Annette Parker lost track of time sat at the computer in the back of the late Dr Birkin's lab, there was a fair amount of information to scribble down on her handy jotter. One she always takes to work for quick notes or quick thoughts and ideas that often appear out of nowhere while on the job. On the ruled paper, all notes concerning Scott's health was plastered all over the first few pages; the rest were random doodles. The door slid open, and Claire shuffled in with what appeared to be Scott.
"Claire," Parker called, "I'm in the back." Claire said nothing. "I hope this is the right laboratory. Not like there are any other P-4 labs."
Claire cried when the man threw her onto the floor in the middle of the lab and moved his sights onto Parker. That wasn't Scott. He looked ten years older. She raised her arms in surrender. "What's a child doing in my lab?" he said after leaving Claire's sights. She stared down trying to get up on her feet. She wasn't strong enough. The man's eyes focused on Parker with his handgun aimed at her face.
"Your lab? This is Dr Wesker's-"
"Silence!" he roared. "This is my facility now, and I demand to know what you're doing on THAT terminal."
"I got curious..." Parker stuttered. She didn't know the man, and she was easily timid when her life is threatened.
"Curiosity gets people killed, Officer. You should know that. Drop your gun, slowly, and step away from the terminal." Parker reached into her hip holster and dropped her Browning for the man to take. She dared not to move too quickly near it. He promptly ejected the magazine and discarded the handgun to the other side of the lab. He signalled her over and stood by Claire who was still hurting on the floor.
The man went to the terminal that Parker was on and started typing away on it. He seemed to be looking for something. Though he was focused on the screen, he kept her and Claire in the corner of his eye.
"Claire, are you alright?" Parker still had her hands up.
"I'll live."
"What's going on here and where's Scott?"
Claire inched her head towards the man at the computer. He wasn't peeking back. "The man behind the computer… He killed Scott. Then he shot me and brought me here." Parker's face sagged, her cute little eyes started to glisten with tears. Her eyes closed and her lips trembled. She couldn't cry, even if she wanted to.
"What does he want with us?" Parker sobbed lightly.
"I don't know," Claire sighed. "He wants a vaccine for some reason he won't tell me. All we can do is ride it out."
"It's all we can do. If he wanted to kill us, he would've by now. I'm assuming he caught you by surprise?"
Claire shrugged. "Scott and I finished talking. Then he killed him. Didn't even see him coming."
"Who is this guy?"
"Never mentioned a name."
"My police experience tells me that's not a horrible sign. If he informs us his name, the possibility of death would be high."
"Why would he need us?"
"Bait?"
"Or maybe a diversion for any sudden… complications."
"Claire, to be honest, without Scott, I'm scared."
"Me too Annette. I bet Scott knows this guy."
The man stepped from the computer with a small scrap piece of paper with some scribblings. He still had his Walther in his other hand. "Getting along, are we? You both appear to know each other quite well. Tell me. Why are two young women such as yourselves here of all time and places? You both cannot be down here for the same agenda."
Claire squinted and decided to try and challenged the man at wit. "Unless we get a name I'm not telling you anything you don't already know," she strained through her teeth. "We want a vaccine for Sherry, and that is IT."
"And to evacuate the city," Parker added. The man nodded with a straight grin; he understood that factor.
"Naturally," he said. "There is an escape train on the lowest level of the facility, eighth to be precise. BF8. If you have the key to the master elevator, you can get out of here easily."
"And who has the key?"
"The general manager of the facility."
"Birkin," Claire sighed.
"Yes. The monster ravaging the surrounding areas has the key for your evacuation. Pity… If you plan to leave, you'd be wise to find another means to reach the underground level."
"Our plan to leave?" Parker exclaimed. She rested her arms at her sides. "What about yours?"
