Chapter Text
Snow flattened under Ethan's feet and the man took his time traveling through the woods. The path he had spotted from the crash was well traveled but not walked recently. There weren't any down trees or bushes that encroached on the path but the snow did have about two inches on the dirt. Ethan kept his eyes open for any footprints, wildlife, or even a wandering person as he walked down the path, but he didn't notice anything.
At one point, he had seen a crow hanging in a snare between the dead and evergreen trees some way off the path but Ethan hadn't gone to investigate. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end the longer he looked at the entrapped bird; it felt too much like a trap for him to risk saving it. He reasoned with himself that it was just a bird and that he hadn't known how long it had already been there. He couldn't save it even if he wanted too.
His injuries were starting to become more apparent as the adrenaline from the crash wore off. Thankfully, nothing was broken or bleeding to a troublesome degree. His legs which had been the first to hurt had been numbed by the cold, dulled into the background, and Ethan was able to pick up the pace without the limp. His jacket had survived but a quick look down his shirt confirmed the large burse forming along his side and chest. A busted lip and a few scraps was all Ethan had from the crash.
Ethan shuttered, a rush of uncertainty fell over him. Only one of the agents had survived (If he survived, Ethan reminded himself. He hadn't seen a body) while the rest had sustained fatal injuries. The driver was crushed and the two guard had been thrown violently from the vehicle. Ethan could have just gotten lucky, but something about it didn't sit right with him. Much like everything else that had happened within the past two hours.
The wind picked up, shaking the snow loose from the leafless tress above him. Ethan took a deep breath of the frigid air and let the thought fade from his mind. He need to find out where this path led and then find a phone to call the police. The man who had taken Rose wasn't a normal man but putting out a report wouldn't hurt his efforts. Whoever he meets might also be able to tell him where actually he was so long as he didn't run into a language barrier.
The forest was old but younger, thin trees began to gradually replace the twisted pines along the path. The wind was also growing stronger and Ethan picked up the pace. His fingers were starting to go numb where they were wrapped around the gun but he refused to put it down in case he ran into anything. There weren't very many animals running around in winter but as much as he hoped the people at the end of the path were friendly he had no way of knowing that for certain.
The forest ended up thinning out quicker than Ethan would have thought and he jogged into an empty clearing. Or field would probably be more accurate.
The field was covered in a fresh snow powder and Ethan slowed his steps as he walked to the open space. It was very quiet and the ground below the snow didn't seem to have any of the decayed remains of whatever was once grown in the field that year. Ethan would have excepted to step on a least one petrified corn stalk but when he kicked at the snow only dead grass and dirt went flying into the wind.
He paused in the middle of the field and took a good look around the strange clearing. The field was a near perfect rectangle and the ground was flat with an exception of a sunken area in the middle. The path Ethan had followed had lead directly to this area, which suggested that there should have been some kind of house or barn but the field was devoid of either building. Ethan frowned as he realized he didn't even recall seeing any fencing or livestock droppings either.
The mountains Ethan was familiar seeing out of his bedroom window were far closer than he remembered and the depth of the snow here was deeper too, like snow had been falling on this area for longer than winter had been around. Ethan hadn't noticed the difference but now that he had, the wrongness of everything was palatable.
Ethan squinted his eyes, looking around the perimeter of the field trying to find anything out of place in this blank landscape. Every tree looked copy-and-pasted along the tree line and there wasn't a single footprint in the snow besides for his own.
Ethan gripped the gun with both hands for comfort as ball of wryness twisted in his gut. Where actually was he?
Ethan turned around and froze. Standing at the edge of the tree line (next to the exit of the path ironically enough) was a dark-skinned man. Ethan took one look at his attire and his first thought was to offer the man his jacket before he shook the thought from his head.
The man was around Ethan's age and height but he was certainly not from around here. He was dressed like an American mechanic with blue overalls that had seen better days and a black stained tank top. There was a metal harness wrapped around his torso that looked to be homemade based on the worn leather and rust. He also wasn't completely leaning against the tree behind him so Ethan assumed there was a larger component that he wasn't seeing on his back. A gun? Armor? Ethan couldn't get a good enough look at it to make a guess. The man's boots were really the only thing he was wearing that could be classified as winter wear with thick soles and high tops covering half of his calf.
The man perked up when he realized Ethan was looking at him and waved at him enthusiastically. "Hello strange human! I am Rocky. What is your name?" he asked.
