AN: Before I do anything else, I would like to thank my reviewers (haalyle, jedispartan217, Experimental Agent 1123) for their encouragement and support. This is the farthest on any of my fanfics that I've ever written before giving up and moving on! So thank you very much for sticking with my first published fan fiction.

This chapter is dedicated to the lovely haalyle! My very first reviewer! He/She and I have been talking to each other over , offering editing tips and encouraging each other to continue writing! Read some of his/her RE stuff! It's good!

Unless I finish chapter 11 and decide to post some more before Christmas, consider this your holiday gift!

Also, I have a new poll in my profile! I've been working quite a bit on some of the stories that I have planned, and I feel like I can keep up with two stories at once, although my update schedule for each story will probably vary, according to which story I work on. So, I invite my readers to go to my profile, and choose which one of my planned stories sounds the most interesting to you.

For now, enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil or the characters. I make no money off of this fan fiction. Non-Canon characters own themselves, and I think zombies can be considered stock property, since every other game/TV show uses them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Team Mattie~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Team Mattie split off from the other two parties early and made their way through the first floor and found the door that led to the mechanical rooms. It was very easy to determine which on led to their goal: Chris and Sheva broke down every door that had the words "Authorized employees only" written on them, while Rebecca and Mattie stood to the side. They had been doing this for a while before one of the doors yielded a metal staircase leading downwards into a darkened basement-like room. All of the team members peered down into the blackness from the doorway.

"This looks promising," Chris said, "But who turned out the lights?"

"Got any flares?" Mattie asked, looking up at Chris hopefully. Chris pulled out his flashlight and clicked it on. He shone the light to the bottom of the staircase, revealing a plethora of zombies waiting at the bottom.

Chris flinched in surprise at the sight of the zombies. Apparently he hadn't fully recovered from the Arklay mansion incident or the Rockfort Island outbreak "Okay, how do we get past them? Any ideas?" he asked.

Sheva peered down at the gathering of zombies. "If we had some grenades, we could toss one down and take out all of them at once," she suggested.

"True," Chris agreed, "But we don't have any grenades." This realization left the platoon to come up with another plan.

"Anyone got a plan B?" Rebecca asked after a few seconds of awkward silence.

Mattie racked her brain for ideas. "Hmm, In a History of War class, one of the strategies we learned about was luring a group into a narrow area and taking them one at a time." Mattie suggested, "The staircase is narrow enough for it to work."

"But that involves bringing the zombies up to us!" Rebecca objected nervously.

"Which is why Merchant gave me this powerhouse of a gun!" Mattie said, holding up her shotgun and taking a place in the doorway.

"Sheva and I can cover you if they start getting close." Chris added as the two BSAA agents resumed their places by the door.

"Right," Sheva agreed, checking the clip of her handgun. "Now how do we get them up here?"

"Zombies like live meat." Mattie told Sheva, pausing before looking back down at the bottom of the staircase. "Hello~." Mattie called. The zombies didn't respond and continued shambling pointlessly. "Anyone wanna go down there?"

"We are not using another person for human bait." Chris ordered, "Let's see how they like real noise." Chris took two heavy steps down the metal stairs, his boots making the noise echo in the lower room, and sure enough, the zombies were attracted to the noise and stumbled up the stairs in one thick line. "Here they come." Chris said as he turned around and darted back up, sliding his large frame around the door. "They're all yours, Mattie."

Mattie moved to stand in the middle of the doorframe, where she could see all the zombies clearly. Then a thought hit her, making her freeze in horror. "Hey guys," she said with trepidation as she stared down at the zombies, "I've never shot a real person before. I think I'm having second thoughts."

"They aren't people anymore. They're monsters." Chris explained, keeping one eye on the horde coming up the stairs, "They stopped being human a long time ago."

