TITLE: Resident Evil, Experiments

Rating: Pg-13

Summary: Not telling.

Disclaimer: Resident evil is the property of Capcom entertainment.

The lights flickered on and off in the small room. The doorway was blocked by rubble, and the floor covered with dust. But even so, there was power. Enough to support life.

In the center of the room was a test vat. Within the vat was green liquid that was sparkling in the broken light behind her. Within the liquid rested a child, naked and had only a little wisp of brown hair. But there was something terribly wrong. The girl had no legs and the flesh on her arms were twisted, akin to being a zombie. But as the shadow approached closer to the vat, the girl stirred and came to life. Her blue eyes opened, and her mouth which had black teeth lunged for the sole occupant outside her tank. Her face thudded against the glass. Kevin frowned. It was strong, strong enough to hold her.

But not against him.

Kevin's fist smashed through the glass, and his hands wrapped around the girl's throat. He squeezed relentlessly. The girl's pale face grew even paler, if that was possible.

"Come on..." Kevin whispered. "Come on..."

The girl stared lifelessly at him for a moment, then clamped down on his unprotected arm. Kevin winced, and screamed. This was a scream of terror, of pure unimaginable horror. Of one who knew he was going to die.

-----------------------------

George's eyes flew open, and he instantly grabbed the switchblade on the night stand and slashed it through the air. He glanced to the left and right before relaxing and lowering his arm. He closed his eyes and took in a deep gulp of air. He had seen a lot of things including a deformed body. But this dream, as usual, left him terrified and shaken to the cure. George tossed away the covers and glanced at the time. It was only just past midnight. The first thing he ever did after the nightmare was to check the first drawer of the tall dresser. He opened it up, and allowed a sigh of relief to escape him. Within were four vials, two marked with blue liquid and the other two with green. All of them were protected in a silver capsule. The t-virus and the cure, manufactured by himself. As far as he knew, the only two people in the world that knew how to make it were himself and Yoko. It was very specific and detailed. He had tried to explain it to Kevin once and failed spectactularly. Trouble was, the worry that the far more brilliant minds of Umbrella would be able to hit upon it eventually was never gone from his thoughts.

Interestingly enough, it seemed as though themselves and Umbrella had the same goal-to prevent the world from knowing about the t-virus. Umbrella, of course, had pinned all the blame on them. As a result himself, Alyssa, Yoko, Cindy and Kevin had become the most wanted people in the entire world. Their lives could never be safe again...or normal. Three years ago, they had taken the unanimous decision to not stop or rest until Umbrella had been destroyed. George swallowed, wondering if this was how dying felt like. One way or another, their lives could only end one way-short and bloody. And he was dreaming Kevin's end. But why? And more importantly, when, so he could prevent it?

In the meantime, they had done everything they could to disappear from the world between raids against Umbrella, and thanks to Kevin they had done admirably well. Even in this motel room they had used no credit cards, no bank cards. Just plain cash. Seeing as how the owner was drunk out of his mind most of the time, they had stayed here for a good two months. Not bad for a hundred bucks

A sudden movement made him jump back, almost dropping the virus he was still holding. Not that there was any real worry of infection-thanks to constant exposure from the anti-virus they could never be infected, ever again. For the first time, he noticed that he wasn't the only occupant who was awake. Cindy was sitting on the window ledge, looking out the window. "You were having a nightmare," she stated.

George shrugged it off, smiling a little. "It's nothing."

"No." Cindy's eyes were twinkling. "Not with you." She looked away. "It's the same one you've been having for the past two weeks? Why?"

George shrugged as he opened the second drawer and took out a pack of cigarettes. "Who knows? We've all been products of viral manipulation. A few side-effects should be expected."

"Like knowing what's going to happen?" Cindy asked.

George didn't respond as he thoughtfully lit up his cigarette.

"I was hoping you'd quit."

George smiled a little. "I'm glad one of us did." He looked down. "Cindy...we've seen real nightmares in the last three years. We've seen things that no person should ever see. It's a wonder that we can still remember who we are."

Cindy returned his smile. "We've done a few unbelievable things ourselves, George."

He gripped her hand.

"When are you going to tell them?"

George shrugged, a shadow across his eyes. His thoughts were still on the dream. "I'll think of something."

-----------------------

A few minutes later George and Cindy entered the small kitchen area of the motel room, where

Kevin was dealing cards to himself on the table and watching the t.v. Over the years the ex-cop's hair had grown longer and swept just before his shoulders. As of the last three years, George had never ever caught Kevin being fully asleep. It was eerie. He nodded once in greeting. "Hey. Get everyone up here. Something's come up."

Cheery, as usual, George thought. He knocked loudly on Yoko and Alyssa's doors and returned back to the small kitchen. He yawned loudly as he stepped through the doorway.

Kevin favored him with a raised eyebrow. "Cindy keeping you up?"

"Nightmare," Cindy replied, smiling and rubbing his shoulder.

"Oh. Oh god, that's all we need." Kevin leaned back and fished for a cigarette and sighed. "What is it this time?"

"Listen, not all my dreams are bad-" George began in protest.

"So what, is this one good? Are we going to Disneyland this summer?"

"Well, no, not really-" he said as Yoko and Alyssa entered the scene. Yoko's short black hair was disheveled and was in several compass directions. Alyssa was brushing her long blond hair. "Not all of them come true!" George added.

"Yep. Just like the dream of the nuclear devastation of Racoon city never came true. Or the dream of you being a zombie never came true. Or just like the dream about the exploding dinosaur never came true!"

"I wasn't there for that," Yoko said.

Kevin rolled his eyes. "Don't ask. I've learned to be wary of your dreams. In fact, have you ever considered giving up on dreaming?" Kevin shrugged at George's look. "Seems healthier."

"Kevin, don't you think it's time you told us what's going on?" Cindy asked.

"No, I'm enthralled by what the wise oracle has to tell us this time," Kevin said, folding his arms. "So go ahead."

George rolled his eyes. Kevin clearly wasn't going to leave it alone. "Okay." He outlined the dream as briefly and detailed as he could possibly be. Neglecting to mention, of course, that he had actually seen Kevin being bitten, or of Kevin even being in the room. That part he had always kept to himself.

Kevin shrugged. "Sounds spooky. Too bad you couldn't tell us where it is-"

"I know exactly where it is. The freezing lab," George said automatically.

"The wha-what?"

"Years ago, Yoko Alyssa and I went to this hidden ungeround lab."

"Where Jimmy was killed," Alyssa whispered softly, almost to herself.

Kevin stared at George. "No. Don't tell me."

"Racoon city," George said. "The place it all began."

"Well, that settles it, then," Cindy said. "The entire complex was bombarded with missiles. Nothing could have survived that."

A soft voice. "Something could have."

All eyes turned to Yoko. It was rare that she spoke, and always important when she did.

"I did," she continued. "There were areas of that base that were reinforced from a possible missile attack. They might have withstood the pressure of the missiles, maybe even the nuclear destruction."

"Listen, that place is a kill-zone! We're not going back to Racoon city!" Kevin snapped.

All three glanced at him in surprise.

Kevin gestured sharply. "Haven't you heard the news? More zombies have populated ours truly, more so then we ever had before! Millions. Something's drawing them there. Something big. That's what I wanted to tell you all!"

"Which is why we need to be there," George said.

A sudden shuffling behind them. Instantly all of their postures shifted from half-relaxed to immediate tense. And when they were in that mode, death soon followed. Even now Kevin was taking his gun out of his hoister and removed the safety. Yoko was eyeing the knives on the wooden board with particular relish.

As it turns out, it was the owner, sober for once and holding a cord telephone in his hand. "Hey, is one of you called Ryman?"

All of them exchanged glances. Kevin stood and took the phone. "Hello?" he said nothing for several moments, then asked, "How did you find us?" For long moments he didn't speak. Finally, he said, "All right." And he hung up the phone. A moment later he sat back in his chair.

"What's going on?" Yoko asked.

Kevin sighed. "Apparently someone from Umbrella wants to talk. A janitor, or something. His wife has been infected by the t-virus. In exchange for the cure, he's willing to give up information on Umbrella."

"Where is he?" George asked.

Kevin leaned back in his chair. "Racoon City."

--------------------------

Fortunately, Racoon City wasn't too far away from their location. They were able to infiltrate an air base with relative ease and steal a helicopter to fly them to Racoon City. It was still nighttime when they landed on a broken street. Kevin stepped out first. The night was quiet. But he knew that it wouldn't be for too long.

Yoko looked around. She was dressed in a long black coat. "Look at where we are. Not too far from here is the police headquarters. To the left is the museum. To the right is the cemetery and-"

"-our graves," George said.

"Ah, the memories. Fun times, those were," Kevin said. "Let's clear away the nostalgia for a moment and do our job. We haven't landed too far from our destination. The guy wants to meet me on the street a few blocks from here."

Yoko glanced at him. "Us, you mean."

"Me," Kevin replied. "I'm going alone."

In that tone, there was no arguing. Cindy looked distracted. She was looking at the destruction of Racoon City as George joined her. Silently the two joined hands.

In a weird, twisted way, they were home.

--------------------------------------------

The man was waiting for Kevin at the end of the street, alone. He was very pale and was shivering under his leather jacket. He stared at the ex-cop. "You Ryman?'

"What gave it away, the newspapers or my stunning good looks?" Kevin asked, quickly approaching.

The man nodded to himself, but still seemed unconvinced. "You came alone?"

Kevin shrugged and spread his arms. "Do you see anyone else here?"

The man said nothing for a moment, then looked down. He was shuddering. "I need help. It's too late for my wife. She bit me..and now, I have no time left."

Kevin nodded. "I'm sorry for your loss. You have the information?"

"You have the cure?" the man returned.

Kevin opened his jacket slightly, revealing the blue vial.

------------------------------

Unnoticed by anyone, Yoko, George, and Alyssa were balancing precariously on the pipes far above them leading up to the ruins of a half-collapsed house. Yoko threw down two duffle bags on a fairly stable ground. Cindy opened it up, and took out a sniper gun. She had a good enough vintage point to pick off anyone that would approach within a hair's breath of Kevin.

--------------------------

"That's not all. I want money," the janitor demanded. "To help get me out of here. And away from people like you."

Kevin stared at him for a moment, then threw him a bundle of cash. "All right. What can you tell me?"

Before the man could reply a low growl arouse out of the darkness. Kevin automatically grabbed his gun. The sound wasn't human, and it wasn't from a zombie either. He knew it from being a Nemesis. Kevin cursed under his breath. Why did they have to come back here? "Better give me that information quick," he said as he walked forwards.

The man behind him shuddered as convulsions ran through his body.

A fair distance away Cindy switched to info-red on her sniper rifle but couldn't see anything.

George was starring through a pair of binoculars and pointed. "Over there!"

"Oh no," Cindy whispered.

There was a large group of zombies headed right towards Kevin.

----------------------

"I see them," Kevin whispered, even though his companions were too far away to warn him. He spotted a half-full gas tank resting on the metal carcass of a truck. How long ago the tank was left there, Kevin didn't care. He spilled the contents on the ground in front of him and lit a match. Immediately a small fire caught. If Kevin knew one thing that zombies were smart enough to fear, it was outright flame. He could see them now. At least fifty of them, pale-faced and drooling. They didn't particularly care who or what Kevin was. They would just lumber towards him until they had their meal.

Kevin only had to glance behind him. A second later gunfire exploded, and the zombies at the very front fell to the concrete. But there was more coming. Kevin gripped the arm of the informant and lifted him to his feet. "Time to go."

George stood. "I'm going down there," he said, jumping down from the house. He was followed a second later by Yoko. George shot a zombie in the forehead that was standing in his way. They caught up with Kevin and looked around. There were zombies at every corner, every exit. They were surrounded by the hundreds.

"Looks like the reinforcements have arrived," Kevin remarked. Three years ago they might have been terrified. Not anymore. Even when Yoko stepped back she was smiling with anticipation.