Ethan didn't raised his gun but he took a step back as the man started to approach him. This was way too strange and Ethan didn't want to add a delirious machine man following him around on top of all his other worries.
"I'm Ethan. I was looking for the owner of this field but I must have gotten lost. Do you know were the nearest house with a working telephone is?" Ethan said. He honestly didn't think the man would react to his questions or have the answers. The man was clearly not all there between the clothes, the metal harness, and his overly cheerful attitude. So he was surprised when the man's waving hand froze mid-wave and his smile dropped from his face.
Rocky's face went blank and he cocked his head to the side. Ethan suddenly felt scrutinized under his gaze and stood up taller, trying to look intimidating in case he had accidently set the man off. Rocky's gaze locked on to the gun that was now on full display and he sneered at Ethan.
"You're not supposed to be here yet," he said and he reached over to his forearm to tap at the screen attached to it. "Rocky and Adrian's experiments are not complete and Grace has not synchronized with the little flower. It's too unstable. Bad bad bad…," he trailed off into unintelligible mumbling.
"Little flower?" Ethan whispered. It was winter, there was snow on the ground and the grass below it was dead as could be. And what did he mean by Ethan 'wasn't supposed to be here yet'? He wasn't supposed to be here at all and he definitely didn't have anything to do with Rocky's or Adrian's(?) experiments. And who was Grace? Was she a friend of Rocky's? A gardener maybe with the flower comment.
Ethan took another closer look at Rocky. The man may be practically insane but the way he was typing away at his arm tablet thingamajig made Ethan think maybe this man was smarter than he seemed. If he knew who he was and had that strong of a reaction, maybe he was an off-grid Umbrella agent?
"Why am I not supposed to be here? Who is Grace?" Ethan asked, but Rocky didn't respond. Rocky had started pacing a line into the snow, not looking up once from his tablet to look at Ethan when he had been looking at him so intensely before. His steps were heavy enough to hear but he was fast falling into step as he walked back and forth. Ethan finally got a good look his back and attached to the back of the harness was some kind of extended gun in standby mode.
Ethan didn't want to hurt this guy but there was definitely something not right in his head. And personally, he'd had just about enough of people not answering his questions for one night. He silently raised his gun and shouted, "Rocky!"
His name finally got the crazed man's to look up from his tablet but he didn't even seem to register the pistol being pointed at him. Ethan's eyes widened in shock as he made eye contact with Rocky. His eyes just moments before had been a normal brown color so Ethan hadn't thought to catalog it along with the other weird traits the man had going on. Rocky's eyes were now white. No, not white. Or not completely at least as small dark spots were poked into the white sclera of his eyes in a grid pattern.
Ethan's grip tightened on the pistol and he aimed for center of mass. "You're not human," he stated.
Rocky blinked as if confused as to why Ethan was stating the obvious, or maybe he wasn't planning on his disguise disappearing on him so sooner into the conversation. "No. But neither are you," he said and Ethan stiffened. How did he know that? Ethan may not be entirely human anymore- not after the mold's initial infection- but he was still far more human than whatever creature was standing before him. And he was wasting time.
"Where am I? And who is Grace?" Ethan repeated, dropping his voice low.
The "Rocky" creature kept typing on its tablet but it never looked away from Ethan as it said, "You are in Rocky and Adrian's home but you are too early. Rocky is not prepared for your arrival and Adrian is still busy working on the ceremony."
Ethan's patience had just about run out. He'd officially had enough of these half truths and none answers; first from Chris and now from this random infected. Ethan clicked off the safety and aimed higher- at the infected's head. Ethan couldn't in good conscious just leave an inflected alive, not after what happened the last time he had left one alive without making sure it was gone from this world.
"I don't care about you and your partner's passion project," he said dryly. "I just want to find my daughter and leave this place."
"Yes yes yes," Rocky said, cutting him off. Its fingers pressed one final button on its tablet and the thing started flashing red in the upper right corner. That doesn't bode well, Ethan thought to himself and Rocky continued, "Rocky knows this but Grace is still stabilizing the little rose and we cannot complete the ceremony until she is in our family."
Ethan stiffened and his heart jumped into his throat.
Little flower.
Rose.
It can't- They can't have her. Why would they take her?
No, gods no please. Not again. His mouth went dry and the next words out of his mouth shook from effort as he said, "Rose isn't your fucking family! Now tell me where she is or I'll blow your fucking head off!"