"Aww. You shouldn't worry about me, Officer. I have a helicopter picking me up after I collect what I came for." The man walked to one of the larger machines in the corner in front of her. Looked like an over glorified mixer of sorts. He set his handgun aside and stared through the glass inside. "Good. Birkin always had a habit of misplacing these damned machines. Now if you both would be too kind to keep quiet while I work on this vaccine that would be great. Sooner I get the vaccine sooner we can vacate each other's lives."
The man ferociously made adjustments to the machine and then it was working. It hummed a deep tone, and he started to use the number pad on the side. His fingers danced quickly over the digits. He often looked back on the scrap paper. Must be instructions to use the machine or make a vaccine.
"Is there any particular reason you need us, sir? I am an officer of the law and I demand an answer." The man never spoke back, he internally focused between the paper and the machine, making tiny adjustments to something humming inside the machine.
"I require a vaccine sample to make a trade."
"You're after the G-virus, just like everyone else."
"Precisely." The man was making small adjustments to the large machine. He wasn't pleased but still carried on without any signs of giving up. "If you children brush up on your homework once in a while, as I do, you will find out some useful information regarding your ordeals. Mine being the fact my colleague has made a G-sample, and this is my only chance to obtain it before this city goes really goes to hell."
"And you're planning to trade a G-vaccine for it I presume?"
"As I said, I did my homework. She cannot refuse me this time."
"She?"
"Mrs Birkin holds the very last sample in the facility, and I refuse to leave without it." The man took a small phial from the machine. It was only six inches long and contained a light teal liquid. He stared at it, smiling with pride. He'd often check back on his piece of paper before crushing it in his hands. Discarded it. "The DEVIL cure, the first and only of its kind."
"Will that save Sherry?"
The man scoffed and tucked the sample into his suit pocket. "That's for her mother to decide. Not you." The man took his gun from the side of the machine and aimed it at Parker, gesturing her with a nod. "Pick up your friend and let's go. I am finished here."
"Was it that easy to make?"
"Not usually, but the right notes can do wonders, milady. Once I make the trade, I will take my leave, and you can go about your merry business."
"Hooray," Parker sighed without any smile.
Parker brought Claire on her feet and assisted her walking, doing her best not to waste the man's time. He stood behind them with his handgun pointed at their backs. The left the lab first, and they were the first ones to be rudely greeted by another woman. Annette Birkin pointed her handgun at them, fury in her eyes.
"You killed William! You, and that ungrateful pup!" Annette roared. She pulled back her handgun's hammer and got ready to fire.
"Wait!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Is this how you treat everyone, Annette?"
Annette's eyes widened. "Downing? What are you doing down here and why are you working with these two?"
The man that is Downing cackled. Loudly. "I'm afraid you mistake my current position. I'm only here for the same reason you are."
"You can't be. This is the only sample in the facility, and I'm NOT handing it to anyone." Annette redirected her aim for Downing. The barrel of her Browning hovered over his chest, between Claire and Parker's heads. "Not even our predecessor. This is the most significant piece of research my husband ever left in my hands." Without making any subtle movements, Claire peered to Annette's other hand, the one not holding a weapon next to her head. There was a phial in her hand containing a regal purple gel-like substance.
He tapped his chin and hummed. Thinking is what it sounded like. "Perish the very thought, Annette… But let's see if you feel that way after I make you an offer."
"What are you blabbering on about?"
Claire took a step forward. "Sherry's in serious trouble," she said, "William implanted her with his embryo. There's no telling when they'll pupate! And if that happens…"
"What!? No!" Annette withdrew her handgun and breathed heavily, almost hyperventilating.
"I have the DEVIL cure right here," said Downing. He took out the light teal phial from the inside of his jacket and waved it. It caught Annette's attention for a few seconds before he hid it away from view. "Interested in a little trade?" Annette said nothing. "I'll make it quick. Your daughter Sherry, or the G-virus?"
"You gotta be kidding me?" Annette blurted. "You made the DEVIL cure? Already?"