"It's been a dull week," Kevin said, gripping his two guns. "Let's make it interesting."

------------------------

The fighting had lasted well into the night, and by that time all of them were evenly spread throughout a five-block radius. George continued firing with Kevin right next to him. Ammo wasn't the problem-Yoko had brought several duffel bags worth of weapons. The problem was that his arms were getting damned tired. He had shot roughly eighty so far. Years of practice had given all of them perfect aim, and it was rare when they missed. Even so, with all four of them combined, they still might not be able to reach the levels that Kevin had perfected. He had blasted away three times that number. At least.

On the south side of the radius next to the broken library Yoko calmly fired a uzi. Fortunately, for the most part zombies were slow and stupid. There was blood on her face, but not hers. Cindy covered her back with a shotgun, her preferred weapon of choice. Yoko's gun clicked empty and she smashed it against the head of one zombie as she grabbed another weapon.

George and Kevin was given a pause in the fighting to assess the situation. The zombies kept approaching endlessly and showed no signs of stopping. Within hours they might be overrun. Kevin swore, never a good sign. He grabbed a grenade from his belt and, without warning, shoved George towards an alleyway. George didn't have time to go back before the street exploded in fire. George glanced to the right and saw a man leaning against the wall next to him. It was the janitor they had come to help. He would be dead within a minute. George took out the anti-virus, and injected it into the man. With a final shudder the man collapsed against the wall and was still. George waited for the beginning signs that the cure was working.

He was considerably shocked, therefore, to see nothing happen. The man gave a gurgle and lunged for George. George did not pull away. The man was not a zombie, not yet. The man whispered a few words into George's ear. Within moments he died and became reanimated as a zombie. He lunged again at George. George reacted instantly and punched the man in the nose. The man fell back against the wall with a grunt. George stared at the empty vial in shock for a moment, and stood, tossing it away. He looked up and saw a bright light against the clear night's sky. He knew it was a helicopter. Get rid of the vials. Get rid of all of them, he thought. He tossed the final three against the pavement and shattered them under his boot. He took out two uzis and left the alleyway.

The concrete ground was littered with hundreds of zombies. Kevin was still firing his gun. Blood was flowing freely from his arm and he looked like hell. Definitely not one of their best days.

"KEVIN!" George snapped, gripping his good arm. "The cure doesn't work!"

"Yeah, big deal, we'll sort it out later-"

George felt like hitting him. How could Kevin be so stupid? "It means that the t-virus has mutated! It means that we lost our immunity against it!" Seeing that Kevin wasn't bothering to listen, George grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "Listen to me-we can be infected again!"

Kevin said nothing for a moment as George released him. "Shit," he snarled. He took out a special gun and fired a flare off into the night sky. It was a secret signal between them, meaning that something was seriously-messed up and that they had to run. Both of them have turned to flee, firing their guns. Kevin looked behind him. At least they had the high ground which would help-

The wall next to them suddenly exploded, showering them with rubble. Both men fell to the ground as a Nemises broke through and landed next to them.

George kicked away a zombie reaching for his leg and jumped backwards onto his feet. The rainwater blinded his vision. He couldn't see Kevin anywhere. And right in front of him was a Nemesis. The object of his worst fears. He grabbed his spare handgun. It was his last resort.

But before the Nemesis could take two steps towards him, the crystal power source imbedded in his back suddenly shattered, followed by a shot to his brain. Holding his hand against the blood splatter, George looked up and behind him.

And wished he was facing the Nemesis.

Kevin approached, and saw George tensely looking up. He followed his gaze and saw a dozen men dressed in umbrella outfits. One threw down a rope between them.

George and Kevin glanced at each other.

----------------------------

"NO!" Yoko shrieked a minute later, struggling in the man's arms. "No!"

She, George, Kevin, Alyssa, and Cindy were surrounded by Umbrella troops on the rooftop. They were safe enough from the zombies below. For the moment.

The leader, who had brown hair and blue eyes, shrugged at Cindy's look. "She wouldn't cooperate, even when we were trying to save her."

Kevin shrugged. "She won't have to." Fasten then anyone could even follow, he pulled out his gun and aimed it at the man's head. In the same space of time George had taken out two handguns which covered a group of five, Cindy had taken out a knife and held it behind a man's throat while reaching for his gun, and Alyssa just stayed where she was, smoking a cigarette.

"The odds are not in your favor," the leader said calmly.

"If you know anything about us, you know that we can beat you all," George said calmly.

"Yes. But can all of you make it without dying?" the man returned. "We saved your lives-"

"Yeah, and we'll send you a bunch of flowers and chocolates on Valentine's day," Kevin snapped. "We can all turn around and go home-"

"No, I don't think that's going to happen," the leader said. "My name is Edward Dawson."

Beside them Yoko gave a visible start of surprise. Kevin favored her with a puzzled look.

"I was, and still currently am, the man who created the Umbrella corporation," Edwards supplied. "And I am the founding leader of all department branches. Ten years ago, I authorized the t-virus to be created." He stared evenly at Kevin. "So the question becomes, even though I am the one you desire to slay more then anything in this world, will you still kill an unarmed man?"

George swallowed and glanced at Kevin. Unarmed killing was nothing new for any of them, and their souls were probably not going to a happy place after they died. If Kevin pulled the trigger, they would be quick to forgive him. He was therefore more then a little surprised when Kevin slowly pulled away his gun and tucked it into his belt.

"You know your files," Kevin admitted.

"Kevin!" Yoko admonished.

"Your friends may keep their weapons on us if they like," Edwards said. "I'll keep my word that none of you will be harmed. And the truth of the matter is, we need your help. Just as much as you need ours."

Kevin hesitated. "Put down your guns," he ordered his friends.

But George remained firm. "Put down her first," he ordered the man holding Yoko.

Reluctantly he released her. Everyone knew how hard Yoko must have been restraining herself from lunging at the nearest man.

Edwards glanced at Kevin. "You're thinking that you can't trust us. And you're right. But we have a serious problem on our hands, much more serious then the t-virus ever was. Another virus has been created, one that is only just starting to manifest itself in Racoon City. You've only seen one from that informant. But soon it will spread to the whole world."

"Something greater then the t-virus?" Cindy asked despite herself.

"More like a weaker strain of it," Edwards said. "One where zombies are able to retain a good deal of human characteristics. Mostly, intelligence. Speed. Strength. Zombies that can use weapons. Zombies that know how to fight. Zombies that cannot be stopped."

"You were experimenting again?" Yoko asked, and looked up at him. "Weren't you?"

Edwards smiled a little. "Yes. But our goal was not to make another t-virus. It was...human perfection. The cells of the t-virus contained the secret to everlasting life. We meant to create that...but instead got something else entirely."

"Sophisticated zombies. Zombies with intelligence and speed," George said. The last whispers were almost to himself. "Oh my god. What have you done?"

Yoko looked silently in horror at Edwards.

"We have an Outbreak," Edwards said. "A large population of Racoon City has been infected with this virus. These are innocent people, Mr. Damien. Survivors from the first Outbreak attempting to rebuild their lives. Unfortunately, this particular virus has a drawback. It sends lethal and paralyzing poisons to the subject that it has infected as well. Five hours after infection, the zombie immediately dies."

"And that's a bad thing?" Kevin asked.

"Not when there's a chance that they can be cured," Edwards said. "It will take both of our forces together to stop this."

"Why do you need us?" Yoko demanded.

"The infection rate of the R-virus is ten times that of the t-virus. It has already spread well beyond the confines of Racoon City, and worse, will soon mutate to become air born. We predict that in two weeks, it will spread to the entire globe. No one is safe. So that is why we need you," Edwards said. The helicopter suddenly landed on the rooftop. Kevin glanced at it as the wind swept furiously into his hair and the light blinded his eyes.

"So what do you say?" Edwards continued pleasantly.

George said nothing, but the janitor's last words came back to haunt him. You can't trust any of them.

--------------------------------------

A few minutes later the helicopter launched off the rooftop and headed towards the city closest to the ruins of Racoon City. Kevin stared with disinterest at the numerous buildings below them. For several years they had mostly stayed away from civilization.

"Long time since you've seen the city?" an officer sitting opposite to him asked.

Kevin slowly turned his eyes towards him, and the officer swallowed. The cold blue irises were looking through him, not at him. As though he was one added detail in taking over the helicopter and escaping, for example. The man glanced to the left and saw similar looks from George, Cindy, Alyssa, and Yoko. After that, he ventured no more conversation.

All of them focused their attention on the Umbrella headquarters. It looked a lot less significant since they rebuilt it after Kevin and the others had worked together to destroy it. They landed on the rooftop and they were escorted to the main office of Edwards Dawson.

Yoko stared with wide-eyes. The fact that they were walking into a trap they might not be able to escape from ventured into her mind. She glanced at Kevin, who half-shrugged in return. Nothing they could do about it now. She glanced around the hallway. Nice red carpeting. Paintings on the wall, probably valuable. They entered into a small office, where there were several people waiting for them. With guns pointed, of course.

"Please, have a seat," Edwards invited.

"We'd rather stand."

Edwards shrugged as he himself sat in his chair. "We can provide you with detailed schematics of the R-virus. I expect you two would want to study it further-" he gestured at George and Yoko.

"Well, it's been nice," Kevin said with a pleasant smile. "But we're leaving now. Just point us to the nearest exit and we promise to shut the door behind us."

Edwards blinked. "What?"

"Don't think we can work with you. So sorry, no. You'll have to find your own answers," Kevin said. He was lying, of course, but he really was curious to see how far he could really push the heads of Umbrella.

As it turns out, not pretty far. "How can you turn off your own conscience so quickly?" Edwards snapped.

George met his accusing gaze evenly. "I think you've got us wrong," he said. "We're just ordinary people-"

"Oh, give me a break!" Edwards snapped. "There's nothing about any of you that's ordinary!" He straightened. "Where do I begin? Alyssa Ashcroft, you single-handedly defeated one of my own personal agents, the man who was the predecessor of this very building! Mr. Ryman, your remarkable weapons speciality, not to mention your quick wit, has surpassed defeat a thousand times! Yoko...you intrigue me most of all," he said, starring at her thoughtfully.

Yoko swallowed and didn't meet his eyes.

Edwards turned his gaze. "Mr. Damien, you're the only person to have survived the t-virus, and Cindy Lennox, yes, even you are a force to be feared by many! You are the only people that stand between Racoon City and total oblivion. If you can't discover a cure in time..." his voice trailed away.

There was silence for a moment. Yoko was faintly surprised from the tone of regret from Edwards. "You said something...before, about us needing you?" she asked hesitantly.

Edwards nodded. "Of course. We are prepared to wipe your record clean. Admit that we were wrong in the newspapers. You will never be sought after. You can live a normal life in an area of your own choosing. This I provide to you. Whatever you desire, Umbrella can provide."

George said nothing. The janitor's last words screamed in his mind. You can't trust them! You can't trust them!

"No deal," Yoko spoke for all of them. "Understand one thing, Mister Dawson. The fight between us and Umbrella is not over because of this. Only temporarily...postponed. We're doing this only to save lives."

"Does she speak for all of you?" Edwards asked.

"Damn straight she does," Kevin said.

"We're cleaning up your mess. We always seem to. Then, we're coming after you next," George said.

"There doesn't need to be a fight," Edwards said. "A normal life." He raised his eyebrows. "Think about it."

-----------------------

It was half an hour later.

George and Kevin were left alone after saying that they would consider it. Kevin had said nothing, constantly looking out the window. He looked deeply disturbed. "Thought about it?"

"Yep. Took me two minutes to say no. Cindy agrees," George said, but he knew that Kevin was making idle chatter. "What is it?" he demanded, well-aware that they were surrounded by security cameras with microphones listening to every word.

"Umbrella's trying to pull our strings even now," Kevin said.

"What do you mean?" George asked.

"How did Umbrella know where we were to begin with?"

George shrugged. "Lucky guess?"

Kevin frowned.

"I have really no idea," George said.

