"Don't stop, keep running!" Barry screamed as he ran as fast as he could, turning around and firing from his pistol every once in a while. The other S.T.A.R.S. members fired as well. These were no ordinary zombies though. As Barry remembered the Spencer Estate incident back in 1998, he remembered these zombies. Normally, a zombie created through T-Virus was slow and clumsy. However, a zombie can be shot down and unless they are incinerated or decapitated, they will stay dormant for a while and will mutate further into what is known as a V-ACT or a 'crimson head.' These variations were a lot faster and stronger, therefore more dangerous than a standard zombie. They would eventually mutate into an even more horrible monster with large claws and a long, lance like tongue that is strong enough to twist of a person's head. Barry, however, hoped that they would not have to resort to fighting those creatures. This scene seemed all too familiar, they were running for a house in the woods. It was a two story house that did not look too big, not half as big as Umbrella's other mansions. Umbrella always used mansions and other beautiful pieces of architecture to hide the entrances to their illegal labs. However, upon entering the mysterious house in the woods, Barry all of a sudden doubted that it was Umbrella's. This house seemed as average as Barry's own. Barry and four other S.T.A.R.S. members had made it into the house. It seemed as though Dallas and Nancy were not lucky enough to survive the first wave.
The S.T.A.R.S. stood in the room, looking around. It was an average living room, a TV in the northwest corner, a coffee table in the middle of the room and a couch in front of it. Barry was pretty disappointed.
"What the hell was that?" Michael asked what everyone, but Barry, were wondering.
"Crimson heads," Barry replied, "A zombie which undergoes stasis is-"
Suddenly, the door was almost swung open by a crimson head, it took Barry and Smith to push the creature back out and hold the door. "Scatter! Explore the house, call for help, find an exit, whatever! Report as soon as you find anything, leave no stone unturned. Barry, you go too, I'll take care of the door."
"Are you sure?" Barry asked,
"Just do it!" Smith said, pushing on the door.
As soon as the S.T.A.R.S. got into the house, Nick went to the couch. A strange odor emanated from somewhere in the distance. It reeked of mold, but it was not strong. Sitting on the couch, Nick took out his laptop from his backpack. He had a wireless connection on it and could easily call the other S.T.A.R.S. team, back at the Police Station, for help. Right away he began to type a distress message, "S.O.S. Need assistance. Danger is critical. Officer down. Bring heavy fire power. Team pinned down in an aban-" That was as far as he got when the crimson head smashed the door open. Without thinking, Nick jumped up on his feet and drew his gun at the door. This action caused nick's laptop to slide from his lap onto the floor, smashing into pieces. The one thing about this house that did resemble Umbrella's architecture was the marble floor. How nick wished there was a rug on that floor, but wishing wouldn't make it so.
"Shit!" Nick said to himself in a voice of desperation.
When Smith told them to scatter, Nick obeyed blindly, dumbstruck by his foolish mistake.
Jerrika nodded at Smith's order and proceeded into the next room. The moon shone through a large window into what looked like a dining room with a staircase on the left and a doorway adjacent to it. There was also a doorway parallel to that one on the opposite wall. Jerrika decided to check that particular door. It led to a small corridor which had two more doorways, one leading into a bathroom and the other into a small bedroom. It was dark and there was no power, but Jerrika was fine with her halogen flashlight. The bedroom had clothes scattered on the bed, it looked like the belonged to a woman. Jerrika approached the closet and carefully slid the door open causing a stack of boxes to fall on top of her. Extremely annoyed by this she kicked at them thinking to herself, Damn it you don't need high heels out here in the woods! Why the hell do you need so many boxes, lady?
As she kicked one of the boxes, it flew hitting the wall. No high heels were that heavy, Jerrika thought, even though she never actually wore high heels. She approached the box and opened it, inside was a Steyr M-1A pistol. Why the hell would anyone need it out here? she thought, Unless…
She picked up the Steyr, putting her Beretta into the holster on her pants. She checked the ammo, the gun was full. She, then, began to investigate the room further.
"Let me think," Bruce Painston said to himself, looking at the map of the lab as he sat in Testing Room D on the third basement level of the lab that was located below the house in the woods, "If I am right here," he said to himself. "And the self destruct mechanism is... All the way down there... The passage is probably blocked by those damn creatures, and certainly I don't have enough ammunition to get rid of them." He looked over at the gamma hunters, large frog-like creatures which were incubating in the capsules beside him, "What the devil are you staring at?" he said. He then took a deep breath and sat down in a chair. "How the hell am I supposed to reach the damn Basement level seven?"
