Disclaimer: RE5 is still not mine…

Chapter Seven

The three stopped Irving's yacht and climbed back down into the airboat with Josh. They drove until sunrise and that was when they reached the cave Irving mentioned.

"So this is the place he was talkin' about," Chris stated.

Josh drove the boat in and Sheva stood up and pointed to a boat. "That's the boat the woman used to get away!" she exclaimed.

At the dock, Chris, Sheva, and Evelyn got off the boat and Josh asked, "So you three are really gonna go through with this?"

"Yes," Chris answered simply.

"This is not just about Jill, but the Uroboros Project as well," Sheva replied.

"I guess there's nothing I can do to stop you," Josh sighed. "I will call HQ and try to get the withdrawal order rescinded. I will also try to get you backup. Try not to get yourselves killed!" Josh began to drive away, giving them a good-luck salute.

The three turned and walked towards the hut on the dock.

"That name Irving said, Excella…" Sheva mumbled, mostly to herself.

"You've heard it before?" Chris asked.

"That's the name of the director of Tricell's African division," Sheva answered.

Chris soon asked, "Do you think she could be connected to Irving?"

"It's possible, but I don't have any proof," Sheva replied.

"Tricell… If there is a connection, what does that mean for Africa?" Chris asked.

"Not sure, but if we keep moving, we're bound to find out," Sheva responded.

"True. Let's move," Chris commanded.

Evelyn began to think to herself as they walked through the cave, 'This is no simple outbreak of a virus. Someone deliberately let this virus loose. But… the only person I would think would do that is Albert Wesker, and he died ten years ago… Or did he? That man was brilliant, he could have staged his death in Spencer's Mansion… If he is involved in all of this…'

The cave was not as dark as one would think. The holes in the ceiling allowed the sunlight to glitter through. Suddenly, the peacefulness was ruined as large spiders infected by the Plaga parasite jumped out of the ground. "Spiders?" Evelyn asked herself. Spiders had always given Evelyn the chills, so coming face-to-face with huge spiders had freaked her out quite a bit.

The group easily killed the spiders, but where they are weak in strength, they are strong in numbers. The three made their way through the cave, defeating spiders as they went.

"There are so many of these things!" Evelyn exclaimed when a group of twenty or so ran at them in one of the halls. One jumped on Chris, trapping his arms to his body and preventing him from freeing himself. Another jumped on Sheva, tapping her as well. Evelyn holstered her gun because she knew she would not be able to shoot the spider without hurting the two and retrieved her machete that was horizontal on her lower back. She cut the spider in two, freeing Chris. Then she did the same for Sheva and the group continued killing the spiders.

Evelyn did not see one come from behind her and it jumped onto her, sinking its fangs into her shoulder.

"Shit!" she exclaimed. 'This is not good at all! If the poison mixes I could mutate!' she screamed in her head. Sheva cut the spider of off Evelyn and Evelyn fell to her knees in a moment of sickness. Chris and Sheva killed the rest of the spiders and began to walk towards Evelyn to check on her. "Stay back!" she hissed in warning. She felt the back of her neck and felt a little dried blood, but otherwise, the wound had healed. The dizziness soon wore off and she stumbled to her feet with her hand on her head. She did not feel herself mutating, which was a good sign; the Plaga had not reached her bloodstream.

"Are you all right, Evelyn?" Sheva asked.

"Yes, I think I'm fine now. Sorry about that. I felt a little dizzy," Evelyn answered.

Chris questioned, "Are we all ready?"

The two girls nodded and they continued to travel through the caves. The three finally made it to a large stone door that looked ancient.

They opened it and found themselves in an enormous complex of ancient ruins.

"I never knew such a place existed…" Sheva muttered.

Chris added, "It looks like there's been some recent activity."

"I hope Irving was telling the truth when he said we'd find some answers in this place," Sheva said.

"That would be the first time he was truthful…" Evelyn whispered to herself, oblivious to the fact that both Chris and Sheva had heard her.