Kevin stared out the window. "Someone tipped them off. Someone from us. I know it's not me. It's probably not you or Cindy. I doubt Yoko would see any gain from it. That leaves just one person." He wrote a word in the fogged glass. It said, 'ALYSSA'.

George considered. Alyssa liked working behind the scenes, sneaking and manipulating her way through any situation. It wasn't how George operated. It wasn't how any of them operated. As a result, there was an unspoken warning between the four of them. They weren't sure if they could trust Alyssa, even now. But on the other hand, he didn't spend three years with her for nothing. "I think you're reaching on this one, Kevin."

Kevin slowly wiped away the name, but his face looked far from convinced.

A few minutes later, after they had quietly agreed to disagree, they were checking their weapons. "So the fact that it would be you against an entire cityful of zombies doesn't bother you one little bit?" Kevin asked.

"Nope," George replied, reloading his clip.

A long pause.

"Or the fact that after you do find the cure, Umbrella will probably kill you, hack your body into little pieces and throw you into the ocean for the mutant sharks to snack on?"

"These people need a cure."

"Be that as it may, Cindy's still going with you."

"No." Too dangerous.

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes." Kevin shrugged. "It's safer where we're going, anyway."

George looked up, startled. "What?"

Kevin shrugged. "I'm off pursuing that wacky dream of yours."

"It's not a dream. The girl is the source," George persisted. "She's the one who started the R-virus. Kill her and you kill any chance this virus has."

"Can you be sure about that? Based on one dream?" Kevin asked.

George didn't reply.

Kevin looked up. "Ever figure that we're in the wrong business sometimes?"

George didn't reply. He was struck by an eerie feeling...it was the same feeling he had years ago, in the University of Racoon City. He and Cindy had split off with Kevin to find the ingredients to the anti-virus...but things had happened, and he never saw any of his friends for four years after, and not all of made it. He had the exact same feeling when he was saying goodbye to Kevin then. He was having that same feeling now. He prayed to God he was wrong. Yet everything about this mission...felt so wrong.

But what else could he do? Could any of them do?

"I'll be taking Yoko and Alyssa, of course," Kevin said with a slight hesitation. "I don't want you and Yoko in one place in case Umbrella tries something and we need that cure."

"Agreed." George stood, his gun fully loaded. He was about to leave when Kevin took out his own gun. "Here. Trade you."

George looked up, startled again. That was Kevin's very special touch-and-die weapon. "I thought you said that I would have to pry that from your cold dead fingers-"

"I ain't dead yet," Kevin said. "Come on! You'll probably need it more then I will. That freezing lab probably hasn't been disturbed in years."

George hesitated, and they switched weapons. "Thanks."

"Yeah, just don't get yourself killed so that I have to go looking for it," Kevin snapped. He moved past George.

George gripped his shoulder, hard. "Kevin, that girl is already infected. Don't even try to help her." He looked up. "If you're infected, there's no cure. Not from something that potent."

At first Kevin was going to make a sarcastic reply, but the look from George unnerved him. "All right. I'll try to remember that." He turned and started to walk away. "Personally, though, I think you've got more to worry about then me."

"Take care of the others," George said.

"Will do," Kevin said.

They both stepped into the hall, where Yoko, Alyssa, and Yoko were waiting. "I don't want to be here a second longer!" they heard Yoko say.

"And you won't have to," Kevin said. "We're leaving. Now. Going our separate ways."

For a second all five looked at each other. They each knew, inwardly, that his was the most important mission any of them had ever done. And that some of them might not come back alive. But surprisingly, George felt optimistic. They had survived together this long. He simply refused to believe that it could come to an end. Separately they were strong enough. Together they had proven that they could do anything.

"Let's get this show on the road," Kevin said.

--------------------

Half an hour later a helicopter dropped Kevin, Alyssa, and Yoko by the said of the road next to the underground lab. It was starting to rain now. George and Cindy would spend the remaining few hours of the night looking at the schematics of the virus, and be shipped to the ruins of Racoon City at dawn's first light. Even though that was only two hours away, Kevin felt it would be a long time until then.

Yoko turned to face him, already drenched. "We shouldn't have come back here," she said.

"I agree, but we really haven't got a choice now, do we?" Kevin asked. "Before we left, Dawson had told me that a guide would be waiting inside to meet with us. Claims that he's studied the complex in great detail."

Alyssa said nothing, as she usually did. A moment later Yoko found a metal grating and opened it. They climbed down a long ladder into the base. It was exactly at the same temperature they had left it. Yoko shivered despite herself. She entered her own keycode, and the door opened. It looked as though no one had been here in years. Whether or not that was true or not had yet to be seen. The walls were lined with frost, but Kevin brushed it to reveal a crude sign to the left.

"So did they say anything about this guide of ours?" Yoko asked. "Any way we could recognize him?"

"Well, since he's the only living, breathing person on this base, it shouldn't be too difficult to single him out," Kevin replied.

Yoko bit back an annoyed retort. "There might have been things that not even I was aware of," she said, a look of fear passing through her eyes. "Thinking about it now, it might have been more then likely." She opened the second set of doors, this time with a keycard. "And we're about to find out those secrets."

The door opened into a massive dark chamber. Kevin lit a flare that sparked with white light and lifted it up. Yoko looked around. She recognized this chamber. There was one long walkway that led to another. "Careful, the walkway's icy," she cautioned, stepping forwards. She looked up against the wall, expecting to see the moths that had attacked them years ago. But it was too dark to see, and she could hear nothing. They passed without incident to the other side and entered through a doorway. They were in a small control room.

"There's no one here," Yoko said, lowering her flashlight. She was oblivious to the shadow behind her. "I think Umbrella's-"

"Throwing you a curve ball, shorty?" a familiar voice asked, lighting a cigarette.

Yoko's heart caught in her throat as she turned around. There, standing in front of her, was the very man they had all known from so many years ago. And physically he had not changed one bit, though it was hard to tell with the only illumination coming from the light from his cigarette.

Yoko went as pale as a sheet, certain that she was about to faint from shock alone from seeing David alive.

-----------------------

I saw you die," Yoko insisted.

"More to the point, you specifically killed me," David said, exhaling from his cigarette. "Or thought you did. Here's a little hint-when you're in a lab, heavily drugged and controlled by Umbrella, do you think they can't control what you see and feel? Though, to give you credit, you did graze me." He touched the temple of his forehead with a gloved finger.

"You were...I thought you were a zombie!" Yoko whispered.

"Yeah, I was," David said, snapping shut the lighter.

"It's been three years since then! Why didn't you try to contact us?"

"Why didn't you bother to double-check that I was still alive?" David asked.

"So you're working for Umbrella now?" Alyssa asked. "Is that it?"

"Yeah. Why not?" David asked with a shrug. "What have they done that you haven't?

"We're trying to help people!" Yoko snapped.

David favored her with a raised eyebrow. "Did it ever occur to you that you're doing more harm then good?"

"So what exactly is Umbrella hiding?" Kevin asked, looking up.

"You'll see," David replied, turning to a ladder. "It's a two-hour journey to get there."

"And you can't explain it verbally to us in two hours?" Kevin asked.

David didn't bother to answer as he climbed down the ladder.

Yoko glanced sharply at Kevin. He was taking David's sudden resurrection a little too casually, even for him. "Did you know about this?" she demanded.

"Yeah. I knew that he was alive," Kevin confirmed angrily, and joined David down the ladder.

--------------------------

The helicopter landed on the ground, and George jumped out before it had even fully shut down. Looking around, he could see nothing that resembled more then a barren desert with the occasional spot of ruin. A few scattered tents were set up. A man wearing sunglasses came to join them as George helped Cindy down to the ground.

"Good day, mate!" he said cheerfully. "My name's Riley, and I'll be your tour guide for this here little facility which we call the Beta Site! I heard a lot about you both. Good that we're working on the same side. I mean, it's quite a shame that you both didn't join Umbrella when you had the chance." George didn't reply. Neither did Cindy.

Riley coughed awkwardly. "Well, the point is, you're here now. Undoubtably you want to see the virus right away. Follow me."

Before they could move a step the helicopter behind them suddenly took off, dust flying everywhere. "Where is that going?"

"Sorry, but this is a quarantined area. You won't be able to leave until you find a cure."

"Oh," Cindy said. "Well that's nice to know...in advance!"

"Show us the virus," George ordered.

Riley nodded. "Right this way." He led them to a small white tent, and within was a laptop computer with a mobile connection. Currently it was showing a diagram of the R-virus.

George looked through the files for ten minutes. By that time Riley had left them some privacy. "This is bad. In this environment it'll constantly mutate until it finally becomes air born. By the time I do find a cure it'll already have changed into something else."

"But you'll find a way, won't you?" Cindy asked.

"Well, I can't cure it, but the least I can do is find a way to slow it down," George said. He wished Yoko could be working on this instead of him. She was far more intuitive. But George knew, heck, they all knew, that if they couldn't find a cure for this strain, it should be George handling it instead of Yoko. She had enough riding on her conscience already. George glanced hesitantly up at Cindy. No, he did not regret his choice. He didn't know what was going to happen in the underground lab, but he would gladly sacrifice anything then let Cindy be in his nightmares.

Which didn't change the fact that it would be almost impossible to find a cure. And certainly not within a day. "I think it's time we saw the inhabitants of Racoon City first-hand."

------------------------

It was far too quiet. George glanced to the left and right but could see nothing but ruins. A girl suddenly peeked out of her hiding place. George immediately pointed Kevin's gun at her. She wasn't a zombie, though it was an understandable mistake that he took her for one. Her face was deathly pale and she had been malnourished for an extremely long time. George hastily put his gun away. He could see a dozen people hiding, and none of them looked any better then this girl.

She stumbled towards him, and it was clear that she could not see very well, as though she had been in a dark place for years. She touched his face, including the thin scar which almost divided his face in two. Leftovers from the Nemesis years ago. "Are you..the doctor?" she asked.

George didn't reply, but gripped her hands.

----------------------------

A few minutes later George returned to the Beta Site.

Riley nodded. "Now that you've seen what we're up against, why don't-argh!" he sprawled to the ground from the force of George's fist.

Cindy followed, her eyes without sympathy. "They didn't volunteer to be here," she said. "You put them here! You wanted to rebuild Racoon City, didn't you? As repayment for when you started the t-virus? Or were they test subjects for the R-virus?"

George's approach was more hands-on. He gripped Ryan and slammed him against the rubble of a collapsed building.

"First of all, I didn't do anything," Riley said. "It was the corporate heads. The company did this to both of us. I'm in this to help, but so far all I've managed to do is isolate the infected from the rest. It won't be long before they infect the others."

George frowned and slowly released him. "What others?"

-------------------------------

A few minutes later George climbed up the massive wooden gate with Cindy following right behind him. After a moment George was able to pierce over the gate. And froze.

There were zombies all right, and hundreds of them. But there was a subtle difference. The vacant expression was gone from their startling bright blue eyes. They were stumbling towards them, clawing at the gate, but they were well aware of what they were doing. If they could, they chew on their flesh. If they could. Two guards with assault rifles were stopping them from climbing up and doing just that.

"They can talk," Riley said. "But we have nothing to say. From the moment of infection, it takes ten hours for a man or woman to become a full-fledged zombie. After that, it takes nothing less then a massive blood transfusion to save them from death in the five hours after that. Most of these have only been just infected. The sunlight hurts their eyes. They know the best time to strike is during the night. We have to be out of here by then."

Cindy looked up at the rumbling of clouds.

"Overcast," Riley offered. "Looks like it's going to rain tonight, that's for sure!"

-----------------------

They had stopped to take a brief break. Kevin went to the vending machine, amazed that it still worked. He put in a few quarters for a coffee, wishing it would sell cigarettes. Because he could always certainly use a whole pack. It was like this-he had known all of them for a long time-Alyssa, Cindy, Yoko, George. They all had their funny little habits, especially when they were communicating how they were feeling. He was a cop, he could pick them up. One of them was that George would directly look at someone when he was talking to them.

