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The baboon ran for them as soon as they stepped back into the hall--and it died spectacularly, the double-barreled shotgun blasting it to shreds with a deafening roar Billy broke and reloaded with his one reht he&039;d hadthe way In any case, nothing else came at them, and they headed back out toward thetih, a break in the relentless chaos they&039;d both endured, it was the first time he&039;d told his story to anyone as actually listening, illing to consider that he iant circle of stone statuary in theit over There were six carved ani outward Each had a small plaque in front of it, a small oil lamp positioned next to each plaque The ani was a monstrosity, a real eyesore
The aniht, a snake clutched in its talons He read aloud from its plaque: "I DANCE FREELY THROUGH THE AIR, CAPTURING A LEGLESS PREY" He frowned,from its plaque "I STAND TALL ON THE EARTH WITH HORNS PROUDLY DISPLAYED"
Rebecca had walked around the unfortunate art piece, stopped at a steel gate set into the wall behind it The gate blocked a short hall, two doors set into its walls "There&039;s a sign here, says"--she turned, studying the ani the larabbed one of the ate"
"So you have to light the la with the weakest anih all the troubleHe pulled the map out of his back pocket, studied it "It just looks like a couple of rooed "Yeah, butin there we can use Can it hurt?"
"I don&039;t know," he said truthfully "Maybe" She ser, reading from the plaque beneath it "I AM THE KING OF ALL I SURVEY: NO CREATURE CAN ESCAPE MY GRASP"
Billyof a snake coiled around a tree limb "This one says, I CREEP UP ON MY VICTIMS IN LEGLESS SILENCE AND CONQUER EVEN THE MIGHTIEST OF KINGS WITH MY POISON"
Rebecca read the last two aloud--the words beneath a wolf carving were, MY SHARP WIT ALLOWS ME TO BRING DOWN EVEN THE GREATEST HORNED BEAST
The sixth aniend beneath it was, NO AMOUNT OF CUNNING CAN MATCH THE SPEED OF MY SUPPLE LIMBS
Horned beast Billy walked back to the deer, read the part about "horns proudly displayed"
"So, the wolf is stronger than the deer," he said
"And if cunning can&039;t outrace a horse, the horse is stronger than the wolf," she said "What&039;s stronger than the snake?"
"Gotta be the eagle, it&039;s carrying a snake," Billy said
They each circled around the statue, calling out observations, working the puzzle They finally agreed on a sequence, and Billy walked to each ani the appropriate oil laest, at least according to the statue, the order was deer, wolf, horse, tiger, snake, and eagle
As he lit the eagle&039;s lamp, there was a heavy, mechanical sound froate behind the into a niche at the top of the archway
Together, they ht, appeared to hold nothing of value at first glance There were a bunch of e crates, a few cluttered shelves Billy was ready tofor the crates One of them was turned away from the door so they couldn&039;t see as in it-- and when she stepped around it, she let out an excited laugh, crouching next to the crate, pushing it around so he could see Billy hurried to her side, feeling like a kid at Christmas Guess that damned puzzle orth the effort, after all
Two and a half boxes of nine-millimeter rounds A half box of twenty-thich wouldn&039;t do theood, nor would the pair of speed loaders-- Billy had to explain that the round ned to quickly load revolvers--with the 50 rounds But the box of shotgun shells, fourteen in all, would certainly help Billy wouldn&039;t have s considered, they couldn&039;t have hoped forthe clips theyhad Rebecca found a fanny pack with a broken zipper on one of the shelves and they loaded it up, along with her utility belt; they agreed it was better to take it all, on the chance that they ed the zipper with a safety pin he found on the floor and donned the pack, coht of so un-- and at her silence, he turned to look at her, saw that she&039;d flushed slightly She looked away, adjusting her belt
"I didn&039;t mean literally," he said "I mean, not that you&039;re not attractive, but you&039;re--I&039;m--I meant--"
"Don&039;t have kittens," she said coolly "I knohat you h to deal ithout the h she is pretty cute--
He shook it off, re himself that he&039;d just spent a year without any women around--and noas so not the time to address it
They headed to the second door, found it unlocked It was a bunk rooether from plywood, the few blankets scattered around threadbare and dingy Considering the poor accoate down the hall, Billy thought it was safe to assume that the inhabitants hadn&039;t been volunteers Re-becca had told hi huave hiet out, the better
"Do we go down, or up?" Rebecca asked, as they moved back into the hall
"There&039;s an observatory upstairs, right?" Billy asked Rebecca nodded "So let&039;s go observe Maybe we can signal for help or soested they try and get rescued, but he didn&039;t take it back, even understanding what it most likelyfor his life than be executedBut there was Rebecca to consider She was a good person, honest and sincere, and he&039;d do what he could to get her out of this alive
They otten off to, quickly deciding that he was better off without it For the first tie, he felt like hiain He watched them stock up on ammunition, both impressed and disappointed by their fortitude After another consultation with their maps, they started upstairs, presuh the children could hear their voices, they could not make out their words
He&039;d had the children search out the tablets that would be needed, had had the tablets taken to the doors that led to the observatory Unless Billy and Rebecca were entirely moronic--which they&039;d already proven they were not--they would figure out how to trigger the structure&039;s rotation, leading them closer to their escape From there they would move on to the laboratory, hidden behind the chapel
He wondered what they would find there, in Marcus&039;s laboratories; more to steal, perhaps He wanted them to uncover what they could about Umbrella&039;s true nature, but was not pleased to see theh the sad reht of the laboratories as Marcus&039;s, though Marcus had been gone for a decade The entire coer&039;s "disappearance," but recently, Umbrella had reopened it all--the labs, the treat center None had been fully functional when the virus had hit; they were being run by skeleton crews of ement hopefuls; nonetheless, the company had lost a nuh the east rooms on the first floor and back out into the lobby, then headed to the second floor They found the door that would take the the staireapons drawn, their youthful faces deterly unafraid He watched as they started up the stairs, emotionally torn He wanted to see them succeed, and see theed the Elih the prilect Hoould they fare against the Hunters? Or the proto-Tyrant?
What if they came to where he and the children waited and watched? What would they do?
The young ht Sensitive to his s, across his chest, gathering in a kind of embrace He pet them, reassured them by touch that all ell If the two adventurers actually made it to the nest--still an unlikely preht spread the story of Umbrella&039;s sins
"Or perhaps I&039;ll kill the He would decide when--if--it occurred To say that he was indifferent to their fate was untrue; as he waited for the death of U Billy and Rebecca had become a pleasure, and he was most interested to see ould happen to them But he would see theain