The creature rolled its eyes. Despite having a gun pointed at it, Rocky didn't seem worried or frightened.
"Rocky can't tell you-"
BANG!
Ethan pulled the trigger and shot Rocky square in the middle of its forehead. The creature stood for a moment- the bullet not being strong enough to knock it over- before it fell to the ground in a heap, it's mouth still open from Ethan cutting it off mid-sentence.
"I told you," Ethan said.
He kept the gun raised as he approached the body. If this creature was anything like the things created from the mold he didn't want to give it an opening by lowering his guard. Snow crunched under Ethan's feet as he kneed down beside the body.
Up close Ethan felt a pang of guilt as he could see the tall-tale signs that this guy had been human at some point. Tiny scars on the chin from youth acne, a twisted clavicle from a past injury (probably from falling out of a tree), and even some early graying at his temples. Whatever had changed him hadn't made too many changes to the body so hopefully it wasn't a contagious, variant strain of the mold.
Ethan shifted the pistol into his left hand and reached for the creature's tablet. The corner of it was still flashing but the screen itself was blank. Ethan gave it a few taps but it didn't respond. He grumbled to himself and lifted the arm, looking for a buckle or clip of some kind to remove the tablet. If he couldn't figure out how to work it now then he would take it with him and see if it spontaneously turned on once he had left the field.
Ethan had to move fast. Whoever this "Grace" lady was she had Rose and was planning to put her through some kind of a ceremony. He tried hard not to think about what that ceremony would entail (or that Rocky had mentioned Rose becoming a part of Grace's 'family'). The field was empty but Rocky had mentioned a partner of some kind so Ethan didn't want to be here when they showed up.
Ethan groped under Rocky's arm, following the straps, and had to stop himself from gagging when he found the end. The straps weren't attached to Rocky via buckles; instead Ethan's finger touched the soft and rotten edge of an infected cut that the strap slipped into the body.
"So gross," Ethan said and looked away as he wrapped his hand around the strap, mentally preparing himself to yank it out of the skin. His eyes scanned the forest, his nerves requiring him to be aware of his surroundings, but nothing had changed. All of the trees were dead with their branches swaying in the strong winds. No bird calls echoed around him or the quiet babbled of a stream. This place was dead all the way around.
Ethan took a deep breath to sike himself up and paused, squinting his eyes. He was looking back at the path he had originally come down and there was something at the end of it. He couldn't tell what is what from how far away it was but it was tall. It could have been a deer but its back looked to long and the antlers on top of its head were bent downwards like a ram's.
Ethan was so focused on the weird deer that he missed the twitch of Rocky's arm muscles. The body spasmed and Ethan dropped the arm, scrambling away to put some distance between them. He raised the gun but Rocky's hand shot out blindly, wrapping around the end of the barrel.
Ethan pulled back and kicked out with his leg. "Fuck!" Ethan shouted as pain radiated up his leg. Rocky's arm was as hard as steel and no matter how hard he pulled on the gun, Rocky's grip was just as strong.
Rocky's body continued to shake and his head flopped in Ethan direction. The hole in his head is gone, his skin was cracking open to reveal grey flesh and silver blood. Ethan was under the impression that cracking meant an infected was close to death but something in his gut told him to 'get out while he still could'.
Steam began to leak out of the cracks alongside the blood and Rocky's eyes glazed over with a new light. A sad smile came over his face. "Cluster parent Ethan is very upset. Rocky is sorry sorry sorry for keeping Ethan from his daughter but Grace said it is necessary for the ceremony."
Ethan's brows frowned and then shot up into his hairline. He whipped around to look back at the deer… that definitely was not a deer.
The newcomer was closer and Ethan could see how what he thought was a neck was in fact a torso. What he thought was a weird back was the wrapping of mutated limbs that had uncurled from around the body to land on the ground as walking legs. The antlers were still antlers but they were in a different position from the last time he had seen them. The left was longer than the right and the right was now facing backwards, wrapping around what looked to be exposed bone of a neck…
"Cluster parent Ethan can come back later once the ceremony has started. Adrian can walk you out if you want?" Rocky's voice startled him out of his trance and he turned back to the infected.
