Chapter 17 - The Armored Bus

Pulling up to the base in the armored bus, the first person to greet me was Saya. Smacking me across the face, which I deserved, she told me that my stunt was reckless and unnecessary. Telling me that I should rely on the team more, I told her to look what I brought back. Putting her anger aside for now, she stepped into the bus to investigate.

"Nice ride.", Saeko stated seeing the heavily armored vehicle.

"You aren't mad?", I questioned.

"I trust my boyfriend's decision.", she told me stepping in to look at the bus.

"I think your idiot as well, you could have taken one us with you.", Rei said with a relieved look as she ran in.

Turning to Kyoko and Namiyo, I asked if they thought the same. Saying they trusted my judgment, they told me to consult everyone next time. As for Nina, Aimi, and Pucca they were just happy I came back in one piece.

"Dude!!!", Kohta shouted running around the bus, "You did this in one night!!"

"I do quick, excellent work.", I remarked with a proud smile.

"Jeez!! Where did you get all this stuff!!", Saya demanded coming off the bus with several guns.

"OHH BABY!!!", Kohta said grabbing the guns, "This is a modified M-16 with drum mag, and-"

Prattling on about the attachments, and array of weapons I brought I knew he would be busy cataloging everything for a few hours. In addition to weapons and ammo I had added military rations, blankets, cots, armor, and much more to what I brought.

"You did good.", Yuriko approved.

"Yes, our survival rate has increased substantial.", Kiriko and Shizuka added.

"I would hope so, I raided several CIA sites in Tokyo.", I told them.

"You did what!?", everyone snapped.

"Don't be like that, I know how to evade detection and get what I need. Besides, I killed several thousand last night between traps, my swords, and my guns.", I told them confidently, "You all just need to relax."

"You didn't just tell me to calm down, did you?", Saya said glaring at me, "You could have died!!"

"I was very careful with my methods.", I remarked, "I know you are mad, but I needed to make sure we had more ammo and guns."

"You should have talked with us.", Saya pouted.

Giving her a hug, I promised to talk about it next time. Getting everything unloaded, I parked the bus behind the Day Care and went inside to have breakfast. Giving out tasks for the day, I had Kohta focus on find supplies till midday then join in the search for family and friends of people here. Takashi and Hisashi would be staying here to help organize and get everyone settled in. On top of that, I had them training with the firearm practice gear we had on hand. Merna would take several officers and other fighters with her to try and convince some of the remaining officers out there to fall back. Once they were done, they would look for friends and family of people here as well. Lastly, my group would be doing recon and scope out the situation at the hospital.

"Anyone have any questions?", I asked.

Everyone was good with their assignments so once we finished eating, we broke for the day.

---After Breakfast---

Bringing Mikoto, Saeko, Kyoko, Rei, Saya, Kiriko, and Yuriko with me, I took us the long way round to the hospital. I could see on the mini map that Umbrella had littered the immediate areas with cameras so we had to find a tall building to scout from to avoid detection.

"What do you see?", Mikoto asked as we looked down from a skyscraper.

"It appears Umbrella found out how they escaped the first time. They are hemmed in pretty well now.", I replied seeing the fortifications inside, "You able to reach them?"

Nodding her head, she pulled on a weird looking phone with a small satellite dish on it. Pointing it at the building, she dialed a number and waited for it too connect.

"It's Mikoto.", she stated.

"What's up?", Arashi replied.

"We are scouting out the area around the hospital. Victor sees that the emergency exit is cut off, is that right?", Mikoto asked.

"Yeah...a few staff members fled and left the entrance wide open.", he complained.

"Damn it, how do you want us to get to tomorrow?", she inquired.

"You are going to need to get in and get out in a hurry.", he answered, "Mikoto...the old man is dead."

"What!?", she gasped.

"The upper floors are overrun with undead. We only occupy the first three floors.", he responded.

"Fuck!", Mikoto cried, "Damn those Umbrella bastards!!"

"I am sorry.", he stated, "Let me hand you over to Yuko."

A few moments later, Yuko came on to talk.

"Glad to hear you are better now.", Yuko said.

"How is the core team and staff?", Mikoto asked.

"Barely hanging on, we are on our last cases of ammo. Umbrella has stopped pushing which makes us think they are bringing something big.", Yuko answered, "Your boyfriend there?"

"Let me put him on.", Mikoto responded.

Handing the phone over, she told me it was Yuko.

"This is Victor.", I stated.

"Hey muscles, you know our situation now. You sure you still want to come save us? None of us could blame you for saying it's too risky now.", she told me.

"First of all, I already see a way in there that you seem to have forgotten. I will swing by later today to see you with my group. Secondly, we are going to get you out of there whether you walk out or I have to carry you out.", I chuckled.

"Why would you risk your life for us?", Yuko inquired, "You know who we are, and-"

"Mikoto would be distraught if I left you to die, and how else am I going to get to know you. Sayo, Yoko, and yourself interest me quite a lot. Your combat skills are very impressive, your knowledge of medicine is invaluable right now, I promised Shizuka I would bring you back, and...the three of are attractive women.", I said with a smirk.

