Chapter 4

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Claire woke up on a cold and wet floor. She hissed as she slowly sat up, leaning on the wall for support. She opened her eyes but could barely see anything. All she could do was feel. Feel how much her head was pounding. Feel how cold she was. And feel how pissed she was.

Pissed for the fact that she was in this situation.

Pissed for the fact that Sherry was present for it all and for putting her in danger.

Pissed that she decided to wear a dress and not the pant suit she wanted.

She would be lying if she never thought this kind of situation would arise if it would either be what she was doing now with TerraSave or her past with Umbrella. But the thought of it actually happening was always slim to none, like couldn't they just write her a strongly worded letter?

Once her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she took notice of her surroundings. She was in a damp cell with a rather large uncomfortable looking shelf that was probably supposed to be a bed. But other than that and the water dripping from the ceiling, there was nothing else worth noting. She started to get up to get a better look of the outside of her cell when she noticed a green band on her left wrist.

"What the fuck is this?!" Claire exclaimed as she started to look at the mysteriously brand on her wrist. It was a thick metal band with a green light coming from it on one side. There were no noticeable markings or designs on it to help her determine what the hell this was.

"Oh this is just great! I'm locked in a cell with this thing on me and heels." She groaned as she got up and approached the cell door. From what she could see, there was absolutely no one else in the hallway and the cells on the other side were in worse shape than hers. Well, at least they were somewhat considerate to give her the better cell.

"Alright, I need to get out of here."

She started pulling on the bars to see how sturdy they were. If the rest of the place looked like it was falling apart, hopefully the bars are in the same condition. Unfortunately, they weren't budging. At all.

"Ugh, are you shitting me? How is that possible?!"

Claire was about to move on to another idea that she had - which involved a heel and digging out when she heard a very low mechanical hum. She took another look around her cell when she finally spotted where the sound was coming from - a security camera. She took a step closer when she heard the humming again as the camera adjusted itself to focus on her.

Claire was getting even closer to try and see if anything was on the camera when a sudden metal clang rang through her cell as her cell door slid open, almost welcoming her to continue on. Despite having an uneasy feeling about this, Claire took a slow step forward, she looked both ways before taking one step out of her cell.

"Well, that's convenient."

Eerie was an understatement. Stepping out of her cell, she looked down the narrow hallway only to find a few dim lights. A sense of nostalgia hit her, as the similarities of her surroundings caught up with her. Here she was again as an unarmed prisoner left with nothing else to do but venture forward into this nightmare. Carefully treading forward, a never ending cascade of questioned hit Claire.

Was this some sick joke from another corporation against TerraSave? Was this more personal? No, no one could be demented enough to think this was a joke. This looked way too calculating to be a joke.

Is Sherry still safe? God, she really hoped so. For her own sanity, she had to tell herself that she was.

Where is everyone else? She was sure she saw a lot of people on that plane.

Frustrated with her own questions, she raked a hand through her hand and just kept going down the hall. Regardless of why she was here, she knew she had now had no choice. She was stuck here, and she sure as hell was not going let her doubts get the best of her.

Only the sound of a few drops of water and the mechanical sounds coming from the cameras broke the uneasy silence. Carefully opening the door at the end of the hallway, she found an even longer hallway- one with cells all side-by-side similar to the hall she woke up in. The smell of rotting blood and decay filled the room. Looking at the one of the first cells, Claire found the body of a completely mutated looking person. She hunched down to take a closer look when she saw a TerraSave ID badge on him which cause her to suddenly gasp. The completely mutilated body lying in the cell was one of the TerraSave workers, Roger. If it wasn't for the ID badge on him, he was barely recognizable. She closed her eyes, and whispered, "I'm so sorry." She knew this was just the beginning, a reminder of the worse to come ahead.

After collecting herself, she stood up and took a few steps forward. Even though she was taking every precaution before, after seeing Roger, Claire had her guard up even more. Walking past each cell, she would slowly turn to look in each one - hoping to find anything to help get her out of here. Or even perhaps someone alive.

Suddenly, she heard some movement further down the hall. Instinctively grabbing at her side, she groaned when she grabbed nothing but the fabric of her dress.

