Evelyn trailed behind Leon, taking in her surroundings. The room they were in appeared to be a large storage area. Wooden crates were stacked up to the high ceiling. There were so many, that they had been arranged with paths going between them to the different exits. It felt like a shabby labyrinth. Many were leaking a thick, viscous liquid. Whatever that substance was made of, it stunk to high heaven.

"Something tells me this is where the infection spread from," Leon muttered as he scraped the soul of his shoe against the ground, smearing the goo he had stepped in. He swept the room with his eyes, making mental notes of his surroundings. Bloody feet and handprints indicated that there could be zombies nearby. He kept his ears sharp and his weapons ready. Turning a corner, he came upon a corpse. The gaping hole in it's face indicated that it had previously been put down, Perhaps by Bluth, who had just left this room.

"What do you think was going on down here…?" Evelyn asked, squinting through the dimly lit basement.

"Hard to say for sure, but judging by the smell, these could be filled with medical waste." He stopped to inspect the label on one of the crates, but it held no decipherable information.

"Why would they be keeping it here? And waste from what, exactly?"

"Your guess is as good as mine,"

"If it's medical waste, do you think they've got some sort of underground hospital hidden around here somewhere?" She eyed Leon, "Or are you thinking more around the lines of a mad scientist workshop?"

Kennedy finished reading and looked up. "In my experience, it's usually the latter."

Evelyn sighed deeply. "Great. I'm so glad I work here."

They continued on, spotting what looked to be an office. The frosted window of the door had a bloody handprint smeared across it.

"Wait here," Leon instructed.

"By myself?" the woman asked incredulously.

"Just stay by the door. I'll call you when the room is clear."

"Fine, but don't leave me out here too long. This place is creepy," She eyed her surroundings. "Oh… also be careful," she added as an afterthought.

Leon hid a smirk and furrowed his brow. "Will do."

The agent opened the door slowly, pointing his weapons toward the interior of the room. Evelyn couldn't resist peeking in behind him. He left the door ajar, so she peered in to see what awaited the man. He quickly disappeared into the half of the office that wasn't visible, and the sound of a blade sinking into flesh made Evelyn's teeth clench. The body hit the floor with a sound not unlike a bag of rotten oranges. Assuming the work was done, Davis placed her hand on the door, beginning to open it the rest of the way. Just then, a shadow appeared in the window. The being casting it was promptly smashed against the glass, giving Evelyn the shock of her life. She backed away from the door as it slammed shut. The features of the person looked fuzzy through the frosted pane, but it was clearly no longer human. It slid down out of sight, apparently already dealt with. A muffled grunt followed by a dragging sound preceded the door reopening.

"Clear," Kennedy called, with fresh spatters on his face and coat.

Ignoring the look he was getting, Leon began searching the room. A shabby desk faced the door. Behind it were several filing cabinets. Overall, the room was pretty unassuming. A clipboard on top of a cabinet showed shipping records, but with no indication of what was being shipped. Investigating the files led to nothing as well. Moving onto the desk, Leon found a password locked computer and a disorganized cluster of paperwork. On top was a letter.

Evelyn, who had also begun nosing around the room's contents, stopped what she was doing and approached him. "Anything interesting?"

Leon offered her what he had just read. She took it, skimming over its contents.

Randy, I'm done.

I've told you over and over that the lift was gonna break, and no one listened. How many times did I say, we need to replace the cables before they snap? You're lucky no one got hurt when the whole thing went down. The mess alone was enough of a hazard. It looked like Hell had a snow day when that frozen chum-looking filth exploded all over the bottom of the shaft. You people are running a circus here. Every day, we're getting more and more of these boxes filled with god-knows-what. No one has been to even look at the lift, let alone repair it.

The shit in these crates is absolutely a health hazard. The smell is unbearable. The white coats just keep on sending us more, despite the fact that I've told them we don't have the room for it. Steve and I did what we could to keep it organized, but now there's brown shit leaking out of them. It's getting everywhere. I refuse to work in these conditions a day longer. Steve has already started feeling sick. I've got a rash up my back from being around this disgusting shit. I've been itching all over for three days.

Long story short, you're on your own. I quit. I don't get paid enough to deal with this half-assed science project. And you can shove your non-disclosure agreement right up your asses. I'm telling the press about this. Not just the terrible working conditions, but about your underground "lab" too! Maybe next time you want to be sneaky, you'll remember to treat your confidants with a little more respect!

Sincerely pissed,

Marcus Allen

P.S. Expect to hear from my lawyer.