Except to Kevin. Ever since the nightmares started. Which told him that George believed that something seriously bad was going to happen to him. And it wasn't just that...something in Kevin's bones told him that something bad was going to happen to him too. With a sigh Kevin looked up and lit up his last cigarette. Lifting it to his lips, he was faintly surprised to find that he was not alone in the room as he thought. Yoko was standing, looking out the window. Well, technically it wasn't a window, but an illusion to give people a sense of home. Currently it was showing a dark starlit sky, even though it was still mid-morning in the real outside world.

Yoko was sniffing and her eyes were red. Seeing this, Kevin immediately tried to leave quietly.

"I'm trying not to cry. It's all I'm ever good for, right?" Yoko asked him, her voice quiet.

Kevin turned to face her and sighed inwardly. "I think...maybe in hindsight I should have told you earlier," he admitted. "There just didn't seem to be any point. Yoko, he knew that we were alive a lot longer then I knew he was. He didn't seem to be interested in talking to us again."

There was a long, uneasy moment of silence. Yoko moved past him, holding a hand to her black hair in thought. "All of you had some semblance of normal lives before the Outbreak seven years ago. I never did! All my life I've lived down here! I never knew how to shop for groceries or how to operate a till or how to live in a house or how to even look at sunlight! Or have someone look at me, Kevin, and like me!"

"And you thought it would be different with David," Kevin said.

"Yeah, well, I should stop depending on what people think of me. All they see is the past anyway." She lifted his hand gently and took his cigarette from his two fingers.

"You don't smoke," Kevin said, astonished.

Yoko took a drag and blew the smoke in his face. Angrily she walked off, leaving Kevin alone. ----------------------------

Kevin, Yoko, and David walked down the narrow tunnel. "This underground lab is far more important then you know," David said. "Years ago, it was the very base for the first ever Umbrella headquarters." He glanced up at Yoko. "It's probably got secrets that even you aren't aware of."

With that, he swiped his card into the slot. A second later the metal door in front of them opened. They entered a narrow tunnel with bright lights all around them.

"Maybe. But I do remember this way. There's nothing here," Yoko said.

"Nothing that you know of," David retorted.

Kevin glanced at David. "Listen, I think you should-"

"Where's Alyssa?" David suddenly asked.

Kevin turned back, startled. Alyssa was nowhere to be found. "Wha-"

The door behind them suddenly slid closed, as did the door in front of them. Kevin realized that it smelled faintly of blood.

"What's going on?" Yoko demanded.

"Not sure. This has never happened before," David admitted.

"Okay. Let's just not move for a moment," Kevin said, spreading his hands.

"It was meant to repel intruders," Yoko said. "Maybe it'll only try to render us unconscious."

Two red beams shot out of the wall and headed towards them.

"Got a second guess?" Kevin asked. They immediately ducked. They had no time to relax before two more beams shot out in a diagonal pattern. Kevin pushed Yoko out of the way, and jumped backwards himself.

"Careful. They're attuned to our heat patterns!" David said, narrowly missing one that was about to slice his arm off.

Kevin took out his gun and shot at the wall, but there was no clear origin of the beams.

The twin beams suddenly disappeared. A second later a whole web of lasers appeared. It would be impossible to avoid it. Kevin braced himself but Yoko suddenly stepped in front of him and shouted, "CODE 47!"

The lasers were so close that Yoko could feel the heat burn against her skin. A moment later they vanished.

There was a long moment of silence.

"Thanks," Kevin said, trembling despite himself.

"I just remembered," Yoko said dully.

"You had to wait until that exact moment to remember, right?" Kevin asked sarcastically.

David brushed past him. "Come on. We're almost there."

-------------------------

"This...this is what you wanted to show us?" Kevin asked, unimpressed.

They were in a small room with apparently no entrance or exit. In the center of the room was a black cylinder. Without bothering to reply David pushed in a breaker from the wall. There was a flash of red light, startling Yoko and Kevin. Intrigued, Kevin stepped forwards. In front of them was a hologram of a little girl, flickering in and out with a steady hum.

"Get out! Get out! You can't come in here!" the little girl ordered, her tiny holographic fists clenched.

Kevin looked up at David in surprise. "Huh?"

"A computer," Yoko whispered.

"You were just like the others that came before," the girl continued. "But...that was so many years ago. The nervous man and the cop, and the woman whose name sounded like water splattering against the road-"

"Has she gone insane?" Kevin demanded.

David shrugged. I found her like this. Her system is irreparably damage. No doubt those people she mentioned from years back did it to her. Probably with good reason. Even so, she still is connected to the Umbrella network. She might be useful."

"Okay. What's your name?" Kevin asked.

"Daddy always used to call me princess. But here I'm known as the Red Queen," the hologram said. "And you can't be in here! I demand that you all leave right now! Or else I will be forced to destroy you!"

"Oh, I'm shaking," Kevin said with a sneer.

Outside the room, back the way they came, the monitor suddenly lit up. INTERNAL DEFENSES FULLY RESTORED.

"You should be," Red Queen returned.

-------------------------

Yoko slowly circled around the chamber, starring at the hologram in astonishment. She never knew about this, not even once.

"We'll go. As soon as you explain to us just what the R-virus us," David said.

"The R-virus is an offshoot from the t-virus. It was designed to heighten awareness and intelligence of a subject. Unlike the t-virus, the R-virus can retain memory and personality in an individual, although the burning drive to spread the virus is still there, overriding all of other senses. One common side effect is that the subject dies after five hours of total infection, which occurs in ten hours. All in all the subject has fifteen hours to live."

"A common side effect?" Kevin asked.

"Over 98 of subject have so far displayed this. Unlike the t-virus however, the R-virus could never be successfully grown in a lab. It had to be directly injected into a person. That person will not die out from the R-virus but will continue spreading the disease. One vial of the R-virus has taken Umbrella three years to produce. "

"And I'm betting that person is here," David said.

"You bet right," Kevin said. "What is Umbrella's objectives with regards to a cure?"

"Objective number one-obtain the cure from Racoon City. Objective two, once objective one has been completed ensure the deaths of George and Cindy Damien, along with every person that has made contact with them. Objective three, ensure that the R-virus has spread beyond the confines of Racoon City."

"What?" Kevin snapped. "Umbrella lied to us...again!" He immediately grabbed his cell phone and attempted to dial Cindy's number.

"More then you know," Red Queen told him.

With a growl of frustration Kevin threw away the phone. "Jammed."

"The electrical equipment of this facility will block conventional communications," Red Queen informed him.

"Let's go," Kevin said, heading towards the door.

"You might have been wondering why I'm telling you all this freely," Red Queen said, stopping Kevin in his tracks. "Well, the sad truth is that you're in no position to tell your friends. My self-defense network had to be activated manually, and it now has. By one of you."

The door slid shut. The room suddenly shook, and all three of them crashed to the floor.

"Did you know that this room doubled as an elevator?" Red Queen asked conversationally. "Above us are some very unhappy mutations. They haven't eaten in quite a while. I am sorry, but you will not be awake to stop them."

Gas suddenly spilled from the ground. Kevin tried to avoid inhaling but it was too late. He sank into unconsciousness. The platform raised to the very top and the walls slid away, revealing an endless abyss to either side of them. A familiar shrieking could be heard, but no one was conscious to hear it.

------------------------------

Alyssa stood in front of a massive closed door. She took a deep breath, and took out an ID card one of the men from Umbrella had given her. She swiped the card, and the doors opened. She tensed, bracing herself for whatever came next. It was too late to turn back now.

--------------------------------

Kevin still lay unconscious on the platform as the moths circled above them. He was completely oblivious as a hand reached forwards towards him. The hand grabbed the gun out of his hoister. It took out the ammo and threw it over the side of the chasm. A second later the gun was returned.

--------------------------------

George leaned back in his chair and sighed as he stared at the rotating diagram of the R-virus on the laptop. It was constantly taunting him. They obviously didn't trust him one bit, because they had two guards stationed outside of the tent. He felt warm and welcoming hands on his shoulders and looked up.

"Hey," Cindy greeted. "How goes the battle?"

"Not well," George said. "These are the types of puzzles I hate."

"What types?"

"The impossible kind," George replied.

Cindy sat in the chair next to him, thinking. "George...you said before that environment affected the R-virus. What did you mean?"

George nodded. "Heat is what affects it. That's why the R-strain was tested in the underground lab in the first place, because of the cold." He blinked as this thought occurred to him. "I can't create an ice age in Racoon City."

"Maybe not," Cindy said. "But-"

"-But I can isolate the victims in the coldest room imaginable until I find the cure," George said, already standing. "Cindy, you're a genius."

"Thank me later," Cindy said, smiling. "For now, let's make that cure."

---------------------------------

"Kevin!"

"Huh-what?" Kevin mumbled.

"Kevin, wake up!" Alyssa snapped, shaking him.

Kevin's blue eyes flew open to the moths circling overhead. With a curse Kevin stood and reached for his gun. A sudden shriek, this time human, made Kevin turn around. He followed her gaze. No one was more surprised then David when a giant moth picked him up and carried him off. Kevin leveled his gun, and lifted it. He couldn't make a shot like that without the risk of hitting David. He was gone before Kevin could even blink.

And, at the moment, they had more immediate problems. There was nothing pretty about these moths. They had claws and fled towards them with an inhuman shriek. Kevin dodged to the left and narrowly missed one from scratching his face. "Definitely carnivorous!" he muttered.

"You can't escape them, you now," Red Queen said. "These moths are infected with the R-virus. Which means that if they scratch you..." she let that thought hang.

Kevin looked up as one moth launched from the ceiling, heading right towards him.

"No!" Yoko cried out.

------------------------------

George's eyes snapped open from yet another nightmare, this time himself being surrounded by fire. His hand flew at the clock. He actually fell asleep?

"You were only asleep for ten minutes," Cindy's voice informed from behind him. "You needed it. You've been up for the past forty-eight hours."

George grabbed a paper. "I wasn't asleep...I was just thinking-"

"Hunched over the keyboard, snoring loud enough for the whole encampment to hear?" Cindy asked with a raised eyebrow and a smile.

Both were returned by George. "I don't snore."

Cindy touched his hand. "My gosh...is that what I think it is?"

George followed her gaze to the half-torn paper in his hand. "Yes. Half of the cure of the t-virus. I found it in the underground lab. It was divided between paper and computer."

"So many years ago..." Cindy said. "But..why do you still have it? You know the formula by heart now."

"I still like to keep momentous," George admitted. "Reminders of everything that happened."

"I understand." From her pocket Cindy took out a necklace. "This is from the days from Willy's bar. He wanted me to wear it for the customers. To look pretty."

"Who was with us then? Kevin, the old cop that was with him-"

"Mark-"

"The family guy," George said with a small smile. "Yoko was there too, and Alyssa I recall."

"We could have died a hundred times that night," Cindy reflected.

George chuckled. "We had no idea what we were really doing. All the time, we expected someone to rescue us. But that didn't really happen, did it?"

A pause.

George glanced around the tent. "You realize that even with this approaching nightmare this is the most peaceful time that either of us have spent together."

"Of course," Cindy said.

George gently touched her flat stomach, imagining that he could feel a heartbeat behind his hand. "Don't ask me when I plan to tell the others now."

"So when are you planning to tell the others now?" Cindy asked.

George smiled. He suddenly glanced to the right. Their outside guard had left the tent. "Cindy, make sure that no one comes into the tent again," he said. On the laptop he minimized what he was doing and started a basic hacking program into the laptop. Computers were really not his specialty, but he had learned a few tricks over the years. He was able to pull up a list of coded messages directed at the laptop. He paused.

"What is it?" Cindy asked.

"That's addressed to us!" George replied, pointing at the latest message. He opened it.

Dear George and Cindy,

If you're reading this, then you have discovered that there's a traitor among you. Congratulations.

-The real Commander of Umbrella.

"What does that mean?" Cindy demanded.

"It means that the man we talked to, Edward Dawson, isn't truly the person in charge of Umbrella. It's someone from our own group!" George replied, astonished.