Bruce
searched for any vital information he could find from the mainframe
of the Umbrella Laboratory Computer Network, he accidentally clicked
on the surveillance system. The system detected movement in the house
that hid the entrance to the lab. A quick glance at the screen and
the image scared and intrigued him. He immediately recognized the
uniforms. It was S.T.A.R.S. They were like the arch nemeses to
Umbrella, ever since the Spencer Estate incident back in 1998. But
they were not just S.T.A.R.S. to Bruce. They were a glimpse of hope.
Normally, Umbrella
either abandons their labs which have been massacred by the T-Virus
or destroys them from the inside. In either case, there was no hope
for survival until now. With the presence of S.T.A.R.S, Bruce would
be able to contact White Umbrella Headquarters and request a group of
mercenaries to be dispatched to make sure the S.T.A.R.S. won't get
away with any important evidence. However for Bruce, that meant
salvation. He took another good look at the map layout for the lab
and saw that the nearest communications room is not too far away from
his current location. He gripped his gun in one hand, a spare clip in
the other and walked out the door, looking at either side.
He
ran towards the corridor on the right and was confronted by a zombie.
"Piece of cake,"
he said under his nose. He then pointed the gun at the zombie's head
and fired. Clotted blood and brain tissue scattered all over. He
advanced forward, passing a sleeping Cerberus, the hound woke up but
Bruce was able to exit in time.
He
was finally in the communications room. There was a communications
control panel. Now, another problem occurred... He never used one of
these things. He started clicking buttons here and there. He finally
found a file with different numbers on it. He noticed a number
combination that said "W-UMB HQ" beside it. He pushed the
corresponding buttons and a male voice spoke out of the headphones,
"This is the main White Umbrella Headquarters, over."
"This is Doctor
Bruce Painston, I am in the Tahoe Forest lab, the one that was
infected with the virus a few days ago. I have some vital information
for you, it is regarding the team of S.T.A.R.S. who are attempting to
infiltrate the lab, possibly in search of evidence," Bruce said
firmly, "Now listen carefully! I am not able to reach the self
destruct system safely, and therefore I cannot detonate this lab. I
require the assistance of a UBCS unit, over."
The
voice responded, "Negative, the UBCS units are trained for top
priority outbreaks only. We will send to you a lower military unit to
take care of the problem, over and out."
Bruce
sighed with relief, "Let's hope they get to me safely."
Smith was holding the door closed in the living room of the house as the crimson heads scratched and pushed at the door while growling. Jerry walked into the room quickly, "Any news?" Smith asked her.
"I found a gun in one of the bedrooms, other than that, no."
Barry had walked into the living room as well, "I found the basement, there's no power in this house, so it was hard to see anything with my flashlight. I think the main fuse is missing, though. How are things here?"
Barry walked up to the window to check out the situation, three crimson heads were clawing at the door and one of them heard or saw Barry at the window and attacked the window, breaking it.
"Shit!" Barry stepped back and pointed his gun at the entering crimson head. IT got up really fast and lunged at Barry. All he could to was stumble back quickly and hoot the creature in the head. The head shattered but that followed by the entrance of two other crimson heads. Smith stepped back and drew his gun, "It's useless, get out of this room!"
When Smith told the S.T.A.R.S. to scatter, Michael White followed Jerrika and they split at the dining room. Mike went into the right door which left into the kitchen. There was a back door, but it looked like a crimson head had found its way to that door and was trying to break in. Mike pointed his gun at the door, but then realized that the door was shut securely. It really seemed like nobody was home. Mike took a look around the kitchen using his flashlight. There were two refrigerators. He could see why it made sense. Whoever lived in that house probably needed enough supplies since they would not go three miles every week to go grocery shopping. He decided to inspect the food to make a rough judgment of when the power went out, it could give him enough clues to know when the people left the house. He pulled the handle of the fridge and it opened up. Except it was not a refrigerator, but a strange, dark staircase leading down. Michael went to check it out and descended it, the odor of mold grew stronger as Michael passed walls that dripped with water, it seemed like he was all of a sudden in a dark cave. As he reached the end of it, a metallic door blocked his way. There was a small computer terminal on the side and a keyboard with only letters, numbers and an 'Enter' key. The screen was lit and it said "Enter Pass-code." It was pretty obvious to Mike that the code would open the door, and it probably led to the labs. Just then, Michael heard glass breaking and rushed upstairs. On his way there, he encountered the rest of the S.T.A.R.S.
"Those things got inside!" Smith yelled as he turned around and shot at one of them two times, not able to see if he hit it or not. The roaring persisted.
"Follow me!" Mike replied and the five S.T.A.R.S. members rushed down into the secret passage inside the fake refrigerator.