"I know my sources that go around in this facility. This little titbit was at the top of my list. Now we can truly see what's more important. Family or career."
"What makes you so sure I am incapable of saving my own daughter?"
"You must be fully aware of the famine that cursed our stock by now, Mrs Birkin." She never replied. That Joel Allman never made the delivery to tend to their chemical shortages. "The chemical APL-14 and SF-2 are a constant low, and I'm afraid I used up the scraps to make the first and only DEVIL cure."
"Do you want me to choose, Downing? Would that please you? To choose between my daughter and William's legacy?"
Downing groaned. "Intensely."
Annette growled and stepped back. She stared down at the floor and at the G-virus in her hand. She gripped it tightly. Everything the team worked on for years and years on end was finally finished and sat in her hands. All the bloodshed. All the misery. All the grief. It was all over. At what cost? Their employers sold them out, and the entire corporation is suddenly falling apart. All Annette had was whatever was left of her family. She decided to take a page from her colleague's diary and put her family first.
She walked further away into the three-way corridor and placed the G-virus sample right in the middle and left it there. She stepped back and stayed. Her handgun never wavered. It was fixed on Downing. "Hand me the DEVIL cure and take the fucking sample with you. I want you out of my sight."
"Pleasure doing business with you."
"Hurry up before I reconsider."
Downing walked through Claire and Parker over to Annette and reluctantly handed her the DEVIL cure. Their eyes locked. A glared full of hate and petty rivalry, something Claire felt when she glanced at Jill back in the early times of her relationship. Back then they both smiled, now only Downing was smiling. He backtracked over the G-virus and picked it up with a bigger smile. He beamed. Annette never budged after he handed her the vaccine, she still stared at him, making sure he doesn't stab her in the back.
"We'll probably never meet ever again, Annette. I'd say it would've been a pleasure, but that would mean I'd have to lie. Be a good mother and save your daughter, time is ticking." He chuckled and retreated quickly away from the others to the door at the end of the corridor. He kept his body at an angle so he could still see the others in the corner of his eye, you know, for safety.
She had it. She had it, and in a few minutes or even seconds, they'd save Sherry from the G-virus. All the hard work in it all may have been slightly ignored, but they were gonna save Sherry's life. Her life can resume. She can have her daughter back. Annette wanted to make sure.
"Hey!" Annette roared, a furious look on her face.
Downing turned. If the DEVIL cure - which no one ever created before - were legit, he would have no need to panic any further than he needs to. If it wasn't… Downing panicked and broke into a quick run. It wasn't a good sprint, though, at his age, it was swifter than most.
"It's a fake!" Annette shouted and bolted after Downing, with Claire and Parker calling after her to calm down. Annette fired her handgun several times at Downing, but they struck the door behind him. He was gone, and she cursed out of spite. She ran some more.
Something crashed through the ceiling in front of her, halting her pursuit. It was a large humanoid figure, one she believed to have been murdered by an ignorant pup. William. William shown no longer any fragments of his former humanity, he was too far in the mutation of G. He stood at eight feet in height with four muscular arms, armed with talons that could easily tear a person in half without hesitation.
Before Annette could respond to William's intrusion, he swung a set of his talons at her chest. The cavity was wide with her chest being cleaved without hesitation. Annette cried at the top of her lungs in an agonising plea for the pain to just end. Claire and Parker hid away around the corner then never left, they couldn't save her even if they tried.
After Annette's cries had died out, there was an unsettling amount of silence afterwards. William was gone. Claire and Parker stood over Annette, amazed at how she was still alive. She bled on the floor, and a pool started to form underneath her and their feet. "Annette," Claire sighed sadly.
"Hang on!" said Parker. She let go of Claire after she felt more confident to stand alone and let Parker sit Annette up. She grunted and was crocked up against the side of the wall.
"G is… growing even stronger," Annette strained through her aching jaw. Still sound but dying. Internal damage was a bitch. "If you don't stop this, Sherry will..." She suddenly was a loss for words. Looked like she struggled to breathe.