"Oh god," Cindy whispered. "Who? George, how is that even possible?"

George didn't reply. He started typing on the computer.

"It has to be a trick. It has to be-now what are you doing?"

"Tracking the IP address. It can tell me which computer it came from. Which user ID." He stopped typing and stared at the computer in astonishment.

Cindy read over his shoulder. Suddenly fearful, she squeezed his shoulder. For the longest time neither of them said anything, looking at each other.

"It can't be him," Cindy said, sitting down. "It can't be Kevin."

George wasn't so sure. For the longest time he said nothing, thinking. Cindy stared at the laptop, feeling more lost then she had ever been.

The tent flap suddenly opened. "We've got a serious problem," Riley said.

Concerned, George and Cindy followed him. "What is it?" George asked.

"This," Riley said, removed a tarp over a pile of crates. George took a step closer. There was a bomb counting down on a timer. It was counting from fifty minutes.

"So? We can deactivate this," George said.

Riley shook his head. "It'll take time. And I have contacts from within the city. There are thousands of them scattered in the ruins, all connected together. All around us. If we leave the quarantined area, we'll either be shot down by Umbrella or eaten alive by those zombies. One way or another, Umbrella is going to destroy whatever is left of Racoon city. And us with it."

"But that doesn't make any sense at all!" Cindy said. "They need us to find a cure!"

George glanced at her. "Us. It's about us. Remember, whoever's really in charge of Umbrella has known us for years. He's making sure that no matter what happens, we don't survive. The R-virus can survive the bombs until it becomes airborn. No one can stop it. No one will know. Umbrella never had any intentions of stopping the R-virus. Finding a cure is only a...convenience for them. But it's not necessary." He looked up at the horizon, where the sun was beginning to set. They had run out of time. He blinked, suddenly remembering the worst part of his nightmare. He stared at Cindy with growing horror. He remembered shouting her name...but not being able to find her, anywhere.

Suddenly there was screaming, followed by the sounds of rapid gun fire.

"The zombies," Cindy whispered. "They've broken into the quarantine zone."

The sun winked out.

----------------------------

George grabbed his leather jacket that was on the seat of the chair next to the laptop. He looked up at the screen.

And didn't move. His eyes were searching.

Behind him Riley opened the cover of the flap. "We move out in twenty seconds." He glanced briefly at George as the doctor moved closer to the laptop. "What's the matter?"

"I've got it," he whispered. "The cure for the R-virus. I have it."

The tent flap suddenly opened. "We have to leave right now," a man said, his face pale.

Riley nodded. "Our only chance is to flee deeper into the city. We might be able to penetrate the quarantine zone. We might not."

George stood, printing off the cure and grabbing the paper from the small printer. He could hear the screaming even now. The zombies were close. Very close. He took out Kevin's gun and stuffed the paper into his pocket. The question was, would he have a chance to use it?

----------------------------------

Cindy lifted up a child in her arms. She felt a deep well of pity just looking at the refugees. These were people that had been taken alive by Umbrella after the first Outbreak, kept in cells, and then let loose to be infected again by the R-virus. Most of them were anorexic and could barely support themselves. They weren't infected, not yet, but the future did not look good for them. Beyond the blockades were hundreds of zombies. Zombies that were smart, fast, and hungry. Through them was their only hope.

"ALL RIGHT, LET'S GO!" Riley shouted. He turned to Cindy and George. "We have forty-eight minutes before the bombs go off. We should be able to get out of range so long as we keep moving."

The group, forty people in all, left the compound and stopped at the wooden gate where zombies were already scrambling over.

Riley opened a crate. Inside was at least twenty grenade. George, Cindy, and several others took them and threw them at the zombies. The next few seconds turned into a massacre. Cindy watched, her eyes watering. Even after so many years, she recognized a few people.

Two guards posted at the front fired their assault rifles and finished off the rest.

The streets became quiet.

"Let's go," George said, breaking the silence.

-------------------------------

Even after twenty minutes the streets were still quiet, but George knew that would soon change. Ahead of them Riley stopped suddenly, looking through a pair of binoculars. George joined him. Riley pointed down the hill. Through the binoculars George could see a chain fence. Behind the fence were dozens of Umbrella officers carrying assault rifles.

"They're not going to let us through," Riley said.

"They would if we had a cure," George said.

"Oh. Shame we don't have one," Riley said.

A soldier approached them. "We've got incoming!" he warned.

"Shit!" Riley focused the binoculars and could see from multiple alleyways hundreds of zombies approaching closer. "We're in a tight spot now!"

George didn't reply as he looked behind him. Right to his left was exactly what he needed-the Racoon City hospital. For a moment he hesitated. He couldn't decide what to do. As if sensing this, Cindy stopped and turned around. She hurried to rejoin him.

"I have to go," he said simply.

Surprisingly, Cindy just nodded. No explanations were needed. This might be the only chance of Umbrella letting them go. She was about to leave, when she turned to face him, her heart in her eyes. "George-"

He kissed her then, without hesitating. "I will find you again!" he shouted over the approaching noise. The zombies were right on their heels. "That's a promise."

Cindy said nothing. Then, looking down, she gave the child to someone else and took out her gun. George waited until everyone had left. He turned around as the zombies approached and broke into a run towards the hospital.

At least a dozen zombies ran after him.

------------------------------------

Kevin dodged the moth as it came very close to scratching his cheek. He swore and turned around...

...and found himself looking at Alyssa.

Kevin didn't think. He grabbed Alyssa and hurled her to the side of the railing. "Where in the hells were you?"

Alyssa stared at him, her face devoid of expression. "I don't have to justify where I was-"

"Please!" Yoko whispered tersely, reminding him of the situation at hand. Kevin dodged to the left as another came flying at him.

"Do you truly care about this man more then anything?" Kevin demanded, gripping her arm.

Yoko nodded. "Yes!"

Kevin glared at her and turned his attention to the wide abyss in front of him. He whistled sharply with two fingers, and several moths flew towards him. "I must be out of my mind," he muttered.

What are you doing?" Yoko whispered as the moths came flying towards them.

Kevin turned towards her. He smiled. "Trust me."

The next thing Yoko knew was herself screaming as strong talons latched onto her shoulders.

Panting, George leaned against the wall in the hall of the suddenly-quiet hospital. So far he had heard nothing follow him, but his instincts told him that zombies were nearby. He stared at the emergency exit at the end of the hall, flapping open because of the wind. At the other end of the hall was a lobby, and beyond that a science lab where he could find all the ingredients he needed. George stepped forwards cautiously. He had to remember that these things were smarter and faster. The term 'zombie' didn't do justice to these creatures.

He entered the reception, and leaned back against the desk. He still couldn't see anyone, but his nerves were screaming that there was someone...

...behind him.

George scrambled forwards as hands reached for him, belonging to a woman that was standing on the reception desk after having dropped down from the ceiling. Her mouth was hanging ajar and she was starring at him in pure hunger. George took out Kevin's gun and fired. He had shot too soon, and missed.

He glanced to the left, where another zombie had pumped up a shotgun and aimed it at him. George took cover behind a pillar as the woman dropped down to the ground. The zombie fired, and concrete exploded everywhere.

I don't have time for this, George thought. He took out an additional weapon and pointed both at the kid with the shotgun. He fired several times, and the zombie fell. Out of the corner of his eye George noticed the woman zombie running into the science lab, but had no time to ponder it as the metal grating above him opened and another zombie jumped down from the ceiling. Another teenage boy. He lunged at George, who pushed back. He shoved the teenage boy against a glass window. The glass shattered. Glaring at George with hatred, the boy grabbed a shard of glass and lunged forwards at George. George stepped back as the glass came within millimeters of severing his throat. He kicked the glass out of the boy's grip.

The woman came back, holding a vial of green liquid. George's eyes widened, and he dodged. The glass vial shattered against the boy's face, which dissolved. George took off his jacket as a few drops splattered on him. He left it smoldering on the floor. The woman was unarmed, and George was not kind. By the end, he broke her arm and several bones in her body before finally killing her. She fell to the concrete.

-------------------------------------

"Yoko!"

Silence.

"Yoko, wake up, will ya? I could use some help here from you!"

Bitter cold greeted Yoko as she opened her eyes, followed by an inability to breathe. She managed a half-scream as she found herself glued to the wall by layers of ice and frost. Kevin was tugging at her arm, a cigarette clamped between his lips. He was soaking wet and icicles lined his brown hair. "See if you can move, would you?"

Yoko tried moving her arm. There was a loud ripping noise, followed by pain. Sobbing, Yoko fell into his arms. Kevin lowered her gently onto the floor. "Those things injected some kind of venom into us! You can breathe easy in a few minutes. And hey! Your neck looks all puffy now!"

"Why didn't you tell us about your plan?" Alyssa asked sharply from behind them.

"It was kind of a spur of the moment," Kevin answered.

"You almost got us killed."

Yoko looked around. They were in an unfamiliar dark room. "Where's David?" she whispered.

"He should be around here," Kevin replied, and held Yoko tighter. "Come on-let's get you warm."

------------------------------

It was a nightmare when George came back. The zombies had surrounded the small group of forty people. Those that could were firing constantly, drawing back the crowd. They had made it to the gate, where Umbrella officers were waiting impassively for them to be finished. George looked at his watch. Five minutes and ten seconds till the bombs went off. He needed to talk to someone. So focused was he on what he was doing, that he didn't even notice that Cindy was missing.

He approached the gate, where Edward Dawson was waiting.

George held up a glass vial against the gate. It had a clear liquid within it.

"You've found it," Edwards whispered.

"For the beginning stages. It needs to be synthesized immediately or else most of these people will be without any hope," George said.

"Give it to me," Edwards demanded.

"Open the gate first," George countered.

"And have you give me water from a tap for all I know? Give it to me, so at least we can verify it. Then we will let you all out," Edwards said with a smile.

George hesitated, and tossed it overhand. One of the officers caught it neatly in midair and handed it to Edwards. Another officer stepped forwards to scan it. "Verified. This is a cure," he said, faintly in surprise.

"So now your turn. Open the gates," George said.

"Well, here's where we reach the snag," Edwards said.

"You're not really the leader of the Umbrella coorporation, are you?" George asked.

Edwards sniggered. "Gods, no."

George pressed himself up against the gates. "Who is?"

"Someone you've known for a very long time. He wanted me to give you this." Edwards took out his gun and fired once. George reeled backwards and fell. The woman next to him screamed.

Edwards lifted his gun. "Keep these gates closed no matter what!" he shouted to his fellow officers. He saluted the shrieking crowd. "Tah."

Riley's gun immediately snaked out, and people around him backed away. He wasn't aiming at the crowd, however. He was aiming at the guards behind the gate. But did not fire. Taking two steps forward, he grabbed George by the arm and hauled him upwards. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," George replied. Blood trailed down his sleeve. He couldn't feel either his arm or his hand. Still, he had worse days. They both watched as the helicopter lifted off.

"You gave them the cure!" Riley whispered.

"Yes. But I have more then one." George pushed aside his jacket and gave Riley another vial. "This is good for only five doses. Five people. Don't lose it."

"You knew...that this might happen?" Riley asked him.

George didn't reply. Umbrella had never been one to give him hope. But even in the hands of that company, a cure could only do more good then harm.

The building next to them suddenly exploded, showering them with flying rubble. People screeched in terror. The last thing George remembered was flying backwards.

Then silence.

------------------------

From the helicopter point Edwards watched as dozens of buildings exploded, one right after another. With a small smile he glanced at his watch as the timer reached zero. The helicopter flew off safety towards their headquarters.

------------------------

Kevni and Yoko were walking so close together that their shoulders were almost touching. Both of their eyes were alert, looking for danger. "Why do you care so much?" he asked.

Yoko didn't reply.

"I think I have a right to know," Kevin added.

"You had no idea what it was like seven years ago," Yoko said. "Nobody cared about me then, and I didn't trust them."