The group walked for a while, Chris and Sheva helping Evelyn down the long drops when they came up. They soon came to a bridge, not seeing the marshland Majini push over a pillar onto it. Sheva and Evelyn, however, dodged the pillar to the far side while Chris remained on the side he was already on.

"Chris! Are you okay?" Sheva yelled through the radio. Chris nodded and jumped down onto a lower level of the ruins. "We'll provide cover!" Together, the three eliminated all of the Majini, allowing Chris to rejoin with Sheva and Evelyn. Therefore, the group continued through the ruins.

Eventually they found a bridge leading to a sarcophagus that they just had to open. The sarcophagus, however, was empty and triggered a trapdoor through which the three fell. Chris and Sheva ended up rolling in the air, which lead Evelyn to asking herself if they were really human again, while Evelyn thought, 'It looks painful if I fall. Forget about this façade for the moment…' So she managed to roll midair, landing quietly on her feet, but falling to her knees and doing a shoulder roll to break her momentum. Evelyn silently thanked her mother for making her play volleyball! Things started to get worse, however, when Majini and the huge spiders started showing up.

After taking care of a few of the Majini, a large door slid open and a large Majini carrying two torches joined the fight. He was taken out along with the rest of the Majini, though. Outside of the door was a large chamber and inside the chamber there were even more Majini.

"I hate these things…" Evelyn complained as she shot one through the head. Sheva added her agreement and Chris just shook his head at the two women and the group neared the center platform. In the middle of the platform, there was a huge valve which only two people can turn. Another door opened up ahead, but suddenly several spiky, wooden balls tumbled onto a torch, igniting.

"What in god's name are those? Better give them a wide berth!" Sheva exclaimed.

"Whoa… That's different," Evelyn stated.

"Hurry!" Sheva yelled. "It's closing!" Chris rushed through the closing door and onto a pressure pad, which reopened the door and stopped the balls from falling onto the torches. Sheva laughed and said, "I didn't know you could move so fast."

Evelyn laughed and the three headed through the door. Chris led the group down the flight of stairs and to yet another large door. The three pushed on it and with a loud creak, the door opened to a hallway. The group turned at the end and Chris stepped onto a pressure pad that caused the pillars behind them to collapse. The three ran as fast as they could, Evelyn falling to the back because of her short legs and having to run a normal speed, with Chris and Sheva leading. Chris grabbed onto Evelyn's hand, forcing her to run a bit faster.

Soon they came upon a hole in the floor where it must have collapsed before they were running over it and had to jump over it. The hole had to at least be ten feet long and had a deep bottom. Chris helped Evelyn over the large hole and continued to run from the pillars. They soon came upon another hole they had to jump over. They continued running until they could see a door, but came upon one more large hole. This one appeared to be a bit longer and had a rug at the end of it to make it a bit slippery. The three jumped over it and Chris slipped, causing the rug to fall into the pit. Evelyn also slipped off the edge because of Chris accidentally pulling her, but caught onto Chris' waist, who caught onto a rock. The three saw the door ahead begin to close and Sheva frantically pulled the both of them up. She did so and they made a mad dash for the door which was already half closed.

To get into the door, the three had to dive. Evelyn jumped first, so she was on the bottom of the pile and ended up doing another shoulder roll to complete the dive. Chris was next, so he was in the middle and landed quite ungracefully on the ground. Sheva jumped last and was on top, and she finished her dive with a mid-air roll. The door shut quickly behind them.

Going down the hallway, the three come upon a dead end with two chains hanging down. Chris and Sheva pulled the chains and, with a loud rumble, the wall slid down to reveal a staircase leading to a labyrinth. There was debris everywhere along with broken walls and broken pathways. The group moved down another staircase and turned left at the intersection. They quickly ran down the hall and turned right where the courtyard with a teal statue was. The statue must have been a god to the ancient peoples who once dwelt here. The statue had two chains in his hands, but his left hand was blocked off by rocks so the team would have to run all the way around the pathways to get to it.

