm.Holy crap!She ran faster, wanting to get some distance beforeshe dared to look back, one grenade load's not enough,have to run for it.Ahead, the rounded reflecting pool curved, a fewbenches at the corner, a stand of trees behind them.Theground was rumbling again, but Jill was almost there; ifshe could get around the corner she should be clear,the man-made pool was lined with cement, the thingwould knock itself out if she was lucky.and the benches and trees in front of her suddenlyblew up into the air, raised up on a wave of dirt, theblind, probing worm vomiting soil from its toothedmaw as it swept its head toward her.Jesus, it's fast! Jill raised the Beretta she still heldtightly and buried two rounds in its bloated underbelly,the worm screaming again, deep and hissing like theroar of an attacking crocodile.Jill spun and took off, heart pounding, already hear-ing and feeling the start of another quake as shegrabbed her Beretta.It would get in front of her again,she knew it, she'd never make it around either end ofthe long pool.Going across would slow her down toomuch.Think, if you can't run what can you use to stopit, dirt, water, trees, lamps.Lamps.Several were leaning wildly from the under-ground movements of the mammoth grub, like up-rooted 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 stepand paused long enough to pivot ninety degrees right,dashing toward the pool.It was damaged, rivulets ofscummy water draining from the concrete lip.It rises up then crashes down, takes it a second ortwo to raise itself again - A second or two, that's howlong she'd have to get out of the water [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]