Mattie gulped. The zombies were getting closer. She looked to Sheva. "You can do this, Mattie." Sheva encouraged. Mattie took a deep breath and hesitantly raised the shotgun, mentally thanking Merchant for giving her and her friends' a quick lesson in operating their weapons, and fired.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Team Kate~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shortly after leaving the ballroom, Team Kate and Team Stevie found their way to the hotel's emergency staircase and began their trek upwards. Kate counted the floors as she passed each number. "And three. This is our stop." Kate said as she stopped in front of the appropriately numbered door. She turned to Stevie as Jill, Barry, and Ada caught up. Leon, Claire and Luis were holding the rear guard and were a floor behind. "I guess this is 'Happy Trails' buddy," Kate said, "See you at the top."

"Hold on a second." Stevie said, "First off, a quick hug for my buddy." Stevie and Kate embraced each other for a second, while Ada watched them wordlessly. Stevie pulled away from Kate. "Second, Barry? Can I feel your beard? Or better yet, can I get a hug from you?"

Barry was slightly taken aback at Stevie's request, but allowed the girl to hug him anyways before the rest of her team caught up and passed them. "See you later!" Stevie called out as she made her way up the next flight of stairs, holding the hem of her dress up so she wouldn't trip over it.

Jill tried the doorknob. "Locked," she confirmed, "No problem." Jill kneeled down to the height of the knob and pulled her trusty tools from her back pocket. "This'll be as easy as making a sandwich."

"Sandwich?" Kate whispered under her breath, totally confused.

Barry saw Kate's confusion and nodded. "Jill isn't known as 'The Master of Unlocking' for nothing." The big man reassured. Ada rolled her eyes silently.

A minute later, the lock clicked. "We're in." Jill said. She replaced her tools and opened the door a crack, checking for zombies. "Clear." She declared, pushing the door the rest of the way open. The team filed into the hallway lined with numbered doors.

Kate glanced around at the number of rooms. "Think we could break into these rooms as well?" she asked as Jill started walking down the hall in front of them.

"Not without keycards. These are all electronic readers; they make my job harder." Jill replied before she turned to face her team, "We'll check out the rooms that don't require keycards. After that, we move upwards until we finish the fourteenth floor. Agreed?" All the team members nodded, even Ada who was keeping to herself more than usual. As the platoon walked, Kate decided to fall back and give the spy some company. Ada glanced over at her but didn't say anything.

At the end of the hall, a transmission came from the radios. "Agent Valentine, We're almost to the fifteenth floor. Everything looks okay so far. How are things on your end?" Leon's voice said as it crackled through the radio units. Jill clicked the button on her radio to respond.

"Everything is clear here Leon. My team just finished the third floor," Jill said, peering down the hall, "Hold on, we've got a straggler. We'll take care of it." Jill clicked the button off and motioned for the team to hug the nearest wall. A zombie that had been lying on the floor had decided to stand up and stand in the middle of the area where the hall cornered in front of them. "Kate, I need you to lend me your scope," Jill said. Kate pulled her rifle forward and removed the scope, handing it upward to Jill. The BSAA agent held the scope to her eye. "Damn. He's blocking the way to the stairs," Jill swore, "Can't go near him. That'll be suicide."

"How so?" Kate asked, squinting at the zombie through her thick glasses. She couldn't see why Jill was so worried about one zombie.

Jill handed Kate the sniper scope. "Take a look. You see how the skin is tinted red?" Jill explained. Kate nodded, examining the zombie's complexion through the lens. "He's been downed before, and now something in the virus is making him even tougher. If we go near him, he'll run right towards us, and we don't have many places to flee to."

Kate lowered the scope from her eye. "So what do we do?" Ada asked with her back leaning against the wall. Jill brainstormed options.

"Jill?" Barry whispered, grabbing the female BSAA agent's attention before pulling his magnum from his red vest.

Jill shook her head before she replied, "No. It'd be a waste of firepower, but only if we have no other choice." Jill turned to Kate as the quiet girl reattached her scope to her rifle. "Hey Kate, you feel like testing your rifle on him?" The BSAA agent suggested. Kate's eyebrows shot up.

