Resident Evil Recall: Operation Arklay

Episode Eleven: Case Closed

Part Four

Raccoon City Hospital, 10:30 AM…

With all of the chaos going on at the RPD with the inquiries into the conduct and operations of Task Force Arklay, Proske figured that no one would notice his absence for a short time if he stepped out. Chief Irons would be busy for most of the day with press interviews, and he was sure that the Mayor would want to be filled in on the situation with Lopez, leaving him plenty of time for a quick stop at the hospital. One of the nice things about being a Police Officer was that no one thought it was weird to see another uniform in such places, since the RPD handled security there anyway.

"Good morning." He said to the girl behind the reception desk. "Can you tell me if Tobias Liquid is still in the ICU?"

"One second, Officer, let me check." She replied while typing on the computer's keyboard. "No, he was moved a couple hours ago, it looks like. He's now on fourth floor, room 402, listed in stable condition. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

He shook his head, and the girl gave a polite smile before returning to her work. As he walked toward the elevator, he wasn't sure how to take the news that Liquid was stable. Did that mean he was awake? He wouldn't be if he knew what was good for him, but he wasn't exactly known for making smart decisions. A short elevator ride later, the Sergeant reached the fourth floor, and the door to room 402 was open, so he walked in. Liquid was motionless on the bed closest to the window, and there was a Doctor standing at the foot of the bed making notes.

"Also not expected to regain consciousness anytime soon." The Doctor said into a small tape recorder. "The cause of the third degree burns to the chest appears to be chemical exposure, but this does not explain how the rest of the body is unaffected. There also appears to be a slight fracture in his right arm, just below the elbow, however…

The Doctor stopped talking and pushed the stop button once he noticed Proske standing there, and he didn't want to be an inconvenience, so he stepped forward. It was already awkward enough for him to visit Liquid like this, but hopefully he could be quick and prevent it from becoming any more so.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Doc." The Sergeant explained. "How is he?"

"Not good, I'm afraid." The Doctor replied. "I wish your people could give me more information about what happened to him, because this case is unlike anything I've ever seen. His vitals and EKG readings have all returned to normal, but he continued to remain unresponsive to any external stimulus. We found traces of an unknown chemical in his blood, but so far the lab has been unable to identify it, but hopefully they will be able to soon. If you like, you can have a few minutes alone while I finish my rounds."

Proske nodded, and the Doctor left, leaving the two of them alone. It was strange for him to see the Lieutenant like this; so calm and peaceful, when he was always so angry and chaotic acting before.

"I brought you this." He said as he took the shock baton off his belt and put it in the pocket of Liquid's jacket in the patient possessions locker. "Figured maybe it would help you feel better, since I can't think of anything else you'd want to have close by… damn it, Liquid, why do you do these things to yourself? I know you've had a bad run, but now you've dragged a bunch of good cops down with you. Chambers and Ashwood will be okay, but McGee got fired, Lopez is in jail, and who knows what you actually did with Carver? I feel bad for you, Tobias, I really do… everything you touch goes up in flames, so the best thing you can do is stay asleep."

Proske was starting to feel the anger building up inside, but this wasn't the time or the place for any kind of outburst, so he did what he should have always done when dealing with Liquid, and walked away. The Lieutenant, however, was not his only reason for visiting the hospital, and the anger was soon forgotten when he walked into room 401, where the slowly recovering Ashwood was laying in the first bed.

"Murphy." She said weakly with a slight smile.

"Hi, Kendra." He said, returning the smile as he sat in the chair next to the bed. "They say you're gonna make a full recovery, and, um… I don't want to ruin your day, but the Chief is gonna want to know what happened to you once you get out."

Yes, it was kind of rude to tell her that, but it was better than she be prepared for what was going to happen, versus getting jumped by it the moment she came back to work. Of course she didn't seem too troubled by this revelation, instead just sighing deeply while reaching over and taking his hand.