"Randy… Do you think this is for Governor Bluth?" Evelyn asked.

"One could only assume," Leon answered. "His first name is Randall, right? So, this Marcus guy must be a friend. Or, he was , at least."

"Marcus Allen…" Davis scowled, searching for a thought. "That name sounds so familiar."

Kennedy put a finger to his ear, attempting to contact Hunnigan. "Looks like I can't get a signal down here. I'll have to wait to get any info on him."

"Well, then," Evelyn held out the letter, "what do we do now?"

Leon took the letter back, folding it up and placing it in his pocket. "We look for a way out of here."

"You don't, like… have a job to do here or something? Are you just here to rescue civilians? It doesn't seem that way."

"What makes you say that?" He made his way out of the office.

"I… don't know," Evelyn paused to consider the question. "I would expect a team to come through for that. At least someone in uniform."

"Well, you'd be right," He led them back into the maze of crates. He rounded a corner, gun first. His steps had slowed now that the way forward was littered with hiding places for the creepy and crawly. He suddenly switched to his blade, lunging forward. A squelching sound out of Evelyn's sight set off her mental alarms. Before she could finish intaking air for a gasp, the man had put the creature out of its misery. "Careful," He warned as he stepped around the body, pulling his knife free.

"So, why are you here?"

"That information is classified. Sorry."

"What? Come on! After everything I've been through, you're gonna leave me in the dark?"

"I could really leave you in the dark, if you want to stay here," She couldn't see his face, but the smirk could be heard in his tone.

"That's cold…"

They came to the aforementioned lift. Caution tape was draped across the partially open gate. Leon peered down the shaft. The lack of lighting made it impossible to see the bottom. Looking up, he could see a trace of light. Presumably from an exit above. The walls were smooth, leaving no hand or footholds. There wasn't even a broken cable in place that could be used to climb up. It was a dead end

Shaking his head, Kennedy started off in another direction. The crate maze led them to a door labeled "Storage Closet", but it was locked. After a bit more exploring, the duo came upon a set of descending stairs.

"We're going down further?" Davis asked.

"Did you see any other options?" Leon gestured his hand in the direction of the rest of the warehouse. "We can try going back up through the statue exit, but the front door was locked tight, and that massive B.O.W. is stalking around."

"What if we go deeper and it's a dead end? There could be worse things down there!" Evelyn wrung her hands nervously. "I don't know… I just want to get the hell out of here. I'm not trying to die in some subterranean chop shop."

"Think about it. You never knew this place existed. You've come to work every day, and this has all been going on under your feet for who knows how long. Do you think it would have stayed a secret if people were going in and out through that passage the whole time?" He paused for the woman to consider his argument, "There has to be another way in and out of this facility. That lift was for cargo, not people."

Leon could see the fatigue in the woman's eyes. He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, "I understand how you're feeling. I was in your shoes once. This is a stressful situation, and you're doing better than most. I just need you to trust me." He locked eyes with the younger woman. "I'll get you out of here."

Evelyn let out a breath. She barely knew this man, but he had certainly shown so far that he knew what he was doing. Before she could agree to his plan, an explosion shook the room. The pair turned their heads in unison. The source seemed to be the entrance they had come in from. Neither of them was keen to find out what had caused the disturbance.

"Okay, I trust you! Let's go!"

The woman bolted down the stairs, with Kennedy on her heels. It was difficult not to imagine that mass of rage and muscles from upstairs chasing behind them. It was unlikely that whatever had caused the damage wanted to be friends. Midway down, Leon managed to take the lead, not wanting his companion to run head first into danger. There was no way to predict what they would be greeted by at the end of the stairs. There were no bodies, living or dead, in the passage, but there was plenty of blood. That was enough to put the man on his guard. They finally reached a steel door. It was unmarked. The card slider to the right of the frame indicated that the way should be locked. Fortunately, something had blocked the door from closing completely. Opening the door the rest of the way revealed that the doorstop had been propped open by the arm of a freshly dead body. So fresh, that Leon even knelt down to check for a pulse. The woman still had a bit of color in her cheeks. Her long black hair fanned out around her. She wore a torn and bloodied lab coat. Around her neck was a lanyard holding an I.D. badge. The magnetic strip on the back indicating it could perhaps be used to gain access to locked doors ahead. He began gently removing the I.D. from around her neck, when a rattling sigh escaped the cadaver's lips.