"Me?" Kate said, pointing to herself, and then to the zombie. "At him?" Jill nodded. Kate exhaled deeply. "Alright." Kate turned around to face the direction of the crimson-colored zombie and raised the rifle to her shoulder, just like the Merchant had showed her. She focused one eye on the scope and trained the crosshairs on the target.

"Make it count," Barry encouraged. Kate aimed for the center of the zombie's head, right where the brain rested.

"That's not a human. It's already dead," Kate mentally repeated as her hands perspired while holding the rifle. "It's already dead," She thought as she hooked her finger around the trigger. "It has to be done." Kate squeezed the trigger. The recoil rocked her back on her heels a short ways, but the bullet hit its mark and the zombie's head exploded in a shower of gore, decorating the wall behind it in a sickly pattern.

Kate lowered her rifle and breathed a sigh of relief, closing her eyes and resting against the wall. The tension was over. Jill clapped her on the shoulder as she passed by, continuing onward. Barry followed Jill shortly after. Ada was the only one who stopped and offered consoling words. "You did good," The spy said. Kate opened her eyes to witness the kind expression on Ada's face. "Let's go," The operative said before she continued around the corner. Kate followed numbly.

Jill looked back and saw Kate lagging behind. "You all right?" the BSAA agent asked. Kate nodded tiredly.

"Yeah," Kate said softly, holding her free hand over one of her eyes while the other held on to her rifle, "Adrenaline crash and shock must be catching up to me."

Jill grew concerned. Maybe allowing the girls to follow along wasn't such a smart idea after all. "We'll take a break when we get to the next floor," She declared, "Come on." Jill opened the door to the second set of staircases, pressing onward.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Team Stevie ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After several minutes of climbing, Team Stevie finally reached the fifteenth floor, collapsing once they made it to the landing. "We're here," Leon said, sitting down and leaning against the wall, "Let's rest for a while."

Claire sat against the wall that was perpendicular to the door. "I am never EVER going to complain about wearing high heels anywhere that does not require climbing ever again," Claire sighed, catching her breath.

Stevie sat down next to Claire. "Ditto," The exhausted TMP-wielding girl replied. Leon pulled his radio off his belt and clicked the "Talk" button.

"Chris, Jill, what's the status on your teams?" he asked.

"We're currently resting," Jill's voice replied. Judging from the lack of an echo in the stairwell, her team was at the other side of the building. "We've just finished the third floor and moving up to the fourth. Kate took care of our straggler."

"How is she doing by the way?" Stevie asked, interested in what her friends were doing with their search crews.

"She's been real quiet since she shot that monster," Barry's voice crackled through the radio, "It's most likely just stress and shock though."

"Wow," Claire commented dryly before adding, "How's my brother's team holding up?"

Chris' voice came through the radio. "We're doing alright sis," Chris reported, "Had to crash a welcoming party though. Don't worry; all the guests have been taken care of. Or rather, your friend Mattie was extremely brave and shot 'em down as they came to us. We're about to enter the mechanical room."

"Go Mattie!" Stevie commented.

"That's all we have to report," Chris stated, "No casualties. "

"No injuries here either," Jill added.

"No casualties up here," Leon reported, "Everyone's in one piece."

"We'll see about that," Stevie thought tiredly, crashing from adrenaline herself and sorely tempted to fall asleep.

"Okay," Jill replied through the radio. "Continue onward. Tell us if you find anything."

"Roger," Leon said before he returned his radio to its proper place on his belt and looking to his teammates, "Let's go."

The group reluctantly stood up and stretched their muscles before passing though the door in front of them. Once they were in the hall, Leon gave his next orders. "Luis and I will watch the front and take point. You two watch the rear," He told Stevie and Claire, who both nodded in understanding. The two girls took their places behind the men, with Claire following close behind Leon while Stevie walked behind Luis.