"That's not true," Kevin said, but Yoko ignored him.

"Then came this man, who didn't care about anyone at all except himself. He told the truth straight up. Between us there were no secrets. No lies. No attempt to cover what I was. Maybe I just miss that type of conversation."

The hall ended in a door. Kevin tried it, and found it was locked. "Damn. I don't suppose anyone has any charges?"

Alyssa moved between them, and effortlessly slipped an ID card in the slop. With a beep the doors unlocked.

"Someone from Umbrella gave it to me," Alyssa said. "You're going to make a big deal about that too?"

Yoko pushed opened the door. "With David it was different then talking with you guys," Yoko said, continuing the conversation. "Maybe it still can be."

"Then maybe you should try," Kevin encouraged.

Before she could reply her eyes scanned the wall. "David!"

------------------------------

George's eyes flew open to a murky haze of smoke and pain. He lifted himself up into a sitting position, brushing rubble off him. He was alive-still, but his back had connected squarely with the gate and he didn't feel like getting up for a very long, long time. The gate...George glanced upwards. Somehow, it had survived the bombs. Most of the people around him hadn't. George cursed himself then, and realized that with a sickening feeling that Umbrella had meant for these people to die. He could do little to save them now.

Especially considering that the zombies were alive too. Most people were still picking themselves up and didn't even realize that they were approaching. The few remaining survivors-about twenty in all, were defenseless. Himself included.

The ground suddenly began to tremble. George closed his eyes. Secondary shock wave, he realized. He heard a noise, and at first he thought he imaged it. He opened his eyes and glanced to the left. Running water. There was a channel. George remembered that they must run deeper into the city. If there was a chance he could save whoever was left...he took out Kevin's gun and fired at the head of a zombie approaching Riley. The man had been too startled to even notice.

The crowd of zombies were close...far too close. Their eyes glowed hungrily as they broke into a run towards the remaining survivors.

George stood. He brushed past the startled Riley. His eyes confirmed what he first had thought-an oil tank parked right across the street. Two shots to the canister and oil spilled out onto the street. It soon covered the feet of most of the zombies...and him. No time to worry about that now. George took out his lighter and flicked it. As what usually happened in situations like this, the flame didn't catch. "Come on!" George shouted. It was no use. He looked up just in time to see a dead woman with strange blue eyes lunge at him. The lighter fell to the ground, spent.

"Hey!" Riley shouted. In his hand was a grenade. He chucked it upwards.

George punched the woman in the head, and ran the hell away from the oil tank. The explosion propelled him forwards. A scene of horror and death awaited him. Almost all the zombies were on fire, yet still pressed on. Behind him the remaining survivors were jumping into the channel, trying to reach safety.

That's when George heard it. A scream. He turned around just in time to see Cindy being dragged away by Umbrella officers on the other side of the gate. How she even got there, or why they wanted her, didn't matter.

"CINDY!" George shouted. In that moment he forgot everything-Racoon City, the approaching zombies,

even from the fact that he was only seconds away from being lighted on fire. He gripped the metal bars. "CINDY!" George shrieked in pain. He had forgotten that the fire had heated the bars. A large welt soon graced his right hand. Even so it was enough to grip his gun. There were thirty-odd men against him. He had faced off against worse odds before. This was no different-

A hand gripped his shoulder, and George whirled around. Instinct prompted a quick response. His gun pointed right at Kevin Ryman.

For a moment they both stared at each other, too shocked for words.

George said the first question that came to mind. "Where are the others?"

Kevin said nothing for a moment. The he looked down, sadness in his eyes. "They're gone," he said simply.

George didn't say anything, too astonished for words.

A sound made them both jump. They looked up just as a building exploded in flame and began to pitch forwards. It collapsed to the ground, not to far from where they stood. For the first time, Racoon City was truly dying.

Kevin gripped his arm. "Come on, doc, time to go."

"No, I'm not going anywhere." Cindy was still in trouble.

"Ha-ha. Yes you are."

George glanced at the fence, and the thirty guards waiting. "I can handle them myself, if I have to."

"Unarmed, shot and with a head wound? Yeah, I'm sure you'll last a great five seconds. Unless your plan involves killing them with laughter. Look doc, I understand how you feel-"

"Do you understand that she's pregnant?" George asked angrily.

Kevin stared at him in shock. "Oh," he said stupidly. "Congratulations."

George didn't reply.

"I can't let you do it, doc. You may be the last chance we have to stop Umbrella."

George blinked. "What?" That's when he noticed the bite marks all over Kevin's arm. "When did that happen?"

"Two hours. Very soon I become a threat."

George shook his head angrily. "She's the woman I love, Kevin. I'm going after her. With or without your help."

Kevin sighed. "All right." He gave him a lead-on gesture. "After you." As George turned away Kevin carefully lifted a lead pipe off the ground. He really didn't want to do this, but sometimes one had no choice...

As Kevin swung the pipe George caught the ex-cop's arm, stopping the blow. His eyes blazed with murder.

Kevin should have known better. After three years there were really no surprises between them. 'Well, this is not good.'

----------------------

George said the first question that came to mind. "Where are the others?"

Kevin said nothing for a moment, horror in his eyes.

(The Freezing labs, twenty minutes ago)

"David!" Yoko cried out in horror.

The plumber was frozen to the wall. He had definitely seen better days. Layers of frost covered his body and his face was a sickly white. Bits of slime were splattered over his clothing and hair. Kevin wiped some away. "Yuck. He definitely got the worst of us three."

Yoko stepped forwards, hands clasped together. "Is he...all right?"

Kevin felt his pulse. After a second he nodded. "Yeah. He's fine." He used the cigarette lighter to melt some of the frost away from his arms. After a few minutes they were able to get him down from the wall.

Yoko breathed a sigh of relief.

A few minutes later and David regained consciousness.

Kevin nodded. "You all right, bud?"

David didn't say a word. He lit up a cigarette. "Fuck," he whispered.

"You okay?" Alyssa asked, a tad concerned.

"Yeah. Just give me a moment," David said, standing.

Kevin reached for him. "Here. Let me-"

David slammed him away. "Don't touch me."

Kevin backed away, startled in spite of himself.

"We've got to be close to the source," Alyssa said quietly.

"Yeah," Kevin said. "Let's get moving."

-------------------------

They made their way down the freezing passageway and had encountered no resistance. "This is it," David said as they neared a metal doorway at the end of the hall. "Room B-9. Where the source is."

Yoko was hesitating about something. Kevin gave her an encouraging look as to say 'go for it.'

"David," Yoko said, stopping him. "I...just wanted to say that I'm glad you're alive. If I had known...if I had even suspected..."

David brushed past her. "Yeah. Whatever, shorty."

Yoko watched him go, her mouth hanging slightly ajar. A second later she hurried after him.

Kevin pulled open the heavy doors and looked around. The room had survived the missiles, but only just barely. Various rocks and bits of rubble littered the ground. Still, there was electricity running through the room, enough to support a small computer and a frozen incubation chamber. There was no other exit, and no one else in the room.

"This seems way too easy," Alyssa said.

"Apparently," Kevin said. He wiped away the layers of frost from the glass. It revealed a small girl of fifteen years of age. Kevin's eyes narrowed. Her pale skin was twisted and she had no legs. Her veins were glowing with a faint green and she had wisps of blond hair. She appeared to be asleep.

Yoko was already at the computer. "The R-virus could never be successfully injected into a person. So they...transfused all of her blood to the R-virus. She's not even human! Eventually, she mutated, along with the R-virus, until it reached a point where it could be transmitted from person to person."

"And soon it'll become airborn, infecting the whole world," Alyssa said.

Yoko nodded. "It must have taken years to do this work."

"All right, so we kill the girl, kill the source. George and Cindy find the cure, and we all live happily hunted after. Is that right?" Kevin demanded.

Yoko nodded again.

"Good enough for me," David said, and lifted his gun at the girl's head. "Say goodnight, blondie."

"David-wait! I found something else!"

David waited, and when Yoko didn't respond he sighed and turned around. "What?"

"More notes explaining the procedure. It has a signature." Yoko's breath caught in her throat.

KEVIN RYMAN.

Yoko didn't hesitate. She lifted her gun at the ex-cop.

Kevin automatically raised his hands. "Woah, what?"

The door suddenly exploded. Umbrella officers moved in, firing assault rifles. The four immediately divided. Yoko behind the desk, Kevin behind the glass chamber, and David and Alyssa behind various rubble.

Bending down, Yoko could only take some of them out from her position. "Kevin, why don't you fire?" she shouted.

"I can't!" Kevin snapped. "My gun's out of bullets!" He suddenly heard a sound he really didn't want to hear now. Looking up, he could see the glass cracking from the soldiers' bullets, and green liquid was slowly seeping out. It splattered against his face.

Kevin slowly stood and faced the mutant girl.

Her blue eyes suddenly opened, and her mouth which had black teeth lunged for the sole occupant just outside her tank. Her face thudded against the glass. Kevin frowned. It couldn't last for long. Soon she would break free and become a real menace.

But not if he had something to say about it.

Kevin's fist smashed through the glass, and his hands wrapped around the girl's throat. He squeezed relentlessly. The girl's pale face grew even paler, if that was possible.

"Come on..." Kevin whispered. "Come on..."

The girl stared lifelessly at him for a moment, then clamped down on his unprotected arm. Kevin winced, and screamed. This was a scream of terror, of pure unimaginable horror. Of one who knew he was going to die. Even so he held on. With a final motion he broke her neck. The girl fell to the ground, dead, just as Yoko, David, and Alyssa finished off the rest of the soldiers.

Kevin barely gave the swollen welts on his arm a second glance. He grabbed a handgun from the body of a dead soldier, just as Yoko turned around.

Four guns were immediately trained on each other.

"Who took the ammo out of my gun? There's a traitor in this room, and I'm going to find out who it is!" Kevin shouted.

"The reports say that its you!" Yoko shouted.

"It's not me!" Kevin roared.

"Well I know it's not me!" David snapped.

"Alyssa, where were you when the moths attacked?" Kevin demanded.

"You won't believe me!" Alyssa protested.

"Try me!"

"I was...paying my respects to Jimmy. On the spot where he died I gave him a rose. He was the only man to care about me. A soldier from Umbrella knew him and gave me an access card because he felt ashamed. I visited the last place where he died," Alyssa said slowly.

"Oh, bullshit!" David snapped.

"I knew you wouldn't believe me!" Alyssa snapped.

"Okay...let's all put our guns down." Yoko suggested. "This is getting us nowhere."

Kevin nodded. "Yeah. Good idea."

Alyssa reached behind her back with her free hand.

Two shots were simontaniously fired. Alyssa's chest exploded in red.

Yoko stared in shock, her gun raised and pointed at Alyssa. She didn't even notice the red trail running down her back.

With his gun pointed at her, Kevin slowly blinked.

Rose petals fell from Alyssa's fingers. Kevin watched in horror. She was trying to prove her story right.

With a sigh both women fell to the ground. Kevin instantly ran to them both. Alyssa was already dead. He gently closed her eyes and focused his attention on Yoko. "She isn't hurt too bad. I hit her in the shoulder. Gods Yoko I didn't...I didn't mean..."

David pointed his gun at Kevin's head.

Kevin looked up at him, blinking.

"Last man standing has gotta be the bad guy, right Kev?" David asked with a smile.

"Sure looks that way to me," Kevin replied. "You're the Commander of Umbrella?"

"Of course, dipshit. I engineered the t-virus and the r-virus, as a matter of fact. Not bad for a plumber, huh?"

"You were never a plumber."

"True enough. After the Outbreak I went to this freezing lab to persuade our brilliant but weaker scientists-Yoko among them-to come back to the company. I donned a disguise in case things went wrong-and I had to admit, it was fun dressing up as a civilian. Didn't expect that bitch to lock me in along with the rest of you-and she knew I was there. Very few people knew me in real life so it was child's play to pretend to be the gruff and tragic hero. Even Yoko didn't recognize me.

