"Damn it!"
Chris burst through a door, dodging a bullet. He pulled out a second pistol, popped his arm around the door frame and fired. He heard the nice shout of a man being hit by his shot. He reloaded one of his pistols, and kicked down another door, gunning down a man who was running his way. He had landed right in the middle of one of the outlying security barracks'. Full of waiting guards, and with very little cover for him to use. He shot a sniper on a gantry above, who toppled over the railing and fell down below.
Someone took down another sniper with a rocket, which blasted the guard tower into nothing. Chris looked up, and saw the familiar face of Sheva Alomar. He smirked, and gave her a thumbs-up. She returned it, pulling out a pilfered rifled from a guard post. Chris turned around to see a man lunging at him with a knife. He lashed out with his fist, knocking the guard off his feet. The man did a flip in the air, and landed to the ground, still and quiet. It had probably been like being hit by an iron hammer. Chris vaulted a low wall, and saw Sheva pick off two guards aiming at him.
"Delta squad, pull back," a voice boomed over the gunshots. An unfamiliar voice to Chris, who stopped firing, but the soldiers started to run. Chris thought about giving chase, but stopped himself, as the voice continued; "Welcome to the show, Redfield. And Alomar. We'd be sorely disappointed if you got yourself killed before seeing the final act. How about you sit quietly for a while? We're waiting."
"Who the hell is that?" asked Chris. Sheva, running down some steps, shrugged, throwing him a belt full of ammo satchels and a small automatic rifle. The two of them headed for the small shack that probably acted as a command post, checking it for lingering guards. Guess they obeyed whoever was pulling the strings, thought Chris.
"Chris, look at this," Sheva said, pointing at a large map pinned to the wall.
"What is it?"
"It's a map of the island. Or, more importantly, the facility," she said, taking it down and smoothing it over a table. "It covers the entire island. The mountains, the rivers….even underground. How the hell did they manage to build that without attracting massive amounts of attention?" Sheva scanned the map as Chris rooted through the piles of paperwork around the place.
"It's Umbrella. They probably just flashed some cash and all the inconvenient questions just disappeared." Chris pulled out a file simply marked 'Project DAWN.' "This might be their new virus. Take a look, will you?"
"Sure." Sheva opened the file, and read the contents quickly. Smarter then Chris, she digested the information faster. "Shit….this isn't a virus, I mean, yeah, DAWN is a virus….but it's a plan. Whoever is controlling Umbrella, they wanted us all here. Everyone who has had some kind of involvement with Bio-Terror sometime in the past. All of us. For some sick games."
"Who's 'everyone'?"
"Everyone. Me, you, Special Agent Kennedy, Special Agent Miller, Chambers, Valentine, the President's daughter, some woman named Ada Wong…and your sister," she said, handing him the list. "She should be on the island by now, according to that."
"Damn! We have to go find them."
"I think that's what they want us to do."
"I don't care. I want to find them."
-{-}-
A young man walked through the doors of a facility, far away from where Chris and the others now fought for survival. He found himself in a large room, filled with monitors, lab equipment and technology. A few guns here and there. Lots of security equipment. A few automated turrets tracked his movement for a while, until the sensors on them scanned his DNA and cleared him for entry. He walked over to where a young woman was sat, watching some security footage on the monitor in front of her, her long blonde hair tied in a bun behind her head, stabbed through with a pair of needles.
"They're all on the island." he said. She nodded, and took a sip from a cup of coffee beside her. "I've had a few of the spy planes track them. Looks like Chris and Sheva are linked up now, and are on the same quarter of the island as Miller and Wong." The man took out a small USB memory device. "We have some readings on this. Should show you some of the details behind DAWN." Again, just a curt nod as a response, her eyes never leaving the screen. "What, no thank you?"
"Thank you?"
"Sometimes I forget who you are," he said, shaking his head.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, nothing. You just take after your father, is all." The man grabbed the back of her chair, leaning over so his face was level with hers. "Obsessing over work, never letting anything be. You might want to control that, Bee. Remember what happened to him?" He reached over, and took a sip out of her coffee. "Bloody hell, that's freezing!"
"I like it that way. And yes, I do remember."
"I'm not trying to have a go," he said, smirking. "I just want you to be careful, is all. Anyway, me and one of the boys decided to steal some of their research footage into their new viruses. You probably aren't going to like it." He slotted the memory device into the computer. "It's all on here. Plus, we found out who their new pet project is."
"Who? I thought we were looking for a 'what'?"
"So did I. Again, it's all on there. But it looks like Nicholas is planning to unleash him as the final part of DAWN. I'm guessing it won't be pretty, when he hits them." The young man sighed, and perched on the edge of the desk in front of the woman. "You know, the thought occurs to me that you know some of these people?"
"Yes? And?"
"Well, I'm thinking maybe this isn't just work for you. This is personal."
"Like you said."
"What was that?"
"When you want to do something right, you have to make it personal. Find a reason to care. This is just my reason to care." Bee shut down the computer and swivelled her chair around. "Ash, I'll need you to head to that island. Alone. You're the only one I can count on."
"Oh, sure, don't send a strike team with me. Remember what happened in Cairo? Or in Istanbul?"
"I do. You object?"
"Hell no. But I wouldn't be me if I didn't moan and whine about things." Ash ruffled up her hair. "I'm assuming you'll be on the radio with me?"
"Of course."
"Good. I need someone I can rely on." Ash gave her a quick kiss on the lips, and, smirking, walked towards the door. "Remember, make sure you keep it on a secure line. Oh, and if you can, work out a cure to the Dawn thing. I really don't want to be turned into some super-tyrant."
"Can I count on you for this one, Ash?"
"Of course you can." Ash paused at the door, giving her a roguish wink. "Have I ever let you down, Sherry?"