'Right, no gun. Fuck. Now what?'

Claire crouched down to try and hide herself as she tried to figure out the best way to approach the situation. She couldn't run in guns blazing, not like she would but she didn't even have the choice. And she couldn't just call out to see if anyone is there. Everyone knows better than to call out into an unknown area like this.

"Hello? Please, someone, help!" A desperate voice shouted out.

Well, maybe not everyone. But she recognized that voice.

Wait, Pete? This had to be too good to be true. Trying not to think of the reason why he was placed this close to her, she slowly moved forward towards his voice. She found him sitting on his knees at the edge of his cell. Pete looked completely disheveled from head to toe and he kept his head down.

"Pete?" She hesitantly called out.

"Claire!" Jumping to his feet, he grabbed his cell bars. "Oh thank God, you're alright! What the actual fuck-!"

"Pete," Claire whispered, "I'm gonna try and get you out. You just gotta-!"

A loud click echoed the room seconds before Pete's cell door started slowly opening. Pete instinctively jumped back, looking at the door then back at her.

"What the-? Did you do that? Claire, where are the others? Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

She drowned out Pete's questions with ones of her own. Why would his cell door just open? Was this all just a set up? She stood there for a second trying to piece everything together but all she kept hearing was Pete's constant questions and "fucks". Claire tried her hardest not to get frustrated since he was only Sherry's age after all. He had never experienced anything like this before so of course he would be panicking. Any normal person would be freaking out right about now. Claire took a deep breath before walking up to him and carefully putting her hand on his shoulder,

"Pete, listen to me. We are gonna get out of here. But you need to calm down. Panicking isn't going to help, trust me. I know how scared you are, I am too. But you've got to trust me. I've been through something like this before. Together we can find a way out, but I need you to be here 100%, okay?"

Pete looked up at her helplessly as she gave him a reassuring smile. He knew what he was doing was irrational, but he couldn't shake his hopelessness. But here was Claire, a woman who had been through hell and back before. So if she could do it, maybe he could too.

Smirking slightly, he took a deep breath and nodded. "R-Right. I'm sorry. This is like a walk in the park for you then, right? Well you can lead the way. Hopefully we can find the others soon. If you found me there has to be more people around."

"Pete, I found Roger. He's...gone." Claire casted her eyes towards the ground, not being able to say it to his face. Just another person Claire couldn't save.

"Shit, shit, shit," Pete cursed as he started pacing back and forth again, "What now? Why us? Why this?"

Claire slightly shrugged and moved her eyes back to the hallway. Another camera caught her eye and she looked at it squarely as she heard it adjust its lens.

"We're being watched." Claire stated as a matter of factly, "See that camera over there? There was one by my cell door as well. Someone opened my door then opened yours - someone wanted me to find you."

"What? Why? Why bother making it easier for us?"

Claire couldn't help but feel frustrated as she pinched the top of her nose. "I don't know, but there is nothing to do but go forward." Claire turned her attention to Pete's cell as she started looking around it.

"Did you find anything useful in your cell?"

"Uh, there was a loose metal bar that I ripped off from the other cell wall but I don't think-." Claire was already grabbing the bar before Pete could finish. He looked at her in disbelief,

"Uh, maybe I should carry that around." Pete said kindly as he reached for the bar, "You know, I can probably hit things harder-."

'You've got to be kidding me.'

Claire rolled her eyes, "Oh please, I've seen you swing a bat at the company's spring picnic. Besides, you said it yourself - just a walk in the park for me, right?"

"Touché." Pete shrugged. "You're the boss. Now what?"

"Stay behind me, and remember look before you leap."

"Look before you leap? I didn't know this was leapfrog."

"Don't be an idiot, just do it."

Re-entering the hallway, Claire and Pete walked down the rest before passing through a doorway with its door still half attached. After making their way past the doorway, they continued into the next room. In this room, the cells were more spread apart than how they were in the other hallways. The space was big, big enough to fit more people. Only the sound of their footsteps echoed throughout the room. Despite the silence and her leading the way, she could feel how tense Pete was. She knew he wasn't gonna be much help if he wasn't going to have his head in it. She's gotta get him calm down somehow.

