HOTD! Busujima’s Step Brother

Before returning to the underground lab, we scoured the vicinity to ensure everything was safe. We killed all zombies roaming inside and outside the police station's perimeter without issues.

Then after everything was clear, I called Saya and Miss Shizuka. I definitely needed their help to find this antidote among all the vials placed on the shelf.

When they arrived at the underground, Saya couldn't help but pinch her nose at the pungent odor.

"This smell is horrible!" Saya complained while glaring accusingly towards me, "How could you two handle this environment? It stinks!"

"Just bear with it. Come on, let's start searching." I said before explaining our goal briefly to both ladies present.

I wouldn't say that I was a genius who knew about everything. My knowledge was limited to guns, how to fight, and a little bit of interrogation because I loved reading criminal novels and watching movies.

This task, therefore, required expertise which neither Saeko nor I possessed whatsoever, hence why we relied upon two others here, especially Miss Shizuka whose job revolved around nursing.

I asked Saya to find documents and matched it with the antidote. We had an impression that the researchers catalogued their experiments.

As expected, Saya soon found papers with photos of vials on them, some were crossed out with red pen marks. Most likely, failed experiments. With a match, we should find the antidote easily.

"This is..." She mumbled as her fingers hovered across pages of numerous files and data compiled neatly within thick folders stored in the file cabinet, "This is insane. To think they tested all kinds of things like this. Horrible, really horrible...!"

The pinkette shivered involuntarily at every turn she took towards the new page.

Each contained illustrations depicting horrifying abominations brought by mad scientists attempting to create bioweaponry. One of them had Tyrant's prototype with a large yet destroyed body with an exposed heart.

"Find anything else interesting?" I asked curiously. "We need to find an antidote for a parasite."

"...this is horrible." Saya repeated once more absentmindedly before snapping herself awake, "...Wait! I think I found it! Yes, yes!!"

Her expression brightened considerably immediately afterwards upon seeing another illustration.

I looked at the page she opened. My mouth opened in surprise when I saw the illustration, an arthropod-like creature that resembled Las Plagas.

On the corner, the label 'Mars 9th, 199X', told us when this experiment happened.

Not only the Las Plagas itself, it also showed the host that got infected by one as well as the adult Las Plagas that spurted from a human's severed head.

"This seems like it... Find the vial that has a matching logo with the drawing on this paper." I said to Saya and Shizuka, giving the pinkette some instructions on how to proceed to the next step onward.

Both of them nodded simultaneously and started browsing through stacks upon stacks filled with glass bottles. I also helped to find the antidote while Saeko stood guard near the door leading outside of this place.

After all, anything could happen at any moment.

Finding one bottle proved surprisingly difficult even for us since we lacked detailed information regarding its location. Luckily though, there were labels indicating contents written on caps affixed onto containers themselves alongside corresponding numbers engraved on them too.

After a few minutes, Miss Shizuka screamed.

"Kyaa!"

I quickly unsheathed my sword and ran toward her.

"What's wrong?!"

"T-that vial, the liquid... It's disgusting!" Miss Shizuka explained fearfully.

She pointed at one vial.

I approached and looked at the vial. Inside, there was a small arthropod creature with its legs dangling down limply in red liquid. It twitched and writhed around slowly, like a maggot.

Disgusting indeed.

The label said 'Las Plagas: Dominant'.

Then I realized. This was the dominant version of Las Plagas, one that couldn't be controlled by ultrasonic sound and could command the subordinate version.

The host would gain increased physical ability as long as the parasites were inside them, rendering them virtually immortal. They could even tank a few shotgun shots in the head.

I looked at the vial in my hand and to Saya. Upon meeting my gaze, she shrieked and covered her chest with her arms.

"D-Don't ever think about it, stupid! I already read the document, and I will say no!" She screamed fearfully.

"No, I won't." I responded gently. "We need an antidote, remember?"

She sighed in relief.

Indeed, infecting my girl with Umbrella Corp's parasite was stupid. However, I shouldn't destroy this dominant Las Plagas either. This could save life, although it would turn the host into something very dangerous.

'Having it is better.'

With that, I put this vial in my pocket, keeping it a secret from everyone. Of course, Saeko who always watched me might notice it, but she always took my side and trusted me.

Then, Saya found another vial with a label, Antivirus - Las Plagas.

There were only two of these. According to the log on the documents, the creator died a week after the experiment and left only two antiviruses before his demise. The recipe for making another was lost along with him.

"So this can kill the parasite inside our bodies? What about curing zombies?"

"It seems to be impossible." Saya read through the paper quickly. "Zombies' cells have degraded too much. The antivirus is useless. Even when they were just bitten, the virus infecting them was different from the parasite, so it would only kill the house and not cure it."

"Oh well..."

I should save up points to buy the Zombie Serum for safety, then.

"Alright, let's leave then. We finished looting."

And we went upstairs to head toward our next destination.

***

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