"Just lift me over the rocks," Evelyn suggested as Chris was about to run to the other side.

"Good idea," Sheva agreed.

So Chris gave Evelyn a lift to the top of the rocks, and with grace, Evelyn jumped down onto the ground on the other side. Sheva and Evelyn pulled the chains simultaneously and the ground shook beneath their feet. This teal statue slowly retracted back into the hole in the wall as its head collapsed into the shoulders. This caused a reaction from the pathways and staircases, which formed a staircase in the hallway that the group took to get to the teal statue, blocking off that side of the ruins.

The team rejoined easily because of the statue receding into the wall, giving them a clear walkway there. And so, they walked the pathway on the left side of the statue to another hallway. They climbed up another staircase after turning right at the four-way intersection. This intersection had only two directions the group could go, the right hallway they had turned down, and the hallway from whence they came; the other two hallways, the one from where they entered the entire labyrinth and the left hallway, were completely blocked off by walls now.

After they had stopped at the top of the stairs, they came to another statue; a green one. Chris and Sheva pulled on the chains of the statue and with another loud rumble, the pathways started shifting again. The stairs behind them rose up, creating a level pathway on that level. The path that led to a hallway behind a fallen wall lowered onto the first floor, creating stairs. The hallway to the left, leading to the gold statue rose to make a staircase as well. The group turned around and went forward and then turned right at the intersection. As they ran across the bridge, however, a large group of Majini began to attack them. The group quickly defeated them and continued on their quest to get through this maze.

The team took the left path at the end of the hall and turned left once again after climbing over debris on the floor. The group made their final left at a staircase leading to the lower level. After the staircase, they turned right onto another staircase and stopped in front of the golden statue. Evelyn and Sheva pulled the chains and the paths once again shifted themselves. The only path that shifted was the staircase that led them to the staircase behind them. The staircase that shifted just flattened itself onto the ground to make a clear path. The group turned right to a purple statue and saw that that statue had only one chain.

"There's only one chain," Sheva stated. "The other one must be someone else."

"I'll go look for it," Chris offered.

"I will help as well." Evelyn said. As Chris and Evelyn ran down the stairs to look for the other purple statue with the other chain, Sheva was ever watching for danger. As Chris and Evelyn approached the other statue, which was located on the first floor right below the purple statue on the second floor, Majini and spiders attacked them. Together, Chris and Evelyn managed to take out the Majini on their floor and Sheva defeated the Majini on her floor. Then, simultaneously, Chris and Sheva pulled the chains to the statues, causing yet another loud rumble. The only path to change was the path that was flat on the higher level; the change was that the path lowered itself and flattened on the lower level. The three met up with each other at the intersection and went down the newly cleared path to find a courtyard with a red statue. Suddenly, they all cringed in pain when something shrieked, flying over their heads. This monster was another Popokarimu. The thing landed, however ungracefully, and ran towards the group. They already knew how to defeat it, so all it took was patience.

Sheva stood in front of it, distracting it from Chris and Evelyn shooting its weak underside. Sheva found a proximity bomb and placed it right in front of the Popokarimu, making it fall onto its side in pain. The three quickly shot as many times at it as they could and the monster gave one final shriek of pain and disintegrated into nothing. Evelyn and Chris pulled the chains to the statue. The pathways soon rose to create a long staircase to a worship area two stories up. And so, the group ascended the two flights of stairs to continue their journey through the caves.

Author's Note: I feel like this one is repetitive… Oh well, have to stick to the game on this chapter; a few more chapters till my favorite one~ I'm actually kind of excited to put that one up. Haha. Anyway. Sorry if this chapter wasn't very eventful. Though you did almost find something out about Evelyn. Sooooon, though! Please review, even if you hated this chapter! I love hearing your opinions! (Thank you WeskerSlayer99 for reviewing!)