"So, Pete. Since we are gonna be working together, is there anything you want to ask me?"

"Actually I've been meaning to ask you if you have experienced anything like - well, you know, this before.."

"Yeah. It was after Raccoon City and I was trying to find my bone head brother who didn't know how to use a phone. Anyway, long story short while trying to find him I was caught and taken to an island kind of like this. I met this guy there, Steve. Actually, he reminds me a lot like you. Cocky, young, confident, thought he was a lot tougher than he was. But…"

From time to time she thought about Steve Burnside. Most of her thoughts consisted of "what ifs", many of those indulged scenarios that he lived through the ordeal on Rockfort. She'd sometimes think what would have happened between them if they had both made it off the island. Would they have remained friends? Could it have been more? There was no doubt that during the short time they knew each other that they had formed an unique bond. He may have been hotheaded at times, but he was still reliable and supportable. But this was not the time to start thinking about this again. She had to remain focused.

Claire shook from her own thoughts, "He was a good guy. He and I got separated when I ran into my own trouble but then my brother, Chris, found me. By the time Chris and I found where Steve was, it was too late. He had been injected with a virus and had mutated."

Pete was taken aback by her story. He had of course heard rumors but hearing the story directly from Claire made it all seem less glamorous than how it was otherwise depicted.

"Jesus, I'm sorry, Red. That's...rough." An even more uncomfortable silence filled the air has they kept on walking. He really didn't like the eeriness of the silence so he figured he could keep talking to fill it.

"I don't remember much of Raccoon, I only heard about it. I had a cousin there, I think he was a teacher but he didn't make it out. My younger brother wants to join BSAA, actually. Not exactly my forte but he and I both want to help stop this. We just picked different battlefields."

"Heh, I'll run his name by Chris for you. What's his name?"

"Finn. Finn Macauley. And thanks, but I rather get out of here and tell him myself."

Tightening her grip on the iron bar, she carefully led Pete further into the larger room. The cells in this room were mostly empty, minus the occasional debris. One thing they did find in one of the cells was a flashlight. Claire held her breath as she slowly clicked the flashlight on, releasing it with relief when the flashlight flickered to life. With a smile, she handed it over to Pete who took it without missing a beat.

Pete used the light to look around the rest of the room when a bolted door came into view at the right end of the room.

"Hey, check it out."

Claire and Pete made their way to the bolted door. The metal door was bolted shut by three metal bars horizontally across the doorway. There was also a small control panel that had three slots with three yellow lights above the slot.

"I think if we find the keys, we can probably move forward."

"Ugh" Pete groaned, "Why can't this door unlock for us? Where could these keys be? I don't think I saw any as we were walking."

"I don't know, Pete. We must have overlooked them, come on let's go -"

As Claire was about to head back down the way they came, a metal gate adjacent to the bolted door slid open. Once the gate was open, Pete turned the flashlight towards the room to try and get a better look. The new room had more cells in it, however, this room had two levels with a pathway and stairs directly in the middle of the room. They were just about to move forward when a loud gurgling noise echoed into the room.

Claire instinctively stepped in front of Pete as he whispered, "What the fuck was that?"

Claire didn't even have time to start thinking of an answer to him when a figure limped into the light. He looked human - but at the same time didn't look human. He had been human at some point, but now he was completely mutated. His skin raw with blisters and bumps with a little hair coming off the top of his head. The creature grumbled as he stumbled further into the light - louding sniffing in the direction of Claire and Pete.

"What the -" Pete started before Claire threw her hand over his mouth and shushed him and turned off his flashlight. Claire had no idea what the hell this creature was, but she knew that it had to be done quietly, and without light. By the sounds of it, he probably had a good sense of smell so they shouldn't test to see how good his other senses are. She crept with Pete along the edge of one of the cells behind her and grabbed a few rocks from the debris. Claire carefully aimed before tossing the rock on the opposite side to where they were where the rock landed with a thud. The creature quickly turned towards the sound and ran towards where the rock fell. Claire knew she only had a few moments so once his back was turned she raced forward and slammed the metal pipe into the back of the creature's head. The creature was knocked down and started to try and get back up when Claire impaled her pipe in it's head.