As the team made their way up the hall, Stevie kept sneaking glances at Luis' Red9, which was holstered at his hip. Luis noticed this attention when he glanced back to check on the ladies.

Luis smirked coyly. "Like what you see chica?" he asked, putting his ridiculously attractive Spanish accent to work. Stevie looked up to him and nodded unashamedly. Luis laughed lightly, "Perhaps when you're older. Then I can take you somewhere nice."

Stevie gave Luis a confused look before realizing what he was thinking. "Oh!" she said awkwardly, "Erm, Thanks for the offer, but I was actually admiring your Red9. It's a very nice gun."

Now it was Luis' turn to laugh awkwardly as Claire muffled a burst of wild laughter and Leon looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Of course. It is, in fact, a very nice gun," he said, trying to pull his dignity back together, "Saved me from certain death a couple of times now." Luis turned back to face forward and whispered under his breath, "Never again!"

"What was that?" Stevie asked, having heard the muttered sounds from the Spaniard after her had turned.

Luis turned his head around one more time to look back at her. "It's nothing you should be concerned about, chica."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Who knows where~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sir. Your enemies are moving. Orders?"

"Gather information on their movements and sabotage them as you see fit. Reconnaissance is your fist priority. I want information."

"As you wish, sir."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Team Mattie~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the one-sided firefight against the undead, Team Mattie was victorious as the final zombie was felled by a well-placed round from Chris' handgun. "That's all of them," Chris said as he checked the magazine of his gun and replaced the bullets he had spent, "Time to go down."

Mattie stepped aside as the big man started down the metal stairs, holding a flashlight in his free hand as he descended. Once he was down a ways, Sheva broke away from the edge of the door and followed close behind. Mattie followed her down the steps, joined by Rebecca shortly after. "Watch your step," Chris warned; the once clean stairs were now coated with a layer of zombie blood and entrails. Chris shoved the bodies of the downed zombies aside with his boots as he walked, but it didn't make the stairs any less slippery.

Once they made it to the bottom of the steps (with some slipping and sliding and holding-on-to-the-safety-railing-for-dear-life from Mattie on the way down), Sheva and Rebecca clicked their emergency flashlights on as well. From what the team could see, the mechanical floor of the hotel split off into several directions, weaving around various pieces of machinery that served innumerable functions.

"Look for a light switch!" Chris ordered as the team spread out. This time, Mattie decided to stay close to Sheva, while Rebecca remained a few paces away from Chris. As Sheva investigated one corner of the darkened room, Mattie glanced around, looking for something that resembled a light switch, spotting an area that was sectioned off by a chain link wall with a softly glowing light on the other side, guarded by a wooden door.

"Found something!" Mattie informed Sheva, "Let's check over there!" Sheva motioned for Chris and Rebecca to rejoin them, and the team slowly ventured towards the light. Members of Team Mattie stopped with their backs to the wall, making no noise. Chris checked the door, noticing that it was unlocked, gave a few signals and organized the formation: He and Sheva would watch the front, and Rebecca and Mattie would stand behind them, guarding their sides and the rear. The rest of the team nodded their heads in agreement, and Chris unlocked the door, allowing his team to enter. Chris and Sheva rushed in silently, followed by Mattie and Rebecca. Chris and Sheva suddenly stopped, causing Mattie to bump into Chris' muscular back. Rebecca stopped before she crossed the doorway, noticing that Team Mattie was not alone in the small room.

Mattie recognized the other figure in the room immediately. "You've got to be kidding," She whispered, holding her shotgun at the ready.

Ricardo Irving turned around, grabbing his handgun wildly when he saw his attackers, obviously expecting someone else. "WHOA! What are youse guys doin' here?" Irving shouted, pointing his handgun at Chris and Sheva.

"We should be asking you the same question," Chris said calmly, pointing his handgun at Irving in case the businessman got any bright ideas.

"What are you doing here Irving?" Sheva demanded, "Did you cause this outbreak?"