"You realize we are over ten years older than you, right?", Yuko remarked.

"Doesn't matter to me. I think you are attractive, and I want the opportunity to court you three. To be clear, it isn't a requirement to date me but I would like the opportunity to show you I could be the man you want.", I stated, "If the world is going to hell, I'd rather be next to people I care about."

"Hehe, you certainly have a way with words young man. You are just as daring as Shizuka told me, fine. If you get us out of here I will be your woman. Shizuka pretty much sold me on it yesterday, but a woman can't be easy after all.", she laughed, "Sayo already said she liked you after watching manhandle all those people the other day, and Yoko...well you will need to win her over but she agreed to getting to know you."

"So it was only Shizuka?", I teased.

"Well...Mikoto sold you as quite the promising leader and a nice guy. Not only that, I thought it was attractive how protective you are and the lengths you'll go to protect your lovers. Going 80kms an hour into a spin, and then slamming a bike into a bulky mutant...that was very attractive.", she told me, "I don't know many men that can pull off a feat like that without injury."

"Hell yeah!", I heard Sayo laugh in the background.

"Haha, we should be there in a little over an hour.", I told her.

"Alright, see you then.", she laughed before hanging up.

Sighing at me, I looked back to see Mikoto look somewhat exhausted by my antics. Asking if she didn't like the idea, she replied by saying that she had expected this just not so quickly. Promising to treat them equally, I told everyone we needed to suit up in some protective gear.

"How do you plan on getting in there?", Saeko asked.

"There should be a main sewer line running under the hospital. We can use that to get there, we just need to make sure we are suited up so we don't catch any diseases down there.", I told them, "Umbrella likely won't go down there."

"Why do you say that?", Yuriko inquired.

"During my recon I discovered they are using Drones to kite the zombies around.", I said pointing to the drones circling the hospital, "Taking them out disperses the hordes, but it also means they scatter like rats which is just as dangerous. In the sewers they likely don't have reception so it's more dangerous for them to be there. We will use the sewers to get in and out. If we are lucky we might be able to bring them back with us."

"That would be wonderful!", Mikoto said with a smile.

Getting suited up in biohazard suits I had brought, we made our way through the sewers making sure to not make too much noise. It was unlikely they could hear us several feet underground, but I still wanted to be cautious. Checking the basement out with a scope camera, I confirmed that no one was in the basement before we got out.

Helping the women out, we removed out protective clothing before heading up to the ground floor. Announcing our presence to the group as we came up, I wanted to make sure they didn't attack us on sight. Giving me a smirk, Yuko asked if we had come through the sewers which I nodded my head with a similar smirk.

"It's good you could get here safely, we were worried you'd do something risker than using the sewers.", she laughed.

"If I was alone I might have considered using a tanker full of gas and drove it into their group. To be clear I'd jump out before it crashed.", I chuckled.

"Don't!", Saya and Rei snapped.

"You take all the fun out of it.", I snickered, "Fine, I won't do that."

Getting an idea of how the inside areas they held looked...they were barely hanging on. Barricades were barely holding, water was running low, and they had finished the last bit of food they had. Pulling some canned items out of my bag, which originally came from my storage, I gave them food as they were starting to show signs of starvation. It wasn't a lot, but it would tide them over till we got them out of here.

"Would you consider leaving through the sewers?", I asked them.

"They have a way to track me.", Sayo informed me, "The hidden route we had prior jammed the signals, but the sewers won't. I will lead them straight to us..."

"Where is the tracker?", I inquired.

"Attached to her heart...the slightest mistake and she will bleed out.", Yuko told me, "We attempted several different things, but it's almost impossible. It has a tiny explosive device on it so an EMP would set it off, and short circuiting it will cause it to blow up as well."

"Let me give it a go.", I told them, "We need it either disabled or removed."

"Wait, you know how to perform that level of surgery?", the medical staff asked.

"Yes, the current Surgeon General and I were in college classes together.", I reassured them, "I can this."

"I trust him.", Sayo said.

"Seriously?", Arashi inquired, "We barely know him."

"I look at it like this...if he pulls it off I owe him my life, and if he doesn't no one else gets hurt because of me.", Sayo reassured him.

"Ugh...I see your point.", he conceded, "You better make sure you do the surgery flawlessly."

Taking her and several staff members to the only remaining OR, we put her under and I got to work. Using my personal equipment to make a tiny incision into her chest, I worked my tools carefully to the device. Seeing it attached to her heart, I zoomed on the design layout of the device. Quickly running through the design in my head, I quickly disarmed the bomb and removed it from the device. After the bomb was removed I disabled the remote tracker and remote access to the chip, and left the device attached to her heart.

"You aren't going to remove it?", Yuko asked.

"It's the only thing keeping her from losing herself in her bloodlust.", I told her, "It regulates the chemical that triggers the transformation, and it's critical we leave that be till we understand what they did to her better. Removing that would put keeping her sanity squarely on her sheer willpower."