"So we escaped, and I became infected with my own t-virus. That part was unfortunately real. George created the vaccine but my own soldiers shot it out of my hand before I could use it." David considered that, and shook his head. "Luckily, the company found me, and with the help of the most brilliant minds gave me a belated cure. I even pretended to be a zombie to try and enlist Yoko's help."

"I spent months watching each and every one of you. I had to face some unpleasant realities. Alone each of you were weak, pathetic-and could be easily dealt with. But combined-you were a force of your own. You couldn't be stopped. Couldn't be controlled. Some of you had even died and came back to life. All of you had faced hundreds of my own men in my headquarters and destroyed my own building! My troops began to fear that you weren't even human, but angels sent from above to smite us down from our sins."

"Whatever," Kevin muttered.

"Regardless, if you could destroy my headquarters, could you destroy my company? I made you wanted criminals, but that didn't stop you. All of you hid, and I couldn't find you! So I had to draw you out. That is why, Kevin Ryman, the R-virus was created. Not for world domination, or some shit like that, but to draw you out!"

Kevin said nothing.

"Once I had you, I knew exactly what to do with you. Step one was splitting you into two groups. Step two was dissension. I doubt George and dear Cindy will survive my plans, but if they do, they will believe that you are the traitor. I became David again. Resurrection is not just a trick limited to you or George, it seems."

"And so, here we are. Your friends are dead. Your group is shattered. Your cause is lost. And Kevin?" David lifted the gun. "Your biggest weakness? You're just a dumb sap."

Tears fell from Yoko's cheeks. Kevin didn't know how long she had been awake, or how much she had heard-probably enough. She took in a shuddering gasp.

David automatically looked down at her.

Kevin seized upon his chance and kicked at David's legs. David fell to the ground. Both men got up quickly. Kevin immediately moved to punch him. David blocked him, snarling. Kevin punched him twice in the ribs and kicked him in the chest. David rebounded against the wall and fell to the ground.

Quickly Kevin grabbed Yoko's gun from the ground. A brief check told him it had five bullets in it. Kevin pointed it at David, who was knocked out.

Kevin didn't give David a second glance. He picked up Yoko. A noise made him lift his head. The security cameras displayed Umbrella teams coming up the stairwell. Forty men in all.

Kevin winced as a shiver went up from his arm. It was a weird feeling and he knew that eventually it would get worse. As much as he really wanted to put a bullet in David's head he knew that he needed all the ammo he could spare. The ex-cop climbed onto a table and ripped open a ventilation cover. He tossed it behind his shoulder and pulled himself and Yoko into the shaft.

---------------------------------

David opened his eyes a few minutes later. A soldier was checking his pulse. "Are you all right, sir?"

With a sneer David shoved him away and stood. He eyed the blood trail coming from the vent. "It's not over yet."

-----------------------

With a grunt of effort Kevin opened the last ventilation cover and jumped onto the dark streets of Racoon City. He helped Yoko up. The bandage he made for her wasn't the greatest in the world, but it should stop the bleeding. Yoko had been awake for at least ten minutes, but had said nothing. For once in his life, he didn't know what to say to her. If anyone deserved happiness, it was her. She had created the t-virus which infected hundreds. She was responsible for genocide. But in Kevin's crazy, mixed-up version of the world that's just what made sense to him. And now that happiness had been robbed from her, could she recover? He had to try to say something. "Yoko.."

She brushed past him. "Kevin...look." The Asian girl lifted up a blanket, which showed several bombs.

Kevin checked the timer. "Holy shit," he whispered. "These must be wired throughout the city."

They heard a scream, followed by gunshots. Kevin and Yoko ran up the hill and stopped as soon as they reached the top. Below they could see what looked like an endless swarm of zombies surrounding a group of forty people.

"They don't stand a chance!" Yoko said.

"Yep. And I'm betting George and Cindy are in the thick of it all," Kevin said. He spotted a parked car on the side of the street, keys in the ignition and everything. "Come on!"

Half a minute later they were on the road. They were able to grab some extra guns from the backseat. Yoko watched as the speedometer went up to 140. "Um Kevin, don't you think we're going awfully fast for such a short distance-"

"We have to. Fasten your seat belt," he added casually.

Swallowing, Yoko did so. Kevin turned on the radio, and for the next two minutes they listened to country western.

Kevin blinked. They could see the walking stiffs just up ahead. "Goodbye Yoko," he said, and geared the car forwards. It immediately slammed into a dozen people. Yoko shrieked as Kevin lost control of the vehicle. It ran into four more people but managed to stay upright. The fifth person sent a jarring impact through the car. Kevin, who hadn't been wearing his seatbelt, was hurled through the windshield and disappeared into the pitch blackness.

"Kevin!" Yoko cried out when the car hit another body. With a final shudder the car went still.

Greedy hands were already reaching for Kevin as he stood. Kevin fired his guns and glanced behind him. He was so close to the Racoon city survivors that only a few zombies stood between them and him.

Suddenly a large explosion filled the air and a third of the zombies went up in flame. Someone must have lit a gas tank, Kevin thought, so fixated that he didn't notice what was happening until it was too late.

Yoko made her way to the roof of their car. In her hands she held up two guns but didn't fire. Below her a dozen zombies were reaching for her.

"YOKO!" Kevin shouted, taking a step forwards. "What are you doing?"

She smiled at him, the flames reflecting against her cheeks. "I'm going to buy you some time."

Before he could make a move to stop her, she ran off the hood of the car and jumped into the fray. The area where the zombies were strongest. Kevin closed his eyes in pain. Even now he was still firing.

He couldn't think about it. He forced himself not too. He made his way through the group of survivors until he spotted George. Finally, some good news. As he tapped the doc's shoulder George whirled around, the gun pointed right at Kevin.

For a moment they both stared at each other, too shocked for words.

George said the first question that came to mind. "Where are the others?"

Kevin said nothing for a moment. The he looked down, sadness in his eyes. "They're gone," he said simply.

George didn't say anything, too astonished for words.

A sound made them both jump. They looked up just as a building exploded in flame and began to pitch forwards. It collapsed to the ground, not to far from where they stood. For the first time, Racoon City was truly dying.

-------------------------------

Kevin sighed. He was in a pickle, no doubt about it. Racoon city was dying all around them. Yoko was lost somewhere in it all. There was a certain lunatic fake-plumber who had taken Cin, and the doc, winning a stellar award for worst timing of the century, had decided that now was a great moment to pick a fight with the ex-cop.

"Doc, I don't want to hurt-" Kevin began, when George's fist connected with his throat, followed by a kick to the chest. Kevin stumbled backwards, choking as George took out his gun. Kevin's eyes widened and he jerked to the left as the bullets exploded into the concrete. Dust settled against Kevin's cheek.

Okay, so they were playing for keeps. He could do that. Kevin ran forwards, hitting George in the chest and twisting his hand. Too late Kevin realized it was a feint. There must have been no bullets left in the gun. George moved to hit him in the head. Kevin blocked in the nick of time. In turn Kevin tried to hit him and George blocked. As Kevin moved something flew out of his pocket-a switch blade knife. George grabbed it out of the air, flicked it open, and hurled it towards Kevin's eye in one motion. Kevin grabbed George's hand and tried to pull it away. George tried to push forwards with both hands.

"I'm...not...a...fucking...traitor!" Kevin snarled. He looked up.

So did George.

Neither had been paying attention to what was around them. Namely, the large building that was pitching forwards. They were both caught in a avalanche of metal and glass.

Kevin wasn't sure when the dust had cleared, or how he had survived having a building fall of them. Every bit of him hurt when he stirred back to consciousness. It was far darker and smokier then it had been a few minutes ago. A glance to the left told him that George was nearby, apparently alive. Kevin groaned as more pain shot through him. Why was it never easy?

A noise then, a noise that Kevin didn't even recognize. He lifted his head in bemusement.

And saw a blanket of fire rolling towards them. It seemed to come from everywhere. "Oh shit-" He helped George stand. "Come on, MOVE!"

They both jumped into the channel of water. It was surprisingly deep. Kevin could see the dim outline of people swimming to the very bottom and disappearing from view. 'There must be tunnels down there,' Kevin realized.

Looking up, Kevin could see a wave of flame roll past them and not stop. It was an incredible sight, and one that Kevin would never forget.

George started to swim upwards. Whether it was trying to get air or another crazy stunt to get Cindy back, Kevin didn't really want to know. He grabbed George and held him under. They were almost at equal level. George thrashed wildly. Kevin threw all of his strength (which in the water, could have been better) into one solid punch at George's head.

It was enough. George went limp.

'Finally,' Kevin thought. 'Now how am I supposed to get us both down there?'

------------------------------

The channel eventually led to underground tunnels. Riley stood at the entrance with a clipboard in hand, writing down whoever arrived. So far twenty had made it. Not the best of numbers. He hurried forwards when he saw Kevin half-dragging George. "What happened?" he demanded.

"Ah...little disagreement between us. It's over now," Kevin said with a laugh. "Here, give me a hand here."

A few minutes later they got George onto a stone table. Riley checked his eyes with a small light. "He's going to be all right-aside from that nasty bump you gave him, though," he said.

Kevin didn't reply. He held out his hand in front of him. His vision was blurry and it was hard to think. He was fading. Fast. Even now it was sorely tempting to mindlessly attack everyone in the room. He decided that it was best not to tell Riley abut it. What can he do, anyway? Kevin clenched his shaking hand.

"Are you all right?" Riley asked.

"As rain," Kevin said, retrieving a gun from the shelf. He checked the ammo. "So you're sure that Cindy is being held at the Umbrella facility where we left from?"

Riley nodded. "Why?"

"I'm going after her. My last good day for the deed." And my life. He pointed at George. "Don't let him follow me."

Riley nodded again, a little fearfully.

"Good."

-------------------------------

(7 hours later)

It was raining outside of Umbrella headquarters.

George slowly exhaled from his cigarette as he looked up at the Umbrella building. He wasn't sure how long Kevin had been in there. Once George had woken up it had been relatively easy to get past Riley, make it to above ground and steal a helicopter. He wasn't going to be on the sidelines for this. Cindy was in there. She could be dying.

'So now it's come down to this,' George thought, pitching his cigarette. 'Kevin must not have long to live. It's just me and Cindy now. Our dreams, our hopes-all gone. We thought we could go up against Umbrella. We were wrong. Now each of us has to pay the price.'

------------------------------

In the tunnels Rileywascradling his bleeding headwhen he heard people gasping. He stood. "What is it?"

A man brought in the slim body of a girl. She was unresponsive and covered in blood, scratches, and bite marks."

"I found her in the streets," the man said. "Those things just kept...biting her."

"Is she alive?" Riley asked anxiously.

The man felt for her pulse. "No. She must have died on the way here."

Yoko's eyes flicked open, and she clamped down on Riley's throat.

Riley screamed as she tore out a large chunk of flesh, her mouth blossoming with rain.

----------------------------------

George closed his eyes briefly, letting the cold rain refresh him for a moment. He was right all along. His friend's lives had ended short and bloody. Just as his would be. Whatever happened now, there was no going back. It was time for Umbrella to pay too.

George took out his gun and walked across the street towards the building

--------------------------------

Jenny Evans was having a great day.

Originally, she had started her career as a telemarketer. Then suddenly, out of the blue, a company makes her the main receptionist for a building. A forty-percent pay increase, not to mention all the medical and dental benefits she could ask for. She didn't know what this company was, exactly, but it was definitely something sent from above.

A man entered the building. She automatically looked up. He was soaked by the rain and didn't appear to be having a good day. He was cute though, so she gave him her best smile. "Hi, can I help-"

George took out his gun and shot her through the heart. Jenny slumped forwards in her chair. Two security guards behind her rushed forwards. George took out two uzis and fired. They fell. Either they were expecting him, or one of the guards had managed to radio before intercepting him. An alarm sounded in the lobby. The metal doors locked behind him. The elevator chimed and the doors opened.

Six men in SWAT uniforms ran out with assault rifles. "Surrender! You're surrounded!"