Mattie felt the need to say something as well, but Sheva had taken the words right out of her mouth. "What she said!" Mattie added, peeking from Chris' open side (the one that wasn't being flanked by Sheva).

Irving broke into a sweat. "The zombies? Oh, ah didn't start dat one," He said, "Dat's beyond mystandards."

"That one?" Chris questioned, tightening his grip on his gun, "Tell us what's going on here!"

"Or somebody's going to take a blow to their 'standards'," Mattie threatened, imitating Irving's accent.

Irving chuckled, "Heh, Ah like yer impersonation, kiddo. But it's gonna take more than that to get info outta me!"

"Kiddo?" Mattie exclaimed angrily.

"Mattie, stay focused," Sheva warned, aiming her own handgun at Irving.

"Yeah girlie, stay focused," Irving mocked, purposefully hoping to rile Mattie enough to make his escape.

"GIRLIE?" Mattie objected violently, "Why I oughta-!"

"Mattie calm down!" Chris scolded as Irving laughed, sounding even more obnoxious than usual.

"There's nothin' youse can do anyway! Yer all goin' down!" Irving laughed maniacally before he bolted to a far doorway on the other side of the room. Chris and Sheva followed him with their eyes and started firing their guns at him, the echo sounding loudly in the basement. Irving, still wielding his handgun, fired back before he ran out of Chris and Sheva's sight. Irving's first shot missed, but the second one hit Mattie in the center of her torso, causing Mattie to stumble back and alarm Rebecca.

Rebecca fumbled at her belt and pulled out her radio. "We ran into someone! Mattie's been hit!" she reported.

The response was instantaneous. "What?" Kate's voice replied in surprise.

"Is she alright? How bad is it?" Stevie's voice demanded forcefully.

Mattie groaned in pain, but recovered her posture quickly and pulled her shirt up to check the damage. "I'm fine!" she reassured her friends, borrowing Rebecca's radio, "The bullet was stopped by the protective vest," Mattie returned the radio to Rebecca and turned to Chris and Sheva. "You guys go after Irving. I'll see if he left anything behind." Mattie staggered over to the desks Irving had been working at as Chris, Sheva, and Rebecca rushed away to catch up to Irving.

After running for some time, twisting and turning through the labyrinth of machines on that floor the search group was forced to stop and regroup; they had lost Irving's trail.

"We have to keep going!" Sheva argued, catching her breath, "He can't have gone too far." Immediately after Sheva spoke, the lights were shut off, plunging the group into darkness.

"Wonderful," Chris commented sarcastically. If Irving's purpose was to annoy the BSAA agent as much as possible, the shady businessman was doing a damn good job of it. Chris heard something skitter on the floor below his feet and turned on his flashlight for visibility. "We've got company."

Sheva and Rebecca turned their flashlights on as well, exposing several live, swarming, specimens of Las Plagas surrounding them. The parasites clicked their mandibles eagerly, anticipating the chance to infect new victims. Rebecca gulped in terror.

"Looks like he lead us into a set-up," Sheva noted, aiming her guns at the Plagas.

Chris readied his aim as well. "Let's hope Mattie can take care of herself for a little while longer." He said right before firing at the closest Plaga, triggering the rest of the specimens to attack and swarm the new predators.

AN: I think I'll end it here. For the sake of suspense. Cause I'm evil. ;D Actually, I'm stopping because I think I can drag something out till the end of next chapter, also for the sake of suspense and cliffhangers.

I get the feeling most of my readers know what's going to be coming next. Hehehe.

We finally see some real villains! Irving's accent and character gave me quite a bit of grief in this chapter, not to mention I kept wanting to kick him in his smug face. Try listening his voice in your head while writing his accent, it gets obnoxious really fast. There is only one person whose accent I hate more than Irving's… but I won't spoil it.

Happy holidays! 3 Chapter 11 is probably going to be my favorite to write . . . even though I need to figure out how a certain scene is going to play out.