"I don't think I'll be much help." She replied while squeezing his hand. "I remember we got back to the cabin, and there was someone waiting for us… I remember… we tried to arrest him… but then nothing before I woke up here. I'm really sorry, Murphy… but what happened to the others?"

"Everything's fine for now, Kendra." He replied before leaning forward and kissing her on the forehead. "You just worry about getting better, okay? Oh, here's some good news: Chambers got transferred into the S.T.A.R.S. unit. See? Everything's going to be okay."

That made her smile, but Ashwood seemed so tired, so he decided to leave her alone for now. It was hard to leave her like that, and even harder to resist the urge to try and wake Liquid up with his own shock baton, but that really wouldn't help anything. All they could do now was move forward, no matter how hard it was going to be.

RPD, Holding Cells, 10:30 PM…

"So the Chief is getting all smart with me, right?" Lopez asked the others in the cell with him. "So I called him a slimy walrus, and he was like 'hey, you can't talk to me that way, I'm a lady', and I was like 'so get back in the kitchen and make me a sandwich'. Then I jumped over his desk, and I swear to every God there is, he screamed like a little sissy, and the best part… was when he peed himself."

The other prisoners laughed hysterically at this, except for the one who was bleeding and unconscious on the floor. Turns out they put him in the same holding cell with the purse snatcher he had brought in last week, and sure, he had been a little rough on the guy, but that didn't mean he was about to let the perp sit down while he had to stand up. Of course, the little whiner didn't like having his seat stolen, so he tried to take it back, but that didn't turn out too well for him.

Other than that, the whole day was pretty uneventful. All three meals got delivered, and once the lights got turned off at the end of day shift, he and the other prisoners swapped funny stories until they started falling asleep. Now he was the only one left awake, and McGee was right, there was no way to beat a wrap like this. The mountain of charges against him was almost unbelievable, and now his thoughts turned to prison. The first thing he was going to have to do was show his strength, probably by finding the leader of the biggest gang, and then drowning him in the toilet.

Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the gate-door opening, and then some flashlight beams started moving around. He couldn't see who was holding them as they looked around at the other prisoners, and he had to shield his eyes once the light was finally on him.

"Put out your hands, Mr. Lopez." A voice ordered.

Letting out a sigh before putting his hands through the bars to be handcuffed, the half-blond man had expected this. It was probably a bunch of the Chief's friends from night shift who heard what happened, and now they were going to work him over a bit. Fortunately, everyone at the RPD hit like girls, so it wasn't like they could actually hurt him, aside from Liquid's shock baton, that is. He really hoped they didn't have one of those as the cell door opened, but it wasn't like he could stop them if they did.

The other people with flashlights closed and locked the cell behind him, and then he was escorted away from the holding cells, and back toward the RPD. They had to cross the bottom level of the parking garage to get there, but instead of moving toward the other door, he was pulled by the forearms toward a conspicuous looking black van. There was no point in questioning this, since they probably wouldn't tell him what was going on anyway, but he was getting a little nervous when he found that the vehicle was filled with armed people. The door was closed and locked once he was seated in the middle, and then the driver started forward, leaving the RPD behind as they went down the street.

"Good to meet you, Mr. Lopez." The same man from before said as he unlocked the handcuffs. "We represent the Umbrella Corporation's Biohazard Countermeasure Force… we heard about the rough time you and your team had up in the mountains, and how those nasty people at the RPD pretty much hung you out to dry. Now, we're not here to kidnap you, so here's the choice: You can go back to jail and face what's coming to you… or you can have a chance to make sure that what happened to you in the mountains doesn't happen to anyone else ever again."

He had been down this road with choices before, and from this he had learned that the honorable thing was not always the best one to go with. It was also nice to not have to drown a prison gang leader or shank a guard in order to survive, and besides… what they were offering couldn't possibly be any worse than what he had already been through.

"I'm listening." He replied while leaning back in the seat.