"Annette, that vaccine… Was it really a fake?"
"I don't know," Annette mumbled, admittedly. "No one's ever made one before, and no one knows what one looks like." She paused. "If it wasn't fake, why did Frederic run? One thing I do know is that man is not to be trusted."
"Frederic?" Parker required.
"That snake… Frederic Downing… He crept in William's shadow for years… ever since he took over his facility for G's research… Not the trustworthy type, so I had my suspicions... Parker and Claire, is it?"
"Yeah. Yeah, that's us."
"Take that vaccine." Claire turned her head to see the purple phial still sitting on the ground behind them. She walked over, picked it up as Annette handed Parker a sheet of paper and a small black key. There were some scribblings and detailed instructions on it. "And that. In the lockers in the P-4 lab are the ingredients to make the vaccine… Double check it… please. Do what you can to make it legit…"
"We'll handle it," Claire nodded. "Thank you, Annette."
"The key… The key will let you use the master elevator… to take you to the underground train out of the facility." Annette slid something off her wrist and put it into Parker's hand also. It was a rubber bracelet. "That wristband will start up the train on the bottom floor… Please… Help Sherry and get yourselves out of here. Tell her… I have always loved her." Annette's eyes shed tears. Tears of grief mixed with some sadness. "I always loved her… and wherever Scott is… I… I forgive him… and I trust him to finish… what I failed to accomplish as her mother… To love and support her… Sherry… Sherry..." Annette said something again, but it was so incomprehensible it sounded like a breath or a sigh, all of that stopped very soon. She fell on her side out of Parker's grasp. Dead. Dead in a small pool of blood.
"Annette!?" Claire sighed and shook her head. "What did she give you?"
"Apart from the key, it looks like schematics for the DEVIL cure."
"Let's see." Parker showed Claire the instruction sheet for her to observe. The final result of the DEVIL cure looked almost identical to the one in her hand. If that was the case, then that meant that Downing was true to his word and made a proper vaccine. Though why did he run if it was legit? It called for an extra pair of fresh eyes to give the vaccine one final look down. You know. In case Downing was a real snake.
The P.A. system came online; it was a dull female tone with a looping siren in the background. "The self-destruct system has been activated, repeat, the self-destruct system has been activated, this system may not be aborted!" she or it announced. "All employees proceed to the emergency cart at the bottom platform!" The system's P.A. went on a repetitive loop of a siren and the demand for employees to evacuate through the emergency cart.
"Who the hell activated the self-destruct system?"
"Downing!" Claire yelled. The snake shed his skin.
"One of us needs to check if the vaccine is good and proper."
"I'll get back to the lab and find out while you get back to Sherry." Parker was about to say something but hesitated. "What?"
"Good plan, but I think you should pick up Sherry, you're hurt."
"It's a flesh wound."
"Still… I think you should do the least amount of walking."
"I see your concern. Hmmm..." Claire's leg didn't hurt as much as time passed, though unlike Parker's health, she wouldn't break any marathon records anytime soon. She caved into the switched roles. "Fine. You check the validity in the vaccine, make one if you have to, I'll get Sherry and find this emergency cart on the bottom level."
"You better take this." Parker chucked the black master key Annette had given her. "You'll need it. Probably. Oh, and this." She put the rubber wristband over Claire's wrist. It had something orange embedded in it with the Roman numeral IV.
"I saw an elevator by the security room. There has to be a way down from there. Take this with you." Claire slung her M79 off her shoulders and hurled it into Parker's small hands. Then she handed her the six pack of yellow grenade shells.
"Thanks, I may need it."
"We'll regroup at the emergency cart. If not, outside the master elevator."
Parker smiled. "I hope we're lucky."
"Tell me about it," Claire sadly sighed. "Shame, we didn't realise how important Scott was until we really needed him."
"Yeah… Let's get going anyway..."