His face twisted into a snarl, "Like hell I will leave my daughter with you crazy people." Ethan fired the gun, hoping to all hope that the pistol didn't explode. Thankfully, lady luck was on his side and the bullet shot through Rocky's steel hand. Tanned shards and gray dust flew into the air and Rocky let out an in-human shrieked as the bullet stuck his chest.
Ethan heard the sound of thundering feet followed by a twin roar to Rocky's injured shriek and he didn't allow himself to look to hard at what he assumed was Rocky's "Adrian" and ripped his gun from Rocky's grip. He turned and fired two more shots at the creature. There was a familiar shattering sound and clouds of teal-green smoke came off of the behemoth.
Ethan quickly made the decision that he did not have enough bullets or first-aid knowledge for this and he launched himself to his feet.
Adrian roared behind him and Ethan sprinted for the opposite tree line. The open field made it easier for him to gain speed but he didn't want to risk anything by looking back. He just pumped his legs as hard as he could and focused on a gap in the bramble. It wasn't as large as the path had been but something is better than nothing.
His breath came in gasps but he refused to slow down once he hit the tree line. He couldn't hear the thundering sound of a million feet behind him anymore but he also hadn't realized how close the creature had gotten before, so stealth was clearly a part of its mutation.
Ethan finally let himself look behind when his legs couldn't run anymore, forcing him to a fast walk. He instinctively raised the gun but there was nothing following him. 'Adrian' for whatever reason had stopped pursing him for now. Ethan mentally breathed out a sigh of relief and took in his surroundings.
This section of the forest was more lively than the other one. Ethan could see moss growing along roots, tree branches with a few stubborn leaves hanging from them, and multiple animal tracks were present in the snow around him. Rocky and Adrian's field had been devoid of all life so maybe Ethan had managed to escape their territory? He wasn't exactly sure how the two had mapping out their home but the increasing signs of other life was a good sign.
Ethan walked for about a half an hour in what he hoped was south. The mountains sat towards the north and Ethan had no intention of dusting off his very very rusty climbing skills to see if he could make it back up to the road.
Ethan pushed aside a low-hanging branch and looked out over an unexpected cliff. The cliff itself wasn't large, maybe about a ten-meter drop, but it was overlooking a large lagoon. There was a large dam to his left and he could see a village down at the bottom the valley. Smoke distantly rose from multiple different chimneys and the tension in Ethan's shoulder slipped just a little bit. Finally, a sign of normal civilization.
Ethan leaned over the edge of the cliff and an extra burst of warmth filled his chest as he spotted a small boat tied to dock at the bottom. The dock wasn't directly under him but he saw a wooden staircase about a kilometer to his left that gradually wound its way down to the floating platform.
"Well, not many other options," Ethan said to himself and smacked the branch back once again, watching snow fall from the shaken pine needles. The branch swung back and forth and something flashed in the corner of Ethan's eye. He paused and took a step closer to the tree.
There was something shining near the trunk of the tree but it was hard to see with all of the pine needles in the way. A hunter snare? Someone's lost jewelry? Either one had its uses so Ethan tucked the pistol into his pants (safety turned back on) and grabbed the branches to move them aside.
With the needles moved, Ethan confirmed that there was something in the tree but he still couldn't see properly. He should have looked for a flashlight before he had left the Umbrella's transport before. He had no idea how long it would be until daytime and the almost full moon in the sky only helped so much.
The item looked black and circular in shape. Ethan shifted the branches to one hand and he reached in with his other, his feet also shifting closer to the tree in an effort to get even closer. If it was jewelry, then he could probably trade it for information once he came across another non-infected person. Humans had a soft spot for shiny things-
The jewel moved and Ethan felt a sharp pain cut through his hand. He yank himself back and hissed at the pain. It burned and a new bubbling cut tore across the back of his hand. He was about to let out some very choice words but then the jewel leaped out of the tree at him with a wail.
"What the fuck!" Ethan yelled as the jewel came into full view as a spider-rock thing with five legs and it seemed very intent on getting its hooked claws on him. It was steaming through its cracks just like Rocky had and Ethan pressed his weight on his back leg, read to punt kick the fist-sized rock spider far far away from him.
Suddenly his back footing gave out on him and the edge of the cliff crumbled away. Ethan's stomach dropped and his hand reached out for anything but he wasn't close to any of the trees anymore, leaving his arms to windmill through the air.
Ethan had just enough time to turn himself upright in the air, crossing his arms over his chest, and he took a deep breath before it was stolen from him as he hit the freezing lagoon below.