George smiled a little and crouched into a half circle, firing his uzi. As he straightened five bodies fell to the ground. He had missed one. George trained his gun on the sixth.

The man dropped his rifle. He was shaking from head to toe. "Please...I have a w-wife...kids..."

George shot him through the head. The man fell without a sound. George lifted his uzi and shot out three cameras. Next, he went to the computer and typed quickly. He cut the power to the building. Instantly the lights plunged out. A few minutes of hacking and he was able to access the security cameras.

He could see dozens of experiments locked in cells. No sign of either Cindy or Kevin.

George typed. 'Unlock cells 1-48.'

ARE YOU SURE Y/N?

'Y.'

'Unlock cells 48-56'

WARNING! CIVILIANS IN AREA! CONTINUE Y/N?

George didn't hesitate.

'Y.'

------------------------------

"Dammit," David whispered as the lights plunged out. He went to his laptop, but he was locked out of the system. "Send all personal to level eight, section seventeen. That's where he'll go."

The soldier nodded in understanding.

David glared at him. "This man has already died twice. Make this the last time."

------------------------------------

Level eight section seventeen. That's where the medical labs were. "I'm coming, Cindy," George said. He tried the elevator and wasn't surprised to find it was out of service. He took a few step forwards. Right in front of him was a glass atrium that spanned three levels. The ground floor was where he needed to be. Below him he could see several people screaming as they ran from zombies and various monsters that Umbrella had created. George felt no sympathy.

Running footsteps behind him. A voice shouted "Freeze!"

George closed his eyes. The whole lobby was made from glass, even the floor. He shot the floor with his uzi. Immediately it shattered. George fell through. He never stopped firing with both guns. As he hit the ground floor the troops waiting for him were showered with glass. As he landed George felt his arm break and the uzi dropped to the ground with a clatter. Never stopping, George rolled to his feet and fired his spare pistol. The troops fell.

George gripped his arm. He wasn't going to pretend that didn't hurt. And now wasn't really the best time to set it back. Something caught his eye on the floor. He bent down on the ground and picked it up. A golden police star smeared in blood. George wiped it away. After all this time, he hadn't known that Kevin still kept it.

He stood when he heard a gunshot ahead. "Kevin," George said. He ran down the hall.

And stopped as soon as he turned the corner. Kevin was on the floor against the wall in a sitting position. He wasn't moving. Three men armed with assault rifles and a scientist were walking towards the ex-cop.

George didn't hesitate. He ran down the hall, firing his gun. One bullet caught an officer in the back of the head. A second went into the back of another officer's neck.

Only the scientist was left. "No p-please..." he stammered. "I'm not really supposed to be here-"

George wasn't interested in explanations. Two seconds later the scientist was on the ground, dead. Something rolled out of his pocket. George bent down and recognized it instantly. It was the R-virus. Something that really shouldn't be left behind. He picked it up and flicked it. It was a highly concentrated strain. Should be enough to infect one person.

He didn't notice as Kevin stirred. "Nice work, doc. Sure you got all of them? I think I saw one or two of them twitching back there..."

George didn't bother to reply as he aimed behind them, killing two more officers that were approaching. The halls suddenly became quiet.

"Cindy isn't here."

George stared at him. Kevin's face was white as a sheet.

"Searched the whole building. She was moved to another facility."

"Where?"

"Heck if I know. Why don't you ask David? He's on the top level, and he's waiting for you."

George couldn't conceal the shock in his eyes.

"That's right, he's alive. He orchestrated this from the very beginning. He screwed us over big time."

"But what does he want with Cindy?"

"Hm, dunno. Could have been meant as a trap. It got us here pretty quick."

George sat down next to Kevin. "We've lost, haven't we?"

"It was always going to happen this way. We just couldn't admit it." Kevin coughed wretchedly. "Listen doc, the R-virus is killing me. Umbrella is killing me. You know what you have to do, right?"

George said nothing for a moment. He took out his gun, the gun that had once belonged to Kevin.

"Come on, don't get sentimental on me. Just do it already. If you're not strong enough to do this, then I won't feel sorry for whatever happens to you."

Without looking at him, George pointed the gun at Kevin and pulled back the safety.

Kevin smiled a little. "Thanks."

It was over in two seconds. A single shot. George watched as Kevin slumped to the ground, then looked at the bullet hole in the wall.

He quickly looked away.

A minute later George entered the elevator and selected the topmost level. It was a very long ride to the top. Soft elevator music played from a speaker in the corner. George took out from his jacket the R-virus and stared at it, considering.

I love you Cindy.

Always have. Always will.

-----------------------------

No one had noticed Yoko enter the building. She had passed by several bodies along the way, some of them innocent people. Yoko doubted if anyone would cry over their bodies.

But she could. And she did.

The security forces were centered where George and wherever Kevin was. She encountered no resistance as she made her way to the rooftop. It was deserted. Yoko took in a deep breath of fresh air. They had cured her, using the dosage that George had provided before he left. But not before she had killed a man.

Put simply, she couldn't take it anymore. She had created the t-virus to preserve life. Instead she had killed thousands. She once had friends, but even they had changed. They were killers. Even now, she was sure they had forgotten about her. She had nothing left. Every chance of happiness denied to her.

Her sneakers lifted and she climbed up to the ledge. It was too easy. Just turn around and just...fall.

Yoko closed her eyes, sniffing.

-----------------------------------

The elevator reached the top. A secretary smiled at him. "Hi, do you have an appointment-"

George ignored her as he shoved open the oaken doors.

David was waiting for him, and apparently in no mood to talk. "Fire," he said.

Two officers with assault rifles fired. George stepped back behind the door. Wood chips flew through the air. Behind him the secretary screamed as five bullets went through her. George took out a grenade and bit off the safety pin. He rolled it into the room.

The results were deafening. George entered the room to find the two guards dead. A section of the wall had burned away, revealing the outside world. The sun would be up in a few hours. Small fires lit the room.

David got up from crouching behind his desk, firing his pistol. George dodged behind a concrete pillar. He fired back, and David dodged behind his desk. Both were in really bad positions and could not get a good shot at each other.

"Hey George," David said with a smile.

George rolled his eyes. "Hey David. How's it going?"

"Oh, you know. Busy. You could have come at a better time."

"Weird to see you in an Umbrella uniform," George said, dropping his spent ammo. "You're dooming the world now?"

"It's worth it to kill you," David spat.

George reloaded his gun. "I doubt you believe me, but there's a way we both can get out of this alive. I don't care about what you've done. All I want to know is where Cindy is."

"Well...can't really tell you that. But I can tell you what we're doing to her. We know she's pregnant. You're a doctor. You know that certain immunities that protect babies can launch a potential cure for the R-virus and future ones we choose to make. Regrettably it's a painful process and Cindy won't live through it." David shook his head. "Guess it's your fault. You couldn't protect her."

George loaded his gun. He didn't hesitate. He dived to the carpet and rolled, firing back at the open doorway where he had entered as Umbrella officers were charging forwards. As he stood his arm swung around, aiming directly at David's head before David could bring his gun to bare.

George glanced once at the open doorway. "Drop your guns!" he shouted at the scattered officers. "Or this man dies now!"

The officers hesitated.

"Incredible," David whispered. "My security personal is so pathetic that it takes just one civilian to kill me. Think of what would have happened if you and your friends would have joined me."

"That would have never happened," George said confidently.

"No," David agreed. "I suppose not."

A long pause.

"You have to realize that you'll never make it out of this room alive," David said.

"You'll die before I will," George said. For all the people David had killed, for the sake of his dead friends, there wasn't a lot holding him back from the trigger.

Only Cindy.

"Is killing me worth the world?" David asked.

"You've lost," George stated.

David smirked. "You sure about that? Think about it-if you kill me, you'll never find Cindy. The R-virus will become air-born in...what? Less then a day from now? I'm the only person with the resources to deliver a cure. And the only way I'm going to do that is when you're dead. So you tell me, doctor, what the best choice is."

"You're bluffing."

David's smirk widened into a smile. "You know I'm not. I hate you all, and this world. That much."

For a long moment neither of them did anything.

The sound of a bullet firing.

For a moment, neither men moved. Then slowly, the gun dropped out of George's hand and landed against the carpet. Splatters of blood soon followed.

George took in a deep, shuddering breath, but couldn't. The bullet had gone through his lung. He turned around to face the open doorway.

Yoko stood, holding the gun. "I'm sorry," she said, tears trickling down her face. "But the killing has to stop. Starting with you. Cindy...wasn't worth all those people you killed to get here."

George couldn't think. It felt like his entire world had just shattered.

Within a few seconds, it didn't even matter. He fell to the ground.

Yoko took in a shuddering gasp. She dropped her gun and hurried to his side. George's eyes were open at her, unblinking. He didn't move. Hesitantly Yoko felt for a pulse. There was none.

David slowly relaxed, and grinned. His expression turned somber when Yoko looked at him. "Thank you, Yoko. You made the right choice."

"All right, now you've beaten us. Just please, give out the R-virus cure!" Yoko said, with a pleading voice. She looked at George with sorrow in her eyes. That's why she had to stop him. So long as they kept fighting, David wouldn't grant the world any kind of mercy. George and Kevin knew as much and probably didn't care. All they cared about was one person. They would never stop.

So Yoko had to end it. She just hoped that one day, perhaps in another life, he could forgive her.

"Of course we will find one. Immediately. With your help," David said, placing a light green blanket around her shoulders. He gestured to the guards that had just appeared. "Get her out of her. Send her to the labs."

They did so, and it was only when they were gone that David smirked. "And here I was starting to get worried," he said, sounding bored. He wiped away the blood on his lip and walked around his desk and booted George's body to face him. The doctor's eyes stared lifelessly at him. With a smile he raised his gun and shot him a few more times. Just for the fun of it.

David waved his gun. "Get him out of here," he told the security personal. He placed his gun on his desk.

One of the guards stared to do so, and stopped. "Why is his watch counting down from thirteen hours?" he wondered.

David turned around suddenly.

As the guards lifted George something fell out of his pocket. An empty vial rolled across the floor and bounced against David's foot. "No," he whispered in horror. He took two steps forwards. "He's not dead! Shoot him! Shoot him in the head!"

George's eyes gained focus. The gun was still in his hand. He fired to the left and right. The two security guards fell, clutching their legs. He stood, shooting the third security guard in the chest and then through his head.

David reached for the gun as George swung around. George fired. The bullet went into David's shoulder. With a curse David dropped his gun. He stared at George in hatred, blood flowing from underneath his hand. "You injected yourself with the R-virus. You're not going to survive. My men are going to be here any second!"

Even as he spoke, the door opened again as the security personal doubled back.

George didn't hesitate. He ran out of the gaping hole in the building. Below him was an eighty-story drop. For a moment George had a spectacular view of the city. Then he plummeted for what felt like an eternity. Below him was the ocean. The waters rushed up to meet him and pulled him under. George couldn't break free. It felt like every bone in his body had shattered. He couldn't breathe. Even so the R-virus was keeping his brain alive. He didn't need to breathe. It was a long time before he broke the surface of the water.

From a long distance away David watched. "Dammit," he whispered.

---------------------------------

I should be dead.

I'm not. The R-virus has kept me alive. Given me an extension to do what needs to be done. At the moment the temptation to become one of those things...a zombie, it's almost too powerful. I have to hang on. For the sake of the ones I love, for the sake of my dead friends, I have to be one step ahead of Umbrella. I have twelve hours to stop them. I did it once. I can do it again.

Yoko...somehow I know it was you that shot me. No one else is able to sneak up on me like that. I understand your reasons, and can forgive you. You did what you thought was right and you're still my friend.

Try to stop me again, though, and I will kill you. You've chosen y our side, and I've chosen mine. This is a war, one that I will bring to Umbrella's door. And this I swear to you-David is going to be one of those casualties.

Cin-I will find you. That's another I intend to keep. No matter how hard it gets, no matter how far away you are from me.

Somehow, I will find a way.