Pete flicked back on the light as she removed the pipe from the creature's head. Pete slowly walked towards Claire.

"What the hell was that? Oh God, was that a zombie?!"

Claire looked down at the creature and slowly turned it around, observing it.

"It definitely doesn't look like any of the zombies that I've seen. If I had to guess, I would just say they aren't zombies. But what they are I have no idea."

Pete started to head closer to Claire as she checked the pockets of the dead creature. She pulled out a small handgun in the waistband of his jeans as well as a key with the number 1 on it. She unloaded the clip to see how many bullets were left - six. Well, not a lot but its certainly a start. She tucked the pipe under her arm and picked up the gun with one and the key with the other then stood up.

"Can you hold this?" Claire asked as she held out the key, "I would but my dress unfortunately doesn't have pockets."

Pete nodded as he took the key and placed it into his jacket pocket. He was about to move away when Claire's hand shot up again.

"Wait. Which one do you want?" Claire held up the metal pipe in one hand and the small handgun in the other. She could tell by the look on his face he didn't want either so she was probably gonna have to make this choice for him.

"Well, have you ever shot a gun before?"

Once Pete shook his head, Claire held out the metal pipe to him. "Here, take this. You need to have something to defend yourself if something ever happens." Pete sighed as he begrudgingly took the pipe.

Feeling a little better now, Claire stepped over the creature and headed towards where he came from, gun drawn. They both walked around the area of the room - checking it to see if anymore creatures lurked around. Once it was clear, they started to look for the other keys. They were only on the second cell on the second floor when Pete let out a huge yawn.

Claire looked over at Pete and noticed how tired he looked. She had been knocked out most of the time but she didn't think about if he had been as well, but by the looks of it he probably was awake a lot longer than she had been. How long have they actual been here?

"Hey, Pete. Why don't we rest for a while?" She asked while pointing to the bed in the cell. Pete followed her hand then turned red as he looked at the ground.

"Uh...I don't think. Um, I mean is this really the time?"

"I mean its as good of time as any."

"Claire...I mean you're really pretty but -"

Claire's eyes widened as she threw her hands up and shook them, "NO! No, no no, that's not what I meant. You can go to sleep here, by yourself, and I can take watch at the front of the cell."

Pete turned an even darker red as he nodded and laid himself on the bed. He looked up at her and gave her a small smile, "Are you sure you don't want to rest first?"

Claire lightly shook her head, "No, I'm okay for now. Thanks though, I'll wake you up if I need you." With that, Pete nodded his head and closed his eyes. If she had to take a guess, he probably fell asleep in less than a minute.

With the metal rod on one side of Claire and the handgun on the other, she looked around her surroundings. The building they were in had to be years, and she meant years old but something still seemed a bit off about it. For a building this old and decrepit, it had some really new features like the hundreds of cameras she had seen and that bolt and key system on the bolted door. The cameras really bothered her. It made her feel as if she was a rat in one of those mazes. Usually at the end of the maze, the rat was rewarded with a piece of cheese.

In this case, she didn't know what would be at the other end of the maze. But she did know it definitely wouldn't be good.

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A figure sat at a wall of computer screens, writing notes while watching the footage even rewinding to try and get more data.

Yes, this idea was perfect. And she definitely was the perfect candidate for this. Sure, Chris Redfield or Leon Kennedy would have been great subjects to study.

But her.

She was different. She wasn't a soldier, she didn't do this day in and day out. She did what she had to do to survive. That's why she was picked.

She had been somewhat predictable thus far. Taking care of the boy with no experience, finding useful things to help her, taking the lead.

More variables needed to be introduced.

A beeping sound from one of the computers echoed the room. The figure got up and went to investigate what caused the noise. It was a silent alarm from one of their bases in Germany. With a few clicks, security footage popped up showing a blonde haired man and woman walking through the desolate base.

Ah, yes. Variables indeed.