With unexpected speed, the previously still corpse lunged forward, clutching at Leon's neck and face. Evelyn screamed, and Kennedy tried to twist away from the zombies grasp. In the chaos, his weapons were knocked free from his hands. The agent was brought to one knee as he struggled to remove himself from the death grip of the undead woman. The raven-haired woman brought her face close to his, hissing and gnashing her teeth. It was everything he could do to crane his neck away from her advances.

"Leon!" Evelyn stood with his gun in hand. She widened her stance and straightened her aim,

The tawny haired man put as much distance between his head and the zombie's as he could. He only hoped she wouldn't miss. It would be just his luck to outlive zombies and monsters for all these years only to die from a misaimed shot.

The gun fired, the flash lighting up the small space. The bullet missed, flying just over the creature's head. The sound of the shot echoed loudly.

"Shit!" She cursed, aiming the 9 millimeter once more.

The Zombie swung her head around to stare at Davis. Leon took the opportunity to break free. He rolled backwards out of its grasp, coming up in the room beyond the stairwell. The dead woman began to crawl wildly towards Evelyn who began firing off shots in a panic. Leon quickly scanned his surroundings. His knife was nowhere to be seen, and it seemed his gun was next to useless in his new friend's hands. The room he was in looked like a locker room of some sort. Metal lockers lined one wall, with a couple tables and chairs strewn about. There were no other enemies present, but there also wasn't anything he could see that could be used as an effective weapon.

"I guess I'll have to do this the dirty way." He started for the zombies back and shouted, "Evelyn! Stop firing!"

"Easy for you to say!" She screamed as she back-pedaled up the steps. "This bitch wants to eat me!"

Despite her words, she lowered the weapon. Fear painted her features as she scrambled away. Leon rushed forward. The zombie was still on all fours, lurching it's awkward body up the stairs. Wrapping an arm around the thing's neck, he yanked back. He brought up one knee, pressing it into it's back, then brought his entire weight down on that point, pinning the creature to the steps. The creature screamed as he grasped the side of it's chin with one hand, moving his other to the back of it's head. His hand was uncomfortable close to its mouth as he twisted hard. The scream bubbled into a gurgle as the sound of bones cracking sounded through the air. The body continued to writhe in his arms. It seemed severing the spine wasn't enough. He took a fistful of hair to keep his grip on the thing's head and proceeded to bash it's face against one of the stone steps. One, two, and three times before the twitching stopped. And a fourth for good measure.

Evelyn gaped at the scene before her. The already macabre stairwell was now splattered with even more blood. The special agent had yet to release his foe. He leaned a bit on the body, breathing heavily. His hand was still tangled in it's hair. Davis looked at the gun in her hand, then back to the man who just wrestled an undead monster.

"Are you…?"

"I'm fine," Leon answered curtly, and tried to drop the head, only to find his fingers were stuck in ebony knots. He wriggled his digits free and looked up at the woman still frozen with shock. "Who taught you to fire a gun?"

"No one! Why would I know how to fire a gun? I'm a tour guide, not a commando!" She lowered her head. "I'm… look, I'm sorry. I should have…" she threw up her arms, "I don't even know what I should have done."

"Aim, maybe?" Kennedy shoved the corpse off of himself and stood up.

"I thought I was!" She gestured toward him with her gun arm, "YOU were supposed to be protecting ME! You're the zombie Rambo! I'm just Evelyn. I know things about the capital. I take care of my husband. I play cards. I don't shoot walking nightmares!"

Leon placed his hand on the muzzle of the gun, lowering it. "I'm sorry. You're right. Just… please, don't point that thing at anything still breathing."

"Oh," she nodded sheepishly, "Right."

She handed him back his gun, and he checked the clip. She had wasted six shots, leaving him with 9. He had four full clips on him. He hoped he wouldn't need to face anything fiercer than a zombie during this excursion. He holstered his weapon and knelt over the now incapacitated creature, removing the lanyard from its neck. He pulled the card free and tucked it into a pocket. He had a feeling it would come in handy later. The only thing to do now was press onward.

"Alright, let's go," He said with a nod and Evelyn followed.

o-o-o-o-o

Thank you all for being so patient! I finally got the new chapter up! I would love some critiques. Also ideas and suggestions. I have a general idea of where things are going, but I haven't quite filled out all the gaps in the story yet, so I'd love some ideas! I've been watching all the Resident Evil movies, and some game cutscene "movies" on youtube. I just love this series so much, and Leon is just so... *swoon* I want him to be happy, but I keep tormenting him in this story. Hopefully I can give him some happy scenes soon.