The Mold in Winter (Resident Evil x Male Reader)

Chapter 26: The Wreck in the Swamp

Y/N POV

As we sailed into the swamp, I remained silent, we all did. There was a lot of tension and unease in the air. I particularly thought about Zoe, the promise I made to replicate the serum and prevent another incident like this happening again.

I was still angry that Ethan chose to save me over her. I felt responsible for what had happened here. I remembered very little but if Mia's note was anything to go off, if the Bakers hadn't found us then none of this would have happened.

Mia broke the silence by turning to Ethan and saying "Ethan, thank you." To that Ethan bluntly replied "Who the hell else was I going to choose?" That just angered both me and Mia, she exclaimed "Ethan!" Before we fell into silence completely.

I stated "Zoe was my friend. And we just left her there." Ethan replied "There was nothing more we could do Y/N. There were only two vials of serum left." I turned away from him muttering quietly enough for no one to hear "Perhaps she should have been saved over me."

There was more silence for a while as we went deeper into the swamp before Ethan finally broke the silence again. "Mia, Y/N, I know you've both been through a lot. But we need to talk. You two had something to do with all this, didn't you? Look, I just want to know the truth."

Mia turned back to him, saying "Ethan, I honestly don't remember." I nodded and said "Same here, outside of faint things. Other than that there's nothing." To that Ethan simply said "Try." Mia grunted in anger at this as I just sighed.

Before any of us could say any more, something came into view up ahead. At first I couldn't tell what it was exactly however as we drew closer it was revealed to be a HUGE tanker, wrecked in the swamp. There's no telling how long it had been here but something about it made me uneasy.

Ethan commented "Is that a boat? How the hell did that get out here?" We drew closer and my discomfort only increased. There was a sudden splash in the water beneath us, the boat came to a stop causing Mia to jerk forward. Ethan caught her, saying "You're OK. What the hell was that?"

Suddenly something emerged from the water, it looked like black tentacles at first however soon Mold began growing all over the but. Ethan exclaimed "What the fuck?! What is that?! What is that?!" Suddenly the boat capsized, causing all three of us to fall into the water below.

Shorty after that everything went dark...

Timeskip...

As consciousness slowly returned to me, my eyes flicked open. I didn't know what had happened, all I knew was that we had been attacked by something that had caused our boat to capsize, aside from that there was nothing.

I slowly got back to my feet and began taking in my surroundings. Too my surprise, the old tanker appeared to be right in front of me, I was lying in a pile of scrap metal held together with that black Mold stuff.

There was no sign of Mia OR Ethan so I called out "Mia?!" "Ethan?!" "Anybody?!" Nothing. I received no reply. I continued to look around, that sense of familiarity and unease only increased. There was something about this place that certainly made me uncomfortable, as if I'd been here before.

I climbed down from the pile I'd been lying on for this unknown period of time and gasped when my legs landed in a shallow pool of swamp water. My clothes were already in terrible condition so that wasn't a problem. 

Continuing to look around, I found no signs of either Mia or Ethan, I did however note something of interest. I noticed that the narrow flooded path I was in, lead up to a slope, at the top of which was an open bulkhead door leading into the tanker itself.

If Mia and Ethan weren't out here then my only conclusion was that they'd have headed inside. I began to walk up the slope went through the door and entered the tanker. The interior of which didn't help my nerves.

The metallic walls were covered in Mold, yet even then, there was something familiar about them. Instinctively, I reached for one of my guns, I knew I'd lost my axe during the battle with Jack so I'd have to rely on a firearm.

Thankfully, I was able to find my 44 Mag, the grenade launcher was unfortunately lost when our boat fell. The 44 was tucked away in one of my pockets as a makeshift holster so I was able to keep hold of that.

A negative to that though is that I'd used up most of my ammo in the battle with Jack, now I only had two rounds left. I'd have to use them sparing until I either found more ammo, or found another alternative weapon.

I squinted my eyes as I proceeded to walk down the corridor of the abandoned tanker. My weapon aimed in front of me. I looked up to see Mold dripping from the ceiling, I stepped around it to avoid getting any on myself.

Reaching the end of the corridor, I found another bulkhead door. Reaching out, I gripped the rusted wheel and gave it a firm twist. The rust caused a cracking noise to be heard however it still managed to turn and release the lock for me to push the door open. Judging by the rust build-up, it was safe to assume the tanker had been here for a few years. 

My thought process was cut off when I heard what sounded life footsteps and strange laughter up ahead, I instantly raised my 44 as I stepped forward towards the source of the noise. I had no idea what to expect, given everything I'd experienced at the Baker home.

The source of the noise came from the other side of another closed door. Just like the last one, I gave it a firm twist releasing the lock and pushing the door open. I kept my gun at the ready and once the door opened I extended it in front of me, ready to open fire.

What I found was even stranger. Exactly NOTHING! I found nothing that could have lead to the noises I was hearing before. I growled and muttered "Damn it. My mind must be playing tricks on me."

I tensed up though when I heard what sounded like a child's laughter once again. Much closer than before...

Author's Note: And that's it for this chapter, we're in the final act of the segment now. After this I will be going right in to the Village segment, perhaps only taking a day to upload the summary for an Injustice story I'm planning. I really hope you liked the chapter and as always, thank you for reading.