Read Online Resident Evil. Retribution by John Shirley - Free Book Online

interesting…
    There were a dozen of them, all around the edge of the room—and at each one was an Umbrella trooper, sitting facing away from her. Alice pointed her Glock at the nearest one—who fell from his chair as soon as his station clicked into place.
    But she hadn’t fired.
    She stepped closer, looked at him—and saw that the eyepiece of his mask had been penetrated. Blood traced the cracks in the eyepiece. He’d been shot.
    They had all been shot—they were all dead.
    Then something else was rising from the floor—a rack of guns.
    “Pay dirt!” Alice exclaimed.
    As soon as it clicked into place she began to pick and choose. She chose an assault rifle as her primary shooter. Then she filled her pockets with extra clips, and strapped on some throwing knives for good measure. Before she was done, she had strapped on as many weapons as she could carry and still move effectively.
    Without warning, the monitors on the workstations lit up, all showing the same image—Jill Valentine, glaring into the camera. The sound of her voice filled the room.
    “Control, come in! Control, this is Security Chief Valentine! We have an escaped fugitive! I need her location! Control, respond.”
    Alice watched the monitor fixedly—but as she did, she was aware of something else.
    Someone slipping up behind her. Very quietly.
    But…
    She spun, snatching a pistol from the hand of a beautiful young Asian woman with short-cropped hair. The newcomer wore a tight red dress slit to the hip, and red spectacles.
    The instant Alice grabbed her gun the woman whirled about and—with a precise martial arts strike—kicked the gun from her hand. The pistol spun through the air and in an instant was caught again by the woman in red. She smiled coldly as she pointed it at her target.
    But Alice was already in motion. Slipping in under her attacker’s defensive stance, she drew a knife and pressed it to the woman’s throat…
    The result was a standoff. The Asian woman in red was pointing a pistol at Alice, and Alice—all in black— had a knife against the woman’s jugular. Gazes locked and weapons gripped tightly in their hands, they glared at each other, neither making a move.
    Alice kept it simple.
    “Don’t,” she said, eliciting a reply.
    “My name is…”
    “Ada Wong,” Alice interrupted. “Operative for the Umbrella Corporation and one of Albert Wesker’s top agents.” Contempt twisted her lips. “I know exactly who—and what—you are.” She pressed her blade, fractionally, and a small drop of Ada’s blood trickled down her neck.
    Ada didn’t even blink. Nor did she pull the trigger.
    “The real question,” Alice said, “is why I shouldn’t just cancel your contract right now.”
    “I don’t work for Umbrella anymore.”
    Alice shrugged, just slightly.
    “I don’t care. She angled her blade, readying it for a quick slash… Then she heard a chillingly familiar male voice. An impossible voice. The voice of a ghost.
    “You can kill her if you like. But then you’ll never get out of this place.”
    Glancing past Ada, Alice saw the face of Albert Wesker, framed in the monitors. He was wearing shades, as per usual, dressed in black, and grinning with wicked wideness.
    “Wesker…” Alice shook her head in wonder. His duplicated faces flashed across the row of monitors.
    “How nice to see you again,” he responded pleasantly.
    “I killed you!”
    Wesker shrugged apologetically.
    “A clone.” He smiled. “You didn’t really think I’d put myself in harm’s way, did you?”
    Alice looked again at Ada… at the gun in Ada’s hand.
    “Now,” Wesker said, “be a good girl and put down the knife.”
    “I let you out of that cell,” Ada said. “I led you here. You wouldn’t have made it this far without me.”
    “Why would you want to help me?” Alice asked.
    “I have my reasons. Let’s just say, for the moment, your interests and mine are in alignment.”
    Alice shook her head.
    “I’m not