"You can tell that?", Arashi inquired.

"There are several sensors meant to detect the body's chemicals, and regulate them accordingly. Too much of something, and the unit will encapsulate it for expulsion. The opposite would cause the unit to stimulate the organs that create the low chemicals.", I remarked, "I imagine this is how they control the mutant zombies."

"So if you can understand what they did, you could treat her?", Mikoto asked.

"Yes, we would need to determine what the chemical was and manufacture meds to suppress it's creation. Better yet we find out which organ they modified to make the chemical, and repair it.", I stated, "I am concerned though...I don't know if they were altering her in the womb. If they were...I would have to find donor organs to repair damages."

"We can cross that bridge later.", Yuko assured me, "Right now we can confirm that the device no longer is broadcasting her location."

"How can you be so sure?", Rei inquired.

"Judging by how the goons outside are acting, they think she left the building.", Saya said glancing out the bulletproof windows.

"How much time will you need to get ready for moving?", I asked.

"A few hours to gather everything, and set explosive charges. We will need to blow the building as we can't take everything with us.", Yoko told me.

'So you think...', I thought, 'I can put whatever is critical in my inventory. I wonder what else they are hiding in this place that they would want hidden. Umbrella knows they are Black Label so they don't need to hide that...they must have something critical that Umbrella can't get at all costs. Time to do some snooping.'

"Yay!!", a younger girl said, "It's boom time!!"

"Oriha, let's not get too carried away.", Sayo stated coming too, "We don't want to kill survivors in the surrounding area."

"I will make the whole house come down on them!", Oriha giggled with a thumbs up, "Time to get rigging!"

Seeing her run out the door with C4 in hand, I really hoped she kept her explosive separate as it could get messy otherwise. I didn't feel like getting everyone to safety only to have her blow us up. I had a skill to protect me from the blast, but everyone else would die. Putting that aside for now, I stood there listen to them go over things while I used my map to try and locate what they were hiding. It took me a bit, but I located an old mainframe in a sub-basement. If my hunch was right they were likely keeping records on there since the mainframe pre-dated Umbrella Corp.

'Not a bad method...fortunately I remember working on a few of them in my past life. They a completely different beast from normal computers.', I thought.

"Just put it in your inventory. You'll have access to all the data as if it was a book.", Midna told me sitting on my shoulder, "Good job removing the bad functions on that chip."

"If I take them away today, do I avoid the fight?", I asked.

"Not really, they have come this far. If they stay or go the Tyrant is still going to be let loose. They want her and her brethren back at all costs.", Midna stated.

"Approximately how many are we talking?", I inquired.

"Around thirty of them, Umbrella already captured four of them and you have Sayo leaving twenty-five of them uncounted for.", she laughed.

"Do I need to find them?", I questioned.

"Nope, most of them will fight you onsite. Only three of them are friendly and they are all three shut-ins.", she giggled, "Before you ask, they are all men."

"Hey now.", I remarked, "I have hordes of undead knocking on the door, and a Tyrant coming!!"

"Hehe.", she laughed enjoying teasing me.

Shaking my head, I waited for them to get what they needed packed up so we could leave. A few hours later, we were ready to leave and Oriha was ready to blow the place to bits. Going down into the basement, I pulled the mainframe into my inventory and popped the manhole cover off we came through. Going down first I checked the area before having them follow suit. Following me through the sewers in silence, we crept under the goons and were soon a safe distance from the hospital.

Coming out of the sewers in a restaurant several blocks away, I helped everyone out and quickly took a peak back at the hospital. The sudden disappearance of Sayo had caused quite a massive stir among the Umbrella group, and up till now they had pulled back and appeared to have been waiting for instructions. Now though they were preparing to breach the building to find her.

"Hehe, just you wait. Once they break in, they are all going to be dust!", Oriha gleefully giggled.

"I think something is seriously wrong with you.", Saya told her.

"We know, no one can seem to fix her.", Yuko admitted.

"She lived in a mansion full of explosive traps...let that sink in for you.", Arashi teased.

"Should we get going?", Kiriko asked.

"Absolutely.", I said, "We will have to hot wire a few cars, but-"

"We can go to my base.", Yoko stated, "There is an armored personnel carrier we can use there."

"You didn't think to mention that sooner?", Yuriko remarked.

"Hey, I am a former criminal and I thought he would kill me.", Yoko retorted pointing at me.

"Taking your sister's place in that organization so she didn't have to suffer in her youth is honorable.", I stated flipping it back on her.

"How did you-", Yoko gasped.

"You...you joined them to protect me?", Yuko asked.

"I...yes...", Yoko admitted, "If I didn't join they were going to force you into the spot. They killed Mom and Dad, and I-"

Hugging her sister, Yuko was touched that she had gone so far for her. Immediately after that she started lecturing her on her stupid decision for a few minutes before hugging her again. After they finished we got out of the area in a hurry. Not wanting to be here when the building blew, all of us followed Yoko to her base.